Stefan was standing behind Damon and Katherine so he wouldn't be the first one to see when the door swung open. Grayson's reaction to seeing him wouldn't be good. Elena was rocking on her heels back and forth just waiting. She wasn't sure why they were knowing on the door. It was her house after all and Katherine was never one to knock on any door for that matter. She decided not to question it now anyways. Stefan seemed to be lost in his own thoughts for the time being. She wondered what was going on in his head. Earlier she could have sworn that he was having the same flashback as she was of their first date. But he had pulled away from her like he had done a lot lately anyways. It wasn't like she was pushing herself into his life either. So she stood waiting patiently for her parents to let her in.

Stefan held his breath when the door swung open revealing Grayson Gilbert. The man of the hour. He was either going to let Stefan live to see another day or he would kill him right then and there tonight at the dinner table with his steak knife.

"Damon, Katherine so nice of you to join us." Grayson smiled greeting them. "Elena dear come on in." Grayson was happy to see his girls including Damon but he was confused about why they had knocked.

The three entered the house leaving Stefan to come into his view. He was like a stranger it seemed, an unwanted guest. It was his time to put on a show. He still had no clue what the plan was. Maybe dinner didn't have to be a bust and they could break the news afterwards. "Mr. Gilbert may I come in?" Stefan smiled his award-winning smile at the man. Elena's heart started racing. This was the beginning of the end for him. She didn't think she could watch this play out before her. Grayson had made it very clear about his feelings towards Stefan. Elena didn't agree with them but who was she to argue?

Grayson's eyes narrowed at the boy in his doorway. Miranda was on her feet in no time and coming towards the door when she heard the familiar voice. "Grayson, Damon asked my permission for him to come over." She said wrapping an arm around her husband's waist to calm him down or to either hold him back. No one was sure which one it was. Stefan wasn't sure but he knew to tread the waters with caution already. Grayson was not happy at all to see him there. Maybe this was going to be harder than he thought it would.

"You didn't think to tell me?" Grayson said while glaring at Stefan. Stefan felt uncomfortable with the man's angry eyes upon him. This glare was worse than the one he gave when he caught Elena sneaking back into the house after staying the night with him.

"I can go." Stefan said as Elena shot him a death glare from behind Grayson. Stefan tried not to laugh at her but his lips were deceiving him. Grayson's eyes grew darker when he saw the humorous grin on Stefan's face but he didn't know Stefan was laughing at Elena, not him.

"No." Elena spoke up and Grayson snapped his neck to look at her. He was not sure what was going on at all but he did not like it. "Stefan was invited." Elena spoke with a bit of fear in her voice. She knew her father was no happy at all about this. The last thing she wanted was to upset him. Stefan could piss him off all he wanted but Elena had to live with the man so she chose not to. "It wasn't my idea though." She confirmed and Katherine rolled her eyes because of course Elena would try to get the heat off of her. It was typical Elena fashion not to want their father to think she could ever do something wrong. Katherine was just ready for dad's face when Stefan broke the new's to him, she had her camera ready to get a snap shot for keep sakes.

"It was Katherine's idea." Miranda said knowing Grayson wouldn't dare argue with his eldest daughter. She too had Grayson's stubborn will. He looked at Katherine and she gave him a pointed look not to be rude about it. Grayson sighed with frustration turning his back on everyone and marching into the dinning room. Miranda shook her head with an apologetic look. "Stefan please come in, I set you a place at the table."

"Thank you Mrs. Gilbert." Stefan stepped into the house. He winked at Elena as he walked past everyone and it was a wink that did not go unnoticed by Miranda. This already felt like it was going to be a bad night if Stefan was up to no good.

Stefan took his seat beside Elena like he usually would when he was welcome. Damon and Katherine sat across from them. Jeremy was on the other side of Damon and Jenna sat beside Elena with Alaric beside her. Miranda and Grayson took the ends of the table.

"So how was the trip to California?" Jenna asked breaking the uncomfortable silence. She was actually curious because she had yet to run into Elena or Stefan. She had always been a fan of Stefan even after the break-up. Elena may have hated him but Jenna couldn't bring herself to be upset with the boy. He was too sweet to be angry with over something she wasn't even sure he did to begin with. Elena hated how close they continued to be after the break up, but she tried to bite her tongue out of respect for Jenna.

Stefan couldn't contain the grin that came to his face. Grayson was eyeing his every move.

"California was a trip to remember Jenna." Stefan told her. Damon choked on his food as Katherine couldn't hide the smirk forming on her lips. This kid was bold. Dinner would be nothing less than good entertainment if Stefan kept his act up. "I know I will never be able to forget it."

Elena felt like she was about to be sick. Couldn't he wait until after dinner to ruin the night? Didn't the boy want one last meal? "California was fun." Elena chimed in needing to direct the conversation away from Stefan. He was going to sink their ship before they even set sail."The beach was beautiful but cold. Us girls did a lot of shopping. I'm just dying to show you what all I bought." Elena gushed about her clothes hoping someone would be interested in what she did instead of who Stefan did. Elena began to feel the panic rise in her as she realized how close Stefan was to hinting at their marriage.

"After dinner I'd love to see it." Jenna sweetly told her, Jenna had to smile at her niece knowing something was up. Stefan didn't just come to family dinner for no reason and Katherine sure as hell didn't stick her neck out for the boy. Jenna was the only one who ever took Stefan's side in anything and it was usually because of her that Stefan got invited to some family events so he wouldn't have to be alone. Elena was nervous that much she could tell. She was too much like her mother for Jenna not to notice and Katherine's face was showing amusement which meant she knew whatever it was Elena was hiding. "So Stefan did you meet any famous girls while you hit up Hollywood?" Jenna figured she would join in on the fun and make Elena sweat a tad bit more. Jenna couldn't resist. Anyways Stefan had promised Jenna he would check out Hollywood and bring her back a souvenir for her, but he also promised to try and meet someone famous and get a picture. Jenna and Stefan had shared a bond with each other that was almost like brother and sister. Jenna took care of him in ways that a mother would since Miranda no longer could. Stefan had needed someone in his life and Jenna was more than happy to feel those shoes for him when need be.

Stefan laughed shaking his head. "I wasn't that lucky, but I did get very lucky one night there." Stefan's grin grew even bigger. He didn't know where this confidence was coming from. Maybe it was because he knew he was screwed either way. Grayson's temper was starting to rise he could already see it. "I have these awesome pictures of this girl I met." Elena's eyes widened with horror when she realized he was probably talking about her. There was no way they had taken any pictures at their wedding. They were too hammered for that, but if he had the proof then she needed to get her hands on them and burn them.

"Do we even want to know?" Damon said through a tight smile trying to get his brother to shut up. This wasn't the way he wanted to break the news. Stefan was headed for a death wish if he kept this act up.

"Oh we want to know." Katherine said. Elena shot her a death glare while kicking her under the table in the shin. Katherine winced and started to say something but stopped. She figured Stefan had this under control and would make it fun if she didn't out them just yet.

"I'd love to see them." Jenna smiled sipping her wine. Elena could tell by the way Jenna was smiling that she knew they were up to something and Elena's stomach turned again. If Jenna had them figured out already then she knew her mom knew something was up. This wasn't going to last very long being a secret if the Gilbert's already knew they were hiding something.

"I think we can save this for after dinner." Grayson said not at all amused by the conversation at hand. He didn't want to hear about Stefan doing anything. He didn't even want Stefan in his house or sitting so close to his daughter. Stefan was welcome to be around whoever in the family but not in front of him. Grayson had lost his respect for the boy when he broke Elena's heart.

"You are exactly right Grayson." Stefan pointed at him with his fork. "My shenanigans with..."

"Stefan." Elena hissed needing him to shut his mouth right that second.

"That's Mr. Gilbert." Grayson corrected him, his blood was beginning to boil. Miranda was in complete shock. Stefan was usually a very well-mannered young man especially in the presence of Grayson.

"Oh I'm sorry you're right, Mr. Gilbert. I forgot that I'm not allowed to use your first name anymore since I...well you know." He chuckled. Elena frowned when she realized he was talking about her. Her heart sunk, still to this day the break up bothered her and she hated talking about it with anyone. Stefan wasn't one to ever bring it up either or to talk about it with so little respect.

Grayson had stop eating and set his fork down to stare at the boy. Damon felt himself tense up at the situation before him. He didn't want to intervene out of respect but he couldn't let Grayson hurt his brother if it came down to that. So Damon was preparing himself to stop the two but Miranda beat him to it thankfully.

"Please stop." Miranda cut in. "All I wanted was a happy family dinner tonight to catch up on things. So please if no one can respect my wishes then leave."

Stefan felt guilty acting the way he was because that is just not who he was, but he needed Grayson to want to rip his head off when they broke the news so he would see just how awful it is for Elena to be married to him. "My apologies." Stefan replied. "Shall we eat now?"

Elena was thankful for the awkward silence between everyone until Ric started up a conversation with Jeremy and then everyone fell into their routine conversations at Sunday night dinner. Stefan was the only one left out because he had no part in this routine anymore. He had nothing to talk about. He was forming a plan in his head to break the bad news. In fact he was starting to become stressed with the idea of telling them. After finishing most of his plate he tugged at the collar of his shirt feeling overheated. Elena studied him curiously, his cheeks were beginning to get flushed. From knowing him so well she could tell that he was stressing out, he was about to break the news and it was becoming too much for him to think about. Stefan was literally freaking out. Seeing him so nervous about this was beginning to make her nervous as well about this whole ordeal. The whole night Stefan had been acting like an ass making it seem like he was in control but now he was second guessing himself.

"Stefan you don't look so well." Miranda told him. She could see the worry in Elena's eyes and her mother instincts were kicking in. Miranda could tell something was wrong if Elena was worried about him. "Are you getting sick sweetheart?" Miranda felt his forehead and then his cheek. "You don't feel warm, you feel clammy."

Stefan shook his head. "I'm fine. I think I'm going to get a bit of fresh air for a moment. Will you please excuse me?" He looked at her for approval. This was the Stefan that she knew. The gentleman who never left the table without permission. Grayson was curious about his sudden change in attitude. Stefan's sudden change had everyone curious about him.

"I'll go with you." Damon said beginning to stand.

"No, please stay. I just need to breathe for a second. Ever since that flight back I've felt a bit overwhelmed."

"His fear of heights set in." Elena lied trying to make up an excuse for him. Stefan was far from being afraid of heights. No, his biggest fear was sitting in this room beside him.

"Desert will be out in a few." Miranda smiled at him. "I'll save you a piece."

"Thank you." Stefan briskly walked outside. He ran his fingers through his hair taking deep breaths. He squatted down bending his head in between his knees trying not to hyperventilate. The idea of telling her parents was really beginning to eat him alive. He thought if he could be a jerk who had no emotion then it would make the thing easier but it wasn't helping. Stefan wanted to just run away from this all together. He was so close to just getting in his car and driving back home. His mind was made up he didn't want to do this anymore.

"Is he okay?" Jenna asked Elena.

Elena nodded her head trying to keep her composure. She needed to get it together and quick. If Stefan was falling off the wagon then she was going to have to take things into her own hands and finish this. "I'm sure he's fine. He probably is out there calling some girl." Jenna eyed her not believing a word she said. Stefan was far from fine and the panic was setting in on Elena's face. They were up to something.

"Probably that girl from California." Jeremy grinned getting a glare from Jenna. He knew then it was still too soon to talk about Stefan being with another girl in front of Elena.

"Tha or he is about to leave." Alaric mumbled. He wouldn't blame the boy for trying to leave. Alaric himself hated these awkward dinners.

Elena's eyes widened at that moment. Stefan was trying to leave. Damon set his silverware down and stood and Elena motioned for him to sit back down.

"Mom, dad excuse me I need to go get Stefan and remind him of how rude he is being. Katherine obviously went out on a limb here to be nice for once and her life and invite him. Now he is trying to run away as usual." Elena more than forcefully pushed her chair back and practically ran outside. Her heart sunk when she saw him. He hated left yet.

"Stefan are you okay?" Elena asked coming outside stepping onto the front porch. She was seriously worried about him.

Stefan stood up looking at her showing her for the first time his fear about this. He couldn't run away and leave her all alone at this time, not when she needed him. It would be the worst thing he could do to her this time around. "I can't do this Elena." He whispered. The tone in his voice was something Elena had not heard in a long time. He really was serious about not wanting to do this.

"Stefan we are already here." Elena told him quietly. They couldn't turn back now. "Katherine will surely out us if we don't tell them." Stefan sighed loudly running his fingers through his hair in frustration. She was right Katherine would jump at the chance to tell her parents about the marriage.

"Then lets both leave." He suggested. Elena had to admit that it didn't sound like such a bad idea though. "I've got enough money to just leave here and go away. You can be who ever you want for a year and I wouldn't bother you not once."

"We can't." She said sadly. "I'd love nothing more than to pretend what we did in Vegas didn't happen, but we can't live in fairy tale land anymore."

"I can't break your mom's heart." Stefan said with honesty. He didn't care about pissing Grayson off he only cared about hurting Miranda because she was a woman who actually did care about him besides his mistakes. She was like his second mother.

"We just have to tell them and remind them why this is such a bad idea." Elena didn't understand why he didn't want to stick to the plan. He was doing such a good job of it earlier in there.

"If they agree then we can never see each other again." Stefan said. He wasn't sure why that came out the way it did, like he was actually concerned whether he could see her again or not. "Not like it's a bad thing, but you know if we go through we won't see each other."

"Don't be ridiculous. We go to the same school." Elena was sure now that he was actually sick.

"Elena you know what I mean. If we go in here and tell them what happened and then get our marriage annulled then no one will let us within arm's length of each other. Your life will be forever monitored; I'll be banned from any family events. The two of us ever growing up and being civil once we get over our issues will not be possible. You know this right?"

The thought had crossed her mind that she would have to cut Stefan completely from her life once and for all. Even though it would hurt like hell she was willing to do it to protect herself from this marriage, to protect herself from Stefan. "Maybe it's for the best." She said quietly. They had both thought about the consequences of this marriage becoming public knowledge. If they got the help they needed then no one would ever allow them to reconcile their differences.

"This is what you want?" Stefan asked to make sure. "I'm willing to give up everything to just file for a divorce."

"I can't let you do that Stefan."

"Why? I don't want to be married to you and you don't want to be married to me. We can live our normal lives and just pretend like this never happened. You live here and I live at the boarding house. We go back to hating each other and you go back to Matt. We have the senior year we dreamed of without this drama weighing us down and then once the time comes we end this marriage. The day of graduation we can go file for divorce, I will pay for your lawyer and mine and it will be done privately. Our lives would still be intact. Elena you know this is our best option." Stefan pleaded.

Elena knew he was right about that. They could go against everything Stefan had lined up for him and keep their normal lives. She didn't want this drama and she also didn't want to break the news to her parents or Matt. Not telling her parents would still leave room in her life for Stefan and to be honest she would rather have them arguing than not have him at all. Looking at Stefan she could see the desperation in his eyes. He needed his life to not change, it was almost as if he was begging her not to make the move that would shut him out of her life for good. They were comfortable with the way things were between them. She was happy in life and he was happy as well.

"Okay." Stefan's face washed over with relief when she answered him. "We won't say anything."

"Thank you." He told her quietly. "Let's go before they question our motives."

Elena wasn't sure what she had just agreed to but she had a bad feeling that she had just made a mistake.

"Feeling better?" Miranda asked.

"Much." Stefan smiled pulling out Elena's chair for her as she sat back down. "Thank you for having me tonight. Dinner was delightful as always."

"Laying it on a little thick aren't we?" Grayson said.

"I'm sorry for my attitude before, I wasn't feeling like myself." Stefan apologized to him. "It won't happen again."

"Very well."

Desert went on and Elena was now the one staying quiet.

"So, Stefan, Damon here tells me that you will be getting your first chance to take on your role of the family business this summer." Miranda smiled at him.

Stefan in that moment realized that his dream would never be coming true now that he was going to go through with a divorce. "Yes ma'am I am. Damon here is going to show me the ins and outs of everything to know."

"As if you haven't been running the place since you were 15." Damon said proudly. "Stefan couldn't stay away from the place growing up. I swear the boy had so many great ideas to pitch in. When Zach passed away and left me in charge it was Stefan who helped me get the place back out on top. Without him The Salvatore would have fallen under."

"You're a lucky kid to be the one left with the family business." Grayson said. "Your mother loved the place. I used to come to visit your dad often and I always found her there in the office. She never once let the place feel like anything but home to everyone. I see her in you Stefan." Grayson had decided to tell Stefan that because no matter what it was true and maybe if Stefan was reminded of his mother he would start acting like the man she wanted him to be in life. Grayson didn't want Stefan getting the wrong idea though and thinking he did like him again.

Everyone at the table couldn't believe his compliment. "Thank you sir." Stefan coughed nervously looking down at his plate not knowing why the name had said that to him. No one ever spoke of his mother.

"She'd be proud of you and Damon. That place was her heart and soul." Miranda concluded. Grayson had always had a soft spot for Stefan because he adored Stefan's mother so much and he had told Miranda on many occasions that Stefan was just like her in many ways. Miranda could see the joy in Damon's eyes at the mention of Stefan being like their mother and she was proud of her husband for giving them a happy memory.

Elena couldn't take anymore. Stefan was not about to give up his life for her. He didn't deserve to lose everything he had worked so hard for in life to achieve all because of her drunken mistake with him. He was more than that. He wanted so many things from life but he couldn't do it without his part in the family business. Elena knew it was selfless of him to give it all away but she was done being selfish with him. She was ready to sacrifice her happiness for his own, in the end the truth was they wouldn't be married if it wasn't for her toying with his heart. She knew he remembered that night just as well as she did and the marriage was anything but a regret at the moment. They were not two sex crazed teenagers who were drunk.

"Stefan and I got married last week in Vegas." Elena blurted out before she could even stop herself. Everything went silent in the room.