Unexpected Chances

Chapter 6

Elena glanced down at him as she watched him spin his wedding ring, not saying a word as he looked down at it.

"Stefan...Whatever anger that your carrying within you about Rebekah...and whatever it was that you just did to her-" Elena began to say as she looked up at him and his eyes locked with hers.

"Look, I know that it wasn't right to lay my hands on her. I lost control and usually, I am not a violent person. I've never hit a woman in my life before and I think that people who hit women should be punished. But....There's something about her that brings out the worst in me and I can't stand it. I know there is no excuse for what I did. But, I just-." Stefan began to say as he slowly watched Elena close the door behind her and make her way to the sofa.

She sat down on it and crossed her legs over each other as she gave him a saddened smile. She knew what it did to him. Because, she had felt it too...That surge of anger for the one person that she thought she could love forever and then he just hurt her so senselessly without a second thought of how it would affect her. Yet, Elena also knew a little bit more about his and his brother's pasts then she was leading on and she knew that the Salvatore brothers had a history of anger ran in their family that could easily get the best of them if they let it.

"Damon told me once, I mean. Not in much details, but I understood what he meant. What you and him  had to endure at the hands of both of your parents...That's why you both moved in with your uncle and he funded the money for you guys to go to school, get good educations...Stefan...Whatever it was that they did to you-." Elena began to elaborate just as she heard him clear his throat.

"They would fight all the time and they would forget that we were even in the room..Sometimes. Damon would have to shield me from his blows because, he thought that I was a product of one of her one night stands of her many affairs that she was having on the side...My own father hated to look at me. So, when Damon turned eighteen, he talked me into coming to Chicago to move in with our uncle. He was the only person in our whole lives that actually gave a damn about us. My uncle would send birthday cards, make calls just to see how we were doing and sometimes he would even show up at our house after one of his cross country business trips, just to see the two of us smile when he took us out...I guess, I owe him more than I realize, he gave me a sense of normalcy." Stefan explained as he looked over at Elena who was still sitting in the same position on the couch with her legs crossed, intrigue on her face.

"Damon...He never mentioned any of that..I mean, he did say that your Uncle was a great man and part of the reason that both of you are so successful and that he had given up so much to make sure that you two had a proper upbringing, one that you had been missing for so long." Elena told him.

Stefan smiled at her slightly and then he began to explain further. "Damon hates talking about that part in his life. Now, he acts like none of it ever happened and the reason he is, where he is at today is because of his Ivy League education and the money in his pockets. I, on the other hand, I try not to dwell on it. But I carry it with me because that part of my childhood made me who I am today. I guess that's why I got so upset with Rebekah...I mean, that woman made me believe that I would be a father...That I could give a child, my own child. A stable home and a loving family, something I never really had growing up." Stefan said as he once again looked down at his wedding band and then finally pulled it off of his finger.

"I guess I won't be needing that anymore." He commented as he glanced over at Elena and then opened up a drawer in his desk and placed the ring in there.

"Stefan. Look, I honestly didn't mean to pry into your personal life. I just...I guess. I somewhat understand what you're going through. I mean, I loved your brother with everything I had and he turned around and hurt me....He's been sleeping with Caroline, my former best friend for the last year, behind my back...So, all I'm saying. Is that I know what it's like to hurt too." Elena told him in a serious tone as she leaned forward and began to get up from her now warm spot on the couch.