𝐏𝐈𝐄𝐂𝐄 𝐁𝐘 𝐏𝐈𝐄𝐂𝐄 | 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐅𝐀𝐍 𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐕𝐀𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐄 [𝟐]

𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄

CHAPTER FIVE | THE MORE YOU IGNORE ME, THE CLOSER I GET

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

KLARA COULD REALLY QUITE BELIEVE HOW GOOD IT WAS TO BE BACK IN STEFAN'S ARMS. She had fantasized every single day in the prison world about seeing him again, but now that it was a reality, it didn't feel real. After she and Stefan parted from their hug, Damon was next. The two brother's wrapped their arms around each other and held onto one another so tightly.

"I can't believe it." Stefan exhaled breathlessly as he pulled away from Damon's embrace and glanced between Klara and his brother. "I thought you two were gone."

"Well, you did think we were gone gone, huh? I promised you an eternity of misery." Damon lightly chuckled as he clapped his palms onto his little brother's shoulders. "Besides, Klara wouldn't let me give up on finding a way back home. All she kept doing was going on and on about seeing you again. You know, she's really annoying."

"You're no picnic yourself." Klara nudged the Salvatore brother with her elbow as she glanced at Stefan. "He's not lying, though. I had hope. It was the only thing getting me through it."

Stefan smiled as the blonde vampire let herself fall into him for yet another hug. "Bonnie? She was with you guys, too?"

At the mention of the mention of the Bennett witch, Klara's posture stiffened. She hated the what Bonnie did for them and she felt like she failed her. "She sacrificed herself so we could come back. I don't think anyone should know. No sense making this harder than it already is."

Klara remained silent. She understood Damon's desire not to share the details about what happened to Bonnie in the prison world—especially to people like Jeremy, who would probably kill the pair of vampires if he found out Bonnie gave herself so they could live.

"What are we gonna tell people?" Stefan furrowed his brows with confusion on his face.

"That she wasn't over there." The eldest brother shrugged. It pained him to lie, but he knew it was for the best. "I don't know what more we can really say."

"There?" Stefan repeated.

"Some jacked-up version of Mystic Falls from 1994 where we had to live every single day on a loop. Honestly, I would've preferred a nicer location but, at least it kinda felt like home." Klara shrugged as she looked up toward Stefan, who nodded slowly.

Stefan watched as Damon rolled his eyes and took another sip of the bourbon Stefan had previously tried to launch across the crypt. "So, how did you get back?"