A/N: Hello all! First and foremost, thank you all so much for the encouragement in doing these one shots, I greatly appreciate it. I haven't written much because sadly, the writers/producers aren't giving me much of a Stebekah storyline to work with. I did manage to create something, though, set after episode 3x08 when Elena tells Rebekah that Klaus killed her mother. Review if you like!

Everybody Breaks a Glass

"We all pretend to keep our tongue out of our cheek,

Everyone's the fool they seek,

We all go off the track, and feel for our way back,

Everybody breaks a glass"

-Lights

Stefan walked into his bedroom and sighed as he pulled off his jacket, and threw it on his chair.

It had been a long day, and night, between going out with Damon to the bar, and finally being confronted by the big, bad, Mikael himself. The plan they agreed upon was that Stefan would find a way to lure Klaus back to Mystic Falls, where his father would then take care of the rest.

This plan meant freedom, in Stefan's eyes.

No longer would he be forced not to care, but he could finally be in control of himself again, god-willing everything went right.

He sat down on his bed and inhaled slowly as he contemplated a way to get around his compulsion, and effectively make Klaus believe that it was safe to come back.

Before he could think too hard, though, he heard the sounds of a soft whimpering coming from the other side of the wall. Stefan slowly stood up, and walked over towards the direction of the sound, and just listened.

For a brief minute, he thought it could have been Elena, until he realized that his brother wasn't home, therefore, the doppelganger would have no reason to stick around.

That only left one other person that the quiet sobs could belong to.

Stefan stood there for a minute more, contemplating what to do about this.

Should he ignore it? Should he comfort her? Should he call Damon, and make him handle it?

Even in the fit of his "non-caring" phase, Stefan had slipped up, and he did care, so he decided number one wasn't an option. As for calling Damon? He'd had enough of his snarkiness for one day, and the longer he got a break from it, the better.

Stefan instinctively walked out of his room, and towards hers. He was hesitant to knock her door- he knew Rebekah had a temper and the last thing he needed was her provoking him when he was just trying to be a decent housemate.

He swallowed his pride, and firmly knocked the door before him.

"Rebekah," he called. "Is everything okay?"

He heard the crying abruptly stop, but he made out the sounds of her sniffling and wiping away her tears.

"Go away, Stefan. I don't want to be bothered," she replied strongly.

Stefan exhaled deeply as he crossed his arms, and he rolled his eyes.

Well that was useless.

He began to walk away, but something inside of him stopped him, again- maybe it was his conscious that he swore he didn't have anymore. Whatever it was, it made him knock her door again, a little more firmly, and he waited for her to acknowledge him once more.

The door suddenly swung open, and Stefan was met with an angry, but defeated expression as the blonde stood before him with red eyes, and tear-stained cheeks.

She had been visibly crying for hours, he guessed, and he didn't know why, but Rebekah's hurting stirred something inside of him.

She looked so tragically upset, and though he told himself that this girl was the epitome of drama queens, he decided he didn't want to see her like this- so broken.

"I thought I told you I didn't want to be bothered," she huffed, and Stefan stuffed his hands in pockets, and shrugged.

"Well, I'm gonna be bothered for as long as your wallowing in self-pity, because it's gonna ruin my beauty rest," he said and she scoffed as she rolled her eyes, and wiped a few stray tears from her perfectly pale cheekbones.

"I'll try to mourn quieter then," she relinquished, and she went to shut the door in his face.

He stopped her.

Rebekah glared at him angrily, and Stefan moved further in.

"Tell me why you're upset, and I'll leave you alone."

Rebekah inhaled deeply, as if she were on the verge of telling him to fuck off, but she didn't. Instead, she stepped aside, and gestured for him to come in. Stefan quietly moved past her into the guest bedroom, and he turned around to face her as Rebekah locked the door behind them.

The room was a wreck.

The sheets were torn off the bed, the pillows were seared in half, and various things were either knocked over, or thrown to the ground.

"Damon's going to have a fit," Stefan noted, and Rebekah rolled her eyes as she plopped down on her bed, and folded her arms.

"I don't care. If he really wanted to salvage the room, he probably shouldn't have sent his little girlfriend over here to deliver the news about my brother," she spat and Stefan immediately knew what was going on. "She just came over and told me that Nick killed my mother, as if I was supposed to be strong about that and immediately jump on her side or something!" Rebekah exclaimed, and Stefan remained silent as the blonde tapped her foot anxiously. "What am I supposed to do, Stefan? What the hell is expected of me now?" she asked.

Stefan went to respond, but he stopped himself.

He completely agreed with Rebekah. The way that it sounded like Elena broke the news was damn near awful, and even in his state of not caring, he believed that could have been done in a better way.

Telling Rebekah should have never been to get her on anyone's "side;" it should have been solely for Rebekah's sake. Using the information in such a way to simply sway her loyalty was a piss-poor move by Elena, in his opinion, and even though Klaus was a monster that took everything away from him, he understood what Rebekah was feeling.

She felt betrayed, and she felt used by the one person she'd spent her entire life running with, looking after, feeling for- her big brother.

And she was disappointed- she was distraught, because the only person that she believed in only garnered her trust and loyalty by taking it, rather than earning it.

Klaus hurt her more than he would ever know.

Stefan finally sat down on the bed next to Rebekah, and he watched as she shook her head, trying to avoid her tears, but they were already happening.

He watched as she tried to catch the flurry of teardrops as they fell from her cheeks, but they moved too rapidly, even for an Original.

That only made her cry even more- even harder- because she couldn't stop it; she couldn't shut it off, no matter how hard she tried. She had literally opened up the floodgates to her heart, and there was no stopping now.

Stefan softly placed a hand on her cheek, and erased the tears away with his thumb.

They fell too quickly, even for him.

He reluctantly drew her into his arms, and his listened as Rebekah let out an eruption of tears onto his shoulder, and he felt as the water soaked through his favorite t-shirt.

"Mikael did this to him," she said softly and Stefan remained silent as he waited for her to speak again. "My father turned him into a monster- he turned us all into monsters. He never loved us, he especially never loved Nick," Rebekah said quietly, and Stefan held her even tighter.

He knew what that felt like, too; having a hateful father who didn't truly love anybody but himself. It was truly heartbreaking in every sense of the word.

"I hate him, Stefan. I hate them all, so much," she said, muffled against his body, and he exhaled as his hands cupped her blonde locks, and brushed them gently. "All I ever wanted was my mother- and they took her away from me."

He knew what it was like not to have a mother when you really needed her, too.

The more Rebekah spoke, the more he felt closer to her- he was starting to understand who she was, and why she turned out the way she did.

She was just a girl- just a lost girl who never really had anyone to depend on, and nobody to ever truly care for her enough to tell her the truth.

Stefan couldn't help but hold a small place in his heart for her- the girl who was truly alone when it came down to it, the girl who never really had the chance to grow up and adapt because she was locked away for so long, the girl who never did anything half-assed, and that included giving away her heart; she was the girl he once loved.

And because he loved her, he had to tell her the truth- and not for himself, but because she needed to know.

"Rebekah," he finally said, and she pulled away from his shoulder to look into his emerald green eyes, with her long, dark lashes, and her tearful expression. "I have to tell you something," he said and she continued to gaze at him that way that told him she was already expecting the worse.

"What is it, Stefan?" she asked.

He let out a long breath, and fidgeted quietly with his hands before he looked back into her eyes- her dazzling blue eyes.

"I-" he began, and he stopped when he placed a hand on her cheek, and touched her smooth skin again. "I have to just do this, first," he said, and before Rebekah could reply, his lips were pressed to hers.

He knew that he caught her by surprise by the slight gasp that escaped her mouth, but she quickly formed into the kiss and melted into him, as he melted into her.

He couldn't stop kissing her.

Stefan's strong hands gripped her blonde hair, and her hand held around his neck as the burst of passion between them continued; again, and again, and again.

His tongue overlapping hers, her soft pink lips commanding his- the heat between them was undeniable as Stefan felt himself fall further and further- as far as his non-emotions would allow him.

Rebekah gripped his face when their lips departed from the anxious kiss, and he breathed slowly trying to catch his breath, as did she. He pressed his forehead against hers, and smoothed her hair back as she shut her eyes, and quietly recovered.

"Rebekah," he began again, and she opened her eyes to look into his- he almost crumbled when she did.

He didn't want to be one of those people who hurt her, but he had to.

"Yes, Stefan?"she asked softly, with her eyes shining.

He was really going to struggle with this- he never imagined it'd be so hard to tell her what he needed to say, but it was- it was so damn hard.

Stefan leaned in, and placed a single kiss on her lips, leaving Rebekah breathless once more. He pulled away slowly, but still allowed his lips to linger over hers, and his fingers trailed up and down her back.

"I love you, Rebekah," he whispered, and a quaint smile appeared on her face, through the tears.

Damn his humanity for getting in the way- damn him for falling in love when he said he wouldn't, and damn her for being the one he fell for.

But he had to tell her- she needed to know that somebody loved her, even if that somebody was him. She needed to hear it, and he needed to say it- just so she knew.

Telling her that Mikael was back could wait until tomorrow- because right now, he wanted to be in love.

"Somewhere, perfection lies- but not for you and I."