everyonelives | because the lives of the wicked should be made brief

( He focuses on the road and he focuses on her story. He holds back from asking specific questions. Who was in the road? Who gave you vampire blood? Why did you tell Stefan to save Matt first? But, he knows his daughter.

His chest tightens when he hears she hated it. There's a light dusting of pride accompanying it, but her plight remains his focus. Not his own thoughts.

He knows she's not a vampire now, but he still finds himself wanting to ask, to make her confirm it. But he doesn't. )

Cures are rare?

Cures are singular. There was only one, made a long time ago, and it's practically impossible to recreate. The only reason Bonnie got mine is because she got trapped in a prison world for a while that was modeled on our world so she was able to find the one there.

[Yeah their life is ... let's just not get into that.]

You can pass the cure to another vampire by giving them your blood after you've taken it but once you do that, the magic leaves your body and all the years you were immortal start to catch up to you. It wasn't such a big deal for me when I passed it on, but the person who currently has it is very, very old, so she's not going to be giving it up for a good long while.

You also can't use vampire blood to heal yourself anymore. Once you take the cure, there's no way back to being a vampire.

[So congratulations, Grayson, you're daughter is inoculated from being a vampire, but that also means she can very easily die when bad supernatural things happen.]

( That's just not easy to take at all, but now they're in slowed down traffic for some reason, so he's able to turn to make real faces at her. )

So. The healing vampire blood won't heal you anymore. But you're not in danger of becoming a vampire. Again.

( So there's that. And that's great? )

And you still do dangerous things like go into caves to kill witches. With your hunter boyfriend and his brother. And the witch you're just starting to trust again. Just. Following.

Just because I'm human again doesn't mean I've stopped being the doppelganger.

[Her life has always been dangerous and always will be dangerous, no matter what she does.]

And honestly, it was quiet for a while. It's just the last year that things started to pick up again. Maybe I could run away to Alaska or something and no one wound find me there, but all the people I love are still in this life. I'm not going to abandon them because it's dangerous.

And I'm not asking you to, Elena. I'm just trying to understand. I can be proud of you being there for your friends and doing what you think you have to do, but it's still going to look like sacrifice after sacrifice on your part for your friends. For your boyfriend you recently moved for. Were you happy with your career in Mystic Falls? It's hard not to see patterns.

( He's really only taking all the evidence he hears. It's hard to see it as anything else other than Elena always drawing the short straw. The doppleganger having no choice, except in men, and even then. )

I didn't move just for Dean. I left Mystic Falls because there were hunters looking for me. I didn't go back because of Dean but I don't consider that a sacrifice. It was a choice. Also, all I really had in Mystic Falls was my career. I was helping at the school or I was working at the hospital, but all of the people I cared about? They moved on.

[Until it was just her and Damon and maybe if she hadn't stayed, she wouldn't have been accidentally leading him on until she wasn't. True, Ric was there but Ric had moved on from being an active presence in Elena's life as soon as he had a family of her own. She appreciated Jo's mentorship, but they didn't need her there.]

Bonnie is never home, Tyler left, Jeremy is in Portland, Caroline is constantly traveling for work, Matt ...

[She trails off because Matt isn't there at all. Matt isn't anywhere. And she misses him so much.]

The point is, I was the only one left. It was just me and the ghosts. Why shouldn't I make a choice that actually makes me happy?

I want you to make a choice that makes you happy. Of course I do. Your mother and I both don't want anything more than happiness for you and Jeremy, whatever it looks like to you. I didn't know everyone moved away.

( And. )

We are sorry about Matt. Elena, we're sorry about it all. It's hard to reconcile all this loss in your life.

I'm doing the best I can.

[She runs a hand through her hair and glances over at her dad again.]

And I know it's a lot to hear, all listed out. But the choices I'm making right now, in this moment? No one is twisting my arm. I'm not giving up things because people are forcing me to. Things are happening and I'm dealing with them but I'm not the same girl who was trying to out run her survivor's guilt anymore.

Then I trust you. And back you. And your mom will come around.

( She's having a harder time. It's obvious. He's tried to not make it so apparent, to seal the cracks and fissures. He can only do so much. This is his partner in life. )

Thank you.

[And with that, she will let the subject fall into silence and eventually drifts off because it's been a long, emotional day so far. And maybe because of some of the emotions of that day, she feels her dreamscape drifting to a familiar old bridge, with a pile of yellow flowers sitting on the railing next to her.

The last time she saw Matt was standing here, saying goodbye. You would think she would stop being sad about it, given that she did have a chance to say goodbye to him, but she thought that she was saying goodbye so that he could go off to live a whole life. Not a handful of years before being killed to prove a point.

She stares out over the water, wondering if some subconscious version of her friend will join her, but when she turns at the scuffle of feet behind her, she inevitably finds herself disappointed.

It's not Ezra's fault. He's just not what she's expecting.]

How did you ... ?

( It feels like a goodbye tour. It might be.

He never knows what to expect when he drifts into someone's subconscious. It doesn't always work if they're not susceptible, so she must be drifting off to sleep. Still, he feels like he owes her a try.

He comes to at the edge of the bridge, he crouches down to get a look at the flowers below. He looks up at her. )

Magic. There's a lot I never let you get to know about me. ( That's on him. ) I did it all wrong, ( he stands. ) but in my defense, I did it for love.

[Elena can't really blame him there. She's done a lot of shady things for love herself.]

I can't really judge you for that. I've done the same.

[Though very rarely for love of herself, and maybe that was her father's point.]

I'm being called back. Game over. Rusty's the only one on the outside now.

( Of the witch-heir contingent. )

I might not come back from this.

( And because he's curious and feeling a bit - nosy. )

Is this the bridge?

[She takes a deep breath and looks over the lake before nodding.]

Yep. This is Wickery Bridge.

[The place that started it all.]

I've been thinking a lot about the a friend I lost recently. This is where I last saw him.

I'm sorry. Losing friends is never easy.

( He leans against the railing, then turns to face her. )

I gave Dr. Laughlin the last piece to the curse. To break it. I owed her that much. I owe you more. Someday I might live up to it.

[Elena glances back at him, before nodding.]

Thank you. For holding up your end of the deal.

[She knows it wasn't a real deal - Ezra and David could have pushed their advantage any time. But it's good to know that Jo will finally be able to get some answers for her family.]

That's all I ever asked of you.

[Meaning you don't have to consider anything still owed.]

Got any juicy gossip, so I have something to hold onto in the meantime?

( Something that might keep him sane, human. He doesn't know what's in store for him, or what David's parents even think they know. But, anything could help. And, maybe he just wants something real. Regular. Like friend's gossip. )

Dating Dean Winchester can't be without drama.

[There's a huff of a laugh at that, because boy does she ever but also no. She's not going to give away Ben as a tidbit to keep things interesting for Ezra.]

Damon Salvatore is going to therapy.

[Which she doesn't know if the two of them ever actually met, but Elena definitely complained about him to Ezra on occasion as she was sorting through the initial wake of their breakup.]

I think he might be finally growing up, even if he couldn't do it without one last painful conversation.

Damon. Is - well, now I've heard everything. Now, I really can step back.

( He braces himself against the railing, looking out onto the river below. )

And he made it your problem, I bet.

[Elena takes a deep breath before shaking her head.]

I don't know if he'll ever really get why things changed. Sometimes for Damon it's like ... as long as he holds on to his North Star, everything else will be fine. I just ... couldn't be that person anymore.

Maybe he always did. Deep down. And that's why he never let go. Sounds like this is a healthy step, just wish he didn't bring you back to the forefront.

( And. )

Is this about your friend Matt?

This - yes.

[She gestures to Wickery Bridge and nods.]

The end of me and Damon? No, but he definitely helped tip it over the edge.

Matt's death did?

( Give him a second, because... )

Damon didn't.

He wasn't ... in control. Brainwashed, there was a siren, it was ... very messy.

[But yeah, he did. And she wasn't there to see any of it, so she was mostly contending with the after report.]

I tried to let it go, but ... it was hard.

He killed one of your best friends. Siren or not. As a witch, we apologize for vampire actions. It's written in the code. If we want to coexist. But, it doesn't mean we don't have feelings about them.

( Which sucks. )

Where were you? Those years he was obsessed with you and you said you were finding yourself. And he expected you back. He "waited."

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