Bloodstream | Closed.

Bonnie nodded her head. “Yeah. Pretty sure she already sent out applications for all of us,” she joked, smiling at her. It wasn’t a bad college at all. It was a good choice, so she wouldn’t mind going there at all.

---

“It keeps misfiring,” Marie said. “I have no idea what’s causing it.” When they pulled up to his house, she climbed out of the car and led him over to her car. “It’s pretty old. But I guess, maybe it’s not that old compared to yours.”

Evie couldn’t help but roll her eyes. She loved Caroline but she could be so controlling sometimes. “Well at least we can take a look around now without the scheduled tour guide,” she joked.

Obviously they weren’t there to look at the school for college but the redhead knew they’d end up getting a feel for the place looking for Elena.

“Have you ever been to Whitmore, Damon?”

---

Stefan stated at Marie’s car and smiled. “She may not be as old but she’s still pretty old.”

Stefan hasn’t seen one of Marie’s cars since it was probably on the sales took floor at car lots. He had honestly forgotten they had existed but to him all that meant is he was definitely going to be kept busy if it wasn’t an easy fix and he was up for the challenge. If he ever got a normal human job Stefan knew it would be as a mechanic.

The younger Salvatore opened the car good up and began looking at the engine, trying to see if he could find anything wrong with it that way. If they didn’t need to order parts or it was an easy fix Stefan wanted to make sure.

“College? Not my scene,” Damon said. He may have stopped by a few times for the girls, but going to school? That wasn’t for him. Besides, he never stayed in one place long enough to even consider going to school. Although, now he’d been back in Mystic Falls for nearly two years. That was a long time for him to stay in one place.

---

Marie smiled as she watched him. Her eyes wandered over his body, taking in every inch of him before her mind began to wander. “Stefan? What was it like when you first turned?” she asked. She’d heard the horror stories about new vampires not being able to control their bloodlust, but Caroline had made it seem so easy. But maybe that was also because she had Stefan’s help.

“Not for school,” Evie stated. “To live or to have a late night snack or whatever you call it when you hunt people.”

She had never really asked Damon about his life before he followed Stefan back to Mystic Falls. Everything she really knew about the older Salvatore brother was through Stefan or someone else second hand.

---

Stefan was honestly a little caught off guard by Marie asking about his transition. He looked over at her, hesitating as he tried to find the right words to say. It had honestly been very traumatic and it had ruined his relationship with his brother for the longest time.

“It was hard,” he admitted. “The moment I decided to drink human blood to finish the transition my whole life changed.”

Stefan never thought of vampirism as something glamorous or special. If anything he considered it a burden and a curse.

“A few times,” Damon said. “The girls there are delicious. You two would fit right in.”

Bonnie rolled her eyes and glanced at Damon in the rearview mirror before looking back at the road. She didn’t like the idea of Damon imagining what Evie’s blood tasted like. He’d bitten her before, so that didn’t bother her, but Damon had never bitten Evie before. As far as she was aware.

---

Marie nodded her head. “If you could go back, would you choose not to do it?” she asked curiously. She’d always imagined what it would be like for her if she were ever turned. She didn’t want to be, though. She was content being her human self. She’d seen and heard about the hell that Stefan had gone though and didn’t want to have to live like that. She couldn’t imagine hurting anyone, or drinking blood. The thought alone made her stomach turn.

Evie looked at Damon through the rear view mirror, blushing bright red when he said that Bonnie and her would fit right in. She knew Damon had tasted Bonnie’s blood before but he had never drank from her unless he had last night and she didn’t remember.

---

Stefan nodded. “Honestly even with all the good I’ve had here with you and everyone else I don’t think it’ll ever outweigh the bad,” he admitted.

He had been alive for over a hundred years and his sins would probably always follow him no matter where he went. He had started by killing his father on cold blood and his body count had only grown from there. He was a ripper and while he had found a way to control his bloodlust the fear he would lose control again was always in the back of his mind.

Damon caught Evie’s eyes in the rearview mirror and smirked at her, doing that thing with his eyebrows that made all the girls swoon.

Bonnie reached down to change the radio station, completely oblivious to the eye games going on between the other two in the car. Right now, all she was focused on was driving and finding Elena.

---

Marie stepped towards him and lightly placed her hand on his arm. “You have an eternity to make up for all the bad,” she said softly. “And I’m glad I get to be a part of that.” She smiled up at him, hoping that her presence could at least ease the negative thoughts and feelings just a bit. She knew he’d never let go completely of all of those thoughts and feelings, but maybe she could at least help distract him from them a bit.

Evie quickly looked away from Damon, moving to look out the window instead. She couldn’t stop the heat from staying formed on her cheeks. She hated that Damon wouldn’t stop doing things to make her blush. Of course she knew it was part of him busy being himself. He liked getting a rise out of people and she needed to learn to not react to him.

---

Stefan was glad he had people like Marie as a friend even if he didn’t fully believe what she was saying. He had heard what she from multiple people in his past but he had yet to fully believe it himself.

“I’m glad to you’re apart of my life too,” he replied.

Stefan turned his attention back to Marie’s car, finding what he thought could be the problem. It looked like a lugnut in the engine was cracked and needed to be replaced.

The rest of the drive to Whitmore was pretty uneventful, but Bonnie was just glad that Damon kept his mouth shut for the most part. When they arrived at the college, Bonnie parked the car and climbed out, walking around to open Evie’s door for her.

---

Marie nodded her head, pulling her hand back and sighing softly. She watched him work on her car in silence, feeling like no matter what she said, it didn’t make much of a difference. So she didn’t want to keep bothering him with her words.

Evie smiled when Bonnie opened the car door for her. The redhead pecked the brunette’s lips before she opened the trunk and grabbed their bags. The witch walked into the lobby of the hotel they were going to stay at, slightly worried when she was told they only room available with two beds.

The redhead looked over her shoulder at Bonnie and Damon, hoping they would be okay with the sleeping situation. The beds were big enough she and Bonnie could share a bed and Damon could have another. “Are you two going to be able to play nice if we all share a room,” Evie asked.

---

“I think I may have figured out the problem,” Stefan stated.

He pointed to the cracked lugnut, hoping Marie would see it was cracked. “That’s probably the cause of your problem,” he spoke. “Once we replace that lugnut everything should work again.”