A/N Stefan will appear in this episode/chapter.

Rose sat up in bed. It had been a week since Anne's death. She felt numb and out of emotions. The house felt cold and empty. The lawyer was going to get into contact with Stefan so that he could come here or bring them to wherever he was. Grayson had spent the night at the Donovan's place. Rose had requested to stay here instead of going to either the Donovan's or to Lexi's. She regretted it now. She hated the house when it was empty. It was big, it was lonely and she felt like she didn't even belong in it. She got out of bed and slowly got dressed in a pair of black jeans, black boots and a black t-shirt. She was just pulling her hair back in a ponytail when there was a knock on the door. She went downstairs and opened it. Marshall was waiting outside on the porch. She started to close the door.

"Hey! Wait! I'm just here to make sure you're still kicking!" Marshall told her. She shot him a look.

"I am. Now go away."

"Fine… Fine... What's up with the black?" He asked.

"I'm mourning the loss of the woman that raised me and loved me like her own. People wear black when they do that."

"Good news is: you're alive!" He told her.

"I'm thrilled. Now leave me alone, Marshall." She shut the door in his face.

Grayson returned from the Donovan's that afternoon. Rose went to meet him in the living room. He dropped his bag and hugged her tightly. She awkwardly returned it. It wasn't often he gave out hugs.

"I'm just glad you're okay, even if Anne's… not." He explained, pulling away. She could tell he'd been crying. She hugged him again.

"It'll be okay." She whispered. There was another knock on the door. She left his side to go answer it. It was the lawyer.

"Oh, hi. We can talk in the kitchen." She had been very careful not to say the words 'come in' to anyone lately. He nodded and walked inside. They went over to the kitchen. Grayson trailed behind them like a depressed shadow.

"I got into contact with Mr. Salvatore. He said he'll be here by eight tonight. You can talk about living arrangements then, but you will go where he goes. Clear?" The lawyer asked sternly, as if talking to little kids, not teenagers.

"Crystal." Rose told him.

"Whatever." Grayson mumbled.

"Good. Be polite. This man will be taking care of you and I know from experience it is not something a lot of people want to do willingly."

"We got it." Rose told him. She just wanted him to leave. She was tired of talking about all of this.

"Alright. I'll be going. Remember what I've told you!" He said, heading for the door again. Grayson called him a creative name under his breath.

"I will." Rose promised, going to shut the door behind him. Once the front door was shut, she looked over at Grayson.

"I don't like him." She said.

"Join the club!" He told her. That was how they bonded; over dislike for someone else. Rose walked over to him.

"So do you want lunch? I can attempt some top ramen or sandwiches… Tell me you ate already." She pleaded.

"Victoria made me some grilled cheese sandwiches already." He assured her. She nodded, relieved. She was a terrible cook.

"Good. I'll whip up something for dinner." She promised.

"Or we can order pizza." He suggested.

"I like your idea better." She admitted.

"Rose?"

"Hmm?"

"I miss Anne already." Rose hugged him again.

"Me too."

That night, Rose was lying on her bed, eating pizza and watching the clock like it was a bomb about to go off. It was a couple minutes after eight when the door ran. She put her plate down and jumped off the bed.

"I've got it, Grayson!" She yelled. His bedroom door stayed close; he hadn't planned on getting it himself anyway. She walked over to the front door and opened it. Stefan looked up at her, hands shoved in his pockets.

"Hey." She offered an awkward greeting. He was just staring at her in shock. She realized after a second why.

"Oh, yeah. Petrova doppelganger. I look exactly like Elena." She said, nodding and looking down. He recovered his voice.

"I just didn't expect… Stefan Salvatore." He tried to stick out his hand, but it was blocked by the doorway since he hadn't been invited in.

"Normally, I wouldn't invite you in, being a vampire and all, but since you're the dude that's gonna be my legal guardian… come in." She backed up to let him in. He walked inside the house and then stuck out his hand again.

"Stefan."

"Rose." She returned. They shook hands. Rose looked up the stairs as she shut the front door.

"GRAYSON! Come downstairs!" She called. They heard the bedroom door open upstairs. Grayson hesitantly walked downstairs. He reached the bottom stair and looked at Stefan in confusion.

"What are you? Seventeen?" He asked.

"Older than that. I age well. Stefan Salvatore." Stefan stuck out a hand again. Grayson shook it.

"Grayson. Bye." He spun on his heel and jogged upstairs and into his bedroom again. Rose sighed.

"Sorry. He's been having a hard time lately." She mumbled. Stefan nodded understandingly.

"He doesn't know about the supernatural world, I'm guessing?" He asked.

"No." She told him in a 'do not tell him' kind of way. He nodded again.

"Okay, then."

"So are we going to have to come to wherever you live or-."

"No, no… I thought that we could just stay here. You grew up here, so it's not fair to take you away." He explained. Rose nodded.

"Thank you. Don't you have any bags or stuff to bring in?" She asked.

"Yeah, they're in the car."

"Great... Why don't you get them while I will go get the room ready?" She suggested. He nodded and then left the house again. She went upstairs and into Anne's bedroom. She'd already packed up Anne's stuff. She grabbed the last box of Anne's things to move it to the hall storage closet. She looked around the room. I miss you, Anne-… Mom, she thought to herself.

"Rose?" She turned at the sound of her name towards Stefan, who was waiting in the doorway.

"Okay, the room's ready." She brushed past him and shoved the box into the hall closet. Stefan followed her.

"I'm sorry about your foster mom." He told her. She stiffened as she turned to look at him.

"Thanks. But you are not the one I want to take my anger out on." He raised an eyebrow, a silent question. She sighed.

"I have to ask you one question, just one." She said. He nodded, looking slightly confused.

"Why did my real parents abandon me?"

"Rose… They didn't want to. You have to believe that. But they couldn't let anything happen to you. You and Grayson meant the world to them. But they thought that if you stayed with them, either they would hurt you by accident or someone else would for revenge. They thought this was the best life for you. They just wanted to give you your best chance. They have regretted it and thought about you every day since they made the decision to send you here. I have never seen them so miserable." When Stefan finished, Rose started crying. Stefan hugged her, pulling her close.

"Stefan?" She asked in a whisper.

"Yeah?"

"Please don't leave me. Grayson and I need you now. Please." She pleaded. He shook his head.

"I'll be here for you as long as you need me." He promised.

"Why didn't my real mom and dad come?"

"They still think it's best for you if they're not there. They don't want to hurt you anymore."

"I think I'm already broken."

"Broken things can be fixed." They pulled away. Rose wiped at her eyes and then looked up at him.

"Is Caroline coming?"

"Not unless I ask her to. Lexi's-."

"Your daughter and you don't want to hurt her either, yeah, I know. She misses you guys too." Rose told him. He nodded, slowly, pain apparent in his eyes.

"I know. But it's complicated."

"Yeah. A lot of things are." There was a knock on the door. Rose sighed. I'm popular today, she thought.

"I'll get that. You can get… um, settled." She turned and hurried down the stairs. She opened the front door. Elijah was waiting there. The sight of him reminded Rose of the last time she'd seen him. When Anne died… She started crying. Elijah stepped into the house and she hugged him. He held her close, letting her cry. A minute later, Stefan came downstairs. Elijah looked up. Rose pulled away from him.

"Stefan, this is Elijah Mikaelson. Elijah, this is my uncle Stefan Salvatore." Both of them looked awkward at the last names.

"Mikaelson, huh?" Stefan asked, speaking first.

"Yeah… Klaus's son." Stefan gave Elijah a 'drop dead' look at that. Rose sighed and looked at Elijah.

"Maybe you should…"

"Yeah. I was just checking up on you."

"I'm… better. And could you tell your brother to stay away from me?"

"Gladly. Won't listen, but I'll pass it on." He walked out of the house. Rose shut the door after him and looked at Stefan.

"Don't trust the Mikaelson's." He warned.

"He's the only one that I trust as far as I can throw any of them." She assured him. She left out the part about how she'd only met two of them and the second one was hardly likable. He nodded.

"I'm just going to go to bed if that's okay." She added.

"Of course." He stepped out of her way as she walked upstairs. She went to her bedroom, stripped off her clothes and got into her pajamas instead. When she went into the laundry room to put her clothes into the hamper, she saw a stack of her clothes waiting on the counter with something wrapped up in pink paper sitting on top of it. Obviously it had been there for a while.

"Anne." She said knowingly as she walked over to it. She took the stack up to her bedroom and quietly shut her door behind her. She ripped the paper off the object. She saw it was a diary. She flipped it open to the first page. Anne had written a message for her in it.

Rose,

I know that lately it's been a bet hectic. If you want to talk about it, I'll always be here. But if you don't, here's this. I thought you might want it.

-Your mom, Anne.

Rose stared at it, willing herself not to cry. Then she grabbed a pen from her desk and flipped it to the empty second page.

Dear Diary,

Anne said that she would always be here. She didn't know how wrong she was, did she? Stefan's here now. He's going to be our legal guardian. My biological parents never showed up. They don't want to hurt me. But they don't know how much they're hurting me by trying not to…