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the apartment smells musty. his eyes water as dust fluttered from the door. he surveyed the studio, willing himself to remember. klaus was so infuriatingly smug about this town, like the cat that ate the canary (his lips even twisted just so, as if trying to hold some jumping thing inside.) but rebekah is slowly waking in her coffin, like snow white in reverse, and klaus has sent stefan packing to this lonely bachelor pad on what he called an “educational field trip.” “the pantry i think you’ll find exceptionally interesting.”
stefan takes a step, his frustration and confusion making him long for the feel of pliant flesh under his mouth even as he hates himself for the thought, but freezes as a small sound catches his ear. concentrating, he is silent as only a vampire could be - not a muscle or organ twitching out of place - only for his stomach to drop as he identifies the sound as a heartbeat. a very human heartbeat.
he moves with vamp speed to the panel door in the hall that must be the pantry, knowing even as he pushes open the door what he will see. once he had heard it, really heard it, he had known the cadence of that pulse and the air had come alive with the smell of tea roses and honey, as if a garden had waited for his attention to bloom.
but while he knew, he knew it would be her, nothing could prepare him for the impact. her brown eyes, wide and adoring with just the slightest edge of fear, scorch him. he remembers vividly staring into them as he sank into her body for the first time, feeling the heat of her own flesh bring him to life. his body is alight, every nerve ending flaring like the status lights on an old switchboard. he hears his breath hitch as she smiles shyly at him, like juliet meeting romeo on the balcony, and emotions he has suppressed for months (he does not acknowledge the moment of weakness when his hands dialed her number. he did not speak, it did not happen, and he will never speak of it.). he feels as if he is falling from the top of the ferris wheel he had whooshed her to all those nights ago, in another life that he never lived, that he never deserved.
his eyes move past her, he needs a reprieve from the endless depths of her gaze, and at first all he sees is gibberish. endless black scrawling on aged yellow walls. but he recognizes a name and click click click the pieces fit together. and he feels slightly ill as he realizes that elena is standing in front of a wall with the names of his victims, hundreds of them scrawled in stark black.
and she is still gazing at him like he is the knight on a white horse. instead of the monster at its heels.
he opens his mouth to say - what are you doing here are you insane don’t you realize what this is why are you looking at me like that do you know where i’ve been what i’ve done how i’ve loved it do you still love me can i go home with you and we pretend this never happened - but she takes the smallest step towards him and her scent is so strong - tea rose and honey and blood thick hot pulsing right there it would be so easy warmthickred - and he doesn’t know whether he wants to kiss her or kill her so he goes with the former.
she makes a tiny sound of surprise as his lips crash against hers and he wonders briefly if he is hurting her - he never kissed her like this before, even their most passionate embraces he tempered for her benefit - but she presses back against him and everything goes white and red behind his eyes. he pushes her back against the wall, hearing her head thump against the wall and he knows he should stop, should apologize, that’s what her stefan would do, but she is kissing him back and her tongue is tangling with his, hot and wild. he snarls against her mouth and she giggles, because he always does this, but she doesn’t realize it is different this time because he catches her lips between his teeth and the flesh is warm and soft and he imagines it is her neck parting beneath his teeth like melted butter. it should horrify him, but he feels his pants tighten and his flesh feels like it is on fire.
elena’s legs wrap around his waist, her groin pressing hot against him, and he can smell her arousal. she tries to tilt her head, to let his lips trail down her neck like they would do any other time, but he bites down a bit too sharply on her tongue in order to stop himself. he thinks she will push him off but she moans into his mouth and pushes her hands up his back, bunching up his shirt to reveal the solid muscles of his back. he breaks away from her mouth, panting, and drops his eyes to her already chapped lips as she strips away his shirt and then her own. her chest is flushed above her purple bra and he cups a breast gently, before squeezing when he feels the heat beneath his palm. he feels his lust and his hunger building to a fever pitch in tandem, and he plunges his tongue into her mouth again.
she is fumbling at his fly and he could cry from gratitude - he either needs to fuck her or feed on her, now, and he knows there is only one choice with an ending he can live with. he is so hard it is almost painful, and he has her jeans undone and thrown to the floor by the time she frees him from his. his tongue curls around her teeth as he plunges into her and both groan loudly. she is hotter and tighter than he even remembered, and he wonders if this will be the last time he feels her like this and if it is he needs to make it worth it. he supports her with one hand, and now that he is inside her he feels a sharp focus that edges out the bloodlust so he breaks from their frenzied kiss and takes in every bit of her.
her disheveled hair, wild around her face like a chestnut halo. her brown eyes, sparkling and half-lidded with lust. he trails a finger down her cheek, olive skin flushed beautifully, his touch gentle even as he thrusts into her at a punishing pace. her lips, he touches and she presses a light kiss to his fingertip that sends a full body shudder through him and causes him to drive as deeply into her as he can. she gasps and clutches his back, one of her legs wrapped around the back of his thigh as if to press him closer. her breasts rise and fall with her breaths and bounce slightly as she rocks her hips to meet his thrusts. and he looks down at where they meet, his pale skin disappearing into the warm tan of her thighs, the neatly trimmed black hair. the sight of it nearly drives him to the edge. he can feel her muscles around him, and he circles her clit with the finger she kissed and is rewarded with a pleasant clenching, like a wave. he buries his face in her neck, slowing his thrusts as he brings himself to the brink with the smell of her blood just under the skin. when he feels her thighs clamp around him, feels her nails dig into his back and her breath hitch, he pulls himself all the way out of her and slams back in in one motion.
elena convulses around him as he pulses inside her. their climax is the whisper after a cyclone, their breaths holding in their chests and releasing in a simultaneous shudder as the entire apartment seems to come back to life around them. he presses his forehead against hers, one last tender touch, but her eyes are closed and he thinks he sees teardrops in her eyelashes.
they dress in silence. they have already said too much. he steals a glance at the top of her head as she shimmies into her jeans. the sunlight seems to find the crown of her head like a beacon, it gleams with auburn highlights in the dimly lit apartment. he feels empty, but he realizes he does not feel hunger for the first time in 3 months.
he is gone by the time she has her shoes back on.