Until This Lie Do Us Part

Chapter 36

Stefan had fallen asleep about an hour ago. Or rather, the doctors had put him to sleep so he could rest peacefully. But as Elena watched him, she thought his rest was anything but peaceful. Elena could tell by watching his face and his irregular breathing.

Elena would smooth out his messy hair from time to time and fix his blanket repeatedly. Because she didn't know what else to do. It was early Sunday morning and she knew she was going to miss her flight back to California. She also knew that she didn't care because she needed to be here right now. She left a message on her supervisor's phone explaining the situation and asking him to call her back as soon as he could.

So Elena continued to sit and watch Stefan for a few more hours until the nurse came and asked her to leave for a little bit so she could do what she needed to do. Elena waited outside by the window and looked in, watching the nurse check monitors and vitals and whatever else she needed to do.

A hand on her shoulder caused her to jump. She hadn't even heard Damon approach. "You should go and get some rest" he told her. The time change from LA to Mystic Falls couldn't have been helping matters.

But Elena just shook her head. "I'm fine" she insisted. "Where's Lily?" she asked, wondering how much the little girl knew.

"With the babysitter" Damon answered. Elena was surprised. Lily had never had a babysitter before. Damon picked up on her surprise. "I guess we never realized how much we depended on you to watch her" he smiled lightly. The babysitter was just occasional. Also, a disaster because Lily hated her. "Katherine ran home to check on her." Elena nodded. "You need to eat Elena" he told her. When Elena began to shake her head to refuse, he stopped her. "Stefan has enough to worry about right now. He doesn't need to worry about you not eating" he told her gently.

Elena held his tired eyes for a moment before giving up and walking away. Maybe she could find something edible in the cafeteria.

She ended up with a blueberry muffin and a bottle of water, even though food was the last thing on her mind. Elena found a small table in the corner of the cafeteria with a window view. It was still dark out, but she could see the sunrise beginning. "It's supposed to be a nice day today" Zach mentioned as he approached her table with a blueberry muffin of his own. "Weather wise, I mean" he clarified.

Elena nodded as she picked at her muffin. There had been something eating away at her for a long time. She looked up at Zach who watched her carefully. "It was all a lie" Elena said. He set his muffin down and listened. "We weren't in love when we got married. I didn't even know him. But he promised me one million dollars if I stayed married to him for six months" she explained, feeling tears prick at the back of her eyes. She felt like a terrible person. She couldn't even begin to imagine what he thought of her.

Zach sighed, clearly not too affected by the news. "I know" he said quietly. "I know why Stefan married you" he clarified.

Elena sniffled slightly as she wiped away a tear. "Then why did you let the marriage happen?" she asked, almost accusing him in a way. He should have confronted them and then Stefan would have had to call the whole thing off.

"Because" Zach answered. "I had hoped that within six months' time, Stefan would have fallen in love with you for real" he explained. Elena stared at him blankly. "All I have ever wanted was for Stefan and Damon to be happy. To meet someone who completed them and to fall in love and start a family. I know that Stefan is still young, but I also know that him going from girl to girl and partying the way he was doing was not good for him. He wasn't happy. He was most happy when he was in love, and although Katherine was a disaster, I knew that if he could fall in love again with a girl who loved him as much as he loved her, then he would have everything he needed" he continued. "When I met you that night, although I knew why you were agreeing to marry him, I also knew that you were a good person and quite possibly, someone who was going to make Stefan happy." Zach smiled. "And you do make him happy. Happier than I have seen him in a long time."