Prompt: "Will you look at this?"
Summary: Reader is dating Stefan Salvatore. She's is studying physics, and is in the middle of a study date with Stefan when Stefan changes the plan, giving her a much needed break from trying to solve the same problem set over and over.
Day nine of Fictober on Tumblr!
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"Stefaaaaaaan," I groaned, smacking my head down on the table. My boyfriend and I were having a study date, and I was absolutely losing my mind over the physics problem set I had to do.
"What's wrong?" he asked, looking up from his work with an amused smile.
"Physics is stupid and horrible and I don't get it."
"You've had an A in every physics class you've ever taken."
"Except this one! Apparently there's some disconnect in my brain, and I just completely don't understand anything about this stupid class!"
"Y/N, you're being ridiculous. I'm sure you'll get this."
I just groaned and smacked my head on the table again. I picked it back up to see Stefan shaking his head at me, a small smile on his face.
"Ugh, will you look at this? Maybe some hundred and whatever year old wisdom will help."
"I've never really been a physics person, but I can try." Stephan leaned around so he could see my paper. I pointed to the first problem to give him something to focus on, even though I was having trouble with the whole thing. He looked at it for a second, then leaned in a little closer to squint. Finally, he turned to look at me, and I could already tell I wasn't going to like whatever he had to say.
"You forgot to carry a two when you were doing some multiplication in the margins of the page," he said simply. I stared at him for a minute, not willing or able to process his words, and then I groaned and went face down on the table again.
"I'm dropping out of school, Stefan," I grumbled through the muffling of the table and my physics notebook. "I'm gonna go live in the woods or on an island or something, where math is unnecessary and obsolete."
"I don't know if math would be obsolete in either of those situations..."
I just sighed heavily and put my arms over my head, blocking out the world. I closed my eyes, too tired to deal with the whole thing anymore. Maybe I could learn physics through osmosis, and all my problems would be solved when I gathered the strength to try these stupid things again.
"Okay, you clearly need a break," said Stefan, shifting in his chair. I could tell he was looking at me, but I didn't move a muscle to meet his gaze.
"No. I need to finish this homework, and then I need to finish this class, and then I need to walk into the ocean."
Stefan snorted at that, then put a hand on my back.
"Come on. I'm taking you on a vacation for your brain. You seriously, seriously need it." I didn't move or say anything, so Stefan spoke again. "You know, I do have super strength, and I am more than willing to carry you out of this library, if that's what it takes."
I groaned, but picked my head up to look at him anyway. He smiled, but I just tried to flop back down on the table.
"Nope! Nope, come on. We're going, and we're doing something fun," he said, catching me mid-collapse and half-carrying me to the door. "All this work will still be here for you when we get back."
I whined all the way out the door, but I was honestly too exhausted and fed up to really protest. Maybe Stefan was right. Maybe I needed a little fun to let the physics part of my brain rest.
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"Where are we going?" I asked, looking around as Stefan sped down the backroads of Virginia in his '63 Porsche. It was one of my favorite cars in the world, and I already felt a little better just spending time driving in it.
"You'll see. It's a surprise. In the mean time, just kick back and enjoy a drive in your favorite car."
"I'll do my best." I gave him a small smile, then turned to gaze out the window at the scenery flying by. As much as I tried to block out physics, my brain kept nagging me to remember the problems, and to think through some possible solutions. I gave up fighting it after a while, hoping some fresh air and physical distance from my papers would be enough for a break through. Spoiler alert, it wasn't.
I was pretty close to tearing my hair out when Stefan stopped, pulling off the road a little ways right by a stretch of forest. I stared out the window curiously, only snapping out of it when Stefan opened my door for me.
"M'lady," he said, doing a cheesy bow. He had a picnic basket on his arm, so I had a feeling I knew what we were doing.
"Thank you, Stefan," I said, giving him a small smile as I climbed out of the car. We started heading for the treeline, and after a few steps Stefan took my hand.
"I can tell you're still obsessing over those physics problems," he said. "Focus on me instead. Focus on the clean, cool air. Take a deep breath and just... take everything in."
I tried to follow his advice, and for a second it worked. I took a deep breath and let nature wash over me, making me feel more alive than I had all day. But it quickly faded as soon as the silence went on for too long, allowing physics to jump right back into the forefront of my mind.
Stefan kept taking deep breaths and pausing to smile at me as we walked, and I tried my best to follow his lead. I just couldn't quite focus on being outdoors with my boyfriend with that problem set sitting at home, unfinished and taunting me, with the due date rapidly approaching with every minute that ticked by. It was driving me crazy.
Stefan slowed down a little as we made it to a clearing, and my mind was taken off the immediate problem for another moment as I saw the beautiful, cascading waterfall leading down into a sparkling pool of water. There was a nice stretch of grass around the pool, which was the perfect spot for a little picnic. It honestly looked like something out of a Disney movie.
"Wow..." I breathed, taking a minute to take it all in. "Stefan, this is incredible."
"I thought you might like it," he said, smiling at me lovingly. "Now come on, let's spread out the picnic blanket so we can have some lunch."
I grinned and followed him closer to the water, helping him spread out a picnic blanket. We sat down and Stefan opened the picnic basket to reveal almost all of my favorite foods, including sandwiches and a bunch of different kinds of fruit.
This was practically heaven.
"Stefan, you're amazing," I sighed, shifting to lean against him as I took a bite of my sandwich. "Thank you for dragging me out here."
"Any time," he said, kissing the top of my head. We sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, just enjoying the day, and I didn't even think of physics once. Then, Stefan spoke up again. "What do you say after lunch we take a dip in the pool?"
My eyebrows shot up as I turned to look at him.
"Stef, it's barely over sixty. The water's going to be freezing!"
"Yeah, but that's part of the fun. Come on, Y/N. Live a little."
Stefan nudged me playfully, and I just rolled my eyes. "Live a little" was the same phrase I used to get Stefan out and having fun whenever he was in a vampire brood-spiral. Now he was turning my own words against me.
"Come on, Y/N... come on..." Stefan dragged out his words, leaning into me more and more every time. I laughed, barely managing to keep from tipping all the way over. Stefan just applied more pressure, and I had no option but to give in.
"Alright, fine! Fine, geeze. Who woulda thought Stefan Salvatore on a non-ripper binge would resort to such violent means."
"Ha ha, very funny. You know what I think of that?" Stefan just looked at me, and I shook my head, a little nervous to see his answer. Without another moment's hesitation, Stefan used his super speed to throw me over his shoulder. Before I knew what was happening we were both in the water, completely soaked and freezing our asses off.
"Stefan! It's cold!" I yelled as he let me go. I shook my head to clear it, finding a spot shallow enough for me to float on my tippy toes. Stefan just grinned back at me.
"Oh come on, Y/N! It's not that bad!"
"Oh yeah?" He nodded, and I whipped my arms through the water to send the biggest splash I could at him. I accomplished my mission, even soaking his hero hair enough that it wasn't quite so spiky. "Ha!"
Stefan raised an eyebrow and started walking towards me slowly, and I felt an excited thrill shock my heart. I grinned and turned to run back to shore, but I barely made it three steps before Stefan had his arms wrapped around me. He lifted me up in the water and spun me around, eventually setting me down again and placing soft kisses on my neck. I sighed, my eyelids fluttering closed as I leaned back against him. Then, out of nowhere, I got hit in the face with a wave of water!
"Stefan!" I yelled, whirling around and shoving him in the chest. He held his hands up in surrender, eyes wide.
"I have no idea who did that."
I shook my head, but I couldn't stop the smile slowly spreading on my face.
"Whatever. I'm sure it was one of those woodland creatures you like to eat, taking revenge on you by splashing your girlfriend," I said with an eyeroll.
"Yes. That's exactly what it was."
I laughed. Stefan waded closer and gave me a proper kiss this time, without the splashing to ruin the mood. I leaned into it, and in a flash we were out of the water and on the picnic blanket again. He hadn't even broken the kiss for a second.
"I still don't understand how you do that," I muttered, pulling back for a second. Stefan just smiled.
"I'm magic."
I scoffed, pulling him down for another kiss and running my hand through his hair. Stephan deepened the kiss, and I was just starting to lose myself completely in Stefan's embrace when a thought popped into my head. I tried to push it aside, but it just got louder and louder until it was blaring like an alarm at the front of my conscious. I let the thought come, focusing on it for a few seconds as I continued to kiss Stefan, and then I froze like a statue.
I knew how to finish my physics homework.
"Y/N? What's wrong?" asked Stefan, pulling back gently and looking at me with a face full of concern.
I looked back at him sheepishly. "I just figured out how to solve that problem set."
"Now? Right now, while we were kissing now?"
"Yeah..."
"Any chance you can finish it later?" he asked, lowering his voice and leaning back in, locking his gaze on me the way I loved. Still, I gently pushed him away.
"I'm literally terrified that if I don't do this right now, I'll lose it again."
Stefan sighed. "I guess we better hurry up and get you home, then."
"You're an angel on earth, Stef." I leaned in and gave him one last peck on the lips, then I shot up and started shoving our picnic stuff back into the basket. "Come on, we have to hurry! I can't risk losing this thought and getting stuck with that stupid mental block again."
Stefan shook his head, but I could see him smiling. He used his speed to pack up the picnic in about two seconds flat, and then whisked us both out of there in almost the same time. He sped all the way home, and I sat down to knock out my physics homework as quickly as humanly possible. It was still going to take me a few hours to finish, but that was better than a few days, especially since I wasn't going to be tearing my hair out the entire time now.
Besides, I had an extra incentive to finish my homework quickly. Stefan was staying with me to do some of his own work, and we had unfinished business that I wanted to get to as soon as humanly possible.