Flashfic! "In This Together," Elena/Stefan + Klaus, The Vampire Diaries
It is a melodramatic, cliché-ridden fic where the emotions possibly pinball around from paragraph to paragraph, but whatever! I wrote a thing! A thing which I have been meaning to write since a year ago this month (I think) when I saw this episode, no less. Because someone had to write this alternate scene, by God. Never mind that it is a Porn Battle fill that is 95% not porn.
Title: In This Together
Fandom: The Vampire Diaries
Characters/Pairings: Stefan/Elena and Klaus
Rating: R
Word Count: 2,822
Summary: Aliens Klaus makes them do it. Alternate take on the gym scene in 3x5, "The Reckoning" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5l0swGevEbo). First several lines of dialogue are from the ep.
Content Notes: Noncon of the sexual and mind-control variety; voyeurism.
A/N: Dashed off for Porn Battle XIV for the prompts "school, compulsion, voyeur"; originally posted here. Since I was going to write this for *cough* Porn Battle XIII and then the "hypnosis/mind control" square on my Kink Bingo card last summer, let's also call it an amnesty fill.
When Elena's vision clears from Klaus' vicious backhand, she finds that Klaus is gripping Stefan by the throat and forcing him to meet his gaze. "Stop fighting," Klaus commands.
Stefan struggles to break free; can't. Begs, "Don't do this. Don't do this."
"I don't want to. All I wanted was your allegiance. Now I'm going to have to take it."
"Don't," Stefan tries again. "Don't."
But Klaus says the words, and Elena knows Stefan doesn't have the strength to resist the compulsion. "You'll do exactly as I say when I say it. You will not run, you will not hide, you will simply just obey."
Stefan relaxes. His eyes go unfocused.
Elena finds her voice, but it's barely above a whisper. "No. Stefan."
Klaus grins. Turning to Elena and sweeping an arm out in invitation to Stefan, he commands, "Now fuck her, Ripper."
The last thing Elena sees clearly is Stefan's anguished expression over Klaus' shoulder.
Then he tackles her to the floor.
* * *
"Stefan. Stefan," she repeats, trying not to panic even though she's on her back with Stefan straddling her and he's doing something frightening at her waistband despite her struggles and she doesn't know who he is right now with that still not-quite-there gaze. She shoves at his hands, but he only pauses to grab her forearms and slam them into the floor on either side of her shoulders. She makes a noise at the bruising pain, at the easy roughness of his actions. Wills away the tears that press behind her eyes. "Stefan."
Finally, he blinks down at her. Some of the tightness in her chest eases.
"Elena," he says, like it's being torn from his throat. His grip loosens. "I-" But nothing else comes out.
"Stefan." She can't stop saying his name, as though she were trying to calm a spooked animal, as though she can anchor him back in himself. "Stefan, it's me. Let me go. You don't want to do this."
"Of course he doesn't want to do this," Klaus breaks in. "That's what makes it so delicious. Now get on with it, Stefan. I haven't got all night."
Stefan lets go of her arms, and for a second, she thinks he's found a way to resist. But then he says, "I'm sorry," and reaches for her jeans.
Again, she struggles, and again, she doesn't stand a chance against his strength. This time, he squeezes her wrists together and pins them over her head with one hand so he still has the other free to undo her fly. "Don't do this," she pleads. "You don't have to do this. You're stronger than this." But even as she says it, she's not sure it's true.
He has to release her wrists to tug her jeans down. She twists beneath him and tries to kick and writhe her way free of him. It's no good. He catches her ankles one after the other and wrestles each sneaker off. They hit the floor with muted thuds. She catches sight of them as Stefan pulls her jeans down her thrashing legs, lying there askew with the laces still tied. For some reason, that's what makes her start to cry.
Then he's flipping her onto her back while she continues to aim uncoordinated kicks and fists at him. She lands a few good hits before he grabs her hair and yanks her head back so hard she yelps. Between that, the hand he's using to pin one of her arms to the floor again, and the weight of his body on hers, she's stuck. Her heart pounds in her throat. Half a dozen paces away, Klaus is smirking. Dana and Chad are huddled together by the bleachers, wide-eyed and shaking, probably hoping Klaus has forgotten they're there.
"Elena," Stefan says. She forces herself to look at him again. To her surprise, she finds that his own eyes are wet.
"Don't fight me," he goes on, and it's not a threat, it's an appeal. "Please. I'll only hurt you. I don't want to hurt you. Not more than I have to."
She takes a deep, wobbly breath. This is still Stefan, as horrible as it is to think about. He doesn't want to do this either. Even though it's his body doing these things to her, he's not the one forcing her. He can't fight what Klaus is making him do.
Slowly, she makes herself relax. She shouldn't be fighting Stefan, even though her instincts scream for it. It's the both of them who should be fighting Klaus.
A moment later, Stefan eases up too.
"In this together," Elena murmurs. Somehow, she finds Stefan's hand and holds tight.
"I love you," he says back.
A clap startles them both. "Let's go, kids," Klaus sing-songs. "Hybrids to keep alive, grimoires to consult. I'll put you on a timer if I have to."
Without breaking Stefan's gaze, Elena lifts her hips so he can push down her underwear.
Things go a little surreal when he undoes his own jeans and gets into position. She thinks he spits into his palm or maybe cuts the skin with a fang or something before he reaches down to give them some semblance of lubrication. Ever the gentleman.
I don't want to do this, is what she wants to say, half-naked in the school gym under Klaus' hot gaze and with two classmates she barely knows watching her about to have sex with a guy whose relationship with her has been rocky lately to say the least, but what good will it do? It'll only make Stefan feel worse. It might make Klaus enjoy this even more. So she swallows the words and holds on.
She has to close her eyes when Stefan pushes in.
* * *
"Atta boy, Ripper," says Klaus when Elena can't suppress a sound of discomfort. "Would it be too cliché to order you to make her scream?"
"Don't," Stefan grits out. He's sweating as he thrusts into her. Elena thinks he's trying to be gentle, but it's hard to tell, she's so mixed up about how to deal with what's happening. Despite her assertion that they'll get through this with each other, she can barely look at him; but it's not like looking at Klaus or Dana or Chad is any better. She concentrates on keeping her knees up and tries to focus on the Timberwolves banners by the doors.
"I'm sorry, what was that? Did you say no to me?" In a blink, Klaus is crouching at their side. "You still think you can defy me for a girl?" He gives Elena a once-over that makes her want to spit at him. "Even if she is the doppelganger. I know how hard it is to resist one." He reaches down like he's going to cup her breast.
Stefan's growl is the only warning before he launches himself at Klaus. Even as Elena lets out a cry when he tears free of her, Klaus snaps, "Stop."
Stefan freezes, half on top of her and half poised to attack.
"Get back inside her, and do not get off until you-get off," Klaus orders. "If you try to attack me again, I'll kill her." He jerks a thumb behind him, toward Dana, who whimpers.
Stefan doesn't lose his murderous look when he does what Klaus says. Elena digs her fingertips into the floor instead of around Klaus' throat as Stefan pushes his way into her once more. It's still tight, and it still stings, and it's humiliating, and she wishes someone would come in here and put a stop to everything. Damon. Bonnie. Caroline. Anyone. Except she doesn't want them to see her like this, either.
"I shouldn't have to resort to threats, by the way," Klaus continues. "We'll need to work on that." He shifts so he's behind Elena and strokes her hair out of her face. She jerks her head away and raises her arms to scratch at whatever parts of him she can reach, but he only slides his hand around her neck and says, "Keep still, darling, or I'll snap your spine. I'm fairly certain I can do it without killing you."
She stays still. Pinned at the hips by her on-again, off-again boyfriend, who continues to thrust and glare; pinned at the throat by Klaus' hand, deceptively light, his thumb over her thumping pulse.
"For example," says Klaus, "if I were to tell you to drink from Elena's throat, you would do it."
It's not quite a command. Stefan doesn't move, but the veins begin to bulge around his eyes.
"And if I were to make it less hypothetical…" Klaus removes his hand from her neck. "Drink from her."
"No," Elena whispers. If Stefan tastes human blood right now-let alone her blood-he won't be able to stop.
His irises crimson with bloodlust, Stefan visibly trembles with the effort to resist. He's staring at her neck.
Klaus leans in. "I said, drink."
Still thrusting, Stefan surges forward and sinks his fangs into her. She cries out and bucks beneath him at the sting and pull of his mouth. Is this it? Is she going to die here, like this, after everything? Surely Klaus won't finish her off until he's got the key to his army of hybrids and whatever else he thinks he has to do before he'll leave Mystic Falls alone. Right?
"Stop," Klaus says just when she's starting to get dizzy. Stefan rears back with a gasp, his lips and teeth slick with red. Elena tries to clap a hand over her wound, but Klaus stops her. Warmth trickles down the side of her neck. "Now fuck her harder. Show her what a real vampire's capable of."
Her muscles have loosened up since this nightmare started, but it feels like Stefan's wrapped in fine-grit sandpaper anyway when he takes hold of her hips, adjusts his stance and starts going at her like a piston. Klaus holds her straining arms to the floor.
"You're hurting me," she whines, and she's not sure whether she's talking to Stefan or Klaus. "You're hurting him. Why are you doing this?"
"To take back what I thought had been willingly given to me," Klaus says, as though it's obvious and logical. "To show Ripper here he's at my mercy and there's nothing he can do about it. And because it's amusing. Aren't you amused, Dana, sweetheart?"
The silence that follows speaks for itself.
"Boring," Klaus mutters. "Let's practice some more, shall we? Spread her legs further."
Elena shuts her eyes again and tries to ignore the stretch in her hips when Stefan obeys. Maybe the less she reacts, the less Klaus will provoke Stefan and the sooner this will end.
"Push up her top."
Cool fingers at her navel. Stefan pushes her t-shirt to just below her bra.
"Don't be a tease."
Above her bra. She keeps her shoulder blades pressed to the floor to stop it from going farther.
"Kiss her there."
She doesn't know where "there" is until she feels Stefan's lips on the soft skin of her left breast just above the cup of her bra.
"Now slap it."
Her eyes fly open and her whole body flinches when Stefan smacks the breast he was just nuzzling.
"Again. Harder."
At least she manages not to make a noise.
Stefan must be doing well on the obedience test, because Klaus stands and strolls over to the far wall. Elena sags.
"I'm sorry," Stefan mouths when Klaus' back is turned. She doesn't know what to say. It's a constant burning pain between her legs and at her throat where he bit her. She can't count all the aches from the floor and from where Klaus struck her before all this began.
"And now for your final test," Klaus declares. He punches some buttons on a console, and the big clock on the wall lights up: 05:00. "You will both come before the clock runs down. Starting-now." The buzzer sounds, and the numbers start falling.
"What?" Elena can't help exclaiming. "Do you have any memory of how the human body works?"
Klaus saunters back over and stares directly into Stefan's eyes. "You will come in less than five minutes. And you will make sure Elena comes with you."
Beneath the glaze of compulsion, Stefan asks, "How am I supposed to do that?"
Klaus barks out a laugh as he straightens and begins to circle them. "Do you need a lesson? Oh, Elena, you poor thing. No wonder you two are always quarreling."
"Not what I meant," Stefan growls.
"Compel her, then, you idiot," Klaus says. "It's not rocket science."
Normally, Elena would be horrified to know that her mind was about to be altered. Right now, though, she thinks it might be the best thing that could happen to her.
Stefan holds her gaze. A comforting fog settles over her; whereas her mind has been skittering all over the place since Stefan tackled her, now it becomes clear that she simply wants to do whatever he's about to tell her to. "It's okay," he says, and really, it does feel a little better. They're in this together. He's going to help her. "It doesn't hurt anymore." And he's right. The pain in her neck and between her legs abates. "In fact, it feels good. It's as if it's just the two of us by the fire in your family's cabin, taking our time." Warmth spreads in her chest as her awareness of Klaus recedes. This is Stefan. They're making love. She's wet, and he's sliding in and out of her with delicious friction. He's cradling her hips, strong and confident. She tilts up for more.
"You can't remember the last time it felt this good," he goes on. It's true, she can't. But something in his voice sounds strange. When she refocuses, she registers the pinch between his eyebrows, the wince pulling at his mouth. She takes an unsteady breath as reality encroaches on the story he's weaving for them. Then something shifts in his eyes, and she's back in the fog.
"You're close, but you've been waiting for me." She wonders how he knew. She's aching for it, swollen and sweet. Maybe it shows on her face. Maybe he can tell by the fierceness with which she's gripping him, her hands at his ribs and her knees at his hips, or by her shortening breaths and the tiny undulations of her hips.
"Tick, tock," someone says in the distance. Elena's too focused on Stefan to pay it much attention.
"I can't hold on anymore," he says, his own breaths grown harsh. Without breaking eye contact, he takes one of her hands in his and laces their fingers together against the hardwood floor. "Are you with me?"
"Yes," she breathes.
"Let go, Elena." She's almost there. She just- She tilts her hips just a little more, and there, there, he slides over her clit with each quickening thrust, and she's almost, she's almost- "I've got you," he says, and she falls.
He groans, drops his head as his final thrusts go erratic, and follows her.
* * *
If she hadn't snapped back into herself the moment he lowered his gaze, the buzz of the clock reaching zero would have done it. As it is, both of them jump.
Klaus gives them a few slow claps. "Excellently done, Ripper. I'd say you're nearly housetrained now."
Stefan still hasn't raised his head. Nor has he let go of her hand. Elena lifts her free hand to his hair and whispers his name, afraid of what response she might get. When he finally looks up, he looks like he's no longer sure whether he wants to kill Klaus or himself. When he says her name, he sounds as raw as she's ever heard him.
"I'm okay," she finds herself whispering, even though she's anything but. "We'll get through this."
"All right, enough pillow talk," says Klaus. "Get dressed. There's someone you need to kill."
Stefan sits back on his heels and puts himself together. His clothes, anyway. Eyes averted, he says, "Elena, I am so sorry."
Even though she knows it's not his fault, she's not ready to forgive him. She settles on, "I know." Sits up-is grateful to discover that the compulsion apparently holds over, because it doesn't hurt nearly as much as it should-and lets Stefan help her back into her jeans and sneakers.
It occurs to her that Stefan didn't compel her to forgive him, or to forget, leaving him to suffer alone with the memory of what happened. Weirdly, she's glad of it. They're still going to have a hell of a lot of issues to work through, but they'll be able to do it together.
Then Klaus orders Stefan to turn off his humanity, and her whole world tilts sideways.
* * *
(episode transcript)
ETA: Follow-up fic with sexier sex: The night is dark and full of dreams
Title: In This Together
Fandom: The Vampire Diaries
Characters/Pairings: Stefan/Elena and Klaus
Rating: R
Word Count: 2,822
Summary: Aliens Klaus makes them do it. Alternate take on the gym scene in 3x5, "The Reckoning" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5l0swGevEbo). First several lines of dialogue are from the ep.
Content Notes: Noncon of the sexual and mind-control variety; voyeurism.
A/N: Dashed off for Porn Battle XIV for the prompts "school, compulsion, voyeur"; originally posted here. Since I was going to write this for *cough* Porn Battle XIII and then the "hypnosis/mind control" square on my Kink Bingo card last summer, let's also call it an amnesty fill.
When Elena's vision clears from Klaus' vicious backhand, she finds that Klaus is gripping Stefan by the throat and forcing him to meet his gaze. "Stop fighting," Klaus commands.
Stefan struggles to break free; can't. Begs, "Don't do this. Don't do this."
"I don't want to. All I wanted was your allegiance. Now I'm going to have to take it."
"Don't," Stefan tries again. "Don't."
But Klaus says the words, and Elena knows Stefan doesn't have the strength to resist the compulsion. "You'll do exactly as I say when I say it. You will not run, you will not hide, you will simply just obey."
Stefan relaxes. His eyes go unfocused.
Elena finds her voice, but it's barely above a whisper. "No. Stefan."
Klaus grins. Turning to Elena and sweeping an arm out in invitation to Stefan, he commands, "Now fuck her, Ripper."
The last thing Elena sees clearly is Stefan's anguished expression over Klaus' shoulder.
Then he tackles her to the floor.
* * *
"Stefan. Stefan," she repeats, trying not to panic even though she's on her back with Stefan straddling her and he's doing something frightening at her waistband despite her struggles and she doesn't know who he is right now with that still not-quite-there gaze. She shoves at his hands, but he only pauses to grab her forearms and slam them into the floor on either side of her shoulders. She makes a noise at the bruising pain, at the easy roughness of his actions. Wills away the tears that press behind her eyes. "Stefan."
Finally, he blinks down at her. Some of the tightness in her chest eases.
"Elena," he says, like it's being torn from his throat. His grip loosens. "I-" But nothing else comes out.
"Stefan." She can't stop saying his name, as though she were trying to calm a spooked animal, as though she can anchor him back in himself. "Stefan, it's me. Let me go. You don't want to do this."
"Of course he doesn't want to do this," Klaus breaks in. "That's what makes it so delicious. Now get on with it, Stefan. I haven't got all night."
Stefan lets go of her arms, and for a second, she thinks he's found a way to resist. But then he says, "I'm sorry," and reaches for her jeans.
Again, she struggles, and again, she doesn't stand a chance against his strength. This time, he squeezes her wrists together and pins them over her head with one hand so he still has the other free to undo her fly. "Don't do this," she pleads. "You don't have to do this. You're stronger than this." But even as she says it, she's not sure it's true.
He has to release her wrists to tug her jeans down. She twists beneath him and tries to kick and writhe her way free of him. It's no good. He catches her ankles one after the other and wrestles each sneaker off. They hit the floor with muted thuds. She catches sight of them as Stefan pulls her jeans down her thrashing legs, lying there askew with the laces still tied. For some reason, that's what makes her start to cry.
Then he's flipping her onto her back while she continues to aim uncoordinated kicks and fists at him. She lands a few good hits before he grabs her hair and yanks her head back so hard she yelps. Between that, the hand he's using to pin one of her arms to the floor again, and the weight of his body on hers, she's stuck. Her heart pounds in her throat. Half a dozen paces away, Klaus is smirking. Dana and Chad are huddled together by the bleachers, wide-eyed and shaking, probably hoping Klaus has forgotten they're there.
"Elena," Stefan says. She forces herself to look at him again. To her surprise, she finds that his own eyes are wet.
"Don't fight me," he goes on, and it's not a threat, it's an appeal. "Please. I'll only hurt you. I don't want to hurt you. Not more than I have to."
She takes a deep, wobbly breath. This is still Stefan, as horrible as it is to think about. He doesn't want to do this either. Even though it's his body doing these things to her, he's not the one forcing her. He can't fight what Klaus is making him do.
Slowly, she makes herself relax. She shouldn't be fighting Stefan, even though her instincts scream for it. It's the both of them who should be fighting Klaus.
A moment later, Stefan eases up too.
"In this together," Elena murmurs. Somehow, she finds Stefan's hand and holds tight.
"I love you," he says back.
A clap startles them both. "Let's go, kids," Klaus sing-songs. "Hybrids to keep alive, grimoires to consult. I'll put you on a timer if I have to."
Without breaking Stefan's gaze, Elena lifts her hips so he can push down her underwear.
Things go a little surreal when he undoes his own jeans and gets into position. She thinks he spits into his palm or maybe cuts the skin with a fang or something before he reaches down to give them some semblance of lubrication. Ever the gentleman.
I don't want to do this, is what she wants to say, half-naked in the school gym under Klaus' hot gaze and with two classmates she barely knows watching her about to have sex with a guy whose relationship with her has been rocky lately to say the least, but what good will it do? It'll only make Stefan feel worse. It might make Klaus enjoy this even more. So she swallows the words and holds on.
She has to close her eyes when Stefan pushes in.
* * *
"Atta boy, Ripper," says Klaus when Elena can't suppress a sound of discomfort. "Would it be too cliché to order you to make her scream?"
"Don't," Stefan grits out. He's sweating as he thrusts into her. Elena thinks he's trying to be gentle, but it's hard to tell, she's so mixed up about how to deal with what's happening. Despite her assertion that they'll get through this with each other, she can barely look at him; but it's not like looking at Klaus or Dana or Chad is any better. She concentrates on keeping her knees up and tries to focus on the Timberwolves banners by the doors.
"I'm sorry, what was that? Did you say no to me?" In a blink, Klaus is crouching at their side. "You still think you can defy me for a girl?" He gives Elena a once-over that makes her want to spit at him. "Even if she is the doppelganger. I know how hard it is to resist one." He reaches down like he's going to cup her breast.
Stefan's growl is the only warning before he launches himself at Klaus. Even as Elena lets out a cry when he tears free of her, Klaus snaps, "Stop."
Stefan freezes, half on top of her and half poised to attack.
"Get back inside her, and do not get off until you-get off," Klaus orders. "If you try to attack me again, I'll kill her." He jerks a thumb behind him, toward Dana, who whimpers.
Stefan doesn't lose his murderous look when he does what Klaus says. Elena digs her fingertips into the floor instead of around Klaus' throat as Stefan pushes his way into her once more. It's still tight, and it still stings, and it's humiliating, and she wishes someone would come in here and put a stop to everything. Damon. Bonnie. Caroline. Anyone. Except she doesn't want them to see her like this, either.
"I shouldn't have to resort to threats, by the way," Klaus continues. "We'll need to work on that." He shifts so he's behind Elena and strokes her hair out of her face. She jerks her head away and raises her arms to scratch at whatever parts of him she can reach, but he only slides his hand around her neck and says, "Keep still, darling, or I'll snap your spine. I'm fairly certain I can do it without killing you."
She stays still. Pinned at the hips by her on-again, off-again boyfriend, who continues to thrust and glare; pinned at the throat by Klaus' hand, deceptively light, his thumb over her thumping pulse.
"For example," says Klaus, "if I were to tell you to drink from Elena's throat, you would do it."
It's not quite a command. Stefan doesn't move, but the veins begin to bulge around his eyes.
"And if I were to make it less hypothetical…" Klaus removes his hand from her neck. "Drink from her."
"No," Elena whispers. If Stefan tastes human blood right now-let alone her blood-he won't be able to stop.
His irises crimson with bloodlust, Stefan visibly trembles with the effort to resist. He's staring at her neck.
Klaus leans in. "I said, drink."
Still thrusting, Stefan surges forward and sinks his fangs into her. She cries out and bucks beneath him at the sting and pull of his mouth. Is this it? Is she going to die here, like this, after everything? Surely Klaus won't finish her off until he's got the key to his army of hybrids and whatever else he thinks he has to do before he'll leave Mystic Falls alone. Right?
"Stop," Klaus says just when she's starting to get dizzy. Stefan rears back with a gasp, his lips and teeth slick with red. Elena tries to clap a hand over her wound, but Klaus stops her. Warmth trickles down the side of her neck. "Now fuck her harder. Show her what a real vampire's capable of."
Her muscles have loosened up since this nightmare started, but it feels like Stefan's wrapped in fine-grit sandpaper anyway when he takes hold of her hips, adjusts his stance and starts going at her like a piston. Klaus holds her straining arms to the floor.
"You're hurting me," she whines, and she's not sure whether she's talking to Stefan or Klaus. "You're hurting him. Why are you doing this?"
"To take back what I thought had been willingly given to me," Klaus says, as though it's obvious and logical. "To show Ripper here he's at my mercy and there's nothing he can do about it. And because it's amusing. Aren't you amused, Dana, sweetheart?"
The silence that follows speaks for itself.
"Boring," Klaus mutters. "Let's practice some more, shall we? Spread her legs further."
Elena shuts her eyes again and tries to ignore the stretch in her hips when Stefan obeys. Maybe the less she reacts, the less Klaus will provoke Stefan and the sooner this will end.
"Push up her top."
Cool fingers at her navel. Stefan pushes her t-shirt to just below her bra.
"Don't be a tease."
Above her bra. She keeps her shoulder blades pressed to the floor to stop it from going farther.
"Kiss her there."
She doesn't know where "there" is until she feels Stefan's lips on the soft skin of her left breast just above the cup of her bra.
"Now slap it."
Her eyes fly open and her whole body flinches when Stefan smacks the breast he was just nuzzling.
"Again. Harder."
At least she manages not to make a noise.
Stefan must be doing well on the obedience test, because Klaus stands and strolls over to the far wall. Elena sags.
"I'm sorry," Stefan mouths when Klaus' back is turned. She doesn't know what to say. It's a constant burning pain between her legs and at her throat where he bit her. She can't count all the aches from the floor and from where Klaus struck her before all this began.
"And now for your final test," Klaus declares. He punches some buttons on a console, and the big clock on the wall lights up: 05:00. "You will both come before the clock runs down. Starting-now." The buzzer sounds, and the numbers start falling.
"What?" Elena can't help exclaiming. "Do you have any memory of how the human body works?"
Klaus saunters back over and stares directly into Stefan's eyes. "You will come in less than five minutes. And you will make sure Elena comes with you."
Beneath the glaze of compulsion, Stefan asks, "How am I supposed to do that?"
Klaus barks out a laugh as he straightens and begins to circle them. "Do you need a lesson? Oh, Elena, you poor thing. No wonder you two are always quarreling."
"Not what I meant," Stefan growls.
"Compel her, then, you idiot," Klaus says. "It's not rocket science."
Normally, Elena would be horrified to know that her mind was about to be altered. Right now, though, she thinks it might be the best thing that could happen to her.
Stefan holds her gaze. A comforting fog settles over her; whereas her mind has been skittering all over the place since Stefan tackled her, now it becomes clear that she simply wants to do whatever he's about to tell her to. "It's okay," he says, and really, it does feel a little better. They're in this together. He's going to help her. "It doesn't hurt anymore." And he's right. The pain in her neck and between her legs abates. "In fact, it feels good. It's as if it's just the two of us by the fire in your family's cabin, taking our time." Warmth spreads in her chest as her awareness of Klaus recedes. This is Stefan. They're making love. She's wet, and he's sliding in and out of her with delicious friction. He's cradling her hips, strong and confident. She tilts up for more.
"You can't remember the last time it felt this good," he goes on. It's true, she can't. But something in his voice sounds strange. When she refocuses, she registers the pinch between his eyebrows, the wince pulling at his mouth. She takes an unsteady breath as reality encroaches on the story he's weaving for them. Then something shifts in his eyes, and she's back in the fog.
"You're close, but you've been waiting for me." She wonders how he knew. She's aching for it, swollen and sweet. Maybe it shows on her face. Maybe he can tell by the fierceness with which she's gripping him, her hands at his ribs and her knees at his hips, or by her shortening breaths and the tiny undulations of her hips.
"Tick, tock," someone says in the distance. Elena's too focused on Stefan to pay it much attention.
"I can't hold on anymore," he says, his own breaths grown harsh. Without breaking eye contact, he takes one of her hands in his and laces their fingers together against the hardwood floor. "Are you with me?"
"Yes," she breathes.
"Let go, Elena." She's almost there. She just- She tilts her hips just a little more, and there, there, he slides over her clit with each quickening thrust, and she's almost, she's almost- "I've got you," he says, and she falls.
He groans, drops his head as his final thrusts go erratic, and follows her.
* * *
If she hadn't snapped back into herself the moment he lowered his gaze, the buzz of the clock reaching zero would have done it. As it is, both of them jump.
Klaus gives them a few slow claps. "Excellently done, Ripper. I'd say you're nearly housetrained now."
Stefan still hasn't raised his head. Nor has he let go of her hand. Elena lifts her free hand to his hair and whispers his name, afraid of what response she might get. When he finally looks up, he looks like he's no longer sure whether he wants to kill Klaus or himself. When he says her name, he sounds as raw as she's ever heard him.
"I'm okay," she finds herself whispering, even though she's anything but. "We'll get through this."
"All right, enough pillow talk," says Klaus. "Get dressed. There's someone you need to kill."
Stefan sits back on his heels and puts himself together. His clothes, anyway. Eyes averted, he says, "Elena, I am so sorry."
Even though she knows it's not his fault, she's not ready to forgive him. She settles on, "I know." Sits up-is grateful to discover that the compulsion apparently holds over, because it doesn't hurt nearly as much as it should-and lets Stefan help her back into her jeans and sneakers.
It occurs to her that Stefan didn't compel her to forgive him, or to forget, leaving him to suffer alone with the memory of what happened. Weirdly, she's glad of it. They're still going to have a hell of a lot of issues to work through, but they'll be able to do it together.
Then Klaus orders Stefan to turn off his humanity, and her whole world tilts sideways.
* * *
(episode transcript)
ETA: Follow-up fic with sexier sex: The night is dark and full of dreams