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GILBERT HOUSE:

Sunlight streamed through the window, waking the dark haired girl from a fitful sleep. She had gone into hiding for the past two days; she hadn't seen or spoken to anyone, not even her brother. The events that had taken place the day after she'd killed the hunter had taken its toll on her. Elena knew that she should get out of bed, see her friends, talk to Jeremy and at least try to be there for him, but all she could think about was Damon. And now whenever she thought of the blue-eyed vampire images of his brother's hurt face played in her mind too. 'Damon can wait.' she thought. I need to pick-up my role as sister and best friend first, and with that she made her way into the bathroom.

SALVATORE BOARDING HOUSE:

'God I wish this didn't hurt so much' Stefan thought as he lay still on his bed, barely daring to breathe much less move. Damon had been trying to talk to him for the past two days but with skill and well luck he'd been able to avoid him. Stefan just couldn't stand the idea of looking or even talking to his brother, especially when some of Elena's last words to him were "Something's changed between Damon and me, much more than there ever used to be." She couldn't even tell him what the emotion was that had her so tied up in his brother, sure they both knew how she really felt, but the words would have made their end seem more final, and he'd needed that closure.

Just then there was a slight noise near the doorway to his bedroom, he knew what that noise meant. Stefan let out a long and heavy sigh, it seems like his luck had finally ran out...

GH:

After she got dressed Elena switched on her phone, she staggered mentally at the amount of missed calls she'd gotten. Most of them were from Caroline, others were from Bonnie and Damon. She sat on the edge of her bed and slowly trudged her way through all the voice mails. Caroline's messages had started out friendly, but they quickly descended into anger due to Elena's prolonged silence. It seems as though the Miss Mystic Fall Pageant was coming up and Caro needed all the help she could get to help organize it. "Get your cute but lazy ass down here Elena Gilbert. I need you, Mrs. Lockwood is driving me crazy. This is your last warning, do not make me come over there. Be here at the mansion at ten O'clock."

Bonnie's messages were just her calling to check up on her making sure she was alright. Her messages made Elena feel terrible, she knew she hadn't been the best friend she should have been recently, 'we really need a girls' night' she thought.

With the need to reconnect with her friends firmly embedded in her mind Elena moved on to Damon's messages. All but one of them were hang-ups "I don't know what the hell is going on here, but I will begin to tear this town apart if I have to. Where the hell are you and Stefan, did you two lovebirds run away? Geez Elena your brother doesn't even know where you are, and mine's disappeared. I swear to God if you guys aren't in any mortal danger, when I find you you will be."

Elena could easily hear the panic in Damon's voice, even though he had tried to make light of it she could tell he was terrified. Damon was always looking out for the next boogeyman, and his barely concealed anxiety made her feel even worse. She quickly sent a text message to him telling him that she was fine, that she hadn't seen Stefan and that she was sorry for worrying him.

SBH:

Damon took his phone out of his pocket and opened the message, the arrival of the text message he'd gotten from Elena had alerted his brother of his presence in his room. "Well well well, look at you, all snug as a bug and warm in your bed. Did you have a nice vacation brother?" Damon asked sarcastically. He was fuming inside, he couldn't believe he had been worried about them, neither had given a rat's ass about how their absence would affect him. If Elena thought her hastily written text had placated him she was sorely mistaken.

Stefan quickly noted the malevolent gleam in his brother's eyes and correctly guessed what his two day avoidance scheme had done to his brother. "Since when did you become a mother hen huh? All of a sudden you want all your ducks in a row?" he quipped snidely. Stefan knew that he was baiting the tiger, but he couldn't help it, just the sound of Damon's voice was grating on his nerves. 'This is exactly why I was avoiding him.' he mentally acknowledged.

Damon narrowed his eyes at him and focused in on the extra broodiness his brother seemed to have hanging around him like Harry Potter's fucking invisibility cloak. 'Hmm interesting.' he thought "what's wrong with you? You seem extra broody today, something go wrong with our cure quest?" he stated out loud.

"No Damon, our "Cure Quest" as you call it is going just fine. Can you leave me alone, I need to get dressed I'm going out." Stefan bit out harshly.

"Oh you bet your sour ass you're going out. You're coming with me to check out Bonnie's new Professor beau, McCreepy." Damon said with a smirk.

"No Damon, I promised Klaus I'd help him look into a lead about the cure. I know you'll understand how much more important that is than whatever mission you're on today. I mean Elena's happiness is all that matters right. Speaking of, why don't you give her a call, I'm sure she'd be happy to trail after you." Stefan said with a sneer before he super sped into his bathroom and closed the door with a bang!

"What the hell was that about?" Damon mused to himself as he stood there in stunned silence.

Lockwood Mansion:

Elena got to the mansion with just one minute to spare. She had made breakfast for herself and Jeremy and spent some time with him before she left the house. She had apologized for her absence, and promised to be there for him. Jeremy, bless him, had insisted that he understood and that everything was ok, but he'd seemed distracted to her, she'd have to get to the bottom if it later. Before she could so much as take a deep breath Caroline leapt on her.

"Elena! Thank goodness you're here, there's so much to do, the tables have to be set up, the colors are gold and…" Caroline trailed off when she noticed Elena's sombre features. "Alright Elena spill it. Don't shake your head at me I can tell something's wrong, what is it?" she asked.

"Stefan and I broke up." Elena stated quietly.

"Oh my gosh! And here I am going on about this pageant and my best friend is heartbroken. Why didn't you call me, why didn't you tell me? I'll kill him, what did he do?"

"It's not like that Caroline, it was sort of mutual. There were some things that happened that couldn't be pushed aside anymore."

"What do you mean?" Caroline asked with a furrowed brow.

"It's just that ever since I turned, my feelings for Damon have become more intense. I can't ignore it anymore and well… neither can Stefan."

"You dumped Stefan for the vampire whore! Elena, what were you thinking?"

"I didn't dump him for Damon, I haven't even spoken to him. I trust him Care, after everything he's done I trust him more than Stefan."

"That's because he was there for you when Stefan was gone, you just need to distance yourself and remember what you feel for Stefan."

"That's the thing Caroline, I do remember all the things I feel for Stefan the problem is I can't forget how I feel about Damon. I'm so confused, I have no idea what to do."

"Well you know how I feel on the subject." She said. After an awkward silence she continued to speak "I may not understand it, but I do get it… I can't believe I'm saying this but you should talk to Damon, you need to take the time to figure it out."

"Thank you Caroline." Elena smiled gratefully at her friend "Okay enough of that. Let's talk about the pageant. What are you going to wear? Are you and Tyler planning on coordinating your outfits?"

At that moment Caroline let out a loud gasp which was quickly followed by a loud groan.

"Yeah… about that, I'm not going with Tyler. Klaus is going to be my date. And before you say anything I have a perfectly good explanation for that." Caroline confessed.