The banshee

•45•

•Love you•

*3rd person pov*

-Salvatore boarding house-

Lydia woke up slowly, looking up to see the peaceful look on Stefan's sleeping face. She smiled at that, he always looked so peaceful when he was asleep. Slowly unwrapping herself from Stefan's arms, she crawled out of bed and walked into the bathroom.
Closing the door she sighed as she saw her reflection in the mirror, she looked dead. Her face was pale, well paler than usual, the bags under her eyes showed just how sleep deprived she was, the dried blood and dirt smudged on her body made her heart drop.
Placing her fingers on the corner of the bandage, she slowly started peeling it off. The wound was held together by a few stitches, she sighed and glared at her reflection.

Why was she so weak? Why couldn't she protect herself? As all of these horrible thoughts clouded her mind, tears started to form in her eyes against her will.
Wiping her eyes quickly, she started washing her hands, grabbing a towel to wash around the wound.

Lydia had bandaged herself up again and was now trying to have a shower without getting it too wet, she couldn't leave it off because soap would get into the bite mark and hurt like hell.
Lydia stood in the shower, shampooing her hair and making sure to keep it away from the bandage. She held the shower head in one hand and tried washing the shampoo out of her hair with the other, frustration bubbled up as she struggled.

Lydia was about to lose it but a hand grabbed the shower head stopping her movements, she heard a chuckle as she whipped around to see who it was.
Stefan stood there holding the shower head, a smirk on his lips as he stared at the shocked girl.

"Would you like some help?" He asked with a small laugh, genuine wonder in his voice. He hated seeing her like this too, he hated seeing her hurt, he hated seeing her angry at herself, he hated seeing her without her normal, bright smile.
"Please..." Lydia mumbled, suddenly becoming very shy as she realized she had no clothes on. She definitely wasn't an unconfident person but Stefan was different, she felt things she's never felt before with him, she was nervous that he wouldn't like what he saw she started covering herself up, throwing him a tight lipped smile. Stefan noticed her sudden change in mood and smiled when he heard her heart jump.

Taking off his own clothes, he got in the shower as well. Lydia's wide eyes stared into his as he stared into hers, her heart was racing and she knew he could hear but right now she really didn't care.
Placing a loving kiss onto her lips, Stefan turned Lydia around and started running his fingers through her long red hair, washing out the rest of the shampoo.
Before Lydia could grab the conditioner, Stefan was already rubbing it into her hair, making sure it stayed away from her bandage.

As he was washing the conditioner out her her hair, he started thinking. In a completely non-perverted way, he thought about how he was standing in the shower with the love of his life, he knew Lydia wasn't ready for anything yet, though from what he learned when Allison was visiting, she tended to be ready for anything and anyone back in beacon hills *wink wink*.
Many things have changed now though, he knew she wasn't the same girl she was when she was in California. He didn't want her to feel uncomfortable while he helped wash her hair so he made sure she saw him staring into her eyes and her eyes only.

Lydia knew what Stefan was doing, another one of the feelings she's not used to appeared, her heart was beating wildly, love and adoration was seeping through.
With a sudden burst of confidence she turned around and smashed her lips onto his, Stefan was surprised but wasted no time kissing her back. The shower head was discarded as his hands found their way to her waist, his right hand finding its way to her cheek.

Lydia pulled away with an evil smirk placed on her lips, Stefan was still in a daze so before he could register what was happening, Lydia was out of he shower, a towel wrapped around her small body as she ran into Stefan's room giggling.
Stefan let out a content sigh, a small chuckle leaving his lips as he decided to wash his own hair quickly. By the time he had gotten out and changed, Lydia was no where to be found.
Stefan blocked everything out and listened for her heartbeat, smiling when he heard it downstairs. Slowly and quietly he followed the melodic sound, stopping when he reached the closet.
With a playful roll of his eyes, he whipped the door open causing a startled Lydia to let out a yelp. Laughing, he pulled the now giggling girl into his arms, Lydia held onto him as her laughing attack subsided.

"You cheated.." she told him through giggles, knowing very well he used his vampire hearing.
"My apologies m'lady, I'm afraid I wasn't aware of the rules for this game, I feared you were in trouble" he spoke with a proper voice, Lydia only giggled more when she heard it.
Stefan smiled while he looked into her eyes, the happiness shining through them gave him hope. Stefan knew that he would do absolutely everything to protect her but at the back of his mind he always feared it would be him that would hurt her.

"I love you Lydia Martin" he whispered, his forest green eyes staring into her emerald eyes. Lydia smiled at his words, her giggling stopping.
"And I love you Stefan Salvatore" she whispered back with the same amount of meaning, adoration, and love. A simple kiss was given to seal the words they spoke to each other.