CHAPTER 25 Winnie the Pooh

It's a short one but better than nothing right. I know this should've been up weeks, no months ago but LIFE. It's currently kicking me while I'm already down- emotionally that is. Hell, it's kicking everyone.

I'll admit that with everything going on in the world right now, a part of me really didn't want to write and I've also been busy figuring out what to do with my life- after spending three years at university doing English… I've done a complete 180 and started studying to be a nurse.

Also, my little sister is currently 21 and pregnant. She's spent her entire pregnancy living by herself, self-isolating. So, we've been helping her as much as we could considering the fact that we couldn't actually see her. The doctors are already worried, especially about the size of the baby. He is severely small- honestly when you look at her, she looks about 5 or so months gone, not 9- her due date is Wednesday. (bearing in mind that she's like a size 8 or smaller)

Because she's about to be induced, the baby is in the right position- he's ready to come out but she's currently only 2 centimetres so, now it's a waiting game. I've been busy setting up the guest room and moving shit around for make space for all the baby stuff. There's no way we can send her but to her flat by herself with a new-born.

Basically, to sum it up…

Fuck you Corona!

BLM! Black Lives Definitely Matter!

And I'm about to become an aunt.

I hope everyone is staying safe and being considerate for others.

But anyway, I'm sure none of you wanted to read all of that.

To avoid being an arsehole with my updates- I'm determined to update regularly and finish these stories. I've decided to do an update schedule. Fingers crossed I'll have- hopefully, a chapter- if not then you'll get something posted every:

Tuesday and Thursday

That doesn't mean that they'll all be for this story, it could be a chapter for Insanity or hell I could post an entirely new story.

Now onto the chapter you've all been waiting for…

BETTER CHAPTER COMING ON THURSDAY!

"Miss Roxanne" Finn allowed Sage to help him off of the ground from where the eldest Gilbert had pushed him. His concern was obvious as he made sure to keep a weary eye on the trio of youngsters. They might have been able to catch him off guard once but that would never happen again.

His words caused time to unfreeze. The realisation of what had occurred caught up with all parties involved and snapped them back into action.

Roxy looked at the stake currently sticking out of her shoulder, just below the collarbone, and back to the vampire holding the crossbow "You shot me!" she looked over at Nate, who had left Sage with Finn and making his way over to her and exclaimed in disbelief "That piece of shit shot me!"

Unable to resist, Kol interjected, giving her a cheeky grin "Technically you jumped in the way"

"There's no 'technically' about it, Kol. That bastard shot me" she looked back at Nate and pointed back at her wound as if to say 'look at what he did to me'

"I can see that. At least it sobered you up a little" despite the warlock's concern for his friend, he couldn't stop the amused twitch of his lips at Roxanne's reaction "Let me see it"

"Oh my God, Roxanne!" Elena gasped and dropped her weapon in horror, not only at the sight of her sister being impaled in the shoulder but what worried her most was the amount of blood present and how quickly it was soaking her top. She went to run up to Roxy, but Stefan was quick to flash over to her side and stop her. The glare that the three old vampires and warlock levelled in their direction was enough to put Stefan on the defensive.

Roxanne on the other hand, didn't pay her sister any attention since she was past gapping in shock and leaned against the wall poking at the wound, pouting whenever Nate slapped her hands away to focus on healing her wound. Until the wound was completely healed, whenever pain struck, she would shoot a glare at the reason and throw more insults at him-each one more creative than the last. Not to mention mentally scarring.

"-you're a badger fucker, Stefanie…"

"-I hope you fall into a pit of horny Porcupines and skunks"

"-scorpions poke you in the eyes while you sleep-"

"-I'm gonna dunk you in honey, string you up in a tree and let Winnie the Pooh gnaw your dick off."

That one was probably her favourite one so far.

It was safe to say that, by the time Nate had finished healing the puncture wound, Stefan Salvatore was officially terrified of Roxanne Gilbert.

"There. All healed, I even sobered you up a little." Nate grinned and patted her newly healed shoulder

Roxanne moved the bloody material of her top to the side and peered down at her unmarked, clear flesh. She returned his grin, "Have I ever told you how much I love you?" instead of answering, he rolled his eyes and pulled her to his side, pressing a kiss to her temple.

"You really need to stop jumping in front of pointy things" he scolded her before silently cursing his wording, especially when he eyed the way she started to grin "Don't you dare"

She pouted and tutted playfully "Stop setting yourself up for them then, you'd think you'd have learnt by now"

"Roxy" Elena's voice shattered the easy going atmosphere and reminded everyone of the situation.

Roxanne frowned and held up a bloody hand when her sister started to step closer "Stay away Elena"

"What-"

"Clearly you didn't hear a word I said earlier. This is exactly what I was talking about" she shook her head "What the hell is wrong with you? You're just lucky it was me who jumped in the way of that stake. What if Jeremy had been with me, huh. What if he got in the way and got hit instead? Or Nate for that matter- I know you don't know him, but if it had been either of them, I would've torn you apart… all three of you."

"Rox-"

"No Elena" she held up her hand again "I know that I haven't been back long ok, I get that I haven't been here since the beginning of all this and you might believe that it means that I'm not entitled to get involved, but I'm ending it right now. This war between you and them is done. Enough is enough."

"But-"

"I said enough! If you had of succeeded in killing Finn and Sage do you have any idea of the consequences! Of how many vampires would die? Or what about the fact that you were willing to kill someone who's done nothing to you other than be an easy target, the weak link in a chain you could say?" to really drill her point across, Roxy took aim for the kill shot "And if killing a bunch of innocent vampires means nothing to you, how gutted would you be if that asshole next to you and his brother actually are from Finn's sire line? Hmm? In case you forgot, he turned Sage. You have no idea how many she turned in her 900 or so years. Sorry to put a kink in your plans but no one's dying today" though she definitely didn't sound anywhere close to being apologetic.

Roxy may have been a lot of things but stupid wasn't one of them, pretty far from it actually. She knew exactly what they thought. It was obvious to the Salvatore brothers that they could eliminate Finn Mikaelson straight away, since he'd spent most of his immortal life in a coffin so, there was no possible way that he could be the origin of their blood line. Judging from their wide eyed expressions, they hadn't even considered the possibility

"I didn't think-"

Roxy snapped before her sister could even attempt to defend herself "That's the problem Elena. You don't think at all about the consequences. You just want what you want and damn the casualties that happen in the crossfire."

Seeing that Roxy wasn't going to change her mind, Elena tried to switch tactics "You're siding with them over your family!"

"No, I'm not" the older brunette growled in response "I'm not siding with them and I'm not siding with you. I'm siding with Jeremy"

"You always did" Elena glared at her sister and stated bitterly "You always chose him over me"

"What the hell are you-" Realisation lifted Roxanne's expression "You're jealous"

She scoffed, folding her arms, and looking everywhere but at her older sister "What, no I'm not"

"Bullshit. You're jealous that I don't and never have fawned over you like everyone else. For once in your life, someone prefers Jeremy over you" as usual her words were blunt and straight to the point but striking like a dagger to Elena's heart.

Elena curled closer behind Stefan; wanting very much to disappear. Stefan frowned and took a step forward, ready to argue and shield Elena at the same time, but Roxy barrelled on.

"And you know what; I always will. Because he is innocent compared to you."

Everyone was silent, staring at the two sisters. Kol was the one to break the tension when he let out a low whistle and cackled like a hyena. "That was cold. Damn" he muttered, extending the word. "And they say I'm brutal"

"Kol" Finn admonished his youngest brother, reminding everyone that both he and Sage were still there, as silent witnesses.

Also having kept quiet and invisible up until that point, Matt put himself in between the two sisters. His face was angry, as was his tone as he addressed Roxy "Hey now that's totally uncalled for, she's your sister. She doesn't deserve that"

"Don't even try that with me Mathew Donovan" she glared at the boy "You are just as guilty as her, or have you forgotten about the crossbow in your hands, Van Helsing junior"

Matt soon shut up and stepped back, sheepishly.

Roxy rolled her eyes and looked back at her sister "…You want to commit genocide, Elena. How can I defend or side with you on that?" she shook her head almost regretful "You may have everyone else convinced by the halo on your head, but I can see the two horns it rests on"

Silence. It was just pure silence, not that there was anything left to say anyway.

Roxy had completely obliterated any possible argument that anyone could have had. To the others, Roxy may have appeared unaffected by the verbal battle with her sister but, Nate noticed when the fight completely left his friend, he noticed the subtle sag in her stance and the tired sigh that left her lips. He wanted to remove the heartbreak and disappointment that dimmed her eyes and to do that, the witch knew he needed to get her away from the situation.

"As much as I love seeing you verbally eviscerate someone, even if it is your sister, we should get you home and cleaned up" Nate wrinkled his nose at the sight of her blood and the strong stench of alcohol "You're in desperate need of a shower"

She opened her mouth to disagree, but he just raised his eyebrows, silently telling her that he knew she was exhausted, and she pouted. Sometimes he just knew her way too well and right now that was a god send.

Roxy took one step and all but fell over her own feet. Not that she'd ever admit it, but Roxy had a feeling that she most likely would have face planted the ground, had it not been for Nate quickly grabbing her arm to steady her.

"Woah, easy there Bambi" the blond warlock in question chuckled once

"I was just shot. I'm allowed to stumble" the brunette defended herself, but she clearly wasn't fooling anyway as Kol pointed out with his next remark

Kol snorted "Yes, and it's clearly got nothing to do with the two dozen shots you've had"

"Shut up Kol" she pointed at the boy "I thought you were on my side here"

Kol just grinned mischievously, reminding Roxy of a misbehaving little boy, before he zipped away, presumably to get the car- or so both Nate and Roxy hoped that he was. The idea of waking was not appealing at all. Seeing the shared look Finn and his lover decided to follow after Kol to ensure that he returned with transportation.

Nate started to lead her away, but before they could round the corner completely Roxy looked back over her shoulder. "You keep saying that they're the monsters, but you're the ones willing to kill thousands of vampires for revenge against one… so what does that make you?"

If nothing else Roxy had said worked on her hard-headed younger sister, that one sentence practically sucker punched her. Despite having Stefan to lean on, Elena collapsed in a sobbing mess, with the words of her sister left to torment her.

UPDATE!

LAYTON LEE TAYLOR was born on 14/07/20 at 2:14am.

He's that small we had to pop out and buy him premature baby clothes… and even those are too big for him!

My sister had an emergency C-section because his heart rate dropped way too low and they couldn't get it back up. Both mother and child stayed in for 48hours but now they're both here.