When Stefan Salvatore got to Elena's house, Caroline was arriving there as well. He wasn't sure how to break the news to them, but he knew he needed to. An hour or two wasn't nearly long enough to say goodbye. But was any amount of time long enough? Hadn't Elena already lost so much? Now because they hadn't listened to Elena that this was a problem, she was going to lose not only him but Damon and Caroline and Tyler as well. All at once. And Stefan couldn't help but feel responsible for it. He was glad Klaus was dead, but it had been his focus on the death of the Mikaelsons that had helped it be achieved, his willingness to get Elena into that room with Esther. Now they were going to die, and there was nothing he could do but break the news and say goodbye to the one person in town that he needed to say goodbye to.

Elena was quick to open the door shortly after he knocked to let him in. "What is it? What's going on?" she asked as she let Stefan and Caroline inside her house. Concern shone in her eyes as she watched them, taking in Stefan's grim expression and the confused but curious look in Caroline's. Clearly she had no more of an idea of what this was about than Elena did.

"Is Damon here yet?" Stefan questioned, wanting to make sure his brother was here to hear glanced around to see, but there was no older Salvatore brother in sight. He knew it didn't make much of a difference for him considering they were both going to die together. But he knew Damon had goodbyes he should say even though he wasn't one for goodbyes.

"No, not yet. Though I'm not sure if he-" she stopped in her tracks as the door surprisingly opened again, and a casual, collected looking Damon strolled inside, though the Gilbert could tell that he had been drinking, which Elena wasn't entirely sure if he was celebrating the fall of the Mikaelsons or drowning his buried inside misery that he hardly let be shown.

Damon hadn't been sure if he was even going to come back once the message appeared on his phone. The Mikaelsons were dead, so that was one problem down. The only remaining threats were whoever was out killing people like Bill Forbes and Meredith's ex fiance, and whatever was going on with Alaric's ring that didn't seem to be working properly. But then he considered the fact that there was still a threat, even if it wasn't a Mikaelson, and he wouldn't forgive himself if something happened to Stefan or Elena because he was too busy drinking next to Elijah's buried corpse. He couldn't let that happen, so he took a swig of his whiskey and collected himself before speeding over to the Gilbert house, ready to pretend that everything was great and that he wasn't thinking about all sorts of things he'd rather be drowning in bourbon and sex.

"Alright, then I guess this is it" Stefan said, figuring Caroline would go see Bonnie herself, just as Damon might see Alaric and share a last drink."I went to the Mikaelson mansion to see Klaus' body with my own eyes, but instead I saw Esther." The younger Salvatore wasn't sure how to break the news easily so he would have to just break the news. "She said that because the Mikaelsons died that all of the vampires would be dead soon."

"What?" Caroline questioned, the word being the only one able to escape her lips as her body froze. Only recently had she begun to see a world of possibilities ahead of her that came with immortality. And now, she would have to say goodbye to her mother and her best friends. A life of immortality now being cut incredibly short, and she wasn't sure what to even say about that.

"Oh my god" Elena said, tears burning in her eyes as it all sunk in, but she pushed them away as she was used to doing until she couldn't help the tears anymore. Until she could no longer bare the heartbreaking feeling in her chest, the suffocating emotions caused by grief and pain that no one should have to experience.

Damon was silent as he took the news in because he didn't really have anything to say. Months ago, he had been dying of a werewolf bite and had accepted his death, had been ready to die after a long immortal life. Then, he was cured and had gotten closer to Elena than he had thought was ever going to happen, but that was before she said that him loving her was the problem. Now, however, he wasn't sure if he was ready or not, but he would accept it without complaint because there was nothing that could be done if this was true. He only wished that his death and his brother's as well as Caroline Forbes wouldn't cause Elena more pain, as though she hasn't been through enough grief in the past few years.

"She said that we only have another hour or two left before we die," Stefan said, knowing just how short of time an hour would be, how fast it could pass and how it wasn't nearly enough time.

Caroline swallowed thickly at the information and pulled out her phone. "I have to call Tyler. Hopefully he will answer" she said as she headed out of the room to call her boyfriend that was currently out of town, as he had been since he bit her in the woods on her birthday.

Finally, Damon pushed past the thoughts and said casually, "How do we even know Esther was telling the truth? She's not exactly a person that is upfront and honest. I know that, and I haven't even properly met the woman."

"Why would she lie about something like this?" Stefan questioned, looking at his brother.

"Oh, I don't know? Because she finds it humorous to cause us pain and suffering?" He commented with a shrug.

"She hates her creations. She wanted to kill the Mikaelsons to undo the evil she created. But- if she killed them, there would still be vampires. Her evil she created wouldn't be undone. She would have just been murdering her children. Unless she is telling the truth" Elena said, the truth about the situation sinking in and weighing heavily on her heart.

"Well, you all have fun with your heartfelt goodbyes. I'm gonna head out" he said before heading out of the house, not wanting to waste the time of Elena's goodbyes that should be more spent on Caroline and his brother.

Elena followed him without even thinking about what she was doing because all she knew was that she did not want Damon to just walk out that door and never come back. She might not be able to save him, but she was not going to just let him go die alone. "Damon!" She called out as she hurried down the steps on the porch, but he didn't turn around. She caught up to him, grateful he was walking instead of using his enhanced speed to leave more quickly, and she reached out with her hand and grabbed his arm, stopping him. Her hand slid down to his hand as he stopped walking, not even realizing what she was doing as she pulled him around to face her and intertwined her fingers with his.

Damon looked down at her and swallowed a little, unsure of what to say as his heart rate sped up a bit while he felt his hand in hers. He wondered if she had even realized what she was doing, if this was intentional or a subconscious movement caused by her feelings for him that she wouldn't bring herself to say out loud. He took a step closer to the girl he loved, watching and waiting for her to speak and say what she wanted to.

"Where are you going?" Elena questioned, stepping closer to him as well as she looked at him.

"You don't need me here" Damon said quietly, tilting his head slightly as he looked down at her, longing to spend his last time with her but knowing it would be better if he didn't. It would be better if he was just away.

"What are you talking about?" Elena questioned incredulously as she looked at him, not understanding how he could possibly think she didn't need him here. protective, which in hindsight she should have listened to him. He tended to be more right than he was wrong unless people will get killed as a result.

"I know you need to spend more time with Caroline, and unless I'm mistaken you seem to be fixing things with Stefan. And I just... I don't want to be a body that just drops at your house. I don't want you to have to watch me die if what Esther said is true. And if it isn't, you'll see me later."

"I do need to... say goodbye to Caroline. And Stefan. But that doesn't mean I want you just walking out that door without another word" Elena pointed out, looking up at him, not wanting him to argue. "Go back inside. Stay. Be around people."

"If it is my last hours on earth, shouldn't I be living it the way I want to?" Damon commented, causing the doppelganger to recoil as guilt filled her heart just because she didn't want him to go before she had a chance to talk to him.

"I'm sorry. I just didn't want how things have been lately to be how we ended things" she said softly, her gaze lowering a little before she returned it to his beautiful blue eyes.

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that. I was angry, yes, but I'm moving past it."

"You weren't angry. You were hurt. And it's okay to admit that"

Damon looked at Elena, having a thousand things he wanted to say but nothing he had enough time to express and nothing that would amount to anything anyways, no matter how much he wished it would. And if he was still tomorrow, he didn't want to have anything he said or did cause a problem or make Elena unhappy, not unless it protected her. His head lowered, and he pressed his lips against hers for a moment, taking in the scent of her, the taste of her lips, the way her free arm wrapped around his body automatically, drawing him closer to her.

"Whatever comes next, all I ask is that you don't forget me." The vampire said as he looked down at her.

Elena, still a bit stunned by the kiss, looked up at him in confusion at his words, but she said "I won't. I promise. And Damon, I-"

"Shh" he said, his finger over her lips. "Go spend time with the others. There is only so much time left in the supposed two hours window. Goodbye, Elena."

The vampire kissed the top of her head before vamp speeding away, leaving a stunned Elena staring at the spot he used to be, her arm still out that had been holding him and the hand that had been holding his longing for his return. She shook herself out of it and headed inside finally.

Stefan Salvatore had been watching the events from the crack between the curtains of the window, knowing even before the scene before his eyes that Elena had more feelings for Damon than she let herself admit out loud. That she had fallen in love with Damon, and that there was no real chance for him ever since he had left with Klaus to save his life. He had known it even then, though that was partially because he never thought he would be able to see her again, not when it had been so dangerous for Klaus to know she was alive.

Once Elena started heading back inside the house, Stefan headed to the kitchen area to give Caroline and Elena some space. Elena watched him go before quickly going over to Caroline, who had just finished getting off the phone. "Hey, how are you doing?"

"As fine as I can be for someone about to die. My mom and Bonnie are supposed to meet me at my house. I'll break the news to them then." Caroline said, swallowing hard.

Elena pulled her friend into a hug, seeing how difficult it was for her friend that was trying not to cry. She knew it was a lot for Caroline to go from thinking she is immortal to thinking she was going to die in a couple of hours at most, even though Elena had never experienced it herself. Caroline hugged Elena back, squeezing her eyes shut as she did so.

"I really hope Esther was lying. You deserve to live as long of a life as you want" Elena said, not wanting to let go of the girl that had been one of her best friends since they were children.

"But you don't think she is" Caroline said, finally pulling away and wiping away the tears that had fallen, her heart breaking at the thought of leaving the people she cared about. "Like you said, it wouldn't make sense for her to lie about it. What would she gain from it?"

"Nothing. Except us suffering without her seeing it."

"You're going to be okay, Elena. Even after losing us. You'll find a way to survive. Get Jeremy to come home. You'll have Ric and Bonnie. My mom. Matt. You still have people that love you and cherish you. And even if you didn't, you'd survive. You're the strongest person I know, and I wish Klaus and the others dying didn't lead to this. If it had, I wouldn't have been pro the spell. But what's done is done, and you need to focus on having as normal of a life as you can now that there are going to be no more vampires."

Elena gave Caroline a sad smile, wishing that she was able to do something to help them. To save all of them. And she felt even worse knowing she was about as responsible for Esther. None of this would have happened if she just didn't talk to Esther during the Mikaelson ball. If she just listened to Damon and stayed away from the whole mess. Or even if she was honest and told Elijah when it happened. Then maybe things would have worked out, that it could have been stopped. Then Stefan, Damon, Caroline, Tyler, and countless other vampires wouldn't be about to die. If she and Stefan had just stopped thinking Klaus dying was the best thing. Would humans be safer without vampires? Technically yes. But not every vampire deserved to die. And yet all of their blood would soon be on her hands. And that included one of her best friends. And she wasn't sure how she would live with herself. No matter how much faith Caroline had in her making it through this grief. It wasn't just grief. It was also guilt. Guilt weighing heavily on her heart even before they died.

Soon enough, Caroline said "I have to go see my mom. And Bonnie. I can't risk running out of time."

"I know. I get it." Elena said, struggling to get the words out but forcing them out. "Goodbye, Caroline. And thank you for everything."

"You're welcome" Caroline said, pulling Elena into one last hug before pulling away. "Goodbye Elena. Take care of yourself." She smiled sadly at her friend before heading out of the Gilbert house to get home in time to say her goodbyes to Bonnie and most importantly her mom, who she spent so much time fighting with when she was younger. It was only when she died that she truly worked on fixing their relationship and valuing it as much as she should have a long time ago.

Meanwhile, Stefan came back from the kitchen hesitantly, unsure of how to even begin the apologies he wanted to get out. Or if she even wanted to hear them. He knew he had done awful things, things he wasn't proud of, both for Klaus and to kill Klaus. Though perhaps for Klaus wasn't the right wording. It was for Damon living and Elena's safety that Stefan had gone to Klaus in the first place. That he had left with him and was his partner in crime for the summer.

"Can we talk?" He asked, approaching her.

"Of course" Elena replied, turning to look at him. No matter how things went in regards to what Stefan did to get Klaus to back down, no matter what he threatened to turn her by driving her off the bridge where her parents died... Even though what he did impacted her and hurt, Stefan was someone she would always care about, someone she would miss when he was gone whether she was upset with him or not.

"Look, I know a lot has happened lately. I know I've done things I'm not proud of. Things I did in the name of trying to kill Klaus. And I don't regret killing Klaus or getting him to back down, but I do regret how I went about it. And I'm sorry that killing the Mikaelsons means you losing even more people you care about."

"It's alright."

"It's not" Stefan disagreed, shaking his head a little at her words. "It's easy to push things to the side and hold off conversations when you think there will be a later time. But when you don't think it will be possible, the conversations you don't want to have are the ones you need to have. I'm sorry, Elena. I'm sorry that I nearly drove you off Wickery Bridge and turned you into a vampire. I should have found another way to get to Klaus without making you go through that."

"All you cared about was making Klaus suffer. About getting to the point where you killed Klaus" Elena said, looking at him. "I get wanting Klaus to die. I do. After all, I was the one that helped Esther. That went to meet with her, let her use my blood, and didn't do anything to stop her. I could have gone straight to the Mikaelsons after when I felt guilty. I didn't. We both made choices we aren't proud of."

"About that... Elena, Esther wanted me to tell you that not telling the Mikaelsons wasn't a choice for you. She did a spell to keep you from telling anyone that would put her plan at risk." Stefan explained

"She did?" Elena thought back to the multiple times she had wanted to go tell Elijah or Hope ot even Klaus himself about all of this, about Esther's plans, but she hadn't. Was this why? The spell kept her from doing what she knew in her heart to be the right thing to do?

Stefan nodded. "It wasnt your fault. This wasn't on you, Elena. You did what you thought was right. And when you thought it wasn't, changing it was out of your control."

"Do you still think killing Klaus was the smart move?"

Stefan was silent for a long moment. "I wish I had known what would happen after. Otherwise we could have stopped Esther and figured out a way to take care of him another way. I didn't realize it would result in all of us dying"

Elena looked away from Stefan and let out a small sigh before returning her gaze to him, knowing well that wasn't a no. But she didn't want there to be any issues between them, and it wouldn't change anything even if the answer was no. She took a step closer to him. "If by chance, Esther lied to you... What's next?"

"I don't know. I know what I want" Stefan said. "And if I live past today, then perhaps it would make a difference. If you weren't in love with Damon."

"I- Stefan, I love you" Elena said, unable to bring the words to deny his claim as she stepped close enough that it would only take leaning in to kiss him.

"I know, but - it doesn't matter. Not now. Not your love for me, that matters. But everything else I have to say."

"I love you. No matter what problems have happened recently. No matter how I felt about what you've done, I still care about you. And yes I care about Damon. Even I'm not sure how much. But you're here. And you could die soon. Can't all of that be behind us? Just for now?"

Stefan nodded and pressed his lips to Elena's passionately, fiercely, like it was a kiss of desperation, a final kiss to the girl he loved. A kiss he would likely never have again. Whether he survived this or not. And he likely wouldn't. There was no reason for Esther to be lying about this, which meant he was about to have to leave Elena for good.

Finally Elena pulled away from the kiss and looked at Stefan. She took his hand and led him over to the couch before taking a seat, no longer holding his hand. She wasn't sure where they stood if she was being honest, but that didn't matter now. None of it mattered. All that mattered was she loved them and they loved her and that time was running short.

She and Stefan started talking, just talking, but her gaze drifted to the door every so often when things went silent for a minute. Stefan glanced between Elena and the door. "You're waiting for him to show up again, aren't you?"

"Waiting? No. Hoping, yes" Elena sighed. "I just... I want to see him again before..." This whole conversation, as much as she was glad to be here with Stefan, she really wanted to see Damon again. To touch him, breathe the same air as him. All before she never could again.

"I get it. I want to see him too. But I gather I'll have plenty of time to see him on the Other Side." Stefan said. The same place Lexi was.

At least there was one benefit of this whole thing besides Klaus dying. And besides no longer being the ripper he was. Well not so much no longer being it but no longer being tempted by blood. If he was dead, he wouldn't have to worry about it. He didn't want to die, but he couldn't say that there was no upside if he couldn't prevent it. He had spent years exploring. Living. And even on the Other Side, he could explore. The biggest downside was leaving Elena.

Soon enough, Damon Salvatore did come inside the house, unable to help the pull he felt to see Elena Gilbert one last time. Elena stood up quickly at the sight of him and went over to him, pulling him into a hug. She closed her eyes as she squeezed him tightly, not wanting to let him go. His arms slowly went around her in surprise, and he held her back, relaxing at her touch.

"I didn't think I would see you again" Elena said as she finally pulled away and looked at him, relief in her eyes that she could look at him again. That he hadn't just left for good.

"I wasn't going to come back. I meant what I said about giving you more time with the others. I just couldn't resist stopping by one last time." Damon admitted.

"I'm glad you did" she breathed out, her gaze on him. She didn't want to take her eyes off of him, afraid that the second she looked away would be the moment he died, not that her looking would truly affect whether he lived or died.

"So which one of you messaged Alaric about the situation and sent him my way?" Damon questioned as he looked between Elena and Stefan who wasn't looking at them.

"That would be me" Stefan spoke up, getting up off the couch and walking over. "I figured it would be good for you to have a last drink with him."

"I can never say no to a glass of bourbon," Damon said with a grin as he walked over to the kitchen and pulled a bottle out from Alaric's hidden stash in the island counter.

He popped it open and poured a glass as Stefan and Elena walked closer. The doppelganger picked it up from in front of him and took a large sip from the glass before making a face at the burning taste of alcohol. She was never a fan of whiskey, but she needed it in that moment. Damon pulled another two glasses out of the cabinet and filled the three glasses before pushing one towards Stefan and one towards Elena.

"What better way to pass the time?" Damon questioned.

An easy answer would be sex, but it wouldn't really be true. As distracting as sex was, what he really wanted was to be around Elena, even if it was painful. As much as he had planned to stay away, he wanted to be right here with her. And having Stefan here wasn't bad either. He always cared about his brother, even if he didn't always express it.
The three of them spent time all together, Damon laughing a little, clearly fondly, when the girl he loved made a face at the taste of the whiskey before continuing to drink more.

After a little more alcohol, Elena finally had the courage to say something she had been holding off saying. She looked over at Damon first before looking at the Salvatores as a whole. "I love you. I love both of you. And I'm sorry for everything I've done to hurt either of you. I know me not choosing has been hurting you both, and I never wanted that to happen. I just couldn't bare the thought of losing either of you. Just the idea of losing one of you felt like I was drowning. I want you both in my life. And now I'm going to lose you both at the same time. After all that time of trying not to hurt either of you, of trying not to lose either of you, I lose you both. But I just want you to know that I love you."

Damon was baffled by the love confession that she loved him as well and was struggling to give a response when he caught sight of the time and looked around a bit. "Well, it's been well over two hours by the looks of it, and we are still here. I think it's safe to say Esther was wrong."

Elena breathed out a sigh at the words he spoke, the heavy painful weight on her chest lifting as she realized the people she loved were not going to die. She reached the closest Salvatore to her and pulled him into a hug and closed her eyes as she held him tightly, and once Damon pulled away, she hugged Stefan as well, relieved they would be okay. It was only when she pulled away from Stefan that it hit her that she had made the declaration of loving them both. Acknowledging her love of Damon meant she needed to sort things out in her mind. To let out the feelings she had been trying to bury.

Her phone rang, tearing her out of her thoughts, and she quickly answered the phone, holding it to her ear. "Caroline? What's going on?"

"My mom's friend that lives in New Orleans called. Check the news" Caroline said, letting Elena know which channel to turn to.

The doppelganger quickly went over to the tv and turned it on before flipping to the channel. She stilled in her tracks at the sight of the storm displayed across the screen. It was the color of blood in the sky, lightning strikes flashing through the blood red clouds. She was so busy staring at the screen before her that she didn't notice Stefan or Damon coming up behind her to see the storm above New Orleans.

"What is going on?' Elena questioned, her expression full of worry for the people in New Orleans.

"I don't know, but it's going to be hard covering that up," Stefan said, looking over at Elena and Damon, who turned their gazes away from the tv as well.

"Oh I wouldn't be too sure about that. As good as compulsion is to help with the safety of the supernatural, humans tend to be able to explain these types of things away if they don't know the truth. Especially if no one got hurt as a result. It'll pass as a rare natural occurrence. The problem is hunters that know and will likely go there to take care of the problem, whatever it is. But fortunately we won't be there when it happens."

"The question is, who caused this," Stefan said.

And with that the three of them returned their gaze to the news.