It's painful to watch Damon packing his things away. Knowing that he has to leave because of her. Soon his room is clear of any sign of Damon Salvatore, and it seems odd that so recently she was in here with Damon. She wishes he didn't have to go, even though she knows it has to be this way. At least for now, he needs some time apart. However that knowledge doesn't make it any easier to watch him leave. Before he climbs into his car, he embraces her in his strong arms. Engulfing her in his body, for a second she thinks of what could have been. But that second fades and he is behind the wheel, as she holds back sobs that are welling right behind her eyes. With a sly smile he turns to her and says

"See you later."

Back into the house she walks, as tears leak from her eyes. She loves Damon, and even though she only loves him as a friend, the love is real and it hurts to see him go.

She crawls into Stefan's bed, feeling guilty but knowing that she made the right choice. Only, that knowledge isn't so comforting, and the sadness remains like lead in her stomach. As she slides under the covers, something falls from her pocket and rolls onto the floor. She reaches down to pick up the mysterious object, and as she clasps it in her hands the realization hits her. It is the cure. Damon slid the cure into her pocket when he hugged her.

Now she's holding Stefan's hand in hers, his ice cold skin still sends shocks through her like when they first met. The curve of his face, chiseled in more ways than one. Beauty unable to be compared, and she wanted him to be hers. If only he wanted the same. But he does care for her. More than anything, and she knows that. As she presses the cure into the palm of his hand, she knows he deserves it more than anyone. After all, Stefan was never much good at being a vampire. For him it's all or nothing, and it's hard to handle either one. But he refuses and returns it back; he did everything for her, why would he take it now? With that, he walks away. Stefan doesn't give her a chance to protest, and in a flash he's gone.

Choosing Stefan and giving up Damon wasn't easy. But it had to be done. That seemed to be the theme of the year, doing what has to be done. But now they were all safe for the time being, and it was time to do what she wanted. So Elena let Stefan walk away for now, but this time she would go after what she wanted.

With Elena's time with Jeremy dwindling, she heads off to find him. Only, he's nowhere to be found. And as the sun sets, and the moon rises from beneath the clouds, worry sets in quickly. The school seems as good a place as any but before more than two steps inside the school, she's been grabbed. Kol is staring her down with his two black darting eyes filled with revenge for his death. Not even allowed a breath for a word, Kol's hand is on her throat, pushing against her windpipe and crushing the bones. His hand lets go and she drops to the ground with a thud. Then, as his razor sharp teeth emerge from behind his gums, and Elena closes her eyes so she doesn't have to witness her own bloody demise, he disappears. Right into thin air, he's gone. Too relieved to question it, she stands up only to find herself looking into two similar black darting eyes. Only this time, they belong to Katherine.

Katherine jumps her like a pouncing cat, slamming her into walls, and spraying her with shards of glass. Elena doesn't stand a chance, and she remains weak and defenseless against Katherine's terror. Katherine only lets up a moment for Elena to choke out the word why, before slamming her again.

"Bonnie was supposed to make me immortal. Silas immortal. But she didn't, so now you pay the price."

"Vampire immortal isn't good enough for you?"

And with that, Katherine grabs a wooden broom from the janitor's closet and breaks it in half forming a sharp point. Before Elena has a chance to react, Katherine is on her. Her arms flailing all around, searching for a hold on Katherine to try and salvage her life, Elena finds her way to her pocket containing the cure.

The cure is jammed into Katherine's unforgiving mouth, and her confusion gives the blood just enough time to seep into her throat, and she passes out. Although she lies cold on the ground now, soon she will awake to a human self. How ironic that in her quest for immortality she became the opposite. Elena rests beside her, satisfied with a job well done. Even though her former rage that appeared after she turned back on her emotions is gone, Elena doesn't like Katherine by any stretch of the imagination. What she said was true; Katherine did cause all of this to happen. And now she was paying the price in full.

Elena looks around at the places on her body that were just recently seeping with blood; they are all now healed completely. Barely a scratch remains, and her tattered clothes are the only evidence of the battle that just occurred. The click clack of her high heels resonate around the empty hallways of her old high school as she walks away from Katherine, and even though she knows she will never be human, she feels oddly at peace with the fact. Once again, doing what has to be done. And despite her longing for a human existence, she understands why it has to be this way. Almost like an old man feels after he has said his last goodbyes, and is ready to leave the world for good.

And then it hits her, like a ton of bricks crashing down; she processes what was happening tonight. Kol. He was there, and then he was not. Bonnie must have brought back up the veil, but how about Jeremy. It can't be. Tears start welling up in her eyes, but she can't, not yet. She promised Jeremy a tear-free time, and while clinging on to the hope that he actually might still be alive, she holds back the tears with a painfully hard swallow. With vamp speed she gets into her car and drives to the Salvatore house, hoping that he might have gone to find her there, all while ignoring the fact that when she gets there, only one Salvatore is left.