Stefan

"Damon...I..." I stammer, still too stunned of my brother's sudden appearance. I had already accepted the fact that I am not going to see him ever again, but it seems that fate has other plans for me, as he is standing before me, in flesh.

"Stef, what's the matter? Cat's got your tongue?" he teases, still smirking, although his eyes are empty of any emotion.

"I don't know what to say really..." I finally get out, although my mind is still a jumble, different questions popping out every second.

"Ooh, and I thought I would get a warmer welcome, tell me, how long has it been, brother?" he brushes off the dust from the nearby coffin like it's the most natural thing for him to do.

"A while." I admit.

"A while? Really, Stef? Is that the best you can do?" Something flashes in his eyes, something I have never seen directed towards me – hate.

"Look, Damon, I swear that I honestly thought that you may be..." I begin, finally finding my resolve, but he cuts me off.

"Dead?" he snaps. "No, just fallen," he sneers, taking a step forward, his hand brushing the lid of the coffin next to him, causing the dust to rise.

"What was I supposed to do? I looked for you for a very long time, but I couldn't find you." I raise my voice, frustrated by his behaviour.

"Maybe you should've looked harder, or maybe I didn't want to be found, ever thought of that?"

I thought about that possibility a lot, actually. After that wretched night the guilt has been eating me from inside every day - what I caused to Damon and Katherine. I shouldn't have gone there, but for purely selfish reasons I did, and ruined Damon's life.

I am again at loss of words, remembering Katherine's screams and the way Damon just gave up when he realized the love of his life is gone, and how he fell. I am suddenly afraid to face Damon, although I am relieved that he is, in fact, still alive.

Damon strides past me, towards Katherine's coffin when he understands that I am not going to respond. His shoulder brushes mine and when usually I get a sense of warmth from people and other angels, the feeling I get from Damon is something else; it's menacing, cold, and violent. I look over my shoulder at Damon as he is now standing beside Katherine's coffin, looking down on it, and I can almost see something flickering in his eyes.

"You know, we got married shortly after we escaped." He tells suddenly, his voice barely audible, stroking the lid of the coffin, gently even. I am completely surprised and taken aback by his confession.

"Damon... I am so so sorry." I say, every molecule of my body screaming along with my words, the guilt comes rushing back and consumes me.

He looks up to me, glaring, his face full of anger, maybe even sadness. "You're sorry? You think that's going to redeem what you did, being sorry?" he practically snarls. "You," he takes two long steps and is right in front of me, poking his finger at my chest – "You destroyed my life."

I stagger back, shocked. I have never seen Damon like this, it's like that everything that was good about him, was stripped, and now only the dark, evil part remains.

"What happened to you?" I whisper, trying to get a hold of myself. I have always known that I am partly responsible to what happened, but I never imagined even in my wildest dreams that my brother would put all the blame on me.

"Always the naïve one, Stefan, aren't you?" he stays in place, not coming any closer. "Don't you know what happens to an angel when they fall?" he smiles, but not in a good way. "They lose everything that was good about them," his grin gets even wider. "So don't hope to have our epic reunion here, brother. The only thing I want to have, is to see your life crumbling down like mine did."

It's like someone stabbed me in the gut, repeatedly, his words hurt more than I could ever imagine.

"Why are you here then?" I barely whisper.

"Oh, I've been waiting for an opportunity to arise, but you're such a goody-goody brother, that there weren't many chances to do anything really..." Damon watches me as I try to process what he's saying and at first I can't understand what he's referring to, but it suddenly dawns on me.

Damon's face lightens up as he sees that I understood – "The reason, I believe, is a pretty thing." He takes a step closer. "Long brown hair, big doe-eyes, body to die for...and for some reason it seems that you, my oh so moral brother, has taken sudden interest in her." Satisfaction rolls off of him in waves when he sees that he has hit the spot.

"Elena," I choke out, the room is suffocating me, I have to get out of here now. I have to get to Elena.

"Ah, such a pretty name – Elena." He tells the name out loud, but coming from him it sounds like something poisonous.

"You stay away from her," I warn, overwhelmed by different emotions, but the one that strikes out is pure rage, even hatred. "If you want to punish somebody, punish me, leave her out of this. This is between you and me."

"Now, why would I do that?" He walks past me, towards the door, "Where's the fun in that?" I can detect a hidden threat in his words but when I turn around to face him, I can't see him anymore. He's gone. My thoughts automatically fly to Elena. I have to keep her safe, no matter what happens.

Elena

I am sitting alone in my room, writing in my diary, when I feel the shift in the air around me. I can feel him. The warmth and the happy feeling I always get when he is around. Stefan. His name is the sweetest sound to my ears. It rolls off my tongue so easily, so smoothly.

The feeling I get when he's with me, is indescribable. I feel I could fly to the end of the world, I feel alive, I feel like I am home. With Stefan, I am home.

I turn around and see him smiling at me. "Mr. Salvatore," I smile back, "don't you know it's rude to barge in a girl's room without knocking?" I stand up and walk up to him, keeping my eyes fixed on his.

"I am terribly sorry, Miss Gilbert." He grins and suddenly disappears. I am startled a little by that trick but I burst out laughing when I hear the sound of knocking on my door.

The door opens slightly and the familiar green eyes peek through. "May I have your permission to enter?" he chuckles lightly.

"Yes." I say, "You may enter."

He opens the door wide open and closes the distance between us, pulling me into his arms.

"I missed you." I mumble into his jacket, inhaling his scent, it's so intoxicating.

"I was only gone a few hours, 'Lena." I love how he calls me Lena, my parents used to do that, and now, Stefan is the only one allowed to use that nickname.

"I know, but it felt like days," I pout, not bothering to hide it.

Stefan laughs lightly and kisses my forehead – "You're so cute when you're sulking. I love it."

"Hey, not fair!" I exclaim, slapping his chest, "You don't get to make fun of me!" I play along, although his comment made me feel like a schoolgirl. He's a true charmer.

"Who's making fun of you?" he asks playfully.

"You are."

"Me?" he fakes being offended and then I start to laugh again.

Then he starts to laugh with me and it's the most wonderful sound you could ever imagine. It's so carefree and melodious, like an angel singing a song; however, he is an angel, so in that case it may be even true.

Stefan stops first and caresses my cheek with his palm, I lean into the touch, savouring the moment. "I love to hear you laugh," he confesses, "It makes me so happy to see you happy."

"You make me happy," I breathe, my concentration flying out the window as he pulls me even closer to his god-like body.

I get on my toes as I reach for him, touching my lips lightly to his, I can feel the current flow through me, never ceasing to amaze me. I wrap my hands around his neck, pulling him closer to me and he puts his hands on my waist, holding me steady as we deepen our kiss. His lips – so perfect - move in unison with mine. I let him guide me towards the bed in my room and as my back touches the bed, my eyes snap open.

There's no light, only darkness. The only sound I can hear is the faint rustling of the bed sheets as I move my legs. It was only a dream. A wonderful, amazing dream.

My heart is beating so fast right now that I feel like it's going to burst, my palms are sweaty and my nerves are on the edge. I take several deep breaths before I finally start to calm down.

I am still at the hospital, the doctors decided that they'd release me tomorrow, so it's my last day here. I convinced Jeremy to go home for the night, so for the first time I am completely alone.

I almost have my heart rate under control when I am hit by the familiar wave of warmth. Stefan.

I look around but I see no one.

"Stefan?" I croak, my voice hoarse. I need water.

"Are you here? Please, I can feel you."

Still, there's no answer but the feeling doesn't stop either. He is here, I am sure of it.

"Listen to me, Stefan," I begin, not giving him a chance to back down again, "I am not afraid of you, there's a lot I don't understand, but the one thing I am sure of, is that you're not a threat. If that's what you're thinking." I mutter the last sentence.

"I know you're here." My voice has finally found its strength again.

There's a shift in the shadows, an infinitesimal movement, but I still see it.

"Stefan." I straighten myself more into an upright position.

He emerges from the shadows, his face wary, maybe even a little afraid. Why would he be afraid?

"I knew it." I say, unintentionally, thoughts taking over my tongue. I can't help but smile.

He keeps his distance, which annoys me, I want him to be closer to me, I want to feel his presence.

"Hello," He says, "Again." His lips form a timid smile.

"Why are you here?" I can't help to wonder. Well, I know what his so called "job" is, but, still I want to know more.

"Um...I thought we'd already went over that." There's so much uncertainty in his eyes that I can't help to assume that something must be wrong.

"Yeah, I know, but..." I hesitate, "I mean I am still in the incredulousness phase right now and I don't know how to act."

"I understand. It's natural. It would be strange for you to act any differently."

He still is standing so far away from, I just can't stand it.

"Come sit," I beckon, nodding my head at the chair beside my bed.

He blinks his eyes a few times, looking at me like I've just asked something unbelievable. I give him a reassuring smile and he finally comes and sits. I feel relieved.

"So, Stefan," I begin, but he cuts me off, his head snapping to the direction of the door.

"What the..." I try to start again, but this time he puts his finger on my lips, shushing me. My eyes grow big by his sudden action and for a second our eyes meet, burning through each other. And again, I can feel the current flowing through me and I know that he can feel it too. We breathe together, eyes still locked and the moment feels like it lasts for a lifetime.

Stefan's next words end the moment – "We have to go. Now."

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