gilbert boy ▪ tvd [completed]

|e i g h t|

Charlie was peacefully playing on his piano until Elena waltzed into his room and walked straight toward his closet. He rose an eyebrow as she pushed things aside, inspecting them as she looked for something. "Having trouble, Elena? Perhaps you need help finding something in my closet?" 

"Nope," She smirked before she turned and tossed a pair of slacks and a dress shirt onto his perfectly made bed, raising an eyebrow at him expectantly. "Get dressed." 

His eyebrows furrowed as he stood up from his keyboard and came closer to inspect the clothes she had laid out before he disappeared back into his closet. "What's the occasion?" He called back as he looked through a few of his shirts. 

"The luncheon. I thought you needed to get out a bit more--talk to a few of the locals. You need to mingle, so nobody asks any questions." She explained before watching him walk out of his closet in black dress pants and a nice dark gray button-up that hugged his defined muscles. She shook her head slightly, grinning as he adjusted his cufflinks. 

"That was a little too casual for me." He motioned to the outfit she had picked. "And I don't particularly remember anyone in this town, Elena." He chuckled as he grabbed his phone, following after his sister, who was dressed in a pretty purple dress. 

"That's the point of going to the luncheon." She pointed out as they walked down the stairs together. "This might help you jog your memory. You said you started to remember things when you spent more time with them." 

"No, I distinctly remember telling you that Caroline was a lovely girl and that I remember teaching her to dance on my feet," He explained before raising an eyebrow. "And you know that people are going to ask questions anyway--and stare at me like I'm a dead man walking." 

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Elena and Stefan entered the Mayor's home first before Charlie entered closely after the two. He looked around, ignoring the way everyone's eyes seemed to be drawn to him. He had to resist the urge to roll his eyes at the stereotype of small towns; gossip truly did spread like wildfire. 

Elena turned and pressed her hand to Charlie's inner elbow to get his attention. When his head turned in her direction, she could see the annoyance his body seemed to convey. "They're going to stare, Charlie. It really is a miracle that you came home." She smiled slightly. 

"Well, it doesn't make it any less annoying." He scoffed under his breath before he grabbed a glass of champagne off the tray of a passing waiter. He noticed Stefan and Elena's unimpressed expressions, and he sent them a grin. "I'm over the age to drink, mom and dad." 

"Are you sure you should be drinking here?" Elena asked, tilting her head. 

Charlie sighed as he sipped his champagne. "Elena, I am a legal adult, and I know how to hold my alcohol." He looked around, a few paintings catching his eye. "I'm going to mingle like you asked, alright? Come find me when you need me." He escaped his sister before she could interrogate him further, disappearing into the crowd of people. 

"Am I being overbearing?" Elena asked, sighing as she watched her brother leave. 

Stefan chuckled slightly as he wrapped his arms around his girlfriend, pressing his chin to her head. "I think you're just trying to take care of him. You need to give him a little space; you have to remember he's been on his own for almost five years." 

Elena nodded before she looked up at him, smiling happily. "I love you." 

He smiled and pecked her lips. "I love you too." 

Charlie was stopped by a few townspeople who greeted him and asked him a few questions to which he kept his answer vague. They seemed to make people happy because, after a little while, he managed to escape the crowd and found a quiet hallway where he was finally able to breathe properly.