Try {One | Alaric Saltzman}

Disturbing Behavior

"How was Chicago?"

"Damon was right. Stefan's not coming back." Elena dropped a journal onto Abigail's bed. "This is who he is now."

She waited until she was alone to open the journal, too scared to let Elena see her raw reaction to the yellowed pages.

"March 12, 1922. I've blacked out for days. I wake up in strangers' blood. In places I don't recognize. With women I don't remember."

She flipped the page, finding a month's gap between entries.

"April 1922. Lexi found me last night. Dragged me off the train tracks. Thinks she can make me care again."

She turned the page again. Two years.

"June 1924. Lexi's driving me crazy. More animal blood, more misery."

She slammed the journal closed. There was nothing they could do to bring him home, nothing they may ever be able to do, but it felt impossible to let go of the hope that Elena had been pushing onto her all summer. Her desk chair welcomed her like an old friend, probably unsurprised to find her there again.

Alaric's car came down the street, pulling her from her room and down the stairs. If anyone asked, he was making a quick stop to pick up Damon. But, like everything in Mystic Falls, there was more to the story.

"So..." Abigail sat down at the kitchen island. "I was wondering what time everyone wanted to meet for the party."

Alaric let out a heavy breath, shoving his hands into his pockets. "These Founders' parties aren't really my thing-"

"Too bad." She smirked at him over her shoulder. "It's the last one of the summer, everyone is going."

"Great..."

"Come on. It'll be fun." Damon waved him forward with the knife in his hand. "There's going to be nine other people that brought chili."

Elena turned away from the stove. "It's an old family recipe, okay?"

"Yeah, I know. I knew your old family. They made sucky chili."

The space between them was closing, slowly but surely, as they shared a laugh.

Alaric cleared his throat. "Why are you here, exactly?"

"I could ask you the same question. Anyway..." He tilted his head toward Elena. "She knows."

"He thinks I'm going to break. I'm not going to break." She resumed the task in front of her, avoiding the anxious looks from everyone in the room. "I am just going to keep making chili, pretend like I didn't just spend the entire summer looking for someone who didn't want to be found."

"She's in denial."

"I'm not in denial."

"No? You're still wearing that necklace." His eyes lingered on it. "Isn't it a reminder of your unbreakable bond with Stefan?"

Caroline had spent days chained to a chair in her family's old cellar, skin burned from the sun and vervain, weak from hunger, and exhausted from fighting her humanity switch, all at the hands of her own father. So, the smile that was plastered across her face when Elena opened the front door was one Abigail wasn't sure she would ever see again.

"I come bearing gifts!"

Abigail looked at the dish in her hands. "Please say that's not chili..."

She stepped to the side, revealing Bonnie.

"I'm back!" She pulled them into a group hug. "I leave town for the summer and everything goes to hell."

Jeremy ran down the stairs, pulled her into his arms, and kissed her as if no one else was in the room.