[It's all voice on his end, so when she takes a deep breath, Stefan finds his heart beating a little too fast for comfort. The "Gentlemen." That would explain the static on the TV, the lack of sound, and everything in general when he first wandered downstairs.

What do you say, though, to someone who wishes they had stayed dead? Beyond 'I sure don't.'

So he takes a deep breath, and his footsteps are loud and clear in the background, because as usual, he's coming to find her in person. (He hates video chats, hasn't she figured that out by now?)]

Well... you told me. That's a start. [His voice grows more gentle:] You've got nothing to apologize for. Your friends - if all of mine had gone home, I wouldn't have been able to keep it in that long, and I know. I know you'll think like that again sometimes.

You don't exactly die without your mind wandering back to it.

[Except for him, his wandering back to the incident is 'How did I not notice I was dead for seven hours?']

It's okay, Alex. It's a bit too late to drive me away.