Always and Forever

The Past Always Catches up:

~Cassandra's Point of View~
    Edward drives the 3 of us to school this morning, and we arrive in impeccable timing because when I say this guy speeds, I mean he really really steps on the gas pedal. I'm surprised he wasn't pulled over and given a ticket. Especially if he drives like this everyday. There's no way Sheriff Forbes or at least someone on the force hasn't seen this or caught him. "Of course they have, I just charm my way out of it." He says as he opens the car door, and Bonnie steps out of the car. "You got no charm." She shoots at him, and his hands falls over his chest. "Ouch." His joking mannerism causes her to laugh and I smile. It's nice to see them getting along, and for Bonnie's mind to be anywhere but on yesterday's incident. We meet up with the girls in our usual spot. "Where's Stefan?" I ask Caroline, she knows everything about everyone, so I figure she would know. Perks of having a gossip apart of the friend group I suppose. "No idea, I haven't seen him." I take it back, no perks at all. "Me either." Elena and Aurelia chime in. Maybe he'll run a bit late, we are kind of early. When the bell rings, and Elena and I are sitting in first period during roll call I realize he isn't coming to school. He doesn't get to just leave without saying goodbye to me first, he doesn't get to just break a promise like that. Right before my name is called I stand up, grab my bag and walk out the door. "Cassandra, where are you going...Cassandra!" The teacher calls my name, but I ignore her. I'm a vampire, school is just part of the fun and make believe story line I have to give. It's not going to determine my future, make me rich, or into someone important.
    I arrive at the Salvatore estate and enter without knocking. "Stefan?" I call, without getting a response. Everything is exactly where it was the last time I was here. "Damon?" I turn the corner expecting to see him there drinking a bottle of bourbon, but no luck. I walk upstairs and glance into the many rooms, doors left open but relics and possessions are still there. It doesn't seem as if he's left yet. "Stefan?" I knock softly on his closed bedroom door. I knock another time before entering and he's nowhere in sight. "Just great." I whisper to myself as I walk over to his bed to sit down, but instead I grab ahold of an old book that was sitting on his pillow, half open with pages bent. I decide to straighten them out and tie it back shut. While doing so I notice a picture has fallen from it, I turn it over to find someone who looks identical to Elena on it. But instead it reads. "Katherine, 1864." I open the book back up knowing I shouldn't read it, but of course I do. After a few hours I find myself, sitting on the edge of the bed on the last page. He was in love with her. In love with someone Aurelia has been running from for over a decade. In love with someone who looks just like Elena Gilbert. I put the photo in my back pocket and toss his book back on the pillow. He must've recently read it, for it to be on his pillow. Recently missing her, just about the whole journal was about his time with her.
If anyone knows anything about Katherine, it would be Aurelia. I text her letting her know I'm on my way over, hopefully she's home because I'm not giving her much choice. I knock on the door once I arrive, out of respect for Natalie and Derek, if they're home. 
~Aurelia's Point of View~
As I'm drinking my morning coffee, my phone pings on the marble countertop. Cassandra's name lights up my phone asking to come over. I quickly respond to her text. Cassandra's company will keep my mind off of the events that transpired last night. The way that I'm feeling... it isn't right. I don't care that he left.
My heart truly wants to believe that, but my mind keeps contradicting everything. There's not an ounce of redemption for him, but somehow I'm taken back to his kind eyes telling me everything would be okay when everything started to go wrong with Katherine. Just thinking about Katherine makes me feel sick to my stomach, but he wants to bring her back.
I swear that no one brings me more stress than Damon. I'm about one more mental breakdown from turning it off so I can forget about everyone and everything in this town. "Aurelia?" I zone back in to see Cassandra standing right in front of me. "Helloo, is anyone home?" She waves her hands in front of my face. "When did you get here?" She obviously made herself at home, given that she didn't have a jacket on or her shoes. "Enough to see you zone out for three minutes."
She crosses her arms. "What's going on?" I shake my head. "Nothing. What was with the urgent text?" I send the question back to her. Talking about a sociopathic vampire is something I'm not trying to deal with today. "I don't believe you." She furrows her brows together. "Well, sucks to be you because I'm not talking about it." Cassandra scoffs at my stubbornness. "Well, will you talk about this?"
She places a picture on the counter top, only the actual picture is facing down. "It's the back of a photo." What does she want me to say? "Is this a therapy session? Do you want me to tell you what animal I see on the other side?" Cassandra rolls her eyes before flipping the picture; I don't even have to look at the full picture to know what it is. The handwriting itself is enough to make my heart stop. "Where did you find this?"
My eyes don't leave the small photo frame. "Stefan's room." Instantly I give her a funny look. "Do you normally just go snooping around homes that aren't yours?" She takes a seat beside me at the island. "Do you normally leave doors open for strangers to just walk into?" She snaps back. I have to give her that one. "So, why does he have this in his journal? Who is she? Why does she look like Elena?" She jumbles some of her words together from talking too fast.
Well, here we go, talking about another sociopathic vampire. "Stefan and Katherine used to have everything they could ever ask for as a couple; It was Romeo and Juliet story, without the dramatics of the ending." She frowns slightly. "Always seemed to coordinate with each other; whether it was by clothing or having a conversation. Things were bound to come to a devastating end."
Cassandra leans in, intrigued by my story telling. "She had Damon too, and Stefan knew that; which is where everything went south, and the brothers made sure that one another knew about their discrepancies with my former best friend." She knew what she was gonna do the moment she stepped on that property. "Giuseppe grew suspicious of the three spending so much time together, so he started studying their moves; whether it was the council eyeing them throughout the town, or Giuseppe himself, he had eyes everywhere in that town and outside of it."
I remember my last remaining days in Mystic Falls. Watching Damon as if it was my right. "So, what ended up happening between the three?" I shrug my shoulders. "That's something you need to ask, Stefan. I steered clear from the town when I found out that the council would be capturing vampires." I wanted to make sure that the boys were okay, but I didn't trust myself to make it out of that night alive. I just had to trust that Katherine would care about them enough to get them to safety. "So, Katherine..."
No matter how many centuries it's been, my body still tenses when I hear her name. "What was she like?" My mind starts to go between the good, the bad, and the ugly memories I shared with Katherine. "When we first met, she was the person I'd run to for everything. Then we got older, and she started to become secretive about almost everything. Once we got to the boarding house is where I truly started to see who Katherine was."
The girl lied about her name within the first five seconds of us arriving. "I still remember the day Damon walked into my room with an envelope from my family back home. She had placed it in her trunk once the mail had arrived that day." Cassandra's mouth almost drops to the floor. "She didn't want me to get homesick and leave because once I was gone she had no one to pawn off when she got caught. So, she did what she had to do, and put Damon and Stefan against each other."
I hate that I left the way that I did, but I don't regret getting away from Katherine. "That's horrible, Aurelia." She looks at me with sympathy. "There's just so much baggage that comes with her, and all of her coverups just seem to cluster in one big lie." I'm not able to even glance at the picture anymore. "I'm so sorry." She places her hand on my shoulder. "I'm here for you. I know how it is to be put in a situation where you have to choose between the person you love or your safety, and it really sucks."
For some reason Cassie being able to sympathize with me makes a tear fall from my eye. "Hey, it's okay." I shake my head to disagree with her. "For centuries I wondered what it would be like to see him again, and I expected the worst to come from it, but this... it's the worst." It's like coming home after vacation, and you're locked out. "I know the feeling." She sends me a comforting smile as I look up. "Once there was a man, and he had the most charming personality; he could honestly charm a frog if need be."
She looks out the window as she describes him. "I'd fallen madly for him; maybe a bit quicker than I should've, but he meant the world to me." A small smile falls onto her face. "I imagined so much more for us than what time was willing to lend us." The way she lights up when talking about him is almost as bright when she's in the room with Stefan. "What happened?" She heavily sighs before looking back at me. "His brother and I didn't exactly see eye to eye, and while trying to get rid of me... he killed my best friend."
I could never imagine being so mad at someone that I would kill their best friend. "I knew at that moment, it was either my life or staying with the person I love... loved." She corrects herself. "What would you do if you had another chance to make things right?" She shrugs. "He's always going to be a part of me, but I have to move on. Sometimes it's the best thing to do." She's right. It's selfish of me to hold onto the version I have of Damon in my head. It's been centuries and people change; some for the worse, and some for the best. "Thank you." She hugs me. "Of course, Lia."
She smiles. "You know, we're a lot more similar than I thought." I laugh along with her. "All because of a little trauma bonding."
~Cassandra's Point of View~
I'm not going to lie, talking to Aurelia about this stuff was a lot more helpful than I ever imagined. I question how come we've never talked like this before. I thank her for opening up to me, and allowing me to do the same before leaving her house. I haven't spoken about Eljiah Mikealson in decades,  but I'd be lying if I said he hasn't crossed my mind a few times between then and now. If I allow my mind to wander for too long, I'll find myself longing for my first lover. I learned to block it all out, long ago.  He was who I thought would be my kindred spirit, always perfectly intertwined with my own. His choice to stay with his brother, to defend him proved me wrong. But ever since I haven't met anyone else like him. Loving Stefan has been a curse in disguise much like the lie between Elijah and I. It's a childish notion to think love can last as long as I can, and I'm old enough that you would think I wouldn't be one to fall for fairytales.
TEXT MESSAGES:
From: My Favorite
Hey where are you? Elena said you just bailed.
Me:
I just went out for a bit, I'll be back in time for lunch I promise.