"Get out" she said in a quiet, yet demanding voice. Stefan remained standing where he was, unsure of what to do. "I said get out!" she yelled at him, surprising both herself and Stefan with her outburst.
Stefan looked at her for a long while, trying to decide if leaving her alone would be the best plan. She was upset. What if he only upset her more? And then she decided to blow off this marriage plan and he didn't get his money?
But Stefan's next move made him realize that it wasn't about their fake marriage or even the money right now. It was about her. "No" Stefan said evenly. It was an awkward situation as the two stared each other down.
Stefan watched Elena ball up her fists tightly at her sides as her face began to turn slightly red. She was angry now. Angry was better than scared in his opinion. "Fine. Then I'll leave" she said, storming past him with such ferocity. And then he did it. He grabbed ahold of her wrist to stop her. He wasn't even thinking anymore at this point. He was acting. On impulse. His instinct told him to stop her. Elena's mouth gaped open as she turned to see him holding on to her. The expression on her face grew angrier. "Let go of me!" she demanded, yanking her arm away from him.
"Tell me what he did to you Elena!" he demanded back, losing his own rational thinking.
She continued to struggle to get out of his grasp, ignoring his question. "Let go! Stop it!" she screamed, taking a swing at his chest with her free hand. Stefan grabbed that wrist too and pushed her backwards against the wall, holding her there so she couldn't hurt herself or him.
In an instant he regretted it. Fear flashed in her eyes and her breathing stopped momentarily. And then tears burst from her eyes. Stefan realized his mistake too late. "Elena, I'm so sorry" he said, guilt seeping from his voice. He let go of her wrists and watched as she remained frozen in place, too scared or shaken up to move. Her eyes refused to meet his, but tears continued to run down her face. "Just ... just let me help you" he told her softly. "Tell me what I can do" he nearly begged. Because he felt helpless and useless and that was not something he did well with.
Elena still refused to look him in the eyes, but she was listening to him. No matter how sincere he seemed, she couldn't trust him. Could she? "Just go" she whispered, her tears slowing, though still present.
Stefan could only nod, telling her that he would go. He didn't want to, but she was not going to let him in. Not tonight and probably not ever. He had messed up. He had gone about trying to help her in the wrong way and now she would never trust him.
Stefan slowly took a step back, looked at her sadly one last time, and then left her room. When Elena could hear his bedroom door shut, she sunk down to the floor and sobbed.
XXXXXXXXXX
Elena tapped her pen against her notebook as she focused on the clock up on the wall. It was ticking by so slow. The professor was talking about something she couldn't recall. Luckily, he hadn't called on her to answer something.
The only thing keeping her awake was the triple shot espresso she had grabbed on the way to class. The only thing keeping her from concentrating was the lingering meltdown she had had in front of Stefan. She had snuck out of the house an hour earlier than usual on this particular day, wanting to get to campus early so she would not have to run in to Stefan this morning.
He hated her. Elena was sure of it. When she did finally return home, he would probably throw her out of the house.
But if she weren't mistaken, which she probably was, Stefan looked concerned. Why, she had no idea. He didn't know her. Hell, he probably didn't even like her. But he had practically begged her to let him help her. Elena shook the thought from her head. She had messed up. She had treated him so horribly in his own home. Just because she had been upset did not give her the right to scream at him and tell him to get out.
Elena focused in on the clock once again and sighed. Two more hours until she would have to go back to Stefan's place. At least she had a two hour ride home to try and figure out what she was going to say to him.
XXXXXXXXXX
Stefan sat in his chair, facing his fireplace in his room. It was dark in there, except for the light that the fire gave off. He finished off his drink – scotch on the rocks – and set the glass down next to him.
He had woken up to find Elena gone. Probably not gone, gone. Her stuff was still in her room, but her schoolbag was gone. He couldn't remember what days she had class. He had never bothered to pay attention. He hadn't learned really anything about her. His only goal was to put up with her for six months so he could get his money. It never occurred to him that Elena might have a past. And not a very good one either.
Stefan closed his eyes and let his head fall back, listening to the crackle of the fire. A few more drinks and he would be at ease with everything.
A creaking door opened slowly, causing him to lift his head and open his eyes. It was his door. As slowly as it opened, it closed even slower. Soft footsteps could be heard coming his way. And then she was there, standing still, facing the fire with him.
Elena did some thinking on the bus ride home. A lot of thinking. "His name is Derrick" she began, speaking quietly, yet confidently. Stefan felt his body tense. She was going to tell him. "I met him a few months after my parents died. My brother was still in the hospital, going through rehabilitation after the car accident" she explained. "The money to pay for his hospital stay and all of the therapy had run out a month earlier, so I had to sell our family's home and give up my college fund. I moved in with my best friend, Bonnie, and her family."
Elena looked over at Stefan briefly to see if he was listening. He appeared to be, though his face never changed. "And then I met Derrick" she sighed. "He was in my statistics class. Charming, understanding, everything that a stupid, naïve girl would fall for" she said. Stefan could hear the disgust in her voice. "Anyways, I fell for him hard. I was such an emotional wreck and I wasn't thinking clearly. Ended up moving in with him in his place in the city. Bonnie begged me not to, but I didn't listen. Because I was so sure that he was going to take care of me. I needed him to. My brother took Bonnie's side and I ended up getting in this huge fight with both of them."
She paused for a moment, thinking about the fight. It had been terrible for everyone. "Everything was really good between Derrick and I for a while" she said, remembering. "He even asked me to marry him and I said yes." Stefan heard her take a deep breath and knew what was coming next. "And then we got into our first fight. I don't even remember what it was about. I think it was about me having plans for the weekend. Anyways, we started yelling and before I knew it, I was on the ground, grabbing my face."
Stefan's right hand clenched tightly shut. Elena looked down at her own hands nervously, wondering what Stefan was thinking. The silence after a while made her uncomfortable. "He told me that if I told anyone, he would make it twice as bad the next time. I didn't tell anyone. But it kept happening" she admitted, reliving his exact words over again.
She noticed that both of Stefan's hands were now clutching tightly to the armrests of the chair. "It took me a year, but I finally left. I waited until he went to work one day and then I packed my bags and I left. I took a leave of absence from school so he couldn't find me. And I ran for almost a year until he graduated and would no longer be on campus. I eventually had to tell my brother and my best friend, and then beg them to let it go, to not do anything about it. I had successfully avoided Derrick for a year. I didn't need them finding him." Elena knew perfectly well that her brother would have made him pay, most likely with a severe beating. And Bonnie would have gone to the police, though Elena knew that would do no good.
"I came back to Mystic Falls and enrolled back in school. I got a job and I prayed like hell that he wouldn't come looking for me" she finished.
Stefan knew she was finished. But he still could not move or speak. He could feel a surge of anger course through his body. And anger was not something that the Salvatores handled very well. So Stefan forced himself up out of his chair and brushed past her. Elena remained where she was, her head down. Her revelations meant nothing. He was still angry with her.
Stefan grabbed a notepad and a pen from his desk and walked back towards her. He handed them to her. "What's this for?" she asked in a small voice. She was confused.
"Write everything down about him. Anything you know. Full name, address, phone number, type of car he drives ..." he instructed.
"Stefan ..." she said, still clearly confused. What would any of this do?
He shook his head to dismiss her questioning. "I'm going to find him" he said, his voice desperate. "I'm going to find him and I'm going to kill him" he said quickly. Clearly he was not thinking logically. She knew that.
Elena shook her head this time. "You're not going to find him" Elena spoke softly. "And you're not going to kill him."
"Why the hell not?" he practically yelled, causing her to jump slightly. "He deserves to die, Elena!" he said angrily. He began pacing.
"No one deserves to die" she said quietly, remaining where she was.
Stefan shook his head angrily. "Why did it take you a year, Elena?" he asked, continuing to pace. "He could have killed you in that year!" he yelled. "You should have left the first time it happened." He was frustrated. With her. With himself. With the situation.
Elena felt both guilty and angry at the mention of what she should have done. Of course she should have left. "He said he would kill me" she whispered, remembering his words exactly. She even remembered the way his eyes looked when he was speaking to her – full of promise.
Stefan stopped moving and turned to face her. "He what?" he asked, not sure if he had heard her correctly. He didn't know why it surprised him. The guy was a creep.
Elena stood straight, getting the courage to look at him. "He said that if I left him, he would find me and kill me" she said, her voice shaking.
"It was a threat" Stefan said quietly, locking eyes with her finally.
Elena felt tears well up in her eyes as she slowly shook her head no. Stefan could see that she was on the verge of tears. "It was a promise" she told him sadly. "If he ever finds me, he will kill me" she said. It terrified her, but at the same time, she knew that she could not live in fear every day for the rest of her life.
She was having trouble reading his thoughts. "I thought you needed to know. Just in case he finds me and he threatens you or something" she said, looking down at her feet.
Stefan looked at her in disbelief. "Stop" he said. Elena looked up at him. "Just stop" he repeated, holding his hand up. He couldn't believe her. She was worrying more about him than herself. He walked straight over to her, grabbing her face in his hands to make sure that he had her full attention. "I can take care of myself" he told her, wanting her to understand. He would love to see that creep come around and threaten him. He actually hoped this Derrick guy would come looking for Elena. "And I'm going to take care of you too" he said, his eyes penetrating her own. She felt the tears fighting hard to escape from behind her eyes. She wanted to believe him. To trust him. "He's never going to hurt you again. I promise you."
Elena closed her eyes to keep her tears at bay. They escaped anyways. Stefan pulled her towards him, wrapping his arms around her tightly. Again, he really wasn't thinking. He was acting.
But Elena realized immediately what was happening. He was pitying her because she was showing weakness. She couldn't do this. He would walk all over her from here on out. Quickly, Elena lifted her head and pushed herself away from him. "Stop, Stefan" she told him.
Stefan looked at her a bit confused. He was being a nice guy. Why was she becoming distant now? "What's wrong?" he asked.
Elena shook her head. "You can't do that. This" she said, motioning her hand between them. "I don't want your pity. I don't need your pity" she told him.
"I don't pity you" he told her, working really hard to not lose his temper out of frustration. "I'm concerned" he corrected.
Elena felt her own frustration build and she snapped at him. "You don't care about me!" she yelled, her tears coming back. She covered her face with her hands and sunk to the floor. How could she be so stupid, showing him just how vulnerable she was? Stefan bent down to grab her arm, but she yanked it away from him, glaring up at him.
"Elena, please" he said calmly. "Let me help you" he told her. He didn't know what he could do, but he had to do something. He was a fixer. Always had been, always would be.
Elena shook her head again and looked away from him. He couldn't help her. She didn't trust him. "I don't trust you" she said quietly.
Stefan sank down beside her, grabbing her face and encouraging her to look at him. She did so reluctantly. "You don't have a choice" he told her. It wasn't a threat. It was reality. She had married him. She had no one around to help her. And she had told him a painful truth about her past. As much as she hated to admit it, he was all she had right now. "Elena" he said, leaning closer to her. "I'm not the bad guy here. Don't make me out to be him" he said.
She was hit with the realization that Stefan was right. She couldn't use her past relationship to judge every single guy she came into contact with. It wasn't fair. And as much as she hated the kind of guy that Stefan was, a player, he had never made her feel afraid or powerless. And that was something. Something she had to hold on to for the next few months if she was going to survive this marriage without having a complete mental breakdown. Elena realized that Stefan was still staring at her. "You're right" she nodded. "You're not him" she said quietly.
Stefan brushed away some more stray tears from her face. "It's going to be okay" he told her. She nodded, struggling to believe him. She wanted to believe that he truly cared about her and was genuinely concerned about her. But then he proved it to her, when his lips made contact with hers. He was gentle and cautious, not wanting to upset her. A few moments passed and he slowly pulled away from her. Elena's arms went around his neck, pulling him close to her. She buried her face in his shoulder. His arms wrapped around her waist, providing any comfort that he could. Elena had just opened up to him about something she probably would have rather not ever thought about again. He understood her a little better now. And she was accepting his comfort.
Maybe it was time he told her about Katherine.
A/N: Hmmm ... Will Stefan tell Elena about his past with Katherine finally?