11

"Stefan?" Bonnie's voice is full of disbelief, but Elena can't be bothered to try to convince her. She simply nods, still staring at her hands. "What did Tom say when you—"

She shook her head, "Nothing, he just left for work," Elena groaned and put her head in her hands before running them through her hair, "God, Bonnie, what am I going to do?"

"What do you want to do?" Elena gives her a confused look so Bonnie continues, "I mean, this must mean that he can be brought back, right? Is that what you want?"

"I-I don't know. Maybe?" Silence fills the room. How would they go about saving him? What about Damon? What does this mean for Tom? Tom. Elena practically smiles thinking about her boyfriend. "Is it so terrible if I say no? Does he even need saving?"

"I guess not. Unless you saw him in danger."

"It's still kind of hard to remember,"

Caroline opens the apartment door with a smile on her face but stops in her tracks when she sees Bonnie and Elena sitting across from each other with disappointed looks. "What's wrong?"

"Elena thinks that she has been visiting Stefan when she falls asleep," Bonnie states as if it is a conspiracy yet to be solved.

"Thinks?" Caroline latches onto the word, not understanding why it would be a question. The doppelgangers always seem to find a way to communicate with one another.

"She can't remember all of it," Bonnie informs while subtly pointing at Elena.

"Hello? I'm right here," Elena groans as she is growing impatient with the two.

"Why don't you just fall asleep and Bonnie can try to read your thoughts?" Caroline suggests with a shrug and glancing between both of them. She stared at Bonnie a little longer, which struck Elena.

"That's...not a bad idea. We could try it," Bonnie hesitated as she glanced at her herbs, nodding as she found the ones that she would need.

"I just woke up from being asleep. How would I—" Elena stopped when she noticed Bonnie and Caroline's expressions.

A spell.

Of course, it would be. She simply sighed before laying on the couch, ready for whatever was next. "Count backward from ten," Bonnie said as she flipped through the pages of her Gram's spellbook.

Elena didn't sit up, but simply turned her head to her friend, a deadpan look on her face as she said, "Really?" In a monotone voice.

"Shhh, just do it," Bonnie started muttering, and Elena took that as a sign that she was starting. Elena took a deep breath and began to count backward from ten.

10

9

8

7

Without a second thought, Elena fell into a deep sleep.

"Alright, let's go," Caroline shout-whispered, pulling out a small chest of herbs that Bonnie needed for the second spell.

"Elena," His voice calling out her name sounds like a song, and she wants it on a loop. "what are you doing? You shouldn't be here," He sounds worried, but still warped as if they are speaking in a tunnel.

"Me? What about you? Why are you here?" She snaps back as her anger builds. He left her more than once. And each time broke her a little more. So much heartache that she had to have the memories taken. And she isn't sure what will happen to her if she takes all that pain back.

But then he opens his mouth and talks to her, which sounds like a perfect melody. He is singing to her, and it is such a hypnotizing song. Hypnotizing. Compelling. Vampire. He is a vampire. He isn't hypnotizing. It is an illusion. She has to remember that everything here is an illusion.

"It doesn't matter. You won't remember," He practically mumbles to the ground, almost like he has said this a hundred times before. How many times has she been here?

"Stefan, I'll remember," Elena slowly places her hands on the sides of his face, willing him to look at her. Touching his skin almost feels real. Like they are not in her dream but standing in front of his home, reliving the first moments when she started to trust him.

Elena's voice pulls him back. It is a beacon. A light at the end that is persistently drawing him in. She speaks, and he feels comforted by her presence. He tries again and again, but she is always the one he comes back to. Her eyes are magnetizing as she steals quick glances at his lips, and he can feel himself drowning in them.

"You'll remember?" Stefan reaches up and pushes her hair behind her ear, noticing her head move up and down. Her heart is racing, and he knows it is not from fear. Stefan slowly moves his hand away from her, but she shakes her head.

Elena places his hand on her cheek but then moves it down to her heart, "I will always love you, Stefan," Standing in front of him, she knew it to be true. She did not remember it, but she could feel it. She felt it in her hands when she touched him, in his mind-reading stare, in his concerned tone for her and not himself. "Let me help you,"

She watched him shake his head and take her hands in his, but each movement lagged, which worried her about how much time she had left, "I don't regret my decision. You deserve a normal human life,"

"What if I don't want normal? What if I want you?" Elena spoke the words before she could have time to think of it. At this moment, all she can think of is Stefan. Stefan...suffering because he sacrificed himself to give her, what he thought would be, a better life. He left her, and that will always hurt, but she can't overlook his compassion for others.

Stefan attempted to shake off his initial shock by not maintaining eye contact and sitting down on a bench behind him, "You—We...no, we can't,"

Elena took a step forward, "Stefan, look at me," She ran her hand through his hair, gently tugging for him to look at her. "tell me that you don't miss me. Or miss the world?" He wanted to. It was what she needed to hear. But he couldn't.

"Elena, why are you doing this?" He is practically begging her to stop. Saying goodbye to her once was heart-wrenching enough. He thought that it would get easier, but over time, it just made the inevitable even harder.

Stefan was constantly waiting for her arrival. It became the only thing that he could look forward to. He loved the sound of her voice and always wanted to keep her talking, but she was discussing the living world when he is supposed to be moving away from it. She is an attachment that he still has and needs to move on from.

But she keeps coming back.

Damon already made amends, not aware of how many times Elena had come to visit Stefan. It wasn't on purpose...at first. Stefan had a profuse connection to her. Her presence was supposed to make it easier, but she broke the rules. And he was willing to break a thousand rules to see her face again.

"Do you not need help? Why else would you be contacting me?" Elena's eyes shifted from concerned to confused. His eyes fell. He knows about her boyfriend, Tom. He knows that if he tells her that it is her decision to come back, it'll confuse things. He might have a hard time moving on, but Elena never even tried.

"I only contacted you once. To help me move on to peace. It was your decision to keep coming back,"

Her mouth falls open slightly before she shuts it and turns away from him, taking this information in. She shuts her eyes to try and remember any of their other conversations and turns up blank. If it was her decision, then why can she not remember anything?

"This is an in-between state. Purgatory. Kind of similar to the other side. You won't remember anything going back to the living world," Stefan explains without her having to say it. He was always good at knowing exactly what she was thinking.

"I—" Her voice cracks, and she clears her throat, "I've been the one keeping you here?" Elena's voice gradually falls into a whisper as if it was a nasty secret. She can't allow herself to look at him. Not whilst knowing that she is the one causing him pain. He could be at peace, but she couldn't let go.

"Elena," Stefan touches her arm from behind, brushing his lips against her ear, "I would swallow vervain if it meant that I could touch you again. Hear your comforting voice," She allows him to turn her and fixates her gaze as he brushes her cheek with his thumb, "Those magnetizing eyes," He leans forward, lightly brushing his thumb close to her lips. Elena glances at his lips before leaning back. Stefan feels himself let out a breath, trying to maintain control as he pulls away too. It wasn't real. It wasn't right. She has a boyfriend. A better life.

He distracts himself by holding onto her hands, rubbing his thumb along or touching each of her fingers, wanting to remember every detail. Her nail polish is chipped pink, a color that she wouldn't conventionally choose for herself, but tells him that it has been a few days since she did it. He turns her hand around, taking note of how the pink is underneath her fingernail as well, and suddenly registers that her boyfriend probably did this. The one who resembles Stefan but is perfect for Elena because he is human. Tom has never hurt anyone. Never killed anyone.

She pulls her hand away after his face drops but doesn't say a word. He knows that she has a boyfriend. She knows that they could never be together. It is the unspoken truth that hangs between them even as they pretend otherwise.

The silence almost becomes too much, and before either could break it, a giant light nearly blinds them as it fades in from the darkness. Stefan and Elena instinctively reach for one another as their eyes closed, praying that whatever happens will be quick.

The light dims. It is no longer red, blinding light, but natural. Almost from a lamp? Is that...

Elena is the first to open her eyes. She doesn't remove her hand from Stefan, but tugs on it, "Uh, Stefan,"

He opens his eyes to see Bonnie and Caroline's gazes were wide with astonishment. Caroline's mouth was open to speak, yet she couldn't think of what to say. Without a second thought, he turns and hugs Elena, lifting her in the air. He wanted to live in this moment forever. Being with her, completely and fully. Without worrying that time was going to run out.

"Elena," The voice sounds like Stefan, but he knows that he did not say it. The front door shuts as the floorboard creeks under his feet. "I'm sorry about earlier. I want to talk about—" He took one, two, three steps before freezing in place, his heart dropping as he saw Elena in an embrace with a guy.

No, not a guy.

Himself. A mirror version of himself. Stefan Salvatore. Dead but back alive. He comes to the realization that he stopped breathing and instantly takes a deep breath. Stefan's hands were loose around Elena's waist but she hardly noticed. Her eyes were locked on Tom as if he would disappear.

"Tom," Elena drops everything, racing toward him, but the room starts to spin. She seems to be getting further away, but as she reaches forward and touches his arm, he knows that she is closer than he thought.

He gasps while taking another deep breath. His chest is caving in. He can't get enough air. Maybe he needs to go outside. Yes, outside is good. Tom attempts to walk but stumbles. Elena studies his frantic eyes with a nervous expression, running her hand through his hair in a desperate way to anchor him back to her.

"It's okay," One more deep breath, but this time, not as urgent. Her voice is so electrifying that it calms him. He shuts his eyes and focuses on her, allowing his breathing to become steady. "Everything's okay," She whispers only to him, kissing his cheek afterward, and he starts to feel silly as he gives her a small smile.

Elena is so strong, Tom thinks while placing her hair behind her ears and kissing her forehead, How she is able to care for me while her dead boyfriend is standing, alive, across the room is beyond me.

Bonnie and Caroline tear their prying eyes from Tom and Elena and over to Stefan, who is biting his tongue to hold back the tears, but faking a smile on the outside.

All he wanted was a normal, human life with Elena. He would've done anything to have it. And she already has it with someone else. Not just anyone else but a better version of himself. One who heals people instead of harming them. Who can't shut his feelings off in a matter of minutes. Who will be able to give her the family she always wanted.

The truth is...no matter how much he wanted those things with Elena, they weren't his to have. They were Tom's. He was not supposed to live this long. He never met his Elena, but she was there. Maybe they would've met in a similar way to Elena and Tom. In an infirmary but one would have to heal the other. Imagining a life that he could've had made him smile. Katherine deprived him of that interaction. Of a youthful human life. He would not do the same to Elena.

She deserved everything she wanted in life and more. 

a/n: 

this is a short story so the next chapter will be the final one!