Stefan had kept his promise about teaching me. He had taught me the strength, the speed, pretty uch everything. Hunger was still a little bit of an issue, but not as badly as before.
Stefan dragged me to a bar in Whitmore with Elena.
"Breakfast, Professor Salvatore?" Elena asked.
"Oh, no, no, no, no," Stefan told her. "I see what you're doing."
"What am I doing?" Elena asked.
"Distraction tactics," Stefan answered. "Stay focused. So, psychology, sociology, and anthropology share the assumption that . . ."
"Scientifice methods can be used to understand human behavior," Elena answered.
"That's very good, as in verbatim, which means that I need to ask you more difficult questions," Stefan told her.
I looked at him as I sat across the table from him. "Thank you."
"For what?" Stefan asked.
"For saving me from myself," I answered. "Teaching me as much as you could in . . .how many days? For making sure that I didn't cut my head off with my own sword. Speaking of distracting tactics, which is why you dragged me here."
"You're welcome, and yes, it is," Stefan told me. "Just because you're a vampire when you never wanted to be doesn't mean you should just die altogether."
I smiled a small smile.
"Aw, there it is!" Elena told me.
My smile widened.
Bonnie walked up to us, sitting next to Elena. "Hey. I'm sorry I'm late. What did I miss?"
"Just that Stefan the tutor from hell," I answered.
"Unkind," Stefan told me. "Take that back."
Elena looked at Bonnie. "Actually, I'm surprised that you're up for studying, you know, considering. . ."
"Considering?" Bonnie asked.
"The Other Side," Elena told her. "Falling apart." She looked from me to Stefan. "She's in denial." She looked at Stefan. "Just like Nicola's in denial about not needing help."
"So I see," Stefan told her.
"I'm not in denial," I told them.
"And neither am I," Bonnie told us. "The Other Side is disintegrating. As the anchor to the Other Side, I'm only alive as long as there is an Other Side. I'm perfectly aware of the threat of my impending death. There is nothing I can do about it. It's called acceptance, fifth stage of grief. Look it up, tutor guy."
"Definitely in denial," Stefan told us.
"Yeah," Elena said. "Look, Bonnie, I've already lost you once. We're not doing this again. It's not an option, okay? Not to mention what's gonna happen to Alaric and your Grams and everyone else over there. So what are we gonna do?"
"Fine," Bonnie said. "If you guys promise to stop hovering. I'll ask Liv if she has any witchy ideas. Besides, don't we have bigger problems with those Travelers trying to take over Mystic Falls?"
"Oh, no," Stefan said. "Damon's already on that."
"He is?" Elena and I asked together.
"Did I say Damon?" Stefan asked. "What I meant to say was George."
Elena looked at Bonnie. "Damon said that he never wanted to see me again. And Nicola's still pissed at him for turning her into a vampire, but she denies that she hates him."
