Try {One | Alaric Saltzman}

The Last Dance

As Elena signed the deed to the Salvatore Boarding House, Bonnie asked, "So, this place is all yours? They just gave it to you?"

"For now." Elena couldn't help but smile. "As sole owner, I'm the only one who can invite a certain type of person in here, if you know what I mean."

"Wouldn't want to clean it."

They laughed, earning a curious glance from the lawyer as they led him to the front door. He nodded at Stefan and Damon as he left, memory automatically erased at the gesture.

"Stefan," she said with a smile. "Would you like to come inside my house?"

"I would love to." He kissed her. "Thank you."

Damon raised his eyebrows at her. "What are we, twelve?"

"One of us is." She looked him up and down. "If I let you in, do you promise to obey the owner of this house?"

"No."

"Seriously, Damon." Her voice had lost all traces of playfulness. "My way. You promised. I call the shots. No lies, no secret agendas. Remember?"

With a deep breath, he resigned, "Yes, Elena. Sure."

"Then please." She stepped out of the doorway. "Come in."

Damon crossed the threshold, keeping his eyes on Abigail. "Shut up."

Holding back a laugh, she muttered, "I wasn't going to say anything."

"Sure. Wait, where are you going?"

"To school."

"No, no, no." He shook his head. "We didn't create a safe house for you to leave it."

"Yeah, guys." Stefan closed the circle. "Klaus is out there. We know that."

"Right. But where? No one knows." Elena looked between them. "Look, I really appreciate what you guys are doing. And I'll be able to sleep at night knowing that I'll be safe here, but I'm not going to be a prisoner."

Damon clicked his tongue. "Your way, Elena."

Abigail patted his shoulder. "Don't worry, we have Bonnie."

"If he shows his face, I can take him." She stood up a little taller. "I know how."

Elena turned back to face them one more time. "The way I see it, next to Bonnie is the safest place that I can be."

"Wait!" Stefan reached for his backpack just past the door of the study. "I'm coming with you."

Once they settled at their desk in the history classroom, Elena held up a flyer for the 1960s dance. When she showed it to Abigail she smiled enthusiastically, Klaus on the loose or not, she was not going to miss the first dance she and Caroline planned without an argument. Bonnie gave her a similar reaction, ready for the first night of fun in months. But Stefan, well Stefan was more than hesitant, eventually settling on shaking his head as Alaric arrived.

"Hello, class." He smiled around at them, looking for one set of eyes in particular. "What are we learning today?"

From the back of the classroom, Dana answered, "With the decade dance tonight, we've been covering the sixties all week."

"Right. The sixties." His eyes shifted between the Gilbert sisters, letting them linger on Abigail for far longer than he should have. "The, uh, ahem..." He took to writing on the chalkboard. "The sixties. I wish there was something good I could say about the sixties, but... Actually, they kind of sucked. Except for the Beatles, of course. They made it bearable." He faced the class again. "Uh, what else was there? The Cuban missile thing, the... we walked on the moon. There was Watergate."