As Stefan woke up he couldn't wipe the smile off of his face as he pictured what it will be like to start a family and a life with Elena.
Every image that filled his mind was more wonderful than the last.
He couldn't believe that he was getting the chance to be a father after so many years of thinking that was taken away from him.
"Good morning love," Stefan whispered as he tenderly pressed his lips to her stomach which was just starting to show.
Elena just sighed in contentment as Stefan left gentle kisses on her tummy.
"I love it when you call me that," Elena breathed out with a smile on her face.
"When I call you love?" he asked as he slowly brought his face up from her stomach back to meet hers.
"Mhm," she nodded as she placed her head against his chest, "It makes me feel special."
"Well it's because you are special," he told her quietly as he began to stroke her long hair.
Elena closed her eyes and let Stefan's touch take over.
It was the moments like these that she lived for.
She was so happy to merely be in Stefan's arms that she didn't need anything else in the world. His touch was all she needed.
They laid there together completely content for almost another hour before Stefan looked down at Elena.
"What do you think about going home and seeing a real doctor?" Stefan asked her softly.
He longed for more days in the lake house, and he knew that she did as well, but they both knew that it was time to face reality once again.
Elena buried herself deeper into his embrace soaking up their last few moments of bliss before nodding her head.
As great as it sounded to stay there forever, they both knew that they needed to go back home.
They eventually got out of bed and packed up their belongings before walking to the car hand in hand.
Elena's smile was so bright that it spread onto Stefan's lips.
It felt as though they lived in a bubble where it was just the two of them.
Nothing else in the world mattered to either of them, they were both just so beyond happy to be together and the thought of a baby elated them both.
"Thank you, Stefan," Elena whispered as they were driving away.
He was driving with one hand and holding hers in the other.
"Actually thank you," he said as he brought her hand that was intertwined with his up to his lips and gently kissed it while still watching the road, "I don't remember the last time I have ever been this happy."
Elena's smile grew as she looked at him if that was even possible.
"I have never been this happy," she replied as she continued to gaze up at him.
Stefan put on some music and they continued to drive down the twisty road back home.
Elena would giggle anytime there was a stop because Stefan would put his arm in front of her to shield her from any sudden stops, making sure that neither her nor the baby jolted too far forward.
She laughed at how overprotective he was, but she appreciated it more than he could ever know.
She never had anyone looking out for her for most of her life.
She had to endure countless beatings without anyone to protect her, and faced so much pain without a soul to lean on.
When she was with Klaus, there wasn't a single person in the world who cared about her, but now she had someone who would protect her from something as small as a red light.
After driving for about another hour they finally made it back home, but the second that they arrived something felt extremely off to Stefan.
"What is it, Stefan?" Elena asked as she noticed his expression change as they pulled into the driveway.
"Something just doesn't feel right," he said quietly as he used his vampire hearing to see if he could hear anything inside the house from the car.
"Is everything okay?" Elena asked as she began to worry.
"Yeah everything is good," Stefan said unconvincingly before turning his attention back to Elena.
"You know what, why don't you stay in the car while I quickly see what's going on in the house."
"O-Okay," Elena said quietly as she grabbed his hand, "Just be careful okay?"
"I will be, don't worry," Stefan replied as he gently kissed her cheek and then her stomach, his lips lingering there for an extra second causing Elena to giggle.
He couldn't help but smile as he looked back up at her.
"Just keep the door locked until I come back just in case," he told her trying his best to hide the worry in his voice.
Something was not right, and he couldn't risk her getting hurt.
He quickly went to the door, and as he got closer, he could smell the scent of blood.
The smell kept on getting stronger and stronger until he opened the door finally revealing what was making that terrible scent.
A dead werewolf's head was lying on the floor of the entrance to the boarding house.
Suddenly Stefan knew exactly who was behind this.
He sprinted as fast as he could back out the door but he was too late.
The sight in front of him made him feel like his whole world just fell apart in an instant.
Every bit of his happiness was drained from his body and was replaced with complete and total fear.
Klaus was holding Elena tightly in his grasp with duct tape over her mouth to keep her from screaming.
She was shaking rapidly as tears streamed down her face, although she couldn't make a sound.
Burning fiery hatred filled Stefan to the brim as he saw the person who caused Elena so much pain and suffering right in front of him.
The look of fear in Elena's eyes was all it took for all rational thoughts to leave his mind.
It didn't matter that Klaus was an original vampire and that Stefan doesn't even drink human blood, all that mattered to him was that Elena was in danger.
"LET HER GO!" Stefan yelled as he lunged straight for Klaus, although right before Stefan could get to him, he quickly noticed Klaus's hand placement move to around her neck.
This caused him to immediately stop in his tracks, especially because he knew Klaus wouldn't hesitate to kill her.
"If you come near her, she dies," Klaus said icily as he gripped her neck tighter causing her to choke.
"Just one snap of the neck and she is gone, it's as easy as that," he said as he quickly increased his grip strength before letting her breathe again.
He knew that threatening her life like that would be all it took to get Stefan to comply.
"Hey Lena look at me," he gently whispered as he made eye contact with her, tears filling his eyes, "Everything is going to be okay, you are going to be okay," he said shakily as he kneeled down in front of her, although the pure terror in his eyes was obvious.
Klaus was holding onto her so tight that Stefan could see his fingernails beginning to form tiny scars up and down her arms.
"I love you so much, I am not going anywhere Elena," he promised as he made sure not to take a step closer to her in fear of Klaus hurting her again.
"I am right here my sweet girl," he repeated doing everything he could to soothe her without being able to hold her.
Everything in his body screamed at him to take her in his arms, to just hold her and never let go, but he couldn't.
He was forced to watch as she shook in fear, and he was not able to do anything to help her.
Klaus looked Stefan dead in the eyes before turning his attention back to Elena.
He began to run his fingers through her hair causing a weak whimper to escape her lips.
Stefan began to seethe with pure rage as he saw how Klaus was touching her, and the terror it brought to her eyes.
He wanted to murder Klaus.
"I missed you my pretty," he whispered into her ear as he continued to stroke her hair, "how would you feel about coming back with me?"
His hands slid down to her stomach, and an evil smile spread across his lips as he felt another heartbeat in there.
"Hmm interesting," Klaus murmured as he brought his ear down to her stomach, "After I threw you out into the woods I thought I killed you, but when I found out you were alive I thought there was no way that the little monster inside you had survived."
Elena just whimpered as she placed her hands over her stomach, almost as if she could protect the life existing there.
Stefan growled as rage consumed him.
Merely last night he and Elena were dreaming about their future and starting a family, but suddenly everything came crashing down around them.
He felt like he was going to die as he saw all the terror in Elena's beautiful chocolate brown eyes, and all he wanted to do was hold her in his arms.
He wanted to shield her from everything bad in this world, but he was forced to watch as his sweet beautiful girl shook in terror.
He wanted to rip Klaus to shred.
He wanted him to endure a slow and painful death, but a quick one would suffice as long as he was dead.
Quickly Elena looked over at Stefan and it looked like he was going to kill Klaus with his bare hands, although she knew he wouldn't.
They both knew that before Stefan could even get close to Klaus she would be dead.
"Aren't you excited to see me again?" he asked as he roughly ripped the tape off of her mouth allowing her to answer.
She let out a cry as the tape ripped off a layer of her skin from around her lips causing mini blood droplets to puddle around her mouth.
"Come on, we had so much fun together," he murmured into her neck as her face remained paralyzed in fear, "You were my best girl, you know that?" he whispered while slowly licking the blood off from around her lips causing her unshed tears to trickle down her cheeks.
Stefan could not let this go on for another second.
The fear and pain written all over Elena's face was too much for him to bear.
He had to do something, and he had to do it fast.
"Take me instead," Stefan pleaded as he got down on his knees in front of them, "Please Klaus I'm begging you, I'll do anything, just please don't hurt her," he begged with everything in him.
"Well, you see I could do that, but I have an even better idea," Klaus said as a devilish smirk spread across his lips, "I could just bring you along as well and allow you to watch as I have fun with your precious Elena... just like old times," he said smiling at some memory that Stefan knew had something to do with Elena.
Stefan began to seethe with rage.
"Take me instead you bastard," he grunted through gritted teeth as he stood up getting closer to Klaus.
"No Stefan," Elena whimpered softly. She didn't want him to get hurt.
Not even a second later she felt a hand smack her face so hard that she cried out in pain.
"Stop whining you useless slut, you know I won't hesitate to put the tape back on," Klaus threatened as she tried her best to stifle her sobs.
The second Klaus put a hand on Elena Stefan's whole expression changed from anger to sheer desperation.
"Klaus, please stop hurting her, I'll do anything if you let her go. You want a ripper? You got one right here. Leave Elena alone and you can do whatever you want with me," he begged with anguish filling his voice.
"You really want me to let her go?" he asked as he looked from Stefan to Elena's shaking form.
"More than anything," Stefan quickly replied.
"Fine then," he answered as he roughly lifted her up above his head, "Your wish is my command," he said as he slammed her body straight to the ground before Stefan even had a chance to react.
"ELENA NO!" Stefan screamed as he sprinted as fast as he could to get to her, although by the time he pulled her into his lap she was already losing consciousness.
The impact of the blow caused her whole left shoulder to completely shatter against the cement, and her head hit the ground with such force that she quickly began to fade.
"Stay with me Elena," he murmured as he bit into his wrist holding it up to her lips.
Elena just groaned and weakly turned her head away from him.
"Klaus… I'll behave…don't hurt me," she breathed out barely conscious.
Her eyes were clenched shut, and Stefan realized that she didn't even know he was the one holding her.
"Baby shhh, it's me, it's Stefan. Please drink this for me," he said desperately, "It will make the pain go away, I promise."
"S-Stefan?" Elena croaked as she slowly unclenched her eyes to look at him.
"It's me my sweet girl, I'm right here," he soothed as she feebly attempted to bury herself in his being.
He gently cradled her in his arms tears falling out of his eyes as he took in the current state she was in.
"S-Stef I-I hurt," she mumbled against his chest.
"I know angel, I know, but this will make all the hurt go away," he whispered as he slowly brought his wrist to her face, allowing her to surround it with her lips.
Elena closed her eyes as she let Stefan's blood enter her body.
Waves of relief swept over her as she let herself relish in the feel.
His blood overtook all of her senses, giving her an overwhelming sense of safety.
She felt connected to Stefan in a way that she never had before.
Elena whimpered as Stefan eventually pulled his wrist away from her lips.
"Please more… still hurts," she croaked as she reached out for his arm.
"I'm so sorry baby," he cooed as he delicately wiped away traces of blood from around her lips, "Too much blood could hurt you. I am so so sorry."
What Stefan didn't understand was that it wasn't just the blood that she wanted.
She wanted to feel the closeness to him that drinking his blood gave her.
She groggily nodded her head as she brought his arm to her face cradling it against her cheek.
She closed her eyes as Stefan surrounded her in his embrace, trying his best to shield her from everything around them.
He just held her close to his chest wishing more than anything that he could protect her.
Her eyes were clenched shut, and Stefan could tell that she was desperately trying to escape reality as she clung to him.
Suddenly Klaus snatched her out of Stefan's arms causing her to screech for him as she desperately reached out in his direction.
"Enough of that!" Klaus yelled at her as he raised his hand threatening to hit her again.
She flinched and instantly stopped screaming, but she couldn't stop the tears that were streaming out of her eyes.
"No, please no… Stefan, I need Stefan… please," she repeated frantically as she began to hyperventilate under Klaus's harsh grip.
"I SAID ENOUGH!" Klaus shouted as he relentlessly banged her on the head with his fist causing her to go limp in his arms.
"NO!" Stefan yelled as he sprinted to Klaus's side taking in her lifeless body.
"Don't worry I didn't kill her," Klaus told him nonchalantly as he saw the tears falling down Stefan's cheeks, "I wouldn't be able to have as much fun with her if she was dead."
Stefan was in a state as he watched her head unconsciously lull back against Klaus's chest.
He carelessly flung her over his shoulder as he began to walk away, almost as if she were as unimportant as a loaf of bread.
Her head was being flung around with every step Klaus took and Stefan couldn't take it.
"Can I at least hold her," Stefan rasped quietly as he took in her lifeless state.
"Will you shut up if I give you the little slut?" Klaus snarled.
Stefan stiffened as he heard Klaus call her that, but instead of fighting he just extended his arms toward her.
He would do anything to have Elena in his arms and away from Klaus even if it was just for a minute or two.
Stefan delicately took Elena out of Klaus's grasp and held her as if she were the most precious thing in the world.
He carefully stroked her hair with the gentlest touch he could give her as he cradled her close to his chest.
"Oh Lena," he croaked out as more tears streamed out of his eyes, "I will make this right, I swear to you, I swear."
He looked down at her stomach and pain consumed him unlike he had ever felt before.
He gently left a small kiss there as the tears rolled freely down his cheeks.
"Stay with me little guy," Stefan croaked as he continued to stare at her stomach.
The two most important beings in his life were cradled in his arms, and both of them were in terrible danger.
He needed to come up with a plan to get Elena
away from Klaus, but every single one of them ultimately resulted in her death.
So instead he just continued to hold her as he followed Klaus, praying with everything in him that she will make it out of this alive.