Whatever It Takes {Two | Alaric Saltzman}

I'd Leave My Happy Home For You

"I'm okay. I mean, I drank an entire bottle of thousand-dollar bourbon and now I'm packing to go on vacation while Alaric gets married. But I'm so..." Abigail threw another t-shirt into her suitcase. "Not okay."

Bonnie guided her back into the living room. "This is where we could use Caroline's optimism..."

"Well, she's not here." Disappointed by the way her voice sounded coming out of her mouth, she sat down on the couch with a sigh. "Which is understandable."

When Elena casted a worried glance in Bonnie's direction, they didn't think she noticed. "We think we know how to cheer you up."

"And how's that?"

"The diner Mom used to take us to finally reopened."

The renovations to the Mystic Falls Diner were hardly noticeable, and definitely not cause enough for it to have been closed for the better part of a year, but they were necessary. A new tile floor to replace the one Abigail slipped on after coming in from the snow every year. New booths to replace the ones that were cracking before all three of the Gilbert siblings had to squeeze into one side of them. Then there was the most obvious, the change that kept the restaurant true to its original form: the decorations. They had not been replaced, only added to, and just like before, they took their time pointing out their favorites.

The booth furthest from the door but closest to the kitchen was the one that they always chose. From necessity at first, Abigail could see that now, but as it became theirs, there was no other place that seemed right. And that was where they were sitting when silence found them.

Abigail turned her head from Bonnie to Elena. "I know about the cure, Elena."

Again, Elena glanced at Bonnie, and, again, they didn't think she noticed. "How do you know about that?"

"Damon called me last night and told me everything, including his plan to take it with you. And then he said..." She couldn't repeat his words, just what she already knew, "That you left the conversation without telling him what you were thinking."

"That's not exactly how it happened..."

It was not a sigh but a sentence that brought their eyes to Bonnie's, "Well, he called me too."

"He did?"

"Quote, 'She stared at me like I was an alien, and then basically teleported out of the room.'"

"Damon Salvatore stands in front of you and tells you that he wants to become a human again, wouldn't you freak out?" She looked between them, each of their expressions the one she was expecting. "I just... I needed some time to process. I mean, I didn't even think it was possible to become a human again."

"But you want to become a human again."

"Yeah! Well, I did. Honestly, it's all just very complicated right now." She took Abigail's hand, drawing her eyes back to hers. "You could take it. You and Alaric-"

"It's too late, Elena. I saw the life I wanted and I let it slip through my fingers. Now I have to live with that. Forever." Abigail squeezed Elena's hand. "But this isn't about me and I think you should take it."

"So do I," Bonnie announced. "Decision made."

"What if I miss the perks?" Elena asked. "Like compelling the owner of a diner to close early for us? Or what if I get sick?"

"Or what if the human-you doesn't love Damon anymore?" At the way they looked at her, she shrugged. "Someone had to say it!"

"That's not going to happen. Being supernatural doesn't change who you are. If anything, it makes you realize who you are." Abigail did not lower her voice, she did not look away, she only said, "So, again, I think you should take it."