Disclaimer: I don't own The Vampire Diaries or Twilight. I just like to mess with the plot.

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Chapter three: The strange behavior

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On Friday Henry caught the flu and he got the weekend off from Marie.

"I wouldn't be asking but I really need it, Bella," her grandmother said while they were having breakfast on Saturday morning.

"It's all right," Bella said. "Where do I have to pick this package?"

"It's in the Salvatore's. You already know Damon Salvatore, right? He is going to be waiting for you," Marie answered, oblivious to her granddaughter sudden quietness.

"Do I have to pay him for it?"

"No, no. It's just some council paperwork."

Bella bit back a groan and wished Henry hadn't fallen ill.

Damon Salvatore hadn't exactly left a very good first impression on her. Actually, it had been the opposite. But her grandmother needed those papers and she didn't have anything more to do in the house so she complied.

The Salvatore Boarding House was even bigger than her grandmother's house but it was reasonable as it was, well, a boarding house. It was reclusive, too, with only one road leading to it and out of it. It made her remember to another house that she had seen in what seemed another life. That house had been white and inviting while the one in front of her was dark and almost... solitary. She pitied whoever was in charge of cutting the grass, though.

Bella parked in front of the entrance and walked up to the door. But when she was about to ring the doorbell, it suddenly flew open.

Bella gasped in surprise and tumbled backwards when a hand steadied her. Bella regained her footing and looked up to see Damon at the entrance with a frown on his face.

"What?" He asked and she flinched. Someone was on a bad mood.

"I―I came to pick up my grandmother's paperwork."

He rolled his eyes and turned around inside the house. Bella was left there in the cold wondering if she should enter even if he hadn't invited her in. She chose to stay outside when he looked over his shoulder and saw her. He stopped and raised an eyebrow.

"What are you doing still out there?"

Bella frowned.

"I―I wasn't invited in?" She said but it ended up sounding like a question. The most curious expression crossed his face, Bella thought. It was a mixture of surprise, distrust and then curiosity.

"Should I invite you in?" He asked and Bella was lost. It was as if he was having two different conversations with her and she didn't understand any of them. He made a motion for her to enter although he didn't say the come in and she sighed before entering into the house. Damon gave her another quizzical look and she crossed her arms over her chest.

"I'll be right back," he said before disappearing down the hall.

Bella looked around for a bit until he came back with a medium sized, square white box. He handed it to her promptly and she almost let it fall because of the weight.

"Thank you, Damon," she said politely before walking out of the house. When she was back at the car she put the box on the passenger sit and examined it. It didn't seem like paperwork. It had felt much too fragile to be it. She looked up and saw Damon standing on the porch looking towards her car, not even bothering to act as if he was taking some fresh air.

She couldn't get out of there fast enough.

When she got home Marie thanked her and Jocelyn took the package delicately. Bella frowned. That definitely wasn't paperwork. Later, she took Jocelyn to the grocery store.

"I heard your mom called you," Jocelyn said to her as she took a can of tomato soup from the shelf and looked at it.

"She did," Bella answered with her arms on the shopping cart.

"She doesn't like the idea of you here, huh?"

"No, she doesn't."

"Well, that's bad. Although, I can relate after what happened to her brother."

Bella stopped dead on her tracks.

"What brother?" She asked, puzzled. As far as she knew, her mother had been an only child just like Bella had been.

Jocelyn turned to her, blinking.

"Your late uncle. Anthony."

"I have an uncle?"

"You had an uncle. Once. Didn't you know about it?"

Bella's mind was swimming.

"No. I―I never heard anything like that. Why no one ever told me about it?"

Jocelyn sighed.

"Well, to be fair, it happened thirty years ago. Your Grandma doesn't like to think about it either. I suppose your mother is the same way."

"But surely she'd had to mention him sometime?"

Jocelyn shrugged and Bella was startled see how sadness was clouding her eyes.

"Sometimes the pain is too great to put in words, Bella. I thought you already knew that," she said before turning around and resuming her task. Bella was left asking herself what had put Jocelyn in such a sad mood as she started to follow her with the shopping cart.

Afterwards, they came back to the house but Jocelyn didn't talk much in the drive home and Bella followed her example. Jocelyn had a sad expression and she felt guilty for putting it there. Sunday came and Bella drove Jocelyn ―being her bright self again― and Marie to the town's church before declining their invitations to join them inside. Bella wasn't a true believer but, again, she didn't know what to believe in anymore. So she told them to call her at the end of the service for her to pick them up.

She drove around until she came across a bar called Mystic Grill and parked outside. She remembered Elena mentioning it to her in her first day at school and decided to check it out. It bested to be driving around the town, anyway. Inside it was warm and surprisingly full. But it was not surprising as there were pool tables and a sense of warm in the air that had nothing to do with the heating. It was a dinner with a bar and entertainment. It was not surprise then why Elena said that everyone used to hang out in there.

Bella hadn't thought Elena was being so literal, though.

She looked around for a seat and found one on the middle of the bar. When the nice blonde guy ―who's nametag said his name was Matt― behind it asked her what she wanted Bella put an order for a cheeseburger and a soda because it would felt weird to not buy anything. And more important, she'd have to give up her seat, too.

While she was waiting for it someone sat beside her and she turned around in instinct... to find Damon Salvatore smiling down at her. It would have been a nice change of routine for him if it were the type of smile you'd give to a person whom you know only by passing.

Instead, Damon's was the kind of smile that James had on that night in the ballet studio.

Bella shuddered.

"And we meet again," he said. Bella nodded with uncertainty, not knowing what to say.

"A girl has to eat," she murmured eventually. The guy had started to annoy her with his changes of humor. And maybe he saw that too because he smiled again but this time with an amused air in it.

As on cue her order was placed in front of her and the bartender shot an irritated look at Damon but he didn't knowledge, instead he said."Bourbon."

Matt left again, this time with an eye roll.

"They need a service improvement," Damon said out loud when he was handed the glass tumbler. Bella didn't say anything and took a bit of her burger. It was good. "So how's going living with the grandmother?" He asked her.

Bella took her time chewing, stalling the dialogue but he didn't seem to be in a rush. Instead, Damon stared at her as if she was some horse on sell and in the end she was the one feeling awkward. So much for being a badass.

She swallowed and took a couple of napkins to wipe her lips.

"Good. You know her, right?"

"I'm a council member. Of course I know her," he said on a duh tone.

"Do you work closely with her?"

This time he didn't answer right away. Instead he took a long sip from his glass. When he was done, he inclined his head to look at her.

"Not particularly. Why?"

Bella shrugged and took another bite of her burger, chewing and thinking. She was curious about what Jocelyn had told her about Anthony Higginbotham. How could she not know her mother had had an older brother? He was dead, yes, but Bella thought that if she'd had a brother she would mention it to someone. Even more so to her own daughter. It was weird to not do it. Not incredibly unacceptable, no, but something about the revelation bothered her.

"Where is that head of yours?"

Bella blinked and looked at Damon. Could she ask him about it? For what she had learned from Elena the Salvatore brothers had just came to live in Mystic Falls the year before even if it was their hometown.

Damon lifted an eyebrow at her.

"I know I'm that devastatingly handsome but you could be a little more subtle with your staring," he said with a wicked grin.

Bella frowned.

"Like you do?" She asked and winced but she didn't take it back and he didn't seem offended. On contrary, his grin widened.

"I don't do subtle. At all."

Believe me, I noticed, Bella thought. She decided against it. She could ask Elena about it later.

They didn't talk again and she was grateful for that. She was surprised, too, because Damon didn't seem the type to just sit quietly in one seat. But he did and then Jocelyn called her saying she could pick them up already so Bella paid her tab and said goodbye to Damon who was looking at his glass tumbler as if it was the most fascinating thing and just nodded at her before getting out of there.

When she got to the local church she entered, looking for Marie and Jocelyn. It was a nice building, bigger that the one in Forks too, with white walls, clean carpets and all so pristine that Bella couldn't help to stay rooted on a spot feeling like she'd defile the place just for putting a foot on the carpet. So she waited for her grandmother who was in conversation with who she thought must being the Pastor. Jocelyn saw her first and she made a beckoning movement with her hand. Sighing, Bella walked over to them. The others looked up to her when she reached them.

"Bella," Marie said. "I want you to meet Pastor Young. William this is my granddaughter Isabella Swan."

"Nice to meet you," she said while shaking his hand.

"Likewise. I thought you would be in the first row of the service with your grandmother," he said and managed to sound reproachful even with the friendly expression on his face.

Bella smiled thinly.

"I'll try to," she said, not giving a straight answer.

"Good. I hope to see you next time," he said and someone called him so he said goodbye to them and walked over a middle aged couple.

Bella really hated to socialize.

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Tuesday next week Elena had her math test in the first period and Bella wished her luck. After her first class she received another text from her telling Bella she had passed it. When they met later for lunch Elena had a huge smile on her face.

"It's the first time in months that I understood and did all the problems," she said while they were walking towards their table.

Bonnie was already sat in there with Caroline and they smiled up at Bella when they saw her. Bonnie was a nice girl, a little shy but Bella felt that there was some kind of stiffness every time she interacted with Stefan or Caroline. Caroline was, in fact, that super popular girl that Bella thought Elena was the first time she met her. But even if she was a cheerful blonde, Caroline seemed more wary of Bella than Elena's other friends. Bella couldn't help but notice that Caroline always tried to steer clear of her.

"Did you pass it?" Bonnie asked.

"I so did it!" Elena laughed and Stefan kissed her cheek. He seemed amused by her enthusiasm. Elena turned to Bella. "Thank you, Bella."

Bella smiled and shrugged. Elena had been the one studying her ass off and she deserved a good grade for it. So she was happy for her.

"So Jeremy's birthday is this Friday and Stefan and I are going to throw a party for him in the boarding house," Elena said.

"Cool! It's been ages since I last partied. I'm totally on it. I'm going to help you with the organization," Caroline said, not bothering to ask if Elena needed any help.

"Thanks, Care."

Bonnie, on the other hand, didn't seem convinced by the idea.

"Come on, Bon," Elena said. "Caroline's right. It's been a while since all of us have had a good time."

Caroline nodded mutely.

Bonnie gave in with a sigh.

Elena turned to Bella."It'll be fun!"

Bella played with her food and repressed a sigh. Elena had been taking serious pains to try and mingled her with her friends and maybe it was time for Bella to make an effort, too.

"Ok," she said and Elena looked surprised but when they got up to return to classes Elena put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it gently.

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On Wednesday Elena and Bonnie were in Elena's bedroom waiting for Caroline.

"It's still weird how calm Mystic Falls is after everything that happened last year," Bonnie said and Elena nodded from her position in front of the mirror. She was straightening her hair.

"I just hope it stays this way."

"Hey. What's Bella's deal?"

"What are you talking about?" Elena asked, frowning at her reflection, but she thought she already knew what Bonnie's curiosity was about.

"I don't know, it just... she's kind of weird, you know?"

"I think she's fine."

"Come on, Elena," Bonnie snorted, walking into the bathroom. She leaned against the door frame."She's nice, don't get me wrong. I like her. It just... she's a pretty girl. I heard some guys talking about her at school and, trust me; they were being very appreciative of her. But she is so awkward all the time."

Elena inhaled slowly while Bonnie looked at her, waiting for an answer. But she didn't know what to say. Bonnie was right after all.

"She's more than pretty," Elena finally answered, trying to find the right words. "But I don't think she knows it, you know?"

When Elena had met Bella the first thing she thought was that she seemed a lonely girl. She had befriended her because she was new in town and Elena knew that it could be hard for her to make friends. But she soon found out that Bella was like a lone wolf. She didn't seem to mind if someone talked to her or not. Bella tried to blend into the crowds and maybe the problem was that she always tried a little too much and it was that same thing that made her stand out of it.

But in all and all, Elena really liked Bella. She was like fresh air in Mystic Falls after all the trouble that Elena had passed. It was that same awkwardness what had Elena befriend her. Bella was simple and human.

"So?" Bonnie asked and Elena came back from whatever she was thinking.

"What?" She asked.

Bonnie rolled her eyes.

"Did Bella tell you about herself?"

"Not so much," Elena answered truthfully."She's a very private person."

Elena's bedroom door opened and they left the bathroom to see Caroline entering.

"I think it was a guy," was the first thing Caroline said to them. Bonnie and Elena looked at each other with identical frowns.

"What was a guy?"Bonnie asked.

"Bella!" Caroline said with irritation while sitting down on the bed. "You're talking about her, weren't you?

"How did you...?" Bonnie shook her head. "Never mind."

Elena almost laughed. Caroline had always been a gossip but Elena thought that since she became a vampire, she was even worse than before with her heightened senses.

"It was a guy, I assure you. She has the word heartbroken all over her face, the poor thing."

Bonnie seemed to think about it but Elena thought that Caroline may have been on the right path regarding Bella.

"Well, if it was a guy then he did quite a number on her," Bonnie said after a moment of silence.

"Okay. Enough about Bella's love life. Are you going to help me plan the party or not?" Elena asked, half trying to leave Bella out of the talk and half trying to make Bonnie act like her old self around Caroline. Since the blonde had become a vampire Bonnie didn't seem to be okay with that and Elena wanted the two of them to start acting as they used to.

While they were planning, Caroline couldn't seem to stop cheking her phone. By the tenth time, Bonnie snapped.

"What is it with it?"

"What are you talking about?" Caroline asked defensively.

"Your phone. Can't you let it alone for half an hour?"

"FYI, I'm a very sought out person," Caroline answered with arrogance. Bonnie lifted an eyebrow and Caroline sighed. "Damon isn't answering my calls."

Bonnie and Elena shared a look and Caroline rolled her eyes.

"What now?"

"Caroline," Elena said. "Why are you calling him?"

"Why am I calling him?" Caroline repeated with wide eyes. "Maybe because he changed me?!"

"And what about it?" Bonnie asked. "I thought Stefan was helping you to… adjust."

"Yes, he is. But Damon changed me. Isn't he supposed to, I don't know, talk to me?" she asked them and then sighed, her shoulders slumped. "I thought that maybe he was interested, you know? After all he's done to me…"

"What do you mean? Ruining your life?" Bonnie asked.

Elena pursed her lips and didn't say anything.

She felt bad for Caroline because clearly she was hoping for Damon to care about her. Caroline was his creation after all. But judging for Damon's last encounters with Elena when she was over the boarding house, he didn't even seem to remember Caroline. Initially he had wanted to stake Caroline ―a small part of Elena wondered if Caroline didn't remember that awful night or if she was just in denial― but Stefan had stepped in and took upon himself to help Caroline. Damon hadn't said anything about it and went back to his life as if nothing had happened. And lately he had been asking Elena about Bella and she didn't like it one bit. Because being in Damon's center of attention was fatal.

Caroline was proof of that.

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In the other side of the town Bella was staring at her phone. Then she sighed before typing the green button and waited for Charlie to answer.

"Bella?"

"Hi, dad," she said. She was perched on one of the armchairs in her bedroom. There was a quilt spread over her and The Merchant of Venice was lying open above it in her lap.

"Hey, kiddo. How are you?"

"Good. I'm good. Getting used to Mystic Falls."

"Do you like it?"

"I guess so," she answered. "Grandma said you wanted to tell me something."

"I just wanted to talk to you,"he said, sounding clearly embarrassed about it, and Bella winced. She had been trying to not talk to Charlie and she knew it was out of anger but she couldn't help it. And she felt awful about it but, at the same time, she felt as like she had to make a point. She was eighteen years old; he hadn't had the right to make her do anything she didn't want to do."I'm sorry, Bells. But I did what I thought was better for you."

"Yes, well, Renée doesn't think the same."

"I know. I heard from her,"he sounded aggravated, yes, but also tired and she wondered briefly if he was eating half healthily as he did while she lived with him."But, in all honesty, if you're all right in Mystic Falls then I don't regret a thing, Bella."

"Did you know Renée had a brother?" She asked out of the blue.

"… yes. She mentioned him once or twice when we were... yeah, she told me. But she never liked to talk about him."

"Do you know how... how he died?"

"Not really, Bells."

Bella sighed, slightly disappointed about his lack of knowledge.

"Why are you asking?"

"Nothing. It's just...I―"

The thing was that Renée was her mother. That clueless, head-on-the-clouds, free spirited woman she had known all of her life. But being in Mystic Falls and living with her grandmother had Bella starting to question herself about her maternal family. Especially about her mother and grandmother's broken relationship. And the secretive weirdness that surrounded it.

"Do you still love mom?" She asked and immediately regretted it. That had always been the question that had burned through Bella. Charlie had always seemed to being stuck on the past. His house itself was a big clue and Bella had always wondered if her mother deserved it. She had clearly moved on with her life not much time after their divorce and she had never looked back. "Dad, I'm sorry. It's not my―"

"No, it's all right, Bells. I―," he answered and paused as if trying to choose the right words for her. "I always knew you're gonna ask about it someday. Yes, Bella. I still love your mother. I think it's kind of unavoidable, actually. My father ―your grandfather― used to joke that we Swans were doomed. We'd always love our first love for the rest of our days until the day we die. I never thought much about it until I met your mother and I knew it was always going to be her for me," he said and to her surprise he didn't sound sad or angry. He was stating a fact.

"I'm sorry," she said again, not knowing what more to say.

"Don´t be," he said and she felt relieved that he sounded so casual about it."I love her but I don't want her with me. She left, Bella. She took you away from me; she left when I needed her the most. That I can't forgive her. And I'm okay with that,"

After that monologue Bella had much to think about so she changed topics and they talked about high school and how apparently Jessica Stanley was rumored to be pregnant with Mike's baby. When Charlie said he was going to spend the night with Billy and Jacob ―which was synonymous with pizza and beer― they said goodbye and hung up.

Bella didn't go back to The Merchant of Venice and instead spent time looking outside her bedroom window. Strangely enough she felt as a weight had been lifted from her shoulders after her father's confession. She was both sad and glad; sad because of the solitary life her father had been leading through all those years and glad because she felt like her mother didn't deserve him in the first place.

And then was that another fact.

We'd always love our first love for the rest of our days until the day we die.

The concept of time had been such an ugly issue back in her days with him. The span of a human lifetime had seemed such a short time for her to be with him and, in that moment sitting in that comfortable armchair in her new bedroom, in her new town, it suddenly seemed like she had such a long time ahead of her to suffer the loneliness in her simple, human life. It'd be funny if she hadn't been so miserable about it.

Was that true? Was Bella, as her father had been, doomed to love him until the end of her days? That was such a cheesy, romantic notion! And yet, deep down within her, she knew it frightened her even more than the idea of being alone for the rest of her life.

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"Happy Birthday, Jeremy."

"Thanks, Bella," Jeremy yelled over the music. He had a can of beer in his hand and his cheeks were flushed. "Elena is back in the kitchen," he explained how to get there and she left him with his buddies to have fun.

Elena was in there with Stefan and Damon. They seemed to be in deep talk even if Stefan and Elena had an exasperate look in their faces. Elena greeted Bella with a smile.

"I thought you weren't going to come!"

"I promised you, right?" Bella said, shrugging. "I keep my promises. Can I help you with anything?"

"No," she shook her head. The music was muffed in there so they could talk almost normally. "Caroline and Bonnie helped me with the planning. Sometimes is good to have a perfection-planner-best friend"

"Sometimes is not," Bella found herself saying, remembering Alice's trips. Elena raised her eyebrows but she didn't say anything about it. Bella changed topics. "Why are you all cooped in here? Shouldn't you be watching over the people?" she glanced at Damon, who winked at her. Wasn't he a little old to be on a teenager party? But, he lived there, so it made sense.

"Speaking about it" said Stefan. "I'm going to check on Caroline. See if anything is… controlled," he and Elena exchanged looks but Bella couldn't help but feel there was an underlining meaning in it.

She was so paranoid lately.

"I'm going with you," Elena said and turned to Bella. "I'll be right back, ok?"

And she got out of the kitchen with Stefan.

A beer can was suddenly on her line of vision. Damon was holding it.

Bella shook her head.

"No, thank you."

"Come on, Isabella! It's a party," he insisted, moving the can in circles in front of her. She reached up and took it. She wasn't planning on drink it but if she could make Damon shut up…

First she took a slice of pizza that was on the counter and munched it, already knowing the first rule of drinking: never doing it with an empty stomach.

"Why aren't you out there?" she asked him, hoping Elena would cross the kitchen door soon.

He shrugged.

"Not my responsibility."

Bella nodded and then Bonnie was in the kitchen with them.

"Hey," she said with a smile in Bella's direction. "Elena told me you were here. Come with us, we want you to meet some people."

That wasn't Bella's favorite hobby but she couldn't stay in the kitchen all the time… right? So she started to walk alongside Bonnie when ―oh, surprise― she tripped with her own two feet and Bonnie had to steady her with her hand.

Bonnie let out a gasp and let go of Bella's arm as if it had burned her and her eyes took a sightless gaze on them. Then she shook her head and looked at Bella before turning around to look at Damon who returned her gaze. His smile had evaporated in the air.

Bonnie looked at Bella again and smiled as if trying to seem as if nothing had happened. But it didn't work; Bella had already seen her horrified expression.

It was past eleven and Bella was taking some fresh air out on one of the little terraces outside one of the house big windows. The music was still on but there was some kind of peace out there. It was cold, yes, but inside the house was like being inside an oven. She had passed the last hour making an effort and talking with April Young, ―Pastor Young's daughter, a title she didn't seem to like―, Bonnie and Elena. Apparently, she had came back to Mystic Falls just a few months before Bella but Elena knew her from earlier years when she used to babysit her. April was sweet on Jeremy, Bella had noticed, too, and there was a weird vibe between Bonnie and April that Bella sensed was because of Jeremy, too. She didn't know if Bonnie and Jeremy were a thing and she wondered if Elena knew about it.

"From Romeo and Juliet to this," she muttered to herself, taking another sip from her beer. It was the third and Bella was feeling a light buzz on her head. It was nice.

The window glass slid away to the side and Elena's head appeared outside.

"Everything ok in here?"

"Yes, just taking some air," Bella answered.

"Good."

She thought she was going to go back inside but she stepped out and walked until she was next to her with her elbows on the railing. There was a moment of silence until Elena broke it.

"I know you're not the most outgoing person here but I wanted to thank you," she said in a gentle voice and Bella blinked.

"Why?" she asked, confused. "I told you I was going to come."

"And I appreciate it," Elena nodded. "I really want you to meet people and to enjoy the party."

"I was doing just that."

"No, you weren't," Elena laughed before looking down and frowning. "And that's ok, Bella. You don't have to be like me or any other girl here. I pushed you to do others things like dining with me and Jeremy and Stefan and to put up with Caroline and Bonnie―"

"…They're really nice girls, Elena…"

"―but I saw how uncomfortable you were all the time and I'm sorry about it. Now I see that I shouldn't have done it.

Bella winced, looked up at the dark sky and sighed.

"It's okay, Elena," she finally said after looking for the right words to say. "You don't have to apologize for anything. Yes, I was uncomfortable and yes, I'm the least outgoing person in this party ―I think everyone noticed― but I am not, like you, in my best moment," she sighed again, finding that there wasn't the right way to say what she wanted to say without revealing what had happened to her.

And she had that weight on her chest; like something was crushing it and the words were flowing before she could stop them.

"I was good, you know? Everything was all right in my world until my last birthday back in September; I was my usual clumsy, awkward self but it was okay because I was happy and then there was an accident and everything came crashing down around me and it was horrible because everything I wanted in this world was gone and I was alone and I was forced to move in here and to start all over again and it was awful," she said. Elena had become a blurry image in front of her and she realized that there were tears in her eyes. Wanting to keep at least one shred of control, she passed a hand over her face to dry her tears and took a deep breath. "What I wanted to say is that you don't have to apologize for trying to help me. I know I'm weird and that's okay, I have accepted it a long time ago. But, Elena, I'm really grateful for everything you've done. I'm grateful because you're trying and I want you to know that I'm trying, too. It's just… so hard sometimes."

Elena frowned.

"I'm sorry, Bella. I don't know what happened to you but I think I know how you feel," Elena said softly and then a small, sad smile turned up the corner of her lips. "Do you want to know something horrible but funny? You know how my parents passed away, everyone does. But before it happened I was super-popular-cheerleader-Elena-Gilbert and I loved it. Everyone in this town wanted to be my friend and I was invited to all the parties and everything was so cool," she said. "And then I ditched one family night to go to a party where I could be with my cool friends. That night I broke up with my boyfriend Matt and I was crying because, you know, it was the end of the world and I called my parents to pick me up. That night we had the accident and after my parents died I mourned them and when school year came back around I thought I could go back to my old self but I couldn't do it. Because happy, popular Elena no longer existed. And I was so angry, Bella. I ditched my family to be with my friends and when everything happened they continued on with their lives and I was stuck, I was sad and I couldn't move on. And super-popular-cheerleader-Elena-Gilbert didn't resurface from that lake anymore."

"You've got Jeremy, Elena. And your aunt. And Bonnie, Caroline and Stefan. And Damon, I guess."

"Yes but now I'm struggling to stay friends with Caroline and Bonnie doesn't like Stefan or Damon. And I don't think Jeremy has forgiven me for our parent's death. He doesn't tell me but I know. Jenna had to come back here from college to take care of us. And my parents are dead," she shrugged. "Everyone's lives ruined because of me."

»"But I'm not telling you this to make you sad, Bella. I'm trying to tell you that you don't have to change nor let people try to change you. Like I did.

Despite the sad atmosphere, Bella smiled.

"I promise you, Elena, that if I didn't want to do all the things you said you made me do, I wouldn't be here. But I want to try, at least."

Elena sighed.

"Then that's okay. And Bella?"

Bella turned to look at Elena. She was looking ahead of her, into the woods that surrounded the house. The moonlight shined on her face and gave her a strange sense of calmness.

"Yes, Elena?"

Elena turned to look at her and smiled while taking Bella's right hand and giving it an encouraging squeeze.

"It won't tear you apart forever."

A/N: Hi, everybody! It's almost 1 AM in my country and I'm dead on my feet but I'll be occupied all next week so I won't have time to update Outside and I didn't want you to wait anymore for the new chapter so here it is.

The story is moving slowly but is heading right where I want it to be and I'm so proud of that. I like Bella's point of views but there will be times where other character will make an appearance as the story teller because I want to include other things that Bella isn't aware of yet. In this chapter it was Elena's.

Outside has got three chapters and 110 followers! Wow, guys! I feel so accomplished because it has to mean most of you understand what I write! Haha

Anyway, again I'm sorry for any grammar mistakes (which I'm sure are much more of what my tired mind has corrected tonight) and if you see anything wrong up there just tell me and I'll correct it.

Again, thank you for all the support Outside has gained and I wait for your reviews, follows and favs! Read you next chapter!