On a calm Tuesday afternoon, Caroline is strolling through the rose garden on her estate. There's a glass of lemonade in her hand, and as she walks, she closes her eyes as the wind blows through her hair. The year is unimportant.
She lives a quiet life—a lonely life—but she is alive, and a part of her recognizes who is to both blame and thank for that.
Stefan and Elena visit every now and again, bringing stories of their travels. Even Katherine stops by every now and again to catch up. Caroline has reluctantly grown to enjoy her visits—if only because she brings Caroline these large, ornate trunks filled with many gifts of finery.
But on this Tuesday afternoon, Caroline is alone—or at least, she's supposed to be.
Rounding a corner, she sees a man kneeling in the garden, pulling weeds. For a brief moment, she assumes it's the gardener she hired years ago to tend to the estate, but even all these years later, recognition hits like lightening, and her half full glass of lemonade falls from her hand and shatters on the stone walk.
"What the hell are you doing here, Damon Salvatore?" she screams shrilly when he turns around.
He doesn't smirk when he speaks, doesn't do that 'eye thing' Caroline remembers Elena always speaking of. "There are weeds," he informs her, his voice monotone. "I'm taking care of them."
Caroline watches curiously as he works on the weeds for another minuet. Then she sighs. "Get up, Damon; I have a gardener for that."
For the first time in memory, he listens when she speaks, and when they're finally standing face to face with each other, Caroline notices the dirt all over his clothes.
She wonders just how long he's been out here. "Were you ever going to come inside?" she asks instead.
He looks at her closely, maybe for the first time since he met her so long ago. "Would you have wanted to see me, Caroline?" There is a foreign sadness in his eyes, and she gets the feeling he's finally given up his pursuit of all things Petrova. Funny how that leads him back to her, she muses.
She sighs. "Come with me," she says as she turns around. "We'll get you some clean clothes and you can have some lunch."