Emi, this is for you :)

Elena giggled as Stefan dragged her across the road towards a small restaurant. "Stefan, where are we going?" Stefan stopped quickly, allowing a car to pass before he started running again. "Stefan, you make me dress up in a fancy dress and do my hair then you drag me out of the cottage. What is going on?"
Stefan stopped when they reached the door of the restaurant. "It's Christmas Eve, Elena. I'm taking you out to dinner."
"Oh." Elena blushed. "That makes sense."
Stefan kissed her forehead gently. "Silly girl. Don't worry about it." He smiled at her and the sparkle in his eyes erased all of Elena's embarrassment.

"Okay." She blushed again. "I love you, Stefan."

His eyes bore into hers as he responded, "I love you too, Elena."

Stefan looked up at Elena. Her eyes were glued to her menu as she looked at the list of choices. Her right hand absentmindedly played with his mother's necklace he had given her. He found himself mesmerized by her beauty. He had told her to pack light for their trip so she had left all of her hair products at their apartment along with a majority of her makeup. Her hair hung in natural curls, framing her face.

"We should get married."
Elena's head snapped up. "What?"
Stefan reached across the table for her hand. "Not right now. Not even in the near future. I just think we should talk about it. I know that I want to marry you and spend the rest of my life with you."

Elena was quite for a moment, her eyes boring into Stefan's. "Okay."
"Okay what?" He asked, holding his breath as he watched her face.

"Okay I think we should talk about it. Stefan, I love you. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I do. But I am not ready to get married yet. Please understand that, Stefan. I want to marry you, just not yet."
Stefan nodded, squeezing Elena's hand before bringing it to his lips and laying a kiss on her knuckles. "I can understand that. You're young. Not like a baby." They smiled at each other. "But you're five years younger than me and those five years are a huge factor for me figuring out my life and being ready to get married right now. You're only twenty-one and we have only been together for four months. I get it, Elena. I just wanted us to begin to talk about it. So that when the time is right, we don't have to talk about it. We can just do it."

She smiled at him, reaching up to stroke his cheek. "I love you so much, Stefan."
He smiled at her, turning his head slightly in order to plant a kiss on her palm. "I love you too, Elena." He leg go of her hand and picked up his menu. "Are you hungry? Because I am starving."

"Lena, wake up." Stefan whispered into Elena's ear before gently planting a kiss on her temple.

Elena stirred, eyes fluttering but not opening. "What time is it?"
She felt his chest vibrating as he chuckled. "Who cares? It's Christmas!"
Elena's eyes flew open. "Christmas?!"

Stefan laughed, the sound filling Elena with warmth. "Yeah, silly. Did you forget?" Elena looked sheepish, avoiding Stefan's eyes. "Oh my God you did. How could you forget Christmas? That's the whole reason we came here! We even went out to dinner last night!"

"Shut up." She tried to defend herself. "I was busy. It's actually your fault."

"Wha? How could it be my fault you forgot about Christmas? Especially after last night!" His eyes went wide in mock horror. "You didn't forget my gift did you?"

She rolled over, shoving his shoulder. "No, I didn't forget your gift. And it's your fault because you always spoil me so it's easy to forget Christmas is why you brought me here and the second reason is that you are so busy jumping me that whenever we aren't having sex or a serious conversation all I can think about is food or when we are going to have sex again." She grinned at him. "See? Your fault."

Stefan's grin could have broken his face it was so wide. "I'm okay with that." He reached out for Elena, his hand gently wrapping around the back of her neck. He pulled her flush to his chest. "I know it's Christmas and all and I should be thinking about presents but now all I can think about is you naked." He kissed her lips lightly.

"I am naked, Stefan. The only clothes you every let me put on are skimpy suits. And you always end up taking those off." He felt her smile against his lips. "Not that I am complaining."
He laughed softly, blowing a breath across her face. "I would be worried if you did complain. And, if you did I would argue that you don't let me wear clothes either. As I seem to remember I got up yesterday morning to go for a swim and I couldn't even get my suit up off the floor before you had me pinned to..."
He was cut off as Elena smashed her lips onto his, dominating his mouth. Her teeth scraped against his as he sucked all his air. Not that Stefan would ever complain. Elena could kill him with kisses. Steal his air until he had no more and he suffocated. Drown him with her love. Stefan didn't care. All he cared about was Elena and if loving her killed him, Stefan would consider it a worthy death.

Elena pulled her mouth off of Stefan's, their lips making a sucking sound as they parted. She rested her forehead against his, both panting for air. "Less talking. I wanna give you part of your present." She began to trail sloppy, open-mouthed kisses along his jaw and down his neck.

"You do. What is it?" Stefan's breath caught in his throat as he teeth grazed his nipple.

She smirked at him. "Wouldn't you like to know?"
"I would." He panted. Her hands had now joined the party.

"Well then, Mr. Salvatore. I guess I'll just have to show you."

Elena felt Stefan begin to stir behind her. She smiled as she felt his lips press against her ear. "Good morning."
He chuckled against her ear. "I think it's afternoon now, Love. We were asleep for a while." Elena blushed slightly before she began to wiggle in his arms. "Lena, what are you doing?"

She attempted to sit up but his arms kept her down. "I'm trying to get out of bed, Stefan. And you are not helping."
Stefan laughed, then his face turned serious. "Elena, why the hell would you be trying to get out of bed right now?"

"Because, Stefan, it's Christmas and we are on the beach. I want to open my present and then go lay out in the sun." She scowled at him. "I can't do any of that if you won't let me get up."

Stefan fell back into the pillows. "One problem, Elena. I didn't get you anything."
Elena had been staring out at the water. Her head immediately whipped around to look at Stefan. "You're joking right?"

Stefan's face remained stoic for a second longer before her burst out laughing. "Of course I am. Do you really think that with the amount I spoil you without a special occasion I would not get you a Christmas present?" He chuckled once more before yanking Elena down onto his chest. He kissed her cheek before pushing her away and swinging his legs over the bed. "Get dressed. Let's open presents on the beach. How does that sound?"

Elena squealed, jumping off the bed and running to her suitcase. "Whoa, whoa, whoa." Elena looked up at Stefan, confusion in her eyes and a sundress in her hand. "Too much clothes, babe. Remember all those bikinis I bought you in New York. Now would be a great time to wear them." He grinned mischievously at her. "You said it yourself. I haven't let you wear clothes all vacation. I am not about to start now."

Elena rolled her eyes, dropping her dress back into the suitcase. "Alright, but only if you wear your workout suit. No boardies. Fair is fair." She stared him down, eyes daring him to disagree.

Stefan pretended to think about it. Elena in the bare minimum of clothing in exchange for him wearing the same thing he wore to the pool everyday. Win win. "Deal. Get dressed."

"Elena! Come on I want to open my presents!" Stefan whined. He was bouncing up and down next to the door. "What is taking you so long? Just put on a suit and get over here!"

Elena looked up from her suitcase. "I'm digging around trying to find where I hid my present bag for you. Calm down. Jeez. You're acting like a little kid."
He stuck his tongue out at her. "It's Christmas. My regression is justified."

"Stefan, you're twenty-six. Not six. At least act a bit older."
He held up his hand, fingers an inch apart. "I can do eight, but that is my max."

She sighed, walking past him with a bag in her hand. She plopped down in an Adirondack before setting her bag beside her. "Are you coming?" She raised her eyebrows at him.

Stefan grabbed two boxes off of the table by the door, one big, and one small before walking over to Elena. He set his packages on the arm of her chair before picking her up and sitting down. He adjusted Elena so that she was lounging against his chest. "I'm ready now!" He kissed the back of her head.

Elena smiled before she lifted a package out of the bag lying on the sand next to them and handed it to Stefan. "What is it?"

She rolled her eyes. "Open it and find out."

Stefan began to tear off the paper. A black book fell onto Elena's lap as Stefan tossed the last of the paper aside. He picked it up, turning it over and over, studying the book. "Okay, what is it?"

"Stefan, open it up and look." He smiled at her, kissing her cheek before he cracked the cover.

The book was filled with pages and pages of pictures. Stefan flipped a few pages. "A photo album?" He looked up at Elena.

She nodded. "Technically it's a scrap book, but who cares?" She laughed. "It is every single picture I could find of us. There are even some in there that Caroline ninjad when we weren't looking." She smiled. "I got one of the biggest books I could find so that there is room for us to add. The back half is empty."

"I love it, Elena. It's perfect." He kissed her quickly. "Can we look through it?"

Elena's expression turned stony. "No, Stefan. I made you a book of us but you can never look through it." Her expression broke and she smiled. "I'm kidding. Of course."
Stefan began to flip. Elena pointed to a picture in the top right slot. "This is from our first date. The sky was so pretty that night." Her finger moved down. "And this is the napkin from the restaurant and here is the receipt."

Stefan chuckled. "Haha. You dork. I can't believe you kept that stuff." He smiled at her. "It makes me love you more, if that is possible." She smiled back before looking down again.

"This is our first selfie. Remember that?"

He nodded. "I do. It was at the Stanford meet." He pointed at paper stuck next to the picture. "Is this my split sheet from that meet?" She nodded. "I was looking for that before Arizona!"

"I stole it. I needed it for this. Sorry not sorry." She winked at him.

"Ha. I'm not mad. Is this from that photo booth?" She nodded. "That was a fun night. Great date. I think we used all the film they had." They smiled at each other.

Stefan turned the page. "What is this?" He pointed at a shrunken legal document.

Elena blushed. "That's the ah..." She paused. "I have no idea why I am embarrassed. This is the revised lease to the apartment."

Stefan brushed her hair back so he could see her eyes. "Elena, why would you be embarrassed about that. It was a big deal."

She looked up at him. "Okay. Ha. It meant so much to me that you put my name on the lease. I told you that you didn't have to but you did it anyway."
Stefan sighed, looking out at the ocean in front of them. He was quite for a moment, contemplating his response. "Elena. If only my name was on the lease then it would only by my apartment. It is our home. Our apartment. Your name is on that lease because it belongs to both of us." He kissed her temple. "Let's keep flipping."

They spent the next few minutes flipping through various pages filled with pictures and souvenirs from meets and dates.
Stefan shut the book, leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes. Elena rested her head against his chest, sighing contentedly. "Which picture is your favorite?"

Stefan opened his eyes. "Hands down the series that Care took of us when you broke the meet record at Arizona in the 800. You flying into my arms and our kiss. I think my favorite of that set is the one of us on the block." He opened the book to the page and pointed. "This one."
Elena ran her fingers over the picture. It was right after she had managed to drag Stefan up there with her. Her face was turned toward him. Her eyes locked onto his as she held her flowers in the air. The love in their gaze was so powerful Elena could almost feel the intensity just by looking at the picture. "I think that's my favorite too."

Stefan shut the book abruptly. "My turn." He reached down and picked up a small bag. "Here" He handed the bag to Elena before wrapping his arms around her waist and burrowing his face into her neck.

Elena giggled as she felt his butterfly kisses on her neck. She reached into the bag, sifting through tissue paper as her hand dug for her gift. "Jeez, Stefan. Could you put more tissue paper in here?"

Stefan's only response was to lightly nip her neck before resting his chin on her shoulder.
Elena's hand finally found something other than tissue paper. She pulled it out. Stefan had given her a medium sized leather journal; slightly warn with scuff marks on the corners. "Stefan, what is this?" She opened the front cover to find that the pages were filled with writing. Stefan's name was written on the inside of the front cover.

Stefan reached out, lifting the journal from her hands. "This is my journal from my first Olympics. I was hoping you would help me, and by help, I mean do, write my memoirs from my Olympic days. I have all of the other journals back home." Elena did not respond, just stared down at the book in Stefan's hands. "This is dumb. I'm sorry you probably think this is stupid. I should have gotten you something else."

Stefan's ramblings were cut short by Elena's hand on his. "Stefan, this is perfect. I love it."
"You do?"

"Of course. Stefan, I have always wanted to write a book. I have." In her excitement Elena was stumbling over her words. "I think the only reason I haven't done anything about it yet is because I was afraid of rejection. What you are really giving me is publication guarantee." She beamed at him.

Stefan's eyes were full of confusion. "I'm a bit lost, Lena. Can you say that again, but slower?"

"Stefan, you are a famous Olympian. Any book of your memoirs will get published. It's a guarantee. By asking me to help you write them you are spreading that guarantee to me."
Stefan nodded. "I kinda thought about that when I decided to do this. To be honest I really gave you this because I felt like you would enjoy the chance to experience the story. I want to share that part of my life with you and this is the best way that I know how. Plus, you know how private I am." She nodded at him. "If I am going to tell the world about my life then I want to do it with you. That's the only way I could be comfortable with it."
"Stefan, I." Elena paused, tears shinning in her eyes. "This is the best gift I have ever been given. Hands down. Without a doubt. No competition."

Stefan turned Elena so she was sitting sideways in his lap. He reached up, caressing her cheek. "Well then," His voice was hushed, and slightly rough with emotion. "I am honored to share these with you." He kissed her, slow and sweet.

Stefan pulled slightly away, laying light kisses across her face. Elena giggled. "Stefan, you are so good to me."

He moved down to her neck, sucking lightly just below her jaw. "It's all part of my master plan."

"What's your master plan?" She gasped out.

He lifted his mouth, smirking at her. "Capture your heart."

Elena raised an eyebrow at him. "And how is that going for ya?"

Stefan kissed her on the nose. "Quite well, I would call it a successful mission." They smiled at each other.

Elena pecked Stefan on the lips before turning away. She grabbed the second, larger package out of her present bag. She turned back to Stefan and handed him the present.

Stefan tore off the paper. Six gold medals winked in the sun. "Did you?"
He looked up at Elena; eyes alight with joy and mouth open in awe. "Yeah. I got all your medals mounted and I got the splits put on cards underneath. I also hunted down a picture of you from right after you won. I wanted those to be over each medal." She smiled at him.

"You worked really hard for all of those and I felt like we should display them."
Stefan blushed, his inner shy boy coming to the surface. "Elena, it's no big deal, really. Thank you for this, it means a lot but you didn't have to."
Elena fixed Stefan with a stern look. "Stefan Salvatore. You won three gold medals in the 400 free and three more in the 800 free over three Olympics. That is a big fucking deal." She smiled sweetly at him. "So even if you're too shy and humble to say how proud you are of all this," she tapped the glass, "it is going to be hung up in our home and you are going to be happy about it and thank your beautiful girlfriend who harassed the nice people at Michael's to get this perfect for you."

Stefan smiled back at her. "Thank you, Elena. This is such a cool gift. I absolutely love it. You know what? We should hang it up when we get home. You are the best girlfriend ever." He kissed her cheek.

Elena smiled as Stefan pulled back. "You're very welcome, beautiful boy." Stefan's eyes twinkled as he smiled at her. Elena found herself getting lost in Stefan's eyes. Today his eyes were a shade of green almost identical to some parts of the ocean spread out before them.

"Some things never change." She whispered.

"What?" His breath fanned across her face as he moved a piece of hair off her head.

"Your eyes. I get lost in them all the time. Ever since the day we met."

Stefan blinked rapidly. "These eyes."

Elena nodded. "Those eyes." She reached up, laying a feather light kiss on each eyelid.

"These eyes." Stefan repeated. He smiled at her again.

"So," Elena said, drawing out the "o."

"Sew buttons on your underwear." Stefan said, smirking at Elena.

She elbowed him in the shoulder. "Shut up." She blushed.

Stefan laughed, rubbing his shoulder. "I have one more gift for you. Don't worry." He reached behind them, snatching a tiny box off of the back step of the porch.

As he turned back toward her, Elena's hands flew to her mouth. "Stefan?" Elena's eyes were glued to the box in Stefan's hand. It was small, like a jewelry box, exactly the size of a ring box, and Tiffany Blue.

She looked up at him, brown eyes searching green. Silently asking him what was going on. "Stefan, I thought we -."

Stefan cut her off before she could continue. "This is not an engagement ring, and this," he gestured at them, her still perched in his lap, "is not a proposal. When I propose, I will get down on one knee before you to ask." His eyes were serious as he stared at her. She nodded, signaling that he could continue. "This," he opened the box revealing a small and simple platinum ring. A topaz stone sat above a row of minuscule diamonds lining the top half of the ring. "Is a promise ring."

"Oh, Stefan. I love it, but it's too much. It must have cost you a fortune." She looked up from the ring, eyes bright.

"Elena, it doesn't matter what it cost. It could have been a million dollars." Her eyes widened. Stefan held up his hand. "It wasn't. But if it was, it wouldn't matter. Money means nothing to me. People are what matter, and of all the people in my life, you matter more than all of them combined. You are my everything. I am yours, forever." He lifted the ring from its bed.

Stefan gently reached for Elena's left hand, lifting her hand out of her lap before sliding the ring onto her ring finger. "With this ring I give you a promise. A promise of my love. This ring is a tangible promise that I will never leave you. I will never intentionally hurt you – insert disclaimer for any stupid mistakes I may make." They chuckled together. "Elena Gilbert." Stefan locked his gaze on Elena, making sure that his words were going straight to her soul. "I love you with my heart and soul. I love you with all that I am. And one day, when you are ready, I will make you mine in every possible way, but until then, I give you this ring. A promise." Their gazes bore into one another.

Elena whispered; "It's you and me, Stefan. Always." She looked up at Stefan.
"Always." He repeated.

The eyes are the windows to the soul and in that moment, it wasn't Stefan and Elena's eyes that were connected. It was their souls.

Elena blinked back tears. "Okay." She nodded, looking down at her hand.

"Okay." Stefan repeated, pulling her in close and kissing the side of her head.

Elena held up her hand. "Topaz." She said, turning her hand this way and that as she admired her ring.

Stefan rested his chin on her shoulder. "Mhm." He hummed. "It's my birthstone."

Elena dropped her head down onto his. "I know. I love it." She laughed.

"What?" Stefan asked, running his hand up and down her side.

Elena sighed. "Everyone is going to think we are engaged now. Oh, god. Caroline is going to go nuts when she sees this."

This time it was Stefan who laughed. "Another reason I picked topaz; I hoped that it would be less likely that people would mistake it for an engagement ring. But if they do, you can set them straight." He kissed her jaw. "I'm not worried about it."
Elena nodded, turning her head toward Stefan. "Me neither." She kissed him, slow and sweet. Stefan was tempted to heat things up but the simple beauty of the moment stopped him. He wanted to savor this feeling with Elena as long as he could.

In that moment, Stefan wished he could freeze time. He wished that he would never have to leave this island, this hut, and this chair on the beach, this time with Elena in his arms and nothing else around them except the sun and the sea. Slowly he began to pull back. "My favorite part is inside the ring."
Elena expression was perplexed as her eyes searched Stefan's face. "Inside? Stefan, did you give me a locket ring?"

Stefan shook his head, a small smirk tugging at his lips. "No, and by the way there is no such thing. It would be a ring with a compartment. Get it right, Miss English Major."

Elena stuck her tongue out at him. "Whatever, you knew what I meant." She stuck her tongue out at him again.

Stefan made a fake lunge for her tongue with his teeth. Quickly Elena withdrew her tongue and shut her mouth. Stefan settled for nipping at her lips. "I did. I mean on the band inside of the ring." He twisted her ring. "Go on. Check it out."
Elena slid her ring off of her hand, tilting the ring to read what was engraved into the metal opposite the underside of the stone. "Stelena." She read. "That's cute, Stefan. Really. It's perfect." She brought the ring closer to her face. "What font is that? It looks familiar." She turned her face to Stefan's as she slid her ring back onto her hand.

"It's my handwriting." He said.

Elena swore that if she had been standing her legs would have given out. This man was perfect. "You are such a romantic." Stefan shrugged. "But I love that about you. I love everything about you."

"I love you too, Elena." He kissed her nose to emphasis his words.

Elena closed her eyes, resting her head against Stefan's chest. "This has been the best Christmas by far. And it's all because of you." She kissed his chest lightly. "Thank you."
"Always." He lifted his left hand, stroking her hair lightly. "Lena."
"Hm?" She hummed contentedly.

"Look." He said. She raised her head slightly. "The sun set is so much better here." He said.

Elena nodded before lifting her left hand. "It matches my ring perfectly."
Stefan nodded. "It must be a sign." He rested his cheek against her forehead. "Finding you is the best thing that ever happened to me."

Elena turned in Stefan's arms, reaching up to stroke his cheek. "How is it that you always know exactly what is on my mind?"

Stefan smiled down at her, eyes overflowing with love for her. "Maybe that's how we know this is meant to be." He kissed her temple. "Watch the sunset with me?" This sunset was a symbol of the ending of a phase of their relationship and the beginning of a new one. A better one.

She nodded. "Always."

It's been ages, I know. And I am truly truly sorry for that. It's probably going to be like this until I graduate but it's the best that I can do.

So what did you think? This one was particularly long. I hope it makes up for my absence. Anyways, I really really REALLY want to know what you think so please tell me. Any and all thoughts/comments are welcome.

Link to Elena's ring on my profile; use your imagination for the stone color and engraving

Katie