"I have decided that I'm banning you from seeing any of those conniving originals again." Damon stated, giving Ana a playful 'bop' on the nose as he carried her to his bedroom.

Just to be clear, the youngest Petrova hadn't agreed to being picked up, oh no. Damon had just come out of nowhere and swooped her into his arms, holding her tight enough that it was almost impossible for Ana to fidget. I suppose you could say that since Ana was nearly staked by one of the eldest vampires alive, Damon had had an epiphany for his apparent soft spot for Ana: he was staring to genuinely like the snappy yet beautiful vampire. However, this was more of an inconvinience for Ana than she let on, because her heart still belonged to the infamous original, despite her constant denial.

"Excuse me?" Ana retorted, her eyebrows drawn up in offense. "How come you get to decide who I see? I'm a capable, independent vampire and I'm sure I can make decisions for myself. Heck! I'm older than you, Damon."

Damon wrinkled his nose, his forehead creased. "Yeah, okay, you have a fair point. But seriously, there are probably vampires with worse age gaps. I mean, when you were with Klaus he was, like, ancient and..."

The dark-haired vampire trailed off upon the sound of a shower running, and he sent Ana a confused look, to which Ana just shrugged. Cutting round the corner to Damon's room, both vampires frowned when they saw Elena in the shower, fully naked with her hair held up.

"Um, okay then." Ana gave Damon a cynical look, and both vampires went back to staring at the fully naked doppelganger, completely baffled at her appearance in Damon's bedroom. In Damon's shower. "Elena, you do realise this is my boyfriend's room, right? Damn, we really need to start labelling rooms or something..."

Elena only smirked back, flitting her eyelids at Ana, but her gaze fixated on Damon like a predator to prey. "I'm offended, Ana. But anyways... hello, Damon."

Even though Ana's face was still crinkled in confusion, Damon's face had completely fallen and he dropped Ana gently to the ground, becoming tenser than before.

"Hey, do you have a robe?" Elena asked, narrowing her eyes but swaying her body from left to right.

Confusion hitting him like a tsunami against a small town, Damon shook his head in denial. "How did you get out?"

"I knew that if I begged you not to kill Elijah, that's exactly what you'd do." Katherine licked her lips while looking at Damon, causing Ana to scoff. "Little known fact - Originals can compel vampires. But as soon as they die, the compulsory wears off."

Rolling her eyes, Ana muttered "Of course it does."

"Glad to see you're reaction about me still being here. I haven't left town, I'm still right where you are, little sister. You know why?" Katherine asked, her head tilted to one side. At the shake of Ana's head, Katherine continued. "I'm going to help you. So... how about that robe?"

Furrowing her brows, Ana retorted "What? So you've got nothing else to say? I thought you'd be irritated at mine and Damon's relationship, hmm?"

"Not exactly. It's... unusual, but I'll learn to adjust." Katherine sauntered past the couple, looking deep into her sister's brown eyes. "As much as it's painful for me to admit this... I suppose it's time for you to get your own happy ending, even if it is with my least favourite Salvatore brother."

"Hey!" Damon exclaimed, watching Katherine with shock as she moseyed off, but Ana could only watch after her sister with narrowed eyes.

Katerina was up to no good, and Ana could tell straight away. The doppelganger was lying through her teeth.

★·'¯'·★

It was too early in the morning to be plotting, and Ana knew it. Damon, on the other hand, was perfectly happy to sip his third cup of bourbon and carefully analyse any points they'd missed, whilst keeping his arm firmly wrapped around Ana's waist.

"Good morning Damon, Ana." Elena greeted, rushing from a side corridor whilst adjusting her scarf ready for school.

Damon smiled at the doppelganger, but Ana knew better. As soon as 'Elena' turned around, Ana rushed forward and pinned her to the wall. "I am not amused by your childish games. You really think I'll fall for this? Christ, you sure are dumber than I remember."

"Ana? Stop it..." 'Elena' pleaded, and Ana softened her grip slightly, finding it way too easy to fall under the influence of her sister. If it was Katherine.

Baring her brown eyes into her sister's, Ana hissed "Stop playing dress-up, Katerina. This is pathetic."

Realisation clouding her eyes, 'Elena' muttered "You think I'm Katherine? Why would you think that? Katherine's in the tomb! Isn't she?"

Finally realising what was going on around the corner, Damon sped over and shoved Ana gently, just enough so she'd stumble off of the Elena imposter. "Careful, Ana. It could be Elena."

If the atmosphere wasn't tense enough, from down the corridor came Stefan, only seeing Damon grasping Elena away from Ana. His lips parted, Stefan demanded "What the hell's going on here?"

"I don't know, you tell me." Elena sighed, letting her hand rise to her throat where Ana had previously been grasping tightly. "Is Katherine in the tomb or not?"

Whilst Stefan's eyes darted around anxiously, Ana just pursed her lips, ready for the secret to be revealed. Ready for the tea to be spilled.

Except Stefan darted out of the room using his vampire speed, leaving Damon, Elena and Ana.

"Well, this is awkward." Ana hummed, rocking on her feet. "I suppose I should apologise for mistaking you for my sister... that is, if you're Elena."

"Got you." Katherine smirked, speeding away from the wall and leaving her sister in the hallway.

Ana stood, her eyebrows knitted inwards and arms folded. A deep huff erupted from her chest, and the vampire threw her arms up with exasperation. Her sister was really starting to get on her nerves, and it was only a matter of time before Ana would lose her patience.

And by a matter of time, it was a mere matter of seconds...

★·'¯'·★