Ohmygosh! You guys are the best! We've reached the 100 review mark, and I am ecstatic! I never even thought this story would get any reviews since I was such a newbie, but your comments and critiques have made everything so much better! Anyways, I may have been a crappy updater lately, but here's some awesome news... SCHOOL IS OUT! Which means I'm a senior, and I'm done with my junior year classes (which are infinitely more difficult than the classes I'll have this year!) so I can update more often! Granted, my summer is so packed that I barely have any time, but at least I have the weekends to write and update now :) So hopefully we'll get back into that groove that I had before that all went to hell last fall when I started my junior year, and you'll get new chapters in a more timely manner! To start that sentiment off on a good foot, here's the next chapter!

A few minutes later, Stefan and Elena disentangled themselves and walked back to the house hand-in-hand. Damon was still sitting on the couch nursing his bourbon as the couple walked through the door, and immediately saw Elena's change in demeanor. Her previous depression seemed to have disappeared, giving way to a light-hearted, reflective mood.

"You seem…happy," Damon observed, thankful when Elena threw him a small smile. She seemed to be transitioning back to the real-world fairly quickly after her traumatic experiences. "So, are you two actually planning to go to school any time this week?"

A puzzled look quickly came over Elena's face, and Stefan glared at his brother as Elena questioned Damon's offhand comment. "What do you mean? It's Saturday, Damon."

Damon and Stefan both looked at each other as they realized the extent of Elena's cluelessness. "Not exactly…" Damon started, thankful when Stefan offered to finish his thought.

"Elena, its Thursday—not Saturday," Stefan tried to explain calmly, but Elena's eyes still grew out of shock.

"Wh-what?" she stuttered, "No… no, no, no—It's Saturday, Stefan! I've only been out for a day!"

"You were out for almost two weeks, Elena."

"Two weeks?" Elena screeched as she began to take gasping breaths of air. "I couldn't have missed that much school! I'm going get expelled!" she continued, more to convince herself than the brothers—who were just as worried as ever that it was going to be too much for the currently fragile girl. They were pleasantly surprised, however, when her composure slowly began to return.

"How in the world did they let me get away with this? I've already missed at least 6 days this semester alone!"

"What do you mean, Elena? You've been at home with pneumonia for the past two weeks," Damon explained sarcastically, continuing when she was still confused. "Elena, you know three vampires that can easily compel someone into letting your attendance slide, not including the history teacher you've got on the inside. You even managed to get all of your makeup work done while you were sick—but you did have some great tutors."

"You guys really did all of that for me?" Elena questioned appreciatively.

"Of course. We figured you'd have enough trouble reassimilating to school life without ten tons of homework, so we got everything done and turned in for you," Stefan explained. Elena smiled, and thanked them, rushing upstairs to get ready after realizing that there was only 1 hour until school. Both brothers let out a sigh, knowing that they'd gotten Elena through the hardest news of the day so far.

They just hoped it would stay that way.

"She totally ate me out today, Stefan! I told her I'd been sick, but she didn't care!" Elena griped as the two walked down the hallway. She'd managed to survive three classes without getting hassled, but her math teacher had given her trouble about missing school and she had to let out her frustration. Heading to her locker during class change, Stefan listened patiently and responded when she needed a response—knowing that she just needed someone to hear her.

"I'm sure Ms. King just wanted to show the seniors that she wouldn't put up with senioritis, Elena. Didn't you say she liked you last time you were here?" Stefan grinned, knowing that Elena was finding herself again.

Elena glared at the hall as they walked towards Elena's locker. "Yeah, but it seems like she's getting angry just to get angry!" Elena complained as she put the combination into her lock, failing and redialing. "Luisa hasn't even showed up to class once in the past 3 months, and yet she gets mad at me when I have a perfectly reasonable excuse!"

Elena continued to gripe and tug on her lock. "What the hell is wrong with this—"

Suddenly, Elena yanked her arm back, taking the entire lock with her. Holding the lock up between her and Stefan's faces, the couple froze in shock for a few seconds. Sucking in a deep breath, she hurried to try and replace the lock to no avail. "Stefan, help me!" she whispered frantically, and he immediately jumped into action. Thinking she would blow up when the lock didn't slip easily back into place, Stefan tried to screw the lock back on.

Giving up, Elena spun on her heel to lean against the locker, attempting to look like a lounging student, not one that had just broken a school locker in a moment of extreme strength. Stefan was trying to read her face, but he couldn't until she became very serious—but it was an act. Trying to refrain from laughing like a hyena, Elena whispered, "On three, we walk away and act like this never happened, okay?" Stefan nodded, and Elena began. "One… two… three!"

And with that, the two nearly sprinted down the hallway, holding in laughs until they got around the corner. Pushing open the doors, Elena and Stefan nearly fell on the ground laughing.

"Do you think anyone saw?" Elena asked between her giggles, finally feeling happy after her months of torment.

"I don't know how they couldn't! We looked like maniacs!" Stefan laughed, enjoying the happiness rolling off of Elena. The mood-swings she'd been having since the sacrifice had been confusing, but sometimes she got attitudes like this, making them all worth it. She hadn't been happy for a long time, so any bit of joy made the anger feel like it wasn't for nothing.

After the two calmed down a minute later, the joy seemed to disapparate from the area as the couple took on a more subdued tone. "You know, we're going to have to figure out what's going on with you soon, right?"

Elena looked down at the ground, nodding. "I know. But I just need one day. Okay? Just one day of normalcy without originals, or sacrifices or anything like that."

Hours after the locker incident, Elena and Stefan returned to the boarding house. Stefan had offered to take her home, but she claimed that she felt safer wherever he was. Exhausted after her first day back to school after 2 weeks, Elena went upstairs and almost immediately fell asleep.

Stefan walked upstairs to find Elena fast asleep in bed and pulled back the covers to get in. But before he did, he realized that there was only one person that could help them get the information they needed to figure out what was happening with Elena. He sped downstairs to the basement cell, deciding that Elena's one day of relaxation was over and that they needed information fast.

He was well-known for respecting Elena's decisions. And he did, but Elena was no longer thinking clearly enough to realize how desperately she needed help.

The only person that could help them was in the house, killed by that same girl's strength.

That person was Elijah.

As Stefan leaned over Elijah's body, he quickly weighed the pros and cons of reviving him. His decision was made, and he firmly grasped the dagger in Elijah's chest as he yanked it out with every ounce of strength he possessed.

Then, it was time to wait.

Okay, so for the most part this was a "fluffy", "set-up" chapter. You got to see Elena have a bit of fun (if that's what you'd call vandalism), and then you saw the return of ELIJAH (kind of...)! Anyways, like I said, thanks so much for following me to 100 reviews! I hope I can get more, because I love hearing your thoughts and feelings about the chapters, and about the show's new episodes (more on that at the end...). Oh, and I was serious about trying to keep a legitimate update schedule now that I've got more time! Anyways, I hope you liked the chapter, and I can't wait to hear what you guys have to say :) remember, people! Feedback is love, so read and review!

-kiki :)

ps: I freaking LOVED the finale. Best episode ever. (okay, I may be a bit biased since everything that happened I've been wanting to happen since before the show even started...) But my favorite part could be summed up into the last 10 minutes. Seriously? Why the hell does this show have to make me cry so much? I hate it! Just kidding. I'm going to die when the show finally ends in 56 years. Because it deserves SO MANY more seasons. But whatever, SPOILER ALERT!The underwater scene? GORGEOUS. BREATHTAKING. THIS SHOW DESERVES AN OSCAR. Or Emmy, or whatever awards TV shows get. I'm so out of touch. Oh, and Damon's reaction to Elena/Ric dying? Perfect. Jeremy's reaction? Amazing. Stefan's guilty conscious? Awesome and SOOO in character. Good lord, I can watch the last freaking part and cry EVERY TIME. And I do. At least 50 times I've watched it, and I cry every single time without fail. WHY DOES EVERYONE HATE THE CW SO MUCH? THIS SHOW IS SO GOOD!