Emily had honestly lost all sense of time before she found herself lying next to the Salvatore vampire as she tried to catch her breath. The Gilbert girl stared up at the dark sky that shined by the bright stars before she decided that it had at least been three hours since she and Stefan had started rolling around in the soft meadow as they showed one another how they felt for each other.
It was up there with one of Emily's top moments in her seventeen years and, in her opinion, it was the perfect way to end her human life. The Gilbert girl just felt so at peace as her head rested on top of Stefan's cold chest with only the sound of the colorful flowers blowing through the wind.
However, the calm silence had to come to an end at some point and that is what happened once Stefan had twisted his body to the side and he was sat up on his elbow so he could gaze down at his girlfriend. The Salvatore vampire softly trailed the back of his point and middle fingers along Emily's cheek before he told her in a gentle voice, "hey, you can say it."
Emily was instantly in a state of confusion as she heard the few words that slipped from her boyfriend's lips, so she slowly moved her green irises up to the Salvatore vampire's own pair, instead of looking at the bright stars, before she inquired with her brows pulled together, "say what?"
"You know," Stefan began as he still used that gentle voice of his while he continued to soothingly rub the back of his fingers across the Gilbert girl's cheek before he mentioned what they had spoken about when they had first arrived at the cottage, "the thing you've been wanting to say, but... Have been afraid of how it would make me feel." The Salvatore vampire knew Emily hadn't been completely truthful earlier about how she was feeling and Stefan just wanted her to know that she could tell him anything - no matter if it bothered him or not.
Emily lightly shrugged her shoulders as she murmured, "there's nothing really I can say." The Gilbert girl released a small chuckle before she added, "it's not like it's going to change anything." Emily honestly wasn't upset like most people would think she would be with what tonight would mean with her becoming a witch. It was just that she was more afraid of who she was going to become. It definitely didn't help that there hasn't been a successful case of a witch turning this way without going completely crazy.
"I know," the Salvatore vampire gently murmured in understanding before he stated with a small shrug, "but it might make you feel better." Stefan lifted himself further up onto his elbow so he could look directly into his girlfriend's green eyes before he stated, "look, I know this isn't what you wanted for yourself. I know you never even imagined that you would have to become a witch - and we all know this is our only option since you don't want to be a vampire."
The Gilbert girl couldn't help the deep frown that immediately sprouted onto her face as she heard her boyfriend's words. Emily knew that the younger Salvatore had wished that she had chosen the vampire route of things, so it made her feel bad that she couldn't do what he wanted for her. "I'm sorry," Emily quietly whispered as it was the only thing that she could say at the moment. Emily knew it wouldn't fix things but she hoped that it would help Stefan understand why she wasn't willing to choose that option.
The Salvatore vampire's green eyes instantly widened when he realized how Emily took his words. "Hey, no, no, no," Stefan hurriedly uttered as he quickly sat up and turned his body around before he tightly grabbed ahold of the human girl's hands. "You have no reason to apologize," Stefan assured his girlfriend before he gave her hands a short squeeze as he tried to get through to Emily to make sure that she knew that he wasn't upset with her choice.
The Salvatore vampire lightly shrugged his shoulders as he stated, "yeah, I wish you would drink vampire blood, so we can spend forever together but I would never force that onto you, baby." Stefan gently rubbed his thumb along the Gilbert girl's hand before he concluded with his little speech to assure her that he was completely on board with her becoming a witch instead of a vampire, "but ultimately, it's your choice and I will support whatever choice you decide."
The Gilbert girl couldn't help but immediately release a heavy sigh after she heard her boyfriend's supportive words as she felt she really needed to hear that right now - even though she already knew Stefan was on her side. Emily slowly pushed herself up onto her knees with only her boyfriend's dark Henley covering her body before she placed her hands on either side of Stefan's face as she placed a soft kiss onto his lips. "Thank you, thank you, thank you," Emily mumbled as she showed her praise while she had her warm temple pressed against the vampire's colder one. "It means a lot to me that you understand the choice I have to make," Emily stated as she softly ran her fingers through the younger Salvatore's messy brunette hair.
Emily honestly didn't remember when or how it happened but she somehow ended up seated on her boyfriend's lap with her head resting on his bare chest while she had been talking but she definitely wasn't complaining when it was Stefan's turn to run his fingers gently through her hair. The couple of the Gilbert girl and the Salvatore vampire stayed in that position for a few moments of tranquility before Emily looked back up into her boyfriend's soft green irises.
"I... I think I'm okay with this," Emily finally confessed about how she was feeling for tonight, "I think being a witch wouldn't be the worst thing in the world." The Gilbert girl lightly shrugged her shoulders before she commented, "I mean, look at Bonnie, she's a witch and she still goes to school and has a semi-normal life."
However, Emily's positivity of becoming a witch instantly disappeared, though, as a deep frown appeared on her face when she recalled what Elijah had told her about the witches that had turned this way. "But then again," the Gilbert girl mumbled, "Bonnie was born with her powers unlike me."
Emily huffed out a heavy sigh as she realized that her journey was going to be way much harder than any other witch's - especially with the fact that she was supposed to be the strongest one in existence. "I know it won't be the same," the Gilbert girl uttered as she focused back onto Stefan, instead of the worries in her head, before she murmured as she lightly rubbed her fingertips along her boyfriend's bare chest, "but I think I can do it."
Emily soon grew silent for a couple of minutes as she tried to wrap her mind around everything while she comfortingly drew small and random shapes onto the Salvatore vampire's pecks before she confessed as she slowly moved her green irises back up to her boyfriend's own forest colored eyes, "I'm still afraid that I won't be myself anymore after I become a witch but I... I think I can live with this decision."
Stefan silently nodded his head in understanding but he just couldn't help but to be still worried for how the Gilbert girl was doing with all of this. The Salvatore vampire placed both of his large hands on either side of Emily's face before he anxiously asked, "are you sure?" Stefan gently ran his right thumb across the Gilbert girl's cheek as he told her, "I don't want you to do anything that you don't want to do."
Emily released a small chuckle while she moved her head up and down to assure her boyfriend that she was sure of her decision. "It's not like I really have much of choice now since I already drank the potion," the Gilbert girl joked before she grew serious when Stefan gave her a scolding look that she was very used to getting when she would joke around with her existence.
Emily gently took the Salvatore vampire's hand away from her cheek before she placed a feather-like kiss onto the top of his cold skin. "I'm sure," the Gilbert girl softly murmured as she knew that Stefan was still worried about her and how she was feeling about this new change in her life.
"I'm not gonna lie," Emily began as she gave the vampire's hand a slight squeeze before she confessed, "I'm scared out of my mind. I mean, I'm only seventeen and I'm supposed to turn into the strongest witch in less than a few hours." The Gilbert girl released a small chuckle as she still found it so crazy that this was all happening to her.
"It doesn't exactly help that only a few people have ever turned into a witch this way and they usually end up going crazy," Emily voiced her own worries about this whole ordeal, "I'm basically going in blind while trusting in my doppelganger and a witch, who I have never even met before."
The Gilbert girl briefly paused as she took a deep breath to get a grasp onto the worries that are constantly going through her mind before she shot her boyfriend a soft smile. "But I'm okay," Emily murmured about how she was feeling, "I've come to terms with the fact that this is what my life will be like now."
The Gilbert girl gave her boyfriend's hand another short squeeze before she concluded with a soft smile playing on her lips, "as long as I have you, Elena, and everyone else by my side, I think I can get through this."
The frown that had been embedded onto the Salvatore vampire's face since the start of their conversation instantly did a one-eighty as a wide smile pulled onto his lips. Stefan was glad that the Gilbert girl was happy with her choice and because it was her own decision and not from anyone else telling her what to do.
The Salvatore vampire brought his free hand, that his girlfriend wasn't holding, to Emily's chin before he tilted her head up and placed a meaningful kiss onto her soft lips. "I love you so much," Stefan murmured once he had pulled away from their passionate embrace before he promised, "I'm not going anywhere. I'll be right by your side every step of the way."
Emily couldn't help the equally bright smile that immediately pulled up onto her face that matched her boyfriend's own smile from his assuring words. The Gilbert girl pushed her lips back onto Stefan's for another sweet kiss before she pulled away before she could get too distracted and softly murmured, "that's all I could ever ask for."
Emily smiled up at her loving boyfriend for a moment of tranquility before she slowly relaxed her head onto the Salvatore vampire's bare chest in the peaceful meadow with a sigh of content escaping from her lips. The Gilbert girl couldn't be anymore happier with her choice at the moment as she just felt so at peace with Stefan's arms wrapped around her body.
Emily had known this would ultimately be her decision with how she would die but after finally talking to her boyfriend and knowing that Stefan understood her choice and would support her, it made Emily feel more confident in Maria's plan for her. It made Emily feel in content in her decision with turning into a witch and dying tonight - despite the fact that she still had this voice in the back of her mind about how she would end up hurting someone once she was a witch.
However, though, Emily felt that if she had her loved ones - most importantly Stefan and Elena - by her side that she could continue being the Emily Gilbert that they knew. Emily also felt with her everyone surrounding her that she could survive becoming a witch and that they could survive the feared hybrid.
***
oml! I've reached 100k reads on this story! I honestly can't express how much it means to me for anyone who gave my first story a chance. I hope you continue to enjoy Fighting Love as the story moves forward. Thank you so much for your support!
xoxo