It wasn't even morning, or close to morning, or even night, but I was wide awake with a smile on my lips. Stefan was sleeping soundlessly next to me, the only movement the rising and falling of his chest. He looked so calm asleep, a peace that was strange yet common. His right arm was draped overhead, slightly bent inches from his head, his other arm was on top of his stomach, over the warm duvet. I was tempted to reach over and brush my fingers down his cheek, feel the softness of skin on my fingertips. There was a part of me that couldn't believe that Stefan was sleeping right next to me, half naked, tired from the few days that were filled with nothing but kisses and innuendos. It was as if we were making up for lost time, finally drinking what had been brewing for over a century.

   "You're staring," Stefan said, his voice slightly hoarse from sleep.

   I was surprised, thinking that he was in a deep sleep. "N-no, I'm not," I defended, stuttering over my words and laying my head back on the pillow.

   "Yes, you are," he said, turning his body in my direction. He had yet to open his eyes, the tiredness eating at him from what I could notice. "You've been staring for a few minutes, Clara."

   "Pfft, you must have been dreaming," I mumbled, accommodating myself deeper into the pillow. When I closed my eyes, I felt an arm drape over my stomach and pull me to its owner. I giggled, which was very rare coming from me, and opened my eyes to see Stefan just inches away from me. I bit my bottom lip and stared into his eyes, trying not to smile. "Did I wake you?"

   "Yes," he breathed, pressing his forehead against mine. "But, it's was at a good timing. We have to leave for the airport soon."

   Jeremy killed Kol Mikaelson, which completed his tattoo and the map to the cure. No one could read it, except Professor Atticus Shane, the sketchy professor who's office Stefan, Rebekah, and I sneaked in the day I arrived. He read the tattoo, and figured out that the cure and Silas were somewhere in Nova Scotia. We all bought tickets for an early dawn flight to Halifax, which was eight hours long and filled with being crammed in small plane. Was I looking forward to it? In a weird way, yes. My seat was next to Stefan and Caroline, which meant I was going to enjoy my ride and hear nothing but teasing from both, if not just Caroline. I was also exited because of the cure; after a century and a half of being a vampire, I would finally be human again.

  I groaned and tilted my head back. "I'm too comfortable to move," I softly said, giving his upper arm a squeeze. When I felt kisses on my throat, I giggled and pushed my head down, accidentally hitting Stefan on the forehead with my chin. I laughed and pressed my fingers where my chin hit him, and then trying not to laugh. "Oh my god, are you okay?"

   "I'm, uh, fine," he said, a single laugh escaping afterwords. 

   "I'm sorry." I laughed between the words, gently rubbing his forehead while trying not to laugh. 

   He grabbed my hand and gently pulled it down, intertwining his fingers between mine. "Honestly, Clara, I'm fine," he smiled. "I've had worse."

   I stared at him, admiring his green eyes. They were the green colour of springtime fern, mossy green flecked with the colour of pecan shells. His eyes were a soft washed-out green, like a favourite sweater that's been washed too many times. As he stared back at me, I couldn't believe he was right in front of me, holding me, his arms around my body, his face just inches from me, his lips red from the kissing we had been doing. I wondered whether he was thinking the same thing, whether he also felt as happy as I did.

   "We should get ready," he softly said, lips just inches from mine. "I can hear Damon coming up the stairs."

   "Would it be so bad if he caught us like this?"

   "Uh, I'm pretty sure he heard us the last couple days."

   "Yes, I have," a new voice joined, opening the door. "They weren't pretty sounds, to be honest. Never imagined my brother and my ex having sex."

   "Damon, can you for once bw a civilized adult and, I don't know, wait somewhere out of the room?" I asked, sitting up and covering my chest with the blanket.

   "I'd love to, but we're late. Everyone else is waiting downstairs," he said, smiling. "Hurry up; I won't hesitate to leave you two behind." He turned and left, closing the door behind him.

   I turned my head back at Stefan, and chuckled as I ran my hand through my hair, embarrassed. "We should, um, get dressed."

   "We should," he agreed. "Or, we can..."

   "No," I cut him off, throwing one of the pillows to his face. "We need to get dressed, Stefan."

   "Fine," he chuckled, nodding. "Fine."

   We got dressed as fast as possible and walked downstairs to a very expecting group of people, which were only Damon and Elena. Elena glared as I walked down the stairs with my bags, and I couldn't help but feel like crap with every movement I made and her eyes followed. She was sired to Damon; did that make her love him or was that just the sire bond? Was she still in love with Stefan, or was it just the sire that made her feel like he was nothing? I knew that the sire messed with her feelings, but to what point? Were her feelings for Damon just part of the sire or were they just enhanced because she was a newborn vampire? I had so many questions about Elena and her feelings, and I was terrified of the answers.

   After the eight hour plane ride that lasted for the majority of the night, we took a boat to an island miles away from the mainland. It was morning, but it was terribly cold to the point where I decided to pull on a jacket that Rebekah was so lovely to let me borrow. The island was covered with a light fog, towering trees with leaves of all colours, a rocky beach with a beautiful view of other islands on the horizon; a beautiful sight if it weren't for us trying to find a cure for vampirism. 

   "Couldn't they have hidden this cure in Hawaii?" Damon asked, disgust in his voice as he sharpened a knife. "Where the hell did you take us?"

   "Two hundred miles off the Nova Scotia mainland," Professor Shane answered. "If you recall, the whole point was to hide the cure on the world's most obscure, desolate island."

   "I can tell you many obscure, desolate islands that are warm and sunny," I muttered, making a face. 

   Damon chuckled, giving me a look before turning back to the professor. "I thought the whole point was that no one found Silas, the oldest, deadliest freak in the world."

   "Yeah, that too." The professor held up sunscreen and offered it to Damon. "Sunscreen?" I almost laughed, but decided to bite both of my lips and look away.

   Damon stared at the bottle for several seconds before glancing up at the professor with an annoyed, and probably filled with disbelief, face. "Is that a joke?"

   I turned to Stefan, who was tying a knot with some rope. Rebekah was standing besides us, glaring at Elena as she walked past. I chuckled and took a stood next to her, draping my arm around hers. "That's not really helping, Rebekah."

   "Stefan is perfectly capable of tying a knot," she excused, glancing at him with a simple shrug of her shoulders. 

   "You're giving Elena the evil eye," I chuckled. "It's not really helping."

   She made a face, almost huffing. "She killed my brother, tried to get Stefan to put a dagger in my back. She's lucky all she's getting is the evil eye."

   "You know I can hear you, right?" Elena continued to walk, an obvious tone of annoyance surrounding her.

   "You know I don't care, right?" Rebekah imitated. 

   Elena stopped walking and sped towards her, grabbing her by the neck and pointing a white oak stake at her chest. Rebekah defended herself by easily flipping her over and pushing her to the ground. "Go ahead, try and kill me. But then you'd have to face your own problems, like the fact Stefan invited me here himself. I guess he likes me again." She winked at the the girl, stood, and walked off as if nothing happened.

   I walked up to Elena, pushing out my hand to help her up. She stared at my hand for several seconds, rolled her eyes, stood and walked away. As she walked away, she bumped my shoulder as hard as she could. I scoffed and rolled my eyes, turning back to Stefan. "Rude much," I mumbled, rubbing my arm. I picked up my bag and slung it over my shoulder, stealing glances at an annoyed-looking Elena.

   "Don't let her get to you," Stefan said, taking a stand besides me.

   "Trust me," I sighed, "I haven't." I turned and noticed Bonnie taking pictures of Jeremy's tattoo. She was explaining the story behind the tattoos, about how Silas asked a witch named Qetsiyah for help making a spell for immortality. She helped make him immortal, only to learn that he planned to use the same spell on another woman. When she found out, she killed the other woman and trapped Silas in a cave, buried him alive since she couldn't kill him.

   "Does it say anything about the hunter's purpose in all this?" Jeremy asked her. 

   Professor Shane walked up behind them. "I was wondering when you'd ask," he said, breaking up the pair's stare. "Qetsiyah created a cure for immortality, and then she buried it with Silas, hoping that he'd take it and die, and end up in the other side with her for all eternity, but he wouldn't give her the satisfaction. So, many centuries later, her descendants created the hunters to find him, cure him, and kill him." He stopped, a look of anxiousness covering his features. "You know what? I'll explain on the hike. We gotta get going."

   We followed him through the woods, everything looking the same. The trees looked the same, which made me feel as if we were going in circles when we weren't. We spent hours walking, and I couldn't help but feel breathless at our surroundings. There was a beautiful lake to our left, just below the cliff, with deep blue water and a rocky, white background. 

   Professor Shane pulled out a phone, but it beeped. He sighed. "Satellite phone lost its signal."

   "Well, that's a good sign," Damon mused. 

   "Is anyone else a little creeped out?" Elena asked, stepping closer to Damon.

   "So, then leave," Rebekah said from besides me. "Out of everyone, your presence is the least necessary."

   "Please don't start," Stefan sighed, shaking his head.

   "I'm merely stating the facts," she continued. "Jeremy has the spell on his body, Bonnie is the witch that unseals the cure, Shane is the human compass. You, Clara, and I have the tombstone, which does god knows what. And Elena has no point."

   "What about me?" asked Damon.

   "You have a nice behind," she answered immediately.

   I scoffed, a mixture of laughter and disbelief. "He wishes," I lowly said, earning chuckles from those who heard.

   When night arrived, we were still hiking. It was as if the further we got from the beach, the colder it got. I zipped up my jacket and continued to walk right next to Rebekah and Stefan, all while Professor Atticus Shane continued with his stories.

   "Centuries after Qetsiyah died, there were these miners who were excavating a well on the island," he told. "Suddenly went mad. They bled themselves dry. No apparent reason. So, the legend spread that these miners, in exchange for a drop of their blood, saw visions of heir lost loved ones in the well they were digging. The word travelled and explorers sought out the well to see if the legend was true."

   "So, the well was magic?" Bonnie asked, curiosity laced in her voice.

   "Well, you know, some people believe the voices of lost souls were just a wind vortex whipping through the caves, and visions were caused by inhaling the island's poisonous plant life."

   "And what do you believe?" I asked, curious.

   "I believe in magic," he said, his tone as serious as I've ever heard. "My wife and son died within months of each other. And, so... I decided to try the well out for myself." He swallowed hard, glancing down at his hand. "I cut my hand, offered up my blood and waited." It was as if his eyes were glossed over with the remembrance of what happened. "I saw my wife. I saw her eyes, her smile. My blood let me see her again."

   "Yeah, got it," Damon nodded, not believing a word. "Don't eat the poisonous flowers." He continued to walk, and we followed behind him. 

   A few minutes later, not we were stopped by the professor yelling for us to stop. "Is everybody paying attention?" he asked, glancing at each one of us. He picked up a rock. "Our first lesson in survival." He threw it a few inches away from him, triggering a net trap that swung up into the trees. We all stared up in disbelief, wondering which one would have been the one swinging up there. "Stay together. Keep your eyes open."

   I took a deep breath and followed, keeping a tight hold on the straps of my bag. The only thing I could hear was Elena and Jeremy talking in the back, our breathing, the crunching of our feet against the dry ground. If the island wasn't covered in booby traps and a deadly immortal, it would have been a great vacation spot. I imagined it in the summer, where it would get hot enough for the beach to be cool and the air crisp.

   An hour later, we arrived at a clearing. There was a wooden shed in front of us, and in no way did it appear cosy. I swore that we were in some horror movie, a serial killer ready to pounce out of the woods at any given moment.

   "What is this place?" Stefan asked. 

   "According to island lore, a group of college kids came here for spring break," the professor said. "A few weeks later, they were all found dead, completely drained of blood."

   "Well," breathed Rebekah, "tragic for them, brilliant for us. Who sleeps where?"

   We all scattered around to settle in the site, all while Damon was still wary about it. Jeremy was going to be attacked by a man with an arrow, but then the man mysteriously died by a hatchet to his back. Strange? Yes. Coincidence? Hell yes. 

   Damon continued to fight with the professor, just wanting to get the cure and get out. That was all of us, but we were also tired. I sat in front of a campfire, next to Stefan, who held the headstone between his hands. He had a brooding look in his eyes as he stared at the headstone, as if he were trying to decipher what it meant and why. I decided to make light of the situation, so I pushed him with my shoulder and gave him a small smile. 

   "Eight of us and no one thought to bring s'mores," I mused, earning a small smile from him. I pointed at the stone with my chin. "What are you doing with that?"

   "We're a day away from finding the cure," he said. "I'm not letting it out of my sight."

   In the distance, I heard the sound of animals screaming. I jumped and grabbed on to Stefan's arm, glancing around in worry. "I swear this place is haunted."

   Stefan laid his hand on top of mine, as if he were making sure that I knew that he was there. "Uh, Clara, you're crushing my arm."

   "Sorry," I chuckled and pulled my hand away, brushing a strand of hair back. I bit my bottom lip and glanced down back at the rock, wondering. No longer could I take it, so I decided to become vocal with what I had been wondering since we woke up. "What are you going to do when Elena becomes human and comes running back to you?"

   He took a deep breath. "Well, why do you want to take it?"

   "Being a vampire is miserable," I sighed. "I never wanted to be this; I would give anything to be human again."

   He nodded. "If I take the cure..." He looked at me, straight into my eyes, and there was a small, faint smile around his lips. "If I take the cure, it'd be for me."

   "And then what?" I continued. "What would you do after you become human? We're not in the 1800's anymore, we'd have to get used to being adults with a lot of responsibilities. No compulsion, no speed, no immortality. Ugh, we'd actually have to get jobs."

   He laughed, a soft musical sound that resonated around me. "There are so many possible things to do after we become human and you're thinking about getting a job?"

   "What else is there to do?"

   "A life," he breathed. "Clara, we can have a life. We can move wherever we want to, be whoever we want, have the life we always desired: the picket fence, apple pie life."

   I chuckled softly and shook my head. "I can't believe I heard you say apple pie life," I softly said, smiling down at the fire instead of him. "I never imagined you wanting the whole picket fence and apple pie life. Can it even be called a picket fence life?"

   "Well, if it's what we want." He spoke, softly, carefully, as if he wanted just me to hear.

   I stared at him for a couple of seconds, wondering whether he was talking about a life together. I could imagine it, a human life with Stefan. At first, it was back when we were humans, when our worries were family, sickness, and whether someone would return from war. If I had never fallen for Damon, I knew that Stefan would have been the one, and I wondered whether I would have married him. Would we live in Veritas Estate? Would he continue with the lumbering mills of the Salvatore's or would he do something else? Knowing him, he'd do what his father wanted and continue with the lumbering mills. Would we have children? A little boy running around the house with laughter at his lips, ringlets of blonde and eyes like the summer leaves. It was at that moment that I knew that I wouldn't mind a human life with Stefan, if he wouldn't mind one with me.

   "Okay," I said, nodding. "Then, where would we go?"

   "Where would you like to go?" he quietly asked, scooting closer to me. 

   I threw my head back and looked up at the sky, awed by the many stars that decorated the darkness. "Somewhere far, far away," I breathed, smiling. "I heard Portland is beautiful in the fall."

   "Portland," he repeated, a strange look in his eyes. "I was thinking somewhere more quiet."

   "Oh, then you'd have to chose," I giggled, surprising me momentarily.

   "Georgia," he said. "Savannah, Georgia. A little house in the middle of nowhere, maybe."

   "Ooh, romantic," I teased.

   "Clara!" Rebekah's voice came from behind me. I turned my head to see her standing besides the tent, an annoyed look in her face. "Come on, I'm tired!"

   "Give me a minute!" I smiled, turning back to Stefan. "I, uh... I get to have Rebekah as a roommate while we're here." I stood and dusted off my butt. "Goodnight, Stefan."

   "Goodnight, Clara."

   I walked to the tent, smiling to myself as I thought of the conversation I had with Stefan. After we found the cure, would it ever be real? Would I ever have that white picket fence with him? It all made me smile, and that made Rebekah very curious. She crossed her arms and carefully watched as I laid in my sleeping bag. 

   "What were you two talking about?" she asked, tilting her head slightly back. 

   "Just..." I smiled. "Just what would we do after we found the cure."

   "And?"

   "And I wouldn't mind it one bit."

   It wasn't the singing of birds that woke me up in the morning, but Elena's voice screeching a name over and over again. She yelled for Jeremy, something about the boy gone missing during the night. I wanted nothing more but to stay in the warmth of my sleeping bag, but she continued to yell, and it was then when it took all of my strength to get out of the tent. I stumbled out of the tent, eyes adjusting to the sunlight and wanting nothing more but to close again.

   "Why are you yelling?" I asked Elena, seeing her walk around the clearing.

   "Jeremy's missing," she said, not looking at me. 

   "What?" Stefan joined, appearing out of nowhere. "What do you mean he's missing?"

   "He's not here, Stefan," she snapped, glancing at him with annoyance. "What else could that possibly mean?"

   "Okay," I broke in, nodding. "Let's split up and look for him."

   "We'll check the quarry," Stefan said, glancing at me and nodding.

   After I pulled on my boots, we sped to the quarry that we passed yesterday. It was just as beautiful as yesterday, a rocky terrain against beautiful blue waters. Just for several seconds, I stopped and stared at the surroundings instead of searching for Jeremy. But, I was prone to the beautiful, watching the beauty against a cursed island with an immortal right underneath. 

   "The view's great," Stefan said behind me. I turned my head back and chuckled, shaking my head.

  "Yeah," I nodded, turning back to look at the quarry. "But, we're not supposed to be looking at the view. We're supposed to be looking for Jeremy."

  "He's not here." He shrugged his shoulders and took a stand next to me.

   "Then we should go back and tell Elena." I turned and pushed my hands in my pockets, smiling at him. Just for a moment, it felt as if we were in vacation, but the distant yelling of the boy's name ruined it.

   "Just, one thing before." He stepped towards me, laid his hands on my neck, and pulled me to him. His lips pushed against mine, a simple kiss that lasted several seconds. When he pulled away, he stared down at me with a small smile around his lips. 

   "What was that for?" I asked, not wanting to go back to the clearing and face everyone. I wanted to stay there, and kiss him a little longer.

   "Because I haven't kissed you since two days ago and I couldn't hold myself any longer," he smiled, brushing a strand of hair behind my ear. He leaned down once again and pecked my lips. "Let's go back."

   As we went back to the clearing, I heard Elena asking if she found anything, which she didn't. Professor Shane then commented about how his gear was still in the camp, which I found strange. We entered the clearing, and I shook my head when Elena looked at me. "He wasn't at the quarry," I told her. 

   "Let's split up," Damon suggested.

   "Because that always goes well," I mused, crossing my arms. 

   "Do you have any other ideas, Clara?" He crossed his arms and looked at me, raising a brow. I stayed quiet and looked away in defeat, deciding that it'd be best to keep my mouth shut.

   "I'm gonna stay and try a locator spell," Bonnie said, breaking the silence.

   "Okay," Professor Shane joined, nodding. "I'll stay. I'll make sure she's safe."

   "I'll stay here and make sure you're not lying," added Damon, almost glaring at the professor.

   Elena glanced over at Stefan and I, sighed, and nodded. "Fine. We'll keep searching the island."

   "I'll join," Rebekah said, taking a stand next to me. I gave her a small smile, seeing how she still looked tired. She didn't sleep that much; she was still mourning the death of her brother.

   Stefan and I turned and began to walk, Elena following a few feet behind and Rebekah right besides me. Just as before, I felt like we were going in circles. It was all the same, foliage and more foliage, a never ending kaleidoscope of green and brown. It was silent, except for our footsteps and Elena's yells for her brother.

   "Jeremy!" she yelled, a hand besides her mouth to make her voice louder. "Jeremy!"

   "Why don't you yell louder?" Rebekah asked, an obvious hint of sarcasm. "Maybe we haven't drawn enough attention to ourselves already."

   "I'm sorry," Elena sighed, "and how are you helping?"

   "I'm stronger than you, and faster than you, and I'm quite certain I can charm the islanders a lot easier than you."

   "Not disagreeing on the easy part."

   "All right, we get it!" I broke in, rolling my eyes. "You two hate each other. Can we just keep going, please?"

   "I tried to be her friend," Rebekah defended, "but somehow, I ended up with a dagger in my back because the evil one."

   "Technically, you didn't achieve evil status until you killed me." Elena continued walking, annoyed. She walked into a trip-wire, setting off a trap. Rebekah sped over and stopped it, staring at the young vampire with a look I couldn't decipher. 

   "Nice catch," Stefan admired. 

   "Thank you," she breathed. 

   "No, actually, thank you," Elena said. "This thing would've killed me."

   "I don't care what happens to you either way," Rebekah said, the look in her eyes changing completely. "But, if you're gonna die, it might as well be epic."

   Elena swallowed hard, and glanced from the trap to the Original. "I'm gonna go back and check on Bonnie, see if she found anything." She turned, but stopped before leaving. "Be careful." 

   I took a deep breath and continued to walk, my hands in my pockets as I tried to see and hear the young Gilbert. Rebekah and and Stefan walked a few feet behind me, and I could barely hear them because I was too busy hearing my own thoughts. With each step, all I could think about was the cure and what to do if we found it. There was a part of me that didn't want to take it, because I found that being human was miserable. I had seen so many years of suffering, death come so easily, pain driving one mad, and at those moments being human seemed like the worst thing ever.

   But, then, I wondered whether it would all feel different. As a vampire, our feelings are heightened. Love was like being filled with thousands of butterflies, their wings brushing against the skin, leaving tendering kisses behind. Would it feel the same if I were human? If Stefan touched me, would his skin feel warm and like a butterflies' kiss? Would his kisses feel better? Would holding hands with clammy skin feel weird yet exhilarating? Would love as human feel better?

   "Haven't we been here before?" Rebekah asked, sighing.

   "It all looks the same to me," I sighed, glancing around with a bored expression. I stepped on something hard, and the next thing I knew I was against a tree. Stefan was in front of me, staring at me with worry in his eyes. I gasped for breath, staring at him with wide eyes. His hands were on my waist, as if he were holding me securely. I glanced behind him, seeing a spear hanging from the tree I stood in front of. If he hadn't pushed me out of the way, I would have died.

   "Thanks," I breathed, averting my eyes back to his.

   "Yeah," he answered, his face inches from mine. I bit both of my lips, avoiding the want to kiss him.

   "Ugh," Rebekah groaned from behind him. "Why don't you two just kiss like you've been doing for the past few days?"

   Stefan slowly pulled away from me, his eyes still on mine. He looked away a few seconds later, and looked at Rebekah instead. "Did you mean what you said?" he asked out of nowhere. "About a cease-fire?"

   She rolled her eyes and began to walk away. "Why do you all assume that I hate Elena so much?"

   "Well, I mean, you did run her off a bridge," Stefan tried to reason, shrugging his shoulders. 

   Rebekah stopped and turned to glare at him. "You all seem to forget that Elena's death was the only way to save my family. I did the same thing every one of you would have done to protect the people you love. And before you cast me as the bad guy, maybe you should remember that Elena helped to kill not one, but two of my brothers. Maybe we're not as different as everyone is making us out to be." She glanced down, an obvious pain in her eyes. "Jeremy's not here. I'm going back." She turned, leaving.

   I walked up to Stefan, who looked pensive. "She's right," I softly said, laying a hand on his arm. "Elena did kill two of her brothers without thinking of anyone else but herself. She thinks the Original family are monsters that have no feelings, when in fact they have more feelings than you and I. They have lived for a thousand years, seen so many things, and they are strong, yes, but just like us, they have weaknesses. And their number one weakness is family, which is our number one weakness too."

   "Yeah," he breathed, glancing at me. He gave me a ghost of a smile. "You're saying that because you've spent so many years with them."

   "I am," I smiled. "But, I'm also saying it because it's the truth. You know it."

   He nodded, took my hand, and began to pull me back to the clearing. We walked a few feet behind Rebekah, who kept her head held high as if nothing were wrong. Even though she moved with such grace and formality, I could see the pain. I did spend many years with her, before Klaus daggered her, and she was the most easiest to read out of all the Mikaelson's. Maybe it was because she loved too much, because she loved so easily. 

   We arrived at the clearing to find a confused Elena. Her eyes darted everywhere, her arms spread in confusion. She saw us and shrugged her shoulders. "Where is everyone?"

   "What are you talking about?" Stefan asked, confused. 

   "Well, Bonnie's not here and Shane's stuff is all gone."

   "Oh my god," Rebekah breathed. She sped to her bags, scoffed, and threw them down. "The tombstone's gone." She rushed over to Elena's tent rifling through the bags with a panicked look in her eyes. 

   "What are you doing in my tent?" Elena asked, raising a brow at the panicked vampire. 

   Rebekah sped over to her and grabbed her by the throat. "Where is the tombstone?
 she asked. "What have you done with it?"

   "What are you talking about?"

   "Like it's not bloody obvious," she scoffed. "All you people ever do is betray me and here you go again!"

   "Let her go, Rebekah," I broke in, shaking my head. "She didn't take it."

   She released Elena, and stared at us with a pained expression. "Was any of this real?" she asked, taking a few steps back. "Was it just a ploy to distract me while Shane ran off with the tombstone?"

   "You think we would do that?" Stefan asked her in disbelief. "You think we would let some psychopath run off with the cure? Every single moment of my last 146 years has been ruled by the pain of being a vampire." I turned to look at him, surprised. "And this cure ends that. It ends the guilt and it ends the suffering. And you really think I would jeopardize that?"

   "Fine," Rebekah softly said, looking up from the ground. "You didn't take it. But, that doesn't mean I don't trust her." Her eyes quickly fell on Elena. 

    After a few seconds of staring at each other, Elena bent down and lifted her sleeping bag. She pulled out the white oak stake from under, and held it out to Rebekah. "I didn't take it, but here. Consider this a peace offering."

   "Don't you get it, Elena? There is no peace; we're all screwed!"

   "Exactly, Rebekah, we're all screwed," she agreed. "Bonnie's gone. Shane's got the tombstone. Jeremy's missing. Who knows if Damon's coming back. So, us four, right here, this is all we've got. So, we're either in this together or it's over. For all of us." She held out the stake once again. 

   Rebekah, after some hesitation, took the stake and put it in her bag. I took a deep breath, nodding, knowing that although this would not end the war between them, but it would stop it for a small while. "Okay," I breathed, looking at the three vampires. "We should go to the beach. Starting point. Start looking from there, make our way around the island and not get completely lost."