Hello, readers. I hope you enjoy the chapter because we are officially winding down. The story will end on chapter 36 before a new story begins and I hope you will join me for it. Thank you to everyone who brought me to over 100 people who added me to their list of favorite readers. On with the show…
Chapter 29: Out of his Control
Now it had been two weeks since his brother had returned from his jaunt into crazy land as Kol had begun to call it. Stefan just slumped down into his seat at school. There was Elena sitting in her chair during their history class probably texting Damon. There was some sort of dance tonight and Stefan could care less.
Someone toward the front of the room was staring at him. Moving his gaze in that general direction, Stefan felt his lips move upward as Rebekah held up her hair with one hand and began to do little dance moves under the desk. Nodding at Rebekah, Stefan mouthed "Sure," and the blonde grinned happily.
Stefan had been sure that when he had found out about Elena and Damon he would lose it but Rebekah had been there for him. Apparently they had been quite the item back in the roaring twenties but now they were becoming good friends. Although Stefan wondered when he looked at Rebekah if she had friendship in mind for them.
Right now, Stefan was not sure he could handle another romance. And Rebekah could be dramatic from what Stefan had seen. He was not sure drama was what he needed. But then the older vampire would smile at him and couldn't help but smile back. She had an effect on every part of him. More than that he could feel her loneliness which was echoed by his own.
So, they were two friends who were going to go to a dance together and were going to make the best of their status as single Mystic Fallers. Of course everywhere Stefan turned there was another Mystic Falls couple. Klaus and Caroline. Bonnie and Kol. How that happened Stefan would never know. Jeremy had met a girl named Anna and they seemed to be happy. Matt and a freshman, April, or at least that's what Stefan thought her name was had started dating. Jenna and Alaric. Elijah was on the phone with some unknown caller a lot. And there was Damon and Elena although they had been trying to not rub it in Stefan's face he knew. He saw the looks between them.
If Stefan were honest he would say "I could not handle this anymore" and board a plane to Denmark. Anywhere in which he would not have to look at his brother and his ex-girlfriend. But that would come under Caroline Forbes' list of things: "You are not Allowed to Do."
At first Stefan thought that Caroline was kidding when she pulled out the list from her jacket pocket and there were at least a hundred commands. One of the rules she had underlined with a red pen and then highlighted was "No Moping." That was rule number five. It was followed by "No Hiding." So, he was stuck with this feeling of wanting to dig a hole and climb inside it.
"Stefan," Caroline called the minute the class was over and Stefan heard Elena begin to giggle at the sound of something Damon said and he cringed.
"Yes, Caroline," Stefan called back, wrapping an arm around his friend's waist and tugging her in the opposite direction of the way that Elena was going.
"Are you going to the dance tonight because I can dump Klaus for the night and we can go together," Caroline informed her friend with her usual perk.
"You don't have to dump my brother. Who is rather undumpable, unless you want to spend a hundred years in a box. Stefan and I are going to the dance together," Rebekah informed Caroline as she appeared on Stefan's other side.
Caroline's eyebrows rose and she grinned. "Good. Because then I don't have to have more sex with Klaus tonight. I can barely walk right now. And he never lets me sleep." Yawning, Caroline did not take notice of Rebekah and Stefan giving each other horrified looks.
"I don't know why you're complaining," Rebekah shook her head. "And please stop talking about having sex with my brother."
"I echo that sentiment," Stefan added as Caroline nudged him with her hip.
"I wasn't complaining," Caroline replied. "It's a lot of fun. Your brother really knows what he's doing."
Rebekah whirled around glaring at Caroline who began to laugh. "It runs in the family." Kol called out as he and Bonnie appeared.
"What runs in the family?" Elena questioned Kol as she came to stand with them, busily texting.
"STDs," Jeremy informed her and then laughed at Rebekah's expression. "You want to kill me now, don't you?"
"Very much so," Rebekah told him.
"Oh well," Kol smiled brightly. "I think I shall fancy being the king of the prom."
"Kol, it's not prom," Bonnie told him gently.
Kol shrugged. "Then I will compel people to believe that it's prom and then it will be splendid. You shall be my queen. And all of you will vote for us, yes?" His question sounded more like a threat to Stefan and he decided to get the hell away from the crazed vampire.
Hurrying away, Stefan walked out of the school to find Damon leaning against his car. Seeing his brother texting away, Stefan turned his back and began to stride in the other direction. When he was ten feet on the path that he had intended to take he found himself face to face with Damon. "Damon," Stefan groaned and tried to side-step around his brother.
"Oh, no you don't, Stef," Damon commanded, grabbing Stefan by the shirt collar and literally dragging him toward the car. "You are coming with me."
"Why?" Stefan moaned. He knew that he sounded like a five year old but he didn't care.
"Because you and I need to clear the air. Frankly, it stinks around here. And most of the fumes are coming off of the Originals in my humble opinion but we can't fight them if we aren't together on things. So, get your sorry ass in my car or I will throw you in."
Stefan glanced at the Camaro. Could he make a run for it? Would Damon chase him or give up on the whole brother bonding idea? Looking at Damon, whose eyebrows were furrowed and his eyes were narrowed in that evil Damon look, Stefan decided that the better part of valor was to just get in the damn car.
Leaning back into the seat, Stefan stared ahead of him. "Where are we headed, brother?"
"To where it all began," Damon replied without adding any more information in typical, cryptic Damon speak. Grinning in spite of his desire to flee from his brother's side, Stefan decided to make the most of it and turn on the radio. Finding a Bon Jovi song Stefan began to laugh at the pained look on Damon's face.
"Really, Stef? I think you can do better than that if you want to drive me mad." Damon flipped the dial until he found a station devoted to love songs. Turning up the sound while a Bruno Mars song played, Damon turned to Stefan. "Now, that is how you drive me nuts." He then began to sing along to a song and Stefan joined him. It was funny that Stefan could forget how much he loved his brother in spite of all their ups and downs.
When Britany Spears came on the radio Stefan turned it off. "Nope. Not going there."
Damon began to laugh. "Baby, I must confess that my loneliness is killing me now. But you know I still believe."
Stefan started to laugh so hard he doubled over at Damon's singing and hip gyrations. "Okay. Stop it. You're killing me."
"Too late," Damon informed him and then they both began to laugh hysterically.
"You're going to drive off the side of the road," Stefan warned.
"Oh, dear," Damon called back, speeding up. "I'm scared now." Standing up, he yelled. "Stef, take the wheel."
Stefan took the wheel as Damon yelled. "I'm the king of the world."
"And someone has been watching Titanic again," Stefan murmured. "And you're going to get you head lobbed off by a tree."
"But think of it. I can be in one of the remakes of Sleepy Hollow," Damon replied. Stefan stopped listening and yanked his brother back into his seat. They looked up in time to see the car whiz past the tree that would have taken Damon's head off. "Nice save," Damon muttered with a smirk.
His mood turning serious, Stefan retorted. "Elena would never forgive me if I let you die."
Damon shook his head slowly. "And I will never forgive myself if we don't get past this, Stefan. We can't let this end like what happened with Katherine."
Not replying to Damon's comment, Stefan was shocked when Damon stopped the car and got out. His brother had driven him to the spot where he forced Damon to turn over a hundred years ago.
"Damon…" Stefan called, not understanding why they were there as he got out of the car and came to stand beside Damon who was looking out at the water.
"This is where you changed my life forever. I hated you for the longest time for what you did. But, Stefan, what I realized during this trip is how powerful hate is. Look at Klaus. He's eaten up with hate. He wants to be this great, big, powerful creature. But look at him. Do you think it'll help him? Do you think that if he gets what he wants that it will ease his pain? See, I thought that hating you would make me feel better. It didn't."
Taking a deep breath, Damon looked at Stefan. "I forgive you, Stefan. I forgive you for forcing me to become a vampire."
Staring at Damon, Stefan felt the oddest sensation. It was like some of the guilt that he carried with him always was lifted and he didn't know what to say or think. Sitting down on the bank of the river, Stefan looked out at the water. "Thank you, Damon." Stefan could feel his brother sitting down next to him and placing his hand on his shoulder.
"You're welcome, Stefan," Damon whispered at he looked out at the water. They decided to sit quietly and look at the water. They needed to think about what to do next. However, at that moment they just wanted to sit for a little while. It was a funny thing, although they had forever it was a rare thing for either of the brothers to have the ability to simply contemplate life instead of worry about the next threat.
After some time, Damon looked at the sky. "So, what do we do about our Klaus problem?"
"Do you think that he's still a problem?" Stefan questioned Damon, looking at his brother, feeling concerned. "Elena is no longer of use to him and he seems to be dealing with it."
Damon shook his head. "According to the Rebekah in the other world, Klaus does not let go of things so easily."
"So, what do we do?" Stefan asked.
"What we did in the other world was we ran," Damon frowned. "You know I don't like to run. That's Katherine's thing. If it were up to me I would say we fight. But we don't really know when Klaus will strike."
"No, we don't. So, we run?" Stefan finished his brother's thoughts.
"Never failed me," someone called from behind them as they turned to look at the vampire coming to stand behind them. "Hello, boys," Katherine smirked. "Did you miss me?"
"Not at all," Damon replied, shaking his head.
"What do you want, Katherine?" Stefan snapped, getting to his feet.
Katherine shook her head. "Would you believe me if I said I'm here to help you?"
"Did they start serving water in hell?" Damon retorted with a wide grin that held no humor.
"Oh, Damon, he of little faith," Katherine leaned down and grinned at Damon. "I have a friend on the inside and he called me ask for help. We've come to a mutually beneficial arrangement."
"Oh really? And who would that be?" Damon did not sound pleased or like he believed a single word that came out of their sire's mouth.
"Elijah," Stefan mused and then his suspicion was confirmed by the look of shock on Katherine's face.
"How did you know?" Katherine questioned Stefan, her expression concerned, which was funny because Stefan had seen many looks on her face but this was a new one.
"What are you afraid of Katherine?" Stefan replied not bothering with her question. He came to stand in front of her with Damon behind her.
Katherine rolled her eyes and smiled. "I'm not scared of anything, Stefan. I just wanted to know how you could possibly know about my connection to Elijah."
"It doesn't a take a genius to figure out that since Klaus needed a doppleganger that he probably tried to use you first," Damon whispered into her ear, staring at Stefan.
They were bluffing but it sounded right to Stefan as Katherine stiffened. "And since Elijah and Klaus are brothers more than likely you met Elijah when Klaus tried to sacrifice you. We all know you have l thing for brothers. So, let's see… Elijah feel in love with you and never got over it. And now he calls you for help. My only question is what you're getting out of the deal."
Katherine shifted from foot to foot. "You know you're right. Okay. You're right about it all. And you want to know what I get out of the deal? I get Elijah."
Damon began to laugh at Katherine as she turned to glare at him. "Katherine Pierce is in love? Oh, Katherine, you're going to have to try a better story than that to make us believe you," Damon told her.
"All right," Katherine snapped. "I've been running for a long, long time from Klaus. Therefore I'm pretty good at it… But I've been alone for most of the time. I'm lonely. I want company. Elijah agreed to stay with me while you're globetrotting."
"Yeah, that sounds like you alright." Damon shook his head. "Call us when you stop lying. Which should be never. Good-bye, Katherine." Waving, Damon headed toward his car with Stefan following him.
"Are you sure she's lying?" Stefan asked as they got into the car.
Damon scoffed. "When is Katherine not lying? It's Monday. Katherine's lying. It's a national holiday. Katherine's lying. It's time to do the laundry, and guess what, Katherine's lying. Why? Because Katherine is a liar. Look up the definition of liar, you get a picture of Katherine along with a description of her."
"But what if she isn't this one time?" Stefan pursued the subject seeing Damon's expression closing off.
"Look, Stef, you want to believe her. Go right ahead. When she burns you then I get to say I saw it coming." Damon told him with a light grin.
"Uh huh," Stefan replied. Odds were that Katherine was lying. But they did not have a lot of alternatives other than stick around and see what Klaus would do to them. Honestly, Stefan was not sure what to do and right now he just wanted to say that they hit the highway and hide in the desert for awhile. Maybe they would meet those aliens from Roswell. Probably not. After all, they were just characters on a TV show. It would be so much easier if Stefan was a character on a TV show. Shaking his head, Stefan thought, 'If only.'
I want to make this really clear: Klaus did NOT compel Elena to have sex with Damon. He wanted her to get information from Damon and let's face it, people are more likely to say things when they're in the middle of things.
If something is confusing let me know what it was and I will try to explain the best I can.
Thank you for reading, faving, following and reviewing: Ninaandianforever, purpleshampoo, Ghostwriter, MysticGirl200, aisb1496, xeLinneax, YAZMIN V, sharpie 78, Jeremy Shane and flyfree1031.
Peace,
LL