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"So, you're really considering this?" Jenna asked, as Elena rushed down the stairs in a hurry to locate her missing converse.

Elena sighed, not responding until she was finally on the step and deftly tying her laces, "Yes, Aunt Jenna, I am really considering moving in with Tyler."

They had had this discussion pretty much every night this week. At one point, Ric had put his cutlery down and rather bluntly asked if Elena was spending her evenings with Tyler Lockwood. Her expression had been enough to put an end to that idea.

Moving in with Tyler was simply about freedom; nobody would ask her where she was spending her nights because nobody would know she wasn't home. Except Tyler, and he wouldn't even notice her absence. The thought of asking if she could stay with Zach had briefly crossed her mind; he had enough room, and it was a good location. She was sure he'd never agree though.

Tyler it was.

Today, they were going to view an apartment in the building Ric used to live in. It was slightly out of her budget, given she was living off savings and the rental income from the clinic building, but well within Tyler's. The second bedroom was much smaller, so they could maybe come to some kind of deal about splitting the rent to suit.

Stepping into the apartment, Elena gingerly spun around to judge Tyler's expression. Her grin was really wide, and she was hoping to see it mirrored. The room had a large window, the light reflecting off the white kitchen. More importantly, the appliances were all built in- including a coffeemaker. It was apartment heaven.

He wasn't showing as much exuberance, his face stoic as he asked the realtor when the appliances were fitted, or if there'd been any issues with them. Tyler was clearly in businessman mode, so she left him to it and wandered through the empty room to the window. There wasn't much of a view; a car-lined street below, more red-brick buildings.

It wasn't the boarding house, surrounded by woods and beauty.

The smaller bedroom offered less light, but then again, she did spend the majority of time she was in her bedroom cursing the light, so perhaps a bit of gloom wouldn't be a bad thing. She could get fairy lights; brighten the place up, make it her own little sanctuary.

Enlivened by the thought, she inspected the bathroom. There was no bath, obviously space didn't allow for it; her mind drifted to Zach's claw foot tub even as she delighted at the apartment's rainfall shower.

They agreed to give it a day; mull over their thoughts individually and then decide together at the grill tomorrow evening. Tyler didn't crack a smile once until they were clear of the building and almost at her car.

"Pretty great place, huh?" He asked, bumping her on the arm.

"There was a coffee machine, Ty, I'd live there if it was just a giant cardboard box as long as there was coffee."

He laughed at her, nodding at her well-known addiction. The laugh was brief though, his shoulders dropping with the corners of his mouth as he added, "and you're sure Care's okay with this? With you living with me?"

Elena sighed, "No." She had to be honest, "She's not fully okay with it, but she doesn't have to be. I'll go to hang out at hers instead of inviting her here, and she'll just have to accept that I refuse to be won in the breakup."

He instinctively denied there were winners or losers, but her single raised eyebrow won that argument.

"It's okay Ty, things will settle. Just, give her time. Give yourself time." She said softly, rubbing his arm.

Throwing himself into his new job had clearly helped, she could tell simply by his posture and the life in his eyes that things were starting to look up. He'd even come to the grill when he knew Caroline would be there this weekend. It was a huge step.

"Look," She added, reassuring him as best she could, "If we do get this place, we'll tell her together on my birthday. When she can see we're all able to be friends."

He nodded, but his heart wasn't in it. Instead, he said his farewells.

That evening, she found herself staring at the bathtub as she was drying her hands. It really was a thing of beauty, the slope perfectly angled for her to lay down and still have a view of the trees through the huge window. It was her favourite place in the entire boarding house.

It was a silly thing to think about; a bath, but every time she considered living with Tyler in that apartment, her mind wandered to the bubbles she so often languished in.

"Maybe I should just come and stay here, instead." She suggested, padding barefoot back into Zach's room in nothing but his V-neck. She surprised herself with how casually her voice came out, when her heart was beating so strongly, she was concerned it might actually escape her chest.

His response was to look at her over his glasses, no words needed.

"Why not?" She sighed, trying to keep the breezy attitude but failing spectacularly and sounding every part the whiny toddler that she felt under that look.

"How many people in the last week have asked you if you're sleeping with Tyler Lockwood?" His question came out very matter of fact, as if he already knew the answer.

"A few." She had to admit.

She climbed back into the bed next to him, adjusting her pillows and collapsing down into them. It was one of the first times they'd laid here like this, the sexual tension spent long before the desire to sleep loomed. Whether it was the situation itself, or the rebuttal of her suggestion that caused the awkwardness she wasn't sure, but it was there. Palpable.

Huffing, she flung herself over to face him.

"Would it be such a bad thing?" She asked, carefully watching his face.

He was too engrossed in his book to have really heard her, repeating the question back. "Would what be such a bad thing?"

"If people knew about us, or suspected?" She couldn't help but bite down on her lip as his eyes closed. He would rub the bridge of his nose and sigh next, she knew. It was what he always did when she made any mention of telling anyone about their relationship.

Zack surprised her, instead setting his book down on the side and shifting his weight to her.

"Probably." He surmised, in one word. Now it was his turn to examine her, she could see his eyes darting around as he took in her frown, realised she didn't understand the implication of her words.

He rolled to his back, pulling her close to him until she could hear his steady heart through his chest, her fingers weaving in the curls she found there.

"Nobody in Mystic Falls has lived our lives, Elena, they might not understand why we make each other happy. They'll call me old, manipulative, a predator. None of that is as bad as what they'll say about you."

She nodded slightly in understanding, feeling him squeeze her tighter.

"They'll find out eventually." She whispered. How could they not? It wasn't like she was planning on still sneaking to his place when she was forty.

"Probably." He agreed.

The awkwardness has somehow dissipated, leaving her calm. Tomorrow, she would tell Tyler she wanted that apartment; tonight, she would sleep.

It was a week before they signed the final paperwork, the approval for them to rent the apartment not taking long at all. They'd be able to move in at the end of the month; so, she had her birthday weekend and a whole week left to pack. That was plenty of time, given she hadn't really unpacked in the first place. The boxes were just a lot messier now.

As soon as she had come home from the realtor's office, she'd sent an excited text to all her friends, letting them know what her new address would be and from when. Most in Mystic Falls already knew but responded with congratulations anyway. Caroline didn't, but Elena couldn't really blame her.

She was surprised by Damon Salvatore's response.

'I hope I get an invite to the housewarming.'

Elena wasn't sure why she'd really bothered to send him the message; they'd only met that once. She'd hovered over Stefan's name and skipped it, so why bother with Damon? Perhaps his occasional flirty message was starting to wear her down?

There was no chance he'd be getting invited to the housewarming. She wasn't daft enough to invite a vampire into the apartment; even if she wasn't out on a mission to kill every vampire she met, she didn't particularly fancy encountering one defenceless in the dark of her bedroom.

Fairy lights or not.

'That would require you to be in town.' She responded tactfully. Elena wasn't the type of person to leave a message with no answer; ending every conversation with a pleasantry was almost ingrained in her from years of town events and that habit didn't die with the texting revolution. Even if the recipient was old enough to remember the invention of the telephone itself.

'How do you know I'm not?'

His message came quickly, too quickly. He must have been looking at his phone when she sent it. As she began to type, another message popped up.

'Outside.'

She gasped, spinning and turning to the window. Sure enough, Damon was resting against her car and waving up at the window, a big grin on his face.

"Well, that was the creepiest entrance of all time." She greeted him a few minutes later, having thrown on a change of clothes and a pair of docs.

"I happened to be close by when I got your message, and I couldn't resist reenacting a hallmark movie." He grinned wickedly at her, "They happen to be my favourite."

The laugh came naturally then, a little too loudly for the calibre of the joke. Recovering, she asked, "So, you're only here to live out your fantasy of being a terrible actor?"

He raised his brows in mock offence, a hand dramatically raised to shield his gasp. "How could you say such things?" Breaking out of the act, he added, "I'm here to drink, and as you were so stupendously good at it last time, I was going to invite you out."

"Out?" She asked gingerly, wondering exactly what that word meant in context.

"Out. To a bar, for a drink. You know that thing people do when they're not drinking at home?" His voice was thick with sarcasm, but there was a jest to it. He was playing, not mocking.

"Do you realise people do things other than drink?" She joked.

"Of course." He said, but his eyebrows wriggled suggestively as his eyes dipped down from her face, "Last I heard, you were seeing my nephew though, so I thought we could just drink." Then he reached out and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her close for a moment. "Unless you've come to your senses, of course." He purred into her ear.

He released her only a second later, respectfully stepping back and waiting for her response. The growl of his voice had had the intended effect, rendering her speechless as she tried to pull the instincts of her body back under control.

"One drink." She bit, her curiosity over his presence in Mystic Falls- and her desire for company- outweighing any logic telling her it was a bad idea.

He nodded, walking around her car to the passenger side and waiting by the door. "You're driving." He added.

She hadn't been able to keep it to one drink but had managed to limit it to enough that when she woke the next morning, she wouldn't be cursing the sun. He'd driven them home in her car, but this time she would remember the drive and the conversation.

Discussing Literature with Damon was a world away from her discussions with Zach; though they had similar preferences and opinions, Damon came alive when discussing the context of the Literature, the period that he himself had lived through. It was breathtaking to hear about the world through his eyes, how the disdain he had felt for the political decisions of the time had been mirrored in the great works she admired.

It was such fun to be around him, that she'd told him about her birthday weekend, eventually plucking up the courage to invite him after they'd both stepped out of her car and onto the huge white porch of Aunt Jenna's house.

He chuckled, surprising her. "Want to know something funny?" He asked, pausing for her to nod. "It's my birthday today."

"Really?" She gasped.

He nodded, "If you don't believe me, check out the family bible next time you're at the boarding house."

"That's why you're back." She couldn't help but smile at him as he just shrugged, brushing the attention off him.

"I'll think about it, your party." He said, before turning to the steps.

Instinctively, she reached out to him. She wasn't sure why, but something felt incomplete, missing. It wasn't so much that she wanted him to stay, it was that she hadn't yet said goodbye.

"Happy Birthday, Damon." She whispered, reaching up to place a gentle kiss on his cheek.

The morning came too quickly for her liking, Mimi's cries waking her up over an hour before her alarm. A lukewarm shower didn't help things, Ric and Jenna were both up early using the hot water and apparently Edward had needed a bath this morning after an unfortunate incident with his potty training.

Elena threw herself into getting ready for the drive down to the lake house. Carefully, she packed the car with the rather impressive collection of alcohol she'd managed to accumulate in preparation for the event. She managed to add a hold-all containing her clothes, mostly an array of bikinis with shorts and tops to throw on over the top, but she'd included a dress too in case they decided to venture out.

It wasn't long before she was ready to go, a phone call throwing a spanner in the works at the last moment. Elena always sighed when she saw Liz Forbes was calling, it inevitably meant council business.

"Good morning, Liz." She greeted me as cheerfully as she could.

"Morning, Elena, though I'm afraid not a very good one." Liz's voice was tense; she sounded tired too. "There's been an attack in the woods. Can you meet at the Lockwood's?"

Elena nodded, more to herself given Liz couldn't see her, "When?"

"Can you make it in fifteen? Sorry if it's an inconvenience, I know you and Caroline are going away."

"No, no, it's fine." She insisted, her mind spinning. Liz suspected it was a vampire, an actual vampire attack in Mystic Falls. Elena isn't sure she would have believed it, if she hadn't spent her previous evening with an actual vampire- one who did actually feed from humans.

"Do you want me to call Jeremy?" She asked, before quickly adding, "and Caroline?". Liz was the sheriff; she'd have dozens of people to call. More importantly, whilst Liz and Caroline weren't as distant as they had been they didn't exactly have a close relationship. Caroline was always desperate to return to California a few weeks into every summer.

Suddenly feeling guilty for moving in with Tyler, she listened to Liz's excuse for not calling her own daughter before hanging up and making the call herself.

Caroline was surprisingly cheerful this morning. Perhaps it was because of the party; Caroline had filled her own car with decorations and food.

"I suppose I should go, if there's actually been an attack." Caroline finally concluded, after several minutes of debating her attendance.

Caroline probably regretted that decision, Elena decided. The meeting had taken over an hour, everyone coming up with a dozen different suspects. Tyler was the loudest of them all, insisting the plan of just watching who only came out at night was ridiculous and pointless. Caroline had sulked for most of his parts, only speaking to eventually suggest they spiked any drink they could at the Grill with vervain.

Zach had winced at the suggestion; Elena had noticed despite spending the entire meeting trying to not glance in his direction for fear of her expression betraying her and yet had picked up on every time he'd shifted his weight. His supply of vervain wasn't infinite, and growing it took him far more work than he'd like. He wasn't a natural green thumb.

The meeting generally wasn't particularly engaging; despite this being the first time the council had encountered a real threat in decades. It seemed it was more a circle of headless chickens than an organised vampire hunting society. She was okay with that; Damon didn't deserve to die.

If he was responsible for that camper though, he'd be hearing her opinion on that matter. Before reaching her car, at the conclusion of the meeting, she texted Damon a quick warning about the vervain. She'd have to ponder the impact that action had on her already rather muddy morals at a later date.

Right now, she was going to drive to the lake house with Jeremy and Bonnie; meet the rest of her friends there and then they were going to drink the weekend away. It was something of an annual tradition at this point, and she refused to let anything interfere with it.

The lake house itself was exactly as she always remembered it; set within the woods, the front porch was always a welcome sight. The first time they had come here after her parents died had been brutal; a source of so many happy memories felt hollow. Jeremy had noticed it more than her; he had spent most days staring out of the water. In an effort to pull him out, they had made a plan to make new memories here.

Now, it was the party house.

There was no better place for it; no close neighbours to disturb, the lake for swimming, and plenty of bedrooms for everyone. The carefree feeling the house had brought her for her youth had been rekindled over time.

Unlocking the door and dragging the first of their bags inside, she felt the weight of the past few months lift from her shoulders. She had needed this place, the temporary reprieve.

It was several hours and many, many drinks later that they found themselves seated around the large coffee table. There was plenty of sofa space and a few chairs dotted around, but the girls had all taken to the floor, propped up by the furniture.

The evening had gone better than Elena had expected; the fallout from Caroline and Tyler's breakup hadn't broken every moment as she worried, the two hadn't spoken directly but they also hadn't avoided each other. Everyone had comfortable sat to chat, the latest topic of conversation being Matt's training and a funny incident involving the storage locker.

When he finished, a lull in conversation prompted a brief silence. As silence was well known to be Caroline's worst enemy, she blurted out a suggestion for an activity, "Let's play 'Never have I ever'!"

The groan echoed around the room, "That's so not fair." Matt complained. The group had always known each other inside out, it was easy to pick on people to drink. Jeremy and Bonnie had a habit of targeting Matt, who was usually the most sober at the start of the game.

Elena's own complaint was more related to just how much they didn't know her this year; it wasn't that they'd grown apart as much as she'd matured. Zach had pointed out how she'd always told them every so many details of her life; how childish it was to rely on the validation of others for her actions. They were all growing older, they needed the crutch of the group much less.

This game could prove dangerous, this year.

"No way," Tyler moaned, shaking his head. "Not with Bonnie playing. What's the forfeit for refusing to answer further questions?"

Tyler and Matt might not know about Bonnie's magical ancestry; but they knew about her uncanny ability to pick up on a direct lie. The game forced those, allowing no escape. As such, they'd always picked a forfeit rule- a get out from responding to further questioning.

"You have to read out the last message you received," Caroline suggested.

Elena prayed Damon hadn't responded with anything inappropriate. She didn't need to worry about Zach; the chance of him choosing a text over a call was slim.

The game started tamely; with Matt's turn being the first to cause any controversy.

"Never have I ever bought an engagement ring." He said, laughing at Jeremy as he drank. Matt was simply trying to get revenge on Jeremy for the many, many drinks Jeremy had caused him to take last time they played.

When Tyler took a sip alongside him, his eyes on Caroline, the room suddenly felt ten degrees colder.

Elena quickly broke the tension, "Never have I ever slept with a girl." It was a stupid choice, too simple, but she had to say something.

Surprisingly, Caroline joined the boys in having a drink.

Elena cast Tyler a sideways glance, expecting rage if this was a post-break up fling. Instead, she caught him wistfully lost in a memory. Shrugging, she prompted Bonnie to take her turn.

"Never have I ever slept with a much older man." Bonnie said, meeting Elena's eyes with a brow raised.

A dozen curse words ran through her head before she reached for her drink. The corners of Bonnie's mouth turned up in a knowing grin.

"Who?" Two voices asked, whilst Matt was trying to work out if the three years Peter had on her counted as much older. He was met by a serenade of, "It doesn't."

"Forfeit." She said loudly over their questions.

The room fell silent, every pair of eyes watching her as she pulled out her phone.

"No reading out the wrong one, Elena. I'll find out." Bonnie said, her voice still rich with accomplishment. Given the glint in Caroline's eyes, Elena was starting to think the girls had planned this; a way to finally pull the gossip out of her.

Maybe Zach was right? She seemed to be outgrowing her friends.

She felt her shoulders drop and her stomach clench at the unread message notification. Great. Going into this blind wasn't fun.

"First, who is it from?" Caroline asked.

"Damon Salvatore." She said, truthfully.

The human lie detector just asked, "Stefan's brother?" Her face didn't seem shocked, if anything Bonnie had been expecting that very name.

Elena nodded, not missing the way Jeremy tensed at that information. That wouldn't be a great conversation later, especially given the content of the council meeting.

Reading the message to herself first, to brace herself, proved to be the wise choice.

'Guess I'll have to keep drinking at our favourite place. I might get a chance to take you home again.'

Right now, she wanted to stake Damon for his incessant double-entendre. They really needed a forfeit on their forfeit; she'd rather strip naked and do the chicken dance than face the judgemental looks currently coming from her friends.

When she didn't read the message aloud instantly, her friends began to come to their own conclusions.

"Anyone know how old Damon is?" Was the first question; Tyler was joking, trying to lighten the air but all Elena could feel was the tightness in her chest as five pairs of eyes were on her.

She couldn't help but slam the bedroom door behind her as she made her exit.

'I almost had to read that to my friends. You really are a dick.' She responded to him, her thumbs typing furiously as if the pressure with which she'd hit the screen would somehow be conveyed in the tone of the message.

'I only spoke the truth. Why are you letting people near your texts?'

'Long story. Don't ask.'

The buzzing that followed her last message startled her.

"Why are you calling?" She snapped as she accepted the call.

"Hello to you too. You know, if you don't want to talk, you can press the big red button instead." He joked, putting a smile on her face for the first time since Caroline suggested that ridiculous game.

"No, no. It's fine, I'm just annoyed with my friends. Have you ever played 'Never have I ever?" She found herself asking him.

He laughed on the other end of the line, "That game can get a vampire drunk, if they're truthful."

"Try playing it with a witch." She suggested, hearing him wince down the other end of the line.

"I have, not that I really remember it. Being almost two centuries old really has its disadvantages at times."

Elena wasn't sure she'd ever experienced a comfortable silence on a phone call before, but there they were.

"So, given you were playing a drinking game with your friends but now you're alone and speaking to me- I'd assume it didn't end well?"

She signed, "No. Bonnie seems to be on a mission to figure out who I'm sleeping with. I imagine they now all think that it's you."

"It could be." Even his phone voice was seductive, as if he spent time honing his skill. He probably did; it would be much easier to feed from a lover than a random stranger in the woods. She wanted to giggle at the mental image of him standing in front of a mirror practicing his smouldering stare.

"It couldn't." She responded, before adding, "Why did you kill the camper?"

"Camper?" He asked, and it seemed like genuine surprise.

"Dead body in the woods, drained of blood, Obvious puncture wounds on the neck? It's why the council has decided to vervain the crap out of the Grill- which will make your life difficult if you stay in town."

"I haven't killed anyone in Mystic Falls recently. I fed before I came into town, and then I fed after I left this morning." His response was a little too quick; the implication that he wasn't going to make it to see her this weekend, declining her invite, left out of the words but felt in the tone.

The way his voice softened, to lessen the blow. She made a sound that she guessed resembled an "Oh," but it wasn't entirely voluntary.

Feeling like an idiot, she focused her brain back on the important part of that information. "You're saying we have another vampire in Mystic Falls?"

"Yep. Given you didn't say the body was dismembered, I'd say it wasn't my little bro."

"Dismembered?" She asked. "Stefan doesn't drink human blood."

"Not anymore, because when he does, he tends to lose control a little- rips them to pieces."

She gulped at his answer. Elena remembered how much Stefan had considered himself a monster, something she'd never understood. He was clingy and a little judgemental, but not a monster. He'd never told her that he'd actually ripped bodies apart.

She shuddered slightly at the mental image.

"So, who did it?" She mused to herself more than to him.

"Probably someone passing through. Call me if you need me though, okay?"

"Okay." She responded softly.

"Oh, and Elena?" He continued after she'd hummed down the phone, acknowledging she was listening, "Have a good birthday."