[2x05; Kill or Be Killed]
"I can't believe Tyler Lockwood is a werewolf," Jeremy sighed, leaning against the Lucy's doorframe.
"We're not sure about that yet," Elena corrected him. "The only thing we know for sure is that Mason Lockwood is."
"Yeah, and he almost killed Caroline and Stefan on the night of the full moon," Lucy added, rolling her eyes and turning the page of the textbook she was trying to study from. "Damon said that Mason told him he has no control when he shifts."
It had been a week since the night of the full moon and they finally had confirmation that Mason Lockwood was the werewolf that attacked Caroline and Stefan. Damon had been on a mission to find out for sure whether Mason was a werewolf or not, so he convinced Alaric to make Jenna throw a barbeque and invite Mason. Long story short, Mason confirmed that he was a wolf and had no control over himself when he was shifted and branded Damon as an enemy in the process.
"Well, it shouldn't be that hard for us to figure out if Tyler is one, too," Jeremy said thoughtfully.
Elena paused from where she was removing the chipped paint off her nails and gave Jeremy a firm look. "There is no us. I said I wouldn't keep things from you anymore. That doesn't mean that I want you involved in it."
"Oh, leave him alone, Lena," Lucy rolled her eyes; her sister wanted to control everyone around her.
"Yeah, by definition of being in this family, I'm involved," Jeremy scoffed and pointed to the Gilbert ring gripped around his ring-finger.
"This is dangerous, Jeremy," Elena pursed her lips. "You have to stay out of it, okay?"
"All right," Jeremy gave in so easily that Lucy knew there was no way he was going to stay out of it. "I'm just saying."
Elena sighed and turned to Lucy as Jeremy left the room. "You can't encourage him like that. He's too young to be involved in this."
Lucy shook her head and snapped the textbook in her lap closed, giving up on trying to study before she headed out to pick up Caroline for the volunteer day at the new park the Fell family donated.
"Jeremy's not that much younger than me," she pointed out. "And he can choose if he wants to be involved. You, me, or anyone else doesn't get to decide that for him."
Elena sighed heavily, aggravated with her sister's blasé attitude. "Let's not talk about it, okay? I don't want to argue," Lucy nodded in agreement and Elena continued, "Did Stefan tell you about Caroline and Katherine?"
Lucy scowled at the mention of her best friend and Katherine. Elena and Stefan were so convinced that Caroline was spying on them for the older vampire but Lucy knew that Caroline wouldn't do that without a reason. She knew Caroline and she knew how much Caroline cared about Elena and respected Stefan. She wouldn't just betray them like that for no reason. So, Lucy came to the conclusion that Katherine was holding something over her.
"Yes, he did," Lucy confirmed. "And I don't think that Caroline would do—"
"Lucy, Stefan and I both saw her listening to our conversation!" Elena objected heatedly. "She was purposely stalling me to keep me away from the Boarding House while Katherine was there with Stefan. She's working for Katherine, plain and simple."
Lucy shot her a scornful look. "I thought you didn't want to argue? Caroline wouldn't just betray you guys like that and if you think she would, then you're not the friend you think you are to her."
"She's the one being a bad friend."
"Katherine is probably threatening her, ever think of that?" Lucy retorted, standing up from her bed. She pulled a sweater from her closet and angrily pulled it over her head. "If you weren't so concerned with your relationship status, maybe you'd check to see if your friend was okay."
Elena scoffed in disbelief. "I can't believe you just said that."
"Well, I did," Lucy shrugged; she didn't regret saying it, either. "I'm going to pick up Caroline. See you later."
Lucy hated fighting with her sister, but lately, Elena just kept getting under her skin. She knew for sure that it wasn't jealousy—she kept her budding feelings for Stefan tightly locked away. Maybe it was the fact that Elena thought everything revolved around her and that pissed Lucy off. She was more concerned about how Caroline's vampirism affected her and compared to Stefan and Damon, her friends and family were her last priority.
Sisters fought, though, and while Lucy and Elena generally got along, they were notorious for having long, drawn-out arguments and squabbles that could last for weeks when they were growing up. Their parents practically had to lock them in a room to have them make up.
They'd get over it soon.
Lucy had barely pulled up to Caroline's house when the passenger door was pulled open and Caroline slid in. The blonde had an irritated look on her face but managed a smile for Lucy.
"Good morning," Lucy greeted her as she drove away from the Forbes' residence. "What's got you so down?"
She knew she needed to confront Caroline about Katherine but she'd bring it up at the right time.
"My mom," Caroline groaned in frustration. "She kept asking me all these questions and I snapped because now is the time to become a better parent? After I'm already dead?"
Lucy frowned sympathetically. Liz wasn't a bad parent and she loved Caroline but she didn't spend as much time with her daughter as she should have. It was something that always bothered Caroline, especially after her dad moved a couple hours away.
"I'm sorry, Care," Lucy gave her a brief smile before looking back at the road. "Are you sure you wanna go today? We can go see a movie instead. 'Dear John' is playing and I know how much you love Channing Tatum."
"No," Caroline shook her head, determined. "We have to go. I'm Miss Mystic Falls and it's my duty to make an appearance and you have to be there or Mrs. Lockwood will kill you."
"Damn."
"We can go see 'Dear John' another day," Caroline promised with a wink. "So, did you get a chance to look through the book Elena found on Katherine's family?"
"No, I haven't had the time."
Caroline was the only person she told about how she was supposedly Katherine's sister, Lucia, and they were both anxious to find something to confirm what Katherine said. Lucy had been so busy the past week to the point where she had to cancel a doctor's appointment because she had too many things to do. There was a difficult lab that she and Stefan had to work on in chemistry class, Alaric had handed out an essay once they started their unit on World War I, and she had three different meetings with the planning committee that had switched leadership now that Mrs. Lockwood was interim mayor. She hoped that she would have time to look at the book of Petrova family history soon.
But, now that Katherine was brought up…
"Speaking of Katherine," Lucy used her most innocent voice. "You haven't seen her lately, have you?"
Caroline shifted anxiously and when Lucy looked over, Caroline's expression gave her fear away. It was clear that Katherine was not someone that Caroline wanted to talk about and Lucy wondered who Katherine had threatened—was it her mom or Matt?
"You don't have to say anything," Lucy assured her and grabbed Caroline's nearest hand. She squeezed it. "I'm here for you and I love you."
Caroline sniffled and squeezed her back, almost too tightly with her new vampire strength. "I love you, too, Lucy. Thank you for understanding."
"There's no thank you required. You're my best friend and my sister," Lucy said honestly.
Before there was any animosity between herself, Elena, and Caroline, Lucy had signed them all up to work together to paint the pavilion that held the water spout, flowers, and a couple of benches. Now it was just going to be plain awkward when Elena was acting like she wasn't mad at Caroline, Caroline was acting like she wasn't spying on Elena and Stefan, and Lucy and Elena were arguing.
Lucy hadn't told Caroline that she and Elena were mad at each other though Caroline could practically sense the tension between them. Thankfully, she said nothing and instead volunteered herself and Elena to go get the cans of paint and paintbrushes they needed to get to work.
Lucy stayed at the pavilion and started tape off the sections that weren't to be painted with blue painter's tape. She was halfway done covering the water spout when she saw Stefan walk up to her from the corner of her eye.
"Hey, Broody," she greeted him hesitantly; Elena had probably filled him in on their argument.
"Goofy," he smiled slightly back at her. "Why am I not surprised that you're painting?"
"Well, I have to stick to the status quo," Lucy shrugged and grimaced when Stefan appeared not to get her reference. "Right, I forgot you haven't seen 'High School Musical'."
Stefan chuckled. "My bad. Maybe we can watch it one day so I can keep up with your references."
"Sounds good," Lucy laughed. "There's three of them, so…"
"Ugh, what did I get myself into?" Stefan grunted, making her laugh harder.
"Too late to back out," Lucy pointed at him and then went back to taping the water spout. "Aren't you supposed to be cutting wood?"
"Yeah," Stefan nodded and went on, more hesitant. "Elena asked me to—"
"I'm gonna stop you right there," Lucy interrupted him, shaking her head. She should have known that Elena was going to have Stefan talk to her but she had hoped that Stefan would just stay out of it. "I love you, Stefan, you're my best pal, but I need you to stay out of this."
"Well—"
"I don't mean any offense because I know you have good intentions but this is between me and my sister," she continued. "And you know more than anyone that siblings fight."
Stefan sighed; he didn't want the most important women in his life to be angry with each other but Lucy was right. It wasn't really his business and he didn't want to ruin his relationship with Lucy over something that could be solved with some time and patience. Just because he had never seen Elena and Lucy go head-to-head didn't mean that it hadn't happened before.
"Okay, I'll stay out of it," Stefan conceded.
"Thank you."
"Uh, I better get over there," he pointed over to the carpenter station with his thumb. "See ya…"
Lucy waved at him as he walked away, feeling awkward. Great, now Stefan was probably mad at her, too. She didn't want to make him angry but she didn't want him butting into something that was between her and Elena, either.
"…when I'm trying to avoid her the most," Lucy heard Caroline rambling to Elena as they came back to the pavilion with cans or paint and brushes for each of them. Caroline handed Lucy her paint with a smile and continued, "I'm babbling—you don't want to hear all this."
Elena jolted, as though realizing that she was supposed to be responding to Caroline. "Oh, no, I'm sorry," she apologized, crouching next to the water spout that Lucy had finished taping up. "Then what happened?"
Lucy took one of the posts to paint while Caroline took the one next to her; they started painting the posts a brick-red color.
"Well," Caroline pressed her lips together. "I was a bitch, which is par for the course with us," she glanced over at Elena for a second and then went back to work. "So, how are things with you and Stefan? Anything?"
Lucy stiffened slightly and looked at Elena when she sighed.
"No, not since the fight," she told Caroline. "He's been pushing me away because he thinks that Katherine might get jealous enough to hurt me. I just don't know how to change his mind."
Caroline frowned and set down her paint can and brush to kneel next to Elena. "You said that Katherine's dangerous," she reminded her softly. "Maybe he's got a point."
"Yeah, I know that she's dangerous and I know that he's just trying to protect me but it feels like giving up and I just…"
"Just what?"
"I just thought that we were stronger than that."
Elena sounded so serious that Lucy forgot for a moment that she and Stefan were fake fighting for Caroline's sake.
Eventually Caroline went back to painting her post and Lucy finished hers before moving onto another one. The conversation changed to light chatter about how the cheerleading squad would be unable to perform for the upcoming competition because of Mr. Tanner's death earlier in the school year. It was disappointing but at least Lucy wouldn't be pulling her hair out from the stress of being overbooked.
When there was a lull in work, Lucy went to the food table and got them all some snacks and lemonade. She was eating some grapes when Stefan and Elena started exchanging heavy looks from across the long stretch of grass separating them.
"Uh, oh," Caroline spoke up, noticing the exchange. "Longing looks are being exchanged."
Elena set down her paintbrush. "I'm gonna go talk to him."
"No, Elena," Caroline protested. "I think it's a bad idea."
Elena sighed heavily and walked away from the pavilion and over to where Stefan was measuring some wood that would be made into benches.
"What's her problem?" Damon appeared out of nowhere, sitting next to Lucy and stealing an apple wedge from her plate.
"Don't worry about it," Caroline whirled around to face Damon.
"Why are you being such a bitch to your mom?" Damon questioned her.
"Don't worry about it," Caroline repeated, glaring at him.
Caroline went back to painting while Lucy reluctantly let Damon share her fruit. All three of them were watching as Stefan and Elena talked, though Lucy was the only one that couldn't hear their conversation.
"What are they saying?" she asked Damon, chewing on a piece of apple.
"Elena just asked Stefan if he still cares about Katherine," Damon relayed to her, carefully watching his brother and Elena. "Stefan told Elena not to turn Katherine into a problem. Stefan knows we're listening to their conversation."
Lucy looked over at Elena and Stefan, waving slightly when they looked over at her.
"Way to play it cool," Damon rolled his eyes.
"Whatever," Lucy sighed; Elena and Stefan's conversation looked to be getting heated. "What else?"
"Elena asked how Stefan could hate Katherine and love her because they look the same," Damon said, narrowing his eyes at them. "Ooh, now they're talking about me. Uh, oh, Stefan said he couldn't do 'this' anymore. And now Elena is walking away…relationships are about communication."
Caroline scoffed at him and walked away, following after Elena.
"So," Damon said to Lucy. "Why aren't you going after your sister, too?"
"I'm mad at her," Lucy said simply.
"So?"
"So?" she glared at him. "Uh, aren't you the one who promised their brother an eternity of misery or am I thinking of someone else?"
"Fine, Twitch," Damon sighed. "Why are you mad at Elena?"
"Nope," Lucy popped a grape in her mouth. "I'm not confiding in you. We're not friends."
"We can fix that!" Damon claimed. "Look, I have no friends, okay? Why can't you fill that role?"
"I don't know, because you killed my brother?"
"He came back to life!"
Lucy glared at him. "You didn't know about the ring, don't try your bullshit on me."
She jumped off the picnic table and stomped away, leaving Damon to pout after her.
Lucy walked out of the newly built—and surprisingly clean—bathroom and was immediately grabbed by Caroline and Elena. She didn't know what was going on but she trusted them enough to know that whatever was happening was serious.
She followed them up a tall hill in the woods, where they stopped.
"What's going on?" she asked, out of the loop. "Why are we here?
Caroline pushed her hair behind her ears. "I need to be able to hear."
"Hear what?"
"Something's wrong, Lucy," Caroline informed her before shushing her.
"Caroline—"
"Shh!"
Caroline closed her eyes, trying to listen for Damon and Stefan. She could hear Damon confronting someone and then numerous gunshots.
"Oh, God!" she gasped.
"What is it?" Elena asked worriedly.
"Stefan and Damon."
"What?"
The girls took off running, Caroline in the front so she could lead them to where she heard the gunshots. Stefan and Damon were shot on the other side of the park deep into the woods, so it took them a while to get there. When they arrived, Caroline looked around, trying to find out where the Salvatore brothers were taken.
"They've been here," Caroline breathed.
The smell of blood caught her attention; it smelt good but not anywhere near as nice as human blood. She followed the scent and found some blood covering a small fern a few feet away from them.
"What is it?" Elena asked as Caroline touched the blood.
Before Caroline could answer her, a twig snapped behind them. Lucy, Elena, and Caroline turned around and saw Mason Lockwood standing in front of them.
"What are you three doing out here?" he asked.
"Have you seen Stefan and Damon?" Lucy spoke up, narrowing her eyes at him.
"Yeah, Lucy, I've seen them," Mason stepped a few feet toward them.
"Where are they?" Elena demanded.
"You don't need me for that," Mason locked eyes with Caroline. "I'll let your friend here sniff them out. Does your mother know what you are? I'd be happy to tell her."
Lucy glared and Caroline went to lunge at Mason but stopped when he grabbed Elena and wrapped his arm around her neck.
"Don't be stupid!" he warned them. "Necks snap easily around here."
"Back off, Mason!" Lucy snapped at him.
"I can take you," Caroline said confidently.
"Wanna bet?"
"Yeah, I do."
Caroline flew at Mason, ripping Elena out of his grasp, and forcefully shoved him against a tree, making him grunt.
"Told ya," she snarled, wrapping a hand around his neck.
She kicked him sharply in the groin and knocked him to the ground. She wasted no time in kicking him ten feet away from her, right into another tree.
Caroline exhaled and fixed her hair nonchalantly before turning to Lucy and Elena. "Come on."
Caroline led them through the woods again, stopping at what looked to be an old cellar of some sort. The sounds of gunshots and screaming could be heard from down below and it terrified Lucy.
"What is going on?" Elena urgently asked Caroline when she gasped and covered her mouth. "What is it?"
"My mom," Caroline said weakly. "She's killing them."
"What?"
Lucy and Elena both started down the cellar stairs only to be stopped by Caroline.
"Care, we have to stop her!" Lucy told the blonde vampire.
"No, I can't, Lucy," Caroline squeaked, tears in her eyes. "She's gonna find out about me."
Elena scoffed and ripped her arm away from Caroline, rushing down the stairs.
"Stay here," Lucy said before running after her sister.
She caught up to Elena as she picked up a piece of wood; both of them crept through the cellar, passing a gate that squeaked when they moved it.
"Let's do this," Lucy heard Liz say. "Each with a stake in the heart then burn them both."
Lucy and Elena shared a determined look; Lucy gestured that she was going to make a noise and for Elena to attack whoever came to them. Elena nodded and Lucy banged against the sturdy part of the gate, causing the sound to echo through the cellar.
"Check it out," Liz told one of her deputies—Lucy gave Elena a thumbs up.
As a deputy walked out of the main area where they were holding Stefan and Damon, Elena swung the piece of wood and whacked the deputy in the head. When the deputy stumbled, the girls ran into the room.
Lucy paused when Liz trained her gun on her and Elena.
"Lucy! Elena!" Liz said, shocked. "What are you two doing?"
"You can't kill them!" Elena shouted. "We're not gonna let you!"
The deputy that Elena knocked around came back into the room, a furious look on his face. He grabbed a hold of Lucy and Elena's shirts and pushed them out of the way.
"Hey, watch it!" Lucy cursed, almost tripping over the uneven stone floor.
All of a sudden, the gate to the main room shut with a whooshing sound.
"What was that?"
"Who else is with you?" Liz asked Lucy and Elena.
A blur of green and black and blonde hair caught Lucy's eye; Caroline sped around the cellar, taking a hold of the deputy that pushed Lucy and Elena around. She bit into his neck with a snarl, drinking some of the blood that squirted out of him as she tore into his carotid artery.
She promptly hid behind the deputy's body as the other deputy pulled out his gun and started shooting. She used the body as a shield before running over to the cop shooting at her. Ripping the gun out of his hands, she knocked him out and threw him on the floor next to Damon.
Lucy couldn't help but gape somewhat proudly at Caroline as she came out of the dark and let Liz see her. Caroline risked herself to exposure to save the lives of Damon and Stefan; how could anyone not see her for what a good friend she was?
"Hi, Mom," Caroline said quietly, peeking at Liz, who looked at her daughter with an expression of shock and despair.
Lucy and Elena immediately went to work on waking Stefan up; somehow Lucy was the one who was forced to pull the wooden bullets out of his abdomen while Elena got the blood-free job of rousing him awake. Lucy was sick to her stomach—especially when Damon started feeding on the deputy next to him—but she kept on digging for the bullets because this was Stefan.
When Stefan awoke, he groaned at the feeling of Lucy digging around for bullets in his stomach. The wooden bullets were painful enough and when you added the vervain with his diet of animal blood…well, it wasn't a good combination.
"Stop squirming," Lucy snapped at him in frustration. "I know this hurts but I'm about to puke all over you, so I kinda need to concentrate and get this over with."
Stefan groaned loudly and Elena glared at her. "Lucy!"
"Oh, shut up," Lucy rolled her eyes and clasped her hand around the last bullet, quickly pulling it out and throwing it to the ground. "There we go, all done!"
She pulled down Stefan's gray sweater and wiped her bloody hands on it, leaving large smears all over the front. Stefan didn't seem to care; he slowly sat up with the help of Elena and tried to get through the last of the vervain pumping through his system.
While Lucy moved to sit next to Caroline on a small set of stairs, Damon sighed and lazily pulled away from the deputy's body, having his fill of blood. He crawled over to Stefan and sat up on his knees.
"You need to drink some deputy blood," he advised his brother.
"Oh, no," Stefan rasped, leaning against Elena. "I'll be fine. It's just gonna take a little bit longer."
He grunted as he adjusted himself on the uncomfortable floor, causing Lucy to wince in pity.
"Damon's right, you know," Caroline spoke up. "If there's ever a time to break your diet—"
Lucy gently nudged her with her knee, thinking of the last time Stefan broke his diet of animal blood. Caroline didn't know about that, though.
"He said he didn't want it, okay?" Elena snapped at her.
Damon groaned, still healing, and got to his feet. "This is the most unfortunate situation. Two deputies dead and you—" he turned to Liz, who had been sitting silently. "—what am I gonna do with you?"
Liz simply stared back at him.
"You won't tell anyone, will you?" Caroline asked her mother; Liz didn't respond. "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 looked down at her lap, tears slipping from her eyes. Lucy felt her heart break for her best friend.
"Mom, please," Caroline pleaded. "He will kill you."
Liz stubbornly looked at Damon. "Then kill me."
"No!" Caroline objected.
"I can't take this," Liz pleaded. "Kill me now."
Caroline stood up to intervene when Damon walked up to Liz and bent down so they were eye-to-eye. "But you were going to drag it out so painfully…"
He abruptly grabbed Liz and pulled her to her feet, causing everyone to flinch and Caroline to freak out.
"No, no, no, no!"
"Stop!" Lucy shouted fearfully.
"Damon, don't!" Stefan protested.
"Damon, please!" Elena begged.
Damon rolled his eyes and turned to the others. "Relax, guys, no one is killing anybody," he turned back to Liz. "You're my friend. We should probably clean this up," he added, looking at the dead bodies.
Lucy grimaced, her stomach still upset from pulling the bullets out of Stefan. "Not it."
Stefan, Elena, and Caroline gave her disapproving looks but Lucy just shrugged.
Lucy walked into the Salvatore Boarding House, dressed in fresh, clean clothes with a large thermos held tightly in her hand. She went straight into the living room, looking for Stefan, and smiled happily when she found him laying on the couch, arm thrown over his eyes.
"Hi, there," she greeted him, watching in amusement as he jumped at her abrupt arrival.
"Hey," he smiled sheepishly, embarrassed, as he sat up correctly. "I didn't hear you."
"Clearly," Lucy laughed lightly. "That's why I brought you this," she held out the thermos. "Animal blood to get you all healed up."
Stefan gently took it from her, raising his eyebrows. "Animal blood? Where'd you get this?"
"Well, I didn't hunt a bunny," she joked, sitting on the couch next to him. "I went to a butcher and asked if he had any blood."
"…the butcher?" Stefan stared at her in disbelief—she was such a weirdo…
"Yeah, I told him that it was for a science project," Lucy stated matter-of-factly. "He believed me! What an idiot."
Stefan opened the thermos and sniffed at the opening. He recognized the scent—it was definitely deer blood. He took a sip and sighed as his stomach twisted happily and his wounds started healing a little bit faster.
Lucy watched as Stefan hungrily drank the whole thermos of blood, not even flinching when she saw the dark veins pop up under his red eyes. She was used to it now, it was just a natural part of Stefan.
"Why'd you get this for me?" Stefan asked as he finished up and twisted the cap back onto the thermos. "You hate blood."
"So?" Lucy shrugged. "I knew that you'd be too weak to hunt by yourself and I thought that Damon might be too busy with Liz, so…" she winced and admitted, "and I felt bad about our conversation earlier and how I hurt you in the cellar."
Stefan smiled softly and set the thermos on the side table so he could wrap an arm around Lucy's shoulders. "You were pulling bullets out of me, so I think you're good there," he assured her, laying his head on hers. "And as for our conversation, you were right. I should stay out of your relationship with Elena."
"It was stupid, anyway," Lucy sighed, picking at her t-shirt. "I was just mad that she didn't believe me when I said that Katherine was probably threatening Caroline."
"Hmm," Stefan hummed. "Did Caroline say something?"
"No, but she didn't need to," Lucy pulled away from Stefan's embrace to look him in the eye. "She's terrified, Stefan, and I just know that it's Katherine who's scaring her. And I know Caroline, okay? She cares about you and Elena and she wouldn't just—"
"Hey, hey," Stefan cut her off with a sad smile. "I believe you."
"You do?"
"Yeah, if you say that Caroline wouldn't spy on Elena and me without a good reason, I believe it," Stefan nodded. "I trust you and you trust Caroline which means I trust Caroline."
Lucy beamed at Stefan and practically leapt at him, tightly wrapping her arms around his neck. She couldn't help it; every time she tried to lock away how she felt about him, he always did something that pulled her back. Every single time.
Stefan chuckled and rubbed Lucy's back, enjoying the heat of her embrace and the scent of her coconut shampoo. He loved Lucy's hugs, he always felt so comfortable and safe in her arms.
Lucy sighed and pulled herself together before pulling away from Stefan. "Where's Elena?" she asked, looking around for her sister.
Stefan stopped and listened carefully for his girlfriend. "Coming down the stairs right now."
Soon enough, Elena walked into the living room and gave Lucy a cautious smile. "Hey," she waved awkwardly. "Where's Caroline?"
"Um," Lucy checked her phone and saw that she had a message from Caroline from ten minutes ago. "On her way. She should be here any minute."
The doorbell rung five minutes later and Lucy and Elena both decided to answer the door to show their support for Caroline.
"Hey," Caroline smiled at them as they ushered her into the house. "Sorry that took forever. I just didn't know how long my mom was gonna be here."
Lucy smiled comfortingly and silently wondered where Caroline got the turtle cardigan she was wearing. It was adorable and she wanted one.
"Damon said it will take three days tops for the vervain to leave her system," Elena informed her. "Maybe even sooner."
Stefan joined the three of them as they started walking down the hall that led to the basement.
"Hey!" Caroline greeted him; Stefan grinned at her. "You get some bunny in you?"
"Deer, actually," Stefan corrected her and winked at Lucy, who stifled her laugh. "I'm feeling much better, thank you."
Once in the basement, Stefan led the girls past their storage area—which included a large fridge that held only blood bags—and into the cellar. They passed the cell where their vervain was grown and stopped at the one where Damon set Liz up.
Just as they approached the cell, they heard Liz say, "Keep Caroline away from me, please. I don't want to see her."
Lucy's heart clenched and she grabbed Caroline's hand, gripping tightly.
"She's your daughter, Liz," Damon defended Caroline, glancing at her for a brief second.
"Not anymore. My daughter's gone."
"You have no idea how wrong you are about that," Damon said firmly, giving Caroline a rare, sympathetic look.
Caroline grimaced and set down Liz's suitcase before turning around and pushing past Elena and Stefan to leave the cellar. Lucy followed after her; her best friend needed her now more than ever with everything that was going on.
Lucy found Caroline in the living room, snuggling up with a pillow with tears in her eyes. She sat next to her and allowed her to lay her head on her shoulder.
"Your mom's wrong," Lucy whispered. "You're still you, Caroline. A caring control freak that loves deeply and wants to be loved in return."
Caroline whimpered. "She hates me."
"She doesn't," Lucy knew how much Liz loved Caroline. "She's just confused right now. She doesn't know that vampires can have their humanity, okay? She thinks they're all monsters because that's the way she was taught."
Caroline just shook her head and allowed her tears to drench the shoulder of Lucy's shirt. Lucy just let her cry, knowing that's all she could do to help for the meantime.
Elena walked into the room just as Caroline's crying started to wane.
"Can I take you home?" she asked Caroline, feeling awkward. She was still mad at the blonde and with the fight she and Stefan just had, she wasn't feeling all that sympathetic.
"I can't go home," Caroline sniffed, shaking her head.
"Why not?" Elena wondered.
"Because I'm scared."
"Why are you scared?" Elena sat on the coffee table in front of Caroline and Lucy and placed her hand on Caroline's knee. "Caroline, you can talk to me."
"Katherine's gonna be there," Caroline admitted, exhaling shakily. "And she's gonna want me to tell her everything that happened today. She told me I had to spy on you and report back to her."
"I know," Elena said, pursing her lips. "And I've been so mad at you. But then I tried to put myself in your position so that I could understand why you would do this to me and to Stefan because he's been such a friend to you…who did she threaten?"
"Matt," Caroline whimpered, scooting closer to Lucy. "She threatened Matt and I'm so scared of her! I'm so scared…"
"And you should be," Elena said empathetically. She looked between Caroline and Lucy and added, "Guys, we all should be."
Lucy nodded in agreement; Katherine was dangerous and no one was safe.
"Why is she doing this?" Caroline asked softly. "What does she want?"
"That's the million-dollar question," Elena sighed. She held out her arms, pulling both Caroline and Lucy into a hug. "Come here."
Lucy allowed herself to hug her sister back, some of her anger melting away. In the end, Elena had listened to her about Caroline's situation with Katherine.
It'd be okay. Everything would be okay…