Just a little Caroline/Jeremy (Caremy?) one shot. In this, Bonnie and Jeremy never started dating. I didn't know I shipped Caroline and Jeremy until about an hour ago when I realised how sweet they could be together, and how it's almost the same as the Bonnie/Jeremy relationship except with Caroline… so yeah, I wrote this

Caroline wonders how it's come to this. He's always been jut Elena's kid brother, the boy who used to smile shyly at her when she came over to see Elena, the boy who always seemed to end up breaking his arm in one way or another, the boy who used to explore his garden for bugs and wave them in her face when he made a new discovery.

She remembers a time back when they were kids, when he was five and she was seven. Caroline had knocked on the Gilbert's front door to see if Elena was in, only to find that her best friend was out with her mom. Grayson Gilbert, possibly the nicest man that Caroline had ever met in all of her seven years, had insisted that they'd be back soon and she was welcome to come in and wait for them. Caroline had been happy to oblige. She'd just made herself comfortable on the Gilbert's couch when her blue eyes met a pair of warm brown ones.

"Hi," Jeremy had smiled, swaying a little on the spot.

"Hey, Jeremy," Caroline had replied. Jeremy was only two years younger than her, but the innocence in his eyes was adorable, even to her.

"Are you waiting for 'Lena?" He asked, biting his bottom lip a little.

"Yep," She answered, not overly sure where he was going with his inquisition.

"Do… D'ya wanna play Peter Pan with me 'til she gets here?" Caroline grinned a little at his want for a play mate.

"Peter Pan, huh?" She repeated. Jeremy grinned, his nose crinkling a little.

"Yeah, I'll be Peter and you can be Wendy," He suggested. Caroline thought for a moment, and then shrugged.

"Okay."

When Elena returned home with her Mom twenty minutes later, she found her best friend sat on the couch and her little brother fighting his collection of stuffed toys with a raw strand of spaghetti for a sword. Jeremy and Caroline had spotted Elena at the same time, and Jeremy had dropped his 'sword' and grinned at his sister. Caroline had gotten up and followed Elena to her bedroom, but not before bending down a little and pressing her lips to Jeremy's cheek.

"Thank you for saving me, Peter," She'd said, smiling at the shock on Jeremy's face and the blush that was slowly appearing in his cheeks. Jeremy had pressed the palm of his hand to his cheek and grinned at the floor.

"You're welcome."

Caroline doesn't know why that memory has chosen now to come into her mind, but she smiles at it all the same. Jeremy as Peter Pan, the boy who refused to grow up. But now, he'd been almost forced to grow up. He wasn't a little kid anymore; he was brave, and stubborn, and an excellent artist, and actually quite handsome. Now she was the one who would never grow up, eternally frozen at seventeen years old. It didn't matter that now he was sixteen years old, and he'd be physically older than her in just two short years; he was still her Peter Pan.

Caroline was so consumed in her thoughts that she didn't even notice when someone sat down next to her and pushed a coffee mug in front of her. Blinking back into reality, she noticed Jeremy sat next to her sipping on his own mug.

"You looked a little lonely," He shrugged. "As you would, if you chose to come to the Grill on your own, I suppose." Caroline smiled a little.

"Me and Matt are over, Elena's with Stefan, Bonnie didn't want to come out, so that just left my subconscious and myself," She replied, bringing the coffee mug up to her lips.

"I'm always here," Jeremy pointed out with a grin. "Jeremy Gilbert, saving himself and his sisters' beautiful friend from complete loner-dom on a Friday night." Caroline turned herself round so that she was facing Jeremy directly. Then, she set the mug down on the table and kissed his cheek.

"Thank you for saving me, Peter," She whispered with a smile. Jeremy gaped at her and then grinned.

"You're welcome."

Caroline isn't sure exactly how it ended up like this, but she guesses the stories are always right; Peter and Wendy made a great couple, after all. And Jeremy Gilbert is hers; her Peter Pan.