AN: Sorry for the delay in updating. I was at a camp for the past 2 weeks and I couldn't get any writing done. I hope you will enjoy this chapter..

Picking off exactly where last chapter ended..

Damon who was sitting by the island in the kitchen had spotted the entire scene going on between his brother and best friend. He smiled at the thought of having seen them talking when he had arrived at Caroline's house. Damon loved Caroline; she's a great girl, always enthusiastic about everything and seeing the positive side of situations. However, he preferred Elena being with Stefan rather than Caroline. He didn't have an exact reason for it, but to him Elena needed someone who would be there for her, care and love her like she deserves and he knew that Stefan would be able to provide that to her. When Damon saw Elena coming out of the bathroom and nearly colliding with his brother, he paid extra attention to the scene. He couldn't hear what they were talking about so he focused more on the body language they were showing each other, the facial expressions and gestures. He knew something was up from looking at Stefan's furrowed brow and the way he lifted Elena's head to face her. She had her back towards Damon, so he had no idea what she was portraying. Damon was almost sad when he saw Stefan hug her and she was doing everything in her power to hold back her tears. The older brother could only see the side of her face from where he was sitting in the kitchen, but he knew her all to well. When Elena bit her lower lip and looked down, he knew that something wasn't right. He saw a couple of tears stroll down her cheek and noticed that Stefan embraced her even further and whispered something to her. She had smiled weakly and walked outside to stand by the railing of the pool.

Elena decided to enjoy her night despite the comment Rebekah had made earlier about Caroline and Stefan. She somehow had expected it. Elena knew that Caroline and Stefan have always been close and given what happened last summer, it would only make sense that they picked up from where they left off. Elena's stomach twisted at the thought of her Greek God in the arms of her best friend. 'Whatever', she thought and took a deep breath of fresh air as the wind picked up.

"You okay?" she heard from behind her. She smiled as she recognized Damon's voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied and sighed deeply. Damon knew she was lying, but he also knew that she didn't want to talk about it. Instead of saying anything to her, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her towards him. She looped her arm around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder and he gently kissed her forehead. They were standing in comfortable silence, each contemplating how lucky they were to have a friend like each other. They hadn't kept in touch much when she was in Bulgaria and he in Switzerland, but they knew that their friendship would never change. They stayed outside for another fifteen minutes still holding each other talking about nothing in particular.

"Hey lovebirds, you coming inside? We're going to play a game of Kings," came Stefan's voice from behind. Elena turned around with her eyebrows arched, her mouth slightly opened as if disgusted by Stefan. 'Why is he being like this', she thought to herself. Seeing her reaction, Stefan added "sorry, but that's what everyone thinks inside, so I'm just playing their game. To be honest, I wish I had a friend like that."

"You've got Caroline," Elena snapped back and walked past Stefan to join the group who was getting prepared to play.

"What the -, " Stefan said unable to even finish his sentence. "What's gotten into her?" he turned around to look at Damon who had his hands by his shoulders and shrugged as a sign of defeat.

"I don't know, dude. I don't know," was all he managed to answer because Damon really didn't understand why Elena had snapped like that.

Elena sat down on the couch and stared at her hands in her lap. She suddenly felt sick for talking back to Stefan like that. It was the first time they saw each other in so long and she's already flared up. She remembered how she felt just before Damon had joined her by the railing, she was thinking about Caroline and Stefan and it had made her upset. Now it was just all coming out onto Stefan. It really wasn't' an excuse to get all worked up against him, she had to get it under control. She looked up and saw both brothers coming back inside. She got up and walked towards them. She placed a hand on Stefan's upper arm and quickly looked at Damon who understood that she needed to talk to Stefan.

"Later," Damon said and walked away giving Elena a don't-be-so-hard-on-him look.

Her hand was burning from the electricity coming off from their touch. She wanted to jump into his arms and hug him forever; she wanted to kiss those perfect lips again because right now, just touching his arm wasn't good enough. She contained herself and let go of his arm. He looked down at her slightly confused because of her behavior earlier.

"Sorry about earlier," she said as if reading his mind. "I don't know what has gotten into me. It's just that your comment ticked me off, the one where you called Damon and I lovebirds," Elena lied. She didn't want him to know the actual reason; he didn't need to know that she was upset about him possibly getting together with Caroline. "I had no reason snapping at you like that and I-"

"Elena," he cut her off and grabbed both her shoulders, "Don't worry about it, it's fine. Take it easy," he reassured her and looked straight into her deep dark eyes. She unconsciously placed her hands on his waist as if using him for balance from the pressure he was putting on her shoulders. They stared at each other for a while longer as the electricity between them intensified. His hands that were still placed on her shoulders gently went down to her elbows and he silently said, "How about we get to that game of Kings?" Elena tightened her hold on his waist, crumpling his shirt, before letting go and nodding. She turned around and saw Damon smirking at her and then winked knowing exactly what had happened between his dream couple.

The night at Caroline's was great. Everyone was having a good time, music was blasting through the stereo and the food kept on coming. Caroline walked up to Elena with a smile on her face and Elena instantly knew that something was up.

"Elena, I've got a favor to ask you," she said guiltily. Elena chuckled slightly at Caroline's minor embarrassment.

"Anything," she answered and patted Caroline's shoulder. "You're my best friend, you can ask me absolutely anything, and you know that right?"

"I know, but you just got back and it's totally okay if you say no-"

"Care, get to the point," Elena interrupted laughing openly now.

"Can Stefan, Tyler, Matt and I sleep over tonight? It's totally fine if you say no. We wanted to go out and you live quite close and-"

"Of course Care. You don't even need to ask, you know you guys are always welcome at home."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" squealed the blonde and jumped into Elena's arms while she just rolled her eyes and smiled.

Elena phoned Jeremy who was staying home that night and told him a group was coming over for the night. He was more than excited and started taking pillows and covers out of the cupboard while still talking to Elena through the phone. Elena had to laugh at his excitment and then started asking whether she was really that boring.

"Lena, of course not. It's just that I like having people over, it makes the house seem more alive," Jeremy answered and he had a point thought Elena. "Have a good night tonight. Behave, be responsible and don't do anything stupid," he said while taking his deep, forceful voice.

"Of course, Dad," she answered jokingly.

"Love you Lena."

"Love you too Jer."

As she hung up a wave of nostalgia hit her. She thought of what she just said to Jeremy "Of course Dad" and realized that she will never get to actually say that to her father. Her parents died two years ago but the pain never left her. Yes, she moved on, but sometimes, like now, it would hit her and she would suddenly feel overly emotional. She felt a hand on her shoulder and the touch was so electrifying that it buzzed her out of her thoughts.

"It's going to be okay," she heard Stefan say from behind her. He had somehow overheard her part of the conversation and he knew that she was having a moment. She smiled as she noticed that it was the exact same words he used to reassure her when she was hugging him outside the bathroom hours ago. Somehow she believed and trusted his words this time.

Eventually people wanted to move to a nightclub. Katherine and Rebekah kept playing Kings and they were getting pretty wasted and so was Matt. Damon was playing but he knew his limits. When he felt that he had reach his drinking level, he would play with an empty drink. He was drinking from a can therefore no one knew exactly how much he had left to drink. Elena was the only person who knew his tactics in drinking games and she usually used it herself. She remembered Damon clearly explaining his strategy to her.

Rule #1: Don't forget to fake gulps, don't just bring the can to your lips and stay like a statue.

Rule #2: Never put your can down on the table because people will hear the hollow sound indicating that your drink is empty.

Rule #3: Don't ask other players how much they have left in their drinks because they will fire the question back at you.

Rule #4: By the end of the game, fake tipsiness or drunkenness.

~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~

The entire group that was at Caroline's decided to go out to a new nightclub called "Dance Forever". They all made fun of the name because it was quite a cliché title for a nightclub. It was the kind of name that could be used for a movie or something along those lines. All fifteen of them entered the building and were surprised at how large the area was. It was a two story nightclub and from the second floor you could see look below and see what was happening downstairs. There were two bars, one on each floor and the same applied for the bathroom. It was a Monday night and there weren't many people inside. The club was open everyday just because it was summer holidays, usually it was opened only on Friday and Saturday night. There weren't many people inside but the few ones who were, Elena knew them and they were fun people to be around. The song 'Drive By' by Train started blaring through the humungous speakers and Damon turned around to look at Elena with his hand extended. Elena smiled and took his hand and they began to make their way to the dancefloor. Damon twirled her and he began to hand-jive to the music. It wasn't exactly the type of song to dance like that to, but since they both had the rhythm in their soul, they made it work. Caroline squealed when she saw them dancing. Stefan who was standing by her laughed out loud, he had forgotten how she's completely in love with their dancing. Stefan gazed at the couple dancing and smiled when he saw how happy they were. They were both smiling at each other and laughing as he kept on twirling her over and over again. He thought back to what he had said when he saw them standing by the pool at Caroline's, he said that he wished he had a friend like that, and he really did. He wanted a friend where he could be himself and act stupid for a second and then have a serious conversation the next. He wanted a friend where he could sit with her in complete silence and not feel uncomfortable at all. He wanted a friend where he wouldn't have to worry about kissing her, and that's why Caroline couldn't be that friend like Elena had suggested. Too much has happened between Caroline and him to draw the line as 'friends only'. The song changed and 'Titanium" by David Guetta and Sia came up. The crowd went wild and the dancefloor became more crowded. However, there was still enough space for a couple to hand-jive without hitting anyone in the process. Damon and Elena stopped dancing together but they were still moving to the beat of the music individually. Elena started singing along to the music and began to wonder in her own world. She was swaying from side to side as she felt an arm snake around her waist from behind. She looked over her shoulder to see Stefan smiling down at her. She turned around and saw Caroline and Damon dancing in the middle of the floor. Elena smiled back and Stefan took her hand in his. Just as the chorus started Stefan twirled her around and they started to dance like crazy.

Stone hard, machine gun

Fired at the ones who run

Stone hard, as bulletproof glass

The music had slowed down during that part. Elena's back was pressed against Stefan's chest and they were both breathing heavily from all the dancing. His arms were around her waist and their fingers intertwined.

You shoot me down, but I won't fall

I am titanium

You shoot me down but I won't fall

I am titanium

Elena turned around and faced Stefan. She couldn't let the gravity between them get stronger. She knew that Caroline had something for Stefan and Elena wasn't the type to backstab somebody and definitely not her best friend.

You shoot me down but I won't fall

I am titanium

You shoot me down but I won't fall

I am titanium

The music picked up once more and Elena let go of Stefan's hand. She was now jumping up and down to the beat of the music with her head swaying from side to side.

After an hour or so, the music was still playing flat out and keeping up to everybody's expectations. Elena was sitting at the bar alone taking in the scene around her. She looked over to the dancefloor and saw Stefan and Caroline dancing closely to each other with their foreheads pressed together, smiling. Elena bit her lower lip and turned her look away. She somehow felt as though nothing happened between them tonight, but she still couldn't look at them, it pained her.

~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~

Elena was standing outside talking to Damon and Meredith. They've been talking for a while and Meredith kept on asking 'Has Stefan and Caroline hooked up yet?'. Both Damon and Elena changed the topic of conversation every time because neither one of them wanted to talk about it. It was painful for Elena to hear people talk about Stefan being with another girl, and for Damon, he just didn't like Caroline and Stefan as a couple. He loved the fact that they were best friends, but being a couple didn't suit him. Damon also sensed deep inside that Elena was uncomfortable with the subject. As if out of nowhere, Stefan, Tyler and Rebekah appeared in front of them. Rebekah and Meredith instantly fell into an easy conversation while Tyler and Damon began an animated discussion. Stefan looked at Elena and smiled slightly on the side.

"I guess it's you and I then," he said. "Tell me Elena, how many boys are lining up for you back in Bulgaria?" Stefan asked jokingly. Elena smiled slightly.
"No, no boys" she answered truthfully and then decided to throw the question back at him. "What about you, any girls?"

"None," he answered quickly. Elena looked deep into his green eyes and placed a soft hand onto his cheek. He leaned into it without realizing it.

"Caroline?" she asked not thinking twice about it before removing her hand. His cheek instantly felt cold without her warm hand placed against it. He smiled though at the thought of Caroline.

"I don't know," he answered honestly. "I mean, I'm attracted to her, I really am. But then there's something that's stopping me from actually going forward with our relationship. I don't know what that something is. I feel as though if I go ahead without knowing what it is, I might miss out on something incredible. Know what I mean?"

"Yeah, I know what you mean," she answered and plastered a fake smile on her face because right now that was all she could do to make him believe that she was happy for him. "Just so you know, you and Caroline are adorable," she added. As soon as she said it, she wanted to punch herself in the face. She didn't know why she said it and she didn't even mean it.

"Thanks 'Lena," he answered and pierced his moss green eyes into her chocolate brown ones.

When they decided to go home, it was 5:30 in the morning. They stepped outside and the sky had already begun to change to a grayish color indicating that the sun was about to start rising.

"Well they sure got the name of the club right," said Damon. "I felt as though that music was never going to stop playing. It's insane in there. I love it." The rest of the group laughed and eventually said goodbye to Damon who was heading his own way back to his house. Elena smiled as she realized that this was only her first night and there were probably many more to come. Elena unlocked the front door and her four friends followed her inside. Jeremy had pinned a note by the stairs that read: BOYS TAKE MY ROOM, I'M SLEEPING ON THE COUCH. YOU BETTER BE THANKFUL. Elena laughed slightly at Jeremy's humor and then noticed a lump on the couch. She was thankful she had a brother like Jeremy who made life so much simpler. Ever since he's suddenly matured, he accepts things and deals with them as they come along. Usually he would have thrown a tantrum about people sleeping over and would have said that their house isn't a boarding house. All five of them made their way upstairs. There were two mattresses in Jeremy's room meaning that someone would sleep in his bed while Caroline and Elena shared Elena's bed. By the time every one was ready to go to sleep, it was 7 in the morning. There were sunbeams trying to make their way into the room through the thick curtains, but were unsuccessful. Caroline and Elena got into bed and the blonde silently asked the brunette.

"What do you think of Stefan and I?" Elena tried not to stiffen up at the question, but her fists still balled up by her side.

"I think you guys are adorable and meant to be," Elena lied, "he's truly a great guy and you deserve someone like him."

"I just wish we could go past this whole friendship thing and have a more serious relationship."

"I hope it works out for you," Elena quickly answered. "Good night Care," she added and rolled onto her side so her back was towards Caroline. She let a silent tear stroll down her cheek.

"Good night Lena, and thanks again," silently replied Caroline and in her next breath she was already snoring.

AN: I've done my job (updating) now you do yours (review) :P Let me know what you liked/didn't like- absolutely anything. :) follow if you're interested to know what happens next and/or favorite if you like it already :)