Elowen blew a raspberry as she walked back into her room after using the bathroom. Today was the day she was going back to Whitmore and she had gotten up early so she could start packing. She jumped slightly when she found Stefan standing in the middle of the room with his hands behind his back.

"God! You haven't done that in awhile."

Stefan smirked. "What? Scared you?"

"No, snuck into my room and waited around like a stalker." She glanced over his shoulder at the open window. "I have a front door, you know."

"I know, but it's 6 in the morning and I figured knocking would wake up the whole house."

"How'd you even know I was awake?"

"You told me last night that you were leaving in the morning and something told me you were an early riser."

"So, what are you doing here? Are you going to help me pack?"

"No, actually, I was here to do something a bit more fun than that."

Stefan moved his hands from behind his back and revealed a plastic bag full of stuff. Elowen tilted her head.

"Do I even wanna ask what's in there?"

Stefan chuckled. "You mentioned that you wanted to dye your hair, so I went out and bought bleach and blue hair dye. You also said something about fringe bangs."

Elowen smiled. "You remembered that?"

"Of course I did. Don't worry, I gave myself a hair 101 crash course on youtube, so I am more than certified to do your hair."

"You did all that for me?" Elowen was genuinely touched. This seemed like something Stefan with his memories would do, and she was glad to know that even when he didn't have his memories, he was still very much the same person.

Stefan smiled back. "I might not remember you, but you're my girlfriend and this is something boyfriends do, isn't it?"

"I don't think so, but I'll take it anyway. Let me just change into something I don't care about getting messed up by hair dye."

"Okay. I'll meet you in the bathroom."

Stefan walked past Elowen, grabbed the doorknob, and paused. He turned back towards her.

"Where's the bathroom again?"

Elowen laughed. "The door in front of the stairs."

"Got it."

After the door closed behind Stefan, Elowen changed out of her pjs and into an old, worn out white shirt and a pair of shorts. Once she was changed, she left her room and headed for the bathroom.

xxxx

Elowen laughed as Stefan furiously washed the blue dye off of his hands and sighed in frustration when he realized it had stained his hands.

"I told you to use gloves," she said from behind Stefan, sitting down on the toilet lid. "If it makes you feel any better, my skin is gonna be blue for like, two weeks after I wash the hair dye out, and this shirt is absolutely ruined."

Stefan shook his head and leaned against the sink. "I look like a smurf."

Elowen laughed again, standing up and walking over to him.

"How do you even know what a smurf is?"

"Not only did I give myself a crash course on hair 101, I also gave myself a crash course on the 21st century."

"Sounds fun, except smurfs was the 20th century."

Stefan playfully rolled his eyes. "Whatever, my bad. It was actually kind of fun though. I got to watch The Breakfast Club, which-"

Elowen groaned. "Aw, man! Not The Breakfast Club."

"What? What's wrong with The Breakfast Club?"

"It's boring and not as great as people make it out to be. We've actually had this conversation before."

"Of course we have."

"Just leave the iconic movies and tv shows to me, okay? You had terrible taste when you had your memories and I'll be damned if I don't do anything about it this time around."

Stefan smiled. He reached out and brushed the back of his fingers against her cheek. Elowen smiled back. Stefan tilted her chin up and leaned down to kiss her softly, something Elowen reciprocated without hesitating. They kissed for a few moments before the alarm on Elowen's phone went off, blaring through the bathroom. Elowen huffed as she pulled back to shut the alarm off.

"Guess it's time to wash the dye out of my hair."

"I'll, uh, I'll wait outside."

"Yeah."

Elowen turned to turn the shower on as Stefan left the bathroom, closing the door behind himself. Elowen glanced over her shoulder with a sigh before stripping to get under the water.

xxxx

"If you screw my bangs up, I'm literally going to kill you," Elowen said as she sat on the sink so she was level with Stefan.

"I promise I won't, and if I do, you have permission to kill me."

Elowen laughed. Stefan placed his index finger against her lips.

"Stay still, or else I really will screw up."

Elowen stopped laughing and sat up straight. Stefan grabbed onto the front of her hair and separated a strip from the rest, then held his fingers above the area he was going to cut.

"Ready?" He asked.

"Just do it. You're making me nervous."

With a smile and a shake of his head, Stefan snipped at her bangs. When he was done, he gave her a once over.

"Okay, tell me what you think."

Elowen hopped off of the sink and turned around to face the mirror. She was pleasantly surprised to find that Stefan actually did a good job and hadn't messed up. Actually, her bangs almost looked perfect.

"Wow. You weren't kidding about that hair 101 crash course."

Stefan smirked. "I told you that I was more than certified to do your hair."

Elowen turned around. "You could be a hairdresser in another life."

Stefan reached out and held the ends of Elowen's hair in between his fingers.

"Want me to give you an actual haircut? I gave myself a crash course on that, too."

Elowen took in the ends of her hair as well and thought about it for a second. She shrugged.

"Why not? Curly hair is easier to take care of when there's not as much of it."

"Perfect. Shall we?"

"We shall."

xxxx

A couple of days later, Elowen was seated at a table on campus, going over material from her Music Theory class that she finally was able to attend after switching her classes back around. While finding out why Dr. Maxfield covered up Megan's death was still something they wanted to find out, Elowen didn't want to mess up the credits she needed in order to graduate from her major. Veronica had done the same, much to Elena's annoyance. They each had to remind her that studying what they came to college to study was also important, not just more supernatural drama.

Elowen's phone started to ring and she looked up from her notebook to see who it was. When she saw Damon's name flash on the screen, she reached over and turned the phone around, ignoring the call.

"Busted!"

Elowen jumped and looked up, seeing that Damon had appeared in front of her. He took a seat across from her.

"What in the world did you do to your hair?" He asked with wide eyes when he saw her deep midnight blue hair.

"Cut it and dyed it," Elowen replied. "Stefan did it."

"Stefan, right. My brother with no memories who's ignoring me, just like you are."

"I'm not ignoring you."

"Wen, I haven't heard from you since you found out Bonnie's dead. You didn't even say goodbye when you moved back into the dorms."

Elowen sighed. "Because Stefan helped me pack my things and I thought it wasn't a good idea if you were there. You know, he said that he needs space."

"Still doesn't explain why I haven't even gotten so much as a text from you. I had to find out about this stupid costume ball from Caroline. Seriously, what's up?"

Elowen sighed. "I'm just… It's… I guess I'm just scared about what Stefan will do if he figures out that we're together."

"Well, just explain our agreement to him."

"And if he gets mad and suddenly shuts me out?"

"Wen, you can't keep lying to him. He figured out that you two were together without breaking a sweat. He'll figure this one out just as fast if you keep this up."

"Not if he doesn't see us together. Look, just, don't come to the costume ball, okay? I invited Stefan."

Elowen started packing up her things and Damon furrowed his eyebrows.

"Where are you going?"

"To class. I'm going to be late."

Before Damon could open his mouth, Elowen was already gone.

xxxx

Damon, Toby and Jeremy were all in the boarding house. Jeremy and Toby were seated while Damon stood, talking.

"So, as we know, in a psychotic lapse of judgement, Bonnie and Josiah brought you back to life and died in the process. May they rest in peace."

"They're actually right over there," Jeremy said, gesturing to the couch behind Damon.

"Whatever. Look, the whole point is, I just happen to know a supernatural being who just happens to want to die, and in the spirit of nature needing balance and life for a life and all that stuff, I just think it would be a huge waste of a perfectly good death."

Toby furrowed his eyebrows. "What are you talking about?"

"Something Elowen doesn't need to know about until it works."

"Wait. You want to work with Silas?"

"From the beginning, Silas's whole bad guy plan was to kill himself, pass on to wherever he was gonna pass onto, and reunite with his dead girlfriend, Amara. I want to use his death to bring Josiah back to life."

"Wait, wait," Jeremy cut in. "What about Bonnie?"

"Jeremy, I can't believe I have to explain this to you, but Josiah is Elowen's little brother and I prioritize her over everyone else. What makes you think I give a crap about Bonnie?"

Jeremy shook his head. "No, this isn't fair. We can't just bring back one but not the other. This isn't a game of pick and choose."

"Right now, that's exactly what it is, and I know who I'm picking and choosing."

Jeremy turned to Toby for help, who threw his hands up.

"Don't get me involved in this. It's either my best friend's baby brother or my girlfriend's best friend. I'm not doing any picking and choosing whatsoever."

"You have to agree that this isn't right! We either bring the both of them back, or we do nothing."

"Jeremy," Bonnie said softly to get his attention. "It's okay. Josiah has a family to go back to. I don't."

"You have me! And Elena, and Caroline."

Josiah shook his head. "Bonnie, no, if any one of us should get a second shot at life, it's you. You've already sacrificed so much. You deserve this."

"And you don't?"

Damon looked between Jeremy and the empty space he was talking to.

"What's going on? You know that I can't hear them, right?"

Jeremy sighed. "They're arguing about who should be the one to come back."

"Uh, yeah, Human Torch, this isn't up for debate," Damon said loudly to no one in particular. "You're coming back and the Bennett witch isn't. End of story."

"Not end of story!" Jeremy interjected.

"One more word out of you and I'm going to hurt you, little Gilbert. Shut it. As I was saying, in order for Silas to die, he has to be mortal. If he's mortal, then he's a witch, and if he dies as a witch then he's stuck on the other side forever."

Toby shook his head. "He already tried to bring down the veil to the other side. He failed."

"Maybe he has a plan B," Bonnie said. "Maybe he wants to do more than just drop the veil and let all the ghosts out."

Toby and Damon both realized that Jeremy was once again paying attention to the couch.

"Jer?" Toby asked. "What are they saying?"

"Bonnie thinks Silas wants to destroy the other side completely," Jeremy replied.

"Powerful spells are bound by something even more powerful. The moon, a comet, a doppelganger. The other side was made 2,000 years ago, and it still exists. That means she must have bound it to something that could exist just as long."

Jeremy relayed this message.

"Back to my original question," Damon spoke up. "Let's say Silas destroys the other side, cures himself, becomes a witch. Is it supernaturally possible that he can do a spell that swaps Josiah's life for his once he kills himself?"

Bonnie and Josiah looked at each other before Josiah opened his mouth to answer.

"Supernaturally, yeah, it's possible, but this is the same Silas who murdered Bonnie's dad. He's ruthless and whatever spell he could do, there will be some consequences. There always is, and I'm not just going to leave Bonnie behind, so no. My answer is, definitely not."

"Josiah," Bonnie mumbled. "Seriously, I'll be fine. Elowen needs you. You're her little brother." She turned to Jeremy. "Damon's right. It's not up for debate."

Jeremy opened his mouth to protest, but Bonnie cut him off.

"I'm serious. No ifs, ands, or buts. Josiah comes back and I don't. It's final."

Damon looked at Jeremy expectantly. "What's going on? Is he in?"

Jeremy paused for a moment, staring at Bonnie and Josiah, before sighing.

"He's in."

xxxx

"Are you crazy?!" Josiah hissed as Bonnie once they were alone. "Silas is too dangerous!"

"Look, Josiah, I brought Jeremy back because Elena needed him the same way Elowen needs you," Bonnie replied. "Let them do this."

"What about the consequences? Haven't we learned this by now? When you abuse magic, there's always a price. Last time, it cost us our lives."

Bonnie sighed. "No, it cost me mine and I took you down with me. You're dead because of me. If I wasn't anchored to you, I wouldn't have sapped your energy and you would still be alive."

Josiah faltered. "Is… is that why you want me to come back instead of you? Because you feel guilty?"

Bonnie didn't say anything. Josiah sighed.

"Bonnie… it wasn't your fault."

"Yes, it was. You don't have to act like it's not. Just… let Damon try to bring you back, okay? Let him correct my mistake."

Josiah was silent for a moment. Finally, he nodded.

"Okay. I'll let him try."

Bonnie gave a small smile. "Thank you."

Josiah reached out and wrapped his arms around Bonnie, pulling her in for a hug. She settled her head against his shoulder and they stayed like that for awhile.

xxxx

"All of this and you weren't even on the dance committee," Elowen said to Caroline as they walked into the costume ball.

"Once a control freak, always a control freak," Veronica commented.

Caroline turned to glare at her before facing Elowen. "I may have emailed them a few suggestions."

"We're in college and almost nothing has changed." Elowen sighed. "This feels like a decades dance and something always went wrong at those."

"Try to be optimistic! Look, there's Stefan."

Caroline pointed across the room. Veronica looked over.

"Who the hell is he supposed to be?"

"James Dean," Elowen replied. "I went easy on him. I figured it was fitting since I'm supposed to be Audrey Hepburn. You know, same era and all."

"At least he looks good in a leather jacket." Veronica turned her attention to Caroline and gave her costume a proper once over. "You know, you're actually good at this thing. Princess Diana would be jealous."

Caroline smiled and looked down at her costume. "You think so?"

"Oh, totally."

"Well, thanks. Selena would be honored that you picked her to dress up as."

"You had to google who she was, didn't you?"

"What? No!"

Veronica gave Caroline a look and Caroline sighed.

"Okay, maybe I did, but Como La Flor is timeless."

"No, it's Como La Flor," Elowen repeated, accenting the Spanish perfectly. "Roll the R."

"Como La… Flor," Caroline tried again, failing to roll her R. Elowen and Veronica shared an amused glance, and Caroline huffed in annoyance.

"Not all of us are Latina and speak Spanish fluently! Leave me alone."

"Bet you can't say Amor Prohibido," Elowen said.

"Ooh! Or El Chico Del Apartamento Cinco Doce," Veronica added.

"Fotos Y Recuerdos."

"No Me Queda Mas."

"Baila Esta Cumbia."

"Okay, okay!" Caroline cut in. "You're cooler than I am, I get it."

Elowen laughed. "You mean Jo never taught you any phrases or anything?"

Caroline shook her head. "No. I kind of wish he did."

"I could always teach you," Veronica offered.

Caroline shot Veronica an incredulous look. "You? Teach me?"

Veronica rolled her eyes. "I get it, I'm the mean girl, but from one mean girl to another ex mean girl-"

"I was not a mean girl!"

Elowen made a face. Caroline looked over at her and lightly nudged her.

"Elle! I so was not!"

"No, you were, like the tiniest bit. You were the stereotypical popular blonde haired lead cheerleader who ordered everyone around. Dating a nerdy art kid who dressed in nothing but jeans and worn out converse really knocked you down a few pegs. His sense of fashion was horrible until he met you."

"He totally resents that."

"I'm sure he does."

"Hot amnesiac boyfriend coming this way," Veronica piped up in a sing-song voice. Elowen and Caroline looked over and sure enough, Stefan was walking towards them.

"Dance with me," he told Elowen when he reached her. "I'm buzzed, and I'm on the verge of having a good time."

Without waiting for her to respond, Stefan grabbed her hand and led her towards the dance floor. Veronica smiled as she watched them go. Caroline narrowed her eyes at her.

"I thought you were the one who tried to flirt with Stefan when you first saw him."

"Oh, I totally did. I know, I'm bitchy and I seem like the type to steal a girl's boyfriend out from under her, and I totally would, but Elowen's my friend, or at least I consider her a friend, and I don't have a lot of those. I don't do that to friends."

"Even if said friend's boyfriend lost his memory and can't remember that he's in love with her? I mean, no offense, but this seems like the perfect opportunity to swoop in and steal him away."

"You might be right, but she's my friend and she just lost her brother. That would be a low blow. Besides, I don't know about you, but I've seen the way Stefan's been looking at her. I'm pretty sure he's falling in love with her all over again." Veronica nodded her head at Stefan and Elowen. "See?"

Caroline turned her head to look at them and her face softened. Stefan was smiling down at her the way he used to when he had his memories and seeing Elowen look so happy, after everything she went through last year, losing Ric and then Josiah, made Caroline see exactly what Veronica was talking about.

"And if you ask me, she's getting to experience what it's like to fall in love with him all over again, too." Veronica sighed, crossing her arms. "Don't know why she's wasting her time with Damon. It's Stefan she clearly loves more."

Veronica heard Caroline gasp from beside her and looked up to see her looking at something from across the room. She looked over and saw Damon staring at her. His jaw was clenched and when his eyes shifted from her to Stefan and Elowen, his hands curled into fists.

"Ooh," Veronica winced. "I'm not taking that back just because he heard me, by the way."

Caroline sighed. "I wasn't expecting you to."

On the dance floor, Stefan gave Elowen's wig a once over.

"I did all that work on your hair only for you to cover it up?" He asked playfully.

Elowen rolled her eyes. "Audrey Hepburn did not have blue hair. Unconventional hair colors weren't very popular when she was alive."

"And when did they start getting popular?"

"The 90s, I think. I would ask you, but you can't remember."

"Ouch."

Elowen grinned, but her grin fell from her face when she saw Damon from over Stefan's shoulder. Stefan furrowed his eyebrows when he saw her face.

"What's wrong?"

Elowen shook her head. "Nothing. I'll be right back."

She left Stefan and crossed the room until she reached Damon. When she did, she grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the crowd.

"What the hell are you doing here?" She asked in an angry whisper. "I told you not to come!"

"What, and leave you to cuddle up to no memory Stefan?"

Elowen recoiled slightly at the tone in his voice and furrowed her eyebrows.

"Look, I'm not sure what your problem is right now, but I'm just trying to help him, okay?"

"And making him fall in love with you again is helping him?"

Elowen blinked. "Whoa, okay, pause. I'm not making him do anything. I'm just trying to be there for him the way I know he'd be there for me."

"Oh, don't be stupid, Wen. Deep down, you can't stand the thought of Stefan buddying up to someone who isn't you, so you're putting on your best smile in order to win him over just like you did before. Don't be so obvious."

Damon moved past Elowen, leaving her standing there by herself. She stood there, hurt and dumbfounded, when Veronica and Caroline came up to her after Caroline overheard the conversation. Veronica grabbed onto her arm.

"You're not crying in front of all these people and ruining your makeup," Veronica mumbled, tugging her towards the bathrooms. "Come on."

As Veronica led Elowen away, Caroline carefully pushed her along, casting a glance over her shoulder at Damon. She saw him grab Stefan and disappear into another room, but otherwise didn't pay much attention. As they made it to the bathrooms, Veronica left Elowen's side to make sure all the stalls were empty while Caroline closed the door behind them. Elowen walked over to the small couch and slowly sat down on it.

"Is Damon right?" She asked quietly. "Am I just… subconsciously trying to make Stefan fall for me again?"

"No," Veronica said as she came over and sat next to Elowen. "He's just jealous that you've been spending all of your time with Stefan. He doesn't like the thought of being a second choice. That, and he overheard me say something he didn't like hearing."

"What'd you say?"

"All I said was that I don't know why you're wasting your time on Damon when you're obviously more in love with Stefan."

"Veronica!"

"What? I'm not wrong. I have eyes, Elowen. I'm not stupid."

Elowen turned to Caroline, who threw her hands up.

"Don't look at me. You already know my stance. You and Stefan are soulmates. You two are epic together. You and Damon? Not even close."

Elowen sighed. "You guys wouldn't get it. Stefan and Damon are there for me in two different ways and I love them in two different ways."

"But you had Stefan first."

"You're right, I had Stefan first."

"Which means that what you feel for Stefan can't be touched. He was your first love, Elle. First loves are never forgotten."

"Are they?" Veronica asked. "I wouldn't know."

Caroline frowned at Veronica. "You've never been in love?"

"No. Is that bad?"

"Well… not necessarily, I guess."

"Look, guys, I know what you're trying to do, and it won't work," Elowen said.

"That's not going to stop Damon from feeling like he's second best," Veronica pointed out. "Which judging by tonight, he clearly feels like it."

Elowen sighed again and nodded. "Yeah, that always was an insecurity of his. I mean, Katherine chose Stefan over him, and like you said, I had him first. I thought he got over it, but I guess he didn't."

Caroline came over and sat on the other side of Elowen.

"What are you going to do about Stefan?"

Elowen shrugged. "I don't know. I still love him, and I always will, but now that he doesn't have his memories, the concept of him falling in love with someone else is very real. I guess… I'd have to let him go."

Veronica scoffed and Caroline shot her a look.

"That's it?" She asked. "You'd just let him slip out of your grasp just like that? Not even fight for him?"

"What else am I supposed to do? He's his own person and he can make his own decisions, including who he falls in love with, and if it's not me this time around, I'm just going to have to accept that."

Veronica shook her head. "You did not peg me as the type to follow the 'if you love someone, let them go' saying. Always thought that was stupid. If you really love someone that much, you would do whatever it took to keep them in your life. That's what I would do."

Caroline sighed and reached over to grab Elowen's hand. "I will support you with whatever decision you make. I'll always be here for you, Elle. I am your best friend, and as your brother's girlfriend, it's my job to have your back."

Elowen smiled. "Are you saying that if you weren't my brother's girlfriend, you'd leave me in the dust?"

Caroline laughed. "Oh, totally."

As they laughed together, they looked over and saw that Veronica had a faraway look on her face. They both shared a glance before Elowen nudged her shoulder with her own, bringing her back to earth.

"Everything okay?"

Veronica blinked. "Huh? Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about it. Let's just get back to the party."

Veronica moved to get up, but Elowen stopped her.

"Hey, you can talk to us, you know that, right? What's wrong?"

Veronica sighed and played with the ends of her wig.

"It's just… I've never really experienced what it's like to have real friends, you know? In school, everyone was either afraid of me, talked behind my back, followed me around because I was the 'queen bee', or all of the above. I'm so used to being mean and bitchy that I don't know how to act like anything else. Don't get me wrong, I'm comfortable with the way I am, it's just… I'm used to sticking it solo, save for Adriana and Angel. I felt because I had those two, I didn't need anyone else."

Caroline nodded in understanding. "I used to be in constant competition with everyone that I eventually realized the people I was 'friends' with weren't really friends, just people I kept around so I could one up them. Meeting Josiah and becoming a vampire really changed my perspective on things. Made me see that there were more things to life than making my whole personality be centered around popularity and cheerleading."

"Sometimes having at least one good friend is worth it," Elowen said. "Friends can be there for you in ways that siblings can't, and that's okay."

"Who in their right mind would be friends with me?" Veronica asked. "I'm a bitch. Don't mistake that for insecurity. It's not. It's just the truth."

Elowen laughed. "I'm your friend. Then again, I've made friends with some questionable people. One of them is my boyfriend."

Veronica laughed as well. Caroline smiled.

"You know, you're not so bad when you're not being Cruella DeVil."

"I cannot believe you just compared me to a woman who wanted to murder a litter of puppies." Veronica shook her head. "I'm more like… Blair Waldorf."

"Regina George," Elowen added.

"Sharpay Evans."

"Alison DiLaurentis."

Caroline gasped. "Ooh! Brenda Walsh."

They all shared a laugh.

Veronica nodded towards the door. "How about we get back to the party now?"

She stood and Elowen and Caroline followed her. They exited the bathroom smiling at each other, but when Elowen turned to look away from them, her smile fell. Caroline and Veronica followed her line of sight and saw Stefan dancing with Tessa.

"Who the fuck is she?" Veronica asked loudly, causing some people to look over at her questioningly.

"That's Tessa," Elowen replied. "You probably know her as Qetsiyah."

"Aka the woman who got Stefan in this mess in the first place?"

When Elowen nodded, Veronica started to take a step towards her, but Elowen's hand shot out to grab her arm.

"What are you doing?"

"Giving the crazy witch lady a piece of my mind."

"Veronica, no, please don't. It's fine. I'll be fine."

Veronica sighed dramatically. "Fine. She should be lucky that she's hot, or else I'd roundhouse kick her in the face and break her nose."

"Ouch," Caroline winced. "A little violent, don't you think?"

Veronica shrugged nonchalantly. "Not the worst thing I've done."

Elowen sighed loudly, tearing her eyes away from Stefan and Tessa.

"I need a drink."

Caroline shot her an alarmed look as Elowen walked off towards the bar. Veronica frowned when she saw her face.

"What?"

"Elowen doesn't drink," Caroline explained. "Long story, but she's definitely not fine. Where the hell did Damon go?"

Veronica got on her tiptoes and looked around the room. "Maybe he left. Let's just keep an eye on her, okay? Come on."

Caroline nodded, and her and Veronica set off for the bar.

xxxx

Elowen downed another shot of tequila. She lost count of how many she'd drank, but Caroline reached over and grabbed the empty shot glass from her and set it out of her reach.

"Okay, Elle, I think that's enough. We should get you back to the dorms."

Elowen shook her head. "No, no, I'm fine. I'm fine."

"No, you're not."

Veronica looked across the room and saw Stefan walking towards a room by himself. She pushed herself off of the bar.

"I'll be right back."

"What?" Caroline asked, looking over at her. "Where are you going? Veronica!"

Veronica ignored her and strided up to Stefan. She grabbed his arm and whirled him around to face her. He looked down at her in confusion. Veronica ignored it and crossed her arms.

"Yeah, you can add me to the list of people you can't remember. Look here, Mr. Big Shot. I've seen the way you've been looking at Elowen, so you're clearly into her even without your memories, and then all of a sudden you turn around and leave her in the dust for Tessa, or whatever the hell her name is? I don't know what game you're playing, but get it over with. Sleep with the witch bitch if you have to, but don't lead Elowen on. She doesn't deserve that."

Stefan opened his mouth. "Wait-"

Except Veronica had already turned on her heel and left. If she stuck around, Stefan would've explained that it was Silas who had been dancing with Tessa, not him. Veronica reached the bar and carefully took Elowen into her arms. She faced Caroline.

"I'll take her back to the dorm."

"Are you sure you've got her?" Caroline asked.

"I'm sure."

Slinging Elowen's arm around her shoulder, Veronica hoisted Elowen up and helped lead her towards the exit. They had just made it when Damon appeared in front of them, having seen Elowen stumbling over herself and leaning against Veronica. He looked her over with worried eyes.

"What happened?"

"Get out of my way, Damon," Veronica snapped. "Thanks to your little hissy fit earlier, she decided to drink herself into oblivion. If you cared about her, you'd leave her alone. Now leave."

Without waiting for an answer, Veronica led Elowen around him and left the ballroom.

xxxx

Veronica kicked open the dorm door with her foot and carefully guided Elowen into the room. She closed the door with her hip and walked over to Elowen's bed, where she plopped the both of them down. Veronica sighed.

"Let's get you to bed."

She reached up and took her wig off before doing the same with Elowen. As Veronica leaned over to take Elowen's shoes off, Elowen opened her mouth.

"You're a good friend, you know that?" She slurred. "At least, for someone who doesn't know how to do it."

Veronica snorted. "I'll take that as a compliment. Upsie daisy."

Veronica pulled Elowen back to her feet so she could unzip her dress. It slipped off, pooling down at her feet, when Elowen turned around suddenly to kiss Veronica. Veronica pushed her away.

"Whoa. Okay, you're too drunk and I'm too sober for this to happen. Any other circumstances, and I'd be down. Trust me."

"Since when do you care about circumstances?" Elowen asked drunkenly. "I'm drunk and in dire need of a distraction. Damon's mad at me and Stefan's off galavanting with the woman who fried his brain. Help me out a little here. What are friends for?"

"I think your idea of friends is a little skewed." Veronica sighed as Elowen's hands roamed down her body and she grabbed them, pushing them off of her. "Elowen, Damon might be mad at you, but he's still your boyfriend and this would count as cheating. I'm not going to let you become a cheater. Let's just get you to bed, okay?"

Elowen made a sound of protest, but still sat back down on the bed without a fight when Veronica softly pushed her to sit. Veronica left Elowen on the bed for a moment as she went over to her dresser and pulled out a large shirt to sleep in and then walked back over to Elowen. She carefully helped Elowen put the shirt on, maneuvering her arms through the holes and finally pushed it the rest of the way down her body. When she was done, Veronica pulled the covers to the bed back and gently helped Elowen lay down, then put the blankets over her. Elowen already seemed half asleep by this point and Veronica sighed a little again, stepping away from the bed.

"God, you're gonna have such a headache in the morning..." She mumbled to herself, turning around and heading to her bed so she could begin to get undressed too.

xxxx

"You do realize when Elowen finds out what you did to Stefan tonight, she's going to kill you, right?" Toby asked Damon as they stood in the living room at the boarding house.

"Once I explain why I did it, she'll get over it," Damon replied.

"You sure about that?"

Damon shot a glare over his shoulder, then looked back down at the couch, where Silas's desiccated body was lying. Toby shook his head.

"I'm just saying, she didn't talk to you for almost a whole month after she found out you gave the cure away, even after you told her why you did it."

"Shut up before I make you."

Toby threw his hands up in surrender. Damon sighed and turned to face Toby.

"Have you heard from her at all?"

Toby shook his head. "No. Why?"

Damon sighed. "I said some stuff to her and she might've gotten drunk over it."

Toby's eyebrows shot up. "She got drunk? What the hell did you say to her?"

"Not important. You're her best friend. She had to have said something to you."

"She hasn't. What do you-"

There was a knock at the door. Toby stopped talking and looked over at it, then back at Damon, who was smiling widely.

"Now, who could that be?"

Damon walked over to the door and opened it. Katherine came sauntering in.

"What's so urgent?" She asked. "I'm on the run. Don't exactly have time for a pitstop."

She saw Silas on the couch and slowly smirked.

"Or maybe I do. Maybe I have all the time in the world. Katherine Pierce eludes death yet again, haha!" She turned to face Damon and Toby. "You two finally did something right for once. How does it feel?"

Damon smiled. "Thrilling."

Katherine's smirk faded at the look on Damon's face.

"Damon, no."

Damon sped over to Katherine and grabbed her by the shoulders.

"He needs the cure to become a witch."

He let his fangs come out and sank them into her neck.

"Ah! No! No, no, no. Damon! No, no, please! He needs all of my blood. It'll kill me, Damon. Damon, please, I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die, Damon. I don't wanna die. Please."

Damon paused for a moment and looked at Toby over his shoulder.

"Goodbye, Katherine," he said when he looked back at her, then grabbed her by the hair and pushed her neck against Silas's mouth. Damon held her there as she thrashed around against his grip, but he didn't let up. Slowly, Silas's hand came up to grab Katherine's head and Damon let her go. Little by little, Katherine stopped struggling and she went limp. Silas let her go and she fell to the ground. Damon and Toby looked down at her when they both heard a heart beating.

"Do you hear that?" Damon asked Toby.

"You've got to be kidding me," Toby deadpanned.

"Takes a licking, keeps on ticking."

Katherine took in a breath and opened her eyes. She looked over at Toby and Damon.

"Am I in hell?"

xxxx

Author's Note: Hey y'all! I hope you're enjoying season 5 so far... I actually think this season was one of my faves to write so far long with season 3. I'm curious to see what you guys think so far! Maybe leave a review letting me know? Until next time :)