A/N: Here is another one of those missing chapters from Until This Lie Do Us Part. This one takes place sometime after Elena tells Stefan about Derrick, but before Elena really starts to allow herself to trust Stefan. Of course, I had to throw Lily in the mix as well.
Enjoy!
There wasn't much that didn't excite Lily, but going shopping probably excited her more than most 6-year olds. Then again, not many girls her age had a never ending spending limit like she did. It was part of being a Salvatore though. If her daddy and her mommy weren't going to buy her whatever her heart desired, you could bet that her uncle Stefan would.
More importantly though, Lily was spending the entire day with Katherine in the city which meant lunch, getting her nails done, and shopping at designer stores that most little girls her age had never even heard of. It meant a whole day of getting all the attention she could get from Katherine doing something they both loved.
Katherine always denied how much Lily looked up to her. Idolized her and wanted to be her. And while she knew she wasn't mother of the year by any means, she did know how to entertain Lily for a day by shopping and doing other girly stuff that the boys could never come close to doing right. Lily was always on her best behavior too, knowing that these outings with her mother were quite rare.
Lily and Katherine stood in front of a large mirror, trying to decide if they liked the jeans they had on. Their nails were perfectly manicured now and they were on store number 13 trying on the newest arrivals. "Well?" Katherine asked, looking down at Lily who was squirming uncomfortably.
"I don't like these" Lily said. She pulled on them and made a face. "They're making my underwear crawl up my butt" she announced.
Katherine rolled her eyes. "You've been spending too much time with Stefan" Katherine said, smoothing out her shirt to look at her own jeans again. Underwear crawling up your butt was definitely a phrase Stefan would use.
An employee from the store came to assist them. "Can I help you with anything?" she asked politely.
Katherine ignored her, as per usual. Lily though was quite verbal about what she needed. "I need jeans that don't make my underwear crawl up my butt" she said innocently as she peeled her jeans off and handed them to the woman.
"Oh, okay" the women said uncomfortably as she took the jeans from Lily. "I'll see what I can find" she told her before running off.
Lily sat down in a plush chair in her underwear as she waited. She watched her mom turn in the mirror. "I wish I was as pretty as you Mommy" Lily said.
Katherine smiled as she walked over to her nearly half naked child. She bent down to Lily's level. "You, Lily, are just as beautiful as me" she told her, causing Lily to smile. "You are my child, after all" she winked. Well, Damon's good looks didn't hurt either, but there was no mistaking it. Lily looked more like Katherine and definitely acted like her too. Katherine kissed Lily's cheek before standing back up and picking up another outfit to try on. Yes, she was trying to be a better mom. It took work and some days were better than others.
Lily waited patiently until the store employee came back with a few new pairs of jeans. "Thank you" Lily said cheerfully, eager to try them on too. She put the first pair on and wiggled around.
"Is your underwear up your butt?" Katherine asked with a small grin.
Lily shook her head. "Nope. These ones are okay Mommy" she stated. "But I don't have a jacket that matches them" Lily added.
Katherine placed her hands on her hips as she thought about her daughter's concern. "I think we can find you one" she told her.
Lily smiled brightly. "How about two jackets?" she asked.
"Whatever you want" Katherine told her. After all, Damon's money was endless, or so Katherine liked to think.
"And new boots" Lily listed off. "When do we have to go home?" she asked.
Katherine turned her wrist slightly to look at the Tiffany's watch she was sporting. "In about an hour or so" she told her. "You're spending the night with Stefan, remember?" Katherine told her.
"Of course I remember" Lily told her mother, getting out of her jeans to try on another pair. She wiggled around in those too and sighed.
"Underwear issues?" Katherine asked. Lily nodded. "Maybe you need new underwear" Katherine suggested.
"But Daddy just bought me new underwear" Lily informed her.
Katherine laughed. "There's your problem" she told Lily. Damon did a wonderful job caring for Lily, but even Katherine knew that there were some things only a mom could do right. Like picking out comfortable underwear. Lily looked at her a bit confused, but Katherine just shook her head, changed back into her clothes, and gathered up the ones they were going to buy. "We'll pick you up new underwear" she said, helping Lily change back into her own clothes.
Lily followed along with Katherine up to the counter, holding on to the pocket on Katherine's pants to keep up with her. Lily watched her mother pull out that plastic card she always used when she bought stuff. "Mommy, when do I get a card like that to buy stuff?" Lily asked.
Katherine grinned. "Whenever you can talk your Daddy into giving you one" she told her. Though, Stefan would probably give in first.
"I could buy so much ice cream with one of those cards" Lily said as her eyes lit up. Katherine took the bags and her receipt and walked out of the store with Lily who was telling about all of the toppings she would add to the ice cream.
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Lily took a small nap on the ride home and was a bouncing ball of energy by the time she got to Stefan's. Katherine helped Lily with all of her bags, said hello to Stefan, glared at Elena, and then left.
"I'm so happy I get to spend the night with you!" Lily said excitedly. "I gots to show you what I bought today" she added, squirming out of Stefan's lap and racing over to her bags. She dumped out all of her new clothes, holding them up one by one as Stefan and Elena watched. Elena figured Lily quite easily had a thousand dollars of clothes lying in a pile on the floor. "I had to get new jeans" she said, holding up a pair.
"Had to?" Stefan asked, quite amused.
Lily nodded. "Yeah, cause some of my old ones make my underwear crawl up my butt" she informed him.
Elena nearly choked on the tea she was sipping upon hearing that come out of such a sweet, well-mannered little girl. "Did she just say that?" Elena asked, turning to Stefan.
Stefan smiled proudly. Lily looked between the two for a moment. "Uncle Stefan says it all the time" Lily informed.
Elena shook her head at Stefan who simply shrugged. "Can you honestly tell me that you've never had issues with underwear going up your butt and being uncomfortable?" Stefan asked her.
"Your six year old niece is walking around announcing that though" Elena reminded him.
"She speaks her mind" Stefan shrugged, still smiling.
"Yeah, I wonder where she got that from" Elena smirked, getting up from the couch to go and put her cup away.
Lily was still occupied with her clothes on the floor, trying to decide what she wanted to wear first. "Can I try them all on for you?" Lily asked.
Stefan shook his head no. "You have to get your pajamas on and go to bed" he told her.
Lily frowned. But she wasn't worried. She could almost always get Stefan to agree to let her stay up later. "Can I put my pajamas on and watch a movie with you?" she asked instead.
"I really think you should go to bed" Stefan said, getting up and helping her to put her new clothes back in the bags.
"Please?" Lily asked. "I've barely gotten to spend any time with you and I miss you and I love you" she told him, batting her not so innocent eyelashes at him.
Stefan sighed, knowing he pretty much had lost the argument. "Okay. But we lay down on the couch and you try and fall asleep" he told her.
"I will. Honest" she promised, hurrying up the stairs to find her pajamas.
Stefan pretended to chase her, causing her to laugh all the way to her room. He sat on the top step and watched her, his heart aching just a little at the fact that tomorrow, she would have to go back home. He hated that. Having Lily in the house made it such a better place. Even Elena seemed happier when Lily was around.
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The idea of watching a movie together to fall asleep didn't exactly pan out. Lily had picked How to Train Your Dragon and fifteen minutes into it, Stefan and Lily were running around the living room, wielding pretend swords and jumping off of the couches. "I got one Uncle Stefan!" Lily shouted, jumping from one couch to the other. Stefan rolled across the floor and pretended to wrestle Lily's slain dragon. She laughed hysterically as she watched.
Elena rubbed her tired eyes as she slowly came down the stairs, having been woken up by two very loud people downstairs. She rounded the corner to see Stefan rolling around on the floor and Lily jumping up and down on the couch, cheering him on. Elena cleared her throat and Stefan and Lily stopped, turning to face her slowly. "What's going on?" Elena asked, finding it hard to be irritated with being woken up because quite honestly, Stefan and Lily were adorable together.
Stefan sat up some and smiled. "We're training dragons" Stefan informed her.
"Yeah!" Lily confirmed. "And Uncle Stefan's got a big one" she said. Elena couldn't help but crack a smile. It was nearly 11:00 at night and clearly, way past Lily's bedtime. But Stefan was by far the biggest softie when it came to that little girl.
Then Stefan froze. "Uh oh" he said seriously.
"What?" Lily asked, staring at him with concern.
"The dragon. It bit me" he stated, holding his arm. "Do you know what this means?" he asked. Lily shook her head no. "It means … I'm now … a dragon" he said, standing up slowly and flapping his arms.
Lily gasped. "Oh no!" she yelled. "Run!" she laughed, jumping to the other couch and then off, heading for the kitchen. Stefan chased after her and Lily laughed. She came back into the living room and dove behind the couch.
Stefan turned his attention to Elena. "No" Elena said, pointing her finger at him. "I'm going back to bed" she told him.
"Uncle Stefan's gonna eat you!" Lily yelled, grabbing the blanket off of the couch to hide under.
Stefan's eyes lit up as he ran towards Elena who just stood there as he tackled her onto the couch, making dragon noises that made her laugh. "I surrender!" Elena said finally, not fighting back at all. Because this whole situation was ridiculous and she was laughing too hard to do anything about it.
Stefan sat up and smiled down at Elena. How he wanted to kiss her right then. "Lily. Time for bed" Stefan said, still looking down at Elena. She looked up at him, unable to hide her smile.
"But Uncle Stefan" she whined. Stefan slowly got up from the couch and walked over to Lily, picking her up by her ankles and causing her to giggle as she hung upside down. "Okay okay" Lily sighed. "But you and Elena gotta tell me a bedtime story" she told them.
Stefan looked over at Elena who nodded. "Deal" he said, setting Lily down. She stood and lifted her arms, demanding to be picked up and carried. And of course Stefan obliged. "It is way past your bedtime" he told her as he walked towards the stairs. Elena followed.
"But I'm not tired" Lily told him.
"Couldn't be from all the candy I let you eat" he added. Elena rolled her eyes from behind him.
"Daddy doesn't let me eat candy this late like you do" Lily announced.
Stefan reached the top of the stairs and walked towards Lily's room. "And we're not going to tell your dad about all the candy Elena let you eat, are we?" Stefan asked with a sly grin.
He felt Elena playfully slap him in the back. Lily just laughed. "You gave me the candy Uncle Stefan" she corrected. She'd tattle on him any day.
"Yeah, I did" Stefan sighed. "We should get your teeth brushed then" he said, making a quick stop off at the bathroom.
Lily ran from the bathroom when she was done brushing her teeth, hopping into her bed with Elena. Stefan joined soon after. "So, what kind of story do you want?" Elena asked Lily.
Lily snuggled close to both Elena and Stefan and thought about what she wanted. "I want a princess story" Lily decided.
Stefan smiled at Elena and Elena began the story. "There once was a princess who lived in a castle all by herself" she said, smiling down at Lily who was looking up at her expectantly. "And she owned a horse who was her best friend" Elena added. Lily smiled at that.
"And there was a prince in the next town over, who was looking for a princess to marry" Stefan added on to the story. "So he rode his horse to the princess's house one day and knocked on her door …" he said.
"And the princess wouldn't let him in" Elena said quickly, smirking as Stefan looked at her.
"She wouldn't open the door?" Lily asked. "How come?"
"Because she was scared" Stefan said, surprising Elena. "She wanted to make sure he was a good guy first" he added. Elena held his eyes for a moment, catching on to what he was doing right away. "And it took a little while, but soon, the princess realized that the prince was a good guy, and she opened up the doors to her castle and let him in."
"And then he asked her to marry him" Elena said, running her hand softly through Lily's hair. "The princess said yes."
"Because they loved each other" Lily pointed out. Elena nodded. "Did they have a big wedding?" Lily asked.
Stefan shook his head no. "They had a small wedding, and the horses got all dressed up too" he smiled. Lily seemed to like that a lot. "And there was tons of cake" he added.
"Chocolate cake?" Lily asked.
"With fudge frosting" Elena assured her. "And after they ate all of the cake, they lived happily ever after" Elena said quietly, feeling the need to end the story.
Lily smiled again. "That was a good story" she said.
Stefan bent down and kissed Lily's forehead. "Goodnight" he whispered.
Lily closed her eyes and yawned. "Goodnight" she whispered back.
Elena kissed the side of Lily's head. "Sweet dreams" she whispered, slowly getting off of the bed. Stefan followed soon after, switching Lily's light off and shutting her door just slightly.
"That was some story" Elena said, walking slowly with Stefan to their bedroom.
"I thought it was fitting, considering" Stefan shrugged. It pretty much summed up his relationship with Elena currently. Well, except for the happily ever after part.
"Yeah, I suppose so" she said, looking up at him briefly before they entered the room. She went straight for the bed, determined to straight back to sleep.
They were in bed for almost twenty minutes, neither able to sleep though. "I get why you are so guarded" he said, thinking she deserved some sort of validation for the way she felt. After all, who wouldn't be cautious after being in a relationship with someone like Derrick? Then he turned to face her in the dark. "But I appreciate that you have let me in a least a little ways" he added, grabbing her hand and kissing it. "Goodnight" he whispered, letting his hand remain on hers until she would pull it away.
But she didn't. "Night" she said after a moment, listening to his soft breathing. Maybe one day, she could let him in all the way. Though, she was running out of time.