Inspired by Atlanta by Ron Pope
He closes his eyes as he inhales her scent, the sweetness of it tickling his nose. He can feel her trembling in his embrace and how with her fragile strength she holds on to him as if he might disappear within a blink of an eye.
"I never realized how much I hurt you," she whispers gently and he hears the tears in her voice.
"Don't..." he responds, not wanting to tear old wounds open, afraid they would hurt her more than him.
Elena hesitantly releases the hold on him, as if she's letting go of a life raft, keeping her alive, keeping her above the surface of depths unknown and scary. A glisten of a tear unshed catches Stefan's eye and he wishes he could take all her pain away, like he always has wished, but never succeeded in.
"Stefan..." she chokes on her words, tripping over her thoughts, stumbling over the words that she should say but seemingly cannot.
"You don't have to say anything," he soothes her, seeing the ongoing fight inside her play out like he is watching a spectacle in a theatre. But this time there's no applause, no laughter, no catharsis. This time he's watching a tragedy unfold before his eyes, a tragedy that her whole life has been with all the mistakes, all the mistreated words, all the broken promises and unsaid goodbyes. All of it is trying to escape her, yet somehow she's unable to speak.
The sun is setting slowly behind the horizon, painting the sky in hues of red and orange.
"Remember the last time we were here?" Elena asks with her eyes firmly on the sunset.
A sad ghost of a smile passes Stefan's lips. "How could I forget?"
"I was so afraid that day...afraid for my future, afraid of what would become of it if I became a vampire."
"I know." Stefan says, the memory still fresh in his mind.
Elena laughs humourlessly, "Of one thing I was so sure on that day." She shifts her gaze on Stefan again.
He knows what she's going to say, because those words were never left unsaid, of all the things that should have been.
"I never imagined a future without you," she finally lets it out, although the words are laced with regret and sadness. They leave her lips with a heavy afterthought that hangs in the air between them like a threatening cloud of thunder.
"I know." Stefan repeats, but this time so quietly that she has to strain to hear him.
"Funny how life throws you a curveball when you least expect it," She tries to force a smile, but it seems to take too much effort and it disappears as soon as the shadow it makes it to her lips.
He doesn't know what to tell her to make her feel better, to make her feel at ease because his own mind is clouded with thoughts so dreary it takes a lot of willpower to keep them at bay, to keep them from dragging him into a place so dark and cold that the mere thought of it makes him shudder in fear.
The colours of the sky start to dim in an agonisingly fast pace, and the slight breeze that had caressed their skins begins to show its claws as the cold touches them in an unmerciful way.
"There's so much I want to tell you," Elena finally says as she pulls her jacket around her tighter, the wind whipping her hair.
Stefan averts his gaze, wishing he had the time to listen to every single word she had to tell him. But he knows that bringing back memories once suppressed and 'I'm sorry's' that never left their lips would hurt more than they ever did.
It is time to let go of the past, he thinks and hopes that she feels the same.
"We both changed..." Stefan says. "There's no need to start digging out the ghosts of our past."
"I can't accept what once was and what I so willingly destroyed," Elena says and the tears are finally breaking their way through, leaving a wet trail on her windswept cheeks.
He takes both of her hands into his, the warmth of them surprising him and for a moment he imagines himself back to that day when she confessed to him that she never wants to be what he is cursed to be for an eternity.
"There's nothing you could say that I don't already know," Stefan tells her, trying his best not to break down before her.
"But I never told you..." Elena starts but he doesn't let her finish.
"I know you better than anyone, Elena. And you know me better than anyone. Words are mere tools to us, it's about how we feel, and I know how much this is hurting you. I don't want to put you through this." Stefan says, unable to keep his voice even.
"I'm so sorry," she whispers as she buries her face in the crook of his neck. The salty tears feel hot against his skin and he does his best to keep his own composure.
"I am, too, 'Lena. I am too." He murmurs as another gust of icy wind greets them with its malice and the last of the orange sky fades into the night.
They stand like that for a while as the stars in the sky one by one pierce the complete darkness with their faint shimmer.
"You were always my human choice," she whispers through the tears.
"Elena..." Stefan's voice is pained.
"I don't know where to begin..."
"You could begin by starting to live again," He suggests softly, although the words pierce through his heart.
"How?" She asks.
"Without me. Without Damon."
She says nothing because she already knew that. Deep in her heart, she had always known and so had he.
"You've been given a new chance, Elena. Take it." Stefan says quietly.
Elena turns her head to meet Stefan's eyes. She nods lightly, as if she's reached an understanding, a place of inner peace.
"It's everything I've ever wanted." She whispers, "But as human, I never imagined it to be without you."
She tries to push the sorrow down, yet somehow the heaviness in her whole being gets tougher and tougher to fight with.
"What we had, Elena..." He has to stop mid-sentence because saying it aloud makes the moment too real. "It was extraordinary."
"I know." She says through fresh tears.
"But it's time to let go."
"I know." Elena repeats again and lets go of Stefan with trembling hands.
They walk down to Elena's car in a melancholy silence, their heavy feet dragging behind them as if the slowness of their pace could stop the inevitable.
She steps to the front door of the car and places her hand on the handle.
"No goodbyes, Stefan." Elena says abruptly without turning around.
His silence pierces through the deafness of the night.
Elena turns around, the tears on her cheeks all dried up. "No goodbyes." She deadpans.
"No goodbyes," he agrees, although he cannot understand the reasoning behind her words.
The next step Elena takes surprises him and Elena herself as well.
As she presses her lips against his, feeling the familiar shape of his lips and the strange, yet incredible feeling she used to get when she was with him, she is sure of herself.
"We'll meet in another life," she whispers gently as she takes a step back and finally sits into the car.
He dares to breathe only when the red glow of taillights disappears into the darkness.