ALMOST IS NEVER ENOUGH | TVD [4]

XXVI • AN ETERNITY OF MISERY

twenty-six. an eternity of misery

The Armory Headquarters

Stefan wakes up on the three-seated leather couch in the excessively spacious living room to his cell phone ringing on the coffee table nearby and he slowly sits up before he answers it after a long, sleepy sigh, "Hey."

Rosie is on the other end of the line, driving her Acura, smiling pleasantly when she hears her favourite voice, "Hey. Good morning, sleepy head."

Her sleepy fiancé smiles at the sound of her lovely voice, "Morning."

"I missed you last night. The bed feels pretty empty and cold without you." The caramel brunette adorably pouts even though her lover can't see her.

"Oh. Right, yeah, no. Sorry, baby. I-I crashed at the Armory. I figured if I want to bring Damon back, I'd stay here. How's Bonnie doing?" He curiously said.

"Stuck with Enzo, despite all the awful things he's saying to her." The woman sighs, tired and sympathetic, "It's going to take another day or two of starving him before she can get started with his humanity switch."

"Well, if anyone can bring him back, Bonnie can." He gets up when Alaric and Minerva are walking in through the front door, "Hey, you know what, I should probably get going. Alaric and I have a little date with a siren."

Both Alaric and Minerva smile playfully at each other at the news update.

"Ouch. Consider me jealous." Rosie mischievously pointed out, smiling.

Stefan scoffs, "If you're jealous, this interrogation will go nowhere."

His fiancé giggles adorably, "Okay, okay. I can take a hint. Just be careful. You've seen what they're capable of."

The young man frowns, "They? You think there's more of her?"

Rosie scoffs in disbelief, "You clearly never read The Odyssey."

Stefan smiles, "Yeah, okay, lucky guess. But as long as this tuning fork is ringing, she can't get inside my head, or any other abilities that she has."

"Is there some sort of engaged person shorthand for 'Good luck and...I'm with you in spirit'?" I think so. His dearly beloved sarcastically asked him.

His smile grows as he senses her sarcasm, "Yeah, I think it's 'I love you'."

Her lovely smile widens as well, "I love you too." Please be careful.

Alaric walks up to him and sets two bought warm cups of black, fresh coffee on the adjacent oak wooden table as Stefan hangs up, "Hey, thanks."

"Oh, thank the nanny. She's the unwitting enabler."

Stefan grabs and sips the warm coffee just for him when Georgie steps in with a tray of a bought cup of coffee and a plastic bag, "Oh, hey." She is slowly and warily approaching them, staring at Stefan suspiciously as she manages not to make it obvious before she darts her gaze back to Alaric.

Minerva doesn't even hide the fact that she's puzzled by the unexpected presence of their close friend's young intern, "Georgie. I thought you..."

"Uh...I thought I told you not to come in today." Alaric reminded her.

"Well, I heard there was a coffee shortage and came running." She shrugs.

"Well, actually, we're in the middle of a major project. So why don't you take the day off--"

"Major project? Sounds sketchy. Got a girl tied up in the basement?" Alaric and Minerva exchange brief awkward looks, You do. "Jokes. Okay, I'll leave you to it." She turns around and walks away as Alaric lets out a long sigh.