Rose is simultaneously in the best and worst place possible. She is lying in Damon's arms and he is holding her tightly to his chest, but at the same time she is lying there in utter agony, failing to hold back the tears that are slowly dampening his t-shirt. She is stuck on the thin wire between heaven and hell, which she can't help but see as a metaphor for her very existence. Call it her 15th century upbringing, but she had always been rather philosophical.

She can feel his hands moving slowly through her hair in a way that seems far, far too caring for them to be Damon's hands. If she wasn't entirely lucid at this very moment, she might have thought it was an illusion.

"Who'd have thought you'd be a nice guy?"

"I'm not nice. I'm mean. I like it." She wants to laugh at that, but can barely grasp the energy.

"You're lying." She can't help but point out. She can't help herself; being truthful is the foundation of whatever messed up friendship is between them. She has never lied to him, and whilst she can't say the same for Damon, she knows that he is at least a bit more truthful with her than with anyone else. And frankly that is the most she can ever really hope for right now. He's in love with another woman, and Rose knows, my god does she know, that she will never be able to compete with her, and honestly she is not sure that she wants to. Rose likes Elena, and she meant it when she said she didn't love men who loved other women. She knows that she doesn't need or want to get in the middle of this, and hopes that if she keeps telling herself this she might start to believe it.

Damon gently shushes her, and continues to stroke her head. She can feel the affection pouring out, and part of her wants to beg him to stop; she can't deal with the weight of it. It's drowning her, just knowing that he doesn't love her, and that she is ever so slowly falling in love with him. The only problem is if she pushes him away then she will be left alone.

"I can't-" She starts, then quickly breaks off, trying (and failing) to attempt to pry herself away from Damon's embrace. He looks at her confused, his arms not quite letting her go.

"Rose, what-"

"Leave me alone Damon." She mumbles half-heartedly, still trapped in his arms. She honestly would move, but she doesn't have the strength. The end is coming for her, and she is not ready to face it just yet, but it's coming just the same, and she is so bloody afraid.

"No." He says firmly, tightening his grip on her, and trying to make her more comfortable once again.

"Why?" She asks softly. It's not a clear question, but she is pretty sure that he understands.

"Because I'm your friend." She wants to shout at him and tell him that that is not nearly good enough, but she holds her tongue. "You don't deserve to be alone Rose. This is my fault-"

"Stop it, Damon." The emotion in his voice makes her snap. He is not allowed to be that way over her, particularly over something so stupid.

They don't say anything for a little while, and Rose just lets him hold her, even if it does hurt and help at the same time. She feels colder, even though she is pretty sure the room has gotten warmer since Damon wrapped her in his arms. Her shoulder feels like it's on fire, but it's the kind of heat that has become so unbearable that she can no longer really feel it anymore. The chills come and go, along with her memories. Since Damon started holding her, what must have been over an hour ago now, she has felt strangely calm and lucid. If she cared to think about it a bit more she would have bet that he had started compelling her mind to stay in this state, but that took too much energy. They are quiet apart from her harsh breathing, and for a while that fills the air. Then all of a sudden it comes out, the truth that had been bubbling under the surface for a while, but she had not had the heart to admit. She didn't want to let him know just how scared she was.

"I don't want to die." He scoffs, but Rose can tell that he doesn't mean it. "I know it's stupid, I'm over 500 years old, but I don't want to die." She sounds desperate even to her own ears, and she half expects him to tell her to get a grip.

"That's not stupid." He whispers into her hair, and she feels more of her tears silently soak his t-shirt that had just started to dry. "And you're not going to die, so stop being dramatic." She laughs at the old Damon sparking through, but it quickly turns into a moan of pain. "Shhhh…" He mumbles into her hair, pulling her just a little closer once more.

"When you are better," He says putting particular pressure on the 'when', "I'll get the wicked witch to make you one of these if you want?" He flashes his daylight ring in her face, and she smiles slightly.

"I doubt she'll do that for you willingly."

"Oh, I'll convince her. If not, I'm sure Elena will put in a good word for you. She's become weirdly… fond of you, you know."

"I don't think so, not after what she saw me do this evening." She sighs, her thoughts being dragged back to the murders she had unwillingly committed that day.

"Nah, I've done much worse, and she forgave me. I killed her brother, now that is serious evil brownie points."

"Yes, but she isn't in love with me." She wishes she hadn't said the words, as soon as they left her mouth, but it was too late. It wasn't that she didn't believe them to be true (as much as she hated to admit it), it was just that she knew Damon wouldn't believe her. She felt Damon stiffen beneath her, but he doesn't move. Rose is grateful, for a moment she feared that her words would push him away.

"What will you do when you have a ring?" Damon asks her, clearly choosing to ignore the elephant she had just brought out into their circus. She sighs at his diversion, but doesn't comment upon it.

"England, I suppose. I want to see Cornwall again, see where I was a child. I used to love playing in the fields in the sunshine with the horses. I miss that." He smiles, and asks her more about it. Rose can tell he's trying to distract her, and she lets him. Each word feels like it's taking away more of her pain, and suddenly she is there. She is dreaming of the horses and fields, and she is standing there in her favourite blue gown from when she was young. Her hair is long again, and is being whipped behind her by the wind.

She smiles and enjoys the feeling of warm sun on her face, the first time she's felt it without the sting of a burn in many, many years. The smell of the grass and countryside assaults her, and she feels more at peace than she has in decades. She wonders for a second if she has just died, and has gone to heaven, because she can't think of anywhere more like paradise.

"I've got to hand it to you Rose, this is quite a place." She hears his voice coming from behind her. She whips her head around, and can see Damon, still in his black clothes lying down on the grass, hands behind his head and eyes closed. She slowly goes and sits beside him, her hand just brushing his arm.

"Thank you." He opens one eye to glare at her, and then pulls her down beside him at Vampire speed. She laughs and she can see his mouth go up in a small smile.

"No need to thank me for a dream, the room was becoming too depressing." She rests her head on his chest and sighs deeply.

"Nothing hurts here."

"I'm glad." They lie there for a while, just enjoying each others company. He asks her more questions about her childhood and her family and Trevor, and what she had been doing for the last 500 years. She answers becoming more animated the longer they talk. Damon is a good listener, surprisingly, and nods and asks all the right questions. The one thing he doesn't do is laugh, which is a shame. Rose thinks it is the one thing that would make her relax completely, but is also the one thing that makes her remember that this is all a dream.

"I'm tired." She says after a while, closing her eyes on his chest. Their hands are entwined and she is enjoying the feeling of him playing with her fingers. "I've been running for such a long time."

"I know." He mumbles softly, and she is glad, because the way he says it speaks of understanding not sympathy. She was right when she told Elena that the two of them were very similar. They have both been running for a very long time.

"Will I see them again? My family?" She asks, sitting up suddenly.

"I think you'll see whoever you want to see."

"That would be nice. Maybe I'll see Trevor too!" She says excitedly. He smiles at her, but it's a broken smile, and she can tell that her words are hurting him ever so slightly. The talk of death and her accepting her fate is strangely bittersweet. So she says the one thing that will make it better. "I'm not afraid anymore." She's not sure if it helped, and she's not sure if this is the first lie she has told him in their short flawed friendship. His face remains impassive, but she hopes that it helps him, and that she believes the words more than she currently thinks she does. She knows she mustn't have too long left, so she hopes that he might at least enjoy these last few moments with her before it's too late.

"I'll race you to the trees!" She laughs, jumping up. Her laugh is stale, and she is far too abrupt, but she doesn't care. She just wants to distract him.

"Well, you'll loose."

"I'm older and faster." She comes back with teasingly.

"Oh, you think?" He smiles at her and pushes himself up from the ground, "Well, I'm controlling this dream. Maybe I'll cheat."

"On the count of three." She says daringly, already started to move away from him. Ready to race him away into the woods. She wonders if the dream will end when she gets there, she told him barely anything of the forests surrounding her home, or if Damon will make up a woodland of their own. "One." She smiles at him, trying to draw him forward. "Two-"

"DAMON, NO!" Someone screams, and suddenly everything changes. Images fly before her mind, and she is ripped painfully and awkwardly out of her sleep and the paradise that she and Damon had just inhabited. She wonders if she has just died, and if those were the last words that she heard before she passed on. How had she died anyway? Had the bite suddenly taken her, or had something else happened?

But then she feels it. The burn working its way through the bones in her shoulders and the bubbling, boiling flesh that makes her want to chop the tissue away with her own two hands. She lets out a small muffled wail, and realises where she is. The sound is absorbed into Damon's t-shirt, and she grabs the material in her hands.

She is back in his bedroom. The dream is over, and for some twisted blow of fate she is still alive. She just wants it to be through, and the relief that was momentarily there when she thought that she was dead is instantly gone, and instead replaced with the pain of the bite and all that that entails. The burning and the pain of having her peaceful exit from this world ripped away from her at a moments notice.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Shhh…" She hears Damon mutter to her, gently rocking her back and forth, and she realises that she is yet again crying, loud noisy tears pooling around her.

"Elena…" She hears him growl, and she is surprised at the anger in his voice.

"Damon, you can't! There's a cure. We've found a cure!" He stops rocking her abruptly, and she feels him shift all of his attention over to the Petrova doppelganger.

"What?"

"It's Elijah. He knows how to fix this." She stiffens at the name, and all the fear that his name has ever brought her comes flooding back. She is over in the corner of the room before Damon can even try to stop her, even though she collapses onto the floor as soon as she makes it there. Damon looks at her with mixed emotions, a cross between irritation at her reaction and admiration that she managed to make it all the way to the corner of the room in her current state.

"No! No, no, no, no! Please, please tell me he's not here! Elena, please!" She cries, trying to make herself as small as possible. Elena walks towards her, despite Damon's wary glances in her direction, and places a hand gently on Rose's shoulder.

"Rose, he can save you."

"NO! I don't want him to save me! I'd rather die! Really, Elena, just let me die!"

"Stop being overdramatic." Damon snarls, which only gets him a glare from Elena. Rose is too busy panicking about Elijah to make room for anything else. She has been running from the Original for the last 500 years, and he is the one person on this planet aside from Klaus who actually scares her. He murdered her best friend in front of her eyes, and would not hesitate to do the same to her. He has made her life a living hell ever since Katerina Petrova entered it. He has been the reason she has never settled down, never fallen in love and has never, ever had a peaceful night sleep in the last few centuries. He has tormented her day and night, and has made her fear her own shadow and doubt people she might have otherwise called friends. He is a dangerous enigma, and Rose wants nothing to do with him, even if it means saving her own skin.

"No." She mutters to herself, and continues repeating the word, forcing her eyes as shut as they can possibly go, tears still struggling to leak out. Rose knows she must look a state, but doesn't care. She knows she must look like she's loosing her mind, and honestly she's not sure that she's not, so she doesn't care about that either. Fear and desperation are taking over, and she can no longer think straight or even remotely rationally. She just wants everything to be over, and for her to die and go back to her fields and horses. She just wants to go back to that paradise and have Damon hold her caringly in his arms.

There is a tight grip on her forearm, and she moans as it is twisted slightly.

"Rose. Snap. Out. Of. It." Damon growls, forcing her head up to look at him. He is no longer looking at her even remotely affectionately, but instead with the most vacant look that she has ever seen on his face. There is no doubt in her mind that he has his best poker face on. Unfortunately she thinks she knows why, but at least it's not because he is trying to hurt her. She tries her hardest to get her breathing under control, and Elena rubs her back softly, like one would a child, holding Rose's free hand with her other.

She thinks she has finally got a hold of herself, when that illusion is rattled.

"Good evening, Rosemary." Elijah says cordially, having appeared suddenly in the room before the three of them. She stops breathing, Damon turns so he is standing almost protectively in front of her, although it is only subtly so, and Elena grips her hand tighter. Rose thinks she's trying to be reassuring, but it only makes her fear increase.

Rose tries to say his name confidently and without a hint of the fear that is currently encasing her, but fails miserably, her pain and fright evident in her voice.

All of a sudden there is another blur and a frustrated looking Stefan is standing by Elena, his normally tranquil face looking rather frazzled. In different circumstances Rose is sure she would have laughed at the expression on the gentle Salvatore's face, but at that moment she certainly did not feel like laughing, and she is pretty sure that the gesture would not be well received. Most of the room already thinks she is loosing her mind. He shares a glance with Damon and grimaces apologetically.

"I apologise for my rather abrupt entrance, but young Stefan was rather hesitant that I see you Rosemary."

"Meaning he staked me with his umbrella." Stefan grumbled, rolling his eyes. "I tried to keep him away, but he is very single minded."

"Yes, well." Elijah smiled tartly, clasping his hands together, "When Elena informed me of the attack it was my duty to intervene."

"What duty? What does Elena have on you?" Damon sneered, clearly knowing just as much about the situation as Rose did.

"That, is between Miss Gilbert and I. However, our agreement means Rosemary must live."

"How do we know that there are no catches to this deal? What will we owe you?" Damon asks suspiciously, and Stefan nods his head in agreement. Throughout the whole conversation, Elena has been avoiding looking at everyone, in particular Elijah, and Rose can't help but feel sorry for the girl. At the end of all this she is going to have a lot of explaining to do. Stefan, however, only looks half surprised at Elena's role in all of this, and frankly, Rose thinks he might be more pissed off about the umbrella staking than anything else.

Elijah looks at Damon blankly, but simply shrugs his shoulders, still managing to look dignified.

"You have nothing but my word. Unless we act soon however, it will not make a difference." Damon grimaces, quickly glancing down at Rose. Within seconds the look has quickly passed over his features so his poker face is back on. Rose has become more than a little irritated that all of this is going on without her input – it is her life after all, even if she is now barely hanging on. She deserves to be able to make her own decision as to whether or not she accepts Elijah's help.

"No." She attempts to shout, just at the same time as Damon says, "Done." to Elijah. He quickly turns to Rose and glares at her menacingly, telling her with his eyes to shut-up. She tries to muster up the energy to glare back, but even keeping her eyes open at this stage is a struggle. Stefan glances between the two of them anxiously, as if trying to work out how to get around the ensuing argument.

"What is the cure, Elijah?" Elena asks all of a sudden, speaking for the first time since the Original entered the room.

"You mean you didn't check first?" Damon says annoyed, "Am I the only one here who actually likes to use their brain."

"It's my blood actually." Elijah replies, clearly bemused by what is going on, "It is not a cure per say, but it'll certainly buy time."

"How much time?" Stefan asks, and Rose wants to yell at them all to stop this nonsense. There is no way in hell that she is going to drink the Originals blood, even if it is literally over her own dead body. The idea repulses her, and she is sure that if she were to throw up now it would be down to that and not the werewolf bite.

"Almost a year, I would have thought. Anything more permanent than that and I'm afraid you would have to talk to Klaus. His is more suitable for this kind of thing."

"Do it." Damon says coolly, quietly stepping aside from his protective position in front of her. Rose's eyes widen in horror, looking towards Damon betrayed and then to Stefan who just looks at her with sympathy, but refuses to do anything. Elena still won't hold her gaze, but lets go of her hand and takes her place by Stefan's side.

Before Rose can even utter a sound, he is there in front of her, his wrist in her mouth. Her instincts kick in automatically and blood unwillingly enters her mouth and down her throat. She fights the need to swallow, chocking on the blood, but Elijah doesn't stop. She tries to push him away, but lacks the energy.

She feels like she is drowning, and can feel a dribble of blood making its way down her throat. She wants to throw up, but can't help herself. She needs his blood, but that does not mean she wants it. It is warm and tastes amazing, which makes her detest it all the more. Whilst everything else she has eaten recently has come straight up, this is making her feel better than she has done in days. She hates herself right then; acting like nothing but a dirty animal that has been starved for days. She wishes Elena weren't in the room right now. Elena has seen Rose at her worst tonight, and she wants nothing more than to compel her to forget; to compel Elena to forget that she is nothing but a monster. She just wants to be left alone to wallow at her own miserable existence.

All of a sudden it stops, and it takes Rose a few moments to see what has happened. Elijah is looking down at her with a pitying smile on his face, and Rose wishes to God that she had a stake in her hand at that moment to wipe it off. Damon is standing behind him, glaring furiously at Elijah, on hand gripped tight on his shoulder.

"That is enough." He spits, pushing Elijah back away from Rose.

"I quite agree." Elijah smirks, once again giving Rose that superior glance. "I am glad I was able to uphold my side of the bargain. One year, Rosemary," He says calmly, re-buttoning his shirt cuffs where Rose's mouth had just been. Rose is not sure if the last thing he says is meant to be taken as a warning to find a better cure or an inappropriate reminder of her days left on this earth. Knowing Elijah, it could be both. "In a few days, you might be ready to start living it."