Disclaimer: I only own my OCs

A/N: This is where the sacrifice drama really starts to ramp up! And where it does get kinda dark for a bit too, as Alexa is not in a good place. I've loved exploring the other side of the sacrifice. Like, we know why Elena wants to give up her life, but with Alexa, I can properly explore what it's like for the ones who want to save her.

XXX

I curled myself up into a ball, resting my head on Tyler's arm. Tyler sighed and moved my head so that it was laying on his chest instead. One hand started playing with my hair while the other gently rested on my forearm. He didn't bother asking if I was ok, because he knew me well enough to see that I clearly wasn't. I idly traced a finger over Ty's chest as my gaze revolved around his room. For the first time in days, I allowed the 'I'm fine, seriously guys, I'm perfectly fine' mask to drop. Because the truth was, I wasn't fine. An ancient psycho vampire wanted to kill my twin in some sort of sacrifice and I have just made a deal with the vampire who killed me to stop him. Fine was so far off the table that 57 dinner courses wouldn't be enough to find it.

But despite all of that bad shit happening, that wasn't the main thing that was bothering me. No, instead something far far worse had been playing on my mind. And this was one issue that I couldn't keep bottled up. Not this time. No, this time, it would destroy me.

"I've been thinking of drinking again."

And with that sentence, I had admitted just how badly everything had been affecting me. It was common knowledge amongst my trusted homies that I had not touched a drop of alcohol in ages. Not since me and Elena had that big blow out over my drinking habits. And they had all been very supportive in helping me keep off the good stuff, the bad stuff, hell, the stuff in general. Even, my dear Damon had been supportive in his own, unique Damon way. And no, I'm not including the times that he waved glasses of the good stuff under my nose. But even then, he wouldn't let me touch a drop of it, because he knew that deep down, I didn't want to. And he supported my decision.

"Oh Alex, what's bothering so much that you would want to do that?" Ty sighed, removing his hand from my hair, wrapping his arm around me and pulling me closer. His hand rested on my side with his thumb gently stroking my waist.

While it felt good to have that closeness with someone, with the boy who I thought of as my older brother. It just… didn't feel right… and I knew why it didn't feel right… I wanted it to be Damon holding me like that. I wanted to be able to curl up into his chest, to feel his arms around me and to know that everything will be ok. Because I had the support of the man who I loved. But because of this stupid Klaus sacrifice situation, I couldn't even tell him that I loved him. Not yet, anyways.

"It's just… it's everything. All of it. It's just been happening all in one go. And I haven't even had time to breathe in between it all. I feel as though I'm getting over one thing and boom! Another thing comes careening into my life. And oh look, there's something else. It's all just pilling up and I haven't had any time to process and accept any of it and it's all getting too much and I can't cope with it anymore. I just can't express how I feel about it all and I've just been bottling it up. And now it just feels as though everything is going to explode."

I struggled to answer his question, unable to articulate exactly what I was feeling into a cohesive answer. Instead it all came out as one long rush.

But there was one thing that was clear from my answer. And that was that I wasn't able to cope anymore. And the last time that I wanted help coping with everything that was happening around me, I turned to alcohol. And then everything else came crashing down around me.

Laughing shakily, I joked, "Hell, I'm just surprised that I didn't go on an out of control drinking binge after Katherine killed me."

But I suppose that that was just because it happened to me. I didn't lose anyone. Not like when Luke and Jazz died and I lost my boyfriend and my best friend. No, this time I temporarily lost my life only to get it back a short time later. And I don't even remember being dead. But finding Luke's body, dead and throw away to the side like garbage, that memory was still clear as day.

"I can't deny it, we did expect you to."

"Instead I just surprised everyone by going on a cake baking and no sleeping binge."

"Yeah you did."

"Well, what can I say? I'm just full of surprises."

This time, it was a proper smile that I flashed up at my big bro. Because that was just so like a response that I would give if everything was ok and I was all happy and Alexa-like. That was the response that I would give if I was feeling normal.

"That you are, little sis, that you are," Ty smiled as he poked my cheek. "And it's good to see that smile again."

I shrugged, frowning slightly, "I guess I just need to… learn how to be happy again. It's like after Luke and Jazz died, I was so so upset and… not myself. And just like then, I just need a little kick to 'find myself' or whatever it is that people say."

It's weird to think that only a few short days ago, I was beaming away, delighted that I had finally allowed myself to admit that I was in love with Damon. I had felt as though nothing could hold me back. It's amazing how much difference a few short hours could make.

"Well, if anyone can do it, Alex, it's you."

"Aww thanks brah."

Guess all I need now was that little kick.

But let's just hope that this time, there wasn't something right around the corner that will knock me down. Because I just need to be happy for a little bit. Or I'm afraid at what might happen.

And what I might use to get that happiness back.

XXX

After insisting that Tyler get some sleep instead of driving me home because hot damn that full moon was close, I took a slow walk home. Slow being the key word. Normally, my migration between the houses was rather quick, even when I was walking. But I guess… I dunno… I guess I just wanted to enjoy the stars, the peace, the quiet…

"Hello Alexa."

What was I saying about peace and quiet?

But I couldn't complain, it had been a long time since we had some private time to ourselves. Far too long. And I missed it. Missed it far too much. Because I needed it. Weird, I know. But it helped to… centre me, in a way. I could just be me and I didn't have to worry about being judged. And while I could do that with my family, it just felt… different. Which, again, was weird. It's just one big pile of weirdness.

Kind of like my life, now that I think about it.

"Hello Damon," I turned around to look at my vampire, not even bothering to hide the smile threatening to overtake my face. While I had only seen him a couple of days ago, it felt like longer. I guess it's because we didn't really get to interact like we normally do. It was merely a five-way conversation.

"What are you doing walking around at this time of night?" the vampire asked me as he fell in step beside me as I continued my peaceful night-time walk.

Shrugging, I answered, "Just been visiting my Ty-Ty. Doin' a little bit of brother and sister talking."

I barely even realised that I had drifted over so that I was walking right next to Damon and that I had wrapped my arms around one of his. It just felt… natural to do so.

"Of course you were," Damon rolled his eyes, slipping his arm from my grasp and wrapping it around my shoulders. His fingers gently stroked my skin as I processed what he said.

… Hey! What's he trying to say by that?

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, raising an eyebrow as I slid my arm underneath his leather jacket and hooked my arm around the vampire's waist. It never ceased how to amaze and please me just how yummy his body was. The perfect body for hugging. It was also the perfect body for other stuff, but since we are not together yet, I shall not even try to think about that other stuff.

"Nothing," Damon smirked, leaning in closer, his breath drifting across the outer shell of my ear. As he turned his head back around, I could have sworn that I felt his lips brush against my cheek. But… no… I must have been mistaken. Surely I must be mistaken, he wouldn't do that… would he?

I mentally shook my head and pushed it out of my mind. One thing at a time Lexa, find your happiness first and then focus on telling Damon that you lurve him.

I smiled back and shook my head in mock-exasperation. Being with Damon again, being with him like this, it felt… good. Really good. And being all cozied up to his hot hot bod was definitely a bonus.

…. Lllllllleeeeetttttssss just ignore that, shall we?

"So, what are you up to at this time of night, Damon?" I asked, snuggling in close to his side, revealing in the warmth of his touch.

"I'm a vampire, Alexa, roaming around at night is what we do," my vampire smirked down at me, allowing his face to change.

"No. No. No!" I giggled, guessing his intentions.

Damon laughed before letting go of me and lunging forward. His fangs scraped against my neck in a way which so totally not should have been arousing. I danced away, giggling wildly.

"Damon no!" I shrieked, dodging to the side when my vampire lunged at me again. But I was not quick enough and an arm wrapped around my waist, lifting me off the ground. I lifted my feet of the ground, trusting my Damon to support me.

"You're in a good mood tonight," I remarked, smiling up at my vampire, resting my arms on the arm wrapped around me.

"The same could be said for you, Alexa," Damon returned, his grip tightening slightly as he started walking again.

I rested the top of my head against his jaw as I thought for a moment, "I've realised that I have once again allowed my sadness to take control of me. And I just need to learn how to be happy again. I mean, I did it once, can't be too difficult to do it again."

And if something comes along to knock me down, then I'll just build myself back up again. And I'll be helluva lot stronger too. Even if it takes time, I'll always come through. I'm good like that.

"Well, well, well, you certainly are Little Miss Optimistic tonight."

"I'm feeling optimistic. Now put me down."

For once, Damon did what I requested without being annoying and we returned to our previous position.

It was nice, walking like this. I hadn't really been able to do it since Luke died all those months ago. And wow it's been such a long time. While it still hurt, the pain was bearable now. I could remember the good times without weeping over the sad times. Guess that saying really is true and that time really does heal all wounds.

My Damon was kind enough to walk me back to my house, keeping me entertained all the way.

But I have to admit, I was so tempted the entire way to just admit my feelings for him. To just screw the whole Elena must be sacrificed by Klaus the Idiot problem and just tell him. I was ready. But something held me back. And I just knew that I would be kicking myself for that later on. Because something was just telling me that life was about to come helluva lot harder for everyone. Too hard for sudden declarations of love.

Sometimes, life just sucked. Pun not intended.

"Goodbye Alexa," Damon said as I reluctantly moved away from his side as we approached my front door.

"Buh bye Damon," I smiled at my vampire as I dug my front door key out of my pocket.

Before I could convince myself not to, I quickly kissed his cheek before darting up the porch stairs. My lips tingled slightly as I forced my shaking hands to put the key in the lock and open the door. A quick glance over my shoulder showed that Damon was no longer standing behind me. I had to force down the disappointment that I felt at that as I walked through the front door.

Come on Alexa, get yourself together gurl.

I heard voices upstairs and wondered who the hell was up. It was far too late for normal sane people to be awake. Frowning in confusion, I slowly made my way up the stairs and the situation that I walked in on. Wow.

A sleep looking Elena was stood by her bedroom door, eyes wide and a slightly embarrassed look on her face. Aunt Jenna was dressed in what looked like a man's shirt, logic told me that it was Alaric's shirt, and only in a man's shirt. Her hair was all messed up and there was a very embarrassed look on her face. But it was poor poor Ric who caught my attention. The poor history teacher was only wearing his boxer shorts, which was why I had deducted that Aunt Jenna was wearing his shirt. And he had an uber embarrassed look on his face.

Aww poor Ric.

"Well, well, well, what's going on here, then?" I asked, leaning against the bannister with an amused smile on my face.

Judging from the way that they all jumped at the sound of my voice, they hadn't realised that I was stood behind them.

Ellie was the first to recover and she answered my question, "I heard a noise and came out to investigate, only to find, well…"

Unable to properly finish her sentence, my twin just waved her hand around. And in all actual fact, that was probably the perfect way to describe what I had returned home to.

"We didn't think that anyone else was up," Alaric explained weakly as he exchanged a look with my aunt.

Really dude? Poor excuse. Even if you didn't think that anyone else was up, you've gotta be prepared for anyone who might wake up. For example, Elena has an annoying habit of getting up in the middle of the night for a drink and then checking on her darling twin before going back to bed. Eventually you just learn to listen for her and use the warning to hide errant visitors under the bed. But even then, you've gotta be quiet so that there was no chance of waking anybody up.

"But here you are," Auntie J continued, equally as weakly. "And here Alexa is… Alexa why are you up at this time? Why are you even dressed at this time?"

"I've just got in," I shrugged casually as I meandered my way over to my twin and leaned against her.

"Where have you been?" Auntie frowned, preparing to give some sort of lecture.

"With Tyler, come on Auntie J, I told you before I even went there," I grinned, preparing to deal out my next blow. "Or were you too distracted by a certain history teacher to pay attention to what I was saying?"

The blushes that had fading now returned with a startling and satisfying, (for me), shade of bright red.

"We were just…" Ric started before sighing and just holding out the previously unnoticed bowl of ice cream. "Chunky Monkey?" he offered.

Elena shook her head, declining the offer. There was a look of 'I'm far too tired to deal with this crap' look on her face. And I was simply amazed that she hadn't yet walked out of the situation and into her room. But myself, on the other hand, I was never one to turn down free ice cream. Much to my family's eternal annoyance.

"Don't mind if I do," I grinned, scooping up a rather large helping with one of the spoons and immediately putting it in my mouth.

Oooooooh. Cold. Cold. Cold. Cold.

Meh, tis yummy. And that is worth the cold cold cold.

"Mmmm," I mumbled around the Chunky Monkey, putting the spoon back. "I do loooooove Chunky Monkey."

"We know, Lexa, we know," Ellie sighed and I could just sense the eye roll. She hooked her arm around my waist and slowly pulled me backwards, away from the ice cream. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and rested my head against hers.

"Well," Ri chuckled after a couple of minutes of silence. "I'm naked. So I'm gonna go."

With that said, Alaric walked… well, I say walked, what I mean is that he fled the area at a fast pace… and made his way into Aunt Jenna's bedroom. Hmm, wonder what they're gonna be doing in there…

… Hang on, wait a minute, that's my aunt…. Ewww why am I thinking about that? There are certain things that I should not know or think about. And that, my darlings, is one of them.

I watched him leave a smirk, hmm, I wonder if I can use this as blackmail material to ensure that I can pass history this year? Mwahaha.

As though sensing my thoughts, I felt Elena sigh against my neck, forcing me to resist the urge to laugh. Using her grip on my waist, she gently manoeuvred me towards her bedroom door. Alrighty then, guess I was bunking with the twin. Meh, I don't mind, means I get snuggles cuddles with my twinsey.

"I'm really, really sorry," Auntie Jenna said sheepishly, stepping forward before we could move more than a couple of steps.

"Its ok, Jenna," my twin was quick to reassure our aunt.

"Yeah, don't sweat it, Auntie J," I added, just as keen to reassure her as Ellie was.

"I know he's been staying over a lot," Aunt Jenna just couldn't resist worrying. "Are you… are you sure that it's ok?"

I sighed and twisted my head so that I could see Elena's face, "Do you wanna handle this? Or should I?"

"I'm sure that I can manage it," Ellie said before looking at Aunt Jenna. "Seems like things are good."

Wow, Elena, could you sound any more casual?

"They're extremely good," Auntie nodded. But I could just tell that she was resisting the wild urge to beam madly. And it was so sweet. She deserved to be happy. Especially after the whole Logan Scumfell debacle.

"Then, my darling Aunt, we are extremely ok with it," I responded before Ellie could open her mouth.

Aunt Jenna smiled at us before slowly heading back to her room where her beau and Chunky Monkey ice cream awaited her.

"Aww, young love," I sighed wistfully as we watched her go.

My darling twin let out a little laugh, "Come on, Lexa, let's get to bed."

"Mmm, good plan, twin, my feet are killing me."

"Well, that's what you get for walking home from Tyler's house," my supposedly nice twin smirked as we entered her room.

"Hang on a minute," I frowned, thinking back to the conversation that we had just had with the adults. "How did you know that I walked back? All I said was that I had just got back from Tyler's."

Elena slumped down onto the bed and curled up underneath her blanket.

"I know, my darling little sister, because of the state of your hair."

I gapped in shock at my twin before darting over to the mirror. My hands hovered anxiously over my beautiful hair as I examined it in the mirror. Le sigh, its ok, not as bad as I thought it might be. A tad windswept, but that's easily solved. But not tonight. Nay, now is the time for sleeeeeeep.

"Ya know," I muttered as I wandered over to the bed and collapsed on it. "You is a rude twin."

I grinned as my rude twin grumbled and pushed the blanket off.

"No, Lexa, you are the rude twin."

I gasped in mock offence, "That is so not true."

"Oh it so is," Ellie smiled as she pulled my shoes off and tucked me under the blanket.

Turning onto my side, I smiled at my sister. She smiled back, but there was a hint of confusion in the smile.

"Why are you so happy, Lexa? Not that I don't want you to be happy, it's just such a change from your mood earlier."

"I realised that I needed to be happy again. And I figured that if I act happy for long enough, then I may actually become happy."

My twin smiled sleepily, "I've missed happy you."

Closing my eyes, I smiled back, "I've missed happy me, too. But you know what I've missed more?"

"What?"

"Being happy with you."

"I love you, Alexa."

"I love you too, Elena."

XXX

When I woke up the next morning, the bed next to me was empty. Frowning, I slung my arm across it, huh, t'was cold. Ok then, guess Ellie's been awake for a while. Hehe, I wonder if she encountered Alaric and Aunt Jenna again. I could just imagine the amount of awkward silences and stammers that there would be in the conversation. And I missed it all.

Le sigh.

How disappointing.

Oh well, my beauty sleep was much more important.

After making sure that my 'Happy Alexa' mask was firmly in place, I rolled off of the bed. Scrambling to my feet, I glanced down only to realise that I was still wearing yesterday's clothes. Wrinkling my nose in disgust, I slouched off to my room to find some nice new clothes to wear. After a quick detour to Elena's shower, I flung open my wardrobe and stared at the contents.

Y'know, that's one of things that I hate about having so many clothes, you can never find something to wear. There's just too much choice.

After emptying out my wardrobe, once again ruining Ellie's neat order, I decided upon a pretty little flowery dress and leggings. Once I had fixed my previously windswept and now bed messed hair, I decided that I was now suitable for people to see me.

I slowly made my way downstairs; my nose directing me, eagerly following the smell of beautiful coffee. I barely stopped to say hello to any possible occupants of the kitchen as I sped over to the coffee pot. Carefully, I poured some of the delicious drink into my favourite mug.

Mmmmmm.

Delicious.

The first sip was always the best. And this coffee was just plain yummy. Some of the best I've had in ages.

"Hello to you too, Alexa."

At the sound of my twin's voice, I grinned and spun around, taking extra care to not spill any hot coffee on myself.

"Hello my amazing twin of mine."

Ellie smiled and shook her head, "You're freakishly happy this morning."

"Good coffee," I responded, shrugging casually.

"Thanks."

I rolled my eyes, "Shoulda known that you were the one who made it."

"Yeah, Lexa, you probably should have."

At the tone of Elena's voice, I frowned and took a closer look at her, "What's the matter twin? You don't sound your usual happy self."

"It's nothing, Alexa," my sister dismissed my concerns with a wave of her hand. "Don't worry about it."

Sighing, I put down my mug of coffee and wandered over to my twin. Slinging my arm around her shoulders, I pulled her close, "Come on, Ellie, you can tell me. You can tell me anything, you know that."

"Alexa… I don't know…"

"It's alright, sis, we're twins, twins can help with emotional problems. I can help you. Let me help you, for once."

There was a look of hesitation on her face and I could tell that she was so so close to telling me what was bothering her. But, of course, life had to intervene.

Knock.

Knock.

Knock.

I let out an actual growl before looking at Elena, "Wait here for a moment while I go banish the idiot knocking on our door."

I reluctantly let go of my twin and walked, in a very calm and controlled manner, down the hallway towards the front door.

Right, deep breaths Lexa, they didn't know that you were comforting your twin. No need to bite their head off. Just chill.

I opened the door, only to see Damon and Stefan Salvatore standing on my porch.

Well, it would be those two, wouldn't it? Juuust typical.

I crossed my arms and leant against the side of the door.

"Yes?" I prompted, raising an eyebrow, when neither vampire spoke a word. I determinately kept my eyes on Stefan, not for one second letting myself look over at Damon. Because I knew that if I did, then I would immediately drop the stern demeanour and invite them both in. Damn it all, my crush can be really inconvenient at times. And it knew it.

"Hey," Stefan replied, a hint of awkwardness in his voice. "Is Elena home?"

"Yes," I didn't bother elaborating on my answer. I was not gonna let them intrude on my twin time. Not when I was so close to getting an answer from her on what was bothering her this morning.

"Ok, we need to talk," Stefan said, glancing past me into the house.

Don't whine. Don't whine. Don't whine.

"Why?"

Ah, damnit, I whined.

But it was not Stefan who answered me. No, it was my dear crush, my little weakness.

"We went to see Katherine," Damon said, his tone serious. And, of course, I looked over at him. Our eyes connected and memories of last night and how close we were flooded my mind. Despite my best efforts, a faint blush appeared on my cheeks.

"Come on in," I moved to the side, desperate to distract them before they could see the wonderful blush that adorned my cheeks. While Stefan would have no idea as to why I was blushing, I knew that Damon would immediately know. And, him being him, would make some sort of comment on it.

"Elena, we've got visitors!" I hollered as I followed the two vampires down the hallway. She probably already knew but I thought that I would give her a loud warning. And it made extra sure that nobody, cough Damon cough, could say anything to tease me.

"I noticed," Elena remarked dryly as she appeared in the kitchen doorway.

"I noticed," I mocked quietly as I slipped past the trio in the doorway to retrieve coffee from the counter.

"Why are you here?" Ellie asked the Salvatore brothers, crossing her arms and glancing between them as the three of them moved into the kitchen.

"They went to go and see Katherine," I butted in before either of them could answer. Smiling at Damon's roll of the eyes, I took a seat at the kitchen counter, cradling my coffee mug in my hands.

"You went to see Katherine?" Elena repeated, looking directly at Stefan.

"We had to," Stefan said, not sounding apologetic at all. "We need the moonstone and Katherine is the one who has it."

"Of course we need the one thing that Kathie can use as leverage," I muttered, rolling my eyes as I remembered the deal that I had foolishly made. That girl was clearly creating several plans to get herself out of that tomb. It didn't even surprise me anymore. Life just had one sick sense of humor.

We need something? Let's allow Katherine to acquire it in some way.

She wants to trade it for something? Yeah, sure, let's do that. Let's give her what she wants.

And boom, I end up dead somehow. Or Elena ends up in even more danger than she already is. Wouldn't even surprise me if Katherine had Klaus on speed dial just so that she could give him Elena in exchange for her own safety.

"You're being cynical," a very welcomed voice whispered in my ear as a warm body pressed against my back. "I thought that you were going back to being Happy Alexa."

Humming slightly, I leaned back against the body, trusting Damon to support me.

"I haven't had enough coffee yet," I mumbled, glancing up into ice blue eyes and silently cursing my heart as it sped up.

"It would be because of that," Damon rolled his eyes and I couldn't help but smile.

Raising my voice so that I could talk to everyone in the room, "I'm guessing that Katherine did not give up the moonstone to you."

"When is anything that easy," Damon countered with a 'duh' tone.

Realizing just how similar that was to my previous thoughts, I had to admit, "Touché."

"What does she want in return?" Ellie asked before I could. Of course, her way of asking was much politer than mine.

The two boys exchanged looks before Stefan said, "She wants out of the tomb."

Yep I was definitely right, Katherine was making a lot of plans to get out of that horrid place. But of course she would want out of the tomb. She's dirty, she's hungry and she must be very extremely bored being stuck in that tomb.

"You're not actually considering letting her out, are you?" I asked incredulously, glancing between the two. I knew that it would be an expected reaction from me. And I couldn't let anyone know about my idiot deal.

"She said that if we let her out, then she would give us the moonstone and then leave town for ever," Stefan responded, his eyes firmly on my sister. Yeah, she would leave town. But most likely after killing countless amounts of people and kidnapping my twin to give to Klaus.

"You don't believe her, do you?" It was Ellie's turn to be disbelieving. Deciding to give her her time in the 'you are not serious' spotlight, I completely rested my weight against my vampire and sipped at my coffee.

"No, of course not," Damon scoffed, wrapping his arm around my waist. "We just want the moonstone."

"According to Rose's friend Slater, there's a way to destroy the spell that Klaus wants to break," Stefan explained.

That caught my attention.

"No spell, no doppelganger sacrifice," Damon spelt it out in simple terms. "Ergo, you live."

"Hey, if you guys need any help getting this blasted moonstone, then I am in," I said seriously, looking between the two vampires. Anything to keep my twin alive and safe.

But this could also help me complete my deal with Katherine. Getting her out would complete part one of our deal, the 'get you out of the tomb' part. The 'kill Kaus' will be a itty bitty bit more difficult to do. But hey, I'm sure that I will find a way. Especially since killing Klaus will make sure that there will be absolutely no threat towards my twin.

"How do you destroy it?" my sister asked, crossing her arms.

"By releasing it from the moonstone," Stefan answered, making it sound so simple. Yeah… what he said… releasing it from the moonstone… whatever the hell that means.

"How do you guys even know that this is gonna work?"

Aww come on Ellie, stop asking questions and poking holes in our idea. Well, ok, their idea that I've just become a part of. We're trying to help you. Hell, we're trying to keep you alive.

"Cause we have a crafty witch on our side," my vampire retorted, tightening his grip on me slightly.

"You discussed it with Bonnie."

Uh oh, is that a frown that I see? I'm not liking the look of that frown. That is a bad frown.

"She agreed to do anything she could to help us," Stefan added.

"It's Katherine who has the moonstone," Elena unhelpfully pointed out. "She's not gonna give it to you."

Ellie stop this. Just let us help you. Stop being unhelpful and idea pokey.

"We're gonna get it from her." Nice bit of determination there Stefan. Let's hope that my stupid twin will share that determination.

"Well, what he means to say is that we will pry if from her cold, dead hand if we have to," Damon smirked at my sister. Oooh, I like that more. Can't we just do that instead?

"Bonnie just needs to find a way to release the seal long enough for us to get in, get the moonstone, and get out in time for her to return it," Stefan revealed more of the idea to those of us not in the know.

Oh, so, nothing difficult then.

"Wow," Elena deadpanned with a roll of her eyes. "I mean, it sounds like you guys have it all planned out."

I know. And they didn't even ask me to help. How rude of them.

Rude Salvatore's.

Rude Stefan.

Rude Damon.

… Well… Damon's always rude so nothing new there.

"Yep," Damon smirked, looking so smug. "We're awesome."

Oh god, there goes his ego again. And he has the audacity to say that I have a big ego. Sighing, I elbowed him in the tummy. Gotta keep control of that ego somehow. Besides, if anyone in this room was awesome, it would be me. I am called Alexa the Awesome for a reason.

Duh.

"Except for one thing," Elena spoke up before Damon could retaliate.

"And what's that?" I asked cautiously, a very not good, extremely bad feeling forming in my tummy.

"I don't want you to do it," my twin, my stupid stupid twin, replied, refusing to look at me.

"Come again?" I squeaked in a high pitched voice, trading glances with our Salvatore brothers as I couldn't believe the words I just heard.

Please please please tell me that I heard her wrong.

Please.

Please.

"What are you talking about?" the younger vampire frowned at my twin. "Elena, we don't have a choice."

"What about Klaus?" my idiot of a sister countered, a determined look on her face.

"Forget about Klaus," I tried my hardest not to snap. "Klaus is not important."

"Alexa…" Elena started, the determination on her face flickering slightly at my tone.

"No! Don't 'Alexa' me!" I waved my arms about in agitation. I would've stood up too, but Damon refused to move from his position behind me. "Not now!"

"Look, we'll find him right after we get the moonstone," Stefan cut in before things could escalate.

"Is that before or after he kills everyone that I care about?" Elena snapped loudly in frustration. "Including the three of you."

Damn damn and double damn.

I knew that Katherine's words would have an effect on her. That it would make her wanna give up. And I was goddamn right. Now she wants to give up, to sacrifice, her own life, to just save us all. No Elena. No.

Damon's fingers gently stroked my side, successfully calming me down. I was frustrated at my stupid, 'don't save me' twin. Sighing, I snuggled down deeper into Damon's chest. Turning my head, I rested my cheek against my vampire's upper chest. I just had to calm down before my temper only made my sister even more stubborn.

"Elena, if we can de-spell the moonstone, we can save your life." Poor Stefan sounded so confused at Elena's defeatist attitude.

"I know. Everybody keeps saying that."

We watched as Elena left the room, leaving a confused and displeased silence in her wake.

Forget about Klaus killing her in the sacrifice, I'll kill her myself.

XXX

"Lexa, I need to talk to you," Elena declared as she strode into my room. She didn't knock or anything.

I slowly looked up from the big bar of chocolate that I had gradually been nibbling my way through. Don't judge me, ok? It had been a very stressful day and I needed to chillax. Since I didn't have a boyfriend to spend time with and Tyler was unavailable for the day, I had to resort to desperate measures. Just be thankful that I didn't turn to alcohol. Because I nearly did. My control was teetering on a knife edge and it wouldn't take much to knock me over.

Giving her a hard look, I responded, "Yes?"

I didn't even bother to hide my anger and frustration in voice. She needed to know how I felt. And I since I knew that I wouldn't be able to properly articulate exactly how I felt, well, not without a lot of swear words, I just let her hear it in my voice instead. Much easier that way.

"I know you're mad with me," she sighed, sitting down on the side of the bed. "But I just… I can't risk your life, Lexa, even if it means saving mine."

… Damnit Elena, hit me right in the feels, why don't you. Because I knew exactly what she meant. If our positions were reversed and I was the one to be sacrificed, I would not want to be saved if it meant that Ellie would be in danger.

Damn you twin, emotional manipulation. I don't care how unintentional it may be.

"Aww, Ellie, that no fair," I whined, lobbing the empty wrapper in the bin. "I want to be mad at you."

"I know you do, but saving me isn't worth your life."

"And I disagree, I would happily save you, even if it meant that I die because of it."

"Then I guess we're at an impasse."

We sighed in unison, glancing around my room. Huh, my room that looks as though it desperately needs a clean. Must get round to that… meh, who am I kidding? I'll just wait until Elena or Aunt Jenna get fed up with the mess and clean it for me. As you could probably guess, that tends to happen a lot. Don't know why they moan so much, I know where everything is. And its organised… sort of… let's just call is organised chaos and leave it at that…

But anyways, back to this awful stupid situation that we have found ourselves in. Hmmm, how does that old saying go, with knowledge comes power? Or some crap like that?

We know next to nothing about this whole situation. Or even about Klaus… so…

"Well, I suppose the obvious thing that we need to do is find out more information on the situation," I broke the silence that had formed. It was an awkward silence, and it is very very rare for awkward silences to form between the two of us. And I hated it with a passion when it did.

"And how do we do that?" Ellie asked, one of her pretty little eyebrows slowly moving up her face.

"Uhhhhhhhhhh."

I drew a blank at that one.

Darn you twin, why do have to poke holes in all the plans that I am a part of?

"Didn't Rose take Damon to see a friend of hers to find out more about Klaus and sacrifice?" Ellie asked, prompting a thoughtful frown from me. Hmmmm yes… I do vaguely recall one of the vampires mentioning that… Damon said something about a good coffee shop…

"Yeah… she did… it was while we were talking to your darling doppelganger. Hmm, what was his name?"

"It began with an 'S'…"

"Uh, Simon?"

"Noooo…. Slater!"

"Ok, so… we're gonna go find Slater?"

"But we don't even know what he looks like or where he lives."

Again, not helpful, Elena. But fortunately, I still had a brain.

"Rose knows. Let's get Rose to take us."

Elena didn't look convinced, "She wouldn't do that."

"With the right amount of persuasion she would. And with the Gilbert twins on the case, we will have the perfect amount of persuasion."

"Alexa…"

I leaned forward and patted my twin's hand, "If finding out more information about the sacrifice and Klaus helps save you and keep me alive, then, my dear, we are doing it."

XXX

While my darling twin was not entirely convinced, she still agreed to go along with it. I suppose me threatening to drive to the Salvatore Boarding House to find Rose myself helped speed up her decision making process. I honestly don't get why she's so scared by the idea of me behind the wheel of a car, after all, she's the person in the family who's crashed a car. Don't think that I've forgotten about that.

As usual, the door to the boarding house was unlocked, so I took the liberty of just opening the door without knocking. Not that I normally bother to knock. Ellie followed me in, making sure to shut the door behind her.

"Damon, where's your good coffee? All I can find is the crappy stuff that you make everyone else use," Rose asked as she walked down the hallway, staring intently at the crappy coffee packaging.

"He hides it in the basement behind the freezer full of blood," I helpfully answered the question even though it wasn't directed at me. But even if Damon were here, he wouldn't tell her. No no no, he guards his good coffee like a mama dragon protects her babies. Fortunately for me though, I am a snoop. And a damn good one at that.

The sound of me answering instead of Damon had Rose's head shooting up, "Whoa. Sorry, I thought you were Damon."

"Easy mistake to make when you've been subjected to the crappy coffee," I nodded in understanding. Damon always made everyone else drink the crappy coffee that the Salvatore brothers brought cheap. But of course, he didn't drink it. No, he drank the good stuff that brought secretly and hid. But like I said, I am a snoop and I found the good coffee. The look on his face when I drank it for the first time in front of him. Oh it was priceless. But oddly enough, he never stopped me from drinking it. Obviously he had heard stories about the people who stood between me and good coffee.

"Uh… ok then," Rose said slowly, glancing at my sister.

I could hear Ellie whispering, "Just nod and she'll stop," so I kindly aimed a kick at her shin.

"You are aware that there is no one else here, aren't you?" Rose asked before Elena had the chance to kick me back. Lucky me.

"Yeah, about that, we actually wanted to talk to you," I rubbed my head nervously before forcing a grin on my face.

The vampire was definitely not expecting that.

"Well, then, let's go talk," Rose led us into the living room, taking a seat on the sofa. I sat down next to her while Ellie sat on one of the chairs.

Because I was the amazing, clever twin who came up with idea to go and see Slater for more info on Klaus, I decided that I was only fair that Elena be the one to explain it all to Rose. And that way, if she decided to say no to Elena, then I could swoop in and help persuade her.

"It's a bad idea," Rose shook her head when Ellie finished telling her what we needed her to do.

"No, it's not," my twin disagreed quickly. "From what Stefan told me and Damon told Alexa, your friend Slater obviously has more information about Klaus."

"Yuh huh, and you guys just gave up before you could get it out of him," I added, allowing a cheeky little smile to form on my face.

"Because somebody blew up a coffee shop with us it," Rose pointed out incredulously. Such a terrible tragedy. That poor poor coffee. What a waste.

"There's more to learn," Elena insisted, leaning forward, resting her forearms on her knees. "We just have to find a way to learn it."

"And talking to Slater is the perfect way," I shifted so that my legs were tucked underneath me and fixed my gaze on the vampire.

"Why are you coming to me with this?" Rose looked between the two of us, realising that we were double teaming her.

"Because you owe us," Ellie immediately replied before I could say anything. "One word from either of us, and Damon and Stefan could have killed you for kidnapping us."

"Why are you doing this, Alexa?" Rose asked, focusing her complete attention on me.

"Because the boys are busy with their very important 'get the moonstone' mission and I need to know more about this whole thing," I replied with a sigh. "Just so that I can show my idiot twin just how stupid her defeatist attitude is."

Insert glare at twin.

"Have you told them that you want to do this?" the vampire asked, eyebrow raised.

Rubbing the back of my neck, I replied, "Well, uh, not exactly. Besides, I figured that they were far too busy to take the time to take us to Richmond."

"In other words, you know that they wouldn't be too pleased with you doing this, so you're using their moonstone caper as a chance to sneak away."

"They wouldn't have a problem with me going, I am the sensible twin, after all," I muttered petulantly, crossing my arms. "It's Little Miss Defeatist who they wouldn't trust."

Insert another glare.

"Are you two… fighting?" Rosie frowned, glancing between us. Huh, am I that obvious? Well, I suppose the fact that we chose different and separate seats was another indicator.

"We're having a disagreement," Elena corrected her, rolling her eyes at me. "Her, Damon and Stefan are willing to risk everyone that I love and I'm not."

Oh yeah, Elena, put it like that why don't you?

"They're just trying to protect you."

Yes, thank you Rose, that is exactly what we're trying to do. But noooo, the defeatist in the family just can't see that. Grrrr.

"Exactly, thank you Rose," I said pointedly with a look at my twin. "Now since you are… morally ambiguous… towards our safety, you can be the one to take us."

I had a… manic sort of grin on my face, one that was practically daring anyone to disagree with my plan.

"I don't know…" damn it, Rose was still unsure. And I didn't have any more cards to play.

"Rose," I whined, slumping backwards with my arms crossed.

"Look," Elena took charge and spoke to the vampire. "How would you like to be able to walk during the daylight?"

"I've been a slave to the shadows for 500 years, what do you think?" Rose retorted, a 'duh' tone in her voice.

"I think I know a witch who's willing to do whatever it takes to help," Ellie laid down her 'bam' card. "If you're willing to make a deal."

"You're driving," I smirked, standing up without allowing Rose to say anything else.

Haha point to the Gilbert girls.

XXX

It was a very… interesting car journey to Richmond.

"So Rose, what's going on between you and Damon?" I asked, leaning forward so that I could properly stare at the female vampire from my position in the backseat.

"Hm?" Rose frowned, glancing back at me in the mirror.

"Well, you live in the Boarding House now, you obviously know Damon well despite only meeting him a few days ago and you're allowed to drink the good coffee," I listed each point, holding up a finger each point. "Do you even know how long it took for me to get to drink that without it being made for me? I had to snoop around the house. And that is one biiiig house."

"Are you still going on about that coffee?" Ellie sighed, shaking her head from her position in the front.

"Twinnie, I searched the entire house. Leaving the basement for last. The basement where the coffee was hidden. It took me ages, Elena, ages," I ranted as I remembered just how long it took for me to find the good coffee.

"Yes, Alexa, I know. You wouldn't stop texting me the entire time."

I shrugged uncaringly, "I wanted someone to share my misery."

"Of course you did," my twin muttered, rolling her eyes.

"Alexa, we're just friends," Rose laughed at us, shaking her head.

"Just… friends?" I repeated, y'know, just to make sure. Because there was such a thing as special friends.

"Yes, I don't go for guys who are not, and never will be, interested."

Huh, ok then, so… there will be no danger of you hitching up with Damon then? Awesome. Congratulations Rose, you just made me like you. … And that really sounds bad, doesn't it? Liking her for her not wanting to go after Damon? Damn, I didn't mean it like that, I swear. Ah forget it, I knew what I meant.

Rose pulled into an underground parking lot below what I can only assume to be Slater's apartment building. It was a nice looking apartment building. And there was a nice looking staircase, which we walked up. Because, duh, that one of the things that you do on a staircase.

"Slater?" Rose called, banging on one of the doors. "Slater, it's Rose. Open up!" After the shortest moment in the history of moments, Rose looked over at us, "He's not home. Sorry."

"Even I put more effort than that into stuff," I remarked, crossing my arms and raising an eyebrow.

"We didn't come all the way out here for nothing," Elena backed me up. Rose sighed and rolled her eyes. Using her superior vampire strength, she pushed the doors open. Woah, that always impressed me. I love it.

"After you," she snarked, gesturing inside the apartment.

"Thank you," I smiled sharply, walking in first, throwing all caution to the wind. Elena followed with the vampire coming in last, closing the door behind her.

"Slater?" Rosie called, walking deeper into the apartment as I paused to make sure that my sister was behind me. Despite this being Rose's friend's place, I still wanted to keep my sister safe. Because with her shitty luck, you could never tell what could happen.

"Yo, Mr Slater?" I added my voice to the Slater searching party. Glancing around, I noticed that it was a very nice apartment. I wouldn't mind living in somewhere like this. Oh no, I wouldn't mind at all.

Rose's strangled voice interrupted my musings, "I don't think that he's gonna be much help."

Elena and I exchanged frowns before rushing forward to see what Rose was staring at. The sight that greeted us was what I can only conclude to be Slater's body lying on the floor, a stake through its heart.

"Whoa, that is one dead vampire."

And one very unhelpful and useless vampire.

Why?

Why did this always happen to us?

We come up with a great plan which could result in Elena living and none of us, ie the people she cares about and will thusly give up her life for, will die. But nooooooo, that couldn't possibly happen. No. No. No. Because of our goddamn shitty luck.

After somehow regaining her composure, Rose walked forward and dragged the dead body of her friend out of the room. How she managed to do that, I will never know. I never would. Because I would never be that strong.

My darling twin wandered over to the computer table. I'm telling you, that now dead vampire had a lot of computer screens. Far too many. Ok, it was, like, 3, but still, far too many. He was obviously a computer geek. Ellie had the same 'do I really know what I'm doing?' look on her face that I did when confronted with too much technology.

Going for the easier option, she instead picked up a bunch of papers which were just lying on the desk.

"Looks like whoever blew up the coffee shop found him and killed him for his information," Elena theorized as she flicked through them, looking for something useful.

"Yeah, no kidding," I mumbled, sitting down at the desk and staring at the computer monitors in the hope that I would suddenly download mad computer skillz. Like you would in a video game.

"Probably to stop him from helping people like us," Rose agreed, walking up behind us and glancing at the papers in my twin's hands. Huh, wonder where she put the body… no, Alexa, not important. Think of other things.

"The guy was a vampire almanac," the vampire continued, now looking at the various computer screens. "Knowing too much information just bit him in the ass."

I would most likely have the exact opposite problem. Meaning that too little information would be the thing that bit me in the ass. Well, the only non-kinky thing that bit me in the ass.

…And let's just forget that I said that…

Elena refocused her attention on the stuff that littered the desk while I focused my attention on the vampire in the room. Rose stared at the curtained windows for a couple of minutes before wandering over to them. Just as I was about to ask what she was up to, the crazy, insane vampire just pulled back the curtains, allowing the clear sunlight to fill the room.

"Whoa! Lady, in case you forgot, you're a vampire!" I exclaimed, going to rush forward to pull her out of the way of the blinding sun. "Y'know, burn in the sun vampire?!"

"Alexa relax, it's tempered glass," Rose explained, alleviating my shock and worry. "U.V. rays can't penetrate."

I allowed her words to calm me down as I examined the content look on her face. It was the most relaxed that I had seen her, even with the dead body of her friend in the next room.

"You must love it here then," I smiled softly as I stood up from the chair and wandered over so that I was standing next to the she-vampire.

"I used to just come here and watch the day," she placed her hand on the window and allowed her eyes to flutter closed for a moment.

Awwww that's actually quite sweet.

"I'm sorry about Slater," Elena remarked softly from her position by the desk where she was watching us.

"We both are," I added, placing my hand on her shoulder.

After giving us a quick, thankful smile, she pushed on to the more important matter that we had actually come here for; information about Klaus, "Any luck?"

After putting whatever she was holding back down on the desk, my twin then proceeded to try and log-into one of the computers.

"Um, its password protected," Elena shook her head. "I can't get in."

Of course you can't. Just typical. Why didn't that surprise me?

Oh yeah, that's right, existence hated us.

"This is fine," Rose said, picking up some of the papers without looking at them. "Let's just go."

Yeah, that sounds like a great idea, especially with the dead vampire in the next room. The dead vampire who we had actually came to see. And, knowing our luck, his killer was probably somewhere close by.

Literally seconds after that thought crossed my mind, somewhere in the apartment, a doorknob started rattling. I swear, if that is the dude or dudette who killed Slater then that's it, I'm outta here. And so was Elena. And we are never doing anything like this again.

Rose looked over at us and I could just tell that she was thinking something similar to me. She was probably of the opinion that if anything happened to us, then our Salvatore boys would kill her. Which, to be fair, was not entirely untrue. Because while Stefan wouldn't kill her, there was an itty bitty chance that Damon might. But then again, since they were friends now, he might not.

Le sigh, my vampire was so unpredictable.

"Stay here," she instructed us before moving off to find the person sneaking around the giant apartment.

"It's times like this that I regret my great ideas," I muttered, sliding closer to my twin where I could properly protect her. I wasn't scared, nope, not at all. No. no. no. And because I wasn't scared, but I thought that my twin might be, I grasped her hand in mine. Gently squeezing it, I shuffled even closer to my sister until our shoulders were touching.

"Alice?"

The next thing we knew, a hysterically sobbing girl had thrown herself on Rose and started crying onto her shoulder.

"He's dead!"

… Ok… who the hell is she?

XXX

While Elena made tea for everyone, I snooped through dead Slater's kitchen cupboards in search of any coffee. I was in desperate need of a pick-me-up, especially if I was forced to help the crying girl in the next room.

"She found him a few minutes before we did," Rose sighed as she walked in and sat down on one of the stools.

"How is she?" the ever-caring Ellie asked, glancing over at the girl with her big brown eyes.

"Overreacting," the vampire rolled her eyes, resting her elbows on the counter. "Big time."

"Gee, that's a lovely thing to say about someone who has lost found their even deader significant other," I muttered, standing on tip toes as I peered into one of the higher up cupboards.

"Her boyfriend just died," my twin spoke up, agreeing with my sarcasm. "There's no such thing as overreacting."

"Those tears are for her," Rose snorted without preamble. "She didn't care about Slater."

I slowly lowered my feet to the floor and turned to look at Rose. I was… confused, and by the looks of it, Ellie was confused too.

"She was only dating him long enough to see if he'd turn her," Rose elaborated, rolling her eyes.

"God, what a bitch," I remarked, shocked at the audacity of the girl. "Using him like that. Although, you've gotta admit, it was pretty resourceful of her."

Yeah, I was reluctantly impressed with… Alice?... 's methods. I mean, it was quite clever of her. Mean as well, since the late Slater was probably quite taken with her.

Twinnie turned around to stare at dead vamp's girlfriend for a moment before nodding to herself and picking up one of the teacups. She then stood up and walked over to the previously crying girl in the next room.

Oi, wait for me, twin. I quickly followed her, linking my arm through hers. Righto, let's go double team this gurl. Gilbert Style.

"Thank you," Alice said when kind old Elena passed her the tea that she had made for her.

I made sure to take the seat between Elena and the stranger called Alice. It wasn't that I didn't trust her, I just… didn't trust her. I used to be a really trusting person, but after being involved in all of this vampire crap, I just couldn't take the risks that I used to. So sorry Alice, no offence intended. But my sister came first.

Alice stared at my sister. It was a very intent stare, almost as though she... recognized… her? Oh hell no. But of course, it would be our luck if she knew or knew of Katherine goddamn Pierce.

"You look really familiar," she said, almost confirming my thoughts. "Did you know Slater?"

Oh please please please let that be why she thought she recognized my twin. Please. Because I could not deal with anymore doppelganger shenanigans right now.

"Not personally, no," my sister replied, choosing her words carefully. "I just knew that he kept detailed records of all his vampire contacts and I was hoping that he could point me towards Klaus."

I frowned and looked at my sister. Elena, honey, why do you want to be pointed towards Klaus? She was really worrying me with that statement. But there's no way that she would give herself up to Klaus…. Was there?

"Doubtful," Alice scoffed, shaking her head as she put her tea down on the coffee table in front of us. "Klaus doesn't want to be pointed at."

Good. That means that nobody can enable whatever crazy scheme that Elena is concocting. But then again, it also means that I won't be able to fulfill my side of my deal with Katherine. And also, if I can't find and kill Klaus, then my twin will never be completely safe. Damn it all.

"Ok, fair enough," I faked a smile as I leaned forward. "Do you know what Slater's computer password is?"

"Are you seriously asking me that right now?" Alice looked at me with a poorly disguised look of disgust. "I just saw my boyfriend with a stake through his heart."

I was so tempted to respond to that with 'No, you just saw the person who you were using to turn you into a vampire with a stake through his heart'. But I didn't, because that would be rude. So instead, I replied with, "Hmm, yeah, I really don't care. What's the password?"

"Who do you think you are?" Alice exclaimed, sounding rather angry and looking like she was gonna start swinging. So I got a teeny tiny bit angry myself and opened my mouth to tell her exactly what I thought.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, my darling twin stopped me before I could say anything. She placed her hand on my knee and gave it a gentle squeeze to calm me down. I paused and looked over at her. Ellie gave me a look, saying that she would handle it. I let her.

"What if I could convince Rose to turn you?" Elena asked with a shrewd look as she kept her hand on my knee. "Will you show us his files then?"

I turned to look at her, wide-eyed. Uh, Ellie, I don't think that Rose will go for that. At all. No way.

A quick glance at Alice showed just how great that suggestion was in her mind. She was practically frothing at the mouth to help us. And a quick glance at Rose only confirmed my thoughts that she was not happy about Elena's genius idea either.

But either way, as long as she helped us find Klaus so that I could kill him or help kill him, I didn't care.

XXX

Alice quickly logged onto Slater's computer. It took her barely anytime. Which was quite lucky for her since I was quickly losing patience with her. With the situation in general really. I needed to get better control of my mask. I just needed to keep pretending that everything was alright for a few more hours. Just until I could get home.

But the thing was, it was alright. And then Ellie declared that she didn't want to be saved. Everything just sort of… stopped being ok. Because how could I possibly deal with the news that my twin didn't want us to save her. Even now I still can't believe it. And I don't want to.

"Someone's been here," Alice announced, clicking through various empty folders. "The hard drive is completely wiped out."

"Of course it is," I mumbled, rolling my eyes in annoyance. Why doesn't that surprise me? Oh yeah, that's why, existence hated us. Like it big time hated us.

"Probably whoever killed him," Rose agreed with me as she leant forward to look at the screens. Elena sighed in frustration and turned away, running a hand over her face. I know Ellie, I feel your frustration.

After a few seconds of wallowing in our frustration and anger, Alice piped up with, "Lucky for you, Slater was paranoid. Everything's back up on a remote server."

I didn't know whether I should hug her for giving us good news or slap her not telling us immediately. It was stupid of her to keep that quiet for as long as she did. But then again, she did strike me as the dramatic type.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rose move so that she could talk to Elena without Alice overhearing. Subtly, I stepped backwards a couple of steps so that I could eavesdrop on their conversation.

"You know that she's not going anywhere near my blood, right?" Rose asked softly as she glanced over at Alice.

"I know," Ellie replied matter of factly with a coy look on her face. "She doesn't."

I smirked, proud of my twin, as she walked over to the computer and Alice. Who knew that she could be so deceptive? Other than me, of course. But it seemed that Rose was also impressed with Elena's little deception. See, just goes to show that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover.

"Kristen Stewart. God, he was obvious," Alice groaned as she hacked into the remote server and opened up the list of files that were kept on there. Yeah, just a bit obvious. A part of me wished that I could have met this Slater guy, it would have definitely been interesting.

"These are all leads to vampires?" Ellie asked, looking at the sheer amount of files that appeared on the screen.

"Slater was obsessed," Alice told her with an impressed hint to her tone. "Almost as much as me."

I rolled my eyes at that. Yes, dear, you didn't need to remind us of that. It was impossible to forget.

One of the names must have caught Rose's attention as she asked, "What about that one? Cody Webber. They exchanged dozens of emails about Elijah."

"I could call him," Alice offered, looking up at the vampire. But it was Elena who reacted to the offer. She picked up the phone and gave it to Alice.

"Tell him that we're trying to send a message to Klaus," she said, refusing to look at either me or Rose.

"Ellie, no," I whispered, a dreadful feeling in the pit of my stomach telling me something that I did not want to hear.

"Tell him that the doppelganger is alive and she's ready to surrender."

"What?!" I gasped, turning to face my twin even as my legs threatened to give way.

No. No. No. Ellie, no. Please no.

"Oh, my god, I knew I recognised you," Alice exclaimed in delight as my world collapsed around me. I was able to muster a small amount of annoyance, directed at the other human in the room. Oh well good for you.

"Get him the message," my stupid stupid stupid twin told her, refusing to look around and meet my gaze. "Please."

I watched my sister walk into the kitchen, a feeling of complete… numbness… just consumed me. She wanted to give up. She wanted to give herself up to Klaus. She wanted to… leave me. She wanted to break her promise.

Slowly, I followed Rose as she stalked after Elena.

"What are you doing?" she asked, no, demanded fiercely.

"I'm getting Klaus' attention," Ellie replied, keeping her gaze firmly fixed on the kitchen counter.

"Elena, why?" I asked weakly, silently begging her to turn around. Well, I suppose that I didn't have to worry about controlling my anger and my mask anymore. I was just too shocked and numb to do anything or to feel anything.

"If Klaus knows that you're alive, he'll find you and he'll kill you," Rose sounded so sure of what she was saying. And after hearing Katherine's story, I believed her words too.

But my twin, she didn't give any response to that.

"Which is exactly what you wanted all along," the vampire realized, taking a step back and glancing over at me.

But I was the one to organize this little outing. I was the one who came up with the idea to come here and find out more information about Klaus. And Elena just… let me. She didn't put up a fight. She helped me to convince Rose to bring us here.

She… used me?

"It's either me or my family," Elena replied, her voice bland and dull.

"So this whole charade is some suicide mission so that you could sacrifice yourself and save everyone else?" another realization must have hit the vampire as she added, "Did Alexa know about your little decision?"

"No," I whispered, my voice thick with the tears that I refused to let fall. "I didn't."

But before anyone else could say anything else, Alice, fucking Alice, walked into the room, phone in hand, "Cody is on his way and he really wants to meet you."

While Rose sighed and shut her eyes, I just turned and walked out of the room.

I just…

No.

XXX

Rose found me sitting on the bathroom floor, staring blankly at the white tiled walls. The moment I saw her, I started wiping away the tears that I just couldn't hold back any longer. I knew that she had already seen them, but the point remained. I just couldn't allow her to see me being weak. I needed to be strong; my stupid twin needed me to be strong. Even if she was being an idiot and trying to give herself up. But that meant that I needed to be even stronger. I had to save her from herself.

"What do you want, Rose?" I asked tiredly as she sat down beside me.

"I brought you this," she replied, passing me a mug of what could only be coffee. I quickly accepted the mug, allowing it to warm my cold hands. Taking a deep breath, I breathed in the soothing smell of delicious coffee. It was even made the way that I liked it. The perfect perfect way.

"How did you-?" I started to ask, frowning slightly as I glanced over to the vampire.

"Know how you like it?" Rose finished with a small smile. "Damon told me. During one of his many rants about how you drink all of his good coffee."

That got me to smile, even if it was a small one. Didn't really surprise me that he had ranted about me drinking his good coffee. But he didn't move it from its hiding spot, which said more than his ranting did.

"Thank you Rose," I sent a small smile the vampire's way.

Silence took over while I slowly sipped at my coffee. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence, but it wasn't an easy silence either. There was just too much going on for the silence to be easy. What with my stupid stupid stupid twin. And we didn't know each other well enough.

"You really didn't have any idea that she was planning this, did you?" she asked, looking over at me with a sympathetic look on her face.

While I knew that it was a rhetorical question, I just couldn't help but snort and say, "Do you really think that I would have put that much effort into getting us here if I knew that she wanted to… give herself up?"

Deep breaths Lexa, don't fall apart now.

"The worst thing is," I continued, staring down at my hands. "Is that I don't even know if I can persuade her to stop and to go home."

"She won't listen to you?"

I shook my head, "Not if she thinks that she's protecting me. Because she would do anything to protect me and I would do anything to protect her. But I just never thought that she would just… give up like this…"

"Is there anyone who could persuade her?"

Stefan did briefly enter my mind, but I doubt that even he could. Nor could Jeremy or Bonnie or Caroline. Not even Aunt Jenna would be able to change her mind, even though she would be able to pull the guardian card. Alaric was a no no too, although he would still try to help Jenna stop my idiot sister. The truth was, I was probably the only one who could. But even I had no chance of changing my twin's mind on this.

"No, Ellie's a lot like me, stubborn as can be. And while I normally wouldn't mind her stubbornness, today, with what she's trying to do… I just can't handle it."

"I'm sorry that you're in this situation, Alexa."

Absentmindedly twisting my magic ring around my finger, I glanced over at the vampire, "It's not your fault Rose, if it's anyone's fault, it's mine."

Because I enabled her. I brought her here. I'm the reason that we were here. She's only able to give herself up to Klaus because I gave her the stupid opportunity.

"Don't think like that Alexa," Rose warned me as she stood up. "This is not your fault."

I watched her leave the room, wishing that I could believe her. But I just couldn't.

Placing the empty mug on the floor beside me, I resumed my staring. If only someone who I could properly talk was here. While that person would normally be my twin, this time, she was the reason why I was in this funk in the first place. But there was one person who could come here at a moment's notice…

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed a very familiar and well memorized number.

"Come on. Come on," I whispered as I waited for him to pick up, praying that he would do so. Please pick up. Please pick up. I need you to pick up. I need you.

But fortunately, I only had to wait a second before a much welcomed voice said, "Alexa?"

"Damon," I had to bit my lip to stop myself from crying at the sound of his voice. "I know that is not a good time for you but I don't have anyone else that I can go to right now and I just … I need you."

"Alexa, what's wrong? Tell me."

There was urgency in his voice and I just knew that he could hear the tears in my voice. He always was good at sensing when I was upset.

"It's Elena. Stupid stupid stupid Elena. She doesn't just want us to give up on the 'get the moonstone' thing, she wants to give herself up. Damon, she's gonna give herself up to him. She's not even going to fight to live. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid."

"Breath, Alexa, I'm on my way. Where are you?"

"Umm, Richmond, Slater's apartment. Rose brought us. God, I persuaded her to take us. I let her do this. Oh god. But, um, she can tell you the address. I don't know it off the top of my head. I just can't think right now."

"Hey, I'm coming, I'll be with you soon. Just hold on a bit longer."

"Please hurry."

XXX

I sat underneath the window, staring out across the apartment. While talking to Damon, no matter how brief the conversation, had made me feel slightly better, I was once again feeling bad. Feeling slightly bitter, I watched as my idiot twin paced back and forth across the apartment.

"What's the matter, Elena?" I asked bitterly, raising an eyebrow. "Feeling anxious? Regretting your stupid decision to give yourself up to Cody and to Klaus?"

"No," she replied, and if she was feeling any hesitation whatsoever, she didn't let it show. "No, I'm not."

Well you should be. You should be regretting your stupid stupid stupid decision. You should be regretting your decision to leave me. Because that's what she's doing, she's leaving me. Abandoning me. She was the one person who said that she would never do that to me. She promised me. And now she's breaking that promise. And breaking it willingly.

In an attempt to escape more questions from me, my idiot twin fled into the kitchen. I watched her go, sighing. This was such a sucky day. I listened to her moving around the kitchen, opening cupboards and running the tap. I had to focus on the noise she was making, otherwise I would drown in the despair that I was feeling. It was all encompassing, it was consuming. If I let it take control, then I wouldn't be able to make it stop.

Elena came back out of the kitchen, glass of water in hand.

I almost resumed my staring, but something out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. I allowed myself to look and I suddenly got the feeling that everything was going to get much better. Because he would make it better. He would help me.

Damon moved so that he was standing right behind my twin, an unhappy look on his face as he stared down at her.

Ellie must have seen something on Alice's or mine faces because she frowned and turned around. Only to come face to face with my vampire. She gasped, almost dropping the glass of water in her hand.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her, raising an eyebrow, a slight hint of anger in his tone.

"What are you doing here?" Elena countered, taking a step back. And I have to admit, she did sound slightly angry too.

It was at this point that Rose entered the room. Ellie turned to face her, an angry glare on her face.

"You called him?" she accused her, sounding like she was getting ready for a fight. Annnd that's my cue to step into the situation.

"No," I called out, standing up and walking forward. "I called him."

Ok now, Lexa, all you've gotta do is keep control of your emotions. Don't fall apart now. Not now. You've gotta keep calm in order to sort out this shitshow.

"Why did you call him, Alexa?" she asked me, a small hint of betrayal in her voice as she looked at me with wide eyes. How dare she feel betrayed. She had no right to feel betrayed. She was the one who was abandoning me. Leaving me.

"Because you're giving up, Ellie, you're giving up and you're leaving me," I told her as I stopped in front of her. "And I couldn't take that. I'm not sorry."

"Alexa was the one to call Damon, but I was the one who told him where we were," Rose said, giving me a moment to compose myself. "I would be sorry, but after talking to Alexa, I can't be."

Bless you, Rose, bless you so much. Because even though there was a fairly big chance that she was just bluffing, what she said. It meant a lot. That, to her, I went from simply being a way of making sure that precious little doppelganger Elena behaved to someone who was worth getting involved in the Gilbert twins issues for. Thank you.

"I thought you'd understand," my twin looked at me with her big brown eyes, completely disregarding what Rose had said.

"Why on earth would she understand you doing something like that?" Damon rolled his eyes as he stepped over to me and wrapped his arm around my waist.

He knew that I had trouble saying no to my twin when she pulled out the big guns, aka, the big brown eyes. And I had to say no to her right now. I didn't agree with her decision and I refused to let her manipulate me into doing so. It was a stupid decision. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

But before we could delve any deeper into the absolutely thrilling conversation, stupid old Alice just had to interrupt.

"Damon Salvatore," she beamed, an absolutely starstruck look on her face as she walked forward. Hey, don't you go anywhere near my vampire. Especially not today. I am so not in the mood. Nope. Nuh uh.

Damon looked at Rose, "Get rid of her," he requested. And, considering the situation, he was rather polite about it.

Rose nodded and strode towards her, grabbing the wannabe vamp by the arm.

"No. Way," the girl gasped as she was pulled from the room, her gaze still fixed on my vampire.

"Come on, we're leaving," Damon said to Elena as I snuggled down deeper into his side, craving the comfort that he gave me.

"No," Ellie refused to leave, her stupid desire to surrender herself to Klaus overriding any basic instinct to live.

"I said we're leaving," Damon tightened his grip on me slightly as he glared at my sister. I suppose that it was slightly weird that he cared so much about saving Elena. But then again, they had become reluctant friends, very reluctant friends.

…. And he knew that it would destroy me. Losing my twin, I could never recover from that. It would be like losing a part of myself. And I guess that he just didn't want me to go through that. Because we all knew that I wouldn't survive it.

"I'm not going," she snapped, stepping back a step and crossing her arms.

The vampire, my vampire, growled, "You do not get to make decisions anymore."

"When have I ever made a decision?" Elena contradicted sharply, an annoyed look on her face. "You and Stefan and Alexa do that for me. Now this, this is my decision."

"And look what affect your decision is having on your twin sister," Damon sneered and Elena looked over at me. For the first time, she noticed, the red-rimmed eyes, the defeated expression and the almost desperate way that I clung onto Damon. "What do you think will happen to her when you get yourself killed?"

"You're not listening to me Damon," Elena sighed, aggravated, she had soon looked away from me. I guess it as easier arguing for us to let her die while not looking at me. "I don't want to be saved. Not if it means that Klaus is gonna kill every single person that I love."

"But why would we want to live, Elena?" I asked, speaking up for the first time. "Especially if our living costs you your life."

"Alexa," my twin sighed again, this time sounding more desperate and sad.

"No. You used me, Ellie. You used me so that you could surrender yourself to Klaus. You went along with my whole idea to bring us here. For godsake, I thought that I actually had to persuade you to come here. What would you have done otherwise? Just snuck here on your own? Or would you still have gone to Rose to bring you here?" I choked on my words. "You used me."

"Lexa, I'm sorry," Ellie reached forward, a sad look on her face

"No," I pushed her hand away. "You don't just get to apologize for this, Elena. Not for this."

I reluctantly moved away from Damon before storming off. I refused to let Elena see the tears fall. She couldn't see the damage that her actions had done. Even I wasn't cruel enough to do that, even if it could change her mind.

XXX

While Damon compelled Alice to forget that any of us were ever here, Elena, Rose and I sat down together on the sofa. I had placed Rose between Ellie and myself. I honestly didn't know how I would react towards her. Would I cry my eyes out on her shoulder and beg her not to leave me? Or would I knock her out myself and take her home?

I just… didn't know.

And that scared me.

"Time to go," Damon announced, walking back into the room. "Alice is soundly sleeping and won't remember a moment of this horribly stupid day."

"Oh thank god," I sighed, standing up and walking over to Damon.

But of course, something else just had to happen.

The doors to the apartment burst open and three men, or should that be, three vampires, strode into the place. Damon turned to face them while Elena and Rose stood up. I moved closer to Damon, hiding behind him slightly even as I kept an eye on my sister.

"We're here to meet the doppelganger," the middle man announced, an expectant look on his face as he looked around.

Oh crap. Not good. Not good. Not good. So not good.

"Thank you for coming," my idiot of a sister said, as she walked forward slightly, a determined look on her face. Before anyone else could react, I spun around and grabbed a hold of her shoulders.

"Don't you dare," I whispered, showing her how angry and scared I was as I squeezed her shoulders. While I stopped my sister, Damon dealt with the wannabe be stealing twin sister vampires.

"There's nothing here for you," my vampire said in a dangerously calm tone as he placed his hand on my back, keeping us behind him.

Slowly, I turned around, using one arm to keep my sister from moving while my other hand grasped the back of Damon's leather jacket. I wanted to grab his hand, but he would need both of them if it did come down to a fight.

Crap, how were we gonna get out of this one? How were we going to stop them from taking my sister?

But then the vampire by the door dropped to the floor. And standing behind him was, holy crap. I moved even further behind Damon as I took in the sight of Elijah standing there with a heart in his hand.

The Elijah who Damon killed.

The supposed to be dead vampire sped forward so that he was stood between the other two vampires. Not good. Remember Alexa, just breath. Noooo need to panic.

Oh who am I kidding? There was every need to panic.

My heart pounded in my chest as I fought not to throw up in fear. My mind flashed back to last time, to how strong he was, to how fast her was. His grip on my throat, his determination to take my sister. My hand shook on Damon's back as I tightened my grip on my sister.

Rose took the opportunity to flee the apartment. Can't say that I blame her, the last time that she met Elijah, her best friend was killed by him.

"I killed you," Damon frowned, sounding very surprised as he gripped my shoulder. "You were dead."

"For centuries now," Elijah smirked at him before looking at one of the other vampires, the one who spoke.

… Cody? Perhaps?

"Who are you?" he asked him, looking him up and down.

And boy the fact that he was so goddamn polite really did creep the bejesus outta me. His tone was so pleasant and calm. But he decapitated Trevor with one fucking hand. Like this was some kind of sociopathic nightmare that existed to torment me.

"Who are you?" Cody countered. Obviously, Cody did not know Elijah. Stupid Cody.

"I'm Elijah."

Judging from the 'oh crapballs' look on Cody's face, I was right in saying that he had not met Elijah. But he had heard of him. Clearly Elijah had a reputation.

"We were gonna bring her to you," Cody said, trying to save face even as he stuttered. "She's the doppelganger. I don't know how she exists, but she does. Klaus will want to see her."

If Klaus wanted to see her then he's gotta get through me. Same goes for you Cody boy. I would do anything to protect my sister, even if it cost me my life.

"Does anyone else know that you're here?" Elijah asked, his hand twitching slightly at his side.

"No," Cody immediately shook his head.

"Well then, you have been incredibly helpful."

With that said, Elijah plunged both hands deep into the chests of both vampires and ripped out their hearts. Their bodies fell lifelessly to the floor. I had to bit my lip to muffle a scream, absolutely positively sure that we were gonna be next. But I was just too emotionally drained to even care. After all, if Klaus was going to kill my twin and there was absolutely nothing that I could do to stop Elijah from taking her to Klaus, then what was the point in trying to stay alive? Life was pointless without my twin.

But Elijah merely looked at us as he casually let the hearts drop to the floor.

Damon moved so that he was completely blocking me and Elena from the Original's view, slowly getting himself into position to fight him. Even if it was a fight that he couldn't win.

But Elijah surprised us all by simply blurring away from the apartment, leaving Elena with us. I glanced back at my sister, just to make sure that she was indeed with us. And she was. Slowly, I stepped forward into Damon's arms and stared at the doorway.

I just couldn't understand it.

XXX

Damon kept his arm around my waist as we followed Elena up the stairs to our front porch. Throughout the entire journey home, I had made extra sure to keep some form of bodily contact with him. I just… needed it. His touch centered me and I needed that. I couldn't fall apart just yet. I had to wait until I wasn't around Elena to do that.

"Thank you for bringing us home," Elena sighed as she glanced back at us, a slightly guilty look on her face. I hadn't said a single word to her as we came back to Mystic Falls. I just couldn't. I didn't know what I would say and I didn't want to make the situation worse.

"Well, your ride left you," Damon brushed off her thanks as he momentarily tightened his grip. "I didn't want to leave you stranded."

Well, he didn't want to leave Elena stranded because I got the strong feeling that he would have taken me home. I wouldn't have let him leave me, anyway. Especially not right now. I needed his soothing presence.

"She was just scared," Ellie defended the absent she-vampire as we reached the front door. "She didn't mean to run."

My vampire rolled his eyes, "Yes she did. She's been running for 500 years."

"After what happened the last time that she met Elijah, I can't really blame her for running," I mumbled, thinking back to the whole kidnapping incident and the bullshit that had since followed.

"I can't believe that Elijah's alive," my sister looked at me, sensing where my thoughts had gone. "Why do you think he killed those two vampires and just let us go?"

That's a good question, twin. One that I wouldn't mind having the answer to.

"If I had a dollar for every time some evil vampire surprised me," Damon smirked, glancing down at me as a small smile tugged at my lips.

"I'd be a goddamn billionaire," I finished, thinking of all the times that 'evil' Damon had surprised me.

Elena went to open the door, shaking her head, but Damon stopped her. Grabbing her arm, he spun her around so that she could face us. Face me.

"What you did today was incredibly stupid," he told her, sounding deadly serious. No pun intended.

"Actually, the only thing that was stupid was that I got caught," Ellie snapped, glaring at him. She pulled her arm from his grip as she avoided my gaze. "I don't question why you and Stefan and Alexa and everyone else tries so hard to save me. You shouldn't question why I would try to save all of you."

"Because you won't be around for the aftermath of your little 'I'll die so that everyone else can live' plan," Damon hissed angrily, his grip tightening sharply. "You won't be around to watch as Alexa falls apart after her twin was idiotic enough to leave her."

"You won't be around as Jeremy loses his sister," I continued, keeping my gaze firmly fixed on the floor. "You won't be around as Aunt Jenna loses her niece. As Bonnie, Caroline and Matt lose their friend. As Stefan will lose the love of his life." I looked up at my twin, fighting the burning sensation behind my eyes. "It's all very well saving us, Ellie, but if you're not there then we may not want to be saved."

Before my twin could say anything to that, our darling little brother opened the front door.

"Hey Jer," I gave him a small and unconvincing smile before giving my vampire a small hug. "Goodnight Damon."

"I'll see you later," my vampire whispered in my ear before pulling away.

I moved to go inside but the look on Jeremy's face stopped me. Damon must have seen the same thing that I did since he asked, "What?"

But little brother only had to say two words for everything to once again go to hell, "It's Stefan."

XXX

After finding out exactly what had happened, Elena immediately snuck out of the house to go to the tomb. But I was too tired to go after her, even if it was Stefan and I wanted to see him too. Fortunately, Damon was on the case and he went after her instead, but not before promising to come back to me later.

This left me to turn my attention to my little brother and the wound on the side of his neck. Jenna had tidied it up earlier, even as Bonnie berated him for his stupidity.

"Jeremy, honey," I sighed as I slumped down next to him on his bed. "What the hell happened to you today?"

His hand immediately went up to touch the bandage on his neck. I knocked it away, reminding him that it would heal quicker if he left it alone.

"It's nothing, Lexa, don't worry about it," he insisted as he let me curl up against him.

"But I am worrying Jeremy. I'm worrying about Elena and her incessant need to give herself up to protect us all. And now I'm worrying about you doing something stupid. And I can't do it anymore Jer. It's too hard. Everything is just too hard."

"Hey," Jer pulled me into a hug, squeezing tight. "I promise that I won't do anything else that is stupid."

"Good," I muttered, running my hand through his hair as I clutched him close. "I'm gonna hold you to that."

Now all I had to do was keep my idiot for a twin alive.

… God help me.

XXX

A/N: The draaaamaaaa, I love it haha ;) Thank you for the reviews, my darling, please keep them coming! And if anyone has any scenes from the twins childhood that they want to see, give me a shout! Until next time, enjoy! xoxo