Until Never Means Forever

Chapter 8

Stefan had a very difficult time sleeping that night – they all did. The detective suggested they try and get some rest and then reconvene in the morning. The police were out searching all night. So were all of the people that Damon and Stefan had hired to track Derrick and find Lily. Still, Stefan felt like he should have been out there looking for Lily all night too.

Stefan had changed into sweats and was sitting on the edge of the bed when Elena came out from the bathroom. He looked like a ghost. Pale, tired. Nothing like the spirited man she had met in the café a year ago. Nothing like the loving husband she had fallen in love with. The one who was always kissing her and trying to initiate just a little more to see how far he could get with her. Or the one who was always caught staring at her; the one who would make her blush with just a few simple words that he meant with all of his heart.

Elena sat down across his lap and wrapped her fragile arms around his neck. She buried her face into his shoulder and kissed the bare skin. "I love you" she whispered.

Stefan could feel warm tears against his skin as he wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. He buried his face into her hair and breathed for the first time in what felt like hours. "I love you too" he whispered back.

Elena had pulled her head up off of him and gently held his face in her hands, mere inches from her own. He couldn't help but feel her pain as well when he watched her beautiful brown eyes pool with tears before releasing them. "Please. Lay down and try to sleep" she whispered, her voice pleading with him.

Stefan nodded. Yes, sleep. The last thing he wanted but the one thing he needed if he was going to resume the next day. Elena crawled off of him and he instantly missed the contact. He wanted nothing more than to be tangled up with her right now. To forget the fact that Lily had been taken. To forget the fact that Derrick was well and alive.

Stefan wanted only to remember the time when he had been so lucky. When everything was better than okay. Like when Elena was giggling softly when he would kiss her stomach because no matter how many times he did it, she was still ticklish. Or how she would wrap her arms around him when he would push against her, and she would sigh contently as he held her securely, trailing his lips along her throat and back behind her ear as he whispered what she did to him as they found their release together. Yes, he craved that physical, intimate attention from her.

But right now, it seemed wrong. For him to want to feel something when his whole world was coming crashing down on him. A world without Lily was not a world at all. For seven years, his universe revolved around that one little girl. Now, his universe had stopped. And it wouldn't resume until Lily was back safely, wrapped in his arms. Stefan climbed into bed and noted that both he and Elena were keeping their distance. He closed his eyes, but he was never able to drift off.

Elena watched him toss and turn all night. Finally, she wrapped her arms around him, moving as close to him as she could, and just held him. He broke down and cried right then, mumbling how scared he was. She cried too, but she continued to hold him. She wanted so desperately to tell him that it would be okay. But, she couldn't tell him that, because, she wasn't sure that it would.

Stefan held on to her, his grip tightening over the course of the night. She became extremely warm and wanted to move away from him for a little while, but she couldn't stand to think of how he would feel if she left him.

So she bared the uncomfortable heat until early morning, when Stefan could no longer stand to be in bed, doing nothing.

When they arrived at the police station, they were both brought into a room where Damon was already seated. "Thank you two for joining us. I just have a few questions" he stated. "Damon believes that a man by the name of Derrick Adams may be involved in the kidnapping. We tried to get a sketch based on what Mrs. Katherine Salvatore gave us. Does this sketch look familiar?" he asked, holding up the photo.