Yeah, but... [He shifts, clearly uncomfortable.] Most of our friends said we'd be cute together, and then there were double dates and this whole big thing where we should've been perfect together.
It just... felt like I was going through the motions after a while, and saying what I thought would make her happy.
If there's one thing I've learned, it's that listening to who everyone else says you're supposed to be only leads to trouble. [She takes his hand.] You know what the right answer is, in your heart. You just gotta be brave enough to listen.
[She's right. As long as he listens to his inner voice – his guiding light – he can't disappoint anyone else in the long term. Alex and Jennifer may be hurt in the short term, but ultimately those feelings would subside. Time should heal those.]
Right now, it's telling me to hold off. Salvatore wants to kiss her, confirm if those feelings are real but... [He swallows.] Salvatore wasn't the guy Alex fell in love with either.
It's... terrifying, honestly. [He rubs his elbows, unable to meet Misty's gaze this once.] You'll be going about your day and then you suddenly remember that you can dance like Fred Astaire, or that you're fluent in Italian, and you get these... these sensations that you know for a fact don't belong to you.
But they feel so real that for a moment, you're lost in the memory and think that yeah, that's something you're familiar with. Or maybe this life's the fake and the one you're remembering is the real deal.
[With anyone else, he would hold off, maybe make some joke about how he can't keep anything straight, but Misty is too important for him to brush off. He heaves a low, slow sigh as he finally confesses - ]
Technically, I'm 26, but I feel like I'm a lot older.
[It breaks her heart to see him like this - usually their roles are reversed, with him being her rock and comforter. But she doesn't hesitate to envelop him in a warm hug.]
No matter what, I love you, okay? That ain't gonna change.
[The tears don't stop for a while. Stefan melts into Misty's embrace, allowing himself to release the tension and frustration and even the sorrow that he had been holding in for so long.
At one point, he had been able to tell Alex everything, but she wasn't Salvatore's biggest fan. (Neither was Stefan.) She couldn't understand how he couldn't press pause on something so important, and he couldn't understand how to reconcile two so vastly different people.
God doesn't give him what he can't handle. This, Stefan knows intimately. He has to keep believing in that, that he can get through this. He's capable. He has to be.
Muffled:] I love you too. I'm - I'm sorry you're seeing me like this.
[He grows quiet, settling into the comfort and the solace that being with Misty brings him. A little sleepily - since all that crying wore him out - he mumbles:] That'll never change. I promise.
[He doesn't resist, even trying to make himself lighter as he falls back onto the bed. Hope she doesn't mind him crashing into dreamland for a little while...]
[She doesn't, not at all. In fact she just snuggles in right beside him and quietly uses him as a pillow as she continues to work her way through her book.]
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Doesn't that make me the bad guy?
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It just... felt like I was going through the motions after a while, and saying what I thought would make her happy.
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Right now, it's telling me to hold off. Salvatore wants to kiss her, confirm if those feelings are real but... [He swallows.] Salvatore wasn't the guy Alex fell in love with either.
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Why are you talkin' about yourself like that? Like someone else?
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Before I got here, I... I started having memories and experiences of a life I've never lived, except it's mine. Somehow.
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[Her eyebrows go up.]
That's real? What's it like?
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But they feel so real that for a moment, you're lost in the memory and think that yeah, that's something you're familiar with. Or maybe this life's the fake and the one you're remembering is the real deal.
[With anyone else, he would hold off, maybe make some joke about how he can't keep anything straight, but Misty is too important for him to brush off. He heaves a low, slow sigh as he finally confesses - ]
Technically, I'm 26, but I feel like I'm a lot older.
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[She rests her hands on his knee and leans in.]
It's okay to be scared. That's some freaky shit to have to deal with. But I'm here for you, whatever you need.
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It's - it's - Alex is in love with the old me, and I'm turning into someone that I know she's struggling to love. Hell, I'm struggling, and -
[He coughs, rubbing his eyes with a newfound hatred. Whatever strength he has is gone now.]
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No matter what, I love you, okay? That ain't gonna change.
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At one point, he had been able to tell Alex everything, but she wasn't Salvatore's biggest fan. (Neither was Stefan.) She couldn't understand how he couldn't press pause on something so important, and he couldn't understand how to reconcile two so vastly different people.
God doesn't give him what he can't handle. This, Stefan knows intimately. He has to keep believing in that, that he can get through this. He's capable. He has to be.
Muffled:] I love you too. I'm - I'm sorry you're seeing me like this.
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And you've got mine, though you probably know that.
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I do.
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[She wraps an arm around him and tugs him closer.]
C'mon, sounds like you need some sleep.
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[He doesn't resist, even trying to make himself lighter as he falls back onto the bed. Hope she doesn't mind him crashing into dreamland for a little while...]
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