Silent Prayers

Chapter 43

Elena awoke to the soft whisper of "Happy Birthday" in her ear. She smiled, but made no attempt to open her eyes or even reply. She wanted nothing more than to stay asleep, wrapped in Stefan's arms. The memory of the night before lingered in her head. What had started as innocent teasing had led to gentle love making. Even after their heartbeats grew steady and the need for sleep was there, he hadn't stopped holding her.

She felt his lips trail down her neck, leaving soft, barely there kisses along the way. He was tempting, but her desire for sleep was stronger. Elena ducked her head away from him and slipped under the covers.

Stefan laughed at her. "Ouch" he said in response to her rejection. He heard her laugh quietly though.

It was her 21st birthday, and all she wanted to do was sleep in. There would be no bar hopping until 3:00 AM or drinking herself sick. She had no idea what the plan was for the day, but she figured she might have to get up sometime. If they even had anything planned for her at all. She wasn't expecting a party or anything.

Elena felt the cool air hit her back as the blanket was lifted up. Then Stefan's body was behind her, warming her up. It was a nice feeling, and one she could definitely fall back asleep to.

Until she felt his fingers tickling along the skin of her somewhat exposed hip. Elena could not help but laugh as she curled into a ball to try and avoid him. "Hey!" she squealed, grabbing his hand finally when he would not stop. She pushed the covers off of them and turned to face him. Stefan had a very satisfied smile on his face, telling her that he had gotten his way. "Why are you so adamant to get me up on my birthday?" she asked, as if he should have known better than to wake her up.

"Cause I miss you when you're sleeping" Stefan answered softly. She half laughed, half scoffed at his almost too perfect reply. "And, I've got your birthday present downstairs" he added. Stefan was not quite sure if that tactic would work on her. Katherine would have been halfway down the stairs by now, but Elena was never all that concerned with materialistic items.

Elena, even as sleepy as she was, smiled at him. "What if I said, all I wanted for my birthday was to stay right here with you?" she asked, trailing her fingers lightly down his chest. "Remember last night?" she asked, biting her lip to try and hide the fact that talking about sex with him still made her blush most times.

Stefan's eyes lit up with recognition. "I don't think I could ever forget last night" he told her. Or any other night spent with her. He also knew what she was alluding to, and while he would love to spend the rest of the morning giving in to her wishes, he knew he couldn't. "But I really, really want to give you your birthday present" he told her. Besides, it was healthy to spend time together, clothed. "Please?" he asked, giving her a boyish lopsided grin that was sure to make her agree.

"Okay, okay" Elena said, giving in. She pretty much figured he was not going to give up. "Let me shower, and I will be right down" Elena added.

He did not give her the chance to say anything more as he leaned in and kissed her. It was not short and sweet like he planned. He got carried away until she stopped him.

"Mmm ... I need to get up, remember?" she asked, pushing on his chest slightly.

Stefan placed one last kiss against the corner of her mouth and nodded. "Right. I'll see you downstairs." Then he was rolling out of bed, throwing one last look her way before disappearing out of the room.

Elena took in a deep, relaxing breath and smiled. Then she closed her eyes, and thought about how not ready she was to be 21.

XXXX

The first thing Elena smelled when she came downstairs was coffee. She plopped down in the seat across from him and smiled as he slid a cup of coffee to her. "Thank you" she said, grapping the cup between her hands and bringing it to her lips. Then she noticed the brown paper bag sitting on the table. "Those wouldn't happen to be muffins from the bakery down the street, would they?" she asked. A small smile formed at the thought of him going to get her favorite breakfast items on her birthday.