Grabbing her sister with one hand and both their bags with the other, Elena hustled Margaret out to the car, ignoring her protests, and buckled her securely into her booster seat.
“Do you want me to check the window?” Robert said, politely getting out of the car to take Aunt Judith’s bag and open the passenger’s side door for her.
“No!” said Elena sharply before Aunt Judith could answer. When they both looked at her in surprise, she gave them a small, weak smile. “Sorry. I’m just so nervous. Can’t we get out of here?”
As they pulled out of the driveway, Elena settled watchfully in the backseat next to Margaret, her overnight bag clutched in her lap. She felt sure that nothing would happen to them on the drive over to Meredith’s. And then, after they dropped her off, she could only hope that Damon would lose interest in them. At least he’d never been invited into Robert’s house. Getting Aunt Judith and Margaret as far away from her as she could seemed like the only way to protect them.
“This is the best part,” Bonnie said as she rolled onto her stomach on Meredith’s bed, her eyes fixed on the TV screen a few feet away. “After he kisses her, you know they’re going to get past all the stuff that came between them.”
“I still think she should have ended up with her friend instead,” Meredith said critically from where she leaned against the headboard. “That was the first ending, you know, and the test audiences hated it so much that they reshot it.”
“And rightly so,” Bonnie said. “Bleah.”
Elena laughed and jostled against her. “There’s nothing wrong with him. I think he’s cute.”
“Bleah,” Bonnie said again, wrinkling her nose.
The sick, dread-filled feeling in the pit of Elena’s stomach hadn’t gone away for a moment. But, despite all of that, it was good to be here once more. When Bonnie had heard that Elena was spending the night, she had invited herself over, too. The warm smell of baking cookies rose comfortingly from the kitchen downstairs.
“Hey, would you braid my hair?” Bonnie asked, as the couple on screen finally kissed.
“Sure,” Elena said, and Bonnie wiggled around so that her back was to Elena.
“Do you want a French braid?” Elena asked. Bonnie nodded, and Elena began separating the curling strands of Bonnie’s hair just as the oven timer went off downstairs.
“I’ve got it,” Meredith said, hopping up.
“Wait, I’ll come with you,” Elena told her, letting go of Bonnie’s curls.
“I think I can handle it,” Meredith said wryly.
After a moment of hesitation, Elena took hold of Bonnie’s hair again. This was Meredith’s house, and Damon wasn’t invited in. She would be fine.
“So …” Bonnie said playfully as Meredith left the room. “Who’s the better kisser, Stefan or Damon?”
Elena winced. “It’s not that easy.”
“Easy or not, I bet they’re both pretty good, aren’t they?” Bonnie asked. Elena could hear the cheeky grin in her voice.
Heat flooded Elena’s cheeks. She thought of the nostalgic emotions that had washed through her as Stefan kissed and, darker and more intimate, the way it had felt when Damon had drunk her blood. “Yeah,” she admitted in a tiny voice.
“Uh-huh,” Bonnie said smugly. Then she twisted around to look at Elena, her brown eyes bright with sincerity. “If you say Stefan didn’t set the fire, I believe you, Elena.”
“I know he didn’t,” Elena said.
“Mmm. He’s much too cute to be a psycho.”
Elena laughed despite herself. “I’m not sure that’s the best way to tell.”
She busied herself twining Bonnie’s hair into an elegant braid. “There,” she said, after a few minutes. “Gorgeous.”
Bonnie bounced to her feet. Going to the full-length mirror hanging on the back of Meredith’s closet door, she turned her head from side to side, admiring herself. “Nice. Thank you.”
As she watched Bonnie, Elena became aware of a niggling sense of something not quite right.
“Does it seem to you like Meredith’s taking a really long time?” she asked.
Eyes still on her own reflection, Bonnie lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “I know, right?” she said. “How long does it take to put some cookies on a plate? I’m starving.”
“That’s not what I mean,” Elena began, and then the door opened and her shoulders sagged with relief. Meredith was back.
“About time,” Bonnie said cheerfully, and grabbed a cookie.
“Careful, they’re hot,” Meredith said, smiling. Then she caught Elena’s eye and her smile faded. “What’s wrong?”
Elena felt like she was frozen in place. Looped around Meredith’s neck was a deep red scarf that she certainly hadn’t been wearing when she went downstairs.
“Why are you wearing that?” she said, her voice cracking. “Take it off.”
Bonnie and Meredith looked at each other, their eyebrows lifting. “Um … Elena?” Bonnie asked. “What are you talking about?”
“The scarf!” Elena insisted. “Take it off right now!” She should have gone downstairs with Meredith. It had been stupid of her to think they would be safe, just because Damon hadn’t yet been invited into Meredith’s house. Even if he hadn’t had his Power, Damon would have been able to charm and talk his way into almost anywhere. With all the Power at his command, all he would have to do was ask. And Meredith was defenseless: She didn’t even know that Damon was someone to be afraid of.