The Fallen Slayer {1}

A Last Human Moment

WHITMORE, VIRGINIA

"I kind of hit a snag."

At Bonnie's vague statement, Caroline quickly counted down from five in her head and smoothed down her pink dress in an effort to not completely lose her mind.

"What kind of snag?" She questioned as she climbed out of her mother's car, both of them moving over to Rudy Hopkins who had pulled in next to them, managing to get one of the last parking spots available. It was safe to say that given it was Graduation day for the seniors, the whole campus was swarmed with parents and nervous 22-year-olds about to be sent off into the real world.

"Are the godparents supposed to be this nervous?" Rudy asked Liz as the trio started making their way over to where they could spot Sandra and the entire Ling May clan setting up what looked like a grill and keg by their car. Given the graduation was still a few hours away, they had clearly decided to turn the parking lot into a tailgate, and, no one was complaining.

Rudy officially loved the Ling Mays, he definitely needed a beer to soothe his nerves. His God-daughter was graduating college which meant Bonnie would be doing the same next year.

The realization made him feel a lot older than he looked.

"When their God-kid burnt down a building at 16 and got kicked out of three schools before she was 18, yes it's normal to be nervous." Liz stated without hesitation. The fact was given the troublemaker reputation Buffy had during High School, no one expected her to get into college let alone graduate.

Everyone had assumed she'd end up in prison for assault, battery, or even arson.

Rudy chuckled at that before moving over to Mark who was already pouring a drink for the stressed-out Mayor of Mystic Falls.

The second he had a beer in his hands, Rudy felt himself relax "I knew I liked you, kid." He smiled tapping Mark's shoulder appreciatively before letting his drift to Caroline "Caroline, will you tell my daughter to get on the road already? If she doesn't leave now, she won't make it for the ceremony."

Caroline just smiled shooting him a quick thumbs up before focusing back on the phone, only for her cool calm demoiner to vanish in an instant at Bonnie's next statement.

"The kind of snag where all the ghosts are still in Mystic Falls."

Ghosts were still walking around Mystic Falls with blood and flesh bodies and vengeance on the brain.

Which explained why Stefan wasn't answering because he was probably still drunk with Lexi. The same could be said for Damon and Alaric, while Elena would be with Joyce and Jeremy.

However, Caroline also knew that only Stefan had actually been invited to the ceremony.

While Damon and Elena were invited to the party in Mystic Falls, Buffy was still too paranoid to let Damon around Sandra and she didn't want Elena here right now. They still needed to have a proper sit-down conversation and right before her graduation ceremony was not the most ideal time.

While Caroline knew she was sad about her mom not being able to be here or Jeremy, Buffy had been prepared for that.

But Bonnie not showing up would crush her.

"A snag!" Caroline exclaimed, her panic skyrocketing as she quickly glanced around to make sure Buffy still hadn't made her appearance. She was picking up her cap and gown inside and Caroline refused to let anything ruin today for her godsister, not after everything she had gone through this past year.

A normal graduation was what Caroline was determined to ensure Buffy got.

One normal human experience.

"A snag is a bad yearbook picture. You hit a tsunami. Where are you?"