Disclaimer: I only own my OCs

A/N: I still can't quite believe that I made it to the end of season 4! It has been a long journey but we made it and I am so grateful for all of your support in getting me there! We have a lot in this chapter, twin time, family time, Dalexa time, friends time. I hope you enjoy it! It felt like a good wrap up to season 4 :)

XXX

"You're handling this a lot better than I thought you would."

I glanced behind me, shifting slightly in my seat on the porch steps. Elena smiled down at me, a soft look on her face, as she sat down next to me on the steps. I scooted closer to her before raising an eyebrow, "You mean because I'm not having a breakdown?"

"Yes, because of that," my sister shook her head with a laugh, gently nudging me with her elbow. I sighed dramatically before wrapping an arm around her shoulder, tucking her into my side. I let myself enjoy her warmth, the feeling of her body against mine. A reminder that she was alive, if only for a few more hours. And I would cherish those hours, until I had to say goodbye.

I rested my head against my twin's before shrugging a shoulder, "It is a surprise. I wasn't expecting to feel this calm about it. I've been trying to work out why in my head. It's not because I feel numb," I snorted and shook my head, messing up both our hair, "I know what that feels like and this definitely isn't it. Is because I know that it is coming, it won't be a shock and I prepare myself, I don't know."

"No matter what, calm is better than crying," Ellie grabbed my hand, giving it a squeeze before stroking my palm with her thumb. "I hate watching you cry."

"I know you do, Ellie," I murmured, glancing down at our joined hands. It was weird, the little things that you missed. Like holding your sister's hand. It was such a simple thing but, god, it was horrible, not being able to do that. I gave it a gentle squeeze, wary of hurting my twin with my vampire strength. "I know you do."

We sat in silence for a few minutes, enjoying just sitting together, before my sister sighed, "I've missed this. Being able to just sit here with you, looking out at the world."

"It's not like you missed much, Els," I muttered, wincing slightly as I remembered the past few months. "I haven't really spent much time sitting here. I haven't spent much time sitting anyway, unless you count Miami, which I do not." I paused before wincing, "God, I hope you didn't follow us to Miami. Or New York. Or on the hunt for Katherine."

I hadn't spent any time here. Not since I turned it off. This house was just a reminder of what I had lost. Of all the times that my family had been put in danger because of me. And it was a reminder of my sister. Of our lives together. It represented everything that I was running away from. Because I can admit that now. Even though I turned off my humanity so that I could do what was necessary to bring my sister back, it was also to help me run away from everything that I had lost.

I had to be invited in, when we returned here late last night. During the past few months, someone had made the wise suggestion that the deed to the house be put in Jenna's name, thus resetting it. That way, pesky little vampires and Original Hybrid's couldn't come in and threaten people. It was a smart idea, one that we probably should have thought of a while ago. Not that it matters, it was done now and my family were once again safe.

Just mentioning my escapades outside of town made me sigh. While people could only guess what I had got up to, with some knowing parts of it, I couldn't let my twin know. I couldn't tarnish her image of me. For Ellie to look at me like a monster? It would break me all over again. Yeah, I know I did some horrible things, but I did not want my sister to know what I did. I would make amends, as best I could, for it all. But not at the price of my sister's innocence.

"I stayed here, whenever you left town," my sister said softly, as I continued to stare down at our joined hands. "Jeremy could talk to me and it helped… with the loneliness. And I guess I knew that you wouldn't want me to follow you when you left."

"Was it… was it that bad? On the other side?" I asked quietly, carefully moving my head away from Elena's, shifting to look at her. "I know that Kol bitched about when he was trying to kill Jeremy and I was beating his ass. But… was he telling the truth?"

There was a haunted look in my sister's eye, one that I never wanted to see again, one that broke my heart. Elena should never look like that. She deserved to be happy, free from the pain of the other side. With a deep sigh, one full of pain and loneliness, my twin nodded, "I was lucky, I had Jeremy. I was able to talk to him, that helped with the loneliness. You can't see anyone else on the other side, no ghosts, no one to talk to. But you can see the living, you can follow them, scream at them to hear you. But… they can't. If I didn't have Jer, it would have been a lot harder for me."

"Oh Els," I immediately pulled my sister into my arms, tucking her head under my chin as she clung onto me, squeezing hard. "I'm so sorry that you had to go through that. You don't deserve to suffer like that. I wish you didn't have to go back to it, that there was something that I could do."

"It's okay, Lexa," Ellie muttered into my neck. "It's the right thing to do. I… I died. It would be unnatural if I came back to life. I can't run from what happened, if even I want to."

"This town is filled with unnatural stuff," there was a petulant edge to my voice but I quickly sighed, squeezing my sister tighter. "I'll respect your decision, Els. Even if I hate it and wish you could come back permanently."

XXX

It didn't take long for Jenna to call us back inside. Ever since we had brought Elena back home, our aunt had been reluctant to let her out of her sight. And I couldn't blame her. I was the same, for the most part. Until my guilt became too much and I needed a moment alone. It didn't happen often, and I tried to avoid thinking about. The guilt over getting my twin killed, over what I had done since then. But every now and then, it just wouldn't be pushed back down.

Ric ordered take-out for lunch, figuring that grease was the way to go. And since no one complained, he was probably right. Elena tore into her burger with gusto, looking far too happy. She was normally one to complain over too much grease. But I guess being dead made you crave all of the unhealthy things in live.

The room was filled with the sound of eating and little happy noises. I left my food to the side, generously looking the other way when my sister tried to sneak some of my fries. Instead, I just held Zoe. Despite the momentous occasion of her oldest cousin coming back to life for the day, the sweet baby just slept through it, a content look on her face. It was adorable and my heart squeezed in my chest each time she pressed her head against my chest, feeling honoured that this innocent life trusted me to look after her.

Jeremy laughed when Elena just went for my burger, an unapologetic look on her face as she just grabbed it from my plate, where my very few fries were left. I gave my sister an eyeroll but we all knew that I wouldn't do anything about it. I was just happy that Ellie was happy and enjoying the hours that she had left on this side of the veil.

"No grease on the other side, then," our brother teased, nudging Elena's foot with his own.

"Definitely not," Ellie laughed, shaking her head, an indulgent look on her face. Despite the nightmare of the other side, I was relieved that my twin was able to laugh about it now. Especially since she faced going back there in just a few hours time. "God, I've missed this."

"I bet you've missed this too," I gave her a wink, grabbing a bottle of bourbon from the shelf behind me. I knew that Ric continued to drink to control the bloodlust. He was getting better at controlling it, thanks to Stefan and Caroline. But everyone struggled with it at first, unless you were gifted with supernatural control, like our blonde friend was.

I passed it to my sister, who took it and immediately downed a swig. The tightness around her eyes eased slightly and I knew that I had made the right choice. Sometimes a stiff drink helped to ease the tension. And my twin had a lot of tension in her body.

"Hey," Jenna gave a disapproving look but she didn't try and grab the bottle. Our clever aunt also realised how Elena needed something to ease the tension and the thought of returning back to that cold place in a few hours time. "Take it easy with that. I don't want you to turn up drunk to your graduation, that will really look bad on me."

"You don't need to worry about that, Jenna," I laughed, shaking my head. "I can get a drunk Elena through a graduation ceremony."

"Bold of you to assume that I've graduated," Ellie sighed, taking another drink before passing the bottle to Ric. "I haven't exactly been attending classes."

"It's cool, I compelled a few students to do your work and exams for you," I shrugged, eyes focused on Zoe's sleeping face, until a stunned silence made me look up. Every stared at me with varying degrees of shock and surprise. I just rolled my eyes. "I was planning on bringing Elena back to life so that she could enjoy it. That includes graduation. So I figured that since she was obviously going to get good grades and graduate, I might as well make it easier for her."

"I don't know whether I should be impressed or scared," Jenna muttered, squinting at me as I rocked her baby. I knew what she meant. My humanityless self was quite a person but ensuring that her resurrected sister was able to graduate was just a bit of a mindfuck.

"Let's go just for impressed," Ric sighed, taking another drink before passing the bottle to me. I paused before shrugging and taking the drink. "And then just be happy that at least Elena gets to experience her graduation."

"I'll take that," my aunt nodded before Elena pinched the bottle from me, making sure to keep it held away from Jeremy. The kid pouted but he knew that no one would speak up for him. So he settled for crossing his arms and looking annoyed. It was such a familiar move that I couldn't help but smile, letting Zoe grip my finger when she fussed.

It wasn't until my aunt's words registered that I winced, "Do we discuss the past few months now or are we doing that later?"

The others exchanged a quick look before Ellie reached out to rest a hand on my knee, "How about we don't do it at all?"

"Guys, come on, I fu…" I paused, glancing down at the baby in my arms before amending my language, "I effed up, I know that. At least let me apologise to you all."

"Alexa, we know how guilty you feel about everything," Jer spoke up, looking at me with wide eyes. "You don't need to apologise to us."

"But you deserve to hear it," I protested, stroking my baby cousin's hand with my thumb. "At least just let me say it."

"Nope," Ric shook his head. "This is a happy family time and if you start crying then everyone will start crying. And I don't have enough bourbon to deal with everyone's tears."

"Ric is right, we need a no-crying rule for today," my brother nodded, reaching forward to poke my knee. "Especially since we only have until tonight to enjoy this, if Caroline's right."

"Caroline is rarely wrong," I sighed, rolling my eyes. "But fine, you win. For now. But I will be giving you all the most heartfelt apology ever tomorrow."

"Noted," Jenna laughed as my phone buzzed in my pocket. I carefully stood up, balancing Zoe in one arm as I pulled my phone out of my jeans pocket. I glanced down and frowned. "Why is Matt calling me from the Grill? That boy has my number. Honestly." I answered the call, "Mattie, you disappeared on me this. What made you go to the Grill; I thought you had the day off work."

But it wasn't Matt's voice that answered. I froze, my grip on the phone tightening as Connor smirked, "Hello, Alexa. It's your dead friend, Connor. You remember me?"

"Oh fuck off," I breathed out, turning to face my family.

XXX

Jenna quickly took Zoe from me, giving me the chance to focus on the hunter that had returned from the dead. Death hadn't done anything to make him more pleasant, Connor was still as much of a dick as he was before.

"Oh come on," I rolled my eyes, pacing back and forth as my siblings watched me with wide eyes. Jenna took Zoe to another room, getting the baby settled before returning to exchange a glance with her boyfriend. We were fortunate that the baby continued to sleep. Since the last thing that I wanted was for Connor to learn about her. That man had already proven that he would threaten my loved ones, I wouldn't put it past him to threaten a baby. "I killed you. Why can't you just leave me alone?"

"Because you're a monster, Alexa, and you deserve to be tormented," Connor replied, sounding even more enraged than he did before. I always did have a talent for getting under his skin. It was amusing and I enjoyed it. Especially since the last time I dealt with him, he was tormenting me via the hunter's curse. I hadn't forgotten that. And I was determined to make him pay for that particular nightmare.

"You know, I knew that you were going to say that," I shook my head. "Like, seriously, hon, you are so predictable. So does this call have a purpose? Or did you just miss me so much that you wanted to tell me that you were back?"

"Who would possibly miss you?" the hunter scoffed as glass clinked in the background. He seemed to be near the bar of the Grill. I assumed that Matt wasn't there, god, I hoped that he wasn't there. Keeping my friend away from the irritating little hunter was important.

"Damn, so no coffee date for us then," I sighed dramatically, enjoying the annoyed grunt that I got in return. "But seriously, you're ruining my day. What do you want?"

"We want Silas, and we want the cure."

"Oh, so not much then. Good lord, you lot are demanding. You remind me a lot of my friend Vaughn. I'm assuming that you've met Vaughn?" a grunt answered my words. "Yeah, I nearly managed to get him to like me, but then I ran out of time and he shot me instead. That was annoying. Just like you are."

"Look," Connor growled, clearly annoyed with my talking. Not that I was going to stop. The longer I kept him on the line, the more I was able to hear. The hunter was alone, with none of his little hunter buddies around. Because I just knew that the little bitch had some. Vaughn was definitely one of them, but it was safe to assume that there were more. "We know that Silas is still in town, he won't leave, not while the veil is restricted and he hasn't taken the cure. One of your little group has it. And we want it."

"You know that manners are free, right? So it wouldn't hurt you to use them," I snorted, making eye contact with Ric. He had a serious look on his face as he listened into the call. I knew that he was working out the same things that I was, if Connor was alone, where exactly in the Grill he was. I mean, the man did teach me that kind of thing. So it made sense that he would do it. "And until you say please, I'm not going to help you. So suck on that, asshole."

The hunter wasn't impressed with my words, but the dark edge to his smirk had me freezing again, "Huh. Well, you know who will need some help? Grandma and Grandpa Jones, in town for the big high school graduation, along with Auntie Sue and Uncle Mark…" while Connor droned on, I watched Ric as he gestured that he was going to head to the Grill to deal with the annoying little hunter. As much as I wanted to go with him, I knew that I should remain at home with the humans in the family. Just in case any more old friends decided to come and visit. I nodded before watching as Ric sped from the house. All I had to do now, was to keep Connor talking. Not that he had stopped while I was distracted. "Matter of fact, everybody here at the Mystic Grill for graduation brunch. You either give me what I want, or they die."

"And you're just planning on staying there while I track down an immortal who can look like anyone and a cure that was last seen with him? Yikes, and to think that I used to think of you as smart."

"I can give you a deadline if you want. And then when you fail, I'll kill everyone here. After that?" the hunter shrugged, a casual tone in his voice that had me narrowing my eyes. "Maybe I'll come visit young Jeremy, see how much he has failed as a member of the Five."

"Look, I'll find your stupid cure and your stupid immortal," I spat, resuming my pacing, spinning sharply each time I reached the edge of the room. "But I'm warning you now, if you come anywhere near my family, then I will rip you apart. And each time you come back; I will find a new way to kill you. Trust me when I say that I have become very creative since we last met."

"Just get it done," Connor snapped before hanging up the call. I slowly pulled my phone away from my ear, staring down at it. I had absolute confidence that Ric had made it to the Grill. His vampire speed, his enhance Original vampire speed, would have gotten him there in no time.

So I felt no worry in letting the pissy hunter hang up the call and muttering, "You know, I really fucking hate that man."

XXX

After Ric took out Connor, thanks to the idiot's C4 vest, we bundled together and made our way to the Salvatore Boarding House. Since the hunters were human, staying home wouldn't protect anyone, as they could just walk right in. And since the Boarding House was vampire central, I knew that it would be safe there.

I was immediately proven right when I walked in. Stefan was on the sofa, halfway through a bottle of bourbon, with a familiar blonde sat next to him. Lexi smirked, giving me a wink before I was pulled into a strong hug. I immediately hugged back, even though my mind was whirling with shock. Eventually I managed a choked, "Rose?"

The older vampire pulled back, giving me a smile, "It's good to see you again, Alexa."

"Uh, you too," I glanced around the room before frowning. "No offence, but I wasn't expecting to see you."

"I wasn't expecting to be here, but I was just checking in on you all when the veil was lowered," Rose shrugged, wrapping an arm around my shoulder, directing me further into the house, the others following. Alaric moved to grab the bourbon from Stefan while my sister greeted Lexi.

"Damn, that is some mighty fine timing," I snorted, watching as Jeremy helped Jenna over to the other couch, settling her and Zoe down. "I'm glad that you've managed to escape the other side, even if it is just for a while."

"Me too," the older vampire agreed, just before my aunt gasped out Uncle John's name. I glanced up with a jolt, not realising that someone else had joined us. My birth father was stood by Jenna, gazing down at Zoe with the softest look that I had ever seen from him.

Just as I approached, John murmured, "She's beautiful, Jenna. Congratulations." He glanced up when I stood next to Jenna, giving me a small smile, "Alexa, it's good to see you."

"You too," I smiled back, giving Jenna's shoulder a gentle squeeze. "I should have known that you would show up."

My birth father shrugged, "I wasn't going to give up an opportunity to see my family. And check in on how they're doing."

At the pointed look he gave me, I cleared my throat, looking around the room, "I notice that my boyfriend isn't here. I'm going to go find him."

Alaric let out a laugh, poorly concealing it behind a cough, as I quickly bolted from the room. I knew that it was obvious that I was running away from yet another difficult conversation. But I didn't feel guilty this time. I had a lot of baggage, when it came to Uncle John, and the fact that I was now a vampire would definitely influence our conversation. So the longer I could put it off, the happier I would be.

As expected, Damon was in his room.

He was staring at himself in the mirror when I pushed the door open. My boyfriend glanced up, meeting my gaze in the mirror before turning around. I strode forward, coming a stop just in front of him, before rolling my eyes, "You're missing out on a lot of reunions down there, babe. I haven't seen your parlour that busy in a long while."

Damon hummed, shaking his head, an amused look in his eyes, "I've heard some of what's been happening downstairs."

I cleared my throat at the knowing look on his face, "So, are you just hiding up here, then? Cos I can keep you company if you like."

"Out of the two of us, I'm not the one hiding, Ally," my boyfriend laughed, his should twitching at the movement, before he reached out to grab my hand. I let him tug me over to the bed, taking a seat when indicated. I watched with interested eyes as Damon turned around, moving a couple of books off of the chest that he kept on his bedside table, pulling out a box. He turned to sit down with me, opening the box and presenting me with the most unexpected thing.

"Holy shit, Day, how did you manage to get your hands on the cure?" I breathed out as my boyfriend took my hand, gently placing the cure on my palm. I looked down at the tiny object in my hand. It had caused so much pain and misery. It was amazing to think that I now had it.

"I was in the right place at the right time," Damon shrugged, gently closing my hand around the cure, my fingers curling around the small vial, his hand covering mine. "Ric told me about your chat with Connor."

"Yeah, the hunters want the cure. So they can carry out their supernatural destiny and cure and kill Silas."

"Well, Silas is now a stone statue again, so there is no way that he is taking the cure. So it's yours to do with as you wish."

"God, that's a lot of responsibility," I murmured, staring down at our joined hands. "Like, do I even get to chose who gets it? What gives me that right? I mean, who am I to decide whether Stefan gets it? Or if Rebekah gets it? Or anyone else who might want it? And that doesn't even take into account Connor and his little posse. He's already threatened people in the Grill, there's nothing stopping him from threatening more people."

"Hey," my boyfriend gently hushed me, resting a finger against my lips for a moment before cupping my face. "You don't need to overthink this. Just go with your gut. You've got good instincts, Ally, trust them." There was a creak behind us and Damon glanced to the side. I followed his gaze to see Jeremy stood in the doorway. "You gonna help a brother out of are you just gonna lurk?"

Jer stared at Damon for a moment before looking at me, "He's right, Lexa. Elena died getting that cure, you have the right to decide who gets it. Someone has to, and you're probably the most impartial amongst us."

"Ah, goddamn it," I groaned, closing my eyes and shaking my head.

XXX

I was pacing, words tumbling from my lips before I could even register them in my head, "Like, who do I even give it to? Rebekah is an option, that girl has wanted to be human for centuries, but then her family has just abandoned her again. Would she even take the cure now or would she go to New Orleans to chase them down? And if she does that, then being human wouldn't be a good idea for her. And then there is Stefan. He's a terrible vampire. No offence, if he's listening, god I hope he isn't listening. He would majorly benefit from the cure, but then you would lose your brother and that is a shitty feeling. And what about Caroline? Yeah, she is an amazing vampire but what if she would rather be human again? Or any of the others downstairs, if they take the cure, then they won't go back to the other side when Bonnie puts the veil back up." I paced back and forth, running my fingers through my hair. Damon and Jeremy watched, keeping quiet as I mumbled and ranted, "And we can't forget fucking Connor and whatever other hunters he has working with him. I mean, I'm sure I saw Vaughn's body downstairs and he would be another pain in the ass. And I really don't think that I could charm him again. They want the cure for Silas because that witch ancestor of Bonnie has ordered them to use it on him. And I can't take the risk that they would hurt someone else, especially since he has already threatened Jeremy and if I kill him this time, then he won't stay dead."

"Look, Alexa," Damon stood up, grabbing my wrist, gently tugging me to a stop. "Forget about Silas, we don't need the cure for him; he's a calcified statue, thanks to Bonnie." He was about to say more when he let out a low groan, shifting uncomfortably. I narrowed my eyes, staring at him as he let out another groan.

"Damon, what's wrong?" I asked slowly, ignoring the growing unease in the back of my mind. I knew that groan didn't mean anything good, neither did the way that he was gripping my wrist.

"Nothing," my boyfriend quickly shook his head, even as his hand twitched for a moment, moving to his shoulder before dropping back to his side.

I rolled my eyes, "Strip."

"Alexa, there are children present," well, he still seemed to have a sense of humour, eyes darting to my brother as he dramatically muttered. I knew that he didn't want to look weak in front of Jeremy, so I compromised. I gently tugged my wrist from his grip before resting my hands on his abdomen.

I looked up at him, keeping my voice soft, "Okay, where are you hurt?"

Damon stared at me for a moment, his gaze meeting mine, searching for something, before he sighed, pointing, "My shoulder."

I nodded, before carefully pulling down the collar of his top. I bit my lip to hide my gasp. There was an unhealed bullet wound on his shoulder. It was a dark, angry red, the wound periodically leaking blood, hidden by the black of his shirt. But the most concerning thing was the fact that it hadn't healed. And I knew, deep down, why it hadn't.

"Damon," I breathed out before closing my eyes. "Please tell me that this isn't what I think it is."

"That is isn't a wound from a bullet laced in werewolf venom?" Damon sighed and shook his head. "Sorry, baby, those hunters are dicks."

"Motherfuckers," I spat, releasing my grip on his shirt to tug on my hair. "God, I don't care if it won't stick, I'm going to rip those hunters apart."

"Well, Vaughn is due to wake up soon, so you can have your fun with him if you want," my boyfriend offered and I pointed at him, shaking my head.

"Nope, not a time for jokes," I tugged on my hair again before settling my hands on my hips, ignoring the look from my boyfriend at my actions. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but fuck me, we need Klaus. The one fucking time that asshole isn't here and we need him and his stupid blood."

"Klaus would rather see me die," Damon sighed, shrugging his good shoulder. "Plus, Klaus is a thousand miles away sipping Hurricanes on Bourbon Street."

"Klaus got down there in a hurry, he can get his stupid ass back here in a hurry," I snorted, pacing back and forth, unable to stay still. The amount of fearful, nervous energy pouring through my body was unreal. "And I'll make him get here. I will not lose you to Connor's fucking tainted bullet!"

"What about the cure?" Jeremy piped up, glancing between us, an earnest look on his face. I glanced down at my clenched fist, holding the cure firmly in my grasp. "If you're human, the werewolf venom won't hurt you."

"Oh," I stared at my boyfriend with wide eyes. "Oh."

Damon looked at me before shaking his head. I knew what he was saying. There was no way that he would take the cure. And I couldn't bring myself to force him. I clung to my hope that I could get Klaus to come here and give Damon his blood. Because Damon wouldn't take the cure and I wouldn't force him. It was his choice and I would respect his choice, like he had continuously respected my choice.

My boyfriend gently took the cure from my hand, his fingers lingering on my palm before he made a show of cupping a hand to his ear, "Sounds like Vaughn's awake."

He strode from the room, quickly followed by Jeremy. I stared at the blank space in front of me for a moment, my heart clenching in my chest. After everything that I had lost, I was now facing the prospect of losing my boyfriend, my Damon. It was too much. I couldn't let that happen. I couldn't lose him, not Damon.

I pulled out my phone, shooting off a quick text to the missing Original Hybrid, 'Klaus, get your ass back to MF NOW' That would do until I called him. I tucked my phone back into my pocket before darting after the other two.

I got downstairs just in time to see Damon walking over to Vaughn. The hunter was standing by the door, warily staring at the vampires in front of him. But that didn't stop him from plucking the cure out of the air when Damon chucked it at him.

"The hell are you doing?" Stefan frowned from his position in front of Jenna. My aunt and her baby were surrounded by vampires. No one was going to let the hunter anywhere near her.

"Digging up Silas," the older Salvatore shrugged before looking at Vaughn. "You coming, Vaughn, or not?"

Without looking back, my boyfriend strode out of the door, closely followed by the hunter. I stared after them, my traitorous mind whispering that this could be the last time that I ever saw my beloved.

XXX

For the first time, I understood why Stefan spammed people with voicemails when they didn't answer his calls. Because Klaus was not answering his calls and I really fucking needed the asshole to answer my call. I didn't know if the shithead was doing it on purpose, because it was the sort of thing that he would do. He was an asshole like that.

I paced as I left my thirteenth voicemail, "Klaus, this isn't fucking funny. I need you to get your ass back to Mystic Falls so that you can use your blood to cure Damon. You owe me, remember? Now if you cure Damon, then I will call us even, okay? Now just get here… please."

As I finished leaving the voicemail, I debated whether it was worth calling him back again. Or if I should wait for a few minutes, to give him a chance to actually listen to the voicemails. If he was actually listening to them and not just deleting them like the ass he was.

Just as I was about to call him again, a gentle hand covered mine. I glanced up at my sister as she gently tugged my phone from my grasp, tucking it into my pocket instead, "Lexa, you need to breathe."

"I can't breathe, Els," I shook my head as my sister led me over to the sofa, pushing me down next to Jenna. "Damon is dying and there is nothing that I can do to help him. I need to save him."

"He'll be fine," our aunt spoke up, her voice soft as she passed me Zoe. I immediately held the baby close, slowly rocking my arms to keep her sleeping. I knew exactly what Jenna was doing. She knew that I wouldn't let myself stress or rage while I held her baby. It was a cheeky habit but I wasn't going to confront her on it. I knew that my aunt relaxed when she knew that her precious new born was being looked after by someone with supernatural strength. "He's survived this before, he'll survive again."

"I feel like it was around this time last year that he was stressing me out," I muttered, rolling my eyes as I got up, slowly pacing around the room, rocking my arms. "I swear, I won't let him out of my sight after he gets healed. He has the audacity to call me a trouble magnet, and yet, for the second time, he is infected with werewolf venom."

"I'm surprised that she hasn't gone to get Klaus and dragged him back to Mystic Falls herself," Jeremy mumbled under his breath, causing Elena to hide a laugh behind a cough. I gave the kid a look before shaking my head. It was something that had briefly crossed my mind, but I knew that it was a risky idea. I couldn't leave my loved ones behind with a group of hunters on the loose. Especially ones like Vaughn and Connor. I knew that they wouldn't hesitate to hurt my family and I needed to be there to protect them.

I held Zoe close with one hand before pulling out my phone again, calling Klaus and, as expected, going straight to voicemail, "You better not be screening my calls, mate." I horribly butchered his accent, hoping that it would annoy him enough into calling me back. "Look, I know we've had our issues and that you don't really like Damon. But you still need to come back and heal him. And if you don't, then you will never get any peace from me. I will follow you to New Orleans, I will follow you wherever you go, and I will make your life hell. So, please, just come back and give him your blood."

"You have such a way with words, Alexa," Alaric sighed as I paced past him. I knew that he was just as worried about Damon from the way that he didn't tell me off. The thought of losing Damon after everything that we had been through was a shitty one. He didn't deserve to die. I didn't deserve to lose him. If I lost him as well as my sister, then I didn't know if I would ever recover from that. It would be too much for me. Which was why that fucking annoying Original Hybrid needed to get his ass into gear and come back to town already.

"Niklaus doesn't like to be insulted," I snorted, shaking my head. "He'll come back to Mystic Falls, even if it is just to yell at me for yelling at him."

"You're putting a lot of faith into that theory," my sister raised an eyebrow at me before exchanging a glance with Jenna. I knew that it was a bit insane but I also knew that I could be right. My twin's interactions with Klaus mainly revolved around him either wanting to kill her or taking her blood. I had spoken to him a lot more and somehow survived all of it. I knew how to play the ass and how to live through it.

"No, she's right," Rose spoke up for the first time with a nod. The older vampire had been sitting on the other couch, watching everything that had been happening. She had stayed with us while Lexi and Stefan disappeared to a different room. I hadn't bothered listening in to their conversation, instead I had focused on harassing Klaus via voicemail. "Even back in the 1400s, he would track those he felt had slighted him. So it is possible that Alexa could lure him back to town with that."

"See," I waved my free arm at my family. "I know how to deal with that asshole. Just trust me. I won't let anything happen to Damon; I'll save him. No matter what it takes."

"That's what worries me," Jenna muttered, before sighing and shaking her head. "Just promise me that you'll be safe."

"I'll be fine," I snorted. "Klaus hasn't killed me yet and believe me, he has had plenty of opportunities to. He won't hurt me now."

XXX

When Zoe started fussing, I gave her back to her mom. Jenna took her to another room to feed, walking past Stefan as she did so. The younger Salvatore brother looked at me before sighing and shaking his head. I knew that he shared my fears, that Klaus wouldn't come back to heal Damon. That we would lose him, after everything that we had all been through.

"Do you know what he is up to?" I immediately asked the other vampire, trying to sound calm. But I had a feeling that my panic was betraying me. I still hadn't heard back from Klaus and it had been over an hour since Damon and Vaughn left. "I mean, I'm going to assume that he won't let the hunters cure Silas because he will not give Vaughn what he wants. But I don't know what his plan is and that is really stressing me out."

"Alexa, relax," Stefan stepped forward to rest his hand on my shoulder. "He won't let the hunters give the cure to Silas. Wherever Damon is taking Vaughn right now, it's to stall, because Damon hasn't had time to bury Silas's body yet. And that's all you need to know right now."

"That sneaky little shit," I breathed out before shaking my head. "Okay, that makes me feel a bit better. But isn't he in danger if he is with Vaughn? I mean, the guy still has his venomous bullets and, goddamn, my boyfriend is still infected with that venom."

"It'll be fine, it was just the one bullet and it was only laced," the younger Salvatore gave my shoulder a squeeze. "We still have a little bit of time. I will go to New Orleans myself and I will beg Klaus if I have to."

"We might need to," I grumbled, tapping my fingers against my thigh. "Because the asshole is ignoring my voicemails."

As I cursed out the Original Hybrid under my breath, my siblings exchanged a glance before nodding and standing up. Jeremy wandered over to the obnoxious dining table at the end of the room, before declaring, "Then it's settled. You're going to your graduation, Alexa."

I glanced over at him, watching as he walked over with my cap and gown, passing Elena's hers as e walked past her. My eyes settled on the red before shaking my head, "Jer, no, I can't. There are more important things to worry about right now. I can't even begin to think about graduation."

"Alexa," Ellie gave me a look as Jeremy held out my cap and gown, shaking them slightly when I didn't immediately grab them. "You worked so hard to make sure that I could attend my graduation. Do you really think that I would go without you?"

"And besides, mom and dad would kill you if there wasn't a photo of you in your graduation getup," my little shit of a brother snorted, forcing my gear into my arms. "And if they don't, then Jenna will start crying and you can't make Jenna cry."

"Come on, everyone will be there," my sister took her turn to persuade me, wrapping an arm around my shoulder as she looked at me with her big, brown eyes. "You'll just be sitting here alone, worrying and panicking and that won't help anyone."

"Jenna even brought your dress along when we came here, it's hanging up in the library."

"Damon won't want you to miss your graduation because you were too busy worrying about him."

"Ah goddamnit, fine," I laughed, holding up a hand to hush my siblings. I exchanged a helpless look with Alaric, who had been nodding along with them. "I'll go to my graduation. Damn, I had forgotten how annoying it is when you two teamed up."

"Nah, you've missed it," Jeremy laughed, happy that I had given in to his wishes, pressing a kiss to my cheek. "It makes you feel better when you believe you've been bullied into something."

"I'll show you bullying, shitface," I rolled my eyes, ignoring Ric's pointed cough. But there was an amused look in his eyes. I knew exactly what he was thinking, what my siblings were thinking, what Stefan was even thinking. They were enjoying me being back to normal, which included insulting my baby brother. "Did anyone even think about bringing my makeup along?"

"There was no need, you have plenty in Damon's room," my sister gave me a cheeky smirk, poking my shoulder. "So go on, go get ready. We both know that you aren't planning on graduating from high school again, so we need to make the most of this."

Before I was forced out of the room by my sister, I paused to look at Rose. The brunette was watching me with amused eyes, enjoying the show. I knew how entertaining it could be, when us siblings got together and this was even more amusing, because all of us had months of separation to make up for.

"Do you think you could check on Damon?" I asked the older vampire, feeling Stefan's eyes on me. "Just in case Vaughn is giving him any trouble. I can't… I can't let anything happen to him."

"I'll go now," Rose promised, a serious look on her face as she got off the couch. "I won't let anything happen to him."

"Thanks, Rose," I smiled at the other vampire, just before my sister tugged me from the room. I let her direct me up to Damon's room, ordering me to get my makeup sorted before she disappeared back downstairs to get my dress. I rolled my eyes but indulged her. Because she was right. I had put a lot of effort into getting my sister back into the land of the living, in time for her graduation. And if my twin wanted me to be by her side when she graduated, then I wouldn't even think about denying her that. I wouldn't deny her anything. Not now. Not ever.

XXX

Alaric drove the humans to the school, while Elena and I grabbed a lift with Stefan. I knew that my sister and the younger Salvatore had a lot to discuss, but they apparently felt like now wasn't the time to do it. Which was probably a good thing. As I didn't have a handbag available and thus, didn't have anything to touch up my twin's makeup if she started crying.

All of the student were hanging around the football field while the family of the graduates were filling the stands. I had given Jenna a hug before she went to go sit with Ric and Jeremy, Zoe sleeping in her arms. Honestly, babies slept a lot. It was something that shouldn't surprise me, but yet, it did.

It was easy to spot our friends. Caroline's blonde hair glowed against the red of the graduation gown, as she directed people around. Bonnie was stood next to her, an oddly emotional smile on her face as she watched the blonde. I couldn't quite see Matt but I knew that he had to be here somewhere. There was no way that Caroline would let him miss this. She had been preaching about the importance of graduation for months, and no one wanted to ruin this day for her.

I waved the other two on ahead as I pulled out my phone, preparing to leave my twentieth voicemail, "Klaus, you didn't answer your phone. What a shock. Not. Seriously, do you get your jollies by deliberately ignoring me? Because there has to be a reason as to why you aren't answering your fucking phone. And if you think that I will give up, then you are wrong. I will spam you with calls until you get your annoying ass here and save my boyfriend."

I tucked my phone into the bra of my blue dress and looked up, just in time to see Elena give me a sympathetic smile. She was holding Stefan's hand, looking far too relaxed for someone who would be returning to the other side in just a few hours time. She held out her other hand and I quickly darted forward to grab it. I knew I couldn't ruin this for my sister, so I put on a smile and kissed her cheek. I was good at putting on a mask, at pretending that everything was fine. And for my twin, I would do it as many times as needed.

As we walked towards the blonde, she turned to Bonnie and demanded, "Where is everyone?"

Just before I called over to announce that we had arrived, Matt jogged up to the pair, adjusting his gown as he smiled, "I'm here."

"Where have you been?" Care rolled her eyes, adjusting the collar of his gown.

"Oh, you know," the blue-eyed cutie shrugged, a cheeky smile on his face. "Making plans for the summer, dodging death by vampire hunter."

Dodging death by vampire hunter? Damn, I needed to have words with Mattie. He was supposed to be safe ad not involved in the hunters' nonsense. It didn't look as though they had hurt him, but I had to make sure. I refused to let them hurt anyone else that I cared about.

While Caroline fussed over Matt, Bonnie frowned, looking around at the gathering crowd, "Where are Elena and Alexa? We can't do this without them."

Fortunately, I didn't have to rely on supernatural hearing, as we walked up to our little group of friends. I kept my grip on my sister's hand but used my other arm to wrap around my witchy friend, tugging her into my side, "Don't worry your pretty little head, Bon, we're here."

Ellie quickly let go of Stefan's hand to pull Bonnie into a quick hug, carefully keeping her grip on my hand. She gave our friend a squeeze before whispering, "Thank you for today."

As my sister pulled away, I caught Bon's eyes and mouthed, "Thank you for everything."

Bonnie gave me a small smile, wrapping her arm around my waist and squeezing gently. I knew that I had to have a proper conversation with my friend, to properly apologise for being a raging bitch, but for now, we didn't need to air all of that out.

"I can't believe it," Caroline's voice was filled with emotion as she looked at our little gang, drawing my attention. "We're actually all here. We are all here together!" A small sniffle caught our attention and I glanced to the side to see Bonnie tearing up. The blonde had an indulgent smile as Matt wrapped his arm around Bonnie too, firmly placing the witch between us. "Bonnie Bennett, are you crying?"

"It's our last hurrah before you guys go off to college and before…" she trailed off, not needing to say anything else. We were truly blessed to have this day together, before everything changed. Before Elena became a ghost again, before everyone disappeared off to college and travelling and all of those plans that we had spent years discussing.

"Before we go off to college," Care shook her head, a smile on her face.

"Yeah, no, I definitely won't be going to college," I laughed, winking at my sister's roll of the eyes. "Who needs a college degree when you have compulsion?"

"Alexa, that really isn't the attitude to have," Stefan shook his head at me, but there was an amused look in his eyes. Absolutely no one was surprised by my lack of desire to go to college. Even if I was still human, I wouldn't be going.

"I'm just happy that we're all here now," Bonnie smiled, valiantly fighting the tears in her eyes. I just cooed, kissing her cheek, giving her a gentle squeeze.

"Aw," Caroline gave the witch a sweet smile before demanding. "Group hug!"

As we all gathered in together, Stefan tried to step back, shaking his head, "Ah, I don't… I don't hug…"

"Oh, get over yourself!" Care laughed, as she and Elena forced the younger Salvatore into the hug. We all bundled in together, a mess of arms and heads and caps. But we didn't care. We had made it to graduation, an event, as Caroline liked to say, that meant we were officially adults.

XXX

As the students lined up by the stage, ready to collect their diplomas, Mayor Hopkins kicked everything off. He had that easy smile on his face as she looked over at the friends and family of those who were graduating. A sea of empty seats lay in front of him, ready for the students who had reached this day and successfully graduated.

"Welcome, parents, family and friends," Bonnie's dad said, his voice magnified. "What a beautiful day for graduation." I glanced up at the blue sky above us as my sister wrapped her arms around my waist, her cap bumping against mine as she shuffled as she close as she could to me. "Thank you for joining us today on this special day, as we celebrate our graduates." He paused for the applause. "So let's get started. John Albrecht… David Bance… Sarah Beasley…" We watched as students climbed the stairs when their names for called, collecting their certificate with a smile and shake of the hand, before departing for the seats in front of them. It was a slow process. But I didn't mind. The warmth of my sister's body, the smell of her perfume, it helped me to relax. I was able to spend time with her, just enjoying her presence. "Um, not to play favourites, but I am especially proud of this next graduate, my lovely daughter: Bonnie Bennett!"

As more names were called out, I looked out at the crowd of family and friends and well-wishers, looking for our little family. I saw Jeremy first, a wide smile on his face as he watched Bonnie walk over to her seat. It was adorable, how much he loved her. I knew that the two were growing close again, hopefully they would find their way back together romantically too. They were good together and I wanted both of my loved ones to be happy.

I managed to get Jenna's eye as she held Zoe close. My aunt had a proud smile on her face, even as she wiped away a tear. I knew that she was more emotional than normal, thanks to her recent labour, which was why I just blew her a kiss. She laughed lightly, shaking her head as Ric wrapped an arm around her shoulder's. It was a relief that his time as Esther's puppet and his death hadn't affected their relationship.

The biggest surprised was seeing April Young sat next to my brother. There was a slight tenseness to her body as she was surrounded by warm, human bodies. But despite that, there was an easy smile on her face as she laughed at something that Ric said. I was glad that the girl was doing well, she deserved to be happy. But I knew that she was yet another person that I needed to apologise to. I had wronged her by turning her without her approval. I had forced that decision on her and it was something that I had previously sworn that I would never do. I just hoped that the girl accepted my apology.

"Savannah Davis… Matt Donovan… William Duncan… Caroline Forbes… Matt Freeman… Alexandria Gilbert…"

I playfully rolled my eyes at the use of my full name but dutifully made my way up the short staircase. Mayor Hopkins was waiting for me, diploma in hand, a proud smile on his face. I carefully made my way over to him, reminding myself that falling over in my pumps in front of my entire year and their loved ones would not be something that I wanted to do.

As I reached Bonnie's dad, he immediately held out his hand, his grip warm and soft as he shook mine. I took my diploma, a smile on my face, as he murmured, "Congratulations."

"Thank you, Mayor Hopkins," I beamed, before he turned to call out my sister's name. I exited the stage but lurked at the bottom of the stairs, watching as my sister accepted her own diploma. Her smile was wide as she also got a private congratulations from our friend's dad. As I watched her, I was so thankful that my humanityless, bitchy self had made sure to compel students and teachers into doing and submitting my twin's work, ensuring that she would graduate.

Ellie met me at the bottom of the stairs, an indulgent look on her face as she wrapped her arm around mine. But I knew that she wasn't surprised that I had waited for her. Even if she wasn't to return to the other side in just a few hours, I would have waited for her.

I couldn't keep the smile off my face as we walked towards the seats, feeling relaxed for the first time in a long while. I could feel my twin's eyes on me before she murmured, "You're happy."

"Of course I'm happy, Els, I'm with you," I playfully rolled my eyes, tapping her shoulder with my rolled up certificate.

"No," Ellie shook her head, a wide smile slowly forming on her face. "Lexa, you're happy and I don't have a headache."

I paused for a moment as I realised that she was right. I didn't have a headache either. My sister was obviously very happy but I wasn't being affected by that at all. It was… it was an unexpected gift.

"The witch did say that on distance or death would break the bond," I laughed as we reached our seats, tugging my sister down next to me. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders. "Looks like there was one good thing that came out of your death, Ellie."

"That's just what a girl wants to hear," my twin rolled her eyes but she didn't even bother trying to hide her happiness. "At least I can enjoy this day without worrying about you being in pain."

"Aw, Els, forget about my pain. I'm just happy that you don't have to deal with it. Today is more your day than mine and I want you to enjoy it."

XXX

Unfortunately, life hated us and we weren't allowed to enjoy anything. After receiving his own diploma, Stefan was quickly on his phone, not even bothering to head back to the seats. Instead, he disappeared behind the bleachers. I exchanged a glance with my sister before we both rushed after him. I could hear the clicking of heels following us and I knew without turning that it was Caroline. I was relieved that the blonde had followed us. Additional vampire backup to help with whatever the latest problem was would be much appreciated.

In the background, the mayor continued to read out the names of the remaining students, completely oblivious to the drama happening in the background. And that was how I wanted it to remain. It was safer if no one knew what was wrong. Somehow, we had managed to hide the fact that the veil had been lowered from the entire town. No one was panicking, no one was dying, no one was being ripped apart by angry ghosts. And the longer I could keep it that way, the happier I would be.

It took barely a second of eavesdropping to realise that it was Rose on the other end of the phone. And my heart froze in my chest. If it was Rose on the phone, then that meant that something was wrong with Damon. We were supposed to have more time to cure him from the fucking venom laced bullet. But judging from the urgency in the older vampire's voice, we no longer had that time, "Look, Stefan, I want nothing more than to get Damon away from here before Vaughn come back to life, but Damon's too weak to move and he won't take the cure."

While the other two vampires debated whether it was worth just shoving the cure down Damon's throat, an option that I was firmly against, I left Klaus yet another voicemail. The asshole still hadn't answered any of my calls, nor had he acknowledged my voicemails. It was only my annoyance with the Original Hybrid that stopped me from spiralling. Because I knew that we were running out of time. My boyfriend was dying that there was nothing that I could do, unless I agreed to give Rose permission to force Damon to take the cure. And I just didn't know if I could do that. He didn't want to take it; he would rather die than be a vampire. And how could I take that choice away from him?

"Okay, how much time do we have?" Stefan asked urgently, his phone creaking in his hand from the strength of his grip. "Alexa is trying Klaus again."

It was probably safe to assume that Rose heard my vicious curse when I failed to get through to the only person with the cure to werewolf venom, "Stefan, we are past the point of Hail Mary phone calls. What do you want me to do? Stand by and watch him die? Or force-feed him the cure?"

Stefan glanced over at me; his conflict clear on his face. I knew exactly what he was thinking, it was the exact same thought that was going through my mind. We didn't want to lose Damon but we didn't want to take away his choice and force him to do something that he didn't want to do.

So, despite the pain in my heart, I shook my head. I wouldn't give my blessing to do that to Damon, to take away his choice. The younger Salvatore closed his eyes for a moment, before opening his mouth, going to answer Rose's prompting.

But before he could, a searing pain burst through my mind. I let out a cry, one hand gripping my head, fingers tangling in my hair, my other hand reaching out for my sister. Elena called out our names in fear, as us three vampires hunched over in pain, clutching our heads.

I managed to force my eyes open, biting my lips to hold in my cries of pain, and saw a group approaching us. The one in front was a woman, her hand outstretched, a vicious look on her face. Her eyes were narrowed, staring at Caroline, as she hissed, "Remember us, Caroline?"

Shit.

They were witches and they wanted revenge. I didn't know who they were, but judging from the fact that the expression triangle required the sacrifice of twelve witches and my blonde friend had unwittingly ended their lives, it was easy to assume that this was the group of witches. And they weren't very happy about the fact that they had died for Bonnie's spell.

I tugged my sister closer, forcing myself to stand up, tucking her into my side. I didn't know if they would go after my human twin, but I wasn't going to take any chances. I didn't care if she would only come back, thanks to the veil still being down, I wasn't going to let anything happen to her. I would not let my Ellie suffer while I could protect her. So even with the pain coursing through my head, enough to push me to the edge of passing out, I held my sister close, keeping her as far away from the angry witches as I could.

I was just about to urge my sister to run when the there was a thud and the pain disappeared. I looked to the side, pushing my twin behind me, and saw the witch's head on the ground, a graduation cap on the floor next to it. Her body crumpled to the floor, the rest of her coven staring at the decapitated body in shock. But I just turned around and stared at the new arrival.

"There are plenty more of these to go around," Klaus smirked, holding up another cap, a devilish gleam in his eyes. "Who's next? I can do this all day."

"Oh my fucking god, you dramatic son of a bitch," I breathed out, even as my body relaxed. Klaus was here, and that meant that I could save Damon. I wouldn't lose my boyfriend; I wouldn't lose anyone else.

XXX

I sat with Damon as he finished the last of Klaus' blood. He leant back against the headboard, passing me the empty glass as he licked the blood from his lips. I placed it to the side without looking before I tugged down the collar of his top, watching as the infected skin finally began to heal.

Just as I went to check on the other wound, my boyfriend gently moved my hand away. I was about to protest, needing to make sure that he was healing, needing to confirm that he would be okay. But Damon hushed me, leaning forward and pulling off his top. He threw the black fabric to the side before taking my hand back in his. He gave it a gentle squeeze as I watched the wound of his chest, the one that was far too close to his heart from my liking, heal, smooth, clean skin replacing the ugly wound.

Once the skin had finished knitting back together, I finally looked away, glancing up, meeting Damon's slivery gaze. With his free hand, he reached out to cup my face, thumb stroking my cheekbone.

"Bet it feels nice, now that you're all healed up," I murmured, my free hand resting on his knee. Through the hole in his jeans, I could that the final wound was healed too. There was no trace of the venom left in his body.

"It is a relief," Damon's lips quirked up into a soft smile as he continued to stare at me. My hand left his knee, fingers brushing against his stomach before slowly stroking up his skin until I reached the bloodstain on his chest. The blood had long since dried, flaking as I stroked the spot of the injury. From what Rose had said, if Vaughn had shot Damon one more time, it would have been game over. This was the final wound that the hunter had inflicted and the worst of the three. "You respected my choice." I frowned slightly, opening my mouth to speak, but before I could, my boyfriend continued. "Rose would have listened to you, if you had told her to force me to take the cure. But you didn't."

"Of course I wasn't going to do that, Day," I sighed, moving my hand to rest on his shoulder, shuffling forward so the gap between us was minimal. "You… you always respected my choices, even if you probably didn't agree with them. I would always do the same for you. You didn't want to take the cure and I couldn't live myself if I forced you to be something that you didn't want to be."

"I debated it, for a moment," Damon murmured, his thumb brushing against my lips. "But then I realised that I would rather die than be human. Than to spend a handful of years with you, only to lose you when I was too old and sick and miserable, and you're still the beauty that I see in front of me. I would rather die than spend my last, final years remembering how good I had it and how happy I was, because I am that selfish. And I know how much pain my death would cause you and yet, I just couldn't bring myself to take that cure."

"You don't have to apologise for that," I shook my head, voice soft as my boyfriend tugged me forward. I settled between his legs, resting against his chest, my face against his shoulder. His arms immediately closed around me, holding me close to him. "I know you never wanted to take the cure and… I don't know if I could imagine a world where you weren't a vampire. It isn't selfish to stick to your principles. You would have been miserable if you took it and became everything that you didn't want to be. I understand that, Day, and I will never be mad at you for your choice."

"I'm sorry I put you through that," my boyfriend sighed into my hair, breathing in deep before pressing a kiss to my forehead. My fingers traced the lines of his chest, the skin firm and smooth beneath my touch.

"You don't need to apologise, baby," I pressed a kiss to the skin closest to me. I let my body relax at the strength in his grip, in his body. "I'm not mad at you. I'm just glad that I have you here with me now, alive and healthy. I love you, Damon, and I regret every day for the past few months where I haven't told you that. Where I haven't told you how much I need you in my life, how much I appreciate you standing by me, after everything that I have done. Your support meant so much to me, even if I couldn't say it."

"I'll aways support you, Ally," Damon promised, his voice soft as his fingers stroked up and down my back. "You respect my choices and I respect yours. You can always rely on me. And… you don't need to worry about the past few months. Even if you couldn't say it, I knew that you still loved me, even with your humanity locked away. You didn't try to run from me, you let me take you out of town. You defended me when my brother went further than he should. Those are all signs of love."

"I know that I was a raging bitch," my lips quirked up as I remembered the past few months. "But being out of town with you was some of the best times of my life. I felt so free with you, I didn't fear judgement, I could just be me, the new me. And, hell, you're just fun to be around."

"Well, that's always nice to hear," my boyfriend chuckled, his laughter vibrating in his chest. I couldn't stop my own laugh as I titled my head back, looking Damon in the eye.

"I'm so relieved that everything worked out that Klaus came back in time and that I don't have to say goodbye to you."

"You'll never have to say goodbye to me, Ally, I promise."

XXX

I left Damon to go shower, somehow resisting the urge to jump in there with him, I made my way downstairs. It wasn't that I didn't want to run my hands over my boyfriend's body, cleaning away the blood myself, making sure that everything was how it should be. But I had things that I needed to do first. And then, once I had to say goodbye to my sister for the final time, I would retreat back to our bed, curling up in his arms, soaking up comfort from the person that I trusted the most.

Elena and Stefan were talking when I came downstairs, relaxed smiles on both their faces. I was glad that they had cleared the air, they needed to. I knew that both of them would regret it if they didn't take this opportunity to discuss everything that had happened before Ellie's death. It was only because of the content looks on their faces that I dared to interrupt.

"Hey, can I borrow Stefan for a moment?" I asked, glancing between the two. They exchanged a glance before my sister nodded, stepping back. She glanced around the room, full of family and friends, some of whom were destined to return to the other side in just a couple of hours time.

"Thanks, Els," I gave her a quick smile before grabbing Stefan's hand. The older vampire indulged me, letting me tug him from the room and into the library. Before I let, I looked over my shoulder to see Elena sit down between Lexi and Jenna, quickly laughing at something the blonde said. I knew that she would be fine, while I finished what I needed to do, and it wouldn't be long until I returned to her side, as ready as I could be to say goodbye.

"You alright, Alexa?" Stefan asked after we both got settled on the leather couch in the library, the fire crackling merrily in front of us. The look on the other vampire's face was soft, patient, reminding me so much of how it used to be. So many things had changed since I had turned, but it seemed as though my friendship with Stefan hadn't. Oh, we had a lot of things to work through, but at least he still wanted to work through them.

"Yeah, no, I don't know," I sighed, shaking my head, looking away from the vampire and into the fire. "The whole situation with Ellie is a bit fucked but other than that, it's better than it was. Damon is alive, I'm no longer a raging bitch, my friends don't hate me."

"We never hated you, Alexa," Stefan was quick to say, resting a hand on my knee. "We were just worried about you. Losing Elena, we all knew that it would be too much for you. We just didn't want you to lose yourself."

"I'm amazed that I didn't," I muttered before raising my voice. "But I did want to say thank you, for not giving up on me. Even when I was the biggest bitch on the planet to you, you still fought for me, trying to get the real me back. I appreciate that. And I'm sorry for how I acted."

"You don't need to apologise," the older vampire gave me a small smile before wincing. "I know what you went through. Once you turn it off, you don't want to turn it back on. You don't want to face the guilt and the pain; you don't want to confront the damage that you had left behind. I understand why you fought it."

"Yeah, living in a world without my sister was not something that I wanted to deal with," I snorted. "I guess one good thing did come out of that period in my life. I have completely forgiven you for everything that you did while your humanity was off. I get it now, how you could act like you did and then just smirk and not care. We're good now, on my end, anyway. I'd understand if you were still mad at me."

"I'm not mad, I'm just glad that you're back with us."

"So am I," I sighed before digging my free hand in my bra, pulling out the cure. I held it in my hand for a moment. The cure was still warm from being pressed against my skin. That was the downside to having no pockets on my dress, I didn't have anywhere to put it. "Okay, so, Damon gave this to me earlier. And I've done a lot of thinking about it." I opened up my hand, the cure sitting on the palm, the red liquid almost glowing from the light of the fire. "I will not take the cure; I know that for a fact. But… you can take it if you want to."

"Alexa," Stefan sighed, staring down at the cure on my palm. "I don't…"

"I know, you want someone else to take the cure, you feel as though someone else deserves it more," I interrupted softly, nodding. "I get that. But for one moment, Stefan, just be selfish. Think about if you truly want it. Because, no offence hon, we both know that you suck at being a vampire. "You can't drink human blood and your conscience doesn't always let you use your strength how it needs to be used. And I get that, its hard. I was scared that I was a ripper, for a while, but I got lucky that I wasn't. So if you want to take it, then go for it. You deserve the life that you want."

"Thank you, Alexa," the younger Salvatore paused for a moment before curling my fingers back around the cure. "I have thought about it, ever since we heard about the cure. It's kept me awake at night, wondering if I could go back to being human. But I guess I'm not ready to do that. I've learnt to adapt to being a vampire, the human blood element as well. So keep it, find someone else to give this to. And know that I am content in my choice."

XXX

I was just about to head upstairs after speaking to Stefan, when a familiar face by the front door had me pausing. Klaus seemed content to lean against the small brick wall, staring up at the stars, but he was clearly here for a reason. I rolled my eyes and shook my head before stepping off the bottom stair and walking over to the Original Hybrid.

He didn't look over at me as I sat down on the wall next to him, looking up at the stars above us. It was a clear night and you got a perfect view of the constellations above us. It was oddly peaceful, sitting there next to Niklaus Mikaelson, and I never expected sitting next to Klaus to be peaceful. But I wasn't going to complain. After the drama of the day, it was nice to have a bit of peace.

But since I had places to be, I eventually had to break the silence, "You know, it's rude to ignore a girl when she is repeatedly calling you."

"Ah, but how could I deny myself the amusement of your voicemails," the Original smirked down at me, the blue eyes shining from the lamplight of the home behind us. "They were almost as entertaining as your graduation announcement."

"Well, I'm just naturally a funny person," I shrugging, unable to hold in a laugh. "But seriously, thank you for coming and saving Damon. I really do appreciate it."

"Despite the animosity between me and the older Salvatore, I do not wish to see him die, if only to spare his brother that pain."

"I don't care why you did it, I just appreciate that you did. But how did you arrive so quickly? I know I was spamming you with calls but I didn't think that you would arrive so fast."

"I was already on my way," Klaus shrugged, looking down at me. There was a surprisingly vulnerability in those blue depths, one that I hadn't seen for a long time. "I discovered something… surprising… down in New Orleans. And it made me think about my time here. I don't want to leave more enemies behind and so I am here to mend some bridges."

"That… wasn't what I was expecting," I muttered, a slight frown forming on my face. "But I guess I understand. You've probably made so many enemies over the years, you must get sick of watching over your back for them. Okay, I'll play ball. You saved Damon, that is one bridge mended, for a lot of people that you screwed over. And I accept that we are now even in that regard."

"Thank you," the hybrid murmured, looking surprised by my immediate acceptance of his words. I understood why. I had never made it a secret, just how much I hated him at times. Especially with everything that he did to my birth parents and to Tyler and my sister. But I also knew that there were times that we might need him. Unfortunately, the Original Hybrid held the only cure to werewolf venom. And with the life we led, I could not guarantee that we wouldn't need it again.

"But there is one more thing that I want you to make right," I held up my hand before he could say anything else. "I want you to let Tyler come home. You aren't even going to be here anymore, let him come back to his friends and family. Well, what little family he has left. If you let him come back then I promise, we will leave on good terms and you won't need to count me on your list of enemies."

Klaus paused for a moment, thinking deeply. I knew that he had his own issues with his first ever hybrid. And the way that he rebelled against his control. But if he was serious about mending bridges, then fixing things with Tyler was a huge one. He had to let my adopted brother come home, otherwise I would refuse to put things right between us.

"I can accept that," the Original Hybrid eventually nodded, relaxing where he stood. "Tyler is free to return to Mystic Falls. I'll let you or Caroline be the one to summon him home. He has nothing to fear from me anymore."

"Thank you," I smiled, reaching out to pat the man on the shoulder. "I appreciate that. And like I said, we're now good. I can't erase the past but I can put us on a good path from now. Just no more hurting my loved ones."

"I can assure you, Alexa, that that will not happen anymore."

"Thank god for that," I muttered, rolling my eyes. But Klaus wasn't done with this grand gestures. He slowly moved to take my hand, holding it between us. I watched with a confused frown as he dug around in his pocket, pulling out a sealed vial. It was the size of a small water bottle, filled with a deep red liquid. "Is that…?"

"My blood?" Klaus finished my question before nodding. "Since you and your loved ones seem to get infected with werewolf venom on a worryingly frequent basis, I thought that a good graduation gift for you would be some of my blood. Just in case I can't drop everything and come to Mystic Falls at a moment's notice."

"Oh dang," I breathed out, carefully curling my fingers around the glass vial. "I think that is one of the most thoughtful things that you have ever done for me. Thank you, Klaus, I really do appreciate this. Even if I really do hope that I won't need to use it, even if you are right about our annoying tendency to get poisoned more often than we would like."

"And if you ever feel like experiencing something new, you are always welcome in New Orleans. It's a charming city, one that you would enjoy. You can even bring your Salvatore along with you."

"Gee, how generous of you," I laughed, shaking my head.

XXX

I walked into Damon's room just in time to see him come out of the shower. I quickly shut the door behind me before leaning back against it and enjoying the view. Water dripped down his body, highlighting every delicious, mouth-watering inch of it. And despite the fact that the house was full of vampires with super hearing, I couldn't hold back the admiring whistle.

Damon looked up at me from where he was drying his hair. His lips curled up into a smirk as he noticed my admiring gaze. He threw the towel to the side, not even bothering to dry the rest of his body, before he sped forward. His hands pressed against the door on either side of me, before he leant forward, dragging his lips against my cheek, murmuring in my ear, "You know that the others will hear us."

"I don't care," I whispered, my fingers starting on his chest, before slowly trailing down his chest, however just above his crotch, where that deliciously impressive cock stood to attention. "I nearly lost you today, I need this."

"No complaints from me," my boyfriend's lips captured mine, one hand moving from the door before slipping under my dress. His fingers slowly stroked up my thigh, brushing against the sensitive skin of my inner thigh before he lightly traced the crotch of my panties. The feather light touch had my breath hitching. It had been a few days since we could explore each other's bodies like this. Thanks to my breakdowns and the impending apocalypse courtesy of Silas, there just hadn't been time. "We can put on a show."

"Oooh kinky," I gasped out as Damon's lips moved to my neck, sucking on that special spot beneath my ear before leaving a ring of kisses around my neck. His finger continued to torment me over the thin fabric of my panties, increasing his pressure enough to get me gasping. I could feel his lips curl into a smirk against my skin.

The water on his skin quickly soaked through the satin of my dress as he pressed his body against mine. As he continued to tease me, slowly building that warmth, slowly driving me towards the edge, I decided to make a move of my own. I curled my fingers around his hard cock, my thumb brushing over the slit before slowly pumping my hand up and down. I gave him just the right amount of pressure to tease, not enough to give him what he wanted.

It didn't take long to get Damon growling lowly, before he pushed himself away. He grabbed the bottom of my dress, quickly pulling it over my head and throwing it to the side. My bra quickly followed and Damon's lips pressed a kiss to the top of my boob before he sucked my nipple into his mouth. I arched my back as his fingers tweaked my other nipple. I knew that there were sensitive ears in the house, which was the only reason why I bit my lip to hide my gasp. Normally I might have had some fun, but since my aunt's boyfriend, my pseudo father, hell, my actual step-father was potentially listening, I was going to stay as quiet as I could.

My boyfriend's fingers dipped beneath my panties and I couldn't hold back a gasp at the feel of his thumb on my clit. He pressed with firm circles as his fingers dipped inside me. I breathed heavily as his mouth and fingers combined took me closer to that edge of pleasure. My fingers dug into his shoulders as I held on, my eyes rolling back as my orgasm crashed over me, my legs shaking.

Damon kept his fingers moving, keeping my pleasure going until I breathed out his name, my voice cracking. It was then that he took mercy on me for a moment. His lips returned to mine, tongue diving into my mouth, swallowing my remaining moans. As my grip on his shoulders loosened slightly, my boyfriends swept me up into his arms before speeding over to his bed.

He placed me down on the mattress before his body covered mine. I immediately wrapped my legs around his hips as Damon stared down at me. His fingers brushed through my hair, spread out around my face, before murmuring, "God, you're incredible."

I opened my mouth to reply but his lips covered mine before I could. This kiss was different to the others, it was slow, sensual. His hand cupped my face, the other tangling in my hair, as I felt every inch of his body press against mine. I placed my hands on his shoulders as I let myself go, thinking and feeling only the kiss. The way his lips moved against mine, the feel of his body, the press of his hips against mine. The way that he adjusted his hips, his cock pressing against my entrance.

I moaned into his mouth as his cock slowly slide inside of me. I could feel every inch of him until I was full, only able to feel his body and his cock and his lips. His hips moved slowly, every inch of him dragging against me with his movements. My fingers dug into his skin as he murmured against my lips, promises of love and declaration of beauty. I held him close, focusing only on Damon, allowing him to be my entire world. Even if only for that moment.

I squeezed my legs around his hips when I came, gasping out against his lips. The hand cupping my face had me keeping eye contact with Damon. The look in his eyes was intense, full of love and admiration and a possessiveness that had my breath catching in my throat. When he followed me over that edge into pleasure, Damon's eyes darkened before his head dropped, face resting against my neck. He held me close to him, clutching me almost desperately, murmuring, voice soft and low, "God, I love you."

XXX

It was only when Elena wanted to go search for Jeremy that I left Damon's side. I promised to return, when the veil was raised again and my sister was lost to me. My boyfriend gave me a sympathetic look before promising to be here when I needed him.

It was those words that kept me strong as I took my sister to the school. Since our brother wasn't at the Boarding House, it was safe to assume that he was with Bonnie. The witch was below the school again, ready to raise the veil. We didn't have long until that happened, and I knew my twin wanted to say goodbye to our brother before she disappeared again.

I led my sister to the boiler room, keeping an eye out for any pissed off supernaturals. I didn't know how many were still around. But so far, none were to be seen. Not that I was complaining, it was a lot easier for me to keep my twin safe if I didn't need to worry about pissed off hybrids or witches.

"Bonnie, Jer?" Ellie called as she followed me into the boiler room, peering over my shoulder. "Are you guys here?"

"If they're down in the caverns, then they won't hear you," I sighed, shaking my head. "Luckily I know the way down and can get us there quickly."

Unluckily, our luck in avoiding supernaturals had run out. In the worst way possible. As we reached the middle of the room, a horribly familiar voice purred, "Well, well." I immediately spun around, pushing Elena behind me. I met Kol's gaze, holding one hand behind me, keeping Ellie as far away from the pissed off Original as I could, the other by my side, curled into a fist. "Speaking of unfinished business."

"Fuck off, Kol," I spat, thankful that I was now in my sneakers and not my pumps. I could fight him long enough for my twin to get to safety. And hopefully long enough for Bonnie to raise the veil, trapping him where he can't hurt off. "Why can't you just leave us alone?"

"You killed me, you don't get to have peace," Kol narrowed his eyes at me.

"Technically, I didn't kill you, so you can't use that argument," I snapped back, meeting his angry glare before ordering, "Elena, run."

My sister didn't run, but I didn't have time to berate her. The Original sped forward, his face changing as he did so. But just before he could tackle me to the ground, he disappeared. I let out a shocked breath, staring at the empty spot in front of me. Bonnie must have raised the veil. And while I was relieved that the threat of Kol Mikaelson was gone, I was reluctant to turn around. Because that meant that my sister was gone again. And I didn't get a chance to properly say goodbye.

But there was a shocked gasp behind me, one that had me spinning around. I let out a gasp of my own as I stared at my sister. My still alive sister. My sister who should be gone. But she wasn't. Holy fuck she wasn't. She was stood in front of me, clutching her stomach, breathing heavily.

"Bonnie, you beautiful, amazing woman," I breathed out before stepping forward. I grabbed my sister's arms, pulling her into a hug. Her body was warm against mine, her heart thudding in her chest. Ellie's arms wrapped around me as she sobbed into my neck.

"I'm alive," my twin sobbed, relief filling her voice. "Oh my god, I didn't go back. How? What happened?"

"Bonnie, it has to be," I ran my fingers through my hair before laughing, and it cracked into a sob, then there was no one around to judge me. To be fair, even if there was, I didn't care. My sister was alive again. After months and months of grief and pain and running away from everything that made me human, Elena back in the land of the living. I honestly didn't expect it to happen. I had hoped, god, I had hoped, but I never thought that Bonnie would manage it. Especially after I had released her from her promise to me. "She did it. She really did it."

"I don't have to go back there, oh god, Lexa, I get to live again. I don't need to go back to the cold and the loneliness. I get to be with you and Jeremy and Jenna and Zoe and Alaric and Stefan…"

I gently hushed my sister, pulling back slightly to wipe away her tears. The relief in her eyes had my heart clenching and I pressed a kiss to her forehead, "You're safe now, Els. You get to live the life that you've always wanted. It's a good thing that I put those college applications in for you."

"Lexa," my twin laughed wetly. "You had your humanity off but you still made sure that I graduated and got into college. Only you."

"My entire plan was to bring you back. I kind of needed you to have a lift to return to," I chuckled and shook my head. I went to say more, but a noise behind me had me spinning around, once again pushing my sister behind me. Elena let out a grumble, but she was vulnerable now. And there was no way in hell that I would let her die again. No, my sister was going to live a full, happy, healthy, human life. And I would rip apart anyone who tried to stop that.

I groaned loudly as I saw Katherine in front of us. The bitch smirked, a sharp, vicious edge to it, one that had my stomach curling in unease. She looked behind me at my sister and narrowed her eyes, smirk still on her face, "Elena, good to see you back in the land of the living."

She sped forward and I matched her speed, just about holding her back before yelling, "Ellie, run!"

XXX

Katherine was determined to hurt my sister, maybe even kill her, chasing her through the corridors. I was just about able to hold her back, giving my sister a chance to run. But my stubborn twin wouldn't leave me behind. She kept stopping, making sure that her doppelganger hadn't ripped my heart out. Fortunately, the bitch seemed more determined to rip my sister's out instead of mine, but I didn't know how long that would last.

"What are you doing?!" Ellie yelled, pausing by the lockers, staring at Katherine with furious eyes. I knew that she was impressed with that way that the bitch threw me into doors and lockers. I tried to hide my grunts at the hits, but I knew that my sister could see the force of the throws.

"Would you believe that I'm having a bad day?" the doppelganger snarled, speeding towards my sister. I just about managed to intercept her, only to get shoved against the lockers for my trouble. Katherine's hands wrapped around my neck as she held me there. "It started with Bonnie denied me my Silas-like immortality."

"Oh god, you're a precious little bitch, aren't you?" I managed to groan out, despite the hands trying to crush my throat.

"Of course, because Katherine Pierce can't be happy with good old vampire-calibre immortality," Elena scoffed, going to step forward, but the warning look that I gave her put a stop to that idea. Even though she wasn't running away like I ordered her to, at least she wasn't coming any closer to the insane doppelganger.

Which was probably a good thing as the bitch snapped, "I deserved it! I never had a graduation, or a prom, or, you know, a life. But you did." The glare on her face, aimed at my twin, had my blood running cold. "You have everything and it's not because you're a good little girl who deserves happiness, it's because you stole mine."

I managed to push the older vampire away, darting forward again, so that I was between her and my sister. I narrowed my eyes at her, daring her to come for my sister. I had proven that I wasn't a pushover, I had easily wrecked her before, I would do it again.

"I stole your happiness?" my twin scoffed, shaking her head. "You killed me!"

"I'll admit, that was nasty," the doppelganger shrugged, sounding completely unbothered before narrowing her eyes. "And yet, you came back to life. You got to do something that no one else can do. You steal people's opportunities, their happiness, like the little leach you are."

"You're a leach, bitch," I snapped, watching as Katherine grabbed a mop from the bucket, left there by a janitor. I was just glad that they were apparently taking their break, otherwise Katherine would have killed them, just like she planned to kill my twin.

The bitch snapped it in two, throwing the other half to the side. She sped forward and I shoved my sister back. And just in time to, as the makeshift stake was through my stomach. I let out a groan of pain as the end of the stake stuck through my back. I was just thankful that Ellie wasn't close to me, otherwise it would have hurt her too.

"I have nothing," Katherine spat, practically vibrating with rage as she yanked the stake out of me, kicking me to the ground. "But I'm about to change that. Once your little bodyguard is dead, I will take back the happiness that you stole from me."

Bitcherine shoved the stake higher in my chest, just above my heart before twisting the wood in her hand. I let out a groan, "God, do you ever shut up?"

Katherine snarled, crouching down above me. I stuck my hand in my pocket, grabbing the little miracle cure and rolling it over to my sister. Ellie immediately knelt down to grab it as her doppelganger shoved her hand into my chest. She grabbed my heart, squeezing cruelly, "Don't worry, Alexa, your sister will be joining you in death soon."

I grabbed her wrist, the other reaching up to grab the stick in my chest, before grunting, "That's what you think."

The older vampire opened her mouth, either to question or insult me, but before she could force any words out, Elena thew herself forward. She shoved the cure into her mouth, before grabbing her head, trying to force the vampire to break the vial. When her strength wasn't enough, I quickly added mine own. It wasn't until I heard the crunch, listening as Katherine choked as the liquid poured down her throat, that I let go of her. I eased her hand out of my chest while Ellie quickly pulled the stake out before she wrapped her arms around me. She held me close before viciously muttering, glaring at the unconscious woman next to us, "Have a nice human life, Katherine."

XXX

A/N: Thank you for the reviews, my darlings, please keep them coming :) I would love to hear what you all thought of season 4 and the changes that I made. As is normal for the end of a season, I am going to take a break from posting so that I can build up a backlog again! I also need to start properly planning for seasons 7 and 8, and the rest of season 6. So if anyone has any requests, just let me know! I hope you enjoyed the chapter and the season :) and I will be looking to update around mid-February, depending on how things in my personal life go! So until next time xoxo