Sincerely Yours [Stefan Salvatore]

[59. Make-shift Plans]

[3x22; The Departed]

Lucy beamed at Stefan as he sang along to the Britney Spears song on her playlist. She couldn't believe that he knew the song, let alone the lyrics. She was constantly surprising her even when she thought she knew most things about him.

"My loneliness is killing me!"

"And I!" Stefan sang back to her.

"I must confess, I still believe!"

"Still believe!"

Lucy practically cackled from amusement when Stefan held his fist up toward his mouth, mimicking a microphone.

"Stop, stop," she pleaded, holding her stomach. "It hurts to laugh."

"Good, that means I'm doing my job," Stefan paused from singing to remark with a grin. He would do anything to make her smile—if it meant revealing his embarrassing knowledge of Britney Spears music to get her mind off the night before and what they were heading to do, he would do that for her. "What's next on the nineties playlist?"

"Nsync," Lucy grinned and playfully sung, "It's gonna be may!"

"Dirty Pop is better."

Lucy gasped loudly. "Blasphemy!"

Stefan rolled his eyes at her as he turned up the music, the opening beats of It's Gonna be Me starting. As Justin Timberlake and his backup singers started crooning, Lucy smiled out of the passenger window.

She was so grateful that she went with Stefan to bring Klaus to the Smokey Mountains. It wasn't that she was glad they were doing what they were doing, it was just the fact that she had Stefan with her. With everything that was going on, Stefan was the best person—other than Caroline, honestly—she could be around.

Lucy loved Stefan. He was one of the only people who could calm her down and make her feel safe. He cheered her up and she needed a little happiness in her life at the moment. Being with Stefan was a cause for celebration even when it felt like her world was crumbling around her

And, yeah, him singing cheesy pop lyrics at her made her love him all the more.

"Did you know that Justin Timberlake was my—"

"Your first concert," Stefan finished for Lucy, glancing at her with a grin.

Lucy gaped at him. "How'd you know that?"

"I do listen when you talk, you know," Stefan reached over and poked her dimpled cheek.

"I never told you that."

"Fine," he admitted. "Caroline told me. It may have been the only thing I remember from one of her particularly long rambling sessions."

Lucy grinned and pointed out, "You listen when I ramble."