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Meredith and Matt were sitting at the breakfast table, which see how ht body had seemed to fil , and how much more serious everyone ithout her Meredith knew that if Elena had done her best, she could have offset it But she also knew that Elena had one thing on her mind above al others, and that was Stefan, as stricken with guilt for al owing his brother to abduct Bonnie And uilty too, because today they would be leaving the other three, even if only for the evening They each had been summoned home by parents who demanded to see them for dinner
Mrs Flowers clearly didn’t want theiven, I can make our urns,"she said "Since Matt has found my wheel - "
"I didn’t exactly find it,"Matt said under his breath "It was there in the storage room al the time and it fel on me"
" - and since Meredith has received her pictures - along, I’et theed or whatever"
"Of course, and show them to the Saitous, too, to s ant them to,"Meredith promised "And Bonnie can - "
She broke off short Idiot! She was an idiot, she thought
And, as a hunter-slayer, she was supposed to be clear-minded and at al times maintain control She felt terrible when she looked at Matt and saw the naked pain in his face
"Dear Bonnie wil surely be home soon,"Mrs Flowers finished for her
And we al know that’s a lie, and I don’t have to be psychic to detect it, Meredith thought She noticed that Mrs Flowers hadn’t weighed in with anything from Ma ma
"We’l al be just fine here,"Elena said, final y picking up the bal as she realized that Mrs Floas looking at her with ladylike distress "You two think we’re some kind of babies who need to be taken care of,"she said, s at Matt and Meredith, "but you’re just babies too! Off you go! But be careful"
They went, Meredith giving Elena one last glance Elena nodded very slightly, then turned stiffly, uard
Elena let Stefan help her clean up the dishes - they were al letting his now because he looked soto contact Bonnie in different ways But then Mrs Flowers asked if Elena could board up the last few of the basement s, and Stefan couldn’t stand it Matt and Meredith had already done a fartwo tarps fro down one side of the main roof
On each tarp were the characters that Isobel’s ave them, painted at an enormous scale in black paint Stefan had been al owed only to watch and give suggestions from the ’s walk above his attic bedrooether,"he said firet a hammer and nails
It wasn’t real y such a hard job anyway Elena held the boards and Stefan wielded the haers, which ot on very quickly
It was a perfect day - clear, sunny, with a slight breeze Elena wondered as happening to Bonnie, right now, and if Da care of her properly - or at alShe seemed unable to shake off her worries these last days: over Stefan, over Bonnie, and over a curious feeling that she had to knoas going on in town Maybe she could disguise herself
God, no! Stefan said voicelessly When she turned he was spitting out nails and looking both horrified and asha
"I’et the nails out of her o"
"But it’sgotten rid of her nails "We don’t know anything
What’s happening to Bonnie, what state the town’s in - "
"Let’s finish this board,"Stefan said "And then let me hold you"
When the last board was secure, Stefan raised her fro, not bride-style, but kid-style, putting her toes on top of his feet He danced her a little, whirled her a couple of tiain
"I know your problem,"he said soberly
Elena looked up quickly "You do?"she said, alarmed
Stefan nodded, and to her further alarm said, "It’s Love-itis
Means the patient has a whole slew of people she cares about, and she can’t be happy unless each and every one of them is safe and happy themselves"
Elena deliberately slipped off his shoes and looked up at him "Some more than others,"she said hesitantly
Stefan looked down at her and then he took her in his arood as you,"he said while Elena’s heart pounded in sha danced with hi kissed him "If you are happy, that’s al I want, after that prison I can live; I can diepeaceful y"
"If we’re happy,"Elena corrected
"I won’t teods I’l settle for you"
"No, you can’t! Don’t you see? If you disappeared again, I’d worry and fret and fol ow you To Hel if I had to"
"I’l take you with o,"Stefan said hastily "If you’l take htly That would do, for now As long as Stefan ith her she could stand anything
They sat and cuddled, right under the open sky, even with abeeches nearby
She extended her aura a little and felt it touch Stefan’s
Peace flooded into her, and al the dark thoughts were left behind Almost al
"Since I first saw you, I loved you - but it was the wrong kind of love See how long it took ure that out?"Elena whispered into the hol ow of his throat
"Since I first saw you, I loved you - but I didn’t knoho you real y were You were like a ghost in a dreaht pretty quickly,"Stefan said, obviously glad that he could brag about her "And we’ve survived - everything They say long-distance relationships can be pretty difficult,"he added, laughing, and then he stopped, and she could feel al his faculties fixed on her suddenly, breath stopping so he could hear her better
"But then, there’s Bonnie and Damon,"he said before she could say or think a word "We have to find theether - or it had better have been Bonnie’s decision to part"
"There’s Bonnie and Dalad that she could share even her darkest thoughts with someone "I can’t think about them I can’t not think about them We do have to find them, and very fast - but I pray that they’re with Lady Ulala Maybe Dara as nobody’s real y hurt"
"Yes"Elena tried hard to tuck herself closer to Stefan She wanted to - be closer to him, somehow The way they had when she had been out of her body and she had just sunk into hiular bodies, they couldn’t
But of course they could Now Her blood
Elena real y didn’t knohich of theht of it first She looked away, eht the tail end of Stefan looking away too
"I don’t think we have the right,"she whispered "Not to - be that happy - when everyone else is s for the town or for Bonnie"
"Of course we don’t,"Stefan said firulp a little first
"No,"Elena said
"No,"Stefan said fir "no,"he went and pul ed her up and kissed her breathless
And of course, Elena couldn’t let hiet even So she deain, and when he did it she caught him and kissed him
"You were happy,"she accused a moment later "I felt it"
Stefan was toohappy because of anything she ht do He said, "I couldn’t help it It just happened by itself I felt our ether, and that made me happy But then I remembered about poor Bonnie And - "
"Poor Damon?"
"Well, soo so far as to cal him ’poor Damon’But I did remember him,"he said
"Well done,"Elena said
"We’d better go inside now,"Stefan said And then hastily,
"Downstairs, Imore to do for the I can think of I did meditation and Attempt to Contact by Out-of-Body Experience - "
"From nine thirty to ten thirty AM,"Stefan said "Andal frequency telepathic cal s No response"
"Then we tried with the Ouija board"