May 23rd, 2025
Elena Gilbert stood on the bridge, her feet planted firmly on the wood and her eyes glued to the water that flowed under her. She and Damon had just moved back to Mystic Falls, and she was starting her own private practice. Everything she's always wanted...right?
Except as Elena stared at her rippling reflection, she didn't look happy. There was no bright smile, no joy in her eyes as she remembered the events that had taken place here.
That spot, right where she stood, so much had changed. This is where her parents had lost their lives. Where she had lost her life. Where Stefan had saved her. Where Stefan had threatened her life.
The emotions this place brought were conflicting; but one feeling remained the most prominent. Grief. Loss. This undeniable, unending ache in her chest. Tears pricking- no, more like stabbing- the back of her eyes. Threatening to spill and never stop. Elena had missed a lot of people in her life. She missed family, friends. She missed the person she used to be. But nothing, absolutely nothing, could amount to the pain she felt when Elena Gilbert thought of Stefan Salvatore and the possibility that she would never see him again.
Especially on this date, their anniversary of sorts. Sixteen years ago, Stefan had saved her for the first time. He'd pulled her unconscious body from the frigid waves, and brought her back to life. She hadn't known it at the time, but that had been just the beginning of their journey. He'd forever be her hero. Her savior. Her Stefan. Elena blinked away the tears and drummed her fingers on the cover of the diary she'd brought with her. Letting herself linger on the imprints of where Stefan's own fingers had been so many years ago. Sighing, she finally built the courage to open the journal.
She'd read it a thousand times, maybe a million. His last letter to her. She'd been asleep, Damon had been in a trance, and Stefan had been awake. Trying to make sense of it all. "Dear Elena," She began to read aloud to no one but herself. Her voice was already shaking, and she closed her eyes for a moment to steady herself. Even the way he wrote her name made it look like art, the kind of art that should be in a museum.
"It's not my turn but I wanted you to hear it from me. I think I've lost him. All I can do is hope that there is one small piece of his mind tucked away someplace safe. One final sliver of humanity holding on for dear life, buried deep inside," Elena continued, laughing a little to herself. She knew now that Damon had ended up fine. In fact, he was home now. Cooking dinner for the two of them. Stefan had worried for nothing. He'd be so happy to see where Damon was now. So proud.
"I won't give up on him. But it's hard to hold onto hope. Hope hurts. Maybe tomorrow will be better." Elena finished the entry, then pulled the diary close to her chest as if to hug it. To hug him. But she'd never again hold him. Never again feel his arms around her. She remembered their last hug, back in the hallway. She hadn't wanted to let go. Sometimes she wondered what would have happened if she hadn't.
Elena let her tears fall freely now, no longer holding back as she cried over the edge of the bridge. The body of water below might as well have been made up of her tears. Elena could fill oceans with tears over Stefan. She wanted him back more than anything. Not necessarily romantically. She'd take him in any form. Soulmate, Friend, Family. Hell, she'd even be okay with him hating her. She just wanted him here. This world was no good without Stefan Salvatore.
Sometimes Elena would daydream about what it would be like to get him back. If by some miracle, he was brought back. Or perhaps it had all been a misunderstanding, and he was just on a long vacation. She would leap into his arms. She would tell him over and over how much she missed him, how much she loved him. And this time she wouldn't let go.
Elena didn't want to leave. She wanted to sit on this bridge, possibly forever, and miss him. It was a full-time job, missing Stefan Salvatore. It consumed her. She knew it must consume Damon, too.
Damon. Dinner. She had to get back to dinner.
"Hope hurts," Elena whispered, shaking her head. Wiping away her tears, and with one last glance at the water, she let out a shaky breath. "Maybe tomorrow will be better."