The Final Decision:

"Fantastic." Klaus grinned. He took the vial that was filled with his blood and looked over to Katherine. "Sweetheart." He turned and looked her straight in the eyes. "Take this over to Damon and come right back." He compelled her.

"You want me to leave."

"No!" Stefan and Beth yelled. She was off compulsion and she would want to get away from Klaus. Somehow Klaus knew that too.

"Yes and if I were you…" He began and Katherine rushed out of the apartment. "I'd hurry." He had a small smile. He sat down in a chair across from Beth.

"She'll never take it to him." Stefan said disappointed. Beth was breathing heavily. Katherine was selfish and if was between her and Damon, she knew she'd choose Damon. "She'll never take it to him.

"You knew that!" Beth snapped at Klaus.

"Of course I did love, but we had a deal. And you never know Katerina might surprise you." He grinned at her. It took everything for her not to throw him across the room. She wasn't going to break. Damon can't die. She had to do something. She instead stomped over to him.

"I want more blood. She's not going to take it to him and I'm not leaving with you until I know Damon is okay." Beth demanded of him. Klaus raised his eyebrows. No one ever talked to him like that, they were all too afraid. That was one thing he admired of her.

Klaus seemed to think it over before he rushed behind her and returned with another vial of blood. She went to take it but he pulled it back from her reach. "I expect you back here in an hour." He told her. She nodded and snatched the vial from him.

"Here." Stefan tossed her his keys. "Hurry." She didn't need to be told twice before she ran out of the apartment. Stefan knew that if Katherine wouldn't get it to Damon, Beth surely would. It was just a matter of if she would make it to him on time.

xxxxx

Beth made it to the boarding house, putting the vial in her pocket, so she wouldn't drop it. She ran inside and up the stairs. Katherine was leaving. She stopped her. "Is he?"

"He's fine." She told her. Beth swore she saw a twinge of sympathy. Somehow she knew that Katherine did care about Damon, loved him even but not as much as Stefan. "He doesn't know though. Thought you should tell him." She disappeared after that.

Beth ran into his room to see Damon, looking slightly better but still sick. He was sitting up while Elena was standing by the bed. Damon gave a small smile seeing Beth. She didn't have to say anything as she ran over to hug him, letting herself finally cry. He held her close to him as she buried her head in his shoulder. She was just happy that he was alive, even if she couldn't stay with him. He was okay. "Don't see why you're crying. I'm not dying anymore, El." He said trying to joke but she just laughed and cried more.

Elena knew that her and Damon needed to talk alone. She decided to go downstairs and text Stefan. Beth finally got herself to stop crying and Damon wiped away a stray tear that had fallen on her cheek. "I thought you were going to die." She sobbed out.

"Hey, I'm not. Just a werewolf bite, no biggie." He assured her and she rolled her eyes. He wrapped his arms around her and lied back down. He would have asked her what Katherine meant about Stefan but he was just happy she was here. He felt better. Damon didn't want her to worry but in the last few hours he couldn't help but wish his best friend were there. He kissed the top of her head as he held her and she let him. It hurt to know that, this might be the last times she saw Damon. "I'm surprised you're not yelling at me about not telling you."

"I'm too happy to know you're alive to be angry but if you ever pull something like that again, I'll kick your ass." She threatened, half-heartedly in to his shoulder. He chuckled. That was his El. She couldn't stop the tears that kept coming though. She didn't want to let him go, cause that meant she had to leave. It was going to be so hard to bring herself to leave, but she had to. He couldn't know though. She rested her head on his shoulder as he gave her a small squeeze and a few tears fell from the corner of her eyes onto his shirt. "You need to be more careful, for Elena and your brother and for me. You need to take care of yourself."

"You're my best friend, Damon." She told him, quietly but she knew he could hear her clearly. "And I love you like a brother, so you better tell me next time, okay? Promise me."

He looked down at her, worried. "I promise, El." She faked a small smile, stopping herself from crying anymore. She had to leave now before she couldn't anymore.

"I have to go, but you need to rest." She said as she sat up a bit. He could tell something was wrong but he was still tired, so he was hoping he was wrong. His eyes started to close. Beth leaned over and kissed his head gently as he started to fall asleep. She walked over to the doorway as she saw him sleeping. More than anything, she wished she could tell him what happened and that she didn't want to leave and she just wanted to stay there. But Damon wouldn't let her leave if she did. She needed to do this, for her family and friends. She had to. "Goodbye, Day." She whispered quietly her eyes glistening with tears. She wiped her eyes and left the house.

xxxxx

Elena had let her know what happened with Jeremy, when she found out. She knew that Alaric would be staying at their house to make sure that he was okay. Beth parked the car in their driveway and got out. She walked into the, unlocked house and saw Alaric coming down the stairs with a small smile on his face. "Hey, kid." He greeted her.

"Hey." She replied trying to smile back. Beth tossed her bag on to the empty chair. She walked up and hugged him. He shrugged it off as knowing that Damon and Jeremy might have died and she was just being sentimental. "How are you? How's Jeremy?"

"I'm fine. Going to spend the night here. Jeremy's good too. He was on the webcam with Bonnie." He told her as they walked into the family room and sat down on the couch. He sighed as he sat down. Beth could tell her was tired, it had been a long day.

"I'll go up to talk to him in a few." She told him. Beth couldn't believe that this would be the last time in a least a while that'd she'd talk to Alaric. She wanted to tell him so many things but if she did, it'd get him suspicious but she had to say something. "You know, I love you." She smiled at him.

He was surprised but he smiled back. "I love you too." She looked down so he didn't see her trying her best to blink back tears.

"Do you remember when you taught me how to ride a bike?" She asked out of the blue. He looked at her curiously; it was kind of random of her to bring that up. She just wanted to hear him talk about something, anything to keep her from crying which she was 2 seconds away from doing. She didn't know how she was going to do it but she would have to leave him and he'd been through so much. She'd have to do it to keep him safe though. She told herself that over and over but it didn't make it any easier.

"Yeah." He chuckled at the memory. "You were barely 7 years old. Out of the blue, you said you wanted a bike. You wanted to learn so badly. your mom offered but you insisted that I'd teach you." Alaric laughed. "You said since I was a history teacher, teaching is what I did best. So when you got a bike, I helped you on it and then you flipped out. You hated to be off balance and you said you were going to fall and break your head."

"And you said that if I fell, you'd be right there to catch me, always." She remembered biting her quivering, bottom lip. She couldn't help as a small tear slipped out of her eye. "And you did. So many times."

"After about a week, you finally got it. You were riding like a pro. Your mom and I could barely keep up with you as it was but you refused to slow down once you got started." He smiled at her. That was one of his favorite memories of them. "You were just as stubborn then too." He kissed the top of her head. "Well, I'm going to go take a shower. Are you staying tonight?"

"I think I'm just going to go crash at the boarding house, in case Damon needs me." She lied easily to him as they got up.

"All right, see you tomorrow, Beth. Love you, night." He said as he walked upstairs. She wanted to stop him and beg him to stay with her and just talk a little while longer but time was running out. If she didn't go to Klaus, he would surely come to her.

"I'll see you later. Good night." She said with a small wave. Beth let out a breath and tried to keep herself together. She couldn't break down here, she wouldn't. She bent down to grab her bag that she put on the chair.

"Hey. Leaving so soon?" She turned around to see Jeremy. He walked down the stairs to her. He heard her and Alaric talking but didn't want to disturb them.

"Hey! How are you feeling?" She asked touching his arm lightly. It was going to be hard to leave Jeremy too. Especially after she promised him she'd be there for him but she was, in a sense. But it was to keep him safe.

"Good. A little weird and different but I'm fine."

"Well, it's not everyday someone comes back from the dead, so embrace the weird." She gave him a small smile that he returned. There was something off though. Jeremy could tell. The smile wasn't the same as earlier. It didn't quite reach her eyes and it wasn't like her. "Just rest. I'm sure you'll feel better later." She assured him as she moved to the door.

"Yeah. Hey, um you sure there's nothing else you have to tell me?" He asked her worried. Even if she wasn't going to admit it, there was something bothering her. It wasn't like her to be so distant like she was being now.

"No, I'll, um, I'll see you tomorrow." She sniffed back tears and smiled at him.

"Hey, Beth, you were there for me and I just want you to know I'm here if you need me." He offered taking a step forwards.

"Yeah, I know, Jere. Thanks." Beth walked over to him and gave him an unexpected hug. Jeremy hugged her back, still feeling like she wasn't telling him something. "Tell Ric, I'm sleeping at Damon's and just…. take care of him. Please." She asked him.

She really needed him to do that for her and for Ric. "I-I will Beth. I promise." He told her seriously. She nodded and walked over to the front door and opened it to leave but stopped and turned to face him.

"Thank you, Jeremy. And it will get better. I promise."

xxxxx

Beth drove back to the apartment and wiped her eyes before going in. She would not let Klaus see her like this. She was going to have to push through it. She walked into the apartment where Klaus was sitting down at a chair near the kitchen. He lifted up a glass of water, as though he was offering it and she scoffed and walked past him. "Aw, cheer up, love. It'll be like old times." He said with a grin.

She dropped her bag on the floor. "You're making me leave my friends and my only family. I doubt that happened in the past and I liked it any better than I do now. I don't know how it was back then but I'm doing this for them, not you." She said.

Klaus felt a bit bad that she was upset but at least he was getting what he wanted. "You know, you used to love traveling with me." He told her truthfully. It wasn't a lie. She loved to travel anywhere and they often went together.

"I find that hard to believe."

Klaus just shrugged. "Believe what you want, sweetheart."

Beth glared at him. "Don't call me, sweetheart!"

Klaus just laughed at her while shaking his head, there was that fire he knew she had. "Be ready to leave in a few minutes." He told her as he walked away. She waited until he left the room to go to hers. She slammed the door shut and grabbed her bag. She started packing her clothes. Beth knew that there was only so much she could take with her. She packed the necessities and then grabbed a few books.

She opened her drawer but stopped when she saw a picture. It was her with Alaric and her mom. Beth couldn't help but touch her amulet that they gave her while looking at it. It was taken a while ago but she knew that she couldn't leave it. She packed that into her messenger bag so it'd be close to her. Beth couldn't help as the tears swarmed her eyes again. This was it; she'd really be leaving. Beth heard someone come in but knew it was Stefan. He gently placed a hand on her arm. "Damon's going to hate me."

"Hey, no, come here." He said pulling her into a hug. She held onto him because this was one time she couldn't help but cry, "He's not going to hate you. You did what you had to do to keep them safe." He told here. He did the same, even if he had to go back to the way he was, he was keeping Elena and his brother alive.

"What if he does, Stefan? And Alaric? They won't forgive me."

"Shhh." He said soothingly as he rubbed her arm up and down. "That's not going to happen. They're going to understand, I promise." He knew that Damon could never hurt her, let alone Alaric. They'd be worried sick but at least Klaus would be away from them both. She nodded.

"What about you?" She asked him pulling away. She hadn't forgot about all those blood bags Klaus made him drink. "Are you going to be okay?"

He couldn't worry her, not with her already upset like this. He gave her a reassuring nod. "I'll be fine." He said pulling her back into another hug and they both sighed. For now, they hoped they would be.

"Don't tell me you've got a thing for my witch as well, Stefan?" Klaus asked coming into the room. Beth pulled back and just got angrier with him, if that was even possible.

"I'm not your witch! And I will never be your witch!" She snapped at him. Stefan stayed close to her. He didn't want her to say something and Klaus got angry but that wasn't the case here. Klaus just chuckled at her, amusingly.

"Whatever you say, sweetheart."

Beth glared at him. She was really getting tired of that stupid name and he had only used it twice. "Why don't you take your little 'sweetheart' and stick it up your hybrid a-"

"We'll be ready soon, Klaus!" Stefan interrupted quickly. Beth

Klaus laughed, Elizabeth always had quite a temper. "Meet me in the car, we have a long journey ahead of us." He said as he walked away. Stefan gave Beth a knowing look but she ignored it and went back to stuffing her bags with clothes and Stefan helped her. After they were done, they knew it was time. "Are you ready?" Stefan asked.

"No."

"Me either." He replied truthfully. They would never be ready to leave their friends and family behind. It wasn't something that was done lightly but they had to do it, to protect them. They left Mystic Falls, praying that one day they could come back.