A little remembrance lesson, and an uncomfortable dinner for the gang.

I hope you all like it so far. I have so much written for this story, I've just been having trouble fine tuning it, so hopefully I can work on it some more real soon. I know there is a lot of stuff that needs explaining and all that, but I have some other stuff to get to beforehand. So if you continue reading and keep giving me such amazing comments, I can't help but continue writing.

I'm not sure I mentioned, but I don't own The Vampire Diaries or anything related to it. Also, all mistakes are my own. I try to proofread and spell check as best I can, but I will make mistakes and I apologize for it.

.

Chapter 6

.

Elena had felt left out; first it was Bonnie stealing away Damon from her. Even though Elena had Ric compel away her memories of him, Damon still belonged to her. Bonnie had to know that. Then it was her not being consulted about allowing the Originals to take residence next door and involve them in her friends' issues. The last straw was when Damon went and informed the Originals about Bonnie's dream, with Caroline, leaving her to sit on the porch like some child. Elena had enough of being left out and left behind. She was the reason all these people were friends in the first place, and now they were leaving her of all people out.

As soon as Bonnie and Damon shared the discovery of Bonnie's dream and discussed the possible ramifications of that dream that Elena decided to take something into her own hands. She wanted her memories back. She had wanted them back for a while now, but she had no means to get them back. Now she had a couple Original vampires next door that could do just that. So she decided to confront Elijah because he had the most sense of any of them. They were her memories, she deserved to have them back and she would make him see it her way.

As she made her way into the backyard of the house next door to the boarding house she found Elijah sitting outside with Hope in her carriage beside him. Nobody else seemed to be nearby that she could hear, and she chose this moment because she knew most of them were at the Boarding house, working on a solution via the stores of books the Salvatore brothers had amassed over time.

"Elijah." Elena said with purpose. He wouldn't be able to say no to her.

"Ah, Elena, to what do I owe the pleasure? Is something wrong?" Elijah asked her when he looked up from Hope.

"By now you've probably heard that I had Alaric compel my memories away when Damon died. Well I need them back. I feel like there is some part of me that is missing, and I need to feel whole again." Elena proposed filling her voice with need. She wasn't sure if this was why she felt lost, but the thought of Damon and Bonnie just felt wrong to her.

"So you want me to compel your memories back for you?" Elijah asked curiously, with a hint of something she couldn't put her finger on.

"Yes. I need them back, and I think you will agree that it's the best thing for me." She responded sternly.

"Do you really think this is the best time Elena? With everything going on, you want to add this on top?" He responded somewhat disdainfully.

She had argued about this in her head, but she couldn't help but think that everyone would support her in this, that they would want her to feel whole. It was only out of respect for Bonnie that she hadn't told anyone about it, at least that's what she kept telling herself.

"I think with everything going on that is exactly why I need them back. I feel worthless right now, and I think if I get my memories back, I won't feel that way anymore." She replied honestly, but a little more defensively than she would have liked.

"What does everyone else think about this? Damon? Bonnie?" Elijah retorted and he gave her a look that would have made anyone else rethink the decision. Elena was not everybody else however; it would take more than his disgusted look to make her change her mind.

"I haven't told them, and neither should you. They have enough going on right now without having to worry about what I'm doing too. They would all drop everything if they knew I was feeling this way." Elena replied, unknowing of how purely selfish that sounded.

Elijah noticed though and she saw a grimace on his face. He didn't like the idea one bit and she could tell, what she didn't know was that he was disgusted with her greed.

"You owe me for not killing Klaus when you promised you would." She said simply before he could respond. That would get him to see things her way.

He paused for a short time before he sighed in defeat. "Fine Elena, but I really think this is a terrible idea. You are only going to cause more problems, and I think deep down you know that." He conceded with difficulty.

Her mind was telling her this was a little wrong, but she pushed it to the back of her mind like she always had. The decision had been made.

"Thank you." She responded and moved towards him so he could easily access her eyes.

Elijah moved in front of her after he tucked Hope into her carriage a little tighter. When he steadied himself in front of her they locked eyes.

"Elena, I want you to remember your memories with Damon, I want you to remember everything you had taken away." Elijah paused momentarily before breaking eye contact. He was thinking of adding something in there to make her wait to act on any recovered information, but he didn't want to mess with her mind any more than she already had.

When they broke eye contact Elena blinked a few times to gather her surroundings before the world around her went black. She felt someone catch her before she hit the ground, but after that all she saw was darkness.

When she awoke a few moments later she realized that she was still in the backyard of the Original's house with Elijah and Hope. He noticed her rising from her momentary sleep as well.

"Are you alright Elena?" He asked nervously.

"I remember," was all she said before heading off towards the boarding house.

...

That night marked a week since the Originals had established their residence once more in Mystic Falls. When they all sat down to dinner that night Bonnie felt something dark, not dark as in evil, but something brewing in the darkness around them. She was constantly worried about the life of her child now, and even the smallest changes she felt attuned to. She wasn't sure where the darkness was coming from, but she felt it even then at the dinner table.

Bonnie, Damon, Stefan, Caroline, Alaric, and Elena were all gathered at the dining table of the Salvatore boarding house to have dinner together tonight. They had all been busy lately, and it was Caroline's idea, so everyone went along with it. Damon broke the silence that filled the room first.

"So Haley informed me today that her alpha hubby Jackson saw Original witchy Freya in New Orleans last night. Which means we appear to have a little more time before they come to Mystic Falls." Damon said to everyone accentuating his overused affinity for nicknames. Bonnie couldn't help but giggle to herself.

"Davina told me that her and Rebekah warded their home there with spells to make Freya believe they were locked up inside. It must be working for now." Alaric added.

"So what do we do now then? Just keep waiting for them to come after us?" Elena questioned a little louder than they had been speaking so far.

"I think we keep doing what we are doing for now. It's best to keep everyone here around each other, so when they ultimately do come, we will be at least a little prepared." Stefan responded to Elena almost as he would to a child, she just grimaced in response.

Bonnie could tell something was bothering Elena, but something always seemed to be bothering Elena these days. What happened to the girl she used to know?

"If we are just going to sit here and wait for them to come, then we need all the help we can get. Jeremy wants to come, and I think he should. Tyler and Matt would be willing to be here to help too I'm sure." Elena spoke up again.

"No, Elena. Tyler has already been told what to do, and as for Matt, he wants out of this supernatural world, you all know it, so let's just give him that. It's just one less person to worry about." Damon responded strongly to get the message across, and paused before getting to Jeremy. Bonnie gave his hand a gentle squeeze to keep him from going further and decided to speak up for herself.

"I don't want Jeremy here either. I can't be worried about protecting him when I already have to worry about the baby and myself." And Damon she added wordlessly in a look in his direction.

"What do you mean protecting him? He loves you Bonnie and he wants to be here to help." Elena retorted forcefully and Bonnie was somewhat thrown back by the anger in her voice. Before she could respond Damon gave up his silence.

"All he ever does is get himself killed, and then Bonnie ends up paying the price for it over and over again. I will not let that happen. Ever. Again." Damon hissed at Elena with anger evident on his face.

Bonnie was a little upset at the way Damon said it, but he wasn't wrong. Jeremy always did find himself in trouble that he couldn't get out of. Now that she thought about it more, when had Jeremy ever really done something to help? How many times had he died already? The thoughts made her shiver.

"Damon's right Elena. Jeremy can't ever seem to take care of even himself, and somebody always pays for it." Caroline added with a friendly nod in Damon's direction, shocking everyone at the table. Damon gave Caroline a signature smirk and a nod back, making Caroline smile a little before she composed herself for Elena.

Bonnie couldn't remember a time when Caroline took Damon's side against Elena well, ever. Seeing the two of them share a friendly moment was surprising, but Bonnie was elated. She couldn't help but be amazed that they both were trying to be friends, for Bonnie. Elena seemed to be the most taken back, because when she wiped the shock off her face, all she did was glare in Caroline's direction.

"I agree." Added Stefan quietly, trying not to anger Elena further, she just continued to glare at Caroline.

Caroline responded by rolling her eyes and then shot back her own glare that appeared to make Elena afraid for a moment.

"I've already told Jeremy not to come, but he does want to help. Maybe we could have him do some research at his school or the libraries around him." Alaric interrupted trying to circumvent the tension in the room.

Bonnie was always grateful for Ric's level head, but never more than now. All this tension and anger seeping out of Elena was really starting to get to Bonnie, and everyone else at the table seemed to be reacting as well. Elena had told her she was ok with everything. She had sounded so honest when she said all those things after hearing about the baby. Maybe she just had a rough day, but Bonnie had never been that lucky.

"What's up with you?" Damon shot at Elena, once again breaking the silence.

"Nothing Damon, I'm fine. Sorry, I didn't mean to make you angry." Elena softened, almost being sweet in the last part of her response.

Bonnie gave Damon a curious look with her eyebrow raised. He returned her expression with his own look that she had come to learn meant, "I have no damn clue."

When Bonnie looked up again at the table she saw Elena getting up and walking away. It seemed to be a good idea because everyone began following her example.

Stefan stopped beside her and put a hand on Bonnie's shoulder adding a small nod of understanding before walking away himself. Caroline waited until Elena was out of sight before she got up and made her way to Bonnie embracing her in a hug where she still sat on her chair.

"I'm so sorry sweetie. She's obviously dealing with- I'm just so sorry." Caroline whispered into Bonnie's ear so Elena wouldn't be able to hear from the other room.

"I love you Care," Bonnie whispered back before Caroline moved away giving Damon another quick nod before following after Stefan.

When only Damon and Bonnie were left at the table, the stared at each other for a few minutes. They were never just staring though; they were speaking in silence, in a language known only to them. They both rose from the table together at the same time, as if it were choreographed, and made their way to their bed.