Perfect Match

Chapter 7

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"Will you ever tell me where we're going?" Elena asked during the ride in the limousine. Stefan smiled, a bright, contagious smile that made her heart skip a beat.

"We're almost there," he promised calmly though he couldn't hide his excitement.

Elena dramatically frowned, hunching back into her seat. "Where are the cameras?" she questioned. Glancing up at him, she recognized that Stefan's smile grew even wider. "They're not here, are they?"

Stefan laughed. "Nope," was all that he said in response. Elena's body flooded with relief; they hadn't been truly alone for over a week! Joyously, she moved closer to him and hugged him tightly.

"Oh my god! It's a miracle!" she said happily. "How'd you manage to do that?"

Stefan grinned. "You wanted to have a nice, normal prom night, didn't you?" As he spoke, the limousine came to a stop, but Elena resisted the urge to look out the window. She simply arched a brow at him, puzzled to where this was going. He continued. "I couldn't really talk the producers into sending us back to Mystic Falls for the night, and there was no way the whole senior class would be able to fly across the country, so I got the next best thing. Elena Gilbert, would you like to go to prom with me?"

Elena giggled at his dramatic words when he extended his arm. "Always the gentleman, Mr. Salvatore," she fake swooned, placing her hand on the inside of his elbow. Stefan chuckled at her words and shrugged. "I thought you'd never ask!" she joked.

The limo driver came around and opened the door for them. His eyes fell on Elena and he smiled kindly. "You've got quite the boyfriend. He's been over here working at this all day," he whispered, pretending that it was a secret but Stefan shyly looked away. She could have sworn she saw the faintest sign of a blush on his cheeks.

"Thank you, Alfred," Stefan said politely.

"You two kids have a nice prom."

Elena kindly nodded and followed Stefan down the path through the woods. Wordlessly, she gazed up at him, with his slicked hair, and decided she liked this look on him. He was so handsome that he made her stomach flutter; she felt so fortunate just to say that she knew him. Everything about Stefan was the epitome of perfection: he was uniquely beautiful, selfless, and an incredible friend above all. She just wished he could understand that.

After a few seconds, they arrived in a clearing, lined by palm trees. Twinkling, purple lights surrounded the clearing, along with light blue lanterns that illuminated the starry night. On the far side was a stage. A band stood on it, lightly playing music that seemed to compliment the subtle yet beautiful decorations. Above the stage, written out in neon lights, were the words "Welcome to Mystic Falls Class of 2012 Senior Prom!"

Elena's jaw dropped in awe. "You set all of this up for me?"

Stefan took in every little detail of her reaction, wanting to commit it to memory for the rest of his life. He loved making Elena happy; it was one of the small pleasures of life that brought him more joy than anything else could. "There's more," he said softly, nodding to the small group of people now approaching them.

Elena's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "Oh my god!" she screamed, running over to them. "Caroline! Bonnie! Matt! Tyler! Ahhhhh!" Laughing and shouting, she grabbed them all and pulled them into a huge hug. "Wait a minute. What are you guys doing here?"

"Well, Stefan called us this morning," Matt explained. "We got on a plane and rushed over."

She frowned. "You should be at the prom!"

"We are at the prom," Bonnie smiled. "What better way to spend it than in warm weather with our two best friends who we've all insanely missed?"

Stefan approached the crowd slowly, chuckling. "It's only been about two weeks."