Undeniable - Stefan Salvatore

Growing Pains

Stefan had thought he knew pain, he had been through enough in his almost two centuries of being alive but this was like no pain he had ever felt before. Tears ran down his face as he looked down at Valencia's body that lay on a steel table in the hospital's morgue. He held her lifeless hand in his own as he waited for her to wake up. She had his blood in her system and would be in transition to becoming a vampire.

Valencia had never talked to him about whether or not she wanted to be a vampire so he didn't know if she would complete the transition or not. He wouldn't blame her if she didn't want to become a vampire and he wouldn't make her. If he was honest though, he selfishly wanted her to so they could be together for eternity but he wouldn't tell her that because he didn't want her to become a vampire just for him.

The sound of the doors to the morgue swinging open brought Stefan out of his thoughts. Damon's voice echoed throughout the quiet morgue. "Where is she?"

Stefan didn't answer his brother, he just turned his head to the right. On another table next to Valencia lay Elena's body, she was in the same state as Via. No one knew but Meredith had lied about the seriousness of Elena's head injury and had given her Damon's blood to heal her. Now, the Gilbert Twins were both in transition to becoming vampires.

Damon walked over to Elena's body and felt his heart drop as he looked at her. Yes, she had hurt him but that didn't mean he stopped loving her even though he wished he could. He moved a strand of hair out of her face before he looked up at his brother and asked, "What happened?"

"Kol Mikaelson happened," Stefan answered. "He didn't want to run from Alaric so he ran Matt's truck off of Wickery Bridge. Via begged Rebekah to get Matt out so she did and then Via begged me to get Elena out. I did and then went back down to get Via but it was too late, she was gone."

Stefan felt guilt rack up, he should have saved Via instead of Elena. When he got the younger Gilbert twin back to the surface, she was already dead which meant that if he saved Valencia she would still be alive. He would regret not saving Via for the rest of eternity.

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The twins had woken up in the morgue and had been drifting in and out of consciousness since. After they had woken up Stefan and Damon took them home. They were greeted by a distraught Jeremy, who almost fell to his knees when Stefan explained what happened. Damon took Elena to her room while Stefan took Via to hers never leaving her side. Stefan held her hand as he sat next to Via on her bed, refusing to sleep, and instead watched over her the rest of the night and into the morning.

Sunlight shone through the window in Valencia's bedroom and the sounds of church bells, sirens, and yard work going on outside could be heard. Valencia's eyes snapped open and with a sharp intake of breath, she jolted straight up. She frantically looked around confused about what was happening and how she ended up in her bed.

Via's eyes landed on Stefan and just like that her frantic state was replaced by a calm and relaxed one but she was still confused. "Hey."

"Hey," Stefan greeted back. "You've been in and out for hours."

"Wh-what happened?" Valencia asked.

"You were in an accident," Stefan told her.

The memory of going over Wickery Bridge in Matt's truck with him and Elena flashed behind Valencia's eyes and her frantic state returned. "Oh, my God. Matt and Elena, are they okay? You and Rebekah got them out in time right?"

"Matt's at the hospital but he's okay and is getting released today."

"Okay, that's good," Valencia sighed in relief. "What about Elena?" Stefan looked down and Valencia immediately thought the worse. "What about Elena, Stefan?"