When First We Met
Summary: "For over a century I have lived in secret, until now. I know the risk, but I have no choice. I have to know her..." Pre-season 1. The events leading up to the Pilot. One-shot
A/N: Hi! I'm kinda new to the whole TVD fandom (I'm still making my way through season 1), but I couldn't seem to get this idea out of my head. How Stefan and Elena met... the first time. Based off the conversation at the end of 1x11. I hope you enjoy!
The blood rushes into his mouth and through his entire body, gasping almost longingly as he feels it spread, heating him from the inside. Stefan rips the small squirrel away from his mouth, its small form no longer struggling under his fingers. His fangs are bared as he savours the taste. It's not as satisfying as it should be. Like stale food. But it's better than the alternative.
He lifts his arm and wipes the dripping blood away from his jaw, his ears already finely tuned to hunt his next kill. He hears a rabbit not too far away; it's scurrying quickly, like it already knows its fate. Stefan poises himself to pounce when his ears prick up. He hears the faint sounds of something else entirely. The loud screeching of tyres and the fatal wrenching of metal against metal.
He's off like a bullet, running through the trees towards the noise. He stops just on the edge of the woods and looks out onto the road. The Fell Bridge is marred by tyre marks, swerving haphazardly towards the bridge's torn metal barrier, down into the Mystic Falls River.
He knows he should leave. Just turn and walk the other way. But there is no one else around, and he can't find it in him to go. It's almost as bad as ripping the life out of someone, and he knows later the sting of walking away will be heavy on his heart, almost palpable.
He quickly reaches the side of the bridge to take a closer look. The car is already submerged, and Stefan strains his ears to listen. The water is gushing in quickly as a man screams for his companions, but he gets nothing but silence in return.
In one swift move, Stefan dives into the water, the icy chill barely touching him. He finds the car quickly and sees the man pounding on the window.
"Help!" his muffled shouts call to him. Stefan indicates for the man to stay back, but he shakes his head vigorously and points to his companions. Two unconscious women, one in the front and one in the back, the water already filling the rest of the car.
Stefan shakes his head, he'll save this one first then come back for the others, at least he knows he's alive. With all his strength he wrenches the door open and tries to pull the man out, but he struggles against him.
"My daughter!" he screams, the water swallowing most of the sound.
Stefan wants to protest again, but it's clear that the man will stop at nothing to make sure his daughter is safe. He moves quickly to the back seat and forces the door open. He's quick to pull her free and out of the car. He starts swimming to the surface, gracefully like a torpedo, and drags her limp body to the river bank.
He quickly checks if she's breathing, pushing away her blanket of dark hair to study her face. Stefan almost falls backwards from shock.
"Katherine?" he asks stunned, but her unconscious form just lays there, her breathing even and shallow. He stares at her for a moment. Her features so piercingly familiar. "It can't be..."
He's frozen for a moment, watching her. But then the situation comes rushing back to him. There are still two people who need his help. He dives back into the water and makes for the car sitting at the bottom of the deep river, but he's too late. They're both completely lifeless, drifting up and down in the confines of the car.
The hollow feeling he was dreading earlier settles in his stomach almost immediately as he pushes his way to the surface and back to the unconscious girl. The only one he was able to save.
He leans over her, studying her more closely as she drifts in and out of consciousness.
"Katherine?" he asks again when she drowsily opens her eyes.
"What?" she asks groggily, but Stefan can already see that she's not who he thinks. She's not like him. "My parents..." she gasps and tries to sit up.
"Shhhh..." He tries to comfort her and push her back down. "You shouldn't move right now."
He has to leave. He can hear a car approaching down the road.
He cups her face and looks deeply into her eyes.
"Forget my face." He commands her. "Forget..."
"Forget..." she repeats drowsily just as she drifts back into unconsciousness.
He's gone by the time the car arrives, but he watches hidden in the trees as the scene unfolds around him. He stays until the Sherriff has surveyed the scene and the ambulance has driven off. He stays until he knows she's safe.
.-.
Elena...
He learns her name through the whisper of trees and yet he still can't make him believe it's not her.
.-.
The fluorescent lights flicker above him as he makes his way through the empty hallways of the county hospital. He has to force himself not to breathe, the intoxicating smell of human blood almost too much for him to handle. He's like a ghost, moving so quickly in the dead of the night, the night nurse barely notices the rustle of paper as he shoots past.
He watches from the corner as she sleeps, completely silent, the shadows hiding him from view. He barely notices the teenage boy leaning onto the bed from a nearby chair, his head resting near their clasped hands as he sleeps.
All he sees is her.
She looks exactly like her. Her dark hair, her smooth skin, her nose, her mouth... Every single detail burns through him as he remembers.
She bares no signs of physical injuries from her trauma, but her face is streaked with tears, her forehead furrowed in a sad frown. Her dream seems restless, and he finds himself wishing he could reach in there and soothe her pain.
He could. He's capable of doing so. But he can't bear to invade her privacy like that. No matter what the reason.
He stays until fingertips of dawn begin creeping through the window and the hospital starts filling up with people, slipping out quietly before anyone even notices he's there.
.-.
He watches her from afar.
It's like he is physically incapable of turning away. He watches her going through the motions with her friends and family. Her sombre figure walking through town as the rest of the town watch and whisper.
He spends months confirming she's not Katherine. Studying, learning everything he can about her. He pretends to believe that's the reason he stays, following her every move. Drinking in the very sight of her. He needed to make sure.
But if he's really honest with himself, he'd already known she wasn't Katherine after that day.
May 23rd 2009.
.-.
"You're leaving, Uncle Stefan?" asks his distant-nephew, Zack, not missing the hopeful tilt of his question.
"Yes." He replies, gathering his belongings. "I've done what I came to do. I'll be gone in the morning."
He ignores the relieved sigh Zack makes as he walks away. Stefan knows his presence makes Zack uncomfortable, but it can't be helped. He understands, of course. He can't honestly say he wouldn't feel the same if the situation was reversed.
.-.
It's the dead of night when Stefan finally decides to get out of bed. He's been lying there in the dark, thinking. It only takes him a moment to unpack his things before he's back in bed, his back propped up against his pillow and journal in hand.
He writes slowly, purposefully, his mind already made up.
For over a century I have lived in secret, until now. I know the risk, but I have no choice. I have to know her...