There was only one shot. One very loud, life changing, eventful shot, followed by murmur of screams and gasps. Everyone closed their eyes as Ryan pulled the trigger, and they held their eyes closed while screaming. Maybe the room full of loud voices was even louder than the noise the gun has made. To the people on the outside, anyway.

And then, there was silence. Shattering silence. People began to open their eyes, and their pupils widened in shock.

There was blood everywhere. On the floor, on the desks, even on the clothes of some students who were sitting nearby.

At the moment Ryan raised his gun, she clenched her fingers around Stefan's arm and buried her face in his shirt, in the gap between his shoulder and his neck. Whatever happens, she knew she wanted to be close to him. Even if she ends up with a second bullet inside of her.

She wanted to look up at Caroline, but there was no time. She wanted to see Bonnie and Jeremy as well, but she was thankful they're safe.

As she closed her eyes there was only one person on her mind. Her mom. She was surprised by her own words, especially when she realized she actually means them. It does get better with time. After her mom died, she would get into the kitchen and start crying because something would remind her of her - her apron, or the simple memory of her chopping the vegetables by the counter, or sitting by the kitchen island, reading a magazine and drinking coffee. It was like that for weeks, maybe even months, she lost track of time, because to her, it seemed like an eternity. And she kept wondering, is she going to spend the rest of her life like this? Missing her mom, crying over everything that reminds her of her? Material item, a memory? Is she going to spend her whole life missing someone whose leaving was out of her control? Is she going to be mad at the world for as long as she lives? For some time she thought she is. And then, one day, she woke up and instantly felt less sad and less angry. And when she entered the kitchen that morning, she was flooded with memories like every other day, but for once, her memories were pleasant. She remembered her mom making lunch, smiling at her, and for once, that memory didn't make her cry, but it made her smile.

When the gun went off her whole body shook as she held onto Stefan's shirt with her fingers, burying her face deeper into the gap between his shoulder and his neck. She screamed silently while pressing her lips next to his body. She hasn't felt any pain after the gun went off, and Stefan's body was stiff next to hers, which meant the bullet wasn't intended for him either.

She opens her eyes, slowly, carefully, and a scream gets stuck in her throat as she catches the sight in front of her. Blood. Blood everywhere. Some of it is hers. Dripping down her shirt, Stefan's jacket soaked in it, both of their hands smudged with it. And then, there's a lot of blood that's not hers. On the front side of Mrs. Scott's desk, all over the floor, on the desks and chairs nearby. There are even spots of it on other students clothes. In front of them lies Ryan, with a hole is his head. There was blood all around his body, the gun swimming in it, his fingertip still on the trigger. His eyes are wide open, like he's looking, but not really. Like he's staring at one point on the ceiling, mesmerized by something that took his breath away. Quite literally.

The pain subsided. Or maybe she just got used to it. All of a sudden, a load of shivers go through her body, making her skin prick and her body shake from coldness. She can feel Stefan's fingertips on her bare arm.

Everyone keep looking at Ryan's dead body, then at each other, then again at his body. It's almost like they can't believe it. That this is it. That it's over. Just like that.

For a moment she feels sorry for him. For a silent, passing moment, her heart goes out to him. And she wonders do everyone feel the same. Do they feel sorry too? For a boy who took his own life because of sadness that was so out of his control that it pushed him to take such desperate measures? Do they regret not being there for him? Calling him names? Ignoring him? Do they feel sorry for him because he had lost so much even before he had lost his own life.

Everyone lost somebody.

Do they hate him? For doing this? Do they think about how this could have went in a completely other direction? He could have killed them all. He could have killed her. Do they think he's weak? Do they think about him at all?

Everyone are staring at each other in disbelief, and the next thing she knows Stefan's hands are gripping onto her. She can feel her body getting lifted from the ground. She finds herself in Stefan's arms, his arms around her, one under her knees and the other around her shoulders. When her body presses onto his, her wound to his stomach, she loses a little bit of air from her lungs. He starts moving towards the classroom door, opens it and they find themselves in the hallway.

It's empty. There's nothing but silence. He starts walking towards the stairs. Her arms are around his neck, her head on his chest.

"Do you hate him?" she asks, her curiosity bigger than anything else.

"Who?" Stefan asks, and she can imagine him frowning even though she can't see his face from this position.

"Ryan," she asks, clutching onto his shirt since a new wave of pain goes through her with every spoken word.

"Yes," Stefan swallows.

He says it without thinking, like it's that easy. To hate someone even though he barely knew about his existence until few minutes ago. Just because of one mistake.

"Why?" she asks.

He huffs. "He had hurt you," his fingers tighten on her skin as they reach the stairs and start going down to the first floor, "He could have hurt more people."

"Well, I don't hate him," she says.

An annoyed laugh escapes his throat. "Gilbert, I can bet you're the only person with a bullet in their body who could annoy me."

She wants to smirk but she can't find any strength to do so. Instead, she hisses in pain, and as she does so, his grip on her tightens.

She closes her eyes, all fear of not opening them again finally leaving her. "It's okay Stefan," she puts one of her hands on his chest, her fingers scraping over it gently, "It doesn't hurt me anymore."

"Liar."

"Why? Because I'm a woman?"

They reach the entrance of the school, and Stefan pushes the door open.

"No, because you're human."

She can hear a rattle of voices, and before she falls asleep, she can feel Stefan handing her into someone else's arms.

Rebekah was looking everywhere for Stefan. She has been looking for hours for him, at all of his usual hideouts. He was nowhere to be found. Then she realized there's only one place in Mystic Falls she hasn't looked at.

She drove herself to the school, which entrance has been plastered with yellow police tape, and she had noticed Stefan lying on one of the desks in front of the school.

He has been in the police station for the better part of his day, and then, he disappeared. She thought maybe he went to the hospital to check up on Elena, but once she arrived there Caroline told her Stefan hasn't been there, and Elena was still recovering from her surgery so no one was allowed to see her until she wakes up.

"Stefan," she whispers his name as she comes closer to him.

He doesn't react to it, so she says it one more time, this time a little bit more loudly.

"Have you ever tried to count the stars?" he asks her, looking at the sky covered with shinning golden spots.

"I've been to the hospital," she furrows her brows at him.

"It's impossible, there's too many of them," he acts like he hasn't even heard the word she said.

"They were successful in getting the bullet out of Elena's body," she keeps on going, thinking the mention of Elena's name might catch his attention.

"And every time you look back at the previous spot, it looks like two more of them appeared," he smiles, but not before he swallows at the mention of her name.

"She's fine, in case you're interested," Rebekah starts getting annoyed with him.

He doesn't say anything this time, he doesn't react at all. She makes few more steps towards him, and as she comes closer to him, her nose fills with the smell of vodka.

"Stefan!" she screams his name, making him close his eyes because of them drumming sound of her voice in his head, "Are you drunk?" she asks.

"A little bit," he says, trying to get up. After some time of swinging his arms in the air he finally manages to sit on the desk. He swings the bottle of vodka in his hand, raises it in the air, and gulps on it some more.

Rebekah tears it out of his hands while he's still drinking so some of it spills on his shirt.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" she yells at him angrily.

He frowns, clearly annoyed with her. "What's wrong with me?" he yells at the same volume she does, "There's nothing wrong with me," he throws his hands in the air, "I'm not the one walking into the school with a gun and shooting innocent girls, letting them bleed on someone else's arms," his voice gives him up.

After she sees the look in his eyes, and the true meaning behind his words, she exhales silently and walks over to sit next to him. She puts the bottle next to her, far away from his reach, even though she doubts he would try to reach for it anyway. She looks at him, and he looks lost. He looks hurt, and she realizes there's still blood on his shirt. Her blood. He didn't even care enough to change.

"I know things could have ended differently," she says, putting her hand on top of his, feeling how tense he is, "Worse," she says the word silently, not even wanting to think about it, "But she's fine," she tries to encourage him.

"I almost lost her," he swallows, his head slowly starting to hang tiredly on his body, "Before I got a chance to - " he says with a husky voice, but never finishes the sentence. Rebekah knows exactly what he meant to say, though. "And then she says she doesn't hate him," he says exhausted, clearly still annoyed with her words, "He had put a bullet in her and then she goes around saying she doesn't hate him," he covers his face with his open palms.

"Maybe her heart is bigger than any of us think," Rebekah says.

Stefan's hands fall from his face in his lap as he looks at his best friend. She smiles at him and stands up, taking his hands in hers, pulling him up. He pushes himself off the desk.

"Now you're going to go home," she orders him friendly, "You're going to have a good night sleep, take a shower, change your clothes, and then," she smiles at him, after you wake up, "You're going to the hospital to see your girl."

"So, you're going to be left with a scar?" Caroline looks sadly at Elena, glancing at the spot on her body where her wound is, even though she's unable to see it directly.

Elena nods her head sadly, not liking the idea of having the scar on her abdomen for the rest of her life. It will look hideous when she wears a bikini. "A little one," she frowns, pulling her fingers over the bandage on her abdomen, feeling light prickle as she does so.

"Scars are not ugly, they're a proof you've been through something and you survived," Bonnie says, trying to make Elena feel better.

"How poetic," Jeremy comments, holding his arms around his girlfriend shoulders. He says it with a mocking voice, which makes Bonnie raise her head towards him and stick out her tongue in his direction. Jeremy shoots his look at his sister. "I called dad," he scratches the back of his neck with the fingers of his other hand, "He said he will be here next week," he furrows his brows, clearly disapproving, "I tried to convince him he should be here today, but he said it's not possible," he rolls his eyes.

When Jeremy says he tried to convince their father Elena knows that actually means he threw a bunch of insults at him, insults to which their father doesn't even react anymore because they became a normal part of every conversation he shares with his son.

"Jer, it's okay," Elena says, trying to pretend her fathers absence is not getting to her. Jeremy shoots her a look by which she knows he knows it's not okay.

"Well, you don't look like someone who has been shot yesterday," she hears a voice coming from the other side of the room. She raises her look and sees Stefan standing there, leaning onto the door frame, smiling in her direction. Smiling at her like there's nobody else in the room.

He's a sight for sore eyes, in his purple shirt and dark trousers, his eyes covering her whole body, his smile set directly on her. She has no choice but to smile back at him, as the memory of him holding her in his arms comes back to her, as well as the memory of him carrying her down the stairs like she weighs nothing. Blush attacks her cheeks, and she tries to hide it by lowering her head.

Caroline catches her reaction and with a meaningful look on her face says to Bonnie, "Well, I could use a cup of coffee."

"Me too," Bonnie agrees, pulling confused Jeremy by his sleeve.

"You don't drink coffee, you say it tastes like - " they hear Jeremy saying from the hallway to which Bonnie has dragged him to, and Caroline follows them with a smile on her face.

Before she exits the room, she stops next to Stefan, "Try not to wear her out, she did have a surgery only yesterday," she winks at him, and he smirks smugly at her before she leaves the room.

Elena rolls her eyes, at the same time wondering when did Caroline and Stefan get so comfortable with each other to crack jokes about his and Elena's relationship.

"So, how does look someone who has been shot yesterday?" she asks once they're left alone.

Stefan walks over to her and makes himself comfortable on a chair by her bed. "Not like they're prepared for a runaway," he looks at her face.

"Caroline insisted," she says, knowing he's referring to her make up, "In case there are any cute doctors."

Dammit, you don't need any cute doctors, he thinks to himself.

He smirks at her. "You look pretty good in that hospital gown," he says through a chuckle, "Does it have a crack on the back?" he asks hopefully, still smirking at her, "I kinda miss your ass."

Elena does her best to sit on the bed, but as she pushes herself from the pillows, she squeaks in pain. Worry flashes in his eyes, and it makes her smile, and her smile takes his worry away. She puts her hand on her back, "It does," she says as she finds out, "And you would be able to see my ass perfectly since I'm not wearing any panties."

His eyes widen in shock, his mouth opening a little.

She bursts into laughter. "I'm kidding," she says through a light laugh as a sharp pain goes through her body, "Pervert," she rolls her eyes.

"Hey, you're the one with a perfect ass," he raises his eyebrow in her direction. Stop talking about her ass, you idiot.

"Stefan, I wanted to thank - " she begins, wanting to thank him for everything he has done for her, but she never gets a chance as he interrupts her in the middle of the sentence.

"Would you like to go out with me?" he asks in a hurry, words tumbling out of his mouth like a waterfall. She looks at him surprised, almost in disbelief, like it's the last thing she would expect from him to say. "I know this isn't the most proper moment," he starts playing with his fingers, "Maybe it's too soon," he says nervously, almost like he has no idea what he's doing.

He doesn't. He never asked anyone on a date. This is a completely new territory for him, and he tried to do it like everything he doesn't know the first thing about - sloppy, nervously, fast. So no one notices he's lost in something.

"Are you sure you want to go out with a girl with a hole in her body?" she teases.

"I'm not interested in your holes."

"Well, this must be the first."

"You're not going to make this easy for me, are you?" he laughs nervously, "By answering with yes or no," he swallows before he pronounces no.

She looks at him with a smile on her face. She can feel her face flush.

"Yes," she looks at him gently, "I'm going to go out with you."

AN: Every cloud has a silver lining.