Prompt: 6."DON'T LOOK"

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He's almost running, feet trying to take him anywhere far away from here. Away from all these faces and their heartbeats and their delicious necks. So he pushes the door open and walk down the stairs, and if he was in a better state he would have time to be grateful for the alley being empty. But right now, all he can think about is blood, the need to sink his teeth into someone's neck and get high on warm, delicious blood right from the vain.

He closes his eyes, hand grabbing the fence next to him as he tries to breath. In and out, once and twice till he is no longer seeing images of blood in his head.

He hears the door opening again, and then there's the soft sound of heels walking to him and then there's the lovely, soothing 'Stefan?' that leaves her mouth.

He has always appreciated the way she stayed with him, always there to pull him back whenever he went too deep. But this time, he wants nothing but for her to turn around and walk away. He doesn't want her to see him like this. Regardless to the fact she's seen him like this many times before, but now he doesn't want her to.

And he won't even bother to ask himself why. It's normal to feel ashamed of what he is, of the way his veins appear under his eyes, the way his fangs force him to part his lips, the way his eyes turn into something that if he got the chance to look in the mirror, he wouldn't recognize. But she has the time to look at him, to see the monster that he is, and to not recognize him, And maybe she'll be disgusted as well.

She is a vampire herself, yes, but she's nothing like him. She is beautiful, and he is ugly. Her look can sooth him, and his look can scare the hell out of her.

"Stefan." She says again, breaking through his thoughts. He notices that her voice is closer than before. And he understands the reason behind it when her hand touches his shoulder, firm yet gentle, trying to make him turn around.

So he does the exact opposite, looks the other way and tries to calm his features but it's not working.

"Hey, Stefan? It's okay." She says. And instead of replying he lets out a breath, and it sends him crazy, because it sounds like a growl coming out of an animal.

"Just… Leave." He says through his teeth, trying to think of something else but her pulse is louder than it's supposed to be. Is she scared? Or it's just his senses being heightened?

"I'm not gonna leave you." She says, confused by the fact that he even thought she would walk away and leave him like this. "Just…" She pauses, trying again to make him turn around but he is too stubborn, still trying to calm his face.

"Caroline." He growls.

"Stefan Salvatore, I am your sober sponsor, get over yourself." She then spins around him and comes face to face with him. And he doesn't think of blood, he is no longer hungry. He is mad. And he wants to push her away but he stops himself, only turns around again, angrier.

"DON'T LOOK." He shouts, his veins appearing more and more, being clearer than before, his fangs no longer under control.

"Stefan, hey, it's me."

He closes his eyes, feels her hand as she goes up and down over his arm.

"I'm not scared of you. I look in the mirror and I see them, too." She says, and then she's silent. Only her hands are still moving, and he calms down a bit.

"I let you see them before, in that bathroom, remember?"

And here it is, another image to take over his head. Of a blonde crying and shaking, and his two arms holding her. Somehow they end up standing in front of each other, his two hands on both of her shoulders while her hands are around his neck.

And he suddenly notices how tall he is and how short she is and that her shoulders are too comfortable and her hands are too warm. He breathes in and out, and realizes she's doing the same thing.

He knows that he's himself again, yet he doesn't open his eyes. It feels like heaven, and opening his eyes right now would be the dumbest thing to do.

And she doesn't even wait for him to open them instead she pulls him down for a hug, trying to hide him in her embrace, which is almost hilarious, if it wasn't for the situation they are in.

Her hands go up and down his back, and she whispers lots of it's okay and I got you. But most of all, her pulse doesn't send him crazy, in fact, it makes him calmer than before.