Bonnie sat on the ground, knees pulled up to her chest, arms circling her shins, and cried. Her tears were silent but plenty, slicking her cheeks and reddening her eyes. After leaving Damon she had found herself at the quarry; it was the one place in Mystic Falls that hadn't been changed by Julian's unofficial ownership of the town. She watched the waterfall plummet into the lake; there was something soothing about the rhythm of the powerful white water, it undid the knots in her chest. Everyone always left her. Everyone.

A sound. Twigs snapping. Branches shaking. She wasn't alone anymore. Bonnie turned around, getting onto her feet, readying herself, and then Stefan Salvatore stepped out into the clearing, his expression raw and red and anguished. He stopped walking when he saw Bonnie standing in front of him.

"Bonnie," he said, his voice gravelly. "What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here? What are you? I know that Matt wants you to leave. He won't be happy that you're still here."

"I've lived in this town much longer than Matt Donovan," said Stefan. He sighed. "I'm leaving tomorrow, I just wanted to see if —"

"He's gone, Stefan," said Bonnie quietly. "I just came from there. I didn't see him do it but I know that he did."

"He really went through with it."

"Yeah, he really did."

"So you came here," said Stefan. "I thought I only came here to agonize in existential crises. You're not thinking of committing suicide are you?"

Bonnie furrowed her eyebrows and Stefan shook his head. "Sorry, bad joke. That's just what I came here to do the last time I felt this terrible."

"And now?"

"Now I…" Stefan pushed his mouth to the side. "I guess I came here to remind myself of everything that I've done too. This is where Damon and I turned. Where I forced Damon to turn. Can I really be so angry at him when the things that I've done—"

"Yes," said Bonnie. Stefan looked at her. "You carry so much around, Stefan. Elena used to tell me and when we do speak, Caroline tells me now, but I … I see it too. I felt it almost the moment I met you. The burden of your own conscience… it keeps you from allowing yourself to feel. But you have that right. The right to feel angry and disappointed and …" Bonnie's lip started to quiver. "And resentful…"

Stefan stared at Bonnie, her blank expression betrayed by her swollen eyes and thickened voice. An ache bloomed in his chest and he felt an itch in his throat. It had been so long since he spent time alone with Bonnie that he forgot how easily she made him feel for her.

"Damon cares about you, Bonnie—"

"Isn't it funny how the people who say they care are the ones who leave you the most? Damon cares and he chose himself; Jeremy cared and he didn't answer any of my calls when I came from a literal Prison World; Caroline cares and … I know that she's busy, Stefan, I know that she has so much going on, so much she didn't bargain for but so do I and —" Bonnie shook her head and ran her hands through her hair, laughing slightly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I don't want to dump all of my — it's not fair to do this to you."

"Sure it is," said Stefan. "Bonnie …" He took a step closer to her. "I'm not going to tell you how strong you are because I know you know that you are, everyone tells you you are and … you are. You are amazing, you hold everyone and everything together … and you're so busy fixing the world and you're so ready to save everyone, no one really asks what you need to be saved. You're just so strong that that's all anyone can see. And that's on them. And that's on me. So I'm asking you now, what do you need?"

Bonnie gazed up at Stefan, her lips parted, a fat tear rolling down her cheek. "Can you just sit with me?"

Stefan nodded his head. "Yeah, I can do that."

They both moved to the edge of the quarry and sat down facing the waterfall. Stefan put his arm around Bonnie and the instant calm she felt startled her; her breathing steadied and the tension in her chest loosened to nothingness, she felt more than comforted, she felt at peace with Stefan pressed against her and in a moment of security, she rested her head on his shoulder. Stefan closed his eyes and exhaled deeply as Bonnie leaned against him, taking solace in the fact that he could offer solace, feeling with such earnestness how dear Bonnie really was to him; this memory of their night together chipping away at the burden the night of his transition, loosening some of his own knots.