Quite the turn of events! I hope you guys are enjoying this thus far! Here is chapter 16!

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Jake let his hands run from the tops of her arms to her hands where he intertwined their fingers and brought them up to his chest, cradling them there like he used to do several times before.

Shocked, Elena froze and she felt her body stiffen at the unwelcome attention she was receiving. It was what they called an out of body experience. She didn't know what to do, so she stood there with her eyes closed waiting for Jake to be done.

When Jake noticed that she was refusing to kiss him back, he let go of her hands and broke away with a look of lust and confusion on his face.

But before he could say anything Elena had pushed him back as she slapped him across the face with all her power.

Jake grabbed his cheek and stared at her, and as he was about to open him mouth he heard a cough coming from behind him.

He turned around to see Stefan walking towards him, and he seemed mad. Jake turned around to see Elena but she was already walking away from him and towards Stefan.

As Stefan approached Jake quickly, he was leaning over him in no time and speaking to him in a hushed angry voice, "You better stay away from her, got it?"

Stefan didn't look at him long enough to hear his answer as he took Elena and got in the car as they drove away from Jake, leaving him dumbfounded over the fact that he drove away with her.

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When they reached a spot on the edge of the forest near the park, Stefan stopped and got out of the car. He went around to Elena's side and opened her door for her as she stepped out.

They had been quiet the whole ride over, neither of them knowing what to say. Stefan didn't know what to say or how to react. He knew it wasn't Elena's fault, and that Jake had pushed himself on her, yet he felt betrayed. But he had to quit his belly aching because this wasn't about him, this was about Elena. During the entire ride over here, not once did he ask her if she was okay.

Stefan let out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding and he turned around to face Elena, who was leaning against the car.

He walked up to her and took her into his arms without saying a word. Elena's arms came to wrap around his back as she said a silent prayer that we wasn't mad at her because he understood, he always would.

Elena kissed the spot on his chest where her head was resting as she hugged him tighter.

Stefan was the first one to loosen the hold as he began to speak, "Are you okay?" he asked almost silently.

"I am now" she said refusing to let go of him as she wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Elena, he kissed you" Stefan said. He wasn't accusing, nor was he mad, he was simply stating.

"I know, I was there" she responded simply.

Stefan let go of her to step back and look at her.

"Elena you need to stop doing that. Stop pretending like all of this is okay. Not once did you want to speak about him and your past and I understand that and you don't have to. But I want you to know that you can. You aren't even blaming him for kissing you. What is going on?" Stefan asked, almost pleading at this point.

Elena closed her eyes shut and ran her hand through her straight brown hair before she spoke.

"I'm trying to be the better person here, Stef. I know what kind of person Jake is and I'm trying to do the right thing. I don't want to hold this grudge and have this affecting our relationship. He doesn't have the right to walk back into town and mess up everything I have with you. I want to accept and just move on, move on with you." She said looking at him.

Stefan looked at Elena with a bit of wonder, he admired her. She was so righteous and so strong. She didn't want to hold him accountable for his faults just so there would be no drama ensuing around them. But what Elena didn't understand was that he had wronged her. And, being a good person or not, being wronged shouldn't be forgotten. Forgiven, yes, but no matter who it is, once you are hurt, it stays with you.

Stefan walked to her and took her hands into his own before he brought them up to his lips to place a kiss on them.

"Just talk to me, Elena. I want you to know that you can. And it's okay to hold him accountable for something. He wronged you and I want you to express how you feel by letting me know how you feel, or blaming him. Elena, please, don't shut me out" Stefan pleaded

Elena took a deep breath before she began to speak, "Jake and I, we started dating when we were 16. I was always friends with him and I guess one day we decided to take the next step. We were fine until the summer time, when there were parties after parties. I decided I wasn't going to go to one, until Caroline showed up at my door and dragged me to it. Jake didn't know that I was going to be there and I walked in on him fucking another girl. I didn't know what to do, so I just left and I never looked back. We didn't speak after that and before I know it, he's moving away. I just couldn't believe he would do something like that to me. I was hurt, and it took me a while to get back to my old self. But now he's back and I just don't know how to deal with it. Part of me wants to forgive and forget, but the other part of me just wants to run him over with your shiny car"

Stefan chuckled at that last part, as did Elena. Stefan moved to pull her into his arms again and as he began to rub her back, he spoke in a gentle voice.

"Elena, what he did was wrong and it is okay to be mad. I want you to know that I will never hurt you like he did. I will never do to you, what he did. You mean too much to me." Stefan confessed.

Elena relaxed in his arms a bit. She loved hearing Stefan admit how much she meant to him. She knew Stefan would never hurt her.

"I know you wouldn't. And that isn't what I'm worried about. I'm worried he is going to come between us. Jake is a bit of a stubborn ass. He usually gets what he wants." Elena said with a sad voice.

Stefan pulled back to cup her face between both his hands as he rubbed her cheeks with his thumbs.

"I will not let him get between us." He vowed as he bent down to capture her lips in a kiss. Elena leaned into the kiss as she let her hand run through his hair. Stefan felt her deepen the kiss and he groaned as he could taste her signature passion fruit lip balm on his tongue.

Stefan was the first one to pull away. Breathless, he leant his forehead against hers before he spoke. "Have I ever told you how much I love passion fruit?"

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It was now a Friday and somehow Caroline and Elena were sitting in detention after school for being late to History because Caroline had a wardrobe malfunction that needed attending to.

Elena almost killed Caroline because she and Stefan had a date to go on tonight, and this would result in less time for her to get ready.

Caroline sat to her right playing around with her phone as Elena sat half on the chair and half on the desk patiently waiting for the hour to pass by.

Elena let out a big sigh as she waited for the detention monitor to come in. Elena closed her eyes shut as he mentally cursed Caroline for the 100th time.

She looked up and saw Caroline now pulling out an entire manicure set as she sat there and began to do her nails.

"Care, really? Here, in detention?" Elena asked laughing to herself.

Caroline looked over at her feigning insult, "Yes of course, here. We have an hour, what else am I supposed to do? Talk to the walls?" Caroline said sarcastically.

Elena rolled her eyes dramatically and went back to putting her head down on the desk quietly humming a tune to herself.

Things were going surprisingly well lately. Things with Jake were going unusually smooth. He would come to school for the past three days and he would keep to himself. He wasn't bothering Elena much, lately. He would smile at her from across the classrooms to which she would just look away.

Elena was happy she had that conversation with Stefan because it made her see a few things. Yes, she was wronged and she recognized that now. And she finally allowed herself to feel that anger and not bottle it up and mask it with the urge to be a better person. She no longer needed any closure because she realized what a dick he really was.

Elena let out yet another sigh, she wanted to stop thinking and she wanted to not be tense about these things. She forced her brain to shut out any thought as she sat there and began to count, 1…2…3…4…5.

When she reached five she heard the door open and shut but she refused to lift her head up and acknowledge whoever walked into the room.

Before she knew it she heard a big hearty laugh that could make the shittiest day, the most perfect one. That laugh could make her laugh, could give her the widest smile, and could set her nerves on end.

She lifted her head smiling to see Stefan standing at the front of the room with his side bag still on and his coffee mug in his hand.

Stefan was still laughing as he set his things down before he turned his attention to the only two girls sitting in detention.

"What are you two doing here? I was expecting some punk kids who get high in the bathroom stall, not you two." He laughed

Elena and Caroline both let out a groan and a growl at him for teasing them.

Caroline pulled out her phone and began to text away ignoring Stefan and his jests. Stefan walked over to where they were sitting and yanked Caroline's phone out of her hand.

"Hey!" She yelled when she jumped up out of her seat reaching for her phone as she fanned her other hand in an attempt to dry the wet nail polish.

Elena watched in amusement as Caroline tried to reach up around Stefan as he held the phone up high over her head.

"Caroline, stop it" Stefan said as he tried to keep the phone out of her reach.

"Stefan, give me my phone back!" She complained

"No" he simply said as he walked to the front and dropped it on his desk.

"What do you mean no?" Caroline asked

"I mean no. No phones during detention. You can get it back when you leave at the hour mark."

Caroline stared at him with her eyes wide open and her palm extended in a "what the hell is wrong with you" motion.

Stefan just stood there with his arms crossed and his eyebrows raise waiting for her to protest.

"Elena! Tell your boyfriend to give me my phone back!" Caroline complained.

Both Stefan and Elena at the same time yelled, "Care!" in attempts to shut her up in case someone heard anything.

"Ugh fine" she finally said, giving in as she sat down going back to her nails.

Elena turned her attention back to Stefan who was sitting at the front of the class looking through some ratty old book sitting on the desk looking uninterested.

The door opened and in walked Tyler with a football in his hand. Caroline looked up and smiled at him, as did Elena.

Stefan looked at the clock on the wall before he turned back to Tyler.

"You're late" he remarked

Tyler came and sat down in a desk beside Caroline, "Yeah, sorry about that. I got caught up in the halls" Tyler apologized.

Stefan nodded as he sat back down, "I'll be honest, I really don't care. As long as you came" Stefan said going back to the boring old book.

Tyler sat at the desk with his head down, Caroline was doing her nails, and Elena was sitting there like a sitting goose.

Elena coughed to get Stefan's attention, she was bored. Stefan did not acknowledge her cough the first time so she coughed again a bit louder this time.

Stefan looked up from his book to see Elena staring at him with a not so amusing expression on her face. Stefan raised his eyebrows at her trying to figure out what she needed.

I'm bored she mouthed at him dramatically pouting at the end. Stefan smirked at her before he shrugged his shoulders indicating that he didn't care.

Elena gave him an incredulous look before she got up and walked to the desk.

"Stefan, I'm bored." She stated again quietly.

"Detention isn't supposed to be fun" Stefan stated without looking up from his book.

Frustrated, Elena grabbed the book out of his hand and threw it down on the desk.

"Put the god damn book down Stefan" she said a bit louder.

At this, Tyler raised his head and furrowed his brows at their interaction.

Elena blushed as she realized that she had spoken a little too loudly. Tyler, not caring, put his head back down as he put his headphones in.

"Elena, go sit down. You're in detention and I'm the one in charge right now. Plus, we're in a school setting, call me Mr. Salvatore." He smiled. He knew how much she hated calling him Mr. Salvatore and how much she hated the fact that they couldn't exactly be public together.

"Mr. Salvatore," she mocked "I'm bored" she said again.

Stefan took in a deep breath as he stood up to face her. "Elena, I can't do anything. Why don't you go do your nails like Caroline is" Stefan suggested

"Because, they're already done" she said showing him her hands.

Stefan looked at her hands and smiled to himself, and suddenly he looked up at her face and licked those lips that she loved running her tongue along.

"Mmm, how about you go think about what you're gonna wear tonight" he whispered in a dark sultry voice.

Elena felt the shift in the air as he spoke in a deep voice that set her hair on end.

"I suppose I could. What do you want me to wear?" She asked flirtatiously.

"Nothing, if you ask me" he responded with a smile.

A cough from Caroline broke them out of their little bubble. They hadn't noticed that they had begun to get close to each other.

They stepped away from each other exchanging glances as Caroline rolled her eyes at the love birds.

Stefan laughed and turned away to sit back down when Elena caught his arm.

"I'm going to a party next Friday, with Caroline. Tyler is throwing it because his parents are out." Elena explained.

Stefan nodded as he looked up at her to respond, "Okay, make sure you get home safe if you're going to be drinking. Better yet, you can call me. And remember that you have a boyfriend" he whispered the last part as he chuckled.

"I'll get home safe, don't worry. And yes, yes. I have a boyfriend, I will remember, don't worry." She chided.

"I'm going out for dinner with Katherine that night anyways, so I won't be totally alone and bored. She keeps complaining that we don't hang out anymore since we both got into relationships. She just wants to catch up" Stefan explained

"Stef, you don't have to explain yourself to me. Go out for dinner with her, and ask her if she wants to go out on a double date sometime. We haven't gone since last time." She said.

"Okay, I will. Now why don't you go sit down and behave little missy" Stefan mocked as she went back and sat down. Elena turned her head and stuck her tongue at him.

She was happy, and she couldn't wait until their date tonight. She loved him so much and she finally realized that. The trick was, how would she tell him?

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Well, now that Elena knows she loves him, things might get interesting! And things have been quiet with Jake! Good or bad? Leave a review letting me know what you think! Thank you guys for such an amazing response! (: