Tangled Fate

Daddy Issues

April 1, 2010

It was barely morning when Louise returned from the Salvatore boarding house, her mind heavy and her body aching for a shower. She had planned for a quick change of clothes before heading back, but she was halted in her tracks by the unwelcome sight of John Gilbert.

She let out a low, guttural groan. "What are you doing here?"

"Coffee?" John offered her as she headed into the kitchen. Louise ignored him entirely. "You're giving me the silent treatment?"

"I asked you a question," Louise pointed out sharply. She hadn't played nice with her biological father the last time they spoke, and she saw no reason to start now.

"Stefan couldn't get a hold of Isobel, so he got the next best thing," John said.

Louise snorted. "The next best thing would have been Vivienne and Katherine." She felt a flicker of satisfaction seeing the insult land. After his attempt to kill Damon and his repeated refusals to help them, John was far enough down the rungs of her respect for her to be blunt. Her attention flickered to the television, where Carol Lockwood was discussing a memorial in the town square.

Just then, Elena stormed into the kitchen, her expression mirroring Louise's irritation.

"Morning," John greeted. He reached out and clicked the television off, muttering something about the news being depressing.

"What are you doing here?" Elena demanded, her voice flat and moody.

"Coffee?" he offered again, recycling the same deflection.

"I think you should practice the art of a subtle subject change," Louise muttered. John shot her a look, but she merely rolled her eyes.

Elena shook her head, refusing to be swayed. "We're not doing this. We did the avoiding thing last night. Why are you here?"

"I'm here to protect you. Both of you." John stated. "That's all I can say right now."

The twins responded in unison, their voices overlapping in shared outrage.

"Right now?" Louise snapped.
"What do you mean that's all you can say?" Elena demanded.

"I'll tell you more when I'm convinced I can trust you."

Louise was floored by the audacity of John Gilbert, of all people, calling them untrustworthy. Before she could tear into him, Jenna and Alaric entered the room. They both stopped dead, their faces twisting into expressions of pure shock.

"What the hell?" Jenna blurted out at the sight of her hated brother-in-law.

"Good morning to you, Jenna." John's eyes flickered towards Alaric who looked uncomfortable with the given situation. "Alaric..."

"It's okay I'm confused, right?" Jenna asked as her eyes bounced between her two nieces. "Because we were not expecting you, like, ever." Jenna's rambling was starting to sound identical to Elena's the night before.

"Well, I got in late last night." John responded with a slight shrug of his shoulders as if that would sooth Jenna. "Elena let me in."

Alaric nudged a gaping Jenna, his eyes fixed on the exit. "You know, I'm uh, probably just gonna take off." He began to edge out of the kitchen, clearly wanting no part of the impending explosion.

"I'm still confused here." Jenna stated, looking around at everyone in the room for answers.

"I decided to come back and stay for a while." John said, making no move to explain himself.