"Where are you going? Get in, I'll take you." Stefan offered.

"I though I was the one supposed to take you with me." She crossed her arms over her chest and waited for him to say something. Part of her really wanted to let him take her, anywhere he wanted, but the other part was so angry at him for leaving three years ago that all she wanted was for him to disappear and let her grief by herself.

"Right." He turned the ignition off and stepped out of the car. "Where are we going?" He said looking into her eyes, and when she didn't answer he took her hands in his and asked again. "I'm coming with you, 'Lena, where are we going?"

"No one has called me 'Lena' since you left." She told him quietly, lowering her head. Stefan felt his heart sink a little. They weren't supposed to tak about what happened this soon. Specially not today. Elena was already so emotionally fragile, he couldn't let her bring this up today. If she asked him to leave her alone, he'd get into his car and go. The last thing he wanted was to break her even more. Stefan knew Elena like the back of his hand. He knew that even though he probably meant nothing to her anymore, bringing those memories back would hurt her so much, and adding the pain and grief of her parent's death, well, it would probably be enough to break her to the point of no repare. He kept looking at her, trying to catch her look. He expected her to yell, be angry, but when she looked up at him she was completly calm. He tried to read her expression but he couldn't. Longing, maybe? He couldn't tell. "I don't know where to go." She finally said.

Stefan squeezed her hands in a supportive way, and smiled at her lovingly, brushing away every thought of letting her be alone in that moment. "Let me take you then." Seeing the hesitance in her eyes, he hurried to continue. "It's okay, 'Lena, you can trust me." She nodded and he had the impression of seeing a shadow of a smile.

Stefan had been driving her away for the past 45 minutes in silence. Elena simply layed back on her seat and waited for them to get to whatever place they were going. She was glad he wasn't talking, because she had no desire to talk about her feeling. Either towards the recent events or towards him. She couldn't help but wonder though, why did he leave?Why did he come back? She wanted to ask him those questions because everyday since he went away she had asked herself what had she done wrong, and she swore to herself that if she ever got the chance she'd ask him, but now she does have a chance, but has no courage to open her mouth. Maybe when they get where they're going she'll ask. Right now, all she needed was to sit back and rest.

"Elena" She heard someone call her name, then laugh and call her again. She slowly raised her head and openned her eyes.

"What?" She answer, waiting for her blury vision to focus on the person talking to her.

"You fell asleep." He laughed again. She missed that laugh. "Come on, we're here."

"And where's here exactly?" She asked, straightening her clothes and taking a quick look at herself in the rearview mirror before stepping out of the car. He held the door open for her, then closed it behind her.

"Don't you remember?" He asked, trying to hide the disappointment that this little place had so little importance to her that she couldn't even remember it. Stefan was already walking in the direction of a little coffee shop, when Elena followed him. She looked around while doing so, but she had no memory of ever being there.

"Seriously, where are we?" She asked again. He glanced nervously at her for a second before openning the door and letting her in. The place was dimly lit, and Elena had to blink a few times before her eyes could adjust to the lack of light.

"Choose a booth. I'll order for us." With that, he left her side and she looked around, looking for a reserved booth when she remembered being there. She walked over to the last booth on the right, next to a window. The same one they chose the last time they were there. The place hasn't changed a bit in the last four years, or at least not that she could remember. Elena was so lost in her own head she didn't even notice when Stefan came back. "You know, if you don't drink it now it'll get cold and gross, just the way you hate it."

"Sorry, um, I was..." She took a sip of her coffee so she wouldn't need to tell him what was on her mind.

"Americano. Extra shot. Still your favorite, right?" He asked confidently. She simply nodded. "And that muffin with the chocolate thingy over it..."

"Just the way I like it." She smiled and took a bite of her muffin. "Four years and I still haven't found a better muffin."

"Um, so you do remember being here." He said in a teasing tone.

"Oh, yes. There was a lot more touching and kissing the last time, though." She said in a fake teasing tone, waiting for his reaction to the whole thing. Would he play along like it was normal or would he be his usual self and apologize a thousand times for everything?

"Yeah, that was a great weekend!" He smirked and said after a long moment of thinking and poundering, or so thought Elena.

"For you." She said, taking another sip of her now getting cold coffee.

"For me? I remember you enjoying yourself very much, Miss Gilbert." He teased her again. She looked down to hide the smile that had formed on her face. She looked back up and his perfectly shapped pink lips were curved into a smile too. She missed that smile.

"I can't believe you convinced me to run away with you." Both of them laughed at the memory. One day Stefan showed up on her doorstep with two bags of his own, telling her to pack her things and go away with him. Her family was out of town, and the next day when they came back they found a note stuck in the refrigerator saying she was with Stefan somewhere and wound come back on monday. They were so angry at her when she came back that they actually locked her in her room for a week without her phone or computer. Stefan had to sneak in through the window to see her. "My parents almost killed me because of you." A laugh tried to scape her but it got stuck in her throat. Tears started to fill her eyes and she looked away, trying to hide them from him.

"Hey," he rested his hand over hers for support, like he had done a million times before. Even though it was cold outside, his hand was warm and his touch sent a wave of heat along her body, calming her down. "you can talk to me about it, you know that. I'm here for you." Elena looked from their now interwined hands to his face. She studied the lines of his face for a long moment, taking in all the details she already knew by heart.

"How was it for you? I mean, when... when your parents died?" Her question took him by surprise. All Elena knew about his parent's death is that he was too remember much of them. He never felt like talking about it, and she never asked. He looked at her nervously. "I'm sorry, I know you don't like to talk about it, but-"

"My mom died giving birth to me." He interrupted her. "And my father," he licked his lips and hesitated for a moment. "he died in a plane crash when i was 5." She squezed his hand, and he smiled at her. "It gets easier, Elena. You won't be sad forever."

"I don't know, I feel like..."

"You feel like it's the end of the world, I know. But it isn't." She looked at him in disbelief. How could he say it wasn't the end of the world when that's exactly how it feels like? "The only family I had left after my father was Damon, since Zach was always too busy running the family company. You have Jenna, and Ric, and Jeremy, your friends... and me. I'm here for you, whatever you need." She let go of his hands, forced a smile and looked the other way. He took that as a sign that she didn't want to talk anymore.

They fell into an absolut and comfortable silence while she finished her coffee and her muffin. He took the time to look at her, really look at her. He noticed her hair was a bit shorter and her eyebrowns seemed different. Other than that she looked exactly the same. His eyes wondered a little more and his look fell on her right hand, more especificaly on the white gold ring with a big green rock on it. "It's a beautiful ring." He said, pointing to her hand.

"Um, yeah, I, it was a gift." She replied shortly, not wanting to talk about it. He'd ask questions she really didn't want to answer.

"And I see you still wear that thing."

"What?" Her hand instantly moved to her neck and touched her necklace, like an instinct and he smirked. "Oh," she laughed nervously. "it's pretty." she said simply.

"Of course it's pretty, I was the one who gave it to you!" He joked, trying to lighten the mood. She laughed and rolled her eyes at him. "You know what you need?"

"What?" She asked curiously.

"Fun." He said simply while he got up and extended his hand for her to grab. "Normalcy. Let's go away for the day, just the two of us. Get your mind off of things." He added. "Get up, come on!"

Elena hesitated for a moment before grabbing his still extanded hand. He helped her up and ran with her outside. "But what are we gonna do?" She asked laughing at how excited he was.

"Where do people go to have fun, Miss Gilbert?" He grinned before getting in the car with her and driving away once again.

xxxxx

"A theme park? Really?" Elena rolled her eyes at him while they walked to the entrance of the park. "This is how you're gonna cheer me up?" She gave him a diesbelieving look but in reality it was quite amusing.

"Don't give me that look, you like this idea as much as I do." He bumped his shoulder on hers. "I'm gonna get our tickets!" He said before running to buy their tickets.

Elena was left by herself for only a minute before memories of her as a child going to theme parks with her parents and her brother flooded her mind. Maybe this was a bad idea, coming here. Or going anywhere for that matter. Maybe she needed to be alone in her room for some time, away from Stefan. She still had so many questions to ask him, so many things they needed to talk about, but instead, they were going on like nothing had ever happened, like those three years never existed. She would go up to him and tell him to take her home and not look for her anymore. But then again he got her mind off of all the grief and pain and made her smile, even if it was just for some brief moments. And he got her to laugh, and she missed laughing. Not only because of the recent events, she hadn't laughed, truly laughed in a while. Maybe her life was already sad before becoming tragic. And maybe she needed this. Not only some fun, but him. Not in a way she had wished for a long time now. Probably since they met, actually. No. She needed his presence. Maybe what she needed a friend. She was again so lost in thought that she didn't notice him returning until he put his hand on her shoulder.

"You okay?" He asked silently.

"Yea... Yeah, I'm okay." She grabbed his hand, surprising him. "Let's go, I wanna know if you still scream like a little girl on the fast roller coasters."

The rest of their day was filled with roller coaster rides, those bumper cars Elena used to hate, but particularly enjoyed today, and Stefan even made her go on the carousel with the little kids taking many laughs out of her, as well as lots of desapproving looks from parents watching their kids or wating on the line.

"You keep those pictures to yourself!" She said as she went through the pictures of her riding the little horses.

"Or?" He smirked.

"Or I'll tell everyone the way you react to roller coasters." She gave him his phone back and took another bite of the cotton candy he bought her.

"You wouldn't!" He said in a fake offended tone.

"You know I would." She blinked at him. "It's getting late." She said, a lot more quietly, bothered by the fact that they'd be returning home soon.

He looked at the moon above their heads and down at her, who looked even more beautiful under that light, if that was possible. "Yeah, we should probably go back." He brushed a strand of hair away from her face before adding. "There's one more thing I want to do though."

He led them to a something like a tent she hadn't noticed before. It's walls were covered in toys, prizes, and in the center of it there was a target. Stefan payed the guy sitting in a chair beside the prizes and he handed Stefan the dards.

"Stefan, you're terrible at this." She laughed silently.

"What? I got you a great koala once, if I recall correctly." He said.

"Yeah, because the guy took pity on you." She remarked and he looked offended.

"Well, let's hope I have a better luck this time." He positioned himself in front of the target, took a deep breath and threw the firts dard. For Elena's surprise it hit the second circle, earning Stefan more points than he had gotten all the 27 times he tried when he got her the koala.

"How did you do that?" She asked surprised.

"Maybe I learned a thing or two since the last time we saw each other." He blinked at her and positioned himself again. He took a deep breath and threw the dard, hitting right in the middle of the smallest circle. "I didn't want to make an ass of myself again, so I made sure to know what I'm doing before trying to get you anything again." He laughed nervously. Why, Elena didn't know. "Go on, Miss Gilbert, pick you prize." She smiled and walked in the direction of the wall with the prizes in it.

"You can choose any of them." The guy told her. She pointed to the one she wanted and the guy handed it to her.

"A gigantic koala? Seriously?" Stefan asked with a smirk on his face.

"Yeah, well, koalas are my fovorite."

"Since when?" He asked.

"Since sophomore year."

xxxxx

Their way back home was silent, but not awkward at all. They had a busy day and Elena was tired, so Stefan let her be for a while. Stefan felt bad though. After the day they had he couldn't help but being all smiles. He knew she had a good time too, but that sadness couldn't just desappear because they had some fun. The sadness she was feeling was constant. Like a part of your heart had been ripped out from your chest. Just a small part. Enough for you to feel the hole it left there, but not enough to make your heart stop beating altogether. He only felt like that twice in his life: when he was a little kid, and 3 years ago. It is the worst feeling in the world. And he felt bad because there was nothing more he could do to make that feeling go away. You got her to smile, Stefan. Baby steps. She'll get through it. He reminded himself.

They finally arrived at her house. He openned the car door for her and helped her with the huge bear he got her. In silence, they walked to her door, and they awkwardly stood there.

"If you need anything you know where to find me." He said before leaning in and giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Good night, Elena." He added before turning around and waling back to his car.

"Stefan!" She called his name making him stop. Now, Elena, ask him. You can do it.

"Yes?" He said while turning around to face her.

"Thanks you." Another time, maybe. She thought to herself. She had no strength in her being to do that now. "For today" She added. "It meant a lot to me." He nodded, got into his car and drove away. Elena stood there, watching his car until it made a right turn on the road and she lost sight of it. Elena sighed and searched for her keys in her purse. She openned the door and sighed again before stepping in.

She was back to reality.

XXXXX

I like this relationship they have, but sooner or later they will have to talk about what happened. But what exactly happened?

I tried to make this chapter longer than the first, so it took me a little while to post. Sorry for that.

Hope you guys like it and make sure to let me know what you think on the reviews. xoxo