Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries, Beauty and the Beast or any of its characters. The plot, however, is mine.


Stock·holm syndrome. noun \ˈstäk-ˌhō(l)m-\ The psychological tendency of a hostage to bond with, identify with, or sympathize with his or her captor.


Prologue


Try and imagine walking through an unfamiliar house with the lights off, everything around you pitch-black. I bet you won't even make it five meters before stubbing your toe on something. When you're in this situation, you would be grateful for a set of matches. Obviously, a match doesn't burn forever, but each and every one of them will help you a bit further on your way to the exit. In broad daylight, you probably never even would've thought about those matches.

If you're lucky, you cross a lighter, maybe even a flashlight on the way. You'll put the matches aside, because lighters work longer, a flashlight allows you to look further ahead. But trust me, once the lighter is empty or your battery dies you're glad you still have your matches to fall back on.

That's kind of the way it is with friends. Some are closer to you than others and they won't always stick around, even though you need them, but in the end every single one of them has helped you to get to where you are today.

So yes, maybe one day you're going to have to let go of those most precious to you, and yes, you're going to stub your toe a few times more along the way. And God, does it hurt. But eventually, you will reach your destination: the door.

And then there's the sun.