Today's my birthday! Woop. So happy birthday to me, from me to you.

Water cascaded down my shoulders and I sighed in content. The little radio blared a bit fuzzy in the corner, spurting out the Bee Gees. I shook my hips to the disco beat before yanking off a shower loofah and squeezing it into a micro phone. I twirled a little; thankful no one could see me and shimmied side to side.

And now it's all right. It's OK.
And you may look the other way
We can try to understand
the New York Time's effect on man

"Stayin' alive, stayin' alive! Ah, ah, ah, ah stayin' alive!" I dropped the loofah and did a little twist before getting my soapy form under the water again. I stayed in a hum with the music, giving a few good notes here and there. Why didn't I get into the music business?

"Um Stefan?" Oh shit. Oh Lord help me Jesus. I cut the water off before dropping that damn radio to the floor. It clattered as the last 'alive' cut out in a groan. I nearly slipped on the soap as I reached for a towel, wrapping it around myself.

"Yes, Elena?" I called out, my voice a bit shaky. I looked in the mirror and gave a smile, practicing my conversation before I made a fool of myself.

"I needed to go to the store and no ones home so I just wanted to let you know," she explained with a hint of laughter in her voice. Great she's laughing at me.

"Hey Elena, why don't I come with you? And then maybe later, cum with you?" I mouthed in the mirror. I smirked to myself and lifted my eyebrows mischievously. Making sure my towel was secure; I walked over to the bathroom door.

"You can just…stay alive." She giggled loudly and tossed her head back. As I revealed myself, steam erupted from the door behind me and I gave her a 100 watt smile. Her laughing stopped abruptly and she coughed awkwardly.

Yes my brother had abs, but who taught him about the art of abs? Myself, ladies and gentleman; I know for a fact my body is quite the sculpture. I may eat cake and drink my beer, but 4 days a week of going to the gym and a fast metabolism does wonders.

Her eyes widened in lust as she watched me over. I took the time to appraise her as well, the way her hair fell in waves down to the middle of her back, and her tank top revealing her shoulders and long, lean, neck. The tan skin that I yearned for while I was gone was shown in her tiny shorts that showed even more of her long legs that settled in flats. Simply beautiful was her usual trademark.

"Uhm," she coughed again, "I was just saying-"

"No I heard you," I told her with a grin; "I was hoping to pick some things up too. You wouldn't mind if I tagged along, right?" She narrowed her eyes at me in suspicion and I closed the door behind me and took a step forward as she took one back. "I mean, that's what friends do, right?"

"Is that what we are; friends?" Not by choice, Elena.

"What else would we be?" I asked her innocently. She grimaced and looked down. I thought she was upset until she gave me a beaming smile.

"Okay. You have 15 minutes to get ready. I'm going to be waiting out front."

I'm a man with needs. That's precisely why I watched her ass the entire way.

OoooO

The car ride was sorta low key. She was pretty chipper today, and volunteered for me to switch the radio; something we'd previously always argued over. She asked me about my firm too, making some small talk. She told me about this painful neighbor they'd acquired and I promised that if she murdered her, I would gladly be her lawyer.

We ended up at Super Wal-mart. I don't buy my own food, that's why I keep Lexi and Caroline around. They typically buy all my necessities as far as food goes. When I tell Elena this, she gasps in amazement.

"You don't grocery shop? How do you get by the day?" She said in mock surprise. I give her a sarcastic smile and stick my tongue out at her. She smiles and shakes her head at me.

"Promise me you'll teach me how?" I question her wiggling my pinky in her face. She grasps it with her own and nods.

"Fine but I get an I O U," she bargained, pulling out a shopping cart from outside. I gave her an affirmative nod and took the cart from her hands and motioned for her to get in it. Her eyes widened and she shook her head.

"Stefan, the parking lot isn't as big as it seems-"

"Get in the cart."

"Stefan people are watching us." Her face flushed and she pushed her hair behind her ear. She tried her best to look annoyed, but you could see the hints of a smile.

I rolled my eyes at her and reached for her arm, "You parked at the very back of the parking lot, and besides, who cares if they're watching?" She bit down on her bottom lip and looked at the cart with uncertainty. I wiggled my eye brows and she sighed in exasperation before placing her purse in the cubby where the babies usually sat. She gave a look around her before putting one foot in and standing before she slowly lowered herself in, as red as a tomato. I snickered and she turned around to whack me in the shoulder.

She was too damn cute.

"I just thought I should warn you," I murmured with a smirk, pushing the cart forward, "my driving skills have gotten even worse than they were in high school." With that, I pushed the cart as hard as I could, hitting bumps in the concrete and laughing at her shocked expression. I put my feet at the bottom of the cart, using only one to pump us to the store. An old woman gives us both crazy looks and that's enough for Elena to burst out laughing. And like dominos once she laughed I did too.

I'm almost certain that I was the reason that we spent extra time in the parking lot. When we got to the door, Elena begged to be let out so I brought the cart to a stop so she could make her escape. She let out some giggles, and to be honest, the entire time I'd been here I hadn't seen her look so beautiful. Even if her hair looked like a birds nest.

She combed through it with her fingers and shook her head at me, "Never again." That's what they all say.

I followed her in, and now I understood why I hated shopping. There were women and families everywhere. We were near the produce first, and Elena exclaimed that she needed 'fresh' red peppers. However, every time I tried to give her one, "they weren't fresh enough". Even though they all looked the same.

"Do we need peaches?" I asked, reaching for the best fruit in the world. She paused before ripping off a plastic baggy and throwing a few peaches in.

"We really don't need these, but I know you want them." I knew I loved her. She really fit in with the whole grocery scene. We continued to walk on to the next aisle before Elena coughed awkwardly. She tensed up a little before leaning around me to grab a loaf of bread.

"You and Lexi, huh?" What the fuck? Never in my entire life. I don't know if she saw the look on my face, but I collected myself, sort of liking the idea of her being jealous. God, I'm an asshole.

"She's a pretty girl, and she definitely deserves a good guy," just not me. "But yes, Elena, If that's you asking I'm single, the answers yes."

"I don't have a right to ask you that," she berated herself, yanking off a jar of peanut butter off the shelf. Poor peanut butter.

"No, you don't. But you did, so…" I trailed off awkwardly. She nodded to herself and we walked on a little more toward the end of the aisle.

"Have you dated anyone," she blurted out. "You don't have to answer but I was just wondering. You're successful and good-looking so it only makes sense that it would…you know…happen." Still relishing in the feeling of her calling me good-looking, I gave her a smirk.

"Is this awkward for you?"

"Yes, you?"

"Not at all," I sighed and ran a hand through, "There was a girl, Hannah, after…yeah." She nodded again and her eyes turned to meet mine.

"What happened?" That's it, love. Keep getting to know me again.

"Well, my friend Niklaus, he was dating her sister and I don't know. It was all just so comfortable. She was more of the girl that you took on your arm to fancy events just for the sake of having someone. There just wasn't any…"

"Passion," she finished for me, with a tiny blush. I nodded slowly and looked into her deep brown eyes, the color of chocolate.

"Passion," I agreed. She gave a sheepish smile and we arrived at the best part of the store.

There was so much candy, so much chocolate and sugary goodness on the left side and on the right there was cake mixes and cupcake mixes and cake mixes. Cake mixes, dear lord. I let out a strangled groan and my stomach growled.

"You should make a cake," I offered to her. She laughed and hit my shoulder.

"Okay Mr. Piggy." I strayed from her and looked down the rows; there was chocolate cake and white cake and yellow cake and all the cakes. Then there were the Gods; red velvet and carrot. I grabbed those two and put them in the cart.

"We can go now," Elena watched me with an amused look before pushing the cart and murmuring something about 'dairy'.

Don't ask me why I said it, or why I would want to put myself through something like this, but I did anyway. "So you and Damon are-"

"Please don't ask me about that," She told me with a grim look, "I-I couldn't do that. Talk about that with you, it's not fair.' The mood turned a bit tense and I blamed myself. But I just had to know.

"But you could invite me to your wedding?" I joked. She flinched and I grimaced. Bad joke, I guess.

"I just thought it was fair to at least let you know. Not a lot of people know yet," she said with a faraway look. I scratched the back of my neck anxiously.

"Could you just answer something for me?" She gave me a cautious look before nodding slowly. I bit down on my lip and sighed, "Why him? I mean, you're beautiful Elena, and you're smart and kind-hearted and funny and…you could have any guy. But why my brother?"

She frowned and shook her head at me, "I don't know, Stefan. At first, I think I gave him a chance because I honestly thought it would hurt you like you hurt me. He was a bit cynical, a bit dark and sarcastic and you two were polar opposites. I craved that. Then, it wasn't about you. He just…got to me."

Got to her. Got it. I swallowed down the pain and gave a sad smile. "Okay, I was just wondering. That's all."'

"I've got milk, and that's all I need. Did you need anything?" I shook my head no and stared up at the ceiling. I felt her next to me, grasping my arm.

"Hey," she whispered at me. She pushed her hair behind her ear and looked up at me through her long lashes.

"I'm sorry," she said. And I knew she meant it.

"It's not that big of a deal," I lied effortlessly with a grin. I just had to work that much harder.

"Now, the food, don't worry about it. I can handle the money."

"Stefa-"

"You had to listen to my awful singing this morning in the shower. I owe you," I told her with a shrug.

OoooO

"I didn't know Stefan went shopping with you," Damon said with a forced smile. I gave him a grin and lifted a bag in his direction.

"We needed more cake; you know me." He nodded and pulled Elena in for a kiss. I looked the other way at Lexi who visited the mall and just got home. She gave me an awkward smile and I did the same to her.

"Where's Caroline?" I asked her, walking toward her. I heard the doorbell ring and I made a move to get it but Damon stopped me.

"Don't worry little brother, it's on me."

I rolled my eyes at him and looked at Lexi for my answer to my previous question. "She's at the bank, I think. She should be here soon."

"Probably getting money because she spent way too much buying shoes, is what she's doing." I grinned and Lexi snickered.

"That's typical Caroline."

"She was always big on shopping," Elena said with a small smile.

"Big being an understatement," Lexi said, getting into a conversation with her. The old best friend and the new one. Huh.

Where did Damon go. "Damon what's taking you so long?" I yelled loudly. I ran out to the foyer and stopped in my tracks.

A strangled sound erupted from my brother as he stood watching the person standing outside the house.

Her lipstick stained lips were dark and sultry, pursed into a timid smile. She held the same air of confidence she always did, knowing just how to hold a room. Her hair was in a bun in every which way, but one of those intricate buns that take hours to perfect. She wore a black peacoat and 3 inch heels, which was fantastic for her short height. When her brown eyes met mine, she grinned.

She lifted a caramel colored arm and waved at me, "Hi, Stefan," she spoke.

I gave an incredulous look to my brother who was still in shock. "Well I'll be damned," he muttered mostly to himself.

"Well if it isn't Bonnie Bennett," I said with a smile.

And you asked me if I'd bring in Bonnie. Pshh.

This fanfic couldn't even be deemed a fanfic without her.

I'll update soon, I promise.