The Owl Gilbert

3:2: Another Road Trip?

I arrive to Damon's bedroom as he's looking into his closest at the articles, maps and notes. "Just can't stay away, can you?" He asks. "You've been dodging my calls." I say. "Yeah, well, busy dating a dead fake girlfriend and all." He says. "Why didn't you tell me?" I ask. "Tell your sister happy birthday. Stefan killed Andie. Cake?" He asks and looks at me, and walks past me. "He called her Damon." I say, and he stops. "What?" He asks and I look at him. "Stefan called her last night." I say. "Well, what'd he say?" He asks. "He didn't say anything. But she knew it was him because she asked Sheriff Forbes if she would trace the call's origin. It came from Tennessee." I say. "Where he's binge drinking on the country folk." He says and walks over to the fireplace. "We went through this, Adam. Stefan's gone." He says and throws them into the unlit fire with his right hand, and grabs a box of matches with his right hand, and looks at me. "I don't mean geographically." He says, smiling. "If he was gone, he wouldn't have called." I say and he turns around, and I look to my right, and back to him, and turn around, and walk off.

I'm at Dad's apartment, constantly knocking on his door with my right hand. "Go away, Damon!" He exclaims and I knock harder, and the door opens as I put my hand down, and see Alaric, shirtless, buttoning his pants. "Hi." I say. "You're, uh.. not who I expected." He says. "I need you to tell me what you know about Stefan and Tennessee." I say. "Did you miss the part where I checked out of all this?" He asks and walks into his apartment, and I walk in as he walks over to his shirt. "Come on, Dad." I say and look out the door, and shut it with both hands, and back to him. "Whatever Damon knows, you know. Or shall I inform Elena?" I asks as he walks to his kitchen, and I follow him. "Ask Damon." He says and opens his fridge with his right hand. "Yeah, but Damon's not exactly in the mood to help right now." I say and he shuts his fridge, and walks over to me, holding two beer bottles. "For good reason. Because it's not safe for you or Elena. Stefan's off the rails." He says and I take some dirty plates, and put them in the sink, looking at him. "Yeah, but he's still holding on to his humanity, which means he can still be saved." I say and take the two beer bottles, and set them down, away from him. "Why do you have to be the person to save him?" He asks. "Because I'm not the kind of person who checks out and Elena would probably do something stupid and get herself killed in the process. Look, he would never give up on me or her." I say, shaking my head. "I'm not gonna give up on him. Tell me what you know, Dad." I say and he sighs, and looks down. "Please." I say and he looks up at me. "They've been tracking werewolves, he and Klaus, all over the Eastern seaboard. I thought we had them just outside of Memphis." He says.

I'm at the Grill talking with Tyler. "A lot of us like to keep to ourselves for the full moon, chain ourselves up. But there are some werewolves that like to gather in places were they don't have to do that, where they can enjoy it." He says. "What kind of places?" I ask. "Mountains, state parks, deserts, that kind of stuff." He says. "Anywhere in Tennessee?" I ask. "Yeah. Here. Give me your phone." He says and holds out his right hand. "I'll try to pull up a map." He says and I hand him my phone with both hands, and he takes it with both hands, and types. "Thanks for this." I say, looking up at him and he looks at me, and tilts my phone, sideways. "I know it's asking a lot." I say. "As Caroline likes to remind me, Stefan's in this mess because I bit Damon. I figure I owe you one." He says and I smile. "Have you talked to her today?" He asks. "No. Why?" I ask. "Just curious." He says and looks back at my phone, and clicks. "Here." He says and hands it to me with his right hand, and I take it with my right, and hold it up, seeing the Smoky Mountains. "That's your best bet." He says and I sigh. "Thanks." I say.

I walk over to Dad as he's at the bar, and sit on the right side of him. "Did you get anything?" He asks. "How do you feel about a little hike through the Smoky Mountains?" I ask. "You wanna hunt down a pack of werewolves on a Full Moon?" He asks. "We'll be out of there before the moon is full. Don't worry, I know Astronomy, too." I say and he sighs, and looks down and forward, rubbing his forehead with his left hand. "If you don't come with me, I'm going by myself." I say, about to stand up and he looks at me. "What? You're the one who told me that I could handle things on my own now." I say. "Yeah, I meant like cooking store bought pizzas and SATs, which you probably don't need to study for." He says and I glare at him, and he looks for and down. "All-- all right fine. Let's just-- let's just go." He says and pulls out cash out of his left pocket, and sets it down, looking at me. "But, uh, you're driving." He says and I smile. "And we're not telling or bringing Elena." I say.