Damon was walking up to a house. It seemed like nobody was home. He sat on the porch waiting. About fifteen minutes later he saw a figure emerging from the shadows, coming towards the house.

"Bonnie?" he asked.

"Who's there?"

"It's Damon."

Bonnie finally came onto the porch.

"Where have you been Bonnie? Everyone has been trying to contact you for hours now," said Damon, impatience growing in his voice.

"I've been busy," she said indifferently. She opened her door and walked through, with no intention of further acknowledging Damon's presence.

"Bonnie!" he said as he followed her but then quickly froze at the door.

She turned around, looking at him with irritation.

"We need your help Bonnie."

"I have my own things to worry about right now, Damon," she said coldly.

"Damn it Bonnie! Listen to me! Elena died." Bonnie's eyes widened and her face filled with terror.

"What? No!" she said. She walked forward back out the door and onto the porch again. She began pacing back and forth.

"Meredith healed her with vampire blood earlier and she drowned. She is in transition."

Bonnie quickly began shaking her head. She started crying, "No, no, no…this can't be happening."

She put her face in her hands and began to sob. Damon finally grabbed her shoulders to stop her.

"Bonnie we don't have much time! We need to figure out what to do and Elena's not even sure if she wants to complete the transition."

She looked back up at him shaking her head.

"We have to pull it together and hurry," he said.

She nodded and began walking to the door.

She stepped inside, turned her head and said, "Fine. Come in, Damon."

Caroline snuck into Matt's room in the hospital. He was sleeping. She sat there for over an hour, her body frozen and her feelings in anguish, until he finally woke up.

"Matt?" Caroline said worryingly. "Are you ok? How are you feeling?"

Matt looked up at her. "Caroline? What happened? Where is everyone? Elena…Where is Elena?"

Caroline looked at him and her eyes began to glaze over. Matt's heart began to race as he read her expression.

"No," he cried. Caroline looked at him shaking her head.

"Matt, Elena drowned but she is awake now. She had vampire blood in her system and she is in transition." Matt looked at her in shock.

"I know it's a lot to take Matt but everything is just happening so quickly…" Caroline was crying now.

Matt began to cry too, he knew she was talking about Tyler and now he was in shock and sadness about the news of Elena.

"How…how did we get out? I don't understand what happened?"

Caroline looked at him with sorrow in her eyes, "Stefan saved you Matt. He went to save you guys but Elena ran out of time and…..she drowned."

"Oh my god," he said shaking his head as tears streamed down his face. "No, why….why did he do that…he saved me first?"

"Elena made him," said Caroline. "Matt please, doesn't torture yourself over this, everyone is in a panic and Stefan is blaming himself too."

Matt shook his head again. "No this is my fault," he muttered. "I shouldn't have tried to take her away. I can't believe this…"

"No Matt we can't blame ourselves for this, it just happened. I don't know what Elena is going to do but….we just have to find a way to get through this."

They were quiet for a moment and then Meredith came in.

Caroline panicked for a moment until she realized who it was. She didn't know Meredith too well but she knew that Meredith has knowledge of the vampires and didn't seem hostile towards them.

"How are you feeling?" she asked Matt.

"I'm a little light headed but I'm ok."

She turned to Caroline, "Do you know what is going on?"

Caroline nodded. "I don't know what Elena is going to do though…"

Caroline looked back at Matt. "I have to go soon," she said. "Matt the council knows about me. Alaric told them about me and Tyler, I have to get out of here. Tyler and I were going to leave, but now….I don't know…." She was crying again.

"No, Caroline," said Matt. "We will figure something out. Hide out somewhere for now to we figure something out. Caroline you can't leave by yourself….where is Elena?" he asked.

"She is home," replied Caroline. "She's trying to figure out what to do next."

Guilt rushed over Matt. He couldn't contain his feelings, he was mortified. He looked up at Meredith and said, "I need to go. Can I leave?"

"You're not supposed to Matt," she replied. "But I'll cover for you and make it seem like you are ok to leave. But you need to be careful, please."

He nodded as Caroline helped him up.

"We have to go back to see Elena," he said as he looked at Caroline.

Damon and Bonnie were in her room, impatiently rummaging through the different grimoires she had collected. A few hours had gone by and the sun was starting to rise.

Bonnie's face became frustrated and she began to speak.

"I told you Damon, I don't remember anything in these to help reverse the vampire curse. We have been looking for hours now."

Damon slammed the grimoire he was reading and threw it against the wall. Bonnie gave him a disapproving look. She hated his rash reaction and his aggressiveness but she understood frustration in the moment.

"Can't we go to old witch house," he said. "Can't you figure something out and connect-"

"No," Bonnie said abruptly. "I can't connect to the spirits anymore, it won't work."

"What do you mean?" he yelled.

"I just can't, ok?" she yelled back. Bonnie was reluctant to say anything further. She still hadn't told anyone about what she was doing earlier and she was growing more frustrated with Damon again. She basically saved everyone's life, though she was not ready to hear the wrath and anger as soon as everyone found out that Klaus was no longer desiccated. She didn't want him to ask more questions or get suspicious so she spoke again.

"Fine, I will try to see if I can figure something out…connect with them. But I need to see Elena first. I need to talk to her."

Damon gave her a long stare until he finally muttered, "ok."

Elena was still in her room after some time had passed. She had been writing in her diary, looking through photos and old things. She came across the letter John had written her before he died. It made her cry but also smile. In her diary she wrote about her feelings and everything that has been happening, it feels as if she hadn't written in her diary for a very long time.

Jeremy and Stefan had been checking up on her once in a while, but mostly they were just patiently waiting downstairs. Stefan had been trying to get Jeremy to eat but he refused.

"You don't look good Jeremy, you really should eat something," said Stefan.

"Yeah, you too," Jeremy replied. Stefan turned his head and Jeremy spoke again.

"I know that a lot has happened lately. But…I'm glad you're here. If there is one person to be here at this time…I'm glad it's you." Stefan looked back at him, giving Jeremy a half smile before he spoke again.

"Jeremy you look really tired. You can relax if you want, I'll wake you up soon. You don't have to worry about missing anything. I know it doesn't seem like a good time but I think you need it." Jeremy hesitated for a moment before he nodded and said "Thanks" as he went up to his room.

Caroline and Matt arrived, Stefan greeted them and they went upstairs to see Elena.

"Elena?" Matt said worryingly. "Elena I'm so sorry this is happening. I don't even know what to say to you except that I am sorry. I wish I could take everything back. I wish I could start over." His eyes were glazing over and Elena was shaking her head during his whole speech.

"No, Matt. You can't feel guilty, please. Everyone is feeling guilty, but you need to understand. I understand why you guys did what you did. And so you have to understand Matt, that I couldn't let you die. Matt I knew about the vampire blood in my system. There was no doubt in my mind that you needed to be saved first. I am just grateful that Stefan was able to."

"But you died Elena." He was crying now. "You died and now you are going to be something that you don't want to be."

"Matt I wasn't going to risk your whole life just to keep my human life safe. I would never be able to live with that. We have to accept this, but we can't torture ourselves with guilt and regret."

"So what are you going to do?" he said.

"I don't know," she said. "You think it might be easy to make that decision, but it really isn't." Elena said this as she looked at Caroline. Caroline put her head down; she knew that Elena was referring to her father.

"Elena?" said Caroline. She sounded like a sad little girl. "When you decide…if you decide to complete the transition… I brought a blood bag, it is downstairs. I know that is one of the things you are afraid of. Hurting someone. But you have to know that we will all be here to help you, to protect you."

Elena smiled at Caroline. Her eyes were filled with sadness but the smile was still genuine.

"We'll be downstairs," Caroline said as her and Matt turned and walked out the door.

Stefan Knocked on Elena' opened bedroom door. "Yes?" she said.

Stefan slowly walked in.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.
"My body feels…bad. My head is really starting to hurt. But to be honest, I feel very relaxed and calm." Stefan nodded his head in approval. He spoke again.

"Hey I just wanted to tell you that Damon and Bonnie have been trying to find a way to reverse this or something. They haven't found anything yet but they are not going to give up. Bonnie is just going to stop by here quickly though. She wants to talk to you before she takes off again to find something." Elena nodded.

They were silent for a few seconds and Stefan sat on the bed before he spoke again.

"I want you to know Elena, that no matter what, I will support you. I'm so sorry Elena for what I put you through these past few months. It pains me that I ever hurt you. I wish I could take it all back."

"You were saving your brother, Stefan."

"I know, but I still let myself go when I didn't have to. I was being weak. I should have stayed strong for you."

"We have all had our moments of weakness, Stefan. As long as we find the strength to come out from under it. I think we can be ok." Stefan nodded.

"Either way Elena, I will be here for you for whatever you need. I will help you with anything, no matter what. Everyone will be here for you."

Elena looked at him intensely. She knew his words were fully sincere but she could sense another tone to them.

He isn't just talking about us. He is telling me that he will be there for me even if we are not together…..even if I am with someone else….with Damon. He doesn't know…

Elena didn't know when a good time would be, but she had to tell him now. She couldn't look into his sad eyes any longer without him knowing the truth.

"Stefan, you have to know. I do care about Damon. We grew closer these past few months." Stefan was simply looking at her, deeply listening to every word.

"But for a while I lost myself. I was changing into a stronger person, I was becoming more independent. But along the way I did lose myself. I was overwhelmed with confusion. But I Know now Stefan. Especially now, I look back on everything and I know. I knew the second you walked away from me last night. I couldn't breathe Stefan. My heart stopped at the thought that I wouldn't see you again…that there might not be a later." She gently put her hands to his face as she began to cry softly.

"I love you Stefan…and I need you." She softly kissed him and they held each other closely. Tears slowly streamed down Stefan's face as he held her. Though the pain within him had grown larger than ever in the night, he felt a surge of warmth in his heart that he had not felt in a very long time. This small glimmer of happiness was enough to assure him that his violent and overwhelming struggle to emerge from the darkness was worth it.

Elena was holding his hand until Stefan finally said, "I'll go wake Jeremy now. I think Bonnie is here now."

She nodded and finally let his hand go before he started to walk out, and Stefan turned to look at her one more time before he stepped out the door.

Bonnie entered Elena's room a few minutes later. She had to give Damon a disapproving look as he tried to follow her upstairs. He finally gave in and turned around.

"Elena?" she said. She ran up to her, hugging her.

"Elena I can't believe…"

"I know," replied Elena," holding her friend closely.

"Oh my god Elena I wish I could help you," she said crying. "I am trying Elena, I will keep trying."

Elena nodded. "It's ok Bonnie. I know you are."

"What are you going to do Elena? How much time do you have?"

"I still have until later tonight…"

"Elena this is so horrible, but…this is so selfish of me. But I can't lose you Elena." They cried in each other's arms.

Bonnie finally calmed down before she said, "If you decide to turn, Caroline is already getting something ready for you. But whatever you decide, I will be there for you."

She hugged Elena again and began walking out as she said "I'll leave you alone for a little."

"I'll be down soon," Elena replied.

Bonnie walked out. She was heartbroken. She hated vampires. After all this time she had grown to accept them in some way, even going to extreme measures to protect some of them. But now her best friend was becoming one. Her friend who was pure and kind, someone she never could have seen as a vampire may now become one. It was a lose-lose situation. Bonnie felt helpless though there was the smallest possibility she could find a way to help. But she knew she would rather Elena be alive as a vampire than gone forever. Either way she would have to accept it.

Elena sat in her bed looking over everything again. She looked at her family pictures and took one last look at the letter from John.

It would feel as if all of this had been for nothing….

She couldn't deny that she hadn't thought about becoming a vampire several times. She was sure once that she wanted to stay human, despite her love for others who would live eternally. But so much had happened after that. After struggling so much she realized that it was foolish to not see earlier that her fate was inevitable. She thought about Jeremy again and realized she would not leave him alone. She would keep fighting. She had to keep fighting. After everything that has happened, she couldn't give up. She would never give up…

She looked over out her window and could see that the sun was about to set.

Elena knew she still had a good amount of time before she had to make her decision. But her decision was made. She walked downstairs. Everyone was there. Nobody said a word, they didn't know what she was about to do, they didn't know what to say to her. She quietly walked over to Caroline; there was a cup in her hand. Elena already knew what it was. She gently took it from her and began walking towards the front door. She stopped and looked back at everyone. They all realized what was about to happen but they couldn't move, couldn't react. Elena finally looked over at Stefan. He was by her side in a second and he grabbed her hand.

"Elena, you'll be ok," he said softly. She looked at him with a small smile and then she walked out onto the porch. Elena turned to look at everyone inside the house before she raised the cup to her mouth.

And then she took one big gulp.