A/N: Thank you all so much for your patience as I make my way through this story. The kind words and support mean so much to me, I love that you love Lucy as much as I do. I do have the next chapter written so it won't be another 5 months before I post again at least. I just work at a pace that keeps writing enjoyable and not stressful for me, so that I always have Lucy and this world to retreat to when I need to. Thank you to KimmyWSmith for proofreading again :) XO, Eden.

P.S. It's my birthday today and the best present ever would be reviews letting me know your thoughts and predictions so far ;)

Song: You Wait For Rain

Artist: Kyler England

It's more than a crack in the wall
It's a whole lot bigger than we thought
A hammer and nail won't fix it this time
So bring on the wrecking ball

It's like we've been drifting along
Pretending like nothing's wrong
We play the game, keep up the charade
But when the river runs dry we're on different sides

When I woke up, I groaned and covered my eyes with my arm. The morning sun felt harsher than usual. Damon rolled over behind me and ran his finger along my spine.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked.

"Not really." I sat up. "Sorry I kept you up."

It was the same dream it always was. The same night, the same bridge, something in the road. Only usually, spending the night with Damon kept the nightmares at bay.

"Hey," Damon sat up and put an arm around me, "I love you. Okay?"

I nodded and leaned into him, letting his lips find my forehead, and rested there in his embrace.

"I can never remember what was in the road," I mumbled into his shoulder.

"What was that?"

"In my dreams. And in real life, I guess." I said. "I don't know why I drove off the road. I remember being in the car with Brandon, and I remember knowing I was going to hit the water, but I—"

Someone screamed. A shrill scream; one that was loud enough to reach even my human ears.

It was Rose. The wolf bite had returned, with a vengeance. I excused myself when I saw the horrendous scarlet blisters that spread across her shoulder, leaving Damon to assess the situation.

Coffee. That's what I needed. I must have gotten less than four hours of sleep last night. Thank god Stefan already made some.

"How are you feeling?" Stefan asked from across the kitchen counter as I helped myself to the pot he had brewed.

"Fine." So far, the coffee was the only good thing about this morning.

"You had a long night."

"Not that long." I said. "Thank you. I know you needed some space from Elena last night, but if you hadn't told her…"

"I didn't know that she was going to talk to Elijah."

"She hasn't exactly been keeping us in the loop about her plans."

Stefan's eyebrows briefly flickered upwards. "Neither have you."

"Yeah, well I guess we've all been making our fair share of bad decisions lately."

"Are we talking about Damon now?" Stefan asked.

"He threatened a werewolf, and it came after him. There's already enough to worry about." I stared into the milky brown depths of my mug. "I don't want him to get hurt, Stefan."

"I know. Trust me, I don't want that either. But he's a lot more durable than you are, so don't worry about him too much, and don't go running off by yourself anymore. We're here to look out for you. Understand?"

"Whatever. Can you give me a ride to school?"

Stefan shook his head. "I'm not going."

"Why?"

"Because he thinks it's a good idea to track down Isobel." Elena said behind me.

"And again, why?" I asked.

Elena poured herself a cup of coffee, went to Stefan's side, and glared at the countertop.

"We're kind of out of options here, okay?" Stefan said. "We can't trust Elijah, we clearly can't trust Katherine, and we need some answers."

"We can trust Elijah." Elena rolled her eyes as she took a drink.

"No, you think we can trust Elijah." Damon entered the kitchen and rested his arm on my shoulder. "No offense, but your judgement has been a little shoddy lately."

"But Bonnie removed the spell on the moonstone," Elena said, "Even if you don't trust Elijah, you know we can trust Bonnie."

"Does no one else remember what happened the last time Bonnie 'removed' a spell from something?" Damon asked. "Nevermind that, don't you find it all too convenient that Bonnie met a new witch friend at school at the same time that Elijah had a witch remove the spell on the tomb?"

Elena sighed and set her mug down on the counter with a loud clink. "You think that the witch who helped Bonnie is the same witch that's working with Elijah."

"Yeah. Didn't think of that, did you?" Damon replied. "I don't trust it. Not one bit."

"So we're trusting the woman who threatened to kill Jeremy and turn me into a vampire instead?" I asked.

"Her research is the closest thing we have to supernatural google," Stefan said, "If she has answers, we need them."

"We already looked through her office," I said.

"That's why I'm looking for her." Stefan replied. "Maybe she knows something that's not in books, little whispers that she heard over the years of doing research."

"Then I'm coming with you," Elena said, "Since you're so sure you'll find answers."

Stefan cleared his throat. "How's Rose?"

"Let's just say she'll be reuniting with her friend Trevor soon," Damon said.

"Shhh," I glared up at him, "She can hear you."

"Not in the state she's in she can't," Damon replied.

Stefan tapped his fingers on the countertop. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Damon asked. "I barely know the girl."

"I haven't seen you offer a guest room to anyone in half a century." Stefan stopped fidgeting. "Look, we need to hit the road. Not sure when we'll be back, don't wait up, alright?"

I pressed my lips shut as tight as I could and held my breath. The moment I heard the door slam shut, I let out my laughter.

"And all is forgiven in Stefan and Elena land." Damon said.

"Don't wait up, alright?" I repeated.

"At least someone's going to have a fun night."

"Can you take me to school?" I asked.

"Mm, should've thought of that before you left your car at the tomb." Damon unwound his arm from my shoulder and poked the side of my head. "I have errands to run."

"And you can't drop me off on the way? Where are you going?"

Damon walked towards the door that led to the garage. "I'm going to go see about getting that window fixed."

I crossed my arms. "Where are you really going?"

Damon stopped with his hand on the doorknob. "I'm going to go find the she-wolf and make her tell me how to cure that bite." He smiled at me. "And then I'm going to go see about getting that window fixed."

"Do you really think that's a good idea?"

"Well, the alternative is a gaping hole in my wall for all eternity."

"No," I stepped towards him, "I mean do you really think talking to Mason's friend is a good idea, seeing that we're in this mess because you talked to her."

"First of all, she's not Mason's friend. Second of all," He let go of the doorknob and faced me, "I'm a lot stronger than her right now."

"Damon."

"Kidding. Sort of."

"Damon, seriously. We have enough trouble as it is, you don't need to stir up more."

"I'm not stirring up anything," He said, "She showed up here looking for Mason, things got ugly when she realized he would rather keep vampires as company than return to her pack, I had to back my buddy up."

"I know, I know. And I love you for being so loyal to the people you care about. The timing just sucks."

"If only she was considerate enough to call and set up a meeting. I would've penciled her in between 'learn about ancient sacrifice' and 'vampire who's been alive since before the wheel was invented coming to town.'"

The furrow in my brows dissolved when I laughed. "Right."

"Look, can you hang out here, keep an eye on Rose?" Damon asked.

"Is it really that bad?"

"Honestly? I don't know." He replied. "I just know I have no idea how that bite is going to fester and having a friend there might help."

"First of all, I'm not her friend. Second of all, what am I even going to do to help?"

"I don't know, braid her hair, get her some blood." Damon's eyes narrowed. "I know you know where that is."

"You really aren't going to take me to school?" I asked.

Damon shook his head, his usual half smile growing on his face.

"Okay, fine. But Damon!" I grabbed his arm before he could turn towards the door. "Don't do anything stupid, please. And you're compelling the administration, because at this rate I have no hope of graduating high school."

"You got it." Damon kissed me, then was out the door.

I lingered in the empty kitchen to finish my coffee, and waited until the sun was high enough in the sky to stop casting a pale gold light through the windows before pouring myself another cup and shuffling into the study. Rose was curled up on my favorite leather sofa, clutching a bottle of wine to her chest, so I sat on the opposite end of her.

"Where's Damon?" She asked.

"He left."

"And he asked you to babysit me while he's gone?"

I shrugged. "If it helps, I'm not really sure who's babysitting who here."

"Meaning?"

I sighed, and reached across Rose to grab one of the glasses on the end table next to her. "Meaning I've done a lot of stupid and dangerous things lately so Damon doesn't want to leave me alone, but he also doesn't want to take me with him while he does stupid and dangerous things."

I motioned for her to pass me the bottle that she was hugging. Morning wine wouldn't even make one of my top five worst decisions recently. The old oaky smell wafted up from my glass as I gave myself a generous pour.

"I'm sorry." Rose said after I poured her a glass and set the bottle on the end table. "You should be out living a normal human life. Not sitting here watching me die."

"Life wasn't exactly sensational before all of this supernatural stuff," I said, "And you're not going to die. Damon's looking for a cure."

Rose let out an acrid laugh. "Well he's not going to find one. I may not have learned everything in my five hundred years, but I know that much."

"You're not going to die."

"Oh, how I wish that were true."

"You don't know that it isn't."

"So human," Rose said, "Always holding onto hope, even when there is none." She swirled the wine in her glass. "I suppose I should apologize for kidnapping Elena, seeing as it's now or never."

"Okay, now you're just being morbid."

"I am sorry." Rose said. "I should have been better than that, harming humans. Trevor and I . . . we just wanted to stop running."

"I know."

Rose scoffed. "Imagine that. Five hundred years alive and so few of them actually spent living. Five hundred years alive and I'd trade all of them in just to have died in a house full of loved ones. Just to have died with a family. Don't ever choose this life."

I almost choked on my drink. "What?"

"Damon loves you. You love Damon. I've seen this play out so many times I've lost track. the vampire can't become human so the human becomes a vampire. You're young, you have no idea how crushing the weight of time can be. You have no idea how lucky you are to be human."

"Lucky." My life had everything except luck.

"You are. You get to have all of these human experiences. I envy you."

"Well, even if you're right and I'm wrong, you still have today."

"Another day trapped inside to avoid burning in the sun."

My eyes drifted around the room, searching for something, anything that could help Rose forget her potential fate. Even just for a few moments. "Have you ever had the human experience of a slumber party?"

I instructed Rose to pick out a movie from Damon's collection. It's odd how much childlike joy such a simple choice could bring such an old being. She really hadn't lived much at all.

With the curtains drawn, it was easy to block out the world. The only marker of time was Rose, getting quieter and quieter, paler and paler, until she started coughing and didn't stop.

"I need blood!" She sputtered out.

"Yeah. . . yeah." I stood up. "Of course."

The coughing momentarily subsided after Rose drained half of the blood bag I brought to her, but none of the color returned to her waxy grey complexion. When she coughed again, the blood she drank came back up and splattered onto her nightshirt. That wasn't good.

"It's okay," I said, my voice tight with falsetto, "Maybe you just need some rest. Let's get you into bed."

Too drained to do anything but agree, Rose nodded and allowed me to escort her upstairs. I stopped at Damon's room, and rummaged through his dresser for a moment.

"Sharing clothes is a mandatory part of sleepovers." I pushed one of his t-shirts into Rose's limp hands. "Just take it. It's dark, it won't show blood."

"You're being so nice to me, now I really know I'm dying." Rose took the shirt.

"Maybe I am just an incredibly nice person."

"Always quick with the sarcasm, I see why you and Damon are so taken with each other." Rose smiled weakly. "Thank you."

Other than a small bag perched atop the dresser there was no sign that Rose was currently occupying the spare room at the end of the main hallway. A scrap of sun peeked through the dark brown curtains, illuminating the dust floating through the air. Rose glanced wistfully at the window as she got into the bed.

"I always thought I'd see the sun, you know," Rose said, "One last time before I died."

"Really?" I traced the flowers carved into the wooden headboard. This was my first time in this room.

"Yeah." Rose let out a whisper of a laugh. "That's the promise of forever. You can do anything you want, even see the sun. Maybe that's the human in me that hoped I'd see the sun."

"Get some sleep, Rose."

She nodded and sunk into the pillow. I patted the top of the covers before I stepped into the hall, shut the door, and called Damon.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"She's not doing well, Damon."

"I'm working on it."

"I think maybe it's time to stop working on it," I whispered, "Come home."

"That bad?"

"She just wants to see the sun, Damon. Come home before the sun sets. Give her your ring, just let her have her dying wish."

"It doesn't work like that," He said, "The ring is spelled to work for me. It won't work on another vampire."

"Oh."

He sighed. "Look, there might be something I can do. She's weak right now. I can get in her head. I'll be there soon, okay?"

"Okay."

When I closed my phone, I noticed Rose standing behind me, the door ajar. I hadn't even heard it open.

"Was that Damon?" She asked.

"Yes, he just wanted to check in."

"And what did you tell him?" A bead of sweat threatened to drip off of her jawline.

"That you were going to get some rest." I stepped forward in an attempt to guide Rose back to the bed. "He said that was good, you should save your energy. He might have found something, but he's not sure how long it will take him to get back."

"Liar!" Rose grabbed me.

"No Rose you just-"

"Don't lie to me!" Rose shook my shoulders. "I know I'm going to die. You're lying, Damon's lying, everybody's lying!"

"Rose you're hurting me!" I yelled.

"Oh." She dropped her hands. "I'm sorry- I didn't mean to. . . my head. . .

"It's okay." I said.

"It's pounding, I can't think straight. I need to rest."

"It's okay, just lie back down." I held her elbow, and walked her towards the bed. She folded back into it easily. "I'll get you some more blood. That will help you feel better."

Rose closed her eyes. "Can't we go home?"

"What?"

"It's been two hundred years." Her eyelashes fluttered against her sunken sockets. "Surely Klaus isn't still looking for us."

"I'll be right back."

She was losing her mind. Rose was so close to death that she was losing her mind. Damon left me here with a dying vampire.

I hate the basement. I hated it when it held Stefan after he attacked me, I hated it when I came down here to steal blood for Katherine; and I hate it now, as I came back for more blood, pretending that it would help Rose at all.

Rose was waiting for me at the top of the perpetually ominous basement steps, her skin looking so grey she could have been in a black and white photograph.

"Rose! What are you doing out of bed?"

"I need blood." She croaked.

"I know, I—" I held up the blood bag "—I got some."

The bag was drained within moments of her snatching it out of my hand.

"More." Rose gasped. "I need more."

"Okay, I'll get you more." I backed towards the steps. "Just wait here."

Her eyes filled with the darkness of her true predator nature. "Now."

Rose slammed me against the wall, a drastic increase in strength from only moments ago, when she needed my help to even make it up the stairs.

"No, don't!" I yelled. "You're sick, there's blood downstairs, you don't want to do thi— ah!"

I screamed at the familiar sensation of fangs breaking into the skin on my neck, but the pain only lasted a moment before Rose pulled back. Or was thrown off of me. Then she ran away faster than my eyes could follow.

"Elijah?" I stared at my rescuer, who looked equally as polished as he had the previous evening. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to visit the Salvatore brothers and ensure they understand their role in my agreement with Elena." Elijah's dark eyes fixated on my hand that had instinctively covered the bite. "It appears they do not. Allow me."

Elijah pushed up the deep grey sleeve of his suit jacket and bit his wrist, holding it out to me. I shook my head.

"It's fine, she barely bit me." I pulled my hand away from the wound, and the lines on my palm were pooling with blood. Elijah handed me a handkerchief. "Rose," I said, "I need to find Rose. Where did she go?"

"She's still in the house," Elijah said.

"You need to leave."

"Excuse me?"

"Please. You shouldn't be here."

"Given that I arrived at the precise moment that Rose made clear she intended to have you as her last supper, I would say this is exactly where I should be."

"No, that's not what I meant, thank you." I glanced back at the wall Rose was holding me against just seconds ago. "Rose isn't in her right mind right now. She's already terrified of you as it is- no offense- I'm sure seeing you did not help."

"If you think I am going to—"

"Please." I said. "She's dying. Damon will be back any minute, I'll be fine. Just let me help her."

After a moment of invasive eye contact, Elijah gave me a single nod, then exited at full vampire speed, slamming the front door behind him.

"Rose?" I called out. "Rose, where did you go?"

She hadn't gone far at all. I found her slouched against the doorframe leading to the library, her eyes closed and her breaths harsh.

"Rose?"

"He found me," She whispered, "He's going to kill me."

"No he's not. He wasn't here for you, he's gone now."

"No, no, no no!" She clutched her head. "He's going to kill me! I never should have helped Katerina."

"Rose, Rose! It's okay." I held on to her elbow in a pitiful attempt to support her. "Elijah's gone. Damon's almost home, it'll be okay."

Her eyes shot open. They were almost glowing from the way the bloodshot whites contrasted her sheer green eye color. "You can't trust him."

"I know. I don't. But right now he's the best chance I have at saving El—"

Rose clasped onto both of my arms, forcing me to look her in the eye. "No, listen to me Lucy. He's not. . ." She coughed, then resumed gasping for air. "He's hi—"

With Rose's last sharp inhale, her hands froze like stone against my arms. Her veins turned a garish purple as they protruded from her skin, enveloping her body in an ashen tone until there was no color left. No green in her eyes, no warmth to her skin. Only her blood, seeping from the stake protruding from her chest, kept its crimson color.

She crumpled to the floor, landing not quite in the library, but not quite in the hallway, either. As she fell, Elijah stood in her wake, with his hand perfectly poised midair, right where he impaled her. Where he killed her.

"I told you to leave." I said.

"You appear to be operating under the false assumption that I take orders from anyone." Elijah stepped over Rose, into the room. My veins were pulsating, threatening to shake my entire body with rage.

"You killed her!" I yelled.

"She was going to die a slow, painful death. I was doing her a service."

I shook my head. "You don't know that."

"Yes, I do."

I knelt next to Rose and closed my hand over hers. The rage in my blood shifted into a weight crushing me from the inside. She should have died centuries ago, and yet her death still came too soon.

"She wanted to see the sun." I said, turning my face away from Elijah. He doesn't get to see me cry.

"Lucy?" Damon called from the foyer.

I sniffed, and that was enough to reveal my location. Then Damon was by my side, witnessing the wreck that occurred in his absence. He slid a hand over my arm.

"What happened?" He asked. "Hey, hey look at me. Did she attack you?"

"She did." Elijah said when I shook my head. "There are no other possible outcomes to leaving a human alone with an infected, delusional vampire."

"You." Damon came nose to nose with Elijah. "Why are you in my house?"

"Watch yourself, Damon." Elijah said. "I've been busy cleaning up your messes."

"You did this?"

"Her journey towards death had long since embarked," Elijah replied, "The outcome was inevitable."

"Exactly!" I stood up. "She was going to die, you didn't need to stab her! Why couldn't you just allow her to die with some semblance of peace?"

"There is no peace when a vampire has been poisoned by a werewolf."

Damon wrapped an arm around me, allowing me to hide my face in his chest while I cried. "Get out of my house."

"I did not come here to kill," Elijah said, "I simply wished to talk. However the danger Rose posed to young Lucy was imminent, I had no choice."

"Go upstairs, Lucy," Damon said, "I'll be there in a minute."

I shook my head. "I want to go home."

"Of course, my car is right outside." Elijah gestured towards the front door. "Damon, I trust that you can take care of things here?"

"Like hell." Damon growled.

"You don't want to fight me, Damon." Elijah replied. "I gave Elena my word that I would protect her loved ones, but should you become a hindrance in my plans, well..." Elijah's gaze drifted to Rose as he trailed off.

"You're threatening to kill him too?" I shrugged off Damon's arm to face Elijah. "Was Rose a hindrance in your plans?" When Elijah didn't answer, I turned back to Damon. "Take me home, Damon. Please."

In the driveway, Damon reached for my hand before I could get in the car.

"I shouldn't have left you today," He said. "If I had known—"

"That Elijah would show up out of nowhere and kill her?" I pulled my hand out of his. "Damon, that could've been you. That would've been you, if Rose hadn't pushed you out of the way."

"You think I don't know that?" Damon replied. "That werewolf will leave town tomorrow if she knows what's good for her.

Tears started to well up in my eyes again. "No, Damon. No more threats. You can't keep running headfirst into conflict because next time it really could be you."

"Hey, look at me. I'm okay. You're okay. Breathe." He hugged me. "I'm sorry. He shouldn't have killed her in front of you."

I sniffed. "I don't care what Elena says. I'm not trusting him. Especially not with her life."

"An omnipresent vampire who can't be killed yet brings death with him every time he shows up somewhere?" Damon craned his neck to look at the house. "No way in hell do I trust him either."

You wait for rain and I chase the storm
We just don't see it the same way
You say you want change but you're never sure
We can't go on like this anymore
Beause at the end of the day
You wait for rain and i chase the storm

I was never good at standing still
Always got a hunger to fill
Don't think you ever understood that's who I am
What we gotta face is we're in different places