A loud gasp was heard from behind them as Damon, Elena and Stefan all turned to see the Luciana's eyes flutter open as they slowly adjusted to the light, looking around until her sight landed on three familiar faces she knew all too well.

"S-Stefan?" she croaked lightly as her voice came out like a whisper, "Katherine? D-Damon? What happened?"

"L-Luce?" Stefan whispered as he took slow steps closer to her, leaning down next to her, "hey, are you okay?"

"I...I'm...it hurts," she replied with a small voice, "you...Jonathan Gilbert shot you. They...they locked me in-"

"Hey hey, shh, it's alright, we're all fine now," Stefan comforted as he ran a hand through the redhead's hair, brushing stray hair away from her drenched face.

"How did you get away?" Luciana asked before looking behind at Stefan to see Damon glaring at her while the brunette girl just looked confused, "Kat, what're you wearing?"

"That's not Katherine, Lu," Stefan replied as she frowned in confusion, "her name is Elena."

"What? Stefan what're you talking about?" Luciana quizzed in confusion as she tried to get up, only for the pain to intensify as she yelled out in pain again.

"Hey, don't try to get up," Stefan instructed her as she laid back down, "the wounds are bad, you'll need time to heal. I promise I'll explain everything. But first, you need to get treated."

"The roads are all blocked, we can't go to the hospital," Elena finally spoke as Stefan nodded.

"Just, help me get her upstairs," he asked as Elena walked to his side, helping him get Luciana off the couch as Stefan carried her upstairs, Elena following close behind.

Damon stood there watching their antics as he scoffed in disbelief before walking out of the house again, not being able to believe that Stefan was still willing to help her, even after all they had learned about her.

༆☼︎☾︎ꨄ︎☽︎☼︎༆

"I got her some water," Elena said as she saw Stefan waiting outside the room where Luciana was now lying, "you sure about this?"

"The wounds are very bad, Elena," Stefan stated as he bit into his wrist and let a few drops of his blood mix into the water, "we can't take her to the hospital either. This should help with healing."

"But what if-"

"She'll be fine," Stefan assured, "did you find any spare clothes?"

"Yeah," Elena nodded as the two walked back into the room to see Luciana sitting up in the bed, a blank look of her face.

"Hey, here, drink this," Stefan offered Luciana the glass as she stared at him with a strange look.

"It's red," she stated as Elena sat next to her on the bed.

"It's got herbs in it," she chimed in, "should help with the, um...headache and the pain."

"Oh, thank you," Luciana accepted the water, gulping it down as Stefan smiled at Elena thankfully.

"I got you some clothes to change into when you feel better," Elena offered as Luciana handed the glass back to Stefan and began to examine the pants and top that Elena had handed her.

"What are these?" Luciana asked in confusion, "you want me to wear these out into the daylight?"

"It's what people wear nowadays," Elena answered, "they're very comfortable."

"Nowadays?" the redhead frowned, "what do you mean 'nowadays'?"

"Luce, just lie down and rest now, okay?" Stefan cut in, "I'll explain everything later."

"Explain what? Stefan, what is going on?"

"Not now-"

"No, tell me now," Luciana said sternly, "first you say Katherine isn't Katherine. You hand me these clothes and now say this is what people wear nowadays. Even the house looks different and...and you're saying you'll explain later?"

"There's a lot that has happened while you've been...away," Stefan said softly, "I don't want to spring this all on you now."

"I've been away?" Luciana frowns, "what do you mean? How long have I been unconscious for?"

When both Stefan and Elena fall silent, she asked again, "why aren't you answering? How long has it been? What is going on?"

"It's been a 145 years, Luce," Stefan finally exclaimed as Luciana's eyes widened in surprise, "you've been gone for a 145 years."

"W-what? What kind of a sick joke-"

"This isn't a joke," Stefan cut her off again, "it's true. It's all true. You've been unconscious in that tomb for 145 years. Me and Damon...we, we've been dead for a 145 years now."

Luciana gasped in horror as Elena scooted closer to her, engulfing her into a comforting hug as Stefan looked at them helplessly, "I'm sorry. I wanted to take more time to tell you."

"B-but how are you here? How're you all here if you're...you're dead? Am I...am I hallucinating? Am I dead too? I don't understand," Luciana mumbled, not being able to comprehend what she had been told. How could this be possible?

The last thing she remembered was being dragged to the church along with all the other vampires because Jonathan Gilbert had accused her of being a vampire too, since she was friends with Katherine. She remembers seeing Damon and Stefan get shot and begging for them to let her help her friends. She remembers the fire, and then...nothing. And now, here she was, waking up to see the same familiar faces. Her friends- Stefan, Katherine, Damon. They were here and they were alright. But were they really?

"We died, Luciana," Stefan went on, "me and Damon were dead. And then...then we came back to life...as vampires."

"W-what?"

"Vampires," Stefan repeated, "they're real. Damon, me...Katherine, we're all vampires."

"Am I...am I-"

"You're still human," Elena answered, "we just don't know how yet."

"It's the necklace," Luciana whispered before turning to Elena, "it's the necklace you gave me. The one who swore me to never take off, isn't it?"

The redhead reached out to her neck to find the necklace gone, causing her eyes to widen in fear again as she looked around frantically, "w-where, where is the necklace? Where did it go? I had it with me-"

"Is this the necklace?" Stefan asked as he held up her necklace and the girl visibly sighed in relief, taking it from his hand.

"Yes, this is the one," she said, showing it to Elena, "this is the one you got me."

"The one that Katherine got you," Elena corrected.

"Luce, did you...did you know Katherine was a vampire?" Stefan asked hesitantly, not being able to keep the question at bay any longer.

Luciana looked up to meet his eyes before she looked back at Elena, the brunette offering her a small smile as Luciana nodded hesitantly.

"I...I found out a few months after she got to the estate," Luciana answered as Stefan looked away in disappointment.

"Did you know what she was doing there?" Elena then asked as Luciana nodded again.

"You...you said you were running from bad people, people that killed your family. The people wanted to kill you too, so you were hiding," Luciana answered, "you said...you said that after you and Stefan got married, all four of us could leave together and be somewhere else."

"What?" Stefan asked in astonishment, "when me and her got married?"

"Yeah, you were going to marry her," Luciana answered, "she told me you agreed to marry her after mine and Damon's engagement, wanting for all four of us to always be together."

"Your and Damon's...what?" Elena now asked in surprise, being unable to understand what was being reveled.

"Engagement," Luciana repeated, "we... we got engaged after my mother passed away, upon Giuseppe's wishes. Don't you remember?"

"Um, no...no I don't," Elena mumbled, not knowing what else to say.

"You don't remembering going to the tailor to get the wedding dress with me, either?" Luciana asked but before Elena could answer, Stefan spoke up again.

"How were you still friends with Katherine after finding out what she was, Lu? And how did you never tell me about it?" he asked angrily.

"She...she wasn't at fault, Stef," Luciana answered, "some bad guys killed all her family and they were after her. She...she turned in order to stay alive. She did what she had to in order to survive. Besides, she wasn't harming anyone-"

"She wasn't harming anyone?" Stefan yelled, "what about me? And Damon? Was she not harming us? We died because of her, Luciana!"

"You...you two turned?" Luciana asked with wide eyes, "that's why you said you died. You...how did you turn? Did Kat heal you?"

"We died with her blood in our systems," Stefan grumbled, "you know how she used to heal us after feeding on us. Of course, you know."

"What?" Luciana exclaimed in horror, "she never fed on you two. What're you talking about? She never fed on anyone!"

"Don't lie, Lu-"

"I'm not lying, it's true," Luciana cut him off, "she told me. She...she never wanted to harm anyone so, she fed on animal blood. She never fed on humans, Stefan. She loved you, so why would she feed on you?"

"Is that what she told you?" Stefan questioned rhetorically, "is that what you really believed? She gave you vervain, Luciana. How did you not see?"

"See what?" Luciana countered in confusion, "she only fed on humans twice. Once, to complete her transition and the other time when the Council found out about vampires. She...I made her feed on me so she didn't desiccated. But that's it."

"What about the vervain?" Elena asked, "no one could compel you if you had vervain."

"It was for my safety," Luciana clarified, "just in case those bad guys showed up looking for her. She mixed vervain in both your drinks too."

"You...you really didn't know any of what she was doing to us?" Stefan asked as tears pooled in his eyes, not knowing what to believe anymore.

"Do what? What did she do to you?" Luciana questioned desperately as she too began to tear up, "I don't understand what you're saying, Stefan."

"She fed on us, Lu," Stefan confessed as a gasp escaped the redhead, "she fed on me and Damon. She...she used us and she compelled me to forget it all. She fed us her blood to heal us afterwards. Damon...he was in love with her. He knew what she was, he didn't care. I...I was compelled everytime she fed me her blood. That's how we came back. When we died, we died with her blood in our system and when we finally woke up, she was long gone. That was a 145 years ago, Luce. We've been dead for a 145 years. You've been in that tomb for 145 years."

"But Katherine," Luciana mumbled as she turned to Elena, "you lied to me? You promised you never hurt anyone! You said you loved Stefan! How could you?"

"I'm not Katherine," Elena told her again, "I'm Elena. Elena Gilbert. I'm human."

"You're...what? Gilbert? How do you," she trailed off.

"She looks like Katherine," Stefan chimed in, "but she isn't her. Katherine isnt here, Luciana. We don't know where she is. We haven't seen her since that night. This is Elena. She just looks like Katherine but she's human. She's nothing like Katherine was."

"I...I don't understand," Luciana stuttered as the other two gave her a sympathetic look.

"I'll explain everything," Stefan assured, "you have a lot to catch up to. But, for now, you need to rest a little. I'll tell you when you wake up, okay?"

"I...okay," Luciana agreed, "Stef, can you...can you stay here until I fall asleep? I don't know what to..."

Stefan and Elena shared a look as Elena smiled at him understandingly before getting off the bed, "I'm going to drive back home. You stay. I'll come back tomorrow with some more clothes."
Stefan nodded, smiling back at her appreciatively as Elena walked out of the door and Stefan lied down next to his best friend, snuggling her as she rested her head on his chest and slowly drifted off to sleep.

Author's Note

I really like Stefan and Luciana's dynamic and am so excited to develop more of it. Also, even though I am, personally, not a big fan of Elena, I kinda wanna make her a likeable character in this story; make her more of how I wished she'd have been on the show, I guess. So, you guys are gonna see quite a bit of Luciana and Elena as well.

MOST IMPORTANTLY: I NEED A SHIP NAME FOR DAMON AND LUCIANA!! Drop any suggestions you have, please!