Maybe Tomorrow, Maybe Not

'Stefan?'

He paused in his tracks, finding himself at once dreading yet tensely anticipating her next words. Judging by the expression that haunted her face, it looked like the thought had been plaguing her mind for a while now.

'Did you really not feel...anything?' Her voice caught in her throat, yet she maintained a steady eye- contact with him, trying with all her might to understand the man before her whose every action she could once write a novel on.

'When?'

His question was lost upon her as she barrelled on, the trapped emotions of a millennia exploding around her.

'How do you do that? Act like...like you don't care, like you-you don't feel anything...' She stumbled along a little, fighting those adamant tears hard. She would not seem weak before him – she'd compromised a thousand times before. Yet, something rooted deep within her would simply not allow her to give up on him.

'Because I can't do that,' she admitted to him, watching the emotions struggle to maintain their calm beneath his placid mask. 'I feel everything, Stefan...'

Her voice trailed off as the tears momentarily proved victorious, releasing within Elena a barrage of feeling she knew not how to deal with. Everything felt hopeless, and the burden of frustration that grew with every unyielding conversation only threatened to break her sooner.

With every word she had uttered, she had taken slow, steady steps towards Stefan, as though her body was a mere magnet that was automatically and perennially attracted to his very being. Now, she stopped. Her nose was a mere centimetre or so away from his, and even then she could barely stop herself from carefully studying his sharp features, pangs of loss hitting her gut. But the voice of reason that she had so diligently ignored was now resurface,; a siren to her conscience.

If you love someone, set them free.

'You don't know what's good for you, Elena.' His tone was even, and only she could detect the storm brewing beneath the calm. All it would take was a little shove in the right direction.

She was restless. And she had had just about enough of his indecisiveness, his inability to overcome his stubbornness.

She looked deep into his eyes and placed her hands on either cheek. If either of them were surprised, neither dared show it.

'You don't need to punish yourself,' she whispered, her proximity setting of alarm bells in Stefan's head. Yet he stayed put; a moth to her flame. 'I love you, Stefan; I always have, I always will. No one can even begin to be a part of my life they way you're already etched in it.'

If you love someone, set them free.

She leaned into his body a little more, every cell on their bodies yearning to touch. He could hear the irregularity of their heartbeat and for just the fragment of a second, the temptation to go back to their old ways, back before the evil called Klaus had overtaken their lives kicked in.

He inhaled sharply yet moved towards her; a hair's breadth away from her alluring lips. When they kissed, it was an explosion. There was month's worth of agony, lust, longing, frustration and pure love rolled into one nebulous moment when all the horrors of the past could just be forgotten.

He grabbed her by the waist and brought her even closer to him as she buried her fingers within his hair. Passion set their practicality on fire, burning it into a million particles of ash. His lips strayed from hers, down her cheeks, tracing a path from her jaw line down to the hollow of her neck. She moaned seductively, rubbing her calf against his, her hands travelling down to his neck and shoulders. Together, they moved as one, their thoughts aligned.

The front door was burst open as the entangled couple dashed inside, exploring each other all over again. A low growl escaped his lips as he lifted her, her lean legs straddling his waist as he took them up to her room, devouring her hungrily all the while.

She abandoned all her inhibitions as her skin turned to gooseflesh. Her body was operating on its own, fuelled by the desires she had been subduing for long now. Her fingers moved towards the buttons on his shirt, undoing them one by one till his shirt hung loose upon his muscular body.

Something within him snapped.

'No!' he roared, the unexpected change in tone throwing her off-balance.

If you love someone, set them free.

She undid her legs from around him, her eyes dancing with an intense rage.

'What now, Stefan?' she spat, the acidity in her tone making him cringe as she took a few steps away from him. Already, he missed the warmth of her body against his, and the way she seemedto curl around him that fit the two together perfectly. He had expected something else; anything, but not this response from her.

'Is Klaus going to punish you and stop being you best friend forever? Or is it Damon, whose poorly masked love for me that you wish to salvage? Or do you think that unless Klaus is safely beneath the earth, nothing else on this earth has purpose?'

Her questions left him reeling, and he studied her carefully. Her hair was askance, and he was sorely tempted to brush those stray strands away. Her lips were a ruby red and her cheeks were ablaze with the anger and disappointment that she was forced to continually face.

'You do not know what's good for me, Stefan; and even if you did, it's me who gets to ultimately decide, because it's my life. I do not want you to keep me imprisoned here, haunted by the past. You're not letting me move on, alone or with you - ' she paused as she noticed the decided shift in Stefan's expression, and barraged on. ' - And mere words falling from your lips do not motivate me to run away with the next male I happen to encounter. I love you, Stefan Salvatore, but if you are too stupid to see that, then it's just too bad.'

If you love someone, set them free.

Something had changed within her; grown, and taken a tangible shape.

If you love someone, set them free.

She knew she'd always love him, and something deep within her heart told her that he would always be in love with her, too. It didn't feel right to have to convince him to be with her; but he had to know that had he lost her, it was because of his ridiculous beliefs; not unrequited love.

'Elena - ' His voice caught in his throat, rendering him unable to go on.

And then he left, just like that. One moment he was a few inches away from her, standing by her bed; and the next, he was gone. The slightest hint of musk lace with the telltale pungency of brandy was the only intangible evidence to the fact that merely moments ago, they were this close to ravishing each other and making love once more.

But the moment had passed.

If you love someone, set them free.

'I could feel the tension, Stefan, and it was not pleasant,' Caroline hissed, shaken. 'Somehow, I knew that you and Elena...' she trailed off, unable to complete her sentence. 'And all I wanted to do was rip your head off,' she completed, unable to mask her worry. 'Who has done this to me?'

'Rebekah has compelled you, Caroline. If Elena and I...'

'Then I kill you,' finished Caroline, in horrified wonder.

If you love someone, set them free.


A/N:

My first VD fic - I'm a huge HUGE fan of the show, but only now channeled my muset he right way :P If you would be interested to read a sequal, or simply loved/did not so much love the fic, DO REVIEW!

Cheers,

EternallySeventeen.