Upon returning home, Damon is shocked to find his brother being attacked by several other vampires.
With Stefan grateful that Damon was there, the siblings team up, and defeat the two opposite them. One goes down, the other flees.
Damon checks up on Stefan, who says that he recognizes the vampires, and that they were in the tomb. Damon turns to Stefan reluctantly, and start to tell his conversation with Pearl that morning, and how the Bennett spell didn't work, and that all twenty other vampires
were out…
XXX
Elena comes home that night, after spending an awkward double date with Stefan, and Matt and Caroline.
Having originally wanted to spend a drama-free night, Stefan did not mention, on the phone that night, that the tomb vampires were out. He wanted to let her sleep in peace.
Readying for bed as well, Emily suddenly recalled what Damon had told her, that she should talk to Stefan. And upon seeing her sister exit the bathroom a minute ago and dial a number she assumed was Stefan's, she rushed out of her room, and into her sister's. Elena, from beneath her bed sheets with her night-lamp on, eyes her strangely as Emily steps in. "Is that Stefan?" she asks.
"Yeah?" Elena replies in confusion. Stefan, who heard from the other end of the line, was also curious as to what she wanted, and Damon, who was picking up the dead vampire body from his living room, listened in as he worked, half-aware what this was about.
"Can I?" she gestures at the phone.
"Uhh, sure," Elena says, putting it out. Emily grabs it and puts it to her ear.
"Hi, Stefan," she greets.
"Hey, Emily," Stefan retorts with brows still furrowed.
"Hey, listen. There was, uh, something I wanted to talk you about," she said, voice audibly nervous. "Can we meet at the Grill tomorrow, at two?"
"Sure. Is something wrong?"
"No. Just. Need to ask you something," she replies.
"Okay. Sure."
"Okay, I'll see you then. Here's Elena back," she hands the phone to her sister and leaves the room.
Upon hanging up with Stefan, she gets out of bed and to Emily's, who was fixing her blanket. "What was that about?" she asks.
"Nothing. Just wanted to ask him something about vampires," Emily states.
"What?" Elena pushes curiously.
"Just, general questions," Emily replies, refusing eye-contact.
"…Like," Elena mused.
"Just stuff, Elena!" she tells tiredly. Elena is confused with her attitude.
She was tense, very tense about what she wanted to ask him. it wasn't something she would openly discuss with Elena, till she was sure of her decision.
"Are you okay?" Elena asks her, stepping in. Emily sighs and faces her.
"I'm fine. It's just, everything that's been going on, that's all," she gives, hoping the answer would satisfy her sibling.
That was actually the truth for Elena.
"Do you wanna talk about it?"
"No. I just. Need some rest," Emily nods, smiling assuringly at her. Still uncertain, Elena nods as well.
"Okay. Goodnight," she says, taking her leave.
XXX
"Hey," Stefan greets, sliding into the seat opposite her in the corner booth.
"Hi," she smiles, suddenly made nervous by his presence. Well, more about their topic of discussion. "Uh, do you want something to drink?" she politely asks.
"Sure," he plays along. He orders coffee, and she lemonade. When the waiter, Matt, who greets her and Stefan warmly, is off with their order, Stefan faces Emily again.
"So. What's on your mind?" he encourages, recalling her hesitant tone on the phone the night before. She seemed fairly jumpy and anxious opposite him right now as well.
Emily's gaze snapped to meet his, before she pulled it away nervously, uncertain how to start.
But she'd thought this over a dozen times since the night before, up until her arrival at the Grill.
She clears her throat, collecting scraps of confidence, and locks onto his gaze again. "I want you to tell me about your…vampire…experience," she lowly said, eyeing around cautiously for listeners, then to see his reaction.
A part of her thought Damon might have told him what she wanted, but it seemed he hadn't, for Stefan looked taken aback and confused by her question.
"Which part, exactly?" he asks.
"All of it. Like. The good. The bad."
"…Why?"
"I just…wanna know," she shakes her head.
But there could only be one motive behind a question like that.
Stefan's eyes go very wide.
"Emily, what exactly do you want?" he warily asked.
She feels she's been caught.
"I just wanna know. Please," she told, tone more desperate, as if she'd dropped the casual act.
"Okay. You wanna know? Okay," he fixes himself in his seat, seeming suddenly worked up, and thinking carefully of a gradual way to dis-convince her of what she wanted. Emily feels she's not going to like what she hears.
"Here you go," Matt says, approaching them with a tray of drinks.
"Uh, I'm sorry. Matt. Can we take those to go?" Stefan tells apologetically. Matt pauses, confused.
"Uh, sure," he walks back to the bar.
Stefan faces Emily when he's gone. "We can't talk about this here. Too many ears," he says, looking about vigilantly.
There was actually something he needed to tell both Gilberts.
The tomb vampires…
But this!
Emily had to be dealt with. Fast.
When their drinks are given, Stefan hastily pays, and guides Emily out. He is grateful her car is parked outside, and they enter it.
He leans back to put the drinks in the backseat somewhat impatiently, then sternly faces. "Why do you wanna know?"
"I-"
"You know, it doesn't matter. I'm gonna tell you anyways. Let's see. I've lived a hundred years. There have been good times. My emotions are heightened all the time, so, everything we vampires feel is three times what a regular human does. Um, I haven't really thought about having kids, but even if I did, I can't, cause-"
"I know. Damon told me," Emily said.
Stefan momentarily pauses.
Of course this was Damon's fault.
He refused to let Emily be taken down by his false beliefs.
"Yeah. Do you know what that means? Emily. You're very…maternal towards Elena, and Jeremy. Do you know what it means, to never really be a mother?" Stefan asks gravely.
"I…You could always adopt!" she gives.
"This is serious, Emily."
"Damn right it is, Stefan! You're right. On some level, Elena and Jeremy feel…like my own…So, I know what it means. I used to change Jeremy's diapers. I fought bullies for Elena when she was seven. I chased away the monsters under their beds. I was at every one of their school plays! They mean the world to me!...And right now, I!..."
"…You what?"
"…I can't protect them…"
"But you are protecting them-"
"Am I?! Anna was at the house last night, and do you know what I did?! I freaked out, and I almost forced Damon to spend the whole night because I was scared." Stefan is fairly surprised by the new information. He refrained from asking, because she wasn't done. "I was scared, because if Anna did decide to attack Jer, there was nothing I could do! Because you're ten times stronger, ten times faster-"
"Emily…Being a vampire. It won't give you what you want. It could destroy you. Especially someone like you. My life has been a roller-coaster of uncontrollable bloodlust, and a struggle to control." Emily sighs irritably at that, unconvinced. "You don't believe me? Do you know why I drink animal blood? It's not just because I don't like hurting people, it's because I end up killing them!" Emily turns to him with surprise in her eyes. "Every time I let the blood in, I lose it, and I spend a decade trying to gain control again, atoning for what I did! Is that what you want?! What if you hurt your sister?! Your brother! How can you atone for that?!"
"Damon told me he'd teach me how to control it."
"He can't guarantee that. It's different for every vampire. Some learn control, and others come to it just barely."
"So who's to say I can't control it?"
"And who's to say you can?..."
"…"
She was right. She wouldn't like what he had to say….
But he was also right…
He could see the cogs in her mind turning, thinking.
He prayed he'd gotten into her, because if not…if she chooses this…there's no telling how it would end for her…or Elena.
He couldn't let Elena get hurt…and he didn't want Emily to hurt either. He respected, and admired her. She was having a problem, and right now, he wanted to do all he could to help her.
Then there was the other thing he had to tell her…
He was afraid it would erase all he'd been trying to convince her of, and edge her to pick up that poison apple for the fake promise of safety.
She didn't have to know right now…
Maybe when they need to.
He and Damon would try and deal with the issue themselves.
He and Damon needed to have a serious talk about Emily.
XXX
"You're back. How'd it go?" Damon asks, stood on a stool and tuning the grand clock in hall.
"What the hell did you tell her, Damon?!" Stefan demands, standing opposite him with arms firmly crossed. Damon rolled his eyes.
"I told her to talk to you, cause who else can convince her this was a bad idea?"
"You were at her house last night. What were you doing?" Damon pauses his hand and glares at him in hostility.
There's a reason he often avoids Emily for days on. Because it makes him feel…pathetic…that he seeks her out for comfort, and a sense of hope.
It was bothering him that, just then, Stefan was making feel that way, and it bothered him more, cause he didn't want to stop seeing Emily because of it.
"What does this have to do with anything?" he irritably asks, resuming his work.
"Did you talk her into this? Was this your idea?" Stefan questions.
Damon refused to feel guilty about suggesting this to Emily, because he didn't believe it was a particularly bad thing, especially now that he was around to help her through it.
"Yes. It was. So?" he tells. Stefan glares at him in disbelief.
"So she trusts you, Damon! She listens to you."
Damon rips his hand away, and shuts the clock's glass panel with controlled force. He doesn't like it that Stefan is talking as though Emily was without a mind of her own, as though anything he says, she'd just blindly do.
"You're acting like I told her to jump off a building!" he stated, climbing down the stool to face him.
"You know damn well what it's like being what we are. Why would you make her believe this was a solution?!"
"I didn't. I told her she wouldn't be able to have kids. I thought that do it for her." Just like Stefan, Damon also thought Emily was fairly maternal. She was, but she's been a mother to her siblings for a long time, that the idea of not having kids sounded impossible to her, because in a way, she already had ones.
"She said she'd adopt," Stefan states bizarrely.
"Well. That is a solution," Damon smirks.
"This isn't funny, Damon!" Damon takes another step towards him.
"No, it isn't," he spits, expression twisted with sudden frustration. "She was terrified." He recalled the way she looked, the way she acted, just the night before. All those times she'd complained about feeling helpless. "She is terrified. Did you tell her about the tomb vampires?" he pushes, only wondering how her doubts about vampirism would most likely vanish upon hearing that the town was practically overrun by them now, and that many of them believe her sister to be Katherine, which puts her in quite the amount of danger. Stefan looks to the ground in shame, as though he ought to have mentioned it, but refused, because he didn't want Emily to change her mind again.
"…No," he replies. Damon smirks in mock.
"What do you think she's gonna do when she finds out?"
"What do you think is gonna happen when she turns, and kills someone? If you care so much about how she's feeling, how do you think she'll feel then?!" Stefan was really getting on his nerves with the way he spoke if her, the way he felt he was using the fact that Damon cared about her to make him feel bad.
"She has more control than that. And even if it happens, she'll get over it." 'She did it once already.'
"Oh, because you know her so well?" Stefan retorts.
"Better than you do." Stefan shakes his head. Damon was incredibly stubborn, but this wasn't a conversation Stefan could just ignore.
"Okay. What if she falls for you?"
Damon is incredibly taken aback by that.
"…What?" he irritably asks.
"Yeah, Damon. Being a vampire will heighten her feelings for you, and you know she has feelings for you, and I mean, maybe you feel something for her too…"
He didn't feel for her…
Did he?
"But it isn't love…You're not over Katherine-"
Ugh. Katherine this. Katherine that.
"Yeah, that's what everybody thinks. Including her…Katherine ruined my life! She came in between us, she turned us, and she…" Damon angrily purses his lips, refusing to say that last bit. 'She broke my heart.'
Stefan's eyes soften on Damon.
This was the first time he openly, seriously, discussed his feelings about her ever since opening the tomb.
Stefan slowly shakes his head.
It just wasn't all true.
"She didn't come in between us, Damon," he calmly said. Damon looked at him, only half bothering to listen. "We did that to ourselves…" Damon eyes him with confliction, reminiscing about their oh-so-long history of rivalries and reunions.
Stefan then looks at Damon seriously. "The fact that you're so angry with what Katherine did, means you're not over her," he tells. Of course, Damon retorts with a look of distaste. Stefan backs down. "Look, I'm gonna go hunting. That guy did a number on me last night," he states. Damon is displeased hearing that.
Even till that day, he was instinctively protective of his younger brother, and it often really showed, and Stefan never overlooked it.
"Just. Please don't encourage her…for her sake," he last says, before heading to exit through the back door.
Damon sighs tiredly.
…It was for her sake, that he offered to turn her in the first place…
XXXXX
