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would allow her to hold on to her happiness.
"I know," she said. "The boarding house."
"What?"
"I told Stefan to call me today, but why don't we walk over to the boarding house instead? It's not
far from here."
"Only a twenty-minute walk," said Bonnie. She brightened. "At least we can finally see that room of
his."
"Actually," said Elena, "I was thinking you two could wait downstairs. Well, I'll only get to see him
for a few minutes," she added, defensively, as they looked at her. It was odd, perhaps, but she didn't
want to share Stefan with her friends just yet. He was so new to her that he felt almost like a secret.
Their knock on the shining oak door was answered by Mrs. Flowers. She was a wrinkled little
gnome of a woman with surprisingly bright black eyes.
"You must be Elena," she said. "I saw you and Stefan go out last night, and he told me your name
when he came back."
"You saw us?" said Elena, startled. "I didn't see you."
"No, no you didn't," said Mrs. Flowers, and chuckled. "What a pretty girl you are, my dear," she
added. "A very pretty girl." She patted Elena's cheek.
"Uh, thank you," said Elena uneasily. She didn't like the way those birdlike eyes were fixed on her.
She looked past Mrs. Flowers to the stairs. "Is Stefan home?"
"He must be, unless he's flown off the roof!" said Mrs. Flowers, and chuckled again. Elena laughed
politely.
"We'll stay down here with Mrs. Flowers," said Meredith to Elena, while Bonnie rolled her eyes in
martyrdom. Hiding a grin, Elena nodded and mounted the stairs.
Such a strange old house, she thought again as she located the second stairway in the bedroom. The
voices below were very faint from here, and as she went up the steps they faded entirely. She was
wrapped in silence, and as she reached the dimly lit door at the top, she had the feeling she had
entered some other world. Her knocking sounded very timid. "Stefan?" She could hear nothing from
inside, but suddenly the door swung open. Everyone must look pale and tired today, thought Elena,
and then she was in his arms.
Those arms tightened about her convulsively. "Elena. Oh, Elena…"
Then he drew back. It was just the way it had been last night; Elena could feel the chasm opening
between them. She saw the cold, correct look gather in his eyes.
"No," she said, hardly aware that she spoke aloud. "I won't let you." And she pulled his mouth down
to hers.
For a moment there was no response, and then he shuddered, and the kiss became searing. His
fingers tangled in her hair, and the universe shrank around Elena. Nothing else existed but Stefan, and
the feel of his arms around her, and the fire of his lips on hers.
A few minutes or a few centuries later they separated, both shaking. But their gaze remained
connected, and Elena saw that Stefan's eyes were too dilated for even this dim light; there was only a
thin band of green around the dark pupils. He looked dazed, and his mouth – that mouth! – was
swollen.
"I think," he said, and she could hear the control in his voice, "that we had better be careful when
we do that."