When he woke up the next morning, he could still feel her presence in the bed next to him. She left the scent of her lavender shampoo on his pillow. Unintentionally, he buried his face in the pillow, and took one deep breath.

She was a stranger, nothing more, nothing less. She was a one night stand, his first, and hopefully, his last. She meant nothing to him, and part of him liked that fact. But the other part of him wanted to know more about her. The other part of him didn't want her to be a stranger anymore.

He heard about people like her. He heard what kind of feelings people like her can awoke in others. She was one of them. One of those people who you desperately want to know when you see them on the street. One of those people who have that something. Something unexplainable, something that keeps pulling you deeper in. One of those people who occupy your mind as soon as you lock your eyes on theirs.

She was created by magic, she had to be.

Her big, glossy eyes were out of this world. Her hair was thin and silky. Her lips were a special shade of pink. Her skin was soft as a mermaids tail. Her moans were silent and gentle, but yet again, they kept echoing in his ears like the scream someone released from the top of the mountain. And her movements were elegant.

But even if he wanted to find her, he wouldn't know where to start. The only thing he knew about her was her name.

He jumped out from the bed. Strong, black coffee was very much needed. He pulled his fingers through his hair and directed himself towards the kitchen.

There was a picture of two of them on the living room wall. He wondered why he didn't remove it by now. It's been three months since she left. He thought about taking it down, instructing his mind to will him to take it down, but his body would not listen to his mind. He would stand in front of that picture and stare in it, for the old times sake.

He asked himself, if she came knocking on his door, asking for forgivness, would he take her back? Yes. And no. He knew their relationship is a train long gone. Everything they spent years building disappeared in a second. He could never trust her again, not like he did before. The person who cheated on you once will have no problem doing the same thing twice. He could never love her like he loved her before, knowing she gave herself over to someone else. No just someone else, his best friend. Their friendship was long overdue, too. He would find it easier to forgive her than him.

He poured himself a cup of coffee. It burned his tongue as the memory of them burned his mind.

He remembered the night he had proposed to her. She was wearing a little red dress that thightened around her perfectly shaped body. He loved seeing her in that dress, his mind would start racing, and his heart would start pounding wildly. She was a perfect combination of a devil and an angel. Her curls were bouncing on her shoulders, and her face was pale and her cheeks firey red, as always. Her skin was shining under the moonlight, and to him, she was the most perfect thing in the world. He never thought it's possible to love someone as much as he loved her. When he got on one knee and took the ring out, she cried. She cried while they were making love that night, too. Her voice was husky when she said yes as he slid the ring on her finger, but it was filled with happiness and joy. He could tell from the way she hugged him, and from the passion that was created when their lips met.

Somewhere along the line she lost her wings and grew out horns, she decided to turn everything they had into ashes with the fire in her eyes.

He wondered will he ever love someone as much as he loved her. Probably not, love like that happens only once in a lifetime, even if it burns. He could not imagine loving someone else again, not now, not ever. Not with so much passion in his heart.

„Bullshit", Caroline would say. „Person you're supposed to be with would never hurt you like that", she told him when he vowed he will never love again. Stefan admired her strength, since she was hurt by others much worse, and many times more. Maybe she knew something he didn't, or maybe she was guided by love, blindly. Maybe she had too much hope, or maybe hope was the only thing she was left it. But Caroline refused to believe this was it. That this was all they're going to get. That there is nothing more or better our there for them. There has to be.

He decided to ban her out from his mind. He shook his head and emptied the cup in his hand. There's a long day ahead of him.

xxxx

The first thing she did when she woke up was hop in the shower.

She decided to clear every trace of him from her body. Like he never existed, like last night never happened. This is not how her new life was supposed to start.

She started rubbing her skin, ereasing his kisses that were carved all over her body. His touch was so deep inside her skin, she could still feel his fingers pressing on her hips, on her thighs, on her chest.

She was disgusted by herself. With what she did, with how she acted. She decided to run away from herself so much that she ran into the person she never wanted to be.

But that was not the scary part. She wished her feelings towards herself were the scary part. But what scared her more was how she felt while she was with him.

Who was he? A stranger. A shadow. A one time deal. Somehow who was supposed to take part of her pain away. Someone who was supposed to free her from herself and from everything she was.

She feels like she selled her soul to the devil. She feels like she embodied one of the seven deadly sins.

While she was lying under him, she felt protected. She felt like someone released her from her cage, but she wasn't afraid to run wild, she wasn't afraid of everything that was lurking in the dark, because the shadow of his body was leaning above her, looking after her. When he kissed her, she became his. When he kissed her, she had a feeling he's been kissing her forever, like he's supposed to be kissing her forever. She was like a feather under his touch. She was like a mold for his body. His skin was interflowing with hers.

He was not supposed to make her feel like that. He was supposed to make her feel easier, not harder. He was not supposed to become one of the problems, he was supposed to take one of the problems away.

She could not let herself feel anything for him. Not now, not ever. She's never going to feel anything for anyone again. She's not going to let anyone hurt her again.

She's not going to be weak, she's not going to go back to him, she's not going to open herself to the posibility of being his. Of being anyones. She's going to be by herself, it's better that way.

She stepped outside of the shower and wrapped a towel around her body.

Her apartment was small. It had only one room. Living room which was her bedroom too, was connected with the kitchen, only a small wall was diving her sleeping place from the kitchen sink. It had a small bathroom and a tiny balcony. That was all she could have afford with the money she saved up in the couple of months since she decided she's leaving him.

„Well, go then!", he yelled at her when she informed him it's over. She knew if she ran away, if she left without telling him, it would only make the situation worse. „But if I see you ever again, I'm going to make your life a living nightmare", he threatened her, like she wasn't leaving her worst nightmare already.

She knew he would never hurt her, not physically. He would do something much worse. He would drive her insane, he would find a way, after all, he knew her the best. He knew all of her soft spots and her vulnerabilities, he knew where to kick to make her scream. He knew her fears, and he took them and turned them into something more. Into paranoia. She would confide in her friends, and all of them thought she's losing her mind, because he was a good actor. Outside, he was a kind person with a heart made out of gold, and he held it for everyone to see. But behind closed doors, he was a maniac. And he was good with bad words. She knew she has to run away, not only from that building, not only from that street, not only from him, but from that town as well. She had nothing left. Her friends abandoned her, and what was left of her family was far away, and she had lost contact with them a long time ago.

She remembered her home in Los Angeles, home she once shared with him. She could call that place a home, once upon a time, before it became her prison. Before he imprisoned her mind in her body, and before she became his victim, and the victim of her own thoughts.

He wasn't always the man he is now. When she met him, he was the sweetest, kindest, and most amazing man she had ever met. She thought she had find someone to spend the rest of her life with.

Her parents died in an airplane crash the same summer she was heading to college. Her younger brother Jeremy moved in with their aunt Jenna, their mom's sister, and since then he has been living with her in New York, while Elena decided to attend the college in Los Angeles. After her parents died she was on the verge of depression. She was lost, and devestated, and she isolated herself from her friends entirely, and despite their best efforts to help her, none of them were successful. And then, he came into her life, and somehow, he made everything better. There was something about him that made her keep moving, that made her live her life again.

Only few months into their relationship, he started showing signs of the person he turned into, but she had noticed that when it was too late. She was always finding excuses for him. How he's tired, or stressed because of his work. He would always apologize for his behavior, and he himself was trying to find excuses for the way he treated her. After two years, they moved in together, and that is when things started getting serious. That is when she realized he's emotionally abusing her for months already. But she didn't know what to do. She barely spoke to her aunt and her brother, all of her friends thought he's a sweetheart, she was twenty, she barely had little money of her own, and she was in college. She thought she's stuck with him, and that she will have to endure his episodes of insulting her and talking down at her. But with years, it only got worse. She couldn't even see glimpses of the man she fell in love with. So she waited to get her degree, she found a part-time job, and when she saved enough money, she told him it's over.

She wondered what would he have to say about all this. How would he call her now? Slut? Whore? Tramp? Cheap bimbo? Worthless piece of trash that is good for one thing and one thing only? So many possibilities, so many names he could call her by.

She quickly dismissed her thoughts and got ready for her first day on the new job.

Luckily for her, bus station was only few steps away from her building, and the hospital she's going to work in was only few miles away from where she lived. She entered the hospital and asked for a head nurse, like she was told to do.

„You must be Elena", she heard a voice coming from behind her. „I'm Lexi, the head nurse", she turned around and saw a tall, blonde, young woman with chubby cheeks standing behind her, smiling happily and stretching her hand out to her.

Elena forced herself to smile and shook Lexi's hand. „Pleasure."

Lexi smiled even wider. „Let me take you to your locker so you can change in your uniform."

Lexi started walking down the hallway, greeting few doctors and patients, and Elena followed her silently. Lexi showed her her locker, and Elena changed in a small, blue nurse uniform. Lexi smiled at Elena when she saw her coming out of the room in her uniform. She had big, brown eyes, similar to Elena's, but her eyes were happier. She was happier.

„You will meet the staff along the way. We don't have many nurses, and in a small town like this, we don't really need much. We don't have many doctors either", Lexi shrugged as she furrowed her brows. „Our neurosurgeon is on the call today", Lexi raised her head and smiled widely at Elena, „You're going to love him, everybody else does. He's young, he's nice, and he's easy on the eyes too", she winked at Elena. „Oh, there he is", she said silently as she grabbed Elena by the hand and started dragging her down the hallway. „Dr. Salvatore!", she yelled after the man in front of them.

When the man turned around, Elena's feet got digged at the site. She thought someone had cut her kneecaps because she had a feeling her legs are betraying her.

„This is our new nurse - "

„Elena", Stefan said her name with a shocked expression on his face.

Lexi looked at Stefan, then at Elena. She bit her lower lip. There was some tension between them. „Oh, you two already know each other", she said through a giggle.

Stefan detached his look from Elena's face and smilingly looked at Lexi. „Thank you Lexi, I'll take it from here", he said.

Lexi frowned, but she nodded obediently. As she walked away, she turned her head around to look at them, only to catch both of them staring at each other.

„So..", Elena decided to break the ice, on her own surprise, „You work here?", she asked, although that was pretty much obvious.

He nodded in silence. She could see the surprise on his face.

„Look", she said as the silence between them became awkward, „I hope things won't be weird between us because of last night", she lowered her head so she doesn't have to look him in the eyes.

But he didn't say anything. For few minutes, they just stood there, in the middle of the half empty hospital hallway, his eyes locked on her, her eyes on the floor. After few more minutes, she raised her head only to catch his serious look.

„I have a surgery in three hours", he smiled at her, „Would you like to scrub in, for a start?"

She nodded. She took that as his way of saying things between them won't be weird.

„Good", he replied, still smiling at her, „Now excuse me, I have some work to do", he moved past her and walked in another direction.

She didn't know why, but for the rest of the day, she was trying to avoid Stefan. Before the surgery, after the surgery, whenever she saw him around the hospital, she would take a turn in another direction. On her way home, she wondered why. She knew it's going to be uncomfortable working with him, seeing him every day, when this morning she decided that the only thing she wants to do is forget that last night ever happened.

But she couldn't. She couldn't wash his imagine out of her mind. The moment she saw him, she remembered how his kisses made her feel, and she could still feel his touch on her skin. She tried to make that feeling go away, but she couldn't.

xxxx

„What's with the sour face, Salvatore?", Caroline asked.

They were sitting in her apartment which was covered with cloth samples and sketches. Caroline was a fashion designer, and a very messy person. Stefan had to dig his way through the sofa.

„I have to tell you something", he said seriously as she handed him a glass of whiskey.

She threw herself on the sofa next to him. „God, something juicy I hope", she exhaled. Caroline loved rumors and gossip.

„I slept with someone", he said.

She raised her upper body and sat next to him, straight up, with her mouth wide open. She was sick and tired of him moping around about his ex and his monologues about how he's never falling in love again.

„Good for you", she clapped with her hands excitedly. „You know what I always say, the best way to get over someone is to get under someone else", she said as she took the glass from his hands and took a sip of whiskey.

„That's not everything. Today, I found out she works at the hospital", he started rubbing his palms against each other. He could feel his hands sweating.

Caroline coughed. „I see how that could be a problem."

„You haven't heard the worst part yet", he laughed lightly.

Caroline looked at him curiously.

„I can't get her out of my head", he admitted, squeezing one of his hands with another.

Caroline shook her head. „No, no, no", she said after she swalloved a sip of whiskey, „You never fall for a rebound girl."

Stefan turned his head around to look at Caroline. He laughed at her. Guess that was her rule, since she never dated any of the guys she had one night stands with. He lowered his head down and started playing with his fingers.

Caroline had put her hand on Stefan's back. „I'm going to make us some dinner", she got up from the sofa and started walking towards the kitchen.

„Caroline, you don't know how to cook", Stefan laughed as he pulled his eyebrows closer to each other.

Caroline picked up the phone in her hand. „Who said anything about cooking, doctor?", she winked at him as she dialed the number of her favorite pizza place.

Stefan laughed as he shook his head. He leaned on the sofa and closed his eyes.

And there she was again. White as snow, with her silky skin, getting hotter under his touch. Her long hair between his fingers like the strings of the harp, and her big eyes like two chestnuts in the late Fall. Her subtle lips made the skin of his chest melt like ice as she kissed him. She was so small in his arms.

And just like that, he wanted her again.

xxxx

Well, Stefan and Elena are obviously two very damaged people, both of them in their own ways, but somehow, they make each other feel something. And in the same time that's the thing both of them want, but it's also the thing that scares them the most. So, what do you think, who of them will pull the shorter straw and open themselves up to the possibility of being with someone again?