Disclaimer: I only own my OCs

A/N: I would like to start this by saying that I honestly do love Stefan, and that I won't always be so mean to him! This chapter ended up a little differently to what I had planned, but I like how it turned out ;) I've come up with an amazing twist for the end of the season, with thanks to grapejuice101 :) and I can't wait to share it with you all!

XXX

The next morning, after I told Elena why Stefan had saved Klaus, my sister insisted on dragging me to Ric's apartment to train. I put up a token fight, as was expected, before agreeing to go. I knew that my news had shaken her. Elena had been so sure that Stefan was lost to us and hearing that he had actually ruined out plan to save his brother was a shock. It was a shock to me and I wasn't even the one who was in love with the guy.

So when we got to Ric's apartment, I let her take out all of her frustrations on the punching bag. I held it while my sister punched and kicked it. I was impressed with how strong my sister was getting. Holding the bag for her was actually a lot of effort. But it was a good thing, in this town, you had to be strong.

Ric joined us not long after.

I had taken over the punching bag for a bit. I wasn't the biggest fan of using it, but since it was here, I thought that I might as well. So I started with a steady rhythm. It helped to ease the tension that I felt in my body. I had no idea where it had come from. Damon had helped me to relax last night before I went to sleep. But there was something deep in my mind that wanted me to be tense. And it was annoying the hell out of me.

Elena was kicking the shit out of the bag when Ric walked in, "Hey, you're gonna put a hole in that thing! You want to talk about it?"

"Nothing to talk about," Elena shook her head as she punched the bag, a determined look on her face.

I snorted as I poured myself a mug of coffee, "What a load of shit." My sister gave me a dirty look and I shrugged, "You are clearly being bothered by something, Ellie. I don't know if it is what I told you this morning or something else. But don't try to fool us."

"I'm not trying to fool anyone," Ellie rolled her eyes as Ric stepped forward to hold the bag for her. "Yesterday was just a really long day, and it's still stressing me out."

"Maybe you just need some sex," I mused thoughtfully. "It works for me."

"Alexa!" my sister sounded scandalised and went bright red, giving Alaric a quick look.

"Oh don't be such a prude," I scoffed, giving my sister a wink. "Ric doesn't care. Considering what he does with our aunt and the chunky monkey."

It was Ric's turn to go bright red and he cleared his throat, looking away. I sipped at my coffee, feeling proud of myself. It wasn't often that I managed to get two people in one go. So I was going to enjoy this accomplishment.

Elena abused the punching bag in silence for a few minutes before Ric asked, "So what's got you all worked up?"

I was tempted to interject with something dirty, but I suspected that my twin would abandon the punching bag to beat me up instead. So I wisely stayed quiet and sipped at my second mug of coffee.

"I didn't really sleep last night," my sister admitted and I frowned at her. maybe the Jeremy situation had gotten to her more than I originally thought. I couldn't think of another reason as to why she didn't sleep. I wished that she had come to me, I would have been able to help her..

"Yeah, me neither," Ric sighed, shaking his head. "Probably something to do with dying…"

"Yeah, that sucks," I agreed, scrunching my nose up in sympathy. "How are you doing? All healed up now?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," the hunter nodded, giving me a smile. "I think the ring, however, is running low on batteries."

"Yeah, that's another reason why Jeremy has to get out of town," Elena sighed. "If those rings have a shelf life, then he is not protected, neither are you and Alexa."

"It's weird though, I've died four times and my ring has been fine," I pointed out with a shrug. "So I reckon it's the way you died. Cos Tony hit you with a car, that's why it didn't work properly."

"But what's the difference between that and a nice?" Elena asked with a frown.

"Maybe cos it was the impact of hitting the car that killed him?" I shrugged before rolling my eyes. "I'm not an expert here, guys, I'm just pointing out that my ring hasn't had any issues."

"Either way, I refuse to take that risk with Jeremy," Ellie's face scrunched up as she punched the bag with all of her strength. Ric let out a grunt as he held the bag, stopping it from swinging wildly.

"Nice," Ric nodded approving as my sister stepped back. "You're getting stronger."

"I'm just channelling frustration," Ellie sighed, shaking her head. "I need coffee."

"As you wish," I smiled at my sister and grabbed her a mug. As she took off her gloves, I poured her some coffee and passed it over. She gave me a thankful smile as she took the drink.

"Jeremy was packing when I left the house," Ric said slowly, glancing between us. "He was asking Jenna questions about his new school in Denver."

Well, at least he was embracing this new opportunity. Even if it did kill me that my baby brother was going to be leaving town.

"That's something at least," Ellie sighed before drinking her coffee. "Alexa, I know I haven't said this yet, but I am glad that you intervened. Making sure that we didn't have to compel him out of town."

I glanced at her in surprise, "I thought you would be mad at me for interfering."

"I just wanted him safe, Lexa," my sister patted my hand. "I don't care how that happens. As long as our brother will be okay."

XXX

After rushing home to quickly shower and get ready, we made our way to school. Now, I know you're wondering why I was in such a hurry to get to one of the worst places on the planet. But it was an important day.

Our darling Caroline Forbes was turning 18.

As was tradition, we were to decorate her locker. I was foolishly put in charge of choosing the decorations. What my sister was thinking, I did not know. But I enjoyed being in charge.

I picked the most glittery and sparkly decorations that I could find. Only the best for my Care-Bear. After all, it wasn't every day that your girl turned 18. And she had done so much to make sure that our birthday was amazing. It was only fair that we did the same for her.

Bonnie was supposed to join us to help decorate. And I was hoping that her presence would stop my sister from moaning my name every time she got covered in glitter. I didn't know what her problem was, she used to love glitter. And it would jazz up the purple jumper that she was wearing.

For a birthday, it was a bit dull. I had picked something a bit fancier. My dress was a deep blue, decorated with a floral print. It was a halter neck, leaving my shoulders bare. But I covered them with a white cardigan. It was an outfit that I had brought while out with Caroline on one of our numerous shopping trips. So I thought she would appreciate me wearing it.

"Hey," our witchy friend said from behind us. We turned around to give her a smile. I would have hugged her, but I was busy sticking pink bows to the locker. And yes, those were glittery too. "Sorry I'm late, I… I got held up."

"Eh, don't worry about it," I nodded my head in her direction as I held bunting still for my sister to stick down. "You're here now."

"We were running late too, thanks to a certain someone," Ellie rolled her eyes in my direction and I just shrugged. I didn't particularly care. And if Elena cared as much as she claimed, then she would have just left without me. But she didn't, so she really shouldn't complain.

"Can't rush beauty, dear sister," I smirked at her before sprinkling more glitter on her top. I knew that I was pushing my luck, but I just couldn't help myself. I wanted to know how far I could push my sister before she snapped. It was a game that I hadn't played in a while, and today just felt like the perfect opportunity to do it.

Elena gave me a dirty look before asking Bonnie, "Can you pass me the balloons?" She smiled at our friend when she did so, "Thanks. What got you running late?"

"I was… working on some new spells," Bon shrugged before quickly asking, "You?"

There was something suspicious about her answer, but I let it go. If Bonnie didn't want us to know what she was up to, then I wasn't going to push. Besides, it's not like she was doing anything bad. So I didn't try to push for a genuine answer. And Elena was too distracted to notice anyway. So why would I draw my annoying sister's attention to it?

"We were working out with Alaric," Ellie answered, ignoring me as I clipped one of my spare bows into her hair. "And then Alexa took forever to get ready once we got home."

"Don't be a hater," I snorted, giving Bonnie a bow of her own as she stuck the poster onto the locker. Our friend rolled her eyes at me, but she put the bow in her hair. I beamed at her in delight as I gave myself one. It was the little things in life.

My sister glanced at me before turning to face Bonnie. The locker was all pretty and now all we had to do was wait for the birthday girl herself to turn up. To be honest, I was surprised that Caroline wasn't already here. She loved her birthday, and never gave up an opportunity to enjoy the extra attention. So it was weird that we hadn't already seen her.

"So, I have something that I need to tell you," Elena sighed, looking at Bonnie with soft eyes. "And you're not gonna like it."

"What happened?" Bon instantly asked, looking around as though she was expecting an army of hybrids to appear.

Ellie shook her head, a soothing look on her face, even as you could see that she did not enjoy saying her next words, "Jeremy is gonna be leaving town for a while. He'll be staying with some old family friends in Denver, until this whole Klaus thing blows over."

Our friend shook her head with a frown, "Jeremy wouldn't just leave you two to deal with Klaus on your own."

"I persuaded him that it was the best thing to do," I sighed, glancing over at my sister. "Luckily he agreed, otherwise he would have been, uh, well, you can probably guess."

"Compelled," Bonnie shook her head before looking at my twin with disappointed eyes. "You would have gotten someone to compel him to him to leave town."

Elena winced at her tone but stayed strong, "I know, Bonnie. But it's not safe for him anymore. Leaving will give him a better life. The only reason that I'm telling you is because I know that you haven't really worked out your stuff. And I thought that maybe you'd wanna say goodbye."

Bonnie looked to the side, down the corridor. Jeremy was at his locker, laughing at something that the kid next to him was saying. The disapproving look on the witch's face was easy to see. But hopefully the fact that Jeremy wasn't actually compelled would help to keep her calm.

But I made a mental note to properly explain everything to her. Once we were alone.

XXX

That opportunity came quicker than I was expecting.

Elena had quickly gotten annoyed with me after I kept sprinkling glitter on her. So she sent me away. I didn't mind too much, it was boring lurking by Caroline's locker, waiting for her to appear. But my sister was determined. And you just couldn't change her mind once she was in that mind-frame. Trust me, I had tried and failed many a time.

So I skedaddled.

I wandered through the corridors, debating whether it was worth heading to my first class of the day now. Or I should just arrive at the last minute, like I normally did. But the decision was taken out of my hands.

Hands grabbed my arm, yanking me to the side. I would have fought back, but a familiar voice speaking my name calmed me. I allowed Bonnie to pull me to the side of the corridor. I knew that she had gone to speak to Jeremy, and I was curious as to what she wanted to say to me.

"What's up, Bon?" I asked, leaning against the lockers. It was clear that my friend didn't approve of Jeremy's decision to leave town. And it was just lucky that the kid had made that choice himself, instead of being compelled into it.

"Jeremy told me about your offer," she said, glancing around to make sure that Ellie wasn't anywhere nearby. "About getting Jazz's uncle to train him."

"I did wonder," I shook my head. I was just lucky that it was Bonnie that Jeremy had told. It was kind of sweet though. Even though the two were on the outs, he trusted her to keep this a secret. "It was one of the only ways that I could get him to agree to leave town on his own volition."

"I'm glad you stood up for him," Bonnie sighed, giving my hand a squeeze. "Elena never should have considered having him compelled."

"It wasn't the first time that I've defended his right to have a choice," I shrugged, not paying attention to my words. "I did it after Vicki was killed last Halloween." Bonnie winced and I quickly apologised, "Shit, sorry, Bon. I did it after you know what. Elena wanted him to be compelled to forget about you know who's death and about vampires in general. But I put my foot down, and it all worked out. I couldn't let it happen this time."

"I don't know what Elena was thinking," the witch shook her head and I shrugged a shoulder. I knew my sister, and I knew that yesterday was too much for her. Especially after speaking to Stefan in bitch mode.

"She wasn't, really. Did she tell you what happened yesterday?" I asked and Bonnie paused before slowly shaking her head.

"All I know is that Klaus tried to kill Jeremy," she answered and I sighed. Bonnie deserved to have the full story. It would help her realise why my sister wanted to do what she wanted to do. And it was important to keep Bon in the loop. She was a key person in our lives, and I hated leaving her out of stuff.

"Well, the Original douchebag used his sire bond with Tyler to get him to remove Jeremy's vervain. Of course, this is after he made Ty chose between me and Jeremy, but that's a whole nother issue. Anyways, Klaus had compelled Jer to stand in front of a speeding car, being driven by his hybrid pal Tony, without his magic ring. I pushed him out of the way, and Ric got me out of the way. And then, after more bullshit from Tony, Jeremy decapitated him after shooting him with a crossbow. So Elena freaked and immediately thought, 'he needs to leave town'," I scrunched up my nose as I remembered the gorier details. "I was just lucky that I was there, otherwise she would have compelled him to leave. I persuaded her to let me talk to Jeremy and got him to agree to leave town."

"And Elena doesn't know about the training part?" Bonnie asked shrewdly and I shrugged, a small smirk tugging at my lips.

"Nope, otherwise she would have freaked again," I shook my head at the thought. "As far as she is concerned, Jeremy is leaving town to have a normal life."

"I won't tell her, I promise," Bon nodded before sighing, "I still can't believe it."

"Hey Bon, please don't be mad at Elena," I rested a hand on my friend's shoulder. "She's just trying to protect our brother, and you know how irrational she can get when it comes to protecting her loved ones. Remember the time she tried to ground me when she who must not be named attacked me last Halloween? Of course, I let her try it for all of three seconds before putting a stop to it. But still, perfect example of how she is the irrational one."

Bonnie was silent for a moment, clearly thinking about it before slowly nodding, "I'll try not to be, Alexa. But it won't be easy."

"Trying is all I ask for," I reassured her with a smile. "And if you need me to distract you at any point, just let me know. I'm amazing at distractions."

"Alexa," Bon laughed and I couldn't stop my smile from growing. "Your pope trick is nowhere near as successful as you think it is."

I sniffed dramatically, looking away, "I have no idea as to what you are talking about, Ms Bennett. It always works."

"It never works," the witch prodded my shoulder with a cheeky smile. "You create a better distraction when you fall over your feet and fall on your face."

"I fall over once, and you lot never let me live it down," I rolled my eyes, returning her prod. "I don't exist for your entertainment."

"Oh Alexa," Bonnie grinned at me and I felt accomplished at the happy look in her eyes. "You really do."

XXX

I woke up in the janitor's closet with a gasp.

Oh fuck. Oh fuck. Oh fuck.

My hand shot up to my neck. It was still sticky with blood. The pain of the knife slicing through it was imprinted in my mind. I couldn't quite remember what had happened, but I remembered that it hurt. That I was scared. That it was fucked up.

I was barely aware that I was calling someone until a voice answered, "Alexa?"

"Damon?" I gasped, my chest feeling tight. I knew that I was close to a panic attack. My first one in forever. But this one was not going to go away anytime soon. I needed help. And there was only one person that I wanted with me.

"Ally, breathe for me baby, what's wrong?" Damon tried to soothe me. I heard clattering the background. It sounded like he was picking up keys. Which meant that he was coming to me.

I shook my head, digging my nails into my leg in an attempt to calm the fuck down, "Need you. At school. Janitor's closet. Please hurry."

"Are you hurt?" my boyfriend asked, his voice low.

"Not now. But need new clothes."

I heard Damon mutter something under his breath before he raised his voice slightly, "Alexa, I'm on my way now. Do you need me to stay on the phone?"

I wanted to say no, to be strong. But all I could think about was the pain that I felt. I knew what had happened to me, and I didn't want to have to deal with that alone. So I shook my head and mumbled out, "Stay with me."

"I'll stay, baby, just focus on my voice and nothing else," Damon instructed me gently. In the background, I could hear a car door slamming before an engine revved. I did as I was told, and just listened to his voice. I honestly didn't know what he was saying, but the soothing tone was easy to focus on. Despite the anger that I could hear simmering underneath, he kept his voice gentle.

I closed my eyes and rested my head back against the wall. The darkness of the tiny room was hard to cope with. But I was scared to leave by myself. I didn't know whether my attacker was still lurking around.

I was slowly remembering what happened, and I wished that I didn't. It was a lot easier when I didn't remember the details. But I knew that I didn't have a choice in the matter. Every other death was imprinted in my brain. This one would be no different.

Knocking on the door had me gasping and jolting. But the voice on the phone quickly soothed me, "Alexa, it's me. Let me in."

I crept forward, my shaking hand reaching out to open the door. The harsh light had me blinking and I scrunched up my face. After the darkness, it hurt my eyes.

I dreaded to think what I looked like, as my boyfriend immediately sighed and the next thing I knew, his arms were around me. I buried my face in Damon's neck as he gently picked me up. His grip on me was tight, but I didn't care. It helped to keep the bad thoughts away.

I felt the familiar feeling of vampire speed before I heard a door close. Damon took a seat and carefully tried to lift my head away from his neck. I immediately protested, tightening my grip. He sighed, "Alexa, I need to take a look."

I shook my head and mumbled, "It's fine. It doesn't hurt. All healed up."

Damon sighed but let me cling onto him still, "Do you remember what happened?"

"He cornered me on my way to class," I went to dig my nails into my leg again, but my vampire grabbed my hand before I could. "He was mad. Wanted to punish Stefan for killing his friends. He had a knife. Didn't see it till it was too late. He stabbed me in the neck. And watched as I choked on my blood. He wanted to send a message back to Stefan."

I faintly heard Damon growl, "Fucking hybrids," before he was standing up. Despite his superior strength, he was gentle as he forced me to let go. He placed me down on the toilet seat and it was then that I realised that we were in the disabled toilet. My head was carefully tilted to the side so Damon could look at my neck. It was fully healed, as was expected. But blood covered my skin, staining my dress. My boyfriend looked me in the eye as he said, "I can either help you wash the blood off here, or I can take you back to the Boarding House where it'll be a lot easier."

It took me barely a second to mumble, "Boarding House."

Damon nodded and lifted me up again. I wrapped myself around him as he sped us through the school and back to his car. I didn't really remember the journey. Damon had wrapped his leather jacket around me, and I closed my eyes, breathing in his scent. Whenever possible, his hand rested on my thigh, the feel of his skin against mine giving me something to focus on.

When we arrived at the Boarding House, he once again picked me up. I didn't argue at being carried everywhere. Which might have been just as worrying. But I just needed to be taken care of. This death was one of the worst ones. I wasn't expecting it. It came out of nowhere. I was at school, for fuck's sake. It never should have happened.

"I liked this dress," I muttered as Damon helped me out of it. The entire front of the dress was stained with my blood. It had stuck to my skin and I winced as it was carefully pulled away.

"I'll get it cleaned best I can," my boyfriend reassured me as I was left standing in my bra and panties. The entire rest side of my shoulder was sticky with my blood, and I suspected that my back was the same. My hair stuck to it, and it was probably a good thing that we had come back here.

I watched through tired eyes as Damon got the shower running. I stripped off my underwear and stepped under the warm water when prompted. It was hotter than I normally had it, but it was the perfect temperature to warm my numb body. I knew that it would all hit me at some point. But it couldn't be now.

I was just about to reach for the wash clothe when a hand beat me to it. Damon stood behind me as he carefully washed away the blood on my back. I glanced down to the see the blood-stained water disappear down the drain. When he was done, he gently turned me around.

I titled my head back, letting the water soak my hair, as Damon cleaned my front. I let him. It was nice, being looked after like this. It was what I needed. For someone to take care of me. And I trusted Damon to do that. He knew what I needed, without me even having to ask for it.

You would have thought, that after five deaths, that I would be coping with it better. But it never got easier. Especially since this was one of my more gruesome ones. The hybrid wanted to make me suffer. I didn't know if he knew about my ring, but even if he didn't, he wanted to send a message.

I clung onto Damon's shoulders as he washed my hair, making sure to get rid of all the blood. It had gotten everywhere. I couldn't help but think that the janitor would have a heart attack when he saw the pile of blood in his closet. But at least there wouldn't be a body. He had gotten lucky there.

The warmth of the water helped to relax my tense muscles. The feel of Damon's hands on my skin did the rest. He held me with such surety as he helped clean me, making sure that every trace of that horrible experience was erased. A part of me felt weird, being cleaned like this by my boyfriend. But another part enjoyed it. Damon wasn't always the most vocal with how he felt, especially when it came to his worry, so by doing this, he was able to show me how much he cared. And I let him.

He just held me to him, after that. The warm water continued to rain down on us, but I didn't care. I felt safe. Despite the wetness of his skin, I rested my head against his chest. His hand stroked down my back while the other gently eased the tangles from my wet hair.

"I can make you forget, if you want," Damon's voice broke the silence. "I can take away the feelings, the details."

I honestly considered it for a moment before sighing, "I can't forget. No matter how much I want to. I need to remember this feeling."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

XXX

Despite Damon's reluctance to let me out of his sight, I returned to school just as it ended. To be honest, I had wanted to stay with him too. To lay in his bed and be wrapped up in his arms. But I couldn't let anyone else find out what had happened. And I knew that if I didn't turn up to celebrate Caroline's birthday, that people would get suspicious.

I was just lucky that the girl in question hadn't turned up to school. So it meant that I hadn't missed anything. My sister hatched a plan to surprise the blonde at her house. Afterall, it was the one place that she was bound to go.

While the others grabbed the balloons and sign that we had stuck to the locker, I disappeared to the toilets. Just being back at school had me jittery. But Damon had given me something for that. When I insisted on coming to school, he had offered me something that would help me cope with everything until I could return to him later. I slipped to flask out of my bag and took a swig. I was just lucky that no one had commented on my new outfit. Since the dress was stained with my blood, I had swapped it with a pair of blue jeans and a woolly jumper. I completed the look with a leather jacket that Damon had gotten me over the summer. Since my sister's new plan was to head to the falls to celebrate, no one should question the fact that I was dressed warmly.

Getting into the Forbes home was easy. Matt knew where the spare key was kept and let us. Elena had revealed that she had gotten Sheriff Forbes' permission to sneak into her home. Which was just as well because the last thing that we needed was to be arrested for trespassing.

We hid in the living room while we waited for Caroline. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see my sister watching me, but I just adjusted the crown on my head. It would be given to Caroline once she finally arrived. But until that happened, I was determined to look after it. It gave me something to focus on. And that was desperately needed.

It was the sound of the front door opening that stopped my sister from staring at me. We held our breath, not wanting to alert the vampire. The balloons that I was holding onto gently moved in the breeze caused by the opening and closing of the door.

Bonnie held up her fingers, counting down from three before we all jumped out, yelling various versions of "Surprise!"

Caroline gasped and stumbled back a step as Matt finished off with a grin, "Happy Birthday!"

"What are you guys doing here?" Care asked, looking between us in shock. Well, she definitely wasn't expecting this. Which was weird. Cos of course we were going to do something to celebrate her birthday. Especially if it meant distracting me from everything that happened.

"Well, you blew of school and missed our work of birthday art, so…" my sister smiled, gently taking the crown off my head, smoothing back my hair, before walking over to Caroline. Elena placed the crown on the blonde's head before stepping back with a pleased nod.

Bonnie picked up from my sister with a wide smile, "Change into warmer clothes, we are going to the Falls. S'mores, campfire…"

"Cake!" I forced a smile, hoping that it looked natural. "Made by your favourite person."

"Just like when we were little," my twin nudged me and rolled her eyes. She was just jealous that I was Caroline's favourite. My ability to bake the best cakes probably helped with that. Especially since it was a lovely red velvet, the blonde's favourite cake.

"Except for the tequila!" Matt laughed, shaking the bottle in his hand. He had already made a start on it, and I had quickly joined him. I was just lucky that it was a birthday party, and I have an excuse to drink. Because now that I didn't have Damon's comforting presence, alcohol was the only thing that would keep me sane. And I didn't feel an ounce of guilt over that.

"Thanks, guys," Caroline smiled weakly, and I frowned. That didn't sound like Care. She was normally the most excited person on the planet on her birthday. "Really, um, I'm just not feeling my birthday this year."

"I'm sorry, what?" Bonnie rolled her eyes with a teasing smile. But you could see the worry hidden in her gaze. "You've already claimed your birthday as everyone's favourite day of the year."

"And I even let you win that argument," I shrugged, wrapping an arm around my twin's shoulders. "Which I only did cos I love you."

"Yeah, and now it's just a reminder that technically, I'm dead," the vampire's blunt words had us all wincing. "Look, I didn't even like 17. And the only point to being 17 is to get to 18. It's a filler year; I'm stuck in a filler year."

"You're not stuck, Caroline," my sister sighed softly, a sympathetic look on her face. No wonder Caroline didn't want to celebrate. It was her first birthday since being turned. It must be a hard thing to deal with. She would never age, which on one hand was a good thing. But she would outlive everyone she loved. Her mom. Her friends. Her dad.

"Yeah, I am," Caroline shook her head before forcing a smile. It looked so fake, but I couldn't bring myself to comment on it. "But it's okay. You know, it's all good, I'll be fine. But I just need some time to wallow in it."

Ellie was quiet for a moment, a thoughtful look on her face as we all glanced awkwardly at each other. What did we say to that? Did we leave Care alone? Or did we sit with her while she wallowed? Luckily, my sister had managed to come up with a solution. She gave our friend a soft smile, "Okay, well, I think I have another idea."

XXX

Elena acted all mysterious as she bundled us into her car. She wouldn't answer any questions as she drove us, and I made a crack about her taking us somewhere to kill us all. Afterall, one way to help the sad birthday girl would be for all of us to join her in death.

My sister just rolled her eyes at me and carried on driving. Since all my attempts at annoying her into answering were proving useless, I just looked out of the window. The sun was setting, turning the sky a gorgeous orange. Despite the cold weather, I did love this time of year. The sun set earlier, when you could properly enjoy it. And there was just something charming about it.

Elena parked up near the old cemetery and I made another crack about her attempting to kill us all. It was the only thing that kept me from having a mini freak-out. Being at the old cemetery in the dark was not a comforting thought. Any other day, I probably could have coped with it. But today was just the wrong day.

So in order to hide my impending breakdown, I wrapped myself around the birthday girl. It was an easy way to keep myself distracted. Not only did I love to shower my friends with affection, Caroline was feeling a bit down about her birthday. So it was expected for me to annoy her with cuddles while my sister led us through the woods. I didn't know where she was leading us, and she wasn't answering anyone's questions. Why my sister was being so mysterious, I did not know. But I knew better than to try and get answers from her. Elena would tell people when she was ready.

"There it is!" Elena cheered as the old Fell Crypt came into view. It was a bit of a weird choice, since none of us were Fell's, but who was I to disagree with my twin's decisions? Well, I was probably one of the first people to do so. But I decided against it this time. At least we were heading inside.

"This is creepy," Bonnie remarked as the door creaked open. My sister led us in, placing the balloons onto one of the benches. She motioned for me to give her the cake, which I happily did. "Even for us."

"Hanging around graveyards is so last year," I snorted, trying not to remember the last time I hung around in an old graveyard. Or the time before that really. Neither time ended well. Someone always ended up getting eaten. Or threatened.

Ellie rolled her eyes at me before glancing over at Bonnie, "No, Caroline was right." I accepted the bottle of tequila that Matt passed over. I sipped at it while he wrapped an arm around my shoulders. I appreciated the warmth of his body and tucked myself further under his arm. Even with my jumper and jacket, I was feeling cold. "Technically, she's dead." My sister winced and looked at Caroline, "Sorry. But you don't need a birthday, you need a funeral. You need to say goodbye to your old life, so you can move on with your new one."

Huh, that was actually quite a neat idea. Well done, Ellie. Good thinking there. And from the sweet smile on Caroline's face, she clearly agreed.

"Okay," Care nodded and stepped forward, taking a deep breath. "Here lies Caroline Forbes…"

Elena smiled back from where she was placing the candles onto the birthday cake. She carried on from Caroline, "Cheerleader, Miss Mystic Falls, third grade hopscotch champion…"

"Friend, daughter, overachiever," Bon added with a cheeky smile, gently nudging the blonde.

"Art buddy, fashionista, expert party planner," I held up the tequila bottle in a salute, as I added my bit. Caroline rolled her eyes at me but smiled in appreciation.

"Mean girl," Matt chortled and I rolled my eyes. "Sometimes, no offence."

Caroline gave him a look before laughing and shrugging, "Ah, none taken."

Having finished putting all 18 candles on the cake, my sister carefully picked it up and carried it over. She stood in the middle, right in front of Caroline, "She was 17, and she had a really good life. So rest in peace, so that she can move forward." Ellie held the cake out, "That's what you really need. What we all really need. Amen, or cheers or whatever." My sister laughed and shook her head, before glancing over at our witchy friend. "Bonnie?"

It took her a second to realise what she was being asked, but when she did, Bonnie closed her eyes and concentrated for a moment. It took barely a second for the candles to ignite, casting a warm glow on everyone's faces. I would never not be amazed at that. The ease that she did it with, it was amazing. I remembered when she first started practicing magic, and Bonnie really had come so far.

"Nice!" Elena beamed at her before turning back to Caroline. "Okay, make a wish."

I wrapped an arm around Bonnie's shoulders and whispered, "You look so hot when you do that."

Bon rolled her eyes at me and shook her head. But the pleased look on her face made me happy. It was an easy thing to focus on, making my friends happy. I could pretend that awful thing from earlier never happened. While it probably wasn't the healthiest way of dealing with it, but I knew that Damon would force me to deal with it later. So I would take the easier option while I could.

Caroline smiled and closed her eyes. I wondered what she was wishing for. There were so many things. For Klaus to be gone. For Tyler to be fixed. For her to not be a vampire. If I was the one making the wish, I would have added to not keep dying to that list. As well as for my family and loved ones to be safe.

XXX

After Caroline had made her wish, it didn't take long for us to dig into the cake. I received many compliments for it, much to my satisfaction. And they did kind of owe me. They never bought birthday cakes, instead getting me to make them. While I knew that I could say no, I also knew that they would be disappointed if I didn't make them a cake.

Matt and I had been passing the tequila bottle between us. I didn't know why he was drinking so much, but it was helping to dull the horrible memories from earlier. Bonnie occasionally joined in, taking a sip. Elena had been busy dishing out the cake to everyone, making sure we all had enough. Honestly, my sister would never not be able to mother everyone. But I let her.

It wasn't until later that she intercepted the tequila drinking. As Matt took the bottle off of Bonnie, my sister snatched it from him, taking a drink.

"Ah-ah," she laughed when the boy pouted. "I need it more than you do, trust me." Matt grumbled but didn't try to grab the bottle from her.

"Oh oh, my sister has finally been driven to booze," I whispered to Bonnie. Of course, since I had drunk quite a bit of tequila, I was a bit louder than I thought I was.

Elena rolled her eyes at me before shifting to sit next to me. My sister carefully gripped my chin and looked me in the eye, "How much have you had to drink?"

"More than I should have but nowhere near enough," I shrugged, trying to avoid her gaze.

"Oh Alexa, you've been doing so well," Ellie sighed, shaking her head. "I don't want you to start drinking so much again."

Behind me, I thought I had heard Bonnie snort. But when I glanced over my shoulder, she was talking to Matt.

"Elena," I rolled my eyes and groaned out her name. "It's a birthday party… birthday funeral… we're celebrating Caroline. I think I'm allowed to have a few drinks."

"Fine," my sister didn't look convinced, but she let it go. "Just don't have too many more. Okay?"

"Yeah, whatever," I shrugged, leaning back to rest against Bonnie.

Elena nodded before glancing to the side. She still had her lecture face on as she asked, "Caroline, what are you doing?"

The blonde birthday girl had been on her phone for a while. It was noticeable, but clearly my sister hadn't been paying attention. From the way her fingers had been moving, she had clearly been texting someone. And I had a suspect in mind…

"What? Nothing," Caroline blinked innocently, hiding her phone behind her hands. I couldn't stop myself from snorting as the light of the screen shone through her fingers.

"Okay, you're a bad sober liar," Elena rolled her eyes, not buying it for a second. Despite being the one to organise this party, she was being a bit of a killjoy. "You're an even worse drink liar."

Caroline opened her mouth to argue that point before wincing and sighing, "I might have texted Tyler."

"Caroline," my sister voiced her disapproval, shaking her head.

"What?" the birthday girl pouted, looking all adorable and pathetic. "I'm delicate."

"Give her a break," Bonnie snapped, carefully pushing me up before turning to face my sister. "You can't control what everyone does all the time."

We all stared at Bonnie in surprise. I knew it was coming. She was not happy with Elena's desire to compel Jeremy out of town if he didn't agree to already go. But I didn't expect it to come out like this.

"Oh dang," I whispered, glancing between my sister and my friend. It was one of those situations where, as much as I wanted to defend my sister, I knew that I should stay out of it. I trusted Bonnie, so I would let her say her bit.

"Wow," Elena blinked in shock, staring at the witch with wide eyes.

"Ouch, Bon," Matt agreed with a nod, keeping the tequila bottle safe in his arms. I slowly shifted over to sit next to him. It was a lot safer than sitting in the middle of the spat that would happen.

"Sorry, I know it's Caroline's birthday, funeral or whatever but, I just feel it's really wrong that you would have compelled Jeremy to leave town," Bonnie shook her head, sounding incredibly disappointed. "Alexa had to beg him to go, to stop it from happening."

Elena squared her shoulders as she replied, "I would have done it to protect him, Bonnie. I want to give him a chance to have a quiet, normal life."

"He should be able to choose how he wants to live it," Bon argued, not backing down. It was cute, that she was sticking up for her ex this much. It was clear that she still had feelings for my brother, even if she didn't want to admit them. "You were going to take his choice away."

"It would have been for his own good," my sister sighed and I winced at her tone. This definitely wasn't fun to watch. But there was nothing that I could say to stop it from happening.

"Taking away someone's choice would never be for their own good," Bon replied softly and my sister didn't have a reply to that.

"You know, you guys are ruining a perfectly good funeral," Matt spoke up when the silence started to become awkward again.

"I'm sorry," Bonnie winced, glancing over at Caroline. "I'm just gonna go sleep it off or something. Happy Birthday."

We all watched as the witch left the crypt. I made a mental note to text her, asking her to let me know when she got home. It was dark and dangerous out there. And with sociopathic hybrids running around, safety was not always guaranteed.

The atmosphere was still awkward, even after she left. I could see my sister staring at the door with wide eyes and sighed. I took the tequila bottle off of Matt and took a deep swig.

XXX

We carried on drinking quietly after Bonnie left. Caroline took over one of the benches, laying down, letting her lovely blond hair hang over the edge. I was sat next to Matt, curled up into his side. Since he had a bigger coat on than the others, he had tucked me underneath it. Having grown up with me, he knew how I got cold easily. And even though I had three layers on, I still occasionally shivered.

I was busy prodding Elena's leg with my foot, in an attempt to get her to smile, when someone new joined the party. The door opened slowly and Tyler's head peaked around. I smiled and waved at him, despite the disapproving look that my sister gave me. I wasn't going to let her dictate who I could and couldn't be friends with. Tyler had explained what happened and apologised for it. He didn't deserve to be punished more than he already had.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to crash the party," the hybrid winced at the looks he received. It didn't take a genius to realise that Matt and Elena weren't pleased to see him. Which was rude. Because Caroline had asked him to come. Yeah, she was drunk at the time. But when you were drunk, your inhibitions were lowered and you were more likely to do something you've wanted to do for a while.

"So don't," Matt frowned, tucking me further into his side. It was sweet really, how protective he got. He didn't get a chance to show it often, considering we tried to keep him out of the vampire bullshit. But it was sweet when he did it.

"No, it's… it's okay," Caroline smiled at us before sitting up. She swung her legs around and stared up at Tyler. You could hear the shyness in her voice as she said, "Hi."

"Can I talk to you for a sec?" he asked, glancing over at the two disapproving ones. I didn't blame him for not wanting to talk to her in front of them. I wouldn't want too either. "It's kind of important."

Caroline nodded and left the crypt with Tyler. I noticed that she made a point of not looking back at us before leaving. It was her way of showing that this was her choice. And she would talk to Tyler if she wanted to. And I had to say that I was proud of her for that. After what happened earlier, between Elena and Bonnie, she could have quite easily chickened out. But my girl knew what she wanted and she went for it. Even if she had had too much tequila.

Ellie sighed as the door to the crypt closed and turned to face me and Matt. I could feel the booze making me sleepy. I had passed that tipsy stage and fallen straight into the sleepy stage. Which was not good. As I couldn't risk having any nightmares while my sister was around. There could be no sleeping until I was back with Damon.

"Are you okay?" my sister asked Matt softly, holding out the tequila bottle. She had an understanding look on her face as she looked at our friend. Poor Matt. Whenever he fell for a girl, he fell hard. So it must be hard for him to see Caroline with someone else already. Matt didn't move on easily; he held a torch for his girl for a while. It was the exact same when he and Elena broke up. It took him falling in love with Caroline for him to get over her. Well, it probably helped that Elena had fallen in love with Stefan too. I wonder if there were any girls that would be interested in hooking up with Matt. He certainly was a catch. Matt was good looking, and sweet, and just a lovely person. Any girl would be lucky to have him. But I had to convince him to go for it too.

Matt took the bottle, taking a swig before sighing, "Yeah, I want her to be happy, you know? It's what I want for all of you guys, in the middle of this crazy life that you got stuck living."

"Is that how you see it?" my sister frowned, taking back the bottle. "That we're stuck?"

"I'd say it's attached itself to you all pretty tight, yeah," the blue-eyed cutie nodded. I could how it looked like that. But not all of us were stuck. Yeah, I didn't exactly choose to be related to the doppelganger and a convenient way of continuing the bloodline. But I also didn't hate it.

Ellie glanced towards the doors again before sighing, "Bonnie is right, you know, I have no business messing in Jeremy's head. I got lucky that Alexa was able to persuade him to leave. I just don't know what else to do. He is in danger here. I can't lose anyone else that I love."

"You won't lose anyone else, Elena," I shifted so I could face my sister, while still remaining next to Matt's warmth. "We know how to look after ourselves. Ric has been training Jenna self-defence. You know how much of a badass I am. Except for darling Matt, the rest of the group are supernatural. And I know that Matt has skillz. You don't need to go to the extreme to protect us, Ellie. Just trust us that we can look after ourselves."

My twin didn't look convinced, but she didn't try and argue against my words. And that was all that I could ask for. My sister had the same problem that I did. She wanted to protect everyone as much as she could. But she went to levels that I wouldn't go. Well, I went to other extremes. But the point still stood. Elena could do stupid things in the name of love. And I didn't want it to backfire on her again. My sister shouldn't be punished for her good intentions.

XXX

It took longer than expected for Matt and Elena to start a search party for Caroline. Of course, it probably helped that the tequila bottle had lasted longer than expected too. I had let the other two finish it. Which didn't sound like me, I know. But that was the problem with the sleepy stage. I didn't really feel like drinking during it. Plus, it meant that my sister didn't give me worried looks. Which was something that I just couldn't be bothered to deal with.

I hung onto my sister as she dragged me out of the crypt. Matt sone the flashlight, looking amongst the trees. I didn't expect Caroline and Tyler to be close by. I wouldn't be, if I were them. I would have gone far away. Especially since, with their speed, they could just zoom back here if needed.

"Caroline!" Matt called into the darkness, flashing the torch around. My twin sighed and zipped up her jacket. It had gotten progressively colder, the later into the night it went. And that sucked. I had zipped my own jacket up earlier, but it had done nothing to warm me up. This was why we had parties indoors when it started to get cold out. As sweet as my sister's idea was, she could have picked a warmer place to do it.

"Come on, Caroline," Ellie added her own voice to the calls. "We don't have anymore drinks! And Matt's being haunted by the Fell ghosts."

My sister giggled cheekily as she nudged Matt with her shoulder. I rolled my eyes at the pair and stepped back, leaning against the wall behind me. I was being grumpy, I know. But I couldn't help it. besides, I had a pretty good excuse considering what I had gone through earlier. Despite my attempt to not let it get to me, it was getting harder.

Matt nudged her back with a smile. It was cute, seeing them being buddies again. It had taken far too long for them to be able to do this. The breakup was brutal, but I think it was what happened after that was harder. Elena had fallen for Stefan far too quickly. And then with the vampire drama that came with the Salvatore's arrival in town, her attention had been wrapped up with that.

Before my sister could retaliate, there was the familiar sound of superspeed. Matt went flying into the wall next to me. I cried out his name as he crumpled to the ground. I crouched down next to him, my hands shaking as I reached out to find a pulse. My breath came out in a relieved sigh as I found one.

"He's okay," I glanced up at my sister as she crouched down next to me. My twin didn't share my relief. She was too busy looking around. And it occurred to me why. Something had attacked Matt. Something with superspeed. These days, that could be a vampire or hybrid. But either way, it was not a good thing.

Elena carefully helped me to my feet, keeping her back to the wall while she scanned the forest. I so desperately wanted to speak, to ask her if she could see anything. But staying quiet was important.

Movement out of the corner of my eye had me spinning around. And the person that I saw wasn't exactly a good thing. The look on Stefan's face scared me. I couldn't quite describe why. But it had my blood running cold.

The vampire didn't even bother glancing at me. His entire focus was on my sister. I wasn't going to let him get her. I didn't know what his intentions were, but they couldn't be good. It was my sister's gasp that propelled me into action.

I shoved her forward, yelling at her to run. Understanding that he wanted her more, my sister took off into the darkness. Stefan growled and went to chase after her. But he didn't use his vampire speed, which was something that I took advantage of. I slipped the stake that I carried everywhere with me out of my pocket. It had been tucked in the inside pocket of my leather jacket all evening. Just in case something happened. I just never expected it to be Stefan that happened.

I darted forward, going to Stefan's back. I wouldn't have killed him; I just would have gone for his spine. It was a trick that Damon had taught me, if I needed to keep a vampire alive for whatever reason. But Stefan must have sensed my movement.

He spun around, grabbing my wrist before I could take more than a couple of steps. I groaned as he squeezed my wrist. I tried to remain stubborn, but the pain was too much and I dropped the stake.

"You really are one of the foolish people that I've ever met," the vampire smirked viciously, and I glared up at him.

"No more foolish than you, dickface," I spat, kicking him in the shin. Of course, it hurt me more than it hurt him. But it made me feel better. Especially since Stefan was the reason why the hybrid killed me earlier. He had been pissing off Klaus and his posse, and I had paid the price.

Stefan narrowed his eyes at me and squeezed. I heard a crack as the edges of my vision darkened dramatically. How I didn't pass out, I had no idea, but screaming, "Motherfucker!" probably helped. It took all my energy to not throw up everything that I had drank.

"Now, where is that sister of yours?" he mused, ignoring the muffled whimpers that I couldn't keep in. My wrist throbbed and I was acutely aware that he still held it in his grasp. He titled his head to the side before nodding. "There she is."

The vampire glanced back at me before shrugging, "Wait here."

I didn't see the fist until it was too late. This time, I did fall unconscious.

XXX

I woke up on the backseat of Stefan's car. My sister was in the front, leaning around to face me. The moment I woke up, everything started to hurt. My wrist throbbed horrifically. My cheek throbbed. I had a headache. And I realised that this day officially fucking sucked. Even more than yesterday. And that day fucking sucked too.

"Lexa, are you okay?" Ellie reached forward to rest a hand on my shoulder. I stared up at her with bleary eyes. I would have shaken my head, but just the movement of the car was causing it to hurt. And I couldn't risk throwing up. Cos that would not make me feel any better and I didn't want to have to deal with that. Not now, not ever.

"Nope," I rasped, wincing as Stefan shot around a corner, using my good arm to brace myself against the seat in front of me. "Stefan fucked up my wrist. And my head."

My twin glanced down at it and must have seen something, as she shot around to hiss, "What are you doing, Stefan? Why did you do that to Alexa? Have you seen her wrist? She needs to go to the hospital!"

I had no idea what my wrist looked like; I just knew that it hurt. And I held it close to my chest. Last time my wrist had been fucked up; I did the same. I refused to look at it. Because that was just too much. Seriously though, vampires needed to stop fucking up my wrist. It was really inconvenient, and I just didn't want to wear as cast again. But what choice did I have?

"I'm sending a message, Elena," he snapped back, refusing to look over at my sister. "And Alexa tried to interfere with that. So I had to take certain steps."

"And that included breaking my wrist?" I moaned and my sister turned around to look at me again. I could see the worry in her eyes, something that I shared. I had no idea as to what was going to happen. Stefan was off the rails, and an unpredictable vampire was a dangerous vampire.

I heard a phone ring and quickly realised that it was mine. The little shit had taken it out of my pocket while I was unconscious. I groaned and tried to sit up. But my vision blurring had me reconsidering that idea. Shit, definitely shouldn't be moving. No moving from me. Not until my head stopped throbbing.

"Hello Damon," the dick answered, sounding completely unphased. I really should have just gone for the heart, consequences be damned. At least if I had, he wouldn't be abducting my sister. "She's a little busy right now."

Since I had a habit of keeping my phone's volume quite loud, I was able to hear when my boyfriend exclaimed, "Why the hell do you have Alexa's phone?"

"I'm making my next move," Stefan snapped as I groaned at the sudden increase in speed. "Let me ask you something: what will Klaus do if he can't make any more hybrids?"

"What the fuck?" I groaned, realising that he had officially lost the plot. There was no denying it now. Stefan had officially gone insane. And that insanity had led him to kidnapping us. His dig against Klaus showed that he was looking to use us against him. And why wouldn't he? My sister was Klaus' only way of making more hybrids. And I was useful only because I could carry on the bloodline. What did Klaus have without us?

My sister must have agreed as she yelled, "What?"

"Stefan, leave them out of this," Damon growled and I silently prayed that he was able to track us down before the dick did something stupid. Well, even more stupid than kidnapping me and my sister. Because that was just insane.

"I don't think I will," Stefan's eyes met mine for a brief second in the mirror. "Klaus needs them. Which makes them a lot more valuable than we've ever taken advantage of. And that's exactly what I'm going to do."

Before my vampire could say anything future, Stefan hung up the call. He threw my phone back over to me, not even bothering to aim. So naturally, it knocked into my bad wrist. I swear, I nearly passed out from the pain. I didn't scream, although I had no idea how. I think I bit down on my lip, but the main thing was that I didn't give Stefan the satisfaction of showing any pain.

I was brought back to awareness by my sister shouting, "What are you doing? Stefan, let us out of this car! Do you hear me? Let me out of the car!"

I stared at the vampire through blurry eyes as he ignored my sister. What was he up to? Would he really do something to us to punish Klaus? I knew that he was off the rails. The hybrid who had… killed… me earlier had said something about Stefan beheading his friends. So the vampire had definitely gone to war with the Original Hybrid. Which was just fantastic.

I groaned and let my eyes close. I wanted so desperately to fall asleep. But I couldn't. My sister needed me, I had to support her. It was bad enough that Stefan was my friend. She loved the younger Salvatore brother, and now he was using her as a pawn against Klaus. And he had hurt me. Stefan knew how important I was to my sister, and he had gone out of his way to hurt me. That must be hurting her too. And I hated it when anything hurt my sister.

Besides, with my head the way it was, I knew that it wouldn't be safe to fall asleep. I had hurt my head enough times to know that sleeping was a dangerous thing when it throbbed this much. I would have to have a concussion check once we had escaped this shitty situation. Because it was a legitimate worry.

XXX

"So, what's the plan, Stefan?" Elena snapped, having taken a deep breath to calm down and stop shouting. "What's the big move you're making?"

The vampire kept his eyes on the road, refusing to look at my sister as he answered, "I took Klaus' family to make him suffer. I'm not gonna let him make himself a new one."

My twin shook her head and scoffed, shifting so she could rest her hand on my leg, "So, what are you gonna do, huh? Are you gonna lock us up in some cave and keep us hostage?"

"Maybe," Stefan shrugged, the coldness in his voice unnerving me. "Maybe, I'll just turn you both into vampires."

Ellie gasped in shock while I just froze. He would take away our choices like that? Just because I had considered it, didn't mean that I wanted it now. And I knew that my sister didn't want it at all. Turning was not an option for her. But Stefan was now considering it in an attempt to hurt Klaus.

"Stop the car, Stefan!" she ordered, her voice shaking as her grip on my leg tightened. I reached out to grab her wrist with my good hand. When the vampire ignored her, she raised her voice. "Stop the car, Stefan."

Stefan did not stop the car.

He just pulled out his phone, resting it against the dashboard. He flicked through his contact list before dialling a number. He also put it on speakerphone. I didn't know whether that was so we could hear too, and thus a way for him to get under our skin. It didn't take long for the person to pick up. And it was my second least favourite person on the planet.

"Stefan, how nice to hear your voice," the hybrid spoke and I couldn't stop myself from groaning. I knew that this was not going to go well. Like at all.

"Tell your hybrids to get out of town, Klaus," Stefan immediately snapped back, not bothering with any of the niceties. That would get under Klaus' skin. He had some obsession with observing that kind of thing. Maybe it was Elijah's influence on him.

"Well, that's not gonna happen until I get my coffins back," you could heard the smirk in Klaus' voice, even with the undercurrent of anger.

"Okay, well, then I'm gonna drive your blood source and baby maker off of Wickery Bridge," the way that the vampire said that had my blood running cold. I honestly didn't know if he would do it, or if he was just messing with Klaus. But Wickery Bridge held bad memories for my sister. I squeezed her wrist, as her face went pale.

"I don't believe you, Stefan," the Original didn't sound as though he entirely believed his words. "You won't kill Elena. You won't kill either of them."

Stefan narrowed his eyes and a second later, my sister's wrist was ripped from my grip. I heard her chocking and tried to push myself up. The throbbing in my head increased, but I had to check on my sister. I barely had a chance to see red liquid smeared around her mouth before a cold hand grabbed my broken wrist. I was yanked forward, despite the fact that I felt like I was going to pass out. Something was forced against my mouth, and I felt something drip into my mouth. The iron tang told me that it was blood.

Vampire blood.

Stefan was feeding me vampire blood.

Stefan had fed my sister vampire blood.

I was just about aware of my twin gasping and spluttering, "No! No! No! What are you doing? Stop it, Stefan! Stop it!"

Stefan's wrist was taken away from my mouth as the car swerved. I collapsed back against the seat, my hand against my mouth. I knew that I had swallowed some of the blood, despite my best attempts not to. And judging from the panic in my sister's voice, she had swallowed some too. And suddenly shit was getting real.

I could hear Klaus demanding down the phone, "What's going on?"

You could actually hear the concern in his voice. It was weird. I had never heard him sound like that. I didn't know whether it was genuine or not. But either way, he wanted to know what was happening and didn't like the fact that no one was answering him.

"I just fed them both my blood," Stefan answered him as the pain in my wrist eased. Oh shit, well, at least with my wrist and head being healed, I could kick his ass if I needed to. "No more hybrids and doppelgangers if they're both vampires."

"You won't do it," Klaus scoffed and I knew that he was wrong. The Stefan we used to know wouldn't do it. But this Stefan had had everything ripped away from him. He would do it if it meant hurting Klaus in return.

"Really?" the vampire's tone was dangerous as he pressed his foot down on the accelerator. The trees outside turned into a blur as the car shot down the road. And I recognised the road outside. And it made me feel sick. I shifted forward, wrapping an arm around my sister as she panicked. Her heart was beating rapidly and her breathing picked up. "Try me, because your coffins are next to go. Say goodbye to your family, Klaus."

In the distance, we could see the bridge and that was what sent my sister over the edge. She screamed at the vampire, "Stefan, slow down! Stefan! Stefan, stop it!"

I added my voice to the mix, my twin's fear and panic getting to me, "Stefan, stop the car! Don't you dare do this to her, Stefan! Stop the car!"

"Fine, I'll send them away," Klaus growled down the phone. "You win!"

But Stefan didn't stop. He just kept going. Ellie gripped my arm, her finger digging into my skin. But I just held on tighter. While I wasn't the one who had gone over the bridge, all those months ago, I knew how much it had affected my sister. Her panic, her screams, it had my heart racing in my chest.

"Stefan!" my sister screamed his name and I joined in. Begging him to stop the car. To not do this. But he wasn't listening to us. He wasn't listening to anyone. He just kept speeding towards the approaching bridge.

"Stop the car, Stefan!" Klaus demanded, sounding truly panicked. And that's what did it. Stefan slammed on the brakes, the car skidding to a stop.

And all was silent.

XXX

I whispered in Ellie's ear, gently persuading her to get out of the car. She was shaking in my arms and it worried me. I had to get her out of here and away from Stefan. With trembling hands, my sister opened the car door and staggered out. I quickly followed, slamming the door shut behind me.

I quickly approached my sister and wrapped my arm around her shoulders. She clung onto me as I directed her away from the car. I led her further into the road, making sure to keep her away from the edges of the bridge.

"Get back in the car," Stefan shouted after us as he climbed out to the car too. I shot him a glare over my shoulder, daring him to come any closer. Now that I was healed, albeit with a small headache from the blood, I would absolutely kick his ass if came anywhere near my sister again.

My sister must have agreed with the staying away part, as she turned around in my arms and shouted, "Stay away from me!"

My twin sounded close to tears and I tightened my grip on her. I hadn't heard her sound like this in so long, and I never wanted to hear it again. I cursed Stefan to hell and back for doing this to my sister.

"Elena, get in the car," the vampire repeated, walking forward a couple of steps. "You too, Alexa. Stop being stupid and just get in."

"Fuck off, Stefan," I spat as Ellie, my sweet Ellie, shook her head. I could feel her trembling in my arms and felt my anger spike.

Her voice was thick with tears as she shouted, screamed, "How could you?! Our parents died going over this bridge. I almost died. You knew that. You're the one who saved me."

I felt something drip onto my arm and realised that she was crying. My beautiful sister was crying. This whole thing had driven her to tears. Her body shook with sobs as I pulled her even closer. I knew that she had to get this off her chest, but I hated what it was doing to her.

"Look, he had to believe that I would it, alright?" the vampire shook his head, sounding like he didn't know what to say. "Your fear sold it. I needed your panic. Your sister's panic. I had to make him believe it."

"What if he hadn't believed it, Stefan?" I spat, running my hand down my sister's back in an attempt to calm her down.

"He did," the vampire cleared his throat, looking uncomfortable.

Before I could push further, my twin yelled, "Well, what if he hadn't?"

"He did, Elena!" Stefan shouted back, looking angry that we dared question his stupid-ass plan. He went to step forward, but I glared at him, warning him not to. "He backed down! He has a weakness! If I know his weakness, I can destroy."

"After everything, that's what matters? Destroying Klaus?" the pain in my twin's voice had my heart clenching as I squeezed her tighter.

"Destroying Klaus is all I have left," he shook his head, sounding defeated in a way that I didn't expect. With all of his bravado and douchiness, it was weird hearing him admit defeat on that point.

"You had me!" Ellie contradicted sharply but Stefan snorted.

"I lost you the minute I left town with him. You just haven't let yourself admit that yet."

"Is that what you're doing? Trying to make me hate you?" Elena glared at the vampire through wet eyes. I knew what she was doing. She was trying to cope with the pain and fear by using it to fuel her anger. It was something that I did often. But it wasn't healthy. And I refused to let Elena deal with it like that. She was too good for it.

"I don't really care what you think about me anymore, Elena," the vampire shook his head, heading back to the car.

"That's bullshit and you know it!" I shouted after him, watching as he paused. Stefan didn't turn around, but I knew that he was still listening to me. "If you didn't care, then you wouldn't have gotten out of the car to check on her. You still care, Stefan, and don't insult anyone's intelligence by pretending otherwise." I pulled my sister closer, tucking her head into my neck. "Now fuck off before I do something that I may one day regret."

Without looking back, Stefan got into his car and zoomed off. I didn't even bother looking which way he went, as I felt my sister's tears soaking my jumper. I sighed and ran my fingers through her hair, gently easing away any tangles. I had to get her off of this bridge. I knew that I wouldn't be able to calm her down until she was far away from here.

So I carefully pulled my phone out of my pocket, keeping one arm wrapped firmly around my sister, and dialled a familiar number. It took barely any seconds for Damon to pick up, his voice urgent, "Alexa?"

"It's me," I sighed, my body losing some of its tension at the sound of my boyfriend's voice. "Stefan let us go."

"Where are you?" I could hear the sound of keys in the background as well as several voices being ignored.

"Wickery Bridge," I answered, wincing as I felt my sister flinch. I tucked her closer, even though there was barely any room left. "He threatened to drive us off of it. Ellie… is not coping well. Can you come get us?"

"I'm already on my way," my vampire promised, and I could hear the sound of his engine. "I won't be long."

I snorted. With the way that Damon drove, that was definitely true. He was a bit of a speed demon at the best of times. But with his worry taking over, I knew that he would be pushing his poor car to its limits tonight. Not that I could bring myself to care. I just wanted to get my twin off of this accursed bridge and back home.

XXX

While we waited for Damon, I carefully eased my sister off of the bridge. I couldn't take her far, but I could take her physically off of the bridge. We got to the edge of the woods before I gently urged her to sit down. I quickly followed, keeping my arms wrapped around her. For the first time in a long time, I was the strong one. And I would look after my twin.

I tucked her head under my chin, stretching my back out uncomfortably to make sure that she fit, and gently ran my fingers through her hair. She had barely said a word since Stefan left, and that worried me. Things didn't tend to go well when Elena internalised her shit. Hell, it didn't go well when I did it. We were too similar in that respect.

"How you doing, Els?" I asked softly, wiping away an errant tear. While I would normally give her time to deal with her trauma and just provide a comforting presence, this time was different. Stefan had forced her to confront a trauma that had long been buried. I knew that the accident still haunted my sister. Especially since our parents died and she survived. Ellie had never quite forgiven herself for that, despite the fact that the rest of us had forgiven her long ago.

"He knew what that bridge meant to me," Elena mumbled into my jumper, her hands gripping tightly. "How much I hated being anywhere near it. And then he just… threatened to drive us off of it."

He was lucky that I was too focused on my sister to properly hurt him. Cos if I had someone to keep an eye on my twin, then I would have staked his ass. No matter what his intentions were, Stefan really fucked up with his methods.

My sister choked on her words, and I rubbed her back, encouraging her to let it all out, "And he was going to turn us. He knows how I felt about it. I don't want to turn. And he would have taken that choice away from me. By killing me on the same bridge that he saved me from. And I just don't know how to feel about any of it. He gambled everything on some stupid theory and I honestly don't know if he would have done it."

Did I defend Stefan? Or did I let my anger towards him go free? Because the thought of saying vaguely nice things about the vampire made me feel slightly sick. Or was that because of the blood he had forced on me? Either way, I had to do what was best for my sister. But I just didn't know what that was.

"Despite what he claims," I said slowly, carefully. "He does still care for you, Ellie. But after everything he did, after everything he has been put through, he feels as though he doesn't deserve you anymore. And, as self-destructive people do, he's trying to push you away. He doesn't necessarily want to hurt you, more like… make you mad at him. Make you hate him. It's easier not to care when you're being hated."

Yuck, I hated doing that. But it was the best thing for my sister. She had to choose how she felt about him. I didn't have the right to make that choice for her, or to influence it. No matter how much I loathed Stefan for what he did.

"I hate him," Elena spoke sharply, pulling away slightly to look at me. Her eyes were red from crying, but they held a fierceness to them. "Not just for what he did to me. But for what he did to you too. He hurt you, Lexa, he hurt you a lot. And then he tried to take your choice from you. I don't know how you feel about being turned, but I want it to be your choice."

"You shouldn't hate him because of me, Elena," I said softly, as my sister cupped my face, leaning her forehead against mine. "I know how I feel about Stefan right now. But you need to make that decision based on how you want to feel, not how you feel obliged to feel. Him hurting me shouldn't have anything to do with this."

"You're my twin, Alexa," Ellie shook her head. "You're the most important person in my life. And Stefan knows that. By hurting you, he's hurting me. And I refuse to let you get hurt because Stefan is on some ridiculous crusade."

"You aren't going to listen to a word I say, are you?" I sighed, added a bit of drama to the move. and I got what I wanted. A small smile appeared on my sister's face and I reached out to brush her hair away from her face. "Just decide on how you feel about Stefan later. You can still hate him, and I would totally be behind that. But just try not to think about him right now. Cos I don't need a lot of encouragement before I start making plans to shove a stake so far up his ass that he's spitting out splinters."

"You're so violent these days, Alexa," Elena snorted, looking a lot better than before. "Must be Damon's influence."

I rolled my eyes teasingly, "He does encourage it more than you lot do."

"I don't think that's a good thing, Lexa," my sister prodded me. Her eyes were still red and her cheeks still wet. But she was smiling. And that was all that I could ask for after what happened. I knew that this incident would come back to haunt her. But the longer I could delay it, the better. She could break when I had more people around to look after her.

"Well, he does teach me how to defend myself. So if I do pick a fight, I have a better chance of winning it. Not that he would let me deal with it by myself."

XXX

It didn't take Damon long to pick us up. He had practically sprinted out of the car when he skidded to a stop next to us. I hadn't seen him look that worried for a long time. But considering what had happened to me earlier, it probably shouldn't have been that big a surprise.

After checking on us, Damon helped me get my sister into the car. I sat in the backseat with her. Even though I really wanted to sit next to my boyfriend, and feel his hand on my leg, I just couldn't abandon my sister. Even though she was better than before, I knew that she wasn't coping well with what happened. We were just lucky that we didn't have to cross the bridge to get home. Although even if we did, I was positive that Damon would have found another way around.

I just held my sister as Damon drove us. He kept glancing at us in the mirror, and each time, I met his gaze. I knew that I wasn't really dealing with my own feelings on what happened, other than my fury at the younger Salvatore. But I couldn't deal with it until I knew that Elena was okay.

When we got home, Jenna immediately ran down to the car. She had been lurking on the porch, despite the cold breeze. I let her take my sister from me, content that our aunt would look after her. I didn't know who told her, whether it was Damon or someone else. But just having her there was a comfort.

As I watched my aunt take my sister inside, there was a rush of air before my vampire was crouching in front of me. He reached out, taking my hands, before gently easing me from the car. I immediately wrapped my arms around him, breathing in his comforting scent.

"Thank you for coming to get us," I mumbled into his chest as he carefully led me up to the porch. We settled on the swing, with me still buried in my boyfriend's arms.

"I'll always come get you," he promised, a hint of worry still in his voice. Now that it was just us two, he would let down some of his shields. No one else would get to see this softer side of him. And I felt so privileged that he trusted me. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Eventually," I sighed, not even bothering to pretend to be strong. "This has been a fucking horrible day. And I just want it to be over."

"Soon," Damon ran his fingers through my hair. "At least one good thing happened. Stefan won this round for us today. He pushed Klaus to the edge and Klaus blinked."

"As true as that is," I rolled my eyes slightly. "I really do wish that he had found another way of doing it."

"I know," my vampire sympathised. "But we needed it. Klaus has been calling all the shots, and Stefan beat him at his own game. He was the better villain."

"Well, he has been developing that skill with quite a bit of gusto," I snorted as Damon gently rocked the swing. "But you do sound a bit too impressed."

"Well, I can't help but be a little proud," I felt him smirk into my hair. "And I have to focus on that. Otherwise I'll be looking to rip his heart out for what he did."

"That is fair," I agreed with a sigh before reluctantly asking, "Can you check my wrist for me later? I think Stefan's blood healed it. But I know that broken bones can be a bit tricky."

Damon clutched me tighter as he took a deep breath. He let it out slowly as he asked, "Did Stefan break your wrist?"

"I mean, in his defence, I was trying to stake him to stop him from going after Elena," I shrugged, burying my cold nose against my vampire's neck. "So I probably didn't help matters."

"Alexa, stop defending him," Damon shook his head. "I know you won't let your sister hate him, please don't do the same for me. Someone has to defend how you feel."

"I have to defend him," I mumbled, plucking at the edge of Damon's jumper. "It's my fault that he's like this. I'm part of the reason why he went to Klaus to save you. I wasn't able to help bring him home and I had several opportunities."

"You and your guilt complex. Not everything is your fault, Ally. There were a lot of people who could have helped Stefan, me included. But we didn't. And he didn't help himself. You don't have to feel as though you have to save him. Let someone else try."

"I," I started before sighing. "I'll try."

"That's all I ask," my boyfriend hummed. "Do you want me to stay tonight?"

"If you don't stay here tonight, then I'll just follow you home," I snorted and Damon nodded. He adjusted me in his arms before standing up. I wrapped my arms around his neck.

"You can pretend to be asleep if you want," he offered softly, his breath brushing against my face. "Jenna is looking after Elena; Jeremy is there too."

I nodded, "Thank you."

I closed my eyes and rested my head against Damon's shoulder. I could hear the concerned voice of my aunt as he walked inside. But she was quickly reassured that I was asleep. Worn out from the events of the day. He carried me up to my room before settling me on the bed.

I know that it was probably a selfish move, and I probably should have stayed with my family. But I just needed space. My sister was being taken care of. And I needed to be taken care of too. After what happened earlier with the hybrid, I just wanted to be held. To forget about everything that had happened today.

And I knew that Damon would give that to me.

XXX

The vampire next to her was asleep.

It had taken quite some time. The monster had been so concerned about looking after her weaker side. It was only when she was asleep, that he fell asleep. He held her in his arms and she had to fight a shiver of disgust.

He stirred when she carefully left the bed, and she hushed him. Letting him know that she was going to get some water. The darker side was surprised that he let her go so easily. But she wasn't one to complain. Just being near him was enough to make her skin crawl and she loathed her weaker side for being so close to him.

Alexandria grabbed a robe from the side, wrapping it around herself before heading downstairs. It was the first time that was able to properly stretch her legs. The previous times that she had come forward hadn't been for long. Her weaker side, the foolish side, had been too strong at first. Had woken up too soon. But now, she was able to make her sleep, while she took over.

She stepped out onto the porch, uncaring of the cold air. She just rested her hands against the porch railing and stared out into the darkness. It held so many possibilities for her. There were a multitude of enemies for her to eliminate. It was just lucky that she wasn't alone.

The front door opened behind her and she glanced over her shoulder. Alaric stepped out, exchanging a nod with Alexandria.

"I see the fourth death was the one that did it," she remarked as the other hunter stepped up beside her. He shrugged as he adjusted his coat and a curl of annoyance formed on the girl's lips. "It took five deaths for me to be able to properly take control. That demon upstairs had helped her remain strong. But not for long. I just needed that extra time."

"We can finally get some work done," Alaric agreed, looking out into the night. "It has been far too long. We need to start with the Council. They will interfere too much, and some are even protecting the demons."

"I suggest starting small, targeting them one at a time. let them feel fear, let them feel paranoid. It's the least they deserve for allowing this town to be overrun by monsters. Then we will get the main players. Once they are gone, we will be strong enough to start killing the monsters too."

Alaric glanced at the girl next to him, "The medical examiner is the one I would start with. He signs the death certificates, he's number one in the line of covering up the deaths. He's important enough that they will notice, but not too big that they will take stronger measures to protect themselves."

Alexandria nodded, pulling something from her robe pocket. She passed over the stake, Alaric taking it in his gloved hand. It was one that she had managed to steal the last time she was able to wake up for a few minutes. Not that she needed to worry. Her weaker side was useful in that she carried a weapon almost everywhere with her.

"Use this. It'll add to their fear. Plus, I love the irony of it."

The smirk on the girl's face would have scared anyone else. But Alaric had experienced what she had. His hatred for the monsters, and for the Council, was as stronger. If not stronger. It hadn't taken him any additional deaths for him to emerge. He had lost his wife to the monsters, his friends. They had made a fool out of him. A vampire hunter who was friends with vampires. Who protected vampires. His weaker side was pathetic and he hated it.

"When do you want to involve the boy?" he asked, tucking the stake into his pocket. Their mission would be easier with three. But as the first one, he had to know Alexandria's thoughts. Especially since she had started this. She had woken up first.

"Not yet," she shook her head. "I want us to be stronger first. Before we involved the kid. Starting out mission would probably help persuade him too. Of course, that means that you need to die again. The fifth death is the strongest. And we will only grow stronger as the deaths keep coming."

"In this town, that won't be hard," Alaric snorted, shaking his head. "These two just can't stop dying."

"Works well for us," Alexandria shrugged. "Will you go for the medical examiner tonight?"

"I'll head out in just a few minutes," he answered. "The woman upstairs is knockout, so I can take as long as I need. Will you come?"

The girl sighed, "I wish I could. But if I stay gone for too long, the demon upstairs will get suspicious. And we can't risk anyone finding out before we are ready."

Alaric nodded, "I'll let you know how it goes."

"Make it good and painful," Alexandria smirked viciously. "It's the least he deserves."

The man smirked back before bidding her farewell. The girl watched as the other hunted disappeared into the darkness. It had taken far too long for them both to wake up. After three deaths, Alexandria had hoped that she would be able to take over and start her mission. But the weak girl hadn't died for far too long, and had actually formed a relationship with a demon. Even after the fourth death, she wasn't able to take a strong hold. The other inhabitant of the body was stronger than she initially thought.

Eventually, she sighed. Alexandria knew that she would have return to the demon upstairs, otherwise he would get suspicious and come looking for her. As much as she wanted to run away from him, or even stake him while he slept, she needed to remain under the radar. So she would return to the monster, lay beside him and wait for her opportunity. Alexandria was patient. She could wait.

XXX

The next morning was hard for an entirely different reason. Jeremy was leaving. He had been accepted in the school in Denver. Our family friends had a room ready for him. And the Nolan uncle was ready for Jeremy to arrive. But just because that was ready, didn't mean that I was. I didn't want my brother to leave. I wanted him to stay with me. But it was safer for him to go. And he could properly learn how to protect himself.

Ever since he had come downstairs, bags ready, I had hugged him and refused to let go. Elena had quickly joined me, squishing our brother between us. It was just wrong, the thought of Jer leaving. And it made me feel sick. Jeremy should be with us. With his family. But it wasn't safe for him anymore. Klaus had proven that. He had made me send my brother away.

"You're gonna have to let me go, eventually," Jeremy laughed softly as Jenna watched on from the side. She was trying not to cry. I was the same. But we didn't want the kid to see our tears. He would want to stay and I couldn't risk that happening.

"No I don't," I mumbled as I felt Ellie start to let go. But I just continued to cling on. I was the one who had persuaded him to leave. He was going because of me. I just couldn't bear to let him go.

The kid rolled his eyes and squeezed me extra tight as Elena said, "Be safe, okay?"

"Yeah, okay, alright," Jer nodded, playfully rolling his eyes. "Alaric's waiting."

"He can keep waiting," I muttered but the family had vampire backup. Damon gently grasped my waist, persuading me to let go. It was only because it was Damon that I did. I reluctantly stepped away from my brother and back against my vampire's chest. "Jeremy, I want you to call every other day. But you have to message me every day. Keep me updated with everything. Don't leave out any details. And be safe. Okay? I… I love you, you little shit."

Jeremy nodded at my words, an indulgent look on his face. I knew that he was humouring me. But I had to say it. He had to know. It was important to me that I told him.

"I love you too, Lexa," he smiled as I blinked rapidly. I swore that I wouldn't cry. But it was so hard. I had to keep strong. I had to. For my baby brother.

"Take care, Jer," Damon said from above me and Jer nodded. It was sweet to see Damon say that. I knew he had a soft spot for my brother, even if he wouldn't admit it. But everyone had a soft spot for Jeremy. He was adorable, with his floppy brown hair and big brown eyes. You wanted to take care of him and keep him safe. And now he was leaving town.

"Take care of my sister," Jeremy shot back as someone else appeared to say goodbye.

Bonnie barrelled through the door, coming to a halt in front of the kid. She looked Jeremy up and down, a relieved look on her face, "Good, you haven't left yet."

"What are you doing here?" Jer looked absolutely delighted to see the witch. I knew that he still cared for her and this was proof. I still rooted for the two of them to get back together, even though the kid was leaving town. But you know what they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder.

"I came to say goodbye," Bonnie smiled softly, a tearful look in her eye. I knew what she was thinking. It didn't feel real until now, Jeremy leaving. But his bags were packed, the car waiting, and it was real. It was horribly real.

"I'll miss you too, Bonnie," Jeremy smiled back before pulling the witch in for a hug. It was an emotional hug, and I had to look away. I was so thankful that I had Damon with me. I wouldn't have survived this without crying otherwise.

Once he pulled back, Jeremy looked at us all one last time, giving a shaky smile before turning around. Ric was the one to take him to the airport, as he was the one least likely to start crying when the kid got out of the car. As much as I wanted to go too, I knew that I would start weeping uncontrollably.

"I can't believe he's gone," I whispered as the car disappeared from view. Elena was hugging Bonnie with Jenna wrapping herself around them both.

"It's for the best," Elena nodded, although the tears that you could hear in her voice said otherwise. "He'll be safe in Denver. He'll be happy."

"But he won't be with us," I sighed and Damon gave me a squeeze. He had helped me not cry this morning when I woke up. I mean, he did say that I could, given what I went through yesterday. But he also supported me when I didn't want to. There was no way that I could say goodbye to Jeremy if I had already been crying.

Jenna's face crumpled, "I've failed you all. Jeremy's had to leave town because I wasn't able to keep you all safe."

"You have kept us safe, Jenna," my sister was quick to reassure our aunt. "We just wanted to make Jeremy even more safe."

"Technically, he was the one who mentioned it first," I added, before regretting my words. "Even if he was in a snit at the time."

If Jeremy survived the insanity that was this town, then I would forgive myself for persuading him to leave. A dark, selfish part of me hoped that he wouldn't want to come back. That he would make a proper life up in Denver. That he would make friends, do well in school, and even meet a girl. He would know how to protect himself but would be happy where he was.

XXX

Damon had been called away by Sheriff Forbes. He had kissed me goodbye, telling me to get ready for him to pick me up later. He was acting all suspicious about it, but I let him have his secrets. I would find out when I was ready.

I disappeared up to my room after he left. Normally I would have hung around with my family, but I needed to be alone for once. Despite my best attempts, I was mad at my twin. I had persuaded Jeremy to leave town so that she wouldn't compel him out. I tried not to feel like that. But it was hard. Now that Jeremy was actually gone, I couldn't help but feel mad. And when you factored in what she did to Rebekah, which I hadn't forgotten about. It was hard. But I knew that I wouldn't confront my sister. After what Stefan did to her yesterday, forcing her to relive that trauma, I couldn't show her my anger.

I was distracted from my thoughts by the ringing of my phone. I sighed and glanced down, seeing Caroline's name flashing on the screen. I rested my phone between my ear and shoulder as I answered, "Hey birthday day, enjoy your day yesterday?"

Caroline's answer wasn't what I expected, "You need to talk to Tyler."

"Why? What happened last night?" I frowned, already making plans to ambush my adopted bro. The worry in the blonde's voice had me tensing.

"He bit me," she sighed and I froze. What the fuck? Oh my god.

"Caroline, are you okay? Do you need me to come over? Shit, have you been healed? I can force Klaus into doing it-"

Care quickly interrupted my rambling, "I'm fine. Klaus came by last night and gave Matt a vial of his blood. But I'm worried about Tyler. He was so adamant that he had told Klaus that he wouldn't do it, and he was so scared when it happened."

"Fuck," I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose. "I'm glad you're okay. Have you heard from Tyler this morning?"

"Not since he took me to Matt last night. He was distraught but I was in too much pain to say anything to him."

"It's not your fault. Klaus put him in a shitty position. Again. I'm sorry you got caught in the middle too."

"When you find him, tell him that I'm not mad at him?"

"I'll tell him," I promised, before ending the call. I knew Ty, and I knew that he would be hiding at home. It was somewhere safe for him to stay. But it meant that I would be able to track him down. I told Jenna where I was going before I left the house.

I drove over to the Lockwood mansion, determined to comfort my other brother. It wasn't fair. He had hurt the girl he loved without even meaning to. And I knew that was killing him.

Mrs Lockwood let me in, her expression showing how worried she was for her son. That alone meant that I had done the right thing in coming straight over. Tyler never would have let his mom see how badly this was affecting him, unless he was out of control.

"Alexa," Mrs Lockwood rested a hand on my shoulder, stopping me just before I went upstairs. "Look after him. I'm worried about him after what happened. And I feel so powerless."

I gave her a determined nod, "Don't worry, Mrs Lockwood. I'll make him feel better and keep an eye on him. I won't let Klaus get away with this."

Tyler's mom gave me a sad smile before letting me go. I jogged up the stairs, heading straight for Tyler's room. I didn't bother knocking, and instead swanned right in. There was a lump under the blanket and I sighed, shaking my head. Slipping off my shoes, I sat down on the bed, curling an arm over the lump.

"Look at me, Ty," I said softly as the lump moved. But that was the only answer I got. "No one is mad at you. Caroline isn't mad at you. I'm not mad at you. We're just worried about you. It wasn't your fault. You told Klaus no, and the sire bond betrayed you."

"I'm too dangerous," the lump spoke, and I winced at the heartbreak in those words. "I can't be around anyone. I don't know if I'll be forced to hurt them."

"You're not alone in this, Ty," I eased my hand under the blanket, running my fingers through his hair. "We're here for you. We'll look out for you. And I've got people looking into the sire bond for you. Damon is even helping me."

The blanket moved slightly, so the hybrid could look up at me through his long lashes, "Damon is helping?"

"Yeah, he's helping," I smiled softly as Ty shifted so his head was resting on my lap. I continued to run my fingers through his hair. "He's got some witch contacts looking into it. Apparently, it's something that happens to vampire sometimes, but since hybrids are brand new, no one quite knows what it means in that regard. But witches are looking into what breaks a normal vampire sire bond, and we'll see if it can work for you."

"Thank you," he sighed, his large hand resting on my knee. "I just… I got so scared last night. I finally stood up to Klaus, but it was all for nothing."

"Not really, we know what he might ask of you now, so we know what to look out for. We can help you, until we work out a way to break this bond."

"How are you being so calm about this?" Tyler frowned, glancing up at me.

I shrugged, "Because that's what you need. As much as I would love to go on a rant, cursing the Original douche, that won't help you. You need someone to be calm and rationale, which is what I am doing."

"Calm and rationale. That must be hard for you, Alex."

"Oh hush you," I rolled my eyes, but the cheeky smile on Ty's lips warmed my heart.

XXX

I spent a few more hours with Tyler, helping him form a plan of action for the next time Klaus asked him to do something. It was only when it was getting close to my date with Damon that I left, encouraging him to go spend some time with his mom. If it wasn't for my date, I would have stayed and cooked for them. But I wasn't going to break my plan with Damon.

I rushed home and got changed. Damon had been quite sly on where we were going, but he told me to wear something warm and practical. I was definitely intrigued. After slipping on some black jeans and a thick red jumper, I added my leather jacket and favourite boots to the mix. I had gotten ready just in time, as a few minutes later, my boyfriend texted me to let him know that he was outside.

I shouted goodbye to my family before dashing down the path to his car. I slid in and eagerly turned to face my vampire, "So where are we going?"

Damon chuckled, deep and throaty and I remembered why I loved the sound of his laugh so much. He gently tapped my nose, "You'll find out soon enough."

"Spoilsport," I rolled my eyes, but I settled back into my seat. It was nice, seeing the excitement in his eyes. It wasn't often that he let himself be so free, and I swore that I would enjoy every single time.

He drove me into the woods, near where the original Salvatore mansion was. The one where the brothers grew up. I was curious as to why Damon would bring me here, of all places. I knew that he didn't have the fondest memories of his childhood home, courtesy of his father and Katherine.

He parked up in front of the ruins before turning to me, "Ready to do some walking?"

"I'm ready," I nodded before letting a teasing smile form on my face. "I can always get you carry me if I get tired."

"That's what you think," Damon smirked before getting out of the car. I grumbled playfully before following. The sun was starting to set, illuminating everything with an orange glow. It helped Damon guide the way, his hand grasping mine, as we walked amongst the trees.

My stubborn vampire still refused to answer me when I asked where we were going. But I couldn't bring myself to be annoyed. Damon actually looked excited by the surprise, and that was enjoyable. So I teased him and pouted prettily, laughing at Damon's answers. But when we finally arrived at the mysterious location, it took my breath away.

We were at the edge of a small cliff, one that overlooked the falls. The moon illuminated the water, giving the water a silvery glow. A small bench was placed near the edge, looking old and worn with age.

"I used to come here a lot as a child," Damon remarked softly from behind me. "It was somewhere that I could come to think, even more so after I left the army. I've never brought anyone here, never wanted to. But you, Alexa," he reached out to brush the hair from my face. "I know that you would appreciate the beauty of this place."

He was right. It was beautiful. With the waterfalls glistening beneath the moon, a gentle noise in the background, and the small white flowers that decorated the ground, it was a precious place to be. Peaceful. Relaxing. Beautiful.

Damon led me over to the bench, settling down next to me. I immediately rested my head against his shoulder as we gazed out over the water.

"Thank you for bringing me here," I whispered, knowing that my vampire's keen hearing would pick up my words. "For trusting me with this."

His arms were wrapped around me, his chin resting on my head. But I had never felt him be so peaceful. So relaxed. And I felt so privileged. Damon had trusted me with this, a secret, special place, that was so dear to him.

Despite the chill in the air, I did not feel cold. My boyfriend's warmth surrounded me, and I snuggled into him. The sound of nature, of life, echoed around us, adding to the peaceful atmosphere. It truly had a relaxing effect on you.

My lips brushed against Damon's neck, my cold nose following. He let out a slow breath, before his strong hands grasped my hips, settling me on his lap. I wrapped my arms around his neck, meeting his beautiful eyes.

The moon reflected upon them, igniting the silvery depths. His eyes had always been captivating, but even more so now. His pale skin shone in the moonlight, and my breath caught in my throat. Damon had never looked so inhuman, and I suddenly wanted more. I wanted this magnificent creature. I never wanted to let him go.

My thoughts must have been clear on my face as his lips quirked up into a smirk. He leant forward to whisper into my ear, "I'm yours, Alexandria, to do with whatever you please."

I let out a gasp as he nibbled on my earlobe. The night air cooled my heated skin as I felt my vampire grow hard underneath me. Normally I would be worried, since we were so exposed out here. But I trusted Damon when he said that this was a secret place, a hidden one. So I let him suck and nibble on my neck, his fingers brushing over my erect nipples.

It wasn't how I saw the evening going, but I wasn't going to complain. Not as he carefully lowered me to the ground, resting me on the leather of his jacket. Not as his fingers played me like a finely tuned instrument, one that he knew like the back of his hand.

He looked like some kind of supernatural god as he hovered above me, the light of the moon causing his skin to glow. It highlighted the hard lines of his chest, framed by the black of his shirt. It illuminated his eyes as they stared into mine as he slowly entered me.

Damon held me close, his warm breath against my neck as he worshipped me with his body. Going infuriatingly slow. But I felt every hard inch of him, inside and out, as he moved. I gasped out his name, my legs wrapped around his hips, begging him to go faster. But he kept at that slow and steady pace, driving me insane, as the pleasure slowly grew, controlled by him. His fangs scrapped against my neck as his fingers trailed along my skin, finding all those sensitive points.

I came with a whisper, as his fangs slid into my neck, my breath hovering in the air above us. The slight tug on my skin as he drank eased me through the aftershocks of my orgasm. I had barely caught my breath, barely recovered when Damon growled one word against my skin, causing my heart to flutter.

"Mine."

XXX

A/N: Thank you for the reviews! And in return, have some smut! This smut wasn't planned for the chapter, but it just felt natural when it came to it. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and please keep the reviews coming :) we're 25 away from 500, and the 500th reviewer will get to make a request of their choice :) until next time xoxo