The next week at school the place was buzzing with the excitement of the holidays coming. Everyone was talking of their plans for Thanksgiving. Elena had been in her own world the past couple of days. She was still thinking things over in her head. She needed time to herself and time to get things straight in her life. Everything was so out of her control that she didn't know what she wanted anymore.
"You doing okay?" Bonnie asked Elena as they sat at lunch.
Elena nodded picking at her food. "Yeah just confused I guess."
"Understandable." Bonnie smiled sympathetically at her friend. "Have you decided what you're doing for Thanksgiving?"
"No." Elena sighed running her fingers through her hair. "I don't know anything."
"Maybe you could come with me to mine."
Elena smiled at her friend. "I wish I could but you know I can't."
"Maybe the first step in figuring things out is making amends with your parents." Bonnie suggested.
"You might be right."
Jeremy just then walked up sitting down beside Bonnie. "Mom and dad told me to relay the message that Thursday we will be having dinner. But you and Stefan are more than welcome to come over earlier."
"Stefan won't be coming." Elena said.
Jeremy's face showed his confusion. "Stefan always comes."
"I think he's joining Lexi this year." Elena told him.
"Damon didn't mention it last night at dinner."
"Stefan mentioned it to me last night at dinner."
"Aren't husbands and wives supposed to go to these things together?" Jeremy laughed making Bonnie laugh with him while Elena rolled her eyes.
"We aren't your typical married couple Jer."
"Sure we are." Stefan grinned as he sat down on the other side of Elena wrapping an arm around her shoulder.
"Elena was just saying how you two wouldn't be spending Thanksgiving together." Jeremy told him.
"Oh yeah." Stefan removed his arm from around her as he looked at Elena. "Am I supposed to come to yours?"
Elena shook her head. "Stefan it's not a big deal. It's not like we are even a real couple."
"Stefan's never missed out even when you two were broke up." Jeremy pointed out. "We need him for touch football."
Stefan chuckled nodding his head. "You're right. Maybe I can talk Lexi into letting me off the hook. It is tradition after all to have the Salvatore's beat the Gilbert men."
Elena elbowed Stefan in his ribs. "You and Damon cheat every year."
"Darling you're a Salvatore now." He whispered.
"I'm a Gilbert at heart." She winked.
Stefan laughed with her. "Fine pick their side but just know who is the real winner. "
"Good so I can count you two in?" Jeremy asked excited to be having some things back to normal at home.
Elena looked at Stefan and he nodded. "Count us in."
"Great!" With that settled Jeremy was gone to sit with his friends.
"I guess I need to go talk to Lexi." Stefan said. "I'll see you at home tonight?"
"Yeah do you mind picking up toothpaste and some garbage bags? We are out and I have to run by Jenna's before heading home."
"You got it. Anything else?"
"No that's all I can think of. I'll text you if anything comes to mind." Elena smiled at him as he smiled back before walking off to find where Lexi was.
"You two are like a real married couple." Bonnie teased her.
"He's been really great lately."
"Because of the break up?"
Elena shook her head. "No even before that. He's different."
"Good different?" Elena nodded and Bonnie smiled. "How are you taking things with Matt?"
"I haven't talked to him since Saturday. He's been calling and texting me non stop trying to take back what he said Friday night but I don't think we need to be together."
"You need time to figure things out for yourself."
"I do." Elena agreed. "Have you sent in any college applications?"
Bonnie smiled nodding. "Yeah I have. I put in my application at Duke and NYU so far. I'm still working on a couple other ones."
"That's so great."
"What about you?"
"I haven't filled any out yet." Elena said with disappointment. "With everything going on I just haven't put much thought into it."
"You'll figure it all out." Bonnie told her.
It was the first day of their break and Elena had successfully slept in. She had been so exhausted from the weekend and was ready to embrace this short break from school and everything else. Elena woke up and threw on an old sweatshirt and walked downstairs to see Stefan was nowhere in sight but she looked through the window to find him and Jeremy on the bank of the lake casting their fishing poles. She smiled happily at the sight of them. It warmed her heart to see the two get along so well. Making her a cup of coffee she walked outside where Stefan's head turned first to see her. His smile was brilliant and Elena gave him the same smile in return.
"Hey sleeping beauty." He said as she approached them.
"Look what finally rose from the dead." Jeremy laughed when Elena punched him in the shoulder.
"What are you two doing?" Elena asked.
"Fishing." Stefan stated. "Would you like to join?"
Elena shook her head. "No thank you. I was thinking about cooking something for tomorrow."
"Oh God." Jeremy groaned.
"Shut up." Elena said. "I was hoping you could help me Stefan."
Stefan's eyes lit up at her request. "I'd love to." He said. "Jeremy and I have been fishing for a few hours now but I won't mind helping this afternoon."
"Great." Elena smiled. "I'll let you two get back to your manly man thing and I will go find some recipes."
Elena retreated back into the house excited to find something to cook for tomorrow.
"You two seem to be doing okay." Jeremy said as he caste his pole out into the water.
"Things are better than before."
"No dating?"
"No." Stefan laughed. "I'm not trying to rush things with her."
"Rush things?" Jeremy laughed loudly. "I would say you two rushed your way straight to the altar!"
"So I've been told." Stefan said shaking his head at the younger boy. "She needs time."
"She needs you to not be an ass." Jeremy bluntly stated. "No offense man."
"None taken." Stefan sighed reeling in his line. "You're sister deserves the best."
"That she does." Jeremy agreed with him. "Just make sure you don't break her heart again. I am big enough this time to kick your ass."
"You can try all you want Gilbert." Stefan smirked. "But I don't ever plan on breaking your sister's heart you can believe that." Stefan was serious when he told him that. If he ever got the chance to be with Elena again he would never do anything to hurt her.
The boys fished until the couldn't fish anymore. Coming into the house Jeremy and Stefan were wrestling with each other.
"Could you two stop before you break something!" Elena scolded them as they scrambled into the living-room where Stefan used the couch as an advantage to put Jeremy in a choke hold.
Stefan looked at Elena and smiled. "Your brother here has been running his mouth non stop about how he can kick my ass."
Just then Jeremy used his weight to throw Stefan over him making him flip over him and land on the ground.
"Jeremy!" Elena screamed in fear that Stefan might be hurt from the fall. But Stefan was back on his feet and trying to pin Jeremy. "Stupid boys." Elena muttered as she walked into the kitchen shaking her head. A few minutes later they were both out of breath and coming into the kitchen for a drink. "Done?"
"Done." Stefan said tossing Jeremy a water. "You figure out what you want to cook?"
"I have a few ideas." She said grabbing her iPad.
"I don't know if this is a good idea." Jeremy laughed. "Ric said Jenna was attempting to cook this year too."
"I'm not that bad." Elena said. "Jenna on the other hand is horrible."
"She's not that bad anymore either." Stefan defended his favorite woman. "I've been working with her."
"Nice to see you work with her and not me."
"Jealous?" Stefan winked.
"Hardly." Elena laughed.
"What's for dinner tonight? I'm starving and you have yet to make lunch." Jeremy asked.
"Lunch?" Elena questioned him. "It's three in the afternoon. You are past lunch time."
"Ugh you women never want to cook." Jeremy groaned.
"We have some left over pasta from last night." Stefan said as Jeremy made a dash for the fridge letting them know how hungry he was. Jeremy stuck around long enough to catch a nap on the couch and a few rounds of football on the Xbox with Stefan. Elena patiently waited for Stefan to come help her because she loved to see her brother happy. She didn't want to ruin their time together.
"I didn't know you two had plans today." Elena comment as she came to sit on the couch beside Stefan.
He switched the tv over to the satellite. "I didn't either until he showed up out here bright and early. He was coming to just fish alone but I secretly think he was spying."
"Oh yeah?" Elena laughed.
"Yeah he was asking me a million questions about what I was cooking for Thanksgiving. I think Ric and Jenna set him up to it."
"They always do like to compete with your dessert." Elena reminded him. "That's about the only thing those two are any good at cooking."
"You are right about that."
"So what are you making this year?"
Stefan's smile grew wide as he stood up and walked to a storage closet. Opening it up pulled out a small box that was holding what looked like to Elena a few books. He waved her over into the kitchen. "I had to stash this before Jeremy came in this morning."
"What is it?" Elena asked.
"It's my mom's old cookbooks that her grandmother gave her. All the recipes are from scratch that have been passed down. I found this amazing recipe of pumpkin bread pudding with a homemade caramel sauce."
"Hmmm." Elena moaned just thinking about it.
"I figured I could make some ice cream to go along with it."
"My mouth is watering just thinking about it."
"That's why I had to hide this box because I knew Jeremy would run back to tell Jenna what I had up my sleeve."
"Where did you find these books?"
"Damon and I have been digging through the attic looking for some old blueprints of my dad's. I came across these and I had to bring them here. Go through them. If you want to try and cook something for tomorrow I'll be glad to help you."
"Are you sure?" Elena asked. She knew how valuable it was to him. These books connected him to his mother.
"I'm positive. She would have of loved to have you attempt one of them." Stefan teased her. He handed her one book while he took the one with the recipe he needed.
"I think mashed potatoes is all I can handle." Elena said after a couple of minutes of flipping through the book.
Stefan rolled his eyes at how little faith she had in herself. "You can do better than that!" He was pulling out the contents to make his bread pudding.
"Not everyone was born a top chef." Elena shot at him.
"Suck it up buttercup we are learning to cook today." He said to her.
"Fine how about this sweet potato casserole recipe."
"What's it call for dear?" Stefan asked.
"Well honey..." Elena exaggerated making Stefan laugh with her. "Read it for yourself." She handed him the book.
"Seems simple enough. Now get to it." Stefan told her as Elena eyed him like he was crazy.
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me. Get to pulling out everything it calls for."
"I thought you were helping me?"
"I am." Stefan nodded. "I'm helping you learn to do it yourself."
"You get on my nerves."
"You love it."
"Whatever." Elena wasn't annoyed with him. She was in fact enjoying him at the moment. She did as she was told and got everything out that they needed. Somehow Stefan had everything they needed in the house.
"Start peeling the potatoes. When I get done mixing this I'll help you." He assured her. "Tomorrow you will blow everyone's mind."
"I hope so." Elena said. She really wanted to impress them with her cooking skills. It wasn't like she had many but she needed some.
An hour or so later the two were done. Stefan had told her they would wake up early enough to throw it all in the oven to cook before heading out.
"So what do you want to do tonight?" Stefan asked her as they cleaned up the kitchen. Elena had made quite the mess in trying to mix everything together.
Elena shrugged. "I don't know. What's everyone doing?"
"I haven't talked to anyone today."
"Bonnie is with her family out of town. Caroline I think flew to go see her dad in New York."
"Tyler is busy with his family and Lexi is well doing what Lexi does best."
"That is?" Elena asked.
"Probably at the boarding house annoying Damon for some of his cheesecake."
"How did he manage to perfect that so much better than you?" Elena grinned when Stefan's eyes narrowed at her.
"His is not better than mine."
"I don't know about that." Elena said. "It kind of just melts in my mouth."
"That's what she said." Stefan mumbled.
"You perv!" Elena swatted his shoulder.
"You want to just watch a movie tonight? I can probably talk the pizza guy into driving out here again."
"Yeah your wallet did most of the talking." Elena laughed at him as Stefan shook his head at her. "What was that a forty dollar tip?"
"Don't remind me." Stefan groaned at the thought of it. "The boy drove a hard bargain."
"Maybe I need to get on the phone this time."
"Be my guest! Just don't be begging me for money when he gets you for more than forty!" Stefan called to her as he went to his room to change clothes.
The two sat up eating pizza and watching movies for the rest of the night. Stefan took the couch while Elena took the loveseat. Neither spoke too much about anything unless it was about the movie they were watching. Both were just enjoying the moment. It was peaceful with no worries. It was almost as if a burden had been lifted from Elena's shoulders. She wasn't hiding anything anymore. Matt may of not known the truth but she felt that it was better that way. She didn't need for him to get hurt more than he already was from her actions with Stefan. After the second movies credits rolled around Stefan sat up to see Elena peacefully sleeping. He smiled at the sight of her. It was as if all was right in her world. She had no worries when she was sleeping. There was no stress weighing her down. Stefan wished she could feel that way everyday for the rest of her life. Deciding not to wake her he picked her up in his arms and carried her to her room. There he laid her in bed as he pulled the covers up over her. Stefan sat on the bed beside her just watching her sleep. When they dated he never got the chance to just sit and watch her. They were always in a rush so no one would catch them. This was new to him. He wanted to take it all in. Softly he brushed the hair off of her face before leaning down to kiss her forehead. They had a long day ahead of them.
The next morning Stefan woke up to Elena calling his name.
"Hey sleepy head." She smiled at him as she tossed one of his pillow at him.
Stefan groaned rolling over onto his stomach and covering his head with a pillow.
"We need to get a move on." Elena laughed as she pulled the pillow off of his head.
"Five more minutes?" Stefan begged as he flipped back onto his back.
"No." Elena shook her head.
Stefan opened his eyes to glare at her and he took in the beautiful sight of her. She had on skin-tight jeans, a plaid shirt, white scarf and his favorite knee high boots. Stefan slowly checked her out from head to toe.
"Take a picture it last longer." Elena teased him.
Stefan grinned sitting up in his bed causing his sheets to fall with him. It was Elena's turn to stare at his abs. Stefan through the sheets from him and swung his legs over the bed to stand up. Elena swallowed hard as she took in the sigh of him in nothing but his Calvin Klein boxer briefs. "I'll send you a photo copy." Stefan winked when he caught her staring at him.
"Funny." Elena said shaking her head trying to regain focus. "Listen I thought we could head over there whenever we got done cooking. I still need to do my hair and I told Jenna we would pick up some things from the store."
"Okay sounds good." Stefan walked past her and headed for the kitchen.
"What are you doing?" Elena asked when she followed him to see he was pulling her sweet potatoes out of the fridge and turning on the oven.
"I'm cooking." Stefan laughed.
"Naked?"
"I'm not naked."
"You might as well be." Elena told him.
"If that's the case." Stefan dipped his thumbs in the waistband of his boxers and started to tug them down.
"Stefan Salvatore!" Elena warned him. "You stop it!"
"Oh come on you know you want a peek." He grinned before turning to make him a cup of coffee.
"What has gotten into you?" Elena asked while pouring herself a cup.
"I love the holidays." He replied.
Elena smiled at him because she knew how big Stefan was on the holidays. He was worse than her when it came to decorating and getting ready. She was actually surprised he had not pulled out anything yet. "Would it hurt to put on some shorts?" Elena asked him.
"It wouldn't. But I don't want to." Stefan told her shaking his hips to make her laugh. "I like the freedom."
"You are insane."
"Maybe just a little."
"I'm going to do my hair." Elena said before walking off.
An hour or so later Stefan was descending the stairs dressed and ready to go.
"My car or yours?" Stefan asked.
"Mine because it has more room, I want to bring a few things back from my room." Elena said as she began turning off all the lights while Stefan grabbed whatever they needed to take. The drive into town was filled with a light conversation about what today would bring. Elena was both excited and nervous to talk to her parents. Stefan ran into the store and grabbed the few items they needed before jumping back behind the driver's seat. Soon they were pulling up in front of Elena's.
Before they even made it out of the car Jenna and Miranda were walking outside to greet the pair.
"Happy Thanksgiving!" Miranda called to them as she approached.
"Happy Thanksgiving mom." Elena smiled from ear to ear. Miranda's own smile matched hers as she pulled Elena into a tight embrace.
"I'm so glad to have you here." Miranda told her as she held onto her.
"Me too mom." Elena said squeezing her.
"Happy Thanksgiving stud." Jenna winked at Stefan as the two hugged.
"Hey back off." Elena joked with her as she pulled Jenna into a hug.
"There's enough of me to share." Stefan told them earning a laugh from all three women. Elena helped Stefan carry the items into the house where they found the livingroom full. Ric and Damon were at the table talking. Katherine and Jeremy were on the couch bickering over what to watch. Grayson was in the kitchen preparing the food. To Stefan's surprise Lexi was in the kitchen talking Grayson's ear off.
"Well look what the cat drug in." Damon smiled standing up to see his brother and sister-in-law.
"Make yourself useful." Stefan nodded to the bags Elena was holding which Damon took from her.
"You look beautiful as always." Damon winked at Elena.
"Thanks Damon." Elena said smiling at him.
"I'm glad you came." Grayson said to the two when they entered the kitchen. "What surprise do we have this year?" He asked indicating to the food Stefan brought.
"Sweet potato casserole and the other is a surprise." Stefan told him safely putting away the dessert.
"You won't beat me this year Stefan." Ric pointed to him making Stefan laugh.
"You better watch it Ric." Elena said. "Stefan did good this year."
"Who's side are you on now?" Ric asked.
"She is a Salvatore now." Damon said.
"Elena sweetheart I'm happy you came." Grayson said wiping his hands off but before he could reach for her Elena already had her arms around him.
"I missed you dad." She said into his shoulder.
"I missed my little girl too." He kissed the top of her head. "Now go annoy that sister of yours like always." He winked. Elena nodded and left the boys int he kitchen to join her siblings on the couch.
"Lexi I didn't know you were coming." Stefan said hugging her happy to see she was here with him.
"She couldn't pass the cheesecake up." Damon said draping an arm over her shoulder.
"Yeah she pestered him all night." Katherine said with a hint of annoyance.
"Well Stefan wasn't answering the phone." Lexi gave him a pointed look.
"I was busy yesterday." Stefan defended himself.
"Busy doing what?" Katherine asked.
"Your sister." Lexi whispered and the two brothers broke out with grins while Katherine's face turned to scowl.
"Who invited you anyways?" Katherine asked grabbing a glass of wine before retreating back to the livingroom.
"Good one." Damon high-fived Lexi before leaving her to go join Katherine before she got too mad at them.
"Come on." Stefan said looping his arm through hers and leading her into the livingroom.
After an hour or so of watching about five different shows because no one would agree on one thing everyone decided to go outside and enjoy the weather.
"So brother you ready to kick Gilbert ass this year again?" Damon asked Stefan.
"When am I not up for that occasion?" Stefan said making Damon laugh while Jeremy shook his head in disagreement.
"Not this year guys." Jeremy warned them.
"How are we even doing teams this year?" Katherine asked. "I mean does Elena play with us or what?"
"I'm still a Gilbert." Elena said not liking what Katherine was insinuating.
"Jenna doesn't play on our team."
"Technically I'm not a Gilbert." Jenna pointed out to them as she came outside with Ric in tow.
"With Lexi on our team it will be even." Stefan said adding it up in his head.
"There is no chance in hell we will be losing now." Ric said liking the odds.
"Gilberts don't stand a chance." Jenna teased her nieces and nephews.
"Better put your money where your mouth is." Elena warned her. This year she would find a way to win.
The family was finally seated inside with everything laid out on the table. Laughter was heard all around as everyone began telling stories of previous Thanksgivings while they made their plates. Grayson and Miranda were smiling happily as they watched their loved ones be together in one room getting along. Things may have been complicated between some of them but the love was evident in the room. This was a family who would make it through anything. Over the years that love had continued to grow and mold the family into what they were today.
"So what did Elena make?" Jeremy asked looking at his plate. "I need to know so I can proceed with caution."
"Jeremy!" Miranda scolded him.
"I made the sweet potatoes." Elena said proudly.
Stefan smiled at her showing her how happy he was that she had decided to cook something. "She did amazing." Stefan told them. "Messy but amazing."
"Thank you." Elena said.
Everyone began to eat and Katherine was the first to speak. "These are to die for." Katherine said.
Elena's face beamed at her sister's compliment.
"What's the recipe for these things?" Jenna asked finishing her bite as well.
"It's a secret." Elena winked at Stefan who nodded his head.
"Oh how cute the married couple is keeping secrets now." Damon said but Stefan and Elena were becoming used to their jokes.
"Elena you did good." Miranda said.
"No she did great." Grayson said kissing his wife's cheek. "Maybe Stefan needs to give you ladies a cooking lesson all together." Everyone laughed at the comment as they continued to eat.
Hours later and once the sun was starting to set everyone was coming out of their food coma. Jenna and Ric were still trying to get over the loss of the dessert battle once again this year with Stefan. The bread pudding was a hit with everyone in the house. Lexi had over done it on the desserts and she was currently laying face down on the livingroom floor unable to move. Grayson was snoozing in his recliner while Miranda and Jenna were in the kitchen cleaning. Katherine was sitting in Damon's lap while Jeremy had found himself sleeping on the floor much like Lexi. Ric had taken up the love seat not leaving anyone room to sit. Elena was sitting between Stefan and Damon where she kept dozing off every now and again. It was beginning to get harder and harder to hold her eyes open. Stefan had already fallen asleep and was relaxed into the couch leaving his shoulder as the perfect pillow for Elena. Without even think her head fell and she was out like a light.
"Don't they look sweet." Katherine whispered to Damon.
"Too sweet." He said pulling out his phone to snap a photo of the sleeping couple. Damon continued to snap a few photos of Lexi and Jeremy passed out as well. No need to leave them out of the fun. "Gotta love social media." He smirked.
"You are such a shit starter." Katherine poked him in the chest.
"I learned from the best." He whispered kissing her lips.
"That you did."
"Now who looks cute." Ric said quietly as he took a picture of them and chuckled when Damon flipped him the bird. "Social media is the root of all evil." He flashed his phone to show Damon he was uploading it.
Elena stirred awake after a while to see no one else was left in the livingroom with them. She looked at Stefan to see he was still asleep but the weight of Elena's body leaving his woke him up.
"Hey." He whispered.
"Hey." She smiled back wiping her mouth.
"You drool on me?" He smiled looking down at his shirt to see a small wet spot.
"Sorry." She apologized.
"I forgive you. Where is everyone?" Stefan asked moving so he could stand up and stretch.
"I think outside." She yawned standing up as well.
"Ready to lose?" He asked.
"In your dreams Salvatore."
"You don't want to know about my dreams." He winked before walking outside to join everyone.
"Look who decided to join us!" Lexi yelled. She was too excited to be joining these activities with them.
"Glad you two got up." Grayson said. "Okay now that we have everyone lets break off into teams. Gilbert's come on." Grayson ordered.
"Team badass come on." Damon walked off into the backyard. "Okay Ric is going to be quarterback because the old geezer might hurt himself if not."
"Screw you." Ric punched him in the shoulder.
"Lexi I want you to get open but what I'm going to want from you is to go long. Jenna you stay in close like we always do. Stefan you will be our runner. Lexi you follow my lead on the slants." Damon instructed them.
The two teams lined up against one another at what they were claiming to be middle of the makeshift field. "Jeremy you cover Lexi. Miranda you've got Jenna. Kat you've got Damon while Elena you handle Stefan." Grayson told his family.
"You are so going down Mrs. Salvatore." Stefan told her.
"Wanna bet?"
"I do actually." He nodded.
"If I win you buy me a Christmas tree." Elena said happy with that.
"If I win then you have to be my date to the winter formal." Stefan said catching Elena off guard. She had completely forgotten about that. "Do we have a deal?" Stefan extended his hand.
"Deal." Elena said taking his hand and shaking it.
"You cheated!" Katherine yelled at Damon as he scored the winning touchdown.
"I did not!" Damon laughed doing a victory dance as Stefan ran up to him and them jumped in the air bumping hips.
"Salvatore's win again!" Stefan said sticking his tongue out at Elena.
"Better luck next time guys." Ric said.
"No I demand a rematch." Katherine stomped her foot.
"We are not rematching." Jenna said shaking her head at her. "We won."
"You are only saying that because you are on their team." Jeremy said.
"We won fair and square." Stefan said standing beside his team. "Elena is my date to the formal now."
"Good call on that!" Lexi said bumping fist with her friend.
"Dad they cheated." Katherine complained.
Grayson sighed tiredly shaking his head at his children. "5 more minutes."
"What?" Damon asked loudly.
"No way." Stefan said crossing his arms over his chest.
"Afraid you might lose?" Elena asked him crossing her own arms over her chest.
"Yeah I bet you are afraid you'll be flying solo to the formal." Katherine smirked.
"Not happening." Stefan said.
"Grayson come on we won." Jenna said.
"Look one more 5 minute round. If you score you win. If we score we win."
"Now that's not fair." Lexi pointed out. "We are obviously up."
"Zero to zero." Miranda confirmed. "No one is getting cheated."
"No one cheated!" Damon yelled.
"You did!" Katherine yelled at him. "Now shut up."
Damon rolled his eyes at his girlfriend letting it be known he was more than annoyed with her getting her way. "Flip a coin to see who goes first." Damon grumbled. The Gilbert's won the coin toss. Things were getting vicious between everyone. Lexi was playing tight defense on Jeremy giving him a occassional shove now and again. Damon and Katherine were rough housing just to get it out of their systems while Stefan was on Elena like white on rice. He wasn't going to let her get out of being his date. They were moving the ball closer and closer to the end zone. Stefan was starting to worry they might actually win. Elena had found herself a step ahead of Stefan somehow and Grayson threw the ball to her. Before the ball could land in Elena's hands Stefan's hands were faster and grabbed the ball. He took off running quickly with Elena hot on his tail. Before he could step into the end zone she jumped on his back causing them to fall to the ground. Stefan was so caught off guard from the attack that the ball slipped from his hands when they fell. Elena scrambled to try and get it but Stefan was quick to grab her by her hips to keep her away from the ball. Both teams were racing to retrieve the loose ball. Katherine dived after with Damon following. Lexi watched it roll from them and she went for it only to have Jeremy trip her. As he picked up the ball she grabbed his foot sending him to the ground as well. Another fumble was on the field and neither of the young adults were letting each other get up.
"Mom get the ball!" Elena yelled as Stefan was holding her back.
"Jenna! Ric!" Stefan shouted.
Jenna and Ric began to race after the ball with the Gilberts right behind. Miranda somehow had picked the ball up safety and Grayson blocked her all the way to the end as she scored the winning touchdown.
"Yes!" All three Gilbert kids yelled. Stefan let Elena go as she got up and did a victory dance in front of him.
"Looks like you are buying me a tree!" Elena winked at him as she went to celebrate her win with her family.
Lexi was standing and extending her hand to Stefan. "We tried."
Stefan smiled watching how happy Elena was. "I'll take a loss any day to see that."
Lexi smiled at her friend. He was so in love with Elena Gilbert that it was silly. Eventually everyone packed up and headed their separate ways. Stefan and Elena were happy to be back at home after a long day. Things were getting back to normal slowly. Elena had fixed things with her parents and Stefan was happy to see her at peace with them.
The next week back at school Elena was happily enjoying herself as she got her books out of her locker. She had a relaxing weekend away from anything and everyone. She had spent her days either at her parents or at the house with Stefan just hanging out. It wasn't so bad living with him sometimes. In fact she was actually getting used to him being around so much. They were no longer bickering about little things that just didn't matter anymore. Now they talked and had real conversations.
"Oh my God Elena!" Caroline yelled.
"Caroline I missed you too." Elena sarcastically replied.
"Shut it I know you did. But that's not the point of my yelling."
"Then why are you?" Elena asked looking at her curiously.
Caroline looked around to make sure no one was around before showing Elena the photo. It was the one Damon had snapped of them on Thanksgiving. "Damon posted this to his Instagram."
"What?" Elena shrieked grabbing the phone from Caroline. "No." She shook her head. Damon had made some smartass quote about what a cute couple they were and hash-tagged them as Mr.& Mrs. Salvatore. "Please tell me this is a joke."
"Afraid not." Caroline said. "It's still there."
"No." Elena felt like crying. Just then Bonnie and Lexi walked up.
"Elena it's not that big of deal." Bonnie tried to soothe her.
"Yeah you should see my photo." Lexi said wanting to make her feel better. "Something about too much cheesecake and being a fatass."
Bonnie had to crack a smile at that. "I'm going to kill him."
"Good morning ladies." Stefan smiled at them all. "What's wrong?" He asked losing his million dollar smile.
"Your brother is what's wrong!" Elena yelled at him.
"What did he do?" Stefan asked and Elena shoved the phone into his hands. Stefan's face dropped at the photo. "Elena it's okay. I'll get him to take it down right now." Stefan pulled his phone out and dialed his brother's number. After a few choice words Stefan put his phone back up. "All gone." He reloaded Caroline's Instagram and showed Elena that it was gone.
"It's been there since Thursday." Elena said not happy at all.
"Elena I had no idea he did that." Stefan assured her.
"I'm not mad at you Stefan." She said in a softer tone. "I just don't want to deal with this."
Just then Matt walked up not looking happy at all. "Some break you two had huh?" He asked them.
"Matt it's not what it looks like." Elena said.
"Nothing is going on." Stefan told him.
"You two will never stop lying will you?" Matt shook his head.
"No one is lying to you." Elena promised.
"Yeah I mean I was there. Nothing happened." Lexi said trying to take up for the two.
"Like you'd tell me the truth." Matt scoffed.
"What's it matter you broke up with her." Stefan said.
"I'm real tired of you thinking you know what's best for Elena when in reality you are the worst thing for her." Matt said poking Stefan in the chest. Stefan dropped his bag and shoved Matt backwards.
"You want to say that again?" Stefan asked. "We can settle this right here."
"Stefan stop!" Elena demanded. "Matt I will talk to you after school. Please just hear me out."
"I'm tired of listening to your excuses when it comes to him." Matt said walking off.
"Are you okay?" Stefan asked Elena reaching out to grab her hand but she pulled away from him. "Elena?" He called after her as she walked away disappearing into the crowd of students.