"Thanks," Caroline says, turning her hand to squeeze Nancy's back. "I still sometimes can't believe she's really gone. Mom was the sheriff of Mystic Falls and seemed invincible, even with all the crazy things that could happen. But I guess none of us are."

She takes a long, deep breath, before continuing with the worst of it. "So things were bad. And the worst part was that I managed to drag Stefan down with me. He's a ... I don't know if you call it the same thing here, but he calls himself a ripper. When he drinks human blood, he just loses control. And so when he tried to get through to me, tried to stop him, I forced him to join me instead."

She pauses again, knowing she has to admit this last part but fearing what it means. She knows Nancy is involved with vampires but still. This could be a lot to take in.

"I don't know how many people died because of the two of us. I should but I just couldn't face figuring it out. And while that was happening, the two of us, well, the feelings may have been pushed aside but our basic attraction wasn't and so we hooked up. And then, when it was finally over and I realized what we'd done, what I'd done, I just couldn't look at him any more. And that's the point where I packed up my bags and flew across an ocean to get away from my troubles."

She looks over at Nancy nervously. "I told you there was quite a story."