A/N – writing a oneshot with caroline and stefan has been in the back of my head for a very long time now. I kid you not; I was calling for this ship from that moment when Stefan turned down caroline in the first episode of tvd. Ive always had a knack for shipping characters that are never canon. and now that it seems to be? I AM ELATED! =) But this oneshot is mainly about how Stefan really knows caroline the best out of all people and this is just a oneshot that I imagined would happen.

I hope you enjoy!

"Why did you pretend?"

She was walking away from him.

She had just sadistically pierced through some guy's neck a short moment ago and drained him of just enough blood to keep him conscious, but also enough to fulfill her appetite. She's experienced enough that she can feed without causing a mess. This makes for a better "cleanup" of things after she was done. Then, she noticed a shadow at the end of the sidewalk and a tear rolled down her cheeks as she was feeding off this stranger. She hasn't seen him in awhile and forgot about how he's affected her, like he always does.

Luckily, it was dark enough that "he," didn't see it.

She finished her pull of blood from the guy's neck, and preceded to seal the wound with her venom and then she finally, let out a long, heavy breath. She then pressed her face into the flannel shirt that this stranger owned and wiped her lone tear away from swiping her head to the left and used his shirt as a napkin.

She lifted her head up and looked at him straight in the eye, "We made out for awhile, but I got tired, so I left. You remembered that you had a good time, but you don't remember my face or what I looked like. Go back into that bar and do what you usually do." The stranger's eyes glazed as her words commanded and hypnotized him, he then willing walked away after a nod to her and went back into the bar that they previously left to come to this secluded space in between two buildings.

She saw him but continued to walk away.

Then, she heard him and abruptly stopped.

"What am I pretending, Stefan? I really need all of you to just calm down and let me have fun! The bar I went to was pretty good if you're interested in some "fun" as well!" She playfully says with a cheerful voice.

But Stefan wasn't buying it.

She continues to walk forward again, and five steps later, he stops her again with his sharp words.

"I know you didn't turn off your humanity, Caroline."

Whilst still facing away from him, she let a wave of anger and pain flash through her for just one moment, letting herself be reminded of why she was doing this once more, and then continued to compartmentalize all the hurt and pain into one small chained box back into her heart. All of this happened in milliseconds, but Stefan was quicker.

He was suddenly facing her and didn't miss that one small flash of pain through her eyes as it swept away...he saw the real Caroline.

"I did turn it off-"

"No, you didn't!" Stefan took hold of her shoulders and bent his head down so he could look at her at eye-level.

"I know you, Caroline. I know you better than anyone else. I can feel the pain that's there with you right now." His strong, but non-threatening grip on her made her want to weep. She didn't want to experience anything other than what can be controlled by her.

She couldn't risk it.

She looked at him and spoke, "I can do whatever the hell I want. You don't get to pretend that you care; I don't need-" Her resolve was starting to crumble down, as the tone of her voice starts to break, and becoming uneven. She recovers after taking a breath and lowers her head and stares into the ground, "-I don't need you in my life!"

"Look me in the eye and say that again." Stefan takes one hand and presses it to her cheeks that were flushed with a faint tint of red and raises her head with a gentle push.

Caroline closes her eyes and feels the warmth that radiates from his palm to her cheek. His hand moves forward to wrap his fingers to the nape of her neck, and bundles her soft hair into a tender grip that helps angle her face to his. He steps closer and presses his forehead to hers.

She stays silent.

"I know you're scared." He nods his head against hers, which causes her to nod with him.

"I know you're in pain." He takes his other hand and slides it down her arm to grab hers. He intertwines their fingers firmly and she can't help but think of how perfect it was that their hands fit with one another seamlessly. He raises their interlocked hands and lays it on his left chest, on top of his non-beating heart and clutches her hand even harder.

"I know you want to push it all away." The hand that was behind her head comes back to her cheek and he wipes away the smeared blood on the corner of her lips, then he gently strokes the apples of her cheeks with his thumb, caressing and touching her.

He smiles at her gently, "But I won't let you."

She looked at him and then she couldn't hide it anymore. Her brows furrow from the rush of pain that she let herself feel again. She's always felt it in small doses, and she now let herself feel all of it. She's never forgotten the ache she constantly felt at the pit of her stomach when she was at the memorial service. She didn't forget the stinging rejection from the man she loves. She didn't forget when Damon told her she was probably going to feel that way for the rest of her life, as long as she shall live. She remembered snapping Elena's neck, but not before she told her how she couldn't do worse.

She just couldn't.

Yet, she wasn't expecting anyone to chase after her. She wanted to be left alone, and to revert to the old ways. Vampires can have their emotions heightened, and she chose to magnify the small part of her that wanted to be sadistic and mean. She stuffed away all the pain and let herself run free: uncaring and unfeeling.

It's not that she hasn't tried turning her humanity switch off, but when she stood in the middle of her room and prepared herself for the big moment, she caught herself looking at a picture that was placed on her end table right before she wanted to end all the pain. It was a picture of her and Stefan leaning against a tree near the cabin in the woods. She remembered when they were done unpacking most of her mother's items and she declared loudly that they deserved a break. As the one that's always prepared, she had already gathered food into a basket and whisked Stefan away before he could even register what had happened.

She remembered how they laid themselves against the tree and the both of them were smiling and laughing from his dry humor and her silly but funny stories. The sun was bright and warm and she felt really alive, and she told him so. He just looked at her lovingly and shakes his head and told her she was technically dead and couldn't feel that way. She gasped and playfully slapped his arm and told him he was wrong, that they could feel everything as they experienced it. She laid her chin onto his shoulders and after awhile, she took her phone out and snapped a picture of them when he didn't notice.

Stefan's head was turned towards her and his face was half buried in her blonde hair, but you can see his sweet smile and the small wrinkles in the corner of his eyes as they were closed. She smiles brightly at him, even though he can't see her, but the big and wide smile was probably also for the camera, but this all, provided for a picture-perfect moment. She can only see his neck but the faint smell of cologne and also what she can only descried is the smell of Stefan enchants her and she wishes that they could stay like that forever, and after the photo was taken, she turned her head and once again faced toward the sun. After a brief moment, he lifted his head away and then wrapped his arm around her shoulders and shot her a sweet smile…

She couldn't turn it off. She oh-so, desperately wished that she had the heart to turn it all off, but she couldn't. She understood that she needed time to heal, and she wanted to push all the hurt and ache away for just a while and live her life.

She didn't expect others to care.

When Elena found her in her room, she immediately assumed that Caroline turned it off from the expression-less face that was adorned on her. So Caroline let Elena believe she was cold-hearted and didn't correct her. She started to go out to parties and let herself be the cynical and mean 17-year old before she was a vampire.

She thought Bonnie would just leave her alone and certainly not constantly sitting her down in her living room and try spells on her to turn her humanity "back on." Bonnie has always been closest to Elena and always let things happen the way they did and usually didn't use her magic to interfere if not needed. But the spells didn't work on her because there was nothing technically wrong to begin with. But Bonnie had unrelenting passion and always tried to talk to Caroline and make her "wake up."

Damon, surprisingly, came up to her and told her that she didn't really go through that much pain, and that she shouldn't turn off her humanity because someone she held dear passed away. He made a point that Liz Forbes was his friend too, but he was living on. He told her that he wanted the old "Blondie" back and that things were weird with her acting "all crazy." She responded, "Remember when we first met and you basically raped and drugged me?" He looks at her in shock and she continues, "Yea, that's what I thought. You have no right to tell me how to live my life. I will kill you if you don't leave me alone right now." She looks him dead in the eye with newfound anger and frustrations.

He walked away with his arms raised up, as if he was surrendering to her. Oh, how the tables have turned in her favor.

One more person off her back? Check.

Matt and Tyler went up to her one day as she was sitting alone at the club and tried to take her home after she was a little tipsy. She laughed and knowing how they would react, asked her exes if they would have a threesome with her, and just as she assumed, they looked at her in disgust and stomped away. They didn't bother to try again.

But Stefan never approached her; he would always be far away in the room that she was in and just observe her. It annoyed her to no end; she couldn't face him after putting her heart out there when she thought they had a chance, and he basically told her the thing that broke her heart; he wasn't ready. He kissed her on the front porch that day, before the bad news was received, and she thought he would take a leap of faith with her. She needed him more than she ever thought she would when her mother had passed. She was hoping he would reciprocate with the same love she had yearned for from the first day they had met.

But the stinging rejection slapped the cold reality right into her face.

She had nothing. Her mom was gone. Stefan didn't love her. Elena and Bonnie would exclude her. Matt and Tyler were never close to her anymore. Even Klaus had moved on in another place.

She was alone.

So she did everything she could to stay that way, so she wouldn't feel anymore disappointment and pain again. She always put herself out there for the people she cared about; she's always wanted nothing but the best for them. She spent so much time and energy on trying to make sure everyone is safe and sound.

But she lost all that and just felt…tired. So she tried to turn it all off.

But she couldn't.

"Why can you just let me be?" Her tear ducts just wouldn't cooperate with her and let the tears flow freely from her eyes. She looks at Stefan and he just smiles at her whilst wiping her tears away with his hand.

"Because this person that you were trying to be? She isn't the Caroline Forbes that I love." He then leans forward just a bit more and presses his lips to hers. She gasps and chokes from crying but takes her arms and wraps around him. She kisses him back with so much desire and love that he felt a bit overwhelmed, but when they were both settled down, they just tried to show one another the amount of love they had and just poured it into this kiss. He angles her face to deepen the kiss, and she leans up even more and stands on her toes to strengthen the kiss. He swipes his tongue against her lips and she opens her mouth willingly. His hands fell down her back in a sensual caress and lands on her hips. She churns her head; seeking more contact between their mouths and teases his tongue with hers. She tastes so good to him, and vice versa. They both felt how their body was pressed completely against each other, and moans of fulfillment and desire escaped in between kisses.

After what felt like hours, the kiss turned into a slow and sultry affair. His lips pressed against hers with less urgency but somehow with even more passion, both savoring this one kiss that they've been waiting for, and it was so good.

She opened her eyes and see that his were open as well. For the first time in a long time, she smiles sincerely, and into this one sweet kiss. She pulls away first and breathes heavily, and as her chest heaves up and down, she takes her hands away from his hair on the back of his head and slowly drags them to his cheek, as he did before.

She opens her mouth to speak but he stops her with a small, chaste kiss. He pulls back and says, "I know you might not believe that I love you. But I do. I was such an idiot before when I didn't tell you how I felt, and it was because I wanted to make sure I was willing to risk our friendship for the love I have for you. I know it took me awhile to understand what this is, but I know it will be better than anything I've experienced before. I know this because ever since I've known how I've felt, I've been better. I was already experiencing it when I was with you, and I know it can only get better. So please say yes and come back to me. I will spend the rest of our lives making sure that you know, without a doubt that I love you. I will work towards the happiness that you deserve and I won't ever make you cry again. Please, come back to me."

She wasn't sure if she was hearing things right. Stefan's declaration of his love to her was like some weird and faint bundle of noise that she couldn't comprehend. His words echoed into her ears and inside her head and when she finally realized what had just happened-

She smiled again.

It blinded him and he fell in love all over again. Her smile was a silent acceptance of his unwavering and strong love. He wrapped his arms around her and led them to lean against a brick wall of a building. His back was to the wall with his arms looped around her waist and she leans against him with her arms around his neck. He whispers sweet-nothings into her ear, and she leans against his head and smiles. She takes in a breath and the smell of him takes her back to the days when the good outweighed the bad.

She didn't need to explain to him how she wanted to be away from all the pain, because he understood her. She didn't need to tell him she loves him at that exact moment, because he already know she does. She didn't need to tell him she's been secretly waiting for this to happen, because he already knew it was him that needed to catch up to reality; that they were hopelessly and irrevocably made for each other.

She never had a chance in trying to hide away from him.

Because he will always find her.

Thanks for reading! Reviews are greatly appreciated! =)