So lately, been wondering

Who will be there to take my place

When i'm gone, you'll need love

To light the shadows on your face

If a great wave shall fall

It would fall upon us all

And between the sand and stone

Could you make it on your own?

Long lost & gone

Chapter 2

There were 8 bodies sitting in the living room of the boardinghouse. Stefan and Elena had invited their friends and family for a dinner party. They were having a great evening, probably because everybody was drunk, some of them weren't even just drunk anymore, they were wasted.

Elena couldn't remember who suggested playing this game but she guessed it was Caroline. So now they were going to play drink or disclose, after a lot of stubbornness she had convinced her guests she wouldn't play strip or disclose with her aunt and brother in the room.

When Elena brought back the extra booze from the kitchen in the room, the girls team was sitting on the floor, Bonnie lay on her stomach, her chin resting on a pillow, Jenna was still dancing and singing thanks to the booze, but they would get her on the floor eventually.. and Caroline was writing down questions for the boys who were sitting with the four of them on the big couch, Tyler and Jeremy looked way more comfortable than Stefan and Alaric.

" Girls first " Caroline giggled. " How old were you the first time you stuck your penis in a girl?" she had tears in her eyes now and was rolling over the floor in pleasure, she had way too much to drink. The rest of the girls laughed with her when they saw the faces of the men drop.

"Well, come on ! Take a shot or tell us." Bonnie was desperate to hear their answers, Jenna had finally settled herself with them on the carpet a wide smile on her face "Just answer Ricie.. I already know your story." her smile got even wider.

Alaric was the first to answer "You know four years ago.. more than half of this room was sitting in my class being good students and know they are asking me dirty questions."

"Just answer the damn question Ric !" Oh-oh Jenna was getting mad.

Alaric's eyes blinked "Okay... so I was 21, it took me a while to get there I was a late bloomer."

"No you weren't" Jenna pointed her finger at him " I've seen the pictures in your yearbook, you weren't a late bloomer, you were ugly. God, I'm glad you passed that phase." Jenna decided with a sigh. Alaric's face just got red.

The rest of the boys were easier with their answers.

Tyler looked at his lap and just muttered "15, it was one of my mom's friends I really don't wanna talk about it, very bad experience. I couldn't watch desperate housewives for months."

Jeremy looked at Bonnie and admitted "16."

Stefan just laughed " Well, it's a long time ago. It was in 1864 but you could say I was 17." Everybody chuckled with him.

The boys asked their question and the girls answered or took a shot, Elena took a lot of shots...their game was getting more and more serious, the questions were deeper and harder to answer. Nobody seemed to have trouble with it because of their drunk state but she figured they would regret it in the morning but for now she just went along for the ride like the rest of them.

And then it was Stefan's turn " Who would you kill for?"

All the girls answered their partners name, looking at them and smiling. Except for Elena she was sober at once cause she couldn't tell them the name that entered her thoughts the second the question was asked, but she knew it was true she would kill for him, her sick twisted mind would kill everyone in this room if it would bring him back to her

"Elena?" her head snapped up. "Yes, Stefan?" Stefan stared at her, worried. " Who would you kill for?" he repeated his question an pursed his lips, waiting for an answer, she sighed "I would kill for each one of you, you're my friends, no, my family, I wouldn't let anyone hurt either of you guys." they all looked at her and there was a minute of silence before Tyler dropped his glass and it shattered all over the carpet.

Everyone jumped at the sound. " Elena, I'm so sorry, it just slipped..." Tyler started apologizing but she cut him off. " It's okay Tyler, really it just some stupid glass. At least it was empty so it wouldn't leave any stains. We'll clean it up" she headed back to the kitchen and came back with a broom. They all helped collecting the pieces and were done in no time.

" Let's go back to drinking" Jeremy suggested laughing, the whole atmosphere in the room lit up when everybody joined his mood. Stefan started to fill all their glasses till he came to Tyler, he lifted his hands up "I need a new one." he started to move to the liquor bar reaching for the single glass standing on it. Elena realized what he was going to do and jumped off the couch "NO! Put it back down ! Now !" she was screaming and everyone in the room was looking at her again. Tyler stood frozen with the glass in his hand, she grabbed it and put it back at the exact same spot. " That glass is dirty, I'll get you a clean one from the kitchen." she tries to fix the damage but it was already done, they were all staring at her like she was crazy and about to kill each of them. "No it's okay Elena, I'm going to call it a night. It's getting late anyway." Tyler pulled his jacket from the chair and pulled it on.

" We're also going home, Ric has essays to correct and I'll probably have a hangover till sunset." Jenna gave her a hug and Ric just nodded goodbye. Bonnie and Jeremy drove with them and Caroline stayed at the house, her mom was on a holiday and she didn't want to be alone so they invited her to stay at the boardinghouse.

Stefan went out hunting after everyone had left. Caroline helped her clean up the living room and do the dishes. They were sitting in front of the fireplace, lost in thoughts. Elena couldn't believe how she reacted to Tyler, he didn't do anything wrong, she stared at the glass on the liquor table, standing back where it belonged. Caroline looked at her and followed her gaze "You loved him didn't you?" her voice broke Elena out of her own thoughts. "Loved who?" she tries to pretend she doesn't know what her friend is talking about, but she knows all too well who she means. "You know who, don't try to deny it. Everyone knows you've changed since the fight with Klaus. They all think it's because you feel guilty for letting John and Lucy die that night to safe you. But they don't know what I know, they didn't see what I saw." her eyes are boring into Elena's.

"And what do you know, what did you see?" Elena crosses her arms, trying to ease the pain in her chest by grabbing it tight.

Caroline looks at her arms and closes her eyes, she takes a deep breath and when she opens them again, all Elena can see is compassion. "I know that glass hasn't moved an inch since he last put it there five years ago. I know that because I saw it, I saw him put it there. I saw you."

" Don't go, stay here with me, take me to Georgia, we'll deal with this later" she looks in his eyes and tears start to form in hers. "He would keep on chasing us, we would never be free, this is our best shot." he whispers the words in the small space between them.

Their foreheads are pressed against each other, their bodies are glued to one another. "Besides once this thing is over you and I can travel the world together, we wouldn't have to sneak around behind Stefan's back, worrying he'll turn Mystic Falls in a snackbar. We wouldn't have to hide in the shadows or stay between the four walls of our bedrooms as much as I like being in the bedroom with you, I want people to know you're mine, that I have the right to rip their heart out when they try to hurt you. They have to know that I don't want to live this damned life without you. That I can't live it without you."

She holds him even tighter and tries to push his body into hers, burying him and keeping him inside her heart so no one can touch him, so no one can take him away from her.

She tries.. but she can't, things don't work that way. She can't protect him cause she's just human. She knows tonight there are going to be hands all over him, bodies pressed against his, fingers around his neck.. because that is how vampires fight and tonight promised to be a hell of a fight.

He kisses her forehead, her eyes, her nose, every piece of skin he can reach before he launches himself at her lips. This isn't a gentle, sweet kiss, it's a kiss filled with passion, need, want and most of all desperation. She parts her lips giving him access, taking as much as possible of him in her, still trying to push him into her heart to keep him, to carry him, to hold him, to love him.."I have to go, they'll be waiting for me if I don't go Stefan will come looking for me." She opens her eyes to find his closed.

" I don't care, as long as you're here in my arms I know you're safe, I know you're still with me." she starts to brush away the pieces of hair on his forehead, reaching on tiptoes, she starts to place kisses on it. She feels him pulling away, walking to the door, she wants to run to him, begging him to stay, ask him if he could try to melt in her, asking if they could just try to get him there so he would be safe, so she could keep him forever. But she can't speak, she's frozen, the only movement are the tears running from her eyes over her cheeks.

He pulls the door open and her heart stops. He takes his first step trough it and she stops breathing. Every step he takes her vision becomes more blurry, the breaths she tries to take become heavier. She hears the door fall back in the lock and she drops to her knees, head in her hands, screaming but no words, just an awful sound that fills the room. It's the sound of someone who's being tortured.

She can only whisper one thing "Come back to me."

"Why were you here?" her voice sounded exhausted and she couldn't look Caroline in the eyes.

"Stefan sent me to see what took him so long." Caroline didn't like having this conversation but she knew she had too, she had to know what her friend was thinking, she had to know what had been going on between her and her fiance's brother.

She couldn't talk but she had to because she had to know "Did you tell him?" she's still looking at her knees, arms still wrapped around her chest, trying desperately to hold herself together.

"No, of course not." Caroline was looking at her when she looked up "I couldn't tell him, it wasn't my place to tell. I thought that maybe you had made a mistake, that after the fight you would run into Stefan's arms and realize how stupid you had been. God, I hoped you would. But after the fight when we took you home and you saw everyone for the first time that day, you didn't even look at Stefan, it was like you didn't notice he was there, you didn't notice any of us, you just kept staring at the door like you were waiting for someone to walk in. Stefan told me you were in shock, that you would be fine, that you just needed time to process everything what happened that day but you only got worse, you didn't eat, didn't sleep, didn't talk to anyone not even me and Bonnie. That's when I figured it out, you were still waiting for that door to open, revealing the only person you desperately needed to walk trough it. He left you and broke you and never came back to pick up the pieces."

"Why did he leave me?" tears were rolling over her cheeks, she holds herself tighter, trying to stop her aching heart. She had gotten used to the empty feeling in her chest but she still couldn't handle the pain that came with it.

" I don't know sweetie" Caroline stood up and took a seat next to her, she wrapped her arms around her and held her for what seemed like hours.

She was still sitting in the parlor after Caroline went to bed, she hears the door unlock but doesn't move she knows what he's going to say, he says it every time he comes back from hunting and she already knows it's the wrong voice saying it.

" Elena, I'm home !"

"Honee-eey, I'm hooo-oome !" he walks into the hallway, dropping his bags on the floor.

Before he can pull his jacket off there's a girl running his way, full speed, like a five- year-old who's daddy is coming home with ice cream, her smile so width he wonders how it doesn't hurt her cheeks, he catches her when she jumps on him, her legs around his waist and still the same smile on her face, he's gazing at her, they're gazing at each other.

She brings her lips to his and starts their dance, their tongues are fighting, their fingers are clawing on the fabric of their shirts, their breaths are quick because they can't stop this. He moves them, her back slamming into the wall, she didn't even feel the pain, all she could feel was his mouth on her skin, placing kisses along her neck, her hands grabbing his raven black hair, his warm breath against the skin of her neck, it makes her shiver. She had missed this so much, he had been gone 3 days for council business but two hours after he left, it had taken all of her self-control not to grab her car keys and drive after him.

"I've missed you." she manages to get it out between breaths. He starts back nibbling on her lower-lip "You just missed having hot secret sex with the dark mysterious guy, I'm sure the bunny eater couldn't keep you satisfied for two seconds." he lifts his head up and catches her gaze, rage in his eyes, sorrow in hers. She hates it, she hates that he's right, she hates that she needs him so much, she hates that she loves the wrong one, she knows that she should love the good brother, that he should be the one she's running to, he should be the one catching her and make her feel whole again, he's the one that should be the one, but he isn't.

She looks down at the ocean of blue, cupping his face in her hands, bringing her head to his, trailing soft patterns on his face with her nose, kissing him softly and trailing her hands over his body, stopping at the hem of his shirt and pulling it up, she does the same with hers while he keeps her up against the wall, he's looking at her with that look that tells her that he needs to be with her, he needs to be close to her, the closest he can get and he only knows one way to get there. So she pushes her hair to one side and places her head in the crook of his neck, he looks at her and she nods, she knows exactly what he's going to do and she wants him to, at this moment she doesn't want anything more than feeling him close to her, the closest they can get. She feels his fangs piercing the skin of her neck and gasps in pleasure. He's home, she is home.