Something Stupid

16

Caroline came rushing into Bonnie's Café. Elena had called her two best friends for an emergency meeting. Since her friend had sounded really stressed, Caroline had taken an early lunch break and hurried to their meeting point. Elena was already there, waiting, while Bonnie still had two customers to serve before she could join them.

Caroline sat down at Elena's table. "Okay, I came as fast as I could. And excuse me for ordering a sandwich before we talk, but I'm kind of missing my lunch break here and I need my daily dosage of protein in order to function as a human being."

Elena nodded. "That's fine, Care, Bonnie still needs a moment anyway."

Caroline nodded and went to the counter where she told Lexi her order. Bonnie finished servicing her last customer and joined Elena at her table at the same time Caroline did.

They sat down. "Alright, 'Lena, what is it?" Caroline asked.

Elena inhaled deeply before speaking. "I kind of tried to end things with Elijah. But then he convinced me to just put things on hold for now. I agreed to it because I would really love to keep dating him. It's- a little hard to see where we stand right now. I'm not sure how this 'on hold' thing will go. But about an hour ago, Elijah texted me saying he wants to see me tonight. Do you guys think that would be - okay? For our 'on hold' thing I mean!"

Bonnie and Caroline exchanged an irritated look.

"Well... do you want to see him tonight?" Bonnie asked.

Elena nervously bit her lip. "Yeah! I do! But... I put things on hold for a reason! What if Katherine finds out?"

"How could she find out? Knowing your sister, she's probably busy seducing some new guy." Caroline pointed out. One moment later, she realized what Elena's words meant. "OMG! Elena Gilbert, please tell me you did not just leave a guy because of your sister!"

Bonnie shook her head. "Elena, you can't let Katherine decide over your love life!" she said.

"Guys, I know that! I'm just afraid Kat might keep Nadia from me when she finds out about me and her ex." Elena said. "And what if she makes my life a living hell? She could do that, I'm sure, and she would! God, what if she already found out?!"

"Elena! Deep breaths!" Caroline stopped her friend as she could tell Elena was panicking.

Bonnie took one of Elena's hands. "Look, I'm sure it won't be as bad as you think. Remember when she blamed you for her break-up with Stefan? She did a lot of yelling and called you... some nasty things, but after a few weeks, she stopped and moved on. Even if she does find out about you and Elijah, she won't make a big thing about it forever."

"Besides," Caroline added and looked at Elena poignantly, "right now we're only talking about one evening. Or, well, night probably, if I understand your loverboy correctly. So, my advice: if you like him, just go!"

"It's not that simple! Even if we don't get caught, what will happen to us if we do this? I mean, going to him in the evening, what if he wants to- take our relationship to the next level? And if he does, would that be okay right now? Wouldn't it be bad for us, with all the Katherine problems and- other stuff, and..." Elena now started rambling again.

Bonnie smirked and laid one of her hands on Elena's to stop her. "Oh, Lena. Remember how you stress-talked with us for hours in High School when you were planning your first time with Matt? You were just as nervous back then. But seriously, you don't have to be. It turned out fine back then and if you wanna go to Elijah tonight, I'm sure that would be fine too."

Caroline agreed with Bonnie. "Yeah. And you know what always helps? Checklists! Why don't we make a checklist of all the things that worry you about this whole Elijah thing and then we can go through the different points and solve them one by one."