"Damn" Elena said, reaching over for the power cord for her laptop. She had that paper to finish writing. She plugged her laptop in and went back to work. She was willing to bet that Stefan already had the paper done for their Senior English class. He never waited until the last minute like she had been doing lately. In her defense, Stefan had her full attention almost every day after school. He took her out to dinner or brought her back to his place, promising to help her with her homework and somehow getting her naked and tired out by the end of the night. She grinned at the thought, but shook her head quickly. "Focus" she told herself.
The howling wind wasn't doing anything to keep her on task either, especially the tree scratching outside against the window. Jeremy and Jenna were out of town again and she suddenly wished that she did not have the house to herself.
Elena began typing away again, having six more pages to write. Then, a loud booming sound hit, causing the entire living room to go dark, including her laptop. "No!" she said, smacking her laptop. She hadn't even saved the last few pages she had worked on.
"Damnit" she muttered, shoving the laptop aside and going in search of a flashlight. She thought there might be one in the kitchen as she felt her way around, bumping into things along the way. "Come on, where are you?" she asked, searching through the cabinets. She moved further into the kitchen. "A hah!" she said, grabbing for the flashlight behind some other various tools. She also found a few candles and a box of matches.
Slowly making her way back out to the couch, she set a candle down and carefully lit it. She put another one on the mantle near the fire place and lit it too. Then, she made her way back to the couch and grabbed her blanket, pulling it over herself. She wondered how long it would take for the power to come back on. She was hoping 15 minutes max. She checked her phone and her service was gone too.
It was 30 minutes later and Elena was leaning her head back, closing her eyes and grumbling. She was going to die without any power. No internet and no phone. No nothing but darkness and the wind.
She curled up even more under her blanket when she heard a sharp knock on her door, making her jump in place on the couch. She wasn't going to answer, not when it was dark and she was home alone. "Elena?" Stefan said, calling for her through the door.
Elena jumped up immediately, forgetting her flashlight and smacking her shin into the corner of the table. A string of curse words fell out of her mouth by the time she reached the door and opened it for him. "Stefan" she said, falling into him as she was on the verge of crying. Her damn leg hurt.
"Elena?" he asked, concern falling across his face as he held her. "What happened? I heard you yell" he said, shutting the door and taking her back to the couch.
"I ran my leg into that stupid table" she pouted. Stefan smiled and she could see it in the dim candle light. "It's not funny" she said, pushing him away.
"I'm sorry" he said, laughing. "Here, let me kiss it all better" he added, giving her a pretend pouty face as he grabbed her leg and brought it to his lips. He placed a small kiss on her shin.
Elena couldn't help but smile. "What are you doing here?" she asked, running her finger along his jaw.
He kissed her finger when it ran across his lips. "When the power went out at my place, I wanted to make sure you weren't sitting here alone in the dark" he said.
"Well aren't you my knight in shining armor" she said sarcastically. Though really, she was glad he was there.
"I don't see anyone else running to your rescue" he reminded her, pinching under her knee for added effect. She squirmed slightly and laughed. It tickled more than anything. "Have you had dinner yet?" he asked her.
"No" she said. "I haven't really had time to do anything. I was trying to get that paper done for English when the power went out."
"You still haven't written that?" he chastised. "We've had over a month Elena" he reminded.
"And if I remember correctly, you've taken up quite a bit of my time over that last month" she said pointedly.
Stefan grinned. "Yes I have" he said, catching on to exactly what she was talking about. And while he would have loved to distract her a little more, he knew he should find something for dinner. "I'm going to see what there is to eat" he said, nibbling on the bottom or her ear and causing her to smile. "Be. Right. Back" he said, whispering in her ear as he got up and grabbed the flashlight.
She could hear him bumping around in her kitchen. She honestly had no idea what she had in her kitchen. If no one was home to cook, she went to Stefan's or went to The Grill. "Find anything edible in there?" she called from the couch.
"Not much" he called back. Elena grinned. She hadn't been to the grocery store like Jenna had asked.
He was in there for no longer than ten minutes when he came back to the couch with a plate. "You'd starve if you didn't live with other people or have a boyfriend" he said, plopping down next to her. Sandwiches. She wasn't sure exactly what was on them, but she was hungry enough to not care. "This stuff would go bad anyways if we didn't eat it now" he added.
"So resourceful you are" she said playfully. Though, if the power was going to be out much longer, they were seriously screwed. "How long do you suppose the power will be out?" she asked.
"If this wind gets as bad as they say, it might be a day or two" he told her. "I've got food at my place, don't worry."
"One or two days without power?" she said with the faintest whine in her voice. "No phone? Internet? T.V.?" she asked, wondering how she would ever survive.
Stefan set the plate on the coffee table and grabbed her legs, placing them across his lap. "I guess we'll just have to find other things to keep us entertained" he said, rubbing her legs.
"Like what?" Elena asked.
Stefan rolled his eyes. "Board games, cards …" he rattled off.
Elena thought about his ideas for a moment. "Let's … play a board game. How about SORRY?" she said, finishing up her sandwich.
"Sure" he shrugged.
"I'll go and get it" she said, getting up carefully. She grabbed the flashlight and made her way to the cabinet with all the family board games.
"Need help?" he asked from the couch.
"Nope" Elena said, finding it near the top and making her way back to the couch. She set the game on the table, grabbed a pillow, and sat on it on the floor.
Stefan sat across from her on the floor and helped her set it up. He couldn't remember the last time he played a board game. He gave her the green pieces, knowing that she would want those before she even asked for them. She in turn handed him the blue pieces. "You can go first" he said, being his usual polite self.
Elena pulled a card with the number one, earning her the opportunity to move one pawn out of the start position. "Your turn" Elena said, and Stefan could see the faintest grin spread across her face. When it came to board games, she was extremely competitive. Stefan pulled a seven, indicating that he couldn't move. "My turn!" she said, already getting excited. She pulled a two, earning her the opportunity to move another pawn out and to draw again. Stefan was starting to think she had rigged the stack of cards, but he said nothing. Elena drew again, getting a ten. She moved ten spaces.
It took Stefan seven more turns to get one pawn out of the start position. Elena was already a few spaces from her safety zone. On Stefan's next turn, he drew a SORRY card, indicating that he could bump one of her pawns and replace it with his own. He eyed her pawn and grinned. "Sorry" he said, grabbing one of his pawns and moving to replace it with hers.
"Stefan, no" she whined. She was almost there. "Please don't do that" she whined some more.
He grinned some more. "Why shouldn't I?" he asked, pausing before bumping her pawn off of the board.
Elena thought quickly. "I'll … make-out with you for one minute if you don't SORRY me" she said quickly, looking at him. Yes, her need to win a stupid board game was making her sound desperate.
Stefan wasn't stupid. One minute of making out with Elena was so much better than winning a board game. "Done" he said, leaving her pawn alone.
Elena got up and walked to his side of the table, sitting in his lap and wrapping her arms around his neck. "You'll keep count?" she asked, mere inches from his face. Stefan nodded and she leaned in, brushing her lips against his in a preliminary manner before following his lead and intensifying the kiss.
Elena almost thought it was a win-win for her. She was ahead in the game and was enjoying kissing Stefan. Although they had only agreed to kissing, she let his hands roam around her waist and her back.
When the minute was up, Stefan pulled away from her, breaking the kiss. They were both a little breathless. "I don't think we've kissed like that in a while" he said, smiling as he rested his head against hers.
Elena closed her eyes, smiling as well. "I don't think so either" she told him.
"Tell you what" he said, wrapping his arms around her again. "I'll forfeit the game if I can continue kissing you" he said. Not many guys would forfeit, but Stefan was pretty sure if they had just kissed Elena like that, they would learn to be okay with giving up.
"So I win?" Elena asked, liking the sound of that.
Stefan nodded. He probably would have let her win anyways. "You win" he told her.
"I like winning" Elena said, brushing her lips against his in a teasing manner. "Can you build us a fire?" she asked. "You know where the wood is. I'll go upstairs and get us some blankets and pillows" she said, moving just out of the way so his lips missed hers when he tried to kiss her.
Stefan sighed. "Okay. Be careful" he said, unwrapping his arms from around her. He stood up with her and they parted ways, him taking the flashlight and her taking a candle for light.
Elena slowly made her way up the stairs, grabbing pillows off of her bed and grabbing extra blankets out of her closet. Two thicker blankets and two lighter ones. She changed into her sweats and a t-shirt before carefully heading back downstairs.
Stefan already had the fire lit and was adding more wood to it. He smiled when he heard her come back into the room. "Good thing I chopped and stacked a lot of wood last summer. You're almost out" he said, adding another piece of wood.
"We've built a lot of fires this winter" Elena said, dropping the blankets and pillows into a pile. She began spreading the blankets out, making a makeshift bed for them. Once done, she laid down and watched him skillfully keep the fire going.
"This should last us for a while" he said, satisfied with his fire.
He sat down and watched it for a moment until he felt Elena's arms snake around him. "Come lay down with me" she whispered into his ear. He barely heard her with the howling wind just outside.
"You come sit with me" he countered, finding peace in watching the crackling fire in front of him. He slowly guided her around him, sitting her in his lap once again. He loved having her this close, especially when the light from the fire lit up her features. Her beautiful brown eyes and her soft smile.
"I'm really glad you came over" she said quietly, leaning her head back against his shoulder.
"I'd never leave you by yourself in this kind of weather" he said, placing a gentle kiss on the side of her cheek. He cared about her too much.
"I know" she smiled, tilting her head up to look at him. "I appreciate you" she added, turning back to look at the fire. "It's nice to have someone in your life who looks out for you."
Stefan hugged her tighter. "I appreciate you too" he said, placing a light kiss on the back of her neck.
Elena closed her eyes and smiled. "Do you remember the last time the power went out for a long time in Mystic Falls?" she asked.
Stefan laughed softly in her ear. "Wasn't it about five years ago?" he asked. "Our last year of junior high. Damon went out of town and your parents didn't want me staying home by myself" he reminded.
"So they let you stay with us" she added. "I was sooooo mad at them."
"We did play flashlight tag though" he reminded. "That was fun."
"You and Jeremy locked me in the laundry room and left" Elena said, remembering how she had screamed until her dad had found her and let her out.
Stefan smiled against her neck. "Yeah, and we got in big trouble for that one" he pointed out. "The more I think about it, the more I believe that I tortured you so much when we were kids because I secretly liked you" he said, trying to make sense of it all.
"Whatever helps you sleep at night" she said, opening one eye and looking up at him.
Stefan took the opportunity to kiss her lips quickly. "You got your revenge" he told her.
"I did" she agreed with a satisfied smirk on her face. "I put makeup on you while you were sleeping" she said proudly. "And that takes talent, putting makeup on someone in the dark" she added.
"I deserved that" he said, reaching his hand up and pulling her hair out of its ponytail. "As well as the next three days of you driving me crazy until the power finally came back on." Now, he'd be perfectly fine if the power stayed off for days. It would give them more time to be with each other without any of the usual distractions.
"Do I still drive you crazy?" she asked, grabbing his hand and kissing it.
"Yes" he said, snaking his hand up her shirt slowly. "In the best way possible" he whispered into her ear.
Elena sighed. "Good answer" she said, slowly moving away from him. He let her go, but looked at her curiously as she went back to the makeshift bed. "I'm waiting" she said. He could barely see her slipping her shirt off and tossing it towards the couch. Her sweats were next he assumed, but he was already up and kicking his own jeans off, followed by his shirt.
She held her arms opened as he crawled over to her, going straight in for a kiss. "Definitely still drive me crazy" he mumbled in-between kisses. "Still mad about the power being off?" he asked.
Elena shook her head no. "It's really hard to be mad about anything when you're naked and kissing me" she said truthfully.
"Good to know my nakedness has that effect on you" he smiled, moving a strand of hair behind her ear. "Just so you know, a meteor could hit outside your front door right now and I wouldn't even notice" he added.
"That's so … sweet" she said, rolling her eyes.
Stefan placed a gentle kiss on her lips, tracing along her jaw as he studied her in the dark. "Your smile gets me every time too though" he told her, tracing his finger across her lips when she smiled for him.
Elena moved her hands around his back, tracing along his spine. "Stefan?" she asked, almost as if she had a secret to tell him.
He moved even closer to her. "Yeah?" he asked quietly.
"I'm getting cold" she said, letting her hands move to his waist.
"I can't have that now, can I?" he asked, pulling the blanket over them and snuggling closer to her. He kissed her shoulder and ever so slowly, trailed his way down.
With only the fire in front of them and the rest of the house in complete darkness, it was nice to use his other senses and not his sense of sight. Of course he loved seeing Elena, but relying on the other senses to explore Elena was a huge turn-on for him. From what he could hear, it was a turn-on for her too.