Fairytale

Chapter 13

So far the night has been a complete success. There has been an auction and betting games which have raised over £40,000 already within the first hour and there are apparently more to come throughout the night. Stefan and I are currently dancing in the middle of the dance floor when an older gentleman taps Stefan on the shoulder.

"So you finally decided to come to the event then?" The man said in a sarcastic tone.

Stefan smiles, clearly knowing this man and shakes his hand and kisses the woman next to him on the cheek. They look oddly familiar to me and I can't quite put my finger on it so I just smile and laugh at the sarcasm. Stefan looks at me and holds a hand on the small of my back.

"Elena. This is my mum Lilian and my dad Giuseppe. Mum, dad, this is my girlfriend Elena." He says introducing me. I shake hands with both of them politely and smile at them.

"It's so nice to finally meet you dear." Mrs Salvatore says "Stefan has mentioned you a lot lately."

"Only good things I hope" I joke making them laugh. "It's nice to finally meet you too. I have been looking forward to meeting you since Stefan mentioned this amazing ball to me."

"Well personally I am very proud of this event. We run this every year and raise lots of money in the process. My wife is a doctor so you can understand why we are raising this money tonight." Mr Salvatore says looking at his wife with admiration. I can see that they truly love each other after all of these years and it made me smile. That is love right there and for a moment I am jealous. I see in the corner of my eye Stefan look in my direction and I feel a hand rub on the small of my back is if Stefan was reading my thoughts. His hand there feels...comforting making me smile and physically relax as I tell them about my job and how Stefan and I came to know each other. Surprisingly they are not alarmed, or do not seem it anyway, about my profession. It is a well known thing that Guiseppe Salvatore does not attend interviews because he does not like journalists or the media.

After about ten minutes or so Mrs Salvatore turns her head in the direction of a man, nods her head to him and politely excuses herself from our conversation.

"If you excuse me, I'm going to talk to that gentleman over there. He has been a big benefactor for the charity for a while and I have to discuss some business with him." Mrs Salvatore says hugging Stefan and kissing both his and my cheek. We both say our goodbyes to Mr Salvatore and watched them walk away to an older gentleman in the corner of the room. My shoulders relax a little more and I let out a small sigh. I was so nervous about meeting them and now that the first meeting was over I could relax a little more.

"You did great. My parents like you." Stefan said to me resting his hands on my shoulders.

"How do you know?" I ask in response. He took a while to respond "You just would know. My parents have a knack of saying what they think without a filter. Trust me. If they didn't like you, you would know by now." He answers smiling at me. I nod in response and relax. I feel better now I know they like me. A new song starts to play from the band and Stefan puts his hand out in front of him making me laugh.

"Would you like to dance Cinderella?" He asks making me giggle. I take his hand and he leads me out onto the dance floor. It's a slow song so it is easy to dance to as we stand in the middle of the floor swaying from side to side. Leaning against his head my mind transports me back to the first time I really danced like this with Stefan and I smile.

"What you smiling about?" Stefan asks after a while.

"About the first time we danced like this in your living room." I say looking up at him and smiling widely. A wider grin appears on his face showing that he is starting to remember that night too.

"Inviting you back to my house was the best decision I have ever made." Is all he says before kissing me softly on the lips. I hear the song in the background and a woman is singing the lyrics "I'm kissing you" and it is just perfect. That same rush of butterflies that I got the first time we kissed is still there and my skin is igniting from his touch and his kiss. I feel alive for the first time in a while and I have Stefan to thank for it.

We part and I am the first to speak as we still sway to the soft jazz music playing.

"This is such a romantic night. And very fitting." I laugh softly. "How is that so?" Stefan asks cupping my head in his hand.

"My mum once said to me 'Fairy tales are what you make them. You can make them come true if you believe' and since we are at a fairytale themed ball and I am happy with a guy who is...just perfect, I don't know, I've always wanted something like this so.... I guess I finally know what my mum was talking about."

"She sounds like an amazing person. I would like to meet her." Stefan says caressing my face slowly

"She is, and you will soon." I say bowing my head down before I fight the urge to cry. Sometimes I forget how much I miss my mum since she moved away to the coast with my dad.

"I agree with her." I hear Stefan say making me lift my head

"You do?" I ask

"I do. I guess wishes are like fairytales and I wished that I could give you a magical night and I like to think that has happened." He says kissing me again. I feel myself well up at the back of my throat but I fight to keep my tears at bay. I just laugh in response. If I talk now I will start to cry.

"I also wished for one more thing." He says

"What's that." I manage to choke out.

Stefan looks around. "Not here." He says grabbing my hand and taking me outside to the patio and into a beautiful garden. The party is behind us but we can still hear the music in the background. He grabs my hand and starts to dance with me again spinning me every now and again. I wait for him to finish his sentence.

"I also wished that you would have someone to love you, just the way you are because you deserve to be loved. You are beautiful inside and out Elena and honestly, the last month or so that I have known you has been the best in my life. I have never met someone like you who I've been so comfortable with. I want to look after you and be there for you in everything that is going on in your life. I want to be with you all of the time and when I am not with you I miss you terribly. I couldn't work out why for a long time and I now know the reason why." He says, his hand reaching for my cheek again. "If you don't feel the same it's okay, it's only been a month but.... I love you Elena."

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