Fix You

Chapter 11

I slide from the car and immediately feel Damon's angry confused stare on me, ignoring Kol on my heels. I don't even make it to the actual party before Damon has his hand around my wrist pulling me away from the crowd.
"I thought you weren't talking to me." I state dryly as I look at my brother, arms crossed over my chest.
"What are you trying to prove here?" He asks, clearly frustrated.
"I don't think I understand what you mean." I respond, genuinely confused.
"You aren't stupid, Serena. What are you doing hanging around the Mikaelsons all the time? Are you trying to prove you can take care of yourself? Drive me insane worrying about you?" He asks, in an angry whisper. I blink at him a few times.
"This... this isn't about you, Damon. I can have friends."
"Not the Mikaelsons. They aren't your friends. They're going to use you and then toss you aside once you've served your purpose." He insists and I roll my eyes.
"That's awfully judgmental, Damon. I think we're amongst the last people who get to judge anyone." I whisper back at him, just as angry.
"We can judge them. They're bad news." He says and I bite my tongue hard.
"Like how I told you Katherine was bad news and that ended up getting all of us killed?" I snap and he locks his jaw in anger.
"That was different. You were a kid, you didn't know anything." He says and I laugh darkly.
"Just like how you think I'm a kid now, who doesn't know anything? I'm just sooo naive for blindly trusting Niklaus? He was there for me when you weren't." I remind him and he rolls his eyes.
"You walked away too, Serena." He says and a lump forms in my throat.
"I didn't walk away, Damon. The last thing I wanted was to walk away. But you will never understand why I had to go. He gave you and Stefan the easy way out. I was never awarded that comfort." I say, my voice shaking, threatening tears. Before Damon can respond, there's a clinking of a glass signaling that we should all gather. I turn quickly and slide into the foyer, back pressed against a wall. Elijah begins some speech, but I don't hear him. I've picked a random piece of wall and just stare like I could escape this body and be someone else for a moment. My hands feel like they're phantoms, and my feet feel like they're pressed against a hard concrete floor.
"Serena?" A voice says, startling me completely. I whip around to see Kol standing next to me, the briefest flash of concern in his eyes. I glance around to see the emptying out towards their ballroom.
"I came to ask you if you'd be my partner for the waltz." He says, studying me.
"Of course." I answer almost robotically as I let him lead me into the ballroom. Almost immediately the music picks up and we're dancing.
"What happened?" He asks and we dance and I plaster a smile on my face.
"Nothing that you should be concerned with. It's a family matter." I say dismissively and then the partner swap happens and I'm shuffled into the hands of my other brother, Stefan.
"What did you say to Damon to piss him off?" He asks and I roll my eyes.
"What haven't I said to Damon to piss him off recently? I can't seem to do anything right as of right now." I answer keeping my voice as level as I can. I've always hated fighting with my brothers.
"He's apparently upset that I've made friends with the Mikaelsons." I answer after a moment.
"He's not wrong." Stefan says and I raise my eyebrows at him.
"That's rich, coming from you of all people." I say and then the next switch happens, ferrying me to none other than Niklaus himself.
"If it isn't the man of the hour." I say and he barely refrains from rolling his eyes.
"You're not causing trouble, are you?" He asks and I can't help but to laugh.
"Niklaus, you should know by now that wherever I go trouble is right behind." I answer and he shakes his head almost playfully.  The music finally tapers off as a glass of champagne is shoved rather forcefully into my hands. Elijah stands at the head of the crowd, by the band, champagne flute head high.
"To family and our new friends." He says and the crowd cheers, I take a sip from the champagne and scan the crowd unable to not search for my brothers. The crowd is massive, and I start to feel the cold fingers of panic grip me. I throw back the last of my champagne as politely as I can before handing it off to someone carrying a tray of empty glasses. My first instinct is to get out of this room before I start clawing my skin off.

I slip away from Niklaus, as barely make it out the door and into the cool night air. I walk slowly around the side of the house, noting Caroline in the distance by the horse drawn carriage. I hang back, more than aware of Niklaus' infatuation with her, and her assumption that Niklaus and I are an item. Instead, I turn and head away from her, Wally by myself.  I can feel eyes on me as I walk, and suddenly the crowd doesn't seem like the worst thing in the world.

I gingerly pick up the hem of my dress, intent on hurrying back inside and maybe finding a room to hide away in. I duck inside the house, and away from the ballroom.

I find myself in a room a few doors down from the party, with a beautiful old grand piano in it. I run my fingertips along the curve of it, missing how music felt. But my days of singing are long, long behind me. I'm no longer the dutiful Christian daughter singing in the church choir hoping to finally win her father's praise. Instead I'm an almost two hundred year old abomination in the eyes of that very man.

"Do you play?" Kol asks, from his position of nonchalantly leaning in the doorway. I bite back a snide remark about him following me, seeing as it is his house.
"Not anymore." I reply dully, hoping that I can bore him away from me.
"The only songs I know are hymns." I lie, as I move to the other side of the piano, intent on keeping it between us.
"You were a choir girl?" He asks and I shrug.
"It was the only time my asshole of a father was anything close to proud of me." I reply and he looks at me quizzically again.
"I can't seem to figure you out, Serena. One minute you're keeping me at more than an arms length, like you're afraid to let me in. The next your divulging tiny little details of your life that keep me wondering." He says with a shake of his head.
"Truthfully, I don't even know why I told you that myself. Of course, you could ask Damon and he'd give you the full run down of exactly the type of man our father was. But he's not really fond of any of you." I say with an unbothered wave of my hand.
"You should probably head back to your party." I say after a long moment's silence.
"I'm pretty sure it's considered rude for one of the hosts to hide away all night." I say and he smirks.
"Isn't it also rude for a guest to hide as well?" He asks and I shake my head.
"Your siblings all know that it's nothing short of a miracle that I've lasted this long still in the building." I say with a laugh.
"But I suppose I shouldn't give my brothers any more reason to try and track me down." I say as I step around the piano and follow Kol out. We step from the room, and I lock eyes with Elena Gilbert, who looks me up and down before darting back into the ballroom.
"She's probably off to report to my brothers that I was alone with you." I say in a bored tone as I walk ahead of Kol, taking the chance to get lost in the crowd.