This is a shortish chapter just introducing a character and seeing how Elena and Stefan are coping without each other... enjoy!


A few months had passed since Elena ended things with Stefan and he went back to New York. Things had been moving relatively smoothly for Elena. She had been keeping herself busy with work and Theo and just getting by. She was happy. Or at least she thought she was.

Her friends and family had noticed a change in her. Even though Clay was out of her life and she had some of her confidence back, she was often distant, and would go off into her own little world every now and again. It was like she was longing for something. While everyone knew that something was probably Stefan, Elena would be reluctant to admit that.

Elena stared out the window of her office window at the law firm, twirlling a pen in her hands. She definitely wasn't thinking about work in that moment, and she didn't know what it was about being here that made her think about him. She wondered what he had been doing for the past few months, whether he was happy, whether she did the right thing. She knew she had no right to wonder about him, not since she shut him out.

Caroline walked into her office a few moments later, but Elena didn't even notice.

"Elena can you check out this deposition for me, I'm struggling to find what I need for this case, the notes are all there." Caroline said, but Elena didn't respond as she continued to look out the window and twirl the pen in her hands. "Elena? Elena!" Caroline said louder as Elena's head snapped round and she tried to gather herself at her desk.

"Yeah I'm here... I was just... in a trance I guess." Elena said.

"You've been in a trance since Stefan left." Caroline commented sitting in one of the chairs opposite her desk.

Elena sighed and lent back in her chair; "I know that I have no right to wonder about him Caroline. I also have no right to wonder if I did the right thing. I didn't want him to go back to New York, but what did I expect?"

"This is the first time you've talked about it since it happened." Caroline noted; "it's ok to feel this way Elena, you were on the fast track to getting back together plus your divorce is still pretty fresh... all of this takes time to adjust."

"You're right. I have a lot of good things going in my life, I need to focus on them and not what could have been. Hand me that deposition." Elena said as Caroline handed her the file and stood from her seat.

"Thanks... Elena, if you ever want to talk about it, please know that you can. This doesn't have to be an unspoken rule that we don't mention him." Caroline told her friend.

"I know Care and I appreciate that... God you'd think we could get over this drama, I feel like I'm back in high school again."

"You and Stefan had drama in high school?" Caroline asked.

"Oh yeah... all unspoken of drama because no one but Robbie actually knew about us... but it all stemmed from one person... Katherine. She knew about us too... and as Stefan's best friend, she got a little territorial..." Elena said as she began telling Caroline her memories.

11 years ago

After yet another one of Stefan's famous parties in the boarding house, Elena was fed up. She came downstairs the following morning and walked into the living room to where she knew Katherine would be. Passed out on the sofa. Ever since Stefan had confided in Katherine about his relationship with Elena, Katherine seemed to be making it her mission to break them up, out of sheer jealousy. Not necessarily because she wanted to date Stefan, but because she now had to share him.

Elena walked over to Katherine and sighed, before pouring the glass of water that was in her hand all over, causing her to wake up startled.

"What do you think you're doing!?" Katherine shouted as she sat up and rubbed the water out of her eyes.

"Waking you up so you can get the hell out." Elena said before setting the cup down and turning to walk away. Before she could move any further, Katherine grabbed her arm and spun her around, not in the mood for her that morning.

"Last time I checked this wasn't your house." Katherine said with her normal attitude.

"Oh I'm doing this for your own good cause there is a high chance that I may slap you." Elena said certainly. It felt out of character for her, but when she was angry and fed up with someone, she made sure they knew it.

Katherine scoffed; "Now, now Elena, that's not very ladylike..." she teased.

"Neither is throwing yourself as someone who is clearly taken. I am so fed up with your games Katherine. You were all over him last night when you knew I was around, why can't you just let your best friend be happy?" Elena asked, at a loss sometimes for her actions.

"Ever since you came into our lives our friendship has never been the same and I am not losing my best friend over some stupid fling he's having that sure as hell won't last!" Katherine challenged.

"We've been together for almost 9 months Lexi, that doesn't really scream fling to me." Elena reminded her.

Katherine smirked; "Then you clearly don't know Stefan. Once some fake blonde with a bubbling personality comes along your ass will be toast. It's just how he works. He's guy, a 18 year old guy, he's not planning on this being long term. You're deluded."

Elena looked at Katherine, not quite believing the jealousy that was seething from her in that moment. "How jealous are you that you can't let your best friend be happy? It doesn't matter when you meet the one as long as you meet them! Why do you hate me so much?" Elena asked, wanting some answers.

"I feel like i'm being replaced alright? It used to be me and him against the world and now... now he has you, and i've just been tossed to the side." Katherine confessed as she looked at her feet, not wanting Elena to see her being vulnerable.

"He was never going to abandon you." Elena told her with a sigh, calming herself down. "He loves you way too much to that, you've been the best of friends since you were kids! But the way you're pushing us now would you really be surprised if he reconsidered things? I never wanted to replace you, there is a difference between being someone's girlfriend and someone's best friend." Elena told her.

"His girlfriend is supposed to be his best friend!" Katherine shouted as things finally started to click into place for Elena. Katherine was in love with him. She wanted what Elena had but she never had the guts to go after it.

"You're in love with him." Elena mumbled out as Katherine rolled her eyes.

"Only took you basically out whole lives to work it out." she replied as she sat down on the sofa again.

Elena panicked in that moment. Maybe if Stefan had any inkling as to how Katherine felt, he would return the feelings? They had always been so close, Elena was pretty sure that they were eachother's first kiss, first time, first... well, everything.

"I uh... I have to go..." Elena said as she quickly walked towards the door.

Katherine shouted after her and Elena froze for a short second; "Yeah, you should, cause I think you know in your heart that if it came to a pick and choose scenario, you'd be gone. Save yourself the heart break."

Elena picked up her pace again, getting into her car and driving straight home. Maybe that was the cowardly thing to do, but a part of her felt that Katherine was right. Stefan had been with Elena for 9 months, he had known Katherine his whole life, surely there is no comparison? He would pick Katherine.

Stefan came downstairs only a few moments later and inspected the damage the party had caused around him. Thank goodness Damon wasn't here to scold him for allowing the house to be left in such a state. He walked into the living room and saw Katherine lying on the sofa with a hand over her head and laughed.

"Rough night Katherine?" he asked as he lifted her legs, sat down on the sofa and put her legs back on top of him.

"You could say that again..." she mumbled as she took her hand away to look at him.

"Yeah and we have a lot of clearing up to do." Stefan said as he hissed through his teeth at the mess.

"You're lucky I love you Stefan Salvatore, otherwise you'd be on your own." Katherine commented.

"Where's Elena?" Stefan asked, seeing as she wasn't in the bedroom when he got out of the shower.

"Uh... she left..." Katherine said as she fiddled with her thumbs.

"Why? I was just getting a shower then we were heading out for breakfast." Stefan asked.

"I guess she had something to do." Katherine said as she sat up and tried to make a swift exit, but Stefan was onto her and he knew she was acting shifty. He knew Katherine better than anyone, and he knew the games she liked to play, especially when it came to Elena.

"Katherine. What did you say to her?" he asked seriously as he grabbed her wrist and turned her around.

Katherine shrugged; "Nothing she wasn't going to work out herself."

Stefan sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose; "Come on Katherine this game is getting old, we're not going to break up!"

"She is all wrong for you Stefan, what is it going to take for you to see that?! She is a stay at home, I-will-tie-you-down kind of girl and that is not you. We've talked about this since we were kids, we wanted to go see the world we wanted to experience things, we wanted nothing to hold us down and your little infatuation with a 16 year old is doing you no good!" Katherine told him as Stefan shook his head.

"Katherine..."

"She's not your type Stefan, you want a girl who's a one night thing with no strings attatched."

"You're right. Elena isn't my normal 'type'" he said putting air quotes around the word. "But that's what makes her 10X more special. When I'm with her it's like no other feeling I've gotten with any of those other girls. It's so special and I don't want to lose that. I love her, I love a lot, surely as my best friend you'd want to see me happy." he pleaded with her.

Katherine didn't respond, rather she just stared at him with an emotionless expression. Stefan knew in that moment that Katherine was going to stand by her convictions. She was too stubborn for her own good. He just sighed and left the house to go and find Elena.

Elena stormed into her house a few moments after she left Stefan's with tears running down her cheeks. She quickly went upstairs but was caught by Robbie coming out of his room, who went straight into her room after her.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked as Elena began pacing.

"She's been in love with him this whole time, that's why she's been trying to ruin us." Elena said, and it didn't take much for Robbie to work out who Elena was talking about.

"Katherine? Oh man... Elena, Katherine doesn't know what she wants, she's always been territorial over Stefan, that's not love." Robbie reassured her.

"She told me she was Robbie... and she's probably right, if he had to pick he would pick her."

"I really don't think that he would Elena."

"She's been his best friend since they were little." Elena reminded him.

"But he loves you and Stefan has never been in love before... he's in this for the long haul Elena." Robbie pointed out. "He's never been with a girl longer than a month and you guys are hitting the nine month mark."

"You should never let a girlfriend or a boyfriend come between you and your best friend." Elena said surely.

"First off, Katherine is his oldest friend, I am his best friend, and you certainly have not come between us and you're my sister for crying out loud! And that's practically what Katherine is to Stefan. A sister." Robbie said as Elena finally sat down and he sat down next to her. "Tell me this. If Matt said that he didn't like Stefan, just because he was jealous that he wasn't getting to spend as much time with you, and he wanted you to choose, would you really pick Matt?"

"He would never make me choose, he likes Stefan..." Elena mumbled.

Robbie laughed; "I'm going to answer that for you. You wouldn't. You're as much Stefan's best friend as I am or as Katherine is. He loves you and he knows that he would be a fool to throw that all away."

Elena nodded as Robbie wrapped his arm around her and kissed her head. "Just... take a minute to breathe... I'm going to get you some ice cream."

15 minutes later, Elena was lying under her duvet, watching TV with a tub of ice cream in her hand. She groaned when she couldn't hear her show over Jeremy's video game.

"Jeremy!" she shouted from her room; "Turn it down or I will come in there and cut the wires!" she threatened and Jeremy immediately turned it down.

"You're so hot when you threaten people." a voice said from the door as Elena jumped slightly in her bed.

"Well that's what happens when I'm angry..." Elena said sinking lower in her bed, trying not to look Stefan in the eye.

"Why are you angry?"

"Cause I can't hear the TV over his stupid game." Elena said.

"Alright..." he said holding his hands up, not wanting to get on Elena's badside over this.

He walked further into the room and lay down beside her on the bed, but she didn't shift closer towards him like she usually did.

"Talk to me Elena... why did you leave this morning?" he asked looking down at her.

"Katherine."

"I figured that much." he replied.

"She just said some stuff and I got scared and I ran... I'm sorry." she said, knowing that Katherine's actions weren't his fault.

"It's ok... what did she say to you?"

"Do you know why she's so hostile towards us?" Elena asked, diverting Stefan's question.

"I figured she just missed spending time with me." Stefan said with a shrug.

"She's in love with you. Has been for a long time and she doesn't want to let you go..." Elena told him.

Stefan didn't really know what to say. He never thought that Katherine would ever be in love with him. They were like brother and sister. "oh..." was all he managed to say.

"Yeah... she also said that if you had to pick between the two of us, you'd pick her." Elena confessed.

"Well that's just not true." Stefan replied without hesitance.

Elena sat up in bed, finally taking a moment to look at him. "You're kidding right?"

"Elena it's never going to come to having to choose, you're my girlfriend, she's my friend, it's always going to be that way, it doesn't have to be one or the other."

"but if she made you choose?"

"... then she's not the friend I thought she was."

Elena shook her head. As much as she didn't like Katherine, she knew she meant a lot to Stefan and she never for a second wished that they weren't in each other's lives. "I never wanted this." she said.

"I know... But maybe things are this way for a reason, all I know is that I want you, as my girlfriend if you'll still have me." he said as they looked straight into each other's eyes.

"Of course I will... as long as it's still what you want." Elena said.

Stefan smiled down at her. "More than anything. I love you, you goof." he teased as Elena laughed lightly and he kissed her nose.

"I love you too."

"Katherine Pierce? My god I forgot about her..." Caroline said as she lent against the wall. "I mean this totally makes sense everyone thought there was something there, even if it was one sided. What ever happened with her?"

"I don't know. As far as I know she and Stefan remained friends and she continually shot death stares at me... I don't know what happened to her after Stefan and I broke up." Elena explained.

"Something glamourous no doubt. I'll leave you to your work." Caroline said.

"Ok... and Caroline? Thanks." Elena said, knowing that she didn't have to explain her gratitude any further.


Stefan swiftly moved around Salvatore's, the cafe Damon had set up with a bit of help from Stefan, giving people their food and taking orders. When he arrived back in New York, he felt incredibly lost. He was so certain back in Mystic Falls about giving up his life here in New York that it just felt wrong to start living it again. He needed a plan and it didn't take him long to come up with one.

His next day in work, he told his boss he was quitting the FBI. Of course he was immediately asked if it was to do with 'the girl' he had told him about, and while a part of him knew it was, he was mainly doing this for himself. He wanted to start afresh, lift some of the stress from his life and do something that wouldn't ultimately lead to him getting hurt again.

After that, he rang up Damon and the brothers made a deal. Salvatore's had 3 New York branches and Damon agreed to let Stefan take control of the biggest one. The brothers began to revamp the brand and more and more customers were flooding through the doors everyday. Running the cafe was certainly keeping Stefan busy, and his mind off Elena... for the most part.

He would be lying if he said he didn't miss her, but she made her choice and he all in all respected that choice, no matter how much it hurt him. He had to start making his peace with that.

He sat two plates down infront of two customers and as he went to walk away, he was stopped in his tracks when he heard a voice behind him.

"My God, Stefan Salvatore, first off, in plaid, second off running around after other people in a cute little cafe? I have officially seen it all." the voice said.

Stefan smirked and laughed lightly before turning around to see Katherine Pierce, looking as glamourous as ever.

"My God, Katherine Pierce, first off, in my cute little cafe, second off, looking exactly the same as she did in high school." Stefan mocked back as Katherine smiled and rolled her eyes.

They walked towards each other engulfed each other in a hug.

"It's good to see you Stefan." Katherine said as she held him close.

"You too Kat... what brings you here?" Stefan asked as they sat down at an empty table in the corner.

"Well, I was just walking down the street and you popped into my head and it's been a while since we've spoken so I figured we needed a catch up. Luckily for me, I knew exactly where to find you. The name of the cafe is a dead give away." Katherine said with a chuckle.

"Damon's modesty knows no bounds." Stefan replied with a smirk. "and you're right, it has been a while... I'm sorry that I haven't kept in touch as much."

"It's ok, I haven't exactly been the best of friends either. A little birdy told me you left the FBI..." Katherine commented.

"And who is your source?"

"Damon. I ran into him at your other cafe in Boston a few weeks ago... he gave me the whole story." Katherine said with a knowing look.

"The whole story?" Stefan said scrunching up his face. There was no doubt in his mind that Katherine now knew about Elena.

"Uh huh..."

"I'm sure you have something to say about that Kat." Stefan said, not sure if he wanted to hear it, but he knew she'd tell him anyway.

"I'm just struggling to understand if I'm entirely honest... it's been 11 years Stefan, surely you were able to get over her in that time?" Katherine asked.

"I know you think I was crazy going there in the first place Katherine but... when I'm with her... I've never felt better about anything. She made my life so much brighter... and I screwed it all up."

"Your relationship was a secret Stefan, how is that brightness? Seems shady to me."

"Katherine you saw us together, you know how in love we were... even if you didn't agree with it, you couldn't deny it."

"Ok, ok, I know how much you loved her... and now you're even, you dumped her, she dumped you, time to move on." She said certainly.

"I'm trying Kat." Stefan informed her. "That's what all this is about, a fresh start away from anything associated with her."

"Yeah I heard you got her husband sent down for fraud, what a romantic and bold gesture." Katherine teased.

"Just doing my job..."

"Well that's no longer your job and like I said, you need to move on. I mean, you're making a valiant effort here, but thank God I showed up when I did. Seeing as my parents like to buy my love, I have a credit card with our names on it just dying to rack up at least a $1000 bill. So what do you say? Up for a little fun?" Katherine asked with a menacing smile.

"Fun with you usually involved something illegal." Stefan said with a laugh.

"I promise to only cross the legal barrier whenever necessary." she replied.

Stefan sighed. He could do with having a little bit of fun and knowing Katherine he definitely would have some. "... I get off at 5." He said.

Katherine squealed with excitement; "Fantastic, you Stefan Salvatore are going to have the night of your life."

Katherine hadn't been wrong about that, she took Stefan on a club crawl, getting VIP access to all the hottest places in New York City. Stefan drank away his sorrows and Katherine danced away hers, and it wasn't long before they went stumbling back to Stefan's apartment.

"God... i need water..." Katherine said as she collapses on the sofa.

"I... I can do that." Stefan said as he stumbled around. "Or... maybe not..." he said as he quickly flopped down beside her.

"Did you have fun tonight Steffy?"

"Uh... yeah, yeah I did." he said hesitantly.

"I may be drunk, but that sounded like hesitance to me..."

"I just... it's all good and well feeling numb for a night, but I'm probably going to wake up feeling worse than ever." Stefan confessed. A drunk Stefan always had been an honest and overly emotional Stefan and Katherine cursed herself in that moment for suggesting this.

"You know what Stefan? You can spend the rest of your life mopping around because you lost Elena, or you can start living it. You have been miserable for the past 11 years because you haven't let yourself live! Elena had no problem going off and getting married." Katherine reminded him.

"Elena was just as miserable as I was. She married Clay because she didn't want to get hurt the way that I hurt her. She was indifferent to Clay, she didn't love him." Stefan explained.

"Well that was Elena's choice. You need to forget her. You need to enjoy yourself while you're still young, find someone who actually wants you and will treat you like you deserve to be treated." Katherine said

"What? Like you?" he asked, knowing full well how she once felt about him.

Katherine sighed; "You know... once upon a time, I would have given anything to be with you. But now? You're not even the Stefan that I used to know. You used to know how to have a good time, you used to laugh uncontrollably. That Stefan is not someone that I want to be with."

"I grew up Katherine, is that really so surprising?" Stefan said, suddenly feeling more sober in that moment.

"No you became miserable because you pushed Elena away. I'm not going to sit by and watch you beat yourself up over it anymore. You deserve better than that. So go and sleep off whatever torment you put your body through this evening, the drowning your sorrows in alcohol part of my 'get Stefan a life tour' is over. Next week, you're going to start living." Katherine said before lifting her jacket to go downstairs and call a cab.

Stefan knew Katherine was right. Elena was probably having no trouble living her life back in Mystic Falls. That's all she wanted. No attachments, no drama. It's time he put himself first too, it's time he started living.


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