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

[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."

I was asleep. Sleeping Beauty curse. It was supposed to last until Bonnie died, but she found away around it. I was under for about five years though. Just ... me and my thoughts.

[And somewhere in there, Damon killed Matt.]

Your thoughts on everything.

( He can see why so many years away could make a difference in what she wants. )

[She nods, exhaling slowly.]

I didn't want to hurt him. I fully intended to keep my promises. But ... when those promises become untenable, it's usually better to be honest.

No, it's always. Well, a lot makes more sense now. Probably does with my life, too, and my invisible husband I swore I have. ...Things were a lot simpler before. I'm not sorry I met you. But, I am sorry how everything happened.

( The real, umprompted apology. )

[Elena offers him a small smile.]

If I got rid of every friend who came into my life under mysterious circumstances, I wouldn't have very many friends left.

We are. For the record. ( And then, he leans back. ) Oh. How's Irina? Has it been an adjustment?

[She nods.]

So, some things shifted around, and we thought with everything going on she might be safer at the school. It's warded to high heaven and Caroline dressed up the paperwork to tie her to a different old witch family.

[She feels bad telling him this way, but she really does believe that Irina is going to be far safer at the school with other witches like her than hanging out in the bunker.]

Our attention is spread a bit thin right now, given some of the things that happened over Thanksgiving, we thought it was best. Plus she can start making some witch friends her own age.

She should be happy. And safe. So, it sounds like you did the right thing. Thanks. ( He taps the railing with both of his hands. ) Now I'm just delaying the inevitable. ( Turning, he pulls her in for a hug. )

[Elena turns and leans into the hug.]

Good luck, Ezra. Be careful.

[She doesn't know it, but they'll be seeing each other much sooner than they think.]

Watch the road!

( And Elena is pulled out pretty abrubtly as her father veers away from someone in their lane with the honk of his horn. But, he's okay! Everything's okay. Ezra just ... feels what's happening on the other side of the dream he shares. All is well.

Good luck, Elena. )

[Elena jerks awake, blinking at the road and shaking it off. She can't help but feel the unsettling feeling that this is the calm before the storm.]

Are we almost there?

We have another hour. You were out like a light. Thought you'd sleep on the plane.

( Emotionally draining conversations do that. )

Sorry if I woke you. Damn truck swerved into our lane.

No, it's okay.

[She's not going to tell her father she was getting a dream message from Ezra. That's a problem for another day.]

And I did. But I guess it wasn't as much as I thought.

Your mom and I are terrible about sleeping now. Up late, up early. It almost feels like we're wasting the life we were given.

( But, he knows it's only natural. )

Did you... how did you find the balance. After yours.

I didn't have time to think about it.

[She would work herself to exhaustion and then she would have to sleep. Or she just didn't do a lot of sleeping because she was busy running for her life.]

It helps to keep busy. And you don't really have a lot of ways to keep busy right now.

[She should really work harder at fixing that.]

I got a text from Lucas. He says he might know someone who would be able to help ... resurrect you guys legally speaking. Would you want us to do that? Or do you guys want to be new people entirely?

( He didn't know either was an option. He knew there were options on the table, but they focused best on the here and now. Now that they have a direction to take. The punk kid inside him would completely take a different name. Try it out. It would be fun for two weeks. A month. But, he would always be Grayson and she would always be Miranda.

Is that what Elena would want them to be? New people? People who didn't keep secrets. People who didn't coldly run Augustine experiments because of how they were raised. People who weren't on town councils. People who see vampires as people. They're starting to. It's just taking time. )

Aren't we? ( It's a hollow, joke that sits between them. ) I'll talk to your mother.

Okay. He gave me the guy's number, so just ... let me know.

[And with that she'll stay quiet for the rest of the drive, until the pull up at the bunker alongside Sam's car, and she brightens when she sees who he brought Allison along with him.]

You're back!

[And she will hop out of the car and go over to hug her, unsure how long she's been back or if she's met her parents yet.]

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