THE MORNING CAME QUICKLY, CREEPING ON AURELIA and her peaceful rest--much to her disappointment. Her and Kol had fallen asleep once again early in the night upon realizing that her body needed much more rest from the strenuous events of the previous day. She'd told him to spend the night next to her, finding it too much of a task to move to her room, but feeling sorry for taking up residence in his once again.

As she opened her eyes slowly, squinting at the light reflecting from the mirror into the entire room, she'd realized from the pale blue, the orange, and yellow, that it was still rather early.

In contrast to what anyone would've thought, they'd both decided that their closure was met with a simple kiss—considering Aurelia's sex drive, she was surprised herself that she'd allowed exhaustion to take priority over some cardio.

But she knew it wasn't the exhaustion, not in the slightest. It was for the better. They didn't need to risk turning back to their cycle once again. And they were mature enough to respect each other's space.

And that was how she found herself looking at him with a trace of ease that she hadn't felt before. He was sound asleep, the light in the room failing to disturb the heavy sleeper he was. Body turned on its back, she'd noticed a sense of peace on his expression she hadn't seen in a long time. It was often passion, rage, melancholy—but peace was rare.

Optimistically, it told her that the decision they'd made was the right one.

So she closed her eyes again, allowing herself to drift back into her rest, just to escape all the day's worries for a few more minutes.

When she fully awoke, it was with a stretch complimented a prolonged yawn, indicating that she needed that sleep. She'd always enjoyed the night, and never needed to sleep considering her immortality—but with cases such as magic, she never could predict the things she'd need to keep herself going.

"You almost hit me—" And she blinked her eyes wide open, turning her head to face Kol, who was sitting in the place he'd previously been sleeping with his arms resting on propped up knees. "Teasing. I was testing to see if you were fully awake or needed some more sleep."

"With what's been going on for the last few days, I don't think there'll come a point where I don't want to sleep." Aurelia mumbled, ignoring the slight rasp in her voice from her deep slumber. "Mm, what time is it? When did you wake up?"

"It's a little early in the afternoon." He answered, throwing himself back on the bed. "I feel like I want to sleep some more, too." She chuckled, shifting the sheets into a messy turtleneck. "It's warm out, you're wearing full sleeves, and you're letting this heavy blanket swallow you." He commented.

"Hey, you want to laze, too. Don't hate on me." They weren't over each other, of course—even if she was a little more over him than he, her. "I think I need to get to my room so I can freshen up."

"Ideally, I have several errands to run today, too." Kol sighed out, sprawled on the large bed. "Considering the recent break-up, do you think I should cocoon myself here and—what is it people do today? —eat some ice cream out of the tub?" Aurelia lightly hit him on the chest and sat up.

"What errands do you have? I should be responsible to get you up to go attend to them." With a loud sigh, Kol sat up once again, too.

"The whole Silas ordeal." He tried to be as curt as possible without withholding any information from her, and earned what he expected—a frown. "Aurelia, you know I ran with witches for a long time. I have all the reasons to believe he's real, and more."

"I know, Kol, but if there's so many more witches that dismiss it as nothing more than a fable." She argued, slipping out of bed in order to force herself to start her day. She had nothing urgent to attend to—other than check in on Caroline—but she didn't want to spend too much time in his bedroom. "Consider the possibility that you're worrying over nothing."

"Well, if it is true," Kol ignored, yet again, the unimpressed glance Aurelia threw at him. "I think I'm well prepared to stop anyone from freeing him—and on the off chance that they do find him, I think I'm well prepared enough to stop him, too." He then shrugged. "Unless I'm wrong, then we're all going to die."

"Kol, you're obsessing." Aurelia drawled, fixing her top. "Don't let this get to you. Silas' tales have driven enough and more people mad." She recalled all those she'd interacted with, who'd lost their minds entirely trying to find him, or stop him, or simply panic over him. "Besides, what is this well-prepared element you have in your corner?"

"The white oak stake—" And Aurelia's jaw dropped, her eyes widened, all while Kol pursed his lips nonchalantly. "It was easy to get."

"You know what?" She ran her hand through her hair. "I'm not gonna ask. I don't want to—" And her phone rang, causing her to groan quietly, while Kol ruffled his messy hair. "It's Rebekah." She read out as she slipped the phone from the table. "What does she want now?"

"Only one way to find out." Aurelia exaggerated a look of utter dread, much to Kol's amusement.

"My dearest—"

"I could've died yesterday because of you." She cut the Original Vampire off. "No nicknames of affection, please." An audible huff emitted from the phone. "What do you want?"

"In general, I want the cure." Rebekah replied. "Right now, I want you to aid me and Stefan in finding something very vital for our hunt." Cocking up an eyebrow, Aurelia turned as she began to pace back and forth in the room. "And before you ask, everyone loves and hates everyone in this town. Unlikely alliances are very possible, and Stefan is my favorite out of the little gang."

"Why should I help you?"

"Because there's a very good chance that Bonnie's Expression won't do you any good, and while I want the cure, we're trying to find the tombstone so that I can get what I want, and we can put less at risk on your behalf." Aurelia looked at Kol, who, as if on cue, became all the more curious. "I need you to just trust me and come over."

"Wait, you told Stefan?" She asked, frustration seeping into her tone. "Come on, 'Bekah. You need to learn to stop talking." She scolded hand pinching the bridge of her nose. "He and Caroline are going to worry unnecessarily. I don't need that over something we don't know for certain."

"I thought you and him were friends."

"And I thought you hated the fact."

"This is unnecessary. Just come here." Kol gestured for Aurelia to agree with the idea, keeping her own best interests in mind.

"Fine," The woman finally sighed out. "Where am I meeting you?"

"I'll figure out how to share my location with you." And the line was cut, causing Aurelia to exhale loudly and shake her head in an attempt to dissipate her irritation.

"Well, family is 'Always and Forever', I guess." Kol quipped, earning a deathly stare from the younger woman. "As much as Rebekah is impulsive, I think that the lead she's chasing might be of actual benefit—why don't you keep an open mind and help her out?"

"Why do I feel like I'm being patronized?"

"You're not," Kol chuckled, getting up. "I'm just looking out for you. I hope I'm still allowed to do that. I'd allow you to do the same."

"Yeah, that's perfectly fine—" Aurelia's tone became gentler instantly, and her features softened. "Kol, listen, um—if you need some space to do your thing, tell me." She felt bad for the urging feeling that she was overstepping with him—sleeping in his room last night, talking to him so quickly and easily after everything.

"I will." Kol smiled, walking over to her, and she suddenly felt much smaller, even with just half a foot's worth of difference. "But I'm alright for now." He tilted his head. "What about you?"

"I'm okay, too." She assured. "What are you going to do now?"

"Well, as much as I trust Rebekah's attempt to ensure your safety, I don't like the idea of her searching for the cure. It's too close to the risk of waking Silas." Aurelia sighed defeatedly, realizing that Kol would only rest when he had a reason to rest. "Other than the unlikely pairing of Stefan and Rebekah, we have Niklaus with the sword and Jeremy the Hunter, as well as that Bennett Witch, who I'm sure saved Shane from yesterday's beating somehow." He listed the two other parties in search for the cure, thinking out loud. "Since you'll be occupied with looking for the tombstone, I'm going to try and see if I can stop any of the others from looking for the cure. The tombstone would also matter, but I'll worry about that if you find it. Probably try to find my brother and the Hunter."

"I don't really have an opinion on the cure anymore—" Aurelia piped up, deep in thought herself. "So I don't think it really matters to me if it's found or not. Just..." She looked up at him. "Don't do anything stupid."

"That, I cannot promise." And she shot him another deathly glare.

"ALRIGHT, I'M HERE—OH," AURELIA LOOKED at Stefan as she walked into what she'd presumed to be Professor Shane's office. She'd been initially unfamiliar when her GPS told her she was headed towards Whitmore College, but turned out unsurprised by the mundane appearance. "Hello. I wasn't expecting to see you right away." Rebekah acknowledged Aurelia with a small hum as Stefan furrowed his eyebrows.

"Are you okay?" He asked, earning a confused look from her. "Do you want me to list—okay, allow me to list my reasoning for asking you such a question." His voice switched to a tone of slight sarcasm at her cluelessness. "You disappear for days, then I run into you day drinking—and then you get a werewolf bite. Also, Caroline's worried—"

"Oh," Aurelia blinked a few times, slightly out of touch with the amount of crap she'd pulled. "I, uh, visited Caroline on the way here—got my ass beat by her, of course, explained myself—the whole disappearing again thing, then the bite, then the Expression thing—which I'm sure Rebekah's told you in much detail." As she began to drawl, Stefan could only sigh.

"Explains why you were so late." Rebekah chimed in, referring to the part where Aurelia had paid a much-needed visit. Caroline, as per her personality, was understandably angry with the older, spitting out curses and lists of all the things she'd done wrong, and all that the younger had worried about for the last few days. Aurelia, as per her priorities, apologized to Caroline upon her calming down, and quickly earned her forgiveness, barring a few threats and warnings about her safety.

"Well, sue me for choosing someone I very deeply care about as opposed to someone who refuses to respect my wishes, and loves putting me in dangerous situations." Aurelia retorted, her tone just a tad bit petty

"I knew you'd be fine." As Rebekah stretched out the 'fine', Stefan stared between the two, wondering if this was their version of the usual family argument, where a large fight would break out, followed by some amount of civility after said argument. "Don't worry, Stefan. We're not going to rip each other's throats out—this is just another memory to add to the Rebekah and Aurelia chronicles."

"Fair," Aurelia shrugged. "We fight, she almost gets me killed because of a stupid impulse, I give her shit, and we move on."

"Like that time I compelled you to step in a bear trap because you spilled wine on my favorite dress." Rebekah recalled. "That was funny."

"Look, we're at a disadvantage in this race for a cure." Stefan cut in, earning a hum of agreement from the eldest in the room.

"He's absolutely right." She mumbled, spinning to look at a shelf full of junk. "Team Klaus has Jeremy the Hunter, Team Shane has Bonnie the Witch, and..."

"I'm a witch, too." Aurelia muttered, narrowing her eyes. "But, okay. Whatever, I'll just—I don't know, be a boring vampire."

"On the contrary, we're very interesting." Stefan said, and Aurelia gave him a pointed look, shutting him up.

"Well, I want to assume the worst right now," Rebekah multitasked, speaking as she searched through the shelf. "Which is that Bonnie's already performing spells. She linked Shane to April Young last night, which means she's gained some control over her power. As much as I don't like it, I have to consider the possibility that you will slowly start to lose your magic."

"Gee, Rebekah, that sure was assuring." And suddenly, Rebekah screeched as she found her hand on fire, the heat quickly scorching up her flesh. As the flames dissipated just as instantly, she looked threateningly at the woman her family had taken in, who had an amused smile dancing on her lips. "Anyway, what are we looking for?"

"A tombstone," Stefan answered quickly. "And I'd appreciate some lore—Rebekah keeps forgetting to tell me. Supposed to belong to some witch called Qe—Qetsiii...yah?"

"Oh," Aurelia waved her hand dismissively at his butchering of the familiar name. "You'll get it with practice." Her thoughts then progressed to the tombstone itself. "Wait, you mean the tombstone that was rumored to belong to Silas, but is supposed to contain Qetsiyah's blood?" She found herself beginning to worry about the safety of this motive from Kol, who was trying to do whatever he could to stop the search from the other teams. If they found the stone, which Aurelia didn't care much about, he'd go after Stefan and Rebekah—Rebekah would be fine, but Stefan was a cause for concern. "It'll only help raise Silas."

"Oh, don't tell me you believe Kol's stupid obsession." Rebekah said.

"Well, I don't really, but by that logic, there either shouldn't be a stone, or the stone shouldn't have any use." Remembering that she owed Stefan a small explanation, she turned towards him. "The tombstone has the calcified blood of this Qetsiyah, and the theory around it is that it serves as part of a deciphering to help release the non-existent Silas, and that it is a source of magic. No one knows if it's spirit or dark magic, though."

"Either way," Rebekah pulled a drawer out. "If this Silas crap is true, the stone will have magic. I want to test that out using Aurelia, since she can siphon. If it does, we can decipher what's on it, or try to reason with Bonnie to collaborate. We get double the manpower to find the cure, and Bonnie won't have to rely on just Expression to find Silas, ergo, Aurelia may not lose as much magic."

"I still don't think this will work out." Aurelia mumbled pessimistically. "But, hey, not like I have anything to do." She quickly spoke when Rebekah shot daggers at her. "Let's start looking, Stefan."

And as they began the search for the mythical tombstone, Aurelia found herself growing slightly more worried, and slightly more confused over the whole ordeal. She didn't believe that Bonnie's Expression would be doing anything to her, so there went one prong of Rebekah's motive—secondly—

Damn it, she didn't want to waste this kind of brainpower. She'd just let Rebekah think while she worried about the risk in the tombstone working as a map to the cure. That would draw Kol's attention. It was then when she looked towards Stefan, lips pressed together as he stood next to her, opening a cabinet above the shelves. "Not here..." She could hear him say quietly to himself, before she quickly nudged him in his arm. "What?"

And she turned back to what she was doing, much to his confusion. "You asked earlier if I was okay."

"Yeah?"

"I'm okay." She took a breath and turned her head towards him. "But, I do have something to share with you." Surprised at her sudden willingness to 'share' something with him, Stefan raised an eyebrow. Maintaining his line of focus with her form, he continued to open drawers and spare a glance at them occasionally.

"What is it?" She gestured silently towards Rebekah. "Oh. Is it important?" He asked another question.

"Not particularly."

"Okay..." He trailed off, eyes narrowing slightly as he shifted to the cabinets at the bottom of the large wooden structure. "Then why are you telling me?"

"Would you rather I didn't?" She countered, eyes falling back to the area she was searching.

"I didn't mean that—I was just curious." Slightly disappointed at yet another showcase of her evasive habits and ambiguous way of speech, he gave up on prodding her with more questions that would just irritate her. She'd just tell him what she wanted to later.

"We're friends, aren't we?" She asked, just a few seconds later, and Stefan could truly feel the emotional whiplash hitting him. "I thought we could just talk senselessly, gossip and all that. If you don't want to, then—"

"No—no," He quickly cut her off. "I just—never mind. Tell me later?" He spared her a quick glance, and felt like he was hallucinating when he saw her smile ever so softly.

"Yeah." And he could feel himself smile, too, realizing that she was, in fact, trying. He didn't know if they were still friends, not after the chaos of the past few days, but he couldn't deny it—the comfort he felt knowing it was simply his overthinking.

"LITTLE BROTHER," KOL, CLEARLY ANNOYED AT the interruption of Klaus' phone call, began to fidget with the stake in his hand. "Just two days home, and I'm told you've already gone and made a mess." Clicking his tongue, Kol could only wonder who'd snitched on him. Klaus, looking for the cure himself, wanted to destroy it—but just like everybody else, risked raising Silas. At that point, even Rebekah was risking it with the tombstone. He'd only put it on the backburner because the Hunter was the quickest way to finding the location of the cure.

"Come on, Nik." He quipped, grinning. "I was only having some fun."

"Those vampires were for my hunter." Referring to Jeremy, the Original Hybrid's tone grew dark. "He needed them to grow his mark. You know, the one that contains the map? And while we're at it, where's Damon Salvatore?"

"I'll make some more. There's no shortage of people." Kol spun around to face the very man he was being question about. "And I gave Damon a good and proper beating. He helped the Hunter escape, so I guess he deserved it."

"Yes. Well, you've had your fun. Now let him go and come home." Klaus' motive was beginning to make Kol question if he wanted to use the white oak stake he had easily stolen from his brother's hiding spot. "And listen closely, Kol. Stay away from the Gilbert boy. You understand?"

A small grin began to make its way onto his lips as he looked directly at Damon. "Fine. I won't touch him. You have my word." And as he cut the call, he strode towards the younger vampire, a mischievous glint danced around in his darkened eyes. "Very good, darling." He complimented, observing the pole he'd compelled Damon to force through his own thigh. "Now stab yourself a bit further."

"If you're gonna kill me—" Damon groaned out, compelled to do as he said. "Do it like a man."

"I don't want to kill you. I just wanted to make sure you could be compelled." He replied, as if it was obvious. Damon could only stare up at him, death lurking in his glare.

"I'm gonna rip out your spleen."

"You ought to be thanking me." Kol held the stake in his hand, flipping it over and over. "I mean, you don't really want the cure found. You fancy Elena. I mean, even more now that she's a vampire. Admit it. She's only looking for it because my brother