Disclaimer: I own none of the characters from 'The Vampire Diaries' You all know who the credit goes.
Hello again :) Well new chapter is here and I'm actually really happy about how it turned out, this was not the way I had it planned but once I started writting I just couldn't stop. Please take it easy with Elena I know she's being stupid and all but she's just scared, plus I'm not very happy with her character on the show so that's maybe why I'm writting her like this lol I really hope you enjoy the chapter, let me know what you think.
Also I want to thank Amy (xxxMrsSalvatorexxx) for helping me out with this and of course thanks to all of you wonderful people who are reading this.
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I got used to living without you
Endless phone calls and dreaming about you
Always said that you were my man to be
but I guess I was in love with your memory
In another life- The veronicas-
.
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"Matt says that he's sorry for losing your tie, but look, we were able to find it." Caroline said, looking down and handing the fabric to Stefan.
"Caroline-" He said in a whisper.
"No, it's okay Stefan I get it." She said before taking a deep breath. She wasn't going to cry, for the life of her she was not going to shed one more tear over Stefan Salvatore.
"I'm sorry, I never meant for things to happen like this." He said, looking down, ashamed of himself for what had happened. She couldn't deal with this anymore - she had heard that damn speech just after he fucked her against the wall of the alley, she had heard him cry and say that he was sorry but she wasn't going to take it anymore.
"But it did, it happened and we can never change that." Her stony eyes stared deeply at him. "I am a terrible friend and I'm always going to regret doing this to Elena, but I won't regret being with you."
Stefan stared at her, shocked. What the hell was that supposed to mean?
"That's it, I love you Stefan, and I probably always will but you don't deserve me." The blonde girl said each word with fierce conviction, after the way he had treated her she was beyond sure that she deserved better, not someone who used her for her body and then acted like it was the worst thing to happen on the entire planet. Stefan didn't love her and she had to deal with that.
"I don't know what to say." He was looking down, not able to face her.
"You don't have to, there's no need for anymore words," She took a breath and spoke softly. "I'm going to be there today at the aisle, right next to Elena supporting her and supporting you, even when I know that this is the biggest mistake of your life, but I will do it because she's my friend and I love her. But I'm done with doing things for you, Stefan."
He could feel her slipping through his fingers, his best friend... how could he be so stupid? He was losing her because of a moment of blind passion. Why did she love him? How could she ruin their friendship like this?
He knew that he was being unfair, she couldn't control the way she felt about him. God, he wasn't even sure how he felt about her; he cared about her, missed her and truth be told he just couldn't imagine his life without her, but that wasn't necessarily love, right? He loved Elena, he was sure of it. Then why is it so hard to let go of Caroline, why did making love to her feel so right? He just couldn't understand why all of this was happening now, when he was getting married. Stop thinking about it Salvatore, you love Elena, you know that. She makes you happy and you have to make her happy.
Sometimes he wondered if Elena's love for him was real, if she actually cared about him enough to spend the rest of their lives together. He always wished she could look at him the way she looked at his brother but always pushed that thought to the back of his mind - if she was marrying him it was because she loved him so he had to stop thinking nonsense and he had to let go of his best friend.
"Caroline please, I'm so sorry. I never meant for any of this to happen, you know that I-"
"Yes, I know that you love Elena." She said coldly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to help my best friend go and get ready." She exited the room and ran down the stairs, wanting to be out of that house as soon as possible.
She needed air, she couldn't be close to him, not anymore, not after everything that had happened. She felt like the worst person in the world, how could she do this to Elena? Yes, she loved Damon but this was girl code, and she had broken it.
She wiped the tear that had escaped from her eye and climbed into her car. This is it. The big day is here and with that thought in mind she started driving towards Elena's house.
.
I know I said that I would keep my word
I wished that I could save you from the hurt
But things will never go back to how we were
I'm sorry I can't be your world
.
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Elena Gilbert looked at herself in the mirror in her bedroom; she was in her childhood house, getting ready for the most important day of her life. She was beyond beautiful: her dress was simple but gorgeous, the waist line was made of small silver incrustations and the dress itself was made of the most extraordinary lace she had ever seen. It wasn't anything dramatic or too flashy, it was just simple.
Her hair was tied up at the back in a delicate bun and she wasn't wearing a veil. Caroline had kept her makeup light just like she had asked which really amazed Elena; this was the first time the blond girl did something as she was told.
"You look amazing, Elena." Caroline said in a soft voice and with a smile gracing across her lips but even so, there was a trace of sadness in her blue eyes.
"Caroline, are you okay?" The brunette girl asked, turning slowly from the mirror to look at her best friend.
"I'm perfect Lena." She lied the best she could, truth be told this was the worst day of her life but she wasn't going to ruin her best friend's day.
"Are you sure? You look sad." The brunette girl got closer to her and wiped a teardrop that fell from Caroline's eyes.
"It's nothing sweetie, wedding's just get me all emotional," She answered with a watery smile. "I'm really happy for you."
"Thanks." Elena answered softly.
"But you can still back out, you know." Caroline said nonchalantly while fixing the lace above her waist. "You don't have to do this if you don't want to."
"I know," Elena answered taking a deep breath. "I know."
"I just wanted to make sure you knew that." Caroline took hold of her hands and looked at her straight in her eyes. "You deserve to be happy." She placed a kiss on her cheek and exited the room leaving a confused Elena Gilbert behind.
The girl looked at herself in the mirror once again and took a deep breath. Suddenly, images of Damon started coming to her: the first she saw him on the porch of that summer house, the first time they made love, the first time he kissed her, their multiple times at the falls, the first time she listened to their baby's heartbeat.
How is it possible to love someone that much? Since the first time Damon's lips had touched hers she knew that she was lost, she had pictured their entire life together and she was giving up on it right now. But why?
She didn't realize she was crying until she felt the warm liquid at her lips. She quickly cleaned up her eyes and closed them tightly. This didn't feel right, it never did. Then why was she doing it?
'Because you are stupid, Elena Gilbert.' the voice inside her head started screaming at her and she knew the damn voice was right, she couldn't do it, she didn't belong here. Her place was with him.
She looked at herself once again in the giant mirror and then turned to her closet; she picked up a bag and started to throw things in it. God he had to take her back, she knew that she wouldn't survive if he didn't.
Elena hadn't felt this joy and fear since she had left him ten years ago, she was so scared but in the pit of her stomach she knew that this was the right thing to do, there was no other way for her - just him. And hurting Stefan was never what she wanted to do but hurting Damon was not an option either, and she had already done a lot of that. It didn't matter about what had happened in the past, she just needed him now.
She removed her white shoes and was about to untie the bun on her head when her mother opened the door.
"Elena, what the hell are you doing?" Isobel asked in an alarmed voice when she saw the bag on her daughter's bed.
"I'm sorry mom but I can't do this. I still love him." Elena didn't need to say his name for Isobel to know who she was referring to.
"This is insane, you can't do this." The older woman tried to gain some composure and walked towards her daughter. "You're going to ruin your life."
"No, I will ruin it if I marry Stefan, because I don't love him the way I love Damon." She spoke each word carefully, trying her best to make her mother understand that no matter what everyone else wanted or thought, she loved Damon, against all odds.
"Elena listen to me for just one second," Isobel placed her hands on each cheek of her daughter's face and looked at her in the eyes. "Marrying Damon would ruin your life, have you forgotten what he did to you? How much you suffered?"
"It doesn't matter anymore, he-" Isobel interrupted her immediately.
"There's no excuse for it, do you want to spend the rest of your life feeling like that? With your heart crushed from all of the pain he's going to inflict on you? He's just trouble Elena, he could never love you the way you deserve." Elena was boiling inside, she wanted to yell at her mother and say that she had no idea what her relationship with Damon was like, that she didn't know him at all, didn't know what he was capable of but decided to stay quiet. Her mother was enraged and she didn't want to make this a bigger mess than it already was.
"Mom, I've already made my choice." Isobel released her and turned to stare at the door.
"Elena I love you, but I swear to you that if you walk out that door you will never see us again: not me, not your father and not Jeremy as long as he lives." Isobel spoke each word carefully and Elena couldn't believe what she was saying.
"Mother you can't do that! You're not being serious." The tears were already gathering in her eyes.
"I am Elena, if you do this than I won't want anything to do with you anymore."
Elena felt her world collapse in that moment and all the joy she was feeling minutes ago evaporated from her body. How can she choose between the love of her life and her mother?
"Baby I just want what's best for you." Isobel turned to her once again and cleaned up the tears that were on her cheeks. "You say that he loves you, yet he never tried to find you." And with that she cracked the last of her barriers.
That was something that Elena had always wondered, he knew where her parents lived, hell, they never even left Mystic Falls. So why did he never try to find her? He claimed that he loved her and that he never stopped loving her, but why did he not do anything to get her back? He did nothing until she was engaged to his brother. But of course Elena didn't know about the letter, the letter she never wrote but he read. The letter that made him think she didn't love him, that he wasn't good enough for her. The letter Isobel Gilbert gave to him, the one Elena never knew of.
"Come on, let's get you cleaned up." Her mother said softly while taking a tissue and cleaning the tears off her face. "We'll have to redo your make up in record time, everyone is already in the church." Elena stood still, frozen. She couldn't hear anything, she couldn't feel anything. She was just numb.
.
You know I love you, I really do
But I can't fight anymore for you
And I don't know, maybe we'll be together again
Sometime, in another life
In another life
.
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"What are you doing here?" Damon asked with annoyance in his voice the minute he saw her standing in his doorway.
"I'm here for my friend." Bonnie answered with an equal amount of annoyance.
"Don't you have a wedding to go to?" He said when he saw her attire.
"Don't you?" She fired back.
"Yeah maybe in my next life." He said and turned to walk inside the living room while leaving the door open for her to enter.
"You have no idea how hard it was for me to come here, so I'll be quick."
"That's great." He said with a smirk and brought the bottle of bourbon to his lips. He wasn't drunk enough for this conversation, not yet.
"She loves you, you know that right?" The brunette girl said while looking down at Damon who was currently lying on the couch nursing a bottle of booze.
"If that was true, she wouldn't be at the church right now." He said with anger and a little bit of despair. He felt numb, today she was going to become his brother's wife, she was going to be completely his.
"She saw you kissing Rebekah, ten years ago, she saw you." Bonnie spoke softly while she took a seat on the couch opposite from him.
"What?" He said, almost choking on the alcohol.
"You guys were kissing, she was shoving her tongue down your throat, she saw it and ran away. Then Mason Lockwood found her and told her that you just used her, you just wanted to sleep with her and then toss her aside. She was devastated, crushed and the next thing I know her mom is taking her far away from you, saying that she knew you would only hurt her." Damon's eyes widened at Bonnie's words, that son of bitch Mason, he was going to rip his head off the minute he saw him.
"That's why she left." He said in a whisper.
"Yes."
"But that's so stupid!" Damon sat down immediately, anger boiling inside of him. "Why didn't she confront me? Why didn't she say anything?" He was beyond angry at the situation, at the stupidity of all of this. God damn Rebekah Michelson, he was going to kill her too.
"Damon, you know Elena, she loves running away, she's an expert at it. Her heart is always in conflict with her mind so the only thing she knows to do is ignore it and run, she thinks that way it will all go away."
"I cannot believe this!" He covered his face with his hands; he wanted to cry, he wanted to smash something against a wall, Mason's head - yeah, that would do it. This was stupid, they weren't together for stupid reasons. God, the whole world felt stupid to him at that moment.
"I don't like you, and God knows that I would love it if Elena wanted Stefan, trust me. But she doesn't, she wants you and I only want what's best for her, so here I am Damon. I know that maybe you're sick and tired of her rejection, but good lord I'm begging you, do something to stop that stupid wedding!" Bonnie's eyes were blazing with something that he couldn't name and the determination the girl had was contagious because he could feel himself get excited with the idea of finally getting Elena back, but he still had his doubts. He couldn't handle her rejection again, he just couldn't. If she sent him away again this time he wouldn't survive, he was sure of that.
"She won't take me back Bonnie, its over." He said and drank from his bottle once again.
"Only if you say so. If anyone here can stop her from making this huge mistake it's you, no one else." She took a deep breath, praying to God for her words to have some effect on him and got up from the couch. "Make a decision Damon." She said before walking to the door.
"Wait!" He yelled at her. Bonnie stood sill at the door and saw him put the bourbon on the table, fix his shirt and then give her a smirk. "It seems like we have a wedding to crash."
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The way you're holding on to me makes me feel like I can't breathe
Just let me go, just let me go
It just won't feel right inside. God knows I've tried
You know I love you, you know I do
But I can't fight anymore for you
And I don't know, maybe we'll be together again
Sometime, in another life
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"You okay sis?" Jeremy asked with concern in his voice when he saw the state his sister was in.
"I'm fine, just a little nervous." She answered with a small smile.
"You don't have to do this if you don't want to." He said and gave a reassuring squeeze to her arm before going inside the church. Does everyone think that this is a mistake? Elena thought to herself, 'I know I do'.
"Are you ready kiddo?" John said, standing right next to Elena at the doors of the church.
"Yep." She whispered, empathizing the 'p' just like she always did. She had to stop thinking about him, she just had to.
"Then let's go." John linked their arms together just as the wedding march started to play. They started to walk slowly towards the aisle and Elena felt her stomach churn, she could throw up at any minute, she was sure of it.
"Dear God." She whispered slowly but John preferred to ignore the sound coming out of his daughter's mouth.
She spotted Julian sitting with Beth on a bench close to the aisle and that made her felt more at ease, that was the effect the kid had on her. Then she turned to look at Stefan: he was beyond handsome, his tux made him look perfect and the glow in his eyes made her feel instantly guilty. He definitely didn't deserve this.
She couldn't spot Bonnie, she was supposed to be right next to Caroline on the aisle but she just couldn't find her anywhere. She turned to see Caroline who gave her a worried look. Where the hell was Bonnie?
They finally reached the end and her father kissed her cheek softly before depositing her hand into Stefan's. The blonde guy gave her a light smile and she had to smile back even though she was already forming a plan to run away. Maybe she could pass out, or she could just run like Julia Roberts did in that movie.
'Stop it Elena!' She scolded herself, 'stop being childish, this was your choice and it's for the best, your mother was right. If Damon really loved you he would have looked for you, but he didn't, he gave up on you. You have to do this for them, you've already put your parents through so much, this is the one thing you can do to repay them.'
"Dear friends and family, we are gathered here today to witness and celebrate the union of Stefan Salvatore and Elena Gilbert in holy matrimony. Through their time together, they have come to realize that their personal dreams, hopes, and goals are more attainable and more meaningful through the combined effort and mutual support provided in love, commitment, and family; and so they have decided to live together as husband and wife." The priest started as Elena stole glances around the church. He wasn't there, of course she didn't expect for him to be there just watching her get married to his brother, but she just hoped…
"Love is always patient and kind; it is never jealous, love is never boastful or conceited; it is never rude or selfish; it does not take offense, and is not resentful. Love takes no pleasure in other people's sins but delights in the truth; it is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope, and to endure whatever comes. Love does not come to an end." Elena felt like crying at hearing the words coming from the priest. She didn't feel any of those things, love wasn't that for her at the moment because she didn't love the person right next to her, not the way everybody expected her to.
Stefan looked at her like he was feeling the distress she was in and gave her a reassuring smile, and she felt that stab of guilt once again. God, why did she let everything get so screwed up?
"True marriage begins well before the wedding day, and the efforts of marriage continue well beyond the ceremony's end-" The priest had started again but Elena was distracted by the sound of footsteps running towards her and then she heard the most beautiful voice, the one she could never confuse with anothers.
"Stop! Stop this!" Damon yelled at the top of his lungs while the people around stared at him in shock.
Elena turned around and saw him standing there with Bonnie right next to him. "Elena, you can't do this." Out of the corner of her eye she was able to see the shaken expression on Stefan's face and she was able to hear the 'finally' come out of Caroline's mouth but at the moment her entire attention was on the blue eyed man in front of her. "You can't marry him," He said with determination in his voice as he walked closer to her. "You can't marry someone who isn't me."
So? Was it good?
The words of the priest belong to a website with some weddings script on it, so totally not mine :)
