𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘆 - 𝙠𝙡𝙖𝙪𝙨 𝙢𝙞𝙠𝙖𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙤𝙣

⋆ introduction ⋆

Athena Gilbert was seen as the baby of the family, even though she was older than Jeremy by a year. The girl had an innocence about her that made everyone around her want to protect her.

As soon as Jeremy was old enough to walk he was attached to Athena's side. The two were similar and could connect in ways that they couldn't with Elena. The older sister taking on a more strict role with the two who were always getting into trouble.

While Elena tried to distance herself from her annoying and immature siblings, Jeremy took to protecting Athena from anyone who was mean to her or more importantly, anyone interested in her, especially Tyler Lockwood, who'd had a crush on the girl since elementary school.

The Gilbert family was far from perfect, like any family they had their fights, but at the end of the day they all loved each other and would do anything for one another.

So while Athena couldn't say she was living the dream life, she was definitely content with where she was at. As long as she had her family and her friends nothing could harm her.

Nothing but the fatal accident that killed Grayson and Miranda Gilbert.

This accident left the three siblings broken beyond repair.

Each of them had their own way of dealing with their parents deaths.

Elena dealt with it by retreating into herself. She was no longer the happy, bubbly girl that everyone at school wanted to be. Elena withdrew from all social life barely even talking to her closest friends. The only thing that seemed to help the girl was writing in her diary.

Jeremy on the other hand turned to the social life and parties provided by the older teens of Mystic Falls. There he began experimenting with drugs and alcohol and learned that he liked them. They made his problems go away.

Much like her brother, Athena as well, turned to the comfort of drugs and alcohol. She became the life of the party, experimenting with all types of drugs unlike Jeremy who mostly stuck to weed. Athena's partying led to her developing a cocaine addiction. She became irritable and reckless, and was hardly ever at home during the first month of summer vacation.

Jenna not knowing how to parent three teenagers let them have their space figuring that their new found attitudes and behaviors were simply because they were grieving. She noticed Athena's odd behavior, knowing it wasn't normal for her to snap at Jeremy or stay out late without letting anyone know where she was.

It wasn't until Jenna actually walked in on Athena snorting a line of cocaine off of the bathroom counter that she finally understood the teen's new behavior.

The woman obviously wanted to get her niece help so she thought the best option would be sending her to rehab.

Athena naturally, wanted nothing to do with the idea but after convincing from both Jenna and Jeremy that this would help her feel better, she agreed.

As much as Athena liked how the drugs made her feel, they didn't get rid of her pain. They only numbed it for a few hours and then she went right back to feeling like there was a gaping hole in her heart.

Athena didn't want to be a drug addict for the rest of her life, nor did she want to continue to be a bad influence on Jeremy. She knew he wasn't doing hard stuff yet but it was only a matter of time before that transition happened.

So she spent eight months working on herself.

Athena wasn't completely cured but she no longer had any desire to touch drugs. She knew it was going to be difficult being back in the town that reminded her so much of her parents but with her new found coping skills and the help of her family, she felt like she had a chance at being normal again.

Hopefully the supernatural wouldn't ruin all of her progress.