Stefan had done a good job of letting Elena be for the most part. She never knew what to expect each day from him. Some days she would wake up and he'd be a pain in her ass trying to make her late and other days he'd sleep in until she was done in the bathroom. The time spent away from Damon she could tell was bothering him. It was the same with her and her parents. It had been almost a month since she had spoken to anyone besides Jeremy.
"Stefan I need to know about the Halloween party." Caroline asked him one afternoon at the Grill where everyone was gathered.
"I told you I haven't talked to Damon yet."
"Then look here is the perfect chance." Caroline said as Stefan looked up to see Damon walking in. "Damon!" She waved him over.
"Caroline what are you doing?" Stefan asked.
"What can I do for you Blondie?" Damon smiled his charming smile making Caroline smile right back at him. She had not grown out of her crush on him yet.
Elena could feel the awkward tension growing. Damon had only glanced at Stefan choosing not to acknowledge him which meant that Damon was hurt by Stefan's distance.
"Stefan here won't tell me if we are having the Halloween party at the boarding house or not." Caroline didn't look too happy about Stefan's lack of party planning.
"Well I hate to say it but no party at the house this year." Damon let them all down. "But I bet Stefan knows just the place for one." He smirked at Stefan and Stefan shook his head while looking away from his brother.
"Well where?" Tyler asked.
"Yeah where Stefan?" Damon was enjoying this. His brother and sister-in-law had apparently been keeping secrets still.
"The old boarding house grounds." Stefan shrugged. He didn't have anything else.
"Gross." Caroline said. "That's just a horror movie waiting to happen."
"Or the perfect idea!" Bonnie said. "Caroline you do realize that we could make this the best Halloween party ever right?"
"Stefan, Katherine told me you stopped by the other day why didn't you stick around?" Damon knew the game he was playing with his brother. Elena's eyes flashed to Stefan to see his reaction while everyone else just seemed confused to what he was talking about.
"She seemed busy." Stefan wasn't amused by his brother's antics. "Probably planning her date." Damon's eyes narrowed at him wondering what exactly he was talking about. Lexi's foot was kicking him under the table warning him not to get into this here with him.
"Katherine is with Pearl tonight going over paperwork."
Stefan shook his head at his brother's naïve side when it came to Katherine. "She must have failed to mention her date with none other than our very own favorite Mason Lockwood."
"Dude you weren't supposed to say anything!" Tyler yelled at him.
Damon was at a loss for words. He didn't know how to come back to that.
"Are we done here?" Damon asked looking at Stefan.
"We are done brother." Stefan gave him a nod.
"Awkward." Matt whispered to Elena but Stefan had heard him and shook his head standing up to leave.
"Matt." Elena sighed. She knew that would only fuel Stefan's fire.
"What?" He asked. "Those two just gave off some weird vibes."
"What the hell was that?" Caroline asked for the whole group.
"They are fighting." Elena shook her head not wanting to think about Stefan going to the boarding house and talking to Katherine. It rubbed her the wrong way especially how Damon was implying how their meeting may have gone. Stefan didn't exactly deny it either. He just turned the tables on his brother like they usually did when arguing. She took note of how upset Damon was at the bar. Excusing herself she got up leaving her friends.
"What is going with Elena?" Caroline asked Bonnie once Matt and Tyler went to play a round of pool.
"She's fine." Bonnie shrugged.
"She hasn't been fine since we got back from our trip." Caroline pointed out. "Did the mishap with Stefan really screw with her head that bad?" Caroline was looking between Bonnie and Lexi to see if they would give her any answers. "You two know something."
"No I don't." Lexi said shaking her head. "I need to go find Stefan." Lexi said getting up to leave Bonnie to handle Caroline's questions.
"Bonnie?" Caroline asked crossing her arms over her chest letting Bonnie know she wasn't going to give up easily on this subject.
"She hasn't talked to me." Bonnie lied. "I've tried to talk to her but I've gotten nothing from her."
"I don't believe you." Caroline said shaking her head. "But I'll let it go for now but I will find out what everyone is trying to hide. I just wish she would trust me." Bonnie felt guilty about Caroline's hurt feelings. It wasn't that Elena didn't trust her it was that she didn't know how to tell anyone.
"You're not old enough to drink Mrs. Salvatore." Damon grinned at her giving her his signature look.
"I'm not here to drink Damon."
"Still lying to Matt I see."
"It's not what you think."
"Isn't that how it all goes? Did you learn that line from Katherine because I'm sure I'll hear it tonight." Damon's anger was growing every second he thought about it.
"She loves you."
"She lied to me."
"I'm sure she has a good explanation."
"Elena lying to the one you love is never a good thing. There can never be a good reason behind it." Damon was speaking the truth to her. Lying was never an option when it comes to the one you love. "You know it just as well as I do."
"Do you love her Damon?"
"If I didn't love her Elena I wouldn't have already forgiven her. If I didn't love her then I would be tearing Mason Lockwood limb from limb. It's funny how love and forgiveness works."
"You haven't even talked to her yet how can you already forgive her for something you have no clue about?"
"Can I judge her for what I don't even know either?" Elena knew he had a point there. "Just because she lied to me and had lunch with a man I despise doesn't mean anything actually happened."
"If it's so easy to forgive then why are you here drowning your sorrows."
Damon hung his head before looking back at her with a soft smile. "It's called pride Elena. It gets in the way of my heart most days just like it does your sister's. But at the end of the day I still love her and I know she loves me. So I can get drunk go home and argue with her until the sun comes up because I'm too prideful to admit that she hurt me with her lie today."
Elena sat beside him for a few moments letting his words sink in.
"Your boyfriend his smothering me with his insecurity looks." Damon looked at Matt and smirked making Matt look away from them.
"He gets jealous."
"He should be." Elena had a confused face. "You're a beautiful girl Elena and you have the ability to wake up one morning and see that he's not enough for you."
"I love Matt."
"You can love a lot of people. Katherine loves Mason but she's IN love with me. There's a difference and that is why I'm not afraid of her leaving me for him. I may be pissed at her for lying but I know I'm the one she's in love with." Damon watched the process what he was trying to say. She would eventually put the pieces of his words together when she was ready but until then he was satisfied with what he had accomplished. "I know she loves me Elena and that is why I'll be okay. There's no need to come check on me to make sure I'm not going to burn the place down." Elena laughed with him knowing he was capable of something that crazy when he felt like someone was breaking his heart. "Go back to your friends. They look ready to leave. Send my love to Stefan." Damon leaned over kissing her cheek. "Don't let your pride ruin you." He whispered.
"What was that about with Damon tonight?" Matt asked when he was walking Elena to her car.
"Katherine drama."
"You're lying." Matt told her.
"I'm not lying to you Matt." Elena promised. She really wasn't in the mood for him tonight.
"You are acting different. I don't know what it is but I can't keep ignoring it. Since when do you know the Salvatore drama or much less care about them two?"
"Are you serious right now?" Elena couldn't believe him. "I've always cared about Damon. He's family."
"Stefan?"
"This is what this is about, Stefan?"
"It's always about Stefan." Matt said quietly. "I see the way you look at him sometimes."
"I love you Matt. I'm not in love with Stefan anymore. What we had is over and I'm sorry that I have given you reasons to doubt me but I need you to trust me from here on and out."
"I'm sorry." Matt sighed. "I just get frustrated."
"Trust me." Elena held his face in her hands. "Just trust me again."
He nodded and hugged her. "I love you so much Elena." He whispered in her ear.
Elena closed her eyes feeling the tears about to come on. She was in deep water.
Elena arrived back at home to see that Stefan was sitting out on the dock with his feet dangling over the edge. She fought with herself about going to him or not. She needed to know about Katherine but then again she didn't want to show that she cared. Going against her better judgement she walked out to him taking a spot beside him. Neither one said anything for a few minutes just admiring the beauty of it all. Elena had yet to be out here since arriving.
"I used to love to sit out here at night as a kid." Elena finally spoke up.
"It's peaceful."
"When you and I used to fight I'd come out here to clear my head." Elena wasn't sure why she was telling him this.
"This is the one place that wasn't tainted for us by any sort of bad memory. No Damon, no Katherine, no anyone to give us a bad memory. It was a safe haven."
"It seems like a lot of good places were tainted by us."
"Hell even Vegas is now." Stefan shook his head while laughing at the thought of ever returning to Vegas. He knew that he'd never be able to return to the town again without thinking of her.
"Maybe it's our way of marking our territory on the world." She joked.
"I think we've got here to California covered."
"Not all were bad." She admitted. "I can safely go to Georgia without wanting to throat punch you."
"Throat punch?" Stefan laughed at her.
"It sounds like it would hurt wouldn't it?" Elena questioned while she thought about it in her head.
"Sounds like the worse pain ever." Stefan said thinking about it too. "Please don't ever do that to me."
"No more cold showers and I'll think about it."
"Deal." He smiled brightly at her taking in her beauty in the moonlight. She was truly the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on. Even on the days when he wanted to strangle her she was still beautiful in an annoying way. There was nothing special about her today. Her hair was down and she had on a plain blue longed sleeve shirt with her jeans and converse. It was the simple Elena he remembered falling for so long ago it felt like.
"Stefan?"
"Yeah?"
"What was Damon talking about?" Stefan closed his eyes rubbing them out of habit when he knew he was about to get frustrated. He knew this question would come sooner or later. Elena never could help herself.
"It's not what you think." He informed her and Elena hated that he had just used the same line she had on Damon.
"Then what is it like? You went over there didn't you?"
"Yes." He nodded. "But not for what Damon made it out to be. I went over there because I needed to pick up a few more things like books and Caroline was asking about some Halloween decorations from last year that she had stored in the attic."
"So you didn't see Katherine?"
"And if I did?"
"Then you did." She shrugged starting to stand up until he stopped her making her stay sitting beside him.
"I did see Katherine, but it was briefly. I was coming out of the attic when I heard her on the phone making plans with Mason. Tyler had mentioned something about the two of them meeting up for dinner. I didn't believe it until I heard it for myself. She caught me sneaking out and she knew she was busted. In her defense she told Damon anything to make him upset about me and not worry about her and her motives for the night."
"I'm sorry I don't even know why I asked."
"Because you care."
"I don't want to care anymore Stefan."
"I know you don't." He wrapped his arms around her pulling her close to him. "But maybe admitting that we care is the first step in letting go." Stefan said softly.
Elena truly hoped he was right.
The next morning Bonnie decided to drive out to the lake house. She needed to fill Elena in on Caroline before school.
"Bonnie what are you doing here?" Stefan asked answering the door sleepily.
"Sorry to come so early." Bonnie said nervously knowing she probably woke him up. "Caroline is picking up the crumbs you two are leaving behind."
Stefan looked at her confused. "Bonnie it's way too early to be playing games with my mind. What are you talking about?" He stepped aside to let her in.
"Caroline thinks you and Elena are hiding something." Bonnie sat on a bar stool while Stefan went about pouring her a cup of coffee. "Thank you."
"What do you mean she thinks we are hiding something?"
"She's my best friend Stefan." Elena said coming into the kitchen. "She was bound to figure it out sooner or later. I haven't exactly been myself lately."
"Elena I think you could trust her." Bonnie said.
"I just don't want the whole world knowing." Elena sighed.
"She's one of your best friends Elena." Stefan said placing his hand on top of hers. "It's okay to tell her." Bonnie looked at his hand on hers and how Elena didn't try to pull away. "I think we can trust her with this and besides it will make it easier on you. I'll see you two at school." He said before walking back to his room.
"He's right Elena." Bonnie didn't want to dwell on what just happened knowing it would make Elena close up.
"I know he is. Tell Caroline to meet us out here after practice."
"Here?"
"It's time she know the truth, the whole truth at that."
After school Caroline was in the car with Bonnie asking a million questions.
"Why are we going to the lake house again?" Caroline was really confused. "I hope I didn't blow Tyler off for something pointless."
"Care you wanted to know what was going on with Elena and she is going to tell you."
"Oh god she's not dying is she?" Caroline asked with panic in her voice.
"No Caroline." Bonnie shook her head when Caroline sighed with relief.
"She's okay though right?" Caroline asked with genuine concern.
"Yeah Care she's alright." Bonnie smiled knowing that Elena would be fine eventually.
"Hey guys thanks for coming." Elena smiled when Caroline and Bonnie came inside to sit in the livingroom with her.
"Elena what is going on?" Caroline asked her.
"I need you to hear me out and not be mad."
"Is this about you cheating on Matt over the summer because that's old news?"
Elena laughed shaking her head. It was old news compared to what she had to tell her now. "Not exactly."
"Great so you and Stefan are still banging huh? Looks like I owe Tyler $50."
"What?" Elena asked.
"Doesn't matter." Caroline smiled shaking her head. "Tell me whats going on."
"Caroline you have to promise not to tell anyone."
"Are you pregnant?"
"God no Caroline!" Elena shouted.
"Then what is it because that would explain all your weird moods lately."
"I am not pregnant I promise!"
"Then what could it possibly be?"
"Hey Elena I was thinking about cooking some pasta tonight do we still have some noodles?" Stefan asked coming through the door only to stop walking when his eyes landed on Caroline. He thought it was only Bonnie at the house when he saw her car outside.
"What the hell is going on?" Caroline was freaking out as she looked between Stefan and Elena. Stefan looked at Elena with a loss for words. He never would have showed up if he knew she was here. Elena shrugged knowing it was no or never.
"Caroline what I was trying to tell you was that while we were in Vegas Stefan and I got married."
"What? How? Why? When?" Caroline's brain was trying to process it all. "Wait that was why you two disappeared that night. That's why you've been acting so different lately. I should have known better!"
"I can explain." Elena said trying to calm her down.
"Explain what? How you two have been lying to everyone?"
Stefan hung his head as he sat down beside Elena on the couch. "Caroline you have to hear us out." He pleaded.
"I'll hear you out when you tell me why neither one of you trusted me enough to tell me about it sooner."
"It's not about trust." Elena tried to explain. "It was about embarrassment. I didn't want you to know because I'm ashamed of my actions."
"You two are so meant to be why be embarrassed?"
"Please don't." Elena said. She knew Caroline was team Stefan no matter what just like Lexi.
"Did I hear something about food?" Bonnie said trying to lighten the situation up. Stefan looked at her and nodded.
"Are you hungry?" He looked at the girls who all nodded.
"I could use a drink." Caroline said still trying to wrap her mind around everything.
Elena smiled and followed Stefan into the kitchen.
"She took that better than expected." Stefan said rummaging through the fridge until he found a bottle of wine Jenna had left behind.
"That's because it hasn't sunk in yet." Elena laughed. "Caroline is going to be hurt when she realizes how long I've lied to her."
"I'm sorry." Stefan said sincerely.
"Don't be." She grabbed three glasses.
"I don't get one?" He smiled at her making Elena smile in return grabbing a fourth glass.
"No funny business Salvatore." She warned him pouring a glass for him.
"Why Mrs. Salvatore whatever do you mean?" He feigned innocence bringing the glass to his lips for a drink. Elena shook her head with a sweet smile before leaving him to cook.
Caroline eventually became upset with how Elena had lied after the story unfolded and she knew Bonnie knew all along. Elena had to talk her way through it and try to make Caroline understand that she never would have told Bonnie had she not found Stefan's ring. Caroline felt a little better knowing that but she still wanted to be in the loop. Things felt normal for once having her friends by her side for the night. They didn't dwell too long on the problem at hand. Elena was grateful for her friends being so understanding. Stefan cooked them a nice meal and kept his distance giving them their space. He realized in that moment how alone he was without Lexi and Damon constantly around.
The whole next week was the planning of the party. Elena stayed busy helping the girls plan and set everything up. She had a reason to smile this week. Her way to pay for a hot water heater had come in and she went straight to Ric demanding he help her buy one since she didn't have a clue on how to pick one out. Stefan didn't think much about how she obtained one but was happy none the less. It just meant he didn't have to buy one but that also meant he couldn't pick on her in the mornings anymore.
"So you pick your costume out yet?" Elena asked Stefan Friday night while they sat on the couch watching some tv show waiting for Lexi, Caroline and Bonnie to come join them. Matt and Tyler were attending something out of town with Tyler's parents. Elena was thankful for the night away from pretending. She would have to do enough of that tomorrow night at the party.
"I did." Stefan nodded not telling her what she wanted to hear.
"What are you going as?"
"It'ts a surprise." Stefan grinned at her. "What about you? Gonna be a sexy nurse this year?"
"No because last year you got me into a lot of trouble."
"All I remember is the fun we had." He winked. "That outfit drove me mad."
"I noticed." She laughed with him.
"I wouldn't be able to keep my hands off you if you wore something like that again." He wasn't lying. Last year he almost punched some guy in the face for hitting on her.
"Just to be on the safe side then I better not."
"No worries I'm sure my costume will do the trick for you."
"I don't even want to know." She laughed shaking her head. "The girls should be here soon."
"I'm going to be outnumbered." He pouted.
"As if Lexi would ever side with me against you."
"You'd be surprised." He pointed at her. "She thinks you are just oh so great."
"As Caroline thinks the same about you." She pointed back at him.
"I say tonight we enjoy our friends." Stefan told her. "We don't have to pretend and we don't have to fight. Let's save the good stuff for tomorrow night."
"I agree." Just then the girls walked through the door.
"Hey Stef I went to see Damon today." Lexi said as she held something behind her back.
"And how is my lovely brother?"
"Oh he's an ass right now."
"As he should be."
"But he sent you a parting gift." Lexi held the bottle of bourbon in her hands with the best smile ever. Stefan's face lit up at the sight. Elena looked between the two knowing that they were in heaven.
"Was that given or taken?" Caroline asked. Everyone knew Damon wasn't a man to share.
"Does it even matter?" Lexi said plopping down beside Stefan. Caroline took a spot on once side of Elena and Bonnie didn't want to feel left out so she sat down beside Elena making her close the huge gap between her and Stefan.
"If it's stolen then it taste even better." Stefan told them.
"Well then this should taste great!" Bonnie finally pulled out a bottle of vodka from her purse. "Lexi may have swiped this from Katherine's stock."
"You are my hero!" Stefan said high fiving her.
"See even with you not living there we can still piss them off." Lexi said cheerfully. "Now it's time for shots."
"We are in for a long night." Elena wanted to be dreading it but for some reason she couldn't. She knew that no matter what she was in for a good night with this company.
It didn't take long for the group to find themselves outside on the back porch playing games.
"Stefan truth or dare." Caroline slurred.
Stefan looked around at everyone to see that they were all pretty intoxicated but he knew he still needed to play it safe. "Truth."
"Chicken." Caroline scolded him.
"I'm a married man now Caroline." He teased her making her roll her eyes at him.
"Tell us the truth about the moment you fell in love with Elena." Everyone was quiet with her question. The music was the only thing that could be heard.
Stefan looked at Caroline with serious eyes before averting his look to Elena. She desperately wanted to know this answer but it was a really intimate question. A part of her didn't want him to answer it. Stefan could have easily answered the question for his friends but something was stopping him.
"Have you ever been in love Caroline?" Stefan asked knowing she was drunk enough to take the distraction.
"I love my pool boy once." She smiled making everyone laugh remembering her crush on her pool boy years ago.
"Truth or dare?" Stefan turned to Bonnie.
"Truth." Bonnie was playing it safe with Stefan he had already made Elena and Lexi eat some concoction from the fridge and do multiple shots.
"What is the one thing you hate about your best friend?"
"Her inability to see what's right in front of her." Bonnie answered without hesitation. Elena grew extremely quiet and was about to get up and leave until Bonnie turned to Lexi. "Truth or dare."
"Dare." Lexi wasn't one to ever go with truth.
"I dare you to call Damon right now and tell him about how sexy you think he is."
Lexi threw her head back laughing. "Now this wouldn't be the first." Stefan said laughing with her. "Elena remember when she got so drunk she called him?" Elena was almost crying from laughing now. She remembered that night fondly. They had all stolen a bottle of liquor from Damon and needed a ride home so Lexi called Damon and instead of asking for a ride she told him about how hot she thought he was.
"Damon was so elated to know Lexi thought he was hot." Elena nodded. "He teased her about it for weeks."
"Damon secretly has the hots for me." Lexi sat up straight taking a drink before reaching for her phone She dialed his number putting him on speaker phone.
"Hello?" He answered with a bit of slur to his own speech indicating that he was indeed up drinking. "Lexi?" He questioned when he didn't hear anything.
"Hey hot stuff." Lexi said making everyone contain their laughter.
"What can I do for you beautiful?"
"I just wanted to call to let you know how incredibly sexy your are Salvatore."
"That's flattering sweetheart but haven't we already discussed your opinion about me?"
"Oh I know we did but I just needed to remind you."
"Lexi we all know you are the hottie here." Damon replied.
"That's so sweet but watch your tongue Katherine might kill me."
Damon was at the bar with Ric and laughing. He could hear the girls in the background laughing. "Lex let me come join this fun. Ric here is about to go be the good man he is and head home."
"No can do babe. Give Ric my best."
"Send my love to Stefan and Elena." With that they hung up.
"See no big deal." Lexi shrugged.
"Okay I think we've had enough." Stefan laughed. "We all have a big day according to Caroline. Time for bed ladies." They all groaned at Stefan's parenting but no one refused.
"Bonnie and Caroline you can take the master bedroom." Elena said as they all headed inside.
"I'll take Stefan's bed." Lexi kissed his cheek heading to his room.
"Night Lexi." Elena waved. Caroline and Bonnie retreated to the bedroom.
Stefan was leaning against Elena's door frame watching her get ready for bed.
"Thanks for letting me hangout tonight." Stefan said coming in to take a seat on her bed.
"Believe it or not you aren't that bad to spend time with. We had fun tonight."
"The five of us used to always have fun." Stefan leanded back against her pillows closing his eyes.
Elena followed his actions getting underneath her covers. Her body relaxed in the comfort of her bed.
"This bed isn't quite like your old one." Stefan said moving around some.
"Stop talking before I make you get out." Elena smiled closing her eyes. Stefan looked over at her to see her steady breathing. She had fallen asleep.
Stefan wasn't sure how many dates he had taken Elena on by now. They had been dating for over six months now and he couldn't be happier. Things in his life seemed to be going smoothly now. Everything in life was better when Elena was involved. She made him feel complete in every single way possible. There wasn't a thing about Elena Gilbert that he did not love. The good the bad he loved it all.
Tonight was different though. They had just experienced their first big fight. Stefan wasn't even sure what they were yelling about because all he could think about was screaming at her how much he loved her. He didn't know why he had not told her before. He had fallen in love with her probably the day he knew he was old enough to love. As kids he loved Elena and as they grew older so did his love for her. Day in and day out Stefan had loved this one girl. Everyone knew how crazy he was about her. So after tonight and Elena screaming at him to go away and that she wanted a break had left him heart broken. But if Stefan knew anything about Elena he knew that she didn't mean a single word that she had said to him. That's why he was standing outside of her window tossing rocks at it trying to wake her. She wouldn't answer his phone calls so this was all he had left.
Elena was in her bedroom staring at her phone. Stefan had called multiple times. She was still mad at him though. She didn't mean that she wanted a break from him but she wasn't sure how to express how angry she was with him. Stefan had gotten into her veins. She couldn't shake him. Stefan was a apart of her now. There wasn't a day that went by that she could go without him in it in some kind of way. Stefan was her everything. She loved him she was sure but what she wasn't sure of was how to tell him. Stefan was different than most guys their age. He wasn't throwing out the L word to get into her pants. He was kind and gentle but strong all in his own. When she heard the gentle taps at her window she knew it was him. A part of her didn't want to go to him but there was a bigger part of her that was screaming to open that window.
"Stefan what are you doing?" Elena asked opening her window and leaning out.
"I don't know." He smiled at her. "I'm sorry for whatever I did!"
"Shhh."
"Elena I can't go to bed knowing your mad at me. It's not right."
"Don't move." Elena smiled shaking her head. She couldn't believe she was about to sneak out with him. Within a couple of minutes Elena was in Stefan's arms. "I'm still mad at you."
"Can we please not fight anymore?" Stefan asked hugging her.
"Can you please not be a jerk anymore?" She asked pulling back with a smile.
"I can try." He kissed her forehead. "Come on." Grabbing her hand he lead her to his car.
"Stefan where are we going?"
"To someplace quiet." He said hitting the road. After a while Elena knew where he was taking her.
"Stefan what are we doing out here?" Elena asked.
"Come on." He smiled grabbing a blanket from the back getting out of the car with Elena following. She followed him down to the side of the lake as he layed out the blanket. Stefan layed down opening his arms to Elena. "I'm sorry for being a jerk tonight."
"Apology accepted." Elena said as she curled up next to him.
"I don't know why I acted like that tonight. I saw you with that guy and I just lost my cool."
"You trust me don't you?"
"Of course I trust you Elena." Stefan said playing with her hair. "I just don't trust other guys."
"You can't go trying to rip every guys head off that talks to me."
"I can try." He teased earning him a slap on the chest. Stefan grabbed that hand and brought it to his lips.
"Stefan."
"I know I know." He took a deep breath. "I just don't know how to handle my emotions for you sometimes.
"I know the feeling. She sat up a bit to look at him. "It's overwhelming sometimes isn't it?"
"It's like a rollercoaster."
"A fun one right?"
"The best." Stefan said cupping her face in his hand bringing her in for a kiss. "Everything with you is incredible." He whispered against her lips. Elena pulled him in for another kiss. Stefan rolled on top of her pinning her beneath his body as he continued to kiss her. Elena's hands found their way underneath his shirt as she rose it higher and higher. Stefan broke apart long enough to raise up and pull the shirt above his head. Elena's eyes followed his every move. This wasn't the first time to see him shirtless or to fool around but this was the first night she had ever come to the realization that she wanted to be with this man for the rest of her life, that her heart was and always would be his. Stefan's hand's found the bottom of her shirt as she sat up some underneath his. Elena let him pull the shirt off as he tossed it to the side quickly pressing his lips back to hers letting them fall back onto the blanket.
Stefan's lips trailed down her neck as her body arched into his begging him for something more. Stefan kissed his way down to the tops of her jeans. He slowly worked her out of her jeans before kissing back up to her mouth. Elena moaned when his lips crashed against hers. Stefan kissed her until they were both breathless. He pulled back to look at her. Their was such intensity in his eyes that Elena felt herself shiver beneath his warm body. This right here to her felt perfect.
"You're so beautiful." He said softly as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Everything about you is beautiful."
Elena grabbed the back of his head bringing his lips back to hers. She couldn't take the distance. She needed to feel as close to him as possible. Stefan allowed her to control the kiss as his hands roamed her body freely. Stefan broke the kiss again much to Elena's disapproval but he kissed her nose before looking up at the sky.
"It's beginning to rain." He went to get up but Elena grabbed him.
"I don't care." She laughed as the rain started to fall harder.
"You'll catch a cold." He told her shaking his head going to get up again and this time succeeding. Elena rolled her eyes as she stood up just as the rain began to pour down on them. Stefan was gathering their clothes and blanket quickly trying not to be rained on. He began running up to the house only to stop when he realized Elena was not behind him. Looking back what he saw took his breath away. She was standing in the middle of the rain clad in her bra and underwear dancing like it was nobody business. Their was the biggest smile on her face as she twirled around. She waved him over as he dropped their things as he slipped out of his shoes and jeans running back to her wrapping her up in his arms and spinning her around. Kissing her he set her back on her feet as he began to dance in the rain with her. Elena's heart skipped a beat as she watched this man dance in the rain with her knowing he hated to be rained on. He had the biggest smile on his face for her.
"I love you!" Stefan yelled over the rain making Elena stop to stare at him. "I don't know when it happened but Elena Gilbert I have fallen hopelessly in love with you. I may regret ever telling you this but watching you tonight I couldn't keep it to myself anymore. I have fought this feeling for so long now. You drive me completely insane half the time but I love those little things that you do to drive me crazy. I love everything about you."
Elena was in tears by now but Stefan would never know it because of the rain. She walked over to him jumping in his arms wrapping her legs around his waist. "I think we're in trouble."
"Why?" Stefan asked hanging on her every word.
"Because I'm in love with you too. I love you Stefan Salvatore. I love every part of you and I can't imagine going a day without driving you crazy. I love you Stefan." She kissed him. "I love you." She repeated loving the way it made his eyes light up. Stefan didn't know how or why but in that moment he fell even harder for her. Her simply loving him was amazing and Stefan would forever love her for just loving him. The moment he heard those three words slip from her beautiful lips was the moment he would remember as falling more than humanly possible for Elena Gilbert.