AN: Thanks to all of you who are leaving such sweet reviews about this story. It warms my heart to know that a lot of you are enjoying it.

Anyways, here is chapter 13!

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Before You Were Mine- Chapter Thirteen

-Jeremy-

"I haven't heard from my sister in a while. She just picked up and left for a few days, without telling anyone. Except, for you. I usually talk to her almost every other day. But, I haven't heard from her in a week. So, that's why I'm here." I comment, walking up behind him as I watch Luke throw out the trash in a dumpster behind Rosie's diner. I haven't talked to Elena in a few days and I haven't seen my mom either. So, I'm feeling fairly out of the loop with my whole family at the moment. I guess that's why I ended up at the diner, hoping to see her at work and talk with her.

"Jer!" Luke exclaims, jumping back a bit as the trash bag in his hands drops to the ground and he gives me this scared shitless look.

"Where is she Luke?" I ask in a demanding tone, my irritation about Elena clearly wanting to leave without a word to anyone, is pissing me off.

"She, um...Do you want to come in for a cup of coffee and we can talk about it?" He asks with hesitation in his voice, glancing down at my uniform. I'm supposed to be on patrols with a new training officer that just transferred over to our unit to help solve a couple cases. But, I haven't been able to focus on my new job very well when I keep thinking about my sister and her whereabouts.

"Yeah, sure. Let me just go get my partner. I'm pretty positive that we could both use a cup of coffee." I comment, turning back on my heels and hollering out to my temporary new partner who has her hand sticking out and the windows of our patrol car rolled all the way down.

Luke watches her step out of the car, smiling as she walks towards us and extends out her hand to him. "Alexia Branson. But, everyone calls me Lexi." She says proudly, placing her hand against her holstered gun and shaking Luke's hand with her other free hand.

"Luke Slater. I'm a co worker of Jeremy's sister, Elena." He tells her, opening the back door to the diner and holding it open until we're both inside.

"So, when's the last time you heard from Elena?" He asks me, watching as Lexi and I take a seat next to each other and Rosie nods at us, smiling.

"It's been a few days. Since, last Monday." I comment, watching Luke's eyebrows furrow, nearly gasping.

"So, you don't know about them, do you?" He questions as he pours the hot coffee into two white colored mugs placed in front of Lexi and I.

"About who?" I ask, watching as he places the hot and steaming thermal carafe beside him on his left side.

"About her new group of friends?" He asks as I purse my lips together, taking two packets of sugar from the small holder in front of me. "I know about the firemen. About, Stefan. The guy who saved her life." Luke watches me stopping to open the packet of sugar in my hand as I listen to Luke explain.

"Stefan's in the hospital, Jeremy. In the intensive care unit. He got into an accident last week on the job and your sister's been up there all week long, with him. I thought you knew." Luke says, seeing me shake my head.

"I knew about him. I just didn't realize how close they'd already gotten." I comment, feeling Lexi nudge my shoulder. "That's really sweet, you know. Her going up there to be with her friend."

I swallow down what I wanted to say as I smile a little. "Yeah, I just wish she would have told me about all of it. We used to tell each other everything."

"She called me last week and told me. Listen, I'll tell her to call you." Luke says, glancing up at Lexi and I as I take a sip of my coffee, placing it down and sighing out a breath.

"I should just go up there, to be with her." I comment, feeling Lexi and Luke's eyes on me.

"She's my sister. Elena has always been pretty bad at telling someone when she needs help. So, she's probably too afraid to admit that she needs someone else with her beside her friends. And, since she's always connected better with me than our mother. I think it's be best if I went up there to bring her home."

Luke scoffs at me words. "Bring her home? Oh, Jer. I highly doubt she's going to want to go."

My head tilts to the side, staring at him. "And, why not?"

"Because, your sister is in love with him, Jeremy. And, at this point. You'd have to drag here out of his hospital room kicking and screaming before she ever left willingly." He tells me, causing Lexi to let out a small "Awe." And making me stare at Luke with a very surprised look on my face.

-Bonnie-

"He doesn't want me here. You know that, right?" Zach asks, hesitantly placing his hand on the empty seat beside him. We're both sitting in the hospital cafeteria without Damon even knowing that he's finally here.

"He does want you here. They need you, Zach. You're the only family that those two guys have. And, I'm thankful that you came." I comment, extending out my hand and squeezing his as he smiles, nodding.

"I've always liked you, Bonnie." He comments with a grin as I smile back at him. Honestly, I've always liked him as well. Zach's always been kind and sweet to me. And, I highly admire him for taking care of both Stefan and Damon when they were younger.

"So, how is Stefan?" He asks me, placing the spoon that's in his coffee mug out of it and on to the table.

"He's going into surgery again tomorrow. They're going to need to make a skin graph for the burns on his arms." I comment, taking a napkin from the napkin holder beside the window that we're sitting next to, spinning it around nervously in between my hands.

"He hasn't woken up yet and that is what's scaring Damon the most. It's been a week, Zach. Neither of them have woken up yet and we're all scared. Sitting on pins and needles because we don't know what's going to happen." I explain further.

"Stefan's a fighter. So, is Tyler and Damon. They are going to be just fine." He reassures me, glancing down at the muffin that I haven't even touched yet.

"I know. But, it's hard. You know, when the doctors are telling Tyler's wife that if he wakes up that he probably won't be able to walk and that when Stefan wakes up that they're unsure of what will happen to him because of the clot and his burns. He has some on his face and it could change his appearance, a bit." I add, picking the crunchy top off of the chocolate chip muffin and placing the small piece into my mouth.

"Let's go see him. I think I'm ready now, to see them both." Zach inhales a breath through gritted teeth, slowly getting up and extending out his arm to me. A gentle smile appears across his face as I loop my arm around his and we make our way out of the cafeteria.

"After their parents died, I raised those boys as if they were my own. It was the right thing to do and it was what my brother had wanted, in case something happened to them. Did you know that?" He asks me, smiling at what seems like a memory that only he can remember with the two of them.

I smile just a little too as we walk slowly down the hall and towards Damon's hospital room. "I know a little bit about them both. But, Damon and Stefan don't talk about what happened and their time with you. Their parents, they only have vague memories. But, I've always wanted to know more about his mother and his father. What were they like?"

Zach's smile reappears as he spots a row of seats in front of us and we both walk towards them, sitting next to each other as he observes a group of nurses in their blue scrubs and two doctors in their white lab coats, all talking amongst each other while they pass by us. Zach clears his throat, turning to me as he says. "Olivia, the boy's mother. Was a beautiful soul, both inside and out. She was kind and gentle and giving. And, she cooked and baked things all the time. My brother's real name was Giuseppe. But, everyone called him Joe. He was the life of the party, kind of like Damon. And, he was hard working like them both. Always wanted to make sure that his family had everything they needed." He tells me, fighting back tears as he sighs.

"Joe was my best friend. Even before he met Olivia. We were inseparable. And, watching Damon and Stefan be like that over the years reminds me a lot of the two of us, back in the day. I would have given the shirt off of my back for my brother and I know that he would have done the same. He once told me that if anything ever happened to him that he wanted me to take care of the boys. I'd been in their lives since they were babies. And, Olivia and Joe wanted someone they trusted and loved to watch over their sons. The night they died, I rushed to the hospital, picked the boys up and took them with me to my home in Missouri. I raised them until Damon was 19 and I helped fund their schooling for a while. I was the one that helped Damon with deciding if he wanted to be a firemen. I don't take full credit for it. Because, I think after their parents died in the fire at their childhood home that, being a firemen was always something he wanted to do. But, I'd like to think they turned out to both be very fine young men who picked very honorable careers." Zach tells me, leaning back into his seat and closing his eyes for a moment.

"Damon loves Stefan, you know. They have me and all that. But, they really only do have each other. And, Damon has you. I just wish that Stefan would find someone. I don't want him being alone, Bonnie. I'm not going to be around forever. And, I just want to make sure that the boys will be okay without me." I lift my hand up, placing it against his just as he had done to me at the cafeteria earlier.

"They will be. Trust me, Zach. They will be." I comment with reassurance in my voice, smiling over at him as he glances past me and I see his soft facial expression harden with a sudden sadness, looking out to the hallway.

"I thought that I said, I didn't want him here, Bonnie." Damon states in a scolding tone, taking small steps and making his way to us as we hear his low voice echo throughout the hallway that's calmed down from all the foot traffic.

"You may not want me here, son. But, you know that you need me here." Zach quickly says, pushing himself up and embracing Damon tightly. I watch his face soften the moment that Zach's arms wrap around him and when I look a bit closer, I can see that his blue eyes are glazed over with tears.

"You just can't stay away, can you?" He asks, still holding on to Zach as I observe their interaction.

"Not when you and your brother are both a total mess." Zach jokes, trying to lighten the mood as he places both of his hands against Damon's cheeks and kisses his forehead. "I've missed you, kiddo."

"I've missed you too." Damon replies, backing away from him slowly and shrugging his shoulders back. He's got a gash on the upper left corner of his right eye, a few cuts on his fingers that are bandaged up because of the strong fire melting his gloves and causing his hands to become injured.

"So, how's your brother?" He asks, placing his hands into his pockets and rocking on the soles of his heels. Damon shrugs, not really sure of what to say because none of us really know how Stefan's doing. And, to say that he's doing well would be a lie.

"How about we go check up on him. I was actually heading that way." Damon explains, nodding to me as I get up and walk towards them, wrapping my arm around Damon and feeling him lean into me a bit. "Thanks, babe." He says sweetly, kissing my lips gently and backing away for a minute to stare at me.

"So, Zach how many days are you staying in town?" He asks him, our footsteps falling into sync with Zach's as we all turn the corner and casually walk down the hall.

His reply is stopped when each of us looks up to see Elena leaving Stefan's room and Zach asks in a soft voice. "Is that your brother's nurse?"

Damon and I both laugh a little, walking towards the door and pushing it open. It smells like medicine and the sounds of machines beeping make my heart sink as Zach looks around the room, noticing the pink duffle back on the floor and pair of women's shoes.

"Is your brother dating someone? Was that girl who just snuck out of his room, his girlfriend?" He questions with a hopeful tone, looking down at Stefan with a sorrowful glance the moment Zach realizes how bad the situation really was. Stefan's been unable to breathe on his own. So, he's been laying in the bed with a ventilator hooked up to him, helping him breathe and another machine that's keeping track of his oxygen levels and his blood pressure. The machines are everywhere and it makes each of us nauseous.

"No, she's just a friend of his that's been keeping an eye out on him. She's a sweet girl who cares about my brother." Damon explains as I nod in agreement.

"I'm sure you'll be meeting her, eventually. But, she probably just didn't feel right being in the room with us right now, while we visited Stefan." I comment, seeing Zach pull up a chair and take a seat in it.

"Well, I understand that." He says, glancing back over at Damon and I who have both gotten grief-stricken looks on our faces.

"You gotta wake up, kid. Do you hear me? Your brother and everyone here needs you. Stefan, you got to open your eyes." Zach tells him urgently, choking back his sobs as he grabs a hold of Stefan's limp hand and kisses the top of it, pleading with him to wake up. "Open your eyes, Stefan. Please, just give me a sign that you're okay."

I swear that watching his uncle pleading with him breaks my heart as he leans over Stefan's body and cries into the fabric of his hospital gown. "I told your mom and dad that I was going to protect you two from anything that could harm you. And, look what happened? You're in the hospital. Because, I didn't do my job correctly. I broke the promise I made to them. And, I am so sorry for that." He says, his body tensing as Damon and I hold each other, watching Zach break down over Stefan's weak and unresponsive body.

-Elena-

It's been an hour since I blew Damon off and left them all alone to go see Stefan. I don't need to be there with them. It's not like I'm his family or his girlfriend. So, I figured that the best thing for me was to go for a walk around the hospital. Sitting around the room and pacing the floor just hasn't been doing anything for me and my legs had started to fall asleep. However, I'm thankful that when I knock on the door to Stefan's room, just a few minutes after walking up to it. That no one seems to be around anymore. I push the door open, revealing nothing more than a little note that was left in Damon's hand writing on a small desk beside Stefan's bed. The room is empty of everyone except for Stefan and I. My breathing slows when I take a seat back in the same chair that I've been sitting in for the last few days as I read the note.

Meet us in the cafeteria. My uncle Zach is in town and he'd really like to meet you, Elena.

P.S. Stefan's still in there. You just got to have some hope.

-Damon

"It's like you've moved into his room." Matt says, breaking me out of my focus on Damon's words. He's holding two cups of coffee as he licks his lips and leans against the door frame of the hospital room, observing my hair products in a small bag near the tiny closet door and another bigger pink duffle bag partly filled with my clothes.

"Yeah. Well, I'm not leaving and Luke's been kind enough to find someone to cover my shifts at the diner. So..You know. I don't really any other place to be. But, here. With, Stefan." I tell him, hearing his shoes squeak from the rain outside. It's been pouring all day long, making the clouds darken and my heart hurt with it.

"I came here to apologize for things I said to you. About, Stefan and Makayla...Elena, I was out of line and it was wrong of me. I'm sorry." He says, handing me a cup of coffee as I turn my head to look up at him. I've been here nearly all week. Sitting. Waiting. Hoping. And, Matt or Makayla have nearly been seen by any of us.

"You were out of line. He doesn't love her, Matt. He told me." I comment, clutching the coffee cup as I hear the leg of one of the other chairs in the room scrap against the linoleum flooring of Stefan's hospital room as Matt moves it to sit near me.

Matt laughs a little, pulling up his seat and sitting beside me. His hands are in his lap as I watch him cross his arms over his chest. "What else did he tell you about me?" He questions with curiosity in his tone.

I sigh out a breath, pursing my lips together. I don't really know if I should tell him everything. But, I really want to make it clear to him that I'm not interested in him and that he should just let it go. "Stefan told me that you're an asshole." I bluntly reply.

Matt's quiet for a long moment and the awkward silence becomes just that. Utterly unbearable. The silence makes me regret my words. Because, as much as Stefan might hate Matt sometimes. I know that he does in fact care about him.

"I'm joking. He actually said you're a nice guy." I quickly say out loud, watching as Matt turns his head to me. His tired blue eyes glance down at my hands and before I can say anything I feel the caress of his fingertips against my skin, grabbing one of my hands into his and tightening his grip. "He's going to be okay, Elena. He's going to make it through this. And, if you ever need anyone to talk to about Stefan. I'm here. Even though you think I'm an asshole. I do care about him." He tells me with a knowing tone.

My voice cracks as I suddenly add in. "I'm scared. I'm scared that he's never going to wake up." I tell him, watching him swallow the lump down in his throat, his blue eyes glazed over with tears.

"It was supposed to be me. Who was supposed to go instead of Stefan. But, at the last minute. Patrick called him into the office and told him that he was going instead. It was supposed to be me and Stefan was supposed to stay behind." He states, swallowing down the rest of his words and leaning his head as he suddenly gets up and moves to the door. Matt's back is against the wall that he's standing by near the door.

My eyes close as I sit still in the chair, not wanting to move or look over at him as I speak. "So, why didn't you go?"

"Because, when Patrick was picking people to go. I was late to the meeting that he was having about the assignment and he decided to pick Stefan instead. Elena, I'm sorry." He says to me as I finally turn around to look at him, inhaling deeply to try and keep my composure.

"Don't tell me that you're sorry. Tell that to Stefan, when he wakes he up. If, he ever does." I comment firmly, watching as Matt's head lowers and he shrugs his shoulders back, leaving without another word.

I turn back to glance up at the monitors and at the rhythmic beating of his strong heart. My warm hands take a hold of Stefan's hand and lean it against my forehead. "You're going to wake up, any day now..You're going to wake up and you're going to be okay." I softly state, exhaling deeply as I place my elbows on to the edge of the bed, holding on to his hand and saying a small prayer.

I don't pray. Truthfully, I've never really been that religious. But, I'm feeling like the only person who can save them is someone higher than any of us, so my prayers become a little bit more meaningful now. "I just want to keep him with me. I know that it's a lot to ask for. But, he's the best thing that has ever happened to me. Please, save him. " I speak out into the still silence, pushing the chair up and away from me as I get up and kiss Stefan's forehead, whispering against it. "I'm going to go see Caroline. But, I'll be back. I promise. You better make sure that you stay with me and don't go anywhere."

"You should go home or go and eat something at the cafeteria." I tell her, watching as her whole body tenses up at the sound of my voice. Caroline's laying beside Tyler, her head on his chest and their hands intertwined.

"If I go home, he's going to wake up and he's going to be looking for me. I need to be here, Elena. I need to be here when he opens his eyes." She says to me in this hopeful and understanding tone. I watch as she gets up, tucking the blanket that she brought from home underneath Tyler's still body just a bit.

"I can't sleep. You know, last night I tried to sleep. But, I kept waking up and I was just staring up at the monitors and listening to his breathing." She says while she sits across from me on the other side of the bed, running her fingers through her hair. The vibrant and lively young woman that I've learned to associate whenever I think of Caroline is wiped away by stress and sheer fearfulness of losing the only man she's ever loved and it makes me so angry.

"What do you know about Matt Donovan and Makalya Murphy?" I suddenly blurt out, watching as Caroline gives me a confused look at the change of subject.

"What do you want to know about Matt and Makalya?" Caroline asks me, turning to her right side as she pours herself a small cup of water into one of those dark pink looking plastic hospital cups from the matching jug beside it.

"He showed up today, out of nowhere and came to see Stefan. I know that he's been around the hospital these last few days. But, he wanted to know what Stefan was saying about him. He brought me coffee and he was nice. But, I just felt like something was off." I explain, watching Caroline adjust herself in her seat, shrugging her shoulders back.

"I've never really been a fan of him or Makayla. They both annoy me. Although, Matt is a nice guy and he goes care about the boys. He went into the academy a year before Stefan did and they all kind of met through Damon. They all kind of grew up together. You know, young boys becoming strong men." She stops, glancing back down at Tyler as she sighs, continuing to speak. "He also is friends with Tyler. All of them are like brothers, Elena. You need to understand that. Matt may be odd or whatever. But, that's just how he is and as far as Makayla goes. She is a pain in everyone's ass." A small smile appears across Caroline's lips for the first time in a week since the accident happened and we find ourselves laughing a little.

"Thanks for spraying her in the face during the charity event at the firehouse." I laugh, seeing Caroline nod as she laughs in a small voice. "Not a problem, she deserved it. Makayla thinks that she's the best thing for Stefan. She's very wrong though." Caroline tells me, glancing up at me and locking her eyes on to mine when she hears me ask. "And, how would you know?"

Caroline snorts a little, pointing to me. "Because if she loved him. She would be here with him right now as he lays in that bed, fighting for his life. And, I haven't seen her since the charity event. Elena, she's not the best thing for him. You are."

My eyes widen as I open my mouth to say something. But, the lifting up of Caroline's hand makes me stop. "I'm observant and usually, I am never wrong. I've seen the two of you together and apart. And, every time I see you two. I can tell that you both have a strong bond with one another. I just, don't think that either of you have noticed that yet."

I shake my head, closing my eyes and still feeling the brush of Stefan's lips against my own when he kissed me in the supply closet, a week ago. The warmth of his strong and protective arms around me, holding me as if I was going to break. My mind becomes consumed by him, the scent of his skin and the taste of his mouth upon mine. Maybe she is right, maybe I am...The best thing for him or maybe I'm the worst thing. Whichever one it might be, all I know is this: I miss him. I need him.

"That's silly, Caroline. Stefan and I are just friends. Yeah, we might have a strong bond. But, we're just-." She cuts me off, getting up from her chair as she brushes her finger against the light blue fabric on the blanket while she walks over to my side, sighing.

"Stop lying to yourself, Elena Gilbert." She states in a firm tone as my head snaps up when I cautiously glance at her.

"About what?" I ask, watching Caroline lick her gloss covered lips before her eyes meet mine and she flatly says. "You're trying to convince yourself that you aren't falling in love with him because it's easier that way. To not let your heart get broken if something happens to him. But, you shouldn't do that. So, be honest with me and yourself." I watch as Caroline slowly bends down near my chair when she grabs my hand and starts directly at me face as she questions. "Are you falling in love with Stefan?"

I take a shaky inhale of breath, closing my eyes and allowing my tired brain to take over my body. I do know that whenever I see him that my heart skips a beat, that sometimes I forget my own name and that I want more than anything to spend as much time as I can with him. But, I really don't know what empowers me to admit what I've been feeling for a few days now towards him, in a soft tone as I declare. "I think that I am, Caroline."

A/N: What do you all think about Elena's confession to Caroline?! :) I'm pretty sure that once Stefan wakes up that things will change between them. Also, uncle Zach makes an appearance. :')

Reviews are much appreciated!

-Until Next Time!-