❝𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘺, 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳.❞
Estella Delacour was a normal girl. She had her best friends, was po...
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CAROLINE stayed over that night, having no strength to return to her home.
Juliette happily let the blonde stay, hyper-focused on making Caroline as welcome as possible. All of the recent developments had caused her view on vampires to shift, one of her friends was one, and her daughter's friend was one and they seemed as functional as normal humans. She couldn't help but feel disappointment wash over her as she saw the views of Sheriff Forbes but could also partly understand her viewpoint, not that she agreed with it.
Juliette dropped Caroline off at the Salvatore boarding house, throwing her a pearly smile before making her way to the Lockwood's mansion.
Carol had invited Juliette to help with the preparations for the Masquerade Ball and of course, Estella had been roped in. The Masquerade was occasionally organised by the Lockwoods, an excuse to invite all the influential people in the area and also overseas.
Estella trapped a loud whine that wanted to escape her lips. She was not enthusiastic about spending a hot and exhausting evening sorting decorations and then actually decorating them under the supervision of Carol Lockwood, who proved to be even more demanding than Caroline - known for her perfectionism. Carol did not hold back from barking orders or bluntly pointing out any mistakes. This made the prospect of a sweaty evening even less desirable for Estella.
Estella watched as numerous people carried a handful of boxes, moving inside and outside the house. Colourful fabrics were being strung up to make ruffles, and bright fairy lights were strung outside the people while the inside was brightly lit with hundreds of candelabras in it a basic wax candle.
She watched Matt and Tyler carry a large wooden table and carefully navigate to where it was supposed to be placed, gently following them. Her heart almost leapt out of her throat when the boys almost dropped the piece of furniture, hands immediately going to the table to steady it.
She only hoped Carol hadn't seen it.
"Boys!" The small hope that flickered into her chest died. "Be careful with that! It's from the 1800s."
Her gaze flickered up to see Carol heading their way, as Jenna waved hi to her. The brunette smiled in return, nodding in greeting.
"Tyler!" Carol scolded, putting the pen she was holding behind her ear, another hand holding a list.
"Mom, we got it," Tyler said, slightly annoyed as Matt and he continued to navigate.
"Estella, honey, please make sure nothing happens to that table."
Carol's pleas were nodded to by Estella as she followed the boys, keenly observing their every move, while Tyler scoffed muttering something about 'not needing a babysitter.' Matt could only shrug at his attitude, throwing Estella an apologetic look.
Stefan moved forward. "Can I have a word?"
Estella glanced upwards in surprise, flicking her hair behind her shoulders as they kept sticking to her neck. She slowly nodded and made her way towards him.
