Barely A Memory

Chapter 16

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The air in the room went solid when the rapping on the door reached Stefan and Elena's ears. She held her breath, closed her eyes, and prayed for it to stop. He bit his lip and began to approach the door.

"Don't!" she whispered harshly. "Who knows what is on the other side?"

Stefan shrugged his shoulders and turned to her. When he spoke, his voice was neither low nor quiet. "I'm not going to live in fear, Elena."

Funny. She could imagine, only about a year ago, having the same conversation with him. Only, Stefan would have been the one watching after her.

And so, bravely, Stefan approached the door and placed his forehead against the cold wood. He winced and got a good glimpse through the peep hole. When his shoulders fell in relief, Elena let out the breath she'd been holding and smiled. "Coast is clear?"

"Kind of." Straight faced, Stefan reached for the door knob and opened it with a quick, effortless pull. When Elena saw the person on the other end of the threshold, her insides melted into a deep pool of rage.

The coast was not clear!

"Katherine," Elena hissed, the word feeling like broken glass as it tore up her insides on its way out.

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"No," Elena spat. "No, no, no. She is not coming with us. No. Just no. How many times can I say no?"

"Not enough, clearly." Like a cat, Katherine stretched out contently on the room's sofa, easily getting herself comfortable. She laid sideways, with one elbow on the armrest while the other arm was resting against the side of her thigh. "Au contraire, miss E-le-na. I am coming with you. It's not your decision to make, last I checked," she advised carelessly, letting out a bored sigh. Elena wanted to rip her made-up little face off. "Also, you don't need to talk about me like I'm not here."

Blue eyes flaring, Damon crossed his arms over his chest. "You know, I think I'm going to have to agree with Elena here." He narrowed his eyes in the older doppelganger's direction. "There's no way you are coming with us."

Katherine rolled her eyes, shaking her head. Her aggravatingly perfect curls bobbed perfectly with every little perfect, graceful movement. Elena was fuming. "Let's take a moment and step back, shall we?" Sitting up a little straighter, Katherine crossed her legs and pointed over to the bed, where Stefan was already out like a light, snoring softly. Arms and legs extended, he took up the entire bed, his hair a floppy mess. "Well isn't that adorable?" she chuckled. "Teenage boys, I'm telling you... they might as well be puppies. You feed them –and I mean, they'll eat anything," she sent a smirk in Elena's direction, casually running the tip of her finger along a vein in the side of her own neck, "and then they just sleep. But when they're awake, boy, are they fun to play with."

Damon shifted uncomfortably. "Your examples are great and all –I'd give you a B on a good day-, but you seem to be lacking a thesis statement." Katherine rolled her eyes, making him smirk.

"The problem with puppies is that they're fragile." She twirled her hair between her fingers, her fond gaze glued on Stefan's sleeping form. Finally, she turned her attention back to Elena and Damon. "I'm not here for road trip bonding, okay?"

Elena's mind was made up. "Stefan isn't just another teenager. He's... so much more than that. That's beside the point. The point is that we don't need you. Damon's strong enough. I practiced hunting with Alaric. I'm sure Stefan would be able to defend himself."

Katherine huffed. "Yeah, because that worked so well last time, right?"

"Hey, in my baby bro's defense," Damon started, "He did get a stake in the guy's stomach."