Hey everyboydy :) I'm so sorry I haven't updated lately, but I've had AP tests and finals and URG! I can't wait for this school year to be over! Only 8 days left til I'm out of there, and 11 until I'm chilling out on the beach :D Anyways, I want to tell you all how much I appreciated all of your reviews! Thanks so much for your feedback, it makes me feel so much better! But I'll shut up now and let you all read :) So here's chapter 25!

As soon as Elena ran out the door, she broke down into tears. Stumbling over to Stefan's car, she laid against it with her head in her hands and cried, letting the events of the day weigh down on her. She heard Stefan run out the door, and as soon as he saw her at the car he sped over to sit next to her.

"How could he say that?" Elena sobbed, "He doesn't know anything about what I'm going through!" Stefan wrapped his arms around her to comfort her, and looked down into her eyes.

"Nobody really knows what you're going through, Elena. The only person that can even come close is Katherine, and her motivations are completely different from yours", Stefan tried to explain, "but Elena, we're just as scared as you are. We can't lose you. I can't lose you."

When Elena saw the look of desperation on his face, her tears began to come even faster, but she started laughing. Stefan looked at her, confused, and when he saw that she was laughing, he joined in with a chuckle or two. Nothing was particularly funny about the moment, but the stress had been weighing down heavily on both of them, and Elena's laugh was so contagious that it was nearly impossible not to join in.

"Stefan, do you realize how hopeless we sound?" she asked with a giggle. But she slowly stopped, and a serious look of consternation fell over her face. Stefan could see the grief and fear in her eyes, and wanted to get rid of it more than anything. "I'm not going anywhere. I promised you I would fight, so that's what I'm doing. But this can't keep happening—people can't keep getting hurt or killed because of me."

"Elena, you did what you had to do—there wasn't another choice", Stefan argued. "And there was no way to save Aria", Stefan told her, hating the way she flinched when he said the dead girl's name, "he would have killed her whether you took the deal or not."

"How do you know that?" she whimpered.

"Because I know people like him. He wasn't like Elijah—just because he said he'd do something didn't mean he actually would."

The two sat there for what seemed like an eternity, when Elena sighed quietly. Stefan looked up at her, and she looked as if she was going to burst into tears again.

"He was right."

Stefan looked puzzled at her and replied, "Who was right about what?"

"Damon. He was right—I do still feel guilty about my parents", she explained as a fresh wave of tears washed over her face. "I skipped family night. My ride got drunk and lost her keys, so I had to call my parents. If I would've just stayed at home that night, they'd still be alive. And now on top of that, I got an innocent girl killed."

"Elena, she'd still be dead even if you had agreed to let Peter take you—the only difference is that you'd be dead, too", Stefan argued.

"But what did she do to deserve that? She'd barely even begun to live, and now she's dead."

"What about you?" Stefan asked.

"What do you mean 'what about me'?" Elena wondered.

"What about you? Why do you deserve to die more than Aria did?"

"I…I don't know…" Elena admitted, stumbling over her words. She was angry that Stefan had brought this up again, but she realized that he was absolutely right. She'd done nothing more than Aria, and yet she was slated for death just because she looked like someone else from her bloodline.

Stefan frowned at her. "Exactly, Elena. You don't deserve to die any more than she did. And it's not your fault. Your parents' deaths were an accident, Elena. They didn't die because their daughter wanted to go to a party—they died because they drove off Wickery Bridge. And Aria was kidnapped and murdered. There was absolutely nothing that you could have done to stop Peter.

Elena gave him a tortured look and nodded her head in agreement. After a loud sob, she laid her head on Stefan's shoulder. "You're right. You're completely right, Stefan", she mumbled. She sighed, then sat up against the car. He could tell that she was trying to fight, and that she was trying to heal from the past few days—both physically and mentally. Then, she muttered, "This has to stop, Stefan. I can't keep feeling sorry for myself, because every time I do, somebody ends up threatened or kidnapped or dead. So I'm going to get up and call in the troops."

Stefan smiled at her and got up, helping her to her feet. Hand in hand, they walked back to the house. As soon as they opened the door, Damon walked into the room. Elena saw the guilt and sorrow etched on his face, but all she could manage was a shake of the head and a glare. She saw a hint of pain flash across his face, but she was so furious she couldn't find it in her to care.

"Elena, I—"

"I don't wanna hear it, Damon. You made your opinion of me clear, and I intend to do the same", Elena interrupted, then took his phone off the table near the door and tossed it to him, "You call Alaric and Jeremy and tell them to come over now, and I'll call Bonnie and Caroline."

Damon caught the phone midair as his face fell even further into guilt. Elena stormed off into the common room and grabbed her phone from her bag and started to dial Bonnie's number. She vaguely noted that it was barely four in the morning, but figured that her friends were used to her calling them in the middle of the night. After everything they'd been through, it was difficult to believe that it could all be over soon.

"So what did you call us here at four AM for?"

Alaric, Jeremy, Bonnie, and Caroline looked tired and confused as Elena, Stefan, and Damon walked into the room. Elena walked across the room to lounge in an armchair, while Stefan and Damon remained standing in the doorway. Caroline and Bonnie looked over at their best friend, and could see the sorrow and worry in her face. There were dark shadows underneath her eyes, and it looked as though she hadn't slept for a week. The fire that was normally in her eyes was gone, extinguished by the stress of her life.

Elena saw her friends worrying over her, but decided to ignore it as she spoke. "Peter's back."

"What?" the four visitors yelled in unison, suddenly awakened from their sleepy composures.

"I know, I know. He's back and badder than ever", Elena added. Damon chose this moment to walk to the liquor table and pour himself a glass, knowing that the guilt he felt wouldn't be affected by the alcohol, but wishing to god that it could be.

Jeremy looked extremely concerned for his sister, but when he saw the look on her face, he grew suspicious. "What aren't you telling us, Elena?"

Her face—which was already dark—grew sadder at Jeremy's question, and she struggled to speak as the tears threatened to come again. "He…he killed Aria", she began as she felt a single tear slide down her cheek, "and…and…."

Stefan rushed over to her side as Damon tried to explain what had happened in the clearing. He gave Elena a hug, and handed her a tissue. Elena smiled sheepishly, and muttered that she was fine, just shaken up a bit. Calming down, Elena leaned back into the chair and Stefan returned to his spot by the door with a quick nod.

"To sum it all up, Peter killed Aria and threatened to bring Elena to Klaus", Damon continued his explanation.

"Is there anyone who isn't working for Klaus?" Alaric questioned as he, too, stood up to pour himself a glass of Damon's scotch.

"That is alive and trustworthy? No, not really. That's why we can't trust anyone besides those in this room right now", Damon stated as he walked over and sat on the armrest of Elena's chair without noticing. As everybody watched, Elena shot an evil glare at him and wrenched herself out of her chair to sit in between Caroline and Bonnie on the couch. Wondering what was going on between them, Caroline gave Elena a questioning look, to which Elena responded with quick shake of the head.

"Okay, then. What the heck are we supposed to do?" Jeremy asked, obviously frustrated with the lack of options presented to him.

Damon looked at Jeremy with a sly smile, and replied, "Simple. We beat him at his own game."

The group looked suspiciously at Damon. "And how do you suppose we do that, Damon?" Alaric asked, clearly not impressed by Damon's cool demeanor.

"Simple. We let him sacrifice Elena."

So Elena's pissed at Damon and he wants to sacrifice her. Hmm, where's this going to go? Any guesses? I hope you all liked it, and I hope you take the time to send me some love :) Feedback is love, so read and review!

-kiki :)

btw: here's my opinion of last night's EPIC season finale (oh, spoiler alert :) I'll try not to reveal too much, just in case you don't read this!)
1. Poor Damon :( as much as I love Stelena, the Delena stuff was adorable. Don't get me wrong, I still threw anything w/in arms reach the TV when Elena did you-know-what to Damon :/
2. Poor Stefan :( he worked so hard to fight for what he believed in, and Klaus came and took it away by bribing him to save his bro :( when Elena realizes that he's not coming back anytime soon (did Klaus say 10 years? or did I imagine that?) what is she gonna do? Will she blame Damon? :(
3. idk if I've said this before, but Klaus is a TOTAL JACKASS!
4. Wow, Katherine actually did come back to save him! didn't expect that!
5. "You can thank me tomorrow...and the next day...and the next day..." need I say anymore? :D that was one of the funniest scenes EVER.
6. Anna? Vickie? What the heck is going on? Ok, JK! I put enough together to figure out what was going on w/ Jer, but what's gonna happen!

So in summary, WHEN IS SEPTEMBER? :'(