the night of the comet;
❛ PORCELAIN DOLL ❜
❝ Nobody is asking you to back off ❞

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The week began once again faster before Regina wanted it to. The memory of Vicki laying in the middle of the forest covered in blood was still fresh in her mind. She saw it at night before she closed her eyes and it was the first memory she thought of when she opened them. She just couldn't let it go.

Elena visited her in the hospital and said that she was stable. That was all that Regina knew about the situation and it was enough for her.

"Regina." Jenna called out to her niece who was just about to walk out of the front door and head to school. Regina turned around and gave her an expectant look. Jenna twirled around in a dark blue knee-length dress and asked, "Do I look adult? As in, respect parental?"

There was a certain insecurity and need for validation in her eyes when Regina looked at her. More than anything, she wanted at least her nephew and nieces to see her as a trusted adult rather than the fun aunt. As much as that role suited her, she couldn't afford for them to see her like that anymore.

"For our parent-teacher conference?" Regina tilted her head.

"Yeah." She lifted her strawberry blonde curls up and looked at the mirror behind Regina. "Hair up or down?"

"Up." Regina answered immediately. It made her look more mature. "You look great. Don't worry about it. Anyone who thinks otherwise is a moron."

Jenna let her hair fall back over her shoulders and combed her fingers through Regina's straightened hair with a fond smile. "My days would suck without you, kid." Regina smiled at the affection. Her aunt Jenna was the only person who seemed to look back at her with the same light in her eye. Regina always seemed to love people more than they loved her but Jenna was the exception. "Where are you going this early, anyway?"

"I'm taking the bus with Mads." Regina said and picked up her black jacket from the hanger.

Jenna's eyebrows furrowed in both confusion and concern. "Why isn't Archie driving you?"

"He's busy with his new girlfriend." Regina forced a smile on her face. Unknowingly, Jenna could see right through it.

Her eyes narrowed and her voice was mean. "Who's the bitch?"

"Caroline."

Jenna's angry look faltered and was replaced by a shocked one. "Forbes?" Her wide eyes looked for an answer on Regina's face but the grimace on her face made the answer obvious.

"Don't think about that too hard. I don't care." Regina shrugged. She cared. "I'm gonna go. Good luck at the conference. Love you."

"Love you, too." Jenna muttered and kept her concerned eyes on the brunette until she was out of the front door and out of her sight.

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Regina had just parted ways from Madelaine and went to her locker when Archie finally had the nerves to walk up to her and start a conversation. He felt like a jackass for not speaking to her since he and Caroline got together and wanted to see if she was mad at him or not. He drove up to her house that morning and knocked when he saw that she didn't wait for him outside like she usually did.

Jenna opened and gave him a cold look. Then, she told him that Regina took the early bus to school earlier that morning. She figured that Jenna was either in a bad mood (which did not make sense since she was always happy to see him) or Regina was mad and ranted to her aunt about it.

"Where have you been?" Archie asked Regina, his soft and genuine question making her want to scratch his eyes out. Breathe. She let out a shaky breath and avoided his gaze by pretending to look for something in her locker. "I haven't seen you since the bonfire." He continued once he realized she was not going to answer him.

"I was busy." She told him vaguely.

Archie stared at her in silence for a couple of moments. Then, he let out a heavy sigh and asked, "Did Tyler go home with you after the bonfire? I haven't seen him since and he texted me not to worry."

Regina scoffed and gave him a look of disbelief. "You think that I have been hooking up with your brother?" She hissed, "His girlfriend has been in the hospital for three days!"

She could not believe that he thought that she would ever do something like that. The only reason she even spoke to Tyler Lockwood that night was because she was heartbroken and drunk, and he was giving her attention. The sober version of Regina would never go as far as to sleep with him.

"I don't know!" Archie shot back. People around them were probably looking because of the yelling but he did not seem fazed. "I haven't heard from you for days and you act like I was supposed to know what you were doing."

"And who's fault is that, huh?" Regina retorted, making him snap his mouth shut. The silence between them was heavy. He looked at her with wide guilty eyes while her doe eyes were filled with disappointment.

Their friendship lasted long enough that she believed he wouldn't ghost her because of a girl. Well, she believed that before last week. Then again, Caroline Forbes was not like all of the other girls to him. She was his life-long dream. Her stunning blue eyes haunted his every thought and he would do anything to make her laugh, no matter how stupid it was.

It was like that for as long as Regina could remember. One time, just before Elena, Caroline and Archie started their sophomore year (which Tyler had just failed), Regina's parents decided to take them on a roadtrip to the beach. It was just the Gilbert siblings, their parents Madelaine, Archie, Bonnie and Caroline.

Archie and Regina went on a walk and she swore that she was going to admit her feelings for him then. But, nothing in her life could ever go according to her plan because Archie found a high cliff that he was going to jump off of. ("Caroline will have to go out with me after this!") He ran off to get the others. Then, he did an insane backflip while jumping which caused Regina's stomach to erupt with butterflies.

Caroline, on the other hand, was unimpressed and that was the only thing that mattered to him.

Who cared about the girl who loved him since she knew what love was? He just had to have the girl who pretended like he didn't exist until he became taller the year before. Why would Archie want puppy love when he could have the chase?

"I'm sorry." Archie told her gently. "You're my best friend. You know that."

Regina shook her head. "But she's your girlfriend. I get it." She really did. "I'll back off."

Archie's eyebrows furrowed. "Nobody is asking you to back off."

"Who would want another girl hanging off their boyfriend all the time? I know I wouldn't." Regina said.

"You're not some random girl. You've been my best friend since kindergarten."

Regina rolled her eyes. "And you've been in love with Caroline since kindergarten. I think that we just need some time apart. Spend some time with her."

"So what?" Archie looked completely lost. "You want to stop being friends because I got a girlfriend?"

Regina shook her head and huffed. "I don't want to stop being friends. I just want you to spend more time with her. She isn't like your other girlfriends. You fought to be with her for years. I don't want you to lose that."

That was only partially true. She just didn't want to spend time with him while the wound was still fresh. Being around him with the knowledge that he was officially no longer an option hurt. She was being selfish but she knew that being around him while still mourning the ability to be with him was only going to ruin their friendship.

"Okay." Archie's shoulders fell. He looked relieved. "But I still want to see you tomorrow tonight. A couple of us are meeting to watch the comet."

Regina plastered on a fake smile. She made a habit out of that. "Okay. I'll see you then."

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Regina was a fucking idiot.

She went to the library to borrow a book after school and missed the bus. She made a habit of Archie driving her home after school and completely forgot about the bus.

Madelaine bullied her about it over texts but Regina simply huffed and started her walk home. She put her headphones in and kept her eyes on the road.

The last thing she needed was time alone with her own head so she could overthink everything in her life.

"Stupid girl, I should've known, I should've know
That l'm not a princess, this ain't a fairytale
I'm not the one you'll sweep off her feet
Lead her up the stairwell."

Regina rolled her eyes at the song. Thanks Taylor.

She was so busy thinking of how she was going to look at Caroline and Archie the whole night the following day that she didn't even notice a car pulling up next to her. However, the honk was louder than her music and she jumped in surprise.

Regina's eyebrows raised and she looked to her right to see a blue car with a driver who looked around nineteen. His blue eyes pierced through her as she took off her headphones.

"Need a drive home?" He asked her, practically reeking in confidence.

"No thanks." Regina gave him a skeptical look. "I don't accept rides from strangers."

He smirked and narrowed his eyes. A hum escaped his lips. "Smart girl. I'm Damon. Stefan's brother." Damon tilted his head. "Am I a stranger now?"

"Yes." Regina deadpanned. "You being my sister's boyfriend's brother doesn't mean anything to me. How do you know who I am?"

Damon shrugged. "I pay attention to detail. Don't question it. I'm guessing it's a long walk home if you put your headphones on. Come on, get in the car, Petal."

The silver headphones around her neck were long forgotten and Regina did not think twice before going around the car. She opened the door and got into the passenger seat.

Regina blinked and stared at the road in front of her and then turned to look at Damon. "Thanks." She muttered.

"What were you listening to?" He asked her, still not starting the car.

"Um..." She hesitated, "Taylor Swift."

"Nice." Damon nodded and pulled out a cassette.

To Regina's surprise, Fearless started playing a moment later. He chuckled at the surprised look on her face and started driving.

She told him her address and he acknowledged it with an absent-minded nod. They spent the rest of the short ride not saying another word. She wanted to question how he knew who she was but stayed quiet.

When they reached her house, she gave him a thankful smile and he pulled out a pen. Then, he grabbed her arm and wrote his number down.

With the ink on her skin, she got out of his car and made her way into her house. She added his number into her phone immediately but she still had to decide if she was actually going to call him or not.

Damon seemed suspiciously nice. Who drove their brother's girlfriend's sister home without properly meeting her first?

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a/n: Regina's scenes with Jenna feel so natural to write and they don't feel as forced as relationships between my ocs and their parental figures (mainly fathers) usually do.