Stefan carried her all the way back to the boarding house as she slept in his arms.
Every few minutes he would stop to check her heartbeat to make sure she was still breathing regularly or feel her forehead to make sure she wasn't catching a fever.
He was so worried about her that he couldn't help himself.
Once he was sure that Elena felt totally safe again he knew that he needed to take her to see a real doctor.
The injuries to her stomach were great, but he needed to know if they were fatal.
As the sadness of what they might have lost was getting ready to consume him he just looked down at her and all he could feel was relief.
No matter what he was beyond grateful that she was alive and here with him.
He knows that it is going to be hard, but what he also knows is that they will get through it together.
He lightly kissed her forehead as she slept in his arms, and in that moment he knew that she was safe.
Once they finally arrived at the boarding house Stefan realized that for as long as Damon was around they couldn't stay there anymore.
He took one last look at the place he had called home for over a century and then looked back down at Elena.
He knew that he had to do whatever he could to keep her safe.
He noticed that Damon was out so he quickly brought Elena into his room and lied her sleeping body on his bed.
He locked the door just to be safe before he started to pack some of their clothes and other belongings into small bags.
After a moment he heard her squirming restlessly on the bed, and his heart broke when he looked at her.
Tears were streaming out of her eyes as she tossed and turned.
Quickly Stefan dropped the clothes in his hands and was already at her side ready to pull her out of whatever nightmare that was plaguing her mind.
"No, please don't hurt him, please Klaus, I'll go alone," she cried desperately into the sheets.
Stefan's heart broke as he began to lightly shake her hoping to wake her up.
"KLAUS STOP! STEFAN! STEFAN! NO! STEFAN! NOOO!" she screamed as she began to thrash in the bed.
"Hey hey hey," Stefan repeated as he pulled her thrashing body into his arms, "Shhh your safe Lena, I'm here, shhh," he cooed as he stroked her hair in an attempt to soothe her.
Stefan sighed as she began to calm down in his arms as he gently caressed her hair.
"Please wake up Elena," he whispered, "You're okay angel, you're okay. Just open your eyes."
After a moment of silence, Elena opened her eyes and found herself wrapped tightly in Stefan's embrace.
She looked up at him trying to separate her nightmare from reality, but she still felt extremely disoriented.
She shakily raised her hand up to touch his face to make sure that she wasn't still dreaming.
To make sure that he was actually there with her.
The second that her hand made contact with his skin her lips began to quiver as tears trickled down her cheeks.
"I'm here Elena," he whispered as he placed his hand over the one that was resting on his cheek, "I'm right here," he repeated as he let Elena's head fall back onto his chest while holding her closer in his embrace.
"Thank god," she cried weakly against his chest as she buried her head into his shirt, "You're alive, thank god," she quietly repeated as tears streamed down her cheeks and onto his chest.
She clung to him as she reminded herself that he was actually here with her and not a figment of her imagination.
Stefan was really alive.
"Don't worry my sweet girl, everything is okay now, everything is okay," he repeated as he held her close.
"I am taking us somewhere safe," Stefan whispered to her as he gently kissed her hair.
She tightly wound her arms around him as she nodded her head against his chest.
She didn't even need to ask him where he was taking her, she trusted him completely.
Stefan kissed her one last time on the head before he went to pick up their belongings from the dresser, but the second he removed himself from Elena a small whimper escaped her lips.
The second that Stefan let go of her fear took over and she needed to be in his arms again.
"Oh baby," Stefan cooed as he quickly reapproached her trembling body and pulled her back into his arms, "I'm here, I'm right here."
"P-Please d-don't l-leave m-me," she croaked out as she latched onto him.
She was so afraid that if she lost sight of him for even one second he would disappear again, and that thought alone was too much for Elena to bear.
"I will never leave you again," he swore as he waited for her body to steady against his.
"I promise you Elena, I promise," he repeated while gently caressing her hair.
After a moment he gently lifted her into his arms and brought her out to his car.
He needed to get her far away from here he thought to himself as he carefully placed her in the passenger seat.
He quickly got into the other side and began to drive away from their pasts, ready to start over in a safe environment for Elena.
The whole drive Elena clung tightly to his right arm, and eventually, she fell asleep with her head nuzzled against it.
He heard her murmur his name a few times in her sleep, but what caused his heart to break was when he vaguely heard her say don't hurt my baby.
He knew she was probably so scared when Klaus was doing whatever horrible things to her that he did, and Stefan wanted to kill him over and over again the more he thought about it.
Anytime she began to squirm in her sleep Stefan would leave a gentle kiss on her head and she would go back to sleeping peacefully.
It was almost as if he made his way into her dreams telling her that everything was okay.
He drove and drove all the way until they got to Georgia where he found a nice hotel for them to stay in for the meantime.
It was in a quiet area with not much around it besides trees and a few shops, much like her lake house.
He parked the car in front of the hotel and carefully lifted Elena out of her seat and into his arms.
She slowly began to wake up and clung to Stefan as she looked around.
"We are staying in a hotel in Georgia," Stefan whispered to her because he could tell that she was confused, "At least until we can find somewhere more permanent," he added as he continued to hold her tightly in his arms.
She closed her eyes again and nodded her head against Stefan's chest finding comfort in how securely he was holding her against him.
He effortlessly carried her along with their bags into the lobby of the hotel waiting for someone to give him a key to a room to stay in.
As they waited Stefan gently rocked Elena in his arms as he held her close to his chest.
"Shh you're okay angel," he whispered to her, "Everything is okay now. "
Finally, a man came out and gave Stefan a room key.
Elena's grip immediately tightened around Stefan when the man walked in, but Stefan just held her tighter silently telling her that she was safe.
The man looked at them funny due to Elena's bloody clothes and the way she was clinging to Stefan, but he did not say a word.
He just gave them the key and went back to wherever he came from.
Slowly Stefan brought her into their room and knew that he had to clean the remnants of her capture off her skin.
She will feel so much better once she is clean and warm he thought to himself as he brought her into the bathroom and ran her a warm bath.
"I'm going to get you all clean and warmed up, okay?" Stefan asked her softly and she quickly nodded her head against his chest.
Stefan sat on the toilet seat with Elena still attached to him as he gently took his bloodstained jacket and t-shirt off of her body, then her muddy jeans and converse, and finally her panties and socks before carrying her to the warm bath.
He gently placed her fragile body in the tub and pulled up a chair next to it so he could cleanse her body.
He lathered soap on a warm washcloth and gently tended to her wounds, wiping off all the remaining dirt and blood from her skin.
The sight of her damaged stomach caused a lump to grow in his throat as tears filled his eyes.
He gently stroked the skin there with the warm washcloth trying his best to soothe it with his touch, but he knew there was nothing that he could do.
The fear of what Klaus truly did to her down there caused the lump in his throat to grow.
He just brought his lips down to her stomach and tenderly kissed the bruised area before he finished cleaning her body.
After he finished, he put shampoo on his hands and massaged it into her scalp.
He continued to gently clean her uneven hair as he lathered more shampoo into her roots.
Then he cupped water in his hands and poured it on Elena's head to wash away the shampoo.
He was careful not to get any in her eyes before applying a small drop of conditioner to her ends.
He stroked her hair soothingly allowing her to relax in the tub for a few more minutes.
Her eyes were closed, and her breathing was even, but Stefan knew that she wasn't asleep.
This was the most relaxed he had seen her since he saved her, so he continued to stroke her hair until the water became cold.
He left a gentle kiss on her forehead before he carefully lifted her weak body out of the tub.
He quickly wrapped a warm towel around her to dry her off, and once she was dry he took her to bed.
He dressed her in her favorite one of his hoodies before he gently tucked her under the warm covers.
Elena quickly wrapped her arms around Stefan when he got into bed and she buried her head deep into his chest as she clung to him.
Stefan held her just as tight, and in that moment he knew that he would die before anyone lays a hand on her again.
He failed her, but he swore to her and to himself that nobody will ever lay a hand on her again.
"No one will ever hurt you ever again," he vowed as he lightly kissed her forehead, "You are safe now my sweet girl, you are safe."
He didn't think he could ever let her go.
He didn't think it was possible that soon after finding her in that terrible cellar.
No one could take his precious angel away from him again.
"I love you," she whispered faintly against his chest.
"I love you too Elena," Stefan whispered back as he gently stroked her hair which was still slightly damp, "I am so happy that you are here and that you are safe," he said as his eyes began to get heavier with sleep as he continued to soothingly caress her hair.
Elena just held onto his stomach even tighter as she nuzzled her head deeper into his chest.
If she could she would stay in his arms forever.
There is nowhere in the world where she feels more loved and protected than in his embrace.
She began to get really sleepy, although as she was on the verge of falling, flashes of him dying consumed her brain.
She opened her eyes and refused to sleep in fear of dreaming about his death again.
She laid there in his embrace silently listening to the steady beats of his heart as he slowly drifted off to sleep.
Every breath that he took caused his chest to rise and fall making Elena more and more grateful with each one.
She gently traced his skin admiring his beautiful face.
He looked like an angel as he slept, and she spent hours memorizing his features although they were already ingrained in her memory forever.
She was exhausted, but she could not bring herself to close her eyes.
Here she knew that Stefan was alive and with her, although in her dreams he might not be.
He was her everything, and the thought of losing him again caused fresh tears to fill up her eyes.
She just held onto him extra tight as she laid awake clinging to his side, reminding herself that he was alive.
A few hours later Stefan woke up as the sun began to rise in hopes that he could wake up before her.
He wanted to make sure that she wasn't afraid when she awoke, and he wanted to be there for her if she was disoriented after her slumber.
Although when he opened his eyes he realized that she was barely awake against his chest.
He quickly noticed how exhausted she looked, and he put it together that she did not sleep at all last night.
"Elena?" Stefan gently whispered as he held her in his arms.
"Mhm," she murmured softly against his chest as her eyes began to close before she forced them back open again.
"Did you sleep at all last night sweetheart?" Stefan asked her with concern in his voice.
She looked so tired that Stefan already knew the answer to his question before she groggily shook her head no.
"I'm right here honey, you can sleep," he cooed as he continued to stroke her hair, hoping that the movement could lull her to sleep, but she just shook her head again.
"Why won't you sleep baby?" he asked her with concern coloring his voice.
She just held him tighter not wanting to answer his question.
He didn't need to know that she was so terrified of having another nightmare about losing him that she would rather stay up all night just to make sure he was still alive than go to sleep.
Stefan decided only to press a little more in hopes that she would talk to him.
"Please tell me what's on your mind," he begged quietly.
He wanted to make her feel better, but he couldn't do that unless he knew the problem.
Elena could never keep her feelings bottled up around Stefan.
He always knew how to get her to tell him how she was feeling even if she didn't want to.
That was one of the many things she loved about him.
"I'm just scared of losing you," she murmured so quietly that only a vampire could hear her.
"Oh Elena," he cooed as his heart broke, "I'm right here sweetheart, I'm right here," he repeated as he held her closer.
"I know," she replied softly as a tear fell from her eyes onto his chest, "It's just that every time I close my eyes I keep seeing you die over and over again and it doesn't stop," she said as she began to cry harder.
"It hurts, it hurts so bad Stefan," she sobbed.
"Hey hey hey look at me," Stefan said as he gently cupped her face in his hands, "I will never leave your side again Elena," he promised as a few tears began to fall down his cheeks as well.
"You will always have me," he reassured her hoping that his gentle words would soothe her, but the pained expression remained plastered to her beautiful face.
Stefan was at a loss as he looked into her tear-filled eyes.
He realized that can't say or do anything take away what happened.
Nothing could take away what she saw.
"What can I do?" he asked her desperately.
He needed to do something… he couldn't bear to see her this upset.
"Hold me," she croaked softly, "please."
Without hesitation, Stefan put one of his arms under her knees and wrapped the other one around her back positioning her on his lap as he leaned his back against the headboard.
He held her as if he was a parent comforting a small child who was afraid of the dark.
He buried her body so deep in his embrace that it looked as if they were one person.
After a few moments, Stefan rocked her back and forth quietly shushing her in hopes to get her to fall asleep.
She burrowed her head into his chest as she clutched the hem of his shirt with her tiny hands.
The feeling of his chest rising and falling beneath her was comforting beyond belief.
She needed to be close to him or she felt like she was going to fall apart.
Seeing him lying motionlessly on the ground was too much for her to bear, and no matter what that horrible sight would be engrained in her memory forever.
"Nothing makes it go away does it?" Stefan asked her quietly as he took in her pained expression.
She closed her eyes and let a single tear roll down her cheek before shaking her head no.
"Not even when I'm holding you?"
"No," she answered sadly.
"What about when I'm kissing you?" he asked as he placed a gentle kiss against her hair causing a slight smile to appear on her lips.
Although it was barely visible, the minor change in her expression warmed Stefan's heart.
He just continued to pepper light kisses around her forehead and hair until a small giggle escaped her lips.
Stefan loved the sound of her laugh more than anything.
She had the cutest little giggle Stefan had ever heard and he just wanted to savor the sound.
After a few more pecks Stefan just rested his lips against her hair as she sunk back into his chest.
He put his arms back around her and he could tell that she was getting more and more tired by the second.
"Go to sleep my sweet girl," he whispered as he continued to hold her, "I will be here holding you the whole time."
"Promise?" she croaked out as sleep began to take over.
"I promise," he reassured her as he planted one last kiss against her hair.
With that, she nodded her head against his chest unable to fight how tired she was any longer.
Stefan always knew how to make her feel better.
She clutched the hem of his shirt as she nuzzled herself deeper into his embrace before she fell fast asleep in his arms.