Surprisingly, Elena slept the entire night away until late the next morning. When she finally woke up, the sun was shining brightly, a layer of snow on the ground outside, and Damon was driving again.

"Where are we?" Elena asked, rubbing her eyes groggily.

Damon grinned.

"Out of Virginia; that's all you need to know for now."

Elena frowned.

"Why?"

Damon grinned at her.

"Because it's a surprise, that's why."

Elena furrowed her brow.

"What kind of surprise?"

"If I told you that, it wouldn't be a surprise, would it?"

Elena sighed, smiling.

"I guess not."

A while later, they pulled into a small town.

"Coridilla?" Elena asked, the town's name not familiar in the slightest.

Damon shrugged.

"It's a very small, remote town. I stress the term 'remote'." His grin slipped a bit. "No one will ever think to look for us here."

"How long are we staying?" Elena asked.

"I don't know yet. I have friends here, though; friends who won't rat us out."

Elena frowned.

"By friends, you mean…?"

"Yes; vampires."

Elena bit her lip.

"What do they think of you bringing a human to town?"

"Well… they don't exactly know. They aren't big on texting. Or calling. Or communication, in general, actually."

Elena frowned.

"Why?"

"They're in hiding, which is exactly why we're staying with them. Klaus can't track us down if he doesn't know where they are, either."

Elena's eyes widened.

"Klaus is after them, too?"

Damon nodded.

"Yep."

"Why?"

"I can't tell you."

When she frowned, he shrugged, defenseless.

"They're big on secrecy, and I swore I wouldn't tell!"

Elena frowned.

"And since when do you keep your word?"

Damon frowned.

"I always keep my word!"

"To anyone other than me?"

Damon grinned.

"Alright, alright; guilty. I promise I'll tell you; after we leave."

Elena sighed; that was better than nothing.

"Ah ha! Here we are." Damon said, turning off the road and parking by a snow covered sidewalk.

He got out and walked over to her door, opening it for her.

"Milady?" he said, grinning and holding out his hand to her.

She grinned back, shaking her head and unbuckling her seat belt, taking his hand.

She gasped when he pulled her out quickly and she found herself in his arms.

He bit his lip.

"Sorry… I guess I don't know my own strength."

But Elena could see a glimmer of laughter in his eyes.

She shook her head, swatting his arm.

"Hey!" he objected, rubbing his arm. "You don't swat the man whose jacket you're wearing."

Elena looked down, realizing his words were true. She blushed.

"Oh. Here-"

She started to take it off, and Damon shook his head in objection.

"No, keep it on. It's cold, and you don't have one." He grinned. "And it's not like I need it or anything."

She grinned and shook her head, following him down the sidewalk.

"So, where are we going?"

"To get you some food."

Elena's eyes widened hopefully.

"What are we getting?"

"I hope you like pancakes." He said, opening a door for her.

When the door opened, a small bell tinkled and the smell of warm batter and syrup wafted out into the cold.

"Ladies first." Damon grinned and she hurried inside, her stomach growling already.

A young man with short, auburn hair greeted them.

His blue eyes widened.

"Mr. Salvatore. Miss Pierce-"

"Gilbert." Damon corrected. "Elena Gilbert."

The man's eyes widened.

"She's the doppelganger."

Elena's eyes widened and she took a step back, turning her eyes up at Damon.

"You said that I would be safe here-"

"You are," Damon assured her, putting his hands on her shoulders. "This is Bryce. Bryce McCatherine."

Elena looked up at him, confusion clear in her eyes.

"He's one of the… people in the same boat we are."

Bryce frowned.

"She isn't a vampire. Damon, how is she alive? If you think you can hide her here, you're crazy; not if Klaus is looking for her-"

Damon rolled his eyes.

"Relax, Bryce; he doesn't know you're here. But, I do need to hide Elena here."

Bryce shook his head.

"You can't-"

"Bryce, what's going on?"

Elena and Damon both looked up to see a young woman with long blonde hair. For a second, Elena thought it was Rebekah; the resemblance was startling.

"Oh, my God." Both Elena and the woman said at the same time.

"Katherine? Are you mad? Bringing her here while Klaus is on the hunt for the doppelganger-"

Bryce frowned.

"She is the doppelganger, Lizzie."

The blonde gaped in horror.

"No! Damon, you incompetent moron-!"

Damon glared.

"I need to protect her from him, Elizabeth!"

"No. I won't let you stay here. Get out of our restaurant, get out of our town-"

"Damon, what's going on? Why does she look like-?" Elena asked nervously.

"Rebekah? Klaus's sister? Oh, yes, don't I know it."

The woman, Elizabeth, was sneering angrily.

"As it turns out, I'm related to Klaus and Rebekah's… lineage. But… I was born human." Elizabeth's expression, if possible, grew darker. "He turned me, and then killed my family, so that the 'disgusting human offspring' couldn't continue to tarnish his family name."

"Why didn't he kill you, too?" Elena asked.

Elizabeth stabbed a fork into the counter she was standing behind.

"Because," she sneered, "He had already killed his sister once, and didn't want to do it again. But he did, anyway. He just made sure I had his blood in me when he did it."

"How did you end up here? And why is Klaus after you…?"

Elizabeth frowned at the auburn man.

"That would be Bryce's fault. After Klaus turned me, he abandoned me in the middle of San Francisco. Bryce found me and took me under his wing. But, according to Klaus, Bryce wasn't good enough to teach his," she sneered, "Family the ropes. So, he tried to kill him."

Elizabeth stopped there, and Elena frowned.

"I don't understand. Why is Klaus still following you-"

"Because, you moron! Bryce wasn't supposed to live! But we escaped from him, and now he wants to kill us both." She sneered at Elena. "And you being here isn't helping matters. Damon, I want her out. I want both of you out, now!"

Damon frowned.

"Fine. We'll leave. But I suppose this means you don't want to here about my plan to kill Klaus."

Elizabeth and Bryce both gaped at Damon, and so did Elena.

"Plan? What plan, Damon?" she said, suddenly very queasy. She should have known he was doing something behind her back.

He sighed and sat at a bar stool, motioning for her to do the same.

"Relax, Elena. Bryce, get her a large stack of pancakes. She hasn't eaten since Mystic Falls yesterday."

Bryce headed for the kitchen, and Elizabeth continued to gape.

"Mystic Falls? The Mystic Falls? The one in Virginia? He's there?"

Damon waved over one of the bar girls.

"Bourbon." He told her, and she nodded, walking off to get his drink.

"Correction;" he said to Elizabeth. "They are in Mystic Falls."

The girl passed Damon his drink and he took a sip.

"They? What do you mean, they?"

Damon took another sip and put his glass down.

"Rebekah."

Elizabeth clutched the countertop so tightly that her nails dug into the wood.

"You mean to tell me she's alive? Why?"

"It doesn't matter. All that matters is that we keep Elena here, keep things quiet, and hope that they pass by this one horse town completely."

Elizabeth looked ready to rip Damon's head off.

"YOU BROUGHT THE DOPPELGANGER TO MY TOWN WHEN YOU KNEW HE WAS LOOKING FOR HER? WHEN YOU KNEW HE WAS LOOKING FOR US? DAMON, YOU SELFISH, STUPID-"

"Lizzie!"

Bryce rushed out, dropping Elena's plate of pancakes in front of her and turning to Elizabeth, looking frightened.

"Keep your voice down! The last thing we need is for," he looked at the restaurant full of humans, "Them to get suspicious. This is the closest we've been to safe in a long time-"

"Not anymore! Not with them here! Bryce, I don't care if he has a plan to kill Klaus, I want them OUT!"

With that, she turned and walked into the backroom, slamming the door behind her.

Damon swirled his drink in his glass.

"Well, that didn't go very smoothly…"

Bryce was glaring.

"Damon, get out. I'm completely with Lizzie on this one; it isn't safe for us if you're here-"

"Well, where else do you propose I go?"

He stood up and pulled Bryce aside.

"I know that all you care about is protecting Elizabeth. Well, I know how you feel."

Damon's gaze was more intense than Bryce had ever seen before. He wasn't the same party-going-bad-boy he had been the last time he saw him.

"All I care about is protecting Elena."

He stared Bryce straight in the eye, as if to convey his desperation.

"Help me."

Bryce frowned.

"What about Katherine? Is she going to come sauntering in here next?"

Damon frowned.

"No! I could care less if Katherine had her head ripped off. All I want is a place to hide Elena for a few days, until I figure out where to take her next."

Bryce sighed.

"Why do you care so much? If she's just a human, why not let Klaus have her, and get it over with? It would get him off your back."

Damon frowned.

"He isn't on my back. He's on hers. And she's not just a human." Damon's face twitched, and Bryce saw how desperate and afraid he was. "I love her."

Bryce frowned, glancing at the back door.

"Lizzie isn't going to like this…"

"Please, Bryce."

Bryce sighed.

"Alright, alright; I'll show you a place where you can stay. But only for a week, tops. And Lizzie can't find out."

Damon nodded.

"Done."

"Good." Bryce looked up at Elena, who was nervously picking at her pancakes. "Go get your girl."