"I can't believe Tyler Lockwood is a werewolf." Jeremy breathed. Him, Elena, and Erin were talking in the bathroom. "We're not sure about that yet." Erin told her little brother, skeptical that Tyler would be a werewolf.
He would have told me, right? She thought. "The only thing we know for sure is that Mason Lockwood is." Elena finished her twin's sentence, something they did often.
"That should be easy enough to figure out." Jeremy said as his sisters got ready for the day. Erin was curling her hair, and Elena was applying lip gloss.
"There is no us. I told you that I wouldn't keep anything from you, but that doesn't mean that I want you involved in it." Elena spoke. Jeremy walked to Elena's side and scoffed, "By definition of being in this family, I'm involved."
Jeremy then showed them the ring, and Erin sighed, "The kid has a point." Elena turned to Erin, her mouth open. "Whose side are you on?" She asked.
"I'm not getting in the middle of this. I am just saying that you both are giving valid points. But for now, I have to agree with Elena. It's too dangerous, Jer. Please try and stay out of it." Erin told them, and walked into her room.
Erin grabbed a shirt from her closet and closed the door. She gasped when Stefan appeared with a smile on his face. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." He said with a playful smirk.
"We both know that you love to scare me." Erin retorted, and went to shut her bedroom door. She sighed as she looked at her best friend, he looked perfectly happy. Elena was a mess, though, so she just pulled him into a hug.
"Hi." She whispered. Stefan replied with, "Hey. Are you ready for today?" Erin pulled back and shook her head no. "How are you?" She asked him.
Stefan breathed and told her honestly, "I feel good, to be honest. I thought I would dread today a lot more, but being with you is helping me at the moment." Erin smiled, happy for her best friend.
"Stefan, I think Caroline is working with Katherine. You should have seen her yesterday; I've known Caroline for years, it was clear that something was going on with her." Erin said. Stefan nodded his head, understanding her concern.
"You're right, it's pure Katherine. She is always getting other people to do her dirty work. Listen to me, I have a plan. Just please, for today try to stay away from Mason and Damon." Stefan spoke, coming up with a plan.
"Yeah, of course. Anything else, captain?" Erin asked jokingly, not even bothering to question him. "Actually, maybe some food, a coke would be nice too." Stefan responded. They both laughed and hugged.
At the volunteer day at the park, Stefan saw Mason Lockwood unloading his truck , and walked up to him. "Stefan, right? The other Salvatore." Mason guessed. The other guy who loves Erin, more competition to beat, Mason thought.
"The nice one, the one offering an apology." Stefan offered him, nut Mason shook his head. "Not interested." He stated.
"Look, my brother acted impulsively." Stefan drawled, and Mason retorted, "You think?" Stefan nodded, knowing that this guy was stubborn. Stefan also knew that this was the wolf who liked his best friend.
"If you and Damon keep going at each other's throats, someone is going to get hurt, and I don't want that. You have family here, so I imagine you can't want that either. So, why don't you just quit the whole 'alpha-male fighting' thing and call it a truce." Stefan told him.
Mason wagged his finger at Stefan and informed, "I made that same offer to your brother, and he turned it down, with a knife."
"He made a mistake, and I'm here to make sure that neither of you make another one." Stefan said. Mason looked like he was contemplating the offer, but he started to walk away and stated, "Tell your brother to watch his back, and can you send a message to Erin? Tell her to call me."
Stefan then responded by halting him and clenching Mason arm in a vice grip. "Well I'm guessing he only has to worry about that on a full moon. Otherwise you are not as strong, am I right, or you would have killed Damon by now. There's one of you, there's two of us. I think you're the one that needs to watch his back, especially if you plan on going after Erin."
Mason looked down; Stefan was glaring at him with an intense look. "If he comes at me-" Mason started. "He won't." Stefan promised, bargaining on behalf of his brother. They then proceeded to shake hands, and then Mason walked away.
Damon showed up right behind Stefan and questioned, "What are you doing?" Stefan replied, "Negotiating peace in your behalf." Damon then acted like a child and complained, "But I don't want peace."
Stefan then sassed his brother as he said, "Well, consider it opposite day." Damon got up in his brother's face as he said, "Stefan, please tell me you don't seriously think a little handshake will solve our problem."
"No, actually, I think the first chance Mason Lockwood gets, he'll drive a stake through your heart and then through mine. All because you took it upon yourself to try to kill him. So, thank you because we don't have enough problems." Stefan trudged away from his brother.
"Oh, thanks Mason." Sherriff Forbes thanked him as he brought a tray to the table. "Hey, Sherriff, you got a second?" He asked her.
"I'm out of uniform, let's go with Liz." She told him. "Alright, Liz. I was hoping to talk to you about The Council." He told her, not one to be subtle. "I don't know what you're talking about." She denied, trying to get away from him.
"I know that you and the other founding families have a secret council." He informed her. "Well, if that were true, then you would know it's a secret that is not discussed with non-council members." She said.
"I know that I rejected all that, but it was only because I wanted a life outside of this town. Not because I was a non-believer. Look, I know that vampires exist, and you have two of them right under your nose." Mason pleaded with her.
Liz raised an eyebrow at Mason, clearly in disbelief. "Oh, and who would they be?" She asked. "Damon and Stefan Salvatore." He told her. Liz got tense, and retorted, "That's impossible, I know Damon Salvatore. Do you know what he has done for this town?"
"I know it's a lot to digest-" Mason started. "No, I watched him kill vampires. He's an ally, he's part of The Council." She argued. "Think about it, when did the vampire attacks begin? Right when Damon and Stefan rolled into town." He reasoned.
"They walk in the sun, Mason." Liz fought. "They've evolved. It's not 1864 anymore, they've figured it out, Liz." Mason said.
"No, Damon Salvatore is my friend." Liz stated. "What if I can prove it to you?" Mason offered.
Erin, Elena, and Caroline all walk together as Caroline tells them about her mom, "Well, now she's running for mother of the year, just when I'm trying to avoid her the most. I'm babbling, you guys don't want to hear all of this."
Erin denied it and argued, "No, sorry. Then what happened?" Caroline started to paint and continued, "Well, I was a bitch, which is par for the course with us. So how are things with you and Stefan?" Caroline changed the subject as she asked Elena.
"Anything?" Erin added. Elena shook her head, "No, not since the fight. He's been pushing me away, thinking that Katherine might get jealous enough to hurt one of us. I just don't know how to change his mind."
Caroline stopped painting and sat next to Elena, "He said that Katherine's dangerous, maybe he's got a point." Elena's frustration was then put onto a new target: Caroline.
"Yeah, I know that she's dangerous, and I know that he's just trying to protect us, but it feels like giving up. And I-I just-" Elena retorted, stumbling on what to say to them. "Just what, Lena?" Erin asked, concerned for her twin.
"I just thought that we were stronger than that." Elena stated. She then turned her attention to painting, and after a moment, Stefan caught her eye. They stared at each other for a little before Caroline pointed it out, "Longing looks are being exchanged."
"I'm gonna go talk to him." Elena said, throwing her brush to the side. Caroline protested, "No, Elena. I think it's a bad idea." Elena just ignored her and went to Stefan. Erin just stood next to Caroline as Damon made his way over to them.
"What's her problem?" Damon asked them, and Erin answered, "Don't worry about it." Damon then turned to Caroline and asked, "Why are you being such a bitch to your mom?" Caroline responded by saying, "Don't worry about it."
"Do you still care about Katherine?" Elena questioned her maybe boyfriend. "Don't. Please don't turn this into something that it's not." Stefan pleaded. "So this is not up for discussion, that's what you're saying?" Elena asked, with an attitude.
As Damon and Caroline listened into the conversation, Erin got frustrated. She then tugged on Damon's arm and asked, "What are they saying?" Damon put a finger to her lips to silence her, but she gave him a look that said 'tell me now!'
"No, I'm saying that this isn't up for discussion right now because we have ears on us." Stefan said, the couple then turned to look at the vampires who feigned innocence as Erin waved at them and pointed to Damon and Caroline. Damon then swatted Erin's hand, and she pouted.
"Okay, when?" Elena questioned. Stefan shrugged and responded, "I don't know." "I saw her, Stefan. It's like we're all the same person. How could you hate her, be best friends with Erin, and then be in love with me?" Elena argued, trying to figure Stefan out.
"You're reaching, I'm not-I'm not Damon. You can't just be hot with me one minute and cold the next." Stefan stated, making Damon raise an eyebrow. "How about we don't bring Damon into this right now." Elena breathed.
"You know, I can't-I can't do this anymore, Elena." Stefan admitted, and Caroline was relieved that he finally broke it off. He can't keep stringing her along, she thought. "Fine, Stefan. Whatever." Elena said and stormed away, almost about to burst into tears.
"Relationships are about communication." Damon whispered into Erin's ear. She rolled her eyes and motioned for Caroline to follow Elena, Erin would get Stefan.
"You alright?" Erin asked him as she strode up to her best friend. He nodded and said, "I feel like a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. Now, I can work on protecting you." Erin gave him a questioning look.
Stefan sighed, "Did Elena tell you what Katherine said to me, the reason why we broke up?" Erin shook her head and Stefan continued as Damon listened in. "She threatened to kill you and everyone you loved if Elena and I kept dating." Erin's eyes went wide, and her mouth gaped like a fish, trying to find something to say.
"Stefan, you really didn't need to do that. You two could have pretended to fight this whole time. I-" She tried to speak, feeling incredibly guilty for breaking them up. Stefan was extremely amused at the look on her face, but he cut her off.
"You did nothing wrong. The truth is I just wasn't really into our relationship anymore." Stefan shrugged. Erin nodded and told him that she would see him later. She then left to go check on Elena.
"Thank you." Mason said to the little girl after she handed him some lemonade. He drank it as Damon came up to him. "Hello, Mason." Damon greeted. "Working hard?" He asked.
"Doing my part." Mason replied. "I heard you talked to Stefan." Damon started. "Nice guy." Mason said shortly, and Damon goaded him, "Yeah, a lot nicer than me." "Nice is overrated." Mason responded.
Damon pretended to be friendly and laughed, "That's what I think." Mason sipped his lemonade and said, "You have a good day, Damon."
"Please tell me you two were just bonding." Stefan hoped that that would be the case as Damon answered, "So, what's up with this faux drama in your relationship?"
Stefan looked confused and asked, "What are you talking about?" "Oh, c'mon, Stefan! You and Elena don't fight, especially over me and Erin."
Stefan then gave Damon a warning look and advised, "Drop it, Damon." Damon shrugged, "With pleasure." He then turned to the lemonade stand as the little girl gave one to him.
The lemonade burned Damon's throat, so he spit it out and started coughing. Stefan asked, "What's wrong with you?" Damon's response was a weak, "Vervain."
Stefan sat his brother down and smelled the vervain inside the cup. Unbeknown to them, Liz Forbes was watching them with disbelief.
Elena and Caroline sat on a rock as Erin came up to them. "You okay?" She asked her twin. Elena pursed her lips and replied, "Nope." Caroline then tried to lighten the mood by saying, "Maybe, it's for the best."
"It's not for the best, Caroline. None of this is for the best." Elena snapped. She then sighed and apologized, "I'm sorry. I don't mean to take it out on you; you're just being a good friend." Erin could tell by the look on Caroline's face that Elena's comment hit home.
"No, I'm not. I'm not being a good friend at all." Caroline whispered, mostly to herself. Elena didn't hear it, but Erin did. She knew she was right. Caroline then snapped out of it when she saw her mom leaving.
"Where is my mom going?" She asked, and marched up to her. Elena and Erin scrambled to keep up with her. "What's wrong?" Caroline asked Liz.
"Oh, nothing, I just-I have something-"She got cut off by her daughter, "You mean work? It wouldn't surprise me; you lasted longer than five minutes."
"It's important." Liz reasoned, but Caroline stood her ground. "It always is." She argued as Liz apologized and walked away from her. Elena and Erin then made their way up to their blonde friend.
"What's going on?" Elena asked. Caroline watched her mother walk away as she said, "I don't know, but something's up."
Damon washed his mouth out with water as Stefan came up behind him. "I'm gonna kill him." Damon stated, but he and Stefan started fighting. "Sit, sit, sit!" Stefan repeated until he pushed Damon down onto the bench.
"I'm not listening to this give peace a chance crap anymore, he's dead." Damon growled. Stefan pushed his brother down and agreed, "Okay. I don't like it, he's making threats, he could expose us. We need to put him down."
Damon was astonished that his brother agreed with him, but he wouldn't dwell on it. They had a wolf to kill. He then saw Mason making his way into the woods with a few trashcans in his hands. "Woods, trash duty. C'mon."
"Where are you going? What is going on?" Erin questioned as the trio climbed a hill. "I need to be able to hear better." Caroline informed the twins. "Hear what?" Elena asked. Caroline shook her head and said, "Something's wrong, Elena."
"Caroline-" Erin started, but Caroline shushed her. She listened to everything around her, trying to find out what was going on.
Mason formed a pile of leaves when Damon and Stefan approached him. "Oh don't look so surprised, you knew this was inevitable. Go ahead, run. We'll give you a head start." Mason then ducked onto the ground while gunshots could be heard, Damon and Stefan then fell to the ground, unconscious.
Caroline turned around, "Oh god." She breathed. "What is it?" Erin asked, she had no idea what was going on, but it must be bad. "It's Stefan and Damon." Caroline answered and started jogging away. "What?" Erin then ran after her, pulling Elena along with her.
Mason then showed the cops the Lockwood cellar. "Be careful, the vervain and the wooden bullets won't keep them down for long." Liz warned them. She then turned to Mason and asked, "What is this place?"
"Old slave quarters from the original Lockwood house." Mason answered and jogged down the stairs with Liz. Once the Salvatores were lying on the ground, unconscious, Liz said, "Thank you, Mason. I appreciate all that you've done. We've got it from here."
"Hey, you're going to kill them, right?" Mason asked. "Yes, that's why you should go. This is above The Council, not the law. You can't witness this, it's for your own protection." Liz stated.
"Liz, I don't care about-"Mason said. "Yes, but I do. And I'm not asking, goodbye Mason." Liz told him, and he started to walk away before informing her, "Don't take any chances."
The girls ran through the woods, but Caroline stopped. "What is it?" Erin asked. "They've been here." Caroline answered, looking at the ground. "Blood." Elena pointed out as Caroline touched it.
They heard the crunch of leaves and turned around, "What are you three doing here?" Mason asked them, looking at Erin closely. "Have you seen Stefan?" Elena asked. "Yeah Elena, I've seen him. Seen Damon too." He stated.
"Where are they, Mason?" Erin demanded, stepping in front of Elena. "You don't need me for that, I'll let your friend here sniff them out. Does your mother know what you are? I'm happy to tell her." Mason smirked, and Erin shivered, this was not the Mason she knew.
Just as Caroline was going to rush up to him, Mason put Erin in a hold. She gasped as he did this. "Take it easy, necks snap easy around here." Mason threatened. Elena started yelling for him to stop and let go, but he ignored her.
"I can take you." Caroline stated, and Mason gave her a questioning look as he tightened his hold on Erin. "Wanna bet?" He smirked. "Yeah I do." Caroline said before speeding over to them and knocking Mason off of her friend.
She pushed him up against the tree and pressed, "Told ya." Elena rushed to her twin sister who was on the ground. Erin rubbed her neck, That's gonna bruise, she thought. Caroline then kneed him and kicked him into the tree.
She quickly fixed her hair and said, "C'mon." Elena and Caroline ran away as Erin gave Mason a deathly glare. Erin then kicked Mason in the balls and ran to find her friends.
Liz kicked Damon awake, and then she shot him in the leg. He screamed in pain as Liz reloaded her gun. "This is how it's gonna work. Answer me, and you don't get shot, you understand?" Damon looked over to Stefan and found him still unconscious.
"How many of you are there?" Liz questioned him, Damon only whispered her name, pleading with her to stop this. She shot him again, and he howled in pain. "How did you fool us? How do you walk in the sun?"
When he didn't answer, she shot Stefan instead. "I will drag this out painfully." She promised. Damon groaned, "But you're my friend." "Our friendship was a lie." She snapped at him.
"Answer me, and I will kill you fast." She said calmly.
The girls made their way to the Lockwood cellar that Erin played by when she was little. "What is that?" Elena asked as Caroline held up a finger, listening. "He's not going to tell us anything. Kill them both." She could hear Liz saying.
"The girls were waiting for Caroline to say something, "My mom. She's killing them." She muttered. Erin went right into action and ran down the steps before Caroline could stop her. Elena was stopped by Caroline on her way down.
"We have to stop them." Elena told her. "No, I can't. My mom, she's gonna find out about me." Caroline pleaded, but Elena just ran down the steps and saw Erin hit a cop in the face with a board.
"Erin, Elena, what are you doing?" Liz asked them furiously. "You're not going to kill them, I'm not gonna let you." Erin snapped at the Sherriff. The cop pushed them both into the room and pointed a gun at them.
All of a sudden, the door shut. The cops started to panic, "Who else is with you two?" Liz questioned them. A mess of blonde hair swarmed towards a cop and bit into his neck, draining him. The other cop started shooting at the figure, but she blocked herself with the dead body.
She then took the gun out of his hands and hit him hard in the face. Liz was terrified. The blonde vampire started going into a frenzy, trying to calm herself down. Blood was smeared all over her face and she walked out of the shadows.
"Hi Mom." Caroline said as Erin and Elena attempted to help Damon and Stefan. Erin rushed over to Damon and dug the bullets out of his body. He then rolled over and started to drink some of the blood from the deputy that was unconscious.
Stefan woke up and Elena hovered over him, trying to help. Liz sat in the corner, and Caroline watched on with her legs tucked into her chest.
"You need to drink some deputy blood." Damon told his brother who was groaning in pain. "No, healing will just take a little bit longer." Stefan argued, he knew if he had some blood, he would lose control.
"Damon's right. You know, if there's any time to break your diet-" Caroline reasoned, but was cut off by Elena. "He said he doesn't want it okay?"
"This is the most unfortunate situation: Two deputies dead, and you. What are we going to do with you?" Damon informed them. Liz stayed silent, and Caroline asked, "You won't tell anyone, will you? Mom? Please! Look, I know that we don't get along, and that you hate me, but I'm your daughter and you'll do this for me, right?"
Liz would not even look at her daughter as she pleaded, "Mom, please. He will kill you." Liz snapped her head up at this, "Then kill me. I can't take this. Kill me now." Caroline's cries of protest were heard as Damon stalked up to her.
"But you were gonna drag it out so painfully." Damon whispered to Liz, and then he grabbed her. Stefan, Caroline and Elena were all heard screaming, "Damon don't!" "No, no,no,no!" "Damon, please!" Erin had enough of them thinking Damon was evil, so she stood up and told them, "Relax, no one is killing anybody. Go ahead, Damon."
Damon gave her an appreciative nod and whispered to Liz, "You're my friend." He then turned to everyone else and said, "We really need to clean this up."
Erin, Elena, Caroline, and Stefan all made their way downstairs and into the basement to bring Liz her things as they heard her say, "Keep Caroline away from me, please. I don't want to see her." Damon tried to reason with her, "She's your daughter, Liz."
"Not anymore, my daughter's gone." Liz argued sadly. "You have no idea how wrong you are about that." Damon told her. Erin was proud of Damon for saying that, but her moment was cut short when Caroline stormed up the stairs. Erin then ran after her with Elena on her tail.
Stefan went to follow them, but his attention was focused on the cooler full of blood bags in front of him. "Stefan, I think that we should-" Elena stopped when she saw the blood bag in his hand.
"What are you doing?" She asked. Stefan kept his eyes on the blood, "Katherine took a little bit of vervain every day, she built up a tolerance to it. I can do the same with blood. I can learn to control myself more." He told her.
"But you can. Stefan, you don't have to." She reasoned with her somewhat ex boyfriend, she still loved him, of course. "I almost died tonight, Elena. Because I was too weak." He argued.
"But the last time you drank human blood-"Elena tried to say. "I told you I would find a way to stop Katherine, didn't I? This is it. This is the only way because she is stronger than me. And unless that changes, I can't protect you two." Stefan explained.
"Can we just not talk about this now." Elena sighed and pointed to her ear, indicating that Damon could hear. "He can hear us wherever we are because he drinks this. This is the only thing that can help me. I have to protect you two, Elena. Can't you see that?!" Stefan yelled.
Elena then scrunched up her nose, "Us two? You mean Erin don't you? I see the way you look at her, so don't play me like a fool. For months I have been telling myself that you two are just friends because that's what she seems to think you two are. You said you came into this town for us, but it was always Erin for you, wasn't it?"
Stefan looked down, shame coming over him for stringing Elena along for this long as she ran up the stairs at his silence.
Erin walked into the living room and found Caroline on the couch. "Can I take you home?" She asked her, Caroline shook her head. "I can't go home." "Why not?" Erin questioned, curious.
"Because I'm scared." Caroline answered, and Erin made her way over to the couch. "Why are you scared? Caroline, you can talk to me." Erin pressed, wanting Caroline to admit it. Caroline cried and responded, "Katherine's going to be there, and she's gonna want me to tell her everything that happened today."
"She told me that I had to spy on Elena and report back to her." Caroline added, and Erin nodded. "I know. And I've been so mad at you. But then, I tried to put myself in your position, so I could understand why you would do this to Elena, and to Stefan because he's been such a friend to you. Who did she threaten?" Erin asked.
Caroline cried as she repeated, "Matt." Erin then sat on the couch with Caroline, "I'm scared of her, Erin." Caroline whimpered. "You should be, we all should be." Erin told her.
"Why is she doing this? What does she want?" Caroline asked her. Erin shook her head, "That is the million dollar question." Erin then pulled Caroline in for a hug and held her while she cried.
Erin tucked Caroline in and said goodnight as Elena waited at the door for her. Erin was almost to the door when Damon came up to her. She signaled for him to be quiet and said, "Caroline is sleeping on the couch." "I heard, and you?" Damon asked.
Erin sighed and looked at Elena, "We're going home." She then moved to leave with her sister when she stopped. "What you did for Caroline's mom today, that's the Damon who's my friend. I hope I get to see him again soon." She told him, and he smiled.
Elena opened the door, but Damon's voice came over them, "Hey, Stefan didn't drink the people blood if you're curious, but he needs to. Deep down, you know that." Erin gave Elena a questioning look, but Elena told her sister, "You go, he needs you."
Erin raised an eyebrow, but did as she was told, nodding to Damon as she passed him. Stefan sat on the couch in the Salvatore library. Erin stood, watching him until he noticed her, "You can come in." He said. She then walked in asked, "Do you really think that you can control it?"
"I don't know. But if I don't try." Stefan stared at his hands as he heard her speak, "So a little bit every day?" He nodded, "Yeah, just a few drops of blood in my system. I think it's worth a try." Stefan told her. "So do I." She breathed and added, "But, I don't want you to do it alone."
Erin then picked up a letter opener and stared at it. "What are you doing?" Stefan asked her, curious as to what she was up to. She then proceeded to stab herself in the hand with it, drawing blood. She then sat next to him on the couch and offered her hand, "It's you and me, Stef. Always."
He then took her hand and sucked on the blood, the veins in his eyes popping out. Stefan calmed himself down once he had enough, and the two hugged. Erin then told him, "If I could bet on anyone to make it out of this, I'd bet on you."
Stefan then started laughing and asked, "Did you just quote The Hunger Games?" Erin then exclaimed, "Shut up! You ruined the mood, now hug me you oaf!" Stefan chuckled and hugged her again.