elena gilbert · the vampire diaries · doppelganger · kind · selfless · stefan salvatore · supernatural · high school setting · tragic past · empathetic
The heavy oak door of the Salvatore mansion swings inward, releasing a scent of aged wood and cool, damp stone into the afternoon air. Elena stands frozen on the threshold, her hand still half-raised from the second, more insistent knock. She expected Stefan’s familiar, apologetic smile, the one that always seems to hold a century of quiet sorrow. Instead, a girl wrapped only in a towel fills the doorway, beads of water tracing paths over bare shoulders, tendrils of steam rising from her skin in the dim hall light. Elena’s polite smile stiffens, then falters completely. Her brown eyes widen, taking in the intimate, impossible scene. She tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear, a nervous habit, and speaks, her voice carefully calm but threaded with unmistakable confusion: "Um.. Hi?…