a tale as long as time.

Stefan took a moment to breath and settle his mind and heart, and to let himself be overflowed with emotions because he couldn't actually have a proper conversation with her if he stayed in this weird in-between world. Once he was sure he was okay he took in what she said and thought carefully about what he was going to say next. This was after all, a very critical time in their story together. "You did nothing wrong," he said shaking his head. "The moment Katherine came into town she set her eyes on both me and my brother, because she felt she should have us both. And she went after what she wanted. At first she came at me without compulsion, but when she realized that I loved you and I would not leave you for her she took it upon herself to compel me into forgetting my feelings for you. And once she was in my mind she 'convinced' me that she was the one I should be with. She also had both me and Damon drinking her blood regularly as she planned to turn us and likely have us follow her around like her little lap dogs or something of the sort. But then when we died the compulsion wore off and I was able to remember everything clear as day," Stefan told her feeling all the guilt from that time in his life as clearly now as he had then.

"I was out of control when I first turned. I mean I forced Damon to turn even though he didn't want to. I killed my own father, and the girl who's blood I drank to turn well at the first taste of her blood I couldn't stop. And when I realized that I had killed the girl as much as I wanted to run to you, find you and tell you that it would all be okay and that Katherine had compelled me into everything I knew I couldn't. Because I could not risk being near you, I likely would've killed you because just the smell of blood was enough to make me lose all control. I swear to you Adelaide I wish that was not the fate you had met, but if you would just give me a chance I promise I will make it all up to you," He found himself pleading for her to listen to him again, hoping that she would take his story to heart and maybe they could mend together.

---

Eleanor stood listening to Damon speak trying to fight back crying. For a very long time after Eleanor had been turned herself and she learned about her own new abilities she'd wondered if Katherine had compelled Damon into the things he'd done. And every time she thought that she pushed it away just as quickly, probably because she needed someone to blame for the heartache she'd felt. Hearing him speak that truth though hit her hard. And before she could stop herself tears were streaming down her face. "That doesn't explain why you didn't come back for me? Why didn't you find me and explain this all to me then? You left me alone. The only reason I didn't die alone from consumption was because Addy had already been turned and she found me locked away in the ward and didn't want that fate for me,"

She wiped her eyes and tried to calm herself, this was far from what she had expected. "All I wanted was you, and you weren't there. I am forever grateful that she did what she did for me, but all I really wanted was you. I would've run away with you vampire or not. I would've let you turn me into this, so we could've stayed together. God I hate her. I loathe her so much that if that were enough to kill a vampire she would already be dead," Eleanor seethed as she walked across the room to pour herself a glass of bourbon. She hadn't planned on drinking so she wouldn't get out of control, but if this conversation was going to continue then she needed something strong to take the edge off.

"This is not how our story was supposed to go,"

Adelaide watched him closely. Something was off about him. She had picked up on it the moment he chased after her at The Grill. His actions showed that he seemed to care, but his tone and mannerisms said something different entirely. After a few seconds passed, she noticed guilt flood his expression and that's when it dawned on her. He must have his humanity shut off, and it was likely taking everything in his power not to turn it back on completely. She didn't know how long he had shut it off, but if she was truly going to get her answer, and know if he really did still care for her, she had to get him to turn it back on. "Why should I believe you?" She asked him, crossing her arms. His words didn't necessarily shock her, she truly had always suspected that Katherine might have compelled him. When she was turned though, she figured returning to town, "back from the dead" for him likely wasn't a good idea regardless of whether or not she wanted to find answers. Stefan didn't need to know any of that though. She was going to get all of the answers she had wanted one hundred and fifty years ago here and now. But she wasn't going to do it while his humanity was shut off.

And so she sought to push him back over the edge. She knew that it wasn't easy to do. She knew that when the switch was back on, all of the emotions that he hadn't felt for however long he'd had it off would come flooding back to him. It was overwhelming, and likely one of the worst things she had ever felt herself, but it was better than not feeling at all. "It's been over a century since we last spoke. Maybe you wouldn't have lied to me back then, but how could I possibly know that still holds true today? I don't know you anymore, Stefan. I haven't in a very long time. I thought I knew you back in 1864, and then you hurt me."

---

When she started crying, Damon wanted nothing more than to go over to her and wrap her up in his arms in the hopes that it would help take some of the pain way. He didn't know if that was his place anymore though. He didn't know if she'd want him to comfort her as he had numerous times all those years ago. He hated seeing her like this. He hated knowing that he had hurt her. More than anything else though, he hated Katherine more than he ever had before. She did this to them. She was the reason they both suffered for as long as they had without each other. "I didn't know that you had been turned. If I did, I would have found you straight away, Eleanor. You have to understand that. I thought you were still human...I didn't think that you would want to be with me anymore if I was like this. And I wasn't going to ask to turn you either. So I left you alone in the hopes that you'd find someone else to make you happy again. I figured you were better off without me." That was the honest truth. He figured that he had done enough damage already, and that she wouldn't want to be with a monster like him. So, he didn't bother looking for her.

"If I knew that you had been turned then I would have gone to hell and back looking for you, El. You need to believe me. You were the only woman I ever truly loved. If it were possible for me to go back in time and ensure that Katherine never came to town, then I would. I would do whatever I needed to do to make sure that you and I got to spend the rest of our lives together." That was how things should have been. They should have gotten married, started a family, and ultimately grown old together, but Katherine took all of that away the moment she laid eyes on him. "I know." He said, taking a sip of his drink. "Trust me, if I could have driven a stake through her heart myself, then I would have."

"What do I need to do to prove to you that I'm not lying to you now? I know we're not the same and we've both lived very different lives since we last saw one another I'm sure. But I am willing to do anything right now so that you believe me. I loved you then and I love you now. At least the version of you that I knew then because I know your'e not still that girl. Of course given the chance I would like to be able to love this you." Stefan told her trying to think of anything he could to show her he meant what he said, he wasn't trying to string her along or make her forget what had happened. Stefan just wanted her to understand what had happened back then from his point of view. And he understood that this was a lot and that maybe he didn't deserve this chance because he hadn't looked for her then and he hadn't even thought of the possibility of her being turned. And if he had then maybe he would've searched for her. Of course, Stefan hadn't wanted this for her, truly he'd hoped she would live a nice long human life and go and start a family with another man who wouldn't fall prey to Katherine or any woman like her, but would love her the way she deserved to be loved.

The longer he stood here with her trying to plead with her to listen to him the more he felt all of his emotions coming back. Maybe that would mean something to her, maybe she would understand that he was turning his emotions back on much sooner than he'd planned and for her. All so he could have a proper conversation with a girl he could've had everything with at one time. That had to mean something. It was a huge deal when emotions came back on after all, it showed that someone could against all odds make them feel things when they clearly didn't want to feel at all.

---

"What's done is done I suppose," Eleanor said before pouring herself another drink, "there's no real point in talking about how we would have redone things then because it's done; but we also have the rest of eternity to make things right." She said biting her lip. She hadn't come in with the expectation of believing a word Damon might've said to her, nor had she expected her heart to feel sad rather than painful. She hadn't even really wanted to forgive him if she were honest. However, she had never been one to hold a grudge or harsh feelings and the fact that she'd held onto this one for so long wasn't healthy. Eleanor wanted to be done with the bad feelings once and for all. This was her extending an olive branch and deciding that she would in fact give Damon a chance to redeem himself to her, but just one. If she felt hurt by him again the way she had back then she would leave town and he would never see her again, she'd make sure of it.

And for the first time since he'd approached her at the bar Eleanor closed the gap between them and took Damon's hand into her own and laced their fingers together. "I don't want to regret this, I want to trust you, so I'm giving you a chance Damon. If we are going to do this then we have to get to know one another again you realize that right? Neither of us are the same person we were in 1864. And this will be difficult given everything, but I am willing to see what happens if you are," She told him truly hoping that she wouldn't end up regretting this. And it made her wonder how well Addy was doing with Stefan. She hoped her friend was at least trying to hear him out, because Eleanor knew if anyone was going to struggle to move past things it would be Addy, she had always been very stubborn and held grudges for so long that she should've set a world record for grudge holding by now.

"It's not that simple, Stefan!" Adelaide exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. She could tell that it was working. His responses were becoming much less strained, and she noticed the shift in his demeanor straight away. She didn't know why she cared so much about getting him to turn his humanity back on. She didn't know why she still cared about him period, but she did. Maybe it was because she'd been there before, and more times than she cared to think about really. But Eleanor always managed to find her and bring her back. She always managed to ground her before she did something that she'd truly regret. Of course, that wasn't to say that she hadn't done her fair share of horrible things, and made some rather poor decisions with her humanity shut off, but they were all things that she eventually came back from. She wasn't going to let him continue to go on like this.

And so, she did the only thing that she could do. "I can't do this." She said, shaking her head before she turned and started to walk away. She hoped that if he thought that he was losing her again, it might bring him back over the edge. She knew that there was a chance that it wouldn't work, that he'd push all his emotions back down and allow her to walk away, but it was a chance that she was willing to take. If there was even the smallest part of him that was actually telling the truth, if he truly did care for her and if he really had loved her all those years ago then he wouldn't let her walk away.

---

Damon really didn't know what to expect now. Now that he had told her truth, and everything was out in the open, there was no point in dwelling too much on the past and all of the what-ifs. What was done was done. They couldn't go back and change things. Katherine had royally fucked everything up for them back then, but he hoped that Eleanor was seeing this moment the same way that he was. He hoped that now that she knew everything, she was willing to give him another chance. If that wasn't the case, he would respect her decision, but it would likely kill him to watch her leave again. He would probably do a lot of things that he wouldn't be able to come back from. Ones that were worse than the worst things he had done in the last hundred and fifty years. He wouldn't make her stay though. She had listened to him, and that was more than he could have ever hoped for.

Truthfully, he wasn't expecting the words that came out of her mouth next. He looked at her, surprised. He didn't want to interpret what she had said the wrong way, but it seemed as though she was going to give him a second chance. He didn't say anything at first, once again rendered speechless by the woman who had haunted his very thoughts for quite some time now. "So you'll stay then?" He asked, still wanting to make sure that he was hearing her properly. When she closed the gap between them and took his hand in her own, that was the only answer her really needed. "You won't regret this, Ellie, I promise. I want to get to know you again too, and we can take things at whatever pace you want to take them, I don't care as long as you're here."

That was it. As Stefan stood there and Adelaide turned her back on him to walk away for good and told him she couldn't do this he felt everything at once. Every single emotion came flooding back over him and he refused to let her walk away. He was not going to lose her again, not if there was even the smallest glimmer of hope that he could persuade her to stay and give him a chance to make it up to her. They did have forever after all, they literally had nothing but time left to get to know one another and have a life. Maybe not the one they had always pictured but one nonetheless. And so Stefan, somewhat clear minded, and full of emotions and probably acting a little irrational because his emotions were everywhere, ran to her grabbed her arm, spun her around to look to at him and with tears in his eyes sent her the most pleading look he'd ever worn.

"Don't leave, please," he said taking deep breaths to keep himself from full out crying. God he felt like such a baby, but the thought of losing her again, of never seeing her gorgeous face again except in dreams or pictures was enough to clearly turn his emotions back on and nearly break his heart. "Not yet at least, you want to know if I'm telling you the truth I can prove it to you. We'll have to go to the boarding house because all the proof you could ever need is there. So please, just come to one last place with me let me show you that I am not lying to you and I want you back in my life more than I have ever wanted anything. That I will spend the rest of eternity if that's what it takes making everything up to you if you will let me. And if after that you still don't believe me and still want to leave then I'll let you,"

---

Eleanor smiled up at Damon and for the first time since 1864 seeing his face didn't piss her off. She knew this was going to be weird for them both, it was going to take time and a lot of energy to get to know one another again. At least this time there wasn't a war going on that he might've died in which she was looking at as a plus. "So tell me about this Elena girl, who while she isn't Katherine looks exactly like her. And who in the brief moments I was near her picked up on the fact that she likes you and Stefan, which sounds an awfully lot like Katherine. I would like to know if she's going to be a problem that needs to be addressed before we repeat history," She told him knowing that likely would kill the mood but Eleanor also wasn't making her decision lightly. She was making her choice because at one point in time she had been so madly in love with Damon Salvatore that the thought of being without him was unbearable. They had been betrothed and happy they had talked about their future together and the family they would build, and things couldn't have been more prefect. Things were a lot different now though, they couldn't have a family at least not in the same way they could've then. But she still wanted to experience a life with him, a long life filled with love from the man who had stolen her heart long ago. And she would not under any circumstance let some Katherine look-a-like ruin this for her. So she needed to know.

Once they moved past Elena and Eleanor was even more sure that she could slowly start to trust Damon again she'd happily change the subject but until then she planned on standing her ground and being in the know of everything. "I know I might sound like some crazy jealous girlfriend who anyone in their right mind would break up with because she's way to possessive and she can't trust her man, but given history here I just don't want to start things off with any lies. I also don't want to have to compete with her or feel like I have to look over my shoulder because she might try and steal you away. I do understand that you and her have some kind of relationship with one another and that I don't get to waltz back into your life and demand you cut people out for me. And I don't want that, I just want to know I guess if you have feelings for her as well. But if she's not a threat us starting over I would be willing to try and get to know her and whoever else around here that you have in your life,"

Adelaide didn't think she'd ever seen him so broken, and it killed her to see him like that, but she knew that her actions had done exactly what she had hoped that they would. He had turned his humanity back on, there was no doubt about it. Even though there was still a part of her that resisted to the urge to let her guard down completely, she knew that she couldn't leave him just yet. Not like this anyway. She was stubborn and hardly ever dismissed a grudge, but this was Stefan, and even though he had practically ripped her heart out all those years ago, she wouldn't leave him like this. She'd hear him out at the very least, let him show her what he wanted to show her, and then she'd ultimately have a decision to make. This entire time she'd told herself that she was leaving after this conversation was done, but seeing him that way, seeing how vulnerable and open he was being with her, it reminded her of the man she loved. And she didn't know if she could leave knowing that.

"Okay." She finally said. "I'll go with you." She told herself that none of this changed anything, that she was likely going to leave regardless of whatever proof he had waiting for her at the boarding house, but she was lying to herself. She might not have forgiven him just yet, but that didn't mean that she couldn't forgive him. And, deep down, that scared the crap out of her. Because if she let him in again, there was a chance she'd end up heartbroken and alone just as she had been one hundred and fifty years ago.

---

Damon was never one to gush about his feelings the way that his brother did. He tended to keep a lot of things to himself, but when she smiled at him, he felt like a boy with their first crush on the girl sitting in front of them in class. He knew that so much had changed since they had last seen each other, but seeing her smile at him like that reminded him of simpler times. Better times. Times before Katherine sunk her claws into him and ruined everything. Times when the only person he truly needed to make him happy was Eleanor. Of course, that moment was a bit short-lived when she mentioned Elena, who was proving to be a thorn in his side more and more as time went on, but that was besides the point. "She's distantly related to Katherine, that's why she looks like her. There's more to it than that but that's the simplest way for me to explain it without us sitting here talking about Katherine for hours on end. She and Stefan dated on and off last year, I developed feelings for her for a bit, and then found out that she loved Stefan, and would never love me, I went off the deep end for a bit, but I'm over it. I've been over it for a while. She's not going to be any sort of a threat to you at all." He assured her.

No one was going to ruin this second chance that he had with Eleanor. Not even Elena Gilbert. She might look like Katherine, but that didn't mean that he had feelings for her anymore. He wasn't one to pine after people for very long, and after she rejected him, it did hurt for a bit, but it didn't bother him all that much at all in the grand scheme of things. "I know that I haven't fully earned your trust back just yet, but I can promise you that Elena Gilbert isn't going to be a problem, El."

Stefan hadn't realized that he'd been holding his breath waiting for her answer until she agreed to come with him and he let the breath out. "Let's go then," he said going to lead her towards the boarding house where he would let her read through as many or as few of his journals that she wanted. He'd always kept journals, even back then and surely she remembered how much value he had always placed on them, or how he'd always told her they were his private thoughts that he didn't let anyone else read aside from her. He'd kept up with journaling throughout the years. Anytime there were thoughts or feelings that he needed to get off his chest and out of his head he'd write it down as a way to deal. And he'd kept them all. Now not all his journal entries were insane love letters he'd written to her and some of them involved girls that weren't her. But he'd also been around for one hundred and fifty years hoping to one day find love again. A lot of the older ones were though. There were multiple entries about the things he'd wished he'd gotten to have with her, how much he'd missed her, how he wished he could've returned to her after he was no longer under Katherine's return. There were entries about dreams he'd had about her that had seemed so real that waking up from them had been a painful reminder of the things he'd lost. And hopefully she would read them and know that he wasn't lying about anything in regards to her. He would happily tell her anything she wanted to know and do anything to make things up to her.

"I do wonder what we might walk in on with Damon and Eleanor," He said as they headed towards the boarding house where he knew his brother and Eleanor were so they could have a similar chat to himself and Adelaide. And he had hopes that his brother was having some luck winning the brunette over. If Damon could win over Eleanor again all these years later then maybe Eleanor would be able to help him win over Adelaide if he needed it. After all, the pair were best friends and surely Eleanor was still able to talk sense into her friend in times like these. Though maybe it wouldn't come to that that Adelaide would just come around on her own.

---

Eleanor nodded her head in understanding while also trying not allowing herself to become jealous of the things Damon was telling her. If he said that she wasn't going to be a problem then Eleanor would believe him unless she was convinced otherwise. She did find that hearing him tell her about everything brought about made her want to show Damon how committed to him she was. As if all of a sudden she was the one needed to prove something to him. Eleanor suddenly hearing how some other girl not loving him caused him to go off the deep end made her want to show him that she would never abandon him. She wouldn't leave him for his brother and she wouldn't break his heart. It honestly pained her a little to think that neither herself nor Damon had spent the last one hundred and fifty years with someone they loved but apart. And then to think that he returned to Mystic Falls only to find a woman who looked like the one who'd taken everything from him who then didn't love him back. Eleanor didn't want to say she was in love with Damon because the Damon she stood before wasn't the same. He had lived one hundred and fifty years without her and had likely changed a lot over time. However she had once loved Damon and that love would hopefully come back to her.

It didn't take much to make Eleanor emotional today but being in her emotions she locked eyes with Damon before everything that followed. "I'm not going anywhere, I'm not choosing someone else over you, I am choosing us," she told him as she cupped his face in her hand and then pressed her lips firmly against his own. Oh it did feel good to kiss him. It was the kind of kiss that took your breath away, made you weak in the knees, and that did not end at just one kiss, ever. This was a lot more than she had planned for them when she'd first walked into the boarding house, this was not any of the ways she had pictured their meeting happening but she was embracing it. There was a lot of history and emotions here between them. And while they might not be picking up right where they left off, they may have been 'starting over' that was only a half truth. There were too many fond memories of a past life to really start over in full. They were just getting to know one another again all these years later.

"Lead the way." Adelaide said before following behind him. She didn't really know what he was going to show her once they got to the boarding house. While she was curious as to what his proof might be, she was just glad that she'd managed to get him to turn his humanity back on. She knew that it had been over a century since they had last seen each other, and he likely wasn't the same person that he'd been back then, she did notice that she found the person she was walking with to be much more like the man she'd fallen in love with all those years ago. Even though he had obviously changed quite a bit since then, she had as well, it was comforting to know that there was still some semblance of the person she once knew inside and out.

"Your guess is as good as mine." She said when he mentioned Eleanor and Damon. "Eleanor's always been a very forgiving person though." Her friend was much more willing to forgive than she was, and she knew that Damon was likely telling her the same thing that Stefan had told her, so there was a good chance that the conversation had gone over rather well between the two of them. Which likely meant that Eleanor would be sticking around Mystic Falls. Adelaide wouldn't be at all surprised if that was the case. After all, it had been Eleanor's idea to return to Mystic Falls in the first place. And it had taken a great deal of convincing on her friend's part just to get Adelaide to even consider it at first. Needless to say, Adelaide had gone into this knowing that there was a good chance that, if she chose to leave town, she'd be leaving Eleanor behind.

---

Damon wanted to be honest with her from the get-go. He wanted her to know that he and Elena had a history, but she wasn't going to ever pose any sort of a threat to them at all. He might have developed feelings for her once upon a time, but seeing Eleanor made him realize that, while he had loved Elena, nothing could ever compare to the feelings he once had for Eleanor. He still had feelings for her, well, the woman he once knew anyway. Neither of them were the same person that they had been all those years ago, but that didn't mean that the feelings went away, nor did it mean that he couldn't learn to love who she was now just as much if not more than who she once had been.

When she spoke and told him that she was choosing them, that she wasn't going to choose someone else, that was the only confirmation that she really needed. Maybe he was caught a tad bit off guard when she kissed him at first, but that was only because he didn't know how she wanted to go about things. If he could, he would have kissed her the moment he saw her in The Grill earlier, and it had honestly taken every ounce of self-control in his body not to do so. And so, when she kissed him, he was quick to reciprocate, hands moving to rest on her waist as he drew her petite frame in closer to him. Kissing her was even better than he remembered it being, and in that moment, he knew that he was screwed. He was already falling for her just as easily as he had all those years ago.

Stefan didn't want to intrude on any important conversation that they might be walking into when he and Adelaide walked into the boarding house, but he also didn't plan to linger near them at all really as he had his own important conversation to have. "Okay follow me," he told her as he walked inside and tried to avoid even looking towards Damon and Eleanor as to not distract what seemed like a kind of private and intimate moment, and rather he made a beeline towards a set of stair across the room so he could lead her into his bedroom. "I know this probably looks bad, because why on earth would I bring you to my bedroom right? What proof could I possibly have in here is also probably what you're wondering, but I'm going to show you just have a seat please," he said motioning for the desk against the wall so he could collect the exact journals that he needed. There were so many and not all of them were important, and Stefan knew if he wanted this to work out in his favor his best bet was his journals so he wanted to make sure that he picked the right ones.

After searching through all of his journals he found the ones he was looking for, a very small stack of three leather bound journals. The one on top was filled with pictures and captions he's written over the years regarding each picture so he would never forget the memories created in said pictures. The second one he had dubbed for dreams he had involving her that were felt so real it was more heartbreaking to wake up and realize they were dreams, and the third one was the journal he kept chronicling everything he'd felt and wanted to tell her over the years. In this one he spoke all about what had happened with himself and Katherine, how much guilt he'd felt abandoning her, how he hoped she could find her happily ever after with someone who deserved her. These three journals were the most precious things that he owned. He kept them hidden away from everyone else unlike the rest of them in which anyone in his room could easily come and grab if they wanted. Not that people did that very often. "Look at these, read these, and tell me if you still think I'm lying then. I swear to you Adelaide I haven't lied to you, I won't lie to you. And I want more than anything to just have a chance to make it up to you."

---

The last time Eleanor remembered being kissed like this was when she was human with Damon. It was the night before he'd left for the war, she'd sneaked into his room after she was sure everyone else was sleeping, because it was after all scandalous for a man and woman to be found in the same room after dark if they were unmarried. Though that was the least of the scandalous things that happened that night. Once she was in his room she knew she'd startled him at first because he hadn't been expecting her, but she'd made her reasons known to him. She had simply wanted to spend their last night together before he left, and she saw no wrong in that. She loved him he loved her and they were already set to be married after he'd returned so what was the harm in it? Eleanor also saw no harm then nor now about spending her night with Damon that night. She had no regrets about having sex with Damon before they were married either. She was honestly glad it had happened how it had. She couldn't imagine if the first time she had sex was as a vampire with some guy she barely knew, how she would handle that one.

When finally she pulled away she rested her forehead against his chest and smiled to herself. There truly were so many fond memories Eleanor had with Damon, so many moments they had shared that she knew were going to keep returning to the surface the more time they spent together, and she was reminding herself that even though Katherine had taken away their future then she would always have more happy memories with Damon and bad ones. The bad memories only span a total of a couple months maybe where as her happy memories with him spanned years. They may have been close to marriage when Katherine arrived but that was not even close to the beginning of their story. "There are no words for how I feel right now, nor do I have an idea of what I want really. Part of me wants to take things slow and the other part doesn't. After all, when did we ever taken things slow? If I remember correctly you started to try and court me when we were teenagers. My mother didn't like that very much as she thought you were not good for me. So we sneaked around because when I was told I couldn't have something I wanted it more. And thus began the Eleanor and Damon relationship,"

Adelaide should have known that his proof would be in his journals. He had always been an avid writer, documenting pretty much everything that went on in his life in his journals. She enjoyed looking through the first journal. The pictures allowed her to learn more about what Stefan had been up to over the years since she had last seen him. The saying pictures are a window to the soul came to mind as she looked at them all. She noticed that a lot of the captions mentioned a woman named Lexi, she seemed to have helped Stefan through a lot. Adelaide probably would have been a bit jealous had he not mentioned that he felt as though Adelaide would have liked some of the places they had been in some of those same captions. "Lexi helped you get through a lot." She commented as she set that particular journal aside before starting on the next one.

This one was centered completely around her. At first she thought that he had simply started writing down every single memory he had of her, but the more she read, the more she realized that a lot of what he had written down were things that never actually happened. He described everything so vividly though that if she hadn't known any better herself, she would have thought that he was describing actual memories. The first one that gave away that he was describing his dreams was one about their wedding. He described the dress that she wore down to the embroidered flowers, how she had never looked more beautiful to him than she had in that moment. The next was one where he spoke of the future they had both hoped for. The family they wanted to have. A little girl, about four, with fiery curls like her own and his eyes. A boy, just a few years older than the girl who looked exactly like he had as a child. And another on the way.

She didn't realize that she was crying until one of her tears escaped her eyes and fell onto one of the worn pages. While she had enjoyed looking through the first journal, this one had clearly hit her harder than she initially realized. Everything that he was describing, each and every single dream, was something that Katherine had taken away from them.

---

Damon didn't even notice Adelaide and Stefan walk past them and up the stairs. Even if he had, he likely wouldn't have acknowledged their presence, far too caught up in the moment he was sharing with Eleanor. Kissing her was just as amazing as he remembered it being all those years ago but, even so, his memory didn't give it nearly enough justice. He could have very easily dwelled on the past, and worried about the what-ifs, but that would mean wasting valuable time that he had with Eleanor in the present. Sure, they had an eternity to share together now, but that didn't mean he wanted to spend most of it stuck in the past. No, it would much rather focus on the here and the now. And he knew that there were other things that he needed to deal with. Klaus was still a threat given the fact that Stefan had the coffins hidden from him, but all of that could wait. The only thing that truly mattered right now was her and being present with her.

"We can take this as fast or as slow as you want to. Just say the word, and I'm yours." He pressed his lips to the crown of her head when she pulled away, and found himself smiling, truly smiling, for the first time in he didn't even really know how long. "I do believe I recall eventually winning your mother over." He reminded her. It had taken quite a bit of time, and some help on Addy's part, before that happened though. "I also recall Adelaide covering for us so that we could sneak off as often as we did." He laughed, thinking about all of the times the redhead had covered for them whenever Eleanor's mother came looking for her. "And she was also the one who introduced us to each other if my memory serves me right. I don't think that I can ever thank her enough for doing so." He pressed another kiss to her head.

Stefan stood close to the door watching Adelaide go through the journals hoping that this would be enough to prove to her that not once had Stefan wanted to hurt her. Never had he wanted to abandon her or make her feel the way he had. If Katherine hadn't come into town and compelled him away from her then he would've kept his promise to her. He would've married her, started a family, and made sure that she had everything in the whole world. Stefan would have, and still would honestly, do anything in the world for her. She was his very first love, and truthfully she was still the most important to him. Of course, he knew that if she decided to stay that they would have to get to know one another all over again. He knew both of them would also have to put forth and effort into things. He would do anything to make her happy, and she would of course, have to work on forgiving him but helpfully that would be easier now that she knew he wasn't lying to her.

When he heard her start to cry he knew that he'd likely gotten his point across, though he hadn't wanted to make her cry. "Hey," he said walking up to her and kneeling down in front of her. "It's okay, she can't take anything else from us ever again. And if she ever even so much as tries it will be the last thing that she does," He told her softly not sure if he could comfort her right now. He knew what he would do if things weren't so tense between them right now, but he was trying to start winning her back and he didn't want to overstep any boundaries and rather push her farther away. That was not why he'd brought her up here. He did know how Adelaide was feeling though, he'd felt the same way. Katherine had stolen away his entire human future with the woman he loved and that was painful but the way he was looking at this was at least they could be together and do everything in their power to try and live as normally as possible for well ever.

---

If there was anything in the world that Eleanor would wish for in that moment it would've been to have a normal human existence with Damon. A life where they could get married and start a family. She would've wished for them to finally get what was taken from them so long ago. She knew it would never happen, after all, there wasn't a cure for vampirism and so this was the life they would have to accept but it couldn't hurt to wish for things. "Tell me something," she said softly, "I know I'm not just some girl, but if I were, what you do? I mean I know a version of you who was kind and gentle. A man who would wait for me at the bottom of the stairs or hold open doors. We use to share secrets and tender moments. I was never once afraid of trusting you with everything. But I know you're probably not still that man. After all, we've lived a long life so far without one another. And it's okay because I can't expect everything to be the same as it was then, even if you're the same I'm not. So with that being said what would you do now? If we barely knew one another but clearly there's something between us what would you do?" She asked him before pulling herself away from him so she could walk across the room and poor herself yet another glass of bourbon.

"Also is there anything alcoholic in this house other than bourbon?" She laughed wondering not only when Damon had acquired a taste for something so strong. Liquid courage, that's definitely what she would classify bourbon as, at least for herself. She'd noticed over time that alcohol had different effects on her depending on what type it was, because some got her drunk faster than others. She wouldn't after all drink wine before having a conversation she was dreading because that wouldn't help much. And she felt like the mood they were both in required something other than bourbon.

They got engaged very young, even for back then. At seventeen, they were both still kids, but it never seemed to bother them much, and it certainly didn't bother their families. Adelaide always supposed it was because the Stanton and Salvatore families had always been rather close. Her mother had been good friends with Lillian, and her father just as good of friends with Giuseppe. Although it was frowned upon for girls to interact with boys back then, she, Stefan and Damon grew up together. Damon was always like the older brother she never had. And Stefan wasn't just her first love, he had been her childhood best friend. That was why when he cast her aside when Katherine arrived in Mystic Falls it hurt as much as it did. Not only was she losing the man she loved, she was also losing her best friend. When all else failed, she always had Stefan to go back to. She honestly didn't know how to cope afterwards, and she certainly didn't know how to when she transitioned. The only reason she remained grounded and didn't completely give into the bloodlust was because she had Eleanor there to keep her in check.

Of course, she tried her best to put on a brave face and act like it didn't bother her, but that didn't mean it didn't. It didn't matter how many times she shut her humanity off, or how much she tried to act cold and indifferent because, deep down, the wounds were still there. And that was likely why reading through Stefan's journals likely hit her as hard as it did. It didn't matter how long she'd been trying to mask her pain, it was still there, and it was ever so present right now. When she heard him approach, she tried quickly to brush the tears off her face to hide them from him, but she knew that he had seen. She hated feeling vulnerable, it made her feel weak. Ever since 1864, she told herself that she wouldn't allow herself to show any signs of vulnerability or weakness, and she was usually pretty successful at doing so, for the most part anyway. All of her hard work seemed to be for naut in that moment though. All it took was a few words on paper to cause the walls she had spent so much time building up to come crumbling down. "I never understood what happened." She admitted, finally allowing herself to look at him. "I always wondered what she had that I didn't. Did she have more money? Was she prettier than me? I could never figure it out. We were best friends for seventeen years--it never added up. But I'm not that girl anymore, Stefan, I haven't been her in a really long time."

---

Damon still resented Katherine for what she did to him to this very day. Maybe it wouldn't have mattered as much if he was the only one affected, but he wasn't. The woman was poison. She ruined the lives of just about every single person she came in contact with. It always haunted him knowing that he never got to properly say goodbye to Eleanor. He even considered looking for her once he transitioned, but he always talked himself out of doing so. He figured that by then she probably presumed him dead, and he might as well have been dead. He couldn't give her any of the things that he promised her that he would before Katherine showed up. They couldn't start a family or grow old together. And he wasn't going to ask to turn her either, he wouldn't be that selfish. If he had known that she had suffered a similar fate to his own though, he likely would have spent all of eternity searching for her if that was what it took.

"I would try my best to charm you." He told her. "Although, at this point in the evening, with you here already, it would appear as though I had done so already. I'd offer you a drink just as I had before, we'd talk for a little while, and then I would come up with an excuse to bring you upstairs. If I had to at least. But this is me we're talking about, so I probably wouldn't need an excuse to get you to come upstairs with me." He laughed when she asked if there was something else in the house besides Bourbon. "Are you insulting my alcohol selection, Miss Abbot?" He disappeared for a few moments, appearing shortly after with an aged bottle of Merlot. "Will this please the lady more?"

Stefan stayed right where he was not planning to make any sudden movements or try anything that might set her off. He truly did not want to ruin what was possibly his only chance at keeping her in his life. "I'm not the same guy you knew either. A lot has changed for me as well over the years. I've experienced things that you don't just come out of okay. I've done things that I will never be able to wash away, but that's not the point here. Yes, we're different people then we were then, we don't really know each other anymore, but would it be so bad if we got to know each other again? I mean it might not look how we wanted it to back then but we could have an eternity together. I don't want to push you into something you don't want, and I understand if you want to leave and not look back. I won't stop you. But I'm just asking that you think about us being in each others lives again. Even if it's just as friends and nothing more. I don't want to lose you again but I also want to see you happy again," he told her standing up and trying to keep himself together.

He did plan on keeping his end of the bargain they'd made. She'd come here with him and looked over what he'd wanted, she knew the truth now, and like he'd told her if she wanted to leave she could. He wouldn't be upset with her or chase after her, or do anything to stop her from whatever decision that she made. Though he did hope she'd decide to stay. Stefan felt like this could be good for them both. They could both finally get some peace about things, they could just be together in whatever capacity she wanted. He wasn't going to push her anymore though. He'd said his peace and he was going to leave it at that.

---

"Oh you're that sure of yourself then? Such confidence that I've been charmed enough to go to bed with you," Eleanor laughed as she watched him very intently. She would go to bed with him right now, she knew she would. Because as much as it shocked others at times Eleanor was and always had been a very flirtatious person. She also quite enjoyed the physical aspects of being with a person a tad bit more than the emotional ones. Sure she found the emotional aspects important but they weren't as much fun as physically just being with someone. Though she was a bit rusty on relationships given that she hadn't had a solid one with a man since 1864. There had been a few flings here and there to keep her mind occupied when she felt sad or lonely but nothing serious. Honestly, the last guy she could've seen herself making an eternity with she hadn't seen since the early 1900s. So Eleanor knew very well that she would being the very person she is sleep with Damon, however this little game they were playing was fun so she'd draw it out and make him work for it.

"I am a lady Mr. Salvatore and ladies do not drink bourbon, so yes a nice Merlot would be nice," She said trying not to laugh at herself for that one. There were plenty of lady like things about Eleanor, she was raised to be a lady after all. However there were also just as many un-lady like things about her. Things that she knew would make her mother roll over in her grave. But Eleanor had never cared much for the rules society put on her either. "So that's it then? You'd bring me here to your home, and then charm me into going upstairs with you. What a scoundrel you are, so aside from your bedroom on what I'm sure is the most lavish bed money could buy, and I'm dubbing off limits for the time being, where upstairs would we go? Surely there's more to our time together?" She said as she took the bottle of Merlot from him and went to pour herself a glass. Then she walked back to her bag she'd tossed on the couch earlier and pulled out some lip gloss before sitting on the edge, crossing her legs, and looking at him while she applied it.

It was in that moment that Adelaide realized she couldn't leave. For the last one hundred and fifty years all she did was run. She never stayed in one place for longer than a couple of years which, in reality, was more like a few weeks or months to a vampire, but she was done running. She had a reason to stay. Stefan. She couldn't just leave after seeing him for the first time in over a century. They weren't the same people anymore, they had both established that much already, but that was okay. People change, and they had one hundred and fifty years to do so at this point, but Stefan was right. That didn't mean that they couldn't get to know each other again. They had an eternity to do so, and sure the circumstances behind it all still kind of sucked, but that didn't mean they couldn't make the most of what had initially been a shitty situation. This was a second chance, an opportunity for them to start over, and it was an opportunity that Adelaide wanted to take advantage of.

"Okay, I'll stay. I'm not ready to jump into anything right now though, I don't know when I will be, but I really did miss my best friend." She admitted, offering him the first smile she'd sent his way in over a century. They'd been apart longer than they had been together, but she was ready to put all of that behind him and get to know the man that he was now. She didn't know when she'd be ready to take things past friendship, but he was right. They had an eternity together, there was no need rush into things right away. "So, if you're okay with that...friends?"

---

"Of course I am, I won you over once, I'm sure I'm capable of doing it again." Damon said a bit cockily. "Plus, you've been flirting with me for the last hour or so, Eleanor, don't even bother denying it." He sent a signature smirk her way before taking a sip of his drink. He would absolutely take her to bed with him right now if that was what she wanted. He'd had over a century of experience at this point, but it all stemmed from his interactions with her. She was the first girl he'd ever truly loved, and would likely be the last one he loved from here on out. He was confident that, with time, they could rebuild what they once had and truly get to know each other the way that they had. If she wanted to take things slow, he'd respect that decision, but he'd match whatever pace she set. The ball was completely in her court at this point.

"My apologies, Miss Abbot. I'll be sure to have the best wines stocked whenever you're around." Bourbon was usually just what he tended to gravitate towards. Usually he drank to curb his cravings for blood, but he also used alcohol as a way to numb whatever strong emotions he was feeling at the time. He hadn't done well with all of that in a very long time. That was why he tended to stick with flings and not getting overly attached to anyone he was sleeping with. The fear of attachment since Eleanor never really left him. Of course, things would be different now that she was back, but if she didn't want to jump to that straight away, then they didn't have to. "You asked what I would do if you were just some random girl I happened to meet, I'm being honest with you." He said, punctuating his words with a shrug of his shoulders.

Stefan nodded his head. "Friends if fine," he told her happy that she was staying. This was the only thing he wanted to get to know her again. He wanted to rebuild something with her, anything really. And while he would be lying if he said he didn't hope to one day have a romantic relationship with her again Stefan was fine starting from the bottom and being friends for as long as she needed. It probably wasn't the best idea for him to jump into a romantic relationship right now anyway. He'd barely been broken up with Elena, and that alone he knew was going to be an interesting conversation with Addy. So he had time at least now to heal from that and find a way to tell Addy about her whenever they had a talk about past relationships. Not that he was expecting there to be a lot or anything because there wasn't for him and he knew nothing about her life up until now, but there was Elena and he would want to sit her down and make sure Addy knew there was nothing there anymore. Though he couldn't tell her that until it was true. He did plan to make sure that Elena knew that they were over for good too. Not only because he was holding onto hope for a relationship that would take awhile to come along if it did ever again, but also because he couldn't string her along or leave her any hope. He would not let his relationship with Adelaide be ruined by Katherine or anyone who looked like her again.

"So I'm not really sure what to do now," he said sheepishly. "I am happy you've decided to stay though." It might not be just like old times yet but he felt like with the two of them it could feel like old times in no time. "I do wonder what's going on with El and Damon though. I mean she's your best friend and he's my brother so we both have a reason to want to know what's going on right?" He asked wondering if she also remembered the few times they would sneak around to try and hear what Eleanor and Damon were talking about. Probably because they were both older than them and hearing what adults had to say to one another seemed much more interesting back then.

---

Eleanor smiled at Damon, "'well good thing I'm not just some girl then." When she had someone wrapped around her finger she knew, and it was clear that she still had Damon wrapped around her own. Not that she would ever exploit that in a way to harm him or others, just to have fun much like they were doing now. "And you're right I have been flirting, I don't deny that. It's one of my many charms," she told him. "Also since I've decided to stick around for a while you should know that I prefer sweet white wines, and popcorn. Oh and I just realized that I'll need a place to stay, I mean a girls gotta rest her head somewhere. And I'm sure my old place of resident is either no longer standing or inhabited by someone else. I hope if it is still around though that whoever lives there has taken care of the place. Actually you wouldn't happen to know what happened to it would you? And an ever better question is the Lockwood Manor still around? I haven't exactly had a chance to visit around town since I've been back. And before I got distracted that was one of the many places I was hoping to stop by. Obviously I know I'll have to have someone invite me in. Do you think you could help me get in?" She asked biting her lip.

She knew she sounded crazy right now, they'd just been clearly flirting and now here she was asking to go to someone else house, but it was important that she get in there. "I promise to answer any questions you have as to why I need in there so badly on the way if you promise to help me get in," she added knowing that would be an interesting conversation to have with Damon, but well in the spirit of being honest she would tell him. They were trying to rebuild something on honesty with each other. She now knew all about what had happened with Katherine and she didn't expect that Damon had exactly taken a vow of abstinence from sex over the last hundred and fifty years. She hadn't.

Adelaide was glad that he was willing to take things slow. Obviously they had known everything that there was to know about each other when they were both human, but they had lived a century and a half without each other. She wanted to take the time to get to know him again before jumping into anything. She knew that she had loved him once, and he her, but they were both different people now. She wanted them to know each other inside and out just as they used to before she even considered taking things to the next level. She knew that they probably had a lot to talk about, so it wasn't like their time together was going to be filled with nothing at all. "You can admit it you know." She said, a teasing lilt to her words. "You missed me, Salvatore, and you know it." Things felt...lighter between them now. There was no unnecessary tension anymore and she liked that a lot. It was definitely a step in the right direction to say the least.

"Are you suggesting that we spy on Damon and Eleanor?" She questioned, punctuating her words with a raised eyebrow. "Because I have no idea why you would suggest such a thing. Any respectable one hundred and sixty-five year old would never spy on others, and I just so happen to be a very respectable woman, Stefan." There was so much sarcasm dripping from her words. She knew that she was completely full of it. They used to spy on Eleanor and Damon all the time. Both before and after they themselves had become more than friends. She would be lying if she said that she wasn't at least somewhat curious to find out what the two were talking about downstairs.

---

"You're the farthest thing from being just some girl." Damon told her. Eleanor had and would always be special to him. Even when he thought her to be dead, she still held a special place in his heart. That was why he never really got involved with anyone romantically over the years. Sure, he had his fair share of sex, he did have urges to satisfy after all, but he just never connected to those people the same way that he had with Eleanor. "There's plenty of room here, so you're more than welcome to stay." He wasn't about to tell her to find somewhere else to stay. That would be a major dick move on his part, and it certainly wouldn't make sense for him to tell her to stay somewhere else anyway given the fact that he was trying to rekindle things with her.

He was a bit surprised when she brought up the Lockwood manor though. Whatever reason she had for going there seemed rather important which definitely peaked his curiosity to say the least. He wouldn't hound her with questions though, she had after all just told him that she would explain her reasoning to him. "As a matter of fact, it does still exist. Granted, it's been revamped a couple of times over the years, but it does still exist, and I happen to be on good terms with Mayor Lockwood, so getting you invited in shouldn't be too much of a problem. If we're going to go we should go now though. I don't exactly think the mayor would appreciate us showing up on her doorstep in the middle of the night."

"You know it would be fun to spy on them. I mean it's El and Damon when has it not been fun to spy on them? And who cares if we're one hundred and sixty-five we deserve to have some fun at our age," Stefan joked also noticing how much lighter things already felt between them. He was thankful the tension was gone, that had been almost unbearable. He had missed this more than anyone other than Addy would really understand. Being without his best friend since he was seventeen had been incredibly dull, awful, full of sadness with only glimpses of happiness. But regardless of what became of them he could go into the future now with a much brighter attitude because she was back in his life. "And as a matter of fact I have missed you," He said, and he would never deny that fact

Stefan hadn't thought that Eleanor and Damon might have left and there would be no one to spy on, because when he'd arrived with Addy only maybe an hour before they'd been right downstairs and nothing indicated they would leaving anytime soon. However when he took her hand and pulled her along with him to try and sneak on the pair he thought was downstairs he found the room empty. "I wonder where they went at this hour," he said actually feeling more and more curious to what the pair could possibly be up to. Hopefully, Damon was being a good version of himself given it was Eleanor and he wasn't taking her onto a killing spree or something else insane Damon had been prone to doing over the last century and a half.

---

Eleanor nodded her head and grabbed his hand. "Lets go then, it's rather imperative that I get this done. And since clearly I've already let myself be distracted for this long so who knows when I would remember next," she told him leading him outside and towards one of the cars in the driveway. She hoped that in the times the Manor had been revamped what she was looking for hadn't been found. Though she was sure it wouldn't be, there were only ever two people who even knew about her hiding place as far as she knew and surely that spot had never been found. "I suppose you're wondering why it's so important to me that I go there, and as promised I'll tell you," she told him biting her lip for just a moment to figure out the best place to start.

"The reason my mother didn't like you was because I was supposed to marry George Lockwood. My father thought it best to try and make a grab for power by marrying off his only daughter to a Lockwood and so when George and I were young everything was set into place. The day we both became of age there was supposed to be a wedding. Only my father got sick and died before I became of age, then I met you, and my mother did not like that. The way she saw it I already belonged to someone and I was being a tramp stringing you along the way I was. Which was why I would sneak away to see you, because I knew she'd never allow it and because I did not want to marry George, he didn't want to marry me either though. We were friends, mostly because we'd been forced to spend so much time together that it was the only choice. So together George and I devised a plan to ruin the whole agreement, which we did. My mother was furious with us at first but she did come around eventually. Anyway things went on as normal after that, I saw you in public and George did his own thing to try and woo the girl he really wanted. Then Katherine came to town and when I wasn't trying to get you to talk to me or with Addy going insane about why you were acting so weird I was with George. He was actually the last person I talked to before I got sick. After Katherine was gone and I had presumed you dead and Addy was dying I had a little bit of a breakdown. I thought I was going to be left all alone in the world. Both my parents were dead the man I loved I thought was dead and hadn't loved me, my best friend was dying, I had no one. And I think George knew this so he'd come to my house and found me sobbing over this box. That's when he pulled me off the ground and took me to the Manor, the box too. And when we arrived we talked for a bit so he could calm me down, he showed me this hiding place that he'd found in his room and we hid the box there. I guess he thought I might want it back one day, which thank goodness because I would like it back now. And I'm not going to tell you what's inside the box because I think it would be better if I showed you, assuming it's still there,"

In that moment, Adelaide found herself laughing, really laughing, for the first time in a really long time. "I suppose we do deserve to have a bit of fun." She said before he was tugging her out of his room and down the stairs so that they could spy on Eleanor and Damon. "And I suppose that I may have missed you too." She knew that she had missed him, and she was realizing it even more now that they were on much better terms with each other. They both might have changed a lot over the years, but this felt exactly like it had back then. It was nice. Things were so much simpler before Katherine and all of this had happened. It was nice to feel a little bit more carefree than she had since, well, she was human.

She looked around once they got downstairs, equally as surprised as he was to find neither member of the party they planned on spying present any longer. "Your guess is as good as mine." She said. "It must have been something important if they did leave though." She wasn't going to try to figure out their reason for leaving the boarding house at this hour though. "Not to be a total buzzkill or anything, but are you going to tell me why you had your humanity switched off?" She asked as she took a seat on the couch. She figured now was no better time than any other to really start to catch up with each other.

---

Everything that Eleanor told him was news to him. Damon had no idea that she was already spoken for when he started to try to pursue her let alone that she was spoken for by George Lockwood of all people. She never mentioned it to him, and neither had Adelaide for that matter. Of course, Adelaide had been all for them getting together when she found out that Damon had been completely captivated by Eleanor. Everything that the brunette was telling him now made him wonder why the redhead had never mentioned any of it to him. He supposed that Adelaide simply had Eleanor's best interest and happiness at heart though, that was very much the type of person that she'd always been.

"George Lockwood, really?" He asked as he unlocked the car so that they could be on her way. "After you, Miss Abbot." He sent one of his charming smiles her way as he opened the passenger door for her. Maybe he was laying the charm and chivalry on a bit thicker than he normally would in this day and age, but he had well over a century to make up for and he intended on doing so the right way. "I always did wonder why your mother didn't like me. Not saying that it's impossible, but I always was extremely likable."

Stefan didn't have time to even try and figure out where they might've gone because Adelaide was jumping right into things. And why not, they did want to get to know one another again and what better time to talk about things then when you have a house to yourself. "Jumping right in, okay," he said running his hands over his face. "The short story is that Klaus Mikaelson came to town not too long ago and he compelled me to turn them off and um help him hunt down werewolves because he wanted to make Hybrids and thought ripper Stefan would be a fun counterpart. Of course, then we parted ways and I wasn't quite ready to turn them back on so I stole his family that he keeps daggered in coffins to get back at him. So I'm sure it's only a matter of time before he comes looking for them," Stefan said sighing as he realized that he had so much on his plate he wasn't sure how he was going to juggle it all suddenly. This was why he hadn't wanted to turn his emotions back on yet, but he didn't regret it. Honestly, he would've ended up regretting leaving them off and letting Addy walk away.

"Klaus isn't something you need to worry about though, I mean when he comes after anyone it will be me for stealing his family. And I will give them back to him, as long as he keeps my terms. All I want is for him to leave town and not come back. He's trouble, and no one around here likes him. He complicates things, and everyone would be better off if he left town for good," he said wanting her to know what he was planning, or at least some of what he was planning. Really that was all he knew he hadn't exactly planned out what he was going to tell Klaus when he came looking for his family because rather than stay in the Grill and figure that out he'd gotten distracted by a beautiful red headed woman he never thought he'd see again. He felt like it was going to be a long night.

---

"He wasn't terrible, I mean the worst thing about him was that he was a werewolf. Well, that and he could be pretty arrogant but overall he wasn't a bad guy," Eleanor said as she got into the car ready to go to the Manor and retrieve what was hers. She did hope that it was still there, and while it wouldn't be the very end of the world if it wasn't she would be upset. "And now you know. Honestly, I think it was more me she didn't like not you. I was the daughter after all who wouldn't listen and who sneaked out of her bedroom to be with a man she wasn't betrothed to. I was the one who persuaded George to actually go along with my plan to get us out of our predicament, I was the disappointment who refused to follow the rules that had been set in place to protect me. But you know what she's gone and can't be disappointed in me or my life choices anymore," She said sighing as once again Eleanor was reminded of how little love she'd felt from her own mother. It wasn't something she thought of very often but when those thoughts did cross her mind they tended to leave her a bit upset. So she pushed them down before they could fully surface as she had other things she wanted to do tonight. Thing that did not involve crying over her mommy not loving her.

Eleanor liked to think of her happy moments when she was human, the moments she'd felt love or truly alive. And thinking about walking into the Lockwood Manor brought a smile to her face. "I think when you see what I want to show you Damon you're going to be in shock. It is a surprise though, so as long as it's where it should be then I'll just be taking it with me and we can return to the boarding house with it."

Adelaide knew that she was asking questions pretty quickly, but they had well over a century of time to catch each other up on. Not to mention the fact that it usually took a lot to cause a vampire to shut off their humanity for any length of time, or at least that was her own experience with it all anyway. She had fallen into a routine of acting indifferent and as though nothing hurt her, but that was usually just an act, a part of the walls she had put up over the years. When she shut off her humanity though, that was a different animal entirely. She only ever did that when feeling emotions of any kind hurt too much, so she kind of assumed something major had happened for Stefan to do so.

"Mikaelson. That's a name that I haven't heard in a long time." She said. The last she had heard that last name was from Eleanor several decades prior. During one of their stints of time apart, her friend had crossed paths with the original family. She'd even had a fling with one of them. Adelaide never crossed paths with any of them herself, she only knew what she did from Eleanor. "There's never a dull moment in this town, is there?" It was pretty ironic that she and Eleanor had spoken of how dull and boring small towns could be on their way into to town earlier, and yet they was clearly still nothing dull or boring about Mystic Falls. "That's where you're wrong. If he's going to try to go after you then he is my problem just as much as he is yours." They might have been apart longer than they had been together, but they were trying to start over now. They were friends again, and if some original douchebag was going to come after Stefan, well, he was going to have to deal with her too.

---

"I didn't know him all that well personally, but if he helped you and I ultimately end up together, then he can't be half bad." Damon never imagined that he would owe a werewolf one, but he supposed he did owe it to George Lockwood or else he and Eleanor might not have had a real shot together at all. Of course, Katherine had ruined that shot, but it appeared as though they had a second chance together now. One that he planned on taking full advantage of. "Of course, the rebellious daughter. Every mother's worst nightmare." He said with a smirk. It was the rebellious streak in her, the fire within her, that captivated him most of all. After all, there were very few women, if any at all, back in 1864 willing to sneak off with him for a late night rendezvous. "If she couldn't see how incredible you were, then it's her loss, not yours." If there was anyone who understood what it was like being a disappointment to a parent, it was Damon. His father always looked down on him for returning from the war early, and then he and Stefan became the very thing that their father hated the most.

"Now you're just teasing me. Not telling me what's in this mystery box of yours, but telling me that I'm going to be shocked when I see what you have hidden inside? That's just cruel, El." He shook his head in faux disbelief. "I'll do the talking once we get there. I know Carol very well, we're on the founder's council together. Once we're inside, I'll keep her distracted long enough for you to go find your box."