Chapter 4: Awakening

oOo

When she woke, the bed was empty. But before she had a chance to hyperventilate, Stefan walked in carrying a tray containing a glass of blood, and a stack of steaming hot pancakes oozing with maple syrup.

He climbed onto the bed beside her and Rebekah sat upright, letting him place the tray on her lap. She felt the bed compress as he leaned over and kissed her forehead.

"You remembered!" she said, grinning. Bacon bits, not slices.

He smirked as he stole a nugget of bacon from her plate and she swiped playfully at him, saying "Mine!" They both jumped when her phone suddenly vibrated loudly against the nightstand announcing she had voicemail.

"I didn't hear that ring," Stefan said, his brow furrowed.

"Neither did I...?"

Rebekah gave him a wary look. She reached out for her cell, dialed into her voicemail and then turned the speakerphone on. She wanted Stefan to know she wasn't keeping anything from him.

The voice they heard said a short sentence or two in a lyrical, but strangely guttural, language. Despite the strange tongue, both of them immediately recognized the voice.

"What does he want?" Stefan asked, his eyes immediately narrowing upon hearing Klaus speak. She bit her lip, feeling the sharp incisors press into her own flesh. She considered telling him she didn't know - that she was as clueless as he was, but she knew he wouldn't buy it.

"What language was that?" he asked before she could even answer his first question.

She sighed. If she was going to be honest, she had to start somewhere. "Norwegian. But it's archaic. I don't suppose that dialect has been used in centuries."

"Your language," he said, and she nodded, "...and his."

She nodded again, albeit cautiously. Klaus had known Stefan would not be able to understand. This was deliberate attempt to lock him out.

"The text message before, was that also...?"

"It can't be written down exactly, but I knew what it said."

"Which was?"

"I miss you. Come home to me."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was going to - but you were so mean to me. You made me angry and I wanted to make you suffer a little bit."

"And this message?"

"More of the same, 'I miss you, where are you'..."

Stefan was angry at her for keeping secrets. He was quiet, but she could see from the tension in his body that he was trying to decide how to direct his rage.

She bit down a sigh. All of a sudden she knew she'd been alive too long. She felt stretched and bent out of shape by a dozen lifetimes of experience that had only taught her how to be a better predator, not how to understand love. Perhaps she would never find happiness. Maybe she didn't deserve to.

Stefan looked down. When his eyes returned again to her, Rebekah felt as though he could really see her. Not the blue-eyed blonde that many men lusted after, nor the stone-cold bitch that women often feared - but the scared little girl inside the woman - the sister, the friend. He saw it all. The fear and shame that existed alongside the speed and strength. He saw it, and understood it - because he lived it too.

She didn't know at what point he had picked up her hand, but his thumb was rubbing concentric circles in her palm, as he often did when something agitated him. It became apparent she had misread his earlier tension. His agitation wasn't caused by anger, it was excitement. His voice became a little higher, his eyes a little brighter.

"Then it's worked! We've drawn him out and he'll come for you. We've got him," his eyes sparkled malevolently. "Reply to him. Tell him to meet you," he added, "make him think you hate me and can't wait to get away from me. Tell him you think you have found a way to give me the slip, and then when you both get to the agreed meeting place, I'll be there waiting." He licked his lips as she chewed upon her own. "I've been thinking about it and I think I have had an idea about how to kill him-"

She bit down on her own lip so hard she drew blood. The smell of it interrupted his train of thought.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing..."

"Bex, what is it?"

"Nothing. It's a good plan."

He sensed her lack of enthusiasm and tried to bolster her. "This is your chance for revenge, to be free," he squeezed her hand and let his green eyes glint with the victory he knew was within grasping distance. "Don't you want that?"

She didn't respond. When he looked at her again, it was as though the fog had suddenly cleared and he could see her real thoughts.

"Don't tell me that you want to let him live after everything he's done to you?"

His tone was incredulous. She couldn't bring herself to answer, remaining awkwardly quiet. He grew silent once more as he let his thoughts re-order themselves.

"If you go to him, I'll have nothing."

That was all it took - his words were emotional blackmail and she hated him for it. She pulled her hand violently away from his. What she wanted to do was get up and walk away, but the tray on her lap trapped her in the bed. The previously alluring aroma of syrup now assaulted her nostrils with sickly sweetness.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I wouldn't want you to lose your bargaining chip," she snapped bitterly.

"Don't be stupid-"

"Oh, so I'm stupid now am I?"

In a fit of pique, she picked up the tray and tossed it against the wall. Everything smashed and clattered noisily to the floor. A pancake oozed a snail's trail of goopy slickness down the paintwork, then plopped on top of the broken porcelain like an afterthought.

"Great. Feel better now?" Stefan said sarcastically, his anger barely contained.

He stood up and toed one of the jagged pieces. She flung back the duvet and ran with vampire speed out of the bedroom. Before she reached the kitchen, he had her pushed up against a wall.

"Klaus killed your mother in case you have forgotten. Your mother, and then he lied to you about it for centuries. And when you said you were leaving him to be with me, he took your life from you. Rebekah, Klaus doesn't need you, he just wants to control you-"

"But at least he loves me!" she yelled. Her tears came without her willing them and fell in big, heavy droplets down her cheeks. "He loves me, Stefan," she said again almost apologetically.

Stefan dropped her arms and stepped back. He began to pace the kitchen floor. "Is that what this is about? Love?"

"Damon killed your nephew and your best friend. He stole Katherine from you, and now he's stolen Elena - but do you love him any less? No!" she spat back, chest heaving. Stefan didn't answer, nor did he dispute it. "Yes, I love Nik. I thought you of all people would understand."

She grew quiet, waiting for him to respond. Instead he pulled out a kitchen chair and straddled over it so that he sat with the back of the chair pressed against his chest. He folded his arms, rested them on the top of the chair and looked at her. She watched as he chewed his lip, his handsome features marred by a scowl.

"You want me to let him live," he finally stated.

She slowly nodded her head. He was quiet for a moment.

Anger, conflict, jealousy - it had taken him years to understand that these would always be a part of his relationship with Damon - but the decades had also shown him that he was scared to walk this life alone. He needed his brother. Always had, always would. Why did he assume she'd be any different?

"What are you thinking?" Rebekah asked in a low voice, stepping towards his chair.

As soon as she said it, she wondered if perhaps she didn't actually want to know the answer to that. He reached out for one of her hands and placed it beneath both of his. If outwardly he was troubled by her confession, then that simple gesture reassured her that his feelings for her were unchanged. A warmth spread through her body from the inside out.

"You know Damon's not safe with Klaus alive," he said to her after a moment's quiet reflection.

"I'll talk to him, Stefan. Please, let me try."

"And if you fail? What then? You know what you ask of me is too risky."

"I won't fail. It's not an option - I know that. Stefan, please trust me. You used to once..."

He grew quiet, and then looked at the hand he had been caressing. "What happened to the ring I gave you?" he asked with sudden curiosity.

"I tossed it that night I caught you with the girl you had your hands all over." She pulled a face - angry about it even now. The ring had only been a gift, nothing serious, but she had taken it to symbolize the potential for something more.

Stefan gave her a rather wicked smile, his sage eyes twinkling just a little too much for her liking. "Oh yes, I remember that night now..."

Her lips bowed into a familiar pout. He gave her a little smile.

She had loved that ring. It was ruby and diamond set in an ochre-gold filigree band. He had told her it matched her eyes - which was a joke that had earned him an elbow in the ribs before she had broken into a smile. For the longest time after throwing it away her right hand had felt completely naked. She would never tell him so, but she had searched the area where she had thrown it for days afterwards, with regret deep in her heart.

Back in the present time, Rebekah could feel her arm being gently tugged. He pulled her down towards him and caught her sulky lips in his. He drew his hand softly over her cheek as he kissed her gently. As she pulled slowly away, his eyes sought hers.

"You're so beautiful, how could I have even looked at another girl?" he asked. "I was an idiot."

She shrugged childishly, but secret pleasure at the compliment shone through her otherwise grumpy demeanor. He let his smile linger a moment longer, then he reached up and traced his hand over her face, letting his fingers finally come to rest under her chin. He lifted it so she had nowhere else to look but at him. Suddenly he became serious.

"I should have fought the compulsion - fought for you. I should have fought the devil himself to keep you by my side."

She blushed prettily, and let her other hand join both his, "Stefan, I know what was taken from us and I won't let Klaus forget that," she said in a low voice. "We could have been happy together."

"We still can be," he said as his eyes searched hers. "If you still want me."

She looked at him seriously. "You know I do. I never stopped loving you."

"But Klaus..."

"But nothing. I'll deal with him. I'll speak to Elijah, I know he'll help because he hates all this fighting. He wants peace and our family back. And Nik doesn't want to be alone any more. He was already tired of running and now with Mikael dead, all he'll want is us back by his side. He can fight me, or Elijah, but he won't fight us both. And he won't wake up the others without us."

"You seem very sure. But it sounds like a gamble to me."

"I know him, Stefan. Just like you know Damon. I'm asking you to believe in me."

He nodded. She let go of his hand and walked around behind him, threading her arms around his neck.

"You know, the first moment I saw you I knew I had to have you," he told her. He could feel her smile, "You were telling me off even then! But you lit up the room with your presence. Even if you weren't a vampire, I'd have known there was something otherworldly about you."

She kissed his cheek, and he turned in her arms, sliding off the chair and repositioning himself so he sat on it properly. He pulled her down towards him and she straddled him, placing her arms around his shoulders and looking into his eyes.

As he stared back, he could finally see just who Rebekah was. A woman with a mind alive with memories of a hundred lifetimes lived, but only one dream. To be with him.

Suddenly he was overwhelmed by the swell in his heart. For the longest time Elena had left him feeling hollow and burned out, but this strong, true woman with whom he now shared his life, had fast become everything to him.

"You're perfect," he said, causing the apples of her cheeks to glow and a shy smile to grace her features. He gently placed both his hands on her face and drew her closer. And as their lips met, he could finally admit what he'd been afraid to. He loved her. Perhaps he always had.

His tongue traced the tip of hers, pushing at it, dueling with it. Their lips locked, giving then taking, pulling then pushing, their bodies humming with desire as they took each other deeper into the fire. His hands pulled her tight against his body, stunting the exclamation of desire that she moaned into his mouth. Her fingers dug hard into his shoulders, then slid around his back as she pressed her breasts against the planes of his chest. They were both desperate for more contact, more everything.

She rocked her hips forward and bore down onto him, her arousal meeting his. He groaned into her, his hands traveling over her back, fingers splaying over her spine and moving down onto her ass. He pulled her center even harder onto his straining cock. A sigh escaped her lips as she threw her head back. Her hair slid softly over the shoulders of his navy blue silk pajamas that she wore. She gyrated unhurriedly, firmly, against him. Her lips formed a sultry 'o', which drove him near wild. He drew her slowly upright once more, his hands finding the hem of the pajama top. She crossed her arms and helped him pull it over her head.

As Rebekah dropped the top to the floor in a silken heap, he realized how long it had been since he had really looked at her. She had a fair, ethereal beauty. Blush lips and crystalline eyes were the highlights of her soft-as-a-peach, almost opaque, skin. She had a slender torso and breasts that were plump but firm, with coral nipples that when teased by his eager hands grew hard as ripe berries. Her golden crown of hair fell in waves across her shoulders, haloed by the sunlight.

She leaned forwards and slowly undid the buttons of his shirt. In no time at all she was shucking it from his shoulders and running her hands over his abs. She caught his eye and gave him a smile that started in her soul. He smiled back. I've missed you, his eyes told her. Everything about you.

She opened his fly and he closed his eyes and bit down on his lip as her hand slipped into the fabric of his jeans and grasped his rigid cock within his boxers. The contact of her slender hand on him made him shudder with desire. She played with him for a while, stroking whilst she kissed him, until he could bear it no more. His hand caught her wrist to stop her, then he tugged at her pajama bottoms, untying the bow that she had pulled tight to hold them up. At vampire speed she stood and removed them, and he reached his hands out greedily to touch her flesh once more. She tugged at his jeans and shorts and removed them both in one go. He kicked them to one side. She ran her hands up his thighs, feeling the sinew and muscle flex beneath her palms. She moved to straddle him again, and he put his hands on her waist, lifting her up so he could bring her down on his engorged length.

She used her hand to guide him, and Stefan moaned deeply as he slid into her wet warmth. She clenched, arching towards him, finding the purchase she needed to rise high by rocking on the balls of her feet. She set the rhythm, rising and falling as his hands encircled her hips. He kissed her again, his open mouth sliding over hers until he was quite lost in her. Almost automatically, his hand moved between her legs, dipping through her coarse hair and into her soft folds until he found the place that made her begin to buck against him with short impatient breaths. His middle finger curved against her as he thrust deep into her and she began to lose herself to the orgasm he wanted her to have. She cried out as she came, and he moved faster, until he was pushing into her at vampire speed. She grabbed the back of his neck and plunged down hard on him and he cried out as he spilled into her wetness.

He rested his head on her glistening shoulder, and laid his hands around her back while he panted. He had intended to carry her to his bed, but he had not been able to make it that far. She was stroking his head and began to laugh.

"What is it?" he mumbled into her skin.

"It's just, well, that was good. Really good! Well, pretty amazing actually..."

He smiled and kissed the bit of her that was closest to him. "For me, too."

She pulled him tighter. "Stefan?"

"Mm-hmm?"

"I won't let Damon or Elena get hurt."

"I know that," he said, then he pulled back to look at her again, the rosy blush of exertion in her cheeks as perfect as a watercolor. "And I need you to know something too."

"What is it?" she asked, looking deeply worried.

"I love you, Bex. I really, truly, do."

She stared at him in surprise, maybe faint disbelief at finally hearing the words she'd waited nearly a century for. But it only lasted a moment before she threw her arms around him. Rebekah held him tight, briefly breaking away to kiss him again, to show him how much she loved him in return.

And as he stroked her naked body, Stefan vowed to spend the rest of their lifetimes making up to her the fact that he ever doubted it.