It's a beautiful day, as Stefan and I get out of our car on the side of the road and walk towards my car, me carrying two large containers.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXGjR0BsvXD
"If they so much as even scratched the paint on my car…," I start.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTUlei0Nd3Y
"Well, just be grateful Sheriff Forbes was able to track down the car after you let them, ah, you know—steal it from you," Stefan interrupts.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnmRKHCU9nx
"Remind me to send her some mini-muffins. Do we really need 10 gallons of gas, or are you making me just lug this around as punishment?" I say.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTBSUpx9Spr
"Well, they ditched your car after it ran out of fuel. You gotta fill it up. Got a hundred miles before we get to Willoughby."410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlS4sqTuJRD
"Yeah, well I don't remember that name from the list of places I got from New York."410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQkS6K047rS
"Oh, the list? The list they stole from right under your nose, after you let your guard down? They'll be there. Sheriff Forbes tracked down the car they stole after yours," Stefan amusingly says.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmZHVInxbC3
"Screw the muffins. I'll get her champagne—if Elena is wherever it may be," I say, as I fill my tank with gasoline.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNMnpYQxB1O
He smiles.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvPfoYWB2hU
"Willoughby. Creamed corn capital of Pennsylvania. They'll be there. Let's just hope we get to them before they get to the cure."410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA6MoINyJ5t
"Ooh, silver lining: if Rebekah takes the cure, then she's mortal and we can just kill her right then and there."410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNMS495FUjU
"Ooh, dark cloud: Elena stays a vampire forever. Look, why don't you just table the revenge fantasies for now, and just keep your eye on the prize. Find Katherine, get the cure, get out before you get your neck snapped—again."410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbtLfHY4xtE
"Believe me, I learned my lesson. Elena without humanity is a stone-cold bitch, and I won't trust her until we get the old Elena back."410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMhU2sM5eiw
"Look at that. We're finally on the same page about something."410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI3l6GhDKWo
"Look at that," I agree.
Later that day, we're walking along the street, still in search of Rebekah and Elena.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDkBOfR806k
"Something's not right. Katherine Pierce does not hold up in Hickstown, P-A.," I announce.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqQbfqu0iVD
"Well, this is definitely the car they stole. We're in the right place," Stefan says.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFX3XQBaOKd
"Points to them for their choice of vehicles," I say.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcUkBpm4xe8
"So let me ask you something. What happens when we find Elena? How do we get her back to Mystic Falls? I mean, she's not exactly gonna go quietly, and she has an Original vampire as her bodyguard."410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsLG8RV7dNU
"We do whatever we have to do. I don't care if we have to throw Rebekah under a school bus and wrap Elena up in a burlap sack. We do whatever we have to do."410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIKlZ1TJum5
"I'm serious."410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD78wOQlrDE
"I am, too. I don't care what Elena wants right now. She's this close to going off the rails for good and that ain't happening. She's a pain enough as it is."410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡARlBRsjAzk
"So what happened to the guy who thought Elena should embrace being a vampire, let the chips fall where they may?" Stefan asks me.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoWRZXXa0nP
"That guy got his neck snapped in New York and this guy is royally pissed off," I answer him, and start to walk away.
When we find them, they're sitting in a diner in a booth. Rebekah is seated next to Katherine, but Elena isn't there.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn0YvaadWI8
Stefan and I walk in and walk up to them.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhD6bMSKEkl
"Ladies, playing nice?" Stefan asks them.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgjCgZp1RDT
I sit down in a bench across from them, amused, and Rebekah let's go of Katherine's hand.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv9CrSeW9RI
"There goes the neighborhood," Katherine comments.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPsUs0Tbiqn
"I see you got Katherine already," I say, before telling Katherine, "You're losing your touch, evil one."410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz0Z2RlipZ2
We all stare at one another.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0WQqYjx0JT
"Where's Elena?" Stefan asks Rebekah.
"So let me get this straight: I tell you where Elena is, you shove the cure down her throat, and then I end up in a box, right? I don't think so," Rebekah says.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIr0wbGFGvQ
"What about you over there, smiley? Do you know where she is?" I ask Katherine.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ak6aF1Vzd
"I can give you a hint. Start by looking at the town morgue. She's probably dead."410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXx1G5j1pRE
We wait for Katherine to elaborate, and after a moment, she does, saying, "She went to meet up with a friend of mine. You may know him—an Original brother, impeccable taste."410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6bAl5b1bp8
"Elijah," Rebekah realizes.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7EJjE3BDAc
"Elijah's here?" I question.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeTy57absEs
"Well, you sort of have to question Elijah's impeccable taste if he's friends with you," Stefan tells Katherine.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcKZi4faOHc
"Oh, when I say friend, I mean friend."410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgrAdYvcB9Q
Rebekah and I groan in disgust, figuring out what she's getting at. Katherine and Elijah are in love.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡURmzVegh7c
"It probably took him about 10 seconds to realize that she wasn't me, at which point he probably yanked her heart right out of her chest," Katherine says.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUr98iWf3Qa
"All right. Where are they?" Stefan asks her, but Katherine smiles and doesn't say anything, so Stefan says to Rebekah, "Rebekah, you do realize if something should happen to Elena, you have no chance of finding the cure, right?"410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsYYSpet7Y7
"Fine. They were supposed to meet at the gazebo by the park," Rebekah answers.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxNh8qX7tft
"I'll go talk to Elijah," Stefan says, getting up from the bench.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgyKjITsHBR
"You go deal with Elijah. Katherine will take us to the cure," Rebekah tells him.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTyPwZ6QZYe
"No, she won't. The cure is my one chance to win my freedom back from Klaus," Katherine interjects.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU3vK4PGaMS
"You're gonna break a deal with Klaus?" I ask her.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv66CB75nvd
"No. She's gonna get Elijah to break the deal for her. That's why you need your little friend, isn't it? Some things never change, Katherine," Stefan says.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPk06JmuCvS
"Nope," I say.
"Fine," Katherine says, before saying to Rebekah, "Move. You have to follow me."
We follow Katherine to her place and stop just outside the door.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡobifTSYGsj
I push Katherine inside and then tell her, "No sudden moves. No tricks either. No Katherine-ing."410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7K2jMrwMlj
She walks further into the house, while we look around.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNroW9WeGIx
"Wow. A quilt inside a fish aquarium. Who the hell are you?" I say.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ18oZrtR08Q
"A very old lady with dreadful taste," Rebekah answers me.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfp7093HrIw
Katherine has been removing things from a bookshelf and opens a hidden safe. She moves her hands around inside it.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk1l6GrGVws
"It's gone. The cure, it was in the safe, but it's not there," she tells us.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVQ7tLWxIcv
I imitate a buzzer and then say, "Not falling for it. Where is it, Auntie Katherine?"410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7hkHiYAo8k
"I swear it was in the safe," she insists.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXo4ML8LKvp
"What, just like Elijah's really your boyfriend and this is really your life? And for all we know, this isn't even your house," Rebekah says.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVLc6m40phb
"Yeah, it doesn't look like the Katherine I know," I agree.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ691wzNjGeZ
"Maybe you don't know Katherine at all. Did it ever occur to you that you have no idea who I really am?" Katherine says.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ31h7pkCWBS
"Did it ever occur to you that you're not that deep? This whole small-town girl thing, we all know it's an act," I say.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0kTALhxMDs
"Where is the cure?" Rebekah asks her.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhTopJfeIFV
Katherine looks at her with a hint of a smile and Rebekah vamp-speeds at her. I throw my arm out to stop her.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4sn2vSBrT5
"Whoa, whoa. Hang on. We need her alive. The cure's not here. You check upstairs. I'll check down. I got this," I tell Rebekah.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu4s2DUNCS1
Katherine smiles, while Rebekah walks away to go upstairs.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd4PiM0TDXR
"So if I was a paranoid, distrustful sociopath, where would I keep my most prized possession?" I say.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNVVvsbY25D
"This should be fun," Katherine says, chuckling.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp71xKIP7EI
I search the room. "Because I'd want it to be close, but not on me. Accessible but not obvious. I'd want to keep it safe, but not so safe that it'd be too difficult to grab and run."410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVoKoxDjd4q
I stop in front of the fish tank.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6QeC32jjQs
"Well, that is a fancy little treasure chest—in a tank with no fish." Katherine doesn't say anything and I continue. "I think I'm gonna have to check that out."410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxRQGQNCmmO
I stick my hand into the water, but it immediately burns my hand.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡscR8ToceFl
"Aah! Gah! Vervain water. Looks like we have a winner."410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmfzUrelmWp
I pick up a large net to scoop out the chest. Before I can, Katherine vamp-speeds at me and shoves my head into the vervain water, holds me there for several seconds then throws me to the floor. I writhe in pain and Katherine gets the chest out. She runs to the door, but Rebekah appears in front of her.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGNMmXcHfkg
"Give it to me, or you're dead."410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmdlmzfLj6N
"You're gonna kill me anyway. So what's more important to you, huh? Killing me or getting the cure?" Katherine says.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQhgctE40ze
She holds up a small pill-shaped object and throws it into the air behind her. Rebekah runs to catch it, and Katherine dashes out the front door. I'm still on the floor, but my face is healing.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6dNemStEVn
"Look, Rebekah... Don't even think about it," I rasp.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGPYF5hqv5j
Rebekah gets up, still in awe that she finally has the cure. My voice still sounds very raspy.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPTdp0tk0eA
"Let's just talk about this, like the two rational vampires that we are. Rebekah?"410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYOB7bjHbBM
"Oh, give it a rest. Me taking this cure is the best thing that'll ever happen to you," Rebekah says, as she stares at the object in her hand.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl218gu77B2
"Don't do anything stupid," I try to reason.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBuM5b5wB8h
"Admit it. You don't want human-Elena running back to Stefan whilst you're left out in the cold again. Go on, Damon. Tell me why you want Elena to have the cure," she says.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjwNH4JPQ0v
I don't say anything, still on the floor.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtQFYXD9o2a
Rebekah smiles and says, "That's what I thought."410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl1MXddHzI7
Rebekah pops open the pill when Stefan arrives at the open front door. She tosses it back into her mouth.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrQUXa5ifLV
"No!" Stefan yells.
Rebekah gasps for a few seconds and falls down onto the sofa.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUgsrKRRfmh
I rest my head on the floor.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ36dZW5jIzE
Rebekah is still unconscious on the sofa, as Stefan looks at the fish tank while talking to me. I've finally gotten to my feet and am drying myself off with a towel from the vervain.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqwJwUhxVb1
"Did you even try to stop her?" Stefan asks me.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL7oQrDJGT8
"You forgot the part where I was bobbing for boxes in vervain water."410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiMH1a6VpZQ
"All you had to do was stall her, Damon."410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNLzf6RF2kE
"Sorry. It's Rebekah. I didn't have a pony to distract her, Stefan."410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuYIKDfykDp
"You let her take it, didn't you? You were never on my side. Now Elena will be a vampire for the rest of her life just like you wanted."410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP3A4eVsGse
Suddenly, Rebekah gasps, waking up.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkas7dzubqr
She sits up, looking refreshed, her mouth open in wonder. I'm standing by a bookshelf and Stefan sits down on the coffee table opposite her.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhYz0luLKLT
"How do you feel?" Stefan asks.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡORtAaS4vlf
"I-- I feel good. I... I feel great. I feel alive," she answers, smiling.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLUdCZBTbez
"Slight problem with being alive--I can kill you, you know," I comment to her.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWLY7oUSM6f
I throw a letter opener at her and she catches it with vamp speed. We all watch, as the cut on her hand heals. Rebekah gasps in horror, while Stefan sighs in relief.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7FSq3wP66z
"I'm still a vampire. The cure didn't work."410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuYeFYboWjk
"It worked just like she wanted it to. The cure was a fake. It must've been a concentrated shot of vervain or something," Stefan says.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfY7D0USaXb
Rebekah is still in shock, her mouth hanging open.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS0Hf9DjWVG
"Katherine," I say with a slight admiration.
That night, Stefan and I walk down a sidewalk.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZJqUj7HisW
"All right, you're right. I let Rebekah take the cure." I stop and turn to face Stefan. "I thought for a second—I mean, literally just a second—If Rebekah takes this, then all my problems go away. And I couldn't think of one good reason to give it to Elena. And then Rebekah took it. And I realized how badly I screwed up," I admit.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0HtrXSbYGp
"So what's your point, Damon?" Stefan asks me.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6BTfqqLXVM
"My point is, I'm sorry, okay? I had a moment of weakness, Stefan. It's my thing. It's like you and I falling for the same girl. It's our thing," I say.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAxUYnLek94
"Was our thing. Look, we've been making the same mistakes for 150 years. We can judge Katherine all we want, but we keep repeating our own history just like she is. Nothing ever changes. It has to stop, Damon."410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk33LcX4cVx
"What are you talking about?" I ask him.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg2HfNGUQkD
"I'm done. I can't keep reliving my life like this. I owe Elena her shot at being normal again. Once we give her the cure, I'm getting her out of my life, and I'm getting a life of my own."410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3ZJ4peiStv
I nod and say, "Okay. Okay, let's just get the cure, and then we'll talk about you riding off into the sunset all by your lonesome."410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvoLzr1skvP
"You still want to get the cure, even if it means you might lose her?" he asks me.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4VwEQiJfXG
"It's a chance I'm willing to take, Stefan."410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5RN1eZZVHV
"Well, I guess all we have to do is, uh, convince her."410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlIr8anUXjV
He walks past me and we enter the same diner we had earlier, when Rebekah and Katherine had been there. Elena is sitting at a table by herself. Jolene, the waitress, sees us walk in.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwkwB289zWt
"Sit anywhere you'd like," Jolene greets us.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCeoaCLDRuh
We slide into the booth where Elena is seated at.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ15TW8DsU2O
"You all right?" Stefan asks her.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡakm6JU53d6
Elena looks at us, but doesn't say anything.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Iugj8Sszf
"What's up with the silent treatment? You're the one that texted us and wanted to meet up," I say.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL2iGz6SZGA
"You know I don't want the cure. You need to know that I never will and I'm done talking about it. So... will you accept that and let me be who I am, or not?" she says.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ32LPoDaIuE
Stefan and I exchange a look.
"Yeah...no," I answer her.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNrxdoKuASB
"Elena, this isn't you," Stefan says.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlUjWMAgJG1
"It is now. And you two really need to accept it. Because if you don't, there will be consequences."410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh6CkAd4E0S
Elena takes a sip from her mug and we look at each other again.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5QwUn1pxnt
"Listen, I was in the exact same situation that you're in right now. My emotions were off. I wasn't me. And you refused to accept that. You didn't give up on me. You didn't stop until you pulled me back," Stefan says.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj2P7pSWXeR
Elena sets down her mug. Jolene comes back.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3gOP8OJqZx
"Let me just top that off for you," Jolene says.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKIWLLOxaer
Elena smiles and says, "Thanks."410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZaCUZmW7Rh
Elena vamp-speeds up and snaps Jolene's neck. Her body falls to the floor as the pitcher of coffee shatters.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYPjFMQNxIE
"Like I said, consequences. That's one body you're responsible for. If you keep trying to fix me, there'll be a second, a twentieth, and a hundredth. It's your choice," Elena tells us.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU4qmmDXTWG
She walks away and leaves the diner, as we look at the body.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpcTR5e6Uau
"Still ready to ride off into the sunset?" I ask my brother.
