Thanksgiving was in one day. And Stefan had been stressing about it since the beginning of the month. There was still no answer from Jeremy about whether or not he and Bonnie would be coming to visit. Elena never called again to ask, and she was even more unwilling to talk to Stefan about it. So, Stefan was preparing as if Jeremy and Bonnie would show up. Because if they did, he was going to make sure they had a great time. For Elena's sake. Although she really had no interest in hearing him talk about the plans, he had told her that he would make dinner for her, Jeremy, Bonnie, and himself on Thanksgiving Day. His Uncle Zach, Alaric, and Caroline were flying in the day after and Damon had taken it upon himself to invite everyone to dinner at his house. Stefan was going to play it by ear on whether or not he would drag Elena and her brother and friend over to Damon's.
But the thought was also in the back of his mind that Jeremy and Bonnie wouldn't show up. It crossed his mind how hurt Elena would be, even though she said she didn't care one way or another if they showed. If they didn't show up, Stefan had planned on still enjoying dinner with Elena.
His thoughts were brought back to the present when he heard a bag hit the bottom of the cart he was pushing. Sour gummy worms. Stefan sighed. "That's not on the list, Lily" Stefan told her, stopping the cart.
Lily looked up at him adoringly. "But I want them" she said.
"We don't need them" Stefan said, grabbing the bag of candy from out of the cart. How he had gotten roped in to taking Lily shopping with him, he had no idea. He just wanted to get the items on his list for Thanksgiving dinner and get home.
"But I love you Uncle Stefan" she said in her most innocent, adoring voice she had.
Stefan hated that. Absolutely hated that. How in the hell could he say no to that? He couldn't. And damnit, she knew it. "Fine" he said, tossing the bag back in. Lily smiled triumphantly as she held onto the side of the cart and walked along. Stefan grabbed a can of pumpkin mix and added it in. Lily decided to add a bag of Oreos to the cart. "Lily" Stefan warned. Yes, he was the fun uncle. But that didn't mean he wanted her eating all that junk.
"But I'm gonna share with Elena" she said, smiling up at him. "They're her favorite. She told me" she added.
Stefan sighed. "Okay, but only because they are her favorite" Stefan said, figuring this was not Lily winning. This was Elena winning.
"You like making Elena happy, don't you Uncle Stefan?" she asked, adding a package of chocolate chip cookies along her way. Stefan didn't even bother saying anything. She would win in the end.
"I do like making Elena happy" Stefan told her, rounding the corner towards the frozen turkeys.
Lily remained silent for a moment. "I don't think Mommy makes Daddy happy anymore" she said, causing Stefan to stop.
"Why do you say that?" he asked her, bending down to her level.
Lily frowned as she looked at the floor. "They are always fighting and then Mommy leaves" she told him sadly. "I wanna come live with you and Elena" she added.
Stefan took her hands in his and squeezed them, getting her to look at him. "I'm sorry that your parents aren't being very nice to each other" he told her softly. "But it has nothing to do with you, okay?" he asked. Lily nodded. "You can call me any time you need to. And I'll come and get you. You know that" he told her. Again, Lily nodded. "How about we get pizza for lunch?" he asked. That got her to smile. Stefan pulled her into a hug and held her tight.
It made his heart hurt to think that Damon and Katherine were doing this to Lily. Stefan knew that Damon and Katherine were a disaster. He had just hoped that Damon would work a little harder to hide it from Lily.
XXXXXXXXXXX
Stefan leaned against the bathroom doorway, his arms crossed, as he watched Elena take the braid out of her hair and comb her fingers through it. He had learned to love watching her get ready for bed. It was nice to see her get out of her makeup and just be herself.
She saw Stefan in the mirror staring at her. "I'll be out in a moment" she said, realizing she was taking up a lot of the time in the bathroom. His bathroom.
Stefan shrugged. "There's no hurry" he told her, walking the rest of the way in. He wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her shoulder. "Can I talk to you about something?" he asked.
Elena smiled. "Of course" she said, continuing to stare at him through the mirror.
Stefan sighed. "Today Lily told me that Damon and Katherine have been fighting a lot lately. In front of her" he explained. "And I don't know what to do" he added. "I worry about her."
Elena leaned her head against his. "You should try talking to Damon. Maybe he can talk to Lily and try a little harder to not expose her to any of that" Elena suggested.
Stefan nodded. "I could try that. But he's not much for me giving him parenting advice" he replied.
It was Elena's turn to sigh. "Brothers suck" she said.
"No word from yours?" he asked. Elena shook her head no, avoiding eye-contact with him. "Hey" he said, turning her around to face him. "Whether he shows tomorrow or not, you've still got me" he said, nuzzling the crook of her neck before kissing her.
"Better than nothing I suppose" she said and he could hear the smile in her voice. "But if you wanted to, you could take my mind off of things" she suggested.
His head flew up so he could look at her. Then he grinned. "I think I can definitely take your mind off of things" he said. He picked her up suddenly and tossed her over his shoulder. She laughed all the way to the bed as he dropped her on the mattress and fell on top of her. He reached over and fumbled with the switch on the lamp and finally got it turned off.
Elena continued to laugh as he attempted to get her clothes off in the dark. "You are terrible at this" she told him, sitting up and helping him get her shirt off.
He was already pushing her back down, kissing her. "Maybe I don't get enough practice" he mumbled against her lips.
"Excuses" she said, pressing on his shoulders and flipping them over before attacking his lips again. He didn't seem to mind their new position, especially not when she was kissing down his chest. It drove him crazy actually, but he kind of liked the effect she had on him. Elena smiled when she heard him groan from impatience.
"Elena" he breathed out. Elena sat up and stared at him for a moment with a silly smile on her face. He sat up too, his arms finding their way around her. "You're amazing" he breathed heavily, kissing her shoulder.
Elena felt herself blush at the comment. The simple comment that made her feel special. "It's nice to hear someone say that" she said, resting her head against his.
Stefan grabbed her face in his hands gently, staring into her eyes. He could see in her eyes, so many years of being told she was worthless, no good. How anyone could do that, he would never know. Of course she wasn't perfect. But she was a lot closer to perfection than he was. "I want to hear you say it" he told her. She looked at him curiously, not quite sure what he was asking. "Say that you're amazing" he told her, stroking her cheek lightly.
And then Elena smiled, realizing what he was doing. "I'm amazing" she said softly.
"I can't hear you" he said.
Elena smiled even bigger. "I'm amazing!" she said even louder, earning her a long, passionate kiss from him.
XXXXXXXXXXX
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.
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
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.
"Elena ..." Jeremy tried to argue. He saw how angry she was, something he hadn't seen in a long time. There was no fear in her eyes anymore. No submissiveness or defeat. She looked downright pissed. "Just come back with us" Jeremy said, his tone calmer and his voice almost pleading with her.
"Us?" Elena asked. It was then that Elena saw Bonnie slowly emerge from the rental car parked in the driveway. Aside from her hair being a little shorter, she hadn't changed a bit. "Bonnie?" Elena asked, stepping around Jeremy to really make sure that it was her. Though she was crying now, Bonnie still managed to smile as she ran towards Elena, meeting her halfway.
They embraced tightly, neither one of them willing to let the other go. "God I've missed you!" Bonnie squealed.
When they did eventually pull away slightly, Elena was crying too. "I can't believe you're here" Elena said, wiping unsuccessfully at her tears.
Bonnie glanced over at Jeremy and saw Stefan slowly getting up off of the ground. Then she looked back at Elena. "He's cute" she said, trying to make the best out of a bad situation like she always did. Then she grabbed her face gently and examined it. "No bruises" she half laughed, half cried. "I like him already" she got out before she was full on crying again at the memory of what Elena had gone through with Derrick.
Elena pulled Bonnie back into a hug and held her close. "He's amazing, Bonnie" she said, looking back at Stefan. "He's the best."
Bonnie pulled away and nodded her head. It was then that she noticed Jeremy walking towards them. Although he had cooled down some, he still looked slightly confused and upset. He had come over expecting to kick some guy's ass because he clearly deserved it. Now he wasn't so sure. "I'm going back to the hotel" he said, walking past them. He figured Bonnie would want to stay.
"Jer don't" Elena said, catching his arm. But he twisted it out of her grasp. "Please, stay here" she said, trying to keep her tears in check.
"We need to talk. All of us" Bonnie added, hoping she could convince him.
"You two can talk all you want. I'm still leaving tomorrow morning" he said flatly, turning to leave once again.
"Jeremy!" Elena called after him, attempting to go and get him.
"Just let him be" Bonnie said, giving her a small reassuring smile. "He just needs some space." Elena nodded, though she still flinched at the sound of the car door slamming. "Come on now, introduce me to this husband of yours" she said, tugging on Elena's arm. Elena reluctantly went with her.
Elena noticed that Stefan had grabbed a tissue and was dabbing at his lip. The bleeding had stopped for the most part. Stefan smiled at Bonnie as she approached. He extended his hand and when she did the same, he held onto it. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you Bonnie" he said. "I'm Stefan."
Bonnie felt herself blush. "Nice to meet you too, Stefan" she said. She took her hand back, realizing that this charming and handsome man was married to her best friend. It would not be polite to drool all over herself in Elena's presence. "I'm sorry about Jeremy. He's usually a little more friendly" she said.
Stefan waved it off. "I probably would have done the same thing" he told her. "Please, come in" he said, stepping aside.
Bonnie stepped inside and about blurted out everything she was thinking in that moment. The house was huge. Exquisite. Like something she had never seen before. "This place is amazing" she said finally, spinning in slow circles as she admired it.
"Thank you" Stefan said. "It has been in my family for quite a while." He checked his watch quickly, realizing that he had to get dinner prepared. "Elena, why don't you show her to the room we got ready for them. I'm going to get dinner started" he said.
"You don't want any help?" Elena asked, feeling guilty not only that her brother just punched him, but because he was going to make the whole dinner by himself.
"Really Elena?" Bonnie asked, raising her eyebrow. "The last thing we need is for you to burn the house down" she said, laughing at the memory.
"Does this have anything to do with why I have never seen you cook?" Stefan asked, turning to Elena with quite an amused look on his face.
This made Elena smile, though she was trying to be defensive. "We should go upstairs" she said, diverting from having to answer Stefan's question.
"The fire department showed up" Bonnie got out before Elena could drag her away. "I haven't been able to eat blueberry muffins since!" she yelled from halfway up the stairs.
Stefan chuckled lightly as he went back into the kitchen.
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
A few hours later, Stefan went upstairs to find the girls sitting on the bed, chatting away. He knocked before coming in. "I have to run to the store. You'll be okay here?" he asked. Elena nodded.
"I won't let her near the kitchen" Bonnie said, stealing a sideways glance at Elena who was shaking her head.
Stefan smiled. "I appreciate that Bonnie" he said. "I'll be back in a little bit" he added before leaving.
Stefan found himself pulling into the parking lot of the only hotel in Mystic Falls. So maybe telling the girls that he was going to the store was a little bit of a lie. He just felt that he needed to talk to Jeremy and resolve a few things. He knocked on the door that Jeremy's rental car was parked in front of.
Jeremy answered the door with a beer in his left hand. When he saw Stefan, he looked amused. "Looks like I didn't do too much damage" he said, examining the tiny mark on the corner of Stefan's lip. "Shame" he added, shutting the door.
Stefan blocked the door with his hand. "I came here to talk" he said, wondering if he would have to push Jeremy over to get in. "And I'm not leaving until we do" he added. Jeremy grumbled before letting go of the door and walking back towards his bed. He sat down and took another swig of his beer. Stefan shut the door and walked in, admiring the tacky, worn down interior of the hotel.
"I don't have all night. Talk" Jeremy said, finishing off his beer.
"I'm not here to convince you that I'm the perfect guy for Elena" Stefan started out. Jeremy looked somewhat surprised. "We need to talk about Derrick" Stefan said, leaning against the dresser in the room.
"There's nothing to talk about. He's not worth my time" Jeremy said, reaching over to grab another beer.
Stefan wondered how many Jeremy needed before he would be completely wasted. "He found Elena, Jeremy" Stefan said, shifting his weight some. "He knows she's here. He got to her at work. And he threw a rock through my kitchen window last month. Elena and my six year old niece were standing right there" he explained. Jeremy looked up at Stefan slowly with a hardened look on his face. "Something has to be done. I refuse to let him be a threat."
"Did the note threaten Elena?" Jeremy asked, tightening his grip on his beer bottle.
Stefan shook his head. "No. He threatened to kill me if she didn't go back to him." Then Stefan sighed when he saw the worried look on Jeremy's face. "I'm not worried about me" he told him honestly. "I'm worried about her. And despite what you might think of me, I'm trying to protect her. That's the only thing that matters right now. So stop being a jerk to her" he said, pushing off from the dresser. He gave Jeremy one last look before leaving.
"Wait" Jeremy said, staring at his hands. Stefan turned around, waiting for Jeremy to continue. He looked nervous. "I'm scared he's going to hurt her again" he admitted. "And like last time, I won't be here to help her." Stefan walked back towards him and sat on the other bed facing him. "If I hadn't had to spend so much time in the hospital after the accident ..." he said, having trouble finishing his sentence. "I wasn't there for her, and that's why she met Derrick. I'm the reason she went through all that" he added quietly.
Stefan nodded. Guilt. He recognized it. Because he felt it too with his own mother. "I can sit here and tell you it wasn't your fault" Stefan said. Jeremy looked up at him cautiously. "But you are going to believe what you have to right now. What I do know for sure, is that Elena loves you. So trust her to make her own choices from here on out, okay?" he told him. "She got away from him. She's graduating soon. She has goals and dreams. Just, talk to her. Figure out how to handle your guilt without it being taken out on her" he finished before standing up to leave.
Stefan was almost out the door when he heard Jeremy speak again. "Is your offer for Thanksgiving dinner still good?" he asked.
Stefan smiled as he stared out the door. "Yeah. Just ... tell the girls I found you at the store" he said before walking out.