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Cordelia sat next to Bonnie at the dining table with Elena across from Bonnie and Stefan sitting at the end of the table. "Did Tanner give you a hard time today?" Elena asked her boyfriend. "Well, he let me on the team, so I must have something right," Stefan replied to her though it was clear the air was awkward. "Bonnie, Cordelia, you should have seen Stefan today. Tyler threw a ball right at him and--" Bonnie cut Elena off, "Yeah, I heard." Cori sighed at Bonnie's tension, she looked at Elena who frowned before focusing on her food. "Why don't you tell Stefan about your family?" Elena asked Bonnie.

"Um, divorced. No mom. Live with my dad," Bonnie answered with an uninterested tone. "No, about the witches," Elena corrected before turning to Stefan, "Bonnie's family has a lineage of witches. It's really cool." Cori nodded as Bonnie spoke, "Cool isn't the word I'd use." Stefan cleared his throat, "Well, it's certainly interesting. I'm not too versed, but I do know that there's a history of Celtic Druids that migrated here in the 1800s." Cori smiled slightly at that, of course, the history buff would know something like that. "My family came by way of Salem," Bonnie corrected. "Really? Salem witches?" Stefan questioned her. "Yeah," Bonnie nodded.

"I would say that's pretty cool," Stefan said truthfully. "Really, why?" Bonnie asked him intrigued. "Salem witches are heroic examples of individualism and nonconformity," Stefan expressed. "Yeah, they are," Bonnie replied with a smile on her face. The doorbell rings again and Cori looks at her companions who are also unsure about their new guest. "I wonder who that could be," Elena said as she got up to answer the door, Cori following behind her watching as she opened the door to reveal Angela and Damon. "Surprise! Bonnie said you were doing dinner so we brought dessert," Angela said as she held out a cake.

"Hope you don't mind," Damon said as he glanced at Cordelia. "What are you doing here?" Stefan asked, Cori hadn't even realised that he stepped up next to her. "Waiting for Elena to invite me in," Damon replied before looking at Elena. "Oh, yeah, you can..." Elena was cut off by Stefan, "No, no, no. He can't, uh... he can't stay. Can you, Damon?" Cori looked between the two brothers and immediately picked up on the hostility, she had a dozen questions to ask both of them in hopes to fix whatever is happening. "Get in here," Angela said, she had already stepped inside the home. "We're just... finishing up," Stefan added trying to delay Damon's access to the Gilbert home.

"It's fine. Just come on in," Elena moved aside for Damon to walk inside, he smirked as he did so ensuring to look pointedly at his brother. "You have a beautiful home, Elena," Damon complimented. "Thank you," Elena replied before everyone met in the living room. "I cannot believe that Mr Tanner let you on the team. Tyler must be seething, but good for you. Go for it," Angela encouraged Stefan. "That's what I always tell him. You have to engage. You can't just sit there and wait for life to come to you. You have to go get it," Damon added as he rested his arm behind Angela's head on the couch.

"Yeah, Elena wasn't so lucky today. It's only because you missed summer camp. God, I don't know how you're ever going to learn the routines," Angela voiced dryly making Cordelia glare harshly at her. "I'll work with her. She'll get it," Bonnie replied in defence of her friend. "I guess we can put her in the back," Angela said causing Cori to scoff. "Okay, you've been in the back for the past two years, why are you making decisions like your the captain? Last I checked, Caroline was and you weren't," Cori snapped at the girl who shrunk in her seat. "You know, you don't seem like the cheerleader type, Elena," Damon voiced to Elena.

"Oh, it's just 'cause her parents died. Yeah, I mean, she's just totally going through a blah phase. She used to be way more fun. And I say that with complete sensitivity," Angela said as she avoided Cori's glare that had only hardened on her. "I'm sorry, Elena. I know what it's like to lose both your parents. In fact, Stefan and I have watched almost every single person we've ever cared about die," Damon informed Elena with a hidden message that Cori had raised a brow at, she looked at Stefan who was tense. "We don't need to get into that right now, Damon," Stefan seethed out to his brother. "Oh, you know what, you're right, Stef. I'm sorry. The last thing I wanted to do was bring her up. Mmm," Damon replied, the tension thick.

While Elena was in the kitchen cleaning up, Cori had left Bonnie to entertain Angela while the blonde pulled Stefan aside. "What was that?" Cori asked Stefan. "It was nothing, Cori. Just my brother trying to piss me off," Stefan replied but he was quick to notice she didn't believe him, he sighed and crossed his arms. "I'll explain it all later," Stefan told her as he watched Damon walk into the kitchen. "You better," Cori replied before she sat back down on the couch, she felt tired and just wanted to sleep. Stefan watched as she tried to stifle a yawn, he found it adorable and encouraged her to go home and sleep; advise that she was happy to take.

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"It was back in 1864 when Damon and I met Katherine Pierce. She was an orphan and my father willingly let her into our home," Stefan began as he paced at the end of his bed, Cordelia was sitting on his bed with popcorn. "It was ordinary at first. Damon was in and out of the confederacy and Katherine had her eyes on us but she wasn't who we thought she was," Stefan continued with a sigh, "She was a Vampire and Damon fell in love with her." Cori raised a brow at that, "But you didn't?" Stefan stopped and looked at Cori, "She compelled me, fed off of me and told me lies while Damon willingly did everything." Cori frowned at that, she didn't like the sound of Katherine so far.

"It wasn't long before our father learned of Katherine's true nature and he used me to poison her," Stefan sat down on the bed beside Cori, "Damon and I worked together to save her from her fate of burning in the old church but we were shot... by our own father." Cori was seething at that, she couldn't believe someone could harm their own child. "Katherine had given us vampire blood and Emily Bennett -- who had been working for Katherine -- was there when we woke up," Stefan turned away from Cori as he spoke, "I wasn't going to turn. But I wanted to say goodbye to my father."

"He didn't deserve it, Stefan," Cori muttered making him smile before he spoke, "That was when he told me that he pulled the trigger. We fought and I fed. Drained him to nothing." Cori noticed the misty look in his eyes, she frowned and delicately grabbed his hand in her own ignoring the sensation it caused in hopes of comforting him. "I had transitioned and when I returned to Damon, I forced him to feed so I wouldn't be alone. I wanted my brother by my side but he promise to make eternity miserable for me... A promise he's never failed to keep," Stefan finished off as he looked down, he didn't want to see Cori's reaction.

"Stefan... I would have done the same if it was Caroline, even if she promised me misery," Cori told Stefan, he looked up at her as she cupped his cheek. "You've held on to this guilt for so long, Stefan. But you don't have to anymore, you made a choice and now it's time to accept it and work on fixing the bond between the two of you," Cori expressed as Stefan leaned into her hand, "I know it's not easy but you need to let go of that guilt, Stefan 'cause its eating you alive." Stefan opened his eyes as a tear fell, Cori sent him a small smile as she wiped it away before opening her arms for a hug, Stefan moved into her embrace and let the tears fall.

Cori did her best to ease Stefan as he let out emotions he fought so hard to hide, she now knew why Damon's presence threw him off and she understood the hostility between them. Her next goal was to help the boys mend their bond because Cordelia Forbes knows there is nothing stronger than the bond between siblings. It wasn't long until Stefan had fallen asleep, Cori laid him back in his hand and pulled the covers over him with a soft smile as she brushed her fingers lightly down his cheek, smiling when he seemed to relax under her touch. She shook her head and pulled away reminding herself that Stefan was with Elena.

She got up and walked towards the door when she noticed a photo sitting on the desk, she looked over and gasped lightly as she looked down at the image of Katherine who happened to be a perfect spitting image of Elena Gilbert. "Oh, Stefan..." Cori breathed out as she looked at him, her eyes sympathetic as she turned away and walked downstairs finding Damon sitting on the couch with a glass of bourbon in his hand. "So you've heard the origin story of the original Salvatore brothers," Damon voiced making Cori sigh as she stepped into the room. "You heard it all," Cori breathed out as she noticed the conflict on Damon's face.

"It's been years of tormenting my little brother for the choice he forced on me..." Damon spoke before he looked up at Cori, "I don't know how to..." Damon put the glass down and made his way out of the house leaving Cordelia standing there feeling a little accomplished. Perhaps this was the first stepping stone to fixing things between the two brothers and she was ready to be there for both of them every step of the way. And the moment she got home, Cori headed straight into Caroline's room and climbed into her bed. "Cori?" Caroline muttered out with a smile. "I love you, Caroline," Cori whispered recieving a grin. "I love you, Cordelia," Caroline replied before they fell asleep.

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Rosemary Speaks

Some sweet moments shared and Cori is helping the boys fix their bond.

Will Cori succeed in fixing Stefan and Damon's bond or will something get in the way?

Will Stefan realise that the feelings he holds for Elena isn't what he thinks?

What will happen when John Gilbert shows up to stir the plot?

Heads up warning,
I am changing a lot of the storyline including the fact that Damon is not compelling Angela the way he did with Caroline, okay. And a few other moments have changed based on Caroline not being Damon's "puppet" in this book. So don't go commenting that the plot us "wrong" as I got my own happening.

See you in the next chapter!

Edit: I may have written 1945 rather than 1864 as I'm working on a marvel draft and mixed the year... my bad lol