A/N: I mentioned that I would have something special for you all in this update because you guys gave me over 100 reviews. Well, I am saving that for the next update, as it fits better.
Thank you for your reviews! Keep them coming and enjoy the new update!
Her eyes were still closed, and she felt like she was dead. Maybe she had died. Her stomach was churning and her head was pounding. Slowly, she forced one eye to open. It was dark where ever she was, and she was not in her apartment. She didn't think. Her hand grasped the cool leather under her and she froze. She didn't own anything leather except shoes and purses.
Elena opened her other eye and sat up some, grabbing for her head and biting her lip to silence the small scream that wanted to escape upon feeling the sharp pain in her head. She looked around her and saw that she was in a spacious living area. She looked to her right and saw that there was someone else splayed out on a much smaller couch. She squinted through her blurred vision and saw that it was … oh God. Stefan. She sat up a little more and began to panic. She lifted the blanket up quickly, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw she was still wearing her clothes. He however was shirtless and the blanket was only covering his waist. Maybe he was naked.
Shit. Why was she at Stefan's? Why did everything hurt? Had they had mind-blowing sex that had left her barely able to move? No. She would have remembered that. Unless … oh. No. Unless she had been drunk. Which would explain the hangover symptoms she was experiencing.
Maybe she could sneak out before he woke up. Slowly, extremely slowly, she swung her legs over the couch and felt them touch the cool floor. She held her head, feeling a wave of dizziness overcome her. "Damnit" she said, a little too loudly because Stefan was waking up. Her eyes were glued to his, wide and full of confusion.
He sat up somewhat quickly, his usually perfect hair a little messy but still sexy as hell. "You're up" he said, determining what he should do. Sit there and stare at her or get her something. "Can I get you anything?" he asked.
Elena shook her head no. "I should go" she said, standing quickly. Much too quickly because she felt like the universe was crashing down on her. Head, stomach, everything hurt and felt lousy. "Oh God" she said, reaching for the arm of the couch to steady her.
"Easy" Stefan said, jumping up to help her. "Lay back down. I'll get you something for your head and your stomach" he told her, leaving her side for a few minutes.
Elena sat back down, cursing herself. She never drank like that and for good reason. She didn't handle her liquor well. "Ughhhhh" she groaned, holding her head. Why couldn't her head just explode and end her misery.
She heard his footsteps returning. "Here" he said, handing her two white pills and a glass of water. He set a plate with dry toast down next to her too. She looked at him skeptically. "Aspirin" he clarified. She swallowed them quickly, taking a big gulp of water. "Dry toast. Good for your stomach" he added. Elena shook her head though. The thought of food made her queasy. "Trust me, you need it" he told her, holding out a piece for her. Reluctantly, she grabbed it and took a small bite.
It was silent for a moment and she felt really uncomfortable. "We didn't … sleep together, did we?" she asked hesitantly.
Stefan smirked and Elena suddenly felt like she had hit rock bottom. Then, he laughed, moving back to sit on his coffee table as he faced her. "You certainly wanted to" he told her, remembering how she had tried to undress both of them. "But alas, I am a gentleman." He saw Elena sigh with relief. "Besides, I want to make sure you will remember our time together, as it would be extremely unfortunate if you had the time of your life and no recollection of it."
Her glare illustrated how much she wanted to smack that smug grin off of his face. Had she been in better shape that morning, she would have too. "You are … despicable" she said, feeling her frustration build. He smiled. He was so good at pissing her off. "And I am leaving now" she added.
"Sure you can walk?" he asked, leaning back and fully exposing his bare chest. It was like a really bright light you knew you weren't supposed to look at, but did anyway.
"No" Elena answered, slowly lowering herself to the floor. She grabbed her boots and struggled to get them on. She finally did though and began to crawl across his living area in search of the door. She glanced at a grandfather clock and saw that it was just past 5 AM. She was going to be late to work if she didn't hurry and get back to her place for a shower.
"Elena" she heard, but she didn't stop crawling. Not until he appeared in front of her, effectively blocking her path. She reluctantly looked up at him and squinted. "How about I give you a ride back to your place and you call in sick" he told her.
She shook her head. "No. Thank. You" she said slowly. "Now move" she said. He didn't of course. "Stefan" she warned.
"You can't even walk and you think you can drive?" he challenged.
Elena sighed. Driving would be stupid. "Fine. Drive me back to my place" she told him, ordering him and being very unappreciative.
Stefan grinned as she moved around him and began crawling towards the door again. "I can help you walk" he offered.
"A chance to put your grimy, sex-obsessed hands all over me?" she scoffed. "I'd rather die" she told him, finding his door and opening it. Stefan laughed as he watched her crawl out of his apartment, probably towards the elevator.
"If I remember correctly, you like to put your hands all over me too!" he called out after her. He found her leaning against the wall next to the elevator, waiting for him and looking awfully miserable. He had his shirt back on as he stepped out of his apartment and locked the door. "You okay?" he asked, not bothering to hide his smile.
She turned her head slightly and gave him a deadly look. "Please just put me out of my misery" she told him.
Stefan chuckled as he bent down and picked her up by her arms, leaning her dead weight against him. "Bet you won't be drinking for a while, huh?" he asked, getting her into the elevator.
"I won't be doing anything for a while" she muttered, leaning her head against him because it wouldn't stay up by itself. Every ding of the elevator as they moved down a floor made her head want to explode. "Take my car" she told him, not wanting to leave it at his place. He could walk back home for all she cared.
Stefan didn't argue as he helped the stumbling girl in his arms to her car. He tried the door and it was locked. "Where are your keys?" he asked.
Elena looked at him wide-eyed as she checked her pockets. Nothing. She peered into her window and saw that they were still in the ignition. "Ooooohhhhhh maaaaaaaaaannnnnn" she whined, letting her head fall against her window. "Could this day get any worse?" she asked.
Stefan plucked a piece of paper off of her windshield and held it up for her. "Yup. You just got a $300 ticket for not having a building parking pass" he told her.
Elena sunk down to the cement and leaned against her car, covering her head with her hands. "I hate my life" she said, banging her head against her car and groaning from how much that hurt.
"That's not going to help your headache" he informed her. She stopped and looked up at him. "Come on, I'll drive you home and you can call a locksmith later" he said, holding his hands out for her.
Elena slapped his hands away and pushed herself to her knees before using her car to help her up. Stefan shook his head as he made his way to the parking garage and she followed a good distance behind. He beeped his car and Elena opened her own door before sliding into his plush leather seat. An Audi. It suited him she supposed.
Stefan started the car and it purred to life. He pulled out and stopped at the exit and waited for her to give directions. She reluctantly pointed to the right and continued to wave her hand to give him directions. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes when she could, feeling nauseous. "You doing okay?" Stefan asked, looking over at her.
"Don't talk" she said, keeping her eyes closed. "Just turn at Harbor Point Apartments" she instructed.
Stefan smirked as he continued to drive. He'd been there, done that before with the drinking. He knew she felt miserable. "I think we're here" he said, reading the sign and turning into the lot.
Elena opened her eyes and grabbed onto the door handle, ready to get out as soon as he parked. When she was out of the car and walking towards her building, she stopped suddenly when she realized he was following. "What are you doing?" she asked, whipping around and glaring at him.
He stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jeans and shrugged. "Making sure you get in safely" he said, flashing her one of his smiles.
Elena glared harder. "I'm fine" she told him. "The front desk will let me in."
"Do I get some kind of thank you?" he asked, smiling at her. As miserable as she looked, she still looked completely adorable with her hair all messy and her clothes wrinkled.
"For what, Mr. Salvatore?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest. "For not taking advantage of me?" she asked with a snarky attitude that he knew was from her not feeling well. And probably from embarrassment too.
Stefan smiled again. "For looking out for you" he told her honestly. He saw her snarky attitude give in just a little. "I hope you feel better" he told her.
Elena slowly nodded, greatly confused by his kindness. She turned around and began making her way towards her building once again.
"Hey Elena?" he asked, causing her to stop. "You said something last night" he said gently, trying to figure out how to lead into telling her what he wanted to ask her.
Elena turned around and threw her hands up. "I was drunk. I'm sure I said a lot of things I didn't mean" she said, almost snapping at him. She just wanted to be left alone.
"You said you were lonely, and that you wanted me to pay attention to you" he told her, studying her as he did.
Elena held his stare for a moment, thinking about what he had told her. "Like I said" Elena told him quietly. "I was drunk."
Stefan understood that part of it. But there was more to her story. "Why were you drinking that much?" he questioned.
Elena grabbed her head, beginning to get frustrated. "Jesus Stefan!" she said. "I had a rough day. Have you never had a bad day and drank to ease the stress?" she asked.
Stefan looked at her again for a moment and saw how upset she was beginning to get. He could continue to question her about Gregory and her relationship with him, but he honestly didn't feel like getting into a fight with her right then. "He's an asshole" he told her. "You don't deserve to be ignored" he added before turning around and going back to his car.
Elena watched him, too stunned by his words to say anything back. Where did Stefan get off assuming she was being ignored? So what if she was. What business was it of his anyways? She turned back around quickly and went towards her building, set on getting a shower and into clean clothes for work. The workday was going to be hell, but the company couldn't afford for her to take a day off. As Gregory had told her the day before, she really had no time to be taking time off. There was work to be done.
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Stefan tried really hard to concentrate at work after having dropped Elena off at her apartment. But he couldn't. All he could think about was how she had been lonely enough to go drink and then end up at his place, only to throw herself at him.
What if she had ended up on someone else's doorstep instead of his?
A tap on his door brought him out of his thoughts. "Hey" Bonnie said, letting herself into his office. "I brought you lunch" she announced, holding up a plate wrapped in foil. "I don't want you eating out of the vending machine again" she said with a warning tone.
"Yes mother" he mocked, standing to get his lunch.
She gave him a stern look before cracking a smile. "You look like you had a rough night" she said, noticing that he looked more exhausted than usual.
"You could say that" he told her, thinking about how little sleep he got throughout the night worrying about the drunk girl on his couch. "Can I ask you something?" he asked her. "As in, this is just between the two of us and Damon doesn't need to know" he clarified.
Bonnie could tell he was nervous, so she shut the door and came to sit down. "What is it?" she asked.
Stefan sighed. He was always such a lady's man. The women flocked to him and he really didn't have to try that hard after that. "There's this girl …" he began, but stopped as soon as he saw Bonnie smile with excitement. "Don't get too excited. She hates me" Stefan stated.
Bonnie scoffed. "Who could ever hate you?" she asked.
"This one does" Stefan told her. "So, what I want to know is, what can I do to make her like me?" he asked, feeling like a teenager again. He tried sexual seduction. He tried compliments. He tried being nice to her. He tried getting under her skin. He was running out of options. "It seems like nothing I do works" he said.
Bonnie smiled lightly. "It sounds like you're trying too hard" she said. "Just be you. The real you, Stefan. Be her friend first. I know you are good at that" she winked before getting up. "She'll realize what a great guy you are. Just give it time" she said, giving him one last smile. "I have to go. I have a dance class to get to" she informed him.
Stefan nodded. "Thanks Bonnie" he said. He of course had been hoping for a quick solution, but Bonnie was probably right. Stefan needed to be patient.
Patient while she attempted to take down his company. Clearly, he was a fool.
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Elena put on a lot of makeup to try and cover up her hangover. She kept her door closed and grimaced every time her phone rang. She also had cup after cup after cup of coffee in her process to kick her hangover.
She had also tried to concentrate at work and found it near impossible. What else had she said to Stefan? Had she really told him she was lonely? Because she was, but he didn't need to know that. No one did. Things between her and Gregory would get better as soon as they took down the Salvatore's company. Then Gregory would be less busy and would have more time for her.
Her phone rang out once again and she groaned before answering it. "Elena Gilbert" she said.
"I need you in my office. Now" came Gregory's voice. He hung up without another word.
"Great" Elena muttered. She locked her computer and got up to walk down the hall to his office.
She let herself into the room and saw that he was on the phone again. When he saw her, he dismissed whoever he was talking to. He smiled, inviting her to take a seat. "I just wanted to share with you the good news" he said, handing her a folder. Elena took it and opened it, reading over the documents. She knew what they were. "We just acquired 5% more of the Salvatore's clients. That is a total of 35%. Our sales department is on fire" he grinned. "Seems some people around here are serious about taking down the rival" he said, making a stab at the fact that Elena hadn't gotten any information out of Stefan yet.
"This is great news" she said, setting the folder back on his desk. She wasn't sure why she wasn't happier about it. "Is that all?" she asked.
Gregory looked at her in disbelief. "What do you mean, is that all?" he asked. "This is pretty damn big Elena, in case you forgot" he told her.
Elena sighed. "I know, I'm sorry. I'm just not feeling well today" she told him, grabbing her head to illustrate her point.
Gregory nodded. "Yeah, you look like crap" he told her. "Take better care of yourself. We can't afford for you to be taking time off right now" he said, turning to his computer and typing away at something.
She figured that meant she was dismissed too. She got up and left his office and went back to her own. When she sat down, she rested her head against her desk and closed her eyes. She needed the rest.