Chapter 3: Where all the broken-hearted go

The Big Easy.

The Crescent City.

The City That Care Forgot.

Of course that would be the place that Julian decided to hide in… Damon was just irritated that he hadn't figured it out sooner; When it came to the supernatural world, somehow, every road seemed to always lead to New Orleans.

Or rather; to the Originals.

As Julian, and the five other vampires they'd brought with them, played countless rounds of pool and darts, drank endless amounts of whiskey and tequila and went on with their first official day in the city as if they already belonged – Damon found himself with a little dilemma. He didn't know just what the odds were of them running into the Mikaelson's but with his luck they'd probably be a gazillion more than he'd prefer… So he wasn't sure whether he should give Julian a heads up or not.

On one hand, if the Original vampires decided their little gang was intruding on their home then no number of warnings would be enough to save them from their fates.

On the other, if Julian's intentions for coming here in the first place actually involved pissing the Originals off then Damon would probably be better off not sharing his history with them. After all, he needed to save his own skin first no matter what.

On the third, after having been in town for just short of twelve hours without any run-ins with the thousand-year-old vampires yet, his hopes of avoiding them altogether grew very high. So perhaps it would be unnecessary to tell Julian anything at all?

On the fourth however, if Julian's plan required their help with this weird plan of his then maybe his information would work to move things along? Which would be very much appreciated since Damon couldn't dare enjoy himself in the city with the possibility of the Big Bad Hybrid hiding behind every corner… The sooner they finished their business here, the sooner they could leave for someplace else. One that didn't have the oldest vampires in the world as occupants.

"Why the long face, Salvatore?" Julian whined, clapping Damon's shoulder firmly before sitting down on a bar stool next to him. "Surely, you must be mad to not be enjoying yourself in this splendid city!"

"Well, I'm not really in the mood for partying when we got business to take care of." Damon muttered and threw back his drink with a grimace.

"Now now, mate… Don't be cross. There will be plenty of time for that in the morning." Julian smiled and waved the bartender over. "Two more." he said while pointing at Damon's empty glass.

"Why are we wasting time in this bar, Julian?" Damon sighed as they received their drinks. "I know you have something planned so why not get it over with as soon as possible and leave for Bora Bora or somewhere else far away from Stefan and the author of those little Red Cross postcards, hm?"

Julian drank from his glass with a wicked grin on his lips.

"What's that look for?" Damon scoffed while staring at him incredulously.

"Well, it's just that I find it amusing how you haven't figured it all out yet." he teased.

"Figured what out?"

Julian raised his eyebrows and turned his back against the bar, looking around in the room. "Haven't you noticed, Damon, how every single guest in this bar is a vampire?"

Damon glanced over his shoulder and shrugged. "So?"

"So?" Julian laughed. "So…! Why do you think that is? Aren't there any better taverns for these people to visit other than this specific one?"

"Maybe they came for the ambience." Damon said with a smirk and threw his drink back.

"There is a reason that they have all chosen this bar over the others in the city." Julian said with dark eyes and an amused smirk. "Just as there is a reason why your brother hasn't barged in here hours ago with sweet, little Valerie in tow to drag you back to Mystic Falls."

Damon studied his face as the man swallowed his drink with another wild smile. Then he took a look around the bar. It was true, they were all vampires. But why were they here?

After a moment he looked back at Julian with a look of disbelief. "This place is cloaked." he said with a low voice.

Julian grinned. "From all magic and all witches." he confirmed. "It is one of the few places in the world that shields each and every one of its guests from any and all locator spells… No matter the kind of magic nor the power of it." His smile grew as he finished his drink and elbowed Damon in his side. "Here; we are invisible. Even the apartments-turned-hostel upstairs are safely veiled and luckily for us; vacated and available for new tenants."

"So that's what we've been doing?" Damon asked incredulously. "Shaking Stefan off our tails? You really that scared of my baby brother?"

He scoffed and put his glass down on the bar. "I'm merely making sure your darling brother doesn't stand in the way of your freedom, mate. Wouldn't want him to plant any seeds of guilt in that dark soul of yours, now would we?" he asked and poked harshly at Damon's chest.

"No, what you really want is to make sure that Huntress chick doesn't find you and put your 400-years-old ass back into the Phoenix Stone." Damon scoffed, earning an evil-eye from Julian as he turned away from him.

"As a former inmate of that Hell Stone yourself; it is something you should worry about too, Damon." Julian muttered. "Moreover, I may have my suspicions on whether or not the threat of the Huntress returning is real or simply a means to scare me… But I certainly won't risk my life on the possibility of being wrong."

"And how long exactly are we going to play hide-and-go-seek under this rusty old roof?" Damon scoffed and put his drink down.

"Don't worry, mate. It won't be long now." Julian said and clapped his shoulder with a smile as he suddenly relaxed again. "Tonight we enjoy our newfound freedom. And tomorrow we begin our quest in the city."

"And what exactly does that quest involve?" Damon asked as Julian stood up.

"We'll be seeking out a dear friend of mine." Julian said with a shrug and smiled at Damon's raised eyebrows.

"And what's this friend's name?" Damon asked slowly with a half-smirk. "Anyone I know?"

That brought another wicked grin to Julian's face. "I highly doubt it, mate. He's far too old for your acquaintance." he said and winked at him before turning to walk away.

Damon gulped at his words and stared daggers into his back.

It couldn't be… he thought to himself and shook his head, finishing his drink and ordering another one.

Because with his luck, he would probably come to need a hundred more…


- The next morning -

When Caroline woke up she had little to no sense of time or place.

It was dark, she was lying in a bed… In some hospital room… And there was someone sleeping in a small chair beside her, someone human. Their slow and steady pulse echoed in her ears and made veins start to creep around her eyes. Forcing her eyes shut and holding her breath, she tried to gain some control over her hunger by going over what had happened.

Then she remembered; the twins had been feeding off her blood, causing her to desiccate slowly. She remembered feeling better after Valerie gave her that magical object for the twins to siphon instead of her… But then the latest memory hit her; the image of seeing her leg and arm starting to turn grey as she desiccated once again. It made her breathing quicken and her undead heart race. The twins had slowly been draining her of her life and it terrified her. But even more so, she felt lost…

She had no memory of the desiccation having stopped or slowed down. All she remembered was that hollow, draining sensation that made her feel like she was literally rotting away… And then the desperate panic as she realized she couldn't do anything about it. Then everything had gone dark as the desiccation spread and consumed her whole body.

So, how was she awake now?

"Hey…" the human in the room said, making her eyes fly open.

She recognized him as he stood up from the chair and moved closer to her. "Ric?" she croaked and swallowed hard. "Actually, do you mind staying back…" she said warningly as the veins scratched at the skin around her eyes once more.

He then turned a small table lamp on, making his soft face shine up in the light as well as something in his hand. A blood-bag.

She was sure she would have jumped him if he hadn't given it to her right then. Drinking out of it juice-box-style she quickly drained it and glanced over at him with a shy smile on her face. The thirst was nowhere near clenched, it made her a little scared as to how long she'd been out – or rather, how close she'd been to actually dying.

Alaric gave her a soft smile and handed her another bag, reading her expression correctly. At first she drank it just as eagerly as she had the one before, but about halfway through she slowed down as she began feeling a lot better. He raised an eyebrow at her in question and she shook her head.

"I'm good for now. Thanks." she said and breathed deeply as she let herself relish in the wonderful sensation of feeding after being so hungry. "Are you okay?" she asked then while studying his worried look.

He chuckled. "Me? You're the one in a hospital, Caroline."

She frowned. "Yeah, well…" she mumbled and then suddenly remembered. "How was Dallas? Did the job interview go well?" she asked with so much energy in her tone that it was hard to believe she had just recently been on the brink of death.

Ric studied her with wide eyes for a moment and sighed. "Caroline, do you remember what happened?"

"Yes." she scoffed and waved her hand in the air. "But I feel fine now…" she glanced down at her mountain-like stomach and stroked it slightly to check if the babies were alright too. She heard strong heartbeats and felt some movement in there, making her nod in relief. "And so do they." she said and gave Ric a comforting smile.

He looked at her with an unsure expression and then lifted one hand. "Do you mind?" he asked softly.

She took his hand and placed it gently on her stomach. "Here." she said. "They're moving around in their sleep; guess it's starting to get pretty cramped in there."

Alaric let out a breath of relief and closed his eyes. "I'm so glad you're alright." he said and looked at Caroline for a moment. "All three of you." he clarified and sighed. "When Stefan called I-"

"Stefan!" she gasped. "Where is he? Is he alright?"

"I- I think so." Alaric said with an unsure look and pulled his hand back to cross his arms over his chest.

"What do you mean you think so?" she said confusedly and looked over at the bedside table to search for her phone. "Has he called?"

Ric left her for a moment and walked over to the chair where he'd been sleeping just recently. He returned with her phone in his hand. "Here."

She took it and pressed on the screen a few times but it wouldn't turn on. "It's dead." she sighed. "I think I have a charger in my bag, have you seen it somewhere?" she asked him.

He scratched the back of his neck and nodded. "Yeah." he said and walked over to the other side of the room, picking up her handbag from a shelf near the door.

"Who has been moving my stuff around?" she muttered as she received the purse and began going through it. "Ah! There you are." she exclaimed victoriously as she found the charger and gave him the bag back.

He took it and put it on her bedside table as she connected the phone to the charger and then looked around for a plug. His hands wrapped around hers as he took the phone and charger away from her and sat down next to her on the bed. "Caroline." he said with a serious tone. "Just, how much do you remember?"

She shrugged a little. "I was desiccating." she said. "But I'm fine now so I'm guessing it stopped, right?"

"After a while, yes." he said with a nod.

"What do you mean?" she said with a nervous smile. "How long was I… like that?"

"For nearly two days." he said carefully.

She flinched. Well, that explains the hunger, she thought. But then a weird feeling grew inside of her, one that told her there was more to the story but that she probably wouldn't like to know about it.

"When did you get back?" she asked as he let go of her hands to help her charge the phone. Apparently there had been a wall socket right there next to her bed.

"I got the first flight out after Stefan called me." he said. "Which was really lucky otherwise…" his voice died out and he shook his head for a moment. "I got here just in time."

Oh, she thought as she understood what that meant. She gulped hard and shook the thought of what could have happened if he had waited a little longer before flying over. How long would the flight have been? At least five hours, probably six… So then he probably arrived during the night, maybe close to 11 or even midnight…

He drew her attention back to him by resting a hand on her arm, giving her a soft smile.

"And Stefan?" she asked carefully.

"He was here to check in on you after we managed to get you stabilized despite the coma-state… That was yesterday."

"And what…?" she asked with a nervous chuckle as she tried to hide the feeling of abandonment that was growing in her stomach. "He hasn't been here since?"

Alaric shook his head. "No, no he hasn't. I think there was something going on with Damon..."

She nodded. "Right. I forgot about that…" Her voice was nearly a whisper as she couldn't help but wonder what the hell could have been more important than her dying in a hospital bed… She cleared her throat. "Can you call him? Do you have your phone?"

"Yeah, of course." he said and pulled it out from his pocket. He began dialing and handed the phone over to her.

She held it to her ear and bit her lip, feeling a little nervous as she listened to the beeps. A few signals in, he still hadn't answered and she glanced over at Alaric.

"I guess he isn't awake." she said and gave up. As she cancelled the call she caught a glimpse of the time on the display. 5.34 am. She looked at Alaric. "Have you stayed here all night?" she asked bewildered. He must be exhausted... How far back was Dallas again? Just an hour, probably. Maybe it didn't technically count as jetlag when it was such a tiny difference? But it had to be enough to mess with your rhythm still… Right?

She realized he hadn't answered her and studied him closely. That's when she noticed the tired look in his eyes that confirmed her suspicions. "Hey, you should go back to sleep." she said and laid a hand over his as it remained on her arm. "We'll be fine for a few hours."

"Are you sure?" he asked silently. "I'll stay up with you if you want company."

"No, no. I'm good." she reassured him and gave him a smile. "Besides, something tells me you haven't slept in a real bed for a few days." She glanced over at the shelf where he had gotten her bag from and saw a jacket and unfamiliar bag. He'd probably been staying here with her to make sure the babies were alright.

"Caroline." he said and took her hand in both of his. "I'm sorry I couldn't get here sooner."

"This wasn't your fault." she said, shaking her head. "Besides, you apparently got here just when I needed you anyway. So…"

"Yeah, well. Next time I'll make sure to be within an hour's car ride at all times…" he muttered.

She raised an eyebrow at him and he chuckled a little.

"Sorry. I was just really worried." he explained.

She nodded. "Well, the babies are fine. Waking up right now actually so there goes any chances of me going back to sleep." Not that she needed it, she already felt groggy and disoriented after having been unconscious for so long.

"And I'm glad." he said with a slow nod of his head. "But I wasn't just talking about the babies… I was worried about you too." he explained, bringing her out of her thoughts.

She gave him a soft smile. "Thank you." she said sincerely. "Now…" She scooted over in the bed. "Get some sleep." she said and clapped her hand on the newfound space beside her.

He studied her confusedly for a moment which made her giggle.

"I'm not unconscious anymore, Ric. I'm not going to let you sleep on that chair. You can either go home to your own bed…"

He gave her a look that told her that was not going to happen and she continued.

"Or… You can take a nap here. I'm fine with it. Just make sure to grab a book or a magazine or something for me to read in the meantime." She began propping her pillows up behind her and getting comfortable.

He turned slightly to look around in the room and then walked over to a side table with magazines. "Vogue or Lifestyle?" he asked with an amused look.

"Both." she said and reached for them, eager to get something to do after having been lying in a bed for – two days, was it? She moved the covers over to her side since he was wearing clothes and probably wouldn't need a blanket.

Ric lied down next to her with his legs stretched out and his hands crossed on his stomach as he made sure to not take up too much space. "I'll just rest for a little bit." he said quietly and closed his eyes.

She looked down at him for a moment and smiled. "Nighty-night." she teased.

He smirked and opened an eye to look at her amusedly. "Goodnight." he said and closed his eye again, twisting a little to get comfortable. "Read your magazines."

Smiling playfully, she chose to open the old issue of Vogue first and began looking through the different trends of spring 2015. It crossed her mind that she would need a wardrobe update after she was done with the maternity clothes. Imagining the different items that she would like to buy helped time pass a little quicker while Alaric snored silently next to her… Just not fast enough though. The next time she glanced over at the wall mounted clock above the door to the room, it said 6.07.

She let out a deep sigh and put the magazines on the bedside table to her right. Now what? She thought and looked down at Alaric as he continued sleeping.

Right on que, Baby A kicked her bladder and reminded her of her human needs. She moved the covers and placed them over Ric before she carefully, and clumsily due to the size of her stomach, got out of bed and walked over to the adjoined bathroom.

When she finished up and walked out to her room again she decided against climbing into bed and possibly waking Alaric up. Instead she chose to take a little walk around the hospital halls. She felt a little chilly – the pregnancy was really messing with her vampire abilities such as not getting cold as easily as humans. So she picked up Ric's jacket from the shelf, since she couldn't see a sweater anywhere and didn't even remember if she'd brought one in the first place.

Then she silently left the room and walked down the hall to the closest vending machine. There was barely anyone around, just a few doctors on their morning rounds and a patient here or there who seemed to have had the same idea as her.

She reached the end of the corridor and looked up at the different candy bars and snacks. Her mouth watered as she pressed the button for a bag of Doritos. Then she sighed.

Stupid pregnancy brain… she thought as she remembered she didn't have any change on her.

She dug her hands into the jacket's pockets and smiled when she found Alaric's wallet inside. Hoping he wouldn't mind, she opened it and started looking for change. Her eyes caught sight of a small, slightly ripped piece of paper sticking out of the black leather. She pulled it out, unfolded it and stared at it for a long moment before she finally understood what it was.

"Neither one of us should be here right now. We've spent our lives dodging fate and beating the odds. But, because we did, I got to meet you; the most beautiful, hilarious and intimidatingly brilliant woman I have ever -"

"Hello, gorgeous."

Caroline quickly folded the paper and hid both it and the wallet inside the pockets. She turned around and sighed as she saw Enzo standing with a smirk. He was, naturally, dressed head-to-toe in black to match his dark hair and suggestive look.

"What are you doing here, Enzo?" she asked with a racing heartbeat as she felt like she had just been caught with her hand down the cookie jar. She glanced over at the vending machine, still feeling a cheesy craving only now accompanied by a sugary one as well.

"Why, I've come to see you of course." he said and took another step towards her. "Does that come as such a surprise to you?"

"Yes." she spat. He had after all been responsible for her getting tortured by the heretics. Sure, that was a while back, but she still wasn't going to just forgive him the moment he decides to show some compassion.

"What are you hiding there, darling?" he asked after a moment and moved closer to her.

She realized her hands were still inside the pockets and pulled them out to wave them in the air. "What are you talking about?" she asked and sighed. "I just thought I'd go for some snacks."

He raised an eyebrow. "Really?" he said.

She held her breath as he began closing the distance between them. Standing still and not looking away from his face for a single moment, since it would only make her look even more guilty than she already felt.

He eyed her intently and raised his hand as if to stroke her arm. At the last moment, he pressed a button on the vending machine instead. She turned to stare at the display as he was suddenly holding a credit card and paying for her Doritos.

She sighed and looked at him as he bent down to pick up her snack. "You didn't need to do that." she said exasperatedly.

He raised his eyebrows at her. "It's nothing, really." he snickered and handed her the chips.

"Still…" she said and stuffed it into her pockets along with her hands once more. "Thanks."

"Can I offer you an actual meal instead of those cheesy, crusty, little triangles?" he said with an amused smile.

"You think that will make up for everything?" she scoffed as she refused to be charmed by his looks and accent and over all ways. She had already danced this waltz once or fifty-eleven times before. Enzo had nothing on her past dance partner though… This was barely a challenge at all.

He frowned a little. "It's at the very least a start." he said with such a soft and genuine voice that Caroline felt it tug at her heartstrings.

She weighed back and forth on her feet until a grumbling, turning noise made up her mind for her. Convincing herself that she wasn't giving up, just letting him buy her breakfast, she finally answered him with a question. "Where would we even go?" she sighed, hoping he wouldn't comment on the awkward sound from her stomach that he undoubtedly had heard. "I'm in a hospital, in case you haven't noticed."

"Believe me, I have." he said with a hardened expression. "I'm sure we could manage getting a nurse to spare you an hour or two out of this place. Don't you think?"

She scoffed. "Yeah, well that's assuming anyone would care."

He looked at her with narrowed eyes for a moment. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing." she said, shaking her head as she hadn't intended on the thought actually leaving her lips. "Hormones." she lied and grimaced. "Let me just check in on Ric before we go, okay?"

It took a long moment before he actually responded to her words, seeming completely lost in thoughts. "Yes, of course." he finally said and gestured with his hand. "Ladies first." he smirked.

She snickered at his words but led the way back to her room. Ric was still sleeping when they got there, not having moved a single inch since she'd left. She searched the room for a pen and piece of paper and wrote him a note, letting him know where she'd be in case he woke up before she got back. Then she glanced over at her phone as it was still charging next to the bed and decided to leave it. After all, if anyone really needed to reach her then they'd know where to go. Hospital patients aren't exactly prone to being difficult to locate.

At that thought she decided to freshen up quickly and took a look at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Her hair was a little greasy from not having showered in a while and it was kind of obvious that she had slept in the clothes she was wearing. She ran her hands through her hair in an attempt to look a little perkier. Then she washed her face with some cool water and straightened her clothes out.

Finally, she exited the bathroom with a hand over her stomach as the twins moved around a little, reminding her of their presence. She took a moment, closing her eyes and saying a silent prayer to wish for both the tiny beings to end up alright as well as herself.

"Let's all just get out of this alive and well, okay?" she mumbled and patted her stomach softly.

Her supernatural hearing caught up on Enzo's voice from outside the room as he whispered to her that he cleared everything with the nurse. She took a breath and nodded to herself, then she left the room and met Enzo in the hallway.

He smiled at her and held his arm out. "Shall we?" he asked. She rolled her eyes but decided to take his arm anyway and then let him lead the way out of the hospital.


"Enough!"

The words had no effect as Stefan turned a couch upside-down, swiped a bunch of glasses and books off a table with his arm and then kicked an upholstered chair so hard, it flew across the trashed room.

They had failed. Again.

No matter how hard they tried, or how many spells they cast, there was no way of finding Julian's new hiding place. And with it; Damon.

"Stefan!" Valerie tried once more, grabbing his arms before he could pull a door off its hinges. "Stop this!"

He glared at her with his vamp features visible and his fangs exposed.

She wasn't faced by the sight but she was beginning to feel frightened over the glint in his eyes that seemed to only grow bigger and brighter. "This won't help Damon."

Flinching at his brother's name, he turned away from her enough to get out of her grip. "You didn't see his face, Val." he spat and ran his hands through his hair. "You didn't see how he looked at me when he told me-" He cut himself off and looked at something behind her. Suddenly he whooshed over to a table and grabbed a bottle of scotch, throwing it at a wall across from her.

"When he told you what?" she asked, barely reacting to his outburst. "What did he say, Stefan?" she insisted and walked over to him.

He shook his head and turned away from her, his hands locked behind his head.

"You can't hold this in anymore!" she pleaded. "You need to tell me what happened that night or it's only going to keep eating away at you."

"I never should have left him." His voice was barely audible but Valerie caught the words as he covered his face with his hands. "It's my fault that we lost him again, and now we can't even find him and I just…"

She saw him glance over for something else to throw or trash and grabbed his shoulders. "You have to stop punishing yourself for this." she said with a nod at every word. After a moment's consideration she sighed. "I know this isn't just about Damon and –"

He stared at her. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't even try to deny it, Stefan. It is fairly obvious that you have been avoiding Caroline for a specific reason." she snickered and narrowed her eyes at him. "She is in the hospital right now and instead of being by her side to give her comfort, you are obsessing over Julian and your idiotic vendetta against him."

"What do you want me to do, huh?" he spat. "I don't have magic. I don't have a medical degree. I can't do anything to help her!"

"If you think you're doing her any favors by staying away, you're wrong."

"I know Caroline, okay!?" he exclaimed. "I know that she wouldn't want me to just sit around and worry about her. She would want me to do something, anything. And since I can't help her, I have to find something else; like finding my brother and getting him back. So, that's what I'm gonna do! Even if it means dragging him across the world kicking and screaming."

"How can you know what she wants you to do if you refuse to even see her?" she asked with a venomous tone.

"You think this is easy for me?" he threatened with a finger pointed at her. "Hm? You think it's not killing me to know that she's hurting and scared and alone?"

"I think you are abandoning her during her time in need for the sake of your damned brother."

He clenched his jaw and glared at her for a long moment before he spoke again. "How about you focus on getting her fully restored and conscious?" he spat. "In the meantime, I'm not going to sit back and let Julian dig his claws any further into Damon than he already has."

She studied him as he suddenly turned away, grabbed his jacket from a stool and walked towards the exit. "Where are you going!?" she called out.

"To get answers!" he yelled back over his shoulder. "Maybe the new residents of Mystic Falls have some ideas on where their boss has disappeared off to." He stopped halfway through the door and glanced over at her. "Let me know if Caroline's condition changes. Until then… don't bother me unless you have a location on my brother."

The door slammed behind him, making her jump up a little. She had never seen Stefan so cold and calculating and at the same time so consumed by hatred and worry. Irrational behavior may be an appropriate response to having your girlfriend in a hospital, but going after Julian instead of staying by Caroline's side was not.

There has to be more to it, she thought to herself. And she decided to figure out what. She grabbed her jacket and cast a cloaking spell before going after him. If Stefan refused to tell her what was going on, then perhaps he would eventually show her instead.

Just not on purpose, she thought as she walked out of the apartment fully invisible to everyone around her.

It was time to find out the truth; what was eating away at Stefan Salvatore?


Caroline had ordered two plates of waffles and was scraping up the jam and whipped cream from the last of it in less than twenty minutes. She looked down at the empty plates in front of her and had a hard time believing she'd just eaten so much so quickly. It was like she'd blacked out and been completely consumed by her hunger, moving on autopilot while her brain took a vacation.

It was ridiculous and kind of terrifying. Vampires could usually go a lot longer without real food than humans, as long as they had blood. But this pregnancy was clearly amplifying her human needs and cravings much more than she'd care to admit.

She looked up at Enzo, realizing they hadn't said anything since their orders arrived. He was studying her with an amused smirk while only being halfway through his eggs and bacon.

"What?" she asked, feeling embarrassed that she'd acted like a such a pregnant-crazed woman.

"I wasn't judging, gorgeous." he said, reading her tone and expression spot-on. Then he drank from his orange juice before adding: "However, in your defense… you haven't eaten for two days."

She nodded a little in recognition, having temporarily forgotten about that part. "Now that you mention it… Are you going to tell me how I'm not dried up and buried somewhere in the woods?"

He shrugged. "Valerie and Bonnie did a spell to sort of refuel your magic, which slowed down the desiccation. Since then we've been taking turns placing some magical objects near you for the babies to siphon off." He pointed at her neck. "That..."

She looked down at a light and small necklace, not remembering whether she'd put it on herself or not. But she did recognize it, meaning it was probably hers to begin with.

"Bonnie spelled that one yesterday with hopes that you wouldn't need to carry those objects around everywhere you went. Clearly it helped you recharge completely since you're awake now."

"You said 'we', before." she said carefully and looked up at him. "Does that mean you've been… around?"

He rolled his eyes at her and was about to comment but she wasn't in the mood to hear him try to convince her that he really does care about her. She knew it wasn't as true as he insisted it to be. People who care about each other don't hand one another over to psychotic vampire-witches… And then sits back and lets them be tortured.

She immediately continued before he could cut her off. "I didn't even know you were back in town."

"I did manage to acquire a magical object that helped the spell linger on you." he said and leaned on his elbows over the table. "And I assumed Bonnie had already told you about my… errands outside of Mystic Falls…"

"What does Bonnie have to do with it?" she asked as she studied him closely, was there something she was missing?

"We had a run-in." he said with a tone that sounded like he was talking about an old and cherished memory from way back when.

"And what exactly made you decide to show up here again?" she asked with a nonchalant tone.

"It wasn't my choice to leave in the first place." he said through gritted teeth and sighed. "Clearly you haven't spoken to your dear friend Matthew in a while."

"I haven't spoken to anyone in a while." she reminded him, earning a light chuckle from him.

"I suppose that is true." he smiled and then looked down at his phone.

"What now, am I boring you?" she mocked.

He gave her a bright smile before looking down at the phone once more. "Not at all, darling." he said. "It's just that I keep trying to reach Stefan but he isn't responding to my messages… I assumed he would like to know that his girlfriend is up and walking again." he glanced at her just in time to catch a swift frown on her face. "He's most likely still searching for Damon." he explained, having read her mind.

She shook her head roughly to try and shake her sadness off as well. "Right, of course." she said with an attempt at a smile. "I'm sure he'll check in on me once he's free." Her hand waved in the air as if waving the subject away with it.

Enzo took the hint, once again managing to analyze her expression impeccably, and sighed. "On a different note, it's a shame that Bonnie has decided to avoid my calls as well. Considering she probably would have wanted to join us for breakfast."

She raised an eyebrow at his tone and smirked a little. "Did you two have a fight or something?" she asked.

"Or something." he agreed and studied her. "Oh, please. It's not what you think." he snickered, reading her mind once more as she raised her eyebrows at him. "She's merely upset with me because she is under the impression that I went behind her back."

"Well, did you?"

He tilted his head from one side to the other and grimaced. "Yes." he admitted, earning a scoff from her. "But I had my reasons for doing it, alright?" he explained and sighed. "She's just… refusing to accept them."

"What exactly did you do?" she asked with a slight worry in her tone, whatever it was it couldn't be good.

A moment of silence passed as he studied her without answering. After a while he let out a long sigh. "That is a really long story, love." he admitted and averted his eyes to look down at his food.

Love.

A shiver ran down her back as she suddenly felt a memory flash before her. Making her feel like there was something she'd just thought about, something important.

She had just shaken the feeling off and was ready to scold Enzo for keeping whatever he did secret, when his phone rang.

Before she could catch the movement he had picked the phone up to his ear and answered the call. "About time." he muttered and gave her a smirk.

"Is it true? Is she awake?"

Bonnie's voice made Caroline let out a long breath, one she hadn't been aware that she was holding. Her heart sank a little at the revelation that it wasn't Stefan on the other line, but she brushed it off.

"Hello to you as well, darling." Enzo scoffed with a teasing smirk. "And yes. It is true. Caroline is awake. Would you care to join the two of us for breakfast?"

"Wait? She's having breakfast with you?"

Caroline couldn't help but wince at her friend's tone. She wasn't sure whether the hostility in it was directed at Enzo, for whatever thing she was angry at him for, or her for spending time with him. It couldn't very well have been the latter though, he had after all made its way into everybody's lives. It couldn't be that much of a surprise that she'd share a meal with the guy. Back when they were looking for Stefan and helping the travelers with their doppelganger-problem, they would eat together all the time…

Of course, that was before the heretics and the back-stabbing and the torturing and whatever else he'd done since then. Including the thing Bonnie wasn't forgiving him for. Whatever it was…

"You should know that Caroline and I get along pretty well in contrast to the two of us." Enzo teased and smirked when she rolled her eyes at him and took a piece of his bacon into her mouth. "We even share food." he pointed out. "Some might even suggest that we are more than just friends. Best friends that is."

"Yeah, whatever. Just get her back to the hospital."

He opened his mouth to make a remark but was cut off at the sound of her ending the call. Staring at the phone with an amused expression, he dropped his jaw comically wide. "She hung up on me." he said incredulously.

Caroline scoffed. "I wasn't aware that being best friends included getting each other tortured by hybrid witch-vampires."

"Are you still upset about that?" he asked exasperatedly. "I did have a part in saving your life and all, shouldn't it earn me some repentance?"

She rolled her eyes and took his last piece of bacon, him eyeing her with a wide smirk. "What?" she huffed out between bites.

He shrugged. "I was kind of expecting you to forgive me after having saved your life, offered you breakfast and allowed you to eat most of my meal."

"Friendship can't be bought by magical objects or waffles and bacon." she said with a serious tone. "You'll have to earn my trust back and with that my forgiveness."

He gave her a wide smile before crossing his arms over his chest. "Well, I still consider you a friend, love. And I'm glad you're not dried up and buried somewhere in the woods."

She grimaced a little at his repeating of her words from earlier, but it was something else that made her skin crawl.

Love.

There was something missing. Or something she was forgetting. It was at the tip of her tongue… The way he called her that seemed to trigger something in her memory but she was still not sure of what it was. Sure, it's what Klaus used to call her. But she hadn't given the Original a thought in months so what did he have to do with anything?

She mulled it over for a while. Letting the word spin and twist in her mind as she tried to pin down what it was about the nickname that made her feel like… Like she had forgotten the stove on or the house door unlocked or a food bowl empty somewhere or something

Love.


Stefan had had the displeasure of having someone's hand inside his chest, gripping his heart, several times before. It was a terrible experience, making him feel utterly powerless and small and vulnerable as his life literally rests in another man's hands.

Which is all why he probably should've felt relieved when Valerie suddenly showed up and killed the vampire whose hand was about to rip out Stefan's heart. But instead, Stefan was infuriated.

"I thought I told you not to bother me." he grunted, his breathing heavy and strained as his body hurried to recover from the near-death-experience.

Valerie pushed the man, whom she'd just daggered, away and gave Stefan a disappointed look. "What did you wish to achieve with this encounter?" she scolded and nodded at the grey, lifeless body next to their feet.

Stefan straightened out and cleared his throat. "He was supposed to tell me where to find Julian. Turns out he wasn't in a very sharing mood today." he scoffed and walked past her and out of the alleyway which he'd pulled the other vampire into.

"Stefan!" Valerie hissed and ran after him, turning up to block him. "Can you please, let me help you with whatever it is that is haunting you?" she pleaded. "Because your own coping mechanisms so far do not seem to be helping and will most likely end up signing your death certificate instead."

"Just leave me alone, Valerie." he sighed and whooshed away from her. He just barely reached the town line before she suddenly stopped him.

"Where do you think you're going?" she asked between clenched teeth.

"What's it to you?" he scoffed and tried to get away from her again but she grabbed his arm and kept him in place.

"It's nothing to me. But I'm sure it would mean a great deal to Caroline." she hissed.

He flinched and glared at her but the look in her eye made his words get lost on their way out of his mouth.

"Tell me what's wrong, Stefan." she pleaded with him. "I can't help you if you don't let me. And if you think you can handle this by yourself then I believe I just proved you wrong by killing a vampire that was about to rip out your heart from your chest." She let out a long sigh and studied his eyes for a moment. "You need to get your priorities in order, Stefan. Caroline certainly won't appreciate waking up and finding out that you died because you picked an unnecessary fight with one of Julian's men."

"That's not what I'm doing." he said honestly.

"Then what are you doing?" she asked and held onto both of his arms. "What is going on?"

He opened his mouth but couldn't even begin to find the words to explain that Damon… "I-I can't." he said with a thick voice as tears began burning his eyes. "I don't know how…"

Valerie nodded at him. "Then show me instead." she said and held her hands up next to his face.

He studied her wide eyes as they searched for his consent, then he nodded and closed his eyes.

Just like that, she cupped his face and opened up his mind and they both saw it together. Valerie saw Damon telling Stefan about Elena. She noted the sting in Stefan's hand after he'd punched him. She heard the torment in his mind as he walked back to the car.

She felt it, the exact moment it crashed upon him and reality rocked his foundation. She felt his agony, his heartbreak, his pain. And she saw him break down in the car, hitting the steering wheel in frustration and growling in grief as tears ran down his cheeks and his chest grew heavy.

With a gasp, Valerie pulled out of his mind and stepped back as if she'd burned herself on the images she'd seen there. Stefan had his eyes closed shut and mouth pressed into a thin line as tears began to cover his face.

"Oh, Stefan…" she breathed out in such raw sympathy that he opened his eyes and looked at her with astonishment. She pulled him into an embrace, wrapping her arms tightly around his torso to give him all and any comfort she could possibly offer.

He stood stiff for a moment before he relaxed into the hug and responded to it, circling his arms around her shoulders and resting his chin on one of his arms as a silent sob escaped his lips.

She stroked his back and held him closer to her. "I'm so sorry, Stefan." she said truthfully as his shoulders shook slightly against her in more silent whimpers. "I'm truly sorry." she whispered.

He couldn't say or do anything else but hold her until the tears stopped. Taking a few deep breaths and nodding to himself. "Me too." he finally whispered in response.


Damon was getting seriously sick of being stuck in their hotel. Julian clearly didn't trust him enough to let him roam outside of the building and kept him where he was safely sealed away from anyone who might be looking for him. He had spent the previous night at Julian's penthouse suite, playing cards with some of the other vampires.

Today however, Damon managed to keep everybody out of the suite so he could be alone. He felt no interest, whatsoever, in spending any more time with Julian's lackeys. All he wanted was to leave this damned city before any of the Mikaelson's found out that he was here… He still hadn't told Julian about knowing the Originals and it was starting to eat him up inside.

To tell or not to tell; that was the question.

The sound of footsteps outside of the suite caught Damon's attention as he was watching TV. He tried to focus on the show before him but realized he had no clue what he had watched for the last few hours. He had been far too buried in his deliberating thoughts to even notice…

"Good day, mate." Julian said cheerfully as he entered and passed him on his way to the pantry behind the sitting area.

Damon kept his eyes on the TV. "Mate?" he scoffed. "More like prisoner."

"Now, don't be like that." Julian whined with amusement as he poured himself a drink and shuffled with something behind Damon's back. "You know full well that we can't let you wonder the streets. Not with your brother's predictable and relentless attempts at locating you."

"And how long am I supposed to stay here, playing housewife, while you bring home the bacon, honey?" he mocked with a half-smirk.

Julian dropped something in Damon's lap as he stood right behind him. "Not for long." he said and grinned.

Damon studied the object, it was a leather bracelet with silver details. "What's this?" he asked teasingly. "You trying to buy me off with jewelry? Don't you know me at all?"

"It's cast with a cloaking spell to help keep you incognito while out and about." Julian explained and sat down on an armchair across from him, a drink in his hand.

"You mean I can go outside if I wear this?" Damon asked in disbelief and lifted the bracelet up to examine it.

"Don't tell me you would have preferred a diamond necklace." he teased him and took a sip from his drink. "Either way, we'll have errands to run this afternoon."

"What kind of errands?"

"Put that bracelet on and I'll show you." Julian winked at him, throwing back the rest of his drink and putting the glass on the coffee table beside him. "Now," he said and grabbed the remote to turn the TV off. "Make sure to be ready in twenty minutes. I'll see to it that no one follows us to our next destination."

"And where would that be?" Damon scoffed and put the bracelet on.

"So many questions…" Julian sighed and walked to exit the suite. "How about some patience, mate? Would be a nice change of pace." he called out over his shoulder before closing the door behind him.