A/N: This is a pretty short update, but I wanted to stop it where I did. So, I hope you can forgive me. I will make the next one a little longer :D

The sequel to Until This Lie Do Us Part is still in progress. I will let you all know via Twitter (TVDVampireKat) when I have posted the first update. Hopefully soon!

Thank you for the reviews for this story. I am very excited about where I can take this story from this point forward!

I was asked to share my thoughts on the S3 finale. So, SPOILER ALERT for those who have not watched yet.

To be honest, I am disappointed in a few things. The re-writing of history (Damon meeting Elena first). Elena's fate. The reason I loved the story so much was because she was human and Stefan had to really work on himself in order to be with her. I was just not ready for that yet. Also, the Klaus and Tyler thing. I would much rather see Joseph Morgan portraying Klaus. As for the future for Stefan and Elena. Human Elena chose Stefan. I really hate to say it, but I think Vampire Elena will want Damon. I just really hope Elena is not an exact portrayal of Katherine (who I love). I am very apprehensive about Season 4. But, I will keep writing to keep me sane :P

February 1st, 1994

Stefan stood at the front of the class, the teacher standing behind him. Fifteen pairs of eyes were staring at him, making him uncomfortable. He wondered if it wasn't too late to run out of the room, down the hall, and catch his parents before they left the parking lot. He didn't want to be there.

Stefan stared down at his feet nervously. "Class, this is Stefan. I would like you all to welcome him. He just moved to Mystic Falls with his family from Italy" she announced.

Stefan shifted his weight uneasily. He was starting at a new school halfway through the year. Everyone already had made friends. No one was going to want to be his friend. Especially since he had just come from another country. He wanted to tell the class that he was born in California and that he had only lived in Italy the past year due to his father's job. But he couldn't find the courage to speak up.

"Stefan, would you like to say anything?" the teacher asked. Stefan lifted his eyes to the class slowly and looked at them. They were still staring at him. So, he shook his head no. "Okay" she said.

He couldn't take it anymore. He had to get out of there. But just as he was about to take his first step towards the door, a pair of bright brown eyes caught his. She smiled at him, her brown eyes almost twinkling with kindness and curiosity all mixed together. He even felt himself smile at her momentarily before he looked back down at his feet. Though he peeked up at her with one eye. Because he couldn't help but look at her.

"Stefan, why don't you have a seat right there next to Elena" the teacher suggested. Slowly, Stefan shuffled his feet forward, trying hard not to look at her as he sat down next to her. "Here's your workbook" the teacher added, setting it on his desk for him. The teacher got them all started on a counting activity in the book. "You can color the page if you would like, too" she added.

Stefan's anxiety increased when he saw all the other kids pull out crayons and begin coloring in their books. He hadn't brought crayons.

A small yellow box appeared on his desk suddenly, distracting him momentarily. "You can use mine" Elena said quietly, smiling the whole time she did. He stared at her blankly for a moment, processing her kindness. "You just count all the dots and write the number down. Sometimes we color them to help us" she explained, pointing at the page in his book.

Stefan nodded. "Thank you" he said quietly.

"You're welcome, Stefan" she said, smiling again as she went back to her workbook.

Stefan watched her for a moment, smiling as he did. He may have only been five, but he could already tell that Elena was someone he was going to want to keep in his life.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Stefan stood completely still, trying to gage Elena's reaction. Was she surprised? Angry? Thrilled? He couldn't tell. She was just staring at him, looking into his eyes, and it was painful to not know what she was thinking. "Elena?" he asked, touching her elbow. He couldn't take it anymore.

"How long?" she asked, stepping away from him. He didn't answer her. "How. Long?" she asked slowly. Angrily.

"I don't know" Stefan said quietly. Guiltily. Since the first time he met her? Maybe. Maybe he just didn't know it was love back then.

She shook her head nervously. She looked pale. Frantic, even. "You … you have to stop. You can't be in love with me" she told him quickly. She was pregnant with someone else's baby for gosh sakes!

He looked at her, quite confused. "I can't just turn off my feelings" he reminded her.

Realization hit her. Hard. "Were you in love with me, when you asked me to move in?" she asked. Stefan looked away from her, his guilt giving her the answer she needed. "God, Stefan! How could you not tell me!" she yelled at him.

"Elena, I was going to tell you. I just … I wanted to make sure that you and the baby were okay" he told her.

This only seemed to anger her more. "I can take care of myself!" she snapped at him. "If I had known that you were in love with me and had some, secret fantasy about being with me, I would have never moved in with you!" she yelled. She was shaking she was so angry.

"I know you can take care of yourself" he assured her, calmly. "But when I found out you were pregnant, I just kept thinking about how unfair it was that you were by yourself and I wanted …" he began, swallowing nervously before continuing. "I wanted to help you and to be there for you. The baby too" he explained sincerely.

Elena's eyes were glued to his as she listened to him. He wanted to help her take care of the baby. He didn't want her to be alone. "She is not your baby. She will never be your baby" Elena said, her words cutting through him in the most painful way possible.

Stefan stared at her for a moment. She stared right back at him, her eyes filled with betrayal.

A silent tear fell down his cheek. He quickly wiped it away, pretending that it was never there. Never had Elena been so hurtful towards him. Never had she wounded him so greatly. But then, why should her words have affected him so much? The baby wasn't his. Her words were true. But he nodded, his hurt evident. "You're right" he agreed. "She's not mine" he said, repeating her words. They cut right through him all over again.

Elena couldn't stand the thought of him hurting so badly right now. The thought that she had done it. Even if she was angry, it wasn't fair to hurt him after everything he had done for her. "I can't stay here" she said, backing up slowly. She should have never moved in.

"Elena, don't" Stefan said quickly. He didn't care how much she had just hurt him. He couldn't stand the thought of her being by herself, where there was no one to keep an eye on her so late into her pregnancy.

"You're a liar" Elena said, her own tears springing from her eyes. There. She had just been hurtful once again. She was officially a terrible person. "I don't want to be anywhere near you anymore" she said, shaking her head and closing her eyes as her tears erupted.

This only seemed to make Stefan cry more too. He hated crying. He rarely did it. "Don't go. Stay. I'll go" he told her as the tears continued to slowly roll down his face.

But Elena wasn't about to let him give up his house. Not after his recent revelation. "No" she said, opening her eyes and shaking her head at him. "I'm going" she told him, turning around and walking out of the room.

Stefan didn't follow her right away. He dropped the paintbrush on the floor and stared at the door she had just gone through. He wondered, briefly, how Elena had figured out that he was in love with her. Maybe she had figured it out on her own. But maybe someone had told her, too. Caroline would never do that to him. But Damon. He would.

Elena slung her bag over her shoulder, still fighting back her tears that seemed to flow so freely now. When she left the room, she found Stefan at the bottom of the staircase. His tears had ceased, but the stains they left on his cheeks were still there. "Please don't go, Elena" he told her quietly, though desperately. If something were to happen to her and he couldn't be there for her, he would never forgive himself. "I'm supposed to look out for you" he said, his tears threatening to spill once again.

Elena took a slow breath. "Not anymore, Stefan" she said sadly. "I can't be around you, when you can't be honest with me" she added, her voice cracking. This was Stefan. How could she be saying these things to Stefan?

"Where are you going?" he asked, panic rising in his voice. She really was leaving.

"I don't know. A hotel probably" she told him, avoiding his eyes. Where else did she have to go?

"The baby is due in six weeks" he reminded her, his voice quiet and concerned. She needed a stable place to stay. To prepare for the baby.

"I know when my baby is due" she said, her voice hardening as she said it. She made a move to walk past him, but he blocked her path.

"At least take this" he said, handing her his credit card. "I won't check the statement. I just want to make sure you have everything you need" he told her.

Elena blinked back a few tears. "Goodbye, Stefan" Elena said, the words hurting her as she said them. She stepped around him, opening the door and walking out without his credit card.

Stefan sat at the bottom of the stairs, pulling his knees up to his chest and burying his face in them as the pain ripped through his chest. It was his own fault, though. And now, he might have lost her forever.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

It had been two weeks since Elena left. The baby was due in a month and she had nothing ready. Everything she had bought was still at Stefan's. She had taken up residence in a small hotel about five miles from the hospital. It wasn't ideal and she was rather uncomfortable there, but she couldn't go back to Stefan's. Not because she was mad at him, but because she couldn't bear the thought of having to face him after she had hurt him so much. She felt terrible. She was supposed to be his friend, and now, she was hiding out, avoiding him because she felt too guilty to pick up the phone and apologize.

Stefan had called her for three days after she left. He wanted her to call or text to let him know that she was okay. But then he stopped. She hadn't heard another word from him. She wondered if she ever would. Maybe he had finally had enough.

Caroline had called too, though she stopped after a while as well seeing as how Elena wasn't returning her calls. Elena really had no one now. Her brother wouldn't be home for another month. Though, when she did talk to him, she neglected to tell him how sad and lonely she was. How she had hurt Stefan so badly she didn't think she would ever forgive herself. How he probably wouldn't either.

How could she have been so blind? Flowers, special dinners. The way he looked at her, took care of her. How could she have not known? His friendship meant the world to her. Maybe that was the problem. Her friendship with him had made it impossible for her to see anything more between them. Could she love him? Really, truly, love him in a romantic way?

It didn't matter. Love. Friendship. It was all gone. Ruined.

Elena went to bed early. She wasn't feeling well. Her stomach was hurting and was gradually getting worse. By 10 PM that night, the pain was so bad that she had to get up out of bed and try to walk around to relieve it. By 10:15, she felt pressure and then a puddle of something down around her feet.

Her water had broken.

Elena slowly and painfully got herself into her car. Panic started to take over. The baby wasn't due for another month. It wasn't time. Elena wasn't ready.

When she admitted herself to the hospital, they had taken her upstairs almost immediately. They hooked her up to the monitors and watched her . Elena closed her eyes and tried to focus on breathing. Pain. Fear. It all began to become the same thing. "Miss, is there anyone I can call for you?" she nurse asked, seeing Elena in such distress.

Elena felt her tears returning for the millionth time that night. Who was going to show up at the hospital at midnight? Who did she have anyway? But the thought of being there alone in the hospital scared her. She couldn't do this part alone. "Stefan" she said.

"Is he on your emergency contact form?" the nurse asked. Elena nodded. "Okay, I will go and make the call. The doctor will be in shortly" she said, moving swiftly out of the room.

Elena closed her eyes again. She didn't even know if Stefan would show up. She had made it perfectly clear that she didn't need his help. That she didn't need him. It wasn't his baby, either. He had no reason to show up. But she needed him to be there. She needed him because she was incredibly scared.