I do not own Vampire Diaries
Anastasia realised that since they just moved in, there wasn't much in the house to eat so she thought about roaming around town until they found a place. Liana seemed excited about going out so she picked up her purse with the card and keys in and left the house, not before peeking her head through her dad's office to ask if he wanted anything. He shook his head at her as he said, "No, you girls have fun though. Oh, and when you come back could you come in my office if I'm there." He grabbed his briefcase clearly ready for his job before following them outside after she nodded at him slightly confused. He was talking to her more in these 2 days than he had in the last 2 months they had been living together before she moved in with James. It was weird but also at the same time all she's ever wanted.
She and her little angel waved goodbye at her dad before they made their way outside the house and towards the shops and people. Their house was a little further down so it took a few minutes to walk there but when they did, they found the place to be very welcoming. It was different than they were used to after living in NYC for most of their life. They attracted a lot of attention as they passed down the street since it seemed like the kind of small town where everybody knew everybody, clearly newcomers weren't common here. Her daughter huddled closer to her, clearly getting uncomfortable by the stares. She would have picked her up by now but she didn't want to rip her stitches so she just squeezed her hand reassuringly as she smiled down at her little jewel. Liana visibly brightened before she began to skip down the pavement letting go of her hand in her excitement as she looked every which way.
Anastasia widened her eyes as she saw that her child had accidentally bumped into someone in her excitement so she quickly tried to make her way forward to stop her child from falling but it seemed she didn't have to for the guy she had bumped into had grabbed her instead. She sighed in relief but that relief was short-lived when she heard her daughter's terrified scream as the guy held her up from her arms. She suddenly stopped as she remembered the scream, it was the same one she'd heard when she ran into the house that dreaded day and she realised what was going on so she ran to her daughter's side and gently pushed the guy off of her. She bent down to her child's level forgetting about her stitches causing her to slightly cry out in pain as her hand went to her abdomen but she pushed the pain away as her baby curled up into a ball as she sobbed, "No, don't hurt me, please, I'm sorry."
"Hey baby. It's mommy. I'm here. You're safe. It's okay. We're not there anymore. You're okay baby." Anastasia said soothingly as her baby lifted her head from where she had rested it on her knees.
"Mommy?" Her little angel asked with a frightened voice.
"Yes baby I'm here." Anastasia said with tears in her eyes.
"You not leave me again mommy." Lilliana said as she wiped tears from her eyes.
A sob tore out Anastasia's throat as she said, "No baby. I'll never leave you again." She cursed James to hell and back for hurting her daughter, she hoped beyond hope that that monster would get what he deserved.
"Ok I beweeve you. Can I have some ice cweam now mommy?" Lilliana asked with bright eyes, Anastasia snorted before wincing at the tug on her already throbbing stitches. Her baby didn't notice though as she finished wiping her eyes as a smile spread across her face, how she could change from frightened to excited was beyond her, the gift of being a child she assumed, you could never understand what was going through their minds.
"Yes you may have ice cream but only after you eat some food." Anastasia said a little sternly.
"Fine, but no greens, I hate greens." Lilliana said with a grossed out look on her face, her nose wrinkling up adorably. Anastasia couldn't help but bop her nose playfully which her little angel giggled at before they both stood up, well Anastasia tried to but she was hit with a sudden dizzy spell at the burst of pain from her abdomen and would have fallen over if it wasn't for the same guy from earlier catching her. She looked up thankfully at forest green eyes before she felt steady on her feet and let him go.
"Hey let go of my mommy!" Her little angel screamed as she began kicking at the poor guy's legs.
"Liana it's fine. He was only helping me." Anastasia reassured as she pulled her daughter away from the guy looking at him apologetically.
"You sure mommy?" Her 4 year old little jewel said protectively as she stood in front of her staring at the guy, it was clear she was trying to glare at him but it looked more adorable than anything.
"I'm sure Liana." Anastasia said with a fond smile on her face before she turned to the guy and widened her eyes as she noticed a slight crowd of people around them, clearly her daughters breakdown and everything that followed was a little too loud.
"Nothing to see here guys. Why don't you go back to what you were doing?" The guy in front of her asked clearly noticing how uncomfortable she was, and thankfully the others left though not before shooting her concerned or curious looks.
The guy looked at her for a moment before he lifted his hand causing her to involuntarily flinch eying it like it was a poisonous snake, which he noticed for her lowered it slightly and left it out, waiting for her to shake it as he said, "Hi I'm Stefan Salvatore."
"Anastasia Williams." She shook his hand feeling a little embarrassed by her reaction, she needed to tell herself that not every man is like James but it was a little hard to do considering everything. She then turned and saw a beautiful brunette looking at her with something she couldn't quite understand but there was a warmth in her eyes that made her feel calmer.
"I'm Elena Gilbert. And who's the cutie?" The brunette nodded at her little angel who was tugging at the bottom of her leather trousers trying to get her attention. Anastasia turned to her little girl as she answered, "This is my daughter, Lilliana."
"She's adorable." Stefan said as he crouched down next to her baby who stepped away slightly. He looked at her and said, "Hi, I'm Stefan. You have a really beautiful name." Her little angel blushed slightly at that as she whispered thank you before hiding behind her mother shyly.
Stefan chuckled at that, when Elena had invited him to come to the grill, he certainly hadn't expected to have a cute little girl bump into him. Thank God for his reflexes, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to catch her. Though what had alarmed him was the terrified scream from the girl as soon as he touched her, and he had been too shocked to react until a beautiful young girl suddenly came out of nowhere and pushed him off her. He saw her bend down to the girl's level before crying out slightly in pain as she clutched her abdomen. He was concerned, she was clearly in pain yet she looked like she couldn't care less as she looked at the trembling little girl now curled up in a ball. He assumed then that she must be the mother, it wasn't the looks that gave it away for they shared only a select few similar features, it was the motherly concern that shone in her eyes and that seeped into her voice as she consoled her daughter from whatever he had accidentally triggered.
The words from her daughter had him concerned, who could possibly hurt someone so adorable? She looked around 3 or 4 years old, only a monster would even think of laying a finger on her or the woman, who he now noticed was skinnier than what should be healthy, it was clear she hasn't been eating properly, from what he was hearing and what he saw it sounded like she was abused.
The woman then spoke of not being there anymore, where was there? Who would hurt them? Because that part was obvious someone had hurt them, and it had obviously been a guy hence the girl's fear of him. He wondered what happened to them. The girl had a few bruises on her face and the woman was hurt too considering the way she clutched her stomach in obvious pain. As he contemplated this he had to snort amused at the sight of the grossed out look on the little girl's face as she spoke of greens. She was absolutely adorable.
It was then he noticed the crowd around them and just as he was about to tell them to leave, the woman attempted to get up a little shaky on her feet which he assumed must have been because she had been kneeling down for a while. However all of a sudden, he noticed her already pale expression become even paler, she looked ready to keel over so he held her in an attempt to keep her upright. When she managed to stable herself, she let go of his arm that she had grabbed when she was about to fall but what he didn't expect was the strength in her arms, it wasn't normal, he shouldn't have been able to feel that and yet he did, there was something different about her. His thoughts came to a pause when he noticed the little girl kicking his legs as she screamed at him to let go of her mother. He couldn't feel it obviously, so it was more entertaining to watch than anything, especially when the kid took a protective stance in front of her mother trying to glare at him but only managing to look even more endearing.
It was then he noticed the woman's wide eyes as she looked at the crowd around them, it was clear she was uncomfortable so he told them to mind their own business which they thankfully did though not before he noticed many sending the mother daughter duo concerned looks. Not that he could blame them, it was kind of obvious from their words and actions that something had happened to the two of them. He felt a feeling rise within him, he couldn't explain it, he just felt like he wanted to protect them, they were so young and yet they had both already seen first hand the evil of the world and all he wanted to do was shield them from it, no one deserved whatever they've been through.
He decided to introduce himself so he raised his hand for her to shake but he paused when she flinched away eying his hand as if it was about to strike her and it didn't take a professional to understand that they were clearly abused in some form or another and the thought that someone had hurt them had him both enraged and concerned. He shook off the feelings for now because his very low control on his vampire nature also depended on his emotions so when they get heightened, his control slips and he can't afford to do that now he thought as he lowered his arm slightly to show her he meant no harm. He then told her his name as he patiently waited for her to get comfortable with shaking his hand and when she did, she then introduced herself and, when Elena asked, her daughter as well. He crouched down to be eye-level with the child so that he wasn't towering over the small slip of a girl since he didn't want to intimidate her. He then complemented her name, it was a cute name for her after all, it suited her. He couldn't help but laugh when she suddenly looked shy as she hid behind her mother, she was simply adorable.
Stefan then stood up and turned to the woman, Anastasia as she said her name was, he wanted to invite her along with them to the grill. What he hadn't realised was how close he had gotten to her and all of a sudden, a familiar scent filled his nose as he tried with everything he is to control himself. He asked with concern in his slightly strained voice, "Are you alright?" as he looked at her hand over her stomach, it was where the smell was strongly coming from and the only thing stopping him vamping out now was the feeling that hurting her would not be a good idea, for his sake.
"Yeah. I'm fine. It's nothing." Anastasia reassured as she removed her hand from her stomach to see that there was a dark patch on her black tank top. She groaned internally, blood was a bitch to wash off. She heard the gasp from the girl, Elena, and internally sighed, this was going to be fun to explain, which she couldn't be bothered to do right now so she turned to her baby who was looking up at them confused, she probably didn't notice the stain of blood on her top but she would if she didn't clean it.
"Oh my God. What happened?" Elena asked looking worried at the blood staining the girl's shirt, what on earth happened, she'd heard her cry out in pain when she bent down before, but she didn't realise that she was that hurt. She was bleeding and yet she actually looked so nonchalant about it, as if it was nothing.
"I told you. It's nothing." Anastasia said firmly, she refused to talk about it now, she just needed to find a bathroom to clean the blood from her shirt.
"It's not nothing! You're bleeding." Elena said as she stood there helpless not knowing what to do.
"Shit." Anastasia muttered as she saw her daughter turn to her with wide eyes.
"Mommy. You bleeding? That mean you hurt." Lilliana said scared, the only times mummy was hurt was with bad man but mommy says bad man not here so why she hurt.
"It's ok baby. I'm fine." Anastasia said as she smiled at her daughter reassuringly before giving the two in front of her a warning look that clearly told them to shut up. She did not want her daughter to worry more than she already was so instead she put on a smile on her face as she used her leather jacket to cover the stain on her shirt, and asked them, "Would you two know where I could find a bathroom?"
"Of course. We're going to a place called Mystic Grill to meet up with a few friends. It's the only restaurant in this place and you can join us if you want. There's a bathroom in there than you can use." Elena said trying to hide her worry for the beautiful girl in front of her, she had noticed the warning in her eyes as she looked at them before and she had realised why when the girl, Anastasia, looked down at her daughter. She clearly didn't want her to worry especially after the breakdown the poor girl had before.
"Thank you." Anastasia said a little strained, she was losing blood right now and she was starting to feel a little tired. She had a few supplies in her purse for safety purposes, living with a volatile man for so long made her more prepared for things like this. She refused to go to hospital since she already knew how to take care of the obvious rip in her stitches. Ever since she became a doctor herself, she hated being a patient because the doctors never took her seriously and the constant condescension made her frustrated, I mean she didn't get one of the highest doctorate degrees at Columbia University for nothing.
"No problem." Elena commented as they all headed towards the grill trying not to look worriedly at the pale complexion of the girl's face. She also noticed how stiff Stefan was beside her as well as the strained expression on his face. She wondered what was wrong when she remembered that he was squeamish at the sight of blood considering how he had ran away when she'd hurt herself in the cemetery so clearly the blood must be getting to him.
Stefan was trying with everything he is to control himself, every time he felt the shift of his features slightly change he thought about how a man had already hurt Anastasia and Lilliana and he did not want to hurt them more than they already are, he also didn't want Elena to see who he really was either. He didn't want to see the fear on their faces, the fear that was present in Lilliana's voice as she spoke of the guy. There was also that feeling within him that rose at even the thought of losing control, that Anastasia wasn't one to be messed with and he was curious about why he was feeling like this, she was just another ordinary girl, wasn't she?
He had no idea how wrong he was.
