I am so sorry. I could give you all sorts of reason but it basically comes down to this. My second dog died and school is killing me. I hope this chapter lessens you anger with me.

Elena tossed her bag on the bed, slowly turning as she took in the entirety of the room. Stefan had really outdone himself this time. The bed stood in the before floor to ceiling windows. The walls were painted a light blue and the roof was made of thatched straw. The whole of the cottage couldn't be more than 12x15 feet. It was just enough room for the bed, a small dresser, and the bathroom. The bathroom had a completely open layout. A small shower sat in the back corner next to a large soaking tub. The toilet was in the other corner and a sink between the tub and toilet.

Elena felt Stefan's arms wrap around her as he wrested his chin on her shoulder. "You like it?" He asked.

She nodded, sinking back into his chest.

"It's perfect, Stefan. Thank you." She tilted her head, laying a gentle kiss against the underside of his jaw. She felt his arms tighten around her waist as he nuzzled her neck.

"I'm glad you like it." He kissed her neck gently. She hummed as his hands began to slowly creep beneath her shirt. "God, I love you so much, Lena."

"I love you too, Stefan." She closed her eyes; reveling in the feeling his hands were giving her. Slowly Stefan turned Elena in his arms. He placed slow, open-mouthed kisses along her neck as he began to lift her shirt over her head. She raised her arms, allowing him to slip her shirt over her head. He tossed it across the room as Elena wrapped her arms around his neck. She hummed again as he began to trace her jawline with her tongue.

"Owe." She looked at Stefan. He was smirking back at her. "You bit me."
He chuckled. "And?" Stefan leaned forward, catching her chin between his teeth.

He slowly bit down on her chin before kissing down her neck to her clavicle. He nipped and sucked as she moaned. Elena's hands flew to Stefan's hair as he bit down at the base of her neck. He soothed the angry red mark before moving to the other side of her neck. He bit her again, harder this time.

"Oh, God, Stefan. Don't stop." She gripped his hair tighter as he sucked on the skin just beneath her ear.

"God, Lena. You taste so good." He nipped her ear. Elena felt her knees weaken as his breath blew across her ear. "I want to taste every inch of you. I want to experience every flavor you have to offer." He kissed her ear.

Elena pulled on Stefan's hair, forcing him to look up at her. "Then what are you waiting for?" She asked, her chest heaving as she stared into his eyes.

In a flash, Stefan had Elena over his shoulder as he flew to the bed. He tossed Elena on top of the bed before climbing over her. He stopped, taking a moment to appreciate her beauty. Her long dark hair was splayed out in a halo across the pillows. Her neck was spotted with love bites. Stefan leaned over her, slowly stroking her face before moving her hair out of her face. "You are so beautiful, Elena."

Stefan smiled down at Elena, slowly stroking through her hair. He loved the feeling of her weight on top of him. The ends of her hair tickled his bare chest and her breaths blew across his neck. He loved these moments

"Stefan?"
"Yes, Elena?" Stefan asked.

Elena looked down at their intertwined hands, playing with Stefan's fingers as she mulled over what she wanted to say. "There is something I have to tell you. Something I have never told anyone." She paused.

Stefan sat up, pulling Elena with him as he rested against the headboard. "It's okay, Lena. You can tell me anything. You know that."

She nodded. "I know that, Stefan. It's just... I haven't told anyone this. Not even Caroling and Bonnie." She closed her eyes.

"It's okay if you aren't ready. Elena, look at me." He tugged on her chin, forcing her eyes to meet his. "You don't have to."
"But I want to. I just, I just need to get my thoughts in order." She pushed herself up off his chest. "Okay. So, obviously you know that you aren't my first boyfriend." He nodded. "I had two boyfriends before you. Matt and John. Matt was great, really. I had a lot of trust issues when we met and he really helped me to work through them. When my parents died he did everything right. I just, I lost the spark. It wasn't exciting anymore. He didn't challenged me, not the way that you do."
Stefan smiled. "But you didn't start this conversation to tell me about Matt, did you?" He asked.

"No. I wanna tell you about John, Jonathan Teller. He was my first everything. First boyfriend. First kiss." Her gaze dropped to their hands again. "First time." Stefan rubbed her arm, encouraging her to continue.

"He was the perfect boyfriend and I thought that I loved him. But after a few months things got weird. He changed – right after we had sex for the first time. I was only sixteen. We did it once, but I wasn't ready. I told him that I didn't want to do it again. He said that was fine and that he still loved me, but everything changed." She wiped her eyes before continuing.

"He became very critical of me, I guess you could call it verbal abuse. An he got rougher with me. One night we went to a party and he got trashed. Like it was really bad. He passed out on the couch. It took me forever to sober him up so that I could get him into the car. By the time I got him to the car he was pretty damn aware."
She stopped talking, fighting back tears. "Elena, what happened?"

"He raped me Stefan. He was mad that I wouldn't have sex again and he was drunk. He was so much bigger than me and I couldn't stop him." She was crying now.

Stefan clenched his jaw, fighting the urge to speak. He wanted to talk but he knew what Elena really needed was for him to listen. She needed him to listen and be there to comfort her. He kissed her gently on the forehead. "Go on."
"By some act of God his dad got transferred right after that, and I never saw him again. I was really messed up after that. I got really depressed, I had all these thoughts of suicide. I actually attempted suicide when I was seventeen."
Stefan sucked in his breath. "Jeremy stopped me. I thought no one was home but he came home from practice early. He walked into the bathroom right as I was about to pop a whole bottle of oxycodone. He stayed with me until my parents got home. The whole time, he kept telling me everything he loved about me. Everything that made me special. If it wasn't for Jeremy I would have died that night. I look back on it now and I just, I wish I had known you then. Stefan, I was still dealing with this when I met you. My parents got me help, but I never opened up about why I did what I did. I just threw myself into swimming. It helped me but you have helped me heal more than anything else. You showed me what it was like to be loved unconditionally."
She looked up at him, her eyes full of love and adoration. "I was drowning in more ways than one, and you saved me." She touched his cheek. "Stefan, say something."

He took a big breath in before letting it out. "I am going to fucking kill him! How dare he -. Who the fuck does he think -. God people like that shouldn't be allowed to live. I... ah!"

"Stefan, it's okay. That was 5 years ago."
He scrubbed his face with his hands. "God. No, it's not okay, Lena. He did you wrong. He should not be allowed to get away with that. I'll kill him for what he did to you."
Elena sat up, sliding herself over Stefan so she was straddling his waist. She grabbed his face and forced him to look at her. "Stefan, he's dead. He died in a car crash last year. He was drunk and high. His car went over the side of a ravine. He can't hurt anyone else. Okay?" He nodded.

"It's behind me now. I made peace with those demons. I'm telling you because you need to know. I can't hide anything from you."

"I'm glad you told me, Lena. I am. I'm just. I just wish you never had to deal with that." He kissed her forehead.

Elena pressed her head against Stefan's, smiling up at him from underneath long lashes. "I love you, Stefan."

"I love you too, Lena." He smiled, the first smile since Elena had told him about John. "And, I think that is enough serious talk for one day." He flipped them, pinning Elena to the bed.

"You think so?" She asked, her tone playful.

"I do." He smiled, kissing her eyelids as her arms wound around her waist.
"Promise me something?"

"Anything." He kissed her forehead.

"Promise me you will never leave me." She looked up at him, her eyes full of vulnerability.

He smiled. "Such a silly thing to ask. Don't you know it's true?"

"But I need to hear it."
He nodded. "Well, I promise, to do everything in my power to make sure that I never have to leave you. I love you so much Lena. Nothing will ever change that. I will never hurt you."

"I believe you."
"Good, because I am so done with all this talking." He kissed her roughly, sucking on her bottom lip.

"You are? What are you gonna do about it?" She smirked up at him.

"Did you really ask that question, Miss Gilbert?"

Thoughts?