"What are they doing here?" asked Rafe to himself as they walked down the stairs and saw Livvie and Caleb quietly talking next to the door to the gym. "Hey—what's going on?" he said as he got closer to them.

"We were about to ask you what's up with the gym always being closed. How do your members feel about this place having the oddest hours?" asked Caleb.

"We just came from the hospital," Alison said with a slight look to Rafe. "Rafe was worried about me and the babies—he insisted on going to get an ultrasound done."

"Is everything ok?"

"Yeah, they are fine—Dr. Meadows says it could be anytime in the next two weeks."

"Isn't that early?" asked Livvie.

"Not for twins. So what brings you two by today?"

"We wanted to say bye before we left for Transylvania."

---------

"Ian, hi," she said looking at him.

"How did you survive an explosion like that?"

"Luck, and a little intuition I suppose," she shrugged.

"You know I was on the way to the docks that day when the boat exploded."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I had no idea you were there, but I wanted to talk to Rafe about everything going on. I finally realized I needed a friend, someone to talk to."

----------

"What's in Transylvania?" asked Alison.

"I know what it is," smiled Rafe. "Caleb and Olivia are going to take the big plunge, huh?" he laughed

"Yep," said Caleb scratching the back of his head. "We were going to take the Morley-Kovich book and Elena's diary back with us if you were done reading them."

"Yeah—Livvie why don't you come up and get them for me. There's something I wanted to talk about at the end of Elena's diary—we haven't had a chance to discuss yet."

"Ok," she said as she went in with Alison.

"You're still uneasy about loosing the teeth, huh?"

"Not for the reasons you think, Rafe."

----------

"Well, I'm glad you realized that you needed someone to talk to—and I'm glad it was my cousin."

"When I heard it wasn't just Rafe, but you also my heart sank. I kept thinking it was my fault, if I had stayed with you then you wouldn't have gone on that boat with Rafe and you would still be alive."

"Oh Ian," she said putting her hand on the side of his face, "It wasn't your fault that boat exploded. And if you and I had still been together, well I still would have gone on that boat with Rafe. It was something we both had to do. I need to explain something to you—that explosion was set-- "

"I know that."

"No, let me finish. It was set on purpose because Rafe, Caleb, and I needed to rid the town of Myra. The only way we could figure out to do it was to make either Livvie or Alison truly say—with their heart and soul—that the war was back on. Rafe and I had to go on that boat that day, we didn't have a choice. Nobody could have stopped us—no matter how much they loved us."

"I love you."

"Don't say that," she said shaking her head.

"I don't know what it is that's been bothering me, but I'm not going to let Kevin win you in the end."

"I think the end has already come Ian."

------------

"Really? I thought you being powerless was worse than death itself."

"In this case it's death that worries me."

"I don't follow."

"There was a passage Tara wrote in her diary—it was at the beginning of the war. Trevor and I—we have the same fear, and that is we can protect our wives when they are vampires, but when the realization hits us that we can't protect them to the same degree as humans—"

"You get freaked out and don't want to go in the spring, huh?"

"Exactly."

"So is there a chance of you still coming back here as a vampire in a few weeks?"

"Not if Olivia has anything to say about it when we get there."

"Well, good luck with whatever you decide."

"Thanks."

----------

"How can you say that? How can you be sure?"

"Ian—there's something inside of you that needs to be released before you find love again—a love that is not me. I want to be with Kevin—not just for a few months and then flip back to you, but I want to be with Kevin for the rest of our lives. Kevin and I have always meant to be together—you know that so don't try to deny it. I will always be there for you as a friend Ian—if you need someone to talk to, or cry or yell or laugh with then you can count on me. But for love—my heart belongs to Kevin, it always has."

"He'll hurt you again."

"No, it was always me doing the hurting, and I'm tired of hurting—I'm ready to settle down with him and Christina and just love each other for the rest of our lives."

"You're sure about this?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. I hope you understand Ian, that me and you will never happen again, but I do hope you end up sticking around because Rafe and I could definitely use a friend like you during the rough times that I'm sure are ahead."

Ian gave a laugh, "That's just one more thing for me to think about, but I'll keep it in mind," he said as he turned to leave and see Kevin walking towards them, "You've won Kevin—don't screw this up," he said looking back at Lucy one more time."

"I don't plan on it."