Love Sucks | The Vampire Diaries

Talking

*Third Person's P.O.V.*
        "Where did Vicki say she was going?" Sheriff Forbes asked the teenager in front of her the next day, and Annabelle shook her head.
        "She didn't," she said, the lie coming out of her mouth quite easily. After spending the entire summer lying to everyone, saying that she was fine, she had gotten quite good at lying.
        "Do you know if she told her brother where she was going?" the sheriff asked, and Annabelle shook her head again.
        "No, I don't think so. All I know is that she told Jeremy that she was leaving town,"
        "I was told that Stefan also got involved with Vicki," Liz said. 'Because your sister asked him to,"
        "Elena did ask Stefan to help, that's true," Annabelle nodded, this time actually telling the truth, "She was worried about Jeremy since he was hanging around Vicki so often and she's a drug user," she spoke, nearly stuttering on the present tense.
        "Did Vicki show any signs of aggression or violence?"
        "No," Annabelle shook her head, clenching her hand in a fist so that it wouldn't travel up to her shoulder where she could still remember Vicki's fangs penetrating her flesh.
        "So you believe Vicki really has left town?" Liz asked, and Annabelle took in a deep, unnoticeable breath, before nodding.
        "Yes,"
        "Alright," Liz finally nodded after a moment of silence, before giving Annabelle a small smile, "You may go now," she said, and Annabelle nodded, forcing herself to give her a small smile before quickly standing up and leaving the sheriff's office.
        "Hey," Jenna stood up from where she was sitting in the waiting area, Elena and Jeremy following. "You ready to go?"
        "Yeah," Annabelle nodded, before halting as the other three proceeded to leave the station. "Actually, you know what? Why don't you guys go ahead? I'm just gonna use the bathroom,"
        "You sure? We can wait," Jenna suggested, a worried glint in her eyes, but Annabelle just shook her head with a reassuring smile.
        "I'm sure. You can wait in the car," she said, and Jenna eventually nodded before proceeded to walk out of the station, Jeremy and Elena following suit. As soon as they completely turned around, Annabelle rushed to the bathroom that was only a few steps away, and locked the door behind her before leaning on the sink, her hands clenching on the edge. She drew in a deep, shaky breath as she closed her eyes, trying to keep her emotions in check, but her eyes snapped open as the water suddenly started to rush from the tap.
        Annabelle jumped back slightly in shock, before sighing heavily as she closed her eyes briefly. Not only did she have to deal with vampires, her siblings, and the fact that Vicki is actually dead but no one except for her and Elena (and Stefan and Damon, of course) knows, but now she also had to deal with her... powers, or... magic. Whatever it is.
        She quickly started to concentrate, trying to do the same with the water as she did with the flame the night before, except this time she imagined the water slowly coming to a stop, and concentrated on the silence that was supposed to follow. After a few seconds, she finally heard the water stop, and opened her eyes, only to see no more water rushing from the tap. Sighing, Annabelle looked down at her hands, not knowing how to handle everything that's been happening lately. Her biggest fear right now... was losing control and... maybe exploding something, or doing God knows what once she loses control of her... powers.
        Taking in another deep breath, Annabelle closed her eyes briefly and breathed out before opening her eyes and stepping out of the bathroom. She walked through the station as quickly as she could while not raising any suspicion, sighing in relief once she made it outside. She quickly walked down the stairs, before stopping as she saw a familiar figure standing in front of her, his back turned towards her.
        "Stefan?" she spoke up, and the figure turned around.
        "Hey," he gave her a small smile, though Annabelle could see the pain in his eyes, which made her wonder just what happened. "Are you okay?"
        "I feel like I should be asking you that," she chuckled weakly, and Stefan couldn't help but let out a small chuckle himself. "I'm fine. I don't think the sheriff is suspecting anything, so... for now, I think you're safe,"
        "Thank you," Stefan gave her an earnest nod, his eyes shining with sincerity and gratitude.
        "You don't have to thank me," Annabelle shook her head lightly, before looking off to the side. "I don't think I would ever be able to tell the truth, anyway,"
        "Why not?" Stefan asked, his voice genuinely curious.
        "Because if I did... I don't know," she chuckled weakly, not knowing how to say what was going on in her head at the moment, but Stefan waited patiently, allowing her to gather her thoughts, "Ever since my parents died, I feel like... I feel like if I don't talk about it, then it's a lot easier to cope with, because then... I just don't think about it. But if someone asked me to talk about how I'm feeling about my parents' death, about Vicki... I don't think I would be able to handle talking about it. Because then... all the memories just come rushing back... And I feel like I have to relive it all over again," she said, surprising even herself with her honesty. She didn't understand why she trusted Stefan so easily, but it all became a lot clearer when all he did was nod in understanding.
        "I understand," he said, and Annabelle gave him a small smile, though it clearly betrayed that she didn't fully believe him, "Really, I do," he said, also noticing it, and she gave him a slightly bigger smile before giving him an apologetic one.
        "I should go," she said, and Stefan nodded in understanding before stepping out of her way so that she could pass, "Hey," Annabelle suddenly halted, turning around to look at him with slight worry showing in her eyes, "Are you okay?"
        "I will be," Stefan answered after a moment of silence before giving her a small smile, and she returned it after a few seconds before giving him a small wave and proceeding to walk over to Jenna's car, where the strawberry blonde and the two Gilberts were waiting.
*2 Hours Later*
        Annabelle walked down the stairs and into the kitchen, halting in surprise as she saw her brother sitting by the table, actually looking like he was working on something.
        "You're wallowing," she heard from the living room, and turned her head, only to see Jenna slumping down on the couch beside Elena, who was, indeed, wallowing.
        "So are you," Elena retorted.
        "My wallow is legitimate," Jenna stated. "I was dumped,"
        "Yeah, well, Logan's a jerk," Annabelle spoke up from the kitchen, opening the refrigerator and taking out a carton of milk.
        "You didn't get a brushoff e-mail saying, 'I'm leaving town... See ya.'," Jenna said grumpily as she turned her head to look at Annabelle, who took out a glass from the cabinet above her head.
        "Wanna keep it down a bit?" Jeremy spoke up from where he was sitting at the table, his voice filled with annoyance.
        "Why? What are you doing?" Jenna asked, turning fully around on the couch and resting her arm on the back of it.
        "Homework,"
        "Since when do you do homework?" Annabelle couldn't help but ask, placing the milk down on the counter as she turned around to look at her little brother, her brows furrowed.
        "I gotta finish this, I'm way behind, and I have a quiz tomorrow, so..." Jeremy trailed off pointedly, while the three young women stared at him.
        "What do you guys think? Alien?" Elena asked.
        "Some sort of replicant," Jenna responded, their eyes still on Jeremy, while Annabelle watched with an amused expression on her face.
        "He can hear you," Jeremy said, clearly annoyed, giving the two a sarcastic smile, and Annabelle couldn't help but chuckle as she reached out to ruffle his hair, her smile growing when she swatted her hand away playfully but smiled all the same.
        The smile stayed on Annabelle's face, but on the inside... she didn't know what to do anymore. What the hell has Damon done to my brother?