7

"Um, who is--what?" Elena stumbles out her words, letting go of his hands as she stands up. She slowly walks away from him, not sure how to start. How did he even know the name? Should she have him compelled? He was going to find out eventually, but this soon..?

"Elena," Tom grabs her arm and she turns toward him. He places his finger under her chin, "calm down, please. Enzo brought him up to me earlier. Is he someone I should be concerned about?"

"No, not at all," She wraps her arms around his neck, smiling when he places his on her waist.

"Then, why did he make it seem like you still have feelings for this guy?"

Elena leans into him, practically speaking into his shoulder, "Because Enzo likes to stir up trouble,"

And he thinks you deserve to know that you are a spitting image of my ex-boyfriend, who was the vampire we were discussing earlier...and he isn't wrong

"Elena," He starts, and she sighs, backing away from their hug.

Elena grabs his hand, knowing that it is now or never. "You're going to want to sit down for this," He nods, and they take place in the same position they were in before. "I'll be right back," She walks away, bringing three photos with her. She hands the one of her and Damon to Tom, "I dated two vampires in Mystic Falls. Brothers. That is Damon Salvatore. And this is Stefan Salvatore." She hesitates before handing him the photo upside down.

He gives her a confused look but turns the photo over as soon as it reaches his hand. He regrets it almost immediately. His jaw drops as he stands up from the couch. She slowly pulls him back down, pleading with him to wait until she was done. "But...how--I mean--"

"Tom, trust me, I know exactly how you feel. See, Stefan saved me from a car crash. He stayed because he thought I was her." Elena handed him another photo. His jaw seemed to be making a permanent reservation on the floor. "That is Katherine Pierce in 1863. She fell in love with the Salvatore brothers but used their love to her advantage. Stefan and Damon became vampires trying to save her life, but they didn't know that it was part of her plan." She paused for a moment, touching his hand while he stared at the photos with bug eyes, "The Salvatore brothers died because they were trying to retrieve a cure for vampirism. For me."

Tom finally looked at her instead of the photos, "What?"

"I turned into a vampire, and I hated it. They both knew how unhappy I was, and they gave their lives to make sure I could live the life I always wanted. It devastated me. My memory was wiped because I was about to flunk out of college. I had no idea who you were when we met. It was only after I had begun falling for you that--"

"Don't. Don't say all of that. How do I know that your subconscious didn't match me with this guy and that is why you started falling for me?"

"Tom, that's not--"

"I thought this would be simply about an ex-boyfriend trying to get you back. Not...dead supernatural heroes determining how you live your life in the present. This is crazy. This is--"

"My life," Elena finishes, "This is my life, Tom. You wanted the truth. I'm not saying you have to accept it right away, but if we are going to be together...you have to eventually learn to be okay with it. I was going to wait to tell you, but you asked..."

"How did your memory get wiped? Is that something I can have done too?"

Elena gives him a sad smile, finding it amusing that he managed to voice her earlier thought, but feeling an ache in her chest at the thought of him leaving, "Tom," She starts, holding his face, "this is my life," She reiterates, "If that is something you truly want after learning everything, I will have it done, but telling you once is hard enough. I don't want to have to do it again."

"Is there more?"

"Yes. Half the people in here tonight were vampires. One was a witch. We were the only two humans. Well, unless you count our weird doppelganger blood as supernatural,"

Tom turns away from her, rubbing his hand through his hair before covering his face. He shakes it off, letting out a deep breath, "Look," He turns back to Elena, "this is a lot to take in. I'm going to need some time before I can fully process it all,"

"I understand,"

"So...do you want to watch a movie?"

"What?"

He smiles at her, "I am beyond freaked out. I need a comedy. Hearing that these things are real is one thing, but knowing I was in the same room as them? That's another." His brain hurts trying to wrap his head around all of the information she dumped on him. But his heart hurts even more as he imagines walking out that door and being without her tonight.

She doesn't have an ex-boyfriend who is still in the picture. She is here with him. Completely and fully his. And all he wants is to be able to hold her and laugh with her and be blissfully happy.

"You are okay with all of this?"

"Not at all," Tom tells her, "but I will learn to be. You seem like you've done fine in this crazy world. So maybe I will be too."

"Um, actually,"

"Babe, I can only take so much information in one night. Can you tell me another time?"

"Sure," Elena nods, smiling at him while trying to ignore the warm feeling in her chest.

"Let's watch a comedy and afterward, I'll tell you about how my ex-girlfriend is still weirdly close with my parents,"

"Um, what?"

"Comedy!" He attempts to get up from the couch, but she pulls him down by the back of his shirt, shaking her head while leaning down to kiss him.

Tom feels his heart race as he smiles into the kiss, knowing that no matter how crazy and scary her life seems, he wouldn't want to experience it with anyone else.