18th
The light temporarily blinded me, as I pulled the curtains for a second time, first in mine and now in Jeremy's room.
He woke up screaming, "AHHHH ELENA… IT'S WAY TOO EARLY DAMMIT".
"AAAHH! It's so not early, but please sleep in. Unless you feel like getting fired." I countered half smiling.
Jeremy's eyes paced to the clock and he groaned before stepping out, deliberately giving me a light push as he made his way.
"GOOD LORD TODAY IS THE DAY I GET FIRED!" He singsonged entering the bathroom before stupidly slipping on his own shoes.
I sighed smilingly as I left his room, getting him out of bed wasn't all that difficult now. Out of the corner of my eye, I could swear he gave me a concerned look that made my insides shrivel for some reason.
Stepping down the stairs, I had the living daylights scared out of me by my unusually loud ringtone. And caller.
"Caroline." I bluntly stated, as I picked her call up. I could hear she was in some sort of hustle bustle.
"What're you doing?" I said, with a venomously sweet voice.
"Oh darn. Shopping for the party you've been preparing to ditch since forever." She shot back, with a bit of a threat in her voice. It was pure fact, that Caroline Forbes would kill me if I didn't show up to my "glorious 18th Birthday."
I slowed my pace down the stairs, "I never agreed to have it in the first place." I bit my lower lip.
"Which… is why I planned it anyway!" She said with deadly enthusiasm, before her voice turned to serious business. "My mom wants you to call her. There was this animal attack in…"
"In?" I asked when she seemed to have trailed off.
"Memphis I think… Elena call her on her cell please will you? Muuuahhhh."
"OH, AND CARE, please keep tonight small…" I desperately pleaded.
She hurriedly cut off before I could conclude my supplication, but I managed to hear her say a flirty little 'Hi' to someone before she did.
Now I'll have something to tease her about, I thought inwardly, as I balled my fists in utter disgust of today and what it had in store for me.
"That uh… Stefan news?" Ric yawned at me as he arose from his sleeping couch.
"Are you sure you're okay on the couch?" I refused to answer any Stefan-related queries, as he started making his bed. Couch, actually.
"Yeah, I'm good." He half-smiled.
"I'm asking this because you've spent half the summer stuck there." I spoke with a hint of concern, walked over to the counter and poured myself a much needed cup of caffeine. "If you need your own bedroom…"
"Nah. Sleeping in your dead parent's or my dead… girlfriend's room? I'll pass." He sighed as he strolled his way over to the counter as well.
"Got it." I passed him a cup, before turning towards the main door. I had to see Damon.
"Hey Elena?" Ric spoke now with a new fervor in his morning voice.
I stopped and looked back at him, he now sported a cheeky grin.
"Happy Birthday" he mouthed, as my lips started to curl upwards.
"Thanks!" I mouthed back before shooting a dazzling smile back at him.
"I don't get why I'm not allowed to say it…" he shouted as I stepped out onto the porch, still smiling.
My car jerked to a stop at the boarding house. It's vastness never failing to take me by surprise every time I laid eyes upon it. I jogged up to the door not bothering to knock or sound the bell. Damon always kept it open. I chuckled inwardly at the thought of him sprawled, probably naked, all over his giant ass bed, dozing off.
"DAMON!" I half shouted, half snorted into the empty living room half-expecting him to jump out from the fireplace.
I ran upstairs, past Stefan's room, determinedly not glancing in until I reached the end of the hallway. the door was opened and the bed definitely looked like it had been slept in. i sighed, relieved. I walked over to his dressing mirror, examining some empty bottles I'd never seen before.
"Morning sunshine." Damon cooed from behind as his hands covered my eyes. He smelt amazing, and felt wet. Wet?
I shrugged him off, and turned around; only to regret doing the latter. He was stark naked, sunlight fell on his calves, up till his thighs, his manhood fully visible. I met his gaze, his mouth twisted in a smile. He pretended to be oblivious to the fact that I could see more of him than I'd ever thought id see.
I was taken aback, immediately shutting my eyes and turned back.
"What the hell Damon." I exhaled.
He chuckled, and I heard him move forward. But before he could take any more steps, I rushed to his bed and threw a white linen sheet back towards him.
"You can't pretend to not like that." He laughed before I turned around and Hallelujah! he had successfully veiled his… private parts. "Hey umm... you should learn to knock.. what if I was… indecent?" He cooed still grinning and ran a look over me as if hoping to find something new in the same old same old Elena.
"I phoned the Sheriff…" I tried to speak matter-of-factly before trailing off. His mouth was inches away from mine. He did the eye thing he always did, and that was enough.
I stepped back and watched his smirk widen into a gorgeous smile.
"Memphis, this is the location she gave us to check." I ignored him.
"Another dead end you mean?" He spoke softly and started walking towards me again.
"Well, you don't know that."
"You're right Elena. After two months this could be the one clue that tells us Stefan is alive and well, and living in Graceland." He mocked, his eyes lit.
"Fine. I'll go by myself." I deadpanned, frustrated at the lack of progress all summer.
But he wouldn't back down. He was Damon.
"And while you're at it…" He cooed, tingling the side of my neck, sending shudders down my spine. "Tell Klaus you're alive and well." His expression brimming with mockery and fake delight.
"It's a new lead Damon and…" I pleaded before he cut me off.
"Which is why I'll check it out." He finished my sentence and started making his way over to the wooden drawer and started choosing a shirt, which unsurprisingly all looked the same to me.
He dropped the sheet again, his rear end now in an amazing view. Grossed out, I ran downstairs, my lips faintly curling up as I thought, Damon Salvatore, the nudist.
Caroline's car pulled up outside the boarding house as I waited for Damon to come downstairs.
Within seconds I saw a blonde head bobbing up and down in active conversation with some guy.
Tyler came right behind Caroline, as Care gripped me tightly and sent a flurry of kisses at me.
"Hey Elena!" Tyler mused cheerfully.
"Hey." I shot back a smile.
"It's okay. Not gonna say it." He chuckled as Caroline unloaded -ohmygod- what looked like booze fit and worthy enough to grace a huge rave or something.
"I told you to keep it small Care." I narrowed my eyes. She didn't seem to care.
"Oh how absolutely lovely! Chardonnay!" an ecstatic voice boomed from the stairs.
"It's not for you 'Damian'." Caroline muttered through gritted teeth, messing Damon's name on purpose.
"You need some catching up to do in the Best Friend 101 Guide. Elena hates, no scratch that, pretty much loathes Chardonnay." He shot her a confident smirk to which she responded quite maliciously with her finger.
"It's a good thing I'm not going to be here whilst you have your freak party." He declared proudly.
"Ouch!" Tyler threw in and shot me a look I couldn't figure out.
Caroline stopped unpacking stuff and looked straight into my soul.
"Damon's going to catch up on that Memphis lead." I sighed, reading her mind.
Her expression turned to sheer satisfaction.
"Alaric!" Damon announced as, truly, Alaric's figure walked through the door.
"I thought you checked out of this Ric." I half snorted literally, surprised to see him appear out of the blue.
"Last time I checked, we were great friends." Damon stretched the 'great', and led Alaric out before he could open his mouth to utter out a response.
Damon shot me a concerned look before he turned around and shut the door. Within seconds, we could all hear his antique of a Camaro revving down the parkway and onwards to Memphis.
I took some napkins from Caroline's hand, she'd dropped most of them onto the floor. Slob.
"I feel like having to fight him every single time we get a lead on Stefan." I blurted out, Caroline seemed bewildered.
"Maybe he doesn't want to find him." Tyler giggled like a stupid pre-teen.
Caroline gave him the death stare, as she rebuked. "TYLER!"
"What? He's into you, isn't he?" Tyler continued, glittering his speech with supposed innocence.
"Trust me Damon wants to find him. I mean, the only reason Stefan went with Klaus was so he could save Damon's life. Yeah." I ended rather ludicrously, wondering whether that would convince Tyler to shut up.
"But you kissed him?" Tyler's inquisitive nature was seriously bugging me now. I saw Caroline giving him 'the look' with all her might and sure as hell it worked.
"Yes, I kissed him. But it was a goodbye kiss... I thought he was gonna die." I felt my lips curl up as I thought back of that.
An awkward silence followed, and Tyler was the first to break it.
"I've got to make a call. Sophie and well yeah. I'd hate to show up as a stag tonight." He fired past us in a jiffy.
"And would you believe it. Slutty Sophie." It almost sounded like Caroline groaned while she spoke.
What was on with them? But before I could open my mouth to the revelation which descended upon me, the phone intervened.
"You're kinda sad about that aren't you?" I winked ferociously and watched as her face twisted into horror. "Bonnie Bennett." I cheerfully stated as I put the phone to my ear.
She laughed back. I was happy to hear her voice.
"Happy Birthday hun." she teased, her tone seductive.
"You're a rebel aren't you." I rolled my eyes.
"Elena you're 18. Don't act like a freaking 12 year old Caroline." She giggled, as Caroline smiled, overhearing us.
"She's right here next to me, pretty sure she heard you." I grinned, as Bonnie cut off gasping.
"She is so dead." Care announced and left me seated. My mind drifted over to Damon. What the hell must he be doing?
By 6 the first batch of people arrived. Caroline rushed in to intercept them before shooting me a judgy look. I think what she meant was that I should probably go get ready, as it dawned upon me that I still sported my shorts and red camisole.
I scoured my phone, ignoring the scores of messages, voicemails and missed calls of people displaying their heartfelt emotion, to find a message or call from Damon or Alaric.
But nothing concerning Damon or Alaric showed up, as I stepped into Damon's room. A nervous breakdown was right around the corner, how was I going to tackle tonight, knowing that Stefan could be found? Or maybe not?
Reality hit me hard, when I let it sink that Stefan probably won't make it to my birthday tonight. I stifled back tears, aggravated at myself for almost losing it so easily before I set foot into the shower.
The hot water did a phenomenal job of loosening me up. I practiced my best, most convincing smile before drying up and putting on a satin white dress, perfectly elevating my body. It hug my figure perfectly and accentuated my curves.
Wow I sure as hell was pretty, I thought inwardly to myself, trying desperately to cheer my glum self. I needed someone else to tell that to me now.
Makeup didn't take achingly long. In fact, I was ready before the clock read 7. I gazed back at myself in Damon's huge bedroom mirror. Tonight had to go down well, I scoured my phone once again before reaching the same dead end. This is it, I can't do this. I'm never going to leave the room, don't care what Caroline or Bonnie or anyone does, tears almost breaking through.
My heart did a little somersault in my chest before settling down. A raven haired head sporting a mystic blue gaze now stood behind me. Dressed in all black, unsurprisingly. Speak of the devil.
"It's your party you can cry if you want to." He cooly expressed, as if he could look straight through me. I wanted to admonish him for that, the last thing I needed was someone to tip me over breaking point.
"I'm not going to lose it. At least not before the cake." I tried to convince myself more than him.
His ocean blue gaze caught mine as he walked up to me. My heart puffing out of my chest.
"I got you something." A hint a of a smile playing at his lips. But before I could go over the fact, that I didn't want people to spend money over me, he shushed me.
His hands were warm as they lightly touched my lips. The urge to put them in my mouth flooded. The blood in my body had come to halt. Our physical contact was too overwhelming, considering the emotional state I was in.
I broke myself from his gaze and lightly pushed away his finger resting on my lower lip, and was aware of his hand, which shuffled into his back pocket.
"Found it." He focused on the 'found'.
He never wiped the tranquil expression off his face as I registered what was dangling in front my eyes.
"My necklace." I gasped softly as the vervain necklace, which Stefan had given me almost a year ago came into focus.
His blue gaze swirled me in again, as I saw them swarming with affection and emotions I couldn't apprehend . It was absolutely surreal. I imagined myself leaning forward, one slight move and I could stroke my lips against his. His hot breath flooding me and lifting me up.
"Thank you." I spoke so softly, hardly hearing myself say it.
He chuckled lightly and held his arm out to me. "Shall we?" He had a cheeky smirk now plastered to his face.
I agreed wholeheartedly and we walked out, arms interlocked.
"TAKE IT OFF! TAKE IT OFF!" was the chant when I first walked down the incredibly long flight of stairs. Caroline was centre stage, drunk dancing, people begging her to take her shirt off.
It was a full house, absolutely packed. Heck, there weren't even supposed to be these many people in the whole of Mystic Falls.
I was taken aback promptly, and noticed Damon's arm was no longer intertwined with mine.
"Hey Elena! Happy Birthday!" A group of girls sung at me. Their eyes however were for Damon only, as I thanked them. Damon, however, had eyes for me. I could feel them burning my skin, as the chants got abominably loud and cheers erupted
Caroline Forbes, you're frigging kidding me. She took it off, and was only sporting a bra now.
"That's the Sheriff's daughter." someone mock-approvingly said from behind.
"BONNIE OH GOOD LORD YOU'RE HERE." I squealed as she ran up and flooded me with hugs and kisses.
She surveyed the man who formerly had my arm, fury glinting through her eyes.
Damon smiled back confidently; doing the eye thing, my heart did a little somersault again. A heated Damon and Bonnie exchange is the last thing I could possibly need at the moment.
A group of boisterous annoying ladies, whom I had never seen before rushed past, but before I could try to think where they could have come from Damon grabbed ahold of one of them in there. I opened my mouth to protest, to stop of him of whatever he planned to do. Also, because seeing him with another woman made my blood boil.
"ELENA!?" Bonnie pulled me before I could reciprocate, I felt fingers tugging at my shirt and pulling me center stage.
"GIVE IT UP!" Caroline roared at everyone. "A toast." she flashed her puppy dog face at me, then simultaneously thrusted a glass in my hands and hungrily kissed me on the cheek. The crowd erupted as I fake smiled to death and drank up.
Out of the corner of my eye, I witnessed the "Damon-infatuated" lady group dissipating.
We got off together, Caroline pulling on a top. Thank God.
"This is keeping it small?" I smiled, as Caroline breathed heavily, buzzed as heck. "Well, what're we drinking?" I quipped, as her smile widened.
"Chardonnay!" She winked.
"Can't wait." I smirked, as she held out an arm and I took it gladly. The second person to have done that tonight.
"Ohh sorry, Stoner Den. Major Buzzkill." We had entered the kitchen, she pointed to Jeremy, who last time I checked, gave up on this stuff.
"Hey guys". A familiar voice mused. Matt was beaming, stoned.
"Matt, hey!" I smiled, ignoring the fact that he smelt like cigarettes and sweat. He leaned down and painted a fat wet kiss on my cheeks.
"Oh." I stupidly gasped, taken aback.
"Happy Birthday." He smiled widely.
"Thanks!" I shot him back with an almost convincing look as he made his way out of the den. My eyes narrowed back at Jeremy. I'm gonna have to convince Alaric to give him the "dealing with drugs" talk, which Alaric greatly despised, to my utmost amusement.
"He hates me. So much, he's turned to drugs. Wow." Caroline contemplated out loud.
"He doesn't hate you, probably hates that he's not with you." I smirked before throwing an arm around my drunk best friend.
She thrusted a hand out. "Seriously Caroline, I hate Chardonnay." I grinned.
"Oh drink up silly. It's beer." She licked her lips and led me away.
"Well look who's here. Slutty Sophie and her new man." Caroline fumed lightly. I gave her the "are you crazy as heck" look and looked at Tyler sauntering towards us.
She threw herself at him, too buzzed to land a proper scratch even. Tyler seemed to be enjoying himself.
"Nice party Caroline!" a new blonde came up behind Tyler. Sophie, I presumed.
"THANKS!" She said with non-existent enthusiasm. "Now leave it."
I'd known enough by this point, that Caroline had compelled Sophie to leave and I couldn't help but let the grin spread across my face as Tyler's expression turned from shock into awe.
"I'll let you guys have your moment." I teased before turning towards the door.
"Hello Birthday Girl." Damon snorted as I made my way out.
Damon and Alaric stood outside, drinks in their hands, and seemed to be in some weird conversation when I burst their bubbles.
"Jeremy's smoking again." I threw a concerned look at Alaric, whose response was sheer bewilderment. "Drink?" I snatched Damon's glass and drank all remaining liquid while Alaric gave me a funny look.
"His stash any good?" Damon quipped.
"You're an ass." I gave him the evil eye, as he held his hands up.
"Just talk to him, he looks up to you." Alaric nodded, clearly in stupor. And my work here is done, time to find Caroline and just get the hell out of here.
"You're screwed…" I heard Damon mutter as I left them both, scanning the huge facade for Caroline, or Bonnie even.
That's when I saw it. My favourite blonde head trotting upstairs. Doing weird little shimmies as I swerved past the crowd, millions of Happy Birthdays being thrown at me to which I responded with half-hearted 'thank you's I had lost Caroline. Damon's room was empty, so was the room opposite.
Great. The only one room I had refused to check was my lost boyfriend's. Preparing myself for the emotional onslaught to come, I stepped in.
"This room's off limits!" A familiar voice spoke.
"Caroline?" And sure as heck, it was Caroline in the bathroom, opening a blood bag.
"Sorry, I just needed to take a beat." She pointed to the blood bag. "You hiding?"
"No I just…" I contemplated for a minute before saying it. "I'm leaving Caroline. I can't do this anymore."
"WHAT? No. NO way, NO! It's your birthday and we haven't even cut cake yet." She ended, making me feel like trying to find her was a very very stupid decision to make.
"I think I'm gonna pass on the whole cake thing."
"You can't get on with your life until you've made a wish and blown out the candles." She thundered, concern glittering her eyes.
Fury arose within me. "Is that what all of you want? Get on with my life?" My voice was pained.
"I just don't think anyone wants to see you like this.." she continued the emotional onslaught.
"I'm not gonna give up on finding Stefan, Caroline." My voice crackled as reality flooded back in.
"I know, Of course, and you shouldn't. But you have to admit, you're letting your life slip past you. And wasn't Stefan the one who wanted you to live it?" She opened more wounds. But I didn't blame her, I had this coming.
"YOU WANT ME TO MAKE A WISH? FINE OKAY. DONE. I wish I could know somehow that Stefan is alive and well. Somehow." My voice veered off into sadness at end of my rant.
I couldn't stand being here a minute. That's it, I was leaving. I forced my legs to work, my eyes searching for the door as Caroline's words were cut out by what I caught onto.
The closet door stood lightly open, as my gaze was led to the innumerous pieces of newspaper articles spread across a giant Map of the US. Each extract marked neatly, with either 'Klaus' or 'Stefan'. Instead of relief spreading over me, fury found it's way.
This was Damon's doing. How could he? Why would he?
"I'm just drunk and dumb tonight. Would you believe me if I said sorry? Hey… what're you doing? What.. is.. this…" Caroline stood next to me.
"What's all this?" Caroline asked cautiously, looking at me.
"It's Klaus. Damon's been tracking him without me." My voice carried disappointment.
"Why wouldn't he just tell you?" Her utterance preserving the essence of calm.
"I don't know." I trailed off… before I pulled myself together. "Hey I think cake time is way overdue." I managed a straight face towards Caroline and her eyes danced once again.
"Aye!" she hugged me before dragging me out, nearly tearing my arm off and the grin on my face couldn't help but elevate to a smile.
As Caroline mercilessly dragged me through the scores of people, I scanned for a familiar raven haired head dressed in all black. But, curse my fortune, Damon was nowhere to be found. I bit my lip as Caroline dragged me once more towards centre stage, which now bore a huge cake carved into the shape of '18'.
"Party Central." He cheekily quipped. It stupidly felt like forever since I'd talked to him.
"WHERE THE DEVIL ARE YOU!?" I hissed. Just when I needed to meet him most.
"Ummm, by the punch bowl." He dodged, a snicker escaping from his lips.
"Don't. do. that." I managed through gritted teeth.
"Oh… Oh, I gotta go. Can you believe it, I'm winning at beer pong." He mused to my absolute annoyance, before hanging up.
"WAIT DAMON!" I screamed, and quite a few heads turned around, just as I heard him cut off. I smiled stupidly and excused my way out of there. Eyes prickling my back as I took the stairs and firmly sat down on the bed. Stefan's bed.
I knew he would come here first thing. He was out searching, finding more leads. I was absolutely sure. I scanned every article he'd posted. It all seemed like hard work, why did I feel the growing urge to rip it all to shreds?
After what seemed like years of contemplation a raven haired head made it's way into the room, shutting the door immediately in order to avoid any conspicuous behavior.
"What? What are you doing here?" He dragged every word as his blue eyes scanned me. He looked visibly shaken, and tired all at the same time.
"Why didn't you tell me?" I spat, stopping for a moment to see his expression turning to remorse. "Damon…"
I sauntered my way over to him, maintaining a fair distance still between us. My eyes peered into his, they were bloodshot. Concern ran over me, as I moved closer.
"Can we not do this right now?" He cringed and stepped away, heading for the door.
I wasn't going to let him go so easily. I grabbed ahold of his hand and pulled him back. The sparks returned as my hand rested in his.
"Tell me what you know Damon." I spoke softly, he was visibly shaken. I realized it, he missed his brother. He felt his absence, tonight something went wrong, he was jubilant the last time I saw him. Now he was… lost. And I couldn't live with myself with him like that.
"I know that you need to get back to your party, Elena." He broke free with slight careful movements. Something was bugging him, something was hard to digest. The pit in my stomach grew as I figured out there was only one way I could find out the truth.
"WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE IN THIS TOGETHER. WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME YOU'D BEEN TRACKING KLAUS' VICTIMS." I bellowed, gesturing to the closet, all my pent up frustration breaking free.
"They're not Klaus' victims Elena. They're Stefan's." His words reverberated through my body several times before I grasped the bitter truth.
"What…" I gasped aloud.
"There's a trail of body parts stretching up and down the Eastern seaboard." He added to my misery.
"No you're wrong." I tried to convince myself. This wasn't real, I breathed. What Damon just implied, knocked the living daylights out of me.
"He's flipped the switch. Full blown ripper. Believe me, I've seen it happen before." His voice brimming with misery and concern spread over his pained features. This was hard for him to digest, just as it was for me.
"STOP IT DAMON!" I let out a frustrated cry.
"No, you stop, Elena!" His voice matched mine. "Stop this. Stop looking for him. Stefan. Is. Gone. And he's not coming back, at least not in your lifetime."
This was enough to open the wounds I'd tried to keep sealed shut all summer. Tears broke through the dam, as I miserably sobbed, my hands running over my necklace. Damon stared at me, visibly anguished at my condition. My unkempt emotions undeniably stressing him out.
He breathed out harshly and slammed the door on his way out as I desperately tried to get a hold of myself.
The drive home was more torturous. I pulled up quite a few times, I was a wreck. The decision of driving alone left me more time to think about what I had learnt.
A laugh escaped me, what was wrong with me? I couldn't let life slip past me. Caroline was absolutely right. I searched for a bottle of beer, something, heck even Chardonnay. I needed the alcohol, I needed something to get me wasted, because reality and hope was a bitch.
"I'm not angry at you, Elena." A text popped off the screen of my phone.
"Drive me home maybe?" I texted Damon back, not specifying details. He would always find me, somehow.
After fifteen minutes of waiting like a stupid love lost 18 year old, I gave up and revved the car. Damon wasn't coming, I bit my lip in disappointment. Turning up the radio, I drowned myself into the music for the rest of the ride.
The porch looked dark when I pulled up. I turned on the lights and fiddled for the key in my purse and was greeted by a very distraught Alaric.
"You're packing?" I stared at him in disbelief.
"I'm not staying here anymore. I just can't. Can't take it." His brows furrowed as his lips closed in determination.
"What? Why?" I ridiculed at the stupidity of the situation.
"You can do this better without me. You're 18." He passed me an appreciative glance, before grabbing hold of his stuff. I wanted to retaliate, but every darn muscle in my body froze.
"In my personal life, I can't pull this together. The way I miss… her." His voice was an indication that he would tear up any minute now. "In school, I manage. Truth is, I'm just not any good for anybody at the moment."
Was he even hearing himself? I stared at him in shock. This was a bolt from the blue. The door creaked close as the atmosphere in the kitchen felt absolutely desolate.
Cheers Elena. Happy Birthday! I mocked myself before dragging my body upstairs and into the shower.
My phone was empty, reflecting my own situation right now. Just this morning, it was swarmed but now. Nothing.
Damon hadn't replied, Alaric just bolted without any solid reason. Jeremy was out somewhere, getting high again. My forehead creased in dismay.
I should just go to sleep, rather than mulling things over. Before taking a step into the bed, I discerned what appeared to be a teddy bear and a card. A smirk ran it's way onto my face, it was from Jeremy.
"Happy Birthday from Jeremy", was bluntly written across the card in some weird script. At least he tried, I smiled, before putting the card onto my drawer. I stared at it one more time, before the phone screen illuminated.
"Caller Unknown" read the screen.
"Hello…? Hello?" I yawned.
The caller respired harder every growing moment, and I could hear the short jerked breaths. Almost as if holding back from venting cries of agony.
"Stefan?" I breathed in disbelief. The breathing definitely paced even more, it was actually alarming.
"If this is you. Stefan, I haven't given up on you. I love you." A tear rolled down. "Never let that go."
I put the phone down, he was still connected. I kept the phone put over the drawer as I ambled my way over to the bed.
Giving it no second thoughts, I shoved three sleeping pills down and chugged down water.
Within minutes, sleep crept over me.