The sound of high heels echoes through the library as she moves hurriedly towards the secluded part in the back. She can feel all the eyes on her since people don't usually visit the library dressed like she is at the moment. Her look falls on the watch around her wrist and she notices she's already ten minutes late. She spent too much time on getting ready, and the time between her last lecture and book club meeting is tight. She usually only has time for a dinner.
When she finally arrives to her destination everyone raise their look in her direction and their lips part in awe.
"Sorry I'm late," she puts her small black clutch bag with silver spikes on it on the table and falls in the sofa after taking a book from the pile in her hand.
"Where were you?" Anna cocks her eyebrow in Elena's direction. Elena looks at her and notices both her and her brother staring at her shoes.
"I was getting ready," Elena brushes her off with a frown on her face. She likes Anna, she really does, but most of the times she pushes her nose where it doesn't belong.
"Are you a part time model?" a small, quiet girl releases her voice from the corner of the room. Her voice is so squeaky that it reminds Elena of a mouse. And so does her ashy hair.
When Elena realizes the girl is serious she laughs lightly, putting her curly hair behind her ear. "No," she shakes her head, "I'm going to a party."
Almost everyone in the room frown. They don't attend much parties from what Elena gathered. They're all so serious, so grown up. She's not ready to be like that, nor does she want to be like that. She's still young, and she has the rest of her life ahead of herself to be serious and to deal with the grown up stuff. One day, when she has her own career, family, children, a dog and a white picket fence, she wants to be able to look back at these times and remember them fondly.
Everyone frown except Alisson, the girl who's with her in the most of her lectures and someone with whom she gets along pretty well. She doesn't fall into the stereotype of book worms like the rest of the people in the room do. They're all pompous, even though they would rather describe themselves as classy and intelligent.
"Did you come to college to party or to study?" Lucas asks, knitting his brows together.
Elena shifts her look to him. "Both," she raises her eyebrow in his direction, getting a small smile in the corner of his lips from him.
"Well, I think she looks amazing," Alisson makes a comment, winking at Elena.
She does, in her tight, ruffled skirt with a zipper over the length of it, black pumps and a maroon top. She curled her hair, something she does a lot recently, and applied more make up than she used to few months ago.
In a way, she did change, in how she handles herself. When she looks into the mirror she sees herself, the girl Elena Gilbert truly is.
Stefan noticed the change as well, but said he likes it, because she seems happier, more comfortable in her own skin. He knows she didn't change when it comes to the things that truly matter.
"Well, no one can disagree with that," Anna says shyly before bumping her shoulder into the shoulder of her brother, "Right Lucas?" she asks teasingly.
He looks her from under the eye. "Yeah, she does," he lowers his look back on the book.
"Where are you going anyway?" Alisson wiggles her lips, "I thought there are no parties tonight."
"Oh, haven't I told you?" she brings her eyebrows closer together, "Stefan got into a fraternity," a smile creeps on her face once she remembers how excited Stefan was about it.
She lived in fear her and Stefan will drift apart, but they haven't. They're as good as ever, they even have some lectures together which means some extra time they got to spend together, even though they can't do anything during. Being in each others company is more than enough for them. Both of them found new friends. She really likes his roommate, even though he's a little weary about Anna. He gets along with Alisson pretty well. Figures, since she's a mix of Rebekah and Caroline. Even though their curriculum's are pretty full with lectures and extra curricular activities, they still find time for each other. Plenty of time. He was really busy during the initiation process but he fought off sleep to spend time with her. Sure, he would fall asleep during first half of hour of the movie but it's the effort that counts.
"Stefan?" Lucas asks wearily, hissing his name out.
"Her boyfriend," Anna says matter of factly.
Lucas chuckles at that, but Elena doesn't ask what's so funny. She doesn't really want to know since she doesn't really care. When you put two and two together Lucas is a pretty nice guy, but he's too judgmental. He's intelligent and funny and hardworking but he also thinks he's better than anyone else because he possesses those traits.
Elena wasn't ashamed of anything that was connected to Stefan. She left those stereotypes back in high school, when she learned they worth as much as dirt.
All of a sudden, a small, quiet girl from the corner of the room whose name Elena didn't remember, chuckles. "Did he get lost or something?" she keeps her look attached on one spot behind Elena's back.
Elena frowns before turning around in her seat. Her look falls on Stefan walking towards them, and she smiles. Then she bites her lower lip because he looks damn good, in his dark jeans, dark grey shirt and light grey blazer. His hair looks like it was drawn on the top of his head, and she gets an urge to pull her fingers through it. She jumps up from the chair, and once Stefan notices her he smiles in her direction.
"Hey boyfriend," she says with a dopey grin on her face as he wraps his left arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him, her body bumping into his body.
"Hey beautiful," he says in response, lowering his lips on hers and giving her a light peck on the lips.
She smiles against his lips, and it feels like the most natural thing in the world.
"Guys," she slowly turns around, his still arm still around her waist, "This is Stefan," she puts her hand on his chest, "Stefan, these are.." she frowns, not knowing how to introduce them, "The guys," she says, not satisfied with her choice of words.
Everyone wave at Stefan, even Anna and Alisson, though they know him, and he waves back, greeting them politely.
"So, Salvatore," Alisson says with a grin on her face, "Now that you have a free access to all the hot fraternity guys, you should really share it before Elena decides someone is hotter than you," she winks at him, but Elena shoots her a look, knowing how insecure Stefan is about it.
But he just smiles. "I'm not worried," his grip on her tightens, "But I'll see what I can do," he grins at Alisson.
"Well, we should get going," Elena takes his hand into hers and intertwines their fingers. She says goodbye to everyone at the same time and pulls Stefan after her towards the exit.
It took him some time to introduce her to everyone. The only person she knew there was Seth, Stefan's roommate, and she was nervous about fitting in. She knows how important this is to Stefan, and she wanted to be a part of it, to make things easier for him. So he doesn't have to juggle with more than three balls. She knew he will never fit among her book club or anything similar, but she didn't care about that. That was her twice a week pass time, not a huge part of her life.
Luckily, everyone warmly accepted her. She noticed many guys there already have girlfriends, and the ones that don't were surprisingly nice. He chose a good fraternity, not one full of douchebags. Then again, she never doubted his judgment.
After about an hour, the formal part of the party ended, and everyone got a little bit more comfortable and personal with each other. She got to know some of the initiatives, the guys Stefan was the closest to during the initiation process, so they spent the most of the time with them. One of them had a girlfriend similar to Bonnie, from both inside and out, so Elena found herself in her company a lot, only reminding herself how much she misses Bonnie. Alisson was a constant reminder of how much she misses Caroline and Rebekah.
After quite some time she realized she had a little bit too much to drink. In the beginning she was so nervous she just kept getting her cup refilled to relax. And after she relaxed, she kept getting it refilled out of habit. So first she started feeling dizzy a little, but then she got relaxed to the point where not even one inch of her body was tense. She had that dopey smile on her face, the one that appeared only when she was drunk.
When Stefan took her to dance she knew he's the same. There was a certain roughness to his touch when he was drunk. It wasn't violent or harmful, it was painfully pleasurable. His fingers were sinking deeper into her skin, and she knew those places will be a little bit sore tomorrow, but she didn't care, because the more he pressed his touch into her the more she had a feeling he's going to sink into her body and that they're going to become one.
"I doubt Seth is going to come home tonight," he whispers into her skin, making her skin vibrate, "We have my room to ourselves," he smiles at the thought.
"So, why don't you take me there then?" she whispers into his ear.
He grips onto her one more time, growling into her ear silently, making her giggle, before taking her by the hand and dragging her out of that place.
She read a lot about how, after some time, sex in relationship becomes plain and boring, but she couldn't say that's the case for them. That probably refers to people who don't have the ability to connect on every level possible. Sometimes she had a feeling Stefan is able to read her mind because he did the exact same thing she wished he would do. Maybe he just knew her well enough, or maybe she was signaling it to him subconsciously. Or maybe it came naturally to him, fulfilling her every wish, making her happy, happiest she's ever been. She trusts Stefan more than she trust anyone else. Sometimes she thinks she trusts him more than she trusts herself. So she falls into his arms safely, surrendering herself to him, allowing him to do whatever he wants with her because she knows that whatever he does is the right thing to do. Maybe that's why it's never boring. Because he wants to love her in every way, and she lets him love her in ways he doesn't even know he does.
They get inside, his lips passionately pressing onto hers, her fingers traveling under his shirt from the back. She yanks his shoulder off his back and throws it somewhere in the back of the room, they will find out where it is in the morning. His fingers cling onto the hem of her shirt and he pulls it up her head, detaching their lips only for a moment. He lets go of her to get rid of her clothes, and once he does he notices her body siluete in the dark, her back pressing against a wall.
"Refresh my memory," she says seductively, "Have we ever done it standing up?" she asks, and he notices her lips forming into a smile.
He gets rid of his shoes, leaving himself only in briefs, and responds, a little confused, "No, I don't think we have," his eyes roam all over her body.
"This wall is just asking for it," she chuckles before mimicking with her finger for him to get to her, and he does. He puts his hands on her waist, squeezing her flesh, as his lips fall on her chest, and she does her best to unhook her bra while being pressed against a wall. Her fingers tremble, and she can't seem to reach for it.
Stefan raises his head and turns her around so that her front is pressing against a wall now. He unhooks her bra with easiness she failed to do so, and unzips her skirt rapidly, leaving her in her silky panties. His palm goes over her ass, his fingers sliding over the silky material towards her entrance, and she pants even before he reaches it.
She tries to get her heels off, but he steadies her legs, whispering into her ear. "Leave them on," he plants a kiss on her neck, and she smirks.
He gets rid of his briefs and pulls her panties down her knees. He puts his hands back on her waist, his fingers lingering on her stomach. Her palms are pressed against a wall while he's kissing the milky skin on her back.
He wants to tell her he loves her but it seems inappropriate. This is not the time for those words. He's going to tell her he loves her afterwards. When she makes him laugh. While she's crying. When she sends him a text that she's going to sleep. When she calls him to tell him she loves him when they haven't seen each other for a day or two. When they get married, and after she gives the birth of their first child. When she finishes reading a book and tries to hide the tears in her eyes. When she's old and grey and wearing her sweater, holding his hand and walking in the rain. After he blows the snow off of her nose.
Not now. Now he's going to love her in a different way.
AN: I'm so, so sad about the finale. I was expecting her to choose Damon, but it still hurts. Just don't get too sad or lose hope, we still have to see how this whole thing turns out. There's endless of possibilities. And from this point on it can't go worse, it can only get better or stay as bad as it is :)