A/N: Hey all! Thanks so much for all your lovely reviews! So, The first chapter and the majority of the rest of the story will be all "ONE YEAR EARLIER" from the Prologue. So, we will be getting a glimpse of what everyone's lives were like before Elena took over Katherine's. And, as far as Katherine goes...We'll be seeing her in flashbacks which will be throughout the story and all in italics! :)

Also, This story will focus a lot on Stelena. But, it won't be strictly Stelena. It will have a lot of the other characters from the show in the story throughout it...Like the summary says "Everyone has secrets!" ;)

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And hope you all enjoy this chapter!

CHAPTER ONE- Within Temptation

...One year earlier...

"Hi, everyone. My name is Stefan Salvatore and I've been clean and sober for six years as of today." Stefan said, looking over the crowd at the people in the room and smiling as he watched his best friend sit next to Damon and his fiancé, Rebekah. All three of them clapping wildly when Stefan sat down and cleared his throat, beginning to speak.

"I haven't touched a drink or any sort of drug in a long time and I feel good about it. I guess I can attribute a lot of my successes to my lovely wife Katherine, who unfortunately couldn't be here today and my family. All of us coming together when we needed one another the most." He said, watching as the group counselor leaned towards him and shook his hand. Being in the building surrounded by others who were in the same spot as he was, just years earlier was a reminder of all things he had endured during his addiction and the fact that he had finally pulled through, or a least for the time being.

"Well, that's it for our ceremony tonight. Thank you all for coming and for the group members, good luck and remember to come back here if you ever need to talk." The counselor said as he too got up and dismissed the group.

Stefan slowly rose and shoved his hands in his pockets, exhaling deeply when he walked over to stand near his brother who gave him a pat on the back. "I'm so proud of you!" Damon exclaimed, wrapping one of his arms loosely around Rebekah and smiling at her with a huge grin on his face.

"Yeah, we all are!" Rebekah said, leaning her head against Damon's shoulder and looking over to Stefan who was now shaking Elijah's hand.

"I just wish that Katherine was here to see it. She had worked so hard to get me on the right track and now after all these years..She's just..She's gone." Stefan said in a anguished tone, looking down at his nicely black polished shoes and placing his hands back into his pockets.

"Look, how about we go home and celebrate. Just the three of us. Although, I know that Caroline and Klaus will want to come over too since their townhouse is right across the street." Elijah said, patting Stefan's back and glancing up at him with a smile. They had all been trying to make things easier on Stefan and themselves by keeping up hope that Katherine would be found and yet after months of searching high and low and in every place they could think of. It was as if the beautiful and very well known young woman had vanished into thin air.

Damon took in the look on his brother's face. Stefan looked exhausted, he had dark circles under his eyes from not being able to sleep and his hands were trembling a bit as they walked to their cars and out into the parking lot of the very secluded and low key treatment facility that only a few high rollers knew about, including the Salvatore brothers.

"We'll find her, Stefan. They're still searching for her and Katherine's case hasn't been closed yet. They will find her." Damon reassured him, placing his arm around his brother's neck and pulling him towards his chest in a playful manner. "Now, let's not worry about all the crappy things in our lives for one moment and let's go celebrate your huge milestone. I suggest that we have dinner at Alinea, we might even already have a table waiting. Oh, the press is going to have a field day about us going out to eat. But, what the hell. The CEO and his Chairman to Dasells Antiques have to eat every once in a while too!" Damon said, grinning up at Stefan as he watched his brother shake his head before he replied with a simple. "Sure, why not. Let's go."

"Sarah Emily Mikaelson! If you don't come in here within 5 minutes young lady. You won't be going to the water park tomorrow!" Caroline bellowed, turning on her heels and picking up the toys after her daughter.

"Sweetheart, don't you think that's a little harsh?" Klaus commented, coming into the living room with a glass of whiskey in his hands and leaning over to kiss his wife's cheek.

"I don't think it's harsh at all. We need to set boundaries for her, Klaus. She's going to be 7 years old next year and I just don't want a spoiled daughter." Caroline whined, watching as Klaus stepped behind her, placing his glass down onto the coffee table in the room and placing his hands onto her shoulders, a smirk forming upon his lips as she let out a loud sigh when he began to massage her back.

"Why can't we get a nanny? Everyone that we know has a nanny and yet, here we are. Still living in the same townhouse that we did when we got married, three years ago. We need to move out of here and find a bigger place." Caroline said, listening when her husband let out a loud laugh and she could picture him shaking his head without her even looking at him.

"Well, you know. I could ask Stefan or Damon for a raise at work. Then, maybe we could all just move into their house. I mean, it's big enough for a whole army of people to live in it, it was an old rundown hotel with 10 rooms before they renovated it and made it into a mansion. That is if you want to be living big with the rich and famous." Klaus pointed out, feeling as her body tensed at his words and she stepped away from his grasp, letting out an annoyed laugh.

"I just said that we need a bigger place. I never said that I wanted to live under the same roof as your sister or her fiancé. Oh and even better, their mountain of problems that she seems to always discuss with me and only me!" Caroline commented, running her hands through her hair when she watched Klaus shrug his shoulders back, out stretching his arms to embrace her.

"You know, life was a lot easier before you started working for them. We used to be normal and no one knew who we were or where we spent our nights. Because, no one cared! Now, everything that we do is followed by some moron in a tabloid and the paparazzi seem to follow us whenever we go into the city. Remind me again why we wanted to be like this?" Caroline asked, feeling as Klaus tightened his grip around her waistline and kissed the top of her head before he replied.

"Because, they made me be on the committee board of their multimillion dollar Antique selling company and they wouldn't take no for an answer when I tried to leave. We live in this thousand dollar townhouse because you liked the view of the city lights at night. Also, you wanted to be close to Stefan, so that Sarah could have her 'uncle' nearby. Believe me, sweetheart. I miss when we were normal too. But, this is pretty damn nice if you ask me." Klaus told her, watching as his wife placed her head against his shoulder and exhaled deeply. "This is nice and to be honest, I don't think we'd even fit in with being normal anymore. So, with that being said. Which one of us is going to go fetch our daughter from her fort inside of her bedroom and tell her that dinner's ready?" Caroline commented, watching as Klaus stepped back from her and shrugged his shoulders.

"Fine, I'll go do it. But, once Sarah goes to bed tonight. You are all mine." Klaus concluded with a wink before he made his way into the hallway and towards their daughter's room, stopping halfway in the middle when he heard Caroline laugh as she shouted out. "Oh, I can't wait for what you have planned, it better be good!"

"You can't just sit on the street corner all night long. You need to find something to eat." He told her, throwing a dirty and soot filled rag at her face as Elena winced at it.

It was way past 10pm at night and she knew all the good restaurants were just now probably serving their expensive dishes and throwing out the leftovers of what the others didn't each for lunch or an early dinner. "Fine. I'll go by myself and I'll find something. Thanks for the wash cloth, Danny." Elena commented, pulling back her hair into a pony tail and trying to make herself look presentable as much as she could. It didn't help that she needed to use the bathroom too and by the time she made it a few blocks down the only restaurant in her sights was Aliena, one of Chicago's most expensive and well known restaurants in town. A place where all the high end socialites and everybody who was somebody went to.

Elena looked at her own reflection in the glass window, a light shining on her from outside. The small bit of makeup that she had stole from one of the social workers at the homeless shelter she would usually spend the night at, was starting to melt from being in the heat almost all day long and it didn't help that her ratty old jeans were covered with dirt, her once almost new converse were now covered in scuff marks and her tangled mess of hair was the only thing that made her look decent enough to walk into the restaurant and use the bathroom.

It hadn't always been this way for her. Elena had been kicked out of her foster home when she was 18 years old. "Aged out of the system." As was written on her forms and when she tried to find herself a job and get established on her own two feet. One thing after another seemed to stand in her way. Like, the cute and nice looking sales man at the retail store that she went to have an interview at. His name was Matt Donovan and for as long as Elena lived, she would never be able to wash his name away from her mind.

Matt and Elena had started dating after a few months of going out and her trying to convince him that she was able to support herself. But, like every man in Elena's life. They tried to control the situation, telling her that she would be better off if they lived together. "Maybe it'll be easier for you to find a job, if you just move in here. With me." Matt suggested one morning, smiling over at Elena with a grin on his face as he watched the yellow highlighter in her hands shake a little at his suggestion.

Reluctantly and stupidly she had agreed to go along with it. Because of course, she blindly thought that she loved him. Although, there was a nasty streak about the nice looking guy from North Carolina that Elena never saw coming, until one night that was. Until the night that he got so drunk he beat her so badly that she had welts the size of pennies on her body and one of her eyes was so badly swollen that she couldn't see for days through it.

"I'm leaving you and I'm never coming back. Because, if I do comeback I know that you'll make me leave this house in a body bag." Elena commented, throwing the keys in Matt's face after just a month of living under the same roof as him. Since then, since that late May morning. She had sworn to herself, that being in a homeless shelter after losing everything she ever had was better than being with any one that would cause her physically harm or hurt her continuously.

So, here she was. Four years after Matt Donovan and her parted ways and she was finally okay with being on the streets, begging for food at times and sleeping in the warmth of the shelters at night. But, it was nights like these, places like this and the people that she saw when she made her way all the way towards the bathrooms that made her wish her life was different. Elena wanted to be a part of what they were. Their lives filled with social events, the beautiful dresses that the women wore and she nearly drooled when she saw the men. All dressed up perfectly in their suits and ties, most of them drinking whiskey or bourbon and placing their arms around the women who were all vying for their attention.

"Lucky bastards!" Elena muttered under her breath as she rounded the corner to go towards the ladies room and just when she was about to take another step, she felt her body being pushed onto the ground and a loud thud as she fell flat on her backside.

"What the hell!" Elena yelled, an agitated look on her face was evident when she pushed herself up and looked over at the man that had caused her to fall, he was searching for his cell phone.

"Damn it! Where is it?! Oh my god, I'm so sorry for bumping into you like that. I obviously wasn't looking where I was going and-" Stefan began to ramble. Elena could smell the small amount of alcohol coming from his breath and she could tell that he was paranoid about something. But, all was lost on the look in his eyes. His green eyes instantly became watery and he suddenly approached her with caution as he whispered a name at her, one that she had never heard before. "Katherine?" He spoke, the name coming out in a rapid succession with more words that followed. But, Elena was too focused on the look on his face that he was giving her. The young and good looking man looked like he had seen a ghost as he walked towards her, outstretching his hand slowly.

"I'm sorry sir. I don't know who you're talking about." Elena politely said, forgetting that she had to use the restroom and turning to leave the restaurant in a quick motion. But, she was abruptly stopped by his hand on her shoulder.

"You're my wife. Katherine. I don't know what happened to you. Please talk to me. I've been going crazy without you, looking for you everywhere. Where have you been!" Stefan nearly begged her, watching as Elena shrugged him off and picked up her pace when she took off out of the restaurant, thinking that she had left him behind.

She ran as fast as she could in the darkened night, to the only place she knew was a couple blocks away and when she finally ducked and hid behind the shelter wall before going in through the doors. Elena's heart was racing and her hands shook when she heard it, the faint sound of screeching tires, it had seemed as if he was right behind her. So, she quickly exhaled deeply, looking around her and noticed that nothing seemed out of the ordinary on the streets as she made her way into the familiarity of the shelter.

"Hey, stranger. Nice to see you again. Looking for a bed tonight?" Bonnie asked her, noticing that something was off as she watched Elena place her shaking hands against her chest and try to make words come out of her mouth. But, nothing seemed to escape past her lips.

She shook her head instead, pointing to the back as she watched Bonnie nod and smile. But, just as Elena made her way further into the building, glancing over her shoulder to see that there were just a few cars passing by and a man about to walk in from the street. Her heart stopped when the bell at the top of the door chimed and she realized it was the same guy from the restaurant, dressed in a suit with his hands in his pockets and an angered look on his face.

"Katherine Salvatore! I will give you 20 minutes to explain to me what the hell is going on and why you're dressed like a bum, living in this whole in a wall place. Why are you even in a homeless shelter when you have a very nice and expensive home that we share!" Stefan shouted, eyeing her up and down and exhaling deeply as he heard Elena inhale through gritted teeth, slowly turning around and making direct eye contact with him. She wanted to tell him that she had no idea who the hell this 'Katherine' girl was or why he kept insisting that she was his wife. But, instead of saying any of the right things. Elena's dark brown eyes glistened as the thought of what she had always dreamed of, when it came into full view. This, the moment at the restaurant and this moment in time right now was her one shot. It was Elena's one shot at being just like all those people she had envied for years, all the rich and elite people she saw not giving a damn about her as she begged them for some spare change on the street corners during the long days and nights she spent panhandling.

So, it wasn't a huge surprise that when she turned around to look up at Stefan, the man she knew nothing about except for that fact that he obviously had mistaken her for his wife. That Elena uttered a few words, a few words that were clearly a lie and that would bring her one step closer into filling the shoes of this 'Katherine' girl. "I can explain. I needed some time to think. I'm sorry, that I left you."

"You see this, this is you. This is us and you being here, Katherine. In this place and part of town. I don't know how you got here at all. But, I just want you home. I want you home with me and that's where you'll stay. That's where you'll be safe. Please, baby. Come home with me. You've been gone for far too long. I need you." Stefan urged, holding out a picture of his wife and himself in front of a very confused and intrigued Elena.

Elena took the picture from his trembling hands and slowly took a closer look at it. The woman in the picture looked happy and full of life. Yet, there was one thing that struck Elena hard and it sent a cold shiver down her overheated skin. The young woman in the picture with her smiling face, perfect makeup and expensive clothing and jewels, looked exactly like her. They could have been identical to one another.

She stared at it for a long time as she felt the man's hands pull her closer towards him when he began to weep against her shoulder, brushing her long brown and matted hair with his finger tips as he murmured against her neck. "Please, baby. Please, Katherine. Come home with me. You don't belong here."

Elena swallowed hard. Knowing deep down that her response could go two ways and yet part of her wanted to know more about the woman in the photo and why they looked so much alike. So, as she held onto his shoulders and hugged him tightly, feeling as the tears from his eyes trickled down her skin. Elena took a sharp intake of breath and replied with the one answer that she knew would change her fate, as long as she kept up the ruse of being his mysteriously missing wife. "It's okay, sweetheart. I'm okay now, I'm safe and I can't wait to go home with you."

A/N: So, what do you all think so far? The brothers and Klaus working together at Stefan and Damon's company. Also, the fact that Stefan is a recovering drug addict/ alcoholic and Elena..Well...Finally getting the taste of how the other side lives by going along with being Katherine. Hm...things are about to get very interesting! ;)

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-Until Next Time!-