Whatever It Takes {Two | Alaric Saltzman}

The Day I Tried to Live

"So, are you going to tell me why you spent the night in my hospital room?" Liz asked after she and Abigail endured a hospital breakfast. "I paid extra for this to be a single, you know."

"It's been almost two months since Alaric moved into the on-campus apartments that I'm pretty sure have been falling apart since their construction. I told him he didn't have to. That I would move into Elena's dorm or back to Mystic Falls, but he wouldn't hear it." She met her brown eyes, holding them with a different kind of sorrow than she ever had. "And, honestly, if I have to hear Damon ask me if I have learned anything from his mistakes, my mistakes, again, you might actually have to arrest me for murder instead of just questioning me about it."

Her laugh slowly faded into a soft voice, "I'm sorry. I wish I could tell you what your mom would say, but I can't."

A moment passed, easy to track and hard to find a way out of. "Thank you for everything you did for us after our parents died. And for everything before that."

"Your mom loved you so, so much. After all they went through to have you, she just didn't think it would happen. But then it did, and she'd never felt more complete. I mean, you should have seen the look on her face when you were born, it was undeniable: the love. And your dad, well, you know how much he loved you. We used to make jokes when you came and went from his office, that you were his favorite." Smirking, she tilted her head to the side. "And at Council meetings when he told us about the things you were working on together."

"John said he didn't want this for me, that he was trying to protect me. That, that was why he went to such lengths to keep the truth from me." Her voice was broken, cracking as she fought back sobs. "But that's not true, is it?"

"It is true, but it's not the whole truth." Liz took her hand. "He was going to tell you once you were old enough or when you got to Whitmore or if the Council ever needed you, but there was more to it, Abigail."

"It's because he knew, didn't he? He knew that I'd see the town making the same mistakes. That I'd see it differently. That I'd see it the way I do now."

"Yeah, he knew." She squeezed her hand. "He knew, Abigail."

"Do you think he would have changed his mind? Like you did? Do you think he and my mom... Would they-"

"Yes. Yes, I do. They would." Her cold fingers wiped away her tears. "Promise me you'll help Caroline through this. That you'll help her move on with her life after I'm gone."

"There's no such thing as moving on."

"Come on, Abigail, are you going to deny my dying wish?"

"Of course, not." She smiled softly. "I will always be there for Caroline."

"Thank you."

Abigail parked right next to Damon's car outside of the boarding house garage. The doors were open, so she knew Jeremy had heard her pull up; however, he didn't move from his weight bench. Not even as she wrestled balloons out of the backseat of her car.

"Hey, can you give me a hand?"

"Little busy here." With an exhale, he continued his reps. "And I have no interest in attending a birthday party where the guest of honor never shows up."

"As depressing as it is, this is what Bonnie would want us to do," she said. "Or we could celebrate you going to art school. Oh, wait! We can't because I found your application in the garbage. Why didn't you tell me that you were thinking about going to art school?"

He sat up. "I'm not. The only class I'm passing is study hall. They'll never let me in."

"Jer, I've seen your portfolio. You're good. And that art gallery in Richmond, they-"