"Why are you looking so glum?" I nudge Tess's shoulder with my own. We're sitting at the lake, looking out to the water. It's been a week since Eli and I got back from his parents' place. Since then, things have been good but he is definitely even tenser around the house than before. He and Ben are constantly at the garage. Probably to avoid Tommy even though he hasn't shown his face around the house often.

"I'm not," she protests. "I look fucking angelic."

"Yes, like a glum angel."

"I'm just thinking," she rushes out a breath.

"About what?"

"Simon."

"What did he do? I'm gonna kick his ass if he hurt you! Better yet, I'm gonna sic Bennett on him," I assure her.

"Calm down, he didn't do anything. I just really like him and that is what I didn't want to happen. I didn't want to catch feelings because I know we would leave after the summer and a fling would have been the best option. And now, I am stuck with these stupid feelings," she huffs.

"Yeah, I feel you," I mumble.

"We are such lovesick idiots," Tess laughs.

"Hey, no negative self-talk!" I scold her with a laugh of my own.

"Well, at least for you it's clear what's gonna happen since Eli's your boyfriend now. You're gonna work out a long-distance thing. But I have no idea what happens with me and Simon. It's not like he asked me to be his girlfriend." A frown settles on her beautiful face. Simon left a couple days ago, going back to his brother's place.

"First of all, Eli and I haven't talked about that. I have no idea if he is up for a long-distance relationship. And second of all, you are a badass bitch, just ask him to your boyfriend."

"No way, he needs to ask me. I already made the first move at the barbeque," she protests.

"Oh, you're right. I forgot about that." I scooch closer to her, throw my arm around her shoulder and pull her in for a side hug. "It's gonna be alright. We will all figure out what's best. We always do. And in case nothing works out, we still have each other. You will always have me, I promise." I kiss her cheek.

"God you're awfully cheesy today," she chuckles. "But thank you, bestie. I needed that. It would suck if it didn't work out though."

"It would," I agree.

Before any of us can utter another word, we are swept up by strong arms. Squeals spill from our mouths and we start struggling in Eli's and Ben's grip as they run toward the water.

"Put us down!" Tess demands.

"Eli, I swear! If you don't let me down right now," I try to sound threatening but he just laughs at me. The next moment, I am under the freezing cold water, fighting my way back up.

As soon as my head breaks the water's surface, I gulp in lungfuls of air, frantically looking around for the culprit. I spot Tess a few meters from me but I don't see any of the guys.

"Where are they?" I ask her.

"No ide-" she starts but something pulls her right back under. Oh, hell no.

"Eli, don't you dare!" I yell, hoping he'll hear me underwater.

I jump when I feel his hands on me but instead of pulling me under like Ben did with Tess, he starts nipping at my skin, starting at my ankles, across my thighs, over my stomach and the exposed skin of my breasts. His face sports a shit-eating grin as he emerges. I splash water at his handsome face and scowl at him. Droplets run down his tanned skin, sticking to his stubble and chest hair.

"That was not nice."

"You'll get over it," he drawls and I splash some more water at him. His hands hold me tight at my waist and his eyes roam my face.

"What are you looking at?" I ask him quietly.

"You," he simply says.

His hands pull me closer to his warm body as my hands frame his face. "You're cute," I whisper and kiss the tip of his nose. He grimaces.

"If one of us is cute, it's definitely you," he argues.

I shrug, "We're both cute."

His hand slowly snakes from my waist to my throat and he gently pulls my face closer to his. His grip on my neck tightens ever so slightly before he speaks against my lips.

"Do you wanna know what I'm thinking about right now?"

I nod.

"You're driving me crazy and I can't wait to finally sink myself inside you, all warm and wet and ready for me," he growls.

My eyes go wide and my mouth parts a little. God, I wish we were alone and he could do exactly what he just told me.

"Still think I'm cute?" he questions in a low voice.

"Shoulder war!" Tess exclaims from somewhere behind me, breaking the moment. Soon after, I am sitting atop Eli's shoulders, staring down our opponents even though I already know we're going to lose. Tess is a vicious, and ambitious beast when it comes to competitions. I guess I would be too if I grew up with an older brother.

I fight for a solid 2 minutes before Tess has me wrestled from Eli's grip. The two siblings scream in victory and Eli gives my pretend-pout a quick kiss.

For the rest of the day, we just play in the water and sit in the sun, talking and laughing. Around 7pm, the men complain about being hungry and we all head inside where Bennett orders Chinese food.

Tess is in the middle of telling a funny story about how she used to prank Bennett when they were kids. Eli has his hand placed on my thigh, thumb drawing slow circles and inching upwards every few minutes. His phone buzzes and he grabs it to read the incoming text. I am still listening to Tess but when he abruptly takes his hand off my leg, I look at him for a second. His face has gone slack and his hand grips his phone so hard his knuckles have gone white.

"Everything okay?" I ask him, giving him my full attention now.

"I gotta go," is all he mutters before getting up, grabbing his keys and slamming the front door. We hear his truck speed off moments after.

"What was that about?" Tess asks.

"No idea, he got a text and just took off. He seemed angry," I mumble.

"Ben?" Tess looks at her brother.

"Hey, I have no idea, don't look at me like that. I'm not his babysitter. It's probably his lawyer or Janet," he lifts his palms in defense.

I worry my lip in thought, staring at the kitchen doorway. I know he's a privat person and he doesn't share easily but I'm getting sick of him just leaving without an explanation all the time. Tess takes my hand, prying me from my overthinking.

"Let's have a TVD marathon, hm? With loads of chips and popcorn and wine. We haven't had one of those in a long time. Ben will go to the store to get our fave snacks, right?" Tess throws a pointed look at her brother and he rolls his eyes but nods anyway.

"Just text me a list of what you want," he grumbles and gets up, grabbing his jacket.

"Thanks, Benny," she chirps and pulls me up and into the living room.

"Okay, yes. I can use a distraction. This man is driving me crazy with his disappearing stunts he pulls all the time."

"Men are such a conundrum," Tess remarks and I smile at her sarcasm because I know for a fact she thinks men are simple. And I have to hand it to her, she does understand them very well for the most part. Me, not so much.

"Amen, sister," I smile at her.

We plop down on the couch and get lost in the insolvable battle that is Team Stefan or Team Damon. I'm definitely Team Stefan and Tess, obviously, disagrees.

When Ben comes back from the store and drops our snacks and wine on the coffee table, I tell Tess I'll be right back and run after him. I stop him at the bottom of the stairs.

"Hey, Bennett?"

"Yeah?" He turns to me.

"I know it's technically not your place but I am worried and I feel very left out about everything going on in Eli's life and I just wanted to ask if you could give me some context as to what is happening?" My voice comes out with a begging undertone.

He heaves a sigh and looks at me as if to say 'why are you asking me this?'.

"Romy..."

"Please, Ben?"

"Look, I cannot tell you all of it because Eli is my best friend and as you know, it's not my place. I can tell you that Janet desperately wants the house that Eli bought when they were married. Meaning technically, she has a right to it, as well. Eli made it known that Janet cheated on him but he doesn't have any real proof and Janet claims she didn't cheat. They're going back and forth and that's that. I really can't tell you anything else." He shakes his head.

"Why doesn't he just giver her the house, let her pay out the other half and get a new house?"

"He loves that house. He had his eye on it for a long time and he finally bought it when he married Janet to make it their home, with a wife and kids and all that. He accepted he had to give her up but he doesn't want to give the house up, too."

"That sounds like a little bit of an ego trip." I roll my eyes.

"And maybe that reaction is why he didn't tell you these things yet and I have to tell you," Bennett snaps. I startle a little at his tone but catch myself quickly because he is right. Damn it.

"Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry. I'm just pissed and confused and all that," I mumble guiltily.

"I don't know where he ran off to now or why, just try to talk to him when he gets back."

I scoff, "It's not like I haven't tried that, you know? It takes him ages to tell me something. Which in itself isn't even a problem but sometimes I feel like something big and messy has to happen first before he tells me a little bit about what's going on with him." I rub my forehead in frustration and swallow the tears back down.

"I get that, Romy." His eyes now have a compassionate look in them. "From what he told me he voiced his concerns to you, about this not being the right time to jump into a relationship?"

"Yeah, something like that," I nod, remembering our conversation at the lake over a month ago.

"Okay, so maybe he wasn't so wrong about that. Don't misunderstand me, I think you two are good together and I haven't seen him this happy in a long time but sometimes the timing is not right. Just something to think about. I'm confident it will all work out, though, so don't worry too much, alright?" He nudges my cheek with a crooked finger and flashes me a grin.

"Alright," I smile back. "Thank you, Ben." I throw my arms around his torso and hug him.

"No worries. Now go back, you're missing out on all the sexy vampires." He winks at me and I hurry back into the living room.

I decided against sleeping in Eli's bed. I refuse to lay there, not being able to sleep, waiting for him to come home. So, I snuggled up in my own bed tonight, my favorite cartoon lulling me to sleep.

I have no idea what time it is when my door creaks open, waking me up. I pretend to be asleep, knowing it can only be Eli and not wanting to fight or have a long conversation right now. Maybe he'll just cuddle up next to me and everything will be fine.

His footsteps etch closer to my bed and the mattress dips as he sits on the edge. His fingers move away the strands of hair covering my face and then I feel his warm lips on my forehead. He lingers for quite a while before pulling back and leaving my room. An ugly feeling settles in my stomach because this felt a lot like a goodbye. A tear runs down my cheek and I force myself back into a now restless sleep.