Surprising Lover (TVDxOC) (Complete)

The cell

Stefan opens the door to find Caroline and Grace standing outside, smiling.
"What are you doing here?"
"We're your sober sponsors, and we heard that you needed help."
"Really?"
"And I got my Mom to drop off something for us to use. I'm only dropping it off."
They move aside to reveal the Pierce & Franklin safe that Stefan was locked in. Stefan stares at it.
"Don't worry. I sanitized it."

Grace and Stefan stand in front of the safe, which is now lying on the library's floor.
"I spent three months drowning in this thing. What the hell were you thinking?"
"I was thinking it's time for you to deal with the source of your PTSD."
"And you're sure you're not just sublimating your feelings about what happened to Jesse last night?"
"[turning away from him] Feelings? What feelings would I have about my best friend killing the guy I was crushing on?"
"He was out of control, and Elena did what she had to do."
"No. Elena did what she thought she had to do, just like she also thought [she faces him] that Damon was good boyfriend material. Now you see where I'm going with this?"
"Anyways, aren't you a music major? What do you know about PTSD?"
"[smiles] Well, I know that you tried to deal with it your own way and you failed, so now...[she opens the safe door]...we're gonna try it my way."
Stefan stares at the open safe and then at Grace.

Stefan is locked inside the safe, looking around nervously.
"Gracie! Do you even know what you're doing?"
"Yes. Well, it's in my textbook."
Grace is standing near the safe, flipping through the pages of a textbook entitled "Clinical and Practical To Conquering Fear".
"Let me find it."

Katherine is watching her with crossed arms, a curious but mischievous expression on her face.
"Did you ever, um...ahem...you know...? [looks at her meaningfully as she starts to pace toward her.]"
"[looks confused] No, I don't."
"Oh, come on, you know. [suddenly smirks at her] Have you?"
"Oh, my god! Katherine, seriously? [scoffs in disbelief.]"
"That wasn't exactly a yes...or a no."
"We are friends."
"[quickly] Your loss. He's great in bed."
"Oh, God. I am so not listening to this. [She looks back at her textbook, then suddenly points to something on the page.] Here! Okay, Stefan. Prolonged Exposure Therapy. 'In vivo exposure gradually introduces elements of prior trauma, e.g. physical objects, comma, certain aspects of duress, comma--'"
Outside, an annoyed Katherine closes the book.

"[walks ahead from her] Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Got it, got it, got it."
"Stop talking. The words that are coming out of your mouth are giving me a headache."
"Gracie? Grace!"
"I'm just trying to help Stefan understand what I'm doing.""
"Acting like a school teacher isn't going to make him feel any better."
"[breathes heavily] I can't breathe. I can't-- [Stefan continues to gasp for air, before quickly passing out.]"
Outside the safe, Katherine and Grace don't notice what's happened to Stefan.
"You are right about one thing. He needs to get over the root of his problem. 'Cause right now the score if safe - one, Stefan - zero. So how do you help the guy that always comes to the rescue? Stefan's the hero. That's who he is at his core. He can't always come through for himself, but he can always come through for everyone else. [Looks thoughtful, then smiles at Grace] I've got an idea."

Stefan is rousing in the safe.
" So, try not to be mad at me."
"I got in here when you were unconscious, and then Grace locked us inside. It was the only way."
"Let me out of here! Grace!"
Grace is standing outside the safe.
"I know it's a little extreme, but the baby steps approach wasn't working."
"See? That's why I need you not to get mad at me because when you get mad, you get anxious and violent and you rip people's heads off, but I'm gonna help you fix that."
"Grace, get me out of here before I hurt her!"
"That's the whole point, Stefan. You need to get over your PSTD triggers, okay? Or else you will kill me."
"[breathes heavily] You're risking your life."
"I'm already dying, you idiot. You're the one who wants to keep me alive. It's my turn to help you now."
"[still breathing heavily] I can't be in here. Please."
"[leans closer, smiling a little] You're Stefan Salvatore. Suck it up. [moves away and lays on her back next to him.]"
"[in an anxious daze] No, no, no."

Grace is still standing near the safe, looking at curiously.
"[overly cheerful] How's it going in there?"
"[breathing heavily] I feel-- I feel-- I feel like I'm dying."
"[casually] So I've been using this time to think. I think there is actually a little bit of truth to this doppelgänger prophecy. I think you're still in love with Elena. I think you're miserable over the fact that she chose Damon over you [flicks her fingers on Stefan's chest] and that you wanna get out of this one-horse town and as far away from their happiness as possible, and yet somehow, you keep finding excuses to stay in Mystic Falls. I think I'm just that latest excuse."
" I'm going to kill you."
"[struggling to breath] Good. Yeah. Get it all out, Stefan. I think this is healthy,...[gasps for air ]...although don't forget you loved me before you hated me."
"Any reason why you chose to have this conversation with me locked in a safe?"
"Yes! So that I can show you that the safe isn't the problem."
"How could you say that to me?"
"The problem is you're not facing you're real issues. The death you felt in the safe, the pain of dying over and over again? It's easier for you to focus on the physical pain than the emotional heartbreak of Elena leaving you. Your problem is you're not in touch with the reality of the moment, so let's bring you back to the present, shall we? In this moment, are you going to feed on me or are you gonna save my life?"
"Fight it, Stefan, fight it! [softly] I'm here. I'm here. [grabs his face with both her hands as she looks into his eyes] I'm with you. We're together."

He doesn't pull away, but before anything could happen between them, Grace unlocks the safe. Katherine quickly pulls apart from Stefan and looks away.
"It was so quiet, I got worried."
Stefan stands up to get out of the safe and offers his hand to help pull Katherine out. She takes it, but quickly withdraws it the moment she stands up and pushes her hair back nervously. Stefan walks over towards Grace but is still staring at Katherine with a confused expression on his face. Finally looking back to a worried  Grace, he gives her a reassuring smile.
"[smiles brightly] See? [hits Stefan's shoulders playfully, then hugs him] You made it out alive!"
Stefan doesn't fully respond to his friend's hug and is instead staring at Katherine behind her. They two stare at each other differently than they did before.

Grace is alone, trying to lift the safe to take it out of the house. She struggles, and stands up in frustration.
"A little help here! I mean, I know I'm a vampire, but this thing is really heavy! [looks around as she gets no response] Stefan? Hello!"
She phones Elena and Caroline but with vamp-hearing hears Stefan and Kathrine making out.
"Call me back when you get this, Elena."
"Caroline can I stay with you and your mom?"
"Sure, need help with the safe?"
"Please."