MONSTER, stefan salvatore [2]

Stand By Me

"I remembered something," she informed him, plopping herself on her bed as she had her eyes open wide so they would feel as dry as possible and she hoped it would keep her from crying. He was very sure what she remembered, but he was wrong at that moment. "My mom, she, ehm, she came to see me. You know, when she came to town for Jonathan Gilbert's device. Right before she left, she came to see me. She told me she loved me, said goodbye and compelled me to forget."

He noticed the way she seemed to strain herself to keep herself from crying. "Hey, you don't have to keep yourself from crying. Your emotions are heightened and that's okay."

She shook her head, grasping her own hand tightly as she stared at her own intertwined hands, gnawing on the inside of her lip. "No, it's not. I'm afraid that if I let myself cry then I'm never gonna be able to stop."

"Wait a second." he said, grabbing her arm, stopping her from walking on.

"What is it?" Natalie asked.

"Take of your bracelet." Stefan commanded her, referring to her vervain bracelet.

"Why?" Natalie questioned cautiously.

"Just trust me."

Natalie complied and slipped her vervain bracelet off, putting it on her car.

Stefan put his hand on her cheek carefully, his mind drifting through the possibilities of what this might lead to.

"Stefan, what are you doing?" Natalie asked, alarmed.

"I don't think we'll get to be alone anytime soon so I need to say. You need to hear it." Stefan said, putting his other hand on her other cheek softly.

"Stefan, what...?" Natalie trailed off, her eyes widening.

"Natalie, I like you," Stefan said shortly. "I like you romantically. I have feelings for you. Feelings that you'll probably never return. I know it's wrong. Elena's your sister, and my girlfriend and I know that. I know that we'll probably never be together and I do love Elena. A lot. But something about you... it just draws me in. You're probably the opposite of my type. Just like I'm probably the opposite of yours. And you're human. You're so beautifully human. You have flaws, you have issues, you've made mistakes and you'll probably never stop with these things. The question is: why does that make me like you more? Because you're real, Natalie. You're probably the most real person I've ever met. And I like that. I love that. Even if I'm not sure how deep my feelings are yet."

"Stefan-" Natalie was cut off by him. "I know what you're going to say. This isn't right, I'm not supposed to feel this way. But you can't choose who you fall for."

He didn't know that he predicted Natalie's response wrongly. He didn't know that she'd tell him that she just realized that she felt the same. That no matter how wrong it might be, or how much they try to suppress those newfound feelings, they'd still be there.

Stefan looked deeply into Natalie's eyes. "But, since it's not right, that means you can't remember this. Maybe you didn't need to hear it, but I need to know that I said it. But that doesn't mean you need to remember it."

Stefan sighed before leaning forward and kissing her forhead, letting his lips linger on her skin.

Natalie stood quietly, completely speechless. But then Stefan looked into her eyes again, his pupils dilating as he compelled her. "But you can't remember this."

Seconds later, the whole confession had been erased from Natalie's mind.

She opened her eyes to find Stefan gazing at her worriedly, and she was simply blinking in surprise, knowing that this had to have been right after the two went to visit John in the hospital and she pursed her lips together as he saw the focus come back in her eyes. "Are you okay?"