Summary: Everyone left Mystic Falls after season 4. Jeremy didn't come back to life, Bonnie still died. Elena and Damon didn't get together, Katherine didn't turn human. Hayley still got pregnant with Klaus' baby, they went to New Orleans, and he never hooked up with Caroline or came back for her graduation. Silas killed Caroline's mom and Bonnie's dad but didn't show himself to Stefan, instead, everyone thinks he's dead. Tyler left Mystic Falls alone, Matt lived his life normally. Damon and Stefan took Caroline in. Elena left because she had to deal with her family being dead, and Katherine went away as usual. And a hundred years later, Stefan, Damon, and Caroline return to Mystic Falls.

Disclaimer: I don't own The Vampire Diaries.

No Place Like The Falls

Damon parked his Chevy Blue Camaro in front of the house he and his siblings had been living for the last couple of years. It was a beautiful neighborhood in Atlanta, that Caroline so carefully selected, of course. But in his opinion, nothing could be like their next destination. It was a place that really felt like home. And they wanted a home. That's why they decided to go back to Mystic Falls. Of course, Caroline was in charge of packing everything. She was organizing everything carefully like she always did when they were moving. Damon half-expected to see the house in ruins and Stefan buried in a pile of Caroline's clothes. But when he opened the door, he saw everything packed in suitcases and boxes, while Stefan and Caroline sat on the couch, her head resting on his shoulder, his hand stroking her hair, while some old sitcom was on TV.

"Hey, you two." walking over to them with a smile on his face, he kissed Caroline's forehead and ruffled Stefan's hair, and then he just sat with them for a while, with Caroline cuddled into his chest.

He didn't even know how it happened, but it did. He still missed Elena, but he understood that she needed her space, to take control of her life again. Of course, he wanted to see her again. Maybe one day. Somehow, Damon just started to see the sweet and bubbly Caroline as his little sister. And for the first time in a long time, there was no one to come in between him and his brother. And it felt good, really good, to be a big brother again.

Something that Damon would never understand was Stefan and Caroline's undying wish to attend high school. Every. Single. Time. They never got bored of it. The two usually posed as fraternal twins. It wasn't that hard to believe, with their hair only being a few shades different, and Caroline's blue-green eyes being a mixture of Damon's blue and Stefan's green. So they became the Salvatores. Stefan and Care were both a handful for Damon, so of course, there were problems here and there, but just seeing them both on the couch, peaceful and just enjoying each other's company, made it all worth it. But Damon realized a long time ago that he had to keep them in line somehow. Stefan wasn't much of a problem, being the more mature one out of the two, but Caroline, on the other hand... She found her way over Damon's knee quite often, but it soon became normal for all of them.

After a while, they got up from the couch and put all their stuff in Damon's car. Stefan and Caroline's cars were already transferred to Mystic Falls. Damon quickly packed up a few blood bags. Over the past century, he and Caroline have helped Stefan to gain control over his bloodlust, and he was finally able to drink human blood. There were still some ups and downs, that's why Damon made sure to keep a close eye on his baby brother. And finally, the Salvatore began their journey with Damon driving, Stefan in the passenger seat and Caroline in the backseat.

Damon noticed Caroline's unusual silence. "You okay there?"

"Yeah, fine, just... You know." the blonde sighed. "It's weird."

"She's right." Stefan said. "Being back there..."

"Hey, you two came up with this brilliant idea. No backing out now. We're gonna be okay, you guys."

"I hope so." Caroline showed her smile as she stared out the window.

The world hadn't changed that much. New fashion, sure. These days, Caroline mostly wore her cute dresses and skirts, her blonde curls falling down her back. Damon was still able to walk in his black leather jacket, and Stefan still kept his hero hair on. It took all three of them a while to get over Mystic Falls. Caroline cried for months over Bonnie and her mom dying, and over Tyler. He was still very much "alive", but he still left her. It was hard for Damon and Stefan to get over Elena, but at least they defeated Silas. And if nothing, they had each other. That was more important than anything.

After the long hours of driving, and a few stops here and there, they finally arrived in their long lost home. Because of Caroline's pleads and squeals, Damon parked on Main Street and Caroline jumped out of the car. She just wanted a moment to make sure it was all real. It seemed like nothing really even changed. The clock tower was still there, the Grill was still there and she could see the high school in the distance. And yet, a part of her felt like she was in a strange land she's never seen before.

"Easy there, Care." Stefan laughed, as he finally let out the breath he'd been holding. A voice in his head was saying 'Home, at last" and then there was another voice shouting 'What the hell are you doing here?' and he couldn't help but agree with both of them.

"Okay, since your sister interrupted my impeccable driving, let's just go get something to eat." Damon shook his head at Caroline and gently took her hand so she would move. "God, this one would admire a trash can if it came from Mystic Falls."

"Hi, there!" Damon casually greeted the brunette busgirl. "I'll have some bourbon. And just fries for these two."

"Very well, and drinks for you two?" the girl, who couldn't have been older than 17, asked.

"Just water." Stefan and Caroline replied. When the girl walked away, Caroline turned to Damon, annoyed. "Why can't we drink bourbon? I'm 119 years old!"

"I don't care if you're 2345 years old, you're still 17. And besides, we have a wine cellar full of bourbon at home, you can drink to death." Damon smirked at the blonde.

To Caroline's surprise, the word 'home', felt natural to her. Maybe she could get used to this. The busgirl came back with their orders.

"Here you go, enjoy!" she smiled brightly. Both Caroline and Stefan felt like they've seen her before. They shared a look, but neither of them could figure it out. "You new in town?"

"Yeah, I guess." Stefan said slowly.

Damon smiled at the girl. "We're originally from here, but moved away a long time ago."

"Oh, well. I'm Ella. Ella Donovan." she smiled.

"Well of course you are." Damon muttered to himself but then looked back at Ella. "I'm Damon. Damon Salvatore. These are my brother and sister, Stefan and Caroline."

"You in high school?" she asked them both.

"Yeah."

"Then I'll see you around." Ella smiled and walked away.

"Oh. My. God. Seriously? That was Matt Donovan's grand-grand-something?! He had kids? With who? I mean that's the only explanation, unless Kelly Donovan had a late affair. Gross. Ugh." Caroline rambled.

"And she's a busgirl. Is that the family business now or something?" Damon exclaimed.

"Talk about a reminder of the past," Stefan said incredulously. "Well, I, for one, hope we won't get any more of those today."

"Eat your fries. I wanna see if our house is still intact." Damon said as he took a handful of Care's fries. She slapped his hands away. "Hey! Get your own!" Stefan had to smile at that. The past century with his family was truly the life he always wanted. He just hoped being back home wouldn't change anything.

After a bit more family talk and stolen fries, they paid for the food and got themselves back into the car. While Damon and Caroline argued about who would drive, Stefan just hopped into the driver's seat. At last, they managed to get themselves 'home'.

"Home sweet home." Damon said sarcastically, opening the door and walking in, Stefan and Caroline trailing behind him.

"Everything's just like we left it." Stefan commented.

"Except for the dust." Caroline coughed.

"We'll get that sorted out," Damon said. "Let's just unpack first and get settled in.

After the boxes were carried in, Caroline looked at her older brother. "Damon?"

"Yeah, sweetie?"

"Would it be okay if I went for a walk? Just for a while, please?"

There were times when Damon would ask her where she was going and what she was going to do, but considering she just came back to the place where she was born, her childhood home, this was not one of those times. "Sure, just be back for dinner."

"Okay." she smiled and walked out of the door, leaving the two brothers alone.

Caroline carefully examined everything. Sure, things looked different, how could they not? It's been a hundred years. God, Caroline didn't know how Klaus managed a thousand years on this Earth. The last time she had seen him, he was leaving for New Orleans, but he never told her why. She had thought about going there more than once (or like a billion times), but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Besides, Damon would kill her. And ground her for months as well. Caroline stopped as she passed the high school. No one was there because school started tomorrow. She remembered walking down this road with Bonnie and Elena, she remembered preparing for school dances in that schoolyard and fighting with Rebekah about the decorations, she remembered yelling at the boys while they were carrying equipment, she remembered sitting with Stefan at lunch, and having cheer practices, and making out with Ty... Tyler. God, she hadn't thought about him in a while. 'How did we get here?' she would ask herself. 'All these people I loved so much, and I don't even know where they ended up.' Well, at least she had her little family. Caroline didn't even notice she had stumbled into Elena's neighborhood. She saw the old, burned down remains of what was once the Gilbert Home. No one bothered to fix it. Why would they? There were no Gilberts left, and Matt probably felt like this was what Elena would've wanted. And maybe it was, who knows?

She was on the verge of crying. Gilbert House, burnt down by Elena. Lockwood Mansion, abandoned by Tyler. Bennett House, probably abandoned after Bonnie died. And.. Her house. The house her mom died in after Silas attacked her. Caroline was the one who abandoned her home. But didn't she have the right to do so? Thank God Stefan and Damon stopped her from turning it off. She slowly walked up to the porch. The porch where she and Tyler had their first kiss on. Her shaky hand touched the doorknob and she walked in. This was the house in which she grew up. She broke her leg when she fell down those stairs. She remembered having girl nights with Bonnie and Elena there, she remembered having long talks with Stefan on her couch, and... This was where she found her mom. On the floor, dead. Tears streamed down her cheeks. She spent a couple minutes in her bedroom, looking at old pictures, thinking 'Damn my hair was awesome back then' until she realized she had a missed call from Damon. She stood up quickly and realized she was half an hour late. She raced out of her house and down the street, while quickly texting Damon. 'I'll be home in 10, I'm really sorry, please don't be mad!'

Damon sighed and took a sip of his bourbon as the blonde entered the house. "Hey, sorry, I lost track of time."

"That's okay. Want some dinner?" Damon understood. This had to be hard for her. He knew her, and he knew she probably spent the past hour crying for Liz, Bonnie, Tyler, and Elena.

"No, thanks. I'm not that hungry."

Damon filled a glass with bourbon and handed it to her. "Here, I know you've been waiting for it."

"Well it's not my fault your bourbon is the best." she almost moaned at the taste.

"Guys, check this out. There's a homecoming dance this Saturday." Stefan said entering the living room.

"Really? Well, it's not like they can do decade dances anymore. Not even school dances are what they used to be." Caroline rambled. "Oh, that calls for a shopping trip."

It was no secret Care got lonely from time to time. Bonnie was dead, Elena was gone. There were some things she couldn't talk to Stefan and Damon about. She missed her friends. Sure, she made friends in every school she and Stefan went to. They were both pretty likable. But it just wasn't the same. It wasn't really a problem for Caroline to move from place to place and leave her friends behind. There were some good ones, like Becca, or Chelsea, or Alexis... What was weird was that they haven't come across many vampires. Maybe not every vampire appreciated high school and small towns like they did. But it wasn't like they only went to small towns. Caroline remembered having the time of her life in Paris, New York, Madrid, Rio... With Damon and drunk Stefan. Drunk Stefan was the best. Well, at least Klaus couldn't make comments about her not seeing the world anymore.

"Okay you two, get to bed. You have a big day tomorrow. Don't wanna miss your first day at school, do you?" Damon got up and went upstairs, his siblings following him.

Damon and Stefan went to their usual rooms, the ones they were staying in years ago. Both of them were overwhelmed with the memories of Elena. Caroline just picked a room that was close to their bedrooms and decided to make it hers, as always. For now, she just changed into pajamas and threw herself on the bed. It was a hard, hard day for her. Maybe, tomorrow would be better. If not, she would just have to steal Damon's bourbon.

Damon and Caroline had gone to sleep, but Stefan couldn't. Instead, he stared at the pictures in his bedroom. Pictures of him and Elena, him and Caroline, him and Lexi... Was it really possible that all this time had passed since he met Katherine? Since he became a vampire, promised an eternity of misery by his brother? Since he bumped into Elena in the hallway at school, fell in love with her and since the relationship, as epic as it was, ended? Since he reunited with Damon? More than 200 years on this Earth. But it was different now. He wasn't alone. He had his brother and his sister. And he would always love Elena. Just not like he used to.

Stefan sighed. The past century felt like a dream. Way too good to be true. But now they were back. Would things change? Would the past keep haunting him? Okay, maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Did he love Mystic Falls? Well, 100 years ago he loved the people in it. But they were either dead, or gone, or in this house with him.

Or at least that's what he thought...