Falling → Stefan Salvatore [2]

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 04: Heart of Darkness

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"He didn't even say anything?" Caroline Forbes asked her best friend as she pranced around the cafeteria, clip board in hand as she overlooked all of the preparation for the upcoming dance. "As in, he was mute, then walked away?"

"Yes, that was what happened." Amalia sent her a friend a look, telling her to lower her voice. "He hasn't even walked past my bedroom since."

"And you're fine with that?" Caroline furrowed her brows, finding it hard to believe that Amalia could act so casual about the situation.

"Perfectly." Amalia formed her lips into a line, hiding behind her sadness. She felt the need to push away every emotion that so desperately tried to rush through the surface as she already had enough time to mourn who she had become.

Caroline stopped in her tracks, maintaining her gaze on the shorter girl as she tried to read her expression. "Liar."

"I'm fine, Car." Amalia assured her friend that it didn't bother her, even if it couldn't be farther from the truth. "Really."

"You say that now," Caroline started off, inhaling for a breath before continuing, "but when you become Ripper Stefan 2.0 , I'll be left with no choice but to say, I told you so."

"And in the case where that might happen, I give you permission to do so." Amalia smiled back at her friend, knowing that Caroline would never let her truly go off the deep-end such as their friend had. "Enough chit chat. I know you have a job for me."

"Decorations." Caroline shoved a streamer into her hands, finally giving her a purpose to be there. "Now."

"Aye, aye, captain." Amalia saluted at her friend, gladly accepting the task.

The way she saw things, the more she kept herself busy, the less time she had to ponder all the issues her life was filled with. She had spent far too much time feeling sorry for herself and quite frankly, sulking only made matters worse. And preparing for the dance was the distraction she had been begging for for weeks, in her eyes.

Though the sound of her phone ringing was enough for her to place the streamers on the table and pull her cellphone out from the pocket of her jeans, her lips parting as soon as she read the words that lit up her screen.

From: Stefan
Can we talk?

She swallowed everything she had left in her throat, reading the text over multiple times as she tried to come up with a response. She began to type an answer, but quickly deleted it as she wasn't sure if it was the right choice.