It's a beautiful day, as Stefan and I get out of our car on the side of the road and walk towards my car, me carrying two large containers.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc216c0nqGg
"If they so much as even scratched the paint on my car…," I start.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKxWNhx8ySQ
"Well, just be grateful Sheriff Forbes was able to track down the car after you let them, ah, you know—steal it from you," Stefan interrupts.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0rhCa4VtTE
"Remind me to send her some mini-muffins. Do we really need 10 gallons of gas, or are you making me just lug this around as punishment?" I say.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRvRc3BjRRS
"Well, they ditched your car after it ran out of fuel. You gotta fill it up. Got a hundred miles before we get to Willoughby."391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcqAB4HoBAh
"Yeah, well I don't remember that name from the list of places I got from New York."391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ2Zpdo2M2C
"Oh, the list? The list they stole from right under your nose, after you let your guard down? They'll be there. Sheriff Forbes tracked down the car they stole after yours," Stefan amusingly says.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN6hoGMPuDv
"Screw the muffins. I'll get her champagne—if Elena is wherever it may be," I say, as I fill my tank with gasoline.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5uirtRnnLM
He smiles.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw7HXGJeKaS
"Willoughby. Creamed corn capital of Pennsylvania. They'll be there. Let's just hope we get to them before they get to the cure."391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8sggc5JBYa
"Ooh, silver lining: if Rebekah takes the cure, then she's mortal and we can just kill her right then and there."391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZfuK2XgHhH
"Ooh, dark cloud: Elena stays a vampire forever. Look, why don't you just table the revenge fantasies for now, and just keep your eye on the prize. Find Katherine, get the cure, get out before you get your neck snapped—again."391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXqoKD9vajt
"Believe me, I learned my lesson. Elena without humanity is a stone-cold bitch, and I won't trust her until we get the old Elena back."391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgA1oS9y0C8
"Look at that. We're finally on the same page about something."391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPYP41Iqnr1
"Look at that," I agree.
Later that day, we're walking along the street, still in search of Rebekah and Elena.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjtSX6hvrjn
"Something's not right. Katherine Pierce does not hold up in Hickstown, P-A.," I announce.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2pfJhTAqaL
"Well, this is definitely the car they stole. We're in the right place," Stefan says.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmrAyDWOns3
"Points to them for their choice of vehicles," I say.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCf7yqMQTpR
"So let me ask you something. What happens when we find Elena? How do we get her back to Mystic Falls? I mean, she's not exactly gonna go quietly, and she has an Original vampire as her bodyguard."391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTv4vGe086b
"We do whatever we have to do. I don't care if we have to throw Rebekah under a school bus and wrap Elena up in a burlap sack. We do whatever we have to do."391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGxXjsdEHUW
"I'm serious."391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiI4xa08vDp
"I am, too. I don't care what Elena wants right now. She's this close to going off the rails for good and that ain't happening. She's a pain enough as it is."391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg0v6BqUTpB
"So what happened to the guy who thought Elena should embrace being a vampire, let the chips fall where they may?" Stefan asks me.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfkLaugNqTO
"That guy got his neck snapped in New York and this guy is royally pissed off," I answer him, and start to walk away.
When we find them, they're sitting in a diner in a booth. Rebekah is seated next to Katherine, but Elena isn't there.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBeCnynfWdd
Stefan and I walk in and walk up to them.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwoRePfP2Fw
"Ladies, playing nice?" Stefan asks them.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXxNM7tynPy
I sit down in a bench across from them, amused, and Rebekah let's go of Katherine's hand.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6JxtylxbMJ
"There goes the neighborhood," Katherine comments.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoPCfgfQ1Ky
"I see you got Katherine already," I say, before telling Katherine, "You're losing your touch, evil one."391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy5KmrRfm9R
We all stare at one another.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgjVVpONGaH
"Where's Elena?" Stefan asks Rebekah.
"So let me get this straight: I tell you where Elena is, you shove the cure down her throat, and then I end up in a box, right? I don't think so," Rebekah says.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWzMjZDwkxS
"What about you over there, smiley? Do you know where she is?" I ask Katherine.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ08UWnhR4xy
"I can give you a hint. Start by looking at the town morgue. She's probably dead."391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtSAdV3Bibt
We wait for Katherine to elaborate, and after a moment, she does, saying, "She went to meet up with a friend of mine. You may know him—an Original brother, impeccable taste."391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOzLgNfNqHT
"Elijah," Rebekah realizes.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeKxfvirifn
"Elijah's here?" I question.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEFFUUZfgUd
"Well, you sort of have to question Elijah's impeccable taste if he's friends with you," Stefan tells Katherine.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡla8bvtA2lr
"Oh, when I say friend, I mean friend."391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZGGVeTJoZO
Rebekah and I groan in disgust, figuring out what she's getting at. Katherine and Elijah are in love.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ2WYi1yehG
"It probably took him about 10 seconds to realize that she wasn't me, at which point he probably yanked her heart right out of her chest," Katherine says.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFiEF9gEDHd
"All right. Where are they?" Stefan asks her, but Katherine smiles and doesn't say anything, so Stefan says to Rebekah, "Rebekah, you do realize if something should happen to Elena, you have no chance of finding the cure, right?"391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxGDsP8dgZW
"Fine. They were supposed to meet at the gazebo by the park," Rebekah answers.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2SqgnnikxK
"I'll go talk to Elijah," Stefan says, getting up from the bench.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2bcmNVqj0k
"You go deal with Elijah. Katherine will take us to the cure," Rebekah tells him.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrOyh4kpn1I
"No, she won't. The cure is my one chance to win my freedom back from Klaus," Katherine interjects.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG1CpA2hzjy
"You're gonna break a deal with Klaus?" I ask her.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG6NuJ856H7
"No. She's gonna get Elijah to break the deal for her. That's why you need your little friend, isn't it? Some things never change, Katherine," Stefan says.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDMxtloFgih
"Nope," I say.
"Fine," Katherine says, before saying to Rebekah, "Move. You have to follow me."
We follow Katherine to her place and stop just outside the door.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIYnJDKY9b8
I push Katherine inside and then tell her, "No sudden moves. No tricks either. No Katherine-ing."391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyj9xnlVwtK
She walks further into the house, while we look around.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOeRTIoPEpn
"Wow. A quilt inside a fish aquarium. Who the hell are you?" I say.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3T2de9xPBK
"A very old lady with dreadful taste," Rebekah answers me.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbp7VeaXt1u
Katherine has been removing things from a bookshelf and opens a hidden safe. She moves her hands around inside it.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhbob2Lv3qy
"It's gone. The cure, it was in the safe, but it's not there," she tells us.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnInXbHVAL9
I imitate a buzzer and then say, "Not falling for it. Where is it, Auntie Katherine?"391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaQtMVKTq2R
"I swear it was in the safe," she insists.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsH0DBNp5Re
"What, just like Elijah's really your boyfriend and this is really your life? And for all we know, this isn't even your house," Rebekah says.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIieUZmm92k
"Yeah, it doesn't look like the Katherine I know," I agree.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGoRj6fWhTP
"Maybe you don't know Katherine at all. Did it ever occur to you that you have no idea who I really am?" Katherine says.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4v6Reudvvg
"Did it ever occur to you that you're not that deep? This whole small-town girl thing, we all know it's an act," I say.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMyasgQjmBG
"Where is the cure?" Rebekah asks her.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHmSAwJ2bzl
Katherine looks at her with a hint of a smile and Rebekah vamp-speeds at her. I throw my arm out to stop her.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOXuZfQCfLW
"Whoa, whoa. Hang on. We need her alive. The cure's not here. You check upstairs. I'll check down. I got this," I tell Rebekah.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡagb61z9n1z
Katherine smiles, while Rebekah walks away to go upstairs.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcys13m51kg
"So if I was a paranoid, distrustful sociopath, where would I keep my most prized possession?" I say.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnRUP5awxo8
"This should be fun," Katherine says, chuckling.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdrDQqcUj8a
I search the room. "Because I'd want it to be close, but not on me. Accessible but not obvious. I'd want to keep it safe, but not so safe that it'd be too difficult to grab and run."391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9xMhN8PsMs
I stop in front of the fish tank.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAM9jJSG2Jx
"Well, that is a fancy little treasure chest—in a tank with no fish." Katherine doesn't say anything and I continue. "I think I'm gonna have to check that out."391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhhXT83WrGx
I stick my hand into the water, but it immediately burns my hand.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF35V0ukCnX
"Aah! Gah! Vervain water. Looks like we have a winner."391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyC7gTOHqjY
I pick up a large net to scoop out the chest. Before I can, Katherine vamp-speeds at me and shoves my head into the vervain water, holds me there for several seconds then throws me to the floor. I writhe in pain and Katherine gets the chest out. She runs to the door, but Rebekah appears in front of her.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrxvHabmEbz
"Give it to me, or you're dead."391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwtpH7JQVaP
"You're gonna kill me anyway. So what's more important to you, huh? Killing me or getting the cure?" Katherine says.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdmNJwePIIr
She holds up a small pill-shaped object and throws it into the air behind her. Rebekah runs to catch it, and Katherine dashes out the front door. I'm still on the floor, but my face is healing.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTswh5SjnMx
"Look, Rebekah... Don't even think about it," I rasp.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH9G2bpOUZL
Rebekah gets up, still in awe that she finally has the cure. My voice still sounds very raspy.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbxaHt52Bv8
"Let's just talk about this, like the two rational vampires that we are. Rebekah?"391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJur2qPsWnT
"Oh, give it a rest. Me taking this cure is the best thing that'll ever happen to you," Rebekah says, as she stares at the object in her hand.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPgYaenvopP
"Don't do anything stupid," I try to reason.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsOeW76ZXsM
"Admit it. You don't want human-Elena running back to Stefan whilst you're left out in the cold again. Go on, Damon. Tell me why you want Elena to have the cure," she says.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjCvDmTiOJb
I don't say anything, still on the floor.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtQqcZBUyFX
Rebekah smiles and says, "That's what I thought."391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKCT7XPFeZB
Rebekah pops open the pill when Stefan arrives at the open front door. She tosses it back into her mouth.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcXQXNWwAJ0
"No!" Stefan yells.
Rebekah gasps for a few seconds and falls down onto the sofa.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFeAdwINh6Z
I rest my head on the floor.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ06lBT1ii8u
Rebekah is still unconscious on the sofa, as Stefan looks at the fish tank while talking to me. I've finally gotten to my feet and am drying myself off with a towel from the vervain.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuu3caxdCIl
"Did you even try to stop her?" Stefan asks me.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSGoELVPvAx
"You forgot the part where I was bobbing for boxes in vervain water."391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz7gg9Olomx
"All you had to do was stall her, Damon."391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPDEjwM1nsK
"Sorry. It's Rebekah. I didn't have a pony to distract her, Stefan."391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw13Y6zifN8
"You let her take it, didn't you? You were never on my side. Now Elena will be a vampire for the rest of her life just like you wanted."391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHXheEFolFL
Suddenly, Rebekah gasps, waking up.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1khrYmLQFa
She sits up, looking refreshed, her mouth open in wonder. I'm standing by a bookshelf and Stefan sits down on the coffee table opposite her.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlPD6pNOR1E
"How do you feel?" Stefan asks.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaBdreS6OsE
"I-- I feel good. I... I feel great. I feel alive," she answers, smiling.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMUo1CwFfLA
"Slight problem with being alive--I can kill you, you know," I comment to her.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyxCaxvbtJa
I throw a letter opener at her and she catches it with vamp speed. We all watch, as the cut on her hand heals. Rebekah gasps in horror, while Stefan sighs in relief.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ17su1IZWXH
"I'm still a vampire. The cure didn't work."391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbDfDB02OfD
"It worked just like she wanted it to. The cure was a fake. It must've been a concentrated shot of vervain or something," Stefan says.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGQkjz7otyh
Rebekah is still in shock, her mouth hanging open.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5HmCszTfWD
"Katherine," I say with a slight admiration.
That night, Stefan and I walk down a sidewalk.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSjvGHAt1Ya
"All right, you're right. I let Rebekah take the cure." I stop and turn to face Stefan. "I thought for a second—I mean, literally just a second—If Rebekah takes this, then all my problems go away. And I couldn't think of one good reason to give it to Elena. And then Rebekah took it. And I realized how badly I screwed up," I admit.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3z97pB1JVf
"So what's your point, Damon?" Stefan asks me.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡncU1AyOsF4
"My point is, I'm sorry, okay? I had a moment of weakness, Stefan. It's my thing. It's like you and I falling for the same girl. It's our thing," I say.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAtYQfg01AY
"Was our thing. Look, we've been making the same mistakes for 150 years. We can judge Katherine all we want, but we keep repeating our own history just like she is. Nothing ever changes. It has to stop, Damon."391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMAMK1A0qUn
"What are you talking about?" I ask him.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGCnglZvsKA
"I'm done. I can't keep reliving my life like this. I owe Elena her shot at being normal again. Once we give her the cure, I'm getting her out of my life, and I'm getting a life of my own."391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6bAfjtRhX0
I nod and say, "Okay. Okay, let's just get the cure, and then we'll talk about you riding off into the sunset all by your lonesome."391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPvNga5AcLL
"You still want to get the cure, even if it means you might lose her?" he asks me.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7RCS2Ro3uZ
"It's a chance I'm willing to take, Stefan."391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYX7ZK2fWuK
"Well, I guess all we have to do is, uh, convince her."391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4D1ETiQt02
He walks past me and we enter the same diner we had earlier, when Rebekah and Katherine had been there. Elena is sitting at a table by herself. Jolene, the waitress, sees us walk in.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmSfEDT355Y
"Sit anywhere you'd like," Jolene greets us.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbXg4GdQLaL
We slide into the booth where Elena is seated at.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUoZw8vYWJE
"You all right?" Stefan asks her.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO3jOrBjY6u
Elena looks at us, but doesn't say anything.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuiDqaHEl4I
"What's up with the silent treatment? You're the one that texted us and wanted to meet up," I say.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJRkslWTEHL
"You know I don't want the cure. You need to know that I never will and I'm done talking about it. So... will you accept that and let me be who I am, or not?" she says.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE7N3H9gJiE
Stefan and I exchange a look.
"Yeah...no," I answer her.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgzicLwgvyZ
"Elena, this isn't you," Stefan says.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyJcDFWiueA
"It is now. And you two really need to accept it. Because if you don't, there will be consequences."391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9fSMzyGclZ
Elena takes a sip from her mug and we look at each other again.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYGMm4uXtFe
"Listen, I was in the exact same situation that you're in right now. My emotions were off. I wasn't me. And you refused to accept that. You didn't give up on me. You didn't stop until you pulled me back," Stefan says.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkJP1q2iyEf
Elena sets down her mug. Jolene comes back.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡheQ7xiOXxR
"Let me just top that off for you," Jolene says.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdrODUXajva
Elena smiles and says, "Thanks."391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGnwPn56hxc
Elena vamp-speeds up and snaps Jolene's neck. Her body falls to the floor as the pitcher of coffee shatters.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5f9MybVTsm
"Like I said, consequences. That's one body you're responsible for. If you keep trying to fix me, there'll be a second, a twentieth, and a hundredth. It's your choice," Elena tells us.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTXVV0QzEOz
She walks away and leaves the diner, as we look at the body.391Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZWnriUcmcv
"Still ready to ride off into the sunset?" I ask my brother.
