𝐏𝐈𝐄𝐂𝐄 𝐁𝐘 𝐏𝐈𝐄𝐂𝐄 | 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐅𝐀𝐍 𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐕𝐀𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐄 [𝟐]

𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄

CHAPTER NINE | THINGS WE LOST IN THE FIRE

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

BONNIE BENNETT HAD MANAGED TO RETRIEVE STEFAN FROM THE PHEONIX STONE. Thankfully, Klara felt better knowing that Stefan was by her side and it was a couple of weeks after Stefan was brought back that Bonnie managed to retrieve Damon, too. However, the effects of the Pheonix Stone seemed to have harmed Damon's mental state. and the moment he woke, he brutally attacked all of his friends.

Klara stepped out of the bathroom and headed back into the bedroom, but all she could see was Stefan tossing and turning. It seemed like he was having yet another nightmare, though he promised her they had stopped. "Stefan?" Klara whispered as she wandered over to him but as she did so, he jolted awake in a cold sweat. "Hey, hey. It's okay. Stefan, it's okay."

"No, I know." He breathed out finally as Klara's hand rested against his cheek. "I'm okay, I promise." 

"I thought they stopped." She asked in a serious tone while the vampire regained his breath. As they spoke, they could hear Damon yelling for them downstairs.

"Uh, we should check on Damon." Stefan cleared his throat and set his feet onto the hardwood floor. He stood up straight and wandered downstairs, while Klara cautiously followed behind him.

"No vervain this time?" Damon raised an eyebrow toward Klara, who stuck him with vervain and knocked him out before he killed anyone. "We switchin' up the menu?"

"No. We just wanted to make sure you had a chance to calm down." Stefan folded his arms across his chest as he glanced at his brother. It felt wrong of them to chain Damon up in the hallway, especially after what he had gone through, but they needed to be sure.

"Oh, I'm calm." Damon nodded slowly and took a breath. "I know what you guys are gonna say to me. You're gonna say I screwed up so bad and nearly killed all of our friends cause I thought I was stuck in that fake-Hell-world."

"Hey." Klara immediately cut the Salvatore off from his self-loathing. "Damon, it's fine. What happened wasn't your fault. We get it."

Damon scrunched up his face in confusion while Stefan nodded. "It was an honest mistake. You're getting a pass."

"Wait. You skipped a bunch of stuff. First, I'm supposed to say that I've seen the error of my ways and then you tell me that's not good enough and then you judge me harder. And then, I say something mean but true that totally throws you off balance." 

A small chuckle of amusement left Klara's lips as Stefan rolled his eyes and bent down to Damon's level. "You came out of the Pheonix Stone but you thought you were still inside of it. Everybody understands."

"Huh." Damon breathed out and then glanced to Klara, who stood with one hand rested against her pregnancy bump. "That's pretty generous considering I just stabbed your pregnant girlfriend in the chest."