Stefan sat on the couch, holding his head, all this newfound information was making him mentally and physically tired.
"Hey, are you alright?" Krystal coming over and sitting on the coffee table,
"I should be asking you that, all of this getting dumped onto your shoulders and I cant do a damn thing to lighten your load, Damon found her human blood," Stefan staring in her eyes,
"That's good then," Krystal sitting in front of him on the coffee table.
"Yeah, but you will have to do the spell, not to mention train in order to have enough strength to fight that bastard again," Stefan explained.
"I know and I don't know if I can, not alone, I don't have my brother anymore, I am alone in this," Krystal softly,
"What do you mean you don't have your brother anymore?" Stefan asked.
"He left, along with my parents at the funeral," Krystal explained,
"You saw your parents?" Stefan asked.
"Yeah, I think they came to give me closure, they told me they loved me and they were proud of me," Krystal smiling a little,
"Well, I am not a ghost or your brother but you have me," Stefan explained,
"And you'll always have your brother and your parents beside you in everything you do," Stefan brushing a piece of hair out of her face.
"He is right, trust his words, he knows what he is talking about, now, as for your problem," the older woman pointed out.
"What problem?" Stefan confused,
"You cannot hide anything from me, the fact that you are sitting there trying so hard not to rip my throat out by trying to focus on something else, well put it this way, you aren't fooling anyone," Krystal's grandmother standing with her hands on her hips.
"I think its time we grab a hotel somewhere, my brain cant wrap my mind around all this, especially that excuse of a man not being dead, he has her all twisted up inside still," Stefan seriously.
"Don't talk about me like I am not in the room," Krystal hissed,
"I suppose we could continue in the morning but you both are going to be staying here and training," the older woman explained.
"What do I call you then?" Stefan asked,
"Granny, I am not giving you my name least you be compelled to tell someone my name," the older woman explained. Stefan nodded,
"I have your room already prepared, even though I have another room you two will share, you both are going to be training and you need to learn to trust each other, besides my other room is being used for storage," Granny explained as she led them to their room upstairs to the loft.
"You have your own bathroom to use, you are welcome to the hot water and to the human food in this house, all I ask is to help pay for the bills. Now, to start out with since Stefan is new to this whole moderation thing, the house will be locked down after a certain time, meaning you cannot leave even if you tried and you will not be able to enter my room either, control takes will power and determination, and if you want to be useful to Krystal in this battle you will learn control, goodnight you two," Granny closing the door behind her. Krystal sighed,
"Well, this day has been exhausting," Krystal looking at the huge room,
"Your Granny is exhausting," Stefan taking his shoes off and pulling his socks off.
"Bad thing is, every time someone looks at the future there is always a chance it will change," Krystal explained,
"Meaning?" Stefan asked,
"You or I can die in battle," Krystal coming and sitting on the bed.
"We will just have to train harder then," Stefan explained,
"And so the line goes, things are going to get a lot worse before they get better. Go ahead and grab a shower tonight, I'll grab a shower tonight, I'll grab one in the morning," Krystal going and pulling down the covers,
"Are you sure?" Stefan asked.
"You look like you could use a nice long hot showers, I'm sure training is going to be extra hard starting out, we both are going to be in constant control of how much human blood we consume," Krystal getting under the covers.
"We will get through it together," Stefan petting her hair and kissing her forehead,
"Thanks for staying, thanks for coming and going through this with me," Krystal looking down at her hands,
"I want to be here," Stefan softly, he left the room and went to shower. When he came out in a pair of pajama pants and t-shirt he found her out like a light. He smiled a little and carefully crawled into the bed without waking her up, he laid by her and watched her sleep for a little while, then he fell asleep, but not until he placed his hand over hers.
Morning
Stefan woke up to the sound of the shower running, he rubbed his eyes and laid there for a minute. After a few minutes he got up and decided to get dressed, it was when he decided to take off his t-shirt when Krystal walked in on him.
"Oh god, I'm so sorry," Krystal frozen in place staring at his bulging muscles,
"Its alright, its not like you haven't seen me with my shirt off," Stefan giving her a small smile.
"Right," Krystal softly, he went ahead and threw a grey shirt on,
"You two awake yet?" Granny called from downstairs.
"Yeah, we'll be down in a minute," Krystal shouted, Granny smirked, she had knew she was a little nervous by the sound in her voice, Krystal glanced at Stefan and suddenly before she could stop herself her lips were on Stefan's, she had taken herself and him by surprise, but Stefan slowly started to move his hand to her neck and kiss her back as his thumb caressed her cheek.
"No, no, no, I can't, that, this, cant happen again, not now," Krystal leaving the room quickly, Stefan was a little confused, but he had not regretted it, he wondered if she did? If he had bit her lip or had done a poor job of kissing her back. Finally he got his socks and shoes on and came downstairs,
"Well I have estimated the amount of blood you will consume throughout the day by how much each of you weigh, Stefan you will be able to have two bags, and Krystal you will have one bag, this will be spread out during a three meal a day routine, so, here are your servings, for breakfast," Granny giving them both their limited amount of blood. Krystal wasn't too thrilled about this, neither was Stefan, she drank her blood and then got up to make coffee, her way.
"Now for the first day, you both will go into town and get some workout clothes, and anything else you may need, after you get back, Krystal you will start learning how your gifts work, you will meditate and you will study until you can perform the spell that will help your friend," Granny explained,
"Stefan, you will learn hand to hand combat and how to willed a weapon properly, you will be able to choose the weapons you wish to learn how to use, you will have extensive training with them and grow to rely on the weapons you use," Granny seriously. Stefan nodded as Krystal gave him a large to-go coffee cup with coffee in it,
"Alright, you kids go and return shortly, we have much to teach you," Granny explained.
"Lets go," Krystal leaving the house, Stefan nodded to Granny, she nodded back,
"You both have to work to keep each other sane through this control process, don't let each other drift," Granny explained. Stefan stared at her,
"I wont let her drift," Stefan leaving the house. They went into town and had their coffees with them, they went into a workout store and bought themselves some workout clothing, Stefan started to lose it when he ran out of coffee, Krystal shook him,
"Hey, breathe, just breathe, lets get some more coffee," Krystal mumbled,
"Yeah," Stefan grumbled. They went to café at the corner and got some coffee an a bagel a piece,
"I got something for you in the workout store, I thought you could use it during the upcoming fight," Stefan shrugged, he pulled out an ipod with ear plugs, Krystal's eyes glassed over,
"Oh Stefan…thank you," Krystal hugging him, he gently hugged her back,
"I figured that since music moves you in fighting that you could download some music into a fight play list," Stefan smiling,
"Its perfect," Krystal laughed a little. They made their way back to Granny's place.
Back at Granny's Place
Krystal started out with meditation after they fed, Stefan was introduced to his trainer, Granny's brother, which was a powerful warlock, he could keep Stefan in check if he lost it due to his loss of control of the blood. They started out with a punching bag, and stretches to loosen the muscles up, then started to train. Krystal and Stefan learned fast, Krystal was already moving onto studying spells and herbs, and that night she was channeling her powers and trying to light a single candle.
"Its just too hard Granny, I cant do it," Krystal explained,
"You can, you have to, I believe you can do this Krystal," Stefan coming in leaning against the doorway. Krystal stared back at him, she slowly nodded,
"You just have to believe in yourself," Stefan seriously. Krystal tried it again, when she opened her eyes she found that she had not only lit the one candle in front of her but all the candles in the room. Krystal stared at her grandmother, she was smiling,
"My dear, you can do anything you ever dreamt you could do, you just have to want it bad enough, and Stefan is right, when you believe in yourself anything is possible," Granny explained. Krystal was suddenly hungry, Stefan saw the veins starting to grow around her eyes,
"Hey Krystal, hey, breathe, come on, just breathe," Stefan moving to her, she closed her eyes and took deep slow breathes, she calmed her vampire side down, slowly she opened her eyes.
"Time to feed and go get a shower, both of you have done well today," Granny pouring blood for them, Stefan rubbed Krystal's back,
"You did good," Stefan smiling,
"Yeah," Krystal giving him a tiny smile.
"You are not a freak, you are a very powerful witch, that makes you very unique, normal is overrated," Stefan trying to comfort her, she nodded, they drank their food, then ate some human food and drank their coffee, they headed upstairs where Krystal showered first, then Stefan, tonight had exhausted them both. But they had kept each other in check.