It was never this cold in Mystic Falls - Stefan thought. It rarely rained or snowed there, but the air was chilly tonight. Stefan did not mind, though. The change was nice. He was standing in front of his house, or what used to be his house. He didn't know can he call that place a home anymore. A week passed since Klaus had set him free. With all of his forces he tried to avoid any of the people he knew, especially Damon and Elena. He knew they both think he betrayed them, that he did what he did for selfish reasons, and he didn't know how to confront them and prove them otherwise. He didn't know what to do with Klaus, and every plan he thought of seemed too dangerous. For the longest time he thought about pulling the daggers out of his family, but he didn't want to do that without consulting someone first. And somehow, all the paths led to where he was standing now. The lights in the Salvatore mansion were on, and he was sure Damon is in there. But he wondered is Elena there too. He didn't want to see her. No, he wanted to see her, but he was afraid of what will happen after he lays his eyes on her. He knew he won't know what to say, or do, but most of all, he was afraid of what she might say or do. He took one step forward, and now he was standing right in front of the doors. He felt silly. He was ready to give his life for the people he loves without even thinking about it, and now he's standing here, afraid to open the door. Afraid of the words. Afraid of two people he loves the most. He wanted to take a deep breath, something he remembered he used to do when he was a human, but he couldn't. So he loudly sighed and opened the door. He waited for few seconds to see did anyone hear him, but when no one showed up in the hallway he stepped in. The house smelled nice. It was familiar. And it was warm as always. He heard the fire burning in the fireplace in the living room. He heard the pages turning. He heard someone typing. But no one peeped a sound. Few minutes before he entered the house, he could feel the cold wind on his cheeks, but now, he was covered in sweat. He did not know was it because of the fact it was too hot in the house, or because he was nervous, but he decided to take his jacket off. He started walking forward, and when he came to the doors that were leading to the living room, he stopped and looked inside. He was right, the fire was burning in the fireplace. Damon was sitting in the armchair, holding a book in his hands. Call of the Wild, so typical for Damon. His face was frowning one second, and then the other, there was a smile curved in the corner of his lips. And there was Elena, beautiful as always. With her big brown eyes wide open, her confused look that was always brightened by a big smile. Her face, her whole being would always light up when that smile appeared on her face. And Stefan remember the time when he thought his whole existence was defined by that smile. No man should die without seeing at least one of the butties of the world, and Stefan believed that he lived for so long just to see the beauty like no other – the smile of Elena Gilbert. She was sitting on the couch, curled up under the blanket, typing on her phone. And in one moment, she had a face expression like something is bothering her. Then, she raised her head from her phone and looked at him. Right in the eyes. And he could see so many mixed emotions in them. Fear, happiness, confusion, surprise, passion.. he could practically hear her heart beating and see her soul trying to get out from her body. All the feelings made a noise in her mind and she felt like she's going to explode.

„Stefan?" – she finally whispered. He took one step forward, and now he was standing in the room.

In that moment, Damon turned around, and looked at her with a confused look on his face, but before he could say anything, he saw Stefan. He got up and threw the book in the armchair. His confused look turned into an angry one in a second. He looked at Stefan with such anger, and if he could, he would spit fire on him. And before Elena saw it, he was hammering Stefan on the wall.

„Damon, don't.." – Elena said silently.

But Damon did not stop. He was holding his brother by his shirt, and he kept slightly pounding him on the wall. But Stefan did not defend himself. He had let Damon beat him while looking him right in the eyes.

„What are you doing here?" – Damon asked, while still holding him close to the wall.

But Stefan did not know how to respond to that. He did not know what is he doing there, or why he came. He just knew, that this is where he's supposed to be.

„I don't know" – he replied.

„You don't know?" – Damon had finally let him go. „Why did you do it Stefan? Why did you screw it up? I thought you wanted Klaus dead as much as we did."

„I did" – Stefan replied while glancing at Elena.

„Then what happened? Why did you do it?" – Damon asked once again.

„So you can live" – Stefan looked him in the eyes while saying those words.

„What?" – Damon looked confused.

„His hybrids, they're loyal to him. They would be loyal to him even after his death. And they would come after anyone who tried, or succeeded in killing him" – Stefan explained.

Damon did not know what to say, or what to feel, or what to believe in. He was blaming Stefan, again, for betraying him, for betraying them, only to find out he did no such thing. Only to find out he saved him, he saved them, again. He looked at the floor only to avoid any eye contact with his brother. There were tears in Elena's eyes. Not big ones, but her eyes were definitely teary. Stefan knew he will find them there even before he looked at her face. He knew what actions, and what words, can make Elena cry. And he did not look for them on purpose, but nevertheless, they were there. Her mind was spinning. How could she ever doubt Stefan? How could she ever think he was selfish? How could she ever give up on him? No, she would never give up. No matter what she says, or how many times she says it, she would never give up. She simply couldn't, because she knew that no matter what, her love for him is never going away.

„And what birdie whispered you that piece of information?" – Damon was persistent.

„Katherine" – he replied after few seconds of thinking should he say the truth or not.

„Katherine? God Stefan, did she charm you again with her pretty little lies?"

Stefan looked at Elena who was blushing.

„No, of course not."

He felt strange. He didn't know why he believed Katherine. And talking about her in front of Elena was weird, especially when it was brought up by Damon. He looked at Damon who was apparently still waiting for an explanation.

„Damon, she spent 500 years running from Klaus, she probably wanted him dead more than any of us. Why would she lie?"

Damon could not think of a reason, but he also couldn't accept the fact Katherine did something from the goodness of her heart.

„Katherine never does something unless it benefits her" – Damon replied silently trough his teeth.

„That maybe is true. But she's the reason you're alive. The reason we're both alive."

„And dead in the same time" – Damon continued.

There was a silence in the room. That was a touchy subject, for every person in that room, especially for Stefan and Damon. Stefan looked at the floor, while Elena was looking at him. Then she moved her look to Damon, who was staring at one point in the wall. They both looked sad, and while Stefan looked more calm, Damon looked like he's going to explode. Probably because the words that made everyone uncomfortable came out from his mouth. Both Stefan and Damon blamed Katherine for turning them for such a long time. Damon blamed Stefan for making him drink the blood for the first time, he blamed Stefan for existing because Katherine was supposed to be his, and only his. But now, Stefan couldn't regret dying that way. Not after meeting Elena. Every choice he made, everything he did and didn't do, brought him one step closer to her. He was sure nothing as half as amazing was meant for him in his human life. If it was, he wouldn't have died that way. He died that way because the person he was supposed to love with his whole being was not born yet. And he lived trough every single day, he walked across the Earth, waiting for her. Walking towards her. He could never regret this life, because if he didn't have it, he would never know what true love is. And he was sure Damon thought the same. He was sure Damon didn't regret it either, even if this life caused him so much sadness, and still is.

Damon started walking away.

„Where are you going?" – Elena asked.

„To bed. We can continue this discussion tomorrow."

And he walked out of the room, leaving Stefan and Elena alone. Elena felt like someone sucked all the air out of the room. She couldn't breathe, and she was getting hotter and hotter. She wanted to throw herself in a bucket of ice, because she felt that she started blushing again. In that moment, she regretted asking Damon to make the fire. She also wondered is Stefan asking himself what was she doing there, alone, with Damon. Part of her didn't wanted to know the answer. She didn't wanted to know what is going trough his head, she didn't wanted to know is he doubting her or not. And she didn't wanted to experience his pain, because she was sure the thought of her being with someone else, especially Damon, was like stake covered with vervain stabbing him in the heart, over and over and over again. And he wondered, but he knew he doesn't have the right to ask. He left, he told her to move on, and in the end, he would never want her to spend her life waiting for him. He would want her to be happy with whoever makes her happy. But he never actually thought that he would have to watch her happy with someone else. He was afraid of being without her, he was afraid of feeling lost again. Because that's how he felt before he met her. Lost. And he missed her, he missed everything about her. Her voice, her kisses, her touches. But he was afraid of having her again, because now he knows he it feels to lose her. And he didn't know could he survive losing her again.

„Stefan.." – she said. He noticed her coming closer to him, as she tried to reach for his hand.

„I can't do this Elena, not now."

„Do what?"

„You wouldn't understand" – he said silently. But he was wrong. She would understand. She would understand better than anyone, because everything he was feeling, she was feeling too. Stefan started walking away, but she didn't have enough strength to stop him. She wouldn't know what to say or do afterwards. And he did not wanted her to stop him, for so many reasons. When he reached his room, he felt like someone is trying to rip his heart and soul out of his body. Everything in that room reminded him of her, because every memory worth keeping was somehow connected to her. In one moment, he actually thought he can smell her. Walls of his room and covers of his bed probably soaked her smell, now torturing him. And torture never felt so sweet. Soon, he regretted walking away. He regretted not making everything right that instant. He opened the door of his room that he slammed after getting in and rushed to the living room. But she was no longer there, she was gone. Sadness, anger and regret were filling his body. He felt like the fire from the fireplace is attacking his skin, because every inch of it was hot. He felt like a ticking bomb that is going to explode every second. He needed some cold air. He rushed to the door and opened them. As soon as the cold breeze chilled his face, he saw her, sitting on the little wall in front of the house. She was sitting there, with her legs crossed, and she stuffed her arms deep in the pockets of her jacket. You could see she was freezing.

„You waited" – he said.

„I will always wait" – she replied with a shaky voice. „Because I know you'll find me, sooner or later."

„Always" – he said while slowly walking to her.

„You promise?" – she teased while standing up from the cold concrete wall.

He didn't know should he make that promise. He never wanted to leave Elena, but he did. He learned that things change, and that plans we make only stay in a form of moving images in our mind of what could have been. Sometimes we have to walk over our words because other people need us more. Sometimes we have to walk away, not because we don't care anymore, but because we care too much. She got closer to him. He could feel the warmth of her body pressing next to his, and her lips were so close that if she climbed on her toes, they would be touching. But she didn't, she just kept standing in the close proximity of him, and he could feel her breath on his skin. He felt her hand searching for his. He knew he would never let her go. If she ever got lost, he would search for her all over the world. In all the hidden corners of it, in every hole that is viseable and unviseable to the human eye, in the every river, pond, sea and ocean. On the street of every city, and meadow of every village. He would ask every person he would meet along his way have they seen the most beautiful girl in the world passing their way. And even if she seems lost forever, he would still be searching, because you never give up on love. He would love her, even if she forgot to love him back.

„I promise" – he whispered.

„Well, isn't this nice" – they heard an unsettling voice behind them.

„Klaus.." – Stefan said. And Klaus saw the fear in his eyes. He stood in front of Elena, and with both of his hands pushed her back from him. Far away from Klaus.

„Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt her" – Klaus said while smirking.

In that moment, Elena screamed. She screamed like she never screamed before. Loudly, and Stefan thought her voice will break.

"I never said someone else won't" - Klaus said.

Dark haired, black woman was standing behind her, with both of her hands on Elena's head. She had her eyes closed, and she was able to concentrate despite Elena screaming. Damon rushed outside when he heard Elena's screams, but all that he could see was Klaus laughing, woman standing behind Elena doing some magic on her, and Stefan rushing towards her. He tackled the woman down, and Elena fell on the ground. In the moment the woman fell on the ground, Klaus appeared next to him, kicked him from her and helped her get up. He grabbed her, and faster than the human eye moves, they were gone. Both Damon and Stefan wanted to follow them in the woods, but they both looked at Elena who was sitting on the ground. Damon was closer to her, so he gave her his hand and helped her get up.

„Thank you, Damon. I guess I tripped down and fell" – she said while trying to clean the dirt from her jeans.

„Elena, what are you talking about?" – Damon asked confused.

„I don't know.. I don't know how I ended up on the ground" – she said. In that moment, she noticed Stefan standing next to her.

„Oh, hello" – she said happily. „I'm Elena" – she stretched out her hand to him. „And what's your name?"