Stefan lifted himself out of the dark safe and into the bright light of his living room. The other bright light in his life, his beautiful best friend, stood waiting for him to confirm that she had fixed him. She was very task-oriented. So after he helped Katherine up from the safe, he flashed Caroline a smile to let her know that he was okay. And he was, strangely okay. Even though he was currently trying to keep Caroline from noticing the bulge in his jeans as she flung herself gleefully into his arms.
Katherine had really done a number on him in the safe. Her warm breath speaking comfort against his lips, her fingertips gently stroking his cheeks, her warm body tight against his. Somehow even after a century and a half he still remembered what it was like to be surrounded by Katherine Pierce. He held back a shudder at the thought of what might have happened if the safe hadn't opened. Caroline pulled away and beamed proudly at her victory. Stefan smiled back, not wanting to discourage her, but pretty confident that Katherine's not-so-subtle seduction was the actual reason for his miraculous cure.
"I'm, uhh, gonna go upstairs," Stefan announced, slipping away from the two women and pounding his boots against the stairs.
He exhaled deeply as he closed himself into his room. Never would he have thought that Katherine could make him feel that way ever again. But somewhere between his temporary weakness and her sudden kindness, she was slipping through his cracks. He felt like that's all he was anymore, a series of cracks, intricately arranged glass, shattered but rearranged. Put back together but not exactly right. Not exactly whole.
He wasn't really surprised to hear his door creaking open, wasn't surprised to hear Katherine's heeled boots entering the room or to smell her sweet perfume.
"You're welcome, by the way," she purred, walking up behind him. He felt the heat radiating off of her human body, through his shirt and onto the skin of his back.
"Did I forget to say 'thank you'?" he replied, flirting back in spite of himself.
"Oh, I can think of quite a few ways for you to thank me, Stefan," she said, slipping her arms around his waist from behind, "And NONE of them involve you saying anything at all."
Before he could talk himself out of it, Stefan spun on his heels and advanced on Katherine, pushing her roughly against the wall. His hands found her waist at the same time his lips collided with hers. She gasped into his mouth with surprise before melting into him. He had a sick feeling in his stomach, but the ache elsewhere was worse, so he didn't deny himself the pleasure of what was being offered to him.
She ran her hands over him greedily, as if she'd waited hundreds of years to do so, and she had. Stefan closed his eyes as she slid her pretty little tongue against his and her hands attempted to memorized the muscles of his chest through his shirt, before tugging his shirt from his pants and snaking a hand up to gently scrape her nails against the skin of his bare stomach. He tightened at the contact and hissed in a breath as she loosened his belt and slipped a teasing hand low on his abdomen just under the waistband of his briefs. He gathered her wrists in one hand and smiled mischievously.
She looked up at him through fluttering lashes, more than happy for him to be in charge. She gasped as he lifted her hands above her head and held them against the wall, his lips and tongue exploring the soft skin of her neck while his free hand roamed her waist before grabbing her weighty breast and gently squeezing it. The sound of her moan caused him to push himself harder against her, rubbing the rock hard front of his jeans against her and holding her more tightly against the wall.
"Guys, I really need help with the safe," Caroline's voice startled them, and they whipped their heads around to watch the blonde swing into the doorway with one hand.
They watched as her mouth fell open in shock at the sight before her, and then her cheeks momentarily flush before returning to normal. Stefan could hear her heart pounding and blood surging. He released his grip on Katherine and took a step back, rubbing his thumb across his brow in embarrassment.
"Oh..." Caroline stammered, "I'm...god, I...shouldn't have...I should have knocked."
Stefan turned away, unable to look her in the eye.
"It's okay, Care Bear," Katherine said, smirking and running a hand through her hair and sauntering toward the door, "The adults were just having a bit of fun. You'll understand when you're older."
Caroline's mouth opened a bit as if she were about to respond but then she just snapped it shut again.
"Caroline..." Stefan began, not sure what he was going say, but feeling the need to say something.
She held up a hand quickly, "No, don't worry about it, Stefan," she snapped.
"Awww, is someone jealous?" Katherine taunted, making a faux pouty face.
Caroline whipped her head around to look at the other woman.
"I mean, earlier you acted like you hadn't thought about sleeping with him," Katherine continued, walking toward Stefan who stood helplessly watching the scene unfold.
She reached out a hand and dragged her fingers gently down his jaw before laying her head against his chest.
"Which I thought was ridiculous," she continued, "Because, have you SEEN him?" She giggled and wrapped her arms around his waist. Stefan tensed in her embrace.
"Or," Katherine said, turning her predatory gaze back to Caroline, "You could just join us. I'd be willing to share. He's too good not to."
She ran a hand down Stefan's chest and winked at Caroline.
Stefan looked slowly at Caroline, apologizing for Katherine's inappropriate comment with his eyes. Caroline blushed and looked between the two of them.
"Oh, who am I kidding?" Katherine said, narrowing her eyes, "Care Bear's permanent halo simply wouldn't allow her to do something so scandalous. Doesn't it get exhausting being so morally righteous all the time?"
Caroline seemed to consider her words for a second longer than she should have before she crossed her arms and let out an angry puff of air.
"Okay, well you have fun with that, Stefan," Caroline said angrily, moving to storm out.
"Caroline, wait!" Stefan called out, removing Katherine's arms from him and going after Caroline. He felt like a guilty man and he wasn't sure why, but he felt the need to apologize to Caroline.
"Oh, just let her go, Stefan," Katherine suggested, looking at her nails, "She's obviously got a little crush on you, but I don't think anything will come of it. I, however..am a sure thing." She winked and smiled.
Stefan rolled his eyes and left the room, catching Caroline just as she was about to walk out the door.
"Hey," he called out.
"Look, you're just going to have to get the safe out of here yourself," she said, fumbling with her keys and the door.
"Just wait a minute, Caroline," he asked, his hands in his pockets like he did when he got nervous, vulnerable.
"You don't have to explain, Stefan," she said, but her voice was still tinged with accusation and anger. Which, for some reason, got under his skin.
"I know I don't," he said, a strange cockiness to his voice that sounded a little strange even to him.
She raised her brows at him and chuckled humorlessly.
"You know what? Screw that! Yes, you do need to explain," she ranted, "I mean, I just walked in on you about to have sex with Katherine. KATHERINE!"
"Okay," Stefan replied, calmly.
"Okay?" Caroline said, fuming, "Is that all you have to say about this?"
"What do you want me to say, Caroline?" he said, his hands now moving from his pockets to his hips.
"Say that you were about to make a huge mistake and I stopped you!" she yelled, "Say 'Thank you, Caroline, for showing up just in the nick of time'."
Stefan chuckled, "Is that what you think, Caroline? That you rescued me?"
"Duh!" Caroline exclaimed, tossing her hands into the air.
"Look, I know you're going through a hard time right now, but that doesn't mean you should sleep with Katherine. I mean, god Stefan, have a little self respect."
Stefan was angry, and he wasn't sure why. Something about Caroline thinking that she knew better than him what he needed to do, something about her thinking that she had the right to control what he did, something about the way that she refused to admit that the reason she didn't want him to have sex with Katherine was that she was jealous. Or maybe all of that combined with the fact that he was bitter about life in general. But whatever the reason, he was angry and he was about to take it out on Caroline.
He began to advance toward her and she looked panicked.
"Maybe," he said, his voice low and dark, "You just interrupted us. Maybe..." he was backing her up against the closed front door, "I knew exactly what I was doing and wanted to do it. And, maybe...I don't need your help."
Her eyes narrowed and it fueled him.
"You know, you should try having a little fun for a change," he continued, reaching around her to toy with with the lock on the door, menacingly, "It might distract you from the fact that your boyfriend left town and your makeout buddy is dead because your best friend killed him. See, we've all got our problems. Maybe you shouldn't judge how other people...cope."
Caroline glared at him with tears in her eyes, he could hear her heart pounding through her chest. Whether it was from anger or their close proximity, he wasn't sure. She slipped from between his body and the door and let herself out.
Stefan sighed deeply and winced as the door slammed behind her. His heart felt heavy and his stomach in knots. He immediately regretted everything he'd said to her. She had just been trying to help, right?
"Aww, is this your first fight?" Katherine taunted, descending the stairs.
"Katherine, could you please try a little harder not to ruin my friendships in the future?"
She laughed, "Is that what you think you have with Caroline? A "friendship"?" she asked, making quotes with her elegant fingers.
"Of course," Stefan said, confidently, although something had been nagging at the back of his brain ever since he'd lost his memories. Things with Caroline felt just a little different than before.
"Oh, Stefan," Katherine said, walking up to wrap her arms around his neck, "So clueless, but so very hot."
She pressed her lips against his cheek and he closed his eyes at the contact. How was it that he could despise her so much and enjoy her touch at the same time? Something about her having been his first love, he guessed. Whether or not it was real, it had certainly felt real to him at the time, as a seventeen year old human in love for the first time.
"So, you wanna go back upstairs and finish what we started?" she whispered in his ear, sending chills across his skin.
He considered it momentarily before taking her hands from his neck gently and squeezing them in his own.
"I think I'm going to take a rain check, actually," he said, "I gotta get rid of this safe and do a few things. I'll be home later tonight."
"Hmm, home," Katherine purred, "I really like the sound of that."
Stefan rolled his eyes and smiled, "Don't get used to it."
Katherine smiled and shrugged, turning to walk back upstairs.
Stefan sighed and looked at the safe. He was free. He worried now that the freedom was going to his head. Thoughts of Caroline and Katherine and Elena swirled around in his head. His future was so uncertain. And there was some comfort in knowing that he could do whatever he wanted now. Freedom at its terrifying finest.