Elena looked down. She was coming home from her Child Development class, and walked in on Stefan. He was just sitting there, staring at something that wasn't there. Stefan never looked that way, not in the 3 years they'd been together. They'd gone through almost being killed by Klaus, Tyler going berserk on Caroline, and even Bonnie going away with Jeremy to college and Stefan never looked like that...Until now.
He could feel her eyes on him. He sat on the sofa in there apartment in Richmond, holding his cell phone in between his hands, trying to find away to tell Elena what had happened while she was away at the University. He didn't know she was staying late, didn't even think to ask why she'd changed her outfit. He felt foolish; simmering on the inside. He looked up, peering up, feeling the words slip through his lips like ash.
"I made a mistake."
Two months earlier...
Katherine strolled through the parks, smirking lightly at the wonders she still saw in the city. It excited her in ways she couldn't explain. She just loved being in the heart of the world, specks on the planet where people flock to like ants.
But she wasn't there for the lights or the splendors, no matter how much she wanted to stay there just for that spectacle. She was there for one person and one person only.
She was there for Damon Salvatore.
He lapped at the blood that trickled down her neck continuously. He needed the sustenance after the insanely exhausting night he had last night. He didn't want to feel anything anymore. He'd given up completely as he keeled over the girl, drinking heavily at her warm crimson blood. He loved the way blood tasted, the metal, the energy, the passion. It all came flowing into him as he drank. He wanted none other than to keep this feeling burning through him forever, but as her veins began to collapse, over themselves and he began to feel numb again.
Standing, he feels the blood trickle down his chin as he swallowed back the lump in his throat. She didn't deserve this. She has so much life in her, one part of him was saying. The other said, she had nothing to offer to this world. If not her, them who? He tried to ignore the part with regrets, but he always seemed to go back to it, dwell, and despise himself that much more.
She smelled blood. Fresh. Exciting. Exotic. She grinned. That mixed in with the smell of Damon's musk always made her stomach butterfly. Leaning against the oak, she watched him observe his hunt, wondering what he was thinking. His face showed nothing, but that was never the case with Damon Salvatore. He was always more of a calm storm to Katherine. She uncrossed her arms, watching him turn his head, the fear of being caught only glimmer in his eyes for a split second as he wiped his mouth, speeding to meet his hand to her waist, tossing her back towards the oak forcefully.