"You put me in a position where I have to defend you, again, where I have to bend my morals, again, where I have to go against everything single thing that I believe in, again! Because I love you!"

"Then stop loving me!"

"I can't!"

He sat there listening, his heart breaking into a million pieces. She chose Damon. She loved Damon. He was not the one. He hated that he thought she would probably choose him, give him another chance. He hated that there was nothing he could do to heal his broken heart.

"You're listening again, aren't you?" he heard a voice behind him as someone laid a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Lexi… I'm seeing you again." said Stefan, as he got up and walked towards her. She came forward to hug her heartbroken best friend.

"I don't know what to do Lexi. A part of me wishes that I never got my memories back. A part of me wishes that I never came to Mystic Falls in the first place. A part of me just wishes that I could turn my humanity off and let it be that way forever. Damn it! A part of me wishes that I were still trapped in the quarry." said Stefan, his voice coming out in a hushed whisper. A lone tear was about to escape his eye, which he blinked back furiously.

"Stefan. I know it hurts. But it's not going to stay that way for long. I agree with Caroline here. One day, you'll meet someone and fall in love without even knowing it. Look Stefan, there are plenty of things to be happy for. Silas is dead. You're fine and memory is back. I'm with you, maybe not as a vampire, but as a ghost. And you know what tops the list of best things that happened? Katherine Pierce is DEAD." said Lexi, trying to cheer her best friend up.

He looked up the moment she uttered the name Katherine Pierce. Yes, she was dead. She was probably rotting somewhere in hell. She had used him and Damon for her dirty deeds. She had forced them to turn into something they hated. She had forced them to fight against each other. She lied, she manipulated, she killed innocent people and she did horrible things to survive. But, even he did. So did Damon. There was no pure soul in this world. If he considered her a heartless monster, then what did that make him?

"Stefan!" Lexi shook him out of his trance. "I know how blissful it is, imagining Katherine rotting in some dark corner of hell. Tell me how she looks there? The same pretty, yet deceitful face, or has changed to its true demonic form?" she asked, making in chuckle.

"She's dead Lexi. And she's probably at peace. Let her be. She's a true survivor, and she's not the only person who's done horrible things, right?" asked Stefan, trying to sound casual while talking about her death.

Beneath his I-don't-care-for-Katherine façade, he knew that her death somehow mattered. It made him feel sad, maybe beyond sad. She did deserve better, maybe. She didn't deserve to die, maybe. She should have been given the chance to redeem herself, maybe. So many maybes. But none of it is supposed to matter, because she is dead now. But, somehow, he found himself thinking about her. She was like slow poison that didn't affect him at once, but slowly crept in and never left.

"Stefan, you're thinking about her again, aren't you?" asked Lexi, sitting beside on the couch as she rubbed his shoulder, trying to console him.

"No. I'm not thinking about Elena. I'm happy as long as they are." he said truthfully, because all that he could do now was just accept the fact.

"I wasn't talking about Elena you idiot. I was talking about Katherine." said Lexi, giving him a stern look. "She matters to you. Doesn't she? Despite the horrible things she has done, you feel terrible about her death. Why is that Stef?"

"I don't know okay! I don't know. I didn't think I'd feel bad or guilty about her death. I don't love her. I love Elena. I probably feel bad because she was the only person who tried to help me, when I was trying to get over my PTSD. She was the only person who cared about what I felt. And even in her last moments, she wanted me to be the only person she saw before she shut her eyes forever. So yes, I feel terrible about her death." Stefan finally snapped, realising how much Katherine Pierce had affected him.

He wasn't in love her. She had done unforgivable things to him. 145 years of hatred was not a small thing to get over. The only feelings he had for her was sympathy, not love, or maybe that's what he thought.