A/N: This fic being written was pretty much inevitable after reading this (AND DID YOU SEE THOSE STILLS?) Except, I live in the real world and in the real world, they make it to the lake house, don't leave it for 3 entire days and never once get interrupted (save a telephone call or two from Jenna).
Enjoy:
When she tells him the idea, he gets this look on his face that almost beats the way he had looked at her the first time they had seen each other after the tomb.
Almost.
But then he kisses her, long and hard, and she's pretty sure the answer to the question of them staying at her family's lake house for a weekend, is a yes. A definite, oh my god, why didn't we ever do this before, yes.
After the week they had had, Elena thinks they more than deserved it.
Things had escalated between the werewolves and the vampires following Rose's death. Tyler had learnt the truth about Mason, attacked Caroline and threatened to kill Damon. But somehow, between them, a truce was reached and Stefan had taken Tyler aside, for some one on one time, which helped.
There were still problems though, as there always were. With Elijah, the fear of more werewolves (Jules had vanished the night Rose had died) and Damon was...still Damon.
"Let's not tell anyone." He whispers against her back Thursday night, when they're lying in bed. They had packed a bag, made arrangements and were set to leave for the lake house, which they had to get to by boat, early in the morning.
"We can't just disappear for a few days and not tell anybody where we're going. Damon alone would lose his mind."
He doesn't say anything for a moment and she rolls onto her side, reaching over to rub at his cheek, "We'll tell them we're going away. We don't have to tell them where."
It wasn't entirely true. Jenna knew where they would be (she had the keys) but he kisses the inside of her wrist and pulls her against him.
"You make it way too easy to love you sometimes." He breathes against her ear, making her smile with her eyes closed.
Telling Damon that they were going away but not telling him where turns out to be a lot simpler than they thought.
"I'll find you if I need you." Is all he quips. And Stefan's a little too stunned at his brother using both the word need and you in the same sentence to retort. He's pretty sure he would be able to anyway.
They don't leave for the dock together, Stefan goes ahead to get the boat set up while Elena packs a few things she had forgotten.
It's almost 7 when Elijah appears, standing behind the door of the refrigerator she has swung open, looking for the strawberry jam; she was rushing, now running late.
She almost drops the jar when she shuts the door closed.
"Why?" She almost yells, clutching at her heart, "Why do you always have to just appear like that."
He doesn't make any inclination that he's heard her but tips his head up, his eyes thin, "I heard you were taking a little trip."
Elena stiffens, how could he have possibly found….Jenna. He must have compelled Jenna.
"Pity really, that you feel your relationship ought to be rekindled by distance."
Elena frowns and walks around the counter top, creating space between them. He stays exactly where he is though, following her with his eyes.
"Our deal was that I had to keep safe. There was nothing finite about the location in which I did that in."
He tut-tuts, a sly smile on his face, "Oh, you must've misunderstood my intentions, Elena. I'm not here to reprimand you or to stop you."
Elena tightens her eyes, "Then why are you here?"
"Elena? Why are you still here? I thought you were supposed to leave half an hour ago." Jenna says as she walks into the kitchen, spotting Elijah, "Oh hi, Eli, you're early."
Elena looks from Jenna back to Elijah just as her phone, wedged into the front pocket of her jeans begins to ring. Stefan. She can't tear her eyes away from the two of them, but Elijah looks towards her pointedly.
"Important call?"
She knows if she doesn't answer, Stefan would panic. It was just another reminder of the degree of danger they were all now in. Unanswered calls automatically meant that something was wrong.
"Hi," She says, wondering if either of them, her boyfriend and the vampire standing in her kitchen, could hear how uneven her breathing was.
Stefan, of course, can.
"What is it, what's happened?"
"I'll see you, Monday. And I'll call." She steps backwards out of the room, not taking her eyes off Elijah, grabbing the picnic basket on her way.
"Elena, what is it?"
"Elijah." She breathes, once she's standing outside. She knows that she'd have to move further away in order for her voice not to be heard but she just needs a minute. To breathe. To think.
"Is he at the house? Are you alright?" He quickly asks.
"It's fine, I'm okay. He's with Jenna…it just makes me nervous. He knows that we're going away, he compelled her."
"I'll ask Damon to keep an eye on them, do you want to me to come get you?"
She contemplates it for a moment. Having Damon check up on Jenna was a little relieving but she felt shaky on her feet. She wasn't about to start letting it get to her like this though. She couldn't.
"No, I'll be there in 15 minutes. I love you."
She doesn't think she'll ever get sick of the way he always sighs, just lightly, whenever she tells him that. Like it's the best thing he's heard in a long while even though he hears it from her often.
"I love you too."
The first day they spend staying in bed. Literally. She doesn't even eat lunch. It's just sheets, sometimes clothes, sometimes (mainly) not and the two of them.
The place was exactly how she had remembered it from last summer. A little dusty from being untouched for so long but mainly warm, familiar, beautiful. Tucked away from the rest of the world, the forest guarding them.
The spare room they're staying in (her parents room didn't feel right) had a small balcony, just overlooking the water and it's own bathroom. Just big enough, perfect enough for the two of them for the weekend.
When it reaches nightfall, she's been asleep for almost two hours and he decides after watching her for almost half that time, to fix her something to eat (they've brought bottles of blood for him). They eat and drink together out on the back porch, watching the sun go down.
The air was crisp but refreshing and when she climbs into his lap, she kisses his throat and he fits his jacket around her, "Why didn't we ever come here before?" She asks softly.
"I don't know, you tell me." He says and starts to rub her back; slow, steady circles.
"I guess it was too raw. Too fresh."
He stops rubbing her back and she lifts and turns her head to meet him.
"We spent every summer together here. Every holiday, birthdays. Sometimes it felt as though we lived here more than we lived at home…. it was just, this perfect escape, you know. This place you could run away to."
"And what did you need to escape from?" He asks, tucking her hair behind her ear.
"Reality, I guess." She says softly, looking out at the water.
He rests his chin against her head and it's quiet for a while. The sun's almost completely gone when she speaks again.
"I lost my virginity here." She has no idea why she's telling him this but it feels like it's something he needs to know.
His hands around her loosen and when she turns back towards him, she can't help but giggle at the expression on his face.
"Matt and I snuck here one night, the summer before my parents died."
He's generally okay with hearing all of this but he thinks if she gets any more detailed he'll have to stop her.
"Was he your first?" He asks just because he wants (needs) to know.
She turns in his arms and first kisses the underside of his chin and then the corner of his lips.
"You're my last."
And even though she thinks it's the lamest thing she's ever told him, that conversation pretty much stops there because he lifts her up from the chair and brings her back inside; her legs wrapped around his waist. She's moaning with her shirt off before they even make it to the bed.
The sound of her voice as well as the sun, streaming through the windows, wakes him up Saturday morning. She was standing out on the little boxed balcony wearing just his shirt.
She's talking to Jenna, from what he can hear and he sits back against the pillows and watches her, walking back and forth, a smile on her face, her hair pulled up into a ponytail.
Leaving this place was going to be hard.
"John's back?" She suddenly says, her voice rising up a notch and he freezes, sure, hot, guilt creeping into his chest. He had completely forgotten.
He sits up and swings himself out of bed but she's already looking at him through the glass, her face hardening. She ends the call and yanks back the sliding door.
"You told him? You told John, my father, the same man you threatened to turn if he ever came back here about the pact with Elijah? What else did you tell him? That I tried to kill myself?" She exclaims and throws her phone onto the bed, shoving her arms together across her chest.
He waits for a moment, for her to finish and swallows carefully, "I told him about the situation, yes and about the dangers of the situation. I didn't ask him to come back here, he decided that for himself."
She shakes her head, tears suddenly in her eyes. She doesn't know why she's so upset but it's easier to yell at him right now than to think about why, "You might as well have, Stefan. Why…why would you tell him that?"
"You're not the only one who gets to make the decisions on our future here. Can we really trust Elijah, that he won't just hand you over the second Klaus turns up."
"So your answer is to ring my father? You had no right to do that without telling me."
"Like you had the right to go and hand yourself over to be killed while I was down in that cave. You still really don't have any idea what that would've done to people if that would've worked, what it would've done to me."
She doesn't want to hear this. Not again because of course she knew. Of course.
"Don't." She tries and puts her hand out towards him but he's too caught up in it now to let it go.
"Why don't I go and find you a knife, huh? If you really want to end your life that badly. You can just get it over and done with right here and now."
It's the most awful thing he's ever said to her and he regrets it the second after it comes out of his mouth.
"Elena…" He tries but she's already stepping back away from him, her mouth open like she's in shock. Tears slip down her cheeks as she stumbles out of the room and she slams the door behind her.
He immediately wants to go after her but it's probably the worst thing he could do right now and he just needs a minute anyway, to calm down a little. The area of the forest in which they were situated was secluded, isolate and quite small. She could run as far away from him as she could and still wouldn't get lost.
But after pacing the floor for 5 minutes, he decides that enough is enough. It's not the first real fight they've had but it's by far, the worse and he doesn't feel like extending it for any longer or be so far away from her.
She's standing at the tideline, with her back to him and still only wearing his thin shirt when he walks out of the bedroom and spots her through the glass doors in the living room.
He's across the room and sliding the doors open within seconds, suddenly not giving a shit about apologies. It wasn't exactly warm outside.
"What the hell are you doing?"
When she turns her head around, her lips look as though they were turning blue. He needs to clench his fists to stop himself from just grabbing her and bringing her back into the house himself.
"Elena, come on, please come back inside, this is ridiculous."
She nods, only once, agreeing with him. Her eyes were bloodshot from crying and she was starting to shiver.
She walks past him and he quickly follows, shutting the door closed. She heads in the direction of the bathroom and he lets her go. It wasn't exactly a truce but it was good enough for now.
He's started a fire, changed into a pair of jeans and is reading one of the books he's found on the shelf beside the fireplace when she calls out for him.
"I understand why you called him. He is my father and he should know."
She's soaking in the bathtub, the water just meeting the tip of her chin; her hair was wet and hanging down her back.
"I should've told you."
She shakes her head and he closes the door and sits down on the lip of the tub.
"I don't trust Elijah. I don't trust him to be the person that protects you, who won't hurt you. I won't…Elena, you're just everything…," He stops and hangs his head for a moment, "I just needed to do something." He says softly, looking back up at her.
She comes forward on her knees and reaches for his shirt when she meets him, "I know."
It would've been how she would've felt too. Helpless, determined to do anything, to try anything to order to protect the person that she loved.
He takes off his jeans and throws his shirt to the floor, climbing into the water behind her. She leans against his back and he starts to massage her head, untangling her hair.
"I don't want to not be on your side." She whispers, ducking her head when his fingers slide up behind her ears
It reminds him of Caroline and Tyler, of the problems they were now facing. He thinks of what he had told Tyler. That caring for someone and loving them wasn't about choosing sides but about making those sides disappear.
"Even when you're not Elena, you are."
And she clenches her eyes shut, wondering if it was possible for a heart to seep through skin.
They're lying on the couch together, later that night, talking a little, kissing a lot and he falls asleep to her gently scratching at the back of his neck.
She's always loved watching him sleep. He hadn't caught her doing it that often, or maybe, didn't admit to it as often as it occurred but when they first started sleeping together, she would try, so hard, to wake up before him. Now, she doesn't have to try so hard. If they take a nap together or if he falls asleep before her, she'll often fall asleep watching him.
There was this quietness about it, the way his face remained calm, that she loved.
When he stirs, 20 minutes later, she's circling his tattoo, blooming full on his arm.
"Mmm," He moans without opening his eyes and presses his face into her chest, smiling, "I was dreaming about you."
"Was I any good?" She laughs right after she says it and he only peaks an eye up at her, still half-asleep.
"You always are." He mumbles, against her chest again and she snorts, wrapping one of her legs around his.
She can soon feel his breathing slow, the even rise and fall of his chest and knows he's fallen asleep again, even though she can't see his face.
She goes back to tracing the tattoo.
"So, Mr Salvatore, why have you never told me about this." She wonders out loud quietly, her heart nearly falling out of her chest when he answers, "You've never asked."
She slaps his arm, "I thought you went back to sleep."
He chuckles, "Maybe I'm sleep-talking."
She's actually seriously wondering if he might be when he suddenly turns, moving her beneath him. He buries his head against the side of her neck.
"So…I'm asking. Tell me the story." She tries, growing breathless from the way he was licking at her with just the tip of his tongue.
"Mmm, it's a secret."
She rolls her eyes and stuffs a fistful of his hair in her hand, rubbing up and against him.
"I thought we didn't have secrets."
He scoops his hands underneath the small of her back, lifting her, dragging his lips over the thin material of her tank top.
"Show you mine if you show me yours."
She gasps, tightening her legs that were knotted around his waist, "I lied to you, we're never leaving this house, everybody can think we've run away together."
He groans against her belly button, "Don't tempt me, baby."
"Yours," She breathes and he's tugging her sweatpants down past her hips.
"Black roses," He starts, breathing against her underwear, "Symbolize death."
He peels her lacy black underwear down too and she's gripping to his hair, pushing him against her, only hearing the word death.
"But you're alive."
And he lifts his head, catching her eye with a smile, "Exactly."
She's leaning against the balcony doors and looking up at the sky when he opens his eyes to find her missing again.
"Sweetheart." He moans softly.
It was the third time she had been out of bed that night. She was restless when she was in bed. He had let her move how she had wanted to move in order to get comfortable and thought she had fallen back asleep after he had dragged her back in the second time. She obviously hadn't.
"Elena," He tries again and she turns her head to look at him for a moment then looks back out the window, shrugging.
He reaches over to turn the lamp on beside the bed and sits up, leaning back against the wall, watching her.
She frowns slightly and looks over at him, bringing her thumb to her mouth, chewing on it, her nervous habit.
"What is it, what are you thinking about?" He asks softly.
"Jenna was supposed to call."
Oh. That made sense. A lot of sense, actually. He climbs out of bed and walks over to her.
"I know it's silly to be worried about that but I don't know, I have this bad feeling."
He starts to rubs her back. He doesn't want to tell her that she was being paranoid because, more than likely, she wasn't but Jenna had called earlier in the day and had mentioned something about staying with Alaric that night.
"She probably just got distracted." He smiles, bumping her gently.
She just nods, shutting her eyes for a minute and then sighs, "God, I'm being so stupid."
"Hey, no, you're not. You're being caring and protective, very normal, non stupid things."
She cocks an eyebrow up at him but looks back out the window, biting her lip.
He sighs and wraps his arms around her waist and she leans against his chest, tired.
"Come back to bed, baby," He murmurs against her ear.
It's all she needs really, to get him to lead her back, cover her with the sheet and wriggle closer towards him.
She doesn't get out of bed again that night.
They don't talk a lot Sunday morning, wrapped up a little in their own thoughts but she walks out of the bathroom, after taking a shower sometime near 12 and drops her towel and sits against his lap; he doesn't even save the page of the book he was in the middle of reading, it just falls to the floor.
"This sucks."
The afternoon turns into a hot, sunny but sticky one. She even goes swimming, pleading with him the whole entire time to join her, which he adamantly does (she pushes him in).
"I know." He agrees, rubbing down her arm. They were drying off on the back porch.
The plan was to leave the lake house close to five, in order to be back before it got dark but that plan seemed, and looked a lot easier the Thursday night before their trip. They hadn't even packed to leave. The mere thought of doing so was too miserable.
"I don't want to leave." She sighs, flopping her hand back against the deck chair they were sharing.
"Leaving here with me though, that's pretty good."
She giggles, pressing a kiss to his cheek, "That is a very good way of looking at it."
"But it is going to suck, you're right."
She sighs again, wriggling down further along the chair, feeling the onset of a nap, "Sucks so hard and so badly."
He pats her butt, trying hard not to grin, "That's what she said."
She laughs so hard she almost falls off the deck chair.
They decide to leave early Monday morning, spending most of Sunday night not leaving their bed again. Their sheets and all their clothes are on the floor and it's slow, the way he rocks against her, grunting when she kneads her heel into his back, pressing him closer against her and when they both come, they're so loud, she swears, somebody can hear them even though there's nobody for miles.
"I wonder what things will be like, when we go back."
The sun was barely rising over the horizon, creating a pink glow across the sky. They probably wouldn't end up leaving till the afternoon now.
He nuzzles her shoulder with his nose; his arm flopped across her naked back, too tired to move.
"Maybe they've forgotten all about us and we can come back here, stay for the rest of our lives." She mumbles.
Now he does move, lifting up to lean on his elbows. He starts to trace his finger across her shoulder blades.
"There are places…places I've been to, that I want to take you to, show you, share with you before we settle down and…and not grow old together."
She smiles quietly and fits her hands beneath her head, still lying on her belly. There's an ache in her chest, at the thought. They hadn't really talked about the future but it's the first time that the possibility of not growing old with him doesn't terrify her.
"You promise, the entire world first?"
And he lays back down beside her, so close, their foreheads graze together.
"All of it."
A/N: I'm still working on other fics, including both a pregnancy one and the continuation scene in 1x18 but this one practically wrote itself.