The Fire That Consumes
This four-shot is based off Her Love Is Their Destruction and Empty Promises, from Caroline's POV, and Damon's, requested by Scooter127.
She falls in love with Stefan. And, it is incredible.
There is no other word to describe it. Being with him makes her feel weightless, as though she could do anything. It is the definition of being alive.
And that is what she believes love is; you should love the person that makes you feel alive, and that is what she has finally found with Stefan Salvatore.
It took a lot of convincing on his part. Awkward smiles and shy glances with the electric brush of skin to skin contact, but here they are. Together and whole, moving on with their lives as normally as possible with each other (considering the circumstances of their vampiric nature), by going on their first date.
She's there ten minutes early, always prepared, always organised. Stefan whispered in her ear, breathless, sending shivers down her spine, that that was one of the things that he has always loved about her, as they lay curled up on her bed together, moments after their first kiss and the awkwardness that followed. Now, she finds that it is a skill she particularly excels in, even if in part for him.
She suddenly sees Elena, a few tables away, sitting alone, with a distant and somewhat sullen expression on her face, and she hurries over to greet her.
"Hey, Elena!" Caroline gushes, smiling brightly. She's aware, painfully so, that she sounds very excited and over the top, and quells her excitement down. Things between them have been a little tense after she had told Elena and Bonnie that she had kissed Stefan a few days ago, though had left out a few confessions of love, fearing that telling Elena that was too much, and she really hopes that the reason why she did that is actually her overactive and paranoid imagination telling her Elena was upset about the idea of her and Stefan together.
Elena snaps out of her stupor and smiles at Caroline, but it looks tight. "Hi, Care. What're you doing here?"
"Oh, uh," Caroline pauses, struggling with how to tell Elena about Stefan, which she had headed over here intent on doing, since Elena would have figured it out the moment Stefan walked through the door. "I'm-I'm here to see Stefan."
"Oh," Elena nods, looking distracted and slightly troubled. "Is something wrong, or…?"
"No, no, he just asked me yesterday if I would like to go out with him today… and I said yes." Caroline says hesitantly. For some reason, she feels guilty, and she can't quite pinpoint why.
"Oh." Elena's voice becomes noticeably colder. "So… you and Stefan." She muses, seemingly to herself. She worries her lip between her teeth in a sign that Caroline knows is anxiety, and it is off-putting. Elena shouldn't be this anxious about her ex dating her best friend if she is truly over it. "That's wonderful! I'm so glad that you're happy, Care." She smiles radiantly, almost convincing, except it doesn't quite reach her eyes, and Caroline can't help but wish that she could feel more certain that Elena means what she is saying.
An awkward silence erupts between them, painful, cold, like it used to be in the old days, when Caroline was the outcast of the three of them, trying and failing to make polite small talk to fit in and feel accepted with Bonnie and Elena. It's not a feeling that should be welcome here. It shouldn't feel like this.
"Look, I know I've asked this before, but are you sure it's okay for me to see Stefan? After everything you two went through, I'd understand if it's too weird to see us together 'cause, you know, the friend code thing, don't date the ex, soo…" She's babbling now, she knows it, but the nervousness and fear that Elena still harbours feelings for Stefan feeds her insecurities, the ones she has always tried to bury deep down, since the day he told her that her and him weren't ever going to happen, that if Elena even so much as whistled, he'd go running back to her without hesitation, or that if she expressed any lingering interest in Stefan, it would destroy their tenuous new relationship. She knows Elena, and the person she became when she turned, and for some reason she doesn't think that she is any longer a person who would care about what happened to others as long as she got what she wanted in the process.
"Care, it's fine. Really. I've got no right to judge, dating the brother of said ex, remember?"
Caroline smiles in reply, and tries to feel relieved by Elena's comment. "Okay, well… I'm glad." She glances at the clock, suddenly desperate to leave. "Oh, I should probably go, Stefan will be here soon, so I'm gonna-"
"Got it, see you later, Care. Have a nice time." Elena says, beaming, looking slightly more relaxed. Caroline leaves hurriedly, heading back towards her table and sits down, quickly applying more lip gloss and fluffing her hair out, suddenly nervous.
He arrives not five minutes later, flannel shirt neatly pressed, trousers ironed, hair styled, and part of her briefly wonders if he picked out his outfit with her in mind, whilst the other part of her is pleased that he's clearly made an effort, presentation wise, for her.
"Hey," he grins visibly as soon as he sees her, heading over to her and kissing her fully on the lips, before sitting down next to her. It's kind of their thing, sitting next to each other rather than opposite, because before they always found comfort in being beside each other, and now that hasn't and won't be changed just because their relationship has.
"Hi!" she says in a bubbly tone, still glowing from his public affection towards her. He slings his arm over her chair, playing subtly with her hair as she begins rapidly talking about how her micro-biology class is going, and how she isn't going to let a dead Doctor Wes stop her from being good at his class, and Stefan nods when appropriate, agrees when he should, and it almost seems like he has been practising for this he's so good at it, and she's not entirely sure whether it's because he's used to her vocal diarrhoea, or because he's actually listening, but it's the most respect she's gotten out of any of her boyfriends in well… pfft, ever. She doesn't know what persuaded Elena to drop him for Damon, but she's now delighted in the long run because now she has him and she's not planning on ever letting him go.
Then he starts talking about his day, and how much he missed her, all the sappy stuff she wants, and has never really ever heard before, and she can't stop smiling. Literally. Being around him just makes her grin and beam and laugh until her cheeks ache, and even then she still can't stop.
He grasps her hand in his, after removing his arm from her chair in order to do so, and smiles back. "Hey, it's your Tuesday look!" she jokes, intertwining their fingers.
Stefan laughs, eyes crinkling at the corners with the force of it as he understands what she means, and gives her arm a tug. "Come on, you still wanna go watch that movie?"
She nods eagerly, hiding the fact that the reason she wants to watch the movie is really an excuse to watch him without interruption.
"Okay, let's go."
They stand up and leave together, still hand in hand, and pass Elena's table in order to get to the door. Caroline nods a goodbye to her, and Elena smiles in return, but her eyes are firmly fixated on Stefan, who has now stiffened, shooting Elena a look that Caroline can't quite see or decipher from the side, but judging by the way he jerks his head away, and Elena's shock clear on her face, it was something like distaste or close to hatred.
As Caroline grabs the door handle, stepping aside to let someone in, Stefan suddenly wraps his arm around her waist. Surprised and pleased, she glances down at his hand curling around her waist, an electric current running through her body at his touch, and as she looks up, she sees Elena again, still staring at them, still staring at him.
When they walk out the door, Caroline wonders briefly whether she should be feeling bad about the look on Elena's face.