~Recap from Chapter 14~

"Bonnie Bennett," He spoke softly, eyes filled with sincerity. "You are the most selfless and decent person I know. You always put others before you, even at your own expense. Your first instinct has always been about helping people. You are not a terrible person."

As he said each sentence, Damon found himself leaning closer and closer to Bonnie. As he gazed into her green eyes, he found himself mesmerized and lost in them.

He blinked. Then he kissed her.

~TGITW~

Chapter 15: Being Human (Part 3)

MYSTIC FALLS. 2010 A.D.

Damon's mind was occupied with thoughts of his kiss with Bonnie. Her soft touch. Her sweet taste. He kept playing the moment over and over in his head. What was it about the girl that consumed his thoughts?

Not too long ago, Bonnie had been furious with him. And she had every right to be. He had turned her mother into a vampire. Damon still remembered her pleading with him desperately. She had begged with tears in her eyes and he ignored her. He regretted it almost immediately.

She ignored him for days. And when she couldn't ignore him, she treated him with hostility. It was unbearable.

Damon didn't know what was worst. Knowing that he had caused her pain or knowing that she hated him for it. It never used to bother him before but now it did.

More and more, he started to worry about how she perceived him. He still remembered the look of hurt and disappointment on her face when she found out that he had slept with Rebekah. It unsettled him but more than that, he felt like he had betrayed her somehow and he felt ashamed.

Then there was the dance. Watching her dance with Jamie made him jealous. And when he started kissing his Bonnie, Damon wanted to rip Jamie's heart out right there. The only thing that stopped him was the thought of making his Bonnie sad. His Bonnie. He wondered when he started to think of her as his.

From the beginning, anyone could see their growing attractions to one another. Only the couple in question did not realize it. Their family and friends have suggested it, but Damon and Bonnie had refused to even entertain the idea.

But now, it was different. Damon couldn't get Bonnie out of his head. Whenever they were together, he would focus on her. Something would stir in his heart whenever she was around. Bit by bit, his heart kept moving towards her without him even realizing what the feeling was. It was only the thought of losing her that made him realized what the feeling was. He loved Bonnie Bennett.

~TGITW~

Things were changing faster than Faith expected. While she had been trying, she could barely keep up.

She tried to save Finn. Just when she had convinced the Mystic Falls gang not to, Finn attacked her. To save her, they ended up killing Finn.

She tried to reconcile with Rebekah. Instead, Matt told her Rebekah believed that Faith killed Esther. Faith couldn't understand why or how Rebekah would think that. It had been Esther who tried to kill Faith not the other way around.

Faith loved Rebekah liked a sister. She would never hurt Rebekah by harming her mother. In fact, failing to save Rebekah in the past weighed heavily on Faith. She never wanted to lose Rebekah that way.

Faith had kept trying to fix things, but everything was rapidly slipping out of her control. What could she do? She was only human. A mere mortal. As much as she wanted to change things, there were things that just wouldn't change. Being human has its limitations.

Still though. Not everything was a total loss. She had managed to persuade Klaus to help.

Faith persuaded Klaus to let bygones be bygones. If Klaus would just give up on exacting revenge on the gang and letting Elena go, then things could be settled. It was Elijah's original plan in the series. At first though, whenever Faith brought it up with Klaus, he would just smile at her and stir the conversation in another direction.

It was when Faith finally confronted Klaus head on that things changed.

They were in the Mikaelson living room and Faith sat across from the disgruntled Klaus.

"You have to help Klaus." Faith pleaded.

"Why?" He asked stubbornly. "Why do I have to do that?"

In his frustration, he stood up and went to grab a drink from the bar.

"Because I know you don't really want to do this."

Klaus paled at her words and went silent. A mix of emotions swirled within him. Embarrassment. Anger. Frustration. Relief.

Faith sighed and tried to calm the hybrid by gesturing to the seat in beside her.

Klaus meekly sat down beside her.

"Faith," His voice quivered as he spoke. "You don't know the things I've done…"

"I'd say I have a pretty good picture of all you've done Klaus." She glanced at him with a lopsided grin.

Klaus let out a small chuckle at her expression. Then he went quiet. Faith waited.

Finally, he asked, "Why do you still believe in me?"

"Hmmm…maybe it's because I see myself in you?"

This brought back memories for Klaus. He had known early on that Faith was this kind of person. She saw the good in everyone because she understood that no one was perfect. She believed people could change and that they are never too far gone. She was kind of like Stefan in this sense.

"Look Klaus," Faith started to speak again, "Being bad is easy. It's so natural to just do whatever we want, to fall off the bandwagon so to speak. Being good is hard. So why is it that we choose to do good each and every time? What is it about Stefan? What is it about me? Because we believe in justice, that being good will pay out in the long run. And I know deep down, you believe it too."

From then on, Klaus had began working hand in hand with the Mystic Falls gang. They worked together against Esther and the evil Alaric.

However, while some things had remained the same, everything was turning differently from what Faith knew about the future. It was as if fate was playing a joke on her. For every life that Faith saved, somebody else died in their stead.

Despite everything they did, here she was sitting at a funeral service. Jeremy's funeral.

Bonnie had succeeded with the spell against Alaric but at a terrible cost. The Bennett witch had tapped into dark magic which claimed Jeremy's life in exchange for killing Alaric.

Moreover, the spell that Bonnie did to unlink Alaric and Elena failed. It was the same spell that Bonnie had used to unlink the Mikaelsons and should have worked. But something in the magic must have glitched because when Alaric died, so did Elena.

For better or worst, Elena had died with vampire blood in her system and was in transition to becoming a vampire.

The worst part in all this was watching Anna and Elena deal with the loss. It was heartbreaking for Faith.

It brought up memories of her own loss. Her losing Elijah. Her losing her family. The grief was overwhelming.

It reminded her of her humanness. Not everything was under her control. That as much as we wanted good things to last, death was inevitable. It was all part of being human.

~TGITW~

Stefan felt horrible delivering the news to Elena. Informing her of her brother's death and watching her breakdown at the news was gut-wrenching.

He worried for her. The news paired up with her newly transitioned body heightened her emotions. She seemed to be on the verge of turning off her humanity.

Stefan knew that would be the worst thing Elena could do. It would make her go down a dark road without regard for consequences. Her guilt now will be nothing compared to what would happen if she turned off her humanity.

Sitting through Jeremy's funeral, Stefan had never felt so helpless. He couldn't help but think that this was all his fault. That his very presence in Elena's life kept putting her in harm's way.

The thought of leaving her crossed his mind but this was not the best time to do so. He had to be there for her as she deals with Jeremy's death and becoming a vampire.

After the funeral, he had dropped her off at Bonnie's where the girls had gathered to spend the night with Elena. On the drive home, thoughts about Elena's condition continued to plagued him. He could sense that Elena's will to live was dimming and the thought of losing her made his stomach sink.

Within minutes, he arrived home. As he entered the house, he could feel a presence in the shadows.

"Who's there?" He called out, his body alert at any sign of danger.

Out of the shadows, Finn Mikaelson stepped out.

Immediately, Stefan's eyes widened in surprise. The first thing that he noticed was the scent of blood coursing through Finn's veins. The second thing that caught his attention were the words that Finn said:

"I know how to make Elena human."