An Elemental Difference - AIR - Book 1 (Stefan Salvatore)

Chapter 8 - The kind of folder with a typed label called 'Jacka$$es'

MYSTIC FALLS WOODS

"So, what happened next?" Aella asked after they had kissed for a few moments. Walking back to their original seats outside the ruins, they left the past behind in that room.

"I went to meet Damon," Stefan began again as they both sat down, still holding onto both Aella's hands. "And I was on such a high from the blood and transition that I told Damon about how amazing it felt to be a vampire. It was a gift; how he could willingly turn off his emotions, the pain, and the guilt. I had compelled a young woman on the way to meet him, where I convinced my brother to become a vampire by drinking her blood. Damon initially refused, but I would not relent, saying I couldn't let him die. Eventually, Damon drank the girl's blood and told me that I was right, that it felt like a whole new world being a vampire. I hoped this meant we could be brothers and companions together forever."

"Well, you know what they say about hope, right?" Aella asked as she rolled her eyes, "It breeds eternal misery."

Stefan snorted with a sad smile, "And that's exactly what Damon promised me. He promised that he would make my life miserable for the rest of eternity."

"Which is now the reason why instead of being all buddy, buddy like, The Jonas Brothers, you're Earth's version of Hades and Zeus," Aella simplified in her own unique way.

Stefan pursed his lips together, "Not exactly how I would describe it, but essentially yes."

"So, the only reason Damon is here is that he saw you happy?"

Stefan sighed deeply, he knew he'd have to get to this part, "Not exactly, it was because of Elena."

"Elena?" Aella repeated, confused, "As in my Elena? The girl that never takes her head out of diary Elena? Why?"

Stefan reached into his pocket and pulled out the photo that he had kept all these years and handed it to her, "Because of this."

Aella stared at the photo of Elena in a dorky dress and with very large hair and started laughing, "Where did you get this from? Did you put it in an online generator or something? Because damn, that looks awesome... Weird... But awesome!"

Aella looked to Stefan. When she realized he wasn't laughing with her, she sobered up pretty quickly, "Why did Damon come because of Elena? Why would that affect you?"

"Because the girl in that photo is not Elena Gilbert, it's Katherine Pierce."

"What?" Aella ripped her hands from his and stood up, taking a step back. "That's impossible.

Stefan only shrugged, "I'm a 170-year-old vampire, and you're a witch, we've beaten the impossible."

Aella only looked down at the picture, tears developing again as a twist pulled in her stomach, "Did you come for Elena? Are you here for Elena, to replace Katherine?"

"No!" Stefan was quick to stand and take hold of Aella's face, making her look into his eyes. "I wanted to return to Mystic Falls because it had been so long and I saw Elena and it was crazy and yes I felt something, but then I met you, and you smiled at me, and that was it. I knew at that moment that what I had with Katherine, with any woman in all my years, I would never be able to meet another woman and feel what I felt for you that day. I go to sleep, and I think of you, I wake up, and I think of you, I'm in class or sitting at home and I. Think. Of. You."

Aella took hold of his hands on her face and squeezed them as the tears started to fall, "But this is not normal, Stefan. The woman you loved is the spitting image of my best friend, how is that possible?"

"I don't know," he shrugged and wiped her tears away. "How are we possible? Just know that no matter what, it's you, and it will always be you."

"Promise?" Aella whimpered, and Stefan only nodded and kissed her firmly.