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Stefan POV
"Stefan! Stefan!" A voice shrilled. The moment her melodic voice rang through my ears, I instantly knew who it was…Angelina.
She ran up to me clumsily, her baby blue dress flowing behind her.
I had been patiently waiting all summer for her to talk to me, and it seemed as if today, my once hopeless dream, was becoming a reality.
She laughed giddily out of breath, "Hide me, your brother has been chasing me for nearly an hour now, and I am exhausted."
"Of course miss Gallo." I said, unable to hide my disappointment.
"Oh Stefan when will you ignore the formalities, please call me Angelina."
"As you wish." I muttered timidly.
I let out a breath of anger. Of coarse she was with Damon, they spent so much time together you would think that the two of them were permanently conjoined.
The odd thing was that I had known Angelina most of my life, yet I had hardly ever spoken to her. Mainly because she was always with Damon, and frankly because I had not yet managed to muster up enough courage to speak to her.
But all my life, I did not remember a time when I had not watched over her. I always kept a safe distance away, but I had quietly observed her ways over the years. And as pathetic as it was, I had soon found myself hopelessly in love with her.
Angelina she was unlike the other women of our age, she was mature, and along with her beauty, this wise nature had managed to capture the attention of Damon, who in fact is three years her senor.
Yet although she had a profound understanding of the world at only 17, she still managed to be fun and full of life.
These are the aspects I loved most about her, while most of the love struck men in the village wanted her because of her breath taking looks.
I was snapped out of my inner thoughts when I heard the steady sound of footsteps pounding the dirt in the distance.
"Quick" she whispered taking hold of my hand and bolting. "I hear him."
The moment our skin touched an indescribable feeling of joy coursed throughout my body.
We ran through the dense forest hand in hand.
My wish had done better than I ever imagined, for I was holding her hand.
"Over here" she said towing me to a small scoop behind a large oak tree.
We sat quietly in the dirt, with only the sounds of our heavy breathing traveling through the summer air.
"Come in closer…he'll see you."
I slid closer to her with no objections. I would use any excuse to be near her. I crouched in the dirt and constantly turned to her, just to see her expression, to get a single glimpse of her.
I had never been this close to her before. And I found myself wanting her even more.
"ANGELINA!" a voice bellowed in the distance. "I will find you."
He paused.
But because of the lack of response he continued. "When I find you I will get you back…. no one makes a fool out of Damon Salvatore."
Angelina tried to stifle a giggle.
"What did you do to him?" I whispered.
"When he was bathing in the creek I stole his clothes." She breathed happily.
I burst into laughter, "The creek is nearly a mile from the house."
She grinned mischievously, "I know, he traveled back home with only the air to cover him."
I admired her courage. I would never have the guts to do that.
"He's going to kill you."
"Oh no he won't, he just likes to make threats. He would never really follow through with any of them."
I heard the growing sound of crunching twigs.
Suddenly it stopped, and the only sound heard was the slow intake and release of a ragged breath.
"Gottcha" a smug voice whispered.
Angelina shrieked with glee, lifted herself off the dirt and began to run off.
However Damon was much quicker than Angelina, for he caught up to her and swept her off her feet and into his arms.
"Put me down!" She shrilled punching him in the chest.
"Not a chance." He smirked, giving her his signature grin.
Once again I was the silent bystander watching the two of them bicker back and forth.
I longed for the type of connection they had. And for once in my life I wished I were Damon…just so I could be with her.
There was some unknown entity about Angelina that held every mans attention. Yet Damon was the only one in the village who was not entranced by her, and yet he also was the only one who had the best shot of winning her affections.
I watched as Angelina looked up at the beating sun and froze.
"I need to go" She mumbled her lips hardly even moving.
Damon concerned at the sudden change of tone gently set her back down on her feet.
She looked up at him fearfully. "Its past noon, father will be angry. He told me to come back at noon…. and I disobeyed him."
Damon cupped her face between his hands, "You will be fine Angelina…I will walk you home and explain to your father that it was my fault, I was the one who kept you out so long. You will be fine."
She nodded warily.
"I will walk you too." I said seizing the chance to spend more time with her.
She smiled at me, "Thank you Stefan."
Damon glared at me in annoyance, "Sorry little brother, but I am her usual escort."
I opened my mouth prepared for an argument when Angelina reasoned, "I would be delighted if the both of you would walk me home."
And so do we did, we strolled through the forest together…all three of us.
Unfortunately throughout the walk Damon was always talking to Angelina. It was as if I wasn't even there.
So eventually I just became consumed in my own thoughts.
And naturally they drifted to Angelina.
Everyone knew that Angelina's father was a nasty drunk. And ever since her mother passed away twelve years ago, he began drinking heavily.
The whole village knew that Mr. Gallo slapped her around, yet still no one tried to interfere.
Although Damon had tried multiple times he ended up failing miserably, it seemed to only anger her father more.
Once she came to Damon hysterical with a black eye and a few broken ribs. He would have murdered Mr. Gallo without a second thought if she hadn't begged him not to.
That night Damon sneaked her into his room, and I heard her faint whimpers as Damon held her and whispered comforting words into her ear as she fell asleep.
It was moments like that, that made me envy Damon, for he could always calm her down and soothe her worries.
He was her person… the one being on this entire planet that she could always count on.
She just didn't know yet that she could count on me too.
I suddenly became aware of a fourth set of footsteps. Damon stopped and shushed us to remain quiet. Even though I was not the one talking.
He immediately took a protective stance in front of Angelina, which only made seethe in jealousy.
It should be me shielding her.
Angelina did not look phased by this at all. She stood there as if nothing threatened her. Which was mainly true because Damon would never let anyone harm her. But Pisa was a dangerous place, pimps, thieves, and murderers ran ramped along some parts…and unfortunately Damon would not always be there to protect her.
"Master Damon! Master Damon." A woman's voice cried.
Damon immediately relaxed, recognizing the voice to be one of our servants.
"What is it!" he snapped.
"Your father wants you."
He glanced at Angelina then back to her, "Well it will have to wait, tell him I am walking Miss Gallo home."
She shifted her weight to her other leg uncomfortably, "He was very angry master Damon, I do believe you should come home now."
"He is very fond of Miss Gallo he will understand. Please remind him that I am a crucial component to her safety."
This was not far from the truth at all. My father was in fact very fond of Angelina. And the whole village knew Damon to be the protector of her, although they thought it was rather odd that she chose to spend all her time with Damon, when there were a line of suitors waiting for her.
"Master Damon you father is…very un-agreeable today. Do you not remember what day it is?" she said softly.
It appeared as if a light clicked on in his head.
"Mothers death was today." He looked ashamed that he had not remembered.
In response to seeing his expression, Angelina wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him tightly.
She spoke softly into his chest, "Go, Stefan can walk me home. You need to be with your father."
Every year since the day of my mothers demise, my father and brother spent the whole day wallowing and drowning their sorrows in scotch.
I was excluded from these practices, for I did not know her.
"But what about your father?" he questioned.
"Don't worry about him. Like you said, I will be fine." She smiled, although even I could tell it was forced.
He went to protest but she stopped him. "Damon I will tell you if anything happens."
He did not seem convinced.
"Please go." She urged. "It's what I want."
He nodded reluctantly, but before leaving he walked up to me and whispered into my ear, "You better look after her. For if I find out anything happened along this trip, I won't think twice about killing you."
I did not question his threat. If Angelina were to come into any harm because of me, he would kill me. But as he walked away I wondered… was he solely talking about her safety?
Because he did not appear to be.
"Will we practice in the meadow tomorrow?" she yelled after him.
He spun around walking backwards, "Of course Angelina. When can I say no to you?"
"Obviously never." She giggled.
We then proceeded to walk in silence.
I desperately wanted to say something to her, but came up with nothing. I ran through multiple conversations in my head but none seemed worthy.
How did Damon converse with her so freely?
We reached the meadow, which indicated we still had a few miles left. As we parted through the long grasses, I took sight of a beautiful yellow daisy. I carefully grabbed hold of the stem and snapped it off. I sniffed it, and its sweet smell reminded me of her. So I handed it to her.
She timidly took it, our fingers brushed against one another as a faint blush creped up into her cheeks.
I had never made anyone blush before, and I took pride in it.
"Thank you." She said bringing the petals up to her nose and breathing in its aroma. "It smells lovely."
For some unknown reason my confidence built, and I felt as if I could do anything. Deciding to seize the moment I stopped short and gently enclosed her hands in my own.
"What are you doing?" she questioned startled.
"Angelina, I believe you are the most funny, unique, caring, beautiful woman I have ever met…and I want to be with you." I relinquished quickly.
She removed her hands from my gentle closure only to tenderly stroke the side of my face.
"I like you very much Stefan-"
That's all I wanted to here, all I needed was for her to like me, she did not need to love me yet.
I could not control myself any longer…I needed her now.
I urgently pressed my lips against hers. It was a sweet chaste kiss, and although I wanted this blissful moment to progress she pushed me away.
She blushed furiously, "I was saying I like you but...no."
I stood there rigid from embarrassment. However that was soon replaced by an overwhelming feeling of rejection.
"I'm sorry, I can make my own way home now." She muttered awkwardly.
"But what about your father?" I questioned, Damon's warning echoing in my muddled mind.
"Don't worry about him, I will be perfectly fine. I am fully capable of taking care of myself."
I did not believe her. I could hear the fear lingering within the depths of her tone. But even if I argued with her it would be of no use. From what I have seen, you could never win an argument with Angelina.
"Ok, just be careful." I cautioned, hesitantly.
She nodded her head in agreement, and smiled at me tenderly.
"Will I ever have a chance with you?" I asked in desperation.
She laughed, "Ask me in a year Stefan." And with that she turned around and walked the rest of the way home.
I watched her until she disappeared from my view, fully intending to ask her again when the year was up.
(End Flashback)
I remember that day was the beginning of my struggle to win her affection. For a year I tried winning her heart so that when the year was up she would finally accept.
And lucky for me she did.
I felt two delicate arms wrap around me.
"And what are you thinking about?" Elena whispered seductively into my ear.
"Just nothing." I muttered absently.
"Really? You weren't even thinking about me?" she teased.
"I'm always thinking about you." I said lovingly as I gazed into her lapis lazuli eyes.
She draped her arms around my neck and pulled me to the bed, her lips melting into my own.
But as I was kissing Elena something felt different, it felt wrong and forced.
Although I tried to ignore it, I knew why.
It's because she wasn't Isobel.