Until This Lie Do Us Part

Chapter 22

"Taking a nap" Elena said, stepping closer to him. She took a slow, deep breath before speaking again. "Is that what you're doing?" she asked. "Trying to save me because you couldn't save her?"

Stefan felt a hitch in his breathing, but he took his time in working through it so he could answer her. "I don't know what you're talking about" he told her. "I have more calls to make" he said, turning to leave.

But Elena grabbed ahold of his arm and he stopped. "Damon told me. About your parents" she said, searching his eyes for something. Anything.

Stefan laughed slightly. "And what exactly did Damon tell you?" he asked.

"That your dad pushed your mom through a window" she said, watching his eyes flash with some sort of recognition. "How did they die?" she asked, feeling her voice cracking. She almost felt like it was none of her business. But then she remembered how painful it is to keep things like this to yourself for so long.

Stefan held her eyes with his, trying to decide on whether or not to tell her. She looked so sincere though with her sad brown eyes penetrating into his and her gentle hand on his arm. "My mother overdosed on her anti-depressants and my father then shot himself" Stefan answered flatly. He turned away from her, not trusting himself to keep his tears at bay. He hated thinking about it.

Elena processed what he had just said. It was tragic. She had hated him in the beginning for a life she thought he had when all along, his life had been terrible. "I'm sorry" she said, not knowing what else to say. Then she remembered. "I thought about killing myself too" she said, trying to let him understand that it wasn't his fault. None of it was. It was the situation she and his mother had been in.

Stefan quickly wiped at a tear threatening to escape. "I'm glad you didn't" he told her, continuing to stare out the window.

Elena moved herself in front of him and placed her hands on his sides. "I'm glad too" she said, giving him a small smile as he looked down at her. She reached up on her toes and kissed him softly. "You're better than him. You're better than most" she said, giving him one last small smile of encouragement before leaving.

Stefan turned around and watched her leave, though her words stayed with him. He wasn't like his father. And he sure as hell wasn't like Derrick. He never wanted to be.

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Elena checked on Lily before heading to her old room. She sat down on the bed and stared at her phone, trying to talk herself into making the call.

Then she did it, pressing the send button and biting her fingernail as she anxiously waits. One ring. Two rings. Three rings. "Hello?" a voice asks.

She paused momentarily to register that it was actually him on the other line. Hey Jer" she said nervously.

"Elena?" Jeremy asked. She heard a door shut and thought he must have gone into the other room. "Is everything alright?" he asked as though that was the only reason for her to call.

It hurts though, knowing that he probably spends so much time worrying about her. "Yeah, I'm good" she said, trying to sound cheerful. "How are you guys?" she asked. She got a one-worded response and knew he doesn't want to talk. "Look, Thanksgiving is in a couple of weeks and I was thinking that maybe you and Bonnie might like to fly back here and spend it with me" she said.

There was a long pause. "Bonnie and I made plans to spend Thanksgiving together, here" he replied.

Elena didn't know how else she was going to go about convincing him without mentioning Stefan. "There's someone I would like you guys to meet though" she said, hearing complete silence on his end. "I ... I got married."

More silence. Then, a critical laugh erupted. "You're joking. Tell me you're joking" he said, not believing her.

"No. His name is Stefan" she said, attempting to not let his criticism bring her down. But it was. She always cared about how Jeremy thought about her. And he hadn't thought very well of her since she met Derrick. "And I would really like for you to meet him."

"Are you really that stupid, Elena?" Jeremy asked, suddenly angry with her. "You get out of one bad relationship and then jump into another one legally?" he questioned.

"It isn't like that. Stefan is a good guy" she explained, feeling the tears begin to well up in her eyes.

"Yeah, I bet. Just like Derrick loved you and cared about you, right Elena?" he asked.

Elena closed her eyes as tears fell down her cheeks. "It would mean a lot to me if you would come spend Thanksgiving with us. I'll send you tickets. I'll either see you or I won't" she said quickly, hanging up her phone. She took a long deep breath to calm herself. She hadn't expected the conversation to go very well. Yet, she had hoped that it would have ended with him agreeing to come and see her.