A/N: I can't believe we're already at CH.35 of this story...Do you all think that we can make it to 60 chapters?

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Before You Were Mine- Chapter Thirty-Five

-Stefan-

Her hands are shaking as she blinks her eyelids rapidly at me. "Stefan, say something. Anything. Like, oh, we're having kids! Yey!" I hear her tell me as my eyes widen and my heart beat increases, it hadn't hit me yet. And, just after a few minutes. Now, it has. Children? I'm going to be a dad? For some reason, it's hard to swallow as I push my fragile feeling body up from the couch and step out on to the balcony of our apartment, heading up to the rooftop. I hear Elena following me as she utters out a few curse words.

"I thought you'd be happy about this!" She states, her voice a bit harsh and pissed off as she shakes her head and looks away, wrapping her arms around her tiny and barely visible baby bump.

I turn to face her, still not saying anything as I take out a cigarette that Damon had given me earlier in the week, almost as if he had known. "Here little bro, just in case you need this for something, stress relief or whatever."

"You're smoking? You never smoke!" Elena comments, her tone observant as I take the lighter out of my pocket and step a few feet away from her, placing it to my lips and taking a long drawn out drag of the nicotine, allowing the smoke to really fill my lungs before I exhale. "Good stress relief." I reply back with a small laugh as she shakes her head, scoffing.

"What the hell is wrong with you!" She complains as I turn around, still holding the cigarette with a very pissed off expression of my own. "Oh, I don't know, Elena. You just dropped a bombshell on me. Excuse me as I come out here to find some peace and clear my head regarding the fact that we're going to be parents and we're not even ready for it!" She crosses her arms, rubbing them slightly from the cold air around us as she huffs out a breath and I watch her slowly make her way towards our apartment.

"You are unbelievable!" She glares at me before walking back inside as she stands near the door for a few minutes, like she's waiting for me to follow her. When I don't, she shakes her head one last time and leaves without another word.

The moment that Elena's gone, I take out the small bottle of bourbon that Damon had given me weeks ago too. Now that I think about, it's almost as if he had known that I'd need that as well. I allow the alcohol to slowly drip down my throat and after a few small sips of it, my aching body and racing mind scream "Fuck it all!" and I'm downing the bottle before I can stop myself. It won't get me drunk. It won't even get me buzzed. But, the small amount of liquid courage will give me a few minutes of peace and quiet and some time to think about this newly developed situation that we've found ourselves in. Realistically, Elena's probably as scared as I am. Yet, I'm the one acting out. Funny how that works.

She must think I'm an asshole.

As I sit there though, I think about the facts. The hard ones. Elena doesn't even really have a job right now, working at the police station part time as a receptionist, isn't the greatest thing in the world and well, I might be in transition to moving up the ranks at my job. How are we even going to afford a child? A kid costs a lot of money. Diapers, formula, clothes, dental care, health care..the list goes on and on. I close my eyes, feeling the pounding headache from earlier in the day return as I lean back and lay myself flat out on the cool concrete rooftop. The coolness of it feels good against my heated skin as I look up at the sky and try to imagine what our future is going to be like with a baby. Personally, I've always wanted a little girl. A little green eyed, brown haired little girl that I could name after my mother, Olivia. But, if the baby ends up being a boy. I'd love that too. I could teach him how to fish and play catch, I'd have a son to teach how to drive and how to respect a woman. He'd be a true Salvatore and carry on the family name. Imagining it all helps after a while because the more I lay here, with my head pressed against the concrete, the more I'm able to muster up the courage to walk back into our apartment and tell my fiance that I think I'm ready for this. That being a parent won't be so hard, just as long as we stick together.

Who am I kidding? I can't walk back in there now. She's still pissed off and 15 minutes of sitting out here won't change that. Although, I need to take the risk. I can't have Elena believing that she's in this alone. Carefully getting up, I make my way back into the apartment. I can hear her crying, sounding like she's zipping something up and moving around in our apartment fairly fast. Swallowing the lump in my throat as I get a clearly picture of what's going on, she looks up at me with watery eyes and tear stained checks, tugging on a suitcase and dragging it towards the front door. "If you don't want me anymore or this baby. You could have just said it, Stefan! You could have just fucking told me that you don't want to be a dad. Because, I can't-" Her voice cracks as I close the window behind me and her eyes on to mine.

"Elena, don't do this. Please, that isn't what I meant. My beautiful girl, just hear me out. Please." My voice is low, cautious. I watch her from a distance, wiping away her tears as she plops her tired body onto the couch, extending out her hand to me. Carefully taking her cold feeling fingers against my hand, I take a seat beside her. We're both silent when she rests her head upon my shoulder and then places her hands into my lap. I can hear the hurt in her voice as I pull her closer towards me. The half packed suitcase and her purse sit beside the door as I kiss the side of her face and run my fingers through her hair. "I'm scared. Okay? I am fucking terrified and when you told me about it. Elena, you scared the hell out of me."

Elena nods, whispering softly. "I know. Because, I'm scared too. I'm scared that I'm going to be like my mother. That I'll discipline our baby too much or that I won't be around too much..." Her voice trails off as she moves away from me for a second, still holding onto my hand tightly as she looks me in the eyes and adds in. "Stefan, I can't do this without you. I know that you're scared and I am too. But, doing this alone would be even scarier and I need you to stick with me on this. It wasn't planned, I know that. But, now we're going to need to figure things out. We're going to need to work together to figure out how to be parents before this baby shows up in our lives in nine months."

My thumb glides across her right hand as I move it across to her left, bringing up her hand to my lips. I kiss her engagement ring and pull her against my chest, allowing her head to rest in my lap. We're both quiet again, our minds filled with small hints of doubt and fear as she inhales while my fingers slip through strands of her dark brown hair. "If it's a girl, I want you to dress her up in tutu's and take her everywhere. I want to teach her all about life and when a boy breaks her heart, I want to kick his ass." Taking a sharp breath, I smile at the thought of our daughter and her dance recitals, having game nights and baking cookies together. Just as quickly, my mind thinks about how great it would be to have a son that has my eyes and the sound of his laughter filling the house as we race around making airplane noises just to annoy Elena in the early morning hours before school.

"No matter what happens, I promise that I'm never going to leave your side." I tell her, watching her eyes twinkle as she smirks a little with tears glazing over them. Elena nods as she leans forward, placing her nose against my own while she whispers. "As long as you'll be my husband. We'll figure everything else out together, because I couldn't imagine doing this without you and I don't ever want anyone else but you and me raising our baby."

-Damon-

"Oh, daddy love me good..Be my husband and I'll be your wife...Mhmmm." Bonnie sings out with a smirk, lifting her head up from the hood of our car as she turns her face to me with a small smile spreading across her lips. "I love you, Damon Salvatore!"

Laughing, I kiss her hands, laying on my back as the stars begin to shine in the sky. It's dark out, a few stadium lights are seen in the distance since I parked a few feet away from the football stadium. I couldn't picture a better moment. Just her and I, together.

"I love you too, baby." I comment softly, gripping her hands into mine as Bonnie sighs out a breath, turning to me. "I know that I scared you a lot over the last year and I'm sorry for that. I'm sorry that we were in the building and that we got trapped. Damon-." My finger pressed against her lips make her stop as I lift myself up from the car and lean in to her. "It wasn't your fault, sweetheart. I'm just glad that I have you back with me, Bon. That's all that matters. I couldn't handle losing you, ever." I tell her, capturing her lips softly against mine as I feel her body press against me some more. Bonnie holds me tightly against herself as she whispers into my ear with a tone that's barely above a whisper. "I just want whoever did this to be behind bars already, I want to put the fire behind us for good and move on." She says as I stroke the back of her head with my hand, kissing her face while she hears me state. "I know, baby. So, do I and I promise that we're going to figure this out. Whoever caused the fire is probably long gone. But, I swear to god that if they set foot back into this town, they better think twice about it."

-Matt-

My shoulder pain is killing me as I lean against the shower wall in the locker rooms, inhaling through gritted teeth. I've been running low on pills and the doctors that I've been seeing have forbid me to take a higher dosage. So, my only other option is to live with the pain or do something that I probably shouldn't- look for better drugs. Wrapping the towel around my waistline I exit the showers and allow for the water to drip off of my hair, not caring that it's getting my clothing wet as I take a seat on the bench and begin to dress. I can hear Tyler walking in shortly after I've began pulling my t-shirt slowly over my head and yelping out in pain.

"You should really get that damn thing rechecked and take the day off, Donovan." He scolds, wiping his face with a white towel from the bathroom as he exhales heavily and sits beside me. I watch Tyler slip one of his boots off and then the other one before he places his face into his hands and looks down at the ground. "My wife is driving me insane today. We've barely had a moment alone together without her talking about this damn case. The fire this...The fire that...Hell, I might as well have her come work with us if she keeps it up. Could you imagine Caroline in one of our uniforms?" He chuckles as I a laugh a little too. The idea of Caroline Lockwood as a firefighter makes me smile as I think about how funny she'd be. Tyler talking on and on about her decreases the pain for a moment while I run my hand through my damp hair and then it suddenly hits me once more, harder than before.

Inhaling with agony in my tone, I tell Tyler that I'll take his advice and take the rest of the night and tomorrow morning off. "I should get some sleep." I comment softly, watching him nod at me while he notices me grab my bag before walking out.

"Hey! Matt, you forgot these." He says to me after a few minutes, just in time for to realize that the bottle of pills I had been prescribed had been left behind in the locker room with Tyler.

"Thanks man." I tell him, pivoting on my heels as I hear him tell me to take it easy before I head out the door. My mind is so focused on the pain as I walk towards my truck that I don't really notice them at first, the couple fighting in front of my eyes. He's yelling at her to get back into the restaurant that they've just left and she's not taking any of his shit. From a distance all I can see is her dark brown curly hair as she collides into me and we both hit the ground.

"Son of a bitch!" She utters out, getting up quickly and fixing her hair while she glances at her nails and huffs out an annoyed breath. "You broke my nail, asshole!" She exclaims, stepping back to stand near the guy that she had just been fighting with, seeming to have forgotten all about their little spat.

"Calm down, Katherine. I think the nice young..." He pauses, noticing my bag that's in my right hand before he adds in. "Firemen here, will apologize."

"Sorry." I tell them both with a head nod, turning to unlock my truck and inhaling sharply as they watch me nearly fall over in pain while placing my bag into the passenger side seat. "You alright mate?" He asks with a sly smile, patting me on the shoulder and squeezing down just a little. "Shoulder pain?" He questions, tilting his head to the side as I act as if nothing's wrong. Yet, everything is still so very clearly written all over my face.

I lean my back against the closed passenger side door, placing my hands into my pockets as he lets go of me and then examines me from a far. "You don't look so good." He observes, taking out something from his pocket and handing it to me as I glance down at the white card with black printed letters. "Klaus Mikaelson, M.D." I lick my bottom lip, giving him a perplexed look.

"You're a doctor?" He hears me ask as he begins telling me to have a nice day while he laughs a little before stating over his shoulder. "Not exactly. Well, not in the traditional sense. However, I'm sure that I could find you something for that shoulder pain of yours...Stronger medication, perhaps?"

I'm desperate and it probably shows as I nod my head quickly and tell him that I'd greatly appreciate some help in relieving my pain. "Great. Feel free to call me and I'll have you stop by my new place here in town. The girlfriend and I just moved here. New York sure is beautiful." He smiles, winking at me as he leans in and states in a quieter tone. "I'd love to get to know our neighbors. Starting with you." He tells me, turning away from me and leaving me standing near my truck with a small hint of hope about finally getting the relief I've been searching for. Maybe working with this Klaus guy won't be too bad and maybe he really will help me. "Sure is." I smile back, watching them start walking down the street as I glance down at his business card again and quietly thank god for allowing me to bump into him.

A/N: Things are about to get very interesting. ;)

-Until Next Time!-

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