Before You Were Mine

Chapter One

A/N: Hey all! So, I forgot to mention. But, chapter 1 will start off a few years later (3 years later to be exact) with Stefan already working as a new firefighter and trying to figure his life out. I won't be doing any flashbacks in this story, unless I feel like it needs them.

And for those of you that asked..You don't need to read "One and Only" first to get what's going on..Since, this story will follow their lives from the start.

Anyways, here's chapter 1. Hope you all like it! :)

Before You Were Mine- Chapter One-

...3 years later…..

-Elena-

Grace Potters song "Stars" roars to life on the radio as I lean into the driver's seat of my old beat up Toyota Corolla. I'm not really sure where I'm going or how much gas I have left until the car decides to die on me. But, I like this, the open road, no worries in the world and one of my favorite songs that reminds me of my dad. Once the traffic on the freeway hits and the song ends, I put it on repeat and close my eyes for a moment, thinking about my father and the way my life could have been if only he was still in it.

I love you, baby girl. You're going to make us all so very proud of you one day. He had said, two days before he died from the cancer that took his life. Leaving Jeremy and I with our mother, struggling to keep the house and to keep up with everything else that he had left behind. Eventually we lost the house though, to foreclosure. It was all because mom started to forget to pay things, first it was the electricity then it was the water bill, then the mortgage. I remember it like it was yesterday, my mother and her two small children, picking up their possessions and shoving them in black bags, slinging them over our shoulders as the police officer waited with an eviction notice. I hated growing up with her, I hated losing my father and I hated watching the strong relationship that my brother and I had built as kids, deteriorate because of her actions over the years.

I keep my distance now, trying to make my own money and pave my own way, trying to live on my own in a crappy apartment near my brother. But, it's hard..Living paycheck to paycheck and working at the diner full time was never how I pictured my life to be. The memory of my father with his bright eyes and warm arms hugging me close fades when my cell phone rings to life in the cup holder beside me and I'm brought back to my reality.

"Where are you? Rosie's pissed and we don't have enough coverage...You better be coming to work today!" The text message from my co-worker Luke Slater reads as I grab my phone when I find myself at a full stop behind a semi truck full of chickens ready to go a poultry factory.

"Fine. I'll be there. See you soon and tell Rosie that I'll be there- stuck in traffic." I text him back, smiling when he replies with a simple "Save me from this hell hole place...Elena….I hate this place. ;)"

Luke Slater, the 21 year old, tall and brown eyed, dark skinned basketball player from Queens, became Caroline Forbe's replacement at the diner just a year into when I started working there and he quickly became a friend of mine. Apparently, Caroline Forbes was so determined to follow her dreams at marrying that one guy she was engaged to at the time that she dropped everything and fell off the face of the earth- never to be heard from again. To be honest shortly after she left, I stopped seeing her or Tyler completely. And, if I were to bump into them now- I'm sure that they'd barely remember me. But, Luke's been able to fill the absence of Caroline and I'm thankful for it, because over the last three years of working at Rosie's we've become very close.

"I'm dying...Slow day...Bring me decent coffee..Please?" I roll my eyes, thankful that the car is finally moving again and that I can get off at my next usual exit. "Fine, I'll stop and get coffee. I'm running late anyways. But, I'll be there very soon." I reply back, putting my phone back into the cup holder again and placing my foot on the gas pedal as I feel the car jolt forward and my body does the same. If I get there in time, I won't be docked any credits and if I get to the coffee shop just as quickly, I'll get a good cup of coffee for the both of us.