It had been a few weeks since Stefan had last been with Elena. Sometimes in his moments of loneliness when he was with her, he would try imagining a life without her. Back then she was a human. She was vulnerable. Killable and as much as it was gruesome to say it she was eatable. There was a concrete end for her. And that's what terrified him the most. She was a simple human girl that would grow, that would age and that would soon die one day leaving him alone in the world.
He tried often not to think about those days, but he couldn't help it. He had to. Things weren't always going to like this. He imagined the pain and heartache he would go through without Elena and suddenly here he was today.
Without her.
Yet something was different, yes he was hurt but it was nothing like he had imagined because in some strange unidentifiable way, he was…okay… well maybe not okay but better off than what he imagined before.
That lonely night with Bonnie when he broke down and told her the truth about his unsettling feelings for Elena was probably one of the most painful days of his life. He thought his life would continue to be like that over and over again. Yet, oddly enough it wasn't. Was it because he let if off his chest finally?
The thought puzzled him deeply. Elena was supposed to be the love of his life, and he had lost her so why was he not in excruciating pain? Why had he not turned back into the ripper?
His train of thought was broken as the school bell rang loudly, causing students to stir and rush to their classes. Stefan placed his books in his locker and took another out, closing the locker afterwards.
Just as he was running through his thoughts, the tiny little brunette who had helped him during his most difficult times sped across the halls.
A small smile curved his lips as her hair flung through the speed. He saw the tiny spark of relief on her face as she ran to him hastily.
" Holy crap! I'm late aren't I? My alarm didn't ring this morning and then I couldn't find my bag! And of course I had a flat out of all days!" Bonnie exclaimed, out of breath as she quickly unlocked her locker. Shoving some of her textbooks in as he leaned against the locker, watching her as she panicked, a slight chuckle escaping his lips.
"Wait, why aren't you in class?! Am I early?!" she bellowed, slamming the locker a bit to hard as she turned to face him.
Stefan shook his head " Nope. You're still late. I've just taken this class a few hundred times so I can afford to be late" he chuckled as she smirked with a haughty sigh.
In all honesty, Stefan wasn't one to be tardy even if he had the curriculum memorized. He wasn't one of those showoff boys that felt badass for interrupting the class. He was purposely putting off class not for enjoyment of seeming like a bad ass but to wait for her. Deep down he knew he was taking his time for her, but he wasn't ready to admit that to anyone. Nor to himself. Especially himself.
"Aw great, we're gonna get it from Hoffman today" she complained, saddling her bag over shoulder as they both walked to class.
"We? You mean you Bon. Either Hoffman loves me or he fears me cause I'm the only student he can't make feel stupid… The rest I can't speak for." Stefan said with a joking over confident smirk that turned into laughter as Bonnie stopped and gave him a look.
"Oh yea, so we're all pretty much deemed stupid because we're not a 163 year old vampire who practically lived during all the scientific revelations"
"Yup. Pretty much." Stefan replied jokingly as Bonnies eyes narrowed and her am raised and she whacked him. He couldn't help but laugh and soon enough both were running down the hall ways, with Bonnie chasing behind Stefan laughing as she tried to hit him.
Bonnie and Stefan sat at their lunch table, with their books and food flowing across the table. They were in a midst of discussion-which seemed more like a lecture to Stefan- about why he wasted money and food on his lunch that he was not going to eat.
As Bonnie continued with her lecture, Stefan caught a fairly recognizable blonde walk through the door.
"Well well well, look who decided to grace us with her presence" Stefan chuckled as Bonnie turned her head to see whom he was talking about.
"What? Is that Caroline? Has the queen decided walk among us?" Bonnie added in sarcastically as Caroline approached them, giving them both a look.
Both Stefan and Bonnie made it a thing to tease the rest of the gang about school. They were literally the only ones that showed up, which they both secretly enjoyed but it also gave them a chance to team up and make fun of the rest.
" Oh come on you guys" Caroline chuckled, grabbing a seat next to her best friend Bonnie as she gave her a hug.
" But you do know you're kinda three classes late" Bonnie chuckled
" Yea well I have all of eternity to catch up on those. Besides better late than never" Caroline replied turning her head to her current roommate Stefan. " How are you? I was gonna tell you, but you left before I woke up that—" Caroline started but was cut off before she could finish.
Both her and Stefan, straightened up as their hearing sense maximized.
"But I don't want you to go to class" Damon whined playfully, as he played with Elena's fingers he then leaned into her neck, slowly nibbling on it with his wet tongue.
" I want you to stay with me all day and all night, making sweet long love"
Elena bit her lip, almost melting in her seat. She couldn't help but release a small moan.
"Stay. Please?" Damon whispered into her ear kissing it.
"Okay but I haven't been to class in like a month and the school has already started calling my house-"
Damon pulled away from her, looking her in the eyes " Fine, you can go. But come right to me after your done." He said giving her his charming alluring smile.
Elena smiled, leaning over and wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him vulgarly with tongue as Damon grabbed her behind squeezing it tight making Elena giggle.
Pulling away with her giggles, she shut the door to his car and waved at him watching him speed off.
" What happened? You guys? Helllooo?" Bonnie said waving her hand in front of Stefan. Caroline and him both zoned out at the same time, looking at each other.
Caroline with a disheartened look and Stefan's face unreadable.
"You guys can't go all Raven Baxter on me, what happened?" Bonnie asked again looking at Stefan and then Caroline who was focused on Stefan.
" I was going to tell you that …E…Elena was going to be coming to class today" Caroline said to Stefan almost sadly.
She didn't want to see Stefan go through that pain of seeing Elena. Especially since she hadn't been there for him these past couple of weeks.
Stefan had heard through the grape vine, that they were together…that they were spending time together, that they were hanging out together…and that they were sleeping together. But hearing it from her own mouth made him cringe. He didn't know if he was ready to see her. He hadn't laid eyes on her since the day they broke up.
He couldn't even lie and say he wasn't trying to avoid her because in all honesty he was. But she made that easy since she barely left home…his old home.
Not once did his brother come to check on him if he was okay. Yes he did try calling him but nothing other than that. But could he really blame him? He lived his entire existence without love and now he finally found it. Of course he was going to spend all day with her. Even though it repulsed him.
Or at least that's how Stefan justified it in his head. No matter how angry he wanted to be at his brother, his mind always lead him back to the fact that he was the one who turned him.
But at least someone was on his side even when he wasn't on his own. Bonnie wasn't quiet about her resentment towards Damon and wasn't trying to be.
" How can he not even come visit you!? Ugh! What is wrong with him! I know he could 'help' about who he fell in love with but come on that doesn't make it any better! He's your older brother and the least he could do is come check up on you! This is one of the reasons I'm glad I don't have any siblings, if this is how they turn out than I'd rather not have one"
Stefan was departed from his thoughts as Bonnie's voice reeled him back into reality.
"Stefan? Are you okay?" Bonnie asked with concern in her voice as she looked into eyes.
Stefan let out an exasperated sigh, forcing a small smile. He didn't want Bonnie to worry about him. Like she said, he was going to be okay...especially if she was there to catch him fall.
Just then a familiar scent lingered Stefan's and Caroline's nose as Elena stepped into the cafeteria.