Misanthrope: def. a person who dislikes humankind and avoids human society

Chapter 14: The News Is For Sheep.

Thanks to my awesome moves over the last couple weeks, things stayed relatively quiet for a few days.

I didn't save Lexi. Nothing too major would go wrong if she died, at best, all she could do was help when Stefan fell off the wagon. So, despite the fact that the Lexi I saw in my memories seemed super cool, I decided to pass.

I wasn't here to save everyone. Although it was a very nice idea, the execution would be extremely difficult, and, as lame as it sounds, I'm inherently lazy. I don't like having to get up and do so much stuff, and considering I already had a sizeable amount of shit to do to just save four people, maybe even just the three, I had no problem not adding anything or anyone more to my plate.

And so, all was quiet for a few days. Went to school, cheer, did the normal teen song and dance. Bons still hadn't reached out to Grams, and I didn't blame her. We both had very deep seeded abandonment issues, and Grams had successfully managed to flare up Bonnie's insecurities to the point where I didn't know when they'd actually make up, or if they even would.

Stefan's birthday bash came and went, Caroline choosing to throw the party at the Grill of her own accord after Damon had mentioned it to her. I hadn't seen him, so I guessed that he was gonna go through with that Twilight thing of 'I'm gonna leave you to keep you safe, even though this town is a breeding ground for supernatural activity and you're a unique human who's constantly in danger.'

Really, it's almost unoriginal how much Twilight resembled this hot mess. Except, I liked Bella a lot more than Elena.

And then there was Alaric Saltzman. Badass vampire hunter with an immortal ring who also happened to be a great history teacher. He was also something that happened over the last couple days, and honestly, I was quite psyched to have him here. He was super chill in my memories, and I had been super excited to meet the dude. Unfortunately, I had to take a sick day. Seriously, I was just so tired from the constant run around of the last week that I caught a gnarly fever.

So, now, here I am. Slowly wasting away in Caroline's guest bedroom and waiting for death.

That'd actually be hilarious if what kills me in this town is a fucking cold.

I smile despite myself and continue to watch A Goofy Movie with a cold rag on my forehead. At least, I was, until I heard a knock at the door, unsurprised to see Liz Forbes, but very surprised to see one Stefan Salvatore behind her. His warm green eyes appraise me worriedly, and I can't help but wonder how the hell he got an invite in.

Oh, duh, Caroline.

"Hey, Alessia. You doing okay in here, sweetie? Need anything?" She asks softly, and it softens my opinion of her slightly.

Don't get me wrong, she was a neglectful parent. Never snuck care any vervain, never tried too hard to get to know her daughter. But, I could respect that she hadn't abandoned Caroline like her dad did, that put her more in the 'impartial' category for me.

I nod, grabbing a sip of my water bottle, "I'm fine. I'll probably be all good by tomorrow." If my spell works the way I want.

She nods, and turns to gesture to Stefan, "He came over to check on you. Let me know if you guys need anything."

Liz exits the guest bedroom promptly, closing the door behind her as she goes. I turn my attention to the adorable younger Salvatore that I'm still slightly irritated with.

"Aw, Stefan," I sigh dramatically, "Come to see me on my death bed?"

He very clearly has to fight off a chuckle, opting for a smile instead, but his eyes are very sad. And that's saying something if I can see it, I'm garbage at reading other people's emotions.

Of course he is, his best friend died. Maybe talking about it will help him cope. I'm so nice.

"What's wrong, Stef? You look upset."

Green eyes widen as if I wasn't supposed to notice, before slowly softening as he walks further into the room, sitting on the opposite bottom corner of the bed. As his weight settles on the mattress, he looks down at his hands, his broad shoulders slumped, and I don't think I've ever seen a man look so defeated. Great, now I feel bad. I can't be mad when I pity him.

"It's been a rough couple days," he replies quietly, "but, I came here for two reasons."

I raise an eyebrow at that. "Well, the least you can do is look at me while you talk to me," I say teasingly, "I'm ill."

Stefan turns, handsome smirk on his face.

"You're right, it was rude of me."

I pat the bed space next to me, inviting him to sit up against the headboard, and he does. Ignoring the increased thumping of my heart, and look at him softly, "Lay it on me. What's got you in a tizzy?"His pretty green eyes are very deep and very heartbreaking and I actually start to regret not getting up and saving Lexi. I could've spared him some pain considering what all was to come.

No. No time to think like that. The decisions I make are best left as alone and final. If I start heaping guilt onto myself, I won't stop and I'll spiral, and I don't have the time or resources to do that.

"I wanted to say that I'm sorry, Alessia."

Huh?

Stefan smiles in a self deprecating kinda way, leaning his brownish blondish head back against the headboard, "You were entirely right about Vicki. I almost killed her after I didn't guide her correctly, and you came in and completely stole the show. Fixed all my mistakes. And you didn't even ask for anything in return."

I shake my head at his logic, taking another sip of my water bottle, "Duh, Stefan. I don't need anything from you."

He chuckles good naturedly, and I can't stop the shivers that go up and down my arms at the sound.

"Of course you don't. You don't need anything from anybody."

With a smile, I playfully hit him on the shoulder, "Now you're starting to get it, Stefan."

His gaze shifts in its intensity, and it looks almost affectionate the way forest green eyes nearly become overwhelming. How does he even do that? A small smile appears, warming Stefan's statuesque face.

"Yeah, I think I am."

The next few moments of eye contact are some of the most intimate moments I've ever shared in my entire life. I feel like he's literally digging and trying to find something in my gaze. It's not only super duper embarrassing, it feels almost invasive, but I can't look away.

Oh god oh god oh god so pretty can't breathe-!!

I KNOW HOW TO FIX THIS!

"So, how's Elena?"

And just like that, tension is gone, he looks away, and Alessia can once again take in oxygen to her rapidly dying brain cells. He looks at A Goofy Movie playing on my tv, taking a deep breath before sighing, "I'm leaving."

"Because of the Council? Or..?"

"Damon. He, uh, killed a good friend of mine a couple days ago, and it's becoming too dangerous. Specifically for Elena."

I nod, "Ohhhh, gotcha. You taking D with you or what?"

"He'll most likely follow. His greatest joy in life is to cause me suffering, and he can't do that if he stays here."

I can't help but roll my eyes a bit, and Stefan looks over at me in question, "What?"

"I just don't get you guys. For two brothers who hate each other so much, you both spend a ton of time together. If I'm honest..," I pause, batting away the idea literally with my hand, "You know what, never mind. My honesty has been exceedingly brutal as of late. Think it's the stress."

"No," Stefan stops my train of thought by grabbing hold of my batting hand, causing my heart to ricochet off into oblivion, and I know my face is getting red. Oh GOD HE CAN PROBABLY HEAR IT-

"Please," he asks so sweetly, and I wonder how Elena ever tells him no. Does she? "Blunt honesty would be nice after dealing with Damon's political way of telling the truth, lately," a small warm grin spreads across his cheeks.

"Ughhh, fine," I groan, "I don't know if I think you guys actually can hate each other. I think you're both very angry with each other, and you have no good reason to want the other in your life, but, you always end up back together. Like, I think if Damon actually hated you, he'd have killed you by now. My theory is that you've both done so many unforgivable things to each other that even though you both want to move on from it, you don't know how, so you both just fuck with each other for eternity."

Stefan Salvatore blinks once. Then, twice. Then, he bursts out with hearty laughter. It makes me jump at how abrupt it is, especially since I wasn't trying to be funny, but he keeps going until I start to giggle at the absurdity of it. Unfortunately, this was poor decision making on my part because I start coughing and hacking all over the throw blanket.

He looks over at me worriedly, "Alessia, if you want I can give you some of my blood. It should fix you pretty quickly."

I continue doing that annoying baby cough thing as I try to say, "That's awful.. sweet of you... Stefan, yeah."

Like two minutes later, I felt better than I had in a while.

*

Ugh. Career Night is sincerely just a dick sucking contest for the Founding families.

I walk around with my eyes peeled, waiting for that douchebag newsman to appear so I could properly thank him for shooting me. If I'm honest, didn't know if I wanted to kill him just yet, but I did know that I would be making his brain vessels pop at least three times. Since he was a new vampire, it'll be an entirely new experience.

Ew, I'll be popping his proverbial magic cherry.

Tyler suddenly strides over to me, clearly looking an odd combo of frustrated and confused.

"Alessia, I don't know what's wrong with me, but I feel like decking every loser's face in this fucking hallway."

Oh yeah, full moon.

I gently take hold of his broad shoulders as his eyes frantically scan the room, "Ty. Ty. Look at me."

Black eyes meet mine, and I see the stress and underlying fear in there, fear that he'll actually really hurt someone. I give a small comforting smile, starting to rub into his shoulders to release some of the tension, "Everything's going to be fine, Ty. Just focus on staying calm, deep breaths. Find that spot in your mind where everything, and everyone is quiet."

He closes his eyes, jaw tight tight, and inhales deeply. I breathe with him for several seconds before he opens his pretty dark eyes, definitely more focused and less manic. My hands slip off his shoulders, instead perching on my hips.

"Does this have anything to do Dickhead Dad being here?" I ask, and from the coldness that settles in his gaze, I assume I'm right.

"He's acting like I'm a complete weakling because I won't beat up Little Gilbert."

Wait, that already happened?! Did I space out or something? OH SHIT, CAROLINE!

"Tyler, this is extremely important, have you seen Caroline anywhere?" I ask urgently. If she had already left...

"Oh, I saw her walk out just a minute ago, why?"

I don't answer, I just rush past him and start running.

Fuck, fuckity fuck, Caroline!!

I'm suddenly pulled back by someone grabbing my arm, and angrily turn to beat the shit out of them when I'm greeted by the worried eyes of Stefan Salvatore.

"Alessia?" He asks quietly, "What's wrong?"

Instead of answering, I pull on his arm. "Call Damon now. That bastard has Caroline."

He doesn't flinch, doesn't panic, just nods and lets me pull him. Stefan actually trusts my judgement.

No time to think of that now.

And with that, we head outside, and the younger Salvatore speeds us into the night, trailing after their scent to save my blonde best friend.

*

When we arrive on the corner of Elm Street, Damon has already stopped the car and yanked the news reporting bastard out of the car. He pulls out a gun, and shoots Logan Fell in the chest several times with a wolfish grin on his face.

"Payback's a bitch, isn't it?"

As I hop off of Stefan's back, very much enjoying the sound of Logan's agonized screams, I rush over to the passenger side. Care has a large gash on her forehead, and I immediately feel a large tumble of absolute fury roll through my stomach.

Logan's screams turn into one's of utter torture, but I don't really notice. In fact, it kinda feels like I'm floating on the magic I'm feeling rush through my body, kinda like caffeine. I don't see much anymore, just feel. I feel nature breathing all around me, I hear the hum of deep within the earth, feel the wind around me bend to my will. It feels exactly how it felt when my magic first turned on.

And then, I'm pulled out by a harsh pain against my face. I blink hard, and in front of me is Stefan, clearly extremely worried. I quickly look around and see that not only is Caroline safe on the pavement, but the vehicle itself has been flipped over. Unfortunately, the only thing Logan Fell has lost is an arm, which is hanging limply off of a mailbox.

Whoops.

I turn around and see Damon looking at me, eyes very wild looking, "Take Caroline and you two get the hell out of here before the cops show up."

I quickly nod, brushing off my immature and very emotional reaction with a sheepish grin and a quick, "My bad. Sorry, not sorry about the arm, Fell."

Said asshole glares at me bitterly, and it's the last thing I see before me and Care are shoved up over Stefan's broad shoulders and blurred away.

*

A/n: Hey all! Hope you've been well this December and are enjoying the story. Thanks for all the love and helpful comments, I love reading them!

Happy Holidays!

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