A/N: Hi guys and thank you to everyone who is still reading.
As you may have noticed, I am terrible at writing summaries and the current one is really no good. If anyone who has been reading so far can think of a new and better one, could you please PM me? It would be much appreciated.
Definite spoilers for 3x02 : The Hybrid
I have taken a lot of dialogue straight from the episode and fitted it in where I could with this storyline. Now that all the dates align with the episodes, I intend to do this as much as possible.
As much as I love Delena, they will never be endgame in this story.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, dialogue etc. are the property of their respective owners. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.
Extra special thanks to Someryn my beta!
Breaking the Boundaries Chapter 11
I woke up the next morning with a newfound resolution. I was going to find Stefan, and I knew just how to do it. They were hunting werewolves and I just happened to know a brand new baby werewolf that had started making tracks in that community.
Tyler was slightly reluctant to give me any information, though I'm not really sure why. Was he, like everyone else, trying to protect my from myself and any stupid decisions? Or was he trying to protect the wolves?
Nevertheless, I managed to get out of him the most likely location of the pack Stefan and Klaus were currently hunting.
Now I might be blind when it comes to protecting the people I love, but I like to think that I'm not stupid. Going to the known location of a pack on the full moon was a little risky, I could admit, but if I waited until tomorrow the pack would disperse, and I would miss my chance with Stefan. Convincing Ric to come with me wouldn't be that difficult, it would be persuading him that I needed to go, too, that I'd have to fight him on.
I got home with one mission on my mind and had no intentions of letting anyone change that.
Ric was sitting at the kitchen counter swilling the dregs of his coffee slowly with one hand. I didn't want to interrupt his pensive moment, but I needed his help.
I slowly approached him from behind and dropped a kiss to the side of his neck and ran my hands through his hair from his forehead to the crown. His body relaxed beneath my hands and he shifted his weight back to lean into me.
It would be so easy to just spend the whole day touching him and forget that vampires and werewolves and all their associated problems even existed. I could see a normal future stretching in front of me, with lazy Sunday mornings reading the paper in bed and picnics in the woods with our kids.
Unfortunately, he decided to break through my peaceful moment.
"Elena, have you talked to Damon yet today?" he asked in a voice that was altogether too serious for my liking. Disappointment and pain were peering through his features. My body tensed, bracing myself for inevitably more bad news.
"No," I started in alarm. "What happened?" I just knew something had happened. The feeling of dread and anticipation built in me as my fears were confirmed before I had even come around to accepting them.
He looked at me cautiously, as though deliberating whether or not it really was a good idea to tell me. "It's Stefan," he began hesitantly. Fears confirmed. What worse could he have possibly done? "He killed Andie." He let out on a breath he had been holding.
I couldn't believe it. Andie? Andie was dead? But, Stefan - how could he do this? How could he do this to me? How could he do this toDamon?
Ric's eyes were full of pity, with a tinge of his original shock still lingering. We had both liked Andie. She had been a good person and an excellent distraction for Damon. Although there was no chance that Damon had actually loved her, he had let her in, so he must have hadsome feelings for her.
Poor Ric. He and Jenna had become friends with Andie and Damon when they were a couple. He must have some kind of pain at the memories this had to bring up. I walked around to the front of his chair and sat down in his lap on the kitchen chair, head buried against his chest. He responded best to touch over words.
We had that in common, he and I.
"Ric, I want to stop this." He looked up with some vague interest, but it was obvious that he wasn't willing to end this moment and he didn't really want to think about taking any action right now. Nevertheless I had a plan, I needed him for it, and it would only work tonight.
"You and I both know that this isn't the real Stefan. He is still in there somewhere and we need to get him back." He nodded emotionlessly. He knew. This wasn't the first time we had had this conversation.
"I know where he will be tonight." This piqued a little more interest from him.
"Where?" he asked, paying more attention now.
"They are hunting werewolves in the mountains in Tennessee. There will be a whole pack there tonight for the full moon. If we can get in and out before the apex of the moon, then we will be completely safe. But we'll definitely arm ourselves just in case." My fight was coming back and reluctantly drawing his with it. A little too reluctantly.
"Elena, are you crazy?" he shouted. Unnecessarily, I might add. "You want me to go hiking through the mountains with you looking for a vampire, a hybrid and a whole pack of werewolves? On a full moon! Are you even listening to yourself?"
Well, I was listening to him and I could feel the anger slowly burning, wanting to lash out at him. I tried to remember that none of this was his fault, and he was just trying to protect me.
I took a deep breath, calming myself. "So are you coming with me or not?" I asked perfunctorily.
"I suppose if I don't go, you're just going to go alone?" I nodded. "Well, I guess I don't have a choice then, do I?" he acquiesced.
It took longer than I thought to get there. Ric was silent on the trip, obviously unhappy with the situation.
When we pulled into the clearing we would have to leave the car in, I sat in the car in silence for quite a few beats more than necessary.
I pulled the ring out of my pocket and held it out to Ric.
"Is that my ring?"
"Yes," I replied. "John Gilbert left it to me. I think that you should have it back."
Emotions were warring on his face. "If he left it for you, perhaps you should wear it," he said with determination building behind his voice.
I looked at him with exasperation. "Ric, the ring only works on humans. You and I both know that being the doppelganger 100% qualifies me as a supernatural being."
Let him think about that for a moment! "But then why..?" he trailed off.
"John left it for my children. It is a Gilbert ring and he was my father, after all." I really didn't want to have this conversation anymore. I wanted him to take the stupid ring, put it on his finger and then come back to life every time I made a stupid decision that accidentally got him killed.
"You should keep it for you children then," he argued ineffectively.
"Ric! If you die tonight, I'm not going to have any damned children, so just PUT THE GODDAMNED RING ON!"
Wordlessly, he took the ring and slipped it onto his finger. Was that so hard? Why did I have to be in love with the most stubborn man on the planet?
Damon showed up after only 15 minutes of hiking. I shot Ric a dirty look but refused to do so much as acknowledge Damon. He'd left me out of his search, so I was leaving him out of mine. Although, I did feel for him. I couldn't imagine he was taking the loss of Andie too lightly.
Predictably, Damon was pissed that I had kept him out of the loop, but unpredictably, he threw me headfirst into the lake at vampire speed.
I wasn't the only one who didn't appreciate this gesture. I surfaced from the water, coughing and spluttering just in time to see Ric stake Damon in the stomach. Although I appreciated the sentiment, it might have been a slight overreaction. But then again, Damon had deserved it.
"Get out of the water, Elena," Damon demanded. The power behind his argument was slightly belittled by the fact he was doubled over in pain, gasping for air that he didn't need.
"You put me in here, you get me out!" I retorted scathingly. I took another deep calming breath before continuing. "Damon, I'm not going home. You may have given up on him, but I haven't. Please, just let me find him. You gave up on him, Damon. I'm not willing to do that."
"I didn't give up on him, Elena. I faced reality. Now get out of the water," he demanded. Cocky bastard! He couldn't come here and order me around.
"No!"
"What's your big plan, Elena? Huh? You gonna walk through a campsite full of werewolves, roast a marshmallow, and wait for Stefan to stop by?" Damon mocked as he sloshed through the water towards me. God, he infuriated me. Smug, stupid pain in the ass. If Ric hadn't already staked him and there wasn't a chance we could use him at full strength tonight I would've staked him myself.
Breathe, Elena, breathe. "My plan is to find him and help him. Damon, this is the closest that we've been to him since he left. I'm not going home."
"Klaus thinks you died when he broke the curse. That makes you safe. This - this is not safe," Damon said emotively. Oh boy, here came the "Damon loves Elena and will do anything to protect her" emotions. So not the time.
I tried to stay on subject. "I'm not leaving before we find him."
"It's a full moon tonight, Elena," he argued fruitlessly. Stating the obvious much?
"Then we'll find him before then." We exchanged a long look, one of our wordless conversations which allow much better communication than our pointless arguments. I looked up at Ric to see a pained expression cross his face. Was that resignation? He didn't think there was anything going on between Damon and me, did he?
I pushed him out of my mind for the time being, resigned to focusing on my relationship more once we were not in a life or death situation. "Damon, please?" I begged, changing tactics. Puppy dog eyes, combined with the wet and bedraggled look could really work wonders.
Eventually he gave in. "Okay, okay. But we are out of here before the moon is full and I'm werewolf bait," he conceded.
"I promise."
"Unless you wanna relive that whole deathbed kissy thing," he said. Oh god, Ric hadn't heard that, had he?
"I said, I promise," I quickly replied. No need to bring up things like that. I looked at Ric again and knew immediately that he had heard every word. A look of hurt flashed across his face before he went into full hunter mode. His face was carefully placed into a mask of indifference. I was in for a world of uncomfortable once we got home. I've seen him angry and I've seen him lose control, but this was the first time that I had gotten absolutely nothing. I knew then that he was hurt, but there was nothing right now I could do about it.
Ric picked up his backpack and shouldered it, keeping a crossbow in one hand and a compass in the other.
"This way," he said emotionlessly, leading the way without looking back or waiting for us to catch up.
We trudged through the mountains for a long time. It felt like hours but it was only long minutes of silence from Ric and endless chatter from Damon, who didn't seem to get that I wasn't in the mood for our usual playful banter. Sulking, Damon surged ahead to lead, leaving Ric to follow and me to bring up the rear.
I slowly caught up to Ric and gently slid my hand into his as we were walking. It was almost comical watching his war with himself. He settled on emotionless, but I saw the slight twitch of his lip into a half smile. He didn't drop my hand from his however, and I felt him squeeze me gently, as if reassuring himself that I was actually there.
Damon turned around to give us an update. Apparently we were getting close. He looked suspiciously at our intertwined hands. Ric dropped me liked I had burned him.
Surprisingly, I was impressed by not only his lie, but the delivery and the nonchalant tone he perfected. "Elena tripped over the last five logs she had to climb. I thought that instead of announcing our presence to the forest with her clumsiness, she could use a hand with that one," he explained.
"If Elena is so clumsy, perhaps I should carry her?" Damon smirked.
I scowled at him. "Damon, I am perfectly capable of looking after myself. I just thought Ric was being a gentleman." I shot Ric a glare for Damon's benefit, but once he turned away it turned into a grin.
We came across our first hybrid after only a few more minutes. The man, or werewolf, looked awful. He was covered in blood and delusional. Unfortunately not delusional enough to miss the presence of a vampire.
He attacked Damon in full force before we managed to subdue him and get him tied up.
"These ropes aren't gonna hold him much longer. What else do we have?" Damon asked. The hybrid was struggling, seeming almost as strong as Damon.
I ruffled through Ric's arsenal, finding the vervain. Wolfs bane had worked on him, let's see how he handled vervain. After thoroughly soaking some more ropes in vervain, hoping it would actually work, I held them out to Ric.
"Ric, here. Take these" I instructed. I had no intention of going within arm's reach of the hybrid and even if I did, neither of these two Neanderthals would allow it.
"Aah! Ow!" yelled Damon.
I looked up to see Damon pulling his hand back away from the ropes in pain.
"I said Ric." I told him unapologetically. Maybe next time I told him to do something he would pay more attention. Ha! Unlikely.
Ric had the hybrid secured against the tree covered head to toe in wolfs bane and vervain. I was feeling quite smug. We had, in our possession, one of Klaus' hybrids. Now all we needed to do was get him talking before the full moon.
Unfortunately, fate had other plans.
Right in front of our eyes, the hybrid screamed in pain and started twisting and contorting beneath the ropes.
"Is he turning?" Damon asked what we were all thinking, but none of us wanted to believe.
No, he couldn't be. Werewolves only turned on the full moon and especially not during the day. I voiced my thoughts aloud. "It's impossible. It's still daylight." But I was seriously doubting myself.
"Tell him that," Ric commented. "You know, those ropes aren't gonna hold the wolf."
Panic was beginning to set in. We were supposed to be out of here before the wolves changed! All my arguments for staying were depleting. I was no longer armed to the hilt, we had used nearly all of our supply on this hybrid and here he was going to turn anyway! "There aren't supposed to be werewolves out here until the moon is full" I exclaimed.
He was snapping and snarling at Damon now. Damon! He was next to useless against a wolf on the full moon. He might hold his own in the actual fight, but one bite and it was all over for him. The memory of him lay dying was too fresh in my memory for me to take this lightly. The reason Stefan was here at all was to save Damon from a werewolf bite.
"Damon, we've got to get out of here. We gotta get out of these mountains now! Damon, now!" I screamed. Full blown panic mode now. The only calming thought I had was that Ric was safe. Even if he died tonight, he would come back.
We ran as fast as we could towards the car, me being the weakest link in the proverbial chain. I wanted to Damon to run ahead and leave us behind, but I knew he never would. He was the most at risk but he stayed with me to protect me.
Running at full speed through the forest, I pulled a typical damsel in distress move and tripped. Moving to get up as fast as I could and keep going, I was stopped abruptly by Damon's voice.
"Don't move," he demanded. It wasn't the command in his voice that scared me, it was the fear.
I froze, but slowly lifted my head to look at Damon, intending a questioning look. Unfortunately, it wasn't Damon that I came face to face with. Staring straight into the eyes of the wolf I was paralysed with fear. I didn't know where to look, how to move, what to do. It moved its gaze from me to Damon and back again, as if deciding who to kill first.
Damon was the first to react.
"Here doggy, doggy," he mocked, before dashing off into the forest at a breathtaking speed. The wolf paused for a split second in indecision before speeding off after him.
"Come on. Let's keep moving," urged Ric.
I paused, torn between fighting for my life and fighting for my beliefs. "We can't leave Damon," I argued. Abandoning Damon in the mountains full of werewolves on a full moon after he had just saved my life was not something I could be comfortable with.
"He can handle himself. Let's move!" Ric demanded.
"No. If he gets bitten, he'll be dead! I'm the reason he's out here!"
"I am the reason he's out here," he argued forcefully. "I told him where we were, and I'm telling you to keep moving. Let's go. Elena, now!" I hesitated for a split second longer before my senses returned. What good could I possibly do Damon, or Ric for that matter, by staying here in the woods? The quicker I returned to the car, the quicker Damon could leave with us.
I took hold of Ric's hand - I was not going to fall again - and ran with him as silently as possible.
By the time we reached the car, I was breathless and panting, feeling the aftershocks of all the adrenaline pumping though my veins.
Ric beeped open the car and physically deposited me in the passenger seat, before going around and hopping in the driver's seat. He locked the doors and let out a breath he must have been holding.
He turned to me and I saw the worry and fear in his gaze as his eyes ran over me. I was not sure if he was checking for injuries or just making sure that I really was there alive, but he obviously wasn't fully reassured. He hauled me halfway across the console and attacked my mouth with his. It was rough and painful, but everything I needed in that moment. His hands never stopped moving, touching every part of me he could reach from the awkward position.
Gone were his gentle caresses, his loving touch. This was violent and needy.
I pulled away slowly, trying to catch my breath. I could feel the bruises forming underneath my skin already, but I didn't regret it for a second. Ric would have matching bruises tomorrow, I wasn't exactly gentle.
"I'm sorry Elena, I shouldn't have mauled you like that" Ric apologised, not looking very sorry at all from the half smirk on his face.
I smirked back. "It takes two to tango, baby," I said as I cupped the side of his face softly. I kissed him lightly on the lips before sitting back in my own seat.
The adrenalin had settled enough to stop us acting solely on hormones, but my fear and worry for Damon had not diminished. I can't believe I have been safe in the car making out with Ric while Damon has been out there fighting for his life on my whim.
I heard a noise outside the car and saw Damon trudging across the clearing towards us. I flung my door open as quickly as I could and strode towards him. I was about to give him a bone-crushing hug, but he stopped me abruptly.
"Are you okay? Did you-" I started to ask, but he cut me off.
"Fine, bite-free. Get back in the car, please," he brushed off with his usual derision.
"Can you just give me a minute to appreciate that you're not dead?" I asked him. What was wrong with him? I thought he liked my attention? Maybe I'd overestimated his affection for me.
"I'll give you 10 seconds. 9, 8..." he commanded. "Hey, Ric, did you happen to see where I parked my car?" Ok, maybe he just wanted to get home and away from this place. I could understand the sentiment. I'm not particularly fond of it myself after tonight.
He rough handled me into the car, touching on the bruises that belonged to Ric. He wasn't allowed to touch them. "Damon, stop being such a caveman."
As Ric started the car and made to drive off, I could have sworn I saw Stefan standing on a bluff, looking straight towards us. But when I took a second glance, all I could see were trees.
"Seriously?" I asked Damon, who was standing in my bedroom when I came out of the shower. This creepy stalker thing had to stop.
"I was wrong," he acknowledged. Wrong about what? He wasn't making any sense whatsoever. When did Damon ever admit to anything, least of all being wrong about something?
"Are you drunk?" I questioned, trying to make sense of his sudden introspection.
"No. I thought Stefan was gone, but I was wrong," he explained. What?
"You saw him out there? Damon, is he okay?" I rushed out. Relief flooded me. I wasn't a complete idiot for risking everything.
"No, he's not okay, Elena. He's an insufferable martyr that needs his ass kicked... But he can be saved." What had he done? Damon didn't look particularly happy about this.
"What happened out there? What changed your mind?" I asked.
"I changed my mind because even in his darkest place, my brother still can't let me die. So I figure I owe him the same in return. I'll help you bring him back," he conceded. Stefan had saved Damon's life? Again? So there was still hope for him. Relief flooded my body as I felt for the first time since Stefan had left that there was a chance.
"Thank you," I softly replied. If there was a chance to save Stefan, Damon would be the most important factor. I would need his help and his willingness to give it further strengthened the notion that the brother truly loved each other.
"But before I do, I need you to answer one question. What made you change your mind?" he inquired. Of course, Damon never wasted an opportunity to use a situation to his advantage.
"What do you mean?" I asked, confused about the sudden subject change.
"You were so hell bent on staying on that mountain, then you just gave up. So what changed your mind?" he asked.
Was he crazy? Had he not noticed the hybrid turned right in front of us, trying to bite whoever was closest? "We were under attack, Damon," I replied.
"You had a bag full of weapons and a teacher with an eternity ring. You could have kept going," he prodded. What was he trying to make me say? Admit that I gave up on Stefan? I thought it was a little unfair, the situation changed and went from bordering on dangerous to downright crazy scary. The nonchalant way he referred to Ric as my teacher also struck a nerve.
"It was too dangerous," I explained. Understatement of the century.
"It was too dangerous going out there to begin with, so what was it?" he demanded. I finally understood. It was dangerous, but not to me. It was most dangerous for Damon. I had pulled out and fled the mountain, to protect him. Coming to this realisation was not exactly the most pleasant of epiphanies and now he wanted me to admit it out loud?
"Why are you being like this?" I whined, deflecting. When had I come to care about Damon? He was important to other people I loved. Stefan's brother, Ric's best friend. Without realising it, the monster had become a man a long time ago and weaseled his way into my heart.
"What changed your mind, Elena?" he pressed.
"I didn't want to see you get hurt, okay? I was... I was worried about you" I admitted. It was a weight off my chest to admit it out loud, but the relief was marred with shame and guilt. Was I betraying Stefan or Ric by caring about Damon? Or was I just allowed to care for him as a friend?
"Thanks." The cocky tone was back and he looked quite pleased with himself.
Roiling from the inner turmoil he had just created, I lashed out at him. "Yes, I worry about you. Why do you even have to hear me say it?" I shouted at his retreating back as he turned to leave.
All of a sudden he was too close. He leaned down to touch my face and I was torn between leaning into his touch and taking a few steps backwards. "Because when I drag my brother from the edge and deliver him back to you, I want you to remember the things you felt while he was gone. Good night, Elena."
I held my breath as he encroached on my personal space and cradled my head in his hands. I could feel the love and devotion radiating from his when he looked at me like that. Damn. What just happened. Did Damon think I hadfeelings for him? Did I?
Ric was halfway up the stairs when he saw Damon come out of my bedroom.
"How's it going, Ric?" Damon nodded on his way out.
"Know what you're doing there?" Ric asked me, obviously concerned. Was that jealousy?
I still hadn't had time to process all of the information that had been dumped on me in the last few minutes and all the emotions that had resulted from it.
I looked Ric directly in the eye, unable to lie to the man I loved. "No, I don't," I admitted quietly.
He looked taken aback, surprised that I would even admit to feeling conflicted about Damon. I tried to explain myself further. "He just, gets under my skin," I admitted.
"There's no point even asking if you care about him. I know you do." He cradled my face and smiled lightly, warmth in his eyes. "You care about him and that's okay. So do I. He's my best friend. He also happens to be not evil all the time, which definitely complicates the situation. In fact sometimes, like tonight, he can be downright selfless," he continued. His voice was soothing and I felt a little more justified in my feelings. But then one thought came to me and stupidly, I couldn't have just kept it to myself.
"He's in love with me," I blurted out. "He wants me to fall in love with him too and choose him over Stefan. He all but said so tonight."
A dark look crept across Ric's features for a second before it was gone, but his look was still intense. "Are you in love with him?" he asked gently, holding his breath while waiting for an answer. I thought about it, I didn't want to give Ric some instant denial. We were discussing this like adults and I didn't want to infuse the situation with unnecessary teenage drama.
"No, I'm not," I answered slowly and deliberately after careful consideration. "But I do care about him. It might be love, I'm not sure, but I know for sure that it is not Damon I am in love with." He looked slightly relieved by this statement, but was still cautious.
"Elena, are you attracted to him?"
I burst out laughing, which didn't help the current state of affairs.
Trying, unsuccessfully, to suppress my giggles I tried to explain my attraction. "Ric, I would be lying to you if I said I wasn't. He is possibly the most genetically blessed individual I have ever met in my life. He's gorgeous and charming, of course I am attracted to him. I know that isn't the answer that you were looking for, but the question you should have asked is if I am going to act on that attraction. The answer to that question is no."
I could see that he didn't quite know how to react to this. But relationships were about honesty, weren't they? I hadn't been in any stable and secret free relationships before this, but with Ric it was different, it was real.
"I...I appreciate your honesty," he managed to get out.
"Ric, if this is going to work between us, we can't have any secrets. If I let myself lie to you, it will only because I am lying to myself. I know I'm attracted to him and that will help me avoid any situations that could be problematic. If I was in denial, I wouldn't have any resistance," I justified. I don't think he bought it, but he looked slightly happier.
"I'm sorry Elena, I know jealousy isn't an attractive trait, but I'm having a little trouble with the fact that my best friend is apparently the sexiest man alive and my girlfriend is attracted to him. Add to that the fact that he is in love with her and you might see my dilemma."
"But Ric, you forgot some important details in that description. I'm in love with you. I'm committed to you. I am sleeping with you." I was standing so close to him by now I had to tilt my head back to look him in the eyes. I laced my hands together behind his neck to bring his face down to the level of my own, before softly pushing my lips against his.
He opened his mouth to me and slid his tongue against mine. I felt my feet leave the ground as he lifted me with hands cupped under my ass. Languidly, I wrapped my legs around him, pulling my body into his.
When I was slammed up against the bedroom wall, I felt every bruise on my upper body protest and revelled in the pain that it caused. Ric continued to plunder my mouth, nipping and sucking on my bottom lip then alternating soothing it with the flat of his tongue.
All of a sudden he stopped and pulled his upper body away from me, but kept me firmly wedged against the wall with his hips and legs.
"What did Damon mean about the deathbed kissy thing earlier?" he asked, obviously having just remembered it.
I sighed, knowing that our make out session would be over as soon as this discussion started and that the throbbing between my legs would not be attended to any time soon.
"I want to say that it was nothing, but it wasn't. We had a moment. We kissed," I confessed. I knew he didn't want to hear it, but it had to be said. This no lying thing brought up so many things that should just be forgotten and never mentioned again.
I knew the moment that it had registered as he took a hesitant half step away from me, sliding me down the wall to stand on my own two feet again. Once I was stable, he turned around to pace across the room. Definitely not a good sign. His hands were now in his hair and he was obviously having trouble processing.
He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. The emotions splashed across his face one after the other, pain, betrayal, understanding, anger, hurt and confusion.
"When? I assume it was when he was bitten by Tyler?" he gritted out between his teeth.
I nodded in confirmation.
"So that means you kissed him before you kissed me?"
I nodded again.
He looked ready to punch something.
I put a hand on his shoulder and felt him immediately tense then relax under my touch. "Ric, you just said it yourself. It was before I kissed you, as in history. I was still with Stefan technically."
"Technically?" he shouted, emotion getting the better of him. "Technically, you are still with Stefan. You never broke up and all we seem to do lately is try and save him." His hands were waving in the air by now. I wonder if he had any Italian in him, but now would be a really bad time to ask. "You kissed him because he was about to die?" Obviously we were back to Damon now. I was having trouble keeping up and I was the only one with the full story.
"Yes, he was about to die. He apologised for all he did to hurt me and I forgave him. He told me he loved me and he wished he'd met me when he was human because I would have liked him then. I told him I liked him just the way he was and kissed him. Katherine showed up, saved his life with Klaus' blood, which we are still paying for by the way, and told me that it is okay to love them both!" I shouted back at him.
Ric wasn't the only one having trouble controlling his emotions at the moment. The moment I looked at his face I knew I had said to much. My big girl pants weren't as reliable as I thought. Maybe there was such a thing as too much honesty in an adult relationship.
He looked like he wanted to say something for a moment, but then changed his mind.
He walked out of my bedroom and into Jenna's, closing the door behind him. The symbolism wasn't lost on me.