Chapter Two

Stefan was eagerly devouring his latest achieved crime novel while enjoying his steamy morning coffee. The mansion breathed silence. He knew Elena would probably sleep until noon, lazy human being, he thought. Temptation to ruin her beauty sleep went up and down his body but he decided to ignore it. He actually enjoyed the sound of silence, without being pierced by her obnoxious loud voice.

"There goes my piece and quiet" he whispered to himself as he heard footsteps approaching the kitchen.

Fortunately, Uncle Zachary's face appeared in the doorstep. Stefan's own face calmed, suddenly.

"Uncle Zachary!" Stefan addressed happily as he stood up and gave his uncle a tight hug. "Who kept you tied up to a bed, huh?" Stefan added joking. "I thought I was more important so you'd stay home and greet me when I arrived."

Zachary laughed. He loved this kid's sense of humour. Well, he'd grown into a fine man – fine, saying the minimum, considering the pile of ladies following him around – but he was still a kid to him. Family feelings, he thought and shook his head in laughter.

"Great seeing you, too, kid! Oh yes, it was so hard to escape the dozen women who tied me to one royal bed, covered in silk black sheets. But they came to a sense when I told them I simply had to get home to greet my nephew. The piece of work he is, couldn't stay away from him." Zachary continued the humour Stefan built. He laughed loudly as he poured himself some coffee. He missed the kid; they always had so much fun exchanging this type of lines.

"Yeah, I assume they begged you to stay. But you and your undeniable responsibility for family just couldn't stay away!" Stefan replied sincerely. He knew his uncle was both a family man and yet so cool to be around. Awesome guy, he'd always say.

"So – Zachary added – I see my house is still standing on its own. I assume you two hadn't locked eyes, yet?"

Stefan rolled his eyes. "Oh, we bumped into each other." He laughed as he put his empty cup into the sink. "She was oh-so-pleased to acknowledge she's spending the entire summer with me. You know her, she loves me in secret."

"Oh, so we're using the 'love' word again. Didn't know that." Zachary added, taking a sip of coffee. His eyes narrowed as he watched Stefan's reaction. He could've sworn he saw regret as Stefan dropped his eyes to the ground. Just for a second, he could've sworn it.

Stefan lifted his face, smiling now weakly at his uncle and exited the kitchen while adding he'd go into town to take care of something.

Zachary shook his head as he let out a deep sigh. These two were so stupid. Yes, stupid. How come he saw so clearly what floated between them and yet, stubbornly, they ignored everything? He knew all that happened five years ago. Well, at least, two versions of it. Truth be told, nobody but these two knew what had happened exactly. Actually, neither even one of them knew truly. At least, by what Zachary knew, both Stefan and Elena had different versions. They were similar but some points begged to differ. He shook his thoughts away, thinking the versions were dissimilar because each told them from their perspective, ergo the subjectivity.

He suddenly turned his back as he heard Elena wishing him a cheerful "Good morning!" She kissed Zachary's cheek and sat next to him, at the table.

"Morning to you too, lovely one" Zachary replied smiling. Elena had always been like a niece to him. He practically knew her since birth, just like Stefan. Such great kids and amazingly good friends, so sad everything went to waste. He loved them loving each other. Now, it was all uncomfortable and a "tiny bit" annoying having them together in the same room. But he enjoyed them too much so he endured.

"So, I'm going to go into town, Zach! I hear there are some amazing new places to encounter, so I'll go fill up my day." She said joyful. Her eyebrows frowned at asking: "So, where is mister fancy? Decided he couldn't stay away from Europe's beauties, after all?"

Zachary sensed the hope in her voice and made him laugh. She'd surely want Stefan gone far away. Ah, how things had changed.

"Well, love, so sorry to disappoint but actually, no!" he saw Elena's mouth hold onto a swearword he was pretty sure began with "f". "He went out, into town."

"Oh great, with my luck, I'll bump right into him." Elena added faking a smile. "Well, luckily he doesn't frequent the places I do!" she added while getting up and heading for the door. "Bye, Zach!" she told him and the next thing he heard was the engine starting.

Boy, it was going to be a very long summer, indeed.

Elena sat down on the nearest chair at the Mystic Grill, exhausted from all the walking and shopping through all the new boutiques. Accomplished though, she was a woman, after all. Don't all women adore shopping endlessly? she thought to herself, smiling. Her smile suddenly washed away as she saw him at the table in the corner opposite of hers.

Stefan. God, she truly hoped she would not be seeing any part of him, at least not until she got home where it would be unavoidable. He was in the company of a woman, naturally. One with ridiculously full blonde loops. She rolled her eyes in despair. He could never go for the simple, dull ones, could he? They all had to be gorgeously built models. Not that she was jealous or anything. She shook her head. Annoyed with his superficial tastes, that's what it was.

The voice of the waiter interrupted her thoughts.

"What can I get you, miss?" he asked in a pleasant voice. He clearly acknowledged Elena's beauty. She had her perfectly straight hair raised up in a tail, flowing on her right side. He was taken aback by her beautiful big brown eyes.

Elena practically ignored all his signs of flirtatious looks and answered politely: "I'll have a medium Latte Macchiato, please."

She smiled politely once again and quickly shifted her eyes to Stefan's table. Why was he so entertained by her? She seemed dumb. Stupid sharp laugh she had. She kept her mocking face mimicking the blonde woman to herself.

Tyler awkwardly noted her order and went to the bar to place it. Had the girl not seen his expression of hitting on her? That was a first.

Elena decided to take her drink to go; she'd take a walk in the park or something, just not stay here. God, that blonde one laughed annoyingly loud. Why didn't anyone else note and just ask the manager to step her outside? She'd thought "throw her out" was a yet better use of words. She took her Latte but just could not help herself and ended up at their table.

Stefan's eyes grew open with surprise. He smiled widely at the sight of her. He was, without even realizing it, feasting himself with how beautiful she looked this morning. She always looked beautiful in the mornings, he thought but he shook the intent quickly away.

"Elena! Thought you'd still be buried in your bed, since, oh look – he added sarcastically while vaunting his Louis Erard watch – it's barely 10 in the morning!" The typical smirk was placed on his entire face. He simply loved to tease her. "Love", there, he chose the word again. He should stop using it with her, he quickly added in his mind.

Elena answered with satisfaction: "Aw, did I interrupt your flirting session with my early waking up? Good!" she suddenly frowned at her last exclamation. She quickly added, in the most dishonest tone she could think of: "No offense or anything", while gazing at the blonde woman to her right. She was gorgeous, irritating gorgeous.

Stefan laughed quite satisfied, as well. "You could always join us if you feel you can control not exploding with jealousy!"

He did not just call her jealous. She was not jealous. She simply hated to death the gorgeousness that the woman was and the dorky in love face Stefan had when she looked at her. That was all.

"You'd wish! I'm just dropping by to tell you Uncle Zachary wants you home as soon as possible, says he has something important to tell you." She did not just lie with her entire existence. What was all that about? She'd have to arrive faster at the mansion, before Stefan and beg Zach to come up with something. She'd manage it. She quickly stormed out of the place, not before throwing a mocking annoyed face at Stefan.

Stefan shut the front door and entered the living room. His uncle and Elena were whispering and being all fussy.

"Hey, Uncle Zachary, miss sunshine over here told me you want to tell me something, quite urgently, I assumed from her commonly stiff behaviour."

Elena threw him a drop-dead-will-you look. The issues this girl had with him, he thought.

Zachary mumbled rapidly: "Oh, yeah! I forgot to tell you this morning! It's like I didn't even have to tell you this until about ten minutes ago – he added critically towards Elena whose eyes suddenly found the ceiling to be fascinating. The thing is, I have this property, by the lake just by the exit of Mystic Falls. And I thought I'd renovate it, you know? Modernize it a little. I need you to go and check it out, see if everything is in order for me to start the renovations. Just this one night, you'd come back first thing tomorrow morning." Then the most amazing vengeance came to his mind: "The both of you."

"WHAT?" Elena's face dropped from the ceiling suddenly to the floor. "What do you mean by 'both', Zach?"

If she could burst out flames, now was the time – and huge ones, Stefan thought. She was about to explode, therefore he added: "Sure thing, Uncle Zachary! We'd be pleased to help you, wouldn't we, Elena?" he maliciously smiled.

How could he find this at all funny? One entire day and night, just the two of them. She was as good as dead.

You all were just adorable with your lovely reviews! Thank you so very much! It meant and means so much since it took some courage to initiate myself into the community of Stefan&Elena fiction. I've always enjoyed writing and seeing how you all appreciated it just makes me feel amazing! Thank you! Hope you will enjoy this update and just let me add something: I discovered I love writing a jealous spicy Elena. Stefan, well, he's just lovable to add lines to, all Casanova material yet sweet!

Thank you, once more and eagerly waiting for new opinions, always!

Love,

Alexandra