Disclaimer: Refer to the first chapter please :)

By the Light of the Moon

With her back turned from the others in the room with her, Elena eyed the moonstone in her hands with curiosity and disappointment, all while thinking about what the little rock would cause her. Bonnie was sitting on her bed overlooking her Grimoire while Amelia was pacing by the nightstand, but it wasn't a thoughtful pace, just more of a time-passer than anything else.

"Now that you've got this back, what are you gonna do with it?" Elena asked Bonnie, turning around to hear the answer.

"Right now, it's what's binding the Sun and Moon curse. If I can figure out a way to remove the spell from the stone because useless," she answered. Elena gave her a look of disdain and walked over to the window seat in her room.

"And according to Katherine, Klaus becomes vengeful."

Amelia scoffed. "Since when did we start listening to what Katherine Pierce had to say?"

"That's if he finds out," Bonnie added. Elena looked back and forth between the supernatural creatures in disbelief.

"Can't this wait? Claire is stuck in the tomb with Katherine! We've got to get her out!"

Bonnie shook her head tightly. "Claire told us to focus on this."

"My sister will be incredibly pissed off if we don't obey her 'orders'." Amelia rolled her eyes and sat down on the bed next to Bonnie. "She's in a very crabby mood lately, which is why I sent Stefan to go see her today."

Elena frowned. "Claire thinks that she's doing this to protect all of us, but she's wrong. We need to get her out of there before Katherine rips her to shreds!"

"I'm taking Claire's side with this one," Bonnie told her friend firmly. "We're not gonna let anyone get used in some creepy sacrifice ritual!"

As she said the words snidely, the young witch yanked the clear moonstone out of Elena's hands to take possession of it again. Before Elena could object, Jeremy opened the bathroom door that also led into Elena's room and interrupted them. "What are you guys arguing about?"

Amelia sighed. "Elena thinks we need to get Claire out of the tomb."

"Which we will," Jeremy said assuringly. "After we de-spell the moonstone."

"Correct," Amelia chirped. Bonnie put the moonstone in her bag with a shrug.

"Right. We're not arguing about anything because there's nothing to argue about anymore." She looked up at Jeremy and, after an awkward moment, turned to Amelia. "I need a coffee. You want a coffee, Amelia?"

"Sure. I'll go down with you." The two supernatural beings got up from the bed and walked out of the room, leaving the two siblings to their bidding. Elena, frustrated, sat down in Bonnie's place on her bed while Jeremy stepped forward with worried eyes. She saw him and sighed.

"What?"

"Why are you on some suicide mission?" her brother asked. She turned at him.

"I'm trying to prevent everyone else from getting hurt."

"Oh, so bringing Klaus the moonstone so you can get yourself killed is okay?" he countered. Elena wanted to dispute his argument, but Jeremy walked out of the room before she could say anything, and besides, she didn't know what to say to him. All she knew was that turning herself in was the only way to stop Klaus from coming to Mystic Falls and hurting the people that she cared about to break the curse.

So, with stealth hands and a sneaky mind, Elena had the bright idea to steal the moonstone right from Bonnie's bag. No one was around, so with caution, she reached into the bag and took the moonstone right out of it, hiding it in her pocket and under her shirt so that no one could see. Grabbing her keys from her dresser, Elena tip-toed downstairs, hoping not to run into anyone before she could get out of the house. To her dismay, Bonnie and Amelia were just about to walk upstairs with two cups of coffee in their hands.

"Where are you going?" Bonnie asked.

"Um..." Elena trailed off, trying to come up with a lie. "To see Claire."

"Ooh, I'll come with," Amelia suggested. Immediately, Elena tensed.

"Um...um, you know what? I kind of just want to speak to her alone. It's...err, private."

"You're lying." Bonnie nodded without batting an eye. Elena knotted her eyebrows.

"No, I'm not." She moved to go down the stairs, but Bonnie blocked her from leaving by standing at the end.

"Really? Tell your face."

"Are you serious?"

Jeremy rejoined them, trotting down the stairs with Bonnie's bag in his hand. Singing in a disappointed tone, he announced, "She took the moonstone..."

Elena looked back at Bonnie and Amelia. "How did you..."

"We tested you," answered the witch. Amelia took a sip of her coffee.

"You failed...if that wasn't obvious enough."

Elena looked up and down the staircase, but eventually just scoffed in disbelief. "Klaus killed Katherine's entire family just because she crossed him." She moved down, one step closer to the end of the staircase. Firmly, she told her friend, "I can't let that happen."

Reluctantly, somewhat too easily, Bonnie stepped aside, and the confused Elena took what she could get and hopped down the staircase and towards the front door to leave. She opened it, looking back at her friends and her brother, but right as she moved to go outside, she was blocked. An invisible barrier kept her from going outside the threshold, much like the tomb spell, and realizing what was preventing her, Elena turned around at the witch who no doubt put the spell on the house.

"What did you do?"

Bonnie grimaced. "It's for the best, Elena."

Claire laughed as she heard the story from Stefan. "I'm sorry...you trapped her in the house? Seriously, like the one time I can't be a part of the fun, you guys decide to have all of it without me?"

Stefan hung his head with a soft chuckle. "It was Damon's idea. He believes she's on a martyr tear that, and I quote, 'rivals my greatest hits'. But...at least he and Bonnie are getting along."

Claire scoffed. "Oh, yeah? How's that going?"

Her friend sighed. "It could be much better. But we're doing what we can so that this can be over with and we can get you out."

The blonde shook her head. "Don't worry about me, Stefan. I'm fine in here. It's all nice and...cozy."

"Mm." Katherine appeared from the back of the tomb with her hand on her hip and a smirk on her face. "That's one way to put it."

Stefan and Claire stared at Katherine with unamused eyes before finally ignoring her and resuming their conversation. Stefan stepped forward, careful to avoid the threshold, and held up a black duffel bag. Claire raised an eyebrow. "I put together a care package for you. Candles, lanterns, some light reading to pass the time. Damon suggested I put some weaponry in there along with some blood but I figured..."

"Anything you put in there, I just have to share with her." With a hearty sigh, Claire gritted her teeth and, without looking back, directed towards Katherine, "You are a literal thorn in my side, Katherine."

"The feeling is mutual." The brunette stepped forward into the light, closer to the entrance of the tomb. "You know, you two are surprisingly calm considering Klaus will hunt you down and kill you if you mess with his little plan."

The blonde sighed. "Well, no matter what our fate is, one thing's for certain: I will be tossing you over like a deer to a pack of mountain lions, that's for sure."

"Please..." Stefan shut his eyes tight and turned to Claire. "Please, for the love of God, do not die in there, Claire. Play nice."

Katherine smirked. "You could always come inside. Mediate for us?"

Claire turned and saw the spark in Katherine's falsely innocent eyes, and with a scrunch of her nose, she scoffed, "Ew! No." Her head turned back to Stefan. "Just make sure Elena doesn't kill herself before I get out of here and do it for her because of her inexcusable stupidity. Oh, and make sure Damon doesn't kill anyone important. Tonight's a full moon, right?"

Stefan nodded. "Yeah. I'll try to keep him out of trouble. I'll see you later."

"Bye." Claire and Katherine watched as Stefan turned and walked out of the tomb, all while Katherine kept a nasty eye on him. Claire watched her curiously, and once Stefan was out of earshot, she questioned, "I'm sorry, weren't you supposed to be in love with my husband?"

"Ex-husband," Katherine reminded her. With an irritated eye roll, Claire grabbed the duffel bag and walked to the back of the tomb and Katherine repeated, "Ex."

Damon stepped through the threshold of the Gilbert house with wondrous eyes, making sure that he'd be able to get out like he was able to get in. He found Elena sitting on the couch, moping to herself, while Amelia came out of the kitchen with a cup of tea for her. Stefan was beside her, having had entered the back door after his meeting with Claire, and Damon walked up to the threshold of the living room where Elena looked back at him.

"You should really lock your door." She crossed her arms at him. "Oh, come on, pouty. At least give me two points for ingenuity."

Amelia sighed. "Come on, Damon, the girl's been through enough today."

Elena turned at him with narrowed eyes and ignored the blonde vampire. "Do you think this is funny?"

"Yes, Elena. I find hilarity in the lengths that we all have to go through to repeatedly save yourself from a suicide mission." Damon frowned and Elena just gave him a pointed look.

"What does Claire have to say about this?"

The dark-haired vampire hid his emotions and shrugged nonchalantly. "Who knows? Who cares? She won't see me, so I certainly don't."

Suddenly, Elena's face turned soft. "What? She won't see you?"

Damon rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Tragic story. Ask Stefan here what Claire thinks. He's the one bringing her a care package." While Elena looked over at Stefan for answers, Damon sat down on the couch next to the human and put his feet up on the coffee table. Stefan exhaled.

"She's disappointed that she's missing all the fun." Stefan sat down on the arm of the single couch. "She was Claire...as usual."

Elena raised an eyebrow. "What did she say about Elijah still being alive?"

Suddenly, Damon started to laugh, causing Elena to grow more confused. Stefan hid his eyes and Elena questioned Damon with a look. He looked up at her. "Oh, don't look at me. Stefan's explaining this one."

"I didn't want to worry her," Stefan admitted truthfully. "She's got enough on her plate having to deal with Katherine. There's no need for her to worry about the outside, too."

Damon shrugged. "It's not like she can do anything about it, anyways." He looked around the room. "Where's Bonnie?"

Jeremy interrupted everyone in the living room by strolling through. "I thought she was meeting you."

The vampire shook his head. "No. Little witch is on moonstone duty and the vampires are on Elena patrol."

Elena groaned. "Do I really need all three of you here?"

"Yes," all of them chorused at once. The brunette rolled her eyes irately and just recoiled into herself, pissed off. Jeremy, meanwhile, continued.

"And who's on Tyler Lockwood and the full moon?"

"Vampire Barbie asked me if she could handle it and I said, why not? Figured if she screwed up, he'll bite her and then I'll be rid of two of my problems." The elder Salvatore smirked. Elena practically shot up from the couch.

"Hold on a second. Tonight's the full moon?"

Suddenly, Damon's phone began to rang, so he lifted himself off the couch and responded quickly. "Yep. But you're too absorbed with your suicidal tendencies to notice." He answered his phone. "What?"

"Sheriff Forbes has officially declared Mason Lockwood a missing person," Alaric told the vampire over the line. Damon widened his eyes.

"What? Why?"

"Some girl from Florida showed up on the Lockwoods' doorstep looking for Mason."

"What girl?"

"I don't know, but she's sure got everyone in a tizzy."

Damon sighed. "That's not good. Where are you?"

"I'm at the Grill."

"I'm on my way." The vampire turned back into the Gilbert living room and looked around. "Change of plans. Brother...Elena's brother, you babysit. Blondie, you're coming with me." He beckoned Amelia to him, and though surprised, the younger King shrugged and walked towards him to exit the house. Stefan stood up, confused.

"Wait a second, what's going on?"

"Relax, brother." Damon looked at Elena while Jeremy laid back on the couch in his sister's grumpy lap. "Hey, you know...you should get out, enjoy the sun. Oh, wait...you can't!"

The teenage boy laughed at his sister while Damon and Amelia left the house promptly, and out of spite, Elena pushed her brother right off her lap with a hidden smile. Jeremy fell to the floor laughing, and when Elena looked up, she realized that she was going to be stuck in a house, primarily alone, with her ex-boyfriend as her bodyguard.

"Care to share what's so important you're putting me on a different patrol?" Amelia asked as she and Damon stepped outside into the daylight towards his car. Damon unlocked it and walked around to the driver's side.

"You remember that werewolf I killed while you were busy risking your life to save my brother's?"

"You say that like it's a bad thing." They climbed inside the car. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Well, someone came around town asking for him." Before starting the car, Damon leaned forward and hunted around in the glove compartment for something he had obviously stashed before. "And I'm willing to bet that this 'someone' is exactly like our old friend Mason." He took out a packet of wolfsbane and waved it in front of her with a smile. "So what do you say to a wager? Fifty bucks?"

Amelia stared at the packet of wolfsbane with a disinterested glance, and just shook her head and looked forward without responding.

"So we're fasting now?" Katherine questioned with disdain as she and Claire stood on opposite sides of the small cul-de-sac in the back of the tomb. "We're so pious."

Claire scoffed. "If there's one thing you're definitely not, Katherine, it's pious."

Regardless of Claire's comment, Katherine continued, "How long have you actually gone without blood? I know you get desiccation in theory, Clarissa, but in reality, it's much worse. Your heart still beats, struggling to pump whatever blood remains. And when it's gone, your veins rub together like sandpaper. It's excruciating."

"Kind of like you," she added snidely.

Katherine narrowed her eyes. "Go ahead. Look at me with those judgey, spiteful little eyes of yours. You and I both know we're much more similar than we are different. That's why I haven't killed you yet."

"No, you haven't killed me yet because you have some weird infatuation with this urban legend about my blood, which is why you had Caroline turn into a vampire." Claire paused. "And, you're out to destroy every bit of my life. Your endgame was never to kill me, it was always to make me suffer."

Katherine stared irately. "You think you have me pegged, don't you?"

"I don't think I have you pegged, Katherine, I know I have you pegged. I've figured out your little game and I'm not playing anymore. Kill me, don't kill me; but we both know you won't."

"You're right. I won't." Katherine relaxed against the stone wall of the tomb and straightened her back to get more comfortable. "Because it's much more fun watching you ruin your own life without any help from me at all."

Claire raised an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"

The two stared at each other for a long time until Katherine, with a very hateful look on her face, scoffed and bit on her lip. "Wow. You really can't see it, can you? Are you just blind, then? Maybe that's the problem." Claire gave her opponent a look, telling her to clarify and move it along. Katherine leaned forward. "One day, Damon's not going to take the shit he gets from you, Claire. One day, he's going to snap. You can accuse me of toying with Damon...Stefan...Christopher, whoever you want. Truth is, you're just as bad."

"What the hell are you smoking?" Claire snapped. "Since when did this become about Damon?"

"It's always been about Damon." Katherine stood from her position at the wall, but Claire just looked up at her. "I took you down to that river and I drowned you because you needed a wake-up-call, little girl. But it seems you still haven't gotten one."

Giving up, Claire stood to face Katherine head-on. "I'm not going to sit in here and talk about Damon, Stefan, Christopher, or anything else for that matter."

She turned to go find her own wing of the tomb, far away from Katherine, when the brunette behind her shouted, "Oh, don't you dare act like you don't have a single clue. I'm far from oblivious, Claire. I know what's been going on between you and Damon for the last few decades and, quite honestly, I'm a little disappointed Stefan hasn't figured it out yet."

Claire stopped in her tracks and, hesitantly, turned around to face Katherine with her arms crossed over her chest. "What's your point?"

Katherine shrugged. "You can blame me for anything you want, Claire." She leaned against the stone wall of the cave with her stance copying Claire's more efficiently. "But you're exactly like me. And you hate me for it."

Claire bit down on her lip to keep from shouting, not like it would matter anyways. But to keep her temper under control, she turned her cheek and waited a few moments before snapping her head back.

"Well what's your excuse?" she countered. Katherine held her head high, thinking about the secret that she kept buried inside, but she didn't divulge. Instead, she turned on her own heel and walked in the other direction.

"Stefan, I'm fine," Elena groaned at him as she held open the door for him to leave. It was already dark out and the full moon was blaring loudly up in the sky. It frightened the human, concerned for her vampire friends, but she knew they could handle themselves. "I can't get out of the house anyways. I think it's best if you go."

Stefan shut the door so that cold air wasn't getting into the house. Elena shifted uncomfortably at his lack of distance and she avoided his eyes. "Elena, you can't be doing this. You can't be going around trying to get yourself killed, okay? I told you I will do what I can to protect you and I meant it."

"I don't need your protection," Elena snapped. Stefan waited for her to speak. "You know, I don't question why you, your brother, Claire, her sister, and everyone else try so hard to save me. You shouldn't question why I would try to save all of you."

Stefan shook his head. "Sacrificing yourself to save the rest of us is not the way to go about this. No one wants you to die, which is why we spelled you inside today instead of getting Claire out."

"Which is another thing!" Elena exclaimed, exasperated. "Your best friend is stuck in a tomb with her archenemy and everyone respects her decision to put ourselves before her. Why does no one question that and everyone questions me?"

"Because Claire is strong enough to handle herself," Stefan told her, now irritated. Elena frowned. "Look, it's okay. You're human. No one expects you to...fight off a herd of vampires at a time because of the fact that you aren't one. But Claire can handle Katherine, and she's very hard to dissuade. But I will get her out. In time. And Katherine won't kill her, as much as she threatens it."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because Katherine had an entire century to sneak up on Claire and drive a stake through her heart but she didn't." Stefan shook his head. "So she won't. Trust me."

Elena took a moment to think but eventually, she nodded. "I do trust you, Stefan. But I want you to leave." He opened his mouth to protest, but she stopped him. "Look, I get it. Just because we're not together doesn't mean you don't care about me; the same goes with everyone else in your life. But being here with me won't make any of this easier."

"Elena..." Stefan trailed off, sighing. "This isn't about us right now."

"You're right," she said softly. "It's not. Which is good because...I don't think I could handle being with someone right now through all of this. But I'm doing this for your sake, okay? Because I care about you." Stefan watched as she gave him a light smile. "All I want is for you to be happy. And we both know who makes you happy right now, and it's not me. So there's no reason to be here right now."

"But Elena—"

"Stefan, please." Elena opened the door for him and nodded. "Go."

He wanted to stay, not for himself and his own feelings, but for her. Stefan didn't want her to get hurt, no matter if they were dating or not. But he respected her decision at last, and he stepped outside the threshold easily and watched as she closed the door with a smile. There he was, outside in the cold night, and he thought about what he should do next.

Elena, meanwhile, went upstairs and sat around in her room for the most part. Jeremy left her alone, but insisted that the door between their rooms be open just in case. After a while, Elena went downstairs to get something to eat and stretch a bit when she found her Aunt Jenna digging through the hallway closet under the staircase.

"Hey. What are you doing?" Elena asked. Jenna looked up at her with thankful eyes.

"Oh! Great timing." She shoved a box into Elena's arms, and since the box was heavy, Elena's balance wobbled.

"Um...whoa. What is this stuff?"

"Your mom's files from the Historical Society. I got roped into helping Mrs. Lockwood." She picked up a box in her arm and said loudly as if to another guest, "And by 'roped', I meant very excited to participate!"

Shutting the closet door, Elena gasped upon seeing Elijah standing on the other side, in her kitchen, with a very kind smile on his lips. A chill ran down her spine as he greeted her, "Hey. I'm Elijah."

Jenna stepped forward, oblivious to Elena's frozen state, and grabbed the box from Elena's arms. "Elijah's in town doing research in Mystic Falls."

Elijah stepped forward and extended his hand, to which Elena took with a shudder. "It's a pleasure."

"So, you're welcome to stay here and rummage through this stuff," Jenna offered, "or Elena and I could help you load it into your car."

"Or I can get someone to pick it up tomorrow," Elijah suggested. Jenna chuckled.

"Also a good plan."

"Thank you so much for inviting me into your home, Jenna," Elijah thanked her as he followed Jenna out. Elena visibly stiffened, though it all went oblivious to her poor Aunt Jenna. Suddenly, Elijah's voice called her to turn. "And Elena? I hope to see you again sometime soon."

His words, cryptic as they were, made Elena shake. She watched as Jenna showed the Original out and, both calmly and hurriedly, she rushed up to her brother's room with her breath caught in her throat and she pounded on the door, trying to go inside. But right as she tried to push the door open, Elijah pulled it shut and held a finger to his lips, telling her to stay quiet. The re-entered vampire hid behind the wall next to Jeremy's door and Elena ran a hand through her hair as Jeremy opened his door.

"What is it?" the teenager asked. Elena scrambled for a lie.

"Um...Jenna was just asking me to...get you to help her with the boxes."

Jeremy nodded and started out of his room. "Oh. Yeah."

Once he was gone and down the stairs without noticing the stealthy vampire on the other side of the wall, Elena turned around at Elijah with nervous eyes. He nodded to her.

"A wise choice," he praised.

Elena inhaled deeply. "What do you want?"

"I think it's time you and I had a little chat."

A part of Elena was scared—shaking, even—but another part of her wanted to talk to Elijah. This was what she wanted to do all along, but the spell Bonnie put on the house made that impossible. With her eyes and reflexes on the highest alert, Elena led the Original into her room and shut the door for their privacy. She walked over to the bathroom door and made sure that was closed as well when Jeremy came back upstairs.

"Oh, forgive the intrusion," apologized the classy vampire. "I mean your family no harm."

"Why did you kill those vampires when they tried to take me?" Elena urged. Elijah sat down on her window seat.

"Because I didn't want you to be taken." Elena arched an eyebrow. "Klaus is the most feared and hated of the Originals, but those that fear him are desperate for his approval. If word gets out that the doppelgänger exists, there'll be a line of vampires eager to take you to him, and I can't have that."

"Isn't that exactly what you're trying to do?"

Elijah hesitated. "Let's just say that my goal is not to break the curse."

Frustrated, Elena threw up her hands. "So what is your goal?"

"Klaus's obsessions have made him paranoid. He's a recluse," Elijah told her, straightening. "He trusts only those in his immediate circle."

"Like you?"

"Not anymore." He shook his head. Elena held her head high.

"You don't know where he is, do you?" There was only silence, and it was starting to fall together for Elena. "So you're trying to use me to draw him out."

"Well, to do that, I need you to stay put and to stop trying to get yourself killed."

"How do I know you're telling the truth?"

"Well, if I wasn't being truthful, all of your family would be dead and I'd be taking you to Klaus right now. Instead, I'm here, and I'm prepared to offer you a deal," Elijah proposed, intriguing the human in his company. Elena stepped forward with her eyes raised.

"What kind of a deal?"

"Do nothing." He stood. "Do nothing, live your life. Stop fighting. Then, when the time is right, you and I shall draw Klaus out together and I shall make certain that your friends remain unharmed."

"And then what?"

"Then I kill him."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that." She straightened, disbelieving. "I'm a man of my word, Elena. I make a deal, I keep a deal."

"How are you going to be able to keep everybody safe?" she inquired.

"You know, I notice you have a friend...Bonnie, is it? She seems to possess the gift of magic. I have friends with similar gifts."

She nodded, unsurprised. "You know witches."

"And together we can protect everybody that matters to you." He walked forward, closer to her, with the offer on the table. "So do we have a deal?"

Elena realized what a good offer it was, and though she wasn't all that certain she could trust him, she realized that she had no choice. But then, something else struck her mind, and she stepped forward with her arms crossed and a counter offer at hand.

"I need you to do something for me."

"We're negotiating now?"

Elena smiled softly, and her eyes held that of the fire of a certain Petrova.

Amelia stepped into the King residence after the long day and night she had with Damon at the Grill, where he not only pissed off a werewolf on the full moon but also accomplished a whole crapload of nothing. She was tired and cranky and didn't feel like talking to anyone, but was surprised when she found Stefan waiting inside of her house for her. The presence frightened her at first so much so that she jumped, but she recovered quickly.

"Stefan." Amelia hung up her jacket on the coat rack a few feet from the door. "Jesus, would it kill you to warn me next time? I may be a vampire but I've had a terrible day."

"What happened?" he asked, walking forward with his hands in his pockets. Amelia sighed.

"Oh, you know. The usual. Damon pissed off a werewolf on a full moon, we got nothing accomplished, and I had to pretend that Alaric was my uncle and that he was the town drunk." She paused. "Which kind of isn't a stretch if you think about it. The town drunk part, I mean. He's definitely not my uncle." Seeing the look on his face, she turned to him with raised eyebrows. "What about you? How was Elena patrol?"

"Fine." Stefan shrugged. "We didn't really talk much. She kicked me out an hour ago and...and I thought about going to the tomb to see Claire, but then I figured I shouldn't. Then I thought about going back to the house but then..."

She smiled. "Then?"

He thought of ten different ways to respond. Probably could've come up with a million ways, honestly. But instead of saying anything, he thought about what Elena told him—she told him to be happy. The more he thought about what that meant, the more he knew, as difficult as it was.

Stefan leaned down and, without any kind of warning or hesitations, captured Amelia's lips in his and pulled her close. Amelia stumbled into his arms, quite confused, but she didn't have any time to process anything. In the middle of a cold, empty, quiet house, they were all alone. She pushed his jacket off his shoulders so it fell down to the floor, and it was a hundred years overdue, but they didn't stop to think, to speak, or move.

Damon returned to the boarding house, curious to find it empty but slightly nervous about what Jules, the werewolf from earlier, had said when she meant that he'd "been marked". Once inside, he locked the front door as silly as it sounded, and found that the house was eerily quiet. But there was another presence in the house, he realized, so he went in the direction his gut told him and walked into the study.

"Stefan?" he hissed under his breath as he looked around the room. But as he did so, hoping not to find a venomous wolf inside, he found Delia sitting behind the alcohol rack in the room. With a frown, Damon walked inside as she stood up.

"Just can't stay away, can you?" he commented with a sour edge. She walked forward.

"You would've known I was coming back if you answered your phone, cupcake."

"Where's Rose? What do you want?" Damon asked, looking around the room. Delia shrugged.

"She went to go get something to eat." Vampire food, obviously. "But we both came back to apologize to everyone. We didn't mean to—"

"Just admit it." Damon crossed his arms over his chest. "You don't have anywhere else to go."

"Look, your friends came to us for help," Delia defended herself. Damon grimaced at her. "And I'm sorry, okay? I know that there was a chance that if Elena had gotten taken, Claire would eventually been taken, too, and for that I am sorry. Rose and I weren't thinking straight, there was a lot on the line. Besides, we didn't know your doppelgänger had a death wish."

Damon sighed. "Stop pretending like you actually care whether or not Claire gets hurt. I know that you tried to flaunt our one-night-stand around when Amelia came to the house that day."

"I know." Delia nodded. "And for that, I'm not exactly all that sorry. You know how I feel about her." The two vampire stared at each other for a while until, finally, Damon broke the ice and walked towards the bourbon tray on the back of the couch.

"There's nothing here for you, Delia. Tell your sister the same thing."

She opened her mouth to respond, furiously, when there was a huge crashing sound of glass breaking in the other room. Damon turned around, immediately concerned, and the two vampires rushed out to the foyer to see what the commotion was about. Damon, seeing the gaping hole in one of the windows in the parlor, immediately flashed up and grabbed a sword hanging on the wall and slowly came into view wielding the weapon against the large, throaty grey wolf in the middle of his home. The moment Delia saw it and watched the eyes of the wolf focus in on the dark-haired Salvatore and lunged, she shouted, "Damon!"

Delia tried to push him out of the way, using her superior strength, but was somehow mistaken by the wolf for the larger Salvatore. Therefore, the wolf attacked, tearing into the skin of the vampire who was taken off-guard. Delia screamed and felt the wolf bite into her skin, and Damon, a witness to the entire fight, stabbed the wolf straight in the stomach with the sword he held. Delia sat up straight, looking at the wolf bite in her shoulder with pure, unadulterated fear.

"Shit, shit, shit!" she cursed under her breath. Damon bent down immediately, his eyes wide.

"How bad is it?"

"It's a wolf bite, Damon; how bad do you think it is?" she nearly screamed at him. Damon watched the bite carefully, expecting it not to heal, and his heart immediately began to pound with anticipation. But then, in front of their very eyes, the bite began to close up, and all that was left behind was the blood on her shoulder.

"It's healing," Damon whispered, astonished. Delia let out a sigh of relief and couldn't stop the tears of happiness that escaped her eyes.

"Oh, God. Oh, thank God. I thought a werewolf bite was f-fatal, I—"

"It's all right." Damon wiped the tears from her eyes and nodded. "It's fine. You're gonna be okay."

She nodded and smiled through her tears, and he pulled her closer to his chest while she cried in relief.

Katherine entered the corridor that Claire had put herself in to stay as far away as she could from Katherine, who was starting to grow bored. She said so, quite bluntly, "I'm bored."

"Sucks for you." Her companion smiled bitterly.

"Are you seriously just gonna sit around here and wallow? You're the one who asked them to focus on the moonstone first."

"I'm not wallowing, I'm waiting. Patiently." Claire drummed her fingertips against her denim-covered knees. Katherine eyed them with despite.

"Stop that right now or I'll come over there and rip them off for you." The blonde snuck a look at Katherine, who was dead serious, and so Claire stopped her tapping and ran a hand through her hair in silence. Katherine set the lantern in her hand down on the small bench in the back of the tomb.

"Are we seriously just not going to talk from now on?"

Claire chuckled. "Look, I know you think it's fun to talk to me because you live for the bickering, but there are actual times when I grow sick and tired of it. I know I'm gonna have a hell of a lot to bicker about with Damon when I get out of here so if you don't mind, I'd rather just sit in silence."

"Yeah, that's not going to happen."

"What do you want to talk about, huh? How you've plotted to make my life miserable from the very second you saw me and won't even tell me what the reason is?"

Katherine rolled her eyes. "You know the reason, Claire. It's obvious."

"What kind of person turns the person they're jealous of and destroys their life one relationship at a time?" Claire asked, her voice going up a pitch. Katherine frowned as Claire scoffed, disbelieving. "I don't buy it. Not for a second. It's a petty reason."

"What do you want me to say, Claire? That I'm sorry for everything that I've done? Well, I'm not, okay? It's called self-preservation; I've been looking out for myself for 500 years."

Claire stood abruptly. "I want you to tell me why the hell you think you can go around and mess with my life. Why you think that you can presume everything about me and torture me emotionally and physically. I just don't get it. I've spent my entire life...not getting it. So here we are, Katherine, stuck in a tomb underground for god knows how long. So why don't you just spit it out already?"

"You're not going to like what I'm going to say," Katherine said through her teeth. Claire narrowed her eyes into slits, confused. "I don't like to talk about it and I sure as hell don't want to talk about it with you."

"Of course you don't. Because you don't know the reason," Claire accused her. Katherine sat down on the bench with her lips in a hard line. "Because you don't have a reason. Just admit it, Katherine, you have nothing better to do with your life so you decided one day that it'd be fun to screw with mine."

Suddenly, Katherine stood up and growled, "My best friend married my brother, you know that?"

"Yeah. I did." Claire crossed her arms. "It was in your family book. Elena said she was a King."

"Right. She was a King." Katherine let a diseased smile spread across her lips. "Tabitha King. But not just any King. She was you."

Claire squared her jaw. "Last time I checked, Katherine, I was not born in the 15th century."

"God, you're so stupid," Katherine snapped. "Of course she wasn't really you, idiot. She looked like you. Down to the size of your freaking feet, she was you. Klaus turned her into a vampire and made her kill my family and take me back to him, but I killed her first. Only, I spent the rest of my life beating myself up about it because there were times when I fantasized about torturing her. Ripping her limbs apart and feeding it to the wolves, actually. But, obviously, I couldn't get my chance because she was dead and that was my own fault. But then you came along, and you looked just like her, and I had my chance. But I tried to behave because I knew none of what she did was your fault, but there you were...all perfect and everyone loved you—Stefan, Damon, Christopher...everyone! And I couldn't take it anymore so I did everything I wanted to do to her to you instead."

The cave fell silent, but after a moment, Claire began to laugh. Katherine, who was already worked up over her confession, fought the urge to kill the girl in front of her. Eventually, Claire found time to break through her laughs and say, "You expect me to believe all of this? That I'm a doppelgänger of the woman that killed your entire family?"

Katherine gave a sour smile. "You're not special enough to be a doppelgänger, Claire."

"Well, according to you, I look like the spitting image of your childhood best friend! Kind of the definition of a doppelgänger." The vampire shrugged, looking at Katherine with challenging eyes. Katherine scoffed.

"Believe me, don't believe me. It's true." She sat back down on the bench. "So you want to know why I hate you so much? There's your reason."

Claire took a moment to respond once Katherine fell silent. "Why are you telling me this? It's not because I asked."

"You're gonna die anyway." Katherine shrugged and turned to Claire with a bitter smile. "Might as well go down knowing why your miserable life has been so miserable."

But though the words were harsh, Claire could see the gesture Katherine was trying to make. Slowly, she moved over to the bench and sat down beside Katherine, who shifted uncomfortably and inevitably rolled her eyes. Claire sighed. "Do you really love Christopher?"

It was an odd question, but one that needed to be asked. Katherine scoffed.

"You think I'd tell you?"

"Whatever." Claire shook her head. "The point is, you're not the only one who was jealous back in 1864. So was I. And I'm not perfect. Far from it, actually." She let out a deep breath and looked at the ground. "If I was, I wouldn't have made that messed up deal with Damon so long ago."

"The only part that was messed up was that you stopped," Katherine murmured. Claire tried to hold back a laugh, but was unsuccessful. "Look, I'm gonna give you a little tip about Klaus because once I'm out of here, I'm never coming back. You want to protect that precious Elena and the rest of this boring old town? Go ahead. Start with Isobel."

"Elena's mother?" Claire asked, confused. Katherine nodded.

"She found me. If she can do that, she can find anyone." They were silent. "You're welcome."

Claire watched as Katherine rose from the bench. "Thanks," she said curiously. Katherine shrugged.

"Saves me the trouble of having to kill you myself."

Before Katherine could walk out like intended, there was a crashing noise and Claire grabbed the lantern beside her to walk out to the entrance of the tomb. Katherine stopped mid-step with a sharp gasp, but Claire continued all the way to the threshold. Elijah was standing before them in the dim moonlight of the evening.

"Elijah," Katherine cowered.

"Good evening, Katerina. Thank you for having the good sense to be frightened." Claire stared at him, curious as to how a dead vampire was up and walking, but did not question it. He turned to her with a smile. "Clarissa King. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Claire bit her lip. "Forgive me if I'm not sure whether the pleasure is mine or not."

Elijah smiled. "Your release has been requested. I'm positive that is pleasure enough."

"What? By who?"

"The lovely Elena drives a hard bargain. However, we reached a peaceful agreement, she and I." He stepped aside and gestured. "Please. Come."

Claire looked around the threshold. "But the tomb has this spell that—"

"I've had the spell lifted," Elijah told her. Immediately beside Claire, Katherine stiffened. Claire, unsure whether or not it was a trap, slowly stepped out of the tomb to find that he was right; she was able to get out of the threshold with ease. Right as she crossed the line, Katherine tried to flee, therefore Elijah flashed up and blocked her way. Claire stepped out further into the tomb, avoiding the quarrel between the Original and the brunette vampire.

"As for you, however," Elijah continued. Claire watched as he looked into her eyes, almost as if compelling her. "You shall not exit until I say so. When Klaus comes, he'll want to know exactly where you are."

Elijah turned, releasing her from his gaze, and Katherine gave a disappointed look. Elijah turned back to Claire. "You're free to go. Elena will explain the arrangement to you and your friends. If she keeps her word, I'll keep mine."

Claire wanted to ask him what the deal was, but she was only left to watch him leave. From inside the tomb, Katherine's voice trembled. "Claire, no. Please don't let him leave me in here."

Claire swallowed thickly. "Sorry, Katherine."

She said nothing more but watched the horror over Katherine's face as she left the tomb.

Elena sighed as she walked around the kitchen, getting a glass to fill it up with water. Just as she took a sip of the water and was about to go upstairs, she saw something outside of her house and she realized exactly who it was. With a smile, Elena set down her glass and walked up to the back door, unlocking it to find Claire on the back porch. Claire smiled and leaned against the door.

"I guess I won't kill you for your stupidity, then." Elena rushed up and hugged her friend tightly, where Claire smiled and hugged Elena back. "Thank you, Elena."

"I couldn't believe no one was doing anything to get you out." Elena pulled back and shook her head. "Did Katherine get to you? You're not dead, at least...so that's a plus."

Claire chuckled. "Katherine...Katherine and I had a very interesting talk where I learned some very strange things." The blonde pursed her lips remembering the story Katherine told, but decided to push it out of her mind. "But it doesn't matter. I'm out, thank God. That tomb really is boring."

"Have you fed?" Elena asked quietly. Claire nodded.

"On my way over. Thought it would be rude to thank you on an empty stomach."

"Well, come in. Come on," Elena pushed, stepping aside. "We can watch a movie or something. I'm not allowed to leave the house anyway until the sun comes up tomorrow." She grimaced. Claire laughed.

"Yeah. I heard about that. But I can't." Claire tapped her fist against the side of the French doors in thought. "There's...someone I gotta see."

Elena eyed her carefully. "You mean Damon?"

Claire smiled. "Night, Elena."

"Well..." Elena tried to get out of the house again, but Claire was already gone and the threshold was still keeping her inside. Frustratedly, the human closed the doors leading to the back porch she couldn't go on, grabbed her water, and went upstairs.

"I talked to Caroline," Damon told Delia as she walked over to him wearing nothing but her robe since she had showered after the attack from the wolf. He brought his glass of bourbon to his lips. "She said Tyler was all locked up."

"So it was the other werewolf, then? Jules? The one you pissed off in your pissing contest?" A smile peaked through Delia's lips as Damon downed his alcohol and put it back behind the couch. He sighed.

"Yeah, she was coming after me. I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Delia shrugged as Damon started to pour her a glass of bourbon too. "Everything's fine."

"You all healed?"

"Yep...looks that way to me." Delia smiled and drank a small bit of her alcohol. "And Rose won't be back until tomorrow, by the way. She's...having some fun tonight. That is, if we're still welcome, of course." The dark-haired vampire hid a smile under her lips as she drank again.

Damon hid his own smile. "You know, Delia...I'm happy that the legend was fake. Maybe the werewolves made it up to keep the vampires away."

"Is that your subtle way of telling me we can stay here?"

"I'm not subtle."

"No you are not." She chuckled. Damon's hands trailed up her thigh and a look of lust crossed his gaze. Delia sighed. "Well, for the record, if it makes you feel any better, my sister and I are going to stay and help your merry little band of vampires."

"Help us?"

"Well, against my better judgement, I will help you protect your impossible little—" Delia stopped seeing Damon's gaze and exhaled calmly, "charming Claire."

Damon smiled. "Really? Why?"

"Because I could use a friend." She leaned closer to his lips. "And so could you."

"Just friends?"

"Well..." Damon pushed forward and kissed her, very lightly, before she pulled back a quarter of an inch and smiled. "Maybe not just friends."

The two stared at each other, closer than ever, and laughed before pulling back to each other in another locking kiss. Damon reached up and secured her face to his with his brute hands and pushed himself off the couch so that she could get underneath him, but right as he was about to pull them down to a lying position on the couch, there was an unexpected voice.

"Da—" Claire rushed into the study, looking around for Damon when she found him on the couch, lying on top of someone right in front of her eyes. When the two broke apart, Claire realized, very quickly and angrily, that the second person was none other than her second nemesis. Her chest rose and fell furiously as Damon jumped up from the couch, his eyes narrowed in confusion. "Well okay then."

"Claire?" Damon rushed out. Delia wiped the taste of Damon's lips off her mouth and straightened up into a proper position. "What the hell are you doing here? How did you get out of the tomb?"

She ignored him and looked at Delia. "You know, I've just about had it up to here with you. In fact, I've had it up to here with people trying to destroy my life. Get up. Now."

Delia stood from the couch. "What? I don't see your name on him."

"Claire, back off," Damon warned her, stepping between them. Claire looked up at him with a stone-cold gaze.

"Move, Salvatore," she snapped. He stepped forward, but she stepped back. "I said move. Get out of my way."

Delia couldn't help herself. She pouted teasingly and crossed her arms over her chest. "Is Claire all upset because one of her men decided they don't want her anymore?"

"Delia, you are not helping!" The dark-haired Salvatore snapped at the half-naked woman behind him. He turned back around to Claire. "Claire, just turn around. This isn't any of your business."

"This isn't any of my business?" she repeated furiously. Damon saw her stare and remembered it from the night that he killed Jeremy, only this time, she was filled with even more fury. "I'm sick and tired of being pushed around like this. I will deal with you later but right now..."

Slipping past Damon, Claire flashed over to Delia and wrapped her hand around the old vampire's throat and threw her against the wall. "I won't tolerate this. I'm tired of everything in my life being taken. Frankly, it's a little rude." Delia groaned and struggled against Claire's hand, but couldn't get out. Claire tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. "Hmm? What was that? Looks like you're not so strong after all."

"Claire, let go." Damon shoved the blonde off of Delia so that Claire stumbled back, her fists clenched at her sides. Damon helped Delia up after she fell to the ground, choking. "Delia, are you okay?"

"Damon, my shoulder..." Delia gasped out. Claire raised her eyebrows, finding it to be a lame excuse, but Damon, with an extremely concerned look on his face, spun her around and yanked the shoulder of her robe off to expose the bare shoulder. Claire rolled her eyes, but at a second glance, she saw something strange.

"What the hell is that?" Claire asked, stepping forward to examine the gnarly wound on Delia's shoulder, covered in bumps and irritated with blood flow. Delia widened her eyes and Damon looked up to meet her gaze.

It was a wolf bite.

A little later than the Wednesday updates normally but I got it done! It's snowing here so I probably won't be going to school for the rest of the week so I'll try to write as much as I can!

Thanks for reading! Please review!

Guest: Well here's the first part about Claire being angry over finding out that Delia and Damon slept together. This was more of the Delia part but she will be very bitter for the next episode. Obviously, Delia will die, and...I mean, I guess it'll hurt. Something will happen that will make it even more tragic though. Claire will have her time to turn it off, I promise. But it won't be for a long time. Thanks for reviewing!

stephanierebecca91: Here's the update! Thank you!

ThisIsMeAndYou: An OC loving Damon in a Damon/OC story? IMPOSSIBLE. Haha no she definitely does love him but doesn't realize it and won't for a very long time. This thing about her being a look-alike of Tabitha King has a very in-depth story to it that will explain why it's taking her such a long time to really understand how she feels about Damon and it will explain all of the hardships that they have and will endure in the future. This last part where Claire kind of attacked Delia was kind of more her anger towards everything that has happened with Katherine in the past and she kind of just snapped because she feels like her entire life is being taken away by women who are jealous of her. I need badass Claire back so she's got to do some killing or something in the next few episodes, I just can't stand her being all pushover-y. Good guess but Delia was bitten, so she will be dying. But something else will happen so stay tuned!

Momsen-xxxx: I don't even think I need to say anything because that was basically 2x10 summed up into one review :) Thanks for the review!

NicoleR85: Well wait no longer, here it is!

Savage Kill: Yep Katherine finally told her. But that's probably all that's gonna be spoken about it for the rest of the season. Maybe it'll be mentioned once or twice but other than that it's kind of got to be on the backburner because of all the other stuff happening with Klaus. Season 3 will really be where she comes to understand why that's even possible.

grapejuice101: Here's the update!

SomebodyWhoCares: No you are not. I love stubborn Damon too :)

Guest: Yes they definitely have a history but I agree with you, I'm Damon and Claire all the way too! Shh, don't tell anyone :P

Tvd2014: Aw thank you! Just wait a few more episodes because this is your glimmer of hope. Claire and Damon will be more than interacting by 2x16...do with that what you will.

Guest: the feels indeed! thanks for the review!

P.S. so this is super random and super late because I've mentioned it on all my other stories besides this one: if you didn't know, I now have a twitter, tumblr, and an instagram and all of the links are on my profile so please follow them! Everything you need to know about stories and updates, especially for this story, will be on there.