"Thanks." Damon nodded one last time and was on his way toward the door when Amelia and Matthew suddenly appeared in the living room. "Where are you going?" Amelia asked him.

"And what happened to Selina?" Matthew added, standing over his daughter who had her head in Caroline's lap and a dazed expression on her face.

"I'm going to head out," Damon told Amelia. "Your daughter told me she wanted to have a normal life, and I think I should give it to her."

Amelia shook her head. "You want to give her a normal life and you're leaving her?" She put a hand on Damon's shoulder. "Except for you, Stefan and your father, she would have no idea what a normal life is. God knows I wasn't any help what with my depression, several attempts at suicide and my marriage made in hell with Robert Pierce. Do you realize all that you are to her? What you're trying to do is noble, but I really think you being gone would hurt her more than help her."

"Are you sure?" Damon asked.

"Yes," Amelia nodded. "And if you don't stay on your own, you know what I'm going to have to do, don't you?"

Damon smiled a little, just one corner of his mouth up. "What?"

"I'm going to have to call your mother," Amelia said. "You know better than anyone that she'd convince you to stay."

At the sound of a whimper, Amelia broke off and the two of them turned toward the couch. "Mama?" Selina said weakly. "Is that you?"

"Yes," Amelia motioned for Damon to follow her over to the couch. "And look who I brought with me. Do you know who this is?"

Caroline helped Selina sit up. Selina gazed at Damon for a moment before shaking her head. "I don't, I'm sorry. Should I know him?"

"Of course!" Amelia cried. "He's your husband, for heaven's sake! How could you not know him?"

"Amelia," Matthew said warningly. "Calm down. She did fall down the stairs. This could be the result of a knock on the head."

Amelia eyed her daughter skeptically. "No, I don't think so. Even a knock on the head couldn't make a woman forget her husband." She looked at Damon. "When she fell down the stairs, how hard did she hit?"

"Pretty hard," Damon admitted.

"And what was it that made her run from you?" Matthew asked.

"She found me feeding," Damon said. "And I guess it freaked her out a little. But that's puzzling because when I compelled her to forget me, I didn't compel her to forget vampires completely. She's seen vampires feed before; it shouldn't have been a shock."

"Maybe she thought you were going to feed on her next," Caroline said. "And if your mouth was covered in blood, that would shock anyone who wasn't prepared for it."

"What would possess you to compel her to forget you?" Matthew asked. "Did you want to make the separation easier on her?"

"No," Damon said. "I actually wanted to make the separation easier on me. I figured that if she didn't know who I was or any idea of our history, it would be easier for me to stay away."

Amelia sighed. "Come now; do you honestly believe that there's anything in the world that would stop you thinking about each other forever?"

Damon shook his head. "I guess not; I mean, the years I thought I was in love with Katherine were close, but I still thought about Selina all the time because I was mad at her for cheating on me."

"And why were you mad at her for supposedly cheating on you?" Amelia prompted, smoothing out the wrinkles in her navy blue gown. "Because you loved her so much that the thought of a betrayal was a knife in your heart?"

Tyler cleared his throat. "Wow, Aunt Amelia. You're just a ray of sunshine, aren't you?"

Amelia sighed. "I sound harsh; I realize that. But it needs to be made clear where everybody stands so this ridiculous idea doesn't come to fruition."

"Which ridiculous idea?" Caroline asked. "Damon leaving or Selina becoming a werewolf?"

"Both of them," Amelia said.

"I took care of the first one," Damon said. "The werewolf pack had taken up residence at your old house," he told Amelia. "Now they're all dead. If she turned, she'd have no one to show her the ins and outs. At least no one who actually wants her to become a werewolf."

Amelia's eyes lit up. "Wonderful!" She cried. "Now, are you planning on leaving?"

Matthew looked over at Damon. "I would just say no if I was you. Fighting her at this point is futile."

Damon came and after nudging Caroline to scoot over, held Selina up. "No," he said at last. "I don't think I'll leave."

"Good," Amelia said.

"What's going on?" Selina asked.

"Your husband's not leaving you after all!" Amelia cried. "Isn't that great, Selina?"

"Aunt Amelia, are you in denial about the fact that Selina has no idea who Damon is because he compelled her to forget about him?" Tyler asked.

"No," Amelia said. "Yes, actually." She looked at her daughter. "Do you honestly have no idea who this is?" She asked, nodding at Damon.

Selina shrugged. "Aside from the fact that he killed some good friends of mine, I have no idea."

"They weren't your friends," Amelia said stiffly. "They were bad…people who were out to destroy your life."

"That seems a bit harsh, Mama." Selina said. "They weren't out to destroy my life; they were going to give me the opportunity to be normal."

"Do you even know what normal is?" Amelia asked her. "Think about your life and tell me in what possible way the life you lived would be considered normal."

Selina thought a moment. "I don't know," she said finally. "I mean, I grew up without a father, you were gone most of the time, I didn't have any siblings, not a lot of real friends…" she paused. "Wow, I don't know what normal is, do I?"

Matthew put a hand on her shoulder. "You did have normalcy in your life, you just don't remember it."

"Well if you're right, how do I make it come back?" Selina asked.

"Come home with me," Damon said. "It should all come back eventually."

Selina looked at Amelia. "Should I go with him?"

"Yes!" Amelia and Matthew said at the same time.

"All right," Selina stood up slowly. "Wow," she said, breathing in sharply and putting a hand on her head. "Could I have some pills for this headache?"

"Sure," Tyler said. "I'll go get them for you." He left the room and returned a few minutes later with a glass of water in one hand and a couple of white tablets in the other. Selina took them from him and gulped them down along with the water. "Thanks," she told him.

"Are you ready to go?" Damon asked her.

"As ready as I'll ever be, I guess." She followed him out to his car and sat in the passenger seat while he took the wheel. Before he started the car, he looked at her. "I know this must seem weird, but I promise you, we are married." He held up her right hand. "See the ring? I gave you that."

Selina looked at it for a moment, gazing at it from every angle, then looked over at him as he started the car. "When we married," she asked, "was it planned, or was it just one of those things where people go to Vegas, get hammered and wake up the next morning, married to one another with no memory of the actual event?"

Damon couldn't help but laugh at that. "We did get married in Vegas," he said. "But it was planned; we had witnesses and everything. You can even ask them about it when we get to the house."

"Good," Selina nodded. "It'll be good to get some answers, I think."

"I can't believe you just left with me," Damon said. "I would have thought you'd resist a little."

Selina shrugged. "My parents told me you were okay, and if you can't trust your parents, who can you trust?"

Damon thought a moment. "I never really trusted my father; we were always on separate sides of every issue so all that left me was my brother and you, basically."

Selina blinked, taken aback. "I'm one of the people you trust the most?"

Damon nodded. "Probably my most trusted person. I've always been able to tell you anything."

"You have?" Selina said. "If I was so important to you, then why did you compel me to forget you? What did that leave you with?"

"Not a hell of a lot," Damon admitted. "In fact, I don't know why I compelled you at all. And wanting to leave you because you wanted to do something insane that would probably end up making you unhappy in the end? Sacrificing my own happiness so that you could live a happy life without me? What the hell was I thinking? That's something my brother would do. Not me."

Selina nodded. "And from the way my mother was talking, I probably wouldn't have been happy without you anyway. I mean, if you hadn't made me forget us, that is. How can you make me remember again? Do you know a way?"

Damon grinned and nodded. "Sure." Then, he pulled onto the shoulder and kissed her soundly. By the time they pulled apart, she was covered in goosebumps and shaking.
"Wow," she said finally. "That was fun." She cleared her throat. "Let's never do that whole 'compel-to-forget-each-other-'thing, all right? All this breaking up and getting back together is just nutty. Especially when you and I know that we're stuck with each other and there's no way out of it. Let's just save ourselves the heartache and the insanity and never, ever break up again."

"I second that," Damon agreed.

"So, speaking of couples who are always breaking up and getting back together again, how are Stefan and Elena?" Selina asked.

"Well," Damon said, "they're back together again because when Elena found John and Isobel's bodies, it really threw her for a loop."

"But she didn't even like them all that much," Selina said. "What's she so broken up for?"

"I don't think it was John and Isobel dying that freaked her out," Damon said. "I think it was her coming across them dead and not being mentally prepared for it."

"You mean like when I came to my parents' house to meet with the wolf pack and came upon something akin to what Jay Sebring's house must have looked like once Charlie Manson's people got through with it?" Selina asked.

"Exactly," Damon nodded. "Sorry about that, by the way."

"Oh, it's all right; if you hadn't done it, my mother and the rest of my lyncanthropically-inclined relations would have. So it was actually rather merciful of you."

"Yeah," Damon rolled his eyes. "Merciful was exactly what I was going for."

Selina grinned and patted his leg. "I know you weren't," she said. "What made you decide to do it, anyway?"

"I went and saw Stella and her husband," he said. "We had a chat."

"Ah," Selina rolled her eyes. "Them."

"What's the matter?" Damon asked. "I thought you and Stella were close."

"We were," Selina said. "But I don't know what good they are to me anymore; I mean, if they can't even protect me from a pack of stupid werewolves, I shudder to think what's going to happen to me when Klaus shows up; I'm going to be a dead woman."

"Not if we turn you again," Damon said. "Then they'll have to take Elena."

"No," Selina shook her head. "If the sole reason you're going to turn me is so that she'll be handed over to Klaus and killed while I'm spared, then I don't want to be turned."

Damon growled. "You're doing it again," he said.

"What am I doing?" Selina asked.

"That annoying martyr thing that you do," he said. "Defying all common sense for something that'll get you killed and do nobody any good."

"It's kinda like what you did when you compelled me to forget you and then tried to leave town," Selina said. "If my mother wasn't so pushy, you'd be riding along with me in a first class car on the martyr train."

Damon hit the brake hard and sent Selina flying forward. When she'd gotten back into a sitting position, he said "never mention that again, all right?"

"Oh, all right," Selina said as they pulled into the driveway of the boardinghouse. She looked out the window. "Look," she said. "Elena's here." She saw a couple familiar cars next to Elena's and gasped. "Stella's here too. And Andria. This can't be good."

Damon got out of the car and came around to help Selina out. "Huh," he said. "I wonder what they want."

Damon and Selina headed inside and were greeted by Stefan. "It's about time," he said. "Where have the two of you been?"

"I was being berated by my mother-in-law," Damon said. "How about you?"

"Stefan, what's going on?" Selina asked. "Why are Stella and Andria here?"

He shrugged. "I don't know; they just showed up, and then Stella said she wouldn't tell me anything until you got here, and then Elena came over and it all went to hell in a hand basket from there."

"All right," Selina nodded sympathetically and put a hand on his arm. "Why don't you go upstairs and lie down for a little while? You look like you could use a rest."

Stefan nodded, heading for the stairs. "You know, I really could."

Damon and Selina headed into the living room where Stella and Andria were sharing a loveseat and staring daggers at Elena, who was watching them cautiously and digging her nails into a leather armchair across the room.

"Sorry we weren't here when the two of you arrived," Selina said, trying her best to ignore the palpable tension in the room. "We got caught up in some things; if we'd known you were coming, we would have come sooner and not kept you waiting."

"Oh, it's no problem, really," Stella said. "We've just been having the most interesting chat with Elena."

"Yeah," Elena said. "Listening to them rant about how horrible Katherine was was just delightful."

"Well, Elena, you have to admit that she wasn't the most principled being to ever walk the earth, now was she?" Selina asked.

"Well no," Elena admitted. "But you didn't have to kill her like that; I almost had a heart attack when I found her body."

"Good," Stella said, smiling with satisfaction. "Then my plan worked."

"Of course we had to kill her," Andria said. "And those other two as well. They were the ones who started all this."

"Don't change the subject," Elena said. "I'm not done talking about Katherine yet. She was your best friend," she said to Stella. "Don't you realize that by killing her, you became just as petty and spiteful? Wouldn't it have been a better revenge to let her live and show her how successful you are at existing in your new life when her whole original plot was to ruin you?"

Selina cleared her throat. "Elena, if you're trying to get sympathy for Katherine, you're in the wrong place; a room full of people she screwed over is not going to give you what you want."

"Why are you even talking to her?" Stella said, looking from Selina to Elena and back again. "Don't you realize, my dear Selina, that Elena's just as bad as Katherine was?"

"What evidence do you have of that?" Selina asked.

"Didn't she try to kill you earlier?" Stella asked. "And don't forget all the stuff she told her parents about you that was supposed to be secret and led to a whole lot of trouble."

Damon watched the conversation. He realized that he wouldn't be able to get any words in and went to join Stefan upstairs. No one noticed him leaving.

Selina looked at Elena and sighed, standing up to go and stand beside her chair. "I admit that they weren't shining moments; but neither was my telling Andria where John and Isobel were hiding out so she could go and kill them."

"You did that?" Elena asked.

"Yeah," Selina nodded. "I did; I'm sorry. It couldn't have been pleasant finding them dead."

"It was horrific, actually," Elena said. Then, she took a breath. "And I'm sorry I told John and Isobel about you having the werewolf gene; I had no idea John was going to call Gabe, or of the reign of terror Gabe was going to have."

"That was bad," Selina looked over at Damon, starting when she realized he was gone. "But things worked out in the end. Now all we can do is move on."

Stella frowned at Selina. "I don't believe what I'm hearing." She stood up, gesturing wildly at Elena. "This girl is evil! Her ancestress was and she is too. I'm just ashamed of how easily you're being suckered in by her."

"You want to know what I'm ashamed of, Stella?" Selina said. "How easily you turned against your best friend. Katherine did lots of bad things. Everyone in this room was affected by her actions in some way. But you let yourself get so angry that it consumed you. When was the last time you thought of something happy? Five hundred years ago? Three hundred years ago? Ever since you turned, your mission in life was to destroy Katherine for what she did to you and your family. Well, now you've done it, so what's left? What can you do now? I know! Try and turn me against my best friend so that I become as miserable and lonely as you. Well, it's not going to work; history isn't going to repeat itself. Your issues with Katherine aren't my issues with Elena, despite your efforts to make us think that they were. So why don't you go and bug somebody else? We don't need you anymore."

"What about when Klaus comes?" Stella asked. "You'll need me then. You two will be wishing you'd listened to Katherine and me when we tried to protect you before."

"No," Selina shook her head. She held her hand out to Elena and Elena took it. "I won't see my best friend sacrificed just to save myself."

Stella laughed. "That's so sweet." She looked over at Elena. "And what do you have to say to that heartfelt announcement? Are you going to laugh in her face?"

"No," Elena stood fast. "I agree with it; I don't want to see Selina sacrificed to save me; I guess we'll see what happens when Klaus gets here. Let him have his pick."

Stella scoffed. "You're fools, both of you." She stood up. "Come on, Andria. We're leaving."

"All right, Mama. I'll be to the car in a minute." Stella left and Andria lingered behind. "Are you as disappointed in me as your mother?" Selina asked her.

Andria shook her head. "No, of course not; I think you two did the right thing."

"How do you feel about Katherine?" Elena asked.

"Well," Andria took a deep breath. "The whole reason why I'm here is because I was the recipient of what was probably Katerina Petrova's last act of charity; she turned me when she saw that I was dying so I could see my daughter grow up, at least for awhile; I always suspected that she did it because of some lingering regrets about what went on between her and Mama. Katerina never said anything to that effect of course, and she said that I wasn't allowed to tell Mama about her turning me, or why, but I always had a feeling that if Mama knew, this vendetta of hers would have ended much earlier, and then maybe she would have been able to be happy, you know?"

"Yeah," Selina nodded.

Andria sighed. "Well, I better go. I'll see the two of you later, all right?"

They nodded and waved goodbye.

"Is it over?" Stefan called from the top of the stairs. "How much of the house was destroyed?"

"None," Elena called back. "It's still in one piece. And I'm still in one piece." At that, Stefan took the stairs two at a time and embraced Elena. "I'm so glad you're all right," he said.

"I think we're all going to be all right," Selina said. She went upstairs to her and Damon's bedroom to tell him that the danger had passed, but found the room empty and a note on her pillow written in red ink. Or maybe it was blood, she couldn't tell.

Start a new life with me. Buy his freedom with your love. Refuse me and send your lover to his death! This is the choice. This is the point of no return.

There was no signature.

*The letter is made up of lyrics from "Down Once More" from Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera.