"So, I talked to Caroline and despite her threats of decapitation, castration, and a very impressive show of ugly but ultimately fake crying and begging, on my part, I think I got you out of the surprise party she definitely has not been planning behind your back."

"What party? What are you talking about?" Elena asked distractedly while rummaging through her enormous sling bag.

"The surprise party that Caroline has been planning since kindergarten," Damon clarified. "Don't tell me you're actually surprised?" At Elena's stupefied stare, he added, "Your birthday? The one coming up in less than 3 weeks? Ring any bells?"

Elena's eyes got wide as saucers. "Oh my god. I completely forgot."

"You know I find the whole nerdy college girl up to her ears in books totally hot." Damon smirked. "But Elena – it's your twenty-first birthday. Don't tell me you actually forgot about it. Or worse – that you would rather go to Caroline's party?"

"Rather?" Elena asked as a smile slowly spread across her face. "Does that mean there are other options?"

"Duh," Damon replied. "I've got the whole day planned out. It's a Saturday, which is perfect because you don't have classes on Saturday and your last final is the Thursday before that, so no distractions and I get you all to myself. Which is why I begged off Caroline to postpone the surprise birthday bash."

"And what exactly did you have planned for the day?" Elena asked.

"I'm not telling you. It's a surprise!"

"But then how will I decide if your surprise is better than Caroline's?"

Damon let his jaw drop, acting wounded. "Ouch. Your trust in me is underwhelming."

"Come on, Damon," Elena begged, fluttering her eyelashes, "give me a hint at least."

"Give me a kiss," Damon placed his counter offer. Elena went willingly. "You'll need a gown," he gave away when their lips separated.

Elena looked at him, surprised. In her mind she went over all the possibilities she could think of, but came up with nothing. She leaned in again and said, her lips brushing against Damon's, "Give me another hint."

After she paid it forward, he thought for a moment and said, "I hired a pilot to get us there."

Well, that didn't clear things up at all. As Elena leaned in again, determined to get another hint out of him, Damon put a finger to her lips, halting her. "Nope," he said. "That's all you need to know for now."

With that, he turned and left, leaving a smiling, but stupefied Elena behind. She really hadn't realized that they had already moved into June, being so busy with school, her friends, Damon, and everything else. But… wasn't Damon's birthday in June also? Before she could devote any more time to that thought, she caught sight of the clock on top one of the buildings and had to hurry to her next class.

Damon was lounged in the library, a book in one hand, a glass of bourbon in the other – all in all, a fairly familiar picture by now. He looked up when Elena walked in.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, eyes wide in surprise and an expression of concern on his face.

Before she answered, she walked up to him and he met her half-way. "I wanted to wish you a happy birthday," she said.

"You already did," he reminded her. "This morning, when we spoke on the phone?"

"Yeah, but then I couldn't do this," she said and wound her arms around his neck, kissing him slow and deep.

"That's quite a drive for a kiss," he said when they came up for air again.

"Maybe I want to do more than just kiss."

Not that Damon wasn't up for it, but, "Don't you have finals all week?"

"I do. That's why we're staying in and not going out to celebrate."

"We don't celebrate my birthdays, Elena."

"Why not?"

Sighing, he looped his arms around her loosely and replied, "Once you bat above 100, turning 174 isn't that much of an accomplishment."

"I disagree," she said and grinned as she continued, "Managing not to get killed for 174 years straight is quite a feat, considering you're you."

Damon's jaw dropped, a look of deep betrayal on his face. "Ow." He pinched her side in retaliation and she squirmed away. "Aren't you supposed to be nice to me – it is my birthday, after all."

She leaned in closer and whispered, "You need me to make it up to you?" with a salacious grin.

Instead of answering, Damon rushed them up to his room.

In the middle of the night, Damon walked into the kitchen, bleary-eyed and in search of his girlfriend. He'd woken up a little while ago and found Elena missing. He had waited for her to come back, figuring she went to get a glass of water, but when after more than half an hour she didn't return, he got up to see where she was. He found her at the table, reading one of her textbooks.

"Can't sleep?" Damon asked, sitting down across from her and taking a sip of water from her glass.

"I don't think I'm ready to take this test," Elena said, motioning towards the book and her notes. "I haven't been as focused on my classes as I should have been."

"You should have stayed at Whitmore instead of driving over here tonight."

"But I wanted to be here," she replied. "It's probably just me being nervous before a test. I always get all jittery and anxious."

Damon's grin turned dirty. "Hey, if it's just a matter of not being tired yet, I promise to wear you out if you come back to bed with me," he offered.

"Ugh, guys, please," Stefan groaned as he walked into the kitchen also. "Not in the kitchen."

He didn't spare them another look and continued to the sink where he filled himself a huge glass of water. Having his back turned, he didn't see Elena ball up a page of paper and throw it at Damon, together with a death glare. The words 'too late' were already on his tongue and she dared him with her glare to keep them to himself. Damon pouted but she only glared harder at him in warning. Damon rolled his eyes but thankfully refrained from saying anything.

A few moments later Stefan left them again with a mumbled good night. Elena thought he hadn't caught their antics, but before he left the room, Stefan sent a grateful nod in Elena's direction, though she might have imagined it.

When they were alone again, Damon turned serious. He reached across the table to cup her cheek. "All jokes aside, you okay?"

She nodded. "Just too much on my mind. I won't be this wreck of nerves once the term is over, I promise."

"Do you want me to leave you alone?" Damon asked.

"Or," Elena said, closing her book, "you could let me take you up on that offer…" She trailed off, biting her lip enticingly.

Damon came around the table and pulled her up by her hands. The force of the pull pushed her body firmly against his. He wrapped one arm around her middle to keep her close, the other going back to her face. For a long moment he just looked at her, no need for words. Simultaneously, they both leaned in for a kiss, lips moving slow against each other before opening up and allowing for deeper entrance.

They kissed slowly and languidly for several minutes until Damon's hand wandered down her body, encouraging Elena to wrap her legs around his waist. Like this, they slowly made their way back to the bedroom, stopping often when Damon pushed her against a wall to trace the line of her neck with his lips. Or set her down on one of the side tables as they passed the parlor, or pressed her against the banister on the stairs because her tongue was doing wicked things to him and he needed a break to catch a breath.

When they eventually ended up back upstairs, he set her down on the bed and removed her t-shirt. She lay back as he pulled down her yoga pants and thick socks – because even in summer the house tended to get drafty in the night. Finally, he removed her panties.

Damon slowly made the trek up her body, stopping frequently to worship and caress her with hands and lips. Inside the V of her legs, he took a quick swipe between her womanly folds before continuing upwards and paying long and extensive attention to her breasts because she wouldn't let him before when she told him to lay back and let her do all the work.

When he finally reached her face, their mouths met for another toe-curling kiss. Pulling back from it, Elena flipped them over.

"My turn," she whispered and began the same slow exploration of his body.

She tasted his tip while her hands roamed his chest. He grabbed one of her palms, placing a kiss in the center and continued to kiss her wrist and the length of her arm. When he finished and was about to move on to the other one, she pushed her wrist against his lips.

Damon knew what she was asking, but he hesitated for the fraction of a second. But then she wrapped her mouth around his lengths, making his eyes roll back and his mind disengage. His fangs came out and broke the skin of her wrist. He started to drink, and with every sip his world narrowed down and expanded again to focus on only one thing – Elena. Around him, touching him, her scent, her taste, her blood in his mouth. A whole micro cosmos, orbiting around her.

She came up to kiss him, gently pulling her wrist away, and he latched onto her mouth instead. While they kissed, Elena guided him inside, slowly starting to move. She moaned into his mouth; he felt so good inside her.

She pushed her upper body firmer against his, enjoying the friction of their skin moving against each other. It was enough to keep her on the precipice but not tumble over. She wasn't in a hurry to come.

They continued kissing forever, lost in each other. Elena pushed her hair out of the way, letting it spill over a shoulder and his chest and arm as her lips moved to his neck. She bit into his artery, starting to drink. His hips snapped up in response but he quickly controlled himself – it was her show.

She stopped drinking, cleaned his neck with her tongue, and went back to kissing him, more insistent this time. Never breaking the kiss, Elena slipped a hand between their bodies, touching herself, but Damon took over the task, going agonizingly slow at first until Elena rose up, palms on Damon's chest for leverage. Damon gasped and tried to hold back, but it was impossible. He slammed head-first into an orgasm, coming inside her and spilled himself, and spilled, and spilled.

She stopped moving while he unloaded inside of her, but once he was spent, she took up her movements again. His thumb moved insistently over her sensitive spot while she moved up and down, faster now. He was still hard from her blood; his seed spilling out of her making things slippery, and messy, and glorious. Elena wanted to come – it was one of those times where she knew it would be almost too intense to bear, and she wanted and dreaded it at the same time.

Like a rollercoaster climbing higher and higher, she had no choice but to surrender. Her body spasmed and she threw her head back, riding out the waves and being pulled under with the current. The next time she opened her eyes, she was slumped over Damon's stretched out form.

"You all right?" Damon asked, thumb stroking along her temple.

Elena nodded, still dazed, and tried to lift up.

"You blacked out there for a moment," Damon explained.

"I did? Oh," she said, remembering. "Yeah. It was… intense."

She let him slip from her body and rolled onto her back to lie beside him. He followed her and started kissing her body while she gathered her strength.

Eventually, he asked, "Tired yet?"

Elena smiled lazily. "Tired – yes. Sleepy – no."

Damon did eventually fall asleep when the sky had already started to brighten. Unfortunately, Elena had to get up and go back to Whitmore. She crawled out of bed and stood under the shower spray on still wobbly legs. Her whole body prickled deliciously but Elena didn't think it had to do with the water temperature.

Without a conscious effort on her part, Elena's hand crept down her body to touch herself. She played across all her sensitive spots but it didn't give her the same pleasure as when Damon did it. He knew her body and could easily locate that one spot inside her that made her feel like she was having two orgasms at once. But no matter how much Elena tried, she just couldn't reach it.

She thought about calling out for Damon. He probably wouldn't mind the wakeup call. But she felt ridiculous doing that, after the night they just had.

Adjusting the angle of her fingers, she involuntarily released a gasp, "Damon—" It came out louder that she had intended.

A second later the man in question stepped into the bathroom, looking rumpled and gorgeous, and unbearably sexy. For a moment, he watched her through the clear glass of the shower stall, head tilted sideways.

Elena huffed in frustration and gave up, imploring Damon with her eyes to do something.

His lips spread in a relaxed grin as he stepped into the shower with her. "You were touching yourself when I'm just a few feet away?" he asked, accusingly.

Elena shrugged and leaned against the tiled wall.

"Show me," he told her.

Her palm slid down her stomach once again, and lower, slipping two fingers inside her hot channel, still frustratingly unsatisfying. Damon's fingers joined her own, unerringly finding the soft tissue inside that made her body jerk. She sighed against his mouth, giving herself over to the sensations.

"Is that the blood?" she asked between breaths, referring to the constant want under her skin.

Damon rubbed his erection against her hip while taking Elena's body higher and higher with his hands. "Remember the parent-teacher conference last year? My blood was still inside you. You were so horny; you couldn't think straight."

"I don't remember," Elena gasped.

"I'll tell you later," Damon promised.

His fingers pushed deeper while the knuckle of his thumb was exerting pressure from the outside. Elena lifted up on tiptoes to escape the delicious torture but Damon was relentless until she screamed her release into his shoulder.