A/N: A HUGE, HUGE thanks to CeceVolume for beta-ing and encouraging me, as well as all you beautiful followers and reviewers. Thank you so much!

CHAPTER TEN

They had all been completely silent the car ride home, something that Damon was appreciative of. His thoughts had been so scattered and unfocused at first but now as he went up to his room they were completely clear. He ignored the fact that Elena told Stefan to let her handle it as she followed him up the stairs, ignored that she was close behind him as he found the back of his closet and undid the panel hiding stakes and crossbows. He grabbed one with such single-minded focus, the guilt and self-hate replacing the blood in his veins that wasn't even his, and pulled back the stake as he stood only to have Elena shout at him as she moved to grab it. He moved fast, growling at her and letting his fangs show. She didn't shrink back this time, looking so angry that he paused. "Stop it, Damon. Do it and I'll follow you. I'm dead enough anyway, right?"

"I killed someone, Elena," He snapped back, his voice rough as he did so. "I snapped his neck and I didn't even care."

"We'll get through it." She said firmly. "It'll get easier-,"

"Do you even understand what you're saying?" He shouted, "Let's keep the potential serial killer alive, he just needs time and love. Screw the people he might kill along the way-,"

Elena went to grab the stake once more and he dodged. She groaned, yelling, "I don't care! I'm not going to let you kill yourself when there's a chance you can work through this. It wasn't your fault. That wasn't you-"

"Of course it was!" He argued, "I'm jealous and impulsive and selfish and now that can get people killed-,"

"It's not you. You're stronger than that."

"God, do you realize how selfish keeping me alive is?" Damon retorted, but she raised her chin and looked him dead in the eyes with such a fierce look that he paused. "So be it."

He watched her after that, realizing that even though she was letting her anger control her at the moment she was still trembling, still only seconds from falling apart. They were so alike sometimes, so completely headstrong and protective of the people they loved, no matter what the cost. Even though Elena looked after everyone and Damon- well other than Stefan, Damon only looked after Elena. He was at a loss. He knew he had to protect her but if things continued to stay this way he still might just as easily become the problem. "I can't do this Elena, it's not right for you."

"I can't lose anyone else, Damon." She begged.

"You're going to lose me eventually anyway." He replied softly, his voice cracking. "Once you survive all this- you're going to have children and grow old. You can't do that with me."

She shook her head, the tears finally falling this time. "I need you now. Stefan needs you. We can worry about everything later, just put down the stake."

"Elena, you-,"

"Put down the stake."

"Elena," He said one more time, but she had closed the distance between them and this time he let her. She took the stake, throwing it further off onto the floor, her arms going around his waist as she pulled him into a tight embrace. He could feel her shake now, feel the tears fall against his shoulder. She sobbed, and he held her, buried his face into her sweet smelling hair and tried not to focus on the blood. It was complete and utter torture that what should have been his greatest comfort was now also his most horrifying temptation. He felt his own tears get mixed into her hair and he was glad she wouldn't feel them.

"So Caroline, when did you move to Mystic Falls?"

Caroline looked over from where she sat in the passenger seat and glared. "I agreed to let you drive me home, not to a conversation."

Nick raised his eyebrows and pursed his lips, seeming to understand that she was completely offended by his personality and that things wouldn't be easy with her anytime soon. "You know, most girls your age would love having a rich college boy paying them so much attention."

"Most girls my age are idiots." She snapped back, briefly remembering with distaste that she had acted just as he had described and somewhat worse when she had really been eighteen. "And stop acting like I owe you something because you looked my way."

He glanced at her, looking away from the road, his face so suddenly serious as he said, "You're different."

There was an affectionate undertone that didn't get past her as he said it, something that made sure she knew that he liked it. Caroline felt herself becoming even more flustered. All she had to do was endure a few more minutes at least. She looked out the window, watching the moon as she wondered how Stefan and Elena were handling Damon. Everything had gone so horribly unexpected since she set foot in this town.

"You really should see how the moon is lighting up your face right now-,"

"And you should really know that I'm not seduced by flattery." She retorted easily, getting more and more annoyed at the constant harassment.

He smiled. "I apologize. My sister Rebekah constantly complains that I can get a bit obsessive. You should meet her sometime, she has the same sarcastic attitude towards me as you."

Caroline smiled in return, her lips pulled much tighter. "Well at least she has good taste."

It was then that they pulled up to the driveway and before Caroline could bolt out of the car Nick locked it right as her hand flew to the handle. He grinned. "Let me walk you to the door?"

She was sorely tempted to just break the car door off herself and walk away but if she was wrong about her suspicions or a neighbor was nearby she would regret it. Instead she reminded herself that there were more important things than bashing this guys head in, like finding out if he was a vampire or not. She blew out the frustrated breath she was holding and gestured her hand at the door. His mischievous smirk continued as he quickly got out of the vehicle and walked around to open her door, causing her to mutter "seriously?" under her breath. He offered his hand to help her out and she knowingly ignored it as she exited the expensive car. He walked beside her to the door, keeping up with her fast pace, and she moved to turn the doorknob just as he asked, "No goodnight kiss?"

She opened the door, stepping over the threshold and turning around with a big smile. "Why don't you come get it?"

The playfulness left his features and was replaced with a more darker sort of amusement. "I am impressed. You caught on much quicker than others have."

"You weren't exactly subtle." She chided with irritation. "What the hell were you doing with Damon?"

"Ah, well he likes to brag, that one. Showed me a picture of his girlfriend almost the first day I met him. Such a funny coincidence."

"You're looking for the doppelganger." Caroline said, her stomach plummeting as she stepped further back into the house for safety.

Nick's eyebrows raised a bit at her reaction, and she cursed herself for not playing more coy. "You know what she is? I assume that you've run across Katerina then..."

Caroline's chin raised as she pressed her lips together, showing her stubborn defiance. He smiled all the same, but it was nothing like the teasing earlier. This was dark and threatening, the kind of smile that let her know she wasn't the only person on the top of the food chain in Mystic Falls. "Fair enough, I have little use of her now. As to your question about Damon, he practically still had Stefan's blood on his lips, didn't he?"

"You're old then, aren't you? If you're looking for Katherine and the doppelganger." She asked, her voice not nearly as strong and confident as it had been all this evening. Caroline couldn't help but remember the rare glimpses she had seen of Katherine's vulnerability- all relating to fear of these vampires. And if Katherine was scared, then Caroline knew she was flirting with a more permanent death at this moment.

"Old sounds so trivial, love." He said, idly leaning against one of the porch posts. "I'm an Original."

She heard the whimper barely escape her throat.

Stefan paced the porch floor of Sheila Bennet's home wondering whether or not he really had the guts to knock on the door. He had heard Bonnie complain about her grandmother's ramblings on witchcraft and the supernatural, knew that she taught about all these things at the local college, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to send him to the closest mental hospital as soon as he spoke.

"Boy, you are going to run tracks through the wood if you keep that up. Why don't you let yourself in."

His head shot up as he looked and saw Shiela sitting inside on the couch underneath the open window, her back facing him as he read a book, hearing her voice through the screen. She always had that eery sixth sense about her, he thought. He awkwardly followed her advice and opened the door, stepping through into the living room. She looked up at him with a small smile and he shrugged a little. "Sorry, I don't think I've been here since Damon and I were kids-,"

"After you broke that window running around town with bb guns, I remember. I don't think I ever seen you two so scared in your lives. As soon as Damon realized I wasn't going to turn you into frogs he told me every joke in the book about witches."

Stefan laughed, remembering, "Why did the witch give up fortune-telling?"

"There was no future in it." Sheila replied, shaking her head. "My, you two boys have grown. But enough of my nonsense, you tell me what has you so troubled. Come on, sit down."

Suddenly he found all the lightheartedness was gone from the moment as he slowly made his way to the chair across from her and she poured him a cup of ready made tea. He frowned. "You, uh, you seem to know a lot about that sort of stuff. Do you believe any of it?"

She raised her chin, her eyes looking down on him in such a studious fashion that he fidgeted despite himself and she said, "I don't waste myself with nonsense."

He nodded, unsure where to start from there but she spoke before he could. "Is this about that new girl in town? Caroline?"

Stefan looked up from the floor with confusion to see her wicked smile. "Bonnie tells me some things. She doesn't quite understand what's going on though, and I mean to keep it that way."

A warning. Stefan nodded and Sheila continued. "Now Bonnie said that girl felt weird when she touched her, like death, same thing that happened when she brushed by one of her friends. That mean anything to you?"

He didn't say anything, unwilling to disclose so early, but she saw through him. "I see. Well what are you looking for here? I don't deal with no vampires."

"Damon. The other one, she turned him." He confessed, at a desperate breaking point, "And Caroline's been trying to help us keep him in line but I don't know if it's working and- I can't lose my brother, Sheila. Not after Dad. And Elena-,"

She breathed in a deep and large sigh, before saying, "Tell me everything."

Caroline replayed the words in her head one more time, "I'm an Original," feeling herself going into shock as everything Katherine had told her came back to mind. "They're faster, they're stronger, they're smarter, they can sense new vampires, and if that wasn't enough they can even compel other vampires. If you come across one, you're dead."

"Are you going to kill me?" She asked breathlessly.

He watched her, an affectionate smile emerging and twisting into that terrifying face of his. "After we just reunited? What would be the point?"

"What? I've never met y-," She began, but he stepped forward as far as he could causing her to hastily back up a few steps more.

"Oh come on, love, come back outside. I'd hate to burn the house down just to get to you." He requested, the threat sounding odd the way he said it so nicely. "Promise I won't hurt you."

She felt the words catch in her throat, noticing the dangerous look in his eyes before she finally stepped back out, her whole body shaking.

He was over to her in a flash, his hands going to her face as he stood desperately close in front of her. She felt her heart race in fear, something she hadn't felt in so many ages that it was overwhelming, her breathing becoming ragged as he stared into her eyes. He didn't say anything for a moment, just stroked her cheek and pushed a strand of her hair back, before finally whispering, "Remember, Caroline."