Until This Lie Do Us Part

Chapter 10

"I came back to Mystic Falls and enrolled back in school. I got a job and I prayed like hell that he wouldn't come looking for me" she finished.

Stefan knew she was finished. But he still could not move or speak. He could feel a surge of anger course through his body. And anger was not something that the Salvatores handled very well. So Stefan forced himself up out of his chair and brushed past her. Elena remained where she was, her head down. Her revelations meant nothing. He was still angry with her.

Stefan grabbed a notepad and a pen from his desk and walked back towards her. He handed them to her. "What's this for?" she asked in a small voice. She was confused.

"Write everything down about him. Anything you know. Full name, address, phone number, type of car he drives ..." he instructed.

"Stefan ..." she said, still clearly confused. What would any of this do?

He shook his head to dismiss her questioning. "I'm going to find him" he said, his voice desperate. "I'm going to find him and I'm going to kill him" he said quickly. Clearly he was not thinking logically. She knew that.

Elena shook her head this time. "You're not going to find him" Elena spoke softly. "And you're not going to kill him."

"Why the hell not?" he practically yelled, causing her to jump slightly. "He deserves to die, Elena!" he said angrily. He began pacing.

"No one deserves to die" she said quietly, remaining where she was.

Stefan shook his head angrily. "Why did it take you a year, Elena?" he asked, continuing to pace. "He could have killed you in that year!" he yelled. "You should have left the first time it happened." He was frustrated. With her. With himself. With the situation.

Elena felt both guilty and angry at the mention of what she should have done. Of course she should have left. "He said he would kill me" she whispered, remembering his words exactly. She even remembered the way his eyes looked when he was speaking to her – full of promise.

Stefan stopped moving and turned to face her. "He what?" he asked, not sure if he had heard her correctly. He didn't know why it surprised him. The guy was a creep.

Elena stood straight, getting the courage to look at him. "He said that if I left him, he would find me and kill me" she said, her voice shaking.

"It was a threat" Stefan said quietly, locking eyes with her finally.

Elena felt tears well up in her eyes as she slowly shook her head no. Stefan could see that she was on the verge of tears. "It was a promise" she told him sadly. "If he ever finds me, he will kill me" she said. It terrified her, but at the same time, she knew that she could not live in fear every day for the rest of her life.

She was having trouble reading his thoughts. "I thought you needed to know. Just in case he finds me and he threatens you or something" she said, looking down at her feet.

Stefan looked at her in disbelief. "Stop" he said. Elena looked up at him. "Just stop" he repeated, holding his hand up. He couldn't believe her. She was worrying more about him than herself. He walked straight over to her, grabbing her face in his hands to make sure that he had her full attention. "I can take care of myself" he told her, wanting her to understand. He would love to see that creep come around and threaten him. He actually hoped this Derrick guy would come looking for Elena. "And I'm going to take care of you too" he said, his eyes penetrating her own. She felt the tears fighting hard to escape from behind her eyes. She wanted to believe him. To trust him. "He's never going to hurt you again. I promise you."

Elena closed her eyes to keep her tears at bay. They escaped anyways. Stefan pulled her towards him, wrapping his arms around her tightly. Again, he really wasn't thinking. He was acting.

But Elena realized immediately what was happening. He was pitying her because she was showing weakness. She couldn't do this. He would walk all over her from here on out. Quickly, Elena lifted her head and pushed herself away from him. "Stop, Stefan" she told him.

Stefan looked at her a bit confused. He was being a nice guy. Why was she becoming distant now? "What's wrong?" he asked.

Elena shook her head. "You can't do that. This" she said, motioning her hand between them. "I don't want your pity. I don't need your pity" she told him.

"I don't pity you" he told her, working really hard to not lose his temper out of frustration. "I'm concerned" he corrected.

Elena felt her own frustration build and she snapped at him. "You don't care about me!" she yelled, her tears coming back. She covered her face with her hands and sunk to the floor. How could she be so stupid, showing him just how vulnerable she was? Stefan bent down to grab her arm, but she yanked it away from him, glaring up at him.

"Elena, please" he said calmly. "Let me help you" he told her. He didn't know what he could do, but he had to do something. He was a fixer. Always had been, always would be.

Elena shook her head again and looked away from him. He couldn't help her. She didn't trust him. "I don't trust you" she said quietly.

Stefan sank down beside her, grabbing her face and encouraging her to look at him. She did so reluctantly. "You don't have a choice" he told her. It wasn't a threat. It was reality. She had married him. She had no one around to help her. And she had told him a painful truth about her past. As much as she hated to admit it, he was all she had right now. "Elena" he said, leaning closer to her. "I'm not the bad guy here. Don't make me out to be him" he said.

She was hit with the realization that Stefan was right. She couldn't use her past relationship to judge every single guy she came into contact with. It wasn't fair. And as much as she hated the kind of guy that Stefan was, a player, he had never made her feel afraid or powerless. And that was something. Something she had to hold on to for the next few months if she was going to survive this marriage without having a complete mental breakdown. Elena realized that Stefan was still staring at her. "You're right" she nodded. "You're not him" she said quietly.

Stefan brushed away some more stray tears from her face. "It's going to be okay" he told her. She nodded, struggling to believe him. She wanted to believe that he truly cared about her and was genuinely concerned about her. But then he proved it to her, when his lips made contact with hers. He was gentle and cautious, not wanting to upset her. A few moments passed and he slowly pulled away from her. Elena's arms went around his neck, pulling him close to her. She buried her face in his shoulder. His arms wrapped around her waist, providing any comfort that he could. Elena had just opened up to him about something she probably would have rather not ever thought about again. He understood her a little better now. And she was accepting his comfort.

Maybe it was time he told her about Katherine.

A/N: Hmmm ... Will Stefan tell Elena about his past with Katherine finally?