Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries

"No, no, no!" Caroline screeched. "This is all wrong, it's all wrong!" She stormed over to the worker who was setting up the chairs. "There are not nearly enough chairs here to fit everybody! What is wrong with you? Are you stupid?"

"Caroline!" Elena came running over to soothe her rampaging friend. "Calm down, it's okay. We can get more chairs."

"Where, Elena?" she said, turning her wrath on her maid of honor. "Where the hell are we gonna get more chairs? Huh? Just order some more when the wedding is in an hour?!"

"There are still more chairs in the truck, miss," the worker said. "We haven't finished setting them all up yet."

"Then what the hell are you waiting for? Go! Go on," she screamed, shooing him away in what was truly a textbook diva moment. He ran off to the truck to continue unloading the chairs. "Hey!" Caroline barked at the caterer. "What are you doing?" Having spotted her next prey, she marched across the grass of the Mikaelson backyard towards the caterer, who was bringing a table filled with delectable treats. Elena followed after her, terrified her friend was going to end up eating someone.

"Is something wrong miss?" the caterer woman asked.

"Is something wrong?!" Caroline repeated incredulously. "Is something wrong? What is this?" she pointed at the desert. Before the caterer could answer, Caroline cut her off. "No, I'll tell you what it is. It's WRONG! I asked for hazelnut cake, and that is not hazelnut, I don't even know what the hell that is, but it is not hazelnut! Are you brain damaged? Are you on crack?"

"Okay, Caroline," Elena intervened, because the caterer was now shaking and looked on the brink of tears. "Let's walk." She took her friend by the arm and led her across the lawn.

"That woman is an idiot," Caroline fumed. "They're all idiots, I can't work with morons, Elena!"

"Caroline!" Elena grabbed Caroline's hands. "Breathe." She took a deep breath and urged Caroline to do the same. Caroline followed her lead, inhaling several times. "Everything is gonna be fine, okay? Now I will take care of the rest of this," she said, taking the clipboard out of Caroline's shaking hands. "And you are going to go get into your dress. Okay?"

"But what if-"

"No!" Elena cut her off. "You are going to relax and enjoy your wedding day, even if it kills us both. Now go upstairs and get into your damn dress, and let Bonnie do your hair and make-up, then come back out here, and marry the love of your life. Got it? Good. Now, GO!" She pointed inside in a diva moment worthy of what Caroline had just done. Caroline, blind-sided, just walked inside, looking a little bit dazed. Elena smiled in satisfaction and went off to console the caterer.

Caroline marched through the hallway of the Mikaelson House and up the stairs into Rebekah's room, which they had given her for preparation. It's not like they were using it over in New Orleans. Who did Elena think she was? All Caroline wanted was for her wedding to be absolutely perfect. Was that so wrong? It wasn't her fault if those idiots couldn't do their job right. She should have just done it all herself. She'd wanted to, but Bonnie and Elena said she was being her usual control freak self.

When she got to Rebekah's room, Bonnie was waiting for her with makeup and hairdryer all ready to go and her wedding dress spread out on the bed.

"There you are," Bonnie said. "Quick, sit! We only have half an hour to get your hair and makeup done if we want you to be ready in time."

Caroline sat down and Bonnie started applying foundation. Caroline kept fidgeting her fingers. All she could think about was what was going on outside. What if Elena got something wrong? God bless Elena, but she just does not understand the word fabulous. What if something went wrong? What if they didn't have the right kind of cake? What if the arch wasn't steady and it collapsed on them? She and Stefan were vampires, so it wouldn't kill them…except it was made of wood. What if it got them in the heart? They could die! Was Elena gonna check the arch?

"I have to get out there!" Caroline screamed and shot up from the chair with vamp-speed. Bonnie grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her back down.

"No, you don't," she said. "Elena can handle everything just fine. You need to relax."

"Why does everyone keep saying that to me?" she snapped.

"Because you're kind of freaking out."

"Am not!"

"Yeah, you are," she said. "In fact, if we got a camera crew in here, we could film a featured special of Bridezillas."

"I want my wedding day to be perfect! What's so wrong about that?"

"Absolutely nothing," Bonnie replied. "And everything will be perfect, even without you harassing everybody who comes anywhere near you."

"I did not harass them."

"They could file charges, Care."

Normally, Caroline would have laughed, but her nerves were stretched way too tightly to allow anything but panic.

"What if something goes wrong? What if….what if some vampire shows up and eats all the guests, or what if Klaus gate crashes and decides he wants to be the groom?"

"Don't you think you're getting just a tiny bit paranoid?"

"Anything could happen, Bonnie. Anything could go wrong!"

"And tomorrow you could both wake up without you're daylight rings and burn to death. That's life, Caroline. But you know what? That probably won't happen, just like nothing is gonna ruin this wedding. You and Stefan have waited so long for this. Don't you ruin it by being so stressed you don't even get to enjoy it. Okay?" Caroline took a deep breath and tried her hardest to calm her raging heart rate.

"Okay," she said. "Let's just…do my hair now okay?"

"You got it," she said, and went to work. Within hours, Caroline stood in front of a mirror, smoothing imaginary wrinkles in her dress. It was a simple white gown, satin, strapless, which tiny jewels imbued into the fabric going up the side. The train flowed behind her when she walked, and her hair was up in an intricate bun with little tendrils of hair coming down her face. The bun̶ was fixed in place with a barrette studded with blue jewels.

"Caroline," Bonnie said, tears glistening in her eyes. "You look so beautiful."

"I do," she said dreamily. "I'm a bride." Tears started welling up in her eyes.

"No, no don't cry," Bonnie said. "You're gonna smudge your makeup and we'll have to redo it."

"Okay, okay," she said, trying to hold the tears back. "It's just….Bonnie I'm getting married today! I'm a bride, and soon I'm gonna be a wife! I'm gonna be married to the love of my life."

"I know," Bonnie said, her voice thick. "I know!" She pulled Caroline into a hug, but pulled back almost immediately. "No, we can't wrinkle your dress."

"Right—oh, you have to get into your bridesmaid dress!"

"Right, okay!" She dashed over to the door, where her bridesmaid dress was already hanging, and dashed over to the folding screen door they had set up to change. Caroline turned back to the mirror to admire her image in the dress again. Could this be real? Could she really be marrying a man as amazing as Stefan? In a dress as amazing as this?

"Wow," Caroline heard come from the doorway. She turned to see Elena standing there, already in her bridesmaid dress. It was deep purple, strapless like Caroline's gown, with black trim. It was lucky for Elena and Bonnie that Caroline didn't believe in forcing her bridesmaids into hideous cupcake dresses. "Caroline you look unbelievable."

"Elena, what are you doing here? You should be downstairs getting everything set up—"

"Everything is set up, Caroline. It all looks beautiful."

"You made sure we had all the chairs we needed?"

"Yes."

"And the white orchids?"

"Yes."

"And the china with that special little pattern—"

"YES," Elena moved forward and took Caroline's hands. "Everything is taken care of, and everything is perfect. It is your dream wedding down there, now all you have to do is wait up here, then when it's time, let Matt walk you down the aisle, and marry the man you love."

"Okay," she said nodding. Elena smiled and gave her hands another squeeze before letting go. "Elena…can I talk to you about something? Important?"

"Sure," Elena answered, her brow furrowing. Caroline looked over to the folding screen door where Bonnie was still changing. Her head peaked over the top of the screen.

"Oh, sorry," she said, emerging wearing a dress identical to Elena's, but with only one high heel on. "I'll just be outside." With that, she walked, lopsided, out into the hallway, shutting the door behind her.

"What's up?" Elena asked.

"I just…I just wanted to be sure that you're okay with this. Me and Stefan, I mean."

"What? Of course I am, why wouldn't I be?"

"Because you know…you and Stefan…"

"Caroline," Elena said, smiling. "Me and Stefan have been over for years now. I'm in love with Damon. And I could not be any more thrilled for you guys! You make each other happy, and that's all I want."

"You're sure?"

"Positive," she answered, then looked down for a moment. "Can I tell you something?"

"Of course."

"The other night, when Damon took me out to that fancy restaurant…he didn't propose. You thought he was going to, and so did I, but he didn't."

"Oh," Caroline said. "Elena, I'm sorry."

"But that's why I want you to relax and enjoy this. You're getting married. To the love of your life! That's something that only happens once in a lifetime, so you can't spend it fretting over every little thing. You have to enjoy every second of it." Elena held Caroline's gaze for a moment before Caroline nodded.

"I will." Elena pulled Caroline into a hug.

"I love you."

"I love you, too," Caroline said. "I'm so happy I picked you to be my maid of honor."

"Me too."

"Hey," Bonnie's voice came through the door. "There better not be a group hug going on in there without me!"

"Get in here!" Elena yelled, laughing. Bonnie came through the door and all three girls wrapped themselves in an embrace.

When the time came, Matt walked up to the room wearing his suit.

"Wow," he said when he saw Caroline.

"I've been hearing that a lot today."

"You deserve it, Care," he said. "You look amazing."

"Thanks," Caroline responded. "You don't look half-bad yourself."

He smiled and held out his arm to her. "You ready to take the next step?"

"Absolutely," she said, beaming as she hooked her arm in his. They heard music playing from downstairs. Caroline's face broke out in a smile when she heard the song she had picked out for her wedding when she was fifteen. She and Matt started out through the hallway and down the stairs of the grand hallway. When they stepped through the backdoors into the backyard, Caroline's breath caught. Everything was…in a word; perfect. A long white carpet sprinkled with pink rose petals ran from the back door to the altar, where there was a beautiful arch decorated with white orchids. Elena and Bonnie stood to one side, beaming when they saw Caroline walk out, and Damon and Jeremy stood to the other side next to Stefan—

Stefan. Caroline's eyes stopped and rested on him. It was like the moment her eyes spotted him, every fear, every worry, every little thought of what could go wrong suddenly melted away. He stood in a simple tux, his light brown hair slightly tousled from the light breeze, his face split into a gorgeous smile. And he was hers. The whole walk down the aisle, all she saw was him. When they got to the altar, Caroline nearly pulled herself away from Matt to stand with Stefan.

"Be good to her," Matt whispered to Stefan before smiling at him and going to take his seat.

"Dearly beloved," the minister began. "We are gathered here today to witness the union of two souls in holy matrimony. Today, Stefan and Caroline profess to the world their love for one another with these words. Stefan."

"Thank you," Stefan said. He turned to her and looked at her with those deep green eyes, and it was like he was staring into her soul. "Caroline, for so much of my life I've had to hide from people. Hide who or what I truly am. And even with the closest people, I had to do my best to keep up the best image of myself because I was scared that if they saw anything other than that they would run away. But not with you. With you, I feel…free. Safe. Like I don't have to constantly be on my best behavior. I can be myself around you and I know that no matter what happens or how low I sink, you'll always be there for me. And as long as you're there, I know I have a safe place to go. And that means the world to me. You're the one for me Caroline. The one girl, I don't have to hide from."

Tears choked up again at the back of Caroline's throat at his words. She'd never heard him say any of that. When the minister turned to Caroline, the words came easily.

"Stefan," she said, not taking her eyes off of those beautiful green eyes. "I could list so many reasons why I love you. I love your heart, I love your kindness, your bravery, your selflessness…but more than any of that, I love the way you look at me. That might seem shallow or self-centered but….all my life I've been the boy's second choice. The other girl in the movie who's just an obstacle for the happily ever after. Always the other girl. But when you look at me, I don't feel like that. I don't feel like the other girl anymore. When I'm with you I feel…beautiful and strong and confident and loved. You make me feel loved, Stefan. And I love you so much for that. For finally giving me a happily ever after love."

"The rings please." Caroline turned to Elena, who handed her Stefan's gold band. She turned back to Stefan, who had just gotten his ring from Damon. She slid the band onto his finger as he slipped the diamond encrusted ring onto her finger. He kept her hand in his, his touch sending sparks of warmth through her body.

"Do you, Stefan, take Caroline Forbes to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, for better or for worse, for richer or poor, as long as you both shall live?"

"I do."

"And do you Caroline—"

"I do." All the guests laughed, Caroline blushed, and Stefan just smiled adoringly.

"Then by the power vested in me by the state of Virginia, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Stefan pulled her into a deep kiss, sliding his hands across her waist. Caroline kissed him with all she had, pouring out every ounce of love she had for him into that one kiss.

When they finally broke apart, Stefan moved his mouth to her ear to whisper, "You ready to spend the rest of our immortal lives together, Mrs. Salvatore?"

Caroline giggled as she pulled back to look at him. "I think I can manage that."

"Good," Stefan said. "Cause I'm never letting you go."

They had been dancing all night. Elena watched them from inside the house. Night had fallen and everybody else was long gone, but Stefan and Caroline were still slow dancing in the Mikaelson's back yard. It was so sweet. They hadn't let go of each other since the ceremony. It was exactly what Elena had wanted. Caroline was certainly enjoying her wedding day.

"Doing a little spying, are we?" Damon's breath tickled her ear and she laughed softly as she turned to see him standing right behind her.

"I was just watching them," she said, putting her arms around her boyfriend. "It's so sweet. They are gonna be so happy together."

"Yeah, they are," he said. "Walk with me." He slid his arm around her waist and led her towards the door.

"Today was a good day," Elena said, resting her head on Damon's shoulder as they walked.

"Yeah, I guess it was."

"I was really worried about Caroline, she was having a total meltdown before the wedding."

"What do you expect?" Damon asked. "She's Caroline."

"Yeah," Elena said dreamily. "And now she's married."

They walked out the front door of the Mikaelson House, but Damon stopped on the front stoop.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing," he said. "Nothing at all." He tenderly stroked her face, brushing a few strands of hair back. "I love you Elena."

"I…love you to Damon," Elena answered. "Now what is this about?"

"We met on a doorstep. Remember? The first official time we met. At my house, at the front door."

"I remember."

"I knew from that moment that I loved you, Elena. I knew from that moment I wanted to be with you forever."

"Damon—"

"Sh," he put a finger to her lips before lowering himself onto one knee. He dug in his pocket and produced a small velvet box.

"Oh my God," Elena whispered.

"Elena Marie Gilbert," Damon opened the box, revealing a beautiful diamond ring. "Will you marry me?" Elena was in shock for a moment. She could barely speak. And for a moment, fear flashed across Damon's face at her silence. Fear of rejection.

"Yes," Elena said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"What?" Damon said, shocked.

"Yes!" Elena screamed dropping to her knees and letting Damon put the ring on her finger. She flung her arms around him and let him pick her up and pin her around. "Yes, yes, yes, a million times yes!" She crushed her mouth to his in a kiss that was full of all the passion and joy she was feeling right now. He kissed back with so much happiness, it consumed her. He consumed her. When they pulled apart, she threw her arms around him in joy. It was truly a perfect day.