Love In Shadows

26. Alaric and Josette

It's been one month after Sean's death and things were getting back to place. My nightmares started to decrease over time. I was feeling better, free. Summer treated us well if we don't talk about Stefan and Damon's mother's tantrums. She wanted her "family" back.

It breaks my heart, knowing that Lily doesn't acknowledge Stefan and Damon as her family anymore.

I don't know why but Lily had a soft spot for me. Her eyes always get unhappy whenever she calls out my name. She always strokes my head as if she is my mother. She would tell me about Stefan's and Damon's childhood incidents when she is not throwing her tantrum at the brothers.

It was six in the morning. Sunlight was trailing down from my curtains to my apartment. What a pleasant start to the day. I played some nice music on my phone while having a shower. It was fun. Soon, I got ready as the bread popped out from the toaster. Sometimes I get suspicious when the day gets too perfect.

"Okay! let's do it, Sam!" I motivated myself and got out of my apartment after having breakfast. My drive was a regular fifteen minutes from the college where I met Tyler and Liv, as usual, waiting for me near the parking lot.

"Hey, Lovebirds!" I teased as I got out of my car. The couple grinned whilst approaching me. "Never misses a chance to pick up on us, do you?", Tyler chuckled. I shook my head whilst giggling. Liv draped her hand on my shoulder as we walked inside the building.

"Have you heard about Mr. Johnson's class? They are going to Greece in the name of an academic excursion. He is so cool!", Tyler chimed and made a pouty face.

"Only if Mr. Saltzman was this cool!", Liv trailed off with the same vibe as Tyler. I looked between both of them. How they can be so alike? "Guess we are not that lucky.", I muttered awkwardly.

We talked about many things after that to divert our minds from this news until Liv glanced at her phone. Her eyes widened for a moment before she looked at us. "Hey, is everything alright?", I asked.

"Sam, Caroline is calling us in the Whitmore Hospital, right now!", She orated.

"Is something wrong?", Tyler mumbled, placing one hand on her shoulder.

"I don't know. I guess, I have to find it out myself.", She replied and held my hand to take me to the hospital. We dashed across the campus to reach the hospital where we saw Elena, Caroline, and Bonnie with a very worried expressions.

"Caroline, What happened?", I asked whilst panting. She reached towards me and held my shoulders. Her frown suddenly turned into a smile, followed by a fit of laughter.

Liv was standing there, dumbfounded by what is happening. Now, it was I who held her shoulders and shake her. "You alright?", I asked, feeling secondhand embarrassment due to the loud laughter of the trio in a place like a hospital.

Josette, Alaric's girlfriend joined us with a wide smile. We didn't have any connection with each other, except mutually. I noticed that her eyes flickered at me before looking at everyone. "Guys, What is happening?", Liv asked once again with a half smile.

"You guys should have seen your face!", Bonnie said after wiping one stray tear from her eyes. Josette chuckled a bit and looked at me.

"Hello, Dr. Laughlin." I greeted, avoiding being stuck in an awkward situation.

"Hey, Samantha! And please, You can call me Jo." She replied with a kind smile. Liv shuffled in her place and crossed her arms against her chest. "Okay, What is it now?", She spoke, a bit desperately.

She lifted her right hand and showed off her diamond ring to us. This time, our whole mob of girls squealed in joy, without caring if we were going to scare someone or not. It was Caroline who hopped on her toes and almost lunged at Josette to hug her until Elena held her back.