AN: I tried hurrying up with the update. This chapter is definitely different from the others but I hope you like it. Thanks again for the reviews and follows, it means a lot to see that some people are actually reading my story :P
After this chapter, you can say what you liked/didn't liked, what's missing or anything else, feel free ! :)
Enjoy this chapter and please review!
Minutes turned into hours; hours turned into days and days eventually turned into weeks. Elena left Mystic Falls two weeks ago and it felt like months. She wanted to be with Jenna, Caroline and Meredith, but mostly, she wanted to be with Stefan. Damon and Jeremy had flown back to Europe with her, but she still fell alone. Damon had moved to Switzerland right after the holidays while she stayed in Bulgaria. Jeremy and Elena didn't go to the same school anymore- Jeremy was in the phase where he wanted to start fresh and be the new kid where no one knows his life or what happened to his parents just about a year ago. He wanted to be Jeremy Gilbert, end of story. That being said, Jeremy changed school leaving Elena alone in their original high school.
Elena was glad that school had started again; it helped her concentrate on other things than Stefan. However, Bruno Mars was the new singer in Bulgaria at the moment and every time Elena heard one of his songs, she thought of Damon and Stefan. All of her friends talked only about Bruno Mars and nothing else mattered. She missed Damon immensely, she never thought she was as attached to him until the day he left Bulgaria. He spent a week there, just enough time for him to pack and then move to Switzerland. However, Elijah was still by Elena's side and he never left. He was the one to pick her up at the airport and drove her and Jeremy home. He stayed for dinner before heading back to his own house down the block. Elena really had missed Elijah; she had missed his parted straight brown hair, his black eyes and that smile that he did every so often. He had a way of talking that would make anyone stop whatever they're doing just to listen to what he had to say even if it was just plain crap. Elijah was the honest guy that you could always count on; he'd be there. Elena and Elijah have known each other from childhood, and if anyone would hurt Elena, Elijah would make sure that the person would live through hell. To him, absolutely no one was allowed to hurt Elena, not even Jeremy or Aunt Jenna. At school, they would walk anywhere and everywhere together. The freshmen students always thought they were either siblings or they were dating. Even the teachers who've known them for a long time or other students that spent a few years with them had their doubts about what kind of relationship they had; everyone thought that it was more than friendship. Elena and Elijah have heard all there was to hear about them and they just laughed, they couldn't do anything else. They were walking together to their next class and Elijah suddenly said: "I still can't believe you kissed Stefan!"
"He kissed me first," replied Elena in a heartbeat. It was true, she thought, he was the one that pulled her to him and then leaned in to kiss her on the middle of the dancefloor. She told Elijah about Stefan the day after her arrival, she couldn't hide it from him. When she was unpacking the day after she arrived, Elijah was lying on her bed scrutinizing her until he suddenly said: "Something happened in Mystic Falls, you're often daydreaming and then all of a sudden you start smiling. Who is he?" That's how well Elijah had grown to know her, and she could do the exact same thing to him. They couldn't even try hiding things from each other, it was impossible- they knew each other that well. Ever since she told him, Elijah had brought up the subject.
"Point is: You still kissed him. Did you know that we used to be close friends?", Elijah asked. "Then we just kind of drifted apart, but he's a good guy. I like him. I approve Lena, well done."
"Elijah, it was just a kiss. Nothing more, you're making a big deal out of it."
"Do you have any idea how nice Stefan is? That guy is a perfect gentleman."
"Why don't you date him?," mocked Elena.
"I'm not gay Elena, but I'm saying this for you. You deserve a good guy, and he's one of them."
"How about you calm yourself? He's in Mystic Falls and I'm here in Bulgaria with you, anything can happen on either side of the world. Next summer is a different story," she smiled.
Elijah decided to leave it at that. He's known Stefan for a long time and even if they've drifted apart, Elijah knew that Stefan was one great guy. A guy perfect for Elena, he smiled at the thought: Stefan and Elena.
"Did Damon say anything about you two?" he couldn't help asking. He had planned on letting the subject drop, but he was so intrigued about the cuteness between Stefan and Elena that he couldn't let it go.
"He said a couple of stuff, but nothing as intense as you. He let it go pretty quickly; something that you can't seem to do."
"I'm sorry," Elijah answered with sincerity in his eyes. Elena smiled and lopped her arm through Elijah's. He let her loop her arm for a moment but suddenly he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and rubbed her head with his knuckles. She laughed out loud, wiggled out of his embrace and silently thought "no doubts people think we're together, we talk all the time, laugh and hit each other like kids and loop arms when walking in the corridors."
~!~!~!~!~!~!~
Aunt Jenna was arriving today and Elena was preparing the house for her. Jeremy was in his room, too busy with homework to help Elena, or at least that was his excuse. Elena was happy to have someone else in the house, someone who she could actually talk to, not someone would only be downstairs because they just opened the front door and they need to make their way to their room.
"Jeremy, I'm going to the airport to get Jenna", yelled Elena half expecting her brother to hear her since he always had his earphones plugged in.
As Elena was driving to the airport that was about half an hour away, she thought about her parents. She thought about the time where she would have gone to fetch them at the airport after they had done a wonderful trip in the world somewhere. Her parents loved traveling; they've gone to India, Australia, Russia, Canada, Brazil, Hawaii and even Congo. Every time they would come back they bought her a souvenir, now Elena had a whole collection. Her throat clenched up at the thought that her collection ended last year, nothing would ever be added to it again. Someone else could give her a souvenir from a certain country, but it would never have the same significance as when her parents gave her one. Elena started to breathe deeply as a way to calm herself down and to control the tears that were building up in her chocolate brown eyes.
"Deep breaths Elena, deep breaths. Happy thoughts…" for a second Elena's mind went blank when she tried to think of a happy moment in her life. Nearly all of her favorite moments in her life included her parents, and just thinking about those moments made her want to cry. She decided to think back to the summer she just spent in Mystic Falls. She absently smiled just thinking about everything, and then her smile disappeared at the thought of Stefan, she wished he were here right next to her. She sighed as she arrived at the airport and drove towards the arrival gate. She got out of her car and waited with all of the other people who came to pick up other passengers. Elena hated airports, or to be more precise, she hated picking up people from the airport. Don't get her wrong, she loved driving people around and doing favors, but just the airport was a problem. It was a place where family members reunite after a while and she couldn't help but think that she would never reunite like that with her parents again and there was nothing she could do to reverse what happened.
The doors to the gate opened and passengers started flowing out, literally. Luckily Aunt Jenna had only one luggage to claim, so she was one of the first ones to walk out the door. When Jenna walked out, it didn't take long for her to find Elena in the crowd; her beauty was just so striking that anyone could spot her from miles away. She never got used to Elena's beauty even though she should be familiar with it since they've lived together for a year now. As Jenna approached her niece, Elena's smile broadened and they hugged each other as if they hadn't seen each other in months. As Elena hugged Jenna, she tried to stay compose and to keep the thought of her parents away. They let go of each other and Elena took Jenna's luggage as they both walked to the car.
~!~!~!~!~!~!~
Jenna didn't wait until the next morning to unpack her suitcase; she wanted everything done tonight. Elena was sitting on her aunt's bed and watch as Jenna was running back and forth; from her bag to her closet. They talked about nothing in particular, just catching up on how their three weeks have been, other than that, no big news.
Jenna gasped all of a sudden "I've got gossip," she said and gave a sideways glance at Elena. Elena giggled; she loved the fact that her aunt was still a teenager at heart, ready to hear all the gossips there was to hear. She never repeated them, except some to Elena, other than that, she would stay quiet and listen. Elena always loved that about Jenna, you could tell her anything and she would keep it secret if you asked her to.
"What's the gossip, fill me in on everything," replied Elena with a slight tone of excitement. Elena wasn't much of a gossip girl, but she liked to hear them nonetheless.
"Guess who Caroline hooked up with? Hint: someone from her closest group of friends."
"Tyler?"
"Nope."
"Matt?"
"Guess again," Jenna answered excitedly.
Elena closed her eyes as she answered, "Stefan" and breathed out loudly. It wasn't a question but a statement.
"YES!" shrieked Jenna. "Isn't it adorable, two best friends hooking up?"
Elena smiled, but even she could feel that it was as fake as plastic. "Yeah, completely adorable. They had it coming. I'm happy for them," she answered faking enthusiasm. She never thought that she would be able to literally feel her heart sink or clench up; either way, her heart did something. She discreetly took deep breaths trying to not tear up. She knew that she shouldn't feel that way, she knew Stefan for such a short time, but apparently not short enough to not develop feelings for him. She hated herself for falling too fast and too hard for him. She had warned herself about it during New Year's when they were saying goodbye.
"I'm gonna go check on dinner," Elena quickly and briskly walked out the door with her head so bent down that she almost bashed into Jeremy.
"Woah Lena. Watch out," he said as he flopped down onto Jenna's bed and started to talk to her.
Elena barely apologized, flew downstairs and heated the dinner- Italian pasta. All she wanted to do right now was let the tears flow and let her face and eyes become red. She felt the first tear hit her cheek and quickly wiped it out with the back of her hand. As she was stirring the pasta, she allowed her mind to drift to everything that had happened between Stefan and her throughout the holidays. To her, he had meant something, the gravity and connection was something that she couldn't ignore. However, maybe to him it was just another notch in his belt of girls. Elena felt so foolish for even falling for Stefan that she wanted to hit herself. She was full out crying by now and she hadn't realized until she heard footsteps on the stairs and felt that her face was wet. She dashed to the bathroom located downstairs and locked herself in. She turned to the sink and looked at herself in the mirror. She looked hideous with her tear-stained face. Elena splashed her face with water trying to clean the light mascara that leaked onto her cheek. She patted her face dry with the hand towel and walked out with what she thought was a more or less normal looking face.
All three were seated at the table and Elena was glad to see that Jeremy was making an effort at being more with the family.
"You seem upset Lena, everything okay?" asked Jenna with a concerned look on her face.
"Yeah, everything is perfect," simple answered Elena and smiled tightly.
"You okay with this whole Caroline and Stefan situation? I mean you dashed out the room right after I told you the gossip and now you seem upset."
"No, seriously aunt Jenna I'm more than fine. I dashed out your room because I forgot that I turned the oven on when we got back and I had to check that the dinner wasn't burning," she half-heartedly laughed. "About Caroline and Stefan? I am absolutely thrilled for them. They've been in the same group of friends for at least four years now, and every year I assume that they've become closer. I am more than happy for them, really."
"I just hope it works out between the two of them. They're absolutely adorable," added Jenna with a smile on her face.
~!~!~!~!~!~!~
Elena went to school the next day feeling like crap. Last night she didn't bother stopping her tears from flowing once she got into her bed. She's surprised that Jenna hasn't heard her sobs, she's usually a light sleeper and hears everything that's happening in the house.
"What's wrong, Lena. Stop hiding from me, please," gently asked Elijah for what seemed like the hundredth time.
"I really don't want to talk about it, Elijah. I'll talk to you some other time, I promise," she answered. She loved that Elijah was there for her and would never give up on her.
"Okay. How about we move to sweeter and lighter subjects like Stefan? How is that boy doing?" he asked with a smile on her face.
"He's fine," she shortly answered. Elijah noticed the bitter tone but decided to ignore it.
"What' going to happen between the two of you anyways? I mean, you guys had an epic last night," he said with a twinkle of mischief in his eyes.
"Yeah, and there's a reason it's called a last night."
"Danm it, what happened?"
"He hooked up with Caroline," she answered curtly.
"What. A. Dick!" he exclaimed. "How could he do that? He swapped you for Caroline? What is WRONG with him?"
"He's a freaking Greek God and he probably knows it. He probably also knows that he can get any girl he wants."
"And she's a freaking Greek Goddess. Have you seen that girl?"
"You're really not helping there."
"Sorry. Okay, to be honest, what he did was a total dick move! You deserve so much better than that Lena. So. Much. Better!" he was almost enraged. He waited a while, as if thinking before he went on, "Wait, is that why you were so down this morning?"
"Look at you putting the pieces together," she said and tried to smile. Elijah hugged her for a long time before kissing her forehead.
"He's a dick Lena, let it go."
"What happened to 'He's one of the good ones'?" questioned Elena.
"Well sometimes good guys turn out to be dicks, like Stefan. You need cheering up."
Elijah spent his entire day cheering Elena up in every possible way. He told her jokes, tickled her and gave her piggyback rides in the school corridors. They acted like children, but they didn't care, they could be themselves with each other. They were sitting at the cafeteria with their groups of friends when someone said something that made Elena laughed out loud without even forcing it.
"Isn't she beautiful when she's happy," Elijah asked while staring at Elena laughing. He hated the fact that someone like Stefan could hurt her, and he probably didn't even realize it. Elena stopped laughing and looked at Elijah mouthing a 'Thank You' and smiled widely. She wished that everyone could have a friend like Elijah, always there to make sure you had a good time and to cheer you up when you're as down as you can be. He was the type of guy who would only look down at you because he was helping you up.
