They'd seen less of Elena since Caroline exposed her to the truth. The blonde was the only one even moderately upset about it. When she did see her other friends, she'd taken to meeting them at the grill or one of their houses.

The decision had been made for Caroline and Stefan to have a rather public breakup hoping Katherine would leave Care the hell alone. Lucy thought the plan was stupid.

"You two should consider doing the same thing," Stefan said.

Lucy and Damon exchanged a look before turning back to the younger Salvatore. "No," they said in unison.

Stefan shook his head but shrugged. It was up to them. He wasn't going to waste time trying to talk them into it.

The next day was the volunteer day to work on the new park. Why a town this size needed more than one park, Lucy had no idea.

"Wake up, princess. We have things to do," Damon told her as he leaned over her waiting for her eyes to open.

Lucy groaned. "Why are we doing this again?"

"Community spirit?" Once his girlfriend sat up, he handed her a cup of coffee.

She sipped it and hummed at the taste. "Can't we just admit I'm antisocial and stay locked in the house?"

He tilted his head as if he was considering it. "No, we can't. I'm on the council and we need to witness Stef and blondie's big fight."

Lucy sighed. "Fine. Find me something to wear."

They both dressed in jeans and one of Damon's t-shirts so they almost matched as they arrived hand in hand and half an hour late.

They split up, Lucy looking for Caroline while Damon searched for his brother. Lucy soon found the blonde painting a shelter with Elena. She greeted both of the younger women with a nod of her head. "How's it going, Care? You and Stef still fighting?"

Caroline sighed. "Yes. He's worried about Katherine."

"You didn't tell me that you and Stefan had a fight," Elena said as she came to stand with them.

"Yeah, well, it's not like I want to talk about it." The baby vamp released a groan of frustration. "He's so stubborn."

"To be fair, she did kill you, Caroline," Elena said.

Lucy lifted a brow. That was actually a good point. Huh.

Care dropped her brush into the nearly empty bucket of paint. "I'm gonna go talk to him."

Lucy watched her friend walk away, dropping a hand on Elena's shoulder when she moved to follow. "Not this time, Elena."

She frowned and crossed her arms over her chest but stayed put. They were too far away to hear what the vampires were saying to each other, but Lucy had the general idea as they'd planned it out the night before. She just hoped Katherine or one of her spies was listening or the effort was wasted.

When Caroline stormed away, Lucy followed after to play the sympathetic bestie. "You okay?" she asked as she fell into step with Caroline.

The blond crossed her arms over her chest and rolled her eyes with a little smirk. "It's fine. I can't make him be my boyfriend."

Lucy hummed in agreement. "So how long do you think it will take him to figure out you're still living in the house?"

Caroline laughed then covered her mouth with her hand. Despite Katherine's short temper, they decided the safest place for Care was still the boarding house. If worse came to worst she could just stay inside where the elder vampire couldn't reach her.

They walked around a bit talking about nothing and everything. Caroline came to a sudden stop and she grabbed Lucy's arm to stop her as well. The vampire's gaze was trained on her mother walking about ten feet in front of them.

"What's going on?" Lucy asked once the sheriff was off her phone.

Care shook her head. "I don't know. Something."

That was enough for Lucy to jog over to Damon's car to retrieve the gun with the vervain darts she'd shoved under her seat. She secured it in the back of her jeans before making her way back to her friend. Caroline took her hand to pull her to the top of a hill inside the edge of the woods just outside the park. "I need to be able to hear better."

Lucy watched as the vampire tried to filter through the sounds surrounding them. She gasped and her eyes flew open. "Damon and Stefan."

Lucy's stomach dropped and she instantly felt sick as she followed her friend through the woods. It didn't take long for Caroline to stop at a small clearing. "They've been here." She crouched and wiped some blood from a leaf.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Lucy drew her gun for all the good it would do against any non-vamp enemies. They both turned at the sound of Mason Lockwood's voice. "What are you two doing out here?"

She bit back the tirade that sat on the tip of her tongue. There was no point in asking if he was involved in whatever happened because of course he was. She really needed to start carrying wolfsbane darts. "Where are they?"

He shifted his gaze from her to Caroline. "I'll think I'll let your friend here sniff them out. Does your mother know what you are? I'd be happy to tell her."

"Don't be a dick, Lockwood," Lucy said.

A beat later Caroline wrapped a hand around Mason's throat and slammed him against a tree. She released him and he fell to the ground. A swift kick to the ribs had him flying across the clearing and bouncing off another tree. Asshole.

Lucy smirked and gave him a little wave as she hurried after Caroline to find their boys. It didn't take them long to arrive at the old Lockwood cellar. Of course. Lucy took a deep breath. "How do you want to do this?"

Care shook her head, fear contorting her features. "I can't go down there. My mom can't know I'm like this."

Irritation flooded through the human but she bit it back and simply nodded once. "It's okay, Care." She considered the weapon tucked in the back of her jeans. With good enough aim, even the vervain darts would injure a human. She really needed to start carrying tranquilizer darts. Not wanting to waste any more time, Lucy headed down the steps into the dimly lit cellar.

Liz's gaze immediately narrowed and locked on Lucy when she stepped into view. "Ms. Williams, what are you doing here?"

"Came to rescue my boyfriend." She held her hands up, palms out to show she meant no harm. There were two other deputies in the room but she kept her focus on the sheriff. That was who she had to convince. The others would follow their boss's lead. "I'm kind of attached to him. I'd hate to have to train a new one."

Damon released a pained chuckle. "Hey, Luce."

"You don't understand. You don't know what he is," Liz argued.

Lucy smirked. "Sure, I do"

The sheriff's weapon immediately shifted to point at the other woman. "Are you one of them too? How are you all walking around in the daylight?"

Lucy froze in surprise and Damon tried unsuccessfully to push himself onto his elbows. "No, Liz. Hey, no. She's not a vampire. Leave her alone. She doesn't have anything to do with this. Come on, point the gun back at me."

"Listen, Sheriff, I'm not a threat. I just want you to take a minute to think. Don't react. Think. Damon is your friend. Do you really want to kill your friend?" Lucy tried to reason with the other woman. Tried to calm her.

"He's not my friend. It was all lies."

"Do you really believe that?"

Liz looked frantically between Lucy and Damon. Lucy took the opportunity to step closer trying to close the distance. The sheriff's response was immediate and extreme. Pain slammed into Lucy's shoulder before radiating through the rest of her body.

She hissed in a breath. "You shot me. What the fuck? That's just rude."

Damon's eyes were wide and worried but there wasn't much he could do. Lucy was surprised he was even awake with the amount of vervain they probably pumped into him.

Liz's face was contorted in shock but before she even had a chance to react a blur swept into the room. The throats were ripped out of both deputies and the sheriff disarmed before Lucy could even blink.

"Hi Mom," Caroline said from somewhere behind her.

Lucy shoved the stunned sheriff to the side and dropped to the floor beside Damon. She helped him sit up and he immediately focused on her shoulder. In turn, she ran her hand through his hair before cupping his face and pressing a light kiss to his lips. "Are you okay?"

"I'll heal. I'm more worried about you."

She moved to sit beside him. "You can fix me up after you take care of yourself. Eat," she said and gestured to one of the deputies.

He stared at her for another moment before moving to do as she'd said. Lucy's attention shifted to the rest of the room. Caroline was kneeling in front of Stefan looking him over. The younger Salvatore was wiping the blood from his girlfriend's face while they talked. Liz sat on a ledge along the edge of the room. She looked devastated.

Lucy rolled her eyes. She shifted her weight and hissed when she moved her shoulder wrong and a jolt of pain shot through it. Damon's gaze shot to her with the sound and she waved him off. Once he'd drank his fill and removed the bullets from his own body he focused on his girl.

He kissed her head as he prepared to dig the bullet from her shoulder. "Hold on, Baby. This is going to hurt like a bitch." Lucy screamed through clenched teeth while Damon muttered "Sorry" repeatedly. Finally, he tossed the wooden bullet to the side and pulled her into his arms. He bit his wrist and held it up to her. She drank what she needed to heal then allowed herself to just stay pressed against his chest for a moment.

Liz just watched everything with a dazed expression. She barely even registered when Damon stood and pulled Lucy up with him. He walked over to his friend and looked down at her. "Now, what are we going to do with you?"

Caroline was quick to intervene. "She won't tell anyone. Will you, mom?"

The older woman said nothing as tears pooled in her eyes. She wouldn't even look at her daughter.

"Mom, he'll kill you." Caroline's voice was little more than a plea.

"Then kill me." Liz's voice broke. "I can't take this."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Lucy muttered as she swept one of the deputies' guns from the floor and pointed it at the blonde bitch.

"Woah," Damon said, pushing the barrel of the gun toward the floor. "No shooting."

Lucy frowned. "She shot you."

"Yep."

"She shot me."

"I am aware."

"She's hurting Caroline."

Damon's gaze softened. "I know. You still can't shoot her." He removed the gun completely from Lucy's grip.

"Can I yell at her?" Lucy asked with a pout.

"Have at it," he answered gesturing to the sheriff.

"Luce—" Caroline started but was cut off by Stefan pulling her into his arms and shushing her.

Lucy would have ignored her anyway. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" she said as she moved closer to the other woman. "Your daughter is right there." When Liz still wouldn't look at her daughter, Lucy grabbed her chin and forcibly turned her head. When the blonde fought her hold, Lucy only tightened her grip. "That girl is one of the best people I know. She's sweet and caring and loving. And all of that is in spite of you, not because of you. Because you're never around, are you?"

Finally, she released the other woman who instantly turned her head as tears leaked down her face. Lucy continued her rant. "Did you even know that she lives at the boarding house with us? Did you just think you kept missing her? Did you care? Now, she needs you more than ever and you still aren't there for her. I guess we shouldn't be fucking surprised."

She turned away, too disgusted to continue the tirade. She grabbed Caroline's wrist on the way by and pulled her outside. And while the brothers cleaned up the mess and decided what to do with the sheriff, Lucy held her best friend while she broke.