Stefan threw another of his journals into the fire. In his amnesic state, everything seemed muddled, confused. His brother and his ex had spent all day lying to him. He couldn't relate to the guy in these diaries, surely no one could combine such delusions of grandeur with the daily drudgery of angst and brooding? Two names, however, cropped up time and time again, chinks of light in an otherwise depressing read.
Lexi and Caroline.
Lexi was apparently dead at his dick of a brother's hand, but Caroline was very real and present, and, well, really rather attractive. Pre-amnesia Stefan couldn't have been so terrible if he had her as a friend, his best friend. Just then the door swung opened and Stefan was confronted by the last two people he wanted to see. Yeah, no, he was out of here; Elena's pathetic attempt to stop him barely registering.
Out in the cold night air, Stefan realised that he had no idea where he was going to go. He could remember where the quarry, the high school and the Salvatore crypt were, but none of those really appealed. His phone chirped, he glanced at it.
Caroline calling.
He hesitated, thumb hovering, ready to decline when something buried deep in his subconscious overtook him.
"Caroline." He murmured, enjoying the feel of the syllables rolling off his tongue.
"Hey Stefan, how are you?" Her tone was light, but there was a quiver in her voice. She was worried.
"Well, I haven't killed anyone since I saw you last, but I seem to have made myself homeless."
"Don't worry, you can stay with me. My mom won't mind. Hang on, I'll come pick you up."
Everything would have been fine, if a couple of security guards hadn't stumbled across Stefan as he attempted to lurk in the shadows. He had tried to resist, but soon he had the first man compelled not to move while he gorged on the second man's neck. Suddenly Caroline's car headlights illuminated the sorry scene causing him to freeze mid feed.
"Stefan." She called sharply, slamming the car door. "What did I say earlier? This isn't you, remember? Jeez, you're a messy eater!" She glared disapprovingly at the blood smeared around his lips, across his chin and all over the ground. She checked for a pulse before feeding the injured man her blood, healing his wounds. Her eyes travelled to the other man, recognising him as one of the Grill's regulars, a man who constantly hit on young girls, never taking no for an answer. Excellent, the perfect subject to help teach Stefan a lesson in control. She fixed the chastened vampire with one of her trademark 'you will listen to me' looks. "You once taught me about controlling blood flow, all theoretical of course. You told me to go for the external jugular vein. Rip into the carotid artery and you're in trouble, but the vein…" She grabbed the man's hair gently, pulling his head to one side and running a finger down his neck "It's less fatal, less messy and easier to clean up."
Stefan felt his confusion double as she pushed the man over to him. She wanted him to feed from the vein? After nearly killing two people today? Was she insane? The man's heart thundered in fear and he was about to give himself over to the blood, when something in her eyes stopped him.
He paused.
Memories of line drawings in an old textbook came flooding back, the external jugular vein lying superficial to the sheet of sternocleidomastoid muscle. How the fuck did he remember that and not the stunning blond in front of him? Whatever, his thinking had cleared, her presence calming.
Using the lightest of pressure, he sank his fangs into the man's neck, pausing when he met resistance. The blood swirled into his mouth, slowly, decadently. He didn't need to gulp it back, he tasted it, Sweet and metallic with a rich, bold finish, as if for the first time.
He stopped, satiated. He could do this.
A drop of red oozed from the two perfect puncture wounds catching his eye. The smell intoxicating. He needed more.
As if sensing the change in him, Caroline's hand reached over, her thumb swiping daintily across the wound. She raised her eyes to his. "Look, no dripping blood equals no temptation."
She was right. Wow, she was good at this. "I taught you that? The old adage of 'if you can't do, teach' must really apply in my case."
"No, I came up with that myself."
"My journals said you were a neat freak, Caroline." Her name fell suggestively off his tongue, he couldn't help himself. Stop flirting, you weirdo, she's your friend, the only one you can trust by the looks of things.
"Ha ha. Sometimes it comes in handy." She replied, punching him affably on his arm. "Right, I'm taking you home and I'm not letting you out of my sight."
"OK, bossy." Stefan cringed as he said it, realising that he didn't do nicknames. Home, however, that sounded right, he liked that. Maybe he was going to be alright after all.