Toby approached Jeremy with a sigh. He was seated at a table alone at The Grill, having ditched school after getting into a fight and then getting expelled. He plopped down in the chair across from him.

"Leave me alone, Toby," Jeremy told him without looking up at him.

"No," Toby replied. "I'm supposed to be keeping an eye on you and the first thing you did when I looked away was almost put a couple of idiots in the ICU. You got expelled, Jeremy."

"Does this mean I don't have to go back to school?"

"I compelled Principal Weber into a very generous three day suspension. Elena does not need to know about this. She'll kill me and then she'll kill you and then she'll come running home to baby you and throw college away. She needs this, Jeremy, and something tells me you don't want her breathing down your neck."

Jeremy sighed loudly. "You're right. I'm sorry, okay? They started it."

"Yeah, I'm sure they did. Did you really have to go all hunter on them in the middle of a hallway where everyone could see you?"

"What was I supposed to do? Walk away?"

"Uh, yes! That's exactly what you were supposed to do! If Josiah was here, he would've already beat your ass over this."

Jeremy chuckled. "No, I think he would've joined in."

"No, I'm pretty sure he would've stopped you."

"He was my best friend, Toby. I knew him well enough to know what he would do."

"Yeah, and I've known the kid since he was 5."

Josiah appeared next to Jeremy and leaned over. "Just so you know, I would've tried to stop you first, but if those guys came at me, it would've been game over."

Jeremy laughed. "Josiah said he would've done both. Stop me and join me."

Toby shook his head with a sigh. "Sounds like him. Just finish eating, okay? We'll go home afterwards."

Toby stood up from the table and turned towards the entrance, only to see Silas walking towards him. Toby instantly grinned, thinking that it was Stefan.

"Stefan, hey!"

Toby went in for a hug.

"You gave us all a real scare this summer, disappearing like that. Elowen was worried sick. Don't do it again, alright?" He said as he pulled back.

Silas laughed. "I won't, don't worry. I just… needed a breather, you know?"

"Boy, do I. Would've taken Elena away for a bit if it weren't for the fact that she understandably didn't want Jeremy out of her sight."

Silas looked over Toby's shoulder to peer at Jeremy, who had gone back to eating his food. His face dropped a little bit.

"Ah… guess I shouldn't have left Elowen alone when she was grieving her little brother… Elena gets hers back and Elowen loses hers. That's tough."

Toby smiled sadly. "Yeah… she distracted herself by wasting her summer away looking for you. I don't think she's even let herself grieve. Does she know that you're back?"

Silas shook his head. "Nah, not yet. I wanted to surprise her."

"Usually, I'd be all for this, but it's been three months. She deserves to know that you're okay."

"Well, I called her a few days ago. She knows that I'm fine."

"Well, good."

Silas took this moment to scan through Toby's thoughts.

"So, Katherine's living at Chateau Salvatore."

Toby frowned. "How do you know that? Because Damon just called me like an hour ago about it."

Stefan laughed. "Because I can read your mind?" He paused. "I'm kidding. Katherine called me first."

Toby tilted his head. "You answered Katherine's calls after dodging Elowen, your girlfriend's, calls all summer? Am I the only one who sees the problem with that? You also better have a good explanation for not letting her know where you were going sooner. It's not like you."

Before Silas could answer, Jeremy walked up to them.

"Okay, I'm done eating. Can we go now?"

Silas smiled when he saw Jeremy and patted him on the shoulder.

"Jeremy! Looking good, man."

Jeremy felt the area where his tattoo had been go ice cold, but he didn't react as to give anything away.

"Hey, Stefan. Long time no see."

Silas nodded. "Yeah. Hey, so, I'm gonna head home, you know, say hi to Damon."

Toby nodded. "Yeah, yeah, of course. Just, please don't forget to call Elowen."

"I won't."

Silas turned and left The Grill. As soon as he was gone, Jeremy grabbed Toby.

"Something's wrong. When he touched me, I felt a chill where my tattoo was."

Toby's eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"Right before I died, Silas grabbed me and I felt the same thing."

Toby slowly shook his head. "Silas is gone, isn't he? Bonnie turned him into stone and Stefan dumped his body into the quarry."

"I died," Bonnie said as her and Josiah appeared next to Jeremy, unseen by Toby. "Jeremy, I bound the magic that took down Silas. When I died, the spell must've been broken."

"Translation: Silas is free," Josiah piped up.

Jeremy shook his head at Toby. "That was Silas."

Toby frowned. "That's not possible."

"I'm a hunter. Our whole reason for existing is to kill him. I know what I'm feeling, Toby. That was Silas."

Toby looked around The Grill. "Everyone here just saw Stefan. How could've he fooled an entire restaurant? I get that he's psychic, but… that seems too farfetched."

"What did he want?"

Toby paused to think about it, then looked up at Jeremy.

"Katherine."

xxxx

Elowen exited Whitmore House, holding two red plastic cups of beer for Caroline and Elena. She found them at the edge of the party, away from the crowd. Elena was on the phone, leaving a voicemail for Megan, when Elowen caught up to them. She held out the two cups.

"Here you go!"

Caroline and Elena reached out to take them.

"What's this?" Caroline asked as she looked down at the cup.

"Uh, beer," Elowen answered in a duh voice. "I figured that since you guys can't come in, I'll bring the party to you."

"Where's Veronica?" Elena asked.

Elowen and Caroline both shot her a look.

"Do you even have to ask?" Caroline retorted. "Obviously she's shacking it up with that Jesse guy."

"Or at least, trying to," Elowen said. "Jesse was clearly interested in you, not her."

Caroline grew flustered.

"He was not!"

Elowen and Elena gave her a look. Caroline huffed loudly.

"Okay, maybe he was, but only a little!"

Elowen slung an arm around Caroline's shoulders. "Care, Jesse is hot, and he's into you. Just go for it."

"I can't! Veronica's already dug her claws in."

"Yeah, because you let her. That's your fault."

"Besides, when does Caroline Forbes back away from a challenge?" Elena pointed out.

Elowen and Elena grinned at Caroline, who covered her face with her free hand, when Elena's phone started to ring. Elena looked down at the caller ID.

"Megan's calling." She answered the phone. "Hey, Megan."

Megan must've said something alarming, because Elena's eyes widened. She took the phone away from her ear and put the call on speaker.

"Megan, who's chasing you?" Elena asked.

"Help me!" Megan cried out. "Oh my god!"

Elowen's eyes met Caroline's and they nodded at each other. Elowen turned and took off at full speed to try and find Megan inside the house. Elena stayed on the line.

"Elowen's on her way to help, okay? Where are you?"

"Elena, please help me!"

Caroline took the phone as Megan started screaming over the line.

"Megan, can you hear me? Get outside and Elena and I can help you."

Suddenly, something fell to the ground behind them with a loud thump. Caroline and Elena whirled around to see what it was.

"Oh my god!" Elena gasped when she realized that it was Megan. She crouched down beside her and saw that her throat was ripped out.

"Who did this to her?" Caroline asked.

Elena looked up at Caroline.

"This was a vampire."

xxxx

Silas walked into the boarding house and closed the door behind him. As he ventured into the living room, Damon came around the corner and saw him. Silas grinned when he turned and realized Damon was in the room.

"Damon! Good to see you, brother."

Damon paused for a second at the sight of who he thought was Stefan. Quietly, he walked over to Silas until he was standing directly in front of him, and then he drew his fist back and punched him in the face. Silas grabbed his jaw where Damon hit him and groaned.

"Ah, what was that for?"

"What was that for?" Damon repeated in disbelief. "That was for abandoning our girlfriend when she needed you the most for three months without so much as a phone call! Are you kidding me, Stefan? Where the fuck have you been? You know what? I've decided I don't want to hear it. I'm too pissed at you to care."

Damon turned and walked off, leaving Silas by himself. Once he was alone, Silas decided to check upstairs for Katherine. As soon as he was gone, the front door opened and Toby and Jeremy rushed in. They both looked around wildly. When Toby didn't see Damon in the living room, he quickly made his way towards the library, Jeremy hot on his tail. They found Damon with his back turned to them, pouring himself a drink.

"I already said that I didn't want to-" Damon turned around and saw that it wasn't Stefan/Silas. "Oh, you two. What the hell do you want?"

"Have you seen Stefan?" Toby asked breathlessly.

"Yeah, he just walked in the door. Why?"

"Because that's not Stefan."

"What?"

"It was Silas," Jeremy quickly explained. "And he's after Katherine. Where is she?"

"Silas? That's-"

"Questions later, please!" Toby cut him off loudly. "Katherine. Where is she? Now, Damon!"

"Okay, okay. You're bossy today."

As they all left the library and made their way towards the stairs, they found Katherine running down in nothing but a bathrobe. She ran directly into Toby, who grabbed her and pushed her towards Jeremy.

"Get her out of here. Don't tell us where you're going. Go!"

Jeremy nodded and pulled Katherine with him towards the front door. As they left, Silas came sauntering down the stairs after her.

"For a 2,000 year old immortal, you sure are slow," Toby said, standing in the way of the front door.

"Hi, yeah, still a little lost here," Damon piped up. "Silas is gone."

Silas and Toby both ignored him. Silas stopped in front of Toby.

"Get out of my way and give me Katherine."

"Drop the Stefan look first."

Silas laughed in Toby's face and Toby frowned.

"What's so funny?"

"What's funny is that I can't 'drop the Stefan look'."

"Why not?"

Silas smiled. "Because Stefan is my doppelganger."

"Excuse me?"

Silas walked around Toby and Damon and went towards the living room. Toby and Damon shared a look before following after him.

"You know, a doppelganger. I thought you would be pretty familiarized with the word, considering you're dating one and the other one was just whisked away into the sunset."

Damon leaned over to Toby. "Let me make sure I have this right: This is Silas, who somehow escaped the quarry and isn't stone anymore?"

Toby nodded. "Uh-huh."

"How'd that happen?"

"No idea. I'm still trying to figure that part out."

"I can hear you, you know." Silas turned around to face them. "I might not have vampire hearing, but I still have ears, and you two talk loud."

Toby cleared his throat. "Okay, let's say what you're saying is true-"

"It is. It's funny, actually. You're insinuating that you don't believe me, yet your mind is spinning at the possibility."

"First of all, get out of my head. Second, I'm pretty sure we'd know if Stefan had an evil twin."

"Oh, we're not twins." Silas made himself comfortable on one of the couches. "See, when I became truly immortal, nature retaliated by creating a version of me that was killable. It's called a shadow self."

"Well, whatever you are, your plan didn't work," Damon spoke up. "The cure's gone. Now, what do you want with Katherine?"

"I could tell you, but wouldn't it be so much more fun if it were a surprise?"

"Cut the crap," Toby chimed in. "Where's Stefan?"

"He's suffering, like I suffered. Actually, your friend, Elowen, is it? Almost found Stefan a couple of days ago, but I made her forget. To answer your question, Damon, yes, it was when she mysteriously disappeared for an hour and then suddenly couldn't remember why."

"I'd appreciate it if you stayed out of my head," Damon snapped.

Silas smiled. "Hm. Call the hunter, bring me Katherine, and then I will tell you where your little brother is. That's what you want, isn't it?"

Toby and Damon glanced at each other, but didn't say anything. Instead, they all stayed silent, simply staring at each other.

Toby broke first. He sighed and reached into his pocket for his phone. Silas smirked.

"Thank you, Toby."

"What are you doing?" Damon hissed under his breath.

"Getting Stefan back, Damon! What's more important, leverage, or your baby brother?"

Damon didn't answer.

"Thought so."

Toby scrolled through his contacts before landing on Jeremy's number. He hit 'call' and put the phone to his ear.

"Hey," Jeremy said when he answered.

"How far did you get?" Toby asked.

"You said not to tell you."

"Now is not the time to decide you want to listen to what people tell you to do."

Jeremy sighed. "We just passed Old Miller Road."

"Good. Turn around and bring her back."

Toby hung up.

xxxx

Elowen, Caroline, Elena and Veronica all stood a couple of feet away from where campus officials and police were, who were dealing with Megan's body.

"What is happening?" Elena asked in a whisper. "Our roommate is dead, there was a vampire at the party… Veronica, did you see anything strange in there?"

Veronica shook her head, her eyes glued to the crime scene. "No. To be fair, I was a little preoccupied."

"We don't know what she knew or who she told," Caroline spoke up. "We should get out of here."

Elena's eyes widened. "Caroline, I left that message in her voicemail!"

"Don't worry, I took her phone."

"What?"

A woman walked over to them. "Hey, girls? I'm Dianne Freeman. I'm head of campus security. Are you okay?"

Elowen nodded her head. "I mean, I think so."

"I understand Megan was your roommate. I'm so sorry you had to find her like this."

"Do they know what happened?" Caroline asked.

"We found a note. Apparently, she was struggling with severe depression."

Elena furrowed her eyebrows. "Wait, what do you mean you found a note?"

"Your roommate took her own life."

"You think this was suicide?" Veronica asked in disbelief. "What about the gaping hole in her-"

Elowen nudged Veronica so she'd shut up. She did.

Dianne nodded. "We're convinced it was a suicide, but we can't seem to find her cell phone. Have you seen it?"

Caroline quickly shook her head. "No."

"Okay. If it turns up, let us know?"

They all nodded. Once Dianne was gone, Elena turned to the three of them.

"What is going on?"

xxxx

Toby was sitting on the couch, texting furiously on his phone while anxiously bouncing his leg. Silas sat opposite of him, watching him closely.

"Ooh, your thoughts are churning. It's like a spool of pink taffy. It's very messy, but very fun to watch."

"For the last time, stay out of my head."

"Hey, does your girlfriend know that even though you love her, you're still-"

"In love with my best friend? It's not a secret, if you were wondering. It's also old news."

"Oh, so the fact that you kissed her is also old news?"

Damon turned around. "What?"

"Ooh, I take it that's a no. My bad."

Toby sighed deeply, but went back to texting. Silas also went back to watching him.

"You're worried. Jeremy's not answering the phone. He should be back by now. You think something's very wrong."

Not even a second later, Toby jumped up from the couch and rushed for the front door. Damon glanced at Silas, but followed after Toby.

xxxx

Caroline was going through Megan's inbox, looking for the voicemail Elena left her. When she found it, she pulled the phone away from her ear and deleted it.

"Delete."

Her, Elena, Elowen and Veronica all arrived at their dorm. Veronica stopped, catching sight of the door being slightly open.

"Someone's been here."

Cautiously, she pushed open the door. The room was empty. They all walked in and looked around.

"Megan's tablet is gone," Caroline observed.

"Along with her so called suicide note," Elowen said.

"Can I see the phone for a second?" Elena asked Caroline, who handed it over.

Caroline shook her head. "It just doesn't make any sense. First, the roommate we're not supposed to have might know about vampires, then happens to be killed by a vampire, and now the school's covering it up? Seriously, who is this girl?"

"Whatever's going on, it's not just about our roommate. It's about me." Elena held up Megan's phone, showing the photo she had found. "That's Megan. With my dad."

xxxx

Toby pulled his car up next to Jeremy's, which was wrapped around a telephone pole, and sped out of the driver's seat and over to Jeremy, who was lying on the ground.

"Jeremy! Oh my god!"

He quickly bit his wrist and pressed it against Jeremy's mouth.

"Open your eyes, Jer! You do not get to die on me, you hear me? God, I'm supposed to be taking care of you and this is what I let happen? Come on, wake up!"

After a moment, Jeremy coughed, his eyes opening up, as Damon came up behind them.

"Katherine… is gone."

Toby sighed in relief, pulling Jeremy up so he could hug him.

"I don't care."

xxxx

Inside the safe Stefan was locked inside in the quarry, he started to hallucinate.

He was standing in front of a big, open window with sunlight streaming inside. Damon was standing behind him.

"You're thinking about it. Flip the switch. Put yourself out of this misery. Please."

"Did you forget how long it took me to come back last time?" Stefan asked. "Everything I lost in the process?"

"You don't deserve this, Stefan." Damon walked over and turned Stefan around to face him. "Just turn it off. Turn it off."

Stefan closed his eyes, getting ready to flip the switch, when he suddenly felt a pair of cold hands on his face.

"Wait. Stay with me, Stefan."

Stefan opened his eyes and found that Damon was gone, replaced with Elowen, who was standing in front of him.

"What are you doing here?" He asked.

"I know this is torture, but stay with me. Your humanity is the one thing that makes you who you are. Don't let it go. Please, Stefan. For me." Elowen smiled. "I'm looking for you, Stefan. The second you went missing, I started looking. I'm going to find you, okay? I'm going to find you."

Stefan nodded. Elowen wrapped her arms around Stefan and rested her head on his shoulder. They stood there, just like that.

"I love you," Elowen whispered.

Stefan's arms came up to circle around her waist.

"I love you, too."