AN: Takes place between 1.14 and 1.15. Comments/Reviews would be lovely! Thank you so much for all your wonderful comments so far- they are greatly appreciated! Hopefully I'll have an update for "Goodbye Until Tomorrow" sometime over the weekend- there are other oneshots/longer stories in the works as well!
She was supposed to be doing her homework. Piles of books were stacked on her desk and notebooks were turned to fresh pages, ready for coherent notes and beginnings of intelligent papers. It didn't help that Stefan was lounging in her window-seat, intently focusing on a US history book and taking pages after pages of notes; he looked like an ad for the perfect student. Restlessly, Elena tapped her pen against the textbook, trying to concentrate on something that didn't involve vampires or secret adoptions- something normal rather than something horrifying. Yet physics just seemed so boring and colorless in comparison to real life...and besides, there was Stefan. They haven't had nearly enough time together lately, time that didn't involve vampires or magical tombs, secrets and deceptions, tears or plots. She missed spending time with him; part of the reason why they were having this homework session was to spend some time together.
"Why are you taking notes?" she asked Stefan. "Didn't you live it?"
Stefan glanced at her, a sly smile on his lips. "Not the War of 1812, babe. I'm not quite that old."
Elena rolled her eyes as she stood and walked over to him, easily falling into his lap. Smiling, Stefan tossed his notebook aside and wrapped his arm around her waist.
"Bored?" he whispered as Elena settled against him.
"No, not really," she sighed. "I'm just... I can't focus."
"You okay?" Stefan picked up on the change in her voice and looked at her carefully. Not that that was easy, considering how Elena had her face buried in his shirt. "Did Bonnie call you back?"
"No," Elena's voice was muffled. "Or emailed or texted or set a carrier pigeon or anything. I'm pretty sure she's mad at me."
Stefan rubbed her back. "Or she just needs some time, love." Elena murmured something incoherent in return. That wasn't what was bothering, or rather, it wasn't the main thing that was bothering her at the moment. They both knew it.
"Did you know your mother?" Elena asked quietly, and Stefan felt his heart ache for her. Of course. Of course she was still focused and worried about that, still thinking about her parents- both biological and adoptive. He'd watched her closely the day of Grams' funeral, how she worked so hard to keep her emotions in check, to be there for Bonnie rather than simply collapse under the weight of her own memories; though the funeral obviously brought back every excruciating detail of her parents' deaths and own funerals Elena didn't allow that to show at all. Only afterwards did she let him in- when she didn't speak for hours except to say, "I miss my parents" in a tiny voice that broke his heart.
"I didn't, not really," he told her. "She died when I was very young."
Elena shifted so he could see her face, see her huge eyes filled with sorrow and pain. "I'm so sorry."
Stefan shrugged. "I try not to think about it, her. It's easier."
Elena grasped his hand and squeezed it gently. "I'm sorry, love," she kissed him lightly. "How did I not know that?" she asked, not understanding how she couldn't have known, how they could be so close and yet she still knew so little about his past. "What about your father?"
Immediately she sensed the tension come into his body. "That was... he was..." Stefan struggled to speak coherently, to chose the right words- because he couldn't tell her about the way his father died, not yet, maybe not ever. At last he said, "Our relationship changed when Katherine arrived."
Katherine. Elena had come to dislike the name, if only out of jealousy. "You don't have to talk about it," she reassured him. "I'd like to hear more about your past, your family, but only when you're ready."
Stefan wasn't sure if he'd ever be able to tell her everything. Stefan wasn't sure if he'd ever deserve her, not with his past.
"I keep wondering about my biological parents," Elena confessed. "Who they are, why they gave me up, if they're still alive..." her voice broke on the last word and Stefan held her closer, hating himself for telling her the truth about her parents.
"I don't even know if I would want to meet them," she whispered. "They're not really my parents, they're not my family. I just... I want my mom and dad back, Stefan, I want my parents back."
All Stefan could do was hold her while she cried. Hold her and kiss her and rub her back and whisper soothing words, none of which felt like enough to him. Nothing he could do would ever be enough for her, Stefan thought.
"Sorry," Elena sighed later, her nose stuffed up and her eyes red.
"Don't apologize, Lena," Stefan whispered.
Elena snorted. "You're so forgiving," she mumbled and re-settled against him. "So much for homework."
Stefan picked up on her tired tone. "Want to nap?"
"I would love to."
Gently, Stefan picked her up and carried her to her bed, where they settled down quickly. Elena grabbed her bear and pulled it close while Stefan grabbed the folded blanket at the end of the bed and draped it over both of them. He smiled faintly at the bear but didn't say anything- Elena was fiercely protective of it.
She curled herself into his body, wriggling close to him and tucking her hands against his chest; Stefan's movements were similar as his arms wrapped around her body and legs moved in between hers. Soon her breathing had evened out and he could tell she was sleeping, but he didn't stop rubbing her back. He figured they could sleep for awhile- Elena definitely needed it.
Yet she woke up sooner than he thought and still wasn't in the mood for homework. Her lips found the spot on his neck that makes him weak, while his hands slipped beneath her shirt and began caressing her skin. Their movements were slow this time, gentle and yet needy, Elena's heel digging into Stefan's back as she gasped and arched her back as much as possible, muffling her cries in his shoulder because if Jenna catches them Stefan definitely won't be allowed over for "homework sessions" for awhile.
When he collapsed against her, Elena held him there, keeping his body on top of hers.
"I'll crush you," he whispered into her ear.
"I don't care," she whispered back, her fingers dancing up his spine. "I like feeling you on top of me."
Stefan began to kiss her neck, lazily stroking her leg. "The feeling is definitely mutual."
They kissed again, slow ones turning heated, and Elena flipped them over, leaning over him with laughing eyes. "I like being on top of you too," she smirked and started down his chest, her lips attacking his skin.
Stefan assured her that that was also mutual. They started to move again, quickly becoming a tangle of limbs and kisses, kicking the blankets aside and flipping each other, delighting in each other's bodies and movements, reveling in their love.
Homework could definitely wait.