Meredith held the tire gauge firmly against the valve of her left back tire while she checked it. The pressure was fine.

The pressure on al four tires was fine. The antifreeze, oil, and transmission fluids were al topped off, the car battery was new, and the jack and spare tire were in perfect shape. She should have known. Her parents weren't the kind to stay home from work to see her off to col ege. They knew she didn't need coddling, but they'd show their love by making sure al the preparations were made, that she was safe and perfectly ready for anything that might happen. Of course, they wouldn't tell her that they had checked everything, either; they'd want her to continue protecting herself.

There wasn't anything she had to do now except leave.

Which was the one thing she didn't want to do.

"Come with me," she said without looking up, despising the faint quaver she heard in her own voice. "Just for a couple of weeks."

"You know I can't," Alaric said as he brushed his hand lightly over her back. "I wouldn't want to leave if I came with you. It'l be better this way. You'l get to enjoy the first weeks of col ege like al the other new students, without anyone holding you back. Then I'l come up and visit soon." Meredith turned to face him and found Alaric gazing back at her. His mouth tensed, just the tiniest tightening, and she could see that parting again, after only a few weeks together, was just as hard for him as it was for her.

She leaned in and kissed him softly.

"Better than if I'd gone to Harvard," she murmured.

"Much closer."

As the summer had ended, she and Matt had realized they couldn't leave their friends and head off to out-of-state col eges as they'd planned. They'd al been through so much together, and they wanted to stay together, to protect one another, more than they wanted to go anywhere else.

Their home had been nearly destroyed more than once, and only Elena's blackmail of the Celestial Court had restored it and saved their families. They couldn't leave.

Not while they were the only ones standing against the darkness out there, the darkness that would be drawn forever to the Power of the magical ley lines that crossed the area around Fel 's Church. Dalcrest was close enough that they'd be able to come back if danger threatened again.

They needed to protect their home.

So Stefan had gone down to the administrative offices at Dalcrest and used his vampire mojo. Suddenly Matt had the footbal scholarship to Dalcrest he'd turned down in favor of Kent State back in the spring, and Meredith was not only expected as an incoming freshman but was housed in a triple in the best dorm on campus with Bonnie and Elena. The supernatural had worked for them, for a change.

Stil , she'd had to give up a couple of dreams to get here. Harvard. Alaric by her side.

Meredith shook her head. Those dreams were incompatible, anyway. Alaric couldn't have come to Harvard with her. Alaric was staying here in Fel 's Church to research the origins of al the supernatural things that had happened over the town's history. Luckily, Duke was letting him count this toward his dissertation on the paranormal.

And he'd be able to monitor the town for danger at the same time. They'd have to be apart for now, no matter where Meredith chose to go, but at least Dalcrest was a manageable drive away.

Alaric's skin had a soft tan, and a scattering of golden freckles crossed his cheekbones. Their faces were so close she could feel the warmth of his breath.

"What're you thinking?" His voice was a low murmur.

"Your freckles," she said. "They're gorgeous." Then she took a breath and pul ed away. "I love you," Meredith said, and then rushed on before a wave of longing could overwhelm her, "I have to go." She picked up one of the suitcases sitting by the car and swung it into the trunk.

"I love you, too," Alaric said, and caught her hand and held it tightly for a moment, looking into her eyes. Then he let go and put the last suitcase into the trunk and slammed the lid.

Meredith kissed him, quick and hard, and hurried herself into the driver's seat. Once she was safely seated, belted in, the engine running, she let herself look at him again.

"Bye," she said through the open window. "I'l cal you tonight. Every night."

Alaric nodded. His eyes were sad, but he smiled and held up a hand in fareWell.

Meredith backed out of the driveway careful y. Her hands were at ten and two, and she kept her eyes on the road and her breathing steady. Without even looking, she knew Alaric was standing in the driveway, watching her car drive out of sight. She pressed her lips together firmly. She was a Sulez. She was a vampire hunter, a star student, and completely levelheaded in al situations.

She didn't need to cry; after al , she would see Alaric again. Soon. In the meantime, she would be a true Sulez: ready for anything.

Dalcrest was beautiful, Elena thought. She'd been here before, of course. She, Bonnie, and Meredith had driven al the way up for a frat party junior year, when Meredith had been dating a col ege boy. And she dimly remembered her parents bringing her for an alumni family event, back when she was little.

But now that she was part of the school, now that it would be her home for the next four years, everything looked different.

"Pretty swanky," Damon commented as the car swept between the great gilded gates at the school's entrance and drove on past buildings of faux Georgian brick and neoclassical marble. "For America, that is."

"Well, we can't al grow up in Italian palaces," Elena answered absently, very conscious of the light pressure of his thigh alongside hers. She was sitting in the front of the truck between Stefan and Damon, and there wasn't a lot of room. Having both of them so close was awful y distracting.

Damon rol ed his eyes and drawled to Stefan, "Well, if you have to play human and attend school again, little brother, at least you didn't choose too hideous a spot. And, of course, the company wil make up for every inconvenience," he added gal antly with a glance at Elena.

"But I stil think that it's a waste of time."

"And yet, here you are," Elena said.

"I'm only here to keep you out of trouble," Damon retorted.

"You'l have to excuse Damon," Stefan said to Elena lightly. "He doesn't understand. He was thrown out of university back in the old days."

Damon laughed. "But I had great fun while I was there," he said. "There were al kinds of pleasures a man of means could have at university. I imagine things have changed a bit, though."

They were needling each other, Elena knew, but there wasn't that hard, bitter edge to their sparring that used to be there. Damon was smiling over her head at Stefan with a wry affection, and Stefan's fingers were loose and relaxed on the steering wheel.

She put a hand on Stefan's knee and squeezed.

Damon tensed next to her, but when she glanced over at him, he was gazing ahead through the windshield, his face neutral. Elena took her hand off Stefan's knee. The last thing she wanted to do was disturb the delicate balance between the three of them.

"Here we are," Stefan said, pul ing up to an ivy-covered building. "Pruitt House."

The dorm loomed above them, a tal brick building with a turret on one side, windows glittering in the afternoon sun.

"It's supposed to be the nicest dorm on campus," Elena said.

Damon opened his door and hopped out, then turned to give Stefan a long look. "The best dorm on campus, is it?

Have you been using your powers of persuasion for personal gain, young Stefan?" He shook his head. "Your morals are disintegrating."

Stefan got out on his own side and turned to give Elena a courteous hand down. "It's possible you're final y rubbing off on me," he said to Damon, his lips twitching slightly with amusement. "I'm in the turret in a single. There's a balcony."

"How nice for you," Damon said, his eyes moving quickly between them. "This is a dormitory for both boys and girls, then? The sins of the modern world." His face was thoughtful for a moment; then he gave a bril iant smile and began to pul luggage out of the back.

He had seemed almost lonely to Elena for that second - which was ridiculous, Damon was never lonely - but that fleeting impression was enough to make her say impetuously, "You could come to school with us, Damon. It's not too late, not if you used your Power to enrol . You could live on campus with us."

She felt Stefan freeze. Then he took a slow breath and slid up next to Damon, reaching for a stack of boxes. "You could," he said casual y. "It might be more fun than you think to try school again, Damon."

Damon shook his head, scoffing, "No, thank you. I parted ways with academia several centuries ago. I'l be much happier in my new apartment in town, where I can keep an eye on you without having to slum with students." He and Stefan smiled at each other with what looked like perfect understanding.

Right, Elena thought, with a curious mixture of relief and disappointment. She hadn't seen the new apartment yet, but Stefan had assured her that Damon would be, as usual, living in the lap of luxury, at least so far as the closest town could offer.

"Come along, kiddies," Damon said, picking up several suitcases effortlessly and heading into the dorm. Stefan hoisted his tower of boxes and fol owed him.

Elena grabbed a box of her own and came after them, admiring their natural grace, their elegant strength. As they passed a few open doors, she heard a girl mock wolf-whistle, then giggle breathlessly with her roommate.

A box tipped from Stefan's enormous pile as he started up the staircase, and Damon caught it easily despite the suitcases. Stefan gave him a casual nod of thanks.

They'd spent centuries as enemies. They'd killed each other, once. Hundreds of years of hating each other, bound together by misery, jealousy, and sorrow. Katherine had done that to them, trying to have them both when they each wanted only her.

Everything was different now. They'd come so far. Since Damon had died and come back, since they had battled and defeated the jealousy phantom, they'd come to be partners. There was an unspoken acknowledgment that they would work together to protect a little group of humans.

More than that, there was a cautious, but very real, affection between them. They relied on each other; they'd be sorry to lose each other again. They didn't talk about it, but she knew it was true.

Elena squeezed her eyes shut for just a second. She knew they both loved her. They both knew that she loved them. Even though, her mind corrected conscientiously, Stefan is my true love. But something else in her, that imaginary panther, stretched and smiled. But Damon, my Damon...

She shook her head. She couldn't break them apart, couldn't let them fight over her. She wouldn't do what Katherine had done. If the time came for her to choose, she would choose Stefan. Of course.

Would you? the panther purred lazily, and Elena tried to push the thought away.

Everything could fal apart so easily. And it was up to her to make sure that never happened again.