THANK YOU FOR ALL THE REVIEWS! I love hearing from all of you!

Allie: I wish you had an account so I could PM you! lol. Unfortunately, it's going to be a few chapters before Irina gets her memories back. I tried to shorten the length of time, but I really like where it is now. Certain things need to happen before she can remember. Don't worry though, there are a few moments of memories coming up - I promise! This story has been written for a while, so it'd be quite difficult for me to change everything around now. However, I did have a stopping point last time, and I posted a sequel to this. But, I think instead of doing that, I'm just going to continue it in this story, which means I'll need to change some things around towards the end. Don't worry, I'll try to post two updates a day if I can! :D

Those three words
Are said too much
They're not enough

- Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol

It had been a week since the kind-of breakup with Jeremy, and Irina was still upset. She wanted to forgive him- she wanted it more than anything in the world- but she just couldn't. It would be exactly like her previous boyfriend. Samuel Fell had been a running back on the football team, with gorgeous green eyes and red hair. She thought she was in love with him, but she knew now that she was just blinded by the lust. She was only fourteen, but she had given him everything.

Everyone warned her about him. Matt had kept an eye on him, even though Irina told him he didn't have to. She trusted him, and that was her first mistake. Even Tyler- who was now sentenced to being an eternal douche- had tried warning her, but she didn't listen. Every warning had gone in one ear, and out the other. Her excuse was always that they loved each other, and he would never betray her trust. She found out exactly how wrong she was during homecoming, her sophomore year.

They had been dating for a while now, and he seemed like the perfect boyfriend. She was busy cheering him on during the game, but he seemed… distracted. He didn't look up to give her subtle smiles like he normally did. After the game, she went looking for him, and found him making out with, and grinding against some girl under the bleachers. Her heart felt like it shattered into a million pieces, and ran to her grams' house as fast as she could. The older woman just smiled sadly in her understanding way, and listened to Irina go on-and-on about how stupid she felt.

Her grams made her feel better, and tried talking some sense into Irina, but it was useless. The girl was high on hormones, so the next day when Samuel came looking for her with apologies and explanations, she listened. His excuse was that he was feeling so frustrated, because he had hormones too. He actually made her feel like it was her fault, so she took him back. The next time he brought up the topic of sex between them, she gave in. It didn't feel right, but she didn't want to lose her boyfriend. Things were fine for a while between them, but Samuel started getting possessive.

He wanted her to cut all ties with her friends, and he would get angry at her when she would talk to Matt or Tyler. Everyone kept telling her that he was bad news, but she wouldn't listen. One night, when she was at the grill playing pool with her friends, he called her. He was demanding to know where she was, and why she wasn't with him. She tried explaining that he said he needed to study, so she was giving him space. He wanted her to come to his house, so she did. He was obviously drunk, and he was furious at her for hanging with Tyler and Matt.

.:|

|:.

Irina arrived at Samuel's house and knocked on the door. There was no answer, and she was beginning to get worried. She opened the door- which hadn't been locked- and stepped inside. Samuel's parents weren't home, which wasn't very surprising. They were always away on business- much like her own father. She looked everywhere for him- his bedroom, the bathrooms, the library… he was nowhere to be found.

She opened the door to his father's study, and saw him sitting there staring at his phone. Why the hell hadn't he answered her when she was calling for him? She stood in the doorway with an annoyed look on her face and her hand on her hip. It was Caroline's signature pose, but everyone in their group had adopted it. He looked at her and rolled his eyes at her expression.

"What the hell is your problem?" she asked.

"I could ask you the same thing," he hissed.

She got a shocked look on her face and said; "I've done nothing wrong."

"Were you enjoying your little threesome with Matt and Tyler?" he asked.

"Excuse me?" she replied.

He smirked, and it looked scary on his face. "Don't act like you're not into both of them. I know better," he said.

He got up from his sitting position behind the desk, and staggered towards her. She noticed the half-empty bourbon bottle on the table, and when he got in her face, she could smell it on his breath. She drank all the time, but she had never gotten as drunk as he was now. This was bad- there was a reason the Fells didn't drink a lot; they were angry drunks. Irina and Bonnie were giddy drunks, while Elena and Caroline were flirty drunks, but Samuel- he was dangerous when he drank.

She took a step back and said; "You're drunk."

"Well, aren't you the smart one?" he spat.

She wrinkled her nose in disgust at the smell of his breath. "I'm going home, Samuel. You're in no state to talk rationally," she said.

As she turned to leave, he grabbed her arm and pulled her into him. He was really hurting her, and she didn't appreciate it. She had been suppressing her witch powers for years, because she wanted to wait until Bonnie accepted her lineage before she started practicing again, but she really wanted to hurt him right now. She let a shock of electricity flow into his hand, and he yelped before letting go of her wrist.

"What did you do?" he asked.

"We're over, Samuel. I'm sick of the way you treat me," she said.

"We are not breaking up," he growled.

She rolled her eyes and said; "Yes we are- it's done. We're over. I should have never stayed with a cheating bastard like you in the first place."

As she was saying that, she saw the anger flash in his eyes, but she never expected what happened next. The next thing she knew, she was on the floor holding her face. He had hit her- no, punched her- and it hurt very badly. The look in his eyes was angry and unfeeling as he went to pour himself another glass of his dad's liquor. This wasn't worth it- she wouldn't be his punching bag. She used her magic to fling him into the wall, even though she was out of practice, it would still leave him sore. She left his house and called Caroline once she made it to the end of the street.

.:|

|:.

When she went to school after the incident, she tried wearing her sunglasses all day. She claimed it was because she had a headache, but Elena wouldn't let it go. Only Caroline and Bonnie knew what had happened, and that was only by chance. Elena was shocked to learn what Samuel did, but there wasn't much she could do. When Matt saw her putting makeup on it one day, he demanded that she tell him what happened. Irina told him the whole story, and both he and Tyler beat the crap out of Samuel. She eventually told her grams, and Sheila worked together with Sheriff Forbes to press charges against Samuel. He wouldn't bother her anymore, but that didn't mean she had forgotten.

That was why she couldn't forgive Jeremy. Her experience with Samuel had taught her a lesson, and she wouldn't relive it. However, when she thought about Jeremy, she didn't think about violence. With Samuel, it had been surprising at the time, but now that she thought about it she could see how the signs were all there. With Jeremy there were none of those. She sighed as she flipped the television on to break her thoughts. Bonnie would be home any minute, and she didn't want her sister to think she was still upset about Jeremy.

The front door opened, and Bonnie entered with Elena trailing behind her. They were laughing about something, but their laughter and smiles stopped when they saw Irina. Bonnie sighed and went to the kitchen table, taking the remote control from Irina.

"Hey!" Irina protested as Bonnie flipped off the television.

Bonnie and Elena sat across from her, and looked her in the eyes. Irina raised her eyebrow and said; "What?"

Elena sighed and said; "We're worried about you."

Irina rolled her eyes. "I'm fine, okay?" she said.

"No, you're not," Bonnie said shaking her head. "You've been moping around, and Caroline says your being bitchy to people on the squad."

Irina huffed. "No, I'm only being bitchy towards Rebekah, and she deserves it," she said.

"Nevertheless," Elena began, trying to diffuse the tension, "you're coming with us."

"Where?" Irina asked.

"My house," Elena said. "Caroline's already there, and we're not taking no for an answer."

Irina sighed and rolled her eyes. They had obviously planned this, and she didn't want to face the wrath of Caroline if she said no. Plus, she could use the distraction.

"Okay, fine," she said.

.:|

|:.

They arrived at Elena's house, and Irina was praying that Jeremy wasn't there. Elena said he had gone off with Matt, but she could sense the lie in her statement. She didn't push it, though. She just wanted a nice night without thinking of Jeremy. She got out of the car, and followed Elena and Bonnie into the house. When she entered she saw Caroline sitting in the living room. Her bubbly, blonde friend stood up and walked over to them.

"Irina, I'm so happy you agreed to come!" Caroline said as she squeezed Irina in one of her 'Care-Bear' hugs.

"Okay, Caroline…" Irina said.

Caroline let her go, and turned to Elena and Bonnie. "Did he explain?" Bonnie asked.

"Yes, he did, and I think it's a good explanation," Caroline said as she picked up her keys from the bowl by the door.

Irina looked suspicious. "What are you talking about?" Irina asked.

Her three friends turned to her and Bonnie said; "We might have developed a little plan to get you and Jeremy to talk things out."

"What?" Irina asked.

"We're sorry Irina, but we hate seeing you like this. And you're too stubborn to listen to him, so we had to do something," Caroline said.

"There is seriously something wrong with all of you," Irina said.

Elena shrugged; "Maybe so, but we're your friends Irina. We love you, and you were happy with Jeremy. We don't want you to be sad anymore," she said.

"Wait, where is Jeremy? You said he went with Matt," Irina said.

"Well, then they lied. I have been here all day," Jeremy said.

The three girls walked out onto the porch. Irina tried to follow, but there was a barrier that blocked her exit. She tried using magic to make it go away, but nothing was working.

"I've spelled the entire house- neither of you can leave until you've resolved your spat. We're doing this for both of you… and your happiness," Bonnie said.

"What about Jenna?" Jeremy asked.

"She was the one who okayed it," Elena said.

Jeremy looked shocked. "Seriously… we're stuck in here?" he asked.

"Yep, bye-bye now," Caroline said, and the three girls ran to their cars.

.:|

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Irina had been sitting on the sofa for over an hour, and Jeremy was sitting in the chair next to her. She would glance up at him every now and then, and most of the time she caught him looking back at her. She was getting uncomfortable- and hungry- but she wouldn't be the one to budge first. She let out a loud sigh, and Jeremy looked up from the floor. She knew he was staring at her, but she couldn't meet his eyes. If she did, she knew she'd forgive him of everything .She couldn't deny his beautiful, brown, puppy-eyes.

Jeremy sighed and said; "Irina, this is ridiculous. We're acting like children."

"Hmm, I didn't know children had make-out sessions with the ghosts of their former girlfriends," she said flippantly.

"Will you please just listen to my explanation- or my apology? Either one…" Jeremy said.

Ignoring Jeremy, and trying to find a reason to hate him, was getting tiring. She didn't want to hate him- in fact, she was beginning to suspect that she loved him. That's what hurt the most- he betrayed her, and she didn't take that well.

"You have one minute to give me a good explanation, Jeremy. Go…" she said looking at her watch.

Jeremy sighed and said; "Look, I know Elena caught me kissing Anna, okay? I'm not going to insult you by lying to you and saying I wasn't. I know that what I did was wrong, but it wasn't a romantic thing."

"You still have thirty seconds," she deadpanned.

Jeremy rolled his eyes and put his hand over hers, lowering it to her side. "Irina, please… Anna wasn't the only ghost there. There was another ghost there who didn't want Anna and me together. I'm not sure who they were, but they didn't want us kissing. That kiss was me trying to get them to leave me the hell alone!" he said.

"You mean to tell me that you felt nothing when you kissed your dead, ex-vampire-girlfriend," she said.

"No, not really," he said.

"Not really?" she asked.

"I did feel something, but it wasn't love or lust or anything. I felt… closure. The kiss turned into me letting her go. She's gone, Irina. I promise. I've let her go," Jeremy said.

Irina looked at him for a short amount of time, trying her best to detect a lie, but there wasn't one there. She sighed and looked at her hands. "Why did it take you so long to do it?" she asked.

"I honestly don't know," he said. "If I had to guess, I would say it's because I began seeing her when you were gone, and she filled the void. I was missing you so much, that I kept thinking about what happened to my other girlfriends."

She sat and looked at him for a moment. She stared into his brown eyes, and she felt herself melting. She was waging a war within herself. Part of her wanted to keep on giving him the cold shoulder, and cut him out of her life forever, but there was another part that wanted to jump into his arms and kiss him until she was satisfied. She had missed his lips on hers, and she wanted to give in, but she was stubborn.

"So it's my fault for leaving?" she scoffed.

"No," he said, "it's not your fault at all. I just… I wanted to explain why I kissed her. It wasn't to hurt you, or upset you in any way. I do love you- I know I do- but I needed to let Anna go. That was me letting her go. But I am so sorry for hurting you. The pain that was in your eyes… I never want to be the cause of that."

She heard a little voice in the back of her head, telling her that he was sincere in his explanation. It kept telling her that his apology was sincere as well, and that she should forgive him. She wanted to, so badly, but could she? Maybe if they moved slowly it would work better.

"Okay," she said softly.

"What?" he asked.

She smiled at him and said; "Okay, I'll accept your apology."

His smile lit up his entire face, and it made her smile as well. "Really?" he asked.

"Yes, really, but I do think we should stay just friends- for now, anyway," she said.

He looked down for a moment, but then said; "Can I still ask you on dates and such?"

She laughed and said; "Sure, but I won't accept for a while."

"Deal," he said with a smile.

"Good. Now let's go cook something, because I'm starving," she said.

She walked to the kitchen and he followed her- the smile never once leaving his face.

.:|

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An hour after they made up, the girls came back, and found Irina, Jeremy, and the kitchen completely covered in flour. The two of them cooking together was never a good idea. Ever since they were kids this kind of thing happened when they tried doing something productive. Bonnie was giggling at them, while Elena and Caroline just stood in the doorway of the kitchen wearing shocked expressions on their faces.

"What happened?" Elena asked.

"We were cooking… it didn't turn out too well," Irina said.

"I see you've made up," Caroline said.

"Sort of," Jeremy said.

Now it was Caroline's turn to giggle as Elena went to Jeremy and dusted the white stuff out of his hair. It looked hilarious- like a scene from a movie. Bonnie was doing the same with Irina's hair, while Caroline began sweeping and cleaning the counters.

"Caroline, we don't have time for that," Bonnie said. "We'll do it later."

"What are you talking about?" Irina asked.

"Alaric and Damon found something. We need your help," Elena said.

"With what?" Jeremy asked.

Elena sighed and said; "The other night Mason led Damon to a cave under the Lockwood property. He finally got Alaric to take a look in the cave, since Damon hadn't been invited in. There are carvings and pictures on the wall, and we need your help translating them."

"What makes you think I can translate them?" Irina asked.

"They're written in the same language as the words on your necklace," Caroline said.

.:|

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Alaric led Elena and Irina to the caves underneath the Lockwood property. Since Caroline couldn't enter the caves anyway, she elected to stay behind and help Jeremy clean the kitchen. He didn't want to face the wrath of Jenna, with all her heightened emotions. Bonnie stayed behind and tried using magic to help them clean.

The caves were dark and damp, but they were comforting to Irina. She was more afraid of wide-open spaces than she was of the tight, enclosed walls of the cave. They felt familiar to her somehow, but she didn't know why.

"So the Lockwoods really have no idea that these tunnels are underneath their property?" Elena asked.

"I guess not," Ric muttered. "Oh, and be careful where you shine that thing. Bats hate the light."

Elena and Irina stopped dead in their tracks and looked at each other. "Wait, what?" Irina said.

Someone behind them whispered 'Elena', and when they turned to shine light on the person, they saw Damon. Both of them gasped, and Irina knew her heart was racing. She smacked Damon on the back of the head and entered the cave with Ric. She was actually getting satisfaction from the fact that he couldn't enter.

Elena was right behind her, and when they entered the cave they shone their flashlights onto the wall. There were pictures- carvings made by ancient people- covering the entire wall.

"What is all this?" Elena asked.

"As far as I can tell, it's a story," Ric said.

"Seriously?" Irina asked.

"Yep. In simple archaeological terms, it's a really, really old story," Alaric said.

He aimed his flashlight to a picture that showed three crescent moons- all facing different directions. "That right there, is a moon cycle," he said.

Irina moved her flashlight to a different picture. It looked like a man plus a wolf. "Is that what I think it is?" she asked.

"A man… and a wolf," Alaric responded.

Elena's eyes widened. "A werewolf," Elena breathed.

"Yeah, it's the Lockwood diaries- Pictionary style," Damon quipped.

"But, I thought the Lockwoods came here with the original founders in the 1860's," Elena said.

"Maybe the Lockwoods did, but these drawings have been here a lot longer than that," Alaric replied.

Irina raised an eyebrow, and said; "How long?"

"Long, but it gets better. Show 'em the reason you called in Irina," Damon said.

Alaric led them to another wall of the section they were in. He aimed his flashlight, and Irina stood in shock at what she saw. It was writing- the same writing on her necklace. And what was even stranger was the fact that she could read it. They didn't tell stories, though. They were simply names- but it was the names carved onto the wall that made her heart jump.

"These writings are not native. They're written in runic- a Viking script," Alaric said.

"Vikings?" Elena and Irina asked at the same time.

Irina ran her fingers along one of the carvings. There were many of them, but four of them really made her blood run cold.

"Oh my gosh," she breathed.

"Can you read it?" Alaric asked.

Irina nodded her head, and turned to Alaric and Elena. They noticed the fear in her eyes, and Elena asked; "What is it? What's wrong?"

"These aren't just random words- and it isn't a story. These are names," Irina said.

"What?" Alaric asked.

She pointed to one of the names above her, and said; "If you translate this name, it will say "Niklaus."

Their eyes widened. "Klaus," Elena said.

Irina nodded and turned her attention back to the wall. "Yes, and there is Rebekah… and Elijah," she said, pointing to each one. "These are the names of the Original family."

"Oh my God," Elena breathed.

"Carved into a cave that's been here since way before the founding of Mystic Falls… or the new world, for that matter?" Alaric asked.

"This has got to be another one of Klaus' fakes," Elena said.

"That's what I said," Damon replied.

Irina was ready to believe them, but then her eyes saw another name on the wall. There was no way Klaus would have carved that name with his family's. "I don't think it's a fake," she said as she moved to inspect the name.

"Why?" Elena asked.

"This name," she said as she pointed to it, "reads 'Mikael'."

"Mikael?" Elena asked. "As in… the vampire hunter who knows how to kill Klaus?"

Irina nodded and turned back to look at the wall as Damon said; "I like to call him Papa Original."

She gasped as she turned to Elena. "You know who would know all about this?" she asked.

Elena shook her head, and said; "No, who?"

"Rebekah," Irina replied.

"Eigi leyna augu ef ann kona manni."

[Eyes can not hide a woman's love for a man.]

- The Saga of Gunnlaugur the Worm-tongue, chapter 13