Gabriella Gilbert Two || Vampire Diaries

Chapter Twenty - Nine

Edited

    It's been a long time since I've had to comfort a friend over a breakup. I forget what the right protocol for these things is.

    But I have to help Stefan as he helped me. Our siblings have done us dirty, it seems.

    Still, dealing with a miserable mess was easier than watching Stefan work himself to death. 

    He uses two logs to elevate him as he does his push-ups. He's been going at his workout routine for hours now, and I'm not really sure how to get him to stop.

    "Stefan?" I call out, having been in the woods with him for however long. He grunts in response. "Still got the energy?"

    "Enough," he grunts out.

    I nod. "Do you want another smoothie?"

    "No. You're bad at making them."

    I scoff. "It seems Heartbroken Stefan is also Bitchy Stefan."

    He sighs before finally resting on his knees, forgoing the push-ups for now. He finally looks at me.

    "Sorry," he apologizes, not even out of breath. "I just...I need a distraction."

    "Well maybe overworking your muscles isn't the healthiest distraction."

    "I'm not hearing you provide any alternatives."

    "Miss Mystic Falls is tomorrow?" I offer. "Caroline expects us to be there during prep time." I check the time on my phone. "Which, coincidentally, is now."

    "No," Stefan denies, shaking his head. "We should focus on something productive. Let's have Jeremy grow his mark."

    "He can't today," I deny, "he's a part of the pageant and the preparation."

"I'd argue finding the cure is more important than a pageant," Stefan says.

I sigh. "You want Elena to be human again, I get that, but it can wait another day, Stefan. I can't have you disrupt Jeremy's life so you can distract yourself."

His phone rings, stopping him from saying anything else on the subject. I grab it before answering it and putting it on speaker.

"Stefan's a little depressed right now, can I take a message?" I greet.

"Is he nearby?" Caroline questions, making me raise a brow.

I look over at Stefan as he starts doing push-ups again. Idiot. "Yeah, he's right next to me."

"Great, where are you guys?" Caroline demands, making me flinch at her tone. "You are both a founding family member; by definition, you have to be here!"

"Elena and I broke up," Stefan grunts, finally speaking. "By definition, I don't need to be anywhere."

"Gabby, did that sound as depressing to you as it did to me?" Caroline sighs.

"I warned you he was depressed," I remind. "He keeps working out and trying to get my brother to kill vampires."

"It's either that or I rip into someone's artery and feed until I can't breathe anymore."

"Well, you can't," Caroline remarks, "as one of your many sober sponsors, I'm not going to let that happen. Try and sublimate."

Stefan lays on his back and stares at the sky. He lets out a depressing sigh. "She said she has feelings for Damon."