Stefan didn't return to the boarding house until the next morning. He'd had a lot to think about. Essentially everything he knew about Elena was a lie. She wasn't even really Elena. She was the only Elena he knew, but it wasn't even really her name. She'd taken over the real Elena's life and had been lying to him since they met. Although, he supposed she was right when she said he was dishonest too. It wasn't the same thing, but he had hidden the truth about himself, and he wasn't sure he would've told her if she hadn't 'figured it out.'
It was just so hard for Stefan to wrap his mind around the fact that the girl he fell in love with wasn't who he thought she was. She wasn't even what he thought she was. He thought she was human, but she was really a vampire and a witch, and he didn't even know that combination was possible. It wasn't that he had a problem with her not being human. It was just that the whole thing made him feel like a fool.
The biggest blow for Stefan, however, was Klaus. He had wanted to protect Elena from Klaus, and it turned out he was her husband. Her husband. Elena was married. It had hit hard when he heard that, even with also hearing that Elena hadn't been with him for a long time. He'd been planning a future with someone who was married to someone else, and not just anyone else. She was married to a monster, to someone who had no problem slaughtering a young girl to end a curse.
Of course, Stefan had to consider that he didn't know the whole story. He'd bolted before Elena could tell him everything. Maybe Elena didn't love him. Maybe he forced her to marry him, and she'd just escaped him. He would have to talk to her again and ask what happened. He had a lot of questions he needed answers to.
When Stefan got home, he found all of Damon's bags in the entryway. Damon was coming down with the last of it when he walked in. "You're leaving?"
" No, we're both getting the hell out of this place," Damon said. He'd given what Elena… no what Eleanor said a lot of thought. She was right. He was tempted to ignore her advice to leave town. He wasn't one to run from a fight, no matter how dangerous. But it wasn't just about him. Stefan had slept with Klaus's wife, and Klaus didn't seem like the type to just let something like that go.
Stefan shook his head. "I'm not leaving. I'm not doing anything until I talk to Elena again."
"There is no Elena, Stefan. That girl's name is Eleanor. She's Klaus 's wife," Damon said.
"She left him. You heard her. She hasn't been with him for almost a century," Stefan reminded him.
Damon narrowed his eyes at his brother. "Please tell me you're not under the impression that you're still gonna be with this woman."
"I don't know. I don't know enough to decide what I'm going to do. You wanted to be with her too, Damon. Did you forget that just a few hours ago you were in love with my girlfriend?" Stefan asked.
"The girl I was in love with doesn't exist. Neither is the girl you're in love with. She's not who she said she was, Stefan. Has that not sunk in yet? Elena Gilbert doesn't exist, not as you knew her. This woman's name is Eleanor and she's married," Damon stressed.
Stefan shuddered a little. He did know all that, but he couldn't change the fact that he still loved her. He believed she loved him, too. She couldn't have faked that type of emotion towards him. "She doesn't want to be. Look, we don't know what happened between her and Klaus. We don't know why she was with him or why she left him."
"I don't care why, and neither should you. What you should care about is the fact that you now have a bounty on your head. Don't you get it, Stefan? You're the other guy. You're the guy that the husband comes and beats the crap out of it he's human. The problem is that he's not human, and this dude has killed for people looking at him wrong. You slept with his wife!" Damon emphasized.
Stefan flinched slightly at the way his brother described his relationship with Elena. He'd reduced it to some dirty affair. It wasn't like that. He and Elena loved each other. He refused to believe that she didn't love him. She couldn't fake how she was with him. "I'm not leaving until I talk to her again."
"You're going to die for this girl?" Damon asked in disbelief.
"We were both ready to die for her a day ago," Stefan pointed out.
"To save her life. And that was when we thought she was someone else," he said.
"She's still the person I love. No matter what she is or what name she uses, she's still the woman I fell in love with. I'm not going to just leave without getting the full story," Stefan said firmly, before walking away from his brother.
Xxxxxxxxxxx
Elena walked into the kitchen the next morning. She'd spent the night in one of Elijah 's guest rooms. She certainly wasn't spending the night in her husband's room. Every time she looked at Klaus, she wanted to punch him. Then again, there was still the part of her that wanted to kiss him when she looked at him, but she was ignoring that part.
Elena opened the fridge and helped herself to a blood bag. Just as she sat down at the table, Elijah walked through the front door. "Hey. Out and about early, I see."
"Yes. I have some loose ends to tie up before we leave. Speaking of, I picked this up for you," Elijah said before handing her a new cell phone. "To replace the one you smashed yesterday."
"Thanks, Elijah. Speaking of loose ends, I have my own to tie up. I need to find an explanation for 'Elena' to just up and disappear," Elena said.
"Can you not just let them think you ran away?" Elijah asked.
Elena shook her head. "No one's going to believe that Elena Gilbert ran away. And unfortunately, compulsion isn't an option with half the town on vervain. I'm going to have to find another way before we leave this town."
"Who said anything about leaving?" A new voice asked in an amused tone.
Elena looked towards her husband, who had an infuriating smirk on his face. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Just that I'm not in any hurry to leave. I missed this place. I thought we'd stick around for a while. I can get to know your new friends," Klaus said while he continued to grin.
"Don't be ridiculous, Niklaus. There is nothing here for any of us," Elijah said.
"Speak for yourself, brother. I believe I will enjoy living in the town we once called home," Klaus said.
Elena glared at her husband. She knew what he was doing. He was trying to screw with her. He intended to make her squirm by staying in the same town as Stefan. Well, if he thought she was going to let him do that, he had another thing coming. "We are leaving, Niklaus."
Klaus' grin widened. His wife only used his full name when she was mad at him. Sometimes he liked it when she was mad at him. This was certainly one of those times. He wanted to make her suffer a little for cheating on him. What better way than to insist they stay in the same town as the man she'd been sleeping with? "Well, I'm not leaving, love. I suppose you could, but then you'd be breaking our agreement, wouldn't you? Then what would become of your boytoy?"
Elena stood up and went to advance on her husband, but Elijah got in her way.
"Eleanor, please do not destroy my kitchen," Elijah said. He knew his sister-in-law was pissed, but he did not want to see another room in his house destroyed because of her anger at his brother.
Elena sent her husband a death glare but didn't move to advance further on him. "Do not play games with me, Niklaus. We are leaving, or I will make your life a living hell."
"Oh, speaking of that, I must catch up with Katerina. You did say you knew where she was, my love. How about sharing?" Klaus asked.
Elena smiled. "Sure. She's locked in the tomb."
"Excellent. It is about time we met up again," Klaus said before bypassing his wife and brother and walking out of the house.
Elijah waited until his brother was out of earshot before speaking again. "It seems you're not going to tell him that Katerina is dead."
Elena smirked. "Why ruin the surprise? When he does realize she's dead, he's going to assume I did it. Let him assume that. He can't put a dagger in my heart."
"You do not need to protect me, Eleanor. I knew the risks when I chose to kill Katerina," Elijah said.
"There's no reason for you to provoke Klaus's anger. It's better that he thinks it was me. He won't do anything to me except scream and whine at me. Besides, I may as well have killed her. I'm the one that ordered her death. If you hadn't done it, I would have done it myself. That bitch was not going to live to continue to be a thorn in my side or in my marriage. Plus, I like the fact that Klaus will think it was me. I want him to know I took this away from him," she told him.
"Very well. It will be between the two of us," Elijah said.
"Good. Alright, I'm going to head out for a while. Like I said, I have some loose ends to tie up because one way or another, I will get your brother out of this town. I will break his damned neck again if I have to," Elena said before heading towards the door.