Humanity

Summary: Humanity wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Damon and Elena had moved on, Caroline eventually moved on and Mystic Falls forgot all about Stefan. Nothing was more comforting to him than a small suburban town, but when he meets a woman called Madison, he realises that his human life might not be as boring as he thought.

A:N In this story, Stefan didn't have to die to save his brother or Mystic Falls, this story is going to be about Stefan's human life and what I would've liked to see for him. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter One

Six Years Ago…

The bar was packed with rowdy people as Stefan sat and spun his wedding ring on the mahogany bar. It had been months since he and Caroline decided that their marriage wasn't going to work in the long run; it was best for both of them to let it go, cut the cord and move on. It was just hard. He downed his bourbon and waved his hand for a refill. This human tolerance made it very cheap for him to get drunk. It was the first time he had let go, he tried to build this perfect life for himself in Clearhollow, a small town in New York State, but he was almost always alone. Silence was deafening in his home and in public, so was the noise. He had a job he loved and a humble home, but it wasn't enough. He wanted the life he used to have, he wanted his brother to be around him and for all their friends to be close by, but he had to understand that everyone was moving on with their lives, Stefan had to, too.

"Give me a stiff drink, anything. You decide." A brunette sat down beside Stefan and rested her arms on the bar. After a moment she shrugged off her jacket and slumped it over the back of the chair and looked at Stefan from the corner of her eye as she gripped her glass. She could tell by his face that he was going through some sort of inner turmoil and by the way he constantly spun a wedding ring, she knew she didn't want to delve into something personal. Everyone was going through some shit, she had plenty of her own.

He was definitely giving off a vibe, he was sad and lonely and as he caught the young woman beside him fidget uncomfortably in her seat he looked at her and gave her a fleeting smile. "Sorry, I'll move."

She rolled her eyes into herself and gripped him by the arm as he got off his stool. "No, don't do that. Sorry, I'm just having a rough day, well a rough couple of years. I didn't mean to put you off your drink."

He sat back down on the stool and sipped the rest of his bourbon as she watched her test the mystery drink. "Well, what did he give you?"

"Vodka and soda." She grimaced a little and set the cup back down. "It's definitely stiff."

He laughed a little and put his wedding ring back into his pocket. "I'm Stefan, by the way."

"Nice name, you lived here long?"

"Only a couple of months."

"Thought you were new here, I would've remembered you."

"Are you from here?"

"Originally but I moved to New York City for college. I'm just coming back for… Well, let's just say I really don't want to divulge my personal life to someone I don't really know." She held onto her glass and looked around the room, noticing a couple of faces from her high school days, but she looked away before anyone lay eyes on her.

"To each their own, but what's the harm in opening up to a drunk stranger?"

"Because in Clearhollow, no one stays a stranger for too long. You'll learn that soon enough."

"If we're going to be getting better acquainted in this town, then why don't we get the awkward small talk out of the way?"

She regarded him for a moment, her glass pressed against her bottom lip. It was a tempting offer, but she had a better one. "How about this, we can be friends, as long as we agree to follow these three simple rules. It'll make life so much easier for the both of us."

"I'm listening…"

"Rule one, we don't fall for each other. We don't become those friends that try a chance at romance just for it to crash and burn." She took a sip and crossed one leg over the other as she turned in her chair to face Stefan. "Rule two, we don't talk about our past, the only thing that I think matters is the future. And finally, rule three is that we support each other at every opportunity, no matter what. That's what real friends would do."

Her rules were intriguing, this girl had obviously been burned in the past by her friends and she worked out that this was the only way that she wouldn't get hurt again. It was quite sad, but everyone had been burnt in the past by friends, especially Stefan. She was the only person that he had spoke to in this town that seemed to be genuine and it made him want to accept her rules for a chance at friendship. Having a friend would definitely keep his mind off Caroline.

"Fine, I accept your rules. Do I get your name?"

"Of course, you do, my name is Madison and you, Stefan are now the only friend I have in this shithole of a town." She clinked her glass against his and smirked at him. "Because of our rules, we don't have to have all those awkward conversations about past relationships, what we did when we were younger, our families and all of that jazz; we can just hang out and catch up."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that. If only making friends was as easy as this before I got back to town, right?"

"Will this really work?"

"If you have faith that it will, then it will."

"Then I think it's a good idea to exchange numbers so that we can actually keep in contact."

She shrugged a little and took out her phone. She took his number and placed the phone back into her pocket. "I have somewhere to be, but I'll be in touch. See you later, friend." She grinned at him before picking up her jacket and strolling towards the door.

Madison was a character, but he wasn't too sure how this relationship was going to go down or how long her rules would stay intact. She was clearly the boss and he was going to stick around just for the entertainment factor.

She stood in the middle of her parent's living room, listening to people she didn't care about pay their respects to her and her two siblings, Maria and Mitch. It had only been a couple of days since their mother died but Madison was already over it; it sounded heartless and she knew it, but she never really saw eye to eye with her mother, her father was the one that actually took the time to get to know her and care for her. While she was at college, her father was the only member of her family that called to check in on her. She mourned her mother when she learned of her death, but unlike her sister, she didn't want to spend her short time in life crying. She was so tired of crying.

Madison looked at Maria as she sobbed into a tissue and rolled her eyes, she was always such a drama queen. When she looked at Mitch, he gave her an awkward smile of comfort and continued to accept condolences. It was getting to be too much for her, being around all these people that she hadn't saw in ten or, so years was pointless to her; having a massive wake after the funeral was all her sister's idea. All Madison wanted to do was spend time with her grieving father. He took it harder than anyone else.

"How are you feeling, dad?" Madison sat on the bench out on the porch, taking his hand gently.

"I'm keeping it together for now. What about you?"

"I'm fine, truly. If any of us were going to crumble, it would be you or Mitch."

"What about your sister?"

Madison scoffed and shook her head. "Most of that crying is fake."

"Oh, play nice, Maddie." Her dad nudged her a little and rolled his eyes.

"This is me playing nice, you should hear what I'm thinking about her in my head." She glanced through the window at her sister and let out a sigh, going quiet for a moment. "This isn't what mum would've wanted and we all know it. Mum liked her quiet glasses of wine by the firepit out back. That's what we should've done."

"You know what Maria is like, I love her, but she gets too involved sometimes."

"She thinks because she's the oldest that she gets to decide what we all do. If you didn't want this wake, you should've said."

"With your mother passing so suddenly, I was grateful for Maria to step in and take over. I don't think I would've been able to cope."

"I would've helped you, I would do anything for you." She placed her hand over her father's once more and gave him a comforting smile which he returned.

"I know, but you live in the city and you've just finished your degree."

"I plan on sticking around, for you dad. I'll get a job in the town and move back home. I don't want you staying in this house alone." She glanced inside the house once more and let out a sigh. "I know that Mitch and Maria will be around you for the next couple of days, but they have kids to look after and time will move on for them a lot quicker. You need the company."

"I wouldn't turn down having you around again, but your room has been refurnished."

She patted her dad on the shoulder and got onto her feet. "I'll sleep on the sofa until we make a little bit of extra room for me."

"You actually want to move back in here?"

"You need the company and I can't resist your poached eggs and toast. I want to be here for you dad."

"I'll redecorate your room in the morning, it'll help me take my mind off the funeral."

"Keeping yourself busy won't make you feel any better, dad."

"No, but it'll stop my mind from racing." He glanced into the house and let out a sigh. "I think I should head back in and see how Maria and Mitch are holding up."

"I'll be out here if you need me." She gave her father a quick kiss on his cheek and watched him until he disappeared into the house.

She was enjoying the quiet, she didn't really do too well in a huge crowd. She took her packet of cigarettes from her purse and lit one, enjoying the feeling of the nicotine rush. She closed her eyes and rested the back of her head against the wall. Her mind drifted to the last conversation she had with her mum, it was an argument about the way her life was going. She had her degree but that's all she had; any relationship she had failed, and she could barely keep a barista job throughout college. Her mum wasn't delusional, she knew the party lifestyle sucked her up and it disgusted her. She stored that memory into the safe place of her mind as she took another drag; she told herself that she was too strong to break.

"Madison," the voice was familiar, she hadn't heard it in years, "I wanted to drop by to pay my respects." Hayden Carter had kept his high school charm even in his mid-twenties. Not much had changed with him, he still had his blonde hair gelled at the front into a quiff and he still had the shoulders of a swimmer.

Madison looked at him through one eye and noticed the large bouquet of flowers in his hand. She raised a brow and leaned forward, resting her arm on her thighs. "Of course you showed up. I don't know why, we haven't spoke in four years."

"You broke up with me, remember? Listen, I didn't come here to fight with you about the past, I really liked your mum and I was sorry to hear about her passing."

She nodded at him as she took one last puff from her cigarette and flicked it away. "She liked you too, I think that's why I broke up with you." She took the flowers from him, staring down at them. "Peonies, they were her favourite."

"I know, you used to make me buy her a bunch for her birthday every year." He scratched the back of his head awkwardly and puckered his lips. "I saw you at the bar last night, I didn't want to say anything to you because I know you're probably going through a lot. I heard through the grapevine about the guy in New York and then your mum got sick…"

"Listen, I appreciate you coming by to pay your respects, but you don't need to throw me a pity party. My life is shitty, I know that. I got over that fact a long time ago."

Hayden barely knew the person that was standing in front of him, he knew it had been four years and her mum had just passed away, but Madison was a lot colder than usual; when he dated her in high school, she was that ray of sunshine that tried to lift other people up. This person standing in front of him, it was a tainted version of the girl he used to know. "What happened to you, Mads? You've changed."

"Bad things change a person, you know? When you have your heart broken in the worst possible way, it makes you a little cynical. I don't mean to be so nasty but it's part of my charm now."

"You don't have to be like this, you can be the Madison that I used to know."

She smiled a little, not out of happiness but because his comment was a big cliché. "I don't think so, Hayden. It was nice of you to drop by, if you want to stay there's sandwiches, if you don't then that's fine." She turned to step back into the house, but Hayden grabbed her wrist.

"Listen, I know you don't talk to many people here anymore but if you ever want to talk to someone that knows the real you, you know where to find me. My address hasn't changed. We can get coffee."

She looked over his face and nodded at him. "I'll think about it. Thanks for the peonies."

"I'm being serious, don't just mug me off. I want to be here for you."

She regarded him for a moment before pulling her wrist out of his grasp. "I said that I'll think about it." Madison walked into the house without looking back, she didn't want to get herself sucked back in to the small-town world, she couldn't live her life to the fullest if she just settled in Clearhollow.

Another day at Joe's had come to an end and as the last car drove off, Stefan felt a bit of relief. His back was aching after spending all day hunched over cars; he didn't miss this part of being human at all. He wiped off his hands and made his way up to his boss's office, knocking on the door lightly.

"I'm heading home, Joe. I'll see you in the morning?"

"Yes, I'll see you bright and early."

He nodded and grabbed his jacket from the rack as he walked past, placing it over his body and zipping it up tight. Now that he had nothing to do, he thought back to last night and that girl he met. He didn't really understand her or her rules; the best part about becoming friends with someone was learning everything about them, his loneliness drove him to accept her offer and now he was unconvinced. Surely a friendship couldn't work without the understanding on a personal level. He checked his phone and saw a missed call from an unsaved number, he knew it was going to be her. He didn't know if he should call her back or not, was he really that desperate for company that he was going to call this 'friend' of his?

"Hello Stefan, nice of you to return my call."

"I was working, what's up?"

"I just wanted to check that you still agree to my rules now that you're sober. At least, I hope you're sober."

"I'm sober and I agree. Is that all you were calling me for?"

"No, I want to meet up with you. I need to ask your advice about something."

"I was going to head home, you can come around if you want?"

"Text me your address and I'll meet you there."

She was waiting for him when he got home, sat on his porch with the faintest of smiles. He parked his car and got out, feeling a little awkward about their situation. He unlocked his front door and waved her into the house watching her as she looked around his quaint home.

"I bet this wasn't what you were expecting my house to look like." He said as he took off his jacket, hanging it on the banister.

"I thought you were going to live in a bachelor's pad, I mean you've obviously broke up with your spouse," when he raised a brow at her, she rolled her eyes and took a seat on his sofa, "you were spinning your wedding ring like you were wanting someone to bring it up."

"I didn't think you were that observant."

"I'm always observant." She remarked.

He nodded and sat at the other end of the sofa, his arm resting on the back of it. He watched the young woman, she seemed to be vulnerable and perhaps a tad insecure. It was just the impression he got of her.

"What kind of advice is it that you're looking for?"

"I'm good with character analysis, it was part of my degree and from what I've picked up on you, you seem to be this down to earth romantic that yearns for everything good in a person. Would I be right in saying that?"

"Well, that's how I like to think of myself. What was it that you did for a degree?" he was trying to get pieces of information out of her, it would make him feel more secure in this 'friendship'.

"Law, anyway, I know I told you we weren't going to talk about our past but technically this will tie into the future and that was part of our agreement…"

"You're rambling but I don't mind making an exception to these 'rules', as long as you're okay with it."

"Well, we're the only friends each other has so we have to be. Anyway, I'm going to give you a backstory, I had this boyfriend in high school called Hayden and he was perfect for me or at least I thought so. My parents and my siblings loved him, and he fit in well with the family and then when I moved to New York City, he doesn't call me or come to visit, and my mum is constantly asking about him and I get sick of being ghosted and break things off with him."

He raised a brow and leaned in closer to her as he tried to follow along with her story. She was speaking so fast that it was a little hard for him to take in all the information she was throwing at him. He put it down to her feeling awkward around him too. "Right?"

She sighed and put her hands on her lap as she prepared to drop a bombshell into Stefan's lap. "So, my whole reason for coming home is because my mum died,"

"What? I'm so sorry for your loss…" he was being genuine, it could've explained a lot about her impulsive desire for a friend. Maybe she had no one else to talk to, but him?

She smiled slightly at him and looked away, "I took it hard at first, but we didn't really get on too well. Hayden showed up at her wake today with her favourite flowers and this concerned air about him. We were talking about how much I've changed because I wasn't always like this and he tells me to visit him and go for coffee. I really want to but then I think about the way things ended between us and it puts me off."

Stefan sat in silence for a moment as he tried to go through all the details that Madison dropped onto his lap. His head was practically spinning, he didn't know what she was wanting him to do… Was she expecting him to tell her what to do? She did class him as a 'romantic'.

"Are you wanting to meet up with him? It could be good for you."

"I don't know," when she looked at him, he could see just how vulnerable she was. She wasn't the same girl that he had met at the bar, instead she was this fragile woman who was confused about all the things going on in her life, "it could be a good thing?"

"I don't want to tell you what to do, I know that we're 'friends' but I don't know you well enough yet to help you make a choice."

"Tell me what you would do if you were in my shoes."

He let out a sigh and shook his head. "If it was me, I would take the chance. Meet with Hayden and hear him out. If you don't like what he has to say, then you don't have to pursue a friendship with him. You don't owe anyone anything."

She rested her arm on the arm of the chair and rolled her eyes into herself. "Something that you'll learn about me is that I never really know what I want, and I think it's one of my biggest downfalls."

"You're still young and sometimes it's okay to not know what you want. We only get a few years on earth and we aren't going to be certain about every choice we make throughout those years. Everything is about trial and error; have coffee with this guy, Hayden and if it doesn't work, then you tried."

She smirked a little and stared at Stefan's face. "You sound like you're a hundred years old or something."

His face dropped a little as he took in a deep breath. "I guess you can say, I'm just wise before my time."

"I'm sorry for burdening you with all of this, I just don't have anyone I can talk to about things like this."

"I'm going to be honest with you because I think you should know if we are going to have a real friendship; you can't skip over the good things, getting to know someone on a deep and personal level is the best thing about building a friendship."

"How about we get rid of rule number two? We keep the first and third, but we take the time to get to know each other."

Stefan smiled at her nodded as he got onto his feet. "I can't wait to meet the real Madison because I can tell that this isn't her."

She looked up at him and bit harshly on her lip. "You don't want to get to know the real me."

"I do, if you're scared that I'm going to run off when I see all the bad things about you then you've underestimated me. Now, do you want to stay for dinner because you look like you could do with something to eat?"

"If it isn't too much trouble."

"Not at all, it'll be nice cooking for someone other than me." He waved for her to come into his kitchen and once she was inside he started giving her directions.

Stefan knew that if he was going to get Madison to open up to him and release some of the negative emotions she was clinging on to, he would have to show her that he was worth keeping around. He had saw this person before, he had been that person; the one that everyone tip toes around. He wasn't blind, he could see that she came with a lot of baggage, she made that clear; but he couldn't let this young woman spend the rest of her life carrying it around with her. He wanted to help.

The way she ate her food, it was like someone was going to snatch the plate from her; she didn't tell him, but she thought his cooking was amazing, as much as she loved her father's cooking, he was nowhere near as good as Stefan. He watched her with a grin as she scraped the rest of the sauce from her plate and took the plate from her.

"Have you even eaten today?" he said as he set the plates into the sink.

"I didn't have the time; the funeral was so early and then all these people kept talking to me and I had to check up on my father…"

"You've had a busy day then, it makes sense." He leaned against the counter and stared down at her as she sat at the dining table, investigating the pictures he had hung on the wall. "I don't mean to pry and stop me if I'm crossing a line, but what happened between you and your mother?"

"You know, you're the only one that asked for my side of the story. My brother and sister didn't want to hear it and you couldn't say a bad thing about my mum to my dad. When I was studying in New York City, I met this guy called Jason and I fell for him very quickly. He was the kind of guy any mother would've complained about but I'm stubborn and I wouldn't listen to her. I was so entranced by him that any time I had a job to tide me over, he would complain that he never saw me and I would just quit it to spend time with him and when my mum heard that I was moving into his penthouse in a really dodgy area of the city, she lost her shit."

"She was probably just looking out for you."

"I know but I didn't want to hear it. Anytime we spoke it turned into an argument about him and when I tried to tell her how well I was doing at college, she shut me down. And then one day I came home to find all his things gone and a note… When I told her, I got no comfort." Madison leant against the table and closed her eyes. "I just needed her to be my mum again and she wouldn't do it."

"I know how difficult relationships with mothers can be; I had a complicated relationship with my own, but you don't want to hold onto all that resentment. It's not healthy."

"What happened with you and your mother? I told you about mine, it's time for you to spill the beans."

Stefan stepped back over to the dining table and placed his hands on the back of the chair across from Madison. "She left my brother and I alone with a destructive father. When she came back, she had a new family and she didn't care about us. I got the closure I needed, but Damon didn't."

Madison watched the emotions flicker across his face; first came anger, then sadness and finally peace. She could tell that what happened to him happened a long time ago, the emotions he was conveying wasn't as raw as hers.

"Is she dead?"

Stefan nodded and looked down at Madison. "Both of my parents are."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Like you, I'm over it. It's just me now; my brother has his perfect life with his girlfriend and I have," he put his hands in the air and looked around the room, "this. If I could go back in time, I'd do things differently."

"It'll get better for you, Stefan. Don't count yourself out just yet."

"I haven't, I'm just waiting for my happy ending too."

She looked down at her hands and raised her brows. "I believe happy endings come for us all, but only if we deserve it. You definitely do, I mean, look how kind you've been to me; cooking me dinner and listening to my ramblings."

"We're friends, I would do anything for my friends." When she looked at him, they shared a smile. When he saw her with her guard down, she wasn't as standoffish as she appeared to be at the bar; he liked this side of Madison and he wanted to see more of it.

A:N Hope you enjoyed this first chapter, I'm planning a lot of things with this story and I intend on continuing with this soon. I wanted to create a complex and sometimes confusing female character because there are very few people that actually have their lives completely together, as human beings we change our minds a lot and we say and do stupid things. I'm open to all feedback, positive or negative. Thank you for reading this and if you want to read more, add it to your following list. I want to get the next chapter out when I finish my story 'Monsters' which I hope will be before the end of the month. Again, thank you for reading.