A/N: Hey All! So, I know that it's been a long time since I said that I would probably do an epilogue for this story. But, I finally decided to write something up for it and finish this story.I kind of felt like I left it "unfinished". Anyways, this isn't really my best work...But, I hope you all like it!

Thanks so much for reading and Enjoy!

Also...Please note that this Epilogue takes places 2 years later after Ch.12!

EPILOGUE-Holding You Closer Than Most-

Two Years Later...

Elena had signed the divorce papers, moved out of the house and with the help of Caroline and Bonnie moved into a small one bedroom studio apartment and had even started dating a bit.

But, it surely had been a year of changes for everyone. She and Stefan had kept in touch, tried to at least, even if on some days it felt weird and awkward to speak with him. She still felt like she needed to try and make it work with him, just being friends and rebuilding a friendship when there was so much hurt and pain in what they used to be. Elena truly felt like she owed it to him to try, after everything that had happened..Talking to him and keeping it touch, was the least that she could do.

It was odd though, since the day in Amalfi out on the water, the day that she left him and went back home to divorce Damon. Elena hadn't stopped thinking about Stefan, about the ways she had hurt him in the past and feeling the guilty creeping up in side of her, made her apologize over and over again for her wrong doings, once again bringing up the fact that she shouldn't have strung them both along like she did and that she still deep down within her heart, still held a small piece of hope for them.

On the other hand, Damon and Elena had tried to reconcile, but failed at it miserable. Even though he had told her that all he wanted to do was make sure that they were okay, she knew that what he really wanted was for her to be okay, to be positive that she was doing the right thing by walking away from both of them, both of her beloved Salvatore boys.

Yes, it had been two years since they had gotten divorced and she had tried to figure things about, but Elena was alone, so alone that it hurt to see everyone else slowly moving on with their lives. Like, Caroline and Bonnie had moved on with theirs. Settling down with great guys and here she was, Elena Gilbert. Single, divorced and still looking for that one person, for that spark that she had only felt once in her life, once with the one person that she had pushed herself away from the most.

Stefan had gotten sick of being far away, he missed home more than anything. So, it wasn't much of a surprise when he had packed his bags and told Lexi that he was going back to California.

Lexi had almost tried to even go with him, but she knew what he was really doing, what he was searching for that he felt like he was missing in these last few years since she had left him, alone on the docks without much of promise of reuniting with him at all.

So, with a quick hug and goodbye to Lexi. Stefan set off, buying a last minute ticket back home and having Lexi drive him to the airport early in the morning, coffee in hand and a hopefully smile on her face.

"Are you sure about this?" Lexi asked, shutting off the car as she turned towards him.

"Lexi, I know it's crazy and I must be completely insane. But, she's the only thing that I've tried to forget, but I find myself thinking about her more and more lately, So..I just-" He began to say as he looked over at her. Lexi's eyes glued to him.

"You want to see if those feelings that you had for her are still there. Okay, okay I get it. But, you just broke up with Leah and do you really think it's a good idea if you go and 'catch' up with Elena when you're so vulnerable?" Lexi asked him, watching as Stefan shock his head.

"Well, I guess we'll have to see. I talked to Elena briefly a few times and it seems fine if we see each other again. She moved out of their house and she's finally divorced him. She told me that she's been dating on and off for a while now. So, I'm just going to visit Damon...maybe.. and, catch up with Elena later. That's all." Stefan told her with a shrug of his shoulders.

"You're going to be gone for 3 months...I have a feeling that you're going to be doing a lot of catching up with Elena." Lexi said in a teasing manner as she pushed him against the door and watched as Stefan laughed.

"I'll miss you too! I better get going before I miss my flight." Stefan told her, leaning over the console as he hugged Lexi tightly and then opened the door and exited the car.

"Make sure you call when you get ready to come home! I'll be waiting on you too ya know!" She told him before he watched her place the car in drive and leave him standing on the curb, watching her drive away.

The next morning, the sun shined on her face as sat in the same cafe like she did every single morning at 10am. Listening and watching all the people pass by and move on with their lives as Elena took her cell phone and checked it. 2 missed calls from Damon, probably wanting to meet up for lunch or something.

Even though he had done what he did to her, Elena still was in a deal with him about not wanting things to get ugly with each other. So, she would check up on him every once in a while and make sure that he was doing fine. Damon on the other hand would invite Elena to dinner on occasion and they would just sit and talk, mostly just about the past and if he had heard anything else from Stefan.

So, just like every other week or so that he would call her. Elena would answer in a cheerful tone, trying to hide the fact that her heart still hurt a bit when she had found out that just recently, her ex-husband was dating someone new and here she was, alone..still single.

As she nervously called Damon back, Elena thought about all the things he had done to keep her away from Stefan, the anger boiling as she shook her head and took a deep breath..remembering her one promise to herself..being civil with her ex-husband was necessary for moving forward.

"Hey, Elena! Good Morning!" Damon nearly shouted into the cell phone, causing her to push the phone back away from her ears an inch or two.

"Hey, um..I saw that you called me. Is everything alright?" She asked him, trying not to sound too concerned.

She heard him let out a laugh as he exhaled. "Yeah, everything's great! uh, I actually was calling you because the girlfriend and I are throwing a little house warming party and I was hoping that you could make it. Bring a date even, if you'd like." He told her, his voice sounding uncertain as he heard her take a staggered breath.

"Damon, I don't think that would be a good idea..I mean, you and me in the same room..it would just be-" She began to say in a protesting manner as he cut her off again.

"Come on, Elena. Please, I know that you and I have both had our differences. But, I would really love it, if you came. I mean it's just I-" She could hear him ranting, going on and on about how much it would mean to him and how much it would mean to all of "their" friends.

Yet, all she could focus on was the guy who had just walked into the cafe that she had been frequenting so much lately. His dark brown jacket crumpled in the back, dark wash jeans nicely fitted and that same brown hair and stance that she had seen so many times before with his hands in his pockets and his legs spread apart a bit.

It couldn't be..her mind was playing tricks on her because the last time she had seen someone stand like that, dress like that even was him and from the last phone call she had made to him...he had made it clear that he was staying in Europe, traveling throughout the world and seeing everything there was to see..all before he had decided that he would propose to his girlfriend, Leah.

Elena got up quickly, telling Damon that she had to go as she straightened out her purple blouse and white pencil skirt, turning around for a brief moment to catch her breath and throw her coffee away. But, just as she got up. Right when she was about to take her purse off of the table that she had been sitting at, his eyes on her face stopped her.

There he stood. Stefan Salvatore, the man that she had loved and lost and secretly loved all over again. The man that she had her bitter sweet goodbye with, thinking that they would never see each other again and thinking in the moment that the best thing for the both of them was to finally set each other free.

However, as she watched him turn to walk out of the cafe and into the street. He stopped moving, locking his surprised green gaze upon her face. A smile lingering on his lips as she did the same, grabbing her purse and slowly walking in the same direction as him. Elena had remembered something that her mother had told her when she was a small child...Something that she had always held close to her heart and believed in firmly as an adult.

"If you love someone, set them free. If they come back they're yours; if they don't they never were..."

-The End-