Chapter Summary: Beauty is a lie. And if you fall for it, you will be burn alive. He promised himself everyday, for keeping far away from the twisted epic love stories. He tried, sucking the pain inside, keeping the tears to fell away.

It was a long night and Stefan was tired and exhausted and just wanted to sleep, but he couldn't. He had to get ready and go to his classes and pretend that life goes on. The reality for him was that, the time had been stuck, rather he has been stuck in the past, trying to move on like other normal people do. It didn't felt right to him. He felt as if there were pieces from a puzzle board which were missing directly out of his heart. No, scratch that! They were stolen and burnt and he was left with holes in his heart which can never be filled in. However hard he tried, he was lost.

"Aren't you supposed to be on the road, traveling, and enjoying the world around you?" Stefan was walking towards his school, his phone in between his ear and his shoulder.

"Well I am already on the road, but I can't miss to bug my best friend and tell him to enjoy, which I have been doing for the past years. Plus, how can I pass each day, without being constantly poking you to hook up with the hot chicks around you." Lexi's voice was clear from the other end of the line. Stefan rolled his eyes on that. He always did.

"Okay, you have two minute to tell me the reason you called. You never call at this time of the day Lexi?"

"What, now I can't even call. In which book is it written that a best friend can't check up on his buddy?" asked Lexi defensively. "Anyways, did you have any call from Damon?" she asked cautiously not knowing how he was going to react for her further information. Stefan was confused on her question.

"No, I don't think he did, and even if he did I don't care. I don't even remember, when was the last time I talked with him? Why, what's wrong?" he was frowning.

He didn't wanted to discuss Damon at that time or at any time. He always used to dodge the conversation with Lexi whenever it came to Damon, and she never forced him to say anything more. That's how their friendship worked. They had known each other for about fifteen years now, and she always helped him in sublimating his anger issues. But lately, even she couldn't help him in bringing him out of his misery.

"Um… I think you should wait for his call-"

"Just tell me Lexi, or I am done talking with you right now." Stefan cut her in the middle. He was already irritated by hearing his name, and he just wanted to be done with the conversation now.

"They are moving in together." There was silence on both ends for a while. After a long moment, Lexi heard the uneven breaths coming out of Stefan. She knew his anger is raising, and she has to calm him down, but she doesn't know how to do that on the phone itself.

"How do you know? You are not even in the city." His mind was blank. He felt like was stuck and holding his past while his brother was happily moving forward to build a bright future for themselves. He wanted to calm himself down before he pick up a fight with someone and hurt them.

"I have my resources. Stefan….. Please, as I have always said, may be she was the one, but only for a certain period. You have to move on." Said Lexi softly.

Yes, he has to move on. Everybody has been saying that to him lately, but nobody gives a way of doing it. He wanted to puke at the thought of his brother and how he destroyed his life, how he took the most important thing in his life, how he fell in love with the girl he love the most, how his epic love fell for his brother and left him with a broken soul.

"Lexi, I am running late… I have to go." He cut the phone without even saying a good bye.

His mind was wandering in his past when he entered the café. He didn't even bothered to wait and ask the girl if she is waiting too. She was standing a little off the line and he didn't cared much and went straight and stood in front of her.

"Hey, I was standing here, you know." He didn't cared for anything she said, feeling numb at that moment.

"No, you were not." He told her flatly. He was trying to calm his heartbeats which were accelerating every seconds, and so, he didn't care if he was being rude.

"Uh… yes I was. What you just did is called cutting the line, which is rude." She said with a bit of an anger in her voice. Anger….. Yes he wanted to destroy that anger which was destroying him and the girl wasn't helping.

"Well, then you should have been paying attention around yourself, rather than standing off the line daydreaming." He told her without even thinking. He knew he was going to regret his behavior, but nothing mattered to him now.

"The last name sir?" The girl at the counter asked him, and he just stared at her in white space. He wanted to rip away that name from himself, and wished to have nothing to do with his family. But, he told her the so- called family name, it didn't mattered.

"Please, don't tell me you are anyway related to Damon Salvatore!" he heard the girl's voice from his side. His head jerked on her side, showing multiple expressions on his face simultaneously. The girl with the blonde curls was looking at him with wide and shocked eyes. His eyes trailed her outline, and a part of him just wanted to run away and another wanted to rip someone's throat out. She knew Damon, and he didn't wanted any of his so- called people to be around him.

"Please, don't tell me you are one of those girls, who adores him." The words were out before he could have rationalized it.

He was sitting in the class staring at his notes, and couldn't concentrate on anything what the professor was saying. He came to his senses though when he saw a movement on his side from the corner of his eyes. It was the same girl, the girl who knew his brother. He can never stop thinking about his brother if he keeps bumping into her.

"Lexi I am fine." He said on his phone

"Don't lie. You disconnected me before. Do that again and I will kick your stupid ass." Lexi was trying to get through him. She hated him for falling into this pit deeper and deeper each day.

"I don't like it when things get into my head and that's when I start hurting people." This is what usually happens to him next. Guilt taking the place all over his mind, going back and forth on the same event, over and over again. He shouldn't have behaved like this to her, he has no right to treat someone like that.

"I was rude to everyone today." He wasn't though, not to everyone. He was rude to this specific girl, and he couldn't figure it out why. Even if she knew his brother, that shouldn't be a reason to hate her. He was looking at the drink he was having in the bar. It was the evening time and he has all the time to himself nowhere but his apartment to go.

"Well, at least you didn't caught into a physical fight though." His chuckles were humorless because Lexi didn't knew about the girl who was keeping his mind busy since morning.

"It happens when people are frustrated. This is what human nature is all about. Stefan, you are going to be fine, but for that you have to come out of your misery and try for your own good. No one else can do that for you." His nods were empty and he didn't has the strength to say anything.

"I…. I should go back to my apartment, take some rest."

"Stefan?"

"Yes?"

"I have this feeling that everything is going to be fine now."

"I wish you were here."

"I miss you too buddy. Be safe."

A part of him was still holding on to her, his love, his everything. He knew he has to let her go, but it was as if she was pinned and glued to his heart, and when she left him for his brother, he was left with only the flames which was burning him from the inside and still he was not ready to let go.

He took the stairs rather than the elevator. He wanted to keep walking and never stop, ironically his life did stopped, and she chose Damon over him.

The distant voices were coming and passing into his ears, and when he reached there he couldn't believe his eyes.

"You have got to be kidding me!" he thought too loud to be in his head.

"Are you sure you are not following me?" Calm and smooth, the words were out.

The movement of her lips made him realized that he she was saying something to him. Too much concentration was hard for him. In a nutshell, he did got the gist that it was something related to changing the apartment.

He bit his tongue for keeping himself from saying anything rude again, and managed to go with a thanks. "I am not doing this for you, okay. I am doing this because I can't stand YOU!" She said angrily.

"Whatever suits you!" he said and closed the door, but got a glance of her face. She was about to explode into tears. He didn't know if she did.

He decided to worry about it later.

He woke up in the morning with a headache. This is what happens when someone thinks so much and doesn't rest even while they are asleep. Up and ready, he opened his front door, staring at the close door in hallway. Shoving away the thought of knocking the door, he just took the stairs to leave.

The voices were clear, and coming out of the lease office. Peeking, and concentrating to hear more, he saw her smooth shape, standing there, bursting into arguments.

"What do you mean you don't have any other apartment available? I said I didn't like the area. So please if you can help me in finding any other place it will be great, it's not like I have stayed here for long, it was just one night." The girl was rambling, to convince the manager. He looked at her with amusement. She wasn't joking about the previous talk after all.

"We have one apartment available but it will cost you about 2000 dollars for one month and that will be for the studio." The manager said.

She laughed in disbelief. "Are you being serious right now? Because last time I check this place was not California." She said crossing her arms.

"Well that's the rate, and we can't do anything about it. I am sorry."

"Eavesdropping is not good." Stefan turned around and found Kol standing there. Ignoring him, Stefan looked back at the girl in the room.

"You should behave better." Stefan frowned in confusion, and when he turned back to answer, Kol was gone.

When she came out she saw him standing right in front of her.

His mouth opened to say something, nothing but the vacant air came out. His jaws were clenched, when he saw her going past him.

"I wasn't being myself lately…. "He started which stopped her on her way, encouraging him to continue.

"And I know I should apologize to you, but I won't. I have some issues which I have to deal with. All I will say is you don't have to go anywhere because of me. And I will try to behave from now on."

He was gone, and she was left there, alone, baffled with the things he just said.