Ruins || The Vampire Diaries [2]

18: Gone Girl

   Stefan's arms felt warm, just like how he felt like the so many times we had slept together. I didn't mean sex, but just him holding on to me as we laid in bed. We slept together in the most innocent sense of the phrase. My head on his chest, his arms around me, and I wanted nothing more but to stay there. That was until he dropped the bomb that he thought that Katherine had managed to get inside Elena's body. When he saw my face filled with curiosity, he explained that Travelers could transport their spirits into another being, which could have been what Katherine did.

   "She doesn't give up," I sighed, sitting up from the bed and covering my chest with the blanket.

   "You know how it is," Stefan said, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me back. He laid a gentle kiss on my back, then looked up at me. "Katherine Pierce is a survivor."

   "I admire her for that, but..." I trailed off and furrowed my brows. "Stefan, does Damon know?" I asked. "He needs to know that it's Katherine in there, not Elena."

   "How was he?" he asked, sitting up. "You were with him for the past few days."

   "He's bad," I said. "Heartbroken, in pain. The sad thing is that I understand him, I know what's he's going through, because I've done it before. Not really out of heartbreak, but of pain."

   "Have you ever turned off your humanity?" Stefan asked as he laid his chin on my shoulder.

   I shook my head. "No," I truthfully answered, "I never really turned off my humanity. Elijah taught me how to push all the pain behind a door. It's almost just as good as turning off your humanity, but not as effective. The pain is still there, but lighter. That's why I'm always okay after something happened to me, because I push all of that pain behind a red door." I let out a chuckle and glanced over at him. "It's gonna come back and bite me in the ass, I know."

   "We all have a coping mechanism," he said as he laid a kiss in the spot between my neck and shoulder. "Yours just happens to be pushing it back."

   I took a deep breath and nodded, almost feeling calm. As soon as the calmness came to me, it soon left when I remembered that Damon was tied up in the cellar without knowing that it wasn't Elena who broke up with him. I turned back to Stefan. "We should tell Damon, shouldn't we?"

   "Can we stay here a little longer?" he asked, laying back on the pillow. "Just you and me."

   I stood and shook my head, still smiling. "I wish, but your ex-girlfriend is in your other ex-girlfriend's body and I think we need to fix that." I slowly stepped back to the bathroom, watching him. When I got to the door, he was still laying down. "Well, aren't you joining me for a shower?"

   After out shower, we got dressed and visited Damon in the cellar. He was tied up to chains, uncomfortable looking ones that seemed to be weighting him down. His brows raised when we walked in, an amused smirk when he caught my eyes.

   "How can I help you two?" he asked, arching a brow as he bit his lips between his teeth. "You two here to show off your happiness?"

   I rolled my eyes. "No, we're here to tell you some news that may be bad," I said, crossing my arms and leaning back on the wall.

   "And that is?" he asked.

   "Katherine has been impersonating Elena for the past few weeks," I said, making a face at how horrendous it sounded. "To explain better, she's inhabiting Elena's body."

   Damon made a face and shook his head. "She is brilliant."

   "We haven't noticed that Katherine's been inhabiting Elena's body for weeks, and that's all you have to say?" Stefan asked, his tone filled with a bit of disbelief.