Dr. Laughlin walked into the room with two X-rays in her hands, a soft but defeated look on her face. "I had Duke send over Colin's medical records. This head scan is from earlier this week." She places one of the X-rays on the lit-up board, showing his brain with only two red spots. With hesitation, she placed the other X-ray besides it. "This one was taken right here, ten minutes ago. See all that red?"

   Colin Phelps was a man that had an inoperable tumour in his brain. He had been zapped with radiation for months, only to be unable to be saved. Caroline, searching for something that could save her mother, decided to give him her blood. An hour after, he was perfect. He was walking around the hospital and eating from the vending machine, claiming that it had been a long time since he had an appetite. The next morning, he appeared in Caroline's house as a vampire.

   "Well, I'm no doctor but that guy is screwed," Damon hummed.

   I hit his chest with my arm and rolled my eyes, then turned to Dr. Laughlin. "In other words, that X-ray shows that the blood didn't heal him, it sped up his cancer and killed him?" I knew the answer, but I just needed confirmation from somebody else.

   Dr. Laughlin nodded. "So now, I have a stage ten cancer patient. Which, by the way, doesn't exist. He is beyond terminally ill, and a vampire, meaning all of his emotions are heightened and he can't die."

   I ran a hand through my hair and shook my head. "Then we kill him," I said. "He's suffering as we speak, so why not stake him?"

   "No offence," Damon spoke up, slightly leaning back, "but could someone tell me why was I called down here to listen to the story of Colin the Cancer Vamp?"

   Liz walked into the room, her lips pressed together tightly. "Because Caroline fed me her blood last night," she said, her eyes darting to each person in the room. "So the same thing is gonna happen to me."

   "W-what?" I blinked several times as I allowed the words to sink in. They sounded distant, as if I was in the room but at the same time I was covered by a thick blanket. I had to breathe in several times as I tried to make sense of her words.

   I knew that Caroline would have fed her blood if it worked on Colin; I basically encouraged her to do it as soon as possible. But, as soon as I received the call of Colin appearing in her house and being a vampire, my encouragement to her disappeared in my mind. I forgot about it, about the words so full of hope that I plastered into her mind. There was a huge part of me that blamed myself for Liz's predicament, for the frightened look in her face and Caroline's. 

   "This can't be happening..." I uttered, shaking my head. My arms were crossed, as if I were trying to hold myself together and not break. "Liz, you can't be... This can't happen to you!" Everyone had left the room, except for Caroline, Dr. Laughlin, Damon, and her. I turned to the doctor. "Is there anything you can do about this?"

   Dr. Laughlin opened and closed her mouth, as if she were searching for the words to say. In the end, she ended up shrugging her shoulders and shaking her head. "This is far from my medical expertise," she said. "This isn't medical, but a magical problem."

   "There must be something that can be done," Caroline said, her voice breaking. "Please."

   Dr. Laughlin stared at her for several seconds, biting her lower lip as she appeared to be deep in thought. "Maybe we can do a blood transfusion," she said, slowly, obviously unsure. She turned to Liz. "First, let's get you into a room."

   Liz was put into a private room and hooked up to machines. As soon as she laid down, her eyes closed and she fell asleep. It seemed that she had been restless, and it had taken a toll on her. In that moment, she appeared so human, so fragile. 

   I stood outside of her room, staring in through the window with my arms crossed and nervousness eating at me. My eyes went from her face to the machine that counted her heartbeats, searching for any sign that something was happening. Someone laid their hand on my shoulder, causing me to jump and quickly turn to the owner. Damon stood besides me, brows furrowed. 

   "You're jumpy," he said, his eyes moving from me to Liz. 

   "Wonderful observation," I hummed. "Please, tell me more about how I'm jumpy"

   Damon clicked his tongue and shook his head, crossing his arms. "You don't need to snap at me, Clara," he said, softly. "I'm just as worried as you are, probably a little less."

   I turned to him and glared. "Are you really worried?" I asked, my voice laced with an anger I couldn't place. "Or are you just annoyed that you can't have your little date with Elena?"

   "Don't snap at me," he repeated. "Clara, you should remember that Liz and I are pretty close. I mean, as far as humans go, she's tolerable. And I know you enough to know that you're taking your anger out on me me. So, tell me, who or what are you angry at?"

   "Myself," I truthfully said, my bottom lip quivering a bit. "I'm furious because I encouraged Caroline to feed Liz her blood. It worked with Colin at Duke, so why not with her?" I swallowed hard and shook my head, forcing back the tears that threatened to fall. My eyes landed on Liz, the fragile and mortal woman that had treated me as her own daughter. She had cared for me like she had cared for Caroline, with big grins and laughter. When we went out during the summer, she included me in pictures that she took with Caroline, saying that I also needed to be there because I was family. She couldn't die.

   "I'm terrified that she's going to die, Damon," I continued, my voice breaking. "And if she does, I don't know what to do with myself or with Caroline."

   Damon wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me towards him. "You're taking this a lot harder than I thought," he mumbled.

   Dr. Laughlin minced towards us, her face showing the obvious nervousness. "Medically speaking, this is our best option," she said. "If vampire blood is the issue, then a full transfusion of human blood might stabilise her condition."

   "Please, sound less confident, Doc." The sarcasm in his voice was clear as he glared at her.

   "Look, we are in uncharted territory here," she explained. "Like I told Clara, this isn't just a medical problem, Damon, it's a magical one."

   "Well, then you're uniquely qualified." The side of his lip quirked upwards, the sarcastic smirk painted perfectly on his lips. "Witch-doctor and all."

   Dr. Laughlin looked at him in annoyance. "Now you believe in my magic? Gee, thanks. Unfortunately, this goes beyond any witch ability I've ever heard of. But please, if you have a better plan, I'm all ears."

   "This should work," I spoke up and nodded. "This needs to work, because right now we have no other option than this." I turned to the doctor and glared, holding myself back from grabbing her neck. "So, I need you to do whatever possible to make sure that Liz survives, okay? You're a doctor, your job is to saves lives—save hers."

   I turned and marched away, hugging myself tightly as if I would fall apart. Each step that I took felt heavier, as if my ankles had been grabbed by an invisible force and pulled me down whenever my foot raised. I felt tired and drained, powerless in such a dire situation. In other words, I was terrified. I took a seat in the waiting room and covered my face with my hands, forcing back the tears that threatened to fall. 

   A familiar arm went around my shoulders, the cool touch of the leather jacket giving me a small comfort. I leaned my head against his shoulder, closing my eyes and allowing that small comfort to at calm me down. It was like taking a hot shower on a cold night, but then standing naked and letting the cold wind nip at your skin. The warmth was just there for several moments, and I was waiting for it to disappear at any moment.

   "You know," I began, my voice soft and drained, "there are times where I wish that the supernatural world didn't exist."

   "Me too," Damon responded, his voice just as quiet. 

   I opened my eyes and stared at nothing. "If they didn't, nothing bad would have happened. Silas, Qetsiyah, and Amara would just have been a story of ill love. The Originals would have been a broken family in the past. Katherine would have found some nice husband in England, and her family wouldn't have been murdered."

   "We would have been married," Damon finished for me, his head resting on top of mine. "Several children, probably. We'd live in a big house, with a lot of land, and we'd be happy. But, then you would have gotten sick, and since medicine back then was terrible, you would have died. You would have left me a widow to take care of our kids."

   I scoffed and sat up, glaring at him playfully. "You would have remarried," I said, a small laugh escaping my lips. "Knowing you, you would have wooed the next girl to pass by you and made her Mrs. Damon Salvatore."

   Damon's lips quirked into a smirk, amusement clear on his face. "Jealous, huh? Come on, Clara, you know that you were the only girl for me. I would have stayed a widow and taken care of our children."

   As soon as those words left his mouth, my hand went towards my stomach. I had been pregnant before I died; the possibility of having a family could have been possible, if the supernatural world did not exist. I swallowed hard and bit my lips between my teeth, shaking my head. "Let's not talk about the past that never was," I muttered, the words leaving me empty.

   Damon's smirk fell from his lips, leaving behind an unreadable expression. "Yeah," he nodded. Elena walked in at that moment, making him stand and stare at her. She greeted with a nod and a single word, leaving him bewildered. "Hey, the blood transfusions are stopping the cancer from eating her alive? Or hey, is there a sheriff-sized space available in the family crypt?"

   Elena shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. Jo's still running some tests to find that out. She should be out in a minute."

   "That's not really helpful," I sighed, shaking my head. 

   "I don't know if you remember this, Elena, but Liz and I are pretty close," Damon said, staring at the girl with a bit of defeat in his eyes. "I mean, as far as humans go, she's tolerable." They were the same words he said to me when we stood in front of Liz's room.

   "I can see how much you care about her, but we all do," Elena said, glancing from me to him. "So if there's anything we can do to fix this, trust me, we will."

   Dr. Laughlin walked in at that moment, an unreadable expression on her face. That expression changed into one of regret, of lost. She sighed and shook her head. 

   I stood and took one step forward, shaking my head in disbelief. "Why are you shaking your head?" I asked, hoping for a different answer than the one I knew was coming. "Jo, why are you shaking your head?"

   "It didn't work," she slowly said, as if the words didn't want to leave her mouth. "The blood transfusion didn't work."

   I took a step back and sat back down on the chair for support, shock running through me. "You-you're wrong," I said, the words sounding as if I were breathless. "No, it has to work. It needs to work!"

   A loud exclamation of pain came from Colin's room. I could hear him ask why couldn't he die, hear him cry that he was in agony and that he wanted to die. As soon as those words left his mouth, I imagined Liz being in his place. I heard Liz crying in agony, saying that she could hear her tumours growing, pleading for someone to kill her because she couldn't die. The voice was loud in my head, frightening and terrible.

   "Clara, are you alright?" Elena asked. She stood in front of me with a worried look on her face, brows slightly furrowed.

   I nodded and swallowed hard, hoping that I didn't sound as broken as I felt. "I'm fine," I said. "I'm fine."

   She sighed and shook her head. "You're obviously not," she said as she crossed her arms. "You told me how much Liz meant to you when we were here on Christmas. I don't even know why I asked you that." She glanced back and frowned, her arms falling to her side. "Caroline left."

   "What?"

   "Damon killed Colin," she said in a nonchalant voice, as if it were almost nothing. "And you know how he's careful with his words. She thinks she killed her mom."

   I stood and pulled out my phone from my pocket, immediately calling her. After several rings, it went straight to voicemail, "Hi, it's Caroline. Leave a message."

   "Care, where are you?" I walked towards Liz's room, Elena besides me. "Call me. Or better idea, just... Just come back, okay?" I turned to the girl besides me and let out a sigh. "How about we just flood her voicemail until she comes back?"

   Elena let out a chuckle and shook her head with amusement. "That could work," she said, shrugging her shoulders, "or that will make her angry at us."

   "I'd take an angry Caroline over a sad one any day," I mumbled, glancing down at my phone to see if I had received a call or a text message from her. We entered Liz's room at that moment. She was waking up, blinking several times to get used to the light around her. I gave her a small smile as a greeting. "How are you feeling?"

   "Like a human pin-cushion," she responded weakly. "So, what's the verdict? Did the blood-swap work?"

   "We're not sure yet," Elena quickly said, shooting me a look before looking back at the sheriff. "Jo's still doing some tests."

   A small smile appeared on Liz's lips, one that said she didn't believe anything Elena told her. "You shouldn't lie to sick people, Elena," she said. "It's bad karma."

   "They thought it would slow down the cancer cells from replicating," I slowly said, as if the words didn't want to leave my mouth. They didn't. I was forcing myself to say them. "But it didn't work—I'm sorry."

   Liz nodded, sniffing and forcing a smile on her face. "How's Caroline?"

   "She's good," Elena quickly said. "She just ran out to get some food."

   "Elena..."

   "She just took off," I said, glancing at Elena. "Oh, come on, Elena! I can't lie to Liz, not anymore." I turned to the sheriff and shook my head, gripping my hands together in front of me. "We can't find her, or get a hold of her."

   Liz frowned, the smile on her lips fading. "She's not gonna forgive herself for this, is she?"

   "Hey." Elena sat on the edge of the bed and took Liz's hand. "I'll make sure that we find her. I promise."

   "We'll put out an APB for her if we have to," I joined, giving Liz a small smile. "That's what it's called, right?"

   Liz chuckled and shook her head. She took Elena's hand, then she took mine, a small smile appearing on her lips. "Thank you," she softly said, her voice barely a whisper. 

   Her hand on mine felt cold and clammy, her pulse slow. I stared down at our hands with a bleak face, hiding the emotions that were eating at me. If I let them show, I would have been crying. Liz reminded me a lot of my own mother, of the gentle yet strong Margaret Forbes. The smiles were similar, and so were the mannerisms, and the way she took care of everyone around her as well. If I had been born during this time and day, I knew that my mother and Liz would have been very good friends. 

   Elena left a couple of minutes later because Damon had called her. I stayed with Liz then, sitting on a chair I had pushed to be close to her bed. Every once and a while I called Caroline and left a voicemail, telling her that she should be here at this moment because Liz was alive. And from what I knew, she'd want to spend how ever much time together as possible. 

   "She's not picking up," I told Liz, throwing my head back in the chair. "I think I've left at least ten voicemails."

   "You know how Caroline is," she sighed, closing her eyes. There was a strange silence that accumulated out us, the only sound being the distant beeping of a machine and the commotion outside the room. Liz opened her eyes and turned to me as she grabbed my hand. "Clara, listen to me. When I'm gone, Caroline is gonna need you. You're the only family that she has left; she can't stay alone in this world." Tears began to fall down her cheeks, a forceful smile on her lips. "Promise me that you will do that, Clara."

   I stared at Liz for several moments, her words sinking in slowly. My mouth opened and closed several times, the words stuck in my throat. I squeezed her hand and nodded, forcing myself to talk. "You're not dead," I said, forcing a small smile on my lips. "Don't talk like you're dead, Liz."

   "I'm dying," she surmised, the hold on my hand getting weaker. "I need to say all that I need to say before I go. So, promise me that you will do that, Clara."

   "I promise," I said, a small but genuine smile forming on my lips. "Who knows, maybe I need Caroline more than she needs me."

   "Enough about this," Liz quickly said, wiping away a stray tear with her other hand. "What's going on between you and Stefan? You two haven't made up yet?"

   I crossed my legs and let out a sigh, playing with my fingers as I shook my head. "How can I make up with him when he ignored me for months, Liz?" I knew that she wanted to change the conversation from her impending fate, so I went with it. "I know that I love him, but I can't forgive him so easily. What I know is that I'm slowly getting there, to the point where I can actually look at him without feeling that he'll leave at any moment."

   Elena walked in, then, her phone in her hands and a brooding expression on her face. She tapped her phone against her hand and took a deep breath. "Damon has an idea," she said, then looked over at Liz. "But, you might not like it."

   "What is it?"

   "He thinks Kai can cure you," she divulged with hesitation. "Vampire blood is basically magic, he can absorb that and you can go back to before Caroline gave you her blood."

   I raised my hand and stared at he in confusion. "Kai?" I asked, arching a brow. "Are we talking about the same Kai that was in the prison world with Bonnie and Damon, that wants to merge with Jo in like a month, that basically tortured you at the high school by making your blood turn into acid?"

   "That very Kai," she said with distaste, her lips pressed together. "But, since the blood transfusion didn't work, this is our only option."

   "I'm certain that this Kai won't do it without getting something in return," I said as I crossed my arms. "What does he want?"

   She shrugged her shoulders. "Damon didn't say, but I'm certain it's not something good."

   "Will it work?" Liz's voice was weak, as if she just wanted to sleep and let it all be over. 

   "Right now, it's all that we have," Elena said with resent in her voice.

   At that moment, Damon walked in with another person behind him. The man was tall, with dark brown hair and blue-green eyes. He strutted in with confidence, an almost-there smirk on his lips. When he saw me, he stopped and pointed with both of his index fingers. 

   "Clara," he said, as if I were an old friend he hadn't seen in a while. "I heard a lot about you from Damon, here. You're prettier in person than his descriptions."

   I arched a brow and crossed my arms, feeling strange in front of this man. Instead of continuing to look at him, I turned to Damon and glared. "You told him about me?"

   Damon raised a finger in the air and shook his head. "He overheard," he corrected. "He stalked Bonnie and I, and he overheard everything we said." Besides him, Elena shifted on her feet with her arms crossed. 

   Kai clapped his hands together and rubbed them, grinning like a mad man. "Alright, let's get this over with!" He marched towards the sink and began to wash his hands, his head moving sideways as if he were nodding along to a song. "All right. I need a twelve gauge needle, stat. I don't know what I'm gonna do with it, but I need it."

   "Has he always been this annoying?" I asked Damon and Elena, who had previous encounters with him. Elena answered with a shrug of her shoulders, annoyance picking at her easily. Damon, on the other hand, rolled his eyes.

   "You're not a doctor, so stop playing games," Elena spat. 

   My lips slightly pursed as I glared at the man in front of me, the anger in me rising. "Kai, you're surrounded by three vampires that care a lot about this woman. If you screw this up, neither one of us will hesitate to rip your head off."

   The corner of his lips spread a bit. "Ooh, if I knew that you were this hot, I would have introduced myself earlier."

   I almost sped over to him to break his neck, but Damon and Elena held me back by holding on to my arms. 

   "You can kill him afterwards," Damon said. "Kai, do your stupid little magic-suction trick and suck the magic out of her. Right now."

   Kai smiled as he glanced at the three of us. "No wonder the two of you dated him. It's very dys-fun-ctional." He smile wider, a laugh escaping his mouth. "See what I did there? Stressing the fun in dysfunctional—"

   "Just get it over with, Kai," Liz groaned. "Listening to you makes me want to die."

   Kai looked amused at her, grinning widely. "That's good." He put one hand on Liz's arm, the other on her cheek, and he took a deep breath. Liz's face contorted with pain, the beeping of the monitor getting faster.

   "Is he working?" I asked, glancing from Liz to the siphoning witch.

   "I have no idea," Elena responded, her arms falling to her side. 

   "What the hell is going on?" Dr. Laughlin's voice echoed around he room, full of horror. "What is he doing here?"

   Kai looked up at her and smiled. "Hey, sis. Little busy. Be with you in a jiffy."

   "Elena?" Dr. Laughlin looked at her, eyes wide with horror. 

   "I'm gonna let Damon explain," she said. When she turned to the witch, she glared. "I'm staying with you."

   "Go with Damon," I told her, pointing at the door with my chin. "I'll stay with him. If he does anything, you might find a dead witch when you come back."

   Elena stared at me for several seconds, but then nodded and hurried out the door. I continued to glare at him, preparing myself to do whatever needed if he did anything. He chuckled and shook his head, looking at me from between his lashes.

   "I know I'm good-looking," he said with amusement, "but you don't have to stare at me. If you want to go out, you can just ask."

   I shut my eyes for several seconds, controlling myself. "Please stop talking," I said when I opened them.

   He hummed. "No wonder Damon still has a thing for you," he nonchalantly said, closing his eyes. "Why would he talk more about you than Elena, then?" He pulled his hands away from Liz and flexed them. "There. All done."

   I quickly moved closer to Liz, laying a hand on her shoulder and gently shaking her. "Liz, hey. How are you feeling? Are you okay?"

   "Yeah," she nodded, a small smile forming on her lips. "Yeah, I think so."

   I let out a breath of relief and sat up, grinning widely. I was going to thank Kai, but Liz suddenly gripped her chest and began to wince in pain. The heart monitor began to beep loudly and fast, just like Liz's breaths. 

   "No, no!" My hands shook by my side, and I stood there while unsure what to do. "I-I think she's having a heart attack."

   "Oh, that is so tragic," Kai said with sarcasm. "You know, 'cause you guys jumped through hoops to get the magic out of her system, but then her ticker's just not strong enough to take a little siphoning."

   I glanced around in panic, tears spilling down my cheeks. "Kai, you have to fix this!" I pleaded, gripping the sheets tightly between my fists. It felt like my skin had another hot skin on the outside, like a bin bag, moving up my body and never realising. The arguments in my head went fast and disturbing, my heart ready to explode from my chest.

   When I looked up to the man, he had disappeared. 

   I ran both of my hands through my hair as I stared down at Liz, my hands trembling. Seconds had passed, but seconds were instant when someone was having a heart attack. I shook my head and began to do chest compressions on her, my breath coming in ragged and tears falling down my cheeks. She wasn't responding, her eyes closed, but her skin was still warm. There was no way in hell that I was going to let her die.

   "Come on, Liz!" I cried. "Stay with me. Just, breathe. Please, Liz!" I continued to do chest compressions, my tears causing my vision to get blurry. 

   "What happened?" Elena asked, standing at the other side of the bed. Damon stood besides her, wide eyed as well.

   "H-her heart," I stuttered. "I'm losing her, Elena!"

   "Okay, no offence, but Elena's not a doctor," Damon said.

   "Find one!" Elena and I yelled in unison. She glared at him, but there was panic in her movements. I continued to do chest compressions, scared that she was gone and scared that I would break a bone. 

   I didn't know how much time passed, but someone put their hands on my shoulder and pulled me back. "How long has she been down?" It was a doctor.

   "What does that mean?" Damon asked as he laid his hands on my shoulders, keeping a gentle but tight hold. "Like, dead?"

   "I-I don't know," I stuttered, keeping my eyes on Liz. The doctor was charging the shock pads, rubbing them together. "I think it was a m-minute. I-it feels like an hour. I've no..."

   "Clear!" The doctor pressed the pads to her chest. 

   No response.

   He pressed them again, sending another shock through her body.

   No response.

   One more time.

   The heart monitor went into a straight line, the long and disorienting sound ringing at my ears. I took a step back, bumping into Damon's chest, staring at Liz's body. My breath got stuck in my throat, my chest caving in, and I felt everything slowly fall.

   There had been hope before. Just a tiny flicker against the wind. It seemed that a greater force had seen the suffering and decided to make it worse. 

   "Uh-uh. Hey!" Damon let go of me and grabbed the shock pads, shoving them back at the doctor. "I compelled you to save her. Unless you want me to gouge your eyes out, I suggest you keep working."

   "I've done all that I can do," the doctor said. "She's gone. I'm sorry."

   "Get out of here," Damon compelled him, eyes hard, voice soft. "Forget that you're a total failure." He threw the shock pads to the side. They landed with a thud on the floor, making me regain a bit of my senses. 

   I pushed by him and Elena and began to go chest compressions on Liz again. "I will not let this happen!" I hissed, to no one in particular. With each push of my hands to her chest, each memory pushed through. 

   One in particular stood out. It was during Christmas, when everyone was happy and nothing else mattered. Christmas had been celebrated at the boarding house, since it was big enough for all of us. There was a big tree in the centre of the parlour, decorated by all of us. The smell of pine and nutmeg and sweets wavered around the house, along with the sound of laughter and the crackling of the fire. 

   After having a big Christmas dinner, it was decided that we would take a picture. I stood to one side of Liz while Caroline stood on the other, and the sheriff had her arms around our waists. Bonnie joked that I looked as if I were the sheriff's daughter, causing all of us to laugh. Liz then squeezed me closer to her, and said, "She's my eldest. It's what we've been saying for a while, now."

   Someone laid their hand on my shoulder. "She's gone," Damon softly said, his fingers squeezing gently.

   "No!" I cried, continuing the compression. "She can't be gone!" Someone pushed me out of the way, then.

   Caroline hovered over her mother, tears welling in her eyes. She shook her head, the realisation of what happened getting to her. "No, no! Mom!" She began to shake Liz, crying. "No, mom, no! Don't leave me. Please, no! Please don't leave me, mom!"

   The monitor began to beep at that moment. Liz opened her eyes, immediately pulling Caroline closer to her. "It's okay, baby," she softly cooed. "I'm right here. I'm right here, baby. It's okay."

   My body slumped, losing the stiff posture I had been in. A small smile slowly appeared on my lips, a shaky laughter following. My fingers reached for something to hold, someone's hand, and I gripped it tightly as soon as I found it. I looked up to see that it was Damon, who held my hand just as tightly as I did. He also looked like I did—relieved. 

   Elena walked between us, her shoulders pushing against mine. I stumbled to the side and let out a huff, rolling my eyes. "Go to her," I told Damon, giving him a small smile. "She probably needs you."

   He stared at me for several seconds, his eyes slightly narrowed. After several seconds, he nodded. "Yeah," he breathed, taking a few steps back. "Yeah, she probably does."

   I looked back at Liz and Caroline, a small smile forming on my lips. They talked in soft voices, hands gripped tightly. I decided that it would be best to leave them by themselves, and walked out of the room. As soon as I left, another breath of relief came over me. I pushed my hands into my pockets and walked out of the hospital, staring up at the sky. Inside of my pockets, I picked at my nails.

   "Clara," a soft voice said.

   I came to a halt and turned. "Stefan, hey," I gave him a small smile.

   Stefan ambled at first, but then he began to walk faster. I opened my mouth to ask him what was wrong, but he laid his hands on my cheeks and pulled me towards him. His lips pressed against mine, a familiar and desired feeling. My hands went to his waist, fists gripping his shirt as I kissed him back. What surprised me the most was that I was kissing him back, allowing myself to get lost in the way his lips felt against mine. I didn't want to forgive him, but the way he kissed destroyed any other thought in my head. 

   I pulled away from him and furrowed my brows. "What are you doing?"

   His thumb moved up and down, gently brushing against my skin. "Clara, life's too short," he said, then swallowed hard before letting his lips open just a bit. "Immortal or not, I don't want to waste another minute without you."

   "I can't forgive you, yet," I muttered. As soon as those words left my mouth, I regretted them. All I wanted was to continue to feel his hands on my cheek, the closeness of him.

   "I know," he nodded, a small smile appearing on his lips. "But, like I said, Clara, I don't want to waste another minute without you, so I will push myself to be next to you until you do forgive me." He pulled me back to him and kissed me again, harsher this time. 

   I let myself get lost in the kiss, get lost in the feeling of his hands roaming all over my body and pressing me against the side of the building. I was immortal, but life was too short, and I knew that I wanted to be with Stefan for as long as I could.