"Wow, you're really so bored that you've succumbed to reading old journals?"

Whipping her head up, and away from the dreary pages of her book, Elena's face lit up when she saw Ana crouched at the end of her sofa. The human leaped from where she was sat and embraced Ana happily, her brunette hair swaying as she grinned at her friend. "What are you doing here? Not that I'm complaining, but I thought you and Damon were trying to handle the werewolves in Mystic Falls."

"I guess you could say that it was getting a bit much for me." Ana explained, sitting next to the brunette human and shrugging.

"Really? Were you, uh, hurt?" Elena interrogated, her eyebrows raised in blatant curiosity. She couldn't help herself; it wasn't often that Ana put herself in a position so vulnerable that Elena could comfort her.

Ana laughed dryly, replying "I'm a vampire, Elena, I don't get hurt. Remember?"

"I meant emotionally. Your guards are down, I can sense it."

"What, are you a witch now?" Ana asked, sighing deeply when she saw Elena frown. "Enough about me, anyway. How's it been here? This Lakehouse is so beautiful, reminds me of the good days."

Raising an eyebrow, Elena crossed her arms. "With Klaus?"

Deciding that Ana's nod meant she didn't want to discuss her ex-fiance, Elena sat forward on the sofa, answering the question before. "It's been alright here, I guess. I mean, it was okay yesterday. This morning me and Stef had a fight."

"A fight, huh? Trouble in paradise?" Ana mused, stroking her chin with fake curiosity.

"If there is a paradise." Elena sighed, putting a hand to her forehead in exasperation. "I feel like everyone's trying to protect me, and no one will let me protect them."

Her head tilted, Ana hummed "I'm getting the impression that this is about more then some fight between you and Stefan."

Elena could only smile softly at the youngest Petrova, finding it sweet how intuitive the black-haired vampire was. It was obvious that somewhere, deep, deep down inside of her, Ana did care. Even if it was a little bit.

"Let me guess." Ana told Elena, now beginning to lay across the long sofa. "You're going to sacrifice yourself in Klaus' ritual so Elijah can defeat him and we can all live happily ever after?"

"Something like that." Elena admitted, her lips pulling into a relaxed smile, though Ana couldn't understand why the teenager would be smiling at the thought of sacrificing herself, and dying at the hands of an original, just to save people that she might not even be friends with in years to come. Elena sure was hard to figure out.

After seeing Ana's reaction, Elena added "Aren't you going to argue with me?"

"Hmm... no."

Unsettled by the strange reaction, Elena sat in silence for a few seconds before speaking once more. "I thought you didn't agree with me risking my life?"

"You're right, I don't." Ana replied, shrugging with nonchalance. "But I seriously don't have the energy to fight you on this matter... again. Plus, I'm sure Stefan will come up with some grand gesture to change your mind."

"I'm not changing my mind, Ana. I know what I'm doing." Elena said, rising from the sofa with her eyebrows knitted; it was clear that the doppelganger felt defensive about people protecting her. "Well, I'm going to go and grab myself some dinner. I would offer you some, but... um..."

Laughing, Ana mused "You don't have to explain. Stefan can lend me one of his blood bags."

Elena just smiled in response, heading into the kitchen area to make herself some dinner. "Right. Well, uh, I think Stefan's just been on the phone to Damon. He'll probably want to talk to you soon."

"Well, duty calls." Ana muttered, getting up from the sofa, brushing herself off and giving Elena one last wave before heading out to where the lake was.

★·'¯'·★

"So, what did Damon say?"

Stefan turned from his trance, from staring at the lake and imagining life without the girl he loved: Elena Gilbert. The youngest Salvatore was full of conflict and emotions that even he struggled to understand; the main feeling being frustration. Frustration over the fact that Elena Gilbert was being selfish, not thinking about how much Stefan would suffer without his human lover around. Frustration over the idea of not being able to shield the doppelganger from all the bad things in life and frustration over the thought of being alone... like always.

"Not much. Damon's handling Mystic Falls, don't worry." Stefan replied, not taking his gaze away from the flowing waters.

Noticing Stefan's distant demeanour, Ana frowned, her face scrunching as she focused on what could be troubling the youngest Salvatore. "I'm not worried about Damon. You, however..."

"I'm guessing that Elena told you about what her deal with Elijah actually meant." Stefan stated, his expression not changing as he turned his attention towards the petite vampire behind him.

Humming to herself, Ana replied "It wasn't hard to figure out, I just can't understand why Elena's always so keen to put herself in danger. After everything that happened in Bulgaria, I value humanity more than ever, and for her to just throw her life away like it means nothing..."

"I know, I know. Trust me, I've had that talk with her." Stefan sighed, subconsciously running his fingers through his thick hair.

"And it clearly didn't work." Ana stated, crossing her arms. "I just... I think it's so stupid for Elena to do what she's doing; there are other ways to survive the ritual."

Stefan, aware of Ana's underlying loyalty to the originals, replied "I don't care about the ritual, Ana. I care about her attitude. Seeing her like this reminds me of my darkest days, when I was throwing everything away, too. Dying is... it's pointless."

"Then tell her."

Whipping his head around with furrowed brows, Stefan uttered "What?"

"Tell her, it's as simple as that." Ana quipped, raising an eyebrow at Stefan at how oblivious the vampire could be. "Talk about those days where you were at your lowest, remind her of what it's like to give up. It'll make Elena realise that her death will affect so many more people than just herself."

A soft smirk tugged on his features, Stefan's green eyes glinted. "You're much wiser than you appear. Why are you here, anyway? Not the Lakehouse, I mean, in Mystic Falls, with us. I thought you were gonna go to Klaus."

"I was. I guess the hopeless romantic side of me just wants to make Niklaus get here so I can see just how he appreciates me." Glancing at the dim lights inside the house, Ana gave Stefan a gentle nudge. "Now go on. I'm counting on you to work your magic and change Elena's mind."

"Well, uh, I'll see you later." Stefan murmured, strolling off to go back inside the Lakehouse.

Ana let her eyes wander across the boundless sunset, feeling her body relax as nighttime descended.

★·'¯'·★