Alexia Branson kept a steady pace, her long blonde hair swaying in the light wind. The weather in Mystic Falls hadn't returned to normal quite yet, she observed, laughing as she remembered the sight of Damon Salvatore's hair as he'd run off with Elena in an effort to find 'the witch' Bonnie. It had been god-awful, the only thing that had actually brought a smile to her face after all of the hell Mystic Falls had been through – even if technically, she didn't really have to deal with any of it, seeing as she wasn't alive…or at least she hadn't been. As far as she could tell, the witch had succeeded in lifting the veil, allowing her to actually interact with the rest of the world. It was temporary, yes, but it gave her the opportunity to see the only person she truly cared about in this town. Her best friend: Stefan Salvatore. Her feet couldn't possibly carry her fast enough as she sprinted through the cold streets, not wanting to run yet being compelled to move faster.
Being trapped on the 'Other Side' was probably the worst thing in the world: not being able to move on, to find peace, yet not being able to actually be a part of the world she'd once known. Lexi had been left to watch Stefan fall apart, mistake by mistake, and then after just finally putting himself together again losing the love of his life to his brother: Damon Salvatore, of all people.
If you asked her, she had a healthy amount of hatred for Damon, one that allowed her to not rip his head off – because she so could - and one that also restrained her from falling for his, 'deep, tortured soul,' or whatever. Lexi felt that it was perfectly justified – after all, Damon had killed her. It didn't help that Elena, her best friend's ex- girlfriend (well, actually, the jury was still out on that, via the sire bond) had been running around with him. As far as she was concerned, 'Stefan and Elena: The Epic Love' had a nice ring to it and although she liked Elena, she couldn't help feel a bit biased and think that maybe Stefan had yet to realize that this Elena was not the one he'd fallen in love with or she'd met.
The only time Lexi felt slightly at peace was when Stefan spent time with another blonde vampire, one that was alive, as much as a vampire could be. Caroline Forbes. Maybe it was because Caroline reminded Stefan of her, maybe it was because Caroline filled the void in his life that he so badly needed to fill, or maybe it was just because when he was with her… He missed me a little less, Lexi thought, her constant line of thought coming to a stop. One of the most horrible things about the Other Side was that she was left to feel the pain of this world and not be able to do anything about it. She could feel Stefan miss her, feel Lee miss her, and not be able to comfort them or to even be able to tell them that she was there with them. They couldn't see her, they couldn't feel her, and all she could do was watch them screw up their lives, piece by piece.
When she finally reached them at The Grill, she stood by the door out of view, watching Stefan sit down at a table and Caroline join him, her face bright with joy – the complete opposite to his look of disappointment.
"Good! You're here. We need to celebrate," Caroline said smiling, not yet noticing the pain in his green eyes. She placed a bottle of bourbon on the table before sitting down, her light eyes shining.
He smiled a bit as he watched her, wishing that he could share her excitement. "I'm not.. I'm not really, ah, in a mood to celebrate," he told her honestly, because in all truth, he wasn't in a mood to celebrate.
"What's wrong with you?" Caroline asked him, unscrewing the lid off the bottle. "Silas is dead! Or whatever. And you're just sitting here, like a bump on a log."
Lexi knew that she should make her presence known, but some part of her felt compelled to hear what he was going to say next. "There was someone that I thought I'd see today," He said sadly, trying to mask the pain in his eyes. "And I didn't, so…" He looked down, unable to look Caroline in the eye.
"You better mean me," Lexi heard herself say, slowly moving forward. Caroline's face lit up in surprise and a soft smile lit up her face, her eyes silently telling Stefan to turn around. It took him a few seconds before he turned around, scared to hope.
He finally turned around, and Lexi prepared herself to see his green eyes and familiar face, wondering if it would feel any different from the other times she'd seen him from the other side. "You've gotta be kidding me," Stefan said, voice filled with shock.
It was different. It was different now, now that she could see him and talk to him, even touch him, different that he would actually know that she was there. She smiled at him, a sort of sad and happy smile at the same time, not wasting a moment before throwing her arms around him, feeling so relieved to feel his arms go around her tightly in return and smell his familiar leather coat. After a few seconds she turned to Caroline, smiling at her warmly, feeling as if she already knew her. "Thank you, for keeping an eye on this one," Lexi told her, laughing softly, amusement in her words before turning back to look at Stefan, her smile changing into one much more personal.
And as they walked those same streets she'd traveled to get to The Grill, laughing and teasing each other over everything that had happened, Lexi couldn't imagine ever giving the gift she'd received back, couldn't imagine ever leaving her best friend again.