"So you're telling me you still haven't said it back?" Elena asks Buffy stunned.
Buffy nods as she runs her fingers through her hair "I know, I know. It's bad. Like epic bad. But every time I try and say the words, I just freeze up. Then I start to babble and he babbles and it becomes this whole babble fest."
Elena walks over to Buffy "What's making you freeze?"
Buffy sighs "Every time I think about saying it, that night pops back into my head."
Elena looks at her confused "What night?"

Buffy takes a breath she was nervous about telling Elena the truth, it was difficult enough just thinking about it, speaking about it was 10 times worse "The night I killed Angel. I was about to take him out and something went through him and he was Angel again. But it was too late. And I had too. So I told him that I loved him and I killed him."
Elena pauses and looks at her cousin sadly before grasping her hand in support "That was the last thing you said to him." Elena says as the realisation hits her.
Buffy nods "Well, technically the last thing I said was 'close your eyes' but you get the picture. 'I love you' was also one of the last things I said to my mom."

Elena's eyes widen "You're scared that if you say it, you'll lose him."
Buffy nods tears threatening to fall "I think that I'm cursed. It's like oh, Buffy loves someone must get rid of them and make Buffy miserable again."
Elena hugs her cousin "Buffy, you are not cursed. You just have a complicated life, to put it simply."

Buffy smiles and the two sit in silence for a moment before Elena speaks again "I'm sorry."
Buffy looks at her confused, Elena explains "Stefan wouldn't be struggling with the hunger if it wasn't for me. If I hadn't given him the blood th—"

Buffy cuts her off "It is not your fault. You saved him. So thank you."
The two smile at each other before continuing to eat breakfast.

"Buffy, there is someone here to see you." Jenna says as she walks into the kitchen and over to the coffee pot.
Buffy gets up from her seat and walks over to the door.
"Giles." Buffy says as she answers the door "How are you watcher of mine?"
Giles smiles "It's good to see you, Buffy."

Buffy gives the older man a smile before stepping on the porch. The two of them then sit on the bench "I'm guessing you're here for the books." Buffy says after a moment.
Giles removes his glasses "Well yes. The Ascension is nearing and we will need as much information as possible. I assume you are still willing to come and help with the battle."
Buffy nods "Count me in. Giles?"
"Yes."
"What are you and the gang not telling me?" She asks deciding to just bite the bullet.
Giles's eyes widen in panic "I'm not sure—I don't..."

Buffy cuts him off "Uh uh, no more secrets. I'm not an idiot, every time I talk to you guys it's easy to tell that there is something you're keeping from me."
Giles sighs "Buffy, for now, I need you to trust me. Once the Ascension has been dealt with I will tell you."
Buffy tries to argue but she knows Giles was right there were more important things going on at the moment. "What about the other slayer? Faith? Do you need me to come and deal with her?"
Giles shakes his head "No, we have—a friend dealing with that. It is best that you stay clear of Sunnydale until the Ascension, we don't want to risk the Mayor finding out. For now, you are our—secret weapon."
Buffy laughs "I like that. Very cool Giles."

Buffy quickly heads upstairs to grab the books and brings them outside to Giles "You know I hate to part with these, I did have to fight for them. But here." Buffy says.
Giles takes the books and gives the Slayer a small smile "Be careful, Buffy. And if you need anything..."
Buffy nods "I know."
As Giles heads towards his car Buffy calls out to him "Hey! If the apocalypse comes, beep me."
Giles chuckles before turning back to his car "The earth is definitely doomed."


Once Buffy gets to school she sees Stefan's car driving into the parking lot. As the car parks, Buffy walks over to Stefan "Nice wheels." she says gesturing to the shiny red sports car.
Stefan smiles "I thought it was a waste to leave it sitting in the garage." Stefan says before giving Buffy a kiss.
Buffy smiles at Stefan "You know, I'm surprised you came back today. If it was me I would avoid school for as long as possible."
Stefan chuckles "You know, I woke up this morning and I was feeling great, and I figured it was time for me to get back into things."
"So does that mean you fit into the ok category now? With the cravings and stuff?"

Stefan nods "Yes, I'm in that category. The worst part is over. So...now all I want to do is just spend as much time with you as possible."
Buffy smiles "I think that can be arranged." She says before giving Stefan another kiss.
"Thank you. For helping me get through the—the rough patch."
Buffy nods "Don't mention it. Anyway as much as I hate to say it, we have to go to class."
"Ok, um, you know what, I'll catch up with you I'm gonna grab my stuff. I'll be right behind you."
Buffy nods "Ok." She says before heading off.

Stefan waits till Buffy is out of sight before opening the trunk of his car, revealing many empty blood bags inside. Stefan grabs his bag ignoring the blood bags; he quickly closes the trunk and heads after Buffy.


"Ok." Alaric says as he enters the classroom "This week we're going to set aside our regular curriculum for a lesson in local history as we approach founder's day. Apparently, the community leaders feel that's more important than World War II, but hey what do I know."

Suddenly the classroom door opens and Bonnie steps inside "Sorry I'm late."
"Looks like we will be at full occupancy today. Welcome home, Bonnie."

As Bonnie sits down both Elena and Buffy turn to her and smile, she smiles back but it immediately falls when she sees Stefan. Buffy and Elena look at each slightly confused but go back to listening to Alaric.


At lunch, Buffy and Elena walks over to Bonnie "Bonnie, Hey." Elena says.
"Hey."
Buffy looks over at the witch "We tried to grab you after class, but you shot out of there like the room was going to explode."
Bonnie stops and Elena turns to her "How are you? How's your family?"
Bonnie shrugs "We're dealing. It's been hard."
Elena nods "Everyone here really missed you."
"Yeah, I just had so much to deal with after Grams' funeral, and honestly after Buffy told me that the tomb spell failed, I just didn't really want to come back."

Buffy turns to the witch "I get that. But I thought you would wanna know about all the crazy ass vamps before you came home."
Bonnie nods "Yeah, I understand why. I just wish I didn't know."
"I know it's been really hard—" Elena starts but is cut off by a loud girlish scream.

The three of them turn to see Caroline heading towards them "Bonnie! Bonnie! Thank god you're home!" The blonde says as she wraps her arms around Bonnie in a hug "I know we talked every day, but I missed you! How are you doing?"
Bonnie nods "Better. Just better. You know, just glad to be back and try to keep myself busy." busy."
Caroline smiles "Well, I can help with that. Major wardrobe help needed ASAP. You need to help me pick the perfect dress for the founder's court."
"The what?" Buffy asks confused.
"Did I miss something?" Elena asks also confused.
"The founder's court." Caroline explains, "You know, Miss Mystic Falls. They announced it today, and, um, you, me and Buffy are on it."

Buffy starts to cough "Huh?" She asks as she stands there in horror.
Elena nods, finally remembering "Oh, my god, we sighed up for that so long ago. I completely forgot."
Caroline scoffs "Yeah."
Buffy shakes her head "Hey I'm still confused over here. Why am I on this list? I didn't sign up."

Elena turns to Buffy "Mom and I signed you up. Her and Joyce did it together and she was hoping that maybe Joyce and you might come back for a while."
Buffy's eyes widen stunned. Caroline looks between the two of them "So are you guys dropping out, then?"
Elena and Buffy look at each other, from one look Buffy knows why they can't.
"We can't." Elena tells the cheerleader.
Caroline looks at them confused and slightly disappointed, though she would never admit that "No?"

Bonnie turns to Caroline "Elena's mom is the one who wanted them to enter. Plus Buffy's mom wanted to sign her up when she was old enough, but then they moved."


Later at home, Buffy dials Stefan's number "I have a major problem." Buffy says as Stefan answers, "What is it?" He asks worried.
Buffy sighs "Unfortunately this is not an end of the world problem. Which sucks cause I'm really good at that. Turns out my aunt sighed me up for that stupid Founder's court when I was still in Sunnydale, apparently my mom had wanted me to do it when I was younger. So here's the thing I know it's short notice but—"
"You need an escort." Stefan finishes chuckling slightly.
"Yep."
"Well, I will be happy to escort you anywhere."
"Thanks. Trust me if my mom and aunt had not been with the whole loving of Miss Mystic Falls there is no way that I would be doing this. But I want to do it for them."
"Well, it'll be great. We'll have fun."
"Ok, I'll see you tomorrow. I have to go patrol." Buffy says.
"Be careful. I love you."

Buffy smiles "Always am." She says before hanging up the phone, groaning slightly she throws herself back on the bed before putting a pillow over her head and screaming into it. She was frustrated, every time the damn 'L' word comes up she froze. It was infuriating.


Sunnydale, California

Angel walks into the library to inform Willow, Xander and Giles of what he discovered about Faith. "Where's Giles?" Angel asks as he enters the room.
Willow turns to face Angel nervously having no idea of how to explain "He, ah. He was right here...I'm sure he's around here somewhere."
Xander turns to Angel "What is it?"

Angel walks over to the two of them "It's Faith, she tried to have a demonic priest of sorts remove my soul." Angel smirks "I tricked her got her to talk before she realised I was playing her. She told me everything she knew, about the Ascension."

At that moment Giles walks in through the door and moans "Bloody hell, stuck with bleeding irritating child kicking my chair throughout the whole flight on the way back from Virg—"
Giles cuts himself off when he sees Angel "What is going on?" Giles asks.
Angel watches Giles suspiciously, wondering where he had gone but tries to focus on the most important thing "The Ascension, will take place on graduation day."

Willow's eyes widen "That's a little over a month away. What are we going to do?"
Giles takes a deep breath and turns to the red head "Luckily as you lot are juniors we will not have to worry about that, we can just focus on the Ascension."
Xander clears his throat "Ah, Giles. Here's the thing, the commencement speaker for the graduation. Is the Mayor."
Giles takes off his glasses and sits down in one of the chairs "Oh, dear lord."


Mystic Falls, Virginia

"Honour your Partner." Mrs Lockwood says to the group.
Buffy and Elena both bow to their partners, Buffy desperately trying not to roll her eyes as she does.
"Let's focus. Right hand around."

Buffy and Stefan both raise their hands "This is ridiculous." Buffy whispers.

"Flirt with your eyes." Mrs Lockwood tells them.

Buffy and Stefan laugh slightly as they continue to follow the instructions. Stefan smiles at Buffy "You're only saying that because you don't know how to do it."
Buffy smirks enjoying the banter "Listen here old man, it's not my fault I wasn't learning it first hand from the inventor."
Stefan chuckles "Ouch!"
Stefan grabs Buffy and spins her causing her to giggle. Mrs Lockwood walks over to them "Oh, no, no, no, no. There's no touching during this part. It's about the simple intimacy of the near-touch."
Buffy chuckles "Near touch got it. A no with the actual touchy."
Stefan looks back at Buffy "If you ask me, the near touch is overrated."
Buffy smiles while Elena laughs at the two of them before continuing to dance.

Buffy turns to Stefan "You know your mood is different. It's like it's reached the scale labelled good mood."
"Is that a bad thing? Would you prefer me to be brooding and tortured?"
Buffy chuckles "Ok, I'm not with the complaining here. Although the brooding is a bit sexy."
Stefan grins at that "Really?" He says as he attempts to touch her again making her laugh, as she does she hears Mrs Lockwood clear her throat loudly from the other side of the room.
Buffy and Stefan look over to see Mrs Lockwood glaring at them, the two laugh before continuing with the dance.


Buffy and Elena walk over to Bonnie and Caroline "Bonnie. Hey." Buffy says to the witch. Bonnie looks at the cousins "Hey. How are you?" Elena asks. Bonnie doesn't answer as she sees Stefan currently talking to one of the other guys.
Caroline sensing the awkwardness cuts in "I begged Bonnie to fill in for Matt. He had to work today. So whose your partner Elena?"
Elena turns to Caroline "I asked Liam to come as a favour but he can't come until tomorrow so I'm using one of the fill in's for practice."
Caroline smirks "So you and Liam huh?"
Elena shrugs "It's nothing, Caroline. We are not together."
Caroline raises her hands in surrender "If you say so."

Elena and Buffy both turn to Bonnie "Bonnie, can we chat for a sec?" Buffy asks.
Bonnie hesitates "We only have 30 minutes for rehearsal."
"It'll only take a minute." Elena assures her "Please?"

Bonnie nods and the three of them quickly head into the hall "So Bonnie, what's the problem, what's going on?" Buffy asks.
Bonnie shrugs "It's not worth talking about."
Elena looks at the witch confused "What do you mean not worth it? You've barely said 10 words to me, or Buffy. Plus you won't even look at Stefan."
Buffy watches the teenage witch closely when she realises something "Is this about Stefan?"

Bonnie sighs "Listen. Buffy, Elena, I can't just pretend like everything is ok. Everything my Grams did was to protect us from those vampires in the tomb. And now they're out, which means she died for nothing."
Buffy looks at Bonnie sadly "Bonnie, I'm so so, like zillion times sorry. Is there anything I can do to make it better."
"Something we can both do." Elena adds.
Bonnie shakes her head "That's just it. There's nothing you can do. I blame him. Him and Damon. And I'm not going to put Buffy in a situation where she has to choose sides. And Elena, she's your cousin and Stefan is your friend. So I don't want to do that to you either. I'm just having a hard time with it. Ok?"


Buffy walks down the stairs holding her garment bag as Elena follows struggling to hold her own. Buffy sighs and turns to her cousin "Hand it over." Elena gives her a grateful smile before handing Buffy the bag "Thank you."
Buffy smiles "Slayer strength has its benefits."
Elena chuckles just as there is a knock at the door, Elena opens the door to see Alaric "Hi."
"Hi." Alaric says then turns to Buffy and raises an eyebrow "Are they just loading you up so you have to carry everything."
Buffy nods "I think that's the plan. So you're driving?"
Alaric chuckles softly "Yeah, I am. Let me help you so you're no longer the human luggage machine."
Buffy smiles "Thank you." She says as she hands him one of the bags while he walks inside the house.
Once the door is closed both girls start to head for the kitchen but Alaric's voice stops them "Um, how, uh—how is Stefan?"
Elena turns to Buffy "That is a Buffy question so I'm gonna—go."

Once Elena leaves the room Buffy turns to Alaric "So what's the what?"
Alaric walks over to her "You know, he seems on edge."
Buffy nods "There was a rough patch but there seems to be a bounce in his step now. But I don't know. I get what you mean about something, which seems off. But I've seen worse."

Alaric nods in understanding knowing she was talking about Angel but before he could respond John walks into the room "Alaric. Hey, Buffy. What are you doing here?" John asks Rick.
Buffy looks between the two "I'm gonna-"
Buffy quickly walks towards the room where Elena had escaped to.

"Well, I'm the chauffeur." Alaric says as he watches John intently who was still looking in the direction that Buffy ran off in.
John turns back to Alaric "Oh, I thought I was driving."

At that moment Jenna walks down the stars "Oh, no need. We're going with Rick. Are we ready? Jeremy can ride with you."

Buffy turns to Elena as they hide in the kitchen "Okay if we wanna escape we have to go... now Jenna is opening the front door in 3, 2, 1." Buffy girls shoot up from their seats and quickly walk past John and head after Jenna.


Later Buffy and Elena were getting ready with Jenna's help. While Buffy has Caroline help her apply her makeup, Jenna was curling Elena's hair. "Thanks for helping me." Elena says to Jenna.
Jenna chuckles "Don't thank me until you're sure your hair isn't going to burn off. Buffy was smart enough to not let me near it."

Buffy looks over at the till "Hey, I would but Caroline made it clear she wanted to play with me hair, said something about loving hair that has stepped foot in California."
"Hold still." Caroline says forcing Buffy's head back to face her.
Elena and Jenna both laugh, Buffy pouts mouthing "Help." into the mirror.

Elena looks over at Jenna "I remember when my mom and I were first applying for this. She was so excited told me all about when she and Aunt Joyce did it. It's the reason she signed Buffy up as well she wanted us to relive what they went through together."
Buffy smiles at Elena then looks over at Jenna who was speaking "If I recall, you were also excited."

Elena sighs "I was. She just made it sound like so much fun. Plus she said that it would definitely mean that there would be a reason for you to come home." Elena says to Buffy.
Buffy smiles at her sadly "A lot's changed."
Jenna looks at the two of them "Well, I hate to break it to the two of you, but it's a little late for cold feet."
Buffy shakes her head "I have none of the cold feet."
Elena nods in agreement "I don't have cold feet. I just...I think I'd...we would both enjoy it a lot more if they were here with us."

The three of them look down sadly so Jenna tries to brighten the mood "I'll tell you one thing your hair would have a better chance if they were. Plus Buffy would not be at the mercy of Caroline's makeup box." The three of them chuckle just as Caroline finishes Buffy's make up "Done." Caroline examines the blonde slayer "Damn, I am good." Caroline smirks before turning back to finish her own hair.
Buffy chuckles then turns to Elena and Jenna "I'm gonna go get ready."
Elena nods "I should do the same." Elena turns to Jenna "Be careful with that thing." She gestures to the curling iron "Don't hurt anybody."


Buffy and Elena head into the changing room to see Amber panicking "Are you ok, Amber?" Elena asks.
Amber continues to pace around the room "I hate being the centre of attention. I get panic attacks."
"Do you need some privacy so you can change?"
"Actually, I'm just—I'm just going to go get some air."
The two watch her leave before turning to their dresses.

While Elena turns to the blue dress by the mirror, Buffy turns to the red satin and silk dress hanging on the door. A second later Buffy hears the floor's screech outside the door. Buffy sighs as she turns to face the door "Damon, enough with the creepy stalker stuff."

Elena turns around to see Damon "You can't be back here."
Damon rolls his eyes then turns to Buffy "Slayer, we need to talk."
Buffy sighs "And the time for that has to be now?"
Elena looks between the two "Buffy, I'm gonna..."
Buffy nods "Thanks."

Elena gives her a smile before quickly leaving the room. Once the door closes behind her Buffy turns to Damon "So..."
Damon nods "Normally I would have a completely different outlook on what I'm about to tell you but since it could really inconvenience me, I'll squeal."
Buffy looks at him confused "Yeah, stop with the riddles please."

"Stefan's still drinking human blood."
Buffy's eyes widen "You have got to be kidding me—You're not joking are you?"
Damon shakes his head "Nope. A month ago, I would have rejoiced but with the council back on the alert, it is not a good time for Stefan to fly off the handle."
Buffy runs her fingers through her hair "I knew it. I knew something was up I should have followed my gut. After what happened with Angel...how bad is it?"

"He has a fridge full of stolen blood bank contraband in the house. He has no idea what normal is. You know that his entire existence isn't normal."
Buffy nods "Normal to a vampire is drinking human blood, yeah I know."
Damon nods in agreement "He's spent all this time fighting it when he should have been learning how to control it. And now it's controlling him instead."

Buffy sighs "If I hadn't seen everything that I have seen, I wouldn't believe it. But I know that there can be a completely different person inside someone buried deep underneath denial and grief. And I'm guessing that Stefan's other person appears when he's on human blood."
"Your right." Damon tells her.
"Score one for the Slayer." Buffy jokes.
Damon steps closer to her "Look Stefan on human blood, Buffy. He may not be as bad as Angelus but: he'll do anything, he'll say anything, because he's not going to want to stop. Trust me."

Before Buffy could respond the door opens to reveal Stefan "Uh...what's going on in here?"
Damon turns to his brother "Just filling Buffy in on your extracurricular activities."
Stefan scoffs "What are you talking about?"
Buffy rolls her eyes "Really denial? You do know I like invented that right? Stefan, I know about the blood. If I think back, the signs are all there."
Damon looks at the blonde "I'm gonna—I'll be downstairs, drinking."

Once Damon leaves the room Stefan begins to chuckle, he turns to Buffy "I was going to tell you."
Buffy looks over at her boyfriend "And this would be when? A quarter to never? A half past a chance in hell?"
Stefan walks towards Buffy trying to reassure her "I'm fine. I'm fine. The blood, it doesn't change anything."

Buffy looks at him in disbelief "Wow, you don't even see it do you it's changing you. Stefan, you forget who you're talking too. The blood changes you like it does to every vampire."
"Why, because I kept it a secret from you? Come on, Buffy. Look, given the way that you're reacting right now, can you really blame me for doing that?"
Buffy scoffs "Wow, your brain's not even connected to your mouth right now, is it? And you know exactly why I'm reacting this way right now." Buffy sighs "Stefan you've been stealing blood and lying, that's your definition of fine? Cause seriously that is not fine."

Stefan looks at Buffy intently "Look I get you said you don't want to repeat history but you don't have to worry cause that's not what's happening now."
Buffy shakes her head "Sure as hell feels that way."
"So you and Damon, all of a sudden have everything figured out then?"
"Since when is this about Damon? This is about you and what the blood is causing you to become."
"I know," Stefan exclaims "And I'm telling you that I'm fine. I'm fine. Please, come on. Buffy, I thought you believed in me."

Before Buffy could say anything Mrs Lockwood walks into the room "Buffy? Let's go. The lineup's starting."
Buffy turns to her "Yep. Sorry just- I need a sec."
"You're not even dressed yet. Escorts wait downstairs, Stefan." Stefan looks at Buffy once more before leaving the room.


Stefan walks into one of the bathrooms seething "God!" He grunts before punching the glass. Suddenly the door opens "Oh, sorry." Amber says as she opens the door. When she looks up she freezes terrified as she watches the blood rush to Stefan's eyes.


Buffy, Elena and Caroline stand at the top of the stairs watching as Tina Fell walks down the stairs. "Has anyone seen Amber?" Mrs Lockwood asks as she walks into the hall.
The girls shake her head and Buffy looks down at the escorts "Hey, where's Stefan? Have you guys seen him down there?"

Elena and Caroline walk over to Buffy and look down "Nope." Caroline says "Just my boring fill-in escort and Elena's cuttie college boyfriend."
Elena chuckles "1- he's not my boyfriend and 2 - what happened to Matt?"
Caroline sighs "They wouldn't let him out of work." Caroline turns to Buffy "Hey, what happened to Stefan?"

Buffy shrugs "Beats me. We got into an argument. He yelled I yelled it was a whole big yelling thing. Then poof he disappeared." Buffy takes a breath "I can't do this. I'm not this person, never was. I didn't grow up here, this isn't me. My life is violence and pain I don't do things like this, I can't." Buffy starts to head for the door as Elena does the same "Elena! What are you doing?" Caroline asks confused
Elena turns to Caroline "I'm with Buffy. I'm not this person anymore. I should never have gone through with this."

Caroline shakes her head "Uh, no, no, no, no, no way, no. You both had your chance to drop out. And believe me, I was all for it. Because there is no way that I can beat Elena, and Buffy I know how much of a socialite you were in L.A I knew that you would just make it that much harder. Elena Buffy, you are both doing this because of both of your mothers. It was important to them."

Both girls nod just as the announcer calls out "Ms Caroline Forbes and her escort Jeffery Lockwood Hamilton." The crowd clap and Buffy and Elena watch as Caroline slowly descends the stairs.

Mrs Lockwood turns to the cousins "Elena, you're next. Come on." Elena squeezes Buffy's hand and smiles at her before she walks over and waits "Ms Elena Gilbert, and her escort Liam Davis." The announcer calls.
Elena looks over at Buffy nervously but Buffy gives her a soft smile and pushes her towards the staircase. Elena chuckles before slowly walking down the stairs.
As Elena walks down the stairs she notices Stefan not there. She looks over at Damon who shrugs. Elena sighs before walking over to Liam.

Buffy walks towards the staircase and waits "Ms Buffy Summers, escorted by Mr. Stefan Salvatore." Once Buffy hears the applause she plasters a smile on her face and walks down the stairs, as she walks she notices Stefan is not there. This wasn't good, something had to have happened. She looks over at Damon who quickly moves to stand in front of her "Where's Stefan?" Buffy asks as she takes his hand.

"I don't know." Damon whispers.
The two make their way outside and get into position to start the dance. As they bow Buffy whispers "I think we need a what to do plan. Right about now."
"Right now we just have to get through this." Damon whispers back. Buffy nods and the two step back. After a second they both raise their right hands and begin the dance their eyes connecting as they do.


Buffy and Damon quickly exit the dance floor, when Mrs Lockwood notices Buffy walking away from the other contestants she calls to her "Buffy dear, you need to head to the stage."
Buffy tries to get away but the woman grabs her arm, Buffy looks over at Damon "Damon..."
Damon nods "I know."


After the winner is announced Buffy quickly walks back over to Damon "What happened? You have a something happened look."
Damon pulls her into a corner, out earshot from the other guests "There were signs of a struggle in the upstairs bathroom. There was blood. And that Amber girl is missing."
Buffy's breathing begins to pick up, she felt like she was about to have a panic attack, she couldn't do this again "Oh, God. It's happening all over again. I can't—We need to find him before..."
Damon nods "I know. Come on we're gonna find him let's grab your coat."

As the two quickly head out they don't notice Bonnie follow them or Elena follow Bonnie.


"Stefan!" Buffy screams as she sees him trying to bite Amber. Stefan lets the girl go and turns to face Buffy and Damon. Damon walks closer hesitantly trying not to anger his brother "Come on. Get control of it. Come on. It's ok. Come on. Breathe through it man."

When Damon tries to touch him Stefan throws him into the tree, Buffy runs over and pins Stefan to one of the other trees "Stefan! You have to stop."
Stefan growls then catching Buffy off guard throws her into the opposite tree. "Buffy!" Elena yells as she runs over to her cousin.

Suddenly Stefan falls to the ground and starts to groan in pain, everyone turns to Bonnie who was looking at Stefan intently. A few minutes later Stefan seems to calm, he looks down at Buffy, guilt filling his eyes. "It's ok." Damon says as he tries to move closer. Stefan shakes his head and runs off.

After he runs Damon sighs before running over to Buffy whose head had been cut when she was thrown at the tree. He picks her up and moves her away from the scene.


"She doesn't remember anything." Liz says as she walks towards the three girls and Damon "It's a good thing the girls got here when they did." Damon says "She lost a lot of blood."
Liz turns to the girls, where Elena and Bonnie where currently helping the slightly dizzy Buffy stand. "You didn't see anything."
Elena shakes her head "No. We just found her and then called Damon."
"She gonna be ok?" Bonnie asks the sheriff.

Liz nods "Looks like it, yeah." Liz turns to Buffy "What about you?"
Buffy nods "I'm fine, just hit my head when we saw Amber. Honestly, I'll be fine just focus on her."
Liz gives the girl a smile "Why don't you girls get back to the party. Damon and I can take it from here."

The girls' nod and Bonnie and Elena help Buffy as they walk away from the scene.
"Bonnie, can we talk about this?" Elena asks as she helps Buffy.
Bonnie shakes her head "There's nothing to talk about."
"Bonnie, please." Buffy asks.

Bonnie stops walking and turns to face them "I told you both, I wasn't going to make you choose. But I need to make the choice for myself. Please just leave me alone."
The two watch as Bonnie heads to her car.

Buffy looks up at her cousin "I'm sorry Elena. This is my fault, darkness follows me wherever I go."
Elena shakes her head "It's not your fault if I hadn't convinced Bonnie and her Grams to help us. If I hadn't given Stefan the blood. None of this would be happening."


"You shouldn't be here." Stefan says as Buffy walks into his room.
Buffy nods "Probably, but you know me. I like doing things I'm not supposed too."
"Now you know."
"That wasn't you."
Stefan turns to Buffy "Oh, it was absolutely me. I'm a monster, a predator. It's who I am, Buffy. You know this, you've seen it."

Buffy nods "Yeah I have seen it. But what I saw was not you, that's a part of you that the blood makes you."
"The blood brings out that part of me inside and if you think any differently then you're an idiot."
Buffy scoffs "Really going for boyfriend of the year there aren't we? Look, Stefan, everyone has two sides especially vampires but one side is the real you, and tonight that was not it."
"I wanted to drain every ounce of blood from that girl's body. I threw you into a tree, could have killed you."

Buffy shakes her head "Okay, first I'm not that breakable despite being tiny and secondly...I don't scare easy."
"Why would you come here?"
"Because for some reason I care about you. And I won't watch someone else I care about turn into a different person. You are not that person."

"Stop saying that!" Stefan yells as he throws several books across the room.
Buffy slowly walks closer causing Stefan to react negativity "Don't get any closer to me."
Buffy ignores him "No, I am not going to let this happen to someone else I care about."
"Stop."
"Nope. Sorry, I'm stubborn, when I decide I'm not giving up on something I stick with it. And this time that's you."

"Stop!" Stefan yells he walks over to her and slams her against the wardrobe pinning her against it "Stop!" He yells again.
Stefan freezes realising what he was doing "I'm so sorry."
Buffy looks at him sadly "It's ok."
Stefan leans into her embrace and cries "I don't know what's happening to me."
"Hey, it's gonna be ok. You are gonna be ok."

Buffy closes her eyes for a second before wrapping her arms around the back of his neck "I'm sorry." Buffy says before snapping his neck, Stefan falls to the ground at her feet as Damon walks into the room "You know you could have vervained him."
Buffy turns to Damon holding back tears "We both know this will keep him down longer."
"Sure you want to do this?"
Buffy nods "Sure as can be."


Buffy watches as Damon locks Stefan in the cellar "There's no guarantee this is going to work."
Buffy nods "I know that. But I'll take what I can get. I really don't want to have to kill another boyfriend." Buffy jokes but can't even laugh at her own joke.

Damon nods and starts to head for the exit, he stops when he notices Buffy not moving "You comin'?"
Buffy shakes her head "And what leave this wonderful basement? Nope. I'm good."
Buffy leans against the wall and sits down on the ground. After a moment Damon sits opposite her and the two sit there in a comfortable silence.


Buffy's gown - /images/4mpYmb