MONSTER, stefan salvatore [2]

Gone Girl

CHAPTER 24: GONE GIRL

The Salvatore Boarding House

Natalie sighed as she tried to lift her arm up to knock on the door for what seemed like the tenth time. She knew she had to go in, because she everything seemed to make so much more sense now, and she wasn't happy about what happened. But when she knew what actually happened, she didn't feel that angry anymore. At least not with Stefan. When it came to Katherine, she wanted that bitch dead once and for all. 

She pushed her hair behind her ears as she finally put her hand on the door softly. She knew that it didn't really make a sound so she had to do it again and knocked on the door firmly. She knew she only had moments to mentally prepare herself for seeing his face, and she bit her lip in anticipation. 

And those few moments passed before she saw him there, open the door carelessly. He didn't really realize that it was her standing there for a few moments. She couldn't blame him, because she was probably not far from equally surprised at her standing there. 

"Hi," he breathed, trying to control himself from just grabbing her face and kissing her. He had to remind himself that they weren't together anymore. Not after her twin kissed him in a sketchy motel room. 

She didn't respond for a few seconds as she tried to swallow the large lump in her throat. "Hey."

"What- what are you doing here?" he asked, probably ending up sounding harsher than he had intended. He had no right to be harsh towards her, or, at least that's what he forced himself to believe. Because he was angry with her too, because she refused to believe in him and his word. 

She winced a little bit, but tried to steady herself and her breathing. Unlike him, she wasn't really angry anymore. She was just... exhausted with everything.  "I needed to talk to you. Can- can I come in?"

Stefan was surprised, because he would have believed that she had come to check on Damon, not to talk to him. It was a pleasant surprise, though. He wanted nothing more than to have as many moments with her as possible. "Yeah, of course. You kind of live here too, right?"

She smiled at him gratefully as he moved away to let her walk through the door. The two made their way to the parlor without saying a word. They kept glancing at one another, but somehow avoided making eye-contact. 

"I'm sorry about the other night," she suddenly spoke up, making him frown at her actually finding a reason for her to apologize. "Not because of me walking away, because I definitely deserved to get to do that. I'm sorry for not giving you a chance to speak."

"That's fine, you were under no obligation to do that." He cursed himself under his breath at how awkward he must have sounded. He really hated whenever she had that effect on him, he was supposed to be brooding and strong Stefan Salvatore, not the guy who had to keep himself from stuttering because of his nineteen-year-old ex-girlfriend. 

"I know that. Trust me, I know that. But when I figured something out, I understood that it couldn't have been your fault." She didn't tell him straight out what she had figured out, because she still had to think of a way to say it.

He was glad she knew he didn't want to kiss her, but he was also worried that she had found a way to start blaming herself for what happened. He knew that she was the last person who could get to blame herself for what happened. "What did you figure out?"

"That Elena didn't kiss you," she started out carefully, meeting his eyes for a quick second to see him look even more confused than before. "She wouldn't do that. There was only one person that would hurt so many people to be with you and not care about the consequenses. And a whole bunch of evidence supported the theory-"