•.•.•.•.•

"KATHERINE is smart, Damon. She's figured it out, by now. And that's not a good thing. If the Mikaelsons are really here, though, I can't stay either. They'll want me dead just as much as her."

Damon had gotten Grace acquainted with the Salvatore Boarding house, the current residence of Stefan and himself.

He sighed, unknowing of how to respond. Something fogged over his memory when he thought about Grace, like there were pieces of a puzzle missing.

"Why don't you stay here, for now? Stefan and I are willing to help you stay out of trouble. We're planning on getting rid of those pesky Originals, anyway."

Grace laughed somberly.

"That sounds like a stupid plan. There is no 'getting rid' of the Originals. What you and Stefan managed to do to Elijah was impressive, but you didn't use the right thing. Is- is Klaus around here?"

Damon could not tell what the shakiness in her voice was from, but Grace definitely appeared anxious when she mentioned the name of Klaus.

"He's made his presence known, yeah. Doesn't seem like you're too excited about that."

Grace pursed her lips, and let out a shaky breath. She stood quickly.

"Y-Yeah, you're right. Which is why I've really got to go-" "Grace, wait. I know you're afraid, but you just got back. I-I've missed you. You were my best friend back in eighteen sixty-four, y'know."

Grace rolled her eyes, unable to hold back a smile.

"So what, you wanna play catch-up? You wanna know what I've been doing the past hundred and fifty years?"

Damon smirked, putting his hands on Grace's shoulders.

"It beats you leaving without a trace and likely never seeing you again."

After a moment, she sighed in defeat.

"Fine. I'll stay for one night, but that's it. If I even get in the same room as an Original, I'm leaving."

Damon held his hands up. "Deal. So," he began, flashing over to the couch and taking a seat, "tell me all the gossip from the last century."

Grace began laughing, taking a seat beside Damon. She made herself comfortable, placing her head in his lap casually.

She was pained all over with yet another memory from 1864.

But this time, Grace pushed it out of her head. It was time to focus on the present.

.    .    .    .

"WELL..." Damon began, stroking her hair, "that was wild."

Grace giggled, looking up into Damon's magnificent eyes.

"Wild it was. Although, I will say this. I really regret not looking you up after all these years. I never knew."

Damon smiled nonchalantly.

"Aw, you're making me blush, Gracie Lou."

Grace brought her hand up, lightly slapping Damon's face.

"Don't. It's such a stupid name."

"It wouldn't be as much fun if you liked it."

Grace sat up, stretching her arms out in front of her. "I'm feeling slightly better now that I've practically ranted about the entire century to someone. Do you wanna go do something?"

"God, I thought you'd never ask. I've been nice enough to listen to you for nearly two hours, but that's where I draw the line. So, what'll it be? The Grill, my fair lady?"

Grace rolled her eyes, standing up with a contrasting energy.

"Whatever floats your boat, good sir. You know this town better than I do."

Damon gave a curt nod, following Grace out of the door.

Ten minutes later, the pair entered the Mystic Grill, going straight for the bar. Suddenly, without Grace realizing, she bumped into someone.

She got a chill down her spine, forcing her vision to clear. Grace's face then lit up in an instant.

"Stefan," she said, grinning. Quickly, Grace went forward to hug him. Stefan, however, was not as thrilled upon seeing her face.

"Uh, Grace? It's- uh, it's really you?"

Grace pulled her arms away from him, her smile fading. "Oh. You think I'm still with Katherine."

Stefan frowned, visibly confused.

Grace offered a hand. "Please, allow me to explain. Over a nice drink, of course."

She exchanged a look to Damon, who gave a small shrug. He could not tell Stefan to calm down, as he had had the exact same reaction earlier.

Stefan finally took her hand, so Grace dragged him over to the bar with Damon.

"I know I seemed like a traitor. But this is what I want the both of you to understand. Everything I did for Katherine, she forced me to do. She has a good two hundred years on me, so I couldn't have killed her no matter how bad I wanted to."

Grace paused, signaling the bartender for a drink.

She looked between the two of them, sitting on either side of her.

"Everything she schemed about having the two of you turned was done by Emily. I-I actually tried to cast a protection spell on you guys at one point. But Katherine, she found out. And I didn't want to die."

Grace sipped her drink purposefully, waiting for either Damon or Stefan to cut in.

"I don't understand... why were you so keen on protecting us?" Stefan finally asked. Grace smiled weakly.

"Because I was sired by Katherine, too. And after she did it, she ended up dragging me around with her for two hundred years. As much as I loved the two of you, I didn't want that for you."

"You loved us?" Damon interjected. "Both of us?"

Grace was tempted to roll her eyes, until she saw Damon was not making a joke.

"Well, yes. Platonically, of course. Despite the two of you simultaneously being with Katherine, I felt that you were too innocent to be put through the hell I had. Looks like it happened, anyway," Grace muttered the last part under her breath.

From behind Grace, she sensed an unsettling presence. Quickly, she turned, meeting a face that made her queasy.

Grace's eyes went huge, as she stood and prepared to make a run for it.

Stefan noticed the fear in her eyes, and quickly said, "Grace, it's not Katherine. It's Elena, it's her doppelganger."

Grace marveled at the girl, still uneasy. Slowly, she sat back down, and felt a strong hand caress her back.

The girl, Elena, frowned and gave Stefan a look of confusion. He gave a bleak smile.

"Uh, Elena, this is Grace. She's a friend from way back... you know when. Grace, meet Elena. My girlfriend."

Grace raised her eyebrows, looking at him with shock.

"Your girlfriend? You've got to be kidding me, Stefan."

Stefan clenched his jaw, shooting a look to Grace that begged her to be kind. She got the memo, and softened her eyes.

"I'm sorry. That was very rude of me. Hi, Elena. It's a pleasure." Grace offered a hand, which Elena took after a split-second of hesitation.

"Hi, Grace. You- uh, you knew Katherine?"

Grace shifted on the bar stool, flashing a cynical smile that said she did not want to be talking about Katherine.

"Yes, yes I did. We travelled to Mystic Falls together. Gotta say, if it weren't for these two, I would've escaped while I could. Katherine was a bit-" Grace's phone buzzed, and she searched for it in her pocket.

Looking down, she stood and said, "Excuse me, I need to take this."

Grace did not recognize the number, but she did not get frequent phone calls, either.

She entered the bathroom, answering her phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Grace," the voice drawled on the other end. Her heart skipped a beat, recognizing the voice all too well.

"How did you get my number? Never mind. Why are you calling me?"

There was a laugh on the other end of the line. "Well, I had to check on my girl after she shows up here, unannounced. Tell me, what actually brings you here?"

Grace glanced around, half expecting Katherine to walk in at any moment.

"I simply came to visit. One gets curious after all these years."

"Don't be such a freaking liar, Grace! Did you know I was here? Or are you here for Kla-" "Shut up, okay? You're not going to hurt me. I sure as hell didn't come to see you, so keep your distance, you hear? Because I swear to God I will hurt you."

Grace disconnected the line, slamming her hand down on the sink. It cracked from her frustration. Looking in the mirror, Grace briefly adjusted her hair, and walked out of that bathroom like nothing had happened.

Stefan, Damon, and Elena were still gathered around the bar.

Grace let out a rather shaky breath, sitting down.

"Are you alright?" Damon asked quietly, taking note of her rather shaken up attitude.

Grace nodded curtly, meeting his eyes. "Of course. I'm with my two favorite boys, after all!" she exclaimed with a grin.

They both could not help but to smile.

A moment passed. "Hey, who's up for a game of pool? Or darts, maybe? I'll still kick your asses at any of it."

"You haven't changed a bit," Stefan said with a chuckle.

Grace shrugged, hopping off of the stool.

"You either, I see," she remarked, just with enough spunk to walk off and leave them behind.

It bothered Grace to no end that Stefan would date a Katherine-lookalike. That meant that a part of him still loved Katherine.

The seductive, manipulative Katherine.

Grace did have a motive for coming back to Mystic Falls. And she did know that Katherine was here.

But Grace came back for Elena Gilbert.

She was going to be pardoned by Niklaus Mikaelson, and that meant whatever it took.

NOTES

no one:

grace: liar 100