Previously in Barely a Memory…

"But he was dead. No pulse, cold body, dead. He wasn't just sleeping!"

Stefan gritted his teeth. He was beginning to get annoyed. "I'm alive. I'm not becoming a vampire. Let's just be thankful."

Elena closed her eyes. " It just kills me to think that you'll always remember falling in love with me again, but there's a chance that you'll never know what it felt like when I was falling with you."

He swallowed, his heart feeling heavy as she spoke, her pain apparent through every cracking word. "I know how much you love me," he assured her. "And I know what it feels like to have you falling beside me. Remember when we jumped off that cliff in Mystic Falls?"

"And," Stefan started, a little more playful this time. "We can always re-create those memories."

Although she lacked an invitation, Katherine crawled into bed until she was beside Damon. She was over the covers, he was beneath the covers. There were only about four layers between them, including clothing.

He counted.

For the first time all night, with Elena, Stefan knew what to do, one hundred percent. With his lips parted and his eyes closed, he leaned his head in until their lips met. It was magic. Pure magic.


Stefan chuckled against Elena's lips when she tripped over the threshold. His strong arm against her waist prevented her from falling, and for that, he was grateful. Extremely grateful. Then again, if Elena fell, they'd probably both just end up on the floor and…

Slam. She shut the door behind them hurriedly with a fumbling hand, refusing to pull away from his lips even for a moment. At this point, breathing seemed optional, and Stefan was sure as hell ready to drown before he moved away. Elena's lips were paradise. He felt like a saint and a sinner. He hardly comprehended it all, couldn't make sense of the combination of chills and heat flooding through his body and making the blood in his veins rush. All that he knew, all that mattered, was that the gentle, dull ache in the back of his head as his lungs cried for oxygen, was just as magnificent as it was painful.

This was every dying man's last wish.

Elena's eagerness mirrored his, and Stefan was astonished by the way she would faintly giggle against his lips every few seconds. He wondered what she was laughing at, but didn't bother to ask. Finally, she pulled back for a split second to breathe, and his stomach dropped in disappointment. He quickly went in for another kiss –it was his oxygen right now—but she pulled back, staring deeply into his eyes.

By the curve in her beautifully swollen lips, he could tell that she was amused. He glanced down as Elena began to slowly and playfully unbutton the top of his shirt, never taking her eyes off of his.

He swallowed the lump in his throat. This girl.

"So you think you love me?" she whispered, her breath hitting his cheek like a cool breeze on a summer day.

Eyes wide, Stefan just nodded. Elena chuckled. Then went the next button.

"Well," she began, bringing her mouth dangerously close to his. He was hyper aware of her eyes on his lips and her hands on his chest, his body both frozen and on fire, "I know."

Now, a slow, gentle smile began to form on Stefan's face as he gazed down into Elena's hooded chocolate eyes. "What do you know?" he chuckled, his touch on her waist so light that she could hardly feel it. She stopped unbuttoning his shirt after about the first three, barely exposing his chest.

"I know," she started, gingerly running her fingertips down Stefan's arm until her hands were atop his own, pressing his palms a little tighter to her warm, tingling skin, "that I think I love you too."

He leaned down to press a quick, tender peck on the tip of her nose, causing Elena to crinkle it a bit, and just like that, like a gust of wind, the heavy, hot, desperate air between them cooled. It was so pleasant; Stefan wanted it to stay like this forever. "You know you love me, Elena."

"Well so do you," she offered, trailing her right hand back up his arm.

"Do I?"

Elena grinned, her gaze falling on her hand. Stefan could not make out the expression in her eyes though the light curve of her lips was contagious. He followed her lead, glancing down at her slender fingertips as they danced up his arm to his chest, where the buttons had been opened. Achingly slow, Elena's hand made its way over his chest, right over his heart. Momentarily, she seemed to be awestruck by the discovery that she was making, her lips parted ever so slightly to let out a quick exhale.

"What?" he smiled.

Elena blinked, meeting his eyes once again. "Nothing," she laughed. "It's pounding. Your skin's warm. I'm not used to that."

Laughing, and suddenly bashful, Stefan tried to hide the warmth flooding into his cheeks by tightening his grip on Elena's waste and pressing his lips to hers. Instantly, she responded by pressing her body closer to his; she was so close now that he could feel the warmth radiating off of her. A wave of heat surged through his body, head to toe, as the moment's intensity increased again, and before he could even register what was happening, Elena was pushing the shirt off of his back. The second it landed on the floor, Stefan pulled her even tighter against him and began walking her to -what he assumed was—the bed. When her back came in contact with a wall instead, they both chuckled a bit. Elena smiled and wrapped her arms around his shoulders when he leaned down to kiss along her neck; vampire Stefan would have found the bed with ease, but she didn't mind that human Stefan had a less than perfect sense of direction. He had such a wonder about him now, such a vitality that definitely was becoming on him. Even now, as his lips moved from her neck down to her collarbone, she could sense the sheer wonder he was feeling by the slight trembling of his fingers and the pressure of his kisses. She had to admit, for not remembering where to even begin, Stefan had no trouble bringing Elena to a shaking mess within seconds. She missed him. She loved him. She wanted him.

Their lips collided once again and she swore that it was the best thing she'd ever felt in her life. Better than their last.

Quickly, Elena wrapped her arms around the back of his neck and wrapped her legs against his waist, happily willing to get lost in this euphoric sense of unity and love when…

Knock. Knock. Knock.

As if snapping out of a spell, Stefan turned his head to the door, his expression fading to a look of anger and frustration.

"Knock, knock. Steffy, Elena, time to hit the road! Open up!" Damon. Of course.

Stefan made a noise that oddly resembled a growl. "I'm going to kill him."

She couldn't help but giggle, although she probably shouldn't have. Frustrated, Stefan set her back to her feet and trudged to the door. Elena leaned against the wall for a long second, attempting to catch her breath, her body feeling like jell-o.

Stefan swung the door open, a glare present on his face. "I thought you said we were staying here for a while," he argued.

For a brief second, Damon took note of Stefan's disheveled appearance and then Elena's, though he chose not to acknowledge it. Elena couldn't help but feel the smallest twinge of guilt. "There's a witch about two hours away. We think she can tell us what's up with you. Y'know, not dying and turning and all."

Now Elena was the one to speak up. "It's 4 am."

"And if we leave now, we'll get there at 6. Chop chop!" And with that, Damon turned around and hurriedly made his way back down the hall.


"Well, aren't they adorable," Katherine observed monotonously, gesturing to the couple in the backseat of the car as they sped down the highway. Stefan was fast asleep, spread out all along the three seats, one leg outstretched hitting the opposite door while the other hung off of the first seat. His legs seemed to be at what looked like an uncomfortable ninety degree angle just so that Elena could sit between them, her back against his chest and head on his shoulder. She, too, was passed out. Katherine wanted to puke.

Damon took a quick glance back and rolled his eyes. "How unsafe. Not even wearing seat belts," he commented flatly, his grip tightening on the steering wheel.

She let out a dry chuckle and glanced at Damon from the side, eager to get a reaction out of him. "Something tells me they didn't do much sleeping last night."

The intensity of his grip increased tenfold. "They didn't."

"Shame," Katherine pouted. "I wanted him all to myself." When Damon did not respond, she turned to face him a little more. "How's getting over Elena treating you?"

He did not dare look at her. "Not discussing this with you."

"And why not?" she began, looking back out the window. "I could help you, you know."

Now she had his attention. "Help how?"

Katherine smirked to herself. "Help you get over her?" She sent him a sultry, smug look over her shoulder. Damon looked over at her before turning his attention back to his driving.

"Thanks but no thanks."

"We'll see about that."


Stefan was a little disappointed. The so called "witch" had a house that looked quite normal. Aside from the scent of strange herbs that wafted through the air, he could see himself living there. They knocked on the door a few times, and she opened it immediately, as if she'd been waiting.

The four of them were instantly greeted by a warm forty-something woman with an elderly face, the edges of her lips and forehead wrinkled from smiling too often. "Damon!" she said excitedly, stepping out of the threshold, wrapping her frail arms around the older Salvatore brother.

"Looking just as good as ever, Elysia."

"Such a charmer, you are," she laughed, slapping him across the shoulder. "Damon and I go way back."

Elena shook her head. "Damon, do you have a thing with every single witch you meet?"

"Almost."

She rolled her eyes.

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you!" Elysia said kindly, extending her hand first to Katherine, who hesitantly took it. Immediately, the ancient witch pulled her hand away, making Katherine glare. "Sorry, didn't expect a second vampire."

Elysia then turned her attention to Stefan, opening her arms wide. "This must be the special one," she welcomed, pulling him in for a hug. Elena could tell from the nervous expression on his face that Stefan clearly did not feel as close to this woman as she already did with him, but he hugged her back nevertheless. As soon as she pulled away, Elysia grinned, placing both hands on his face. "And what a special one you are. What a complex aura you have, Stefan."

Stefan glanced over at Elena in confusion, but she simply smiled back at him encouragingly. Lastly, the older witch turned to Elena with that welcoming look on her face, extending out her hand. "Nice to meet you, dear," she grinned.

"You too," Elena replied politely, placing her hand in Elysia's tight grip. Immediately, the witch closed her eyes and gasped, furrowing her brows before slowly pulling her hand back and glancing over at Stefan again. "Hmm. Ok, well, let's get started, shall we? Have a seat over here, Stefan."

She gestured to a wicker table resting on the porch, and Damon tensed.

"We can't do this inside?"

Elysia merely chuckled. "I'm not letting two vampires inside of my house, especially not this one." She gestured to Katherine with a friendly grin on her face. "This girl is a force to be reckoned with."

She smirked in response.

"You got all of this from a handshake?" Stefan asked, amazed. Elysia nodded.

"Alright, boy. Have a seat. I want you to place your hand in mine so that I can channel your aura." Puzzled, Stefan followed her instructions. The silence was tense and strangely deafening as the witch did her work, mumbling to herself with every new bit of information she received. Stefan closed his eyes, tried to concentrate his thoughts on everything that had happened to him, the things he knew, the things he remembered. Elena watched this exchange anxiously, biting her fingernails.

After a long moment, Elysia extended her other hand. "You, too, baby," she said, eyes still closed. Confused, Elena looked around. "Yes, you." Nervously, she followed her orders and took a seat next to Stefan. She reached for his hand, and when she found it, she gave him a gentle squeeze, which he quickly returned. For some wonderful, unfathomable reason, it sent goose bumps rushing to her skin.

Within a second, Elysia released both of her hands. "I got it."

"What is it?" Elena asked.

"Well," the witch began, looking between the couple sitting beside her. "You both are aware why you," she pointed to Elena, "became human in the first place?"

"Yes," Elena responded, wary. "He sacrificed his life."

Elysia agreed. "The spell itself, to sacrifice your life for the sake of one's humanity, is quite simple. The spell, though, can only be completed when performed between two people, two halves of a whole, if you will. It's rare, of course, to even find this in the first place. True love. For lack of a better word, it's the secret ingredient that is usually missing in order to complete this spell. Stronger than any herb or potion."

Katherine rolled her eyes for the hundredth time that day. "How sweet."

Damon, on the other hand, was acting oddly stoic. It did not suit him well. "We knew that. It was in the mythology. How does this explain why Stefan didn't turn?"

Looking among the group, the witch continued, "When Stefan died, he ultimately gave his ability to live to Elena. The spell you used to bring him back managed to harness this in a way, although I'm sure your witch didn't know that."

Katherine crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm lost."

"As soon as Stefan returned, he became linked to Elena," she explained. "The only thing keeping him alive is this one." She pointed to Elena. "If she dies, he dies. Vice versa; if he dies, so does she. They're linked now. This should not have happened. He should have stayed dead in the first place. Now you two are stuck. Dying together."

Elena had an iron grip on Stefan's hand. Living with Stefan and dying with Stefan didn't sound like such a bad idea; she never had to worry about being without him again. "Wait, why didn't I die when he almost turned?"

"He was going to become a vampire. As long as one is human, so is the other. If you wanted to live forever, you'd have to turn together."

The information was foggy in Stefan's brain, but he understood most of it, or at least the idea of it. If I die, she dies. That was all he registered, all he needed to register. He pulled Elena against him and let out a deep breath. He was being hunted by other vampires now. How was he supposed to keep her safe? If he ever got captured, if they ever killed him, then Elena… his body nearly convulsed with the thought. "Is there a way to break the link?" he finally asked.

Elysia shrugged. "Possibly, honey, but it would really mess with nature." She sat back in the chair. "I can't promise that if you don't break the link, you won't shatter the love. Everything is so fragile now. If you kids mess with this, there's a chance it won't be worth it. True love is rare. Do you want to risk losing it?"

"No!" Stefan and Elena both said at the same time. A world without loving Elena felt pointless to him. If he didn't love… if he didn't love Elena, he'd rather be dead anyways. He could tell by the look in her eyes that she felt the same.

Living together and dying together. That was the only real option, after all.


AN: Wow. Ok. There is actually no excuse for this. I am so sorry, everyone. This update took so long and I cannot apologize enough. I really hope I did not lose all of you. I am back, and I promise that the next update will be coming soon so long as I still have readers. I really hope that you all understand that my life has been crazy this summer and I have not been able to do much writing, but I am really going to finish this story and get an update out again soon. You will NOT have to wait another 3 months. Please just let me know if you are still here and reading.

I tried to return with a big reveal in this chapter, and I hope it did not disappoint. Stefan and Elena are linked! How will this affect their relationship? Will it make them stronger or create conflict? And what is going on with Damon and Katherine? Let me know what you think!

Please, if you can, leave a review letting me know what you thought of the chapter. If you didn't understand anything I introduced (about the link/ stefan dying), feel free to PM me and ask me, and I will explain. Please give me your opinion on the chapter though, what you loved/hated, etc. It means the world to me.

Thank you all so much for understanding! See you again soon!

Xoxo,

Sara