A/N- Okay guys... here goes chapter 4...it's smaller than the last one's but the next one will be longer. Somehow I liked the idea of ending this chapter on that line. Wink... this chapter is all about steroline don't worry next one will be all daroline...oh and there will also be a jump in time of about 6 months... and thanks to everyone for the reviews and for voting... you can all see who's winning... I feel bad for the other guy... everyone deserves a Caroline! Ha! REVIEW tc
Chapter 4
"Stefan, is it okay if I sit with you?" Caroline asked as she poked her head into the dungeon.
"He's in a freaking cage Caroline he doesn't have a choice" Damon's voice came from behind her probably in the living room Stefan thought
"Shut up Damon" she yelled back at him and even though Stefan couldn't see his brother he was sure Damon had just smirked
"It's okay Caroline" he told her "I would like some company"
She smiled and turned to undoubtedly give Damon a menacing look and sat down in front of him, and he was glad to see she wasn't afraid to look him in the eye. Stefan could help but think how much she had changed since he first met her, then she was superficial and even though he would never say out loud; especially not the way Damon did, she was quite shallow. But then everything had changed, she became a vampire all because of Katherine and Klaus... and the Caroline they knew had changed, she was more confident and sensitive but she was still the same old bubbly blonde girl that they all loved.
Stefan knew he would have missed her when he was with Klaus if he ever had any other thought that blood in his head. He had thought a lot about her this past week that he was stuck in this cage. Anything... anything to stop him from thinking about blood. He had tried everything, Elena; that just made him sad . His brother just made him smile... he had tried to think of his mother; picture her face but he couldn't remember her and that just made him angrier. So as a last straw he had thought of Caroline as he heard her and Damon fighting upstairs. He was surprised how it helped him. He thought about the fun times they had when he was teaching her to hunt, how scared she had been of being a vampire. He had been her role model, and he was not setting a good example right now. He needed to show her that you can come out of a crazed blood rampage... yes Stefan was always good at doing things for others. So he decided that he would get better and stop being the monster to be a good sire to Caroline. Every time he felt like killing or craved for blood he would picture her scared face when she saw him like that, he had taught her restraint to blood and now he could kill her. No he wouldn't let that happen, and it was already working wonders. He hadn't been as hostile as he had earlier, hence Damon allowed Caroline to come meet him. He never told Damon his chosen way of controlling his bloodlust, he wasn't so sure Damon would be too happy about it.
"So how are you feeling Stefan?" she asked timidly when he didn't say anything for a long time, she was not a fan of silences. They made her uncomfortable
"I'm fine Caroline" Stefan laughed at her expression "I'm much much better, so you can stop pestering Damon now"
"Yes please listen to Saint Stefan Barbie" Damon cocky voice travelled from upstairs making Stefan smile and Caroline growl
"Stop listening to us Damon" she yelled back at him and they could both practically feel him smirk. Stefan couldn't help but think how cute it was that after all Damon had done she still expected him not to listen in on them. He although knew better
"How are you Caroline?" he asked before she could say anything.
Her mouth remained open in a comical 'O' shape as he stopped her when she was going to say something. She was stunned and just stood there and looked at his bewildered face, he was wondering what he had said and was about to ask her when she got up and ran straight to him and pushed her hands through the bars and tried to hug him. He returned her gesture but kept his face away from her neck though she didn't seem to care, she grabbed onto his shoulders awkwardly and he could feel his shirt get wet from her tears, he put his hands on her hair and finally she pulled away and smiled and went back to sit in front of him.
"Ah thanks Care... but what was that for. If Damon finds out he'll flip" Stefan as softly as possible hoping Damon wouldn't here
"Finds out about what?" his voice came from upstairs not a second after Stefan spoke
"I'm not scared of Damon" she snapped confidently "And plus, no one... no one Stefan has asked me that in the past six months. So I just couldn't help myself" she smiled and saw that she wasn't the same anymore, something had changed in the 6 months.
"I'm glad I was the first Caroline, now tell me how are you?" both of them choosing to ignore Damon swearing from upstairs.
"I've been better" she said truthfully "I was feeling a bit lost, but taking care of Elena somehow helped keep me occupied and then I don't know a couple of weeks back everything just crashed I don't know why."
"What do you mean?" he asked softly
"I don't know Stefan, I would just cry all the time. I spent four days doing nothing but crying in my bed, and I don't even know why" she knew why but she wouldn't say it, Damon was listening
"But now you're back so things can go back to normal, I can just go back to being the annoying vampire Barbie. And everything can go back to being all about Elena... oh!" she exclaimed as she slapped a hand on her mouth to stop her from talking
Stefan was stunned and simply looked at Caroline's aghast face, and he heard Damon say 'Oh crap'. She couldn't believe she had said that and it hurt him to see that ashamed look on her face.
"Caroline... Caroline... don't leave, no wait care" he said trying to tug at her hand as she got up to leave "It's okay care talk to me"
"I'm sorry Stefan I didn't mean that, please don't be angry with me" she had started to cry now, he hated it when she cried.
"I'm... I'm not angry" he said laughing forcing her to sit back down
"Just talk to me Caroline. What did you mean?"
"Nothing"
"Caroline"
"Seriously Stefan, it was a slip of the tongue"
"Caroline" he said again separating each syllable, this was his own personal way of reprimanding her
"Forget it Stefan, there's a reason why I never tell anyone" she said slowly trying to control the tears streaming down face
"Why" he asked tilting his head and looking deep into her eyes, she could never lie to him not when he was looking at her like that
"Because it will just prove what everyone thinks about me" she said softly hoping against hope that Damon wasn't listening... no she couldn't let him have the satisfaction of this.
"Which is what?" it was obvious Stefan was going to let this go.
"That... that I'm a selfish, shallow, dumb, jealous and basically unimportant person"
"That's not true Caroline."
"Yes it is. Elena was my friend since we were young, bonnie was my friend coz she's Elena's friend. And you and Damon love Elena, and Jeremy is her brother so all of you have to be nice to me. Matt was just rebounding from Elena, you helped me coz you felt guilty and because Elena cares about me..."
"Caroline ..."
"And Damon didn't kill me coz Elena would be angry... and god forbid that happens, even if he saved me it was only because he could play the sympathy card to Elena. I don't have anyone who cares about me, it's by default. It's all because of Elena, but that's okay now I get it. I get I have to settle for this, I'm not good enough for anything else. He can't even be nice to me without it being about her" she was sobbing now and Stefan couldn't heard the last of her words, but he understood it all
It broke his heart to watch her cry and say all this; he had to control the tears burning in his throat. He couldn't believe he had made her feel this way? Was he this consumed in Elena? No it couldn't be...
"I'm sorry Caroline"
"No you don't have to say that Stefan, it's not your fault. I'm not your priority and I shouldn't be... it's not your drawback it's mine, no one can over love me first and put me first... I was hard to love when I was human now it's even..."
"Stop it care..." he was frantic now... he couldn't believe she had been feeling like this for two years and no one never saw it, it was killing her inside and that was killing him. He grabbed hold of the lock on his cell and wrenched it open causing her to jump slightly and he could hear Damon walking downstairs. Stefan grabbed Caroline and took her inside his cell and put his hand around her waist, putting her head on his chest, he just let her sit there and cry. He wanted to do so many things to make her fine, but now was not the time, now she just needed to cry it out.
"None of those things are true care; I'll only speak for myself. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you, I'm sorry I was so lost in Elena. It won't happen again and it's not out of obligation. It's because you're my best friend Caroline, the best friend I've had in years. And you know what care" he said lifting her head up so she would look straight at him "You make me smile when I want to cry even Elena can't do that."
"Liar" she laughed and slapped his chest
"I never lie Caroline" he said nuzzling her closer, this was the most alive he had felt in the past 6 months... even the feel of blood hadn't done that to him. He had needed something that was greater than his desire for blood... his need to comfort her was overpowering that.
"Do you mean it Stefan" she looked up at him again and this time he knew she was serious
"Ask anyone you want care... I never smile more than when I'm with you"
"Then why didn't you ever love me"
"I don't know Caroline ... I don't know" he said honestly and she just put her head back down pressed deeper into him. He honestly didn't know... and now he was beginning to wonder.
His thoughts were interrupted by Damon standing at the entrance looking at the both of them with a frown on his face. Damon looked guilty, angry and sad... but mostly Stefan noticed and amazingly he looked jealous. Damon Salvatore was jealous and it wasn't because of Elena. That was the moment Damon realized that his Barbie was in love with Stefan and this was also the moment Stefan realized his brother was in love with Caroline.
This was going to be awkward... very very awkward.
