Stefan could no longer feel the pain from the ice cold water he was submerged in. He continuously switched from begging for death to believing he was dead. He would thankfully often fall unconscious, but more often than not would have nightmares involving being shut in the coffin and imagining what Silas would be doing to all his friends. He had no idea how much time had passed since he was trapped. It felt like centuries, but he was really hoping it wasn't. It would kill him to find out that his friends couldn't tell the difference between himself that cared for all of them, even Elena and Damon despite everything, and Silas who was only pretending to care whilst secretly plotting against them. They had never faced someone so powerful before. He was truly terrified of Silas. Yes Klaus and the originals had scared Stefan but he was able to find courage inside of him to fight them back. What Stefan feared the most was being rescued and his friends discovering how broken he was now. The hero complex that had been given to him was something he would no longer be even close to. Stefan truly was dead now.
Caroline was supposed to be leaving for college in a couple of weeks but she couldn't help feeling that there was something very wrong in Mystic Falls. She had stressed her worry to Elena and Damon was there but the two of them couldn't have cared less about her worries. Damon quickly told her to get a hobby or a boyfriend and quit bothering them. Caroline didn't even wait to see if Elena would defend her she knew she wouldn't.
When Stefan came back from his surprisingly short trip to get over Elena she tried to talk to him but he only found her concerns amusing. He was beginning to creep Caroline out. He kept 'accidently' touching her and flirting with her all the time. She knew she was attracted to Stefan when he first moved to town but since then she only saw him as her bestfriend that she could easily love but she was in love with Tyler and he loved Elena. Which was a different problem all together. Despite Klaus granting Tyler his freedom to return, he decided he preferred living in a pack. They only accepted him because they had lost werewolves to Klaus and knew tyler was forced to become a hybrid. Other packs deemed him a abomination and turned him away immediately. Caroline understood where he was coming from though. Both knew that being apart had led to each losing feelings for each other and he had no family to come back to. Caroline was glad since she didn't want him to get hurt in whatever trouble she knew was coming their way.
Human Katherine was also a shock to everyone. Caroline understood that Elena done it to save herself and well for revenge for Jeremy, but so many people wanted and fought for the cure. It seemed like such a waste on someone who didn't want or deserve it. Katherine was never one to beg but Caroline could tell how desperate she was now becoming. No one had given her blood and changed her back into a vampire. They didn't even know if it would work but no one was willing to help someone who had caused so much chaos. Caroline was wavering slightly though. She was always one to forgive people if they were sincere and persistent in their apologies. Damon had never apologised specifically for what he had done but he had made a comment about how he had saved her and didn't want anything to happen to her. You could what Damon was trying to say if you looked into his eyes close enough. Whilst she had not told Klaus she had forgiven him for everything he had done, she couldn't help but feel some forgiveness to the hybrid. She had seen his humanity and that was not something she could forgot about. Katherine was the same, she had killed Caroline, but Caroline believed that she was a better vampire than a human. All three had been villains in the town at some point but they were all shaped by past traumas. Plus Caroline herself had killed two deputies, the man at the carnival and 12 witches to save her best friend.
Caroline had wanted to talk to said best friend when she had her doubts about the safeness of Mystic falls, but Jeremy said that Bonnie had taken a break from everything. She needed this vacation to get over all the power she used and everything that had happened. The past year had been on hard on all of them, but like Caroline had said before it always seemed that Bonnie ended up hurt the most. That didn't stop Caroline from feeling angry and abandoned about the fact Bonnie had left without saying a word to anyone. Which was extremely suspicious behaviour.
Caroline had been going over the same thoughts for the past few days. As she walked into the grill she saw Elena and Damon sitting in a booth. It was weird not seeing him at the bar. She tried to move before they saw but unfortunately Elena called her over, much to her and Damon's annoyance. Caroline sat opposite the pair who had been snuggling up whilst Damon whispered in Elena's neck. She should hate Damon but Caroline had never been able to get over her stupid crush for Damon.
'Caroline where have you been? I haven't heard from you the past few days' Elena said excitedly but with a confused expression on her face that made it look like she was sticking out her doe eyes to get Damon's attention, which she did. Wonderful.
'I've just been sorting some things out for college, I didn't think you would have even noticed I was gone. You know since you and Damon are still in the honeymoon stage'. Elena paled and looked shocked at Caroline's bluntness.
Damon smirked. 'Jealous blondie?'
Before she even had time to roll her eyes or scoff she was suddenly pushed further into the booth so she was now directly opposite Damon. An arm came round her shoulder and pulled her into a solid body. She looked up shocked to meet Stefan's eyes which were dancing with amusement.
'No of course she isn't Damon. I think Caroline is just trying to protect me from having to watch my brother get it on with my ex. I imagine she thinks it will hurt me, but I honestly just find it repulsive'. Elena flinched at his harsh words that having used a collected voice seemed to be his true opinion. Damon looked ready to leap over the table at Stefan. But he would never bring himself to do it. It did seem like he had stole his brother's girl. Damon was calm enough to notice how uncomfortable Caroline looked in his brother's arms. Liked she wanted to run away but was trapped.
'Um not that's not really the reason why. I just feel like I never get to see you anymore and with bonnie not here it just seems like the end of an era'. The last part was true, but a part of Caroline agreed that it was wrong they way that Damon and Elena shoved their relationship in Stefan's face. Another part of Caroline had locked up some thoughts and buried them deep under bags, and shoes and packing for college.
'Aw care I'm sorry. But we're be going to college soon, me, you and Bonnie. It will be a new era. Plus I won't be able to see Damon so I want to spend as much time with him as I can'. Elena sent a glance at Stefan before rubbing her nose against Damon's. Each of them realised that she was trying to either prove something to Stefan or making him jealous.
Elena had thought it had worked when Stefan smiled to himself and told them he was going to get a drink at the bar, but dragged his hand along Caroline's neck as he left. This caused jealousy in both Elena and Damon. Damon still saw Caroline as his and he didn't want her to be used by Stefan. Neither knew that it was taking everything in Caroline to act normal and not terrified. She was defiantly sure that it was Silas now. She was worried he knew what she thought already and was deliberately trying to terrify her.
'Well I better get going aswell, I just remembered that I wanted to look into skill set classes at college for when we start. So yeah bye'. With that Caroline practically ran out of the grill, leaving both confused since she hadn't got anything from the grill. Caroline quickly ran as fast as she could to the quarry.
Stefan could hear strange noises in the water outside of the coffin he was trapped in. This was no surprise he had heard many fish, yet this seemed bigger. He could hear the clanging of the lock turning and therefore decided this was just one of his many hallucinations. He closed his eyes and didn't even react to the muffled scream and the hand pulling on his arm. It wasn't until he broke the surface and was pulled onto the grass facing the stars that he began to feel the reality of the dream. His view of the stars was suddenly blocked by a blonde head. He was just able to make out Caroline's concerned features before everything went black.
Caroline was shocked that her theory had been right. She saw the small smile Stefan gave and believed with her whole heart that this was her bestfriend. The whole in her heart that she never realised was missing was filled again. God she couldn't believe the trauma he had been through. And there was a lot more to come. Caroline quickly glanced around before throwing Stefan over her shoulder and heading to her house. She didn't want to risk running into Silas at the Salvatore mansion. There were many unanswered questions and terrifying thoughts but her main worry was her best friend that they had all left in quarry since the night Silas died at the end of June. It was now halfway through August. The guilt would no doubt overcome Caroline if she didn't keep it together.