"Caroline is already planning a week long party at Tyler's lake house for Senior Week," I make a dissatisfied facial expression when I realize what that actually means for me. Five days of partying, and two days to chill. Pre and post chill day, as Caroline labeled it proudly, providing everyone with enough time to get comfortable upon arrival and sober before departure. Being surrounded by drunk guys, screaming girls and loud music for a week straight seems unfathomable to me. When she presented us with the program, neither Bonnie nor me seemed very pleased, and Bonnie enjoys parties way more than I do. Caroline, on the other hand, seemed very pleased with herself.

"Well, that doesn't sound so bad," Stefan responds sarcastically, grinning from ear to ear.

I look up at him, and I can feel my eyes widening as I open my mouth to speak. "I have always wanted to take a trip during my Senior Week. You know, pack the essentials and visit all the nearby places I have always wanted to see, but never did. They're near, I thought, there's time for them, I can drop by anytime."

"So why don't we?" he asks somberly. "We don't have any obligations. School is practically over, and the only thing left for us to do is wait for our college applications to arrive." And, in his case, other results, but he makes no mention of his financial aid applications. Other than that, he does have a point - once seniors reach Senior Week, they are basically done with school. Some might have an exam here or there, few consultations, grades negotiations, but most of us are done with everything and are just waiting for the graduation ceremony for it to be official.

I don't respond to his proposal, mainly because I'm trying to find a way to agree to it and express my excitement without sounding like a complete lunatic. But, at this point, the only thing my brain is capable of is screaming.

He turns in his chair and produces a map of US of A from his top desk drawer, then proceeds to lower himself to the floor of his bedroom where he spreads and straightens it for both of us to see. "I'm serious," he says, as if I gave him any indication that I don't think he's being serious, leaving me confused. "We can start on Friday, see everything we want to see, and still make it in time for the last day of the party."

I love how this conversation turned from me to we. I love how I don't have to do this alone. I wouldn't mind doing it alone, but I love that I don't have to, that he's here and that he's offering himself to me, investing his free time into something I want to do. My life turned from a single person mechanism, to a symbiosis. And I guess that's the point of this whole relationship deal. You don't get into a relationship with another person to have someone to do things with, you get into a relationship to share something you can do on your own with someone you care about.

I raise my eyebrow at him, entertained by the last part of his sentence. "You would be willing to go to a party for my sake?"

"Well, I know there's no way you would miss your best friends party. And baby," he flashes me a wide, bright smile, the kind you see people in toothpaste commercials wear. "I would go to the ends of the world for you."

I produce an inhumane sound before reaching for a pillow and throwing it at him. I miss, of course, and the pillow lands few inches away from him. "Soooo cheesy," I say, giggling and covering my face with my hands, peeking at him through my half spread fingers.

He smirks. "Okay, back to the point. We could go with my motorcycle.." He checks my expression after proposing that only to notice a visible frown on my face. As if my parents would ever let me go on a trip on the back of a motorcycle.

"Fine," he exhales. This clearly messed up some of his plans. "We can take your car. Where do you want to go?"

I lower myself on the floor next to him, and place my finger over the entire state of Virginia. "Everywhere."

My parents didn't need much convincing to let me go on this trip. They didn't exactly welcome the idea with arms wide open, but they didn't put as much resistance as I expected them to either. Maybe they mellowed down, or maybe I made some good arguments. Some of them, I admit, almost made my mom cry. Like when I said I will be gone by the end of the summer anyway so it's time for them to start getting used to not having me around, and saw panic in my dad's eyes.

Caroline was okay with me not being there for the whole week, and so was Bonnie. I like to think they realized I would be happier travelling with my boyfriend than being surrounded by beer cans for a week.

Stefan has made an extensive and well researched plan on how to include everything I want to see into on successful trip. Hampton Roads, Charlottesville gardens, themed parks in Williamsburg, rivers of Jamestown, try seafood in Newport News and, of course, see the famous Virginia Beach. Dad insisted on being advised on the plan of the trip before we set off, and he seemed very pleased with what Stefan came up with, at least judging by his head nod and the firm grip on Stefan's shoulder. He gave him few tricks and tips for the road as well. Mom made us so much food, which was to be expected, and a reason why we didn't have to spend any money on snacks. Chocolate chip cookies, pretzels, sandwiches, cheesy sticks.. you name it, it was there. She stacked boxes upon boxes of goodies on the back seat of my car while I was packing. I was really satisfied with how lightly I packed, until I pulled up on Stefan's driveway to pick him up and saw him standing in front of the house with nothing more than a medium sized sports bag which only made my medium sized suitcase look not so light.

"I'm so looking forward to this," he announces excitedly when we pass "You're now leaving Mystic Falls" sign.

I chuckle. "You do know that we're going to spend a lot of time in this car, don't you? 67.8% of it, to be exact. I calculated it."

He gives me an astonished look. "First of all," he starts with a raspy voice, "Weirdo. Second of all, we are both going to spend that amount of time in the car which means that we will be together, and I'm completely fine with that."

"Oh," I groan, almost bursting into laughter, "So much cheese from you recently, Stefan."

He shakes his head, turning it towards the car window. "You love cheese, though."

"Yes," I nod, "Yes, I do."

As it turns out, the time we spent in the car and between destinations was even better than seeing everything I wanted to see, which made me realize I didn't really want a trip, I wanted an experience. Gardens in Charlottesville were more beautiful than I expected, and seafood in Newport News was one of the most delicious things I have tasted in my entire life, and this coming from someone who's not that big of a seafood fan. And as much as I've enjoyed the chance to cross several things off of my bucket list, there's nothing I've enjoyed more than us singing in the car, or him gushing over my mom's homemade treats, or watching him fall asleep while I drive into the dead of the night. Well, maybe I have enjoyed falling asleep and waking up next to him while he drives a little bit more. The plexus of rivers at Hampton Roads was memorable, but not as the smile of the old lady who served us breakfast at the diner on our way to Williamsburg when I told Stefan, with a pained expression on my face, 'please don't put so much whipped cream on your waffles, you're going to be sick'. He didn't listen to me, and an hour later he had announced that there's something funny going on with his stomach.

My parents had to hear from us daily, and I had to send minimum of five photos per day to my friends, as a payment for not being with them for the entire duration of Senior Week.

"I can't believe we leave tomorrow," I place my mouth on his shoulder and groan into his shirt as we walk down the boardwalk of Virginia Beach, hand in hand. We have decided to say here overnight and recuperate before we head to Tyler's lake house which is only half an hour away from Mystic Falls.

"We don't have to," he squeezes my hand in his. "We can stay here and pretend the real world doesn't exist."

"Mmm," I detach my mouth from the soft material of his shirt, "That sounds nice." Impossible, but nice. I think Caroline wouldn't speak to me anymore if I missed the sight of her handy work. Or at least for a very, very long time. Also, there are, hopefully, some college acceptance letters to read and graduation ceremony to prepare for.

"It's going to rain," he declares after he looks up at the sky and frowns at the slightly gray clouds hovering above us.

I look up. "It's not going to rain," I counter him. Sure, the sky is gray, and it is windier than several hours ago, but that doesn't mean it's going to rain for certain.

He shifts his attention from the sky to me, and a soft smile appears on his lips, decorating his features by making them gentler than they initially seemed. "Whatever you say, babe."

I smile and lower my look to the ground, watching our intertwined fingers as they move as a response to the movement of our bodies. This week long trip has only made me fall in love with him more than I was before, or simply made me realize I am in love with him more than I initially believed. I fell deeper in love with things I already know about him, and found new things to love about him - like the expression of his face when he's asleep, or the fact that he tries to remember his dreams as soon as he wakes up. On this trip he didn't have any strange voices in his head, whispering to him while he's asleep, while I did have my usual dreams every now and then, but they were blurry, unclear and short lived.

Maybe that's the difference between loving someone and being in love with them. You fall in love with them once you discover all their hidden corners and edges, like how they smell at each point of the day, or how their jaw moves when they chew. You fall in love with a person when they turn from a human being to living poetry.

"I can see myself living here," I stop, making him stop alongside me.

There are far less people here than I expected, every now and then we run into a young couple or a family with kids on this 3 mile boardwalk. I guess there's more people here once the vacation season starts, and weather becomes more stable.

I let go of his hand and move closer to the thick, green iron fence, looking at the empty beach covered with dark yellow sand. Behind it, there's a vast ocean stretching and expanding into places my eyes will never be able to reach.

"I have always wanted to live near the water," I inhale the salty scent in the air, filling my brain with memories through my nostrils.

The streetlamps are dimly lit as a sign that the day is slowly ending. In Mystic Falls, the night always comes so forcefully, no matter what time of the year it is. I can count beautiful, calming sunsets we had over there on the fingers of my hand.

He appears next to me. "You don't like Mystic Falls very much, do you?" he asks.

I shift my attention from the restless ocean to him, only to notice the same kind of restlessness in his eyes. I don't know if he really expects an answer to that question, because he already knows it, but the silence that has settled between us makes me give it to him anyway.

"It's the people that I don't like. They have to know everything about everyone, they push their nose into other peoples business, and they infuse drama. It's like we're living in Desperate Housewives. They make an already small town feel even smaller."

He bends his arms at the elbows and places them against the fence, and nods understandingly. I think he knows how poisonous our sweet, little community can be better than anyone.

"I don't think I would want to raise kids in a big city."

"You want to have kids?"

"Well, I don't know," he smiles softly, "But I would like to have a choice once the time comes. You?"

I look away from him, lowering my look to the ground, trying to find a difference between each grain of sand before me. Some seem silver, some golden, some are plain yellow. "Same," I mutter. "Once the time comes. Which will be a long, long time for now, if ever."

"Indeed," he agrees. "Until then, though, I could live in a city like this." He turns around, points his elbows at the fence, looking away from the ocean to the city building.

"Really?" I beam up, following his lead.

He turns his head, and gives me a soft, peaceful look. He doesn't say anything, but I guess his facial expression is as good of an as answer as any. He moves his head in the direction of mine, his jaw tight, and kisses me on the lips. It's a small, innocent peck, something couples do as an equivalent to a friendly hand squeeze or a bump in the shoulder, but it wakes up certain kind of hunger in me. I place my palm against his cheek, and push myself steadily away from the fence, my shoulder grazing against his chest. One of his hands goes to my hip, and the other one he places on the small of my back, his fingers tickling my nerves through the cotton of my dress. I kiss him deeper, moving my body closer to his until I close the distance between us and there's no more air to breathe.

There are hundreds of hotels placed on the boardwalk of Virginia beach, shining their light on us. It's still day enough for me to want to explore the city, but night enough for me to want to explore.. some other things.

I place my free hand flat across his chest, swallowing his heart beat. I move my lips away from his for air, the tips of our noses colliding awkwardly, when I feel something fall on my bare shoulder.

We both look up to see tiny drops of rain slowly descending upon us. I look back at him, and catch a smug look on his face.

"Not a word!" I warn.

We're staying in a cute little inn run by a young married couple. The woman inherited it from her grandmother who, before she passed away, decided her granddaughter is the one who should continue her work.

By the time we come inside, we are soaking wet, our clothes completely drained in water and our skin slippery. Okay, he was right, it was going to rain.

"I am freezing!" I yell with a jumpy voice, looking at the goosebumps on my skin.

"Come, I'll warm you up," he says mischievously, wrapping his arms around me from behind, pulling me closer to him. His cold skin makes my goosebumps grow another set of goosebumps on top of them.

"Stefan!" I exclaim his name, a bit annoyed, but my laughter starts bubbling in my lungs which my throat is more than happy to produce. I turn around in his wet hug and the first thing my eyes notice is how his rain drenched shirt sticks to his chest, almost becoming one with his skin.

"You know, we should really get out of this wet clothes, before we catch a cold," I look up at him from under my lashes, trying so hide my look from him out of some reason.

"Yeah, of course," he says regretfully, unwrapping himself from me and stepping back. He obviously thinks I'm angry or annoyed by his actions, and that he did something that causes me great displeasure.

"Stefan," I whisper, "I don't think you understand what I'm trying to say."

I look up at him, my shy look meeting his confused one. I raise my hand to the level of my shoulder and push the strap of my dress down my arm. I do the same to the other one, and take a step closer to him, correcting his mistake of creating the distance between our bodies.

As the straps fall down my arms, they take the upper part of the dress with them, pulling it down my torso. It's the beginning of May, it's fairly warm, especially here on the coast, so I made the most of it and wore a light summer dress. A dress that doesn't require a bra.

"What I mean is," I can see him glancing down when my dress, or the lack of it, begins to reveal my torso. "We should really get out of this wet clothes," I put the emphasis on the words we and really.

He parts his lips slightly, like he's trying to say something, but no words come out of his mouth. So I step on my toes and kiss him on the lips.

Can a kiss cause a brain freeze?

STEFAN'S POV

When a girl you love starts taking her clothes off in front of you, you don't say anything. At least not something that would stop her from doing so.

Sex was a big part of my relationship with Katherine. Sometimes, it feels like it was the only thing we did during the time we spent together. She wasn't the one to talk much, at least not about the things that matter, while movies, books and similar leisure activities didn't interest her much. She called them too mundane, whatever that meant. She was annoyed and angry half the time, and it seemed like the only way for her to connect with another human being was through sex. Damon used to say that she's a physical person, like that makes her special, like the rest of us aren't, which is why I wasn't surprised when her physicality is drove us apart.

Elena was a whole different deal. I won't say I never though about her that way, I did, and often, but I knew from the start that having sex with her is something that I won't be doing for quite some time. Because a) she has never done it before and has absolutely has no idea what she's missing out on, and b) her mind was never in one place. She's a fascinating person who has an opinion on every single topic that comes up, who doesn't know how to retell a book in short lines, and who can spend hours talking about different dog breeds. Did it sometimes bother me, the fact that she's not even thinking about it, when all I could think about was how she would taste like in my mouth? Yes. Because she's hot, and she always smells good, and I'm 18 years old, and I love her so fucking much.

But then she would smile, or kiss me, or propose we should go for ice cream, or basically anything else, and somehow that would make it okay.

Now, she's standing in front of me, half naked, her floral dress wet from the downpour clinging to her hips, and I don't know what to do with her. And she's probably counting on me to know what to do because I suppose she has no idea what the next step is. But I don't know how to put my hands on her completely naked body and not hurt her.

She kisses me on the lips, her breasts grazing my shirt, making my skin tingle with excitement. Her hands go under my shirt, her fingers playing around the skin of my stomach, pulling my shirt up my torso. When she pulls it up to the middle, I help her and do the rest by myself, removing the shirt from my body and throwing it somewhere on the floor. She begins to explore my upper body, pulling her fingers up and down my torso. My hands reach for her hips and release them from the cage her dress had created around them. It falls around her ankles, covering her feet - she steps out of it and pushes it away.

So I do the only logical thing to do. With my hands around her waist I lift her up, she circles her legs around me, and I carry her of towards the bed.

Sex was never a big part of my life. It was neither a problem for me nor a main topic of interest. While Caroline was obsessed with how, who and when, Bonnie was already having sex, I was spending my free time thinking there's something wrong with me. After some time I came to a fascinating discovery - people are different. Their brains work different, they have different interests, and they obsess over different things. For me, sex was something that's going to happen when I fall in love, when I meet someone I trust, when the right time comes. However, new Harry Potter book was something I had to read as soon as it's done printing.

When I started dating Stefan, sex became a big part of my life. Of my everyday thoughts. Whenever our make out sessions became extra heated I would think is this it? Is this the day I lose my virginity? He was probably waiting for me to initiate it, but I would always put so much thought into it that I could never really get into the mood. Like every other topic in my life, sex was something that I was overthinking which was, in one hand, good. I was being responsible, careful, safe, sure. On the other hand, I was getting to deep into it, opening topics similar to why should I have sex? Because everyone are doing it? Because it's a normal thing to do? Because we see it in movies and shows and read in books? Is sex something that's imposed on us?

These last few days I finally stopped thinking and, as a result, I found an answer. I should have sex with him because I want to have sex with him. I want. I don't have to, I don't need to, it's not my obligation, but it's my choice.

"Do you have, um, protection?" I ask after he lowers me down on the bed.

"Yeah," he answers.

"Good," I smile slyly. It would be too bad if we had to stop just because I didn't think condoms through before initiating this whole thing. But if I've learned anything from movies, teenage boys always have a condom with them.

He lowers himself on top of me, his entire weight set in his wrists. I pull my arms up and wrap them around his neck, the tips of my fingers landing on the top of his hair. He presses his chest against mine. His entire torso is hard and firm, muscle on top of muscle, and thick layer of skin wrapped around them.

When people fall in love, they say all kinds of weird shit. Like when they kiss their loved one, they can feel stars in their mouth and see the entire universe behind their closed eyelids.

Well, it's true.

I move my hands from their initial position and lower them down to unzip his trousers. He shakes them off his legs.

STEFAN'S POV

God, she's beautiful. She is.. there are no words for how she is. She transcends worldly descriptions of beauty.

I kiss her lips, her jaw, her neck. She puts her fingers in my hair, holding on to me as I move down her chest. I pass her rib cage, her stomach, and I pull down her panties.

I start planting kisses up her body. I finally find out what she tastes like. I hear the sound of her moan for the first time.

I reach her lips again. Her hands end up on my shoulders. Her hair is still wet from the rain, sticking to her skin, and mine as well.

"I love you so much, you know?" I whisper into her ear. She stretches her smile so wide that at one point it becomes audible.

She places her palm against my cheek, cupping the left side of my jaw. "I think so," she answers seriously. A smile starts to grow on her lips, "How about you convince me?"

Oh, he convinced me.

I'm 100% convinced.

We leave for Tyler's lake house early in the morning.

I woke up next to him, with his arm around me, my face nestled in the empty space between his shoulder and his neck. I woke up with his scent in my nostrils, and his taste on my lips. He woke up and kissed me on the mouth, and I swallowed his smile in exchange for my own.

The young couple escorted us out, and I didn't have a heart to refuse her banana bread even though we have more than enough to eat thanks to my mother. With her hand on her pregnant belly, she gushed over how cute we are.

He has offered to drive, so I'm sitting in the passenger seat with my feet on the dashboard, saying goodbye to the friendly surroundings on Virginia Beach.

"So, umm," he says awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck with one hand, firmly holding the steering wheel with the other, never taking his eyes off the road. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine. Why?" I frown at his question, confused, until I see the same expression on his face. "Oh, because of last night!" a light bulb inside my head turns on. "I'm fine, Stefan. Peachy," I grin from ear to ear, like a Cheshire cat. "Definitely want to do that again."

"Oh, yeah?" he says through laughter.

"You can bet."

We spend most of our ride back home in silence. Comfortable silence you can only share with a person you know won't think your silence means something negative. He tries to find songs that I like on the radio, and I blow him a kiss in return. Sometimes he reaches for my hand, brings it up and kisses my knuckles. Sometimes I reach for his to simply hold it while he drives.

We reach Tyler's lake house sometime in the late afternoon. I can hear Caroline squealing as soon as she lays her eyes on my car. By the time I get out of it, she's already standing in front of it, ready to throw her arms around me.

"Lena, Lena, you're finally here!" she sings, which is how I know that she's drunk. That, and she smells like a freshly opened bottle of vodka. "Hi, Stefan!" she waves at him, and he nods to her politely. I don't think he will ever warm up to her, considering everything that has happened, no matter how hard she tries to be polite to him.

"Yo, Stefan!" Tyler yells from the terrace, where all the guys and some of the girls are. "Beer's here!"

He looks at me. "Go, go," I whisper while Caroline is basically strangling me with her hugging abilities.

"Where's Bonnie?" I try to find her in the group of people Stefan is walking towards to, but I can't see her.

"Oh, she had to go home early," Caroline says, dragging me towards the lake where we can be alone. "Some family emergency, you know how her folks are. Party poopers. So, tell me, how was it?"

"How was what?" I cock my head to the side.

She furrows her brows. "The trip, Elena."

"Oh!" I exclaim. "It was great. Amazing. You know, we really do live in a beautiful, beautiful country."

"Ohmygod," she says, looking at me in shock. "You had sex!"

"What!?" I react instantly, surprised. How does she know? Is it written on my forehead?

"Don't what me!" her expression of shock turns into a smiling one. "Your virginity shield is gone! Poof! There's no I-have-no-idea-how-dick-feels-like wall!"

"Keep your voice down!" I try to shush her, even though there's only a slim chance people on the terrace have heard us from this distance, or from the noise their voices are creating.

"You are officially dick certified!" she announces, crunches down and pulls a fistful of grass out of the ground which she, after standing up, throws all over me pretending it's confetti. "Congratulations!" Drunk Caroline has no shame.

"Caroline!" I place my hand over my mouth so she can't see me laughing.

"So, how did it happen?" she asks curiously, like a child, in the midst of discussing a topic that is not very childlike.

"Well, we got wet - "

"Mhm, mhm, that's usually how it starts," she interrupts me. I give her a scolding look. "I'm sorry, I had to, you basically laid it out for me to use," she grins, proud of herself. "I bet you laid it out for Stefan to use as well," she says and bursts into laughter.

"Caroline!" I yell. "I refuse to talk about this until sober Caroline shows up!" I start walking away from her towards the group on the terrace that doesn't have a slightest idea what's going on here, between us.

"Elena, wait," she says with a crying tone of voice, "What if I can't hold it in? What if I let it out?"

I raise my finger in the air as a warning. "Caroline, you better not tell all those people I lost my virginity!"

"Not that," she giggles, "I have to pee."

I inhale, then exhale, as a method of trying to calm myself down. "Then go pee, Care."

"Okay," she starts towards the bushes.

"Care, there's a toilet in the house!"

She crouches down behind the bushes. "Psssst," she whispers, "I'm peeing."

Caroline goes to sleep very early in the evening, and when we wake up in the morning I find her still asleep. I let Tyler know that I'll call her tomorrow, but that I have to leave now because my mom will go nuts if I'm not home in time for lunch like I promised I would be.

I drive Stefan home. He gives me a kiss goodbye before I'm able to say a word and gets out of the car to get his bag out of the trunk. I follow him.

"What are you doing?" he asks when he sees me walking towards him.

"Coming with you."

He smiles. "Oh, I see. And why is that?" he unzips his bag and start rummaging through it, trying to find his house keys.

He finds them just in time to look back at me and see me biting my lower lip. His smile widens as he unlocks the front door to let us in. I close the door behind us at the exact same moment he drops his bag on the floor, turns around, pins me against the wall and kisses me hard on the lips. His body crashes into mine, and my palms instantly move towards his chest, welcoming this sweet attack.

That's when we hear voices coming from the living room. We stop kissing and look towards the door at the end of the hallway which are closed shut. I don't think I have ever seen the their living room door closed - they're always open and welcoming.

"Is Damon home?" I ask.

The voice becomes louder, distorted and hoarse. I can't really recognize any of the words. I'm not even sure they're in English.

"I don't know. I haven't talked to him," he swallows, trying hard not to let me know that he's afraid. "Stay here," he says as he starts moving towards the living room.

I, of course, don't stay, but start walking behind him.

Another voice soars from the depths of the lungs. A female voice, vaguely familiar, but I can't really place it.

Stefan hurries up and pushes the door open. He doesn't move forward, he stands still, like he's buried in place.

"Stefan?" I say, and I can hear my voice cracking with each letter of his name. As I move towards him, I can see Bonnie standing on one side of the room and at the moment our eyes locked I could have sworn hers were on fire, and not metaphorically.

Damon is standing on the other side of the room. When I see him, when I take a real good look at him, I open my mouth to scream, but a scream born in my lungs dies somewhere in my throat.

There are two ashy wings protruding from his shoulder blades.