𝙸 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚊𝚒𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛

𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 11:𝙸 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞

There was a pain in my neck, a sharp pain and there were something scraping against the soft skin of my wrists. The smell of dust and damp was thick in the air as it flew around the room, forcing me to breath in the smell that could only belong to a place full of history and secrets. I rolled my head, a soft groan leaving my lips as I tried to dull the pain in my head by moving my hand but I couldn't move it. I pulled against the chains that were holding me against the wall and I could hear the soft chime of one of the bolts hitting the floor. There was only one place I would be in chains; the Salvatore Basement.
"

You're awake." I could hear his voice, a soft sound that caused my eyes to open.
I didn't say anything. Memories of yesterday flashing back in my head, kissing Stefan, him saying Elena's name, me flipping the switch and me trying to kill Elena. I swallowed slightly. Stefan would kill me for this and out of instinct, I pulled harder on the chains and another bolt fell to the floor. I tugged again but nothing. This was taking far too much time than it normally would. Glancing up, I raised my eyebrows at Stefan who stood with arms folded across his chest and his leg propped up against the door as though he was watching an amusing show.
"There's vervain on the chains." He said simply, not giving anything away in his tone of voice. "I know you drink it but there's still a lot on there and it's going to take a while for you to get out of it. So, I was thinking that you and I could have the discussion that you wouldn't let me have yesterday."
"When will you get the hint, Stef," I rolled my eyes at him, tugging again on the chins. I didn't want to be around him because if I was for too long I was afraid that my humanity would find a way back in. I couldn't allow that to happen. "I don't want to talk."
"Sure you do." Stefan smiled softly, his green eyes shimmering with dissatisfaction. "I didn't say her name because I was thinking of her. Katherine, I haven't thought about Elena – you didn't kill her by the way- ever since you walked back into my life."
I turned my head. I didn't want to hear his declaration of love or his confession to what had being happening between us the last few days. My eyes stared at the bricks in the wall, staring at the lines and how they all seemed to go their separate ways but find each other again. I tugged again, I could feel it loosen a bit but still no bolt had fallen to the floor. I sighed, looks like I was going to have to hear it whether I wanted to or not.
"She had text me." Stefan stared at me and slowly walked into the little cell that had chained me up. "The notification simply flashed on my phone and I happened to notice when I opened my eyes for a split second so I said her name as in I need to answer Elena."
No. No. I would have noticed if his phone had flashed with a text message. He was just trying to play me for a bigger fool, trying to use the love I have for him against me. I thrashed against the chains but it was no use. It was clear that I was never going to break free from the hold of these chains, I could possibly be stuck in this prison for as long as the Salvatores wanted. The thought of being held against my own will enraged me, my heart pounding against my chest, my fists clenching, my fangs ready to shred any skin they could find.
"I don't believe you. So what is that you actually want? Why am I still alive?" I snarled, my lip curling at the sight of the man who I could never have but who would always be the reason I became an emotional wreck. "Why haven't you just rammed the stake in my heart yet?"
Stefan sighed, shaking his head as he walked around the dingy blood stained cell. His fingers grasped the back of the wooden chair that looked like it had belonged from the very era in which Stefan and I had met for the very first time. Ever so slowly, he picked up the chair and set it down in front of me before making himself comfortable and sitting on the chair. His green eyes as beautiful as nature itself shimmering with sadness as he gazed upon me, wondering what I was thinking and how we could possibly come back from this.
"Katherine, you and I, it's not going to work right now. You are insecure and can't handle your humanity because you switched it off for so long. I bet even right now you can't decide whether you hate me or whether you love me. The emotions, the magnitude of what you are feeling is so raw and fresh so much so that you can't control them. Your jealousy almost destroyed any chance we ever had and almost cost Elena her life. Elena is my friend and she even helped you the last few days, something she didn't have to do. She could have slammed the door shut in your face but she let you in. And, I'm not saying this because I'm still in love with her. I'm saying it because it's the truth. I'm saying this because I love you and I want to help you. I want you to be able to feel. I don't want to change you, I don't but I want you to be able to feel when I'm around you." He took a deep breath, his eyes pouring into mine, the green holding with them a small but kind twinkle. "What happened to the girl I met in 1864? She had her humanity, she didn't get jealous. She knew how to feel. Sure, she had her flaws but we all do. What happened to her?"
"She lost you." And, the words were out of my mouth before I could try and stop them. I stared at them, swallowing in my throat whilst my hands clutched at the chains that bound me to the house, that bound me to the man in front of me.
"She changed as soon as she left this town." My eyes fell to the floor, the flashes of emotions and memories all mingling into one. "When I left you, I knew that it would probably be centuries before I saw you again. I couldn't allow you to know that I had survived just in case Klaus found me and for a while, I knew you hated me. I saw what happened to you as a vampire, I saw the blood lust and what was happening to you. I felt like I had destroyed you. So, that's what happened to that girl, Stefan. She lost her humanity because she couldn't stand the idea of being without you. I ruined you."
Stefan sighed quietly, a soft expression of exasperation, and I could hear his footsteps press against the cold floor. I glanced up and noticed that he had placed the chair back in the corner of the room so it could collect dust for another few weeks before another vampire in Mystic Falls fell of the metaphorical wagon. He was on his knees in front of me, his face inches away from mine and I could feel my heart and my breath quicken. He would always have this effect on me whether my humanity was on or off or whether it was like an internal bomb just waiting to explode inside me like it was now. Stefan Salvatore would always have this effect on me.
"Did you ever think that losing you ruined me?" Stefan titled his head to the side, his hand caressing my cheek. "I lost you, Katherine and that amount of grief that I had for you destroyed me. It was my choice, not yours. I allowed the grief of losing you to turn me into something I am not because it was easier. I chose the easier way! I chose to become the ripper! I chose this! I chose to become a vampire because I knew I could switch off my humanity and the thought of death terrified me. I chose this, Katherine. You didn't ruin me. I ruined myself."
There was a moment of silence of where we just stared at each other and everything went quiet. His hand burning on my cheek but I know that if he removed the palm of his hand from my skin I would immediately miss the sensation, it was comforting burning. I could feel my heart break at his words; we had both made so many mistakes with each other and it hadn't always been like that, in 1864 we had been happy. We had each other and that was all that had mattered for a very brief time. I could feel the tears falling down my face and I tried to close my eyes, I tried to stop them but I couldn't. It was like the end to a tragic story. We weren't right together.
"Stefan…" I whispered. "You and I, it's not going to work is it? We've both have destroyed so many parts of each other and lost so many parts of what we used to be."
"Ssh," Stefan's voice was a like soft caress against my skin, immediately comforting me. "We will get past this, Katherine. Don't tell me you waited over a century to be with me again and you're going to give up on me at the very last hurdle?"
A small laugh left my throat and I opened my eyes to look at him, the pain of the chains slowly disappearing as the pain of not being with Stefan became the more unbearable pain, I was so close to him in this moment but we were still so far apart. He also broke out into a smile, a small smile but a smile nevertheless.
"I did promise you that I would wait forever, didn't I?" I smiled at him, my hand automatically reaching out for him but I was unable to move as the chains were still tightly wrapped around my wrists, holding me back from Stefan.
Stefan glanced at the side of me, his hands dropping for a fraction of a second and I already missed the contact of his skin. He rummaged in his jeans pocket before unlocking both of the cuffs around my wrists causing the chains to make a shattering noise against the cold surface. I knew that I could leave now if I wanted to. I could run away and leave him behind, leave the emotions behind that had the most control over me if I wanted to. Or I could stay, talk to the man I had fought to be with for the last century and half, always watching and making sure no harm came as way, and talk like adults and make a good decision with him. I had two options and despite the hatred I felt in my heart for his betrayal, still unsure on whether to believe his story or not, I chose the second one. Love, a rare time for me, seemed to conquer the hatred I felt in my heart.
"You did promise to wait for me." He smiled, holding my hands and bringing me to my feet. "Katherine, I don't want you to wait forever because I don't think I can be away from you for that long. I want to be with you forever. I don't want you to be waiting for me for that amount of time. I love you and I promise you, that I will wait for you too. I will wait for both of us to put this past behind us and start fresh. I will wait until we don't have to rush into everything. I will wait until we can take little steps and we can both control our emotions better when it comes to each other. I will wait for you."
"And, I will wait for you." I promised, taking his face in my hands and getting lost in the green of his eyes, losing myself in everything that was him. "I love you." I hesitantly leaned forward, unsure of whether I was allowed to do what I wanted to do most in the world.
"I love you too." Stefan whispered, wrapping his arms around my waist in one quick fluid motion and bringing his lips to mine. The kiss was soft, short and it was truly a goodbye kiss.
Closing my eyes, I pulled away and refused to open my eyes until I was turned around facing the door because I wouldn't be able to make this decision if he was looking at me. I would never be able to leave him behind and do what was best for the both of us. I was taking the biggest risk of my life, putting all my faith into the idea of Stefan coming back to me and I ignored every other negative that told me I was making the biggest mistake in my life. I had to have faith.
"Make me another promise?" I asked him. "Promise me, that you won't keep waiting too long. Come back to me as fast as you can, okay?"
I opened my eyes and I felt his fingers intertwine with my own as I took a deep breath and relaxed for a little. All I could do was focus on him, how my skin felt like it was on fire just because he was touching me. All I could do was pray that one day I would be able to feel like this again, I would be able to have him touching me again. I stared through the open door, took a deep breath and took the smallest step forward. Everything inside me was telling me to turn around but Stefan had been right we wouldn't work with my emotions being all haywire and with him going back on human blood, we had to become better people if we wanted the relationship to work. I let go of his hand, leaving Stefan behind and everything that we had shared over the last few days behind and walked through the door with tears streaming down my face. As I turned the corner and up the stairs, Stefan's last words put a smile on my face.
"I promise. Nothing could keep me away from you for too long."

So what do you think? I wanted them to have this discussion about their relationship and it shows how far they've grown too due to Katherine' trusting him that he will come back to her. I feel like Stefan after everything that happened would tell them to have space from each other. I really hope you liked this chapter because it's my favourite in this story. Please review and let me know what you think!
Next is the epilogue! OMG!