Chapter Text
The only way in which Sophie Vaughn was exceptional was that she was exceptionally late. She threw her lavender curls into a quick bun at the nape of her neck and was out the door of her home, keys in hand, her sneakers still untied.
She could tie them at a stop light.
Jenna Sommers had asked for Sophie’s help, and considering that she was one of the few people that liked Sophie in this town, she had felt compelled to help. Besides, it might ease the situation with Mayor Lockwood slightly. Acting in her role as the town archivist and historian, Sophie had published a paper last year about the lives of the enslaved people that had lived in this area. One particularly good primary source was a girl who was enslaved by the Lockwood family.
Carol had not liked that.
Oh she made a donation to the right organizations and said all of the right things after the paper was released, but she’d never forgiven Sophie for “besmirching the Lockwood name”.
There were other founding families Sophie had referenced, which made her possibly one of the least popular people in town. But the optics would have been terrible if they fired her which was likely the only reason she still had a job. It wasn’t as if things had started off super well either. She had interviewed with the previous mayor, Richard Lockwood. She was pretty sure he hired her because it would piss off his wife, you know, the current mayor. She was fresh out of grad school, constantly dyed her hair different colors, with a multitude of piercings and tattoos. She didn’t exactly look like what someone thinks of when they think “archivist”.
Then the mayor died in a fire. She only knew the man for a few months but from what she’d picked up she wasn’t entirely sure he didn’t deserve it.
Sophie sped down the winding roads to make up time and finally pulled up at the Gilbert house just after sunset. She checked her watch, ten to seven. Sophie laughed a little, she must have sped faster than she thought. She took a minute to stop and relax her body. It would be April in just a few days but the air was already getting warmer. A gentle breeze made her shiver a little in her floral pink sundress, reminding her while summer was on its way, it wasn’t here yet. She hurried up the path to the white house and knocked on the door.
She heard Jenna yell, some mild grumbling, and then an annoyed teenager yanked the door open.
“Hey Elena!” Sophie chirped.
The girl fixed her face into something like a smile before stepping back to let Sophie in.
“Hey Soph, come on in.”
“Rough day?” Sophie asked as she stepped inside.
The teenager's attempt at a smile dropped again and nodded, “Yeah.”
Sophie thought back to what Jenna had told her about Elena’s tumultuous relationship with the Stefan kid, “Boy problems?”
She let out a far too wry laugh for a seventeen year old and said, “Something like that.”
Sophie nodded and let her escape the conversation. The girl went back upstairs and Sophie made her way back to the dining room to find Jenna. The blonde woman was pouring coffee into two mugs and handed one that had “cup of ambition” on its side to her.
“Thanks Jenna.”
Jenna shook her head, “Don’t thank me until you see what you’re working with. Trust me, this is a pittance of thanks.”
Sophie accepted the mug, “I’m sure I’ve seen worse.”
Jenna just raised her brows and walked past her into the hall and opened up a closet. Sophie followed and peered inside. There were cardboard boxes stacked haphazardly and practically spilling with slips of papers and small baubles.
“The quality of storage isn’t great, but the quantity isn’t bad.”
“Are you serious? It’s going to take us forever to read through all of this?”
Sophie scoffed, “You clearly haven’t been in the records room in Founders’ Hall.”
“That bad?”
“Garbage heap.” Sophie picked up the first box, “For a town that prides itself on its history so much they sure don’t take very good care of their source materials. That is unless it's about the founders.”
Jenna laughed dryly, “Of course.”
Both women carried boxes back to the dining room where they set them down heavily on the old oak table. Jenna nodded, “Okay, we can use this as a staging area and spread out into the living room if we need more space.”
Sophie raised her hand, “Quick yet important question. What are we looking for in all of this?”
Jenna shrugged, “Beats me. It’s all for this author that wants to write about our history or something. Meredith kept all of her historical society stuff here so Carol asked me to help him out. He should be here soon actually. I told him seven too.”
“Well it is easy to get lost in the bustling metropolis of Mystic Falls, or maybe the traffic held him up?” Sophie snarked.
“Oh I’m sorry,” Jenna fired back, going to refill her coffee cup, “where did you learn your city slicking skills? In that backwoods single stoplight town in Tennessee where you grew up.”
Sophie collapsed into one of the chairs at the table and started to carefully unpack one of the boxes, “Please, it was a holler and we didn’t have any stop lights, just the few stop signs at the four way intersection in town.”
“Jesus.” Jenna mumbled, joining Sophie at the table.
Just as she sat down there was a knock at the door. Sophie moved to stand but Jenna waved her down, “It’s my house, I’ll get it.”
Sophie settled back into her chair and turned back to the folder full of papers that she had opened. Her round glasses began to slip down her noses and she pushed them back up. She heard the door open and Jenna invited a man in. Sophie ignored their polite chit chat and finished the paragraph she had been reading. Finally she looked up and locked eyes with the author.
She didn’t know what she had expected. She’d known only that he was a historian and writer, like her. Still, she had pictured a withered old man or maybe a middle aged professor who would constantly correct her as if she wasn’t the expert in this situation. Instead she was looking at possibly the most beautiful person she’d ever seen. His sandy brown hair was parted down the middle and framed an intense brow, his hazel eyes locked on her. Sophie took a breath and it felt like she hadn’t ever breathed deeply before.
Jesus she needed to get a grip.
She blinked and turned to Jenna, who had apparently been talking and was looking at her expectantly.
Sophie coughed and asked, “Pardon?”
A grin broke out onto Jenna’s face as she glanced between her friend and the author, “Overwhelmed by scholastic fascination Soph?”
Sophie glared slightly, “Yeah, sure.”
“What are you reading about?”
Sophie turned back to the man. Even his voice was beautiful. Shit. What had she been reading again?
Think Sophie, think!
“Receipts, from the old apothecary.”
Jenna’s grin dropped, “Sounds boring, do we need them?”
An insult to meticulous record keeping was enough to shake her from her drooling and Sophie turned back to Jenna, “Absolutely, you can learn a lot about a person by what they buy.”
The man smiled slightly, “Very true.”
Sophie waited for him to elaborate and explain basic research practices to her but he didn’t.
Jenna glanced back and forth between the two again before hauling Sophie out of her chair.
“Elijah, why don’t you help yourself to some coffee while we get some more boxes. Mugs are to the left of the fridge, above the coffee maker.”
Jenna tugged Sophie into the hall and opened the closet door again, creating a slight barrier between them and the man.
Elijah.
His name was pretty.
Sophie was certain she’d be drugged somehow because she wasn’t this sort of person.
“Sophie!” Jenna whispered harshly to her, “Come back down to Earth please.”
“Sorry.”
“So I know you normally you go for women but-”
“Oh I identify as queer for a reason Jenna,” Sophie interrupted, also whispering, “because men like that exist, at least it was theory before now.”
Jenna did a small fist pump, “I knew it, he was totally checking you out too!”
Sophie felt her face fall. She knew what he’d seen. A too round face, a figure that could generously be called hourglass, and a gap in between her front tooth. A weird, chubby, hick. She felt her entire body sag, he must have thought she was a crazy person, just staring at him like that. Men like that didn’t check out women like her. Not in the way Jenna meant.
“No.” Sophie started, “No, he was just being polite.”
Jenna looked confused at her quick change in mood, “What? No-”
“C’mon,” Sophie cut her off, “let’s get these into the kitchen.”
She picked up a box and left a gaping Jenna in her wake. When she walked back into the kitchen Elijah was holding a cup of coffee and looking at her strangely. Like she was a puzzle he was trying to figure out.
Probably trying to figure out how someone like you came to be the town archivist.
Sophie shook her head to get the thoughts out. She knew who she was and what she was capable of. She’d been talking to her therapist, unfortunately named Karen, about her confidence issues and imposter syndrome.
You deserve good things.
She plastered a smile back on her face and set the box down, “So Elijah, what are you writing about?”
He took a moment to respond, “I’m interested in the early settlers here.”
“Ahh,” she responded, “the Founders. Don’t worry, there’s plenty on them.”
He chuckled, “Let me guess, their families made sure they were the best kept records?”
“Well of course.”
“Then if you wouldn’t mind,” He pushed off from the counter and walked to stand across the table from her, “I would love to dig into the others responsible for the origins of this charming town.”
Sophie rubbed her neck, “If you mean that honestly, then I’d actually recommend a journal article I wrote earlier this year. It just got published. It’s called Building Central Virginia: An Account of the Lives of Enslaved Peoples in Mystic Falls, VA. Catchy title, I know. I couldn’t come up with anything better.”
She hated talking up her own work, but it really was a good primer if he really was looking for the untold stories of this region. He smiled and his eyes crinkled a little at the ages, “That sounds wonderful. I’ll look it up tonight.”
Sophie blushed but pushed forward, “So I haven’t asked yet, what have you written? Anything I would have read?”
Elijah opened his mouth to respond when they both heard footsteps coming downstairs and Elena’s voice drifted in from the hall. Elijah’s face hardened just slightly and he stared at the hall closet door that hid the girl and her aunt. He shifted his weight slightly and drew himself up a little taller. He glanced back over at Sophie and looked like he wanted to say something, but paused.
“It has been lovely talking to you. I hope we can speak more in the future.”
He handed Sophie a card and she stared at it as he left the room to speak to Jenna and Elena. Suddenly Sophie heard the door open and close and her head whipped up. Jenna was walking back into the kitchen, wiping her hands on her jeans.
Sophie cleared her throat, “Did he need to leave?”
“Yeah, he’s going to send someone to pick up the boxes tomorrow.” Jenna paused and looked at Sophie’s hands, “What’s that?”
“Oh,” Sophie looked back down, “It’s his card.”
Jenna smirked, “Nice.”
“It’s not like that.” Sophie muttered.
Still, when he had walked out of the room it had felt like he had taken the air with him. Sophie was confused. She had never been the type to get all worked up over a pretty person. Hell she’d never even slept with anyone before, she simply hadn’t been interested in anyone enough. This man though. Elijah. After just one short conversation she was craving to see him again.
This is ridiculous
Sophie shook her head, she must be sick or exhausted or something. She’d feel differently in the morning surely.