Unstoppable | The Vampire Diaries

58. Let's Get Married

The next morning, Riley rushed out of her bedroom to find her father in the kitchen.

"Matt says that all the food is at the Grill ready for the reception, your suit is on the bed, the dresses are at Elena's, the priest is on his way, the photographer is at the venue getting the 'before' shots, the rings are on my dresser... am I forgetting anything?"

"To breathe," her father said, smiling at her. "You're turning into Caroline."

"Well that's fitting, considering we'll be sisters in a few hours," she smiled, before remembering something else. "Vows! You've written them, right?"

"I had one job for today," Chris reminded his daughter.

"Good," she smiled. "Then we're good to go. Caroline and Tyler are at Elena's helping with the cure, but everything and everyone will be ready on time."

She sat down at the kitchen table opposite him, her stomach tied in knots. She was extremely excited about the wedding, but couldn't stop worrying about her friends looking for the cure. She hadn't heard anything overnight and thought that maybe there was more to this magical vampire cure than they thought.

"What's up?" her dad asked.

Riley sighed. "Your almost step-daughter is a vampire. When I first found out about this world, mom wanted to keep you as far away from it as possible... and now you're marrying into it. Are you sure that this is what you wanna do?"

Her dad smiled and took her hand. "Riles, I'm not marrying into anything. I love Caroline like she's already my daughter, I'd love her and Liz the exact same way if we never got married. Vampires are going to be a part of our lives forever, no matter what. We're in this thing together, kid."

Riley smiled, nodding. She never imagined in a million years that she'd be OK with her parents not being together. But during her time in Mystic Falls, she'd seen the different variations that a family could take, the way that her group of friends had become her family. And now, the prospect of having a loving, open, warm, amazing insta-family was something that she never knew she needed.

"Can I trust you to get yourself dressed and to the church on time?" she asked, still smiling.

"I'll be there," he promised her. Of course he would be there. In a few hours, he'd be married to Liz Forbes – nothing else mattered.

***

"Hey," Riley said, walking into the Gilbert house, where Caroline and Tyler were staring at an ancient-looking sword. "You guys aren't dressed yet?"

Tyler looked her up and down. "You're not dressed either."

Riley rolled her eyes. "I've been confirming bookings and flights and food... guys, we don't have a lot of time."

"We're almost done," Caroline said absent-mindedly, still staring at the sword. "Kind of."

Riley picked up Caroline's dress and draped it over the vampire's knees.

Klaus said something in a language that she didn't recognize. Turning the sword's handle slightly, Caroline wrote something down, piecing it with a picture of Jeremy's hunter's mark.

"OK, this is it. We've translated all the symbols on the tattoo," she confirmed, before glancing more closely at her own writing as she read the translation. "Passage inside requires a young senator, and a pretty flower... OK, none of this makes sense!"

"So can't you just do it later?" Riley asked.

"Shane took Jeremy and Bonnie," Caroline told her. "He's getting the cure for himself. The only way we can help is if we can translate the sword."