"Why don't you come back with me?" Damon pleaded with Elena as the bus stopped. Now that the ride was over he realized he didn't want it to end.

"I have class, remember?" Elena smiled sweetly.

They were the last ones as they followed the teenagers reluctantly filing off the bus one by one.

"I'll tell Mrs. Somers you feel sick. Big brother knows best, right?" Damon knew it was a lost cause before the words were even out of his mouth.

She shook her head. "Can't miss it. Not today."

Damon saw that she was adamant and gave a rueful smile. "Alright, well…learn lots."

He turned and headed back to his car. He allowed himself the wince once he knew she wasn't looking. Learn lots? What a lame thing to say.

Elena watched him go with a strange sadness in her stomach. "I will," she softly promised.

Damon threw his coat over the couch the moment he walked through the door of his apartment. He was seriously considering taking a long nap before doing anything else.

He found Caroline in the kitchen, wearing only Stefan's shirt. He raised his eyebrows at her.

She gave him her equivalent look. "It was the closest clean thing I could find." Damon gave a dry smile. He headed to his room. She followed. "You weren't mad about not being able to go out last night, were you?"

He sat down on the bed. Her hands found his shoulders and tried to soothe him by slowly rubbing the tense muscles.

"No." Damon said simply. He wanted sleep, but he didn't want Caroline next to him. He was worried she'd lie next to him if he broke down and went first.

So instead he stood and went back to the living room. He picked up his jacket and hung it in the small closet near the entrance.

Caroline scoffed. "God, you're worse than Elena." Her eyes narrowed. "Speaking of, what did you two get up to last night?" She moved around the couch so that it was between them.

Damon glanced up at the tone of her voice. "We drove to your house, and then to school in the morning."

Caroline paused. "That's good. I'm glad she got there," she said distantly. She played with the fraying strings on the couch. She abandoned the strings to pick up a blanket that hadn't been there when Damon had left. She seemed lost in her thoughts and Damon was about to leave her to her silence when she suddenly looked up. "Wait, you said 'we' drove?" She was frowning.

"Yeah," Damon said lightly. "You never told me she couldn't drive."

Caroline snorted. "She would be a wreck." Her eyes hazed as she thought about her words.

"She wasn't that bad." Damon insisted.

"Elena drove?" Caroline had a disbelieving half-smirk. "No way, she'd be way too scared." Her fist clenched the blanket.

Damon shrugged. "She was fine." He moved to the kitchen counter.

Caroline forced a laugh. "So, Damon the notorious bad boy convinces sweet, innocent Elena to face her fears—what are the odds?" She followed him and stood with the counter between them.

Damon just barely hid his glare. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means," she said slowly, moving a finger across the counter top, "Make sure you don't break her heart when you're finished with her. She's already broken, why buy it?"

Damon's heart froze for just a second. He raised his eyebrows and gave her a bland look. "Jealous of your own sister, Care? That's a new low, even for you."

"Please," Caroline spat, "I've seen the way she looks at you."

"She's 17, Caroline." Damon's voice rose. "I wouldn't—" Damon broke off when he saw Caroline's look of hate.

Her voice was quiet and dangerous. "And I've seen the way you look at her. I get it. She's young, innocent, probably a virgin. You want to fuck her. But it's Elena." Caroline said the name disparagingly.

"She's twice the woman you are. And you're wrong." Damon said with an edgy glint in his blue eyes.

"Oh, but I'm not. I've been watching you two for a while. I bet I even knew before either of you figured it out." Caroline gave a grin that was closer to a sneer. "So just fuck and get over it already." She turned with a flip of her blonde curls.

"What are you on?" Damon asked quietly.

Caroline stopped dead in her tracks. "What makes you think I'm on anything?"

"You'd never say that about Elena. And you can hardly walk without swaying. And your eyes."

"Aren't you the clever one?" Caroline said in a clipped tone.

"What did you take? You don't look well." Damon might have to take her to the hospital.

She turned and he focused on her paleness. Her shallow breaths. "My looks? That's why you prefer Elena?" Her voice wavered. "How about we play a game then? I'll be Elena." Caroline moved to him and put her hands on his shoulders. " 'Oh, Damon! I'm so scared of everything, even the dark,' "

Caroline's mocking tone made Damon's teeth clench.

" 'But you're so deep, and experienced.' " She pretended to examine her conscience as she looked down and bit her lip. Then she threw herself against him and continued on in that high-voiced impression of Elena. " 'Oh, it's wrong, but-but I want you to take me! I-' "

"That's enough!" Damon grabbed her shoulders and pushed her away.

"But I'm so young and eager to please! I'll do anything." Caroline gave up the voice as she licked her lips and didn't bother to hide her malevolent grin.

"How about you be Caroline and I'll be Damon." It wasn't a question.

She rolled her eyes and turned to leave.

He caught her arm. His face was wild. "Or maybe I should be Stefan?" Damon suggested in an unreadable voice. "Would you like that?"

Caroline didn't turn around. "I don't know what you're talking about." Her voice tried to deny any wrongdoing.

" 'Just fuck and get over it', that's what you said, right? Is that what you're doing with my brother?" Damon looked at her with hate.

Her eyes were widened and scared when she finally faced him. "You don't know what you're talking about." She said in a broken voice.

"Don't I? I've known for a while," he said in a strong voice, but then he continued, softer. "I've also known about the drugs. I'm not a fool." Caroline stayed rooted to the spot. "And I'm sorry," he continued. "I should have talked to you both sooner. I—"

"Stop." Caroline looked like she was about to be sick. She held up a hand. "You don't know anything about what Stefan and I are going through."

"I went through it, too—"

"No! No, you didn't. You're not—not like us." Caroline's body started to be wracked with violent sobs. "You and Elena, you're strong. We aren't." She collapsed to the floor, sobbing and hugging her knees.

Damon knelt next to her. "It's past time I got you help. Real help. You can't keep going on like this."

Caroline made no reply as her tears streamed down her face.

"Let me take you to bed." Caroline made no move to help or hinder Damon's actions as he lifted her. He placed her in his own bed once more and tucked her in.

Elena sat down in class and quietly began arranging her things on the desk in preparation for the lesson. Everything felt surreal and her stomach still felt light and airy. She was smiling softly when the teacher started to speak.

"Surprise, everyone! Pop test." Elena rolled her eyes at Mr. S's words. Just because he didn't tell them didn't mean they shouldn't have expected it by now. He did it after every unit. Who ever heard of a pop test anyway? Maybe a quiz, but not a test.

Even so, the kids all around Elena groaned. She didn't care. She'd actually studied for this one. She did it every once in a while to make sure she didn't slip below a B- average.

She was trying to concentrate when it started. Small paper balls were being hurled at her head, along with the occasional chunk of eraser. "Psst, let me see your test!" A girl behind her whispered.

An unusually large piece hit Elena in the back of her neck. She shifted her shoulder to the side so they could see her answers. The throwing stopped. She didn't know why they insisted on copying her. There had to have been other people, smarter people.

It was because she was a victim, she thought bitterly. Let's see, there's a boy in the back, she thought. But he was on the football team. They wouldn't mess with him. There was the class salutatorian, Bonnie—but she'd sooner kick someone's ass than help them cheat.

Elena put her head down as she circled her last test answer. She was sick of being the victim.

Once, she'd purposefully failed so they'd get the idea that she wasn't worth copying. Needless to say, her plan had backfired. The three kids who'd copied locked her in a supply closet after school on the third floor. The janitor started on the first floor every day.

She came home later than usual with gum in hair and tears in her eyes, but Caroline either hadn't noticed or hadn't cared.

The bell rang and Elena practically ran out of class.

She ran right into Damon. He looked way too serious for this to be a continuation of what they'd experienced at the zoo. She greeted him equally solemnly. "What's wrong?"

"We should talk. It's about Caroline and Stefan." He looked around as if he'd rather look anywhere but at her. "Let me take you home, first."

They were silent the entire way.

He came into the apartment with her and sat on the couch. Elena followed, worried.

"Caroline and Stefan have been doing drugs." Damon spat out quickly.

"Um, yeah, I know—" Elena started.

"The bad kind. The serious kind. Meth for sure, but there may be others." He swallowed and looked away. From the shocked and horrified look on her face he guessed she hadn't even had a clue. If this was hitting her so hard, he knew she'd be blindsided by the news of Caroline and Stefan together. Damon couldn't do that. Not today.

"We have to get them help!" Elena started to cry. "Why couldn't I tell? Oh, God," her voice caught in her throat.

"We will, Elena," Damon put one hand on her shoulder and used the other to tilt her chin so their eyes met. "Just rest for tonight. Tomorrow after work we'll all talk together, okay?" He got up as if to leave and Elena grabbed his arm.

I don't want to leave either, Elena, he thought. Instead of saying that, though, he leaned down to kiss her on the forehead. "We'll make things right, Elena."

Damon left before Elena could protest.

She settled into the couch and pulled a tattered blanket that someone had forgotten to put away around her body. She watched the door and waited for Caroline to come home.

After a few hours her eyelids started to get heavy. She tried to keep them open, but she ended up succumbing to sleep and the comfort of the old blanket.

Elena's eyes opened in a daze. She looked around with confusion. It was already morning. She was late for school. And Caroline hadn't come home.

The irritating ring of her phone drew her attention. The culprit who'd awoken her. Elena picked it up and answered.

"Elena?"

At the sound of her sister's voice, Elena's stomach dropped. She sounded more scared than she had when they were kids. "Caroline? Where are you? Are you okay?"

She heard what sounded like sobs. "Elena I think I did something bad." Her voice was slurred and panicked.

"Where are you?" Elena demanded.

"Stefan and Damon's apartment. I don't feel so good." She admitted. Elena heard a crash and the phone went dead.

Nearly hysterical, Elena grabbed Caroline's set of keys from the dresser.

Elena didn't remember the drive well at all. She just forced herself to think of Damon. Damon's arms, holding her. She could do this. He just needed to be with her. And he was. She could hear his soothing voice in her head. The petals were easier to deal with than she'd thought, although she was a bit jerky from lack of practice.

Elena parked and ran to apartment 319. "Care!" She screamed. The door was open. Elena heard the sound of retching in the bathroom and followed it.

"Caroline," she breathed in relief as she knelt next to her. She patted her sister's back and held her hair as Caroline heaved and gagged.

Caroline hardly even registered the fact her sister was there until she was finished. She pushed Elena away. "I'm fine."

"You sounded not so fine on the phone, Care."

Caroline stood and swayed. The concern in Elena's voice made her itch. She had to get away. She stumbled into the kitchen.

"Damon told me everything, Caroline." Elena followed her.

"Can I get you something to drink?" Caroline asked politely.

Elena was weary of this sudden change in attitude, but she accepted the glass of water Caroline handed to her.

Caroline poured one for herself from the same bottle and swallowed it all down in one gulp.

Elena took a small sip and kept her eyes on her sister. She looked way too pale, almost translucent. Her hair was limp and Elena could see how shallow her breathing was. "Do I need to get you to a hospital?"

"I'm fine." Caroline said sharply. Her face went blank. "Do you remember what Dad used to say to us? 'Are you getting enough water girls?'" Caroline laughed loudly.

Their father was a doctor. He told them often enough to drink more water, almost as much as their mom had told them to clean their room. As a result, the girls rarely drank anything besides water. Elena had almost forgotten the origin of their predilection. She took another gulp.

"I know about the drugs, Care." Elena said. "Damon told me everything."

Caroline gave a hollow laugh. "Did he?" She looked at the ceiling so intently that Elena looked up, too, just to make sure there weren't roaches or something. Her sister's eyes rolled into the back of her head.

Elena started forward, but Caroline was back in an instant, breathing heavily. "Back off, sis." Her blue eyes could hardly focus on Elena's.

"What did you take?" Elena asked quietly, imploringly.

"Let me have a little fun, 'Lena. For once." Her words were bitter and she didn't sound like she was having very much fun. She rocked dangerously on her feet.

Elena moved to help her, but had to stop when her vision went blurry. She was so dizzy she almost fell, but caught herself on the kitchen countertop just in time. She looked at her sister with confusion.

She was met with Caroline's slow smile. It was the worst smile Elena had ever seen. She had to look away.

Caroline ran a hand through her sister's hair. She got their mother's hair. Caroline was seized by an urge to rip it out, but just barely contained herself. It didn't seem fitting that Elena got her hair. It ruined Caroline's memory of the woman.

Elena blacked out for a moment and this time the counter couldn't save her. The next time her eyes opened she was on the ground, staring at that oh-so-interesting ceiling and wondering how she got there. Her brain felt like a breeze flew through it and sent her thoughts flying like a stack of papers.

Caroline laughed. "Look at you. On the floor moaning. Can't even get high right." She stepped a little past Elena on the floor, but was stopped by a hand on her ankle.

"What-what did you give me?" Elena gasped out.

"Something to make you a little more interesting." Caroline said with an air of false kindness. "Maybe then Stefan won't keep coming back to me." She laughed loudly. "See what I did there? Maybe I'll give him a call. He might like finally seeing you on your back after all this time."

"What?" Elena face was screwed with concentration. She was trying so hard to understand, but not everything made sense. And the stuff that she did understand, Elena wished she couldn't.

Caroline looked down at her sister with delight. "Oh, so Damon didn't tell you everything. Well, little sister, Stefan and I have been fucking. A lot."

Elena started to cry. "No."

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Yup. Isn't it better this way? Now that you know you don't have to feel so guilty about those dirty feelings about my boyfriend. Guilt would trip someone like you up. Not me, though, because I'm a bad person." She looked down at Elena for confirmation, but Elena just stared at her. "I don't mind that much, really. Let's share. I can give you all sorts of womanly tricks and secrets."

"I would never—" Elena tried, but was cut off.

"Please," Caroline dismissed Elena's words. "Damon already tried that. And he's a much better liar than you are."

Whatever she'd taken made her suddenly invigorated and Elena was almost afraid to talk to her. "Please, you're my sister." Elena pleaded.

Caroline leaned down so she was closer to her face. "And what has that gotten me, Elena? Dead parents, two lovers who are inherently interested in not me, and a life that just generally sucks. So, thanks a lot! It's been great." Her sarcasm cut at Elena through her haze and she was stunned silent.

Caroline moved to the door, but paused before she left. She came back to Elena, who was simply crying on the floor. "How did you get here?" She asked dangerously.

"Wh-what?" Elena stopped crying. "I took your car."

Caroline's eyes were filled with hatred. "So you can drive now?" She laughed terribly. "That's great! Well, I can drive too, Elena! Watch me." Her voice was low and angry as she snatched what sounded like keys from the counter.

"Caroline, please don't leave me!" She yelled after her.

"I should have left you a long time ago, Elena!" Caroline yelled from the hall.

Elena tried to sit up, but she fell back immediately and hit her head. She saw stars and her vision was too blurry to see anything. "Please help me!" She panted. She heard the door slam.

Elena tried to breathe deeply so she wouldn't panic. She was fighting a losing battle. She started to shake as tears poured from her eyes.

She could have been like that on the kitchen floor for hours or minutes. Time blurred and escaped her grasp so that she had no sense of it. When she heard the door once more she called out like someone drowning and prayed it wasn't Caroline.

Stefan was puzzled as he entered the kitchen. The booze he'd had at his buddy's party hadn't helped his reasoning skills any. "Elena!" He yelled when he saw her crying on the floor. He picked up her head and helped her sit up.

Elena let him help her, but her eyes squeezed shut as the dizziness from moving hit her and made the light in the kitchen blur. She moaned and crushed Stefan's jacket in her fist.

"What happened?" Stefan stroked Elena's hair. He looked her up and down and recognized the symptoms. "Did you drink from a water bottle?" He asked her seriously. Caroline had showed it to him earlier. She said they'd drink it when he got home.

"Caroline—" Elena sobbed. She held on tighter to Stefan.

He seemed to understand. He slid his arms under her to carry her to the couch. He was a little wobbly and the extra weight didn't help, but he managed the trip without hitting her head against a wall. He set her on the couch with her back slightly propped up on the arm.

"Why would she do this?" Elena begged truth from no one in particular as her head swam. She started to sweat.

Stefan grabbed a beer from the kitchen and gulped it down. He took two more into the living room with him. "Elena, it'sssjus' the drugs. Y'll be fine." His words slurred and he moved her legs aside to sit on the couch next to her. He held his head.

Elena felt a little better now that she was sitting. "Why didn't you tell me about the drugs?" Her addled brain didn't stop to question whether this was the time to talk about this or not. She was just so hurt and worried.

His face turned to her and he glared. Elena gasped as his face wavered before her eyes and became an unrecognizable demon. She was too paralyzed by fear to scream and turn away. But then her vision shifted once more, and it was just Stefan again. Bloodshot eyes, pale skin, and the stench of too much liquor leaking from his pores. She couldn't decide which face was more fearful: the hallucination-monster or the real one. She finally found the strength to turn away.

"Why does it matter?" He asked angrily.

Elena felt tears fall and she shook her head.

He grabbed her shoulders. "Why does it matter?" She looked and the demon was back, its voice was the one growling at her.

"You're hurting me!" She cried.

Stefan let go, but his anger didn't lessen. "Tell me."

"I-" Elena gasped as she tried to speak. Her thoughts were rushing by her so fast that she was having trouble stringing together sentences. "I'm worried. You-you need help."

"I don't need help." Stefan said furiously. "I don't need your help, and I don't need Damon's help."

"We-we love you," Elena cried.

"You only care about each other." Stefan said quietly and withdrew.

"What?" Elena asked, worried.

He seemed so dejected as to be lifeless now. It puzzled her. "I'm not the one you want. I'm not good enough. You want him."

"I-no-we-" Elena couldn't slow down her thoughts and she cursed the drugs still coursing through her system.

"You can't even deny it." He said bitterly, staring at his hands.

"I've-I've t-tried to stop." Elena said helplessly.

He turned on her and Elena flinched away. "Then you didn't try hard enough!" Elena whimpered. He was silent for a moment.

"What about Caroline?" Elena asked. "I know," she sniffed. It was hard to say out loud and she still couldn't picture it.

He turned on her. "She actually cares! She gets what it's like." Elena saw guilt on his face before he squashed it down. "If you had only been there for me more, maybe—"

Elena was shaking her head in denial. It couldn't be her fault. Why was everything her fault? She began to shake and she couldn't stop.

"Elena?" Stefan grabbed her shoulders to keep her still. "Elena!"

It was minutes before the shaking stopped and every bone in her body ached and felt like it was on fire.

"I think you took too much." Stefan said softly. The back of his hand went to her forehead to brush her hair back. "You're burning up."

But his hands were claws and he scared Elena. She thrashed away. "Don't touch me!" She screamed.

He pulled back like her hot skin had burned him. "Please, Elena," he pleaded. "What am I without you?" He reached out again and she flinched. His unfocused eyes seemed crushed. "I guess I'm nothing either way." He looked down.

A stabbing pain rocked through her heart. She didn't think it was possible but her breath sped up even more. She tried to restrain her scream.

"What do I do?" Stefan asked.

"Damon-I need Damon!" Elena begged for him. "Please, Damon-"

Stefan pushed off from the couch. "You're calling for him?" Elena's eyes were closed as she repeated his brother's name like a prayer. "Look at me." He demanded. She continued as if she hadn't heard. "Stop, you stupid bitch!"

Elena's head snapped back at the blow to her face. From the top of her lip to the bottom of her eye. The sound of the slap wouldn't stop ringing through her ears. When she closed her eyes she saw veins and red spots like stars.

Stefan looked at Elena as she huddled on the couch, trying to hide her face into the upholstery. She couldn't hide the red mark already visible across half her face. For just a second he wanted to do it again. He wanted to wrap his fingers around her little throat and—he turned away. He grabbed his beer as he walked out of the apartment.