Until Never Means Forever

Chapter 18

"Uh huh" she nodded. "Aunt Elena and Uncle Stefan will be home tomorrow, right?" she asked, clarifying what little information everyone had given her. Zach nodded. "Can we buy our zoo tickets online so Uncle Stefan and Elena can take me when I go over?" she asked, barely containing her excitement.

Zach grabbed Lily, setting her on his knee. "Elena still doesn't feel very well" he told her softly, wanting to break the bad news to her as gently as he could. "She needs to stay home and rest. And so does your Uncle Stefan" he added. He watched disappointment spread across her little face and it hurt like hell to watch. "You might just have to go with your dad this time."

"But I want to take Aunt Elena so Uncle Stefan can buy us monkeys from the gift shop" she said as tears formed in her eyes.

Zach rubbed her back, hoping that this would not turn into an all-out tantrum. She had thrown three since she had been there. Once because she couldn't have pizza for dinner. Once because no one would take her to Savannah to see Elena. And once because she didn't want to go to bed. She was having a rough time being away from her home and her family. Zach understood that. "Then you might have to wait to go to the zoo until Elena feels better" he told her. "She has to be able to walk around a lot to see all the animals, right?" Zach asked. Lily nodded as she rubbed her eyes. "She's still a little ouchy, but I bet if you help take care of her, she will feel better in no time" he added.

"I can make her feel better" Lily agreed.

"I know you can" Zach said, kissing her head. "Why don't you and I go out to lunch?" he suggested. "Then we can get ice cream for dessert" he added.

"Okay" she said, less excited than she usually was.

"Okay" he said, kissing her head again and setting her back on her feet. "Go and get your shoes" he said, watching her walk off.

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Stefan had stopped over an hour ago to get something for breakfast. Elena wasn't interested. She pushed her food around on her plate and drank very little of her juice. She was very well aware than people were staring at the bruises on her face. It brought back all the times people used to stare at her when she was with Derrick. Except this time, they were looking at Stefan with upmost disgust. She could tell he was bothered by it, though he took his time eating.

When they were back on the road, nothing changed. He rested his hand on her leg, needing some sort of affection to happen between them. Elena moved her leg out of his reach and moved closer to the door. He reached for her hand a little later, and again, she moved out of his reach. That was the last straw.

Stefan pulled over suddenly, shutting the car off. Elena's eyes were wide as she looked at him in shock. "I can't do this anymore" he stated, looking ahead.

Elena remained silent for a moment, thinking about how to respond to that. "Then divorce me" she said quietly. Her voice was defeated and it only frustrated him more. He got out of the car and slammed the door. He paced in front of it, trying to calm down.

Elena watched him, her heartbeat picking up as the minutes passed. She knew she was being unreasonable. She knew she was being irritable and shutting him out. Slowly, Elena got herself out of the car. She went around the front to talk to him. "I'm having a hard time right now ..." she began.

"Really? I hadn't noticed" he bit out, a little too angrily.

It hurt. But she stood where she was, allowing her own frustration and anger to build inside of her. "I just went through hell" she said angrily, attempting to defend herself and her behaviors.

"So did I!" he yelled, turning to face her. Elena stepped back, suddenly speechless as she stood in front of him. He saw how frightened she looked and he mentally kicked himself. Rather than addressing her, he walked passed her.