#doeeyedgilbert

WHERE FROGS GO TO FLY.

THE        REAL        ANSWER        ISNT         WHAT        ELENA        NEEDS        TO        HEAR.        It isn't silly or humorous,        it isn't charming,        nor was it an accident to be associated with mere clumsiness.         Jeremy is an addict,        and things are better left unsaid if it meant he'd be looked at like a child or a ticking time bomb like he always is whenever he's less than perfect.         Nevertheless,        his shoulders rise and fall amongst the swished away cigarette smoke and leftover Dr. Pepper that's being brought to his lips instead.         "Being a hunter doesn't come without scraped knees."        Neither does being someone who elopes and wanders when they're not supposed to either.         Jeremy's mouth still remains perked up in a small smirk,        head lolling to the side as he perches one leg up to rest his cheek against.

"Isn't it badass?"

@doeeyedgilbert

The vampire known as Rose-Marie was in the middle of discussion with Elena, when her eyes glazed over and her expression turned blank. It lasted for only a second, before the elder Petrova entered the room, her own eyes covered completely in black. This is all too easy, she thought, before using her mind domination to influence the vampire to walk off, as if in a daze.

When she turned to her descendant, her eyes came back to normal.

❝It won't be long before the effect wears off. I strongly suggest you follow me,❞ Tatia said with a smile, before turning her back to the fellow doppelgänger and heading towards the door. ❝That is, unless you wish to remain here.❞

It hadn't been Ellie's intention initially to pop by the Gilbert house for a visit, especially when she knew of the rough patch occurring between her brother and Elena. After all, it wasn't her place to speak on such personal matters ... yet the familiar heavy feeling inside of her wouldn't leave her alone: feelings that didn't belong to Ellie although her psychic senses picked up as if they were her own. Her instincts told her it was Elena who needed the comfort, and understandably so - learning the existence of vampires was a lot for anyone to process.

However whether or not Elena would be open to talking to Ellie was uncertain. Even so, Ellie came prepared: a small box of warm cupcakes in hand with Elena's favourite flavor (she may or may not have had a vision sneak-peak).

She knocked on the front door to the Gilbert house, waiting patiently for someone on the otherside to open the door. Footsteps caught Ellie's heightened vampire senses. The young girl immediately straightened her posture, a dimpled smile already upon her friendly face even before the door opened. At the reveal of Elena, Ellie raised the small box of cupcakes. "I come in peace." She teased, her raspy voice happy and sweet, "I figured maybe cupcakes and a little company wouldn’t hurt.”

The air still feels wrong, like something was just here and decided to leave. My head hurts in that dull way, the way it does when I push too hard. I can hear my heart beating in my ears. Too loud for comfort.

She looks at me like she already knows what it costs. For a second, I don’t answer. I’ve heard words like that before. Promises. People saying they’ll stay. Sometimes they do. Sometimes they can’t.

“I’m used to it,” I say finally. My voice is small, but steady. “Being alone. Being the one who does it but..” I add, slower, like I’m testing the word, “I don’t want to be anymore.” My throat tightens and I hate it, i swallow hard and uncomfortable.

I take a breath. “If you stay — if you really want to stay — I will try to protect you too.”

three in the morning is a calm, beautiful hour. no need for words, only plentiful, ocean-deep solitude. people say so much yet so little, and conrad finds the performance exhausting, more frightful than the dead of night. it is the second time he has walked this path alone this month. the visits to his mother's grave are not as frequent as perhaps they should be, but the days are long and empty, spent drifting there and nowhere, but never here.

the cemetery smells of departed rain and a leaf drifts through a puddle beneath his boot. the branches weep, droplets falling to the damp earth. the aftermath of the downpour conjures sweet memories of mornings at the beach after a storm, the day fresh and new. conrad steps off of the path to cross the grounds. a hollow space, a cold stone, and the name of a woman that should still have breath. IT RIPS AT HIM, and his world is slow to expand, to acknowledge the other shadow nearby.

the church is heavy with grief,  the air thick with the quiet sound of muffled sobs and the hollow echo of prayers.   stefan lingers outside,  just beyond the circle of light spilling from the tall,  stained-glass windows,  his body cloaked in shadow.   his heart,  useless as it may be for the most part,  sinking with the weight of the all-consuming sorrow.   he doesn’t belong here,  not in this moment of raw mourning,  but he just can’t bring himself to leave.   he should.   he tells himself that again and again.   but ever since he pulled her from that car,  ever since he felt the fragile beat of her heart against his cold chest,  he hasn’t been able to stop thinking about her.   elena gilbert.   @doeeyedgilbert.   now he knows her name.   a mirror of the girl who turned his entire world upside down back in 1864,  who damned him for all eternity,  who cursed him and haunts him still to this very day regardless of what he tells himself.   and yet,  this isn’t katherine.   he can feel it.   her humanity bleeding through every movement,  each tremor in her hands,  every gasp.   stefan grips the stone wall of the church,  fingers tightening until they leave dents in the mortar.   he has to walk away.   he has to just forget her.   but when her head lifts,  as though drawn by some invisible thread,  her gaze seems to find his in the ocean of faces.   she stares too long,  searching the shadows.   he freezes in place,  hoping his stillness doesn’t betray him.   his chest tightens.   can she see him?   does she recognize him?   impossible.   does she remember the water,  the hands that tore through steel and aluminum and pulled her free as her parents’ car sank into the cold water?   stefan forces himself to step back,  further into darkness,  but his pale green eyes remain locked on her face,  finding himself unable to look away.   elena gilbert…

❛ i just . . . i know everything would have been easier for you if you and i had never met. ❜ elena would have never known of his side of the world, she would have never been exposed to the dangers of it. ❛ i love you, and you know that, but . . . i feel like i am more trouble than i am worth. ❜ he confesses with a small sigh. all the hurt, the danger, the pain, he would rather her not experience any of it — especially for the sake of having him. ❛ i'm sorry i bring you . . . all of this. that i come with such heavy luggage. ❜ and there was no way he could repay it. ever.

🎲   17.   an upside-down "spider-man" kiss   !

it’s a friday afternoon and the gym has mostly cleared out by now, just a few people left clinking weights or stretching on mats. the bright lights hum quietly overhead, casting long reflections in the floor-to-ceiling mirrors that adorn the walls. alex is very much in his element, especially now that he knows he’s got @doeeyedgilbert’s full attention. grinning like he has something to prove, his arms flexing with every pull-up as though they were sculpted just for her to admire. “you think i could audition for a marvel reboot?” he jokingly asks, willing to do just about anything in order to amuse and impress her. “think i’d make a decent spider-man, don’t you? and you could be my mary jane,” he laughs, pulling himself up one more time and hooking his knees over the bar before letting go to hang completely upside down. his shirt slipping just enough to reveal a sliver of toned stomach. his voice teasing, brimming with humor, a little breathless too, “come on, i know you’ve been dying to do this.” he closes his eyes when she steps forward, trying to stifle a laugh, knowing how ridiculous it is. but if he’s being honest, it’s also kind of spontaneous and silly and fun. before she can roll her eyes or protest, he tilts his head just enough for their lips to touch. first, lightly, a little hesitant, but then alex lets out a quiet sigh against her mouth and could swear she’s smiling into the kiss, deepening it just enough to make his stomach feel all fluttery. it’s warm and sweet, tasting faintly of the energy drink he’s consumed and her fruity lip balm, and somehow it’s just perfect. the kind of kiss you later on remember in slow motion. when they pull apart, he’s flushed and laughing. “if i faint and fall, will i get banned from this gym?”