I DO NOT OWN VAMPIRE DIARIES OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS

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Moving to the boarding house was hard, but it would keep trouble from my mom's porch. It would keep Klaus away from her. He was a walking pain in the ass and he has suddenly become intermixed in my life starting with Tyler. I spent more time at the boarding house, words coming to me less and less. I found myself buried in books and watching Stefan and Damon do their dance of hatred for one another. Damon was falling hard for Elena, and Stefan was left in the aftermath of losing her. It hurt me to watch his body tense and his face go blank as he forced himself not to love her. He said very little, but being in a room with him seemed to make me more comfortable. I would sit and do my homework and he would sit with me and do his. He would read or watch me like he was fascinated that I was still breathing after everything I had been through. His presence calmed me for some reason, and for that reason, I moved to the room across the hall from him. We didn't need to talk, I wasn't interested in speaking to him, and he didn't feel like speaking to me.

Just before the full moon, the dreams began and night after night I woke with a start, I swear I could hear him calling my name. His lips forming the word, "Car-o-line", my name floating from his soft mouth like velvet sliding to the floor. His voice echoed in my ears, taunting me awake.

As with the other nights, I awoke quickly, almost startled by the clarity in his voice. I sat up breathing heavily, willing my heart to stop beating so fast before I realized that my heart was not beating anymore and it hadn't in months. I took a deep breath leaning the weight of my small frame onto the heels of my hands behind me. I leaned forward wrapping my arms around my knees whispering, willing myself to get a grip. In the midst of my panic I heard footsteps outside of my door just before it slowly creaked open, letting small amounts of light in from the hallway like sunshine in the morning. The darkness was fading from my room, the thick black panic was inching out of the room as the light chased it away.

A tall, thin frame entered the room. The voice that spoke from the shadow was the voice that woke me.

"Caroline? Are you all right? I heard you from down the hall." Stefan's voice floated into the room, cutting through the rest of the darkness and anxiety and chasing the fear from the room.

My eyes darted to him, I followed his shadow as he padded barefoot to my bedside and clicked on my lamp. I traced my eyes along his arm, muscular and frozen in time, to his bare shoulder, tattoo exposed. I forget he had a tattoo. I smiled so slightly I would be surprised if he noticed. My eyes followed to his neck, his soft neck and the place just near to where his jugular would be if his blood was still flowing. I wanted to press my lips there, to suck gently and lick, then bite down and taste his soul. Stephan didn't believe he had a soul, but anyone who knew him could see it in his deep brown eyes. My eyes followed even further, outlining his strong jaw, and finally resting in the deep pools that were his eyes. His face seemed relaxed, he looked less tense. I could see that his wall was down, his eyes were betraying everything he was trying to hide. He was gazing at me like he had never seen me before, studying me with curiosity that made me shift slightly. A smile broke out in his features and his face was radiant, soft and his true nature came out. His marble arm reached out and touched me, I expected him to be cold so I shifted away before I could realize we were the same creature, both vampires. He touched my arm anyway, despite my flinching away, and to my surprise his skin was the same temperature as mine. I never said that I am smart when I am scared of my own wants and needs.

"Caroline." His voice floated through the air again like sweet perfume enticing me, I had shifted my gaze from his soft and inviting face to his solid abdomen. Why wasn't he wearing a shirt? Without realizing, I reached out and gently brushed my finger tips over his abdomen. I felt the muscles under the skin, taut and strong despite his hunched posture and fatigue.

"Caroline.." His voice was wrapping me like warmth, but sounded farther now. I looked up to see his lips moving, his full lips were moving, speaking something to me that I couldn't understand. I furrowed my brow at him in my confusion. He hand reached up and gently brushed my cheek, setting live wires through my skin, making me hyper aware.

My eyes snapped open and I sat up feeling blindly in the darkness.

It was another dream.