25th August 2010
She couldn't take his eyes off of him, sitting there as still as death itself his eyes were boring into the thin air before him. There was nothing there yet onwards he looked. What she didn't realise is he was too far gone in his thoughts to realise what he was looking wasn't there - his preoccupied mind was flood with her. His concerns, his worries - all of it weighed down on him and yet he could feel her standing behind him, but he couldn't make himself turn to face her.
She had her own torrent of emotions to battle, but the unexplainable magnetism between them dragged one foot in front of the other until she was sat besides him.
Words couldn't bridge the gap, but she had no words left to say. They day had shook her, left her entirely off balance. Relenting from the pressure she tilted to her side, resting her head on his shoulder and sighing.
Any anger she believed to still harbour against him didn't rise to the surface, instead it rolled out form her for she was too exhausted to give even entertain such draining and hateful emotions. However, her mind rolled from numbness and indifference back to the burgeoning flame when he slung his arm around her, drawing her closer. His stiff posture loosed as he soften to her, his eyes drawing away from emptiness to that which he now held. Not moment before he hadn't been able to turn to face her yet now looking down upon her all the thoughts and fears seemed pointless.
They sat there in the mutual comfort of the silence.
It made her feel safe to know that despite everything, his presence was still warm and secure. That in his arms she felt anchored. Regardless of what had come to pass between the two of them, she still felt stilled. Her anger and emotions had been riding her in recent days and the trauma of him had left her shaken. Sitting like this brought her back to more simpler days where promises were exchanged and she felt protected by his word.
She was so lost in seeking comfort , leaning into his apparent warmth that she was ignorant of the world around her.
It made sense then that she didn't notice Stefan slip out the room.
Nik probably should of realised - somewhere in the back of his mind he registered the door opening and closing and there being one less person in the room. His attention though had entirely been focused on only one person.
***
Stefan once thought he was not one to pace. He was wrong.
Up and down he walked, a neurotic pattern on the pavement, counting his steps to avoid other thoughts.
He was dragged away from his counting, however, by the presence of his ever looming shadow. A shadow that should have been long gone by now.
"What are you doing here?"
"Ahh brother." Damon smiled, it was a grim look - forced and unappealing. "Fancy seeing you here."
"Here, one of the many places you are not supposed to be!"
"Are you not happy to see me?"
Stefan didn't even entertain him with an answer, his eyes simply narrowed and brow creased. His fuse was exceedingly short today.
"I will take that as a yes. Really brother you should be thanking me, shouldn't you be free by now?"
"Free, what are you talking about. Brother, what are you planning?"
"I think the question is what have I done brother, past tense - get with the programme and all that."
"Damon!" Stefan snapped, he didn't have time for his brother's mind games.
"With her out the picture I thought he would be suitably distracted and then perhaps I could spring you or maybe knock some sense into." Damon grinned, cracking his knuckles. "I am more than happy to still knock some sense into you."
"Her...you mean Grace?"
"His little pet human." He nodded in confirmation.
"What do you have against Grace?" Stefan asked incredulously.
"I have no issue with her." Damon whispered, his head tilting sideways. "What I do have an issue with is how my brother is acting and that maniac his is buddy buddy with. She just happened to be the fastest way to get to both."
"Get to us..." He whispered, the pieces forming together in his mind. His day had just gotten a whole lot worse. His brother was not only a daymare that plagued him, but had now morphed into a living breathing disaster hellbent on destroying everything. "You!" He spat back at Damon, he was incensed. "You are unbelievable - they didn't just riot did they? Did they!"
"Self righteousness doesn't suit brother."
"Klaus knows what happened, that she went to the prison and that the inmates ended up attacking her, they didn't even get a scratch on me Damon. So all you did was put a human girl in jeopardy because you're upset with me and dislike the man who helped me save your life."
"Oh that's what he is now - someone I dislike." He shook his head, tutting at his younger brother. "Have you simply forget what he's done to us, to Elena?"
"You aren't any better, she went there to confront her living nightmare and you pitted an entire jail against each other and put her in the cross fire. And because that wasn't enough for you locked her in the room with that nightmare."
His eyes lit up, as if he was remembering the chaos that he had caused.
"It was inspired wasn't it?"
"You didn't just leave them to do all the damage did you? You were still there."
Damon grinned as the true extent of his meddling unfolded and as Stefan realised what he had been up to. Although Elena ma have tempted him to turn over a new leaf, this chaos and hell raising was far too fun to simply abandon. Besides, catching his brother off guard and antagonising him in this way was a favourite past time of his, not so easily forgotten.
"You know these fancy new prisons they're all controlled from a central system. You say impenetrable I say intriguing challenge. Besides I don't know why you're so mad, like you said your pal Klaus will be none the wiser to the fact you almost let his pet get killed and your hero complex is satisfied because you saved her."
Stefan didn't even entertain a eloquently worded reply he merely shunted his brother hard enough he flew into a near by wall.
"Wow brother," Damon laughed, trying to find his feet again. "Gone just for summer and you move on this quickly. Elena will be heart broken."
"Everything I do, I do to protect Elena." Stefan spat, outlining it plainly for him. "You are getting in the way of that Damon, you are putting her at risk."
"Keep telling yourself that brother." Damon shook his head before disappearing off into the night.
Stefan sunk against the wall, holding his head as his mind wondered. To little surprise of his own it wondered almost instantly to Grace. A small smile crossed his lips as she floated through his memories - unlike today this Grace wasn't sad or worried or scared, however, she wasn't exactly overcome with excitement either. Instead she had a peaceful contentment on her face, a serene calmness.
When she was at peace that was when she was most endearing. She had been through so much Stefan felt lucky to count himself among those that she could feel content around. Watching her let her guard down almost hurt because he was constantly reminded that he was part of the reason it existed in the first place.
He was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Grace, the ray of light that she was, and Elena, his girlfriend - the one he had professed his loved to. They couldn't be more different - or like each other any less. Yet there he was between the two of them and his brother like the unpredictable liability he was, was going off like a stick of dynamite taking out everyone around him.
It was though he and Grace were kindred spirits, equally as confused about the unspoken between them. Their hearts are already in the possession of others so what was left for each other he wasn't really sure.
The longer he spent with Klaus on this murder mystery vendetta of his the more he realised that for all his complicated brooding and complex background he really was a simple man. He had been betrayed and done over by almost everyone in his life yet he still kept his family close to him, admittedly in coffins, but with him nevertheless. Here he was hunting down the answer that would allow him to make hybrids, to create his own pack - to make more people just like him. Yet at the end of the day he still ended up sitting with Grace and feeling all the more complete.
Klaus was searching for a pack, a family and Grace had no clue what she wanted.
They were helpless but perhaps not as confused as Stefan was. A captive, yes, he had signed up to this misadventure rather unwillingly yet he did what he must to help his brother. Along the way he had only found himself more and more confused - Klaus had opened his eyes to a part of his past he had written of as hazy and incomplete due to the ripper bender and booze yet now he learnt that the truth was compelled away from him. Here now in Chicago decades later he found himself a changed vampire but his mind was unsettled. There was surely something imbalanced and wrong if his mind drifted to Grace and not his girlfriend.
And now he had to tell her that his brother had compelled the jail to turn on her.
His own flesh and blood had masterminded a scheme that would likely scar her for the rest of her days.
***
Shout out to @_FearlessLou_ I honestly love reading you comments and I hope you continue to enjoy Grace's journey! It feels so great to have these little notifications popping up as I am am drafting the new chapters and see engagement with the story - especially when things get mentioned that I am busy incorporating into future chapters!
I know there has been a little bit of gap between this chapter and the last (which you also may have not noticed because I don't exactly have the best publishing track record) but this time it has been because I have been taking the time the plan and write the next few chapters instead of just sitting down when I have a spare moment and jotting down some thoughts.
Due to this slightly different approach I now have seven (including this one) chapters written and ready for release and because I am impatient they will likely be coming out in rather quick succession.
So please, continue to vote and comment because it honestly makes my day!
Emma xox