⚜️ Chapter Theme Song ⚜️
I'm With You - Avril Lavigne248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡctDlKNPg5c
Well folks, here it comes. The moment that will either compel me to stay or force me to leave my hometown for awhile. Elena Gilbert, the love of my life, is either going to break my heart or hold it together. I held my breath as she came in the living room.
"So, what's up" I asked her.
"Honestly, Stefan. I just wanted to thank you," she said. "For sticking by me when I was at my worst, for believing that I was still in there. Even after everything I put you through, you... you never gave up on me."
"I, uh, kind of owed you one." I gave her a sincere smile.
"Here," she said handing me the cure. "It's yours, I want you to have it."
I looked at the vial in my hands.
Wow, is she serious?
"No, Elena. I'm not—
"Stefan, the only person worse at being a vampire than me is you." She's not wrong, I wish there was a way for me not to be a ripper. "Human blood is your downfall. You got the raw end of the vampire deal. The rest of us will be fine, we'll survive. I mean, you taught us. You deserve whatever you want out of life."
She closed my hands around the cure. "You deserve this." But, do I even want it?
"Listen, I'm glad you're okay with who you are now. But, every single thing I did to get this... I did for you, so that the choice of whether you wanted to be a vampire or not would always be yours."
"I know that Stefan," she said. "And my choice is for you to have it. I no longer want it."
She walked away and by the time I registered what she said, she was gone and I had the cure in my hands.
Deep down, I knew Elena would choose Damon over me. I'm not happy with her choice but I'm not not happy for Damon, he's my brother.
So here I am, driving with Lexi to dump Silas' body in the quarry as I waited for her to disappear.
"New York?" She asked, badgering me about where I'm going to go now that I'm officially leaving Mystic Falls.
"Too close," I said.
"Ohhh, Vegasss."
"Oh, no. Too touristy," I said.
"Look, I know you think I'm joking. But, you are leaving. You just graduated high school for the millionth time," she said. "It's time to start living your life."
"What if Elena was the one?"
"She was, and she will always be an epic love. Contrary to popular belief, there are actually multiple ones. Especially for a vampire. The only way to find another is to let go and move on."
"Never been to Portland," I said.
"Eww, no—
I looked over at Lexi who was gasping for breath.
"You're still here?"
We both looked at each other and suddenly everything made sense. This was Bonnie's gift to me. I received her text message earlier but I didn't know what she was talking about.
"Let's talk about that blonde I kept watching you fawn over when you thought no one would notice."
"I was not fawning over Rebekah Mikaelson," I said rolling my eyes.
"And I'm not obsessed with a cartoon version of a nine-tailed fox," Lexi deadpanned. "Seriously though, you knew exactly who I was talking about without me even saying her name. I could've been talking about Caroline for all you know."
I scoffed at the thought. Caroline is in love with Klaus, she thinks I don't know.
"Anyway, Rebekah and I were a thing in the 20s," I said as I maneuvered the vehicle in the direction of the quarry. "I seriously doubt that anything can be salvaged from that relationship."
"Sounds like you've been thinking about it though," she mused.
"Yeah, maybe."
I pulled over and parked the truck by some cliffs. I took the safe out of the trunk while Lexi got Silas' body and that's when we realized something was terribly wrong. I opened the bag to see rocks.
Shit.
Lexi went around on the other side of the truck and didn't come back. What was she doing?
"Don't bother. I'm not there."
"Silas... You were stone, I saw you. The spell—
"That's the thing about spells," Silas said. "They're bound by nature and nature demands balance. So every spell has a loophole. The spell that turned me to stone was bound by a witch, a living witch. So when that witch died, the spell broke."
"Bonnie's not dead—
"It doesn't matter now, does it?" The immortal asked cutting me off. "Here's where the mystery of me comes full circle. I created the immortality spell 2,000 years ago. I could never die so nature needed to find a balance, a version of me that could die. A shadow self, a doppelgänger."
"So this is finally your real face..." I said trailing off as I looked at the Elena look alike. "You're another one of them?"
"Not exactly," he said before his appearance changed a final time. Oh shit, I'm his doppelgänger??? "Hello, my shadow self."
All of a sudden, I felt an excruciating pain in my abdomen. Looking down, I saw the wooden stake sticking out of me.
"Do you have any idea what it's like to starve for 2,000 years?" He asked with a demanding tone.
"No and I don't care!" Lexi yelled as she broke his back. I removed the stake, gasping for breath.
While Silas was distracted, I thought about the cure. I took it out of my pocket and broke the top. I poured the liquid down his throat.
When we were sure he was no longer immortal, I ripped out his heart. We threw his body in the quarry as originally planned and took a breath.
"Well," Lexi said. "Now that that's done, why don't we go to Washington? There's this city called Port Angeles that I've always want to check out. Maybe Rebekah will somehow find her way there after awhile."
"Yeah," I said with a relieved smile. "Let's do that."
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