Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
❝don't leave me again❞
STEFAN PACED BACK AND FORTH THROUGH ELENA'S ROOM, WAITING FOR HER TO GET HOME. He wiped a hand over his mouth, sighing out his frustrations.
He tensed when he heard her voice, calling out to see if he was there. Her footsteps echoed up the wooden staircase, and he turned to face her as she stopped in the doorway.
"Elena, I'm so sorry," He shook his head at her as she approached him, already fixing him with a worried look. "I know you didn't want Jenna to know, but Klaus was here, and I couldn't leave her alone with him."
"I know, Stefan," She shook her head, recalling the fear in her aunt's voice. "You kept her safe, that's all that matters. She's staying with Andie tonight, just to process things. I tried to tell her what I could, but I barely scratched the surface."
Stefan nodded, then looked away, his eyes glazing over as he remembered the events from earlier.
"Stefan? What's wrong? Did something happen?"
He bites his tongue and swallows around the lump in his throat. "It's, uh, it's Rosemary."
Elena furrows her eyebrows at him. "Rosemary? As in Damon's wife?"
He nods. "Yeah, she's, um, she's alive. And I don't– she's alive, and she's– she's helping them. She's helping Klaus,"
Elena's eyes widen in surprise. "She's helping Klaus? But, why? She doesn't even–" Elena's voice cracks and she steps away from Stefan as fear settles in her bones. "She doesn't even know me, Stefan."
"I know, I know. But I'll never get her to go against Damon, she'll kill me first," Stefan reaches for her, but she pulls her arm away with a flinch that he mirrors at her response to him. "Elena, I'm not going to let them hurt you, okay?"
"Why?" She whips around, her brown hair flying out as she faces him with teary eyes. "Stefan, everyone is trying to kill me right now. Okay, Caroline is trying to kill me. Caroline. She was my best friend!"
Elena's lip quivers and she clenches her fists at her side in frustration. "Bonnie almost died trying to save me. If you keep fighting them, they'll just kill you all."
"That's a risk I'm willing to take, Elena."
"Well, I'm not!" Her exclamation makes Stefan flinch backwards, but she looks at him unapologetically. "Why would I want everyone I love to die for me? So I can be stuck here alone? I'd be miserable if you died, Stefan, why can't you see that? Just let them kill me, please."
"Elena,"
"No, Stefan, I'm tired," She swipes a hand out, wiping the tears away from her cheeks. "We are severely outnumbered, and no matter how much power Bonnie has, they could easily just break her neck and be done with it. I'm not letting you die for me."
