a/n: let's be honest. Things get a lot worse for Delena in Season Two before they get better. In fact, until the last three and a half minutes of the season, it's all pretty downhill. But like I've always said; each moment counts, every second matters. Every single scene they've spent together means something. Oh, and we get two episodes in one chapter this time.

Ps. Those of you that have been keeping up will know that I do my own 'deleted scenes' kinda thing. I manipulate the show to fit a better story feel. Well, recently I got the idea as I was rewatching the episodes on dvd to take a look at the real deleted scenes to see if there are any missing Delena moments the writers never gave us and whola! I found one! Can you spot it?

Damon's POV- Mystic Falls High

I stayed out of the light even though I had my ring on. The shadows would protect me from something far more potent then burning in the sun. Elena held a clipboard in her arms, Witchy across from her. Bonnie, always the one to bring the positive into every situation was clearly not letting up on the latest Mystic Falls drama, even though discomfort was clear on Elena's face. "I mean Katherine looked just like you. It was freakish."

"She is my ancestor." She sounded impatient, wishing Bonnie would just drop it. "Hey, I moved the student booths into the cafeteria."

"Your vampire ancestor. And she didn't just resemble you like a family member. She was you."

Could the girl seriously not take a hint? "I don't know, I can't explain it okay? It's creepy, that's all I got."

"How do you know she's not out there still pretending to be you?" Apparently not.

"I don't." Elena sighed and grabbed the bag of stuffed snakes, moving away from the witch. "But I could sit here and be tortured by the not knowing or I could get these prizes to the ring toss."

"Have you talked to Damon, since he killed Jeremy? Or tried to kill Jeremy?"

My attention perked up at this, even seeing the disconcerting look on Elena's face. "No Bonnie I haven't." She turned away from me. "I won't and I don't wanna talk about Damon or anything else that is vampire related."

"Copy that." Bonnie smiled, taking the stuffed snakes.

"I'm human." Elena sighed, turning to grab the clipboard. "And I have to do human stuff, otherwise I'm going to go crazy."

"Okay." Bonnie nodded, seeming to get at least a sliver of the fact she was being a pushy witch. "I'm sorry. I'll focus. We have to make Caroline proud, or she will kill us."

I smirked, thinking of the blonde control freak. My blood should have done its job by now in healing her. I should call Liz and check on them. "I don't know how she does this all the time."

Elena smiled, glad to be off the vampire topic. "Well it's because she's not human…obviously."

"Obviously." Bonnie smiled and they walked away. I moved along the tree line, still in the shadows. I saw Elena slip into the school and stayed back a few feet. I stopped, ducking behind a line of lockers when I found her standing with Stefan.

"I was just hoping this carnival would lure him back into the land of high school teenager."

"Oh is that what we're doing here?" Stefan asked innocently, playing along for Elena's sake. Clearly she needed support from someone.

"Yes, we all are. We're gonna be boring high school students who live in a world where the V word is not uttered."

"Got it." Stefan agreed.

"Then later, your gonna take me on the ferris wheel. We're gonna ride to the very top and you're gonna kiss me. And my heart will flutter like a normal high school girl. Do you see a running theme here?"

I swallowed the bile in my mouth and resisted the urge to roll my eyes. When was Elena going to wake up and realize that she was destined for much more than being just a simple, normal high school girl? She'd told me so herself…not that she remembered of course. "Yeah." Stefan nodded. "I'm seeing it, I'm liking it…but I have a quick question. Um…what do we do about Damon?"

Once again my ears perk up. It's as if the running theme with her is me. "Uh," she held up her finger to silence him. "No D work okay? That has been deleted from the list of topics that we can discuss."

Stefan, like Bonnie didn't take the hint. "Unfortunately, Katherine showing up had put him in a little bit of a bad place. A little off-kilter. Who knows what he's up to?"

Elena looked frightened, but she took a deep breath, shook her head and opened her eyes. "Just today, can we please not talk about him?"

Stefan nodded, relenting. "Deal."

I walked back to the Camaro, pulling the open from beneath the seat. After a few good swigs and a few good minutes of self pity I tossed the empty bottle in the back seat and chewed a half dozen pieces of gum till they were bland. I had to meet Carol at the Mansion and I couldn't show up looking devastated.

Stefan's POV- Boarding House

I hadn't heard from Damon all day and it was starting to worry me a bit. There was no news reports of any more 'animal killings' so I took the chance that he would be at home. After a quick search of upstairs, I found him just arriving, pouring a blood bag into a crystal glass. "Would you care for one?" he asked, tempting me. Probably just to be a jerk, because he could.

"No, thank you. Not hungry; just ate."

"Aren't you worried that one day all the forest animals are gonna band together and fight back? I mean, surely they talk."

I ignored his jab, pointing at the glass. "I'm just glad that's a blood bag and not a sorority girl supplying your dinner."

His smirk was a little half-heartened. "I like this; you walking on eggshells around me because you think I'm going to explode. It's very suspenseful. Is Elena worried too? I bet I'm your every conversation."

There was a flash of superiority in his tone; like he knew something and I had to hand it to him. Two whole minutes without mentioning her name. "Have you heard from Katherine?"

The smirk left his face in a flash. "I think the Lockwoods have a family secret. The Gilbert device affected them but the verain didn't. So they're not vampires. They're something else."

So…Katherine, then Elena. Now the Lockwoods. "So is this your new obsession?"

"Oh, you'd rather some unknown supernatural element running rampant in our town, fine. I'll drop it."

"We haven't seen the last of Katherine. You do know that right? We have no idea what she'd up to."

He couldn't hide the pain he felt even at the mere mention of her name and as a brother I hated to bring that out in him, but as a foe I couldn't help but to extort his weakness. He scoffed. "Sure we do. She came back to profess her undying, eternal love for you. So I'm gonna let you deal with her, because I have more important things to do. Like explode." His wiggled his brows and stood. "Cheers."

I watched him walk out, wondering if this was the calm before the storm.

Elena's POV- Mystic Falls High

The carnival was going off a lot better than I'd originally thought it would. I was relieved, and considering how incredibly stressful the last few months had been it finally looked like we were going to have a nice, calm night. That was, until he appeared out of almost nowhere, blocking my path. "Nice little shin dig huh?" I wanted to hit him, but I had to follow my own rule of ignoring him so I tried to walk around him. "Oh that's the way you're gonna play this?"

"I'm not playing Damon." I tried to sound firm, like I was talking to a bothersome child. Instead my full frustration and anger came out.

"Relax. I saw the ring on Jeremy's hand. I knew he wasn't gonna really die. I was being dramatic."

"And I'm supposed to believe that?" I glared at him, wanting to believe him but knowing I couldn't. I tugged out of his reach as Stefan came toward us.

"What are you doing here?"

Damon, his ever smug self, set his arm on my shoulder. "Stuff."

Oh, how I wanted to slap him. He walked off, leaving both of us with more questions than answers. Stefan's attempt at distracting me with the Koala bear prize worked for a few minutes, but hardly any more. I still had a lot of work to do so I left him to man his game and went off to find Amanda. Surely she'd found the stuffed snakes by now.

No sooner as I'd managed to put Salvatore drama out of my mind, Damon came back with a vengeance. "Elena."

"What do you want Damon?"

"I know I'm the last person you wanna see, but I need you to come with me."

"Whatever it is, I'm not interested." Why wouldn't he just leave me alone? Go find someone else to torment?

"Yeah I need you to come with me right now, Elena." There was something in his voice, in his eyes. I didn't trust him, but I didn't exactly think he would hurt me either. No, Damon would never hurt me. I handed the straws to Amanda and followed him, taking two steps for every one of his.

Damon's POV

They took the news about Caroline a lot better than I expected them to. "How did this happen?" Stefan demanded, his voice fairly calm all things considered.

"I fed her my blood, Katherine killed her. And A plus B equals…"

"But why?" Elena was masking her worry fairly well but I could see through her. She was panicking inside.

"Because Katherine is a manipulative, nasty little slut."

"And she said 'game on'. What does that even mean?" Stefan has begun pacing, oh no…not the pacing. Pacing means thinking and thinking means he's going to stop me from doing the logical thing.

"It means she's playing dirty. And she wants us to know."

"But why Caroline?" Elena asked again, clearly sick of her family and friends being attacked.

I couldn't exactly blame her. "I don't know." I sighed.

Stefan moved to her. "Caroline must be completely out of her mind. She has no idea what's happening."

"Oh, I think she does." I really didn't want to trudge up my abusive boyfriend badge, with Elena still pissed at me and all but desperate times and all that. If all she knew about being a vampire was what she remembered from me, we were in a lot of trouble. "All my compulsion from the past, started wearing off the minute she was in transition."

"We have to find her." Stefan's voice was tense, stressed.

"Yep, and kill her."

Elena's eyes widened, glaring at me. "You're not gonna kill Caroline."

"She knows who we are. She's officially a liability. We gotta get rid of her."

"Damon," Stefan reached out to Elena to comfort her. "absolutely not."

They were being so unreasonable! "Need I remind you of a tragic little story of a girl named Vicki Donavan? Yeah, Caroline of all people will not make it as a vampire. Her mother is a vampire hunter." I thought of Liz, how this would affect her. I didn't want to see the only friend I have go through the pain of hating what her daughter had become. Caroline's self loathing was strong enough without the additive of knowing her mother really couldn't stand her. Honestly, it was easiest thing to do all around. "Guys, come on. We all know how this story ends. Let's just flip to the last chapter and-"

"It's not an option Damon." Elena tone was strong, stubborn. I was not going to get her permission on this one.

"No?" I looked to my brother. "Your silence is deafening Stefan. Wait, wasn't there a school carnival the night you staked Vicki? Talk about a town where history repeats itself. You know I'm right."

Elena looked at Stefan for help, scared he would see my light. "We're not gonna kill her."

She walked past me, after him; not meeting my eyes."It's the only way."

Caroline let her weight fall against my chest as I held her close. The stake was in my right hand, ready to plunge into her back. She had to relax, just a little more. Then I was being shoved back and the stake was on the ground. "Stefan!" I growled, Caroline whimpering in the background.

"Get away from me." She backed away from Elena, scared. "You killed me."

"No, no, no. Caroline that wasn't me. You know that, that was Katherine."

Caroline shook her head. She was gone, the bloodlust, the guilt, it was all too much for her. "No! Then why does she look like you? And why? Why did she do this to me?"

Elena looked at Stefan hopelessly. "Stefan we gotta get her inside."

With his eyes on me he backed up, holding his hand out to the weeping girl. "It's okay Caroline, come with me."

"She will die." I piped up, never one to be left out. "It's only a matter of time."

I could feel Elena's pained glare pierce through me. Stefan shielded her with his body. "Maybe so, but it's not gonna happen tonight."

"Oh yeah it is." I moved, fast. Too fast. Grabbing the stake and lunging forward. It wasn't fast enough though, Elena was in front of her, protecting her. We stared each other down, both knowing I could throw her aside with one finger if I wanted to.

"Damon, she's my friend."

This girl had to learn that her choices had consequences. I relented, holding my hands up in surrender. "Whatever happens, it's on you."

"Get her cleaned up." She said to Stefan, but Witchy chose that moment to appear.

"Caroline?"

"It's okay," Stefan took her hand and tried to pull her away. "come on."

"No. You're not…you can't…you can't be." She moved forward, grabbing Caroline's arm and seeing for herself what the truth was.

"Bonnie?" Caroline sounded like a hopeless child.

"Oh God." The witch pushed past her friend to see the dead boy, no doubt someone she knew.

"Bonnie." Caroline called to her again, but she didn't hear her or she didn't care.

Elena pushed them away, needing to keep Caroline and I apart. I went off to get a shovel, knowing we would have to get rid of this body before anyone else saw what had happened.

"I can't believe this is happening." Bonnie shook her head.

"Oh, come on. Don't pout about it. We got a body to bury."

She glared at me, never one to understand my brand of humor. I moved to Elena, leaning the shovel in her direction. "Thought you were calling the shots…no?" she didn't move and I slid the shovel up onto the deck. "Sucks to be you buddy."

All of a sudden the familiar searing pain shot through me and I collapsed on my knees, barely feeling the hard pavement beneath me. "I told you what would happen if anyone else got hurt." She spoke calmly, menacingly.

"I didn't do this." I groaned, feeling like I was going to die but knowing that I couldn't.

"It's not his fault." Elena defended, but Witchy was having none of that.

"Everything that happens is his fault Elena."

"Bonnie what are you doing?" Their voices sounded far away, even though they were only a few feet from me. The pain in my head ceased as she focused her powers on a new spell. I could smell gas, knew she was turning the water from the hose to fuel. It had already soacked into my jeans, my boots. Then the fuel turned to fire, creeping toward me. "Bonnie stop it." Elena sounded panicked. For me? "Bonnie stop it!" I felt the flames leap at my boots, and then my legs were engulfed in flames. This; the fire could end me. "Bonnie stop it you're gonna kill him!"

I screamed, the pain searing my flesh, over and over. The pain never ending as my body tried to heal itself only to be bit back and burned away again. Through the flames I saw Elena leap over them, shaking Bonnie and pulling her hold on the spell. The witch pushed her away. "Why, why did you stop me?"

"Because this isn't us. Bonnie, this can't be us." She glanced at me, made sure I was alive and then she took Bonnie and ran. Now it was her protecting me. And once again, she saved my life.

Elena's POV- Boarding House

I sat on the couch next to Stefan, waiting. Just waiting. The cup in my hand had cooled by now, the tea far past room temperature. The brothers heard Alaric come to the door before he could even knock, and Damon was up to invite him in. "Thanks for coming Ric. Can I get you something to drink? Coffee, bourbon, bourbon in your coffee?"

"Elena mentioned you needed my help." He took Damon's seat, leaving the elder Salvatore brother to hover over the arm chair beside Stefan. At least he didn't sit beside me. He seemed to have gathered the hint that I didn't want to be anywhere near him.

Stefan spoke first. "Yeah, we were hoping you could shed some light on the Lockwood family."

Ric looked to Damon as if asking if this were for real. "Now why would I know anything about the Lockwoods?"

"Well you wouldn't; but your dead-not-dead vampire wife might."

Alaric took a deep breath, even the mention of her brought him pain. I spoke calmly, hoping he wouldn't shut down. "Isobel's research, from when you were at Duke together?"

"You said that she had spent years researching this town." Stefan continued.

Alaric let out the breath he'd been holding. "Isobel's research here in Mystic Falls was rooted in folklore and legend. At the time, I thought move of which was fiction." He look pointedly at the brothers, as if they were fictional characters that might disappear at any moment.

"Like that amazing vampire story." Damon threw in his two cents.

"Aside from vampires," I drew the talk back to our main goal. "what else?"

"The lycanthrope."

I knew that word, but it was hardly common. "Like werewolves?"

"No way." Damon shook his head. "Impossible. Way too Lon Chaney."

"Is it?" Stefan asked, the brothers butting heads once again.

"I've been on this planted hundred and sixty some odd years, never come across one. If werewolves exist, where the hell are they?"

"Why do you suspect the Lockwoods?" Alaric sounded worried, but curious.

"Because vervain didn't affect the mayor on Founders Day but the Gilbert device did. And it affected his son Tyler."

Stefan had his brooding look, where as Damon seemed calm. Annoyed maybe, but collected. "And at the school carnival his uncle; Mason exhibited inhuman behavior when he fought one of the carnival workers. So it's suggested, some sort of supernatural entity."

Alaric shook his head sadly. I had to get him to focus, the air practically hummed with his discomfort. He did not want to talk about her. "We hoped Isobel's research could help us figure out what it is."

"Well, all of her things are still at Duke." He cleared his throat, not liking the idea but seeing there wasn't much other way to know the truth for sure. "I mean her office is still there, she's technically still missing."

He looked pointedly at Damon, who only ignored the look. "So can we get access to it?" Ric still looked uncomfortable, but Damon wasn't much one for tact these days. "Ric, we need to know what we're dealing with. If this wolfman thing is true I've seen enough movies to know this aint good. It means that Mason Lockwood is a real life Lon Chaney, and that little Tyler punk may just very well be Lon Chaney Jr. Which means Bela Lugosi, meaning me is totally screwed."

I would have to do my own googling after this meeting to figure out all the references he'd just spit out but from the understanding on Ric's face that he'd been right about Damon being screwed.

Damon's POV- Gilbert House

I watched Elena walk down the porch, toward me. She didn't look impressed, or excited. Was it really that bad to spend time with me? It's not like we were going to be alone. "Sorry you can't come to Stef."

My comment only earned a hard look from her as she shoved her bag in through the half open window. She turned to Stefan, her disdain clearly etched on her face. "Call me if you need anything."

"Oh I'll take really good care of her." She reached up, her hand around Stefan's neck and pulled him for a kiss. But it wasn't just a normal kiss- no this was a I'm trying to make your brother jealous kiss. Did Stefan notice that? Well, whatever she was doing, it worked. I looked away, slightly confused. If she didn't want my attention then why keep throwing herself in my face? As if I didn't know she and Stefan had sex. Since basically that's what that kind of kiss meant; sex. Ric walked around to the front, and got in. I sighed in relief of an excuse to break them up. "Okay, time to go."

I slid into shot gun as Elena got in the back. I considered teasing her if she wanted company but I figured I was in enough trouble already for one day. The car ride was fairly silent except for whatever 'music' Ric had playing. The barrier she had between the backseat and us was so thick you could cut it with a knife, but she didn't scare me. Or at least, I couldn't let her know she scared me as much as she did. I reached back and squeezed her knee. "How you doing back there?" she instantly pulled away, her eyes darting out the window. I could see her roll them in the rear view mirror. "You know this whole pretending to hate me thing is getting a little silly."

Ric scoffed. "I don't think she's pretending. You did kill her brother."

"There is a huge asterisk next to that statement." Did no one realize that the little punk was still walking around? "He came back to life."

"Yeah," she finally spoke. "thanks to a ring you didn't know he was wearing."

"Why are you so sure I didn't know?"

I could feel her eyes boring into the back of my head. "Did you?"

"Yes." I looked back at her, smiling.

She did not return the gesture. "You're lying."

"Elena, I saw the ring. It's a big tacky thing. It's hard to miss."

She curled back into her cocoon of silence, speaking only to Ric until we reached Duke. When the car stopped and she got out I tried to grab her elbow, hold her back so we could talk but she shrugged me off and followed Alaric inside. "So Isobel was officially employed by the Anthropology Department given that most paranormal phenomena is rooted in folklore." We walked through the main meeting area of the hall. A woman with dark hair jumped at the sound of our presence. "Hi, excuse me. I'm Alaric Saltzman. I called earlier."

"Yes." She smiled, laughed a little. "Of course, I'm Vanessa Monroe; research assistant. Comparative Folklore" I couldn't help looking her over, thinking those long legs could assistant my research any time. She glanced at us, but there was something not so welcoming in her eyes. "Oh, let me just grab Isobel's keys."

Something about her set me off, and it seemed Ric as well. "Sorry, my friends; Elena and Damon. I hope this isn't an imposition."

"Oh please," she smiled, walking over to the desk. "Isobel's office is right through there." I took a quick look around; eyeing the exits in case we needed a quick getaway. There was just something about this girl. "Isobel was one of my first professors. I'm a grad student. She was brilliant; one of the reasons I went into folklore." She rested her hip on the desk. "I have to ask…um…has there been any news?"

"No…" Ric shook his head fractionally. "no I'm afraid not." At least none that she would want to hear. She looked disappointed but didn't ask anything more.

"It's right through here." She unlocked the door, guiding us into an office, one that appeared not to have been open in a while. There was a definite musty tone to the air and it was dark save for the sun coming in through the window. "I'll get the light. Feel free to look around. It's fascinating isn't it?"

It was just a little too quiet and I looked back to find we were alone. "Where did she go?"

Elena gasped and I looked up, seeing the scene and taking the only second I had to react. The crossbow's arrow flew through air, sinking deep into my back as I covered Elena's body with mine. She looked scared, more than that but the vervain dipped head injected into my bloodstream and I crumpled. It wasn't much, but it was enough.

Elena's POV- Duke

Ric had shoved Vanessa against the wall, disarming her and then dragged her out of the office. I knelt next to Damon on the ground, helping him to his feet. The vervain must have been old because the effects were already beginning to wear off as I got him over to the desk. The wound had done nothing to affect his cocky demeanor. "Pull it out." He ordered through gritted teeth and I tightened my grip on the arrow, considering leaving it there or twisting it just because I could. "I can't reach it Elena. Just pull the damn thing out; it hurts." I pulled the arrow straight out of his back, hearing is his groan of pain. I hadn't been the one to shoot him, but it did feel a little nice knowing I'd caused him discomfort by pulling it out. "That bitch is dead." He promised, turning around.

"Uh, you're not gonna kill her." I blocked the door, and for a second he looked like he was going to fight me. Instead, he merely smirked. Using that voice.

"Watch me." He brushed past me.

"You touch her and I swear I will never speak to you again."

He looked back at me, smirking; just a little. "What makes you think that has any power over me? Because I took an arrow in the back for you?" He sauntered back over to me and I knew I'd won. "You are seriously overestimating yourself."

"Right. I forgot that I was speaking to a psychotic mind who snaps and kills people impulsively. Fine, go ahead; do whatever you want."

He looked down at me; half amused, half wondering. "You're trying to manipulate me."

"If manipulate you mean tell the truth; okay…guilty." I crossed my arms, my shoulders a little less tense now that he wasn't trying to touch me. Why was he always trying to touch me? His smirk was worthy of a good smack but then he would know I cared enough to use violence. "Okay."

I walked around him, ready to deal with whatever my birth mother's crazy assistant was about to hand us next.

Damon's POV

I shifted through stacks and stacks of useless notes. This chick really didn't use pointform. Like ever. I heard Vanessa move toward Elena, listening closely but staying back. She promised she wouldn't be a threat and we wouldn't learn anything if I hovered over them the entire time "This box tracks Katherine's arrival to Mystic Falls in April of 1864."

"Is that all there is about her?" Elena sounded disappointed.

"All that I'm aware of."

"Here." I heard Elena whisper, feeling her eyes on me. I could always tell when she was looking at me. "Take this."

"Does vervain really work?" Vanessa asked quietly.

"Nope, not all." I called back into the office, imagining Elena rolling her eyes.

"Can he hear us?"

I lowered my tone to a whisper like them. "No, that would be creepy."

"Can he read minds too?" she asked and I took my opportunity, turning to face them.

"If you wanna see me naked; all you have to do is ask."

Elena glared. "No, that he can't do." The look on her face wasn't one of my favorites, and I realized I really missed her smile. "But he is very capable of being a first-rate jackass."

I couldn't help my smirk; at least I was first rate something to her.

Elena was standing by the window; her frustration more evident with every passing second. I moved over to her, desperate for some kind of contact. "Any luck?"

"There's nothing in here about Katherine that we don't already know."

I took a deep breath, reeling her in. "Oh man, you know it's a bummer we're not friends anymore. I could tell you what I know."

She looked back at me. "Now who's manipulating who?"

Ric called us over, interrupting us with Vanessa and the story of the sun and the moon curse. It all sounded like too much to me but then again I was also a fictitious character part of that legend and if vampires were obviously real it wasn't that far of a stretch for werewolves to be too. And if they only turned once a month it would be a lot easier for them to hide their true nature than vampires were slaves to the sun, and also blood. The news however that a bite from these monsters could kill me was fairly unsettling, but if I'd gone over a hundred years without running into them it was safe to say I was less likely to be put in danger by one now.

We would just have to get rid of any threats of course.

I watched from the corner as Elena pulled out a picture of Katherine. I could only see the profile of her face, but she looked almost pained looking at it. She looked at Vanessa, and I kept one eye on them. "Hey…um, have you done any research on dopplegangers?"

"Well the word means a lot of different things to different cultures but typically a doppelganger is a living, breathing, double of oneself."

"Did Isobel have anything that'd explain the link between me and Katherine?"

"That's all she had on Katherine unfortunately." Vanessa pointed at the box. Elena looked over at me quickly and I snapped the book I was holding closed, pretending I hadn't been listening. "I can tell you that doppelgangers usually torment the people they look like. Trying to undo their lives. It's not exactly uplifting."

Elena sighed, turning the picture over and then back. "And more things we already know. Just…I wanna know why we look alike."

I sighed. "Head scratcher isn't it?"

You could almost see the frustration steaming off her. She needed to get laid; or answers would probably do the trick also. She wasn't going to get either from me though. "Do you know something, or are you just being yourself?"

"Well, if I know anything; I'm not gonna tell you. Not with that attitude."

"That's good, and this is coming from someone who wants to be my friend. But you know what? Friends don't manipulate friends; they help each other."

She set the picture of Katherine down back in the box and pushed past me. If friends didn't manipulate friends then what did she call what she was doing? Ric stood, starting to pack up. "It's late, we should really get going."

Vanessa nodded, and stood too. I held my hand out to Ric. "Can I have the keys?"

"Give her some time Damon." Ric sighed, moving away from me.

"Give me the keys Ric." I said again, dark but calm.

He shook his head, then reached into his pocket and tossed them at me. "If she stakes you, I'm not coming to your funeral."

I smirked and stepped back. The dark binding of a book caught my eye and the gold lettering glinted 'Petrova'. When Vanessa's back was turned I swiped it and left the office. I found Elena standing, tugging at the door handle of the jeep. "Here," I held up the keys and pushed the unlock button. The vehicle beeped and I reached for the handle. "allow me." I slid inside the door as she tried to get in, our bodies blocking each other. She didn't look comfortable this close to me. "You're not going to be able to hate me forever."

"Can we just go?"

I sighed. It wasn't like I deserved another chance from her, but that didn't stop me from wanting it. "You didn't dig deep enough." I said softly, handing her the book.

She looked at the spine. "Petrova? I saw this on the shelf."

"Katherine originally came from Europe. Petrova was her real name. Katerina Petrova to be exact."

"How did you know that?"

"Back when, I saw it engraved on an old heirloom. Men snoop too you know. Let me know what you find; I'm very curious myself." She didn't thank me, but tried to get in the car again. "You have every right to hate me. I understand. But, you hated me before and we became friends. It would suck if that was gone forever. So…is it? Have I lost you forever?"

She gave me a small smile. "Thank you for the book Damon."

I let her in and closed the door behind her, still not really sure if she was just playing me or not…but I would find out.

The drive home was silent, but a bit more comfortable then the ride there. Elena had the book in her arms, hugging it to her chest almost the entire way. It could very well hold all the answers to the questions she needed and I couldn't help thinking that maybe I would get a little credit for the ease it would put to her mind. Ric was the first one to break the silence when we pulled up in front of her house. "Give me a few minutes with Jenna okay?"

"Okay." Elena nodded, undoing her belt.

We sat in silence, just staring out into the night. Her phone buzzed and she answered it, getting all of the nights information from Stefan. She sounded worried, but not panicked. Things must be under control. When she got off the phone, I slipped out of the passenger seat and opened her door for her. She didn't smile, just slid past me and started walking towards the house. "Road trips were well for us." I teased, following her to the door.

"This doesn't mean that things are back to the way they used to be Damon."

"Oh come on. You know I chipped a little bit off your wall of hatred." She stopped, keys in her hands. She was ready to go inside, close the door and leave me standing alone on the porch.

"I need to know the truth…" she faced me and I could have groaned. It was so hard to lie to those eyes. "When you broke Jeremy's neck did you know that he was wearing the ring?"

I could lie, I could. She would probably know…or I might even get away with it for a time. But eventually she would find out and we would go through all of this again. If I was honest now she would take the time she needed to hate me, and maybe she would get over it. "No…no I didn't. Katherine really pissed me off, and I snapped, and…I got lucky with the ring. I don't know what I would have done if he wasn't wearing it. Elena, I'm sorry."

"Thank you for being honest with me." Relief flooded me, but there was something in her eyes that held me back. She knew my apology had been sincere but that didn't erase the fact of what I'd done. "And the answer to your question about our friendship; is yes. You have lost me forever."

We shared a look, and for the first time I saw Katherine in her. If it hadn't hurt so much I would have been proud. "But you knew that already didn't you? You used me today."

"You had information about Katherine that I needed to know."

"I thought friends don't manipulate friends. You and Katherine have a lot more in common than just your looks."

I turned then and left her, standing there. If she wanted to act like Katherine then she could have everything that bitch had. Including spending an eternity alone.

a/n: I am a lot more excited for the later episodes in this season. I hate writing them mad at each other. You think it would be easy since they are always fighting but it's not. I do really love this journey back in time through all their moments.

New chapters coming soon!