The Good Brother

        she’s a lady —— and lady’s are supposed to be delicate, gentle. but katherine is far more than that. her true nature is stronger, animalistic. its something she’s concealed from stefan since they first met. but now, things were changing, katherine’s plan was progressing. and she needed stefan to know. damon on the other hand, he’s known for a while. he took it very well. katherine doesn’t really know what to expect from stefan.its instinctive, the way she moves into the hand upon her cheek. but that touch was short lived.

                            she doesn’t respond to his question more so because she opened her eyes not only to watch stefan but also to show him. he’s shocked, scared —- and she doesn’t move from him at all. ❛ i won’t hurt you, stefan. ❜ she moves just slightly, her hand running along his cheek. brows furrowed very slightly. ❛ i would never hurt you. ❜

           eyes flutter and lips part, fangs exposing themselves. more so for demonstration purposes. and as quickly as they lowered, they disappeared. stefan is much more like his father than damon —– so katherine is prepared for the worst. she doesn’t want to use compulsion. not on stefan. but she may just have to. ( to remove his fear — she can’t have him acting any differently around her. ) slowly, the vampire moves her hand down his cheek to his neck. nails barely grazing the pale flesh. 

                  ❛ do you believe me, stefan ? ❜ her words are graced with innocence, lips curled very softly upwards and her head cocked gently to the side.

             stefan’s lungs feel like they’re going to RUPTURE. there’s cold sweat gathering on his nape and his heart feels frozen in his chest. his head’s rushing. the burn as he struggles for air overlap her words. it’s her touch on his face that awakens him with a painful gasp. it feels just as WARM and soft as it did a second ago, but it brings a nausea to his skin he’s never felt before. 

                        i would never hurt you.

             he hears the words, and he WANTS to believe her, but all he can actually hear in his head is the voice of his father. all the signs on how to recognize the unholy running bellow the static frame of his eyes. they were elusive and deceptive. they lured humans in with promises of love and a bright life. they confused their minds to make them think they were loved back. and used their alluring bodies as a weapon. he doesn’t want to accept it, but it seems so clear and the sight of her fangs gets his blood pumping so hard it shows on his exposed throat, the vein struggling to keep pulsing as fast as it can, when all stefan knows tells him he’ll be dead soon.

             perhaps it’s the way she SMILES at him that finally does it. the way it looks so wrong after what she’s said and matching the blood red in her demonic eyes. it’s the smile he LOVES but twisted by a nightmare. he throws her off of him, to the bed, as he pulls himself frantically back, shaking his head. 

                         ❝no. NO.❞ he urges, breathless, as he tries to get to his feet, his whole body in alert as he can’t tear his scared eyes away from her.  ❝why did you do this?❞ despite everything his brows screw up in pain. he LOVED her. and he had truly believed she loved him as well.  ❝stay away from me.❞ he mumbles, as he finally gets to his feet and tries to make it to the door, his TERRIFIED mind doesn’t even try to gather his clothes as he scrambles for an EXIT, for a way OUT of this, and away from her, because it’s ALL he can think now. panic overtaking him.  ❝stay away from me!!❞

                         when she told him about how his love for elena was nothing but a gut reaction to what he felt for her, he fought it. and he’d been right to. he HAD lover her for more than that. but what he hadn’t realized —- or allowed himself to  —- was that maybe, that feeling, that specific overwhelming FEELING of belonging. that maybe that had been a projection. that maybe he’d lost sight of elena, for the sight of what his chest ached for, and the idea in his head. and if not all of it, he couldn’t deny it now, that katherine had always been part of it. at the center of that draft of an idea of what his future should look like. as though he was trying to rewrite their story how it was SUPPOSED to go, if both of them weren’t so afraid of each other then. if katherine had just let herself learn from his love. as he could have let her do the same. 

                         it was always you, stefan.

                         it’d been them from the instant she spotted him from behind the curtains, and the first glance of her shadowed face had been enough to leave his heart amiss. he wanted to love the idea of a human and loving katherine as he saw in elena. but the truth was, as much as he’d denied it to her constantly, he had loved all the other sides of her. not in the way damon had been entranced by THEM, but in the way someone watches with admiration as an actor they love portrays so many different characters and manages to captivate their audience each and every time.

                         this katherine, afraid, vulnerable, open, the actor at the end of the day, after every prop and make up was gone. this was the katherine he had fallen in love once, and whom his heart still ached for, after everything. perhaps not with the same head turning hunger, or innocence, but with the same core strength and patience. 

                                  ❝ it’s nice.❞  he admitted, simply. he liked it a lot better than the fancy estates she pretended to like. the comment was just a note, though, not a change in his focus or stance. he wasn’t going to fall for her deflections, he never really had. at her question, he blinked for a moment, and it surprised him how EASY it was to answer it.

                                 ❝ no, i’m not. ❞  he stated, and it felt very clear and peaceful to say it. katherine wasn’t going to walk away from him. he might not know what would happen to them, but he knew that much. she hadn’t stopped loved him, not in almost two centuries, and he knew with certainty she always would. her next words make him breathe. his face softens, as his hand comes up to hold her face as gently as he used to, when he’d thought she was delicate and fragile, bringing it up to him. ❝ i think that is more than enough for now.❞

Hey, guys, B here. There’s something I have to say, and even though I feel bad about it, it has to be done. I haven’t been around here, and I’m sorry about that, but I got really overwhelmed when I lost all my resources for all my rp blogs, and at the end of the day, my muse for Stefan just wasn’t cooperating.

I don’t know when I will recover my Stefan resources, or feel like plotting wildly on him again, so what I want to say is that, at least for now, officially, I will only be interacting with @katheriinefacade . Interacting with Kat is really the only thing Stefan wants to do right now, and this is the way I can do that without feeling guilty and over anxious every time I think about it.

I hope I can open him up to all other interactions soon, but I understand if any of you guys don’t wanna wait around for it. In anyway thank you so much for hanging around until now, and hopefully I can kick myself and Stefan into interacting in the future.

Until then you can always catch me at notacrabbastian if you feel like it.

Thank you,

         she had always known that the connection that was there between them was real. even if when they first met way back when katherine had tried to deny it the only way she knew how — add somebody else into the mix to stop her from making any mistakes. that’s all damon was, a tether. he kept her grounded. reminded her that she was only in mystic falls to disappear off the grid completely. she wasn’t supposed to fall for stefan salvatore. but she did. and even now, she still felt that connection. 

                 i deserve everything that’s ever happened to me. i don’t deserve to be loved.

     how true those words are. perhaps that was why she was so content with being on her own for as long as she had. it was easier that way —– not letting love in. not only for her own safety, but because katherine truly believed she didn’t deserve it. she loved her family, and because of her decision to run, they died at the hands of klaus. they had a whole future that never got lived. she tries not to think about it often, but sometimes it can’t be helped. the way her mind travels to the moment she found their bodies. still, the memory clear as day five centuries later.

           there isn’t very many people she’s gentle with. not many are even lucky to see a softer side to the elusive, selfish katherine pierce. she hadn’t always been that. and stefan is one of the very few people who understand that. perhaps its the occasional softness which comes from her. the vulnerability which is rarely present within her very rarely. 

               the kiss is intense, rougher. and with tongues meshing, soft mewls find home within his mouth. that connection, that pulling feeling. she has no doubts that it has intensified the entire moment. katherine isn’t sure whether she wants to use the word soulmates, she isn’t sure she even believes in the word. but now, katherine isn’t so sure. that pull, that red string between them —– it survived. it survived their rough patches. 

                                             maybe that is what they were, soulmates.

              she can’t help the moans that fill the space between them. but its the way his hands travel down to her hips, leaving a fire in their wake. her body is flush against his, so much so that she can feel everything — the definition of his muscles against her breasts, the forming bulge within his pants against her thigh. she’s breathless as the kiss breaks, and he speaks. oh stefan, always the gentleman. even when the animalistic side starts to take over.

               her own words are breathy, lips parted and chest rising. ❛ why ? don’t you ? ❜

                          as entitled as it’d sound if he ever dared say it out loud. stefan always knew he had a connection with katherine that damon had never had. and deep down it’d been a big source of his bitterness. damon had come between them, with his infatuation, as he tended to do, and katherine hadn’t stopped him. when he knew she felt it as well. all his dreams. every human dream he’s ever had, had been about her. he hadn’t dared to even consider a new life until he’d met her. 

                          and yet, in a way, he was thankful. he didn’t know if he could have ever truly loved ALL of her back then. back then when he didn’t know himself entirely either. katherine had done many terrible things. but so had he. and it’d taken a century and a half for him to understand it. to truly understand her. he’d been too afraid before and so had she. not giving him a chance to APPREHEND, to be let in. She wasn’t ready. He wasn’t either. 

                          what is it about you, that makes me still care??

                          was it possible they could be finally ready, now?? he tastes the girl he used to know in their kiss. but also the wounded, complicated, as twisted as he was, woman he’d gotten to know. it makes his head SPIN. katherine had saved him from misery once. and then again, when every person he loved had walked away on him. she had saved him from the darkest corners of his mind, and it made him want to do the same. he didn’t know if he’d be able to. but God he wanted to try. as the kiss is broken and he hears her, his eyebrows press. he gently but firmly guides her back until she’s resting against the wall, his hand raising to cup her face, as he looks at her.

                                   ❝ that’s not an answer. ❞  he remarks. ❝ i’m not going to leave, katherine. i don’t intend to. not this time.❞

                          his voice is dark with meaning. he gets it. he always has. he reads her as effortlessly as he did when they’d first met. perhaps even better NOW. he knows her better than anyone else, and he doesn’t want any part of this to be a mistake. this isn’t an impulsive one night stand. this was months of dreadful days and careful thoughts. he had DECIDED to give her, and them, and himself, a chance. an actual chance. not one when they were both half desperate and her future was uncertain. he looked at her in that way he did when he was seeing right through her, and his tone had a meaning it’d rarely bore since he was just a human.

                                  ❝ i don’t wanna do this just because you’re scared i’ll walk away. ❞  he says, slowly. ❝ i’m not going to. if you want me. i’m here to stay. i don’t know- what, where this is going. what THIS IS. but i don’t wanna do this because you’re scared, or i’m confused, or you-’re- ❞ dying. he pressed his lips and shook his head. 

            it’s not often does katherine find herself in a position of vulnerability. but this, stefan being here —- it threw even her off. she wasn’t expecting it. and maybe she should have. she would have been more prepared. but the infamous katherine pierce could handle a curve ball. even if that curve ball was in the form of stefan salvatore.

                              you’d never look at me the way you look at elena, would you ?

           there’s still some truth to her words even now, months later since she’d spoken the words. back when she thought she was dying. but now, with stefan standing right there in front of her, his expression, it’s something else. something, she hadn’t seen in what feels like forever. katherine swallows thickly, dark hues focused solely on the male. their surroundings meant nothing. not now.

               her arms are by her side when he closes the gap between them, at least until her eyes flutter close and their lips meet. the months she had spent alone, dissolved. the loneliness, the need for human interaction. human connection. hands move to cup stefan’s face, her fingers finding residence against rough cheeks. the kiss is full of emotion.

            katherine is the one to pull back, nose brushing against stefan’s. it’s his words which cause her to pull back further. eyes reopening. genuine surprise. stefan remembered her birthday. a fact not many people knew to this day.

                                   ❛ you remembered, ❜

            her lips curl upwards softly, a thumb brushing over his cheek. ❛thank you. ❜ her words are hushed. genuine. for the first time in months katherine feels as though there is genuinely one person on this earth who doesn’t hate her. stefan managed to turn an average day into something with a little more worth. she’s the one to initiate the kiss this time. it’s more rough. more needy. katherine is never needy, but now, now she is —- stefan brought it out of her. it could also be the alcohol. one hand remains at stefan’s face, the other moves to sit atop his shoulder.

                            stefan can’t imagine what’s going through katherine’s head, when he starts to kiss her. but when her hands lift and meet his face, all the soreness melts away. all his despair raging into a new kind of fire. the THIRST he’d been feeling so desperately, not feeling like thirst at ALL. he remembers klaus telling him their need to rip people apart came from their need to be that close to someone. but the moment his lips touch hers, he knows it’s not someone. it’s this. the thrill katherine made him feel and that he’d never tasted anywhere else. katherine left a BRAND on people they were unlikely to forget. and she’d marked HIM deeper than anyone else.

                              you’re a seventeen year old girl. none of this is your fault.

                            when she pulls back, his lips keep chasing for a second more, but he settles in a heady pant. and when he opens his eyes into hers, he sees the surprise. that look on her he hadn’t seen in a very long time. the girl, instead of the woman. he’d loved both in his time, but he hadn’t realized how much he’d missed her, until he saw it. the katherine that was just for him, and quiet moments alone in his chambers. the katherine he’d fallen in love with before all else. his eyes fall closed for a single moment at her caress on his cheek, and when he reopens them, their more open than they’d been since he saw her again, almost five years ago. 

                                     ❝ you’re welcome.❞

                            his voice is rough and low, full in that way his caring heart knew how to make it. he thought of what to say next, but everything felt foolish. i thought of passing by. it also felt useless. he’d always had this CONNECTION with her from the start. and despite what his stubbornness and grief for his human life might have tried to lead them both to believe, he KNEW she knew the words in his mind even if he didn’t spoke them. 

                            when she kissed him again, he felt the bolts right down to his bones. as their tongues touch now, he can taste the alcohol in her, but he doesn’t mind it. he’d been drinking his days away for long now, and he didn’t blame her for doing the same. he feels the yearn, and he kisses her just as harshly. his teeth digging into her bottom lip, covering the sore flesh with a swirl of his tongue, before it deeps in to taste her and round dangerously at her FANGS. he’s avid for all of her. 

                           he groans as his hands down to her hips. with the way her kiss tastes, it’s not enough to just hold her close, and he pulls her into him. closing his arms around her, making pressure against the small of he back to bring her in. the kiss is broken heavily, into a snap, and he breathes warmly against her as he speaks.

             it was just an ordinary day. at least its easier for katherine to believe that. she never really celebrates her birthday. not traditionally. she has no family. no one to celebrate with. so instead, she’s been out at the local bar —- a drink or two. at least the vampire has something to drink about. making it through yet another year.

                 with becoming human again, being kidnapped by nadia & finding herself becoming a vampire again. katherine still manages to find herself escaping deaths grip. she doesn’t have klaus on her tail either. maybe this year would finally be her year.

                                      ‘happy birthday, katherine !’ she says to herself, raising her glass to the bartender. a few hours later, quite a few drinks —- the joys of being a vampire. alcohol doesn’t react like it would if she were human. she’s right out front of her property. it’s a nice house. small. subtle. not really katherine. not the katherine that everyone knows now. there’s another vampire in there — she can smell them.

                                   him.

          she’d recognize that scent anywhere. stefan. maybe the alcohol had gotten to her. maybe this was just her mind reminding her how alone she truly was. her key unlocks her door, and heels click along the wooden floorboards. 

                  tongue darts out to dampen lips, she’s breathless. ❛ —– stefan. ❜ her voice is quiet, brows furrowed. they’re facing each other. a gap, barely there between them. but katherine doesn’t have it in her to move. not with the magnet that she feels pulling at them. ❛ i see you’ve made yourself comfortable. i suppose i should ask, what are you doing here ? ❜ really, she should have asked ; how did you find me ?  

                               the way she looked at him.

                               stefan could TELL she felt it as well. the heavy pull between them. the breathlessness. months ago, katherine had looked at him just like THAT, when her soft words had asked him if he could ever forgive her. 

                               147 years is a lot to forgive in one night.

                              he’d told her so at the time. and it’d been true. it still WAS true. but the other truth, the one he hadn’t told her. was that he WANTED to. and in those miserable months that followed. when katherine left, and even that small shred of SOMETHING was gone, and he’d spiraled back almost all the way into the state he’d been when she’d arrived. as those months passed by, he begrudgingly, in resistance, had gradually realized that maybe he’d already HAD.   

                             he wasn’t sure he could completely forgive her any time soon. but at last, he’d been forced to admit that a part of him already had. that he hadn’t hated her in years. that the few weeks they’d spent together while she was human were the best he’d had in a long, long time. that all those times she insisted he felt the same way, until she finally gave up. he’d resisted it every single time. but he suddenly realized he wanted her to know she’d been RIGHT. one way or another. he had never stopped loving her. 

                             she looked so vulnerable, his heart almost stopped. all his bitterness had been poured out through all those moments when he thought she’d be GONE, and he still hadn’t managed to forgive her. only when it passed, he noticed he’d spent all of it. he looked at her now, and the way she didn’t step back, or guard herself against his advances, told him all he needed to know. 

                             he kissed her.

                            it was long and slow, and WANTING. all the agony he’d been through, running over it, pouring out, into a need he hadn’t felt in a while. the minute their lips touched, every lonely morning he’d spent since she’d left slipped through his fingers on her hair, and were replaced by mouthfuls of relief. every gulp at her lips, at her kiss, at her, pushing the despair away. as his eyes closed, and their bodies met, he could feel and hear their heartbeats meeting. and he knew, from all the places on earth. after a century of misery. he knew again that he BELONGED.

                                it was her birthday.

                                that was why he was there. or at least it was a good enough excuse as any at this point. finding her hadn’t been as hard as he’d first thought. he knew katherine better than he was usually willing to admit. his mind clicked into hers with an almost familiar sound. after the phone call... it hadn’t taken much.

                               it was her birthday.

                               leaving mystic falls had also been the easy part. surprisingly so. he’d thought he’d feel more hesitant to just pack his few belongings and GO. leave he only home he’d known behind. the one he’d fought so hard to recover. to protect. but it hadn’t. he didn’t BELONG there anymore. he hadn’t for a while. days lately were a combination of drinking, pretending, and avoiding. avoiding the thirst. avoiding silas thoughts. avoiding his brother. avoiding... her. but no matter what he DID she was the one thing he couldn’t SHAKE. 

                               sat by the couch. feeling like a guest in a stranger’s house. his mind kept slipping towards the last thing, the last time he’d ever felt it. like he belonged somewhere. like he could find any kind of peace. ( i’m here... i’m with you... were together ). even now, sitting on a different couch, miles and miles away, waiting for hours, he felt less out of place than he had for the last two YEARS in the home that was supposed to be his. 

                               he felt heard her coming before she even stepped through the front door. he didn’t try to hide. he waited for her to find HIM. one glance up and he felt it to his bones. he’d been drifting for so long, and now ...

                                                       ❝ hello, katherine.❞