you bring me home

TWO DAYS PASSED AS PROMISED BEFORE BONNIE BENNETT RETURNED TO MYSTIC FALLS WITH A SPELL. Two long, excruciating days that Athena spent mostly in the tomb with Stefan, barely able to contain her happiness at the sheer thought of him being out of the tomb.

Even now, as she walked through the trees coated in the orange light from the sunset behind Bonnie and Damon, she couldn't help but think of how close she was to getting him back.

"Are you sure Anna isn't a threat? She isn't fighting?"

Stefan shook his head, glancing over his shoulder in the direction of the actual tomb in its entirety. "She's weak from the fight with Ben. She hasn't been able to feed, so she can't heal. She's smart enough to know when she's lost a fight– I hope, at least."

"I'm coming prepared, just in case."

She was prepared, despite Stefan insisting she didn't need to be. He wouldn't let her get hurt, and though she knew that, she was stubborn and always felt the need to prove herself to him. It was an innate urge to prove that she could handle herself, but she found that nothing beat the way Stefan held her after she went head-to-head with a vampire. As if he was never going to let her go again.

"Are you sure you don't want me to bring blood? It's been a week, Stefan, you've got to be hungry."

"I've gone longer without feeding, Athena, don't worry. After we get home, I'll go back out."

Athena eyed him closely, her heart pattering along as her barrel of questions loaded. "Why don't you just have one of Damon's blood bags? I'm sure he can spare one,"

Stefan shook his head, an almost pained look in his eyes. "I can't."

"Will you ever tell me why you don't drink human blood?"

"Maybe one day. When I'm sure you won't leave once you know."

Athena looked at him as if the idea was crazy. "I wouldn't leave,"

"Athena, you can't say that before knowing what I did– who I was."

"Yes, I can," She nodded, eternally stubborn. "Stefan, what will it take to make you realize I'm not going to just up and leave? I know what you are, I know what that means, and I'm okay with it. I'm not exactly a saint,"

Stefan clasps his hands together, wishing now more than ever he could hold her hands instead. "I'll tell you, once I'm out of here. How's that sound?"

She raises a suspecting eyebrow, eyeing him. "You promise?"

He nods.

"Fine. When we get home tomorrow night, you have to tell me everything."

"I'll tell you as much as I remember."

Not only was she excited just to get him out of the tomb, but she was itching to know his past. He'd kept it from her for this long, and she had to give it to him because Athena had a way of getting people to talk, especially when she wanted to know what they had to say. Side effects of having a lawyer for a father, she supposed.

"We're here," Bonnie's voice brings her from her thoughts and Athena lets out a breath that appears in the brisk air. A shiver travels through her that is barely concealed by her thick sweater and tights. As soon as the sun went down, the temperature dropped rapidly and she'd forgotten her coat again; though she couldn't be blamed, Stefan usually reminded her.

"You ready?"

Athena looked up at Damon, who was looking at her knowingly. She just nodded, though, unable to verbalize her thoughts without looking like a complete idiot.

The trio walked down into the tomb, where Stefan was already waiting on the other side of the barrier. Athena gave him a breathless smile, subconsciously fumbling with the necklace he'd given her sitting against the dark fabric of her sweater.

"Ready for your prison break, little brother?" Damon smirked, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his coat.

Stefan sighed, nodding slightly.

"Okay, so," Bonnie sighed, lighting the last of the torches. She hadn't been in the tomb since before Grams died, and it wasn't easy, but she was doing it for a good reason. "I have to do the chant twice, and then I channel Athena. Once I grab onto Athena, that's when you'll come out, Stefan."

Stefan nods, his eyes landing on Athena who's taken her place in front of Bonnie.

"I'm here for moral support, of course," Damon nods to himself, earning an eye roll from the other three. "And in case a stray tries to run away."

Bonnie glances at the ascending steps, where the orange hue has completely disappeared. "Has the sun gone down?"

Athena checks the small watch around her wrist. "It's six o'clock, the sun has officially set,"

Bonnie looks around nervously once more, catching Athena's attention. She grabs the witch's wrist gently, her doe eyes understanding. "You can do this, Bonnie. We all believe in you, and so did Grams."

Bonnie processes her words with a grateful nod and takes a deep breath before her nearly unintelligible Latin chant fills the tomb. The torches flicker briefly, but reappear stronger than before, confirming that Bonnie has officially started.

Athena listens closely, watching Bonnie's hands so she's prepared for when the witch grabs her.

Her heart races in her chest and she briefly lifts her gaze over Bonnie's shoulder and meets Stefan's gaze, seeing the hope glimmer in his green eyes for the first time in a week. She didn't think she'd miss it so much, but she did.

Bonnie grabs her wrists, making Athena snap her attention back to the tense situation. Her skin reddens beneath Bonnie's grip, but as those golden veins appear in her hands and travel onto Bonnie's, she forgets about possible bruising and focuses on nothing but the heat surging through her.

Athena cries out, her knees buckling briefly. Damon hurries toward her, but is stopped by the invisible seal surrounding her and Bonnie as they encase themselves in magic.

"Athena!"

"Stefan, now!" Damon reaches for his brother and can't help but release a heavy sigh of relief as he finally grabs his brother's arm and pulls him from the tomb.

Stefan nearly topples onto Damon, shock, and hunger riddling his body. "Athena," He pushes himself up on the wall of the tomb, watching her warm brown eyes flood with black, the sight incomparable to anything else besides the sudden rush of liquid in an empty glass.

Athena squeezes her eyes shut as Bonnie's chants grow louder and throws her head back with a pained yell that echoes in the ruins of the tomb.

"Athena!"

Damon holds his brother back, gritting his teeth at the strength he displays even in his weakened state. "Don't! You could ruin Bonnie's spell."

"She's hurting Athena, Damon,"

"I know," Damon looks at his little brother, shaking him by the fabric of his dusty shirt. "But I promise, Athena will be fine. She's strong."

Stefan lets out a shaky sigh, watching helplessly as Athena and Bonnie fall to their knees. The wind seems to pick up around them, yet it doesn't stir the flames circling the girls that instead grow taller and taller until they nearly touch the earth-crusted ceiling of the tomb.

And then, all in a breath, it stops.

Athena and Bonnie fall silent, and Bonnie opens her eyes slowly as Athena falls onto her arms, coughing for air.

"Did it– did it work?" The young witch looks around the tomb, seeing Stefan standing beside Damon. "Did the new barrier work?"

Damon nods his head, looking at the exhausted girl worriedly. His eyes shift to the tomb briefly. "We won't know for sure until someone tries to get out."

Stefan pushes off of his brother's supportive grasp, rushing towards Athena. Bonnie scoots herself up out of the way, her chest heaving with pants. The rush of power she felt when she channeled Athena was like nothing Grams had taught her, or Emily had described in her grimoire.

Stefan pays no mind to Bonnie, though the back of his mind reminds him that he owes the witch his life now, he can only think about holding Athena again. He picks her up in his shaky arms and she instinctively wraps her arms around his shoulders.

"Athena, hey, hey, it's okay," He mutters, hands skating across the fabric of her skirt, to her sweater, to her silk hair.

Her shoulders shake with sobs as she buries her face into his neck, her grip tightening as she grows aware of him. "Did it work? Did it work?"

He nods against her shoulder, taking in the scent of her floral perfume. "It worked, I promise. It worked, I'm here,"

Athena collapses against him entirely at that, and shifts into his lap, not letting go of him. "Oh, god," She shook her head in disbelief, tears soaking the dirt-stained shirt. "You're here. You're okay,"

Stefan sighed shakily, looking up from where his chin rested on her shoulder. His eyes meet Bonnie's tear-filled ones across the room, and he nods, mouthing his gratitude to her.

She nods, smiling knowingly as Damon gently drapes his jacket over her shoulders and leads her out of the tomb with a rare, genuine smile for his brother's freedom.

Stefan sighs as he watches them go, his attention quickly back on Athena when she pulls away from him and cups his face in her hands.

Gone is the black from her eyes, her cocoa eyes glistening. Her dark lashes are clumped together with tears, and her hair is mussed from where he'd run his hands through it, yet he thinks she's never looked beautiful. He thinks there is nothing more radiant than Athena in his arms, smiling at him like the way she is now.

"Athena," He sighs, resting his hands on top of where hers lay on his jaw. "Athena, look at me."

She meets his gaze, eyebrows furrowing slightly. "What? What is it?"

He shakes his head, looking at her like he can hardly believe she is real. "I love you,"

Athena's eyes widen and she looks at him in disbelief. "What?"

"Athena, I have been obsessed with you since the first time I ever saw you. Every little thing you do, I'm enamored by, every smile, every frown, every tear, it's you. It's you, and I love it. I love you, Athena Hunt."

She shakes her head, a wet laugh spilling from her lips. "Really? You love me?"

"More than anything," He nods.

"I love you, too,"

Stefan's eyes widened, though in his heart he already knew it. There was no way he couldn't have– she never let him think otherwise. He's never doubted her for a second. "Yeah?"

She laughs again, thumbs wiping the tears from beneath his eyes. "Of course I do, you idiot. You just showed up one day and– and I was terrified. After everything that I went through, I thought you would just be another person who broke my heart, but you saved me, Stefan. You made me laugh, and cry, and feel like I could do anything I wanted. Being with you makes me feel on top of the world, Stefan and I never want to lose that feeling. I never want to lose you."

Stefan laughs in disbelief, his hands coming to cup her cheeks as she has done to him. "I love you, with everything that I am."

"I love every single piece of you, Stefan. Even the things you don't."

He nods, the words settling a war that had been raging in his mind since the very first time he set his eyes on Athena Hunt.

It felt, as odd as unbelievable as it sounded, that every moment in his life could not match up to this one. This moment he shared with Athena, sitting in the ruins of his past life, with his future in his lap, smiling at him like he held the answers to the universe in his hands.

More than ever, he was comfortable and confident, and filled with such sheer happiness that he was sure this feeling would never go away. All because of Athena.

When he really thought about it, it didn't surprise him. Athena constantly surprised him, sure, but at the end of the day, everything she did was utterly hers and there was not a bit of him that didn't love her. And, for the first time, Stefan didn't have to question if she felt the same because he could feel that she could. There was no doubt in his mind that Athena loved him, too.

"Stefan," His name was a symphony on her tongue, and he blinked from his lovesick stupor to look at her.

His eyes widened as she leaned forward, and he wasted no time in closing the small gap between them. She inhaled sharply but quickly met him with the emotion he'd put into the kiss. Effortlessly, their lips molded together and Stefan knew, in his bones, that this was right.

He'd come to Mystic Falls in search of his past, a tether to a man he once was, yet he found a future within Athena. A world of opportunities, adventures, and laughter guaranteed the entire way. She looked at him like he held the weight of the world in his hands, but he only held her. He didn't need the world when he had her.

They didn't need the world when they had each other.

Her laughter spills into his ear, invading his mind like a drug he will never stop taking. Stefan echoes it, before slipping his hand to the back of her neck and dragging her back in for more.

Now that he's got her, he's never letting go.

──────

author's note; I feel like this is bad, and that I should've simply tortured us all more and not had The Moment yet but I can't because of the plot

originally published; 12.5.20. 

edited: 11.30.23.

- liz