Stefan's POV

I wake up from someone's yells in the kitchen and my eyes pop wide open. I swallow hard as I realize that I'm still lying on the ground and I've dozed off hiding under the blanket, playing with the Gameboy I stole from one of my foster brothers earlier.

"Stefan, you lil piece of shit where are you?" I recognize her voice right away and I hide the Gameboy under the pillow, standing up as fast as I can and running to the kitchen.

I feel so numb from sleeping on the floor and my legs hurts from running around yesterday, but I somehow made it there and when I see the rest of the kids standing next to each other in line before her, I know that we're in trouble. She did this only when she was about to punish us for something.

I silently find my way next to Mary, a five year old girl with long black hair falling down her skinny shoulders, I notice that there's strawberry jam on her fingers before I stand next to her, but I keep silent.

"So" our foster mom says as she starts walking up and down the kitchen staring at each and every one of us six kids, who are too hungry for their own good and who she liked to torture in her free time "Who is going to admit, huh?"

"Admit what?" I dare speak up and her piercing blue eyes send shivers down my spine. She really hated me, I don't know why but she did and the rest of the kids always found a way to get away with everything or just received a few slaps here and there, but me…I was always the one to blame.

"Someone ate the strawberry pie" one of the older boys said through teeth when he felt our so called mother get angrier.

I squeezed my eyes as I remembered Mary's stained fingers. She as shifting uncomfortably next to me, and was trying to shove her hands in her pockets, but I moved my hand behind her and found her small palm.

She looked up with her big brown eyes and I saw all the sadness and guilt inside them, but mostly there was fear-they would punish her if they found out and I knew she was so damn hungry this morning, which is why she must've dared to eat the remaining slices of the pie.

While the woman wasn't watching and was talking to the other kids, I grabbed Mary's hand in mine and rubbed them fast, staining my fingers with the jam instead.

Before she knew what was going on, I stepped up and raised my hands, just as our foster mom has started yelling at one of the older boys.

"It was me" I say out loud and I see her head snap in my direction, her eyes fill with anger and she rushes to my side.

Before I realized what was happening, she was already pulling my ear and kicking my behind with her foot, as she dragged a chair to the darkest corner of the kitchen and roughly put me on it there, making me stay on my knees with my hands above my head. I had to stay there all evening and wait for our foster father to come home, so I could receive the right punishment.

The only thing I ate in the next two days was some stale bread from that Mary stole for me.

I wake up when I feel myself rolling off from the bed and before I know it I'm already on the floor. I feel a sharp pain in my back and it takes me a minute to regain my strength and take a deep breath before I actually open my eyes. When I finally do, I see the blanket and my pillow are still up on the bed and I'm lying there on the cold floor with my sweated shirt and shaking hands.

I sigh tiredly and lay back, closing my eyes and breathing heavily. This was the third time this week I fell from the bed and I have been having nightmares even since I came to this house three or maybe already four weeks ago, I lost count.

At first I was sharing a room with Danny, but I kept waking him up with my screams at night and the Gilberts made us switch rooms, so Jeremy came to sleep with him and they send me off to the smallest room on the floor which I think wasn't even supposed to be one before, but now that there were too many kids inside, they had to use every possible space.

I preferred to be alone, I was waking people up with my screams even when the door was closed, mostly Elena, because she was sleeping in the room next to me and she was covering up for me in front of her parents, lying to them that I've been good and that she doesn't think I have nightmares anymore, just because she knew they would send me off to that shrink or some group meetings or whatever and I didn't want that.

I hear someone open the door and I recognize her light steps.

"Stefan?" she asks and I groan tiredly. If it wasn't for the light coming through the window, I wouldn't be able to recognize her at all. Her hair was a big mess and she was dressed in a red tank top and green shorts "Are you okay?" she asks as she approaches me and kneels down beside me.

She didn't need to ask what was going on, she knew far too well already an when she stretches her hand and helps me raise up slowly I thank her with a wide smile, even though my back hurts so much from falling and I already had bruises.

"How bad was it this time?" she asks as we sit on the bed and I bury my head in my hands, but I don't respond, not right away, I need to gain strength in order to lie to her that I'm fine, but before I could do anything at all, I feel her hands on my wrists and as she pulls them away, she smiles at me. I close her eyes when she cups my cheek and presses her forehead to mine.

I can't stop thinking about Damon's words and how right he was-this was more than friendship and the last two weeks prove him right. I have fallen hard for her and no matter how much I tried and was desperate to rip my heart out and stop feeling anything at all, I couldn't.

At first, I was trying to pull away and so was she-we were both aware of the fact, that this is too damn wrong-we were living under the same roof and we were foster siblings, we couldn't be kissing or fooling around, but then one night I had this awful dream and I kept trashing the bed, without being able to wake up. I felt her small hand on my shoulder and she didn't pull back when she heard me scream or yell, or when I dug my nails into my own arms out of the fear I was reliving again and again.

She slipped in bed with me and kept rocking me in her embrace until I calmed down and my breathing returned to normal. She didn't say anything just like now, she only brought me some water and kept stroking my hair. Then we laid down on my bed and I tucked her with my blanket, pulling her close to my chest.

I don't know how it happened or why I did it, but I leaned down and kissed her and she didn't pull back. I didn't let her go for a while and she didn't make it better when she snuggled closer. Once we finally separated to catch a breath, we stared into each other's eyes and wondered what the hell are we going to do now.

We still haven't figured it out. At first we tried to avoid each other, which didn't help at all, actually all it did was bring me more problems, because without her help I failed the Chemistry test and Grayson was extremely disappointed in me.

Then she just couldn't resist not coming to my room when she heard me yell and I loud be lying if I say that I didn't lock the door because I forgot. I didn't forget…I just was afraid of being so damn alone.

It's been a long time since anyone cared about me and now that Damon was in my life and we went out every week and Elena took care of me when I felt like shit, I couldn't even realize what was happening to me.

I only knew, that it can't be good. Good things didn't last long and rarely happened to me. I was afraid of letting myself be happy and I was pushing all feelings away or trying to bury them. I think Elena noticed this, but she was patient and didn't pressure me in any way. I believe she was very confused herself. I doubt she expected to end up hooking up with a beaten orphan boy that they've brought to her house and told her she has to accept and treat him like a brother.

"I'll go grab you a glass of water, okay?" she said as she kept rubbing my back and I thanked her with a nod, before I watched her disappear and barely heard her steps down the stairs. She was very silent at night not that she needed to be-Grayson was working a nightshift this week and Miranda slept really deep. I think she took some pills to help her with that and even if she didn't, she was really tired from working and taking care of four kids, so barely anything woke her up, even my yells at night.

I don't even hear when she comes back, I'm still trying to push away this awful nightmare, a memory more like it, when I feel her hand at the back of my neck. I look up and take the glass from her hands, drinking it all at once. I know she's observing me carefully and probably waiting for me to say something, but I don't. I only thank her with a kiss on the forehead and grab her hand in mine, caressing it with my thumb.

"You should go to bed" I say with a light smile and she shakes her head as she pushes me down the pillow

"I'm not going anywhere, Stefan, you're still shivering, look at your hands" she says and I stare down at my shaky hands.

I don't stop her when she helps me take off my sweaty shirt and slips under the blanket , joining me on the pillow. I know she's looking at me, but I refuse to stare into her big brown eyes full of compassion. I feel guilty for making her go through this with me. There were nights when she would stay and leave at dawn, but even with her by my side I still had nightmares and woke her up. I felt calmer knowing I'm not alone, but I couldn't always cheat fate-sometimes it took her five minutes to wake me up and when I finally opened my eyes I would see her staring down at me worried.

"Elena…" I sigh tiredly as I remove a strand of hair from her cheek and tuck it behind her ear. She smiles at me, but I can see that she's tired too. I hate myself for waking her." I'm so sorry" I apologize as I lean down and place a gentle kiss on her lips.

When I'm about to pull back, she puts her hand at the back of my neck and refuses to let me go. Our wet tongues intertwine and I feel her smiling while I kiss her. Her hand travels down my stomach and then on my back, so when she touches my bruises I grunt silently, but we don't stop and I feel her moving up and caressing my back.

I pull her closer and roll on my back, placing her on my lap. She smiles, obviously glad at the position I've chosen for her and I allow my hand to trace and explore her flat stomach underneath her top. I soon get to her breasts and she leans down, placing small wet kisses on my neck. I hear her moan silently when I cup her breast and her already hardened nipple and she giggles lightly in my embrace.

"Stefan" she breathes heavily in my ear when my hand travels back to her stomach and stops above her shorts. I start pulling them down and I feel that she's wet already, which only makes me smile and feel good about myself-for once, I was doing something right, or so I hoped. "We're going to wake everyone' she hisses silently and her hair tickles my face. I laugh as throw her back on the pillow and switch positions, ribbing my hand in her soaking panties, she was burning up, there were little drops of sweat on her forehead and as I kept teasing her down there, I continued staring in her big brown eyes, thinking how beautiful she is, but not saying it out loud because I knew how cheesy and stupid it would sound.

"Then you're going to have to be quiet" I suggest with a devilish smirk and she smiles again.

"We can't keep doing this" she mumbles and I sigh realizing how right she was. I remove my hand and cup her cheek, without breaking eye contact

"It's a bit late for that, don't you think?" I ask and I see her swallow hard. She felt guilty, though she shouldn't be, this is all my fault, I could've stopped it, but I didn't and now she was suffering inside just like me.

She sees I'm lost in thoughts again and pulls me down for one last kiss. I knew now's not time for fun, so I collapse down on the pillow and hear her ragged breathing next to me-she's trying to calm herself down, but she's having a hard time. I turn my back to her, closing my eyes and the moment I do, I see that woman and her husband, who beat their foster kids because they dared eat more than they were given.

I don't realize that I've began shaking again until I feel her hand on my shoulder, trying to turn me over, but I don't want her to see me like this-I refuse to let her take a look into my watery eyes and recognize all that darkness that I live inside with, but no matter how much I try to pull up a fight, she finally succeeds and turns me over, after whispering my name for more than fifteen minutes.

"Hey, hey, you're shaking again" she says and I feel her bury her hand in my hair.

I close my eyes and refuse to look at her even though I'm pretty sure she realizes why. I don't move away when she pulls closer to me and I finally embrace her, letting her head fall on my bare chest. I'm so damn tired, but I'm not sure if I will be able to fall asleep-I'm too scared of the nightmare repeating again. She caresses my chest and looks up, but I pretend to be trying to fall asleep. I barely hear her say

"I think you have to do something about this, Stefan. You can't keep going on like that" I look at her and move my hand to her head, stroking her gently, smiling at her, without responding to it at all.

I close my eyes and she gives up on talking to me as well. Twenty minutes later she's out and once I'm sure she's safe and at peace, I let myself doze off as well.

I wake up from her hair tickling my nose and making me sneeze. Her eyes snap open and once she realizes that I'm not having a bad dream and everything's fine, she chuckles lightly and leans down to give me another kiss. I don't even realize that it's way past dawn, that the sun is finding its way through the curtains and I can hear the steps of the other members of the family outside the door.

I'm not thinking about any of these side stuff that are at the back of my mind, I let them slip and bury myself deeper in this love that is bound to be damned, so when the door opens and we hear Danny's sweet childish voice calling me to join him for breakfast, my breath gets stuck in my throat.

Elena pulls sacredly away from me and I pop up on my elbows, staring at a very confused Danny who drops the toy he's holding and stares at us with is mouth wide open.

"Stefan? Elena?" he asks confused "What are you guys doing?"

"Mr. Salvatore, would you may be like to take this test while you're not sleeping on your desk?" I hear Mrs. Hunters piercing voice coming from somewhere above and I abruptly wake up, staring down at the Chemistry test.

This was my second and final chance of passing this thing after I failed miserably the first time, but I was so damn tired from not sleeping all night and with everything that happened this morning I just couldn't concentrate.

"I'm sorry" I say shyly and look back at the list, scratching the back of my head as I'm trying to find a solution to all these problems.

"I suggest you apologize less and put your mind into passing this test" she scolds again before going back to her desk. I look up to see the other students staring at me and smiling devilishly-they probably considered me the dumbest kid here and I wasn't doing anything to prove them wrong.

I looked back down and closed my eyes, letting all the memories from a few hours ago flood my head. I've managed to convince Danny not to say anything to anyone, I even tried to fool him, claiming that Elena needed my help and that's why she was in bed, but he didn't believe it because he asked why were we kissing. He seemed so confused, he couldn't understand what was going on. He has started accepting Elena as her sister and me as his brother and now basically his older siblings were making out in bed.

My world shattered into pieces, I didn't know what to do anymore. I could see that things won't stay the same after this, one way or the other, Danny will probably let the words slip if he hasn't by now. I guess, I was glad that I wasn't going home after school, but meeting with Damon instead.

I couldn't get Danny's words off my mind

"Will you get us kicked out of this house?" he has said and I saw the tears in his eyes.

He was right to be scared-if the Gilberts knew, that was it and I was aware that Danny is just a child, a very sensitive one. He'll torture himself with what he saw this morning all day and they'll notice, if they haven't already.

They would kick me out right away, probably call Ric in the evening or ask him to take me as soon as he can and I knew that even though he tries so damn hard, he was tired and would most probably send me to a group home.

I sighed as I stared down at my bag-I had some food in there, but surely not enough money, I couldn't catch a bus now and leave, plus Damon will be waiting for me outside.

The best scenario would be if Danny keeps silent till tomorrow, I pack some stuff tonight, get some money and leave before them realizing what's wrong. This way they won't blame Elena for anything and I will live to their expectations for being a miserable confused young man as Gilbert liked to say, who just ran away when they tried to offer him a good life.

The thing is-I really didn't want to leave this time. It felt good to have a nice place and to love someone. It was also great to be loved.

Despite the fact that I still couldn't trust him, it I felt nice around Damon and I didn't want to leave him. I knew that doing this, would completely disappoint everyone, including him-we've had a really nice time in the past two weeks, that we've seen each other and he taught me how to fight.

There wasn't really a choice anyway. If I stayed, I was doomed, if I went away, I left everyone behind me, including the brother that I just found and who seems to be the only person, who doesn't judge me, but I would be free of all this and I would keep Elena and Danny safe.

It was probably better even for Damon if I went away. He didn't need me by his side. It's true that we've been talking more, but he has no idea what I've been through in my life and if he even catches a slight glimpse of it, he'll get scared and push away.

I've let my guard down in the past few weeks, I've also been selfish-I let both Damon and Elena suffer with me from things they shouldn't have even known about.

Nobody deserved me neither as a boyfriend nor as a brother.

I hear the school bell ring and stare down at my empty test. I smile to myself, ruffling my hair and clearing my throat once I feel the tears in my eyes, trying to swallow them down-it was time to go. Before any of this happened, before Ric brought Damon home, that's what I wanted to do-I was planning to run away.

Well now I was going to do it.

I put the test on the teacher's desk and leave the room under Mrs. Hunter's stern stare, but I don't really care about this anymore. I put my baseball cap on and head outside, ignoring all the gossips behind my back.

Damon's POV

I wait leaning on my truck for Stefan to come out just like every Wednesday, but this time when I see him walking out the building with his head down, obviously buried in thoughts, I furrow my eyebrows confused.

"Hey there, buddy" I smile and he fakes one as well. I really wanted to hug him, but he's only let me do this on a couple of occasions by now and every time he did, he was so damn tense so I didn't push him, I knew he needed his time

"Hey, Damon" he responds barely audible with his hoarse voice. I can see that he's not only sad, there's something bothering him, because he doesn't lift his eyes to me at all, even when we settle inside the truck.

"So, what do you wanna do this time?" I ask him before I turn on the engine and I watch him shrug his shoulders while staring down at his new trainers" Well, we can go back home and train?" he shakes his head

"I don't wanna fight today" he says and I nod, but I'm still so damn confused by his behavior. I had to do something about it

"Well then why don't we go grab something to eat and drive to the park, huh?" I ask because I can't come up with anything else right now and he didn't seem like he wants to go and do something just for fun. I knew he liked this place by the lake and he enjoyed feeding the ducks there, I think it helped him relax, so I drove off while still throwing him worried glances when he wasn't looking up and couldn't notice me.

"So how was school? Do you think you passed the test this time?" I ask and he shakes his head

"I doubt it" he responds, though he doesn't sound sad, maybe a little distant though "But it doesn't matter anyway." he continues and I furrow my eyebrows. How does he mean it doesn't matter? This was his education, he had to pass everything if he didn't want to repeat an entire year.

"I'm sure you'll be just fine, don't worry" I try to cheer him up, but he just keeps staring at his feet.

When I park the car and we get out, he walks before me while I grab the hot dogs and follow him up. As we walk side by side I notice the dark circles under his eyes and I realize that he still must be having troubles sleeping, despite the fact that I knew he was trying hard to overcome them.

Grayson told me that they hear him yell at night and I'm sure he must be feeling like crap for doing this to them, so maybe that's partly the reason why he's in a bad mood.

That, and the fact that he was failing some subject at school and I'm pretty sure the Gilberts weren't happy about it. If they're really scolding him for this, then they're out of their minds-this kid has never been praised, the last thing he needed is someone bashing on him or giving him tough love for not doing great at school.

They should be helping him and I didn't see them doing so-I knew he was trying so hard to please them, but he did spent half of the school year actually outside school running around and trying to earn money, so he wouldn't die out of hunger, and I doubt they were taking this under consideration.

We settle down on the wooden benches near the lake and I take a bite from my hot dog, but he doesn't even touch his. I notice him staring somewhere before us, observing the birds in the lake or the clouds on the sky, but I don't say anything-I wait for him patiently to start talking and if he doesn't feel like it we can stay like this in silence all he wants.

I realized that with Stefan you can't push things-either he wants to tell you something or he doesn't and he wasn't a guy who opens up to everyone.

"Damon" he finally speaks up and I almost jumped surprised to hear his voice

"Yeah, buddy?"

"Tell me about your mother" he asks and I swallow hard.

We haven't talked about me much ever since we began spending time together. He doesn't like me digging into his past and I wasn't sure he wants to hear anything about mine at all, so we mostly trained or watched games, but we never actually discussed anything else and I knew that when the time comes, we will, but he surprised me with his question.

"What was she like?" he asks again when he feels my confusion and urges me to talk

I smile as I think of her.

"She was…" I begin failing at finding the right words "She was a really good mother" I say, hoping that I won't hurt his feelings too much by talking about her "She was kind and selfless and she always put me first no matter what. My father, he was a rude man, who only really cared about money. He wanted to shape me from young age and he would pressure me into doing things I didn't want to do. He dictated my whole life, my education, my future and I hated him for it. My mother was always on my side, she made sure I never forget that I can be whoever I want and do whatever makes me happy. She reminded me that even when the whole world is against me, I will always have her by my side and with her help I managed to end up doing something I loved."

"But I thought your father owned that company?" Stefan swallows hard and asks confused. I am not sure he was ready to listen to everything I had to say "Didn't he make you work for him?"

"Well yes," I nod "He wanted me to run it and even expand, but by the time I was in college, business was going down and soon after that he died, so there were decisions to be made. It took me some time to realize that I didn't hate the company, I hated the person who's been putting such pressure on my shoulders all my life and who I've been constantly disappointing. I loved books, I always have and I enjoyed spending time there, so I decided that I should try and save what is left out of it. Work was ruining me, though" I can say he's listening carefully because he doesn't even flinches "And that reflected on all my relationships including the one with my fiancé."

"You had a fiancé?" he asks surprise evident in his voice and I chuckle

"Yeah, I did" I nod as I remember Katherine and the way she hurt me "Anyway, she left me and it's not like I can blame her for it. I was spending most of my time at work and neglecting everyone else. Even when I found out she was gone, instead of spending the night in our house, I drove off back to work." I sigh as I run my hand through my messy hair

"My mom was by my side even then. I honestly think she was kind of relived when I told her, I guess she never really liked Katherine. She used to come by my flat and make sure I'm alright, she urged me to spent less time at work and do other things as well, but I preferred burying myself into it, because it took my mind of all the pain."

"Is this when you started drinking?" he asks, his voice shaky, not sure if he should be getting down there, but I don't really mind sharing with him, he was my brother.

"No, I began after we found out that she's going to die and there's nothing I could do about it. A day before she passed away, she told me about you and asked me to find you." I explain, but this time he doesn't even flinch, his expression is so damn serious, though I notice his hands were slightly shaking. "She hated herself for leaving you and said it was her biggest mistake."

"What did she die from?" he asks, ignoring my last words just as I assumed. I feel like we shouldn't be talking about this, not now at least, but he had questions and I couldn't do anything but answer him

"Brain cancer" I say my throat dry as I remember the endless hours at the hospital waiting for them to give me even some hope, anything at all, to promise me that she'll be alright, that I wasn't losing the only living relative I had and the only person on earth who gave a damn about me.

I see him swallow hard and shift uncomfortably next to me, but he still refuses to look me in the eyes, probably afraid of what he'll see there- a broken man, who lost everything in his life, just like he, who had nothing to begin with.

"Why did she leave me?" he asks, his voice breaking a little and I shake my head right away

"Stefan, I don't think that we should-"

"No, I want to know" I can't get where this sudden interest comes from "Tell me" he begs and I can feel both the sadness and fear in his voice-fear from what I am about to say. And I'm afraid as well, I don't know how to do this without hurting him, but I was certain that I will not lie.

"When she found out she was pregnant with you, she came back home to get me and run away, but my father found out about her plans and gave her a choice" I stare down at my feet when I finally feel his eyes on me. I feel awful, I can't do this to him, I don't want to hurt him, so I take a few minutes, trying to get myself together, hoping that he will give it up, but he reminds me of his presence with a light sigh and I have no other choice, but to continue, he's not dropping it. It's not that he didn't deserve the answers to all his questions, but I don't think now was the right moment

"She could leave town and never look back, but he was going to keep me with him or she could stay, give birth and give you up for adoption." I finally let out and as I do I realize that my voice is barely audible.

For a few minutes we stay like this, none of us saying anything, I give him some time to let it sink in and when he finally does and speaks up I can feel the deep sadness in his voice.

"So she chose you over me" he lets out the simple truth "She decided to stay with you and her husband and get rid of me."

"Stefan I-" I begin to apologize, but he interrupts me

"It's okay" he says "I don't want to hear your apologizes, Damon" I finally dare face him and I see the tears in his eyes that he refuses to let go.

He runs his hand through his messy hair and he suddenly looks too old to me. I don't expect him to speak up again and I wonder what are we going to do now. I'm sure that he's hurt, I can see it on his face-it's like I dug a hole in him, one that will however, never heal, I was just another thing to ruin him, just another person to completely destroy him.

"When I was little" he starts explaining "Like maybe six or seven I was in this orphanage and every two weeks a family would come and adopt someone to their liking" I listen to him carefully, not realizing where he's going with this, but it was the first time he shared something with me from his past and I couldn't help but feel a little bit optimistic that if not today, maybe one of these days he'll start opening up to me and the nightmares will stop torturing him so much

"They would make us order in this big row, both boys and girls, we put our best clothes, I had this nice white shirt and blue jeans, that Ric got for me especially for these occasions and I would always shower the morning before they came and comb my hair. People came and go, families more wealthier than I can even imagine back then. I remember women crying when they held their sons or daughters, but they never chose me" he explains patiently and I can barely keep myself together as I listen to his words

"And the truth is I wasn't disappointed at all." I peak my eyebrow surprised at his words and listen carefully as he continues "After everything was over they would give us a lot of food, probably to make the rest of us feel better and I remember that one time when Ric came. He has bought me ice cream and I was really happy, cause I haven't had one in probably two or three months." I feel my heart swell at his words, he was deprived of simple things, stuff that I always took for granted and even had the guts to bitch when something wasn't according to my taste. I was a spoiled little brat

"And I remember he said "Don't worry, I'm sure they'll pick you up next time" and I responded that I don't want them to do so.

"Why not?" I ask confused and he finally turns to me

"I told him "Because my mom is looking for me and when she finally finds me, she's going to get me home with her" his face is stern and his look is distant, he's probably going back at this moment, remembering his conversation with Ric.

I look away, unable to take all that sadness in his eyes, I feel like I'm going to break down right there, but I couldn't, I had to keep it together for him.

I realized that my pain is just something so insignificant compared to everything he went through, that I had no excuse to drink or try to forget my reality-he has been through hell and he kept going through it that's the worst part. Me? I was just a spoiled asshole who didn't know shit about life, who got duped by his fiancée, because he was too scared to face the problems they had and who lost his mother after she's been by his side all his life.

"I want you to take me home now" he says as he stands up and throws whatever bread left he has in the lake, watching the ducks gather around it.

"Stefan, maybe we should-" I start but he shakes his head with a sad smile.

"Just take me home." he asks again and I nod, standing up and slowly walking back to the truck.

Stefan's POV

I stay on the porch long after Damon's gone, thinking about everything he told me today about our mother. I don't know how to describe what was going on inside me, but I knew this-I was deeply sad and I haven't felt like this in months, probably even a year. I didn't want to move, I didn't want to talk to anyone, less alone eat-I just felt like someone dug a hole in my heart and left me on the ground all alone.

Until I realized that what he told me isn't news at all.

I will always be the poor orphan boy, who messes up and never gets picked up. I'll be always the one who's left behind no matter what.

I will always be alone.

I'm never the first choice, nobody puts me first. There isn't anyone to do so anyway.

So I skipped dinner and waited for everyone to go to bed. I told Elena I have a lot to study and gave her one last kiss on the forehead before she went to her room.

At midnight, I packed my old bag, grabbed a few shirts, some sandwiches from the fridge and everything I've saved from the pocket money the Gilberts gave me. It wouldn't be enough for starters but then again I was still good at stealing.

I could never be the nice boy the Gilberts wanted me to be-I wasn't meant for this kind of life and Damon only confirmed this today.

I went out into the warm summer night and bought a pack of cigarettes on my way to the station.

I was out of town before dawn.

A/N: That's pretty much it with the SE moments in this fanfiction. I'm sorry it took me longer to update, but it was a tough chapter to write. Thank you for reading and I would appreciate your opinions on it!