A/N: A short update, but I hope you still like it!

Elena yawned the moment she walked inside the house. Stefan yawned as well. It was almost seven in the evening and even though they had left work over two hours ago, stopping for dinner and traffic had delayed their return home.

The eight hour work day had kicked both their asses. "I am … so tired" Elena said, trying to stifle another yawn and failing. She dropped her bag by the door and walked into the living room to plop down on the couch.

Stefan wasn't far behind her, hanging his keys up and joining her. He moved to be beside her, wrapping an arm around her and inviting her to curl into his side so they could both more comfortably fit on the couch together. Stefan heard Elena sigh softly and knew she would be asleep soon. "I pictured our evening differently" he mentioned quietly. He had been so excited to get home to spend some quality, intimate time with her. Now that he was home, he just wanted to go to sleep too.

Elena murmured softly in agreement. "We must be getting old if we can't handle an eight hour work day" she said.

Stefan smiled. Her response reminded him of something. "Speaking of getting old, someone has a birthday coming up" Stefan reminded. Her 21st.

Elena groaned. "I'm skipping my birthday this year" she informed him. She had too much on her mind to worry about turning another year older.

"You can't skip birthdays" he smiled. He was planning on doing something really special for her, since he had blown the last one by staying out late and drinking.

Elena lifted her head so she could see his face. "Just something low-key. Dinner at Damon's house" she told him, knowing he was already planning something.

"Low-key. Got it" he promised.

She kissed his chin and then rested her head back down against his chest, listening to him breathing softly. "I was thinking we should decorate the beach a bit for the wedding" Elena mentioned quietly. "If we got there early, we could do something special for them." After everything Damon had done for them, she wanted to give back in some way. Sure, it was a quick decision to get remarried, but that didn't mean the ceremony couldn't be special.

Stefan kissed her head and rubbed her back gently. "You're the most thoughtful person I know" he said softly.

Elena shrugged. "I think he deserves to have something nice done for him once in a while."

"I think so too" Stefan replied. He thought that maybe he did not try hard enough sometimes to show his appreciation. Although Damon had to serve up some tough love sometimes, Stefan knew that Damon had never given up on him.

"We should really get to bed" Elena said, yawning again. She closed her eyes.

"Yeah, we should" Stefan agreed. But he made no effort to move, and neither did she. Elena sighed contently and after a moment or two, Stefan knew she was asleep.

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Elena had hurried them out the door the next morning, insisting that they could not even be 30 seconds late. Stefan had struggled to get out of bed, feeling the effects of a previous eight hour work day after having been on his own schedule for so long.

So he was sitting at his desk with his feet propped up on another chair, sipping a cup of coffee and staring at a computer screen. The day was dragging. This job was nowhere near as busy as his last job. He kind of liked the downtime though. Stefan had left the office door open to enjoy some of that fresh South Carolina breeze blowing through.

"Knock knock" Katherine said, poking her head into the office. She smiled when she saw Stefan. "Where's Elena?" she asked, letting herself inside.

Stefan smiled back and took his feet off of the chair. He motioned for her to come and take a seat. "Damon sent her on an errand" he answered. She had been gone for almost an hour.

Katherine pouted as she sat down. "I have her dress in the car. I wanted her to try it on to see if it fits" she replied.

"We can take it home with us and call you tonight to let you know" Stefan assured her.

Katherine studied her nails for a moment or two, trying to decide if she liked the way they had been done that morning. "Thanks" she said, finally focusing on him again. "It really means a lot to me that you're supportive of me marrying your brother again after what I did."

He thought he detected guilt in her voice, something he rarely heard from her. Stefan rolled his chair forward and placed his hand on her knee. "I'm the last person in the world who is in any kind of position to judge you" he told her honestly. "I'm just glad you're back." He rarely ever saw her cry either but the glossy look in her eyes told him she was about ready to.

"Come here" she said, both moving in closer to one another to hug. "I love you so much" she whispered, feeling incredibly emotional for some reason that day. She attributed it to the medications she had started back up again.

"I want to give you away at your wedding again" he told her. "Just like I did when I was younger."

If she thought she could hold her tears back, she was wrong. She let his short sleeve polo shirt soak them up as she held him close. When she left home at 16, she hadn't looked back. She wanted as far away from her parents as she could get, so that left her with no one to walk her down the aisle the first time. Giuseppe had offered, but she hadn't felt right about that. She was set on walking herself down the aisle when Stefan had surprised her at the stairs of the church, offering her his arm and a smile that had her feeling blessed to have helped raise him.

At 15, he was taller than her and was turning out to be quite a handsome young man. "I would love for you to give me away. Again" she told him, leaning back into her seat and wiping at her eyes.

Stefan grabbed her hands when she was done and squeezed them, gaining her attention. "You'd tell me if there was something wrong, right?" he asked. It seemed odd to him that his brother had been pissing mad one minute and then announcing his impending marriage to her the next. "You're feeling alright?"

Katherine knew the questions and suspicions would be there. But she couldn't let him worry. "I'm fine" she smiled. "Just a little tired from your brother … last night. All night, rather" she said, her smile turning into a grin.

Stefan dropped her hands and made a disgusted face. "Gross" he told her, turning back to his computer.

Katherine laughed. "Oh please. Like you and Elena don't do the same thing" she accused. "We have lost time to make up for" she added.

"This conversation is over" he said, waving her off.

Katherine rolled her eyes. "Give me your keys so I can put Elena's dress in your Jeep."

Stefan fished the keys out of his pocket and tossed them to her.

She caught them easily and stood. "I'll be right back." She left the trailer and went to Damon's car she was borrowing to get the dress. Just as she was putting it into Stefan's Jeep, she saw Elena pull up in one of Damon's work trucks. She hopped out and smiled at Katherine. "Your dress. Try it on tonight and let me know how it fits."

Elena nodded. "Yeah, sure thing" she replied. "Do you want to stick around for lunch? There's a great little Thai restaurant around the corner" Elena offered. She was making a real effort, because come Saturday, Katherine would be more like family than she was since she no longer was married to Stefan. She wanted Katherine to like her, because Katherine was very important to Stefan.

"I actually have to get going" she said, turning down the offer. "Thanks though. Maybe some other time."

Elena was relieved to know Katherine didn't hate the idea of going to lunch, but that she just had other plans. "Okay, cool" she said nervously, feeling like an idiot in front of Katherine.

"I'll see you Saturday" Katherine told her. She took a step forward and felt herself start to fall sideways. Stefan's Jeep and Elena caught her before she could go down. Dizzy spell. One of the many side effects she could look forward to.

"Oh my God, are you alright?" Elena asked, her voice slightly panicky, but wanting to stay calm for Katherine.

"I'm fine" Katherine said quickly, brushing off Elena's concern. "I haven't eaten yet today is all" she lied. "I have snacks in the car." Another lie. She was full of them lately.

Slowly, Elena nodded. She wasn't quite sure she believed her.

"Don't say anything to the boys, okay?" Katherine asked. "I don't want them to worry over nothing."

Again, Elena nodded. "I'll try on that dress and text you" Elena said, following Katherine's wishes to drop the conversation.

Katherine smiled warily. "Great" was all she said as she walked away, breathing a sigh of relief as she did. She really hoped Elena would keep quiet about what she saw.

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A whistle behind her quickly cheered her up. Her mind had been on Katherine since seeing her nearly fall. She hated keeping secrets, especially from Stefan.

Stefan slowly walked towards her, wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder. They both continued to check her appearance in the mirror. "Remind me to call Katherine and thank her for this" he said, sliding his hands down past her hips and bunching up the fabric so he could see more of her toned legs.

Elena swatted his hands away though and smiled. "You're wrinkling it" she told him, stepping out of his reach. She carefully pulled the dress over her head and walked it to the closet to hang it up. She had her back to him when she tried to unclasp her bra. "Ugh, this damn new bra" she complained. "It won't unclasp. Can you help me?" she asked, turning her head back slightly to look at him.

He was too busy staring at her and repeating her question in his head to move. "Uh, yeah. Sure" he said, finally finding the ability to move. He had already dressed for bed, choosing a pair of shorts and a t-shirt to sleep in. He found his fingers shaking as he grabbed for the clasp on her bra. With one good tug, he got it loose. Instead of pushing it off of her shoulders, he took advantage of her semi vulnerable state, placing feather-light kisses against the base of her neck, then down her spine a little ways.

She shivered when the cool ocean air from the open window passed by. He didn't stop though. He continued his gentle ways, pressing his lips to her skin, eventually moving along her shoulder. Stefan smiled when he felt Elena lean back into him, letting her head lull to the side as she relaxed. "Let's get away for a weekend" he whispered. "Next weekend, wherever you want to go."

She smiled. "Anywhere?" she asked.

Stefan kissed her shoulder again. "Anywhere" he promised.

She turned around to face him, her body going from relaxed to intrigued rather quickly. The obvious answer would have been the beach. Maybe off the coast of North Carolina or even Florida. But she wanted something different. "A cabin. In the mountains. On a lake" she told him. "So we can go swimming and hiking" Elena added.

"Hiking in the mountains it is" Stefan said, leaning down and kissing her forehead. He was looking forward to it.

She let her bra drop to the floor as she reached up to grab his face. She pulled him down to her and kissed him. "What's the occasion?" she asked breathlessly.

Stefan shrugged. "I just want to get away and have some alone time with the girl I love" he said. He watched her hesitate with saying the words back. She wanted to say them, but he knew she was protecting her heart. He couldn't blame her for it.

So he kissed her again, and he didn't stop until they were a tangled mess in his bed.