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.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1XtGldfRIc
"If they so much as even scratched the paint on my car…," I start.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsKSCyexO63
"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.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOiCgiENcan
"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.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5U9XbQyMbI
"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."401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEXg32w0twx
"Yeah, well I don't remember that name from the list of places I got from New York."401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtCAF10nBIz
"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.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi00CxK5gwh
"Screw the muffins. I'll get her champagne—if Elena is wherever it may be," I say, as I fill my tank with gasoline.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC7uxNYb1AA
He smiles.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4sXYGwCWXV
"Willoughby. Creamed corn capital of Pennsylvania. They'll be there. Let's just hope we get to them before they get to the cure."401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdSvJpxAy41
"Ooh, silver lining: if Rebekah takes the cure, then she's mortal and we can just kill her right then and there."401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ94vuncG2F
"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."401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo2rrMcFhAU
"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."401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZogJ8uni1l
"Look at that. We're finally on the same page about something."401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnXfjbrDDWI
"Look at that," I agree.
Later that day, we're walking along the street, still in search of Rebekah and Elena.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlKQMXdKdgM
"Something's not right. Katherine Pierce does not hold up in Hickstown, P-A.," I announce.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Sffpq7iib
"Well, this is definitely the car they stole. We're in the right place," Stefan says.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL0gJ0M38E0
"Points to them for their choice of vehicles," I say.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqfFwxI5Yag
"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."401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbqCewEE4fW
"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."401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfx66uBAQUI
"I'm serious."401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKydMMLKFdJ
"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."401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjfJlqRDzbx
"So what happened to the guy who thought Elena should embrace being a vampire, let the chips fall where they may?" Stefan asks me.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxlGl1hwt6g
"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.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqdirVBCcYJ
Stefan and I walk in and walk up to them.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFhqDFwzULo
"Ladies, playing nice?" Stefan asks them.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZSLYmv1ihF
I sit down in a bench across from them, amused, and Rebekah let's go of Katherine's hand.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUgE2SYtf1n
"There goes the neighborhood," Katherine comments.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡogN4NP5FVu
"I see you got Katherine already," I say, before telling Katherine, "You're losing your touch, evil one."401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVxRuPzjIMO
We all stare at one another.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSSmuBMunQl
"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.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ6bduXN0B0
"What about you over there, smiley? Do you know where she is?" I ask Katherine.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDrhAjYnzhO
"I can give you a hint. Start by looking at the town morgue. She's probably dead."401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzfTpA5UcKj
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."401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCpPg6UtO7d
"Elijah," Rebekah realizes.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsSJd4k6MB6
"Elijah's here?" I question.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFhOdBSniom
"Well, you sort of have to question Elijah's impeccable taste if he's friends with you," Stefan tells Katherine.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZApzpuMyaQ
"Oh, when I say friend, I mean friend."401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3z5woOC0VS
Rebekah and I groan in disgust, figuring out what she's getting at. Katherine and Elijah are in love.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYk3LdQ7G0G
"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.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6vQWYHj28S
"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?"401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡggn5FTJFVv
"Fine. They were supposed to meet at the gazebo by the park," Rebekah answers.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVCAlc3ZFbW
"I'll go talk to Elijah," Stefan says, getting up from the bench.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk8LJwYP5hD
"You go deal with Elijah. Katherine will take us to the cure," Rebekah tells him.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoMFJtLJCGF
"No, she won't. The cure is my one chance to win my freedom back from Klaus," Katherine interjects.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsn3mmi5XJM
"You're gonna break a deal with Klaus?" I ask her.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl01z2o4rPU
"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.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkz9EWRgrGd
"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.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEUTQ8Xtz7Y
I push Katherine inside and then tell her, "No sudden moves. No tricks either. No Katherine-ing."401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ooPw6Xg4O
She walks further into the house, while we look around.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBsJ9AIMiQj
"Wow. A quilt inside a fish aquarium. Who the hell are you?" I say.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7wNIKrLbpc
"A very old lady with dreadful taste," Rebekah answers me.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡclgtkapqfc
Katherine has been removing things from a bookshelf and opens a hidden safe. She moves her hands around inside it.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVfs6j2zTGi
"It's gone. The cure, it was in the safe, but it's not there," she tells us.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmlnhDUEXnF
I imitate a buzzer and then say, "Not falling for it. Where is it, Auntie Katherine?"401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0VWnrTJszI
"I swear it was in the safe," she insists.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy9xB08Jkdj
"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.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv19kAdrWXk
"Yeah, it doesn't look like the Katherine I know," I agree.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhBOPOwYhKA
"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.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXU2OBSgPd3
"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.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqWPUcJhY6f
"Where is the cure?" Rebekah asks her.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡakzpMFEmpJ
Katherine looks at her with a hint of a smile and Rebekah vamp-speeds at her. I throw my arm out to stop her.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpE3mydotRT
"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.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbJ1KQyW3vf
Katherine smiles, while Rebekah walks away to go upstairs.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9pa5twZUQR
"So if I was a paranoid, distrustful sociopath, where would I keep my most prized possession?" I say.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAw5WnMMSJy
"This should be fun," Katherine says, chuckling.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYHiwtdXrzU
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."401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtH64dhsnnZ
I stop in front of the fish tank.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfuwu78zq11
"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."401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn1Pmy6ddV2
I stick my hand into the water, but it immediately burns my hand.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxeo25LNbvk
"Aah! Gah! Vervain water. Looks like we have a winner."401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaYwD58kBPp
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.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCsgivgAZRv
"Give it to me, or you're dead."401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Djad7ItVm
"You're gonna kill me anyway. So what's more important to you, huh? Killing me or getting the cure?" Katherine says.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO6kNTUDenW
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.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT1A2Lm32mF
"Look, Rebekah... Don't even think about it," I rasp.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZfsSaoanpF
Rebekah gets up, still in awe that she finally has the cure. My voice still sounds very raspy.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡasxSyw6AHA
"Let's just talk about this, like the two rational vampires that we are. Rebekah?"401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡun1ZRQvt68
"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.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6AGRg5zpK7
"Don't do anything stupid," I try to reason.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAo7sBsVvTv
"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.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRIzDHCeU5B
I don't say anything, still on the floor.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj38LqcQGAE
Rebekah smiles and says, "That's what I thought."401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbcAjvzsxSu
Rebekah pops open the pill when Stefan arrives at the open front door. She tosses it back into her mouth.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCwBrOTXJ61
"No!" Stefan yells.
Rebekah gasps for a few seconds and falls down onto the sofa.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGtEZevNC1v
I rest my head on the floor.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUIww56UUHm
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.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJjWPQsMJth
"Did you even try to stop her?" Stefan asks me.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLUuRfoVWBL
"You forgot the part where I was bobbing for boxes in vervain water."401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkkegxQeZAB
"All you had to do was stall her, Damon."401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV4XD99mV7G
"Sorry. It's Rebekah. I didn't have a pony to distract her, Stefan."401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWwNACrDBTI
"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."401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡByHCOxTLZv
Suddenly, Rebekah gasps, waking up.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡibOhJznhK4
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.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhH8h7YLQhA
"How do you feel?" Stefan asks.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkVvpWXEPaX
"I-- I feel good. I... I feel great. I feel alive," she answers, smiling.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDosEVEaMpJ
"Slight problem with being alive--I can kill you, you know," I comment to her.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCS6MPpbg8z
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.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzKu3pEVcTe
"I'm still a vampire. The cure didn't work."401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtSYdB27Kjb
"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.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgyHDyyzWqD
Rebekah is still in shock, her mouth hanging open.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ET6SfQoK1
"Katherine," I say with a slight admiration.
That night, Stefan and I walk down a sidewalk.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu0gUjGo7Jy
"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.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwq5FSn3UDl
"So what's your point, Damon?" Stefan asks me.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJJMGGZlRDR
"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.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHU9RvfOVZN
"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."401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9qs3lWWx3u
"What are you talking about?" I ask him.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2hEQyDwMzp
"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."401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0TGnFj2h6h
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."401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡivMvbKhfvy
"You still want to get the cure, even if it means you might lose her?" he asks me.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbzEGpCLqVC
"It's a chance I'm willing to take, Stefan."401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOGgkteSh7s
"Well, I guess all we have to do is, uh, convince her."401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeSsdT5otA1
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.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpdbjCT4BGq
"Sit anywhere you'd like," Jolene greets us.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBKCFvxNMhh
We slide into the booth where Elena is seated at.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmDPWQUtxL2
"You all right?" Stefan asks her.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlFzWKbsNLc
Elena looks at us, but doesn't say anything.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtYqBpypWT4
"What's up with the silent treatment? You're the one that texted us and wanted to meet up," I say.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ15sYQ5lrzz
"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.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2CsNJ9RInS
Stefan and I exchange a look.
"Yeah...no," I answer her.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMwzN8fO10d
"Elena, this isn't you," Stefan says.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLs5JJNIKLD
"It is now. And you two really need to accept it. Because if you don't, there will be consequences."401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkKHVWoctXx
Elena takes a sip from her mug and we look at each other again.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ28z4SSnii
"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.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdAHtvQnqTu
Elena sets down her mug. Jolene comes back.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuE62kOCgQU
"Let me just top that off for you," Jolene says.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEKq4nmsUr2
Elena smiles and says, "Thanks."401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsGtAH2lWum
Elena vamp-speeds up and snaps Jolene's neck. Her body falls to the floor as the pitcher of coffee shatters.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH64SZ6pNwi
"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.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcOob0XwdWn
She walks away and leaves the diner, as we look at the body.401Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkUgZUn5fcB
"Still ready to ride off into the sunset?" I ask my brother.
