a/n: I'm so sorry this is wayyyy behind schedule! Life got in the way one too many times over the weekend and every time I sat down to write, something else came up...better late than never, right?

alright, I would like to address something that all of you are probably wondering about: how Stefan slept with Kat if she was in the tomb. Well, in By the Light of the Moon, it looked as if Elijah had his warlocks lower the barrier and when Kat tried to make a break for it, he compelled her to stay in the tomb. Whether or not that's what actually happened, that's what I'm using for this story.

The next chapter will be up the Sunday following the new episode. :) Even if I have to lock myself in my room to finish it, I will.

FIFTEEN

It took Elena a moment to get her bearings. She could tell that she was in her own bedroom, but it took awhile to remember why. Rose had woken up shortly after they had finished eating breakfast. Since then, she had been in pretty bad shape. Much to his dismay, Damon knew it was best if Elena wasn't around to witness her struggle. Luckily, Elena agreed since Jenna asked for her to come home.

Before getting up to take a shower, Elena reached for her phone and dialed Damon's number. He answered right away. "Hey."

"Hi."

"Did you sleep well?"

"Surprisingly, yes," she answered, smirking into the phone. "How is she?" she asked, wanting to get straight to the point.

"She's...better," he replied in a strained voice. "But it's not good."

"Have you found anything on a cure?"

"Not yet."

"What about Stefan?"

"I don't know. I haven't seen him in awhile."

Elena nodded and let silence fall for a little bit before she spoke. "Is it alright if I come over later?"

"Of course." That brought a smile to her face. "Rose is waking up. I'll see you later."

"See you later," she repeated and hung up. No sooner had she put her phone back on the nightstand did it ring again. This time it was Stefan. "Hello."

"Good, you're awake."

Obviously he hadn't been listening to her conversation with Damon. "Yep. What's up?"

"Are you coming to the boarding house today?"

"Yeah, I'll be over in a little bit."

"Good. I have some things we need to talk about."

That made Elena pause. She was under the impression that they had put the Damon and Katherine thing behind them. "Such as...?" she asked quietly.

"It's nothing bad, but it's something I'd prefer to tell you about in person."

"Okay," she breathed and shrugged. "I'm going to get ready and then I'll be over."

"I'll be here," he informed her and then hung up.

Elena slowly returned her phone to the nightstand yet again and waited to see if it would ring. When it didn't, she took that as her cue to get up. With that, she headed into the bathroom and started getting ready for the day.

When Elena arrived at the boarding house, she let herself in. The moment the door was closed, she could hear Damon and Rose talking in the parlor. Slowly, she approached the opening and pointed upstairs when Damon turned to look at her. She mouthed "Stefan" and he nodded in understanding. With that, she headed up to Stefan's room to find out what was too important to be discussed over the phone.

She hesitated before knocking on the door. It felt strange to knock on his door. Even more strange when he opened it and they stood there awkwardly staring at each other. After a sheepish grin, he stepped aside and beckoned for her to come in. "Did you find a cure for Rose?"

He shook his head. "Damon took me off of that. I suggested a few things and he snapped at me, saying he would take care of it himself."

Elena tipped her head a little. "So...what do we have to talk about?" she asked, not sure if she wanted to know or not.

"Well, after you left, Damon and I got into another little argument. I know he's a little strung out about Rose, so I left to let him cool down. I went to speak to Katherine again."

"How exactly did Elijah get you out and manage to keep Katherine in anyway?" she asked, having been curious about that since his return to the boarding house.

"He said something about knowing witches too and that he was able to get the barrier down. Of course once I had passed, Katherine tried to make a run for it, but Elijah stopped her. He compelled her to stay behind."

"So the barrier's not up anymore?"

Stefan nodded. "I got in and out without any problem," he explained before averting his eyes. It was after he had walked in on Damon and Elena that he found himself at the tomb again. He hadn't even realized his feet had carried him inside until he was in Katherine's arms.

"How is she?" Elena found herself asking.

"She's...okay." He cleared his throat, her voice having roused him from his thoughts, and continued. "I figured that since Damon didn't want me to work on finding a cure, I would work on learning everything I could about the Petrova doppelganger and the curse."

"What about Katherine?"

"What about her?"

"Don't you want to be with her?"

He shrugged. "I've been without her for a long time now and we have an eternity to be together. You don't have that luxury. Katherine had to experience the pain of losing everyone around her, you don't have to. In fact, I'm going to do everything that I can to keep that from happening."

"She told you her story?"

He nodded. "Yeah. It made me understand her a lot better." He looked away for a moment and then locked eyes with Elena again. "We may not be together anymore, but I still care about you, Elena. I always will. I don't want to see anything bad happen to you or your family. I asked Katherine what she knew about the curse but she didn't have much to say. All she knew was that she was the doppelganger and it required a blood sacrifice."

"Yeah, she told me that too."

"I asked her if there was anything that she could think of that would be of some use and she came up with one thing."

Elena's brow quirked. "And that would be...?"

"Isobel."

Elena's jaw dropped and she shook her head. "No."

"She's great at research. If anyone knows how to find information on beating this curse, it's her."

"Stefan, last time she was here, she kidnapped Jeremy and broke Matt's arm. She blackmailed her own daughter to get the vampire device and then let my father use it against my loved ones. No," she said more adamantly. "I don't want her back in my life."

"If it means saving your life? The life of your family?" Stefan rushed on before Elena could interject. "She caught us by surprise last time, we won't let that happen again. We're older and we're stronger. She will not hurt anyone, okay? I promise."

Elena stared at him, her arms crossed over her chest. It took a moment before she gave in and nodded. "If she so much as bares her fangs at anyone..." she warned.

"I'm going to meet with Alaric now and have him give me her number."

"What makes you think he has a number to reach her?"

"Because it's Alaric," he said and smiled softly. "Just trust me on this one."

She nodded slowly. "Alright, you better go before I change my mind."

"I'll let you know everything as it happens, okay?"

"You better," she mumbled and started to follow him, but then stopped. "Stefan?"

He turned around to look at her. "Yeah?"

"H-how are you doing?"

He thought about it and nodded. "I'm okay."

"I mean with the blood."

He grinned at his misunderstanding and shrugged again. "Each day it gets easier. My body realizes that it's not getting any more than an ounce a day and it's slowly starting to calm down. I don't feel the need to drink more as fast as I can because I may never have it again."

"That's good, right?"

He nodded. "I think in a couple weeks I'll be able to up the dose and start taking more."

"That's good," she repeated, smiling at him.

"Thanks for asking," he said and opened the door for them.

With that, she followed him out of the bedroom and downstairs. He kept going towards the front door as she stopped in front of the parlor. She waved goodbye to him and then stepped down into the room. Her eyes went wide at the sight of Rose's back. It really did look as though her flesh had been torn by the jaws of an animal. It made her shudder and Elena was very glad she had skipped breakfast this morning. "Hey," she said, breaking up their little argument.

Damon turned to look at her as Rose glanced over her shoulder. "Doesn't she look good?" he asked, giving her a look that told her to agree with him.

"Yes she does," she answered, forcing herself to sound somewhat cheerful.

Rose shook her head and pulled the robe up over her shoulder. "Liars," she mumbled and sat back against the couch. Her voice sounded as if she had a head cold. It made Elena grin inwardly at the irony of a vampire getting sick.

"I'm going to talk to Elena for a minute, okay? I'll be right back," he told he and then led Elena onto the back patio. He wrapped his arms around her tightly. "I'm very glad you're here."

"Me too."

He squeezed a little more and then pulled back. "I have a favor to ask."

"Anything."

"I need to track down the She-Wolf and get a cure from her before Rose gets worse. Would you mind staying here with her until I get back?"

"How long do you think you'll be?" she asked, not really liking the idea of being home with a sick vampire.

"Alaric called just before you got here. Jules is at the Grill."

"Is that where Alaric is?"

He nodded. "Yeah, why?"

"Stefan went to meet him. He's going to contact Isobel. He says she might be able to find a way to break the curse."

Damon muttered unintelligible things under his breath before sighing heavily. "And to think we were almost done with that woman."

"If she can help us break the curse, we'll be free of her and Katherine."

"What makes you so sure of that?" he asked, bringing her back into his arms.

"I'm not," she answered. "But it's a nice thought."

He grinned and leaned down to capture her lips with his. After an agonizingly slow, tender kiss, he pulled away and rested his forehead against hers. "I'll be quick." She nodded and followed him back into the house. He said goodbye to Rose and left the two women alone.

For the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon, Elena and Rose had spent their time in the living room, talking. Rose had been telling her how life had changed in the last five hundred years, but Elena noticed how she kept personal things out of the conversation. It wasn't until the vampire started looking more pale than she already was that Elena suggested she go upstairs and get some rest. Rose agreed and let the human girl help her off the couch and up the stairs to the guest bedroom.

"I wonder what's keeping Damon," Rose said as she climbed into bed.

Elena had been trying not to think of that. "I'm sure he'll be back soon," Elena said although it was more to reassure herself than the dying vampire.

Rose nodded and began coughing. Elena couldn't help but cringe as blood started coming out of her mouth, staining the sheets of the bed. "Blood!" Rose managed to choke out, her hand stretched towards Elena.

She grabbed the glass of blood that she had brought up with her and Rose chugged it down, gasping for air when the red liquid was gone. She handed Elena the glass and fell back against the pillows. Elena refrained from asking how she was, knowing it was a stupid question. "I'll go get you more," she offered, wanting nothing more than to get away for a few moments.

Rose nodded, her eyes closing as she moved around to get comfortable. "It's alright Katerina, I don't need anymore."

Elena's blood ran cold. Her heart skipped a beat and then slowed down. Her worst nightmare was coming true; being stuck in a house with a vampire with memory problems. "Rose?" she said softly. "It's me, Elena."

At that, Rose's eyes snapped open, the veins on her cheeks standing out. In the blink of an eye, she was out of bed and on her feet, fangs bared as she stared at Elena. "You're not going anywhere, Katherine."

The moment the vampire lunged forward, Elena leapt to the side and dodged the attack. Before she could get her bearings and get out of the room, Rose grabbed her by the throat and slammed her body against the wall. "Rose, it's me. It's Elena. I'm not Katherine," she repeated, her voice high with fear.

Slowly, Rose's eyes began to lighten and fill with recognition. She let go of Elena and stepped back. "Oh God, I'm so sorry."

"It's okay," Elena said, trying to keep herself from trembling.

"No, it's not."

Elena nodded and patted Rose on the shoulder. "I'm going to get you some fresh sheets. I'll be right back," she said and then headed out to the linen closet Stefan had mentioned to her on his brief introduction of the boarding house. Luckily, it was well stocked. Elena grabbed a new set, the ones on the bed now stained with blood, and began walking back towards the bedroom. Once inside, Elena knew something was wrong. The hairs on the back of her neck were standing up and chills were cascading down her spine. "Rose?" she called out softly.

Carefully, she set the sheets on the edge of the bed and set off after the vampire. She stepped lightly, keeping an ear out for any noise. Elena swallowed hard as her instincts carried her to the basement. A small part of her knew Rose was down there and there was only one thing that would have done that. Blood.

Elena's breath caught in her throat at the sight of Rose in front of the extra fridge where Damon kept the blood. It was practically empty now with bags scattered across the floor. There was blood everywhere. The little storage room looked like a murder scene. It wasn't until Rose looked up at Elena that her heart stopped beating and she experienced true fear. Without another thought, she took off and ran back upstairs with Rose closing in on her.

Just as she reached the main floor, Rose pounced, causing both girls to crash to the floor. Luckily, Elena was able to get to her feet before anything could happen. It wasn't until they were in the parlor that Rose caught up to her again. This time, the vampire blocked her way to the door and ran at Elena with full speed. Elena groaned as her back slammed into the ground, Rose landing on top of her. She tried with all her strength to dislodge the other girl, but the bloodlust in her was too strong.

Elena looked up briefly to see that they were close to the window and that there was still sunlight out. She reached up and grabbed the end of the curtain before flinging it open, bathing them both in golden rays. Rose screamed, but Elena could hear her flesh being burned. It was enough of a distraction that she was able to push the vampire off of her and get away. She ran back up the stairs as Rose was still blocking her path to the door. She launched herself into a room and started pushing large furniture against the door. As she looked at the legs of a table, she broke one off as a stake and hurried to sit by the bed so she could have a view of the window as well.

Her heart pounded in her chest as she sat there, staring at the barricade in front of the door. Only then did she realize it was Stefan's room. She knew it was because she was more familiar with it than with Damon's room. That, and he had more furniture to put in front of the door. Elena forced herself to take deep breaths, wishing that Damon would just come home, cursing herself for leaving her phone in her purse downstairs. Now all she had to do was wait.

By the time Elena got herself back to normal, she realized the sun had set. The only light that came through the window was moonlight. She swallowed thickly, not sure if she should leave the room. But curiosity got the best of her and she started clearing things away from the door. She owed Stefan a huge apology for ruining his room and breaking one of his tables. Hopefully, it wasn't worth much, sentimental value or otherwise. Carefully, Elena made her way through the house, trying to be as silent as possible, the stake clutched in her hand, ready to strike. When she reached the front door of the boarding house, she took a deep breath and lifted a shaking hand to open it. She pulled her arm back in a striking pose and flung it open.

Nothing.

She exhaled and closed her eyes with relief for a brief moment. The chills crept up her spine again and she whirled around, yelping at the sight of Damon. He grabbed her wrist lightly, looking at her with utter confusion. "Was that really necessary?" she asked, sounding winded as she tried to catch her breath.

"What?"

"Sneaking up on me like that."

He shook his head and took the stake from her before he started inspecting her. "Are you okay? Did something happen?"

"Yes and no," she answered, letting him pull her into his arms. "Rose was fine for most of the day, but she started getting tired, so we went upstairs for her to sleep. I wanted to make sure she was okay and she started coughing up blood. Right after she got settled in, she called me Katherine and went after me."

Damon's arms tightened around her, cursing himself for leaving her alone with Rose in the first place.

"I left to go get her some fresh sheets while she freshened up and when I came back, she was gone. I went to search for her and found her in the basement. She was on a binge and she came after me again. I barricaded myself in Stefan's room and ripped off a leg on a table to use just in case."

By the end, Elena was trembling slightly. Now that Damon was here, her adrenaline was dwindling down and she realized how exhausted she was. Her entire body ached, probably from moving the furniture.

"I'm assuming she left when the sun set," she concluded in a small voice.

She felt Damon nod above her. "Yeah."

It was silent for a moment before Elena spoke again. "How did it go with Jules?" she asked, pulling back just enough to look at him.

Her heart broke as his eyes darkened with sadness. "There is no cure." Elena nodded, knowing there was nothing she could say. "Liz called me earlier. I guess I know what it's about now."

Elena tensed at that and pulled out of his embrace. "We should probably go look for her."

He gave a slow nod and placed the stake back in her hand, curling her fingers around it. "Use it if you have to."

Elena nodded and followed him outside to his car. She knew what the outcome would be and the more she thought about it, the more her heart broke for Damon. As he began to pull out onto the road, she reached over and laid her hand on his. He turned it so that he could link their fingers together and then gave her a light squeeze. With that, they headed off to find Rose and see the damage that she had done.

Elena paced in front of the couch in the parlor room. They had found Rose about forty-five minutes ago, feeding on a girl in the school parking lot. She didn't look good. Her skin was already starting to turn grey and it was hard for her to stand on her own. At the moment, she was upstairs with Damon. He had told Elena what he was going to do and she knew that it was a burden he would carry for the rest of his life.

Her phone rang, a welcomed distraction from the waiting game she was playing. She answered it without looking to see who it was. "Hello?"

"Hey," came Stefan's voice.

"What's up?" she asked, having almost forgotten about him and his side mission.

"Are you doing anything right now?"

"No..." she said slowly.

"Do you think you could meet me at your house? There's something I need you to see."

"You can't bring whatever it is to the boarding house?"

He hesitated and let out a deep breath. "Uh, not really."

At that moment, Damon entered the room. Elena felt her heart break even more at the look on his face. "Stefan, I-"

"Go," Damon said, his voice stronger than she thought it would have been. "There's one more thing I have to do. Just come back here," he added.

Elena studied him for a moment before addressing Stefan again. "I'll be over shortly."

"Okay, see you then," he replied and hung up.

"What do you have to do?" she asked Damon.

"Liz thinks there's a vampire running around town and until she sees a body, she's going to keep looking. I'll probably bury her afterwards. You should go," he said and turned to head back upstairs.

Elena's lips parted to say something and she stepped forward to reach out to him, but he was already out of sight. She knew he still had issues with showing his emotions, but she also knew he had to keep himself in check if he was going to present Rose to Liz. There was plenty of time for a breakdown later. She wasn't exactly Rose's biggest fan, but she knew her and Damon were friends of a sort. With a heavy sigh, Elena picked up her purse and headed out to her car.

When she got there, she sat in front of her house thinking of everything that Stefan could have found. He hadn't said that Isobel was here, he said something. Unable to come up with anything, she got out of the car and went inside. Stefan greeted her from the foyer and gave a tight smile, indicating that she wasn't going to like this at all.

"Hey."

"Hi..." she said carefully, looking around. "So... What did you find?"

He cleared his throat and ran a hand through his hair, letting her know that he was nervous. "I didn't track down Isobel, but I found something else that might be able to help us."

"And that would be...?"

He stood there for a moment or two before stepping aside. Elena started to ask what was going on when someone very familiar stepped into the entry way of the kitchen from the foyer. "Hello Elena," came John's voice.

Elena's eyes widened significantly. At first, she was surprised, and then she was angry. "How dare you come back here."

"I was under the impression that you needed some help," he said.

Elena shook her head. "Not from you." She looked at Stefan and shook her head again. "I'm going back to the boarding house. I promise Damon I wouldn't be here long."

Elena couldn't help but notice the look of surprise and disgust on John's face at the mention of Damon. "Why does he care where you are?"

"A lot's changed since you left," she replied and with that, she left, slamming the door behind her. Out of everything Stefan could have found, she never imagined that he would bring John back. He was the one who threatened him to leave and never return in the first place. She shuddered after sliding in behind the wheel. Once on the road, she groaned. Now she had to tell Damon and she knew things weren't going to end well after that conversation. She could only imagine how John would react once he learned that she was seeing Damon now. He had had a hard enough time with the fact that she was seeing Stefan.

Elena forced her thoughts away and continued driving to the boarding house. Damon's car wasn't there, so she waited in the parlor. She didn't have to wait long before she heard him pull up. She moved to stand in the foyer, watching as he walked towards her. She could see his resolve wavering and it broke her heart even more.

The moment he reached her, he pulled her to him. He held her as if letting go meant meeting his true death. She hugged him back as hard as she could as he buried his face into the crook of her neck. She said nothing as she felt his tears wet her skin. It only made Elena cry for him. She wanted nothing more than to take away his pain.

Without any warning, Damon moved them to the couch. He sat against the arm with Elena over his lap. He was still able to bury his head into her neck and hold her tight. Neither of them said a word, both of them reliving the events of the day. They sat like that for countless hours. It was how Stefan found them when he came home well after midnight.

And it was how he found them early the next morning although they had finally fallen asleep.