"Previously on "The Vampire Diaries"..." "Damon is gone." "I want you to compel me to forget that I ever loved him." " Who is Damon Salvatore?" " He's a monster." "To get home, we'll harness the power of the eclipse using a mystical relic." "No." "Vampires murdered my wife." "I'm gonna get him to name all his vampire buddies." "Need any help?" "If even just a small, little part of you came back to check on me, then stay." "Not doing so great, Damon." "I'm lost, brother." "It's kind of a long story, brother, but I'm back." "Please just let me go." "I know this may seem a little barbaric, but I promise you, it's nothing personal." "Why are you doing this?" "It's a longer story than we have time for, but... trust me... you don't want this life..." "If you can call it that." "All right." "Come on." "Come on." "Come on." "Come on." "What's that?" "What is that?" "Aah!" "What is happening?" "Aah!" " I missed you, too, buddy." " I can't believe it." "I thought you were gone." "You didn't think I was gone gone, huh?" "Promised you an eternity of misery." "Ha ha!" "He's back?" " How?" " I don't know." "Honestly, everything Stefan said after, "Damon is back," is kind of a blur." "What about Bonnie?" "She sacrificed herself so I can come back." "I don't want anyone to know." "There's no sense making this harder than it already is." "What are we gonna tell people?" "He said that she wasn't over there." "Where is there, exactly?" " Mystic Falls, 1994?" " I know." "A bunch of witches were gonna get together and create some space-time purgatory, you'd think they'd pick a better year than the one that Kurt Cobain killed himself." "Whole thing was just very depressing." "So how did you get back?" "Long story... big flash of light, two decades' worth of jet lag." "I will explain all of my adventures in that flannel hellscape, but first, there's someone I got to go see." "I don't want to see him." "I get it, but that's how you feel now, Elena." "If you thought there was even a chance you'd see Damon again, you would have never asked me to compel away your memories of loving him." "She did what?" "She had Alaric do it." " Damon is going to kill me." " You're unkillable." "Doesn't mean he won't try." "What do you think is gonna happen when I do see him?" "I just need to see her, Stefan." "Our eyes will meet, fireworks will go off, and the balance of nature will be restored." "She loves me." " He's a psychotic killer." " You onfeel that way because I erased all the good parts." "I don't see anything that could balance out the bad." "Promise me you won't lift the compulsion." " Promise me." " I won't, ok, not until you ask me to, thank you." "But, Elena," "I hope you ask me." "I have to go." "I have a shift at the hospital." " Since when?" " Since Damon came back and I'm trying desperately to avoid him." "Fine, but if you're avoiding people, add Jo to your list." "I compelled her to forget our date the other night, and it didn't take." "What do you mean, it didn't take?" "Well, either she's on vervain or there's some other reason, but she can't be compelled." " So see if you can find out why." " Ok." "Yeah." "I will." "Will you call Jeremy?" "I had to tell him about Bonnie over the phone." "You can imagine how that went." "Where are you going?" "Out." "You promised me you'd help me track down my relatives." "Just..." "later, ok?" "Jeremy, you can't just say, "Zach Salvatore was your dad." "Too bad he's dead," and then, "peace out."" "I can't do this right now." "What is so urgent to make you finally unglue your ass from the couch?" "I know it's not school." "It's not work." "If it's another girl, I'd shower first." "I just need to get out of here." "Tripp's errand boy returns." "Ooh, my bad." "Heh." "That's all right, mate." "Just lean in, and I'll take it right from the tap." "I'll pass." "Yeah?" "Come on." "I'm gonna need my strength back for when you help me escape." "Sorry." "If Stefan turned you in, I'm guessing you deserved it." "When did Stefan's moral compass become the new true north?" "Wasn't he the one who scurried off to some poxy, little town while he let everyone believe he was still searching for his brother?" "Not exactly the hero move, if you ask me." "Still, I think the general population is safer with you in here." "Yeah." "Probably right, well, except for Elena..." "Stefan, Caroline, you." "What do you think would happen if I were to tell your boss about known vampires and their groupies?" "Well, Savannah was a waste of gas." "Minus a few blood bags, the house you told us about was empty." "Odd." "Must have smelled you coming." "Hmm, would have been a total bust, except I happened upon a girl that fit the description that you gave me." "That was near Whitmore, 500 miles from where you said she was gonna be." "Is this Ivy?" "That's the one." "So I'm gonna give you today to conjure up the location of your vampire friends, or you and I are gonna go sightseeing in Mystic Falls." "Why didn't you tell us Enzo has been locked up this whole time?" "Honestly, I didn't know anybody was missing him." " Matt!" " I'm sorry." "I was confused about which vampires we like and which ones we don't." "Ok." "Well, what about Ivy?" "Is she there, too?" "Tripp drove her and two others across the border last night." "Oh, God." "Well, do you know where Tripp is now?" "He's running down another lead, but he didn't tell me what it was." "Well, can you find out?" "We need to know who his next target is." "If Enzo talks, it'll be you guys." "Well, that's not going to happen because we're busting him out, right, if for no other reason than so I can kick his ass for getting caught in the first place." "You have any idea how he even managed to get his hands on it?" "He didn't." "I turned him in." "Who is it?" "Hey, it's me." "I just wanted to talk." "I can't, not now." "Look." "I know why you did what you did." "It's not real." "You know what's real?" "The way you felt for me." "You once told me that it was the most real thing you ever felt in your life." " Those feelings are gone." " Oh, come on, Elena." "You've compelled enough people to know it's just a way of covering the truth, and no matter how badly you want it done, it doesn't make it any less of a lie, you know?" "Oh, I hear you breathing." "You have no idea how long I've wanted to hear you breathe." "Just open the door, Elena." "Everything can go back to the way it was." "Just..." "Just open the door, Elena, please..." "Or, at the very least, step aside because I'm gonna kick this door in." "Seriously?" "You jumped out of a window?" "What if somebody saw you?" "I know, I know." "I panicked." "I don't know." "Look." "He's been trapped over there alone for months." "He just wants to see you." "Look." "I get how I'm supposed to feel, but I know how I actually feel, and I'm happy now." "What if I look at him and my old feelings break through the compulsion?" "Well, they won't, but even if they did, is that such a bad thing?" "Yeah." "I started over just like you did, ok?" "I made a smart choice for myself and for my future." "Stefan, I kissed Liam last night." "Oh, please forget that you told me that and definitely do not tell Damon that." "Because he's gonna kill him, right, just like he killed my brother." "I was gonna say because he'll be heartbroken." "Listen." "What do you want to do?" "I mean, you have to see him eventually." "I know, but I just don't think eventually can be today, all right?" "I'm not..." "I'm just not... ready." "I got to go." " Elena." " Hey." "I didn't think you were here today." "Yeah." "No." "I changed my schedule around." "Ok." "Follow me." "Sarah, what are you doing?" "Could ask you the same question." "You can't be in here." "From the look on your face, either you're downloading porn or you're not supposed to be here, either." "What are you doing in Tripp's office?" "What do you want?" "Information on some people who used to live here." "You know anything about the Salvatores?" "Not really." "Well, according to Jeremy, Zach Salvatore was my dad." "He supposedly died from an animal attack, and, coincidentally, so did my mom, but I've been paying attention." "I know what that's code for, and your boss seems to know a lot about homicidal wildlife, so..." "So you thought breaking in here was a good idea." "Guess we have that in common." "Now, either you help me or start coming up with a good lie when I tell your boss you were snooping." "Animal attacks are filed over there." "Professor Saltzman." "What, couldn't compel yourself a Ph.D.?" " I can't believe you're back." " I am." "Heh." " So... how the hell are you?" " Well, let's see, Ric." "I clawed my way out of some retro pocket universe, only to find that I needed to compel myself a new change of clothes because this antimagic hamster ball is keeping me from going home, and then I find out that my best friend," "rather than doing anything about it, decided that it was the best use of his time to compel my beautiful and lovely girlfriend to forget that she ever loved me." "Heh." "I'm great, Ric." "Thanks for asking." "Look, Damon." "I know she was a train wreck without me, ok, but a full mind erase, seriously?" "She loved you too much, and it was killing her." "Well, I'm flattered, but I'm back." "So let's get this uncompulsion on the books, huh?" "Fine, as soon as Elena tells me that what she wants." "Right." "Here's the thing." "She's not gonna want to be uncompelled if she can't remember why she'd want to be uncompelled." "Mm-hmm." "Chicken, egg." "I know, and I'm sorry." "Sorry?" "She won't even see me, Ric." "I get it, Damon, but she's happy, and I'm not gonna take that away from her until she asks me to." "It's not like I don't want Elena to be happy." "I just want her to be happy with me." "Right." "Look." "Enzo wasn't being careful." "Tripp would've caught him eventually, and that meant danger for all of us." "Right." "So you handed Enzo over so we wouldn't be targeted, and now you're rescuing him so we won't be targeted." "Way to go." "Well, I thought Tripp was gonna kill him." "I didn't think he was gonna keep him alive for information." "Oh, well, in that case, sounds like you were just being practical." " So did you rat out Ivy, too?" " What?" "Well, you didn't want to deal with her anymore." "You wanted her gone, and now she is." "You know what?" "You really should write Tripp a thank-you note." "Hold on a second." "Enzo turns Ivy, right?" "A hunter kills her, and yet I'm the bad guy?" "I'm not the one threatening to turn in other vampires to save his own skin." "The only one who's turned in other vampires is you, Stephan." "That's why you're helping..." "Guilt for getting Damon's friend captured." "Yeah." "Damon is my brother, and I gave up on him first." "Enzo didn't." "So if rescuing his idiot friend is gonna somehow make it up to him, that's exactly what I'm gonna do." "Great." "Good for you." "Let me know when you figure out how you're gonna make everything up to me." "Let's get in there." "Well, where the hell is he?" "I like your bracelet." "What is it made of?" "No idea." "While you're here, can I get your opinion on something?" "Sure." "Yeah." "Female patient..." "Blunt-force trauma to the head, massive internal hemorrhaging, multiple bone fractures." "She was a victim at the corn maze." "Where is she?" "Probably freshman lit." "I don't get it." "Neither do I." "See, the patient was never admitted, even with such extensive injuries." "Liam said you treated her at the scene." "That's a pretty good save for someone with half a semester of pre-med." "Yeah." "I think they were exaggerating how bad off she was." "It was dark, and, yeah, there was a lot of blood." "Don't." "I know what Alaric is." "I know what you are." "If any more blood bags go missing," "I know who to come to." "Well, somebody was thorough." "No pictures of Damon anywhere." "Ohh..." "It's kind of creepy, you just standing there all hulky and brooding." "Says the freak who's stalking my sister." "Technically, I'm lying in wait." "Why didn't Bonnie come back?" "Why didn't she come back?" "Because she wasn't there." "It was just me." "You know I paid her cell bill so I could call her phone and hear her say the same 6 words every day?" "Sounds good." "I'll give it a call." "Why?" "She hated you." "Bonnie wasn't there with me, Jeremy, because she found peace." "She's in a better place." "How did you know?" "Besides not believing that you closed a penetrating abdominal trauma without so much as a first aid kit?" "Pretty sure you weren't looking for stevia in my coffee." "With Alaric, I wasn't 100% certain he tried to compel me, but then I remembered" "I have really crappy luck in my love life." "So of course my hot, new teacher crush would be a vampire." " So then what are you?" " Busy." "If you want to stick around, there's food trays on the third floor that need clearing." "That's it?" "You're gonna let me stay?" "You saved that girl instead of feeding on her." " That's good enough for me." " You're not even afraid, not ever fazed, for that matter." "There's only one thing that can resist compulsion without needing vervain, and that's a witch." "You're a witch." "How about I make a deal with you?" "You don't ask questions about me, and I won't ask questions about you." "Deal." "Oh, and you can tell Alaric, if he wants to avoid a complicated relationship, he doesn't have to hide behind compulsion to do it." "Maybe it was a good thing I didn't grow up here." "So where do you come from?" "Give me the year, and I'll give you the town and foster home." "Oh, good." "Wonder what's in here." "It's locked." "Locked means important." " Hey, Care, did you get him?" " No." "Enzo is not here." "Any idea where Tripp might have taken him besides the very obvious one?" "Hang on." "Let me see that." "Caroline, we have another problem." "Tripp..." "Has Ivy's phone." "And?" "I mean, the guy is a murderer." "Petty theft isn't much of a stretch." "Yeah, but your name is at the top of the recent dialed list." "Oh, my God, he knows what I am." "I'm guessing he knows where to find you." "It's Bonnie." "Leave me a message." "That's it?" "That's your outgoing message?" "Really?" "I mean, the one time I'm actively seeking the sound of your voice, that's all I get." "Perfect." "Hmm." "Anyway, I'm in your room, which is a lot less weird than it sounds." "I just wanted to say that because of what you did for me, today is the day that I get to see Elena." "So thank you, and I'm sorry." "Other than that, I don't know what to say or what I'm supposed to say except that," "defying all possible global scenarios," "I might miss you a little bit." "Ooh, hey, I got to go." "So you didn't forget my number." "That's a good start." "Yeah." "I figured I'd press the Damon button and see what happened." " And what is happening?" " I don't know." "I don't even know what I'm doing." "I just..." "I'm thinking we should meet face to face." "I can't run from you forever." "So come by my dorm?" "Yeah." "Yeah." "I'll be here." "There." "I'll be there, absolutely, in a bit." " See you in a little bit." " Ok." "Well, that was fast." "Agh!" "Who are you?" "Uh..." "Uh..." "Damon?" "Elena, calm down." "Just find Caroline and get to old Miller road." "We'll get him back." "I had an interesting conversation with Elena." "Yeah, and I want to hear all about it, just not right now." "What's the rush, occult studies emergency?" "Yeah." "I have someplace I need to be." "So if you don't mind..." "Why don't you just compel me out of the way?" "Look." "Don't you think it's about time we level with each other?" "Ok." "How's this?" "My best friend, he just came back from the dead, but now I have to save him from a vampire hunter before he's driven across an antimagic border and killed again." "So here's some friendly advice." "It's probably a good idea to stay as far away from me as possible." "Uh..." " Morning, sunshine." " Enzo?" "Well, this brings back memories." "I'm glad you found a way back, mate." "Afraid it's gonna be a short reunion, through." "We're headed to Mystic Falls, known for its bridges;" "quaint, small-town charm;" "and a really big vampire bug zapper." "Stefan could've told me there was a hunter in town." "It probably slipped his mind because he's responsible for my return to incarceration." "Why would he do that?" "Probably jealous of my accent." "Eh, maybe he did it because I killed his new girlfriend." "Yeah." "That'll do it." "Sorry, mom." "Elena is auditioning for "Top Gear."" "Yeah." "Ok." "Bye." "So my mom is shutting down route 13." "Tripp will have to double back, and there's only two other ways across the border." "Do you have a tire preference... front, back?" "No?" "Ok." "I think this sells a spinout." "What do you think?" "Elena?" "I want my memories back." "Wait." "What?" "I made up my mind." "If Damon survives this, then I want Alaric to uncompel me." "I mean, I can't imagine ever loving him." "I also can't ignore the parts I don't like just to avoid the truth." "I mean, how would I make any decisions if I only know half the story?" "You don't have to take apart the whole engine." "We just need to lure Tripp in so we can grab them." "You know, it's not your fault." "Pretty much is." "Look." "You're not the only one who gave up." "Every second for the last 4 months, all I could think about was when I'm gonna get my next sip of blood, when am I gonna screw up and hurt somebody, why did I come back to life" "just to be this thing, that I used to hunt vampires and suddenly, I was one." "Searching for Damon was the only thing that could take my mind off of it, but I was basically going through the motions as a distraction because, honestly, Stefan," "I'd given up, too." "There." "That's him." "You should stay in the car." " He knows what you look like." " He thinks I'm on his side." "Yeah, unless Enzo told him different." "Go tell Elena he's here." "Evening." "Tried to get my buddy to a bachelor party, and our car just stopped." "You think you can help us out?" "Uh, don't know anything about cars." "Yeah." "Well, maybe you could give us a ride, then." "Who's that?" "Ric." "He's up to something." "Better be good." "Bastard owes me." "Sorry." "In a bit of a hurry." "Yeah." "So are we." "Uh!" "Uh!" "Ooh!" "Oh!" "Uh!" "Uh!" "Ugh!" "Agh!" "Stefan." "Stefan, what's happening?" "Damon and Alaric are across the border." "I got to go." "Oh, my God." "Agh!" "Ugh!" "Aagh!" "Ah!" "I came back for this?" "Consumption wasn't much fun the first time around, either." "It's ok." "I'm here." "How?" "Followed you like a crazy stalker, not one of my finer moments." "No, no." "Get him." "You have to get me across the border." "It's stripping away the magic." "I'll die." "You'll die if I move you." "I have to stop the bleeding." "Nicked your descending aorta." "I know." "That's what killed me." "You didn't have me back then, did you, and you didn't have hemostatic gauze." "Get up." "Come on." "Get up." "Ugh!" "What's happening?" "You still with me?" "While I'm sealing this wound," "I want you to think about how you tried to compel one of the smartest women on campus to forget about her date with you, the date where I single-handedly saved dozens of lives without smearing my makeup." "Alaric?" "Hang on." "Stay with me." "Come on." "Gonna get that heart pumping." "You don't get to have the last word with me." "Alaric!" "Alaric!" "Stay with me." "Come on." "Ah..." "Ah..." "So... so..." "Something is wrong." " Don't move." " No." "Something is wrong." "I'm not supposed to be alive." "There's no reason you shouldn't be." "I sealed the wound." "We just have to get you to the hospital." "Yeah." "I'll tell her." "Thanks." "I was just at route 9, and there was a crash, but they weren't there." "Yeah." "I know." "They had to get out of there." "What happened?" "Stefan said that..." "What, Caroline?" "What?" "Alaric crossed the border, but Jo was there, and she saved him." "So he's ok." "That means he's ok, right?" "Yeah, Elena." "He's ok." "Then why do you have that look on your face?" "What happened, Caroline?" "All the magic stripped away, but Jo saved him just before he died." "What?" "I don't know what that means, Caroline." "Alaric is not a vampire anymore, Elena." "He's human." "Thanks for the ride." "Yeah." "I thought I'd save you the trouble of having to boost another car." "That was almost funny." "Hope for you yet, Donovan." "If I told you I knew about your family, promise to take a little friendly advice?" "Hang on." "You know who my family is?" "Read any history book about the town's founding members." "The guys that live in this house are Damon and Stefan Salvatore." "Why are you just telling me this now?" "Because..." "They're vampires, and wherever they go, death and pain always follow." "So if you're looking for family, you're not gonna find it here." "Do yourself a favor and get as far away from this place as you can." "Come on!" "No." "Damn it!" "Jer..." "I keep trying to cancel Bonnie's phone, but I can't without her pin." "Why can't I remember her pin?" "Uh!" "Uh!" "Uh!" "Get off!" "Get off!" "Hey, it's ok." "No, it's not!" "She's gone." "Bonnie is gone." "Jo is a keeper." "How does it feel?" "Oh, it hurts a lot." "Well, it's too bad there aren't any vampires in Mystic Falls to help heal you." "Well, I think they got me on a morphine drip." "It's the next best thing." "Elena, I'm so sorry." "No." "No, Alaric." "I'm just glad that you're ok." "I mean, up until an hour ago," "I didn't even want my memories to return." "I was the one who made the choice to lose them." "Now I have to live with the fact that you can't give them back to me." "I know how much you hated being a vampire." "So I'm just glad one of us got what we wanted." "And what is it that you want?" "To be able to look Damon in the eye, knowing all that I know and all that I don't, and..." "See how I feel about him." "I want to trust how I feel." "I hope that you can." "Good luck, ok?" "This hospital sucks." "I can't believe anyone actually makes it out alive." "They usually don't." "I'm having you transferred to Whitmore ASAP." "Thank you." "Just doing my job." "Hey..." "You did more than that." "You gave me back my life." "Thank you." "I was this close, this close." "I know." "I'm sorry." "Oh, I got it." "Everybody is sorry." "You're sorry you gave up on me, sorry you turned Enzo in to that hunter guy." "Ric is sorry for the compulsion." "I'm sure if Elena could remember anything, she'd be sorry, too." "You got to understand how hard it was for her." "I am so tired of hearing about how hard it was for her." "It was hard for me, as well." "At least you knew you had a home to come back to." "She didn't have anything." "To her, you were just gone." "Guess I still am." "Ric said she's happy without me since she's erased me." "You know what?" "I don't want her to be happy." "I want her to be miserable just like I am." "You done?" " Yeah." "I'm done." " Good." "Now quit stalling." "There's a girl you need to go see." "What if it doesn't work?" "What if what we had isn't strong enough to break the compulsion?" "You're not gonna find out just sitting there, are you?" "Here goes everything." "Hey." "Hey." "So..." "Am I your last stop on the Stefan Salvatore apology tour?" "Could we just get past this, please?" " I'm trying to." " Look, Caroline." "What do you want me to do, huh?" "Stop making me guess and tell me so we can go back to being friends again." "Yeah." "Well, that's the thing, Stefan." "After all of this, I..." "I don't want to be friends anymore."