Elena sat on the floor, leaning against the old couch that looked out of place in the rundown cabin. Lily was curled up in her lap, her head leaning against Elena's shoulder. Elena's leg was going numb from Lily's direct weight, but she didn't have the heart to make her move right now. Lily was focused on Elena's wedding ring, spinning it around and around on Elena's finger. She would run her finger over the diamonds, examining them carefully before continuing to spin the ring again.
It had been hours and Derrick still wasn't back. Lily hadn't complained about being hungry again, but Elena knew she was. And it broke her heart, knowing she couldn't do anything for her.
Elena's cheek had gone numb, like the rest of her body wanted too. Lily had asked about her a few times, offering to play doctor and fix it. But Elena had assured her that she was fine. Elena hadn't dared to look in the mirror though, afraid of what she would see. The past coming back to the present.
"I want a ring this pretty when I get older" Lily said softly, continuing to spin Elena's ring.
Elena kissed her hair, wrapping her arms tightly around her. "Someday, you will" Elena whispered.
"Can I try your ring on?" Lily asked, looking up at her. She loved jewelry. Probably because Stefan, Damon, and Katherine always bought it for her. Elena remembered back to when she was little and how excited she was to get fake, plastic jewelry to wear. Lily was getting diamonds.
Elena smiled. "Sure" she said, making some effort to wiggle the ring lose. She placed it on Lily's small finger and watched it slide down.
Lily's eyes brightened as she looked at the ring now upside down on her finger. She smiled big as she looked up at Elena again. "I bet this costed lots" Lily told her. Elena was pretty sure that it had, taking into account how old it was. "Uncle Stefan must love you lots" she stated.
Elena hoped so, even after the stunt she had pulled. Stefan was going to be so furious with her. "I love your Uncle Stefan a lot" Elena said, pushing a few of Lily's curls off of her forehead.
"Me too" Lily told her. "And I love Daddy and Mommy and you too" she added. "And Caroline and Uncle Zach. And your friend and your brother." Then Lily made a face. "Not Alaric though cause he smells." Elena couldn't help but laugh and she paid the price, flinching slightly from her sore cheek. Lily looked up at her, raising her hand to Elena's face. "Does it still hurt?" she asked.
Elena grabbed her hand and nodded. "A little. But it will be all better tomorrow" she told her.
Lily studied Elena's cheek for a moment. "Uncle Stefan's not gonna be happy that the mean man hit you" she said.
Elena didn't want to think about that. She couldn't stand the thought of having to look at Stefan when he found out. "No, he's not" Elena agreed. Elena took her ring back and stuffed it in her pocket. It probably wasn't a good idea to be wearing it around Derrick.
The door handle wiggled minutes later and Derrick walked in, tossing a paper bag onto the table. Lily buried her face in Elena's shirt to hide. Elena refused to look at him. "She eat chicken nuggets?" Derrick asked, staring at both of them huddled together on the floor.
Elena didn't want to answer him. She didn't want to acknowledge his existence. But … Lily. "Yes" Elena answered, continuing to look away from him.
Derrick grabbed the bag and walked it over to them, handing it to Elena. "Here" he said.
Elena took the bag reluctantly and opened it. Inside was a container with chicken nuggets and fries. Elena opened it and pulled out a nugget for Lily. "Here" she whispered.
Lily took it eagerly and munched away on it. Elena sighed, thankful that Lily was now eating. "Want some?" she asked Elena quietly, holding half of the piece of chicken out for Elena.
Elena took a small bite, having no desire to eat, but wanting to appease Lily. "Thank you" she said, forcing a small smile for Lily. Lily smiled back and finished the piece of chicken in her hand. Elena whispered something to Lily, who immediately shook her head and clung to her. "Just for a minute" Elena promised. Slowly, Lily let go of her and moved off of her lap reluctantly. "I need to talk to you" Elena said, standing up.
Derrick looked at her with amusement. He held out his arm, motioning for her to step outside with him. Elena did so, very much aware of Lily's eyes glued to her until the door shut. "Yes?" he asked.
"Why do you want Lily?" Elena asked, her eyes focusing in on his.
He smiled. "I already told you. If I have Lily, I have you" he reminded her.
"I'm not going to run" Elena told him confidently. "But I want you to let her go."
Derrick looked even more amused. He stepped closer to Elena, effectively making her step back. "You don't get to call the shots here, Elena. I see that the past year you have been with Stefan, you seem to have forgotten your place" he said. Clearly, Stefan had let her do as she pleased. That was not going to work for him. Ever so gently, he reached out and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, sending shivers down her spine. "Besides" he whispered. "He took something that was mine. Now, I have two things that belong to him" he said, smiling at the irony of it all.
"You can't keep a child where there is no hot water or a bed" she said, her tone steady when really, all she wanted to do was lash out at him for being a cold-hearted monster. She figured he didn't have much money, otherwise they would have been long gone by now. His family wasn't wealthy and he clearly wasn't working. "Let me get money out of an ATM so we can get a hotel room" she suggested. Though, the thought of being in a hotel with him was sickening.
His hand came up against her throat quickly as he pushed her back against the side of the old cabin, her head knocking against the wood. "Is what I have to offer not good enough for you?" he asked, his tone harsh and angry as he whispered quietly into her ear. "Back when I met you, I was all you needed" he reminded her. "So I suggest you think long and hard about how you talk to me. Because I will have no problem taking that little brat and throwing her into the lake to drown while you watch. Hell, I'll even take video for Stefan so he won't miss it" he threatened.
Elena took a small gasping breath as he slowly let go of her neck. Her whole body was shaking as she quickly processed what he had just said. Was he bluffing? Would he really hurt Lily? Could she take the chance that he wouldn't? "I'm sorry" Elena whispered, wanting so desperately to rub her aching neck.
Derrick seemed to evaluate her level of sincerity for a moment. Then he approached her again and Elena fought hard not to shrink away. He placed his hand on her face gently, as if what he had done moments earlier had never happened. "You make me do things I don't like to do" he told her, searching her eyes. "I don't like to hurt you, Elena" he said. "I love you. Tell me you know that" he told her. "Tell me."
Something clicked in Elena in that moment. Something that should have clicked so much sooner. "I do" she whispered. Derrick smiled and leaned forward, placing a light kiss on her lips. Elena didn't move away. She stood there and accepted his kiss.
When Elena came back inside, Lily looked up at her curiously. "I saved some for you" Lily told her, cupping the chicken nuggets and fries in her hand as she walked over to Elena.
Elena didn't know whether to cry or smile at the little girl's innocence amongst so much turmoil. "You should eat the rest of them" Elena said, blinking back her tears. The only thing Elena wanted to do was wash her lips where he had kissed her.
"I'm all full" Lily told her, holding her hands up for Elena. Elena gave in and took the pieces of chicken and the few fries from her.
"Are you saving that one for later?" Elena asked, pointing to the chicken nugget lying on top of the paper bag by itself.
Lily grinned – the same grin that Katherine gave when she had something evil planned. "I dropped that one in the dirt. It's for the mean man" she said, quite amused with herself.
Elena bent down with her free arm and scooped Lily up. "I love you, kid" she said, taking a seat on a nearby chair. After the unpleasant confrontation with Derrick, it was a peaceful break to witness Lily scheming to give Derrick a dirty chicken nugget.
"I love you too" Lily said, wrapping her arms around Elena's neck. "I bet Uncle Stefan misses us lots" she whispered. "Cause he loves us. He tells me all the time. And he likes when I come over and help him with the horses. And he said he likes watching you sleep because you are pretty" she said, having a little running dialogue with herself.
Elena couldn't blink back a tear fast enough and it rolled down her cheek. "I know he misses us" Elena told her quietly. As angry as he probably was, he was probably going out of his mind with worry, too. Katherine and Damon as well. Elena hugged Lily tight, listening to the little girl breathe softly against her. Elena had to go about things differently with Derrick from now on. She couldn't put on the tough girl act anymore. She had to make Derrick believe that she was in love with him again, that she had never fallen out of love with him. Otherwise, she feared that Lily wouldn't make it home alive.
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Why the hell is my daughter still gone?" Katherine yelled at the detective who had stopped by the house to talk with Damon. "Is it because your cops are sitting on their asses eating donuts and drinking coffee in the parking lot?" she asked, raising her voice once again. She was sick and tired of counting the hours that passed. She had no idea where her daughter was, if she was okay, or when she would come back home.
"I can assure you, Mrs. Salvatore, that my team is doing everything short of the impossible to find your daughter and the other Mrs. Salvatore" he informed a now seething Katherine.
'"Elena!" Katherine shouted in disbelief. "That no good, gold-digging whore is the reason my daughter is missing in the first place!" she lashed out. "Elena can rot in hell for all I care, right along with that boyfriend of hers" she said angrily.
"Enough, Katherine" Damon's voice sounded from behind her. Katherine turned around, her dangerous glare piercing through his eyes. Stefan was standing lifelessly right next to him, having paled from her words. "Elena left to find Lily and keep her safe" Damon reminded. "She knew Derrick would let her, and only her, find him." He was being too reasonable for Katherine's liking.
"You don't know that!" Katherine yelled at him. "You don't know that Elena is with her!" she said, bursting into a fresh set of tears. "You don't know that our baby is even still alive!" she said, almost incoherently as the sobs took over her. When Damon tried to go to her, she shoved past him, leaving the room. She was never one to show weakness in front of others. But to her, she was not weak. She was mad as hell. And that is what she wanted everyone to see.
"I'm sorry, detective" Damon said. The detective nodded understandingly. "You said you had something to discuss?" he asked.
The detective nodded. "I just wanted to keep you up to date. Our team will begin doing a sweep through the forest here in Mystic Falls. We've asked for volunteers, but if you know anyone willing to help, please do contact them" he said.
"Why are you searching in the woods?" Damon asked, not understanding. Derrick would have been long gone out of Mystic Falls.
"For bodies" Stefan said, his lifeless form croaked out. "You think they're dead" he added. If he had had something in his stomach, he probably would have thrown up.
It was true. In many situations involving abduction, the child was usually murdered within 24 hours after the capture. Elena may have complicated this, though. "I didn't say that" the detective corrected. "Given the uncertainty of this man's behaviors, we need to prepare for all of the possible outcomes" he said as gently as he could.
Damon stared at the detective wide-eyed. Stefan stared at no one in particular as he processed the detective's words. "She once told me, that if Derrick ever found her, he would kill her" Stefan said without an ounce of emotion in his voice. Elena had been so frightened that night when she had opened up to him. Slowly and lifelessly, he walked toward the same direction that Katherine had gone, leaving the detective and his brother speechless.
Stefan eventually made it to Lily's room. Katherine was sitting on the bedroom floor, holding Lily's baby blanket. "I made this for her, right before she was born. I hate knitting, but I wanted her to have something that I had made for her" she whispered as tears continued to run down her usually perfectly made up face. Stefan sat down next to her, reaching out and touching the blanket. "I just want to know that she is okay" Katherine said sadly, clutching the blanket even tighter.
Stefan wrapped his arm around her, leaning his head against hers. "I know" he said, closing his eyes. He knew, except there were two people he was scared to death about.
She shook her head quickly. "I can't just sit here and not do anything. I want to go out and look" Katherine said, straightening up and wiping angrily at her tears.
"I'll go with you" Stefan said, without a hint of hesitancy in his voice. He had been told countless times to leave the investigation to the professionals. But enough was enough. He and Katherine had sat around long enough, being ordered around and given very little information.
Katherine looked at him for a long moment. "Go home. I'll meet you there in half an hour" she told him, standing up and leaving Lily's room.
Stefan remained where he was, thinking about all of the reasons he and Katherine should not go off on their own. He couldn't think of a single one.