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Damon leaped Somewhere in the ravity She tried to curl into a bal to take the ie - alht side up, on the opposite side of the couch from the plate of steak tartar The plate did a little leap of its own, three or four inches, perhaps, and then settled back where it had been

Elena was also lucky enough to get a perfect view of the end of the heroic rescue - which involved Da the bottle of precious Black Magic wine just before it hit the ground and s-fast reflexes he had when he was a vampire, but he was stil far, far faster than an ordinary hu soft, turn leap into dive, and at last instant grab bottle, just before it would hit A

But there was another way that Damon wasn’t like a va onto hard surfaces

Elena only realized this when she heard hi able to

She scrambled wildly in her mind for al the accidents she could remember with jocks, and - yes, recal ed one when Matt had had the wind completely knocked out of him The coach had seized him by the col ar and thurabbed hi hi hi position Then sheshe was Meredith, who had been on the basebal tea as hard as she could at Da her fists into his back

And it worked!

Suddenly Dahtener of ties, Elena knelt and tried to rearrange his clothes As soon as he could breathe properly, his liently curled her hands into each other Elena wondered if possibly they’d gone so far beyond words that they would never find theain

How had it al happened? Da was burned, or perhaps because he had decided Mrs Floas the one with the star bal

She herself had said, "Dahtforward And then halfway through the sentence she had heard for herself the "darling"and - but ould ever believe her? - it hadn’t been connected with anything they had been doing earlier at alIt had been an accident, a slip of the tongue

But she’d said it in front of Bonnie, the one person most likely to take it seriously and personal y And then Bonnie had been gone before she could even explain

Darling! When they had just started fighting again

It real y was a joke Because he had been serious about just taking the star balShe had seen it in his eyes

To cal Da"seriously, you would have to be - have to behopelesslyhelplesslydesperately in

Oh, God

Tears began to run down Elena’s cheeks But these were tears of revelation Elena knew she wasn’t in her best for on three days - too ht now

Stil, she was terrified to find that soed inside her

It wasn’t anything she had asked for Al she had asked was that the two brothers stop feuding And she had been born to love Stefan; she knew that! Once, he’d been wil ing to marry her Wel , since then she’d been a vampire, a spirit, and a new incarnation dropped fro to marry the new Elena, too

But the new Elena was bewildered, ith her strange new blood that to vairls carried about in their veins With her Wings Powers, such as Wings of Redemption, most of which she didn’t understand and none of which she could control Although lately she had seen the beginning of a stance, and she kneas for Wings of Destruction That, she thought griht be quite useful someday

Of course a number of theer siain Who wanted to steal so that her whole town needed

Elena hadn’t asked to fal in love with Damon - but, oh God, what if she already had? What if she couldn’t s stop? What could she do?

Silently, she sat crying, knowing that she could never say any of these things to Da and a level head in times of emotion, but not, as she knew al too wel , about this particular issue If she told him as in her heart, before she knew it, he would kidnap her He would believe she had forgotten Stefan for good, as she had forgotten hiht

"Stefan,"she whispered "I’m sorry"

She could never let Stefan know about it either - and Stefan was her heart

"We’ve got to get rid of Shinichi and Misao fast,"Matt was saying et into condition soon or Kent State’s gonna send me back sta in Mrs Flowers’s war her as she diligently worked atbeef carpaccio - the second of the t beef recipes in the antique cookbook she owned "Stefan’s doing so wel that in a couple of days we could even be tossing around the old pigskin,"he added, sarcas his voice, "if everybody in toould just stop being crazy possessed Oh, yeah, and if the cops would stop co Caroline"

At the mention of Stefan’s na away on the stove for so long, and was now e such a fearsoetting the huge pile of rawto choke dohatever was in that cooking pot

"So - assulad to leave Fel ’s Church when the time comes?"Meredith asked him quietly

Matt felt as if she had just slapped hi Saber with one tanned, bare foot The huge beast wassound "I reat to throw a couple of passes to Stefan again - he’s the best tight end I’ve ever seen - "

"Or ever wil see,"Meredith reo in for footbal , Matt, so don’t even think of suggesting that he and Elena fol ow you to Kent State

Besides, I’l be right beside you, trying to get them to come to Harvard with me And worse, we’re both checke - whatever - is s around here they love"

"Al the things around here Elena loves,"Matt couldn’t help correcting "Al Stefan wants is to be with Elena"

"No,"Mrs Flowers said "Let’s just take things as they come, shal we, th She sounds worried tothat happens"

Matt nodded, but he had to s hard before saying to Meredith, "So, you’re eager to be off for the Ivied Wal s, I’m sure?"

"If it wasn’t Harvard - if I could just put it off for a year and keep my scholarship"Meredith’s voice trailed off, but the yearning in it was unmistakable

Mrs Flowers patted Meredith’s shoulder, and then said, "I wonder about dear Stefan and Elena After al , with everyone thinking that she’s dead, Elena can’t live here and be seen"

"I think they’ve given up on the idea of going somewhere far, far away,"Matt said "I’l bet that now they think of theet by soht tone, but the words sank like lead bal oons as they left his e,"Meredith said in a tone just as heavy "Are they going to be super-heroes at night and just veg out the rest of the tio so about it now"

"Ohwel , I guess there’s Dalcrest"

"Where?"

"You know, that little campus in Dyer It’s suess Stefan wouldn’t care how good they are But it’s only half an hour away"

"Oh, that place Wel , the sports may be fantastic but it’s sure not an Ivy, matic Meredith - sounded as if she had a stuffed-up nose

"Yeah,"Matt said - and just for a second took Meredith’s slim, cold hand and squeezed it He was even ers up with his, holding his hand

"Ma ma says whatever is fated to happen wil happen soon,"Mrs Flowers said serenely "The , as I see it, is to save the dear, dear old town As wel as the people"

"Of course it is,"Matt said "We’re going to do our best

Thank God we have somebody in toho understands Japanese demons"

"Orime Saitou,"Mrs Flowers said with a little smile "Bless her for her arandoing to need a lot of those arimly

Mrs Flowers opened her hts of her own

"You know, Stefan and Elenaafter al ,"she said sadly "And since at this point none of us ed

Matt was stil squeezing her hand when Bonnie dashed in the front door, keening She tried to speed through the foyer toward the stairs, avoiding the kitchen, but Matt released Meredith and they both dashed up to block her Instantly, everyone was in cohtly Mrs Flowers ca her hands on a dish towel

"Bonnie, what happened? Is it Shinichi and Misao? Are we being attacked?"Meredith asked quietly but with the intensity to cut through hysteria

Soh Matt’s body No one real y knehere Shinichi and Misao were right now

Perhaps in the thicket that was al that was left of the Old Woods - perhaps right here at the boardinghouse

"Elena!"he shouted "Oh, God, she and Daet them?"

Bonnie shut her eyes and shook her head

"Bonnie, stay with me Stay calm Is it Shinichi? Is it the police?"Meredith asked And to Matt: "You’d better check through the curtains there"But Bonnie was stil shaking her head