One and Only

Chapter One

A/N: Hey all! Please note that CHAPTER 1 is 5 YEARS LATER after the prologue!

Anyways, Thank you guys so much for the reviews! So, I hope that this Chapter explains a bit into what happened to Stefan. I really tried to make it not confusing with the flashback...Let's just say, you might be surprised!

Anyways, Thanks for Reading & Enjoy!

CHAPTER ONE-One And Only

...5 YEARS LATER...

Elena's P.O.V.

I roll into him, nearly shoving him off the bed as he groans. "Damn it, Elena...Are you trying to kill me?" Matt says with a laugh, his blue eyes shining as grabs my wrist and pulls me towards him, kissing my cheeks.

It's been 5 years. But, I still feel like I'm numb to it all, that me and Matt ending up together after losing Stefan in the way that we both did that day, all these years ago isn't the best idea for me or my children..Although, when I try to think about it rationally, What other choice did I have? I couldn't raise my kids without a father in their lives. Thank god though, that my kids love him and Matt had begged me, pleaded with me and convinced me that I needed someone to help out with the family that my fiancé had left behind. Maybe it was him feeling guilty, maybe it was the fact that Matt felt responsible for telling Stefan to split up that day and being the cause of him falling to his death, from the 2nd floor room that he was in. I'm not really sure. But, over time..We just connected and both found that we had a lot in common with each other. Yet, Matt was right, the first few months were killing me. I couldn't move, wouldn't eat and for the longest time..I couldn't look at my son, who looks just like his father with his bright green eyes.

But, over time my depression decreased because of Stefan's friends and his family. Everyone really stepped up to help, to make sure that I didn't need anything and if I did, they would be there, even if it was a shoulder to cry on. One of them being Matt. Matt had been there that day, the day of Stefan's funeral too. He had went with me to claim the empty urn of what was supposed to be filled with Stefan's ashes. But, since a body was never found in the investigation of the warehouse, they ruled him dead without any true evident and gave me an empty urn with his name written on it and a medal for his bravery.

Even though I tried to look more into it, to find out more answers about it. Everyone around me had convinced me that it was just an accident..That the reason there was no body found at the site was because once they got to him, to "save him". Stefan had already been there for far too long, that his body was a mangled mess and that he was just..gone...perished in the blaze like the building he was in and I just came to believe that they were right, that I didn't want to remember him in the way that he died. But in the way that Stefan lived, loved and cherished everyone he met.

I guess over time, I stopped questioning it all. That I gave up on trying to find answers and now, I've just learned to deal. But, I still struggle every single day with the memories of him. When I look into Sam or Olivia's faces or when I hear them call Matt 'daddy', it makes it 100 times harder to move on. I guess, even though I have convinced myself that I could move on, I can't. Because, I know the truth, Matt's not Olivia and Sam's father... He never will be..because deep down inside, my heart still believes that somewhere out there, that Stefan is still alive, even if everyone has told me to let go, even if everyone has moved on from it...I secretly haven't.

I can feel it. I know, I must sound crazy..But, I swear to you that when you have a connection to someone like I did with Stefan, you just...you feel things, you feel that gaping hole in your heart being covered up by so many other things..By a different man, my kids, my new job as a receptionist at the local police station. I can sense it, Stefan's still out there...Still alive, I just need to have hope that one day, someday..he'll come looking for us...