A/N: Hey All! Here's Chapter 4! I hope you all like it! Also, I did a flashback scene in this update which is in italics.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Vampire Diaries, I just like to play with the characters for my own entertainment. ;)
Enjoy!
CHAPTER FOUR-Learning To Breath Again
She hadn't really been expecting much when they had stepped into Esther's office the next morning. Elena hadn't had much sleep and the only thing that seemed to calm her was that she and Stefan had been slowly starting to recoil their fragile relationship.
They sat across from each other in the waiting room as she flipped through a magazine and every once in a while would catch him looking at her, gazing at her with wonder and hurt in his green eyes. After a few minutes of silence between them and the fact that she felt like she was ignoring him as she flipped through the fashion section of the magazine in her lap. Elena closed it up and looked over at him.
"Do you really think that talking to someone is going to help us with everything?" Elena asked him in a calmed tone as she crossed her legs over each other.
Stefan sighed out deeply and then leaned towards her, placing his hands on the arm rest of the waiting room chairs as he spoke. "I think that if we don't try, we'll never know. So, It's the best thing that I can tell you, because truth be told, Elena. I can't watch you hurt yourself or me with this grief that's been looming around us."
"It's not like I'm grieving for some damn kid Stefan, she was our child!" Elena nearly hissed just as a young man opened the door that lead back to the offices and they both saw a blonde woman with a white colored button up blouse and black slacks smile at them as she waved them over and Stefan looked over at Elena as he got up and straightened up his black t-shirt.
"Let's go." He told her in a cold tone as he quickly turned towards Elena and then looked back over to woman who was leaning against the opened door. She watched as the couple both got up from their seats and made their way towards her.
Stefan extended his hands towards her first with a weak smile on his face as she shook his hand and introduced herself. "Mr. Salvatore, It's very nice to meet you. I'm Esther Mikealson. But, I'm sure that you already knew that since my son and his fiancé had told me about you both and vice versa." Esther told him in a calm and soft British accent as she glanced over at Elena who had her hands wrapped around her waist and she too gave Esther a saddened smile, as she followed them into the hallway.
"We're just right down there, to the left side. It's the corner office at the end of the hall." Esther explained as she glanced back at them and they followed her inside.
Esther's office was a calming mocha color and there was a huge window that over looked a beautiful garden that was full of roses. As Stefan slowly walked into her office, he looked around and noticed that she had a PH.D. in counseling and education. He smiled at the plaques in her office as he watched her sit down on a small chair that was in front of a coffee table and then she gestured for both him and Elena to sit down on the red colored sofa that was placed across from her.
"So, tell me a little bit about yourselves." Esther said as she grabbed a pad of paper and a pen from behind her, placing it on her lap as they both watched her write something down on it, clearing her throat as she gave them a warm smile.
"Well, I'm an insurance salesman and Elena's a sixth grade elementary school teacher." Stefan said as he glanced over at Elena. Her hands were in her lap and she was nervously spinning her wedding ring on her finger as she locked her eyes on Esther and nodded.
" How did you both meet?" Esther asked them, narrowing her eyes at Elena who hadn't said a word or very much of anything since they had sat down and started their first session together.
"We met in high school, I was studying in the library at school and Stefan was with a large group of his friends and they practically dared him to ask me out. It's not like he's shy or anything, I mean my husband will talk to anyone that listens. But, he was nervous around me that day..." Elena's voice trailed off as her mind drifted back to the day of her first encounter with Stefan.
She had finals and her junior year would be over before she knew it. Her parents had talked Elena into going to the best university and they wanted to make sure that no matter what happened, she would get a scholarship and make it. In high school, she got almost all straight A's and there wasn't much time for distractions that was until he made his way over to her table and asked for her number.
She had stayed after school and was studying with Caroline and Bonnie for a history final, wanting to almost rip her hair out from how many times she had looked at the book. But, just as she was about to write something down in her green notebook about one of our nation's presidents. Her hand stopped and her lips tightened with the sound of his voice.
"It's Elena, right?" He asked. Stefan's hands were deep in his pockets and his black North Face jacket was tight enough to outline the fact that Stefan Salvatore, the captain of the football team did indeed work out.
"Yeah, And you are..?" Elena asked him, searching his eyes and trying to play it cool. She was trying to act like she had no idea who he was and that she, like all the other girls in her school hadn't heard all sorts of rumors about the green-eyed and rebellious Stefan Salvatore.
"I'm Stefan. The captain of the falcons football team. I must admit that I'm somewhat surprised that you've never really heard of me, Elena...I mean, I have a reputation in this school and around town and part of me thinks that you must have heard something. So, what's a pretty girl like you heard about a semi-jerk like me?" Stefan asked her with a smirk as she watched him pull up an empty chair and sit across from her.
Elena had been studying with Bonnie and Caroline, until they both had to go home and get ready for cheerleading practice. So, now she sat alone in the library, looking over her notes on a loop which made her head hurt even more then the unusual conversation she was having with the very popular and well known Salvatore brother.
Elena laughed a bit as she brushed a strand of her hair out of her face and locked her eyes with his as she said "I've heard that you're a semi-jerk...whose dating that Rebekah girl. You know, the one with the curly hair and the bubbly personality that makes you want to poke your own eyeballs out of your head when you hear her voice?" She told him harshly as he crossed his arms over one another and then leaned back into his chair, glancing at her with a smile on his face.
"Your right. Come to think of it, Rebekah did sound like a chipmunk, well...glad that I don't have to listen to her anymore. She's dating that one Josh guy from math class. You know, I think you have I have that class together." Stefan commented with a smile on his face as he wanted Elena shake her head and nod at him.
"Stefan, I'm sure you're not as bad as everyone says you are..But, what the hell are you doing talking to me. I haven't talked to you since our sophomore year and now you want to chat." Elena told him, sounding irritated that he had interrupted her studying for the day.
"Well, truth be told. Those guys over there..." Stefan began to say as he pointed to the group of familiar faces, mostly all of them from the football team and then she noticed that among them was Stefan's older brother Damon, the only senior in the bunch.
"They wanted me to come over here and ask you out. Now, I was hoping that you won't make a big scene about it and slap me across the face or something for trying. Instead, maybe you could just humor me and help me win this bet."
"You want me to go out with you? Is this some sort of cruel joke...I mean, you just said it yourself..it's a bet! How much money are they giving you if I say yes?" She asked him, narrowing her eyes at him as she looked over at the guys that were a few seats away from them, huddled together and giving Stefan and Elena direct glances every so often.
" I don't know yet. But, I do know that I would like to give this a chance." Stefan commented in a serious tone as he leaned forward in his chair, his eyes glistening with hope.
"Look, I have studying to get to and I don't have enough time for you and your gam-." Elena began to say as Stefan cut her off with a laugh.
"It may be a game right now. But, I promise you that by the end of Saturday night, I will make you think twice about what you just wanted to say." He told her with a smirk as she watched him begin to get up from his chair.
"Wait, I don't even like you!" Elena explained as she glared at him.
Stefan smiled at her softly as he shook his head and with a wide grin on his face, he spoke directly to her. "Well, we will just have to fix that. Won't we? Saturday night at 8pm. I'll pick you up at that restaurant I always see you studying and working at." Stefan explained as he got up and walked away from her with a huge smile on his face.
Elena said nothing else as she watched him walk over to his eager group of friends who were laughing and patting him on the back when he had obviously told them that out of all the people in school, Elena Gilbert had agreed to go out with Stefan Salvatore, Crest mount High School's biggest jerk.
Her memory of the day in the library quickly faded when Esther's voice brought her back to the discussion that Stefan and her were having about the couple's first meeting and Elena smiled widely as she shook her head and spoke with a slight laugh. "Even though, he was a jerk in the beginning, I fell in love with him almost instantly. I guess, that's the one thing that I miss about us, the way we used to be with each other." She explained in a quiet tone as Esther nodded at her.
"Well, Mrs. Salvatore. What if I told you that, I'm not only a grief counselor. But, I am also a marriage counselor and hearing about what you both just told me. I have the perfect solution on how to help you both grieve in a healthy way from the tragedy of your beloved daughter and also, help you both come out of this as a stronger couple." Esther told her as she watched Elena glance over at Stefan and she could tell that from the look on her face that she was nervous about it all.
"Elena, I'm not saying to completely let go of your little girl. But, what I'm telling you is that you need to lean on your husband as well and you can't keep shutting him out. Because, if you keep doing that then, things won't be good at all." Esther concluded as she watched them both look over at each other with an intense gaze and she could tell that she had just discovered the underlying reason of why they had shown up in her office, they were both on the verge of hating each other.
A/N: Please let me know what you think and follow me on twitter for updates at: Green_Eyes1989.
Thanks for reading & until next time. :)
