First thing I did when I saw her stupid face again was break the closest chair to me and use the splintered leg as a makeshift stake. Stefan got to me before I could jam it into her heart, and the English bitch stared at me with wide, alarmed eyes. A feral snarl vibrated up my chest and spat unattractively from my mouth. Damon leaned back against a table and watched with an amused smirk as Stefan struggled to hold me.

"A little help?" he hissed to his brother irritatedly. Damon didn't reply, bringing his bourbon glass to his lips and taking a generous sip. It didn't take long for me to break the weaker vampire's hold. I shoved him off, sending him shooting back into the couch and ran at Rose with everything I had.

I hadn't stopped to remember that I knew she was older than me. By a lot.

She snatched the stake from my hand and sent it flying into the fire, then shoved me back so I sprawled out on the floor. My head hit the rug with a loud crack, and spots appeared in my vision as I gained a concussion. I lay staring at the rafters for a long while, waiting for my body to heal. Eventually a hand appeared in my vision and seeing Damon's distinctive ring so much like my own, I took it, allowing him to pull me to my feet. "I'm not here to hurt you," Rose said placatingly, holding out her hands as though it would calm me. "I'm just here to talk. And maybe be of some help."

I wasn't completely unreasonable – though it might have had something to do with Damon stepping in and vouching for her after listening to her story – so I put off my attack and poured myself a generous glass of whiskey, settling into an armchair by the fire and curling up, pouting at everyone who glanced at me. Elena arrived not long after, and though she was as equally shocked as I was, she had a much less violent reaction. She was desperate enough for answers that she was happy to sit as Rose paced before her, letting everything she knew spill.

"Okay, you have to understand I only know what I've picked up over the years. I don't know what's true and what's not true," she said, glancing at Elena cautiously.

The young human glanced to me where I sat beside her, distrust and unsureness in her pretty brown eyes. I wasn't sure what she wanted from me, reassurance, perhaps? So I placed my free hand over hers and squeezed. Something like relief dripped over her face and I pulled back, happy to have been of some help.

"That's the problem with all this vampire crap. But Klaus, I know, is real."

"Who's Klaus?" Elena asked as I took a sip of my drink. The very name sent a thrill through me. He was three parts nightmare and two parts wet-dream. For me at least, going by the stories.

"He's one of the originals," Damon supplied from his place to our left. "He's a legend."

"From the first generation of vampires," Stefan added for clarification.

"Like Elijah?"

"No. Elijah was the Easter bunny compared to Klaus," Rose interrupted. "He's a foot soldier. Klaus is the real deal."

"Klaus is known to be the oldest," Stefan said as Damon rolled his eyes, glancing at me with a smirk. I twitched my lips back at him before turning my attention back to Rose.

"Alright, so you're saying that the oldest vampire in the history of time is coming after me?" Elena asked incredulously, eyes darting between us all. I clicked my tongue, neither confirming nor denying her statement.

"Yes."

"No."

"What they're saying is, and I mean if what she's saying is true-" Damon began, pushing himself off the armchair he was rested against and striding to the centre of the group.

"Which it is."

"And you're not just saying it so we don't kill you."

"Which I'm not."

"Then we're looking at a solid...maybe." I rolled my eyes at him, sipping my drink and mumbling about being surrounded by idiots.

"Look, Elijah's dead. Right? So no one else even knows that you exist," Stefan said, moving over to sit on Elena's other side. I smirked as she shifted away from him slightly.

"Well, not that you know of."

"That's not helping."

"Look, I've never even met anyone who's laid eyes on him," Stefan interrupted them seriously, clearly trying to comfort Elena. "We're talking centuries of truth mixed with fiction. We don't know he's real. For all we know he could just be some sort of stupid bedtime story."

I pursed my lips, looking down at the amber liquid I was swirling around in my glass. Back in the forties, I'd heard some things down in Chicago, things that made my skin crawl with both delight and fear. Things that made me believe, more than ever, in the things that go bump in the night.

"He's real!" Rose exclaimed, standing to her feet. I raised a single eyebrow at the conviction with which she spoke, considering her carefully. "And he doesn't give up. If he wants something, he gets it. If you're not afraid of Klaus, then you're an idiot."

"Alright, we're shaking," Damon interjected. "You've made your point."

Elena heaved a sigh that sounded too heavy for her mere seventeen years as she adjusted the bag on her shoulder and stood to her feet. "Where are you going?" Stefan asked, and I rolled my eyes. Let the girl breathe, brother.

"School," she responded cooly. "I'm late."

"Let me grab my stuff, I'll go with you."

"It's okay. I know where it is."

I cringed at how awkward things suddenly became, burying my face in my glass of alcohol. "Call if you need anything!" I called over my shoulder, making sure to dial back on the standard sarcasm that usually came across in my tone. I wanted her to know I was being genuine. She glanced over her shoulder as she hopped up the stairs and shot me a half smile before turning and slipping out the door.

"She's in denial," Damon sang from his spot beside Rose.

Stefan turned around, levelling his brother with an irritated look. "Shut up, Damon." I guffawed into my glass, looking up at Damon with a barely concealed smirk as Stefan spun on his heel and headed out of the room.

"I guess that leaves us with the fine print," I said tiredly, unfurling from the ball I was folded in and stretching my legs out over to the coffee table, my heeled boots clicking against the polished wood.

"Fine print?" Rose asked, her voice as irritating as her face.

"You clearly have every intention of sticking around," Damon said, crossing his arms and staring at her carefully. "We're the ones who get to keep you on probation."

"Probation?" she repeated with a slow blink, glancing between us hesitantly.

"Probation," I confirmed seriously, straightening my posture and tilting my head at her, challenging her to question me.

"Are there going to be rules I'll need to follow?"

"No killing anyone," Damon said immediately, making both of us look at him in surprise.

"You two hardly seem the type to worry about a trail of corpses," she spoke up, leaning back against the chair behind her and lifting her chin curiously.

"Under normal circumstances," I said, running a hand through my loose hair to keep it off my face. "But we're being smart. This town has a secret council dedicated to ridding it's community of vampires, and we'd like to stay off their radar."

"That sounds like something from a Steven King novel." Neither of us responded, watching her silently. She sighed, rolling her eyes and pushing herself upright, pacing along the floor between us thoughtfully, eyes on her shoes. "Are you at any point going to admit that you might actually need my help?" she asked. "I'm more of an asset to you than anything else."

I glanced at Damon, who at the same moment looked to me. We locked eyes, and had one of our silent conversations. It was quickly decided that we'd humour her, keep her in our good books but by no means suck up. "I'll show you to your room," I said once we'd decided our course of action. I pasted a bright but false smile on my lips, slowly sliding to my feet and moving towards the door. She paused, but eventually followed. I kept one hand wrapped around my glass, the other running along the railing as I led her up the stairs, Damon nodding at me before disappearing into the library.

"It's a lovely house," she said, clearly trying to make conversation. I hummed in response, not in the mood to engage her and simply moved forwards until I got to the eastern landing, turing the handle on a large oak door.

"Sorry about the dust," I said with a smirk as I leaned against the wall, watching as she wandered through the room, eyeing everything closely. "Haven't managed to keep a housekeeper alive for more than a few days. And God knows none of us find time to clean."

"It's okay," she said, shaking her head as she fingered an antique jewellery box on the vanity in the corner. "It's a beautiful room. Were these all yours from when you were human?"

I hesitated, eyeing the silver box laced with pearls. "Most," I answered truthfully, eyes flicking to the copper plated mirror near the window, trying not to think about when I'd received it as a birthday gift from Giuseppe. Rose stepped closer to it, a hand reached out the stroke its surface when she stopped dead, realising the sun was in her way. "Never got a daylight ring yourself?" I asked with veiled curiosity.

"No," she responded, stepping forwards and carefully sliding the thick, heavy red curtains over the window. "Not all of us can have a witch in our pocket."

I nodded, clicking my tongue and taking a sip of my drink. "Blood's downstairs," I told her as I pushed myself off the wall, preparing to leave. "Don't touch anything."

"Thank you," she said suddenly and sincerely. I looked over my shoulder at her, raising one eyebrow in question. "For letting me stay," she explained. "I have nowhere else to go." Tears began to gather in her doe like eyes and I instantly cringed, shifting my weight from foot to foot. "I have-I have no one."

I spun around, striding from the room and down the hall. I discarded my glass on a random table by a doorway and jumped the stairs, appearing beside Damon where he sat reading in the library. "She's crying," I said, spitting the word like it was a curse.

Damon sighed, sliding a bookmark into place in his novel and placing off onto a side table. "Alright Rosebud," he said once he'd led me back to her, looking down at where she sat sobbing with her head in her hands. "We need some answers." He watched as she dried her tears, standing and turning her back from us. "Please don't tell me you're crying cause your buddy Trevor lost his head."

"Has he always been this sensitive?" she asked me, pulling a tissue from the box and cabbing it under her dripping eyes.

My lips twitched before I could stop them, and shortly a full blown smirk sat on my lips as I peered at Damon. "Oh no," I said, crossing my arms and leaning against the wall. "He's usually much worse."

"It's a little vampire switch. You can just-" he made a popping noise with his mouth, motioning like he was flicking off a light. "-for this very reason. Takes the emotion out of it."

"Yeah, you switch yours, I'll switch mine," she said sardonically, crushing her tissue in her hand.

"Is that a dig?"

"It's an observation. Being in love with your brother's girlfriend must be difficult."

I froze, the good-natured grin falling from my face instantly. I scowled at the ground, chewing the inside of my cheek. "I'm not in love with anyone," he responded, serving to only shove the metaphorical knife deeper into my chest. It was probably foolish, but I'd assumed after last night that, well that he felt a certain way. Once again I was questioning what he felt for me, and why we were doing what we were doing.

Rose's eyes slid to me and she winced. "You wanna try that again?"

He disappeared, materialising in front of her, inches from her face. I returned my gaze to my boots, trying not to let my mind get too out of control. "Don't get on my bad side," he warned her quietly.

"Then show me your good side."

"How do I find Klaus?"

"You don't find Klaus, he finds you."

"Come on," he sighed, and I could feel him glance at me, though I ignored it. "Somebody has got to know somebody who knows where he is, right?"

"Add another two hundred somebodies to that and you're still not even close."

"Humour me. You got in touch with Elijah. How'd you do it?"

"Through a very low somebody on the totem pole. A guy named Slater in Richmond."

"Perfect. I'll drive."

"No, you forget that no all of us can do sun."

"Then you drive."

I wanted to be mad at Damon. But for what? Not loving me?

I knew that was ridiculous. Of course I knew he loved me, just maybe not in the same way as I thought I might love him. I sat in the back of Rose's car, listening to the old country song playing from the radio and trying not to get too overwhelmed by my fears and doubts.

"How do you know this guy anyway?" Damon asked casually as we pulled into the complex in the city.

"Slater?" Rose asked, pulling into a parking space far away from anywhere the sun could reach. "We go way back."

"Back entrance," Damon said as we all slid out of the car. "How convenient."

"That's the point. We can't all have little daylight rings," she responded. Damon and I waved ours at her playfully, smirks on our faces.

"How do you know this Slater guy's even here?"

"I called him. He's here; he's always here."

"Good," Damon chirped, then unceremoniously slammed her into the pillar to our right. "Just one thing," he began, hand clenched around her collar. "If you are setting us up in any way, I will rip your heart out and shove it down your throat."

"He's very good at it," I commented lightly, scuffing the thin heel of my boot on the cement floor.

She smiled and suddenly disappeared, reappearing with Damon slammed against her car. "I'm older than you," she spat, glancing over her shoulder at me, a warning gleam in her eye as I moved to release him from her hold. "And that means stronger. Don't get on my bad side." She let him go and he spun around, his back pressing against the car. "You can trust me," she told us with wide, haunted eyes that I knew had seen too much. She looked between us one more time before turning away, heading for the door at the opposite end of the building.

I reached out a hand to Damon, squeezing his fingers once when he nodded, confirming that he was okay. I let go, shoving my hands into the pockets of my leather jacket and striding after the british vampire. We made it to the door only a moment later, Damon holding it open for me to duck under his arm as we entered. It looked like a regular cafe, nothing special about it. Although the wall of windows on the far wall with the sunlight pouring through was a bit of a surprise.

"I thought this place was vampire friendly," I spoke up, sidestepping a young woman who tripped in my path.

"Yeah, what about the-uh...?" Damon trailed off, gesturing to the windows. "Sunlight?"

"Double paned and tempered," Rose responded. "UV rays can't penetrate. You see the appeal now?"

"That and the free wifi."

Damon and I turned to stare at the newcomer. He was attractive in a scruffy sort of way that was so different to Damon's heart-stopping looks. My first instinct was to allow a seductive smirk melt across my lips, only to remember where I was, who I was with and what I was meant to be doing. I caught myself, letting my face fall blank and blinking at the new man impassively.

Rose greeted him like an old friend, wrapping her arms around him with a large beam. "I saw you come, what are you doing here?" he asked her worriedly, glancing at us suspiciously for a moment before his eyes lit up with knowing.

"It's a long story...but I want you to meet-"

"Damon Salvatore and Cassandra Miller. " Damon and I both started, narrowing our eyes at the man. "Both turned 1864, in Mystic Falls by Katherine Pierce AKA Katerina Petrova." My hands tightened into fists inside my pockets, but a moment later I relaxed. Getting worked up wouldn't help anyone. "So I take it I was right? What I told you about the tomb under the church is true?"

"Yes, it was right," Rose confirmed with a smile. "Thank you for the tip."

He smiled widely at her before turning his attention to us holding his hand out as an afterthought. "It's nice to meet you," he said pleasantly, hovering awkwardly before Damon shook his hand firmly. He nodded at him and glanced at me as I plastered a threatening, wolfish grin across my lips, quite obviously baring my teeth at him. "...Maybe."

Everything was silent for a moment as I continued to watch him squirm under my unrelenting gaze.

"What's going on Rose?" he asked innocently. "Where's Trevor?"

I sucked in a sympathetic breath, clicking my tongue and averting my gaze as Rose went deathly silent, tears appearing in her doe-like eyes.

The following conversation was not a happy one. Rose barely held it together, relaying the story of how she kidnapped the doppelganger and her 'protector' with a shaky voice and even shakier hands. "And you're sure Elijah's dead?" he asked when she was done, frowning at us worriedly as he handed us our coffees. I took it from him and swallowed a piping hot mouthful instantly, craving the caffeine.

"Beyond dead," Damon replied flatly as he lead us to a table by the window.

"Helped me with my dissertation on sexual deviance, in the Moroak period. I was going for my psych PhD."

"Slate's been in college since '74," Rose told us, eyes now dry as she'd pulled herself together, taking a seat with her back to the window while I slid into the chair opposite her.

"When I was turned," he said proudly. "I have eighteen degrees, three masters and four PhD's."

I snorted quietly, cupping my hands around the warmth of my cardboard coffee cup and exchanging an exasperated look with Damon. "What's the point?" he asked, tilting his head at Slater.

"Exactly, I mean what is the point?" he responded, folding his hands in front of himself and shooting Damon what I supposed was meant to be an impressive or intimidating look. "What should I be doing with my eternity? If either of you have an answer, please enlighten me," he said sardonically, sending us a fake smile. I guffawed softly, sipping my coffee and rolling my eyes at his tone.

"We need your help," Rose said, spotting Damon's dangerous expression. Slater turned to look at her expectantly. "If someone wanted to get in touch with Klaus, how would you look him up?"

There was a beat. "Craigslist."

"Bullshit," I muttered, cocking my head and looking at him through narrowed eyes.

"Seriously," he nodded. "I respond to a personal ad that gets sent to somebody who knows somebody who knows Elijah...who's dead." He blinked at me, glancing at Damon only briefly during his explanation. "And that's where my connection ends."

"Here's what I don't get," Damon began tensely, all but ignoring his rapidly cooling coffee. "Elijah moved around during the day. Which means the Original people knew the secret of the day ring. Now, why would Klaus want to lift the curse of the sun and the moon?"

He had a good point, one I hadn't considered before now. I turned to Slater expectantly, awaiting his answer.

"To keep the werewolves from lifting it. If a vampire breaks the sun curse then the werewolves are stuck with the curse of the moon forever. And vice versa."

"But werewolves are all but extinct," Rose commented, a confused frown on her delicate brow.

"True, I've never seen one but rumour has it..."

"Not such a rumour."

"Mystic Falls?" I nodded, biting the inside of my cheek. "God, I've got to visit this place. It sounds awesome."

"Awesome doesn't even begin to describe it," Damon said with a sarcastic smirk.

I snorted a second time, "trust me, it's severely overrated."

"Can we stop the curse from being broken at all?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, render the moonstone useless and stop the curse from being broken?"

"Well yeah, probably. But why would you wanna do that?"

Damon glanced at me out of the corner of his eye and I instantly leaned forwards, a sweet smile spreading across my lips as my eyelids fluttered. I placed my hand on Slater's exposed forearm, "tell us how."

"You think I'm going to help you do something that will piss off an Original?" he asked dubiously.

I kept our eyes connected, running my tongue along my lower lip almost as an afterthought. "Do you wanna walk in the sun?" I asked with wide, innocent eyes. "I can make that happen."

"If you help us," Damon added sharply.

He looked between us, indecision in his eyes. Finally, he seemed to make a decision, opening his mouth to say something, though he was interrupted before he could. The glass windows smashed into a thousand pieces, and the vampires in the room began to scream. My first thought was some kind of terrorist attack, but as I brushed the glass off me, ignoring the cuts already healing on my skin, I realised it was too specific. An attack on us right as we were about to get help taking down an Original? It was no coincidence it happened when it did. I sprang to my feet, staring out into the streets, eyes searching, though I wasn't sure what for. "Jacket," I snapped to Damon, who ripped it off without hesitation and threw it to me. I laid it over Rose's screaming form, blocking the sun's rays from hitting the major parts of her exposed skin.

Damon picked her up with ease, holding her to his chest and walking as fast as he could while still going at a human pace towards the shadows at the back of the cafe. "You're gonna be okay," he told her stiltedly, as we made our way back to her car. I cracked open the door, holding it so he could slip a whimpering Rose into the backseat.

"I know...it's just-"

"Who was behind that?" he asked sharply, an angry glare on his face.

"I don't know...where's Slater?" she asked, looking up at us frantically even as her burns began to heal.

"Who the hell knows?"

"He's not behind this. He's a good guy, he wouldn't betray me."

"Then who did?"

"It's Klaus. Don't you understand?" she began sobbing, instantly making me uncomfortable. "You don't know this man. We're dead. We're all dead."

Damon sighed, gently shutting the door, letting her cry in peace. He turned to me, a troubled frown on his face. "You think she's right?" he asked me quietly as we ignored the sound of her blubbering from behind the car door.

I hesitated. "I think we might be in over our heads, Damon," I admitted after a beat, crossing my arms and worrying my bottom lip.

He frowned, a crease forming between his sculpted brows. "Yeah," he murmured, stepping forwards to place his lips on my forehead gently. "Maybe," he agreed, shooting me an uneasy smile before gesturing to the car. "Come on, let's go home."

"I was looking out for myself, Elena. I always look out for myself. If you're smart, you'll do the same."

Elena was quiet for a moment as Katherine leaned back into the shadows, contemplating her words. She wasn't sure where to take the conversation next; there was still so much she didn't know, that she wanted to know. "Cassie," she'd said it before she'd realised she'd opened her mouth.

"What about her?" Katherine asked, shifting back into the light.

"Stefan says she doesn't know she's your descendant," she began, choosing her words carefully. "Why didn't you tell her? And how did you track her down?"

"I found the baby I'd had out of wedlock a few years after I turned, I've been keeping an eye on them ever since."

"Is that..." Elena said, pieces of the story coming together in her head. "Is that why you went to Mystic Falls in 1864? To find Cassie?"

Katherine didn't reply for a long time, her tired and sluggish mind having difficultly answering the question. "I'm sure that by now you've noticed the resemblance between dear Cassandra and I," she said, tilting her head back to rest against the stone wall of her prison. "Back in those days there was no internet, photos were harder to come by and all records were handwritten, you see."

"You'd heard she was the doppelganger," Elena finished for her, eyes wide.

"I'd heard rumours of a doppelganger showing up in Mystic Falls. I had to find out if it was true, and the only way to do that..."

"...Was to go there and see for yourself."

Katherine paused, sharp eyes sliding up and down her doppelganger's form. "It was easy enough to find her. I knew that the Flemmings had two baby girls, the youngest they'd given up for adoption because they were too poor to support both. I found the records at the Mystic Falls city hall that said Cassandra had gone to the Millers. Imagine my surprise when I ask around town and find out they'd drowned in a tragic boating accident and Sandy had been taken in by the Salvatores." She spoke flippantly, like none of it really mattered, but Elena could see a spark of warmth in her eyes as she spoke about her descendant. "I have to admit, I was relieved to find out she wasn't what people were saying she was. I wasn't ready back then, things still needed to be put into place."

"But you stayed," Elena said, frowning as she tried to understand her doppelganger's actions over a century ago.

"I knew Sandy needed to be protected," she said, eyes hardening, all warmth leaving their depths. "Besides," she smirked, though the expression was hollow. "Once I caught sight of Stefan, well, I knew I had to stick around."

Elena rolled her eyes. Comments like that didn't bother her anymore, not really. She was powerless anyway, stuck in the tomb. "So why didn't you just tell her you were related?"

Katherine shrugged weakly, staring at the expanse of wall in front of her. "I didn't want anything tying me to this Godforsaken town," she muttered bitterly, scrunching her nose at the mere thought. "Also, I don't know if you've noticed, but Sandy is awfully codependent. She was attached enough just thinking we were friends, imagine how she'd have been if she knew we shared blood."

"She deserves to know," Elena spat, feeling protective of her vampire friend.

Katherine smirked wickedly, and for a second Elena really could see what everyone meant when they said her and Cassie looked alike. She could suddenly see how she was confused for the doppelganger all those years ago. "Then why haven't you told her yet?" Something like shame filled Elena, but she refused to let it show on her face, struggling to keep the indifferent mask pasted on her features. "I'll tell you why," Katherine drawled, crossing her arms over her chest, eyes sliding to her lookalike. "You know just as well as I do how badly she'll take it. Along with her codependency issues, Cassandra has somewhat of an anger problem. The last thing any of you want is for her to flick that switch and make the streets run red with blood." It was quiet. Elena couldn't think of what to say. She knew the ancient vampire had a point, but she wasn't about to admit it. "You know she enjoys it, right?" she asked rhetorically, eyes glinting with ugly mischief. She elaborated at Elena's confused frown. "The mind games, the torture, the death," she listed with something like a proud smirk. "She gets off on it. No matter how much she denies it, she'll always crave it."

"It's the same for every vampire," Elena defended weakly, tilting her chin up to make up for it.

Katherine shook her head. "Maybe so, but Sandy? She takes it to another level. Everyone always thinks she's the one pulling the strings in the Salvatore family, but the truth? The truth is that those boys have her on a leash and they don't even know it." She cocked her head and grinned darkly. "One day the leash is going to snap, Elena, and I can't wait to see what happens when it does."

I leaned back against the couch, my legs kicked up over the armrest casually. Damon was sitting against the armrest my head was on, drinking a bottle of scotch from the bottle, passing it to me every few minutes to let me take a swig.

"I'm sorry about today. I didn't know that was going to happen," Rose said as she padded into the room, her voice forlorn.

I tilted my head up to look at Damon, who glanced down at me in the exact same moment. "We believe you," he said, our eyes saying everything we didn't need to.

"I wish we could save Elena." I tensed, reaching up to pull the bottle from Damon's grip, swallowing several mouthfuls at once. "I know you both want to."

"And we will."

It was quiet for a moment, and I could hear the smile in her voice when she spoke, "You remind me of Trevor."

"Why?" Damon asked confusedly, sounding repulsed by the thought. "Why him?"

"Because he always talked a big game. He was always working an angle, but underneath it all he was the best friend anyone could ever hope for."

"Hm," Damon hummed, taking back the bottle and sliding a hand into my hand, fingers tangling in my dark locks. "Where'd that get him?"

"Dead," she deadpanned, coming to a stop in front of us, eyes flashing to me meaningfully. "And my loyalty to him almost got me dead too."

Damon picked up a glass from the table beside him, tipping a mouthful of the amber liquid into it and passing it to her with a bitter smile, "To friendship."

"It might just be time to turn the switch off on your emotions."

We both paused, and I pulled myself up, peering over the back of the couch at her with narrowed eyes. "We will if you will."

She let out a breathy chuckle, shaking her head and leaning back in the chair she'd sat in, turning her gaze to the ceiling.

I tilted my head back, tipping what alcohol remained in the glass bottle into my mouth. I frowned when mere droplets dripped onto my tongue. "We're out," I said with a small pout, holding out the empty bottle to Damon. He nodded, taking it from me and standing, striding from the room slowly.

"So how'd you two meet, then?" Rose asked, probably out of lack of anything else to say.

"His family adopted me when my parents kicked the bucket," I told her, crossing my arms over my chest and letting my eyes slip closed.

"You've been friends ever since?"

"The very best."

"And how long have you been sleeping together?" My lips pressed shut, and I cracked open one eye to stare at her, entirely unimpressed with her words. She chuckled quietly to herself. "Don't deny it."

"I'm not denying it," I murmured, letting my eyes slide shut. "I'm just not dignifying it with a response."

"Mature."

I hummed a non-committal reply, feeling myself get slightly lighter with the effects of the alcohol. It took a lot to get a vampire even tipsy, but nearly an entire bottle of whiskey would usually do the trick.

"So have you ever flicked it, then?" I didn't respond, clenching my teeth to keep from groaning. "The humanity switch, I mean, before you go getting any ideas."

"Mature," I echoed sourly, though my lips twitched when she chortled.

"So, have you?"

I didn't answer right away, wishing Damon were here to get me out of the conversation. I could hear him moving around in the cellar at a human pace, and instantly knew he just needed a minute to himself. I didn't blame him, it'd been an intense day. "Once," I told her softly, opening my eyes and staring up at the rafters unseeingly. "A long time ago."

She obviously got from my tone that that was all I was going to say on the matter. She was smarter than she looked. Damon finally padded into the room, a fresh bottle of whiskey in his hands. "It's a lie, you know," Rose spoke up as Damon picked up my legs, falling into the cushions of the couch and laying my feet back on his lap. "There's no switch you can turn off." I took the bottle from Damon as we both looked over at her with frowns. "Sure, when you're a newbie...but after a couple hundred years, you just have to pretend."

Well that was a depressing thought. I scowled bitterly, tipping my head back and letting the alcohol burn my throat numb. An annoying ringing sound bounced through the room and Rose fished her phone from her pocket as I handed the bottle back to Damon.

"Hello?"

"Rose?"

"Slater," she sighed with relief. "Are you okay?"

"Yes. I took off, I'm sorry. I was friggen' freaked."

"No, I'm sorry to involve you."

"Look, I want no part in any of this but I did some digging."

Rose looked at us wearily, speaking again when we nodded eagerly. "Okay, what did you find?"

"You can destroy the curse, but you need the moonstone."

"What do you mean? I don't follow."

"Well, can your friends get the moonstone? You need it."

She looked at us pointedly, and I glanced at Damon quickly. Theoretically, yes, we could get it. It'd be a bitch to get off of Katherine, but it wasn't impossible. "Yes, they can get it," she confirmed with a nod he obviously couldn't see. "What next?"

"You need a witch. If you get the moonstone, a witch should be able to figure out the rest... Good luck Rose."

The phone clicked, signalling the end of the call. Rose pulled it away from her ear, frowning at the device. "We have a lot to do," I sighed, pushing myself to my feet and holding my hand out for Damon. "But it can wait until morning."

Damon's lips twitched upwards, but a thoughtful frown stayed splayed across his face. He slid his hand into mine, letting me pull him to his feet in one movement.

I paused on our way to the door, turning back to look at Rose who sat quietly by the fire. "You know," I began softly, forcing my lips into a small smile. "You're not so bad, Rose."

She beamed back at me, and I nodded once more before turning around, pulling a silent Damon to bed, where we laid together for hours, minds too full to fall asleep.