Chapter 27

It was late before Damon came home, having spent the afternoon with Alaric in the grill playing snooker. He'd talked at length with is best friend about everything happening with Ottilie and Stefan, and Alaric was able to offer advice and encouragement that Damon was for once, very grateful for.

"I'm just worried that the guilt Stefan is feeling is going to set him down a path that is hard to get him back from – you know what I mean," said Damon, sending Alaric a knowing glance.

His friend nodded. "You're worried he's going to go off the rails, drink human blood then return to his ripper ways" he concluded, voicing Damon's exact concerns. "Maybe you should do something to pre-empt it?" he suggested.

"Well if you have any ideas, feel free to share – I'm all out of them!" said Damon, exasperated, downing the rest of his drink.

Alaric looked thoughtful. "Actually, I might just have an idea that could work!"

"I'm listening…"

"When Stefan goes off the rails, who is it who always gets him back on track?" he said, giving Damon a look, knowing that he knew the answer.

"Lexi…" said Damon, thoughtfully. "I need to call Lexi to see if she can get Stefan through this before he loses it. Cheers, Ric" he said, smiling gratefully at his friend. Pulling his phone from his pocket, he made a call to Lexi, explaining as succinctly as possible what was happening, and begging her to come to Mystic Falls.

Ending the call, he smiled smugly, and replaced his phone into his pocket.

"Well?" enquired Ric.

"She's on her way!" said Damon triumphantly, before ordering another round of drinks.

When he returned home, Damon went straight up to one of the numerous spare rooms to prepare it for Lexi's imminent arrival. "Damon?" he heard his brother call, "what are you doing in there?"

Stefan entered the room and Damon smirked at him, "we have a guest arriving. If I'm not mistaken, any… moment… now…." The doorbell rang, and Stefan raised his eyebrows at his brother, trying to work out what had planned before speeding downstairs to open the door.

"Lexi!" Damon heard his brother's delighted cry and smiled to himself. That old softie… he thought.

Opening the door to his best friend who he hadn't seen in so long, Stefan felt tears of happiness prick behind his eyes before he pulled her into a bone-crushing hug. "I'm so happy to see you, Lexi," he said softly.

Pushing him away, she glared at him playfully, "You adopted a little girl, and you didn't think to tell me?!" she said in mock anger.

Stefan smiled ruefully and shrugged, "sorry… I guess things got hectic! I can't wait for you to meet you."

Lexi smiled at him kindly. "Damon told me briefly about everything that happened. I'm really sorry to hear about Elena. If it makes you feel any better, I wouldn't have seen that coming either."

Stefan felt relief wash over him. Finally he could talk to someone about what was plaguing him and giving him nightmares. He knew he could have talked to Damon but he didn't want to upset him, and knew that by him bringing it up, he'd be forcing Damon to relive it all over again.

"Let's go for a walk," suggested Lexi, sensing that he needed to talk without ears overhearing, on purpose or otherwise.

"But it's dark?" said Stefan, confused.

"So? Don't tell me a vampire like you is afraid of the dark…" she teased before grabbing his arm and pulling him out.

Once safely away from the house, Lexi opened up the conversation.

"So, what's on your mind? Spill!"

Stefan sighed and looked away from her, not trusting himself to keep the tears back that were threatening to escape. "I just feel so damn guilty, Lexi," he said. "Ottilie means everything to me, and I can't believe that she almost…" he swallowed hard, "you know… died… because of me and my inability to see Elena for what she really was."

"She had us all fooled, Stef," said Lexi gently.

"But she was horrible to Ottilie for so long, and we just kept brushing the issue under the carpet. And it all resulted in what happened last week. I keep seeing it happen, every time I close my eyes, it happens all over again."

Lexi took his hand gently. "What do you see?"

Stefan cleared his throat, trying to buy himself a tiny bit of time before he shared one of the darkest moments of his life. "Otti didn't want me to have to choose between her and Elena, so she chose for me and stopped Elena falling. Otti was already suffering because Elena had given her a load of caffeine which resulted in her becoming tachycardic. Then to do such a big spell, it was too much for her little body," Stefan wiped away a stray tear, "and she started to fall, but only once she knew Elena was safe. I managed to catch her but she'd already passed out. Once we got her inside, she started having a seizure which was just horrific, and then we had to shock her heart with a child defibrillator that Elijah told me to get a few months ago. I just felt so helpless, and she looked so broken and tiny and the shocks were making her whole body shake but it wasn't helping. And then she stopped breathing whilst I held her."

He broke down now, sobbing into his hands as Lexi rubbed his back comfortingly. "She stopped breathing , Lexi, and she was so still. She looked like she was dead, and I had to try to resuscitate her. I've never had to do that to a kid before; it was awful. She didn't breathe for so long, and then she went to the hospital and although she's home now, she's so weak and frail. And it's all my fault!"

Lexi felt tears running down her own face; being an empath, she felt Stefan's pain as if it were her own. "Stefan, does Ottilie blame you?" Stefan shook his head. "Then you don't get to blame you either. The victim here is your niece, and we blame who she blames. From what Damon told me earlier, she desperately needs you, and loves you so much. How can you accept that unconditional love when you refuse to love yourself? Nobody could have foreseen what Elena would do, and you saved her, Stefan, you brought that little girl back from the brink of death at the hands of a mad woman. You did nothing wrong concerning the incident. What is wrong, however, is you leaving that child lying alone in her room, wondering what she did wrong to drive you away from her."

Stefan only nodded at her, accepting, understanding, but most importantly agreeing with her words. Taking a deep breath, he decided that he could forgive himself for not dealing with Elena sooner, but he wouldn't forgive if he upset his niece any more. He pulled Lexi into a hug. "Thank you, Lexi" he whispered, beyond grateful that she'd listened to him and put his mind at rest.

The pair walked back to the mansion in companionable silence, walking through the front door to be greeted by Damon, sat with his customary glass of bourbon. "Ah, you're back. Nice little moonlit stroll?" he teased, smirking at them both. "Lexi," he said, looking at her properly for the first time. "It's really good to see you," he said sincerely. "Thank you for coming." They smiled warmly at each other before Stefan announced that he was heading to bed. They all bid each other good night, and Stefan showed Lexi to her room. As his head hit is pillow a little while later, he sighed as if a weight was lifted from his shoulders, and that was the first night he slept without any nightmares.