Humanity 5 "The Beginning"

Chapter 7

ASHLEY’S POV

I walk into Stefan’s room to find that he’s still sleeping. The sun begins to seep through the curtains and I place a cup of coffee down on the table next to his bed.

Suddenly, he wakes up and breathes heavily as he looks around the room.

“Morning.” I smile at him. His face seems to relax when he sees me. “I made coffee. How did you sleep?”

“Oh, um…not great.” He groans, sitting up in bed.

“First night back in your own bed. Not as comfy as Tessa’s couch, huh?” I ask. I don’t mean to be rude first thing in the morning, but it kind of slipped out.

“If we’re gonna talk about Tessa, I think I’m gonna need that caffeine.” He says, reaching for the cup by his bed. “So, uh, what’s with the wakeup call?”

“I miss you.” I admit. “I feel like when you lost your memories, I lost a friend, and I was thinking instead of just describing how much we meant to each other, maybe we could just start fresh. Hi, I’m Ashley.” I say with a smile as I extend my hand.

“I was driving to Portland.” He says abruptly as he swings his legs over the side of the bed and stands up in front of me.

“What?” I ask as I retract my extended hand.

“The night I took Silas to the quarry, I said goodbye to Lexi, and then I decided to keep driving west.” He explains and I frown.

“Wait. Hang on. How do you remember that?”

“Because my memories are back.” He tells me. That’s great. How did I miss that?

“Really? Are you serious?” I ask, getting excited.

“Tessa came here last night and she undid whatever spell fried my brain and it’s all back. I can remember everything.”

“Stefan, this is great!” I exclaim, wrapping my arms around him and hugging him. “This is amazing.”

***

“October, 1852.” Damon speaks, grilling Stefan with dates.

“You broke my nose trying to teach me how to throw a right hook.” Stefan confirms.

“But not on purpose.” Damon says, looking at me and I giggle. “Just to be clear, how much did you pay for that hunk of junk motorcycle you ride?” He smirks.

“That’s trick question. You bought me that motorcycle, although I’m guessing it was pretty expensive.” Stefan says, smiling. I can’t believe this.

“So Tessa just gave you back your memories, no strings attached.” Damon says skeptically.

“Well, it wasn’t exactly a gift. It was a lot to take in at once. Everything from blowing out the candles on my first birthday to drowning in a safe.” Stefan explains.

My smile fades as Stefan looks off into space. He isn’t saying anything and he seems to be deep in thought.

“Stefan.” I say gently, trying to bring him back.

Suddenly, the glass of bourbon that he’s holding shatters into pieces from squeezing it so hard.

“Whoa. Easy there, buddy.” Damon says, taking a step closer to him.

“Stefan, what happened?” I ask.

“All that and I still can’t remember my own strength.” He says with a small smile, but I can tell that something isn’t right.