Until This Lie Do Us Part

Chapter 33

Elena had called three times every day since she arrived in LA, but Stefan had not picked up his phone or called her back. She told herself that she wasn't going to give up, but as the days passed, she started to wonder if he would ever speak to her again. Lily wouldn't take her calls either. Elena was talking to Damon more than anyone lately.

Elena grabbed her phone and sat down on the couch. She scrolled through her contacts and found Stefan. When it was ringing, she waited patiently for what she knew would be coming. His voicemail. "Stefan, it's me. I hope you have been getting my messages" she told him, pausing for a moment. "I would really like you to come out and see me next weekend" she said, the thought of it making her feel extremely happy. "Please call me back. I love you" she said, hanging up her phone.

She tapped her phone against the couch for a few minutes before calling Damon. She pretty much knew what to expect though. "Hey Elena, hold on" Damon said. "Lily, it's Elena" she heard Damon say.

"I don't wanna talk to her. I hate her" Elena heard Lily say in the background. That's pretty much what Lily had been saying every time that Elena had called.

"I'm sorry Elena. Maybe tomorrow" Damon told her apologetically.

Elena nodded, though tears began to well up in her eyes. "Yeah, maybe" she said. Then she took a big breath. "How's Stefan?" she asked.

There was a long pause on Damon's end. "He still hasn't called?" Damon asked. But Damon already knew that because Stefan had told him as much the last time he was over.

"Damon" Elena said sadly. "Is he ever going to talk to me again?" she asked, figuring Damon would know best.

Damon sighed. He sounded exhausted. "Well, he started talking to me and Katherine again" Damon reminded her. "Though, that was because of Lily" he added. "Any chance you have a baby to act as a buffer?" he asked.

It was supposed to be funny. Elena knew that, but all she wanted to do was break down and sob. "No, no baby" she said, wiping at her tears. She had always been so careful. First, because the last thing she wanted was to bring a child into the world with Derrick. Then with Stefan, she hadn't wanted to burden him with a child he didn't want.

"Maybe you should come back here for a few days, Elena" Damon said. He wasn't really suggesting this to her, but more like telling her that she needed to.

"I can't, Damon" Elena told him. She knew that if she went back, she wouldn't leave. And right now, LA was where she needed to be. "Look, I have to go. Tell Lily I love her" Elena said, hanging up quickly. She tossed her phone onto the table with more force than was needed. But she was upset. Elena grabbed a couch pillow and hugged it tightly as she cried.

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Lily had her face in her pillow as she lay on her bed. She didn't want to come downstairs for dinner. She didn't want to spend time with her dad. And she definitely did not want to talk to Elena on the phone either. "Hey Kiddo" Stefan said, sitting on her bed and rubbing her back. "What are you doing up here all by yourself?" he asked.

Lily rolled over and looked up at him. Then she shrugged. "I don't know" she answered.

"Is something bothering you?" he asked. He pretty much knew what it was. The same thing that was bothering him. "Wanna talk about it?" he asked.

Again, Lily shrugged. "I hate her" Lily said under her breath.

"What?" Stefan asked, knowing she said something but not being able to quite catch what it was.

"I hate Elena" Lily said, a little louder. Her little eyes were filled with such hatred and it physically hurt Stefan to see her that way.

Stefan grabbed her gently, sitting her up so he could talk to her face to face. "I know that you're angry with Elena right now" Stefan said, looking into her dark brown eyes. "But I never, ever want to hear you say that you hate Elena, okay?" he asked her. "Hating Elena is not something that either of us are going to do" he told her. He realized that this little talk applied to him too. He couldn't hate Elena. He could be mad at her, but he couldn't hate her.