Chapter Nine

Last call and everybody's watching

Her voice rings out like a storm

Stefan's hot mouth was on mine, and then moved to my neck. The alcohol was making everything hazy, but I was very aware of what I was doing. As my tongue pushed into his mouth, I knew I was cheating on Katherine. And, as his lips tickled my neck, I knew he was cheating on Elena.

Our lips were everywhere. There was so much moisture and humidity between us, it almost felt like the south. He pulled at my hair as I unbuckled his belt and I bit his lip and he pulled off my underwear.

As he pushed himself inside me, I released a breath I didn't know I'd been holding in. A weight lifted that I didn't know I had. I felt whole again. "I could live inside you," he murmured as he pushed himself deeper.

"Oh god, please do," I moaned in assent. "I forgot how much I love fucking you."

He smirked and he rocked his hips into me and I put one hand through the back of his hair and the other hand on my clit. I rubbed as he thrusted and he watched me do it. "I love that," he moaned. And then we were kissing again. I never wanted my lips to leave his.

He pulled out and we rolled over so I could ride him. He cupped my breasts as I bounced up and down. I moaned and lengthened my neck to look at the ceiling as I felt my body convulse.

"You're going to come," he said, knowing me fully.

"Yes," I said, breathless. "Come with me."

I fell forward onto him and continued to rock my hips. We kissed intensely as he spilled out into me. I let him fill me, and it felt so good. So warm and perfect.

I rolled off of him and cuddled into his shoulder. He kissed my lips, and then my forehead and then my lips again. He couldn't leave them alone. Every time he went to leave, he was coming back to them.

He was hungry for me, and I was the same for him. I let him kiss me until I felt ready again and then I pushed him down.

He ate me out until I came again and then I was so tired I could barely move. He pulled me into him arms, covered us both with the blanket and we fell asleep.

I woke up just after 5:00. The bed was empty, but still warm. The shower was running. I grabbed the phone from my bag and noticed a couple texts from Katherine.

Hey baby, hope the interview went well.

How'd it go?

Do you want to go to a movie with Sam and I?

The movie's at 7:00. See you at home after.

I texted back quickly.

Hey baby. The interview went really well. I went to sub for a class right after. Have fun at the movie with Sam. I'm going to get dinner with Jess.

Jess was a friend of ours that Katherine despised, so she was always an easy out for me. Whenever Katherine went anywhere I didn't go, I'd magically have a date with Jess. It got me out of a lot.

I lay back down and pulled the covers over my naked body. It was chilly. I chewed on my lip and looked at the air conditioning unit in the corner. It was on full blast. I moved to the unit to turn it off and found one of Stefan's shirt hanging on the chair next to it. I pulled it on and wrapped it around me before walking into the bathroom.

The shower was running and Stefan was fully under the steaming water. He hadn't noticed me yet, so I watched as he let the warm water consume him. "Hey," I said. My voice barely a whisper. He looked up, surprised. I smiled softly. He nodded toward himself and motioned for me to come join him. I let the shirt fall off and got in with him.

We stood in the warm water, completely embraced for a moment. Then we switched spots so I could wet my hair as he shampooed his. As I pulled my hair to the top of my head to let it thoroughly soak, I felt a finger brush the spot behind my ear. I closed my eyes. Hard.

He found it. The secret tattoo I'd gotten for him after leaving him. I wanted to carry him on my body always, like I had done with Katherine.

"What is this?" he whispered.

I turned. His eyes were red, wet with uncried tears.

I ran my fingers over where the tattoo was. "It's the eternity symbol that we always talked about," I said and looked at his hands. Looking for his ring. The one he always used to wear. The one that had the symbol inside it. He wasn't wearing it. I looked on the counter where he'd placed his watch and wallet.

It wasn't actually an eternity symbol. It did have a break. It was an eternity symbol that stopped at the last second, and decided to be an S. When I first saw it, I asked him what it meant. He said it stood for Salvatore, and the inevitability that everything ends. Even something as eternal as family.

We'd always said we'd get tattoo's together. Mine would be the S, his would be a fancy C. And in that, we'd be bonded together, just like we were with the wedding bands. None of it came to fruition.

"Why?" he said, barely audible.

"Because I wanted you with me, always."

He knitted his eyebrows together. He put his hands on either side of my face and his forehead fell toward mine. "Come home," he said it like a plea.

"And then what?" I said, tears suddenly falling down my face.

"We'll pick up where we left off," he promised.

I harsh sob left my throat and I wrapped my arms around his neck and I sobbed into his chest. We would have stayed there until the water went cold, but hotel water never goes cold. I cried loudly, and then it became softer. I felt as he cried with me, but no sound ever escaped his lips. When he parted, my lips found his for a soft kiss. Then our foreheads found each other again too. I breathed out a sigh.

"Come see me tomorrow," he said. "After my meeting."

"I'm with Katherine," I said. My voice was not convincing.

"Come see me tomorrow," he said again. "Please."

I nodded.

We finished our shower and he got out first, covering himself with a large towel. As I got out, he wrapped me in a big fluffy white towel and I laughed as he attempted to dry me off, like I was a kid who'd just ran out of the pool.

I kissed him again. His lips were magnets, and I couldn't stay away. They kept pulling me into them.

We got dressed in silence and afterward, I looked at the clock. It wasn't even 7:00 yet. I had a couple hours before I needed to be home. I looked at my phone. One missed call. One text.

See you tonight.

"Hey," I said, and tilted my head. "How about that pizza?"

The smile on his face said it all.

We spent the next hour talking about tv shows we'd been watching, and books we told each other we needed to read.

We laughed and ate pizza and kissed in between bites. It was disgusting and reminded me of high school but it was perfect and I felt like myself.

And that was the problem.

Katherine knew a part of me that Stefan didn't know and Stefan held a part of me that Katherine didn't understand.

I would always be half of myself because I was always picking parts of myself to be. I swallowed the piece of pizza that was in my mouth and fell back into the pillow. I looked at the clock. It was almost 9:00.

"I should go," I said.

"Yeah," he offered with a nod.

"Tomorrow though?" I said.

He nodded. Neither of us had said anything about Katherine or Elena since my little slip in the bathroom earlier.

He walked me to the door and brushed the hair away from my neck to look at my tattoo again. "I could be with you. Always," he said it like a promise. "All you have to do is ask."

Her name played on my lips, not Katherine's. I wanted to say it. What about Elena? What would he tell her? What would he do? Would he do to her what I did to him? And weren't the trying to have a kid. I closed my eyes and looked at the ground. How fucked up is this whole situation? I sighed.

"What about her?"

"Mine or yours?"

I breathed out a soft laugh. "Both," I said in an irritated voice. "But, I was referring to yours."

He put his hand on my face and I leaned into it. He rubbed his thumb over my cheek softly. He shrugged. "She's not you."

a/n: I was so excited to explore this relationship more. Tell me what you think!