CHAPTER 36: AS I LAY DYING

The Town Square

After the tragic events of the previous couple of days, everyone needed to catch a break. Not everyone would get to catch a break seeing as Damon Salvatore was currently dying, and no one knew except for Stefan and  just recently Alaric. So the ones who were able to catch a break (AKA Natalie, Elena, Jeremy and Caroline) were going to catch a break. Caroline hadn't arrived yet as she was being kind of an event coordinator and grabbing food to get the three Gilberts to relax.

Jeremy wasn't very happy with the choice of activity, as there were many people walking around in clothing from the 19th century as they were waiting for the screening of Gone With The Wind. "You brought me to see a girl movie."

Natalie gave him a look. "Suck it up. We have to get out of the house. We're running out of chocolate and ice cream so this was the best I could do."

"Is that what we're doing? Pretending like our lives aren't screwed?" Jeremy asked the huntress with narrowed eyes.

"We need to do this, okay? Breathe, eat, sleep, wake up, and do it all over again until one day, it's just not as hard anymore." Elena told her little brother sadly as she unfolded a blanket and put it on the ground and they all sat down on it.

Just then, the perky blonde known as Caroline Forbes arrived with a few baskets and placed them on the blanket. "Hey! There you guys are. Who's hungry?"

Jeremy tried to ignore the optimistic tone of voice Caroline had as he hated the optimism that he did not think anyone should have at the moment. "Are we really doing this?"

"Yes, we are really doing this. We are going to take a page from Scarlett. We made it through the war," Caroline sat down. "I know you guys went through hell, and my mom knows I am a vampire, so basically it's like Atlanta has burned. And yet, in spite of everything, we persevere." the blonde raised an arm in the hair in a victorious gesture and a smile, and Natalie did the same, not as a form of mocking, but as a form of support.

"Alright." Jeremy sighed in defeat. "What are we eating?"

"It better be good." Natalie narrowed her eyes at Caroline playfully.

"It is." Caroline smiled.

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As the four teenagers were talking and trying to be normal, Stefan Salvatore decided to walk up to them, as he thought if anyone would be able to convince Damon that there was hope for his survival it was unfortunately his very own girlfriend who Damon happened to be in love with just as much as Stefan was himself.

"Hey." he simply greeted all four of them.

"Hey! Look who couldn't resist an epic romance." Elena flirted with an equally flirty smile.

"Will you come take a walk with me?" Stefan ignored her flirting, finding it much more important what was happening with Damon then making out with his girlfriend at the moment.

Elena nodded, hearing the serious tone of voice he had and got up to walk with him.

"Well, bye." Natalie muttered.

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Somewhere

After the movie ended, Natalie just wanted to walk home so she could have some kind of peace of quiet. It turns out that peace and quiet as just about the opposite of what she'd get as she felt a presence behind her.

She turned around only to find Stefan standing there, staring at her.

"Hi." she greeted, looking slightly confused at why he was there.

"Tyler bit Damon." Stefan said bluntly, the affects of what he just did back at Natalie's own apartment taking toll at the way he was acting.

Natalie's eyes widened in shock "What?" she breathed.

Stefan nodded, walking closer to her. "But Katherine is giving him the cure right now."

"But isn't Katherine captured by Klaus?" the brunette female frowned.

"Not anymore. To get the cure I had to go over to him. And we made a deal. I'll go with him as my old ripper self." Stefan told her, taking another step closer to her, standing less then four inches away from her.

"But... you can't!" Natalie exclaimed, taking a step back in shock. "You can't just go with him. What about Damon? Or Elena? Or me?"

"You'll manage." Stefan shrugged.

"But... why are you here if you've sold yourself to the devil?" Natalie asked him, smiling bitterly.

"He gave me a choice. I could either say goodbye to Elena's 'corpse' one last time or I could say goodbye to you. I guess he finds it amusing." Stefan informed her.

"What? Why would he ask you to choose between that? And why did you choose me?" Natalie asked all these questions at once.

"I don't know," Stefan lied. "Maybe it was just what felt right."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Natalie asked incredulously.

"It means that I felt like I owed it to you. More so then Elena who is now taking care of my brother, probably even in his bedroom." he frowned at the thought.

She stayed quiet for a moment before she spoke up, her tone of voice surprisingly harsh. "Is that why you came? To rant to me about your girlfriend liking your brother or is there any other reason?" she snapped.

Stefan looked surprised at not only the anger she showed but also the emotional pain he never noticed was there whenever he talked about his and Elena's relationship, and he never noticed before now the way she seemed almost... jealous every time that happened. But now he seemed to recall all the times people would look over at Natalie sympathetically when him and Elena held hands or something. And he knew that if she felt the same way as he did... then it was even worse then the unrequited love he thought he had for her. "I- I should go."

"No." Natalie shook her head, the thought of not even knowing how long he was going to be gone killing her inside. After she learnt that he wasn't sacrificed she thought that he was going to be there and he wasn't leaving. Turns out that she was wrong. For all she knew, he wouldn't even come back in her lifetime.

And that fear made something stir up inside her as she realized that he would never know about her feelings for him, even though he started to have some idea. And she realized that if she was going to live without regretting her life when she was in her old age and Stefan might not even have returned, he had to know.

So, she grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him close to her so their lips touched.

She kissed him.

And he didn't object.

It seemed for them as if everything was gone at the moment. They felt as normal teenagers without any trace of the supernatural. They felt as if they had finally come together as two pieces of a puzzle that even only fit because the pieces wasn't the same. They felt as if they were the only people in the world without any care or fear of never getting to see each other again. They felt human.

But unfortunately Natalie was really human. So she needed to catch her breath after her lips touched his and she had no idea how to let go until she had to.

And after only seconds of their kiss being over and Natalie managing to catch her breath, their lips once against collided against one another, except this time it was Stefan that put his lips on hers.

And he completely forgot about Elena and his relationship with her and the sadness he felt about her feelings for Damon, he completely forgot about Klaus waiting for his return and whatever he wanted with Natalie later on, as he told the younger vampire himself.

But as soon as their lips were no longer touching, Stefan was gone.

He used his vampire speed and he was now behind one of the trees that was still within hearing range of where Natalie was standing, so he could hear what her reaction was.

He didn't expect that it would be sobbing. He heard the sobbing but he couldn't see Natalie muffling the sobs with her hand, and tears streaming down her cheeks as for all she knew that could have been the last time she would ever see Stefan Salvatore.

But Stefan couldn't manage to hear her heartbreak anymore, and he took it upon himself to leave without causing more sadness for himself or her. So he walked deeper into the woods, whilst trying to forget her.

And it was weirdly enough in that moment that Stefan Salvatore realized that he loved Natalie Saltzman.

When he let her go.

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A/N: What, I'm not crying. You're crying. This is literally the most bittersweet ending ever, but remember, one half of the word bittersweet is sweet, and the other one bitter but ignore that part. Thanks Void_Kira and Void_Malia for fangirling with me whilst I was writing, even if Leslolph ships Natalie with someone else more. And sorry it was so short.

FINALLY WE'RE AT SEASON 3 GUYS! It's my favorite season and I'm gonna do my best to do it justice.

Votes and comments are greatly appreciated.