Emily was quietly enjoying her cup of coffee as she watched her aunt study for college when Elena suddenly came rushing down the stairs. She looked at the two in disgust as she questioned, "are you guys aware of what's going on upstairs?"

"Uh-huh," Jenna mumbled without looking up from her notebook.

Emily smirked as she questioned, "you mean that our brother getting some?"

"And you have no objection?" Elena questioned Jenna.

Jenna chuckled, "he could be craftier about it, at least make an effort to sneak her in and out." She glanced between the two girls as she mentioned, "oh, just so you know, I won't be home for dinner."

Emily groaned as she looked at her aunt. "You're actually going to go on a date with the scum?" She questioned.

Jenna looked at her oldest niece proudly before she explained, "I'm going to show up and torture him, yes." She suddenly turned to Elena with worry in her eyes, "have you heard from Stefan?"

Elena huffed, "not since he left that very vague message three days ago." She cleared her throat before she imitated Stefan's deep voice, "hi, um, Elena, I, um, have something I have to do. I'll, uh, explain in a few days."

Jenna chuckled before she questioned, "have you called him?"

"Nope. Not going to either," Elena mumbled. She looked up at her sister, remembering that Emily and Stefan were friends. "Did he call you?" Elena asked.

Emily nodded her head before she shrugged lightly, "just that he'd call in a couple days." She smirked at her sister as she tried to make Elena feel better, "but I do have to say, you do a better Stefan impression that he does."

While Elena rolled her eyes playfully at her sister, Jenna questioned the brunette softly, "and you're okay with everything?"

Elena slammed the milk that she had in her hand down and sighed, "no, I'm not okay with any of it. But I'm not gonna cry about it either." Elena shook her head as she continued, "you know, I was going to write in my diary this morning and then I thought, what am I going to write? Honestly, I'm not gonna be one of those pathetic girls whose world stops spinning because of some guy."

As Elena closed her eyes and took a deep breath, Jenna looked over at her oldest niece in surprise, seeing as none of them have ever seen Elena rant like that. "Okay, then," Jenna uttered quietly.

Elena rolled her eyes when she saw that her aunt and sister were looking at each other with wide eyes. "I'll be fine," she mumbled.

Emily and Elena were leaning against the row of grey lockers with Bonnie standing in front of them as the three girls waited for the bell to ring for class. Elena was looking through the crowd of students until she spotted a familiar blonde. Elena bumped her shoulder into her sisters to get her attention. Emily looked at Elena in confusion, before following her sister's brown eyes and saw Caroline smiling away as she bossed people around and handed out flyers for the car wash that they cheerleading squad was organizing.

"Unbelievable," Elena huffed, "it's like nothing happened."

Bonnie shook her head, "she's in denial."

But suddenly out of nowhere, Stefan walked up to the three girls and uttered softly, "hey."

Bonnie glanced between the two Gilbert sisters and the Salvatore boy, and noticed the tension. "Hey. You know, I gotta go, um, be somewhere right now," she mumbled before quickly walking away.

"I'm so sorry I haven't called," Stefan apologized as he stared at Elena.

"No worries," Elena shrugged, "I'll live."

"I was dealing with Damon," Stefan explained.

"And did you… deal with Damon?" Emily questioned. She didn't want the oldest Salvatore anywhere near her best friend anymore.

"Yes," Stefan nodded, "yeah."

Elena looked at Stefan with an amused smile as she questioned, "for four days?"

"You have every right to be upset with me," Stefan told Elena before he glanced over at Emily, "but can I explain it all to you? To the both of you? Please."

Elena looked over at her sister, wanting Emily's final say about what they should do. As Emily stared into Elena's brown eyes, she couldn't help but think that they should at least give Stefan a chance. Even though his brother hurt Caroline, Emily still cared about Stefan as a friend. What could go wrong if they at least let Stefan explain everything? Emily gave her sister a small nod, deciding that this was the right decision. Elena looked over at Stefan as she finally nodded her head and responded, "sure. When?"

"I gotta be home after school, but the Grill, around four o'clock?" Stefan asked.

"Okay," Elena mumbled.

Stefan glanced between the two girls with sincerity in his green eyes as he spoke, "thank you."

"Stefan, where is Damon?" Caroline asked once she had spotted the younger Salvatore brother. "He has some serious apologizing to do," Caroline smiled.

Emily couldn't believe that her best friend was asking about the man that physically and emotionally hurt her. While Emily was trying to keep Caroline from Damon, she was trying to see him.

"He's gone, Caroline," Stefan told the blonde.

Caroline's smile dropped from her face before she asked, "when is he coming back?"

"He's not coming back," Stefan told Caroline seriously before apologizing, "I'm sorry." He looked at the three faces before he quickly walked away.

Emily glanced over at Caroline as Stefan walked away, and noticed the blonde's sadden face. "It's for the best, Care," she told her best friend softly. Emily didn't want Caroline to be hung up on the older Salvatore and have the chance for Damon to hurt her again.

Caroline nodded her head as she uttered quietly, "I know that."

At exactly four o'clock, Emily and Elena made their way into the crowded Mystic Falls. The two girls carefully looked around the Grill for the younger Salvatore brother, but they couldn't find him anywhere. Suddenly Elena bumped her shoulder into her sister's as she spotted someone familiar by the pool tables.

"Hey, Matt, um, have you seen Stefan?" Elena questioned once she and Emily were close enough for the blonde to hear her over the chattering residents that scattered the Grill.

"Nope," Matt responded as he looked up at the brown eyed girl. But as the Gilbert sisters were about to walk away, Matt quickly called out, "if you want to kill some time, um, you could rack." Matt saw Elena chuckle, so he tried again with a small smile on his face, "come on. We haven't played in forever. I'll let you break."

Emily walked around the pool table, grabbed two pool sticks, and handed one to Elena. She smirked over at Matt as she spoke teasingly, "get ready to lose to the Gilbert sisters, Matty."

As the three teenagers began playing pool, Emily couldn't help but think back to when Matt and Elena first started dating. This is what they would do when they all hanged out together, but it was usually Matt and Elena verses Tyler and Emily. There wasn't many things a teenager could do in the small town, so this is where they would find themselves.

Elena focused on the striped green ball as she carefully took her shot before she looked up at Matt. "And there's Vicki, all nonchalant in the bathroom like it's no big deal that they're hooking up," she told the blonde as she explained what she witnessed this morning.

"Yeah, I'm not gonna lie. Your brother and my sister, that's weird," Matt commented.

"Yeah," Elena mumbled distractedly as she heard her phone begin to vibrate. She glanced down at her phone before placing it on the table with a heavy sigh.

"How late is he?" Matt asked softly.

"Hitting the hour park. Nothing wrong though." Elena answered with a small smile. She took another shot, and realized Matt was still staring at her. Elena sighed, "which means I'm not talking boy problems with you."

"Good," Matt chuckled, "it's not like we were ever best friends or anything."

Emily threw an arm over Elena's shoulder as she spoke jokingly, "the best friend spot is already taken by me, sorry Matty."

Elena rolled her eyes at her sister before he turned to Matt seriously, "okay, here it goes. What do you think about Stefan? Is he a good guy?"

"Why? What's he done?" Matt questioned.

"Not any one thing," Elena began to explain, "he's just so secretive all the time. I think there's something that he doesn't want me to know, which makes me want to know all the more."

"Like what?" Matt chuckled. "Like that he's a serial killer and he keeps a clown suit in his trunk?" He joked.

Elena chuckled, "no of course not. But what do we know about him, really?"

"He's great at football," Matt stated, "a little bit of a loner. And as much as I hate saying it, he might be a nice guy."

"Plus you are more happier when you are with him," Emily added with a small smile. She might be a little bias since she's friends with the younger Salvatore, and he makes her sister smile.

Elena gave Emily a small smile before she turned to Matt and questioned, "so you think I'm being paranoid?"

"I think you should talk to him," Matt advised. "Plus, you have your bodyguard over here, ready to protect you," he joked as he smirked over at Emily.

"Talk to who?" Stefan asked from behind the three teenagers. Once all eyes were on him, he quickly apologized, "I'm so sorry that I'm late."

Emily rose an eyebrow at Stefan as she questioned, "what happened?"

"I got held up," Stefan simply answered.

"Is everything okay?" Elena questioned worriedly.

"There was this thing with my uncle," Stefan explained.

"And you couldn't have called either us and tell us you were going to an hour late?" Elena questioned in annoyance.

Matt noticed the tension between the three teenagers, so he spoke quickly, "okay. I'm gonna go." He smirked over at Emily as he whispered, "have fun," before walking away.

Stefan moved a few steps closer to Elena as he apologized, "I'm really sorry. It was unavoidable."

"What was unavoidable?" Elena questioned. But Stefan never did answer her question. The younger sister chuckled humorlessly before she grabbed Emily's hand, "okay," she mumbled and began to pull her sister towards the entrance of the Grill.

"Elena, please," Stefan called out.

Elena turned around towards Stefan and spoke tiredly, "no, Stefan, don't you get it?" She shook her head, "every question gets a vague non-answer. What is so awful that you're afraid to tell me?"

Before Stefan could say anything, an older man walked up to the trio. "I know you," the man gasped quietly as he stared at Stefan. "My God," he mumbled in surprise.

Stefan looked at the man in confusion as he questioned, "I'm sorry?"

"I know you," the man repeated himself. "How can it be?" He questioned.

"I think you have the wrong person, sir," Stefan stressed.

"You haven't aged a day," the man mumbled as he looked at Stefan carefully.

Stefan stared at the man for a moment before he quickly spoke, "I'm sorry. Excuse me." He turned towards the confused Gilbert sisters, "hey, can we… can I take you home and we talk about it?" Stefan began to push the girls towards the door of Mystic Falls, "is that okay?"

Before Stefan could push the two girls fully through the door, Elena quickly turned around towards Stefan and questioned, "wait, what was that?"

"I-I don't know. Uh, nothing," Stefan tried to explain as he jumped over his words.

"Right, nothing," Elena mumbled. "Okay, um… we gotta go, Stefan," Elena whispered before she grabbed Emily's arm and quickly escaped from Stefan's eyes.

Once the two sisters made it inside of Emily's car, she glanced over at her sister and asked softly, "are you okay?"

Elena glanced over at her sister with a tired sigh as she shook her head before quietly leaning against the cool window. Emily looked at her sister sadly before she reached over and squeezed Elena's hand. She knew her sister didn't want to talk at the moment, so she started up her car before making her way to the Gilbert house.

Emily was sitting in the living room as she watched a movie, when suddenly the front doorbell rang. She confusingly got up from the couch and made her way to the door. She didn't recall that someone was supposed to be coming cover since Jenna was with Logan, and Emily's two siblings were both upstairs.

Emily was surprised when she saw Stefan standing on the other side of the door. "What are you doing here?" She questioned.

Stefan looked at the green eyed girl nervously as he explained, "I don't want to hide anything for Elena. I want her to know whatever she wants."

"I hope you know that means that I will know too since Elena is my sister," Emily joked as she tried to ease the tension that had been falling over the two lately.

Stefan chuckled lightly as he spoke, "I know. You're my friend, so please, ask away."

"I'll leave that for Elena," she told Stefan with a small smile. Emily was glad that it wasn't awkward between them anymore. She was angry at him for knowing that his brother was hurting Caroline, but Emily could see that Stefan was really trying to help.

Emily opened the door wider as she let Stefan finally walk into the Gilbert house before she made her way towards the stairs. But before she could walk up them, she turned back to Stefan and spoke, "Elena's favorite meal is Chicken Parmesan." She smirked, "just so you know." Elena and Stefan were two important people in her life, and they both made each other happy, so she wanted to help as much as she could. "Good luck," Emily gave Stefan one last smile before she quickly made her way upstairs and towards her sister's bedroom.

Emily knocked on Elena's bedroom door softly before she peeked her head through and saw Elena laying down on her bed as she held her old teddy bear close to her body. Emily walked into the room and sat beside the laying down Elena. "How are you doing?" She asked softly as she began to run her fingers through her sister's brown hair.

"I'm miserable," Elena mumbled.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Emily questioned.

Elena looked up at her sister with sad brown eyes for a moment before she finally nodded head as she laid on Emily's lap.

Emily smirked secretly as she looked down at her sister with bright eyes. "Why don't you go get the ice cream and then we can talk?"

Elena looked at Emily weirdly as she questioned, "shouldn't you be the one getting the ice cream and let me mope around?"

Emily rolled her eyes at her sister before she jumped up from the bed and pulled Elena with her. "Just listen to what I say and get the ice cream, Elena," she commanded. Elena sighed heavily but listened to her sister as she stomped her way out of her own bedroom and mumbled under her breath about how she just wanted to lay down. Emily chuckled when she heard her sister complain before she happily jumped onto Elena's bed. She was glad that Stefan was willing to work everything out to be with Elena. That was what Emily always wanted for her sister, for her to be happy, and Stefan was the way for that to happen.