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.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFAg51GZ3YR
"If they so much as even scratched the paint on my car…," I start.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBvsy3LD4Fb
"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.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT6VUghO0kG
"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.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaYXIPJp0NL
"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."466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAaCSsbgDPA
"Yeah, well I don't remember that name from the list of places I got from New York."466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7hDWpI6w3j
"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.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVmKHuO0bSF
"Screw the muffins. I'll get her champagne—if Elena is wherever it may be," I say, as I fill my tank with gasoline.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5YsNVarmKx
He smiles.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXt4m27MfJi
"Willoughby. Creamed corn capital of Pennsylvania. They'll be there. Let's just hope we get to them before they get to the cure."466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtgg5s4r6QW
"Ooh, silver lining: if Rebekah takes the cure, then she's mortal and we can just kill her right then and there."466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLvrb6Y6Y0s
"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."466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWk9VNfwzK3
"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."466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwj5BmjVIdB
"Look at that. We're finally on the same page about something."466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj73SBn7ObH
"Look at that," I agree.
Later that day, we're walking along the street, still in search of Rebekah and Elena.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp2buw2ugVD
"Something's not right. Katherine Pierce does not hold up in Hickstown, P-A.," I announce.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAoqIIMk6kN
"Well, this is definitely the car they stole. We're in the right place," Stefan says.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc1YrerfO9D
"Points to them for their choice of vehicles," I say.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6nhMUXDNYR
"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."466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡukPQ4cjy2m
"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."466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXpoRS6eKl7
"I'm serious."466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv2QqGEg9wR
"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."466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtooxTLWCyO
"So what happened to the guy who thought Elena should embrace being a vampire, let the chips fall where they may?" Stefan asks me.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIbcqBUW869
"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.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ6xdAsExcO
Stefan and I walk in and walk up to them.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2r0GcoBI8T
"Ladies, playing nice?" Stefan asks them.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ8scYKxQWJ
I sit down in a bench across from them, amused, and Rebekah let's go of Katherine's hand.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ALIQXLnCb
"There goes the neighborhood," Katherine comments.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsYn80upE6x
"I see you got Katherine already," I say, before telling Katherine, "You're losing your touch, evil one."466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ78YJpclHwu
We all stare at one another.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC3mkRVctR1
"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.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr6W5iDsC2k
"What about you over there, smiley? Do you know where she is?" I ask Katherine.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfMr4mBC7bV
"I can give you a hint. Start by looking at the town morgue. She's probably dead."466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOrsZbaJgLL
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."466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYe2CgYFiBl
"Elijah," Rebekah realizes.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPRvwx7peOm
"Elijah's here?" I question.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOD3WRUbqMo
"Well, you sort of have to question Elijah's impeccable taste if he's friends with you," Stefan tells Katherine.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoEJQuIwkFo
"Oh, when I say friend, I mean friend."466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXcTFYoIVks
Rebekah and I groan in disgust, figuring out what she's getting at. Katherine and Elijah are in love.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCEnnzy0gPB
"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.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0IVwVwNRsF
"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?"466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMRKk6Xix3h
"Fine. They were supposed to meet at the gazebo by the park," Rebekah answers.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY6jsncXZjk
"I'll go talk to Elijah," Stefan says, getting up from the bench.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡifREYRS4KZ
"You go deal with Elijah. Katherine will take us to the cure," Rebekah tells him.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSopWUU7Pa9
"No, she won't. The cure is my one chance to win my freedom back from Klaus," Katherine interjects.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3dybiXdFbK
"You're gonna break a deal with Klaus?" I ask her.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB8sdzoYMi0
"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.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqiVNBOniJo
"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.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaat8mPZZxl
I push Katherine inside and then tell her, "No sudden moves. No tricks either. No Katherine-ing."466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwiWpu18KGv
She walks further into the house, while we look around.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNTFCCbkIBM
"Wow. A quilt inside a fish aquarium. Who the hell are you?" I say.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIWqGsFt3PS
"A very old lady with dreadful taste," Rebekah answers me.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ00SbPOaBxD
Katherine has been removing things from a bookshelf and opens a hidden safe. She moves her hands around inside it.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqKNRNCcLsR
"It's gone. The cure, it was in the safe, but it's not there," she tells us.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUrIFVuSGy8
I imitate a buzzer and then say, "Not falling for it. Where is it, Auntie Katherine?"466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ348BxDqt7s
"I swear it was in the safe," she insists.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0q4DEbBK2b
"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.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTSZJ6Qthan
"Yeah, it doesn't look like the Katherine I know," I agree.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfuDAW1FGZV
"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.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUiLKFwjkud
"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.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl9ZVHLnCzU
"Where is the cure?" Rebekah asks her.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5bNJrn2xw3
Katherine looks at her with a hint of a smile and Rebekah vamp-speeds at her. I throw my arm out to stop her.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnEOVFpW0dS
"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.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnTu4h3ztEm
Katherine smiles, while Rebekah walks away to go upstairs.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNrc6nQ77W9
"So if I was a paranoid, distrustful sociopath, where would I keep my most prized possession?" I say.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBI48ZCqZ3a
"This should be fun," Katherine says, chuckling.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbRIafOeu7b
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."466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmLNyTmrLjw
I stop in front of the fish tank.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRgcsEDPVfH
"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."466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡryXcTDE6Md
I stick my hand into the water, but it immediately burns my hand.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK1IFBK0i7X
"Aah! Gah! Vervain water. Looks like we have a winner."466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKMGUVkUv0V
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.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRl22vEYxqO
"Give it to me, or you're dead."466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6PX5bPAYVI
"You're gonna kill me anyway. So what's more important to you, huh? Killing me or getting the cure?" Katherine says.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmDR37XN7Jw
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.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ7jUjPXHWS
"Look, Rebekah... Don't even think about it," I rasp.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkYIeWSMbO7
Rebekah gets up, still in awe that she finally has the cure. My voice still sounds very raspy.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7C14JTsSiP
"Let's just talk about this, like the two rational vampires that we are. Rebekah?"466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe6MeqUINAJ
"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.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡChOuF8TARY
"Don't do anything stupid," I try to reason.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9oDTVcNkcd
"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.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlcNkpNTYW3
I don't say anything, still on the floor.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDcYppb3467
Rebekah smiles and says, "That's what I thought."466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe83KPKPbj0
Rebekah pops open the pill when Stefan arrives at the open front door. She tosses it back into her mouth.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrUWYpuihhz
"No!" Stefan yells.
Rebekah gasps for a few seconds and falls down onto the sofa.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡko526Gfj8q
I rest my head on the floor.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLuvZnnIuwG
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.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0HMAozZIb2
"Did you even try to stop her?" Stefan asks me.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuyrXrVA48r
"You forgot the part where I was bobbing for boxes in vervain water."466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp5tldoy6e4
"All you had to do was stall her, Damon."466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2MOqJax9na
"Sorry. It's Rebekah. I didn't have a pony to distract her, Stefan."466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtXCdXfDRML
"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."466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeEnxo8BkvI
Suddenly, Rebekah gasps, waking up.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡANUZsTH5ih
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.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0UKz8m7J15
"How do you feel?" Stefan asks.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm6lIYDTDxS
"I-- I feel good. I... I feel great. I feel alive," she answers, smiling.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW9jG0BI7xM
"Slight problem with being alive--I can kill you, you know," I comment to her.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡePKNLWHukU
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.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwqxilsPiKK
"I'm still a vampire. The cure didn't work."466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUPfU3ls0mf
"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.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEfHOeD9xdl
Rebekah is still in shock, her mouth hanging open.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnT1PaCC2qK
"Katherine," I say with a slight admiration.
That night, Stefan and I walk down a sidewalk.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEsuXI6VCRd
"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.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFRBwYkMa9F
"So what's your point, Damon?" Stefan asks me.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsD4lTFErB5
"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.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9aHgSKuYDC
"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."466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVEJCwjOH0V
"What are you talking about?" I ask him.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1lhhlQrLbc
"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."466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡokT2jReYMl
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."466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIbCtq0Q1F3
"You still want to get the cure, even if it means you might lose her?" he asks me.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjWEnXHhTDd
"It's a chance I'm willing to take, Stefan."466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4lrFhoJDRE
"Well, I guess all we have to do is, uh, convince her."466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLNkrEHCoMi
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.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDjTGvOInJx
"Sit anywhere you'd like," Jolene greets us.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvzhNATO1XQ
We slide into the booth where Elena is seated at.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡakyfTOkGS3
"You all right?" Stefan asks her.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOX7qGKC2Ej
Elena looks at us, but doesn't say anything.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhrpH12khZ6
"What's up with the silent treatment? You're the one that texted us and wanted to meet up," I say.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB452RkfqQx
"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.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUaGh7hx2cx
Stefan and I exchange a look.
"Yeah...no," I answer her.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSQLWNKrnus
"Elena, this isn't you," Stefan says.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrXjN2V7KtN
"It is now. And you two really need to accept it. Because if you don't, there will be consequences."466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlQ04CWtjro
Elena takes a sip from her mug and we look at each other again.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOK4UHc8HVM
"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.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8QtxncB9TM
Elena sets down her mug. Jolene comes back.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSHoF5ZrMrP
"Let me just top that off for you," Jolene says.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3kqJI7sk35
Elena smiles and says, "Thanks."466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOSLBnvc2BE
Elena vamp-speeds up and snaps Jolene's neck. Her body falls to the floor as the pitcher of coffee shatters.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSRIFOyvLj4
"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.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYsQ96Hwtjf
She walks away and leaves the diner, as we look at the body.466Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb8Xz2mxWSn
"Still ready to ride off into the sunset?" I ask my brother.
