It was a Typical Sunday morning for Caroline Forbes, spring cleaning with her hair pulled up in a neat ponytail. She had dusted, moped, washed, scrubbed and swept every square inch of her quaint house; the only thing left was the pesky bookshelf in the corner of her bedroom. She pretended she didn't know why she had left it for last but she knew. Since Stefan had moved out two month ago, he had never taken home his beloved books. Old classic literature; Dickens, Steinbeck, Stoker, Twain…she was going to return them all. Caroline Forbes did not want a single trace of Stefan Salvatore in her home. She had already donated all his clothes (excluding a single grey sweater that painfully smelt of him, humiliatingly hidden beneath her pillow). Grabbing an empty cardboard box, she began to pile the books in not caring to look through them. If she looked through them she would end up tracing the creases in the pages where his thumbs had been. She would end up memorizing the quotes he had highlighted and reading them just because she felt they were a little tangible piece of him. When had she become so pathetic and weak? How long could he possibly keep this hold on her?
It was down to the last book; it was bound by black leather and had thick inky pages. She turned it around in her hands; it smelt of burnt candles and…Stefan. Oh god, more than any of the books in the box, it painfully smelt of him. She knew before she had even opened it that it was his diary. It felt like his energy was buzzing in her hands as she held it. She tried to fool herself into thinking she didn't need to read what was in the diary. It was only going to hurt, Stefan had surely already moved on. The break up between Stefan and Caroline had happened tragically fast. A simple argument over whether or not Caroline should be used as bait. Caroline being her usual stubborn and impulsive self had yelled in the midst of things, that he was holding her back. She didn't think he was going to leave but he wanted the best for her and if he thought for a single moment he wasn't what was best, he sure as hell would be gone before she even had the chance to say goodbye.
It wasn't before long that Caroline had dived right in. Flipping page by page, consuming as many words as she could on a single page at a time. "Caroline, how could I have not see it before" he had written. "Dear diary I think I love her. It's so entirely different from the kind of love I'm used to. It's pure."
She ripped out her favorite pages and held them to her chest. How could she be so reckless to have let him go? Damon, Klaus, Tyler, Matt...She had never let good love in. She had always let the destructive love in, love you could find anywhere, love that didn't last. She didn't have any clue what she was going to do when she marched out the front door with her car keys. She was wearing a college sweater and a pair of black leggings. She couldn't think about it, she had to just do for once.
Arriving at the Salvatore house she marched up to the door and knocked, praying that her adrenaline would last her this one trip. It was Stefan who had answered and he was wearing a white tank top and a pair of blue jeans. God Caroline focus, look him in the eyes not the perfectly toned arms…
"Caroline?" he asked, surprise apparent in his voice. He looked down at her hand still clutching the diary entries.
She found his gaze and held onto it the best she could.
"Do you still love me?" she asked blatantly, hope shining in her eyes.
"And then his gaze was lost and he was crossing his arms.
"Caroline…" he started.
"She could feel her eyes burning and it was taking all of her effort not to cry, she couldn't cry, she wouldn't.
"Just tell me that you don't love me and I'll leave. I'll walk back to my car and I will never bother you again, I swear" she pleaded.
Stefan stepped forward closing the door behind him.
"Caroline, what do want from me? You want to know that I still have feelings for you? Would that make you feel better, knowing that I haven't moved on yet?" Caroline shook her head.
"Do you love me?" she repeated. She could tell that he was getting irritated, that he thought she was just playing one of her old "Caroline" games.
"No, Caroline. I don't love you, now go home. "
He was about to close the door when Caroline took a step towards him, grabbed his hand and placed the pages inside of his fist.
"Remember when I told you that you held me back? I lied. I just needed to get that off my chest. I'll get out of you hair."
The tears were freely flowing now but she had turned her back just before he could notice. She was halfway down the driveway when she heard his voice calling after her.
"I lied too" he said flashing down to her and grabbing her face in his hands. He wiped her tears with his thumbs so soothingly, that her eyes had closed for a moment.
He didn't have a chance to say the words before her lips were on his. Taking in the familiar taste of black coffee she had missed so much and kissing him more fiercely than she had kissed anyone in her entire life. He spun her back up against her car, his tongue sliding to meet hers, hands undoing her pony tail and finding their way through her soft mess of blonde curls.
"I love you" he whispered into her mouth between kisses.
His strong hand holding her head up, he left a trail of kisses down her neck.
"I never stopped."
Relief flood into Caroline as she continued kissing him until her mouth began to numb. She wanted his arms to hold her forever, his lips on her forever, everything that was him hersem forever.
She broke the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck and looking up into his eyes.
"Maroon or beige?" she asked him.
He pulled her back into a kiss and muttered a "hm?" into her mouth.
"For the curtains in the bedroom, silly. What do you think? Are you moving back in?" she asked.
"Hm I'm not sure, what's in it for me?" he teased her and she playfully shoved him in return.
She reached up and purred into his ear, Stefan's eyebrows raising.
"I'll grab my stuff."
(Final note: I wasn't able to read over this much before publishing so hopefully there aren't too many mistakes. Follow, fave and review the chapter if you'd like to see more one shots!)
