Until This Lie Do Us Part

Chapter 31

"We'll find her" Stefan assured her, moving through the people as they neared an open area. There, Stefan could see that the graduates were all lined up outside, ready to go in. He scanned the area. All of them looked the same in their black gowns and white caps though. "Excuse me, I'm looking for Journalism" he said, speaking to the closest graduate he could find.

"Third from the end" the girl answered.

Stefan smiled his thanks as he ran with Lily. "I see her!" Lily squealed as they got closer. She squirmed her way down out of Stefan's arms and made a run for it, holding the teddy bear tightly. "Elena Elena Elena!" she yelled, pushing various graduates out of her way in her mission to get to Elena. Each person that Lily shoved looked down, displeased with the small child but forgiving her because of how cute she was.

Elena heard her name, but couldn't see anyone until she felt someone attach her to leg. She looked down and smiled when she saw her. "Lily?" Elena asked, confused but extremely happy to see her.

"Happy Graduation!" Lily said, letting go of Elena's leg and handing her the teddy bear. "We love you!" she said happily.

Elena bent down to pick Lily up, holding her close. "We?" she asked, turning just in time to see Stefan making his way towards them. The first thing she noticed was the large bouquet of flowers he was holding. Then she noticed his eyes and how they held hers. "Stefan" she breathed out, still holding onto her surprise at seeing them there.

Stefan closed the distance between them. He smiled at her. "Congratulations" he said, handing her the flowers.

"Thank you" Elena said, feeling the urge to cry but reminding herself that there were people around. She could cry later at how amazing Stefan was.

"Aren't you gonna kiss her?" Lily asked, looking back and forth between Elena and her uncle.

"Here" he said, grabbing Lily and setting her back down. He gave Lily the bear and flowers to hold. "You bet I am" he said, his arm going around Elena's waist and his other hand resting against her cheek as he leaned in and kissed her. Elena had to place her own hands against him in order to keep from crumpling to the ground as her body immediately became weak. He hadn't kissed her like that in months. When he did finally pull away, she blushed at the silly smile he gave her, knowing that he knew full well the affect he just had on her. "You should catch up with your group" he said.

Elena looked around and realized that her group had indeed already begun moving inside the auditorium without her. "Yeah" she said, still feeling the blush on her cheeks. "I uh, I should" she said. She felt a tug on her gown and looked down to see Lily.

"What are you wearing under this?" Lily asked, tugging the gown up to look.

"Lily" Stefan said, grabbing her by her jacket to pull her away from Elena. Lily had a bad habit when it came to personal space.

But Elena just smiled. "A blue dress" she said, lifting her gown up a little more for Lily to see.

Lily studied it closely. "Okay, that was a good one to pick" she said matter of factly. "It does good with your eyes" she added.

Elena laughed as Stefan grabbed Lily and swung her up into his arms. "Okay Miss Stylist, we need to go and get our seats" he informed her.

"You found the tickets" Elena said, looking down at the ground with guilt. "I was going to ask you ..." she trailed off.

"Hey" he said, stopping her. When Elena did look up at him, he continued. "Go graduate" he told her, a twinkle in his eye that she hadn't seen lately. "You deserve it" he added with a ridiculously smoldering smile that she had wanted to smack off of his face at one point in time. But not anymore.