Disclaimer: I do not own/associate with Vampire Diaries nor any of the fictional characters. This is merely just a fanfiction.
A/N: I try to update as much as I can before I lose my enthusiasm and return for university. Enjoy!
- Chapter Four -
To the Moon and Back
It was Elena's birthday. Caroline and Bonnie had prepared a surprise party for her at the Mystic Grills. Both of them had invited her classmates to attend the party. Elena was blindfolded and brought into the restaurant by her two friends. Then, when they reached, both of them undo the knot at the back of Elena's head. Her eyes widened, jaw fell onto the floor, as she did not expect most of the people she knew at school were standing just right in front of her. Some of them were holding balloons, some had the birthday hats on their head.
"Happy birthday, Elena!" They all sang in unison.
Caroline quickly put a birthday hat on Elena and Bonnie took out a birthday cake. Elena's eyes were twinkling with tears. She covered her mouth with her hands. Her lips curled upwards with utter joy.
"Oh my God, both of you!" She cried. Then, they all sang the birthday song and cheered.
After dinner, most of the people had left the restaurant. Elena, Bonnie and Caroline were sitting at a table, chattering and chuckling together. There were so many topics to gossip about.
"So, how are you and Matt?" Bonnie asked simply while sipping a glass of soda.
"Has he confessed yet?" Caroline eyes grew with curiosity. They were all staring at Matt Donovan who was working part time as a waiter in the Mystic Grills. Matt saw the girls ogling at him, so he pressed his lips together and curved it upwards.
"He is cute, isn't he?" Bonnie teased at the blushing Elena.
"Yeah," she continued to stare at the Matt who was working diligently.
They waited until Matt had finished his shift. Then the two girls left with Matt and Elena alone. Matt insisted to send Elena back. When they were at the entrance of Mystic Grills, Elena saw a shadow at the opposite road. A man was staring at both of them. His eyes were radiant, as though she could see stars reflecting from his eyes.
"Are you OK?" Matt asked.
"There's a guy staring at us," she muttered while turning her head towards Matt for a moment, and turned back, but the shadow was gone.
"There's no one," Matt turned his head to the direction of her gaze. "Do you know him?"
"No," she replied. But she swore both of them had been eyeing each other for at least 5 seconds. There was a sense of familiarity in that man she saw.
She turned her body so that her body was resting on her arm while she pressed her pillow onto her head. She inhaled the summer's left-over smell in her room. Her eyes were still closed but she could see under her lids, sunshine was directly striking at her bed. She opened her eyes slowly and slightly, staring at the opened window. She turned her body to the other side so that her back was facing the window. She saw a figure sitting on her bed. She blinked a few times and rubbed her eyes, before pronouncing a name she had not called for days. "Stefan?"
"Hey," he smiled, his arm caressing her face.
"Am I dreaming?" She continued rubbing her eyes. "Stefan? Is this really you?"
"Yeah, I'm back, Elena." He was still sitting beside of her.
She stretched her arms and quickly embraced him tightly. Her eyes were filled with tears. "You're back."
"I'm sorry that I left without a reason," he explained. "I was not thinking straight. I should have-"
"Shh," Elena placed her hand on his dry lips. She had the urge of damping the dryness. Without a second thought, she pressed her lips between his. He replied back with his tongue, stroking hers as though there was a battle between their tongues.
Stefan broke the kiss when he heard someone was walking towards her room. There were a few knocks blew onto the door. "Elena?"
Stefan reached to the door with a blink of an eye. He opened the door and smiled at Alaric.
"Morning, Ric!" Elena called, still sitting on the bed.
"Morning," Stefan wished politely, knowing he was not supposed to be in Elena's room without acknowledging Alaric, who was Elena's guardian, who also had been turned into an Enhanced Original Vampire.
Alaric stared at Stefan with surprise. His eyebrows curled upwards, then frowned again. "No wonder I heard someone else is in the room. I thought maybe I was too sensitive with this vampire hearing."
Elena giggled.
"Uh, you kids have fun," Alaric moved away from the room to avoid the awkwardness and continued, "I've prepared breakfast. Come down when you're done."
Stefan shut the door and turned to face at the extremely happy Elena.
"You look exceptionally happy today," Stefan grinned. "Very odd."
"I'm just glad you're back," she walked towards Stefan and planted a long kiss on his lips.
After they were done with their intimate sessions, both of them went down the stairs to meet with Alaric and Jeremy. Jeremy froze a moment when he saw Stefan.
"Stefan!" Jeremy called. Then he nudged Alaric, "why didn't you tell me he's here?"
Alaric only managed to smile. He had prepared pancakes with strawberry toppings. The plates were in place precisely, waiting for their feeders to consume them.
"I'm not sure if you want to eat, so I've prepared for you too." Alaric pointed onto a plate with his fork to Stefan.
Elena and Stefan settled themselves side by side. Elena was finally feeling famished. Without Stefan and Damon, she could barely eat anything. She actually slimmed down for about 2 pounds. Since Stefan was back to her side, her appetite returned. Stefan was not eating, so she finished up Stefan's portion. She had never been so positive and radiant. After they had finished their breakfast, which was about lunchtime already, Stefan headed back to the Salvatore Boarding House. He gave her a kiss goodbye before entering his car. Elena stared at the leaving Salvatore at the doorstep.
"Do you know where Damon is?" Alaric asked, standing just beside of her.
"Huh? What? No," she shook her head. She could feel a lump in her throat. "I haven't heard of him since that day."
"He never contacted me either. His phone is dead," Alaric said with concern. "He never even said goodbye."
Elena bit her lips. He did not bid her farewell too. Was she too harsh on him that day? It seemed like he had disappeared through the thin air. Nonetheless, she did not want to bring up Damon to Stefan while Stefan had just reunited with her. Maybe he really left for good. Yet, she worried for Damon. Besides, there were so many animal attacks reported in the news, which may relate to Damon.
"Did you hear about the animal attacks?" She asked with her brows bent downwards. "Do you think it maybe-"
"I can't be sure," he stared at the sky. "I wish it wasn't him."
If he really left Mystic Falls… Elena tried not to think about the idea of Damon leaving Mystic Falls. She could already feel the emptiness and missed his constant nuisance.
Stefan was back to where he called, home. He went into the house and looked around. No one was in the living hall. He used his vampire senses to feel his brother's presence. None. The house was dead. Damon… gone?
He took out his cell phone from his pocket and speed dialed for Damon. All he could hear was the operator's voice. "Sorry, the number you have dialed is-"
Before she could finish her mechanical lines, Stefan slid his the screen to turn off the call. Did his brother really leave Mystic Falls? He swished to his brother's room to look for any signs of him leaving a note. None. He could at least write a memo to tell him he's leaving. He knew he was unforgiving for menacing his own brother, but with the vampire's heightened feelings, he could only succumb to jealousy when he knew they kissed. He felt the instant remorse when he continued to reflect at his actions towards his only brother. Maybe he should follow the animal attacks reported on the news. It was pretty normal for Damon to take his rage off of humans. Not the first time, definitely not the last time. Not that he wanted Damon back to ruin his relationship with Elena, but Damon was his only brother. These few decades had made him to cogitate on the significance of family. He did not want to lose people he cared anymore, considering he had experienced too much losses throughout his vampire life. Moreover, he did not want Damon to risk exposing vampires to the world by drinking off his victims.
"Elena," Stefan spoke to the phone once more. "I'm going to leave town to look for my brother."
He could hear a gasp over the phone. He knew she was not pleased with this idea, and he would hear a whole bunch of lectures from the people who knew him, but nothing was going to change his mind. Not even Elena.