who elena & stefan what meeting the ripper~ where his new place when couple of days after he’s gone ripper! warnings TBD, probably just ripper stefan being… well, ripper-y.
News spread fast through they close community of friends. Having yet to experience any dreams, Elena didn’t know firsthand what they were all up against. Everyone else did, and she couldn’t resist the pull, the need to see him for herself. She hoped, in some ways, there was a way for her to help him switch it off and go back to being the Stefan they all knew and loved, but she tried not to let that blind her to the situation at hand.
Thoroughly warned all around, Elena let herself into the house and stopped in the entryway to look around. “Stefan?” She called out, slowly moving down the hall. “Where are you?”
Stefan could not only smell her, but he could hear her heart beating. He could practically feel the air move as Elena breathed in and out, moved through the house. He was laying out on his bed in his bedroom, but the door was ajar. His hands clenched on the blanket beneath him, and he closed his eyes. He tried to force the veins to pale, the fangs to recede.
“In here,” he spoke the words aloud, though they weren’t much louder than conversational volume. “Elena… you shouldn’t be here.” He added, sitting up with remarkable speed.
She didn’t know what to expect apart from what she’d learned from Caroline. It may have been naive to believe herself absolutely safe, but Elena was certain Stefan wouldn’t hurt her. She trusted him implicitly, perhaps even more than she did Damon before things truly fell apart.
Finding her way to his room, Elena pushed the door open further slowly. For a moment, she only lingered in the doorway observing him from afar. Instinctively, she felt a guilty twinge of fear, but she wasn’t about to turn and run now. He needed support, not a brief hello followed by a vapor trail.
“I know,” she responded, unable to venture a step forward in spite of her determination not to leave at all. “But, you shouldn’t be alone either. I wanted to check on you.”
Funny how when they weren’t together, Stefan could make the Dreams disappear. He could ignore the feelings that lingered from everything he went through in them. And now Elena was here, in front of him, and all he could think about was… protecting her. Kissing her, loving her, fighting by her side.
“I’m all right. Thank you for coming over.” Stefan stayed still as a statue on his bed, fingers dug deep into the comforter. His room was sparse and neat; furnished only with a desk, dresser and bed, a comfortable chair sitting beside the window. “But I’m still dangerous.”
Dangerous and Stefan didn’t go hand in hand so far as Elena was concerned. She knew he was strong and a force to be reckoned with, but she always felt safe with him. Knowing fragments of things that happened between them in dreams wouldn’t change her view on him, and whatever dream-shared history they had didn’t mean anything to her as long as she had gone free of having experienced them firsthand.
“Of course,” she said, finally managing to urge herself a step forward. “I wasn’t sure what to bring to help, but I thought maybe just talking would help… I don’t know, take your mind off what you’re going through. Can I sit down, you think?” It was one thing to be there, but another entirely to force him into something he didn’t think he could handle. She didn’t want this to blow up in her face for his sake.
Elena knew Stefan well enough to know that he wouldn’t forgive himself for hurting anyone while in this state.
“I don’t know if there’s anything you could bring that would help.” He said, though he was touched that she was so thoughtful. Actually, Elena was just as he remembered her from his dreams. Considerate and caring. And beautiful. He tore his eyes away from her, swallowing down the hunger. But now he wasn’t sure if what he was feeling was completely bloodlust. There was something else there, too. From his dreams? He was confused, and he was so hungry.
“You can sit.” He said, softly. “Tell me how you’ve been.”
Despite what everyone told her, Elena really wished she had been dreaming now. It was like hearing about a movie that everyone had gone to see without her at this point. She understood they were fraught with peril and sadness, but maybe they’d be helpful now. Maybe they’d have given her some way to help him by more than just providing him with company.
As brave as can be, she ventured to the bed and took a seat at the far end. That was for his sake more than her own. He was in a delicate state, after all. She was already pushing his buttons.
“I’ve been…” She trailed off, eyes downcast. “Not that great, but… it could be worse.” She could be transitioning, as Caroline had put it. “School is good though, that’s something, right?”
Stefan could smell her. He could feel the heat radiating from her body. He wanted her in a way that he never thought possible, but he was fighting it off. And doing a good job of it so far. He turned to look at her, trying to see the girl before him and not… not the girl from his Dreams.
“That’s definitely something.” Stefan replied. Her words concerned him, though. He wanted her to be fine. Good, even. “Are you… all right? I mean, aside from school being good?”
In the wake of his predicament, Elena thought her problems paled in comparison. She never liked weighing others down with her problems, and now wasn’t an ideal time to start. Caught between wanting to shield him from baggage and trying to distract him, Elena stared at Stefan uncertainly for a moment.
“I’m okay,” she decided on saying, though it felt a whole lot more like she was trying to convince herself of as much. “Worried about you and… everyone, but you’re all important to me. I wish there was more I could do to help.”
It was strange how Stefan felt a sort of kinship with this girl. Even though they weren't that close in this world--he was much closer with Caroline than his brother's... ex-girlfriend? Whatever they were. But because of the Dreams he felt closer to her than maybe he should have.
"It's ok. I'll get through this." He'd done it before. He had Lexi and Caroline. He was stronger than this. Most of the time. "You know you can talk to me about anything.”
“I know,” she said, head bowed as she picked at the blanket absently. “I don’t really have any words to say about the way things are right now, but… when I do, I’ll keep that in mind. I’m not…” Sad? Angry? Anything? Elena was more concerned that she couldn’t feel altogether anything cohesive. Focusing on others seemed simpler, it made sense.
It let her feel.
“There’s just been so much going on, y’know? I can’t keep up…” Or do much to actually help any of them. That was the worst. “I wish the dreams would take it easier on you and our friends.”
“I know things have been crazy. For everyone.” Stefan was in the middle of moving, woke up the Ripper, started a new job… his life was in complete and total disarray. Thankfully, he didn’t have a lot of a social life outside of Lexi and Caroline to begin with. “It’s going to be fine. Caroline and Lexi are handling their vampirism with grace. Even Damon’s got things under control, believe it or not.” As far as the vampire thing goes.
“I hate to see that it’s hurting you, though.” Stefan added. He was looking over at her, wishing there was something he could do to comfort her. If the situation were reversed, though, he’d still want to do the same. Maybe his job, in this world and in the Dream World, was to be there for Elena.
There was a distinct flinch at the mentioning of Damon. Elena dropped her gaze to her hands twisting apprehensively in her lap. “Yeah…” Anything she could have said didn’t seem fair, so she stayed silent until he spoke again. Her eyes snapped back to his face and she tried to smile for his sake.
“I’m okay,” she assured. “If just sitting here and talking helps you, then I’m doing better than I thought, seriously. Anyway, this is probably… not helping anymore in a large dose, is it? I can go if you want. Need me to get you anything though?”
“It’s… hard to control. I’m still struggling.” Stefan confessed. “I… I could use some new reading material,” he confessed softly. “Would you mind popping over to the Barnes and Noble to grab me something? Anything will do.” That would keep her out of harm’s way--out of his reach--for a little while.
“I can do that, she assured, already rising from the bed. If her presence had helped at all, she couldn’t be sure, but she would be more than happy to get him something to while away the hours. Being an avid reader had its perks, she had several choices in mind already.
At the doorway, she paused to glance back at him with a reassuring smile. “You’ll get through this Stefan. I know you will. Be back soon,” and then she was gone.