AN: Sorry for the long wait but here's an update. I hope you enjoy it and as always: Read and Review :)

The night went on and it was such a calm and relaxing one compared to the other ones so far. Instead of everyone drinking and getting ready to party, everyone was just talking and relaxing. Yes, people were drinking, but not in a way as to be completely drunk. When Nate left with Stefan to play beer pong, Elena noticed Caroline sitting on the double chair opposite her alone. Elena got up and joined her best friend.

"Everything okay?" Elena asked.

"Yeah", she answered and gave Elena a wide smile. "I'm just enjoying the moment. Thanks for telling me to come. Tonight is so different than what I was expecting! I was expecting people to keep on drinking as if their liver wouldn't suffer but instead everyone is just so relaxed. Yeah, there are a few tipsy people, including myself, but nothing harmful. Right?"

Elena laughed, "No, nothing harmful."

A few hours later, there was some music playing in the background and the beer pong was still going on. Everyone was more or less tipsy but others had stopped drinking completely.

"Who's up for a paired beer-pong?" asked Tyler to the entire group. "Care, would you like to be my partner?"

"Sure, but I can't aim at all," answered the blonde, giggling slightly. The alcohol had affected her a little bit more than she had wished for, but Caroline was a funny drunk, so everyone was okay with it.

"Elena?" came Stefan's voice- he was standing by the beer pong table already. Elena shivered slightly just by hearing him say her name in his deep and charming voice.

"Sure," she answered before making her way to him. He welcomed her by discretely putting his arm around her waist and holding her. She crossed her arms over her stomach and accidently placed her hand on top of his on her waist. She was about to pull away when he intertwined their fingers and gently squeezed it. Elena felt butterflies in her stomach and she was sure that he could feel her heartbeat picking up. She felt as if her heart was beating in her entire body, not just in her chest. She casually leaned back into Stefan's chest and he squeezed her hand once more. It just felt so natural to the both of them. Elena couldn't see Stefan's face, but he was hoping that she knew that he was smiling. What none of them knew, however, was that Elijah was in the corner, watching it all. He was the only one who saw their intertwined fingers on Elena's waist. He smiled to himself, because just like Damon, he wanted Elena and Stefan to be happy and together.

Caroline and Tyler made their way to the table and went on the opposing side. Stefan and Elena let go of each other reluctantly and he stepped forward for the first shot. He got the ball in a cup and Tyler drank it. Caroline was throwing next and she missed by an inch.

"You're not as bad as you said you were," commented Tyler.

"Lucky shot," she answered and laughed. Although Caroline and Stefan had broken up, the four best friends, Matt, Tyler, Caroline and Stefan still hung out without everything being awkward. Elena who was pretending to be focused on getting her shot in one of the cups couldn't help but notice that maybe, just maybe, Tyler had a soft spot for Caroline. I mean, who wouldn't? She's funny, optimistic, full of life and simply just a great person. Elena smiled to herself before shooting and dropping the ball in the furthest cup on the right.

"Nice shot, Gilbert," Tyler said before handing the cup to Caroline. When Tyler was a little tipsy, he never called anyone by their first names. It always made everyone smile and it somehow also sets a mood.

"Why were you smiling just before throwing the ball?" whispered Stefan. "What? Smiling? No, nothing. I was just concentrating," she said feigning innocence.

"Good one. We'll talk later," he said just as he caught Tyler's ball making Tyler himself drink a cup.

"Salvatore, come on!" said Tyler before gulping down his cup. Stefan laughed out loud and gave a charismatic smile to Tyler. Elena couldn't help but stare and the beauty standing next to her. His smile always touched his eyes, making him look truly happy.

A good fifteen minutes later, Elena and Stefan had 3 full cups left while Caroline and Tyler had none.

"Gilbert. Salvatore. Round two later. 'No' is not an option," ordered Tyler before laughing at his own attempted joke.

"Sure thing man," answered Stefan and unconsciously scratched the back of his head. Elena had left his side and was sitting next to Nate talking to him in an animated way. Whatever she was saying, Nate found it funny because he couldn't stop laughing. Stefan himself smiled because that's what Elena does to him.

"You're going to stand here and watch her, or actually go talk to her?" Elijah asked Stefan. Stefan gasped a little bit, as he didn't expect anyone to notice him. He was in the kitchen, pretending to put chips in a bowl but also looking at Elena through the window that gave view to the veranda.

"Well, she seems to be enjoying Nate's company," Stefan answered.

"Stefan, she met Nate just a couple of weeks ago. She can have guy friends you know," Elijah said and chuckled slightly.

"I know. Given the fact that you and Damon are her best guy friends." Stefan and Elijah always got along really well. They never talk much, but when they do, they knew that they could talk about anything. They trust each other about more or less everything.

"Don't be stupid Stef. You know the kind of girl she is and just think about everything that has happened since you saw her for the first last holiday- New Years?"

"She told you everything, didn't she?" he asked Elijah and raised one of his eyebrows.

"It was written all over her face that something had happened with someone when she came. I guessed the what, she told me the who."

Stefan chuckled before saying ,"I messed up pretty badly, didn't i?"

"Yep. Yeah, you did. I'm sorry, but I'm not going to lie about it," answered Elijah being completely honest.

"No, I don't expect you to. Things got out of control with Caroline and I just didn't know what to do. I mean, now things seem to be better. We're not together anymore but it's not awkward either."

"I'm glad that things are somehow getting sorted out," said Elijah.

"Elijah, I know you saw Elena and I 'holding hands' by the beer pong table", Stefan said and glanced over at Elijah. He chuckled once and then nodded.

"Yeah, that was quite cute, very discrete. Stefan , I say you go talk to her. I'll even lure her away from Nate if you want," he added and smiled. It was Stefan's turn to laugh.

"I'll go talk to her later. Nate is just a guy friend right?" he said smiling before heading back outside with a bowl of chips.

By now quite a few people went to bed already, there was about 5 people remaining and they were all more or less past tipsy.

"What took you so long Stefan, did you drown in the chips?" asked Caroline trying not to slur her words. She was sitting next to Tyler and he had his arms around her shoulder.

"Just got talking with Elijah," he answered calmly. As he said that, he noticed Elena give a questioning look to Elijah and he shook his head in response.

After a while, Elena got up and went to sit alone on the steps. It was dark, but with the full moon shining bright, you could see parts of the view. She took in a breath of fresh air and closed her eyes for a minute. She felt like she was completely free and then she smiled. For the first time in a really long time she was happy just to be here. She felt her eyes starting to prick and a tear rolled down her cheek. She's never felt like this before, so happy that it made her cry. Then again, she was quite intoxicated, so her emotions were slightly out of control. She wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand and then she smiled, laughing at herself.

"Hey," came Stefan's voice from behind her. "Can I join?"

"Of course you can," she answered.

"Elijah just went to bed. I think we're the only ones still up. Well given the fact that it's 2:30 in the morning, I'm not surprised." Elena giggled slightly and looked up at the view.

"So, are you going to tell me when you were laughing at the beerpong table?"

"I thought you had forgotten about that," she said.

"And I thought that there wasn't any reasons. However, now that you remember laughing, there's obviously a reason."

"There is a reason, but I'm not sure whether you're the right person to talk to about it," she answered. She didn't want to talk about Tyler possibly having a thing for his ex.

"If it's about Tyler and Caroline, I noticed it too. To be completely honest, I'm happy for her. I'm not saying that there's anything happening, but I've seen the way he looks at her and talks to her," he explained.

"Well yeah, that was the reason why I was laughing. Nothing crazy whatsoever," she simply said. Elena let out a sigh and Stefan couldn't help but ask, "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, just a little tipsy. Alcohol gets to me a little bit. First I go a little crazy and talk complete crap. I don't know how Nate handled that, then I get emotional and then I'm back to normal."

"So I'm going to have to deal with the emotional part?" he asked pretending to be annoyed.

"Oh no, you just missed it. You're safe, don't worry. You've got the normal me," she said and smiled at him.

Stefan scooted closer to Elena and wrapped his arm around her waist once again. She rested her head on his shoulder while she placed her hand on his knee, elbow on his thigh. He smiled at how perfect they seem to mould into each other.

"Your turn to explain why you're smiling now," Elena challenged.

"Us," he simply answered.

"What do you mean?" she asked confused.

"We were talking about Caroline and Tyler possibly having something happening and yet here we are on the steps holding each other like it's the most natural thing."

"It feels natural," she said without thinking twice. She shifted her head slightly so she could see his face. At the same time he looked down at her and met her eyes. She lifted her head completely off of his shoulder and maintained eye contact. Her heart was drumming in her chest. It was one of those moments that make you feel like you're completely and utterly alone with the person sitting in front of you. Before either of them knew what was happening, they were leaning towards each other and their lips were about to touch when Stefan said: "I'm sorry about everything 'Lena." He then collided his lips to hers. She didn't care what happened last summer or even at the beginning of this summer, all she cared about was that she was kissing Stefan right now. What started out as a simple kiss turned into something else full of lust and passion. His hand that was placed around her waist was pushing her towards him even further. Without breaking the kiss, Elena straddled Stefan's lap. Both of his hands were around her waist securing her while her arms were around his neck. He gently licked her bottom lip before she smiled and gained him access. She could feel him smile against her lips as she continued kissing him. What was happening right now was something that they both have imagined countless number of times, but none of it matched what was actually happening.

Meanwhile in Mystic Falls, Damon was about to fall asleep when he got a text.

Elijah: Stefan. Elena. BAM! It's happening as I'm writing this. Just thought you should know.

AN: My Stelena heart is in a million pieces after that last episode, I just had to make them kiss in my story! Reviews are what keeps me going ! :)