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.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡER8EIdjxRd
"If they so much as even scratched the paint on my car…," I start.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe7l5oZDFF1
"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.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7DNavFfa84
"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.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXJq0Ua0uNS
"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."457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbDmIgKZ1zr
"Yeah, well I don't remember that name from the list of places I got from New York."457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaCRaLZu5t6
"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.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH0hGgn2Pl6
"Screw the muffins. I'll get her champagne—if Elena is wherever it may be," I say, as I fill my tank with gasoline.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Vnk3F09ZH
He smiles.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLXWfP4HQtB
"Willoughby. Creamed corn capital of Pennsylvania. They'll be there. Let's just hope we get to them before they get to the cure."457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwMsmRtVm9x
"Ooh, silver lining: if Rebekah takes the cure, then she's mortal and we can just kill her right then and there."457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPBXrM4wwU1
"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."457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8TqmaeXwcl
"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."457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoIVmZL3WwP
"Look at that. We're finally on the same page about something."457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡld8Qv49A5s
"Look at that," I agree.
Later that day, we're walking along the street, still in search of Rebekah and Elena.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMVVcl3EHGc
"Something's not right. Katherine Pierce does not hold up in Hickstown, P-A.," I announce.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Usgevx5Vr
"Well, this is definitely the car they stole. We're in the right place," Stefan says.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfsBponkdQo
"Points to them for their choice of vehicles," I say.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡItRRvU35F9
"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."457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGnEBzod97p
"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."457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRVe4D9edmk
"I'm serious."457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTMRs8ELPaY
"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."457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNPpKnXz4fG
"So what happened to the guy who thought Elena should embrace being a vampire, let the chips fall where they may?" Stefan asks me.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGeQ7H4MZN7
"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.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDEn3MuAnJa
Stefan and I walk in and walk up to them.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLaRClCCOWX
"Ladies, playing nice?" Stefan asks them.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3w152JoFxp
I sit down in a bench across from them, amused, and Rebekah let's go of Katherine's hand.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr0ag7qC0jG
"There goes the neighborhood," Katherine comments.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGxt7dY7oYa
"I see you got Katherine already," I say, before telling Katherine, "You're losing your touch, evil one."457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJkunuEcShF
We all stare at one another.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmBiDfRTsrK
"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.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVKtFQj33C8
"What about you over there, smiley? Do you know where she is?" I ask Katherine.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZjbOdzNJgJ
"I can give you a hint. Start by looking at the town morgue. She's probably dead."457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqVqDWoMaRo
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."457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWupTiYKIOL
"Elijah," Rebekah realizes.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgnZygzAOPB
"Elijah's here?" I question.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr8DxHebHhg
"Well, you sort of have to question Elijah's impeccable taste if he's friends with you," Stefan tells Katherine.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaCX1LrVVrK
"Oh, when I say friend, I mean friend."457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA1Uro4PH92
Rebekah and I groan in disgust, figuring out what she's getting at. Katherine and Elijah are in love.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQaM9MOLWak
"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.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVxBLAJVWnQ
"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?"457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKGMOS72em5
"Fine. They were supposed to meet at the gazebo by the park," Rebekah answers.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuGqrDJKMg0
"I'll go talk to Elijah," Stefan says, getting up from the bench.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCSdjsKFard
"You go deal with Elijah. Katherine will take us to the cure," Rebekah tells him.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP0hBXyM4c1
"No, she won't. The cure is my one chance to win my freedom back from Klaus," Katherine interjects.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhmPVafcjn1
"You're gonna break a deal with Klaus?" I ask her.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡStEqBuSaQU
"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.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8NqVQPedsr
"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.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ8SbACVugs
I push Katherine inside and then tell her, "No sudden moves. No tricks either. No Katherine-ing."457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjALV0BGUa6
She walks further into the house, while we look around.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4BC0CkFvkR
"Wow. A quilt inside a fish aquarium. Who the hell are you?" I say.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO4pOxEJkIG
"A very old lady with dreadful taste," Rebekah answers me.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWn0pLF8Wha
Katherine has been removing things from a bookshelf and opens a hidden safe. She moves her hands around inside it.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYgJnqwzYLa
"It's gone. The cure, it was in the safe, but it's not there," she tells us.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVn48Nuh4ac
I imitate a buzzer and then say, "Not falling for it. Where is it, Auntie Katherine?"457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8BGolxERbd
"I swear it was in the safe," she insists.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3JCr7Bgfcs
"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.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUYpIFe3fDP
"Yeah, it doesn't look like the Katherine I know," I agree.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ2Vlh3dSXm
"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.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmKUhzaxXqJ
"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.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6D0vmqZB4E
"Where is the cure?" Rebekah asks her.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1LqmMe48yJ
Katherine looks at her with a hint of a smile and Rebekah vamp-speeds at her. I throw my arm out to stop her.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoTfhgHpqu8
"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.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjfo5cwDRJ7
Katherine smiles, while Rebekah walks away to go upstairs.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWiZoyzVPCU
"So if I was a paranoid, distrustful sociopath, where would I keep my most prized possession?" I say.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡknKsFfXSU7
"This should be fun," Katherine says, chuckling.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoWTdcQRS1h
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."457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyu4COgBhkY
I stop in front of the fish tank.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMxvYclIPXy
"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."457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2ZoOojAuY5
I stick my hand into the water, but it immediately burns my hand.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH52PiiMFHL
"Aah! Gah! Vervain water. Looks like we have a winner."457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAXbPwiNnBD
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.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAV56XTLFyc
"Give it to me, or you're dead."457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQPdvBWJX24
"You're gonna kill me anyway. So what's more important to you, huh? Killing me or getting the cure?" Katherine says.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSQHydXztSv
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.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2jFGVI0Q3e
"Look, Rebekah... Don't even think about it," I rasp.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTDIQzbvxto
Rebekah gets up, still in awe that she finally has the cure. My voice still sounds very raspy.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfSQZMOyCiG
"Let's just talk about this, like the two rational vampires that we are. Rebekah?"457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgK2Ogpb03c
"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.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNcyaUnRCyi
"Don't do anything stupid," I try to reason.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0xhWU8xkkU
"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.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfOvRw9TRgr
I don't say anything, still on the floor.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO0gyyGCAWo
Rebekah smiles and says, "That's what I thought."457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnI8TXbsaKz
Rebekah pops open the pill when Stefan arrives at the open front door. She tosses it back into her mouth.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnLOiMJ808a
"No!" Stefan yells.
Rebekah gasps for a few seconds and falls down onto the sofa.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFWTMcDwWTT
I rest my head on the floor.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeW3j2wtihK
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.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFw4hRrxSnB
"Did you even try to stop her?" Stefan asks me.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC2WSQrqgBw
"You forgot the part where I was bobbing for boxes in vervain water."457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvWTQu1DUdD
"All you had to do was stall her, Damon."457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡroViVKXpX1
"Sorry. It's Rebekah. I didn't have a pony to distract her, Stefan."457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIrbWnJeWiN
"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."457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfBcUz9SIZP
Suddenly, Rebekah gasps, waking up.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfa71dDV629
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.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPK4ghMKbi1
"How do you feel?" Stefan asks.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8QZ0uxIRCD
"I-- I feel good. I... I feel great. I feel alive," she answers, smiling.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJrxAEIJ5QZ
"Slight problem with being alive--I can kill you, you know," I comment to her.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4F8D8ITj3m
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.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7xJKocxn8w
"I'm still a vampire. The cure didn't work."457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVLG4X5mqgX
"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.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGTO4XzoJZE
Rebekah is still in shock, her mouth hanging open.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs1jrl6zGHw
"Katherine," I say with a slight admiration.
That night, Stefan and I walk down a sidewalk.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrjqEpHM11J
"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.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4JKtpNsr7q
"So what's your point, Damon?" Stefan asks me.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU7Hba0RZ5Q
"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.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPAeyetumS1
"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."457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeK5upF81Ld
"What are you talking about?" I ask him.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuhszDCt2bk
"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."457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF7Ky0Ex0aF
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."457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBHkiFxyFPY
"You still want to get the cure, even if it means you might lose her?" he asks me.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6oLBZPwtvr
"It's a chance I'm willing to take, Stefan."457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiBnndbkaF9
"Well, I guess all we have to do is, uh, convince her."457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8YpO01QoZ7
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.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtQVoFyajIQ
"Sit anywhere you'd like," Jolene greets us.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtWoPqe6xh6
We slide into the booth where Elena is seated at.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnDqRKniocJ
"You all right?" Stefan asks her.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Z6Ni4JR7E
Elena looks at us, but doesn't say anything.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Z2MNSDyhq
"What's up with the silent treatment? You're the one that texted us and wanted to meet up," I say.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVjvRBAWAu5
"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.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtQQEvybjUM
Stefan and I exchange a look.
"Yeah...no," I answer her.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwZZF47JVHx
"Elena, this isn't you," Stefan says.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6yTw6vXQJF
"It is now. And you two really need to accept it. Because if you don't, there will be consequences."457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6sJiSJYu1x
Elena takes a sip from her mug and we look at each other again.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpEPgnXIt3Q
"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.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeZZzAJbtAx
Elena sets down her mug. Jolene comes back.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzM6uh7QGog
"Let me just top that off for you," Jolene says.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWBoP2ZaD6D
Elena smiles and says, "Thanks."457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeM5AzDT39O
Elena vamp-speeds up and snaps Jolene's neck. Her body falls to the floor as the pitcher of coffee shatters.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa8UKxQgKHU
"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.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYZEBb16vKo
She walks away and leaves the diner, as we look at the body.457Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsJLs3Fl8YA
"Still ready to ride off into the sunset?" I ask my brother.
