It Was Epic - Stelena AU

part 3

I move my hand lightly across the other side of the bed. I expect to feel Stefan, but there's no one there.

I open my eyes and look at my alarm clock beside the bed.

As my eyes adjust, I read "3:07am". I crawl out of bed and slip on my robe. I feel the cold floor on my feet as I begin walking down the hall.

As I reach the stairs, I see a dim light coming from the bottom. What is he doing awake?

I walk down the stairs and he lifts his head slowly to see me.

"Hey, Baby," he says softly. "Did I wake you?" He stands up off the couch and begins to walk towards me.

"Um..no. I just didn't feel you next to me. What're you doing?" I ask as meet him in the middle of the room.

"Couldn't sleep. I didn't want to wake you, so I came downstairs."

"Stefan, is everything okay?" I ask as I grab his hands in mine, pulling him closer.

"Yeah everything's fine," he replies with a small smile. "Don't worry. It's just one of those nights. "

"The nights are coming more and more often. I just want to be sure that everything's fine-" he cuts me off by placing a soft kiss on my lips.

"Elena, I promise everything is okay. You don't need to worry," he says as he holds my face in his hands.

"Let's go back to bed, okay?" He says as strokes me hair.

"Okay," I reply as I lead him back up the stairs.

We get back in bed and I wrap my arm around him as I place my head on his chest. I feel the warmth of his chest as his heart beats.

The next morning, we start getting ready to head to Bonnie and Enzo's house. It's been a couple weeks since I've seen them and I figured it's time to visit. Enzo and Stefan have became better friends the past few years. It's good for them to be able to bond of Damon.

"You ready?" I ask as I grab the keys.

"Yeah I'm ready," he says as he opens the door for me. "I know Bonnie's missing you."

I laugh as I walk to the car. "Yeah, it's been a whole two weeks. "

I glance over to see him with his eyes closed as I drive. His eyes looked tired this morning.

We arrive at Bonnie's and we make our way to the door. Enzo is there to greet us. He must've heard us coming. One of the few things I miss about being a vampire.

"Hello, Darling," he says with a smirk as he opens the door. "Ah, Stefan. Good to see you."

"Hey, Enzo," he replies as he closes the door behind him. Enzo and Stefan continue to talk as I go to find Bonnie in the kitchen.

"Elena!" She yells as she sees me. "It's so good to see you. I feel likes it's been ages. I know how crazy our schedules are, though. "
"I've missed you too, Bonnie" I say as I hug her. We spend time catching up about work until we make our way upstairs while Stefan and Enzo watch TV.

"Hey, Bon. Can I ask you something?" I say as we sit on her bed.

"Of course," she says with a confused look

"Does Stefan seem alright to you?"

"Um, yeah. He seems the same as usual. Why? Is something wrong?" She asks with a troubling tone.

"No. Well nothing for certain. He's just been... off lately. I don't know. It's probably nothing. " I say as I try to brush it off.

"Well I remember how he was after Damon died. He had a really rough time for awhile. Do you think he's starting to go through that again?" She ask.

"No. Well, I don't know. Maybe. I thought he had gotten past that. He seemed better. But it's like he's always somewhere else. "

"Is he drinking again?" Bonnie asks hestitantly.

"Not as much as he used to, but he did have a bad night a few days ago. He won't talk to me though. I try to ask what's wrong but he just brushes it off or changes the subject. "

"Damn. I don't know, Elena. I could ask Enzo to talk to him about it," she says

"No that's probably not a good idea," I reply.

"Yeah you're probably right. Maybe he's just going through a rough spot. Just keep trying to talk to him, okay? You're the only one that could ever get through to him. "

"I will," I say with a smile.

We leave Bonnie and Enzo's and arrive home.

"Well that was fun. Did you and Bonnie have a good time?" Stefan asks.

"Yeah it was great to see her. We're going to meet up again this weekend," I reply.

"Good," he says with a smile as he takes his shirt off.

He gets into bed as I change out of my clothes. I can feel him watching me from the bed. I can feel myself blushing as a smile creeps up.

That night I wake up and feel the bed empty again. I stare at the cieling as I prepare to go downstairs. I knew something had to be wrong.

"Stefan?" I say as I make it to the bottom of the stairs. "Stefan! Oh my gosh!" I run to the middle of the room where he was sitting, surround by glass.

"Stefan! Hey! Are you okay?! What happened?" I bend down to try to see his face.

"I, uh, dropped my glass. I'll clean it up, I just can't, uh, " he voice cracks as he tries to continue speaking.

"Stefan, hey. Look at me," I say as I lift his head in my hands. "Don't worry about the glass. Are you okay?"

"Yes...no. I don't know, Elena. I'm just tired. I just want to go to bed, okay?" He says as he grabs my hand and kisses it. "Can we please go to bed?" He asks with a weak voice.

"Yes, of course. " I walk with him up the stairs and lay down in bed with him. Now I know with absolute certainty that he wasn't okay.

I feel his wrap his arms around me as he let's out a shallow breath.

"I love you so much," he says as I feel him drifting off to sleep.

"I love you, Stefan. " I say as I tighten my grip on his hand.

I lay restless in bed for the next couple hours. I try to prepare myself for the morning. I know I have to talk to him about this, even if he doesn't want to