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Chapter 4-
"Man, Caroline! Your dance moves are impressive." Bonnie yelled to her friend, attempting to talk above the dance floor music. Caroline laughed at the observation, as she danced in a semi circle with Elena and Bonnie.
"I have been getting a lot of practice with Stefan." Elena tilted her head to the side and watched her friend curiously.
"Really?" she asked. "That's weird, because I always had to drag him on the dance floor to be with me. So what's your secret?" The music could not mask the tone of cynicism in Elena's voice.
"You know me, Elena." Caroline responded. "I am all about making the most of a party, so I forced him to just laugh and kick back."
"Laugh?" Elena questioned.
"Of course. Stefan loves to laugh."
"I know that." Elena said sharply. Caroline gave a nervous laugh and gently tapped Elena on the shoulder.
"Of course you do." Something about the exchange made Caroline uncomfortable and she turned to dance with Bonnie, hoping to shake the tension that had filled the air.
However, despite the gyrating sounds from the speakers, Caroline could not help herself from eavesdropping on the conversation between Klaus and Stefan. While pretending to continue dancing with Bonnie and Elena on the dance floor, Caroline trained her hearing on the conversation between the two men.
"So, mate, you finally return to your beloved Mystic Falls? It appears Caroline had enough of the traipsing around the world to mend your wounded heart." Klaus mocked Stefan as he took a sip of his drink.
"Actually, Klaus, it was I decided it was time to return to Mystic Falls. Caroline didn't feel there was anything here to draw her back so soon." Stefan replied with a smirk. Klaus scrunched his face to a look of disdain. "Good one, Stefan", Caroline smiled.
"Unfortunately, she is a young lady that doesn't take to an aggressive suitor. I just need to take my time with fair Caroline." Klaus smiled at the Salvatore brothers. Caroline rolled her eyes.
"Dude," Damon interrupted, "do you really think you have a chance with Blondie? Not only have you batted a grand total of zero with her, but you can wait another 100 years and still won't be able to get near that. She pretty much hates you."
"Ah, but you are a clear example of how quickly hate can turn into something else, now aren't you? I do believe Elena's initial feelings for you could be described as hate, correct?" Klaus replied. Damon narrowed his eyes at Klaus and watched as Stefan gulped down the rest of his drink and ordered another.
"Enough." Stefan answered loudly. "What have you learned about the cure, Klaus? That is our business today."
"Now explain to me again," Klaus began, "Why should I include you in any of my updates, when you have clearly kept your whereabouts to yourself? And by the way, what exactly is the nature of your relationship with Ms. Caroline?" Damon raised an eyebrow and turned his glance to Stefan, interested to hear the response to this question. Damon observed something different about Stefan's interactions with Caroline. It reminded him of his friendship with Lexie, but somehow it seemed stronger. More intimate. Damon wondered if they were sleeping with each other. It would definitely alleviate any lingering feelings Elena had for Stefan and remove any guilt Damon was still holding on to about his relationship with Elena. "Overall a win- win situation." Damon thought. Caroline found herself interested in Stefan's answer as well.
"Why would I be curious about what he is going to say? I know what he is going to say. We're friends. Just friends. Right? " Caroline's thoughts were interrupted by Tyler's hand waving in her face.
"Hello? Anyone there? I have been trying to talk to you for the past 5 minutes." He asked annoyed.
"Oh, sorry, Ty. I was just…um…into the music and dancing. What's up?" Caroline was confused by the frustrated expression on Tyler's face.
"It's you Caroline. Since you've been back, it seems you are completely caught up with helping Stefan go through whatever he and Elena are going through. I haven't spent one moment alone with you." He answered angrily.
"Are you seriously going to put this gulf between us on me, Ty? Where is Hayley? You know, the girl you have spent every waking minute with since she breezed into town?" Caroline was trying, unsuccessfully, to keep her emotions in check, but she could not believe Tyler was going to put her in a position of feeling guilty for wanting to help her friend. Especially when he has been so absent due to his training of the un-sireing of the hybrids. Tyler lifted his hands in defeat.
"Look, you're right. I have been MIA. But I am here now and I want to see you." Tyler took one of Caroline hands and swayed back and forth with it. The action touched Caroline's heart. Before she could respond to him, Stefan approached them.
"Care, I'm done here. Do you want me to give you some time here and just meet you at the house later?"
Caroline saw that Stefan's face was flushed and he seemed to be overly anxious. The rest of the conversation with Klaus and Damon must not have gone well, and she hated the fact that she didn't get a chance to hear the end of it. She looked at Tyler apologetically.
"Can I catch up with you tomorrow? I just need to take care of a couple of things-" Before Caroline could finish, Tyler lifted his hand.
"Don't bother, Caroline. Clearly I am not a priority in your life right now." Tyler charged off the dance floor, forcefully pushing past two couple in his path. Stefan watched Tyler leave and turned to Caroline.
"Care, go take care of Tyler, if you need to. I'm okay." Caroline knew she should have run after Tyler, but she wanted to stay with Stefan.
"You know, what? I'm good. Let's just go home." Caroline said goodnight to Elena and Bonnie, who were seated at the table. Elena watched as Caroline and Stefan walked out of the Grill, silently questioning the clear familiarity the two shared with each other.
"Stefan, can I ask you a question?" Caroline asked as she covered the living room couch with the bed sheets and blanket. Stefan was sitting on the floor, doing sit ups.
"Of course you can."
"Do you hope you and Elena will be together again?" Stefan stopped his sit-up mid way, and leaned his back on the couch.
"Care, I don't know. She is obviously happy with Damon, and he's happy with her. I don't know if we can over go back to where we were before all of this happened. Plus..." Stefan folded his hands in his lap and hesitated to speak. Caroline silently sat next to him on the floor and watched his face.
"I'm different, Care. I feel different. And she's different too. I don't know if we even make sense together anymore. Does that make any sense to you?" he asked her, allowing his eyes to be full of emotion and sincerity. She felt mesmerized by them, remembering when she felt that exact same way whenever they danced together.
"Yes, it does. I felt that way with Tyler tonight. How do you feel different?" Stefan began to laugh quietly.
"I feel more comfortable in my own skin more. I am relaxed. I laugh more." His eyes intensified as he opened himself up to Caroline. "I feel .."
"Peaceful." Caroline softly completed his statement. "That's exactly how I feel. Even with everything going on around us, I feel peaceful." The room stood in silence, as the two felt the atmosphere change into intensified electricity. She finally broke the silence.
"Stefan, what's happening between us?" Stefan leaned into Caroline, to the point when she felt his breath on her cheek, breathing in his scent.
"I don't know. But I want to find out." His lips lightly touched hers. The touch was without any movement, only experiencing the feel of each other's lips simply touching. Then Stefan's lips moved to gently suck Caroline's upper lip. Involuntarily, she moaned in response to his action. Her moan triggered a deep ache in between her thighs and unexpected wetness. Her lips responded to his, sucking his bottom lip, leading him to moan gutturally. His tongue entered her mouth and quickly moved from slow and cautious to deep and hungry. His hands took her face and pressed her deeper and deeper into him. Her body was reacting to his every sound, and movement. His hands moved across her face, caressing her cheek and tracing the outline of her jaw. Caroline's hands raked his hair, grabbing handfuls. Despite her body's desperation to deepen their kiss, she sped way from him to the opposite side of the room.
"Stefan…we need to stop…we're…we're losing control." She panted breathlessly. Stefan sped into front of her, his hands on the wall, trapping her face into his.
"I want to lose control with you, Caroline. I don't want to stop." Stefan looked lustfully into her eyes, seeing the same feeling reflected back at him. Caroline held back the moan that was generating deep inside of her.
"I don't want to stop either. But I don't want us to do something we are going to regret later. You mean too much to me to be some one night affair." Caroline pleaded, not sure if she was going to be able to resist the arousal her body was overcome with at the moment. Stefan took a labored breath and slowly let it out.
"Okay, you're right. We should figure out what this is first." He stepped away from her and sat on the couch.
"But Caroline," he stated as she walked upstairs to her room, "Whatever this is, it's not over. I do know that. Good night." Caroline took a deep breath and walked up the stairs.