She woke to the smell of leather. But that didn't make any sense—she distinctly remembered shucking Damon's leather jacket off of him just before...well, she remembered the jacket falling to the ground, quite forgotten. She opened her eyes, but immediately wished she hadn't. Why was she laying in the backseat of Damon's car? His jacket was serving as a pillow, though he'd tucked her comforter tightly around her.

"Good morning, sunshine," Damon called from the front seat. Wooded hills flashed past the window.

"Please tell me we aren't in Georgia," Elena said groggily, pushing herself upright.

"Cute. No, North Carolina," he said. "I've got breakfast up here, if you're hungry."

Starving, as a matter of fact. She threw the blanket aside and squeezed her way between the seats to flop down next to him. A Thermos, a bagel, and an apple waited for her. She greedily opened the Thermos, taking a deep gulp of the steaming hot coffee, full of cream and sugar, just the way she liked it.

"Still don't know how you can drink that," Damon said.

"Still don't know why we're in North Carolina," Elena said as she attacked the bagel. Even though the trees were mostly bare, it was still beautiful, all rolling hills and steep cliffs that led to sweeping vistas that extended for miles.

"You really just need to learn to enjoy the moment. It's a beautiful day, we have a stretch of open road ahead of us and nowhere to be. Does it really matter why?" Damon asked, giving up any pretense of looking at the road, his attention focused solely on her.

"Did you hit your head? Did you forget everything that happened last night? We have Originals who hate us, Esther who also now hates us for screwing up her plan, Bonnie who probably hates us—well, you—for turning her mom...and I feel like I'm forgetting something," Elena said, tearing the bagel into tiny bits.

"Well, Stefan's being extra broody, if that counts," Damon said.

"Damon, I can't be in North Carolina. I need to be back in Mystic Falls, with Bonnie and Caroline. And you need to be with Stefan," she said. She threw the bagel down, her appetite gone.

He looked back to the road, fingers drumming on the steering wheel. "It was Caroline's idea that we leave town," he admitted. "She thought it might be easier for Bonnie and her mom if we weren't around while Abby...adjusted."

"Easier if we aren't around or easier if you aren't around?" Elena asked.

"We," he said. Blue eyes strayed from the road again. "Caroline said Bonnie isn't taking it well. Thought a few days away might do us all some good. And I agree with her."

Elena picked up the apple, twisting the stem around and around. What had she expected to happen, really? That Bonnie would smile and say it was for the best that Stefan was alive, that it was okay her mom had to turn, so long as Stefan was okay? It was probably even harder for Bonnie because she was so conflicted about her mother to begin with, wasn't really sure how much of Abby's absence to forgive, wasn't sure why her mother had abandoned her and found a whole new family. "So Abby decided to finish it, to turn," she said.

"Yep."

"You could at least pretend to feel a little guilty," Elena said crossly. "You could act like you feel even a little bad about what you're putting Bonnie through."

"Don't you mean what I'm putting Abby through?" Damon said. Elena winced, chagrined. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Look, you can get lathered up in a self-righteous tizzy if you want, but let's not pretend that this has anything to do with Abby fucking Bennett."

"You took away her life, you took away her choice. That should mean something, to you of all people," Elena said.

"What, so I should have let her die? I tried to find another way, but it didn't work. So the only two options I had left—the only two acceptable options—were to kill her or turn her. And since you had begged me not six hours before to turn you, I think you oughta tone down the vampire judginess a little."

"Do you feel guilty?" Elena demanded. She knew that Damon, that all vampires, experienced emotion differently than humans did. It was part of the whole package, she guessed. But even if he didn't really consider being a vampire a bad thing (and Elena wasn't sure she did either, anymore), he should at least act guilty. That's just what people did.

Silence. They drove through a tunnel, yellow lights casting eerie shadows over them. "Do you want the truth or do you want me to make you feel better?" Damon asked.

"The truth," Elena said.

"No. I don't feel guilty. Not for this." The leather steering wheel creaked under his hands. "I'm sorry you're...upset? Whatever the hell you are right now; I don't even know. I'm sorry Bonnie's pissed, but mostly because it upsets you and I do care about you. But do I care about Abby? No. Do I think being a vampire's such a terrible thing for her?" He shrugged. "Worked out pretty okay for me. But if you wanted guilt and self-flagellation, you shoulda stuck with Stefan."

Yeah, that was about what she'd figured. He didn't care that the act was wrong in and of itself, he only cared about how it affected him. Elena wasn't even sure if that was a vampire thing or just an asshole thing. "Is that how this is gonna work? Every time we fight, you're just going to throw Stefan around? Look, this relationship can't have three people in it."

"This relationship has at least four people in it that I can count, and there'll probably be more before it's all said and done," Damon said. "Did you want to include Matt? We could add him in, too, make it five."

"Just turn the car around, Damon. I want to go home," Elena said, folding her arms across her chest and staring out the window. She wasn't going to deal with this. Not when her friends back home needed her. Hell, shouldn't Damon be with the brother he'd fought so hard to save? They couldn't just up and leave town. Not now. Things were happening too fast and the stakes were too high for them to just turn tail now.

"No can do." Damon exited the interstate. "You, me, and all our emotional baggage are just going to have to get along for a few days. Anything else you'd like to yell at me about? I'd really rather get it out of the way now, before we get there."

"You're a dick, you know that?" Elena said.

"Language, Elena," Damon said in a scandalized tones. The "town" they drove through once off the highway made Mystic Falls look cosmopolitan. There was a gas station with a sad little convenience store attached, a greasy spoon, and a white clapboard church. That was it. Not even a traffic light. Damon made a hard right onto a graveled road that seemed to lead straight up the mountainside.

"I swear I can hear banjos," Elena said. "Where are we going?"

"Nowhere in particular. My only qualification was that it was away from Mystic Falls," Damon said. "This place seems to be away from damn near everywhere, so mission accomplished."

They drove in silence through the thick, barren trees, moving ever upward on the winding road. Elena didn't want to fight with Damon, truly she didn't. Not about Abby, not about Stefan, not about any of it. But living with Damon's moral code (or lack thereof) was an adjustment. He'd turn Abby without a thought to save his brother, but most times he seemed to despise Stefan. Yet, by his own admission, Damon would never be able to let Stefan go, just as Stefan had been unable to do the same so many years ago.

Elena couldn't help but wonder what would happen if Damon were forced to choose between her and Stefan. But a sneaking suspicion told her she knew the answer. Blood was thicker than water, and the men were double-bound by blood. And maybe that was all right; maybe that was good. As much as she loved Damon—and as frustrated as she was with him, she did still love him—if it came down to him or Jeremy, Elena wouldn't hesitate to choose her brother.

She blinked as the car came to an abrupt stop. In front of them sprawled a massive house, looking like some Swiss chalet had been plunked down in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It was beautiful, opulent, and classic. In other words, it was utterly Damon.

"Huh. Looks like the pictures. Good," Damon said as he climbed out of the car. He circled to the trunk, removing two small suitcases. Elena eyed her Vera Bradley duffel uncertainly, and Damon grinned. "Can't wait until you see what I packed for you," he said as they crunched up the gravel drive toward the house.

"Can you even get in? Have you been invited?" Elena asked, looking dubiously at the solid oak door in front of them.

Damon punched four digits on a keypad next to the door, and she heard a lock spring open. "The owner told me on the phone I'd be welcome any time." He nudged the door open and stuck his foot inside. "It counts." He pushed the door open more fully, and she stepped inside. She'd never understand all these vampire rules.

The inside was just as exquisite as the outside—all hardwood and stone, all gleaming and polished and terribly expensive. Elena felt certain she would break one of the delicate, graceful statues set into recessed niches with their own back lighting. She wandered through the house, stopping at the dramatic glass windows that gave a breathtaking view of the valley below them, tiny puffs of smoke rising here and there in lazy curls.

Arms wrapped around her waist, and Damon nuzzled against her ear. "I know you want to be back with them. I know you want to be there for Bonnie. But for right now, can't you just try to enjoy this?"

Elena leaned against him, sighing. Yes, she wanted to be in Mystic Falls. She wanted to be fighting Klaus and standing with her friends, not hiding like a coward. But if this was the way to keep him safe from Bonnie's wrath, the way to give Bonnie some time to grieve and heal and deal with whatever happened next...well, he was right. "You're still a dick," she murmured. "But we might as well make the best of it."

"That's my girl," Damon said.

For once, we'll leave our dear characters on a happy(ish) note. See you guys on Friday.