Begin Again

Chapter Thirty-One

A/N: Stefan just being a dad to his kids is pretty freaking cute...flashback alert! :)

Thanks so much for reading & reviewing. It honestly means so much to me that a lot of you love this story as much as I do. Enjoy!

Begin Again- Chapter Thirty-One

Elena's P.O.V.

"They're all still working off being drunk and now, they're snoring. Not to mention, drooling- face down-all over my carpet. What's going to happen if one of them pukes?" I asked him, leaning my head against Stefan's chest, trying to nurse my own hangover that I ended up with after going out and celebrating Stefan's 22nd birthday with all of his friends and a few of my own.

Damon, Tyler and Matt were all sprawled out on the floor of our small two bedroom apartment. We had spent the whole night out because they all had the night off and somehow Stefan was the only one who didn't end up drunk enough to be one of them.

"Hair of the dog." Stefan states with a smirk, pulling out a small shot glass from the cabinet near me and turning around, pulling out a dark brown colored looking alcohol. "What the hell is that? You want me to drink more? Stefan, I need to work tomorrow morning..I can't go on another bender, like last night. Look at all of them, those three are going to be working off last night for days."

He laughed, shaking his head as he poured two glasses and handed me a drink. I stood back, watching him drink it, shaking his head and making a sour looking face as it went down his throat and he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Tell me what this is for before I end up like your buddies over there." I commented. Stefan laughed, rolling his eyes at me and placing the drink into my hands, leaning forward when he said. "It's to cure that nasty hangover that you got last night from thinking that you and Bonnie could drink us under the table. So, drink up and go call Bonnie. Tell her that I'm about to peel Damon off the floor and kick him out of our place unless she doesn't come and get him. That is if she isn't in worse shape than you. This is going to help with your nausea too. It always does." He told me with a laugh, brushing past me as I watched him take a frying pan into his hands and a wooden spoon from the kitchen.

"Stefan, what are you doing to do with that?" I asked him, and then I heard it. The loud booming noise it produced as Tyler and Matt jumped to their feet with terrified expressions on their faces, meanwhile Stefan's laughter filled the room when he leaned down towards his older brother and shouted. "Wakey Wakey big brother. Come on, Damon- Get up!"

I shook my head, leaning my back against the counter in our kitchen and watched with a surprised expression as all Damon did was flip over on to his back and mumble out in a sleepy tone. "Where's the fire at you asshole? I'm ready for it and once I get up, you're going to be the one getting your ass kicked- not me!"

"Eggs?" Zach asks me, turning the frying pan in his hands towards me as I swallow down the bile forming in my throat, smiling at the memory that fades when I look across the table and notice that Olivia's not eating. The smell of the eggs and fried up bacon that Zach made are making my stomach churn. "Hair of the dog my ass." I mumble under my breath quietly as I glance across the table to my daughter.

"Honey, you need to eat your breakfast and then we're going to go and clean up the mess you two made in the guest room." I tell her, watching as she folds her arms across her chest, leaning back into her chair.

"Looks like someone's protesting, kind of like someone else I know." Stefan comments, his hand resting on my knee as I feel it slide up my shorts, gently stroking my skin and causing me to cough out a breath.