"We found his car down the road. Stefan and I drove the body two hours away and dumped it into a creek in the woods. My uncle took the car and left the state. Said he pushed it off a bridge into a river. Haven't seen him since." Damon finally looked up at Elena, wondering the whole time he spoke what in God's name had made him decide to confess this to her. He had never told anyone before - besides his brother and uncle, no one else knew who had really killed Trey. Once he had confessed what he had done, however, he knew he would need to explain and he truly hoped that he had gotten his point across - she needed to stay far, far away from him. Although he knew this might ruin things for Stefan, he was secretly relieved that she might be able to rid herself of both of the brothers for good and she could return to her normal, uneventful teenage life.
Tears were sliding down Elena's cheeks, but she was not scared. She looked confused, stunned and most of all sad. He didn't expect much of a response from her, but he knew he needed to leave and was not sure of an appropriate way to ask her to go inside. The sun would be coming up soon and Jenna would see them in the driveway. He knew that Elena had better things to worry about today and that she needed rest.
"I don't know what to say, Damon," she whispered finally. She wanted more than anything to touch him, to comfort him and at the same time she wanted to run far away and never look back at the Salvatore brothers again. "I should go."
"Yeah," he nodded and wiped a drop of sweat from his eyebrow, "You should."
Neither said another word and Elena got out of the car in a daze, still slightly intoxicated but mostly tired and mind blown. She walked inside her house, her whole world suddenly appearing different than ever before, went up to her room and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
...
Jeremy had started to become suspicious when Matthew quickly insisted they leave the diner. He got into the truck, but Matthew mumbled that he had forgotten something inside and left as soon as Jeremy's door was closed. The driver's side door opened immediately and Jeremy's eyes widened as he realized that Klaus was now sitting beside him. He quickly reached for the door handle, but he heard the click of the lock and Klaus' hand came down hard around his left wrist, holding him in place.
"Where are you going? I haven't even introduced myself yet," Klaus smiled, threw the truck into reverse and peeled out of the parking space.
Jeremy was vaguely aware that Matthew had moved into the backseat, and his first urge was to scream at his friend but his mouth was dry and he could not complete a thought. "Where are you taking me?" he asked meekly, his voice shaking along with his legs and hands. So this was about the car window, after all. He should have trusted his instinct.
"I just want to have a chat with you," Klaus was still smiling calmly.
They pulled into the motel parking lot and Jeremy's door flew open; a strong arm gripped down on his bicep and yanked him from the truck. He was pushed up the stairs to the second floor entrance. Once inside the room he noticed that there were two other men there besides Klaus and Matthew and he braced for sudden impact. He was released and thrown onto the bed, where he sat and looked at the straight faces of all the intimidating men in the room around him.
"Sorry about that," Klaus took a seat next to him on the bed and patted his knee, "I didn't mean to scare you, but I have a feeling you wouldn't have come willingly," he explained, trying to find warmth in his expression.
"Dude, I'm sorry about your window. I'll pay you back, I swear just please don't kill me," Jeremy spat out quickly, scooting away from Klaus instinctively.
Klaus laughed hard for a good minute. The other men in the room chuckled as well, but Matthew stood by the door with a frown, his eyes pleading for Jeremy to forgive him. "I told you I just wanted to chat," Klaus answered finally.
"About what?" Jeremy asked cautiously. A new fear overcame his thoughts; maybe this is how Matthew got suckered into the gang. Were they going to make him join as well?
"Your friend," Klaus began, "What's his name? Damon?"
Jeremy's eyes moved to Klaus' quickly and he couldn't possibly be more confused. That was the last person he had expected to be talking about with these guys and he instantly began to recall every conversation he had ever had with Damon for some hint of explanation. "What about him?" he asked quietly.
"You tell me," Klaus stood up, "I want to know everything you know."
Confused, Jeremy tried to tell Klaus that he knew nothing about either Salvatore brother. When Klaus called him out on his lie, stating that he at least knew that the younger brother spent a great deal of time at his house, Jeremy began to get scared for Elena and he spilled all that he knew about the family.
Satisfied that at least the boy was telling the truth but frustrated that, like Matthew had said, Jeremy really did know nothing of interest Klaus walked to the window to think of a new plan. "Well," he said finally, "I guess we'll have to do this the old fashioned way. We'll make the truth come to us."
...
"Elena, what's wrong with you?" Jenna stood over me, poking and shaking me from above. "You're going to be late for school!"
"I'm not going," I mumbled, barely able to keep my eyes open. I glanced the clock - 6:45. I had only been home for a couple hours and I needed at least ten more hours of sleep. "I don't feel well," I turned my back to Jenna, hoping she would take the hint and leave.
"Where is Jeremy? Did he even come home last night? And why are you wearing your jeans in bed?" She was putting the pieces together and I knew I had to intervene.
"I think he slept at a friend's house," I lied quickly, "I went out with Stefan last night after you went to bed. Sorry. Can I please just stay home today?" I knew that I could do whatever I pleased, but I wanted Jenna to feel like she had some type of authority over my life.
She sighed and ran her hand through her hair. "Fine, but I'm leaving. I have to be at work in ten minutes," Clearly frustrated she left my room, letting the door close behind her.
I lay there for a few minutes before fading back out of consciousness. The next time I awoke was to a car door slamming in the driveway. I sat up startled and caught the time - 12:17. I ran to the window and looked out, holding my breath. I exhaled with relief, "Jeremy!" I squealed and ran down the stairs, threw open the door and jumped into his arms in the driveway, nearly knocking him to the ground.
"Wow, sis, what gives?" He forced a smile but I could tell he was exhausted and emotionally drained.
Now that I had him back, my protective instinct immediately took over and I slapped his arm. "Why do you do this to me?" I yelled, "I was worried sick!"
"I see that," he stepped back eying my ensemble, hair and lack of makeup. I knew I had to look and smell like death, and remembering the events of the night before I wanted to divert the attention away from myself again. "Where were you?" I spoke softly now, knowing that there was a good chance he wouldn't tell me anything about where he had been.
"With Matt," he answered shortly, walking past me into the house. "We just needed some bro time," he headed straight to the kitchen and started making himself a bowl of cereal. "What's with you? Why are you home and why do you smell like booze?"
"Long story," I realized now why Jeremy was always so short with me when I prodded into his personal life and I took that as a cue to stop the interrogation. I went upstairs to shower, then dressed again and laid down on top of my covers.
I knew I would have to dissect last night's events in my head and I figured I would go ahead and start working everything out. The first thing I thought of was Stefan. Everything else aside, I had betrayed his trust by calling Damon in the first place. Not only that, but I spent the entire night with his brother getting drunk and learning things that I'm sure Stefan would have wanted to tell me about himself had he been given the chance. Shockingly, I did not think any less of Stefan after what I had learned and I had no intention of letting that get in the way of our relationship. In fact, it had the opposite effect - I wanted somehow to tell him to forget the details, but that I knew what happened to him last summer and I needed him to allow me to be there for him. As my mind began to wander to how scared Stefan must have felt the night of the burglary, I shifted my focus to Damon and I couldn't help but feel a twinge of emotion when I recalled what he had done for his brother. I shook the thought out of my head as I rationalized that my first instincts about Damon were correct - he was trouble, more trouble than I had ever imagined and I had allowed myself to fall for his charm. Still, there was a reason that I had called Damon last night; a reason that I had allowed myself to go out with him in the wee hours of the morning; and a reason that he felt compelled to trust me with his deepest, darkest secret. For that alone I knew I could not ever go back to hating him again, no matter how hard I tried.
Realizing that I had been out of touch with civilization for far too many hours, I checked my phone on the nightstand. Seven missed calls, fifteen text messages. Caroline, Stefan and a couple other friends from school - but nothing from Damon. I didn't understand why this made me feel a sudden emptiness, but I didn't care to dwell on it and convinced myself that it was for the best. For once Damon was doing the right thing and I needed more than anything to respect that.
I must have started five different texts to Stefan but ended up erasing them all. I couldn't say what I wanted to say over the phone; so I settled with "Can I meet you at your house after school?" and hit "send".
Almost immediately he responded, "Yes. What's wrong"
"Nothing wrong." I typed quickly, "Just miss you. Want to talk."
He asked about Jeremy and I told him that he had come home and that no, I had no idea where he had been but everything seemed fine and that yes, he had been right after all.
I waited around for the next couple of hours and then began the drive to the Salvatore estate. I chose here to spill the beans to Stefan; that way if he decided to take out any frustration on Damon, I would be there to talk sense into him and hopefully play mediator. When I arrived, Damon's car was the only one in the driveway. My heart sunk as I realized how difficult it would be to see him after everything that had happened last night and I fought the urge to go inside to warn him what I was about to do.
Just as I had talked myself into staying put in the driveway until Stefan got home, a knock on the glass startled me and I nearly screamed. Damon was standing at my window, frowning and requesting that I open the door. I settled for rolling down the window, completely unsure of what to say.
"Waiting for Stefan?" he began nervously, avoiding eye contact as much as possible.
He was looking down at his feet, kicking imaginary rocks on the pavement with his hands shoved deep inside his pockets. I had never seen him look so vulnerable and for the first time I allowed myself to admit that I was insanely attracted to this man. "Yes," I gulped, pushing the thought from my head. I looked down into my own lap and fessed up, "I'm going to tell him, Damon."
"I figured as much," he let out a snarky chuckle and a heavy sigh, "I guess I can't persuade you to omit certain tidbits of information?" he tried, knowing what my answer would be already.
I looked up at him, caught his eye and shook my head just slightly. I wanted to tell him without saying a word that I was sorry and that I wanted him to understand why I had to do this. His eyes didn't leave mine and I truly believed that maybe he had understood.
The sound of rocks crackling beneath tires caused us both to jolt a little, and Damon backed away from my car quickly as Stefan pulled in next to me. The look on Stefan's face was one of utter confusion and concern when he got out of the car, his eyes moving from Damon to me. I got out to meet him in the driveway and threw my arms around his neck, leaning up for a kiss. My lips touched his but there was no reciprocation and I knew that he knew something was going on. Damon had walked to his car and I heard the door close loudly. I watched out of the corner my eye as he backed up quickly down the driveway, squealing his tires as he peeled off down the street.
"Missed me?" Stefan began, pushing me away at arm's length, "Wanted to talk, huh?" I could tell he had begun assuming the worst and I mentally cursed Damon for making such a scene.
"Stefan, calm down! It's not what you think," I forced a smile and took his hand. He reluctantly softened his expression and held my hand back. "Let's go inside."