Looking around the room, you would never have guessed that the room was not even close to its capacity. Elena Gilbert looked around the beautiful large living room of the Salvatore boarding house to find everyone that she knew and loved, plus people she had never met before, had taken a Friday night off to celebrate her birthday. Walking into the room, more like attempting with the new shoes she decided to treat herself with, she looked around and saw all of her friends having a good time. Her friends Caroline and Bonnie were deep in conversation on the sofas with her other friends Matt and Tyler and her brother Jeremy while everyone else was dancing around them. She started to walk towards them when suddenly she felt hands grab her back which made her jump and almost spill her drink. Trying her best to keep in a scream as to not ruin the party atmosphere, she let out a little squeak and turned around to see who it was.
Before she even had a chance to turn around she felt a head rest comfortably on her shoulder. "Surprise!" Was all that she needed to hear to know who it was. She smiled and turned around to face Stefan Salvatore, her best friend since junior high. He still was holding onto her when she turned around so he pulled her into a welcoming hug and said wished her a happy birthday. Stefan was not that much taller than her with the heels she was wearing but he was still taller by a margin. He had actually made more of an effort for tonight than he normally did for her which made Elena feel slightly honoured considering he was wearing one of the shirts she got for him for Christmas.
"How are you feeling birthday girl?" he asked, knowing full well what her answer was. She looked back at him with a disheartened face.
"This is a little too much isn't it? I mean... all of these people around...I don't think I actually know half of these people. You promised me only a few people tonight." She answered. Elena was not one to be the centre of attention. All she wanted tonight was a few friends around Stefan's house with a few drinks and just have a good time. The large party however was not what she had in mind.
"What could I do?" Stefan objected innocently "Caroline got wind of what was going on and insisted that you had a bigger party. You know what she is like when she is out of control!" Elena looked at Stefan and laughed to herself how weak Stefan was around Caroline. That girl was not a force to be messed with when she had her mind set and there was no way of stopping her. Poor Stefan really did not have a chance. These scale of parties were never Stefan's thing either. It was one of the many reasons why Stefan and Elena were such good friends. They would always be the ones outside talking instead of being the life of the party and dancing with the rest of their friends. Stefan soon caught on how uncomfortable Elena was by the way she was shifting around in her heels.
"Drink?" he offered wanting nothing more than to have a drink himself. Elena nodded and sat down next to Caroline which Stefan went to get the shot glasses.
"Am I a genius or what? This party is amazing Elena!" Caroline said holding her arm around Elena and placing a kiss on her cheek. Elena loved Caroline to bits but she knew that when Caroline started placing kisses on people's cheeks (especially Elena's) she knew that Caroline was starting to get a little tipsy. But she did not mind. Elena was having a great time, all of the people she wanted in the first place were here and nothing else mattered at that moment in time.
Stefan returned a few minutes later with some shot glasses he had found in the cupboard and passed them around. He had brought over Elena's favourite vodka and started pouring it into people's glasses without much objection. After everyone finally had a shot ready in their hand, Stefan raised his glass.
"Elena, happy birthday!" He shouted, to which everyone holding a shot glass and some other people around raised their glass and took some of their drink. Sour faces were exchanged by all and Stefan started to pour some more, this time to some people's dismay but still going along with it all. Elena smiled to herself. Tonight was going to get very messy but she knew she was going to have a great time.
Many hours and many shots of vodka later the party had started to die down a little. Over half of the people that had turned up had gone by this point but there were enough people to call it a party still. Caroline and Matt had disappeared somewhere by this point never to be seen again that night. Jeremy had gone home making a lame excuse of work in the morning and Tyler had gone off with another girl leaving Stefan and Elena by themselves still downing vodka shots on the sofas in the living room. After downing yet another shot, Elena lent back on Stefan and sighed.
"Thank you... for... an amazing night Stefan... it means a lot to me" she said thinking very carefully about her words due to her intoxication.
"It's ok Elena. I am glad that you are having a good time tonight" Stefan answered back just as carefully. The vodka had not seemed to have kicked in yet for him, but he was liking the sensation all the same. Elena sat up and looked straight into Stefan's eyes.
"No Stefan...I REEEEEAAALLLY mean it...This whole thing means a WHOLE lot to me, because you are like, my best friend in the whole world... and only you could be so awesome." She blurted out. Elena did care about what she was saying anymore while hanging off him. "... and I mean it" she concluded with a massive smile on her face. Stefan looked straight back at her
"And you are my best friend too Elena." He blurted back poking her in the chest lightly "Am I really that awesome?"
"Yes you are Stefan. You are the bestest person in the whole wide world and I love you because you are my best friend and I am glad to have you in my life" She rambled. They had said to each other that they loved each other as friends before but just to mess with Elena, Stefan tried to see how far she would ramble on for which always made him laugh.
"Oh yeah... you love me do ya? Well I love you too" He replied pushing her further. In her own childish way when she was drunk Elena answered
"YES! I love you soooooo much Stefan!" she said leaning forward to give Stefan a kiss on the cheek making him laugh. Her face lingered stopping him from laughing to look deeply at her. Elena had never felt like this before with Stefan. She had been attracted to Stefan for a while but she only wanted to stay friends with him. She did not want to lose her best friend. But something inside her told her to give it a shot with him and give him another kiss. She gave him another one a little further down his face and then finally onto his lips! It felt amazing! Electricity sparked between the pair of lips and Elena suddenly forgot everything around them. There was only her and Stefan. Reality had hit her on what was going on and Elena moved her head back from Stefan, but only leaving it millimetres away from him. They both looked at each other in shock. They had never done that before. In Stefan's mind Elena was his oldest friend and nothing more. He had thought of her like that before but dismissed it as it would ruin their friendship. So why is he now contemplating kissing her back? Before logical Stefan had time to kick in and end it all, he had moved his head forward to meet Elena's again. Fireworks had erupted inside his head as soon as their lips touched again. Kissing Elena felt amazing and he never wanted it to stop! He moved his hands to the small of her back and into her hair. This felt amazing but he was not sure whether it is logical Stefan or drunk Stefan thinking this. Moving away from Elena, he looked into her eyes nervously. Was that all him doing this? What was she thinking? Did they mean for that to happen? A million and one thoughts ran into his head, to which were all forgotten the second he saw Elena smile and breathe a short laugh.
"Um... wow. That was a first haha. Maybe we got a little carried away there." She said nervously.
"Yeah" he replied. He was right, it was down to drunk Stefan. From the looks of things, he still had his best friend and everything was ok. The rest of the night, Stefan and Elena sat on the sofa talking, darting around the subject until everyone had left. They sat on opposite sofas and they decided to go to sleep. Watching Stefan sleep soundly on the opposite sofa, Elena grabbed her best friend's loose hand that hung over the edge of the sofa and could not help but smile, tonight had been a great night in her mind. They both slept with the kiss hidden in their minds.
