The next morning, the doorbell rings as Elena finishes getting ready for Uncle John's and Jeremy's joint funeral. When she opens the door, Bonnie is standing there. Her face is drawn, and her eyes are red.

"Elena…" she says, pausing. Elena knows her friend; she knows Bonnie's "bad news" face. She turns away, unable to look Bonnie in the eyes.

"No," Elena tells her. She can't itake/i anymore bad news.

"Caroline – she didn't make it," Bonnie tells her, her voice barely a whisper. "I went to the hospital this morning to visit her, and Sheriff Forbes told me – there was a complication. A blood clot, it went to her lung. She – she d-died in her sleep last night."

"No," Elena says again, shaking her head in denial. "No – she's fine. You said she was fine." She starts to cry again – she wonders if she'll ever stop.

"I'm sorry," Bonnie says, her voice choked up. Elena turns back around to face her. She sees an echo of her own grief reflected back at her in Bonnie's eyes, and she can't bear to leave Bonnie alone in it. Elena pulls Bonnie into a hug just as Bonnie bursts into tears. "This is all my fault," Bonnie whispers, as they settle on the porch swing together.

"No, no of course it isn't," Elena reassures her, holding her tighter.

"She was in that accident because Tyler lost control of the car when the device went off," Bonnie tells her, as if confessing a secret. "I lied to you and said I disabled it, but I didn't. And now Caroline is dead."

Elena pauses for a moment, trying to find the right words to make Bonnie feel better. Even if just a bit – because Caroline is dead. (Like Jeremy. And Uncle John. And her parents.) Elena doesn't know if she'll ever dig herself out of this grief, but she needs to find strength for Bonnie.

"The tomb vampires were going to attack. Who knows how many people would have died if you disabled it?" Elena tells her, hugging Bonnie closer when she goes to pull away. "Nobody could have guessed what would happen – we don't even know why Tyler and Mayor Lockwood reacted to the device."

Bonnie nods, but Elena can tell she isn't fully convinced. Before Bonnie can say more, Aunt Jenna walks onto the porch, her keys in her hand.

"Ready to go?" she asks gently. Bonnie nods, wiping away her tears.

"Caroline…" Elena trails off, unable to find the right words.

"I'm sorry she and Sheriff Forbes won't be able to make the funeral," Aunt Jenna says. "Sheriff Forbes gave her condolences yesterday, but we can visit Caroline in the hospital after the cemetery, if you'd like."

Elena grips Bonnie's hand tightly, before telling Aunt Jenna that Caroline is gone. Aunt Jenna comes forward and hugs them both, and for a few minutes, the three of them cry together, clutching each other close.

But eventually, the moment ends. Aunt Jenna gently suggests that she drive them both to the church.

They go.

Stefan is waiting for her when they arrive at the church, and he pulls her into a hug. She hugs him back for a moment, before pulling back to hold Aunt Jenna's and Bonnie's hands as they walk together to the front pew, reserved for family.

This is all the family that Elena has left.

Stefan trails behind, standing awkwardly as Elena sits between Aunt Jenna and Bonnie. After a moment, he sits on Bonnie's other side. They wait in silence as people filter into the church.

Matt stops by briefly, his eyes red and puffy, before finding his seat. Elena figures he's heard about Caroline by now, but she can't find it in her to offer him her sympathies. That's a grief for another time.

For now, Elena can't look away from the photograph of Jeremy, next to his coffin. It's one of the last pictures she has of him truly smiling – from a trip they all took to the lake house a few weeks before her parents died. He is – iwas/i – so young. Fifteen. Forever fifteen, in this photograph and in her mind.

She doesn't know how she's going to live the rest of her life without him.

She doesn't know how she's going to make it through the next ihour/i without him. He was supposed to be here. They were going to mourn Uncle John together. Jeremy wasn't supposed to be in a box next to him.

Neither of them should be in boxes right now. If it weren't for Elena…

But somehow, she makes it through. She sits with Aunt Jenna and Bonnie and Stefan, somehow keeping the sobs inside even as the tears fall freely from her eyes. She accepts condolences. But she doesn't answer when people ask how she is.

What kind of question is that?

Elena guesses people don't know what to say – it's the second Gilbert double funeral in less than a year.

iGod,/i Elena is the last Gilbert left.

Eventually, the services start. Elena tunes out Pastor Young, until it is time for her to give the eulogy. Aunt Jenna had offered to handle it – but Elena couldn't let Jeremy go without celebrating what he had meant to her. And Uncle John – nobody except Stefan knows that he is - iwas/i - Elena's father, not even Aunt Jenna – but Elena feels his loss keenly, even if it does not pierce her heart quite as deeply as losing Jeremy.

Elena doesn't know how, but she makes it through the eulogy without breaking down. She stares blankly ahead as she speaks, trying not to look at anyone – she can't meet anyone's eyes right now. She doesn't want to see their sympathy.

She can't handle it. She's barely holding on as it is.

After Elena finishes speaking, she looks over the packed church as she goes to take her seat – and meets a pair of cold blue eyes she never wants to see again.

Damon.

She can't – she can't ibreathe/i. Instead of sitting back down with Aunt Jenna and Bonnie, Elena exits through the side door, needing to get away. She stumbles into the bathroom, going to the sink to splash some water on her face.

He's there, behind her, when she opens her eyes and looks into the mirror.

"Elena…" he says, his tone cajoling. As if there's anything he could possibly say to make this better.

"Go AWAY!" she screams, knowing that she can't make him go anywhere if he doesn't want to go, but hoping that he'll take mercy on her and leave.

Damon has no mercy.

He grabs her shoulder, pulling her around to face him directly. Before he can say anything else – or god forbid try to force another kiss – Bonnie bursts into the bathroom, Aunt Jenna and Stefan following behind her. As Bonnie looks at him, Damon lets go of her, holding his head and falling to the ground.

Elena watches, silently, as he curls into a ball. The faucet next to her opens, without anyone touching it, and a stream of water curls into the air and onto the floor, a ribbon surrounding and soaking Damon where he lies curled up on the tile.

"You dared to come here?" Bonnie yells. "I told you what would happen if anyone else got hurt."

Elena continues to watch, not saying a word as the water catches fire. And then iDamon/i catches fire. He's iburning/i. She's entranced by the flames – by the pain on his face, the fear in his eyes.

Jeremy barely had a chance to feel fear, before he felt nothing at all.

Because of Damon.

"Bonnie, stop it!" Stefan yells, taking a step forward before a wall of flame pops up and prevents him from reaching Bonnie or Damon. "You're going to kill him!"

Elena doesn't think that's a reason to stop. But Stefan's words make her look up from where Damon is burning – and she notices that Bonnie's nose is bleeding.

Bonnie is using too much magic.

Elena wants Damon to die – but not if it means she has to lose Bonnie too. She ican't/i lose Bonnie.

"Bonnie, stop," Elena says, walking around Damon's burning body to shake her friend gently. Bonnie looks up at her, tears in her eyes, and the fire winks out.

"Why – why did you stop me?" she asks.

"You're bleeding," Elena responds. She reaches up to gently wipe away the blood on Bonnie's upper lip. She pays no mind to the blood staining her fingers – nothing matters, so long as Bonnie is okay.

"He killed Jeremy!" Bonnie yells. "He deserves to die."

Elena nods. "He does. But I can't – I can't stand here and let you risk yourself to do it."

Elena doesn't bother looking at Damon, still lying there on the tile, his clothes still smoking, as she pulls Bonnie into a hug. She meets Aunt Jenna's horrified eyes over Bonnie's shoulder.

"I'll explain everything after the cemetery," Elena tells her, gently guiding Bonnie away from Damon and out of the bathroom. She gently grabs Aunt Jenna's hand and tugs her along to follow. Stefan stays behind. Elena isn't sure if he's going to help Damon – or help contain him.

And she can't make herself care right now. Bonnie is safe, and Aunt Jenna is with her – and they need to go to the cemetery now to bury Jeremy and Uncle John.

Hours later, the three of them go back to the house. Aunt Jenna and Bonnie are just two people, and yet they're almost everyone Elena has left in the world.

Friends and neighbors have left more casserole than they'll ever be able to eat. If Elena never has to look at another sympathy casserole again, it'll be too soon. At this point, it all tastes like ash on her tongue anyway. But they busy themselves by putting it away in the refrigerator anyway, to put off the coming conversation just a little longer. Eventually, all the food is away, and there's nothing more to do. They sit together at the kitchen table.

"I'm a witch," Bonnie opens the conversation. "And Damon is a vampire."

Aunt Jenna looks like she's not sure what to believe – but it is hard to deny Bonnie's powers, at least, when she received such a vivid demonstration of them just a few hours earlier.

"You said – you said Damon killed Jeremy?" Aunt Jenna asks, her voice barely a whisper. Elena can only nod, unable to meet her eyes. "Why? Why would he…?"

"Because he's obsessed with Elena, and he can't stand that she doesn't want him," Bonnie replies, her voice firm, when Elena can't find the words to explain.

"It's my fault," Elena whispers. "I thought I could handle him… but I – I can't." She can't keep the sobs inside.

She's not sure she'll ever be able to do anything but cry again.

"It isn't your fault," Aunt Jenna murmurs, standing up to wrap her arms around Elena. Elena hides her faces in Aunt Jenna's stomach and continues to sob – even harder when she feels Bonnie reach out to hold her hand.

There will be time to explain everything later – about Katherine, and Isobel. About vervain, and compulsion, and never, ever inviting anyone inside.

For now, the three of them just grieve, and cry, and hold onto each other, as tightly as they can.

A/N: Because Katherine killed John and took the Gilbert ring, John wasn't around to give the ring to Jeremy, as he did in canon 2x01. So when Damon kills Jeremy at the end of 2x01, he doesn't wake up. (Enough time has passed that Anna's blood has left his system.) And because John isn't in the hospital, Elena doesn't go to the hospital - and therefore Damon doesn't go to the hospital, and he doesn't give Caroline his blood.