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.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsfktvISeNZ
"If they so much as even scratched the paint on my car…," I start.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTgmsmoDGJy
"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.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡddEjtSP9mR
"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.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6vE9K1A8xf
"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."368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCvjjtLFyVN
"Yeah, well I don't remember that name from the list of places I got from New York."368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqBw8VJ8e2m
"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.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡExYvT8OmPh
"Screw the muffins. I'll get her champagne—if Elena is wherever it may be," I say, as I fill my tank with gasoline.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUfyxuhu1Lw
He smiles.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwlTX9iIzUu
"Willoughby. Creamed corn capital of Pennsylvania. They'll be there. Let's just hope we get to them before they get to the cure."368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdtFfnTHjF7
"Ooh, silver lining: if Rebekah takes the cure, then she's mortal and we can just kill her right then and there."368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡktYwaBZLSH
"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."368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbkIarudvtn
"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."368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkmZ7TlDpBc
"Look at that. We're finally on the same page about something."368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyTdVKhUPVJ
"Look at that," I agree.
Later that day, we're walking along the street, still in search of Rebekah and Elena.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxJ9aA9mjHF
"Something's not right. Katherine Pierce does not hold up in Hickstown, P-A.," I announce.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ4xe4sl5cY
"Well, this is definitely the car they stole. We're in the right place," Stefan says.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLqgOmqKSqb
"Points to them for their choice of vehicles," I say.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡttVuUuDssC
"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."368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWC36XgMIKB
"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."368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfRf6IPt68o
"I'm serious."368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZxDGHpbBcy
"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."368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzbBzxHLL49
"So what happened to the guy who thought Elena should embrace being a vampire, let the chips fall where they may?" Stefan asks me.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhTyhxbmsv0
"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.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJacjPn4jOX
Stefan and I walk in and walk up to them.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyQszCu06Sr
"Ladies, playing nice?" Stefan asks them.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfyXF9z5le6
I sit down in a bench across from them, amused, and Rebekah let's go of Katherine's hand.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGj1haf0rTl
"There goes the neighborhood," Katherine comments.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYBLMdnRuvX
"I see you got Katherine already," I say, before telling Katherine, "You're losing your touch, evil one."368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ11sK0PoocC
We all stare at one another.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHDbNdz7Pz6
"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.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtpsOlSwYeb
"What about you over there, smiley? Do you know where she is?" I ask Katherine.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT4oGFifFKp
"I can give you a hint. Start by looking at the town morgue. She's probably dead."368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡII7kFYiv11
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."368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOc1bTtPHTz
"Elijah," Rebekah realizes.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡno7wMehfTK
"Elijah's here?" I question.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm6enGVja46
"Well, you sort of have to question Elijah's impeccable taste if he's friends with you," Stefan tells Katherine.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPJfi4MG24c
"Oh, when I say friend, I mean friend."368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy8luOi8bEU
Rebekah and I groan in disgust, figuring out what she's getting at. Katherine and Elijah are in love.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiw9fZiBwzN
"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.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb5kjemcXvw
"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?"368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm99B3QZEcf
"Fine. They were supposed to meet at the gazebo by the park," Rebekah answers.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRJdP6lKmWh
"I'll go talk to Elijah," Stefan says, getting up from the bench.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNY4pSkzig1
"You go deal with Elijah. Katherine will take us to the cure," Rebekah tells him.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZqAIOGpGJU
"No, she won't. The cure is my one chance to win my freedom back from Klaus," Katherine interjects.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjQyXt8FUFl
"You're gonna break a deal with Klaus?" I ask her.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqsn71xiLnH
"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.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNIjOhpAcFf
"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.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo69vYaZOsN
I push Katherine inside and then tell her, "No sudden moves. No tricks either. No Katherine-ing."368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy0KDfK6Tm6
She walks further into the house, while we look around.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCwByCssyAs
"Wow. A quilt inside a fish aquarium. Who the hell are you?" I say.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6bk4BUH30T
"A very old lady with dreadful taste," Rebekah answers me.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM8PULIGayA
Katherine has been removing things from a bookshelf and opens a hidden safe. She moves her hands around inside it.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJY8R3RwAD4
"It's gone. The cure, it was in the safe, but it's not there," she tells us.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡja6pZpiti3
I imitate a buzzer and then say, "Not falling for it. Where is it, Auntie Katherine?"368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9mwxzn6ifF
"I swear it was in the safe," she insists.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoqMGEnFTQe
"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.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ4NFuLL9gW
"Yeah, it doesn't look like the Katherine I know," I agree.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa79eGYbunv
"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.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPnc1NsGLEC
"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.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8fkzdEDxiO
"Where is the cure?" Rebekah asks her.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe1RGYvAZsJ
Katherine looks at her with a hint of a smile and Rebekah vamp-speeds at her. I throw my arm out to stop her.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEnJyDQiu9U
"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.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVotk2K7qTW
Katherine smiles, while Rebekah walks away to go upstairs.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLPnNBobF1y
"So if I was a paranoid, distrustful sociopath, where would I keep my most prized possession?" I say.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ285yWm6xUp
"This should be fun," Katherine says, chuckling.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3e5nZf12qT
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."368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwtLTnZGrAR
I stop in front of the fish tank.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpkKe6NyWFE
"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."368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2i1hJNWBMs
I stick my hand into the water, but it immediately burns my hand.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgS5AzZlp2h
"Aah! Gah! Vervain water. Looks like we have a winner."368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx7g3Auphc6
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.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC8SK7bAvLM
"Give it to me, or you're dead."368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsXDf05bHBU
"You're gonna kill me anyway. So what's more important to you, huh? Killing me or getting the cure?" Katherine says.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1FkrUQYHf9
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.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL07ZOqAemz
"Look, Rebekah... Don't even think about it," I rasp.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLFey7hi4NS
Rebekah gets up, still in awe that she finally has the cure. My voice still sounds very raspy.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtWZqPdMiT2
"Let's just talk about this, like the two rational vampires that we are. Rebekah?"368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi9Qho7yhPL
"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.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFaPbx3leAO
"Don't do anything stupid," I try to reason.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWjhwoBsdMn
"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.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNTfXi046np
I don't say anything, still on the floor.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJxzdnio2d6
Rebekah smiles and says, "That's what I thought."368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi6iWh5sXzJ
Rebekah pops open the pill when Stefan arrives at the open front door. She tosses it back into her mouth.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3CnF8UDvgk
"No!" Stefan yells.
Rebekah gasps for a few seconds and falls down onto the sofa.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡidOmtqx1Kl
I rest my head on the floor.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD2iIJ1wavo
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.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgAKnHeZalK
"Did you even try to stop her?" Stefan asks me.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1RbBqo012x
"You forgot the part where I was bobbing for boxes in vervain water."368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9k97TVRARV
"All you had to do was stall her, Damon."368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxuvjxF9Bq9
"Sorry. It's Rebekah. I didn't have a pony to distract her, Stefan."368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbFXQce4rZy
"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."368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNu6Im7kCc4
Suddenly, Rebekah gasps, waking up.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1OC3Fo8CoO
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.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn0EkitKm2P
"How do you feel?" Stefan asks.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxqpeXRXbIS
"I-- I feel good. I... I feel great. I feel alive," she answers, smiling.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3j0KkdOGT6
"Slight problem with being alive--I can kill you, you know," I comment to her.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnnnry9lvNk
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.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHRrYru0hDC
"I'm still a vampire. The cure didn't work."368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ71s0K3iwvH
"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.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2TOM3u0cIF
Rebekah is still in shock, her mouth hanging open.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjnqHqg3pHm
"Katherine," I say with a slight admiration.
That night, Stefan and I walk down a sidewalk.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWqLNSD8dlm
"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.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1uP3GK2Wx8
"So what's your point, Damon?" Stefan asks me.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnqdA0CN72c
"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.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOdDNJlW4cG
"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."368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKXSHAh5JW9
"What are you talking about?" I ask him.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqsSQ5mx3Mk
"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."368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ0qtCAAaY6
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."368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmjZpRWnrHi
"You still want to get the cure, even if it means you might lose her?" he asks me.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTzqC7tdH5a
"It's a chance I'm willing to take, Stefan."368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7InqG35q7q
"Well, I guess all we have to do is, uh, convince her."368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ14b5d8VJ3M
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.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA50E1MXId2
"Sit anywhere you'd like," Jolene greets us.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyZAuYWaPGr
We slide into the booth where Elena is seated at.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyxxbC9oYGF
"You all right?" Stefan asks her.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHJ0hn0sFHL
Elena looks at us, but doesn't say anything.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡslp8YjrZNW
"What's up with the silent treatment? You're the one that texted us and wanted to meet up," I say.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnUFS8nWaDK
"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.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡob4WEyAOOD
Stefan and I exchange a look.
"Yeah...no," I answer her.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFxfOI2lMog
"Elena, this isn't you," Stefan says.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSAnNAkumwT
"It is now. And you two really need to accept it. Because if you don't, there will be consequences."368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdoZySCXd8y
Elena takes a sip from her mug and we look at each other again.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvagCqmLEPE
"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.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2QlHPXv6NL
Elena sets down her mug. Jolene comes back.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTC5hylH2CO
"Let me just top that off for you," Jolene says.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdddh9z9mkm
Elena smiles and says, "Thanks."368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKT7Wu3D4YL
Elena vamp-speeds up and snaps Jolene's neck. Her body falls to the floor as the pitcher of coffee shatters.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhgrCEx3XqT
"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.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAcRky1HwY1
She walks away and leaves the diner, as we look at the body.368Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlDFSvFqOeL
"Still ready to ride off into the sunset?" I ask my brother.
