The flight was long and tiresome. Uncomfortable too. They had only one transfer, which was in New York, it was quick and they did not have to wait for too long on the airport. Plane was on time, as scheduled, which is rare, and there was no turbulence while they were in the air.

The bus picked them up at 6am in front of the school to drive them to airport. Everyone were there with their parents, saying goodbye. Some mothers were even crying, like they're sending their seven year old on a school trip for the first time. Caroline was there with her mom, Bonnie's parents came too, even though either of them is rarely in town, she had seen Stefan with his parents and Damon, and his best friend, Rebekah, with a stiff, cold woman standing next to her, and her brother, Niklaus. Elena had always wondered where did he get his name from, it's such a weird sounding name.

Elena did not have a mom to cry for her. She had a dad who did not show up, though. He remembered to call, and Elena suspected aunt Jenna had to remind him his daughter is going overseas for ten days. Aunt Jenna picked her up, even though Elena said she can drive herself. But Jenna insisted saying there are some things she shouldn't, and doesn't have to do by herself. Jeremy came with them too, and to Elena's surprise, so did April.

They handed their luggage to the driver who had put it in the compartment, they said their goodbyes to their loved ones, and headed off to the nearest airport, which was in Atlanta. They flew from Atlanta to New York, and it took them about ten hours to come to Rome.

They had nice seats, even though Caroline made Elena switch theirs because she was near the window, and she started panicking. Elena slept most of the trip, listening to music, or in the meantime talking with Caroline and Bonnie, and both of them were so excited. So was Elena, she had read a lot about Rome and Italy itself, and she couldn't wait to finally see it with her own two pair of eyes.

She had a feeling they're flying into the future, which made her giggle inside of her head every time she would remember it.

While they were in the air, even though the seats were uncomfortable, it's the most relaxed she had felt in days. High above the ground was the only place where Stefan Salvatore did not occupy her mind. She had tried to make those thoughts go away, but she couldn't. Somehow, the memory of them dancing always popped up in her head. In the Chem class both of them stayed awfully quiet, and when his hand scraped against hers, she pulled it away in a hurry, almost knocking down some of the supplies, and he had eyed her wearily.

It was not as much about him as it was about the way he had made her feel. How she felt at the time was on the front of her mind, and he just happened to be there. After some time she started asking herself would she be able to feel that way dancing with anyone else if she ever made herself dance, or was the key in with whom she danced with.

She could not define the feeling either, there was a bunch of them and they were all contradictory.

Every time she would hear his voice on the plane, her mind would wonder to that place, but she was able to shake those thoughts off, so she wished she could stay in the air forever.

When they arrived to Rome it was early in the morning, way earlier than it was when they left from home, which made Elena giggle one more time, even though no one else was fascinated with the fact. Geek, she said to herself.

All of them were so tired when they came to Rome, especially those who got barely any sleep the night before and in the plane. The bus came to pick them up in front of the airport to drive them to their hotel. They were able to see the bits of the city through the bus window.

Everything was so different than it was back home. Buildings were different, streets were different, even people walking on the streets seemed different. Somehow they seemed happier, more relaxed, and no one was hurrying anywhere. They were all acting like they have all the time in the world. Back home everyone were hurrying somewhere, even when they had nowhere to hurry to. People here simply lead different lives, a life Elena would like to lead, because to her it seemed that in Rome time waits for everyone. And she wanted more time. She was in such a hurry to grow up that she grew up too fast.

When they arrived in front of the hotel, which looked quite nice from the outside, the driver opened the luggage compartment for them, and everyone rushed for their luggage. Elena hated crowds and bumping into people so she patiently waited for everyone to get their luggage even if it meant she got to pick it up last. When she arrived into the hotel Mr. Sanders, one of the professors who is accompanying them to Rome, was already handing in the key rooms to the students. He was holding the keys in one giant cup, which made Elena roll her eyes. Men are so unorganized, even the most intelligent ones. Almost everyone were assigned to their rooms, and Bonnie and Caroline were waiting for her in the hotel lobby, used to her being the last one to arrive somewhere. As she walked over to them, her eyes locked with Stefan's, one of the rare students who was still there waiting for his room key with Niklaus and one other football player whose name Elena couldn't remember, but she detached her eyes from his very soon.

"Hmm," Mr. Sanders made an unpleasant sound at the moment Elena joined her friends. "There seems to be a room shortage," he had looked at the remaining students waiting at the lobby. "Give me a moment," he murmured angrily, moving towards the reception. Caroline fell on the sofa, complaining how she just wants to take a shower, and Bonnie suggested to her she can always go to Tyler's room to take one, since he was long gone with Matt and one of his other friend. Caroline replied she does not want to take a shower in the room with three men, even if one of them is her boyfriend.

They have seen Mr. Sanders walking towards them, red in his face. "Those idiots gave us less rooms than we requested for," he said angrily, shaking his head, and when he noticed confused looks on his students faces, he said, "But I took care of everything," he whistled as he looked at six students standing before him and only three room keys in his hands. He pondered on it for a moment before a smirk appeared on his face.

"Mr. Mikaelson," he said while giving one of the keys to Niklaus, "You and Mr. Zeager can take the room on the 7th floor, number 402," his expression turned serious when the smirk disappeared from his face.

"Ms. Forbes," he handed one of the keys to Caroline, "You and Ms. Bennett can take the room next to them," without thinking, Caroline grabbed the key from his hands and started moving in the direction of the elevators, when Bonnie grabbed her by her wrist to stop her.

"And," he took the remaining key in between his fingers, "You two can share a room," he smiled warmly, giving the key to Stefan.

Stefan took it out of his hand, confused.

"What?" Elena shrieked, making some of the other guests turn their heads in her direction, "I'm not sharing a room with this idiot! I would rather sleep on the street," she crossed her arms on her chest.

Stefan huffed. "Well, doesn't sun shine out of your ass 24/7?" he mocked her, which only made her angrier.

"There must be some kind of a law against this," she yelled.

"My dad is a lawyer, I'm pretty sure two teenagers of opposite sex are not allowed to share a room during school trips," he nods.

Elena brings her eyebrows closer together and shakes her head. "Are you really stupid or do you just pretend to be? Because if you're pretending you're damn good at it," she throws her hands in the air, "There's no such law, you experimental monkey!"

He looks at her angrily. "On whose side are you on, you panicking cow?" he yells at her.

Mr. Sanders puts his palms over his face as he listens to the two teenagers fighting in front of him.

Elena calms down a little. "What I'm saying is, we're two teenagers, a lot could happen, and I'm pretty sure you do not want that," Elena says with a meaningful tone of voice.

Stefan furrows his brows. "In your dreams, Gilbert."

"More like in my worst nightmare, Salvatore," she snaps at him.

"It's true," Caroline confirms tiredly, "There's an unbelievable amount of sexual tension between them, we should have it tested or something," she says, which makes everyone chuckle.

"Not really helping, Caroline," Elena yells without even turning her head around.

Mr. Sanders eyes them carefully. "You two wouldn't touch each other even if your life depended on it," he raises his eyebrow in their direction, "Why do you think I have put the two of you in the same room? Because you two are the only ones about whom I'm sure won't be doing God knows what," he yells at them tiredly, "You're in Europe for Gods sake! Pull that pole out of your ass and have some fun!" he murmurs as he takes his luggage in his hands and starts walking away from them.

The students watched their professor walk away from them, and then they looked at each other. Elena looked over at Bonnie and Caroline helplessly, but she knew there's not anything the two of them can do to help her.

"I really need to take a shower," Caroline whined one last time before she took her suitcase, maxi sized one, and few of the bags in her hands and started walking towards the elevator. Bonnie looked at her compassionately before she took after Caroline. Elena exhaled loudly and started walking after them.

"Uhm, Gilbert," she heard Stefan's voice behind her. She turned her head slowly around, wanting to snap at him, but being too exhausted to do so. She catches him looking at their room key, when he raises his look and says, "We're on the other side," he says calmly.

Really? On the other side of hotel from her friends? They can't even be on the same floor? Maybe her time in Rome will be less magical than she initially thought.

She lets out a loud sigh before she turns around and starts walking towards the elevator on the other side of the hotel. She calls for the elevator when she hears him coming closer to her.

"Do you need a hand?" he asks politely.

"No," she snaps at him, feeling guilty the moment she does so.

Rome was supposed to be fun. It was supposed to be different, some other world, some other life. She was supposed to feel the same way she did on that dance floor couple of nights ago, or even better. She was not supposed to be stuck in the room with him.

They enter the elevator and ride to the 4th floor, trying to find the room 215. When they finally find it, Stefan puts the key in the knob and turns it around. He pushes the door wide open and lets her take a step inside. Once she does, he notices a stunned look on her face followed by a tired exhale.

"Of course," she says sarcastically, looking at something behind the door.

Curiously, he enters the room and pushes the door closed before his look falls on the double king sized bed. His look moves from the bed to her disappointed face expression and he says, "It's okay, I'll sleep on the floor."

She shoots him a look and when her eyes meet his, she starts feeling sorry for him. Or she simply starts feeling for him. "No," she shakes her head determined, "You're not."

He furrows his brows. "I'm not letting you sleep on the floor," he says. Maybe the two of them do not have a friendly relationship, and maybe his treatment of women has not been the best, but he would never let a girl sleep on the floor while he takes a king sized bed.

Elena laughs lightly, and he thinks how this is probably the first time after a long while that she laughs honestly in his presence. "No one is sleeping on the floor," she shakes her head, "The bed is big enough for the both of us," she pulls her suitcase behind her, trying to lift it on the bed, "Plus, Mr. Sanders is right. We're probably the only two here who wouldn't take advantage of this room sharing," she can hear him walking towards her as she says so.

"Here, let me help you," he says, putting his hand on the suitcase handle, close enough to hers that she can feel his skin colliding with hers, so she pulls her hand away as fast as she can. She tries not to look up at him so their looks do not meet. He pulls the suitcase up and throws it on the bed, "Dear God woman," he says while panting, "What do you have in there? A grown human being?" he meets her confused look.

"Necessities," she says casually, opening her suitcase.

"Necessities?" he cocks his eyebrow at her, "You do realize we're staying here for 10 days, not the whole year?"

"Ha-ha-ha," Elena says sarcastically, "You should see the amount of luggage Caroline has," she says as she remembers the size of Caroline's suitcase. She did not even know they make them so big. You could fit a small village in there. Or half of Caroline's wardrobe.

"Caroline?" Stefan asks, "Is that the perky blonde one? Tyler Lockwood's girlfriend?"

Elena nods, not even looking at him.

"I hear she's freaky in bed," Stefan sits on the bed next to her suitcase.

Elena glares at him. "Freaky?" she asks confused.

"Yeah," Stefan takes a peek in her suitcase, "Sometimes, she gets too excited."

Elena shakes in disgust. "There are some questions I do not want to hear the answers to."

"Then don't ask them."

Elena wants to argue with him how he was the first one to open the topic, but she's too tired to do so. Too excited sounds like Caroline anyway.

"Wait," she says, raising her look to him, "Tyler talks about their sex life?" she asks with a tone of voice that implies how unbelievable that is.

Stefan smirks. "And Caroline doesn't?"

The lines on her face soften. He has a point. She hates when he has a point.

"Left or right?" Elena asks.

"Excuse me?"

"Side of the bed."

"Oh," Stefan gasps, "Left," he says after few moment of thinking.

"I sleep on the left too," Elena huffs.

His signature smirk appears on his face. "You can always sleep under me," he winks at her.

She smiles. "Don't make me regret this."

She takes her shampoo, conditioner and shower gel and motions herself towards the bathroom. "I'm going to take a shower," she informs him before she steps into the bathroom.

"Can I join?" he teases her.

"Sure."

His eyes widen. "Really?"

"No," she says before she slams the bathroom door shut.

"Not funny, Bekah," Stefan says as he listens his best friend laugh without having any intention of stopping.

They were able to take a shower, unpack and have a little nap before they informed them it's time for lunch. They came down for lunch and were reunited with their friends.

"The two of you, out of all people," Rebekah says through laughter, "It's not funny, it's freaking hilarious."

"Poor, poor Stefan," Katherine says with a baby kind of voice, "Having to share the room with Elena Gilbert," she pouts at him, reaching for his hand.

"Hey man, if you want to switch rooms, I would be more than happy to," Niklaus offers his services, "Elena is hot."

Matt exhales loudly. "She's amazing. I have no idea why do you guys hate her so much," he eyes everyone at the table.

"That's right," Niklaus taps Matt on the back, "You're the only one here who entered the premises," he smiles at Matt, and Matt smiles back at him. He really enjoyed his time with Elena, he was slowly falling in love with her, but unfortunately, it did not work out. "So, how is she?" Niklaus cocks his eyebrow in Matt's direction.

Matt shrugs as a huge grin appears on his face, "She's a natural," he turns to look at Niklaus, "She's one of those girls, how do you call them.." Matt snaps with his fingers, "A firecracker?" he half asks a question, half makes a statement.

Stefan chokes on his drink. "Elena Gilbert is a firecracker?" he asks surprised.

"You have no idea, man," Matt tells him before he leans over the table, "She's also not one of those girls you fuck and then pretend she doesn't exist, Salvatore," Matt warns him.

He knows that. Exactly why he would never have anything with Elena. High maintenance.

"Stefan can turn any girl into that kind of a girl," Niklaus states.

Matt eyes Stefan wearily.

"Calm down, Donovan. I have no intention of sleeping with her."

Rebekah chuckles. "She's probably the only girl in school he does not plan on sleeping with."

"Including you," Matt states, and Rebekah nods.

"Yeah, I have no intention of taking a dip in the same pool my brother did."

Niklaus slaps Stefan on the back of his head. "That's my sister you're talking about."

Stefan leans closer to him as he rubs the back of his head. "Then praise the lord your house does not have thin walls."

Stefan smirks and Rebekah glares at him. If only a look could kill.

"Stefan," Katherine purrs his name seductively, "How about you change rooms with Rebekah and Dana for tonight," she reaches for his hand one more time.

"Why*" Stefan furrows his brows, "What's wrong with their room?"

Niklaus laughs out loud at his comment, and Rebekah chuckles, rolling her eyes. "She wants the full treatment tonight, you idiot," Rebekah informs him.

Stefan looks at Katherine. "Sorry Kath," he says, "I'm afraid I won't be able to assist you tonight. Too tired."

She pulls her hand away, disappointed and offended.

"You can sleep in our room if you want to," Bonnie suggests happily when they open the topic of her sharing a room with Stefan.

Elena shakes her head while smiling. "I don't think that will be necessary," she says as she looks towards her friends, "He's been surprisingly civil," she furrows her brows. "It would be nice to have my own bed, though."

Bonnie and Caroline shoot her a confused look. "You have only one bed?" Caroline leans over the table and whispers.

Elena realizes how casually she had said that and how it must come of as a surprise to her friends.

"Yeah, there's a king sized bed," she waves her hand at them like it isn't a big deal.

"You can ask Mr. Sanders to ask for another room," Bonnie says sympathetically, "I'm sure he will understand."

"She does not want another room," Caroline says proudly, almost victoriously, "She likes shacking up with Stefan."

Elena rolls her eyes. "Caroline, for a thousandth time, my hateful relationship with Stefan is not the cause of any romantic emotions I hold for him," she whispers so no one can hear her. "I simply do not want any more drama. I want to enjoy my time here."

Caroline and Bonnie share a look before they decided to drop the subject, but both of them know their staying in Rome is about to get much more interesting.

AN: Well, things are definitely getting heated up.

Thank you for all of your lovely reviews, be sure to tell me what you think!