"Wakey wakey," Brea sang throwing the curtains open.
"Go away," Matt whined rolling over. "I didn't invite you to move in to have you wake me up every morning."
"You have work," Brea smirked.
Matt turned to look at the time. "Crap," he said jumping out of bed. "Get out so I can change," Matt said pushing Brea towards the door and out of his room. Brea sighed and walked into the living room. Matt ran out of his room and quickly raced over to hug her. "Happy birthday you nutcase."
"Thanks," she smiled.
"Look, I know you've been having a tough time lately. But I think you need to stop avoiding what happened."
"Are you kicking me out?" Brea asked.
"No!" Matt said quickly. "No, not at all. I wouldn't do that. You're actually fun to have around. I just think I've done all for you that I can. I think you have to go back into your house, at least for a little bit, and try and work through the pain."
"I don't feel like I'm going to burst into tears any second now, so improvement from the start of the summer," Brea smiled. "You're right though, I have to go back. Move forward," she said smiling at Matt. "Keep my room though, I'll be back. Elena's a psycho," Brea giggled.
"Jeremy!" Brea yelled as she entered the Gilbert house.
"We're in here," Elena called from the kitchen.
Brea walked into the kitchen to only see Ric and Elena. "Well neither of you is Jeremy," Brea said tilting her head.
"He's upstairs," Elena rolled her eyes.
"He's meant to be at work. Matt just called me saying he's not there," Brea said sitting down.
"I know, Matt called me as well, I told him to get to work."
"Did Damon call with more Stefan news?" Ric asked.
"Damon called?" Brea asked
"Yeah. They found some bodies. Damon thinks it could be more Klaus victims," Elena said.
"You're certain Stefan's still with him?" Ric asked.
"Easy to be certain when the alternative is that he's dead," Elena muttered.
"He's not dead," Brea reassured.
"Are you sure you're still okay on the couch?" Elena asked Ric.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm good," he said.
"You've spent the whole summer on it," Brea smiled.
"If you need your own bedroom," Elena said gesturing upstairs.
"You can't have mine," Brea asserted.
"I don't want your room, Brea," he smiled gently. "And the alternatives are your dead parent's room or my dead girlfriend's room. So no thanks."
At the mention of Jenna, Brea quickly averted her eyes. She knew her aunt wasn't dead, but she had no way of getting in contact with her, and she was unable to tell anyone she was alive.
"Right," Elena said handing him a coffee.
"Hey, guys," Ric called making them look at him. "Happy birthday," he smiled.
"Thanks," they both said quietly. Neither of them felt like celebrating.
"What's this?" Elena asked as she got into the hall.
Brea poked her head around the corner to see Elena pointing at the bags she'd dropped in the doorway. "Oh yeah, moving back in," Brea smiled at her twin.
Elena came up to Brea and hugged her as Brea. "Thank you."
"I feel like I have to fight Damon every single time we get a lead on Stefan," Elena whined as they unpacked boxes of party decorations that Caroline bought.
"Maybe he doesn't want to find him?" Tyler suggested.
"Tyler," Caroline chastised.
"What? He's into you," Tyler said pointing at Elena. "Isn't he?" Tyler asked Brea.
"Unfortunately," she scowled.
"The only reason Stefan left with Klaus was so that he could save Damon's life. I mean, trust me, Damon wants to find him," Elena said.
"But you kissed him. Probably screwed with his head," Tyler said and Brea slapped his arm. She'd told him that in confidence.
"Tyler!" Caroline snapped. It appeared they'd both told Tyler that same story. "I'm sorry," Caroline said turning to Elena, apologising for telling Tyler.
"I'm not," Brea said. "Tyler has some great insight. The kiss probably did mess with his head, but, on the other hand, it was a deathbed kiss. He knows that. Damon definitely wants to find Stefan. I know that for sure," Brea said with a smile.
Elena sighed. "Yes, I kissed him. But it was a…"
"Death bed kissy thing," Brea piped up. "Just like I said."
"A goodbye kiss," Elena altered. "I thought he was going to die."
"Death bed kissy thing," Brea smirked.
"I just missed a call from Bonnie. I'll be right back," Elena said leaving the room.
Caroline then quickly spun around to glare at Tyler. "Just because I tell you things, doesn't mean you're allowed to know them."
"You stuffed up," Brea teased Tyler.
"Come with me," Damon said, grabbing her elbow and pulling her into a room as she walked through his house. "I thought I'd give you your birthday present out of the way of everyone," he smirked.
"Aw, you got me a present!"
"I kept it from a long time ago. Thought I might pass it on to my oldest friend," he smiled before pulling out a box from under his bed and handing it to Brea.
Brea smirked and opened that box. "Oh my god, Damon!" she gasped in shock. "You kept it!" she laughed as she pulled an old football out of the box. "It's kinda gross now."
"Yeah, well, a 150-year-old football will get that way," he smiled. "Do you like it?"
"I love it. Thank you so much!" she said gently tossing it in the air with a sigh. "You know, if Stefan was here we could've kicked his ass again."
Damon laughed. "He never could beat us. When you said you wanted to play I thought you'd be such a handicap," he said leaning on the bedpost. "Whenever Katherine played she just flirted. You, on the other hand, are one of the most competitive people I know. He never stood a chance."
"Are you getting any closer?" Brea asked. "To finding him."
Damon hesitated. "You promise not to tell Elena?"
Brea was silent for a moment before agreeing. "I promise."
"All the leads Sheriff Forbes has given us have been right. Ric and I have been checking them out all summer," he said walking to his wardrobe to reveal a map with pins in it.
"What are the pins?" Brea asked.
Damon hesitated again. "Stefan's victims," he said quietly.
"What?" Brea breathed. "Not Klaus'?"
"He's flipped the switch. Gone all ripper style."
"Ripper? Oh my god. This will break her," Brea said sadly.
"That's why she can't find out. I can't work out a way to get him away from Klaus."
"I could try?" Brea suggested. "Klaus, he'll listen to me. He might let him come home. He owes me that much," Brea growled.
"No, no. No way. You're not going near Klaus," Damon said putting his hands on Brea's shoulders. "I'm not risking him taking you too."
"Oi, loser," Jeremy's voice said from the doorway.
"Aren't you meant to say oi, best sister ever?" Brea asked turning to face her brother.
Jeremy smirked. "If that's what I meant, that's what I would've said."
"Jerk."
"Everyone is here."
"So I can hear," Brea said, the music was thumping through the house.
"Caroline sent me to drag you down."
"Of course she did."
"Come on," Jeremy said putting his hands on Brea's shoulders and forcefully walking her out of the room and down the stairs.
"Elena's going to hate this," Brea smiled as she saw the number of guests.
"Yeah, well Elena could do with some lightening up," Jeremy said. "See ya," he said walking off.
"Wait! Argh," she groaned before walking further into the parlour room.
"Brea!" a voice called and she turned around.
"Chad," she greeted. "Glad you came. Oh, hey Dana!" she greeted as Dana caught up.
"Yeah well, Caroline is kinda scary."
"Very true."
"I'll leave you two to it, happy birthday Brea," Dana said before walking.
"Your girlfriends leaving you with your ex?" Brea asked. "What's going on?"
Chad jerked his head to the side and the two of them moved into the corner of the room. "I got you a bit of a personal present and I didn't want to leave it in the pile with the rest of the gifts."
"There's a pile?" Brea asked gobsmacked.
"Yeah, the invitation said gifts were compulsory."
"Bloody Caroline. You didn't have to get me anything."
"I know, but I did. Here," he said handing her a neatly wrapped present. "Open it."
Brea neatly tore off the wrapping and pulled out a beautiful ornate photo frame, and inside it was a picture of her with her parents, Jenna and Elena. "Oh my god," she breathed. "Chad! This is… thank you!" she said.
"I took the picture."
"I remember," she said unable to take her eyes off the photo. "This is amazing. Thank you," she said pulling him in for a hug and wiping her eyes.
"Ok, I'm going to go find Dana, I'm glad you like it," he said leaving her.
"What you got there?" Damon said coming to stand next to her and she held it out to show him. "Wow, your ex got that for you?"
"Yeah. Almost as good as your football," Brea smiled, eyes still teary.
"Here," Damon said. "I'll swap you. I'll pop this upstairs in your room out of the way of the party, and you take this bottle and have fun at your party." Brea smiled.
"I knew I'd finally influence you," Tyler smiled as Brea downed another drink.
"Well, my life is shit, so I figure now's as good a time as any to be influenced," Brea smiled.
"You haven't asked what I got you yet."
"I didn't know you got me anything."
"Liar. Caroline told me you were annoyed I didn't give you your present at lunch."
Brea could only smile. "She exaggerates."
"Here," he said holding out a jewellery box to her. "I didn't wrap it, sorry. My mom helped pick it out."
"Gotta love Carol," Brea said opening the box to reveal a locket, "Tyler I love it," she said going for a hug, but he pushed her away.
"Open it first," he laughed. Brea smirked and opened it, inside on one side was a family portrait with Elena, Jeremy, her parents, Jenna and John. And on the other side was a photo of her, Elena, Tyler, Matt, Caroline and Bonnie. "Do you know how hard I had to look to find a photo of you guys all standing with John?" he laughed.
"I love it!" Brea giggled jumping on Tyler to hug him. "Put it on me please," she said getting off him and turning around so he could do it up.
When she turned around he handed her another drink. "I'm liking drunk Brea, sober Brea's been sad lately, rightly so, but this is the Brea I know and love."
Before Brea could respond, her arm was looped through Caroline's, who was also guiding Elena, and she was taken away into the crowd.
The three of them arrived in the living room giggling like crazy. "Oh, stoner den, buzzkill," Caroline said.
"You dragged us here," Brea laughed, "and you have vamp smell, you're a vampire failure," Brea giggled.
"Hey guys," Matt greeted coming up to them.
"Matty!" Brea laughed tackling her friend into a hug.
"Matt, hey," Elena greeted. Matt then leant in and kissed both of them on the cheek, in an obvious attempt to make Caroline jealous.
"It's working Matty," Brea whispered.
"Happy birthday," Matt said to the two of them.
"Thank you," Elena responded. Matt then gave Brea a fist bump before leaving the room.
"He hates me. His hatred of me has driven him to drugs," Caroline sighed.
"He doesn't hate you, he hates that he's not with you," Elena said.
"Matt's on drugs?" Brea asked confused.
"We're in the stoner den Brea," Elena said nicely.
"Oh right. Well, I don't know about you, but he's always nice to me," Brea said drinking from her drink while Caroline and Elena smiled at her. "I mean I didn't think this was actually the druggy room because that's Jeremy over there, so I just thought we were all really bad at smelling." As soon as Brea said that, Elena's head whipped around to see Jeremy sitting on the couch smoking. Elena sighed before handing Caroline her drink to hold before storming off toward their brother. "Run Jer!" Brea yelled, "wicked witch of Maple Street headed your way," Brea yelled and Caroline quickly slapped a hand over her mouth to stop her talking as the two erupted in giggles, only for Elena to turn and glare them into silence.
"That's a scary glare," Caroline said.
"Yeah, I'm gonna run before she comes and gets me, bye," Brea said before making a break for it and quickly coming back, "I'm going to take that with me," Brea said taking the cup Elena had given Caroline to hold.
"Hide me," Brea said to Damon and Ric when she saw them outside.
"From who?" Ric asked.
"My sister, I said something and I'm worried she's going to come for me," Brea shuddered.
"Hello, birthday girl," Damon said.
"I've been standing here for 20 seconds," Brea said confused.
"That was the warning," Damon said through gritted teeth.
"Eek!" Brea squeaked as she ducked in front of Damon.
"Drink," Elena said from behind Brea, holding her hand out for Damon's glass. "I can see you, Brea."
"Dammit," she muttered, standing up.
"Jeremy's smoking again," Elena told Ric.
"Is his stash any good?" Damon asked.
"You're an ass," Elena retorted.
"Talk to him, please?" Elena asked Ric. "He looks up to you," she said handing Damon his glass back and walking off.
"What are we looking at?" Brea asked coming to stand next to Caroline. "Ew," Brea grimaced as she saw Caroline glaring daggers at Tyler grinding against his date on the dance floor. "Gonna need that," Brea said taking a swig out of Caroline's bottle before holding it back.
"Since when were they a thing?" Matt asked coming to stand next to the girls.
"Matty!" Brea cheered, high-fiving her friend on arrival.
"I thought you were ignoring me," Caroline sighed.
"I'm not ignoring you," Matt countered.
"Well, you've only said five words to me all summer. Those were four of them."
"But he just said…" Brea started before Caroline spoke over the top of her.
"Don't," she said and Brea giggled, taking the bottle again before handing it back.
"Maybe because every time I've seen you, you've been with him," Matt snarked.
"Because he's my friend. Which is what I thought you were," Caroline hissed.
"Hey, hey, we're all besties here," Brea interjected.
"Aren't you guys supposed to be like mortal enemies?" Matt asked. "Isn't that how it works in the vampire-werewolf universe?"
"Oh Matt," Brea giggled. "How little you know." She then frowned before looking at Caroline. "Actually he's right, he kind of has a point."
Caroline just grabbed Brea's hand and tried to walk off into the dance floor but they were intercepted by Tyler. "What was that about?" he asked and Brea opened her mouth to answer.
"Don't," Caroline said holding a finger up to silence her. "Nothing," she answered.
"Come on Care. Let the birthday girl speak," he smiled at Brea and she returned it with a wide smile.
"Great party, Caroline," Sofie complimented as she walked up to them.
"Thanks, Now leave it," Caroline compelled and Brea started tugging on her arm frantically as Sofie walked out.
"What the hell?" Tyler asked.
"Urgh," Caroline groaned grabbed Brea's hand and walked away.
Brea was sitting on the edge of Damon's bathtub drinking Caroline's bottle whilst her friend leaned against the bench drinking a blood bag to calm down. "This room's off-limits," Caroline said as she heard someone enter the room. Both girls straightened up and Caroline tried to hide the blood bag before they realised it was only Elena and then they relaxed.
"Caroline? Brea?" Elena asked.
"Sorry," Caroline apologised. "I just needed to take a beat," she said gesturing to the blood bag.
Brea stumbled to her feet. "What are you doing my lovely sister?"
"I was just looking for Damon."
"Well, he'd better be here somewhere. We haven't done the cake yet!" Caroline said.
"I think I'm going to pass on the whole cake thing," Elena said.
"No!" Brea panicked. "I love cake! That's the only reason I came tonight. I was told there was going to be cake." Seeing Caroline glare at her, she quickly added, "I heard the party was going to be awesome as well."
"It's the dawn of a new day. And you can't get on with your life until you've made a wish and blown out the candles," Caroline suggested.
"Is that what you all want us to do?" Elena asked. "Just get on with our lives?"
"No," Caroline defended. "Maybe," she admitted. "I just don't think anyone wants to see you both like this," Caroline said grabbing Brea's hand and pulling her forward. "It's not healthy Elena, for either of you."
"You know, ever since we found out about Brea's curse, every birthday we have now is just a countdown. A countdown to when I'm going to lose my sister. I can't move on from that!" Elena snapped.
"But you two are better off making memories you can cherish forever rather than being miserable. But it's not just Brea, it's also…"
"I'm not going to give up on finding Stefan," Elena said.
"Of course not. And you shouldn't. But you have to admit that you're kind of just letting your life pass you by. Isn't Stefan the one who wanted to make sure that you lived it?"
"You want me to make a wish?" Elena snapped. "I just want to find a way to save my sister and know that he's alive. That's it. Two wishes. That's it," Elena said walking out.
Brea, Jeremy and Matt had managed to sneak out of the house and were now sitting on the couches in the Gilbert house.
"Here," Jeremy said handing Brea a bowl of ice cream, he and Matt then started shovelling the dessert into their mouths like it was a race.
"I should probably go before Elena and Mr Saltzman see what a bad example I am," Matt said.
"What about me? I could think you're a bad influence as well," Brea asked.
"Please, you wish you were this cool," he smiled goofily.
"Are you sure you can walk?" Jeremy asked him.
"We'll see," Matt laughed. "Can I take the ice cream with me?" he asked.
"Gotta check with the boss," Jeremy said looking at Brea and she just gave a small nod.
"I'm going to bed," Brea muttered as she stood up. "Caroline got me drunk."
"Yeah, blame Caroline," Jeremy snorted.
Brea then went upstairs and walked into her room. As soon as she walked into her room she froze. There was a present on her bed that wasn't there before. She slowly made her way towards it and saw her name written on a card, in handwriting all too familiar to her, "Nik," she breathed. Her heart rate began to race as she realised he may have seen that Elena was alive. She lunged across the room and toward the card but before she could rip the envelope open she saw a note 'Don't worry, he sent me to deliver this, he doesn't know she's alive. Don't tell her I was here. - Stefan'. Immediately after reading this she relaxed, and then screwed her nose up at the thought of a present and card from him. She grabbed it and walked it across the room and left it sitting unopened on her dresser.
"Knock, knock, Matt just left," Jeremy said from the doorway. "Who's that from?" he asked.
"No one," she said, hiding it under a top she left lying around. "What's up?"
"I drew this for you," he said. "Just a card is all," he said walking in and leaving it on her bed face down.
"Thanks, Jer," she said as he left her room and she walked over and picked it up. It was a drawing of her he'd clearly based on the 1864 portrait of her and Katherine.
"Morning," Elena greeted Brea as she came into the kitchen.
"Hey," Brea replied.
"I'm going over to Damon's want to come?" Elena asked.
"Look at the TV Elena, Andie died last night. That's why he was in a foul mood. Just leave him be."
"I need to talk to him about Stefan."
"Elena…"
"Are you coming or not?" Elena asked and Brea shook her head no. "Your phone is ringing," Elena said walking over to Brea's phone on the couch.
"Don't answer it!" Brea yelled spinning around to face Elena.
"What?" Elena laughed.
"Don't answer it."
"Why?" Elena asked grabbing the phone curiously. "The number isn't in your contacts."
"It's just ah… it's just those spam calls you know? Telemarketers and stuff," Brea lied.
"Ok," Elena said letting it go and putting the phone down.
"Who's calling?" Jeremy asked from behind Brea.
"Oh my god!" Brea yelped spinning around. "Jer!"
"Who was calling?" he asked again.
"I said no one."
"You're lying," he said turning around and going back upstairs.
As she left her phone beeped with a text message from an unknown number:
- I've been trying to reach you, love, I know you've been dodging my calls, but I wanted to wish you a happy birthday, I hope you liked your present. I'll see you soon -
"Brea!" Elena called as she got back to their house. "Feel like a road trip?"
"Ohh yeah! Where to?" Brea asked.
"Put on hiking shoes and you'll be good," Elena said. "I'm going to find Stefan."
Brea tensed up. "Lena… are you sure that's smart? He's with Klaus."
"I know. But I have to try, meet me in the car when you're ready. We have to pick someone up first."
"Ric's place!" Brea cheered as they pulled up in front of his building.
"You've been here?" Elena asked as they started walking.
"Yeah. Remember, when Ric was Nik?" Brea said before freezing. "Klaus. When Ric was Klaus."
"Want to knock?" Brea asked pointing at the door. Elena nodded before knocking hard and loudly on the door. "I don't think he hurt you," Brea rolled her eyes.
"Go away, Damon!" Ric called out.
"Damon!" Brea said in feigned disgust. "As if," she smiled before knocking hard on the door herself before it flung open as Alaric finally answered. "Hey!" Brea said happily.
"You're not who I expected," Ric grunted as he buttoned up his pants quickly.
"I need you to tell us what you know about Stefan and Tennessee," Elena said cutting straight to the point.
"Did you miss the part where I checked out of all this?" Ric asked turning back into his apartment.
"Yeah, thanks for that," Brea said following him in. "No note. Car gone. You could've died. You could've been seen!"
"Brea," Ric shook his head.
"Sorry."
"Come on Ric," Elena whined shutting the apartment door closed behind her. "Whatever Damon knows, you know."
"Ask Damon," Ric countered while putting on a shirt and all Brea could do was snort in amusement.
"Yeah, but Damon's not exactly in the mood to help right now," Elena said.
"For good reason," Ric said. "It's not safe for either of you. Stefan's off the rails and Klaus is right by his side."
"Yeah, but he's still holding on to his humanity," Elena said. "Which means he can still be saved," she said as she started grabbing plates and tidying up Ric's kitchen.
"Why do you have to be the one to save him?" Ric asked.
"I'm not the kind of person who checks out," Elena snarked. "Look, he would never give up on me. I'm not going to give up on him. Tell me what you know, Ric," she pleaded.
Brea looked at her sister's face, and her mind was made up. "We'll go ourselves if we have to and just wander around until we find him or someone recognises us and takes us to him. Please, Ric, we need your help."
"I swear to god," Ric said getting out of the car. "Remind me never to go on a road trip with the two of you again."
"Don't blame me!" Brea said. "It was all her."
"Are you kidding me?" Elena scoffed, "you kept kicking my seat."
"I wouldn't have had to kick your seat if you would just play some good music, I mean seriously is it that hard? Such a power trip in the front."
"That's part of the perk of the passenger seat, I pick the music," Elena said throwing a backpack at Brea as they started their hike.
"All I asked for was one song and you said no. You didn't even know what I wanted to play, you just said no, how's that fair huh?"
"Life's not always fair Brea, you ought to know, you've lived enough of them," she snarked.
"Rude!"
"Enough!" Ric groaned. "In a couple of hours, the full moon's going to rise just above that ridge," he said pointing. "If Tyler's right that's where the pack will be."
"You were a boy scout weren't you?" Elena asked.
"Oh you were so a boy scout," Brea laughed.
"Shut up," Ric smirked.
"A boy scout slash vampire slayer," Elena smiled.
"He does it all! Super Ric," Brea laughed.
"Slash whiskey-drinking all around lost cause," Ric sighed dropping his backpack on the ground as they took a break.
"Wow, you came stocked," Elena said as she saw the number of weapons in Ric's bag.
"Well, we aren't exactly bird-watching," he shrugged.
"I've never been bird-watching," Brea said popping her bag down next to Ric's.
"Here," Ric said handing a jar to Brea, and then another to Elena. "Put it in your bag."
"Vervain grenade?" Elena asked.
"That's a grenade?" Brea asked eyes widening. "It won't explode will it?" she asked nervously.
"Wolfsbane," Ric answered Elena before turning to Brea. "Just don't pull this pin," he said pointing. "If you need it, pull and throw."
"Well, since we're exchanging gifts," Elena said holding out the Gilbert ring to Ric.
"That's John Gilbert's ring," Ric said.
"Yeah, well it used to be yours," Brea shrugged.
"Exactly," Elena agreed, "Go ahead. Take it. It'll protect you from whatever supernatural danger we're about to get ourselves into."
"Supernatural danger you're getting us into," Brea said disguising it as a cough causing Elena to glare at her.
"He gave it to you," Ric said to Elena.
"Yeah, but I'm a doppelganger, it's not going to work on me," she explained. "He left it for if I ever have kids."
"Yeah, well why don't you save it for future generations of stubborn, relentless baby Gilberts?" Ric said and Brea snorted.
"Ok, how about you borrow it until after we survive this?" Elena bargained. "I'd feel bad if I got you killed before happy hour."
"Oh, Ric's favourite time of day," Brea smiled. Ric smiled before reluctantly taking the ring from Elena. Elena turned around, dropped her bag and walked to the water's edge before saying "I don't know why you think that you're a lost cause." She then let out a loud scream. Ric flung his arm out and pushed Brea behind him, crossbow at the ready, as they heard a loud splash, only to see that Damon had pushed Elena into the middle of the lake.
"Yes!" Brea cheered running to stand next to Damon. "You know what they call that Lena? Karma! For not letting me have my song, serves you right. High-five!" Brea said holding her hand up to Damon, only to have him pick her up and throw her into the lake, knocking into her sister as she landed in the water.
Both girls spluttered as they rose to the surface. "What the hell!" Brea yelled.
"How are you even here?" Elena asked angrily.
"What'd you push me for?" Brea growled.
"Thanks for the tip, brother," Damon said looking back at Ric.
"You sold us out," Elena said looking at Ric in shock.
"You think I'd take you guys to a mountain range of werewolves on a full moon without backup?" Ric asked.
"Get out of the water," Damon ordered.
Brea made to move forward, but Elena grabbed her hand, holding her back. "If we get out, you're going to make us go home," Elena said to Damon still holding her sister's hand.
"Yes. Because I'm not an idiot like the both of you," Damon snarked.
"This was Elena's idea," Brea said quietly.
"Right now, you're all acting like idiots," Ric said.
"Ric, come on man," Brea moaned.
"You gave up on him, Damon," Elena said turning away.
"I didn't give up on him, Elena," Damon snapped. "I faced reality. Now both of you, get out of the water."
"No," Elena said crossing her arms, determined to stay.
"I'm getting out," Brea rolled her eyes and started swimming to the edge.
"What's your big plan, Elena? Huh?" Damon asked jumping down into the water and starting to walk towards her. "You going to walk you and her into a campsite of werewolves, roast a marshmallow and wait for Stefan to stop by?"
"My plan is to find him and help him. Damon, this is the closest that we've been to him since he left," Elena said. "I'm not going home," she said locking eyes with Damon.
"Klaus thinks you died when he broke the curse, that makes you safe. This? This is not safe. It's a full moon tonight, Elena."
"Then we'll find him before then."
As she reached the water bank, she stuck her hand out and Ric grabbed it, pulling her out. They turned to look at Elena and Damon who were standing close together and both stared at the pair disapprovingly.
"We got about a mile left," Ric said and Brea let out a loud groan.
"I'm so bored! Can we play I spy or something?"
"Absolutely not. Suns about to set," Damon pointed out.
"I can see that Damon," Elena said.
"Just saying."
"The moon doesn't reach its apex for a while. We have time," Elena said.
"I'm hungry," Brea whined.
"I have food," Ric said.
"I don't want your food. I want good food."
"This is good food."
"No. I meant food from the Grill. A burger, a grilled cheese, oh man, I could really go for a grilled cheese right now. Elena, I swear to god, after today you owe me about ten grilled cheeses," Brea was saying before she quickly went silent as they heard twigs snapping. They heard the twigs snap even louder as a man came into view, Ric raised his crossbow in the man's direction as a warning. Brea gasped as they caught sight of him, he was covered in blood. It was dried all over his shirt and down his face.
"Stay where you are," Ric ordered as the man came to a stop in front of them.
"Vampire," he said locking eyes with Damon who just shrugged in return. Before anyone could do anything, the man ran at Damon, slamming him into a tree and growling. Ric quickly shot an arrow into the man's back but it didn't slow him down at all. Brea picked up a rock and threw it at the back of the man's head, but he didn't even flinch.
"Damon!" Elena yelled, pulling the pin off of one of Ric's wolfsbane grenades and throwing it at him. Damon caught it, allowing it to explode in the man's face as he screamed in pain, falling to the ground. Damon gave him a good kick to the ribs, knocking him unconscious.
"Let me guess," Ric said looking around the group. "Hybrid."
"Good guess," Brea said looking up from the unconscious hybrid to look at her sister warningly.
"These ropes aren't going to hold him much longer, what else do we have?" Damon said as Ric tugged on a knot.
"There's like a million ropes, how strong is this guy?" Brea asked.
"Ric, here, take these," Elena said and Damon held out his hand for the rope before hissing and pulling away quickly.
Brea laughed, the ropes were coated in vervain. "Loser."
"I said Ric," Elena shrugged as Ric grabbed the ropes from her.
"All right, that's the last of the vervain. We don't have enough stuff to hold him," Ric said coming to stand with the others again.
"We've got our charm?" Brea suggested unhelpfully. "Or at least three of us do," she said looking at Damon, who rolled his eyes.
"I don't think we're going to make the ridge before the full moon," Ric said ignoring Brea.
"If we can get him to talk, we don't have to," Elena said walking up to the werewolf. She stuck her hand out to touch his face as he awoke with a gasp, causing her to quickly retract her hand. The man yelled out in pain, and they heard bones breaking inside of him.
"Is he turning?" Damon asked shocked.
"It's impossible, it's still daylight," Elena said panicked and Brea lunged forward, grabbed her sister's hand and yanked her backwards.
"Tell him that," Ric said as Damon moved forward inspecting the man as he writhed in agony.
"There aren't supposed to be werewolves out here until the moon is full," Elena said confused.
"Those ropes aren't going to hold a wolf," Ric said to Damon.
"We got to go," Brea whispered to Elena and she nodded.
"Damon, we've got to get out of here," Elena said panicked. "We've got to get out of these mountains now. Damon now!" she said shoving him in the back. Damon nodded and the four of them began running into the woods, sprinting away.
They'd been running for 10 minutes and it was now dark when Elena's foot got caught on a tree root and she fell, hitting the ground hard. Ric turned around to help her but quickly froze. "Don't move," Damon ordered. Elena slowly lifted her head and jumped in fright as she came face to face with a werewolf. The werewolf turned his head towards Damon, intrigued by the vampire before quickly turning back to Elena.
Brea locked eyes with Damon and shot him a pleading look and he nodded. "Here, doggy, doggy," he taunted before zooming off, the werewolf hot on his tail.
"Come on, let's keep moving," Ric said ushering Elena along as he grabbed Brea's arm moving her forward.
"We can't leave Damon," Elena pleaded.
"He can handle himself, let's move," Ric said desperately.
"No, if he gets bit, he'll be dead. I'm the reason he's out here," Elena said in a panic.
"No, I'm the reason he's out here," Ric snapped. "I told him where we were and I'm telling you to keep moving. Let's go."
"Elena," Brea said. "Please, we have to go."
"Elena! Now!" Ric yelled and Elena nodded, and they started running again.
"Stefan's out there somewhere, and now Damon, and we're sitting in this car," Elena continued her rant.
"Let the vampires fight the hybrid-zombie-mountain man," Ric said cutting her off. "I'll take care of keeping the humans safe."
"That'd make a good movie," Brea said moving forward so she was leaning in the front half of the car. "Care to invest Ric?"
"I don't know how much of a return I'd get," he mused.
"I thought you were checked out of taking care of people?" Elena asked.
"I know what you're doing," Ric said turning to look at the girls. "Don't. There doesn't need to be a lesson here."
"You're better at it than you think," Elena reassured him.
"We need you, Ric, we're a mess. Look what happens when you leave her in charge, she tries to get one of her siblings killed. Someone needs to reign her in. You're like my uncle Ric. We all need each other right now. Four broken people, surely that makes a whole right?"
Ric turned to look at the twins again, holding up his hand. "I'm keeping the ring, then."
"So you should," Brea said. "That twin of mine is a danger magnet. Is that…" Brea said as she caught sight of a shadow.
"Damon?" Elena asked as the three of them got out of the car. "Are you okay?" Elena asked running to him.
"Fine. Bite free. Get back in the car please," Damon dismissed as Brea and Ric leaned on the hood of the car.
Elena scoffed. "Can you give me a minute to appreciate you're not dead?"
"I'll give you ten seconds. Nine. Eight," Damon said, spinning Elena around and herding her in the direction of the car. "Hey, Ric, did you happen to see where I parked my car?"
"Quit being such a caveman," Elena growled.
"Quit being such a whiner," Brea called out.
"Seven," Damon said with a small smirk as Elena got in the car and Ric started the engine.
"You're annoying you know," Elena said looking back at Brea.
"I do," Brea nodded.
"I said no!" Brea yelled.
"I said yes!" Jeremy yelled back, snatching the remote from Brea's hand. "I'm playing video games."
"Come on Jer! I haven't seen you all day. I want to watch a movie with you, not do this boring stuff. Come on please."
"One condition."
"Sure."
"Tell me who called this morning," Jeremy asked.
"No," Brea said turning away from her brother.
"Brea…"
"I'm sorry Jer, I can't," she said storming up the stairs. As she entered her room she closed the door and slid down it, unable to take her eyes off the present sitting on the other side of the room. As she sat on the floor, her phone started ringing and she picked it up to see it ringing with the same number from this morning. Brea took a deep breath before answering it, but she didn't say anything.
"I know you've been avoiding my calls all summer love, and with good reason. I just… I've had a really bad day today. Hybrid issues. All I can think about right now is just how much I miss your company. I know our issues are my fault, I don't blame you for hating me. But I just need to make sure you got your present. I know it's not enough, but it's some form of peace offering. I just hope it still means as much to you now as it did to the both of you back then." The mention of 'the both of you' caused her to sit up straighter in curiosity while he stayed silent for a moment. "I miss you," he said before hanging up. Brea lowered the phone, still staring at the present across the room before slowly standing and making her way towards it. She picked it up between her hands and slowly started to unwrap the present. Before she could fully unwrap it, she turned around, grabbed her bag and left the house and drove straight to Matt's.
"Hey," she said as Matt opened the door.
"Hey," he said confused.
"Did Jeremy tell you?" he asked.
"Tell me what?"
"Nothing, um, what's up?" he asked.
Brea sighed and held up the unopened present. "Birthday present."
"Yeah you're meant to open those," he said stepping aside and letting her into the house.
"I know but it's… it's from Klaus," she said and Matt ran forward and took it from her.
"Do you want me to get rid of it?" he asked.
"No. No. But… he called me again just then. He said whatever is in that wrapping meant a lot to the both of you. Both of you. I think I know who he's talking about, but I'm too scared to open it and find out. I don't know what it is but… I know it's got something to do with him."
"Kol?" Matt asked.
Brea slowly nodded her head. "I just needed someone with me when I opened it and I mean you're really the only person I spoke to about this the whole summer. I know it's a lot but can you, please…"
"Open it?" he asked and Brea nodded. "Yeah," he said sitting down.
"Just let me know if it's something I want to see," Brea said sitting down next to him, hands shaking.
"Are you sure you want me to open this?" he asked.
"Yeah," she nodded.
"Brea, you're going to want this," he said quietly.
Brea opened her eyes and looked at Matt, seeing him holding a photo frame. "Show me," she whispered and he turned it around. It was a picture of her and a man.
"Is that…" Matt asked as she took the frame from him.
"Kol," she stuttered.
"How old is that?" he asked.
"We took this in 1912. It's from my 18th birthday party."
"You look happy."
"We were. Matt, you can't tell anyone about this. Please."
"Ok, ok, but why?"
"I don't want them to think I'm accepting gifts from Nik. Klaus. I just need this for myself. I don't have anything with Kol except for my ring, I just, need this, but I don't want to be asked questions."
"Ok," he nodded. "I won't tell. But any more presents from Klaus, you tell me ok," he asked and she nodded. "I'm not losing you too," he said hugging her.
New Orleans, 1912
"Darling you have to smile," Brenna laughed pushing Kol's arm.
"Come on darling, you know I don't follow rules."
"Yes you do," Brenna said rolling her eyes.
"Whose? Nik's?"
"No. Mine. Now smile," Brenna said.
"Very well darling," Kol smirked turning back to face the camera. "Happy?" he asked after the photo was taken.
"Very," she smiled and leant in to kiss him.
"Brenna!" a voice called from behind the pair and she turned around.
"Yes, Nik?" she asked.
"How are you enjoying your party?" he smiled coming up to her.
She raised her eyebrows at him before breaking out into a smile, "it's wonderful, thank you Nik."
"I'm glad you like it," he said smiling at her, placing his hands on either side of her face before quickly removing them as Kol's arm snaked around her waist.
"Yes, Nik, we are very much enjoying the party, now we have to go over there," Kol said steering her away from his brother. "He's just trying to make me mad," Kol growled.
"Don't focus on him then!" Brenna snapped. "Our whole family is living under one roof in peace. Don't stuff it up. I'm going to find Rebekah," Brenna said giving him a small smile before walking off.