A/N: To the lovely readers, thank you so much! I am so happy that you look forward to my updates and even ask me when I will be updating. I actually pencil time into my planner for writing now :D

As for this story, I had no idea what I was going to write about when I started. Then I had an idea and now I changed the entire course of it within the last five minutes. I love these characters though, so I am excited to see where it goes!

Stefan watched as Elena checked and locked all 56 windows in the Boarding House. It was heartbreaking to watch her so determined to keep herself safe when it was not necessary at all. But Stefan let her because he knew that if he tried to stop her, it would only cause her more distress.

"I think that's all of them" Elena said, tugging on the last window to make sure it was locked tightly. "Did you lock the doors?" she asked Stefan. He nodded grimly. "I better double check" she said, attempting to walk past him.

But Stefan stopped her. He couldn't let her carry on any longer. "I checked them" he told her, rubbing her arms as he did. "Let's go to bed."

Elena shook her head. "I'm not tired" she told him.

"Elena" Stefan said, his voice exhausted. "You have to sleep."

"I said I'm not tired!" she snapped, her voice raised to a level that Stefan had not heard in a long time. He looked at her for a long moment, unsure of what to do. "Don't look at me like that" she said, on the brink of tears now. "Just … don't" she said, backing away from him slowly. She turned and walked out of the laundry room. To where, Stefan didn't know.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Stefan stared at his computer screen early the next morning. Elena had stayed up all night on the couch, watching the front door. She looked like she would fall asleep at any moment, but he knew she was fighting it. He had to do something. He just couldn't sit around and wait for her to destroy herself. To destroy them. He scrolled down the page, looking at well-known therapists in the area.

He hated this. He hated that he was looking up therapists for his wife when the weekend before, they were smiling and laughing on a camping trip. It wasn't fair.

Her tired, exhausted figure made a presence, casting a shadow over the dimly lit room. He looked up, surprised to see her. "Hey" he said softly, his tone as far from threatening as he could make it.

She stared at him impassively and he wasn't sure if she was going to say anything or not. But she did. "I'm going to California" she announced. Before he could protest, she continued. "To see Jeremy and Bonnie for a few days, maybe a week" she added. When Stefan looked into her eyes, he saw nothing.

"No" he said, surprising both himself and her. He wasn't the type to tell Elena no. And the last thing that he wanted to do was keep Elena from seeing her family. But he held this deep fear that if she went to California, she wouldn't come back. She would want to stay there. She would probably feel safer, being further away. Maybe she wanted to get away from him, too.

Elena seemed to study him for a minute but then she shook her head. "You can't stop me" she finally said.

He didn't want to have to stop her. "I'll go with you" he said instead, wanting to halt this argument before it went far beyond what they could handle right now.

"I don't want you to go with me" she said, again, her gaze impassive. "Jeremy knows I'm coming. I've already booked my ticket. I leave tomorrow" she said, blinking once before turning and leaving his office.

Stefan stood up abruptly and followed her. "Elena" he said as he followed her toward the stairs.

Elena whipped around to face him, her face finally showing an emotion. Anger. "I used my money, not yours" she stated, as if that was the real argument at hand.

"Our money" he corrected. "And the money has nothing to do with this" he pointed out. "I don't think you should be going off on your own right now" he said, as gently as possible.

"Why?" she asked, a challenging smirk appearing. "Are you afraid I might see things again and panic?" she asked. "Or, are you afraid that I'm right? That Derrick is alive and he will come after me?" she asked again, almost as if she were laughing at him now.

He couldn't take this any longer. "I want you to see a therapist" he stated.

Now she really laughed at him. "You want me to see a therapist?" she asked, taking a step back from him. "My ex is trying to come after me and you think I need to see a therapist? Maybe it is you who needs to see a therapist" she spit at him venomously.

"Stop it!" he said, raising his voice. "Derrick is dead! He's gone and I am not going to stand by and let you torture yourself or destroy us!" he said angrily. So angrily, that he didn't notice how loud he was speaking.

She took another step away from him, this time, looking frightened and unsure. Shit. He hadn't met to scare her. "You don't know, because you were never there" she said, her voice full of anger, but quiet nonetheless. "Damon may not believe me, but at least he was there when I needed someone!" she shouted at him, changing her tone on him quickly.

It was then that Stefan noticed tears spring from her eyes. It was then when Stefan momentarily relived an unbearable moment from his past, the one where Damon had been there for Katherine while he was away at school. It was then, that he had lost Katherine. He couldn't lose Elena too. Not to anyone. Especially, not to herself.

Elena's breathing calmed slightly as she stared at him. Although he was looking at her, he was deep in thought. She could tell that her words had stung. She could tell that he was both angry and hurt. "Just get it over with" she said quietly. She caught his questioning, lost gaze and elaborated for him. "Hit me. I deserve it" she stated. The tears started to roll down her cheeks once more as she waited for what she expected to hurt. She usually tried not to cry, but sometimes she couldn't help it.

Stefan felt his whole world go dark and numb. The thought of hitting her repulsed him. He'd never thought about it, never imagined what it would be like to take his frustrations out on her. Yet here she was, waiting expectantly. It was too much for him.

His breaking point was here. Now.

A choked sob escaped him as he looked at her with so much pain that even she couldn't ignore the way he was feeling. He didn't cry in front of many people. He didn't have many reasons to cry anyway. But right now, staring at her, he couldn't do anything but cry with her.

Slowly, he approached her. He had to. As she backed away from him warily, he reached out and caught her arm, ignoring the fact that she was beginning to struggle in his grasp. Forcefully, he pulled her towards him, into his arms, and held her so tight until he was sure she couldn't run away from him. "Every day I wish that I had met you first. So you wouldn't have had to go through so much pain or be so scared. And I realize now that you're still hurting, even though you're safe. But I need to fix your pain, Elena. I need to make it go away because I can't watch you like this. I can't see you hurt so badly" he whispered as his tears fell onto her bare shoulder. "You don't deserve to feel like this. You are too beautiful, too smart, too loving to feel the way you do. Please let me help you. Please, go and talk to the therapist. I'll go with you, I'll do whatever you need me to do. Please" he said, his tone desperate and his tears present.

Elena listened to him, her body rigid within his own. Slowly, she lifted her head, indicating that she wanted some space so she could look up at him. Reluctantly, he let go of her some, but not much. "I'm sorry" she said, her eyes still soaked with tears. Tears he wanted to kiss away. "I didn't realize I was such a burden" she added numbly. His heart stopped. That wasn't what he had meant. "You don't deserve me" she whispered, reaching up to wipe away a few of his tears.

"You are not a burden" he said, his voice cracking as he said it. He couldn't be upset with her for saying that. Not when she was in this state – reverting back to her old ways which helped her to cope. "I just love you so much" he whispered back, holding her face in his hands.

"I want to go to California" she whispered.

His heart still hurt upon hearing her say that. He had wanted to get through to her, but obviously, he couldn't. But if California was going to bring her some relief right now, maybe he had to let her go. "Okay" he nodded, running his hands through her hair. "Okay" he repeated, his voice soothing and calm. "Please, come upstairs and sleep" he told her. She hadn't slept all night.

"I want a shower first" she said quietly, all of the momentary energy she had earlier completely gone. Stefan nodded, stepping away from her and grabbing her hand to take her upstairs.

He led her straight to their bathroom and turned the shower on for her, getting it to the perfect temperature. When he turned back around, her eyes looked determined, even with their exhaustion. Slowly, she reached for the bottom of his shirt and slowly began to inch it upwards until it was over his head and lying in a pool at their feet. She reached for the drawstring on his shorts next, undoing it skillfully before letting them fall to the floor too.

Stefan stood stalk still during all of this, unsure of what to do. Did he follow her lead and join her? Or gently dismiss her and go back downstairs. Well, it appeared too late to back out now as she stood silently in front of him, waiting expectantly. Slowly, he hooked his finger inside the top of her pajama bottoms and slowly tugged them down off of her hips, letting them slide to the floor. She grabbed his arms to steady herself as she stepped out of them. He slowly slipped her tank top off, tracing her skin as he did. "I love you" he said quietly, leaning down to kiss her.

She leaned against him in the shower, finding it hard to keep her eyes open. Maybe she should have just gone straight to bed. But feeling Stefan's fingers in her hair, massaging her scalp with her shampoo, was well worth it. She felt more relaxed in that moment than she had for a few days. His hands moved down her back as he gently pushed her under the water to rinse her hair.

Stefan eventually switched the water off and grabbed one of the large fluffy towels to wrap her in. "Feel better?" he whispered.

She nodded her head, looking up into his worried green eyes. She hated when he worried. "Thank you" she whispered back.

He kissed her gently before taking her hand and leading her back to their room. She dressed herself quickly and ran a brush through her hair. She didn't have the energy to dry it. Stefan had the covers pulled back for them and she crawled in eagerly. Elena moved toward him, wrapping her arms around him. He returned the gesture after turning out the lights. He felt her grab ahold of his t-shirt, clenching her fist tightly around the material. "Elena?" he asked.

"I'll go see the therapist when I get back" she whispered quietly. He stilled for a moment upon hearing this. "I don't want to hurt you anymore" she said, her voice quiet and broken. It wasn't fair to Stefan for her past to ruin everything they had built. If a therapist was going to make her stop seeing Derrick when he wasn't even there to begin with, then she would go to therapy and get better. Because she loved Stefan. She didn't want to hurt Lily, either. What if she did freak out when she had Lily and there was no one around? It would terrify Lily, probably even more than Lily finding Elena knocked out cold on the ground.

Stefan kissed her forehead. "I don't want you to hurt anymore" he said, kissing her forehead again. He rubbed her back soothingly, keeping her close. "I don't want you to hurt anymore" he whispered again.

He wasn't sure when she had fallen asleep, but it wasn't long after they gotten into bed. He didn't sleep though. He watched her sleep, listened to her breathe in and out. Made sure that she wasn't having any nightmares.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Do you have everything?" Stefan asked, standing inside the airport with her. Elena nodded. "You have your bank card? Cash?" he asked her.

"Yes, Stefan" she told him, sighing. She was still really tired.

"And Jeremy is going to be at the airport, ready to pick you up when you land?" he asked.

"Yes Stefan" Elena told him. "I need to go. I have to get through security and find my gate" she reminded him.

"You'll call me when you land?" he asked, placing his hands on her shoulders.

"Yes" she told him. "Now I really need to go" she said again.

"Okay, safe flight" he said, slipping his arms around her waist and pulling her close to kiss her. "I love you."

"I love you too" she said. While he knew she meant it, he couldn't help but feel as though she was distracted. She grabbed her bag and slung it over her shoulder. "I'll call you" she assured him as she walked away. He waited until she was around the corner and out of sight before he turned to leave.

The whole drive home, Stefan couldn't calm his thoughts down. He was worried. Twice, he almost pulled over to turn around and catch the next flight out to California. But he stopped himself. She had said she wanted to go by herself. He would respect that. But he didn't like it.

When he finally did get home, his cell phone rang out and he couldn't stop the smile that spread across his face, even if he tried. "Hi Beautiful" he said, his tone light and full of love.

"Hi Uncle Stefan!" Lily sang into her phone.

"What are you up to?" he asked, checking his watch. It was almost eight.

"I'm calling to tell you goodnight" she explained to him. He smiled. "I wish you could read me a story" she sighed. "Daddy can't make all the funny voices like you can" she added.

Stefan laughed. And it felt amazing. "Next time you stay over, I'll read you ten stories to make up for it, okay?" he asked her.

"Okay!" she said excitedly. "Oh, and guess what?" she asked.

Stefan fell back on the couch and smiled. "What?" he asked her, trying match her excitement.

"Daddy bought me new crayons so I can draw you a new picture" she told him. "And one for Elena too!"

"I would love a new picture" Stefan told her. He had kept every single one of them that she had ever given him. He had four boxes worth at least. "Elena would love a new picture too" he added. She could really use one, he thought.

"Okay Uncle Stefan, I gots to go to bed now" she told him. "I love you" she said.

"I love you too baby girl" he told her. "Goodnight" he said softly.

"Nighty night Uncle Stefan" she said before hanging up the phone.

Stefan set his phone down and smiled. A phone call from Lily was just what he had needed. It took his mind off of Elena for a moment or two.

He finally got up off of the couch and headed for the kitchen to get a bottle of water. He shut the fridge and went to turn the light off when the sound of shattering glass filled the room. He turned around just in time to see a rock clattering across the tile on the floor. He looked up at the window to see the hole, but it was too dark to see who might have been standing outside.

His heart rate had increased though as he walked over to pick up the rock. He noticed a small piece of paper attached to it by a rubber band. He quickly undid the band and unfolded the piece of paper. The note was written in barely legible handwriting, but he could make it out.

You should have believed her.

A/N: Thoughts? Please let me know! Thanks : )