Lovers Intertwined

Chapter 2

Walking out of the grill, the cold wind blows the rain into my face, quickly losing feeling to my nose and cheeks, and I know they have gone pink. Then, pulling my phone out of my pocket to call Karlee, Stefan walks out and sees me drenched in the rain, shivering because its freezing.

"What are you doing out in the rain beautiful?" looking me up and down walking over to me reaching for my face, caressing my cheek. "what were you thinking, you're freezing, Why didn't you organise a ride before you came out here?" Then, taking off his jacket he drapes it over my shoulders. "Put that on, follow me and I'll take you home".

"don't worry about me, what about Elena? how is she getting home?" I look down so he can't see the hurt in my eyes.

"Damon is taking her to our place; you're more important right now," he says gruffly before lifting my chin so that I look at him; his gaze softens as our eyes lock, and emotions pass in his eyes that I don't understand. Reaching over, he takes my hand, pulling me closer; he kisses my cheek before leading me over to the passenger side of his car. He gets in, starts his car, and blasts the heat to bring up my body temperature again. He drives slowly due to my house due to the weather; pulling into the drive, he puts it in the park. I lean over the short distance between us and kiss his cheek.

"Thanks for the ride, Handsome."

"no problems, beautiful."

I brace myself before getting out into the cold and jogging the short distance to my porch, giving him a wave before going inside. Then, walking to the kitchen I turn the heating on, I then remember that I still have his jacket on. Someone knocks on the door, I jog to it taking the jacket off to give it to him; swinging open the door...

"Handsome, you forgot your jacket," I say before paying much attention to who is in front of me. spotting that it's Caroline, I freeze for a second 

"Oops, sorry, Caroline I thought you were Stefan"

"Still chasing after your best friend? What was Stefan doing here? shouldn't he be with Elena, his GIRLFRIEND?"

"He was dropping me home due to this storm, Caroline, you're my best friend; there is no need to be rude. He is just my friend."

Rolling her eyes, "If you say so, you know you want more".

"Is there a reason that you came other than to accuse me of something?"

"I just came to see if you knew anything going on between Stefan and Elena..."

"No, I don't know anything, as I told you today... Stefan will tell me when he is ready."

"Ok, that's all I wanted, I'll leave you to it. Love you"

" Love you too, see you at school tomorrow... we should all have a sleepover soon".

"Sounds good, bye... I'm going to go investigate more"

after watching her walk to her car, I wave her off before closing and locking the door. Grabbing my bag from the bottom of the stairs, I walk up the steps, heading for my bedroom. Dumping my bag on the bed I change into my shorts and tank top to get out of my wet clothes before collapsing onto my bed to study a bit more. Grabbing my glasses out of their case, I pull my English novel out of my bag and start to read, getting lost in the chapters, interrupted by a loud knock at the door. Taking my glasses off and place them on my book, slowly walking down the stairs because I'm not expecting anyone. Peering through the peephole, my heart skips a beat when I see it's just Stefan. I hastily unlock the door and fling it open, my pulse racing with concern.

"What are you doing here? It's eleven o'clock at night," I exclaim, my eyes drinking in the sight of his drenched figure. The sorrow etched on his face makes my chest tighten; silent tears cascade down his cheeks.

"I... I couldn't think of anywhere else to go, El... Elena and I B...Broke up," his voice wavers, each word heavy with despair.

My heart sinks. "Oh no, what happened? Come in!" I plead, stepping aside to envelop him in the safety of my space, away from the unforgiving night.

His back is turned to me, but I can sense his anguish. "She chose him, she picked him... after everything he has done," he chokes out, the weight of betrayal wrapping around us like a suffocating fog.

"Who picked who? What happened?" My voice trembles with urgency as I try to grasp the reality unravelling before me.

"Elena... Elena chose Damon," he confesses, and my heart shatters at the raw pain in his words.

"I'm so sorry," I whisper, filled with a fierce urge to shield him from this hurt. "Did you want to stay here tonight?" I step forward, arms reaching out in a gesture of comfort. But he pulls away, retreating up the stairs, and I follow, urgency propelling me into my bedroom.

In a whirlwind of motion, I rush to my cupboard and retrieve a set of dry clothes, offering them to him with a gentleness that belies my own turmoil. "Here, go change," I insist, gently nudging him into the bathroom.

I sink onto the edge of my bed, waiting with an anxious heart for him to return. The door creaks open and my breath catches—there he stands without a shirt, the faintest smirk dancing on his lips. His gaze is somewhere between playful and vulnerable, and for a flickering moment, the weight of the world seems to lift, leaving us enveloped in a fragile, electric connection.

"Do you like what you see?"

"you wish"

he mumbles under his breath, saying, "I do wish yes," but I miss it.

he walks over to where I am sitting and sits next to me.

"do you want to sleep in the bed... or the back-breaking couch.." I say with a giggle

he chuckles in his deep voice, "In the bed if that's ok with you?"

"Yeah, that's fine." I move back and slide under the covers, and he does the same. He looks at me with a look, unlike anything I have seen before.

"Can we please cuddle? I know that's a big thing to ask. Did you want to watch a movie?" he says, looking shy.

"Yeah, that's fine, and yeah, a movie sounds good," I say, fighting back a blush, thinking of our bodies being pressed so closely together when he won't be wearing a shirt. Shaking my head, I push those thoughts aside. He pulls me to his chest, holding me in place with an arm around my waist, and he puts our favourite movie on; with my eyes feeling heavy, I say goodnight to him.

"Goodnight, beautiful, sweet dreams," and he kisses my forehead, which is the last thing I remember before falling asleep.

Loud banging at the front door startles me from my sleep. Looking over at my alarm clock, I notice that it's 2:00 a.m. I roll out of bed gently so as not to wake Stefan. Glancing back and seeing him still asleep, I smile. Making my way downstairs as quickly as possible so the person at the door doesn't knock again, I look through the peephole and, seeing that it's safe to open, unlock the door and open it to see...