CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

"Who wrote your parents' eulogy?" Damon asks, and Nyx looks up at him.

"I did." She says, and he turns to face her, she's currently sitting on his bed as he ties his tie. "As the oldest, I made it my job."

"And how'd that go — giving the speech?"

"I said I wrote. I never said I got it out." She sighs as she looks at her hands. "I was up at the podium, and I... I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. I couldn't do it, and Jenna got up to come over to me, but John beat her there.

"I was holding the speech in my hands, and he took it. He rested one of his hands on my back and held the speech in the other, and he read it for me." She scoffs. "It was the first time I ever felt real and genuine support from him. It was the reason I went to see him when I decided not to go to college right after high school. I thought that he would support me again. Too bad that didn't exactly go as planned."

"Are you alright?" He asks, and she nods as she stands up.

"I'm fine. Do you want some help?" She asks, and he narrows his eyes at her.

"I know how to tie a tie."

"Then why are you struggling?" She walks over to him. "Stop—" She smacks his hand when he tries to make her leave him alone. "Stop being difficult." She says, and he smirks.

"Can I ask something of you?" He gets her attention and makes her look at him.

"Did I do something wrong?" She's confused by the sudden shift in his serious demeanor.

"Don't hurt my brother." He says, and she sighs.

"That's never been my intention, Damon, and you know that." She tells him. "I did not start that fight."

"No. Your ex-boyfriend-baby-daddy who's still in love with you started it." He grunts when she tightens his tie to choke him for a second. "Are you still in love with him?"

"Why do people keep asking me that?" She mutters.

"Because it's a valid question."

"I'm always gonna love him, he's the father of my children."

"That's not what I asked." He says, and she looks at him as she finishes with his tie.

Nyx takes a deep breath. "You're overthinking the eulogy. This isn't about you, it's not some joke that Liz decided to play to force you to pretend to be nice. The speech isn't even about Liz. Well, it is, but it isn't. It's about Caroline, and what she needs to hear to find closure." She tells him, and then walks out of his room.

—

"We're here today to pay our tribute and our respect to a pillar of our community. Our sister, our protector — Sheriff Elizabeth Forbes. We are also here today to show our love and support for Liz's family and friends." The Pastor says, and Nyx reaches over and takes Caroline's hand in hers. "Not only have we sensed our own personal feelings of loss over her passing..."

The two girls look at each other, and Nyx offers her a sad smile. Caroline squeezes her hand as she takes a deep breath.

Men and women dressed in uniforms stand up, gaining everyone's attention. They march in line to surround the casket and lay a flag over the top.

"Calling Sheriff Forbes." A man says into the radio on his shoulder. "This is the last call for Sheriff Forbes. No response. Radio number 2-6 is out of service after twelve years and four months of police service." He says, and Caroline leans closer to Nyx. "Gone but never forgotten."

He turns to face the casket. "Center." He calls, and the other officers then spin around to face the casket in one fluid motion. They turn away and return to their seats.

Damon gets up from his seat and heads up to the podium. "Liz Forbes was my friend. In her last moments, she asked me to pass along a message to her daughter. But I cut her off before she could say too much. Told her she could tell Caroline herself, but she didn't get that chance." He looks at Caroline, and her grip on Nyx's hand tightens. "Your mom wanted you to know how proud of you she was. And she should be. You're a beautiful, strong woman, generous friend, and bright light in a sea of darkness. She said you were extraordinary. And you are. And so was she. Liz was a hero to this town. She was a hero to all of you. And she was a hero to me." He then looks over at her casket. "Goodbye, sheriff. You will be missed." He finishes with his speech.

Caroline squeezes Nyx's hand and then stands up as Damon returns to his seat. She forces a smile as she looks out at all of the people there for her mom.

"Thank you all for coming. This is for my mom." Caroline then sings a song for her mom.

After the funeral at the church is over, everyone goes to the grill for the wake. Sam stays close to Caroline the whole night, and she's grateful for it.

"You wanna sit with Daddy and your brother?" Nyx asks Everly, and the little brunette nods.

"My Daddy!" Alex yells and wraps his arms around Dean's neck.

"My Daddy!" Ever argues as Nyx passes her over to him.

"At least these two still love me." Dean says, trying to joke with Nycole.

"I'm gonna go talk to Damon. I can't find my laptop, I think I left it at his house." She tells him as she stands up.

"Nyx!" He calls as he reaches for her hand, but she pulls it out of his reach.

Stefan looks over as Jess gets Nyx's attention, and she detours over to talk to the blonde and her new boyfriend. Damon notices where his brother's attention is and he follows his gaze.

"Stefan—"

"Don't start." He cuts off his brother as he looks back at the drink in his hand. They're currently sitting at the bar.

Neither of them realize that Nyx's conversation with Jess and Tyler was short, and she's now headed toward them.

"I'm just offering you some brotherly advice." Damon says.

"Well, I don't want it." Stefan tells him.

"I know she's an incredible girl. Believe me, I do." He continues anyway. "But... She is always gonna love him, and he's always gonna love her. I think they might actually be made for each other."

"I don't wanna hear it, Damon."

"We spent four and a half months in that prison world together. For a little over half of it, she cried herself to sleep every night in Jess' room. For the rest, I laid next to her as she talked about how much she missed him, how much she loved him, how the only thing she wanted more than him was their kids." Damon tells him. "Do yourself a favor and learn from me. Because in the end, it's always gonna be Dean for her."

Stefan shakes his head. "It's not that simple."

"It is that simple. So, distance yourself now before you get hurt even worse later."

"She's pregnant, Damon." He tells him. "So, stop with the unsolicited advice. I told you, I don't want it." He gets up and turns around, but his steps fall short when he sees Nyx standing a few feet away from them.

"I was, uh... I was coming to ask Damon something." She says. "But I don't— I don't remember what it was anymore."

Damon sighs as he watches her try to keep from crying. "Nyx—"

"I have to go." She nods. "It's getting late, and it's gonna be the twins' bedtime soon." She turns around and walks away from them, but she doesn't go back toward Dean.

"Nyx?" Tyler sees her as she walks by their table again.

"Stay away from them." Jess quickly tells Tyler as she glances at the Salvatore brothers before following Nycole to the bathroom. "Hey, what happened?" She asks as Nyx is splashing water on her face.

"What am I doing?" Nyx asks as she turns to face her. "Seriously? What—" She shakes her head as she puts her hands over her face.

"What happened?" She asks as she walks over to her and makes her move her hands.

"Did I make a mistake? Getting involved with Stefan?" The brunette asks. "I mean, he's hurt now, and it's all my fault. And Damon was hurt by my relationship with Dean. And Dean's hurt. And I'm hurt. And... I don't— I don't know what to do anymore."

"Do you feel like your relationship with Stefan was a mistake?"

"I..."

"Besides Stefan and Dean getting into that fight, and whatever Damon was saying to him just now — did yours and Stefan's relationship feel like a mistake?"

"No." She shakes her head. "He's a great guy, and I was happy. I was so happy. It's different than with Dean, and I... I don't know what would have come of it, but... I really liked him."

"Liked? Or like?" Jess asks, squeezing her hands. "'Cause looking at you right now, it doesn't seem to be in the past. And you only broke up a couple of days ago."

"I like Stefan. A lot." Nyx says. "But I... I think I'm still in love with Dean. But we have the twins, and Baby S." She shakes her head, pulling one of her hands from Jess' to place over her stomach. "It's all so complicated, and I don't want to hurt anyone. Especially the kids."

"So, keep the complications from affecting them. Tell Dean about Baby S. And then you three can raise the kids." She says. "Dean may not like Stefan now, but you and I both know that he won't do anything that'll hurt the baby if he knows."

"You're right." She nods.

"And as far as not hurting Dean and Stefan, well... That's not possible. Right now, you're all gonna feel the break-ups. But I think you were right to do it. You three have to focus on the kids, and these damn angels. And in the time that you're not dating the boys, you can figure out how you feel. And so can they. And you all will one way or the other."

"What would I do without you?" She asks, and Jess chuckles.

"Well, you'd fall apart of course." The blonde says, and Nyx starts laughing. "Hey, why don't I tell Dean to take the twins to his motel for the night, and you can stay with me." Jess suggests, and she nods.

"Thank you."

—

"I wasn't expecting to see you again tonight." Damon says as he looks at Nyx and Jess, who are standing on his porch. He just pulled up in his car.

"I think I left my laptop here. Have you seen it?" Nyx asks, and he nods.

"Yeah, I think it's in the kitchen. Come on in." He opens the door, and the girls walk into the house. He starts for the stairs as they head for the kitchen.

The two girls stop in the doorway when they see who's standing by the stove. "Oh my God."

"Damon!" Jess yells, and he suddenly appears behind them, freezing when he sees the other two women as well.

"Well, would you look at you?" Jenna smiles as she looks at Jess' baby bump.

"Is this real?" Nyx asks, uncertain.

"It's real, alright." Bonnie tells her. "We got out."

Nyx rushes over and wraps her arms around her aunt, who chuckles as she hugs her back, squeezing her. Damon opens his arms, and Bonnie runs to him. She jumps up and hugs him, wrapping her arms and legs around him. He laughs as he hugs her. Jess walks over and pulls Nyx and Jenna to the other two as he sets Bonnie on her feet. Then the five of them squish together as they hug.

"So..." Jenna pulls back. "What have we missed?"

"Oh my God, so much." Nyx says as she looks between the two of them. "But, uh... For starters, um... Me, Vicki, Elena, Caroline, Stefan, and Ric are all human again." She says, and their eyes widen. "Jess and I are both pregnant, and, uh... Dean's alive."

"And you two wasted no time in having another kid?" Bonnie asks, and Nyx glances at Damon before looking down.

"Awkward." He mutters.

"What?" Jenna asks, confused.

"The baby..." Nyx looks back at them. "The baby's Stefan's, actually. Yeah, things have gotten a lot more complicated while you were gone."

Bonnie clears her throat as she looks at Jess. "And who's your lucky guy?" She asks, and Nyx starts laughing.

"Not Stefan too?" Jenna asks.

"No!" Jess says and then she starts laughing. "She's messing with me because of me and... Me and Tyler." She tells them.

"Wow."

"Yeah."

"The best part." Nyx smirks. "They're having twins."

"You're a pain in my ass." Jess says, and she smiles at her.

"Well, wait." Bonnie gets their attention as she walks over to the counter and starts going through her bag. "If you're all human again, who are we gonna give this to?" She holds up a small box.

"Is that..." Nyx walks over to her, and Bonnie opens the box. "The cure?"

"Yep." She smiles. "Think Lexi wants it? Or maybe Enzo?" She then looks at Damon. "You?"

"Um..." He clears his throat. "Actually, the thought had occurred to me that both of my best friends, and my brother are humans. And eventually they'll all..."

"You wanna be human?" Nyx asks, surprised as she looks up at him.

He shrugs. "It's crossed my mind." He tells her, and Bonnie walks over to him.

"If you decide you want it..." She holds the box out to him. "It's all yours."

"What about your mom?"

"She's surprisingly okay with her new life as a vampire." Bonnie tells him, and he hesitates for a moment before taking the box from her hands.