"I'm leaving."
Stefan barely looked up, but a secret smile graced his lips before he nodded at the book he was reading, though they both knew that nod was for her.
"I know." Was his response; his voice was laced with no venom or malice but a quiet acceptance that was tinged with slight regret.
She stands by the doorway, unsure of whether to enter the sitting room or exit (because the limousine is waiting for her outside, though Klaus's hybrids would not dare to complain as to how long she's taking); instead, Caroline crosses the room and sits on an unoccupied love seat and manages a small smile.
Stefan chuckles under his breath, he knows that she'll always try to be upbeat, even when she knows that he never will be.
"Klaus is taking me to Paris and then we're heading off to Naples; we both think you should come with us, Stefan. Get out of here, you know?"
"I doubt me intruding on your honeymoon will really please Klaus. I'm on thin ice with him as it is," he replied drily, a droll in his tone as he shook his head. The book is just another prop now, to avoid looking at a woman so utterly and completely in love with her significant other.
He hears her sigh a little and then shift in her seat; he thinks she's crossing her legs like Elena does when she's pondering but instead, feels her warm hand atop of his.
He's slightly irritated by the fact he can't read Caroline as well as he can Elena, but then again, he winces, he has been in love with a Petrova doppelgänger for as long as he could possibly remember.
Except once.
Caroline plays on his train of thought.
"Rebekah is vacationing in Zurich right now. You could visit her there…I know for a fact she's opening up a pastry shop there." Caroline smiles, her voice tinged with amusement at the youngest Original's plans; she thinks Stefan would be happy with Rebekah-so unlike Elena because Rebekah is honest. And for someone so softly rounded and internally narcissistic, Elena was poison in the water compared to Rebekah; the baby vampire tries to search for something that Stefan might think appealing but all she can blurt out is, "she wants to make chocolate panda bears with a chewy filling. I think they'll look adorable, especially in the winter time. You know Rebekah actually wants to start selling candy boxes? A box completely made of marzipan and the inside would be cake and filling; if I didn't know better, I'd say she's crazy but she's actually pretty handy with a frosting gun. Klaus told me she fought in the American Revolution dressed as a man, did you know that? Of course, once she was busted she compelled the commander to allow her to stay as a powder monkey, though now she denies it to no end-"
"Caroline." Stefan interrupts, and she looks at him searchingly because she knows she's been rambling on for just about forever and she sees a smile on his face.
All the younger Salvatore can think about is that sweet naivety that surrounds her-her inability to see the darkness in situations.
He hates to admit it, but Klaus was-is, right.
She really is full of light.
Looking into the sky blue eyes of the forthright blonde baby vampire, he gives a small smile and hopes that she'll understand what he's trying to say.
"Me being in Mystic Falls isn't a death sentence, Caroline." He explains, (the book is utterly discarded now) "I'd like to think of it as a learning experience."
The blonde wrinkles her nose in distaste, as if Stefan's words had been blocks of blue cheese.
"But Damon and Elena…you'll see them every single day! If it were me I would go absolutely mad!"
Now Stefan chuckles outright as he listens to her word choice; Klaus is already rubbing off on her.
He voices it.
"Oh," Caroline blushes slightly, "well, you can't not be around a British guy and expect to not pick up some of his phrases. Especially when you're around him day in and day out."
Stefan nods.
"Just don't go around calling everyone 'love' all right? That's a Klaus thing."
"Oh, I promise!" Caroline giggles, "and you promise to not pick on me and my fancy British vocabulary, hm?" She says those last few words in a posh British accent which Stefan can't help but be amused by.
He's been in England a couple of times and he knows for a fact they would take offense to Caroline's mocking; but he doesn't say anything because she's shooting off onto a different topic now.
Trying to dissuade him from staying; she picks up the tomb he'd been reading her eyebrows furrow at the title.
"Peter Pan?" She inquires, slightly confused.
He shrugs.
"Never Land has never sounded so appealing right now."
"Traveling the world may not be like Never Land but you won't have to put up with what you're putting up with anymore." Caroline says earnestly, her eyes searching his. She's desperate to make Stefan understand he doesn't have to endure this heartbreak anymore-he doesn't have to be around the woman he loves and not come close to actually being able to love her (Caroline silently curses Damon as she ponders this). She doesn't want her friend in pain anymore; she just wants to see him smile because she's always smiling now and, well, Caroline Forbes is many things but she's not selfish. Except when it comes to her husband.
And Belgian chocolates, but Stefan doesn't need to know that.
A sunny smiles appears upon her countenance again and she places the book down on the coffee table.
"If you don't want to come with us, that's fine. But I can't guarantee that Rebekah's not going to be visiting back here every once in a while. She's chairman now of the Miss Mystic Falls Beauty Pageant, so you'll see her here."
He shrugs once more.
"I don't doubt it. But Rebekah's not dumb, Caroline-she knows that if she goes ten feet near Elena or Damon, she's going to have a strong urge to stake Damon and then rip Elena's head off."
"But I don't think you understand what I'm trying to say, either." Caroline confronts, "I'm trying to get you to move on."
Stefan snorts.
"By hooking me up with my ex from the twenties? Not you're best match, Caroline."
She huffs with indignation as he spurns her attempts but she's persistent-being with Klaus has only reenforced her stubborn streak.
"So you're going to spend your eternity pouting over a woman who never loved you?"
She sees Stefan's jaw tighten and knows that she's a hit nerve, but she's not going to let this topic go. She's going to try her best to make Stefan understand that he deserves someone better than her; and Rebekah Mikaelson may be many things but she is certainly, most certainly, worthy of the affections of the younger Salvatore. Putting a smile upon her face again, Caroline turned to face Stefan who's eyes were now clouded with misery; a slight hint of guilt filled her but she was determined to make Stefan see-make him see that he could be happy.
"Can we be honest here for a second, Stefan?" Caroline asked, though they both knew that she was going to say whatever it was she wanted. "I think there were only two women who have truly loved you as much as you have loved them. The first being Katherine."
Stefan's eyebrows furrowed. "Katherine?" He inquired in slight disbelief, knowing the deed that the second doppelgänger had done unto Caroline. "You're rooting for Katherine?" The tone of his voice showed immense skepticism that Caroline couldn't help but smirk at.
"No," she continued, "I'm saying that despite the fact she's a psycho nut job who killed me and is, I mean, was, dead set on killing anyone who could harm her…she loved you Stefan. Klaus told me that during the time in the Twenties he saw a girl that looked remarkably like Katherine but didn't think much of it, mostly because he was drunk. She loved you with all her heart, Stefan-every ounce of it, of what she had to spare. And I know that if she were alive right now she would be just around the corner because even after everything happened, Katherine's heart stayed with you."
"She tried to kill me, Caroline." Stefan cut in harshly, trying to spit venom into his words but only managed sorrow.
The blonde gave a soft smile.
"But she would never hurt you, Stefan. Klaus told me that he gave Katherine so many opportunities to kill you it was ridiculous; she would've stabbed Damon without even thinking twice but she would never allow anything to happen to you. That's why she gave Damon the dagger and not you. Because she loved you with all her heart." Pausing, Caroline's voice took a brisk tone. "Now look at Elena. Compare Katherine and Elena. Do you really, really think there's any comparison between the two?" She allowed a few moments of silence for Stefan to recount the events that had occurred to himself and his brother during their time with Elena Gilbert and when she saw the slightly frustrated expression slither its way upon Stefan's countenance, she knew she'd succeeded. "Exactly," the blonde continued, "she practically threw your life down the line to save Damon's and then she toyed with your emotions as if they were part of a jig saw puzzle. She wanted to keep Damon as her lover and have you on the sidelines for when Damon displeased her."
"Why are you telling me this?" Stefan bit out coldly, the iciness not meant towards Caroline but towards what he lost. "I don't understand why you're telling me this when Katherine's dead, Care."
A sympathetic smile appeared on her face as she scooted to the edge of her seat and snapped her fingers in front of Stefan's face, wanting to make sure he looked at her as she told him this. "Because there's somebody else who loves you, loves you just as Katherine did, although a little less twisted."
Stefan didn't acknowledge Caroline's words because he knew exactly who she was talking about. He would be lying if he said that during those ninety years, when Klaus wiped his memories, he had felt a part of himself that was hollow. That was why he kept himself so guarded and why he saved Elena Gilbert, because he believed if there was anybody who could fill the void it would be Katherine, and Elena was so much like Katherine in her sense of selfishness. He winced as he remembered the way Rebekah had looked at him when he repeatedly told her he didn't care, that he loved Elena.
Gently reaching out, Caroline clasped her hand atop of his and prayed to the almighty lord that what she said would register in his head. "Rebekah loves you, Stefan, even if she might show it in…unconventional ways. She does it because she's been so hurt and betrayed and just downright left behind that she can't bear to really put herself out there anymore. You were the only good man in her life, the only one she loved because you were the only one who has never betrayed her. She loves you, Stefan and I don't know what else I can say to get you to believe that." Without another word, Caroline gathers her purse and stands upright, in a flurry of white chiffon and raspberry perfume. Stefan notes her heels and the expensive brand, he notes Caroline's Chanel purse and he knows, absolutely knows, that Klaus is going to give Caroline everything she's been deprived of in this damned town. For a moment there, Stefan allows a small smile on the inside because he's happy his friend is finally getting her fairy tale ending (or beginning, he thinks); but then he hears the door close. And he can hear the faint slamming of the limousine door closed and within seconds, the tire screech is out of range even for his vampire hearing. He's all alone now.
Rising, he fixes himself a drink from Damon's liquor cabinet because Damon's away with Elena-probably at the Grill-and he doesn't want to be alone and sober. He remembers with a faint grin Rebekah's constant complaints about how his taste in liquor was awful, how she would take it upon herself to order real, genuine English scotch for him at the speakeasies they frequented and how their playful banter would turn to lustful kisses in a matter of seconds. He remembers Klaus warning him not to break his sister's heart, remembers their declaration as brothers in debauchery and he smirks at the memory of the three of them, stumbling drunk out into the Chicago night. The nostalgia he felt before has never been amplified so much so that he wants to run to Klaus's manor before they depart and inquire if he can come along as well. Just for the sake of old times. For the sake of Rebekah.
Shaking his head, Stefan tells himself he can't be allowed to think such thoughts because he's pretty sure Rebekah's moved on already. She's been in Europe for how long now? Six months? Surely she's found a few more men to amuse herself with; as attention starved as she may be, there was no denying Rebekah's charm and beauty. With that in mind, Stefan lets himself fall prey to it as well; he lets himself remember the heart full of love that he readily gave to Rebekah in the Twenties and in that moment, he thinks he can be happy.