a/n: so I took out the most graphic part of this chapter haha. You're welcome. :)
FOURTEEN
Elena was stretched out on top of her bed, lying on her stomach. She had her eyes glued to a book and her feet propped up on the headboard. Her headphones were in so that she could tune out Tyler and Jeremy screaming at the television downstairs as they continued to lose at their video game. It had been a week since her date with Stefan and they had another date planned for tonight. She had kept their time together to an absolute minimum because she had yet to figure out her feelings. She had talked to Bonnie about her revelations after her date, but that was it. Stefan didn't seem to mind her distance as he was almost always with the guys. Elena was grateful he had made friends.
In the meantime, she had been avoiding Damon as well. And it seemed as though he were avoiding her too.
After a lot of internal debates and several lists of pros and cons, Elena knew what she had to do. She had to talk to Stefan and voice her wants. She wanted to be in a relationship with him in every way. That included intimacy. If it wasn't something he was interested in, deep down, Elena knew it could never work. It wasn't like she was asking for sex every day, but she needed to know that they had something more than just friendship. Bonnie was right, she needed the passion, that spark people get from the simplest touch. It was why she had ended things with Matt.
Originally, the spark had been there with Stefan, but somewhere along the way, it had gone away. A sign that maybe it wasn't meant to be after all.
Elena came back to reality, realizing she had been trying to read the same page for about a half an hour now. She shook her head and closed the book, pushing it away from her. Before she rolled onto her back, she grabbed her phone that was at the edge of the bed and was surprised to see three missed phones calls, a voicemail, and over a dozen messages. All from Caroline.
Elena shut off her iPod, removed her headphones, and called her friend back without reading or listening to any of the messages. The blonde answered on the first ring. "God, I thought you died."
"Nope, sorry to disappoint," Elena teased.
"Do you have any plans for today?"
"No."
"Oh good."
"Aren't you still at your dad's?"
"I came home last night. I already called Bonnie and she agreed to a girl's day out. What do you say? Shopping, lunch, movie, dinner, whatever? Just the three of us?"
Elena thought it over and heard a roar from downstairs. "Yeah, actually, that sounds fun."
"Good, I'll be there in an hour," Caroline said and hung up before Elena could protest.
"Oookay," Elena said and forced herself up. She was glad she had showered earlier. All she had to do was find an outfit and take her time putting it together. Knowing Caroline, an hour could end up being ten to fifteen minutes from now. Still, Elena took her time, throwing on jeans and a simple short sleeved tee. Not wanting to sit alone in her room anymore, she made her way downstairs.
She was somewhat surprised to see Stefan in the living room with Tyler and Jeremy. He hadn't mentioned that he was coming over, nor had he said hello. He did a double take when she walked into the room. Elena stayed near the entrance and Stefan got up from the couch to approach her.
"Have you been here long?"
He shook his head. "Maybe ten minutes. I was here to see you, but they drew me in. Sorry," he said, giving her a lopsided grin.
Elena couldn't help but smile. "Well, I hope you weren't planning on hanging out with me. Caroline's on her way over to get me. I guess we're having a girl's day out."
"What time will you be back?"
She shrugged. "I can't say with Caroline. What time do you want me to be ready?"
"Whenever. Just give me a head's up on when you're headed back and how far out you are. Do you know where you guys are going?"
"She mentioned shopping so probably Fell's Church."
"Ah, you won't be gone that long then."
Elena shook her head in agreement. "So...what would you like me to wear this time?"
"Whatever you'd like. It's not going to be like last time. Casual would be fine."
She smirked at him and reached for his hand. "Sounds good. Any hints?"
He smiled coyly. "I don't think so."
"What about...now?" she asked, leaning into him with her lips centimeters from his.
He kissed her briefly and then moved his lips to her ear. "Nice try."
"Hey Salvatore, I'd really appreciate it if you didn't feel up my sister with me in the room," came Jeremy's voice, his eyes still glued to the TV.
Stefan and Elena pulled away from each other chuckling slightly and shaking their heads. With their fingers laced together, they walked to the couch. Elena sat there and watched them play while she waited for Caroline. Just as she suspected, it had taken the blonde girl much less than an hour to get there. After saying a quick goodbye to the boys, she left the house and climbed into the backseat of Caroline's car.
The first thing the trio did after arriving in Fell's Church was get lunch. It had been the next thing on Elena's to do list that day seeing as she had skipped breakfast before receiving all of her friend's messages. By the time they got there, her stomach was growling. Bonnie and Elena sat there listening to Caroline go on and on about the time she spent with her father. Neither of them minded because it was one of few things in life that made Caroline genuinely happy. Her father's absence was hard on her and everyone knew it.
Once lunch was over, they walked around the strip mall of boutiques and chain stores. "So now that you know how my summer has been so far, why don't you tell me about yours," Caroline said, looking at Bonnie. "Seeing anyone?"
The witch rolled her eyes as she picked a shirt off the rack. "You've only been gone a few weeks, Care."
"So? That doesn't mean anything."
Bonnie shook her head at the blonde. "I'm not seeing anyone. Sorry."
"Oh! You know what? I think I just had the best idea."
"And that would be...?" Bonnie asked.
"Do you think Stefan would let us have a get together thing at his house? Just us, no adults around?"
"Maybe. What did you have in mind?"
"A barbeque. It's summer and no one's had one yet. Don't worry, I won't invite everyone, just the ones I care about."
"I'll ask him and see what he thinks."
"Perfect! Speaking of, how are you and Stefan?" Elena glanced at Bonnie and panicked as Caroline picked up on the hesitation. "Ooh, I can tell this is going to be good. What's going on?" she asked, extremely excited about gossip.
"It's nothing huge."
"I was away for a few weeks, completely out of the loop, and you're not going to fill me in? When I left, you two were inseparable and now you're hesitating when I ask how things are going. Obviously something's wrong. Tell me," she demanded.
Elena sighed, knowing that her friend really did want to know. Caroline could be completely self-absorbed and gossip too much, but when it came to her best friends, she wanted hear all the details and try her best to help. Elena knew she couldn't tell her the full story, especially the stuff about Damon and Katherine, but she could tell her that she wasn't feeling as attracted to Stefan as she once was. And that was exactly what she did.
"I'm not really sure when it started, but lately, I have been feeling like there's this distance between us. I love him, but it's starting to feel like the relationship isn't working. Do you remember how Matt and I were towards the end? Before the accident." Both girls nodded and Elena continued. "That's exactly what it feels like with Stefan."
"Is there someone else?" Caroline asked.
Elena refused to look at Bonnie, but she could feel the witch's eyes burning as she stared at her. "No," Elena answered, not sure if it was a lie or not.
"Are you guys still sleeping together?"
Elena shook her head. "We've been reduced to hand holding and quick pecks on the lips," she said and told her about the date they had been on last week.
"Elena, you need to tell him before things get too bad," Caroline said, grabbing Elena by the shoulders. "Do you still love him? Do you want to make it work?"
The brunette hesitated; it was what she had been asking herself for over a week now. Only, she finally had an answer. "I don't know." The words came out in a barely audible whisper.
Caroline pulled her into a hug and patted her back. "Here's what we're going to do. You're going on another date tonight. You're going to wear something casual, but it's going to scream 'do me'."
"And what if he doesn't?" Elena asked, unable to hold back a smile.
"Then he's crazy and you really do have a problem. Not that everything's about sex, but he's a teenaged boy. If he doesn't take you up on your offers, he's either gay or he's crazy," she answered and then grabbed Elena and Bonnie by the wrists. "Come on, we've got some outfit hunting to do."
Elena sat in front of her vanity, letting Caroline fuss with her hair and make-up. Bonnie sat on Elena's bed, going through an old magazine and pressing skip on Elena's iTunes when instructed. They had been back for almost an hour and Stefan was due to come over any minute now, causing Caroline to move about frantically, trying to make Elena "doable." Caroline stepped back and studied her friend. She reached out and gently nudged her bangs away from her face before giving the nod of approval. "Perfect!" she exclaimed and set the flat iron down on the vanity.
Elena got up and moved to the large mirror next to the closet. She turned around to inspect herself from various angles. She wasn't wearing anything special, just her normal clothes and a tad bit more make up than usual, but whatever Caroline had done had worked wonders. "Wow."
Caroline inclined her head as she moved to stand behind Elena. "If Stefan doesn't throw himself at you, you can tell him that I will."
Bonnie chuckled. "If her looks don't do it, that definitely will."
The blonde grinned and winked at Elena in the mirror. All three girl's went absolutely still at the sound of the doorbell. "I'll get it!" Caroline all but shouted before running from the room.
"Elena?" Bonnie said, getting to her feet.
"Yes?"
"Be careful," she warned, saying nothing else.
The two girls made their way downstairs to see Stefan and Caroline talking. Well, Stefan listening, Caroline chatting his ears off. Elena stood by his side and put her hand on his shoulder. "Ready?"
He nodded. "Bye ladies."
"Have fun!" Caroline yelled after them.
Once the door was shut, Stefan took her hand in his and led her to the curb. "Where's your car?"
"I parked it down the street. We don't need it, but I didn't want them to see it still sitting here."
Elena was puzzled by that, but nodded anyway. "Okay."
"You look gorgeous."
That made the confusion disappear and her eyes light up. "Thanks. Caroline is a whiz with hair and make up."
He stopped and made sure he could see her eyes. "Not that you need it anyway."
She smiled and they continued walking. It wasn't long before she realized where they were going. It wasn't really a park, but it was an empty field that had never been made into anything. Fond memories of playing catch with her dad and catching butterflies with her mom flooded her, bringing a bittersweet smile to her face.
"Elena?" he asked when she had stopped walking.
"Sorry," she said and wiped at her eyes, hoping her make up wasn't ruined. "I haven't been here in a long time."
He put an arm around her should and led her to the place that he had already set up for their outing. There was a picnic basket, a large blanket, and a few candles set up around the perimeter. "I figured we could use something simple for a change."
"I love it," she said as he started removing food from the basket.
Slowly, she sank to her knees in the middle of the blanket and watched him serve up two plates. "So how was your day?" he asked.
Elena's heart sank a little. It sounded so generic. "It was good. I missed Caroline and we even found some good deals."
Stefan handed her a plate and brushed his hand lightly with hers. He glanced down and then studied her hand. "Where's your ring?" he asked.
Elena set the plate down and began touching her right ring finger. She had forgotten all about the promise ring he had bought for her. "I..." she started, trying for the life of her to remember where it was. "I took it off to wash my hands awhile ago and forgot to put it back on." It was definitely a sign; she had put the ring away and forgotten all about it. A ring that was supposed to represent their eternal love and the promise of marriage.
"Oh," was all he said as he poured her a glass of wine.
Elena drank most of it before she even touched her food. She wasn't sure if the ring was in the bathroom, but she knew she had to find it before she saw him next. "This is good," she said after trying the main course.
He nodded and thanked her. He started asking her more about their outing and she answered it, grateful that they weren't going to sit in silence for the rest of the night. She had even brought up the barbeque Caroline had mentioned and he agreed. Elena told him to call Caroline for the details because she would most likely want to plan everything. After an hour of sitting on the blanket, the candles had all blown out from the breeze, they decided to pack up and head back to Elena's.
As they stood on her porch, Elena knew she had to bring up the subject she had been avoiding for far too long. "We need to talk," she said, looking straight at him.
"I know we do."
"I feel like we're falling apart. There's this distance between us and I don't know how to get back to where we used to be."
"I've been feeling it too."
"I used to be able to sit next to you in silence and be fine, but now it's awkward. What happened to us, Stefan? I feel like I'm fighting to keep us going, but I feel like I'm the only one."
He stepped forward and cupped her face. "I know what you want, Elena and I just can't."
"Why?" she practically whined and pulled away from him. "I get that you've been around for awhile, but I would like to be able to be intimate with my boyfriend. You've controlled yourself before, Stefan. I know you can do it again. I'm not saying it has to be every day, but give me something. We've been together three times. I want to be with you in every way. Can't you just-"
He cut her off by pulling her to him and crashing his lips down onto hers. Her eyes fluttered before they finally closed and she clutched him, afraid that he would go. He pulled away to give her some air while he whispered in her ear. "It's not that I don't want you, Elena, because I do. Do you know how hard it is to deny you every time? I'm still trying to get control over myself and I don't want to hurt you." He caressed the small of her back as he kept her in his arms.
"You won't hurt me, Stefan," she repeated and moved to kiss him again, tenderly this time.
When Elena pulled away for air again, Stefan lifted her up and whisked her inside with his superhuman speed, ensuring that no one would see them. He gently laid her down on the bed and hovered over her. She reached up and cupped his face, her fingers tracing the lines. He placed small kisses along her jaw when she lowered her hands to his shoulders before sitting back to remove his shirt. Elena followed suit and tossed her shirt to the floor.
Stefan captured her lips with his as his hand traveled between her bra clad breasts, down her abdomen, and then disappeared behind her jeans. She moaned into his mouth as his fingers brushed her core over her underwear. In a flash, he was removing her jeans to allow him better access. He returned to her side and resumed kissing her while his hand moved the bit of fabric to the side so his middle finger could tease her.
Elena decided to mimic his movements again and reached down between their bodies. Her hand sunk behind his waistband and boxers. He hissed as her delicate fingers wrapped around his hardening length. As Elena began to move her hand up and down, she felt him add another finger. She let out another moan, a little louder this time and Stefan felt his jaw tick with the beginnings of his bloodlust. He ground his teeth together and picked up his face, shuddering as she did the same.
Unable to restrain himself any longer, he used his enhanced strength and speed to pin her down on the mattress. He stared down at her as she cupped his face again. Her eyes were filled with wonder as she bent her knees to cradles his body with her thighs. Her fingers ghosted over the prominent veins and the elongated canines that indented his lower lips. Stefan could see that she was more aroused now and it didn't sit well with him.
He heard the whine leave her lips as he withdrew and began redressing. "Stefan-"
"This shouldn't turn you on," he said, pointing to his face which was still vamped out. "This should make you tower in fear."
"If it did then I wouldn't be with you at all."
"Well, maybe you shouldn't be."
Elena sat up and stared at him. "What are you saying?"
He shook his head and forced his fangs to retract, his face going back to normal. "I don't know, but I think I better leave."
"No, Stefan, wait!" she protested, but he was gone by the time she got to her feet.
Damon saw from down the street as Stefan zipped from the Gilbert house. He arrived to see Elena pacing the foot of her bed. He had to blink a few times to make sure he wasn't dreaming as he saw her clad in only her under garments. She was muttering under her breath and he could tell she was frustrated and very, very aroused. It was all he could do to keep himself rooted in his vantage point and not rush into her room.
She caught him by surprise as she let out a growl and flung herself down onto the bed. She had her knees bent, slightly swaying from side to side as she stared at the ceiling. He swallowed thickly as he saw her hand snake its way down her stomach and dip behind her underwear. He saw her bite her bottom lip as she adjusted her body to grant herself better access. He saw her fingers moving up and down beneath the black piece of cotton.
He knew it was a little disturbing that he was watching, but he was completely mesmerized by the sight, unable to look away. Just like he had been when he'd caught her dreaming about him. But this...this was ten times better. Damon saw the way her back arched slightly as her fingers moved faster and faster with each stroke. Her other hand was squeezing her breasts. The louder her moans got, the harder he became. Just as he felt himself moving towards her, he heard the unmistakable sound of her release. She motions stilled and she sighed contentedly.
Damon watched as she lay completely still for what seemed like hours before she crawled underneath the covers and closed her eyes. He continued to watch her through the night, wondering what his little brother had done to make her get off by herself and what it meant for the couple. A small glimmer of hope rose in his chest as he continued to watch her sleep.