Elena, Caroline, Elowen and Veronica all entered the dorm room, where Bonnie was recording a video for her mom. She turned when she saw them and turned the camera on them.

"Oh, here they are! Hey, guys! Say hi to my mom! Oh, that's Veronica. You don't know her, she's new, but she's cool, most of the time."

Veronica lifted her hand to wave. "Hey, Mrs. B! I'm kind of a bitch, but I like Bonnie because she's kind of dating my brother, so we're cool."

"Don't say that," Elowen chided. "That's not going to reassure Abby about the random girl who's rooming with her daughter."

Veronica shrugged in response. Bonnie turned back to her phone.

"In other news, they're all planning me a welcome party. Just something lowkey. I miss you. Please come visit when you get a chance. I'll, um, talk to you soon. Bye!"

Bonnie kissed her hand and then touched it to her phone screen before ending the call.

"By the way, mom," Elena started to say in a voice that mimicked Bonnie's, "I'm not a witch anymore, because I died and then came back from the other side."

"Yeah, I'm this supernatural anchor that connects the two worlds together, so…" Caroline joined in, trailing off.

Elowen decided to pitch in.

"Technically, I'm a ghost that people can still see and touch, so…"

Bonnie huffed. "Okay, so I left out a detail… or two. I'll explain when she visits. How big is this party going to be?"

"Well, let's see. Silas and Tessa are gone, and you finally aren't, which equals a massive cause for celebration! Which also equals a massive party."

As Elena was saying this, Elowen got quiet. She busied herself with taking things out of the bags they brought into the room. Caroline shot her a look and Veronica rolled her eyes. Elena obliviously tilted her head at Caroline.

"What? We got Bonnie back! That's a win, right?"

"Elena," Bonnie said softly, gaining her attention. "We may have gotten me back, but we still lost Josiah."

Elena stared at Bonnie blankly, as if it wasn't registering in her head. Veronica scoffed.

"God, are you seriously that dense? You're the one who lost your little brother, turned it off and went batshit crazy. You of all people should know what Elowen is going through. She had the opportunity to get her brother back and he gave it all up for Bonnie."

Realization finally dawned on Elena's face.

"Oh my god. Oh my god, Elowen, I'm so-"

"Don't worry about it," Elowen replied shortly, cutting Elena off. "You don't have to act like you care so you don't seem like a bitch. Everyone knows we hate each other. I mean, you're the one who tried to accuse me of not caring about Bonnie when I was trying to get Josiah back, remember? Just forget about it."

A guilty look crossed Elena's face and she opened her mouth to say something, but Veronica beat her to it.

"Save it. Nobody wants to hear your whiny half assed apology that you make all about yourself part way through. No one likes a victimizer, Elena."

Elena clenched her jaw and bit her tongue to stop herself from saying or doing something she would regret. Veronica turned away from her and started pulling plastic cups out of one of the paper bags.

"So, let me worry about getting people to come to the party. I'm good at that kind of thing. It would certainly help, since we've made a total of two friends between the four of us. Jesse, who conveniently didn't give me his number, but gave it to you," Veronica shot a look at Caroline, "and that Aaron guy you've been trying to dig answers out of," she looked over at Elena. "You know, the one from the costume party who Katherine of course saw at that creepy tea party thing for the vampire hating society when she was pretending to be you."

"Augustine, right?" Bonnie asked. "The one who covered up your roommate's death and wants you kicked off from campus."

Everyone else shot her identical looks.

"What? I've kept up! The other side is boring. What else am I supposed to do?"

Elena huffed. "Alright, so Augustine wants us gone. Who cares? It doesn't matter. It's not gonna happen. We're moving on with our lives, together, as functional vampires-"

"And a human who can blissfully be completely unaffected by this," Veronica interjected with a smile.

"And a witch who can also blissfully be completely unaffected by this because I can blend in easier than you can," Elowen added.

Elena took a deep breath to stop herself from being bothered and faced Bonnie.

"And a former witch, anchor thing. I don't know. And we have a party."

"With jello shots!" Caroline gushed enthusiastically.

Bonnie's phone went off and she looked down at it.

"Oh, shoot. Um, I have to go register for classes."

The other girls all shared knowing looks. Bonnie looked between them all.

"What?"

"Nothing!" They all chorused in unison.

Bonnie turned around to leave when Veronica mumbled under her breath.

"Have fun registering."

Bonnie turned back around and found everyone else pretending to makeout with the nearest thing they could find. Her mouth dropped open.

"Oh my god! Oh my god!"

She whirled back around in embarrassment and fled from the room.

xxxx

Angel leaned back from the kiss with Bonnie with a mix of confusion and amusement on his face.

"Wait, registering for classes?"

A sheepish look crossed Bonnie's face.

"I know. I- She's- I know Veronica doesn't mind, I just don't want to rub it in her face to the point that she gets sick of it and 180's her attitude towards me or something."

Angel chuckled. "Unless you break my heart or something, Veronica will be fine."

"Yeah, but… I spent the whole summer watching Veronica give Elena the cold shoulder and I just… I don't want her to do that to me."

Angel sighed. "She won't. She doesn't like Elena because she feels as if me becoming a vampire was Elena's fault."

Bonnie shook her head with a frown. "That was all Damon. Elena had nothing to do with that."

"Maybe, but why did Damon turn me in the first place?"

"So Adriana would have a reason to activate her hunter's mark and want to look for the cure."

"And why were you looking for the cure?"

Bonnie paused. "... because of Elena."

"There you go. Veronica also doesn't like the way Elena treats Elowen, and since Elowen is her friend, she's protective. Must be hard on Toby. I mean, he's dating his best friend's mortal enemy. Hey, why don't those two like each other anyway?"

Bonnie sighed. "Jealousy and insecurity I think, mixed in with a slight inferiority complex."

"And they haven't thought to like… I don't know… talk this out?"

"I think they get on each other's nerves too much at this point for them to sit in a room alone, unsupervised so they could 'talk'. Elena's a vampire now, so her anger is heightened, and Elowen has a mouth. She doesn't start fights. She finishes them."

"Did Damon teach her that?"

"No. Damon's the one who starts the fights. I think she observed how well that worked for Damon, and Klaus, for that matter, and learned that if they come at you first, nobody can blame you for the damage you do. It's a tactic, and it's a really smart one. I'm more worried about Elena if those two really get into it. Elowen will tear her apart."

"Yeah, well, her dad taught her how to fight, she's a witch and she's channeling all that power, isn't she? I'd be on her side, too, no offense. She's sort of the one who helped me be a vampire with Caroline's assistance. Anyway, enough of the bff drama." Angel reached up and brushed some of Bonnie's bangs from her face. "Have I mentioned this haircut is kinda hot?"

Bonnie smiled up at him before something caught her eye across the courtyard. She looked over and saw an old woman standing there. Angel furrowed his eyebrows and followed her line of sight, but didn't see anything.

"Everything okay?"

Bonnie turned back to Angel and gave him a tight lipped smile.

"Yep. Gotta go to class." She stood up from the bench and threw her bag over her shoulder. "See you tonight?"

Angel nodded. "Yeah."

Bonnie leaned down to give Angel a quick kiss and then left. He watched her go before getting up himself and leaving, thinking nothing was off about her behavior.

Across the campus, Elowen was on the phone with Damon while Veronica handed out flyers for the party.

"Typically, I wouldn't be asking you to a college party because it seems below you, but you once said that you have a thing for sorority girls and those will definitely be there."

"Having a thing for sorority girls?" Veronica asked as she passed out a flyer. "Party tonight. Be there," she turned back to Elowen, "sounds like something Damon would be into. Has he even been to college, or did he just use college campuses to find a good food source?"

"The second one," Elowen replied as Veronica handed another flyer to a student passing them.

"Party at the dorms! Free booze will be there."

"Hey!" Damon chided through the phone. "I resent that."

Elowen rolled her eyes. "Sure you do. So, the party? Will you be there?"

"Well, since you asked so nicely, yes, I'll be there."

Elowen opened her mouth to answer when she spotted Aaron across the courtyard. She pointed him out to Veronica and they looked at each other before picking up pace to catch up with him.

"Hey!" Elowen called out. "Aaron, hey!"

Aaron turned and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion when he saw her and Veronica.

"Who's Aaron?" Damon asked, but Elowen didn't answer him. She stopped in front of Aaron and smiled.

"Do I know you?" Aaron questioned quizzically.

Elowen shook her head. "No. We're Elena's roommates."

"Oh."

Veronica handed over one of the flyers.

"Party tonight. Elena wants you to come."

Aaron took the flyer and looked down at it. "Party in a dorm. No, thanks."

"Oh, come on. There will be jello shots," Veronica told him with a sing-song voice. "And hot girls. I mean, you're into girls, right?"

Aaron chuckled. "Yeah, I'm into girls. Will you be there?"

Veronica nodded. "Course I will. I'm the one handing out the flyers."

Aaron thought about this for a moment before nodding.

"Okay, yeah. I'll come."

"Good."

"See you later."

Aaron turned and walked away. Once he was gone, Veronica smirked over at Elowen.

"See? I told Caroline I was good at this kind of thing."

"Did she bat her eyelashes at him or something?" Damon asked, reminding Elowen that she was still on the phone with him.

"No," Elowen reminded. "She's just charming."

Damon scoffed. "Yeah, until she opens her mouth."

"Be nice!"

"If he insulted me about being a flirt, tell him I said that I'm just the female version of him, so who's really insulting who?"

"That's a reach," Damon replied. "She's nothing like me."

"Mean, finds torturing people fun, likes bourbon, rarely feels guilt, has apathy issues," Elowen listed off. "I don't know. Kind of sounds like you."

"Whatever."

Elowen shook her head, following Veronica as she went back to passing flyers out.

"Oh, hey, can you try inviting Stefan for me? He's not answering my calls and I want to see him to make sure he's okay. Or at least tell him to call me back. I'm getting worried about him."

Damon sighed. "I'll try, but no promises."

"Okay. Thank you. Look, I have to go, but see you tonight?"

"Yeah, sure. Love you."

"Love you, too."

Elowen hung up the phone and Veronica handed her half of the stack of flyers.

"You get to help now. Come on."

With a sigh and a shake of her head, Elowen followed Veronica.

xxxx

After Damon hung up the phone with Elowen, he went to go find Stefan, who was sitting in the library in front of the fireplace.

"So apparently, we've been invited to a college party," Damon said as he approached Stefan. Stefan didn't move or say anything.

"Yeah, that was my reaction, too, then Elowen promised a bottomless well of top shelf alcohol."

Stefan still didn't respond. Flashbacks of his time locked in a safe flashed through his head and his fingers dug into the armrests of the chair he was sitting in. His face was drenched in sweat and his hands were lightly shaking against the leather of the chair. Damon stepped in front of him and saw the state he was in and stopped.

"Stefan?" He called out quietly, jarring Stefan from his thoughts. "You… okay?"

Stefan swallowed. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"You sure? Because this looks like one of Elowen's PTSD attacks."

"I said I'm fine," Stefan snapped.

"Tell that to the reading chair."

Stefan looked down at his hands and immediately released his grip on the armrests. He swallowed.

"Tell Elowen I said thanks, but I'm not really up for a party tonight."

Stefan got up and started leaving the room, but Damon called after him.

"At least call her or something, okay? You've been dodging her calls and she's worried."

"Yeah, sure, whatever," Stefan mumbled back just before he left.

Damon sighed and watched him leave.

xxxx

Elowen, Caroline and Veronica were all gathered in Jesse's dorm room. He'd called Caroline shortly after Elowen and Veronica got back from handing out the flyers and she'd left without saying anything, only to call Elowen later asking her to come to Jesse's room because someone had turned him into a vampire. Needless to say, she just about dropped everything to go and meet her. Now Jesse was telling them about what Dr. Maxfield had done to him while he was locked up.

"It was torture," Jesse was explaining. "I was in a cell all day and at night, he would take me out and do experiments on me."

"What kind of experiments?" Elowen asked.

"I don't know. He would starve me and then inject me with some weird blood. What am I supposed to tell my parents? They left me all these messages. They're wondering where the hell I am."

Caroline came over and sat next to Jesse. "You're going to call them and tell them that you lost your phone-"

"He could've easily called his parents from someone else's phone," Veronica pointed out. "Say that you've been busy with your classes and time just got away from you. Where's Dr. Maxfield now?"

"I locked him in his lab after I attacked him," Jesse replied. "Honestly, the whole escape was kind of a blur. I wasn't exactly in my right mind."

"Well, you're new and you're hungry," Caroline said.

Elena entered the room holding a small cooler. "Not for long. I brought our stash."

Elena set the cooler down and opened it, pulling out a blood bag to hand to Jesse.

"Our stash?" Jesse asked. "You're a vampire, too?" He looked over at Elowen and Veronica. "And you two?"

Veronica shook her head. "Nah. Human."

"Witch," Elowen told him.

Jesse shook his head. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Elle!" Caroline chided. "He's already shaken up enough. Don't add to the stress."

"What was I supposed to do then? Lie?"

Caroline huffed, but took the blood bag from Elena and passed it along to Jesse.

"Here. You'll feel better after you eat."

Jesse took the blood bag, opened it and tentatively started to drink it. Elena glanced over at Aaron, who was unconscious on the couch.

"How's he doing?"

Caroline sighed. "He's alright. He's alive."

Elena approached Aaron, biting into her wrist so she could feed him her blood, when Caroline stopped her.

"Elena, wait. I was thinking that Jesse could do it." She turned to Jesse. "You're a vampire now. You may have hurt him, but you can also heal him with your blood."

Caroline grabbed Jesse's arm and bit into his wrist. Veronica leaned over to Elowen to whisper in her ear.

"Kinky."

With a small glare in her direction, Caroline stood up, bringing Jesse with her, and walked over to Aaron. She placed Jesse's wrist against Aaron's mouth and they watched as the bite on Aaron's neck started to close.

"Holy crap," Jesse blurted in wonder. "That's insane."

Caroline looked over to Elena with a smirk. "You want to teach him about compulsion?"

xxxx

Elowen's phone rang as she headed back to her dorm to get ready for the party and she just about froze when she saw Stefan's name on the caller ID. She answered it almost immediately.

"Stefan? Oh my god. Is everything okay? I've been worried sick because you've been dodging me ever since Bonnie came back. I was almost thinking about dropping everything and coming home to check on you."

Stefan sighed through the line.

"I'm sorry for worrying you. I should've called sooner. Um… everything has not been okay, to answer your question."

"What's been going on? You can talk to me."

"I thought that killing Silas would allow me to move on with my life, but I was wrong. You were right. It felt amazing for all of five seconds, and then reality came crashing down on me. One minute, I think I'm fine, and the next, I feel like I'm dying all over again."

Elowen sighed.

"You survived a pretty traumatic event, Stefan. Having PTSD over it is kind of expected."

"I used to think you were so brave and strong for dealing with this and being able to keep your head up and push past this, but now? I have the utmost respect for you. How have you been able to deal with this for so long?"

"That's a hard question to answer. I guess you eventually just learn coping mechanisms and see what works for you the best. It's really hard to come out of a flashback attack by yourself, but you need to find a way to keep yourself grounded and remind yourself that what you think is happening, really isn't happening. That what you're feeling is valid, but not real. Breathing is important. That's step one. Step two is forcing yourself to think about things other than what's going on in your head. What you had for breakfast. What your favorite color is. Your first memory. Things like that. I used to carry a pack of peppermint gum around and when I felt myself start to freak out, I would chew some and focus on the flavor. Stefan, listen to me, if you feel yourself starting to panic, call me immediately, okay?"

"Okay."

"Stefan, I'm serious. The second something doesn't feel right-"

"Elowen, I got it. I promise. Don't you have a party to get to?"

"Yeah, a party you're not coming to. Are you sure about that? Maybe being around people will be good for you."

"No, thanks. If I have a meltdown in a room full of drunk college students, I might accidentally kill someone."

Elowen sighed. "Okay, I understand. If you need someone present with you in case you feel like you can't bring yourself out of an attack, call my mom. She's gotten me through a lot of them and she considers you family, so you don't have to feel embarrassed."

"I think I kind of want to be alone right now-"

"Is that why you're on your way to The Grill right now?"

Stefan sighed.

"Alright, you got me. I'll give Esmeralda a call, if that'll reassure you."

"It would."

Elowen reached her dorm room and reached into her pocket to pull out her key.

"Okay, I have to go. I love you."

"I love you, too."

Elowen hung up the phone and entered her dorm so she could get ready for the party. Stefan pulled his phone away from his ear, scrolled through his contacts and paused when he got to Esmeralda's number. His thumb hovered over the call button for a second before he pressed it. Esmeralda answered after the third ring.

"Hey, Stefan. What's up?"

"Do you maybe want to get a drink with me at The Grill?"

"Oh, sure. What's the occasion?"

"No occasion. I just wanted someone to hang out with that's not Damon."

"So you chose your girlfriend's mom. Great choice."

Stefan and Esmeralda shared a laugh.

"I'll meet you there," she said. "See you in a bit."

"Yeah."

Stefan hung up and continued his way towards The Grill.

xxxx

"You keeping an eye on Jesse?" Elowen asked as she approached Caroline and Elena at the party.

Caroline nodded. "Yep. I've been teaching him the art of sublimating vampire hunger via grain alcohol."

"And Damon and Toby are questioning Wes as we speak."

"Don't those two like, hate each other?"

"I think they've grown past hate. They're more like… friends, but in a hostile way. Actually, I think Toby has really grown on Damon. He just doesn't want to admit it. He needed a new guy buddy after my dad died, and Toby seems to be it."

Caroline snorted. "That sounds like a disaster waiting to happen."

"Well, at least I don't have to worry about Toby killing Wes," Elena commented.

Caroline shot Elena a look of disbelief while Elowen tilted her head.

"Excuse me?"

Elena shrugged nonchalantly. "I mean, this is Damon we're talking about, isn't it? That's normal behavior for him."

"Elena!" Caroline chided. "Are you seriously trying to go there right now?"

"Why are you getting mad at me? I'm not wrong."

"Funny, it sounds like you're trying to judge Damon as if you haven't killed anybody," Elowen said. "Waitress in Pennsylvania ringing a bell?"

"I had my humanity off."

"So? You still have blood on your hands, so you're one to talk. And what about me? And Caroline? Toby? Stefan? If you're going to judge Damon, keep the same energy for everyone else."

Elowen turned and left. Caroline sighed and looked at Elena.

"Not cool, Elena."

Elena opened her mouth to say something, but Caroline was already walking off to chase after Elowen.

xxxx

Dr. Maxfield was tied to a chair in his lab while Damon and Toby rummaged through the fridge.

"What do you want?" Dr. Maxfield asked, watching them nervously.

"What I want is to be drinking copious quantities of booze and making out with my girlfriend, but unfortunately, I can't do that until I get a bunch of answers out of you," Damon replied, walking over to one of the other fridges in the room.

"He likes working with a partner in crime, so that's why I'm here," Toby explained, closing the first fridge and walking over to Damon. "We hate each other, but I think we've come to a mutual agreement. Wouldn't you say so, Damon?"

"Oh, totally." Damon pulled open the second fridge that revealed a tray of vials. "Whoa!"

"Careful with those!" Dr. Maxfield blurted worriedly.

"These?" Damon held up the tray. "These, right here? What? I mean, we're on a college campus, right? Full of students? I mean, I can't imagine an M.D with a bunch of infectious diseases just lying around."

"M.D. PhD. I'm a researcher."

"That explains it. I know a lot of people like you. Science over medicine, right? Let me guess. You use these," Damon pointed to the materials him and Toby pulled out of the first fridge, "on your little vampire lab rats, don't you?"

Dr. Maxfield didn't answer.

"Not in the mood to talk? Fair enough."

Damon selected a random vial from the tray from earlier.

"We're going to play a little game where I inject you with whatever the hell 'necrotizing fasciitis' is."

"It's a flesh eating bacteria," Toby replied, causing Damon to shoot him a look. "What? I took AP biology junior year. I can probably identify all these cool little diseases in these vials."

He took the vial from Damon, picked up a syringe and started filling the syringe with the bacteria.

"Quick rundown on what we're going to do to you. We're going to keep injecting you with this wonderful array of bacteria unless you answer the questions we have for you. If you answer correctly, one of us will give you some of our blood and heal you up. Answer wrong… well, guess we'll see how fast this bacteria eats your flesh. Sound good? Great."

Toby stabbed the needle into Dr. Maxfield's arm and injected the bacteria into his body.

xxxx

Somehow, Esmeralda and Stefan had been dragged into one of Katherine's schemes, as much as they didn't want to be, and now they stood in the back storage room of The Grill with Katherine, and surprisingly, her daughter, Nadia.

"Just out of morbid curiosity, which one of you is younger?" Stefan asked.

"I am," Katherine and Nadia replied at the same time, before shooting each other a look.

Matt entered the room, carrying a blade in his hand.

"Okay, so here's the knife the traveler left behind with me. Now, what are we doing here?"

Katherine gestured to the chair in the room. "Take a seat, Matt."

Matt did as he was told and Katherine looked back at Nadia, who scoffed.

"This is ridiculous."

She walked up to Matt, placed her hands on either side of his head, and said something in a different language. Matt closed his eyes and when he opened them, they were solid black. He closed them again and when he opened them back up, they were back to normal.

"What the hell was that?" Stefan asked.

"She's calling on Matt's passenger," Esmeralda answered. Katherine looked over at her and she shrugged. "I'm a witch. Of course I've heard of the travelers."

Nadia and Matt's passenger started speaking to each other in Czech, and when he saw Katherine, he tried to rise out of his seat. Stefan grabbed his shoulders and pushed him back down.

"Easy. Easy."

Katherine stepped forward. "Hello, Gregor. I'm Nadia's mother. It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

"What do you want?" Gregor asked.

"Here's the thing. Nadia is my only child, so naturally, I'm suspicious of anyone who wants to date her. Why don't you tell us the real reason why you're in Mystic Falls?"

"To track and kill Silas."

"Hm. So, it has absolutely nothing to do with this?"

Katherine lifted up the blade.

"How did you get that?"

Gregor stood again, but Stefan kept his grip on his shoulders.

"I would much rather be getting drunk right now, so why don't you stop wasting our time, and tell us what you're doing here."

Katherine held the blade against Matt's neck.

"Fine. After Silas was dead, I was meant to kill her." Matt nodded at Katherine.

"For some reason, that doesn't surprise me," Esmeralda said. She looked at Katherine. "Five hundred years of screwing people over? You accumulate a lot of enemies over the years."

Nadia shook her head. "You were using me to get to her? Why? Why would you kill her?"

"That's what the traveler's want," Gregor answered. "I don't question my orders."

"See why I don't want you dating my daughter?" Katherine asked rhetorically. "Because travelers are ruthless, manipulative, hypocrites. I know," she glanced at Nadia," because your grandfather was one."

Katherine removed the blade from Matt's neck and plunged it into his stomach. His body slumped back down into the chair as Nadia approached Matt in shock.

"What did you just do?" Stefan asked worriedly, looking down at Matt.

Katherine rolled her eyes. "Give it a rest. Matt will be fine. Gregor, on the other hand, not so much. I just expelled his spirit. There's a reason why he wanted his knife so badly. It's the only thing that will truly kill a passenger."

Katherine handed off the blade to Esmeralda and then left the back room, ignoring Nadia's angry look.