Promise You Won't Fall In Love With Me

Chapter 18

"Just open it already" - Rebekah raised her voice, but Elena did not even flinch. She kept staring at the white envelope in her trembling hands.

This morning, Elena found her acceptance letter from Sarah Lawrence on the pile of mail no one looked through. Jenna would usually look through the mail while having a cup of morning coffee, but these days she's preoccupied with her exams, so she leaves the house before either Jeremy or Elena wake up. She wanted to open the letter from the moment she saw it lying on the pile of identical white envelopes, but she could not will herself to do so. She was too afraid of the answer, but she did not know what she fears more, acceptance or rejection. She had few other options, which were far from second best. She did not have second best, because for years Sarah Lawrence has been her dream college, and in her mind, it was her only option, although her aunt did not want to hear about all or nothing. Rejection meant all of her dreams, hopes and hard work crumbling down to nothing. But acceptance meant leaving all of this behind and starting a new life. Bonnie is going to attend Community Mystic Falls college, like her brother did, because her parents had no money to offer her something better. Caroline is going to take a gap year and travel around the Europe with Nik. Rebekah already got into Harvard on early admissions, which was only a surprise for her mother and people who knew nothing about her, because Rebekah had excellent grades. And in the end, there was Stefan, a person who became so important to her in such a short time. Even if he gets into Harvard, they will be 4 hours separated by car, which will unable them to see each other as often as they would like. Even now, a day without Stefan was like a month. What would a week without him feel like then? Like a year? But she did not want to think about it, and she did not want to fear her future. Her and Stefan, they will find a way to make it work, they will have to. In the end, he promised he would never leave her.

She had put her acceptance letter in her bag, and decided to open the letter in the presence of her friends. When she arrived, she told Caroline the latter came, and in the matter of few minutes Nik, Bonnie, Rebekah and Stefan also appeared, and surrounded her, making her stand in the middle, which only made her feel more uncomfortable.

She raised her look from the envelope to Rebekah who was staring at her impatiently, with her arms crossed on her chest. She took a deep breath and with one movement of her hand, she teared the envelope open and took the paper in her hands. As she blinked, her eyelids seemed heavier than usual, and she felt like her eyelashes are piercing her skin as they touched her cheeks. She inhaled deeply before she started reading the paper. Her eyes grew wider with every sentence she read, and for a moment there, Caroline could have sworn Elena stopped breathing while she was reading the letter. Then she raised her look and locked her eyes on Stefan who was standing across her, and without any emotion in her voice, or face, she said silently, "I'm in."

Then, the corners of her lips curved into a smile, and she raised her voice, yelling, "I'm in!", while throwing her hands in the air, the piece of paper stuck between her fingers. Everyone around her smiled and cheered, and Stefan stepped up, put his arms around her waist, picked her up and twirled her a little around the hallway.

"That's my girl" - he said before she hung her arms around his neck and lowered her lips on his, kissing him gently.

There was a loud 'awwww' from Caroline, which only made Elena smile, and Stefan could feel her lips curving into a smile while pressed on his.

"This deserves to be celebrated" - Rebekah said.

Stefan had put Elena on the floor, wrapped his hand around her shoulder and pulled her closer to him. She felt safe and comfortable while pressing next to him, and in that moment she knew she never wants to leave his side.

Everyone looked at Rebekah who was smiling widely.

"Is Salvatore residence free this weekend?" - she asked with a mischievous smirk on her face.