Elowen sat at the grand piano at the boarding house, concentrating on the music sheet in front of her. She was practicing a piece for one of her finals and she had yet to deem it perfect. She hadn't quite memorized the notes yet, so every so often, she'd have to change the page and keep going. Currently, she was focusing on one specific verse in the song that she kept messing up on, so she played it over again, and again, and again, until finally, she grew frustrated enough to slam her hands down on the piano keys. An unpleasant discord of dissonances filled the room and Elowen closed her eyes to try and calm herself down.

"If you hit it any harder, you're going to break the piano in half," Stefan's voice rang out from behind her. "This piano has been in my family for generations. Be careful."

Elowen opened her eyes and looked over her shoulder. Stefan was leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed, watching her intently. Elowen sighed and turned on the piano bench to face the piano again so she could close the cover over the keys and grab the sheet music. She stood and walked over to her bag to put it away.

"Sorry, I'm just stressed out. I've got finals coming up, which is already anxiety inducing enough, but now I'm worried about Damon on top of it."

Stefan lifted himself off of the doorway and walked over to Elowen. He stopped in front of her, took her hands in his and lightly tugged her into his arms. Elowen closed her eyes again and let her head fall comfortably in the crook of Stefan's neck, allowing herself to relax in his hold. They stood like that for a couple of moments before Stefan pulled back, cupped Elowen's face in his hands and leaned down to kiss her.

"You're going to ace this test, okay?" He told her reassuringly after he pulled back. "I've never met someone as well versed and experienced in instruments as you, and I'm not just saying that because you're my girlfriend. You obviously love music and you take it seriously. Juilliard was stupid for not giving you an audition."

Elowen sighed. "Maybe I should've taken up Damon's offer for him to compel me a spot for fall semester."

The corners of Stefan's lips quirked up into a small smile. He reached up to brush some of Elowen's hair out of her face.

"We both know you wanted to get in by yourself to prove that you could do it. You would've felt like a cheater otherwise."

"You're right. I wouldn't have been able to stop thinking about the person who could've gotten my place but was passed up because I used dirty tricks."

Stefan grabbed Elowen's hands again and interlaced their fingers.

"How about this? You take a break from the piano for now and I'll go make you something to eat."

Elowen smiled up at Stefan.

"You'd do that for me?"

Stefan gave a lopsided smile back, running his fingers through her curls.

"Of course I would. Do you want anything specific?"

Elowen shook her head. "No. Surprise me."

Stefan leaned down again to give Elowen another quick kiss before pulling away to head to the kitchen. He'd just made it out of the room when the doorbell rang.

"Ah, that'll be Caroline," Stefan explained at the sight of Elowen's curious face. "I asked the sheriff to help me track down Damon."

"Oh. Rain check on the food?" Elowen asked as she followed after Stefan towards the front door.

"Rain check on the food. I promise."

They made it to the foyer and Stefan opened up the front door to let Caroline in. She paused when she saw Elowen.

"Oh. I didn't know you were here."

Elowen tilted her head. "Am I not allowed to visit my boyfriend?"

"No! No, I just… I'm just surprised that…."

"I want to find Damon after I broke up with him and probably broke his heart?"

"Uh, well… yeah."

Elowen shrugged. "Truth be told, I'm mainly here to practice for my finals. A grand piano is drastically different from a keyboard."

"Right. Well," Caroline faced Stefan, "you were right. He's off the rails. This is from my mom."

She handed over a folder, which Stefan took.

"Let me guess. Missing persons and animals attacks?"

"Check and check, but there's something else. All of the victims were found inside their homes without their heads… and their skin desiccated."

Stefan and Elowen frowned, sharing a look with each other.

"... Damon's feeding on vampires," Elowen mumbled after a beat of silence. "Let me see that."

She took the folder from Stefan and opened it. Stefan looked over her shoulder as she looked through some of the crime scene photos. Elowen sighed and shook her head.

"I shouldn't have let him go."

Caroline shook her head. "No, uh-uh. No. You are not during Damon's downward spiral into an Elowen Ramirez guilt trip. No one could've stopped him from going after Wes the other night."

"I guess Wes must have injected him with whatever he was going to give Elena that makes vampires feed on vampires," Stefan deducted.

"Ah, good news, bad news. Bad news is that when this happened to Jesse, we had to kill him, but the good news…" Caroline trailed off. "I'm sorry, usually there's some good news."

"I have to find him."

"I'll go with you," Elowen offered. She turned to Stefan. "I'll go get some clothes and you'll pick me up at my dorm?"

Stefan nodded. "Sure."

Elowen nodded back. "Okay. I'll see you later."

"Yeah."

Elowen got on her tip toes and pressed a quick kiss to Stefan's lips, passing along the folder and then headed for the door. Caroline followed after her and they left together.

xxxx

Veronica entered the dorm room and found Katherine sitting at her desk. Veronica ignored her and went to set her things onto her bed. Katherine turned in her seat and saw that it was Veronica. She smiled.

"Hey! How was class?" She asked.

Veronica glanced at her, but didn't say anything. Katherine didn't give up, though.

"What was it today? Latino studies, or-"

"Why are you talking to me?" Veronica asked abruptly, cutting Katherine off. "Seriously, what is up with you recently? You've been trying to like, I don't know… make friends with me, or something. What's with the sudden change? Because before you didn't care this much."

Katherine blinked, taken off guard. Veronica stared at her expectantly, waiting for her answer, but she didn't. Silence fell over them, and eventually, Veronica rolled her eyes and went back to what she was doing. Slowly, Katherine stood up and walked over to Veronica, stopping when she reached her bed. Veronica looked up and raised an eyebrow.

"Can I help you?"

Katherine took a deep breath.

"Are you on vervain?"

Veronica furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, staring at Katherine for a moment.

"Why do you want to know?" She asked suspiciously.

"Because I'm about to tell you something, and I might have to compel you to forget if this goes sideways."

Veronica blinked, taking a second to answer.

"That sounds really shady. To answer your question, yes, I'm on vervain. I'm not stupid."

"Are you wearing it, or do you ingest it?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

Katherine clenched her jaw and decided to just bite the bullet.

"I'm not Elena."

Veronica paused.

"Excuse me?"

"I'm not Elena," Katherine repeated. "I'm Katherine."

"Katherine's dead."

"You know how Nadia's boyfriend hitched a ride inside Matt's head?"

Warily, Veronica nodded her head.

"Well, that's what I did with Elena. On my deathbed, I put myself in her body."

Veronica narrowed her eyes at Katherine before crossing her arms. "Prove it."

"What?"

"Prove that you're Katherine. Tell me something only she would know."

Katherine walked around the bed and stopped a few inches away from Veronica, close enough for her to feel Katherine's breath on her face. Katherine reached out and started dragging her index finger down Veronica's shoulder, to her arm, and continued trailing it down as she spoke.

"You have a tattoo of a rose, right," Katherine's finger reached Veronica's left hip bone, and she gripped the skin there with her hand, digging her palm into her hip tightly. Katherine leaned up to Veronica's ear and whispered into it. "Here."

Veronica's skin felt like it was on fire where Katherine was touching her, and she took a couple of minutes to say something. Finally, she swallowed and opened her mouth.

"Why are you telling me this? I'd like to think that you'd rather not blow your cover."

"Because I heard what you said that day, when you came to check to see if I was dead. How you thought I was misunderstood, and how you hoped I'd find peace. I also heard the part where you said you liked me, and you thought that maybe we could've been friends, or maybe more, and I think I agree on that. I tried to do it as Elena, but clearly you hate her more than I thought you did."

Veronica crossed her arms. "My brother is a vampire because of her. Of course I hate her."

"And here I thought it was because you're friends with Elowen and those two don't get along."

"Oh, that, too. So, how exactly were you expecting this to play out? You tell me you're Katherine and then what? Because if we become buddies all of a sudden, people will get suspicious."

Katherine smirked, her hand pushing its way away from Veronica's hip and back up her body until it was cupping her face.

"I figured we could fool around in secret. Nobody has to know."

Slowly, Veronica's smirk matched Katherine's before Katherine leaned in and captured Veronica's lips in a fiery kiss. They stood there and made out for awhile, their hands roaming across each other's bodies. Veronica's hands sneaked up Katherine's shirt to feel her skin against her hands, and as her fingers inched higher, the sound of the doorknob jiggling caused them to rip away from each other in an instant. Katherine took a couple of long strides backwards to put some distance between her and Veronica just as the door opened. Elowen and Caroline came in and paused when they sensed the awkward tension in the air. Veronica was wiping her lips with the back of her hand and Katherine was scratching the back of her head. Caroline and Elowen shared a look, but before either of them could say anything, Caroline's phone started to ring. She took it out of her pocket and froze when she saw the caller ID.

"It's Tyler," she said softly. "I haven't really spoken to him since the, um, incident."

Veronica raised an eyebrow. "The incident? You mean when he tried to bite you after finding out you slept with a sexy Original hybrid with a certain English accent? Rule #1, Caroline. Never feel guilty for who you sleep with."

As Veronica said this, her eyes quickly flickered over to Katherine, who hid a smirk. Caroline crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes.

"You mean the way you don't feel guilty for sleeping with Katherine?"

"Uh, duh. She's one of the only people who gave me mindblowing sex. Why would I feel guilty for that?"

Caroline's face immediately scrunched up in disgust while Katherine smirked again, unable to hide it this time. Elowen noticed and tilted her head curiously at her, and when Katherine saw her staring, she quickly wiped the look off of her face. Nothing else could be said because Caroline's phone started to ring again, as she missed the call the first time.

"You should really answer that," Veronica drawled, a small sarcastic tone to her voice.

Caroline huffed at her attitude, but picked up the call anyway and pressed her phone to her ear. "Hey."

"Hey," Tyler greeted. "Have you talked to Matt?"

"No. Why?"

"Because it turns out that Nadia has been compelling him to forget things."

Katherine, who was listening in on the conversation, cursed mentally.

"Matt said he was going to avoid her, but I haven't heard from him," Tyler continued.

"Do you think he's in trouble?" Caroline asked.

"I think he hasn't been at home or work and his phone goes straight to voicemail."

"Okay, well, I'll come right over-"

"No. That's not why I called."

"No, I know, I think that we can figure this out together. I'll see you soon."

Caroline hung up and looked up to find Veronica giving her an unimpressed look with her arms crossed. She furrowed her eyebrows.

"What?"

"Don't you think you're pushing this too hard?" Veronica asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Caroline," Veronica deadpanned. "You slept with the guy who killed his mom. He's rightfully pissed at you. Give him space."

"Aren't you the one who just said don't feel guilty for who you sleep with?"

"I am, and I stand by that, but be realistic. Don't feel guilty, but face the consequences. This is the consequence. Losing one of your friends. Sometimes there are things you can't fix, Caroline."

"Do you need me to come with you?" Katherine asked before Caroline could respond.

Caroline's eyes fixed onto Katherine. "No, I got this."

"Are you sure?"

"You said you needed help studying earlier," Veronica cut in, talking to Katherine directly. "You know, for finals."

Katherine shot Veronica a confused glance, while Elowen and Caroline shared a suspicious look. Caroline crossed her arms.

"You're going to help Elena study?" She asked incredulously. "Since when?"

Veronica sighed. "I just figured since Elena and I take sociology together, it would make sense for us to help each other study. I'm trying to be nice to her for once. Let me live."

Caroline was sizing Veronica up when Elowen spoke.

"As long as you aren't plotting Elena's murder, which I'm sure you've already done before, I'm going to turn a blind eye this one time because I have to pack, but if this was any other time, questions would be asked."

Elowen walked past the three of them to her dresser and opened it to start pulling clothes out.

"But…" Caroline trailed off before sighing and giving up. "I've got to get to Tyler's. Good luck on finding Damon."

"Yeah," Elowen called over her shoulder as Caroline left the dorm.

Veronica frowned and turned to face Elowen. "Uh, what? You're going to look for Damon after telling him to leave and never come back? Do you see the logic there, or am I missing something?"

Elowen sighed as she walked over to her bed and pulled out her suitcase from underneath.

"To be honest, I'm only doing it for Stefan. Damon's his brother, and…" Elowen trailed off with a shrug. "I guess I'm doing what I know he'd do for me if this were Josiah."

"Okay, well, you're being stupid," Veronica stated bluntly. "Damon's made his bed. Let him sleep in it."

"Ouch," Katherine mumbled. "That's kind of harsh, isn't it?"

Veronica rolled her eyes. "Please. Everyone knows I prefer Stefan."

So do I, Katherine wanted to say, but she didn't. Veronica walked over to Elowen and watched her pack her things.

"Elowen, I'm saying this as your friend, but you're wasting your time here. I doubt Damon wants to be found, and he's made it clear he's not willing to change for you. What's the point?"

Elowen sighed, continuing to put things in her suitcase.

"The point is, Stefan just wants his brother back, and I'm willing to set aside my feelings and help him find Damon. Imagine if this were Angel. What would you do?"

Veronica popped her tongue in slight annoyance.

"Pulling the brother card. Totally unfair." She sighed dramatically. "Fine. I guess I can understand where you're coming from. I still think it's pointless, but you do you, Elle. You do you."

Elowen finished packing her things and closed the suitcase just as her phone dinged with a notification. She pulled it out to check the message.

"It's Stefan. He's here." Elowen tucked her phone back into her pocket and picked up her bag. "Wish me luck."

"Sure," Veronica said sarcastically. "Wishing you all the luck."

Elowen shot Veronica a look as she passed her, and the next second, she was gone. Katherine turned to Veronica as soon as the door closed behind Elowen.

"'Studying'? Seriously?" Katherine asked. "That's the best thing you could think of?"

Veronica shrugged. "Hey, gimme a break. I was trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. Why else would I want to willingly be in the same room as Elena, alone?"

Katherine walked closer to Veronica, closing the gap between them once again.

"Well, regardless, we're alone, aren't we?"

Veronica smirked before leaning in to press her lips against Katherine's. This time, Veronica pulled her shirt over her head and tossed it away somewhere in the room before firmly placing her hands on Katherine's hips so she could drag her down onto her bed with her. A loud giggle escaped both of their lips before they went back to lazily making out.

Hopefully, this time nobody would walk in on them.

xxxx

Veronica and Katherine laid on Veronica's bed, both of them covered by the sheets. Katherine was sitting up, scrolling through her phone, while Veronica was on her side, her head resting on the palm of her hand. Veronica watched as Katherine brought her phone to her ear and made a call.

"Who are you calling?" She asked.

"Nadia," Katherine replied. "What's going on with Matt?" She asked when Nadia answered.

"Nothing," Nadia responded.

"Really? Because Goldilocks and the big bad wolf are meeting to pow wow about him as we speak."

"Fine. Matt found out about you."

"He what?"

"Tyler gave him vervain."

"Kill him."

Veronica's eyes snapped up and she sat up quickly. She wasn't able to hear the other side of the conversation, but she understood the gist of it.

"Katherine…" Nadia started to say, but Katherine cut her off.

"Kill him. Now."

"He doesn't need to die. The vervain will be out of his system soon, and I've kept him out of sight for the last two days, so he hasn't told anyone."

"So, you two have just been tucked away, canoodling?"

"I don't even know what that means."

"We all love Matt Donovan. Otherwise, he would've been dead a long time ago, but when it comes to keeping my new doppelganger body a secret, nobody is that important. I'm spending the day with Veronica, but if-"

"You finally got your precious Veronica to give you the time of day?"

"Yes, I have my ways. Take care of the Matt issue by tonight, or I'll do it myself."

Katherine hung up and met Veronica's worried stare.

"Why did you really tell me the truth?" She asked. "You're so willing to kill Matt because he found out, when Matt is one of the most innocent people out of all of us, but what about me? What if I decided to run and tell everyone? Would you kill me, too? Because there's no way I'm that important to you, Katherine. You barely know me."

Katherine reached over and brushed some of Veronica's hair out of her face.

"I want to know you," she told Veronica sincerely. "You took a chance on me when nobody else would, Veronica."

Veronica shied away from Katherine's touch and rolled out of bed to stand up so she could get dressed.

"In the beginning, this was fun, you know? I hadn't really thought about it long term, but now that I am, I realize that if this is going to go anywhere, eventually I'd have to turn to be with you, and I don't want that. If I become a vampire, my sister would be left by herself, and I don't want her to be alone. I get that you don't really have that with anyone, or know what that's like, but she's my baby sister. It's my job to look after her."

Veronica grabbed her jeans and wiggled them back on. She sighed.

"And… I'm easily disposable to you. If I betray you, you'll kill me. If I double cross you, you'll kill me, or use me as leverage, or treat me like some pawn. You're Katherine freaking Pierce. You've never done anything to me to make me hate you, but who's to say you won't?"

Katherine sat up in bed and watched Veronica pull her shirt on. She shook her head.

"No, I wouldn't-"

"Katherine," Veronica deadpanned. "You're doing it to your own daughter. She just wants to get to know her mom, and instead, you have her running around doing your dirty work. She went out of her way to find another way for you to live when you were dying, when she could've easily left you on your deathbed, and how do you repay her? By having her compel Matt to do god knows what for you? Nadia deserves better. I deserve better."

Katherine threw the covers off of herself and walked over to Veronica, reaching out to touch her face when she reached her.

"Veronica, listen to me. When I opened up to you as a human, I meant it. I've spend my whole life running and looking over my shoulder, and the few times I thought I found someone, they would walk out on me-"

"Are you talking about Elijah? How first, he was going to offer you up as a sacrifice, and then when he gave you a second chance, he abandoned you because of what you did on the island?" Veronica sighed. "From my point of view, I can understand why you did what you did. It's not the same, because not only do I look out for myself, I look out for Angel and Adriana, but I've done some shitty things, too. Not nearly as diabolical, and mostly human gestures, but stuff. I've started fights, played dirty, spread rumors, used people as stepping stones, turned others against each other. I had to take back my sexuality after what my ex boyfriend did to me, and I promised myself that I would never catch feelings again. I don't want to walk out on you, Katherine, but I think that if I want to save myself, I have to."

Katherine shook her head again. "Veronica, no, I promise you that it's not going to be like that. When I took over Elena's body, I could've skipped town immediately, but I didn't. Why? Because I wanted you. I tried so hard as Elena to get you to like me, and if I wasn't serious, do you think I would've risked blowing my cover to tell you that I'm Katherine? I need you to trust me."

Katherine leaned her forehead against Veronica's.

"Please," she whispered.

Slowly, Veronica reached up to cup Katherine's cheek and angled her head upwards to kiss her gently. The kiss was delicate and soft as Katherine's hands came up to grab either side of Veronica's face. She tilted her head to deepen the kiss when suddenly, the door to the dorm opened. Katherine and Veronica instantly broke apart and turned towards the door to find a shell shocked Toby standing in the doorway. His mouth was dropped open and his eyes were wide.

"Toby!" Katherine cleared her throat. "What are you doing here?" She asked as she picked up her shirt to put on and made a grab for her jeans.

"I, uh…" Toby trailed off dumbly, his brain still trying to process what he saw. "I wanted to talk," he said slowly as everything started to catch up to him again. "But… I can see that you're busy."

His mind wandered over to the fact that Katherine was in nothing but her bra and underwear when he came in and that she was now rushing to get dressed, and he wondered if maybe something else had happened before he showed up.

"No, it's fine!" Katherine forced out a laugh. "What did you want to talk about?"

Veronica picked up her bag from the floor and pointed at the door.

"I'm gonna be at the library," she mumbled before pushing past Toby and out of the dorm, closing the door behind her.

Toby turned back to Katherine. There was a brief silence before he said something.

"What the hell are you doing?" He asked. "Veronica hates you. Wait. Is this really why you broke up with me? Because you have feelings for her? Because you're… gay?"

The word came out very slowly with an obvious question mark at the end, and it felt weird on his tongue when he said it. He shook his head.

"Why did you just… tell me? I knew that when you fed me the story about competing with Elowen that something else was wrong."

Katherine sighed and shrugged, playing along with Toby's assumption. "I don't know. I'm still trying to figure things out. This isn't easy, you know? My whole life, I thought I was attracted to only men, but then I met Veronica, and… I don't know. I know she hates me, and it's probably a shot in the dark, but I like her. I'm sorry. I should've just told you."

"Well… I guess that answers some questions, and I guess the trip out here wasn't exactly for nothing."

Toby turned to leave, but when he reached the door, he stopped and turned around.

"And Elena? I hope you figure this out."

He opened the door and left, and once he was gone, Katherine exhaled a breath of relief.

So much for keeping her and Veronica a secret.

xxxx

Stefan and Elowen pulled up to a gas station so they could fill up Stefan's car and Elowen sighed loudly as she got out.

"We could've just taken my car, you know?" She said as Stefan walked around to pump the gas. "It's bigger, and roomier, and comfier. Not to mention, it's modern."

Stefan scoffed. "What are you talking about? This car is a classic."

"And cramped," Elowen deadpanned. "My leg fell asleep."

Stefan chuckled. "Go walk it off."

Elowen rolled her eyes and leaned against the car. There was a beat of silence before Stefan cleared his throat and said something.

"You know… I think it's good that you stood your ground with Damon instead of just giving in. There's been times where I was worried that you were letting him walk all over you, but I know that's stupid because you've never let anyone get away with doing that. You want him to become a better person just like I do, and you understand that it doesn't just happen at the snap of a finger, but… I know that you're mainly doing this for me. You want a break, rightfully so, and you want to teach him a lesson, but… you didn't need to come."

Elowen sighed. "Yes, I did, Stefan. I told you, I'm not giving up on him, and… I still love him. The emotional roller coaster that is Damon's redemption is a long one, and yeah, I admit that I kind of want to get off, but not permanently. It's dizzying, but in the end, it'll be worth it. He's worth it, and it's obvious that he wants this, but he's scared... and… you were right. All it takes is one person to believe in him. We can both be that person."

The gas pump clicked, indicating that the tank was full, and Stefan pulled the pump out and put it back on the stand. Elowen straightened up.

"Okay, you start the car back up, I'm going in to get something to eat."

Stefan stopped her. "I got it. What do you want?"

"Hot cheetos and brisk raspberry tea."

"That sounds… healthy."

"It's a gas station. They're not gonna have gourmet five star meals, Stefan."

Stefan threw his hands up. "Alright, coming right up."

Stefan walked off towards the gas station and Elowen waited for him outside. He came back as she was stretching her arms over her head and handed over her snacks.

"Here you are."

Elowen took them. "Thanks."

They both piled back into the car and as Elowen opened up her drink, Stefan went to start the ignition, but stopped when his eyes landed on the temperature gauge. Elowen had just finished taking a sip of her drink when she looked over at Stefan and saw the look on his face.

"Is everything okay?" She asked.

"I'm not sure," Stefan replied. "The temp gauge is a little too high for my liking."

"Huh?"

"The engine's starting to overheat," Stefan elaborated in simpler words as he exited the car again.

"Oh."

Elowen followed him out of the car and around the back to the hood of the car. Stefan popped it open and his eyes scanned over the inside before landing on one of the hoses, which had a giant crack trailing down the center. He sighed and pointed it out.

"That's the radiator hose."

Elowen grimaced. "Yeah, that looks pretty fucked up. Why didn't you check the car before we left?"

"I guess I was too swept up in finding Damon that I didn't think about it."

"This wouldn't have happened if we had just taken my car," Elowen said in a sing-song voice, causing Stefan to playfully glare at her. She grinned back at him in response.

Stefan closed the hood. "I'm gonna go see if the mechanic has a spare."

"Okay, well, I saw a hotel a couple of streets down that way." Elowen jabbed her thumb over her shoulder. "I don't really wanna sit around for who knows how long while they work on your car, and I didn't get to shower before we left. Meet you there?"

"I don't know, maybe I should wait here in case they finish early."

"Nice try. Don't forget my bag."

Elowen twirled around on her heels and started to walk away. Stefan sighed, watching her go, before shaking his head and going off to find the mechanic.

xxxx

Katherine found Veronica in the library, where she said she was going to be, and plopped down next to her with a sigh.

"Well, that wasn't awkward at all," she mumbled, peering over Veronica's shoulder to see what she was working on. "LGBT history throughout race and ethnicity. Huh."

Veronica raised an eyebrow. "What? I'm bisexual and I'm Mexican. This topic is like… my identity as a whole."

"Well, if you need anyone to tell you about the Stonewall riots, I'm your girl. I was in Manhattan for most of it."

"Wait, seriously?"

Katherine nodded. "Mm-hm."

"That would actually help a lot. Researching about it versus verbally hearing about it from experience are two totally different things, and I prefer the latter. So, what did you tell Toby?"

Katherine shrugged. "Convinced him the real reason Elena broke up with him is because she had a gay awakening. You."

"And he actually bought it?"

"I think catching us with our tongues down each other's throats really sold it."

Veronica snorted. "Well, by the end of the day, everyone else will probably be in the loop. That'll be fun to explain away. You do realize this might raise some suspicions, right?"

Katherine shrugged nonchalantly, like it wasn't a big deal and like it wouldn't potentially put her in danger. "I'll handle it. I'll skip town if I have to."

Veronica sighed. "Katherine… you do realize that I won't go with you, right? I can't leave behind Angel and Adriana, and I know we'll be on the move a lot. I don't want that. I'd love nothing more than to travel the world with you, but maybe once I get a little older, after I graduate. I still have my whole life ahead of me, and," Veronica lowered her voice, "you're a vampire. What's a couple more years to you?"

Katherine reached over and brushed some hair behind Veronica's ear with a sigh.

"I understand, and I'll be waiting for you."

She leaned in and gave Veronica a quick kiss.

"Okay, I seriously have to study," Veronica said once Katherine pulled back. "How about that retelling of Stonewall?"

Katherine smirked. "Anything for you."

xxxx

"You only packed one bag, but this thing is heavy," Stefan said as they entered the hotel room. "What'd you put in here? Rocks?"

Elowen laughed. "Actually, I packed witch supplies. I figured I could do a locator spell once we got to a safe space. I wasn't sure doing it at the dorm was a good idea. Anybody could walk in."

"Oh. That's a good idea, actually." Stefan paused. "You know we'll get him back, right? He's hurt, but he's not a lost cause."

Elowen sighed, but nodded her head. "Yeah, I know. It's just… he had to go and prove my point, for whatever twisted reason."

"He wants this, wants you, he just… Look, you don't know what it's like being in love with you."

Elowen titled her head. "What do you mean?"

Stefan had set their things down and went over to Elowen. He reached out and grabbed one of her hands, pressing their palms together.

"When you and I are together, every single atom in my body tells me that it's the right thing, that we're a perfect fit, and that kind of love… it can change your whole life." Stefan slid his fingers through Elowen's, intertwining them together. "When somebody who made you feel that way suddenly pulls away, the vacuum is just…"

Elowen nodded slowly. "I think I get it. If all of a sudden, one of you didn't love me anymore, or both of you even, I would just… tap out for awhile. You two have taken me through a whirlwind of different emotions, and we've been through a lot together. Loving you has been one of the most realest things I've ever felt in my whole life. I know there's some stupid prophecy about you and Elena, and I know that you originally came back to Mystic Falls for her, but our love is real. We fell in love all on our own, destiny be damned. I love you, and I love Damon, and I wouldn't have it any other way."

Stefan smiled down at Elowen softly and he leaned down to kiss her. He pulled away, but Elowen got on her tiptoes to reconnect their lips again. Her hand came up to grab the back of Stefan's neck to pull him closer, and she pressed her body flush against his. She was kissing him long and hard, pouring her emotions into it as if to prove her point. Stefan's hands landed on her hips, gripping onto her tightly as their makeout session turned heavy and passionate.

"Shouldn't we be," kiss, "looking for," kiss, "Damon?" Stefan managed to mumble against Elowen's lips.

"Are you really," another kiss, "going to ruin," and another, "the moment?" Elowen shot back, her hands sneaking under Stefan's shirt so she could push it over his head.

Stefan chuckled, the sound vibrating against Elowen's mouth, as he tried to shake his head.

"I guess," yet another kiss, "not."

With a grin, Elowen pulled back to take her own shirt off, and they both fell back on the bed with a laugh.

xxxx

"Should I feel guilty that I just had incredible sex with my boyfriend while we're supposed to be on a mission looking for my ex?" Elowen asked as she sat up in bed.

Stefan was standing, looking through his bag for a fresh change of clothes, when he looked back at Elowen. He pretended to think this over.

"Hm. Maybe just a little," he replied.

"That means, by default, you should be just a tad guilty, too. Are you?"

"Elle, please. I'm the king of feeling guilty."

Stefan shot Elowen a smile, and she smiled back. He walked over and leaned down to give her a quick kiss.

"Okay, I have major sex hair and if we find Damon while I look like this, he'll smell it on me."

"I don't know, I like the sex hair look. It's hot," Elowen commented. "Maybe because I know I'm the one who made it look that way."

Stefan playfully rolled his eyes. "Let me at least wash away my sins."

Elowen pouted. "How else am I supposed to mark my territory? I can't give you hickeys because you heal quickly!"

"Oh, wah. What a tragedy."

"Stefan!"

"Elowen!" Stefan mocked in return, garnering a glare from her. "I'm showering whether you want me to or not. Are you going to join me, or are you going to wallow out here in all your naked glory?"

"I don't know. Which would you prefer?" Elowen flirted suggestively, raising an eyebrow.

Stefan sighed dramatically. "Aren't you the one who said you didn't get to shower before we left?"

"Okay, now you're being no fun." Elowen threw the sheets off of her. "I'll be there in a minute."

Stefan shook his head in endearment and disappeared into the bathroom. As Elowen walked over to her bag to pick something out, the sound of the shower turning on rang throughout the hotel room. She'd just thrown a shirt onto the bed when her phone went off. She walked over to her discarded pair of jeans on the floor to pull it out of her pocket and paused when she saw Damon's name flash on her screen. After a moment, she answered the call.

"Something tells me you got yourself into some kind of trouble and you've very reluctantly called for help, because Damon Salvatore doesn't apologize, especially not over the phone. Am I right, or am I right?"

"You've actually hit the nail on the head," a voice that was definitely not Damon said through the line.

Elowen frowned. "Enzo? Ugh. What do you want?"

"I'm in a spot of trouble, actually."

"Okay, well, suck it up. I don't really care what happens to you. What are you even doing with Damon's phone? Where is he?"

"Oh, he's here, salivating, about to chomp into my neck and feed until my head pops off in a grotesque, but slightly comical fashion."

Elowen groaned. "Oh, no. Please don't tell me Wes infected him with that stupid vampire eating vampire virus."

They already had suspicions about it, but now it was confirmed that Damon was, in fact, feeding on vampires.

"I'm afraid so," Enzo replied. "We could use a hand. Wes enlisted the help of some of those singing witches and trapped us in the house."

"Do. Not. Come. Here," Damon's muffled voice piped up from somewhere in the background.

"He's afraid he might hurt you, which, while sweet, is pointless. You're human, which means you're no longer his feeding demographic," Enzo explained. "Me, on the other hand…"

"Okay, okay, fine. Text me the address, and we'll be there as soon as we can."

"We?"

"Me and Stefan. Sorry, you're new. The three of us are usually a package deal."

"That's right, you three have some trio relationship going on. Damon's been vague, but I've gotten the gist. Maybe you should warn your other boyfriend. I'd hate to see him go."

"Like I said, send me the address."

"Fine, and, uh, tick tock. I managed to restrain him, but you know how persistent Damon can be when he wants something."

"We'll be there soon."

Elowen hung up the phone. Stefan popped his head out of the bathroom.

"Are you coming? The water's gonna get cold."

Elowen tossed her phone down on the bed.

"Looks like we have to cut shower time in half. That was Enzo. We found Damon. Don't ask," she added at the end when Stefan opened his mouth to no doubt ask questions. "Let's just find Damon and bring him home, okay?"

Stefan nodded as Elowen walked over and joined him in the bathroom. The door closed behind her with a soft click, and the two of them went to shower.

xxxx

"Car's done," Stefan announced as he hung up his phone.

Elowen was in the bathroom brushing her hair out. She grabbed the ends of her hair and made a face.

"The blue's faded into an ugly shade," she said. "Should I redye it or just go back to brown?"

Stefan came into the bathroom and stood behind her, his hands coming to rest on her hips. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to the crook of her neck.

"Maybe you should try a different color?" He suggested. "You know, have some fun before going back to brown. Why not purple?"

"Hm." Elowen thought about it. "Purple might work. It'll annoy Damon, but it'll be worth it."

"What do you mean?"

"Damon hated the idea of me going blue. No idea why. I'm just not sure I wanna bleach my hair again and destroy it even more. I heard blue is hard to get out."

"Well, if push comes to shove, ask Veronica. Didn't she almost go to cosmetology school?"

"Indeed she did, but she decided she wanted a more serious occupation. Anyway, we should go."

"You're right. I've already got everything packed."

Elowen stepped away from the sink, and Stefan let her go. The both of them exited the bathroom, walking over to their bags. Elowen quickly put her brush away and then picked up her bag.

"We have a long night ahead of us," she sighed. "You go get the car, and I'll settle the bill."

Stefan nodded. "Alright, sounds good."

Stefan went over to the door as Elowen grabbed Stefan's bag. He opened it, and together, they walked out before going their separate ways.

xxxx

Elowen approached the house Enzo had sent the address for and stopped in front of the open door. She peered inside and spotted Damon sitting in the living room, alone. He looked up when he heard her and immediately stood.

"Well, you look like shit," Elowen noted.

"Wen. Don't come in. Do not."

"Oh, what are you going to do? Kill me? News flash, Damon. You don't feed on humans anymore."

Stefan appeared behind her a second later. Elowen took another step towards the door, but Damon tried to stop her again.

"I said don't! If you come in here, you ain't coming out."

Stefan looked around the inside of the house. "What exactly happened in here?"

Damon shrugged. "I wanted revenge. I got stuck with a vampire virus. Almost killed my last friend. Typical Damon."

"Enzo texted me the address here," Elowen said. "We're here to haul your ass back home."

"You told me to leave and never come back," Damon reminded.

"I did, and you deserved it. You were being a dick, but... I regretted saying that. Just let us help you."

"You can't help me! I feed on vampires." His eyes flickered over to Stefan. "You're a vampire. Do yourselves a favor and leave."

Stefan shook his head. "Well, that's not going to happen."

Damon charged at the both of them, but was stopped by an invisible wall from the boundary spell the traveler's cast on the house. Veins slithered down Damon's face.

"Stay back!"

"Are you trying to scare us or something?" Elowen asked. "You've attacked me one too many times for me to be afraid of you, Damon, and I've seen too much in the last two years to be easily deterred. Believe it or not, I still love you. I'm not backing down."

"Neither am I," Stefan added.

As Damon turned away in frustration, Elowen entered the house. Damon looked over and his eyes widened.

"No. No. No."

He crossed the room, grabbed her shoulders and tried to shove her back out of the house, but couldn't due to the spell.

"You gotta get out!"

He tried to push her harder, but it still wasn't working.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"I'm stubborn, remember?" Elowen shot back. She looked over her shoulder at Stefan. "Stay outside. I got this."

Stefan nodded, and Elowen turned back to Damon.

"You keep trying to find reasons to make me hate you, or to push me away, and you know what? I'm sick of it. You need to stop trying to make decisions for me, Damon. How well has that ever worked in the past? I said I couldn't be with you until you cleaned up your act, and instead you went off and tried to prove me right, that you're an awful person who's not worth it, and I'm pissed at you for it, but that doesn't mean I'm going to give up on you, so we're taking you home. End of story. Clearly, we can't transport you while you're a murderous vampire eating vampire with your vampire brother in tow, so sorry for this."

With a quick twist of her wrist, Damon's neck snapped and he fell to the ground with a thump.

"You can come in now," Elowen called over her shoulder. "The spell's broken."

"Are you sure?" Stefan asked as he tentatively crossed the threshold.

Elowen shot him a look from over her shoulder. Stefan threw his hands up.

"You're right. Stupid question."

Stefan walked over and picked up Damon, slinging him over his shoulder. Elowen nodded back outside.

"Let's go. Long drive back to Mystic Falls."

"Yeah."

Stefan followed her, and the both of them left the house.

xxxx

Elowen was settled in the living room while Stefan was down in the cellar taking care of Damon when Caroline came in. Elowen looked up and opened her mouth to say something, but paused when she saw the state Caroline was in.

"Yeesh. You look like you went through it today," Elowen observed.

"I did," Caroline replied as she walked over to the drink cart and poured herself a drink. "I knew the Klaus thing was gonna come with consequences, and Veronica was right. This consequence was losing Tyler as a friend and I can't fix everything, no matter how hard I try. Guess now I just have to deal with it and learn from my mistakes."

"How did that go, by the way? You know, meeting up with Tyler?"

Caroline scoffed, taking a sip of her drink as she came to sit next to Elowen on the couch.

"As well as you can imagine."

"Did you find Matt?"

"Yes, and Tyler was right. Nadia's been compelling him to forget things."

"What kind of things?"

"Who knows? He tried to message me, but Nadia stopped him."

Caroline handed her phone over to Elowen to show her the message before downing the rest of her drink. She got up to pour herself another drink.

"Help. K," Elowen read aloud. "Huh."

The front door opened and Toby came in just as Stefan came up from the basement.

"You guys are not going to believe what happened today," he said loudly to everyone in the room.

Everyone looked over at him curiously.

"What's up?" Elowen asked.

"I went to the dorms to go try and talk to Elena and instead, I found her and Veronica playing tonsil hockey in the middle of the room."

"What?!" Caroline blurted with a small shout, while Elowen's mouth dropped open. "Okay, wait, wait. Pause. What exactly happened?"

"Veronica left us alone, and then Elena told me that the real reason she broke up with me was because she was having some kind of sexuality crisis and that the whole time she's been crushing on Veronica, despite the fact that Veronica can't stand her."

Caroline shook her head. "Why wouldn't Elena come to me about this? I mean, she doesn't seem like the type to like girls, but anything is possible, I guess?"

Elowen shook her head as well. "Nah. Elena is one of the straightest people I know and there's no way Veronica would've let Elena get close enough to kiss her, and Veronica definitely would not have reciprocated it. Hang on." She paused, looking back down at Caroline's phone. "Katherine and Veronica hooked up, didn't they?"

Caroline furrowed her eyebrows. "I mean, yeah, but…"

"Caroline, think about it. Help. K. K, as in Katherine. Veronica wouldn't have kissed Elena, but she would've kissed Katherine and when Katherine was dying, Nadia figured out a way to put Katherine's spirit inside of Nadia's body."

"Yeah, but that didn't happen because Katherine had a change of heart," Stefan finally spoke up with a frown.

Toby shook his head. "No, no… you don't think that…? It's possible that she'd be… but…"

"We would've noticed!" Caroline piped up. "It's Elena. We know her… oh my god."

Elowen nodded her head.

"Katherine is in Elena's body."

xxxx

Author's Note: Writing out Veronica and Katherine was kind of interesting... I was basing Katherine's behavior off of what we saw when she was with Elijah in season 4, when Elena had her humanity off. She showed a softer side with Elijah so I knew it wouldn't be super out of character for her to be that way with Veronica. Anyway, this story arc is almost done! Whew!