A/N: I apologize it took so long to update. Work and college got in the way, but I'm back! Thank you all for being patient and I hope you enjoy this!


"What an idiot."

"Are you talking to yourself? Because I must agree."

Damon turned around when he heard Bonnie's voice, he gave her a quick glance and returned his attention to the view from the gallery balcony, it was absolutely stunning. His hands gripped the railing tightly as he spoke.

"You're very brave with your words considering your entire career could end right now if I decided so."

"No way, Enzo likes me way too much."

"Is this the same girl from half an hour ago?"

Bonnie shrugged and gave him a small smile. She joined him by the railing, keeping a safe distance. She figured if she was barging in when he was clearly not in the mood to chat, at least she could give him some physical space.

"Do you want me to leave?" She asked timidly.

He thought about it for a second, then simply shook his head.

"No."

They stood next to each other in quiet for a while, each of them admiring the incredible view sprawled before them. Damon finished the rest of whatever was in his glass and put it down, his attention averting to Bonnie in the process.

"But I am curious to know what you are doing here? Shouldn't you be downstairs with Enzo?" There was a slight bite to his words that he couldn't mask as perfectly as he had wanted to.

"I just needed some air." She shrugged nonchalantly. It was a lie. Truthfully, she was so worried about him she couldn't leave it alone.

"Is that it?"

"Yes. That is it."

She saw him smile to himself. He knew.

"Interesting."

"Nope, nothing interesting, just a girl trying to get some fresh air, ya know? It's crowded downstairs."

"Mm-hmm."

A couple more minutes passed in complete silence. It took her a while to gather the courage to speak her mind and start a conversation with him when they were all alone. It was easier among the crowd, she felt more confident there and much more vulnerable this way. She wasn't quite sure why. She didn't get nervous around people, not even when it was just her and someone else. She was very quick with the small talk. With Damon it was somehow different.

"Okay-" she spoke slowly, to hell with it "-I was a bit worried about you, so I might have come up to check on you."

Damon couldn't help the smirk forming on his smug face.

"Don't make me regret it." She warned before he could say anything stupid and ruin this moment of clarity.

"I didn't say a word."

"You don't have to say anything, your face does it for you."

"And what is my face saying now?"

She turned to face him and observed him for a second. Her eyes went over the twisted lines of his lips. She followed down to his firm jaw that went perfectly with his sculpted cheeks making him a great candidate for a modelling career if he ever grew tired of his manager job. His lashes were casting a dark shadow over his eyes, making them even darker than they usually were. They appeared to be black, but if you focused enough, you could see tiny specs of sapphire blue coming through, literally sparkling at you.

He was a Disney prince gone rogue, it really was the best way she could describe him to anyone. He could almost fool you in to thinking he was this perfect, charming guy, but he'd eventually open his mouth to speak and bring you back to reality with his snark.

"It's saying something along the line of 'I'm bad news, you should stay away from me'."

His eyes widened at the unexpected answer, he was taken aback by the raw honesty.

"If every instinct in your body is telling you I'm bad news, why are you still here?"

Because I'm stupid.

"I have nothing better to do than to babysit you."

His palm went over his heart.

"Now that one really hurt my ego."

"Good." She said with a smile and turned her attention back to the city. She still hasn't gotten used to it, it felt surreal to her. The air was thick and nowhere as breathable as it was back home, but New York had a way of selling that glamour and flashing lights to you, so you'd completely forget about anything else and find yourself lost in its imperfect beauty.

"It's really something." She said quietly.

"What is?"

"The view." She smiled to herself and propped her chin on the palm of her right hand as she observed. "There's nothing like it back at home, you know? I mean sure, it has cute little waterfalls and huuuuge trees, great sunsets as well…but this…it's something else."

Damon looked on as she spoke. That big, sincere smile made her face lit up in ways people wrote about in poetry. Her entire personality caught him off guard, he's never met such a genuine down to earth person who wasn't boring. On contrary, she was one of the most interesting people he's ever met.

He was convinced people like that simply weren't real, either that or they were really good at pretending and their real ugly self would fine its way out sooner or later. He didn't see that happening with Bonnie.

She was either one of the last good people left on this planet or she was the best actress in the world, which judging by her emotional outbursts and not being able to keep her excitement to herself (ever), was highly unlikely.

"Well, you know what they say-" he stared her down confidently when he was sure she wasn't looking "- beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

She snorted and finally looked back at him.

"Are you programmed to make corny lines every 20 minutes?"

"You love it."

"Na-ah. I am too smart to be thrown off by your cheap pick-up lines."

"How very arrogant of you to assume it's a pick-up line."

"Is it not?"

He squinted at her, she picked up on the whole sarcastic twat act he was pulling, and she's done a pretty good job at mimicking it, but she was not quite there, yet.

"No." He said nonchalantly. "I was simply admiring the view."

She gave up. Trying to beat him at his own game turned out to be more exhausting than she thought it would be. It takes a lot of energy to be this witty all the damn time.

"I should go back there." She said after a few minutes of silence. "I promised Enzo I would be there the entire time, in case something got messed up."

"Relax. This isn't his first rodeo. Are you forgetting who he is? The man's been doing this for the past 10 years."

"I know, but I've been doing this for the past few weeks and I want him to know I'm taking this seriously."

"He already does."

"I don't know about that."

"Do you think he'd offer you the position if he thought you were only 'okay' in what you do?"

He was right.

"No, absolutely not."

"Exactly. Don't get me wrong, Enzo is a great guy, but when it comes to business, he is merciless. Just like one should be. If he thought something was wrong with your performance, you'd be out."

"God, I know. Everything that you're saying makes perfect sense, but-"

"You're scared."

"Yes!" She let out a long breath. "I am. I worked so hard and I realize how stupid that sounds because everyone works hard at everything nowadays…it's just that, there's so much at stake for me here I can't put myself or Caroline in a position where we'd lose what we have going on right now. It's not an option."

"You really care about that blonde demon, don't you?" Damon said with a perplexed look.

"Yes, why is that such an odd concept for you?" Bonnie scoffed.

"Someone liking Caroline?"

"No, people caring about other people in general." Bonnie's eyebrows furrowed in frustration.

"I don't know." He pondered on it for a second. "I guess it's the best way to live."

Bonnie made a grimace. The more he tried to convince her he was this heartless monster the more she was set on proving him wrong. There had to be more behind that icy exterior, she felt it in her bones. And she really wanted him to see it as well.

"You mean the saddest way."

"I beg to differ."

She arched her brow at him, waiting for an explanation. He sighed and turned around so his back was propped against the balcony railing and they could face each other. Nothing like the front row seat to the screening of 'Disappointment in Bonnie's eyes' as he proceeded to explain his dark outlook on life.

"If you isolate yourself from feelings and care only about yourself, nothing can hurt you." He took a small pause, his voice turning hoarse, raw with emotion. "The less people you love, the stronger you are."

Bonnie's lips turned in to a small frown. She shook her head lightly but said nothing. Every fiber of her being wanted to shake him by his shoulders and then hug him tightly.

She stood still.

"Oh BonBon, don't look so sad, look at me…I'm the happiest bastard I know. You wanna know why?" He let out a fake, loud laugh. "I don't care about anything."

"That's a lie." She said firmly. He turned his attention to her, staring her down. It almost felt like he tried to intimidate her in to taking it back and agreeing with him, but she wouldn't budge.

"You care about your brother." She said gently, her face taking on a softer appearance.

Damon closed his eyes and sighed. A small, sarcastic laugh passed his lips and he put his hands up in an 'I surrender' manner.

"You got me."

Bonnie thought about what she really wanted to ask him all along and decided to go with it, to keep up with the honest tone they had set for the night.

"Is he the reason you're upset?" She asked carefully. Damon tried not to give it away, but one look at his pained face told her she was right.

She wasn't quite sure how to go on. More than anything she wanted to help, to make herself useful. She was a problem solver, that was her thing. But knowing how defensive he was, she wasn't sure how far they could take this before he got completely pissed off and went off on her for sticking her nose in his private life.

"I'm sorry." She blurted out. "I overstepped my boundaries, it's none of my business."

Damon nodded in agreement, she felt like an idiot. "That is very true."

She offered him another guilty look and bit down on her lower lip so hard she almost drew blood. She was not acting like herself at all. She wasn't the one to push people's buttons like that, she hated those people.

There was just something about Damon that made her want to get to know him, know his feelings, fix his feelings if they were broken, help him mend everything.

The first time that she felt that protective over him was the night she met him, when she saw Stefan trying to push him inside of that cab and send him home. Despite every rational part of her screaming 'No! Don't do it. Let it go.', she just couldn't. She had to get inside that cab and get him home safe, just like she had to check on him tonight.

She hated feeling so helpless over her own emotions. It made her feel weak.

"Well, I'm sorry. I'm not going to push it anymore." ." She said and nervously rubbed her palms against her thighs. "It's kind of stupid if you think about it. I don't even know you

Thankfully, Damon's stern expression loosened in to a small relaxed smile, helping her relax a bit as well.

"Yet, you've been more right about me then people who've 'known' me all my life."

This was it. His small admission. This was his white flag. He finally surrendered and for a tiny, fleeting moment he let her bask in the glory of being right about him.

"Maybe they're just not as good at reading character like I am."

Damon snorted, his eyes glued to the floor.

"Yeah, maybe it's that." He picked his head up and gave her a tired look. "Or maybe they're just self-centered assholes like myself."

Bonnie let her head fall back in frustration once more, she stared at the sky above them and let out a long, deep breath. If he keeps playing with her feelings like this, she'll have to start doing breathing exercises.

"Ahhh, just when I thought we made progress…he goes and opens his mouth."

Their eyes met and both of them started laughing, not being able to help themselves. The whole situation was wild.

Here she was, on her big night, playing shrink for a deeply scarred human she's known for a few weeks instead of being downstairs at the event that could skyrocket her career.

He suddenly stopped laughing and took on a serious expression, completely throwing her off.

He took a step towards her, his eyes focused on hers. Her heart leaped in to her heels. His hand reached down to take hers and he held it, looking at her.

She just stood there without moving and stared at him, trying to make sense of the situation. Her head was positively spinning.

"Listen, Bonnie-"

"I think I can hear him." A voice came from the staircase leading towards them followed by a laugh they both knew well. Damon dropped her hand in an instant and jumped away from her like he was being electrocuted.

"Heeere he is. Told you he'd be somewhere out here, hiding away from his responsibilities."

Enzo appeared and looked visibly surprised to find not only Damon, but Bonnie along his side. He raised his perfect brow in amusement. His attention was brought back to his guest who he politely offered his hand to, in order to help her up the final step and not have her trip over her extravagant gown.

It was a very beautiful brunette who seemed oddly familiar to Bonnie. She must have seen her face somewhere. The girl was petite but had a strong presence.

Her feminine figure and perfectly tailored dress made Bonnie go from feeling like a princess, to feeling like a maid next to her.

The girl walked up, unamused expression on her strict looking face and looked straight ahead at Damon.

Bonnie's eyes instinctively shot up to Damon as well. His were glued to the woman. It took Bonnie a while to catch up on what exactly was happening.

"Damon." The girl spoke cautiously, a fake polite smile playing on her red lips. "I've been looking all over for you. I called you like ten times." The last part came out straight out angry, no amount of fake smiling could cover it.

"You know I don't answer calls when I'm working." He said drily, his eyes never leaving hers.

"It's good that I found you then-" She said, her eyes shooting straight to Bonnie as she said the next part of her sentence. "-working hard as per usual."

Bonnie felt a sudden bout of negative emotions come over her. She wanted to get the hell out of there.

Enzo sensed the hostility around the trio and decided to intervene and save what was left to be saved of the situation.

"How incredibly impolite of me. I haven't introduced you, ladies."

Both of them looked at him, each of them giving him their version of a forced smile. If there was something Bonnie could not stand, it was fake politeness. And right now she was drowning in it.

Damon just stood there like a bystander. He looked like a toy that had its batteries taken out and was left there to stand and wait for someone to pick him up again.

"This is Elena Gilbert, a dear friend of mine. Elena, this lovely lady is Bonnie, my new intern and as of lately, our new associate." He introduced them and pointed to Damon when mentioning their new venture. Damon gave him a nod, silently thanking him for clearing things up in a civil manner, so he wouldn't have to take it up with Elena later.

That was wishful thinking, she was going to give him hell as soon as they got alone. Maybe even rightfully so. He purposely left his phone on silent.

"Nice to meet you." Bonnie mustered while Elena settled for a tight smile.

The four of them stood there for what was probably a short minute, but it felt like an eternity for Bonnie.

It was Enzo, once again, who decided to keep things moving and stir the conversation away from its evident awkwardness.

"Would everyone join me downstairs for some champagne? I'm sure we have a lot to talk about regarding our new business and Bonnie's future role in it. Elena you wouldn't mind, would you? I can assure you we won't bore you too much. Plus, you get to have all the champagne you want." He said with that charming smile no one could say no to.

Elena smirked and nodded her head in agreement. She walked over to Damon, linking her arm with his, causing Bonnie to look away.

She seemed territorial. Maybe she was one of Damon's flings and Bonnie was unwanted company.

The pair lead them down the staircase in to the main hall, with Enzo and Bonnie falling a bit behind.

"You have to excuse the sheer awkwardness of this little exchange." Enzo whispered to her as they walked shoulder to shoulder.

Bonnie gave a dismissing wave of her hand. "Don't worry about it."

"They are very heavy people on their own, but put them together…" He trailed off, his hand rubbing the back of his neck. "I've had years of getting used to their dynamic, yet I still feel like I'll never understand them together."

"Together?"

"You didn't know? Elena is his longtime girlfriend. It's kind of hard to miss, they've graced the cover of every tabloid you can imagine in the past few years."

Bonnie's heart did that thing where at first it dipped down and then started beating crazily fast. It was completely out of her control, just like her emotions have been the entire night. Why she even cared was beyond her.

"I don't pay any attention to tabloids, actually." She swallowed hard.

"No, of course you don't, it was foolish of me to assume." Enzo apologized for his assumption.

She smiled politely, but on the inside, she was breaking.

So much for not caring.


"One cream, two sugars, eeextra scorching." Caroline said as she handed him one of the cups she held. He took it gratefully and thanked her for it.

A cup of hot coffee to burn his insides and clear his head was exactly what he needed at the moment.

He almost kissed her. He almost kissed her.

She didn't dwell on it, thankfully. He wasn't sure how he could handle the aftermath had it really gone down. Especially when he was this drunk. He had no place kissing her.

Stealing something so intimate from her when he was loaded on bourbon was not the way he wanted to start anything between them.

But god, every inch of his body was trying to convince him otherwise.

It will pass.

Maybe if he repeated it to himself a thousand times in his head, he would start believing it.

Caroline took a seat two steps above the one he was seated at. This way they were close enough to talk without having to yell, but still had some space between them.

It was a strategic move. She felt better calculating things, more in control. There was nothing she liked better than control.

Stefan was making her lose it so much, she was desperate to gain it back, any way she knew how.

She pulled her sweater tighter to herself. Despite it being spring, the nights were pretty chilly and the cold concrete they were seating on wasn't helping.

God, she sounded like someone's grandma.

She appreciated the cold air though. Things got so heated inside, both figuratively and literally, she needed this to clear her head and get her thoughts together.

She looked at Stefan out of the corner of her eye. His hair was all messed up and he looked like a child blowing on his coffee to cool it off. It was rather endearing.

"Are you cold?" He asked out of the blue.

"I'm fine."

"That didn't sound very convincing. I'll fetch you my coat." He put the cup down on the step and got up despite her fussing.

"That's really unnecessary. I'm not cold, I'm fineee."

"Liar." He stopped for a second to look at her. "Your legs and hands are shaking. And unless this is some sort of new trend I'm not acquired with; your lips are turning blue 'cause you're cold. I'm getting you a coat."

"My lips are not turning blue!" She exclaimed in protest.

"Fine. Blue-ish." He teased her and walked over to his car, getting his coat from the backseat along with his phone.

He came back and stood before her with a charming smile.

"May I?" He asked for permission to cloak her with the coat.

She gave him a teasing little eyeroll. He was so diplomatic all the time.

"You may."

He put the thing around her, his hands rubbing over her shoulders to smooth it out.

"There."

She tried to keep up with her annoyed appearance just to mess with him, yet she couldn't help but smile at his little gestures. He was so darn charming all the time. She felt hot in her cheeks from his stare and knew she'd be blushing like crazy in no time, so she looked away before it got too obvious.

"Thank you." She pulled the coat closer to her. It smelled like fresh laundry and soap, clean and familiar. Very Stefan like.

He sat down and was about to grab his cup when his phone started buzzing in his hand. It read Bex in bright bold letters. Caroline caught his distraught expression right away. He winced and let it go to voicemail, shoving the phone in his back pocket and out of sight.

She parted her lips to speak but stopped herself before any words actually got out. What even would she say to him? She sipped her coffee in quiet and decided to focus on something else.

But what did she want? It had to be Rebekah, she was sure he'd mentioned her as Bex before. Was she the reason he was such a wreck tonight?

She mentally cursed herself. How many times did she have to remind herself not to obsess over things that were none of her business? A lot more as it turned out.

His phone rang again. He gave another annoyed grunt and took it out of his pocket because the ringing was driving him crazy. Rebekah just couldn't let it go, she couldn't give him one night off, one night away from her if only to clear his head. He shut the thing off and regretted even taking it out in the first place.

Caroline was quietly perched up on her stair and said nothing, but he could tell by the way her lips were pressed together that she was holding back with everything she had.

He was slowly but surely starting to sober up. The feelings of anger, resentment and pure rage took over him once again, filling every corner of his body. Making his heart beat faster, his blood boil and head spin out of control. Just seeing the name flash on his screen made him absolutely mad. He was better off inside of that bar surrounded by loud music and absolutely empty headed. He knew it couldn't go on forever, this night was only a temporary escape from a permanent problem.

That is if he decided to keep ignoring it.

"Stefan?" Caroline asked, her voice so gentle he almost didn't hear it at first. He looked up at her without saying anything. She was biting her lower lip nervously.

"Are you okay?" She asked carefully.

Stefan let out a shallow laugh, shaking his head no in the process.

"Absolutely not."

He breathed out heavily. It felt good, saying it out loud. He felt it for years but feared that actually saying it to someone who would listen would make it real. Keeping it to himself gave him the benefit of doubt and endless excuses; 'Maybe it's not that bad' or 'We can fix it' or 'This is only a phase we're going through'.

Lies. They were all lies he told himself in order not to fall apart.

Making it that much more surprising to him that now that he's said it, he felt fine.

Nothing came apart. Nothing felt ruined.

He felt free.

Free of the burden he was carrying with himself all of these years. Free of the guilt he felt every single time he looked at Rebekah, knowing full well she was settling for their new life. Free of dread whenever his or her parents would call and ask them about visiting home.

"This is going to sound so cliché, but…do you want to talk about it?" She held her breath while waiting for his response.

"I don't, however I do feel like I need to." He swallowed hard. "But I don't want to talk about it with you." His face took on a solemn expression.

She sighed in frustration, putting her cup down next to her.

"Why?" Her brows met in the middle, making her look that much more frustrated.

"Because, Caroline-" he scrambled for the right words to say "- I'm really and I mean really, really fucked up right now. And I don't want you to have to be the one listening to me ramble on about my miserable life. Which could be a lot worse and there are people out there with real problems who deserve your undivided attention a lot more than me and my quarterlifer crisis."

She rolled her eyes at him. She just wanted to shake him by his shoulders and convince him otherwise. She shot up from her seat and slid right next to him with a determined look on her face.

"Try me."

"Caroline-"

"Now, unless this is something you really don't want to talk about – which I can totally respect – you should speak up. Trust me. And you do look like you need someone to talk to. We've only known each other for a short amount of time, but you've had my back every time I needed it-"

"-over a uniform. That's apples and oranges."

"It meant a lot to me!" She exclaimed, holding a hand up to her heart for a more dramatic effect. He narrowed his eyes at her. "Okay fine, it wasn't such a big deal, but it doesn't matter. Did it say somewhere in our contract that just because we work together we can't be friends?"

He said nothing, she was starting to make sense to him and it annoyed him. Why did she have to be so reasonable and right all the time. He just wished she pushed him away for once. It would make avoiding his unresolved feelings towards her so much easier.

Her hand landed on his upper arm to show her support. She rubbed it and gave him an earnest smile.

"I'm right here. Let me be your friend, Stefan. Please."

After he said nothing, she decided on a different approach. She stood up and took a stance right before him, her hands plastered firmly on her hips. His brows rose up in amusement.

"You and I both know I'm not going to give up so you might as well just spill it and save us both some time. The sun is about to come up in a few hours."

"I can take you home if you want."

"We're both drunk, neither of us is going anywhere."

"We can call you a cab."

"We can also tell Caroline what's on our mind because something is obviously bothering us very much and someone would feel a lot better if he just got over himself and spoke about his problems."

Jesus Christ, she was persistent.

"Fine." He surrendered.

His cooperation put a big satisfied look on her face, one she immediately regretted and turned in to a frown. She apologized.

"Sorry, this is a solemn occasion, I'll be serious I promise."

"I really doubt that, but it's cute you're trying."

Caroline narrowed her eyes at him. She sat back down, even more determined to show him how serious she was about all of this.

She somehow convinced herself that becoming friends would magically dissolve all of the tension and attraction between them, making them completely forget they ever liked each other so they could move on and be normal.

It was a long shot.

"I think Rebekah and I are over."

Silence. Deafening silence.

"We've stabbed each other in the back so many times in the last few years it's beyond repair at this point."

Caroline smoothed her hands over her knees and sighed quietly. She was not expecting that to come out.

"Okay...Is it really over or are you just thinking about ending it."

"I'm going to do it."

"Maybe you should sleep on it, you know? Before you make any rash decisions."

His jaw tightened. He gave her a completely defeated look.

"I've been sleeping on it for three years now."

"Oh." She mouthed. She opened her mouth to ask him something but stopped midway. She felt the need to be very cautious, not wanting to hurt him any more than he already was. And it seemed like a lot, a whole lot of emotional pain. She could relate.

"I've tried. So many times." He ran his hand through his hear, smoothing it back. "We came to live here so our lives would get better. Mine did, but hers got worse. It took me such a long time to notice…well…not to notice. It took me a long time to acknowledge it."

Caroline felt pain in her heart, it was that uneasy feeling you'd get when watching someone who was hurting, and you'd find yourself completely helpless. You could just sit back and watch the torture.

"We left Chicago because of my father." He stopped and took a few deep breaths, mentally preparing himself for this part. He hated thinking about it, let alone talking about it. "He was making my life miserable. And not just mine, no. Damon's, my mother's, everyone who's ever worked for him suffered. I just couldn't take it anymore. You snap, sooner or later."

"Did he hurt Rebekah, too?"

"No, Rebekah was probably the only person he cared about enough to pretend around her. Which in hindsight, turned out to be the last drop for me."

"What do you mean?"

He stopped for a minute. His knuckles turned white, but he tried his best to compose himself.

"She went to him, behind my back. She took over the position my father wanted me to have. In Chicago."

Caroline's jaw dropped.

"Wow." She whispered, taken aback by the whole thing. "How long have you known about this?"

His lips turned in to a bitter smile.

"I found out a few hours ago. We were over at my parent's house. We got in to this big fight and my father cornered her. I mean, I would have found out eventually…"

She shook her hear. "Now it all makes sense. You getting shitfaced and all."

"Yeah."

"How did you react when you found out?"

"Not my proudest moment, to be honest." He bit his lower lip, regret written all over his face. "I stormed out and drove away as fast as I could. I-I left her there."

"Cold." She murmured. It made him laugh a little.

"Hey! I was hurt. It was like everything came crashing down all at once…I couldn't for the life of me stand a second more of seeing her. I needed space. Away. From her."

Caroline nodded in understanding. She was in awe of how much he actually opened up to her. She expected some half assed explanation of the situation with brief detail, but here he was, baring his soul to her in a very vulnerable way. She felt appreciative of it.

Letting people in is hard as it is, admitting how hurt you are, now that was next level.

"What are you going to do now?"

It was the one question he was trying his hardest to avoid. He wasn't ready to think about that, to make that decision. But, he'd never be ready anyway. It sucked, it truly sucked, and he hated everything about it.

"Honestly, I have no idea. Talk to her in the morning I guess. End it."

His chest felt incredibly heavy. Like someone put a giant rock in place of his heart. That feeling of carrying the weight of the entire world was slowly creeping up on him, swallowing him whole.

"That's it. My depressing rant is over. No more torture for you. You've heard enough about my messed-up family to scar you for life and we're barely scratching the surface."

"Stefan-" She wanted to protest. Messed up families were her forte.

"You said you wanted us to become friends, right? Like real friends?"

She nodded in agreement.

"Well, real friends don't bore each other to death with their childhood trauma and relationship problems from hell."

"Ugh, that's exactly what real friends do, Stefan!" She protested. "You really think your family is that messed up?"

He looked at her warily.

"Okay." She took a deep breath, she had his full attention now.

Remember Caroline, friendship is a two way street.

"I grew up with a gold digger mother who's spent approximately 10 days in total with me since I was born. To be fair, she was busy, she had to shop and organize brunches for stuck up bitches like her to uphold her status."

Stefan gasped, he wanted to talk but she waved her finger 'no' at him.

"Oh, I'm not finished. Thankfully, even though my mother was the biggest bitch on the planet, I had a wonderful dad who I simply adored. He is great."

Stefan smiled at that.

"Well, he was great, until he ran off to Italy with his gay lover Antonio and never came back."

He smiled too soon. What the fuck.

"But you know, luckily, I still had my brother who I got along with thanks to our joint hate for our mother, right? Wrong. He joined the Navy as soon as he turned 18 and he never looked back. I see him two times a year when he's on leave."

"Wow."

"Yeah exactly."

"You should make your life in to a movie."

Her eyes shot out and she shoved him with both her hands. He couldn't help but burst in to laughter. It was all so bizarre it was hilarious in a very fucked up way.

"I can ask Damon for help with the casting…Rebekah can help with the legal stuff." She wiggled her brows at him.

Stefan made a pained expression.

"Uuuh, that one hurt."

"Don't worry, you can be a part of the camera crew, this could be a big break for both of us."

"You're cruel."

"You started it."

Both of them laughed earnestly. It felt good to laugh for a change. It was a defense mechanism they both felt comfortable with.

"What's wrong with us?" Stefan said, trying to catch some air. "We're so messed up."

"So messed up." She repeated after him.

"It takes some serious emotional damage to buildcharacter."

"The only thing I've built is my downward spiral. Sometimes I really think she was right, my mother. I'm not as special as I once thought I was and I'm finally starting to realize it."

Stefan felt offended by that. How dare she speak that way about herself. She was a literal angel on earth. The fact that she seemed to be so hateful towards herself made him feel that more angry at everyone who fucked her over.

"Hey, hey. Don't say that. You're amazing." He managed to calm himself down and be serious for a second. He looked her straight in the eyes and took a hold of her hand, catching her completely off guard. "Seriously, though. I am so sorry they hurt you so much. You are an amazing person and you deserved better than that. They were all wrong to leave you, when they should have cherished you the most. Honestly, it's their loss."

Caroline didn't say anything at first, she just stared back at his eyes. They were glimmering green, overflowing with honesty. It's what she liked most about him, he was an honest person. She found that it was a very rare trait for people to have nowadays.

The world she knew was built on lies and fake smiles.

Not Stefan, though. He was an open book. He let her roam through his pages and dive as deep as she wanted to, carefully answering every question she had about him, never holding back. He was true to himself.

Him letting her in made her feel warm on the inside.

And now, here he was. Giving her positive affirmations on things she had the biggest doubts about. Her biggest insecurities that kept her awake at night. He accepted them. He understood them.

He understood her.

He was saying words she longed to hear for the longest time. Such a long time she came to accept the fact that no one is ever going to say them out loud to her, ever.

Saying anything would ruing everything. So she didn't.

She returned his honesty with her own in form of a smile and squeezed his hand a little tighter.

Bonnie's grandma once told her that the best relationships she'll ever have will come from a place of gratitude and deep understanding of another soul.

She finally understood exactly what that meant.


A/N: To everyone who's ever took a few minutes of their time to leave a review on this story: You are the best, ever. Period.

I read all of your comments, PMs and messages on tumblr and they make me so incredibly happy, I could never stop writing this. This has been such a wonderful experience so far and I've met so many amazing people on this platform.

Sorry for being sentimental. I just reread some of the reviews and got emotional, lol.


Let me know how you like it so far. Any thoughts on Elena reentering the picture? Feel free to let me know what you liked (or didn't like). Are there any other characters mentioned in this story you would like to see more of?

If you have any wishes for a short prompt about your favorite ship in this fic, send it to me and if possible I will try to write it in (things like: ship having breakfast together, ship running in to each other, ship being stuck in an elevator together?). It can also be a friendship prompt, doesn't necessarily have to be Steroline/Bamon.

Get creative and let me know, I'm taking prompts to write in because all of you have been so good to me and I want to include your ideas in the fic.


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