Talking to the Moon

Summary: Stefan Salvatore and Elena Gilbert were best of friends nearly from the moment they first met as kids. Even at their young age, they seemed to be heading towards something more meaningful when Stefan's choice to put Elena's safety first, parted them seemingly forever. She had to leave Mystic Falls, vowing to never look back, but always did somehow when things got hard. She had considered calling Stefan many times over the years but never had and of course she has no idea that the sweet, lovable Stefan Salvatore she knew really doesn't exist anymore. A car accident had stolen away his memories forever – including the ones of her.

It isn't until years later that their lives collide again. Elena is happy to see Stefan but sadly he can't remember her. Will fate bring these former friends back together? Can they build something amazing out of tragedy?

Please note: This is very AU. Everyone is human in this. I had initially planned this idea for another fandom but thought it fit Stefan and Elena so much better, so here we are. Plus in Season 5, the writers had Stefan say that best friends can't be in love which I found completely insane. So I wanted to write a story that shows that friends make the very best lovers!

Chapter 1: Don't Forget to Remember Me

Elena Gilbert wound her way down the street as she shifted her tattered backpack on her tiny shoulder and waited. Waited for him to arrive. She was eleven years old today and had seen and been through a lot in her young life. She was sure that all those experiences had made her mature beyond her years though and that he was going to accept and embrace everything she had to tell him. So what if he was thirteen and in junior high while she was just a lowly fifth grader? In her mind, that didn't change anything. She was truly in love.

Truthfully, focusing on this guy was a great escape from her sad and lonely world. When she was scribbling his name in her diary, she could forget that she was just poor, orphaned Elena Gilbert. She could dream big dreams that she was sure would one day come true. She was sure of it.

She believed.

She heard footsteps approaching and ran her fingers through her dark brown hair. Someone had once told her that her hair was her very best feature and now she was meticulous about taking care of it. She brushed her hair every night, a hundred and fifty strokes, even when old man Chumsy would have had her hide if he knew she wasn't really in bed like she was supposed to be. She didn't care though. He didn't scare her. His sons on the other hand, scared her a lot. Mr. Chumsy was just old and fat and balding and pathetic. He didn't look at her as anything but a burden whereas his fifteen and seventeen year old boys, looked at her like … like …

She shuddered and tried to toss aside her morbid thoughts. She knew he would be here soon because he walked down this street every day after school with his friends. She had noticed the pattern when she herself walked to the Chumsy place – of course, in the opposite direction - and they passed each other. She didn't much about him but resolved that today that would change. She was tired of being lonely. She needed a friend and a boyfriend like him would be even better. He would protect her from whatever lay ahead, of that she was sure.

She took a deep breath and swung around, running smack into someone. She landed in a heap on the ground. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry. I didn't –" An unfamiliar voice said.

Elena rolled her eyes as he bent over to help gather up her stuff and pulled her to her feet. She watched the tall – in her mind - pretty boy and then noticed him pick up a piece of paper, one on which she had scrawled the words "Damon Salvatore + Elena Gilbert = true luv 4-ever!" inside a big pink heart. She had made it during art class when everyone else was busy sketching bad self-portraits.

The boy looked down at her and smiled a bit as he handed her back the paper. "I'm sorry," he said again. "I wasn't paying attention where I was going. I was looking for my brother –"

"Yeah, whatever," Elena said, waving her hand dismissively. "I was waiting for someone too."

"Damon, right?"

Elena's face flushed bright red, betraying her. "None of your business," she shot at him and to her dismay, he chuckled again. She wanted to hit him. "Who are you anyway?" she demanded.

"Stefan. Stefan Salvatore," he said pointedly.

It hit her then. He was her beloved's brother!

She about died right there on the spot.

XoXoXo

"Happy birthday, Lena," Stefan said, appearing at the quarry with a small plate of chocolate-frosted cupcakes. She was sitting in the dirt, dangling her long and skinny legs in the cool water.

She looked up, surprised and startled to see him there. Today was her fourteenth birthday and while it would have been an exciting day for anyone else, it wasn't for her. No today was just like any other day really and she had the bruises under her shirt to prove it.

She wiped at a betraying tear that fell from her eyes and watched as he dropped down beside her. "Yeah, happy freaking birthday to me," she said bitterly.

"What's wrong, Elena?" Stefan asked, setting aside the little plate of cupcakes Cook had helped him bake. He went to slide his arm around her waist and she flinched.

She quickly tried to shrug it off. "Nothing. I'm just a little pissed today I guess," she said. "Um, you're the only one who remembered my birthday." Not true. The Chumsy boys had remembered and also commented how beautiful she was getting as she grew up, how she was filling out in all of the right places …

She shuddered involuntarily and turned away as he studied her intensely with his familiar forest green eyes. She flinched even more as he slowly reached for the hem of her shirt and drew up the back of it. She heard him wince this time at seeing what must have been a maze of bumps, abrasions and bruises. Her traditional birthday beating had been a severe one this time – possibly the most painful one yet.

"Oh, Lena …" He murmured and she held up a hand.

"I know what you're going to say and no, I'm not going to tell anyone and you better not either!"

Stefan looked down at his lap. This had been going on for far too long. They both knew it and they both felt powerless to stop it. "Lena, please, let me tell my mom. She can help you …"

"I said no, Stefan! I said no. I can say 'no' if I want to, you know." She immediately jumped up, not noticing that she had overturned the plate of cupcakes as she took off running at a speed he had never seen before. He watched as the cupcakes hit the water, bobbed a bit, and then slipped under the surface like they had never been there at all.

XoXoXo

Elena watched from the window of the small house as the cops pulled away from the curb with old man Chumsy in the back of the black and white squad car. A tear slipped down her cheek as she turned to look at the tall blonde standing beside her. "What happens next?" Elena asked.

"We're taking you somewhere where you'll be safe," the woman said. Elena thought her name was Bethany but she could be wrong. She was like any other social worker to Elena.

"What does that mean?"

"We found a new, safe and loving home for you upstate. We're taking you there tonight," the social worker said. "Pack your stuff and we'll get going now."

"What?" Elena cried. "I can't leave here. I have friends here. My best friend, Stefan …"

"Yes, I know. He's actually the one who reported this …atrocity."

Elena nodded. She had suspected as much. "Can I least go say goodbye to him?"

"There's no time, Elena. I'm sorry," Bethany or what's her face said. "But I'm sure he knows how appreciative you must be feeling."

Elena honestly didn't know what she was feeling or what she should feel. She just knew that she was going to miss Mystic Falls if only because her best friend Stefan was here. He had made this town a home for her, the first place she ever belonged and now she had to leave.

Elena sighed as more pathetic tears escaped her eyes. "Can I at least write him a note?"

"Sure," the social worker said. "But make it quick, okay?"

"Okay," Elena said and she went into the kitchen to retrieve a piece of scrap paper from the junk drawer. Picking up a pen too, she quickly wrote a note and then handed it to the social worker. "You'll make sure he gets this right?" she said.

"Of course."

Elena wasn't sure what to believe but she slowly and quietly followed the woman out of the house. As they got into the car, she refused to look back even as much as she may have wanted to.

Xoxoxo

Summertime,
Present Day

Stefan couldn't sleep. He had a hard time doing that now. Ever since it had happened. Ever since the day his world had come crashing down.

Sweat clung to his bare chest as he made his way down the stairs and flipped on the desk lamp. He went to the kitchen and popped open a beer from the refrigerator. He walked back upstairs to his room and dropped down into the chair at his old, scuffed desk. He emptied the beer nearly in one gulp.

He opened the desk drawer and took out the little box that held all of his dead hopes.

He reached inside, feeling around for the small paper that he had read and crumpled up so many times that it now felt incredibly familiar in his hand. He grasped it and pulled it free, reading it over though he knew the words as surely as he knew the address of the boarding house or what day it was. It was dated years in the past and the big, hurriedly scrawled words were starting to fade but they were etched anyway in what was left of his mind.

Dear Stefan,

You know I had to go. You know they wouldn't let me stay here forever. I guess I should be mad at you for what you did but I'm not. Not that much anyway. I just hope – Well I hope you don't forget to remember me. I'll miss you and think about you always.

Sincerely,
Elena

Again, he wondered who this Elena was. He had found this note a few years back when he was going through a stack of things from his old life. It had been buried amongst all of the clutter from a past he simply did not remember. He had planned to ask his mother about the letter but never got around to it. Now it was far too late.

But somehow this letter comforted him a little bit every time he read it. He wondered who this Elena was and what she had meant to him.

Maybe one day he would find out.