Who: Elena & Stefan When: Friday Where: Garage where he works What: Checking out Elena’s car and catching up
Though Elena’s car was fairly new and she hadn’t driven it much at all over the summer, having Stefan take a look at it was never a bad idea. He’d loved cars since she could remember and knew that she could more than trust him to look at her 2015 steel blue metallic Ford Escape. Especially she was using it to go back and forth to school now and when she had a job, she would be using it for that as well. Besides, most important, she wanted to catch up with her friend and considering she’d started the “dreaming” process, she guessed that would be a topic of conversation as well. Because Stefan seemed familiar with it, she guessed he’d dreamed too. It would make sense it was the same dreams, but from his point of view. After all, she doubted there were many guys out there named Stefan nowadays. Still, part of her didn’t want to talk about it at all because part of her didn’t believe in it. Her and Stefan together? It just didn’t seem possible in any world and now she was seeing him in person? It felt more than a little awkward for the college student who always banked on her sister catching him before anyone else.
Despite this unfortunate circumstance, Elena remained determined to keep things natural and as normal as possible between them. It wasn’t like that version could ever happen here-if it was even real. Stefan was in a relationship and he was obviously more than happy with Bubbles. It wasn’t like he would suddenly change his mind and fall for Elena because of some stupid, potentially impossible dreams. No, Elena was not going to think about it or the dreams if at all possible. With the dreams, she had more to worry about than just Stefan. She suspected Damon was abusing Caroline in them because in the bathroom, she’d caught sight of bite marks on her friend. Of course, Care denied it, but Elena confronted Damon anyway. She wasn’t scared of some guy who wasn’t even a man because he was abusing Caroline. She’d never not protect her friends even if Care was a bit shallow and could be on the bitchy side to Elena in the dreams. Friends were friends regardless of petty, pointless jealousy.
Pulling into Stefan’s garage, Elena peering over the steering wheel, careful not accidentally hit something. No, she was clear and with that, she shut off the ignition and took a deep breath to center herself. Okay, you can do this. They are just dreams that mean nothing she chided herself as she stepped out of the car and shut the door. Just dreams. The brunette had dressed in a simple pair of skinny jeans and flats with a tank top. Like always, Elena wore little to no makeup because it was obvious that she didn’t need to. Catching sight of Stefan, Elena broke into a smile and walked over to meet him. “Hey stranger. Long time no see, huh?” she greeted.
Stefan was both looking forward to seeing Elena, and dreading it at the same time. He'd been having these Dreams for years now, and she was only just starting. He knew far more about it than she did, though Damon and Lexi were both much farther along than Stefan was. It was a shame they didn't all Dream at the same pace. But knowing what Elena was going to go through in his Dreams made Stefan feel... guilty? Nervous? Concerned? Concerned was probably closest. Empathetic, maybe. He hated that she was going to go on this journey, and he couldn't do anything to help her prepare.
He was at the garage, waiting for her to show up. Joe was working on a car in the back somewhere, and Stefan was hanging around the front. He was in his coveralls, arms folded, leaning against the building, lost in thought. And then Elena pulled up. He lifted his dark eyes to watch her car, trying not to look as concerned as he felt. Something inside him stirred at the sight of her. He pushed that aside and put on a smile.
"Hey." He said, and moved to give her a quick hug. "Definitely. How are you?"
Elena returned the brief hug, finding the normal, friendly gesture rather awkward. If it was one thing she was coming to see quickly, it was that the dreams affected how you looked at that person here. It was unfortunate, but it was a natural reaction and Elena hated it. So far, she’d been able to quell any feelings sparked by the dreams towards others, but with rumors swirling things in Mystic Falls were only going to get worse, she wasn’t sure how long she could keep the trend going. Unlike Katherine, Elena was a caring person, empathetic to a fault, and filled with what seemed unyielding compassion. Even if the Caroline in Elena’s dreams was not the Caroline here, it didn’t matter. Elena still felt protective over her and seeing what Damon had done to the blond did bother her here as well as obviously in the dreams. That was just one example, but Elena feared there would be more to come and being who she was, she knew with certainty that she would be affected by it no matter how much she tried not to be.
“Good. Busy with school,” she replied, stepping back and folding a piece of long, straight brown hair behind her ear. A habit since high school, Elena had never been able to shake the sign of possible nervousness. Come on. This was Stefan. They were friends. He dated her sister. This was not the Stefan from the dreams. Elena mentally chided herself for allowing the stupid nightly ventures to potentially sour a relationship she treasured deeply. Though, she knew Stefan faced the same thing. He had seen those things too between them and no doubt was affected somewhat by her presence in California now. No, he was much further than her, but that didn’t mean feelings from prior dreams simply evaporated. She guessed her missing presence for most of it had made everything a bit easier in respect to their relationship in the dreams. “How are you doing? Tell me everything,” Elena inquired eagerly.
“I’m good.” Stefan had watched the nimble fingers tuck hair behind her ear with fondness. He knew that gesture like the back of his hand. It was something she did in this world, and something Dream!Elena had done in Mystic Falls, too. And he’d memorized her there, so when things bled over it made warmth spread through him. His lips curled up into a little smirk. “I co-own the garage,” he added, motioning behind him to the building with all the lifts and cars. “With a friend here named Joe. He’s a good guy. This place keeps me busy.” He turned to look at the place. It was a good shop, it did well. Well enough, anyway. “You want me to take a look under the hood?”
“Good. That’s good,” Elena replied a bit too quickly. She knew Stefan recognized the gesture. How could he not? He’d seen her do it in both worlds and if there was one thing she was certain of, Stefan could read people well. This trait was only accentuated when he knew the person well and Stefan had known Elena for a good portion of her life. She knew it was sign that she was slightly nervous and maybe a bit uncomfortable despite how much she was trying to hide it. Another thing, it was impossible to hide things from Stefan Salvatore and Elena had always felt this way. There was just something about him that sparked trust and honesty, especially when it came to their relationship. They could just talk to one another without the potential fear of losing that person because of it. Elena hated that the dreams seemed to be starting to take that away from the two of them and she chided herself to relax. This was Stefan she was talking to and masks were not necessary. They never had been.
Stefan’s voice pulled her from her thoughts and she followed his gesture, not at all surprised at the smirk that accompanied the action. From the sight, his pride was well deserved and warranted. “It looks great, Stefan, “ Elena replied sincerely. “I’m glad to hear it is doing so well.” Though it seemed odd, especially in this world, Elena was genuinely happy when the people she cared for were doing well with their lives. It was obvious Stefan was one of those and that brought Elena a lot of joy, especially with the dreams they had. The brunette gestured to the car and nodded. “Please do. It would be an honor to have Mr. Salvatore look under my hood- I mean the hood,” Elena rushed to correct herself. It sounded weird the other way, right?
The way she corrected herself was pretty adorable. Honestly, everything about Elena Gilbert was adorable to Stefan whether he wanted it to be or not. He was trying hard to curb those feelings, though. That was the Dreams, and this was Real Life. He was head over heels with his serious, live-in girlfriend. He was a different person here than he was there. And yet he still felt a fondness for Elena that he couldn’t push aside.
“I’ll take a look.” He gave her a smile, then motioned for her to lead the way back to her car. After a moment of walking alongside her in silence and fighting with himself over asking, he cleared his throat. “...How are your Dreams, Elena?”
Elena smiled and nodded before following Stefan back to her car. Even in silence, his presence alone was comforting to Elena. Somehow, as strange as it sounded, she felt safe around him in much the same way she felt around him in the dreams. He was different here, but he was also quite the same as the man he was in the dreams she had nearly every single night. Though, right now, she sensed he was fighting with himself about something. Her best guess? Whether or not to ask her about the dreams. She couldn’t blame him. She sensed a lot of people were walking on eggshells around her lately. As she expected, he couldn’t keep anything from her for long and he cleared his throat. The suspected questions was not far behind the gesture.
“I knew that was coming,” Elena replied, but she offered him a small smile. “Complicated. We went to the Founder’s Party together. I found out Damon was abusing Caroline. It was weird because there were like bite marks? I don’t know. People continuing getting attacked…” Elena trailed off, sensing everything she was saying was something Stefan already knew.
Stefan gave a little chuckle. “Sorry,” he said, “but I can’t help it.” He nodded, listening. Man, that felt like such a long time ago. She was Dreaming way back in the beginning. Back when they’d first… all of it. Did she even know yet? Was she even aware of what he was? What Damon was? How her world was about to take an incredibly drastic turn?
“Bite marks?” He asked, opening the door of her car. He popped the hood, then moved around to the engine. It’d be a good thing to keep his hands busy while they talked. Something to look at other than her eyes. As much as he liked them, he couldn’t lie straight to her face. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do.