It had been a long hard day at the end of a long hard week. Her anal boss had been riding her for five straight days demanding more and more work from her in an increasingly annoying way.
Normally she wasn't the type to take off on a Friday night in order to unwind, but when Caroline had suggested the girl's night out she couldn't say no. Together they had painted the town red but after watching Caroline get picked up by her boyfriend when she was no longer able to drive had made her feel lonely.
She hadn't realized what she had done until the cab pulled up outside the house that wasn't hers.
She stumbled out after passing the bills to the driver and teetered to the door. She was willing to admit that she was a little tipsy when she tripped over her heels.
She toed off the black stilettos and felt instant relief when her toes sank into the grass, damp with dew. She carried the heels in one hand and moved across the lawn to pound on the door.
"Hey," she shouted into the darkened house. "I know you're in there."
"Shut up!" Someone yelled from across the street.
"Hey!" Her fist pounded the door. Somewhere to her left a dog started barking and a trashcan was knocked over.
She stepped back, nearly tripping over her heel, when a light clicked on inside. With her hands on her hips she yelled through the screen door, slurring her words slightly.
"Listen up you little shit –"
"SHUT UP!"
She disregarded the neighbors, focused only on the approaching figure behind the door.
" – I have feelings for you," she swayed in the grass, "and I know you have feelings for me too, so it's about fucking time we acknowledged them!"
The door was pulled open, revealing a yawning young man in pajamas.
"This is really awkward," he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, "since you're my sister."
Elena rolled her eyes at her little brother.
"I wasn't talking to you," she heaved an exasperated sigh. "You've been living with him too long."
"And something tells me I'm going to want to move out after this," Jeremy stepped aside and motioned her in. He took her elbow when she stumbled, steering her further into the house.
"Who the bloody hell is shouting?"
Jeremy took Elena's shoes, dropping them on the mat by the door, and smirking at his roommate. He gave his suddenly shy sister a tiny push.
"It's for you." Jeremy slipped back through the hall, shutting the door to his room and locating his headphones.
"So that was you shouting?" Kol tilted his head. "You don't think that's a little inappropriate, darling? He's your brother."
"You're such an ass!" She reached out to shove his arm and fell against his chest. Her skin tingled where his hands held her waist.
"An ass that you've got feelings for," he smirked.
"We've acknowledged my feelings," she tried to straighten up, "what about yours?"
"What makes you think I've got any feelings?" He stumbled slightly under her drunken weight.
"Please," she scoffed. "You're tra-tran-transparent," she grinned triumphantly when she got out the word.
"I thought I had an exquisite poker face," he wrapped his arm around her waist stepping to the side to help her stumble further into the house.
"So you admit it," she swung to stand in front of him with a giggle, "you have feelings for me."
"Yes, darling," he chuckled, catching her to keep her from toppling a lamp in the living room. "I have –"
He was cut off when she crashed her lips to his in a hard kiss. His mouth tingled when she broke away to gasp and giggle.
He stared at her for a second before bending slightly to pick her up.
"Where are you taking me?" She wrapped her arms around his neck, frowning.
"To bed," he said simply.
"Oh," she giggled, arching her neck to nip at his ear, "you work fast."
"Get your mind out of the gutter, Elena Gilbert," he chastised, biting back a groan when she started kissing his neck. "I'm putting you in bed."
He kicked open the door and laid her on the mattress. She grabbed his arm when he lifted the blanket.
"If I'm going to bed then so are you," she giggled. With a sharp pull she dragged him down on the bed.
He rolled so he didn't fall on top of her and propped himself on his elbow. With one hand he pinned her to the bed and met her unfocused eyes.
"You are drunk," he sat up to stand, "and need to sleep it off."
"But where will you sleep?" She pouted.
"On the couch," he rolled his eyes when she pulled him back down. "Darling?"
"If you go out there I'll just follow you," her voice took on a sing song quality.
"And I'll bring you back," he chuckled.
"Then we'll just be going back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth…" Her brows creased and her nose wrinkled. "What was I saying?"
"That we'd be going back and forth from the bed to the couch," he smoothed the line from her brows with his thumb.
"Right," she nodded, with all of the surety her drunken self could manage, "we'll do that until we're too tired to keep going and we fall asleep."
"We should just stay here, and not run the risk of spending the night on your very uncomfortable couch." She yanked him down and draped her arm and leg over his body, pinning him beneath her.
"Alright," he conceded, "on one condition."
"What's that?" Elena slipped her small hand beneath the band of his pajamas. She pouted when he took her hand and held it flat to his chest.
"No funny business," he cocked an eyebrow when she looked at him.
"Why not?" Her bottom lip jutted out further.
"A few reasons," he sighed, "but mainly because you're incredibly drunk. I don't want you to wake up in the morning and regret anything, or tell me you actually meant to confess your undying affection for my neighbor."
"Ew," her nose scrunched up, "the guy that always smells like sauerkraut and undresses me with his eyes?"
"Or Ruby," he waved to the left side of the house.
"Isn't she the one who teaches kickboxing?" Elena frowned.
"Yes," he smirked.
"She is very attractive," Elena tilted her head, a teasing smile lifting her lips.
"Not more attractive than me," his eyes sparkled in the dark.
"You are so cocky," she flopped down, snuggling into his chest.
The amused voice was the thing that woke her; it pounded through her skull as she blinked against the sunlight streaming through the window.
"It's about bloody time," Klaus stood in the door, regarding the couple on the bed with a smirk.
Caroline stood beside him, bouncing on the balls of her feet.
"Who confessed first?" Her eyes darted from Kol to Elena as they sat up.
"I did," Elena rubbed her temples, too tired to ask what they were doing there at such an early hour. "I kept it short and sweet."
"Short and sweet?" Kol scoffed.
"You were yelling on the lawn at 2 am," Jeremy turned around his cell phone.
The blood drained from Elena's face when she saw herself, stumbling around in the short black dress and yelling at the door. The camera was angled from the house next door and zoomed in on her chest when she stumbled.
"OMG!" Caroline snatched the phone and laughed. "This is hilarious. I wish I'd been there to see it."
"It's on the internet," Elena buried her head in her hands. She could feel the heat of mortification in her cheeks.
"And trending."
Klaus' remark only made her blush harder. She wanted that video down.
"Feel like intimidating the neighbor?" Kol tried to hide his smirk in case Elena looked up.
"Are you really going to go yell at a guy who lives in his mother's basement?" Caroline heaved an exasperated sigh.
"To defend my girlfriend's honour," Kol held his hand to his heart in mock outrage, "absolutely."
Elena couldn't help but smile.