For the past five years, the thought of coming back to Mystic Falls had never once crossed his mind. He didn't plan on coming back - not ever. He wanted to forget Mystic Falls and Elena, and though he failed miserably at it for a while, actually coming back was never an option, even when he had had enough with Klaus and wanted to leave him behind.
Being back in that little but nothing short of boring town, driving through the streets and recognizing parks and places and sometimes even people, made Stefan feel almost at home. He didn't think of Elena or of Damon, of the bad things that happened to him five years ago. Instead, he focused on the happy memories. Even before Elena, Mystic Falls was his home, and it made him feel good being back there. That's when he realized how he hated New York and Klaus, how he missed the simplicity of Mystic Falls and the company of the people he loved and cared about.
Except this time, things weren't going to be as simple as they once were. Not for Stefan, not for Caroline, not even for his old friends. He was on the run, desperately trying to find a solution for his problem, trying to keep Caroline safe and trying not to die, too.
"This is a nice town." Caroline said, breaking him out of his thoughts.
Stefan nodded, grinning. "It is."
A few minutes later, Stefan was parking in front of his old house. It looked exactly the way it did five years ago, on the day he took his car and got the hell out-of-town with Klaus riding shotgun.
He got out of the car and so did Caroline, while she looked at the house in awe.
"Wow. It's huge." She said.
Stefan smiled, but didn't say anything. He was starting to feel a little bubble of anxiety growing in the pit of his stomach. He had no idea what he would find inside the house.
He walked over to the door, Caroline following him closely, and when he glanced at her he found out the look of awe in her face from earlier had been replaced by one of fear. He stopped, looked at her, and when her eyes found his she took a deep breath, almost like she already knew what was coming.
"Don't be scared. It's all going to be fine." He said, putting a hand on her shoulder and giving it a light squeeze.
She smiled and nodded. It was enough to help her calm her nerves - at least that's what it looked like on the outside. Stefan knew better than everyone that you could hide a lot behind a smile and a little nod.
Stefan debated on whether he should knock or simply let himself in. It was his house, after all. It was once his home. But before he could decide what to do, the door opened, and Damon was standing there, with a smile on his face.
"Welcome home, brother!" Damon said, hugging Stefan.
Stefan got quite confused and surprised by Damon's behavior, but decided it would be better not to show it. "Damon!" He hugged back.
"We've missed you." Damon let go of Stefan and walked in the house.
"We?" Stefan said, walking in too, making sure Caroline was behind him.
"Yeah! Everyone. When I called them-" Damon noticed the girl walking along with Stefan. He looked confused. "Who are you?" He said, looking directly at Caroline.
She was looking down when Damon's voice rang in her ears, making her jump and look straight at him. "I-I'm Caroline. Hi." She smiled, trying to cover up her fear.
Damon frowned, looking at Stefan. "Care to explain?"
So Stefan sat down, accepted the booze Damon offered him (it felt just like old times), and told him everything. He made sure to keep out all the deep, 'I want to save her because all this time I've watched Klaus hurt innocent people and I never did a thing and now I feel guilty and I have to make up for it' aspects, mostly because he didn't want Damon minding his business, but also because he would be slightly embarrassed by saying that in front of Caroline. While he was talking, he glanced at Caroline a few times and noticed how terrified she looked. She kept staring at Damon, studying him, like she was waiting for him to attack her while making an escape plan in her mind. He didn't know whether to laugh at her innocence, or to feel guilty for putting her in that situation, so he did both. In his mind.
"Damn, Stefan. Always the martyr when it comes to humans." Damon rolled his eyes.
The way Stefan eyed Damon after what he said probably made him feel almost guilty. Or at least very, very uncomfortable.
"Well," Damon said, getting up, trying to cover up his last mistake. "This is your home, too. Stay here. We'll figure something out - we always do."
Stefan couldn't. Judging by the pair of boots at the corner of the room and the black cardigan folded up in the corner of one of the couches, Elena lived there. So he couldn't. "I think we'd be better off in a motel or something."
"Are you kidding?" Damon laughed. "No way. Your tongueless friend can stay in the guest room. Your room is still intact."
Stefan was about to answer, but Caroline spoke first. "I'm not tongueless." She said, her voice strong enough to mask any trace of fear or anxiety.
"Oh. That's good to know." Damon nodded. "How's your life?" He asked, sarcastically. Stefan rolled his eyes.
Caroline took a deep breath, like she was breathing out fear and breathing in courage, like she was slowly realizing Damon was nothing but a harmless, vampire dick. "It's good. I mean, if you ignore the fact I'm running from an original vampire who wants me, Stefan, and Elena dead. It's alright."
Damon froze at the mention of Elena. "Excuse me?"
Stefan realized he 'forgot' to mention the part where Elena was also being threatened. Good.
"That's why we're here, Damon. So that we all can find a way to stop Klaus, and no one gets hurt." Caroline said confidently. "Stefan has been nothing but kind to me. He's my friend. And I won't let Klaus hurt him, or anyone he cares about. But I can't do that alone because, you see, I'm nothing but a defenseless human. So you are going to be my defense."
Damon seemed impressed. "Alright, blondie. Mi casa es su casa." He said, and then turned to Stefan. "I like her."
Caroline smiled triumphantly, and Stefan grinned. Caroline was really something.
A while later, after Stefan finally agreed to stay at the Salvatore House, Caroline was setting herself up in the guest room while Stefan was silently sitting on their living room, drinking and watching the fireplace. It was almost night already, and he still hadn't seen Elena. He wasn't sure if that was a bad or a good thing. Even though he knew in his heart he was officially, one hundred percent over her, something inside of him was still afraid of what would happen when the time came and he had to see her right in front of him, flesh and blood and bones, greeting him with that Elena smile and her long, brown hair falling down perfectly over her figure.
He hoped nothing would change. He hoped he wouldn't feel like he was still not over her at the sight of her. He hoped he was finally over her, he needed to be over her. He didn't like waiting. He wanted to see her and just get it over with - just get an answer. Yes or no. Yes, I'm finally and officially over her, because I'm seeing her and I don't feel anything anymore and I just want her help in this situation. No, I'm not over her, because she's in front of me and all I want is to hold her and kiss her again. What was it going to be? He was tired of feeling so confused. He wanted a definite answer. He needed it.
"That's quite a friend you got there, Stef." Damon said, breaking Stefan's line of thought.
He nodded. "Yeah. She's quite... something."
"Are you in love with her?" Damon questioned.
He was taken by surprise. "What?"
"Yeah! I mean... are you?" Damon was starting to regret asking it.
"No! I've known her for, like, a week. She's just... I just want to keep her safe, that's all."
Damon sighed. "Fine. I just thought you were. I mean, she's just a human, Stefan. And look what you're doing for her - it's just crazy. You came all the way back to Mystic Falls because you defied Klaus. Klaus! The immortal, original vampire and werewolf over one little human. There's gotta be an explanation for that."
"There is." Stefan said. "But it sure as hell is not that I'm in love with her."
"Then what is it?" Damon asked. Stefan closed his eyes and shook his head, unsure if he could really tell Damon everything he was feeling. "Come on Stefan, you can trust me. I'm your brother."
Stefan sighed. "It's just... I feel responsible. For five years, Damon, I've been a selfish pain in the ass, drowning in my problems and ignoring everything Klaus did. He ripped that town apart. He fed on everyone, he hurt people, he turned people. I told myself it wasn't my problem. I let him do whatever he wanted, I only interfered now and then when I saw he left someone to die in the corner of a dark, abandoned alley." Stefan felt the guilt squeezing his insides. "And all because of what? Elena? I was so caught up because a girl left me that I thought it was okay to let other people suffer?"
Damon's expression didn't change at all when he mentioned Elena, which only encouraged him to continue. "And Caroline, she opened my eyes. She was like a big wake-up call, like the punch in the face I deserved but didn't get. He kidnapped her, he kept her hostage to feed whenever he wanted. How could I let that happen? How could I wake up, get out of bed and go on doing normal stuff when an innocent girl was crying in the room next door, in pain, like she was nothing but a source of food?" The thought made the guilt almost unbearable. "I had to do something about it. I said 'Screw Klaus, screw Elena, screw me. She doesn't deserve this. I can do something about it, so I will.', and that was it."
Damon listened to everything Stefan said carefully, showing interest and - the most surprising of it all - he didn't interrupt him to make silly little jokes not even once. Damon had actually matured in those five years. It made Stefan feel even worse.
"It wasn't your fault, Stefan. It wasn't your job to clean up Klaus' messes. In fact, it wasn't your job to be there with Klaus. You should have gone somewhere else. I know - I understand how you felt. Trust me, I'm an expert at feeling like no one cares about you and that you're all alone in the universe. But that wasn't your fault - none of it. And even if you still feel like it's your fault, let it go. Take this girl, keep her safe, do whatever you have to do to get rid of the guilt." Damon said, sympathetically. "Just don't get yourself killed. Or Elena. Or worse - me!" He couldn't help but try to joke. Seeing Stefan so miserable was definitely not in his list of favorite things.
Stefan laughed. "Don't worry, brother. You're safe."
"And so are you. We'll all make sure of that." Damon smiled.
"I believe you."
Stefan felt relieved. He was expecting Damon to become an angry mess after he found out about Elena being threatened. He was expecting Damon to yell at him, to hate him, but instead, he was faced with the reality that Damon had changed much since the last time they talked face-to-face. He knew it was all thanks to Elena, which made him actually kind of happy. All this time, Elena had been the one thing Damon needed to grow up as a person and leave all the hatred, anger and pain behind.
Damon was a different man. He found his happiness, and that's what happens when you find your happiness - you change, you mature, you evolve. Stefan was glad.
Suddenly, Damon's happiness was walking through the door.
"I'm home!" She said.
Both brothers looked at her. She saw Stefan. She froze.
This is it, Stefan thought. My answer.
"Stefan." She murmured. "Hi."
"Hi." He said, not sure of what to say and how to act.
"I didn't expect to see you here tonight, I thought you were only coming tomorrow." She said, walking towards him. She hugged him. He hugged her back. He didn't feel a thing. At least not the thing.
"Yeah," he said, letting go of her. "I was already on the road when I called Damon."
"That's great. Welcome back."
"Thanks." He smiled.
"Well," she said, hugging Damon and kissing his cheek. "I bought alcohol. Damon said you sounded serious on the phone, so, I figured you may need it. And also blood." She dropped the bags on the kitchen counter, the Salvatore boys following her.
"About that..." Damon glanced at Stefan. "We may actually need some real, human food this time."
Elena stared at the brothers, confusion clear over her face. It wasn't until the three of them heard footsteps that Stefan could see Elena finally recognizing the distinct scent mixed up with all the alcohol and the blood in the air. Human.
He got his answer. He was over Elena. He knew that now. Being so sure of that made him blind to the tension in the room. Unfortunately, Caroline was not that lucky. And Damon... Well, Damon was having fun. Too much, even.
Whaaaat so many new reviews, this is so so awesome. Thank you guys so much, it means a lot to me, you guys have no idea. I just found out you can reply to reviews so woohoo I have work to do. I hope you like this chapter! And don't forget to review. You guys rock!