Beauty and Blood

162 Candles

November 2nd, 2009

Waking up early that morning Andy felt miserable. It was as if her body wanted to crawl out of its own skin, her stomach was rolling and her limbs felt as though they would shrivel up and fall off, a migraine pounding at her head. Opening her eyes, she took a few minutes to simply lay there, eyes stuck on the stain on her ceiling. She had spent all of the previous day in bed, not even bothering to change out of the clothes she miraculously found herself sleeping in, guessing Stefan had dried and moved her. She hadn't even gotten up to eat or drink the soup Jenna had brought up for her, her Aunt explained Elena had told her she was ill as an excuse for her despondent state.

She'd also told her that apparently Jeremy and Elena were brought in to the Sheriff's Office to answer some questions about Vicki 'leaving town', along with Matt and Stefan. Thankfully the four of them were able to give enough information so Andy could rest in peace, quietly crying into her pillow under her blankets as the guilt and horror at what she had done slammed back into her all at once. However, that morning Andy had forced herself to sit up in bed, sluggishly throwing the covers off of herself. In her mind she had spent enough time in her cocoon of misery, there were bigger things than her own personal issues that she shoved deep deep down and put under secure lock and key.

Making her way to her desk, she pulled out her journal and threw it onto her bed, ignoring the cold full bowls of soup on the floor as she made her way to her closet. Pushing past her clothes and her blood stained baseball bat, she pulled out a large cork noticeboard she had bought during the last month, various post-it notes pinned to it. She had some time before she had to muster the will to attempt school, so she decided to go over her notes and put together a 'Quest list' as her nerd brain referred to it.

The fact Bonnie believed the Salvatores were Sorcerers, an image which was only reinforced when Damon apparently tried to rip Emily's pendant from her neck during the carnival before being zapped by it, or so her frantic texts had said.

The whole Tomb fiasco she now could tell Stefan about since he wasn't actively preoccupied by other things.

The fact the Sheriff and possibly other humans knew about vampires and very much wanted them dead.

Then in between that there was the matter of balancing school work and keeping up with her friends, not to mention she didn't want to lose what she was building with Anna. All in all she had her work cut out for her, further proof she didn't have time to wallow in her guilt. Shoving the board and journal back where she kept it, she finally peeled the old clothes off and put them for the wash, the pile of bloody clothes having been missing the day before when she woke up, presumably taken by Stefan. Using a cloth and some body soap, she just gave herself a quick scrub with warm water from the sink, getting dressed and preparing her bag.

Her hand hesitated by her bedside table where her necklace still sat, hovering over it conflicted. Swallowing her discordant thoughts, she put it in her jeans pocket, not wearing it but still carrying it with her. She felt a tad exposed, but didn't think she'd be able to keep a clear head with it weighing down around her neck like a noose. A knock on her door had her head shooting up. Confused, she opened the door, not expecting the person on the other side. "Bonnie?" The witch was awkwardly standing in the hallway, face lighting up in relief from where it had been scrunched in anxiety when she saw her. "Andy, hey umm." she struggled for words, prompting Andy to step out of her room and close the door behind her. "Bonnie, what's going on?"

"Can you just come with me please? I need moral support." she nervously grabbed the other girl's hands and began to lead her towards Elena's room. "Okay?" Andy allowed herself to be dragged into her twin's bedroom, where Elena herself was sat up in her bed, looking as confused as Andy. She was wearing what was unofficially dubbed as her sad hoodie with her hair pulled into a messy ponytail. It seemed Andy hadn't been the only one moping. Although when her eyes landed on her twin she gained an all too familiar look in her eyes, one that Andy had been swarmed by when their parents had died and she'd woken up. Pity, with a hint of apprehension, as if she would break with a gust of wind.