DROWNING

AUTHOR'S NOTE/DISCLAIMER

Inspired by a web clip sneak peek of "Dead Man On Campus" and fits in with regular canon. Vampire Diaries belongs to L.J. Smith and the CW. I only own the events you don't recognize.

Stefan stared into the fire he had made, shaking. Warm. He needed to be warm. Warm was good. And he had been so cold for three months. And it had been dark. So dark. He had drowned for three months. It had been dark and cold and he had been drowning. He vaguely heard Damon speaking about a party, but it was faint as if coming from far away. Over this, all he could hear was the sound of the water rushing over him. He closed his eyes, trying to will away the memories. Stefan gasped as the water rushed over him and he desperately pounded on the box, trying to break free. However, it was no use. The water just kept pouring over him.

"Stefan?" Damon's voice broke through the memory and Stefan gasped as he opened his eyes. "You…okay?" he asked carefully.

"Yeah…I'm fine," he answered in a soft, breathless voice.

"How about my favorite reading chair?" came the quip. It was then that the younger vampire realized that he had been holding the arms of the chair in a vice-like grip and still shaking, he released his grip on the furniture and let out a sigh. Safe. He was safe. Everything was okay. He didn't have to worry anymore. He was fine.

"Tell Elena thanks, but I'm not really up for a party tonight," he stated and quickly walked out, signaling that the conversation was over. However, Damon followed Stefan out into the foyer.

"Hey, what's going on?" he asked.

"Nothing," his brother replied quickly. He didn't want to talk about this. If Damon couldn't remember something from their human days, he wasn't going to clue him in.

"Don't give me that. I know you too well," came the response as he grabbed his brother's arm. The younger boy let out a sarcastic laugh.

"You know me so well?" he repeated, yanking out the older vampire's grasp. "I was trapped for three months!" he yelled.

"Stefan-" Damon began.

"Three months!" Stefan interrupted. "Three months I was drowning in a small, dark, box! Drowning!" he emphasized and Damon froze. Oh damn, he thought to himself. His claustrophobia and fear of drowning. He had had to experience both for three months.

"That had to be Hell," he said softly. When Stefan was six he had fallen into the river and had nearly drowned and a couple of years later, one of the servants had accidentally locked him into one of the small food closets. Both had left their mark on Stefan and as a vampire, his feelings about them had been magnified.

"That's pretty accurate," he said.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"That doesn't cut it. Not anymore." With that, he walked out, his eyes clouding. He may not have been physically drowning anymore, but he was still mentally drowning and there was nothing he could do about it…

THE END