It was a slow process. Losing each other.

When Caroline got Stefan back from The Other Side, she swore she'd never let him go. She followed him around the country, making sure he didn't fall apart. Making sure he didn't drown his sorrows in someone's carotid artery.

She was no Lexi. Who was, though, really? But she wouldn't allow him to lose himself.

The problem, of course, was that he did neither of those things. What he did do might have been worse.

He scoured the country looking for travelers. When he found them, he raided their libraries, their spell books, their family histories. He wanted Bonnie and Damon back. They had to be somewhere. Right?

One morning, she woke up to Stefan packing their bags. She hadn't seen him in a week. He left her at his apartment in Chicago with a thousand dollars. His eyes were bloodshot and angry.

"Stefan," she murmured as she stood in the doorway. She was wearing only his flannel button-up and her white cotton underwear.

He kept his head down and continued to pack. "Don't forget to pack the ipad," he told her. She walked to him and hugged him from behind. He was cold, freezing, actually.

"I missed you," she hummed. "Where are we going?"

"I hit another dead end," he said, thickness to his voice. "So, we're leaving."

"You look..." she said, seperating herself from him, pulling him with relative ease to her. She put her hand on either side of his face and he looked away. "hungry."

"I am," he whispered.

Caroline walked to the kitchen, grabbing a blood bag and pouring it into a large mug. She heated it up in the microwave and before the machine beeped, Stefan was next to it, waiting for the warm blood to cross the threshhold into his wanting mouth.

He drained the cup and Caroline began fixing him a second mug, she didn't bother heating it up this time. He drank this cup slower, enjoying it. He set down the almost empty mug on the table and rubbed his eyes.

"How much longer can I keep doing this, Caroline?" Stefan asked softly. It's nights like these he opened up. He told her how he really felt. When he was too drained not to tell her.

Caroline bit her lip. "Let's talk it out again. The whole day." She moved toward him, putting her hands on his shoulders. "Maybe we missed something."

Stefan's hands played with the hem of the shirt she was wearing. The tips of his fingers tickled the tops of her thighs, creating a moisture between her legs that she desperately wanted to ignore.

"We didn't miss anything," he growled. "I'm just an idiot."

"You're not an idiot," she told him, bring her forehead to his. "You just have hope. There isn't anything wrong with hope."

Stefan closed his eyes and opened his legs, pulling her into him, burying his face in her shirt. She smelled like the smoke from a fireplace, vanilla from the cupcakes she always made, and him. It was weird smelling his scent on her. He didn't want to smell it. He wanted to smell her and only her.

She wrapped her hands and arms around him, her fingers playing with his hair. She tilted her head and lay it on top of his. "Why don't we rest tonight? Come to bed. We can take off tomorrow."

"Okay," he told her. "Okay."

Two months later, on a stormy night in Seattle, they were laying by the fire. Both in a bit of blood and whiskey coma. They had gone over the day they lost Damon and Bonnie three times in a row. Stefan's head landed in Caroline's lap and she stroked his face softly.

"We'll figure it out," she offered, her smile bright and pure.

"No we won't," he said with a sigh. "He's gone, Caroline." A stray tear fell down his face and he stood up. "I'm going to bed."

Caroline's eyes followed him from the room and she turned to the fire and poured water on the fire.

"Please don't go," Stefan said. He stood at the door as Caroline checked her purse for the fourteenth time in a row. "I can come with you... I can... I can change."

Caroline shook her head. "Stefan," she said his name like he was a child. "I'm not leaving you. I'm just leaving."

Stefan's eyes began to water.

"Elena needs me," she told him, looking at his feet. "And you... don't."

"I do," he argued. "I do. I need you."

Caroline's eyes watered as she reached up to hug him. "I'll see you again really soon. I promise."

The truth was, Caroline couldn't do it anymore. Yes, Elena needed her. Something was going on with Jeremy. And yes, Caroline did not want to leave Stefan. But, maybe. Just maybe, with out her to lean on, Stefan might be able make a realization. Or know what to do next. But the life he was leading now... it wasn't a life.

"I don't want to lose you," he mumbled into her golden locks.

"You aren't," she told him as she pulled away, their eyes locking. "You'll be putting up with me for a long time," she said with a slight grin. "I can promise you that."

"Hello?"

"Stefan!" Caroline beamed. "I miss you! I haven't heard from you."

"Sorry," he said, his voice low and his response chaste. "I've been in bulgaria. They don't have great cell service."

"Oh..." Caroline breathed and opened her mouth to speak again. "Any progress?"

"Yes," Stefan said. Caroline could hear women speaking in another language in the background. "I'll tell you all about it when I'm back in the states."

"Good," Caroline's voice was light an optimistic. "I can't wait. When will that be?"

"I really need to go, Care."

Click.

Caroline and Matt Go To College. It sounded like a bad movie. But, she needed to do something to pass the time. They were three month in to their first semester when she got the email from Stefan.

Caroline,

I miss you.

I'm in that sleepy town in Washington we visited and I'm thinking of you. If what I'm working on works, we might be able to go back to Mystic Falls. I know how much you miss your mom. That might be perfect for you. I'm thinking of you.

Your Stefan.

Caroline wiped the stray tear that threatened to fall from the corner of her eye. She looked up flights to that town. She really thought she might just go for it. Go to him. Matt reminded her about finals. She nodded and focused on the book in front of her.

Tyler and Jeremy were being quite the lady killers at UCLA. Posting pictures of their many frat parties on every form of social media.

Elena and Alaric were living in New York. Alaric was teaching, Elena was going to the university Alaric taught at. They were a very modern family. Kid and quasi step uncle.

Caroline had Matt. When he wasn't with Rebekah.

Caroline missed Stefan. Why did she leave him again?

"Hello?"

"Caroline," his voice came out like a croak, a sniffle followed her name. "Where are you?"

"I'm at school..." she said, her eyes and words full of sleep. "Where are you?"

"I'm in Chicago."

"I'm on my way."

It happened quickly. Coming back together.

Caroline was in the doorway of Stefan's apartment in Chicago within 8 hours. She walked through the threshold. Stefan lay on the floor, shirtless and red with blood. She fell on her knees. It took her less than a second to realize most of the blood was not his. She smell the fresh blood, the followed the scent into his bedroom. A pile of bodies were stacked on his bed. On her bed. On the bed they shared less than a year before.

"I didn't get her name," he said, his eyes red. "The redhead. I forgot to ask her name."

Caroline understood the issue. She walked to her body and searched her clothes. When she found her wallet, she pulled out her drivers license. "It's Charlotte," Caroline said. She walked back into the living room. "I'll write it on the wall."

Stefan nodded his ascent and began to stand. "I should shower."

"Yes," she agreed. "I'll clean up."

Caroline wouldn't do this for anyone else. She would not dispose of bodies for Elena, or Matt, or Tyler. No, she would not coddel a monster.

Except for Stefan. Her monster.

After he showered and she cleaned out the apartment, Caroline decided it was time to relocate. "Chicago isn't really your city," she said, a small smile on her face. "It's a breeding ground for rippers."

Stefan nodded, his face stone. "Where will we go?"

"We?"

"Sorry..." he said with a shrug. "I didn't mean to-" he turned away and Caroline appeared in front of him.

"Shh!" she hushed him. "Of course it's we. It's always going to be you and me."

"You and me," Stefan repeated. His eyes brightened, although the rest of him was a mess. "We should go, though. Now."

"Yes," Caroline agreed.

Stefan and Caroline ended up a small beach town in Texas named Rockport.

Stefan was mending. He was back on a mixture of blood bags and animal blood. Once in a great while, when he got a craving, Caroline would offer her arm or neck. Once on a beach day she let him sit behind her and drink from her back as she hid the activity under a very large hat.

Every time he drank from her, she felt like she was showing him a little more of herself.

She turned in his arms, tackling him to ground and straddled him, wrestling him in the sand. "You know, I know it curves the cravings," she said. "But, I feel like you kind of owe me some blood of my own."

Stefan looked around, most people on the beach were paying attention to their magazines and watching their kids play in the shallow water. He thought for a moment and sat up. "Come here," he said, giving her the universal 'this way' finger. She moved closer to him, their faces almost touching. "Kiss me."

"What?" she laughed incredously. "Kiss you?"

"Kiss me," he said. "I'll bite my tongue. Once you have a taste for it, you can move to my neck. Just like you're hugging me."

Caroline looked around and Stefan opened his mouth, showing her as his fangs came out. He bit his tongue, then his lip. He moved closer. "Hurry," he said. "Before I heal."

Without another thought, she was kissing him, tasting his sweet blood as his tongue entered her mouth. She let her fang scrap the tongue again, releasing another wave of blood into her mouth. As he pulled away, she caught his lip between her teeth, sucking it until blood filled her mouth. She watched the holes in his lip heal as he pulled away. A wide grin on Stefan's face. "Want more?"

Caroline nodded. "Yes please."

Stefan bit his lip again and tackled her, kissing her harshly. The blood filled her mouth again and he rolled them into their beach towel. Everything was blood and sand and sweet sweat. Her hat fell off, but they were in the comfort of the towel. "Bite into me," he whispered.

"Where?"

"Anywhere."

She bit into his neck, sucked his blood quickly, then went to his lips again. Kissing him softly. There was no blood in his mouth, he didn't bother biting his lip or tongue again. This kiss was just for them. They pulled away, their foreheads together.

Caroline hummed as she stirred pasta sauce, a recipe Stefan had taught her. She heard him come in, smelling of cigarette smoke and bourbon. It was Damon's birthday, a day that Stefan took not so well. A day no one took very well. She had a 3 hour long call with Elena earlier that day.

When Stefan walked in, he hugged her from behind kissed her cheek and pulled himself to sit on the counter.

Caroline turned to him, sauce on the spoon, she offered him a taste. He licked the spoon and nodded. "Good. You almost got it."

"But?"

Stefan smiled. "But, you need more garlic. And... I think you forgot something."

"Lemon!" Caroline remembered and Stefan nodded, smiling wide. "A smile? I didn't expect to see one of those."

"I have a lot to smile about," Stefan said, raising his eyebrow.

"Really? Tell me about that."

"Well, we're alive," he started, putting his thumb out as he began counting.

"Good point."

"We're together."

"Better point."

"And..." Stefan trailed off. "I remembered something."

"Ohh!" Caroline said, a wide smile on her face. "Memories are important."

"The day," he said, his voice low and guttural. "The day we've gone over so many times before. I remembered something I hadn't thought of." He looked up at the ceiling. "Sheila, you know, Bonnie's grandma. I overheard her say something to Bonnie that didn't mean a lot at the time. She said, 'I've found peace because I've made sure that you will find yours'."

"Like a spell?"

"I don't know," Stefan said. "But it made me realize... I've been looking for the wrong person. I'd been looking for travelers."

"But, if Sheila did something you would need a witch," Caroline completed his thought.

"Yes!" Stefan said. "So, I met up with Liv and Luke."

"Ew!" Caroline said. "They are the reason Damon is gone."

"They are the reason that I am back," Stefan countered, cupping her face.

Caroline nodded. "I'm still not a fan. But, they're going to help you."

"They are," Stefan beamed. "We're doing a locator spell tomorrow night during the full moon. You'll come, won't you?"

She sighed and broke apart from the contact. "Of course I'll be there. But, last time I saw Luke, I was breaking his neck." She began stirring the sauce again and squeezed some lemon juice into the pot. "What made you remember?"

"You."

"Me?"

"Last night."

Caroline's head fell backwards and she laughed. "You mean..." she turned to him and raised her eyebrow. "Last night."

Stefan grinned. "Yes."

"It wasn't our first time," Caroline said. "Yet it brought on a eureka moment."

"You do that to me," Stefan said. "It was after you fell asleep. We were laying by the fire, and I was watching the way the glow hit your face." Stefan smiled again. "I was thinking of what Lexi said, the last time I saw her, that I stayed in Mystic Falls for you. Then I remembered walking up the graveyard, her making a comment about you, nudging me and telling me that you were the one." Caroline hadn't heard this before. She had to turn away to keep Stefan from seeing the tears in her eyes. "And that's when I remembered hearing that. I didn't even really hear it. You know? I was listening to Lexi. Thinking about you... hey!" He reached for Caroline, putting his hand on her shoulder and jumping down from the counter. "You okay?"

Caroline turned, wiped her face. "I didn't know that. I didn't know any of that."

A playful smile play on Stefan's lips. "Oh. You mean about Lexi."

Caroline nodded. "Yeah."

"She's a smart girl," Stefan said, pulling Caroline into his arms. "And she knows me better than anyone else in the world."

Caroline beamed. Stefan brought his lips to hers. They both waited. Smiling. Their smiling lips touching. Then, they kissed.

The falling apart was slow, the coming together was quick.

And Stefan, despite so many things that have gone wrong this past year, was happy. He was happy to have Caroline. He was grateful for what he had. Even if it had taken him so long to realize.

"So..." Caroline said breaking apart from him. "I'm the one?" she said with a teasing roll of her eyes.

"No question," Stefan murmured.

Caroline focused on the pasta sauce, a wide smile on her face. Because they were together. And for now, that was all that mattered.