"Good morning," Stefan whispered to the girl as she began to stir in his arms.
She rubbed her eyes as she yawned and to Stefan, she couldn't have looked more adorable.
It was past noon when she finally woke up.
She was sleeping so soundly against Stefan's chest, and he did not dare wake her.

"Hi," she whispered back as she nuzzled her cheek into his chest.
Stefan smiled as he realized she was getting more comfortable around him.
They laid there together for a few more moments and she had never felt so safe.
She let out a small sigh of contentment as Stefan began to rub gentle circles around her back.

A few moments later she looked up at Stefan and whispered, "Elena," before closing her eyes again, succumbing to the rhythm of his hands on her back.

"Is that your name?" Stefan asked.
She just nodded into his chest.

"Elena is a beautiful name," he whispered as he continued to stroke her back soothingly.
"It fits you perfectly," he said as he softly pocked her on the nose, and she let out the sweetest giggle he has ever heard in his life.
In that moment all he wanted was to hear her laugh over and over again.
He barely knew this girl, but her happiness meant the world to him.

"Would you like some breakfast Elena?" Stefan asked.
Suddenly she felt a sharp pain in her stomach and realized she doesn't remember the last time she has eaten.
Stefan noticed the pain reflecting in her eyes and realized that she must be starving.
She was extremely thin, so thin Stefan knew it was detrimental to her health.

"Come on let's get you something to eat," he said as he got up and reached his hand out to her.
She timidly took his hand and let him lead her to the door.
Right as Stefan opened the door Elena let out a small whimper and hid behind him.
Slowly Stefan turned around to see Elena trembling with fear while repeatedly shaking her head behind him.
He gently cupped her face in his hands trying to steady her, letting her know with his glance that everything will be okay.

"D-D-Damon," she shuddered as fear took over her features.

"Hey, hey, no, no, no," Stefan soothed as he began to stroke her cheeks.
"He will not lay a hand on you ever again. You are safe, okay?"

"Okay," she said hesitantly, and she walked with Stefan outside the comfort of his room and down the stairs.
The whole time she remained close to Stefan never breaking contact.
Once they got to the kitchen he lead Elena onto one of his barstools as he went around to prepare the meal.

"I just so happen to be an expert cook," Stefan said as he tied a hot pink apron around his waist causing Elena to giggle once more.
Her laugh was contagious leaving him no choice but to laugh with her.

"You like my apron huh?" he asked jokingly with a childish grin.
Amused Elena just nodded her head trying her best to not to laugh again.
The last thing she would want would be to annoy Stefan.

"I love it when you laugh," Stefan said after he opened the fridge bringing out tons of ingredients.

"Really?" Elena asked in disbelief.

"Yes," Stefan said warmly as he looked up at her, "and I hope I get to hear it more often. All I want is for you to be happy."

She felt hot tears pricking at her eyes, eventually spilling over.
Since her parents died, no one has ever cared about her, or her happiness.
All she has felt for as long as she could remember was pain.
His whole being crumbled at her reaction to his words.
He walked up to her and gently brushed her tears away with his thumbs.
She looked right into his eyes, and he slowly rested his forehead against hers.
In this moment time stopped for Stefan.
When he looked into her eyes, he knew from then on Elena would be a part of his life.

After a few more moments Stefan asked, "Do you like pancakes or waffles better?" in a fake serious tone, breaking the tension between them.
Without hesitation she excitedly blurted out, "Pancakes," automatically causing her face to turned a deep shade of red at her instant reaction.
"Well then pancakes it is," he said as he caressed her cheek one last time.
Every time he touched her skin, Elena's heart would skip a beat- he was the embodiment of perfection.
He had these deep emerald green eyes, and sandy hair that was just slightly messy, and warmth just radiated from his being.
Something about him made her feel unlike she has ever felt before.

She sat there and watched as he prepared the pancakes from scratch putting so much effort into them especially for her.
She couldn't help but smile as she watched him.

A few minutes later Stefan glanced at Elena and his heart swelled with warmth at the expression on her face.
She looked so relaxed as she watched him cook, and he saw a genuine smile displayed across her face.
Every time Stefan was the reason for her smile he considered it a major victory.

After he finished cooking, he stacked the warm fluffy pancakes on her plate, pouring syrup all over the top, and adding a generous squirt of whipped cream.
He might have put a few too many pancakes on the plate, but he needed to make sure she would not be hungry anymore.

"Thank you so much," she whispered her voice displaying so much gratitude towards him.
The second she brought a piece of the pancake up to her lips, her eyes widened.
She had never tasted anything so delicious in her life.
It has been days since she had eaten and this was the most amazing thing she has ever ingested.
The pain in her stomach quickly surrendered to the delicious fluffy goodness she was putting in her mouth.

After she took a few more bites, the memories from being captured by Klaus suddenly consumed her, completely draining the current happiness from her body.
She remembered the unbearable pain and hunger she felt when he would starve her for days, and she remembered the horrible kibble he would feed her only to keep her barely alive.

Stefan's heart broke as he saw tears fill up her glossy brown eyes.
He noticed all the previous contentment completely wash away from her face, getting replaced by fear once again.
He knew mentally she was not with him anymore; her mind was somewhere else.
He tried to bring her back to him, doing everything he possibly could to help her stop reliving the memories from her awful past.

Suddenly Elena was back in her cell with her hands and feet tightly chained up leaving her on the cold ground.
She was so hungry that her insides were clenching in all directions making her feel as though she was going to pass out any minute.
She had not eaten in three days.

"Aww poor thing," Klaus mocked as he leisurely strolled down the steps towards her cellar. "Are you a hungry girl?" he asked in a high-pitched baby voice making Elena's face turn bright red as she nodded.
She was ashamed, but she knew that if she doesn't eat soon, she will pass out.

"Come to me I'll give you a special treat to munch on," Klaus said motioning her to the front of the cell.

Elena inched her way over to Klaus to the best of her abilities while her hands and feet were tied up.
She was so hungry that she did not care how humiliating this was, she needed food.

Klaus rolled a tiny handful of brown pellets through the bars onto the dirty ground.
"Here you go, enjoy," Klaus taunted as she propped herself up on her knees overlooking what he just threw at her.

"Don't just look at it!" Klaus yelled, "Eat what I give to you! Be grateful I am even keeping you alive!" he shouted angrily.

Elena whimpered as she brought her face down to the ground digesting the revolting kibble off the floor.
Klaus just watched her as she ate, thoroughly enjoying watching her struggle.
After she ate all of it she looked back up at Klaus who wore a satisfied smile on his face..

"You have some brown stuff on your face you disgusting animal," Klaus scoffed before walking back up the steps leaving Elena alone in her cell.

She tried to wipe her face but her hands couldn't free themselves from the chains, so she just rolled over on her side again curling up into a ball as she wept.

Suddenly she could hear Stefan's voice pulling her out of the flashback.
Slowly, she began to differentiate her memories from the present as she desperately latched onto Stefan's soothing words.

"Hey, Lena, please come back," he whispered to her gently as he covered her hand with his own. He slowly began to rub circles on the top of her hand with his thumb gradually coaxing her back to reality.
"You are okay, you are safe," Stefan whispered desperately trying to bring her back to him.

"Please don't make me," she breathed out as a tear rolled down her cheek.
She was shaking.

"Don't make you what?" Stefan asked concern lasing his voice.

"Don't make me eat the kibble. I'll be good, I'll do anything you say just please don't make me," she sobbed.

"Hey, hey, come here," Stefan said as he cradled her in his arms.
"You will never have to go through that again," he whispered while stroking her hair.
Tears welled up in his eyes as he held her close to his chest.
He just rocked her back and forth on his lap until her breathing calmed down and her tears stopped.

"What did Klaus do to you?" Stefan asked, willing his tears not to spill over.

"H-how did you know I was with K-Klaus?" she asked as her eyes widened with shock.

"I heard you talking in your sleep last night honey," Stefan said soothingly while continuing to stroke her hair.
"You were asking him to kill you instead. What did he do to you Elena?"

Gut wrenching pain flashed over Elena's features, and she buried her face into Stefan's chest before she spoke.
"He killed my parents and locked me and my brother Jeremy up in an underground cellar.
We were down there for years Stefan, everyone thought we died in the fire," Elena said as she began to shake in Stefan's embrace.

"What fire sweetie?" Stefan said while stroking her hair- his heart breaking more and more for the girl in his arms.

"He burned our house down with our parents inside and took me and Jeremy away- he made it look like an accident.
It was so cold and dark where he took us Stefan, he treated us so badly until..." Elena couldn't even finish her sentence as her body began to rack with harsh sobs.

"Shh it's okay, we don't have to talk about it, shhh," Stefan cooed but she just shook her head against his chest.

"Until he killed Jeremy," she cried into his shirt.
"And then he threw me in the woods to die until Damon found me."

His heart completely broke.
He quickly wiped his eyes as he realized her hair was getting wet from the tears rolling down his cheeks.
He hugged her closer as he continued to rock her back and forth in his embrace.
He could not imagine everything she has been through, on top of everything she hasn't even told him yet.
Stefan did not even want to think about the terrible things Klaus did to her when she was locked up.

After a few more moments Elena's face turned bright red again and she looked away from Stefan burying her head in her hands.
She was too embarrassed by her weakness to even look at him.
He just wanted to make her breakfast and she couldn't even eat it without having a mental breakdown.

"You're weak, you're an idiot, you're worthless, you're a slut, you're an animal," she quietly muttered to herself under her breath while smashing the base of her palm against her forehead increasingly harder with each insult.

Quickly Stefan caught her hand in his before she could hurt herself further and kissed her on the forehead.
"Elena, I need you to know that you are none of those things. You are so incredibly strong, and kind, and you are not an animal. You are a beautiful human being who is worth everything this world has to offer," he said as he kissed her forehead once more in place of her harsh hits.
"I wish that you could see it to. I wish you knew just how special you are."

She looked up at him with those beautiful glossy brown eyes and all he could do was envelope her small form in his arms never wanting to let her go.
Carefully, he lifted her up bridal style and carried her back to his room.
He gently placed her on his bed and tucked her in making sure she was comfortable.

"You won't be sad forever Elena," he said as he brushed away the remaining tears lingering on her cheeks.
She looked up at Stefan, and if he wasn't mistaken, he saw a glimmer of hope in her eyes.

"How do you know?"

"Because I will make sure of it," he promised as he kissed her head.
She leaned into the kiss and closed her eyes.
She believed him, or maybe it was more of a case of believing in him.
As she curled up in Stefan's bed, she could feel her life taking a turn for the better.
She was so warm and comfortable under the blankets that her body could not resist falling asleep immediately.

He sat next to her on the bed stroking her hair while she slept.
As he looked at her, he couldn't ignore how breathtakingly beautiful she was.
She had the most perfect skin, and the most beautiful brown eyes.
Her hair was so silky and long, and she had the cutest laugh he had ever heard.
When he caught glimpses of her smile his heart would stop and he would do anything to make her smile again.
Even when she was crying, all he wanted to do was hold her and give her every ounce of comfort his body could muster up.
Stefan knew that she had a heart of gold, and he would do everything in his power to ensure that the world doesn't break it beyond repair, if it hasn't been already.

"I am so sorry," Stefan whispered to Elena as he continued to stroke her hair.
"You don't deserve the life you have had, I am so so sorry."