I step into my school gym, already confused by the newly decorated pieces of the wrong decade. "Did nobody pay attention in history class? This is the 20's not the 70's." I turn to Caroline.

"It was but Rebekah decided to do a 20's decade dance." she replies and rolls her eyes. "And you let her...?" I question.

"Just because you can boss an original around, doesn't mean the rest of us can." Caroline giggles and I throw her a look, "Not funny."

"Yes it is. Anyway, since Rebekah isn't here, it's our job now." she smiles sarcastically. I nod and let my eyes sweep around the gym.

My fingers collect a clipboard and a pen from a nearby table and I begin to check off the decor pieces that I can spot with my eyes. I trail behind Caroline and Elena, vaguely listening to their conversation as I do my task.

"So, Alaric is trying to pull himself together, why is that a bad thing?" Caroline asks Elena. "I just... I wish there was something I could do." Elena sighs while picking up a chandelier, "Where do you want me to hang this thing?"

"You know what? If Rebekah wanted to hang this monstrousity she should have shown up to do it herself." Caroline groans and snatches the object from Elena's hand and gives it to a passing by student.

I sigh, growing bored of scanning the room and plop the clipboard on a table. I make my way to Matt and Jeremy, who are currently hanging up stars on the ceiling. "I don't think you're supposed to do it like that." I critique them.

"If you're such an expert, you do it." My brother jokes and I cross my arms with a smile, "No, I think this job is for the boys."

"What are you doing?! You can't just hang them! They're supposed to trickle down." Caroline retorts, running over to us.

"Trickle, duh!" Matt laughs. My lips form upwards as I watch my brother slowly heal himself after all the crazy drama that has happened recently. All I want is for him to be happy and I think the best solution was for him to stay here.

I turn around and join the girls as they pick up more decorations from the tables. "So... who are you bringing to the dance?" Caroline asks.

Elena wraps a feather boa around her neck then furrows her eyebrows. "What do you mean? I thought the four of us were going as girl dates."

"Hm, Bonnie has a date." Caroline drops the bomb. "You're kidding." I sigh, but I'm also not surprised. I can only assume who her date is.

"Jamie called and wanted to see her so she asked him." Caroline answers, "So here's a thought, why don't you ask Stefan?"

Elena nods, smiling. "Okay."

"What what about you?" Caroline turns to me and Elena wraps the feather boa around me. "What about me?"

"Who will you bring to the dance? Don't tell me it's Satan-Klaus." Caroline says and I let out a laugh. "Don't worry, he's old history now." I reply back, fighting the urge to frown.

My mind has been occupied with Jeremy coming back, Alaric's alter-ego, and the kiss I shared with Damon that I haven't put much thought into Klaus. I don't think he will ever forgive me again, especially since he found out about the arrows.

"What about Damon? I'm sure he will love to switch to another look-alike." she says and I had to force out a laugh, taking that sentence too deeply.

"I'll go by myself." I tell them and the two of them pout their lips. "No, that simply cannot happen. I'll cancel my date with Tyler and we—"

"Care, it's fine. It's just a dance. I'll be fine on my own."

§

I pull up to the school and park my car. I sit there for a moment, taking out my lipgloss and running the applicator through my lips. Staring at the mirror before me, I quickly fix my beige flapper headband that matches my dress and adjust the white pearl necklace. I put my long gloves on that reach up to my arm and finally exit my car.

I lock my car and take a step forward when a presence jumps in front of me, "Boo!"

"Damon! Don't do that." I gasp, hitting his arm with my purse. "Ow," he rubs his arm, "what do you have in that thing?"

"What are you doing here?" I disregard his question and make my way over to the school doors. I hear his feet trickling behind, "Rumor has it that you're entering this dance all alone. Being the gentleman that I am, I couldn't let that happen."

"I don't need you as my date." I tell him and open the door, purposely trying to shut it before he could get in but he beats me to it. "Besides, I plan on dancing with Matt."

"Another blue-eyed boy? I'm starting to figure out your taste in men." he smirks and I roll my eyes. I hadn't really talked to him since our kiss, and I'm glad he's not making it awkward.

"By the way, you look beautiful." he compliments me and I thank him with a smile and give him a small comment on his choice of clothing for tonight. "So, what do you say?" he sticks out his arm.

"Fine," I sigh and accept his arm, "but only one dance."

"I thought you were only playing hard to get with Klaus." Damon snickers and I shoot him a look, "Just shut up and dance with me."

We enter the gym and he immediately pulls me with the rest of the crowd who's dancing with their significant other. Our fingers intertwine and his other hand rests on my hip while mine sits on his shoulder.

"Might I say you would totally fit in the roaring 20's. Definitely up your alley."

"Sure, let's go on a time machine back to New York City and meet Jay Gatsby." I reply back sarcastically and he shrugs, "I met a lot of Gatsbys back in the day. Soo not worth writing a book about."

I chuckle and clear my through a few seconds after. "Listen, Damon, I wanted to talk to you about—"

"Maya!"

I turn around and find Caroline rushing over to me with her pearly white teeth. "Oh, my God! You look amazing." she smiles.

"Thank you, Caroline. So do you!" I look down at her attire and she twirls around to show off her red dress. She gives Damon a look, "And thanks, Damon."

"What are you thanking him for?" I question, growing confused. "Alright!" Caroline exaggerates as if she got caught red handed. "I set you two up."

"Why?"

"Because it would've been super depressing to see you alone at the fruit-punch table." Caroline admits and once again, I roll my eyes.

"I'm more than capable of getting a date and I don't need you to come to my rescue all the time. But, thanks anyway." I give her a small smile.

I spot Tyler trailing behind her. "Oh, I didn't think he'd show up. If Klaus finds out—" I turn back to Caroline with worried eyes.

"—which he won't." she assures. "Come on, let's enjoy this one night without any supernatural drama."

"Fine by me." Damon jumps in and swiftly pulls me away from my friends. "We need to find Elena and Stefan. We slightly have a problem."

"A problem...? What happened?" I ask him, my voice laced with concern. "I'll tell you once we find them. Come on, they're probably making out behind the lockers."

"Please don't put that vision in my thoughts." I gag and he starts looking around the gym. His fingers wrap around my arm and pulls me to our final destination.

"Not to rain on your parade, but we need to have a discussion. Right now." Damon intrudes on them dancing.

The four of us wander out to the halls and Damon explains his urgent problem. Alaric's herbs to keep him at bay were untouched and we think that Evilaric has been fooling us.

"Right now would be the perfect time for a drink. I wish someone spiked the punch." I sigh and Damon pulls out his flask from his suit, "I always come prepared." he grins.

I snatch it out of his hand gracefully and start to drink it. Suddenly it gets pulled away from my grasps and Elena stares at me with a disapproving look. "What can we do?" she turns to the boys.

"Find a cure, maybe?" I suggest with crossed arms. "We tried medicine, we tried magic..." Damon shakes his head at my proposal.

"Why don't we get him off vervain, compel him?" Stefan gives an idea.

Damon looks at his brother, "What? To pretend to be Alaric? The guy that we know is gone. We're talking about someone who not only hates vampires, but vampire sympathizers. Which makes one of his most obvious targets; I don't know, you two!" He indicates to Elena and I.

"So wait, what are you suggesting we do?"

"I'm suggesting that we put him out of his misery." Damon replies. "What?!"

"Stop it, Damon. We're not doing that. There has to be another way to save him." I furrow my eyebrows, offended by his choice of words.

"No, no way in hell!" I heard a voice yell from down the hall. Jeremy enters the scene and I inhale a breath. He must've been eavesdropping.

"Oh come on, It's what he would want. It's a mercy killing." Damon tries to make a point.

"You are out of your mind!" Jeremy retorts loudly and turns around to leave. Elena calls after him and eventually follows, leaving the three of us in the empty hallway.

I knew Elena would calm him down and there would be no point in having me there, even if Jeremy likes me better.

"What is wrong with you?" I tell Damon and push past his shoulder before joining everyone back in the gym.

I walk over to the punch table and pour myself a drink. As I take a sip, realizing it's not spiked, I leave it on the surface and try to find my friends.

Tyler and Caroline are dancing, like there's no one else in the room. A small smile forms on my lips as I watch them and feel a light tap on my shoulder.

"Can we make this night less miserable if we dance together?" Matt holds out his hand and I laugh, taking it and slowly dance with him.

"This is nice. No vampires, witches, werewolves-hybrids to disturb us remaining humans... and I spoke too soon." Matt lips turn into a straight line as he looks behind me.

"What?" I spin my head around and find Klaus staring at Tyler from afar. "Where've you been, mate?"

I feel my breathing hitch, not expecting to see him so soon. Especially him in a 20's costume. He didn't seem to notice me, which I'm grateful for.

"I just got back in town." Tyler answers. "That's funny, I don't recall giving you permission to leave in the first place."

"Why do you always have to prove you're the alpha male?!" Caroline steps in.

"I don't have to prove anything, love. I am the alpha male."

Caroline scoffs and goes back to Tyler. I rotate back around to find Matt disappearing into the crowd. I guess he really doesn't want to be around the drama.

"Care to share a dance with me?"

I turn and Klaus has his hand out waiting for me to accept. I hesitate for a moment before letting him take me to the dance floor. "I didn't think you'd ever talk to me again."

"You have this effect on people and I cannot seem to stray away." he grins and pushes our bodies up against each other.

"You would've loved the 1920s, Maya. The girls were reckless, sexy, fun. They literally used to dance until they dropped."

"Oh, so I've heard."

"I'm leaving town tomorrow," he tells me after a moment of silence. I widen my eyes in shock, "What?"

"I'd invite you to come with me but we both know you're not ready to accept my offer."

"Can we at least talk about this?" I lower my voice, hoping my super-hearing friends aren't listening. "What is there to talk about, sweetheart? You've said your piece and I wanted to have one last dance with you before we part."

"Klaus..." I am left speechless and all the things I want to say to him have caught my tongue on a loophole.

"You and I share this unspoken thing, whether you like to admit it or not and whenever you are ready, I'll be there." he tells me before vanishing.

§

After my small encounter with Klaus, I had the urge to leave the school and sit in my room for the rest of the night and think about what he told me.

Unspoken thing...? He is really brave for saying that out loud and the worst part is that I can't even deny it.

I sit in my car and contemplate the whole conversation. I don't even know why I care so much, moreover why I care so much that he's leaving. My cellphone rings and I answer, "What?"

"You know, I could've been your grandmother. You should greet me with a nicer tone." he says through the phone. "What do you want, Damon?"

"Where are you? Another problem has occurred."

"Another one? I'm literally about to pull out of the parking lot." I tell him and then he proceeds to tell me that Esther has captured Elena and there's salt surrounding the building that's keeping them from leaving.

"Moral of the story is that you are so lucky you're human right now." I hear him say and I immediately exit my car and run back into my school. I hang up the phone and go into the classroom that was assigned for me.

Various candles were lit in the dark room as Bonnie closes her eyes and chants a spell. I slowly step in and all eyes meet mine, including Klaus'.

"She does this all the time, right?" Jeremy asks.

"What's taking so long?! All boundary spells have a loop hole." Klaus retorts and I join by my brother's side.

Matt enters, "People are walking right out of the dance, past the barrier."

"Matt and I can leave, we can stop Esther ourselves. We just gotta find out where she is." Jeremy tells us.

"It's suicide, Jeremy." Stefan claims and I agreed, "Yeah, Jer, I think it's better if you stay here."

Klaus rushes over and grabs Jamie by the throat and starts to strangle him. "Suicide would be disappointing me! Now work your magic, witch, or I'll start killing people you fancy."

"Let him go!" Bonnie yells. "Not until you get us out of here."

"Ah, don't be stupid, Klaus. Bonnie doesn't give a damn about us. The only reason she's helping us right now is to save Caroline and Tyler. You start killing the people she cares about, she'll tell us all to go to hell." Stefan tells him.

"Klaus, let go of him!" I stare at him and he looks at me with a clenched jaw before letting him go.

§

I sit in the classroom alone with Bonnie as she grabs a map from the wall and places it on the teacher's desk in front of us.

My feet dangle from the desk I'm sitting on and turn on the table lamp for better vision of the map. Klaus and Damon enter, causing me to gulp.

"We need blood from the Gilbert bloodline." Damon announces and I sigh, getting up off of the table. "This is my least favorite part about being friends with a witch." I grab the knife and a nearby bowl, slicing my the palm of my hand and letting my blood trickle down.

I wince in pain and push the bowl over to Bonnie once I finish and quickly wrap a tissue around my injured hand.

"I have to do this with you two lurking over me?" Bonnie looks up to the two of them.

"You're still mad at me for what happened to Abby. Let me apologize. I'm sorry Elijah forced us to turn your mother into a vampire to save Elena's life. Didn't exactly have a choice." Damon tells her.

Bonnie scoffs, "There's always a choice. Whenever you make one someone else suffers."

"Let's cut the dramatics and begin, shall we?" Klaus sarcastically includes himself and I snicker quietly.

Bonnie pours the blood onto the map and starts chanting. "Phasmatos Tribum Nas Ex Veras, Sequita Saguines, Ementas Asten Mihan Ega Petous."

My blood forms a circular pool until it stops moving. "Esther is fighting me." Bonnie answers my unspoken question.

"Esther couldn't possibly have this much power. Unless she's channelling something." Klaus replies.

"A hotspot?" she asks.

"Get the humans ready. I know where she is."

§

I stand outside with Klaus and Stefan, waiting for Damon to return. The two of them start talking but I zone out, thinking about tonight's event.

"...Well, there were moments. Real friendship. Brotherhood." I hear Klaus say.

Damon walks up, "Well, he already has a brother. Not to be, you know, territorial or anything."

"Oh no, of course, the Salvatores. And their unshakeable bond. I wonder what'll happen when Elena finally makes her choice. Will we see you shake just a little bit?" Klaus states.

I wince, knowing that Elena liked Damon and I made out with him.

Bonnie comes out of the school, "It's done. Esther's not fighting me any more. The boundary spell is broken."

Klaus tests the boundary with his arm, seeing Bonnie's words are correct, and rushes away.

"Thank you, Bonnie. For everything." Stefan smiles. "I didn't do it for you." she sneers.

§

I slowly walk into the cemetery and feel goosebumps rise on my skin. I haven't been here in awhile, mostly because it reminded me so much of my parents. But, Alaric is here waiting to die and now is my chance to finally have some closure.

Esther gave Alaric Elena's blood, hoping to turn him. Instead, he chose the other route and would rather die than put us through anymore pain.

I see him sitting there, accepting death as his fate. "Alaric." I whisper and approach him. "Maya," he weakly smiles back.

"You can't leave us, Ric." I kneel down besides him and a year already falls down to my cheek. His thumb wipes it away, "I don't want to but, it's probably the right thing to do. After everything that's happened, after all that I have done. Maybe I had it coming."

"Don't say that. You never deserved to have a life like this and have it end this way." I tell him and he chuckles. "Taking care of you, Elena, and Jeremy has been– has been the closest I've ever come to the life I always wanted. I wouldn't trade this life for the world."

I pull him into a hug and sob into his shoulder. Another death and I begun to wonder if I'm cursed. I pull away and give him a sad smile. "I'll miss you."

"Now, you take care of your siblings. I trust you more than them." he laughs which soon turns into coughing.

"You should go before I start crying." Alaric says and I sniffle a laugh. "Goodbye, Ric."