A/N: Hey guys! So, this chapter has a bit of goodness for everyone! ;) For those of you following me on twitter- I deactivated it just for a few days. But, no worries..I'll be back!
Anyways, hope you all like this update and enjoy it!
Thank you all so much for reading. It really does mean a lot to me. :)
Within Temptation- Chapter Twenty
She didn't want to leave, spent the night in the many guest rooms of the house and in the morning, Katherine had to deal with the glares and shocked faces of both Damon and Rebekah from across the table. "What? It's not like I killed someone...Stop staring at me!" She snapped, pushing herself up from the table and looking over at Elijah who was barely swallowing down the orange juice in his glass.
"It's just...Katherine, we-" Rebekah began to say as Katherine turned back to look at her, her dark brown curly locks bouncing up and down with ease. "Save it Rebekah. We both know that you've hated me from day one. Remember what you told Stefan at our wedding? Oh, yeah...That we wouldn't last..That's right, I think that those were your exact words. I tired my best and-" She was cut off by the sound of a fork dropping to the ground, Katherine rolled her dark brown eyes as she placed her hands on to her hips and exhaled, glaring over at Damon who gave her a cheeky grin.
"Now, I'm sick of lying..Let's see...Hmm..Stefan has a drug problem that he's been battling for years and now thanks to him confessing it to the whole world, everyone knows about it. Elijah and I have been sleeping together for over a year and thanks to my twin sister, Stefan found out about that. And, Damon and you have a really rocky relationship because..Oh yeah, that's right- you used to sleep with my husband! And now, my sister's been sleeping with my husband and he's in rehab, while she's paying him cute little visits." Katherine said with a sly smile that quickly faded when she leaned her back against the counter in the kitchen and smirked at all of them, their faces nearly dropping to the table at her words.
"Did I miss anything or am I pretty up to speed with what's been going on here since I've been away?" Katherine asked them, causing Damon's face to go pale and open his mouth. But, with the nudge of Rebekah's elbow shoved into his side, he stopped himself from adding more to the situation.
"Oh and I have a question..Anyone want to care to explain to me why no one seems to be giving a damn about Jenna's antique business that's been falling apart, right under our noses? That's right, Damon. I overheard you on the phone this morning, talking to Klaus and you all have been seeming to ignore the fact that you made me a promise, years ago. To help my aunt out!" Katherine asked them, taking a step towards the dining room table as Damon cleared his throat to speak. But, Elijah stopped him.
"We've been busy. Very busy with Stefan in rehab and Klaus..being...well, my brother has been having some personal things going on.." Elijah's voice trailed off when Katherine locked her gaze upon him and she tilted her head to the side, clicking her tongue to the roof of her mouth.
"Well, I guess we'll have to figure things out without them then. So, which one of you wants to take me to Dasells this morning? I think if the other associates saw me that they'd pick up the pace on things. Since, all of you are clearly slacking!" Katherine hissed out, turning away from them all as she exhaled out a breath.
"If we're pissing you off, Katherine. Why did you even come back?" Rebekah asked her, getting up from her chair as she inhaled a sharp breath through gritted teeth.
"Ha, That's for me to be concerned about and not you. Besides, I thought that you and Damon were going to be moving out, Rebekah. This is my house, after all. And, you are just a guest in it." Katherine told her harshly, turning away from her without another word when she glanced over her shoulder, looking directly at Elijah when she added. "I'll be waiting in the car, 10 minutes. Hurry up, Elijah!"
"What the hell was that? What's wrong with you!" Elijah yelled at her as he slammed the driver's side door to the white and gray colored Lamborghini Reventon, a sports car that was one of Stefan's favorites and that Katherine knew cost a very pretty penny. It made her stomach churn knowing that Elijah wanted to drive it because Stefan had considered it his favorite car and the only person he had allowed to drive it was himself and Damon.
"You want to drive me to Dasells in my husband's 1.6 million dollar sports car? Are you insane, Elijah?" Katherine asked him in a snarky tone, feeling as he revved the engine and they jolted forward, a wide grin spreading across Elijah's face as he turned towards Katherine and laughed.
"Please, he's in rehab and he won't be back for a while, it's not that big of deal that I'm taking his car out for a little joy ride. Katherine and it might as well be time that you stop calling him your husband. He's been sleeping around with your sister, and personally..I think he's moved on. I don't blame him since you made us think you were dead for a long time. Please, Katherine. Be honest with me- what are you really doing back here, what do you want?" He asked her, the tires spinning out in the parking lot and crunching against the asphalt as Elijah hit the gas pedal and Katherine exhaled deeply when she felt the speed of the car increase and watched Elijah weave his way through the lanes.
"It's nothing." She told him, trying to brush it off like her being back into the fold of things, wasn't that big of deal. But, Elijah had known her well enough to know that she was clearly lying to him. "Stop lying!" He exclaimed, his eyes deadlocked on the entrance to the freeway as he shifted gears and the car felt like it was sailing through the freeway.
"Stop speeding! You're going to kill us both!" Katherine screamed at him, her voice pleading a bit and her mind racing regrading the decision to even be in the same car as her pissed off ex-lover.
"I'm not going to stop until you tell me, why you're back! Why are you here, Katherine? What do you want..Is it Stefan? Is that it or is it to play more mind tricks on everyone, including me and make us all look like the biggest idiots that this city has ever seen!" Elijah asked her in an irritated tone, lifting his foot off the gas pedal a little as his hands tightened around the dark leather covered steering wheel.
"Please, Elijah slow down!" Katherine begged, her voice was full of fear and she was on the verge of tears when she looked at the speedometer which read 85 miles per hour, her stomach tightened even more when he caught a glimpse of the speed limit which read 50 miles per hour.
"Not until you tell me what it is? Is it money that you're after? Hmm, because that wouldn't surprise me that much." He told her, focusing all of his attention back on to the road that was starting to get a bit more congested with traffic, causing Elijah to slow down the car a little.
"Because, a few years ago. I slept with Mason Lockwood, Elijah. He's Stefan's old business partner and...We had a son. I came back because I want Stefan to hand over Dasells to me. I want the business, Elijah. I want it all for my future and my son's and my soon to be ex-husband is the only one who can give me that." Katherine confessed, tears streaming down her face as she felt the car slow down to a normal speed and glanced over at Elijah who seemed too stunned to speak. The car fell dead silent and the only sound that was heard was the changing of gears and the motor that sounded like it was working on overdrive.
When Elijah finally spoke, still stunned by her admission. He was in a daze when he asked. "That's why you faked your own kidnapping? Because, you didn't want anyone to know that you had a kid with someone that wasn't Stefan? Why would you even tell me about this, Katherine. I thought you and I had a future together...What the hell is wrong with you. Why would you confess to me that you had a son with someone else!"
He could hear her wailing sobs as she leaned her head against the cold glass window in the car, steam covering it as she inhaled and then exhaled a deep breath. "I don't want to lie anymore, Elijah. I did love you and I still do and I'm sorry! I'm sorry because Mason and I happened by an accident...It was never supposed to mean anything. I wasn't supposed to get-." Katherine began to say, mascara running down her cheeks when she looked over at him and heard him exhale deeply, disappointment in his eyes when he glanced over at her.
"We were supposed to leave together. It was always supposed to be you and me, Katherine and now, I don't know what to think anymore about you. I was a fool, an idiot for a loving a woman that I should have known would never be mine!" He told her, turning on the blinker and exiting at the familiar place that was near Dasells.
"You know what, Katherine. I'm glad your back because it made me realize that I don't need to wait around for you anymore, expecting for us to be something. You and I are done after today...I never want to see you again and don't worry. It shouldn't be a probably since I was offered a job at another company in Illinois, far away from Chicago..I'm leaving and restarting my life without you, without any of my family and without all the heartache and drama that this town has brought me." Elijah told her, bringing the car to a complete stop in front of Dasells as he leaned across the passenger side and opened the door for Katherine, a saddened look on his face as when he added. "I hope you get what you've always wanted...And, I really hope that your actions will teach you a lesson. You can't play with people's lives, Katherine Salvatore. It isn't fair. Now, get out of the car."
"I'm sorry." Katherine told him softly, opening the car door wider and glancing over at Elijah who was pinching the bridge of his nose and exhaling deeply, eyes tightly closed shut. He scoffed at her apology when he open his eyes and secured them onto her tearful gaze. "Tell that to everyone that you've wrong since you let power and wealth get to your head. You'll be alone for the rest of your life, Katherine Pierce. If you keep it up. You'll be alone, forever."
Caroline smiled as she watched Sarah sit across from her, an ice cream cone in her hands, the vanilla favored sweet treat melting down her daughter's skin and in between her fingers, causing them to be sticky.
"Sweetheart, use a napkin." Caroline commented, leaning forward and handing Sarah a white thin napkin, smiling at Sarah as she locked her blues on Caroline.
"Momma? When's daddy coming home?" Sarah asked her, sticking out her tongue to capture the droplets of vanilla that was falling out of the waffle cone in her hands.
Caroline opened her mouth to reply. But, just when she did, she heard his voice from behind Sarah. "Very soon, I hope."
Both Caroline and Sarah's heads spun around as Klaus bent down and watched Sarah drop her ice cream cone that she had been holding on to ever so tightly until she had seen her father. "Daddy!" She shrieked, got even caring that her hands were covered in ice cold ice cream left overs and that she had some of it on her dark purple dress with a white ribbon tied around it.
"Hi, sweetheart. I've missed you, so much." Klaus told her, wrapping her up into his embrace and lifting himself from the ground, spinning Sarah around in his arms until he could her hear sweet and loud giggling laughter fill the backyard where her and Caroline had been sitting.
Sarah's blue eyes were filled with excitement and pure joy as Klaus placed her back on to the ground and patted her head, leaning down and kissing the top of her head. "Daddy, do you like vanilla ice cream?" She asked him, amusement in Sarah's eyes as she bit down on her lower lip and placed her hands behind her back when Klaus smiled softly, nodding.
"Yeah...Do you want to go back inside of the house and ask your aunt Rebekah for another ice cream cone...We can share it." Klaus commented, watching as Sarah stopped, stepping back front of Klaus and tightening her little arms around him as she exhaled deeply, softly replying with a pleading tone. "Don't leave anywhere. I'll be back."
Klaus swallowed the lump forming in his throat as he bent down towards his daughter again, pushing a strand of her curly blonde hair behind her ears, glancing over to see Caroline observing them when he said. "I'll be right here, I promise sweetheart. Daddy's not leaving you, ever."
Klaus got back up and crossed his arms over his chest as he watched Sarah disappear back into the house and then turned his attention to Caroline. "How have you been?" He asked her softly, taking a step towards her, noticing the tears in her eyes watching her blink them away when she said in a broken tone. "Good."
Klaus inhaled sharply, uncrossing his arms away from his chest as he took a few steps closer towards his wife and watched when she hesitantly moved towards him. Caroline opened her mouth to speak. But, watched as Klaus lifted his hand in the air, locking his gaze on to her when he said. "Don't Caroline..Please, just don't...We just need to repair this slowly, Caroline..Just..Please."
She nodded as she stepped closer towards him and he did the same to her, extending out his arms when he watched her head fall lightly against his chest, sobbing tears falling against her cheeks and nearly drowning out her voice when she asked. "How are you?"
Klaus cleared his throat, holding his wife in his arms for the first time in months. He needed a moment to think, and when he finally spoke. Klaus's voice was just as tired and broken has hers when he replied simply, tightening his arms protectively around Caroline's waistline, leaning down to kiss her forehead as he whispered against her skin. "I'm better now. I'm a lot better now."
Elena opened her eyes as she rolled over on the blanket that was laying in the grass and placed her hand on to Stefan's chest. It was beautiful, the birds were chirping in the tall evergreen trees above them, the park was quiet and somewhat secluded as they lay beside each other. But, all Elena was focused on was Stefan's smiling face, he was staring up at the blue sky and inhaling deeply, not saying a word except for listening to the noises around them. The water from the stream trickling down as it hit against a few rocks, feeling the cool breeze of the wind causing goose bumps on Elena's skin. It really was perfect.
"You're cold." Stefan said in an observant tone as he finally looked down at Elena who was wearing a light peach colored shrug, black tights that came to her knees and a long black t-shirt that came half way to her thighs.
"It's fine." She replied in a soft tone, nuzzling against him, exhaling deeply.
"Do we really have to go back in two hours? I don't want to leave this place or you for that matter. I'm happy, Stefan. I'm happy with you." Elena told him as she placed her hand onto Stefan's chest and felt him tighten his grip around her. She was happy to finally be alone with him and the fact that their picnic spot was fairly secluded, helped her relax a bit more. She could feel Stefan's fingers slip into her hair, massing her scalp when he spoke.
"Let's go back to the car, I have a surprise for you." Stefan replied to her, lifting them both up as he pushed himself off the ground with Elena in his arms. He could hear her sigh as she fixed her hair and adjusted a few pieces that were falling out from the bobby pins that she had placed it in.
"A surprise for me? Stefan, you didn't need to-." Elena began to say as she watched him lean towards her, his lips just centimeters away from hers as he spoke against them in a flirtatious and sweet tone. "Just trust me..We have two hours to kill and I want to spend them wisely, every minute with you." He told her with a wink, lifting himself up as he extended out his hands and helped Elena to her feet, giving her lips a quick kiss before he turned away from her and picked up their sandwich wrappers and juice bottles.
"Let's go." He replied, when Elena had finally folded the blanket up and placed it over her arm, smiling at him when Stefan grabbed the rest of their things and grabbed her hand, lacing their fingers together when he added. "I love seeing you smile."
Elena laughed, leaning her head against his shoulder when she said. "Well, it's because of you. You know, I haven't felt like this in years and your a big part of it, Stefan. You make me happy and I don't want to mess that up."
Stefan smiled at her, taking their hands and bringing her hand up to his lips, kissing the top of it as he let their hands fall when he reassured her. "You won't. I won't let you, as long as you don't let me mess this up. We're good together, Elena and I don't care anymore about what anyone thinks. I'm better because of you and my cravings for the drugs are almost gone whenever you're around me. You make me better, Elena. You make me want to be a better man."
The sun was starting to fade and Stefan knew that their time together was dwindling since he had a curfew in place to make sure that he made it back to the rehab clinic in time. Yet, he couldn't stop staring at how beautiful she looked across from him, a puzzled look on her face when she scrunched her face together and inhaled deeply.
"We're lost." Elena remarked, looking around the field that they had pulled over on, deep and dense forest surrounding them, off the beaten path and far from the main road, Elena knew that for sure as she looked up to see the sun starting to fall behind the green acreage.
"It's getting dark, we're lost and we have about a little over an hour before I have to go home and you have to go back to the clinic. We need to find our way back to the main road, Stefan..." Her voice trailed off as he smiled, letting out a little bit of a laugh.
"I have a better idea. Have you ever watched the sunset before?" He asked her, knowing that it sounded quite ridiculous, because he was sure that she had plenty of times in the past. But, Stefan figured that it was still worth a shot.
"Yeah. But, not in a field like this, in the middle of nowhere with a very good looking guy." Elena answered with a smile, a small sparkle appearing in her brown eyes when Stefan cleared his throat, getting out of the car and going back to the trunk, grabbing the blanket that they had been laying on in the park before they had left, earlier in the day.
Elena watched as he spread it out on the grass covered field in the fading daylight, looking up at her and waving when he said. "Come on, we'll miss it."
She jumped out of the car, nearly tripping over herself as she sat beside him and felt his arm around her, pulling her closer to his warm body.
"I haven't seen the sun go down like this in years. I was too busy with work, making the business what it is, too worried about where Katherine was spending her time and my own demons to enjoy it that I didn't really get to-.." Stefan's voice trailed off as he watched Elena lift her head away from his shoulder, her hands lifting up to touch his face as she softly added, finishing his thoughts. "To appreciate it. You were too busy to appreciate it."
Stefan nodded, sighing out a breath when they both looked back up at the sky and they watched in silence as the sun disappeared behind the thick group of large green forest in front of them.
"We should be heading back.." Elena's voice trailed off when she lifted her head off of Stefan's shoulder and saw the reflection of disappointment in his green gaze. The headlights from the borrowed car that Elena had gotten from Bonnie were shining on them as Stefan leaned towards her and whispered against her ear softly. "I know."
She said his name sharply, trying to calm her racing heart and staggered breathing when she felt his hand slide across the fabric of her tights and her skin crawled with desire for him. "Stefan...We really need to- We're being incredibly stupid right now."
"I know." He replied with a smug smile, locking his eyes on to Elena, his emerald green gaze was intense and filled with want when he backed away from her, licking his lips as he gently caressed her face and smiled.
"We don't have a lot of time." She remarked, hoping to prevent herself or him from doing anything that they'd regret. She was falling in love with him, hell- who was she kidding? She had already been in love with him for a long time. But, knowing that her sister was back in town caused Elena's stomach to tighten and the realization that she was about to fool around once again with Stefan, a still married man- hit Elena hard.
Elena gritted her teeth as she felt Stefan's hand on her back, his body moving towards her and causing her to involuntarily lay back on to the blanket, he was hovering over her when he spoke with a sweet and seductive laced tone. "So, then we'll be together on borrowed time, just for a moment. For long as we can." He whispered against her ear, lifting himself to look down at her as both of his soft and warm hands cupped Elena's heated cheeks and he leaned into her, kissing her lips roughly and tasting the sweet taste of strawberries upon her tongue.
Elena's arms wrapped around him tightly, pulling him down so that he was on top of her. Elena laughed as she felt Stefan roll them over and she ended up straddling his torso as she leaned back down to kiss him, watching Stefan's hand lift up, slipping through her hair. "We're being really stupid.." She remarked again, hearing Stefan laugh as he leaned up on his elbows, becoming Elena level with her when he smiled as he said. "You keep saying that. But, your not stopping me from..doing anything." Stefan added with a smirk, hearing Elena's voice drop when she felt his hand slither underneath her shirt and she lost her train of thought at the feeling of both of his soft and warm hands undoing her bra.
"So, you can let me stop anytime..Just say the word." Stefan commented with a grin, his green eyes glistening as he watched Elena open her mouth, leaning towards him. He could feel the warmth of her breath on his face when she replied with a firm and confident. "No. I don't want you to stop. Keep going..." Elena urged him on, she could see the hope in Stefan's eyes return as he shifted his body to be closer towards her and just when he was about to open his mouth to speak, Elena's finger on his lips stopped him. "No talking though, it's overrated." Elena laughed with a wink, pulling Stefan's hands so that they were both under her shirt when she leaned into him again, grinding her hips against his and smirking when she kissed his lips, hearing him groaning against her mouth as she backed away and whispered. "Borrowed time, I like that..I like living on borrowed time, with you. It's going to make things a lot more passionate."
A/N: Please feel free to leave me a review/comment. They really do mean a lot to me and I absolutely love hearing your thoughts! :) Hope you all enjoyed this update.
-Until Next Time!-