Hey everybody :) I'm sorry I haven't updated lately, but Easter was last weekend, and my birthday was on Tuesday. Then school got crazy, and I can't wait until summer -.- but anyways, I'm glad you liked the last chapter! I got some great reviews, and I appreciate them sooo much! I know Elena was kind of out of character the end of the last one, but I had to make her that way to keep the story rolling :( and she won't go un-punished, either. If you thought her emotional breakdown was bad 2 chapters ago, this one is even worse :( I'll try to keep her more in character from now on, and I can't see any other reason for why I would have to put her OOC for a little while-but I'll keep my eye out, and try to make Elena act like Elena! Thanks for all the feedback, and here's the next chapter!

"No Deal", Elena said, knowing full and well that she had just sealed the death sentence on Aria. She wanted nothing more than to save the poor girl, but she had promised Stefan and Damon that she would fight—and that's exactly what she did. Aria was weeping uncontrollably and screaming out a stream of obscenities as Peter looked with surprise at the doppelganger. Tears of guilt rolled silently down Elena's face, and when Peter's expression changed she knew that it would be over soon.

"Hmm, you never fail to surprise me, Elena. However, this time it will cost you a life", Peter smirked, as he reached down and yanked Aria off the ground to face him.

"NO!" Aria sobbed, her screams echoing through the clearing at an intense volume, "STOP! PLEASE! DON'T KILL ME!"

"I'm sorry, but your friend has made her decision, and she'd rather you die than her—just like her doppelganger, Katerina", Peter retorted, and place a hand on either side of her face. He smirked, and in one quick motion, he snapped Aria's neck in two and laughed as her body fell to the ground.

"NO!" Elena yelled as she heard the deafening crack ringing in her ears. A small part of her brain registered Stefan and Damon's hands trying to pull her back, but the only thing she could sense was Aria's body laying in a heap in the center of the clearing. Peter turned to give Elena a tooth-filled smile, and he was gone. She pushed the restraining hands away and ran over to her new friend.

"No", she whimpered as tears ran down her face, "No, no, no, no…" She pulled Aria up into her lap and practically collapsed from grief and exhaustion. She felt herself being pulled up by her arms, and was suddenly engulfed in a warm body. There were so many things she wanted to say, but she couldn't find her voice. So she stood there in Stefan's arms sobbing as he and Damon led her back to their house.

"What are we going to do about her?" Damon asked. Elena had cried the whole thirty minute walk home, and had been crying for an hour since. Stefan had brought her upstairs, then walked back down to talk with Damon.

"I don't know. She blames herself for Aria's death, and I don't know how to convince her that it isn't her fault", Stefan admitted. The only words she had said since the incident were along the lines of "my fault" and "she's dead"—other than that, she had pretty much gone mute like earlier that day when Peter made his miraculous return.

"Why the hell does she think that? There's nothing she could've done—plus, what's one little human worth anyways?"

"Damon—", Stefan started, when Elena appeared on the stairs. Her eyes were red, and she was breathing heavily from the tears she had shed over Aria's death.

"How can you say that?" she whispered.

"Elena, I didn't mean—" Damon began, but was cut off by the upset girl.

"Yes. Yes you did, or else you wouldn't have said it", Elena accused.

"Fine. But I'm just saying that in the grand scheme of things, she really didn't mean that much to anyone", Damon offered, hoping that Elena would calm down.

"Didn't mean much to anyone? What about her parents?" Elena countered breathlessly before she continued, "Are you saying she didn't mean anything to them?"

"Elena, I—"

"They're never gonna get to see her graduate or get married, or hold their granddaughter in their arms. And what about her friends? There won't be any more sleepovers. No more horrible karaoke, or gossiping about Maria and Josh. They'll never get to watch "The Titanic" with her again—even though they've all seen it enough that they can quote every line that Jack and Rose say", she asked, tears silently running down her face as they had been all night.

"And what about her? She'll never get that romantic evening where her boyfriend of 2 years finally asks her to marry her, or her wedding day that was so perfect that every moment was permanently seared into her memory. She'll never get the promotion, or the big house with the huge yard and the white picket fence. Her kids are never going to go to basketball playoffs in high school or win a prize for being the best artist in the world. Hell, they could be the ones who discovered the cure for cancer! But that's never going to happen, because I killed her", Elena stated, feeling her guilt wash through her like a tsunami.

"Elena, it's not your fault", Stefan assured her, but knew that it would take a lot more convincing to get her to believe it. Jeremy had told him that it had taken her months to stop blaming herself for her parent's death, and he wasn't so sure she didn't still feel guilty about that night.

"Really? He killed her because of me—because I wouldn't take his deal. If I would have just agreed, she'd still be alive."

"But you wouldn't be", Damon urged, trying and hoping to get back on her good side.

"What does that matter?" she screamed at him, "You heard Peter, Damon! He said that he was going to bring me to Klaus, anyways!"

Elena was trembling in anger, but suddenly she could barely take the guilt and whispered, "She was sixteen, Damon. Sixteen. And now she's dead."

Damon was sick of her getting mad at him, and even though he knew that it was the worst idea he'd probably ever had in his nearly 170 years of life, he countered Elena's argument with his own: "What about your family, Elena? How would they have felt if you'd let yourself be sacrificed tonight?"

Elena glared through her anger and tears and replied, "I only have two family members left, Damon. Aria had an entire group of people that cared about her."

"And you don't? Elena, do you realize that me, Stefan, Bonnie, Caroline, and Alaric would do anything to keep you alive? Or is that unacceptable to you because you still feel guilty about your parent's death?" Damon yelled at her. Stefan's eyes nearly popped out of his head when Damon said that, but when he looked at Damon he saw no hint of an "I'm sorry" or an "I didn't mean it" in his eyes. Stefan gave him a glare that said, 'What the hell do you think you're doing?', but Damon ignored it and focused his attention back at Elena who had been rendered speechless by Damon's accusation.

"That's it, isn't it? You still blame yourself for the accident, and you can't imagine anyone caring about you because of it", Damon continued, finally gaining a reply from Elena.

"You have no clue what you're talking about", Elena muttered through clenched teeth, "You don't really know what it's like to lose a family member because you can just shut off your emotions if the pain gets to be too much."

"Really? Because I remember my mother dying of pneumonia when I was five. Couldn't shut off my emotions, then, could I?"

"It's not the same. You lost your mom after you knew her five years. I lost both of my parents after I knew them for seventeen years—then I lost my brother for months, because he couldn't handle the pain and started doing drugs", Elena accused, her teeth clenched so much that Stefan swore he could see veins popping out on her neck. Damon suddenly looked sorry, knowing that he had pushed her too far—but it was too late.

"You had time to say goodbye to your mother. I passed out in the car and never got to speak to either of my parents again. So don't ever tell me what I'm feeling", Elena muttered as she picked up her bag and headed towards Damon, who was currently standing in front of the door. When she reached him, he turned his head to see her. The look on her face made him want to cry. He had never seen her this pained before, and he realized that he had gone way too far.

"You have no idea", she growled in his ear before storming off into the darkness, slamming the door behind her. Stefan looked over to his brother and glared.

"You're an idiot, Damon", he muttered with the shake of a head before he followed Elena out into the night.

How was it? Basically, Elena denied Peter just to keep her promise to Stefan and Damon, but she didn't really think through the consequences-so I hope Elena is more in character this chapter, but don't be afraid to tell me if she wasn't! I love bringing in Elena's past, because frankly I don't think that five minutes in "Bloodlines" in season one was enough to satisfy her parents' deaths. And if you haven't read my other story, I had almost an entire chapter devoted to Elena dealing w/ her parents' deaths. Oh, and I still haven't found my muse for "Revenge of the Kat", and I would love to write an authors note 'chapter'-but that bugs me so much when someone does that and I get all excited thinking they've updated, when its really just a long note. So I won't, and I'll just tell you all that are reading it, that I will get another chapter out sometime this weekedn-hopefully tonight! :) anyways, I really hope you liked this chapter, and as always feedback is love, people! So read and review :)

-kiki :)

btw: did you guys see last nights's episode? Might I say EPIC? I totally saw Damon's dick-move coming :) and I feel soo bad for Elena. And Jenna. And Stefan. And...well, you get the picture :) oh, and does anyone know what Bonnie and Jeremy are doing shacking it up in the old Gilbert mansion? hmm... I wonder... Oh, and I bet you could just hear me cheering when Elena FINALLY had her emotional breakdown where she realized that SHE IS GOING TO DIE! and if you couldn't, I promise you, I was pretty dang loud :) but I still felt horrible, and was crying right along w/ her! And Klaus is a totally jerk. And Greta is a total bitch ("No, she's in transition"- wasn't that like the sickest thing you've ever heard? I mean really! She doesn't even care that her family died for her AND she's excitedt that Jenna's dead? what the hell is wrong w/ this lady?). End of story. Oh, and I CANNOT wait for "The Sun Also Rises"!