The Vampire Diaries: Natalie Gilbert

131. The Safe*

Stefan's POV

"Here." Natalie hands me a cup of coffee which I take gratefully, needing it from not sleeping. She drops down on the couch beside me, holding her own mug of coffee. Grabbing her legs, I lift them onto my lap, before running my hand up and down her thigh. I take a sip of my coffee and smile softly as I look up at Natalie.

"Thank you." I say and she smiles. "You're welcome." She replies. Natalie had put some of her blood into my coffee, which I'm thankful for as it's waking me up more. "I got my dress." Natalie suddenly admits and my smile grows. "Yeah?" I ask and she nods. "It's beautiful." She utters, fiddling with her engagement ring.

"I can't wait to see you in it." I tell her honestly. "Well, you won't be waiting long." She whispers and I furrow my eyebrows confused. "What do you mean?" I ask and Natalie smiles sheepishly. "Caroline may or may not have finished planning the wedding." She admits and I chuckle. "I should've guessed that that." I utter and Natalie nods. "Yep." She agrees, sipping her coffee.

"Can I ask you something?" I inquire and Natalie nods, moving her hand to the back of my hair, running her nails through it. "What did Silas do to you?" I wonder nervously and Natalie's hand stops moving as she looks at me. "Nothing compared to what he did to you." She whispers.

"Laine, what did he do?" I ask again and Natalie sighs. "Just...just tormented me. About you, our relationship, about how I looked like Alina. That's all." She explains, shrugging slightly. "He didn't hurt you, did he?" I inquire, clutching my mug tighter and Natalie shakes her head. "No. Just knew how to wind me up." She assures.

"Damon mentioned that he tried to stop you from looking for me." I comment and Natalie nods. "Yeah, every time I got a lead, he would try and distract me, turn me in another direction. But it wouldn't work. I still continued to look." She explains and I sigh softly. "I never did thank you for that."

"You don't have to thank me. It's what we do. You would have done it for me." Natalie smiles softly and I nod immediately. "I would. I would tear down the world to find you." I utter. "Well, I pretty much tore Mystic Falls apart looking for you. I can't count how many trees I broke with my mind." Natalie admits sheepishly making me chuckle lightly.

"I'm sorry." She suddenly apologises and I frown at her. "Why are you apologising? You don't ever apologise to me. You've done nothing wrong." I assure, confusion in my tone. "I should've found you sooner." She tells me and I sigh, placing our cups down on the table before pulling her closer to me so I can wrap my arm around her.

"Baby, you did everything you could and I'm more than grateful for that. You gave up everything to look for me and you never gave up your search. You did everything you could." I utter softly, not liking the guilty look on my girls face. "But there were so many clues. I mean, whenever I had a dream about you, I would wake up gasping for air, like I had been drowning." She explains as I listen sadly. 

I may have been stuck in that safe but my girl went through just as much.

"All the signs that you were at the quarry where there, so I should have seen it." Natalie argues but I shake my head. "No, I'm not letting you blame yourself." I immediately disagree. "Laine, you did everything you could. More than what most people would have. And I love you so much for that. You tried to find me, baby, and that's what matters."

I wipe a tear that falls down Natalie's cheek as she sighs softly. "I'm back now, okay?" I whisper. "You may be back, but you're not okay." Natalie whispers observantly and I sigh. "Oh, I can't hide anything from you, can I?" I chuckle lowly and Natalie shakes her head. "Nope." She utters, giving me a soft smile.

The front door suddenly swings open and Caroline saunters in making me raise my eyebrow. "Why haven't you been answering your damn phone?! I've been calling you all night." She scolds Natalie who looks at her sheepishly. "Do you know how worried I've been?" She continues. "Sorry." Natalie whispers and Caroline sighs softly.