#echoerthei

     If I let myself care, all I feel is pain. Walking away from Elena wasn’t as easy as Stefan had made it out to be. The not caring facade he had going on, was harder to muster. Due to the fact that every day, he could feel farther and farther away from the one he loved the most. As the vampire walked away, he can feel her eyes burning onto his back. A deep breath is drawn in, letting some of the smoke from the cold evening slip past his lips. The night felt colder than usual leaving the Gilbert home. The past atrocities committed as the Ripper followed him wherever he went. An albatross that wouldn’t let him live the way he wanted to. There was always a threat. Whether it was the Mikaelson family, another enemy --- or himself. If Elena was willing to seek peace among someone who brought nothing but suffering to her life, she could forgive him. But the question was --- could he forgive himself?

    Before stepping out into the sidewalk, Stefan came to a stop. There was still an ongoing battle inside of him. A chronic war within. Would he ever win? His head cants downward, staring at the ground. Certain that Elena was still standing out on her porch, it was a hunch. It took so much strength to finally look up at her, bright eyes settled on her. 

     He took careful steps back to the home, hands inside the pockets of his black slacks. There was still a nonchalant expression on his face. Yet his action showed that deep down, there was still who he used to, the guy that would do anything for the one he loved. And he did. Once the male made it back to stand at only a few feet away from Elena, there are no words that come out. Another deep breath is drawn in, head tilting back and eyes averted elsewhere. “Elena I... Can you forgive me?”

so old. when are you getting married? what about kids?

Their mission was supposed to have been relatively simple; in and out without their enemy noticing they were even there. Except somehow the Skull's men realised they were there and they ended up having to retreat before they lost any of their men. Unfortunately, that meant that most of them returned with some sort of injury. Well, almost everyone. Somehow he'd managed to get away with nothing more than a few scratches. The same couldn't be said about the rest of his men. And it was why Steve had decided to check in on his men. What sort of leader would he be if he didn't at least make certain they were okay? One he refused to allow himself to be.

"Oh, hi. I, uh, wasn't expecting someone else to be here." He thought he'd met all the nurses that were at their current camp. But standing there was one he'd yet to see. Or maybe that had everything to do with the fact that he'd had enough of being poked and prodded back during his time in Brooklyn. "You must be new," Steve said, shifting from one foot to another. A part of him hoped that she hadn't seen him during his touring days. If so — he was just going to ignore that part of his life. And he was going to shove all of that aside. He wasn't there to talk about those days. He needed to see how his men were doing. "I just stopped by to see how the men who came in earlier were doing."