"Stefan I had so much fun tonight. Oh my god Samantha was such a fun person." Elena laughed remembering the birthday girl. "I'm so glad I didn't bite her."

"Yeah you almost lost it tonight. What was up with that?" Stefan opened the fridge realizing they still had not gone shopping yet.

"I thought she was Rebekah." Elena stated hopping on top of the counter.

"Rebekah? She would never leave Klaus' sight." Stefan laughed.

"Stefan did you really want your memories erased that day?" Elena asked as grabbing the whiskey bottle she had taken from Stefan earlier.

Stefan stayed quiet and he searched through the cabinets looking for something to cook anything to distract them. Elena took a drink waiting for his reply but it didn't seem like he was going to give one.

"Let's play a game." She said.

"What?" Stefan finally turned to face her.

"Quarters."

Stefan laughed and shook his head. "Lost cause Elena."

"What you think you're good or something?"

"Excuse you, I know I am good." She took another drink. "Too scared to play?"

"Never." Stefan told her grabbing a shot glass and walking over to the table with Elena following him.

"Now there is a few rules." Elena told him feeling up the shot glass and taking the quarter from him. Stefan smiled upon hearing that there were rules. "Ladies first." She winked as she bounced the quarter and made it. "Pick your jaw up sweetie." She said.

"Rules?" Stefan asked picking the shot glass up.

"Every time I make it you answer a question."

Stefan rolled his eyes. "Very Rebekah like of you to get people's answers." He took the shot and held the quarter in between his teeth. "What do you want to know?"

"For one I'm not Rebekah." She warned him. "Two it's just a game."

"And three?" Stefan asked refilling the shot glass.

"Favorite memory?" She asked.

"Easy, any day with you."

"Kiss ass."

Stefan bounced the quarter making it go on. Elena drank and waited for his question.

"Yours?"

"The day we rode on your motorcycle and the time you kissed me at the top of the Ferris wheel."

The game went on until they were both a sloppy drunk. Elena was sure now that she had him drunk enough that he would answer her question.

"Okay Stefan we're down to the shot." Elena told him in a game announcer voice.

"Elena Gilbert is up. She's been on her A game tonight folks." Stefan said acting like he had a microphone in his hand. "The question is will she pull in for her team? There is so much on the line her for her. Miss Gilbert how do you feel about this?" Stefan leaned towards her with the imaginary microphone.

"I'm confident in myself. I feel sorry for the other team." She joked.

"Do you think a guy like me could get a kiss?"

"As long as you don't tell my boyfriend he'd kill you." She smiled kissing him sweetly.

"My lips are sealed." He said pulling away and awaiting her shot.

Elena bounced the quarter and in a flash it was gone and Stefan was holding it in his hand with a shit eating grin on his face.

"Stefan!" She shouted. "You cheated!"

"Rule number one Elena, vampires don't play by the rules." He went to take off running but he tripped over the leg of the table crashing to the ground and Elena laughed hysterically. Elena had probably never laughed so hard until now. She had tears coming out of her eyes she was laughing so hard as Stefan lay on the floor groaning. "Well that didn't go as planned."

Elena smirked at him and snatched the quarter from him before quickly bouncing it. Stefan heard the splash and he groaned even louder. "Cheaters never win Stefan." She stuck her tongue out receiving the same thing from Stefan.

"What do you want to know Elena?" He asked looking up with her. He knew his answer would break her heart but if she wanted to hear it then he would give it to her. She did win fair and square even though he tried cheating.

Elena stared at him for a good while as she studied his features. Did she really want to know the truth behind if his reasoning for wanting to erase her from his memory? Did it really matter to her now? Of course it mattered. Stefan had almost wiped her from his heart and that wasn't cool. What would have happened if they found the cure and the sire bond was broken? Did he really not want her anymore? So many doubts filled her head and all she wanted answers from him. She deserved that much from him.

Looking at this man looking at her Elena could see the fear in his eyes as he awaited her question. This could either make or break them and she knew she would not like his answer. Nobody would like his answer but it was his and it was his heart. It was a heart Elena had broken and was trying to put back together again. Stefan was the strongest guy she knew, he had sacrificed so much for the people he loved. There was so much he could and would give and never wanted anything in return but her love. Elena had been too blind to see it and she had mistaken her feelings that day at the school with Rebekah.

None of that mattered though. What mattered was that he was here and had every memory of their love and it was a burning fire that neither ever wanted to put out again.

"Will you take me to bed Stefan?" Elena asked standing out and holding her hand down towards him to pull him to his feet.

Stefan stared at her shocked to not hear here previous question that started the game. Had she really just wasted her chance?

"I'd love to." Stefan told her as he picked her up wedding style and carried her upstairs to their room. That night they just held each other close enjoying the feeling of being near each other like they used to.

Elena awoke to find the bed empty as she looked around the room for Stefan. She was definitely feeling the aftermath of all the drinking she did last night. Her head wasn't pounding but her body ached. She had not been so drunk in forever. Elena didn't want to move from the bed but she knew she needed to find Stefan. She knew after last night she probably needed to talk to him. It wasn't right of her to question him about that day at the school. It was his life after all and it wasn't like she would want to remember everything if Stefan had slept with her sister.

Crawling out of bed she walked to the bathroom to see it empty. Catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror she groaned and shook her head. No wonder Stefan took off when he woke up she looked like a crazy homeless person with her make up smeared and hair all over the place. Who was she kidding thinking everyday she could wake up with perfect hair that stuff was for the movies. Sighing she decided to stop her search for Stefan and take a few minutes to get herself together as she jumped in the shower.

Fifteen minutes later Elena was walking out the bedroom freshly bathed and her hair fixed. She was ready to find Stefan and hit the beach. Today was a beautiful day and she didn't want to waste it with arguments. It was already one in the afternoon due to her sleeping in so late. Elena searched the house calling out Stefan's name and not finding him anywhere. Elena thought it was strange to not even find a note left from him. There was no trace of him anywhere around. She ran up and down the beach and couldn't find him anywhere. Elena checked the garage once she got back to the house to see that the car was gone.

Elena sighed and went back into the house to search for some blood. She was starving and had not fed in hours. Her cravings were getting stronger and stronger as the days passed that she didn't feed off of a human. It was getting to the point where she was ready to just sneak down the beach to where people were and just have a snack. It wasn't like she could really harm them could she? Surely nothing would come of it if she just feed off of one to just get her cravings to go down back under control. Elena shut her eyes trying to not think of all the ways she could sneak off and drink blood behind Stefan's back.

"No Elena, you're stronger than that." She told herself as she regained her self-control again. Elena finally found a blood bag and ripped it open greedily drinking it down. She couldn't get over how good it felt to have the blood running down her throat. It was so satisfying but not quite enough. Elena found one more blood bag before drinking it down. She needed to control herself. She couldn't lose control in a place where people had never even heard of vampires being real and she couldn't leave a trace of evidence as to where she was so no one would come looking for her.

Elena was fighting with herself as she struggled to calm herself down. The cravings were getting stronger and stronger. She thought of Damon and what he would tell her to do. She knew that he would want her to just feed the way a vampire should. Everything would be okay then. Nothing was wrong with it, they were vampires and that's what they were supposed to do and that was to feed off of humans. It was their natural instinct. Elena had had enough fighting with herself. If Stefan was going to be gone out doing his own thing then so was she. She could just feed and simply give someone her blood and heal them. No traces left of what she did and then she could compel them that it never happened. Stefan was a genius when he told her of his idea. Elena felt relieved as she started to head out the house, but as she opened the door she heard Stefan's phone ringing. That couldn't be right. He had left. He was nowhere near the house or she would have sensed him. Elena listened closer as she followed the phone up to the bedroom. Elena moved the covers to find the phone. Picking up she noticed the name on the phone.

It was Bonnie. Elena panicked and didn't know what to do. Maybe Bonnie had given in and done a tracking spell and had already sent someone to come get her. Elena's mind was racing as she stared at the phone. Finally it stopped ringing and Elena was frozen in her spot. She couldn't answer the phone and talk to her best friend and she wondered why? Was she guilty about leaving them without a goodbye? Elena didn't have time to think of an answer again before she seen the text Bonnie had sent.

Elena relax for me please. You don't want to hurt any innocent lives. You're stronger than that, take a deep breath and relax Stefan is almost home wait for him. I love you girl and I promise to keep your secret safe. - Bonnie

Elena deleted the message as she heard the front door open and Stefan calling her name. She recomposed herself before running downstairs and meeting Stefan in a blink of an eye. He had his hands full of groceries but Elena wrapped her arms around him none the less and hugged him close to her. Stefan dropped the bags in his hands and held her close. This wasn't what he had expected but he would take it. Stefan's sense kicked in and he smelt blood. Looking around as he hugged her he saw two blood bags thrown on the counter messily as there was blood smeared around them too. Stefan hugged her tighter as he realized that she had fought her craving. How he didn't know. She was so much stronger than him.

"I'm so proud of you." He whispered kissing the top of her head.

Elena pulled back at arm's length and gave him a look of defeat. "Proud of what?"

"You fought your bloodlust. You didn't let it consume you."

"How did you know?" She asked feeling guilty.

Stefan smiled lovingly at her as he cupped her cheeks in his hands. "It's written all over you face and I know how hard it's been on you to not be able to feed off of someone. Plus you are a messy eater when you're hungry." He laughed making her laugh with him. He kissed her before letting her go.

"So where'd you run off to this morning?" Elena turned around to begin cleaning up her mess she made. Stefan was right she did leave a mess.

"I went to the grocery store. I tried to wake you but you wouldn't wake up." He shrugged as he picked his bags up again setting them on the counter before going out to the car to retrieve the rest of them.

"You told me where you went?" Elena asked as she tried to remember talking to him this morning.

"Yeah." He laughed. "You started mumbling about how you were too drunk to move and that you just wanted to sleep the day away. You told me to go and that while I was gone you would dream about me."

"I did not." She said with an embarrassed smile as she helped him put away the groceries.

"You so did. It was cute actually. I almost didn't want to leave you, but I knew I needed to get us some food and I high jacked the local hospital for some blood bags to hold us over for a good while. I also went on a little hunt while I was out. Do we need to try and take you again?"

Elena shook her head. "No I'm not sure it will help right now."

"Craving too bad?" He asked pulling out six different bottles between liquor, whiskey and bourbon. Elena raised an eyebrow at him and he shrugged. "I thought it might be fun and plus they had a sell."

"A sell?" She questioned him crossing her arms over her chest.

"Yes a sell."

"Stefan should I be concerned with your drinking habits?" Stefan smiled shaking his head. "You know last time you became a partier was because you were fighting the urge to drink from someone?" She asked him seriously. This get away wasn't just all about her. Elena wanted to help him with his struggles too not just him helping her all the time.

"Elena I'm fine I promise. Just because I'm kicking back and loosening up a bit doesn't mean you have to be alarmed. I'm perfectly capable of handling myself. You've seen me every time I've drank human blood and how much."

"Okay." She said quietly.

"Hey have you seen my phone? I think I left it by accident this morning."

Elena stopped for a moment debating on if she should be honest about talking to Bonnie or just lie and say no. She didn't want Stefan to know how bad her bloodlust had actually gotten and that she had almost walked out the house to go drink from someone.

"I...it's on the bed." She told him. Elena knew lying wouldn't solve anything for them right now. It would just screw them up even more.

"Did anyone call?" He asked as he moved about the kitchen putting things in their place.

"Bonnie."

"Did you answer?"

"No." She said quickly moving to the fridge to pull out a bottle of water Stefan had just placed in there. "Maybe you should call her back and see if everything is okay."

Stefan eyed her noticing the change in her body language. There was something up that she wasn't telling him. He didn't like this one bit. "Elena what happened while I was gone?"

"You already know." She shrugged walking out of the kitchen and into the living room turning the TV on as she sat down on the couch.

"Then why are you acting differently?"

"What way? I'm not acting like anything Stefan, so please let it go. I'm just embarrassed about how out of hand my bloodlust got while you were gone. You saw the mess I made out of the blood bags. I was desperate okay? So please drop it I don't want to ruin our day."

Stefan sighed as he went upstairs to grab his phone. If Elena wasn't going to tell him the truth then he would call Bonnie and get to the bottom of things.

"Bonnie hey can I talk to you?"

"What's up?" Bonnie asked.

Stefan walked outside onto the balcony to make sure Elena wasn't listening. "You called earlier right?"

Bonnie was silent for a minute before answering. "Yeah I did. I was calling you about a lead we got on the cure."

"You're lying." Stefan told her. "Bonnie what is this really about?" Stefan waited but got no answer. "Look I know you have already tracked us and you know Elena is with me. I appreciate you not telling anyone where we are especially Damon, but for Elena's safety I need to know what is going on with her."

"Stefan I don't know anything."

"Bonnie I'm asking you to please tell me if she is okay."

"She is with you isn't she?"

"Yes."

"Then she will be fine I promise. Her love for you can overcome all of her bloodlust that you are worried about. Just don't let her speak to Damon. He is going off the deep end here."

"Is Jeremy okay?"

"Yes, Klaus has kept a close eye on them to make sure everything goes as planned. We've had some trouble out of Kol though. He doesn't want the cure found."

"So he's trying to stop you all?"

"Yes he has gone out of his way to try and have Jeremy killed."

"Then we will come back." Stefan knew there was no way for them to stay away while Jeremy was in danger. Elena would kill him if she knew that he knew Jeremy's life was at risk and he didn't say anything.

"Stefan please just keep her there. This is the furthest we have come to a cure since we started and I think if you two came back right it would just complicate things and feelings would get hurt. We don't need you or Damon getting hurt in the process. Elena wouldn't be able to live with herself if something happened to the two of you."

"Same goes for you Bonnie you know how dangerous all of this is and still you continue to help her. This isn't regular magic we are talking about here."

"Stefan, Elena has always been there for me through it all and she has always done everything to help me when I was in need. Elena is my best friend and I want her back to being human. I will always be her best friend but I do not want her to outlive me. We had plans to one day raise her kids together and live in the same neighborhoods. We can't do those things if she isn't human and more importantly if you aren't human."

"We're finding the cure for her Bonnie not me."

"She won't stay human for long if there isn't enough for you. I think you know that."

"I don't want that for her."

"None of us do, but it's her choice in the end, it always has been."

"Bonnie we need to find the cure fast because I don't think I can bear to see her live with much more guilt that she has. Elena doesn't deserve this and she doesn't deserve to have the craving to drink someone dry until there is no longer a heartbeat. I can't live with myself if I have to watch her inner turmoil much more."

"I know. We're doing everything we can here. Just keep her distracted from it all and keep her relaxed and happy. Take her to a party or to the movies one night. The two of you just need to enjoy each other."

"I will try. Bonnie has Damon threatened you to do the tracking spell?"

"Everyone has, Klaus tried to threaten me but I broke his bones along with Damon's. They aren't happy with me right now."

"When's the last time you've really left your house?"

"The night I broke their bones, right after you guys took off and left and then Damon came back for more at school after Elena told him she was in love with you."

"Bonnie I think I have a solution to all of this." Stefan smiled.

Elena was downstairs on the couch watching TV. She figured that Stefan had called Bonnie back demanding answers but she didn't care. She knew Bonnie would never tell him what had happened today. Ten minutes later Stefan was coming back downstairs to join Elena with smile. She wondered what it was about but she didn't ask as he came and laid his head in her lap. Elena was surprised by his actions as he grabbed her hand placing it on his head. Elena smiled as she gently began to massage his scalp running her fingers through his hair.

Stefan smiled content with how things were. This was one of his favorite pass times when Elena was still human. Just lying around watching her favorite TV shows as she ran her fingers through his hair luring him into a peaceful mindset.

Soon Elena noticed Stefan's breathing had slowed down and he was fast asleep. She knew that he had wanted them to get out of the house for a bit but she wasn't sure if she even cared anymore about exploring the town or the world anymore for that matter. She wanted this right here forever. This was what she felt at peace with. It was like nothing could touch them anymore. Even if everything was a mess and she was a vampire this moment right here brought her a newfound peace that she thought she would never be able to reach again. Elena ran her fingers through his hair soothingly. This right here was her reaching her peace again. She smiled as she listened to the sound of his breathing as she felt his chest slowly go up and down. Stefan Salvatore was her breath of fresh air and being with him always brought her a sense of peace. It was like nothing could touch her when she was with him. Being with him was like her drug and she felt as if she was on cloud nine as he lay in her lap resting like a child. He was everything she dreamed of and so much more. Elena wanted him forever, even if it meant she had to be vampire for the rest of eternity. Nothing was going to keep her from being with the man the way she desired any longer. If there was a cure for the both of them she would drink it, but if there wasn't then she would fight like hell to make sure nothing stopped her from being with Stefan. She knew that he didn't want this life for her but she couldn't let him live this life he didn't want either without her. She loved him enough to give up her beating heart to be with him forever. Maybe she had been scared of all the wrongs things before but now that she could see everything through different eyes she knew that there was nothing to be scared of anymore. Forever with Stefan sounded amazing. Forever with him was what she was going to get even if it meant going through the transition once more, this time she wouldn't make the mistakes again. Elena bent down and kissed the top of his head thinking of what life would be like if they roamed the world together forever as Stefan was dreaming of what it would be like to live a life with Elena as humans, raising their children and growing old together.