Rare || The Vampire Diaries

Blood Brothers

My body jolts up on guard. I groan from the vervain circulating through my body but the feeling of tiredness passes in an instant. My eyes scan the area around me. What the hell am I doing in the basement cell? Someone grunts and I stand up. "Stefan?" I question as he thrashes on the cot. "Stefan?" I repeat and lean down over him. He doesn't show any sign of recognition but he mutters out my name. "I'm right here Stefan." I tell him and lay down next to him. 

"Good morning beautiful." Damon says from the door and I jump. "You scared me!"

"I am pretty scary. Here." He jokes and slides 2 bottles full of blood through the barred window. They fall on the ground with a popping sound. "Why am I in here?" I crawl over to the blood and start sipping it. Ew, it's definitely not human. I'm just glad he didn't spike it with vervain. "You are our best chance at Stefan getting his life together."

"And how does Elena feel about this?" I drain the rest of the blood and throw the empty bottle at him. He catches it with ease. "It was my idea, not that you care." Elena pushes herself into my view and I roll my eyes. "I said it once and I'll say it again, get over yourself. Let me know if you need to hear it just one more time."

"I am over it. I've accepted that you were going to marry my boyfriend. I've also accepted that my boyfriend has moved on." She stares daggers at me and I flip her off. If only she knew about Stefan's extracurriculars. "Elena." Stefan mutters and Elena stiffens. "Stefan. I love you."

"I choose Sofia." He finishes with a murmur and Elena's face falls. "He didn't mean that. The guilt and vervain is making him all wonky." Damon tells her with a dismissing wave. Leave it to Damon to protect Elena's feelings. I'm starting to care less and less as time goes by. Elena nods her head and leaves. She's so easy to believe everything he says.

Damon waits until she's out of ears reach and turns to me. "When are you going to tell her?" I furrow my brows at him. Does he know? "Tell her what?" I play dumb. "About you and Stefan?"

"What about me and Stefan?" I lead on without any hint of Stefan and I's makeout session. And love confessions. If I give him any hints, it could reveal a lot of dirt that needs to stay buried. "Well she knows that you're the one who hooked Stefan on people blood but does she know how personal it is?"

I let out a sigh of relief. "I'm sure they've had that talk. Besides, it's not that personal. We've shared blood." I shrug and he flexes his jaw. What was that? Damon takes that as his indication to leave. "Wait, Damon. That's not what I meant." I declare and he comes back to the door. "It is what you meant. We used to be thick as thieves and you left me to get in Saint Stefan's good graces. Now if you would excuse me, I have some business to attend to." He excuses himself and I'm sure if I call after him, he won't turn back around. That's Damon. Always has to have the last word.

I huff and return to my post, which is just next to Stefan. My mind wonders in the boredom. I know that what Damon said is true. Stefan is all wonky because of the vervain and guilt mix but could he actually choose me? Would he? I doubt it. He has everything going for him and Elena. Well, apart from the fact that she wouldn't want to be a vampire so Stefan would get to watch her die. And then he would be miserable until he fell in love again and bearing in mind the state of affairs, that would be a long-ass time. And his taste in women has also got to play into it too. I'm sure another Petrova doppelganger is going to be hard to come by. 

Out of the blue, Stefan jerks awake. He looks around the room as if he doesn't recognize it. "Hi." I smile at him. His face changes as he remembers where he is. "What are you doing in here?" He asks me, perplexity and bitterness laced in his voice. "What are you doing in here?" I copy his question back to him. He refuses to answer. 

"Look buddy, I hope you're not in denial. You need to get it together." I tell him coldly. If I want him to believe that I never loved him, I have to be cold. I can't show any signs of affection toward him. Not a single ounce.  

"Then why did they put you in here? You're the one who makes me want to rip into people's arteries." He shows equal coldness in his words. Good. That's what we need. "I have no idea." I answer honestly. Except, I can't blame them. They probably don't know about our fight. Or maybe Elena does. How the hell am I supposed to know?

As if she heard her name in my thoughts, Elena returns to the basement to check on Stefan. "How you feelin'? Damon says you need to drink that. You need it, Stefan. Can't survive without it." She nods her head toward the blood and Stefan shakes his own. "I don't want to survive."

"What? Don't say that." The words I'm thinking come out of her mouth. So he plans to starve himself and mummify? It wouldn't even kill him. "I'm sorry, Elena. No more. After what I've done, it has to end. I just want it over." Stefan continues his sap story. She gives up convincing him and stomps back up the stairs. Well, that was damn easy.

"You don't mean it Stefan." I start pacing. "Yes I do. Your sister ruined my life when she fed me her blood and you ruined it again when you revealed that you never gave a shit about me. I should've listened to my father this whole time." He snickers somberly. 

"Your father couldn't be more wrong and right now, neither could you." I stop myself from saying anything else. If I do, I'll be leading him on all over again. "What is that even supposed to mean? You tell me you love me and the next thing I know, you're telling me you never did. I'm confused on why I care and why I shouldn't just stop." He throws his hands up in the air out of frustration. I don't even know how to start responding to that.

"Turning off your humanity is far from what you need to do. What's best for you is just to move on. You're with Elena now. You love her and she loves you. We have history and that's it."

I stand up and put my face as far out of the bars as I possibly can. "Elena!" I yell for her. I need to get out of this cell. If I don't then I might say something I regret. She comes sauntering down the stairs. "Let me out. He doesn't need me, he needs you. You can comfort him in ways I can't." I beg her. She ponders the idea then unlocks the door. I push it open and walk out while she walks in. "Thank you."

I run out of the house and stop to enjoy the fresh Mystic Falls air. You never know when you're going to miss simple things like fresh air until it's taken against your will. I need a drink. An alcoholic one.

I walk into the bar and take a seat next to the town's human drunk, Alaric. "Hey Ric."

"I see Damon let you out of the Stefan Redemption cell." He waves his hand for the bartender to get me a drink. "How did you know about that?" I ask him and the guy behind the bar slides me a shot. I nod to give my thanks. "Ah, we took a field trip today." He writes off any questions but I don't take the hint. "So are you two the new dynamic duo?"

"No. We have a mutual dislike for each other." He repudiates. I raise my brow. I'm sure that'll change. Damon's a hard one to stay enemies with, especially if it of convenience not to. "Well nice drinking with you." I empty the shot glass and slide it over to him. As I'm making my way out, I pass by a woman who looks at me and smiles. "Hey Kat." She keeps walking. I look back to double her over. I've seen her face before, I just can't point out where from. But nevermind that.

How does she know Katherine?