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your love doesn't measure up
"IT STARTED WHEN DAMON TURNED VICKI," Athena tucked her hair behind her ears, avoiding the gaze of everyone. Lexi and Damon had joined at some point, the chaos of it all easily catching their attention in the otherwise silent house.
"Why wouldn't you tell me?"
Athena crosses her arms over her chest, shifting uncomfortably at the feeling of Stefan's hurt gaze set directly on her.
The brunette shrugs, giving him a helpless look. "I didn't want to worry you, Stefan. Damon and I were figuring it out."
Stefan chuckles incredulously, running a hand through his wild blonde hair. "You didn't want me to worry? So me hearing you scream bloody murder in my house wasn't anything to worry about?"
"Like I said, you weren't supposed to find out like this. I don't even know what's happening, so," She sniffed quietly, looking down at her lap.
Damon takes the moment of silence to step up, laying a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Don't be mad at her, Stefan, she asked me not to tell you. It's the least I owe her, after everything."
Lexi scoffs from where she's seated on a stool. "God, you're just a real standup guy, aren't you?" Her eyes shift to her best friend and then to Athena before falling back to Stefan. "I think that we should understand where Athena was coming from because this is still all new to her. It's a lot easier to adjust to vampires when you're human, but the second you start changing, things get scary."
Stefan heaves a sigh, silently gesturing to the door with a small jerk of his head.
Damon ignores the cue, but Lexi rolls her eyes and shoves him towards the door, giving Stefan an encouraging smile that he mirrors wryly.
Once the door to her room is shut, Stefan turns to her and watches her slowly lift her brown eyes and look up at him almost fearfully.
"I'm sorry, Stefan, I never–"
"Don't," He shakes his head, sitting beside her on the bed. "Don't apologize. I'm not mad, I'm just overthinking things."
She huffs a small laugh, bumping their shoulders together. "You're good at that, you know."
He sighs, smiling at the sound of her laugh. Almost reminding him, his brain continues to think about everything that could go wrong with Athena being even more involved in this life than she already is.
"I was so scared letting you come around me or Damon, because everyone I care about ends up getting hurt," He shakes his head, fumbling with the daylight ring on his finger nervously. "And now, thinking that you're somehow involved in this life, in my life, it's terrifying. I've seen people I know and love die just being around us. I mean, I almost lost Lexi and she's always been stronger than me."
