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But then his arh this," he proave a choked sob, soaking Alaric’s shoulder with tears and snot "There’ll be a cure Maybe And even if not, we love each other We can handle this"

Alaric’s voice was strained, but he wasn’t flinching away from her And there weren’t any lies between them, not now She closed her eyes and sobbed into his shoulder

She could still smell his blood, salty and metallic, as rich and mysterious as the ocean But Alaric didn’t smell like food anymore Instead, he smelled like home

Chapter 19

Matt hesitated in the hallway, Jas at the plain wooden door to Meredith and Alaric’s apartht

It was ridiculous, he knew He wasn’t afraid of Meredith just because she was suddenly a vampire He’d been friends with Stefan for years, and he had a cordial relationship with Dah they weren’t exactly friends He’d even been in love with a vae

Maybe his history with Chloe was the trouble He kne hard it was for a va, to stay a person instead of a killer Chloe hadn’t been able to, and in the end she’d chosen to die instead Becoainst those new, violent instincts, could tear a good person apart

Matt wasn’t going to let that happen to Meredith None of theainst hi "Can’t stand out here all day," she said, and Matt lifted his hand and knocked

Alaric opened the door and save a ridiculous hopeful hop Maybe everything’s okay

But, as the door sider, he saw Meredith, slumped at the kitchen table, her head in her hands, and his heart sank again Meredith was definitely not okay She looked broken Like she’d been fighting on, out of pride, pretending everything was fine, fiercely determined that none of them would knohat had happened to her And now that they knew, all that fight had gone

Daed in a chair on the other side of the table froainst the counter behind him, their faces troubled Out of the corner of his eye, Matt registered Zander corace But Matt’s attention was fixed on Meredith He couldn’t believe she was a vampire And they hadn’t known

"I can hear your heart thu her head "You’re scared of ot Matttoward her; she was one of his dearest friends, he couldn’t let her sound like that, feel that way She looked up at hiray eyes wide and wet, and war out for her She flinched away for a second and then leaned into his hand, her body as warm and solid as it had always been "Meredith, it doesn’t ave a tear-choked snort at that, and he reconsidered, squeezing her shoulders "Okay, of course it irl who shared your lunch with e five, tall and soletails On their first day, Matt had forgotten the lunch his mom had carefully packed for him, and he burst into tears in the cafeteria Meredith had been there, cal hirapes, breaking her cookie neatly in two Matt had tagged along after her for the rest of that whole long confusing first day, confident that Meredith would look after hi terrible to you--really awful, and God, I’m so sorry about that But I’irl as the only person I could talk to when Elena went to France that su to break up with irl as the total cha, and he swiped a hand across theood all the way through I’d never be scared of you"

Meredith gave a choked-off laugh and bit her lip "I know--I know all those things about the past, Matt But what if I can’t help h your veins, louder than the words you’re saying You smell like food"

"They’ve always se to restrain myself," Damon told her, with a narrow smile "Mostly And you’reI know about you is that you’re too tough to give in to anything like that," Matt said "I’ve got faith in you We all do"

"And we are going to help you," Bonnie said, folding her arms Her s to figure out a cure"

Dahed that ti a vaently

"With ic and Alaric’s research skills…" Bonnie’s shoulders rose in a tiny, hopeful shrug "Maybe? Maybe we can do this?"

"I’ll help," Jasmine said quickly "He used science to make his vampires Maybe science can cure thehter now, not quite so defeated, and Matt fu," he told her, his fingers fastening around a thin chain as he pulled it out of his pocket It was a cheap silver-toned bracelet with a heart frame charm

"Is that from prom?" Elena asked, surprised

The bracelets had been favors at their junior proether, and each seat at the table--which they’d shared with Bonnie and Meredith and their dates--had one in front of it, the frame ready to hold a tiny copy of the owner’s prom picture Matt had kept his; he was the sentiht and scraped out the photo of his and Elena’s san He spent so down another old picture to fit

"It’s us," Meredith said softly, looking down at the tiny picture It was froe: Matt, Meredith, Bonnie, and Elena s up from the heart-shaped frame, arms around each other’s necks And Stefan beside Elena, with them but somehow separate, his classically handsohtly with one finger, and Matt sighed He ht if you had it, it would remind you of how much we love you You’re one of us, whether you’re a vampire or a human We’ll be here to help you remember who you are" Matt licked his lips nervously

"We believe in you" Elena leaned forward to wrap an arm around Meredith’s shoulder "And we love you"

Bonnie nodded, reaching to pat Meredith’s back

Meredith’s lips tightened as if she was trying not to cry, and then she blinked and looked up at Matt "Thank you," she said simply, and wrapped the bracelet around her wrist

"Let ," Dah as nails, she’ll be all right" His voice was flat, but his eyes lingered on Meredith with so that, to Matt’s surprise, looked aloing to do about her ot no idea how to kill him And now he’s onto Meredith, so she can’t spy on him anymore"