Emma parked her car as close as she could to the school entrance, not really feeling up to walking through the entire parking lot after the night she'd had. As soon as her mother had gone to bed, Emma couldn't resist, and instantly took her chance to pull out the box of her father's things once more.

She hoped to organize all the contents so she would have a clue as to where to start from, as well as an easier time getting through it all with some kind of understanding. However, it was becoming clear that his journals must've gotten mixed up with some of his history research as she came across a whole stack of texts in Latin which she couldn't understand. That and what she assumed to be legends about supernatural beings that roamed the earth as ancient people believed.

She stayed up for most of the night, trying to put everything in some kind of a chronological order and separate the reality from fiction and myth. But the more she tried, the more they seemed to intertwine together. It made Emma wonder how far her father's desperation reached if he was searching for clues in stories of witches, werewolves and vampires. She hoped she would understand more once she started reading the journals properly.

But for now, she had to push those thoughts and stories out of her mind. And so with a tired sigh, Emma grabbed two cups of coffee from their holders in her car before exiting and locking its doors. She needed the caffeine to stay awake after almost no sleep, and knowing Rebekah had cheerleading practice early in the morning, Emma took it upon herself to bring them the poison they needed to survive.

Walking up to the school, it wasn't hard for the brunette to spot the group of girls practicing and stretching on one of the grassy lawns. Looking through their faces, it took Emma a few moments to notice Rebekah standing further away from the rest of the group as she spoke with Elena Gilbert. And from the look on her friend's face, Emma could see it wasn't too pleasant of a conversation.

"Good morning, ladies." Emma greeted as she approached the two, making Elena turn silent as both girls turned towards Emma. "Your coffee mademoiselle." She turned to Rebekah, handing the blonde one of the cups from her hands and she accepted it with a smile.

"You're a life saver." Rebekah thanked her, before turning back to Elena, the friendly smile being exchanged for a cold look. "This conversation is over. Excuse us." The blonde didn't let Elena give out a reply as she looped her arm with Emma's and led her away.

"Another power struggle?" Emma asked in a curious tone as the two of them came to stand by one of the tables, Rebekah leaning her hip against it as she drank her coffee.

"Something like that." Rebekah replied dismissively, but Emma could see what whatever Elena had said managed to strike a nerve with the blonde.

"Are you okay?" She asked Rebekah, the look on her face daring the blonde to attempt and lie to her.

"I'll be fine." Rebekah sent Emma a reassuring look. She wished she could tell her what Elena had said. With Nik gone she had no one to really talk to. and while Emma seemed like someone Rebekah could trust, she knew she couldn't. Not if she wanted to keep the girl out of the supernatural business, and still maintain their friendship.

"Okay, what do you say to another girl's night? We can make it a high school drama no zone and I could keep my promise of us finishing Jurassic Park together. Or if you'd prefer, you can trash talk Gilbert to your heart's content." Emma suggested, trying to find a way to lift Rebekah's mood. Only days ago, she'd made Emma promise they'd repeat their movie night again. And from the smile which appeared on the blonde's face, it seemed that Emma had succeeded in her attempt.

"I'd like that very much." Rebekah admitted, the suggestion sounding like something she could really use right now. If she were being honest, a part of why Rebekah liked Emma so much was exactly because she didn't know about the vampire side of her life. Spending time with Emma helped Rebekah forget about all of the other drama her brother left in his wake.

"Great. Now let's get you to the locker rooms so you can change, and we can get to class. I don't want to miss the nap I have scheduled." Emma announced, making Rebekah send her a surprised look as they started to move, knowing Emma wasn't the kind of person to sleep through class. "Don't ask. Long night, and long story."

With Emma's plea, Rebekah decided not to pry and instead laughed at her friend as they walked into the school side by side. Rebekah listening to Emma list off all types of things they could do during their night, including more movies she was shocked and horrified Rebekah didn't know about. It was obvious the coffee was taking its effect.

Emma sat on her bed after school, one of her father's journals in her lap as she flipped through its pages. As one of the date-less notebooks, she thought it would be a good place to start with. And in a way, she was proven right. While full of all kinds of information, it seemed to be the beginning of her father's research on the supernatural. However, it still proved more concerning that she initially even believed it could get.

Emma remembered how much had changed since Katrina. He was rarely home, and when he was, he seemed to grow more paranoid by the day. At the time, Emma couldn't understand what was making him behave in such a way. But now, seeing how much he seemed to believe in these myths he had written down, Emma couldn't help but wonder about her father's state of mind throughout that last year.

There were drawings of people with fangs, and webs of veins beneath their eyes. Research about how vampire blood could help someone, even how it could work on her and her condition. There were names of people he believed to belong to one of the supernatural groups, names she even recognized. Emma heaved a sigh as she moved on from the list of witches to the list of vampires her father allegedly identified. Among the names she caught on to a specific one she'd seen before. Marcel Gerard.

"What the hell were you doing dad?" Emma mumbled to herself, unable to comprehend why her father was so keen on believing in all of this. After all, vampires and witches were mere fiction and legend, stories told to children before bed or to scare them into behaving.

The sound of her phone buzzing on the bed beside her made Emma tear her eyes away from the notebook as she reached for it. The message from Rebekah stated that she'd been slightly detained and was running a bit late on their plans and was only now starting to get ready. Their plans being for Emma to pick up a whole lot of snacks and junk food for their night together, considering they'd blown through the majority of what she had at her house the last time. And after that, she'd pick Rebekah up along the way back to her house.

The text made Emma suddenly aware of the time, something she'd lost track of. She was already late, which obviously wouldn't be a problem, but she still decided it was time to get moving. She grabbed hold of the money her mother had left on the nightstand so she could get whatever they wanted before packing away the notebook in her bag as she headed out into the hall. While some parents would probably have some issue with their daughter having sleepovers in the middle of the school week, Marissa had actually preferred it, knowing her daughter wasn't all alone in the house while she worked the long nights at the hospital.

Night had already fallen upon Mystic Falls as Emma made her way through the town. It didn't take too long for her to pick up all of the food and snacks she and Rebekah had put on their list. Although, she may or may not have overdone it. In her defense, Rebekah's lack of knowledge on sweet and salty guilty pleasures really needed to be brough to an end.

Following the GPS instructions on her phone, Emma drove to the address Rebekah had told her earlier when asked where Emma should pick her up. While she had spent her life living in big cities, Emma couldn't deny that living in a small town had its perks. One of them being the short amount of time it took to get wherever you had to go.

Within ten minutes after leaving the store, Emma was pulling up to a large and beautiful home, her eyes wide as she stopped to admire it while stepping out of her car. She wasn't sure if Rebekah's family was home and didn't want to seem rude by just honking or calling her instead of knocking and introducing herself. She walked up the steps leading to the front door, her eyes taking in the amazing nature that also surrounded the house.

As she reached for the door, which Rebekah said would be unlocked, Emma took a moment to prepare herself, sure that a house that looked so great on the outside must be just as amazing on the inside. However, her moment of preparation didn't last too long as, suddenly, Rebekah's yelling voice reached Emma's ears.

Unsure of what was going on, and whether Rebekah could be in some kind of trouble in there, Emma quickly made her way inside in concern. And she did so just in time to watch the blonde rush across the room at an unprepared Elena, her face morphing into a picture Emma easily recognized. A picture she had been so certain couldn't be real until this moment.

"Oh fuck." Emma whispered to herself, the keys which she still held in her hand cluttering down to the floor. It was the sound, that seemed to be louder than an explosion, that caught the attention of the other two girls.

Rebekah's eyes widened in surprise as she released Elena, her face morphing back to her normal featured, but the tears still continued to flow down her face. And as soon as Emma noticed them, she snapped out of her shocked daze.

"What the hell did you do?" She glared towards Elena, her feet carrying her over to Rebekah whose sobs only increased as whatever Elena told her continued to consume her mind.

"What?" Elena couldn't help but be surprised. When she first noticed Emma standing in the middle of the Salvatore boarding house, she was expecting they'd have to do damage control, compel her to forget what she'd seen before she screamed vampire to the whole town. Not to have her rushing to Rebekah's side. "Emma, I don't think you should-" She even tried to stop her from doing so, unsure of whether Rebekah would snap at her too. But surprisingly enough, the blonde welcomed Emma's comforting hug as the brunette wrapped her arms around her.

"Elena, I don't really care what you think. It's time for you to go." Emma snapped at the Gilbert girl. In the moment, all she cared about was how upset Rebekah seemed to be, not about the questions and confusion spreading through her mind. Those she pushed away for a later time, and as Elena made her way out of the house, Emma put all of her focus into trying to comfort her crying friend.