A/N: This story will be coming to an end here shortly as well. I'm not sure how many more updates. Maybe two or three.
I am still working on the power outage update for My Life Without You. It will be added to the end of that story.
THEN, I will start my new story. Everyone seemed to like the idea about two rivaling companies (The Salvatore's vs. a jerk CEO/Elena. Lots of banter/attempted seduction. Some angst, some Stefan in a towel. Probably someone or two will get drunk. Anything is possible). Stay tuned for that!
As always, please let me know what you think of this update. Thanks so much!
Four days since she was admitted, and Elena was finally given permission by the medical staff to go home.
The last four days had been horrible for Stefan, who was currently sitting outside of Elena's room waiting for her to get ready. Elena had snapped at him every time he had tried to help with anything. When she wasn't snapping at him though, she wasn't talking to him. When he spoke to her, she would give him short responses like "Yeah" or "I don't know" or "Maybe". He knew if she had been brave enough, she would have kicked him out of her room altogether.
He wasn't sure what he was expecting upon Elena's return. This definitely wasn't it though. He did his best to let it roll off of his shoulders though, reminding himself that she was still hurting. In more ways than one.
Elena exited the room, carrying a bag with things that Stefan had given her. Stuffed animals, candy, books, and magazines. She braced herself for the long drive home with Stefan. He had offered to fly them home, but the last thing she wanted was to be on a stuffy airplane with a bunch of people looking at her. Then again, 7-9 hours alone in a car with Stefan didn't seem so great either.
Thankfully, she was able to persuade her brother and Bonnie to stay put. She would call them when she got home. The last thing she needed was two more people at home to worry about her. Stefan would have the worrying and overprotectiveness covered.
"Ready?" Stefan asked, giving her the best smile he could under the circumstances.
"I guess" Elena shrugged, allowing him to take her bag and following him to the nurse's station to check out. "Are Damon and Alaric going to follow us?" she asked when they were outside, walking quietly towards the car.
"They already left" Stefan answered. "Lily and Katherine are coming home tonight and he wanted to be home before them" he explained. He didn't have to turn around to see the worried look on her face. The fact that Damon and Alaric wouldn't be there for her to switch cars if she got tired of Stefan, worried her. He wouldn't pretend that it didn't hurt, but he wouldn't show it either.
Elena let herself into his car, wincing. The doctor had said her ribs would take the longest to heal. Stefan was at her side in an instant, grabbing her arms to help her. "Don't!" she scolded, yanking her arms out of his hands. "I've got it. I just need a moment" she said, refusing to look at him.
Stefan backed off, though he had to bite his tongue to point out that she did, in fact, need his help. When they got home, there would be no nurses to help her. He was all she had right now. Elena slowly made her way into the seat, closing her eyes tight to keep from crying. She got both her legs inside the car. He watched her again wince as she reached to close the door.
Frustrated. That's what he was right now and the longer he let it build up, the more he feared when it would be released. Elena didn't deserve his frustration on top of everything else she was dealing with.
Elena let out a breath she had been holding to prepare herself for the drive. Stefan started up his car and turned the radio on low. "Do you want to stop and get breakfast now or wait a little bit?" he asked her.
He watched Elena shrug out of the corner of his eye. Stefan sighed inwardly. It was going to be a long drive back home.
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"Is Daddy home yet? Is he? Is he?" Lily asked, bouncing up and down on her toes as she looked expectantly at Zach.
Zach checked his watch. "No, not yet" he answered. "A few more hours. Are you all packed?" he asked. He had to, reluctantly, take Lily and Katherine to the airport soon. He would rather they stay with him until the Derrick situation was taken care of. But he wasn't going to argue with Damon.
"Uh huh" she nodded. "Aunt Elena and Uncle Stefan will be home tomorrow, right?" she asked, clarifying what little information everyone had given her. Zach nodded. "Can we buy our zoo tickets online so Uncle Stefan and Elena can take me when I go over?" she asked, barely containing her excitement.
Zach grabbed Lily, setting her on his knee. "Elena still doesn't feel very well" he told her softly, wanting to break the bad news to her as gently as he could. "She needs to stay home and rest. And so does your Uncle Stefan" he added. He watched disappointment spread across her little face and it hurt like hell to watch. "You might just have to go with your dad this time."
"But I want to take Aunt Elena so Uncle Stefan can buy us monkeys from the gift shop" she said as tears formed in her eyes.
Zach rubbed her back, hoping that this would not turn into an all-out tantrum. She had thrown three since she had been there. Once because she couldn't have pizza for dinner. Once because no one would take her to Savannah to see Elena. And once because she didn't want to go to bed. She was having a rough time being away from her home and her family. Zach understood that. "Then you might have to wait to go to the zoo until Elena feels better" he told her. "She has to be able to walk around a lot to see all the animals, right?" Zach asked. Lily nodded as she rubbed her eyes. "She's still a little ouchy, but I bet if you help take care of her, she will feel better in no time" he added.
"I can make her feel better" Lily agreed.
"I know you can" Zach said, kissing her head. "Why don't you and I go out to lunch?" he suggested. "Then we can get ice cream for dessert" he added.
"Okay" she said, less excited than she usually was.
"Okay" he said, kissing her head again and setting her back on her feet. "Go and get your shoes" he said, watching her walk off.
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Stefan had stopped over an hour ago to get something for breakfast. Elena wasn't interested. She pushed her food around on her plate and drank very little of her juice. She was very well aware than people were staring at the bruises on her face. It brought back all the times people used to stare at her when she was with Derrick. Except this time, they were looking at Stefan with upmost disgust. She could tell he was bothered by it, though he took his time eating.
When they were back on the road, nothing changed. He rested his hand on her leg, needing some sort of affection to happen between them. Elena moved her leg out of his reach and moved closer to the door. He reached for her hand a little later, and again, she moved out of his reach. That was the last straw.
Stefan pulled over suddenly, shutting the car off. Elena's eyes were wide as she looked at him in shock. "I can't do this anymore" he stated, looking ahead.
Elena remained silent for a moment, thinking about how to respond to that. "Then divorce me" she said quietly. Her voice was defeated and it only frustrated him more. He got out of the car and slammed the door. He paced in front of it, trying to calm down.
Elena watched him, her heartbeat picking up as the minutes passed. She knew she was being unreasonable. She knew she was being irritable and shutting him out. Slowly, Elena got herself out of the car. She went around the front to talk to him. "I'm having a hard time right now …" she began.
"Really? I hadn't noticed" he bit out, a little too angrily.
It hurt. But she stood where she was, allowing her own frustration and anger to build inside of her. "I just went through hell" she said angrily, attempting to defend herself and her behaviors.
"So did I!" he yelled, turning to face her. Elena stepped back, suddenly speechless as she stood in front of him. He saw how frightened she looked and he mentally kicked himself. Rather than addressing her, he walked passed her.
And kept walking.
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Elena had been sitting in the car for an hour and Stefan still had not returned. He had walked across a field and disappeared. Elena had debated on whether or not to call someone. Maybe Damon or Caroline.
But she had decided against it because then they would want to know what happened and Elena would have to tell them what she had done – had been doing – to Stefan. She was parked off of the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. No cars had passed since she had been sitting there.
She sighed. She needed to go and find him. Apologize and remind him that she loved him. She grabbed the keys out of the ignition and got out of the car, locking the doors. Slowly, she made the long trek across the field in search for him.
Just as she was about to give up, she saw him up ahead, staring out at a lighthouse on the water. His back was to her. As she approached, she noticed how tense he was. She stopped a few feet back and took a big breath, ready to talk to him confidently. She realized though, that she wasn't confident. She was scared. "Stefan?" she asked, her voice shaky and a lot weaker than she had wanted. Surprisingly, he turned to her, locked eyes with her, but said nothing. That was enough to cause her to break down into tears, even though she had told herself she wouldn't cry. "I don't want you to see me like this" she told him, tearing her eyes away from him.
Stefan stared at her for a moment, internally debating on whether or not to stay where he was or rush to her. He decided to stay put for now. "I'm your husband, Elena" he reminded. He was supposed to see her in every way possible. The good, the bad, and everything in-between.
Elena shook her head, wiping at a few stray tears. "You're the best husband in the world" she told him. It was true. He was amazing. "But I still don't want you to see me like this. You shouldn't have to suffer because of my past" she told him sadly. "Because right now, I'm a mess. And I don't know what to do and I hate how I treat you and I hate how you look at me and I hate myself and …" she rattled off until she didn't want to continue. She turned away from him, because his eyes were talking for him and she still understood exactly what he was saying. "I'm sorry" she said. "I can't do this." Tears began falling again as she slowly and painfully began walking away.
She didn't know how far she had made it before his hand had caught hers, stopping her. Maybe a few feet. "Yes you can" he said, effectively getting her to turn around and face him. She stared at his chest, her tears rolling off of her cheeks and falling to the ground. "You can do this" he told her, bringing her hand up to his lips and kissing it. "I love you, Elena. And I'm going to do everything to make sure we get through this" he promised.
"Am I really worth all the trouble?" she asked, meaning for it to sound like a joke, but realizing, she was serious too.
Stefan grabbed her chin gently, prompting her to look up at him. "You're my everything" he said quietly. "If I would have lost you, I …" he began, having to look away from her for a moment, scared that he would break down in front of her. He couldn't think about the what-ifs. "I can't imagine my life without you. So please, don't push me away. Let me help you. I need to help you" he said, finally looking back at her.
Elena took a small breath in, trying to calm herself. She leaned forward and rested her head against his chest, finding herself to be tiring quickly. "I don't want to push you away" she told him, closing her eyes and attempting to stop her tears.
"I know" he said, gently wrapping his arms around her and kissing the top of her head. "I love you. Know that, okay?" he told her, kissing her head again. He sighed heavily.
"I know" Elena mumbled into his shirt. Sometimes, she wondered why though.
Stefan held on to her as tight as he could without hurting her. Thank God. He had her back. They were by no means back to what they had been before everything with Derrick and Lily had happened, but they were closer. He breathed her in, realizing that she didn't smell like the Elena he was used to. She smelled like hospital food and gift shop shampoo. He couldn't wait to get her home and try to give her normalcy. "We should get back on the road" he said quietly into her ear. He felt her nod against his chest. "Let me carry you" he said, shifting so he could grab under the back of her knees and carefully lift her up. She didn't protest this time.
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Elena noticed that Stefan looked over at her about a hundred times per every mile they drove. It was a little unnerving, because she was afraid he was going to catch her in a moment of pain and worry about her. She hated being worried about. She hated others taking care of her. Maybe that was the problem.
So when they stopped for dinner, she bit her tongue as he helped her out of the car. She had tried to convince him to get their food to go, but he insisted it would be good for them to get out of the car.
They sat down in the small diner. As he looked over the menu, she ripped the paper napkin in her lap into little pieces. "I have trouble letting people take care of me" Elena said quietly, continuing to demolish the napkin in her hands.
Stefan set his menu down slowly. She hadn't really spoken since he had taken her back to the car. "You're independent, I get that" he said, waiting for her eyes to meet his. When they finally did, he smiled. "But I let you take care of me after I got out of the hospital, so, fair is fair" he said, picking up his menu again.
She blew out a nervous breath. "You have a lot of work to catch up on" Elena pointed out, looking away from him and over at the salt and pepper shakers.
He dropped his menu again and reached across the table, grabbing her arms and pulling her hands into his. "The only thing I have to do, is take care of you" he told her. The honesty and sincerity in his voice melted her heart.
"You have to take Lily to the zoo, too" Elena reminded, letting a small smile form.
Stefan brought her hands to his lips and kissed them both. "She can wait until you feel well enough to go with us. After all, she wants to show you the zoo the most" he reminded. Elena simply nodded. "So, what do you want?" he asked, sensing that she was done talking for the time being. He was expecting her to not want anything again. The doctors had told him to be patient, but to offer her anything that sounded good.
"French fries sound kind of good" she said quietly. "And a strawberry banana smoothie" she added. Elena looked up at him to see if he approved.
He was ecstatic. He wouldn't show it, but he was. "If that's what sounds good, then I'll order it" he smiled lightly, setting their menus aside. He got up and went to the counter to order, watching her out of the corner of his eye.
Ten minutes later, they had their food. She ate her French fries slowly and he enjoyed his breakfast platter. "Is yours good?" she asked, peering up at him momentarily, unable to sit in silence any longer.
He nodded. "Not bad" he told her. "Yours?" he asked, noticing that she was about halfway done with her meal.
"Really good" she said, holding out her smoothie for him to try. "We'll have to try and make these at home. Lily would love them" she said, eating another fry.
"It's really good" Stefan agreed taking a sip and handing it back to her. He could make those, no problem. "Toast?" he offered, holding out the plate for her. She eyed it for a moment before taking it. He also passed her a grape jelly packet.
"You remembered" she said, staring at the grape jelly before looking up at him. She had only mentioned to him once that she loved grape jelly, and that was quite a while ago.
"Only you and Lily love that stuff" he smiled, finishing his eggs. Throughout the rest of the meal, he offered her other things off of his plate until she finally had to refuse. She would get sick if she ate any more.
"I just need to use the restroom" she told him, sliding out of the booth carefully. He stood as well, ready to offer his help. "I'm okay" she told him. Though she rejected his help, she did so without hurting his feelings. It was progress.
Elena stood at the sink, staring at her reflection in the mirror. This was the first time she had really looked at herself since Derrick's latest handiwork on her face. She barely recognized herself. She had no makeup with her either to cover any of the bruises up. She was so pale too. She definitely was not the fairly attractive young woman Stefan had agreed to marry twice already.
A knock at the door made her heart stop and her body jump. "Elena? Are you okay in there?" Stefan asked.
Elena stood up a little straighter, took a few deep breaths, and went to unlock the door. Stefan was waiting patiently outside for her, though he had a worried look on his face. "I'm ready" she said, walking ahead of him and out of the diner.
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They made it home just before ten that night. The house was dark and quiet and Stefan watched her turn every light in the house on. He let her though, understanding that the dark was so unwelcome to her after the ordeal she had been through. He helped her up the stairs and then ran back down to get her water, an ice pack, and her pain medication sorted out. By the time he made it back up, she was sitting on their bed with her pajamas in her hands. Well, a pair of sweats and one of his old flannel button down shirts. "I figured this would be easier to get on and off" she mentioned, holding up his shirt.
Stefan walked across the room and set everything on her nightstand. "I think so too" he said, kissing the top of her head. To be honest, there was nothing sexier than seeing her in one of his shirts, though, he figured now was not the time to announce that. He grabbed for the bottom of her shirt and she immediately reacted with fear, startling at his innocent move.
"I'm sorry" she said, seeing his hands drop down to his sides and the pained look spread across his face. "I'm just … I'm sorry" she said. She lifted her arms up slowly above her head and closed her eyes, waiting for him to pull the shirt off of her. Her bruised ribs nearly made him gasp – he hadn't seen her since he had found her. "That bad, huh?" she asked, slipping on his flannel shirt. Her trembling fingers fumbled with the buttons until he took pity on her and took over.
Stefan didn't answer her, mostly because he didn't know what to say and because he was so exhausted from everything. Elena got her sweats on by herself and he helped her lean back into the bed and propped her up gently so she could take her medication. She lifted her shirt slowly and applied the ice pack to her ribs, biting her lip as a small scream escaped her. It was probably the most pain she had felt in quite some time. It broke Stefan's heart though, watching her suffer like this.
Once she was settled, he stood and changed out of his clothes. He turned the main light off, but left their lamps on the nightstands on. He crawled into bed, moving close to her and resting his head against her arm.
They stayed like that for quite some time and Stefan wasn't sure who fell asleep first. Neither had gotten a very good night's sleep anyway, but they were home and he was thankful for that.
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It was almost three in the afternoon when Elena woke up. Really woke up. Stefan had woken her up earlier so she could take her pain medication and to eat, but then she had fallen right back asleep. She was up now though and could hear whispering outside of the room. Then there was a light tap on the door before Damon stuck his head in. "You awake?" he asked.
Elena sat up some and nodded. "Yeah" she said, wincing slightly.
"Tell her you have a surprise for her" Elena heard Lily whisper loudly. Then she saw Damon smile. "Ask her to guess what it is" Lily added.
Elena smiled. "I have a surprise for you Elena. Can you guess what it is?" Damon asked, trying his best not to laugh at the little girl hiding behind him.
"Candy?" Elena guessed.
She heard Lily giggle at her answer. "Tell her it's better than candy" Lily whispered loudly again.
"A puppy?" Elena guessed again. Again, Lily giggled.
"Not quite" Damon said, finally grabbing Lily and holding her upside down as he walked into the room.
"It's me!" Lily laughed excitedly as Damon set her on her feet. "Elena!" she yelled, making a run for the bed, carrying a messenger bag on her shoulder.
Damon had Lily in his arms once again though, stopping her from pouncing on Elena and hurting her. "What did we just talk about?" Damon asked his squirming seven-year old. "No touching Elena until she's not so sore anymore" he reminded.
"Okay okay Daddy, jeez" she said, squirming out of his grasp. Lily made her way to the bed and climbed up, sitting on the other side of Elena. "I brought you stuff to make you feel better" Lily said, opening her bag. "A book" she informed, pulling out her favorite book about a puppy who got to play soccer. "Gummy worms" she said, setting them down too. "Spot" she added, pulling out a stuffed animal horse with a spot over its eye. "Curious George" she added, setting the DVD in the pile of growing items. "And your ticket to the zoo!" she said excitedly. "When you feel better, of course" she added.
Elena carefully leaned over and kissed Lily before wrapping her in a hug. Elena didn't care how much it hurt. Being away from Lily for so long hurt so much worse. "Are you going to read to me?" Elena asked.
Lily's eyes lit up. "Yeah, I practiced!" she informed her, snuggling up against Elena and opening up the book.
"Are you two good?" Damon asked.
"Yeah Daddy, I got it covered" Lily informed him, finding the first page in the book.
"We're fine" Elena smiled. Just before Damon turned to leave, she whispered a "thank you" to him. This is just what she needed.
"You two have fun. And Lily, if Elena needs a break, you go back downstairs and help your uncle, okay?" he told her.
"Okay Daddy" Lily said, only half listening to him. "This is the puppy and he is going to get picked to play on the soccer team" Lily explained, ruining the plot for the book. But Elena didn't care. She was only half listening to Lily anyways, paying more attention to how happy she was to have Lily safely in her arms.
Lily finished the book and turned to look at Elena. She studied her face and frowned. "Did the mean man do that?" Lily asked, pointing to Elena's face.
Elena frowned as well. "Yeah, he did" she told her honestly. "He's in big trouble now."
"Good" Lily said, still studying Elena's face. "You still look pretty" she added.
Elena half laughed, half smiled. "I love you so much" she told her.
Lily's face brightened instantly. "I know" she said, turning to grab her gummy worms. Elena ruffled her hair and accepted the gummy worm Lily offered her.
"How are you doing?" Elena asked cautiously.
"I'm good" Lily said, pulling her gummy worm in half. "But Daddy says I gots to go see someone and talk about the mean man" she added, less enthusiastically.
This caught Elena's interest. "Yeah?" Elena asked. A therapist. Damon and Katherine were going to have Lily see a therapist. "It will be a good thing though."
"Do you gotta go talk to someone about the mean man too?" Lily asked, offering Elena another gummy worm.
"I probably should" Elena told her, running her fingers through Lily's curls.
"Uncle Stefan should too" Lily said. "He's awfully sad cause of what the mean man did to you" she told her. "Daddy said it's good to talk about how you feel" she added.
"You're right" Elena agreed. "People should talk about how they feel." She kissed the side of Lily's head once more. "Do you want to talk to me about how you feel?" she asked.
Lily shook her head. "Nope. I'm okay now that you're home" she said, producing a beaming smile for Elena.
Elena smiled. "But you know you can talk to me about anything, right?" Elena asked.
Lily looked at her for a moment. "I got something I want to talk about" she decided. Elena looked at her expectantly. "How does the baby get in the mommy's tummy?" Lily asked. This time, she looked at Elena expectantly, waiting for an answer.
Elena paled. Not this again. "You know who can answer that for you really good?" Elena asked.
"Who?" Lily asked.
"Alaric" Elena answered. "Next time you see him, you ask him, okay?" Elena asked. That would buy them all some time at least.
"Ooh, he's downstairs right now with Uncle Stefan!" she exclaimed. "I'm gonna go ask" she said, hopping off of the bed and running out of the room.
Elena laughed as she slowly reached for her phone. She sent Stefan a text that simply said "Sorry".
Stefan sent her one back, asking "Why?" It took about two minutes before he sent another one. "FML." Yes, Lily was downstairs now, asking them how babies got into a mommy's tummy.
Elena laughed, really laughed hard, for the first time since Derrick had her. It had hurt like hell, but it was worth it. Lily made everything so much better.