Elena jogged up the stairs to her apartment, removing her scarf as she did so. Tonight would be the last night she spent in San Francisco for another three weeks, which both made her feel excitement and dread. The last time she had been outside California was three months beforehand, when she and Stefan went to visit their families in their hometown Mystic Falls to announce their engagement.
Sighing, she stepped over the threshold of the apartment and threw her keys carelessly into the dish full of many assortments of coupons, keys, reminder notes and memory sticks. Elena removed her headphones and left them dangling over her sweat-drenched tank top; she had just been for a run.
"How was it?" Stefan asked from the kitchen, knowing she would have run a long way. Elena was training for a half-marathon which came in June, two months away.
"Fine," Elena called breathlessly. "I'll just go shower."
She let the hot jets of water rush over her skin, feeling exhilarated from the exercise. When she came out, a towel caressing her dampened mess of hair, Stefan was just getting a lasagne out of the oven.
They had been engaged for about four months at that point and Stefan was gleefully happy, although Elena, while putting on a good face, felt her heart was someplace else, she just wasn't sure where yet. She was sure she loved him, though, just not in the romantic kind of way. She grabbed a couple of plates for dinner and dumped them on the table, the lasagne falling on top of them shortly afterwards.
"Have you packed everything you'll need?" she asked Stefan.
"Uhh, I think so. Wait, no, I need underpants."
"You won't need any of those, I assure you," Elena said seductively.
"Do I even need any now?" Stefan replied.
Elena though for a second, then retorted, "Only if you haven't wet them," with a wink.
Stefan grinned and they took their seats across from each other, Ed Sheeran softly playing on a stereo on the windowsill.
"What time do I need to get up tomorrow?" Stefan inquired.
"Probably about four thirty, unless you plan on making a ridiculously huge breakfast."
"Sweetheart, you can make your own for once."
"But I'm an awful cook!" Elena protested.
They continued discussing plans for the following day and ate. Elena then forced Stefan to watch Keeping Up With the Kardashians and they went to sleep.
The following morning Elena was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed by the time they were supposed to leave and Stefan was procrastinating and eating scoops of porridge in the meantime. They were almost late for their flight and Elena remained angry at Stefan until they boarded the plane.
She was reading Wonder by R. J. Palacio when the food trolley came around.
"Hey, Stefan, do you wa-" Elena broke off; Stefan was fast asleep, earphones still plugged into his head.
She looked at the film he was watching, The Croods. Elena smirked and asked the air hostess, "Do you have any cheese?"
A moment later she returned with a few packets of cheddar, which Elena proceeded to use to create bunny teeth poking out of Stefan's mouth. She took a few pictures of him with her phone and put it away. Elena then woke him up by playing his most hated song, Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines, at full volume in his ears. He jumped and spat the cheese out of his mouth.
"What the hell, Elena?" he asked groggily.
"Just having a little pre-wedding fun."
"Ugh, I can't get that taste out of my mouth."
"What taste?"
"Fucking cheese!"
"I thought you loved cheese! I thought you said if there were a cheese God, you'd worship it," Elena replied innocently.
"I am so gonna get you back for this," he muttered.
"Just think of it as revenge for almost making us late earlier."
The duo continued to do what they were doing before. Elena began to wonder, because of the theme of her book, what it would be like to have a disability. How would you look to everyone else? How would your family treat you? How painful would-?
"We will shortly be landing in Virginia Beach Airport, please fasten your seatbelts and turn off any electrical devices…"
Elena distracted herself from her thoughts and looked out the window over the skyline of Virginia Beach. She looked at the towering skyscrapers and suburb houses. She looked across the endless stretch of sand where people bathed and swam. Then they got too low for her to see anything other than the ugly, grey airport buildings and she breathed out sharply.
Shortly after getting their bags they picked up their car they were renting- a Toyota Prius c. Elena did not particularly like it, but she went along with it anyway. It was about an hour drive before they got to Mystic Falls, which was mostly silent. Finally, when the dark was creeping in and the owls were peeping from their dark holes, did the couple pass the battered sign, which read, "Welcome to the town of Mystic Falls, VA" with the population underneath.
"Welcome back," Stefan said with a smile, which Elena returned.
Welcome home.
Damon looked out the window of the colossal boarding house expectantly. After many years, he was back in the house he was raised in. After many months, he was to be reunited with his brother. After many weeks, he was to see the love of his life. There was only one problem- his love and his sibling were coming for their marriage.
