A/N The Vampire Diaries Settings and Characters all belong to LJ Smith and the CW. Any original characters and this story are copyright © 2011-2018 to Hopelessromanticgurl, all rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.

He looked down to her necklace and she gulped. He grabbed it and ripped it off her neck. She let out another scream. She was now and officially under his control there was no way this could end well. He compelled her not to scream and then seconds later a sharp knife like feeling entered her neck causing her to mentally scream as loud as she could. Elena tried to push him off but her strength was no match for Lee's. He was a million times stronger than her. She felt herself growing weaker and weaker until suddenly Lee was ripped off her. She sunk down to her knees feeling so weak. She could barely register what was going on around her.

Someone knelt down next to her. "Elena, it's Lexi, I need you to take my blood it will make you feel better."

She felt Lexi's wrist against her lips and opened her mouth. She was happy when she started feeling better. She could better register things around her.

"Elena, Honey, if you can hear me can you look at me?" Lexi asked.

Elena looked to Lexi with fear in her eyes.

"It's ok. Lee is gone. Stefan took him outside"

"Stef-Stefan." Elena stuttered out.

"He's fine. I thought it would be better for him to handle Lee. He gets very uncomfortable around human blood." Lexi explained.

Elena nodded.

Lexi sighed. "I'm so sorry, Elena. I never should encouraged you to take him on in pool. It just made him angry."

Elena shook her head. "This isn't your fault. Lee said he's been waiting for a long time to be able to…ta-taste…taste m-me."

Lexi sighed and shook her head. "I don't know what's gotten into him."

"Don't blame yourself. I'm fine. No harm done." Elena said.

Lexi just sighed again. "I'm glad you're ok. But I just don't know how I can trust Lee after all he's done to today."

"Maybe you're just now starting to see his true colors."

Lexi nodded. "Yeah, and I don't like them. How are you feeling?"

"Better. Tired but better."

"Good. Why don't I take you home, it's been a long night."

"What about Matt and Caroline?"

"Uh…there was a situation."

Elena groaned. "What happen?"

"Well…remember how we saw Damon and Matt's mom at the Grill?"

"Yes, so?"

"Damon took her home with him…"

"Wait you mean….OH EWWW!" Elena squealed.

"Yeah, so Matt took his Mom home. Caroline is waiting for me to take her home too."

Elena sighed and nodded. "I want to say goodbye to Stefan first."

"Let me check first and make sure he's ok."

Elena nodded. They both stood up and Lexi left the bathroom. Elena sighed and looked in the mirror. She wet her hands and cleaned up the dried blood from her neck. She was lying before. She wasn't ok. She was scared. That was the first time she had actually been attacked by a vampire. It was an awful feeling and she never wanted to feel that way again. She was scared of being near any vampires except for Lexi and Stefan. This attack made her fear and discomfort of Damon that much stronger.

"Elena…"

She jumped out of her skin at the voice. She turned and saw Stefan. She put her hand over her racing heart and let out a breath.

"Sorry I didn't mean to scare you. Are you ok?"

Elena wanted to nod her head and smile fakely and say yes but it was so hard to hide her emotions from him. So instead she shook her head as fresh tears slipped down her cheeks.

Stefan didn't wait a second before pulling her into his arms and hugging her close as she cried and shook in his arms. He rubbed her back and kissed her head. After a few minutes she calmed down. She stayed close in his arms but looked up at him. "Are you ok?"

Stefan nodded. "I'm fine. Are you ok with Lexi taking you home, I can come if you want?"

Elena shook her head. "I'll be ok. I'm just going to go home and go to bed. I'm tired."

Stefan nodded. "Ok. Call me when you get home."

Elena nodded. "I will."

They shared a kiss and Lexi took Elena and Caroline home.

When she returned she walked into the living room to see Damon dragging and dead woman across the living room floor just as Stefan hung up the phone with Elena.

"I can't leave you two alone for ten minutes can I? What happen?"

"We were attacked." Stefan said. "Damon has been keeping something from us. It must have slipped his mind to tell us that when we opened the tomb to free Katherine all the other vampires were unleashed as well. So now all 27 vampires are back and seeking revenge, but oops he must have forgotten!"

"Damon!" Lexi growled.

"Don't worry I've handled it." Damon said.

"Oh yeah? So being attacked and almost getting Stefan killed is "handling it"?" Lexi said.

"Don't worry we are going to be fine."

Lexi sighed and shook her head. This entire day was taking it's toll on her. She was actually tired.

Stefan could see how emotionally drained Lexi was and he knew she wasn't in mood to fight with Damon anymore.

"I'm going to bed we will discuss this tomorrow." Lexi said and turned to go upstairs without another word.

Stefan sighed and looked to Damon. "So much for a fun stress free night." Then he turned and followed after Lexi.

He wasn't surprised when he went to her room the attached bathroom door was closed. He could hear the sink running but he knew her better than that. He walked over and knocked on the door. "Lex, it's me. Can I come in."

The sound of running water stopped for a second and then turned back on. That had always been their secret code so Damon couldn't listen to their conversations. Stefan opened the door and Lexi was sitting on the closed toilet with her face buried her in her hands. Stefan sighed and went over to turn on the shower just to help give them more privacy.

"You ok?" Stefan asked sitting down in front of her.

"I'm just being silly." Lexi answered.

"Silly? Lexi, if you've taught me anything in life it's that your feelings or emotions are what make you human and you're allowed to feel whatever you want whenever you want for whatever reason. There is nothing wrong with that. So I'm sure whatever you're feeling right now is not silly!" Stefan told her.

"It's been over 100 years, Stefan. I shouldn't still be this upset by their deaths!" Lexi cried.

"Lexi, you're parents were murdered right in front of your face. That alone can haunt someone for years. Plus it's not like you are spending every day locked away in your room. You made a life for yourself. It's this one time every year, once out of 365 days you choose this one day to grieve and remember them, and just spend the day with the people closest to you. It's ok to cry, Lex, it's ok to feel sad. I still feel bad about my Dad's death and I did it. Is there anything wrong with that?"

Lexi looked up at him. "That wasn't your fault."

Stefan shrugged. "Agree to disagree on that one. But I always feel sad around his anniversary. Is that wrong?"

"No, it's not wrong, Stefan. It's good. It's good to feel things and show your emotions. It makes us human."

Stefan just smirked.

Lexi groaned. "I hate you."

He laughed. "Look, I don't know what happen this morning with you and Lee, but whatever he told you is a lie."

Lexi sighed. "I don't know what's gotten into him. He's never acted like this before."

"Maybe you're just seeing him in a different light."

"But why?"

"Because you have your eyes on someone else, you're starting to see more of Lee's flaws."

"Someone else? I don't know what you're talking about."

"I saw the way you were looking at Matt, tonight, Lexi."

Lexi sighed. "I'm a terrible person."

"No you're not. You're allowed to look."

"I wanted to do more than look." Lexi muttered.

Stefan chuckled. "All right easy there tiger. Just take it slow ok. You and Lee had a bad day and it made you look at Matt in a new light. It could just be that. Tomorrow when everyone has cooled down talk to Lee and see what's going on with him. Don't push him away for one bad day."

"Even after he went after Elena."

"I'm just saying all that for sake you. I want to drive a stake through her heart for hurting Elena."

Lexi laughed and shook her head. "Everyone has their bad days. But we will see what happens tomorrow. Now go see Elena. I know you've been dying to go check on her."

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah I'm better now. Thanks for the talk. I'm just going to bed."

"Ok, are you sure?"

"Yep. I'll be fine. Go see your girl before I literally throw you out."

Stefan laughed and nodded. He stood up and left the room. Lexi smiled softly. That small talk with Stefan had just made her entire day. Maybe he was right. Maybe it was just a bad day for her and Lee. Maybe her feelings for Matt were nothing.

The next day Elena was back at the Salvatore house first thing in the morning. Needless to say she wasn't happy about finding out what happen with the Tomb Vampire. As usual Damon was completely calm and didn't see what the big deal was.

"I say we go to Pearl's, bust down the door, and annihilate the idiot that attacked us last night."

"Yeah, and then what? We turn to the rest of that house of vampires and say, "Oops. Sorry?" Stefan asked.

That was Damon's answer for everything. If someone hurt him it was instantly in Damon's mind that he had to kill them.

"I can't believe you made a deal with her." Elena sighed.

Damon's choices normally always ended up getting her and Stefan involved in some kind of trouble. Only this time not only were they in trouble but the rest of the town was in danger too.

" It was more like a helpful exchange of information and it's not like a choice. She's... scary. Besides, she's going to help me get Katherine back." Damon defended with a smirk.

He moved from the wall and sat down in one of the chairs. Elena had to fight back the growl. The more she spoke with Damon the more she became very angry.

"Of course she is. Damon gets what he wants, as usual. No matter who he hurts in the process."

"You don't have to be snarky about it."

"I woke up this morning to learn that all the vampires have been released from the tomb. I've earned snarky."

"How long are you going to blame me for turning your birth mother into a vampire?"

"I'm not blaming you, Damon. I've accepted the fact that you're a self-serving psychopath with no redeeming qualities."

"Ouch…"

Stefan sighed, he knew the two of them could go at this for hours and still not accomplish anything. He knew he had to step it now.

"This isn't being very productive. We're going to figure out a way to deal with Pearl and the vampires. Yeah?"

Damon didn't say anything. He just got up and left the room. Elena sighed. "I'm sorry. He just makes me so cranky."

Stefan pulled her into a hug. "I know. He makes everybody cranky."

"So, what are we going to do?"

"Damon, Stefan and I are going to handle everything, I promise." Lexi said.

Elena pulled away to look at her. She was shocked by her answer.

"Well, what about me? I can't just sit here and do nothing."

"That's exactly what you're going do, because that's what going to keep you safe." Stefan said.

"Which means nothing if you're not safe, too."

He smiled and pulled her back into his arms hugging her close.

"What do you mean? I'm perfectly safe. I have Damon, the self-serving psychopath on my side."

"Well, that's comforting." She muttered against his chest.

"Don't worry he'll be perfectly safe, Elena. He's go me on his side and I will die before I let anyone hurt him." Lexxi said.

Elena sighed and nodded. That was better than nothing.

Lexi smiled gently and left the room.

Stefan kissed her head and they continued to just hold each other.

"You ok, you're tense and shaking."

"I don't like the idea of vampire running around."

"I'll make sure nobody gets hurt. Jenna and Jeremy and the girls all have vervain on them someway. So they are safe and I won't let anyone get near you. SO no worries ok?"

Elena sighed and nodded. She was still scared but it made her feel a little better.

After spending a little more time together Elena headed home and Stefan got ready for his hunt. He said goodbye to Lexi and Damon and headed to the woods.

A few hours later Elena was hanging out at the house. Being around her family made her feel better. She was just about to go into the kitchen when someone knocked on the door. She answered it and Damon and Lexi walked in.

"Is Stefan here?" Lexi asked.

"No, he was hunting why?" Elena asked.

"He hasn't come home. I tried calling his phone but he's not answering." Damon said.

"Did you maybe think he's ignoring you?" Elena asked.

"I thought that too at first but then I tried calling and he still hadn't answered his phone. Could you try?" Lexi all but begged.

Elena nodded and quickly called Stefan and sighed. "It's going right to voicemail. What do you think is going on?"

Lexi and Damon just looked to each other.

"What?" Elena asked again.

"You're not going to like what I'm thinking." Damon said.

Elena paled as she figured it out. "The Tomb Vampires?" she whimpered.

"We don't know anything for sure yet. Just breathe." Lexi said.

"We have go save him. Where do they live? Maybe if I go over there and beg they'll let him go."

"Are you insane, did you forget who you look like?" Damon growled.

"Katherine hurt a lot of people, Elena, not just Stefan and Damon. You going there will make everything a ,million times worse." Lexi said.

Elena sighed. "We have to save him!"

"We will. Now listen, I'm going to check and see if Stefan is where we think. If he is I'm going to get him out. If not then we will figure out plan B." Damon said. With that he left.

"Plan B?" Elena squeaked out

"Plan B, Stefan is somewhere with really bad cell phone reception." Lexi said gently. "Just try and stay calm. We don't know anything about where Stefan is."

Elena nodded but let out a shaky breath.

"Breathe, Elena, Stefan is going to be just fine. I will make sure of it."

Again Elena just nodded.

Elena and Lexi waited and waited for what felt like forever before Damon came back to the house.

"Well?" Elena asked.

Damon sighed and he actually looked scared. "They have him. I can't get to him. The lady who owns the house has been compelled to not let me in. But they have him and they are planning to kill him."

"WHAT!" Elena shrieked as tears started to stream down her cheeks. What was going to happen now? How could they possibly save Stefan?

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