As you've probably guessed I have re-arranged all the chapters so there is just 1 chapter per episode rather than 3. It was getting too crowded and disorganized so I just had to do it. Anyway: here is the next chapter. Sorry that it's probably not as good as the others - whoever decided to keep Klaus out of this episode is an IDIOT! :( I hope you can enjoy it without him.

...

Evelyn can't sleep.

She slept for a little while but her bittersweet dreams woke her after a couple of hours. Maybe it is because she is sleeping in her dead sort-of aunt's room... Or maybe it is because she is secretly worrying about Klaus; she is unwilling to admit that, though. She blames it on her dead aunt. A bleeping resonates through the house and the sudden noise makes her heart skip a beat and then beat faster.

"What the Hell...?" She throws the blankets off herself and unwillingly heads straight to Elena's room. When she sees her sister is up out of bed by the mirror she frowns. "Elena, why are you up at five A.M?"

"Oh, God – Evie!" Elena gasps in fright as she holds a hand over her heart, "Don't do that!"

"Stop been silly," she rolls her eyes as she heads over to join her sister in the mirror. They both stare at their reflections with the dim lighting in the room; two doppelgangers... The double of one another. The double of Katerina... The double of the Original Petrova.

"It scares me," Elena takes a shaky breath. "Just how much we look alike."

"I know... It scares me, too." Evie nods before toying around with her curled hair. She wants to wear it in a pony tail today so she pulls it all up and admires herself in the mirror... "Aww man, look at those!"

"Ouch," Elena gasps as she presses on the two small punctures in Evelyn's neck.

"I thought Klaus' blood would have healed those!" Evie whimpers.

"The bite must have been pretty hard... Maybe it will take a little time," Elena shrugs although she looks worried about what that could mean. Evie decides to forget about it – she does not need another thing to add on to her list of worries. "Wait... Klaus healed you?"

"Elena I know you think this was some insane attraction on my part but it goes deeper than that... I will explain but I need time," She begs, "I know it's going to be annoying to wait but all I can really think about right now is how this day is going to go and how many people are going to call me Elena."

Elena laughs despite herself, "You'll be stabbing everyone who calls you 'Elena' by the end of the day!"

...

"Are you alright?" Jeremy asks a pale-faced Evelyn as Elena pulls in to the school's parking lot.

"She's terrified," Damon smirks as he opens the passenger door and waits for the three humans to climb out with their school bags. "Got everything? Books, lunch money, number two pencils?"

"Shut up," Evie growls.

"Well somebody woke up on the wrong side of the cage!" He retorts to receive a kick to... Well, the crotch. He cries out and grinds his teeth as he fights off the need to fall to his knees; he feels like snapping her neck as they all laugh at him.

"Damn, I'll make sure to stay away from you today!" Jeremy chuckles, "I'll see you guys later."

"Bye, Jer!" Elena waves, "Okay – I'm going over to Caroline and Bonnie. Call me if you need anything," she orders Evie before making a hasty exit. The doppelganger turns to look up at a glaring Damon. She rolls her eyes.

"Oh, stop been so pouty – you were been a dick so I made yours hurt."

"You're hilarious; your jokes are just too much!" He gives out an extremely sarcastic laugh before he grabs her arm, "Let's finish your enrolment in to Mystic Falls High School so I can go home and check on the ripper."

...

"So how're you enjoying your first day?"

Evelyn Gilbert is currently leaning against the lockers with her eyes closed – she is still exhausted due the lack of sleep she had got last night to even have a real opinion on her new school. She frowns.

"It's shit. I want to go to bed," she groans before whimpering sadly.

"Yesterday wasn't exactly the greatest of days," Elena agrees.

"You've got that right. I was bitten twice, Matt killed himself, Tyler is a Hybrid and speaking of Hybrid's we're their key to survival!" Evie takes a deep breath. "All of that made yesterday the worst day ever."

"And the part with Klaus," Elena's eyes are accusing as her sister grimaces.

"Elena, I already said I-"

"It doesn't matter," she holds her hand up to silence her sister. "I can't tell you what to do and, at the end of the day, you're one of the only family members I have left – I don't want you to leave... But you have to know that I will never accept him. Ever."

"And I completely know and understand exactly why you won't," Evie nods. "Trust me – I wish I could be that way..."

Elena sighs and turns away. She spots Caroline and watches her as she pins something up on one of the notice boards. She walks closer and Evelyn curiously follows until she can read the letters on the sheet of paper – 'Spirit Squad Back To School Bonfire. BE THERE!'

"Ugh, I forgot about the bonfire," Elena sighs tiredly but smiles anyway.

"You have to go! It's our first spirit squad event and it sets us up for the whole year and-"

"Relax, Caroline. I'll make sure we're there," Evie reassures her as she rests her arm on Elena's shoulder.

"Thank you," she says gratefully to Evelyn, "It's just that-"

Evie grimaces as Tyler comes swooping in and presses his lips to Caroline's. Elena turns to roll her eyes at her sister. "Guys, get a room," Evie snaps in disgust.

"Happy first day," Tyler wishes Caroline with a smile whilst he ignores Evelyn's comment... But Caroline is not smiling back. She is staring off in to space and touching her lips. The taste is so familiar but she cannot put a name on it. It tastes like... Like...

"Is that blood?" Elena asks as she admires Tyler's shirt.

"Oh my God!" Caroline growls in realization before yanking Tyler in to the bathroom. Evie and Elena exchange a worried glance before following them inside. Elena checks the stalls to see if anyone is in there whilst Evie leans against the wall.

"What's going on?" Tyler asks defensively.

"Vampire 101 – don't bring your breakfast to school!" She hisses, slapping his chest as she does to release some of the irritation.

"Chill out it was just a blood bag!" He dismisses her – their – concern.

"From where?" Caroline snaps.

"Rebekah hooked me up!" He replies to receive numerous are you kidding me?Looks from Caroline, Elena and Evelyn.

"That bitch is behind everything, I swear." Evie shrugs.

"Shut up, you." Elena mumbles.

"Rebekah hooked you up?And whatare you talking to her for?" Caroline growls.

"Klaus told her to keep a watch on me," he shrugs, "protect his new asset."

"Another pro-Klaus guy? Back off, Wolfy. He's mine," Evie warns with raised eyebrows.

"Why are you so amused by all this?" Elena shouts at Evie.

"Amused? Are you insane? Do you really think I'm enjoying having a thousand-year-old Hybrid make out with me and then be like 'oh, by the way I want all of your blood'? I'm just trying to get by, Elena... I can't deal with anyof this if it's all doom and gloom!"

"You seem to be jealous of these Hybrids... It makes sense, considering that you actually like the guy!" Caroline snaps at Evie.

"Stop teaming up on her – And can't you try and look at this from my perspective? I am his first successful Hybrid – don't you think that's the tiniest bit awesome?"

"No because Hybrids mean that Elena and myself are in danger of having our blood drained from our bodies you dick!" Evie hisses despite the fact that he just stuck up for her.

"I cannot believe you just said that," Caroline scoffs to Tyler, backing the doppelgangers up.

"Uh... We're going to go," Elena grabs Evie. "Good luck," she whispers to Caroline on her way out. Evelyn cannot find anything to say so she childishly sticks her tongue out at the Werewolf-turned-Hybrid before Elena yanks her out of the room – leaving them to talk without her sister making stupid little remarks.

"I can't believe you—ow!" In her haste Elena ends up walking straight in to a cool, hard chest. She turns and looks up to meet the soulless green eyes of Stefan. Each and every time she looks in to those eyes she feels herself falling apart; the Stefan she fell in love with is not in there. This is... This thing is worse than what Damon was when he first arrived.

"Hello Elena... Evie," He nods in her direction and she narrows her chocolate brown eyes accusingly. She is used to the rippers – she knows that he has been feeding. She can see the energy in his eyes; Klaus always had that energy in his eyes. Of course, Evelyn had tried to ignore the fact that he killed people every day.

"What are you doing here?" Elena asks coldly.

"What do you mean? I'm going back to school – go Timberwolves!" A ghost of a smirk plays on his lips.

"What? Why?" Elena frowns.

"Klaus wants me to keep an eye on the pair of you... I'm just doing what I've been told," he grins.

"Elena, we're going to be late for class," Evelyn speaks with her eyes on Stefan and Stefan only. She is watching him warily – this is the Vampire who nearly drained her of her blood just last night... She doesn't want to take any chances. The Stefan they all know and love is gone.

"Oh, uh, class is this way," he knows the pattern that Evelyn's thoughts are taking. He grabs Elena's arm to stop them from going anywhere: he knows that Evie would not leave Elena alone with him. He is finding this amusing – toying around with their emotions like this. Elena looks like she is about to break down and Evie looks like she wants to slap him. He loves it!

"Let go of me, Stefan." Elena orders him angrily.

"Elena, do you think I want to be a Senior for the hundredth time? No. But if I don't have a choice in the matter; neither do you and neither do you," he nods to Evelyn who grabs his wrist. Elena looks down at her hand enclosed around Stefan's in shock.

"She said let go of her!" Evie growls quietly – she could not deny that her heart begins beating faster as a glare crosses the Vampire's face. Ever since he fed on her she has been terrified of going anywhere near him or Rebekah but she cares about Elena too much to let him hurt her like this.

"Let them go."

The teens all turn around to see that Mr Saltzman has arrived. He is glaring at Stefan warningly who just looks up at him with a cocky smirk and holds his hands up in a surrendering gesture. Ric walks closer to Stefan and the Vampire shoves his teacher in to the lockers before he can say anything else. The remaining people in the hallways watch the scene in confusion – Stefan is out of character.

"Stefan, stop it!" Elena hisses. The Ripper looks around at the familiar faces of his classmates eyeing him with confusion and grins before turning back to Alaric. He ignores Elena's orders.

"You're not going to want to get in my way... You hear me?" He asks Ric who just nods in response... He may be the authority figure here but something tells him that this Stefan really won't care about that. He is lucky that his neck wasn't snapped. Stefan pats Ric's shoulder and smiles before turning back to the twins, "I will see you all in History!"

Stefan walks away – once he has disappeared Evelyn pulls her sister in for a hug and Ric clears his throat.

"Get to class, ladies. Come to my classroom after you've finished your lunch... I want to talk about this," he murmurs to the two girls before he walks away, too.

...

"What the Hell is he doing here?" Alaric demands whilst he places the History textbooks he wants to use in his lesson on each desk.

"Klaus compelled him to watch over us," Elena murmurs whilst she keeps her arms around herself. She is staring at the floor sadly – this has been the worst day ever. Evelyn sees her sisters struggle to explain so she takes over.

"Apparently we're part of the 'Klaus' assets' gang now that our blood is the only way to create a Hybrid."

"So now he's a bodyguard?" Ric asks in disbelief.

"I don't know what he is but he's definitely not Stefan," Elena replies. On queue the school bell rings to signal that it is time to throw the remnants of lunch time away and head to class. People are already beginning to file in to Ric's history class – they lower their voices so they do not startle the naive students.

"Look, his been here is not good for any of us. We have to do something," Evie begs as she looks between Alaric and Elena. Ric nods sternly and Elena sighs sadly.

"You're right," Elena nods as she fights back her tears. "But let's get through the rest of school, first."

Elena and Evie make their way to their seats – Elena sits beside Caroline and Evie sits in the empty space behind Elena. They are fully focused on the lesson until a familiar voice enters their ears.

"You're in my seat," Stefan grabs the guy and pulls him out of it before he takes his place. Caroline, Evie and Elena look up at him as he notices them and smiles, "Hello girls," he winks as he keeps his eyes on Elena. She looks on at him in disgust whilst he spins his textbook around in a bored fashion.

"Welcome back, Seniors," Ric begins and Stefan grins as he thinks back to earlier before he turns to Elena again. She turns to Caroline who is giving her a mildly sympathetic look, "Let's, uh, turn our brains back on starting with the countries founders – the Native Americans."

"What about the Vikings?"

"Oh, fuck my life," Evelyn bangs her head against the table in disbelief as she spots who walked through the door. Elena, Caroline and Tyler alongside half the students in the class watch Evie in either disbelief or confusion

"There's no evidence that Viking explorers actually settled in the United States..." Alaric frowns at Evie and then looks down at the mysterious student who has just sat on the seat in front of Stefan's. "Who are you?"

"My name is Rebekah," she introduces with an evil glint in her eyes – she rolls her eyes at the annoying doppelganger her brother seems to be taken by before turning back to Mr Saltzman. "I'm new here and History is my favourite subject."

Definitely a Vampire, he realizes as he looks at the numerous expressions of the 'in the know' students... And at Evelyn who still has her head on her desk.

...

"Caroline what am I doing at cheerleading practice?" Evie asks with raised eyebrows and folded arms as she taps her foot on the grass.

"Come on just give it a chance! Elena was on the team!" She attempts to sway her.

"I am not cheerleading material, trust me. This," she gestures to herself, "Is the girl who had a make-out session with the guy who... Killed your boyfriend?" She shrugs.

"You seem proud of that," she accuses.

"On the contrary I'm very pissed off with myself..." Evie sighs as she turns serious, "I know I seem bitchy today but I got no sleep last night and I'm worried about everybody and this is just my way of dealing."

"I understand," Caroline smiles kindly whilst she pats her new friend on the shoulder. "Now come on, forget about all of the crap we're going through for half an hour and cheer with me!"

"Fine," she sighs before they all begin to stretch. Evie feels slightly uncomfortable in her green shorts and white vest-top but decides to push that aside – enjoy yourself, she orders.

"Has anyone seen Dana?" The head cheerleader asks whilst she looks around at the girls. A short flashback of Dana and Chad re-enters Caroline's mind and Evelyn feels her stomach churn sickeningly as she thinks back to Stefan sinking his teeth in to her throat... How beautiful Klaus' evil smile had been.

No, she shakes her head. No Klaus thoughts until I get back to Elena's.

"Sounds like you have an opening on the squad," Rebekah speaks in a sweet, innocent voice that has Caroline glaring at her and Evelyn scoffing.

"What're you doing?" She asks the Original Vampire who is proceeding to mimic the stretches that the other girls are doing. She ignores Caroline for a moment before she begins annoying her. She turns and looks in to her eyes, "You can't just come here and infiltrate all of our lives."

"I'm only interested in yours," Rebekah shrugs. "Your spunk, your popularity..." She turns to see the tanned, lean and muscular Tyler Lockwood on the football field and smirks. "Maybe even your boyfriend."

"Leave her alone, bitch." Evie stands up to the Original who just laughs – the sound is musical.

"I'd love to see you try and stop me... Last time I checked I almost killed you," she whispers before skipping off to another part of the group. Caroline and Evelyn glance at each other with very similar frowns. No one likes the Klaus Barbie that much.

"HIT THE SHOWERS, BOYS!" The Coach shouts – all of the girls look at him in confusion whilst Caroline and Evie look straight at Tyler in understanding.

"He did not just compel him," Evie whispers to Caroline.

"I think he did," she sighs heavily. "Stay here – I'll go talk to him."

She watches Caroline walk away and turns back to the other girls. She introduces herself to a couple of them who have come over and asked if she is the other new girl – Evelyn is pleasantly surprised to see that only ten people have called her Elena today. She had expected more. Whilst she is in the middle of a conversation with a girl named Sue she hears one of the other girls shout: "Hey, check out the new girl!" and someone else proceeds to shout a: "GO ON, REBEKAH! YOU'VE GOT THIS!"

Caroline and Evelyn glare in irritation as they watch her do various flips, cartwheels and then the splits. She turns to Tyler and Caroline with an innocently happy smile but the blonde Vampire sees through the Original's facade. Caroline looks over at Evie who shrugs and sticks her middle finger up at Rebekah when she looks away. Despite all the anger and irritation Caroline is feeling right now she has to laugh at the look on Rebekah's face. Evie walks away with a grin on her face, too.

...

"Someone looks unhappy."

"Oh, leave me alone," Evelyn snaps as she throws her gym bag over her shoulder and heads to Elena's car.

"Wasn't cheerleading practice any fun?" The Vampire pouts.

"No because the blonde-bitch, Klaus-loving-Hybrid and psycho-ripper were around," She places her bag on the front of the car and leans against it with a tired sigh.

"So it's because you're missing your boyfriend, huh?" He smirks whilst wiggling his eyebrows.

"He's not my boyfriend and no I am not missing your puppeteer," she snaps snidely.

"Oh, good one," he winks. "Anyway, where's my ex-girlfriend?"

"Like you actually care?" She raises her eyebrows at him – he shrugs.

"No, I couldn't care less but Klaus has me keeping an eye on you two and I can't exactly do that whilst one of you are missing."

"So you're stalking us?" She scoffs.

"If that what you want to call it," he smirks.

"Evie," Elena calls as she jogs over to them with her gym bag.

"Wow, look at you getting all fit!" Stefan patronizes her as she makes it over to them.

"Finally; I was getting bored of listening to this dick," she growls – aiming the dig at Stefan who just laughs.

"Oh, are you two going to the bonfire tonight? It sounds like fun, right?"

"Seriously, Stefan? Just leave us alone!" Elena growls; unlocking the car door. Evie climbs straight in and slams it as loud as she can behind her.

"Are you going with my brother, tonight? If so it's going to be a little bit awkward for the pair of you," Stefan continues.

"Who are you!" She yells – her patience has completely worn away, now.

"I'm the guy who's been assigned to protect a couple of human blood bags," he explains. He sees her expression and frown sarcastically, "I mean no offence or anything..."

"Go die, Stefan!" Evie screams from inside the car as she sees her sister's expression change from anger to pure hurt. Stefan winks at her before turning and walking away.

"I'll see you both at the bonfire!"

...

This day has been complete chaos and it is not even over yet!

Evelyn falls back on to her – well, Jenna's – bed and whimpers to herself. Elena is at the Boarding House, Jeremy is locked up in his room and she is laid here with a towel in her hair in a pair of sweats and a vest top. She really needs to find something to wear for tonight. She gets up and heads over to her wardrobe and scans the numerous tops, jeans, shorts and dresses. She stops when she comes up to the black dress that Rebekah had tried on in the store in Chicago... She had been dancing and singing: bored out of her mind. Klaus had been watching her fondly...

The bittersweet memory has her wanting to burn it and wear it... She chooses the latter because she is worried about him and she is stupid like that – to wear something that will remind her of him. She pulls on a pair of black tights and some black flats to match. She adds a black cardigan and then lightly strokes her fingers over the heart vervain necklace that Caroline had gave her – she said that it had been hers whilst she was a human but after been turned she obviously had no more use for it. Evie smiles to herself – pleased that the blonde cares enough to offer her such a gift. She sings along to Turn It Off by Paramore whilst she applies some eyeliner, mascara and red lip gloss. Once she is ready she grabs her black purse, puts in some money and a dart with both vervain and Wolfsbane inside (just in case) and heads out.

"Hey, Evie. Nice look," Jeremy greets his cousin with a compliment and she smiles.

"Thanks, Jer. Are you coming to the party?" She asks.

"Sure thing, let me just get my wallet. Do you want me to drive?"

"Don't you want to drink?" She raises her eyebrows as he blushes slightly.

"I... Don't think that would be a good idea. I'll definitely drive," he nods and runs in to fetch his wallet and car keys. Soon enough they have locked up and they are on their way to the Spirit Squad Bonfire. Evie feels herself dozing off in the car until her phone buzzes – signalling that she has a text message. She pulls it from her purse to see Elena's name flashing up on the screen.

Come up to Ric's classroom once you get to school, it's about Stefan. X

...

"Hey, what's going on?" Evie questions Elena, Ric and Damon as she enters the dimly lit classroom. The school is so eerie when it is dark... Although that may be because of what went down last night.

Was it really just last night? It feels like it happened months ago.

"We're locking Stefan up," Elena explains. "I'll lure Stefan away from the bonfire – then, when he is distracted-"

"I'll shoot him," Ric interrupts sternly and Elena nods.

"Can't Bonnie just juju him?" Damon asks from where he is lazily sat on the bookshelf with his head leant against the wall.

"I'm trying to keep Bonnie out of it because I don't trust that Stefan won't hurt her..."

"Good idea – he's already tried to kill me," Evie grimaces and unconsciously rubs her neck at the memory.

"Oh, Caroline! Are you covered?"

"Yes! I will make sure that the old Forbes chamber cell is prepped and ready!"

"You're forgetting a key player, here," Damon reminds them all, "Rebekah!"

"He has a point," Evie sighs, "Wherever Stefan goes a blonde ponytail tends to follow."

"Which is why it is Damon's job to distract her away," Elena turns to Damon who gives her an incredulous look.

"How? She is an Original – last time I checked we're out of daggers!"

"Well, then, preoccupy her with your charm." Elena shrugs.

"We might have better look finding that dagger," Evie scoffs.

"I second that," Ric grins.

"Are you ever not going to be mad at me, Ric?" Damon asks – not caring that Evelyn was the one who made the comment.

"Doubtful," Ric replies.

"Sorry I'm late!" Tyler enters the room sheepishly, "What's going on?"

"We need you to raid your Mom's Vervain supply – enough to keep Stefan down for a while," Elena orders.

"You can't do that to Stefan," Tyler frowns uncertainly.

"Why not?" Caroline questions curiously.

"Trust me, Tyler; It's in his best interest."

"Yeah," Caroline backs Elena up.

"Well it's not in Klaus'," Tyler backfires.

"Ok, he's lost it!" Evie throws her hands up in exasperation, "dude – he killed you!"

"He gave me a gift!" Tyler snaps to the doppelganger.

"Klaus is the bad guy, Tyler! Why are you acting like some freaky Hybrid-slave-minion?" Caroline yells – she has had to put up with this all day and, to be honest, she is sick of it. This is not the Tyler that she fell in love with!

"Uh-oh," Damon sing-songs as he pushes himself off of the book case and walks closer to Tyler.

"What?" Ric asks; he doesn't like the sound of that.

"Klaus made me who I am, Caroline. I owe him everything!"

"Oh boy," Damon rolls his eyes.

"Alright, Damon – enough!" Evie snaps in annoyance.

"Yeah, can we cool it on the commentary, please?" Caroline shouts at Damon.

"What is going on?" Elena asks warily.

"I'm just going to go," Tyler holds his hands up in a slight surrender before backing off out of the room. Damon grabs the Vervain/Wolfsbane dart from Evie's purse and shoves it in to his back before he can get out of the door.

"HEY!" Evie growls as she snatches her purse back.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Caroline yells. She kneels down beside her boyfriend and checks over him whilst Damon finally explains his commentary.

"He's been sired," he curses.

"What?" Ric is confused, just as everybody else is.

"Sired: He feels loyal to Klaus because Klaus' blood created him," Damon explains.

"Loyal how?" Elena questions worriedly.

"He'll seek acceptance from his master; it's really rare but maybe not so much in Hybrids..."

"Can't we fix him?" Evie asks the black haired Vampire. He sighs and looks down at Caroline.

"There is only one way to fix it... Get a new boyfriend."

"Okay, Caroline fix this – Damon... Go flirt with Rebekah and you two," he gestures to the twins, "go lure Stefan out. I'm sure it will work better with the both of you."

"Okkie dokkie," Evie claps as she slides off of the desk she was perched on. "Come on, sis. Let's go lure out a Vampire!"

...

The bonfire party is in full swing and everybody is having an amazing time. The humans are all dancing around, laughing with their friend and drinking until they have no idea where they are. This is such a simple way of life for them: Eat, Sleep, School, Party... They don't have to worry about Vampires and Werewolves and Hybrids and Witches and Ghosts. They are the lucky ones, Evie muses bitterly as she makes her way through the crowd with Elena.

Stefan spots Rebekah frowning at the container that holds the alcohol as she tries to decipher how to get the liquid in to her red plastic cup. The Salvatore brother plucks the cup from her hand and pours himself a drink effortlessly. Rebekah pouts in annoyance – she loves some of this technology but the rest is just irritating and unnecessary!

"You alright there?" He asks uncaringly.

"I thought Tyler would be here!" She sulks.

"You're in to Tyler now, huh? That's very fickle," he chuckles sarcastically.

"When you're willing to give me the time of day again we'll talk... Until then a girl has needs!"

"Excuse me," Elena takes the pourer from Stefan and hands a red cup to Evie and picks one out for herself. She fills both of them with whatever alcohol is in the can.

"Elena and Evelyn! Hi – how're you two doing?"

"We are having fun, Stefan," Evie replies coolly

"You got a problem with that?" Elena adds.

"Finishing each others sentences now, huh? How adorable," he patronizes them but both girls ignore his attempt to antagonize them. They down their drinks at the same time and the Vampire frowns.

"Alright, take it easy – we both know that you're kind of a lightweight," He says to Elena with a hint of worry in his voice.

"Ha! Really? You think I'm going to let a little blood addict tell me how to drink?" Elena asks snidely before linking arms with her sister who offers her a high five. They walk off with their drinks laughing and joking. Stefan looks up from the ground to Rebekah who holds her hands up before walking away.

...

Around eight pints later both the girls are leaning against a tree yelling "DRINK, DRINK, DRINK, DRINK!" To the entertainment going on at the can. Both of them laugh and point as he does exactly what the crowd of people are wanting him to do... Elena feels her smile disappear as she notices that Stefan is leaning against the tree beside them with his cup and a smile just for her. She pretends she doesn't care and raises her cup as Evie continues to laugh at the entertainment. Elena takes another drink and Stefan mirrors this with a humoured expression on his ethereally beautiful face.

She looks around at everyone until she spots a familiar blonde with Damon – Rebekah. He is sat feeding her stupid marshmallows off of some stupid twig and he seems to be really in to it... She pouts; jealousy burns like acid.

"Calm down there, sis!" Evie comforts, "He's just carrying out the plan."

"What're you trying to say?" Elena questions her sister's comment with raised eyebrows.

"Well, you did have that look on your face," Stefan shows up behind them so suddenly that both of them jump in shock.

"What look?" Elena asks, not giving him the satisfaction of a complaint.

"Well by brother has got his flirt on and now you're... Jealous."

"Ha!" Elena scoffs, "I am not jealous!"

"It's alright – be jealous, by all means... I'm sure Damon will be thrilled."

"I'M NOT JEALOUS, STEFAN!" She snaps with tears stinging her eyes. The old Stefan would have never treated it like this – he would have held her, kissed her, told her he loves her and that he needs her. He would have made her feel guilty and she would have welcomed that because these emotions are hard enough without having the man she loves cheer her on to go for it.

"Alright," he smiles as he looks down to the ground. "It's my mistake," but from the look in his eyes she can see he is laughing at her on the inside.

"Come on, Elena. Let's go."

"Where are you going?" He asks.

"Away from the douche bag ex-boyfriend," Evie hisses icily before guiding Elena away. Stefan remembers Klaus' demand and follows the two girls. Evelyn cracks up a joke that has Elena laughing as they climb to the top of the bleachers and lay on the vacated metallic benches.

"I used to know every constellation... How did I forget them all?" Elena slurs.

"You're drunk... You both are," Stefan sighs. "You need to go home."

"Fine but I'll need help finding my car," Evie mumbles whilst she pulls herself up from where she is laid with the bleacher bars. Stefan places his hand on his waist and shakes his head.

"You're joking, right?" He scoffs in disbelief – he would never let them drive like this.

"Uh oh," Elena tusks.

"It's the fun police!" Evie adds.

"I thought the 'Ripper Stefan' was supposed to be the life of the party," she muses aloud.

"Alright I'm driving you home," he sighs before travelling further down the bleachers. "Come on."

Evie obliges but Elena gets an idea – once her sister is stood beside Stefan she climbs over the bars so she is hanging on to the edge of them. Stefan raises his hands and shakes his head in disbelief.

"What are you, five?" He scoffs.

"Elena, get down," she frowns worriedly whilst her sister beams at them with child-like wonder.

"Come on, are you two afraid that I'm going to fa-" she mocks them by pretending to fall and laughs as Stefan nearly strikes in to action. "Ha, ha! That was close!" Stefan nods as he tries to keep hold of his serenity. "Klaus would not have been happy with you!"

"You're hilarious," he raises his hands to his face to mimic shouting it to her. Evie gasps as Elena lets go.

"Look, Stefan – no hands!" She laughs, letting herself fall back but catching the bar before anything can happen. Stefan's un-beating heart feels like it is about to jump out of his chest. Elena continues to laugh whilst Evie walks up the bleachers again.

"Elena, come down from there! You're scaring me!" She growls. Elena is about to respond but her hands slip and the smile disappears from her lips as a scream echoes through the silent football field. Stefan gasps before running at Vampire speed to where she is falling. He catches her body in his arms before she can connect with the ground. "ELENA!" Evie reaches the bars and leans over them with her heart thudding heavily in her ears... Stefan caught her. She's alive. She's okay.

"I knew you'd catch me," she whispers softly. Stefan keeps his green eyes on her face – gasping for breath after his moment of panic. Evie runs down the bleachers and once she arrives she sees Stefan is passed out with three Vervain darts in his back.

"Are you two okay?" Ric asks the girls.

"Yeah," Evie breaths as she hugs Elena, "Now that I know she didn't die!"

"I'm fine," Elena huffs before looking down at Stefan and up at the bleachers. "I'm fine," she repeats.

"You both look, uh... Not sober," he frowns at her disapprovingly.

"The plan worked; that's all that matters," She shrugs, "Let's just get him out of here."

Alaric proceeds to pick up the Vampire's limp body and carry him over his shoulder. Elena fumbles with the trunk of the car until it finally pops open. Ric sets down Stefan and closes the door. Evelyn and Elena head to get in but Evie gets distracted by her ringtone. She gasps as she looks back at the bleachers.

"Shit, I left my purse! I'll be right back!" She runs to where she had left her purse and pulls out her ringing phone – Jeremy is on the line.

"EVIE, LISTEN TO ME – YOU AND ELENA NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE! A GHOST MADE A DEAL WITH THE ORIGINAL WITCH SO SHE COULD COME BACK AND SHE'S GOING TO KILL YOU AND ELENA SO KLAUS CAN'T MAKE MORE HYBRIDS!" Jeremy's voice is shaking and loud as he shouts down the phone. Evie gasps in disbelief as she turns around to warn Ric and Elena...

"RIC!" Evie screams as she sees the fire heading towards the car. He turns around and spots the flames slithering towards him.

"ELENA!" Ric bangs on the car window as panic rushes through him. He can't let Elena die... And Stefan, too! Oh God this is a nightmare! Alaric runs around to the other side and pulls the door handle as hard as he can to no avail. "OPEN THE DOOR!"

"I CAN'T, IT WON'T OPEN!" She screams as she throws her weight in to the door in an attempt to open it. The flames begin to engulf the car and Elena coughs as the oxygen is tainted by the suffocating black smoke. She is trying not to panic as much as she wants to but adrenaline is racing through her anyway. Evelyn runs over to a box piled with old P.E equipment and pulls out a la Crosse racket and runs over to the window. She uses all of her strength to hit the window with the metal bar but it does not shatter the glass... It does not even leave a dint.

"Evie STOP!" Ric grabs the crying teenager as she goes to hit the window for the third time. The flames seem to build up just as he has dragged her away from them... She feels completely helpless. She is going to lose her sister – she wishes she was the one who had got in the car. Elena cannot even see outside anymore; she coughs and splutters as her mind starts to go blank. She can't breathe... She needs air.

"Stefan," she wheezes. "STEFAN!" She shouts louder as she climbs in to the back of the car. He opens his eyes and frowns as he looks around at the car and tries to decipher what the Hell is going on. He manages to kick the car trunk open but the Vervain mixed with the lack of oxygen has made him extremely weak. Elena drags herself in to the back with him and Elena screams as something grabs her leg. She looks back to look for her source but there is nothing there – she should be able to move!

And suddenly her leg is free. She doesn't take any chances at all – Ric and Evie run to the trunk of the car and feel a small sense of relief as Elena leaps in to Ric's arms. He helps her down out of the car and he is about to run but then they remember that Stefan is still there.

"Wait, Stefan!" Elena yells. Ric nods and all three of them tug the Vampire out of the car and quickly drag him away from the burning car. They run as fast as they can as they carry Stefan along with them. The sound of burning flames and smashing glass ricochets through the air as the car finally explodes – flames leap out of the car and Elena covers her face as an image of them pulling her back in fills her mind. They watch the flames as they fall down from the huge leap but continue to burn... Elena and Stefan gasp in oxygen and look around at their saviours.

Neither of them could be more thankful... But, of course, Stefan would never tell them that.

...

"Give it to me; I can do it!" Elena huffs.

"No, let me do it!" He argues

"Damon, come on-"

"Elena!" He snaps, "You almost got barbequed – the least I can do is apply first aid."

She looks up in to his cerulean blue eyes and releases a pent-up sigh before giving in to him. He lightly brushes the dirt from the wound away from her cheek and clears away the blood.

"There," he says in a voice like velvet. She feels her muscles relax and her insides melt... Until she remembers what he got up to with Rebekah, earlier.

"You played your part of the plan really well tonight," she notes.

"Oh yeah?" A smirk ghosts on his lips.

"Yeah – you had Rebekah drooling all over you and your marshmallows," her eyes are so very accusing; Damon's un-beating heart glows. She is jealous.

"Ha, yeah – before she skewered me," he grimaces and Elena watches him and how he is so focused on tending to her cut. "I thought you were too drunk to notice..." He smirks softly.

"I was faking most of it," Elena shrugs as she breaks the eye contact.

"So was I," he looks down at the First Aid kit as he says it and when her eyes look up to meet his again they share unspoken words. I'm glad your okay, I'm glad you don't like that bitch and... Well, the last are word will remain unspoken until Elena has cleared her mind.

"Are you ready to get going, Elena?" Ric asks from the doorway. She nods.

"Great work tonight, Ric. I'm sorry about the car, man. Bummer."

Evelyn watches from the doorway, too. She sees the pain that crosses Damon's features as he is ignored by his former best-friend and for the first time she feels sorry for the guy she hated since they had first spoken. His eyes meet hers and he walks over to her.

"Evie, I'm sorry if I came off like a dick..." He sighs, "I want to call a truce."

"Yeah, you did." She smirks, "But I can be a dick too so I guess a truce would be cool."

"Great," he smirks. "Oh, and thanks for doing everything you could to protect Elena, tonight."

"She's my sister, Damon... If there are a few things we have in common it is that we are both dicks and that we will protect her no matter what," She smiles tiredly and he nods.

"I'm glad we're on the same page, then. Goodnight, Evelyn."

"G'night Damon," She says softly before following Alaric and Elena back to their borrowed car.

"Hey, Evelyn," She sees Ric calling her from the doorway and she looks around.

"Where's Elena?" She asks.

"Talking to Stefan," He shrugs but she can see the worry in his eyes. She heads over to him and leans against the wall.

"Are you ok, Ric?" She asks seriously... Ric laughs bitterly and rolls his eyes.

"I am still alive, I guess," he shrugs, "I guess that has to count for something."

"AHH!" Stefan's gasp/cry shocks both Ric and Evie – they turn the corner to see Stefan down on his knees and pulling out two wooden stakes from his stomach. Ric smirks and heads out whilst Evie folds her arms over her chest – her expression is full of pain as he glares up at her.

"Klaus won't win, Stefan. We both know it..." She lets the tears that she has been holding back all day fall. "I think it's the best for all of us if you stop trying to carry out his orders... Or you're going to wind up dead."

"What about you?" He seethes, "You care about him way more than I do!"

"I... I care about him a lot," she whispers sadly before her face twists in to a scowl. "But he wouldn't give his life up for me so why should I?"

She turns away and heads out of the Boarding House with her head held high and tears in her eyes. He ran – he left her here. This was brought on by a realization that she had whilst Damon was driving them to the Boarding House: Mikael could have easily come and killed everyone here. He could have killed Stefan, Damon, Rebekah, Elena, herself... But Klaus was much more worried about himself. He is a selfish man and spending time away from him has made her realize two things.

The first thing is that he is far too selfish to ever fully trust with anything; what kind of relationship would that be? She knows that he does have it in him to lie and pretend that he loves her but she just knows that he really does... But she also knows that he is no good for her and that he will use her if it means he can make those Hybrids he seems to be so obsessed over. Why should she worry about him when he is probably not worrying about her at all...? Oh, and the second thing:

She cannot live without him.