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Chapter 7: Climb

"Stop acting like a little girl. Eat it."

No way.

I could eat ten thousand of Georgia's finest sausages and still go to bed craving more. However, some things were better left uneaten.

He gnaws at the disgusting food hungrily, and if he didn't look so cute doing it I would've thrown up. I grab it out of his hand and throw it down on the hotel room floor, squashing it with my foot. He raises his eyebrow at me and shows me the cylinder container.

"I still have tons more," he taunts.

Scowling, I sigh impatiently and sway side to side on the bed. "What are we doing today?" Stefan sticks another Pringle in his mouth and narrows his eyes.

"I told you. It's a surprise." I hate surprises so much. Actually, I don't. Not until recently.

I sigh again. "Can't you give me a little hint? Please?" I widen my eyes and jut out my lip, but Stefan holds his ground.

"No."

My face drops and I kick him with my foot. My clothed foot, mind you. That's right, I got new socks. Well, and new clothes. Since we would be staying longest here before we left to Vegas, Stefan thought we should use our money on clothes. Why we went from Utah to Georgia and then after leave for Vegas is beyond me. Stefan says it's more fun going sporadically. I think it's stupid.

It didn't take long to get to Oklahoma. Definitely not one of my top places to visit, but Stefan says he's been here before and there's a lot to appreciate.

I've yet to see it.

"How should I dress?" I ask him, sliding from the bed to join him on the floor. He sets his container down and wraps an arm around my shoulders.

"Don't worry about it."

I resisted the urge to lean into him and narrowed my eyes at his hand resting on my shoulder. Stupid, hot, hand. Apparently, the rules only applied to me. Stefan could put his arms around me, kiss my cheek, my hand and anywhere else but my lips. He could also snuggle with me at night—he is definitely a snuggler—and brush my hair from my face all the time. But when I stroke his biceps, I get a warning look from him. It's so unfair.

One of the attributes that Stefan said he liked about me, was my determination. I was going to show him just how strong that determination is. I was going to show him how I could easily mess with his head like he messes with mine. I was going to seduce him.

You don't know how it feels to have a guy like that kiss you and then just stop. I'm a woman, and I have needs too.

I let my urges take over and lean into him anyway, consequences be damned. Are guys supposed to smell this good?

"Elena," he warns, as my hands travel to the hem of his shirt. I wasn't going to go up it. I just wanted to feel his abs a little. I huff and roll my eyes.

He can't tell me what to do.

Suddenly an idea strikes me. I keep my hand planted firmly at the hem of his shirt and lift a little. He sighs and I smile. I remove my hand and straighten up before looking him straight in the eyes. "Kiss me, or I'll take my shirt off."

His eyes bug out and he looks nervously between me and my chest. I push my boobs out a little, because I have great ones and I know that Stefan knows that. He continues his little eye dance before he shakes his head at me.

"I didn't think you would stoop so low."

"I'm warning you, Stefan. It's hot in this room anyway."

He rolls his eyes and leans in and kisses me. On my cheek. I almost growl in frustration. "Not my cheek. My lips."

He groans and stands up. "Bambi, we've been over this. No kissing."

I shrug, "Then I'm taking my shirt off."

About a minute passes of him just glaring at me before he crosses his arms. His arms. My God, those arms.

"Fine, I'm leaving then."

"Where are you going?"

"I don't know, somewhere that insane women aren't taking off their clothes. You're...you're sex obsessed!"

I stand up and flop back onto the bed just as Stefan's phone rings beside me. I lazily reach for it and read the screen before holding it out to Stefan.

"It's your brother."

He freezes, but then grabs the phone and stares at it before pressing 'ignore'. Ouch. I didn't push it, because anytime I did, Stefan practically shut down on me. I think it has a lot to do with Stefan not wanting to go to school, which was another topic we didn't broach.

That's okay, though. We have time.

"I'm not sex obsessed," I point out, staring at the ceiling. I hear Stefan rumbling around in the closet but didn't look at him.

"Yes you are. You're always trying to kiss me. I may have to write out another speech. How can I be a gentleman with you acting like this?"

"All you have to do is kiss me," I say with a smile, "I never asked you to be a gentleman, either."

"Stop flirting with me!"

"No way in hell."

Stefan sighs and rolls his eyes before running over to the sign.

Blackgum Campground

"I'm not a happy camper right now."

He stares at me and breaks out into a wide grin. "I get it. That was funny. This is my greatest ever pastime. You'll love it." He adjusts his backpack and happily begins pulling out things I did not know he bought. So this is why we went shopping. That little liar. We left the bike at the hotel, and Stefan called a cab to drive us off in the middle of nowhere. If only I had only known...

I stomp over to him and place my hands firmly on my hips. "It's not like I haven't gone camping before, I have. I hate it."

The wind blew and I pushed my hair back, glaring at the sun. Why. I could appreciate nature like I appreciate animals. From a distance.

He frowns. "If you really don't want to do this, we can do something else. I just wanted to share something I loved with you, that's all."

I felt really guilty all of a sudden. He had been really excited about this since we got here. The selfish part of me wants to tell him that I do hate camping and would love to go. Then I also remember what Stefan told me about experiences and how people should take part in any experience they can. Even when it's crazy.

I hate when he's right.

"I can do this," I lie. He smiles big and grabs onto my hand. I smile at that and he pulls me along.

"This would be the perfect time to have your camera, Bambi. Damon and I used to go camping all the time when we were young. My mom hated it just like you do, but she would always sit in the tent and watch all the scenery. I used to make fun of her for that."

He stops talking, but a sad smile graces his face. We continue walking, mud and all. Stefan pulled out his tent and gave it to me earlier, so I was feeling pretty used. He held onto the two bags, but it didn't stop him from pointing at all the green.

It was like the aquarium times a thousand.

"You know, some of these berries we can eat."

No. "We brought food, Stefan. We don't need berries."

He frowns and we continue trudging through the disgustiness, me wishing I was in a hotel room instead. As we walk the sky starts turning colors and I groan, trying to mask my fear. I don't if I could make it when it gets dark.

Soon, we reach the campsite, and it's so cute. There are flowers everywhere, and it's a nice clearing. Stefan drops his bag in the clearing and grins. He turns around in circles before facing me.

"Look."

"I know," I tell him with a soft grin. He opens up his bag and I plop the tent down in the center of the clearing. He rummages through the things, making sure everything is in there before going to set up the tent. I kneel down on the grass—thankful it wasn't wet—and then pull one of the cookie bags out of his bag to eat. I sit back and enjoy the show of Stefan and his co-star, muscles. He bends over to plant the nails down, his shirt raising up, revealing a silver of tan skin and abs. I almost melt. His arms strain as he pulls the material over one of the nails, and I hear him grunt as he ties it. I swear he's doing this on purpose.

He brings his hands down on his shirt to wipe them off and begins to work on the other nail. "I can feel you looking at me. Cut it out."

"No."

He ignores me and talks about something completely different. "What's the one thing in the world you want to do, but no one else knows about?"

I furrow my eyebrows, staring at his ass. "Why?"

"I want to know."

"It wouldn't hold the same meaning then, would it?" He laughs and shakes his head.

"Fine, Bambi. I'll go first. I would really want to adopt a kid someday. I don't care about blood, because that doesn't mean anything. I want to adopt a kid, and then give it the life that everyone deserves. I'd do it right now. With you."

I want to throw these cookies at him for saying that to me when that has to be some violation of one of his stupid rules. Instead, I swoon, touched that he would ever want to share that with me.

I smile, "That's really nice."

"I don't want to do it to be nice. Stop avoiding the question."

"Fine," I look down at my feet and munch on another cookie. "It isn't as great as yours. But I'd like to get a tattoo someday."

He freezes and then turns to me, eyes wide. "Really?"

"Yeah."

He slowly starts to smile and then nods. "Yeah, I could see that."

"Okay, my turn. Why don't you want to go to school?"

He stares at me a beat and then goes back to working on the tent. "You just dive right in, don't you?"

"Why don't you want to go to school," I ask him again.

He sighs and I can picture him pouting, "I don't want to talk about it, okay?"

I glare at him. "We already talked about what we want, Stefan. Just tell me."

"I just don't like school, okay? I never did. I don't like the people, and I don't like people telling me that I have to know how to find 'x' in order to be smart. I don't take direction well, and school isn't my future."

"It could be," I point out.

"It could be, but it isn't. It's your future, Elena. I know that. It isn't mine. Can we please drop it?"

I drop it and pick at the grass. "My turn," he mumbles. "What's the one thing you won't let anyone take from you?"

"My flat iron," I say effortlessly, bringing my hand in the bag again. What a materialistic answer. Stefan guffaws as I munch on my cookies. "What about you?"

He stops and then pulls the last part of the tent up. "I wouldn't let anyone take away my right to choose."

"Good answer," I mutter, ashamed at my flat iron joke. I pull at my pony tail as Stefan walks over to me. "What's one thing your dying to do right now?"

"Kiss you," he says instantly. I peer up at him, and his eyes are filled with mirth.

"I hate you."

He ignores me. "Why did you get on my bike with me that day?"

I think about it, because I have thought about it often. "I knew I could trust you. I knew you'd respect me, and just instinct. I didn't want to get on at first. Despite what you may think, I don't have a bad boy fetish. It's just my luck you turned out to be a giant teddy bear."

He looks down shyly, "Yeah, only with you. Don't tell anyone."

I giggle, "Your secret is safe with me."

He leans over me and grabs the other bag. He pulls out some blankets and pillows and a candle with a lighter. "Since it's getting dark, I thought I'd just put this stuff away. We have tonight and tomorrow, then we can leave. I promise." He walks over to the tent and throws the stuff in as I look through the rest of the bag.

There was bug repellent, some things to start a fire, and a couple of portable pots and pans. I was actually pretty excited to see how this would be.

As long as a bear didn't kill us.

I slip off my shoes and tuck them into the bag. I keep my socks on, and I'm super glad I wore stretchy pants instead of jeans. My t shirt was okay to sleep in, and my bra would have to be on because Stefan would not sleep with me otherwise.

I zip up my hoodie and find Stefan laying in the tent, hands behind his head. His eyes were a little droopy, but he smiled anyway.

"How did I know you were going to be sleeping?"

"I'm not sleep," he grunts, turning on his side. I knew he was tired, so I walked out the tent and grabbed both the bags. I hurried back toward the tent, a little afraid of being alone out there, and stepped inside, dropping our bags to the floor and zipping up the compartment.

Stefan opened one eye. "What are you doing?"

"We're taking a nap."

He didn't argue, but one of his hands found mine and he held it there until I could hear his even breathing. I pulled out one of the blankets and laid down beside Stefan, awkwardly pulling my hand from his.

God, it's scary out here.

Birds chirped in the distance, and I cuddled further into Stefan, trying not to think. I was pretty tired myself, after all.

Stefan's arms encased me, and I was immediately overcome with security. I closed my eyes, pulling him as close as possible to me before I drifted into sleep.

When I woke up, I was extremely disoriented. I open my eyes to see Stefan's staring straight at me. Maybe it's the full moon, but they are more attractive than ever. I smile softly, tucking myself further into his warmth. He sighs and smiles.

"Hi," he whispers in the darkness.

I laugh. "Hey."

He pulls at my hips until I'm practically laying on top of him. We were breaking a lot of rules. I really like that. I put my head in the nook of his neck, breathing him in.

He still smells so good.

"Stop sniffing me," he laughs, his body vibrating beneath me. I grin and shrug.

"I can't help it."

I feel his breath on my neck, and I'm so caught up in him that I close my eyes, barely breathing. I feel his lips, slow and tentative on my neck. He trails his butterfly kisses up and down the column of my neck, and I let him.

I feel him grin as I shudder at his gentle touch. I pull away from him, tilting my head slightly up. I can see his outline in the darkness, and I trace his face with my hands. I lean back down, bringing my forehead to his, his mouth centimeters away from mine.

"You're breaking your own rules, Stefan."

"Rules are meant to be broken."

I'm so disappointed in them. They barely lasted a whole chapter. Anyway, I'm sorry this wasn't out earlier, but I extended it a bit and I have classes. If I don't update once a week, come find me and kick my ass. Thanks for reading!