Stefan's arms felt warm, just like how he felt like the so many times we had slept together. I didn't mean sex, but just him holding on to me as we laid in bed. We slept together in the most innocent sense of the phrase. My head on his chest, his arms around me, and I wanted nothing more but to stay there. That was until he dropped the bomb that he thought that Katherine had managed to get inside Elena's body. When he saw my face filled with curiosity, he explained that Travelers could transport their spirits into another being, which could have been what Katherine did.

   "She doesn't give up," I sighed, sitting up from the bed and covering my chest with the blanket.

   "You know how it is," Stefan said, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me back. He laid a gentle kiss on my back, then looked up at me. "Katherine Pierce is a survivor."

   "I admire her for that, but..." I trailed off and furrowed my brows. "Stefan, does Damon know?" I asked. "He needs to know that it's Katherine in there, not Elena."

   "How was he?" he asked, sitting up. "You were with him for the past few days."

   "He's bad," I said. "Heartbroken, in pain. The sad thing is that I understand him, I know what's he's going through, because I've done it before. Not really out of heartbreak, but of pain."

   "Have you ever turned off your humanity?" Stefan asked as he laid his chin on my shoulder.

   I shook my head. "No," I truthfully answered, "I never really turned off my humanity. Elijah taught me how to push all the pain behind a door. It's almost just as good as turning off your humanity, but not as effective. The pain is still there, but lighter. That's why I'm always okay after something happened to me, because I push all of that pain behind a red door." I let out a chuckle and glanced over at him. "It's gonna come back and bite me in the ass, I know."

   "We all have a coping mechanism," he said as he laid a kiss in the spot between my neck and shoulder. "Yours just happens to be pushing it back."

   I took a deep breath and nodded, almost feeling calm. As soon as the calmness came to me, it soon left when I remembered that Damon was tied up in the cellar without knowing that it wasn't Elena who broke up with him. I turned back to Stefan. "We should tell Damon, shouldn't we?"

   "Can we stay here a little longer?" he asked, laying back on the pillow. "Just you and me."

   I stood and shook my head, still smiling. "I wish, but your ex-girlfriend is in your other ex-girlfriend's body and I think we need to fix that." I slowly stepped back to the bathroom, watching him. When I got to the door, he was still laying down. "Well, aren't you joining me for a shower?"

   After out shower, we got dressed and visited Damon in the cellar. He was tied up to chains, uncomfortable looking ones that seemed to be weighting him down. His brows raised when we walked in, an amused smirk when he caught my eyes.

   "How can I help you two?" he asked, arching a brow as he bit his lips between his teeth. "You two here to show off your happiness?"

   I rolled my eyes. "No, we're here to tell you some news that may be bad," I said, crossing my arms and leaning back on the wall.

   "And that is?" he asked.

   "Katherine has been impersonating Elena for the past few weeks," I said, making a face at how horrendous it sounded. "To explain better, she's inhabiting Elena's body."

   Damon made a face and shook his head. "She is brilliant."

   "We haven't noticed that Katherine's been inhabiting Elena's body for weeks, and that's all you have to say?" Stefan asked, his tone filled with a bit of disbelief.

   "Yep," the older Salvatore nodded.

   "And you realise it was Katherine that broke up with you," I said, raising a brow, "not Elena?"

   "Mhmm," Damon hummed, looking uninterested.

   "Right," Stefan nodded. He pushed himself from the wall and walked a bit closer to his brother. "So, your little murder spree with Enzo, where you, uh, killed Aaron, you nearly killed Jeremy, and you tried to kill Wes, but you got infected with that ripper virus. That was all you reacting. To Katherine."

   Damon rolled his eyes, not in any way amused. "I'm trying to figure out why you decided to tell a starving, bloodthirsty, vampire-feeding Ripper that his nemesis is still walking around, alive and well, while I'm stuck in this cell and can't do anything about it."

   "I have it under control," Stefan answered, crossing his arms.

   "I would love to hear this," Damon mused.

   "Caroline's here," I said as I heard her heels on the wooden floor. There were two other people with her: Matt and Tyler. It was easy to know it was Matt because of his strong heartbeat and his his soft footing. Tyler, on the other hand, walked gruffly, as if he were ready to attack at any moment. I turned to Stefan. "You go up there and talk to them, I'll stay here with him."

   "You sure?" he asked, furrowing his brows.

   "Come on, Stefan," Damon groaned, rolling his eyes. "She's a big girl. If I go in for a bite, she'll just snap my neck."

   I pointed at him and nodded. "Exactly," I smiled. He stared at me for a couple of seconds, glanced at his brother, and nodded. I watched him leave, listening in closely to hear his footsteps go upstairs and then the door close behind him. A few steps later, I turned back to Damon. "How are you feeling?"

   "Hungry," he responded, falling to his knees.

   "Yeah," I breathed, leaning against the mound of dirt besides him. "I know how that feels. It's terrible, isn't it? Knowing that you can bite into the person standing in front of you but wanting to control yourself."

   "Not helping," he mumbled, rolling his eyes.

   I smiled softly at him. "Sorry," I said, "that was stupid. I made you even more hungry, didn't I?"

   Damon looked up at me. His eyes darkened into red, the veins bulging underneath his skin. It was only for a second, but the hunger was there in plain sight. He blinked and took a deep breath, his face going back to normal.

   "What are they talking about up there?" he asked, pointing at the door with his chin.

   "They're talking about how to get rid of Katherine from Elena's body," I said. "Some Travelers knife that Nadia gave Katherine..." I listened in to their conversation, brows furrowing. "And, apparently, Tyler bit Nadia."

   "The bitch had it coming," he grumbled, sounding annoyed. "Like mother, like daughter."

   "I feel bad for Nadia," I said as I tilted my head to the side. "She spent so many years searching for her mother, and Katherine could care less about her."

   Damon watched for several seconds, his lips pursed and quirked to the side. "Have you told him?" he asked. He pointed at my stomach with his chin, indicating what.

   "No," I said, shaking my head.

   "Why?"

   "Because I'm afraid," I simply said, turning away from him. "How do I tell the man I love that I was pregnant with his brother's baby, lost it because I got killed, and found out about it almost two hundred years later?"

   "Just like that," Damon said with a shrug of his shoulders. "Easy."

   I rolled my eyes. "I don't think you understand, Damon," I said, a sarcastic chuckle escaping my lips. "You don't know how painful it is..."

   "I don't?" he interrupted. He let out a scoff and shook his head, the hunger leaving his eyes. "Clara, it's painful for me, too. Not as bad as yours, but it hurts. I could have had a family, Clara. Children, a big house, a happy life-it could have been possible. So, yeah, it's not as painful as your pain, but it still is."

   I was thinking too much of myself to even think about the pain Damon must have felt when he heard Katherine admit that she knew that I was pregnant. It took two people to create a child, and he was the second in that dance. We had spoken about wanting a family when we were human, about living together and about having a happy life. It was five children, a big family that was filled with more love than anything in the world. It was him that wanted it the most, and me being stupidly in love would have given it to him in the flick of a heartbeat.

   "Sorry," I said, glancing down. "I didn't you felt that way about this situation."

   Damon nodded. "Well, yeah." He glanced around for a couple of seconds, and then looked at the door. "Stefan's coming."

   Stefan came in through the door, a small cup in his hands. He glanced at me, gave me a soft smile, then glanced at his brother. He bit into his wrist and let the blood dribble onto the cup.

   "What are you doing?" I asked, raising a brow in curiosity.

   He walked up to his brother and offered the cup. "Here you go," he said. "Drink."

   Even before he could finish speaking, Damon grabbed the glass and chugged it. He licked his lips and looked up at his brother. "I need more," he said.

   "Too bad," Stefan responded, shrugging his shoulders.

   "That was nothing!" Damon showed him the cup, making a face.

   "That was exactly four ounces," Stefan explained. "When you were out killing vampires, you said one vampire kept you good for eight hours. So, our friend Caroline did a little bit of math."

   "Caroline?" I questioned. She wasn't the best at math, if I were to be honest.

   "She had a calculator," Stefan explained with a shrug of his shoulders. So: four ounces, three times a day should be just enough to help you manage the hunger."

   Damon stood and glared, a smirk growing on his lips. "Manage me?"

   "So you don't rip anyone's head off," his brother said with a bit of care. "We'll deal with your crisis once we get Elena back."

   "I'll deal with my own crisis," Damon said, throwing his head back in annoyance. "Listen, you just let me out of here, I'll find Wes, I'll get the antidote..."

   "And then what, huh?" Stefan snapped. "You skip town, you leave it to me to tell Elena everything you did after you thought she broke up with you? No."

   "Enough!" I yelled, stepping between the brothers. "That is enough, okay? Right now, you two need to stop fighting because the bigger problem is that Katherine is still alive and in Elena's body." I glanced at each brother with each word that left my mouth, seeing that they both steepened and looked down. I grabbed my phone from my back pocket and looked through my contacts. When I found the contact name, I began to call.

   "Who are you calling, Clara?" Damon asked, a brow raised.

   "Katherine," I simply said. "From what I heard, she isn't falling for anyone's lies, so I thought maybe I should give it a try. If there's one thing she can't resist, it's Stefan." I glanced at him and raised my brows quickly, letting out a sigh afterwards.

   "Clara, hey!" she answered, her tone sounding a bit off. I felt horrible that I didn't realise that it was Katherine instead of Elena. "What's up?"

   "Hey, um, I was wondering if you could come by," I said, making myself sound sad.

   "I can't..."

   "Boy trouble," I quickly said. "We've talked so much about this, and I seriously need your help now."

   "I'm a little busy at the moment," she said. "Can't you tell me through the phone?"

   "Well, I think I may still have feelings for Damon," I said. MY eyes shifted towards Stefan, and I quickly shook my head so he'd know that I was lying. "I mean, I'm with Stefan but my feelings for Damon are still there. Can you come over?"

   "I can't," she said again. "I'm making arrangements for Aaron Whitmore's funeral. The only reason Damon killed him was because we broke up, so I kinda feel like I owe it to Aaron. You understand, right?"

   I pursed my lips and closed my eyes, annoyed. "Of course!" I muttered, shaking my head. "That's so nice of you, Elena. We'll, I guess I'll talk to Caroline about it." I hung up the phone and let out a groan as I looked at both brothers. "Well, obviously, that didn't work."

   Stefan took out his phone after and began to call. "Katherine's been making a lot of excuses," he said. "I have a feeling she won't say no to me." Another phone began to ring. He pulled the other phone from his pocket and furrowed his brows. "It's your phone," he told Damon. "Elena is calling. Answer it."

   Damon grabbed the phone from his hand and pressed it to his ear. "Elena, hey."

   "Hey, um, how are you?"

   "Oh, you know, strung up, hungry, same old same old."

   "Now that the dust has settled, I was hoping that, I don't know, maybe we can talk about what happened at the farm house. Can I see you?"

   Damon became confused at that moment. "Okay, sure," he said. "Why don't you come to the house and we'll talk about it here?"

   "Perfect. I'll see you soon."

   "Okay, bye." He slowly pulled his phone from his ear, confused. "Okay, what just happened?"

   "That doesn't make any sense," I said, crossing my arms and shaking my head. "She has dodged each of our attempts, and now she voluntarily wants to come?"

   "Unless..." Damon said, eyes squinted as the answers came through his head. The confused look left and was overthrown by the look of defeat. "She was testing me. She knows."

   "That's great," I nodded, making a face. "She probably already has ten different outtakes for whatever plans we make to go against her."

   "Nothing a little locator spell can't fix," Damon said, his voice almost sounding like a hum. I looked down at him, seeing the small innocent look in his face.

   "No, no, he's right," Stefan nodded, taking out his phone. "Let me call Bonnie." He left the cell with his phone by his ear.

   I turned back to Damon. "You okay alone in here for a couple of minutes?" I asked, raising a brow.

   "I've spent more time in here than any of you," he said, sounding defeat. "Don't worry about little ol' me."

   "I'm the babysitter," Tyler said as he walked in with an annoyed look. "While they try to figure out how to get Elena back, I'm stuck babysitting you."

   "Sorry," I mouthed as I passed by him. I followed Stefan's voice upstairs, seeing him standing in the parlour with the phone by his ear.

   Bonnie was the anchor, which meant that she didn't really possess magic at the moment. While the dead supernatural creatures passed through her to get through the Other Side, Bonnie Bennett had absolutely no magic. I wondered how she felt without it, but I never bothered to ask in wary that she may feel bad if I remembered her about it.

   When Stefan finished talking to her on the phone, he turned to me and smiled. I raised a brow, wondering why did he stare at me so much. "Okay, do I have something on my face?" I asked, rubbing my cheeks with the palm of my hands. He let out a chuckle, which made me continue rubbing my skin. "Seriously, do I?"

   "No," he said as he walked closer to me. He stopped in front of me, laid his hands on my neck, and pulled me in for a kiss. It was a quick and gentle kiss, lasting a few seconds but feeling like a magnificent sense of euphoria.

   "What was that for?" I asked, glancing from his lips to his eyes.

   "That's because I just wanted to kiss you," he said. He grabbed my hand and pulled me up his room, and then kissed me. It was soft and gentle, both of us with smiles on our lips. I grabbed on to his shirt, pulling him closer as our lips danced together in a synchronised dance. When he pulled away, his lips were slightly smeared red with the lipstick colour I was wearing. "Clara, can I tell you something?"

   I nodded, not trusting my own voice.

   "I love you," he simply said, smiling. "I love you in the simplest sense of that word, Clara."

   I smiled. "I love you, too," I said, a laugh following afterwards. It felt surreal to say those words to him, because they sounded strange. I've said those three words to only two men in my life, and they were both brothers, and that was weird and very strange.

   Stefan let out a laugh, running a hand through his hair. "You know, I never imagined hearing you say those words back to me," he said. "Actually, yeah, I did imagine, but I never expected that to become a reality."

   I raised a brow. "You imagined? Huh, tell me more about that."

   The smile disappeared form his face; his brows furrowed and he looked at me questioningly. "Do you hear that?" he asked.

   I listened in to what he was saying. Caroline was speaking to Tyler, who sounded hurt. I glanced at Stefan for a moment before speeding down to the cellar. Caroline stood close to Tyler, trying to examine his bloody neck but he continued to push her away. "What happened?" I asked, taking a step inside.

   "I think Damon went to go find Wes," Tyler said, rubbing where the blood was on his neck.

   Stefan sighed besides me, shaking his head. "I was afraid this would happen."

   "Okay, so, I'll go look for him," I said, shrugging my shoulders and slapping my hands against my thighs.

   "No!" Stefan immediately said as she shook his head. "You're not going, Clara. What if he feeds on you?"

   "He won't," I said with a soft smile. "If he tries to take a bit out of me, I'll break his neck. How about binding him with chains while I bring him back in the car?"

   "Uh, no!" Caroline spoke up, shaking her head. "I agree with Stefan on this, Clara. Damon's not thinking straight and he could kill you."

   Before I could say anything, a phone began to ring. We all looked at each other, until each of our eyes fell on Caroline. She sighed, pulled out her phone, and answered it. From the other line, I could hear Bonnie speaking. She said that her other witch friend had found where Katherine was hiding, at a church with her daughter. We all stared at each other as we listened in to the conversation.

   "Now what?" I asked, glancing at each person.

   "We go to church," Stefan said.

   "What if Damon comes back?" Caroline asked.

   "I'll stay," I said, straightening my back. "He's bound to come back. He doesn't want to admit it, but he hates being that way. He'll come back, and when he does, I'll chain him again."

   Stefan stared at me for a couple of seconds, then nodded. "I'll be back with Elena, then."

   "Hey, Stefan?" I took a step forward. When he turned back towards me, I immediately kissed him before he could say anything. "Don't kiss her again," I said, quietly, earning a small chuckle from him.

   "I, uh, won't," he said. He pulled me towards him and kissed me, quick and gentle. When he pulled away, he immediately left. I stared t the empty doorway for a second before turning to Caroline and Tyler. Caroline had a frown on her face while the werewolf held annoyance.

   "Did you tell him?" she immediately asked as I walked out of the cellar. "Clara, did you tell him about you and Damon?"

   "Whoa!" Tyler immediately collided. "What happened between her and Damon?"

   "Nothing!" I groaned, marching up the stairs and towards the parlour. I stopped and turned to Caroline. "Obviously, I'm going to tell him, but it doesn't seem like a good idea at the moment since Katherine is in Elena's body and Damon is feeding on vampires. I don't need to worry him about this, Care, not when there are worse things out there."

   "So?" She crossed her arms and gave me a look. "Clara, you two are together, which is a big finally from me because I was seriously waiting for this to happen. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that this is a big thing, and you can't get through with it alone." She stepped closer to me and shook her head. "Clara, I know this is hurting, I couldn't imagine going through that, so maybe it would be best to tell Stefan."

   "Tell me what?" Stefan asked. I turned to see him walking in with Nadia in his arms. He stared at us for a couple of seconds, brows furrowed.

   "Nothing," I said, glaring at Caroline for a second. "I, uh, accidentally broke one of the vases in the library. Sorry."

   By the look in his eyes, it was obvious that he didn't fall for it, but he dropped the conversation. He took Nadia to one of the rooms, grabbed her phone, and called Katherine. It took several seconds for her to answer, but when she did she sounded desperate.

   "Nadia, I'm coming back to the church right now."

   "She's not at the church anymore," Stefan said, laying a hand on his waist. "She's with me, at home."

   "Stefan, why do you have Nadia's phone?"

   "She doesn't have much time left, Katherine," Stefan said with a sigh.

   "I don't know what you are talking about." She sounded dumb, confused.

   Stefan let out an emotionless chuckle. "I know it's you, and I know you care about Nadia. That's why I brought her here."

   "Prove it. Put her on the phone."

   Stefan gave the phone to Nadia. She weakly gripped it, breathing hard. "Katherine. Run."

   Stefan took the phone back. "You can always run, Katherine. That's what you do best. Or, you can come home and see your daughter one last time before she dies. It's your choice." He ended the call and laid the phone on the bedside table before walking away. I stared at his retriting figure for a couple of seconds, then turned to Nadia. She looked just like Rose did, but there was a part of me that felt worse for her.

   Matt took a seat besides her and grabbed her hands. "Your hands are like ice," he said, frowning.

   "Gregor..." Nadia said, confused.

   "No, it's Matt. I'm not..."

   "Gregor, I'm sorry I betrayed you," Nadia continued. "I did it for my mother. I did everything for her."

   "I know you did," Matt said with a frown, his tone obviously saddened.

   "Forgive me?"

   "Yes, I forgive you," Matt said, adopting an accent. "Hey, shh, it's okay. It's okay, shh."

   "I don't wanna die," Nadia said, tearing up and her voice breaking. Bonnie took a seat besides her and grabbed her hand, giving her a gentle smile. The girl turned to her. "What's gonna happen when I die?"

   "I'll take your hand, and you'll go to the Other Side," Bonnie said. "Just like that."

   "Will it hurt?" Nadia asked. 

   Bonnie forced herself to smile as she looked down at the girl. "You won't feel any pain."

   At that moment, Katherine walked in. She didn't look as if she were ready to fight, but worried. Her eyes landed on us for a second, her back straightened, and that worried look soon left her eyes. "I'm here to see my daughter," she said, sternly. She hurried to Nadia's side and took her hand. "Nadia..."

   "You came back for me," Nadia said softly, brows furrowing. 

   "I won't leave you again," Katherine whispered, a heartbroken smile on her lips.

   "Did you find a way to save me?" Nadia asked, her tone as if she already knew the answer. 

   "Klaus' blood would have saved you," Katherine sighed, "if I asked for it."

   "You would have outed yourself."

   "But you would have been alive. And now, it's too late."

   Nadia closed her eyes for a second, and when she opened them again it seemed like she was far away. "My mother's name is Katherine," she began. "I'm looking for her." At that moment I realised that she was hallucinating, one of the many side-effects of werewolf venom. 

   "You found me," Katherine said, frowning. "Nadia, I'm right here."

   "She's a liar and a murderer," Nadia continued. "She manipulates, she betrays... She'll do anything to survive."

    Katherine stared down at her daughter in surprise, but also in pain. Her eyes showed pain, something I had never seen in the infamous Katherine Pierce. "Nadia, no," she mumbled as she shook her head. "I'm right here. Nadia, look at me. Look at me. I'm here, I'm right here."

   "I'm looking for my mother."

   It was then when I realised that Nadia was long-gone. She was hallucinating too much, a sign that she was to die at any moment. From the dying girl, I looked at her mother.

   Katherine frowned. "This is not what your life should have been. Five hundred years searching for a mother who ended up being me." She touched her daughter's face and sighed. "Let me show you what your life should have been. What a perfect day would be like." Her eyes were filled with tears, a sadness I had never seen in the infamous Katherine Pierce. "You and I had a little cottage. It was an ordinary summer day. You were playing outside, you were tired and it was time for bed. You told me about the fort you built out in the woods by the river. So I asked if I could visit, and you said when you when the sun came out in the morning. And I said, goodnight Nadia." Katherine stared at her daughter with a frown, with heartbreak and pain. She was crying, something I had never seen her do. She leaned down and kissed Nadia's forehead. "Your mother loves you."

   Not even a few seconds later, Bonnie yelled out in pain. She doubled over and held on to herself, a sign that Nadia has passed to the Other Side. Katherine let out a soft sigh, covered her daughter's eyes with her hand, then covered her body with the blanket. She straightened herself and looked over at us, a slight glare in her eyes. She tried to speed out of the house, but Damon was standing by the front door.

   "Hello, Katherine," he smiled. "You didn't think I'd miss this, did you?" He walked in, forcing her to walk back to the foyer. 

   "Okay, so, who's got the knife?" she asked, finally in defeat. "Which one of you is gonna kill the elusive Katherine Pierce once and for all?" She waited for one of us to speak, but we all stayed silent. "What? Suddenly everyone's speechless? When I was on my deathbed you all had plenty to say." She walked over to Tyler, taunting him about giving him an identity and making him matter. Caroline stopped him, and she was soon part of Katherine's taunt. Katherine taunted everyone, a sort-of goodbye that made everyone know how horrible she was and what puerile she brought to our lives. From Caroline she moved towards Matt, then to Bonnie, Damon, until she stood in front of me with a small smirk.

   "Clara," she breathed, almost annoyed. "Clara, I never got to say what I needed to say to you. I'm sorry. You blame me for who you are, and I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I turned you. I'm sorry that you didn't get to die as Mrs. Salvatore and died during childbirth, or you know, consumption. I'm sorry that I showed you how to live, how to explore, how to have passion without care and love without remorse." She took a step closer to me. "You wouldn't have been such a terrible mother, Clara." She turned to Damon, a small smirk around her lips. "And you would have been a nice father." She turned to Stefan and moved over to him. "Uncle Stefan would have been a nice thing, right?"

   "What are you talking about?" Stefan asked, glancing from me to Damon, then to Katherine.

   "Oh, you have yet to know..." She chuckled, but it soon died down as she moved closer to him. "Stefan. You know, I've always wondered how it would be like to be loved by you. You gotta admit, for that one fleeting moment, your feelings were real. It truly has been the role of a lifetime. Stefan, I love you. And I've always loved you."

   Stefan simply stared at her for a couple of seconds. He took a step forward and pushed the Traveler's knife into her stomach. Katherine let out a gasp, but continued to stare at Stefan. "Then I guess this is how...our love story ends." She fell down, but Matt caught her before she touched the ground. Matt let her sink to the ground, leaning against the couch. We all watched her for a couple of seconds, waiting for something to happen. Katherine closed her eyes. When she opened them they're black. She closed them and opened them again, revealing the normal brown eyes we've all known. Once again, she passed out.

   Stefan then marched out of the room, leaving us all alone. I stared after him, biting my lower lip in anxiousness. He was angry, confused, I could see it in his eyes. The words Katherine said confused him, made him angry, and it made me feel absolutely horrible. 

   "Go after him," Damon said as he picked up Elena's body. 

   I nodded, and hurried after Stefan. He went upstairs, probably to his room. And that was when I saw him. He was in his balcony, hands holding tightly to the railing as he stared at the woods. I slowly walked in, afraid of what could happen. He didn't turn around, but continued to stare. I took a stand next to him, and bit my bottom lip. How could I tell him? I decided to wrap my arms around his waist and lay my head on his back, tightly holding on to him. If I let go, I felt that he would be gone.

   "I'm sorry," I softly said, pressing my lips against his shirt to make me sound muffled. "Stefan, I'm so sorry that I didn't tell you before."

   Stefan's hand laid on top of mine as he slightly leaned back on my touch. "Clara, what she said..."

   "When I died, I was apparently pregnant," I said, softly and slowly, afraid. My voice trembled with each word. "Two months. When I was in that sleep, Helen told me that I was pregnant when I died. Katherine confirmed it when her body died, telling me that she could hear its heartbeat." I sniffed and hid my face on his back, pressing myself closer to him. "Stefan, I was terrified of telling you."

   "Why?" he asked, turning. My arms were still wrapped around his waist, my head now leaning on his chest. "Clara, why?"

   "How the hell could I tell you that I was pregnant with Damon's child?" I asked, finally glancing up at him. "How could I tell you that I could have been a mother if Katherine did not kill me?"

   "By just telling me," he said, laying his hands on my cheeks. "I would have understood, Clara. I would have held you close and let you cry on my shoulder, I would have let you be in pain because that's how we get over things." He pecked me on the lips, quickly. "You should have just told me, because I wouldn't care. Well, I would care, but not to the point that I would leave you." He smiled and leaned his forehead against mine. "I love you, Clara, and nothing is gonna change that."