Waiting

1| "I promise"

Mystic falls, 1863

Isabela held her blue silk patterned dress high above her ankles as she ran across the spacious and fruitful grass meadow towards the Salvatore estate, her brown curls bouncing around her narrow shoulders in the wind. Her navy velvet boots were dripping wet from wadding through the shallow river and the front of her dress was stained with mud after she fell over the tree roots in the woods between her house and the meadow. But Isabela didn't care. She had to see Stefan. Her father had found a job elsewhere in the country and was making her family uproot their entire lives and move. Her heart beat as fast as her mind was racing as the Salvatores house came into view. So many questions ran through her head. What would Stefan think? Would he be upset? Or might he not care and leave Isabela heartbroken and depressed?  What would she do without him? She bound up the wooden stairs and knocked her pale, dainty fingers on the hard wooden door. A few seconds passed while Isabela caught her breath before Damon, Stefans older brother, answered the door.

"Isabela? Are you okay, you look-" He started before Isabela cut in.

"Is Stefan here?" She burst out in her sharp but subtle English accent. "Please. I need to see him. It's urgent."

Damon nodded. "He's out back-" He began again but Isabela was already running down the stairs and around the outside of the house, almost tripping over her dress.

Stefan was chopping wood down by the large oak tree the Salvatores had in their back yard. The tree which Isabela and Stefan had shared their first kiss under. Stefan saw his girlfriend as she ran hastily towards him, hair ruined, dress dirty and shoes completely worn out. He put the axe down carefully next to the half-chopped wood.

"Bel, my god are you alright?" He asked, alarmed, as he slowed her down by her shoulders and started checking if she was injured.

"Stefan-" She tried to catch her breath. He looked her in her golden brown eyes and put one hand on the nape of her neck to try calm her down. "Father is making us move."

Stefan took afew seconds to realise what she had just said.
"What? You're leaving Mystic falls?" he asked, the worry in his voice changed to sadness and weary. Isabela couldn't even reply. Her eyes were watering and she tried to hold back the tears, causing her face to screw up in sorrow and regret. All she could do was nod. Stefan took her into his arms, holding her close. She hugged him back and they stood there, under the tree where their relationship began. The same place where they were doomed to end.

"Its going to be okay, Bel." He whispered into her ear, his arms still tightly around her, holding her head to his heart. She cried into his chest, getting tears into his already dirty cream work shirt that he always wore when doing physical labour.

"We'll figure this all out. Okay?" He said as he took her by the shoulders and held him infront of her. They gazed longingly into each others eyes and their minds raced around rapidly, thinking about what either of them would do without the other. They were each others rocks. They were inseparable. Nothing could keep them apart, not even Isabela moving across the other side of the country. Stefan would make sure of it.

"We can write, " He suggested. "And in a year or two I'll be able to visit you. Maybe we can save up and by a small house in the suburbs? We always talked about that." He said, in hopes to calm Isabelas spirits. "We could have white fences and a porch running all the way round the house."

"And a swing and a garden that the children can play in." They both smiled.

"Yes." Two years seemed so long away but so close to the two teens. And across the country seemed a long way away.

"We can't give up, Bel. Not like this." He reassured her. She nodded again, forcing a small smile onto her face to put Stefans mind at rest. He was tearing up and a droplet rolled down his face. Isabela sniffed as she laughed.

"We're being so stupid." She chuckled. "Nothing can split you and I up, Stef. We both know that." Stefan laughed too.

"Nothing can, and nothing will. Alright? You and I will be together till the day we die. That's what this ring is for." He said. Isabela looked down at the small ring that Stefan had kindly given for her a few months ago. It was an expensive gift that he offered in hopes she would one day marry him. A promise ring of sorts. The ruby stone in the centre represented the love the two of them shared and the glimmering silver frame indicated the union of marriage they both hoped to have. Stefans hands took hers and she looked back up at him.

"We have nothing to worry about, my love." She nodded back at him. "One way or another, you and I will be together again, in each others arms like we're always destined to be." They hugged again, this time tighter than before. "I love you, Bel." He said. "More than air itself." She smiled as she lay her head on his chest and she listened to his heart beating.

"I love you too, Stefan. More than you know." She replied. They stood holding each other for god only knows how long, as they knew they wouldn't be able to soon. Isabela was leaving early tomorrow morning and it was already getting dark. They had very little time left.
"Never let go?" She asked him, meaning they would always love each other.

"Never." He replied.

"Promise?"

"I promise."