Abigail dropped Jeremy off at work thirty minutes early and told Elena where to find her if she needed to, so she felt no guilt whatsoever as she turned her key in the loft door. Alaric was asleep, face buried in his pillows, arm hanging off the side of the bed, still wearing his pants and shoes from the night before. She was expecting to find him that way, she usually did if she hadn't stayed there, but it didn't make her feel any better.
The small round dining table was covered in lesson plans for the upcoming school year, take out menus, and a few pieces of mail here and there, but she sat down at it anyway. Highlights from the previous night's baseball game played at a low volume on the television tucked away in the corner as she flipped through a Gilbert journal he had in his possession. She didn't plan on paying any attention to it, but when Andie's picture flashed across the screen she reached for the remote.
"Whether suicide, or a tragic accident, WPKW News has lost one of its shining stars. Field reporter and weekend anchor Andie Star was discovered..."
She ran into the bedroom. "Alaric!"
He pulled her into the bed, placing lazy kisses down her neck as he asked, "What ever happened to good morning?"
"Good morning." She pushed herself away from him, pointing to the television. "Look."
"Oh, God. I forgot to call you last night." He ran his hands down his face. "I'm sorry."
She looked down at him. "You knew?"
"Yeah... It was Stefan."
The knot in her stomach tightened. "What?"
"Why do you seem so surprised? He's off the rails and you know it." He sat up, mistaking the look on her face as defeat. "Abigail, he-"
"He called Elena on her birthday."
They made it to the couch with cups of coffee slowly, neither one of them willing to rush their time away. He told her the good and the bad about his summers in Boston, leaving nothing to the imagination as he absentmindedly played with the ends of her hair. Her laugh was as loud as his, overlapping in a way that made them sound like one.
"Next summer, you and I, we should go," he said. "Take the long way, stop wherever you want to."
She pressed a kiss against his lips as she climbed into his lap. "I love road trips."
"And I love you." His soft smile kept her in place as much as his hands on her waist did. He moved in to kiss her again, slowly, as he asked, "Which is why I am willing to drive the whole way."
As soon as his lips left hers, she wanted to kiss him again, to wrap her arms around him and hold him against her. When it was just the two of them, they didn't have to pretend, they didn't have to hide, and they didn't have to act like they didn't know what the other could bring them. But that also meant that they didn't have to whisper, they didn't have to have silent conversations from across the room, and they didn't have to wait for hours to share the jokes that crossed their minds. So, instead, with the smallest of laughs, she asked, "What about the whole 50/50 thing?"
There was a knock on the door.
"Go away, Damon!"
Another knock.
"Damon, I swear-"
The knocking turned to pounding.
Alaric stomped to the door, ripping it open with a slew of curses that Abigail was surprised hadn't escaped him sooner.
Elena laughed. "Hi."
"You're, uh..." He tried to cover his bare chest with the door. "You're not who I expected."
She pushed past him, right into the living room where she slid into an armchair. "Damon doesn't believe that Stefan can be saved, but he is still holding onto his humanity which means he can be."
He pulled a t-shirt over his head. "Why do you have to be the one to save him?"
"He would never give up on me. I'm not gonna give up on him." She looked between them. "I need you to tell me what you know about Tennessee. Please."
He sat down on the couch, holding everything he knew just out of reach. "Elena..."
"They've been tracking werewolves, he and Klaus." Abigail could feel Alaric's silent disapproval at her side, dissolving it as she looked to him. "If it was you, I'd want as much help as I could get."
There was only one person they knew who could give them any insight as to where Klaus and Stefan were headed next, and, luckily for them, he was walking into the Grill just as they peaked through the blinds.
"A lot of us like to keep to ourselves for the full moon, chain ourselves up. But there are some werewolves that like to gather in places where they don't have to do that," Tyler explained. "Where they can enjoy it."
Elena leaned forward. "What kind of places?"
"Mountains, state parks, deserts. That kind of stuff."
"Anywhere in Tennessee?" She asked.
He nodded. "I can try to map it."
"Thanks for this." She pushed her phone across the table. "I know it's asking a lot."
"As Caroline likes to remind me, Stefan's in this mess because I bit Damon. I figure I owed you one." He looked at Abigail. "Have you talked to her lately?"
"Why?" She couldn't help but glance in Alaric's direction. "Did she say something about me?"
"No, I was just curious. Here." He gave Elena her phone back. "That's your best bet."
Abigail walked to the bar, leaning against it just to the left of Alaric. "How do you feel about a little hike through the Smoky Mountains?"
Alaric finished his drink in one gulp, tossing a few bills onto the countertop. "You want to hunt down a pack of werewolves on a full moon?"
"We'll be out of there before the moon is full, and we're going if you come with us or not." When he looked up at her with the same disapproving eyes as that morning, she tilted her head to the side. "Did you honestly expect anything else?"
"Yeah! I was expecting a frozen dinner and..." he sighed. "You know what? Fine. Let's just, let's just go."
Abigail didn't quite know what hiking through the Smoky Mountains was supposed to be like, but she knew it was not supposed to be a time sensitive mission to save a rogue vampire, yet they followed the path along the river in pursuit of just that. It reminded her of the lake house, of her parents. They would have loved the way the sun glimmered off of the water and how trees reflected in its surface. And even though dangers loomed just ahead of them, she was smiling.
"In a couple hours, the full moon is gonna rise just above that ridge." Alaric pointed toward their destination. "If Tyler's right, that's where the pack will be."
"You were a boy scout, weren't you?" Abigail stepped in front of him. "A boy scout, slash vampire slayer?"
His lips forced themselves into a tight smile as he knelt down to unzip his practically overflowing backpack. "Slash whiskey-drinking all-around lost cause."
Elena raised her eyebrows. "Wow. You guys really stocked up."
"Well, we aren't exactly bird-watching. Here. Put that in your bag. Wolfsbane." He pulled out a water bottle, putting it into Abigail's hand without having to look. "Bea, take the vervain."
"Thank you." She kissed his cheek as he stood up. "I-"
Suddenly, there was a splash. They pulled apart in less than a second, each of them training their weapons on the threat. He lowered his crossbow before she realized who was standing in front of them, unfazed by the fact that it was Damon.
Abigail groaned. "How are you even here?"
He smirked, looking right past her. "Thanks for the tip, brother."
She whipped around. "You called him?"
"What?" He tilted his head to the side. "Did you honestly expect anything else?"
"Yeah!"
"You think I'd follow you two into a mountain range full of werewolves on a full moon without backup?"
"He was just taking a page out of your book." Damon turned to the river. "Get out of the water, Elena."
She crossed her arms over her chest. "If I get out of the water, you're gonna make me go home."
"Yes! Because I'm not an idiot like you."
"You gave up on him, Damon."
"What's your big plan, Elena? Huh?" He jumped into the water. "Are you going to walk through a campsite full of werewolves, roast a marshmallow, and wait for Stefan to stop by?"
"My plan is to find him and help him." She forced her arms to her sides, standing her ground. "This is the closest that we've been to him since he left. I'm not going home."
"Klaus thinks you died when he broke the curse. That makes you safe. This..." He motioned around them. "This is not safe."
"I'm not leaving before we find him."
"It's a full moon tonight, Elena."
"Then we'll find him before then." She leaned forward, eyes boring into his. "Damon, please."
There was a long moment before he responded, "We are out of here before the moon is full and I'm werewolf bait."
"I promise."
"Unless you wanna relive that whole deathbed kissy thing."
"I said I promise."
"Fine." He climbed out of the water with ease, leaving behind a struggling Elena. "How are you doing down there?"
She slipped again. "Fine."
"You know, I could help you."
"No thanks!"
"Just one little fwoosh."
"With my luck, you'd drop me."
"What are you guys, twelve?" Alaric rolled his eyes, motioning for them to get a move on. "Let's go."
The space between the trees grew darker and their shadows grew longer, telling them that they were running out of time. There had been no sign of anyone else, no signs of anything that they could have contributed to their search. And if that wasn't bad enough, Damon wouldn't let them forget it.
"The sun's about to set."
"Yeah," Abigail looked back at him. "We can see that."
He shrugged. "I'm just saying."
"The moon doesn't reach its apex for a while," Elena said coolly. "Which means-"
Twigs snapped from the right, putting them all on guard as they fell into position. A man staggered toward them, as sluggish as he was dangerous.
Alaric trained his crossbow on him. "Stay where you are!"
His bloody eyes darted from one person to the next until they landed on Damon. "Vampire."
He sped toward him, pushing him against a tree before he had a chance to fight. Alaric shot an arrow into his back, but it hardly made a difference. The wolfsbane grenade Elena tossed in their direction didn't do the trick either, but it gave Damon time to take the upper-hand.
"Let me guess..." Alaric looked down at the unconscious man. "Hybrid."
As they tied him to a tree with every rope and chain from Damon's bag, he warned, "These ropes aren't gonna hold him much longer."
Abigail dowsed the last of the rope with the vervain water. "Ric, here. Take these."
Damon reached for it. "Ow!"
She looked at him with wide eyes. "I said Ric!"
"That's the last of the vervain and we don't have enough stuff to hold him," Alaric backed away from the tree, taking hold of Abigail as soon as he could. "I don't think we're gonna make that ridge before the full moon."
Elena took a step toward the man. "If we can get him to talk, we don't have to."
All at once he was awake, screaming and thrashing against the ropes. His eyes widened as he realized the lengths they'd gone to in order to restrain him. They flashed yellow, the same yellow Caroline described after Tyler's first transformation.
Abigail pulled her back. "He is turning!"
"That's impossible." Elena shook her head. "It's still daylight."
Alaric put himself in front of them. "Tell him that!"
"There aren't supposed to be werewolves out here until the moon is full."
His bones cracked, shifting him into his other form.
"And those ropes aren't gonna hold a wolf."
Damon held him against the tree, ignoring Abigail and Alaric as they pleaded for him to follow them. It wasn't until Elena grabbed onto his shoulders, yelling his name, that he even budged.
The sun had set, leaving them in total darkness as they ran back to the car. They were close, so close that they finally felt some kind of relief. But almost as soon as it settled in, it was taken away. Elena was on the ground, face to face with a werewolf.
Damon ran in the opposite direction. "Here, doggie, doggie."
Abigail pulled her to her feet. "Come on."
"We can't leave Damon."
"He can handle himself," Alaric panted. "Let's move."
Elena broke away from her sister's grasp. "No. If he gets bit, he'll be dead. I'm the reason he's out here."
"I am the reason he's out here. I told him where we were." He took her upper arm into his hand. "And now I'm telling you to keep moving."
In the backseat of Alaric's car, Elena pulled her face from her hands. "Stefan's out there somewhere and now Damon is too and we're just sitting in this car?"
"Let the vampires fight the hybrid zombie mountain man." Reaching for Abigail's hand, he looked at Elena through the rearview mirror. "I'll take care of keeping the humans safe."
"Elena, listen, I will do everything I can to help you get Stefan back." Abigail turned around in her seat. "But going back into those mountains is not an option."
Within five seconds of Damon approaching the car, Elena was walking toward him. She slammed the door, leaving them in total silence as Alaric leaned all the way back in his seat. Guilt was weighing him down, and no matter what he did to distract himself, there was always something that reminded him of it.
"I know what you are doing," he whispered. "Don't."
"You're tearing yourself apart." Abigail's posture was severe compared to his, ridged and unmoving. "And for what? You've-"
Frustration crept into his tone, "There doesn't need to be a lesson here."
"Actually, I think there does. You wanted to give up, just like everyone else. But you followed us into that mountain range." She searched his expression, unable to find even the slightest change. "You're doing better than you think you are. And if you could see yourself the way I do, you would know that."
"Oh, boy, are you a sucker for a lost cause or what?"
"You are not a lost cause, Ric." She traced circles around the back of his hand with her thumb. "Despite everything you've been through, you find a way to keep going. And you're better for it."
He finally looked at her. "It's because of you. You are the reason I keep going."
When she kissed him, it was different from that morning. Then, she was telling him that she loved the simple, easy parts of who he was. Now, she was telling him that she loved the parts of him that were messy, the parts of him that were haunted by his past, and the parts of him that he wanted to hide from everyone, including himself.
Damon didn't take his eyes off of Elena as they got out of the car. "I'm fine, bite-free. Get back in the car, please."
"Can you just give us a minute to appreciate that you're not dead?"
"I'll give you ten seconds. nine, eight..." He marched Elena toward them. "Hey, Ric, did you happen to see where I parked my car?"
"Sorry, buddy," he chuckled. "I think you're going to have to ride with us."
Damon was walking out of Elena's bedroom when Abigail made it to the top of the stairs. He didn't say a word to her, but she knew exactly what he was thinking. Stefan was out there that night and he was the reason he was still alive. It was written clear across his face, but he would never admit it to anyone but Elena.
She looked through the open door, meeting the same expression. There was something Elena wouldn't admit to anyone but Damon. And that was that the only reason she agreed to leave the Smoky Mountains was to protect him.