A/N: So this is my first story on here, I hope you guys like it :] I'm willing to write more one-shots like this- just leave a prompt and such in the reviews or PM me. Thank you ~
It was so cold.
Liquid ice seemed to trickle into her bloodstream, skin becoming pale and lips turning blue. A harsh shiver went through her, arms wrapping around herself. Her eyes were dark and limbs heavy as she searched for Stefan, feeling sick. The Other Side was chaotic, and she abandoned the main area to wander off, wanting to be alone.
Well, wanting to see Stefan.
Her footsteps were quiet, eyes flickering around her. Where could he be? She usually found him almost immediately, but this time it was difficult. Lexi licked her lips, pausing in thought.
Maybe the Other Side was making them lose their ability to watch over their loved ones?
Blonde hair swished as she shook her head.
No- that can't be. He's all that I have. I want to make sure he's safe, and happy.
A powerful gust of wind blew at her suddenly, pushing her back. Her breathing hitched at the unexpected movement heart leaping into her throat.
This is not happening. Not now.
But it ended rather quickly, leaving her to regain her composure and exhale in relief. It was not her turn to disappear into oblivion just yet.
Lexi's surroundings slowly began to shift, morphing and taking shape as colors appeared and smeared on her vision.
The first thing she saw was the familiar green emeralds that made her insides warm.
"Stefan." She breathed, a dazed smile gracing her parted lips.
He didn't see her, of course, but she rushed to his side, the joy at seeing his face spreading throughout her and making her almost giddy.
Brown orbs observed the scene in front of her as she made her way over to him, hands outstretched.
Caroline was there of course, like a golden angel, radiating brighter than the sun. And there was a tall, broad-shouldered man with dark hair in front of Stefan, his eyes threatening.
She realized that the men were arguing, and her legs stopped moving, hands lowering in response.
Caroline tried to intervene and then-
Everything seemed to stop.
A strangled gasp, wide-eyes, the agonizingly slow withdrawal of a hand from a chest.
There was a scream, loud and piercing, it shook the ground with the force of it- or maybe that was because her legs had given out under her.
The world around her froze- as if time itself had become irrelevant, non-existent. Her lips parted in horror as a cry tore at her throat- and it took a minute, five, twenty.
Because she had just witnessed someone getting their heart ripped from their chest- no, not someone. Stefan. Her best friend. Her Stefan.
Dark spots appeared in her vision as all sense left her body in one swift movement, a paralyzing fear gripping at her heart.
"No." The word was rasped, and whispered, tears stinging at her frozen eyes. No, no- not…. Not Stefan. No, this isn't real. Just an illusion of the Other Side. Just an-
A painful wail sliced its way out, hands and legs shoving herself forward in an uncoordinated fashion. "Stefan!" A sob rose from deep inside her, ripping her insides and clawing at her soul.
"No- Stefan!" She collapsed beside him, hands uselessly fluttering around his grayed and veined face.
Lexi fell apart, the combination of the colorless skin in place of Stefan's usual tanned one and the force of the realization that- Stefan was dead. He was dead. The one thing she lived no- existed to prevent, and was determined above all odds to not let happen did.
An odd choking sound shuddered its way past her teeth, her body convulsing slightly as her mind struggled to accept it. That he was dead. Like her.
She hardly noticed Caroline, her own world beginning to shatter all at once.
"No no, not you! It was never supposed to be you!" Lexi choked, tears falling on her cheeks, the feeling in her chest reaching its highest point before exploding
And then it all came crashing down like a ton of bricks, her body collapsing and her arms encircling Stefan's dead body with a kind of desperation that would've made the coldest of hearts crack.
"Please, no! I'll do anything. Come back! Just not you, never you…"