A week later, Selina was once again waking up in her bed at the boardinghouse. She, Elena, Damon and Stefan had talked it over and decided that since Jeremy wasn't the main object of Lucy's wrath, it would be safe for Selina to move out of the house permanently and only stop by to check on him during the day if Elena thought it was necessary.

Selina sat up, looked at the clock on the bedside table, and groaned. "Damon," she muttered sleepily, nudging his prone form beside her. "It's one in the afternoon. We should probably get up now."

His face was against the pillow and he turned it slightly, opening one eye. "Do we have to?" he asked.

"Yes," Selina nodded vigorously. "I need to run over to Elena's house to check on Jeremy and other things of that nature. Besides, we don't want to be lazy slugabeds all the time, do we?"

He brought himself up, leaning on one elbow. "Maybe," he said. "And I don't see what all the rush is. After all, Elena's here." He nodded toward the doorway to indicate that Elena was undoubtedly still in Stefan's room where she'd once again spent the night. "If she's not worried, I don't see why you should be."

Selina ignored him and got out of bed, beginning to dress. "Lucy's been quiet for the last week," she said. "Maybe that means that she's calmed down."

"Now you're being naïve," Damon replied dryly, getting out of bed and watching her closely as he dressed himself. "She's probably just biding her time and not doing anything to throw us off."

"I don't like to think of myself as naïve," Selina replied as she pulled a shirt over her head. "Just optimistic."

At that, Damon burst out laughing. "Don't bet on it," he told her when he finally managed to get his breath back. "I want you to be on your guard all the time, even when you think there's no reason to be."

"All right," Selina replied, sighing. "I'll watch out for myself."

"Good," Damon replied. "Now I have to go out and about. It should take about an hour and a half, and then I'm coming straight back."

"All right," Selina nodded. Just as he was about to head out the door, she stopped him. "Wait a minute," she said.

"What?" Damon replied, turning to face her.

"Well," Selina told him, "I've been thinking about the dress I'm going to wear when we get married." She paused. "We are still getting married, aren't we?" she asked.

"Of course," Damon nodded. "Once we vanquish Lucy. No sense in doing it now."

"Anyway," Selina said. "I've been looking through my closet and I've narrowed it down to two; I want your opinion about which one, because I really can't decide."

"All right," he said, "lay it on me."

"Okay." Selina went in to her closet and came out a few minutes later, wearing the first dress: a long, ornate red number with a flowing train and a tulle overskirt. "Here's the first one." She twirled around a few times, then looked at him. "I don't want you to say anything until you've seen both of them." He nodded and then she headed back in the closet and put on the second dress. This one was more modern in design, a simple, short halter dress in different shades of blue. "So," she said as she faced him. "Which one do you think?"

He looked at her for a moment before speaking. "Do you realize that those dresses are the same colors as the ones you wore the night we got engaged and the night you changed me?"

Selina looked down at the dress she wore and then back up at him. "No, I didn't. But now that you mention it, you're right."

"So, the question here is," Damon said, "when we get married, do we want to make it the wedding we should have had a hundred and forty-five years ago, in which case you'd wear the red, or do we want to move on and just keep going with what we have now, in which case you'd wear the blue." He paused a moment, then strode over to her. "I'd go with the blue. The red is too fancy for a Vegas wedding chapel, plus, the blue dress brings out the blue in your eyes." He paused and put his arms around her. "Has anyone told you that you have the most beautiful blue eyes?"

Selina felt her eyes began to mist over as she looked back up at him. "You sounded like my father just now," she said.

He pulled away. "I'm sorry," he said.

"Don't be," Selina shook her head and dabbed at her eyes. "It was nice. Besides," she said, smiling, "one could also say the same about you."

He smiled. "If you don't need me for anything else," he said, "I think I'll be on my way."

"All right," Selina told him. "Thanks for your help. And take care of yourself out there."

He nodded and left her.

She quickly changed her clothes and then went to knock on Stefan's door. "Are you two decent?" she called. There was no answer, but there were also no sounds of unbridled passion, so she took her chances and opened the door. To her surprise, there was no one in the room. She walked inside and over to the neatly made bed, where a note on white paper rested incongruously on Stefan's dark sheets.

Selina,

We headed out earlier this morning. We tried to wake you and Damon, but you must have been sleeping too soundly to hear us. You can come by the house today to check on Jeremy if you want, but I think it won't be necessary, since Lucy's been so quiet recently. But if you feel the need to go and see him, I won't stop you because you know what's best. Maybe we can all get together later in the day.

Elena

Selina read the note, folded it over, and then stuck it in the pocket of her jeans. Then, she went into the living room and turned on the television. Halfway through her soap, the doorbell rang. That's strange, Selina thought to herself as she got up to answer the door. No one usually comes to visit here except Elena and she has a key. I wonder who that could be.

She opened the door. The woman who stood on the other side looked familiar, although Selina was sure she'd never seen her before in her life. "Hello," Selina said after a moment. "Can I help you?"

"Yes," the woman replied. "My name is Isobel Flemming. I'm looking for Damon Salvatore. Is he here?"

"No," Selina shook her head. "He's stepped out for a moment, but he should be back soon. Do you want to come inside?"

"Thank you," Isobel replied, stepping into the house. She and Selina took seats in the living room and Selina snapped off the television, plunging the room into awkward silence.

"So," Selina said finally. "You're Isobel."

"I am," Isobel nodded. "And who're you? Some girl he turned and is keeping around?"

Selina scoffed. "If I was, we'd have something in common, wouldn't we? Or did he just dump you afterwards?"

"I asked him to turn me," Isobel replied. "Things have been good since then. Not to say they weren't while we were together. He's really good in bed." Isobel paused. "So who are you exactly?"

"I'm Selina, Damon's fiancée." Selina showed Isobel her ring.

"Wow," Isobel said as she looked at it. "That's strange."

"What?" Selina asked.

"Well, no offense to you, or anything, but it's weird to think of Damon being tied down to anyone. He's just not the type." She paused, and her eyes lit up with recognition. She snapped her fingers and cried "my God! You're Selina? Damon talked about you. He said you cheated on him with the town doctor."

"None of that matters anymore," Selina replied quietly. "It was all just a bunch of lies my sister thought up to keep us apart."

"It's no wonder Katherine was able to lure Damon away. You were just a little twit when you were alive, weren't you?"

Selina breathed in sharply and got up next to Isobel so that they were practically nose to nose. "Listen kid," she whispered. "You don't talk to me that way."

"Who're you calling a kid?" Isobel asked, standing up.

"I was merely referring to the relatively short time you've been a vampire," Selina said easily. "Biologically you weren't a kid when you were turned. How old are you anyway? Forty?"

"Thirty-two," Isobel said through her teeth.

"Thirty-two, and yet I see a few wrinkles," Selina replied, peering up at her. "It must suck to have to live with those for all eternity. And by the way, if it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have had Damon around to turn you at all. I was the one who turned him. I guess for all Katherine's evil plotting she's not a complete success, is she?"

Isobel was looking as if she wanted to hit the other girl, but quite suddenly, her facial muscles relaxed.

"I didn't just come here to see Damon," she said easily. "A friend called me up because she wants help with a project she's doing. So I'll be here for awhile. I'll look Damon up later. It was nice talking with you."

As she got up to leave, Selina replied, "look: I know you're working for Katherine. I realize that now. So you can tell that bitch next time you see her that I'm ready for her and she can stop by anytime she wants."

"All right, I will," Isobel replied with her hand on the doorknob. "I'm sure she'll be glad to get the message. And now I have a request for you: next time you see Elena Gilbert, and I know you know who that is, tell her her biological mother wants to see her."

Damon returned to the house an hour later to find Selina looking downcast. "What's the matter with you?" he asked. "Did something bad happen?"

Selina looked up at him. "Remember that girl you turned, Isobel? She stopped by today. She wants to see you. I think she and Lucy are working together, so if when you meet you can get something about their plan out of her that would be great. And one other thing: she says she's Elena's biological mother. Do you think Elena knows?"