maroon|| TVD

prologue

Alaric Saltzman watched in silent amusement as Finneas paced her new room, a box he could only assume was heavy still in her hands as she searched for a place to set it down in the overly cluttered space. Her thick brown hair flew over her shoulder with each turn she made and Alaric decided to put her out of her misery.

"You know you could just put it in the hall closet and finish unpacking later, right?" He spoke up from his position in the hallway and she spun once again to face him, her eyes narrowed as she judged him greatly with her teenage sass.

"Putting off responsibilities is your thing, not mine." She snarked and Alaric could lie and say he didn't deserve it, he could argue in his defense but it would all be in vain.

"How many times am I gonna have to apologise, kid?" The question was meant as a joke but Finn clearly didn't see the funny side as she was quick to mock him.

"Oh I'm so sorry I didn't tell you we were moving until a week beforehand, I'm just self-absorbed like that, but hey, it's a good thing you didn't have any friends, right?" Finneas mocked as she finally decided to just place the box on her bed, "I may not have had friends in Boston, but I still had a life, and a cat!" and with that and a swift movement of her foot, Alaric found himself staring at a closed door.

·

Alaric couldn't remember exactly how he managed to coax Finneas from her room, but he was grateful for her presence as they walked through downtown Mystic Falls.

"Why is everything so Pleasantville?" Finneas spoke suddenly, her dark brows furrowed in judgement and Alaric nudged her ribs, giving her a look.

"Can you at least pretend to give it a chance?" He asked and he was forced to ignore the way she immediately rolled her eyes.

"Buy me fries and a strawberry milkshake and I'll think about it." Finneas bargained like the spoiled only child she was.

"Fries and a milkshake? Really? That's your price?" He knew she had been eyeing up the Grille the second they pulled into the town and Finneas wasn't exactly known for her poker face.

"I can raise it if you'd like." She teased with what Alaric thought was the first smile of the day, linking her arm with his as the duo crossed the street.

Finneas knew Mystic Falls was the type of town where everyone knew everyone, so she entered the Grille with the expectation that they were going to stick out like a couple of sore thumbs, what she wasn't expecting was the whole "everyone in the establishment turns to the newcomers" cliché like it was a movie and Finneas never did well when all eyes were on her.

Forever her protector, Alaric moved to stand directly in front of his daughter as he guided them to a corner booth.

"Dad?" Her voice was quieter than it was not even a minute ago as she hid her face behind a menu.

"Ignore them, okay?" Finneas's social anxiety took a major hit when he pulled her out of public school following the murder of his wife and it was a decision he now regretted.

"Hi! Welcome to the Grille, my name is Molly and I'll be your server today!" Bright red hair and a nametag reading "Molly" greeted them today and Alaric smiled to himself at her cheery tone, "Do we know what we want?"

"Uh yeah, a thing of fries with cheese sauce and a strawberry shake and-"

Finneas knew she zoned out, her focus was entirely on observing her surroundings, like how everything was still so fucking Pleasantville.

While Boston had that small town, white picket fence suburbia feel, a single streetblock had a higher population than Mystic Falls had in its entirety.

"Finn?" Alaric nudged the milkshake that had been sitting in front of her for the past five minutes closer, "I swear to god kid, if you're mentally judging everyone, I'm gonna steal your milkshake."

"Why are we here, Dad? There's nothing and no one here for us, and I hardly think you're going to roam the town and wonder if she ever stood in that same exact spot." Finneas knew she could be harsh with her words, it was Isobel's influence, after all, but she also knew she was telling the truth.

Alaric moved them to this nothing town to sulk in his widower-ness, not really caring how it would affect his daughter.

"Finneas, there are so many other times and places we could have this conversation."

Finneas scoffed lightly as she pushed her milkshake back towards him and slid out of the booth, "I'm going home." Were her departing words and much like the past three years, Finneas braved the stares of strangers on her own.

Haha I changed the name again