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ten

"Damon." Billie looked at him with her hungover eyes, silently telling him to get on with it.

"Oh yes! I do remember a certain incident in which Katherine was knocked out and deposited safely in a happy little tomb to rot. And I, uh... fixed your downstairs friend's problem."

Billie's eyes widened at the information. They'd been busy last night.

"However..." Damon interrupted any happy thoughts. "There is some bad news." Billie frowned, officially curious.

"Tyler Lockwood triggered his curse last night. One of Katherine's games. And Stefan and Elena officially broke up." He put a hand over his heart. "Oh teen drama, how tragic."

He noticed that Billie winced again, like she had the night before and started rubbing her temples. It could have been the hangover, but Damon wasn't so sure. "What's wrong?"

Billie flicked her eyes up, masking the pain badly. "Uh, nothing, it's just the hangover." She dismissed suspiciously and Damon walked forward leaning over the counter to intimidate her, and boy did it work. "I could just compel you to tell me..." He left the suggestion hanging in the air and Billie gulped down a piece of his delicious pancakes.

Billie put down the knife and fork, holding her arms across her chest self-consciously. "It-it's probably nothing, man. You don't need to worry." But the worried frown on her face said otherwise.

He just raised his eyebrows disbelievingly, his threat becoming more and more of a good idea to him. Billie noticed the consideration in his eyes and conceded with a sigh.

"Yesterday, at the boarding house. While Ric was talking about staying with Elena, my eyes... they flashed dark for a second and my head started pounding. And again a few times throughout the day." Damon took in the information, already working through several ideas of what it could mean. "I didn't say anything because I didn't know what it meant and I didn't want anyone to start doubting the plan."

"And I remember sitting outside the room last night with you guys and thinking maybe it was just a warning telling me Elena and Katherine were linked, but I felt it again then and one more time right now."

Billie sat quietly, fiddling with her hands guiltily. Damon pulled out his phone and started dialling a number, immediately getting to the point when they picked up. "Is Elena with you." He demanded. The person on the other line talked for a moment.

"Go check." Damon spoke, nerves increasing, his foot tapping against the floor and daylight right against the counter.

The answer came a moment later and it was clearly not a good one because Damon curtly bid them goodbye and hung up.

He turned to her, shoulders tense. "Jeremy says her bed hasn't been slept in. He hasn't heard from her since last night." Billie knew of Damon's feelings for Elena, it was obvious. She knew he would blame her for this.

Billie closed her eyes, livid at herself for not saying anything. She quickly stood up, disregarding the empty dish. "We need to go, call Stefan tell him we're on our way over, I'm gonna put on pants." Billie glared at the trail of light with contempt.

"I think I might be able to find her."

»»»

Billie had shoved on the first pair of pants she found, dark blue skinny jeans. She didn't bother changing the shirt and bounded outside with Damon. They drove quickly to the Salvatore house, Billie starting to get more fidgety after they'd diverted from the trail to pull up to the house and pick up Stefan.