[4x06; We All Go a Little Mad Sometimes]

Lucy angrily pressed her lips together as she gathered up the rest of Alaric's weapons that Damon had left on her kitchen island. She ignored the sad green eyes on her as she stomped to her closet, throwing them back into the bin she originally put them in.

"Lucy."

She didn't say anything to Stefan. She was pointedly ignoring him while she made her way to her dresser to grab pajamas so she could take a shower and wash all the blood off her body. She didn't want to say anything that'd she regret because lately, that's where her anger led her.

She loved Stefan but right now, she needed time to process everything that went on. She was taken hostage, she had witnessed a hybrid being killed, she had been shot, and she found out that not only did Stefan compel Jeremy, but he and Elena were keeping secrets for some unknown reason.

"Lucy, I'm sorry," Stefan didn't know what else to do but apologize. The lump in his throat made it hard to speak.

Everything had gone wrong. Everything. Connor was dead. The map to the cure was gone. The chance for a normal human life with Lucy slipped through his fingers before he even had the chance to grasp it.

"You're sorry?" Lucy turned to him, a pair of pajama pants clenched in her hands. "Sorry that you compelled my brother, that you and Elena are keeping something from me, or that you left when I had just been shot?"

"I'm sorry about all of it," Stefan told her, clenching his jaw guiltily. "I just—I can't tell you what's going on but I-I need you to trust me, okay?"

Lucy gave him a look of disbelief. "I do trust you, Stefan. I trust you more than anyone."

Stefan quickly crossed the loft to stand in front of her, grabbing one of her hands to hold it tightly. "Then I need you to trust that this is nothing bad. I would never put you in danger, Lucy."

"I don't care about me," Lucy pulled away from him. "You compelled my brother, Stefan. You compelled him even though you know how I feel about that—you know that more than anyone I know."

"Lucy, I—"

"Honestly, I don't want to talk about it anymore tonight," Lucy cut him off. "I-I have those interviews in the morning and then I'm helping with the set-up of Professor Shane's exhibit. I want to shower and go to bed."

"Okay," Stefan nodded in agreement; his stomach twisted from the way they were leaving things for the night but he had to give her time. She was right but so was he; she couldn't know about the cure when it was so dangerous to know. "Okay, I'll go. I love you, Lucy."

"I love you, too, Stefan," Lucy made sure he knew. Just because she was angry didn't mean she felt anything less for him. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

When Stefan left the apartment, Lucy went straight into the bathroom. The shower was turned to the hottest temperature she could stand it; when she saw the access blood flow down the drain, tears spilled down her cheeks.

Lucy tried not to think about the previous night as she sat in the hallway outside of one of the conference rooms in the school, waiting for her interview. The Miss Mystic Falls pagent was the upcoming weekend, so all week she'd be doing interviews, rehearsals, and decorating city hall.

Lucy was one of four girls on the committee and, while the other girls were very nice, she was sure she was going to win. She was the youngest member of the town's planning committee, she was co-chair of the dance committee, she was on her way to being valedictorian, and Mrs. Lockwood, who was one of the judges, absolutely adored her. Just like she loved Mystic Falls, the town loved her back.

Either way, she had to be on her best game. She wouldn't say she was competitive but she had always wanted to be Miss Mystic Falls.

She tapped her nude heels against the linoleum flooring, concentrating on the slight tapping sound they made. She perked up when Molly Fell walked out of the room where the interviews took place, a self-satisfied look on her face.

This was it. She was next.

"Lucy Gilbert?"

Lucy stood up and straightened the skirt of her black polka-dotted dress. She walked through the door and smiled sweetly at Mrs. Lockwood, Mrs. Johnston, Mr. Isaacs, and Professor Shane. They made quick introductions, though she knew everyone but Professor Shane, and she took a seat in front of their table.

"Before we start, Miss Gilbert," Mrs. Johnston—one of the art teachers at the high school—began. "I'd like to remind you that even though you are still sixteen, we've allowed you to compete in this year's pagent because it was pushed forward and you're in your senior year."

"Thank you, I very much appreciate it," she assured her politely.

"Okay, well, Lucy, we already know a lot about you," Mrs. Lockwood opened the file with her name on it that held her application, entrance essay, and transcripts. "Why don't you tell us what made you get so involved in the community?"

"Well, as you know, I've lived in Mystic Falls my whole life. I love the town and I love the people," Lucy answered smoothly. "While I was growing up, the history of the town and the Founding Families always fascinated me so my mom would tell me stories."

"She passed her love of the community down on me," she continued. "and I continue to serve, not only because I know it would make her proud, but I genuinely love Mystic Falls. If I can help the town and its people, I will do everything in my power to."

Mrs. Johnston looked impressed with her answer and so did Mr. Isaacs. Professor Shane had a thoughtful expression on his face while Mrs. Lockwood looked proud.

"Why don't you give us a quick summary of your involvement."

Lucy nodded and smiled. "I am a junior member of the Mystic Falls planning committee, the co-chair of the dance committee, and I have been on the student council since my sophomore year."

"Sounds like you've been busy," Professor Shane commented. "How have you been dealing with your grades?"

"Despite being the youngest in my class, I'm on track to be valedictorian," Lucy told him. "Currently, I have a 4.0 GPA."

"And your plans after graduating?"

"I've applied to Duke University and Whitmore College."

"Let me ask you this, Miss Gilbert," Mr. Isaacs leaned forward to rest his elbows on the table in front of him. "You've encountered so much loss recently. How do you find the strength to continue to succeed in your life?"

Lucy pressed her lips together thoughtfully. She hadn't expected a question like this and it was tough to answer. But, at the same time, the answer was so inherently simple.

"Loss is tough and I struggle with grief just like anyone else," Lucy admitted, clasping her hands together so she wouldn't mess with her bracelet. "I get angry and I get sad and sometimes it's not pretty…but my siblings and my friends get me through the hard parts. They're my strength. They make me realize that I can't keep thinking about the past and dwelling on how much I've lost because I still have so much in front of me."

She looked down at her lap for a brief second before looking back at the judges. Mrs. Lockwood gave her a comforting smile; Lucy was so glad she was there. They may not be close like Lucy and Liz were but Mrs. Lockwood gave her so many opportunities that other girls her age may not have. She was lucky.

"Well," Mrs. Lockwood closed her file with a pleased smile. "Thank you so much, Lucy. We look forward to this week."

"So do I," Lucy agreed with a bright smile. "I've been looking forward to this for a long time. Thank you so much for the opportunity."

She shook each of their hands again and left the room, glad that it was over. She quickly went to her locker—thankfully, she got it unlocked on the second try—and grabbed the bag of clothes that she brought to change into so she could help set up for Professor Shane's exhibit. He was the occult professor that took over Grams' classes at Whitmore and now he was recruiting from the high school with other professors from Whitmore.

Once dressed in jeans and a gray v-neck, she joined Matt and Jeremy in the main hallway to help. There were a bunch of items that Professor Shane brought to showcase, plus there were other faculty members from the college that had to set up booths, too. Even Joel was going to speak as a representative of the internship program that the college offered.

The three of them helped out with the internship booth—even though Joel had yet to appear—before moving onto the history department's booth. They had fun setting up and Lucy was glad that Jeremy agreed to hang out for the day.

She was so worried about him. After everything that happened the day before with Connor keeping them hostage, his eventful day hadn't ended. Apparently, during the night Elena was hallucinating and stabbed Jeremy in the neck with a kitchen knife. His ring had brought him back to life but that only worried Lucy more; what if what happened to Alaric happened to him, too?

Jeremy let her hover but made sure that she knew he was okay but that only soothed some of her worries. Elena had killed Connor and now she was having hallucinations that he was still alive and taunting her. That was why she stabbed Jeremy in the first place. It was horrifying but not really something she could help with.

And it might have been selfish of her but she needed to be at the school. She wanted this for herself and she felt like she had been sacrificing an awful lot for Elena recently. Soon the hallucinations would pass and her sister would be back to normal.

"Hey," Jeremy called to Lucy and Matt as they walked back from their break with a bottle of water for him. "do you see anything on my hand?"

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows and grabbed his hand. "No," she observed the unblemished skin. "Why?"

"What's going on, Jere?"

"What if I told you I saw the beginning of a mark like Connor's?"

Lucy blinked at him in shock while Matt asked, "Are you serious?"

Jeremy nodded. "It showed up after he died," he told them. "He told me that I was a potential; that was why I could see his mark?"

"Do you think that you'll be a hunter like him?" Lucy asked him worriedly. "Like he passed the torch onto you or something?"

"I don't know, Lou," Jeremy frowned at her, his face falling almost helplessly.

"We'll figure it out," Lucy squeezed his hand comfortingly and then released it just as April Young approached them.

"Hey, guys!" she greeted them with a smile, holding a wooden statue in her arms.

"Hi," Lucy grinned at her.

It was then that Professor Shane approached them holding a large rock close to his chest. "She's gone all the heavy lifting," he told Lucy, Matt, and Jeremy about April. "I found her wandering the hallways with this. Hi, Lucy."

Lucy smiled at him and then turned to Jeremy and Matt to introduce him. "Guys, this is Professor Shane. He's in charge of all of this."

"I wrangle all of the freaky stuff," Professor Shane added. "and you don't have to call me Professor. Shane's fine."

Matt and Jeremy gave him polite, if not awkward, smiles.

"Thank you guys for helping, I really appreciate it," Shane continued. "Y'all get free admission to my free exhibit."

Lucy laughed as though what he said was funny; yes, she was sucking up to the guy. "Looking forward to it!"

Shane gave them one last smile before heading off into the classroom where his exhibit was being set up.

"Why does he look so familiar?" April asked them once he was out of hearing range.

Jeremy shrugged. "No idea."

April nodded. "Hey," she perked up. "Have you guys seen Rebekah? She said she was going to help me look into what caused the explosion at my dad's farm and then she just—"

"Disappeared," Matt offered. "Yeah, I know."

That was another problem. Rebekah was still missing and she hadn't contacted Lucy despite the fact that she had called her using Caroline's phone since hers was now in pieces somewhere in the Grill. She was worried about her oldest sister and was nervous that her disappearance had to do with whatever Stefan and Elena were up to.

"I'm trying to get in contact with her," Lucy told April to save face. "I'll let you know if she gets back to me."

"Thanks, Lucy," April cheered up a little. "Well, see you guys later."

As April left to go deliver the statue to Shane's exhibit, Lucy turned back to Matt and Jeremy. "All right, break time's over."

Matt laughed and clapped Jeremy on the shoulder. "You heard the boss."

"You're looking at what people believe to be the world's first tombstone," Shane told the crowd that had gathered to listen to his lecture. "This item was donated to Whitmore College just last month. Discovered…"

Lucy listened carefully to what Shane was talking about. Because of what she was, she was really interested in the information he taught in his classes. She had heard that Bonnie went to talk to the man and had been practicing her magic with him, so she wondered if he knew anything about siphoners. It would be nice to learn more about her kind.

"The headstone belonged to a very powerful witch," Shane continued. "A witch so powerful, in fact, that Silas—that was his name—created a spell that would grant him immortality."

She raised her eyebrows thoughtfully. If Shane really knew his stuff like Bonnie said then the story had to be true, right? Esther did create vampires using some sort of immortality spell a thousand years ago, so who's to say that something like that wasn't already created.

And the name Silas…it struck some kind of recognition in her that she couldn't place.

"Now, legend says that Silas did the spell with the help of a lady-witch who loved him, a woman named Qetsiyah," Shane stated. "Sadly for Qetsiyah, Silas wanted to give immortality to two other women…So, Qetsiyah killed them and buried Silas alive, leaving him powerless, immortal, and alone. This might actually be the origin story of Hell Hath No Fury Like a Woman Scorned."

People in the crowd laughed good-naturedly at his joke and Lucy twisted her lips. It sounded like a tragic and messed up story to her. She didn't think it was funny.

"Now it's said that Silas wants to rise again and regain his power. Wreak havoc on the world. Maybe we should be afraid…or maybe it's all a bunch of crap and that's just an old rock," Shane finished up his lecture. "All right, listen, enjoy exploring the exhibit. I'll be around to answer any questions. Thank you for coming."

Lucy clapped politely with the crowd but stopped when she felt fingers wrap around her elbow. She flinched away but sighed in relief when she saw that it was just Stefan that had snuck up on her.

"Hey."

"Hi," he gave her a small smile. "Can we talk?"

Lucy nodded and Stefan led her out of the exhibit, making their way to the history classroom.

"What's going on?" she asked him, her stomach dipping when she saw the serious look on his face.

"Where have you been all day?" he asked, his voice hardening ever so slightly. "I've been calling you and you never answered. I was worried about you."

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows. "I told you that I had the Miss Mystic Falls interviews today," she reminded him a little huffily. "and my phone was smashed to pieces by a lunatic, in case you forgot."

"Sorry, I forgot," Stefan's face fell in realization; Lucy bit her lip, trying to conceal how hurt she was that he forgot about something that was so important to her. "I knew you did, it's just there's been a lot going on today."

"Yeah, I know, with Elena," Lucy stated flatly; Stefan could see how unhappy she was. "I guess that's what guilt does to you when you stab your little brother in the neck."

"What, no," Stefan shook his head. "Lucy, that's not what's going on. She's having hallucinations of Connor."

"Because she killed him."

"You don't understand—"

"Well, then make me understand!" Lucy raised her voice in frustration. "Stefan, I don't know anything that's going on so excuse me if I don't know the reality of the situation."

Stefan sighed heavily and brushed his fingers through his hair, trying not to get irritated with her. It wasn't her fault that she was in the dark, it was his. He had to remind himself of that even though he didn't like being yelled at.

"Connor was a hunter—"

"Yeah, I know that—"

"I'm trying to tell you what's going on and I can't do that if you're interrupting me," Stefan said firmly; Lucy pressed her lips together and nodded at him to go on. "Connor was part of a group of hunters called the Brotherhood of the Five. They're specially created to hunt vampires over nine hundred years ago. They have a mark—his was invisible—that grows each time they kill a vampire and if a vampire kills them, first, there's a curse that makes that vampire the hunter's last kill."

"Okay, so what does that mean?" Lucy folded her arms over her chest. "Elena's dying?"

"The hallucinations that Elena is having are trying to get her to kill herself."

Well, Lucy felt like a bitch now. All throughout the day she'd be indignant about Elena's condition and the whole time she had been having suicidal hallucinations. She was hardly even worried about her yet Elena was going through something horrible.

"God," Lucy breathed ducking her head to hide the guilt she felt. "Okay, so where is she now?"

"Klaus has her so she won't hurt herself but Joel and Caroline are getting her out of there," Stefan informed her. "Damon, Bonnie, and I came here to get you and Professor Shane."

Lucy looked at him in shock. "Does Bonnie think Shane knows something?"

"Yes, she does," Damon walked into the classroom, answering her question instead of Stefan. "Heard your argument, by the way. Trouble in paradise?"

"Shut up, Damon," Lucy and Stefan spoke in unison, each of them sending a glare to the oldest Salvatore.

"Touchy," Damon smirked. "Anyway, Bonnie's getting the creepy professor right now. They'll be here any second."

Damon was right; a minute had only passed by when Bonnie entered the classroom with Shane on her heels.

"Shane, these are my friends, Stefan and Damon," she introduced the brothers to Shane. "They're kind of experts on this stuff, too."

"I audited your class," Damon informed him. "It's very enlightening."

"That's right," Shane nodded, his eyes darting from Damon to Stefan and Lucy, who wound up standing side-by-side without realizing it. "I remember you. What's your specialty?"

"The origin of the species."

"Oh, I think Darwin would arm wrestle you for that distinction," Shane laughed.

"Not that species."

"You're into the monster stuff," Shane nodded with a skeptical look at Bonnie. "All right, awesome."

Damon gave him an unimpressed look and pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket; he unfolded it and handed it to Shane. "I was kind of hoping that you might have stumbled upon this at some point, maybe."

Shane looked over the paper. "This is the hunter's mark," he flipped the paper over to show Stefan and Lucy. "Where'd you get this?"

The paper had a drawing on it of an arm; there was a large mark curled around it with weird letters and symbols. Lucy could see Jeremy's initials at the bottom. Had he drawn what he saw of Connor's invisible mark?

"Came to me in a dream," Damon shrugged casually.

"Do you know anything about the hunter's curse?" Stefan spoke up, wrapping his arm around Lucy's shoulders without a thought.

Neither of them were thinking about how they were a little irritated with one another.

Shane scoffed. "Why, you got a dead hunter in the trunk of your car or something?"

"It's just metaphorical," Stefan replied.

Shane's eyes darted to Bonnie and then back to the drawing, looking a little nervous. "Legend says that if a hunter is killed by that which he hunts then that person will be cursed to walk the earth and torment until…"

Bonnie looked at him anxiously. "Until what?"

"Until a new hunter's awakened and their legacy is passed on," Shane finished. "They're called potentials."

Lucy sighed and bowed her head, remembering all that went on between Connor and Jeremy. At the Grill, Connor was teaching Jeremy the ropes and he did call Jeremy a potential. A mark had appeared on Jeremy's hand as soon as Connor was killed. Oh, God, this wasn't good.

"Listen, I have a bunch of research on it," Shane offered. "Why don't I go grab it for you?"

"That would be great," Damon said while taking out his phone.

As soon as Shane left the room, Bonnie turned to Lucy, Stefan, and Damon. "How are we supposed to find a potential hunter?"

"You won't have to look far," Lucy sighed reluctantly. Elena was gonna die if the hunter's curse wasn't broke and she knew Jeremy would do anything in his power to help her.

"Exactly," Damon nodded and put his phone to his ear. "Little Gilbert, your services are needed."

Lucy and Stefan quietly explained what was going on to Bonnie as Damon spoke with Jeremy on the phone, telling him their location and urging him to hurry. It was after Shane came back with the research and left the school again that Bonnie knew everything that was going on with Jeremy.

"How did I not know any of this stuff about Jeremy?" she demanded angrily.

"The witch who loses her powers gets left out of the important conversations," Damon told her matter-of-factly.

"Shut up, Damon," Lucy snapped at him before turning to Bonnie. "They've been keeping things from me, too."

"For good reason, Lucy," Stefan reminded her in a tired voice.

Lucy rolled her eyes passive-aggressively.

Jeremy took that moment to enter the classroom. "Is everything okay? What does Elena need?"

"We figured out how to help her," Bonnie informed him, forgetting about her anger at being left out. "You need to kill a vampire."

"Oh, great," Jeremy nodded. "Give me a stake, I'll kill Damon right now."

Lucy snickered but stopped when Stefan nudged her with a pointed look.

"Easy, van Helsing," Damon glared at Jeremy. "We'll get you one. Don't worry."

"Before you do this, you need to know what you're getting yourself into," Bonnie warned Jeremy.

Jeremy went to respond but Stefan's phone rang. He pulled it out of his jacket and answered it, putting it on speaker so Lucy, Bonnie, and Jeremy could hear.

"Hey, Joel, we figured out how to help Elena," Stefan told him.

"Yeah, well, we have a big problem," Joel sighed. "I lost her."

"What?" Damon asked sharply. "Again?"

"She's in bad shape," Joel stated. "I tried to help her but she attacked me. Damon, you have to go find her and talk her down. She'll listen to you."

"Fine," Damon agreed. "I'm heading out now. Stefan will tell you what we found out."

Damon sped out of the classroom and Stefan informed Joel about Jeremy and his need to kill a vampire to release Elena from the hunter's curse. Bonnie and Jeremy went to go meet up with Joel while Lucy and Stefan went to her apartment.

It was silent as they entered, Lucy making sure to put her interview clothes into her dirty clothes basket. The air between her and Stefan was tense and both of them knew that it had everything to do with the secrets Stefan was keeping from her.

By the time that Lucy came out of her bathroom changed into pajamas and there still hadn't been a word between them, Stefan knew that he had to take the first step.

"Lucy, I'm sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry about," Lucy replied tensely.

She dragged her laundry basket over to the closet that held her washer and drier. Stefan walked over and helped her separate her clothes into two piles—ones that could go through a normal washing cycle and ones that needed the delicate cycle.

"You're doing that passive-aggressive thing where you act like you're not mad," he pointed out, picking up the normal pile and piling them into the machine. Lucy glared at him and stuck soap and fabric softener pods into the tub before turning it on. "You're doing it right now."

"Fine," Lucy sighed and turned to him, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm mad that you're keeping secrets from me. Secrets that included Elena."

"Well, actually, Damon and Joel know about it, too," Stefan said unhelpfully.

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" she raised an eyebrow at him. "Stefan, I don't know about you, but I don't want secrets in our relationship. You don't have to hide anything from me; I want your good, your bad, and your in-betweens. I want all of you."

"I want that, too, Luce."

"Well, then, tell me what's going on," she pleaded, her eyes filling with tears.

Stefan looked hesitant. "Luce, it's dangerous…"

"Stefan, please, just tell me…"

Stefan couldn't resist her sad face. She was right, anyway. He didn't want to hide things from her and he'd be just as upset if she did this to him. Klaus may think they were in danger if anyone outside of Mystic Falls knew of the cure but Stefan wouldn't let anything bad happen to her—besides, Lucy could take care of herself. She was a little badass.

"There's a cure," he blurted out.

"A cure," Lucy repeated slowly, a little confused. "A cure for what?"

"A cure for vampirism," Stefan told her. "That's what the hunter's mark is. It's a map to the cure."

"And this is a real thing?"

"Klaus, Rebekah, and Elijah ran into the Brotherhood of the Five in the twelfth century," Stefan informed her. "It's the real deal—at least, Klaus, Elena, and I are pretty sure it is."

Lucy nodded, her anger slowly fading as she tried to process everything he had told her. There was a cure for vampirism and they were trying to find it. Obviously Elena wanted the cure because she never wanted to be a vampire but...Wait, did that mean—did that mean that Stefan wanted the cure?

She knew Stefan so it was more than likely that he did want the cure—but she had to make sure that was what he wanted before she assumed anything.

"And you want the cure?" she asked him quietly.

Stefan nodded seriously. "I do," he confirmed. "I never wanted to be a vampire, you know? And it'd—it'd be nice not to be a blood-thirsty monster."

"You're not a monster, Stefan," Lucy said firmly, grabbing his hands to intertwine their fingers together. "But…if you want the cure, I want to help you. I want to be by your side."

Stefan smiled down at her, his beautiful dimples popping out. "I don't want to take the cure just for me, Luce. I want to take it for you."

Lucy gave him a confused look. "What do you mean?"

"I want a human life with you," he told her earnestly, rubbing the back of her hands with his thumbs. "I want to go to college with you, I want to marry you, I want to have a family…There are so many things I want to do but I don't want to do them without you."

Tears stung Lucy's eyes as she looked up at him. Her heart swelled knowing that he wanted that with her because that's what she wanted with him, too. She loved Stefan so much that she couldn't imagine living her life without him. She couldn't imagine having a husband that wasn't him or having kids without him being their father.

An eternity would be perfectly fine, if that was what happened. But a human life? That would be beautiful and amazing and perfect. It was her dream and it turned out to be Stefan's dream, too.

They had a chance to make their dreams happen.

Lucy couldn't really say anything because he had successfully rendered her speechless. So, she showed him how much she loved him without words. She stood on her tiptoes and pulled him into a passionate kiss.

Stefan immediately reciprocated her affection, untangling their fingers so he could grab her thighs and pick her up. Her legs immediately went around his waist and she took the opportunity to push her tongue into his mouth, moaning into it when he squeezed her ass in return.

All of a sudden they were a blur as Stefan sped them over to her bed. He threw her on the mattress and pulled off his shirt before climbing on top of her, digging his head into her neck to press sweet, open-mouthed kisses to her delicate skin.

"Stefan…"

Stefan simply hummed as he licked down her neck to her collarbone. Lucy ignored the slight tickling at the spot as he soon moved on to the top of her cleavage. When he unbuttoned the top button of her pajama shirt with his teeth, she was pretty sure she was going to have a heart attack because, God, that was sexy.

"Stefan," she breathed through her pleasure. "are we going to have sex?"

Stefan pulled his head away from her and sat up on her hips, using his fingers to undo the rest of the buttons. "No," he answered breathlessly, softly moving his hips so she could feel his hardness against her. "Our first time isn't going to be make-up sex."

"Oh, okay."

"But," Stefan removed her shirt and easily undid her sports bra, his hands quickly cupping her breasts. "that doesn't mean we have to stop."

Lucy giggled. "I like your thinking," she agreed. "I—oh, my God…"