✔️The Woods (Stefan Salvatore)

F I F T Y - T H R E E - "The Rager"

WARNING- SENSITIVE SCENES! Please read with caution.

Eudora Allegra awoke to an unnaturally agonising searing pain in her abdomen and an involuntary whimper passed through her lips as she clutched her arms around herself in some form of protection. The pain was unmatched by anything she had felt before, not in its intensity but in its nature. The pain was from within her, though for a long moment she considered the possibility that her stab wound had reopened.

Dragging her body toward the bathroom, her brain took slight notice of the absence of Stefan who she assumed had awoken early for a run. The truth was that she hadn't seen him a whole lot lately and that was likely down to Elena's new vampire form and the fact that she had chosen the bunny diet. Though those things were the least of Eudora's concern as she glanced down at her white shorts and found what appeared to be a murder scene.

The soft white cotton was painted red and she just threw herself straight in the shower, the warm water doing little to soothe her as she pulled her shorts from her body. Just from the sight of it, Eudora knew that this wasn't normal and tears glittered in her eyes, mostly out of fear because she absolutely could not comprehend what was happening to her, choking out a hiccup, her legs failed and she fell to the floor of the shower cubicle, water drowning her and steam welcoming her for a long time.

When the little blonde finally managed to drag herself from the shower, she took all necessary precautions to avoid a red scare and dressed in the baggiest clothing she could find. Yet still, her body ached as she pulled the sheets off the bed, the grey of the previous ones being tainted with a deep midnight patch.

It was an obvious decision that Eudora was not going to school on that day. The alarm clock read that if she left then, she'd still not make it on time so she didn't bother and she could only assume that Stefan had gone straight there... without her. After shoving the sheets in the washing machine, Eudora progresses to the front door, only to be stopped by Damon Salvatore.

"Aren't you supposed to be at school?"

"Aren't you supposed to be dead?" She replies groggily and he rolled his eyes, taking in her appearance with a frown.

"What's up with you and Stefan?"

"What?" It wasn't the question she expected him to ask and her heart hammered slightly at the thought of it. Because initially, when she woke up to discover that he was gone, she welcomed it because it meant that he didn't see the blood. Only later did the worry for where he was begin.

"Well, Stefan left early this morning, took his bike" Damon shrugged and Eudora frowned.

"His bike"

"Yep, motorbike. And he went to pick up Elena, take her to school.... on said motorbike. And as you can assume, I'm not particularly thrilled by the idea of my girlfriend and her ex boyfriend riding around town together. Any ideas witch?" Eudora was mostly just shocked that he'd ran off with Elena but as she pulled her phone out from her pocket, she at least found a message from him.

Hey Dora, I had to leave early this morning, to go with Elena to hunt. I didn't want to wake you, you should probably get some rest after what happened yesterday, see you later. Love you, Stef.

Eudora wasn't sure why but the longer she stares at the message, the sadder it made her so she made an executive decision and switched her phone off, placing it casually on a cabinet in the hallway, Damon raising an eyebrow at her reaction before his face became serious and he showed his panic to his friend.

"Dora... you don't think that... that they'd get back together do you?" His beautiful blue eyes were full of fear, emotions he reserved for when he was alone and Eudora couldn't help but reciprocate the panic because what if something did happen? They had loved one another once, no matter how long ago that was.

"I don't know Damon" her face dropped and his followed because he was hoping that she would provide some form of support. "I'm going to go back to my old house, I need to check the mail and things" she sighed and rubbed a hand over her eyes, from just the sight of her, Damon could tell that something was wrong and he was sure that if Stefan bothered to spend some more time with his girlfriend, he'd have noticed by now too.

Eudora left the house and pulled herself slowly into her car, closing her eyes for a long moment because she wasn't going back to her house, not just yet. She was following Damon's advice and going to speak to the weird doctor lady. Hopefully, Meredith Fell could shed some light on this issue.

Eudora lay back on her bed in the annex slowly, every movement she made felt weak, it felt hollow, as if she wasn't actually there. She'd just stopped talking to Acacia who she'd phoned on the landline. The aunt had promised to come straight back to Mystic Falls but Eudora had denied her of it, she'd promised her that she was okay and now that she'd hung up on her auntie... she didn't feel okay anymore.

Eudora couldn't quite say at what point everything got so tangled. Since gaining the love of the person she wanted the most, Eudora had experienced her own little slice of heaven. But the past months had aged her, at what point did she stop being an eighteen year old girl? At what point was she forced to grow older.

It was inconceivable, the amount of time she spent sitting in her old house, in a snippet of her old life. But eventually, she was back in her car again and driving back to the Salvatore Boarding house. The blonde girl walked on hollow legs, back into the place where she lived with her boyfriend. Her boyfriend who she loved unconditionally.

And as her hand reached for the door handle, she pulled herself together. Eudora wasn't ready to tell him... she couldn't tell him. Not just yet. Stefan didn't deserve this kind of devastation and as his soulmate... Eudora knew that this would kill him. As horrible as she felt, as the guilt ate away at her... Eudora entered the Salvatore boarding house with a blank expression.