03.
When someone close to you dies, some people believe that the best thing you should do is to move forward. Cry until your eyes can't spill more tears, until the pain in your heart can't get worse, grieve and then...take a breath and move forward. Start living without them, get used to the idea that the person you miss won't come back again and continue with your life. That's what most people do, but Stefan is not one of them.
After the encounter with Enzo and Caroline, his attitude changed. He left right away that night and didn't return until the next morning. Max tried to talk to him and see what was going on, but he turned her down. At first, she wasn't annoyed by this; on the contrary, she understood that Caroline's words had a true impact on him. That's why he wanted his space for a bit, to clear things out with himself and his feelings.
A few days passed though and Stefan continued acting the same way; not only did he stop answering her questions, he also started ignoring her, leading her to the decision that she had to put an end on this.
So, there she was, standing in the middle of the mechanic's while Stefan was repairing a car. Max had her arms crossed to her chest and was waiting him to notice her, maybe even speak first. The thing is that he didn't, although he knew she was there. Stefan wasn't in the mood of having a fight, neither talking to anyone; he wanted to be alone for a short amount of time, just to figure out his next step.
When Enzo showed up at his doorstep, he got furious. At first, he tried not to show it but as Damon's friend started revealing to Caroline about his life the months that had passed and the mention of his brother, he lost it. He attacked him and Enzo had the guts to threaten his girlfriend, just to push his buttons even more.
Despite his fight with Enzo, one thing intrigued Stefan the most and that wasn't how Enzo had found them or what he wanted; it was what he said to Max when he was trying to choke her to death. He had mentioned that she had many secrets and if that was true, Stefan had to find them out because the curiosity was killing him. He was torn, because he couldn't bring his mind to this. Is she actually hiding things from me? That's the question he was making to himself all the time and it was also one of the reasons he was ignoring her.
"Are you going to ignore me again?" Max decided to speak first. It was the right thing to do from her point of view, seen as Stefan wasn't going to break his silence any time soon. And he didn't, as she expected. She let out a sigh because of his immaturity, bent down and dragged him towards her with her vampire strength, causing him to groan. She rolled her eyes and then gave him a pointed look, like saying "Will you talk to me already?"
Stefan sighed and got up. He wiped the grease off of his hands with a towel and then he looked her in the eye. He thought that it was now or never, so he got straight into the point. "What are you hiding from me?" Once the words were let out of his mouth, anyone could sense the change of expression on her face. From being critical, the look on her face changed, giving off the feeling of surprise.
She tried to find words to say something, but she couldn't. How could she respond to this, when she didn't know if what she was hiding was even possible? The reason why Max didn't want to reveal it to Stefan was still the same; the hopes he would gain, would crash if she could not bring his brother back, and Bonnie of course.
"Um..." she cleared her throat, trying to start from somewhere. "Well...can we talk about this somewhere more private?" she asked him. The uneasiness in her voice was becoming more and more obvious as she was talking, because of the accusing glare Stefan was giving her.
"Fine, let's go outside" He agreed and they started walking out. The tension between them was like a cloud of smoke in the air, as none of them was talking. Stefan was waiting for Max to explain; while she was gathering all the courage she could find in order to begin. It wasn't the easiest revelation she had to make.
"Oh god, ok! Um, Enzo said I was hiding something and the truth is that I do. I know I have to tell you before I do to anyone else, but I'm warning you I don't want you to have hope, because it might not work. Okay?" she raised an eyebrow, waiting for his response. Stefan had his eyebrows furrowed in confusion but he nodded anyway, too eager to find out what's the thing she's hiding.
"When I was living in Portland, my ex- boyfriend...killed almost all of his family for revenge because they didn't consider him as a warlock, not that he was an actual one, he just had the ability to absorb magic and using it temporarily. Anyway, he belonged to the Gemini Coven and he had to merge with his twin sister, just to see who would become the leader of the coven. The stronger would survive the merge and would gain some of the personality traits of the other, who would of course die. His father then decided that he should be punished for what he did, so when my ex went to merge with his twin sister, his father tricked him and sent him off to a prison world, where he would be living the worst day of his life repeatedly" she finished and as she did, Stefan became more confused than before.
"So correct me if I'm wrong, you're saying that Bonnie and my brother are in a prison world, probably living the worst day of their life over and over again?" he asked.
"Not exactly. If I'm correct, they are in one of the prison worlds, living the personal hell of the prisoner. In other words, they are just trapped there, trying to find a way to return" she explained.
"And why didn't you tell me before?" Stefan made finally the question.
She knew that sooner or later this moment would come, but didn't expect it would be so soon. Honestly, Max was afraid. She feared the fact that if Stefan found out, their relationship would be affected, not because his love for her wasn't strong enough, but his love for his brother would prevail. She was well aware of the bond the two brothers had and what she did, not telling him the truth from the beginning while she knew how devastated he was, was selfish.
She avoided Stefan's pointed look and looked elsewhere, trying to gain some courage again. "Because I didn't want you to have false hopes. I know and I'm seeing it right now how you're feeling about Damon, hence why I didn't tell you. I wanted to prove if my theory was correct first and then reveal you my 'big' secret. Enzo had to ruin the whole thing, though. As always" she scoffed.
Once she finished, a long and disturbing silence fell upon them. Max was desperately waiting for his answer but Stefan didn't know what to say. He surely didn't like how she kept this a secret from him; although at the same time he could justify her. She wanted to be sure and he was appreciating it. Nonetheless, she hided it and that wasn't something to ignore.
"I think you should leave" he decided, making Max's jaw drop.
"What?" She couldn't believe that he didn't want to talk about this.
"I think you heard me. I want some time alone and right now, you being here isn't very helpful" He stated. Max sighed and did what he told her, seen as he wanted to be alone.
She started walking to her car, when her phone suddenly buzzed. Max pulled it out of her pocket and saw that she had a message from Caroline. Sighing for the umpteenth time that day, she unlocked her phone to see what her crazy friend wanted.
From Caroline:
Elena is having a lake party at Whitmore or something like that and you're coming! I won't take no as an answer!
The message made Max roll her eyes. She loved Caroline from the bottom of her heart, but sometimes she was driving her nuts. Like right now. Well, to be honest her best friend didn't know what had happened but Max was trying to put the blame on someone. And that someone happened to be Caroline.
With all the courage she had, she started composing the reply. She wasn't exaggerating if that's what you're thinking. I mean everyone who knew Caroline, were capable to realize that the girl wasn't messing around. When she wanted or had set her mind into something, no one could stop her. That's why Max was acting like this.
She took one deep breath and started typing.
To Caroline:
Sorry, I don't think I'll make it today. Something happened and I'm not really in the mood for a party.
She pressed the send button and waited, holding her breath. She didn't lie when she said she wasn't in the mood. Stefan's reaction was expected, but it made her upset. The only good coming out of going to that lake party was the alcohol and Max was in a big need of it.
Her phone buzzed again, letting her know that Caroline replied.
From Caroline:
What happened? Are you okay? And no, you're coming and we're going to talk about whatever is going on"
To Caroline:
Okay, send me the location.
She got into her car and begun driving to Whitmore. What is better than drinking your problems away? , Max thought. Talking to Stefan you idiot, her subconscious answered. Oh shut up, Max said. No you shut up and do the right thing, it fight back. She let out a sigh. Not only was she going crazy, because that's what's going on if you're arguing with your own mind, but she also knew her subconscious was saying the right thing. Max had to talk to Stefan about what happened and not let the situation get out of hand.
After driving for two hours, Max arrived at the lake where the party was set. There were college students everywhere, getting drunk, swimming in the lake, or socializing. She suddenly remembered how college was and felt a bit nostalgic. . She had been living in the shadows for four years until a witch made her a daylight ring. Although she could finally walk outside without being burned, a great amount of time passed until she decided to go to college. Max studied psychology although she never decided to practice it.
"There you are!" Caroline snapped Max out of her thoughts. She smiled and hugged Caroline, saying hi.
"I'm so happy you came! I don't think I can handle this party on my own since Elena is...Where is Elena? Oh well I don't know. Anyway, I don't know if Tyler is coming, Matt's here and Jeremy too, probably with some girl, drinking his sorrows. And-"
"Caroline, slow down" Max stopped the rumbling girl. She let out a laugh, while Caroline chuckled too. "Sorry, it's just that I'm really happy you're here. I wanted to talk to you about what happened the other day and now is the perfect time. Come on let's get you a drink" she smiled and dragged her to the table with the booze.
++
An hour had passed and the girls were in a deep conversation, sitting somewhere in the woods. Caroline had apologized for the unexpected visit of her with Enzo and about what followed after. It was time for Max to tell her about Stefan and their argument, probably for her secret too.
"So what's going on with you and Stefan? Is everything okay?" Caroline asked.
"We've been better. We had an argument that's all" She looked down, not knowing what to say next.
"Nothing too serious, I imagine. I'm sure you'll be fine. Besides, you're like the most loving couple I know, you'll solve whatever bothers you" Caroline reassured her.
"Not this time, Car. Things are too serious. I've hidden something really important from him and I don't think he'll forgive me easily" She continued looking down.
"Oh my god! Did you cheat on him?" Caroline suddenly freaked out. She even got up, not believing what she'd heard.
Max snapped her head to her surprised friend, furrowing her eyebrows. "No! I would never cheat on him! That's not my secret!" she sighed. Caroline relaxed and sat down.
"Then what did you hide from him?" She said calmly but the accusation was still present in her voice.
"I might know where Damon and Bonnie are" Max revealed.
"What? And you've been keeping this a secret all this time?" she yelled angrily. Max couldn't look her in the eye. She was feeling guilty for not telling anyone about this and she realized it was a big mistake.
"Why? Why did you hide it? We've been searching all those months and we couldn't find anything to even assure ourselves that they were alive. But now, you're coming here to tell me that you knew all this time? What the hell is wrong with you? How could you look Stefan and lie straight to his face? Or how could you live by knowing that all of us were waiting desperately to find our best friend and Damon? Elena was practically falling apart, getting witchy drugs to see Damon again; well the illusion of him. Jeremy is another story. He's missing school just to stay inside Tyler's house, drinks and is with a different girl every single day. The grief is killing him, all of us actually. And you're telling me this now? God! I can't even look at you" Caroline turned her back to Max and begun cursing under her breath.
"I-I only hid it because I wasn't sure and I still don't know if it's true. It's just a theory of mine. I wasn't planning on hurting anyone; I was trying to protect you from having false hopes. Enzo ruined everything. I wanted to-"
"Enzo? Now it's his fault!" Caroline scoffed, cutting her off.
"If it wasn't for him, I would still have more time to find out if my theory was real and correct. If it wasn't, I wouldn't have told anyone and we would avoid the current situation. If you were in my shoes, you'd do the same Caroline" Max was crying and was exasperated. She wanted to be understood and at this moment her friend didn't. The anger and pain had consumed Caroline so much, that she couldn't think clearly.
"No, I wouldn't. You know why? Because me and my friends have went through a lot and by telling them, we would work together to find something that might have helped. You were being selfish because you were afraid what our reaction would be. Well, you got mine and Stefan's. Now leave" Caroline said. Her words were laced with pure hatred and anger.
"I'm really sorry Caroline" She apologized.
"Yeah I'm sure you do" she replied sarcastically.
Max was about to leave when Caroline spoke again. "Oh and don't expect me not to tell anyone. Everyone will find out eventually and I want you to be prepared for their reaction. Although Elena will only be mad about Bonnie" She turned around and glanced at Max.
"What do you mean?" Max asked confused. Caroline let out a dry laugh. "After Stefan told her that you didn't find anything, she asked Alaric to compel her to forget about her love for Damon. She doesn't even remember they were dating; Elena only knows that he's your boyfriend's brother now and of course she hates him. That's how much in pain she was" Caroline finished. Max was feeling guiltier that before because she had driven one of her friends to forget her "epic love" as Bonnie had called Elena's love for Damon one day.
Max after that took off, running with her vampire speed away from Caroline. She stopped in a clearing and cried her eyes out. The guilt was killing her and she couldn't handle it. Stupid Enzo! , she thought. He ruined her whole plan. She wanted to do many things but he had to show up one night and destroy everything. That's what Max thought mostly. The thing is though, that it was her fault too. As Caroline said, she could have shared her theory with her friends from the beginning, giving them a lead to follow. By doing that, Damon and Bonnie might have been with them a lot earlier, if of course were alive.
She had been crying for 30 minutes, when the sound of brunches breaking sounded. She looked up to see a young man. He was probably in his early twenties, just like her (she was nineteen when she turned). His hair was light brown and he was fit. He had a sympathetic smile on his face while comic closer.
"Hey, are you okay? I saw you crying and I don't know, I wanted to see if everything's alright" he spoke.
Max smiled sadly and replied. "It's fine, thanks. I'm having a bad day, that's all" She wiped off the tears from her cheeks and got up.
"Are you sure?" he insisted.
"Yeah, I'm sure" she confirmed politely. Max sensed something was wrong. The man in front of her had a weird look on his face and didn't seem to care, even if his words were saying otherwise.
"Excuse me. I have to go" she smiled and turned the other way. "I don't think so" the man behind her told and then a clicking sound was heard. She looked at him and then to his hands. He was holding a gun with wooden stakes, aiming straight to her heart.
"Such a waste" he said disappointed, ready to shoot her. She ran towards him quickly, wanting to take his gun but he shot her in the stomach, making her to fall down on her knees. Max pulled the stake out and dropped it on the ground. The hunter had come closer than before and he was about to end her life when someone pulled his heart out of his chest.
She let out a shocked gasp as the boy was lying unconsciously on the ground, his bloody heart right next to him. Max then saw another pair of legs standing next to the dead hunter and slowly, feeling terrified, looked up.
He smirked smugly and mischief had filled his eyes. "Hello, gorgeous"
"I could've handled him myself" She said gritting her teeth.
"So not even a thank you?" he pretended to be hurt before smirking again.
"Please. What are you doing here? You've got what you wanted, so you're here to torture me more?" she scoffed.
When Stefan left Max standing alone in their destroyed living room, the night Enzo and Caroline surprised the couple by visiting them, she didn't stay alone for long; Enzo decided to show up again.
"He shouldn't have left you alone" she froze on her spot as she heard his evil voice.
She took a deep breath and turned around to face him. "What do you want Enzo?" she crossed her arms to her chest and narrowed her eyes.
"I'm afraid that we left something in the middle. Don't you agree?" His annoying smirk didn't leave his face as he replied, getting more on Max's nerves.
"Hm, I don't think so. Now, if you don't mind, please get out of my house. I'm asking you politely" she put on a fake smile, while he didn't make a move. He was just standing there, looking her little body up and down, but from Max's perspective, annoying her to the fullest by being a creep.
"I see you and Stefan had a little argument, did it happen because of me?" he slowly began coming closer.
Max didn't move but deep inside she was slightly intimidated by him. If it was another person, she wouldn't have a problem. Instead, she wouldn't be afraid but confident. Enzo though was a different story. The first she saw him, she knew that she had to stay away from him because something felt off about him. Unfortunately, his first impression of her was completely different. She gave off an aura of confidence, strength and kindness, that's why he instantly showed an interest towards her. Of course, Max had her moments, meaning that she wasn't always strong.
"You wish!"She scoffed but then continued, "Cut the crap and tell me what you want?" she took a step forward, emphasizing the three last words.
Pushing Max with enough strength, she collided with the wall while Enzo pressed his body against hers, leaving practically little to none space for her to breath properly. She tried to get away but he trapped her by putting his arms next to her.
"I'm going to cut to the chase. I know your secret, so you're going to bring Damon and Bonnie back, before I pull your boyfriend's heart out" he threatened.
"Not wanting to disappoint you, but Damon and Bonnie are dead. I'm sorry but if you consider this a secret then you're wrong"
He let out a chuckle and he got closer to Max, if that was even possible. His hot breath on Max's face was making her uncomfortable.
"Listen to me cupcake. You're going to find a way and bring them back. I don't care how, but you will. I'm not a fool Max, so don't think you can lie to me that easily"
"Or what?" she gritted her teeth.
"I'm gonna kill your precious boyfriend. Maybe then you'll realize you were with the wrong person all this time" Enzo stared deep into her eyes for a moment before pulling away.
She, on the other hand, was fuming. He had already pissed her off by "breaking into" her and Stefan's apartment, so by threatening him made everything worse. Max was tired of having this man constantly bothering her and making her life a living hell.
"If you even try to kill him, I will cut your hands off of your body. Maybe then you'll realize not to mess with other people's lives" she mimicked.
"Wow, now I'm scared. You can't even hurt a fly, Max. Don't make promised you cannot keep" he finished and took off, using his vampire speed.
"Oh I think you're exaggerating, love. I'm not going to torture you. Wait... I take that back. I'm not going to hurt you if you have good news" He crossed his arms behind his back as he waited.
"I don't have good news, my friend. Sorry, not sorry" she sassed and instantly he was in front of her, holding her heart with his hand, slowly pulling it out from her body.
"I told you what the consequences were gonna be, if you didn't find a way. This is only a warning. If you don't do what I say, I will kill Stefan!" He pulled her heart with more force, causing her to groan in pain.
"Go to hell, Enzo"
"I'm-"
He was cut off as he fell down unconscious, with a stake near his heart. Max gasped, as Enzo's hand left her heart and he fell down in front of her. Relieved as the pain in her chest stopped, she raised her head to see her savior. It was Stefan.
_______________________________________________
n.e
After a looong time being absent, here I am! I'm really sorry but school work was keeping me busy, and now that I'm on spring break I thought, "why not update?". But literally this was just a filler chapter. Sort of. We learned Max's secret (it was pretty obvious, i think) and we also found out that a certain psychopath was her boyfriend 21 years ago. We also saw Enzo's encounter with Max that night and Caroline's reaction when she revealed the "big" secret. If Caroline's was like this, wait for Elena's (LOL, jk. Or maybe I'm not).
Anyway, I wanted to write the whole episode (6x03) but it would turn out to be huge, that's why I opted against it. Once again, thank you for all your votes & comments, they're really helpful.
Keep voting, sharing, commenting and reading of course. Have a nice Easter!
xoxo,
christianna