162 CANDLES
Lexi and Stefan were in Stefan were kidding in his room. Lexi had arrived at the boarding house for Stefan's 162nd birthday. Dang, he was old. Then, Stefan warned Lexi to be careful while staying in Mystic Falls.
"Why stay?" Lexi asked him, "I'm headed to New York for the weekend. Bon Jovi in the Garden. "Wanted dead or alive", it's our theme song. It'll be a blast." Lexi hopped off the bed, excitedly.
"Do you think he would actually remember us?" Stefan asked, as he smiled at his best friend. He and Lexi went way back, to where they first met right after he was turned into a vampire. "That was a pretty crazy weekend, huh?"
"We can make him remember us." Lexi wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. "Come on! Let's go. I mean, what's keeping you here?"
"I told you, her name is Ariana," Stefan explained to her.
"Let's hope she's better than the last girl you got all sprung over." Lexi went over to a table in Stefan's room, and held up the old picture of Katherine.
Stefan smirked and walked over to her, snatching the photo out of her hands, "You didn't even know Katherine." He stated.
"'Cause if I did I'd kick her ass." Lexi said, "Little bitch. Speaking of..." she looked distracted, "Where's Damon?"
"Inflicting misery somewhere." Stefan replied, "You gonna be okay here alone? 'Cause I got some things I gotta take care of." Like, explaining to the town's police where Vicki had gone off to.
"It's not exactly like I can go anywhere," The blonde complained, flinging her arms out, exasperated. "And you and Damon are the only ones with these nifty little daylight rings." She held up her hand, to show off her ring. "I have a mood ring from '75! Trade ya?"
Stefan smiled, and shook his head. "Doesn't work that way and you know it." Rings were spelled so that the person it's spelled to is the only one who can make the ring work.
"Yeah," Lexi agreed.
"Hey, Lex. I'm really glad you came here." Stefan told Lexi.
"What are we doing for your birthday?" Lexi asked him, teasing. "It's not everyday a guy turns a hundred and sixty-two years old.
Stefan groaned, "Really?"
"Oh yeah," Lexi grinned mischievously.
Ariana POV:
Sheriff Forbes - Caroline's mother - questioned Jeremy, Elena, Matt, Stefan, and I. She asked the same questions any other sheriff would ask: Where did Vicki says she was going? What was her behavior like those last few days before she left? Any signs of aggression or violence? Do you believe Vicki really has left town?
I tried answering the questions as best as I could without giving away any information that would suggest Vicki hadn't really left town. They couldn't know the truth. Nobody could, besides the ones who already knew.
After the questioning, Jenna, Jeremy, Elena, and I walked out of the police station. I was walking down the stairs, when I saw Stefan there, waiting for me.
To my family, I said, "I'll meet you guys in the car."
"Okay," Jenna said. Elena gave me a knowing smirk, while Jeremy just looked bored.
Once they started walking away, I turned to Stefan. He smiled and said, "Hey,"
"Hey," I smiled back, walking up to him. "Jeremy and Elena had no memory of what happened, so... I'm pretty sure the Sheriff didn't suspect anything."
He nodded. "That's good," he said.
"Yeah..." I said. I tried to smile, but I just couldn't do it.
"Hey," Stefan said, as he hugged me. I closed my eyes.
"I'm sorry, Stefan. It's just hard. Vicki's never coming back, and that's all I think about every time I look at Matt or Jeremy. People die... and... it's just a lot to take in..." No. I was not going to cry. That's all I'm ever doing, and I was sick of it. I needed to be stronger, for Jeremy and Elena. I needed to be their sister.
Stefan tilted my head up with his finger. I met his soft green eyes, "Why don't we go somewhere and talk about it." He suggested. It was a tempting, I admit. But, I needed to make sure that Jeremy and Elena were okay before I could do anything else.
I shook my head, "I'm sorry. I just need to... I feel..."
"Hey, hey, hey." Stefan said, "I understand. If you change your mind, just call."
I smiled then, "Thank you, Stefan."
"I hope to see you later."
"Me too," I agreed.
After getting home, we each went to our own separate rooms. About an hour later, I came back into the living room, to find Jenna on the couch, and Elena next to her. Elena was on her phone, playing a game or whatever, while Jenna looked tried and kinda sad.
"You okay, Aunt Jenna," I said to her, "You look sad."
"Yeah, well, I got dumped." She said as an answer. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, Jenna was dating Logan again. I wonder what happened to him?
I sat down next to Jenna on the couch, and said, "Well, then he's a jerk. Because you're one of the most amazing people I've ever met." I smiled reassuring at her.
"Thank you." She said, then her look turned cynical, "You're also right about the 'jerk' part. He gave me a brush-off e-mail saying: 'I'm leaving town. See ya.'"
Before I could answer to her, Jeremy's voice said from the kitchen, "Wanna keep it down over there?"
"Why?" Jenna said, turning around, "What are you doing?"
"Homework," he answered. That was enough to make me turn around and stare at my brother in shock. Even Elena stopped playing with her home.
"Since when do you do homework?" She asked, pointing her index finger at him.
Jeremy was sitting on the high stool, vigorously writing. I still didn't get over it. He was doing homework?
"I gotta finish this." He said, not taking his eyes off of the paper, "I'm way behind and I have a quiz tomorrow so..."
Us three girls looked at each other, surprised. Jeremy didn't care about school. Since the accident, he never did. What brought this on? At least Jeremy was actually taking school seriously. That was good. But, it was kinda freaking me out.
"What do you guys think? Alien?" Elena asked, speaking my thoughts.
"Some sort of replicant." Jenna breathed, eyeing Jeremy.
"I'm not even gonna guess, because I'm not sure that I wanna know." I said, truthfully.
"He can hear you." Jeremy said, giving us a 'u girls are crazy' look. I shared a look with Jenna. But unlike her, she didn't know why Jeremy was acting this way. I did. It must have been Damon. I had asked him to take away memories of Jeremy, and I guess that may have messed with him a bit. Great. Other than that, Jeremy seemed fine. Not exactly happy, but he wasn't all broody like he usually is. And why wasn't Elena acting strange? Oh, right, Elena's been acting the same way for seventeen years.
Damn it, I need to go ask Damon about what he did to my brother.
After that, I went back up to my room. I was tying my hair into a high ponytail - I know, I was seriously bored - when I heard a knock on my door. It clicked open, and I smiled when I saw who it was.
"Oh, my gosh. Bonnie!" I said, and she laughed as I hugged her.
"What's up with you?" She asked me. "We talked on the phone, like, this morning."
"I know, just, with Vicki leaving and everything, I'm just trying to find a distraction." I half-lied, "And what better than my best friend."
She smirked and questioned, "You need a distraction, huh?" I nodded. She then moved to my open window, and closed it. She came back over to me, grabbed my hand, and we plopped down onto my soft bed. Grabbing my letter opener from my bedside table, she picked up one of my pillows. With one quick movement, my pillow was suddenly slashed and white feathers were dumped all over me.
"Bonnie!" I said, surprised. What the heck was she doing, and was it really necessary to kill one of my pillows?
"Hold on!" She told me. Okay... "I need to swear you to secrecy."
"Okay, I swear." It's not like things could get any worse. Anyways, I never tell a secret, well, not voluntarily.
"There's no windows open, right?"
"Nope,"
"No fan, no air conditioning?" She asked me.
"None." I was getting all jittery. I had a feeling I knew what she was about to show me.
"Remember last time, when... I kinda set a car on fire?" She asked, uncomfortable. Yep, I knew what she was about to show me. I just hope nothing caught on fire, because I remember the "car incident". Bonnie continued, "Well, Grams just showed me this new trick. You're gonna love it."
I hope I would. Bonnie hovered her hand over the feathers, and slowly moved her hand upward through the air. My eyes widened as I saw one of the feathers float right below her hand. She lowered it, and the feather fell back onto the rest of them. Then, using both hands, she made about ten feathers float. I was amazed. Wow, this was... amazing. I gasped, as suddenly, all of the feathers started circling around us. They were like snowflakes caught in a windstorm. It was... beautiful.
"It's true," Bonnie said to me, as I continued to look at the soft feathers in awe, "Everything my Grams told me. It's impossible and it's true. I'm a witch. All those weird things that have been happening to me, well, I finally have an explanation."
I nodded at her, smiling. "I believe you. I've actually believed you for a while now. Thank you for telling me."
"Your welcome," Her eyes were twinkling. It was obvious that she was having fun with magic. Wow. My best friend really was a witch. All I could think about, was how awesome this distraction was.
"It's weird, huh?" Bonnie said, "After all this time, joking about being psychic. I really am a witch. You don't think I'm a freak now, do you?"
"Of course not," I said confused, "You know me, I barely ever judge. But if your Grams asked you to keep all this a secret, why did you tell me?"
"You're my best friend. I can't keep secrets from you." I felt guilty. Here Bonnie was, telling me everything, while I was keeping secrets from her. Many secrets. Should I tell her? No. I couldn't. I promised Stefan, and I was going to keep that promise. I tried to smile.
I decided to go visit Stefan. After all, he was my boyfriend. And just because I was a little shaken by what happened with Vicki, that didn't mean I wasn't still totally into him.
I approached the huge dark wood door, and knocked on it. But when I heard the voice telling me to come in, I definitely didn't expect it to be a girl's voice.
"It's open! Come on in." She said. Confused, I pushed open the door and stepped into the familiar hallway. When I turned the corner to the next hallway, my eyes widened. There was definitely a girl here. She was tall, with long blonde hair which was obviously dyed, and tan skin. The most... shocking thing, was that there was a towel wrapped around her body. Just a towel.
"Oh My God!" She said to me, as if my presence surprised her. "How... How...Who?"
Um... Okay. "I'm Ariana." I introduced. "May I ask... who are you?" I was feeling a bit hurt. Stefan had a girl over, who was in a towel. Yeah, I was feeling probably more than a bit hurt.
"Lexi, a friend of Stefan's." The girl answered. She was still looking at me in a way that suggested she couldn't believe I was standing there. Well, I could say the same thing about her. Not to be rude... or anything.
"Is he here?" I asked her.
She pointed her thumb over her shoulder, and said, "He's in the shower. Do you want to wait?" He was in the shower? With, a girl? Now, I was definitely hurt. No questions asked. And anyways, I wasn't doing to wait here for him. That would be really awkward, and it kinda seemed a bit crazy, as if I couldn't wait to go interrogate him. I guess I'd just have to get the answers from him later.
"That's okay." I told her.
"I'll tell him you stopped by." She said. She seemed like a nice girl, but why was she here with Stefan? I almost told her to not bother.
"It's fine." I said, "I'll just... call him later... or something." Giving her an awkward wave, I left the boarding house. By the time I got home, I almost started to cry... again. There must have been some sort of explanation. Stefan would never cheat on me, I knew it. Maybe she was one of Damon's many girlfriends. In that case, I felt sorry for her.
3rd person POV:
Lexi walked back into Stefan's room, furious and frustrated. Stefan was putting on a shirt, when Lexi stomped over to him, "Are you out of your freaking mind?"
"What are you talking about?" Stefan asked.
Lexi took ahold of Katherine's photo from the near table, and said, "I just met Ariana. You have some serious explaining to do."
Stefan sighed. Great. Wait till she finds out that Ariana has a twin sister. Though, they are different, Stefan thought.
After Lexi and Stefan got dressed, Lexi started applying makeup, sitting his bed. "You have some serious emotional damage." She told Stefan.
"No, it's not what you think." He said, "She's not Katherine." Not by a long shot.
"Then they're related, 'cause they can be twins." Lexi stated.
"Ariana has a twin sister, Elena, actually." Stefan said. Lexi mouth popped open, but before she could say anything, Stefan continued, "But they're nothing alike. They may look almost exactly the same, but their personalities couldn't be farther apart."
"So, Ariana's not a raging Bitch then, huh?" Lexi asked him.
"No." Stefan replied. He sat down on the chair next to his bed. He got a faraway look, as he said, "Ariana is... Ariana's warm and she's ... she's kind, and she's caring, and she's selfless, and it's real... and honestly when I'm around her... I- I completely forget what I am."
"Oh My God!" Lexi exclaimed, "You're in love with her."
"Yeah, I definitely am." Stefan said.
"Now feel bad for letting her go," Lexi said to Stefan, "She looked upset, but that was probably because I was in a towel."
Stefan shook his head, "I'm gonna go talk to her, sort things out."
"Yeah, you go do that." Lexi went back to applying her makeup, "Oh! Maybe she can come to Damon's party today. You guys can have fun, while I make sure he doesn't get within ten meters of her." She smiled mischievously.
Stefan smiled, "It is strange." He said, "Though Ariana's nothing like Katherine, Damon seems to be... drawn to her."
"Well, yeah." Lexi said, in a 'duh' voice, "She looks identical to Katherine."
"No," Stefan insisted, "Damon acts like a better person around her. He apologizes, and-" he got cut off.
"He apologized!" Lexi clamped her eyeshadow compact closed, shocked. Stefan nodded his head. "Well, then. I'm definitely meeting her. Hurry up, and talk to her. I expect to see you at the Grill in no less than ten minutes."
"Yes, ma'am." Stefan walked to his car, and tried to anticipate his next ten minutes.
Ariana POV:
I was still sulking when I heard the doorbell rang. I had a feeling on who it was. Opening my front door, I saw Stefan standing there. I smiled slightly.
"Hey," He said.
"Hey,"
"Lexi said you came by," Stefan started. "And, I think you might've interpreted her presence there as something more than there really is. She 350 years old." Oh, so Lexi was a vampire. "She's my oldest friend. Nothing romantic. Ever."
It was a relief to hear that. I smiled, and nodded. "That's good. She seemed nice, and if she makes you happy, then I'm definitely okay with it." Stefan said that they were just friends, and I knew what it was like to have best friends of the opposite gender. I had many friends at school that were boys, so it took forever before Matt got used to it. I'd rather not wait for forever, and if Stefan said that Lexi was just his friend, then I believed it.
But it was weird that Lexi kept staring at me like I was a gigantic talking rubber ducky, or something.
Stefan smiled and nodded, "She comes to visit me on my birthday."
My mouth popped open, and I said, "Congratulations!" I hugged him, and I felt better instantly. "How old are you?" I tried asking politely.
"You really want to know?" Stefan looked a bit embarrassed.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." I said quickly. I could probably figure it out with math anyways. "I won't judge, promise."
He smiled, "I'm 162 years old."
"Mmm," I teased him, "Aren't you a little too old for me."
He shrugged, "Yes. But you're mature for your age, so I think it evens us out." I laughed. If he thought I was mature, then he hasn't met himself. He asked, "Was there an important reason you came by today."
I shook my head, and smiled, "Not really. I just wanted to come see you."
"Well," He said, "Sorry I couldn't be there earlier, I was getting ready for the party."
I laughed, "You mean the one that Caroline's throwing?" She had texted me earlier, telling me to meet her and Bonnie there. I didn't know that Stefan was into those kinds of parties.
"Well, it is my birthday, and Lexi's dragging me there." He said, "So how about I drive you there?"
"You sure?" I asked him, "You said you only get to see Lexi on your birthdays. Maybe, for today, you should spend more time with her." I didn't say it in a rude way. I really did believe that he should spend time with his friend who he only gets to see once a year.
"I would love it, if you were to join me." He said to me. His eyes made me give in.
"Alright then, let me just grab my jacket." I told him, "I'll be right back."
When Stefan and I entered the Grill, there were a lot of people there, age ranging from about fifteen to their mid-twenties. I saw Matt pass by us. He gave me a "hi" look, but he ignored Stefan. I guess he was still mad and upset about Vicki "leaving".
"Matt, just hear me out please." Stefan called out to him, making Matt stop. "I was trying to help Vicki. I went through something similar once, I'm really sorry,"
Matt gave him a long look, then shrugged, "Don't be. It's not the first time she's run off. Turns out Vicki's just like our mother; I can't count on either of them. Thanks for trying."
I felt bad for Matt. I was lying to him too, I sighed. The girls in his life were just walking out on him, including me... I couldn't help but feel partly responsible. He looked at me, and said, "See you around, Ariana." Then he walked away. Stefan and I shared a sad look. Oh, Matt...
Then, Lexi came up to us. She smiled at me, and said, "Hey, Ariana. You enjoying the party?" She was wearing a black dress, with dark makeup on. She almost looked goth. How did she know my name? Oh, right, Stefan must have told her. She was so cheerful, and it was hard to even think about not liking her.
"So far, yes." I smiled too.
I thought I saw Lexi wink at Stefan, but it was so fast that I couldn't tell. It was obvious that Lexi and Stefan were no more than friends. I had no idea why, but it just seemed that way.
I felt bad for trying to ruin their time together, since they only had today, so I said, "I'm gonna go find Bonnie and Caroline, see you guys later."
Stefan and Lexi looked at me confused. "Won't you join us in a game of pool?" Lexi asked me. She really was friendly, but again, I wanted them to spend time together.
"Um... yeah, sure." I said lamely, "After I say hello to my friends, okay?"
They just nodded at me. Wow, what a great first impression. Or, I guess, second impression. Damn, Lexi must've thought I didn't like her or something. I almost face-palmed myself as I walked over to the bar.
I probably shouldn't have flirted with the bartender, because now, after what I think was three shots of tequila, I was almost wobbling from place to place. I never ever got drunk. Never. I don't know what made me do it, but I was feeling different. I felt good though. As I stumbled into a chair, watching Stefan and Lexi laugh, I heard someone come up from behind me.
"Stefan smiles. Alert the media." It was Damon, and I groaned as he asked, "Are you drunk?"
"Probably," I said indifferently, "And Stefan does smile."
"Only around you." Damon smirked. Then, it faded as he asked me seriously, "You need me to take you home?"
I looked at him for a few seconds, then shook my head, "No, I'm fine. I'm sure it'll pass in... i don't know." He chuckled, amused. Then, I asked, "Remember when you took away some of Jeremy's memories?" He nodded, "Did you do something else? He's acting a little different."
"You asked me to take away his memory of fangs and all the bad stuff." He smirked, and shrugged, "I took away his suffering, Ariana."
I sighed, "I know. I'm still grateful that you did that. It just feels wrong, but thank you."
Damon said, "You're doing him a favor. No more 'bad boy' things, right?"
I smirked, "Yeah, says the 'bad boy'." Jeremy's old behavior was angelic compared to Damon's. God, I really was drunk.
He smiled at me. Then, another song in the Grill came on, and he held out his hand. "Wanna dance?"
I raised my eyebrows, and asked, "With the drunk girl?"
He said, "I'll make sure you don't fall." Before I could give him an answer - which would have probably been a "yes" - a voice sounded behind me.
"Don't you have other people's lives to ruin." Damon and I turned around, it was Lexi, who was glaring at Damon. I looked back to where she was previously playing pool with Stefan, to see him staring at us in anger and worry.
Damon put his hands up in surrender, "I was just asking for a dance."
"Yeah, well she doesn't want to dance with you." Lexi stated. So much for the friendly part. But, knowing Damon, he must have done something to piss her off before, so her attitude was understandable. I guess since she was friends with Stefan, she was trying to look out for me. I had no doubt that she was hearing about Damon's recent "deeds".
"I'm sure that's not true," Damon smirked at me, "But, since Stefan over there seems to be a second away from exposing us," He jerked his head at Stefan, "I'll see you later, Ariana." With one last glare at Lexi, Damon walked away.
I sighed, and turned to face Lexi. "Hey," she said to me, "Sorry 'bout that, but, being drunk around Damon," she shook her head, "Not a good idea."
I nodded, wearily, too lazy to argue, "I'm never drunk. I think this is my first time, and... it's sort of weird."
She shrugged, and smirked, "You get used to it. I did." I laughed. Then, Lexi said, "Go join Stefan, he's lonely without a partner."
"But this is your day, you should be the one to celebrate his birthday with him." I retorted.
She smiled at me, "Stefan's right. You are selfless." Stefan called me selfless? I smiled. "But, now that I see you drunk, I wanna get drunk, so..." She held up a couple of shots in her hands. How did I not notice those before? My senses were kinda screwed up. Lexi patted my shoulder, "Go get 'em girl."
I laughed and said, "Thanks." She and I were going to be good friends. I left Lexi, and concentrated on not tripping as I made my way over to Stefan. "Hey," I said.
Stefan still looked worried, but he smiled, "Hey. You okay?"
I nodded, "Yeah, I'm okay. Probably shouldn't drink next time. So," I smirked, "Let's play some pool."
Stefan laughed, "Are you sure you're up for it?"
"I've beaten Matt before, and he's practically champion."
He handed me a pretty blue cue stick. "Game on." He said.
3rd person POV:
"All right the shots are a bribe." Lexi said, as she placed the alcohol in front of Damon, and stared at him squarely, "I need you to answer a few questions. What are you really doing in Mystic Falls?"
Damon merely looked at her from the corner of his eyes. He tried to change the subject, "Have you tried The Brittle? It wins awards."
"Cut the crap."
"Okay," Damon leaned closer, pretending to be secretive, "I have a diabolical master plan."
"What is it?" Lexi asked.
"If I told you, then it wouldn't be very diabolical, now would it?" Damon rolled his eyes and smirked.
"Fine," Lexi said, "Then answer me this. What're you trying to pull with Ariana?"
"What do you mean?" Damon questioned.
"Don't pretend you don't know." Lexi glared at him, "I see the way you look at her. You can't do this again with Stefan. She is not Katherine."
"Don't you think I know that!" Damon whisper-yelled. "She's all the good parts, and none of the bad. I'll be damned if she ever sees me as anything other than her vampire boyfriend's brother."
Both Damon and Lexi were surprised by his mini-outburst. Lexi's gaze actually softened. "You're in love with her too, aren't you?" Lexi had only known Ariana for a few hours, and she already knew how kind a person she was. Damon was surrounded by darkness, so he would automatically be attracted to Ariana's light.
Damon didn't say anything. He took one of Lexi's shots, and downed it.
Ariana POV:
Stefan and I laughed while we played pool. After drinking some water, I felt less woozy. I was about to take my shot, when Stefan suddenly exclaimed, "Oh my god!" I looked up, and followed Stefan's gaze to where Caroline's mom and a few other deputies were carrying away a weak looking Lexi. I gasped. They must've given her vervain. But how did they know she was a vampire? "You should stay here." Stefan told me as he started heading towards the Grill doors, where the deputies had just exited through.
"I'll come with you."
"It's too dangerous." Stefan told me. I grabbed his hand.
"Let me come with you. I wanna know who did this." I said. How could they take Lexi? Stefan obviously really cared for her, and she was a good person. They couldn't kill her.
Stefan nodded, warily. "Okay," he said, "Be careful." I followed Stefan as we headed outside. The cold air hit me like a ton of bricks. It had that strange eerie feeling. Like the one people get when a storm's coming, or when something bad's about to happen. Stefan and I were just turning the corner of the brick building, when I let out a frightened gasp. No!
Lexi had a stake sticking through her heart, and Damon was the one who put it there. Stefan grabbed me, and held me against him, as he tried quieting my shocked cries. I saw Lexi, once who was so beautiful, become grey, and fall to the ground, dead. How could he?! How could Damon do this? To Lexi, to Stefan?! His own brother. How?
I followed Stefan as he fast-walked back to the parking lot. I had to half-jog to keep up with him. Anger, pain, and horror radiated off Stefan like the sun radiates heat.
"Stefan," I said softly. I was trying to calm him down. I was feeling all the emotions then that he was too. Lexi, a girl whom I just met, was dead. And I felt terrible about it.
"He killed her!" He shouted, "He killed Zach; he killed Tanner; he turned Vicki; I have to kill him!"
I winced, and told him, "You can't do that!" As much as I hated Damon right then and there, Stefan wouldn't be able to handle the pain if he were to kill his own brother.
"Why are you trying to save him?!" He turned to me. His face was so angry, that I almost flinched away from him. "Ariana, he's never gonna change! No matter what you feel for him. He's never gonna change!"
"What do you mean by 'what I feel for him'?" I asked him. Was he suggesting that I had ... feelings for Damon? Sure, he was hot, but I couldn't forget all of the bad things that he did. All of the people he's killed. And anyways, I was crazy for Stefan, not his older brother.
"Don't lie, Ariana." Stefan's jaw clenched.
"I'm not lying!" I said, exasperated. Did Stefan really believe that? After all we've been through together? "Look. I'm not trying to save him, I'm trying to save you! You have no idea what this'll do to you, Stefan. He's your brother, killing him... you won't be able to handle it."
No matter how many times times Elena and Jeremy piss me off, I could never hurt them.
"Everywhere I've been, pain and death follow; Damon follows me," His voice lowered, "No more."
"Stefan, hey," I ran up to him, and pulled on his arm until he turned around. I placed my hands on his face, and he closed his eyes. "Let me be here for you. You can talk to me, Stefan. I care about you, a lot." Maybe even more than just that.
In a fast move, he wrapped his arms around my waist, and kissed me. I could feel all his frustration and anger, burning into passion as I wrapped my own arms around his neck. The electricity made me shiver in pleasure. But suddenly, he pulled away. Looking into my eyes, he said, "I love you, Ariana." My heart beat sped up, pounding against my chest. I felt like it was going to burst, "So much. But..." he shook his head, "I can't take the risk that he'd hurt you. He'll just keep killing, and eventually, you'll break." His fingers made a line from my temple, to my jaw line. "I'm sorry," He whispered, and then he was gone.
3rd person POV:
Damon was in the boarding house, drinking bourbon. Stefan appeared like a ghost, hidden in the darkness. "Told you I'd take care of it." Damon said. Stefan blurred over to him, and threw him into the nearby bookcase. Grabbing ahold of his brother, Stefan punched him repeatedly in the jaw. Damon threw Stefan off of him, and took a defensive stance. Both their expressions were of anger, and pain. Stefan suddenly struck at Damon, pinning him to the wall. "Come on, I did this for you." Damon said, "To get them off our trail."
"You never do anything for anyone but yourself." Stefan retorted. Grabbing a stake out of his back pocket, he stabbed Damon's torso.
Damon was shocked. Stefan missed his heart by a fraction of an inch, "You missed!"
"No," Stefan said, "Ariana wouldn't like it much if I were to kill you. So I'm sparing your life. We're done." Stefan let Damon go, and the older brother fell to the ground. Even if Ariana didn't admit it, Stefan knew that if he were to kill his brother, Ariana would be upset. He didn't need to screw up her life anymore than he already had.
So sad! Lexi died. Stefan and Ariana...
Anyways, thank you guys so much for reading and reviewing!
In reply to one of my reviewers, Elena will be playing a part in my story, but it probably won't be as big as a part until later. Thank you for your opinions!
-Spiralcloud