A/N: Have I told you all how much I appreciate you lately? Because I do. You all have your own special place in my heart and I hope you know that :)
Thank you for reading. I apologize if this update makes you cry and/or say "Awww" more than once.
"Are you sure you don't want to go to a big city to find a dress?" Jenna asked, following Elena down the sidewalk in town. Surely Richmond or Charlottesville would have more of a dress selection than Mystic Falls.
Elena smiled as she sent a text message back to Stefan, who was being nosey and wanting to know what she was doing. Clearly he was not getting any work done like he was supposed to be doing. "I'm looking for something elegant, yet simple" Elena informed her. She was confident that she could find the perfect wedding dress for her wedding without having to go to expensive shops in the city or ordering online so a dress could be flown in from Paris. "Let's try here" Elena said, walking into a small boutique that she had bought her prom dress from years earlier.
"Good morning ladies. How can I help you?" an older woman greeted with a friendly smile. It was the same woman who owned the shop all those years ago too.
"I'm looking for a wedding dress" Elena explained.
The woman's face lit up. "Follow me" she told her, leading her towards the back. "Now, I have four in the store, and all can be altered here in the store" she explained. The store phone rang out and she politely excused herself. "Just holler when you need me" she added with her Southern charm before walking away.
"Thank you" Jenna told her. When the woman was back behind the counter, Jenna stood next to Elena and admired the dresses. "See anything you like?" Jenna asked.
Elena smiled. "This one" she said, grabbing one down. It was a ball gown style dress that she thought looked pretty. She really did not have her heart set on a particular style of dress. She just figured she would know when she found it.
"Well go try it on" Jenna said, getting way too excited about shopping for a dress. She sat down in a chair while Elena went to put it on. "What are you thinking for your colors?" Jenna asked.
"I haven't really thought much about it" she said through the fitting room door. "I've been pretty busy lately" she admitted. She hadn't really thought about anything related to the wedding, aside from what Stefan had suggested.
Jenna scoffed. "No one is too busy to plan her wedding" she told her.
Elena smiled and came out in the dress. "I wanted a low-key wedding. Stefan wanted it to be a big deal" she said, looking less than thrilled with the dress she had on. Jenna nodded her head in agreement. It wasn't the dress for Elena.
"I bet he wants you to have a perfect dream wedding" Jenna smiled, walking up behind Elena and moving her hair so that it all cascaded down her back.
Elena smiled as well. "He said he was only getting married once, so he wanted to make it special" she explained. He had been incredibly adorable when he had told her that.
Jenna placed her hand over her heart and nearly melted onto the ground. "He's so sweet" Jenna said.
Elena laughed. "He's something all right" she said. Hell, she even missed his neediness even if she did enjoy the peace and quiet without him around. "Hand me that one please" Elena said, pointing at another dress. Jenna walked over and grabbed it for her and Elena went to try that one on.
"You know, I don't think I've ever seen you so happy before" Jenna said. "Especially for someone who had a shit ton of bad things thrown at her a few months ago" she reminded. Being cheated on and dumped by your boyfriend, getting fired, being involved in a car crash and being charged with participating in embezzlement weren't all things that happened to every girl every day. Jenna had been so worried that Elena would fall apart in the aftermath of it all.
"It's hard not to be happy when I'm with him" Elena admitted, slipping into the next dress. He really didn't let her be unhappy, always doing his best to make her smile. "He's fun and sweet and …" she said, stumbling to find another descriptor that did not refer to his talents in the bedroom. "He loves me" she finally said, coming out with the second dress on. It had way too many ruffles on it.
Jenna noticed that Elena looked somewhat teary-eyed now. "Hon, what is it?" Jenna asked, jumping up be with her once again.
Elena shrugged. "It's nothing" she said, looking at herself in the mirror. "I don't like this one either" she said, turning to go back in.
Jenna grabbed her arm and stopped her though. "Elena, what is it?" Jenna asked.
Elena sat down and sighed. "I don't know … I guess sometimes, I just … I wait for reality to hit" she admitted. "I wait for him to wake up one day and decide he doesn't want to be with me anymore." It was a horrible thing to think about, but she couldn't help it. It was that one insecurity she had in her life at the moment and she just couldn't shake it, no matter how hard she tried.
"Because Gregory decided he didn't want to be with you anymore?" Jenna asked. Elena looked at her, seeing that Jenna knew where Elena's insecurities still were. "He was a sorry excuse for a man, Elena" Jenna said, grabbing Elena's hand. "This – Stefan – is your reality" Jenna told her. "I have a good feeling about you two" she added with a smile.
Elena wiped at a single tear and laughed at herself. "I know. I do know all of this. God, I'm being silly" Elena told her. "I think I just really miss him." It had been three days.
Jenna pulled her into a hug and smiled. "I bet he really misses you too" Jenna told her. "And by the way, I don't like this dress either" she agreed.
"I kind of want to head back" she said. She didn't feel like dress shopping anymore. She just wanted to call Stefan and hear his voice.
Jenna nodded. "You have plenty of time to find you the perfect dress" she assured her. "Stefan will love you in anything though" she smiled.
Elena had to laugh at that. Stefan would love her in anything.
As long as he could take it off of her.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Okay, so I have my boy and girl name" Bonnie said, coming into the living room and handing Damon a plate of nachos to hold. The nachos were her after-dinner snack, snack. She had chocolate chip pancakes for dinner and an hour later, had yogurt and strawberries for a snack. Two hours after that, she was making nachos. Bonnie sat down on the couch with him.
"I've got mine too" Damon announced. "You go first" he said, waiting for her to lean back into him so he could hold her.
She happily accepted her plate of nachos, appreciative that he was not nagging her about how unhealthy they were. She had added double everything. Double cheese, beans, meat, sour cream, olives and salsa. "Well, for a boy, I think Benjamin" she said. "And for a girl, Juliette" she added, digging in to the messy food.
"Those are good ones" he told her, stealing one of her nachos off of the plate. She let him, though if he was going to eat a lot off of her plate, he'd have to go and make her more. "Want to hear mine?" he asked. Bonnie nodded. "For a boy, I was thinking Alex. And Claire for a girl" he said.
"Huh" Bonnie said, testing the names in her head. "I like those" she told him.
"So how do we decide?" Damon asked.
"Well, I suppose that Stefan and Elena could cast their votes" she said, smiling. "But I think any of the names we picked out will be perfect" she added.
"So, we can just use mine then, right?" he asked. He had thought long and hard about his choices.
Bonnie looked up at him and saw his beautiful, smartass smile. "No. I still want my names in the running" she informed him.
"Fine" he told her. "But we can't tell them which names we each picked. Because Stefan will choose yours" he said. That bias would definitely be there.
Bonnie laughed. "You don't know that" she said.
"He so would" Damon argued. Stefan always took Bonnie's side on everything. He would definitely pick Bonnie's names over his own brother's. "We have to make this fair."
"Fine" Bonnie sighed. "Should we make a ballot box?" she asked jokingly.
"Might as well" Damon said, placing his hands on her stomach and kissing her cheek. "The naming of a Salvatore child is serious business" he smiled, kissing her again.
Bonnie set her plate down and tilted her head back to look up at him. "He or she is going to be so lucky" she told him sincerely.
"Of course, with a mom like you" he said, earning himself a smile and a kiss for that one.
"I love you" she told him. She loved hearing herself say that to him. It wasn't forced or even necessary, but she enjoyed letting him know how she felt.
"I love you too" he whispered, kissing her once more. "You ready for bed?" he asked.
Bonnie grinned. "I'm always ready to sleep" she reminded him. That's all she did lately. That and eat.
"Come on" he said, standing up with her.
She laughed when he picked her up. "You won't be able to do this once I get bigger" she said.
Damon carried her out of the room and up the stairs. "Yes I will" he told her with a smile. "I'm not as weak as Stefan claims" he added for a hint of humor. Stefan was always picking on him for not being as strong.
"We'll see" Bonnie said, rolling her eyes. With an extra 30 pounds or so in the upcoming months, she wasn't so sure. "Just don't drop me" she warned.
It was his turn to roll his eyes. "I only dropped you last summer because I got a cramp in my shoulder" he defended. "Now that I work out daily, I don't get those cramps."
Bonnie laughed. "Daily?" she asked. She laughed some more. "Oh honey, once a month does not equal daily" she informed him. Damon glared playfully. "You're so cute" she said, cupping his face in her hands. She kissed him, making him forget about her comment.
"I know you said you were tired …" he said, smiling at her as they made it to their room. He laid her on the bed and hovered over her, admiring how beautiful she was. "But are you up for a little Damon and Bonnie lovin' time?" he asked, grinning like he was pretty proud of himself for thinking up that one.
Bonnie smiled. "I am pretty tired" she said, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him closer. "But I'm always up for some lovin' time" she said.
"I'm very happy to hear that" he smiled, leaning in to kiss her.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Elena!" Alaric yelled from the bottom of the stairs. "Dinner will be here in a few minutes!" he hollered.
"Okay!" she yelled from her room. She had her laptop open, doing some work for the company. Numbers were still looking profitable and Stefan had done everything on the list that she had left him. She typed in a few comments and then logged off, ready to enjoy the rest of the evening with her family.
As soon as her laptop shut down, her phone rang. Her heart skipped with excitement as she quickly picked up. She hadn't been able to talk to him over the phone all day and she felt deprived. "Hi" she smiled, like a school girl with a crush. Was Stefan always going to do that to her?
"Hi" he said, and she knew he was smiling too. "What are you up to?" he asked.
Elena stood up and walked out of her room, ready to join her family downstairs. "Waiting on dinner. I think we're all going to watch a movie" she told him. "What are you up to?" she asked, reaching the bottom of the stairs.
There was a long sigh on his end. "I need to tell you something" he said, sounding serious.
Elena frowned slightly, hoping it was nothing bad. A whole list of possibilities ran through her mind. The doorbell rang and she figured she could answer it since she was closest. "What do you need to tell me?" she asked. Then she opened the door, ready to collect the food and pay the delivery person.
"That I've missed you" Stefan said, standing in front of her smiling as he continued to hold his phone up to his ear.
The shock on Elena's face wasn't going to wear off anytime soon. She moved towards him instantly and threw her arms around him, hugging him close. "Oh my God!" she cried out, crying from both happiness and complete surprise. The last person she expected to be on the other side of that door was Stefan. Though, she probably shouldn't have been surprised.
"I couldn't wait any longer" he said, picking her up off the ground slightly as he hugged her. Sure, she would have been back in Seattle in two days. But he just couldn't wait.
"I don't think I could have either" Elena admitted. She pulled away from him slightly and kissed him.
"What's going on?" Jeremy asked, coming over to see what all the commotion was about in the doorway.
Elena smiled as she pulled away even more from Stefan, though she kept her arm around him. "Look who came to visit" Elena asked, the excitement still showing in her smile.
Jeremy just stared at Stefan. "So the delivery guy isn't here?" he asked.
"No. Just me I'm afraid" Stefan told him, hugging Elena closer.
As if on cue, a car door slammed. "Finally" Jeremy said, squeezing past the two love birds to meet the delivery boy halfway. Jeremy paid for the pizzas and made his way back towards the house. "Nice to see you Stefan" he added, nodding at him as he went back inside. "The food is here!" he announced. And he was pretty excited about it.
Stefan and Elena both laughed. "Come in" she said, leading him inside. "You got here just in time."
"Elena, who are you talking …" Jenna began to ask, only to stop when she saw who it was. "Stefan" she said with a smile.
"Hi Jenna" he said, waving nervously at her. "I hope you don't mind me dropping in like this. I wanted to surprise Elena" he told her.
Jenna only had to look at Elena once to know that she was surprised. "You're welcome here anytime Stefan" Jenna told him, walking closer and pulling him into a hug. She stepped away from him and then ushered them both towards the couch. "You'd best grab some pizza before Jeremy eats it all" she warned them.
"Too late. I ate it all" Jeremy said, hiding the boxes.
Jenna walked behind him and whapped him on the head. "Give them up" she ordered, taking three of the boxes from him. She placed them on a table. "Help yourselves" she said. "There's drinks in the fridge." She grabbed a slice and went and sat down next to Alaric who waved to Stefan.
"Thank you" Stefan said. But he was more eager to hug on Elena at that moment.
Elena grabbed a few slices and a plate for them both. "Come on" she smiled, leading him to the couch. She sat down with him as Jeremy started the movie. "I'm glad you're here" she whispered, kissing his cheek.
He hugged her close, mindful of their PDA. "I thought you would be" he grinned, kissing her cheek right back.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Two hours later, everyone was heading to bed, including Stefan and Elena. "You should shower before we go to sleep" Elena told him as they entered her room.
"You want to join me?" he asked, grinning as he wrapped his arms around her waist.
Elena smiled as she shook her head no. "We can't do that here" she reminded him.
Stefan pouted. "I'm still going to think about you as if you were in there with me" he told her. She couldn't take that away from him.
Elena laughed. "Whatever works for you" she said, moving towards her bed. "I'm going to check my e-mail" she informed him.
"Well you're no fun" he told her, peeling off his shirt and tossing it at her. He smiled as he disappeared into her bathroom.
She heard the shower turn on and figured she had at least ten minutes before he got out and wanted to have sex.
Which wasn't going to happen. Not under her aunt's roof. She and Stefan had done some pretty wild things in their relationship, but sex with her family in the house was not, under any circumstances, going to happen.
Elena was in her pajamas and under the covers when Stefan walked out of the shower in just his towel wrapped around his waist. He walked across her room towards his bag, very much aware that Elena's eyes were following him. The way the water fell from his wet hair, down his body was a sight to see. He bent down to search for a pair of boxers, and his towel fell down. Probably not on accident either. "Jesus Stefan" Elena said, covering her eyes.
Stefan turned around and smiled at her, holding the pair of boxers in his hand. "What?" he asked innocently, standing before her completely naked.
"Put your boxers on!" she told him in a hushed voice. Her cheeks were turning red the longer she tried not to stare at him.
"Elena, does my nakedness still turn you on this much?" he asked, walking closer to her bed and lifting one leg up on it. Then he struck a pose for her.
"Just come to bed" Elena said, rolling her eyes. She couldn't help but stare at him though. And who could blame her. Her eyes scanned up and down his body slowly.
"Now that's more like it" Stefan grinned, jumping on top of the bed and landing on top of her. "Remember that part about me missing you?" he asked her, pulling back her covers so he could kiss her neck.
Elena groaned, trying so hard not to give in. "We can't do this here" she said, pushing on his chest. "They'll hear us" she reminded.
Stefan smiled as he reached over and shut her lamp off. Then he crawled under the covers with her, tossing his boxers onto the ground that he hadn't bothered to put on. She didn't put up much of a fight when he pulled her shirt off over her head. He slid down her body some, kissing his way from her neck to her breasts to her stomach. "Let's be quiet then" he whispered, trailing his tongue in slow patterns along her skin.
"Stefan" she groaned, feeling his lips move further and further down her body. Her fingers were threaded through his hair as she so desperately wanted him to stop and keep going at the same time. Stefan's hand slowly peeled her underwear off while his other hand pressed against her skin, becoming reacquainted with it once again.
"Shhh" he warned, pushing her legs apart slowly. He kissed the inside of her thigh, then moved to the other side and did the same. Firm, wet kisses that had her squirming. She whimpered, unable to control herself. "You're going to get us caught" he grinned, running his nose from the back of her knee, all the way up the inside of her thigh. His tongue was on her without warning, and Elena cried out, quickly biting the back of her hand to quiet herself. Who was she? Definitely not the in-control and powerful CFO that ran multi-million dollar companies. No. She was a girl incapable of staying strong under Stefan's touch. Stefan just chuckled, crawling his way back up her body. "Well that's not going to work" he smirked, pulling the covers over them and then resting on top of her.
"I can't help it" she moaned quietly, biting her bottom lip to keep some sort of control.
Stefan brought his hand up to her face and used his thumb to pull her lip away from her teeth. "We'll just have to think of some other way to keep you quiet" he whispered with pure sexual need, dripping from his voice.
"H … how?" she asked nervously. Her body and her mind were completely aroused to the point where she thought she could explode. It was a Stefan Salvatore thing. Something he could do to her simply by kissing her or whispering something to her. And it wasn't fair.
Stefan smiled as he traced his finger along her lips, admiring their beauty. She remained quiet, though her chest was rising and falling with anticipation. "You're so beautiful" he said softly. After a moment of just staring into her eyes, he shifted his body some and covered her mouth with his, easing himself into her slowly.
It was a welcomed surprise as her legs bent slightly, trying to figure out what was going to feel best in that position. Hell. Everything he did felt amazing, no matter what she did with her legs. He wasn't letting her contribute much, which had frustrated her at first. But knowing Stefan, sometimes he just wanted her to lay back and let him love her. Which is what he was doing at that moment.
His kisses swallowed her moans and she appreciated what he was doing, because everyone in the house would have heard her otherwise.
Elena let her fingers run down his back, enjoying the feeling of him everywhere. Inside of her, on top of her, and his arms wrapped around her.
Pure perfection.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
It was closing in on midnight and the rain was coming down. Whether the forecast had called for rain in Mystic Falls, Elena didn't know. It was all either of them could hear in the dark room though.
Elena had her head resting against his chest, her arm wrapped around his waist. Stefan had his fingers running lazily through her messy hair. "Is there anything missing from your life, Elena?" he asked quietly, staring out the window and watching the rain.
Elena stilled for a moment before finally answering him. "What do you mean?" she asked softly.
Stefan continued to work his fingers through her hair. "I guess I just want to know if there's something you don't have in life, that you thought you would have by this point" he said, clarifying for her what he meant.
Elena sat up and looked down at him. "Why would you ask me that?" she asked. Didn't he know that he was all she needed?
Stefan locked eyes with her finally, and his expression was still serious. "Because if there's anything missing, I want to give it to you" he answered honestly. Whatever it was, he would move mountains in order to give her everything she wanted.
Elena realized that maybe he had some insecurities of his own, just like she did. She smiled sadly as she looked down at him. "The only thing I need from you right now, is a promise that you will be with me for the rest of my life" she said, grabbing his hand to hold. "Because I'll make that same promise to you."
He sat up quickly, pulling her to him and grabbing her face in his hands. He leaned in close and locked eyes with her. "I promise you, Elena, that I will love you, and be right by you, until the day that I die" he said in a quiet, yet serious tone.
Elena nodded, feeling tears well up in her eyes. "I promise you the same, Stefan. I could never love someone as much as I love you" she told him, failing to blink back tears.
Stefan couldn't help his own tears that appeared just by hearing her say that. He had needed to hear her say that, because even though things were really good between them at the moment, he knew that they would face hardships in the future. "You're sure there's nothing else I can do for you?" he asked.
Elena shook her head no as she placed her hands over his, folding their fingers together. "I have everything when I have you" she told him in a faint, teary whisper. She didn't need anything else yet. "Is there something else you need?" she asked, thinking maybe he wanted something more.
Stefan pulled her hand towards him and kissed the inside of her wrist. "I only need you" he said, smiling softly. "You are my everything" he whispered.
Elena quickly moved forward, capturing his lips with hers. If he was going to say things like that to her, then she wanted to kiss him.
Over and over again.
Until they were both breathless.
A/N: Awww :) Isn't he sweet?
