ahh i love this chapter! sooooo adorable!

enjoy! :)

Chapter 7

"What're you doing here?" I ask Stefan, surprised to find him standing in the kitchen in the middle of the night. He shrugs, "I haven't gone to sleep yet, and I just came down to get a cup of water. Hold on – are you ok?" he says, noticing my small hiccups of uneven breathing. I nod, but I can tell it's a little wobbly.

"Just… just a bad dream," I say thickly. I shrug like it's nothing, trying to fight my emotions, but a small tear still manages to escape my eye somehow. I swipe at it furiously, refusing to give in to the sadness again. I just stand there for a moment, reminding myself that there is more to this world than just sadness and pain, just like Stefan told me.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I shake my head, pursing my lips in an effort to choke down my sobs. "Elena… please talk to me." I shake my head again. I breathe in, then out, and in again. When I feel more in control I look up at him. I'm surprised when I see an expression of terrible sadness on his face as he watches me struggle in this fight against myself. He reaches out and gently catches a stray tear before it drips off my chin. He smiles softly, and I smile back.

I grasp his hand in my own and hold it up to my cheek, tilting my head into it and closing my eyes at the soft comfort his hand provides.

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?" he tries one last time. I open my eyes to look at him.

"Please… let's just talk about something – anything – else. Whatever you want. Anything but that."

"Ok," he nods in understanding. He pulls his hand gently out of mine and reaches out toward a cup on the counter behind me. My breath catches in my throat as his arm brushes the bare skin of my stomach, and I suddenly realize that I forgot to put on a real shirt – I was sure no one would be up. What I wear right now is a tank top so old and small it's barely more than a halter top.

"Uh… so what do you wanna talk about?" I manage, and he straightens out and turns to the fridge, and with his back to me says, "I don't know… graduation? Friends? Maybe just… this whole situation?"

"What do you mean?" he shrugs.

"We haven't really gotten the chance to talk about the two of us… or about you and Damon. And I don't mind," he says quickly, making sure I don't feel bad, "I don't mind. I just… there have been things I've been wondering about. And now that we have the chance… well, why not?"

I sigh. This is the part I was most afraid of.

"Stefan, I-"

"Look," he cuts me off, "if you don't want to we don't have to. It was just a suggestion."

"Well… where should I start?" I say awkwardly. He smiles in amusement.

"I'll start, if you need me to." I nod. He walks to the door and I follow him, curious. "Do you feel like taking a walk and talk?" he asks, holding his arm out to me. I smile and take his arm gladly, and he opens the door. We step out into the warm summer night. Stefan puts one hand in his pocket, but leaves his arm through mine.

"You should know something," he says quietly, "something about you and me. You might take it well and you might not, and I hope you'll be ok with it."

My stomach clenches and unclenches unpleasantly, and I wonder what he might be talking about.

He takes one more deep breath, and I look at him nervously out of the corner of my eye, grasping his arm tightly as we keep walking and he starts talking.

"I can't deny the truth anymore, Elena. I've been trying so hard the past few weeks, but I can't run away from it any longer. And the truth is… you've hurt me Elena. A lot. Probably more than anyone else has ever hurt me." My head buzzes with tense nervousness. Where could he be going with this?

"You've broken my heart time after time," he continues," and every time it was harder to mend than the last. And it was all because of you."

"Stefan, I-"

"I'm not done yet," he says, and I close my mouth and watch as he continues, "But just like you hurt me – and there were times it was so bad I really thought of giving up and turning it off – you were also the one thing that stopped me from doing it so much sooner. You gave my aching heart a purpose. You gave me something to center my emotions on. You gave me somebody to love.

"And as much as I tried to find a different solution, I just couldn't. It's like my heart is no longer capable of anything else – I can't help loving you." My heart starts beating faster. He looks at me with shining eyes, and I feel my eyes prickle with hot tears of relief. He opens his mouth one more time, "and you might feel the same and you might not. All I know for sure is – I love you." He finishes. He turns his head and stares off into the night as I look at him in wonder. We keep walking for a second, and I can tell he's nervous. Especially when I don't answer right away. But how am I supposed to? How can I express my feelings for him when they go far beyond what any word can describe?

"Stefan," I grasp his hand and pull him to a stop. He turns to look at me. I reach out and lace my fingers through his silky hair, and trail them down the side of his face. I hear his breathing stop for a second.

"There's something you should know too," I whisper, "and I don't know how to say it – because words will never be enough to describe… to describe just how much I love you." I pull him down and give him a kiss. Just a small one – but I channel all my feelings into it. "I love you," I say one more time, and then I sprint back to the house, leaving him behind.

When I look through the window a second later I suddenly notice where he's standing. He's standing right on the spot where we shared our first kiss of many, on one of the most amazing nights of my life.

I smile at the memory.

next week i hope i can give you a little more than two chapters...

review to let me know what you thought! ;)

'till next time

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