After a few hours the boarding house was spotless. Damon refused to help on the principle that 'he was not at the party so he did not need to clean it up.' Once everything was done at the boarding house, Elena decided to go home. She needed to get ready for tonight. No one ever forgot about Caroline's birthday in a hurry. It was always the day after Elena's birthday earning the nickname 'the bender weekend' when everyone was legal enough to drink. She promised Stefan she would go there with him so she spent the next few hours making sure she looked good enough for Caroline's party at The Grill and curing herself of her hangover so she could drink tonight. Luckily it had died down on the way from Stefan's, much to Elena's relief, but she still felt fragile. But Elena was stubborn. She knew that Caroline was not a force of nature to be messed and she would never let Elena forget it, or anyone for that matter, if she did not make it tonight.

At 8pm Elena heard a knock at the door. Trying to be careful to not fall down the stairs in the black heels she was wearing, Elena eventually made it down the stairs unharmed. Suspecting it would be Stefan, she opened up the door and was surprised when both Stefan and Damon appeared in her door way. Seeing them both smile at her gave her a small rush of adrenaline. She could not wait for tonight now, so she greeted the boys, grabbed her bag and smoothed her emerald dress and made her way to The Grill.

Arriving just when the party was starting to kick off Elena, Stefan and Damon walked into The Grill to see it completely transformed. Everywhere was covered in red and black party decorations, everything from balloons to a massive sign on the back wall saying 'Happy Birthday Caroline' in bold letters. Looking around the room, Elena noticed some of the people she saw from her party last night. She tensed up like she always did at parties until Caroline came running over, hugging Elena.

"Elena, you're here!" shouted Caroline, saying hi to Stefan and Damon on the way. She looked overly hyperactive than normal and started to show signs of being slightly tipsy. "Let's go. I need a dancing partner!" Looking back at Stefan and Damon for help Elena was dragged to the dance floor by Caroline who was holding onto her at all times to make sure she did not run away. Since Elena was now preoccupied, Stefan and Damon decided to go and grab a drink.

"So brother.. What are you REALLY doing back?" Stefan probed after reaching the bar

"Oh come on now Stefan. Am I not allowed to see my younger brother get wasted with his bum chum. Seriously when are you going to hit that?" Damon retorted. Damon knew that Elena liked him, it was quite obvious how she was around him but he never did anything about it. The brothers never really liked each other and it would send their relationship over the edge if Elena got caught between the two of them.

"How many times do I have to tell you Damon. Elena is nothing more than a friend! I don't see her in that way!"

"Now that's a lie if I have ever heard one!" Damon said with Stefan snapping his head in his direction and looking at him with a serious look. "We all know that you like Elena! It's about time you two got together. Come on, it's the bender weekend. If anything would ever happen it would happen this weekend and you can put it down to the drinking. No harm done!"

"No harm done? I could lose my best friend! It would never happen anyway. She would never go for someone like me anyway. I'm in the 'friend zone' and I'm stuck there. I don't want to entertain the idea." Stefan answered. Damon just gave him a sarcastic-quizzical look and said "Stefan. If there is anyone who knows the pair of you better than anyone it's me, and I'm saying that girls like Elena don't come around often. Soon she will be with someone else and you will regret never giving it a shot! Think about it" Stefan just looked at Elena dancing on the floor, laughing with Caroline and returned to his drink. Damon just stared at his brother looking at Elena and laughed to himself. If Stefan was not going to give it a shot, he had to do something that would make him see what he was missing.

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After a few drinks Stefan and Damon decided to go join them on the dance floor. Elena had to hand it to the guys, they really knew how to dance given half the chance and the right amount of alcohol. Suddenly a slow song came on. Stefan and Elena looked at each other with awkward glances, which was interrupted by a very drunk Caroline, who grabbed a defenseless Stefan much to Elena's amusement. In the corner of her vision standing next to her was Damon. She turned to look at him and saw he had offered his hand as a gesture to dance. She took it with an awkward smile and placed a hand on his back. Elena blushed at the feeling of Damon's hand on the small of her back but could not help the feeling that she wanted to be dancing with Stefan instead of Damon. She always felt more comfortable with him than Damon. She looked over to Stefan who was looking at her too. Even in the good mood that she was in, and that she was dancing with a guy she liked, she missed her best friend. She looked back to see Damon looking at her with that same intensity as before. She suddenly felt that same warm rush that plagued her this morning. Without realising how he did it, she suddenly felt a hand on her chin. Another warm rush of adrenaline ran through Elena as soon as she felt Damon touch her. She closed her eyes to take in the feeling of him touching her like this and she felt a soft, light peck on her lips. Elena's eyes sparked wide open and lit up with joy. Finally, something she had always wanted and it was happening right now! Elena moved her head up to kiss him again, but this time Damon and Elena's lips collided like two lovers reuniting for the first time after a long time. It felt amazing, to kiss him like she had always wanted, to run her fingers through his hair and to run her hands over his body. They were lost in their own moment like they were the only two people in the world...

Little did they know that they had been watched the whole time by someone who wished it had been them all along.

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As much as it was amazing for Elena, she could not mistake the fact that she was having a sense of deja vu. She had felt these lips before, or at least someone like them and it could not stop bugging her. Later on that evening when the party had died down, Damon walked Elena back to the boarding house and offered her one of the beds to sleep in that night. Damon was not one to take advantage of a drunk girl and he was not going to start now, especially since it was Elena that was involved. He had been friends with her for too many years, plus he would get a reaction from Stefan in the morning, which as much as he would love, he did not particularly want at the moment since they were both getting along. So he helped a very drunk Elena to a bed and left her to sleep.

Stefan arrived a few hours later with a girl wrapped around his shoulder. Stefan never meant to hook up with anyone tonight, but after seeing Elena kissing Damon while he was dancing with Caroline he felt something fall to the pit of his stomach. Elena meant so much to him and the last person he wanted to see her kissing was Damon. In fact, he would never admit it out loud but he did wish it was him kissing Elena rather than Damon. Holding onto this girl right now, he could see a resemblence to Elena. She had the tiny figure, the long brown hair but that was it. She was nothing like Elena personality-wise but Stefan was not fussed by that at that moment. With his arm around her waist, they were laughing together and discussing the night.

"Oh my god that was such a good night! I love the bender weekend. I always meet the nicest people" She said smiling up at Stefan directing the last comment at him. He smiled at her dismissing it particularly because he was not listening. He was not really interested in this girl - he just wanted someone to take him mind off what he saw tonight. She was still talking when he came back into focus.

"It must have been wierd though seeing Elena and Damon kissing like that?" That quickly sobered Stefan out of his drunken haze. He tried to stop her by grabbing her by the waist closer to him, but she carried on anyway. "I mean, that must be hard on you considering she is your best friend and he is your brother! I'm surprised nothing has ever happened between you and Elena? Has anything ever happened?"

"Let's not talk about this anymore. Just..." He said leaning forward to end the conversation. He need distraction from Elena and Damon and he needed it now. They both started sinking into each other. One hand was in his hair and while the other on his back, while Stefan had his hands roaming around the small of her back, moving his hands down slowly south as if seeking permission. Suddenly lost in the moment, Stefan let him mind go blank. A flash back was coming back to him. Not of this night though. This must have been a while ago. He was kissing someone then as well... but he could only make out the smell of her hair and the feel of her clothes. Opening his eyes, he snapped out of the flashback he was having. Feeling a little distorted by the flashback, he hesitated back down to the girl and kissed her again. This time with not as much intensity and she noticed the difference.

"I think... I need to go home." she slowly said. "We don't wanna get ahead of ourselves here"

"No. No I understand" Stefan said. He knew he did not want to go further than this - his father would have killed him if he had and that conscious thought had always stuck with Stefan. So he kissed her hand good night and waited with her until her taxi arrived to pick her. He said good night to her as gentlemanly as possible and started stumbling loudly his way up to bed. He had had way too much to drink and needed to sleep it off. After many attempts of walking up the stairs, he had reached the landing. He looked to the left and looked towards Damon's room. Would Elena be there now? Would Damon REALLY have sex with her when she would vulnerable? Would he wake up to see the awkward walk of shame in the morning from Elena and have to hear herself defending why she stayed in the house? All of his questions were answered when he took a right and walked towards his room, absent-mindly looking into the guest room. He caught the glint of a black figure on the bed of the guest room and decided to take a quick peak. He saw a slender figure asleep on the bed cuddled up in the duvet as if their life depended on it. He saw the figure turn around and he saw Elena's face relaxed and child-like in the bed. Of course, Damon would not have slept with her while she was drunk. As much as Stefan would never admit it out loud, he knew that Damon was actually a gentleman and probably made sure she went to sleep here and not at her house on her own.

Stefan walked further into the room. Elena was spread out among the bed and was snoring lightly from the amount of drinking she had done that night. Stefan smiled and saw that she was wearing the bracelet he had given her for her birthday many years ago. He leaned in to give her a kiss on the forehead before he went to bed but something hit him... the smell of her hair... it was very similar to the smell from the flashback... 'No... it couldn't be', he was thinking to himself. He had never kissed Elena before...but leaning in to give her a drunken kiss on the forehead felt natural and like something he had done before... His lips made contact with her forehead and Elena squirmed and with a slight smile appearing on her lips, she let a small moan of appreciation and satisfaction to the sensation.

Before he had a chance to continue his thoughts, Elena started to rustle under the duvet and slowly opened her eyes to the sight in front of her.