Everything Changes

Are Memories Important?

(The Next Day)
     Stefan has no memory of anything, not me, Damon, his life, nothing. Nada, and I'm trying to handle it but let me tell you it's difficult. Damon took Stefan out this morning so I have no clue where they are or what he's doing. Long story, short, I'm worried. Elena and I are going down to the Grill later to meet them. Hopefully, Damon has informed Stefan of our existence in his life. I want to look extra nice since technically I'm meeting Stefan for the first time. I put on a light blue blouse, distressed jeans, and some pink lacy TOMS. I braid my hair in a side, apply makeup, and then grab my sunglasses.

I meet Elena downstairs so we can head over. She suggests that I bring photos or memos to help refresh his memory. She is on the phone when I arrive.
    "It's Caroline." She mouths, "Okay, have fun on your study date and be sure to tell us all about it. Bye!" She hangs up and smiles. "Let's go." I smile excitedly, I know Stefan saw me last night but only for a few minutes until I rushed upstairs in sadness.
~*~
  Today, ironically, is Remembrance Day where you ring a bell and drink to your dead loved ones. Elena and I would be drunk by the end of the day. We step inside and spot Stefan & Damon sitting at a table. We glance at each other then walk over, I hear their laughter from afar.
  "And learning two centuries of memories would be boring, but nope." Elena jokes, I stand beside her. Stefan has his eyes trained on me, almost as if he's in trance.
  "Remind me of your names, again?" Ouch, he doesn't remember.
  "Evelyn and Elena." I remind him, trying to keep the hurt look off my face.
  ''Right." So Damon hasn't said anything.
  "You haven't told him." Elena glares at Damon. I wonder if she means her or me & the marriage.
  "Lot to cover." Damon shrugs, I roll my eyes and hear a bell. I pick up a shot and down it in no time flat.  Stefan still has his eyes on me, I smile as he drinks a shot as well. He gets up to go get more drinks, I glare at Damon as soon as Stefan turns his back.
  "You haven't told him a single thing about me, has he not asked what the ring around his finger was?" I ask, annoyed.
  "Yes, he has. I told him I would explain later." Damon responds, of course he did.
  "So Mr. "I got this covered'', Mr. "So far, so good," and Mr. "I know what I'm doing." Elena teases.
  "Hey, I never said I knew what I was doing." Damon defends himself.
  "Where is Stefan?" I ask, a minute ago, he was flirting with a waitress. I wasn't all too happy about it but he has no idea we are a couple so.
"Anyone see that cute little waitress?" I shake my head, uh oh.
~*~
Stefan ended up, biting that waitress so Damon had to stop him which Damon does not enjoy. We are now at the cemetery, visiting the Salvatore crypt.
  "What kind of name is Honoria Fell?" Stefan asks, as we walk past her tombstone.
  "Shh, you're kind of the one that killed her." Damon informs him, as we walk inside. Elena was with Matt now so it was just the three musketeers.
"Man, this place is still creepy." I mutter to myself, going over to light some candles.
"So anyone in here, I haven't killed?" Stefan asks, I can't decide if his amnesia is cute or sad.
  "Well, there's our father who art in Hell, your doings. Uncle Zach, my bad, and on the bright side, our mother died of consumption." Damon rang a bell for each person he listed, no offense, but if he rings a bell for every person we'll killed, we'll be here for a while. His phone proceeds to ring shortly after. "I gotta go see a man about a witch. Stefan, take the alcohol, and Eve, here's the bell." Then he's out the door, I finish lighting the candles and turn to Stefan.
"I hope your family history isn't as depressing as mine." Ha, sadly it is.
"Well let's see, in the past three years I've lost: my adopted parents, both of my real parents, and my sister. Well also my second family which consists of Elena, Jeremy and their aunt Jenna. However both Elena and Jeremy came back to life." Stefan rings the bell for every name I say. He has this look on his face. "What?"
  "I don't know how I can't remember you. You're smart, beautiful, funny, and definitely strong for what you went through." Stefan smiles, gosh I've missed that smile.
  "I've had a great group of friends who have supported me and you were very much part of that."
  "Basically bonded by death. We didn't meet in a cemetery, did we?"
  "No, you and Elena did though." I laugh. "Well technically, here why don't I show you where we met?" He nods, smiling. It's like I'm falling in love with a new Stefan. Someone who's careful and doesn't have a thousand years of burdens on his shoulders.
~*~
  We sneak our way into the office, and I stand where we collided.
  "It was both of our first day, you were in front of me. I dropped my stuff and was picking it up when my journal was too far from me. I went to grab it when a hand landed on it as well. I looked up and my eyes met yours, then we collided heads." I laugh, explaining how we met.
"Wait, I think, I get it." He takes out his phone and put it on the floor. I crouch on the floor and reach for his phone when his hand lands on mine. I feel the shot go up my arm and I lift my head, my breath hitches when I glance into his eyes. You know that moment when the world stops, and all that matters was the person in front of you. He leans forward and butterflies dance in my stomach. Our lips are so close, when a pain hits my forehead. He groans as I do, when I realize we bumped foreheads. I laugh as I rub my forehead.
"I don't suppose that jogged your memory." I joke, standing up.
"Wish it had but no." I sigh, and look around.
"We should probably go. Hey, why don't I show you something even cooler?" I propose, he nods and I grab his hand in a force of habit but he doesn't let go. Our fingers intertwined and nothing has ever felt so right.
~*~
  I remember the flowery patch Stefan took me to on our first date. I don't want to overwhelm him, so I'm taking this slow. We walk through the trail.
  "How did you find this place?" Stefan asks, our hands still connected.
  "You. We went here once and you told me this was your favorite place and wanted to share it with me." I reminisce to the words he spoke that made me melt.
"Right, when we dated.'' His statement shocks me, I thought Damon hadn't gotten there yet.
"Wait, how did you know that?"
  "I may have amnesia but I'm not dumb. I'm a 164 vampire that came back to high school, I assume because of you."
"Well technically for Elena, you dated her first." I inform him.
"The same Elena that is dating Damon?" He asks, confusion written all over his face.
"Yeah, you and your brother have a tendency to share women." I laugh.
"Is that why we broke up, you dated Damon." He explores, I laugh at the statement.
"Oh gosh no...we didn't break up." I gently explain, I don't want him to freak.
"No? Then why have you been distant?" Wow, he noticed.
"Um because we're married. The ceremony was the day before summer, I didn't want to freak you out to find out you were married." I gently inform him, his face fills with shock.
"Wow, so that's what the rings are for?" He asks, and I nod. He steps closer to me. "That's why I feel so drawn to you like every bone and nerve aches when I'm not around you." I smile at his words. "I don't understand, why did you decide to return to high school?" Wait, does he think I was a vampire when we met?
"I didn't return necessarily, I was human when we met."
"And you didn't fear me or what I was?" I shake my head, smiling.
"I was never scared of you, the first time I saw you for what you were, I touched your face like this," I explain, putting my hands on the side of his face,"and I told you not to hide." We gaze into each other's eyes like a cliche romance movie and I can sense the electricity in the air. I don't know if I should pull my hands away because this might be too soon. Wait, we're married, that's not possible. Our lips are a millimeter away, and the butterflies reappeared. His hands settle on my waist, and he closes the gap. I smile and the familiar feature of his lips on mine. I slide my hands up to his hair, it's a short but passionate kiss, I realize he needs to know how I become a vampire. I pull away slowly and smile.
  "So how did you become a vampire, I understand a certain girl named Katherine  Pierce turned my brother and I." Oh no, here;s the conflict. I don't know how he's going to respond.
"Okay well, keep in mind, the person who dit it was not himself and out to destroy someone one's life, I just happened to be a part in that plan." I ease as carefully as I can. He looks at me confused.
  "Someone ended your life because of revenge." He looks disgusted, "Do I know this person?"
  "You could say that, "I hesisted, he gives me a look of 'c'mon tell me.' "It was you." He freezes and stares at me.
  "I loved you but it wasn't enough to overcome revenge? And you stayed with me."
  "You weren't yourself, vampires have the ability to switch off their emotions, and your switch was broken. I stayed with you because I was in love with you, still am." He backs away from me.
  "I can't believe I did that." He mutters, I turn around and rub my forehead. "And like that the hunger returns." I turn back to him and he's gone.
  "Stefan?...Ah, crap." I pull out my phone and call Elena. "Hey Lena, I lost Stefan. He said he was hungry, get to the graveyard now."
~*~
  Caroline found Stefan at the crypt, almost going to kill Jesse but was able to get him off of Jesse. We decided to go home and see if he reappeared there. As we pull up, I notice smoke coming from the chimney.
  "Guys, fire's burning." I state, getting out of the car. We quickly walk to the library, I see Stefan crouching by the fireplace and burning his journals.
"Uh brother, what are you doing?" Damn asks, stopping us in our tracks.
"Just tying up some loose ends." Stefan explains, throwing more in.
"Are you sure, that's what you want to do?" Elena asks, hesitantly.
"Well I'll tell you what I don't want. I don't want to be the person in these journals, he's gone. I don't want to be here or hear my brother's advice. I don't want to be the person who killed my own girlfriend and I don't want her to tell me that I'm not. Most importantly, I don't want to continue this conversation."
  "So that;s it, you're leaving, even me?" I ask, as he grabs his duffle bag.
  "I need a new start, I can be anyone that I want, I'm sorry." Stefan apologizes and walks out the door. He's leaving...again.
  "We need Bonnie. She'll fix this. I don't understand why she won't call back." Elena rants, pacing. Damon has a sad look in his eyes.
  "Elena, Bonnie can't help us." He stated, softly.
  "Did you talk to her?" I ask, hopeful. "There's gotta be something." Damon grabs our hands and takes a deep breath. What is the matter with him?
  "Evelyn, Elena.....Bonnie's dead." Just like that my world crashes. Our best friend who fixes everything, our bubbly awesome best friend is dead.
  "What?"
  "I'm so sorry." Tears pour out of my eyes, Bonnie's gone.
~*~
   I couldn't stop crying after the news of Bonnie's death. We are meeting in the woods by the cemetery so I'm currently crying in the Salvatore crypt.
"Hey, are you okay?" I hear a familiar voice ask, I look up and wipe my eyes. It's Caroline and Stefan, the voice belongs to Stefan.
"Yeah, um our friend Bonnie died." I inform, they sit down next to me.
"I wish I could remember her, she sounded great."
"She was, sometimes I wish I could be in your position, clean plate on everything because all this wouldn't hurt so much." Caroline states, I nod in agreement.
"Having amnesia isn't fun, it sucks not remembering your past, family, wife, and etc. Feelings are better than no memory."
"No offense but this day has sucked." I state, putting my face in my hands.
"I know I can't be your husband right now but you have me. From all that I've heard today, you two are always there for me. So I'm going to be there for you." Stefan places his hands on ours, I lay my head on his shoulders. I don't know why I'm not mad at him for leaving again.
~*~
Caroline, Matt, Elena, Damon, and I stand in a semicircle facing Jeremy who's at a tree stump. We're placing mementos of Bonnie's impact in our lives. Caroline places poms-poms, Matt places a lifeguard whistle, Elena places feathers, Damon places a grimoire, Jeremy places a picture of the two of them, and I place the page that contains the spell that gave me back my memories.
"We ring this bell in honor of Bonnie, in remembrance for her." Jeremy pauses for a moment."She says that she is not going anywhere, that she has been here all along. Bonnie has watched you have the summer of your lives." I look up when he says she's here.
"Elena, I saw you happy and I know you think how that you can't have a normal life that you have to be there for everyone, but you don't. Everyone will find their way, so you are gonna repack your things, you're gonna go back to college, and you're gonna live it up."
"Matt, you didn't do anything wrong. You know I would have sent you three hundred emails back if I could. I miss you."
"Caroline, I watched you decorate that dorm room like your life depended on it. I know that college isn't everything you expected and that you feel like somethings missing but Tyler...." We look behind us and see Tyler walking up. I smile for Caroline as she runs towards him.
"Eve, I know it seems hard now. I watched you have a great summer not on the best terms but you had fun & didn't let anything get you down. Continue to live like that, just don't switch off your emotions. He'll come back." I smile with tears in my eyes. Matt puts his arm around me in comfort. I wipe my eyes one more time, maybe life will get better. I wish Stefan was here, I really need him.