Chapter 50: Truth, Set Me Free

"You're lying."

Jeremy's frame went stiff and Derek could hear him swallow, could practically taste the sweat beading against his hairline.

"What?" Damon sidestepped in front of the younger Gilbert.

"He's lying, about the witch."

"Bonnie?"

"When he was talking about her, I could hear his heartbeat change. He lied. He's been lying this entire time. Stefan was suspicious too. He confronted you and you lied that time too, didn't you? We were busy trying to find the others and it wasn't my place to press then. What did you do?"

"Do?" Damon whipped his head from Derek to Jeremy and back. "Jeremy wouldn't do anything to Bonnie. Well, anything she didn't ask for. His heartbeat probably changed because he's a damn foolish kid in love with an annoying witch."

"I thought it would be too distracting for your friends to hear it when we had so much else to worry about," Derek pushed forward. "Stefan knows, suspects, but I think he's letting you make the choice when to let everyone else know."

Since the first time the witch's name had passed the hunter's lips, Derek had been able to smell the grief pouring off of him in currents. The kid shoved it down well. Derek might have easily mistaken the scent for something over a bad breakup. But he knew far too well the pain Jeremy was feeling. Had tasted it before again and again. He himself probably practically reeked with it.

"I'm sorry," Derek looked at Jeremy with a softness his pack wouldn't recognize. "But you need to tell them. And now, before things around here get worse. It will only make it harder if you don't."

"Tell us, what? Jeremy?"

"Jeremy, no. Not now."

"This is ridiculous. Jeremy, call Wonderless Witch. Get her over here, powers or no powers."

Jeremy didn't respond right away, foggy eyes drifting over to meet Derek's. Grief surged with every expelled breath, reaching higher peaks, never sufficiently soothed by his long intakes of the damp evening air.

"That's the problem," Jeremy started slowly, clearing his throat. "I can't call her. No one can."

"Please, don't do this Jeremy," the ghost whispered from next to him.

"I've," Jeremy turned away from her, "I've been lying to everyone this whole summer, and I can't keep lying knowing everyone's waiting for her to swoop in and save the day."

"I don't speak 'crazy person', Jer. You're gonna have to translate that for me."

"Think about it, Damon." Jeremy finally looked at the vampire. "I was dead. I wasn't supposed to come back."

"Yes, exactly." Damon leaned back and wiggled his fingers with a flourish. "The beauty of Bonnie magic, which is what we need right now. So, tell her to stop moping and hiding halfway across the world, get off her judgy little behind, and figure out a way to power back up."

"You're not hearing me." Jeremy started again, shaking his head. "Magic finds a balance. I'm not supposed to be here."

And in that moment, the other shoe dropped like a crashing building, followed by Damon's face.

"No."

"You can't just bring somebody back from the dead. There is always a price to pay for it."

"Don't say it, Jeremy. Don't you dare."

Derek's brow narrowed at the sudden sadness seeping from the vampire's form.

"Nobody has spoken to her in months."

"Please, Jeremy," Bonnie edged closer to him.

"You say it, and everything in Elena's life goes to crap, do you understand me? She got you back. We saved her. She's going to college. She finally – you can't. Tyler might be - he's missing. Not to mention we're all gonna be killed by Klaus without her. Everything changes."

"Do not say it, Jeremy."

"Don't," Damon unknowingly echoed the witch.

Jeremy took a breath, exhaling the two words together like a punch he didn't want to throw.

"Bonnie's dead."

"Damn it, Jeremy! Do you realize what you just did?" Damon turned and paced away from the teenager. "Why would you say that?"

"I'm sorry," Jeremy swallowed. "People need to know."

Damon spun around, his features riddled with emotions. He began marching dangerously toward Jeremy. Derek tensed and readied himself for a fight as Damon appeared to be about to attack the human. At the last second, Damon's face shifted, but not into his vampire form. A softness overtook him and he suddenly pulled the kid tight into his arms. Derek stood by silently during the embrace until Jeremy finally stepped back.

"How are we supposed to tell everyone?" Jeremy swiped subtly at his eyes. "First Tyler and now this? I've known all this time and I'm barely -" the boy stopped himself, swallowing tears. "We've all lost too many family and friends."

"They're strong," Damon nodded. "They'll pull through this." Shaking his head, the vampire turned to Derek. "You got any good liquor? Whiskey, preferably."

"I thought vampires couldn't get drunk, like us."

"Well," Damon patted Jeremy's shoulder, "tonight, I'm going to try very hard."

"That's not true," Jeremy placed a hand out to stop the vampire. "They can get drunk. It just takes more. And, Damon, you drunk and upset is not the help we need right now."

"Look at you, all mature ."

"I won't let you go off and get drunk and then accidentally kill someone," Jeremy moved in front of him. "I know no matter what you say, you cared about Bonnie. And this hurts you too. And it hurts you 'cause it hurts Elena. But it hurts me, too, Damon. It all hurts. Tyler. Bonnie. I can't do this. Not by myself. Please – I – I need your help."

"Alright, alright." Damon gripped the kid's shoulder. "Fine."

"When should we tell them?" Jeremy sighed.

"Tonight," Derek offered. "No one's alone. It might be safer. You can't keep it a secret forever. And with everything happening, it's gonna come out. Right now, they're putting their hope in something that isn't there."

"Can't we give them one night?" Jeremy echoed the ghost's plea from the corner.

"We just found out this town is about to turn into a war zone," Derek sighed. "They might not get another night."

"I'll tell the girls," Damon volunteered unhappily. "I think Elena might need me."

"I'll take the guys then," Jeremy breathed unevenly.

"It'll be okay," Derek looked at the boy. "My pack – we know loss well too. They'll try to help your friends."

"Thank you," Jeremy nodded. "Can – can you give me a ride over?"

"Yeah, sure," Derek shrugged. "Damon, do -"

He turned to find Damon having disappeared.

"It's okay," Jeremy reassured the werewolf warily. "This isn't about him. He might be a dick, but he'll do anything for Elena. And as much as he would never admit it, and, even though he tried to kill her a few times, I think he secretly liked Bonnie."


"There has to be something we can do," Elena said, determination and desperation swimming against her words. "There's always something."

"Elena -"

"No, Damon!" Elena backed away, out of her boyfriend's reach. "There's always something."

"Nothing that doesn't come without a price," Damon shook his head.

Telling Elena and Caroline was just about the last thing Damon wanted to do. But it was something, he knew, he needed to. Showing up in Lydia's backyard while the girls were in fact sipping mixed drinks and laughing in a hot tub. Damon hated himself for ruining this happiness as he listened to Elena laugh.

"Your boyfriend's here," Erica had announced before Damon revealed himself.

"Um, excuse me," Lydia raised her glass. "This is strictly a girls-only pre-Beacon Hills apocalypse party. No boys allowed."

"I need to talk to Elena and Caroline," Damon had said, voice scratching. "It's important."

The girls had shared a worried glance at the vampire's tone. The three had wandered into an enclosed patio, but there was no use seeking out privacy with werewolves and vampires right outside. The moment the words had passed Damon's lips, Caroline was turning and running out the door. Damon only minutely considered going after her, but Elena was his priority, and currently yelling in his face.

"Stop trying to touch me!" Elena reeled back again. "I don't need you to comfort me. I need you to help me fix this!"

"This isn't something we can fix, Elena."

"No," Elena straightened, taking a shuddering breath. "We can't lose Bonnie. I can't lose her."

"It's okay to be upset."

"No, no, it's not. Damon, the last time I got upset over someone dying, I turned my humanity off and killed someone. I need to be strong. I'm supposed to have learned how to handle this, but -" Despite her best efforts, trails of tears began to make their marks down her cheeks. "I can't keep doing this, Damon. Tyler is missing. He could be dead. Bonnie's dead. She gave up her life so that I could have my brother back, and I didn't even know about it."

"I know," Damon whispered, all he could bring himself to say.

"I can't believe this is happening."

The couple collided together, Damon's arms encircling her shaking body.

"I can't believe she's gone."

"I'm so sorry," Damon spoke as he stroked her hair.

Neither noticed the ghost of their friend watching through the window.


Caroline hesitated outside the unfamiliar house. She would have had to be invited in, which meant she would have had to walk up to the front door. After initially running there as fast as her vampyrism would allow, she now seemed rooted to the cement sidewalk. After standing there for nearly an entire minute, the door opened.

"Hey," Derek closed the door and stood awkwardly on the stone steps.

Caroline instinctively attempted a small smile of greeting, but failed.

"I – I came – I needed to talk to Stefan. He – he's my friend and - he always knows what to say - I -"

"It's okay. He's inside with uh – Matt? He didn't take the news well. And Jeremy's not, well, he's just going to be a minute. I heard you come. Stefan asked me to make sure you were okay. Are you – okay?"

Putting up her hands, Caroline turned away from him.

"Please don't ask me because then I'm going to have to try to come up with an answer, which means I'm gonna actually think about it, and then I'll start crying, and I'm afraid that I might not ever be able to stop."

Derek folded himself down onto one of the cement steps and motioned for Caroline to join him.

"I'm sorry," he started, unsure. "From everything you've told me about her over the summer, I wish I could've known her."

"I don't know. Part of me just wishes I could trade places with you, because without memories of her it wouldn't hurt so damn much."

Derek looked at her, swallowing around his next words.

"It's okay."

It was a stupid thing to say, really. He had hated those types of platitudes after the fire. But what else could he say to her? To comfort her? And why did he find himself wanting so much to do so?

"No. It's not." Caroline shook her head. "I'm never gonna see her again, and I have no idea where Tyler is, and I just got so used to them being there all the time, and now what? I'm supposed to just learn to move on without them? How do I do that when all I have is this sadness and this anger and -"

"Me," Derek interrupted softly. "You have me. You were there for me when my pack was taken. Sounds like you're always there for everyone. So let me be there for you, okay?"

After a long moment, Caroline nodded.

"And you have your friends." Derek continued, placing a tentative hand on her knee. "Stefan, Elena, Matt, Jeremy. You all have each other. You're a pack, just like we are. A family. I lost most of my family a long time ago, but I've never lost their memories. At first, I hated them. It's why I left Beacon Hills after they died. But now I hold onto them. Protect them. And then just try to hold on and protect the people I have left."

For the first time since she had first turned away, the vampire finally looked at him. And when their eyes met, every steadying breath, every wall she had started to construct the minute she head the news, every voice that told her to stay strong for her friends, everything crumbled. And when she fell into his arms, he was ready, pulling her to his chest, one hand cupping the back of her head as she sobbed into his shirt. Neither were exactly sure just how long they stayed like that. But when Caroline finally pulled away, eyes swollen and cheeks flushed, she didn't hesitate this time before catching his gaze.

"I'm staying," Caroline placed her own hand on his. "Not just for Tyler. It's what Bonnie would do. I am done with people I care about dying. Klaus isn't going to get you." She paused and blinked, breathing in as she realized what she had said. "Any of you."

A/N: So, this is an exchange we've seen before, just with a few additions and changes.