A/N: Hey all! I'm finally back and writing again. I am so beyond sorry it's taking me forever to get back to my stories. But, these last few months have been really tough on me with school. However, I'm on summer break currently which will mean more frequent updates, even if I am posting them a bit slower than usual. I promise all of them will updated sooner now that I have a bit more time.

Anyways, thanks to all of you who have been reading this and hopefully you'll continue to enjoy it. :)

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Remember Me- Chapter Three

Stefan let go of Ben's hand, standing shell shocked in front of the woman he once thought was going to be his wife was pretty tough. She watched him close his eyes, turning her back towards him. Elena was ready to leave, ready to run. It was something that she had become good at lately. Things got tough and she ran. Hell, if she wanted to be truthful with herself. She had been running for six years. From memories. From hurting him. From everything that hurt too much and from everything that made her feel something again.

"I'm sorry." She sniffled, glancing up to meet Stefan's gaze. She could still see the glimmer of shock in his eyes, the love for her long ago diminished and replaced with love for another.

Stefan opened his mouth, wanting to utter out a word, more than just a quick and sharp. "What are you doing back?" Yet, that was all that managed to make it's way past his lips. Elena shuffled her feet back, twisting her fingers together as she tried to think of a good explanation as why it had taken her this long. Although, all she could focus in on was the little boy standing next to his father, the little dirty brown haired, hazel eyed little boy who probably knew thing of the woman who stood in front of him with glazed over tears in her eyes.

Ben. It was simple. That was the real answer why she had come back and wanted to stay away all at them same time. It was their son. It was the knowledge that maybe he knew about her. Maybe.

However, Elena ran her fingers through her hair, exhaling deeply as she cleared her throat and stated. "Caroline and Klaus invited me to your wedding. I got an invitation in the mail and-" She paused, closing her eyes and praying that not a drop of her tears would spill over on to her heated red cheeks. She wanted to be emotionless in the moment, not show him how much she knew this hurt. How much getting the letter from Audrey was a slap in the face and how seeing Stefan standing in front of her now was tormenting. He doesn't deserve this, Elena. She reminded herself quietly as she straightened out her dress and tried to stop the quivering of her bottom lip. Calming herself down took a few minutes too long because by the time she was all composed and looking back up at him again. Stefan, was looking down at Ben and telling him to go sit down on the bench not too far from them.

"What are you doing here?" He crossed his arms over his chest as he asked the question, tilting his head to the side and waiting for her to respond with anything remotely interesting as to why she broke his heart and left.

Elena bite down on her lower lip, inhaling deeply. "I came back for him-." Stefan cut her off, taking a step forward to make his point very blunt.

"You left me with our son, six years ago. There is no way in hell that I'm giving him to you now. I've been too damn busy being his father and his mother. Something you resigned to me so long ago. I'm not giving him to you!" Stefan threatened, taking a step back as he took a brief glance towards Ben who was sitting and playing with Stefan's cell phone.

Elena shook her head, looking Stefan straight in his hurt green eyes as she spoke. "I don't want to take him away from you, Stefan. I just..." Elena shrugged her shoulders back, pausing for a minute before she continued. "I want to get to know him, that's all. I just want to get to know our son. I know that I wasn't there for him or for you and I regret it. I know my mistakes now and leaving you and Ben was the biggest one that I ever made. Please, just let him talk to him."

Stefan scoffed. After six years away from him and their son, she realized her mistakes now? What kind of joke was this?

"You don't get to come back into my life when it's convenient for you and act like everything's fine and that we can just move past these things instantly. It took me years to get over you and I'm finally happy now. I'm getting married to an amazing woman, Elena. And finally not haunted by you anymore. By what we could have had together." Stefan harshly replied, turning his back away from her for a moment as she glanced up at him with a hurt expression coloring her features.

"I know you are and I'm happy for you." She told him, reaching out to reassure him that she surely didn't come home to ruin whatever good was going on for him. "I'm not here to ruin that, Stefan. I'm here to know my son, to make amends and hopefully the two of us can be friends, for the sake of Ben."

"Friends?" He nearly choked out the word as he looked back at her in astonishment. "The last time that you and I tried that, we screwed up. We didn't work. Besides, lovers can never just be friends." Stefan reminded her as Elena nodded.

"You didn't screw up. I did. I didn't know what I wanted, Stefan. I didn't think that I was good enough to be a mother with everything that was going on with me, I wasn't good enough for myself, for you or for Ben. He didn't deserve what I did to him and neither did you. But, please. Let's just, try to start over." Elena told him as he cleared his throat. Maybe starting over was the best thing for them, being friends would work...Wouldn't it?

Stefan clenched his jaw tightly, placing his hands at his sides as he looked away from her once more. Part of him couldn't believe that she was standing in front of him, still beautiful as before, still heart broken over her leaving him the way she did. They had planned it all, a future together. A life that they both had wanted and just when he had thought things were going to be different. Elena did the unthinkable and left. He struggled with the choices in his mind for a long drawn out moment. Until, the part of him that had forgiven her for the things she had done long ago won the battle fairly quickly. "Is that really what you want? For us to be friends? For us to start over and for you to really be a part of Ben's life this time?" He questioned, hesitation creeping into his tone because he couldn't risk it- another heartbreak and watching her storm out of their lives all over again.

She nodded, staring more down at her feet than at him because there was something in his eyes. The look of fear and hurt that made her heart break. "I know that I hurt you, Stefan. But," Pausing to lick her button lip and pull her thoughts together, Elena reached out her hand to him. She knew that he wouldn't do the same. Although, she had to try. She wanted to try and get her point across. "I'm here to stay and maybe when you're ready to listen to me and talk about things. We can get together." She offered, reluctantly lowering her hand down to her sides and pivoting on her heels because as she looked out past where Stefan was standing, Elena could see Kai impatiently still waiting in the car.

"Elena-." Stefan's voice cracked as she stopped in her tracks. The sound of her name rolling off his tongue and the syllables gliding across his moistened lips made Elena's whole body shiver in response. She couldn't feel this way about him anymore, she reminded herself. He was marrying someone else. He had moved on and so did she. At least, that's what she had been trying to do over the last few years with Kai. But, moving on had proven lately that it wasn't going to be easy.

"What?" She asked, a calming demeanor forming across her face.

"It's nice seeing you." Stefan stammered out awkwardly, watching her eyes glisten a little as she nodded and smiled up at him. Stefan watched in silence as she walked back to the car and he slowly made his way towards Ben who had been impatiently waiting for his father. Stefan leaned down towards his son, smiling at him brightly.

"Daddy, I'm hungry and it's hot out here!" Ben whined, grabbing a hold of Stefan's outstretched hand as he held onto it lightly and they walked back towards their car, long ago forgetting about the issues with the penthouse because he was far too stunned by the return of his ex-fiance.

"We're going home, bud." Stefan reassured him, placing his arm around Ben's shoulder as the little boy glanced up at his father curiously and asked. "Dad, who was the lady in the pretty dress you were talking with?"

Stefan stopped, closing his eyes and searching his mind for the right words. He hadn't expected this at all. Elena's return had been the farthest from his mind in years and suddenly, there she was. Questions loomed, wanting the answers he had never really received plagued him.

"I promise that I'll explain it to you all within time." Stefan quietly stated, reaching the car and opening up the backseat as he helped his son climb in. Ben pursed his lips together as Stefan buckled him up and then he blurted out. "Daddy. She had my big brown eyes too."

Stefan nodded. "I know." He swallowed down the word roughly as Ben added on. "But, hers looked really sad, daddy. She looked really, really sad."

"Red wine, a nice fire. You know, relaxation." Caroling shrugged, handing Elena a wine glass as they sat outside and looked out at the view that was the beautiful Miami skyline, the sun going down in the distance had made the sky a light orange- pink color.

"What's on your mind?" Caroline questioned, noticing that Elena had been silent and distant from Kai since they had gotten back from the penthouse viewing.

Elena ran her finger over the rim of the wine glass in her hand. "He looked so beautiful..." Her voice trailed off, closing her eyes as the heat of the tears began to appear in her eyes and they became clouded with unshed tears.

Caroline tilted her head to the side in confusion. "Who is?" She asked, glancing back at the house every once in a while to see Kai and Klaus playing what looked like a game of poker at the dining table.

"I saw him today." Elena sniffled, turning away from Caroline as she wiped away her tears and then continued to ramble on, not wanting the blonde to stop her. "Stefan's raised such a fine little boy and he has my brown eyes. I mean, I knew that he did. But, when I saw him today and he looked up at me. My heart wanted to burst and it broke all at the same time. Made me realize how much time I wasted, being away when I could have gotten to be in his life." Elena exhaled deeply, running her hands over her hair.

Caroline inhaled deeply, leaning over to place her hand on to Elena's. "Honey, this has been really hard on Stefan. You know, you being gone had really messed him up for a long time and I don't think he's ever told Ben about you." She insisted flatly as Elena's eyes grew wide and she choked on the wine in her mouth, tasting the slight tang of it as the rest went down her throat.

"What?" She questioned, hearing Caroline nervously laugh. Hoping that the subject would be dropped and they could talk about something else.

"He never told our son about me? So, he thinks Audrey's his mother?" Elena's eyes grew even wider at the realization. That's why Ben looked confused when he looked up at her and said nothing when Stefan told him to go sit down on the bench a few feet away from them.

Caroline gave her a bleak smile. "I'm so sorry, honey. Stefan met Audrey when Ben was just a baby. He needed someone to help him and Katherine helped as much as she could. But, it just wasn't enough. So, Audrey helped raise Ben too. Soon they were living together and it just became natural for them. For her to be known as his mom." Elena looked away from Caroline and back towards the house, getting up from her seat.

"When was the first time my son called her mom?" Elena heard herself ask, tears streaming down her cheeks. It shouldn't have hurt this much, knowing that they had moved on. But, it hurt like hell. It was almost as if her heart was being ripped out of her chest when Caroline uttered out. "When Ben turned 1. Granted it was 2 months into his first year. But, he said "momma" to Audrey during a birthday party we were having for Klaus."

"Elena," Caroline tried to say, attempting to calm her down as she watched the brunette hastily grab her keys from her gray Kate Spade bag. "I need to go." She mumbled, trying to leave.

"What? Where are you going!" Caroline shouted out as Elena began walking back into the house. Caroline watched her turn around for a moment as she shrugged her shoulders. "Just give me an hour. Do Damon and Katherine still live in the same place?"

"What do you need to see Katherine for? Elena! They aren't big fans of yours." Caroline warned, reminding her.

Elena pivoted back on her heels. It was already a little past 8:30 and the sun had disappeared into the night completely. "I know. No one seems to be anymore because of what I did. But, I need some answers. So, tell Kai that I'll be back in two hours. Tell him to not wait up, actually." She stated, walking towards the driveway.

"You don't even have a car!" Caroline exclaimed, attempting to persuade her to not do this.

Jingling the keys in her left hand, Elena smiled as she said. "I stole the keys to that nice looking black Porsche in the driveway. It's yours, I'm guessing. Anyways, I'll be gentle. I promise. Please, Caroline. Just give me a few hours to talk to her. It's all I ask." She said, walking away as Caroline slumped back down into her seat, rubbing her hands over her face in frustration because she knew it was a bad idea.

"I'm just going to slip out of this and..opps." Katherine teased, tossing her red colored tank top over the computer screen as she heard her husband groan loudly.

"This isn't what I meant when I said lets get naked over skype, darlin'!" Damon commented with a hint of irritation as Katherine moved her hair to one side and leaned back into the mattress. She was thankful for this, some silly fun with her husband because she had been missing him so much lately. The kids being out for the night made things ever better.

"So, where are our children?" Damon laughed, watching Katherine move the tank top off the screen, revealing her black bra and matching panties to her husband. "Mhmmm...They're at Stacy's house for the night. Something about a school project and play time. Lucky for us, they're spending the night there."

"Good." Damon stated, his eyebrows rising as he smirked at his smoking hot wife. "Damn, Katherine. I'd be all over you if I was home right now." He added on as she bite down her lower lip and just when she was about to do something else fairly sexy for him, Katherine heard a loud booming noise coming from downstairs.

"Who's that? You plan on having an audience aside from me?" Damon joked as Katherine shook her head, pulling her top back over her barely dressed body.

"Of course not!" She teased back, telling Damon that she'd be calling him later and that she thought it was probably just the pizza delivery guy who liked to flirt with her shamelessly during his route in the neighborhood.

"Tell him to keep his damn pizza and paws to himself and off of my wife!" Damon threatened as Katherine laughed and said goodbye to him, fixing her hair and throwing on a pair of shorts before she made her way down the stairs and to the front door. Katherine took a step back as she opened it, the aroma of whiskey seeping out from his mouth as he leaned against the door frame, grinning up at her.

"Evening beautifulll." He slurred under his breath, stumbling towards her and right into her arms as Katherine caught him just in time before he face planted on to the ground. Slamming the door behind her, she leaned against it, crossing her arms with a firm expression of disgust on her face.

"What the hell are you doing here and why in the hell are you drunk!" She shouted at him, watching him take a seat on the cold tiled floor as he placed his hands against his face and inhaled through gritted teeth. He lifted up his finger, pointing at her as he began to explain with a giggle.

"Funny thing happened today..."He began to say as she rolled her eyes, huffing out a breath.

"Obviously." Katherine commented, kicking the left side of his precious brown suede Italian loafers.

"You know. I went to go see that penthouse that Audrey and I were planning on buying." Katherine nodded, of course she knew. It was all they had been talking about since they had seen it over four months ago.

Katherine shrugged. "So, what happened?" She asked, hearing him laugh a little as he continued, leaning his head back against the wall as he complained about the room spinning.

"Well, my ex showed up. And, damn it. She fucking amazing. Beautiful like she had looked before and all I could think about was my life, my choices in my life." Stefan added on, watching Katherine pinch the bridge of her nose as she kept listening to him talk.

"Oh no." Was all she could manage to say as she figured that they were thinking of the same person. Although, what he said next made the hairs on the back of Katherine's neck stand up.

"So, after that. I went home, sat in my office for a few hours after Ben went to sleep. I found some old whiskey and drank it, the whole bottle. Then, when Audrey came home. I told her that I didn't want to be with her anymore. I told her that this wedding was just going to be a shame. It's not real, Katherine. I don't love her. I told her that I didn't love her at least..Because...All I could think about were those alluring brown eyes, the ones that I've missed so much." His voice broke, trailing off as Katherine stood over him, stunned and utterly repulsed by what he was saying.

"You didn't mean that!Have you lost your god damn mind. You and Audrey are perfect together. The wedding is in three weeks, Stefan! You can't screw this up because of someone else who left you." She shouted at him, bending down and trying to pull Stefan up to his feet with all the strength she had in her. Although, he was too strong and they both went crashing to the ground fairly quickly. Katherine shook her head, taking a seat beside him. Her eyes were desperately searching his for some understanding as she grabbed his face into the palm of her hands and that's when she saw it. How broken he truly was.

"She's back, Katherine. And, seeing her today made me regret every single mistake I've made. Letting her go, I should have never let her go." He told her in a tormented tone, tears streaming down his face as he leaned his head against Katherine's shoulder. She didn't say a word, just sat with him for a long while until another unexpected knock at the door interrupted their time together.

"Who the hell is it now!" Katherine exclaimed, getting to her feet as she helped Stefan into the living room before answering the door. Although, when she opened it up. Her heart fell into the pit of her stomach as they came face to face and Katherine softly said her name. "Elena."

Elena's makeup was smeared, black streaks of mascara wiped away with a tissue were evident on her olive colored skin as she glanced up at Katherine. "I know that I'm the last person that you ever wanted to see again. But, you and I used to be pretty decent friends, once upon a time. And, I guess I'm here because I didn't know where else to go and..." The look of shock and anger flashing in Katherine's dark brown gaze caused Elena to take a step back as she swallowed the lump forming in her throat before she continued simply. "I need you to tell me, Katherine. I need you to tell me that coming back home for them was a total mistake. Because, he's happy without me. I saw it today, Stefan is really happy without me. And, our beautiful little boy. He finally has a mom who loves him and who's there for him. All I am is an absentee mother who Ben doesn't even know exists."

A/N: Oh things are about to get really interesting...I promise!

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Until next time!