Hey everyone, I have a new story for you to enjoy! The very amazing author, East Coast Captain, gave this idea to me in one of our conversations. He gave me the vague outline and suggested I write it, I jumped at the challenge to write something new and for a different pairing. The idea is mostly his, so to pay him respect; I am dedicating it to him. Thank you so much for the support and idea, I really hope you enjoy East Coast Captain. Soooo, I really hope everyone else enjoys and will leave a review. It is my first time ever doing anything Stefan/Katherine related on this site. :) Enjoy everyone! -I Own Nothing -Lioness002

I was peacefully reading in my room by myself, Elena had gone home a few hours ago and Damon was downstairs drinking away his sorrows. Katherine was royally pissing him off and he was pissed at me because Elena loved me instead of him. So in summary, nothing was out of the ordinary, it was the daily...or nightly routine we had set. The only difference tonight for me was the ongoing annoyance of Katherine; she would not leave me alone. She had been pestering me for the last few hours ever since Elena had left and my patience was nearing its limits.

"You are being so boring." She whined. "Why don't we do something fun tonight Stefan?" Katherine asked as she lay next to me on my bed. I had to bite my lip to keep from lashing out at her, she would not shut up and I was trying to do research on Originals so I could help Elena.

"I told you, I'm busy." I snapped flipping to another page trying to find the origin of the Originals. There had to be more than just Elijah in our basement and Klaus who was coming after Elena.

"Well you've been 'busy' for three hours and I want to do something." Katherine said sitting up and reading over my shoulder.

"Tough." I snapped again as I threw that book to the floor and picked up another. Katherine sighed and rested her head back onto one of my pillows.

"What would it take for you to actually so something other than reading your darn books?" She asked bitterly. I knew she did not like playing a secondary role to a book of all things. I sighed and brought the book down a fraction of an inch so I could look at her out of the corner of my eye.

"Tell me something honest about yourself. No lies. Tell me something that will make me want to pay attention to you more than this here book." I said motioning to my book. Katherine frowned at me and I thought I had gotten her to shut up but I was wrong.

"Like when hen we were trapped in tomb and you asked me to show you something worth trusting?" Katherine asked slowly as if she were testing the waters.

"Yes." Katherine was silent for a moment as if weighing her options. I did not know if what she would tell me would be the truth, but if it were, it would be a glimpse into her seriously messed up life.

"Well, when we were in the tomb I didn't give you the best answer, the most truthful answer." Katherine said as she curled her legs under her on the bed.

"That's a shocker."

"I'm being serious Stefan. I gave you information about Isobel, and at the time, it is what you wanted, but I suspect you wanted something, oh I do not know, more real. Just like now." She said running a finger down my chest before I slapped it off. "That's not a very nice thing to do to someone who is about to tell you something important." Katherine fretted. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair before I turned toward her with guarded eyes.

"What's making you want to tell me this now?" I asked. She smiled softly.

"You asked me too."

"I didn't think you'd actually do it." I muttered. Katherine rolled her eyes at me as she pulled the book from my fingers and placed it on the floor next to her.

"Well I am, but not just because you asked. Damon doesn't want me anymore, he obviously wants Elena-"

"And you don't like being ignored. I got it; I think I will pass on the fake story. I want to hear something that you are willing to share." I said rising from my bed and heading toward the door. Before I knew it, Katherine was in front of me with her hand pressed flat against my chest.

"That's not what I was getting at. Damon does not love me anymore because he knows I love you. I never told him the truth, I was never willing to because I never cared about him." I tried to push by her but she pushed me back. "But that doesn't mean I'm not willing to tell you. You Stefan are the one I love and I know you still feel something for me. You would not love Elena if you did not love me." I flinched slightly at her statement, I did not want to believe her but the fact Elena and Katherine looked the same always nagged on the back of my mind. Did I really fall in love with Elena because I still loved Katherine? I growled to myself and shook away the preposterous thought it was beyond absurd. I loved Elena for who she was, not because she looked like a past heartthrob.

"If I let you tell me what you've been trying to tell for the last few hours will you leave me alone?" I finally asked searching her face for any sign of real emotion or sincerity. Katherine let out a small breath before she looked up at me with her deep brown eyes.

"I thought you said we could do something."

"I didn't say tonight."

"Fine." Katherine snapped, she almost sounded sad by my rejection but I would not be a fool, she was just trying to manipulate me. However, since she said she would leave me alone if I let her tell me her story, I relaxed my muscles and gave in.

"Then tell me this important story of yours or this important truth. Show me there is something human inside of you." I said.

"If you want to see humanity, I have the perfect story. The story all starts with a question. Didn't you ever wonder why Elena is my doppelganger and how she came to be?" Katherine asked with a smile as she pushed me back onto the bed and she sat down next to me.

"I've thought about it." I said carefully as I resituated myself. I did not know where she was going with this. She was most likely just trying to get into my head and fail once again at making me think she had even a sliver of love inside of her.

"Well, it started in Bulgaria. I was seventeen and as you most likely deduced, I had a child out of wedlock. In that time the act I committed would have had me disowned and never acknowledged ever again. My father made me give the baby up." Katherine said softly and I thought I saw something close to pain or remorse cross her face. I felt a small amount of sympathy for her plight; I do not think I had ever seen her as open and emotional about something before.

"I figured as much." I finally muttered. "You did say Klaus killed your entire family so there had to have been some way your line continued, if not, Elena wouldn't be here today." I said. Katherine rolled her eyes.

"Yes, if I hadn't gotten pregnant and given birth to a blood link, Elena would have never been born into this world." She said softly. "And if I had never given birth and lost my family I most likely would have never turned." I opened my mouth in surprise. The thought of Katherine not being a vampire was odd and almost unimaginable.

"Why?" I found myself asking.

"Because if I hadn't gotten pregnant I never would have run away from home and gone to England, and if I never ran away from home I never would have met Elijah or Klaus. I left because my father was disgusted with me and he threw me out. I did not want to go but he made me, he said I was a disgrace to the family name of Petrova, so I left and didn't return until the night I found all of them…dead." She ended in a whispered lost in thought and memory. I could see her eyes become glassy as she continued her story. "It was after I had turned that I returned home, three days after I had turned to be exact. It was my first time home in two years, it was 1492." She whispered remorsefully.

"Why did you go home?" I asked staring at her. She held her hands clasped together in her lap and her head bent down her hair covering her face. She turned up to look at me with haunted eyes. I had never seen her vulnerable let alone emotional, she usually was more like Damon. Emotionless except for anger and maybe evil smirks now and again, but never sad or distraught.

"I went home because I missed my family and I was worried about them. I knew Klaus and Elijah could find them so I tried to get home as fast as I could, but I was too late."

"To late to do what?" I asked already knowing the answer.

"I was too late to save their innocent lives. I remember it like it was yesterday, I road up on my horse and found three bodies on the main road to the house, all of them dead. When I got inside there was no sound and I found no one, all I smelt was blood. It was stifling and it worried me to no end that I could enter the house with no invitation. I followed the scent of blood into my parents bedroom and then," she took at deep breath and I thought I saw a single tear make its way down her cheek. "I found my entire family, dead. My young brothers and sisters, they were innocent, they could have had a life, been married and had children. Everyone was dead, some with their necks broken, one impaled into the wall with a sword, but only one had been bitten, my mother. It was if Klaus and Elijah had known that would hit me the hardest. I hated my father, he would not even let me hold my baby once, but my mother cared about me, she comforted me and made me fight to survive. After I had my daughter taken away from me, I wanted to give up, but my mother would not let me. She kept me going after I left home and felt lost." Katherine stopped and a deafening silence followed. I turned to look at her and was surprised to see her crying, not small tears but giant tears of pain. My eyes widened as she practically fell into me as sobs wracked her petite body.

"I miss them Stefan." She cried into my shoulder as I softly wrapped my arms around her. I do not know what urged me to do it or what suppressed emotion floated to the surface, but her in my arms almost felt, right. Elena was completely out of my mind, I was not worried about her upcoming doom, for one second I forgot about all the pain she was going through and cared about the girl in my arms, Katherine. "I miss them so much." She whimpered. "I miss her so much."

"Shhh, shhh, it's alright." I whispered soothingly as I stroked her hair softly, she smelled of Lemon and Ginger, that same smell she had back in 1864. "What about your daughter? Do you know what happened to her?" I asked trying to distract her from the thought of her dead family. I never thought I had heard or seen Katherine cry, I had seen Elena cry, but for some reason when Katherine cried, you knew it was something that was close to her heart.

"I couldn't check up on her while I was new and hiding from Klaus and Elijah, but I eventually found her. It was not easy finding her Stefan, trust me. I had nothing to go by except for the fact my father was the one to get rid of her. I finally found her after forty years. I watched her and tried to see if she was happy, if she even knew she was adopted." Katherine was smiling faintly now. "She was married and had five children, hence the bloodline continuing and explaining for Elena. I was happy to see she was happy, and after I found that out, I left. I didn't want to pull her into the danger of being found by Klaus." Katherine said straightening herself and smoothing her hair and clothes. She cleared her throat and whipped her eyes. "Now that I have told you my story I am actually tired, I think I will take my leave now." She said motioning to leave my side before stopping. I stayed still and she leaned over and brushed her soft lips against my cheek. "Thank you for listening to my story, and don't worry, when you realize you love me I will tell you even more." She said with a smile as she stood up from the bed and headed for the doorway of my room. I did not know what to say, how to feel. The second her lips touched my cheek I had checked out of the conversation. I had lost myself for a second, a memory of 1864 floating into my mind.

"Thank you Katherine." I suddenly heard myself say. "Thank you for telling me your story, for once in my life, I feel like you really told me the truth. If you did this more you may just work your way back into my favor." I said as I watched Katherine pause in my doorway. She turned to look at me over her shoulder before smiling lightly.

"I'll keep that in mind." She said exiting the room.

I sat in silence for a few seconds before I felt the small pang of loneliness enter my heart. My eyes widened in shock and realization, I wanted Katherine here with me. The only problem was did I want her here for just for now, or forever? It scared me to realize I actually had to think about the answer, to think that maybe, just maybe I could love Katherine again.

Wow, that turned out so much longer than I planned. Thank you so much to everyone who read and once again a special thanks to East Coast Captain. Without you, this story would have never been written. So I hope everyone enjoyed and will please leave me a review to tell me how I did on my first ever Stefarine story. :) Thanks!

-Lioness002