A/N: Jeez I've abandoned this story for almost 2 years O_O. I'm SO SO SO SO SO sorry I left you hanging. Hope you guys still enjoy the new chapter and please tell me what you think about it. Thank you, my lovely readers! 3
Stefan and Elena arrived at the airport an hour before Katherine's plane take off. They didn't take much time to find her with her parents near the international departure gate. At first, Stefan didn't want Elena to come with him since he knew how bad Katherine treated Elena in the past. But she successfully reassured him that she would be okay, she already forgave her and just wanted to make a good relation with her before she went to France. Stefan gave up after that, because he knew Elena would do her best to do anything for whatever she believed was right.
"Are you nervous?" he asked Elena as they walked towards Katherine and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.
"A little." she answered honestly.
"I got you, don't worry." he whispered, caressing Elena's hair before releasing his hand from her shoulder and grabbing her hand instead.
"I know." she nodded.
"Stefan, you're here." Bryan greeted, offering a hand shake. Stefan smiled then shook his hand.
"Who is this beautiful girl?" Leah asked, looking at Elena kindly.
"Mom." Katherine called, rolling her eyes.
"I'm Elena Gilbert." Elena answered as she smiled. "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Pierce." she continued, shaking her hand with Leah and then Bryan.
"She's Stefan's girlfriend." Katherine informed. Leah and Bryan looked at their daughter instantly. "What?" she asked.
Leah caressed Katherine's cheek before said, "I need to go to the rest room, you wanna come dear?"
"No, I'm fine." she answered. Leah murmured okay then walked towards the rest room which was not too far from their waiting spot.
"So, Stefan, I need to talk to you for a second." Bryan told him. Stefan turned his face to see Elena then she nodded, letting him to go with Bryan. He walked behind the old man he respected to a place where neither Katherine nor Elena could hear them.
Katherine sighed heavily which took Elena's attention. Elena knew Katherine was more nervous and probably stressed about moving to another country. Or maybe because she just lost her baby...? She wasn't sure enough about that though.
"Do you know how good Stefan is as a boyfriend?" Katherine started a conversation. Elena was too focused on staring at her that she forgot to answer her question. Katherine turned her face to see Elena, making sure she heard what she asked to her. "Umm hello, I'm talking to you."
Elena startled, blinking her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry." Elena said, taking a seat near Katherine. "I know that he is a good guy. Amazing even."
Katherine looked at her front and smiled. "He's always been a good person since we were kids. I've known him for almost 14 years and he didn't change. Except after we broke up a year ago. I'm not sure but he became more..."
"Careful?" Elena completed. Katherine laughed a little, agreeing with what Elena said.
"Yeah. He became an introvert guy which was strange. Everyone knows him as an extra-extrovert person but then, bam. He changed."
Elena listened to every single Katherine's words. She really wanted to know about the old Stefan, before she came here. Before she knew him.
"But then you came, Elena." she continued, looking at Elena's eyes. "I knew you were gonna turn his world upside down and he became his old-self once again."
"No, it's not me, Katherine." Elena denied shyly. "He didn't change because of me. That was because he wanted it for himself."
"But you are his source of encouragement to change." Katherine simply said. "Believe me or not, Stefan is not an easy one. I mean he's not like Damon who takes everything easily. Once Stefan gets brooding over something, he'll stay in that phase for a really long time."
Elena looked at Stefan who was still talking to Bryan, smiling when he looked back at her. "I didn't know that." Elena turned her face back to Katherine with the sadness that she couldn't hide. Katherine noticed that and raised her eyebrows.
"Are you okay?" she asked. "You look sad."
Elena shrugged as she smiled half heartedly. "I don't know."
"You're hiding something from him, aren't you?" Katherine suddenly snapped. Elena stayed quiet. "It's useless, Elena. Sooner or later, he's going to find out about it."
"I guess I'll let him to find out by himself then."
Katherine threw her gaze at Stefan and her father. "Up to you." she said shortly then stood up, walking towards the men. Elena watched her leaving and suddenly felt panic when she saw Katherine pulled Stefan away from her father. Oh my God, what is Katherine doing? Is she going to tell him that I'm hiding something?
"Where's Katherine?" Leah suddenly asked, standing behind Elena. She quickly turned around and smiled at Leah.
"She's with Stefan. Right there." she answered, pointing the spot with her finger.
"I see." Leah smiled, walking to her bags trolley and taking a handkerchief. "How long have you been with Stefan by the way?" she asked again, wiping her hands with the handkerchief to dry them.
"Almost 3 months." she politely answered.
"You're their school friend?" she asked again, sitting in front of Elena as she looked at Katherine and Stefan.
"Yes, Mrs. Pierce. But I was a new student."
"Where did you come from?"
"Indonesia."
"Ah Indonesia, beautiful country. I've been there three times." Leah told her. "Which city?"
"South Jakarta."
Leah was about to ask her more questions when Bryan suddenly appeared and told Leah to get ready. Katherine and Stefan walked towards them not too long after Bryan called her. Stefan automatically stopped his steps and stood beside Elena, wrapping his arm around her waist. He didn't look suspicious at her though but it didn't make Elena relieved. She was still curious about what Katherine said to him.
"Thank you so much for everything, Stefan. You always helped us." Leah said, pulling Stefan into her motherly embrace. "If you need anything, you can call us." she added, patting his back then pulling away. "Take care, okay?"
Stefan smiled. "I will, Mrs. Pierce."
Bryan did the same to Stefan and reminded him to remember what he said earlier. Stefan chuckled as he nodded. "Come on, you don't want to hug me?" Stefan asked Katherine playfully, extending his arms as a hug invitation.
Katherine rolled her eyes but still came towards him and hugged him tightly. Elena saw Katherine's eyes were teary before she buried her face on Stefan's chest. But she thought that it was okay though.
"It's so nice meeting you, Elena." Leah said, walking to her and hugging her as well.
"The pleasure is all mine, Mrs. Pierce." Elena said back and pulled away. Bryan just shook his hand with her then pulled Leah to the gate, leaving Katherine alone to say goodbye more longer to Stefan and Elena.
Katherine pulled away from Stefan's chest, wiping her tears. "I hate being sentimental like this."
Stefan caressed her hair smoothly. "Good God sassy Katherine is still here."
"Thanks for the compliment, dude." Katherine said, fist bumping Stefan which only made Stefan laugh. "And Elena..." she added, looking at her. Elena gulped, feeling more nervous in all of sudden. "Thank you for coming here. And I'm sorry for everything I've done to you."
Elena grew a smile on her face. "Yeah, I'm sorry too, Katherine." she walked closer to her ex rival and hugged her. Katherine was surprised at first but then she hugged Elena back and saw Stefan was smiling at her, supporting what was happening between the girls.
"Goodbye, Kat. Take care." Stefan said as he watched she was pulling away from Elena. She only nodded then grabbed her bag.
"Oh can I tell you something?" Katherine asked, looking at Stefan. He furrowed his eyebrows but then walked closer to her again. She was about to whisper him something but then she changed her mind. She kissed him on the cheek instead and literally ran towards the gate.
"Well played, Kat! You'll pay!" Stefan yelled, he wasn't angry though. Elena was speechless when it happened but then she laughed, didn't believe how smart Katherine was. They both looked at Katherine who was still running and then turned around, waving a goodbye to them. They waved back until Katherine was out of their sight.
Stefan turned to his side as he smiled at Elena then grabbed her hand. "Let's go home." he said, leading her way to the parking lot to get to his car and went home.
ooo
Instead of going home, Stefan took Elena to a public park. He wanted to spend the day with her. So after they had lunch at The Mystic Grill, he told her what he wanted and she agreed. She wanted to be with Stefan all day too.
They were walking side by side, holding each other's hand when Elena asked about Caroline and Matt. When did they get together and how. And why Stefan didn't tell her about that happy story right away.
"Matt was her ex boyfriend." Stefan started to answer her questions. "I know right." he laughed at how surprised Elena was. "They were a couple since the 9th grade. But when we got into highschool, they suddenly broke up. I didn't intend to know more about them because I thought it was their privacy. So I was just being cool." he explained.
"But they seemed okay to each other for a sudden break up." Elena commented, remembering how Caroline acted near Matt in the beginning she came to Mystic Falls.
Stefan shrugged. "Not really. They actually avoided each other."
"Really?" Elena asked, looking at Stefan. "I guess I wasn't good enough at paying attention to other people then."
Stefan laughed as he heard that. "No, it's not like that." He stopped his steps below a big tree then pulled Elena to sit down. "They just knew how to act." he told her, laying down and placing his head on Elena's lap.
"Nice try to make me feel better, buddy." Elena giggled, caressing his hair slowly. He closed his eyes, enjoying Elena's smooth touch. "By the way, can I ask you something?"
Stefan opened his eyes, looking at Elena closely. "Shoot."
"What did Katherine say to you before we said goodbye to her?" she asked curiously as she kept caressing Stefan's hair.
Stefan sighed then closed his eyes again. "It's not important, Elena."
"Hey, why is that?" she protested. "Is it about me?"
"What about you?" he asked her back, opening his eyes. "Did she threaten you again?" he asked, getting up to study Elena's expression.
She cleared her throat before shook her head. "No, she didn't do anything to me."
"Then why did you ask that?"
"I'm just curious." she said easily. "So what is it about?" she asked again, biting her lip. It was her new bad habit when she was too nervous about something.
"She asked for my help." he told her.
"Help for...?"
"Anything she needs." he answered again. "I told her to send me a message whenever she needs me."
Elena's eyes were softer after that, feeling more relieved because that meant Katherine didn't say anything about their conversation.
"Are you okay with that?" he asked her carefully, not wanting to hurt her.
She smiled beautifully. "Of course."
He smiled at her too then leaned in to kiss her. "Thank you." he whispered, leaning his forehead against Elena's. She nodded then kissed him again.
"Now, tell me about anything you haven't told me." Stefan ordered, laying down and placing his head on Elena's lap once again. "I want to know more about you."
Elena giggled then nodded. "Okay, Mr. Bossy." then she did what he ordered. Because she thought that the more he knew about her, the less she had to keep secrets from him. Well, except that one thing. She decided to keep it to herself. He would find out someday and she must be ready at that time.
ooo
"Hey, beautiful girl."
She smiled at her screen. "Hi Arden." she greeted back. "Finally we can Skype."
He laughed, leaned back to his chair. But then he watched her smile faded. Arden knew something was bothering her. "What is it?" he asked.
"You really know when I have something in mind." she said, smiling a little.
"Oh please." he said back, rolling his eyes. "Tell me, Elena. Please?" he begged, looking at her pitifully.
"Don't you dare to pity me." she warned. She really hated when people did that to her. He apologized then tried to make his normal face.
"Is this about Stefan...?" he carefully guessed. "Did he hurt you?" he asked again, impatiently waiting for her answers.
She shook her head no. "He is always good to me."
"Then what is it?" he continued to ask, feeling miserable because he couldn't hold her right then. He knew she really needed someone to do that.
"I'm tired, Arden. I'm really tired." she confessed, looking at Arden hopelessly. She didn't realize that her tears fell onto her cheeks until she covered her face with her hands.
"Elena..." he called, just looking at her desperately. "Elena, tell me about it. Please."
She let her hands fall onto the table then looked at Arden. She didn't care how bad she looked when she cried, she just wanted Arden to listen to her. "I'm tired of keeping this secret to Stefan, Arden." she sobbed. "I really want to tell him but... but I can't."
Arden sighed heavily. He knew today would come, the day where she felt she couldn't hide it anymore. He knew this wasn't fair for her but she's gotta take it as what it was.
"Stefan wanted me to tell him about everything. I did, I told him what I like and what I don't like. I told him about my favorite things and what are not. Except that one. Do you know how hard it is? It's like my heart is breaking into pieces. It's really hard, Arden. I started to think that life isn't fair for me." she continued, letting her mental breakdown came to the surface.
"Ssh, ssh, Elena, don't say that." Arden said. It really broke his heart too, hearing her desperate words. "I know this might be wrong but you have to be strong. For you. For him. For everyone who loves you."
Elena shook her head no as a sign that she didn't agree with Arden's words. Even though she knew it was right but she just couldn't take it literally. "I can't, Arden. I really want him to know but it'll only make him sad. And it'll make me more sad and hate my life."
He knew it wouldn't be easy with her but he wanted her to know that she was wrong. She was just gonna torture herself with these hurtful thoughts. But he also knew that saying anything to Elena right then was useless, she wouldn't listen to his words. So he just sat there, staring at his screen, patiently and hopelessly listening to Elena's sob all night long until she fell asleep in front of her laptop.
A/N: So what you guys think? Hope you enjoyed it and please give me some reviews so I can make it better for the next chapters. Thank you so much for reading! :D