Through Rivalry Comes Love

Chapter 30

Stefan couldn't help but notice that Elena was nervous as they drove to her family's house. At every stoplight, she was drumming her fingers on the steering wheel and then she was making small talk every chance she got. "We'll be there in about ten minutes" she said finally.

"Good" Stefan smiled, grabbing her right hand to hold. She looked over at him briefly with a small smile of her own. "I can't wait to meet them" he told her. Elena took a small breath and let it out slowly. She couldn't wait either, despite how incredibly nervous she was. "You never told me what Jenna does" he said, trying to ease her busy mind for a moment.

"She teaches psychology courses at a university in the city" Elena answered.

"Perfect" Stefan announced. "I love psychology" he told her.

Elena sighed. "She'll probably give you a mini mental status exam to make sure you're not crazy" Elena said, hinting at her distaste for anything psychology.

Stefan just smiled though, giving her hand a squeeze. "Luckily for you, you already know I'm crazy. So, there should be no surprises" he told her.

Elena smiled too, shaking her head and hoping that her aunt and brother could accept Stefan's humor the way she had. "Just behave yourself, please" she told him.

Stefan's jaw dropped in shock. "Elena Gilbert. When have I ever not behaved myself?" he asked, pretending to be offended.

"Gee, I don't know. How about the airplane bathroom?" she asked, shooting him a look.

Stefan sat back and shook his head no. "That was all you" he said, hearing her scoff in disbelief. "I was just trying to enjoy my flight to Virginia and this smoking hot girl next to me invited me to the bathroom and then had sex with me" he explained.

"I seem to remember you whining about dying if you didn't get to have sex" she reminded him. "Clearly, you are the sex addict" she added.

Stefan let go of her hand and rested his hand on her knee. "If thinking that helps you sleep at night, I'm okay with it" he told her, grinning at their choice of topic.

"I don't sleep" she mumbled, thinking of all the times Stefan kept her up. To be honest, telling Stefan no when he wanted sex was a lot easier than actually meaning it.

"You love when I keep you up with my bedroom skills" he told her. "And I know this because you scream unbelievably loud ..." he began to explain, only to see her turn red from embarrassment.

"Oh my God Stefan" she said in disbelief. "We're like five minutes from my house. You have to stop thinking about our sex life, like, now" she told him. "Just erase it from your mind for the next five days."

Stefan laughed. "Yeah right. If I can't have sex with you, you better believe I'm going to be thinking about it" he told her, smiling at how uncomfortable she was now.

"I hate you" Elena said, though she was trying so hard not to smile.

Stefan leaned over and brushed his lips against her ear. "Not the feeling I got in the bathroom earlier" he whispered. "I'm pretty sure you really, really, loved me for those five minutes" he added.

Elena gripped the steering wheel tight. "I'm going to pretend that this conversation never happened" she said.

Stefan sat back and laughed. "You crack me up, Elena" he said, looking out the window at all of the colonial style homes. He could definitely picture Elena growing up there.

It wasn't long before Elena was pulling up along a curb and turning the rental car off. Stefan looked out to see a white house with a young woman standing on the porch. Elena was jumping out of the car and running towards the house before Stefan had taken his seatbelt off.