{Elena's POV}
I'm on my way over to Stefan's place to check out his spare room. Originally, I thought that door next to his bathroom was a utility cupboard, but obviously not. God, Stefan is an absolute life saver, if it wasn't for him, I'd either be homeless or slumming it out on Caroline's couch. He seemed to offer his spare room to me quite happily, so I'm hoping this means that we're over the awkwardness and we're able to move. He wouldn't have been okay with me living with him otherwise. I knock and a few seconds later the door swings open and there Stefan is with that knee weakening smile.
"Hey, come in" he says leaning to the side allowing me space to walk in.
"Hi" I reply.
"So basically, the room next to the bathroom just over there is the spare bedroom. It's not huge but big enough for the basics like a bed, wardrobe and dresser. It might be a little messy right now because I use it for storage". He says as he leads the way to the room. "Go ahead" he nods his head to the door. I open the door, and honestly, it's perfect for all I'll ever need to put in there. It is a decent sized room, it might even be slightly bigger than the room I have now. At the moment, it's mainly filled with boxes that are filled with Stefan's stuff, however there is also a chair and a guitar in the corner.
"Stefan this is great, it actually looks a bit bigger then my bedroom now". I tell him and smile. "If you don't mind, is it okay if I start moving some stuff in by tomorrow? Just so I'm out by Bonnie's deadline".
"No, it's totally fine, I've got loads of time today to move all of that stuff out the room. So, erm, now that you've seen the room do you want to stay for a coffee or something?" he says nervously scratching the back of his neck.
"Yeah, sure" I say, and he smiles and then turns to head down the small corridor to the kitchen area. "So, how come you never had to have a roommate with an apartment like this?"
Whilst making our coffees he replies, "Well I guess I was just lucky with the apartment I got given. Since it's open plan and kinda big I just decided to put my bed and other stuff in here, so I could use that room for storage".
"Yeah you are lucky. I got an apartment that wasn't even that nice and had to share with a bore, who little did I know was gonna kick me out after only a year and a half". He chuckled at my response and I couldn't help but laugh too. "I have to admit I was a little surprised you offered your room to me" I said as I was curious as to why he said it so surely after discovering I was being kicked out.
"Well we're friends, right? I was just doing what any friend would do. Despite what you believe I'm not that big of an asshole that I wouldn't offer my spare room to a homeless friend. Anyway, I guess it means you owe me one" he teased giving me a sly wink as he brought our coffees over to the couch.
"Hmmm watch it Salvatore. One, I'm not homeless yet. Two, I don't think you're an asshole, well not a complete one anyway. I suppose I sort of owe you one" I teased back feeling the familiarity of our old ways settle back in. I sipped the coffee he made me and moaned because it tasted so amazing, Stefan had never made me coffee before, so I wasn't expecting it to be so good. Stefan stared at me wide eyed at my reaction and I immediately blushed. "Sorry, it just tastes so good. Where did you learn to make coffee this well?"
"In my senior year of high school, I worked at Starbucks as a barista. Well, if that's the reaction that my coffees get out of you, you can bet I'll be making you one every morning", for once Stefan didn't look like he was teasing. He said it in a husky voice and bit his lip. Holy shit, he was turning me on.
I blushed even harder then I did before and shook my head. "Listen Salvatore, if I'm going to be your roommate we need to set some rules" I said, and he eyed me in mock confusion.
"What did you have in mind Gilbert?" Stefan said trying not to smile.
"This is serious Stefan, I mean it" I say giving him a stern look.
"Okay, okay shoot" he says putting his hands up in defence.
"Well, just to let you know I will also follow these rules as well, so I'm not hypocritical". He nods, and I continue. "One, I don't think you're messy from what I've seen, but I would like our apartment to stay fairly clean. Two, I hope you don't just rely on me to make dinner every night. Three, you can have guy's nights every now and again, but I don't expect random football players to be here all of the time. Lastly, Stefan, I know that you like to, erm let's just say 'spend time' with many girls, but please be respectful. I don't want to be waking up every morning and bumping into strangers that are half-naked after having the spent the night with you".
"Hmm fair enough Mom". He teased, and I rolled my eyes. "However, there are a few flaws in some of your rules" he smirks at me and I glare at him, daring him to continue. Stefan being Stefan takes the dare with ease. "You said not to rely on you for dinner and trust me I won't because you're an awful cook, I remember that time you nearly burnt Caroline's apartment down. About the girl thing, I guess I'll try" he said pouting. After testing my rules, I shouldn't me thinking about kissing that pout, but I can't help myself, his lips look so kissable. No, Elena stop it, I tell myself.
"I'm not that bad at cooking" I say, and he looks at me as if to say, 'oh come one'. "Fine maybe I am. About the girl thing, I'm not expecting you to be celibate Stefan, however I also don't expect you to carry on the way you have been".
He pauses for a second acting as he's thinking, but I know he's just doing it to wind me up. "Okay, I can live with that". I smile happy that we were agreeing for once.
"Okay great, well listen I'm going to head back to my place and start packing things into boxes. I'll see you bright and early helping me to move, right?" I say flashing my best puppy dog eyes.
"Yes, I suppose" he says in fake reluctance.
Just as I'm about to leave I decide that I should thank him again. "Oh, Stefan, one more thing. I just want to say thank you so much. I know you say that any friend would do this, but still I want you to know that I really appreciate it". I say wrapping my arms around him. The intoxicating smell of his cologne invades me, and I feel light headed. He returns my hug and I swear he sort of turns his head slightly into my neck. Not that I want to, but after a few moments, I pull out of the hug and give him one last smile before leaving.
