The next morning Elena woke up to the sound of a pen on paper, she slowly sat up and saw Jeremy sitting on his desk chair, sketching. She smiled and mumbled good morning to him as she walked out of his room.

After her shower Elena decided to wear a tight black, sleeveless top, dark camouflage cargo pants, sneakers and one of Jeremys jackets. Elena chose to wear a teardrop necklace and small hoop earrings to complete the outfit.

As she walked into the kitchen she smiled at Jenna. "Jeremy's got his sketch pad out."

"You're kidding?" Jenna looked ecstatic at the news.

"Nope, but don't say a word." Elena looked up the stairs. "The minute we encourage him, he'll put it away."

"Psychology major." Jenna smirked. "Check that!"

"Anyway, I have something for you and Jeremy." Elena smiled at picked up her bag. "Jeremy, can you come down here?"

"What's up?" Jeremy asked as he walked into the kitchen.

"Presents!" Elena beamed. "As thanks for you two being there for me."

"Lena, you don't have to thank me for that." Jeremy murmured as he pulled her into a hug.

"I agree." Jenna smiled sadly, still horrified about what had happened to her niece.

"I know, but I wanted to." Elena shrugged as she pulled back from Jeremy. "First to the absolute best aunt in the world."

Elena held out a small box towards Jenna. When she opened it, she gasped, inside was a beautiful locket in silver with Aunt engraved on the front. When Jenna opened the locket there was a picture of Elena and Jeremy smiling, the picture was taken around a year ago from a trip with their parents.

"Oh, it's beautiful. Thank you!" Jenna hugged Elena tightly. "Help me put it on?"

"Of course, I'm just glad you like it." Elena fastened the necklace. What Jenna didn't know was that there was a hidden compartment behind the picture that contained vervain, so she would be protected against compulsions.

"And for Jeremy." Elena looked through her bag again and pulled out two boxes. One green and the other blue. She gave the blue one to Jeremy as she put the green one in her pocket.

The bright smile on Jeremys face as he opened his present was worth everything to Elena. In the box was a men's ring, it was pure black, with a black, square stone and in the stone the Gilbert crest was carved in silver.

Of course, Elena had put a hidden compartment filled with vervain behind the stone. The jewelers had looked at her very weirdly at the order but hadn't actually said anything.

Jeremy gently pulled the ring out and put it on and said softly. "Thank you."

"You are very welcome." Elena smiled brightly. "And now I have to go to Stefans to give him his late birthday present."

"Late birthday present?" Jenna asked with a smile.

"The numb-nut didn't tell me it was his birthday yesterday." Elena grumbled. "So, I guess he can get his Christmas present as a birthday present instead and I'll find something else for Christmas."

"Have fun at Stefans and don't do anything I wouldn't do." Jenna smirked.

"That leaves a lot of options though." Elena sassed back as she made her way to the door.

XOXOXOX

Elena almost didn't have the time to even knock before Damon had opened the door. "Elena, what a pleasant surprise."

"Damon, nice to see you again and thank you for taking care of the vampire stalking me." Elena smiled. "Now, where is that door stop you call a younger brother?"

Damon burst out laughing and led her inside to the parlor where Stefan was sitting. Stefan gave her a look at her calling him a door stop.

"You deserve every single insult I can come up with." Elena declared.

"What did I do?" Stefan asked shocked.

"You forgot to tell me it was your birthday yesterday." Elena mock glared. "And I can only blame the drama going on yesterday that I didn't lecture you then."

Before Elena could finish her rant, the doorbell rang and Stefan went to open it. "Sheriff Forbes?"

"I'm here to see Damon." Sheriff Forbes told Stefan and Elena, who had followed Stefan to the door.

"Uh, sure." Stefan said, then called out, to keep the illusion of them being human. "Damon!"

"Sheriff." Damon smiled as he came walking from the kitchen as Elena and Stefan made their way back to the parlor. "What a surprise."

"Sorry to bother you, but we need to talk." Sheriff Forbes murmured.

"Come in." Damon let her in ant they made their way into the back yard.

Stefan started to relay what was being talked about to Elena.

"Um, I hope you understand the secrecy." Damon said to the sheriff. "Stefan doesn't know about this yet and I'd like to keep it that way."

"Of course, kids are too young to be brought in to this." Sheriff Forbes nodded.

"I agree." Damon smiled sadly. "Sadly, I did have to tell Elena about all of it."

"What? Why?" Sheriff Forbes asked shocked.

"The vampire from yesterday had been following her and yesterday before you and the others arrived, he tried to take Elena away and when I tried to stop him his face changed and she saw it."

"Poor girl, she doesn't seem to get a break." Sheriff Forbes murmured. "How did she take it?"

"She understandably freaked out a little but she did calm down when I explained." Damon lied. "I also, with her permission, put vervain in the armband Stefan had given her."

"That's good." Sheriff Forbes smiled.

"So, what did you need?" Damon brought them back to the reason the sheriff was there in the first place.

"There's been another attack." Sheriff Forbes informed him grimly. "A female victim, her throat torn out and completely drained of blood. It fits the pattern."

"I'm sorry, I don't understand. I thought we solved that problem when I..." Damon looked around. "Staked the male one."

"You have to give him credit for being an amazing liar and actor." Elena murmured to Stefan.

"I'm thinking that he must have turned someone." Sheriff Forbes sighed. "Or several someones. I don't know. The story for the town is another animal attack but I'm not sure how long we can keep lying to them. The council is in an uproar, we thought we were past this."

"So, uh, what do we do?" Damon asked slowly.

"You are the only one who's ever taken on a vampire." Sheriff Forbes looked at him. "We were hoping you could tell us."

Elena and Stefan pretend to be busy when Damon and sheriff Forbes came back in again.

"Elena." Sheriff Forbes smiled kindly at her as she walked past her towards the door.

"Sheriff Liz." Elena smiled back, it was a bit of a joke between her, Caroline and Carolines mom. Every time Elena had been over at Carolines house since she woke up in this world, she had called Carolines mom for Sheriff Forbes until the sheriff had asked Elena to call her Liz and Elena had responded with 'Of course, Sheriff Liz.' And the name had stuck after that.

Damon said good bye to Sheriff Forbes and shut the door and then Stefan was up and had Damon pushed against the door.

"Stefan!" Elena chastised as she glared at his back.

"What is wrong with you?" Stefan growled at Damon, ignoring Elena. "You killed someone?"

"You can't just throw around accusations like that, Stefan." Elena chided in Damons defense and she got a look of shock and awe from him before he hid it behind a wall.

"Get off of me." Damon pushed Stefan off. "A) don't touch me. B) If I had, I wouldn't have been so obvious about it. And C) There's another vampire in town."

Damon turned around and walked towards the parlor with Elena and Stefan following.

"That's impossible." Stefan mumbled.

"Obviously not." Damon drawled mockingly.

"If you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." Elena murmured.

"Did you just quote Sherlock Holmes?" Stefan and Damon looked at Elena.

"No, I quoted Spock." Elena smirked and put her hand up in a Vulcan salute. "Liv long and Prosper!"

"You're a trekkie?" Damon asked surprised.

"I like a bit of everything to be honest." Elena shrugged. "Star Trek, Star Wars, Iron Man, Stargate..."

"You have hidden depths, Miss Gilbert." Damon smirked at her.

"I know." Elena sassed as she flipped her hair over her shoulder.

Damon laughed as he walked over to his alcohol table to pour himself some bourbon. "So, did you come over just to insult Stefan or...?"

"Oh, right." Elena perked up and pulled a green box out of her jacket pocket and turned to Stefan. "Happy late birthday."

"You didn't have to get me anything." Stefan smiled and gently took the box.

"I know but you're my friend." Elena shrugged with a small blush.

Stefan slowly opened the box and froze when he saw what was in it. On the satin pillow inside the box was a Viking bracelet in black leather with an amulet in the form of Thor's hammer, Mjolnir, surrounded by the 24 Old Norse runes 'Futhark' for divination, incantation and the holy protector.

"It's beautiful." Stefan gently took it out and put in on his right wrist. Then he walked over to Elena and pulled her into a tight hug, "Thank you."

"That's a really amazing gift." Damon as he came closer to be able to see the armband better, almost sounding jealous. "Hey, Elena, I have a problem and I would really appreciate if you could help me?"

"That depends, is it a 'I'm in love' sort of problem or a 'I can't fit the body in the trunk of my car' sort of problem?" Elena asked with a smirk. "Because the first one I can't help with."

"So, you would help me hide a dead body?" Damon chuckled.

"Yeah, sure, why not?" Elena shrugged. "The best place to hide it would be in a graveyard, there the likelihood of it ever being discovered is slim to none."

"Elena?!" Stefan gapped at her while Damon laughed.

"What? It's true!" Elena defended her idea.

"I don't think that is what he has a problem with." Damon chuckled with a smirk.

"Oh." Elena hummed. "Anyway, what did you need my help with?"

"I need you to take this and follow it." Damon handed her a pocket watch.

"This is Jeremys." Elena accused. "Where did you get it?"

"Found it in the hand of the guy who shot Stefan full of wooden bullets." Damon shrugged. "It used to belong to Jonathan Gilbert and it is designed to track vampires."

"And you can't use it because you interfere with the signal." Elena nodded in understanding.

"Exactly." Damon had a smirk that was part smile on his face. "I want you to go out and follow where that compass is pointing while talking to me on the phone. That way you won't be in danger and we can quickly find the other vampire."

"Okay." Elena nodded and said good bye to Stefan as she walked towards the door.

"I'll meet you at the career fair after you're done." Stefan called after her.

She drove very carefully as she followed the compass to an abandoned warehouse at the outskirts of town. Elena already knew it was Logan Fell but she just couldn't tell anyone else that. What was she supposed to say, 'The vampire you are looking for is Logan fell, how do I know? I saw it in a dream.'? Please, everyone would think her insane.

"So, what do I do now?" Elena asked after she had given Damon her location.

"Just wait there, I'll be there soon." Damon said as he hung up the phone.

Elena started to hum softly to herself as she waited for Damon to arrive.

"You can give me that now." Damon held out his hand for the compass as he arrived beside Elena. "Then you can go to that career fair that Stefan talked about, I'll handle it from here."

"Okay, be careful." Elena smiled softly at him and got into her car.

XOXOXOX

Elena met up with Stefan at the school and they slowly walked inside together. "I'm guessing you're not here to plan the path for your future? You are here to look out for me."

"Hope that's okay." Stefan shrugged. "Before everything happened, I wanted to be a doctor, but then I couldn't."

"Because of the blood?" Elena asked softly, then she looked thoughtful. "Wouldn't being a medical examiner be one of the best jobs for a vampire? I mean, there would be access to free blood or something?"

"I really don't have the control to..." Stefan trailed off and changed the subject. "I've dabbled in a bunch of different things over the years, though."

"So why didn't you stick with one thing you loved doing?" Elena looked at him as they walked past a booth with pamphlets about journalism.

"I had to move before anybody could notice that I wasn't getting any older." Stefan shrugged.

"How long can you usually stay in one place?" Elena looked intrigued.

"Few years." Stefan hummed. "Sometimes shorter."

"I'm sorry." Elena murmured.

"What about you?" Stefan asked with a smile. "What do you want to do?"

"It's probably going to sound silly." Elena mumbled with a blush.

"No, it won't." Stefan reassured.

"I want to write books for children and teenagers." Elena admitted. "And I was going to ask Jeremy if he wanted to illustrate them."

"I think you would be very good at that and I'm almost certain that Jeremy would illustrate them for you." Stefan smiled at her.

"Hide me!" Jenna ran up to them and tried to hide behind Stefan.

"What's going on?" Elena chuckled at her aunt's antics.

"The Scum Fell has landed." Jenna glowered.

"Logan's here?" Elena asked.

"Wait, Logan Fell?" Stefan asked surprised.

"Stefan, if Logan is here, and you told me he died, where is Damon?" Elena murmured so only Stefan could hear her.

Before Stefan could answer Logan came up to them, "Jenna, are you dodging me?"

"It's a form of self-preservation." Jenna glared.

"Back off Logan or I will rip your balls off." Elena stepped in front of her aunt.

"Um, Elena, why don't you and Jenna go somewhere else?" Stefan angled his body so Logan couldn't get at either Elena or Jenna.

"Come on aunt Jenna." Elena grabbed Jenna's arm. "Let's go talk to Mr. Saltzman."

"Hi Mr. Saltzman." Elena called out with a smile as she dragged Jenna over to the history teacher.

"Hello Jenna." Mr. Saltzman smiled at Jenna then he turned awkward and embarrassed as he looked at Elena. "Hey Elena."

"Mr. Saltzman, just because you have seen me naked doesn't mean you have to be such an awkward cookie." Elena smirked as Mr. Saltzman spluttered and Jenna laughed. "Now could you take care of aunt Jenna and keep her creep of an ex away?"

"Creep of an ex?" Mr. Saltzman still looked embarrassed but it seemed like he chose to focus on helping Jenna.

"Logan Fell." Elena informed him. "He won't leave her alone."

"I'll look after her." Mr. Saltzman nodded, then he turned and smiled at Jenna. "It's not like it's a hardship to spend time with you."

"Thanks Mr. Saltzman." Elena smiled and started to leave.

"You know, you can call me Ric." Mr. Saltzman called after her.

"Thanks Mr. Ric." Elena called back cheekily.

Elena finds Stefan outside of the school. "Is Damon okay?"

"Yeah, he's fine." Stefan reassured her. "He's on his way here."

Stefan explained everything as they walked down a hallway together. As they walked, they bump into Matt who's walking in the opposite direction.

"Hey." Matt nodded at them.

"Hey Matt, have you seen Logan Fell, the news guy?" Elena asked.

"Yeah, he just gave Caroline a ride home." Matt informed them and walked off.

"Stay here." Stefan started to leave.

"Stefan." Elena called after him. "Make sure Caroline is okay and safe?"

XOXOXOX

An hour and a half later Elena had started to pace in the hallway. When she sees Stefan on the other end of the corridor, she hurried over to him. "Caroline?"

"She's okay, I took her home." Stefan told her quietly. "She was shaken up but she handled it very well."

"And where is Scum Fell?" Elena sneered as she said the name.

"Damons dealing with him." Stefan said.

"As in...?" Elena asked and at Stefans nod she smiled darkly. "I hope Damon makes him suffer."

"Elena." Stefan sighed.

"What? He threatened my aunt and kidnapped my best friend." Elena snapped. "I am not some goody goody two shoes who want everyone to get along. I have a lot of darkens in me too."

"Sorry." Stefan mumbled.

"No, I'm sorry." Elena sighed. "I shouldn't have snapped at you."

"It's okay." Stefan hugged her. "You've had a lot happen today."

"It's not okay." Elena insisted. "Could we maybe go to your place and just watch Disney movies for a while?"

"Yeah, that would be nice." Stefan smiled.

After they arrived at the boarding house, they made their way to Stefans bedroom. They argued for a while on what to watch but decided on The Little Mermaid.

"Do you leave everything here when you come and go?" Elena asked as the end credits roll on the tv.

"It's the only place that..." Stefan hesitated before he continued. "...that has remained constant. This room holds every memory that I've ever thought was important enough to hold on to."

"That is a lot of memories." Elena smiled gently.

"Yeah, I've collected a few over the years." Stefan chuckled. "You thirsty or anything?"

"A little, yeah." Elena admitted.

"Let me get you something to drink." Stefan smiled and walked out of the room.

Elena decided to look around and started to explore. She absolutely loved the antique watch standing on Stefans desk, it was beautiful. Then she saw an old picture and went to pick it up. Elena knew about doppelgängers and everything but knowing and seeing are two different things and staring at a picture of Kathrine just made sadness fill her for some reason.

Elena gently put the photo down and left. Going to her car and driving off. Did Stefan only become her friend because she looked like Kathrine? Was she a replacement for a woman he lost or couldn't have?

She didn't know were these thoughts were coming from or why she felt an insistent need to leave the boarding house so quickly. Did some things have to happen in a certain way in this world?

She saw someone in the middle of the road and tried to stop but the person hit her windshield. Her car flipped a couple of times and skids to a stop on its roof. Elena is stuck in her seat as the man she hit slowly got back up and started to walk towards her.

Elena screamed both in pain and fear as the man came closer to her, but suddenly the man disappears and Damon is looking at her.

"How are you doing in there?" Damon looked her with concern.

"Damon?" Elena mumbled.

"You look stuck." Damon informed her.

"No, really? I just thought I enjoyed hanging upside down in my flipped car!" Elena scoffed sarcastically.

"Well, at least you don't have brain damage as we can see by the sarcasm." Damon chuckled. "I want you to put your hands on the roof, just like that. You ready? 1, 2, 3." Damon did something and Elena fell to the ground before Damon picked her up. "I got you. Are you okay? Can you stan? Is anything broken?"

"Uh-hu." Elena murmured softly as Damon put her down.

Elena felt something shift in her side and slowly brought her hand closer to the spot and looked down at the same time. There, sticking out of her side was a bloody piece of metal. She mumbled slightly detached, "That's not supposed to be there."

"Shit, I'm going to have to pull that out and it is going to hurt." Damon cautioned her. "But don't worry, I'll give you my blood afterwards so you'll heal."

"Okay, just do it quick." Elena braced herself and gave a muffled scream off pain as Damon efficiently pulled the metal out. When she finally began to relax, she started to sway.

"Whoa, you're fading fast, Elena." Damon murmured and bit into his wrist. Elena drank a couple of mouthfuls and pulled back. "Elena, focus! Look at me."

"I look like her..." Elena mumbled.

"What?" Damon asked.

"Catch me." Elena told him and fainted.

Damon managed to catch her before she fell to the ground, he gently pulled her up into his arms and started to walk towards his car. "Well, looks like you're coming with me."

XOXOXOX

Elena groaned as she woke up. She sat up and noticed that she was in a moving car and was happy about not feeling sick. One thing she really didn't miss from her last life was the motion sickness.

"Morning." Damon said from the driver seat.

"Morning." Elena did her best to stretch in her seat. "Where are we?"

"Georgia." Damon answered simply.

"Huh." Elena hummed. "And what are we doing in Georgia?"

"You have no broken bones and any injury you had was heal by my blood." Damon told her ignoring her question.

"I hit a man but then he got back up, and... who was that?" Elena turned to look at Damon. If she remembered correctly the man she hit was working with Anna, Jeremys future vampire girlfriend.

"That's what I would like to know." Damon agreed.

"Can you pull over?" Elena asked kindly. "I need to stretch properly otherwise my back will not like me anymore."

"As the lady wishes." Damon pulled over to the side of the road slowly and puts the car in park.

Elena gets out of the car, Damon doing the same, and she put her hands on the sides of the small of her back and leaned as far back as she could until she heard a slight pop. She straightened out again with a satisfied groan. "I needed that."

"I'll say." Damon chuckled.

"That's my phone." Elena said with a raised eyebrow as she heard the phone start to ring in Damons pocket.

"Mhm." Damon smirked and pulled the phone out. "It's my brother, I'll take it. 'Elenas phone...'"

"Elena? She's right here and yes, she's fine." Damon bantered and turned towards Elena. "He wants to talk to you."

Elena shook her head and turned away with a small glare.

"Yeah, I don't... I don't think she really wants to talk to you right now." Damon informed Stefan.

Damon listen as Stefan tried to threaten him over the phone and smirked. "You have a good day. Mm-hmm. Bye-now."

"So, where are we going?" Elena asked as Damon hung up on Stefan.

"A little place outside of Atlanta." Damon walked back to the driver side door to get into the car again. "Come on, we'll have lots of fun."

"Fine." Elena laughed and got in the car with Damon.

Around forty minutes later Damon pulled up in front of a bar named 'Bree's Bar'.

"You brought me to a bar?" Elena laughed as they got out of the car. "They're not going to let me in, I'm not old enough."

"Sure, they will." Damon smirked and walked into the bar.

"No. No, it can't be." A beautiful dark-skinned woman jumped over the bar and made her way towards them. "Damon! My honey pie." She grabbed Damons face and kissed him.

"Do I get one too?" Elena asked cheekily.

"Absolutely." The woman pulled Elena into a short kiss.

"Thanks." Elena beamed and the woman laughed.

"I'm Bree." The woman held out her hand.

"Elena." They shook hands and smiled at each other.

"Listen up everybody!" Bree shouted so the whole bar would hear as the three of them made their way to the bar. "Here's to the man that broke my heart, crushed my soul, destroyed my life and ruined any and all chances of happiness." Bree poured shots for everyone, even Elena. "Drink up!"

Elena hesitated for a second then she shrugged and downed the shot with everyone else which earned her an impressed look from both Damon and Bree.

"So, how'd he rope you in?" Bree asked Elena as she poured her another shot.

"I'm not roped, I'm kidnapped." Elena smirked.

"I did not kidnap you." Damon exclaimed.

"Well, if you read the law you technically did." Elena laughed and downed her second shot. "But that's okay, as long as you feed me, I'll forgive you."

"Honey, I really like your attitude." Bree laughed. "No matter how you ended up here with him, just enjoy the ride."

"So, how did you two meet?" Elena asked, intrigued.

"Collage." Bree smirked.

"You went to college?" Elena asked Damon with a raised eyebrow.

"I've been on a college campus, yes." Damon leered at her.

"Ah." Elena muttered. "That makes more sense."

"About twenty years ago, when I was a sweet, young freshman, I met this beautiful man and fell in love." Bree chuckled lowly. "And then he told me about his little secret, made me love him more. Because, you see, I had a little secret of my own that I was dying to share with somebody."

"She's a witch." Damon informed Elena with a smile.

"Changed my world, you know." Bree nodded at Damon.

"I rocked your world." Damon bragged.

"He is good in the sack, isn't he?" Bree leaned conspiratorially towards Elena.

"He would portably look good on his knees in a collar too." Elena muttered then at the smirk she got from Bree and the surprised look from Damon she blushed. "Did I say that out loud?"

"Yes, yes you did." Bree laughed so hard she had to hold on to the bar in support.

"On my knees in a collar, huh?" Damon leered at her with a smirk.

"Shut up." Elena blushed even more.

"Mostly Damon is just a walk-away joe." Bree said as she calmed down then she turned towards Damon. "So, what is it that you want?"

"You two talk about whatever you need to talk about." Elena stood up from her chair. "I'm going to call aunt Jenna."

Elena walked out of the bar and pulled out her phone. "Hi Jenna. I'm so sorry I haven't called."

"Where are you?" Jenna sounded worried. "And why didn't you call?"

"I went over to Stefans last night and we watched Disney movies and I fell asleep." Elena started to explain. "And then this morning Damon asked if I would like to come with him on a road trip and I just felt like I needed to get away for a while."

"Are you okay?" Jenna asked softly.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Elena smiled. "I'm actually having a good time. Me and Damon just stopped for food at one of his friends place."

"Okay, just be careful." Jenna told Elena. "And call me next time!"

"I will." Elena promised. "Good bye, aunt Jenna, talk to you later."

After she hung up the phone, she started to make her way back inside when her phone rang. When Elena saw it was Stefan, she sighed but answered.

"Elena, is that you?" Stefan asked.

"Yeah." Elena answered simply.

"Where are you?" Stefan wanted to know

"You lied to me." Elena murmured.

"Not until I explain, please." Stefan begged.

"So, you didn't lie?" Elena challenged. "You didn't use me as a replacement?"

"Just tell me where you are, so that I can come get you." Stefan pleaded with her, ignoring her question.

"How am I connected to Kathrine, Stefan?" Elena demanded to know.

"I honestly don't know." Stefan admitted.

"And I'm supposed to believe that?" Elena asked and hung up the phone, still feeling sad and betrayed for some reason.

"Are you okay?" Damon spoke up from behind her, making her jump.

"Don't do that!" Elena hissed.

"Sorry." Damon said but the smile on his face showed that he really wasn't. "Come on inside, I ordered burgers."

"Thank you." Elena smiled and together they walked back into the bar and over to their food.

As they were eating Elena murmured, "Let's just say that I'm a descendant from Kathrine... does that make me part vampire?"

"Vampires can procreate, but we love to try." Damon leered at her as he ate a fry. "No, if you were related, it would mean that Kathrine had a child before she was turned."

"I bet." Elena smirked as she pulled the pickles of her hamburger.

"Come on, what?" Damon asked and stole one of her discarded pickles. You don't like pickles? What's wrong with you?"

"I do like pickles, just not warm ones on my hamburgers." Elena hummed then she looked at Damon with an intrigued frown. "If you are technically dead, how can you eat?"

"As long as I keep a healthy diet of blood in my system, my body functions pretty normally." Damon informed her with a smirk.

"Do you need any blood now?" Elena asked softly.

"You offering?" Damon chuckled.

"If you need it, yes." Elena nodded and looked him in the eye.

"I'm good for now." Elena thought she saw a flash of shock and awe in his eyes but it was gone too quickly. "But thank you."

"Here you go." Bree said as she walked over and placed a beer in front of Damon, then she turned to Elena. "Want one?"

"There you go." Bree smiled at Elena and gave her a beer when Elena nodded.

Around an hour later everybody was taking shots of liquor.

"Ready...Go!" Bree called out.

They all down their shots and Elena quickly put her shot glass down, clapped her hands and did a little happy, wiggle dance.

"That's three!" Elena crowed then she pretends to pout at Damon. "Aw, do you need a bib?"

"Sorry but most of us can't unhinge our jaws like a snake to consume alcohol." Damon chuckled.

"Whatever Mr. Sore Loser." Elena laughed and looked around the bar. "All right, who's next? Another round, Bree."

"Honey, you should be on the floor." Bree laughed at her.

"I'm not even drunk." Elena declares. "My tolerance is, like way up here."

"And you never told me?" A voice spoke up from behind Elena and Damon.

"Lexi!!" Elena almost tackled Lexi in an enthusiastic hug.

"Hey Elena." Lexi hugged back.

"What are you doing here?" Elena asked happily.

"We were in the neighborhood and decided to get something to drink." Lexi told her with a smile.

"We?" Elena turned to look at the man beside Lexi.

"Elena this is the love of my very long life, Lee." Lexi smiled brightly. "Lee this is my new little sister from another mister, Elena."

"Oh, it's soooo nice to meet you." Elena beamed and hugged Lee. "But if you ever hurt Lexi, I shall find you and flay you alive just to see how long it takes for your skin to grow back."

"Nice to meet you to." Lee patted her back awkwardly. "And I would never hurt Lexi."

"Good." Elena smiled. "Then we can be friends. Wanna play pool?"

The rest of the night Elena spent playing pool with Damon, Lexi and Lee with Bree joining them when she had the time. As dawn approached it was time for Elena and Damon to make their way back to Mystic Falls.

Bree, Lexi and Lee were wishing them a safe trip by Damons car.

"It was great to see you again, Elena." Lexi hugged Elena.

"We need to plan a shopping weekend or something." Elena pulled back from Lexi with a smile.

"I'm adopting you, too." Lee pushed Lexi out of the way so he could hug Elena. "I'll make Lexi text you my number and if you ever need me, big brother Lee will be there."

"Bye big brother." Elena beamed at him and then he was shoved out of the way by Bree.

"You are welcome here anytime, honey." Bree smirked and pulled Elena into a deep kiss.

"And you will always have a place to stay in Mystic Falls if you ever come and visit." Elena laughed as they pulled back.

Then Elena and Damon got into Damons car and drove off.

"Thank you for bringing me, Damon." Elena said after they had been on the road for a while. "I had real fun time."

"I did to." Damon admitted. "You're not the worst company in the world."

"And don't you forget it!" Elena laughed.

XOXOXOX

Elena walked into Stefans room at the boarding house to see him looking out of the window with a broody look in his face.

"You know your face might get stuck like that if you keep doing it." Elena gave him a tiny smile.

"Hey." Stefan smiled back at her.

"You could have told me, you know?" Elena pointed out.

"I wanted to tell you." Stefan admitted.

"So why didn't you?" Elena asked then she started to rant. "As crazy as it is, I seem to be more accepting of you being a vampire than you are. My friend is a witch and I also know that the world is a lot bigger and darker than I ever could've imagined. But what I cannot accept is one of my best friends using me because I look like his ex-girlfriend."

"Elena..." Stefan began.

"So, what am I to you?" Elena interrupted. "Who am I?"

"You are not Kathrine; you are the opposite of everything she was." Stefan declared strongly. "And I know you don't want to hear this but I need to say it; I love you, okay, I love you for everything you are and for who you are."

"Stefan..." Elena sighed sadly.

"I know you don't feel the same and I have accepted that." Stefan smiled gently at her. "I like being your friend. You are actually my best friend and I don't want to lose that."

"I can promise you Stefan, that I will always be your friend." Elena assured him.

"I figured out you weren't Kathrine before I even met you, you know?" Stefan proclaimed softly.

"What?" Elena frowned.

"The first day of school, when we met." Stefan told her. "It wasn't for the first time, Elena."

"Then when was it?" Elena sounded confused.

"May 23, 2009." Stefan murmured.

"But that was..." Elena trailed off. If she remembered correctly that was when Grayson and Miranda Gilbert died.

"That was the day your parent's car went off the bridge." Stefan nodded.

"You were there?" Elena looked shocked.

"Every couple of years I come back here, to see Zach and see my home." Stefan explained gently. "Last spring, I was out in the woods, by old Wickery Bridge and I heard the accident. The car was already submerged. Your dad was still...he was still conscious and I was able to get to him but he wouldn't let me help him, not until I had helped you."

"Oh my god. When I woke up in the hospital, nobody could figure out how I got out of the car, they said it was a miracle." Elena started to cry, feeling relived that she had read all off Elenas diaries when she woke up in this world, so she knew what had happened.

"I went back for them but I was too late, I couldn't save them, I'm sorry." Stefan looked down sadly. "When I pulled you out and I saw your face I was shocked. You looked like Kathrine, I almost couldn't believe my eyes. After that, I spent months making sure that you weren't her. I watched you and I learned everything I could about you. And I saw that you were nothing like Kathrine. I was going to leave town but I couldn't before getting to know you."

Elena slapped him across the face, "That was for stalking me for months, you creep." Then she pulled him into a tight hug. "And that was for saving me. Thank you."

"You're welcome and I'm sorry." Stefan chuckled as they pulled back from the hug.

"Why do I look like her?" Elena wanted to know. "What are you not telling me?"

"It didn't make sense to me, you were a Gilbert, she was a Pierce." Stefan began. "But the resemblance was too similar and then I learned the truth."

"What truth?" Elena coaxed.

"You were adopted, Elena." Stefan sighed.

"How do you know this?" Elena asked slowly as she sat down.

"Your birth certificate from the city records. It says Elena Gilbert, Mystic Falls General." Stefan told her. "But there are no records of your mother ever being admitted or even being pregnant."

"What else do you know?" Elena murmured.

"For me to go any further, I would've had to look into the Pierce family and I couldn't do that. It's too much of a risk." Stefan explained. "If someone found out I was asking about Kathrine... Listen to me, it doesn't matter if you are adopted, your friends and family will love you either way."

"Thank you, Stefan." Elena hugged him tightly.

A few hours later, Elena walked through the front door to the Gilbert residence. She bumped into Jenna, who looked ready to start lecturing until she saw the look on Elenas face.

"Elena, are you okay?" Jenna asked softly.

"I don't know." Elena answered listlessly.

"What's wrong?" Jenna sounded worried.

"Am I adopted?" Elena asked with tear in her eyes and at the look on Jenna's face she let them fall. "Why didn't anyone ever tell me?"

"Your parents asked me not to." Jenna pulled her crying niece in to her arms. "Your mom was planning on telling you on your eighteenth birthday."

Jenna pulled Elena over to the couch and sat down so they could cuddle and watch comedies for the rest of the evening. Jeremy joined them when he got home from the library but didn't ask about the tear tracks on Elenas cheeks, just pulled his sister into his arms to comfort her.