The Vampire Diaries

Song Prompt: 'Mine' by Taylor Swift

Elena/Stefan, post season 1 finale, AU season 2 premiere

This is my first TVD fic- it's a oneshot and I think I'm going to do a series of them, prompted by songs. If anyone has any suggestions, please tell me in the reviews for message me! Many of the songs on the playlist for this fic were country- Gloriana, Sugarland, Lady Antebellum, Zac Brown Band. Hope you enjoy!


I was a flight risk, afraid of fallin'
Wondering why we bother with love, if it never lasts
I say, "Can you believe it?"
As we're lyin' on the couch
The moment, I can see it
Yes, yes, I can see it now
Do you remember, we were sittin' there, by the water?
You put your arm around me for the fist time
You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter
You are the best thing that's ever been mine

"Do you think Jenna will forgive me?"

I fell back against his bed as he placed my bags down before curling up next to me, our bodies spooning, fitting so perfectly.

"Of course," he assured, pressing a kiss to my temple. I craned my neck to shoot him a look of skepticism and he amended, "Eventually."

"She thinks I'm crazy, Stefan," I vented, staring up at the ceiling. "Crazy! My uncle-slash-birth father is found dead and she thinks her seventeen year old niece moves in with her boyfriend out of the craziness brought on by grief. My aunt is judging me! Like, not normal judging, but full on "she's lost it and or pregnant and or giving up her future" judging."

"You know she'll understand sooner or later," Stefan assured. "You can tell her anytime you want. I'm not standing in your way." He leaned closer and added, "Keep venting. You're sexy when your angry."

"Not the time," I scolded, sitting up. It was hard, though, to look at the utter perfection that was my boyfriend and not not have it be the time. "My aunt and the rest of the town won't get off my back until I come out and say, "Oh hey, I moved in with my boyfriend to protect you and my loved ones from the psychopathic vampire bitch who happens to look just like me." I huffed and began pacing. "I think she's rather hear I was pregnant. And how do we even know Katherine will stay away?"

"Katherine is after Damon and I," Stefan said, coming up to wrap his arms around me from behind. "She wanted entrance to your house to get to you, to use you and those you love as bait, so we would come for you. If you're here, she'll still be searching, but at least we're a lot closer if your in the next room."

"Still doesn't assure Jeremy and Jenna will be safe. Oh, and I'll be in the next room, will I?" I teased, kissing him lightly. He groaned. Katherine coming into town had left little time for romantic undertakings and Stefan was forever still a seventeen year old boy- or, as Damon dubbed it, "an everlasting hornbag." His words, not mine.

"Not the time," he mocked. "Yes, there's a risk of Katherine still taking advantage, but it decreases greatly when you're not there. She's ruthless, yes, but not stupid. Her goal is not to our us-yet. She's determined to drive us from the town but alerting the council of our presence will increase her chances of being found out- remember, Katherine's first priority is Katherine."

"Hmph." I pouted and spun out of his arms to pull my jacket from my shoulders, along with my sweater. It was always warm in the house. "So there's still no guarantee."

"Damon'll keep an eye out," Stefan assured. "He owes you."

"Well, technically Bonnie," I amended. "But since he hates her and she did it for me, I guess he owes me by default." I shook my head and had to laugh. "God, you've turn my life upside down, you know that."

He snaked his arms around my waist; I placed mine around his neck and arched up to meet his kiss. "Well, I'm sorry."

"Wouldn't have it any other way."

Flash forward, and we're takin' on the world together
And there's a drawer of my things at your place
You learn my secrets and figure out why I'm guarded
You say we'll never make my parents' mistakes

"Wakey, wakey, lovebirds," a familiar voice rang out.

"Throw a dollar and get out of year, Damon," I snapped, pulled the covers further up my body as I felt Stefan's arms tighten around them.

"Isn't your ex-sex toy around town? Go find her and occupy yourself," Stefan added, his voice still laced with sleep. Even in my groggy state, I found it adorable and sexy.

"I can barely breathe from laughing so hard," Damon deadpanned. "Maybe this will get you up: a body was found. And I haven't been hunting since...well, it wasn't me, and there's a dead body. You do the math."

Stefan and I both sat up, my arms securely wrapped around my body to keep the covers up; Damon may have heard things the previous night, but didn't mean he needed a morning visual.

"What do you mean there was a body?" Stefan nearly growled. We both have heard to learn to trust Damon- but still, it was Damon. You never knew when he would flip off the emotional, moral switch that kept him semi-tolerable and humane.

"Well good morning to you too, brother," Damon smirked, inclining his head down to Stefan's lap, where the thin sheet was doing a poor job of hiding his...morning greeting for me. I blushed but Stefan didn't break his poker face and merely pulled a pillow over his lap.

"What do you mean there was a body?" he repeated again.

"Katherine?" I asked. "Who else could it have been? No new vampires had come into town, I thought."

"Correct," Damon replied, standing up to pace. "She's getting impatient; she started killing. Anonymous- it was some college chick living alone on the edge of town. Made it look like a drug deal gone wrong or something. She knows how to cover her tracks, so nobody's on our tail- yet." He turned to face his brother pointedly on the last word. "This is what I've been dealing with while you two have been playing house the past few weeks. Remind me why the school day doesn't last longer?"

"At least she hasn't come by again," I pressed on; in the two and half weeks I had been here, Katherine had come twice. The first time, three days into my stay, she's nailed Stefan in the stomach before Damon had tackled her down and agreed to meet with her outside of town. The next, she'd gotten me- and my wrist, leaving an uncomfortable scar , before Stefan had nailed her with a stake right below the heart, doing enough damage that we hadn't heard from her- until now.

"We need to tell her," Damon said, his face and tone losing all trace of its signature humor. He and his brother locked eyes and had a silent conversation for a moment before Stefan shook his head and I jumped in, "What? This is not the time for secrets. Not when the vampire running around looks just like me and is out for my boyfriend and his brother."

"It's nothing, Elena," Stefan assured, resting a hand on my knee. "Nothing you need to worry about."

"Except she does," Damon broke in. Stefan shot him a look and I said, "Babe, I get it. You're trying to protect me, my family, and I love you for it." (Damon made a face.) "But this is not the time. Not when people I care about are at risk, and not when I can handle it. I've handled more than my fair share of bad news lately." I put my hand up to rub Stefan's check assuringly.

"Just don't be mad," he murmured. I opened my mouth to question why as Damon broke in with, "Katherine is back for Stefan. Not me- Stefan. And she's determined to kill you and have him, or kill him, and then kill you anyway. And by the way? The other night, while you were out with Bonnie? Yeah, K-bitch paid us a visit again. Took your boy toy for a few hours. You're welcome, though, I got him home in one piece, apparently before you noticed."

My mouth fell open as Stefan looked away.

"That scar," I breathed, fingering his abdomen, where a faint but still visible mark lay. "That's not from the night she staked you. It's vervain. You were tortured again."

He nodded and I stood up, bolting.

And I remember that fight, two-thirty AM
You said everything was slipping right out of our hands
I ran out, crying, and you followed me out into the street

Braced myself for the goodbye, cause that's all I've ever known
Then, you took me by surprise
You said, "I'll never leave you alone."

I had nearly stormed out of the house: it was Damon who had reasoned with me, reminding me of my current state of undress and then the safety of myself and my family. I was in shock- I thought we had covered this months ago. No secrets. I was going to accept every part of him and his world, no matter how hard.

"I cannot believe him." I was curled up on the couch, staring into the fire-it seemed to be a staple in the Salvatore household. Damon was sitting next to me, listening with uncharacteristic patience and solemness. "I mean, if not for anything, he should have at least told me she took him. I really could care less about her motives." Remember what they were, I added, "Okay, well I care that she's after my boyfriend. But, he was hurt..."

"I know, Elena," Damon said, leaning forward to rest his forearms on his knees. "As grating as Stefan is, he's still my brother." He locked eyes with her. "I know."

I bit my lip and nodded. "He just shouldn't have kept it from me!"

"While I agree that you need to be informed, he wasn't entirely wrong to keep it from you," Damon admitted. "You tend to act a bit...impulsively when it comes to Stefan's safety. Remember last time?" I nodded bitterly, and then asked as the thought dawned on me. "Did he, feed, after?"

Damon shook his head, sending a warm feeling of relief through my body. "He wasn't as badly injured, and he refused anyway. Doesn't mean I didn't asked." I nodded and looked again at Damon; his demeanor, though playful, had been noticeably somber the past weeks. The thought hit me in an instant and I immediately felt guilt spread across my conscience.

"God, Damon, I feel like an idiot, I- how are you?" I asked, putting a hand out to touch his shoulder. He bolted away from me at super-human speed, standing in front of the fire in an instant.

"I don't want your pity," he warned, his face softening as he added, "Fine. But I can relate a bit, Elena, to your feeling of being PO'd at the person you love." He ran a hand through his hair. "It hurt knowing she wasn't in the tomb, still out there, and didn't come for me, after I spent a God-damn century and a half looking for her. And then she shows up again, looking my brother. He wasn't even supposed to be part of this. He wasn't suppose to turn. It was suppose to be Katherine and I, for eternity. And it's him she wants."

"I-I'm sorry." I didn't know what else to say. The fact that Damon wasn't drunk and draining a sorority house was a miracle in itself-you never knew how Damon would handle his emotions. "Thank you, for everything you've been doing. For me. For my family, the town."

"I do it willing," Damon said, his arms crossed as he stood up from leaning against the wall. "For you, always willing." His eyes bore into mine- I knew that look. It was the same look I received from his brother, the one I'm sure he gave "me" before kissing Katherine unknowingly. I turned my head away, which allowed me to see Stefan standing in the doorway, looking in warily.

"Can we talk?" he asked quietly, looking from his brother to me. Damon waited for my cue- I nodded and he left, Stefan entering in his place. He stayed away, respecting my boundaries, but when I stood up and ran to me, he crossed the room in a flash and had me in his arms.

"I'm not mad," I said into his shirt. "Well, yes, but in a scared way! She hurt you, Stefan! The minute I heard that, I was almost sick. And she's back for you! That scares me, thinking about losing you."

"Never-"

I cut him off. "I know how strong she is, what a pull she still has over you and Damon. I see the pain she's inflicting, on all three of us. And I understand that you're protecting me, keeping me calm, because I'll admit it, had I known she had you, I would've stormed over to stake her myself." He smiled and I hugged him closer. "But trust me. We are in this together. Keeping things from me is not going to make any of this easier."

Stefan nodded, pressing a kiss to the crown of my head. "I'm sorry. I just- I can't lose you. I won't. And I know what she can do."

"I'm a big girl," I teased, tears I didn't know I'd shed rolling down my face. My anger had evaporated the moment I ran from his room, quickly turning into panic-and fear. "I'm scared, I won't lie. For everyone. My family, my friends, Damon, you. And I just need to know you're going to be honest with me! Because the last time you weren't, it almost tore us apart."

A shadow crossed Stefan's face and I stood up to kiss him, pouring my unspoken words into it, knowing he was doing the same. I could never truly be mad at him- he did it because he loved me. But still, I wasn't Bella Swan- I wasn't some sap who was incompetent; I was headstrong and I could handle the reality of the situation. I wanted to.

"I still don't understand why you stay with me," Stefan whispered, our foreheads touching. "I look at you, and you don't even look like Katherine to me anymore, because you will never be her. She was never even on the same level of importance as you are to me, you know that? I love you. And the fact that you're still here, and haven't run screaming? It's sexy and brave and-"

"I'm yours," I finished. "Not Damon's, yours. And I love you. And we're going to survive this."

You said, "I remember how we felt, sitting by the water.
And every time I look at you, it's like the first time.
I fell in love with a careless man's careful daughter.
She is the best thing that's ever been mine."

You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter
You are the best thing that's ever been mine

Do you believe it?
We're gonna make it now
And I can see it


R&R!

-Bells