Written by: Peter
Disclaimer: The Vampire Diaries are the property of L.J. Smith and the CW Network. I’m just writing about them for the fun of it.
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Up to Know Thy Enemy, but takes place after the Klaus battle.
Pairing: Stefan/Elena
Notes: Finally managed to write a full Vampire Diaries fanfic. The status quo changes so fast on this show that I can't get a decent plot rolling, so this is my attempt at a sweet oneshot. Since we still don't know how the season's going to end, I tried to make it vague about who is going to survive. I just wanted to give our cast a semi-happy ending for this rollercoaster of a season. And, of course, try my hand at a Stefan/Elena story.
Elena Gilbert took one last look at the empty room. The walls were completely bare, with not a hint of previous occupation remaining. This was the day she’d both been looking forward to, as well as dreading.
Today she was moving out. Out of the house she grew up in—the house she’d lived in with her parents, and had been a home for all of her life.
“I’ll miss you,” Jeremy told her, as he walked up behind her.
“I’m just moving across town,” she reassured him. “You’re welcome to come visit whenever you want.”
“I know,” he shrugged. “I’ll still miss you, though.”
She gave her brother a hug, smiling.
“Please don’t drive them crazy,” she groaned.
Jeremy just laughed, as he grabbed one of Elena’s bags.
“No promises,” he joked.
The two of them headed downstairs, where John was waiting. He was leaning against the banister, arms crossed in his usual disapproving glance.
“Are you sure I can’t make you reconsider?” he asked Elena.
Sighing, Elena let her bag drop to the floor.
“I thought you trusted them now?” he challenged him.
“Only partially,” he pointed out. “Just because I trust Stefan as a vampire doesn’t necessarily mean I trust him as a man. Living with my daughter.”
Elena rolled her eyes.
“A little late for ‘father knows best’, isn’t it?” she asked.
John merely smiled.
“Before you go, I wanted to give you a little going away present,” he said. “I know we haven’t always seen eye-to-eye, Elena, but all I’ve ever wanted was to protect you--even if I can’t do it in person.”
Elena stared at John, a bit confused, as he placed something in her hand. She opened her palm to look at it, and gasped.
“I—I can’t accept this,” she whispered.
“Please,” John told her. “If you insist on spending so much time around them, I think you’re going to need it more than I do.”
Elena examined it again—John’s ring. The very ring that protected him from death by supernatural hands.
“Thank you, John,” she said. “I mean it—thank you!”
“If you ever need help,” he told her. “With anything at all, you know where to find me.”
Elena nodded. With that, she picked up her bag and headed out the door.
*****
“Remind me why we’re doing this?”
“Keep your voice down!”
“She can’t hear us, Barbie! Human hearing, remember?”
“She will if you two keep carrying on like that!”
“Shh—Elena just pulled into the driveway!”
“Should we really have turned the lights off? I mean, this is a monster boarding house, right? She’ll know something’s up.”
“Will all of you be quiet?”
Approaching the front door, Elena reached into her pocket—pulling out the freshly-made key. It was such a small thing, but it meant so much to her.
“Ok—I’m ready!” she said aloud, and entered the house.
It was pitch dark inside the foyer.
“Stefan?” she called out. “Are you here?”
No answer. Elena froze—something didn’t feel right. Quickly, she turned to Jeremy.
“Something’s wrong!” she announced. “We need to get out of--”
At that moment, a steady stream of candles lit around her one-by-one—illuminating the entire house. Elena’s eyes went wide as a large group appeared a few feet in front of her…
“SURPRISE!!!!”
Elena’s mouth fell open at the sight in front of her. A large banner hung from the ceiling that red ‘Happy Moving Day, Elena’, decorated with several stars and hearts. There was a table below with drinks and even a cake. Standing around the room were her closest friends: Bonnie, Matt, Tyler, and Damon. Caroline was in the front of the group, grinning from ear-to-ear—the surprise party obviously her idea. Then, of course, there was Stefan.
Her eyes fell on Stefan, and suddenly she felt like she was going to cry. During the past few months, there were times that she didn’t believe this moment would ever come—that her life would end, despite everyone’s struggles to prevent it. She felt happy now—more happy than she would have thought possible.
“You guys…” Elena laughed, feeling slightly embarrassed. “Whose idea was this?”
“Blame Blondie!” Damon revealed. “Always has to turn everything into a three-ring circus!”
“Yet you’re grinning like an idiot,” Bonnie pointed out to him. “Face it, Damon—beneath that smug exterior, you enjoy a good celebration as much as anybody.”
“Don’t let it get out,” he said with a shrug. “I do have a reputation to uphold, you know?”
Elena looked back towards Stefan, who had suddenly vanished. Before she has the chance to call out for him, Elena feels two arms circle around her. A gentle kiss on the top of her head tells her who it belongs to.
“Welcome home,” Stefan tells her.
She reaches up, gently squeezing Stefan’s hand. The sound of metal-on-metal draws Stefan’s attention to the ring on her finger.
“Is that John’s ring?” he asks.
“A going away present,” she explains. “What do you think?”
Stefan turns her around to face him.
“I think--” she says, leaning close. “It looks good on you.”
Stefan kisses her. They break apart, their noses touching.
“Really, really good…” he whispers in a low voice.
“I’d say ‘get a room’, but that’s kind of the point of this whole thing, right?” Tyler chuckles.
“You’re not moving in too, are you?” Elena asked, slightly nervous. “I mean—I’m sure there’s room if you really…”
“Noooo,” Tyler reassured her. “No thank you. I’m just here to show support, and for the free grub. You guys have been really cool to me, despite, well—and you did kind of save my neck back there.”
“Hey, you did your part, remember?” Jeremy added. “It was a team effort.”
“The point is, we kicked some Original butt!” Damon said, smugly, as he glided over to the champagne bottle. “I’m all for celebrating that!”
He pops open the campagne, and starts to pour himself a glass.
“Uh,” Matt hesitates. “That’s—actual champagne, right? It’s not, you know…?”
Damon rolls his eyes, handing Matt a glass.
“Yes, because I spend my spare time secretly feeding blood to unsuspecting locals,” he said. “I also like to put cats up trees and ring every doorbell on the street. Fear me and my prankster ways!”
Damon passes out the glasses to the rest of the group.
“Let’s have a toast!” Caroline announces. “To the start of Elena and Stefan’s co-habitation, and the fact that we’re all still alive. Uh—in a matter of speaking.”
The others all laugh at that last comment.
“To friends,” Tyler adds, looking around the room. “And knowing who your real ones are—even if it takes awhile.”
“Here, here!” Jeremy agrees.
“To my friends,” Elena says, her face serious. “The most dedicated, and caring—and bravest people I will ever know. Especially the ones who didn’t make it.”
Around the room, the other lowered their eyes as a sign of respect.
“I—there were times I didn’t think I would make it,” Elena confesses. “I’m here right now because of all of you—you gave me a second chance, and I’ll never be able to repay you for that. Thank you.”
The group then drinks their champagne. *****
Hours passed, as the party went on. The eight of them laughed, shared stories—filled each other on the parts they missed. In truth, for the first time in awhile they all felt like they could relax.
“Hey?”
Elena turned around to see Matt standing there.
“I’m gonna head out. I just—I wanted to apologize, you know?” he confessed. “For the way I acted when I found out. You were fighting for your life, and I just made things worse.”
“You had every reason to be mad,” Elena assured him. “I thought—I thought it would be better if you didn’t know everything that was going on. I was trying to protect you.”
“Yeah, I realize that,” he sighed. “It’s going to take awhile to get used to all this vampire stuff, but I think I can handle it.”
He laughs.
“It’s almost funny,” he continues. “I used to be scared I would be stuck in this boring town the rest of my life. What I wouldn’t give for ‘boredom’ right about now.”
Elena hugs him.
“You going to be ok?” she asks.
“Yeah,” he replies. “I think so.”
“Mom’s gotta be wondering where I am,” he announces. “I should take off now, too.”
“Tyler, wait!” Bonnie walks up to him. “I might have some good news for you.”
Tyler raises an eyebrow.
“You know those rings Stefan, Damon, and Caroline wear?” Bonnie asks.
“The ones that protect them from the curse?” he replies.
“Yeah,” she continues. “Well, I’ve been looking over the grimoires Doctor Martin collected, and I think I might be able to make one that goes the other way. The other half of the curse, I mean. For you.”
Tyler’s mouth hung open.
“You serious?” he gasps.
“It’s just a theory right now,” Bonnie explains. “I’ll need some time, and even then I won’t know for sure until the next full moon, but—I promise you I’ll try my best. You interested?”
Tyler just stood there in shock. A large grin appeared on his face.
“Am I ever!” *****
More time passes, as the guests begin to leave. Soon, only Stefan, Elena, and Damon are left.
“As much as I would love to stay and overhear you lovebirds on your first night here,” Damon commented in his usual manner. “I’m gonna check on situation downtown. Someone has to clean up the mess Klaus left.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Stefan inquired. “Your secret’s not exactly a secret anymore.”
“I’ve got it under control,” he reassures them. “If the council wants to make a deal with the devil, who am I to refuse?”
With that, Damon takes off, leaving the two of them alone.
“Alone at last,” Stefan remarks, taking Elena into his arms. He starts to trail kisses up her neck. “Now, how you want to celebrate our first—night—in co-habitation?”
Elena giggles.
“Shouldn’t we clean up this mess first?” she reminds him.
Stefan sighs—then vanishes. Elena looks down the stairs to see the decorations slowly vanish as a blur of motion whizzes by. Soon, Stefan reappears with a hefty bag in his hand, placing it on the floor.
“Done,” he says triumphantly. “Now, where were we?”
“I have to unpack…”
Stefan vanishes again.
“Get back here!”
He reappears, with Elena’s bags under his arms.
“I need to unpack, Stefan!” she explained. “I don’t want you to do it for me!”
Stefan looked up at her and pouted, his eyes large and somewhat disappointed.
‘Don’t make eye contact,’ Elena thought to herself. ‘If you look in his eyes right now, you’re going to lose all self-control.’
“I thought that, maybe, we could do it together?” she suggested. “You know—as a couple?”
Stefan smiled at that.
“Sounds like fun!” *****
Later, upstairs…
“Ok, the one bag has my winter clothes, so they can go in the bottom drawer,” Elena babbles. “Oh, except those—those can go in the closet. Do you have enough room? If not I can just…”
“Elena?”
“Of course you have the room, how silly of me,” she continued, without even acknowledging Stefan’s reponse. “Your room’s at least twice of the size mine was, so theoretically my things should only fill up half of it. I just don’t know if you prefer things a certain way, or…”
“Elena?!?”
“I know—I’ll make a spreadsheet or something!” she announced. “We make a column with all your things, and then a column of all mine, and when that’s done then we can decide what to…”
Suddenly, Stefan was standing right in front of Elena, holding her by the arms.
“Elena,” he told her. “You’re shaking like a leaf!”
Elena paused, she realized that he had been shaking.
“Sorry,” she muttered. “I’m just—a little nervous.”
Stefan waited for her to continue. When she didn’t, he simply sighed.
“Look, Elena,” he told her. “I wanted the house to be under your name so that you would be safe from other vampires here. Klaus is gone, so you’re no longer in any danger. If you’re not ready for this, I’ll understand.”
Elena shook her head.
“No, it’s not that Stefan!” she assured him.
“Then what…?”
“It’s just--” she began. “It’s so normal. I’m moving in with my boyfriend—deciding how we’re going organize our room! Yours and mine! We’re planning our future, and a few weeks ago I didn’t think I would even have a future.”
The two of them sat down on the bed, as Stefan held onto her hands.
“I think I understand,” Stefan spoke softly. “Even though the danger’s passed, you’re still on edge.”
“It’s like I don’t know how to relax anymore,” Elena sighed. “Like I’m still expecting something to jump out of the shadows and…”
“The moonstone was destroyed,” Stefan reminded her. “Even if someone did find out about you, there’s nothing they could do about the curse without it.”
“That doesn’t mean I’m safe,” she argued. “There might be other ways. I just—I hate how much danger I’m putting you in, just because I love you.”
Slowly, a smirk appears on Stefan’s face. It soon morphs into a chuckle, and develops into outright laughter.
“Wait, wait--” he laughs. “You’re worried—about putting your superpowered vampire boyfriend—in danger?”
Elena seems annoyed at first, but then bursts into laughter herself.
“Well, it sounds stupid when you say it like that!” Elena giggles.
“Elena,” Stefan says, trying to calm down. “Do you realize how often I’ve had the same thoughts about you? That my loving you puts your life at risk? If anything, this only makes us equals in that regard.”
“So—you’re saying we’re both dangerous to be around?” Elena asks him.
“I’m saying,” he says, placing an arm around her shoulder. “That our mutual danger cancels each other out. If the past couple months have proven anything to me, it’s that you and I can survive anything—as long as we’re together.”
Elena leans into Stefan’s shoulder, rubbing her hair against his cheek.
“I just want to enjoy the peace while we do have it,” he ads, kissing her head. “So, whatever you want to do, we’ll do it. We’ll spend the weekend at the lake house, we’ll shop for drapes, we’ll map out spreadsheets if that’s what will make you happy.”
Elena groans.
“Bar graphs, then?”
“Shut up!”
Stefan laughs, holding her closer.
“What are we going to do about Damon?” she asks after a moment.
“What do you mean?”
“You know what I mean,” she sighs. “I’m not blind, Stefan. I’ve seen the way he looks at me. I try to act like I don’t, but—you saw how eager he was to leave just now. He couldn’t get out that door fast enough, and I--I don’t want to hurt him, Stefan.”
A worried look enters Stefan’s eyes. This was the conversation he dreaded the most.
“How do you feel about him?” he asked, a little afraid of the response.
“I care about him,” Elena confesses. “The same way I care about Jeremy, or Caroline, or any of my friends. But—he’s not you, Stefan.”
Elena grabs the sides of his face, and kisses him gently.
“You’re the one I love,” she promises. “No one else.”
A relieved smiles appears on Stefan’s face, and he kisses her back.
“I’m just scared that…” Elena began. “You know how he can get when he’s upset. He can’t handle rejection very well. I scared he might do something if…”
“We can try talking to him?” Stefan suggested. “Together. When he’s in a good mood.”
“Definitely in a good mood!”
Stefan nods in agreement.
Elena leans in, kissing him again. She starts to breathe heavy, the kiss becoming more passionate.
Her legs swing up onto the bed, knocking the open suitcase on the floor—spilling the contents everywhere.
“What about unpacking?” Stefan murmured, while running his fingers through his hair.
“Later,” Elena moaned. “Much, much later…” *****
Much, much later…
“We’re not very good at following plans, are we?”
“Hmm?” Stefan asked.
He looked down at Elena, who was tracing circles on his chest.
“Well…” she said playfully. “We go to my parents lake house for a romantic getaway, we end up investigating a hollow wall…”
“And fighting werewolves!” Stefan reminded her.
“And that!” she laughed. “Then we plan to spend the evening unpacking, only to…well…”
Stefan swung Elena over, using a fraction of his super-speed, so that her face hung right over his own.
“Are you complaining?” he asks.
“Not a chance,” Elena replies. “It’s just an observation. Maybe we shouldn’t even make plans anymore? Just play it by ear? Plans didn’t do much good against Klaus, did it? In the end, it was improvising that saved the day.”
Stefan pulled her down, hugging her.
“Stefan?”
“I thought I was going to lose you…” he said in a quiet, breaking voice. “I really thought I would never get to hold you like this again.”
Elena closed her eyes, returning the embrace.
“I know” she whispered. “I promise, I’ll never put you through that again.”
The two of them lie down on the bed, facing each other.
“Never?” Stefan asks after a moment. “Are you sure about that?”
Elena froze, not sure how to respond. It was something that had crossed her mind a few times, but she had never said it aloud. Not outside of a bluff to trick Elijah.
Now, though—with the danger passed, she had to really think about it for the first time. This conversation was bound to come up sooner or later.
“Do you want me to turn?” she asked simply.
“Do you want to turn?” Stefan responded, his expression unreadable.
There was an uncomfortable silence between them.
“I don’t know,” she sighed. “I mean, I literally don’t know. It’s not like the thought hasn’t crossed my mind before. Damon threatened it once, and there were times in the past few months that I thought I wouldn’t have a choice but to take Katherine’s way out.”
Stefan took her hand, urging her to continue.
“Even now, I might not have a choice,” she says. “Something might happen that neither of us have any control over. I think that’s what scares me the most—that it’ll happen, and I won’t be ready.”
“And if it doesn’t?” Stefan asks her, pointing towards himself. “Would you really be willing to—do this to yourself? Willingly?”
“I don’t know,” Elena says, closing her eyes. “I think about Isobel, and I remember Vicki—they completely lost themselves. It’s like they became different people, who didn’t care who they hurt. Who they killed…god, Stefan, if I ever hurt somebody, I would never forgive myself!”
Stefan looked at her with sympathy, gently rubbing her hand.
“But then—I look at Caroline,” Elena continues, a smile on her lips. “This year has been so hard for her, but I’ve never seen her stronger. She has so much confidence in herself now, and—she seems happy.”
Stefan smiles at her.
“I guess what I’m saying is that, though the idea scares me, I wouldn’t mind it that much if I could be like her. Or you.”
Stefan embraces Elena, kissing her.
“I’m just afraid I’d end up like Katherine did,” she confesses, burying herself in Stefan’s arms. “That I would only care about myself, like she did.”
“That would never happen,” Stefan promised her. “When someone becomes like this, their strongest traits are magnified. You were ready to sacrifice your life to protect the people you love, Elena. That’s your strongest trait—how much you care. Even as a vampire, that wouldn’t go away. That’s who you are.”
Elena looked up at Stefan and smiled.
“I’m still young,” Elena acknowledges. “We don’t have to make the decision right now, do we?”
“When you’re ready,” Stefan agrees. “One step at a time.”
“Starting with—unpacking?”
Stefan laughs.
“It’s a start,” he says, kissing her once more. “Welcome home, Elena.”