He is the one stable figure in her life…and she loves him for that.

He doesn't care that she cared for the man who turned his wife into a vampire. Doesn't care that she was the daughter of his wife with the man he had grown to despise. Doesn't care that death and destruction seemed to follow her wherever she went.

"You know I'll protect you, Elena," he tells her. "It doesn't matter that I have no right to be in your life anymore—I care about you and I'll do whatever I can to keep you safe."

And Elena knows it's true—it is the one truth she believes above all others. Especially when, from her bedroom window, she watches his car drive by her house each night to make sure things are as they should be.