A/N: Hi everyone! I have been absent from the whole fanfiction writing scene for a while, but I thought I would try writing a Vampire Diaries story on top of my other projects. Feel free to leave a review and tell me your thoughts! Enjoy!

One in Nineteen

Chapter 1

Strange Photos

Elena stared at the pictures that fell out of one of Stefan's diaries from the book shelf in his bedroom. The girl in Stefan's arms looked really familiar to Elena. The girl looked about Stefan's age and the two of them were both wearing clothing one might find in the mid 1800's. Her hair was a lighter shade of brown coming off her head in soft waves. Even with the black, white, and faded yellow of the photo, Elena could tell her eyes were a light color; perhaps blue or green.

Taking her eyes briefly off of the two figures, Elena flipped to the second photo in the stack. Again, it was Stefan with the same girl. The photo was faded like the first one with the same 1800's style clothing. However, this time the girl had her head tilted up towards Stefan. Both had small smiles as they looked into each other's face. It was strange to see people smiling in pictures this old. It was obvious they meant something to each other.

The rest of the photos in the stack were similar as the first, always Stefan and the familiar looking girl. Why did she look so familiar? Elena swore she had seen this girl before, but that was impossible because the pictures were taken over 145 years ago. She could be a vampire, but Elena was sure she would remember if Stefan or even Damon introduced another vampire living in Mystic Falls.

"What are these," Elena whispered out loud.

"These were my engagement photos."

Elena jumped. She turned to see Stefan right behind her. She had not heard her come in, but then again she usually never heard Stefan enter a room because of his vampire stealth. "You were engaged? How come you never told me?"

"It was a long time ago and my father arranged it," Stefan said as he flipped to a photo in the center of the pile and showed it to Elena. It was a picture of him holding the girl's ring clad hand. She was looking down at the ring with a smile not quite reaching her eyes, but showing she was happy just the same. The Stefan in the picture was looking slightly down towards the girls face.

"He arranged for you to be married when you were, what, only 17 years old," Elena asked as she studied the picture Stefan was holding out to her.

"Well, marriage laws were different back then. It wasn't uncommon for parents to arrange marriage for their children to ensure a continuation of the family line. It often didn't matter if the couple was in love. As long as they came from similar backgrounds, they were usually found to be a fit match."

"Who is she? She can't be more than 16 or 17."

"Her name was Hattie Whitworth and she was ending her 16th year when our engagement was announced. We were to marry on her 18th birthday. A year engagement was on the longer end of engagements, but the wedding was meant to be the event of the year so our parents wanted plenty of time to plan," Stefan explained as he continued to look through the stack, remembering the day the he and Hattie posed for the photos. "These were taken a little less than a year before our marriage was set to happen…"

"Father, must we take another one," Stefan asked with his arms still around Hattie, who was swaying back and forth watching the hem of her green and white day gown in boredom. Stefan knew she hated wearing fancier clothing. Hattie preferred simple and comfortable dresses which allowed her to freely move or least of all breath. Hattie only fidgeted when she wore more elaborate dresses to show off her status.

"Yes, my son," Giuseppe Salvatore replied with a sharp nod. "We are starting a tradition for our future family…your future family. We want to ensure they see just how advanced we are and how happy the two of you are. Now, Hattie, stop squirming so we can manage a good engagement photo for the two of you."

Hattie looked up at the man, who would be her future father-in-law, before she halted her movements. "My apologies, Mr. Salvatore."

"Father, why did you not give Damon the same consideration. Is it not typical for the eldest of the family to wed first," Stefan asked releasing his hold on his betrothed. "Why is he not the one getting married considering he is older than both Hattie and myself?"

Giuseppe sighed. "Your brother's situation is far different that yours. He would hardly listen to what I have to say let alone allow me to arrange a marriage for him. Plus, Hattie is of your age Stefan. You would think that with all of the time you spend together you would be pleased with the match. You do enjoy Hattie, do you not?"

"We do enjoy each other's company, sir," Hattie intervened, licking her lips nervously. She knew it was frowned upon to talk back to a father figure, but she knew Stefan was just as unhappy with the idea of marriage as she."It's just…I would have liked to travel a bit before getting married. It has always been a dream of mine to see the world before settling down. Perhaps we would wait a year or two before making any sort of marriage arrangements."

"Traveling is not proper for a lady of your age, Miss Whitworth," Giuseppe scolded the young girl in front of him. The two teens knew when he used Hattie's sur name that he was upset. "Now, hold still so that we may finish at a reasonable hour. And I will tolerate no more talk of postponement. We are going through with this wedding."

"Yes, Sir," the two teenagers murmured. Stefan slightly pinched Hattie through the ribbing of her dress. She gave a small shriek of surprise, but smiled when she saw the playful look in his eyes. They knew after the photos were finished they would be able to change out of their uncomfortable clothing into more normal daywear and run in the garden until Hattie's mother arrived for dinner.

"That must have been horrible to get married on your birthday," Elena commented causing Stefan to come out of his ravine. "Why would they pick such a date?"

"Birthdays weren't such a big deal as they are now. A wedding, on the other hand, was something of a celebration. Their excuse for picking Hattie's birthday was they always had perfect weather," Stefan recalled with a shake of his head. "It always seemed a little ridiculous to me."

"So I'm curious, what happened? Because I am sensing that the engagement didn't last very long?"

Stefan gave Elena a look and wiggled his right hand, showing off his daylight ring.

"Right. I forgot about that," Elena laughed nervously. "Turning into a vampire would put a damper on an engagement and marriage, I guess."

"Yeah, well the demise of the engagement actually started with Katherine. She arrived at my family's house about a month after the photo session with Hattie. If there was one thing I learned about Katherine, it was she always wanted what she could not have. And because I was off the market she wanted me…desperately." Stefan dropped the photos back on his desk and stood by the window as he continued his tale. "She tried her hardest to break up the engagement all the while trying to remain in my father's good graces. I didn't mind at the time, about Katherine pushing her way in. I was enamored by her fun nature and beauty. I was convinced I was in love with her and that is what I wanted…love.

"Come along, Stefan, I wanted to have you show me the fireflies in the garden before my mother comes to take me home," Hattie said, tugging gently on Stefan's sleeve.

"I was told to wait for Miss Katherine," Stefan replied, staring longingly up the staircase where he knew Katherine was currently residing.

"Stefan, please. You promised," Hattie whispered as she continued to slightly tug on Stefan's sleeve. "Please, don't break another promise to me."

"Hattie," Stefan sighed turning to his friend. He saw that she had tears in her eyes ready to spill over but he paid no attention. "Just because we are being forced into a marriage does not mean that we have to spend every moment together. If you want to watch the fireflies, then go out to the garden yourself."

"Why are you speaking so harshly to me," Hattie quietly asked with tears threatening to spill. "You were the one that suggested we do this in the first place. If you did not want to spend the time with me than you would have spoken up earlier, instead of breaking an agreement."

Stefan sighed again. "Katherine has gotten me thinking, Hattie. She has told me that I should not settle for what is forced upon me, that I should marry for love rather than connivance. I must admit, what she says breeds truth. Wouldn't you rather marry for love than marry because our parents said that we were a good match?"

"Yes, of course, but—"

"And that is what I intend on doing for myself…marrying for love." As soon as Stefan had said the last part of his sentence, his face broke out into a brilliant smile. He was looking up at Katherine Pierce with a look of pure bliss and happiness…a look of possible love.

"Her selfishness never bothered me because she compelled me to see past it. Eventually, I was also convinced by Katherine to not go through the marriage because Hattie and I didn't want to marry each other. Katherine found that out and it made it all too easy for her to rip us apart. Hattie was one of my best friends and I pushed her away much to the displeasure of my father."

Elena looked up at Stefan. His eyes were swimming with regret. It was obvious he still cared for the girl, Hattie, even after all these years. "Why would you pick Katherine over her? Hattie looks like a really nice girl and very pretty."

"She was. And she had a really great personality. She was sweet and kind, had a bit of a sarcastic streak, but only allowed Damon or me to see it. She knew her place in society, but always knew how to make me and Damon laugh when we were away from the prying ears of our parents. I did love her, but it wasn't the type of love either of us wanted in order to get married. It was the type of love you feel for either Bonnie or Carolyn; the type of love you only feel for a close friend. Plus I was compelled by Katherine. I had no choice, but to push Hattie away."

"What happened to her?"

"See, that's the thing. I have no idea what happened. I couldn't very well check up on her on a regular basis because I was so involved in blood lust that I was afraid I might hurt her. I may not have loved her the way that our parents intended us to be, but she was one of my very good friends at the time. I did see her off and on following the years after I turned. This included the day was would have been our wedding, her 18th birthday, but that was one of the last time I actually saw her. After that it became harder to find her and then it was like she completely disappeared. No one was supposed to know I was alive so I couldn't ask anyone in town where she had gone."

"You mentioned she was friends with Damon as well. Do you know if Damon kept track of her?"

"Not that I know of. He was pretty hung up on Katherine at the time to even pay attention to much else. I know Hattie felt something for Damon, though. I would always find the two of them together in the garden, just talking.

"I remember seeing Hattie the night I died. She was there, but like I said Damon was too caught up in saving Katherine to notice. We could hear Hattie crying out our names after we were shot. Her father was holding her back. But I will never forget the look in her eyes, the total devastation when she saw Damon being shot. Even though she was calling both of our names her eyes never left Damon's body."

"That must have been horrible for her to see you dying on the ground and not being able to do anything to help the two of you. I don't know what I would have done if I was in that situation."

"I think it hurt her more that we had died to save Katherine. I wish I had been able to see through Katherine's mind games at the time. It still gets to me how I treated Hattie during that time. I should have been there for her.

"Katherine took something from her that was extremely important to her, our friendship. We broke her heart by choosing Katherine over her. Then again, as you know well, Katherine took a lot of important things in her existence. Why are you so interested about Hattie anyway?"

"She looks familiar to me," Elena said lifting up the photo of the girl called Hattie once more. "I can't pin point anyone I have met who looks exactly like the girl in the picture, but she does have features that too memorable for me to forget. You would tell me if she was still alive, well, in a matter of speaking, wouldn't you?"

"Of course, but you don't have to worry because I have you and I wouldn't trade you for anyone from my past," Stefan replied pulling the photo out of Elena's hands and tugging on the loop of her pants until the two of them toppled over onto Stefan's bed laughing.