Must Love Dogs

Chapter Thirty- Two

"You're right." Elena paused, her lips pursed together while she vigorously ran her hands over her face. "I'm terrified of this whole thing, Bonnie. I mean, I want the baby. I want it more than anything. But, I was stupid and wrong to tell him that I could do this by myself because thinking about it in the long run. I can't. I can't do it alone and now that scares me."

Bonnie leaned over, grabbing a hold of her hands once again and squeezing them tightly before she added in softly. "You can do this. I know that you can and you will do this. But you won't be alone and it's just going to take some time." She smiled, releasing Elena's hands while watching the brunette lean back into her chair, tears starting to well up into her eyes. "I know." Elena replied softly, smiling through watery eyes.

"What is a for sale sign doing in the front lawn? Really?" Rebekah quipped, walking through the now empty house and following Stefan around as he made sure he wasn't forgotten anything. She scrunched her nose up as she took a deep breath and smelled the scent of Duke walking closely behind Stefan on a leash, his heavy padded paws hitting the tilt flooring with each movement that Stefan made forward.

"Aren't you supposed to be on plane to Europe or something. We had an agreement, Rebekah. Elena's gone. She's been gone for months and you're still here." He licked his lips with irritation, turning back towards his ex-wife with an even more hateful gaze.

"Yeah, so what. You're selling my house!" She exclaimed angrily, looking around the empty room and feeling a bit of disappointment inside of her stomach build.

"It was never your house to begin with. My name was always the only one on that contract, the one you never signed. You just moved in with me when I decided to build it." Stefan reminded her, hearing her frustration with him grow.

"You need to leave, Rebekah. I have a friend of mine coming over to set up for an open house this evening and the last thing either of us needs is you complaining about how I can't sell. Well, sorry to break it to you. But, I'm doing whatever the hell I want." Stefan confirmed, tugging Duke's leash as Rebekah sighed out a breath.

"Speaking of, what are you going to do with him?" She asked, glancing down at Duke as if she'd never given a damn about the dog. Clearly, she hadn't since over the last several months, Stefan had been the one taking care of him and making sure that he was doing okay.

"Duke's mine now. He goes wherever I decide to go and I'm not giving you anything. As far as I'm concerned, Rebekah. You and I dissolved any sort of mutual relationship that we had months ago. Now, I'm giving you one last option to start over far away from here since Katherine royally screwed you, financially speaking. I never asked you how it felt to be penniless." Stefan smirked at the thought of his sister in law bankrupting Rebekah within a blink of an eye and the aftermath that had followed.

Rebekah had been in hiding for weeks after, finally emerging just a few short months ago after she had gotten the news that Elena had left. At first the backstabbing blonde had tried to recoil her once steamy relationship with Stefan. However after he had shut her down, Rebekah had asked him for a deal.

"Fine, I'll do it. I'll leave just like we had said. You paid for my ticket to get out of town for good and I'll go. Under one last condition." She tried to say, attempting to entice him and reel him right back into her web of deceit and lies.

"I'm done making deals with you. Katherine was right, making deals with you is like making them with the devil and selling part of your soul." Stefan smiled widely, brushing past Rebekah and listening as she inhaled through gritted teeth.

"I have a plane already waiting, you can go wherever you want to go. Just make sure to never come back. And, I mean it this time." Stefan warned, tugging on Duke's leash as they both walked towards the front door and Rebakah saw him open it widely, pointing outside.