Rebekah? I didn't know what answer I had wanted to hear; they all had drawbacks. I wanted to tell myself at least it's not Klaus but was Rebekah much better? Initially yes, but between Damon and I, we have backstabbed her two too many times. She wasn't going to play nice with either of us anymore. "How…?" I asked.

"I was her friend, the only one she had left. I was her only refuge from her brothers. She healed me with her blood when I was hurt and I died with that blood in my system, bringing me back," She folded her hands, looking at me soothingly. She must have sensed my disappointment with her answer."You should be thankful. Out of all the Originals Rebekah is the most human. She hasn't let go of her human desires and is still wounded by the same human wounds you bare Elena. From what I understand you have gained her favor and trust before, try again. You are a kind girl, you fiercely protect those you love, and you are not so different from her. Rebekah has been used and pushed around for a millennia, be honest and give her something more and you might be surprised how kind she can be. Trust me, Elena"

I knew she was right; Rebekah was a scared and was still human, in many ways. I said those words myself once. "She thought I was her friend once and she thought Damon liked her; she wants those things. She pretends she doesn't but she does. That's why when we betrayed her, to protect one another, it hurt her so badly. Because she really wanted to believe us." I looked over at Damon; he was sitting beside me, his face concentrated as he looked to the floor. He looked almost… guilty.

He spoke up suddenly, "She tortured me because she believed me and I hurt her. Because she lived over a 1000 years being pushed around by a psycho and having no one pay attention to her... They paid attention to her brother instead. I get that… I do" His face looked torn as the words spilled from his mouth. I quickly wondered just how much of what he said was actually about Rebekah, and how much was about him. The other brother or sibling. I guess he did understand that better than anyone. People have caste him off as the screw up and have for as long as I've known him. I reached my hand out slowly and took his gently, desperately wanting to pull him out of this… depression. The fact that he didn't hide it made me worry. He hid this kind of pain, or tried too. And he wasn't now… which meant he was really hurting. I felt him jerk slightly as he felt my hand touch his, pure shock most likely. With how I've been treating him no wonder he was surprised. His face fell on mine slowly and studied me. I smiled lightly and his eyes flicked to our hands, and back to me. His lips took on a small, but genuine smile. Not cocky, it was sort of humbled. But a smile nonetheless.

Alanna got up off the bed in front of us. I'd almost forgotten she was there. I pulled back, slightly embarrassed. She laughed lightly,"Relax Elena. I'm getting the door," she winked as she reached the door just as light knocks could be heard. She opened it to reveal... Jeremy. He was surprised to see Alanna, the looked he shot her said it all and the look didn't vanish when he eyed Damon and I on the bed.

"Hey Jer"

"Hey. Do you guys want to tell me what's going on?" He said as he looked around the room slowly and then let his gaze fall back onto the women in front of him, taking her in slowly.

"Nothing much unless you count a highly enjoyable threesome." Damon smirked as Jeremy laughed. I grabbed my pillow once more and tossed it at him as he got up. "Damon!"

"What? Can't a guy brag a little?" If his smirk got any bigger it wouldn't fit on his face. His sudden change of mood confused me, he was hot and cold, changing quicker than I could keep up with today.

Alanna went over to him and smiled brightly, "I don't think we've officially introduced ourselves, have we? I'm Alanna and I believe I saved your ass yesterday."

Jeremy just looked at her, stunned for a moment, and then snapped back to reality. "Jeremy." he replied.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," she winked as she shut the door and the moved to lean against the wall.

"Jer, when you check vampires out you really need to be more subtle, it was written all over your face like a billboard announcement. Then again that isn't just a lesson for a vampire that applies to women in general." The room erupted in laughter as Jeremy's face turned all hues of red. Damon just stood there, a huge smirk plastered on his face. Well at least he's in a good mood, I thought, even if is at Jeremy's expense.

Feeling a little awkward being the only one sitting down, I pushed up of the bed and answered his question. "We asked Alanna here to help us and answer some questions. We didn't think it should wait as we didn't know what we were going home too." Jeremy just studied me and nodded, "That was probably a good idea; Mystic Falls isn't exactly known for its peaceful homecomings. What did we learn?"

"Nothing much, just identity of the Original who started our bloodline, no biggie, " Damon shrugged, still intent on keeping the mood light. "You'll be happy to hear it isn't Klaus or your not-so- friendly friend Kol, but Barbie Klaus." he finished with a smile.

"Rebekah? Is that…good?"

Alanna pushed off the wall and joined us. "Well that all depends on how you look at things. But I certainly think so." She looked between us and said, "I think we need to be getting back, don't you? Who knows what the very Originals we've spent all afternoon talking about are doing back home. Plus I don't want big bad Klaus to get suspicious of my return. I suggest you lot get home too. You know how to reach me if I'm needed; try to stay out of trouble, though." She walked over to Damon and poked him lightly. She knew which one of us was most likely to get into trouble.

She opened the door to leave, "Thank you. For what you told, and showed us. For helping. You didn't have too." I said, wanting her to know how much I appreciated what she had done. She turned to me, tucked a wave of her long ebony hair behind her ear and smiled, "Yes I did" and left.

After a moment Jeremy broke the silence, "So the hot super- strong chick is our friend now?"

"Yes, yes she is." I smiled. Boy didn't we luck out there…

"We'll let's get matching tee-shirts and make it official", Damon said as he reached for his jacket smirking,"T-shirts have always suited me." He came up behind me and placed my jacket on my shoulders. "She is right about heading back. It's a long drive and as much as I don't want to leave, we've got doom, gloom and Originals to get home too."

"I'm not going with you two. An all day road trip isn't quite as comfortable as my return flight ticket. See you two at home." He waved as he turned to leave.

"Jeremy!" I called after him. "You can't!" Being alone would be too dangerous and Alaric couldn't even pick him up or meet him. Or protect him...

"Why? Alaric already bought me a return ticket and Bonnie's going to pick me up." He turned to me confused.

"Bonnie?" I questioned. Since when was he talking to Bonnie again? Since when was Bonnie talking to anyone again?

"Yes, she offered when Alaric said he wasn't feeling well. Is something wrong?" He raised an eyebrow at me, scanning my face as I replied.

"No. He'll tell you when you get home. Go straight to the airport and straight to Bonnie when you land," I told him. I was being bossy but who knew what might snatch him with Klaus on the loose and senile as ever.

"Yes mom," He smiled jokingly and hugged me. I felt a mixture of sadness and happiness as he walked away. He was going to home, not leaving me again, but It felt the same. I'd missed my brother, and lied to him, and he wasn't going home to the peace and safety I had hoped he would.

I was pulled from my thoughts as a hand came to rest on my shoulder. A voice whispered in my ear, "Time to go, Elena, you'll see him soon enough. I promise." I turned to see Damon looking at me with a smile. My small travel bag in his hands, and my jacket placed around my shoulders, and couldn't help but believe him. I smiled in return, "Why don't you let me drive?" He looked taken aback for a second and laughed freely, "Because this car is classic, irreplaceable. And I don't want you crashing it to save some helpless bunny or something."

I shoved him lightly and ran out the door. The ice cold rain stung as it hit my back. As the car began warming Damon shook his head lightly, sending ice cold droplets in my direction."Hey. I'm already frozen over here no need to pull a shaggy dog," He just smirked at me innocently, "Now Elena, treat the driver nicely or no stops for you." I smiled. It was a long trip... stops were essential, there was no arguing with him there.

8 hours later…

Damon had become unusually quite. It had started off a nice trip home. We talked, I ate, he poked fun at what I ate, and the cycle went on and on. But he'd gotten quiet again and it was weird as we were almost home. He just kept staring out the window and sure he was driving, he kind of had to look out the window. But he was ignoring me… he was being cold and distant. It was such a contrast to the person that had come out his shell last night and was cracking jokes this morning. I decided since he was locked in this car with me and couldn't run, I was at least going to get the why out of him before it was too late. I didn't like not knowing, and had made the promise to myself to not shut him out, so I couldn't let him shut me out either.

"…Damon?" I ventured. His face remained concentrated on the road, not looking at me, "What's wrong? Why are you acting like this again?"

He looked at me briefly, raising an eyebrow, "Like what Elena?"

"Don't play that game with me. I know you better than that. You're going to tell me what's wrong and I don't care if I have to beat down your walls all the way home, your going to fess up," I was getting mad. Why did he also have to do that? Pretend like I can't see what's right in front of me and deflect me every chance he got. He didn't answer and I was too amped up to let it go, "Damon?"

With a small jolt the car pulled to the stop, throwing me a little as he pulled it over. In an instant he was out of the car and standing out in the rain. I yanked the seat belt off and went after him, slamming the door in my wake, not even caring that ice cold rain pelted my back and soaked my clothes. He was standing with his back to me, "Damon, what is wrong? And don't tell me nothing, don't you dare tell me nothing. Why are you treating me like this!" I screamed, a little louder than I had intended but I couldn't help it. He was scaring me but I wasn't scared of him, I was scared for him.

He turned on me, a mixture of anger and sadness was plastered on his face. He was trying to mask it but to no avail. He took a few steps in my direction, his face falling on mine for a moment, his hands caste to his sides. "Treating you like what, Elena? Isn't this how we treat each other now? Isn't that how we're supposed to treat each other now? We're heading back to the real world and were not friends anymore and we certainly aren't together, and Stefan certainly won't want my warm smiles pointed anywhere near you."

I just stood there, mouth hanging open as his words hit me harder than the ice cold rain ever could. I had been so foolish… he was losing me. The friends we had become, the love he wanted, he was losing that. Or he thought he was. He gave me up, he saved Stefan, and he thought… I looked up to him but couldn't see his face, not clearly. His wet black hair was plastered to his face, his hands were shaking and his eyes refused to meet mine. He was breaking… again. He was so miserable… I walked over to him and reached my hand up, slowly, and looked up at his face. He was so broken; his face held every pain he was feeling like a canvas holds oil paint. I looked into his eyes and didn't find life, I found only pain. He was struggling to hold himself together. The tears brimmed his eyes, or maybe it was rain. I didn't know, I didn't care. I had never in my life seen someone so lost. My hand cupped his cheek lightly, trying to break through to him. It wasn't working, I did the only thing I knew would break though, the only thing that felt right. I pulled his face in and kissed him, long and hard, reaching up on my toes and grabbing his face with my hands. This man was breaking, this man who had done everything and been everything to me, was breaking. I wasn't going to let him, not because of me. He didn't respond, his lips were cold against mine, but he slowly and surely gave in. His hands came up to hold mine and he kissed me greedily, pulling away only when I couldn't breathe. I didn't have time to feel guilty or conflicted, this moment felt so right. Knowing how much he loved me, feeling it in his every pain and joy. He looked at me, breathless, his eyes hungry with passion he held back on a daily basis. I felt his arms around my back as they pulled me close. My head fitting just under his chin, " Elena Gilbert, if you don't watch it I might actually start believing you don't hate me."

Thank you so much for the amazing feedback on both my story and original character. I am truly grateful for all the kind words, questions and feedback. The TVD fan base, especially the Delena fanbase, is an incredible bunch of people. I'm very proud to be a part of this fan base. So thank you everyone for your incredible support. I hope you enjoy this new chapter. This chapter was fun to write and I felt a huge responsibility when writing the slight DE romance and romantic tension. This couple is amazing and to dishonor them with horrible writing is a fear of mine. I hope I did them justice. I'm sorry it was rather short but It felt right to end it where I did.

-Kristen

In the next Chapter we'll have some Stefan and Elena interaction and conflict, the 1920's dance and Alanna will make her appearance in Mystic Falls...:) Also for those that have asked about Alanna's romantic future and more about her appearance, the next two chapters are for you! Alanna will be attending the 1920's dance and have multiple interactions with possible romantic interests.