Stefan, Damon and Elowen all got out of Elowen's car. They were on one of the highway routes that Sheriff Forbes had told them Damon's car was. Damon was holding two large gas cans that were full of gasoline.

"If they so much as even scratched the paint on my car…" Damon grumbled under his breath.

"Well, just be grateful Sheriff Forbes was able to track down the car after you let them, uh, you know, steal it from you," Stefan replied.

"Hey!" Elowen lightly pushed Stefan. "We did not let them steal it, okay? I have the bruises on my neck to prove it."

It was true. Elena's grip on Elowen had been so harsh that there was a faint littering of marks left behind. Nothing a turtleneck couldn't cover up, which was exactly what she was wearing.

"Do we really need ten gallons of gas, or are you making me lug this around as punishment?" Damon asked.

"Well, they ditched your car after it ran out of fuel," Stefan explained as if it were obvious. "You gotta fill it up. Got a hundred miles before we get to Willoughby."

"Yeah, well, I don't remember that name from the list of places I got from New York."

"Oh, the list?" Amusement was dripping from Stefan's voice. "The list they stole from right under your nose, after you two got distracted by god knows what? They'll be there. Sheriff Forbes tracked down the car they stole after yours."

"You know what? If you keep poking fun at Damon and I's minor hiccup that wasn't completely our fault, you won't get any for a month," Elowen stated as they made it to Damon's car.

Stefan laughed. "I'm not Damon. Sex isn't that important to me. There are other ways to be intimate. Nice try, though."

"Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! I totally resent that!" Damon gaped. "I do not prioritize sex over everything else."

Stefan and Elowen shared a look before they both burst out laughing.

"Hey! Stop it!" Damon whined. "I don't! I really don't!"

Elowen took a deep breath so she could speak through her laughs.

"Damon, I'm more sexually active with you than I am with Stefan. What's that say about you?"

"It says that I'm better in bed than Stefan is."

"Hey, now." Stefan held a finger up. "Hold your horses. That is so not what that means."

"Well, let's settle this and go right to the source." Damon turned to Elowen. "Wen, who's better in the sack?"

Stefan crossed his arms and looked at her expectantly.

"Okay, I'm not touching that." Elowen held her hands up and shook her head. "There are some questions you don't answer, and that is one of them."

"Oh, come on! Okay, at least tell us who the better kisser is."

"Yeah, I'm not answering that, either. Just fill up your tank, okay? I don't want to stand here all day."

Damon pouted, but did as she asked. Stefan leaned against the car and Elowen did the same. She rested her head on his shoulder.

Stefan sighed. "Willoughby, creamed corn capital of Pennsylvania. Let's just hope we get to them before they get the cure."

"Ooh, silver lining," Damon spoke up. "If Rebekah takes the cure, then she's mortal and we can just kill her right then and there."

"Ooh, dark cloud," Stefan countered. "Elena stays a vampire forever. Look, why don't you just table the revenge fantasies for now and just keep your eye on the prize. Find Katherine, get the cure, get out before you get your neck snapped again."

Elowen bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from speaking up. Damon glanced over at her, remembering what she had said the night before about not wanting the cure for Elena, but for Stefan. Truth was, she was only going through with this for Toby. He was her best friend and he made a mistake that he needed help fixing. If it weren't for him, she'd be fighting to get the cure for a completely different reason.

Silence fell over the three of them.

Finally, after a couple of minutes, Damon finished filling his car up. He stood.

"Alright, let's go."

xxxx

Stefan, Damon and Elowen walked down a street in Willoughby.

"Something's not right," Damon said. "Katherine Pierce does not hole up in Hickstown, PA."

Elowen shrugged. "I dunno. It's the perfect hiding spot, isn't it? Go somewhere people wouldn't think to look."

Stefan stopped in front of one of the cars parked on the side of the street.

"Well, this is definitely the car they stole. We're in the right place."

"Points to them for their choice of vehicles," Damon commented.

"Okay, we need a plan. Elena isn't going to come back to Mystic Falls quietly, and she has an Original vampire as her bodyguard."

"I have a question. Why isn't wolf boy here?" Damon asked. "Elena's his girlfriend. This is his problem, not ours."

Elowen snorted. "Yeah, a problem that you got him into."

"Because he was dumb enough to listen to me! That's on him."

Elowen gave him a pointed look.

Damon sighed. "Alright, fine. We do whatever we have to do to get Elena back to Mystic Falls. I don't care if we have to throw Rebekah under a school bus and wrap Elena up in a burlap sack. We do what we have to."

Stefan shook his head. "Damon, I'm serious."

"I'm being serious, too. I don't care what Elena wants right now. In fact, I never cared about what she wanted in the first place. Personally, I don't really care if she goes off the rails either, but I would be told that's wrong, so I'm helping. You should be lucky. Let's go."

Damon turned and started walking away. Stefan and Elowen shared a look before following him.

They walked down a couple of blocks before passing a restaurant. Elowen stopped in front of it and looked up at the sign.

"Here," she said, causing Stefan and Damon to stop and turn around. She was already pulling the door open and walking in when they reached her.

Sure enough, they found Rebekah and Katherine sitting at one of the booths. They were sitting next to each other, with Rebekah's hand wrapped around Katherine's, crushing it between her fingers.

"Ladies, playing nice?" Stefan asked as he stopped in front of the booth. Damon and Elowen slid into the booth across from them, both smiling in amusement. Rebekah released her hold on Katherine.

"There goes the neighborhood," Katherine mumbled.

"I see you got Katherine already." Damon turned to her. "You're losing your touch, evil one."

They all stared at each other for a moment before Stefan spoke up, facing Rebekah.

"Where's Elena?"

Elowen scooted further down the booth to make room for Stefan. Damon followed suit, and Stefan perched himself on the edge of the seat.

"So, let me get this straight," Rebekah spoke up after a pause. "I tell you where Elena is, you shove the cure down her throat, and then I end up in a box, right? I don't think so."

"For the record, I wouldn't let you end up in a box," Elowen replied. "We're friends, remember?"

Rebekah narrowed her eyes. "Why do you want the cure for Elena, anyway? Last I checked, you two are mortal enemies." She glanced at Stefan. "I figured you'd want it for Stefan. I mean, we both know Damon doesn't want it, but Stefan? You two could have the perfect human life together."

Elowen cleared her throat, but didn't say anything. From underneath the table, her hand reached out for Damon's. He gave it a reassuring squeeze. Rebekah slowly smirked.

"You do want it for Stefan, don't you?"

Stefan frowned. He looked over at Elowen, who avoided his gaze.

Rebekah watched his reaction. "And he has no idea. God, this is great."

Damon quickly changed the subject. He turned to Katherine.

"What about you over there, smiley? Do you know where Elena is?"

Katherine sighed. "I can give you a hint. Start by looking at the town morgue. She's probably dead."

There was a brief silence as everyone else waited for her to elaborate. She rolled her eyes.

"She went to meet up with a friend of mine. You may know him. An Original brother, impeccable taste."

"Elijah," Rebekah realized, horrified.

Damon furrowed his eyebrows. "Elijah's here?"

Elowen sat up. Elijah still had no idea that Marisol was gone. As far as she knew, he was under the impression that she was still alive. He deserved to know the truth, and Marisol deserved to have her last words passed on.

"Well, you sort of have to question Elijah's impeccable taste if he's friends with you," Stefan pointed out.

"Oh, when I say friend, I mean friend," Katherine replied.

Rebekah and Damon both groaned in disgust. Elowen couldn't help but snort in amusement at their reactions.

"It probably took him about ten seconds to realize that she wasn't me, at which point he probably yanked her heart right out of her chest."

Elowen tilted her head. "Hm. Doesn't sound like Elijah. Isn't he supposed to be a man of honor?"

Stefan, on the other hand, thought otherwise.

"Alright, where are they?" He asked Katherine. She only smirked and leaned back in her seat. Instead of wasting his time on her, Stefan turned to Rebekah. "Rebekah, you do realize if something should happen to Elena, you have no chance of finding the cure, right?"

Rebekah immediately gave in at this.

"Fine. They were supposed to meet at the gazebo by the park."

Stefan started to get up. "I'll go talk to Elijah."

Elowen followed him. "I'll go with you."

"You two deal with Elijah," Rebekah said. "Katherine will take us to the cure."

Katherine scoffed. "No, she won't. The cure is my once chance to win my freedom back from Klaus."

"You're gonna broker a deal with Klaus?" Damon asked.

Stefan shook his head. "No. She's gonna get Elijah to broker a deal for her. That's why you need your little friend, isn't it? Some things never change, Katherine."

"Nope."

Katherine huffed. "Fine. Follow me."

xxxx

Stefan and Elowen had made their way to the gazebo, but found that nobody was there. Elowen pulled out Katherine's phone from her pocket.

"I took Katherine's phone before they left. Let me call him."

Stefan grabbed her wrist that was holding her phone and put it down.

"We need to talk."

Elowen looked up at him in confusion.

"About what?"

"The cure."

Realization dawned on Elowen's face and she felt herself grow nervous. She laughed uneasily. This was not a conversation she wanted to have.

"Don't let Rebekah get into your head."

"Is what she said true?"

"Stefan, we need to find Elena before-"

"Is. What. She. Said. True? I'm not going to ask again."

"Then don't."

Stefan sighed. He reached out for Elowen's hands.

"You're dodging. Elle, you know that you can talk to me. No lying, remember?"

Elowen had redirected her attention to her feet. Stefan used one of his hands to lift up her chin. When her eyes met his, he saw that her eyes were glistening over. She took a shaky breath to try and stop herself from crying.

"Do you remember, back when we were at the lake house, how we talked about what our future could look like?"

Stefan nodded.

"And how we talked about having kids? Evelyn and Claire, remember?"

Stefan briefly dropped his eyes to the ground, nodding again, before looking back up at Elowen.

"When I first learned about the cure, the first thing that popped into my head was that we could make that possibility come true, that we could actually have Evelyn and Claire, together. That they would biologically be ours, not by adoption or artificial insemination, but ours. And then we found out that there's only one dose, and I felt stupid for feeling hopeful that that was the future we could've had, but…"

"But?"

Elowen sniffled as a tear slipped down her face. Stefan immediately wiped it away.

"It still can be. Stefan, we can just be selfish and- and take it for ourselves. It's not over yet. We can still have Evelyn and Claire."

Stefan's gaze slowly slipped away from Elowen. He sighed.

"Elowen…"

Any sign of vulnerability that she was showing disappeared. She ripped her hands away from his.

"This is why I didn't want to bring this up. You never think about yourself or what you deserve! Don't get me wrong, I love that about you. I love how you always feel this need to take care of others, but you never take a moment for yourself. You always put everyone else before yourself. The reason you wanted this stupid cure in the first place is because you felt like you owed it to Elena, not because you wanted it. I hate to bring this up or to compare you two, but you're the exact opposite of Damon. You're a giver. He's a taker, and that's something that, while a major flaw of his, I love him for. He's not afraid to ruin everything for the sake of making me happy. It's bad, but it makes me feel prioritized. It makes me feel special. You try to find ways to work around everything and jump through hoops to make sure the plan stays intact, but also please me somehow without messing it up for everyone else. I know that you do whatever you think is best for me, and I know that you will respect my decisions no matter what. I know that, but honestly? Sometimes it feels like you think everyone else is more important than me."

"No! No, that's not what-"

"I don't want to hear it. This conversation is over."

"Elowen, come on. Please just-"

Except, Elowen wasn't listening. She was already dialing Elijah's number from Katherine's phone and holding it up to her ear. The line connected after the second ring.

"Katerina?" Elijah answered.

Elowen couldn't help but smile at the sound of his voice. It stirred up feelings she thought were long gone.

"Hello, Elijah."

Elijah couldn't help but frown at the sound of her voice. It sounded like Marisol, but there was no accent, which could only mean one thing...

"Elowen? How…?"

Here comes the hard part. Elowen knew that Elijah saw Marisol as one of his own, like the daughter he never got to have, and it was him that she was dreading on telling the most, after Kol. Elowen sighed.

"Marisol found a way to bring me back. She was determined to, actually, and there was no changing her mind, but… in turn, she had to die. She's gone. I'm sorry."

Elijah didn't say anything.

"She wanted me to tell you that she loved you. Those were her last words, and I promised to pass them on."

Elijah seemed to finally recover.

"I see. Thank you for respecting her dying wish. I know that's what she would've wanted. Now, not to change topics so suddenly, but where is Katherine?"

"Where's Elena?"

"Safe. How long she remains so depends upon you."

"Well, I guess the same goes with Katherine."

"Oh, Katherine can take care of herself against the likes of you and your boyfriends."

"Usually, I'd agree, but not only do I still have access to the hundred dead witches, your dear baby sister decided to join team good guys for the time being."

There was a short pause.

"Put her on the phone," Elijah said at last.

"Sorry, can't do that. She's not with me. I left her with Damon and Katherine."

"Tell me where they are."

"Yeah, this doesn't work that way. Don't worry. No one's gonna get hurt as long as Katherine hands over the cure."

"Do you understand how much my sister despises Katherine? I assure you, Rebekah will end her the moment she ceases to be of use."

"Well, just tell me where you are, and we can talk this through."

"You listen to me very carefully, Elowen. If anything whatsoever happens to Katherine, I will descend upon Elena."

"Fine by me."

Elowen could see Stefan shoot her a worried look from the corner of her eye. She ignored him.

"Find better leverage, Elijah. Elena means nothing to me. Guess we'll have to do this the hard way."

She hung up before Elijah could respond, then tossed Katherine's phone at Stefan. He caught it easily.

"What are you doing?" Stefan asked as he quickly followed after Elowen.

"If Elijah thinks Katherine is in danger, he'll stand down. Making him think Elena is useless will leave him grasping at straws. Elena will be fine."

"This is a risky move to play. How are you even sure it'll work? He might just decide he doesn't need her anymore if he thinks she isn't of any use."

"Because this is Elijah we're talking about. If any one of us knows him the best, it's me. Marisol, remember? Just trust me."

Stefan sighed, picking up his pace to keep up with Elowen.

"Look-"

"I'm stopping you right there. Let's just find Damon, alright?"

Stefan bowed his head, but stayed quiet. Instead, he followed her without saying another word.

xxxx

Stefan and Elowen walked up to the house they knew Katherine was staying at and saw that the front door was wide open. They shared a glance before quickly rushing up to it. They appeared in the doorway just as they saw Rebekah toss something back, presumably the cure.

"No!" Stefan yelled, watching helplessly as she fell back onto the couch. Elowen stared at Rebekah, who was now unconscious, before her eyes fell on Damon, who was on the ground, the skin on his face an angry red. Elowen made a beeline for him and crouched down to help him up.

"What happened to you?" She asked. "You look like shit."

"Katherine had me bobbing for apples in vervain water."

"Ouch."

Elowen pulled up her sleeve after her and Damon were back on their feet and she was seconds away from offering it to him when he grabbed her hand and pushed it down.

"I'm fine. I'll heal."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

Stefan watched them for a moment before speaking up.

"Did you even try to stop her?"

"I'm sorry, did you miss the part where I said Katherine dunked my head in a fish tank full of vervain?"

"All you had to do was stall her, Damon!"

"Sorry. It's Rebekah. I didn't have a pony to distract her, Stefan."

"No, no, you let her take it, didn't you?"

"You know what? Yes, I did. I let her take it because Elena never deserved the cure in the first place, but you want to know who did? You. I was never going to give it to Elena. I was going to shove it down your throat because it's what would've made Elowen happy, Stefan!"

Stefan recoiled. He was quiet for a moment.

"... You knew?"

"Of course I knew. Why wouldn't I know?"

Even Elowen was surprised.

"You never told me that," she mumbled.

Damon looked over at her. He reached out and grabbed her hand.

"Because I knew you would've told me we needed to fix wolf boy's problem and give it to Elena. You would've talked me out of it."

Silently, Elowen closed the gap between her and Damon and wrapped her arms around his middle. He placed his hands on Elowen's hips and rested his chin on her head.

"I know about Evelyn and Claire," Damon said to Stefan after a beat, catching Stefan off guard. "You two deserved that, at the very least."

Suddenly, Rebekah woke up with a gasp. The three of them all turned around to face her. With one last glance in Damon and Elowen's direction, Stefan walked over to the coffee table across from the couch and sat on it. Elowen moved closer as well, bringing Damon with her.

"How do you feel?" Stefan asked.

Rebekah had sat up and was smiling widely, her eyes lit up.

"I… I feel good. I… I feel great. I feel alive."

"Slight problem with being alive," Damon spoke up. "I can kill you now."

He had picked up a letter opener with his free hand and threw it at Rebekah. With vampire speed, she caught it. She dropped it in shock and watched as her hand healed over.

"I'm still a vampire. The cure didn't work."

Stefan gave a sigh of relief. "It worked just like she wanted it to. The cure was a fake. It must've been a concentrated shot of vervain or something."

From beside her, Elowen felt Damon tilting his head, seemingly impressed.

"Katherine."

xxxx

After getting back to Mystic Falls (after Elena promptly snapped a waitresses neck to prove her point), Elowen immediately parted ways with Stefan and Damon. She was still mad at Stefan and didn't want to be around him. Stefan and Damon entered the boarding house, with Stefan heading off towards his room without a word.

"So, what'd you do?" Damon asked as he walked over to the drink cart before Stefan could leave. He stopped and turned towards him.

"What do you mean?"

"You and Elowen. I'm sensing some tension."

Stefan sighed. "We got into a fight."

"Over the cure, I'm guessing."

"Yeah."

Damon handed out the drink he poured and Stefan walked over to take it.

"Want to talk about it?"

Stefan took a sip out of his glass. "She said that sometimes it feels like I prioritize everyone else over her."

Damon finished pouring his own drink. "Ouch."

"Yeah. She also said that I don't do anything for myself."

"Well, you don't. Look, I'm the first to admit that I'm selfish, and I'm proud of it. I embrace it. If there's a way to make her happy, but I have to screw someone over to do it, I'll do it in a heartbeat." Damon sighed. "Let me give you some big brotherly advice. Fight for the cure. Do it for her. I know you want it, so why are you giving it up? Because you feel like you owe something to Elena? Do you realize how ridiculous that sounds? Elena isn't your girlfriend. Elowen is, and she wants you to take the cure to be with her. Be selfish for once, Stefan. For her."

After a few beats of silence, Stefan set his drink down.

"You know what? You're right."

Without elaborating, Stefan turned and headed for the door. Damon furrowed his eyebrows.

"Where are you going?"

"To be selfish."

Damon smirked. "Attaboy."

The front door closed behind Stefan a second later. Damon raised his glass and then took a sip.

"Go get her, Stef."

xxxx

Elowen slowly trudged up the stairs to her room. All she wanted was a hot shower and then to crash. Josiah was surprisingly home, which he almost never was nowadays, choosing to spend his time with Caroline, and Eliana and Sydney were downstairs watching tv with Binx. Esmeralda was in her study working. She was almost done with her newest book, and she already had a publisher lined up to pick up the series. It was a miracle she had time to write anything, considering the roller coaster their lives had become within the last two years, but she managed.

Elowen reached her door and huffed. She pushed it open and flipped her light on. Stefan was sitting on the edge of her bed. He stood up when she entered the room. She stopped when she saw him, the door clicking shut behind her, and started shaking her head.

"Stefan, it's late. I really don't want to do this right now."

"No, you need to hear me say this before I back out and change my mind." He walked over to her and cupped her face in his hands. "I love you, and I would do anything for you, even die for you, and I'm sorry if I made you feel like that wasn't the case. I'm sorry that I made you feel inferior to everyone else, and I'm mad at myself for not seeing it. I'm mad at myself for even making you feel that way in the first place. I knew that I wanted to spend forever with you the second I met you, and I was able to see a future that included you in it without even having to think about it. Before we knew about the cure, I was mapping everything out in my head, like the life we could have together with me being a vampire, and how we had limited time together. I was thinking through the next 30, 40 years together and what that could look like. And then we found out about the cure and I went from that to thinking about the type of human life we could have together. About how we had the chance to spend forever together. About how we could have kids, how we could have Evelyn and Claire. Then that was ripped away from us.

"You were right. I felt like I owed something to Elena because the reason she's a vampire is because I saved Matt first. I realize how stupid that is now, putting another girl before you, someone else's needs before yours, when you should be the only one that matters to me. And because you're what matters to me, because I love you so much, I'm not backing down this time. I'm getting back in the race and I'm not going to give up until I win."

Elowen looked up at Stefan uncertainly. "Stefan… what are you trying to say?"

"I'm going to fight for the cure. Fight for you. For us. For the life we deserve to have. For Evelyn and Claire. I'm going to fight, Elle."

Tears started to fill Elowen's eyes. One spilled over and Stefan wiped it away.

"You're serious?"

Stefan nodded. "As I can be."

A smile broke out on her face and she shot forward to hug Stefan tightly. Stefan lifted her and spun her around, causing Elowen to giggle loudly. When he set her down, Elowen got on her tiptoes and kissed Stefan. She leaned back and rested her forehead against his.

"I love you," she whispered.

Stefan smiled. "I love you, too."

He captured her lips with his again and they kissed for a couple of moments before Elowen pulled back. She grabbed the bottom of her shirt and lifted it over her head. Stefan got the hint and took his shirt off as well. They reconnected their lips and fell back on Elowen's bed, laughing as they went.