Hello guys!

Thank you again to all of you who reviewed, I love feedback and I thrive on it, so yeah your reviews are loved and appreciated.

LenaMiaH: Oi, muito obrigado pela sua crítica e bem-vindo novamente a outra das minhas histórias, mesmo que eu ache que você esteja torcendo por Damon, eu também acho que você deveria dar uma chance a Stefan. E sim, Alex passou por um período difícil, mas ela vai melhorar eventualmente, e ela vai perceber onde ela está ... muito em breve. De qualquer forma, amei o seu comentário e não posso esperar para ouvir mais de você.

I really hope you guys like this one ;)

Alex.

Ps. For those of you who are wondering, no, I am not Brazilian, but I do speak Portuguese and French and Spanish (and the tiniest bit of Italian and Esperanto) :), and if any of you feels comfortable reviewing in another language that is not english, please feel free to do so, don't let a language stop you :D

~'Cause I have been where you are before

And I have felt the pain of losing who you are

And I have died so many times, but I am still alive~

- i believe, Christina Perri

May 21st 2009.

Five days, five days ago I had met a guy in a bar that had changed my life. Stefan had all but moved into my apartment for those five days, five days in which I had stayed completely sober, not a drop of alcohol in my system. Five days in which life hadn't seem so dull.

Stefan was a weird guy, first of all, he had the patience of a saint. No matter how much I screamed at him, he was immovable. Unstoppable force meets immovable object, that was basically our entire friendship, I kicked and screamed and Stefan was just there to pull me back. He always made sure that I ate at least three full meals a day and was constantly handing me snacks through the day, sometimes I wondered if he was magic and could summon things out of thin air.

But that was Stefan and I honestly didn't question him or his existence, his strong presence was enough and in the five days that we had been more or less attached at the hip I had come to even enjoy his presence. Ghost had grown particularly attached to Stefan, although the guy was a total sap when it came to the small ball of fluff.

To be honest, I still wasn't completely back to myself, and I guessed I wouldn't be for a while, but having Stefan around, it helped a lot. He was never against listening to my rambles, nor he panicked or ran for the hills when I started crying without no particular reason, he had stayed through the storm, he had braved my emotions and for that I was never going to be able to pay him back, so I hoped my broken self was enough for him.

Five days, five days that had seemed like an eternity, the longest five days of my life and the promise of more to come.

I watched from my seat as Stefan took a sip of his coffee, he looked so serene sitting outside on a lounger, Ghost firmly by his side, the morning sun making his hair look lighter, ethereal, that was the word, Stefan looked ethereal.

"Alex, Is something wrong?" he asked, concern etched on his features, another thing about him was that he cared a little too much.

I smiled softly at him, "Not really, you just look funny"

"Funny how?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"Like glowy, like Galadriel" I said before laughing.

"You're comparing me to an elf?" he asked, amusement in his voice.

"No, she's prettier than you, you just look glowy" I said before taking a spoonful of my cereal, Stefan snorted and shook his head.

We stayed in silence for a moment before I remembered something.

"Hey Stefan, weren't you going to visit your family?" I asked carefully, Stefan looked at me, then at the horizon.

"I can always visit uncle Zach at a later date" he said, a small smile on his face.

"An uncle? How about your parents?"

"They died a while ago" he said and I immediately felt bad for asking, apparently he noticed, "But its okay, I've gotten used to it, which is why I know that you will too, someday"

"Are you completely sure about that, Stef?"

"One hundred percent sure" he said and flashed a smile at me.

"If you say so," I said, he nodded.

"Hey, what if we go out today, we could go to Coney Island, I'm sure Ghost would appreciate a change of scenery"

"I'm not walking to Coney Island" I deadpanned, Stefan grinned.

"We can take my car" he offered, I raised an eyebrow.

"Deal"

Stefan owned a red vintage Porsche, which of course made sense, the guy was probably fucking loaded, that could explain the fact that he didn't have a job or why he was content to play psychologist to a depressed dirtbag like me.

"Are you sure you want Ghost inside your car?" I asked, he just smiled at me and opened his door for Ghost, the fluffy traitor was happy to get inside the car like he belonged in there.

"Come on Alex, you rarely get out of midtown, Coney Island has a nice pier and the beach" he said, sunglasses covering his green eyes, I rolled my eyes at him and placed my sunglasses on before getting in his car.

The ride was done in comfortable silence, music washing it down and it made the moment enjoyable, Stefan even hummed to several songs and then pretended to not know the lyrics to a Kanye song, I grinned at him as I noticed, he was such a dork.

We arrived to Coney Island near midday, Stefan was quick to steer me towards a hot dog stand, Ghost's leash firmly in his hand. I ordered one without pickles and extra cheese while Stefan ordered a full one. We walked through the boardwalk and I ended up removing my sweater and just staying in a sleeveless blouse, it felt great to feel the sun warming my skin again.

"Who's glowy now?" Stefan asked, I rolled my eyes at him.

"You won't let that go, will you?" he shook his head and I ran a hand through my hair.

"Have you ever visited the Brooklyn bridge?" he asked after a moment, I shook my head, honestly I had never been to Brooklyn before today, "Then we must see it"

Stefan grabbed my shoulder and steered me gently back through the boardwalk, he kept his hand on my shoulder the entire time and just removed it to buy us ice cream as the temperature kept rising. We also stopped by a dog park so Ghost could stretch and drink some water.

"Ghost has you so whipped Stef" I smirked, Stefan huffed and crossed his arms.

"I'm sure there are worst things I could be" he pointed out, and I had to agree with him. Stefan could have been a fuckboi, he had the looks to be a complete Casanova, but he preferred to spend his time counseling the grievous or brooding.

"You have no idea buddy" I muttered, the ends of his mouth quirked up in a small smile.

"Are you hungry?" he asked and I had to raise an eyebrow.

"We just ate ice cream, Stef, you're sounding like Grandma, actually I'm convinced you're secretly a grandma, you overfeed me, make sure I'm taken care of… do you knit? Will I find a handmade blanket on my bed one of these days?" I asked and Stefan started laughing.

"No" he said once he stopped, "I promise, I do not know how to knit, so no blankets for you"

"If you say so Grandma Stef" I said cheekily, Stefan just rolled his eyes at me.

At the end Stefan won and we ended at a Pet Friendly Mexican Restaurant, I had my fun eating nachos and queso, and the guacamole was to die for, all the spiciness that had been missing from my life.

"Had I known that you loved Mexican food so much I would have brought you here first" Stefan said before taking a bite of one of his tacos.

"You never asked, Stef" I said, he seemed pensive for a moment before he smiled.

"I guess you're right" he said.

"I'll be here early in the morning, we'll go for a run around Central Park and from there we can catch a late breakfast" Stefan said as he stood by the door.

"You're going to make me get fat" I complained, Stefan huffed.

"Nonsense Alex, I want you to be healthy and you still look half dead most days" he said, I crossed my arms and glared at him.

"You know, I liked you better when you were all respectful and shit"

"You know that's a lie" he countered, I couldn't help but to smile, Stefan chuckled and pulled me into a hug, "Get some rest, I'll be here in the morning, okay?"

"Okay"

May 22nd 2009.

"You did what?! Stefan, no, I can't" I complained as we ran.

"Of course you can, Alex, besides we'll have fun" he said, I rolled my eyes.

"You're talking about taking me to Boston tomorrow for a baseball game, those seats must have cost a small fortune" I kept on complaining.

"And I bought them already, besides you were the one who said that you loved baseball," he pointed out.

"Yeah, and I do, but it was something that I used to do with my dad" I pressed, Stefan huffed.

"And your father would like you to enjoy this game in his name, you just need to tell me which team we'll be supporting and we'll make a road trip out of it, I already checked a place that can keep Ghost for the weekend, he'll be happy and surrounded by other dogs, we'd be back on Sunday" Stefan insisted, I sighed, it had been a long time since I had even watched a baseball game, let alone got to one.

"Fine, but we'll be supporting the Mets, I wouldn't be caught dead supporting the Red Sox, just no and you have to let me pay for the food and the gas" it was my final offer for him, I wasn't just going to allow him to pay for everything I did.

We engaged in a small battle of wills, gazes locked, refusing to look away.

"Fine" he said, I grinned, "We'll leave tomorrow after breakfast and dropping Ghost off, that'll give us plenty time to get there and get settled"

"Stef, you're talking as if Fenway Park was two days away, at most its a three hour an a half trip" I pointed out, he just smiled.

"I just thought that maybe you wanted to look around before the game" he said looking way too innocent, I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Don't try anything funny Stef, I'm onto you" I said, he just smiled.

"So" he said after a moment clapping his hands, "Want to head out and grab lunch? There's a new food truck near the zoo that we haven't tried"

"The steak one?"

"That's the one, lets go, I'll get Ghost's leash" Stefan almost jumped out of his chair.

"Sometimes I think that Ghost likes you more than me" I said, a smile on my face.

"Nonsense, he just knows that I'm the chance of going out"

May 23rd, 2009.

"You made breakfast?" Stefan asked skeptically, I raised an eyebrow.

"Contrary to popular belief, I do know how to cook, I just had decided not to" I drawled, Stefan's face pinched, I rolled my eyes, "Just dig in, I don't make Spanish Tortillas for everyone"

Stefan snorted and tried to cover his face unsuccessfully, I just glared at him until he began eating.

"This is really good, Alex" I smiled smugly at him.

"I know, I made it"

"I like it when you're humble" he said with a grin.

"Humble? Is that a verb? Never heard of it before" I teased, he laughed.

"Very funny, hilarious"

Fenway Park looked just like I remembered from memories that apparently were not. Stefan, miraculously, found a great parking space and was quick to hand me a Mets' cap, I put it on and smiled at him. It felt good to be here, the stadium bustled with energy and all the fans, Stefan had somehow appeared a cap for himself and was quick to led me through the crowd to our seats.

I had to stop for a moment and take it all in, ever since Stefan had walked into my life and refused to leave my life had done another 180, and to be honest while my mood was mostly moody or brooding, I didn't want to chuck myself off the nearest balcony, not anymore. While I missed my family terribly, Stefan had begun filling that void.

I didn't feel like drowning anymore, but rather, I felt like if I was learning to swim once more, no longer afraid of the tides and perhaps in time I could go back to what I was, maybe even better. Perhaps being broken didn't mean that I was forever useless, but that another type of art could be made. Kintsugi, perhaps the Japanese were right, yes, I had cracks, but they didn't diminish my worth, they added to the bigger picture, and Stefan, Stefan had become the gold that had started sealing those cracks up, still visible, but beautiful.

Broken but remade stronger, resilient but still vulnerable and all that I had learned in a week, the scars were still there, but they had been painted gold, and that gave me hope, hope that one day I was going to be able to look back at my life and laugh about these moments.

I walked out of Fenway Park sporting a big grin on my face, the Mets had won and in the Red Sox's own house, I felt giddy as I recounted the best plays to Stefan, who could only smile and shake his head.

"See, I'm just gonna wait for you to apologize now" he said as we walked to his car, I rolled my eyes good naturately.

"Oh great Stefan, you were right, forgive this mere mortal for making such mistake" I said, he just laughed.

"You are forgiven" he said, I punched his arm for good measure, "So, I read about this Italian restaurant nearby, what do you say?"

He was shameless, I just smiled at him, "Lead the way Stefano"

A/N: So here's the fourth chapter, remember that dates are important ;)