CHAPTER NINETEEN

"And you're being a good boy for Daddy and your aunts and uncle?" Nyx asks.

"Yes, Mommy." Alex says, and she smiles.

"Did you tell Mommy what you did?" Vicki asks him.

"Mommy!" He yells excitedly. "I use potty!"

Nyx chuckles. "Aw, my love. Mommy's so proud of you." She tells him as Stefan sits down next to her at the bar.

"Mommy?" Ever's voice comes through the phone. "When coming back?"

"Um... Mommy needs to get her own car, like Daddy has." She says. "I'll visit soon, okay?"

"Okay, Mommy."

"I have to get them to bed." Vicki tells her, and she nods.

"Goodnight, my babies." Nyx smiles. "Mommy loves you."

"Yove you!" Alex yells.

"Wove you!" Everly yells.

Nyx hangs up and takes another drink of her beer. "Yes, Stefan?"

"You wanna tell me what's going on?" He asks, and she shakes her head.

"Nope. You wanna have a drink with me?" She asks, and he calls the bartender over.

"You know, Caroline and Elena are pissed that you missed Thanksgiving."

"Yeah, well, I wasn't feeling very thankful. I have angel stalkers and a prophecy hanging over my head that's thousands of years old." She reminds him. "I don't want to talk, I want to get drunk. You wanna get drunk with me?"

They drink at the bar for a while and then he takes her back to her hotel room. Damon compelled her a decent room near campus so that she could be close to Elena just in case anything happens. She doesn't trust the angels. Actually, she's afraid of them.

Nyx pulls out the whiskey she has in her room, and Stefan shakes his head as he looks at her. She smirks as she opens it and takes a drink.

"We are gonna be so hungover in the morning." He says as he grabs a couple of cups that the hotel provides.

"Aw, humanity." She smiles as she pours them each some of the bourbon.

"You stole this from my brother, didn't you?" He asks, and she shrugs.

"I was visiting Jeremy, and I paid a little visit to the liquor cabinet at your house."

"Uh-huh." He nods, and she taps her glass to his before taking a drink.

They keep talking, laughing, and drinking, and Stefan does his best to keep her mind off of everything that's bothering her. Even though he doesn't know what all of it is. She didn't want to talk about what happened when they picked him up, and Damon and Caroline don't think it's their place to say anything to anyone.

Nyx turns on the music and then turns up the stereo. She starts dancing around, and he chuckles as he watches her. She grabs the bottle and takes another drink as she continues to dance. He keeps drinking from his glass.

And then someone starts banging on the wall. "Turn it down!" They hear a male voice, and Nyx rushes over to the stereo.

"Sorry!" She calls and then laughs as she looks over at Stefan.

"Alright, talk to me." Stefan says as she leans against the counter, setting the bottle down next to her. "What's going on?"

She sighs. "Dean and Sam suck." She says, and he raises his eyebrows.

"What else happened?" He asks. "I mean, I know that you and Sam have been having a rough go of it, but there's more."

"We were at this barn, and we were looking for a way to save Dean and Anna. I fell asleep next to Caroline, and then Uriel invaded both mine and Dean's dreams." She begins, and he nods. "He wanted us to tell him where we were, and Dean said no. But there was something more to his no. And somehow creepy Uriel deduced that Dean had sex with Anna — that he liked her."

"And that hurt you?" He asks.

"I mean, yeah. She's an angel, how can I compete with that? She's holy and Divine and...really pretty. Plus, she can pull off that bright red Ariel hair." She says, and he chuckles. "But that's not my problem. My problem is that Uriel left Dean's head, and then it was just me. Dean thinks I told the angels where we were because I was jealous of Anna. That's how Uriel made it sound."

"That doesn't sound like you. Even if you got angry, you're not petty." He says, and she throws her hand up.

"That's all I wanted them to see! But they didn't." She tells him. "They think that I told the angels so that they'd kill Anna, and... I don't know, take out the competition." She rolls her eyes as she shakes her head.

"So, what did he say that made you tell them where you were?"

"Okay, we're alone. Now what?" Nyx asks as she looks up at Uriel.

"Tell me where you are. We just want Anna. I won't touch anyone else, I promise. No one will send Dean back into the pit." He tells her, and she grinds her teeth.

"No." She shakes her head. "I don't care that she broke your rule. You think you can manipulate me by using Dean? Screw you."

"You wanna play tough?" He asks as he circles around her. "Let's see how tough you are after I pay a little visit to your brother."

"You won't touch him."

"Is that really a risk that you're willing to take?" He asks. "Either we kill Anna, or we kill Jeremy — it's your choice, Nycole."

"What is wrong with you?" She questions as she looks up at him. "This is heaven? You're threatening​ to murder my little brother. He's innocent in all this — he's a good kid."

"And he doesn't have to come to any harm at my hand. Just lead me to Anna."

"So, why didn't you just tell the guys that?" Stefan asks.

"I didn't have a chance before the angels showed up. I pulled Caroline aside and told her my plan while I burned the hex bag, then we went to the others. The angels got there faster than I thought they would." She tells him, and he nods. "And then I saw that look on their faces — like I had betrayed them. They didn't even give me a chance to explain myself before looking at me like I... Then I heard them say they'd come up with a plan that they were doing with Ruby. So, if they want to think that low of me... Let 'em."

"I'm sorry, Nyx."

"I need another drink." She turns for the bottle, and he walks over and takes it.

"You can't drink away the pain." He says as he sets the bottle on the counter behind her.

She looks up at him and her eyes travel his face before settling on his lips. Her hand rests on the side of his face, and he sighs as he closes his eyes and tilts his head down.

"I don't want to be a rebound for Dean." He tells her, and she shakes her head.

"You're not." She says, and his eyes meet hers again. "I don't know exactly when it happened, but... There's something between us, and I don't want to ignore it anymore, Stefan."

He grabs her waist and pulls her to him as he leans down and kisses her. Her fingers tangle in his hair, and he lightly bites her lower lip as he pushes her up against the counter. He starts pushing her shirt up, and she breaks the kiss just long enough to pull it over her head.

She starts fumbling with the button on his jeans, and he places his hands on either side of her face. He pulls back and rests his forehead against hers for a second.

"Are you sure you want this?" Stefan asks, and she nods.

"I'm sure." She tells him. "Are you?"

He nods and then kisses her again. Stefan takes her hand in his and leads her over to the bed, and she lays down as he discards his jeans that she already unbuttoned. He then helps her out of her own jeans before hovering over her. He leans down and presses his lips roughly against hers again.

He pins her hand above her head as she wraps her legs around his waist. She rolls them over and then smiles as she looks down at him. She presses her lips to his neck, and he moans as she lightly sucks on the sensitive skin there. Her lips start traveling down his body, and his breathing turns more erratic the lower she goes.

She chuckles as she looks up at him, liking the effect she's having on him. He places his index finger under her chin, and she moves back up to press her lips to his again. His fingers tangle in her long, brown hair and he soon rolls them back over.

He pulls her bra strap down as his lips move across her collar bone. His hands continue to travel her body, and her back arches. He takes the opportunity to unhook her bra and toss it to the floor. She moans as his lips end up on her neck again.

—

Stefan's eyes are closed, but Nyx knows that he's awake. They're cuddled together, and her head's resting on his chest. "Can I be honest with you about something?" She asks.

"No, I like when the girl I slept with lies to me right after." He says, and she chuckles as she smacks his chest. "What is it?"

"That's the first time that I've...slept with anyone in two years." She tells him, and he turns his head to look at her.

"What?"

"Well, Rebekah had me killed about a month after the twins were born. A newly turned vampire and physical contact of any kind with a human — not the best idea." She says, and he nods, knowing she's right. "And I was a vampire less than a year when Kol killed me, then I was dead for a little over a year. And things since I got back haven't exactly been the best romantically...before tonight."

"Well, I couldn't tell." He says with a smirk, and she laughs as she covers her face. "Can I ask you something?"

"Hm?" She looks up at him.

"What are you gonna do about the angels?"

"Nice way to ruin a good moment." She sighs. "I don't know. I just know that this whole thing scares the hell out of me. I can't lose Elena, I can't. And I don't understand this...ability. I definitely don't want her to have to deal with it too. I don't know what to do, and I don't trust them. I thought Cas seemed sincere about wanting to help me, but there's no way that he didn't know that Uriel was going to threaten me like that. Proven by him apologizing after."

"If he apologized, maybe he feels guilty." He says. "Maybe he does want to help you."

"There's something else that Uriel said..."

"What?"

"He... He told me that Cas has been watching over me and Elena our whole lives." She tells him, and his eyebrows furrow as he looks at her. "And... I don't know, maybe that makes sense. I mean, you heard Caroline. I should be dead a few times over, and so should Elena. You saved us from drowning, and then me again in the basement at the house full of those stupid tomb vampires. Dean saved me from that vampire in North Carolina. Klaus killed me, Rebekah had me killed, and she killed Elena, then Kol killed me, and yet I'm here... And I really hate the original family of vampire jackasses." She adds, and he chuckles. "I almost lost the twins twice and it was touch and go for a while after they were born. Maybe he really has been looking out for me all this time. But even if that's true..."

"You think it's just because of this weird prophecy thing?" He asks. "You don't think he actually cares about you and Elena at all."

"I don't know. I don't know what to think about anything concerning the angels." She says, and he tightens his arms around her as he kisses her forehead.

"Well, you're not alone in trying to figure it out." He tells her. "We're all here to help you two, however we can."

She smiles as she looks up at him. "Thank you."