Sorry for the lack of update and for the short chapter. I was very busy this past weekend and couldn't update. The next chapter will be a lengthy one. I just want to remind my readers again that this is my submission for NaNoWriMo and that I try not to edit until the month is over. So I apologize if there are mistakes. In regards to those who are saying that a few characters are OOC, this is my story and I'm trying hard to keep with the timeline of the show and to keep characters on character as much as possible. I apologize if that doesn't happen all of the time.

I want to dedicate this chapter to xthesebonesx who left me a pretty awesome review on tumblr as well as to dhfreak who created a brand spanking her cover for the story. You guys rock.

I hope you guys enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries, and I have no rights to any of it.

Remedies

Three hours had passed.

Three house since Bonnie had started searching for any clue as to Caroline's memory loss. Pounding on her heart since she left the hospital was the question that drove her search. If Klaus had cured her, why were her memories gone? His blood should have cured her entirely, right? The whole situation made no sense. She flipped through another grimoire, examining each page carefully. Nothing.

Leaning her head back against the couch, she groaned, "This makes no sense."

"Struggling?" A voice spoke behind her. She craned her head to look and saw Stefan taking off his jacket at the doorway to the living room.

"You have no idea," she rolled her eyes in frustration. "Nothing. There is nothing about why this happened to her."

Stefan walked around the couch and sat down next to her, picking up a book. "You know, I don't really understand any of this," he gave her a look. "But, if it'll make you feel better, I'll pretend to look."

Bonnie chuckled a little at this and returned a smile, happy that someone was willing to stay and keep her company. Elena and Damon had disappeared within the hour they had arrived. Bonnie knew what was going on and it made her sick thinking about it. Damon was proving, once again, how much of an ass he really was.

As if reading her mind, Stefan spoke, "You wouldn't happen to know where Elena might be …?"

Bonnie's eyes widened and she averted her gaze to the open book before her. Crap. She knew she couldn't lie.

"To be honest, Stefan," she ran her hand through her hair, resting her head in her hand, meeting his gaze. "She's with Damon."

His mouth shut, lips smoothing into a hard line.

She continued speaking, "I don't know where though. They disappeared a few hours ago." She went back to reading her book, hoping that the conversation would end. Elena was her best friend and although she hated Damon with a fiery passion, she could not send her friend down the river. Stefan just exhaled, staring forward.

"I can't help but think that … I don't know. Everything's changed since we turned." He finally spoke breathlessly, his gaze never leaving the burning fireplace before him. Bonnie looked at him through the corner's of her eyes, waiting for him to continue.

"We haven't spoken for days," he ran his hand through his hair. "Every time I see her, she is when him." Bonnie could sense the stress in his voice, feel his pain. God I hate them being human, she thought to herself. She placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Next time you see her, you should talk to her."

"I don't know …"

"Stefan," Bonnie said harshly. "I'm sorry, but I'm going to be honest again." Stefan turned to meet her gaze. "Ignoring the situation, pushing it under the rug for the time being is not going to fix anything or make any of you feel better."

Stefan took a deep breath, "Yeah, you're probably right."

"I'm always right." Bonnie said jokingly bringing a smile to Stefan's otherwise brooding face.

"Well … do you mind if I'm honest?," He asked, looking at her. She intertwined her hands on the pages of the book and nodded. "The distance that we've had these last few days … between Elena and I … was, oddly enough," he turned away, "a breath of fresh air."

Bonnie was taken aback, not in disgust or anger, but in surprise.

"I just …" His voice trailed as he looked at his hands. "I can't do this anymore. Competing with my brother, working so hard for nothing." He subtly shook his head.

Bonnie heard his voice shake. She knew he was torn up inside over the events from the past few days. Becoming human, Caroline almost dying … losing Elena.

She wrapped her arm around his shoulder in an attempt at comfort, "Then don't do it anymore, Stefan. Talk to her. Figure it out. But since she's not here right now ..." She grabbed a book she knew was in English and plopped it down on his lap. "Let's just concentrate on fixing Caroline, okay?"

Stefan nodded and opened the book. They both sat in silence, the fire roaring before them.

Klaus was back home, sitting in Rebekah's room by candlelight. She was dead asleep, whispering to herself, and he was restless.

He had grabbed a candelabra from one of the guest rooms and, after placing candles, had lit it so he could see his work. He was sitting in one of the old Victorian chairs that they had swiped from the early 1800's. It had become his favorite drawing companion and was one of the most comfortable chairs in their possession. Leaning back in the chair, he was reminded once again of his lost immortality. He was now ... three days older? He couldn't keep track. But I need to, he cursed himself. Now that he was human, each day mattered. He couldn't live his life knowing that he had a million more days ahead of himself. There was a list, his counted days. Once they were used up, that was it. He felt a heaviness in his chest at the thought.

His hand was crossing the paper, charcoal smearing all over his hand. He was sketching, throwing his pain and worry into art. The flame from the many candles were casting little movements, dancing all over his drawing. It was very nostalgic to him and reminded him of the days before electricity. Those were the days, he told himself, reaching over and taking a drink from the glass on the table. He had made sure he was plenty drunk after leaving Caroline's home and had decided to let all of his pent up aggression, and sexual tension, out onto the canvas.

His hand twitched across the paper, adding detail after detail. He was making sure to capture every detail he could, put it down to paper. The way he had always put things to memory in the past.

Caroline, Caroline, Caroline, his mind whispered. Even when intoxicated, losing all control of his mind and body, he couldn't stop himself from drawing the delicate curves of her face and the smooth curls that hung about her shoulders. Drawing her had become a muscle memory, a nasty habit he couldn't shake and it perplexed him down to his core.

He shaded the final space below her neckline and leaned back to admire his work, his eyes scanning the entirety of the piece. There was just something about her that he could not place. He took his thumb and slowly ran it over the lips he had drawn, as to not smear the charcoal. Something …

He then ripped the sketch out of the book and crushed it within his palms and threw it to the floor. His plan had been to give her a new drawing, something more meaningful, but everything he had attempted so far was petty and stupid. Cursing himself, he leaned back in his chair placing his charcoal covered hands over his face.

Exhaustion, and the overdose of alcohol, was overwhelming and soon, without his doing, he was sleeping in the chair, the candles burning through the night.

"Do you think this is such a good idea?" Stefan asked Bonnie as she lit a few candles, placing them in a semicircle in front of her. Stefan was sitting on the couch, a glass of scotch in his hand, watching her.

"It's worth a shot," Bonnie looked at him. "If I can contact Grams, maybe she can tell us what we're overlooking." Stefan nodded as Bonnie closed her eyes, her palms facing upwards. "You should probably leave." She nodded towards the door, before closing her eyes. Stefan stood up to leave, taking a swig of his glass.

"Pro animabus antecessorum meorum testor me loqui. Lumen, inquam etc," Bonnie softly began chanting, the flames on the candles growing taller with each word.

Stefan was almost out of the room when she abruptly stopped chanting, the sudden change causing him to turn and look at her. She sat there frozen, her gaze cast upwards. Stefan turned his head to see what she was focusing on, but saw nothing. After a few silent moments, he turned and headed into the kitchen, placing himself on one of the stools.
He looked down at the watered-down drink in his hand, contemplating making another, when he heard the back door to the house open. Curiosity pushed him towards the back of the house as he heard two familiar voices fill up the mud room. As he turned the corner, he saw Damon shutting the white french doors, Elena standing next to him laughing.

"Elena …" Stefan spoke. She turned quickly, dropping her hands loosely by her side.

"Stefan." They stood there awkwardly, staring at each other.

Damon broke the silence, "You know, someone should take the initiative and clean up this blood." He raised his hand and gasped sarcastically, "Me?! Who would have thought." His gaze switched between the two of them as he walked past Stefan and into the kitchen, leaving them alone.

"Where's Bonnie-?"

"In the living room," Stefan interrupted her. "She's trying to contact Grams to see if she knows anything about what happened to Caroline."

Elena nodded, casting her gaze downward, causing her hair to fall down in front of her face. This movement sent Stefan towards her, on instinct, reaching his hand out and tucking the hair behind her ear. Elena closed her eyes at the touch before looking deep into his eyes, their face inches apart.

"Stefan .." She whispered.

"Where have you been?" Stefan calmly asked. "Bonnie has been in here by herself for most of the night."

Elena fumbled with her words, "Damon and I got hungry so we decided to get something to eat .."

"For three hours?" Stefan tilted his head, searching her eyes. Elena went to defend herself when another voice spoke.

"We lost track of time, brother," Damon had reentered the room. Stefan and Elena turned their heads to see him carrying a few wet towels and a bottle of disinfecting spray. "Oh .. don't mind me. Carry on." He crossed by them and began cleaning the blood off of the door. Stefan shook his head, upset.

"There is so much going on right now," he sneered at Damon. "and all you can do is joke around." Damon stopped cleaning and turned to look at him. Stefan narrowed his eyes, "But I don't know what I expected from you, you've always been the world's biggest dick."

Damon threw down the wet towel, taking a few angry steps towards Stefan, "At least I know how to make light out of the worst situations."

"By hanging around my girlfriend behind my back?" Stefan spat.

Damon made a face and looked at Elena, "You didn't seem to care that much for her or her safety ... if my memory serves me right." Stefan reached out and grabbed his shirt.

Elena protested, "Stefan stop."

"Why Elena?" Stefan pushed his brother up against the doors, screaming "So my brother can just rip you away from me?"

The room was silent.

Damon looked deep into his brother's eyes, compassion surfacing and his gaze softening, "I'm really sorry, brother."

For the first time, Stefan let the reality sink in. He knew what had been happening, how far he had lost her to him. He had just been pushing the reality away until now. In the heat of things, he had put his best friend ahead of his girlfriend, paying the ultimate price. Damon had been there for Elena, wherein he had not.

He let go of his brother and took a step back, his head turning to meet Elena's. Tears were streaming down her face as she mouthed, "I'm so sorry, Stefan."

Stefan turned back to face Damon's penetrating eyes.

"I am too," Stefan spoke before rearing back and connecting his fist to Damon's jaw, with such force that it sent him to the ground. Damon hit the hardwood floor with a smack.

"Damon!" Elena screamed, rushing to his side. He was knocked out cold. Elena looked back up at Stefan, angry. She was about to yell something at him when Bonnie entered the room.

"What's going on?" Bonnie asked desperately, looking between Elena and Damon on the floor and Stefan who was standing over them, glaring. "Stefan?" He turned to look at her. She had blood smeared under her nose and her hand was shaking, clutching an old tin. The sight of her drove away his adrenaline rush.

"Bonnie, are you okay? What happened?" He asked with much concern.

"I'm fine. I held on too long is all," She wiped under her nose, clearing the remaining blood that had been stuck there. She held out the tin in her hand.

"Grams couldn't say much," Stefan wrapped his hand around the tin, peering inside. "But she said there was talk on the other side of consequences of messing with the forces of nature. Which is something I know we've heard countless times ..."

Elena had Damon's head cradled in her lap, but had been listening, "So, what does it mean this time?" She asked, keeping her eyes away from Stefan. Bonnie took a deep breath and leaned against the wall.

"It took me awhile to put the pieces together. But basically since Esther turned vampires back into humans, using vampire blood would come with consequences." She slid down the wall until she was sitting on the floor, her hands in her lap. "Honestly though, I have no idea. None of this makes sense to me and since this is the first time in history for this to happen, there is nothing written either."

Stefan nodded, "Can you try and contact Grams again? Maybe see if she can tell anything else?" Bonnie shook her head.

"No. Grams told me to stay away, to stop trying to contact her for the time being. She said there was a big disturbance on the other side, but wouldn't tell me what. She wouldn't even give me anything on Abby either." Bonnie frowned.

"Do you think we should be worried?" Stefan asked.

"I … honestly don't know. I can't see why there would be anything to worry about anymore. You are no longer vampires. All of the balance should be in order. Like I said, none of this makes any sense to me."

Damon began to stir. Stefan held up the tin to Bonnie, raising his eyebrows.

"And this is …?"

Bonnie was quick to explain, "Grams mentioned a spell that might help with Caroline's memory loss. Those tea leaves, which I just spelled, when consumed should help restore her memories. It may take awhile and she'll have to take it twice a day. But, if the spell works, she should be fine in a few weeks. I'm just concerned on how we'll get her to take it without her growing suspicious." Damon's eyes shot open.

"Ow," Damon grimaced, rolling off Elena's lap and onto the floor. His eye gazed up, meeting Stefan's. "You happy?"

Stefan gave him a stern look in return, "Very."

Elena rolled her eyes, shaking her head as she helped Damon stand. His face was bleeding from where he hit his head on the floor and there was a large bruise forming on his jaw. She ran her hand over his face in comfort. Stefan quickly turned his eyes away and met Bonnie's, his stomach sick from the sight of them together.

"I think you and Elena should spend tomorrow with Caroline. Get her out of the house, get her feeling comfortable with herself again." He handed the tin back to Bonnie. "You know what to do with this better than anyone." Bonnie nodded in agreement. Stefan didn't look at Elena to see if she agreed, he couldn't.

Bonnie reached out to grasp Stefan's shoulder, but he shrugged away and headed out of the room without saying another word. I can't do this anymore, he reminded himself. He then walked up the stairs and into his room, slamming the door behind himself in anger.

Without thinking, he walked over to his desk, that was planted in the center of the room, and threw everything off with one shove, making a loud crash as it met the floor. His hand then wrapped around his desk lamp and with a loud unintelligible yell, he sent it flying across the room, smashing against the opposite wall. The room was now dark as glass was scattered across the floor. Stefan just stood there.

Why? Just … why?

He was utterly alone now and it killed him. He obviously couldn't find comfort in Elena or talk to Damon, just thinking about them made him sick. His next instinct was to run to Caroline. But that was impossible now that she didn't have her memories. He couldn't rush anything with her, couldn't risk ruining their relationship. No, he had to keep a lengthy distance for the time being. For now, he would be alone, lost in his own thoughts and destroyed by his dreams.

He placed his head in his hands and sat down on the edge of the bed in despair, the moonlight casting the window's shadow across his back as he wept.

Not a lot of Klaroline/Steroline (or even Caroline) in this chapter and I apologize for that.
Next chapter will have a bunch of all three and I will be updating tomorrow, so you won't have to wait long.

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Thanks a lot guys!