Damon, you don't understand, do you?" His glares were directly falling on the burning flames of the firewood, when Elena walked in.

"That's me! taking the things in a wrong way." The ice cube in his whiskey was striking the inner walls of the glass with his shaking of that glass in his hand.

"And I won't apologize, either. I will rather die than live my life without you, knowing that this was nothing, and you never felt anything for me."

"Fine, then I want to tell you something too." Elena was not going to back. She never did. "Yes you are not the person, I will imagine myself to fell for. You challenge me to question my own decisions, you are not good for me, and I am sure that this is going to be the worst decision of my life, I am ever gonna make. But, I am not going to deny the fact that I love you."

Damon was shocked and euphoric at the same time, and he didn't know how to react at the very moment.

"I…. love you Damon." The words were not just words for him, and he couldn't wait to rush towards her, and take her in his arms. He enveloped those lips with his own, kissing her passionately.

That was the only place where he shouldn't be, the last place where he wanted to be. But he was there, standing, still, so still, that he seemed like nothing but a dead body. If it wasn't for that wall, that was supporting the weight of his body, he would have fallen already, physically anyway. He thought there will be an ache in the place where his heart stayed. Maybe because his heart had been ripped apart from his body. He didn't know how long he was standing there like that.

"Now, who is eavesdropping?" Lexi's hands automatically went to rest on his shoulder. He held it, tight in his grip. His sight was becoming blurry because of the layer of tear forming in his eyes. He was wrong. The pang of pain was rushing through his blood, passing through every veins. He wanted to shut it off, to put himself out of his misery. It was hitting him over and over again, that he was no one, and he was never the one. He didn't know when and how, but his legs were working. One after another, they moved forward.

Her first instinct was to check the place he blindly will end up. And so there she is, standing in the middle of the scull Bar, scanning every face out there. But the one she was looking for was nowhere to be found.

Her eyes flickered to a shape which resembled him. False alarm, and she was feeling anxiety now.

She made a beeline straight to the bartender.

"What can I get for the girl?" The bartender was at her side in a second.

"Stefan.."

"Stefan? I am sure there is no drink like that!" He was being overly cute, and it was creeping her out.

"No, I mean, I am looking for a guy. He is around five eleven in height, have the eyes so green, that someone can stare in those for infinite time and will never get bored. But it is not green always. Sometimes it looks more brown than green. Also he has a bushy eyebrows, and most of the times he broods like this." She frowned her brows mimicking Stefan's face.

"Are you talking about that Salvatore boy?"

"Yes! Him. Did you see him here?"

"Not today. He hasn't been here lately. I was getting a bit worried about that boy."

"Worried that he stopped drinking?"

"Worried that his drinking took the best of him." She looked at him for a minute. Blonde, tall, broad shoulder, he was resembling Matt, a lot. Even his eyes were blue, and she wondered if he was anyway related to him.

"Well, if he come here can you give me a call?" She told him while writing her number on a piece of a paper and handed it over to the guy. She looked at the name tag, and said "Alex, if you don't mind?"

"Nice way of giving me your number." He winked at her, and she didn't bothered to respond. "I will ask the other person in-charge and will let you know if he came here." he told her and started attending the other customers. she didn't had time to wait. She has to look for other places now.

After searching almost half of the town, she was exhausted and he was nowhere to be found. But she is anything but a pessimist. And, so, she was going to look every corner of the streets if that is what can bring him back.

She didn't know why but her gut feeling was saying that she will find him there, in the next corner. So she parked the car on a side, and turned off the gas. She took a deep breath, and opened her door.

Disappointment was surely in her bag, because the whole road was empty, and silent. Slowly she turned around, to head back to her car. Her eyes stopped at one of the moving object, and so does her legs.

Stefan!

She was walking fast to reach up to him. When she came closer, she couldn't walk anymore. The shock was all over her face.

He didn't know how he reached there, and now he was standing in the middle of the Scull Bar. He didn't cared for what training, or what control he was trying to reach at that moment. He just wanted to suppress the emotions.

"What can I get you?" Stefan wasn't paying attention to the bartender.

"Hey. You! Are you all right man?"

Stefan looked at him, snapping out of his thoughts.

"Y… Yeah."

"What can I get you?"

Stefan looked at him, at his face. He wanted to ask, if there is something which can make the pain to go. But, there was something on his face which was making Stefan agitating even more. He figured, he should stop staring at him or he might punch him for no reason.

"Anything."

"Anything? Can you be any more specific?" the tag said the bartender was Mark.

Mark.

Stefan didn't liked the name either. And now he was getting on his nerve. The shooting stares were enough for Mark to just give him anything and be out of his sight.

Stefan didn't know how much he drank, but his chest was still aching with million daggers stabbed and stuck in his heart.

The streets were dark, and deserted. What could he have expected it to be in the middle of the night? It's not NYC. But, he could have accepted it to be less blurry, and not revolving clockwise. He could have walked properly. He thought.

One wrong step forward, and he trembling legs couldn't take it anymore. In a second he was on the ground, laughing hysterically.

"Hey man? watch where you walk?" out of nowhere, a guy cam and bump him and he fell again. Stefan looked at him, and he wasn't that old. Maybe a frat boy. And he was drunk.

Good for me.

"Are you all right man?" drunk as hell, he was laughing at Stefan.

"I am fine. But, I don't know if you will be, if you didn't stayed away from my way today."

"What?"

"You are out of your house on the wrong day and at the wrong place. Because, right now I can think nothing but to rip your head out of your body." There was something in Stefan eyes that freaked him out. Dark and filled with full of rage. If anyone would try to listen carefully, they could hear his heart thumping from far away.

He was trying to protect himself from the blows of Stefan, but he was failing. After all, Stefan was the best boxer in his teen period. His hands were soaking with blood. But, it wasn't his.

He raised his fist for another blow, but it was stopped in the middle. He turned around, to stand and look directly in those blue eyes, which were reflecting anything but fear.

"Stop it Stefan." She pushed him away from the frat boy, and talked directly to the stranger. "Go." The guy was out of there in a second.

She took a deep breath before turning around.

"What the hell were you trying to do right now?"

"I was trying to feel nothing."

"This isn't you, okay. You are not thinking through your head." Her shouts were echoing in that deserted street. He stared at her with confusion and shocked.

"Stefan, you might not be knowing yourself right now. But, I do. You are not this person. You are…. You are better than this. Better than anyone." She took a step forward.

"Don't come near me today." He took a step back.

"Stefan, you don't have to do this alone. You know that right?" her words were not making any sense to him.

"I understand the situation, I do. But, it doesn't mean you have to be in it alone, all by yourself. I want you to know, that you can come to me, for anything. I am your friend, Stefan, and…. I hope you consider me your friend too."

He was too broken, and messed up, and he was tired to figure out how he ended up crumbled in her arms. The tears which were stocked somewhere in his eyes, started to fall, drop after drop.

"I thought that it was everything, my epic love story. We were happy, and in love. But, then everything came knocking down on me. I lost her. To my brother." His eyes were red, but the tears were gone. For now.

"To be honest, I don't know what she saw in him, your brother I mean. He is an ass." For some reason, that made him chuckle. He was calm. The ache was still there, but he was managing to breathe for some unknown reasons.

"If I would have known, that bitching about your brother would do the trick, I would have started from that."

"What trick?" he frowned

"Trick that can make you smile." He smiled on that too.

"How are you?"

"Shouldn't I be the one to ask this, Stefan?"

"I mean your back."

"I am fine Stefan, don't worry about it." It was almost 3 a.m. in the morning, and they were still sitting in the car, in the parking lot. "How are you?" she asked cautiously.

"Not dead, apparently. Because I have nothing but this anger, and pain and…"

"And me. You have me." They were lost in each other's eyes. There was this lump starting to develop in his throat, and his chest was feeling light and heavy, all at the same time. Her words were doing the tricks again.

When he looked at her again, coming out of his own thoughts, she was deep in sleep. He shook his head and smiled at her. It was amazing how, she managed to get him out of his stinging world. For now, at least. He opened the door on her side to take her into her apartment, but when he touched her, his body was tensed.

She was burning with fever, and he blamed himself for her condition. Without thinking much, he took her in his arms to get her to the apartment.

"Stefan! What's wrong with her?" Bonnie was on the door, when she heard the bell. Stefan was glad for that.

"Elena is sleeping inside." Bonnie sensed his awkwardness, and thought of giving the information his eyes were looking for.

"I will put her in her bed."

"She has a fever." He told Bonnie while tucking Caroline in her blanket.

"I will take care of her."

"It's okay. I am here. I will manage it."

"What happened to your hand?" Bonnie couldn't stop herself in asking the question when she saw his bandaged palm.

"My anger overpowered me today." he put his undamaged hand deeper in his pocket, and looked at Bonnie.

"You guys seems… close." Bonnie was still trying to read him.

"She has… Helped me with some things." He smiled weakly.

"Are you…?" she didn't wanted to ask him, it was not her place to encounter anything from him. But, Caroline was her best friend, and it was important to be the protective wall in case he was in some rebound relation with her.

"No. There is nothing going on between us, if that's what you are trying to figure out."

"I was just looking out for my friend. She… has been through a lot. And I don't want her to be someone's rebound. I am sorry Stefan, I can understand you but-"

"It's okay. You don't have to give me any reasons. I understand that. And I don't think if she and me… if it can happen. She is my friend, and… that's it!"

Bonnie nodded once, and left the room saying, "call me if you need anything."

Caroline felt her cheek facing the pillow, a little wet, because of the fresh tears that fell. Her eyes were still close, and she was cursing the timing for her to get out of her sleep. She could sense his presence, when he came back and sat on a chair near her bed. His touch felt cold on her warm forehead.

She started to doze off again, but the audio in the cassette in her head was in loop.

It's not gonna happen. She didn't know that the four words can hurt so damn much.