Double Trouble

10

School ws almost over for the day. Lena was sitting in the back of her class, hoping her teacher would forget about her existence. She had been trying to keep up with the mathmatics her teacher was trying to teach her, but she hated it. To her, it was dry and boring. The only thing she liked about school at the moment was the fact that ahe could regularly see the Saltzman-twins there, since they lived nearby with their parents.

But her teacher already started wondering why her best student suddenly stopped being good at the subject. Lena could only hope, she would not speak to her Mom just yet.

That would be the last thing she needed right now, because she had not found out anything about her parents' separation yet. She asked her Mom once, of course, but Elena Gilbert only said that would talk about that topic with her some other time, not saying exactly when that 'other time' would be. Lena was getting frustrated, especially since she had also been busy appearing convincingly as Elle. Which was challenging enough.

Luckily, Elena would be taking her daughter to Bonnie Bennett's house this weekend. Bonnie, Caroline and Elena wanted to spend some time together and thought, for that, it would be ideal to bring their children with them, so that the kids could sleep upstairs while the women had some friends-time.

Lena was looking forward to spending time with the sweet, eight-year-old Hope. And she wanted to take the opportunity and ask Aunt Caroline about her parents. Caroline was a very dear woman, organized and strong-minded. But she was a bad liar and had a very soft spot for Elle. The chances of getting something out of her were quite good.

But first, Lena had to endure the rest of this bloody lesson. Shortly before the bell rang, the teacher gave her students a difficult exercise for homework. Lena stopped herself from scoffing. Stupid teacher!

When the bell finally rang, Lena stormed out of the building like a canonball. She was more than happy to go home now and get ready for tonight when she would question Caroline.

The evening could not come quickly enough, but finally, it did come.

Lena rushed into Bonnie's living room and enthusiastically greeted her two non-biological aunts.

"Aunt Bonnie, Aunt Caroline! I'm so happy to see you!" Lena called out and  went to hug them.

"Well, someone's being lively today." Bonnie said as she warmly hugged her best friend's daughter.

"Hi there! How are you, little angel?" Caroline said as she came to hug her too.

"I'm fine, thank you! And you?" Lena asked, knowing her polite twin would do so.

"I'm good too, thank you for asking."

"Great! Can you come with me and help me with my bag?" Lena asked Caroline, trying to get her alone.

And succeeded. "Of course, sweetie!" Caroline replied.

The woman and the little girl went upstairs. Lena being Lena did not want to wait with her questions, so she got straight to the point as soon as she and Caroline reached the bedroom.

"Aunt Caroline? Why do I not have a Dad? Is he dead?" she asked.

Caroline dropped the backpack and looked at her best friend's daughter completely flabberghast.

"Oh my god, how did you... what... who..." she stuttered.

Lena sat down on the bed and patted the space next to her. "Come on, Aunt Caroline, sit down." she said and decided to approach the subject more carefully.

"I was just wondering. Mom never tells me about him, she says she can't talk about it. But I wanna know! Whoever he is, he's my Dad! And I'm already ten! I wanna know why I don't have a Dad!" she said.

Caroline said down next to Lena and gave her a hug. "Oh, sweetie! I had no idea you felt that way!" she sighed. Then, she continued: "Look, Elle, your parents were a really great couple! Absolutely epic! Like, I used to look at them and wonder if I would ever find that kind of love."

"And you did, right? With Klaus?" Lena asked.

Caroline smiled. "Yes, I did. But for your parents it didn't last forever. One day, your father left and next thing I know, he was getting a divorce."

"But why?"

Caroline sighed. "Oh, I wish I could tell you, sweetie, I really do! But, the truth is, I don't know. It sounds ridiculous to me, but I actually have no idea why your parents split up the way they did. Your Mom never told me, no matter how often I asked her. I think she can't bear to talk about it. It really hurt her, losing your father."

Lena looked down, understanding her Mom's sadness. She had been away from her Dad for a while now and she missed him terribly.

"We better go down now." Caroline said.

Lena sensed this was her last chance to ask a question. "When exactly did my parents split up?"

"Hmm. About six years ago. You were four years old at that point."

Lena nodded at Caroline's answer and followed her downstairs. At least, she had received some answers.