A/N: I really enjoyed writing this update and I hope you all fall in love with Stefan and Elena all over again.

Stefan stretched when he felt the morning sun shining through Elena's window and landing on his face. It was going to be a beautiful day, despite it being Elena's last one at the ranch. Elena stirred next to Stefan, but didn't wake.

He pressed his lips to the back of Elena's bare shoulder and then rolled away from her. Stefan reached down beside the bed and grabbed his jeans. As he stood and slipped them back on, he admired the sleeping girl he had wrapped in his arms moments ago. The love they had made the night before had been gentle and full of tenderness and had lasted well into the early morning hours.

He didn't know how he would make it through the days without seeing her, but knowing she wanted to come back gave him hope that everything would work out. Stefan crawled back on the bed and kissed her lips softly.

Elena smiled a little, but made no effort to get up. It wasn't even six in the morning yet, so Stefan didn't even bother trying to get her up. So he climbed back off of the bed and grabbed his t-shirt from the floor. Then he made his way into the bathroom.

When he stepped out of the shower ten minutes later, smelling like the fresh clean sent of his soap, he was pleasantly surprised to see Elena leaning in the doorway in nothing but her pink underwear and black tank top that she had worn to bed. A towel was wrapped around his waist and the water from his hair was falling down in droplets, following the path that the lines of his abs provided. "I didn't think you'd be up for a while yet" he said, watching as her eyes took him in.

She had seen him naked plenty of times before, but there was something about seeing him in just a towel and slightly wet that did things to her. Then she had to deal with how incredible he smelled. "I should have been up sooner" Elena replied, still letting her eyes continue to wander across his half naked body. She sauntered on over to him, her hair still in a mess of his own doing. He didn't know why it had taken him so long to figure out that having his hands in her hair while they were making love was the best thing ever. Better late than never. "My hair's a mess" Elena told him, stopping right in front of him with barely any distance between them. "Your hands were in it all night. Grabbing, pulling … feeling" she said, tilting her head up just enough so she could see his eyes looking down at her lustfully.

Stefan placed his hands near her ears and worked his fingers down through her hair, trying to calm the mess of curls he had created earlier. She still looked sexy as hell though. "I didn't hurt you, did I?" he asked. He had caught himself a few times tugging a little too hard when he was feeling the intense pleasure she was giving him.

Elena shook her head slowly and then leaned up to give his lips a short, feather light kiss. "Next time, pull harder" she whispered. A seductive smile appeared as she watched his eyes light up. She knew he wasn't really into the whole dominance thing, and she wasn't either, but a little hair-pulling had been a bit of a turn-on for her. Elena's hand touched his chest and sat there for a moment before she slid it downward and grabbed onto the knot in his towel. Stefan watched her hand closely and swallowed hard. "Can I have a peek?" she asked him. Her voice sounded so innocent, but her eyes gave her away.

Stefan's cheeks turned a light shade of pink, but he still managed to nod. Although many girls had probably wanted to see what Stefan had to hide under his clothes, only Elena had asked. And only she had seen.

Elena smiled, feeling the excitement warm her cheeks as well. She liked the innocent, naughty fun they were engaging in. So she tugged his towel forward a bit so she could peer down inside. "Hmmm" she said, letting the towel fall back in place.

"What?" Stefan asked. She had seen it many times before.

Elena wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned in close to him. "Pick me up" she insisted. When he did, she wrapped her legs around his waist and sat eye level with him. He looked at her curiously, waiting for her to answer him. "When I go back home" she told him, wiping at a water droplet hanging off of his hair. "I'm going to get on birth control, so when the mood strikes us, we won't have to worry about whether or not we have a condom around" Elena said bluntly.

"Oh" was all Stefan could manage to get out. Just the thought of being able to have sex at anytime, anywhere overloaded his brain.

Elena laughed as she watched him digest what she had just told him. "I miss you" she whispered, running her fingers behind his ears softly.

Stefan tilted his head slightly. "I'm right here" he reminded her.

Elena leaned forward and grabbed the bottom of his ear with her teeth. "I miss you … inside of me" she whispered so quietly that he barely could hear her. When she leaned back so she could see his face, she could tell just how turned on he was by what she had said.

Stefan leaned forward this time and licked her chin with the tip of his tongue, reminding her of what exactly that tongue could do to her under the right circumstances. "Tonight" he whispered. Then his lips sealed over hers, promising her.

When he arrived downstairs half an hour or so later, he found Ric drinking coffee and reading the morning newspaper. Stefan grabbed himself a cup and joined him. "You ready to take Elena to the airport tomorrow mornin'?" Ric asked.

Stefan set his coffee cup down and wrapped both hands around it. "Were you ready to take Jenna to the airport last time she was here?" Stefan countered.

Ric lowered his paper. "Jenna's got her own life back in Virginia, just like Elena" Ric answered. Hell no he wasn't ready to take Jenna to the airport and watch her leave.

Stefan smiled, which confused Ric. "Elena told me she wants to apply to the University of Wyoming" Stefan informed him. "Which means she'll be 'round here permanently." Ric looked just as shocked as Stefan had when he'd first heard Elena tell him that. "Which means, we just have to convince Jenna to move out here with Jeremy" Stefan added, standing from the table.

Ric smiled as well, because it was a nice thought. "I'm not so sure she wants that" Ric said, his smile slowly fading.

Stefan sipped his coffee. "Maybe she just needs a little convincin' is all" Stefan shrugged. "Besides, you survived raisin' two of us kids. One more won't kill ya" he added, downing the rest of his coffee.

"I'd raise Jeremy as if he were my own" Ric admitted. "Just like I did with you and your brother."

His admission made Stefan smile. "Would you do anythin' different if you had to do it all over again, raisin' Damon and me?" Stefan asked. He could never express how thankful he was for Ric stepping in with no warning whatsoever from his parents. If not for Ric, he and Damon would have been placed in foster care rather than getting the chance to grow up on the ranch.

Ric grinned. "A few more ass whoopins for sure" he replied. "And more Sunday mornin's at church" he added.

Stefan laughed. "Good to know" he told Ric. "Oh, and Elena and I won't be home for dinner tonight" Stefan mentioned as he took another drink of his coffee. Since it was her last night at the ranch, Stefan wanted to make it special.

Ric looked intrigued. "Are you guys goin' out for dinner?" Ric asked. "I could join you two" he said, inviting himself to come along.

Stefan hesitated, because he didn't want to hurt his feelings, but he definitely did not want Ric to tag along on his last night with Elena. "Well, it's sort of a date" Stefan told him.

"Oh" Ric said quickly. "A date, huh?" Ric asked with a smile. "Gosh, I haven't been on one of them in a long while" he said, reminiscing in his head about all the dates he had taken Jenna on.

"Well" Stefan said, setting his coffee cup down again. "When we convince Jenna to move out here, you can take her on as many dates as you want. Hell, Elena and I'll even babysit Jeremy for you guys" Stefan said, shooting Ric a smile. He was so happy that Ric understood that he wanted alone time with Elena.

"You know" Ric said, standing. He followed Stefan to the front door and grabbed his hat, then followed Stefan outside. "I took Jenna to one of them drive-in movies when we was younger" he began to explain.

"What was the movie?" Stefan asked as they walked inside of the barn.

Ric laughed. "Hell if I remember. We wasn't exactly payin' attention to the movie, if ya know what I mean" Ric told him with a wink.

"Gotcha" Stefan said, really hoping that Ric wouldn't elaborate. "Hey, what do we have to get done today?" Stefan asked, changing the subject and opening the grain buckets to feed.

Ric scratched the back of his head as he tried to prioritize everything. There was always way too much to get done and not enough time. "We best get them calves vaccinated" he told Stefan. "I think 'bout 20 we got to get done."

Stefan nodded. "Yes Sir" he said. There wasn't a day that went by that he didn't enjoy working with Ric. Plus, the money was decent and Ric usually had some pretty good stories to tell.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Elena finished putting her hair in a braid and pinning back a few loose pieces of hair to keep it out of her face. She was pulling her boots on when she heard a knock on her door. "Elena?" Damon asked.

Elena inwardly groaned. "Yeah?" she answered.

Damon walked in shirtless and barefoot, holding up a tie and two nice dress shirts. A blue one and a burgundy one. He was wearing a nice pair of black slacks and his hair was messy from a shower. "I need help" he told her, looking and sounding desperate.

As much as Elena didn't like him, she took pity on him. "The blue one" she told him. It matched his eyes. Damon tossed the burgundy shirt on her bed and put the blue one on. She watched his struggle with his tie for a few minutes before she walked towards him. "Here" she said, taking the tie for him. "Who is the lucky girl?" Elena asked, knowing even only a man whore like Damon could still get flustered and nervous when it came to dates.

As nervous as he was, Damon still managed to smile. "Bekah" he answered. "I'm takin' her somewhere real nice" he explained.

"She agreed to go out with you?" Elena asked as she finished with his tie.

"Nah, she don't know I'm comin' to pick her up" Damon answered. "But she always liked gettin' dressed up and I never really took her anywhere worth gettin' dressed up for" he explained. You didn't exactly need a pretty dress to hang out at the arena or to go mudding in. "Now, what kinda flowers you think I should stop and pick up?" Damon asked, turning to look at himself in Elena's mirror.

"Well" Elena said, sitting back down on her bed. "What are her favorite flowers?" she asked.

Damon shrugged. "She ain't ever told me."

Elena rolled her eyes. "She shouldn't have to. You should have asked a long time ago" Elena told him. He looked at her helplessly in the mirror. "Well, I guess red roses are a safe bet. A lot of red roses."

"Right" Damon said, taking note. "Hey, where does my brother keep those condoms I gave him?" Damon asked, walking through the bathroom and into Stefan's room.

Elena was following right behind him. "You can't have sex with her!" Elena said loudly, to make her point clear. Damon turned around and looked at her like he didn't understand why not. "You're supposed to be trying to win her back, by showing her how much you care about her. So just … spend time with her, making her special and doing things she likes" Elena told him.

Damon grinned. "She likes our sex" he told her.

Elena crossed her arms. "No" she told him. "Take Rebekah out tonight, make her feel special, and then drop her off and come home. No sex" she instructed. Damon didn't look convinced. "Can you really afford to screw up anymore?" Elena asked him. "You slept with her best friend, and you want to ask her for sex tonight?" Elena asked.

Damon sighed. "No, you know what? You're right" he agreed. "No sex tonight. Thanks, Elena" he told her.

Elena smiled. "Remember to tell her that she looks beautiful. Oh, and open doors for her" Elena reminded him. "Good luck" she added.

Damon grinned. "You act like I'm gonna need it" he said.

Elena grinned right back. "You need a whole hell of a lot more than just luck" she told him, walking back to her room and leaving Damon worried that he was completely screwed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Stefan had dirt from head to toe when he walked back inside the house just before dark. So did Ric. "You boys have been busy" Elena commented. Though, seeing Stefan sweaty and dirty from a long day's work made her want to take him back out to the barn and have her way with him. Elena had been outside with them on and off, providing what little help she could offer them. She wasn't too interested in sticking the baby cows with giant needles, so she spent most of her time in the barn, giving hugs and kisses to her horse and calf. She was really going to miss them both.

"Come here for a second" Stefan said, taking Elena's hand and leading her into the other room. "I have somethin' planned for us tonight. I just gotta shower and run out for a bit" he explained. "So why don't you take your time gettin' ready and I'll be back here to pick you up" he told her, smiling at the thought of her waiting at home for him.

Elena smiled and he could tell she was excited about his plans for her. "What should I wear?" Elena asked. "Will a dress work?" she asked.

Stefan nodded, thinking that would be perfect. "Absolutely" he told her. He leaned in and kissed her. "I'll see you soon" he said, smiling against her lips before he headed up the stairs.

Elena followed, heading straight for her room to pick out what she wanted to wear. She heard the shower turn on, and then off five minutes later. He really was in a hurry to go do what he needed to do.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

At exactly 9:00 PM, there was a knock on the door downstairs. Elena then heard Ric yell up to her room that someone was there to see her.

She was slightly confused because no one ever came to see her at the ranch. She didn't know anyone else besides Rebekah and Katherine, and they really didn't visit. As Elena descended down the stairs, she stopped suddenly when she found Stefan standing at the door with a bouquet of sunflowers, ones that he had picked for her.

He was dressed in a nice pair of blue jeans, his brown boots and a red flannel shirt. Elena had gone with a simple white cotton dress and her brown boots with the teal that Stefan had bought for her. Her hair was in soft waves and her makeup was light, since Stefan had commented that she didn't need makeup. She was beautiful without it. She kept her earrings simple too, choosing the diamond studs that she had gotten for her birthday a few years ago.

Stefan couldn't keep his eyes off of her, even with Ric standing there. "You look … wow" Stefan said, finding it hard to describe. She was just the prettiest girl he had ever seen.

Elena blushed, and for good reason. When Stefan complimented you, you knew you were the luckiest girl alive. "Thank you" she told him. She had a small white clutch with her, because she didn't know where they were going. She took her phone out of it and handed it to Ric. "Could you take a picture for us?" she asked. While she couldn't use her phone with no service, she could take photos and post them when she got home. She wanted photos of them together for when she was apart from him.

Elena set the phone up and went to stand next to Stefan so Ric could take a few. Stefan wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. "You two have fun" Ric told them, giving Elena her phone back. He took the flowers from her to put in water as Stefan and Elena left.

Stefan was the perfect gentleman as always, opening the truck door for her and helping her in. Then they drove for about half an hour before pulling off onto some back country road. When they finally stopped, Elena tried to guess where they were, but couldn't. "Come on" Stefan smiled, getting out and going around to let her out. Then he stood behind her and placed his hands over her eyes so she couldn't see. "No peekin'" he told her as they walked down a path. Elena listened for sounds that would give her an idea of where she was, but it was pretty quiet aside from the crickets making noise.

"Where are we going?" Elena asked. She couldn't see a thing.

"It's a surprise" he told her.

"You know, your brother is taking Rebekah out to a fancy restaurant tonight" Elena told him. While Stefan was taking her on a nature walk.

Stefan's lips were against Elena's ear instantly and it made her suck a quick breath in. "This is better than a fancy restaurant" he assured her.

She knew that. Anything that involved Stefan topped everything else. Elena could hardly contain her curiosity as they continued to walk. "Seriously Stefan, how much longer?" she asked.

"Almost there" he promised, and he wasn't lying. She took a few more steps when he stopped her. "Okay, you can open your eyes now" he said, removing his hands.

The sight before her nearly made her knees give out under her. She was standing on the shore of a small lake, lit up by hundreds of small candles floating on the water. Off to her right was a boat with a cooler, a basket and pillows and blankets. There was even a small radio playing country music from the local station. "Stefan" she said in complete awe as she turned around to face him. "You did all of this, for me?" she asked. It was so beautiful and exactly what she wanted for their last night.

"Yes" he answered, smiling because he was so thrilled that she liked it. "Come here" he said, taking her hand and helping her into the boat. Then he pushed it further into the water and jumped in. He joined Elena in sitting at the back of the boat with his legs stretched out. "Here" he said, pulling a blanket over them since it was getting cooler out. "Hungry?" he asked.

He had a whole assortment of foods for their dinner, including croissant sandwiches, potato salad, slices of watermelon, pasta salad, and the root beer in the glass bottles. Elena took a sandwich from him and leaned back so she could look up at the stars. "You know what I'm going to miss most about this place?" she asked quietly as the boat rocked softly in the water.

Stefan looked over at her. "What?" he asked. There were so many things to miss about Wyoming. The landscape, the quiet, peaceful open spaces, the food. The list went on and on.

"You" she answered. She looked over at him and saw just how touched he was to hear her say that. "Everything else is amazing, but you're the reason I'm living my life again" she told him.

He felt like he needed to say something equally as amazing back. "You know what I'm gonna miss most 'bout you?" he asked her, turning on his side so he could really look at her. Elena turned on her side as well so she could see him. "Everything" he said, answering his own question. "Fallin' asleep with you just so I can wake up with you" he told her. "Your smile, your willingness to try new things, how nurturin' you are …" he listed off. "I love everything about you, and I've never felt that way 'bout anyone before." It was the honest truth.

His eyes captivated hers. "Stefan" she said. It came out as a whisper because he quite literally took her breath away.

Stefan leaned over and kissed her, knowing full well that she may have been trying to tell him that she loved him. She still wasn't ready though, and he could feel it. As his lips trailed down her neck, tasting her skin, she wrapped her arms around him and held on. "I love you" Stefan whispered.

Elena closed her eyes and let the feeling of Stefan's warm mouth on her skin be burned into her memory. She needed to remember what it felt like, so she wouldn't go absolutely crazy without him. "Make love to me, Stefan" she whispered, relaxing under his touch.

Their breathing drowned out the sound of thousands of crickets. The only other sound she could hear was him whispering in her ear.

"Yes."

A/N: To be continued …