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I&039;d been hiding out in Anna&039;s house for two days and I&039;d spentthat I felt better than I actually did I&039;d given up any real hope that Stefan was going to co me question his existence and ht and I was tossing and turning in the spare bedroom at her house Anna was exactly what I&039;d needed She only talked if I started the conversation, didn&039;t ask a lot of questions and generally let me keep to myself She also keptthe covers, I wondered if I could just stay here forever I wouldn&039;t have to go ho there

I&039;d finally almost dropped off to sleep when I heard voices outside of the house The sounds were h I could tell by the tone that whoever was outside was angry Pulling the pillow over my head to drown out the sound, I rolled over sleepily and iined Anna in a heated conversation with a spurned surfer in board shorts I lowered my shields and tried to see Anna&039;s future, confused when I could see nothing

Right now Anna had no future

Forgetting about sleep and growing concerned for her, I strained to make out their conversation The voices steadily increased in volume and I could tell that they were now in the house Anna&039;s voice was getting louder and was laced with panic as the voices approachedStefan loomed in the doorith both hands braced on each side of the frame His eyes anxiously darted around the roouish

I jolted upright and my eyes frantically shifted fro etic smile as she left the room and disappeared down the hallway The roo heart and the sound of Stefan&039;s ragged breath

Gasping weakly, I pulled the covers closer to olden hair and weary face I couldn&039;t stop the feeling of gratification that rushed throughHis shoulders were tight and his clothes rinkled and disheveled

I focused my attention on the covers I didn&039;t want to look at hi ached for hiive in to him It would have been so simple to reach out to hiain But I couldn&039;t do that He&039;d left ain I sat staring atet him to leave

"Josephine?" Stefan whispered brokenly into the darkness He crossed the roo to his knees at the side of the bed as if in prayer "Josephine"

His large hands stretched across the bed, reaching for me I hastily yanked my hands to my chest, as if his touch would burnleft ri and you left ! Youleft a hand through his ain It was te to touch him, instead I twistedleave, Stefan I don&039;t want to see you again," Ifurther away from him on the bed

"You do not understand I left-"

"Oh, I understand completely, Stefan You leftto be like it was before," I snorted, shaking my head in disbelief "Leave before I have Anna call the police"

I turned over in the bed withat hi me inside for hi sound of his voice hadive in It became my mantra

"I love you Josephine, please" Stefan tried again, his voice cracking into a tortured sob

"Save it for someone that cares," I spat at hi leave"

The tension in the roorew heavier as I heard Stefan stand and cross the room and hesitate briefly in the doorway I was tempted to look over my shoulder when I heard the door to my room close softly I held my breath as I heard his car start and pull away fro in his rush to leave

The house was silent again and I letinto my pilloanted to run after him and tell him not to leave, that I loved hi, although my pathetic mind and heart didn&039;t care

They wanted hi, I watched as Anna&039;s car disappeared down the driveway

I&039;d stayed at her house for another day in seclusion when I finally realized I couldn&039;t hide away in her house forever, even as teht sounded

I had to resu that resembled a life and deal with the fallout with Stefan He&039;d come back and I&039;d told hi hi alone in lazed over as I re after Stefan had barged into her house

"Look Josie, I don&039;t knohat you&039;re doing but I do know thatShe tapped her fingernails against the wooden table "I don&039;t get in your personal life often and you know it You&039;re ri to be with someone that disappears for days with no explanation and then just walks back in, thinking I&039; to just be okay with that, Anna Would you be okay with that?"

Her mouth twisted into a cynical smile "No, but let&039;s not turn this into what I&039;d do and wouldn&039;t do Your situation is different He told me he had no choice You should at least let him explain"

"Are you new here? I don&039;t want to hear it," I argued "He chose to leave with no explanations No phone calls, no note Nothing, Anna Maybe he had a fling with so know and I really don&039;t want to find out I&039;h this over and over A relationship with hih this I don&039;t do drama"

Anna sipped her coffee silently She nodded and reached over to patStefan is hurting too You know and I know you can&039;t avoid this forever You love each other" Her so of someone you love because you&039;ve decided to be a stubborn bitch"

"I think we&039;re done here, Anna Don&039;t you have to go to work?"

I drew in a deep breath as I snapped back to reality Maybe it was time for me to move on from Bali andover when I&039;m still in love with an i my shoulders, I walked slowly up the steps to unlock the door tothe door quietly behind ainst the s to be the hardest part I was going to see the ghost of Stefan in every corner and see ahoas going to find the strength to do this

Dropping s by the couch, I forced myself to do menial tasks to keep my mind occupied I ran the vacuum, dusted and scrubbed the counter tops I went to the dryer to grab the clean sheets,the up the co white under the table by the bed It was the corner of a piece of paper and was barely visible unless you really concentrated on looking at it I bent over to pick it up andon the paper

Josephine-

I know I should wake you, however you are sleeping so beautifully that I cannot bear to disturb you I ency Council business I will be back as soon as possible I pro in detail when I return

Eternally yours,

Stefan

The note slipped froertips and my eyes blankly watched the paper flutter to the floor For a moment, I was frozen in place and my mind went coth of the hallway, fued to dial his nuers

"You have reached Stefan Lifsten Leave a e after the tone"

"Stefan It&039;s Josie Please call me I&039;m sorry Pleasecall" I choked into the phone "II just found your note II didn&039;t know I&039; &039;end&039;, I tossed iving hi the worst

All I could do noait and hope that Stefan was forgiving of idiotic woed on the bed withto work onwhen I heard the sound of car tires turn onto the gravel of hts flashed acrossnervously, I placedhands and listened to the sound of a car engine turning off

I hurried down the hallway and opened the front door, sing back the sob that threatened to break free when I saw Stefan leaning against his car His hands were shoved into the front pockets of his jeans and when he turned to face me, our eyes locked The pain I saw in his eyes drew me to him and for once in ot about ravel to hio of the sob I&039;d been holding in He pulled ether as if we&039;d never been apart

"Josephine," he spoke in a broken whisper, the si tears of relief to spill from my eyes

"I&039;m sorry, Stefan I didn&039;t know I didn&039;t find your note I" Iright now We would not want Georgia to come over, would we?" Stefan whispered hed weakly, re hio to me

"I&039; up into his blue eyes "I love you I don&039;t want anotheryou"

"As I love you, vackra It is a ive you and we move on I think I read that is what one does in a situation like this It was good advice from a cheesy romance novel, yes?"

I pulled my head away fro to just forget all the horrible things I&039;d said to hi had happened? Why was it so easy for hi of stubborn, idiotic woazed into my eyes and a wry smile pulled at the corner of his lips In one fluid movement, he leaned forward and covered ainst h htly around his neck

He reluctantly pulled away, pressing his forehead against an to speak "There is much we need to discuss, Josephine"

"When did you become the serious, level headed one, Romeo?"

My hter rumbled in his chest as he picked me up and carried me into the villa He sat down on the couch and cradled ainst his shoulder He lowered his blond head to lightly touch his cool lips against mine in a chaste kiss

"It is not a super power, Josephine I love you and I want no one else but you For ive, it was aforced to go instead of leaving you a note I could have called you to explain" He exhaled a slow breath, his eyes narrowing dangerously "Fucking vaht at Anna&039;s house I was so angry and hurt, Stefan The thing I feared thewhen I woke up alone and had no idea what happened to you I thought you leftin distress The h my mind and the sense of abandonment I felt was still fresh and was painful to think about His body tensed and flinched underneathwith pain

"LetI left You were sleeping and I received a text e from a member of the Ad carelessly and his behavior was threatening to expose our existence That is what you would call a &039;no-no&039; for us" His voice was bitter and his lips were set in a thin line "As an Enforcer, I had to convince Derek it was in his best interest to not continue his actions We finally reached an agreement"

"An Enforcer?" I questioned What does an Enforcer&039;s job entail? Does he pull their ar? I foundof Stefan shirtless and ripping ar in his aret that severe It requires persuasion and at tiht direction It helps to be able to see their true intentions" Stefan smirked and tapped the side of his teht I found you, it was extreht have to leave again When the Adet to choose It is considered to be an honor byentle kiss I ran my nose over his skin and inhaled the musky scent of him "I take it you don&039;t feel that way"

"No I do not" He turned his head to gaze atover his face that didn&039;t reach his eyes "I briefly considered not co back to you while I ay I am selfish and could not stay away from you You are my fated, Josephine Your soul pulled me back to you like a o wide as I sat up to straddle his lap, anger building inside of me as I placed my hands on each side of his face "Hold on for a second You considered not coed His eyes looked ancient and tired, the usual sparkle gone "I love you more than I can possibly explain to you If I could spare you any pain, I would gladly do it to see you happy I considered the possibility that you ht be happier without me in your life Yet here I aone, I felt like part ofmy thumbs over his cheekbones and down the side of his face "No s should at least be considered If we&039;re going to do this, we have to communicate And that means me too"

Stefan nodded, his face clouded with uncertainty My hts His rily told him to leave, my voice bitter and spiteful It was difficult to watch er I shivered when I felt his pain and turrimaced at my oords that echoed in hisleave&039;

I started to rip on my waist I was ashamed that he&039;d come back to explain and I&039;d pushed hiht when she told me I was a stubborn bitch

"I kno that is not true, Josephine Do not do this to yourself Not when there are so ht now," Stefanover me like velvet

The se of need throughoutertip traced lightly alonghar saknat att vara , din j?vla"

"Your Swedish is sexy, Stefan Translation please," I whispered,etness as he spoke to ue Between the Swedish and his sexy talk, I was aed to stay dressed

He chuckled and his hand cupped the nape of ainstcaress "I si you When I call you vackra, it means beautiful And you are thelife"

I let an out a hoarse cry when histhe recesses ofand our teeth nibbling His grip was tight as his hands held ht I had lost you, Josephine Seeing you that night" Hisdeeply into my eyes

"But you didn&039;t, Stefan I&039;m here, you&039;re here Now shut up and kiss ue tracing down ainst the crook of my neck I shivered and reluctantly pulled away fro short work of unbuttoning his jeans and pulling the zipper down I tugged on the denio, Roerously as he wordlessly lifted his hips for , finely ers Pushing his thighs apart and kneeling between his legs, I watched as Stefanover his naked torso