Until This Lie Do Us Part

Chapter 18

Elena's eyes flashed with confusion. "Are you investigating me?" she asked. Her sense of safety was diminishing at the thought of him prying into her life or having her followed.

"No" he said quickly. "I hired one for you" he corrected. Elena studied him for a moment before it hit her. "I needed to know where he was, what he was doing" he said quietly, catching the change in her emotion.

Elena gripped the counter top and looked straight ahead of her. She remained calm, but her tone told him that she could explode at any moment. "I told you to leave it alone" she said steadily.

"I couldn't" he answered.

Elena let out a short, frustrated breath. "How am I supposed to move on when you are trying to bring my past back?" she asked, her voice losing its evenness. In all honesty, panic was building in her. And she was going to use anger to mask the panic.

"If your nightmares are any indication, you're not moving on" he said, a little bite in his tone. He was set on challenging her.

She looked at him in shock that he would throw that in her face. "My nightmares are none of your concern" she said bitterly.

"They are when they wake me up" he added, matching her bitterness. Again, he was challenging her. He had no issues with losing sleep because of her. He had issues with her shutting him out.

Elena stood up quickly, her eyes flashing now with anger. "How dare you!" she yelled at him. "You had no right to hire some investigator to find my ex. He's my problem, not yours!" she yelled at him.

"Well your problems are my problems now Elena" he told her, standing up as well. "I'm trying to protect you, in case you hadn't considered that" he told her.

"No" Elena said, shaking her head. "You're protecting your money" she spat at him, turning on her heal and attempting to leave.

But he wasn't having any of that. He rushed passed her, stopping in front of her to block her path. "No. You don't get to walk away" he told her defiantly.

"Move" she said through gritted teeth.

"No" he replied, locking his eyes with hers. "In this relationship, we talk about things Elena. So yell. Scream at me. Throw things at me. Do whatever. But don't walk away" he told her.

Elena's anger seemed to dissipate almost instantly. Not because she feared what he would do if she refused to stay and talk. But because he was encouraging her open up to him. "You should have discussed it with me" she said, all of her fight seeming to have disappeared.

Stefan nodded, letting his body relax some. "I should have. I just didn't want to worry you" he spoke honestly.

"Okay. So why tell me now?" she asked him curiously. Stefan's eyes showed his conflict over answering her, but she didn't need him to answer. She already knew. "He's found me, hasn't he?" she asked. Stefan slowly nodded. Elena bit her bottom lip and returned to her stool, taking a seat and resting her elbows on the counter. Her head immediately dropped into her hands. She knew she shouldn't have been surprised by this news. It was only a matter of time before he found her. It wasn't as if she was doing a very good job of hiding. But somehow, she had convinced herself that Derrick had moved on and lost interest in her.

Stefan moved to sit next to her again, placing his hand on her knee in a comforting matter. "This just means we have to be more careful" he told her softly. "We'll put security measures into place" he explained. "I won't let him get near you, Elena" he spoke confidently.

Elena laughed at this, bringing her head up to look at him immediately. "You don't get it. He wants me, Stefan. And he won't stop until he gets me" she said, playing with her wedding ring absentmindedly.