Wow guys, there's 47 people following this story, we could make a party out of it.

Thank you to the Six people who reviewed (You guys are the shit and I love you, this one is for you)

hfgfgfrdr: you asked me if this story was going to interact with the main storyline, and after much thought I have one thing to say about it, BUTTERFLY WINGS.

Which is why the dates of this story are bloody important.

Shadowing: you spotted a drunk Damon in chapter one, which, yeah, honestly the people you meet in NYC, outstanding, too bad our girl was too drunk to remember him, like ... at all.

DullReign82: thank you for your reviews, it fills me with joy the fact that you managed to connect with the story and that Alex seems real, thank you so much.

Charles Ceaser: I live to please ;)

IamMHR: Writing has taken over my existence, please send help.

Angelicsailor: Boo! Its so fantastic to see you in another of my stories, ilysm!

ANYWAYS! THIS IS IMPORTANT, THIS CHAPTER DEALS WITH SEXUAL ASSAULT (OR ATTEMPTED ONE) YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

Alex.

~I like that you're broken
Broken like me
Maybe that makes me a fool
I like that you're lonely
Lonely like me I could be lonely with you~

- Broken Like Me, Lovelytheband.

May 15th 2009

I paced around my apartment, Ghost was asleep on his bed and I was restless again, I would've loved to be able to say that I tried to not go out at night, to yet another meaningful party, but I couldn't, staying inside these four walls just made me feel even worse. I felt trapped, lonely, destructive. I checked the time on my phone, 9:45pm. It was early, the time was perfect for me to go out.

I changed the water in Ghost's bowl, and then filled the other with food, just in case something happened. I slid in a pair of black skinny jeans and a black t-shirt, as I walked to the door I grabbed my purse and my jacket, my makeup had been done meticulously and I was wearing my favorite pair of chucks.

The night was comfortably warm, I started my night in a club close to my apartment. I sat by the bar and ordered a shot of tequila, it was a great warmup for what was to come. I looked around the bar, the place was not too crowded, but not lacking by any means, it was one of the things I loved about New York, the city was always crowded, no matter what day it was.

I smiled at the bartender as he placed my third cosmopolitan of the night in front of me and hummed to myself as I took a sip of it. At this point of my life I could proudly say that my blood was steadily turning into alcohol, and I was more than fine with it.

"A glass of whiskey" said a voice to my left, I turned slightly so I could observe the newcomer.

He was young and very handsome, but young still, perhaps recently turned twenty one. He smiled at me, a tight smile, but a smile nonetheless, I raised my glass and chuckled before returning my attention to my drink. A One Republic song was playing in the background and I let myself be carried by the music as I finished my drink.

The pain of living had lessened considerably, I could actually breathe and my muddled thoughts couldn't be an inconvenience anymore, I ordered another shot of tequila with a slice of lemon and salt and downed it swiftly. The stranger next to me ordered another glass of whiskey and tipped his glass to me when he caught me looking.

I offered him a sultry smile, perhaps he could become my Mr. Right Now, he smiled and looked down to his glass, before looking at me again, he had pretty green eyes and boyish looks.

"Hey" he said, my smiled softened.

"Hey" I said back.

"My name's Stefan" his voice was deep almost rusty.

"Alexandra" I said, he nodded, "What brings you to New York, Stefan?"

"Life," he said ominously, I laughed.

"That's deep, aren't you a little bit too young to be trying to be this deep and mysterious?" I asked, the last tendrils of my conscious inebriated mind keeping my head clear, if only for this moment.

"Not really" he said softly, his eyes boring into mine as if he could see something beyond.

I ran a hand through my hair and smiled at the guy, there was something about him, that perhaps had I been sober I would have noticed right away.

"You have any plans?" I asked after a while, the guy seemed to think about it before he smiled.

"Might visit some family in Virginia" he said, I took a deep breath and looked to the dance floor for a moment, perhaps talking to this guy was a bad idea, "Did I say something wrong?"

"No, no" I was quick to reassure him, I couldn't just break down in front of strangers in bars if they mentioned having any living family, "Must be nice having family to visit" I said dryly before gesturing at the bartender for another cosmo.

"I, uh, I'm sorry" the guy said awkwardly, I smiled sadly at him, there was something about this stranger, Stefan, that made you feel as if he really cared.

"It's okay, it's been a while" I said quietly before taking a sip of my drink.

I felt his eyes on me as I finished downing my drink, I took another deep breath before fishing a couple of bucks out of my purse, feeling better than a couple of minutes ago, I placed the money on the bar and smiled at Stefan.

"Goodbye stranger" I said before making my way out of the bar, the night was young and so was I.

"No, no, stop" I slurred as I tried to push a man away from me, I was not in the mood to fuck in an alleyway tonight, the man just laughed before he resumed his trail of kisses on my neck.

"What's the matter honey? Didn't you promise me a good time?" he said close to my ear and I sobered a little bit, trying to break free from his hold.

"Fuck dammit, stop" I growled as I lifted my knee and managed to hit him in the family jewels, but apparently not hard enough since he just got angry at me and held me by my throat pushing me hard against the wall.

"Listen up you little bitch, I will have my way with you, whether you want it or not" he growled, I clawed at his hand trying to break free from his hold.

"Fuck off" I managed to say; In another life maybe I would have been afraid of this guy, but now, I couldn't care less, I just wanted to break free and get home, the guy pressed a forceful kiss to my lips and would have continued until someone else cleared its throat.

"I believe the lady said that she didn't want anything to do with you" a voice said, the man that was holding me huffed and let go of my neck, I slid down to the ground as the man turned to face the newcomer.

"And what are you going to do about it, punk?" the man asked threateningly, the newcomer just huffed.

"You have a minute to leave before I kill you, simple" I tried to see the newcomer, but it was really dark around me, I pressed a hand to my throat trying to lessen the pain.

I had to admit that the unwanted dick had sobered me enough to realize that I was in a real sticky situation. I closed my eyes and pressed my hand against my forehead, the worst thing about having a hangover was having said hangover before the night was over, I groaned as I pressed the heel of my hand to my forehead.

"Hey" a voice said softly, I opened my eyes slowly, "Are you okay?"

"Define okay?" I asked as my savior helped me up, green eyes lit up a little bit.

"Have you come to any harm?" he asked, I shook my head.

"Not any harm that wasn't caused by myself and that vodka cannot fix" I answered truthfully, the creep hadn't harm me, but it had been close, too close, "Thank you, uh, Stefan was it?"

"Yes" he answered, a small smile on his face, "Can I walk you home?"

He seemed so worried about me, this guy that I had just met in a bar, worried about me, since when had anyone been worried about me in this godforsaken world? But there was something that prevented me of turning down the offer, perhaps his earnest green eyes, or the alcohol that still inhabited my bloodstream.

"Sure" I said, Stefan smiled and offered his arm to me, I raised an eyebrow at him but took it gingerly, stumbling slightly as we walked out of the alley.

We walked in a comfortable silence through the streets of New York, the breeze was slightly cold and was sobering me up a little more. When we reached my apartment I looked at Stefan awkwardly, he had been a complete gentleman, and from what I could remember from the bar, he had been nice back then too.

"Uh, do you want to come up?" I asked, he smiled at me.

"I'm fine" he said, I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Are you sure? It's relatively early, I could make coffee and I'm sure I still have cookies from my baking spree yesterday" I offered.

"I wouldn't want to inconvenience you, Alexandra" he said, I smiled.

"Nonsense Stefan, come on in with me" I said and I pulled him inside of the apartment lobby.

We took the elevator to my floor and I fiddled with the keys and the doorknob, I opened the door and walked in only stop and look back, Stefan was standing outside the door, a smile on his face.

"Come in, what are you waiting for? A written invitation?" I asked, Stefan laughed as he stepped through the threshold and closed the door behind him.

Ghost was quick to meet me as I made my way to the kitchen, barking and nibbling at my shoes.

"Hey Ghostie" I said crouching down to hug him.

"He's cute" said Stefan, I looked up and smiled at him, Ghost was quick to lose interest in me and go see Stefan.

Stefan, god bless him, took Ghost in stride not complaining about the hair that was going to take forever to wash out of his t-shirt.

"You live here alone with the dog?" he asked, I turned around from rummaging in the cabinets to squint at Stefan.

"Yes" I said slowly, "Are you a serial killer? Cause if you are I have no problems with you killing me right now, but you'll have to take care of Ghost, that's all I ask" I said, Stefan had a really concerned look on his face, probably trying to decided if I was joking or not, ironically, I was not kidding.

"Uh, I… I like to believe that I'm not a serial killer" he answered after a moment, I nodded at him and placed a plate of homemade chocolate chips cookies in front of him.

"That's good to know" I said, Stefan kept looking at me concerned.

"Are you really okay?" Stefan asked as he took a cookie from the plate, I shrugged as I started the coffee maker.

"I've been better" I said as I looked for cups in one of the drawers.

"Alexandra" he started, sounding so much like my dad when he was about to reprimand me that I looked up.

"Alex is fine" I said quickly, Stefan frowned at me.

"Okay, Alex, uh, do you need help? Is there… I… is there anything that I can do for you?" he asked and god he looked like a kicked puppy, I sighed.

"Look Stefan, I appreciate your help tonight with the douchebag and I really appreciate that you want to help me, you seem like a nice guy but unless you can bring back my entire family from the dead or you can kill me without leaving any trace, no, there's nothing you can't do to help me at the moment" I said crossing my arms.

He was quick to stand from the chair he had claimed and walked to my side, he placed a hand on my shoulder and looked straight into my eyes.

"I'm really sorry about your family, but I'm sure they wouldn't like you to just die off, and you're wrong, I could be your friend maybe?" he asked, I huffed.

"I'm not a charity case Stefan"

"It's not that, I have a friend, and she's helped me through some tough shit through the years, I see a lot of myself in you, the guilt, the self-loathing, turning to alcohol to numb my feelings, the destructive attitude, I've lived through all that and maybe you can be a chance to right a few of my wrongs" Stefan said without breaking eye contact, my breath hitched in my throat, "Please"

"Okay" I whispered, Stefan nodded at me and let go of my shoulders, I took a step back, "I'll let you help me, but you have to promise me something first"

"Sure" he said, I took a deep breath.

"You won't disappear or die on me, I… I can't lose anymore people, I've lost enough and if you're going to step into my life and help me with this, you're in it for your entire life" I said and a wave of nostalgia was quick to hit me, I had said something similar to my best friend Maggie a long time ago when we had graduated from University, that our friendship was forever, we were not going to leave each other alone in this world.

But Maggie didn't exist here, not in this wicked 2009 world, and I had searched for her, she just wasn't and I was not sure of how I could ever be.

"I promise" Stefan said, sureness in his voice.

I served us both coffee and we decided to sit out in the balcony watching as the night went by. I looked at Stefan as he sipped his coffee, steam flowing from his cup, he smiled at me when he caught me looking. Maybe just maybe, this is what hope looked like.

So, yeah, this has been the chapter.

while writing this I took the liberty to put Stefan in New York at the time, I tried to look in the wikia where he was before the show began and it only said that when he saved Elena's life he was visiting Zach in MF, so this is a few days before that, assuming that Stefan moved around before finally deciding that it was a good time to visit Zach.

So yeah, hope you guys enjoyed it.

And before anyone tells me that a person cannot sober up so fast, I've got news, you can (Personal experience) You can be totally hammered and a single action can clear your head quite a bit, still I wouldn't recommend driving, because the alcohol is still there, you're just using what's left of your brain at the moment, but all your other motor abilities are still impaired and should not be put to use.