a/n: I hope I don't sound greedy when I say this, but the lack of interest in this story kind of worries me a little. It's a lot of work to go back and do this scene by scene and while I enjoy it, I write for you guys as much as I write for me. I suppose I find it odd that something like this is receiving less views than some of my one shots. Is it too boring? Honestly? I was considering doing all three seasons, but with the way things are going, I'm not sure I should be wasting my time on it if there is barely anyone out there reading. I could be working on other fics and my personal novels. Gosh, I hope that doesn't sound bitchy, because I promise I don't mean it to be.
For those few of you out there that have actually taken the time to review, thank you so much. Enjoy this latest chapter in the Delena files haha

p.s. this chapter also includes a little something extra. A scene told from someone else's POV. Just to switch it up a little.

(Damon's POV)-Boarding House

Elena had woken up, gone home to change and was now back at her post just outside Stefan's cell door, where she had basically stayed for the last three days. A faint groan came from inside and she was up in an instant, her little nose poking through the bars as she tried to see inside. "He's awake Damon." She whispered and I pushed myself up, unlocking the door.

She rushed inside, going to him and sinking to her knees. I could see the fear still in her eyes, as if she didn't completely trust him. She didn't touch him, just called his name. I followed her in, standing behind her and looking down at my brother. His eyes were open and trained on us, but it was like he couldn't even really see us. His lips were moving silently, as if he was mumbling. I thought at first I heard my name. "Stefan?" I asked, but he didn't respond. "Stefan?"

"Stefan?" Elena reached out her hand hesitantly; let it hover over his arm before she snatched it back. Foolish of her, to be afraid of him now that he was in this state, but I took comfort in the fact that at least she realized what I'd been trying to warn her about. "I love you Stefan." She whispered, her hand finally resting on his shoulder, her long fingers caressing him.

I watched his eyes rolled back, then closed. When he opened them again, it was clear that he wasn't with us. He was far away, seeing things that weren't there. I reached for her, my hands tight on her shoulders and lifted her up."Come on."

She let me guide her out of the cell, both of us looking back as I closed the door. The lock fit back together nicely, her hands wrapped around the bars as she looked through them. I'd warned her that Stefan's detox was going to be hard on him, but I don't think she fully realized it until the moment. With another groan, Stefan rolled over, his back facing us. He could have been awake or asleep, either way he was silent. "It's so hard to see him locked up like this."

"You're the one that locked him up." I reminded her, earning a glare.

"You helped."

"I couldn't have him running around chewing on people while the town was looking for vmapires now could I?"

She turned to face me, her expression smug as if she knew something I didn't. "It had nothing to do with you actually caring about him?"

"You're thing, not mine." I couldn't stand the musty smell in the air anymore and turned to go back upstairs, surprised that she actually followed me.

It was clear to both of us that we weren't going to be getting much of anywhere with Saint Stefan this morning, so she decided she was going to leave. I hardly wanted to be alone in the house, but I couldn't exactly ask her to stay either. She had a life, friends, school. It wasn't her fault that I had nothing- well not nothing…there was always this ridiculous Gilbert device that not even Pearl knew what it did. I reached for it, taking it from the desk. Behind me, Elena sighed. "Did you figure out what that is?"

"Nope." I shook my head, contemplating throwing it against the wall. "Whatever it is, it doesn't work."

"Pearl didn't say anything else about it?"

"She thought she was stealing his vampire compass, but it was a pocket watch. That Jonathan Gilbert was a crazy scientist." She gave the slightest laugh, folding her change of clothes into her bag. I wasn't going to ask how long she was thinking of staying here, but from the looks of the small wardrobe she bought, it was a fair amount of nights. No complaints here. "Have you spoken to your uncle lately?"

"I've been avoiding him actually. That and I've been here most nights."

"So you'll be here again tonight?" I asked, unable to hide the creepy tone to my voice, but either she didn't notice or she found it amusing. All the time we'd spent together lately may have not improved her opinion of me, but she had managed to find a way of making my presence tolerable.

"Is that a problem?"

"Yes." I turned to her, careful to do the eye thing I'd learned last night made her smile. "You are a complete nuisance."

She laughed, sliding her bag onto her shoulder. "I'll see you later."

I didn't watch her go, but I did listen carefully until I heard the engine of her car start. I wouldn't tell her that Stefan should have been out of the cell by now, that he'd by far gotten all the human blood out of his system. Something else was going on with baby brother, and I would have to try and figure it out before she got back tonight. A few hours passed and my boredom got the best of me so I went out to the woods behind the house and found a fat white rabbit. My insides churned at the idea of what I was about to do, and shook my head disgusted. How could Stefan do this and call it humane? Poor defensless little animals. I pushed the disgust aside and pounced, a few minutes later, marching back into the house with a brand new bunny. I thought of simply throwing the thing into him, but considered a bottle to be more suitable for the cell mate.

He denied it, which pissed me off a little. After all the trouble I'd gone through. Fine, if he wanted to starve himself to death, he could go right ahead. Upstairs once again, the phone rang and to my surprise Mr. History Teacher was on the other end mumbling about an address and his long lost wife. Isobel; Elena's mother…now she had been an adventure, although short lived. So the professor wanted to go on a little scavenger hunt? Alright, I'd bite…but before I could agree Elena interrupted me on call waiting. I considered ignoring the call, but I wanted to hear her voice. Oh God, I sounded like one of those love sick idiots in a Nicholas Sparks novel. "What?" I answered in a drawl.

"I'm just grabbing some clothes and then I'll be right over. How's Stefan?" School was over already? That didn't seem possible.

"Extra broody. Hold on."

I flipped back to Alaric's call, not sure how I was going to get away from Elena without telling her where I was going just yet, but not caring. "You drive, pick me up in an hour."

"Done." Alaric ended the call and I switched back to Elena.

"He won't eat anything." I sighed, settling into the big leather armchair I'd watched her sleep from almost every night this week.

"He has to eat." She said, sounding almost like a concerned mother rather than a worried girlfriend. "What's his favorite kind of, um…"

She let the sentence hang and I couldn't resist. "His favorite kind of what?"

I could practically see the uncomfortable grimace on her face. "Type of animal blood he prefers?"

"Ew, gross." I teased with a smirk, at least earning a laugh from her.

"Your joking doesn't help."

"Helps me. Now, hurry up. I can't babysit all night, I have things to do."

"I would say drop dead, but…"

"Ha, ha, ha." I laughed out driely, wondering if it was possible she was calling me while she was changing out of the clothes she'd worn to school. Wishful thinking and sinful daydreams would only get me into trouble so I forced myself to snap out of the images racing through my mind. "Stefan likes…puppy blood. Little golden retriever puppies, cute floppy ears. That's his favorite."

She scoffed, hanging up on me and I wondered if she actually believed me there for a minute.

When she got here a little while later, I went upstairs to shower and change, giving her sometime to visit Stefan. Apparently baby brother was feeling suicidal and freaked her out. She told me everything he said to her and it surprised me to hear words I'd said myself a long, long time ago. "I'm worried about him Damon." She admitted from her place on the couch.

"You know, he's just being dramatic. He's not gonna starve himself."

"Why would he say that?"

I leaned on the desk, careful to keep some distance between us. I was getting much to accustomed to having her around the house and I knew that she would eventually go back to her place one day soon when this was all over. There was no use in getting too attached. "He feels bad about hurting that girl. It's very typical Stefan martyr stuff. It will pass."

I could see it in her eyes that she didn't believe me, but she wanted to. "Will it, because he seemed to be in a lot of pain."

She seemed to forget that I'd seen this before, been through this before with my brother. "That will pass too, once he eats."

"I didn't mean physical pain."

"I know what you meant." She just looked at me, waiting for more answers, for something that would turn everything back to the way it was before Stefan fell off the wagon. "Look, are you gonna be okay if I have to run out? I have to run an errand with the teacher."

Her nose scrunched up in confusion and I tried to ignore how cute it was. "The teacher? Alaric? Are you two friends now?"

I pushed back, walking over to my jacket. "I don't have any friends Elena."

I could feel her eyes following me as I pulled the leather on. "Right." Her tone sounded almost hurt, as if I'd insulted her somehow with my comment. Did she consider us friends? There I go again, sounding like a lovesick idiot. Lock that down, Damon. "You should, you should stay up here. Shouldn't go down there by yourself."

"I'll be fine." She sounded like she wanted to roll her eyes and for a moment I saw the actual teenage girl she was. It was hard for me sometimes to remember just how young and innocent she was when she looked like Katherine, when she acted so strong.

"You know, you're very trusting of him. Given the circumstances." I didn't try to hide my displeasure at her choices, and she didn't try to hide her dislike at my going.

"So are you, otherwise you wouldn't be leaving."

I looked at her for a minute, wondering if I could stay. Should stay. God knew I wanted to stay, but we were getting to comfortable with each other, and I knew that Stefan could hear every word we'd said. Was that why he was keeping himself locked down there? Because he was to pissed off that we were bonding? I needed a break from her and the few hours this morning hadn't been good enough. Already her presence was starting to get to me. "I won't be long." I promised, leaving her alone.

Elena's POV- Boarding House

The things Stefan had told me, haunted me even as I sat upstairs writing it all out. My journal was still missing so I'd taken to writing any thoughts down in one of my notebooks from school. So, Stefan had died with Katherine's blood in his system and then fed on his father after beating him to death to complete the transition. He hadn't exactly asked to be a vampire but he hadn't done anything to stop it either. From the first moment he'd been faced with the blood lust he'd given into it, tying himself to madness from the first drop. I heard the front door shut and knew that Damon was finally home. Good, he had some explaining to do himself. "Ugh, God. You're still here."

And hello to you too. I thought as he came over, sitting next to me on the couch and letting my legs drop in his lap. "Were you expecting anything else?"

"Nope." He sighed, leaning back a little.

We were much to comfortable with each other, suddenly it felt wrong. The last few days we'd barely touched, hardly spoken but there had been a definite sense of trust building in the air. Each day it got thicker and thicker, and now we were getting closer. I could feel the warmth of his hand through my jeans, wondering just why my skin tingled where he touched. "So, how was the errand?"

"Futile. Although I think I witnessed the teacher having an existential crisis." I pulled back from him, sliding my knees up so I wasn't touching him. I couldn't be touching him right now. "Has Stefan eaten yet?"

"I thought you didn't care?" I asked smugly, earning a sharp shrug from him. One day all his fake disconnection would catch up with him. Deep down, he cared more than anyone I knew. He just didn't realize it yet.

"Chalk it up to morbid curiosity." I smiled at him, watching the flames dance in his eyes for a moment. He was so clueless about himself it was almost cute.

"I think he's getting there, but he's got a lot of guilt that he has to deal with. And it doesn't help that you've spent the last 145 years punishing him for Katherine getting caught."

"So this is my fault my now?" he exclaimed.

"No, it's no one's fault Damon. I'm just saying, you're not exactly innocent." He stared at me as if I'd just grown another head. "You've made it your life's mission to make him miserable.

He looked deeply offended and I wondered just what it was I said wrong. He pushed up from the couch, turning to me. "Let me ask you a question. In all this important soul-searching and cleansing of the demons of Stefan's past, did you ever manage to get the rest of the story?"

I put my notebook down, sitting up. "He said there was more."

"Yeah, that's an understatement." He practically snarled, turning away.

"Damon." I stood up, chasing after him. "Damon." I grabbed his arm, but he shook me off, glaring at me as if I'd been the one that had locked Katherine up and lit the match, or was it something else entirely that he was mad about. Something else that he had been punishing Stefan for this entire time? "Tell me."

"You're not going to like it." he glowered, pushing past me and walking straight to the bar. I watched as he poured himself a glass of bourbon, sipping as he spoke. "It was the night after they burned the church down. I was dying, I wasn't going to complete the transition. I didn't want to be a vampire, not anymore. That had been something I only would have been to stay with Katherine forever, but she was gone and without her I was alone. So I sat there, waiting for death, waiting for the sun…whichever came first. It turned out, Stefan came first with something he called a gift."

"A gift?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest, feeling suddenly cold in the warm living room.

"A young girl from town. I didn't know her name but she was a friend of the families. Stefan begged me to drink, said that we would be together forever as brothers, that we would survive together. He didn't want to be alone, and I couldn't very well leave him to fend for himself. He bit her, tempted me with the bloodlust that he'd given into himself. I'm not proud of it, but I was dying and it was in my nature, it was a new survival instinct. I drank from her, fed from her and in the end we drained her together. I was ready to die Elena. I didn't want to be this monster, but Stefan…he made me this. Then he went off on his own and tore cities apart."

I wasn't sure how to react, or what to say. "Damon." All I could manage was to whisper his name.

He drained the glass, not sure if he could even look at me. "The moment Stefan had his first taste of human blood, he was a different person. I suppose I should thank him. It's been a hell of a ride." He gave a lousy excuse for a laugh, trying to leighten the mood, but it was much to heavy now.

Realization settled over me as I put the new pieces of the Salvatore puzzle together. It all made so much more sense. All of it. "Oh my God, he said he wanted to die. That's why I won't feed. Now I understand why, but-"

"His choice," Damon said, pretending not to care again as he filled the glass once more. "if he's stupid enough to make it, so be it."

"Don't do that." I glared, my patience finally snapping with both of them. "Okay? Don't pretend like you don't care." I turned away, marching downstairs.

"Where are you going?" Damon called after me weakly, but I didn't respond. I knew he would follow. It was time we got to the bottom of all this, once and for all.

When I reached the cell however, the door was wide open and Stefan's daylight ring was sitting on the bench. He was gone, and the sun was going to rise soon. I turned and ran back upstairs, running right into Damon. "He's gone."

His hands were on my shoulders, stilling me against him. "I know where he went."

Damon's POV- Boarding House

So, Little Boy Lost was home, and so was Elena. I could see in his eyes that he wasn't hungry anymore which meant he'd finally fed. Elena excused herself to go upstairs and I pushed back the jealous wave that threatened to anger me further. So, Saint Stefan once again…and Big Bad Damon Salvatore. Elena thought she knew the whole story, and for the most part she did. But what neither of them knew, not even Stefan until now was that the real reason I'd hated Stefan for the last 145 years was because Katherine had fed him her blood, had wanted him to turn right along with me. She'd intended for the three of us to just keep going around and around in this sick little threesome we'd had going. I could mad at her for that, but there was no way to show her how much she hurt me, so instead I hated Stefan. And I told him so.

Elena's POV- Gilbert House

"I'm supposed to help build the Miss Mystic float for the Founder's Day Parade. If I don't, I get the wrath of Caroline. But I wanted to check in first." I cradled my cell on my shoulder.

Damon was on the other line, and even though I'd called Stefan I was almost relieved to hear his voice. We hadn't really talked since the night I pulled Stefan back from the brink which was odd since we'd gotten so close. "Well, I'm doing great. Thanks for asking."

I sighed, unable to help smiling. He was such a cocky ass. "Check in on Stefan."

"Oh him?" Damon went from flirty teasing to sarcastic boredom. "He's terrible."

"What's the matter?"

"He's just back to boring, strait-laced off the junk." I rolled my eyes, not believe that I'd fallen for that ploy. "You've successfully cured him of anything that was interesting about his personality."

"Don't forget who helped me." I sing-songed into the phone, just to torture him right back.

"I hate myself." I could hear his smile in his words and ignored the twist in my stomach. It wasn't like I missed him or anything. It was only Damon after all. "Hey, did Uncle John mention anything to you about my field trip with the history teacher?"

"No I've still been avoiding him. Why, what's he up to?"

"I don't know but I'd love it if you could find out for me."

I wondered, for a split second only just what else Damon Salvatore would love for me to do. Probably something demeaning and perverted. "I gotta go, I'm late."

"Have fun with the Mystic Queen. I know I did."

I scoffed, ending the call. He was such a cocky ass.

Damon's POV- Mystic Falls High

The corridor of the school was fairly dark which didn't exactly surprise me but I did find it curious. The whole damn town was abuzz getting ready for the Founders Day celebration, and apparently celebrating the town's history was more important than actually learning about it. I pulled open the classroom door, seeing Ric leaning against his desk. "Damon, thank you for coming."

"Sorry I'm late." I smirked, stepping inside. "Dog ate my…uh…never mind." Elena stared blankly, not really moving and barely breathing. Her heart was beating slowly, almost as if she was asleep but there was no sign that she was hurt. Just extremely upset. Stefan was brooding, as was the teacher to my right. "What's with all the furrowed brows?"

"I saw Isobel last night."

I looked straight back at him, taking a moment to process what the hell he just said. "Isobel's here?" Ric nodded, not exactly looking pleased. Damn, the woman had perfect timing, just when he was about to let her go too. "In town?"

I glanced over at Elena and she finally met my eyes. We'd spent enough time together for me to be able to read her face. She wasn't sad. She was pissed.

I took a minute to process everything, then moved over to the window. "Did you ask her about Uncle John? Are they working together?"

"No." Alaric shook his head.

"No they're not?" I realized I sounded like a demanding ass, but I really didn't care.

"No I didn't ask."

"What about the invention?" I stepped forward, quickly losing patience with the teacher.

"I didn't ask."

"Does she know about the tomb vampires?"

"I don't know."

I was now right in front of Ric, right in his face. "Did words completely escape you?"

Apparently he was just as impressed with my attitude as I was with his. "I was a little to distracted by my dead vampire wife to ask any questions."

"What's she want?"

Elena gave a little sigh. "She wants to see me, Damon."

I looked at her, wondering just how she felt about that. From the looks of her, she was just as confused as the rest of us. Its one thing to find out you're adopted, that your whole life has been a lie. It's a completely other thing to think that your birth mother is dead, and then discover she's been turned into a vampire and has only now just come back to town for some unknown reason. "Alaric is supposed to arrange a meeting." Stefan interjected. "We don't know why or what she wants."

I kept my eyes on Elena. "You don't have to see her if you don't want to."

"I don't really have a choice." She shrugged, still looking up at me as if I had all the answers. What did she want me to do? Kidnap her again? Drive us away from this town? It hardly worked all that well last time.

"She's threatening to go on a killing spree." Ric said, his voice low.

"Oh." I stared at the ceiling, cursing every bad word I could think of in my head. "I take it that's not okay with you guys."

Stefan shot me a look, but I ignored it. "I wanna do it." Elena said finally. "I wanna meet her. If I don't, I know I'll regret it."

I wanted to ask her if she was sure, but I knew better than that by now. Once she'd made up her mind it was almost impossible to change.

Stefan's POV- Boarding House

You had to be blind not to see what was going on between them. The second Damon and Elena were in the same room together, the air hummed. Whatever it was, the thing between them was intense. I could feel it, and I knew they felt it too. If I wasn't hoping that it would work for our advantage, I would be beyond pissed at the moment. But we had to convince Damon, and we had to do it quickly. So far, we were not off to a very good start. "Absolutely not!" he denied loudly as we stood in the living room.

"Hear me out." Elena tried to reason with him, but he was hearing none of it.

"I'm not going to give the device to Isobel, who's gonna give it John who's gonna turn around and kill me. I like being a living…dead person."

Elena sighed next to me, glaring at Damon. "But it'll be useless. Bonnie can takes it power away."

Damon shook his head, throwing fire at the witch with his eyes. Their dislike for each other was about as clear as the attraction between my brother and my girlfriend. "I don't trust her."

"I can remove the original spell." Bonnie said matter of factly, as if she was describing baking a cake.

Elena opened her arms wide as if that explained everything, "John and Isobel will never know." But I knew my brother better than that. He needed reassurance, he needed to know that his ass wasn't going to get burned in the end.

"No, no." Damon shook his head. "I'll get Jeremy my own way."

"Really?" I asked, curious as to his latest master plan. "How you gonna do that? Hmm? Because Isobel is a vampire and Jeremy could be dead the second you walk in the door."

Damon ignored me, his eyes focused on Bonnie. Even I had to admit, she did look pretty judgy. "Are you even up for this?" he asked, smirking at her. "I mean, no offence. You're no Emily Bennett. Emily knew what she was doing."

"I've been practicing."

"It's not piano lessons honey." Damon's eyes grew wide and annoyed and I stood ready to break up a fight between them, not that I was any match for Bonnie's witchy magic. I could still remember the searing pain she could create.

"What's your favorite book?" Bonnie asked, a seemingly random question for the moment.

"What?" Damon quirked an eyebrow at her.

"Name a book. Any book."

"Name a book." He repeated, apparently caught off guard. "How about…Call of the Wild, Jack London?"

Bonnie took a deep breath and turned to the bookshelf. I heard the creak and then suddenly a book was flying through the air. Damon's hand reached out and snatched it. He glanced at the binding, impressed. "Jack London. Great parlor trick."

"We're doing this Damon." Elena ordered, their eyes locking together. "and we're gonna do it my way. Now give me the device." There it was again, the low hum in the air as they stared at each other. Could Bonnie sense the connection between them, or was it just me. "We're wasting time."

"I don't trust you. I tried to kill you." Damon glanced back at Bonnie, breaking the connection with Elena. Apparently her effect was working on him.

"Mm." Bonnie smiled. "You're right. You can't trust me."

"But you can trust me." Elena grabbed his attention back, her hold on him no stronger than if she'd actually forced him to look at her with her hands. I watched closely as they shut the world out around them, the only focus each other. Damon rolled his eyes, reaching into his pocket and handing her the device. Their fingers lingered on each other longer than was necessary, Damon practically holding her hand tight. Their bond had definitely strengthened in the time they'd been working so hard to try and save me. "Thank you." Elena said quietly, but Damon only turned away when he felt my eyes on him.

Bonnie set out her spell book and lit a few candles, Damon's presence ever the most annoying. Bonnie said no words as she performed the spell, levitating the device and making the lights glow and dim with her power. After a few moments, she looked up; the device steady and still in her hand once more. "Done." She said simply, looking over at Elena.

"Great." Damon drawled. "Now what?"

"Now we give it to Isobel." Elena didn't sound very sure, and Damon didn't look very impressed.

Elena's POV- Town Square

The night air was fairly warm, surprising for this time of night. Thankfully, the streets were mostly empty as well. The entire town was preparing for the Founder's Day, so they'd all gone home to rest and prepare for all the work that still had to be done tomorrow. I walked carefully along the path, searching for Isobel with my eyes. I knew the brothers were watching me from a distance. It had been impossible to convince them to stay at the house, which was fine in the end because I really hadn't wanted to go alone. Meeting my birth mother had been…less than satisfying. In fact it had been damn near depressing.

All of a sudden I found myself looking at her, all black hair and clothing with white marble skin. She looked like perfect porcelain; cold and dead but not fragile. No, this woman was hard without humanity. "Where's the device?"

Her tone was cool, but calm. There was nothing soothing about it, nothing I recognized about it. Was it possible that I'd actually come from this woman? That she'd made me…

"Where's my brother?" I demanded, and she smiled evilly.

"This isn't a negotiation. Where's the invention?"

"Where is my brother?" I repeated, really not in the mood for any more vampires that thought they ruled the world.

"Do you really think that I came alone?" she said as her little minions Damon had described to me appeared out of the trees.

I turned back to her, making sure there was a bored look on my face. "Do you really think that I came alone?"

Stefan and Damon stepped out of the shadows, all black leather and bad ass. They did look quite intimidating if I did say so myself. Isobel rolled her eyes. "For God's sakes, call home."

"What?" I asked, confused.

Not it was Isobel that looked bored. "Call home, ask to speak to your brother Jeremy."

I quickly reached into my pocket and hit the speed dial for the house. After one ring, the other line picked up. "Hello?" I nearly sighed in relief at his voice.

"Jeremy, are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Uncle John hit his head; it was an accident."

"And we're all laughing." I could hear Aunt Jenna in the background.

"Yeah, but I'm okay." Jeremy chuckled slightly, either compelled by Isobel to forget whatever it was he'd seen while he was with her, or lying for Jenna's sake.

"I'll be home soon, alright?"

"Yeah." Jeremy sighed and ended the call.

I looked back at Isobel, wondering just what we were to do now. My whole plan had been messed up, but I'd take that knowing my brother was safe at home. "You were never gonna hurt him."

"No," Isobel shook her head. "I was gonna kill him. Don't look for any redeeming qualities in me." She spoke bluntly, almost as if she barely realized who I was. Could she even remember giving birth to me? Carrying me inside her? Or had flipping the switch made her forget all that, had the guilt and pain of giving me up been too much to handle and she'd forced herself to forget? "I don't have any."

"But you took a risk with Damon How did you know he was gonna give it to me?"

Isobel smiled. "Because he's in love with you." I glanced quickly at Stefan, seeing the pained expression on his face, then Damon who looking a little uncomfortable. He didn't deny it, but he wasn't exactly jumping up and down to agree with it either. Isobel held out her hand, apparently not caring about the damage she'd just done to my relationship with the brothers.

I sighed, shaking my head and slapped the device into her palm. "Thank you."

"For what?" she asked, almost smugly.

"For being such a monumental disappointment. It keeps the memory of my real mother perfectly intact."

"Goodbye Elena." She smiled, and then she gave me perhaps the only piece of advice I would ever need from her. "As long as you have a Salvatore on each arm, you're doomed. Katherine was smart, she got out. But we all know that you're not Katherine."

The only question was, would I be able to take it.

Stefan came forward, holding me tight in his arms. I wrapped around him, looking over his shoulder at Damon. His expression was almost completely unreadable and I could tell that he was trying to read mine. To see what I thought about what Isobel said. I couldn't give him any answers so I closed my eyes and held Stefan tighter. Tonight was not the night to deal with that. I didn't know when I would deal with it, but right now I had to get home to Jeremy.

a/n: only one more episode until season one is over. I'm going to stop here and hope that everyone enjoyed this. If you want me to do season two, you gotta review and ask for it. although knowing me, I'll write it anyway haha