A/N: Hey all! So, here is Chapter 11! I probably should of just blended this together with Chapter Ten..But, I decided against it! Anyways, Thanks for the reviews and please let me know what you think!

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-Until Next Time-


CHAPTER ELEVEN-Because Of You

The car ride to Portland ends up smoother than I thought as his words still ring into my ears on repeat...Your cute when you're nervous...I would want to co-parent her with you...

I can't keep his words from affecting me as I follow him into the Hilton hotel and he smiles at me slightly. I can't help but smile back as I watch him walk over to receptionist desk as he checks us in for the night. I'm skimming through my phone and I'm about to call Caroline to tell her that I made it safely when I hear Stefan's voice interrupt my thoughts.

"We have exactly a half hour before the rehearsal starts and I figured that I would go up to my room and freshen up. Here's your key." He tells me as he tosses me a room key and then I glance over at him and smile a toothy grin.

"That's fine. I guess, I'll meet you down here than once we're all settled in?" I ask him as he nods at me and smiles when he says "That's the plan. I'll see you soon. By the way your room number is 264, right across the hall from mine." He tells me over his shoulder as I watch him step into the elevator with a wave of his hand and his bags slung over his shoulder.

As I watch him wave at me with a grin on his face. My mind instantly races back to words that Caroline had spoken to me just hours earlier...Elena, live a little...I dare you!

I shake my head as I get up from the couch and quickly text Caroline, telling her that we made it to the hotel and then I ask how Lillian is doing. She replies with a "we're great! Have fun and we love you..oxoxo. P.S. tell your hot date hi from us girls!"

"Live a little, Elena." I tell myself as I nearly jump off the couch and walk into the elevator. All the while, my mind keeps racing and all I can seem to think about is how I'm going to follow through with something for once. But, first of all, I'm going to need a bit of liquid courage before we even begin.


Hours pass as I'm sitting on a cool slab of rocks and watching the sun go down outside of the rehearsal. The dinner party began long ago and after sitting with Damon and Lexi for most of the night. I find myself alone, outside in the cool evening air. I'm buzzing from the numerous glasses of champagne that I keep chugging down and I feel the tingling in my fingers and toes. My skin is overheated and part of me is relishing in this drunken state as I sit outside and watch my warm and hot breath mix into the cool air around me.

The view from the hotel is beautiful. The stone patio that I'm standing on overlooks the night lights of the city and my breath hitches in my throat as I look over the breathtaking view of the river below me. The flowing of the water is a hissing and haunting sound, all at the same time as I close my eyes and listen to the water that's flowing by the hotel. I lean forward and the wind catches into my hair as I inhale and exhale deeply. My mind seems to wander as my finger grazes against the cold stones of the patio wall and then I hear him, clear his throat. There's a rasp in his throat and I can tell that he's probably as drunk as I am.

"You're not going to jump..are you?" He asks me as he watches my legs swing over the small patio ledge that has the river flowing next to it. My vocal cords tighten and his voice startles me, all I can do is nod a quick no and swing my feet back over to the patio floor, away from the rushing river that's next to it.

I turn and smile a sloppy and drunken smile at him. Stefan stays silent as he watches me. My fingers are rubbing against the rough rock that I'm sitting on and he smiles at me, walking closer as he says nothing.

"I...I..wasn't going to jump. I'm kind of supposed to be a responsible adult now." I reply as he nods and then walks over to my left side, sitting down as he eyes me up and down.

My makeup is probably a bit smeared from the heat that's radiating off of my body and I can feel the light pink flower that once stood perfectly in my hair start to fall out of it. But, just as my hand is about to grab it from falling onto the floor in front me. His hand stops it, grazing the side of my cheek in the process and he smiles at me shyly. I clear my throat and what comes out of me next, is completely unexpected by myself as much as it is by him.

"I'm fucking this all up! I keep screwing it all up..I mean, Katherine knew! She knew what she was doing when she had Lillian. It was like she became a super mom the next day...She knew what to do when Lillian cried or when she needed something. But, me? Ha...my God. Everyone looks at me, like I know what I'm doing...like I know what it's like to be a mother. To be honest, I have no idea! I swear to God, I'm going to fuck up this kids life, unintentionally if she stays with me...I...I'm not her! I'm not my sister and I don't know how to be!" I suddenly say and he blinks his eyelashes at me and then gives me a saddened smile, still staying silent as he listens to me rant about all the things I've been worrying and carrying within me for the last six months.

Stefan nods as he smiles at me and just watches as I literally melt down in front of him. "I miss her...I wish it was me and not her! I wish that she would of told you. I'm sorry...I'm so sorry that she never told you that it says Lillian Marie Gilbert is Stefan Salvatore's daughter on her birth certificate!" I nearly shout as I watch his green eyes narrow on my face and he suddenly stands up and takes my face into his cool hands.

" Elena, you're doing a great job with her. I know you miss Katherine..But, in my eyes you're the best choice that she had made when she left her daughter with you.." He pauses for a minute as he watches me swallow hard and then he says "Wait a minute, Lillian's birth certificate has my name on it?" He asks me. His fingertips grazing my jaw line as he smiles at me with hope in his eyes and all I can seem to manage is a nod of my head, as my hand points to my white clutch that's sitting right next to me on the cool stones.

I watch as Stefan lets go of my face and then he nods his head as he walks over to my purse and opens it up, pulling out the familiar paper, he unfolds it and I swear that I can see his eyes tear up when he nods. "Why didn't you just show me this..?" He asks in a choked up voice, his beautiful green eyes on the verge of tears.

"I was going to tell you this morning. But, Lexi showed up and...well, it wasn't the right time." I tell him as he lifts his hand up to his face, trying to conceal the tears in his eyes as I watch him exhale a breath and then he rubs his face vigorously with his hand.

"Well, this confirms part of what I already knew...Elena...I...I still meant what I said in the car today. If the DNA test says that I'm her dad, then I'm going to help you girls. But, even if it doesn't, I still want to be a part of her life and yours." He says with a smile as I watch him fold the paper back up and place it into my purse.

"Are you cold?" He asks me out of nowhere as he watches small goose bumps form on my olive colored skin and I unintentionally place my hands on my arms to warm them up. I watch as Stefan walks over to me and laughs as he shrugs off his black jacket and then places it around my shivering body.

The minute he places the jacket around me, I'm intoxicated with the smell of him...it swirls around my head and I feel dizzy from it. Stefan smiles at me widely and I almost don't catch his question, I watch as he tilts his head to the side and out stretches his arms towards me with a smile still on his face when he clears his throat and asks again. "Dance with me?"

My heart picks up speed as my mind catches up to his request and I watch as my hands find his, he pulls me up off the stone cold wall, following close behind him back into the venue as I nod and he smiles at me again. "But, I'm a horrible dancer." I reply as my feet follow him onto the dance floor anyways. A few people have gathered and he laughs when he says "Don't worry about that. I'll teach you, I'm an amazing teacher." He says with a grin as he spins me around and before I can reply anything back, I feel my body heat up with the same tension that I had felt while I was in the car with him today and just minutes ago, out on the patio.


I'm not sure how long we've been dancing, just the two of us as the songs seem to all blend together and people start to leave the dance floor, making their way back to their tables. But, my arms are loosely hanging off of his shoulder and his face is against my ear when he whispers into it, sending chills up and down my spine like a volt of electricity.

"I told you that you're a good dancer...all you needed was a good teacher." He says against my cool skin and I open my mouth to reply but once more nothing seems to come out as I let out a sigh instead and tighten my grip on his shoulder.

"I'm really glad that I didn't bring Rebekah with me to this thing, she hates to dance..She hates crowds of people too. She's one of those girls that is all wrapped up into herself. But you..." He continues to say as I feel my heart pound against my chest and my palms sweat when I hear him finish what he's about to say. "But, you...you're a natural at this, you worked that crowd of strangers like a pro and with a little bit of practice, you dance like you've danced for years...makes me wish I would have met you a few years ago..we probably could of have a thing." Stefan says as I feel my heart stop beating for a and then I clear my throat, finally using my paralyzed vocal cords to speak.

"A thing..? are you implying something here Mr. Salvatore?" I ask him in a calm voice, praying that he can't tell that I'm nervous at the way he whispers words against my ear.

Stefan grips me tighter around my small waist and I feel him pull me closer towards him, letting out a laugh again as he says. " Maybe, I am. But the real question is..Are you...implying something..Miss Gilbert?"

I swallow hard. The way his voice rasps and the smile he's giving me is surely going to kill me before we even get off this dance floor. Caroline's words from earlier will definitely come true if we continue this tense flirtatious between us that can be seen from everyone that I feel is staring at us. "I...No." That's it. That's all that comes out of my mouth as I hear him let out a chuckle and he shakes his head.

"Well, I'm not one to cheat. I'm a one woman man. But, when my current girlfriend is, at the moment.. more than, a one guy type of woman...it get's hard to keep track of her schedule. So, I figure that if she can have fun behind my back..." Stefan says I feel his head lean against my cheek and my head starts to spin from the close proximity of us when he whispers into my ear again, sending me and my body into a shock wave of emotions and all the directions point to wanting him, needing him to touch me.

"I can have some fun too...with you...Oh, Elena..you have no idea the things I would do to you right now...given the chance." He tells me as I feel my heart pound harder against my chest and I feel his hands travel from the middle of my back to my exposed tan skinned thigh, setting it ablaze as he grazes his cool hand against it and pushes his face away from mine, so that I look up at him. His words are leading me on and his eyes are doing the same when he says "My hotel room or yours?"


A/N: So..this just got 100 times hotter on the dance floor with Stefan and Elena...will they both go through with it?