Well enjoy this one. after a lot of deliberation I decided to cut Sage out of this for obvious reasons. Hope you enjoy this one. Let me know what you think.
PS I own nothing.
After going home and spending the night scaring a semi sane Alaric with the force of her sobs, Elena fell into a fitful sleep. She was somewhat disappointed that Damon wasn't sitting on her window seat when she walked in her room that evening, but she was mostly relieved. She didn't know what to say to him, and she really didn't want to say anything to him. On a deeper level she understood his intense need to protect her, it was practically wired into him with the force of his love for her. A love that was matched only in hers for him. But it didn't change anything, she lost her best friend and it was technically his fault. Her mind raced all night causing her to get little or no sleep. When the sun came up the following morning Elena got up and walked downstairs where Alaric was nursing a cup of coffee.
"How did you sleep?" she asked. After being arrested the previous morning, he had had a stressful day. And rumours that he was the killer were plaguing their home.
"Not well. You?" he asked as she poured herself a cup of coffee.
"Not good." she said.
"What's on your mind?" he asked.
"Damon. Bonnie. Bonnie's not speaking to me, and I'm not speaking to Damon." she said.
"What's up with Bonnie? I really don't want to know what's wrong with you and Damon." he said wincing.
"Damon turned Bonnie's mom to protect me. Bonnie's sick of losing people to Damon. I took Bonnie's side last night and slapped Damon before telling him I didn't want to see or hear from him. Bonnie told me I was dead to her." she summarized.
"That sucks. Sorry I cant be more helpful. I need to figure this murder thing out." he told her running a hand through his sandy coloured hair.
"I wish I could help you too. But I need to deal with this." she said. When the doorbell sounded Elena leaped up hoping it was either Damon or Bonnie on the other side. She hoped Bonnie would forgive and Damon would fight. She was disappointed when she seen Stefan standing on the other side.
"What are you doing here?" she asked.
"I actually came to see how Alaric's doing with the accusations, and to see if you've seen my brother. He's been helping me, and I haven't seen him around." he said.
"I haven't seen him since I left the house last night. What do you mean he's helping you?" she asked.
"He's helping he accept my nature as a vampire. No more bunnies and squirrels. I need to start feeding properly and not letting it control me. He's helping me get there. I'm a little antsy without him near." he admitted.
"Same here. I'm always antsy when he's not around." she muttered stepping aside so he could come in.
"So you two are fighting?" he asked without a trace of hopefulness in his voice.
"We are fighting, but we're not breaking up. I love him Stefan. And that isn't going to change." she said.
"You just want him to change." he stated matter of fact.
"I do not. I love him just the way he is." she snapped.
"Sure you do. If you did, whatever it is that he did, you wouldn't be this pissed about it." he said.
"He killed my best friends mom, Stefan. And now I am dead to her. I have every right to be pissed." she told him.
"Maybe you do. But odds are he did it for you. But I'm not here for you. I'm here for Alaric." he said brushing past her. She raised her eyebrows as he walked past. She wondered what had changed since last night when he walked out of the boarding house. Last night he had been so eager for her and Damon to break up so he could fight for her, but now he didn't seem to want her anymore.
"Stefan wait a second?" she asked.
"What?" he asked.
"What changed? Last night me and Damon fighting seemed to make you happy. But now, you don't seem to care. It doesn't make you as happy." she said confused.
"My brother. He's helping me through the darkest time of my life in a way that Lexi never did. If he can fix me, I can make sure he's happy. And give him the one thing that makes him happier than anything else. You. That's all there is to it." he said turning his back and walking into the kitchen where Alaric was no doubt listening to their entire conversation. Elena shook her head and walked back into the kitchen to finish drinking her coffee. When she was finished she turned to Alaric who looked concerned at whatever Stefan was saying to him.
"I'm going to see Bonnie again. Maybe she will be more open this time." Elena said getting up and walking out the front door with car keys in hand.
Yawning widely Caroline left Bonnie's house and almost walked into Klaus on the way down the stairs.
"Whoa, what are you doing here?" she asked when she braced her hands on his chest.
"I came to find you. I heard you might be here." he said steadying her.
"I spent the night wide awake with Bonnie. She's dealing with the aftermath of Damon turning Abby." she said.
"There sounds like there might be more to the story than just that. He must have done it for Elena." he told her.
"I don't know. All I know, is I'm dead tired and my other best friends aren't friends anymore." she sighed running a hand through her blonde curls.
"Well let me drive you home." he said leading her to her car.
"That would actually be nice. I need to see Elena at some point. I need to get the rest of the story." she said.
"Why not get it from Damon? He was the one who pulled the dastardly act, maybe he should tell you." Klaus reasoned.
"That's not a bad idea. Can you take me to the boarding house first?" she asked.
"Sure?" he answered as he turned towards the boarding house. When the two of them walked in Damon was nursing a glass of hard liquor.
"Oh great, did you bring your big bad boyfriend here to kill me for hurting both Elena and Bonnie in the same day?" he asked.
"Actually no. But that is an option." she answered shortly.
"Geez, what's got you so pissy?" he asked.
"I'm tired. I spent the entire night awake with Bonnie who was intending to come over here to end you once and for all. I couldn't let her leave the house therefore I stayed awake." she explained.
"Ah she wants to kill me. That's nothing new." he said shrugging his shoulders.
"I need to know what happened? All I got out of Elena is what you told her. I need the whole story to see if you really are to blame." she said.
"Fine, take a seat. This will be a tough pill to swallow for Klaus here. Apparently vampires in nature of mommy issues." he said.
"What are you saying about my mother?" he demanded sitting down on a couch.
"Well lets see here. I come home yesterday afternoon and Abby is sitting on a chair in my living room. He demand to know why she's here and she proceeds to tell me to dump Elena because I'm not good enough for her. Not like I don't already know that. I tell her to screw off more or less, and she threatens to kill me if I don't obey. She tells me that I'm the main cause of everything bad that has happened in Mystic Falls, granted some of them yes, like Bonnie's grams death. I tell her that she couldn't harness Bonnie's powers if she wasn't a witch anymore. She says she is a witch and then tells me how when Esther gets Elena's blood, and she teams up with the Bennett witches, she will kill all the abominations on Earth. Which is all of us. Vampires in general. So in order to protect Elena from having Esther come after her right now, I gave Abby my blood and killed her." he said finishing with a deep drink from his crystal tumbler.
"Well, that makes it sound better. I guess." Caroline said after hearing the entire story.
"It's good to know my mother wants to kill me. Fun fact." Klaus said staring straight ahead.
"Well, keep in mind this is strictly business. I don't like you and you don't like me. But it seems to me that mommy dearest is a problem to both of us. She wants to kill you, and she needs my girlfriends blood to do it. Maybe we can come up with a partnership of sorts." Damon said.
"You want us to work together?" he asked.
"It would make sense. I would tolerate you if it meant protecting Elena from her psycho mother." he said.
"Deal. I'll see if my brothers or sister want to join?" he asked.
"Oh no Rebekah. That will make this slightly more awkward than it needs to be. Besides she wants to kill Elena, and I'm pretty sure Elena wouldn't be adverse to stabbing another dagger into her back to keep her out of my bed." he said.
"Fine. No Rebekah." he agreed.
"Partners?" Damon asked holding out his hand. Klaus hesitated for a moment before shaking Damon's hand firmly.
"Partners." he agreed.
When Elena got to Bonnie's, she didn't see Caroline's car. Elena sighed at that good fortune and walked up the front sidewalk. She knocked on the door and only had to wait a moment before Bonnie answered.
"What do you want? I thought I said everything I needed to last night." she said crossing her arms.
"We need to talk. I was hoping you'd be more open this morning. Please Bon, give me a chance." she said pleadingly.
"Fine. Say whatever you need to." Bonnie said stepping aside to let Elena in.
"I just want you to know that I left Damon." she said wiping a tear that escaped from her eye.
"You what?" she asked.
"I left Damon. After I came here and you told me that you never wanted to see me again, I went to the boarding house and told him I didn't want to see him or hear from him." she said softly.
"Why did you do that?" she asked softening.
"Because boyfriends come and go. Best friends are forever." she sighed. Bonnie smiled softly at Elena before returning to the stoic expression on her face.
"How's your mom doing?" she asked.
"She's second guessing her plan to die. She's thinking she might complete the transition. I know she doesnt have much time to decide, but she still doesn't know." Bonnie replied.
"I never did ask Damon for the whole story." Elena sighed.
"My mom told me her side of it, if that will help fill in some of the holes. In Damon's defence I can kind of see where he's coming from." she sighed.
"What are you talking about?" Elena asked.
"My mom said she had promised Esther our help to rid the world of vampires. Esther needs your blood to do it, and she's still trying. I get the idea she's going to do whatever it takes to get it. I don't know. Damon was acting to protect you. I'm just sick of it being me that suffers when he does something like this." she said.
"He always does these things for me, and I always hate him for it. And I always go back. But for you this time, I wont." she promised.
"Elena, Damon is the best chance we have of keeping you alive. My mom has only been in my life for a few weeks, you've been there forever. I cant be mad at Damon for keeping you in my life. And you shouldn't be either." Bonnie decided. Elena knew how hard it was for Bonnie to say those words.
"I don't know Bonnie, he went too far this time." Elena said.
"Do you miss him? Have you really thought about anyone else today?" she asked.
"No. But that's no change. He's always in every thought I have. And yes I miss him." Elena said.
"Then change that. Go see him. He saved your life, I cant be as mad. I'm still hurt that I might lose my mom, and its going to take time before we're back. But don't lose him." she said.
"I don't think he cares. He didn't even come over last night to fight for it. He always has every other time something has happened between us." she said.
"Maybe you didn't give him a chance. Just go talk to him." Bonnie urged.
"This is different. You're urging me to go see Damon." Elena noted.
"I cant lose you too. If accepting Damon is the best way to keep you alive, then so be it. I don't have to like it though." she said stoically. Elena nodded and got up walking back to her car. Bonnie turned and walked back into the bedroom where her mom was slowly dying.
Elena was confused when she saw Caroline's car in the driveway of the boarding house, but walked in anyways. She heard the voices coming from the parlour and walked in there. She was surprised when she saw Damon and Klaus seemingly getting along as they plotted. Caroline's head snapped back and smiled when she saw Elena.
"I'm so happy to see you. Are you alright?" she asked her friend.
"I'm fine. What's all this?" she asked.
"Damon and Klaus are teaming up to get rid of Esther." she said.
"Oh." Elena said walking over to wear Damon was seated. "Can we talk?" she asked.
"Whatever happened to not wanting to hear from me or see me?" he asked
"I was angry last night. I talked to Bonnie and she told me not to burn this bridge with you. Can we please talk alone?" she asked pleadingly.
"Fine." he said getting up. "I'll be back." he told Klaus as he walked past towards the stairs.
"Actually we'll just leave, and catch up later on. I need to talk to Elijah." he said getting up.
"Okay." he said following Elena up the stairs. When they were in his bedroom she sat down on the edge of the bed.
"Now tell me the truth. Why did you do it? I already got Bonnie's theory on why you did it. Now I want yours." she said.
"I did it for you. Plain and simple. Everything I do is for you, no matter how twisted and stupid it is." he said.
"That's what Bonnie said too." she said smiling slightly.
"Look this is how it is. If you want me to change who I am for you, and be a tamer version of myself. I cant do that. I wont do that. Nothing is worth that Elena." he warned her.
"I don't want you to change. I love you Damon." she assured him.
"Then stop trying to change me. I wont do it. I will continue doing whatever I can to keep you safe, no matter who is hurts. That is the only reason you're even alive right now." he told her.
"I'm not worth all that trouble Damon. That's what hurts the most about all of this." she stated softly.
"You think you're not worth the trouble? Elena for once in over a century my life is worth living. I will not change that and I will not lose you. Without you, I am nothing and I have nothing. I'd revert back to my old attitude and way of thinking and there would be no one that could save me." he told her.
"So you're saying that as you keep saving me, I keep saving you?" she asked.
"Yes. You've saved me more times than I've saved you." he assured her kneeling in front of her and taking her face in his hands.