Summary: Set in S4E23 “Graduation.” What if Bonnie had done a spell to keep both Ric and Jeremy here, instead of them staying as ghosts? What if Kol hadn’t disappeared when he had attacked Elena? Will Elena be saved? Will Stefan be helped? Will Jeremy tell the others that Bonnie is dead?
Stefan and Lexi were seated on the couch at the Salvatore boarding house with the music blaring Bon Jovi’s “You Give Love A Bad Name,” Stefan drinking a bottle of liquor.
Damon walked in and turned the radio off.
“Damon, you remember Lexi,” Stefan said.
“Lexi,” he said. “Back from the dead.”
At vamp speed, she pinned him against a wall, hand tightly around his throat.
“You’re just going to sit there while she takes her revenge out on me?” he asked Stefan.
“Whatever time I have left here, I don’t plan on spending it on you. Got it?” she informed him.
“Okay, okay. Got it,” he replied.
She released him and went over to stand by the couch, and snagged the liquor bottle from Stefan. She took a swig, before Stefan took it back and drank some of it.
“Something might’ve gone wrong with Bonnie’s spell and here you are,” Damon commented to Stefan.
“So, you’re saying I should be dealing with the supernatural, instead of spending the day with my ex best friend.”
“Are you drunk?”
Stefan took another swig of the liquor.
“So, this is how we spend the day,” Damon commented, before taking a sip from his shot glass of liquor he had poured for himself.
It was a beautiful day in the forest as Ric, Jeremy, and Elena ate and drank at a wooden bench table.
“You don’t know how much I’ve missed this,” Alaric Saltzman said. “And this,” he added, taking out a bottle of whiskey.
Elena took it from him and took a swig.
“Hey,” Alaric said.
“She just got her humanity back. Let her live a little,” Jeremy interjected.
They all started laughing and Alaric saw Elena finally smile.
“There it is. That smile. We didn’t think we’d ever see it again,” he commented.
Elena started to silently cry.
“Hey, no tears. We agreed on no crying,” Jeremy said.
“Why not? It means I’m finally feeling something.”
Elena got up and took her phone out, when it rang.
“It’s the Grille. It must be Matt.”
She answered it.
“Hey, are you okay? You haven’t been around lately,” Elena greeted.
“Hello, Elena. I’m sure you remember me. It’s your old friend, Connie.”
Alaric stood behind Elena and heard both sides of the conversation.
Elena was silent and looked behind her to see Alaric.
I’m gonna go, he mouthed to her and she nodded once, guessing what he was going to do.
“Bring me the cure, or you and your friends will die, and I’ll blow up this bar of yours,” Connor threatened her, before he ended the call and put his phone in his jacket pocket.
He turned around to see a guy he had never seen before.
“No one threatens the teenager I’m a guardian over and blows up my bar,” Alaric told the Hunter, before he hit him a few times and killed him.
In the woods by an abandoned trailer home, Matt was in trouble and Rebekah stood by him while her ex, Alexander, stood outside the trailer home. Alexander was one of The Five.
“Let us go,” Rebekah said.
“I’m not keeping you here. You’re free to go. I can’t say the same thing for him, though. I’m sure you’ll survive the blast, but will he?”
“What do you want with us? What are you doing here?”
“I’m here to fulfill my destiny,” the ancient one of The Five replied.
She knew what he meant. He was going to get rid of all supernatural beings, except for the Originals.
Rebekah looked at Matt, whom stood on a platform with a bomb device attached to it.
“Just go, Rebekah.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
“What about all those things you said? Wanting to graduate, see the world, and fall in love.”
Suddenly, she kissed him, and he kissed her back. And as they kissed, Rebekah took his place on the platform. Matt realized that, when they parted.
“Rebekah,” he said.
“Go,” she said.
He left, and Alexander didn’t stop him.
Bonnie was in the caves, as she and her grams spoke.
“You can’t, child,” her grams said, once Bonnie spoke of doing a spell to bind Jeremy and Alaric to keep them there.
“I can,” she insisted, before she started the spell.
When the spell was over, Grams said, “I’m sorry, child. It was too much.”
Bonnie looked to see her body.
“Oh, my God. I’m dead.”
She looked at her grams whom told her, “Be sure that you—"
Bonnie interrupted, saying, “I know. I have to tell them. But I can’t.”
“I was going to tell you to be sure that you say your good-byes.”
As Bonnie and Caroline spoke on the phone, not long afterward, Caroline was at school in a hallway.
“I can’t get the veil back up until tonight,” Bonnie informed Caroline.
“So, are you saying we’ll be graduating in the middle of the Expression triangle?”
“It looks like it.”
“Hell will freeze over, before I’ll let anyone ruin graduation.”
“You joke about the end of the world, when it’s almost here.”
“Just promise me that today is a friend day.”
“Okay.”
“I love you.”
“I love you,” Bonnie ended, before both of them hung up.
“Go. I’ll make sure nobody finds your body,” Grams told Bonnie, as Bonnie looked at her.
Back at the woods, Rebekah leapt off the platform and the bomb went off, and she landed on her feet on the ground. Alexander wasn’t there anymore, so she left the scene.
One of The Five walked into the boarding house, with a gun in hand.
“I got this from my good friend, Connor,” he said, as he faced Damon in the living room. He then shot Damon in the side of the neck.
“I want to know where Silas is.”
“I don’t know where he is.”
Stefan and the Hunter soon fought, and it ended with Stefan ripping out his heart, killing him.
Elena walked into Damon’s bedroom where Damon was. Damon stood there and watched her enter, and Jeremy stood at the door.
“Damon, we need to talk,” she said.
“What is there to talk about?”
He went over to his end table and took a small box in hand. He then opened it and put the cure in her hand, as he stood in front of her.
“Here. Consider this a graduation present.”
He winced in pain.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“I’m fine.”
“Take off your shirt.”
“No. Not when he’s here.”
“Fine.”
She walked up to him and pulled part of his shirt off the wound. It had spread to half his shoulder.
She looked at him.
“Damon, why isn’t this healing?”
“Because the bullet is laced with werewolf venom.”
“We need Klaus.”
“Klaus would rather let me die.”
“What about the cure?” Jeremy asked.
“No,” he responded.
“He’s right. If you’re human, the werewolf poison won’t hurt you.”
“No, Elena.”
She set it in his hand.
“Take it.”
He looked at her. He then looked at her brother.
“Why is it that even dead, you’re the bane of my existence?”
“You should go, or you’ll be late to your graduation,” Jeremy told Elena.
She looked at her brother.
“Jer, no. Not if you can’t be there.”
“It’s the best time of your life before you go off to college.”
“I haven’t even sent in my application yet.”
“It doesn’t matter. Go. Mom and dad would be pissed if there wasn’t a picture of you at your graduation.”
“Okay,” she said.
Damon watched them leave.
When one of The Five woke up, Stefan and Lexi got to their feet.
Damon stood by him.
“He’s up,” Stefan said.
“Okay. Let’s do this,” Damon said, heading for the door with the Hunter.
“Where are you going?” Stefan asked.
“To dig up Silas.”
They then left.
Caroline stood with Stefan.
“Where is everyone?” she asked.
Matt arrived.
“Where have you been?” she asked him.
“You know, summer vacation, almost dying from a vampire,” he said.
Elena and Bonnie soon arrived.
“I can’t believe it. We’re all here,” Caroline announced. “Bonnie Bennett, are you crying?”
“I’m so happy for you guys. You’ll be going off to college soon,” Bonnie said.
“We’ll be going off to college,” she corrected her witch friend. “Maybe we can get a triple dorm room. Come on. Group hug.”
“I—I don’t hug,” Stefan protested.
“Come on. Get in here,” Caroline said.
They all hugged.
“We are gathered here today to witness our loved ones graduate,” Bonnie’s father started. He then gave a speech, before naming everyone off one by one. At one point, he said, “I am especially proud of this next student. Bonnie Bennett.” And then, when she took her diploma from him, he said, “I’m glad you made it, sweetheart.”
Damon and the Hunter stood in the woods by the cliff by the river.
“Where’s Silas?” the Hunter asked.
“Well, let’s see here. I dragged his body to the edge, dropped him here, and lost him somewhere in the rocks.”
The Hunter saw the neck wound.
“That looks nasty. It hasn’t healed yet. Why?”
“Those bullets are laced with werewolf poison. You’re as dumb as you look.”
The Hunter shot him close to his left side.
“Where did you dump the body?”
Damon was silent.
The Hunter shot him in the left leg.
“Two more rounds and you’ll be dead within minutes.”
Damon didn’t say anything.
“Looks like you won’t be getting this back,” the Hunter added, looking at the cure around his neck.
Suddenly, Alaric arrived and beat him up, before he killed him and tossed him in the river.
“One slight problem,” Damon said, from where he was on his knees on the ground.
Alaric turned around with the cure in hand.
“You need this?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
As Mr. Bennett finished up, Stefan was on the phone with Ric.
“What do you want me to do, Stefan? He won’t take the cure.”
“Caroline is calling Klaus again. I can find a way to buy Damon more time. Just stay there.”
Stefan hung up.
Suddenly, one of the dead witches started using magic on Stefan, Elena, and Caroline, giving them migraines, making them scream in pain.
A few moments later, the pain stopped when the witch was killed, and there stood Klaus.
It was dark out with everyone gone, as Klaus walked up to Caroline.
“You’re here,” Caroline said.
“Yes, well, I was already on my way. I received your graduation announcement. Very subtle. And I got your hundred voicemails. I’m guessing you’ll be expecting cash, then.”
“That or a mini fridge.”
“I was prepared to ask you to join me in New Orleans, but I knew what your answer would be. So, I gave you something I knew you wouldn’t refuse. Tyler will be able to return to Mystic Falls.”
She was silent, but he saw her eyes shine with joyfulness.
“He is your first love and I intend to be your last. Let’s gets out of here before twelve angry hybrids decide to pick a fight,” he added.
Klaus and Caroline walked away together into the darkness.
Elena walked into Damon’s room, whom had just put his shirt on.
“Is it healed up?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
“So, it’s all better?”
“Yeah.”
She faced him, standing in front of him, and slapped him once across the face.
“Ow.”
“That’s for choosing to die over taking the cure.”
“I’m not apologizing, because I am not sorry. I am not sorry that I would rather die than be human! I am not sorry that I would rather die right now, than to spend the rest of my life with you, until I’m old and wrinkly and you’re still you! I am not sorry, Elena!”
“Then I am not sorry. I am not sorry that I met you! I am not sorry that knowing you has made me question everything! And I am not sorry that I am in love with you!”
Damon was silent, but thrilled that she had finally admitted it. And then they kissed.
Later Damon, Elena, Stefan, Lexi, and Alaric were downstairs in the living room.
Damon said something, and she smacked him on the shoulder.
“Ow.”
“Ouch,” Lexi commented.
“I taught her that swing,” Ric said.
Elena walked up to Stefan.
“Can I talk to you alone?”
Stefan followed her into the next room.
“What is it?” he asked.
“I know I’ve done some horrible things. I want to thank you for standing by my side when I was at my worst. Thank you, Stefan.”
“You would’ve done the same if our positions were reversed.”
She took out the cure.
“The only one worse at being a vampire than I am is you. I want you to have it.”
She put it in his hand.
“I can’t take this,” Stefan said, declining her offer and giving it back to her.
She watched him walk away.
Bonnie walked into a dark room with a cement floor and over stuffed shelves, Kol with her.
“What’s this?” he asked, seeing her body.
“Me. I want to stay here, Kol. I want to be with my friends and go to college. I want to keep the veil down.”
“Then let’s work together. We want the same thing.”
He approached her, but found himself blocked by an invisible wall.
“What did you do? What about all those things you just said?”
“They’re all true, but sometimes we don’t get what we want.”
Kol watched her leave. Then the invisible wall went away.
Damon and Alaric were talking, when Ric gasped and staggered back a couple steps.
“Ric?” Damon questioned.
When he had his breath, he said, “I think Bonnie did something. I’m alive, Damon. Well, as alive as I can be.”
“Looks like you’re staying here then, Ric.”
Bonnie and Jeremy stood in one of the caves.
“The veil is almost closed,” she informed him.
“I’m ready.”
They stood face to face, and she touched his face with one hand.
“Bonnie, I can’t feel your hand. Why can’t I feel your hand?”
He gasped and staggered back. And then, once he had his breath, he asked her, “Bonnie, what’s going on?”
“Oh, my God. It worked. I didn’t think it did, but it did.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I did a spell to keep you and Alaric here.”
“So, I’m alive?”
“Yes, but the spell was too much.”
She looked down to see her body there, as did Jeremy.
“No. You’re not dead. You can’t be.”
“You can see ghosts. We can talk whenever you want.”
“They have to know.”
“No, Jeremy. For once, my friends are okay. I don’t want to take that from them.”
Jeremy watched her walk away with her grams, hand in hand, until they vanished from sight.
Elena walked into a dark room with a cement floor and over cluttered shelves.
“Jeremy? Bonnie? Are you here?” she called.
Suddenly, she was pushed to the floor and hit her head, as she landed on her back. Then she looked up to see Kol.
“Speaking of revenge,” he said, before he lunged for her, vamped out, teeth bared.
They rolled on the floor, until she was pinned to the cement floor.
“This time no one is here to save you,” Kol said, a hand tightly around her throat, as he pinned her hard against a wall.
Elena was weak and felt blood on the side of her head. She felt like she was going to black out.
Kol leaned in, ready to bite her.
Suddenly, she saw Katherine Pierce behind Kol and saw her throw him off. Then she saw them fight and a container of gasoline and some wax candles fall off a shelf, before everything became distant.
Katherine pinned him down to the ground.
“Hello, Kol.”
“Katherine.”
“Last words?”
“Go to hell,” he replied.
“Funny. I was going to say the same thing to you.”
She ripped out his heart, before she raced towards Elena, avoiding the worsening fire.
Once there, she knelt at her side.
“Elena. Elena, can you hear me?” she called.
She saw that Elena was out cold, and she knew she couldn’t waste time in waking her, so she gently pulled her into her arms and raced out of the place with her descendant.
Once in the woods, she gently layed her down and assessed her condition.
“Elena. Elena, it’s me. Wake up,” she called to her, trying to help her out.
She let her senses tell her what her condition was, and she soon found that she would be okay.
When Elena awoke, she was healed, and Katherine was at her side. She also saw that they were in the woods and Katherine was looking at her with worry.
Elena sat up.
“Katherine.”
“You’re welcome, Elena. You know, you should take it. You’re horrible at being a vampire.”
“You’re the fifth person that has told me that.”
“Don’t you want it, Elena?”
“Yes, but there’s only one cure.”
“Take it, Elena. You deserve it after everything you’ve been through.”
“And Stefan and the others don’t?”
“They all deserve it too, but Stefan will never take it. Maybe, if there was another cure, Damon would take it with you. We’re not the same, but Damon and I want to be human again. Damon never wanted this life and I never had a life. There’s a reason why Damon is still at your side. He understands more than he lets on.”
“Then why did he turn?”
“He wasn’t given the choice, Elena. Stefan wanted to live forever with Damon, so he forced him to drink.”
Katherine got to her feet.
“We should go.”
She helped Elena to hers and they walked away together.
When Stefan had his car packed, Damon stood in the doorway.
“I’m not sorry for you,” Stefan told him.
“Then I’m not sorry for you, either. Do you need me to come along?”
“No. Lexi is coming with me.”
Damon watched his brother drive off in his SUV with Lexi.
Matt opened the door, only to see Rebekah there.
“Rebekah, what are you doing here?”
“I thought I’d see if you’re okay. I know the things we said earlier. It’s okay if you don’t want to.”
“I’d invite you in, but Tyler wanted to keep it a no vampire zone. I need to keep my life a no vampire zone. I need to keep my love life a no vampire zone, too.”
“I understand.”
She turned around and walked away.
“I was thinking Paris.”
She turned to face him again, as he continued.
“I’ve never been anywhere outside this town. I have no life. No plans for college; nothing. And don’t get any ideas about turning me into a vampire, because it’s not going to work. So, what do you say? Paris?”
She gave him a smile.
“Okay. Paris, then.”
Stefan drove the SUV into the woods, ready to toss Silas’ body there, before leaving town for Vegas. In the middle of the drive, Lexi had disappeared.
When he searched for the body, he didn’t see him.
“I’m not there,” he heard Silas say.
Stefan got to his feet and faced him.
“You were dead. We saw you.”
“Funny thing about spells. They’re bound by nature. Nature demands balance. Every spell has a loophole. This one was bound by a witch. When that witch died, the spell broke.”
“Bonnie? Bonnie’s not dead.”
“Does it matter? I’m the oldest thing. I know spells better than witches. I’m the one that made the cure with a spell. But I can never die, so I made a part of me that could die. A shadow of me.”
“You’re one of them.”
“Not exactly.”
Silas changed from Elena’s appearance to Stefan’s appearance.
“Hello, my shadow self.”
Silas stabbed him with a twig in his gut.
“Do you know what it’s like to starve for 2,000 years?” he asked. He then through him in the safe, locked it, and through the safe into the river.
“No!”
Silas turned around in time to see Katherine. He then changed to become her mother.
“Katrina.”
“I know who you are. Don’t think that’ll fool me.”
“You act tough, but on the inside, you’re hurt.”
Katherine glared and growled at Silas.
“The next time I see you, I’ll be getting rid of you.”
“Good luck,” Silas said, before vanishing.
Katherine jumped into the river and dove for the safe, before she unlocked it and surfaced with Stefan.
Once they were by his SUV, he looked at her.
“Katherine.”
“You’re welcome, Stefan. Now go. Do what you must. I’m gonna go home.”
Stefan watched her go.
Elena, Alaric, and Damon were talking, when Katherine arrived and sat on the couch.
“Elena says you saved her. Why?” Damon said.
“She’s family. Family is everything to me.”
A few minutes later, Jeremy walked in.
“I have bad news. Bonnie didn’t want you to know, but I can’t lie to everyone.”
“What is it, Jer?” Elena asked.
“Bonnie died doing a spell to keep me and Alaric here.”
Elena’s heart broke. Her BFF she had known her whole life was dead.
“I’ll tell the others,” Elena said, before vanishing to her room.
As Stefan drove out of town, he let memories and feelings come to him. He knew they would miss him, but he had to leave. Seeing Damon and Elena together would break his heart every single time. Lexi had been right. Elena was the one, but for vampires, there would always me more of them. All he had to do was let Elena go, live his own life, and try to find love again.
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