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Chapter 016

Who'd Have Thought?

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Saturday, September 11, 2010; around 7 a.m.

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It's been two weeks since the others and I rescued Stefan from Klaus, two weeks he's spent down in the basement cell in the boarding house and just under two weeks since he smelled me all over Elena and vice versa. She officially broke up with him the day after we got back, so he knows we've been sleeping together and having outrageous amounts of sex ever since. I know that knowledge is killing him.

We explained about the spells placed on us. Stefan just listened intently and nodded, so he apparently knows we're telling him the truth, but let's face it that doesn't lessen the pain of knowing his brother successfully stole his girlfriend. Everyone's been clear that, except for a few kisses, we were both faithful to him until Elena could break up with him. His face softened when we told him that we didn't do anything more than kiss even after the spells on both of us were broken and our memories returned to us.

I figured despite it being true that he'd be pissed and not believe a word we say but for some strange reason he seems to honestly believe we both remained true to him, which is good because I would have hated for Elena to remain true and still be called any number of unpleasant things by him. Mostly he seems very understanding, which is weird since he doesn't have his own memories back yet but whatever, it works for us so I'm not going to complain.

I walk down the stairs, and when I'm standing in front of the door to the cell, I look through the window and take in everything that's changed inside the cell since the last time I was held prisoner and forced to spend time in there. Stefan's got a soft bed that's just slightly smaller than the one in his room, a desk and chair, his journals and all his favorite books.

His shoulders tensed slightly when I arrived at the door but he finally looks up at the window in the door and frowns at me as I look in. I place a small water bottle of blood on the windowsill just as I do every morning around this time. "It's Human and should be enough to hold you over for now." I say that every day.

"Damon, Brother, I can't drink Human blood, you know that better than most." Now he's repeating himself too.

I frown and realize he needs it all put into proper perspective because he's clearly not seeing what I'm seeing so I tell him, "I know eating thumper wasn't working. You need to learn moderation or you'll go off the rails every couple of decades. You're well on your way to moderation too since in case you've missed it the first week you'd immediately guzzle it down and then trash the cell and rage about being let out, and we can't forget the threats against your family. You threatened to drain Jeremy every time he came down to see you for the first five days."

I pause as we both remember his rants from that first week. Needless to say it wasn't pretty and as his shoulders slump and he hangs his head I know he's not proud of how he acted.

I smile and there's a light in my eyes that he hasn't seen there since before he forced me to finish the transition. He focuses on my words again as I continue my line of thought, "But for the last week you argue about drinking Human blood and then in an hour you'll break down and slowly drink it before you sit quietly and read or write in your journal until someone else comes to visit with you."

My smile widens as I tell him, "For the record, it's been seven days since you last threatened any of us. And the last threat was directed to me when I threatened to go in there and force you to drink the blood, so we're all pretty sure you're well on your way to being a healthy well balanced Vampire."

He nods slowly and rolls his shoulders slightly as he sits there. I can see a difference this time and I think he can feel it even if he hasn't realized it yet. I think he's somewhat surprised but hopeful. Lexi never got him to the point he's at right now and that was definitely not for lack of trying.

I sense his thoughts are on Lexi too so I say, "I wish I hadn't killed her. I'm sure she's very proud of you right now. Since I haven't said it sincerely and you definitely deserve to hear it and will, I hope, know it's the truth, I'm sorry I killed your best friend. That was a shitty thing for me to do. It was wrong. I truly regret having killed her and also for causing you that pain."

I pause then with a frown on my face I tell him, "I won't try to explain myself just know that I know it was the wrong call, in fact I know it was the absolutely worst call. I should have baited some other Vampire to use for my ruse if I even had to do it at all. So anyways, for what it's worth I'm truly sorry for killing Lexi."

I pause and he nods with wide eyes and a slightly slack jaw. It's very unlike me to admit to being wrong and I can't remember the last I time I did so and then apologized all in the same breath still he nods slowly as his shoulders relax after a minute and he makes eye contact with me again.

I figure he's ready for our surprise so I look at him and then say, "I asked Bonnie to look into something for me. She consulted her books, her three Witch ancestors, Kol, who is surprisingly very well versed in all manners of Magick, Balthazaar, the other Originals, and she communed with the few hundred dead Witches, so she was able to find a spell. So anyway, it's permanent and it's not a trick so I have someone who wants to say hello."

I leave the window and nod to the young woman who just came down the stairs then he hears a voice I know he thought he'd never hear again, "Hey Stefan."

I stay standing a few feet away though out of Stefan's view. I don't want to intrude on their moment, but I don't want him to accidentally hurt her either because that would destroy him faster than anything else could. Plus, I genuinely don't want her to be harmed. I hear him move to the window in a flash, "Lexi?" His head tilts to the side a bit and his lips flatten out into a thin line as he whispers, "Am I hallucinating?"

He's not hallucinating, she's real and alive despite him having watched me stake her, so she shakes her head at his question and tells him, "No you're not hallucinating. It's really me. Turns out your brother didn't allow me to be buried instead he put me in a safe place and then your family's Witches thought of a way to restore me, it actually involved Anastasiya's blood."

She pauses then asks him," Did you know her name means resurrection?" When he shakes his head no she tells him, "Yeah I didn't either, but it does and apparently her folks named her that because a Witch or Seerer or something told them she'd have the ability to resurrect the wrongly dead."

I tense when he tenses and I figure he's finally noticing her heartbeat that's as fast as a Human's. She pauses and he grabs her warm hand and holds on tight when she puts it on the sill. He makes no other moves though, so I let him hold her hand for the time being, but I'm ready to intervene if necessary as she tells him, "I guess they couldn't bring me back as a Vampire but they have a plan to fix that just as soon as a few other things fall into place. Apparently they're waiting on two more members of your family to join you all and then the Witch will turn any of your Human family members who want it."

She shrugs slightly before she says, "I honestly haven't decided yet, I'm kind of digging' being Human again for the first time in over 350 years."

She glances over to me very quickly and smiles slightly as she says, "Oh and don't tell Damon but I'm well on my way to forgiving him, which is weird because I used to hate the guy as you well know. But he's not so bad now a days. Your family has centered him and given him purpose where before he had none. Plus, his switch was definitely on when it broke so..."

She smiles and tells him, "Anyway, I almost shit myself when I woke up and the first thing he did was hug me and tell me how sorry he was that he killed me. I was tempted to return the favor but then I realized killing him would hurt you even more than him killing me so I decided to be the bigger person and let bygones be bygones."

She pauses again and then asks him, "Do you know he's the one who asked Bonnie to look into the possibility of bringing me back? Bonnie was worried about trying it, but she wanted to right the wrong Damon told her he had committed by killing me, go figure."

She smiles as she pauses then she asks, "So enough about me, how are you doing? They said you're actually doing really well and you still haven't opened this bottle of Human blood and you're holding my hand and not trying to feed on me so I think they might be right about your progress."

I heard him in his room praying for her death to be nothing but a bad dream several times since it happened so his wide eyes and mouth hanging open, which I can just barely see from my spot to the side of the window, makes sense. "Damon asked Bonnie to do this for him?"

She smiles, "Sure did. I don't know if you've had a chance to see them together but they're tight, which I'm told is very different from how it was when you left with Klaus."

He nods deeply, "Very different, they hated each other when I left."

She smiles, "Well they love each other like Brother and Sister now." She glances at me again and then continues with a grin on her face, "They're actually pretty cute going around calling each other Brother and Sister. I like the effect she and the rest of them have on him. You must've noticed a difference in him?"

He nods and my brows draw together as he admits, "It's almost like I have my brother back from before we ever met Katherine."

She pats his hand with the hand not holding his, "He's definitely back if you want him to be, he's mostly just waiting for you to acknowledge the difference in him. Personally I say make him work a little harder for it." Her eyes cut to mine again as she says that last part and I can clearly see the mirth shining in her eyes and know that once again I seem to have been blessed by wronging a woman with the capacity to accept a genuine apology when it's offered.

He laughs at her words. Then his eyes shock open wide when she says, "We're considering compelling you to stick to moderation so your body can get used to it without you worrying about falling off the wagon and the Human members of our family won't have to walk on eggshells anymore. Plus, everyone really wants to get you out of the basement and back where you belong."

She smiles and tells him, "We all agree though that we shouldn't do it without your consent so I want you to think about it. We could take it off you every now and then and test the waters so to speak but I think it might be the right tool to use. Lord knows I wished I could compel you into moderation many times through the years, now we have the means, so think about it okay?"

He nods and laughs as I work hard to stifle my own laughter when her stomach growls. She blushes and says, "I'm still not used to that, I don't remember it doing that the first time I was Human and now it seems to do it a couple times every day."

He laughs at her crooked grin and twinkling eyes and tells her, "Go, go eat, I'll think about what you said, and I'll let you guys know when I've come to a decision."

She nods and squeezes his hand again before letting go and walking out of his view. I hope he stops and realizes he just held hands with a Human for close to ten minutes and appeared to have no desire to eat or otherwise harm her and he still hasn't had breakfast. As he grabs the bottle of blood off the sill his brows are furrowed and he's sort of half smiling and half frowning so I leave him to his thoughts.

I hear him turn back towards the door when he hears someone else coming down the stairs, I smile at 'Bekah as she passes by me. She smiles back and I know only part of it is because I smiled at her. The other part is because it turns out Stefan missed his friendship with her almost as much as she missed hers with him. I can honestly say they're well on their way to having it back. She comes down here every afternoon to tell him all about what he's missing at school, which she is now attending and absolutely loving, though she admits that except for the modern science and history stuff she knows most of what's being taught and especially knows when the books are wrong when it comes to history.

She has talks with Ric over drinks every evening correcting history's misconceptions. Apparently, they both enjoy the process. I could be upset that she's sort of stealing my best friend from me but mostly I'm just happy for them. They both need more friends and they let me join their discussions more often than not, so I'm truly happy they are growing closer. Goddess knows if anyone deserves more good friends it's Ric. The man is a saint for putting up with my shit and for taking in the Gilbert's after Jenna died.

Anyway, it's Saturday though so now it's time for 'Bekah to go sit with Stefan. We're all hell bent on making sure he knows we love him and still want him in this ever-growing family. We let him apologize the last two days then yesterday we all said the time for apologies is over and now it's time to move on and be a real family and I'll be damned if he doesn't seem to believe it's possible.

I stop at the top of the stairs and sit down to listen in as I hear her step up to the window before she says, "Good morning Stefan, how are you today?"

I can hear the smile in his voice as he tells her, "I just found out my best friend, whom my brother killed, has been brought back from the dead at his request, so I think I'm doing pretty damn good right now."

I smile at that as she says, "Oh good, they told you. She's been back for over a week but they wanted you to be able to talk to her without 'freaking out' about Human blood being so close by."

His voice is tentative and soft as he asks the obvious question, "How did I not hear her before she came down here?"

I smile wider and settle my elbows on my bent knees as she tells him, "Bonnie is quite the accomplished Witch and growing stronger every day. It won't be long before she's ready to do the Pervonachalnyue spell. Anyhow, she did some spell that makes people unable to hear or know things they're not meant to know yet. So you couldn't hear Lexi until they told you about her."

She laughs lightly and tells him, "I imagine if you focus now you'll be able to hear her laughing at a silly Human story Jer just told her about the first time he got drunk and how his dad caught him and laughed his ass off the next morning because of Jer's incredibly horrible hangover."

I can hear them both laughing as he tells the story so I'm sure Stefan can too. He pauses as if he's considering something then he asks, "If I asked you to do something would you?"

That raises alarm bells, so I sit up straighter and really pay attention. Apparently, she looks suspicious too as he laughs and tells her, "Relax, 'Beks, it shouldn't be anything that'll make the family mad at you. It might actually please them."

He pauses then adds, "I'll understand if you want to consult with them first before making any promises. It's actually something Lexi mentioned. I want to be compelled, but instead of being generally compelled to moderation, I want to be specifically compelled to stop feeding and return to this room immediately if I start to lose control. I'd want it to include that I should stop whatever I'm doing, be it feeding, arguing, whatever, and head straight to this room without doing anything else and stay here until I calm down."

I smile at his words, and I can hear her smile as she says, "I'm not sure it should be me because Drago's compulsions are much stronger than those of my brothers and me, but I'll tell them what you want, and maybe we can all come down here and sit in there with you and brainstorm on the best compulsion. I've discovered the members of your, our, family are very smart, and if one of us has an idea usually the rest of us come up with a list of ways to improve upon the already great idea. In fact, everyone's still here so let me go tell them and see when we can brainstorm okay, be right back."

She zips at Vamp speed back down the hall and up the stairs nearly falling over me as I sit on the top step. She laughs and with a wide smile on her face says, "Hasn't anyone ever told you, Brother, that eavesdropping is rude."

I laugh back and tell her, "Hmm, I must have missed that memo, Sister."

I stand up and walk into the kitchen with her hot on my heels. When everyone, including Matt, Ty, and Ric who're finally getting to eat the meal they cooked, looks up at us from their meal, I nod at Rebekah and tell her, "Since he actually asked you, I'll give you the honors."

She giggles and then practically bounces right out of her skin as she explains what Stefan asked of her. They all obviously like her idea and Stefan's. We plan to finish breakfast and then instead of us all congregating down there, where the hallway would be beyond crowded I offer, "How about I compel him to 'behave' if he'll allow me to. Then that way he can come upstairs and we won't have to try to fit all 17 of us in the hallway."

They all nod with wide smiles, so since I've already eaten I go back down the stairs.

When I reach the window, I look in and tell him, "I like your idea, Brother. If you'll permit me to I'll compel you now not to attack anyone or leave the house and you can come upstairs and we can sort out all the details without all of us having to crowd around the door. Plus, everyone's pretty excited about seeing you outside that cell even if it's only for a little bit today."

He nods, "I'm okay with you doing that."

I smile and repeat what I said placing the compulsion being sure to leave an escape clause. As it snaps into place his eyes widen and he asks, "How do I know it's there?"

I smile wider and tell him, "That was Briseis and Matt's idea so you'll be able to tell what actions are yours and what actions are the compulsion. The Humans all insist that allowing you to see your progress is essential to helping you heal and find moderation on your own. Personally, I have to agree with them."

I pause for a minute then tell him, "I want you to know I think it's great that you came up with your idea about the different compulsion. It shows that you're actively getting better because you could have just as easily scoffed at Lexi when she mentioned the possibility, but instead you took it under advisement and may have come up with a better idea."

I finish my thought by throwing the bolt and opening the door. He stands in place for a minute, which causes me to smile, but I still tell him, "Just to be safe, better eat your breakfast before you come up."

His head jerks back and his eyes pop open wide because he forgot about the bottle of blood again, but he quickly picks it up off the corner of the desk where he placed it earlier. Then he slows himself down and slowly twists the cap off. He takes a small sip and then waits a minute before taking another small sip.20 minutes later, he finishes the bottle and I smile and say, "You do realize my compulsion had nothing to do with how controlled you just were drinking that, right?"

His eyes get wider before he nods. It was all his own will power. He laughs and says, "Who'd have thought?"

I smile and say, "Your family."

He smiles back and tells me, "Yeah, I guess you're right about that."

I turn to lead him upstairs but he calls out my name so I turn back to face him, "Damon, uh, I like you like this. I feel like I might actually have a chance at having my big brother back like you were before Katherine ever came to Mystic Falls."

I smile since I might actually get my little brother back too and tell him, "Thank you, I like this me too and for the record you do have a chance at exactly that. Oh and speaking of Katherine, just to warn you, she's going to be part of the conversation but Balthazaar promises to reign her in if she gets to be too much. So just nod at him if she starts to get to you and he'll remove her from the room, bodily if necessary."

He laughs and nods deeply as he says, "I'll keep that in mind then. It might be worth it just to see him force her to leave."

Chuckling I say, "You have no idea. Come on the family is anxiously awaiting your return to the upstairs. Oh and don't be afraid to speak up if the hugging starts pushing on your control, they'll back off if you tell them it's too much. They'll hate it, but they'll do it to help you, and they'll even do it without complaining too."

He nods and follows me to the stairs. When I get to the foot of the stairs, I turn to the small Magickally protected safe mounted in the wall and throw the combination in quick order before removing his ring from the safe and handing it to him. He puts it on and then follows me up to the first floor.

He looks around and everything likely looks the same until he enters the living room where there have been two couches and four chairs added to the space forming a sort of diamond within the space of the room. It's about as homey as the room probably can get given that most of the furniture and such are antiques. Every available space has a body in it except my spot on one of the couches next to Briseis and the chair to the left of the alcohol cart.

As soon as he enters everyone stops talking and just stares, so he shuffles his feet and looks down before saying, "Uh hi."

Everyone smiles and then the hugging starts. All the women, even Bonnie's Witchy ancestors, hug him tightly and the men all shake his hand, except Jeremy who pulls him into a bear hug and whispers, "Good to see you up and about man, I missed you."

I'm sure it's the fact he said the words aloud that causes Stefan's eyes to open so wide and not that Jeremy actually feels the sentiment. He hugs him back and whispers, "I missed you too, Jer."

As Jeremy pulls back and steps to the side to let the next person hug Stefan, he smiles a wide smile and nods at my brother obviously pleased that Stefan returned his feelings.

Finally, everyone except Katherine has hugged him or shaken his hand and it's clear from his closed off face and stance as he looks in her direction that he's not sorry she didn't participate. I chuckle to myself as I figure he might have tried to stake her if she suddenly tried to act as though she actually cares one iota about him. Oh I know based on the pain that flashed in her eyes when she thought I was dead and the few times her mask has slipped since we came back from Chicago that she cares about us, but it would probably seem very weird to Stefan if she Magickally began showing that she truly cares for us. Honestly, he'd probably think it was a ploy or a trick.

Still Briseis looks at her pointedly so Katherine rolls her eyes and says with a rather flat voice, "Yes, glad you're not trying to kill all of us."

I actually laugh as Balthazaar, who is standing behind her, tightens his hold on her shoulders until pain flashes in her eyes prompting her to say, "Sorry, welcome back, glad you're feeling more like your old self."

Balthazaar's grip loosens and she sighs in relief. Too funny. Apparently, Stefan finds the humor in the situation too as he says, "Thank you Katherine, or should I say, thank you Balthazaar. I appreciate your herculean effort not to tear Katherine's head off. I've always liked that carpet, and I don't think we have nearly enough hydrogen peroxide to clean up that sort of mess."

Amazingly enough it's Bonnie and me who look at each other for a second and then burst out laughing at the same time followed closely by everyone else as Katherine huffs and rolls her eyes at the indignity of it all.

Finally, once I get myself back under control I say, "God I've missed your sense of humor, Brother."

He just smiles in response then moves to the empty chair and sits down.

Everyone else seems to take that as their cue to sit down too. Despite it barely being past eight in the morning, I pour him a drink and hand it to him to help ease any cravings he might be having right now then as I walk to my seat I look around the room. When it's clear no one's quite sure how to begin, I start us off, "So Stefan, Beks told us about your idea. So we want to open the floor to see if anyone can think of any hitches we might encounter and how best to word it to avoid putting you at risk by not allowing you to protect yourself if necessary."

His eyes widen as he apparently hadn't thought of the possibility that the compulsion might interfere in a fight for his or someone else's life. So after taking a big gulp of whiskey he asks us, "How would we word it to allow me to be able to keep protecting myself or others even if I feel I'm losing control and only have the compulsion kick in after the threat to me and ours is gone?"

Bonnie leans forward in her seat and puts her elbows on her knees before folding her hands in the air between her knees. She looks deep in thought then she says, "It might be as simple as saying, 'If you feel your control is in imminent danger of slipping go to the basement room without doing anything else unless you, a member of our family, or an innocent is in danger. If they are in danger, then fight or scheme without killing or otherwise harming anyone who's not a threat until the danger is passed then go to the cell until you can calm yourself.'"

He nods showing he thinks that covers all the possible angles of that hypothetical situation. A moment later he asks, "Can anyone else think of any other complications that could make immediately going to the cell a bad idea."

Briseis frowns and says, "Well I think that depends on whether you plan to go back to school right away. We'd all love to have you there since it's just not the same without you, but you can't just leave school whenever you want, so I'm not sure what to do about that."

Jer speaks up and asks, "You just need to be isolated and able to breathe without Humans suffocating you or tempting you to rip out their throats and drink all their blood as fast as possible right? Would your car work in a pinch?"

Stefan's head jerks back and his eyes once again pop open wide as Jer voices the fact that Humans tempt him to rip their throats out. Still Stefan sighs and tells him, "Don't take this the wrong way but I and the rest of the Vampires in this room can hear your hearts pumping and your blood flowing and even your breathing pick up when you're scared or excited. All of that triggers the hunger or makes it worse if I'm having an… episode for lack of a better way to put it. And not only you effect the urge to tear your throat out and gorge myself, but my own emotions can positively or adversely affect my ability to resist the siren sound of your blood pumping through your veins. That said, in a pinch, a car at the edge of the parking lot furthest away from the building and crowds might do the trick."

He's been staring at his shoes as he talks and when he looks up, he obviously expects to see frowns or fear but all he sees are smiles and people nodding. He wonders though, "What's with the smiles?"

Bonnie and Briseis laugh and Bonnie says, "I owe you dinner on me 'Lena." At his raised eyebrow she adds, "Sorry she predicted you'd be more open about who you are and that it would please all of us to see you openly accepting your nature or at least openly admitting to it and that you wouldn't understand why that would please us."

She pauses then smiles kindly as she tells him, "Which for the record, you can't be truly happy or truly yourself for that matter until you accept the hard truths about who and what you are. You're a Vampire Stefan. Everyone in this room knows this, accepts it, and loves you anyway."

She looks him in the eyes as she says, "Most of us have some idea of the horrible things you've done through the years, and just to warn you since most of us visited 'Bekah in the Aether all of us, except Matt and Lexi actually have all of your memories as seen through mine and Jer's eyes. That's in addition to Damon and 'Bekah's memories of the behavior they personally witnessed and despite having seen all of that we still love you. We forgive you for your weakness and really it's not entirely your fault."

When he opens his mouth prepared to argue that fact she holds up her hand and says, "Oh I know you chose to do the bad things and even chose to turn off your switch in the past but circumstances being what they were didn't allow you to have an older Vampire to teach you moderation from the get go."

She pauses again and then after flicking her eyes towards a frowning Katherine she adds, "That's not a dis at Katherine either, she had Klaus to worry about, and she needed to be gone to protect herself as well as you and Damon. However, the fact remains it would have been much easier for you and all your victims if you had had some guidance before you met Lexi."

She frowns, "According to Lexi and your memories by the time she met you, you had already turned off your switch to deal with the guilt associated with giving into your dark and violent urges. If Katherine had been free to train you she could have taught you how to feed properly, because let's face it despite her obvious selfishness and all around bitchiness she's a good Vampire, and she's in control probably more than most. Every move she makes is calculated to let her survive from minute to minute. She's a survivor and she could have taught you all of that."

Katherine's eyes are now open wide and her jaw is open a little as she listens to Bonnie saying anything nice or positive about her. Fact of the matter is even I can admit that during the last two weeks I've noticed that Katherine does have a number of redeeming qualities when she feels comfortable and safe enough to let her true self shine through. Don't get me wrong I'm still pissed about the bullshit she put Stefan and me through, but I can tell that she wasn't just lying to us about who she was but to herself as well. I think now that Klaus is truly gone Katerina is beginning to show herself more often, and I may actually grow to like who she really is, well that is if I'm given enough time to get over the pain and heartache she caused me.

I shake my head ever so slightly and focus back on Bonnie in time to hear her say, "I also think your father's role in your transformation and then his death is what damned you to not being able to control yourself. You said it yourself a minute ago, high emotions effect the ability to resist the urges to rend and maim.

"By the time you realized you needed to do things differently, you'd already gorged yourself, so your body was craving too much blood and the guilt was so strong, so you couldn't control yourself. In the grand scheme of things, it's not really anyone's fault, well that's not true I blame your father for being a hateful asshat who tried to kill his son twice in as many nights."

She pauses just a second then wearing a frown says, "Him and fate. Ultimately, I think you were made this way to teach you something. Obviously the lesson is probably moderation and control. That said I honestly believe in the end you'll be better and stronger for all the pain and suffering you and your victims were forced to endure at the hands of fate."

She pauses again then sits back as she says, "So your car could work? So we could add that if you're at school or somewhere else where just disappearing for the rest of the day might be suspicious or otherwise cause problems that you seek an isolated place such as your car. Then we add that if someone intrudes on that place before you're in control, you are to seek an alternate place without hurting them or anyone else and if necessary leave to go to the cell despite the issues it might cause later. Because let's face it having to explain or compel away the fact that you played hooky is far better than having to compel away dead bodies."

Stefan and I both burst out with laughter, which causes his eyes to widen yet again as he tells her, "Yes, that's much better."

She smiles and then asks, "So anything else we can think of that might go wrong with our compulsion set as we currently plan it?"

Everyone sits obviously playing possible scenarios in their minds, but after a few minutes, everyone begins shaking their heads no, so I stand up from the couch. I look at Stefan and ask, "So, Brother, are you willing to try this and see how it goes? If something goes wrong or you think of something that could go wrong, you need to come to me, and I or all of us will fix it okay? We need you to trust that we won't stop loving you if this doesn't work the first time, okay?"

He nods so I ask, "I'll place it now then?"

He nods again so I quickly place the compulsion and its various clauses including an escape clause and then remove the compulsions I placed on him before he came up stairs. When I finish I notice his posture relax as though he feels an anvil lift from his shoulders that he hadn't realized was there as the underlying fear that he's going to snap and kill someone he cares about all but disappears. I smile at the soft look on his face and then say, "Why don't you go upstairs and take a bath to relax a bit after the last few months you've had."

He smiles and nods, "That actually sounds like a good idea."

He speeds up the stairs and enters his room before just standing in the doorway evaluating the look of the room. There's no dust anywhere and I'm sure he can smell that Briseis and Asya have been in there tidying up every day since he left. He likely also smells Lexi too as she's spent a good amount of time just hanging out in there. I hear him close the door behind himself and then strip on his way to the bathroom.

I keep my ears tuned in to him just to make sure everything is working as we expect it to so after the tub fills I hear him sink down into the water and then let out a long sigh. I'm sure he hasn't felt this good, this free since before he became a Vampire as his urges have always weighed heavily on him. While I took to this life fairly easily he's always struggled with it and I think this might be the first time he hasn't felt the weight of all of the deaths he's caused hanging over him and taunting him with the possibility that he might lose control again and slaughter everyone.

I close my eyes and replay all the looks that were passed around today. I hope he knows we all love him and forgive him, every single last one of us. I'm sure while he was with Klaus he figured this, this sense of family, belonging, and acceptance would never be his again. And really this is actually much better than it was before he left because he finally seems to accept who and what he is, at least more than he did back then. Maybe not as much as he will though, one can hope that he's not at the end of the road yet in terms of self-acceptance and peace.

I smile as I watch Asya, Lexi, Beks, and Briseis go down stairs to collect Stefan's things and then return a moment later before going up the stairs to put his things in his room. After a few seconds, I hear Asya knock and then say, "Don't worry, Stefan, we're just moving your stuff back into your room from the cell since you should be able to stay up here without any issues. We're going to keep the nice big bed down there for the times when you need to chill down there but we thought we'd move your stuff back to where it belongs."

I can hear the smile in his voice as he tells her, "Thank you Caroline, or should I say Anastasiya. Thank you for your part in bringing Lexi back."

I can hear her grin too as she says, "You're welcome. I was happy to help." Then she goes back out to the bedroom and I hear her and the rest of the girls moving things around and putting clothes into the armoire.

A few minutes later I hear her whisper, "We're done so we're heading back downstairs now so it's safe to come out and get dressed whenever you're ready."

He laughs and thanks her again and then he's relatively alone again. He soaks for over an hour, so I imagine he's all pruney when he gets out, dries off and falls into bed without putting any clothes on. Despite it being close to ten in the morning I hear his breathing even out and know he's asleep almost before his head hits the pillow.