Until This Lie Do Us Part

Chapter 23

Elena smiled even bigger. "I'm amazing!" she said even louder, earning her a long, passionate kiss from him.

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It was 4:00 AM. Elena hadn't slept well all night. Neither had Stefan with her constant tossing and turning. When she began to turn yet again, he grabbed her, stilling her movement. "Elena, you have to stop moving" he said groggily.

Elena sighed. "I'm sorry" she said. She was nervous and anxious and she could not calm her mind or her body. "I'm thirsty" she finally said.

"I'll go get you some water" he said, flipping the covers off of him and getting out of bed. It took him until he was halfway down the stairs before he realized that she had gotten him to offer to go and get her water without even asking. He grumbled about this all the way back up to the bedroom. He found Elena sitting up in bed with the lights on and a textbook open. "No, Elena. No" Stefan said, setting the water down and grabbing her book from her. She glared at him. "Elena. It is four in the morning. We have a huge dinner to start preparing later this morning. So we need to sleep right now" he explained.

"I can't sleep Stefan" she told him, picking at the sheets. She couldn't stop thinking about her brother and Bonnie and whether or not they would show up.

Stefan grabbed her hands. "Whatever happens today, whether they show up or not, I'm here for you, okay?" he told her. She nodded reluctantly. "Now please, try and go back to bed" he said, leaning over her and turning the light off. He got back in bed and closed his eyes. But Elena remained awake.

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Stefan sipped his coffee, glad it was doing its job and he was feeling awake. Elena was still upstairs getting ready and Stefan had about half an hour before he had to start preparing for dinner. He sat down and began reading the newsletter from his family's company, but a knock on the front door made him get back up.

Stefan opened the door and stood looking at a familiar face. Well, as familiar as it could be from looking at an old picture Elena had of her brother in her room. "Jeremy I presume?" Stefan asked with a genuine smile. "It's nice to finally meet you" Stefan said, extending his hand.

Stefan wasn't expecting Jeremy to accept his hand, seeing as how he did not look pleased to see Stefan. But Stefan was not expecting Jeremy's fist to come crashing into his jaw, sending him to the ground. Jeremy stood over Stefan, tossing two pieces of paper at him. "I don't need your charity" he said angrily, referring to the plane tickets Stefan had sent Jeremy and Bonnie. "You may have my sister fooled, but I don't trust you for a second" he spat at him.

Stefan wiped at the blood coming from the corner of his lip. "I think we should start over here, Jeremy" Stefan said, sitting up.

"I think you need to give my sister a divorce before I beat your ass" Jeremy warned.

"Jeremy!" Elena yelled, running across the room towards Stefan. "What is wrong with you?" she asked, kneeling next to Stefan and examining his face.

"What's wrong with me?" Jeremy asked in disbelief. "What's wrong with you, Elena?" he asked angrily. "Was Derrick not a big enough mistake? You had to go and jump into another one with some rich playboy who doesn't give a damn about you?" he practically yelled at her.

Elena stood up and faced her brother for the first time in many years. "You do not get to treat me like some petulant child who can't make her own decisions!" she yelled back at him. "You don't even know Stefan, yet you show up here, on THANKSGIVING, and start throwing punches?" she scolded him. "He is a good person who knows about my situation with Derrick. Who has been doing a whole hell of a lot more than he needs to to keep me safe from Derrick. And who went out of his way to make today perfect for my little brother and my best friend!" she screamed.