(2) Just Magic (D. Salvatore)

Chapter Seven

At the high school, people are running around preparing for the Mystic Falls High School Carnival. Bonnie and Elena are talking together about Katherine and what happened at the memorial the day before. Cassandra had disappeared as soon as she had spotted Bonnie. Bonnie knows why. Doesn't stop it from hurting that her best friend isn't currently talking to her, or even considers them friends.

"Katherine looked just like you, it was freakish" Bonnie tells Elena.

"She's our ancestor" Elena comments. "Hey, I moved the student booth into the cafeteria" She adds.

"Your vampire ancestor and she didn't just resemble you like a family member would. She was you"

"Well, wait till you hear the best bit" Elena turns to Bonnie. "She has a twin, who looks exactly like Cassie" Bonnie raises an eyebrow. "I don't know, I can't explain it. It's creepy, that's all I got."

"How do you know she's not still out there pretending to be you?" Bonnie asks her.

"I don't but I could sit here and be tortured by the not-knowing or I could get these prizes to the ring toss"

"Have you talk to Damon since he tried to kill Jeremy?" Bonnie counters.

"No, and Cas won't talk about, says it wasn't a big deal, but he still tried....and I don't want to talk about anything that's vampire-related okay?" Elena gives a bag full of plush to Bonnie. "I'm human. And I have to do human stuff. Otherwise, I'm going to go crazy"

"Okay, I'm sorry, I'll focus. We have to make Caroline proud or she will kill us. I don't know how she does all of this" Bonnie points out.

"Well because she's not human, obviously" Elena teases.

"Obviously" They laugh together only for Bonnie to stop laughing and watches Cassandra as she passes them. Cassandra sets a box onto the stall and then walks away again without a word.

"Bonnie" Elena starts.

"No, I get it" Bonnie stops her and then shakes her head with a sad smile. She can understand why Cassandra is mad at her, and she knew that it would be the risk of not de-spelling that device. "I'd be mad at me too" She adds. And she is mad at herself. Caroline, Tyler, Matt, Cassandra, Mayor Lockwood are all innocent bystanders that got caught up because Bonnie didn't do as she said she had.

........

Elena walks over to where Cassandra is sorting through another box, setting up prizes on another of the stalls. Elena gives her a look that goes ignored. Cassandra is allowed to be upset here. She could have died in that office. If that fire had gone wild and engulfed the entire building. If her head wound was worse. Not to mention Caroline and Damon.

"How can you still be mad at her?" Elena asks.

"How can you not?" Cassandra counters. "Damon almost died. I could have died. Caroline was seriously hurt. Mayor Lockwood did die."

"I know that"

"Because she lied and betrayed us....seriously, how can you not be mad at her?"

"Because it's Bonnie and we've been friends since we were little" Elena defends.

"Yes, I know that, which makes it worse, Elena, it wasn't some new stranger-friend that did this. It was Bonnie" Cassandra argues. "It hurts. Like a deep cut right inside..." Elena looks at her sadly. "It's just going to take me some time to work through this, and until then, I can't...even look at her."

"Okay," Elena whispers and then nods. "Can we talk about you and Damon now?"

"What about us?" Cassandra then leans up a little. "You're not going to try and talk about what happened with Jeremy, are you? Because I dealt with it..."

"No" Elena argues. "We're not talking vampire stuff" She adds. "I just...Do you love him?" Cassandra looks at Elena and lets out a breath.

"I don't know" She answers. "Maybe...I just...I don't think about it like that...." She shrugs. "I like hanging out with him, we have fun, and I can talk to him about things that I can't talk to you about....and we have great sex" Elena nudges her sister. "Maybe it is love. Maybe it is just massive sexual attraction. But I don't just drop the L bomb on the first guy that revs my engine" Elena shoots her a look.

"That's not what it was with Stefan" She argues. Cassandra pulls a face and shrugs.

"Didn't mean you two" Cassandra points out. "But you clearly heard that....insecure much?" She teases, Elena shakes her head. "Look...I never told Tyler that I loved him" She reminds Elena. "Because I didn't...I didn't feel that with him. We were just friends that were girlfriend and boyfriend for a while. But it is different with Damon, I am probably closer to feeling it with him than I ever was with Tyler"

"So you really like him?" Elena counters, Cassandra hums and nods with a soft smile.

"Yeah, I'll go that far" She agrees. "I know you don't like him, and I know Stefan keeps trying to butt in. But can you accept that I am happy with how things are right now, and if they end, if it doesn't work, then I will work through it...." Elena smiles softly and nods. "But...I feel...like I have this connection with him. And for now...he feels the same way, so...I'm just gonna focus on that, for now....okay?"

"Yeah" Elena assures her. "I'm doing that thing again, aren't I?"

"I know why" Cassandra offers. "With the last year...Tyler, and the crash, and mom and dad.....Vicki, and vampires...and powers...and everything with John, you are trying to look out for me. But I am the older twin. And I need to deal with my life myself....and you have to let me, even if I screw up" Elena nods.

"I'm trying" Elena assures her. Cassandra gives a small shrug. In her opinion. Elena is not trying hard enough to let Cassandra live her own life.