Damon and Shiloh stood in a meadow in the woods, Damon with his phone to his ear, Shiloh scanning the area around them. ""What if it was Stefan? He was crazy that night. And you know he was trying to get underneath Klaus's skin, he was capable of pretty much anything." Elena said through the phone.
"Ahh, make's me nostalgic for the time when Stefan was a bunny snacking pacifist, anyway got to go, you'll know more later." Damon replied.
"Hey, where are you?" Alaric asked.
"Tea with an old friend." Damon said, hanging up the phone to give Elijah his full attention.
"Uh... Hey Elijah. How's being alive and everything?" Shiloh asked.
"Your boyfriend left something, in my jacket pocket." Elijah said, pulling out a note.
"Oh, yeah. 'Dear Elijah, let's get together, plot the destruction of your brother, XOXO'" Damon said.
"Damon." Elijah said.
"Was I right to undagger you or are we gonna have a problem?" Damon asked.
"I'm here, let's talk." Elijah said.
"Then by all means, talk Elijah." Shiloh demanded, folding her arms over her chest.
"I'll start with an easy question. Any idea what kind of Klaus killing weapon could be magically sealed in a mystery coffin?" Damon asked.
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"Get dressed. We're going out." Damon said, looking through Stefan's clothes.
"Yeah, sorry, not interested." Stefan said.
" I didn't ask. Elijah and I have scheduled a very old-fashioned sit down with you and Klaus. I say go with the black. Makes you look all villainy." Damon said.
"Klaus won't make a deal, Damon." Stefan said.
"We're just trying to stall until Bonnie can figure out a way to open the super secret coffin." Shiloh said.
"So, that's your plan? To stall Klaus?" Stefan asked.
"I'm gonna try to talk to him." Shiloh said.
"Your plan is to be his friend?" Stefan asked.
"... Yeah... Pretty much." Shiloh said.
"So you unleashed an Original to help him out?" Stefan asked Damon.
"Undaggering Elijah was smart, Stefan. Are you kidding me? After what Klaus did to him? He's in vengeance mode. It's perfect." Damon said.
"There's nothing smart... About trusting Elijah, Damon. He screwed us over the last time he promised to help us kill Klaus." Stefan said.
"Yeah, the way you've been acting, I trust him about as much as I trust you." Damon said.
"Can we just agree that no one trust anyone and just remember that we all want the same thing?" Shiloh said.
"Which is?" Stefan asked.
"Well, Elijah wants justice, you want revenge, and Damon wants to keep Elena safe. So, basically, everyone wants Klaus gone." Shiloh said.
"And you? What do you want?" Stefan asked.
"Please, like any of you have any reason not to trust me." Shiloh rolled her eyes. Stefan raised his eyebrows.
"You're too nice, what's to stop you from backing out and trying to save Klaus last second?" Stefan said.
"She has a point, she is the most trustworthy one here." Damon said. Stefan still looked unimpressed, remaining silent as he studied Shiloh.
"Jeremy. My reason is Jeremy. I just want my best friend back." Shiloh said. "And until Klaus is no longer a treat, Jeremy can't come back."
"Now that we've got that cleared up-" Damon began, only to be cut of by Shiloh's phone.
"Sorry, Caroline." Shiloh said, answering the phone. "Hey, Care."
"Shy? I need you to get to the hospital. Now." Caroline said.
"Are you okay? What's going on?" Shiloh asked.
"I'm fine, but I need your help." Caroline said.
"How urgent is it?" Shiloh asked.
"Trust me, you're gonna want to be here." Caroline said. Shiloh let out a sigh, weighing her options.
"Okay, I'll be there in ten." Shiloh said, ending the call. "Well, looks like you guys have to buddy up to Klaus yourselves."
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When Shiloh arrived at the hospital, Elena quickly found her and led her to a storage room, reusing to say anything until they had entered with the door firmly shut behind them.
"Daddy? Caroline, what's going on?" Shiloh asked.
"I called your mom." Elena said.
"Thanks." Caroline said, then turned to her younger sister.
"What is he doing in Mystic Falls?" Shiloh asked.
"He came here to help Tyler break the sire bond." Caroline said.
"What? How?" Shiloh asked.
"That's not important right now. Shiloh, Dad was attacked. He was stabbed." Caroline said.
"What? I don't smell any blood." Shiloh said.
"That's because the wound healed." Caroline said.
"So he's okay?" Shiloh asked.
"Actually... I died, Sweetie." Bill spoke up.
"What? I don't-" Shiloh paused. "You're not...?"
"I didn't finish the transition." Bill said.
"Well, do you know who did it?" Shiloh asked.
"I didn't see anything. Tried to sneak out the back exit and someone came up from behind." Bill said.
"Look, we'll figure this out, but in the mean time we need to get you some blood." Caroline said.
"I'm not going to drink any blood." Bill said.
"You have to. You died with vampire blood in your system. If you don't feed and finish the transition into a vampire then you'll die." Elena said.
"I understand how it works. And that's what I'm prepared to do. Now get me out of this hospital. I smell blood everywhere." Bill said, leaving the room.
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Shiloh stood in her kitchen, a coffee cup in her hand. She could hear Elena and Caroline talking on the front porch, talking about Tyler, about Dr. Fell, and about Klaus. She could really bring herself to join their conversation, she was simply to deep in thought. This had to be well thought through. She only focused on the words outside once she noticed her sister had began to cry.
"I hated him so much for what he did to me. So much. Now all I want to do is save his life." Caroline cried.
"Of course you do, he's your dad." Elena said.
"What was the hardest part for you? When you lost your Dad?" Caroline asked.
"Realizing all the things that he wouldn't be there for. The things that... that you just need your Dad for, you know?" Elena said. Shiloh bit her lip, she hadn't thought of that.
"Hey." Matt's voice joined the others.
"Hey." Caroline replied. Shiloh turned, leaving the kitchen and going to Caroline's room where Bill was waiting.
"Hey." Bill greeted.
"Hey." Shiloh said.
"Your sister doesn't understand." Bill said. Shiloh remained silent. "You do though. You understand, don't you? You regret it."
"Dad..." Shiloh said.
"Why'd you do it?" Bill asked.
"I didn't want to die." Shiloh said.
"Sweetie, I'm your father. I know when you're hiding something." Bill said.
"I did it for a guy." Shiloh said. "I wasn't ready to leave him."
"This guy..." Bill said.
"Damon Salvator." Shiloh said.
"Oh, Honey." Bill said.
"He isn't a bad guy, Daddy. I thought that our love would last forever. I was a stupid teenage girl." Shiloh said.
"And?" Bill asked.
"He kissed... someone else." Shiloh said.
"Elena?" Bill guessed.
"It was my first heartbreak." Shiloh said.
"Do you still love him?" Bill asked.
"Dad... What are we doing? Talking about this when you're... It isn't right." Shiloh said.
"It's me being the father I should've been." Bill said. The bedroom door opened and Caroline entered, closing the door softly behind her.
"Your first day at regionals." Bill said, pointing to a trophy
"Yup. I was afraid to join the squad, but you talked me into it." Caroline said.
"You had nothing to be afraid of, you were so much better than all those other girls." Bill said, sitting on Caroline's bed.
"How are you feeling?" Caroline asked.
"I'm tired." Bill answered.
"Can I get you anything? Or um... do you want me to call Steven?" Caroline asked.
"No, no, we haven't spoken in a while. Just call him when it's over and the dust is settled, would you?" Bill asked. Caroline kneeled in front of Bill, taking his hands in hers.
"Listen, listen to me. I know that you think you made your choice, but you can change your mind. You know, you are strong enough to handle being a vampire. I mean, you're the strongest person that I know." Caroline said.
"Oh, Caroline, my strength is all in my beliefs. Becoming a vampire is wrong, people aren't supposed to cheat death, it's just what I believe. Please respect that." Bill said. Caroline let go of his hands, standing up.
"God. How can you hate who I am so much?!" Caroline cried. Shiloh pulled her closer, wrapping her arms around her sister.
"Oh, no, no, no, sweetheart, I don't hate you, I love you. You're strong, you're beautiful, you're good. And even after everything that has happened to you, you are exactly who your mother and I hoped you'd grow up to be." Bill assured her.
"Please don't leave me, Daddy. Please... please don't leave me. Daddy just don't leave me." Caroline pleaded.
"Shh. Parents aren't supposed to outlive their children, Caroline. It's okay." Bill said, taking Caroline into his arms and kissing the top of her head. Shiloh whipped the tears from her own eyes, turning around to leave the room. She stopped when her eyes met her mother's."This is life. This is what it means to be human."
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Shiloh curled into a small ball, sniffling as quietly as she could. She didn't want to wake her sister who had finally fallen asleep after much coaxing. But Shiloh could hold her tears back any longer. They poured from her eyes as she attempted to disappear into her blankets. She felt the bed sink with the added weight of another body and the blankets move to allow the person to climb under them. "Shiloh." Damon's concerned voice whispered. Shiloh didn't reply, she just turned around to face him, burying her face into his neck and clinging to his shirt.
"Damon." Shiloh whimpered. Damon pulled her closer, wrapping his arms around the small blonde.
"Shh, I'm here, Pup. I'm here." Damon said, stroking her hair. "What happened? What's wrong?" He asked softly.
"Dad, he..." Shiloh couldn't bear to finish the sentence. She didn't need too. This was Damon. She didn't have to be strong for once, he was the strong one here. She didn't have to hold back her tears because he could handle it, he could take care of her. For once, she didn't have to be the brave one. "Damon, I wanna leave." Shiloh whimpered.
"Leave?" Damon looked down at the blonde.
"I wanna get away. I have too. I can't stay here." Shiloh said.
"Then we'll go." Damon said.
"We will?" Shiloh asked.
"Of course. Anywhere you want. For however long you want." Damon said. Shiloh pulled back far enough to look Damon in the eye.
"I missed you, Damon." Shiloh said.
"I didn't go anywhere." Damon replied. "I was always right here. I'll always be right here." Shiloh lay her head on Damon's shoulder again.
"How did things go with Klaus?" Shiloh asked.
"Bonnie had time to open the coffin, nothing was inside. Elijah undaggered all the originals." Damon said.
"We can't go anywhere, can we?" Shiloh sighed.
"Why not?" Damon asked.
"We can't just leave the others to deal with this." Shiloh said. Damon stood up from the bed, offering his hand to Shiloh.
"Come on." Damon said.
"What? Where are we going?" Shiloh asked.
"Away." Damon stated. Shiloh took his hand and allowed herself to be pulled from the warmth of her bed and out her bedroom window. Damon didn't speak again until they were on the road. The radio played softly in the background as they passed the large 'Welcome to Mystic Falls' sign. Damon pulled off the road and into a dirt turn around, parking his car facing away from the sign. He turned the radio up and got out of the car, waiting for Shiloh to do the same before pulling her onto the hood of his car. The two sat with their legs stretched in front of them and their backs against the windshield. "We're away." Damon spoke.
"Thank you."Shiloh said, leaning her head on his shoulder.
"Shiloh... You know I still love you, right?" Damon asked. Shiloh looked up at him. "I understand why you don't trust me but... I'm not giving up on us."