A/N will be after the story so I won't waste your time rn!
Previously on Everything Changes...
Klaus smirked and shook his head slowly.
"Afraid not, mate."
"What's going on?" Henry asked, and the phone stopped ringing.
Suddenly, he whirled around, and tried to attack Alaric. Klaus grabbed the boy's jacket and Alaric plunged a stake into the boy's back.
Henry slumped to the floor with a dull thud.
"'Let's not kill anyone tonight.' Your words. Just pointing that out," Damon patted Alaric's shoulder and glanced down at Henry's gray body. With one more look around the place, the three left.
Third Person POV
The waiter brought Ezra and Pearl two shots of vodka, and the two drank in silence. Pearl had to admit, Ezra's easy confidence was attractive.
A few moments later, Ezra's phone buzzed in his pocket, and he got up.
"My apologies, I'll be right back."
Pearl nodded slowly, watching his retreating figure. He stepped into the men's bathroom, and she found she could not quite hear him.
After a minute or two he returned, apologizing again.
"No apologies necessary. So, tell me, Mr. Forbes, why should I let you and Mr. Gilbert have the device?" Pearl queried, signaling to the waiter that she wanted another drink.
Ezra smirked. "Because, we can help you. We both have pretty deep connections around here..." he took a sip. "The town council practically eats out of our hands; we have connections to two major Founding Families. The list goes on."
Pearl inclined her head, her eyes lingering on something over Ezra's shoulder.
"We know you just want to live your quaint little white picket fence life, Ms. Pearl." John's unexpected voice caused Ezra to jump slightly, scowling.
Ezra pressed his lips in a tight line, glaring at John. They'd discussed who would talk to Pearl, and it was not supposed to go down like this.
Turning back to Pearl, he forced himself into an easy grin. "We can help you do that."
John slid into the small booth next to Ezra, efficiently nudging him to the other side.
"But the device doesn't work. Why would either of you even want such a thing?"
"Eh," John said with a shrug, preventing Ezra from opening his big mouth. "It's a family heirloom. Call me sentimental."
"Him more than me," Ezra grumbled, staring off into the distance, letting his partner talk.
"Jonathan was ahead of his time," Pearl murmured, trailing off as the waiter approached.
Once the guy had left, John piped up, "I read his journals. They were quite...extensive. He actually wrote about you. You were his one regret," Both men were studying Pearl now, gauging her reaction to the old Gilbert. "He loved you, and he hated himself for what he did to you."
Emotions flickered across Pearl's face in rapid fire. Love, regret, anger, sorrow...
"You're lying," she accused, curling her lip.
"No," John shook his head, still egging her on. "On his last days, he wrote how sorry he was. You were the only woman he ever loved."
Pearl's eyes widened slightly, and she struggled to keep her composure.
"Good god, woman," Ezra chuckled darkly. "You vampires, so emotional! The man hated you, for crying out loud! He only wished he could have driven a stake into your cold dead heart himself!"
Pearl scowled, all emotions washing away in a blink of an eye.
"I gave it to Damon," she announced, getting to her feet.
Keep your cool, Pearl. She told herself. She couldn't exactly afford to decapitate both men if she wanted to have a good life here.
"What?" John asked, looking to Ezra, who shrugged in return.
"I gave your device to Damon. Why don't you ask him for it yourself? I'm sure he'd be delighted to give it to you," Pearl's face contorted into a sickeningly sweet smile. "And then, Mr. Gilbert, Mr. Forbes, may you rot in hell."
~0~
Caroline's POV
I glanced over at Stefan, who was seated on his cot a few feet away.
"C'mon Stefan. Talk to me? Please?" Carefully, I went over and took a cautious seat next to him, leaving a few feet in between us.
"I'm making the decision I should have made years ago, Caroline," he said forlornly, head bowed.
I let out a long exhale, part of me was getting tired of his pity party, but another part of me wondered what could have possibly caused such a thing.
Okay, Stefan, I'll bite.
"What are you talking about?" I crossed my legs, turning my body slightly so I could see him better.
"You have to feed in order to complete the transition," he started, brows furrowing and expression hardening as he remembered something.
"Yeah, I know that," I murmured, hoping he'd say more.
"It was a choice I shouldn't have made," he raised his eyes to meet mine, before telling me what had happened all those years ago.
~0~
Third Person POV
Flashback:
Stefan nervously entered his father's office, emotions and senses heightened. He hadn't yet completed the transition and he didn't intend to. Emily told him that it would be a bad idea to come visit Giuseppe, but he didn't listen. He wanted to see his father.
"Dear God," Giuseppe exclaimed, leaping up from his desk. The older man just noticed his once-dead son standing there.
"Even in our death, you only feel shame?" Stefan asked, his voice a soft murmur.
Giuseppe slowly walked around the table, staring hard at his son. "You're one of them now," he said, looking a mix of fear and awe.
"No." Stefan stepped forward into the dim light. "Father, I came to say goodbye."
"I watched you die," he said dully, staring at his son still. Giuseppe's face was hard now; all the emotion had drained from his face.
"You were there when we were shot?" Stefan asked, trying to remember.
"I pulled the trigger myself," Giuseppe responded, tears brimming in his eyes.
"You killed your own sons?" A wash of strong emotion came over Stefan, and his jaw dropped ever so slightly.
"You were both dead to me the moment you sided with the vampires..." His father said, and Stefan shook his head rapidly. "I only thank God that your mother isn't alive to see the disgrace you've become!"
Stefan frowned, trying to fight down wave after wave of anger and despair.
"I haven't turned yet!" He insisted. "I don't want to. I'm going to let myself die, Father." Stefan took another pleading step forward. "Please."
"Yes," Giuseppe said, quickly drawing out a cane from beside the fireplace. "You are!" With that, he snapped it into a stake over his knee, and came at Stefan.
Desperate and afraid, Stefan used all his strength to shove Giuseppe away. He flew through the air, and landed chest first into the adjacent wall. A sickening crunch was heard as he accidentally impaled himself on the stake meant for Stefan.
"Uhh!" Giuseppe cried out, hands fumbling by his wound.
"Father!" Stefan rushed to his side. "I didn't mean to!"
"Get away from me," Giuseppe protested, his voice sounding strange.
"No," Stefan gasped out, "Let me help you. Please, Father!"
He wrapped his hands around the stake and pulled it out of Giuseppe's chest. He cried out in pain, and Stefan began to pant.
His wide green eyes stared hungrily at his father's wound and then to the rust colored blood covering his hands. Slowly, as if in a trance, he brought his hand to his mouth eagerly licking off the blood. Dipping his other hand into his father's wound, he ate that off his other hand.
A sharp pain in his eyes and mouth caused the newborn to pause in his feeding.
Stefan let out an "UH," and his bloody hands flew to his teeth, where the pain was more intense. "God, what's happening to me?"
Sharp fangs grew beneath his fingertips and Stefan stared down at his father, who was staring right back up in terror.
~0~
Caroline's POV
"So that's what happened?" I asked gently, once he was finished. "That's how you turned?"
I barely caught Stefan's answer – a small inclination of his head.
"How can you even look at me right now, Caroline?" Tears were brimming in his eyes as he turned his gaze to me.
"Because you aren't the only one who's made mistakes, Stefan. You need to talk about all the skeletons in your closet. I need to hear them – and Elena probably should too. She is your girlfriend after all." I laid a hand on his shoulder, smiling encouragingly at him. "Come upstairs. We all can talk about it some more. We can keep talking as long as you need."
He raised his brows, still peering at me in surprise. "You're so sure I'm ready. I don't even know if I'm ready."
I put my hand in my pocket, and pulled out the ring I'd swiped from Damon earlier that day. I was sure he knew I took it, but he didn't say anything if he did. For that, I was grateful.
"Here," I set his daylight ring down on the cot between us. Getting to my feet, I went over to the door, pausing. "Whenever you feel ready, whenever you want to try again, we'll be upstairs." I offered another small smile.
If this doesn't work, I'm going to smack him...and then myself for thinking it would.
"Don't make me regret this, Stefan. I don't want to have to yell at you," I mumbled to myself as I headed up the basement stairs.
~0~
Third Person POV
Alaric, Damon and Klaus sat in the car in silence. Somehow Klaus had persuaded Alaric to let him drive.
"Oh, man," Alaric suddenly grumbled, breaking the quiet atmosphere. "This was a real dead-end, wasn't it?"
Damon shrugged from the back-seat. "I wouldn't beat myself up over it, man."
Alaric nodded, face set in a grim expression.
"Yeah, mate," Klaus put in. "What did you expect to find? Your long lost love with a 'welcome home' sign?" He rolled his eyes and drummed his thumbs idly on the steering wheel.
Alaric huffed, laying his head in his hands. "I really gotta stop this. I can't...I can't stop searching for her."
Damon laughed. "Really? After only two years?" He was surprised to say the least. He knew for a fact that most women he'd killed or changed- their loves had chased after them for much longer than a mere two years.
"That's actually – moderately healthy," Damon continued, leaning forward to pat Alaric on the shoulder.
"What are you going on?" Alaric countered, turning around so he could see Damon. "146?"
Klaus laughed, as if he was rather exactly dead-on, or way off. "What about you, Klaus? You're older than him, right?"
A signature smirk overtook the older vampire's face. "You could say that."
"Well, I figure the 200 mark is probably a good stopping point." Damon mused, mostly to himself once he had realized that Alaric wasn't paying attention to him for the moment.
Alaric hummed at both men's answers. "I mean, I guess no answer is enough. I keep thinking I wanna know why, when, you know, the precise moment. When my wife decided life with me wasn't enough."
"She charmed me, your wife Isobel. She talked a good game, man. She was smart. She had this excitement in her eyes. When she mentioned a friend of an old friend send her to me, I should have known. There had to be some reason I didn't kill her." Damon thought aloud, obviously attempting to egg on Alaric.
"Easy there, Damon, don't want to anger the little vampire hunter." Klaus chuckled, smirk still plastered onto his face.
"That's enough, guys," Alaric chided, turning to gaze out the window at the dark city. "I don't want to hear anymore, learn anymore. I just need to get on with my life, stop wasting it. I don't have all of eternity like you guys..."
Did he really mean what he was saying? Ric wondered. With another pause, he realized that yes, he really did. Damon could mess with him all he wanted, but he wasn't going to care anymore. He'd spent far too long caring about Isobel.
"I'm done with all of this – with Isobel," He finished, nodding to himself.
~0~
Anna entered her home, of sorts, and found her mother scurrying around frantically.
"Hey," Anna greeted, a bit confused. "What's going on?"
Pearl shoved a long skirt into the open suitcase. "I need you to pack your things. We're leaving."
"What?" Anna exclaimed, her mind flashing to Jeremy and her new life here. "No!"
"I was wrong to think that we could make a home for ourselves here. It's time for us to move on." Pearl rattled on, not even hearing her daughter's protest.
"But I don't want to move," Anna insisted, moving over to stand in front of her mother. "I want to stay."
"We can't stay!" Pearl said earnestly, thinking of all the things the Forbes and Gilbert men seemed to know. "There's too many people here who know the truth...too much history!"
"So, what, you're just gonna give up, pack us up, and move us out?" Anna asked, raising her eyebrows.
Pearl must have been packing up at vampire speed for the past hour. Most of their things (they had quite a lot despite their short stay in Mystic Falls) were already in boxes or suitcases it seemed.
"It's not safe here," Pearl insisted, placing her hand on her daughter's shoulder. "You know that."
"Please," Anna begged once more. She knew she could survive without her mother – she'd spent the last 150 years without her – but she'd just gotten her back! She couldn't lose her again, not so easily!
"Is this about Jeremy?" Pearl suddenly queried, staring into Anna's eyes.
Anna held her gaze for a moment. "No. It's about me finally being able to build a life for myself. Please, mama."
Pearl sighed, throwing down the shirt she'd been trying to fold. "You gave me my life back, Annabelle. I'm just trying to protect yours..." she bit her lip thoughtfully. "I can't force you. It's your decision."
~0~
Caroline's POV
I sat stretched out on the couch in the Boarding House's living room, the fire beside me. My diary was in my lap and I'd been furiously scribbling out what had happened with Stefan and how we'd locked him in the basement.
It had been ten minutes since I'd returned to the ground floor, leaving Stefan to himself. Elena had gone downstairs to try to reason with him some more; maybe he had decided to tell her what he told me. I hoped so.
I was so caught up in my writing – and my thoughts – I didn't hear Damon and Klaus return.
"Ugh," Damon groaned playfully, entering the room. "God. You're still here? I thought you moved out!"
I snorted, shutting my diary and putting away my pen.
"Yes, Damon, I'm still here. Elena is too. Did you honestly expect anything else?"
He jutted out his bottom lip and gave a big shrug. "No."
He came over and picked my legs up off the far end of the couch, sat down and put my legs back over his lap.
A small butterfly fluttered in the base of my stomach at this, but I quickly squashed it.
Damon let out a long, relaxed exhale.
"Wait, where is Elena?" Klaus asked, furrowing his brows. He came to sit on the couch adjacent to the couch Damon and I were on.
Damon's eyes narrowed as he listened, and his eyes widened when he heard what I assume was Stefan and Elena talking.
"She's downstairs!" Damon exclaimed, then turned to me, "What are you thinking? I told you to not let her go down there by herself!"
I smiled innocently. "I'm quite surprised you didn't assume I went down there before she did."
Damon growled, smacking my leg lightly. "Dammit Blondie!"
Klaus chuckled, eying our banter.
It wasn't necessarily an amused chuckle, I noticed; it seemed...unhappy. Jealous maybe? Annoyed? I could never tell with him.
"Puh-lease," I rolled my eyes at Damon's worry. "I'm fine, and she's going to be fine. Stefan wouldn't hurt a fly, even when he's all martyr-ish."
Damon and Klaus exchanged a glance, but I decided to not question it. I knew that Stefanwas capable of hurting people, that much was obvious from Amber – but I didn't think he would honestly hurt Elena or I. Like I said to Damon before, you wouldn't leave if you were actually worried.
"So, how was the errand?" I asked, changing the subject away from Stefan.
"Futile," Damon responded, only to be cut off by Klaus a second later.
"It wasn't that bad, mate! Some kid vampire was there and said he was friends with your uncle and John Gilbert," Klaus said, as if it was no big deal that my uncle was in contact with a vampire. "That and..."
"We witnessed the teacher having an existential crisis," Damon smirked, jumping back in. "Has Stefan eaten yet?"
"Not as far as I know..." I fiddled with my pen for a moment. "I thought you didn't care, Damon?"
I glanced up at him through my lashes and found him gazing at me, the smirk still plastered onto his annoying face. "Chalk it up to morbid curiosity."
I could've sworn I heard Klaus mumble, "He does."
I sighed. "I'm pretty sure that from what I said to him, and what I'm sure Elena's saying to him right now is helping get him there..." I uncapped and capped the pen idly. I could feel Klaus and Damon's eyes on me, almost staring. "He's got a lot of skeletons in his closet that he needs to deal with. And it doesn't help that you've spent the last 145 years punishing him for getting Chandra and Katherine caught." I finally raised my eyes to meet his, then looked over at Klaus, whose mouth was set in an annoyed line.
Damon raised his eyebrows. "This is my fault now?"
I couldn't help but to huff loudly, raking my hand through my hair. He seemed to be completely missing the point, as usual!
"No, Damon, I'm not saying it's your fault – or Klaus'- or anyone's really! I'm just trying to say...neither of you are innocent. You've made it your life's mission to make him miserable and Klaus, you've done nothing to try to persuade Damon to do otherwise." Damon glanced in disbelief to Klaus then back to me, shaking his head slightly.
He obviously didn't agree...
Damon moved to get up and I pulled my feet away, tucking my legs beneath my body.
He started to walk a few steps away, before turning back to face me. "Let me ask you a question. In all this important 'soul-searching' and cleansing of the skeletons in Stefan's past, did you ever manage to get the rest of the story?"
Klaus got up as well. "My cue to leave..." he mumbled, leaving the room. The front door slammed shut and I swallowed, wondering what else had happened.
"He'd said that there was more..."
"Yeah," he scoffed. "That's an understatement."
He turned; his jaw clenched and started to walk away.
Oh no! I thought, leaping to my feet, my journal and pen lying discarded on the couch. No way he's getting out of this story that easily.
"Damon!" I exclaimed, quickly striding over to him. "Damon!" I said again, grabbing his leather-jacket clad arm and turning him to face me.
He looked mad, but it wasn't anger over something typical, like being double-crossed or something...it seemed different. I stared into his face, searching his blue eyes.
Pain flashed through them and I said, "Tell me."
With a heavy sigh, he turned and went back to sit on the couch. I followed him, sitting where I was before.
~0~
Third Person's POV
Flashback:
Stefan found his brother siting on the ruins of an old building, staring out into the dark forest. Damon could feel himself getting weaker and weaker by the moment. His heart ached for Chandra. He hated knowing that she was dead; but he hated everything even more knowing that he was still alive. He'd made his decision. He would let himself die. Maybe he'd get to be with her again.
The crunching of leaves made him turn around. Stefan and another girl approached, their figures illuminated by the moonlight.
"What are you doing?" Damon asked, staring hard at the girl.
She looked vaguely familiar, and he wondered if she was from the same town as him. "Who is that?"
Stefan looked smug. "I brought her for you, Damon. She's a gift." he turned to the girl, who looked at him expectantly. "Have a seat, please."
Robotically, the girl took a seat close to Damon on the ruins.
"What have you done, Stefan?" Damon murmured, looking from the girl to his younger brother.
Stefan pressed his hands together and said, "Damon, I've been to see father. He came at me. I didn't know my own strength. There was blood everywhere. He was dying, and the blood was too strong. I needed it. I had to have it."
It was then Damon noticed his little brother's eyes were feral, inhuman and a bit crazed.
"You fed," he said dully, brows creased.
"Yes," Stefan confirmed, smiling manically. "And it's incredible. My body is exploding with power, Damon."
Damon hung his head, and mumbled, mostly to himself, "No..."
Stefan continued his explanation. "I can hear things from far away. I can see through the darkness. I can move, like it's magic. And the guilt, the pain...Damon, I can turn it off. Like a switch! They were right. It's a whole another world out there, Damon." Stefan was close to his brother now, urging him to change with him.
"They're dead, Stefan." Damon weakly pulled himself to a standing position. "Chandra and Katherine are dead. There's no world with Chandra. I don't want to change."
During all this, Damon's ears had fixated on the girl's heartbeat, which he could ever so slightly hear in his pre-transformed state.
Damon struggled over the ruins, desperate to get away from all of this.
Stefan caught his brother by the shoulders. "No. You can turn that off too!" His cold hands were around his neck now, and a flash of fear went through Damon. "You don't have to feel that pain anymore!"
"I don't want it!" Damon gasped out, and Stefan moved to tightly grip his shoulders.
This seemed to make Stefan angry, almost offended that Damon wouldn't take his offer. "You're weak," he spat out. "You'll be dead soon. You need this." His hands moved back to his neck.
Damon's face contorted in pain at his brother's grip. "No..." he said once more.
Stefan looked as if he was going to cry. "You'll die."
"No, I can't!" Damon grit out, hands pulling at Stefan's arms now.
"Please," he said to the girl, who got up.
Damon stared in shock as his brother's vampire face emerged. He grabbed the girl with one hand, pulled her towards him, and bit into her neck with a snarl. Pulling away, Damon gaped at the two pools of blood threatening to stream down her neck.
"I won't let you die," Stefan insisted, gripping his brother's face in his hands, staring into his eyes.
"No, I can't," Damon said again, though this time had much less conviction than the last.
Little did Damon know, Klaus stood in the shadows of the forest, silently watching the brothers. Though Klaus didn't know that the girls weren't in the tomb, he knew that Damon loved Chandra almost as fiercely as he did. Part of him wanted Damon to die, but another part of him wanted him to live, suffer through his loss like he had to. It was, in fact, their fault that the two girls died, after all.
"Don't fight it," Stefan said, following Damon's gaze to the girl's neck. The blood was already beginning to drip down. "We can do this...together."
Damon peered at his brother, who loosened his grip from his neck. Almost hesitantly, Damon slowly moved towards the girl's neck and drank the blood. When he pulled away, his once nervous expression was ferocious, and he dove back into her neck to drink.
~0~
Caroline's POV
I watched Damon as he retold how he changed. I had to admit, this was the most emotions I'd seen flicker across his face in such a short period of time. Regret, frustration, fear, rage, and even love.
"From the moment Stefan had his first taste of human blood, he was a different person," he finished, dropping his gaze to his drink of bourbon he'd gotten himself halfway through. He took a long drink. "I suppose I should thank him..." He chuckled. "It's been one hell of a ride."
I was speechless for a moment, processing everything I'd just learned.
No wonder Stefan wanted to die.
"Wow," I mumbled, staring into space. Turning to Damon, I said, "He said he wanted to die, and I had no idea... It makes sense now, I guess...why he won't feed and everything...but..."
"His choice," Damon shrugged nonchalantly, as if we were talking about where to go for lunch. "If he's stupid enough to make it, so be it."
His expression was annoyed and I could tell he was hiding something, but what, I wasn't able to tell.
I huffed, my hand itching. I wanted to smack Damon right now. This was his brother he was talking about! Not the weather, not where to go to eat, but his brother!
"Stop being a jack-ass," I commanded, crossing my arms. "Okay? You can't pretend that you don't care about your own brother!" Jumping up off the couch, I stared at him for a moment before growling in frustration.
With another angry exhale, I stormed away, deciding to go see Stefan.
"Where are you going?" Damon asked, and I felt his gaze follow me from the couch.
I didn't respond.
When I reached the cellar, I found his door wide open, and Stefan nowhere to be seen. Walking inside, I found Elena lying on the ground, sobbing.
"Elena!" I exclaimed, hoping Stefan hadn't hurt her. "What happened?"
I went to her side, helping her sit up. Her eyes were bloodshot and her nose was running.
"Stefan..." She sobbed. "He..." Elena hiccupped and I carefully pushed the hair out of her face.
"Elena, I can't help if you don't tell me what happened." I rocked back on my feet.
"He left his ring and just walked out..." she babbled, bursting into tears again. "I thought Damon had his ring!"
"I did."
I turned to see Damon standing in the doorway, looking grim.
"Before Blondie here thought it'd be a good idea to take it and give it to him."
~0~
Third Person's POV
Stefan slowly walked into the Quarry, where he'd persuaded Damon to turn. His body was growing weak from lack of blood and he knew the hallucinations would start soon.
"How do you feel?" Stefan asked Damon, who had just finished feeding from the girl.
"You were right," Damon smirked, walking into the moonlight. "It is a whole new world."
Stefan nodded, happy of his brother's choice. "We can explore it together!"
"You got what you wanted..." Damon said, suddenly growing serious. "You and me for all of eternity. But hear this, Stefan. I will make it an eternity of misery for you."
Stefan knew that this was one promise Damon would not break.
Stefan called out his brother's name in anguish, only to have his vision blur.
[End of flashback]
Stefan took a few more steps near the water, head spinning.
[Flashback cont.]
"You've transitioned," Emily murmured, coming out from behind a tree.
Stefan had known she was there – heard her heartbeat – but felt no need to demand she make her presence known.
"You'd rather have found me dead?" He retorted, turning to face her.
Emily's face remained blank. "Katherine and Chandra saved my life once. I owed them..." she trailed off, eyes getting a far-away look in them. "That doesn't mean I'd wish that curse on anyone."
Stefan smirked, shaking his head in disbelief. "It feels more like a gift."
A small sad smile drifted across her lips for a moment, and she stared hard at Stefan. "That will change."
Cocking his head to the side, he asked, "Why is that?"
"Because even in death, your heart is pure, Stefan. I sense that about you. That will be your curse," she murmured before walking away, vanishing into the forest like smoke.
"Emily, wait," Stefan called, taking a step after her.
His vision cleared once more and Elena walked out from the area Emily had just vanished.
He vaguely knew that Emily hadn't been there for years – the events he'd just seen and remembered were merely a flashback.
"Stefan," Elena smiled slightly in relief, approaching him. "I'm happy I found you."
Stefan's brows creased deeply as he scowled at nothing in particular. "I should have died that night, just like I had chosen. I should have let Damon die, too."
When Elena was downstairs speaking with Stefan, he had told her everything. Though he left out the part about turning Damon when telling Caroline, he had to tell Elena. Caroline would learn from Damon, he just knew it. Damon would jump on any instance to make him look bad.
"But you didn't. You chose your own fate. Giving up now won't change anything! All it will do is hurt me...and everyone else."
Damon and Caroline stood side by side a bit deeper inside the forest. Damon had brought both girls here to try to persuade Stefan to live.
He would never admit it, but he wanted his little brother to live.
Elena had insisted on being the one to talk to Stefan, though if Caroline thought that she should, she didn't say so. Damon could tell by the way she fidgeted anxiously that she wished she was there with Stefan and Elena.
"Every single person that's been hurt...everyone who died, it's because of me! Because of my choice!" Stefan growled, tears brimming in his eyes.
Elena sighed. "The night my parents died, I kind of shut down for a while. I had you, and that was enough for a while...then one day I just broke down, cried all night, and found I couldn't cry anymore. If I hadn't wanted to go home early so badly, they might have still been here..."
Caroline couldn't stand it anymore. Bursting out of the trees, she jogged into the clearing.
"Our actions set things into motion, Stefan," she said. "We have to learn to live with that."
Stefan gazed at Caroline for a few moments, contemplating what she said.
"I made a choice, Caroline. Because of that choice, a lot of people were hurt!" Stefan said, and the tears that had been brimming in his eyes began to drip down his face.
"Yeah? You made a choice?" Caroline took a step forward, growing angrier by the moment. "You made a choice to stop, to reject the person that the blood made you. You made a choice to be my friend, to protect me from compulsion – to trust yourself with Elena. You made a choice to be good, Stefan!"
"No," Stefan whimpered. "Please don't do that."
She took another step forward, and Elena did as well.
"Life is full of hard choices, Stefan!" Caroline said, and started to say more, before Elena cut in.
"The good person that I know is the person who jumped into the water and saved my family and I, even though we weren't that close yet!"
What?! Caroline's face tensed in shock. Stefan was the one who saved Elena? I'd always thought something supernatural happened, since she managed to get out, but I never even considered that it might have been Stefan that saved her!
"Please," Stefan's head drooped. "Don't make this all okay."
'That's the person who saved my life," Elena finished and Caroline bobbed her head in agreement.
"You don't understand, either of you!"
"Then tell us, Stefan! Help us understand," Caroline challenged, raising her eyebrows.
"It hurts me," he started, rubbing his forehead. "It hurts me, knowing what I've done, and that pain...That pain is with me all the time. And every day, I think that if I just...If I just give myself over to the blood, I can make that pain stop. It would be that easy, and every day, I fight that. And I am so terrified that one day, I'm not gonna want to fight that anymore. And the next time I hurt somebody...It could be either of you!"
"You can't think like that," Caroline said gently and both girls stepped within arm's reach of Stefan.
Inside the forest, Damon tensed, watching the situation closely.
"There will be no next time," Elena insisted, taking his hands in hers.
"You don't know that," he mumbled, trying to meet his girlfriend's eyes.
Caroline chewed on her lip and looked away, feeling like she was invading a special moment.
Elena didn't seem to have a good response to his statement, so they stood in silence for a moment.
"Maybe we don't know that for sure. But what I do know is, you can take your ring back, throw it in the water, and let the sun rise. Your life would be over, and you could just give up. Or, you could take this ring, put it on, and keep fighting," Caroline pulled the ring out of her pocket and gave it to Stefan.
Elena let go of Stefan's hands and stepped back.
"It's your choice."
Elena and Caroline met gazes and they simultaneously decided to walk away.
After they'd departed a few steps, Stefan called to them, "Wait."
They turned to look, and watched in awe as he slipped on his ring and ran to the girls. He grabbed them both and engulfed them into a big hug. A surprised laugh bubbled out from Caroline's throat and Elena beamed from beside her.
Stefan pulled away and looked down at Elena tenderly. Caroline stepped back and averted her gaze, giving him a moment of privacy to kiss his girlfriend.
They all smiled at each other and nodded before leaving the Quarry.
~0~
Meanwhile, at Pearl's house, she and Harper began to prepare the luggage. They were attempting to take it outside when suddenly a stake flew through the air and impaled itself into Pearl's chest. Another went into Harper's, and two men stepped through the doorway, staring down at the decaying bodies.
"There goes our vampire problem," Ezra said to John, a smug smirk on his face.
~0~
Damon, Stefan, Elena and Caroline stood in the parlor of the Boarding House. Stefan had just returned from hunting. His color had returned to his face. He still seemed a little tense around Elena and Caroline, but nothing he wasn't used to.
"Good night, Damon," Elena said, nodding to the elder Salvatore before heading upstairs to Stefan's room.
The three stood in silence for a moment before Caroline sighed, raking a hand through her hair. "Alright, I need to get back to the apartment I guess."
Stefan nodded understandingly. "I've kept you up long enough."
She chuckled. After a moment's hesitation, she tackled Stefan in a hug. "Thank you for making the right choice," she whispered lowly.
Stefan smiled, squeezing her tightly before letting her go. He then headed up to his room, leaving Damon and Caroline alone.
Caroline turned to pick up her purse when Damon scoffed. "What, I don't get a hug too? I did help you find this basket case over here and I didn't have to..."
Rolling her eyes, she turned to face Damon, who was smirking and staring at her expectantly, arms open.
"Fine," she grumbled, giving him a hug. She went to pull away, but found he was still holding on.
"What do you say?" He teased, grinning deviously.
"Let me go?" She guessed, though she knew that wasn't what he wanted to hear.
"Nope," he popped the 'p'. "Try again."
She let out a long, slow breath. "Let me go before I knee you where the sun don't shine?"
"Uh-uh..."
"Thank you for helping us save Stefan," She grumbled and felt his arms move from around her waist.
He laughed, looking down at her through his thick lashes. "No problem, Blondie, glad to be of assistance."
After Caroline left, Stefan came back down the stairs, looking for his brother.
"Thank you," he said once he found him settled in the living-room.
"No, Stefan, thank you. You're back on Bambi blood and I'm the big bad-ass brother again. All is right in the world," he made a rainbow with his hands, a drink in one hand.
"I mean it!" Stefan said earnestly. "Thank you. For...helping them take care of me."
And for telling Caroline the part of the story that I couldn't... Stefan added to himself.
Damon shrugged, not wanting to make a big deal out of it. He couldn't have Stefan thinking he actually cared about him – or anyone – for that matter.
"You brood too much. Everything on this planet is not your fault. My actions, what I do, it's not your fault. I own them. They belong to me. You are not allowed to feel my guilt."
Multiple instances flashed before Damon's eyes, and he took a swig of bourbon, almost out of habit.
"Do you feel guilt?" asked Stefan curiously.
"If I wanted to, it's there," Damon shrugged before standing up to pour himself another drink. "Emily waited until after I turned to tell me she'd been successful in protecting Chandra and Katherine with her spell. She didn't want me to know about the tomb. She thought it would impact my decision."
Stefan nodded slowly; he knew some of this already.
"She didn't want either of us to turn. She said it was a curse."
"Witches," Damon scrunched up his nose in disgust. "Judgy little things."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Stefan questioned, referring to the fact that the girls were protected.
Damon snorted, as if it was obvious. "'Cause I didn't want you to know. 'Cause I hated you and I still do."
Stefan smiled ruefully. "I know..."
The brothers were still for a moment, neither saying anything. "But not because you forced me to turn," Damon clarified, and Stefan cocked his head to the side.
"Then why?"
"Because it was just supposed to be Chandra and me, Stefan! Your feelings for Katherine weren't even real, and when she 'died' you didn't suffer her loss like I had to! You got eternity, no pain, and now you get this bizarre 'happily ever after' with Elena! What do I have? Nothing! I wanted the eternal life, Chandra, the whole nine-yards. It was supposed to us. Just us."
He made a face, downing the contents of his glass.
~0~
Anna entered her home, unaware that she would find her mother lying dead on the floor in just a moment.
After she set down her bag on the hall table, she turned to find two bodies lying limply on the hardwood floor.
"Oh!" She gasped, falling to her knees. "Mom! Mama!" She shook her cold body, tears springing to her eyes. "Please don't leave me again. No. Please wake up. You have to wake up. No!"
~0~
John and Ezra walked side-by-side in the dark forest.
They'd parked far away from the house where the vampires were staying, and were on the trek back now.
Ezra pulled out his phone, and dialed Sheriff Bennett number.
"Sheriff Bennett, it's Ezra Forbes and John Gilbert. Sorry to call so late, but we have some news on the vampires."
~0~
Alaric sat in an empty Mystic Grill at the bar. He'd been drinking for a while now, and had a slight buzz.
"Hello, Ric," a familiar voice said, and for a moment, Ric wondered if he was hallucinating.
He turned to see a woman with long dark hair, staring at him.
"Isobel," he murmured, eyes wide.
DUN DUN DUN DUUUUUNNNNNN
So, how'd you like it?! I've been slowly writing this for a week or two now, and finally finished it! I'm already 1/6 of the way into Part One of Isobel (aka next ep) and YEAH.
I'm so sorry that I haven't been able to update, I've had lots of tests, studying, ACT prep, working on cleaning up my lifestyle & eating better/working out, and a whole bunch of other crap! But I'm trying to manage my time better so I can have writing time too!
I'm so excited to write the next two episodes! Like you guys have NO idea, because this is when it FINALLY gets good for me!
QOTC: Give me your thoughts & feelings about this chapter! & are you keeping up with TVD that's on tv right now? I actually haven't watched since before the winter mid-season finale...I dunno, it was getting old and predictable since Ian and Nina don't get along irl..I might try catching up though, I don't know.
oh my god guys we hit 200 favorites, 517 reviews & 286 followers...that's CRAZY! And, we're 5k away from 100k views! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU SO SOSOSOSOSOSO MUCH
xx