Lexi's POV

I opened the backdoor of the Salvatore brother's house, which led me straight to the kitchen. I forgot, that I should be more careful as Stefan was still probably sleeping, but when the door slammed back from the wind outside, I realized how stupid I was. Stefan was lying on the couch, little Joe in his arms, sleeping peacefully, unlike his father.

I smiled, I've known Stefan ever since he and his brother moved in this house-I was still in high school back then and he was this reckless careless kid, who fell in love with the wrong person and that led to his life getting ruined.

Stefan never complained though, even after everything that happened and even after he admitted I and his brother were right about Rebekah all this time. I remember very vividly how we sat in this exact same kitchen and he was so hopeless, his hands buried in his hair, just after he has brought Joe home-he hasn't slept in days, he was just so concerned about the baby-both enthusiastic and scared and there wasn't anything me or Damon could do to calm him down.

After everything, he still remained the strongest among the three of us. I knew how hard it would be for two guys to take care of a baby, that's why I was trying to do my best and come babysit this little guy, who was so peacefully lying in his father's arms.

At the beginning I had no idea how Stefan would manage to deal with it, but he did and he proved me and his brother wrong. I admit that we might have got his back, but we were full of doubts when it came to Stefan raising his child-he knew it, he admitted he could see it in our eyes, but he said it didn't bother him-at the end of the day everything he does is for the kid and all his efforts won't go in vain, because he was going to raise this motherless child even if the whole world was against him.

And he was doing an awesome job up until now, that's for sure.

In the beginning he was very funny, he made me smile so much, especially when he came to our house so me and my mom would show him how to put diapers, wash him, calm him down, all those little things-we really laughed our asses out back then and Stefan laughed with us, but at the end of the day, when he would leave and go back to his house all alone or when I would leave him after I've been there for hours, all I felt is sadness, deep sadness that was always present everywhere around this house-I felt bad for my best friend. He was a child himself, nothing but a teenager, yet for the past year he grew up more than me in my whole life and I was older than him.

I was stunned, once I realized what a wonderful father he was. He carried many responsibilities on his shoulders and it was sad to see the everyday routine bend his posture little by little with every passing day. He was supposed to be at school, thinking about a future-instead he was here with a little baby on his hands, working his ass off so they could have everything Joe needed. There were evenings when I've come by to see them after work, only to find their fridge completely empty and both he and Damon would claim they've already had something to eat outside, but I knew they didn't so I invited them home and cooked something for us all. Later on, as months started passing by, I stopped even asking them-I either brought them something or went outside to do the groceries-they were both men, they didn't have time for those stuff, especially with Damon and his extra shifts and Stefan barely finding time to get a shower or sleep.

I watched Stefan give me one of his crooked tired smiles as he realized I was the one to wake him up and I responded with an apologizing look as I approached him.

"How are my boys doing today?" I whispered as he stood up and headed to Joe's crib, which was my brother's old one-they didn't have anything when they brought the little guy home. Half the stuff came from our house or Damon's friends, who didn't need baby stuff anymore

"We're fine" he responded tiredly and started making himself coffee. Damon found him a job which involved delivering stuff all over town and outside it.

There were nights he was so late that he came home after midnight with his eyes barely opened. Damon always said he should get more rest, because he doesn't want him falling asleep while driving. Honestly, sometimes when I looked at him, I got concerned as well and when he was outside town and had to come back all the way home, he called me because he needed to talk to someone so he wouldn't fall asleep.

"Thanks for coming" he gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, just as my brother once did. I felt very close to the Salvatores, they were a great part of my life and in the past few years we've been through much, but we were always together, no matter what.

I nodded and helped him prepare the milk for Joe while he was making the coffee

"Wanna tell me where you were last night? I came by and Damon was a pain in the ass, because he hasn't slept at all." I saw him swallow hard and look away, which is when I knew he was hiding something, so when he took too long to respond, I grabbed his wrist and made him look at me. He let the cup he was holding down and turned around, so he would lean on the plot. "What is wrong, Stefan?"

He rubbed his forehead with his fingers before speaking up, he was nervous, worried. Something wasn't right.

"You know I owe money to John Avery" I swallowed hard. John Avery, he was a person everyone in this neighborhood knew. He was a bit of a gangster with style, which made him even more dangerous-he was an underground person, who owned a garage, which wasn't exactly a garage, but more of a place where the greatest scumbags sold stolen cars and he paid them for it. If you had a problem, he could solve it by giving you money or making you work for him-Stefan needed money before Joseph was born, I knew he went there and asked for a loan and now obviously the time to pay it back has come.

"You told me you gave back half of it already" I said half confused, half hopeful that things might not be as bad if he has already dealt with that

"I did" he nodded and I sighed relived "But I still need to give the other half. One of his guys was waiting for me in front of the office after work, said I should pay the rest of it back. I told him, I don't have that kind of money right now and he said I could pay in cash or steal a car and just give it to them, didn't matter." he sighed tiredly as he took a sip of his coffee. I remember when he told me how he went there and asked for a loan. It was a little before Rebekah gave birth-she was having troubles and he took her to the doctor numerous times because she was in pain.

Damon and he also had to pay the last installment for the house so a better half of those money was used for that. Rebekah was a whining piece of garbage back then and none of her parents wanted to pay for the hospital bills so Stefan did that as well. And now he was the one with a kid on his hands and a job, which couldn't bring him this kind of money for such a short time

"Don't tell me you went to steal a car." I raised my voice a little, forgetting that I might actually wake Joe. I was angry-I didn't want him to do something stupid and get himself in jail or something of the sort. My fears became true when he looked away ashamed and refused to give me any logical explanation "Jesus Christ, Stefan, are you out of your mind! Someone could've caught you!"

"They actually did." he whispered barely audible as he started looking for a clean shirt in the pile of ironed clothes on the chair next to Joe's crib

"What?" I raised my voice even more and regretted it the minute he threw me an angry look and nodded towards the peacefully sleeping Joe "How are you even here if someone caught you? Did you go to the sheriff, did Damon bail you already?"

"No, nothing of the sort. Some girl caught me, but she let me run away. I'm guessing, I looked too desperate even for a rich girl with no heart" he said it as if he was announcing the weather, no trace of fear in his voice, no worry. He considered himself a lucky man and he was giving me his sweet puppy smile, trying to make me somehow more benevolent and not yell at him.

"Are you out of your freaking mind?" I said and even though it wasn't that loud Joe stirred in his crib and Stefan sighed annoyingly as he went by his son's side, so he would take him in his arms. He started talking to him as he gave him a sweet kiss on the forehead and the kid hugged himself in his father's embrace-he was extremely silent as he was still very sleepy, but I knew in a minute, he would be crying his lungs out, desperate to get his bottle as he would be hungry. I didn't really care about this now, I had bigger problems on my head

"Stefan, do you realize what could've happened! You might not even be here right now! How could you be so reckless? What if this girl files a complaint or goes to the police with some description?"

"Oh, relax already, she didn't see my face."

"Stefan, don't act as if it was nothing! You could've left this boy without a father and by some fortunate coincidence you didn't!" I continued to scold him in the same manner and saw him regretting his choice to tell me what has happened in the first place. Joe started crying in his hands and I handed him the bottle while sighing tiredly. He still refused to look me in the eyes, instead he was staring at his son, making him funny faces while the kid hungrily started destroying the bottle

"Look, Lexi, I know what I did was wrong, but I was desperate. You know what this guy is capable of, he won't just leave things like this. He might let me prolong it and all, because he obviously has other problems right now, but after a month or so he'll come again and I still won't have what he needs."

"We have to figure something out." I started again stubbornly. I wasn't going to let him give up on this and get himself in jail over nothing "You need to tell Damon." he started shaking his head the minute I mentioned his brother

"No way" he opposed, now raising his own voice "He has enough on his plate and he'll get angry, I don't need him breathing in my neck right now. I'll deal with it on my own."

"And how exactly will you deal with it when you can't make enough to buy the basic things that you need!" okay, I was a little mean with this one, I knew they were doing their best and me trying to rub it in his nose that he wasn't enough was the wrong thing. I just felt the need to bring him back to earth. "You're not invincible, you can't expect to do things and get away with them, Stefan. You're an adult now, you're taking care of a child!"

"Don't you think I know that, Lexi!" he suddenly got mad and Joe stopped eating only to look up at his father confused and with a sad expression "You saw me go through hell and you say those stuff like I haven't done a single thing!"

"That's not what I meant, you misunderstood me" I started apologizing

"I didn't, but that's not important. You are right-we're barely holding up, but we're doing it and I won't ever give up on this child like our mother gave up on us!"

"I know that, but you are close to getting yourself hurt or killed in the process and that's what I want to prevent." he sighed once he realized I'm trying just to help him. However, Joe was crying already so he removed the bottle away and tried to calm him down, unsuccessfully probably because he was too busy burying himself in his own thoughts that he forgot to talk to kid and I knew his voice calmed him most of the times. I stretched my hands, so he could hand him to me and after a few minutes the boy relaxed while I kept observing Stefan nervously running his hands through his hair and drinking up the rest of his coffee "I'm just worried, Stefan." I said barely audible now, but he heard me nonetheless.

He nodded without continuing the conversation, he was too lost in his own mind and I offered to make him a breakfast but her refused, saying he had to go to work before he's too late. He wanted to finish with all the deliveries as fast as he could so he could come back home.

He kissed Joe goodbye and left without saying anything else-I could see he was too worried. He had no idea how he would deal with this-there wasn't anywhere he could get the money from. He had to come up with it all by himself and even if he or I told Damon there wasn't much he could do either. I wasn't about to start a fight between them though-if Stefan wanted to share those stuff with him he would. And if I see he takes too much time, I'll have to intervene, but I'll give him some space first, I could see he had a hard time trying to deal with it all-his whole life was one enormous mess, in which he had to take care of his son and work and help Damon pay the bills. He wasn't even going to school and even though I fought with him about that a lot, he kept saying that he has to take care of his son and no one else could do it. He didn't have money for food and clothes, let alone for hiring a nanny.

Me and Joe watched him leave-he turned a few times and waved at us before getting in the car. Joe started crying a little after that and I had a hard time calming him down-I'm guessing he already missed his father.

Stefan's POV

I drove by the office where they gave me the packages I had to deliver-thanks god today it was all like letters and small stuff, not the usual big card boxes full of furniture or all sorts of things-when we had such stuff I usually wasn't alone, but with one of the other boys. Not that I had something against them, but I preferred to be alone, to drive by myself-it helped me clear my mind and try to figure stuff out.

I jumped in and drove away-I had to go to the other side of town and it was going to take me a while. The town has grown so much from when I was a child-there were factories, firms, even a small mall-it was nothing like the little peaceful place I grew up in-at some point, around my tenth birthday things started changing- by that time Damon and me were at a foster home outside town and we didn't have much opportunity to leave it, but when we finally did and they brought us here, it was nothing like what I remembered. I held Damon's hand as he helped me go through the crowd in the main street-we felt so different. Even he, who wasn't getting easily impressed, remained silent, watching everything around us carefully, observing it with curiosity.

I smiled at the memory of me and my brother all by ourselves in this confusing reality-not that now it was any different, well except that Joe was with us and Lexi was practically part of the family. We were still lost, confused and struggling with so many things-I had no hope this eternal cycle would ever end. But I wasn't complaining, because it all had a meaning-I was doing it for my child, who already lost his mother. I had no plans of letting him lose anything else in this life. Not until I am alive at least.

When I finally got to the address, I had to stop in front of a white house with blue-painted windows, the typical fence and a big porch, with lovely chairs on it-only that part of the house was twice the size of my room and I was planning to turn it into a nursery-what a joke! I looked out for the package and in my hands it felt like some cloth-probably some rich girl has ordered a dress or a nice new skirt.

I rang on the door and stared down at my list while waiting for someone to open-I could hear noises coming from inside and sighed relived-there were times when I would have to wait for at least fifteen minutes until someone even heard me knocking and I lost so much time-time I could spent with my child if I got back early.

When someone opened up I was still staring down at the documents they've given me.

"I'm looking for Elena Gilbert?" I spoke up before looking up and when I finally did, I was shocked.

I recognized the brown-haired skinny girl from last night immediately. She was the one who caught me while I was stealing the car-now she was smiling right in my direction with a very sleepy expression on her face and her PJs still on. I took a step back without even realizing it at first and she gave me a suspicious look.

There was no way she could remember me right?

I mean..I had covered my face pretty good and it was dark, so what I needed now was to just give her the package and leave this place as fast as I could. I looked around-their house was enormous and I wondered how come I didn't see the car parked in front of it somewhere. I might've been just too distracted and I was in no position to turn around and start staring, not now when she was wondering what the hell was going on. For a few minutes we stood like this, just staring at each other and she obviously got annoyed with me and sighed heavily.

"You wanna give me that or not?" she asked and looked back at the package in my hand. I managed to get myself together quite fast and even furrowed my eyebrows a bit trying to look serious and even grumpy in order to clear any suspicion. I stretched my hand and when I gave her the package she stared down at the bruise I got when I fell last night. She obviously remembered something, because she looked back up at me and in that moment, I saw the realization in her eyes-she knew who I was.

She remembered me.

I tried to play it cool though and handed her the list where she was supposed to sign, but she kept her eyes on me and didn't make a single move.

"You." she simply said and I felt myself panic yet again.

"Me what?" I said quite serious, trying to play confused as I arched my eyebrow and cleared my throat. She kept staring at me though and I pushed the list back at her chest, quite roughly

"Can you sign that already?" I continued playing cool, even though she has figured it all out and was obviously wondering what to do now. I could hear other people's voices from the inside and she seemed like just another high school sweetheart, a rich one even, which was worse, cause she could rat me out any minute now. I was feeling pressed to the wall, but I still had some hope that I'll manage to fool her and get away with it, even though I felt the desperation crawling up inside me.

I couldn't believe my fate-of all the houses I had to go to today, hers has to be the first one on the list.

"You were there last night" she started again as she was obviously very lost in her own thoughts, remembering everything that happened. I wondered why she hadn't filed a complaint or something at the police-or then again she might have done so, but if they didn't have a clear description, they wouldn't be able to find me and I would just go in the system as another unknown criminal, who tried to steal something.

I felt ashamed of myself, whatever was going to happen from now on, surely wouldn't be good, I had this awful feeling that something will turn wrong, even if I didn't succeed in stealing that car. She was clearly frustrated with me playing off as if I don't know what she's talking about, then again she must've gotten a better look at me last night, I was after all still wearing the same old jeans and the black sweater I left at the chair in front of our house-I wasn't exactly trying to cover my trails-I was appearing to be the exact same person and she knew it couldn't be a coincidence, not with the bruise on my hand, that's for sure.

"I'm sorry, I really have no idea what you're talking about" I tried again and once more looked down at the paper in her tiny cold hands "You must've mistaken me for someone." for a moment I saw her doubting herself, I was a really good actor after all.

Damon has taught me all about those stuff-we used to steal things from shops all the time-suddenly I felt like a criminal all over again when in reality things were too screwed up for me to find any other way to figure out the situation with the money I owed. Though there was always another way-I just wasn't looking for it I guess.

She looked down at the list and sign it fast, which made me sigh relieved-I thought she has just accepted the fact that she's wrong. Then, just as I turned around and was about to leave I felt her small fragile hand on my arm-she seemed somehow bold, but afraid-she probably thought I would do something to her. I didn't turn around though and in a moment she was right in front of me again, this time or places were switched-I was close to the door and she to the stairs leading out of this damn house.

"You don't have to lie" she said somehow confidently "I remember good, even if it was dark. You fell and hurt your hand" she looked down and I stared down at my feet feeling ashamed all over again "You tried to steal my car."

"Yeah, right!" I continued playing and pushed myself away from her only so I could continue going down the stairs, I thought she'll just drop it, but instead I heard her small steps rush down the lane, though she was still behind me

"It was you!" she yelled and I prayed that her parents haven't heard her. I turned around angrily

"So what?" I was suddenly pissed off.

What did she knew of my life anyway?

How could she just start yelling at people like this and blame them-I had a reason, I was struggling and I couldn't think of getting away with this debt in any other way but to steal this car, otherwise I might end up at some gutter with a bloody face and a gunshot.

"What are you going to do, rich girl? You want to rat me out? And what are you going to tell them? That you saw someone trying to steal your car, but didn't and just left instead?" she remained speechless for a moment and just stared at me. She surely didn't expect me to be some kind of bold douche who is playing cool with being involved in something like this. The truth is that I really felt bad, but I had this problem of lashing out at people when they pressed me to the wall. I was usually very calm, but even Damon knew that I had my breaking point and he was one of those who has suffered from it.

I turned around and walked away to the car.

Just as I was driving away, I saw man leaning on the doorframe, looking confused. He must've been her father, because he worriedly joined her while she was staring at me, wondering what the hell she was going to do right now.

I was sincerely hoping she would just let it be. There wasn't anything she could blame me on.

Or so I thought.

Elena's POV

I couldn't believe he was such a douche bag.

Last night something in me broke when I saw his eyes-I thought he was just a boy, who was doing this because he had no other choice, but now I was convinced he was some asshole who did those things for fun and made money out of it-he was a criminal and I couldn't just stay here with my hands crossed, waiting for him to rob someone else. He deserved to be punished, he was a bold arrogant idiot, who liked mocking people like me.

If he was good and honest, he should've admitted it and apologized, if he was smart-he would've asked me not to tell anyone and to just forget about it. But the way he treated me, was pissing me off and everyone knew I got kind of scary when I was pissed off. I was a very honest person and my parents have taught me to never tolerate people like this, so that's why I wouldn't do so.

When my father got out of the house and saw that clearly something was wrong, he hugged me in his embrace and asked me what's wrong. I admit for a moment, there was some internal debate about whether or not I should tell him, I don't know why-this guy was a bad person and moreover-he was bold enough to lie he didn't take anything from me-my purse was missing!

I only found out that last night when I came back home and looked everywhere for it-I had everything in there, my IDs, my credit cards and even some money and I was just about to tell my dad when this guy rang on my door. He might be playing cool and innocent, but he would've stolen my car and he did steal my purse-I needed justice.

I wasn't a bad person, I hated doing those stuff, I even let Caroline copy my homework every now and then and I helped her with the assignments, but what this guy was doing wasn't just going to stop-he surely must be stealing for a long time now, if he was so cocky and feeling invincible.

When dad and I got inside, I didn't think twice about telling him-I was pissed off and even though he scolded me about this party and leaving all by myself without calling me, he still stood behind my decision to go to the police. I was mad-I hated guys like this, who thought they can somehow control everything, that they are somewhat better than the rest of the people on this earth-this guy was arrogant selfish stealing bastard and he deserved to be punished.

Dad called the police and they came home so we could all go together to his house and get him. The only annoying thing was that I had to give detailed description of everything that happened last night and that turned to be quite the long nightmare, which I had to repeat once we get to the station with him.

By the time we were driving to his house it was way past lunch so I guessed he must've been home, if not they've promised us to go to his workplace. When dad me and the officer ended up in front of his damp and quite bad-looking, almost wrecked house, I started wondering why does a guy who steal like this can't find a better place to live, but then again, maybe it was a better coverage for his actions. When we got out of the car, my dad put his hand on my shoulder and we all went to his door-somehow, I was feeling quite nervous, I don't know why, I was convinced I was doing the right thing, yet I couldn't get rid of the guilt in his eyes that I saw last night-that was making me feel bad, even though today he has acted like a total asshole. Something just wasn't right here, I couldn't figure out why he was doing this and why one night he was acting as if he feels awful for what he's doing and the next day he's braging about me not being able to get him.

The officer knocked on the door for quite some time until he opened up-once he saw us all, he took a step back sacredly, just like when he saw me this morning on my front porch. He was dressed in the same jeans and a white shirt and he looked like we've just woken him up.

"Stefan Salvatore?" the officer asked, and he nodded, uncertain about it all, staring at me as if he was trying to figure out why on earth have I done this.

"What's going on?" he asked, though he was perfectly aware why we were all here. I noticed he swallowed hard, but took a step forward and went outside, with his hand on the door frame as if he was trying hard to protect something inside this hole of a house.

"Miss Gilbert here claims you've tried to steal her car last night." the officer started with a judging tone. My father's grip on my shoulder also tightened, I felt he was quite nervous-he was willing to protect me no matter what and this guy right now was the idiot who could've possibly hurt me and tried to steal from us-he was quite angry. "Her purse is also missing."

"What? I never took her purse" he protested and threw me a hateful glance. The strange thing is that he sounded sincere and that completely surprised me. Though, I was certain my purse is lost, or more like-stolen and he was the only one who had managed to get in that car after I've locked it that night, there was no way he hadn't taken it.

"Stefan, what's wrong?" a girl with a straight blond hair, dressed in black shirt and tight blue jeans appeared behind him and gave him a concerned glare. I guessed this must've been the girlfriend, or so she looked like, he didn't let her come anywhere near us, however

"Go back in the kitchen, Lexi" he said it as a plead. It wasn't like he was ordering her or anything, which is why I'm guessing she didn't even attempt to make a step back and go to where she's come from. He turned back towards us and tried to explain to the officer "Look, sir, I've never taken her purse or anything."

"You do admit you were at that same street last night, trying to steal the car?" he asked and Stefan, obviously confused failed to come up with any proper answer, not even a lie. He just sighed and nodded while I watched the blondie put her hand on his arm the same way my father was holding me, as if they were trying to protect us in their own way

"I didn't take her purse, though" Stefan stated yet again and furrowed his eyebrows in my direction "That part is a lie."

"How dare you" my father spoke up, his voice both quite hoarse and stern, before he could continue, however, I put my hand over his in order to calm him down

"Then you could let us in so we can check the place for it" the officer said and made a step forward towards Stefan. They ended up extremely close to each other and I almost felt like Stefan's only desire is to punch this guy and make him leave, but he couldn't so he just pushed the blondie's hand away from his arm and took another defending position-he didn't want us in. There was something he was desperately trying to hide or protect, whatever it was, it obviously meant a lot to him

"Okay, fine, I took it." he rapidly changed his mind and took another step forward as he stretched his arms "You can search me."

"Stefan!" the girl protested behind him and I furrowed my eyebrows, because something here didn't seem quite right, though I couldn't figure out exactly what it was. He didn't respond, but he turned around and gave her a demanding look while the officer was checking him up "He's just a child" she turned towards me and my father this time, her voice quite begging "He didn't do it!"

"Lexi, stop talking right now!" he demanded again, his voice quite serious. He really did look like a child, though somehow prematurely grown-there was something so wrecked in his posture, I wondered what happened to him. When the officer kneeled down and searched his pockets, he got out a wad and handed it victoriously in front of Stefan's face

"How much were you missing again, Miss Gilbert?" he asked as he started counting them

"Five hundred" my father hurried to responded, before I could ever open my mouth as he watched the man intensely finish up counting, after which he smiled and looked at us somehow feeling proud that he was holding exactly the same amount of money in his hands

"Come on, kid. You have to come with us to the station" he said as he grabbed Stefan's hand and roughly pushed him down the stairs

"That's ridiculous, he got paid today. This isn't your money!" the girl kept yelling behind us and somehow no matter what Stefan did, he couldn't get rid of her and make her go back inside. He slowly took the stairs down and completely gave up on trying to free himself from the officer

"Call, Damon" he said quite calmly and gave her a light nod, as if he wanted to assure her everything will be alright. I turned back towards her and noticed that her eyes were filled with tears, she was trying very hard not to let go-she appeared to be a strong girl and deep down, I felt envious of her.

While Stefan became somehow strangely calm and silent as the officer was leading him to the car, the blondie remained on the broken old porch staring at him concerned, wondering what on earth she'll do now. She clearly loved him, I didn't know if it was romantically or in any other way, but she cared for him deeply.

When he got in the car, he looked away and my father pushed me to keep going to our own SUV so we can follow them to the station and give the statements. I don't know why, but I thought I'll feel so good when we get him, I believed that if we find the money I'll be rubbing it all in his nose, but in fact everything here made me sad-he obviously did have a hard life and the hatred he was giving me with one single glance, made me believe that I surely had no idea what's going on. However, I still stood by my words-what he did was wrong, he had to get what he deserved.

I couldn't figure out why I felt guilty and looked away when I saw the girl bury her hands in her beautiful straight hair helplessly and sit on the porch stairs-there was something so sad in her actions, so hopeless, it made me wonder what these people have been through.