Stefan's POV

So I'm in love with Ellie. How did I not see this before? Oh yeah, cause I was with Elena. Don't get me wrong I did love Elena, but things changed. Her feelings changed for Damon, and my feelings for Ellie… came back? I really don't think they ever left, I think I was just upset about her leaving in the first place.

After I realized that I wasn't that upset about my break up with Elena I realized something else. It's always been Ellie. Those feelings were just overshadowed by hurt and anger.

After my realization last night I couldn't stop thinking about her. I would wake up every hour from a dream about her, some I wish I hadn't woken up from. It was hard sleeping too knowing she was in her room just down the hall.

How do I tell her that I'm still in love with her? I can't just be like 'Hey Ellie I still love you!' Does she even still love me? She never came back after running from Klaus. She did say that that was only because she wanted me to be happy. Could she still love me?

I need to talk to her but…how?

I went downstairs the next morning deciding to go out for a bit. Run, hike, jump, something to help get my mind in order. I walked into the living room and saw Ellie and Damon. Ellie was grabbing her jacket like she was about to go somewhere.

"Morning Stefan." Damon said happily. He probably hasn't heard about the break up. Not that I would care if he did. I just don't think he would be this 'happy' if he did. Although he may jump for joy now that he finally has his chance at Elena.

"Hey Stef." Ellie smiled and grabbed her bag. "How are you?"

"I uh, yeah, I'm good. Slept great, um, yeah." I said, well more like stuttered. Why was I all of a sudden nervous around her?

Damon and Ellie looked at each other confused. "You sure Stefan? You're acting kinda weird." Damon said. I'm not acting this way because of the breakup. It's because of the 5'6" goddess in the room.

"Yeah. I'm fine. So uh, where are you going?" I asked Ellie.

"I'm headed to the Lockwood's to help Caroline set up. Remember I promised my help if she went on a date with Nik?" She answered.

"You got her to agree to a date with the psycho? This should be fun." Damon said mischievously.

"Don't bother them about it Damon. They had to keep the 'break up' between her and Tyler believable…. I was also in the mood for some entertainment." She said with a laugh. She has a fantastic laugh… wow I sound like a love struck fool.

"Alright well I'm out. I'll see you guys later." She said and walked out the door. Aww.


I know I'm not with Elena anymore, but I owe it to her to still find the cure. It's my fault she's a vampire now anyway, so I owe it to her. I'll talk to Ellie and see if she wants to help with the new hunter situation. If she's not busy. I know she's helping set up for the pageant but I wonder if she will actually be there for the event.

See, it's like everything I think of leads back to Ellie. I need to figure this out before I explode.

Caroline called me saying stuff about how I needed to be at the Miss Mystic Pageant. I really didn't feel like going. Not because Elena was there, but I had a lot more important things to worry about. Although maybe I should go so I can see Ellie. Caroline thought I wasn't going because of Elena, I couldn't really tell her that I'm in love with Ellie so I let her believe what she wanted.

I got done talking to Caroline a little bit ago and I decided to take a break from my workout. As I was standing up someone's arm wrapped around my neck.

"In what world do the words 'tell no one' mean tell your brother and every other teenage sycophant in town?" Klaus asked angrily.

"The secret's safe. No one who knows about the cure will endanger us. Trust me, you know I want to find it more than anyone else." Although I did want to find the cure, not as much now, I'm sure Klaus will want it more than I do. Anything I could say to stop him from killing me though, I would.

"Well then I suggest you find some more vampires for Jeremy to kill before I'm tempted to offer you up as a victim." He said.

"Let him go Nik."

Klaus froze hearing Ellie voice. What is she doing here? I thought she was helping Caroline.

"Ellie, sweetheart, what a surprise. And how are you this fine morning?" He asked still holding on to me.

"Well I'd be better if you quit threatening my friends." She said with a smile.

Klaus finally let me go. I walked over and stood next to Ellie. "So would you mind explaining to me what's going on?" She asked Klaus.

"I was just informing Stefan of the secret that he broke and that I'm not too happy about it." He explained.

"I broke it too Nik. We decided it was safer for them to know. So who are you offering Stefan as a victim too?" She asked.

"Jeremy is the next hunter. In order for us to get the map, he has to kill more vampires." I told her.

"Yes, and try to keep this one to yourselves." Klaus said.

"Don't you have a date with a certain blonde vampire? For some reason I can't think of her name…" Ellie said sarcastically. I see what she's doing.

"Would you happen to mean Caroline, unless it's someone I don't know?" I said back.

"You know I think you're right. Her name is Caroline…" She sassed.

"Alright knock it off you two. Just get to work." Klaus said and disappeared.

"Well that got him to leave." She said and turned to me.

"Good job, so not that I'm not glad to see you but why are you here? I thought you were helping Caroline with the pageant?" I asked her. I am glad that she's here though.

"Caroline said you sounded depressed on the phone, so she sent me out here to help. And of course I'll always support you, but I am very glad to get away from Caroline's demand." She laughed. "So what's up? You said you were okay?" She said worried.

"I am honestly. But when Caroline has her mind set you can't change it. So I just let her believe what she wants. It worked out for the both of us. You got away from Caroline and I got to see you. It's a win-win." I told her smiling.

"When I left she was talking to Elena. Saying how you two were soul-mates and how you're heart-broken…" She trailed off. "Stefan listen, I know things are odd between us. I mean we dated, I left, and I came back. And ever since I have, a lot of things have changed. It just seems like me coming back did exactly what I didn't want to do, ruin things, especially if you really are heart-broken because of Elena. I only ever wanted you to be happy, and if my coming back changed that and you're hurting as much as Caroline says you are I want you to tell me now. I'll leave I swear I will if that makes things easier for you." She said sincerely.

Ellie would leave. Just the thought of her leaving again broke my un-dead heart. But I guess I can understand where she is coming from. Since she has come back a lot of things have happened. Honestly though, how is that different from any other time around here? Every time things settled down, something happens and we are all thrown into chaos again. Ellie just happened to show up at one of those times. It's not her fault.

Let's face it, without her coming back, Elena would still be a vampire, things between us still would have changed, Elena would still want Damon, and we still would have broken up.

I did love Elena, of course I did. She brought back a happiness in me that I haven't had in a long time. Over time though, things changed, shit happened and we broke up. But I'm not gonna lie, what I had with Ellie all those years ago was a hundred times what Elena and I had. So now it's not like my feelings for Ellie dulled the pain of Elena, but instead Elena dulled the pain of losing Ellie. If that makes any sense? I know I'm kind of confused by it too.

Point is things changed. I met Elena and I'm so glad I did, but we fell out of love, both of us did. Now I have Ellie again. My angel that I lost. And Elena will have Damon, I mean come on, they are obviously going to get together. And now this constant feud between my brother and I can stop. We can finally be happy and be brothers again. Now I just have to get Ellie to stay.

"Ellie even if you hadn't come back all of this would be happening. You just happen to have really bad timing." I told her with a smile. "Trust me, this isn't even the worst of what has happened around here. All of this that is going on is just another joy that is Mystic Falls. You being here has helped me. I know I was angry when you first came back but I was confused. Now that you're back you can't leave. I won't let you. Yes you left, but you came back. That's all that matters to me." I told her.

I put my hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eye trying to get her to honestly believe what I am about to say. "I am NOT heart-broken. Yes it did hurt a little bit but not as much as I thought it would. Let Caroline believe whatever the hell she wants. Elena and I just aren't in love anymore. You have to stay here, with me. Promise me, you won't ever blame yourself for what is bound to come up in the future because trust me, trouble will show up. Klaus is here, he just attracts trouble." I told her.

She smiled at that. Hopefully now she believes me. "I promise."

"Good. I'll hold you to that." I told her. I wrapped her in a hug. It felt so good to just hold her again. Whenever Ellie hugs me she kind of tucks her head in. Just me though, I've seen her hug Damon and she doesn't do that. I asked her about that when we were dating and she said it made her feel safe. I'm glad I can provide that sense of security for her even now. It's just natural. Although she can kick more ass than I can.

"So you don't hate me for leaving all those years ago?" She asked.

"I could never hate you Ellie. Never. I'm glad you're back." I told her still hugging her.

She pulled away, unfortunately. "I am too. I'm glad you're okay with the break up. But Stefan, if Elena is your soul mate… fight for her. Don't give up." She said seriously. Although it was kind of strained, like it hurt her to say it. Does she still have feelings for me too?

"She isn't." I told her honestly. We both smiled at each other.

She did get one thing right though. I'm going to fight for my true soul mate.


Unfortunately, Ellie got summoned back by Caroline. We decided we'd talk later about what Klaus said about Jeremy. Although I already have an idea I'm not sure she would agree with.

I went back to the house to get some supplies and I got cornered by Damon. Great.

Of course I told him that Elena and I broke up. He acted like he was concerned, asking me to brother bond, but honestly it was the best day of his life. Besides I had better things to do than listen to him say how sorry he was for me. We may not be after the same girl anymore but it doesn't mean I don't have some hostility towards him.

Damon didn't want to use Jeremy for the map because of what happened to Connor with the going crazy thing. There's only five hunters though. It's not like we'll 'run into one' anytime soon. Besides Ellie's like their 'protector' or something, I'm hoping with having her from the beginning Jeremy won't go crazy.

I went to the hospital to start on the hunter plan. Like I said, I still owe it to Elena to get the cure. It's not like Klaus is gonna let me back out now anyway. I looked at some charts trying to find the best 'candidate.' This is where I'm hoping Ellie will be okay with it. I'm only choosing people who are dying.

I noticed a police officer outside one of the doors. The guy he was guarding was a convicted murderer and his only regret was getting caught. Perfect.


The next day I took the new vamp down to the Lockwood cellar. I still haven't told Ellie about this though so when I called Jeremy I had him bring Ellie too.

"What am I doing here?" Jeremy asked as soon as he showed up. Well hello to you too.

"Getting the chance to make your sister human again. You interested? " I asked him.

"You have no idea." He told me.

Ellie showed up behind Jeremy. She was dressed for the pageant. She had on a black dress that had white lace from her neck to her chest that was about mid-thigh and sleeves cut off at her shoulders, and black high heels that showed a little bit of her toes. What do they call those things, peep toes I think. Whatever, the point is she looked amazing.

"Stefan what's going on?" Ellie asked confused. How do I tell her this without her hating me?

"Stefan said I can help make Elena human again." Jeremy butted in.

"What? Damon said he was looking for another hunter." She said.

"No. If I can help I want too." Jeremy said to her. "You have a plan?" He asked me.

"Actually I do." I said and pointed to the chained up vamp.

"Stefan what is this? He can't just kill this vampire." Ellie said disapprovingly while pulling me to the side.

"Klaus isn't going to let us just wait to find another hunter like Damon wants. And this isn't just a vampire I found. I turned him. Found him at the hospital with a police guard outside his room. Turns out he's a convicted murderer with no regrets. I figured this is the best way to go about things." I explained to her. I have to make her see that this is the only way.

"So he's not just a drunk you found outside a bar?" She asked.

"Nope. This is one of my plans I've actually thought through." I told her with a smile.

"I hate to say it but that's kind of genius. I mean I know we don't have many options but this is the best way to do this. I'm just worried about what this will do to Jeremy. We all saw how crazy Connor was."

"I know but you're a 'protector' of some sort. Maybe it will be different with Jeremy." I told her.

"But what if it's not enough?" She asked worried.

"We really don't have any options. You know if we don't do this our way Klaus will take matters into his own hands." I told her gently.

She closed her eyes and let out a breath of air. "You're right. I don't want Nik controlling this more than he already is."

"Agreed. You look beautiful by the way." I told her. She looked down with a smile on her face and thanked me then we made our way back over to Jeremy. Ellie stayed behind a few steps though.

"What is this?" Jeremy asked.

"It doesn't matter. All that matters is that he's a vampire. Well almost." I told him and grabbed his wrist. I dragged the knife across his wrist and fed it to the vamp.

"Stefan!" Ellie yelled. Yeah that part I didn't think through. Damn.

I held the stake out to Jeremy.

"What this is all so I could stake him?" Jeremy asked surprised.

"You don't want to do this Jeremy, look at me. I hate this, I don't want to do this, but your sister isn't supposed to be a vampire and we need to help her. Now he's a murderer and he will gladly kill again. So do it Jeremy, kill him." I stressed to him.

I turned to the new vamp and grabbed the chains so he could move toward Jeremy. I figured if Jeremy felt threatened he would kill easier.

"What are you doing, what the hell is wrong with you?!" He yelled.

"Do it Jeremy. Or I will rip the chains off for real. Do it!" I told him. This whole time Ellie was just in the background. I knew she was uncomfortable with this.

Jeremy finally got fed up and staked the vampire. He staked a couple more times for good measure I suppose.

"Alright enough. He's dead." I told him. His hand started to shake and he slowly looked at me. Then he finally put the stake down.

I went outside to get rid of the body and on my way back I got a call from Damon. Fantastic.

"Please don't tell me that you've roped Jeremy into a world of crazy?" He asked once I answered.

"I had no choice Elena needs a cure." I told him.

"Oh right so you can turn her back into the girl that's still in love with you." Damon said sarcastically. This isn't about that anymore. I'm not doing this because of that. I'm doing this because Elena isn't cut out to be a vampire. But Damon doesn't know that I'm in love with Ellie so of course he would think that.

"You know I get why you wouldn't want to believe it Damon but she isn't herself anymore." I told him. At that point I reached the cellar to see both Ellie and Jeremy looking at his arm.

"Course you would think that. Leave it alone Stefan." He said. I got tired of him so I hung up the phone.

"Does it hurt?" Ellie asked Jeremy.

"Nah. It kind of tingles but it doesn't hurt. It's actually kinda cool." He said smiling.

"How far did the mark grow? Show me on this drawing." I asked him pulling the paper out of my pocket.

Jeremy was quiet for a few seconds. Then he turned to me with a weird stern look on his face. What the hell he was smiling two seconds ago.

"Sorry Stefan, but I can't trust you." He said.

"How far is it Jeremy?" I asked him seriously. I don't have time for his bullshit. I want to get this cure and get it over with so I can be with Ellie.

"I said I can't."

"Jeremy, what's going on?" Ellie said.

"Answer me, or I will make you answer me." I threatened him.

"Stefan, easy, I can show you. I can see it too." I heard Ellie in the background. But neither Jeremy nor I were paying much attention right now.

Jeremy ignored her. "I am not telling you anything." Alright enough of this.

I grabbed his shirt and started to compel him. "What does the mark look like?"

Next thing I know there's a stake in my stomach.

"JEREMY!" Ellie shouted

"I guess I can't be compelled anymore." He said the grabbed the bag with the weapons and walked out.

"Stefan," Ellie said coming over to me, "are you okay?"

I pulled the stake out, damn that hurts. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine."

"Good." She said then slapped be on the back of the head.

"Ow. What..?" I started to say. What did she hit me for?

"What the hell was that? Threatening Jeremy, trying to compel him?! I could have told you where the damn mark was. Now he's angry and… oh no." She said worriedly.

"What?" I asked standing up.

"Did you see the look in his eye when he stabbed you? Like he enjoyed doing it. What if he's turning into another Connor? What if he's going crazy too? We can't let this happen Stefan, this is Jeremy. We have to help him, we have to stop him and-and find another way…" She was starting to freak out.

"Hey, hey calm down, it's okay." I told her putting my hands on her shoulders. "It's gonna be okay. We'll take care of Jeremy, but there's no other way. You'll help him right? You are a protector of sorts. He'll be alright."

"Yeah, yeah you're right. But we have to find him. His own sister is a vampire. I'm afraid of what he'll do if he sees her." She said.

"He's probably going back to the pageant. Come on." I grabbed her hand and started leading her out of the cellar.


We made our way back to the Lockwood's where the pageant was. We were about to walk over the hill when Ellie froze.

"El, what's wrong?" I asked her.

"Jeremy's inside with Matt and Elena. He's about to hurt her. Go! I'll keep watch, make sure nothing happens. Just hurry." She said. I forgot her hearing is way better than mine.

"Go!" She yelled. Right, Jeremy.

I ran into the room just as Jeremy was about to stake Elena.

"Get him out of here Matt." I told him and pushed Jeremy towards him.

I looked over to Elena and she had a small stake in her neck.

"Let me do it." I told her calmly and gently pulled the stake out. She gasped in relief.

I stood up then. Now that Elena was okay we had Jeremy to handle. Elena stood up too and she did not look happy.

We made it out to the lawn and she was walking away briskly. I had to explain to her what was going on.

"Elena wait."

"I have to find Jeremy this shouldn't be happening to him." She said dabbing at the blood on her neck.

"Elena wait it's my fault." I told her stopping her.

"What are you talking about?" She asked.

"I'm starting to think that when a hunter kills a vampire the urge to keep killing gets stronger."

"Tell me that Jeremy hasn't been with you this entire time." She said. I just looked away. "Tell me that you haven't been making him kill vampires Stefan."

"We need the map to get the cure."

"If getting my humanity back means stripping Jeremy of his then I don't want the cure." She said.

"He's the only way to fix all of this." I said to her. It's my fault she's this way.

"You mean me, the only way to fix me. You don't have to love me like this." Wait what? "This is who I am now. The old Elena died when she went off that bridge. Let her go." Oh I get it. She, like EVERYONE else, thinks I'm doing this because I still love her. NO! I don't. The only reason I'm doing this now is because I owe it to her. What's it gonna take for everyone to see that?

I was about to say something when I noticed Damon and Ellie walking up behind Elena. Damon looked guilty, Ellie looked worried, and Elena, well she was looking away from me so I don't know how she looked. You know what. I'm clearing this up right now.

"Elena, I'm doing this, because I owe you. Because if it wasn't for me you wouldn't be like this. I get that we are over, I do. And if you want to be with Damon, be with Damon. To be honest I'm tired of fighting with me brother anyway. But I am getting this cure, because it's the right thing to do." I told her. So I never flat out said I didn't love her anymore, I didn't want to be cruel but I think I made myself pretty clear.

Elena looked kind of hurt at that. What so she's allowed to leave me for my brother but I'm not allowed to not be in love with her anymore?

Elena just nodded her head. I looked back at Ellie and Damon. Damon looked a mixture of surprised/shocked/confused and Ellie just had a curious look on her face.

Ellie and I had one of our 'silent communications' (which I'm just gonna call brain talks because silent communications takes longer) but, anyway, we had a brain talk and we both started to leave silently. There was really nothing more to be said anyway.


We made our way back to the boarding house. I decided to take a shower and change to get this blood off of me and Ellie went to her room.

When I got dressed I went into Ellie's room to see her packing. WHAT! She's not leaving is she?

"Hey, what's going on?" I asked her and sat on her bed where her bag was at.

"Well a lot actually. Jeremy's kind of losing it and is worried that he's gonna go crazy and kill Elena. So to be safe, Elena is staying here tonight and Matt is staying with Jeremy. Since he's not a vampire Jeremy won't want to kill him and Matt can help keep him in check." She said putting a few more things in her bag.

"Okay. So why are you packing?" I asked her. What does Elena being here have to do with her leaving? Does she feel threatened by Elena? First thought would have been she didn't like Elena but, Ellie likes everyone, within reason of course.

"Um, how do I put this? Elena and Damon both just admitted their feelings for each other, and to be honest I don't want to hear their deep loving conversations about what they are gonna do, will they be together, won't they, what happens next blah blah blah." She said.

I kinda laughed at that. "So you don't want to hear them admit their undying love for each other?" I asked her sarcastically.

"Well can you blame me? I just figured one night away would give them time to decide what to do. Plus we need to figure out what to do about Jeremy."

"No I don't blame you. And you're right we have to find a way to keep Jeremy from killing all of us. So where are you gonna go?" I asked her. I wanted to go with her. She does have a point. I may not be in love with Elena anymore but I'd rather not listen to her and Damon's deep, emotional talk, or other things they might do. But if she was like going to a hotel or something I didn't want her to take it the wrong way. Not that anything would happen… or wouldn't, BAD Stefan.

"Well since I've been here Caroline and I have become good friends so she said I could stay there. I'm also supposed to tell you that you can stay too. She kept going on about how they shouldn't be rubbing the break up in your face or something like that. I kinda tuned out for a bit. I mean I love the girl but man can she talk." She said with a laugh.

"Cool. I'd really rather not be here either. Plus this way we can talk about what to do with Jeremy." I told her.

"SLEEPOVER!" She yelled and laughed. I laughed along with her. "We can paint nails, do make-up, and talk about all the hot guys." I was bent over laughing from her high-pitched prep-girl voice that she uses to make fun of the preps.

"Well get to packing. I'll meet you downstairs." She said and started pushing me out of her room.

"Okay okay I'm going." I got to the door when I turned back to Ellie. "You know just to clear things up," I started to say so she looked back at me. "I'm really only finding this cure because I owe it to her. I'm not in love with her anymore." I told Ellie seriously. I'm trying to hint to her that I still have feelings for her.

Ellie kinda started to smile. But it was one of those smiles like she was fighting it. "As long as you're okay Stefan. That's all I care about." She said.

"I am." I smiled to her then made my way to my room to pack. Sleepover! I could still laugh at that.


I got down to the bottom of the stairs just as Damon opened the door. Ellie was standing off to the side like she didn't want to get in the middle of this. I don't blame her. I don't want to be in this either.

Elena walked in and there was an extremely awkward silence. Elena decided to speak up first.

"I can't stay at home anymore." She said awkwardly. Well I already knew that.

"Pick a room. Ellie and I are staying at Caroline's tonight." I said and grabbed both mine and Ellie's bags.

"Wait what? Why?" Damon asked more to Ellie than me as we got close to the door.

"Well Caroline offered and I didn't want to be rude." She told him. It's not like she could say she didn't want to be here.

Damon didn't say anything to me. Figures. I mean the only reason he thinks I'm leaving is to get away from Elena. When really it's to be with Ellie.

"Alright, uh see you later." Damon said and kissed Ellie on the cheek.

"Bye." She said and waved to Elena. We both walked out the door and to Ellie's car.

"Well that wasn't awkward at all." Ellie said and threw me her keys.

"They made it awkward. I'm fine with it." I told her and we made our way to Caroline's.


We got to Caroline's and I grabbed out bags again as Ellie walked to the front door. Before she even got up the steps Caroline was out the door and hugging her. Well someone was excited.

"I'm so glad you came over. Although I wish it were under different circumstances it's still awesome." Caroline said and then turned to me. She had that pity look on her face. Here we go.

"Before you start Caroline I'm fine. I am totally okay with Elena and Damon together. You don't have to make it a big deal." I told her.

"But you and Elena belong together! Not her and Damon. You're soul mates." She said. I looked over at Ellie to see her looking anywhere but us. Ellie is my real soul mate. Caroline's not helping with the getting her to see my feelings thing.

"Now we need alcohol." She said and grabbed Ellie's hand to bring her inside. When Ellie stepped into the house Caroline looked shocked.

"Don't you have to be invited in?" Caroline asked.

"Nope. I'm part witch remember. And the witch part lets me break that rule." She said to her.

"Okay good. My mom's not here to let you in anyway." She said and kept dragging her. Ellie looked back to me with a 'help me' look. I just shrugged my shoulders and smiled at her. It's Caroline. There's no stopping her.

Ellie and I were sitting on the couch and Caroline was in the chair across from us. We all had shot glasses. Caroline insisted.

"Look I know you said you were fine but you're not. I know it's not easy but, you can't give up on Elena." Caroline stated.

I looked over at Ellie. Caroline clearly wasn't gonna let this go. We had a brain talk that said to just play along with Caroline.

"Caroline, she looked me in the eye and she told me to move on." I told her. Maybe if I humor her she will let this go.

"She's lost okay. You and her…epic. Her and Damon…ughich. There's something wrong with her." I kinda laughed at that. Because little did she know that my epic love was sitting on the same couch two feet away from me.

"Just promise me you won't stop looking for the cure?" She asked me.

"Klaus won't let me even if I wanted to." Which I do.

"What does he care? He doesn't even want it." She said.

"Nik wants to keep Elena human so that he can make more hybrids." Ellie said and threw back her shot. I know, talking about Klaus pushes me to drink too.

"He's gonna need 'em. Tyler's almost got all of them un-sired." Caroline said.

It was silent for a moment and then Caroline and Ellie looked at each other like they just figured something out.

"Oh my God." Ellie said.

"Ohhh my God." Caroline said too. What, what am I missing.

Both Caroline and Ellie stood up.

"I was trying to understand why Klaus was so intrigued by Damon and Elena. He said we would figure it out, this is what he was talking about." Caroline said.

"Wait Nik knew about this?" Ellie asked Caroline.

"What are you two talking about?" I cut in.

"Think about it, every time Elena's had a problem, Damon's been the magic solution. Today Elena was worried about Jeremy. Who swoops in and tells her to relax? Damon and she listens." Caroline said.

"When Elena started feeding, did someone say she had to drink straight form the vein?" Ellie asked.

"Yes! Damon did." Caroline answered.

"And when she tried to drink from animals?" Ellie asked.

"She couldn't keep it down." I answered her.

"And blood bags?"

"Same thing."

"Name ONE vampire in the history of vampires who can't drink from a blood bag." Caroline said. "Damon said she couldn't so she couldn't. Damon likes the red dress, Elena likes the red dress."

"Damon says kill Connor, she kills Connor." I said.

"You've been around a while Ellie I mean is this possible?" Caroline asked her.

Ellie thought for a minute. "I've never actually seen it, but if Nik can sire hybrids who's to say it can't happen with vampires? It's rare but… it could happen." She said with a small frown on her face. What's wrong?

"What if this is one of those times?" Caroline asks. "What if this is really happening?"

"Elena's sired to Damon." I said.

"Okay. So now that we've figured out what her problem is, Ellie how do we break it?" Caroline asked her.

"Whoa, what makes you think I know?" She asked with a surprised look.

"Well, out of all of us you have lived the longest." Caroline said.

"I'm sorry. I have no idea how to solve this. Tyler broke the bond by shifting a bunch of times. I don't know what the vampire equivalent of that would be." She said.

Caroline looked lost. "Alright well we can work on this tomorrow. I'm exhausted. Ellie you can take the pull out mattress in my room which means that you're stuck with the couch Stefan."

"That's fine." I told her.

"Thanks Caroline." Ellie said.

"Okay well I'm gonna shower then go to bed. Night guys." She said and left the room.

Ellie sat back down on the couch with me. She still had that slight frown on her face and a look like she was thinking about something.

"What's wrong El?" I asked her.

She looked up like she forgot I was there. She must have been really deep in thought. "Oh, it's nothing. Just thinking about ways to break the sire bond." She said.

"I can't believe she's sired to Damon." I said.

"I know. Now all we have to do is break the sire bond and you can have your "epic love" back." Ellie said mocking Caroline.

Is that why she was upset? Because she thinks the bond will break and I'll get back together with Elena? Wrong.

"Ellie, even if we find a way to break the bond, it doesn't mean Elena and I will get back together." I told her sincerely.

"What about all that Caroline was saying about how 'you two are epic' and 'you belong together?'" She asked.

"The only reason Caroline thinks that is because she doesn't like Damon. She still has hostility towards him from when they first met. Damon wasn't exactly, kind toward Caroline." I told her.

"You mean Damon wasn't his fun and cheery self? I find that extremely hard to believe!" She said sarcastically.

I laughed. "I know. It's surprising." After our laughter died down it got quiet.

I have to do something. I can't just keep the way I feel about her to myself anymore. I may have told her I don't love Elena but I have a feeling she still doesn't believe me.

"I've moved on from Elena. To be honest, I feel like she was just a distraction… over losing you." I said quietly.

"What?" She asked surprised.

"Losing you was the worst thing that ever happened to me. And until Elena, I wasn't really happy. I thought I was happy with Elena, but every time things were okay, I thought of you. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't forget you." I told her.

She just looked at me for a minute. I kind of got scared. What if I'm telling her all this and she has moved on from me? What if she doesn't love me anymore?

"What are you saying Stefan?" She whispered.

"I'm saying…" I started to say. I brought my hand up to cup her face and ran my thumb across her cheek. "I'm still in love with you Ellie. I love you angel. I never stopped." Then I did the one thing I've been waiting over 100 years to do.

I kissed her. The best part… she kissed me back. It was slow and passionate and sweet and loving, just everything it used to be when we were together. Kissing her now, it's like I never lost her.

Unfortunately she started to pull away but I didn't let her go. There was just a small gap between our faces.

"I love you too Stefan." She said. We just smiled at each other. No amount of words could describe how happy I was in that moment. So instead of talking I just kissed her again.

I have my angel again. And I'm not letting anything take her away this time.


Yay! I know this kinds of sounds like the end, but it's not, just to let you know. Thanks again for reading and please, please, please review!