A/N: Hey all! I'm kind of back to writing. I know it's been forever. Although, I hope you all are still reading my stories and thank you for those who have been patient with me. I truly do appercaite it.
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Remember Me- Chapter Five
"Klaus! Where are you?" Caroline loudly shouted, looking around the nearly empty office rooms, opening almost every door as she went along.
"Caroline," Lexi smiled suddenly. Caroline watched her pop out of one of the rooms, straightening her dress out as she stepped in front of the confused blonde.
"Lexi? It's after hours. On a Friday night." Caroline pointed out, eying the hickies on her neck as she tried to brush her hair in front of her reddish flesh. Lexi was clearly disoriented and a little nervous as she kept looking back behind her.
Caroline smiled a little, quickly understanding what was going on. "You obviously aren't here alone?"
Lexi shook her head, clearing her throat as she closed the door behind her and leaned against it. She was hoping that Klaus's wife wouldn't start asking questions. Really, she was praying for that.
"No." Lexi replied softly, nervously looking back behind her again as they both heard something knock over in the room and a man groan out in pain.
Caroline smiled, pushing Lexi out of the way while she placed her hand on to the door and glanced over towards the woman who's name was on the building. "I know that you're the boss of this place and you can do whatever the hell you want while you're here. However, my husband pays a lot of money to support you and last I heard, he owns a small portion of it. Right along with Damon and Stefan Salvatore. So, if you're fucking with who I think you're fucking with. I suggest that no one finds out. And, by no one. I mean my husband, Klaus."
Lexi's eyes grew as she watched Caroline's hand slip away from the door and she pivoted on her heels. "Take my advice, don't fall in love with him." Caroline looked down at the ground as Lexi's eyebrows furrowed and she watched her begin walking down the hall.
"It's too late for that Caroline. You should know how hard it is to resist the charms of a Mikaelson. Besides, you married one." She could hear her say as Caroline walked away and reminded herself that no matter what, she wasn't going to tell her husband that one of his brothers was sleeping with Lexi.
"Turn off the lights." Elena smiled, exhaling deeply as she moved the covers on Stefan's side of the bed. She heard him exhale heavily. He turned towards her, the early morning street lights shining on his face. She was eight months pregnant at the time and they were in a good place with each other. However, he had been working long hours and it was taking it's toll. Elena watched as Stefan placed his arm around her growing belly. She saw his eyes slowly begin to close as he slid his tired and aching body beside her on their bed.
"It's going to get easier, you know." She smiled a little. Trying to be reassuring that things in fact were going to be okay and that she'd help him through whatever hardship he was feeling at the time.
Stefan leaned his head back, staring up at the ceiling. He grabbed her hand as she laid down next time him and he thought about it, their future.
"I know." He whispered, kissing her hands as she giggled and got closer to him. Stefan watched Elena rest her head against his shoulder as she smiled softly at him. "As long as you're by my side. I know that it's going to get easier." He commented, leaning into her as he kissed her cheek and she nuzzle against him, placing her hand on to his cheek. "I love you." She smiled sweetly, laying contently in his arms as he replied back. "I love you too."
"Elena, I love you." Kai stated, standing in front of Elena with a black box in between his hands as he knelt down in front of her, searching her eyes.
"Elena. Babe, please say something..." His voice trailed off as Elena shook away the memories filled with sorrow and tried her hardest to focus in on Kai who was spilling his heart out to her.
"What?" She asked, realizing what was going on and that Kai was trying to propose to her in such a nontraditional way.
"Marry me, Elena." He blurted out as he opened the box in front of her eyes and she covered her mouth with her hands. "Kai.." She began to say, swallowing down her surprise and replacing it with the truth.
"I love you too." She told him, grabbing his hands and smiling at him with tears in her eyes as she cleared her throat, moving the ring away and stated. "I love you, Kai Parker. I love you. But, I can't marry you." He stood up, releasing her hands and taking a step back. Clearly, he felt foolish about the whole situation. Elena obviously didn't love him as much as he had thought she did.
"You don't feel the same way about me, do you?" He asked, flat out and bluntly. She ran her hands over her face, closing her eyes as she inhaled sharply. Elena was haunted. By this town, by everyone and everything in it. Although, Kai didn't know the full story and she was surely about to tell him.
"Kai, I love you. But, the truth is that. I came back here to make things right with the people I left behind. Which, includes Stefan. Because, as long as I'm being honest with myself. Deep down in my heart the truth is that I've never stopped loving Stefan. My son's father and feeling that while moving forward with you. It isn't fair."
He looked at her stunned, dropping the ring to the ground. Kai's eyes grew furious as he grabbed a hold of his head and then crossed his arms over his chest. "He's getting married to someone else, Elena and he's obviously not here. I am! I'm the one who has been here for you. Don't do this, don't throw what we have away over a guy that you just have a son with. Please, don't be so stupid!"
Elena laughed a little. It was painful hearing the truth. Yet, she knew he was partly right. "Stefan isn't just some guy, Kai. He was the love of life and I took him for granted. I understand that he's marrying someone else and she seems wonderful for him. But, you need to know where I stand and why I can't marry you right now. Even if part of me really wants to do just that. Believe me, part of me would love nothing more than to live out our days together. But, how long will it be until you look at me and realize that maybe it's not me who you wanted?"
He stood speechless, moving slowly towards her as he calmly stated. "I'm not going to give you an ultimatum. Elena, it's very simple. It's me or him. And, if you don't want me. Then, I will pack my bags and be out of your life in the morning. You'll never see me again." Kai told her, watching as she glanced back him without a word.
"We nearly got caught!" Lexi stammered, slamming the door behind her as she watched Kol give her a knowing grin. He got up from his seat at her desk, watching as she locked the door behind her and took a seat where he had just been sitting in her office.
"Oh, this just got scandalous." He commented, watching as Lexi leaned forward and smacked his shoulder. "You are horrible."
"A horrible distraction." He winked, pulling her closer as she pressed her lips against his, relishing in the taste of the bourbon on his lips.
"We can't tell your brother about this." She pointed out, leaning back and placing her finger against the collar of his shirt as Kol leaned back and laughed. He was grinning like a fool in love if Lexi had ever seen one. They had yet to make anything official since both of them had been enjoying the more casual side of whatever it was that they were doing.
"So, we've been sneaking around for over six months. When are you going to make me your girlfriend?" She asked, tilting her head to the side and waiting for an answer from him as he glanced down at their intertwined hands. "Once I tell my brother about this and once I'm reassured that it won't end up on some stupid tabloid. Lexi, I love you for who you are. Not because you're some multimillion dollar business owner. Believe me, I've dated a lot of different women and there is something completely different about you." He commented, hearing her exhale heavily as she leaned forward and placed her head against his chest, whispering out ever so softly. "I love you."
"So, my husband's brother is sleeping around with your boss." Caroline announced loudly as she made her way into Stefan's house, hearing Ben running towards her while she embarrassingly apologized to Stefan for uttering those words.
"Hi auntie, Caroline!" Ben shouted, grabbing a hold of Caroline's hand as he dragged her through the living room, telling her that he wanted to show her his new lego collection. "That's great sweetheart. Where's your father?" Caroline commented, attempting to brush the little boy off.
Ben stared up at her, a sad expression on his face as he turned towards the closed door of Stefan's office. "Daddy's talking to uncle Damon." He said softly. Caroline ran her hands through Ben's hair, smiling down at him and kissing the side of his face. "I'll be out here later to play with you, okay?" She said, watching him nod at her as he ran back into the living room and went straight to playing with his toys again. She knocked once on Stefan's door and when she didn't get a reply, she marched right in. He turned around slowly, a bit taken back from her sudden intrusion.
"Damon, something came up. I'll call you back." Stefan stated, hanging up the phone in his hands as Caroline took a seat, crossing her legs over one another and smirking at Stefan as he waited to asked what in the hell was going on.
"Oh," She began, leaning forward for more emphasis. "A hell of a lot is going on actually. Where do you want me to start?" She questioned with an eager tone.
Stefan laughed a little, leaning back into his chair. "Start with your husband and the fact that his brother is sleeping with Lexi Branson. Kol, was it?" Caroline gawked at him, trying to figure out how he knew and then it dawned on her. "Damon told you? How the hell does Damon know? He's been in California for months!"
Stefan tapped his fingertips against the table in front of him and sighed out a deep breath. "Damon came back home late last night and he's well informed about what's going on. Actually, he caught them making out near the entrance of the building. I sent him to the office to pick up a few things and apparently. Kol and Lexi like to hook up at the offices, after hours when no one is around at all. So, they're pretty much screwing each other on every surface inside of our office building."
"Ugh! That's disgusting!" Caroline stated, rolling her eyes as Stefan smirked a little while licking his bottom lip. He was remembered for a moment of the time that he and Elena had tried to sneak around the offices at his old real estate firm.
"I guess." He shrugged, getting up from his seat and looking past Caroline to make sure that Ben was doing okay.
"So, what else is going on?" He asked her, taking a seat back down just as the doorbell rang and he heard Ben shout out that he was about to open the door. "Will you, excuse me?" Stefan asked, lifting up a finger as Caroline nodded when Stefan added in quickly. "Before my very friendly son lets in a bunch of strangers into my home."
She watched him leave the room as she closed her eyes and exhaled deeply. The thought of Kol sleeping around with Lexi was surely to be leaked out to the press and if that happened, she thought. Maybe it would give them all exactly what they needed- some brand new publicity. "Maybe this won't be such a bad thing." She laughed to herself as she got up and walked back into the living room. Ben was sitting on the floor anxiously as Caroline heard the doorbell ring a few more times and Stefan shouted back at the door that he was on his way.
"Alright, kid. Show me what you got!" Ben heard her say as his eyes gleamed with excitement and he showed off his new lego collection. Caroline sat on the couch, legs crossed over one another and that's when she heard it. The familiar tone of voice speaking with Stefan. "Oh shit." She mumbled, getting up from her seat and noticing who his visitor was….
"Elena." Stefan said her name as he stepped back from the door for a moment, watching her fidget back and forth before she finally spoke. "I know that you don't want to see me and I know that the last time we saw each other, we were both a mess. But," She began to ramble on as Stefan took a step outside and closed the door behind him. He noticed that she was ringing her fingers together nervously.
"What are you doing here?" He asked her as she licked her bottom lip, swallowing down her fears as she locked her eyes on to him and shrugged her shoulders back.
"I'm not really sure." She stated, clearing her throat. "I guess I came to apologize once again for things and to tell you that you don't need to worry about me ruining your wedding to Audrey." Stefan scoffed, glancing down at her hand and noticing the shiny diamond ring on the ring finger of her left hand.
"You're engaged?" He asked with a stunned tone, running his hands over his face and through his hair. He should have known and it certainly shouldn't have hurt this much. But, suddenly everything that once haunted Stefan Salvatore came back into play as he looked her over.
"That's not why I came here." Elena retorted, watching Stefan turn his back towards her. She slowly raised her hand up and placed it on to his shoulder. "Please, Stefan. Can we talk someplace private?" She asked him, hoping that he would at least consider hearing her out.
The touch of her gentle hand against his shoulder made his back tense up as he turned towards her once more and their eyes met. "We both know that the two of us in the same room wouldn't be a good idea."
Her hand dropped back to her side as she shook her head and glanced down at her shoes. "Right, never mind then." Elena said, turning towards the parking lot and her parked car. She was embarrassed now. She had been feeling fairly good up until the point of his eyes meeting hers and then it all went to hell. Stefan watched her starting to leave, fumbling for her keys as he saw some of the contents of her wallet spill out on to his driveway. "Son of a bitch!" Elena cursed, leaning down to pick things up just as Stefan walked over to her. Elena could feel his eyes on hers as he helped her pick up her things, their hands touched. She moved her hand away quickly and glanced up at him through watery eyes. "How many times am I going to apologize to you?" She questioned, choking back on her sobs.
Stefan didn't say anything, he just watched her as she got up and he did the same. Elena began turning towards her car when she heard him say her name. Maybe this- being this close to her- was killing him too? Maybe it was just an illusion and they really did out grow one another. It had been years, she thought. Maybe it was time to finally once in for all, let each other go?
"Elena. Wait. Please, wait!" Stefan softly whispered. Although, it was loud enough for her to hear him.
"What?" She asked, turning to face him as her mascara stained her red cheeks and her eyes filled with tears, blurring her vision.
"I'm sorry too. You know. I'm sorry that I gave up so easily on you. On us. I'm sorry that now we can't even look at each other without being afraid of what we're going to feel or what kind of emotions it's going to bring back up. Damn it, Elena. I miss you and I know that we can't go back to what we were. You can go ahead and hate me and I can hate you. Which I don't anymore because I still want you in my life. Not just because of Ben. But, for myself too." She was sobbing now, leaning against the passenger side door of her car as she placed her face into her hands and cried.
Stefan cautiously made his way towards her, embracing her into his arms tightly without a second thought in his mind. "I miss my best friend." He whispered into her ear, kissing the side of her face as she crumbled into his arms, still crying as she whispered ever so softly. "I've missed you too. I've missed you so much."
Until Next Time! Please let me know what you think. Reviews make me happy! :)