"Stefan and I kissed." Aurelia stated to Caroline through the phone. "God, why do we keep kissing each other?! We just went back to being friends!"

"You said it was a birthday gift. Are you sure it wasn't just a one-time thing?"

"I don't know. As much as I pretend to know about modern-world concepts, I don't understand them. So, please tell me what a birthday gift kiss means, Care."

"Maybe he just wanted to give you a good gift. I mean, I'd want a gift like that."

"So, you're trying to say that we can still be friends?" She asked, hearing a hum on the other end.

"Look, if he's gonna act differently, kick his ass. He made the move."

"You do have a point." She said. "Okay, whatever." She said. "What about you? What's up?"

"Stress-cleaning." Aurelia frowned.

"And why is that?"

"Boy drama, you know, w-with, um, T-Tyler being back and all. Okay, I gotta go."

"Love you." She said. "Bye."

"Love you more." She ended the call, walking into the living room. However, she made a face, unable to find anyone. She walked out, before seeing that the door to the basement was open.

She sighed, going towards the basement, when Stefan emerged from it. She jumped at his sudden appearance, but smiled nonetheless. "Good Morning." She said.

"Hey." He said. "I just got off the phone with Caroline."

"What were you talking about?" She asked.

"Well, we were talking about Damon, and how he and Elena breaking up was bad for him. He also hid Katherine's body 'where it belonged' in the process. When I convinced him that he was an idiot for breaking up with Elena, he went ahead to mope around upstairs." He explained. "And then, we went to the topic of where Elena was."

"Isn't she on campus?" She asked. He shook her head. "Okay, so she just disappeared." She pressed her lips together. "Goodie."

"And now, I think we all should go to the Grill, because Caroline is coming." Aurelia smiled. "So, come on."

!

"Come on. Katherine is exactly where she always belonged." Damon said, taking a drink as Aurelia looked at Stefan in triumph. "I'm not giving her body back."

"Told you so." She said, finishing her glass. "One more, because I haven't had this much to drink." Stefan sighed, taking her glass.

"Quit making that damn pouty face." Damon said. Stefan looked up at him.

"I'm not giving you the pouty face. This is my 'you're being a dick face'." Aurelia stifled a laugh. "Elena hasn't called you back. It's making you completely miserable."

"Yeah." Damon said. "I'm completely miserable." Aurelia looked at him, shocked.

"Come on, Damon, I had 5 bucks on you." She said. Stefan smiled.

"And now, you owe me." He told her. She huffed, taking out some money from her pockets.

"There."

"That's 4." She frowned.

"That's 5." She said. He shook his head, holding up the notes. "Yeah, it's 5. No, actually, it's 8." She said, tilting her head in confusion. He kept down the notes, before taking her glass.

"You're drunk." He said. "And cut off." She pouted, as he looked at Damon. "Why are you giving me the pouty face now?"

"It's your fault for telling me to get her back." He said.

"No. You're miserable because you did what you always do... you had a problem and instead of dealing with it, you cut ties and ran." Stefan said.

"You're enjoying this a little too much." Damon said.

"Okay. So, Bonnie took Jeremy to visit her mom and neither of them have spoken to Elena." Caroline said, walking up to them. Aurelia grinned.

"Caroline! You're here!" She said. Caroline rolled her eyes, glaring at the brothers.

"Did you actually get her drunk?"

"Who invited you?" Damon asked. "Scram."

"I invited her." Stefan said. "She's gonna help you get Elena back."

"You?" Damon asked, looking at Caroline. "You hate me! You once told me that calling me Satan was an insult to Satan." Aurelia laughed.

"Well... nobody is perfect." Caroline said.

"Mmhmm." Damon said, looking between Stefan and Aurelia. "So, this is what it's come to? You bring me love advice from Prudy Trudy?"

"I can be predictable and incredibly reckless." Caroline defended.

"What's going on here?" Damon asked. "Are you guys babysitting me?"

"We're just hanging out... chatting." Stefan said. "Besides, if we're babysitting anyone, it's Aurelia."

"Yay." Aurelia said.

"I don't need this." Damon said. "I don't need your help." He walked off, leaving the two blonde vampires and the younger Salvatore brother to talk.

"Oh, I guess we better try Elena again, while sobering her up." Stefan said, glancing at Aurelia.

!

"So, what was the point of sobering me up if we're just gonna get drunk again?" Aurelia asked, folding her arms as she stopped walking to the Lockwood Mansion. Stefan turned around.

"We're not gonna get drunk." He said. "We've been invited to Tyler's welcome back party, and like the good friends we are, we're gonna go."

"What if I don't like him very much?" Stefan raised an eyebrow. "Look, I'm mad at him for ditching Caroline to kill Klaus. Like who ever did that?" She asked.

"I feel like this is a jab at me for ditching Elena to kill Klaus." He said. She gave him a meek smile of embarrassment. He patted her back, pulling her to come with him. "Caroline's gonna meet us there."

"Good." She said, smiling. However, right before she was about to walk into the house, Stefan held her back. She frowned. "What?" He looked at her, before placing his hand on the invisible barrier. "Right, Matt owns this place, and I've never been invited in." She said. "Sweet."

"Hey guys." Matt said, walking to them. "Come on in." The two shared a smile and obliged.

!

"Thank you." Aurelia said, grinning as Stefan handed her a plastic cup of beer. "This will definitely not get me drunk."

"Good for the both of us, then." He said, as she took a sip. "So, I didn't mention one thing during my call with Caroline in the morning." Aurelia raised an eyebrow. "You told her I kissed you."

"I did, because she's my sister and I tell her everything." She said. "And she tells me everything."

"Anyway, I hope you weren't uncomfortable... or anything—" Aurelia shook her head, swallowing her beer.

"Nope. I was okay with it." She said. "I, uh, still don't understand why you did it. I'd really like to know, otherwise I'll think I'm just a rebound for Katherine, or Elena, or whomever."

"No, you're not." He said. "There's no way you ever will be one." He continued. "I just remembered what happened in 1863, and then my first thought was to do it again. It just... seemed... right."

"Full circle, right?" She asked. "I hope you were fine with it." She said, trying to clear up the awkward air.

"I was, totally." He answered. "It was good, it was good." He said, looking at her. She kept her empty cup on the table.

"Good." She finally said, at the two continued to look as each other for several seconds. Slowly, smiles crept up to their faces, and then, it happened.

They burst out laughing as if their lives depended on it. Aurelia fell into Stefan; she was laughing that hard.

!

"Hey!" Aurelia turned her head to spot Elena walking towards them.

"Elena, you're alive." Stefan said.

"Of course, I'm alive." Elena said, as Aurelia slightly frowned, noticing something off about her. She glanced at Stefan, who returned the same look. "Wow, Stefan Salvatore is drinking beer from a cup." She said, not exactly acknowledging Aurelia's presence. "Do you want me to show where Tyler keeps the bourbon?" Stefan shook his head.

"No, we're trying to keep off the hard stuff." He said.

"So, where exactly have you been?" Aurelia asked. "Caroline was gonna send out a search party for you."

"I've been around. Thinking...processing, trying to figure out how to deal with this whole Damon thing." She answered.

"You do know that he made a mistake, right?" Aurelia asked. "He really does want you back."

"Yup, yup, he does." Stefan said. Elena looked at him, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Hang on, isn't this a little weird for you?" She asked. Aurelia then took Stefan's cup, throwing a smile at the two.

"And that's my cue." She said, before leaving.

!

"Hello." Aurelia said, finding Caroline in the crowd of people. "Why are you doing this?" She asked, observing how she was restocking the drinks.

"Because they're gonna start fighting if I don't." Caroline answered. "What brings you away from Stefan?" Aurelia turned her head to look at Stefan and Elena talking in the distance. Caroline followed her gaze, before sighing. "Oh."

"Hey, I feel like something's off about her." Aurelia said, turning back to face her sister. "Maybe that just me not completely sober yet." She mumbled.

"Maybe." Caroline said. "Hey, are you mad at her?"

"What? No." She said. "They just started talking about how it would be awkward for Stefan to talk about Elena and Damon's relationship."

"Isn't Stefan over it or something?" Caroline asked. Aurelia shrugged.

"And like I said, there's something different about her." She repeated. "So, I just don't wanna talk to her for now."

"Um—"

"I'll just spend the night with my loving sister." She said.

"Aurelia, I've being calling and texting her to meet me." Aurelia groaned. "The good news is: she isn't there talking to Stefan anymore." Aurelia turned around. "If you wanna avoid her, then avoid me for some time. I'll be fine with it." Aurelia looked back at her.

"You sure?" She asked. Caroline nodded, before giving her a light hug. "Okay, bye." She said, walking back to Stefan, who instantly spotted her.

"Hey, you're back." He said. "Why did you have to go? The conversation got pretty awkward after that." Aurelia pointing at him as he said those words.

"It was awkward enough for me." She said. "What did she say?"

"Well, she asked how I was about Katherine dying." Aurelia nodded slowly. "And then she told me to be honest about it. She then thought to throw Katherine a funeral." Aurelia made a face.

"Why Elena Gilbert of all the people in the world?" She asked.

"Exactly. I told her what Damon told me. He took her where she was always meant to be." Aurelia looked elsewhere, frowning as she figured out what he was talking about.

The two began to walk around the large house, talking about nothing in particular. They walked up the stairs, roaming around on the second floor due to it being less crowded.

However, as soon as they heard the sound of glass breaking, Aurelia decided to investigate where the noise came from. "It's probably drunk people." Stefan said. Aurelia shook her head, before handing him her cup. She walked to the study, opening the door.

"I SAID LEAVE!" She jumped at the sound of Tyler's loud voice. She walked into the room, spotting Caroline looking at Tyler in fear. She turned to look at the hybrid, only to see amber eyes and fangs, the typical face transformation she had seen on Klaus.

Caroline took a step back, and Tyler lunged at her. "Caroline!" Aurelia exclaimed, throwing herself in front of her sister. She held in a shriek as Tyler bit her arm, falling to the ground as Stefan grabbed Tyler and pinned him against the wall opposite to the girls.

"Aurelia!" Stefan shouted, as Tyler returned to his normal state. The vampire turned to face the hybrid, the latter fighting against the grip of the former as Caroline aided Aurelia. "What the hell have you done to her?!"

"Nothing." Aurelia answered, holding up her healing forearm. All vampires in the room looked at her in shock. "Werewolf bites don't affect me, because I can just siphon them away." She said, standing up. "So, Tyler, do you wanna tell me what the hell is wrong with you?!" She exclaimed. "Before I claw your damn eyes out for trying to kill my sister?!"

"You don't know?" He asked, looking between Stefan and her. "She screwed Klaus." Stefan looked at Caroline in disbelief, while Aurelia did so in surprise. Caroline looked down in shame, before quickly leaving the room.

The heretic and the 164-year-old shared a look, before Stefan looked back at Tyler and punched him across the face. "Drunk or not, Ty, she doesn't deserve what you just did." Aurelia said. "She doesn't deserve anything you did do her in the name of Klaus."

!

"Caroline?" Aurelia said, spotting the blonde vampire in the living room, sitting in front of the fireplace. "We've been looking all over for you." She said.

"Yeah, well, I couldn't find a rock big enough to climb under... so..." Caroline trailed off.

"Hey, um." Aurelia turned to Stefan who patted her back once. "I'll give you two some privacy." Aurelia smiled as he left, walking into the room.

"Okay, 'Lia. You're my sister. You're the person I'll always be honest with." She said. "Am I a horrible person?" She asked. Aurelia chuckled, sitting down next to her on the ground.

"So, that's why you came here." She said. "Fine, then. I'll ask you something. Do you remember an eternity ago... when I slept with Kol because I was supposedly crushing on him?" Caroline nodded. "What did you think when I told you about it right before we left to go to the island?"

"Honestly, I thought 'ew'." Aurelia laughed.

"See, and if you held that against me, along with everything that had gotten the two of us separated, would we be talking like this right now?" She asked.

"Or, maybe, I came here because I know that you try to see the best in people, even though they're terrible people like Silas." Aurelia's eyes flickered to her hands for a second, before a soft smile crept onto her lips.

"Fine. Someone has to say it. And who better than me?" She asked. "Caroline Elizabeth Forbes, you are one horrible person. You are shameless. You are so careless." She began to say jokingly, as Caroline began to smile. "You are the shallowest ever and super not-independent..." Caroline began to laugh.

"Hey, I am vulnerable! Don't be mean!"

"You know what?" Aurelia said. "Now that I've given some thought to it, what the hell did Klaus see in you?" She asked, holding in her own laughs. "Like seriously, of the girls to shag in the woods, you? What even was he thinking?" Caroline laughed hysterically.

"Shut up." She said. Aurelia shook her head.

"I'm not done yet." She said, her laughs ceasing. "Now, I will tell you something else."

"What?"

"Caroline Elizabeth Forbes..." She began. "You are one breathtakingly amazing woman. You are so caring, and so, so genuine and thoughtful for others." Caroline smiled at her. "You are the best sister ever, and the most optimistic, bubbly and independent person I know. When I think about it, Klaus chose the right person for once. He saw everything that is lovable about you. Your charm, your adorableness. I mean, what were you thinking when you ran off from the party? That I'd hate you? No, of course not. Nothing in this world will stop me from caring for my sister." She finished with a grin. Caroline pulled her in for a hug, and she rubbed the 19-year-old's back comfortingly.

"I love you." Caroline said."

"Oh, I know." The two laughed, pulling away. "I love you, too."

"Thanks, 'Lia." Aurelia smiled.

"You know what this calls for?" She asked. "Another drink. STEF?!"

"What?!" She heard him call back.

"We need drinks!"

Minutes later, he walked into the living room, and Aurelia frowning, unable to detect the strong scent of the alcohol. Stefan suddenly pulled out an opaque pack. "This is called apple juice. This is gonna be used whenever I don't want you to drink." He said, sitting down next to them. Aurelia laughed, leaning on his shoulder as he poured them the apple juice.

The trio sat there, chatting for hours on end.

~