Love Isn't Just Changing

You're Giving Me a Headache

  "You should stay here with her." I advised, getting up from my seat.

   "I'm not going to lose it beside her and her tranquilizers scare me." Ric pleaded again, I chuckled but kept my foot down. He realized we weren't going to let him and he sighed. "Fine, it's in the dresser by the kitchen, in a Motrin bottle. You'll recognize it, it's antique looking." I nodded and headed towards the door. Elena followed me but stopped as we got outside.

  "I'm going to the Grill to see Matt, call me when you get the ring." Elena stated. I nodded and she drove off in her car.

~~~~~

    I arrived at Ric's apartment, fifteen minutes later. I was stunned when I saw Stefan leaning against the door, in all his glory.

   "Elena told me you would be, I missed you at the house."

   "Of course she did." I muttered, unlocking the door. I walked inside as Stefan followed behind me. "Besides you told me you don't want to be around me anymore." I heard him sigh.

   "Evelyn, I don't want to hurt you. I can't be who you want me to be right now, I'm out of control." Stefan defended, I raked my hand through my hair. I've been noticing how much I do that now, partly because of stress and because my hair is always in my face.

  "I'm not that weak, helpless girl; I was a few months ago, Stefan. I can fight my own battles. You and Damon still think you have to protect me all the time but I need to get hurt every once in a while, it keeps me human." I sighed. ''so what are you doing here then?"

   "I did some more research on Elena's ancestor Samantha Gilbert. I manage to find a newspaper article, it turns out that she killed two people while in the mental hospital: a nurse and a guard." Stefan explained, closing the loft door. "But it seems that she was there for suicide watch, there was no jewelry or personal effects."

   "Wait,  so you're saying a person can have violent behavior without the ring?" Stefan nodded and I groaned, that's just peachy. I started searching for Ric's ring when Stefan spoke again.

  "What happens if Bonnie's spell doesn't work, then what?" Well, someone's pessimistic.

  "I don't know, Stefan. I'll keep looking till I find something."

  "What if it's too late. We don't know how long this violent behavior has been occurring."

  "He's my father, Stefan. I can't lose him." I admitted, opening a drawer. "It's my responsibility as his daughter."

  "Eve, you can't put another person on your saving list. Not everyone is your responsibility, not everyone can be saved." I have a feeling this isn't about Ric anymore.

  "Are we talking about Ric or are we talking about you? Because I'm not giving up on either of you." We had a moment of intense staring that I wasn't able to detect the emotion. Stefan opened a drawer filled of files. "What in the world?" They contained pictures of Brian Walters and Bill Forbes.

  "It's his victims." Stefan stated, picking up a picture. We found a letter addressed to Jeremy.

  "There's no way, Ric wrote this." I denied, tearing up the letter. I found the bottle and took out Ric's ring.

  "He's the only one that could of, Evelyn."

  "I need to get back." I replied, walking towards the door.

~~~~~~
           Stefan and I reached Lena's house, I was followed behind him. I walked through the door and instantly the smell of blood filled my nose.

   "Stefan." I stated, pointing out the blood. He walked into the kitchen as I closed the front door. Ric came downstairs, wrapping his hand in a towel.

   "Hey Eve." He greeted, hugging me. I knew this wasn't Ric as I hugged back.

  "Hey...where's Meredith?"

  "Got called in for an emergency surgery, she'll be back later." He informed me. Liar, I could smell her blood through the entire house. I couldn't decipher where she was.

  "Ok, what's with your hand?" I switched the topic.

  "Uh, I broke a mug earlier, I sliced my hand. Did you find my ring?" 

  "No, your loft is a mess." I joked, trying to hide the truth. 

   "Yeah, sorry. I gotta clean it up." Ric chuckled, I smiled then noticed the knife laying on the floor. I knew Ric noticed it because he's staring intensely at me. In one quick motion, he went for the knife. Stefan appeared, putting "Ric" into a sleeper hold. He passed out then Stefan laid him on the floor. 

  "Evelyn, come with me upstairs." Stefan instructed, holding out his hand. I instantly knew why, and I took his hand. We walked up the stairs to the source of the blood, as soon as I flipped the light, we saw Meredith covered in blood. I rushed over to her and checked her pulse. I looked up at Stefan who had hunger in his eyes but it went back to normal. I went to feed her my blood when Stefan grabbed my wrist. He had already bit his and fed his blood to Meredith. 

  "You're gonna be okay." I told Meredith. I felt the same hunger which then I took a deep breath. I waited with Meredith till Elena got home. I got her to the couch as I explained what happened, to Lena. She took over as nurse so I could go home. I think today has been a relatively good day, or maybe I'm crazy. I walked into the Boarding House then followed the scent of alcohol to the library where the Salvatores were talking. 

   "Congratulations, Stef." I smiled, as I walked in. He smiled then offered me a drink, which I accepted. I took a sip and leaned against the wall. 

   "Are you two good now?" Damon asked, pointing from me and Stefan. 

   "I believe we are, but if you're insinuating that we're back together, we're not." And hats off to Stefan for killing a good moment. I downed my drink, put it on the bookshelf, then went to my room. I fiddled with the necklace that had my engagement ring on it. I don't think anyone noticed that I've had it around my neck since our break up, well except for the ball. It would have been noticed. I guess now that we're friends again, the next step is getting back to being together.