Author's Note: I forgot mention last chapter that Luis's FC is Ryan Guzman. That's all c:

"Hey. I just wanted to apologize for earlier."

Stefan had called about an hour after his abrupt departure. Elowen had distracted herself by over-practicing her marching band pieces on her various instruments to help keep herself occupied.

"It's okay. At least you were able to resist the urges, right?"

"Right…." Stefan trailed off. "Listen, despite this, lemme know if you need anything, with You-Know-Who being in town, alright?"

"I'll try."

"Okay. I'll talk to you later."

Elowen hung up the line and set her phone next to her sheet music. She had just lifted her clarinet to her mouth when someone spoke.

"Jeez, how many instruments do you play?"

It was Damon. He took note of everything spread out around her and had asked out of surprise more than anything else.

Elowen jerked and hit the mouthpiece against her front teeth. She quickly checked the reed and saw that the collision had chipped it. She sighed loudly and started loosening the screws to replace it.

"Six," she answered absentmindedly. "What do you want?"

Damon came over and sat next to her. She didn't cast him a glance. Instead, she finished replacing the reed. Damon took the clarinet from her hands and placed it out of her reach so she would listen to him.

"Look, I guess I consider you my friend and I guess I'm kinda worried about you. And I guess this is me coming to check up on you. Is that a problem?"

Elowen sniffled. "No."

"Okay then. Now that we have that established, where is everyone?"

"Mom's in the hospital."

"Well that blows. What about baby Ramirez?"

"Visiting mom."

"And you're not there with them, why?"

"Too overwhelming."

Damon nodded to seem more understanding. A moment passed before Elowen's phone began to ring. Damon picked it up when she didn't seem like she was going to answer it.

"Elowen's phone, the better looking Salvatore brother speaking."

He smirked when he saw Elowen roll her eyes from his peripheral. However, said smirk slowly crept off his face when he realized it was Josiah bearing news about Esmeralda.

"Not sure what you're doing with her phone, but can you tell her that they're releasing our mom? Alaric ended up having to go back to work because they couldn't find someone to cover him and we need to be picked up."

"Will do, squirt."

"Don't call me that."

"I dunno, has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"

"Whatever. Just pass the message along."

Damon slid her phone into his back pocket when the call ended and nodded his head towards the front door.

"C'mon. Field trip."

"Damon, please, I'm really not in the mood right now."

Damon sighed dramatically and started to pick her up from the couch. Elowen struggled against his attempts, though.

"Damon, I said no! Damon! Aah!" She shrieked, having not been expecting him to throw her over his shoulder. "Put me down! Damon, I'm serious."

He ignored her and headed for the door. "You'll feel better when we reach our destination. Trust me."

Fed up and now filled with pent up frustration, Elowen allowed Damon to strap her into Esmeralda's car. She sat stiffly in the passenger's seat, fists clenched as she stared out the window. It wasn't until she started to realize what direction they were headed in that her mood started to change.

"Why are we going to the hospital?" It finally clicked in her head. "Is mom being released?" She asked hopefully.

"Yup," Damon drawled. He lolled his head to the side to look at her. "Told ya you'd feel better," he gloated cockily. Elowen rolled her eyes and got out of the car when it pulled to a stop in front of the hospital.

Esmeralda and Josiah were waiting just inside. She ran over and hugged both of them tightly.

"Don't scare me like that ever again," she told her mom when she pulled back.

"Not to break up this lovely family encounter, but the car is running outside," said Damon as he pulled up behind Elowen. "Think we can hurry this up?"

He was met with three different glares. He threw his hands up in surrender. "Hey, not my fault if the car runs out of gas."

They all followed him outside anyway. When they arrived back at their house, both Josiah and Elowen were immediately on Esmeralda, helping her out of the car, opening the front door and quickly clearing the couch so she could sit.

"Jeez, maybe I should go to the hospital more often if it means I get this kind of treatment," Esmeralda joked when Josiah offered to make her a cup of tea. "While I appreciate the gestures, I'm fine. It's not like I had a life threatening surgery. I just fainted."

The doorbell rang and Damon, being the closest to the door, went to open it. Caroline was on the other side, sheepishly holding a casserole dish of lasagna. When she saw Damon, her nose scrunched up a little and she quickly let herself into the house to get past him.

"Oh, thank goodness, you're okay!" She let out a sigh of relief when she saw Esmeralda propped up on the couch. She lifted the dish in her hands. "I brought lasagna! It's homemade. My grandma's recipe."

"You can put it in the kitchen, hun."

Josiah had already grabbed a fork and was eating out of the dish before it had been fully set down on the counter. Caroline pulled herself onto the island next to Josiah and swung her legs in the air.

"So, does this mean we'll have to scrap our plans to go to the Founder's Kick-Off party?" She asked timidly. She wasn't sure if it was the right time to ask, really, but she was curious. That and Caroline was a bit impatient sometimes.

Josiah paused with the fork halfway to his mouth.

"That's…. Tonight?"

"You forgot," Caroline stated. "That's alright. I'll give you a pass this time around."

Esmeralda covered up a laugh by clearing up her throat. "Y'know, I really am fine. You two can still go if you'd like."

Damon, who was leaning up against the wall with his arms crossed, tossed Elowen a sideways glance. "Why don't you go, too? You never leave the house anymore and I'm sure Mama Witch would like some alone time after being in such a stressful environment."

"Yeah, I don't think that's such a good-"

"He's right, y'know," Esmeralda cut in. "I know things have been hard for you since Sheila….." she trailed off. "But, I think going somewhere that isn't school would be good for you."

"See? Miss Kahuna says yes."

Elowen sighed loudly. There was no way Damon was going to drop this. She looked directly at Josiah. "I'll go if you go."

"Wha-" Josiah threw his hands up and let them fall back to his side. "Fine. I'll go with you."

Elowen, Josiah and Caroline walked into the Lockwood Manor about an hour later, having all swiftly gotten ready in order to not be late. Damon had left under the guise of changing into "much nicer attire" after seeing what they had to offer. Spoiled brat. Not like anything would fit him anyway.

Elowen and Caroline had raided Esmeralda's poor closet, as well as old boxes of clothes to find something decent. Elowen was wearing a rich, dark red sleeveless velvet dress. It had a turtleneck neckline and the bottom was a pencil skirt. The length stopped just above her knees. She found her old black lita boots she bought ages ago and then never wore and decided to finally put them to use. She'd gone with a bold red lip and left her hair to their natural curls.

Caroline, on the other hand, had found a long, dark green strapless dress. It flowed down to her ankles, with a slit exposing her right leg. Paired with the black, open toed platform pumps that were buried in the back of the closet, she looked absolutely beautiful. She'd done light makeup and put her hair into an elegant bun.

Josiah, after a lot of rummaging through his room, was able to put together a simple, but nice, outfit. A white dress shirt from middle school that was a tad too tight with a dark blue v neck sweater over it. They even found a clip on tie to go with it! However, he was wearing a pair of black jeans instead of slacks and hoped nobody would notice.

Elowen immediately caught sight of Luis and, her flight of fight reflexes kicking in, ducked into the crowd in the opposite direction. Caroline and Josiah followed, both thinking she did so to get out of the cluster of people.

Good, she thought. Jo didn't see him.

She'd like to keep it that way. He deserved to enjoy himself here. She finally found an opening within the swarm and slid past two patrons to the dance floor. She spotted the back of Stefan's head at the bar and blinked in surprise. She thought he would try to avoid big parties until he really got control of things again. She turned to Caroline and Josiah, who had just caught up with her.

"Hey. You guys can go on without me. Do couple stuff or something." She leaned her head to the left to point out Stefan. "I don't wanna be a third wheel."

Caroline caught a glimpse of Stefan and understood. "Yeah, I tooootally get it. We'll be fine on our own."

With a small smile, Elowen made her way to the bar.

"Aren't you a little young to be drinking?" She asked as she took a seat next to Stefan. He raised his eyebrows as he peered at her.

"What's it to you?"

Both grinned and gave a light chuckle. Stefan leaned over and planted a wet, slightly sloppy kiss on her cheek as a proper greeting.

"How've you been holding up today?"

Instead of answering his question, she leaned back to get a better look at him and narrowed her eyes.

"Are you drunk?"

Stefan raised his hand and hovered his index finger and thumb over each other. "A little bit." He swigged what was left in his glass and slammed it back down on the bar. "It helps take the edge off."

Elowen placed her hand on his arm. "Hey," she said softly. "You've been there for me this past month or so. And I'm so, so thankful for that. But now it's my turn to be here for you, alright? Talk to me."

Stefan shook his head. "No, no, no. I know it doesn't look that way, but I'm fine! I've got everything under control! In fact, I've never felt better. We should enjoy this while it lasts. Dance with me."

Elowen gave a soft sigh as he played the dodge game and pretended everything wasn't spiraling out of control. She was the queen of that. Shaking her head, she decided that she wouldn't push anything and ask again at a better time.

"You hate dancing," she said wryly, crossing her arms.

"Correction: sober me hates dancing. Drunk me doesn't care."

She took a peek at the dance floor. It was virtually empty, save for a few older couples slow dancing to the soft jazz music.

"How are we supposed to dance to elevator music?"

"We don't. We need something better." He walked off towards the DJ just as Kelly Donovan walked up and took his place.

"Yeah, that's not gonna work," she remarked. "I already tried to bribe the guy with 20 bucks and a date. He said Carol Lockwood has complete control over the music choices."

Elowen could see Stefan compelling the DJ in the corner of her eye. "You'd be surprised. Stefan is a very….. Persuasive person."

Right as she finished her sentence, the music changed.

"Thank god!" Cheered Kelly. She glided onto the floor and started dancing with Stefan.

"Have I entered an alternative universe where Stefan is fun?" Damon asked rhetorically. Elowen rolled her eyes.

"I know you hate his animal regimen, but he won't stand a chance at a human diet if he doesn't ease into it. And this isn't easing into it."

"Are you saying you agree that his obsession with animal blood is stupid?" He smirked. Elowen gave him a glowering side eye.

"I'm saying that this won't end well," she warned. "You and I both know that."

Josiah and Caroline had found their way to the dance floor like everyone else. Elowen was watching them with a smile from the corner. Her phone buzzed with a new text. She had sent a message to Alaric before they left the house, letting him know that Esmeralda would be home alone and that she would feel better if he were there with her. He was sending her an update.

She told me to tell you that she told you she'd be fine, but that she appreciates the thought. Tried to warm her something up but she caught me and kicked me out of the kitchen. She's cooking dinner now. Don't think I can stop her. Sorry, chief.

Elowen cracked a slanted smile and started typing out a reply.

That's mom alright. Should've warned you that the babysitting mission would fail before it even started. Thank you for stopping by to check on her, though. It means a lot.

No problem, Elle.

"Please dance with your alcoholic vampire boyfriend," came a sudden voice directly in front of her. She looked up from the screen and found Stefan was pouting down at her. He placed his hands on her shoulders and shook her a bit in an attempt to beg. She slid her phone back into her boot and allowed him to pull her out of the corner.

They made it to the middle of the floor and started jamming out and having fun. Stefan pulled her in and spun her around. She giggled loudly, but lost her balance mid-spin and ran into someone's back.

"Watch it!" He snapped at her.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! That was my fault. I'm not very good with spins."

"Then get off the dance floor."

Elowen was left dumbfounded by this man's rude attitude. She almost didn't respond.

"Excuse me?"

Before she could defend herself, Stefan stepped in front of her, eyes dark and intimidating.

"That's not how you talk to a lady."

"Whatever," the man scoffed. He started to walk away, but Stefan caught his arm and pulled him back. He looked him in the eye and started to compel him.

"I think you need to apologize."

"I'm sorry," he said very monotone. Thinking they were done, he tried to leave again. Stefan tightened his grip and prevented him from moving. His face contorted in pain from the added pressure.

"Now say it like you mean it."

The man looked Elowen in the eye and apologized again. "I'm really, really sorry."

She grabbed onto Stefan's shoulder and tried to pull him away. "Stefan, that's enough. He's said sorry. Let him go."

Stefan burned holes into the man's face, but eventually let him go, albeit a little roughly.

"Now walk away. And stay away from my girlfriend, if you wouldn't be so kind."

Once the man was gone, Stefan shifted his weight to look at her better. He cradled her face. "You okay?"

Elowen nodded. "Yeah. Fine."

Except she wasn't fine. She was shaken up at Stefan's unexpected shift in behavior. One second they were having fun and the next, he was ready to possibly break someone's arm.

"It's really hot in here. I'm gonna go get some air."

She pushed through the horde of people and managed to make her way outside. She found an area that was empty and took a seat on the edge of a stair. She was alone for maybe five seconds before someone found her.

"Your mom used to wear that dress all the time, y'know."

Her whole body tensed at the sound of his voice. She didn't dare turn, move or breathe. After a second, she heard his shoes clacking against the concrete and then he was in front of her. She could feel her heart beating harder and harder by the second as he kneeled down to her level.

"And the blonde with Joey? She's wearing her old prom dress."

"Don't call him that," she hissed. Luis held his hands up in surrender.

"Alright, if that's what you want."

While she was trying to do her best to keep up a strong front, she was actually going through an emotional rollercoaster on the inside. It was getting more and more difficult to hide it.

"How the hell did you find us?"

"I have a friend who used to live here. He mentioned he heard from his friends about an esteemed writer with two kids living in town and I just knew it had to be you."

"So you thought, 'Hey, I'm gonna show up on their doorstep'? After kicking us out because you didn't want the responsibility of Josiah jumping off the fucking roof on your shoulders?"

"You watch your mouth, young lady."

Elowen stood and scowled down at Luis. "No, you don't get to tell me what to do anymore."

Luis got up as well, towering over his daughter. "I came all the way out here to see you and this is how you treat me? Don't make me have to-"

"What? Hit me? Do it! Do it, you coward!" She screamed, knowing that she was pushing his buttons. Usually her first impulse was to run, but after weeks of bottling everything up and then coming face to face with her father, she found herself in an episode of sudden rage. "You're nothing but a selfish, self-centered, manipulative son of a bi-"

Slap

He struck her hard enough for her head to be forced in the direction the hit was going. Her cheek was stinging and she could feel the throbbing throughout her face. She was sure that it was turning red or bruising already. Maybe both.

"Don't you ever talk to me like that again! You understand me?"

"Hey! What's going on over here?"

It was Damon.

After snapping John Gilbert's neck and dropping the bombshell to Stefan, he fled. He had lost him in the crowd and happened to pick up on the argument.

Luis turned his attention to Damon as he came to stand by Elowen. He narrowed his eyes at him, sizing him up.

"So, are you the vampire boyfriend or is that the other one?"

"Ohhh, I get it. You're the friend John said he brought along."

"In the flesh."

"Put your hands on her again and I'll hunt you down for sport and torture you until you have no flesh left. Understood?"

Luis's jaw clenched. He wasn't an idiot. Damon could kill him faster than he could fight back. He took a step back, indicating that he was backing down. With one last deadly glare, Damon gently took hold of Elowen and guided her away from the scene.

All the fight left Elowen the second Luis's hand made contact with her face. You know that feeling when you leave a warm fire and immediately feel colder than you were before? That's what she felt like. She was vaguely aware of Damon sneaking into the kitchen and applying something cold to her cheek.

"It's swollen pretty bad," he observed. "It might leave a pretty nasty bruise, too."

"It's not anything I haven't dealt with before," she mumbled impassively.

Damon sighed. This was something Stefan was usually good at, except Stefan was….. drunk. He moved her hand to hold the pack of peas against her skin so he could maneuver her over to an empty chair.

"It's probably best if I get you home. I don't want you anywhere near that piece of shit anymore than you want to even see him. If I carry you, I can get you to your car before you can even say no."

He was glad to see her try to crack a grin. She winced when she tried, though. In the end, she shook her head.

"I can't. Josiah and Caroline are out there somewhere. Oh god, Jo." She rubbed her spare hand against the other side of her face. "He doesn't even know he's here."

"Okay, okay. That's fine. We can work with that," assured Damon. "We'll split up and look for your kid brother and his girlfriend. Everyone should be listening Mayor Lockwood's speech so this shouldn't be too hard. Meet me back here in 10 and I'll make sure you get to the car safely. Sound like a plan?"

Elowen nodded. She set the frozen bag on the counter and got up. Her and Damon exited the kitchen and parted ways. She found Caroline pretty quickly. She was coming out of the bathroom in the next hall over.

"Care," Elowen called out. Caroline turned at the sound of her name. Her face morphed into one of concern when she saw how red and puffy the side of Elowen's face was.

"Oh my god! What happened?" She asked worriedly.

"Nevermind that," Elowen brushed off. "We need to go."

"What? Why? What's going on?"

"I'll explain everything later, I promise. Come on." Elowen pulled her along back towards the kitchen.

"Wait! What about Josiah?"

"Don't worry. Damon's got him."

They made it to the kitchen and waited for Damon and Josiah to show up. When 10 minutes had passed and neither of them were there yet, Elowen got a little worried. What if they had another run in with Luis?

"Okay, you stay here," she told Caroline. "I'm gonna go look for them. If none of us are back in 5, go to the car." She reached into her boot and pulled out the keys. "Here. Wait for us there."

"Elle, you're starting to scare me."

"Everything is fine."

"Then why do we have to leave so urgently?"

"I said I'd explain everything later. I'll be right back."

Elowen left the kitchen again, now in search of her brother and Damon. She checked around the bathroom in case Josiah had been waiting nearby for Caroline, but she found nothing. It seemed that Damon had been right. Nearly everyone was gathered around Mayor Lockwood, listening to him talk about the birthday of Mystic Falls. She spotted Josiah at the very back of the crowd, not really paying attention. Judging by his overall mood, it seemed that he hadn't spotted Luis standing towards the front. She made her way towards him.

"Jo," she murmured lowly. He looked up and the first thing he saw was her swollen cheek. There was a small section in the middle that was starting to bruise, surrounded by angry red skin. His protective instincts kicked in.

"Who did this to you?" He asked, voice tight and demanding. He had started to reach out, but Elowen grabbed his wrist before it could come into contact with her face. Before she could stop herself, her eyes darted over to Luis, who was watching them carefully. Josiah followed her line of sight. When his eyes landed on Luis, he immediately started trying to pry his wrist from her.

"Jo! Jo, no, stop!" She grabbed onto his jaw and made him look at her. "That's what he wants you to do. You're better than this." He glanced back over at their dad, who gave slow, provoking wave. "Hey. Look at me. Don't look at him."

It took a second, but eventually Josiah listened to her. "We need to leave. Caroline is waiting in the kitchen with the car keys. Wait for me and Damon. He's gonna help get us to the car without him trying to follow us."

She could see his adam's apple bop as he swallowed and then took a deep breath. After a second, he nodded his head. Elowen let him go and he disappeared down the hall towards the kitchen. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw movement. Luis was moving towards her. Since Damon wasn't by her side, she assumed he thought he could get away with talking to her again. However, Damon appeared next to her before he could take another step. Luis stopped in his tracks. With a scowl, he turned back as John Gilbert, now alive, said a small piece.

"Look at his ring," Damon muttered in her ear as he steered her away from Luis.

"He isn't wearing any."

"Not him. John Gilbert's."

Elowen squinted and got on her tiptoes to see over everyone's heads. As he rang the bell, a ring identical to Alaric's gleamed in the light on his right hand.

"It looks just like Ric's."

"Yeah, and it would just be a big coincidence if he didn't come back from the dead five minutes ago! Where did Alaric say he got that ring again?"

Slowly, realization was starting to dawn on Elowen. "Isobel," she said slowly.

"Oh, you mean to same Isobel who gave birth to Elena under the medical care of the late Dr. Grayson Gilbert? Who, by the way, was John's brother!"

"So John knows Isobel?"

"I think John knows a lot of things."

Finally, Elowen, Josiah and Caroline had made it to the car. The latter two had already situated themselves in the backseat when Damon noticed John exiting the building. He nudged Elowen, who had just started the ignition, and pointed him out.

"We'll be right back," she told Josiah and Caroline, then slammed the drivers door shut. Damon was already a few feet ahead of her.

"Leaving so soon?" He asked when he was in John's ear shot. He didn't acknowledge either of them.

"I've never liked being the last person to leave a party. It's too desperate. You here to kill me again? I see you've brought an accomplice this time. Little miss Elowen Ramirez. What a pleasure."

"Well, you obviously know her."

"Of course I do. She's the oldest daughter to author Esmeralda Ramirez. Y'know, I'm good friends with your father. Met him through my brother Gray."

Damon could feel the anger radiating from Elowen. He watched her from the corner of his eye as she swung and backhanded John. He stumbled back in surprise.

"You! It's your fault he's in town!"

While she had already known from when Damon mentioned it earlier, hearing it come from John's mouth directly and in such a casual, almost smug tone, set her off. She was getting ready to strike again when John, now prepared, grabbed her arm mid-swing.

"Careful, little lady."

"Get your hands off of her."

John's eyes darted over to Damon. After a short stare down, John let her go. He straightened his jacket out.

"Funny, Luis said Josiah was the aggressive one."

Before Elowen could get violent again, Damon stepped in front of her.

"Wanna know what's also funny? The fact that you know so much for a guy who just got to town."

"More than you know, Damon. So, if you two are planning some type of high speed, vamp, witch duo snatch ring kill move, just know that if I die, everything I know will go to the council. Including the fascinating tale of the original Salvatore brothers and their present day return to Mystic Falls and how they have a family of witches protecting them."

Elowen took a step forward, but Damon put his arm in the way and prevented her from going any further. He nodded towards John's hand.

"How'd you get the ring?" He asked.

"I inherited it," John answered. "This one is actually Gray's. I gave mine to Isobel, though I never would've handed it over if I had known she was just going to give it away to Alaric Saltzman."

"So you did know Isobel."

"Who do you think sent her your way when she wanted to become a vampire?"

"... That was you?"

"Guilty. Why, did you think someone else sent her? Maybe… Katherine Pierce?"

Damon's jaw clenched. "How do you know about Katherine?"

"Don't waste your breath," Elowen snapped. "He's not gonna say anything he doesn't want us knowing. He just wants to dangle his knowledge in your face. Let's go." She started tugging Damon away, though they didn't get very far.

"Your dad mentioned you were smart. He wasn't wrong."

Elowen turned back around, eyes tired but angry. She took a few steps back toward John and stood a few feet away from him.

"Do you even know what he did to my family? Or the real reason why my mom filed for divorce? How about why we moved so far away and why he didn't know where we were. No? Then stop talking like you know more about my dad than me. You can flaunt your holier-than-thou attitude all you want, but keep your nose out of my family business. Have a nice night, John."

Damon made sure they got home safe and sound. He trailed behind their car to make sure nobody had followed them from the party, then watched them all enter the house before taking his leave. Elowen appreciated this greatly.

She quickly snuck up to her room as Esmeralda was preoccupied with babying Josiah. She didn't want her to see the injury on her face. She didn't need more stress on her shoulders. Vaguely, she could register Esmeralda saying that Caroline should just stay the night since it was already late, but she didn't have enough energy to address it.

Elowen turned her bedroom lights on and headed for her jewelry box. She removed her earrings and shoes and grabbed a hair tie. Her hair was now past her shoulders, so she made a habit of braiding it at night to avoid nasty knots (or at least, she braided it as well as she could. Her hair was so curly that sometimes it felt impossible). When she turned, hands mid-ponytail tying, Stefan was suddenly standing in the middle of the room. She jumped and snapped her hair band in the process.

"God! Don't do that."

"Sorry," he apologized. "I'm sorry I ran off earlier, too."

Elowen shook her head. "No, don't be. I was just as guilty."

Stefan noticed the mark on her cheek and hovered his hand over the bruise. Elowen still flinched away on impulse.

"Who did this to you?" He asked. Scared that he would do something to Luis like he did to the man at the party, she shook her head (she felt disgusting for suddenly feeling worried for someone like Luis).

"Don't worry about it." She noticed his jittery movements and the beads of sweat on his hairline. Even though she knew it was useless (he was a vampire, he couldn't get sick), she pressed the back of her hand to his forehead. "You don't look so great. Are you okay?"

"No," he said truthfully. He was still concerned about the budding bruise she was adorning, however, the overwhelming smell of blood in the house was setting him off again. He quickly stepped away and put her bed in between them. He was trying to take deep breaths to distract himself.

"Stefan. Hey," she called gently. "What's wrong?"

He had clasped his hands behind his neck and was pacing around in circles. It looked like he was losing his mind. He was losing his mind. Suddenly, out of nowhere, he stopped pacing and everything was pouring out of his mouth.

"I tried so hard to keep it together tonight and it was working! It was working, but then Matt's mom, she got hurt and she was bleeding. I had her blood on my hands….."

Elowen, now able to see the seriousness of the situation, took a slow, cautious step backwards. He didn't notice. She wasn't sure if he could possibly attack her. She wanted to believe that he wouldn't, but he was in pretty bad shape. She couldn't deny that it might happen.

"What did you do next?"

"I ran away from it, but then, that guy from before. He confronted me in the parking lot and- god. I wanted to feed on him and it took me everything inside me not to."

Elowen felt her breath catch in her throat. She didn't recall any type of incident happening at the party. Then again, she spent most of it outside and hiding out in the kitchen.

"... But, you didn't, right?" She asked warily.

"No, but I wanted to." Stefan placed his hands on either side of his head and started pacing again. "Elle, my head is- is pounding. I feel like my skin is on fire." Again, he stopped his pacing out of the blue. "I have this hunger inside of me that I've never felt before in my entire life and all I can think about is what you said earlier. How I've been there for you and how it's your turn to be there for me. You've been nothing but honest and trusting and allowed yourself to be vulnerable with me and it's not fair if I don't do the same and so I'm telling you this."

"That's okay, this is good!" She moved around the bed, closer to Stefan. "You need to talk about this stuff and I'm glad you finally are."

"You don't understand. I don't want you to see me like this. When I'm with you, I feel like I don't have to hide my vampirism. I can be who I really am. But this? This is the dark side of it all. And you don't deserve to be dragged into it."

"Stefan, if you really feel like you don't have to hide from me, that means all of you. Dark side included. I know what I signed up for when we started dating." She stood a few feet away from him now. "I'm going to help you get through this, just like you helped me. You're going to be okay."

Elowen closed the gap and took his face between her hands. Stefan immediately rejected the action by prying her hands away. He took a few steps back to put some distance between them again.

"I'm sorry, I can't. I'm afraid of what I could do to you."

A hush fell over the room as Elowen carefully thought over her next words.

"Y'know what? You're right. You could lose control any second. Because this Stefan, dark Stefan, is dangerous. And scary. That's just the reality and I'm willing to accept that. He's a part of you that's always been there. But in order for me to help you, you have to trust yourself not to hurt me. That's just a precaution we're going to have to take, because there's no way in hell that I'm letting you go through this alone."

This time, when she tried to place her hands on his face, he let her.

"We'll get through this, one step at a time," she murmured. The two embraced.

"I love you so much," Stefan whispered in her ear.

"I love you, too."