(no subject)
Title: Only ink settles in the skin, everything else is eraseable
Fandom: Vampire Diaries
Pairings: Stelena, implied Stefan/Caroline
It takes him over a year.
Months of waking up screaming, sweat gathered on his skin.
Months of his fangs dropping at even the mention of blood.
And it's only her voice that settles him.
Elena makes it sound good in her head.
Of course she would be the one to help. Caroline did after all find him and bring him home. She stayed with him and helped him gain enough control to be around his girlfriend.
It makes sense. Sound, good sense.
It's just...
Elena remembers a time when he would whisper her name across her skin. When he would touch her and every nerve ending would stand and make her shiver. Stefan was never a great talker at least not when it came to himself. But that used to be okay because all of his words were in his touch.
But now...
It isn't okay. He touches her and she can't hear him. It feels robotic and empty. She isn't sure if he does it because it's what he thinks he should be doing or because he just needs to remember how to get back to that place. Elena's not sure what scares her more. It used to be effortless, they used to be effortless.
They aren't anymore.
And Caroline. She's there a lot. There for him. They talk. He talks with her and it isn't words through touches. It's not like he leaves speeches on her skin, his breathe writing words as it moves across it. Nothing like that at all. It's just...Stefan talks. Words about his feelings and his fears leave his mouth. There isn't a steel cage imprisoning the letters. Elena's not sure when Caroline got the key.
Before or After.
Before or After.
Before or After.
She wants to know but she doesn't want to ask.
It shouldn't matter.
It doesn't matter.
Stefan is hers. He may be making his way up the beaten path but he's still hers. She marked him so she knows. It's her breath that drifts across his skin at night. It's her name that he calls when they touch and touch and touch until they can't touch anymore. It's her that he looks for in the morning and it's her that he looks for at night.
But...
She's not...she can't be...Elena isn't sure what to say. Caroline is something to him. She knows because he talks. In the library, in the garden, in his room, he talks and he only does it with Caroline. She's the only one so Elena knows.
She almost caught the courage to ask her.
(What does he talk about now? Now that it's been over a year. Now that he's been pulled from the edge. Why does he talk to you? Why won't he talk to me? Why you? Why you?)
But it slipped through her fingers.
When he takes his first step into town, she isn't there. Caroline is. Just like Caroline has been there from the start. Elena hears snippets of what happened through Caroline's giggles and happy, tinkling words. You did it! You did it! she says.
Elena tries but the tips of her lips refuse to turn upward. They'd rather stay down.
It's just...
He's touching her. He isn't speaking, he's just touching. It hurts. That is hers. That connection is hers.
Except it's not.
It takes him over a year.
Months of striving to find his way out of the darkness.
Months of tears and pain and...
It takes her only three days.
When she leaves it is only with a note.
Talking suits you. It also saved you.
Fandom: Vampire Diaries
Pairings: Stelena, implied Stefan/Caroline
It takes him over a year.
Months of waking up screaming, sweat gathered on his skin.
Months of his fangs dropping at even the mention of blood.
And it's only her voice that settles him.
Elena makes it sound good in her head.
Of course she would be the one to help. Caroline did after all find him and bring him home. She stayed with him and helped him gain enough control to be around his girlfriend.
It makes sense. Sound, good sense.
It's just...
Elena remembers a time when he would whisper her name across her skin. When he would touch her and every nerve ending would stand and make her shiver. Stefan was never a great talker at least not when it came to himself. But that used to be okay because all of his words were in his touch.
But now...
It isn't okay. He touches her and she can't hear him. It feels robotic and empty. She isn't sure if he does it because it's what he thinks he should be doing or because he just needs to remember how to get back to that place. Elena's not sure what scares her more. It used to be effortless, they used to be effortless.
They aren't anymore.
And Caroline. She's there a lot. There for him. They talk. He talks with her and it isn't words through touches. It's not like he leaves speeches on her skin, his breathe writing words as it moves across it. Nothing like that at all. It's just...Stefan talks. Words about his feelings and his fears leave his mouth. There isn't a steel cage imprisoning the letters. Elena's not sure when Caroline got the key.
Before or After.
Before or After.
Before or After.
She wants to know but she doesn't want to ask.
It shouldn't matter.
It doesn't matter.
Stefan is hers. He may be making his way up the beaten path but he's still hers. She marked him so she knows. It's her breath that drifts across his skin at night. It's her name that he calls when they touch and touch and touch until they can't touch anymore. It's her that he looks for in the morning and it's her that he looks for at night.
But...
She's not...she can't be...Elena isn't sure what to say. Caroline is something to him. She knows because he talks. In the library, in the garden, in his room, he talks and he only does it with Caroline. She's the only one so Elena knows.
She almost caught the courage to ask her.
(What does he talk about now? Now that it's been over a year. Now that he's been pulled from the edge. Why does he talk to you? Why won't he talk to me? Why you? Why you?)
But it slipped through her fingers.
When he takes his first step into town, she isn't there. Caroline is. Just like Caroline has been there from the start. Elena hears snippets of what happened through Caroline's giggles and happy, tinkling words. You did it! You did it! she says.
Elena tries but the tips of her lips refuse to turn upward. They'd rather stay down.
It's just...
He's touching her. He isn't speaking, he's just touching. It hurts. That is hers. That connection is hers.
Except it's not.
It takes him over a year.
Months of striving to find his way out of the darkness.
Months of tears and pain and...
It takes her only three days.
When she leaves it is only with a note.
Talking suits you. It also saved you.