The next morning, Elowen opened her eyes blearily. She looked at the clock on her nightstand to see what time it was (roughly 10:45 in the morning), though instead she became aware of the weight pressing down on her side. Looking down, she found Stefan's arm draped over her waist so she craned her neck to look behind her. He was still sleeping soundly. Trying to be as stealthy and quiet as she could, Elowen grabbed his wrist with one hand and attempt to wiggle out of his grip so she could use the bathroom. However, before she could move more than an inch, Stefan suddenly groaned and pulled her closer, holding her tighter than before. Elowen squealed in surprise, squirming in his hold.

"Stefan! I have to pee!"

He groaned again in response, his eyes still closed. "Hold it."

"But I can't," she pouted, looking at him until he opened his eyes. Upon seeing her wide eyes and jutted lip, Stefan sighed and gave in. His grip loosened and Elowen turned to get out of bed, but he tightened his grip once again. He stole a quick kiss and smiled. "Good morning."

Elowen rolled her eyes, but bid him a good morning as well. "Can I get up now?"

Finally, he released his hold on her and she sat up, making her way towards the door when a knock sounded through the room. "Put some clothes on, I'm coming in!" Bonnie's muffled voice came through the door, before it opened and she poked her head through. "Oh, thank god, you're already awake. Esmeralda told me to come up and get you downstairs because breakfast is ready." Her eyes flickered towards Stefan, who was now sitting upright and leaning against the headboard. "Hey, Stefan. I'd advise you not spend the night anymore because according to Esmeralda, she knows that last night wasn't the first time."

"What?!" Came Elowen's loud, worried yell a second later, horror crossing her face. "Oh god, I'm dead. I am so dead."

"Well, I'm already dead, so what can she really do to me?" Stefan joked, though there was also a hint of nervousness in his voice as he was scared Esmeralda would banish him onto an island in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico or something.

Bonnie laughed, mildly amused at the two, but she shook her head. "Relax, guys. I think she's going to let you off with a warning this time. It's only the first offense, after all." She left, heading back downstairs. Elowen took a deep breath before leaving the room to use the bathroom a few doors down.

Stefan sat on the bed still, frozen, as he hesitated to get up. He could hear Esmeralda laugh downstairs, probably sensing his mild anxiety.

"Bonnie, did you tell them I knew Stefan stayed the night?" Esmeralda asked, and there was a pause as Bonnie probably nodded. Then there was a slapping noise, which was Esmeralda most likely hitting Bonnie in a (playful) scolding way. "Bonnie!" She sighed, then raised her voice though she was aware Stefan could hear her. "Stefan! You can come down, I won't bite your head off."

Stefan relaxed a bit, moving to get out of bed, when Esmeralda's voice rang out again.

"Yet."

Stefan was seated at the dining table when Elowen came downstairs. She immediately sensed the tension in the room, her eyes darting between the vampire at the table and her mom in the kitchen, who was cooking some eggs, potatoes and spam in a pan for breakfast burritos. Bonnie and Josiah were in the backyard, so she sensed that a serious talk was about to go down. Slowly and awkwardly, Elowen took a seat at the table across from Stefan. Esmeralda continued to cook away, as if she were oblivious to the atmosphere in the room or ignoring it on purpose. It was most likely the latter.

Stefan opened his mouth as if he were going to say something, but Elowen made a 'cut it' motion with her hand, swiping it across her neck while shaking her head. Her voice was down to a small whisper only Stefan could hear with his enhanced ears. "When we're in trouble, she likes to occupy her time with something else to get her thoughts together. That, or she does it to see us squirm. Just wait for her to lecture us before you say anything."

Stefan gave a quick nod and stayed quiet like Elowen instructed. Esmeralda finished up by sprinkling cheese over the food, letting the heat melt it down as she grabbed the tortillas and wrapped up two of them. Without saying a word, she walked over and set one plate in front of Elowen and then sat down at the end of the table with the second one. Stefan awkwardly sat at his seat. It was funny to think that a century old vampire was so worried about something like this. Elowen bit her lips trying not to laugh at him. Esmeralda took a bite of her burrito and didn't even spare him a glance.

"The food is over there if you want some."

Elowen couldn't help but snort, a giggle breaking through the silence, but she was quickly quieted down when Esmeralda sent her an intimidating stare. She coughed to cover up the laugh and instead picked up her burrito. Stefan cleared his throat, shaking his head. "I'm fine. I'll eat something when I get home. Thanks for the offer." His voice was strained, going into polite, formal overdrive. He tried his best to keep it modern sounding. If he didn't watch it, he'd start speaking with his old southern accent again. There was more prolonged silence as they watched Esmeralda eat, their eyes darting around the room as they waited for her to scold them.

"Well, judging by the levels of fear and nervousness I'm feeling, you two know that you're in trouble. Good. That's a start. You," she pointed towards Elowen, turning to her first. "I don't appreciate you lying to me and going behind my back by sneaking Stefan in the house. If you'd just asked if he stayed the night, this wouldn't be a problem. He probably would've been sleeping in the guest room, but I wouldn't be upset with you. You know the thing I hate the most is lying. And you," she turned to Stefan now. "I don't know how old you are or what time period you're from, but I'm pretty positive it's been seen as improper to be in a lady's room at night unless the two of you are serious. Just because you've got puppy dog butterflies about each other doesn't make that okay. You should've known your boundaries and left instead of staying the night, not just last night but all the other nights you've stayed over. The only reason I allow Bonnie to sleep in Elowen's room is because I know they would never try anything. I can trust Bonnie. I'm not too sure about you yet. If you decide to have an impromptu sleepover again, I better find you on the couch in the morning. Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Esmeralda glanced at Elowen, her eyebrow raised. Elowen cleared her throat.

"Loud and clear, mom."

"Good. Now that that's out of the way," she grabbed her plate and stood. "I should let the kids know breakfast is ready." She made her way to the sliding glass door and stepped outside. Once she was gone, Stefan let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. Elowen chuckled.

"She really had you afraid, didn't she?"

"I was scared you were gonna get in way more trouble than that."

"Eh," Elowen gave a one shoulder shrug. "She's a bit soft, to be honest." She took a bite of her burrito and Stefan watched her, in thought, tilting his head.

"So, out of curiosity, what did your mom mean by, 'I can trust Bonnie'? I mean, you're both girls. Why would she need to worry?"

"I'm not straight."

"Huh?"

"I'm not straight," she repeated.

"Oh." After a pause to process this information, Stefan properly responded. "This would explain why you stressed the fact that Tobias was your first and only boyfriend and not relationship. I'm assuming there was a girlfriend involved at some point?"

Elowen smirked. "Maybe."

"You little minx," Stefan shook his head. "We must have the, what did you call it? Awkward ex talk? Soon. I need to hear all about this girlfriend story."

"Why? You worried I have better game than you?"

"Pfft, please. I've been around a lot longer than you, Ramirez. I've got moves you've never seen before."

"Bring it on, Salvatore!"

The sliding door opened and Esmeralda, Josiah and Bonnie all walked in. "Okay, time's up! The kissing booth is now closed for business," Esmeralda announced as Josiah and Bonnie walked over to serve themselves breakfast. Elowen flushed a light pink as she looked down, occupying her time with her food and Stefan coughed loudly.

"I didn't realize that was the window of opportunity, Esmeralda." Stefan's voice was light, casual. He was obviously comfortable with his surroundings.

"That's Ms. Ramirez to you."

"Yes, ma'am." He visibly sunk lower in his chair, reverting back to the tight tone he'd used earlier. Esmeralda smirked, satisfied that he was afraid of her. Everyone else in the room shared a laugh at Stefan's behavior.

"Shut up, you guys," he mumbled, a dejected pout on his lips.

"Aww, don't worry. She'll warm up to you eventually." Elowen reached over the table and patted his cheek. Esmeralda shook her head.

"No I won't."

"Or she won't and that's okay!" Elowen cheerfully corrected herself, smiling at Stefan. Another joint laugh was shared before they moved on.

Stefan stayed for roughly another hour before leaving, deciding he really needed something to eat before he felt too weak. After that, Bonnie went home as well and Elowen went upstairs to shower. All three of them had a big day ahead, with the first game of the season being that night. Too bad they didn't know what was in store.

"Ooh. Look at you. You look hot in your jersey."

Stefan turned around and spotted Elowen behind him in her marching band uniform. The main, solid color was the same dark maroon of Stefan's jersey, the neck and sleeve cuffs black. There was a thick, diagonal line of white going from her right shoulder down to the waist line that imitated a sash, separating the red into two individual pools of their own. To the left of the uniform, right above her breast, the letters MFHS were embroidered in more white, outlined in black to balance the colors out. Her slacks were black and she held the hat in her hands, which was also red in color. A band of white wrapped around top, the visor sharing the same color and the plume on the top was black like her slacks. Her hair was pinned up in a tight bun, no loose hairs to be seen. Stefan smiled as she approached him, his arms crossed.

"Huh, you don't look too bad, either."

"Ha, ha, don't lie," she sarcastically drawled. "I look terrible in the marching gear."

"No! You look adorable."

Elowen squinted her eyes up at him uncertainly. "Are you trying to butter me up? No one looks good in the marching uniform. It's a one way ticket to looking like a huge dork."

"Elle, cut it out. You look fi… Oh."

She had put the hat on as a way to prove her point, pouting up at Stefan at his immediate attitude change when he realized she was right. There was a slight grimace on his face as he tried to stutter out a response.

"Uh- um. Well," he began, reaching out to pat the top of her cap. "Now you look adorkable!"

"Thanks, Stefan," she rolled her eyes. "That makes me feel loads better."

He sighed and shook his head, half in amusement and half in exasperation. Deciding to change the subject, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a box. Opening it, it revealed a necklace. All traces of her faux irritation disappeared from her face as she pulled the jewelry out of the box. She lifted it up so she could see it properly. A peculiar scent wafted up her nose, causing her to look up, her eyebrows knitted together.

"Vervain? Stefan, you know I don't need it."

"I know, but, it's just something that I've had forever," he shrugged. "I've never wanted to give it to anyone until now. And it's not like I have a need for it, being what I am and all. I know it'll be in good hands. You can wear it for good luck, or as something to remind you of me."

Elowen's face softened, looking endearingly at him with a fond smile on her lips. "I love it." She handed the necklace back to him, turning around so he could put it on. After it was securely around her neck, Stefan cleared his throat. Now would be a good time to bring up the relationship talk, since even though they were kissing and calling each other pet names, nothing was official.

"So, Elowen, we should really talk about where we're going as a-"

He wasn't able to finish his sentence as Elena skipped up to them, playfully pouncing on Stefan to make herself known. She was in her cheer uniform, her hair in a high ponytail. She had a bright smile on her face, beaming up at Stefan until she realized both him and Elowen wore an identical expression of awkwardness. The two of them looked away as if to occupy themselves with something else. Elena made a wincing sound, scrunching up her nose. "I just interrupted something important, didn't I?"

Stefan cleared his throat, quickly shaking his head. "No, no, no! Don't worry about it!"

"It's not like it's something we can just pick up later, right, Stef?" Elowen had a slightly strained smile on her face, as if she was trying to signal him to answer a certain way. Stefan must've picked up on her cue, because he was nodding his head.

"Yeah, of course!"

Now that that was out of the way, Elowen's eyes darted back over to Elena, taking note of her uniform. "You looked like you were kinda struggling at practice earlier. You sure you're ready for a game?" It was an innocent question, but Elena seemed to take offense as she immediately got defensive, crossing her arms.

"Yes. Bonnie took me aside and helped me get the routine down. I'm a fast learner."

Elowen chuckled, raising her hands in surrender. "Okay, okay. I wasn't saying you weren't."

"Sorry," Elena apologized sheepishly, playing with her ponytail. "It's just, this is my first game since my parents died, and since I missed cheer camp I have a lot of catching up to do. I'm really nervous. Not to mention, Caroline's in cheer captain mode and not best friend mode, so she's already taken a few jabs at me today for not being in the right position, not being on time, being a beat too early, you name it. It's not helping."

"Hey," Stefan's voice was soft as he got her attention. "It's okay. You've been through a lot and it's understandable that you're anxious. Don't let it get to you. If you backed down every time you felt like you were going to throw up, you wouldn't have made it this far. Trust me."

"Stefan's right. You can do this, Elena," Elowen encouraged. "Now's not the time to give up, not when you're finally trying to get your life back together. This is probably one tiny little pothole in the road compared to what lies in your future. You're gonna look back at this and wonder why you worried about such a small thing. Just take a deep breath. You're gonna do great tonight."

Elena sighed, gratefully smiling at both of them. She reached up and pulled them both into one big hug. "Thanks, you guys. I needed to hear that."

"You're welcome."

"Anytime."

"Oh, hey, listen. I wanted to thank you for suggesting I tryout for the football team. It feels nice, being apart of something."

Elena pulled back from the hug, a smile back on her face, though she didn't have time to respond as Caroline's voice rang out.

"Elena! There you are, I've been looking everywhere for you!" Caroline appeared beside Elowen, sighing loudly and over-dramatically. "We're doing another rundown of the routine. C'mon." She didn't leave room for a reply or an argument, grabbing Elena by the wrist and dragging her away. Elowen and Stefan watched her be pulled away, laughing. Once they settled down, Elowen spoke up, though her eyes stayed straight ahead.

"I hope we'll be able to sit down and talk about us without someone butting in."

Stefan sighed softly, wrapped an arm around her shoulders. He brought her closer so he could plant a kiss on her temple. "We're a work in progress. We'll figure it out. But it's nice to know there's at least an 'us'."

Elowen finally looked up at him, her face half squished between his chest and his arm so her small smile made her look like a fish. A warm feeling settled at the pit of Stefan's stomach as he looked at her endearingly. He leaned down and placed a kiss on her lips.

"Of course there's an us," she informed him when she pulled back. Her arms snaked around his waist so she could snuggle into him. "And we'll work on it. Promise?"

"Promise."

It was dark outside now, and Tanner was giving some big speech to hype everyone up. Elowen and the rest of the band were playing a simple "go team" tune on their instruments. They quieted down when Tanner finally started to speak, talking mainly about their new player, Stefan. From the corner of her eye, she saw Tyler scoff and walk off, probably upset that Tanner was giving so much attention to the new kid. However, she didn't have a good feeling about the look on his face. She got on her tiptoes to try and see where he was going. Her view was unfortunately blocked by other students in the way, so she carefully weaved her way through. She had taken off her saxophone and set it down on the truck that held the rest of the band stuff. She took her helmet off on top of it; she was getting too hot with it on, and turned to find Tyler. She spotted him just as Jeremy took a swing, punching Tyler in the face. The big commotion caused the rest of the crowd to stop what they were doing and wander over to watch the two fight.

Without thinking, Elowen rushed forward, pushing past a few stragglers to make it to the two boys brawling on the ground. Vicki was yelling at Tyler to stop, though he made no movement to as he continued to punch Jeremy. Within a matter of seconds, Elowen was at Tyler's side, shoving him off with all the strength she could muster.

"That's enough!"

Elowen changed her attention to Jeremy, helping him up and checking the injuries sustained, so she didn't notice Tyler getting back up and refocusing his anger on her. Fury seemed to be blinding him as he pulled back his fist for a punch, but before it could make contact with Elowen, Stefan came out of nowhere. Tyler punched him instead, though it had absolutely no effect as Stefan didn't flinch.

"I believe she said that's enough."

Tyler recoiled, stumbling back, his eyes wide in mild fear as he realized Stefan didn't even react. Jeremy, taking this as an opportunity, grabbed an empty beer bottle off the ground and went to swing at Tyler. Stefan quickly raised his hand to stop Tyler from getting injured and as a result, the bottle broke against his forearm and slashed his wrist open.

Matt finally make his way through the crowd and grabbed Tyler.

"What the hell man?! Knock it off!" He pulled him away from the scene, dragging him towards the locker rooms. Elena and Josiah appeared around Jeremy shortly after. Josiah started gently inspecting him with Elowen, though Elena decided to make a much more condescending approach. Crossing her arms, she started to scold him.

"Are you kidding me, Jer? You're getting into fights now?" She reached over and grabbed his face, looking into his eyes. "Are you high, too?"

Jeremy thrashed his head from side to side, pulling it from Elena's grip. Anger seemed to flare through his expression, but he kept it lowkey. "Believe it or not, I'm not high, Elena," he snapped. "And I'm not drunk, either. I'm 100% sober. Josiah and I made plans to hang out and while I was looking for him I crossed Tyler's path, okay?" He pushed Elowen and Josiah's hands off of him as well, though they knew he was upset at Elena's accusation so they didn't think anything of it. Jeremy stormed off, Josiah following close behind him.

"Maybe automatically assuming the worst of him isn't the way to go about this," Elowen quietly suggested to Elena. The brunette glanced at her and sighed (scoffed? Elowen couldn't tell) before facing Stefan.

"How's your hand?"

Stefan hid his hands behind his back, panicking. He took a step back. "It's fine. I wasn't hit."

"Yes you were. I saw. Just lemme take a look."

"No, I'm fin-"

Elena seized his hand and pulled it from behind his back. Thankfully, his wrist had already healed. There was nothing but blood left behind from the cut.

"See? I told you, I'm fine. It's not even my blood."

"But…. I saw, you were bleeding!"

"He said he's fine." Elowen walked over and stood next to Stefan. Elena shut her mouth, her lips forming a tight line. She looked back at Stefan, then to his wrist one more time before she finally let it go.

"Have a good game," she said, quiet and defeated as she walked away.

Now that they were alone, Stefan gently took hold of Elowen's face with both his hands, quietly giving her a quick look over. Upon seeing she didn't have a scratch on her, he leaned forward and planted a kiss on the top of her head.

"Thanks for saving me."

"You're welcome. Just don't become a damsel in distress."

"Pfff, I don't plan on it. It's almost kickoff time, you should go."

With a quick kiss, Stefan left her to prepare the rest of the pep band. Elowen walked over to Vicki, who was sitting in the bed of a truck nearby, staring at the ground in a bit of a trance. She sat next to her, breaking her from it.

"Hey. You alright?"

"Honestly? No. I haven't taken anything since yesterday so withdrawals are kicking in. I've been a bit jittery and out of it, which is why I wasn't much help when Tyler nearly killed Jeremy. I was just thinking….. If you hadn't jumped in… When I was right there and I could've-"

"Vicki. Vicki, look at me. It's okay. Just think about when you're finally clean and alert, when you'll be able to properly help. You've got me and Matt to lean on. You couldn't have anyone more supportive of you to depend on. Now breathe."

Vicki nodded and began taking slow, deep breaths to calm down the anxiety that was building up. "Thanks, I needed that. And you're right. You should've seen the look on Matty's face when I told him. He looked so proud….. I don't want to disappoint him. Just think, one day, I'll finally start acting like the older sibling."

"Yes! Lock onto those happy, positive thoughts, Vic. Things that'll happen if you make it through this. Listen, I've got to go, kickoff is soon, but come find me after the game. I brought you and Matt some vervain bracelets. They're matching; figured you could pass them off as some cute sibling gift that way."

"Right, yeah, vervain. This supernatural thing is weird getting used to."

"Trust me, I know."

"Anyway, shoo!" Vicki made shooing motions with her hands. "You need to get out there before you get in trouble. Thanks again!"

Elowen was now back with the band, going over one of the songs that they were going to play at halftime. The cheerleading squad was to do a routine to it, so it had to go by without any problems or else it would mess up the routine and ruin everything. And it would be a one way ticket to an angry Caroline yelling at them after the game; nobody wanted that.

"Elena! Where the hell have you been? We're doing last minute practice with the band and you were the only one missing. Don't do it again." Caroline scolded once she found the brunette, seemingly oblivious to the steam practically coming out of Elena's ears. Elowen wondered what was wrong, but she didn't have to wonder long, because once Elena caught sight of Elowen, she stomped over.

"You've met Stefan's brother, right?"

"Damon? Unfortunately, yes."

"Unfortunately?"

"He's a bit of an asshole, to be honest."

Elena scoffed. "Tell me about it. I just ran into him and he actually tried to make a move on me! He's dating my aunt Jenna for god's sake, I would never do that to her! The nerve of that guy."

However, Elliot could only focus on one particular detail.

"Wait, Damon's here?"

"Yeah, I ran into him in the parking lot. I assumed he was here to support Stefan's first game?"

"Uh, yeah, you're probably right. Will you excuse me for a minute?"

Elowen didn't give her time to respond, and if she did, she was already out of earshot to hear her. She was on a mission to find Stefan and warn him, or maybe run into Damon and get rid of him herself. Instead, she found Josiah and Jeremy sitting on the bleachers. Jeremy looked loads better now, with the blood cleaned off and his cuts tended to. He seemed a bit gloomy, though that was probably expected after he lost a fight and got into an argument with his sister. It was better than him being angry or upset and getting drunk, though. Josiah spotted her and noticed she was distressed, so he told Jeremy he'd be right back and walked over.

"Is everything okay?"

"No. Damon is here and I can't find Stefan."

Immediately, Josiah's demeanor changed. "Do you need help?"

Elowen shook her head. "I got it. Besides, someone needs to look after Jeremy. You're a good influence on him. If you left he'd probably get into more trouble."

Josiah looked as if he were going to protest, so Elowen grabbed him by the shoulders and interrupted him. "Listen, I got it. Trust me. Now go." He reluctantly walked back over to Jeremy and started trying to cheer him up, but he kept glancing in Elowen's direction, watching her disappear into the crowds of people until she was gone.

Eventually, she found herself down by the locker rooms. Voices were echoing down the way, so Elowen slowed down and crept her way forward as quietly as she could. She hid behind the open doors leading into the gym. Soon, she was able to identify the voices as Stefan and Damon. She mentally swore at not being able to get to Stefan in time.

"... been awhile since anyone could resist my compulsion. Where'd you get it?" She heard Damon ask, assuming it must've been about his run in with Elena in the parking lot.

"Does it matter?" Stefan retorted.

"Actually, that was a dumb question. Your little girlfriend is a witch, obviously you got it from her. When are you going to tell her that the reason you want to protect Elena so badly is because she looks like Katherine?"

Elowen furrowed her eyebrows together in confusion. Katherine? Who was that? She strained to hear Stefan's reply, but he stayed quiet.

"Ah…. so you never planned on telling her, did you? Don't you find it a bit odd that Elowen could easily be Elena's sister? I mean, you were drawn to Elena because she's a carbon copy of Katherine, right? Are you sure your feelings for Elowen are real, or do you just like her because she's the next best thing."

Elowen felt herself sinking against the wall a bit at this thought. It wouldn't be the first time people compared her to Elena; it was no secret that her and Elowen looked a bit alike and shared similar features. When Bonnie had first met her, she looked surprised or taken off guard and when Elowen asked what was wrong, Bonnie shook it off and told her she, "looked like someone she knew". Not to mention, for a good first half of her sophomore year people asked if her and Elena were related, cousins, or her long lost sister. It didn't help that, after she rejected Tyler Lockwood, he started calling her Elena 2.0. She couldn't deny that Stefan had initially had an interest in Elena. Is that why he liked her? Because he couldn't have Elena, but he could have her?

"You're wrong," came Stefan's forceful reply. Elowen's head shot up, pulling herself out of the pit of self consciousness that she had been falling into. Hope spread through her chest as she could make out the determined expression on his face. Damon's eyebrows shot up in surprise and he took a step back, not expecting this kind of attitude from his little brother.

"I like Elowen for who she is. She's amazing, and smart, and funny, and beautiful. And she is not Elena. Or Katherine. You don't know her, Damon, so don't talk about her like that."

Damon stayed quiet for a while, observing Stefan, tilting his head. "Huh… maybe I underestimated how much you care about this girl. I should just make it easier on you and eat her. It's not like it's going to work out anyway, with you being an ageless vampire and all."

"No. You're not gonna hurt her, Damon."

"No?"

"Well, realistically I think she'd get the upper hand before you could do anything, but that's not my point. My point is, you feel something for her. If not, you'd have killed her already. You've had the chance. And you told me to 'keep her around,' as if you genuinely liked her. I was worried you had no humanity left inside you, that you may have actually become the monster you pretend to be."

"Who's pretending?"

"Then kill me."

Elowen felt anxiety rise in the pit of her stomach and without thinking, she jumped out of her hiding spot and let herself be known.

"Kill me instead."

Stefan looked over in surprise. "Elowen?"

Damon, on the other hand, whipped around, completely caught off guard. His eyes narrowed at her form, as if he were asking her to challenge him, or maybe he was trying to tell her to back down. After all, he was her only chance at getting the tomb open.

"And why would I kill you?"

"Because, no matter which option you choose, you're losing something."

And she was right, which made Damon's lip twitch in anger and irritation. His way to getting Katherine back, or his baby brother. He stood there for a moment, staring Elowen down, glaring at her. In the end, he gave a small growl and vamp sped his way towards Stefan. Before either could react, Damon shoved him into the side of the gym, where Stefan hit the wall and was knocked unconscious.

"I don't have time to ask how long you've been standing there or what you were doing so I'll cut to the chase. What the hell was that?"

Instead of answering his question, Elowen crossed her arms and asked another question.

"Who's Katherine?"

Damon smirked. "That's for me to know and for you to find out later."

"She's in the tomb, isn't she?" She shot back without missing a beat. "That's why you want in so badly."

Judging from the scowl on his face, she was correct.

"That's your humanity."

"Excuse me?"

"Obviously, you care about this Katherine girl a lot, or else you wouldn't be trying to get her out. You'd let her rot there for the rest of eternity if you really had no humanity left. And you would've killed the both of us without thinking about it. Face it, Damon, you have a sliver of hope left in you."

At that moment, Tanner chose to come back out of the locker rooms.

"Salvato-!" He started to call out, before noticing the knocked out Stefan on the ground. Immediately, he rushed over and lightly kicked at him, before crouching down to check his pulse. He didn't seem to care or acknowledge Elowen or Damon's presence.

Damon smirked, his eyes trailing towards Tanner.

"If that's my humanity….. Then what's this?"

She didn't have time to immobilize him as he vamp sped over to Tanner, grabbing him by the throat and sinking his fangs into his neck. It all happened so fast that Elowen couldn't do anything other than flinch back and tightly screw her eyes shut. She felt tears build up behind her eyelids as she heard the sound of Tanner's now lifeless body hitting the ground.

"You better think twice about me next time, Elowen."

There was a whooshing sound and when Elowen opened her eyes, Damon was gone. She looked down and spotted Tanner's dead body, a sob racking through her chest. She fell to her knees, her hand over her mouth as she let the tears flow. This was her fault. If she hadn't egged him on, or tried doing a spell on him instead of giving up so quickly, Tanner would still be alive. Injured, but alive. He was an asshole, but he didn't deserve to die.

She stayed there, crying and frozen in her spot until someone else came along.

"Tanner's M.I.A. I think he had a little too much beer." Tyler was in the middle of putting his jersey on.

"Don't talk to me right now, alright? I'm pissed at you." Matt was sitting on the bench in the middle of the lockers.

"What's your problem?"

"What's my….?" Matt scoffed. "You're my problem. You're a bully. A freakin' 12 year old bully. And I'm sick of it. I mean, what was that about tonight? What's beating up the new guy gonna prove? Or screwing with my sister, or attacking Elowen when she wasn't in a position to defend herself, or pummeling my girlfriend's kid brother-"

"Girlfriend? Look, I don't know how to tell you this, but she dumped your ass."

Anger rushed through Matt and he got up from his seat. He grabbed Tyler by his jersey and shoved him into the lockers.

"Are you for real?!" Tyler exclaimed. "You wanna hit me? I'm on your team!"

Matt let go, realizing he wasn't worth it and shook his head. "This was over the line. Even for you." He turned and walked off, deciding he needed some fresh air. He made it outside the doors, his fist clenched in frustration, when he heard someone sniffle, following by a quiet sob. Looking in the direction of the source, he found the silhouettes of three people. Upon closer inspection, he realized the person crying was Elowen. He was getting ready to ask what was wrong when he noticed Stefan was unconscious. He didn't like the way this situation was going, but he willed himself to look at the final body on the ground. A wave of nausea hit him as he identified it as Tanner, covered in blood with a huge wound on his neck.

"Somebody help!"

Later, the police and ambulance had arrived. Tanner's body was now covered with a body bag, while Elowen sat on the edge of the ambulance. Stefan was inside, still unconscious as a medic tended to him. She had a blanket wrapped around her as she stared blankly at the ground. There were dried tears on her face and her eyes were bloodshot. Matt was giving the police a statement, having volunteered to go first to give her some space, but she would be next once he was done.

"Elowen!" She looked up, seeing Josiah and Bonnie running towards her. Josiah reached her first. Bonnie had stopped in the middle of the scene, observing something. Josiah grabbed her shoulders, taking in her appearance.

"What happened? Are you okay?"

Elowen stared at her brother, before more tears welled up in her eyes. She sobbed again as Josiah pulled her in his embrace.

"I wanna go home." She pulled back a bit, wanting to see what was taking Bonnie so long, except she was confused to find her friend looking terrified. Her eyes wide as if something had spooked her. She wanted to assume it was seeing a crime scene for the first time, except something told her that wasn't it.

"Bonnie?"

Josiah turned around now to see what was wrong, taking a step towards her as she turned her gaze onto the siblings.

"The numbers. They're here. I- I have to go." She rushed off a second later, Josiah not having enough time to stop her. He looked lost, his eyebrows knitted together hopelessly.

"What's wrong with her?"

Elowen thought for a moment, hopping off the ambulance to stand where Bonnie was standing. She observed her surroundings for a while, before her she found it. The license plate on the police car was BLDG8, while the ambulance said FHT14. The parking space number on the ground was 22. Elowen gasped in realization.

"The numbers, the ones Bonnie's been seeing. They're here. Look." She pointed them out to Josiah, turning to him. "She predicted Tanner's death." Josiah widened his eyes slightly as he finally understood.

"Excuse me, miss?"

Elowen turned and discovered the policeman who had taken Matt's statement standing in front of her. "It's time for you to give me your statement. Whenever you're ready."

Elowen sighed, deciding to suck it up and plow through it. She turned to Josiah one last time. "Call mom. She needs to know what happened." He nodded, pulling out his phone and walking away from the scene to get some quiet to be able to talk.

Elowen finally faced the cop, forcing a small smile on her face as they wandered back towards the ambulance. She proceeded to lie, coming up with a story about a wild animal that must've come out of the woods looking for food. It had tried to attack her first, but Stefan intervened and the animal had knocked him aside which is how he ended up unconscious.

"Tanner must've heard the commotion and came looking for what was making the noise. He yelled to get the animal's attention and it turned on him instead. I couldn't do anything to stop it." She sniffled, blinking to try and fight the third round of tears that threatened to fall. The policeman sighed, setting a comforting hand on her shoulder as he gave her a look of sympathy.

"Go at your own pace, alright?"

Elowen nodded, taking a deep breath to calm herself down. "Um, there was a loud sound after the animal pounced on Tanner. I think it might've been a car backfiring? Or maybe one of the kids at the game brought fireworks, I'm not sure. But it scared it off. And then Matt found me and the rest….. You know already."

The cop nodded, writing the rest of it down. He looked into the ambulance. "Well, you should get on home. I still have to wait for that young man to wake up." Elowen turned and found Stefan still out for the count. She grimaced; Damon must've hit his head pretty hard for him to still be down.

"Uh, actually, is it alright if I stay? He's... he's my boyfriend. I just want to make sure he's alright."

The cop stared for a moment, seemingly trying to figure out if it was okay, and in the end he nodded. "Of course." Elowen smiled gratefully at him, climbing into the ambulance to sit with Stefan. She grabbed his hand, stroking it with her thumb as she watched him.

"Elowen!"

She turned, seeing Josiah outside. She made a motion with her head, indicating he could come inside. He clamored up, taking a seat next to her. "Mom's on her way. She sounded really worried on the phone."

"Okay. We'll figure this all out when she gets here. I've gotta call Bonnie and make sure she's doing alright because she seemed really scared. I hope Grams can calm her down for the night."

Josiah nodded. There was a soft groan from underneath them, and they turned to Stefan. They watched as he stirred a bit before opening his eyes. He blinked a few times to get his eyes to focus. "Stefan!" Elowen breathed in relief, helping him sit up. He rubbed at his head, turning to look at Elowen.

"What happened?"

She didn't have time to explain because the policeman had climbed in as well upon seeing that Stefan was awake and talking.

"You were knocked unconscious trying to defend her," he nodded in Elowen's direction. "What's the last thing you remember?"

Stefan looked over at the man, clueless. He turned to stare at Elowen, his eyebrows slightly furrowed. She sent him a look, trying to communicate with him. Stefan seemed to get it, because he shook his head as if he were trying to clear it. "Uhh, Elowen wanted to meet up before the game, y'know, to wish me luck. I remember waiting outside for her and I heard her scream, so I ran over to see what was wrong and then….. I don't know. Everything goes black after that."

The cop nodded, flipping his notebook shut. "Thanks. If you remember anything, don't hesitate to come forward."

"I won't, sir."

Once he was gone, Stefan turned to the two siblings in front of him, asking once again, "What happened?"

Elowen fumbled with her fingers for a moment. Josiah pointed outside. "I'll leave you two alone…." He jumped back out of the ambulance. "I'll let you know when mom gets here."

"Tanner's dead," she blurted once Josiah walked off. "Damon killed him."

"What?" Stefan wore of look of disbelief. "Why?"

"Umm….. I might've….. Continued the humanity argument and it made him angry because I was right. Tanner had come looking for you because of the game. He was just in the wrong place and at wrong time."

"What did you say to him?"

"I told him that if he really had no humanity left, he would've killed you instead of knocking you out. And…" Elowen trailed off, nervous about mentioning Katherine. While she was hurt that he was never going to mention the part where she looked like Elena, and that's why he came back to Mystic Falls, she didn't actually care what her connection to Stefan was. He was a vampire, pretty old, and of course had a past. It wasn't fair to hold things that happened a long time ago against him.

"And?" Stefan prompted.

"I told him that he wouldn't still care so much about this Katherine girl if he really had nothing left. I think that's what upset him the most." She really didn't like lying to Stefan about this whole tomb thing, but obviously Damon didn't want him to know (yet) for a reason. She wanted to know the full story before she mentioned anything to him.

"Katherine? You know about Katherine? Elowen, how long were you standing there?"

"Long enough."

A blush seemed to creep onto Stefan's cheeks as he realized that meant she'd heard what he'd said about her. Embarrassed, he cleared his throat. "Right, well, we should…" He awkwardly motioned towards the ambulance doors. Elowen laughed at him but jumped outside anyway. Stefan followed her, and together they found Josiah.

In a few minutes, Esmeralda showed up, pulling both of her kids into a tight hug and gave them both a once over even though Josiah wasn't involved in the incident. When she was done, she put her hands on her hips and turned her gaze onto Stefan. "Y'know, you have a knack for getting one or both of my children into trouble. Don't make me drive you out of town."

"Mom-"

"Ah." Esmeralda held a finger up to silence Elowen, not sparing her a glance. Stefan smiled a bit, shaking his head.

"It's okay, Elowen. She's just being a mom."

"Nice to know you understand."

"I do."

"Good. C'mon, kids, it's time we go home."

"Actually, mom, is it okay if I walk home with Stefan? We have some things we need to talk about."

Esmeralda narrowed her eyes at her daughter, flickering her gaze onto Stefan. She pointed a finger at him. "You better take care of her."

"Yes, ma'am."

Esmeralda and Josiah started heading towards their car, but Elowen stopped her one last time. "And mom?" She waited until she turned back around to face her. "Give Sheila a call, will you? Bonnie's really spooked about the whole Tanner thing. Somebody needs to check up on her."

"Got it, honey. Please stay safe on your way home."

"Promise, mom. I'll see you at home."

Stefan and Elowen were a few feet away from the school, walking in a comfortable silence. The game had been cancelled for obvious reasons, so the both of them had changed out of their uniforms before they left and were now back in normal street clothes. Stefan had his hands in his pockets while Elowen had her arms crossed. It was a bit chilly outside, with autumn weather beginning to settle in now. A gentle breeze caused Elowen to shiver slightly. Stefan didn't hesitate to take his jacket off and wrap it around her shoulders. She smiled at him thankfully, slipping her arms through the sleeves and snuggling into the warmth from the material. There was a smile on Stefan's face as he watched her, though it faltered a bit as he thought about what she possibly wanted to talk about.

He cleared his throat. "Listen, I'm sorry about not telling you about Katherine, I should've mentioned it-"

"Stefan." Her voice was soft, with a hint of exhaustion. "I don't want to get into that right now. I think I'm a bit too physically and emotionally drained from tonight."

A look of confusion crossed his features, halting his steps.

"Then what did you want to talk about?"

Elowen smiled sleepily at him. She thought he looked adorable, with his eyebrows knitted together and the little crease in his forehead. She stopped walking as well, turning to face him fully.

"Us. I wanted to talk about us, Stefan."

"Oh. I thought you just said you were too emotionally drained?"

"This won't take too long. I doubt we're going to get another chance to discuss this, so I'm just going to be blunt. I like you. A lot. And I'd like to see where this goes. We don't have to put a label on it, but I just want to know that we aren't like, friends with benefits or friends who kiss each other or something. I need to know you're serious about this, and that's enough for me at the moment."

"Elowen," Stefan reached over and took her hands in his, intertwining them. "Of course I'm serious about this. I like you a lot, too, and I'm willing to take this slow if you want. I don't want to rush things or make you feel uncomfortable."

"Y'know, I'm pretty sure sneaking into my room and spending the night in my bed qualifies as 'rushing things'. Just a little bit."

The both of them burst out laughing.

"But in all seriousness, we should probably slow things down a notch, because this might just be a short infatuation and I don't want either of us getting hurt in the end simply because we never left the honeymoon phase. We still need to get to know each other, honestly."

"You're right," Stefan agreed. "How about we just start with a few simple dates before we make any big jumps?"

"Sounds good to me."

"Great. Are you free tomorrow night?"

"Definitely."

Elowen smiled cheekily up at Stefan, causing him to grin widely back at her. He let go of her hands and faced forward, lazily grabbing her pinkie finger with her own.

"I think it's time I escorted you home, my lady."

"Why thank you, kind sir."

And together, the two began their walk back to Elowen's house once more, the peacefulness of the night comforting the both of them.