A/N: I'm going to be breaking my own rule about not posting something that isn't finished, because this story is just kicking me to be written. I can't guarantee any sort of posting schedule, but I'll do my best to hurry on it.

This is post-3x15, trying to keep the characters canon and in character, though it's probably a lot of wishful thinking, as I know the show won't ever give them the depth I wish to see in them.

Pairings: Kennett, one-sided Bamon, with a lot of friendships thrown in for good measure.

.

.

.

PROLOGUE - The Morning After

Stefan Salvatore stepped onto Caroline Forbes' front porch and walked up to the door and stopped, swallowing hard before knocking. He shifted from foot to foot, nervous about the outcome. He knew this wasn't going to be easy, and there was a strong possibility that she wouldn't even see him, and if she did, that she'd turn his brain to jelly the moment he opened his mouth, but he had to take that chance.

He had to apologize, to explain things to her. He knew inside that she wouldn't agree with the necessity of his and Damon's actions the previous night, but she would understand them. Elena was her best friend. He knew without asking that she'd sacrifice her own life to save Elena's; he'd seen that loyalty and dedication on more than one occasion. But he and Damon hadn't asked, and they certainly hadn't given Abby a choice in the matter, either. They'd played God, done what they'd felt had to be done in the moment, but that moment was going to bring them far more pain than pleasure in the long run, and unlike his brother, Stefan wasn't able to bury his guilt under a pile of other emotions. Stefan had always been strongly motivated by guilt.

The door opened, and Stefan looked up at Caroline. Before he could even ask to speak with Bonnie, or if she'd see him, the blonde-haired vampire gave him his answer.

"Go home, Stefan," she said. Her words were soft, perhaps a bit sympathetic because she knew why he was there, perhaps because she saw his courage in facing and accepting his part in hurting her friend, perhaps even in warning him that it was safer for him to go home, but he caught their underlying meaning. Bonnie's still upset and doesn't want to speak to you or see you.

"Please," he said. Caroline stood resolutely in the doorway, an undead statue dedicated to protecting her friend. He knew from her stance there was no changing Caroline's or Bonnie's minds. "Would you tell her I was here, and that I deeply regret the events of last night."

"I will," Caroline promised with a half-smile. She backed away and closed the door, leaving Stefan standing there, feeling even more guilty than he had the night before.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

Elena knocked at the front door of the Salvatore Boarding House. It was early, but she knew the brothers were probably awake. Her heart pounded furiously, and she looked around nervously. She knew she had to speak the words she was here to say, but that didn't mean she was really ready to say them. But after the events of the night before, she hadn't been able to sleep, hadn't been able to think about anything else, so here she was.

The door opened.

"Elena?"

Elena turned and looked up into Stefan's clear green eyes, eyes that she loved dearly, just as she loved the man they belonged to. But that man was lost to her, lost to himself, and until he resurfaced, there was no point in dwelling on the past.

"I need to speak with you and Damon," she told him, steeling her nerves. Stefan stepped aside. With a deep breath, Elena strode past him, and Stefan closed the door behind her.

"What a surprise," Damon said from the sofa. What wasn't a surprise was the glass of liquor in his hand; he had a tendency to self-medicate even in the best of situations, and things were definitely not good. He didn't wear his emotions on his sleeve, and he did his best to hide any guilty feelings behind snark and liquor. He was feeling particularly snarky, and particularly liquored up, for such an early hour.

Elena stopped next to the fireplace, and Stefan followed her into the room. She gave Damon a glare, but it had no effect on him, as usual, and she sighed. This was definitely for the best. Nevertheless, now that she was standing here with the brothers, the words were sticking in her throat.

"You have something on your mind?" Stefan led; he recognized that Elena had something to say, something that he was certain not to enjoy.

Well, here goes nothing.

"I want to thank you both for saving my life last night," Elena said.

"But?" Damon took a large swig of his drink. He could hear the word just hanging in the silence after the girl had stopped speaking.

"But you crossed a line," Elena continued, finding the words coming easier now that she'd begun speaking. "A line that should never have been crossed."

"Your life was in danger," Damon pointed out. "So we did what we had to do."

"There was another way," Elena told him. "You should have gotten in touch with Bonnie as soon as Elijah contacted you."

"That was suggested by Saint Stefan," Damon answered, glancing over at his brother, who looked away. "But we had a plan B."

"And plan B didn't work," Elena reminded him. "Plan A should have been giving Bonnie a chance to come up with an alternative while you tried plan B. Then maybe things wouldn't have come to that point." She glared over at Stefan, who wouldn't meet her eyes, before turning her furious gaze on Damon. "You know how important choice is, but you never gave Bonnie or her mom a choice in any of it."

"We did what had to be done," Damon repeated, stubbornly clinging to his mantra. If he repeated it often enough, he might actually start to believe it.

"No," Elena answered. "What had to be done was letting Bonnie and her mom help Esther kill the Originals. What had to be done was what was best for the greater good. What you did was save my life, and I don't mean to sound unappreciative, but I had things managed with Rebekah. She couldn't get to me. If you hadn't put my life above someone else's life, then the Originals would be dead, and everything would be all right."

Her voice caught as she remembered Caroline's words to her the night before. The Salvatores' choice had brought suffering to her best friend, because of her. They'd chosen her life over the life of her friend's mother, and now Bonnie was avoiding her. Elena couldn't blame her, but she wished things hadn't come to this. She knew her next words wouldn't make things better between her and Bonnie, but maybe they'd be a step in the right direction.

"We couldn't take that chance," Damon said, standing up and walking over to her. "You are more important than anything."

"But I shouldn't be," Elena argued. She took a step back and bumped into the edge of the fireplace. She said the next words quickly, afraid she wouldn't get them out. "I need to take some time away from you two, to evaluate my life."

The words landed as a slap to Damon; Stefan, on the other hand, stared down at the floor. He'd been expecting them from the moment they'd made the decision to turn Abby, and especially after Elena had shown up at the door with something heavy weighing on her mind.

"Evaluate your life?" Damon asked, his brow furrowing. "What the hell does that mean?" He took a deep swig of his whiskey.

"Damon," Stefan said, stepping forward. Damon met his eyes and he shook his head. With a growl, Damon stepped away.

"We'll give you all the space you need," Stefan, finally meeting Elena's eyes, promised her.

She nodded at him. They had taken the news better than she expected. She stepped around him and headed for the door. She had it open, but before she could exit, Damon was behind her. He caught her arm, and she turned around to face him.

"I love you," he told her, a fierce expression on his face. "You can't just walk out on us this way, not after everything we've done for you."

"Damon," Stefan said, coming up behind his brother and touching his arm. He knew this wasn't going to be pretty. Once Elena made up her mind about something, there was little that could be said to dissuade her.

"Done for me?" she asked, anger kindling at Damon's words. "Don't you mean, done for you?"

"That's-"

"And you don't love me, Damon," she continued. "You love Katherine. You loved her for 145 years, and you've known me for a little over a year. You're just transferring your feelings for her onto me because I look like her."

"That's not true," Damon told her, denial in his heart. He didn't love Katherine. He hated her. But Elena...

"You don't know what love is," Elena added. "Love isn't selfish, and that's all you are, Damon. That's all you've ever been. And until you accept that and learn to move past it, that's all you'll ever be."

She might as well have slapped him. Damon, looking stunned, took a step back. Elena gave him a furious look, turned around, and headed out into the sunlight. Neither Salvatore followed her.