o-0-o-0-o I intended to have this up days earlier, but my computer was giving me problems again. I'm really sorry. So here it is, but a little later than I intended. I actually added a little bit extra in the chapter for being late as a little make-up. Thanks to Stelena lover, David Fishwick, Raya, Tina, celia, Marie, and Anna-Lisa for the reviews. Here's chapter 48. I really hope everyone will enjoy it. Take a few seconds or a minute or two if you've got it to leave me a review and let me know what you think o-0-o-0-o

"I thought I was supposed to come to school and write some great notes for you while you hung out with the other two members of the Trio," Tyler said, grinning at Caroline, sitting down at the desk beside her.

"You were," she told him. "I'm only here right now so that I can take some notes for next class. Me and Elena pretty much forgot that we have a test in that class on Friday too. She kinda begged me to come, so here I am."

"Now I've got company for this boring-ass class. Good stuff," Tyler said.

"You came by to see if I wanted to hang out before and I said maybe tomorrow, but maybe we could hang out a bit today if you still want to," Caroline said, lowering her voice as the classroom started to fill up some more.

"I still want to, but I can't tonight," Tyler said. "I'll still take you up on tomorrow if you're up for it, though."

"Yeah, tomorrow's good," Caroline said, turning her attention to their grumpy teacher who had just walked in. Caroline was not a fan of this teacher or class at all. Boring wasn't quite a strong enough word for the teacher or class.

"Smile, it's the most exciting class ever," Tyler whispered, teasing Caroline.

She rolled her eyes and gave him the smallest of grins.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Oh crap," Bonnie mumbled.

"What?" Damon asked her.

"Wanna drive me to the grocery store?"

"Not particularly, but if you ask me real nice, I could be persuaded," Damon said with a grin.

"Damon Salvatore, please please please drive me to the grocery store. Is that nice enough?"

"You could have done much better Bon-Bon, but since you said please, I suppose I can be your chauffeur a little longer."

"Okay good," Bonnie said, yawning again.

"What do you need to get?"

"I think I'm gonna get some pasta. Dad said he liked that the last time I made it, though now that I think about it, he could have been lying... Whatever, yeah I'm just going with pasta. I'll make him some pasta, even I don't usually screw that up. And it won't take too long, which means I can add a real nap somewhere in there. Two hours of sleep did absolutely nothing for me."

"Why don't you just order something, Judgey?" Damon suggested as if it was the most obvious thing to do in the world. "That way you can go knock out for a few more hours after you clean up or whatever the hell it is you're gonna do before your dad gets home."

"I'd gladly order something, but I swear that man hates like every place that delivers in this town. I once ordered from seven different places, and he hated everything, no joke," Bonnie told him, closing her eyes.

"How do you make your sauce?" Damon asked.

"I buy a can and I usually add some peppers or something," Bonnie said, rubbing her eyes.

"That's pathetic," Damon said.

"Gee thanks, jerk," Bonnie mumbled.

"If I do you an awesome favour right now, will you tack on another I-owe-Damon to your list?" Damon asked Bonnie, grinning a little.

"What is this awesome favour?" Bonnie asked, sighing.

"I will make your supper, and in turn you will owe me one more favour," Damon told her.

"You're gonna make supper for me and my dad?" Bonnie asked, laughing.

"Stefan's not the only brother who can cook, Judgey."

"Okay, deal," Bonnie said. "I'm actually curious to see what this is going to taste like."

"I'm perfect and I'm making it, therefore it's gonna taste like perfection. Obviously" Damon said.

"You're such a modest guy," Bonnie said sarcastically.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Elena hopped into her bed immediately after Damon and Bonnie left.

She knew there was more to remember, and it had to do with Katherine. She had remembered some sort of flash of something before, and she intended to get the rest of that memory back.

Elena got under her covers and closed her eyes, determined to figure out whatever it was that kept creeping its way into her head.

Elena kept repeating that one sentence she had recalled Katherine saying. She repeated it in her head over and over. "I'll let you in on a secret if you do something for me."

When she felt like sleep was going to take over, she gave into it, hoping she might remember something while she was sleeping. She had recalled what Damon had told her while she was asleep, after all.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Katherine kept her eyes on Stefan as she drank some of the blood he had brought to her.

"You gonna stick around here for awhile, Stefan?" she asked him gently.

She hoped he was going to say yes because she had the feeling like he'd probably still do something stupid if he left right now, even though she seemed to have managed to calm him down. He was still kind of drunk, and she preferred him staying with her instead of possibly doing something he was going to regret.

"Yeah, if you don't mind," Stefan answered.

"I don't mind," Katherine told him.

"Okay. I think I might just close my eyes for a bit," Stefan said.

"That's probably a good idea," Katherine replied.

He'd probably be back to normal with a couple hours of sleep.

"I love Elena so much. It hurt so bad to think she might want Damon. I just needed to tell someone. I know it hurts you when I talk about loving her. I don't want to hurt you, though. I promise I'm not trying to."

"I know," Katherine told him with mixed emotions.

"You can be really nice sometimes, Katherine," Stefan said, closing his eyes.

"Mostly I'm just horrible," Katherine said, with a small laugh, remembering back to when Stefan said those same words in 1864.

"That's what you told me the last time I said that to you."

"You remember that?" she asked him.

He didn't answer. That's how quickly Stefan fell asleep.

Katherine was stuck on those words now, and the words brought back the memories.

"Come on. Let's go. I'm sure you want to see your mother. I think she's very worried about you. She'll be happy we found you," Katherine said to the little girl.

The little girl didn't move.

Stefan leaned down, and looked at the little girl. "Are you hurt?" he asked her.

The girl backed away from Stefan and moved towards Katherine, but she stumbled and her eyes started to water. Katherine bent down to help the child up, but instead of the girl taking Katherine's hand, she threw herself at her and wrapped her arms around Katherine's neck.

Katherine was taken aback. She hadn't been this close to any child in centuries, let alone one she wasn't related to.

She took a deep, but unnecessary breath, trying to adjust to the child being so close.

"Did somebody hurt you?" Katherine asked.

"Yes," the little girl said quietly.

"It was a man, huh?" Katherine said, already figuring that part out for herself from seeing the child's reaction to Stefan..

"Yes," the child answered.

"What happened?" Katherine asked.

"I was playing outside the house and then he came and he put his hand over my mouth. He took me and he brought me here, and he threw me on the floor. My back hurts a lot, and my arms too. He hit me. He said he was going to hurt me more and that no one would hear me scream."

Stefan watched as Katherine's expression went from one of anger to one of rage.

"Do you know who it was?" Katherine asked, keeping her temper in check, not wanting to scare the kid even more.

"Do you know who Mr. Whillfold is?" the girl asked Katherine.

Katherine nodded.

"It was him," the girl said quietly. "He was going to hurt me a lot more, but I think he heard you coming. He said 'Oh no' and then he ran away. And then I saw you."

"How about I go find him?" Katherine said, giving the child a smile.

"No!" the child said, practically screaming. "He'll hurt you, too."

Katherine's smile grew wider. "No he won't. Don't tell anyone, but I'm really strong," Katherine said, quietly.

"How can you be really strong when you're so pretty?" the girl asked Katherine.

Stefan smiled and laughed a bit, and Katherine grinned at the little girl.

"You wait right here with Stefan, okay? Stefan's nice. He's not going to hurt you," Katherine said, speeding off.

Katherine ran off and found the man quickly. She played around with him for a little bit, messing with his head, before going in for the kill. She ripped into his skin and she drank deep. When she was done, she threw him into some bushes and headed back to Stefan and the little girl.

"What happened?"

"I made him go away. He's not going to hurt you again," Katherine told the child.

"Really?"

"Really," Katherine confirmed.

"You have something on your mouth," the girl said to Katherine.

Stefan knew that Katherine had killed Mr. Whillfold, and that it was his blood on her lips.

"Silly me, I'm a sloppy eater today," Katherine said. "I had some berries in my pocket, and I ate them. I guess I forgot to clean the juice off my lips."

The girl laughed and Katherine sent her a grin.

Stefan watched Katherine and the child, and he smiled. Katherine seemed to genuinely like this girl. And aside from himself and his brother and Emily, Katherine's friendly interactions with humans were usually fake.

"Let's get you home," Katherine said.

When they finally got the girl home, just before they knocked on the door, Katherine made the child forget the man who took her, and she made her forget that Katherine went looking for him.

After they had knocked on the door and got the girl inside, the smile that Katherine had put on when saying goodbye to the child vanished.

"You're a stupid, stupid woman. You do nothing in this house all day long and you couldn't be bothered to watch your own child? It's your fault that she was taken in the first place. If we hadn't found her, and whoever took her killed her, that would have been all on you. If you're too lazy to watch her when she's outside, at least have one of your maids watch her. You've got more than enough of those."

The woman started to cry, and this made Katherine happy.

She walked away muttering, "Stupid, idiot cow."

"I'm glad you came to look for her with me," Stefan told Katherine when they were back at his home.

"I only went for you," Katherine told him, closing the door to Stefan's room behind her.

"I know," he said. "But I saw it. You liked the girl. You wanted to make sure she was safe. You weren't pretending to be nice with her like you do with most other people."

Katherine rolled her eyes.

Stefan looked at her and just shook his head. Katherine grinned at this.

"You can be really nice sometimes, Katherine."

"Mostly I'm just horrible," she said, laughing a little.

"Not to me," he said simply.

"No more talking, love," Katherine whispered. "I do believe we're alone in this house right now. I say that we should take advantage of that. Don't you agree?" she asked mischievously.

"I do," he answered.

Their clothes soon littered the floor of Stefan's room, and they stayed there for quite awhile. It was only when Stefan later got up to get something that he wanted to give to Katherine that some of the clothing got put back on.

"There's something I want you to have," Stefan said, as he walked over to his dresser.

"And what would that be?" Katherine asked, getting up and following him.

Stefan opened the drawer and pulled out a small box.

"This," he said, pulling out a ring on a gold chain, putting it into her hand.

Katherine looked down at the items in her hand, and she bit her lip.

"My mother's," Stefan said quietly.

Katherine gave him a smile.

"I was really young when she died, but she gave this to me and she told me that when I got older I should give this to the woman that I was sure I would always love. For me, that's you, so this is yours."

Katherine could count the number of times that she had given someone a hug since she became a vampire on her fingers, and she wouldn't even need to use all ten of them, but here she was reaching out to Stefan and pulling him into one.

"Thank you, Stefan," she whispered to him. "Thank you very much. I'll take good care of it."

Katherine opened her eyes and smiled. She saw that Anton was staring at her. She rolled her eyes at him and turned back towards Stefan, and watched him some more.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

The last bell rang. The school day was over.

"Hey you," Matt said, wrapping his arms around Caroline's waist.

"Hey yourself," Caroline said, jumping a little bit. Matt had surprised her, she hadn't been paying attention to her surroundings. She had been thinking about Elena, and she was thinking about the rest of Bonnie and Damon's little crazy adventure story that she still didn't get to hear because Bonnie went and fell asleep on them. And she had been thinking about Tyler, too. She could very well be reacting to nothing at all, but she had the feeling like there was something up with Tyler.

"I didn't think you were coming to school today," Matt said.

"I didn't think I was either, but I came to take some notes from my last class because we have a test on Friday that Elena and I forgot about."

"I'm almost sure you won't want to go, which is cool because I know someone who will actually want to go for sure, but since you're my girlfriend you get the first invite," Matt said.

"Go where?" Caroline asked, grinning at how cute Matt looked at the moment.

Matt pulled out a pair of concert tickets. "The show is tonight, and I only managed to get them this morning."

Caroline made a face, and shook her head. Matt just laughed.

"Sorry," Caroline said.

"Don't worry about it," Matt said, still laughing.

She hated this band, and he wasn't surprised at all that she didn't want to go.

"Jeremy likes these guys. He was actually talking about wanting to get tickets for this concert the other day. I'll call him and see if he still wants to go."

"You're not mad?" Caroline asked.

"No, I know you don't like these guys. I'm just gonna ask Jeremy. No worries," Matt told her.

"Okay, good," Caroline said, offering a relieved smile.

"I'm gonna head out, then," Matt said.

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow," Caroline said, giving him a quick kiss.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

They'd gone to the store already and were now back at Bonnie's house.

"You've got mail, Bennett. Your little lover boy sent you a text message," Damon said, opening the bag of pasta, as Bonnie rummaged in her cupboard for two pots.

"Don't read it. Don't be nosy," Bonnie said, finding what she wanted.

"Your phone is sitting open, it's hard not to read it when the message is flashing in my face," he said grinning.

Bonnie gave him a dirty look and grabbed her phone to read the message.

'I'm pretty sure you're really annoyed with me, and I'm sorry for acting like a jealous idiot over stupid little things. I don't really know what I'm supposed to say. I'm just sorry.'

Bonnie read the message and sighed. She'd rather talk to him than send him a text message back because she had more than a few small things she wanted to say to him, and she wanted to know why he was so insecure about everything. It was really starting to drive her nuts. She was really tired, so she wasn't in the mood to write a long text or carry on a phone conversation.

She sent him a quick text telling him that she'd give him a call later and they'd talk then.

"The pots are on the counter, the groceries are there, and the stove is right in front of you. Have fun while I go knock out," Bonnie said, heading up the stairs to her room. "Please don't burn down my house, Salvatore."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"I've walked the earth for more than 500 years. And in that time I've loved three people, really loved, three people. It's not a lot, but don't ever tell me that I have never loved. When I love, I love with everything I've got. Yeah, I'm evil and selfish and a bitch- all true for the most part, minus those three people. Funnily enough, you are connected to every single one of them."

"Tell me Katherine, who did you love? Or who do you love and do you hate me? You might as well tell me the truth, because I'm gonna end up dead pretty soon and maybe you too, if Klaus really is on his way."

"I love my mother, my daughter and Stefan. And yes it is love and not loved, because I still feel it," Katherine said.

"Do you hate me?" Elena asked again.

"You not only look like me, but my blood runs in your veins. I'm not a stupid woman, and as annoying as you are, you aren't stupid either, so don't act like it. Go away Elena. You should start running. Klaus will probably find you, but running at least gives you some time," Katherine said, not answering her question.

"Do you hate me?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," Katherine grinned.

"Do you really want me to die?"

"How's Stefan?" Katherine asked, not answering.

"You do love him, don't you? In your own way, you really do love him."

"Ding, ding, ding. Correct," Katherine answered flippantly... "What's not to love about him?"

"You messed him up, you know that? He doesn't believe that you loved him and I think that sometimes carries over to me."

Katherine raised an eyebrow.

"Sometimes I think he really wonders if I love him and sometimes he thinks that I want Damon, which I don't. I think it all goes back to you. I know he loves me and I know he wants to be with me, but I really wonder sometimes if he's completely let you go... And you, why did you let him go? Why did you leave him? Why didn't you take him when you ran all those years ago?"

"I never let him go. I checked on him plenty throughout the years and I always wanted to see him again one day. But I left without him because I loved him. If I didn't give a crap, I would have grabbed him from the cold, hard ground and put him in that carriage with me instead of kissing him goodbye and telling him I loved him and promising that we'd be together again one day, some day," Katherine said, turning away.

"If Klaus did find me and I had Stefan with me, he would have been a goner too, and I never wanted that. I'd never allow that. There was something comforting about the thought that even if that bastard did find me and kill me, that Stefan would still be out there, alive or, I guess- existing and well."

"What about Damon then, why didn't you take him with you. He would have been company."

"I wasn't in love with Damon, but I did care about him. I didn't want anything to happen to him either, but I didn't take him, also, because of Stefan. And while I had my fun for awhile playing around, I shouldn't have pit them against each other. Those two loved each other then, and they still do now, it's just harder to see. I knew Stefan would grieve my loss and it would be cruel to take away his brother too. And believe whatever you want, but I don't have cruelty in my heart where Stefan is concerned. I don't want him to suffer," Katherine said.

"I believe you loved him, hell, I even believe you love him now, but how can you say you don't have cruelty in your heart for him after everything you've done so far, after making my aunt nearly kill herself. You had to know that after that, I'd finally take your damn warning about me and him not being together seriously, that I'd end things with him. How can you say you had no cruelty in your heart for him? When I went to end things with him, he was crushed. He was devastated. He was destroyed. If you would have seen him, even you would have cried. Why would you want him to be sad like that, even if you hated us being together?"

"Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind," Katherine said.

"Seriously? That's your answer?"

"Let's get something clear. I want him back. Stefan is mine. I had him first, I made him. All those years ago, I fell for him. I fell hard and it freaked me out. I wasn't supposed to fall for him," Katherine stopped for a moment, turning away again. "But he made me care, he made me love him. He was the sweetest and kindest guy ever and it wasn't bullshit, it was genuine. I wasn't used to that. The things he would say and the way his face would just light up when I walked in the room... I hate that he's with you, for more than one reason, and you can believe whatever you want, but I hate seeing him sad, I hate seeing him down. Getting you two to break up served more than one purpose- it got you the hell away from him, which was for me, but the main reason was for him. If you two would break up, I thought maybe his feelings for you would start to lessen, maybe it would kill him a little less when Klaus eventually came for you and murdered you," Katherine said simply.

"Oh."

"Oh indeed," Katherine said with a tired laugh.

"What am I to you, technically? Give me that at least."

"What the hell, why not," Katherine said. "I'm telling you now, you're going to hear a lot of the word daughter."

"Tell me."

"You're my daughter's, daughter's, daughter's, daughter's, daughter's, daughter's, daughter's, daughter's, daughter's, daughter's, daughter's, daughter's, daughter's, daughter's, daughter's, daughter's, daughter's, daughter's, daughter's, daughter's, daughter's, daughter's, daughter's, daughter's, daughter's daughter's daughter," Katherine said.

"You didn't even have to think about that, that's pretty impressive."

"I know my bloodline, what can I say?" Katherine mumbled.

"Have you seen all of them, I mean, at one point or another?" "Yep."

"When did you find out about me?"

"You're annoying me," Katherine said.

"That's nice, I don't care. I'll be dead soon enough and you don't give a crap, which is fine, but you owe me information."

"I saw you the day you were born," Katherine told her.

"My mother- Isobel, did she ever love me?"

"Elena, who gives a shit? This doesn't matter. Get the hell out of here, you moron! Run!" Katherine snapped.

"You bitch, run where, huh? You said it yourself, he's going find me anyway, and I'm more worried for the people I care about than myself. If anything I want them to run. So shut up and stop telling me to run, it's not like you care anyway. Just shut up and tell me what I want to know. I know virtually nothing about who I really am and you owe it to me to tell me what I want to know before I die."

Katherine kept her mouth shut.

"Screw you and screw my mother too."

"Of course your mother loved you," Katherine finally said. "You wouldn't have been able to tell that I was my mother's daughter by looking at us. I didn't look like my mother, but I had her eyes. You look exactly like me- you have her eyes too... I don't hate you, Elena. I hate that my guy loves you, and make no doubt about it, if we all survive I will try to get him back, but I don't hate you... Like it or not, you're mine. You're my blood, you carry on my blood-line. And I look you in the eye and I see my mother, and I-" Katherine said, taking a pause... "The past year or two aside, you had a pretty good life, didn't you?"

"Yeah."

"You're welcome," Katherine said sarcastically.

"Am I supposed to thank you for something?"

"I've kept Klaus and the rest of his merry gang far away from you for nearly your whole life. I managed to keep your existence mostly secret from anyone who could do you harm and even when whispers started going around that maybe, just maybe, the Petrova bloodline did not end with me, I always managed to get them sent in the opposite direction. And your mother, though I never told her any specifics, has been trying to keep you safe too."

"I don't understand you. You act like you hate me, but you say you don't. And you know what, I think I might believe you there, we're blood and I can see that that means something, but now you come back to Mystic Falls and you've been trying to set up everything so that you can hand me over to Klaus. Why the hell now, after you apparently looked out for me, are you so ready to let Klaus kill me? Are you just tired of running? I don't get it."

"I'll let you in on a secret if you do something for me," Katherine said.

"What do you want?"

"Tell Stefan that I love him. He doesn't believe me when I tell him myself."

"You want me to tell my boyfriend that you love him?"

"Yep," Katherine answered.

"Fine, I think he needs to hear that anyway, even if it's not for the same reason. I'll do it."

"Let's just say that yeah, I'm scared that Klaus is coming, and trust me, he is coming. And he's coming with nothing but death on his mind. You pissed me off big time a couple days ago and so did Stefan. I may have overplayed my willingness to sacrifice you. I might have a plan that could possibly put you in a whole lot of danger, possibly still get you killed, but if this plan that I may or may not have works, you and I could be sitting pretty for a long time without any worries," Katherine said with a bit of a grin.

"Well, this plan you might have sounds pretty awesome compared to guaranteed dying."

"You need to find something, preferably lots of that something, if this plan could work, this something you need can be found in Mystic Falls, you just have to find it. I don't know where. Get your little gang together and start working your asses off."

"What do we need to look for?"

"It's called white-ash wood. Chop chop, Elena. The clock is ticking," Katherine said.

"Tell me more."

"That's all you get right now. My game, my rules. Don't say I never do anything nice for you. Don't ever say I don't at least try to protect my own."

"Thanks- I guess."

"Be sure to send Stefan my love."

Elena sat up in her bed, rubbing her eyes. "It's about damn time I remembered all of that," she said out loud to herself.

The sun had started to set, and Elena got out of her bed. It was time she paid Katherine a visit and talked to her one on one.

There was a lot to talk about.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Stefan was still sleeping, but Katherine wanted to know if there was any progress on getting her out of here, and Stefan should be back to normal by now.

Just in case there was a chance that Stefan had something new to tell her about getting her out of this stupid tomb, or in case there was anything new about Klaus or Elijah, Katherine decided to go into Stefan's head instead of actually talking to him out loud. She didn't want Anton to hear anything.

"Knock knock Stefan, let me in. Did you sleep off your drunkenness off, love? You done moping and asking me crazy questions?" Katherine asked.

"I don't want to talk about any of that," Stefan told her.

"I think the alcohol's left your system," Katherine sighed. "You're right back to being guarded with me again."

"I just don't want to talk about it, okay?" Stefan said tiredly.

"Fine-"

And then Katherine was gone from Stefan's dream.

Katherine opened her eyes, hearing someone coming down. It took a second but then Elena came into view.

"Oh yay, you've come to visit," Katherine said, rolling her eyes at her doppelganger.

"I need to talk to you. I only just remembered something tonight. It was a conversation I had with you. I couldn't remember it for so long. I guess it was part of those 48 hours I couldn't remember after I hit my head that night," Elena said, getting to the point, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"What are you talking about?" Katherine asked her.

"Katherine, where'd you go? Katherine, are you okay? What's wrong? Where'd you go?" Stefan called out, wondering what had happened to make Katherine cut out of the dream.

"A couple days after I talked to you here and Stefan came and took me home, I came back here and talked to you again, but I haven't been able to remember that until now. I fell down the stairs that night before I could tell anyone about what you had said. I hit my head, and I lost my memory of two days," Elena explained.

"I guess that explains why you never told Stefan what I said," Katherine said, standing up, walking closer to Elena.

For whatever reason, at the mention of Stefan, Elena looked down. And then she saw Stefan, head leaned back against the cave wall, asleep.

A knot formed in Elena's stomach and she took a deep breath. Why the hell is he here? Why the hell is he asleep here? Why is he here with her, why wasn't he at my place with me? Okay, just breathe, take another breath. You never called him, remember? You never texted him. He told you to let him know when Bonnie and Caroline were gone. He said he'd come see you. You're the one who didn't tell him to come see you... So what, even so, he didn't need to come here. He's seeing her too much. Can't keep dealing with this. This is starting to hurt a little too much.

Katherine could tell Elena wasn't at all happy to see Stefan down here. Her frown made it pretty clear.

Katherine couldn't help but grin a little bit. Elena was totally jealous that Stefan was down here with her.

"Why's he here?" Elena asked quietly.

"I'll let you guess that," Katherine said, unable and not wanting to hide her grin.

She was having a little fun with Elena being jealous. The jealousy was like an acknowledgement from someone other than herself that there had been something major between her and Stefan.

Elena's hands clenched into fists. She took another deep breath and looked back down at Stefan.

Her phone started to vibrate in her pocket, so she momentarily took her eyes off of Stefan to see who it was. The Caller ID said it was John.

Elena cleared her throat and picked up.

"Hello," she said, trying to sound calm.

It wasn't John who answered, though. It was Isobel's voice that Elena heard on the other end of the phone.

"Your idiot father lied to you. He's not better. He's still sick, and he's going to die. You tell him to stop being stupid, and you tell him to let me turn him so he doesn't just rot away and vanish of the face of the earth. He'll listen to you. You tell him," Isobel said, practically screaming at her.

Elena could hear John in the background. "Damn you, Isobel. Damn you!" he yelled.

"I'm not letting you die, you stubborn idiot," Isobel told him. "Elena, talk to him. I know you don't like us, but he's your father and I know that some part of you loves him. You need to make him see some sense. He doesn't need to die. I know you don't want him to die."

Elena just hung up the phone and bit her lip. She had managed to forget about John for a little while, but this phone call just brought everything back and made it all worse. Isobel sounded distraught. Water started pooling in Elena's eyes.

"What's wrong?" Katherine asked her, seeing that her eyes had turned watery.

Elena didn't answer her.

"Katherine, where'd you go? Katherine, are you okay? Katherine, talk to me."

Elena heard those words and looked down at Stefan. He was talking in his sleep about Katherine. He was saying Katherine's name in his sleep. And she absolutely could not handle that right now.

That was it. Elena had had enough. The tears weren't just in her eyes anymore, they were coming down her face.

"Saying your name in his sleep, I bet you just love that," Elena said to Katherine, gritting her teeth.

It probably had a lot to do with getting emotional over John again and Isobel's practically desperate call, but Elena wasn't thinking about any of those things as possibly motivating her next words. She just couldn't take this right now. She'd been worried about things with Stefan and Katherine, and seeing him here with her tonight and hearing him talk to her in his sleep did something to Elena. Why would he be dreaming about her? She couldn't handle this.

"When my boyfriend wakes up, you tell him that I can't do this anymore," Elena said to Katherine, quickly exiting the tomb..

"What?" Katherine said, not really believing the words she was hearing.

Elena was already gone.

Katherine knew that Stefan would only end up getting pissed off at her in the end, if she didn't tell him right now.

She went back into the dream.

"Stefan, I'm fine. Elena just showed up, that's why I cut out. You need to wake up now. Elena just left here crying and pissed off. Hurry up and wake up."

Stefan's eyes opened quickly. "What's wrong? What happened? Is she okay?" he asked.

"She just told me to tell you that she can't do this anymore."

"What do you mean?" Stefan asked, dread taking over him.

"I think she's about to break up with you."