Until This Lie Do Us Part

Chapter 32

Stefan returned ten minutes later, holding the check out to her. When she looked up at him and he saw that she was crying, he had to look away immediately. The last thing she deserved was having to cry because of him. It was over. "When do you leave?" he asked, his voice distant.

Elena wiped at her tears but still didn't take the check. "Three days" she told him.

Stefan simply nodded before looking back at her. Silent tears were still falling despite her best efforts to wipe them away. "Here" he said, continuing to hold the check out for her.

Elena felt sick just at the thought of accepting his money after everything they had been through. "I don't want it" she told him.

This aggravated him some. "We had a deal. Take the money, Elena" he told her, keeping his voice steady, but it threatened to break at any moment.

"I don't want your money!" she yelled suddenly, standing up to face him. "I don't want anything from you" she said, a little more calmly. "Not anymore" she whispered, turning to run back upstairs.

He watched her go. Heard her slam her bedroom door. Knew the happiness he thought he had, was gone. But he couldn't let her leave without the one million he had promised her. Because despite how hurt, angry, and betrayed he felt, he knew deep down that he had no one to blame but himself. He just couldn't let Elena leave without knowing that she had enough money to get settled in with.

As much as he hated to admit it, he would have done the same for Katherine had she not been with Damon. Stefan tossed the check to the ground and sat on the bottom step, holding his head in his hands. He wanted to rewind until he was back in bed with her, when everything was promising. No, he wanted to rewind the past three months so that he could promise her a forever. Hell, he wanted to rewind the last few years so that he would have met her in high school. Would have fallen in love with her and married her. Because he would have never ended up alone and she would have never met Derrick. That is what he wanted, but even money couldn't get him what he wanted this time.

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Elena looked around at her empty room. Her closets, empty. Her dressers, empty. Her heart, empty.

The only things that remained were a few suitcases and the sheets, pillows, and covers on the bed. Those were his. All of her other items had already been shipped to Los Angeles in boxes. Tomorrow morning, she would be leaving. It hadn't become so real until she had really looked around the emptiness that surrounded her.

Everything was done. Well, almost. Elena still had to see Lily and tell her that she was leaving. It was something Elena dreaded the most.

So Elena decided to walk to Damon's house. It took her about an hour, and by the time she arrived, she was pretty sure her face was frozen from the cold. But the walk had given her time to think about what she would say to Lily.

When Elena was walking up the drive, she saw Damon tossing various things into his car. He saw her approach and shut his door. "Pretty cold out here" he said, shoving his hands in his pockets and walking towards her. "Did you walk here?" he asked, taking in her red cheeks and nose.

Elena nodded. "The exercise was good for me" she said. "And it's kind of nice to be able to walk around by myself, you know, without feeling like ..." she said, not really finding it necessary to finish her thought. Because Damon understood.

"Ah" he said. "Are you here to say goodbye?" he asked. "Because Lily won't be home from school for another 20 minutes or so."

"I'll wait, if that's okay" she told him.

Damon nodded. "I have to take off. But you can go and wait inside" he told her. He walked back to his car and opened the door. But before he got in it, he had one more thing to say. "He loves you, Elena. If you leave tomorrow, you will be making the biggest mistake of your life" he said, turning to hold her eyes. Telling her silently that Derrick was nothing close to the mistake she was about to make. He got in his car and she moved back some so he could leave.