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❛ 𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙋𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙀𝙄𝙂𝙃𝙏𝙀𝙀𝙉 ❜ ════ ⋆★⋆ ════
Rory was halfway through cleaning up her room when she received a call from Rebekah Mikaelson. The real Rebekah Mikaelson, anyway. The girl had demanded for her to come to the school to help her clean up, considering Caroline was late and she refused to be alone cleaning up a dance that she planned yet couldn't even attend. Feeling bad, Rory decided to ditch her packing for the time being and agree to Rebekah's request. Elena barely spared Rory a glance, giving her the cold shoulder. The younger Gilbert was not happy about her twin choosing to leave town with the Original hybrid, and the betrayal was still fresh. Rory had attempted to talk to her over breakfast, but Elena could be hard-headed when she wanted to be. Rory didn't really care; if Elena was going to remain mad at her and cut off contact with her because she wanted to take some time off, then it would be her issue.
"I'm heading over to the school," Rory spoke up as she slung her bag over her shoulder. Jeremy and Elena turned to face her, seeing as they were painting Alaric's room. Jeremy raised an eyebrow in question. "Rebekah called me, said she needed help with cleaning up the party."
"Right. Forgot you're her new bestie," Elena stated as she dropped the paint roller on the newspaper, brushing off her hands.
Jeremy seemed less bitter than his sister, giving Rory a small smile. "Okay, Ro. Have fun,"
"Love you," Rory waved the two of them off as she descended the staircase. She barely spared Stefan a glance as she noticed him entering, the male giving her a surprised look.
"I thought you were leaving town," Stefan said. "For real, this time."
Rory let out a slightly irritated sigh, cocking her hip. "I am, so you don't have to worry about me any longer. I'm just heading over to the school to help Rebekah clean up. Packing up all my belongings isn't an easy thing, you know? I'm a teenage girl, after all,"
Stefan fidgeted slightly, giving her a hesitant look. "Rory, listen... about what we did to you—"
"—If you're going to apologise, save it. I'm not ready to forgive you; any one of you," Rory interjected. "You guys can say sorry all you want, but that doesn't change anything."
"I know it doesn't, and I don't expect it to. I was just... I don't know, I was worried about you. I've been in your shoes before, I know what you were going through. The bloodlust, the thirst, it completely consumes you. It eats at you until you're nothing but skin and bone, and... I just didn't want that to happen to you. I can barely remember the 1920's because I blacked out for most of it, completely consumed by my urge to feed," Stefan responded. "When I saw you, it was like looking into a mirror."
Rory looked down at her shoes, running a hand through her hair. "I know," she ended up saying. "But the way you went about it was all wrong. I'm not... like you. I'm just a girl, Stefan. A young teenage girl. You're over a hundred years old. Lexi's methods may have worked on you, but everyone's different. You really hurt me. You scared me so much that I couldn't even..." Rory trailed off, closing her eyes. She let out a breath as she stared back at him. "I struggled to even feed like a normal vampire, Stefan. If it wasn't for Klaus, I think I'd be dead."
