Sincerely Yours [Stefan Salvatore]

[71. There Wasn't a Choice]

He had known grief; for so long it had been a major factor in his life, starting with the death of his mother. And that grief hurt, but this? This was the worse pain that Stefan had ever felt in his one hundred and sixty-three years. There wasn't an exact way to describe it but he knew he was lost, that he'd never find happiness again without Lucy by his side.

He didn't raise his head as more people sped into the room. He didn't raise his head as Rebekah broke out into sobs next to him, dropping next to Lucy's head. He didn't raise his head when Damon placed a solemn hand on his shoulder.

"Stefan..."

"Stefan, can you hear me?" he looked away from Lucy's body and met his brother's sharp-blue eyes, worry and sadness swimming in them. "Are you all right, little brother?"

If Stefan had the emotional strength, he'd give his brother an annoyed look. Damon seemed to get that without the gesture.

"Right, sorry," he sighed, squeezing Stefan's shoulder. "How did this happen?"

"I'd like to know as well," Rebekah's voice was hoarse as she walked over to Stefan and Damon.

Stefan cleared his throat weakly. "It was Katherine," he said quietly, drawing outraged looks from his brother and Rebekah. "She must have been following us this whole time. By the time we got there, they were already..."

He couldn't bring himself to finish his sentence. Both of the vampires before him knew exactly what he was talking about. Lucy and Jeremy's bodies were more than enough proof. Rebekah swallowed back her emotions while Damon looked down for a few seconds.

"Listen," Damon continued the conversation, his hand leaving Stefan's shoulder as he stood to his normal height. "Elena's waiting for the Gilbert ring to bring Jeremy back to life. I'd figure that we'd just wait with her..."

"Jeremy was one of the Five," Rebekah shook her head, looking over to where Elena was sitting vigil at Jeremy's side. "The ring won't work anymore because he was supernatural..."

She trailed off, gasping in realization; thoughts about the Gilbert ring and how it brought the human wearer back to life had veered back to her sister. She thought about one of the last moments they had together before she disappeared, when they were looking for Jeremy. She had been hit by that arrow; Rebekah was the one to take it out and Stefan...Stefan had been the one to give her his blood.

His vampire blood.

Damon looked over at his, quirking a curious eyebrow. "What?"

Rebekah didn't bother answering him; she immediately looked down at Stefan. "Stefan, Lucy was hit by that arrow, remember?" she reminded him. "And you gave her your blood."

It took a moment for Stefan to work through the haze of his grief to figure out what she was talking about.

"I gave her my blood," he repeated, his body stiffening and his heart racing. "She'll be a vampire."

-

For the second time in a week, Caroline sat at Lucy's bedside, waiting for her to wake up. Waiting for any sign that would tell her that Lucy would wake up and start her undead life. It had been only twenty minutes since Elena and Stefan got home with Lucy and Jeremy's bodies but it had been a four-hour flight...Caroline woke up less than two hours after Katherine killed her with Joel's blood in her system.

Down the hall, she could hear Joel and Elena whispering to each other. Despite the fact that Joel tried to convince Elena that Jeremy wouldn't wake up, she was still in deep denial, insisting that the Gilbert ring would bring him back to life. She was sure he was going to wake up like Lucy was.