"How come I have to do this all by myself?" Elena questions me as she continues to punch the punching bag. I glance up from my pile of books scattered in front of me, "I'm studying?"

"Whatever," Elena rolls her eyes and goes back to what she started. I sigh, not really understanding why she's so frustrated. She hasn't been talking to me recently, so I can't help her if she won't let me.

I hear the door open and close. Turning my head slightly, I catch a glimpse of Alaric stepping into his apartment. He holds onto the punching bag and brings it to a halt, "You're gonna put a hole on that thing. Wanna talk about it?"

"There's nothing to talk about, according to her words." I clarify, closing my school binder and shoving it into my bag. "That's because there is nothing to talk about." Elena confirms, throwing me a look.

"So, uh, what's got you all worked up?" Alaric asks. "I didn't really sleep last night." she replies, her hands finding the punching the bag once again.

"Yeah, me neither." Alaric's replies, setting himself down on the couch next to me. "Probably something to do with dying." he then adds on, a small playful smile on his lips.

I frown at him, turning my full attention to him. "You sure you're okay? I question him and he nods, "Yeah, I'm fine."

I raise my eyebrow, not really believing him. "I'm fine!" he reassures, "I think the ring, however, is running low on batteries."

"Yeah, it's another reason why Jeremy had to get out of town. If those rings have a shelf life, he's not protected. Neither are you." Elena chimes in.

I'm still a little upset that Elena proceeded to have our brother compelled without my permission, but I do want to put his safety first and staying in Mystic Falls wasn't it. I do want him back as soon as possible, at least until the water settles down a bit.

Elena kicks the punching bag after a moment of silence, making me jump a little out of surprise. "Nice. Nice. You're getting stronger." Alaric nods at Elena, impressed.

"I'm channeling frustration." Elena takes off her gloves while walking over to the kitchen countertop and Alaric follows. "I need coffee."

"I guess Damon's compulsion worked. Jeremy was packing when I left the house. He was going on about his new school in Denver." Alaric tells the both of us. I get up from my seat and join the two of them in the kitchen.

"Really?" I ask and he nods.

"Have you, uh, talked to Damon today?" I turn my head at Elena's question towards Alaric. It made me wonder if he's the reason why she's so frustrated.

"No. Why?" Alaric inquires and she shrugs. "No reason."

§

"Surprise!" All of us cheer once Caroline steps foot into her home. Balloons floating everywhere where we're located. "Happy birthday!"

It is Caroline's birthday, but she didn't come to school today so the rest of us decided to come pay her a visit. I'm actually worried for her because she has been declining my phone calls all day and it doesn't seem like her to miss out on her favorite day of the year.

Caroline looks at us, stunned. She stands in the middle of her foyer room, "What are you guys doing here?"

"Well, you blew off school and missed our, work of birthday art, so, uh... we," Elena starts, taking off her tiara and puts it on Caroline's head, "changed into warmer clothes, we're going to the falls."

"S'mores, campfire." Bonnie adds on. "Cake! Like when we were little." I cheer. "Except with tequila." Matt laughs.

"Ah, thanks, guys, really. Um... I'm just not really feeling my birthday this year." Caroline tells us truthfully and I soften my eyes a bit, wondering what's really bugging her.

"I'm sorry, what?" Bonnie gives our blonde friend a bewildered look, "You've already claimed your birthday as everyone's favorite day of the year."

"Yeah. And now it's just a reminder that, technically, I'm dead." Caroline replies with a frown and I sigh, understanding why she's upset. "Look, I didn't even like 17. The only point to 17 was to get to 18. It's a filler year. I am stuck in a filler year."

"You're not stuck, Caroline." Elena assures with a small smile. "Yeah, I am. But it's okay. You know, It's all good. I will be fine. But I just need some time to wallow in it." Caroline says and Elena gives us all a smile, "Okay. Well, I think I have another idea."

§

My feet step onto some leaves and branches as I loosely follow behind Elena, Bonnie, Caroline, and Matt. The wind breezes up against my bare skin, causing me to shiver slightly. I have no idea what Elena has up her sleeve, but it better be good if she's making me walk through the woods at night for this.

"Oh. Oh, there it is!" Elena beams and rushes over to a door to a tiny building near the cemetery. The name Fell appears at the top of the building and goosebumps rises on my arms.

"This is creepy," Bonnie states and opens the door to the place. "Even for us." she continues and we all make our way inside.

"No, Caroline was right. Technically, she's dead," Elena puts the cake box down on a stone counter full of dust. "Sorry. But you don't need a birthday, you need a funeral. You need to say goodbye to your old life so that you can move on with your new one." Elena adds on.

"Okay." Caroline smiles and takes off her tiara. "Here lies Caroline Forbes—" Caroline starts but Elena cuts in and puts candles on the cake.

"Cheerleader, miss mystic falls, third grade hopscotch champion." Elena laughs. "Friend, Daughter, overachiever." Bonnie laughs along.

"Mean girl, sometimes, no offense." Matt jokes. "Ah. None taken." Caroline chuckles.

"She was 17 and she had a really good life. So, rest in peace so that you can move forward." I finish off the speech with a smile on my face.

Elena takes the cake out of the cake box with the candles on them and she goes forward to us. "That's what you really need. It's what we all really need. Amen or cheers or whatever." Elena states quickly, glancing at us.

"Uh, Bonnie..." I motion for her to light the candles with her magic, "Oh!" she whispers, closing her eyes. She opens them again and all the candles on the cake were light.

"Okay, make a wish." Elena tells Caroline. The blonde girl closes her eyes, making a wish, and blows out the candles.

I shove the now empty piece of paper plate away and grab the abandoned tequila bottle, letting it run down my throat. "Give me," Matt laughs and takes the bottle away from me.

"Uh-uh. I need it more than you do, trust me." Elena grins and grabs it from Matt, taking a gulp. "Caroline, what are you doing?" Elena asks and I swiftly turn my attention towards my other friend.

"Hmm? Huh? Nothing." she replies quickly, turning back around. "Okay, you're a bad sober liar. You're an even worse drunk liar." My twin sister says.

"I might have texted Tyler." Carline mutters, which receives a disapproving look from Elena. "Caroline..."

"What? I'm delicate." Caroline defends herself. Bonnie jumps in, clearly aggravated by my dear sister. "Give her a break. You can't control what everyone does all the time."

"Wow." Elena widens her eyes at her sudden outbreak. "Ouch," Matt winces, taking a seat next to me. A thin line forms on my lips as I watch the scene in front of me unfold.

"I'm sorry. I know it's Caroline's birthday, funeral or whatever, but... I just think it's really wrong that you compelled Jeremy to leave town." Bonnie says.

"I'm doing it to protect him, Bonnie. I want to give him a change at a half-way normal life."

"He should be able to choose his life the wants to live it. You're taking his choices away." Bonnie retorts. "Bonnie, you can't tell him." Elena tells her.

"Why? Are you gonna compel me not to?" Bonnie sarcastically throws her a question. "You now, you guys are ruining a perfectly good funeral." Matt chimes in.

"Yeah, guys. Caroline already feels bad enough about her birthday. No need to make it worse." I tell the both of them and Bonnie nods, getting up from her seat and grabbing her bag. "I'm sorry. I'm just gonna go sleep it off or something. Happy birthday." Bonnie gives us all a smile before exiting.

The places remained quiet for quite sometime after Bonnie left along with her rant. Caroline's laying on the bench and everyone's laughing about something, however, I completely zoned out.

§

Tyler ended up crashing the party and taking Caroline with him. After waiting awhile for her, we realized she's probably not coming back, but that didn't stop the three of us from trying to find her.

"Caroline!" Matt's voice yells throughout the quiet woods. The trees rustled above me and it's starting to become colder as the minutes pass by.

"I'm pretty sure she has abandoned us." I remind the two of them. "No, we're going into search party. I don't trust that she won't get back together with him." Elena clarifies and I shrug, flashing a flashlight I had in my hand at the ground below me.

"Come on, Caroline. We don't have any more drinks." Elena giggles softly and her shoulders rub against mine.

I stuff my hands in my pocket, realizing my phone is nowhere on me. "Guys, I think I left my phone back there." I say, already turning around.

"Want us to come with? I don't want you wondering in the woods by yourself." Elena gives me a look and I shake my head, "No, you go find Caroline. I'll be right back."

My feet scurry towards the Fell place, snatching my cellphone once I spot it and running back to where I was not minutes ago.

Matt and Elena are nowhere to be seen, which is expected, but they should be close by. It shouldn't be hard to find two drunk teenagers in the woods alone.

"Matt?" My band covers my mouth in reaction to finding him unconscious on the ground. My knees slide down towards him, the leaves and sticks making a loud noise as I do so. I shake him immediately and he jolts up gasping for air.

"What the hell happened? Where's Elena?" I watch as he gets up rather quickly and looks at his surroundings. "I don't remember... Is that Caroline?"

My heels spin at the sound of his voice, spotting another friend of mine unconscious on the ground. "Oh, my god. Caroline!"

§

"Sheriff Forbes!" Matt yells as I open the door to her house. Matt holds Caroline in his arm and rushes inside where her mother greets us, immediately running towards her ill daughter.

"What happened?" Liz's voice fills with fear and panic, touching Caroline's cheek softly. "Tyler bit her," I respond, rubbing the sides of my temples.

"Oh, my god, sweetheart. Be careful." Liz soothes as we walk to Caroline's room. Matt sets her down on her bed and Caroline starts to cry and wince in pain.

"Caroline? Honey, can you hear me?" Liz asked her, frowning. "I'm sorry, mom." Caroline sobs. "She's been hallucinating or something. I don't know." Matt tells Liz, who nods frantically.

"No one's picking up their phone." I sigh, trying to call anyone at this point. "It's all right, sweetheart." Liz tries to calm Caroline.

After awhile, I stand outside Caroline's room as Matt takes her turn sitting with her. I've come to conclusion that Tyler biting her had everything to do with Klaus. He keeps making everything way worse than it has to be and I don't know how long I can pretend to show an interest in him when I can barely think about him without wanting him dead.

The doorbell rings and I make my way over to the door. Klaus stands outside the door, grinning as per usual. I fought the urge to just roll my eyes and spin back around, but I didn't. I needed to make sure Caroline gets healed.

My hand twists the doorknob and I flung the door open, revealing Klaus on the other side. I narrow my eyes at him, crossing my arms in the process. His eyes burn into mine and his grin never leaves his lips.

He couldn't come in unless Caroline's mother invites him in, so I just stand in front of him until she comes. However, he doesn't seem to mind which only makes me grow more annoyed.

"Tyler came to see me. Poor boy, he seemed quite distressed. He said Caroline had had a terrible accident." he tells me, trying to act sentimental, but it wasn't working on me.

"Don't pretend you didn't cause this. Tyler would never do this if he wasn't sired to you," I snap at him and unfold my arms from my chest.

"I'm here to help, Maya." Klaus says and a scoff escapes my mouth. "I find that hard to believe."

"Why's that?" he questions and I take in a sharp breath, squinting my eyes at him. "You've done nothing but cause pain for me and my friends and now you tell me you want to help?"

"My blood with heal her and you know that. Please ask the sheriff to invite me inside." he states and then his eyes travel behind me. I spin back around, spotting Liz walking into the foyer.

"I know how this game works. You want something in return." Liz tells him and Klaus shakes his head. "Just your support."

After a few moments, Liz nods and let's him in. "Come in," Klaus' feet step into the Forbes household and he walks past me with a smirk lingering on his lips.

§

I take a step outside my house, making my way to the mailbox. Today is officially the day where Jeremy leaves to Denver and I've been trying my hardest to avoid seeing him because I know it's going to be hard letting him go.

Sighing, I open the mailbox only to reveal one small narrow black velvet box with a piece of paper attached to it. It has my name on it along with who sent this box. I roll my eyes at the name encrypted on the paper, of course.

I open the box Klaus sent me and an immediate gasp comes from me. A stunning bracelet comes to contact with my eyes and I close the box, shoving it into my pocket of my jacket.

If he thinks sending me jewelry is going to make me forget hurting the people I love, then he's wrong.

"Got any mail?" Elena asks me once I walk back into the house. "Nothing important," I reply back and she nods. Jeremy makes his way down the stairs with suitcases flowing behind him.

When he reaches the front of the front door, I embrace him with a hug and hold him tightly. "I'm going to miss you, Jeremy." I whisper next to his ear.

"I'm going to miss you too, Maya. But, I can't leave if you won't let me." he chuckles in my hair and I let go of the hug, feeling a tear fall down my cheek.

"Be safe, okay?" Elena smiles at Jeremy and then gives him a long hug. "Yeah, okay, all right. Alaric is waiting, okay?" Jeremy says, grabbing his bags and leaves the house once last time.