For a moment, it didn't seem like a funeral.

It was bright and warm outside. The grass was a bed of vibrant green with pretty flowers that had sprouted from it. Butterflies were seen flying around the open area while the sounds of birds chirping served as the background noise of the eulogies.

This was the complete opposite of the late Grayson and Miranda Gilbert's funeral.

Havana bent down and gently plucked a red rose from the ground. She held throughout the ceremony, even when it was her turn to talk about her friend who had passed away two days ago, Janet Lee. However, none had the most touching and heartbreaking eulogy other than Elena Gilbert for her deceased biological father. Havana always thought their relationship was a rocky one, and it was, however in a turn of events, the seemingly calculating John Gilbert exchanged his life for Elena to wake up after the ritual because he loved her all along. Havana squeezed her little cousins' hands before she finally let go of the red-colored rose that landed on the coffin of Janet Lee.

From the corner of her eye, she saw a woman dressed in black crying in the distance. Havana stayed quiet and did not approach her until everybody left the cemetery.

The weeping woman saw Havana walking towards her. Unlike the past couple of days, the distraught woman in tears did not run or hide. 

"Aunt Jenna," Havana called to her aunt who had been declared as missing since the ritual. "I'm glad you're here." They embraced in other in a long hug.

"I'm sorry I have been there for you guys. I just couldn't bear with it anymore." She sniffled holding on to her niece before letting go.

Unfortunately for her, the feeling of the burden for the death of her best friend killed her on the inside. These feelings of grief and loss were increasingly heightened on the account of being a newly-turned vampire.

"It's okay Aunt Jenna. We all loved her too."

"She is-was an amazing person you know. She had my back throughout everything from our uni days to this big mess. She gave up everything for me." Jenna started hiccuping. She brought more tissue to her face dapping her excessively flowing tears from her sunken eyes.

"Please don't feel guilty for what happened Aunt Jenna. It was not your fault." Havana grabbed a hold of her relative's free hand and firmly squeezed it. "This feels like hell. We're all going through it. But it's going to get better, not today, not tomorrow, or even a week from now. But one day, we'll wake up and realize that the pain of it all is less than what we have felt the day before. And we will continue to feel that until this miserable feeling is completely gone." Jenna nods in silence through her eyes still fell to the floor. She wanted to believe Havana but the stabbing sensation in her heart was greater than any words of encouragement.

"But now you're back with us, we can finally start the process of-"

"-Havana," Jenna cut her off. Havana meets with her Aunt's eyes to only see regret. "I'm not coming back."

"What do you mean?"

"I need to take some time off and get my head together. At least for some time. This is all just too much for me."

"But how about us? We need you. You cannot leave us now."

"Remember what Elena said that night before Jan-" She stopped herself from saying the name that haunted her day and night "-she died? I placed my whole life on hold for you kids. And I don't regret any of that. I love you all." She cupped her niece's cheek which was stained in tears. "But all I'm asking for you, Elena, and Jeremy now is to let me go. Continue being the best nieces any aunt could ever ask for but I just need to hit pause for a while. I need to recover. And I promise to come back when I do." She brought Havana to a hug, both women crying harder by the second.

"I love you too Aunt Jenna." Havana opened her eyes to see Jenna gone. Droplets of rain started to fall to her face.

It was just her in the cemetery. Alone.

------------

A few days later, Havana found herself going back to work ready to distract herself from reality. She also signed up to take double shifts since she was left in charge of the household being the only adult relative Elena and Jeremy had left in Mystic Falls. After Jenna left, the blackhole everyone was stuck in only became larger Elena and Jeremy were saddened by the news of Jenna leaving but like Havana, they were also empathetic to what their Aunt felt. Alaric took the news the worst of it all spending his days in the grill with a strong drink in his hand. He also moved into the Gilbert house to help Havana take care of her little cousins. However drunk he may be nowadays, by the end of the day, he was still the same responsible and caring father figure to Elena and Jeremy.

"Another one." Alaric slightly slurred setting his glass down in front of Havana.

"What's the magic word, Ric?"

"C'mon Havana I'm downing my sorrows here."

Havana rose an eyebrow at him until he finally said, "Would you please pour me another drink." And so she poured him another glass of bourbon.

"One for me too, please." The duo shifted their attention to Damon who just arrived at the grill.

Alaric excused himself to go to the restroom. In Havana's opinion, however, he needed a place to go vomit.

"How are you doing with everything?" He asked.

Havana stopped pouring liquor into his glass shocked by the question. Everybody had been tiptoeing around her for the past few days scared to trigger some sort of outburst she was obviously holding.

With a tight-lipped smile, she answered him, "Aside from the fact that my ex-fiancé killed my very good friend and drove my favorite aunt out of town leaving me-the broke bartender-legal custody over my two kid cousins? I'd have to say I'm doing great."

"Things will get easier soon...I know that you know that." Damon looked bearing the same emotion on his face as everybody else-pity. "You have the whole Mystic Falls at your beck and call whenever you need any kind of help."

Now she felt guilty for being sarcastic to someone who was genuinely looking out for her. "I'm sorry Day. I didn't mean to-"

"-I know and it's okay."

She gave him half a smile resuming her work.

"I'm also sorry Havana, for all the things I did. I shouldn't have fed Elena my blood."

"I think you should be telling her that and not me."

"And I'm also leaving town for good."

Havana stopped what she was doing for the second time. She stepped away from the bar table and asked Damon to repeat his words. She swore that she must've misheard him.

No, it can't be.

"Wh-what the hell Damon? You're abandoning me when I need you the most." Tears started to well up in her eyes. "I can't believe you."

"I must go."

Three words. Those three words shattered her even more.

"Okay. Then leave and don't ever come back." He tried to say something else but she held up her hand not wanting to hear any of it. "Now!" She started to cry silently. Damon wanted to hug her so bad but stopped himself and left with his head low never looking back at his broken best friend.

Alaric came back from his vomit session just in time for Havana to completely break down. In a hurry, he came to his friend's support asking her what was wrong. She then proceeded to tell her other best friend everything that had happened in those few minutes he wasn't present including the part where Damon planned to skip town leaving her all alone to pick up her broken pieces. Alaric stayed silent through it all. When she finished, he started opening up about his situation.

"When you told me about what Jenna told you back in the cemetery, I only felt one thing: regret. I regret not chasing after her and begging her to stay. With you. With Elena and Jeremy. But most of all, I didn't get a chance to talk to her about staying with me." He said.

"What are you saying, Ric? That I should go after one of the most stubborn men on the planet and convince him to stay?"

"Yes."

------------

"DAMON NO!" Havana screamed her lungs out upon seeing her best friend on the brink of bursting into flames. His flesh began to burn as he forced himself to stand painfully in front of the window without a daylight ring on. The situation wasn't too hard to decipher. She knew exactly what he was doing.

Luckily, before it was too late, Stefan came to the rescue. The other Salvatore brother raced to his brother's place and tackled him to the floor away from the window. Havana ran over to them after quickly shutting the curtains preventing Damon from any more chances of killing himself.

Damon groaned still in pain. His skin was slowly beginning to heal.

"You're not doing this." Stefan ordered his brother.

"You saw what happened to Rose." Damon countered.

That's when Havana saw the disturbingly deep bite mark on Damon's arm. She covered her mouth with her hand looking at it. Stefan threw Damon into the cellar locking him in so that he won't try to commit suicide again. He scolded his older brother and tried to reassure him that he would do whatever it takes to find a cure. However, no one was convinced, especially Damon who scoffed at the idea before coughing up blood.

Havana still stayed in the same room in the same position visibly shaken. She realized two undeniable and inescapable truths at that moment: her life will always be an epicenter of a supernatural crisis and that she was going to lose another loved one in less than a day.

------------

"Hey, Elena. I'm sorry but I can't make it later. I'm swamped at work right now but I'll see you at home tonight, okay? Take care cuz." Havana sent the voice mail sighing.

Supposedly, she was supposed to come to an outdoor movie streaming of Gone With The Wind at the park with Elena, Jeremy, and Caroline. It was Caroline's idea to try something normal for once. Elena, desperate too for a sense of normalcy, agreed and brought her brother along. She shoved her phone in her back pocket before heading back to where Stefan was-the entrance of the locked cellar.

"I couldn't tell them. I just can't handle bearing more bad news to them. They're just kids for God's sake."

Stefan nodded, "I understand. That's why we must do something about it."

"You have a plan?"

He nodded again. "Bonnie. We're heading up to the Old Witch House to do a seance. Maybe spirits of the witches there have answers."

"Okay, I'll stay here to make sure Damon won't do anything else to himself."

------------

"Psstt...Havana wake up."

"What do you want Damon." She rubbed her eyes and got up from her seat to get a view of him in the cellar on the floor.

"You're on suicide watch here. You're so bad at this job."

Havana shook her head and rolled her eyes having no patience for this. "I can't believe you almost did that. That was incredibly low even for you Damon."

"I'm dying Havana. Accept it."

"No! I'm not letting you die."

Damon, who usually had fire in his strikingly blue eyes only had defeat displayed in them. He looked paler than usual and was sweating profoundly. The coughing was worse by the minute. It was only a matter of time before the hallucinations start kicking in.

"Please Havana. Just let me die in peace."

Havana gripped the bars wanting so badly to open it and give his dying wish. But she knew she couldn't as selfish as it is. Havana didn't want this fate to befall her best friend. "I'm so sorry Damon." She shook her head.

Damon speed to the door catching Havana off guard and grabbed a hold of her wrists squeezing them tightly. "You used me, Katherine. You made me believe that you were in love with me and played with me like a rag doll."

"Damon, it's Havana-Ouch! Let go Damon." She ripped her hands from his iron grip and brought them to her chest looking at the slight bruise that started to form.

Damon started screaming and banging on the metal door calling her Katherine and cursing at her. Havana started to cry harder and ran away. She needed to get out of here. However, before she left the Salvator boarding house, she texted Alaric about what has happened and asked him to come over to look after Damon. She then rang Stefan to ask what happened in the seance. He reported back with more dreadful news; Klaus has the answer to the cure.

------------

"How is he doing?"

"He's getting worse by the hour." Havana shook her head recalling the events that had happened less than thirty minutes ago.

Stefan tried comforting her by talking about being one step closer to finding a cure to the werewolf bite. She nodded though she was actually tunning out his words. Havana wasn't as optimistic now.

They both stood in front of the door of Alaric's apartment. Another undesirable memory popped up in Havana's head being the last time she was here, with Klaus, before the ritual that unleashed more hellish realities to her life. Then, they went in.

The first face they see was the impatient face of no other than Katherine Pierce.

"Two days I've been waiting. I'm supposed to be free from Klaus's compulsion by now. He's supposed to be dead. But since I'm still stuck here and you look like you've been crying-" she motioned at Havana who replied with flipping her off "- it looks like you ran into complications." Katherine scoffed.

"Well, we need to find him. Do you have any idea where he might be?" Stefan asked. But another person answered.

"I'm right here. You just keep popping up don't you." The now-official-hybrid looked amuse, behind him was Elijah whose facial expression was unreadable unlike his brother's. However, that amusement turned into concern upon taking in Havana's glassy bloodshot eyes and the purple bruises on her wrists. He opened his mouth to say something when Havana cut him off.

"-Don't ask. We just need your help."

"For my brother," Stefan added.

"Well, whatever it is. It will have to wait. You see, I have an obligation to my brother that requires my immediate attention." Klaus speed to Elijah and stabbed him in the heart. Everybody flinched to see this sudden display of betrayal right after Elijah had saved Klaus in exchange for him being reunited with his family. With a painful moan, Elijah fell limp onto the hardwood floor "dead" as long as his brother wanted.

That double-crossing bastard.

Of course, that nothing was new. Havana was wearier than ever with the idea of her and Stefan putting their trust in him for getting the cure. Klaus then proceeded to stab someone else; this time it was Stefan. Havana ran to help her friend only to be stopped by Klaus's warning.

"One wrong move love and he is as good as dead." Havana stopped in her tracks and just helplessly watched as Klaus started to torture Stefan. "Do you feel that?" The Original asked him. "It's scraping against your heart. The slightest movement and you're dead."

"Klaus, he's just trying to help his brother," Katherine stated showing what's left of her humanity in the hopes that he would let him go.

"The witches said you had a cure. Let's make a deal. I'll do whatever you want just give us the cure." Stefan begged.

"That's all we want just please let him go." Havana's pleading eyes meet Klaus's emotionless ones. Thankfully, for once he listened and pulled back the knife. Havana ran to him helping him up while Klaus went to get a blood bag from the kitchen pouring it into a coffee cup.

"Trouble is I don't know if you'd be good to me the way you are now. You are just shy of useless." He took a sip from the cup, his coldly looking at the wounded vampire in Havana's arms.