"Are you okay?" he asks, brushing the dirt from her back.
She nods.
"Are you sure?"
She nods.
Her stomach is bloody from where the branch had been stabbed into her abdomen. Her shirt is torn. Her hands are covered in the sticky, crimson liquid. Her senses are befuddled, and she's trying to figure out what just happened between her and her best friend. Or rather, the monster who wore her best friend's face. But she knows, somewhere in the back of her mind, she already has figured it out, because all she feels like doing is crying.
"Come on," he says, gently touching her shoulder. "Let's go."
Looking down at the ground, she can see where she struggled against Elena. The dirt has been disturbed, the pine needles thrust away and scattered unnaturally.
He helps her up, his hand gingerly placed between her shoulder blades as he guides her from the scene.
Elena had just tried to kill her. The girl she had known all of her life. The girl she had adored, envied, laughed with, cried with, and loved. Elena Gilbert, sweet and compassionate, had almost driven a stake through her heart and ended her life.
Caroline's eyes are bewildered, her hair a mess, as Stefan leads her to the boarding house. She's in shock - she can feel the hysteria creeping up, waiting to break from under the surface.
He offers her a place on his couch, in front of the hearth, which is glowing warmly with hot flames. He doesn't mind that her clothes are dirty, and that she's leaving mud on the floor, and the cushions.
He gives her a glass. The liquid smells strongly of alcohol. She downs it without hesitation, the familiar burn soothing. But as the burn fades, so does the relief it brings.
"Stefan," she whispers. "Elena tried to kill me."
Everything clicks, and the tears start falling rapidly. She sobs, clutching her chest, trying to hold herself together. But as soon as Stefan sits beside her, wrapping his arms around her comfortingly, she stops trying to hold it together and completely breaks down.
She hates being weak. Her face is hot as she weeps.
Stefan doesn't fill the quiet with idle promises that he knows he can't keep. He doesn't assure her that everything will be okay. He doesn't tell her that she shouldn't worry. But her offers her a shoulder and an ear, and that's all she wants.
"She tried to kill me," she cries. "And my mom. And Tyler... Tyler is gone, Stefan. I love him so much, but he's gone!"
He continues to hold her.
Caroline feels like a string that's slowly starting to unravel. Thread by thread, she falls apart.
His hand runs over her blonde hair. He grips her, holding her close to him. His touch is comforting and warm. It fills her, providing a rook if what feels like one of the worst storms she's ever encountered.
She heaves, drawing in shaky breaths.
Those she loved were slowly starting to leave her. Her father, Tyler, now Elena... She misses feeling happy, because now all she feels is pain.
She wants to be strong, but everything is falling apart.
A/N: I don't know. This kinda came out of nowhere. I felt like writing some Steroline. They're my ultimate BROTP. I felt so bad for Caroline this episode, because all she does is try to help Elena, and all Elena does it hurt her.