Surprising Lover (TVDxOC) (Complete)

True Lies

It's daytime. Outside the dorm building, students lay flowers at a memorial for Megan. Elena enters her dorm room to find Caroline and Grace rifling through the contents of a cardboard box.
"Megan's memorial outside is growing by the minute."
"Ugh, college kids are so dramatic. She was on campus for, like, one day. She couldn't have made that many friends."
"Caroline, she's dead."
"You can stop competing with her."
"Sorry, I'm in a mood."
"You talked to Tyler?"
"He's deferring from enrolling and deferring from returning my phone calls, so I'm deferring from having sex with him ever again."
"How's the snooping going? Any explanation why our vervain-laced, [looks back to check for eavesdroppers] vampire-slaughtered roommate had a picture of my dad on her phone?"
"No."
Elena suddenly remembers something, and hands a folder to Caroline.
"Oh, um, I went by the hospital this morning — Megan's death certificate. It says she died of suicide. No mention of the gaping vampire-bites on her neck. So, whoever signed off on the cause of death was part of the cover-up, just like the Founders Council back home."
"Dr. Wesley Maxfield."
"A.K.A., our Applied Microbiology professor. I switched our classes around, so that we could—"
"Applied — what, what? Uh, Elena, we are supposed to be taking Intro to Communication. What happened to getting drunk and making bad decisions about boys? What happened to our fun freshman year at college? I am supposed to be a drama major!"
"I'm meant to be in music and occult." 
"You're not going to be an Anything major if we get exposed as vampires!"
Elena stops, realizing her voice had been rising. Both she and Caroline take a deep breath, and Elena smiles.
"We are still gonna have our fun year, girls, but we have to protect ourselves. The way Damon kept his secret in Mystic Falls was because he infiltrated the Founders Council. So, bust out those alleged acting skills, and let's get on it, okay?"
Elena smiles at her, and finally Caroline relaxes and smiles back.

Caroline, Grace and Elena enter the lecture hall for Dr. Maxfield's class. They pass by Jesse on their way to their seats.
"Hey, Blow-Off Girl. Aren't you a freshman? How are you in this class?"
"What? I love  Applied Microbiology...It's, like, my favorite biology. You know, little things are just so...cute." (Grace not Caroline)
"Are you going to the bonfire tonight? Or are you just gonna get really close and then turn around and leave again?"
"She'll be there."
"Sweet. We'll hang."
Elena and Caroline give him a thumbs up and Grace pushes her away to a few rows back. Grace gives Elena a look.
"What? You said you wanted to make bad decisions about people. He's cute, he's interested, and most importantly, unlike Harper, he's here."
Grace narrows her eyes at Elena, but doesn't respond. Just then, Dr. Maxfield walks into the lecture hall.
"Morning, everyone. I'm Dr. Maxfield. First name is Wes, but call me Dr. Maxfield. One day, when you're out of med school, you'll understand. So, you're all going to this bonfire tonight, right? Well, here's a quick history lesson for you. Whitmore was founded as a hospital during the Civil War. Deadliest war in American history — over 600,000 casualties. Disease was so prevalent that once a week, they had to gather all the dead, rotting bodies, put them in a pile, and light the whole thing on fire. So tonight, when you're getting drunk and partying, stop for a second, close your eyes, and imagine the rancid smell of a hundred rotting corpses."
"Creep-y."
"Which brings us to microbiology..."
"But hott-ie."
"...because that rancid smell comes from a very specific bacteria. Isn't that right, chatty girls in the back?"
Elena, Grace and Caroline, still smiling from laughing quietly together, turn to face Dr. Maxfield, their smiles fading.
"And what is that bacteria?"
"Uh, that's the, um...um...I don't know."
"Maybe because you're freshmen, who shouldn't be in this class. How do I know? I'm observant — a skill you'll learn in Bio 101, down the hall."
Dr. Maxfield points to the door, while Caroline, Grace and Elena shift uncomfortably in their seats.

Damon walks in and shuts the door behind him. Grace is laid on her bed. Caroline is wearing only a towel and turns around, expecting Elena, but is shocked to find Damon instead.
"Damon! Towel, knock!"
"Caroline. No one cares, no. Hey, where's Elena?"
"I don't know."
"She probably went to the bonfire to get more intel on our weirdo professor."
"Silas is here. He's with Elena, pretending to be Stefan. Get dressed."
"I thought that Stefan dropped his body in the quarry..."
"Join the club. Get dressed."
"Oh, my god. Oh, my god. Elena was right."
"All summer, she's had this pit in her stomach about Stefan."
"What?"
"I don't know. She just said that she had this weird feeling that something was wrong with him."
Damon throws some more clothes at Caroline.
" Just put some clothes on. Meet me out there. We have to find her."

Later, it's night-time and the bonfire party is well underway. Caroline, Grace and Damon walk through the crowd of party-goers.
"Why would Silas want to hurt her?"
"Because he wants to hurt me."
"You know, if you just would've told the truth, all of this could've been avoided."
"Gee, thanks, Caroline. Your hindsight is invaluable in this situation."
Damon bumps into someone.
"Watch where you're going, douche."
"Have you seen Elena Gilbert?"
"I have no idea who that is, and if I were her, I'd probably run from you, too."
"Wrong answer."
Damon grabs the guy's throat, but Grace steps in and compels him instead.
"Forget all this and get out of here."
The guy walks away. Caroline rounds on Damon.
"You have to calm down."
"He turned the entire town square into a hunting party for Katherine. How am I supposed to calm down when every single person here could be working for Silas?"

Grace walks in and sees Jesse on the floor.
"Seriously? That's Jesse. I kind of liked him."

Grace returns to the shed to sit with Jesse.
"Sorry, this was all I could find out there."
She shows him a frozen popsicle, which she holds up against Jesse's face.
"Sorry my friend went aggro. He's got anger issues."
"And a serious right-hook. But hey, it got us alone together, so that's a win."
Grace laughs shyly, looking down. Jesse lifts a hand to brush her hair away from her face.
"I have a girlfriend."
She pulls the popsicle away from Jesse's face and sits back.
"And where is she...other than not here?"
"Well, he was supposed to be here. He deferred a semester. You don't have to say anything, I know how these things go — people go to school and they drift apart."
"Yeah, and sometimes they don't."
"Exactly. Sometimes they don't."
"And sometimes you change, but what you had still means something."
"Yes! Yes."
"And sometimes when you're thinking all those things, your girlfriend is moving on, and sleeping with somebody back home, and has no intention of getting back with you."
"Oh, my god. Ugh. I am so sorry."
Jesse laughs quietly.
"It was a while ago. And honestly, until the worst actually happened, I wouldn't listen to anybody telling me otherwise. I could always find an excuse. So, I get it."
Grace smiles and returns the popsicle to his cheek.

Grace and Caroline open the door and see Damon tied to his chair and Elena impaled to hers.
"I think we need to set some ground rules for when boyfriends come to visit."

It's morning. Elena loads a suitcase into the trunk of Damon's car. Caroline and Grace help her.
"I'll be back, roomies. I don't know when, but I will be back."
"Just call me the minute you hear from Bonnie, okay? I've left her, like, a hundred messages."
"I will, I promise."
They hug.
"You're gonna find him, Elena."
"Yeah, I know."
They hug again.
"Bye."
"Bye."
"Bye Elena."