All grammar/spelling mistakes are mine!
Elena
We've been sitting in my room for almost two hours now. What he told me – the story about him and his brother Damon, it is still killing me. It's like I could feel everything he felt when he told what had happened. Every ounce of pain, the guilt he is feeling right now. It courses through me and all I want is for it to stop. I want it to stop for Stefan, I wish I could take it all away from him, lock it away and throw the key away for eternity.
When he started his tale, I could see how reluctant he was to talk about it, how he didn't want me to see him like this, like I wouldn't understand. But I do. I can see more clear now, I can see him better, it's like I can feel him better. It's strange to say that I can feel him, but so it is. He is the closest to heaven I'll ever be. I have known Stefan for such a short time, but to already feel that much towards him...I don't know if I am able to give a name to those feelings, maybe just not yet.
It is still hard for me to acknowledge that someone is after me. That someone being Damon – Stefan's brother, a fallen angel. I have been sucked into this supernatural world so suddenly and it's hard to grasp everything, perhaps that's why I am still so eerily calm. I should be freaking out, I should be terrified, waiting for someone to jump out from a dark corner and attack me. Instead I feel safe, like nothing could touch me right now. Maybe I am in shock? Maybe I will wake up tomorrow and it will all hit me like a ton of bricks, and then what? I run? With Stefan? Like Damon and Katherine did? I can't do that. I have Jeremy, I can't just leave him to be alone, in harm's way.
"Elena," he whispers, my head is still on his shoulder and he brushes a strand of hair from my face. "We can't stay here." He breaks the silence and with that my strand of thought. My head snaps up and I look at him sharply.
"Why not?" But I already know the answer.
"It won't be long until he finds where you live." Stefan can't even say his name anymore.
"I won't go anywhere." I persist, not willing to let this go.
"You won't be safe here."
"I know that." I respond simply, "But I can't leave Jeremy. He is my brother." I emphasize the word brother and Stefan's face immediately changes. He lowers his head, eyes glued to the ground.
"If he comes here, I don't know..."
"It's okay," I reassure him, "Nothing will happen to me." I smile a little, "Because you're here."
"You don't know that, Elena," he turns his head so now he is facing me again. "I have no idea what Damon can or cannot do." The worry is plain in his face and I have no idea how to make him see that I am not scared.
"Stefan, if I start to run..." I pause for a second, considering my next words. "Then it will never stop. I will never stop escaping from danger. And I can't live like that, this is not me. And if I did run, who says that Damon won't use Jeremy against me?"
I grab Stefan's hand as I had before, giving it a gentle squeeze, feeling his skin next to mine. He looks at me, his green eyes sparkling. "I need you to put your faith in me, Stefan." He nods, although I can still see that he is not agreeing with me. "This is my choice. I won't run."
"I know." Stefan states simply. I wonder what's going on in his head. He is always so mysterious. "I would never force you do to something you didn't want." And with that last sentence I can't help to smile wide – "Thank you."
Stefan smiles back and it's breathtaking – "Has anyone ever told you how stubborn you are?" he asks.
"Several times." I laugh, my mother always used to say that I inherited my stubbornness from my father.
I look at the window and notice a reddish glow looming in the distance. The sun must be rising. "Oh, how long have we been sitting here?"
Stefan glances at the clock on the wall – "For almost three hours now. Elena, you should get some rest."
I suddenly feel every muscle in my body screaming at me, telling me that I should sleep.
"Will you stay with me?" I ask Stefan, blurting my thoughts out before I could consider the meaning of them. "No, I mean, not in that way..." I start to ramble, feeling the blood rushing to my face.
Stefan just looks at me, amusement in his eyes – "I'll be here, don't worry."
I give him a weak smile, trying to hide my embarrassment. I stand up, letting go of his hands, and he stands up too. He stares at me intently, his gaze so intense that I start to feel slightly uncomfortable.
"What?" I finally ask, not able to take it anymore. It seems to snap him back to reality. His eyes move to my lips then to my eyes. Stefan takes a step towards me, closing the distance between us. He presses his lips to my forehead, to my utter surprise and also disappointment. Because I find myself wishing that those lips were pressed against my own lips. I close my eyes, taking a deep breath, savouring the moment, but when I open them again, he is not in the room anymore.
Damon
Finding Elena Gilbert's house was the easiest task ever. All it took was a giving a smile to the desk receptionist at the hospital and she was putty in my hands. Easy, like I said.
Did Stefan really think that I would expect them to sit there and wait for me? I just wanted to have a little fun, scare Stefan a little. No big deal. I know all the tricks that angels have so by the time I reached the girl's hospital room I wasn't really surprised that they were gone. So predictable.
My baby brother is still the same old brooding Stefan as I remembered. The guilt and the shame is a constant aura around him, but I could detect a change in him. It became especially prominent when I mentioned Elena, the hot brunette my bro is assigned to protect. I've been watching Stefan for a while now and I have never seen him so passionate about protecting a charge, so she must be something.
There is so much Stefan doesn't know about angels and one of those things is how to trace one and how to cover their tracks. I succeeded hiding myself and Katherine for a long time, until he came and destroyed everything. My entire life was wiped away in a single minute. Her screams haunt me every night and there is nothing I can do to stop it. Ever since that night I've roamed the world with only one purpose – destroy those who destroyed my life. And that, I shall do.
Elena Gilbert's house is one of those miserable suburban houses that all look the same. I wonder if Elena is as boring as is her house. Probably she is. I wouldn't be surprised.
As I approach the house, I take a quick glance at the watch on my wrist. 10 am. Perfect. That means that she's probably awake. I look behind me just to be certain that my baby bro isn't lurking somewhere near and when I see no one - just some neighbours walking their dogs, I take a step to the front porch, and ring the doorbell, waiting for someone to open the door.
I am no fool; I know that Stefan is constantly near Elena – that is what makes this game so exciting. I can hear footsteps nearing the door and to my disappointment it isn't Elena who's answering the door, but a young man. Never mind, this will make it even more fun, I give the young man a smirk before I ask - "Is Elena Gilbert home?"
Jeremy
I look at the man standing at my doorstep – dressed in all black. Even his hair is black. But what strikes out the most are his icy blue eyes, and they are definitely not friendly. I decide instantly that I don't like the man.
"Is Elena Gilbert home?" he asks, giving me an unpleasant smile. Who is he?
"No, Elena's not at home." I answer, wary. There's no way I am telling this man that she's currently in the hospital. That reminds me that I should get going, she's supposed to be discharged today.
"Really?" He drawls, arching an eyebrow and peeking over my shoulder.
"What did you say your name was?" I ask him, stepping out of the door frame, trying to cover the view with my body.
"I didn't say my name," he smirks again. "But then again, you didn't ask for it either."
I am annoyed by his attitude – "Look, man, I said that Elena's not here, so I am thinking that you should go."
"Look man," he mocks me, stabbing his finger at my chest – "You don't get to tell me what to do." He looks over my shoulder again, this time his grin getting even wider. "Well, look at this, who do we have here."
"Jeremy?" I hear my sister's voice behind me. I turn around and there she is, in flesh.
"Elena? What the...?" I am confused. "You're supposed to be in the hospital."
"Jeremy, I..." she stops, frowning, like she doesn't know what to say. "I'll explain later. What's going on?"
I turn back to face the stranger at my doorstep and his eyes are locked on Elena, sending chills all over my spine.
"This man here says he wants to see you." I say reluctantly, I'd rather get him away from my sister.
"Who?" Elena comes to stand next to me, her big brown eyes curious.
"I don't know, he won't say his name." I spit out, giving the man the evil eye.
Then he speaks up, suddenly being polite – "May I come in?"
I can see that Elena is clearly affected by this man, although I can't understand why.
"No." I stand in front of Elena and the man gives me an angry look.
"Jeremy," she protests behind me.
"I won't let him in our house until he tells his name," I persist.
"I am sorry for my brother," Elena speaks up, "But I think it would be better if you give us your name before we invite you in."
The man gives his irritating smirk again and I feel like wiping that smile off his face.
"My name is Damon Salvatore." He says.
Elena
I feel like someone just dropped a pool of ice cold water over me. My face drops and I can see that Damon understands that I know who he is, as his grin gets impossibly wide.
"Jeremy," I tug at his shirt, "Close the door, now." I urge him, pulling him inside.
"Now why would you do that?" Damon asks, taking a step forward, forcing us to retreat.
"What the hell?" Jeremy is visibly angry, but I know better than to provoke Stefan's brother.
"I think we should have a little chat," Damon says, taking another step into the house. Now there's almost no way to get him out of here.
I start to panic; I have no idea what to do. Stefan. Where is he?
Jeremy raises his voice – "You, Damon, whatever your name is, get out. Now."
"Jeremy, don't," the fear for my brother is starting to suffocate me.
"Aren't you cute, trying to be the man of the house," Damon leers and then puts a finger on Jeremy's forehead, causing him to collapse on the floor.
"NO!" I shout, kneeling down next to my brother, tears streaming from my eyes, "Jeremy, wake up, please wake up." I shake him frantically, but he doesn't react.
"Relax, he's not dead," Damon rolls his eyes. He was just annoying me.
"How could you?" I look into his eyes, so different from Stefan's – they're so cold, so devoid of emotions, empty.
"Because I can," he answers, shrugging his shoulders, "Now where's my baby bro? What's taking him so long?"
Stefan. He should be here by now. He promised to protect me, and yet he isn't here.
"Well isn't that a surprise." Damon laughs, "And I thought that you're the most important thing to him. Guess I was wrong." He leans against the wall, looking at me. "Call him" he tells me suddenly.
"What?" I don't understand.
"Call. Him." His voice is icy, menacing.
"How?"
"Ugh, what's so difficult to understand? Say his name, for crying out loud!"
I flinch at the tone of his voice, it sounds like he's about to attack me. "S-s-stefan?" I stutter out nervously, all the while cradling my brother's head in my lap, he still isn't moving, although I can see the faint rise of his chest, indicating that he is alive.
"You have to do better than that, Elena." His eyes are shooting daggers at me.
"Stefan?" I call out more confidently, praying that he could hear me. Still, nothing happens.
"For fuck's sake!" Damon shouts, hitting the nearby end-table, knocking it over, the vase on it shattering into pieces. "Stefan, I know you can't hear me, but if you don't appear right now, I am going to hurt your precious Elena here." There's so much anger and violence in his voice, I have never seen a person so volatile.
I hold onto Jeremy tighter, thinking to myself – Stefan, please, if you can hear or sense me, please I need you. I don't know what's keeping you, but please, come.
Damon's still pacing around, impatiently. I wonder why he hasn't killed me already. That's what he wants, isn't it?
I close my eyes for a second, trying to calm myself, when I feel someone's hand touching my arm, I open my eyes and I see Stefan crouching next to me. His eyes are so sad, so guilty, apologizing. "I am sorry," he whispers to me.
"Damon," he calls out, standing up.
"Stefan," the older brother smirks, "What took you so long?"
Why Stefan was absent, will be explained in the next chapter!
Some of you were wondering why Elena was so calm about the fact that Damon is after her. The main reason for that is she haven't had the time to acknowledge herself the situation she's in now. Everything has happened so quickly that there hasn't been time for her to completely register what's happening. Eventually, it will all hit her.
Another thing is that I am taking my time with Stelena, as you can see. I don't want them to rush into things, especially with everything that's going on around them. And maybe it is my personal preference also, that I don't like too fast paced development.
Anyhow, thank you so so much for your reviews, they mean A LOT to me. If you have any questions, shoot. :) You can also ask me questions on twitter at hey_stef and on tumblr at heystefan.
Until next time! :)