By: Suepafly
Four months has gone by since the Other Side broke down and Bonnie and Damon were lost. Mystic Falls is still a supernatural-free area. Everyone is grieving in their own ways, and some worse than others.
In Mystic Falls, a couple is free to make out in the woods, and no supernatural thing can get them. They hear something, and the boy sends the girl out to check it out. Way to be the big man. She flips on the lantern and is surprised by Sheriff Forbes. Worse than a serial killer to them, she busts them for underage drinking. They would have been better off staying in their tent. As they walk to the car they cross the line out of Mystic Falls, and something attacks the girl, Jesse, dropping her body onto her boyfriend before attacking him from above.
Sophomore Elena has to pick a major, and she’s chosen a medical one. Jo (Jodi O’ Keefe) is her teacher, but its an observatory role for Elena at the moment. The major does give her access to blood bags, which are needed at the moment. Elena gets ready for class. Alaric will be teaching on campus, but just seeing him back is a great big shiny spot. He’s a college professor now, he can’t go back to his teaching job at the high school with Mystic Falls still off limits.
Matt has been using the time to get fit and bulk up. He can bench press more than Jeremy now, and old Blue Eyes is looking good. Jeremy seems to have gotten over Bonnie, with a new fling. Stephen is off looking for a witch that can contact the dead. Elena has been out of contact with him, assuming he’s been busy, and he has, starting a new life.
Caroline is not going back to college, she dropped out. Elena tells her that its time to come home, but Caroline has made her home outside of Mystic Falls. Even Tyler tries to hound Caroline to come back, and Elena makes plans to come and get her no matter what she wants. Caroline picnics with her mother, she’s been looking for an anti-magic spell removal spell. Even her mother thinks its time to go back, and spend time with Elena, she lost Bonnie too. Elena has been in denial, she hasn’t even grieved for Damon. Her mother tells her to cut Elena some slack, she’s lost more than her share of people. Sheriff Forbes gets a notice, 2 teens were admitted with mysterious wounds on their necks. Vampire may not be able to get into Mystic Falls but that doesn’t stop them from lurking around the border. Caroline tries to give her mother the picnic basket before leaving, and she gets burned by the spell.
Caroline doesn’t want to let go, and Elena understands she doesn’t either. She mixes up some herbs, and finishes telling about her day to Damon. They’re in the graveyard. Those must be some powerful herbs. Just what is Elena into?
Alaric teaches his class, while Elena barely keeps her attention on his lecture on the occult and resurrection. Liv snickers over the topic, and Tyler comes in late taking his seat next to her. The two are flirty and combative in the same breathe. Elena slurps on her drink, and Alaric admonishes her, having trouble teaching as it is when all of his students look like blood sausages.
After class Elena catches up with Luke. She’s been super thirsty lately, and was wondering if there was side effects to the herbs he’s been giving her. They haven’t been tested exactly, but he thinks that maybe he should stop giving them to her. It was his idea that she see Damon again, because he felt guilty over Damon not coming back. But he did make Alaric a daylight bracelet because Elena asked, and went against his covens rule to get the herbs because she asked, but now its time to return to reality. Elena asks him to come by anyways later.
Stephen gets shorted on his check. One of his clients claimed that he put a ding on his hood. The customer’s wife put a ding on the hood. Dean asks if he’s calling his best customer a liar. Stephen notes that he’s being ripped off, but Dean isn’t backing down. He asks Stephen what he’s going to do about it, run back to where ever he came from. Stephen lets it go, as Alaric calls, asking if his contact panned out. Stephen tells him he’s still working on it. With the pretty girl in front of him, its doubtful that the spell has been taking up his time.
Caroline meets with Alaric. She’s already read through all the books she has, and has found nothing. She needs help, and he pulls out the books he has, only one she hasn’t read. Caroline asks about Stephen, a little perturbed that he talks to him a couple of times a week. Stephen left without even a goodbye when Damon died.
Elena asks Matt why Jeremy isn’t answering his phone, and he tells her he’s doing homework, when what he really means is that he’s playing a video game, but it isn’t like big sis can do anything about it so long as he stays in Mystic Falls. Elena scolds him to do something productive, but with Elena being little threat, Jeremy can act like a shit. It’s up to Matt to step in, he tells him its time to start living his life again. The town is safe for now, but Caroline is working to reverse the anti-magic thing. Jeremy isn’t a hunter now, he’s not much of anything.
Elena pays Luke a visit. He didn’t show up when she had asked him to. He’s tired of playing drug pusher and supporting her destructive habit. She riffles through his drawers looking for more herbs. He’s worried about her. She wants to see Damon and vamping out on him, she’s not asking.
Elena talks to Damon about setting Alaric up with Jo from the hospital, wondering how long is the appropriate time to wait to start dating after someone has come back to dead. Damon wonders if Luke could whip up a Bonnie flavored variety, Elena laughs, if she had a conversation with everyone she lost, she’d need a bigger vehicle, but he’s right. Elena wouldn’t want to talk to Bonnie, Bonnie would tell her to move on, and kick her addiction by letting them go.
Tyler has a hard time adjusting to being human, his tolerance for one blows as he stumbles into Alaric. Alaric wonders if someone with his anger issues should be drinking so close to a full moon. He gets to burn off his anger on the field, but Alaric isn’t taking chances. He confiscates Tyler’s drink. Tyler makes eyes at Liv, and she definitely notices. Alaric tells him that she’s definitely not into him.
The girl saunters back to Stephen’s bed with only a sheet on complaining about his fridge contents. She wants to make plans for later, but he tells her he has to work. He tells Ivy that she’s the one that came after him. She points out that they’ve been hanging out together for months, but she knows nothing about him. He knows a lot about her, and she asks him to tell her something that she doesn’t know about him. He tells her that he’s a vampire, and she laughs it off, but he likes her and he’s Stephen, so she cuddles up.
Jo runs into Alaric, happy to find another chaperone, not huddled around the burgers. She doesn’t eat red meat, seeing too much blood all day. She asks for his drink, but he’s not sharing. Claiming germaphobe, he’s the vegetarian of cool people. He excuses himself to make a phone call. He lost his human nature and his game in one fail swoop.
Elena searches for blood bags, but doesn’t have one. She finds stranded motorist and feeds off her. Damon warns her that she’s going to kill girl. She just wants a little more, then she’ll let her go. She’s so hungry. Caroline can’t believe what she sees, and the girl gets away. She runs towards the field, and before Elena can catch her she crosses the border. The girl is bleeding out as she goes into town. Caroline scolds Elena for feeding off people. She’s the border lurker. Elena tells her that she compelled everyone else to forget, but she can’t help it the herbs make her so thirsty. She tells Caroline about seeing Damon. She tried to grieve for him, she knows grief, but she couldn’t do it. Every time she let it sink in that she would never see him again, she felt like she was dying. She could grieve like Caroline having picnics with her mother on the border, or travel the world looking for a way to bring Damon and Bonnie back, but she’s doing it her way. Caroline points out that she isn’t moving forward but pausing. For now she sends her away, so she can call her mom and clean up the mess. Elena realizes the mess she’s making, as she looks at Damon.
The girl stumbles into town. Matt finds the girl bleeding. She tells him that she saw a girl, she had fangs and she bit her. As she talks the rest of the watch group arrive, and Matt tells them she said that she hit a dog and it bit her. Tripp (Colin Ferguson) asks her if that’s the story as Sheriff Forbes arrives. The girl is delirious and the Sheriff want to take her to get treated. Tripp wants to investigate further, but the Sheriff isn’t going to have the girl questioned until she’s seen a doctor.
Stephen continues to ignore Elena’s calls. She calls a third time, and he finally answers. She’s a mess. She needs to hear that he’s found something, she needs hope that he will find Damon and bring him back. He’s got nothing. She asks what he’s doing to get through this, because she isn’t. There’s no right or wrong way. Stephen admits that he gave up, he’s not looking anymore. He said goodbye, he moved on. Damon is gone. He tells her it’s time to say goodbye too and hangs up. Good for him.
Tyler is tailgating, and Caroline fills him in on the Elena issue. She’s been taking witchy drugs, hallucinating Damon and eating people. Tyler tells her that he’ll take care of the problem.
Matt talks to bleeding girl, Sarah. He’s taking her some place, but she doesn’t trust him and tries to make a run for it. He catches up to her. He’s had more than his fair share of back supernatural happenings, and he’s not about to lose anyone else. Sarah doesn’t trust him or anyone else, and Caroline thinks that’s a good thing.
Matt confronts Luke, telling him that Elena isn’t in her right mind. Tyler isn’t really happy with what he’s been doing all summer. He warns him to stay away from Elena or he’ll have a problem his magic wand can’t fix. Alaric breaks them up. Tyler isn’t in as good of control as he thought he was, and Alaric wants answers from Luke.
Elena tells Damon he can’t be there. Seeing him like this makes her reckless. Just one call from his brother and she’s ready to throw in the towel. She has to, but first she has to say thank you. Thank you for bringing back Stephen and Alaric, for showing her love and passion. She wanted it to last forever, but it couldn’t she says goodbye to him with a kiss. It’s the last time she’ll see him. But as she lets go, he’s still there. She’s still holding on. He mocks her, it’s only a matter of time before she goes back to Luke for more drugs to see him. Otherwise she’ll feel his loss forever that hole will never close. She begs him not to get into her head, smashing everything around her as she falls to the ground alone in tears. But she’s not alone, he’s still there.
Tyler does pull ups. Liv confronts him about his douchebaggery actions. Her brother has been emotionally blackmailed by Elena the whole summer. He reminds her that they lost people while her brother got to live. But they also got people back thanks to her. He lost a part of himself that night too. He was stronger than most people, faster. And now all that’s left inside is rage. He wants her to know that he’s trying to deal with that too. Liv doesn’t give him the reaction he was expecting, but she’s not giving him more.
Caroline leaves Stephen yet another message. Everyone is drifting further apart, thinking they can get through this all alone. Elena is gone, she’s changed into an almost different person. Tyler is hiding out in Whitmore, hiding from his werewolf gene. Matt and Jeremy never leave Mystic Falls, and they probably don’t want the wall down. Caroline is in a diner near the border looking for a way in. They just lost two friends, and they all need to band together before they’re little more than strangers. She’s not going to stop calling until she hears from him, because she’s not giving up. Stephen crushes his phone without even hearing his message. He either really doesn’t want to hear her go on and on, or maybe he wants the newest iPhone. Bigger is better.
Elena asks Alaric how he’s liking being a vampire, but he doesn’t want to talk to her while she’s on drugs, and thinks she should get some sleep. She goes on. He admits that moving to Mystic Falls helped, and that his ex moved away which helped. She meant the blood lust. Alaric admits that he hates everything about being a vampire. She did too once she discovered the good part, that love could actually be eternal, which now sucks because she’ll have a hole in her heart forever. If she’s ever going to fall in love again, to make eternity bearable she wants him to compel to forget that she ever loved Damon.
Damon makes pancakes, and coffee. He gives Bonnie a pancake with a smiley face made out of blue berries, with whip cream fangs. Every day she tells him that she hates it, and every day he does it anyways. Poor Bonnie she must be in hell, Plaid Damon hell.
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