I know I said this is Stefan/Elena story, and it is, but I have to introduce other character too, since they're and will be big part of their lives. And since this is an AU story, but I'm still keeping the supernatural elements, I had to change some things, and since I did I have to explain them so that everything makes sense. I'm sorry if anyone is bored or doesn't like Bamon. I had to write that Bonnie/Damon interaction in the last chapter in order to introduce a character we all know and love in this chapter, and since I had to do it, I wondered why not make it fun ship wise!

I hope you'll like this chapter, and please review!

Bonnie had let herself in Carolines house which was unlocked. All the houses in Mystic Falls were unlocked by day. People usually left them unlocked at night too, but since all these attacks started happening, people started locking their doors. No one but Founding Families was smart enough to lock the doors by day, although the mayor tried to point it out, in many occasions, that locking doors would be a smart idea. Bonnie concluded Sherif Forbes is at work, and Caroline is probably locked up in her room, so she wouldn't be able to open the doors for her even if Bonnie rang the doorbell. Caroline didn't need to keep her house locked by day because no one could hurt her anyway. And people who could, well, she could hurt them ten times more.

„Caroline" – Bonnie knocked on the door while invoking her friends name. „I'm coming in, so stay away from the light" – Bonnie announced while slowly opening the door. She opened them as little as she could, but enough so she could squeeze herself through in the room. When she entered the room, Caroline was sitting on her bed, putting a mascara on. Although she couldn't go out by day, she liked to look pretty in case someone came over. It was dark in her room since she had thick blinds pulled over her window so that sun can't come in.

„Hey Bonnie" – Caroline had put the mascara down and smiled widely at Bonnie. Bonnie hated vampires, and she could be saying that all day long. But how could she hate her best friend, even if she's a vampire? How could she hate her when she's the same old Caroline she was the day before she became a vampire? Caroline who couldn't stop talking about boys, who spent her weekends shopping, who practically lived at the mall, who helped with organizing school dances? What happened to Caroline was awful, and both Elena and Bonnie blamed themselves for it for the longest time. It's been a month since Caroline was turned, and they did everything in their power to help her. Alaric also helped a great deal too. But the whole thing was hard for her mom, someone who was taught vampires are evil and that they needed to be killed. She couldn't kill her daughter, but in the same time, she couldn't fully accept her either. Caroline becoming a vampire changed Bonnie's view on them. Elena's too, although Elena never hated vampires as much as Bonnie did. She didn't have cuddly feelings for them, but she didn't have a need to kill every one of them. What Bonnie realized out of the whole experience is that there are not a lot of people who ask to become vampires. Bonnie would like to think none of them do, but she knew that is a lie. When Caroline was turned, Bonnie knew she never asked for it. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Most importantly, Bonnie realized every vampire was once a human, and that even though it's in their nature to kill people, they never stop caring for people they once knew, and they never lose their ability to love.

„I have something for you" – Bonnie returned her a smile and reached for her bag. She took out a ring from it and handed it to Caroline. Caroline took the ring out of Bonnie's hands and started studying it. There wasn't anything special about it, it was an ordinary ring, so she gave Bonnie a confused look. Bonnie kept smiling at here. „Put it on" – she ordered her. Caroline pouted, but she did what Bonnie asked her to do. Bonnie pulled her by her hand and dragged her to the window. She opened the blinds a little bit and put Caroline's hand on the light.

Caroline screamed. „Bonnie, are you crazy? What are you doing?" – she kept screaming while keeping her eyes closed, trying to pull her hand from her friends grip. „I'll burn" – she screamed with a muffled voice. But in that moment Caroline realized she's not on fire. She's not even hurting. Then only thing she can feel is the warmth of the sun on her skin, something she didn't feel for a long, long time. She finally opened her eyes and looked at Bonnie who was smiling like an idiot. „But how?" – she asked.

„The ring, I've put a spell on it" – she pulled the blinds from the window and sun started bathing Caroline's figure. She smiled widely and started twirling around her room. And she twirled until she became dizzy. She fell on her bed and started laughing.

„How did you find it?" – Caroline asked. She couldn't remove that big smile from her face. It's been a while since she's been out. Bonnie and Elena found a way to school trough the sewer system, so no one suspects anything. But Caroline tried to avoid that path. Her mom was excusing her from school as much as she could, but they all knew that can't last forever.

„There are two new vampires in town, and they can walk in the light. I'm sure you'll meet them soon. So I asked one of them how they do it, and he was kind enough to tell me I'll find a spell for it in my grimoar" – Bonnie sighed.

Caroline was shocked that Bonnie would talk to vampires. „New vampires?" – she was intrigued.

„Yes, they live in that boarding house on the edge of the town" – Bonnie tried to avoid Caroline's look, and she wished she would stop asking her questions about Damon and Stefan. She would rather let Elena explain her the situation. Although Caroline wanted to know, there was one thing she wanted more. To go out. She wanted to smell the fresh air and to feel the sun on her skin. She wanted to see all of her friends and talk to the boys and shop. God, how much she wanted to shop.

„Let's go out!" – she screamed and jumped from the bed. „We could go to the Grill, or to the mall. We could eat ice cream. I miss ice cream. I want to buy new clothes. I've been reading a lot of fashion magazines this last month and now I'm ready to put theory into practice."

Bonnie watched Caroline jumping all over the room, trying to find a perfect outfit. She was happy. Bonnie hasn't seen her so happy in a while. Bonnie hasn't been so happy in a while herself either. Probably because some traces of guilt stayed with her since Caroline turned, although Caroline told both her and Elena it's not their fault. Watching Caroline happy made her happy too. She realized this is something she needed, to help her friend now when she wasn't able before. Caroline slipped into a summer dress and flats, put her hair into a pony tail and gestured with her hands it's time to leave. Bonnie got up from the bed and followed Caroline as she skipped to the exit.

In one moment Caroline turned around and put hands around Bonnies neck. „Thank you, Bonnie" – she squeezed her tightly.

„You're welcome" – she tapped Caroline on the back. „Now let's get you new pair of shoes" – she had let Caroline gently out of her hug and opened the front door. Caroline skipped happily in the sunlight.

xxxx

It was 4am when Elena looked at her alarm clock. She rolled on the other side of the bed and closed her eyes. When she opened them the next time, it was 6am. But she felt like she slept for no more than five minutes. After few minutes of keeping her eyes closed she realized she's not falling back to sleep this time, so she threw the covers from her body on the other side of the bed.

It's been two weeks since she and Stefan had that little awkward encounter in the park. She hasn't seen him ever since. He wasn't in school, he wasn't popping out in the most unfortunate situations, he was nowhere to be seen. She thought he skipped town, but Bonnie told her she saw Damon around the town. Plus, why would he leave? Because some irrelevant small town schoolgirl told him few mean words? But it was bugging her, the way he acted, like a child. Probably the same way she would act if she was in his skin. It annoyed her, how he simply disappeared. For some reason, it annoyed her not having him in her presence. And she was irritated because she felt annoyed. She hated the fact someone had such power over her. That someone could make her feel so many things in such a short period. And she knew she could stop feeling like this. She could simply go over there and talk to him. Or she could stake him in his sleep. But what would she get with that? Lifetime of regret and feeling sorry. Lifetime of no one making her heart jump at the mention of their name. Stefan, she repeated in her head. Her mind froze, but her heart started jumping faster and faster. She could go over there and apologize, but something was holding her back. Her pride, that annoying little voice in the back of her head, telling her it's a bad idea. Sometimes, the jumping of her heart overshadowed that voice.

She sighed and furiously jumped from the bed. She took pair of jeans, ordinary purple shirt and black leather jacket and hurried to the bathroom before Jeremy occupies it. She brushed her teeth, got dressed, put her hair in a long pony tail and grabbed keys of her car from her dresser. She made herself a cup of coffee before she left. She knew she shouldn't be driving in this state of mind. She was mad at Stefan for staying away, but she was mad at herself more for letting someone else take control of her emotions. She couldn't believe she's doing this. She drank her coffee in a hurry and drove away in a car.

Few minutes later she stopped her car in front of the boarding house. It was huge, larger than she remembered it. But she wasn't on the estate since she was a kid. She entered the house in a hurry. She was still a little bit angry. When she opened the front door, she was amazed by the size of the place. She walked over to the doors on her left, and she could see Damon sitting on the sofa reading a book. Damon? Reading a book? That was a sight Bonnie would pay for to see, Elena thought. She was only thankful Damon was decent unlike he was when Bonnie dropped by few weeks ago. Elena giggled out loud when she remembered that story, which made Damon rise his head.

„Elena" – he said and closed the book. She walked into the room. Now she knew Bonnie wasn't exaggerating. There were literally thousands of books on the shelves. He left the book on the little table by the sofa and got up as she made one step closer to him.

„Is Stefan here?" – she asked.

„I'm afraid you just missed him" – Damon replied. Damon was good looking. And she had to agree with Bonnie, he had hypnotizing eyes. But he simply didn't have that something that would make her shiver in his presence. „You pissed him of, didn't you?" – Damon asked while smirking.

„He told you?" – Elena asked in shock. She couldn't imagine Stefan and Damon sharing their feelings over the cup of tea. Or the cup of blood. They were more of a 'I have feelings but I don't want you to know that I have feelings' kind of type.

„We don't really gossip, Elena" – Damon laughed. „But I could see something is bugging him." Elena was surprised. Why would that bug him? She was sure he had better things to do. Plus, there are more girls in Mystic Falls. Girls that are prettier, and sexier than her. Girls who would give it up much faster than she would. Not that she is going to give up, ever. She wasn't in a place to care for a boy, especially not a vampire. But yet, part of her cared for Stefan, who was a boy, and a vampire. If she didn't, she wouldn't be standing here at the moment. Maybe that's what excited him, the thrill of a chase, fact that he can't have her. Maybe he wants to watch her slowly give in. But why would he do that? If he wanted her, he didn't even need her permission, he could compel her and she would be his, no questions asked. Why would he spend so much time on her? Then again, he had all the time on the world.

„You two seem close" – she admitted.

„We weren't always" – Damon smiled and lowered his head down.

He made one step closer to her, and he leaned down over her in a way like he's going to kiss her. That made her jump, but he only reached for an empty glass that was standing on a table behind her. Damon laughed out loud. „Don't flatter yourself, you're not my type" – Damon saw while grabbing glass from the table and walking towards the table with alcohol.

„Oh yeah? And what is your type?" – she asked more for Bonnie than for her own interest. She didn't want to see Bonnie get hurt. She knew Bonnie hates vampires, she knew Bonnie doesn't let people in so easily, but she also knew someone got under her skin when she can't stop talking about them. It was only matter of time when Damon realizes he got to her, and when he does, Elena wanted to make sure his intentions are honorable.

Damon poured scotch in the glass and turned around to look at her. „Ones that are not sleeping with my brother" – he took a sip.

Elena could feel blush coming to her cheeks. She couldn't believe he just said that. She couldn't believe he would even think that she would sleep with Stefan. Not after few weeks of knowing him. „I'm not sleeping with him" – she said quietly while trying to avoid Damon's eye contact.

„Let's say I believe that he still hasn't dragged you in bed" – Damon laughed. I guess Stefan really is like that, she thought. Goes around from girl to girl, sleeps with them and then moves on. He probably wanted the same from her. He wanted to sleep with her, and the next day he would disappear from town. „I still wouldn't lay an eye on you. Nothing personal, I think you're charming, but me and my brother have bad history with women" – Damon's face expression got serious and he took another sip of his drink. Elena wanted to know what kind of a history, but she thought it would be rude of her to ask. She doubted Damon would tell her anyway.

„Morning, brother" – Elena could hear a voice coming behind her. She turned around and saw Stefan standing on the entrance. Damon raised his head and nodded to his brother. Stefan's hair was all messed up. He looked like he just woke up. But he was wearing gray sweatpants and blue hoodie, like he was taking a run. Elena wondered do vampires do that, run for their own pleasure, like people do.

„I'll leave you two alone" – Damon poured down some more scotch in his glass, winked at Elena, tapped his brother on the shoulder and disappeared from the room.

„What are you doing here, Elena?" – he asked. His voice was sharp, and he sounded a little uninterested. Like he asked that question without really wanting to hear the answer.

„I came to see where you are, I haven't seen in you in a while" – she said while she watched him pour himself a drink. Scotch, just like Damon. Maybe alcohol helped them, with their cravings. And maybe, they were taking it for pleasure, like people did. Elena had so many questions, but she could sense Stefan is not in a mood to answer them.

„So you came to make sure my feelings are not hurt? Funny, because last time I checked, I didn't have any" – he turned around a took a sip from the glass. He had a serious expression on his face. He wasn't teasing her, he was serious. Could he really be hurt? One time, Caroline burst into tears when Elena told her her dress does not match her shoes. Caroline was always a drama queen, but usually she ignored her. When she became a vampire, she started taking things too serious, even the smallest remarks could hurt her. Do vampires really hurt so much? She thought in all the lifetimes he lived, Stefan would learn how to keep his emotions in check. But then again, people spend their life trying to find a way to hide their feelings and to control their emotions, and they never do. Are vampires no better? Can't they decide not to care? How do they walk around knowing they killed innocent people if they're still able to feel? In that moment Elena thought Stefan annoyed her so much because she doesn't really understand him.

„I didn't mean it like that" – she tried to catch his look. „When I'm mad, I say things I don't mean.."

„No, you were completely right" – he interrupted her in the middle of the sentence. „I don't have feelings, and I have no idea what love is" – he was cold. His voice was cold. But he didn't tremble. He didn't even blink. He took one more sip of the drink, put the glass on the table and came closer to her. He came so close that his hoodie was pressing on her shirt. Shirt that was so thin she could feel his hoodie on her skin. She started shaking, and she could feel her temperature rising. She didn't know was she scared or excited, but the worst thing of all is that she liked it. She liked the way he made her feel. At first, she thought he makes her helpless, weak. But now, she had a feeling he makes her desirable, daring.. that next to him, she looks like a woman. She wanted to put her arms around his neck and kiss him. She wanted to kiss him until she loses all the air from her lungs, and then stop only for a second until her lungs fill with air again. She wanted to feel his body pressing next to hers. She wanted to feel his touch on her skin. She wanted him, and she wanted to be his. She was afraid of only one thing, that he knows that she wants him. „But you know what, I don't think you do either" – he said while taking one step away from her. „I think you're a scared little girl who acts like she doesn't want to be loved, or wanted, and then you come over here looking exactly for that" – he smirked at her. „Well obviously, you're barking on the wrong tree. I don't know how to love" – he turned around and grabbed a drink in his hand. This time, he drank everything that was in the glass.

„I came here to apologize" – she could feel rage boiling inside her body. Who does he think he is? He doesn't know a first thing about her. He has no idea what the hell she wants. But then again, she doesn't know the first thing about him, and she made assumptions about him the last time they talked. She was angry, but she felt like she's not allowed to be. She had hurt him, he's only defending himself. He's only taking her words and giving them back to her.

„No need, Elena" – there was something about the way he said her name. Although his voice was sharp, her name sounded like a melody coming from his mouth. She wanted to hear it again, and again, and again. „I'm not mad, or angry, or hurt. I moved on, you should to. I have no idea why you came here, we don't even know each other. Plus, everything is my fault, you made it clear you don't want me near you. Now the feeling is mutual."

He was right, they don't know each other so well. They don't know each other at all, and they don't owe anything to each other. But his words had hurt her. She knows she acted like she doesn't want him near her, but secretly she was enjoying him being there. And now he doesn't want her near him? For some reason, that had hurt. Maybe because she realized she wants to be near him. And it was all her fault, if she hadn't acted the way she did, maybe things would be different now.

„Fine!" – she shouted. She didn't want to let him see that he had hurt her. She didn't want him to know that he has any kind of affect on her. But she also knew that by letting him see her angry, he would know he has an ability of bringing some kind of an emotions out of her. She turned around and ran out of the house. Stefan had put the glass back on the table, but he had put it there in such anger and fury, that the glass broke under the pressure.

„Look at you two, already fighting like an old married couple" – Stefan could hear Damon's voice. He raised his head and saw him standing on the door.

„Shut up, Damon" – he said angrily and walked past his brother.

Damon grabbed him by the hand. „Stefan, don't let her fall in love with you" – Damon said silently. But Stefan laughed out loud.

„Don't worry brother, I don't think we should fear that happening" – Stefan pulled his hand out of Damon's and walked upstairs.

What Damon really wanted to tell his brother is to not fall in love with her, but he felt like it's too late for that, and Stefan doesn't even know it.

What do you think about Caroline? And about Elena's feelings for Stefan? Is Stefan overreacting, or does he have a full right to be hurt?