Damon finished his tenth shot and still couldn't stop thinking about Caroline. He has no idea when she started becoming this major thought in his life and he honestly wants it to stop. If he were with Stefan and Hidie right now, he's sure that she would be the last thing on his mind or at the very least not as prominent since Stefan bought up the idea that she looked like the very woman on his mind right now. He asks for a refill seeing a woman with curly hair sit on the stool next to him that he decides to ignore. She turns to him and smiles. "Hello, Damon,"

He sighs. "What are you doing here?"

"Klaus is out of town for a few weeks, so I thought I'd take advantage. What are you doing here?"

"Super secret high-class mission."

"Yeah, you look very much on the case."

"I decided to sit this interrogation out and let Stefan handle it."

"Stefan's here?"

"Lost interest in me just like that, huh?"

She sighed. "Anything I can help with?"

"We've got it, thanks."

"Let me guess Elena dumped you."

"She did only because Caroline and I were having sex." He said it out of spite but regretted it the second he did.

Her eyes went wide. "What? Caroline? I'm impressed."

"Of course you would be."

"Don't feel so bad, D." She moved her hand to his upper thigh. "I've done way worse."

"I'm sure you have."

"Let me guess, you were in love with her but now she wants nothing to do with you and you just can't get her out of your head? I can help you with that."

"Meaning what exactly?"

"Follow me." She stood and started walking.

Damon watched her back, weighing the options in his head before placing a few bills on the table and went after her.

…

Stefan looked over at Hidie and shook his head before closing the door. "I don't understand."

"Talk to her."

"What?"

"She's too old to know who you really are, ask her all you want then meet me back in my bedroom. We still have some things to discuss."

He watched her walk away before turning his head back to the door. He took several breaths and channeled his Silas, opening the door. He softly closed it behind him and walked up to the bed she was lying in, sitting on the stool beside her bed. She was sleeping so he let his guard down and moved his hand to the side of her face, stroking her cheek. He stands slightly to kiss her forehead and as he sits back down, he notices a smile on her face. "My love," she whispered, moving her hand to cover the one on her face. "You're back."

"I'm back," he could almost cry. His beautiful Bonnie, aged and fragile and as beautiful as ever. He knew she was Desurijah, but in order to keep up this ruse, he would only believe her to be Bonnie. "I've missed you."

"Will we be together soon again?"

"I promise we will, my love." He kisses her hand.

"And you'll die with me this time?"

"I promise."

She reached to wipe the tears from his cheeks. "Silas?"

"Yes, my love?"

"I don't have much time. You need to bring her here just once more."

"I will."

She nodded. "Will you lay with me?"

He removed his jacket and shoes, then joined her on the bed. He held her in his arms and closed his eyes. "I love you so much."

"I love you too."

…

Stefan had woken with her still in his arms and by the darkness of the room, he could tell it was the middle of the night. He slowly moved to get up and grabbed his things before walking into Hidie's room. She was still up reading. "If I understand correctly," he spoke softly. "Silas brings her doppelgängers here and transfers their souls so they could be together."

"You would be correct."

"So why do you play along?"

"Because I love Silas, more than I have anyone. When we were married, I knew his heart wasn't fully in it. He loved another woman and after asking around I found out about Desurijah. His father had shipped her off to some island and given my wealth, I had sent for her retrieval. It was my birthday gift to him, the woman who he was really in love with, the one who he really wanted to be married to. He was shocked when I revealed her to him and after explaining, I had left them alone for five nights. They had a child together, a son, just one, all I would allow because I knew he would love theirs more than ours. We had a daughter at the time and another one on the way. I begged Silas for just one more child, we needed to have a boy and she said a spell to make sure it would be done. I'm sure part of it was her way of saying thanks, but I'm sure the other part of it was so that he would only bed her from now on. Silas turned after we had our son. He never told me who he went to or why he did it although I already knew. I begged him to turn me, and I'm sure he did it for the same reasons why Desurijah spelled us a son.

"I overheard them one night, Silas begging her to turn so they could be together forever but she didn't want to. She didn't believe that anyone was supposed to be on this earth forever but she did agree to prolong her life but not forever. A part of me was happy because I thought that when she died, Silas would finally give me the chance that I deserved, but one day years and years later while she was in a state much like she is now, I saw Silas walking a woman into their room. I listened in and heard them arguing, he said that this way she wouldn't betray who she was by turning and that River was willing to sacrifice her soul for their love. I heard a spell being said then a thump and I rushed into their room and saw Silas holding her in his arms. He looked over at me and I questioned him what had happened and he told me. Desurijah had woken up and he asked her, talking to the doppelgänger's body if the spell had worked. She nodded and I watched them kiss passionately before I left. That's when I realized that I would never get my chance.

"This went on and on, a different name each time but the same face. Same body, same everything. I stayed because I knew this couldn't go on forever and I was right. This time he found Bonnie and I heard her say that this would be the last time. I stopped listening to that due to my rejoices but listening to you both earlier, I realized that Silas had planned to die along with her. He could never love me the way I wanted him to, the way I loved him. I would never get my chance."

"Do you regret ever bringing her back into his life?"

She thought. "No. Though Silas never loved me, he was happy and I was the cause of that. I was wrong, he did love our children very much equally. They would all play together and we kept them homeschooled so they wouldn't accidentally share that they had one black brother or three white siblings. Silas taught them mostly everything, they adored him until the day they died. Luckily we did have grandchildren, all of us so their lineage continues on."

"What do you think I should do, I know Bonnie didn't know about this. Were they all willing? The doppelgängers?"

"So he says. He is a witch after all,"

"What do you believe? He put some type of blinding love spell on them?"

"I believe that Silas had a way with words. I'm sure he told them, but maybe not all the tiny details." She stood from the bed. "I'm not going to tell you what to do or say, Stefan. That's going to depend on how much you truly love her."

"When you love someone you tell them the truth."

"Or do you shield them from it, knowing that the truth would only ignite more pain? You told me that Silas is dead and I know Bonnie didn't take that lightly, especially since she ran you out of town. Telling her won't guarantee a spot back in her heart."

"That's not why I'm doing this."

"But it's part of it, remember?" She walked back over to her bed. "Why don't you tell Desurijah goodbye, she'll be up soon and expects you to still be there."

"What's going to happen to her?"

"She'll die naturally and be buried. Speaking of which, I would like Silas' body."

"I can't. Bonnie turned him into a diamond, she wears him around her neck."

She sighed. "Very well. Goodnight then."

He nodded and walked out. Before he joined her again, he decided to call Damon and figured he was sleeping when he didn't answer. "Hey, it's me, I'll be there in the morning, I have a lot of things to catch you up on." He ended the call and walked back into the room.

…

Damon rolled on his back letting out a breath and reached for his phone seeing a voicemail from Stefan but decided to ignore it for now. He moved to his side facing a sweaty Katherine and smiled, propping his head up with the palm of his hand. "Tired?"

"If you must know, I am." She looked over at him and stopped her eye roll. "Was that Stefan calling?"

"It was. He left a voicemail so I know he's well."

"Does that mean you'll be leaving soon?"

"Why do you care?"

"I'm just asking a question."

"I don't know, I guess I'll have to wait and see what he says."

She gathered a sheet around her. "I'll be showering if you need me."

He chuckled then laid back on the bed as she disappeared behind the door. Once he heard the shower running, he listened to the voicemail and wondered what his brother had found out and most importantly why he'd be spending the rest of the night whoever he was. Probably in Heidie's bed.

When Stefan did return that morning, what his brother told him was nowhere near what he could've ever imagined. Silas was some evil genius playing Bonnie this entire time. This is "Great news," Damon ran his fingers through his hair. "Once you tell Bonnie, she'll easily get over Silas and get back with you."

"I'm not going to tell Bonnie."

Damon watched his eyes waiting for some hint of letting him know that he was getting pranked, but the sincerity in his eyes told him otherwise. He sighed and stood to grab a drink from the minibar. Stefan watched him until he sat back down in front of him. "Why not?"

"Because it won't change anything, or if it does, it'll have the opposite effect. She'll assume that I'm lying and hate me more but then she'll come here and talk to Hidie and she'll tell her the truth then she'll hate herself for ever falling for it. I can't do that to her. I love her too much." He sighed. "Besides, Hidie isn't the killer so I still have a job to do."

"So who else would want to kill Silas?"

Stefan thought then remembered something that Hidie said that went over his head at the time but now it's making its way back. I can assure you, Stefan, that Silas didn't have enemies. She didn't lie to him a single time when he was there so why would she lie about that? What Bonnie told him the night of his murder rang too You were the only person that had a grudge against him, he kept to himself, no one else here knows who he is except you!

"What are you thinking?" Damon noticed the wheels spinning.

"We're heading in the wrong direction."

"Meaning what?"

"Whoever killed Silas didn't mean to kill Silas. They meant to kill me."

…

"Am I missing anyone?" Damon questioned after reading off the list.

"I don't know, Damon, I just don't think they would kill me behind my back. I'm sure they would've at least torture me or did it to my face so their face is the last I see. And I just don't see them waiting centuries to kill me."

"So let's dig a little deeper then. It's someone that you've wronged recently."

"I haven't wronged anyone. I mean I've killed but they're all random humans. This was obviously a vamp— holy shit."

"What?"

"We need to go back."

Damon narrowed his eyes but followed after his brother.

...

Caroline smiled watching her friend laugh, thinking that this was the first time she's heard her laugh in a very long time. She didn't know how, but she managed to get the three musketeers back together in hopes to achieve this very moment. Her eyes shifted to Elena who was laughing along with her, causing her smile to widen.

"I miss hanging out with the two of you." She looked between them. "I really needed this, thanks, Care."

"I figured that with everything going on within our lives that we needed to resort back to where everything began. With the three of us."

"I think it would be fake for us to pretend that certain things didn't happen and I know this is supposed to be a happy time, but I- at least personally I feel like we're in a good place to talk things over."

"Even though I'm not really part of this, I think the whole truth should be spoken. Just saying." Bonnie added.

Caroline took a deep breath. "I developed feelings for Damon. It's strange for me to even utter those words, if anyone were to come to me and tell me I would say that and mean it, I'd set them on fire. But it happened. It was very random and very confusing. I don't even have the words to express it."

"Do you still feel that way towards him?"

"I don't know. We haven't spoken in some time or even seen each other so I don't really know where I stand. I think we're both just trying to get over it. I do think about him a lot less than before."

Elena exhaled. "I wish I knew what to say other than 'thank you for being honest,' but I don't. Do you want my blessing or something?"

"When it comes to possibly dating Damon, I one hundred percent don't want any influence on that. I've learned the hard way too many times to know that he needs to make that decision on his own."

"So let's say he asks you out, you'll say yes?"

"I… I don't know. Probably not. I feel like we shouldn't cross that line. I think it'll be too much."

Elena nodded then turned to her other friend. "Bon—"

"I don't want to talk about him."

"Why not?"

"Because it just brings up so much shit that's too much for my head."

"Then let it out so we can split that shit between the three of us."

Bonnie chuckled and shook her head before taking a few deep breaths. "I… I still love him. And I hate it because our relationship was never perfect. I found myself doing all the maintenance to keep things intact while he just stood there basically. And then Silas came and he was standing right beside me doing the work so I wasn't by myself but now he's dead and I didn't even get to say goodbye. I'm mostly healed from that now I just can't get the look of his face out of my mind."

"You mean when he died?"

"No, I- I told Stefan to leave town because at first, I thought that he killed Silas but I know he didn't. I was still so angry and when I saw him just outside walking, I let my rage take over and told him again to leave. Later that day, he stops by at my place and tells me that he's leaving and he's going to find out who killed Silas for me and so that maybe I could hate him less. I told him that wasn't possible and I saw his heart break in his eyes. I didn't care at the moment, but now, especially before bed when I close my eyes, I see that look on his face and in his eyes and it slowly breaks me. I loved Stefan more than I have anyone ever but he hurt me so many times I don't want to go through that again."

"Maybe the two of you should have a one-on-one. When he finds out who killed Silas, you both should have a talk. Ask him why he hurt you so much, why he didn't do any of the maintenance. You'd be surprised what a simple Q and A can do to a relationship."

"Yeah, maybe,"

…

Stefan ran his fingers through his hair after coming up blank. No one knew where Thomas was. They say he disappeared one day and Stefan figured that he left town knowing that he would be found eventually.

"Don't beat yourself up about it, at least this further proves that he did it. What were you going to do with him anyway?"

"I was going to tie him up and place him right at Bonnie's feet. Tell her what he did, force him to confess it himself, and do whatever she wanted me to do."

"You can still do that. Of course minus some parts, but tell her still."

"What if she doesn't believe me? Or is further passed at me because I took too long and now he's roaming free wherever-the-hell he is now."

"Something tells me that she'll believe you."

He turned in his seat. "What do you mean?"

"Before I joined you, I stopped by at Bonnie's as you know and she told me that- I don't know when, but she went back to the place Silas was killed and looked at the security footage. She knows."

"You waited all this time to tell me that?"

"I was going to tell you but then I found you and you were sleeping and dreaming about her. I knew you had to figure it out for yourself. If I told you the easy way out, you wouldn't have found out what you did and you found out some deep shit."

Stefan exhaled through his nose. "I guess you're right. So since Bonnie already knows, I'm going to visit her tonight and tell her and hopefully, I'm right."

"Just act like I didn't tell you she knows. I would visit her at her shop before closing."

"Why not at her place?"

"She'll be more surprised to see you and since so, you can get a genuine reaction as to how she still feels about you. If you go to her place, she'll see your car pull up or something. It's better if it's a surprise."

…

Stefan stood just outside the door and started to feel panic. The look in her eyes, what if it's hatred? Even after all this time, she didn't miss him a single ounce because he fucked everything up between them. He wanted to get on his knees and beg for her forgiveness but now wasn't the time to talk about their relationship. He opened the door having the bell jingle, signaling his arrival. He looked around the place in a quick sweep, then he heard her voice.

"I'm sorry, I'm just about to close—" Bonnie stood in front of him and started to feel her hand shake.

Stefan watched her eyes and felt some weight being lifted off because he could see that she missed him. Her heart was pounding and all he wanted to do was hold her in his arms. "Bonnie, I found out who killed Silas, and I don't have any proof but after looking in the wrong place, I started to realize that Silas wasn't the target. You were right that night. No one really knew he existed or had a grievance towards him and that's when I realized. After thinking of a list of people who would without a doubt would want to kill me, nothing made sense. Why wait so long, why behind my back? So it had to be someone whom I've wronged recently and I couldn't think of anyone until I thought of you. Whoever did this wanted you to suffer just as much as I did- or Silas did. You were dating that vampire Thomas while we were working on our relationship and though he acted as if it was fine when you broke up with him, on the inside he wasn't OK. So one night he sees what he believes to be us out on a date, he doesn't think about it for too long, he just does it and that's that. I tried looking for him but everyone I talked to told me that he just disappeared one day. If you want me to look for him and tie him up and lay him at your feet, I will. I just didn't want another day to go by without telling you."

A silence bounced between them. "Where was the wrong place that you looked?"

"After doing all the research I could find on Silas, I found out that he got married and had three kids and I found their death certificates but I couldn't find the wife's Hidie. So I went to New Orleans and it wasn't that hard to find her thanks to my face. After talking to her and telling her what happened, I knew she didn't do it. She basically told me the same thing you did about how Silas had no enemies. It didn't register at the time but back at the hotel it did."

"What else did she say?"

"Not much, really, but she did ask for his body. I told her why she couldn't have it and she didn't seem to mind all that much."

She nodded once. "Okay. Come inside." She turned her back to him, walking down the hall and into a room.

Stefan found the moment in his feet and followed after her into the room and narrowed his eyes watching her standing in front of a bookcase before she moved to push it to the side. His eyes widened a little as she opened the door and she stepped aside holding out her hand so he could look. He watched her eyes for a few moments before stepping in front of the open door and he quickly looked over at her again before looking back at the vampire. "Wha—"

"So you finally figured it out, Stefan. Good for you. Now can we get this over with?"

"What?" He felt himself being pushed to the side before Bonnie closed the door. "What do you want me to do with him?"

"Nothing for now."

"I know this isn't appropriate right now, but. I've missed you so much. And I know that this doesn't change much and after I do whatever it is to him and you still want me gone, I'll go, I swear, but I miss seeing you and talking to you. I miss holding you and all your love. I'll do anything—"

"I've heard that before but you just broke up with me two weeks later."

"Baby,"

"Why?"

"I was jealous. We were together for a week straight then he showed up and I was scared that you'd ditch me for a week alone with him and my ego couldn't handle that again. I want you to be happy more than anything I swear I do. If he hadn't killed Silas I would've left you two alone. I know I fucked everything up between us but I hope that one day maybe you'll give me another chance, one last chance. I think about you all the time, you're in my dreams swallowing me whole, I swear I would never hurt you again. If I do you can kill me."

"Stefan, I've given you chances that I would've never given to anyone and I don't know if I can do that again."

He got on his knees in front of her. "Please. I'm begging you, I just- even if it's not a relationship right away, I just want to be in your life again. When I'm with you, I'm a better person and that was scary to me but what's scarier is when you left, with good reason. I pushed you away constantly because I felt as if I didn't deserve to be better, to be happy or in love because of the things I have done and I probably still don't deserve it but if you're willing to be with me again, I won't let those thoughts ruin what we have. Not again."

Bonnie looked down into his eyes and took a deep breath. "Kill him. I want his heart." She walked past him, back into the store.

Stefan closed his eyes for a brief moment before standing and copying Bonnie's movement to unveil the secret door. He opened it and stepped inside, removing the gag from his mouth. "Bonnie's not that good in bed,"

"Excuse me?"

"I heard you begging out there, seemed a little extra."

"Says the guy with the small dick who wanted to kill me behind my back because I took her from you."

"I didn't kill you to get back at you, I killed you to get back at her. I knew witnessing your death would do a lot more than simply killing her and it worked. Only her deep mourning was for Silas who she somehow obviously loved more than you. If I would've killed you, I'm not sure if she even would've shed a single tear."

"You know what, I was going to go easy on you, do a simple heart grab and be done with it but guess what, your fat mouth just earned yourself a prolonged death."

"What?"

"Bonnie said she wanted your heart, she never said when or how."

Thomas watched his eyes darken. "What are you going to do?" He was almost afraid to ask.

"There are so many options aren't there?" He sped to grab a butcher's knife then closed the door behind him after he returned to block out the screams.

…

Stefan dumped his last bucket of blood water into the ocean then met Carl at the end of the bay to sell him the vampire cutlets before heading home to take a quick shower then heading to Bonnie's. He persevered the heart just as she asked and he was finally ready to give it to her on a gold platter. He didn't know exactly what she wanted to do with it, but he didn't exactly care. He knocked several times then took a step back. He hopes she invites him inside and even though he can easily step inside himself without a formal welcome, he won't. He watched the door open and waited for her to appear but once she didn't, he decided to step inside himself and open his ears. He hears her heart and relaxes, closing the door behind him. "Bon?" He projected, making his way towards the stairs. He knocked on her bedroom door and slowly opened it seeing her lying in bed. "Bonnie?"

"Is it done?"

"Of course." He placed the platter on her nightstand in front of her. He watched her smile for a second before it went away. "Is everything okay?"

"No."

"Is there anything I can do—"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you what?"

"The full story. About Hidie and Desurijah,"

He paused. "Who told you?"

"I went there myself to give her Silas. You told me she wanted his body and I wasn't going to at first but thinking it over, I knew it was the right thing to do. So I went and she showed me everything. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I didn't want you to be possibly upset or depressed by it. I figured that since Silas is gone there's no need for me to tell you about all he's done. Especially since it was something I personally didn't approve of."

"I feel like a fool."

"You shouldn't. He's done that too many times for you to see through it." He knelt and hesitated but placed his hand on the side of her face. "When I saw Desurijah there, I was overcome with so much emotion. Tears rolled from my eyes because I thought that I would be in this exact position but with actually you because you would never want to see me again. She thought I was Silas and I couldn't bear to tell her otherwise. I laid with her throughout the night, her in my arms like she asked to be. I just hope she understands."

"Hold me, please."

He stands and removes his shoes before lying behind her, wrapping her between his arms. His head above hers, her body pressed against his perfectly as always. He closed his eyes, taking in the moment.

"I still haven't decided yet," she mentioned their pending relationship status.

"It's okay. I can be very patient."

Her lips curved upward.