I'm trying a different style of writing, one that seems more fit. It includes a lot more of the characters talking and interacting and less describing things. Feel free to let me know how you feel about it 😊
As promised, this one is a bit more Defan&Caroline focused and a little less Bonnie, since she got most of the last chapter to herself.
"Stefan." Her eyes are hopeful and swollen. She sits on the edge of their couch. It seems like she'd been waiting for a while.
"You're still here." It's an observation rather than a question.
"Where have you been the entire night? I was so worried about you." She says through tears.
"I stayed with a friend." He says simply and refuses to give out further detail. He takes off his coat while she watches on, quietly. Neither of them knows where to start or what to say.
She seems scared. And rightfully so. All she's ever wanted was her perfect modern fairytale completed with Stefan in it. And now? Her modern fairytale prince couldn't even look her in the eye.
"I'm-"
"Don't." He cuts her off before she has a chance to say anything more. He's tired. Mentally tired.
Of her, of the way she makes him feel, of the way they've mistreated each other through the years, of lying, manipulating. Most of all, he's tired of trying to mend something that is broken beyond repair. It's madness in its purest form. He must put an end on it, because she sure doesn't look like she's going to.
"We can fix this." She says ironically. A short laugh escapes his lips. A bitter one.
"Rebekah-" he looks at her, finally "-there's nothing in this world that can fix this, ever again."
Her eyes start to water instantaneously. His instincts tell him to reach out and comfort her but he reminds himself it's just an old habit he has to kick.
"I've stood by you through everything."
"I never asked you to do that." He reminds her.
"I did it because I loved you. I still do." And it's true. She does. A part of her always will.
"I know, I know. And I loved you, so much." He sighs. He thought he was ready for something like this, but he never accounted emotions that come with it. Bringing up old feelings of love that has visibly perished over time hurts like hell.
"And you don't anymore?" She asks desperately. It hits him like a ton of bricks. It hits him, because he doesn't know what to say. He's thought through the logistics of their breakup and one of them moving away, he's also thought through every single reason for why it's time for them to break up. He never had the courage to actually ask himself that question.
"I-" he starts, he searches for words but they don't come out.
He can see the shift in her eyes. She's no longer hopeful. She takes a deep breath and stands up so she can face him better. It's like she wants him to see her suffer up close. So he could memorize every tear tracing down her face and have that image haunt him forever.
"I'll pack my stuff and be gone in a few hours."
"We got this place together, I can crash at Damon's for a while, until we figure it out."
"I'm going to Chicago." She says and looks him dead in the eye.
His jaw tightens at the mention of it but he says nothing. It's none of his business anymore. She can go to the end of the world for as far as he's concerned.
"And she left, like it's over for good?"
"She's finishing up packing as we speak."
"Wow." Damon says in disbelief. He did not see that coming. "Wait, is this one of those things you're going to blame me for because I talked you in to visiting home?"
"No, no. You've done nothing wrong, you did what you thought was best."
"I give the crappiest advice."
"If anything, you contributed to me dogging a bullet. So you shouldn't be apologizing, I should be thanking you." He says honestly and reaches for his shoulder. It's a small gesture but it's very reassuring.
Damon's been feeling like crap ever since the two last saw each other. They're brothers. No matter what happens, Stefan is always going to be the most important person in his life. He wants to tell him everything so badly. About the deal, about the threats, about the contracts…
He knows Stefan resents him for his relationship with their father. He hides it well, but Damon knows. If only he knew the truth, it would all make sense to him.
He feels even more like a traitor to his brother now that Rebekah pulled her stunt, making Stefan feel more vulnerable than ever when it comes to their fucked-up family.
And Rebekah. He's going to have a talk with her for sure.
"Well, what are you going to do now?"
"I'd like to know that as well. I don't know. It's all very confusing at the moment. I-" Caroline pops in to his mind instantly. He can't get her off her mind. It's too soon. He tells himself. Too much has happened recently.
"You what?"
"I-I don't know."
Damon narrows his eyes suspiciously but lets it go. For now.
"Speaking off, do you need a place to stay? Where did you spend last night anyway?"
Stefan cracks a little smile.
"What's funny about that?"
He remembers Bonnie's look of horror when she found him in her room and Caroline barging in, shaking her vigorously. He'll remember that for a long time. He felt so bad, he sent Bonnie a chocolate bouquet to apologize for it as soon as he left their apartment. It was Caroline's suggestion to get her food instead of regular flowers. Apparently, Bonnie is more of a chocolate kind of gal. It worked like a charm. Caroline confirmed it via text earlier.
"Actually, I stayed with Caroline," he says it casually "and uh I don't need a place to stay. She doesn't want the apartment."
Damon only picks up on the first part of that sentence. He stayed with Caroline? That means he stayed with Bonnie as well. He has so many questions, but most of all he wants to know if the latter is okay.
"Explain." He gives an order.
Stefan decides to play dumb.
"Well, she's moving to Chicago, what the hell is she going to do with an apartment in New York."
"Not that you dumbass, you stayed with Caroline?"
He seems awfully riled up by that. It sets Stefan's curiosity ablaze. There's no way it has anything to do with Caroline or him, which can only mean one thing. Bonnie.
"Yeah, well, that's a long story."
"I have time."
Stefan raises his eyebrows.
"What's in it for you?" He challenges. "You hate Caroline."
"How dare you?"
"You literally said to me the other day 'I hate that girl Caroline. She is the epitome of hatred towards another human being'"
Damon rolls his eyes.
"I say that for everyone."
"True."
"Besides, she's like my best frenemy. I love Caroline."
"Your relationship confuses me beyond words."
"You just don't get it."
"I really don't."
"Well?"
Stefan sighs and signals to the bartender for a refill.
"I didn't know where to go when it all went down. I figured it would be best for me to just go somewhere safe, quiet and packed with alcohol."
"Makes sense."
"Right? So I ended up at Sax. It was super late, no one was supposed to be there."
"But someone was."
"Care."
"Care? You call her Care now?"
"Do you want to hear the story or not?"
"Keep talking." He smirks. His little bro is so falling for this girl and he doesn't even have a clue.
Makes two of them.
"We talked and she helped a lot. Obviously, we ended up getting drunk…gosh I feel like I'm saying that a little too often lately, I sound like an alcoholic. Anyways, she convinced me to stay the night."
Damon looks at him like he's crazy.
"That's it? No hookup?"
Stefan rolls his eyes in to oblivion.
"Why does everyone think we're hooking up?"
"Why does everyone think I'm an alcoholic?"
"Because you drink all the time."
"Caroline is your drinking problem." He says matter-of-factly. Stefan shakes his head in confusion.
"That doesn't make any sense."
"What are you waiting for? You got rid of that bitch faced blonde yoga enthusiast. Go for it my son."
"We're not talking about this." Stefan shuts it down before he gets carried away. The last thing he needs right now is someone putting ideas in his head. He knows it would drive him crazy even more and he is on the verge of losing it without picturing Caroline naked on top of him. Good God. Now he's picturing it.
"Did you have fun with Bonnie at the gala?" He asks to distract himself.
Damon's face falls flat.
She's ignored every single one of his messages. The worst part is he isn't even sure what he did wrong. Aside from keeping Elena a secret (sort of, technically she never asked), he was clean. He's apologized a few times, he tried slipping it into conversation with Enzo earlier but it failed. Turns out there is such a thing as being too subtle.
"It was work, wasn't supposed to be fun."
"Free booze and stuck up people that you hate? You live for that stuff!"
"It was a dry night."
Stefan stops asking questions and eyes him suspiciously. That doesn't sound like Damon at all.
"Did Elena stop by?"
The deadly look his brother gives him answers that question. Bringing up Elena was like tearing into the Pandora box, he isn't sure either of them are ready for that conversation right now.
"She made herself known."
Change the subject Stefan. Change the subject. For the love of God, change the subject!
"I was thinking of buying a new tennis racket."
No wonder people think he's stupid half the time.
Damon grimaces at his lame attempt and shakes his head. He gives him an apologetic look in return. His head still hurts from last night, this really is the best he can do now.
"I don't know how to deal with her anymore." Damon starts while Stefan holds his breath. Damon opening up to someone should be on the Vatican list of miracles. "If I don't take it out somehow, I am going to explode."
"Talking about it to someone is a good start."
Damon smirks bitterly.
"Come on now, you're talking to me." He points at his chest, encouraging him. "We've been through some pretty dark stuff together, who else are you going to tell if not me?"
He has a good point. It makes Damon smile a little bit. His little brother is really growing up. The serene feeling passed through him and was quickly replaced by anxiety.
There was so much he actually wanted to tell him and wasn't able to, it made him feel guilty every single time he even looked at him. If his brother knew how many secrets he's been keeping he would hate him for sure.
Stefan always thought so highly of him, often putting himself down for not being as successful or 'put together' as Damon.
It was all a lie. Stefan was far more of a man than Damon ever had a chance to be. His whole adult life was a big disgusting lie.
"I'll tell you about it." Damon watches as his brother's eyes lit up hopefully. "When the time is right."
Stefan sighs quietly and nods in understanding. Cancel Vatican, Damon remains an enigma, indefinitely.
A few quiet moments pass between them until Damon breaks the almost awkward silence.
"What are you going to do now?"
"Now now or the close future now?"
"Both."
"Taking a few days off from work, I could use it. I figured now I can finally move the furniture around the way I want to, especially the stupid-"
"Ficus plant." They both say in unison. Stefan grunts immediately.
"God."
"You've always hated that plant."
"I fucking loath that stupid plant. It's the first thing I'm throwing out. You know what, no. I'm gonna take that stupid thing out and torch it!" His eyes light up with excitement.
" No, Stefan…remember the last time we tried torching something? It ended up with an eviction notice."
"I'm not gonna do it in the apartment this time."
"Doing it by someone else's apartment isn't any better."
"When did you become the voice of reason?"
"There always has to be one sane Salvatore brother around, I'm taking one for the team."
"That sounds oddly suspicious."
"If you get evicted from this apartment as well, where the hell am I going to crash every week?"
"The girls' place, turns out they take strangers in all the time."
"They did let me in to their apartment when they barely even knew me."
"And Caroline let me sleep in Bonnie's bed last night."
Damon's eyebrows rose to the top of his forehead.
"Well, I wasn't going to sleep in her bed." He explains.
"Mistake number one."
"Wouldn't have done it if I wasn't so drunk and sad."
"Mistake number two, girls love it when guys are vulnerable."
"You sound like a predator."
"Don't I always?"
"Stop it."
"Okay fine, It was a joke. Geez."
"And you act surprised when girls slap you."
"Caroline didn't slap me, she karate chopped me in the face, my eye is still bruised."
"Your eye is fine and she barely even touched you."
"Standing up for your girlfriend I see, how cute."
"She is not my-" he stopped himself and sat back down. "I'm going home now, you should too."
"Oh come on, we're bonding, it's Salvatore brothers night!"
"it's five in the afternoon." Stefan says while rolling his eyes. He throws a fifty on the table and proceeds to put on his coat.
"Salvatore brothers afternoon tea, then."
"Your liver would fail from shock."
He pats Damon on the back and is out of the door. His brother is yelling out some stuff about their brotherly bond while the other guests laugh in delight. Damon, forever the crowd's favorite.
He walks around for a while longer, partially because he needs the fresh air, but mostly because he doesn't want to risk running in to Rebekah at the apartment. It's been three hours and forty-five minutes, he calculates it precisely. Unless she is somehow packing every single thing she owns separately, it is safe to say she is out.
He takes the stairs up to the apartment instead of the elevator to buy himself some extra time, just in case. He stands in front of the door for a few moments, holding his breath. His elderly neighbor walks out of the opposite apartment and looks at him like he's a lunatic for standing outside of his own apartment and listening in. He sends her a polite smile anyways.
"Are you alright son?"
He nods and returns his attention back to the door. The woman mutters something under her breath about the youth these days and goes on with her business.
He counts to ten in his head and pushes the door open. It is locked. He almost laughs at himself. All of the tension leaves his body, he is overcome with a feeling of serenity and relaxation. He doesn't remember the last time he felt anything close to that. He fumbles for his key and finally lets himself in.
The first thing he notices is how tidy the place actually is when there's no cardigans or yoga matts scattered around. No abandoned half empty blender by the sink to drive him crazy. No inspirational quote pillows to annoy him. Who's idea was that anyway? Did Gandhi really die so people could quote him on a pillow?
He takes off his coat and falls back on the couch, he figures now is as good time as ever to ponder about life and have an existential crisis. Before he even has the time to form a single anxiety inducing thought, his phone buzzes and brings him back to reality.
Maybe it's Rebekah, passively aggressively telling him to fuck off one last time. It could be Damon, making up some emergency to get him back to the bar and drinking with him.
Caroline.
His heart skips a beat as soon as he reads the first letter of her name. He's tried his best not to think about her since he left their place this morning. Last night messed with his head more than he anticipated.
The whole thing was taking its toll on him, the energy he had to put in to not thinking about her made him question if ignorance is bliss was the best approach to this situation.
- I can't believe you're leaving me alone with these jackasses. Not cool.
Her message read, with an attached photo of Mike and Tyler. Mike was sipping on a pink cocktail with three little umbrellas in while Tyler appeared to be wearing -or at least trying to wear- Caroline's denim jacket. He cracked a little smile; it hasn't even been a day but he already kind of missed them. In the span of the last two years he hadn't taken more than a day off work. It felt weird staying home on what was usually one of the busiest days for them.
- Feels weird, but it's a must at this point. Tyler looks hot.
- I have this theory he always wears things two sizes smaller than he has to for the sole purpose of looking more buffed and fit.
- You're just jealous he's the hottest person working there and you have to live in his magnificent shadow.
- I hardly disagree on that matter but lets leave it with that.
How is your existential crisis going? Did you start asking questions to strangers on online forums yet?
He winces at the accuracy of her guess.
- I'm going with no
- And I'm taking that as a yes!
He doesn't look at his phone for a few minutes and simply exists in the moment. There's this jaw aching smile creeping on his lips and he almost feels bad for feeling so good so soon. Aren't people supposed to be fully miserable when faced with a big breakup? He expected grief, anger, regrets, tears even. Feeling this peaceful wasn't even an option on that list.
His eyes roam the room for a little and stop on the brown leather rucksack in the far-right corner. His trusty old camera. The very reason he wanted to move here in the first place.
His mind is flooded with flashbacks of the excitement at all the locations he could use to shoot, the amazing scenery that captivated him at first glance. He had been so busy with working and real life in general, he shut that passion down completely.
He pulls himself up and drags his feet over to the bag, kneeling down and carefully unpacking it. The lens could use a clean-up but aside from that, everything seems in near perfect condition.
He stretches his hand over to the couch and grabs his phone, rapidly typing out a new message to Caroline.
- What are you doing today after work?
He fumbles with the camera a bit more while waiting for a reply.
- Getting a donut and that's literally it.
- How would you feel about modelling for an aspiring young photographer on his impromptu NY comeback shoot?
- Depends…am I at least getting a donut out of that deal?
He smirks and types back excitedly.
- You can get all of the donuts!
- In that case…pick me up at 7?
- Got you. Sax?
- No, the apartment. I wanna go home and change first.
- I'll ring you.
- Do not, I repeat, DO NOT come empty handed!
"I don't know what to wear."
She storms in half an hour later.
Bonnie looks up from her ice-cream to see what the fuss is about.
"Where?"
"I have a thing, like a photoshoot thing."
Her friend stops midway of wanting to shove a huge spoonful of ice-cream in her tiny little mouth. Bonnie's always been very ambitious.
"Wait what? Where? What for?"
Caroline is already in her room, frantically going over her closet, throwing things behind her in a not so neat heap on the floor.
"Stefan…Stefan needs help for a comeback project."
Bonnie immediately smirks. It's like watching a romantic comedy develop in real life and the two main characters couldn't be more oblivious. Well, Caroline couldn't be, Stefan might. He seemed more internally tortured than usual this morning, initially she assigned it to his breakup, but now that she thinks about it, it could very much be the unresolved tension with Caroline.
"How very noble of you…helping your dear friend out."
"Stop it."
She emerges from her room with a warning look. Bonnie bites her lower lip trying her best to stay serious when all she wants to do is giggle. This is a nice distraction from her own mess. Right on que, her phone lights up. She sees his name on the screen and huffs.
"Just give up already." She says out loud.
Caroline stands behind her and catches the name on the screen. Taking in to account the whole tub of ice-cream and the entire chocolate bouquet Stefan sent in (that is now gone) it was best to give Bonnie some extra time to deal with whatever she had to.
Caroline clears her throat for Bonnie to register her presence but says nothing on the matter. Bonnie won't admit something is going on with Damon if it's the last thing she has to do so she'll have to resort to getting all the information out of Stefan.
It's not the brightest idea considering Stefan's observation skills and interest in other people's love life or even acknowledging the idea of it, but she'll have to try.
"Did you decide?"
Bonnie asks and takes back her spoon, her phone safely tucked away on the other side of the couch. A documentary on bees is on, but even though her eyes are glued to the screen, her focus is somewhere else.
"Yeah…hey."
She sits on the arm of the couch and nudges Bonnie with her shoulder.
"Do you want me to just stay in and maybe watch a movie or something?"
Bonnie's eyes snap right at her.
"What? Why?"
Caroline slides down next to her so they are shoulder to shoulder and puts her feet up on the little coffee table, mimicking Bonnie's position.
"Ever since we got here we've both been so caught up in our own things and running around…we haven't hung out properly since Mystic Falls and I think that's really depressing."
Bonnie sighs.
"You're worried about me, aren't you? Is this what it's about?"
"Nope." That was so lamely executed she wouldn't even believe herself. "Okay, yes. You're starting a new job tomorrow and you had this big -huge- thing yesterday and amazing things are happening to you, I just want to be there for you and support you, not from afar, but for real, you know?"
"And big things are happening for you as well-"
Caroline glares at her.
"Stop that, they are. Just look at you and-" She stops herself before saying Stefan and guiltily bites down on her lip.
"Me and?" She sighs and shakes her head. "It doesn't even matter, I don't want to talk about me…I just really want to check on you. I knew what we were getting in to and you've followed me here and, as weirdly as this sounds, I don't want us to break up like Stefan and Rebekah." She whines.
Bonnie's eyebrows furrow to the max. She puts down her ice-cream and straightens up, squinting at Caroline.
"Care, you had me and you lost me."
"She followed him to New York so he could fulfill his dreams and she thought she'd be happy but she turned out to be miserable and she despised him for it. Call me crazy, but I don't want you to despise me in the future."
"That's because she had no dreams of her own that she could pursue here…but me?" She laughs in delight, her eyes sparkling at Caroline "Look at me…I'm living my best life here. Things could not have gone better if I wanted them to."
"Good." Caroline breathes out a sigh of relief and takes a hold of Bonnie's ice-cold hand. That girl has the worst blood circulation. "That's good."
"Would you relax? Life is going really well for us, is that really so hard to believe?"
Caroline raises her brows. "Well…okay fine, it's not. We deserved this, more importantly we worked really hard for this."
"Enough of this, there's a really handsome aspiring photographer waiting for your pretty ass to come down and inspire him."
Caroline rolls her eyes.
"I'll gladly blow him off if you're in need of company."
"We live together now, every night is girl's night. Go get ready!"
Caroline drags herself off the couch and stands in front of Bonnie, Damon popping in to her mind.
"Fine, but hey…you'll tell me if things go wrong and you find yourself in trouble, right?"
Bonnie eyes her suspiciously, that's oddly specific.
"Suuure?"
Caroline nods and goes back to her room to quickly put something on.
Her phone buzzes, the clock reads seven so it's most definitely him.
She reaches for her phone to reply to Stefan and types a quick reminder of all the things she has to do when she gets home, then shoving it in her back pocket with no intention of checking it for the next few hours.
A/N: For the people complaining they prefere to only read Bonnie/Caroline or any of the boys on their own…this is a Belvafore fic, not a Bonnie or a Stefan or just one of the couples fic. It says so in the summary and it is tagged the right way. I know you guys prefer some characters to others, but please respect me as a writer and if you'd like to read a fic that is specifically one character/couple, there are tons of them on FF, AO3, tumblr etc. I love constructive critisism and encourage it, but people complaining they only want to read about one character while clicking on a fic that is meant to feature all four of them equally makes no sense.
That aside, thank you so much for your support and reviews, you are all incredibly precious to me and I love you to bits!
Does anyone have an idea of what Damon is hiding from everyone? I'm curious if anyone's picked up on it.
Things to look forward to: Steroline out and about NY, Bamon's first day as work partners! So far you've had little chance to see the couples together and we focused more on each individual character, but from now on it's couples time 😊
If you want sneak peeks and edits, check tumblr every now and then, I post all of those on there.
