Call it What You Want

"Lower," she purred, as his fingers formed against her shoulder blades and a smile appeared onto her cheeks when he listened to her command, inching them to the center of her back. "Harder," she said this time, feeling the pressure immediately begin to build against his palms. "You're getting really good at this."

It was then that a smile crossed onto his face too; she could feel it even though she hadn't even been facing him. The brunette shut her eyes in satisfaction when she felt his fingers glide onto her hips and his mouth land onto the back of her neck softly, without saying a word at all.

And he didn't have to—her, either—because there was very little to say when your life was flawless and so was the main person within it. Stefan hadn't known love—or perfection—until he met Katherine Pierce and as they sat here watching the sunset from their bungalow on the Cayman Islands, he didn't believe it could get any better than this, at all.

He knew it couldn't, actually—because what could ever compare to spending a luxury week in seclusion with the woman you hoped to marry, someday soon? What would ever mean more to him than fulfilling her every hope, dream, and desire?

Most importantly, what would she say when she knew this? When she was aware that he wanted to ask her be her husband and her, his wife, before the week was through? Perhaps even the night?

Stefan's hands wrapped around the bare skin of her flat stomach that was barely covered by her sarong and Katherine sighed as his lips brushed her hair; taking in the sound of the ocean outside.

The sound of each other's breathing, inside.

"People pay good money for full body massages, you know… Maybe I should start charging you so I can make myself an honest living," Stefan joked and Katherine snorted at that, her eyes still shut, as she relished against his fingers tracing her olive skin.

"Very funny, Mr. Salvatore."

"What? You don't think I could do it?" he asked with a smirk behind his voice, as his hands planted against her shoulders again. "Because I beg to differ. I know how to touch you…and in all the right places."

"Don't get cocky now," Katherine smiled as he peppered her shoulder with sweet kisses all the way up to her neck. "Besides—why become a measly massage therapist when you can do something else? Like…something with numbers, maybe?"

"Because it makes you feel good," he said sweetly onto her ear as Katherine let out an appreciative sigh. "And because numbers suck… I'm pretty sure I really hate numbers—"

"Mmmm, well… maybe I would be concerned about that, had I not already pulled a few strings and got you an interview at my Uncle John's accounting firm the minute we get back to New York," she said to which Stefan sighed heavily and Katherine scoffed. "Honey, you double-majored in it Mathematics and Statistics, got your MBA even, and you're telling me you hate Math? You're joking, right?"

"I hated college, Katherine—you know that," Stefan replied as he shook his head. "It was supposed to be a fun, growing experience, where I got to do what I love—which is helping people—and instead, I played Polo and gave a speech at the end of it about how awesome it was to go to the greatest Ivy League in the country, meanwhile, I never even left my apartment. Because even in Boston, my father had me trapped… Just like he always does."

"Oh, c'mon," she pouted. "He's really not that bad—"

"'Not bad?' He paid my doorman to make sure all of my 'visitors' were gone by 7…P.M," Stefan reminded her. "I wasn't even allowed to have any friends, much less a girlfriend. I was a social pariah, which probably seems impossible at a school like Harvard but trust me… it really, really sucked."

"Which worked out great for us, because had you been out and about in Bean Town, we wouldn't have ended up together," she reminded him and he exhaled. "Everything happens for a reason."

"Doesn't mean I ever see myself being an accountant," he replied to which Katherine finally opened her eyes; his fingers still massaging her skin. "You know I'm… not into that sort of life."

"You have to be one day, Stefan—if you wanna make your Dad happy… If you wanna make me happy," she said gently as she turned around and looked into his olive eyes with her own chestnut orbs. "Because it would make me really happy if you gave all this charity stuff a break and thought about us—about me and you."

"I'm always thinking about me and you," Stefan replied as his fingers grazed her cheek. "I scare myself, a lot, when I realize how much, actually."

Katherine smiled at that she moved in closer towards his lips—the breath from hers grazing the air— before she raised a thumb to his mouth and followed his eyes.

"It's almost as if you were born on another planet," he found himself thinking, as he relished in her remarkable exquisiteness; her otherworldly beauty, that made him think this was just all a dream and someone like Katherine Pierce never really existed.

She couldn't—because she was too perfect to live and too rare to breathe.

From her smirk to her laugh to the way her lip trembled when she slept—he was enamored by her and accounting job or not, he wouldn't rest until she was his, completely.

He could not rest until he made her his.

"You don't have to be ashamed to be in love," Katherine said to which he playfully scoffed and she took his hands. "But there are things that I need from you first—things Giuseppe needs—"

"Why do you keep talking about my Dad?" he asked softly as Katherine pressed her lips. "One meeting over coffee and all of sudden, you two are best friends."

"Your Dad and I want the same for you, Stefan—and it's for you to be successful," Katherine answered. "He loves you… "

"Yeah right," he said as he rolled his eyes and Katherine frowned. "He just hates me less than he hates Damon… Which—need I remind you—isn't a very tough feat, considering the fact that I don't know many people who actually like Damon—"

"I love you," Katherine interrupted as she looked into his eyes and grazed his cheek. "And I know you think things are tough with your Dad, but I need you to stay strong. "I…want you to realize what you have—who you are—before it's too late, Stefan…before you lose everything."

Stefan swallowed hard at that as Katherine let out a sigh and made a motion to vacate the bed. Before she could walk away, he took her by the hand and looked into her eyes quietly as she looked back into his.

"I don't want to lose you, Katherine… Not now, not ever—"

"Then prove it," she said as her chestnut eyes stared at his—unwavering; his thumb stroking over her palm. "If you love me, Stefan, you need to wake up, we need to move forward—"

Katherine's eyes opened with surprise as he dropped her hand and pulled promptly a beautiful diamond ring out of his pocket and held it in front of her face. She looked nothing but surprised as he got off of the bed and down onto one knee; his eyes shining as he gulped down his fear just before he prepared himself to talk.

"I—I've had it on me every day—this entire vacation, y'know, just in case…" he trailed off, though she was clearly taken away by the diamond on the band to which he swallowed hard.

Had he gone too big?

"Nonsense," Lexi reminded him, as she dragged him around Tiffany's, pointing out everything his wife-to-be would like. "There's never a such thing as too big."

"Katherine," he said breaking his own thoughts as she now looked up into his eyes—her brown ones glimmering while his hands shook slowly with the stone. "Will you marry me? Will you… give me a shot to be the man you want, need, and deserve?"

Katherine snorted softly as her cheeks expanded with a grin before she looked into his twinkling eyes awaiting her answer.

"That depends," she said smoothly, as she pulled him up to his feet and lightly pushed Stefan onto his back in the King size bed and eased on top of him; loosening the knot of her sarong before pulling it off and tossing it to the floor—her ruby bikini the only thing she was dressed in, while his eyes scaled her body and went back to her face. "Am I going to have to ask you again to meet with my John?"

Stefan thought about it for a moment before finally shaking his head no, much to her delight.

"I'll humor you, Katherine—but I can't make any promises—"

"Promise me and I will marry you," she said sharply as he watched her flirting with the string to her bikini top and stopping once she'd almost loosened it all the way. "It's what I want—what you need to give me if we're gonna make this work."

Stefan licked his teeth as she finally took the top off and captured his hands into her own; setting the ring down on the sheets beside them while his fingers cupping them tightly over her chest. She straddled his waist and he took in a deep sigh when she moaned airily against the weight of his fingers—against the feeling of his body pressed to hers. He'd never get sick of that feeling—he'd never get sick of her.

"Love is about compromise," she said gently as she leaned in and kissed his lips. "Give me what I want, Stefan… and you'll have what's rightfully yours."

"Okay," he said with a soft smile as Katherine ran her fingers through his hair. "Whatever you want, Katherine… I promise."

"You promise," she repeated, before she leaned down and captured his lips in a sweltering kiss. "And just like that… I'll be your Mrs. Stefan Salvatore."

Stefan smiled as Katherine took the ring quietly and eased it onto her finger with a grin before he flipped her beneath her and nuzzled his mouth against her neck.

Her shrills and shrieks were only covered by his mouth and her laughter when he pinned her against the bed and placed his lips against every square inch of her body.

And then some.

"I'm going to make you proud," he said along her skin as Katherine smiled with closed eyes and ran her fingers through his hair. "You have my word on that."

"Less talk and more action, then," she said, as she pulled him towards her mouth and began to work on his boxers. "Your wife demands it."

"Stefan!" he heard, but it was too late, as his glass shattered beneath the weight of his hand and Caroline was sprinting towards him from the other side of the kitchen—her blue eyes filled with horror, as his hand filled blood and his expression remained nameless.

Anonymous and cold. As is he had no idea where he was or where he had been for the past few minutes.

Nearly five, as she waited in the doorway, calling his name softly to bring him back to reality.

Out of his dream that had direly turned into a nightmare when he recalled the truth.

"Stefan," Caroline said softly again, as she carefully stepped over the broken shards, and pulled him towards the sink—where she immediately turned on the faucet and ran his crimson hand beneath the water.

He was barely even struck out of his thoughts, though the burning was enough to make him think he'd entered the fiery pits of hell.

"I'm sorry," he said towards the silence, as Caroline swallowed hard—watching the blood circle the drain before she let him go for a second to grab the dustpan to clean up the mess. "I just…got caught up for a second."

"Because of Katherine?" Caroline asked bluntly, softening her tone once she realized how hard that came out; how envious. "What happened—"

"Can we go, Caroline? I think that I want to leave."

"Sure, Stefan—whatever you want," she reassured as he gulped softly and she let out a sigh. "But before we leave, we should wrap your hand, okay? So it doesn't get infected."

"Okay. Let's ask Lex if she has anything—"

"No worries—I do," she replied much to his surprise as she offered a genuine look of support when she emptied the glass in the garbage and dusted off her hands as she met his eyes. "Follow me."

Stefan looked down looked at the cut across his palm and winced when Caroline pulled him out of the kitchen and to the guest bedroom where all the bags were, and she searched in her purse for something to cover the wound.

Because yes, Caroline apparently carried everything in there—coincidentally including that ace bandage, as promised.

"I tend to…injure myself when I'm drunk," she admitted a half-truth; remember all the times she'd gone tumbling down on flat streets and scraped herself against pavements while partying too hard back in Mystic Falls.

She also remembered a certain man who'd hurt her in so many ways, that her pocket book had become a fucking first-aid kit. Because she was too much of a neurotic control freak to pretend like she could handle the pain and the bruises; and she was way too egotistical to handle the stares and questions from her friends and sometimes even strangers when they noticed the marks.

She always found a way to hide them or simply brushed it off with whatever lie she was telling this week, about her clumsy-old-self.

At least her horror stories had been coming to good use. Stefan's cut looked painful but it wasn't as deep as she once believed. He'd be cured fairly quickly and he wouldn't need stitches, thankfully.

"Hold still," Caroline instructed, as she dabbed ointment on his palm and Stefan winced. "It's just to help it heal."

"Thank you," he said softly, as Caroline looked down and wrapped his palm. "That was really stupid of me … I was so dumb—"

"And we will talk about that when you're sober and I'm sober," she replied as she finished wrapping and swiftly grabbed her coat off of the bed and slipped it on. "Now let's just say our goodbyes and get out of here—"

"I'd rather they didn't see me like this," Stefan said, referring to his hand and Caroline bit her lip as he averted away from her eyes. "I just wanna go now…Please."

"I—Uhm, okay," Caroline agreed as she watched Stefan take a deep sigh and walk out of the room as she followed closely behind him.

It was easier than she expected to get through the crowd of people in the party, as she watched the strobe lights flashing, making it easier to make the escape when no one could really see their faces.

Caroline's body came to a complete halt, however, as she bumped into someone and she was pulled out of her determined daze as she looked into their eyes and swallowed hard when the woman before her looked dead into her eyes.

Of course she would bump into Katherine Pierce.

"Excuse me," Caroline said politely as she attempted to walk past her, only to feel the girl grab her by the hand and pull her in just close enough to say a few words.

Caroline continued to look straight ahead as Stefan exited the apartment while she heard the girl speak directly onto her ear.

"You and Stefan are cute…Really, really cute…It's a shame that it won't last."

Caroline ticked her jaw at that before pulling back just far enough to meet Katherine's eyes before she folded her arms and titled her head in response.

"I'm sorry, but…you ad Stefan didn't even make it down the aisle…How the hell would you know?"

Katherine narrowed her brows and Caroline grinned gracefully as she tucked her hair behind her ear, flashing her ring accordingly, before walking away—feeling the heat of Katherine's gaze burning on her skin, even in the dark.

Once she got into the hallway, Stefan took off without a word down the steps and she followed behind him; not saying a word then, and not offering one either when they hopped into their taxi cab.

Besides the fact that Stefan had definitely had enough drama for the night, she also didn't have any more bandages.

And if she got any closer to Katherine, the girl was going to need one.

XXXXX

"It's a myth, you know—that coffee quickens the sobriety process," Caroline said as she walked into the guest bedroom the next morning with two mugs as he leaned against the headboard with his closed until he heard her voice. "What I've found is that caffeine actually makes your hangover worse… It's like one of the worst things you can have when you're drunk."

Stefan snorted at that as Caroline took the seat beside him and handed him the mug graciously before taking a sip of her own and looking silently into his bloodshot and distant.

"So why are we drinking it?"

"I wanted to use Damon's Keurig," she admitted and Stefan scoffed softly though Caroline's smile made it hard for him to remain too pissed off; especially when she had been the one to be taking care of him for the past hour.

Scratch that—the entire night and now morning.

From wrapping his hand, to getting him home, to making him the amber roast that was sitting within his hands, Caroline had done everything short of sacrifice a small child to make sure that he would have a good night—despite the fact that Katherine showed up and her very presence caused him to crush an innocent shot glass.

He'd avoided her entirely but if Stefan knew his ex, he knew it wasn't going to be the last time he saw her around "coincidentally." Especially not once she knew that he was married and the girl he'd brought with him to the party wasn't just another girl from Williamsburg that he'd been seeing, but actually his wife.

Katherine would never let that go once she knew; he was almost dreading it.

And Caroline must have been able to tell just how much it was weighing on him, because she instantly sat up a bit straighter as she caught his eyes and Stefan attempted to look away, but he couldn't.

Because when Caroline looked at him, she was someone who was in command; someone who was demanding the truth and if he were honest, he just wasn't sure if he was ready to engage her with that just yet.

Married or not, he wasn't the type of person to just go spilling the dirty details of his private life to anyone and even though Caroline was important, there hardly was ever anyone who was an exception to the rule.

Until Katherine, actually. And she was the very one to break his heart.

"How's your hand feeling? Do you need anything? A new bandage? Ointment? Prayer?"

Stefan smiled at that as did Caroline, before he shook his head no and continued to look down.

"I just…need some self-control, I guess," he said, as he recalled the night and shook his head. "I'm really, sorry, again, Care. I mean, really—"

"How many times are you going to apologize for being human, Stefan?" she cut him off and he bit his lip. "I mean, it was dumb, yeah but you're also going through a rough time and I don't expect you to be so noble while you're dealing with it."

"But I shouldn't be the way that I was…So angry, so…irritated—"

"It's…really hard, sometimes," Caroline said softly as she looked to her mug and softly cooled the contents with the breath from her lips before looking up and catching the gaze that was lingering within his eyes. "It's hard to love and hate someone with absolute and equal measure."

Stefan remained silent at that as Caroline's jaw ticked and she thought about her own love story gone awry that seemed to draw way more comparisons to Stefan's tale than he would have liked to think.

Whether he saw it or not, they were very different sides to the same coin the more she let Klaus be her personal cause for ruining and he let Katherine be his.

They seemed to be nothing but broken and petty fools, who fell too fast and loved too hard when it came to someone who quite possibly never truly cared about either of them to begin with.

Caroline clutched her coffee tightly—as her mind wandered to the times of bliss and the times of tragedy with Klaus—as she was sure this silent Stefan was doing the same exact thing with Katherine.

Why else would he have such a look of lost admiration in his eyes?

It was the same appreciation she'd felt for her ex-boyfriend; the kind she couldn't shake no matter how hard she tried or how awful he treated her.

Like a sick disease, she was mesmerized by him—infected with his love—and even after she finally came to terms with the fact that it was something she'd ought to learn how to do without, she just couldn't.

She needed his toxicity; she wanted to now.

Because she was lonely and it was what was familiar. And because although Stefan was sitting right beside her—and looking straight away into her translucent blue eyes—he wasn't seeing her, either.

He was seeing the woman who'd ruined his life and his world; he was feeling his desire for her, even though he hated her and all that she had done to him.

Because try as they might, they still weren't over it. And she guessed they wouldn't be, for quite some time.

"You…didn't deserve whatever he did to you," Stefan broke the silence gently and Caroline felt a lump grow in her chest as he moved in a bit closer; her heart palpitating all the while, as the inches disappeared between them. "Caroline—you're… great. One of the greatest people I know…Thank you for helping me last night; for getting me out of there… I appreciate that, so much…much more than you'll ever know. And if you ever need anything from me—or just for me to stop talking now, I get it—"

Caroline pursed her lips at that as she turned in his direction only slightly and Stefan was offering her his best look of honesty that he could muster this early in the a.m.

He mostly just looked tired. Of himself, of his promises.

"I…can't ask you to hold something in if you feel it, Stefan. If you feel emotional, be emotional… I don't ever want you to hide who you are, okay? Not for me, and especially not for Katherine."

Stefan laughed softly at that as Caroline placed her empty mug down as well and he slid down against his pillow while he looked to the ceiling; the girl still following his eyes.

"I don't know how to be me, Caroline; I…don't remember how to just be myself anymore, 'cause I've spent so much time changing for her—for everyone around me… I'm much more of a lost cause than you think."

Caroline frowned at that, as she watched Stefan still staring ahead and she hesitantly—but finally—slid down beside him to share the same pillow; her eyes casting up as well before they turned to him.

Stefan didn't return her stare.

"I've been putting up with enough lost causes in my life to know that you aren't one of them, Stefan," she said as he pressed his lips shut. "You're…sweet and smart…kind—"

"Crazy…Obsessive…psychotic—"

"I don't believe that," she said, as she looked his way though he was still evading her eyes. "I don't know what happened with Katherine, but I wish you didn't believe that either… You're a good person, Stefan and I'm sure you've made mistakes, just like the rest of us, but it doesn't mean you should be punished—"

"Katherine was my first," he finally said and Caroline's voice stopped as he finally looked into her eyes and she saw the remnant of tears behind them, though he was doing his best to keep them back. "She…was my first love, the first person I'd ever been with. She… was the one, Caroline, who I thought I would marry. She meant the world to me and after everything—after all of the lies she fed me and ways she just completely used me, I still loved her…I didn't have an ounce of self-respect or self-worth because I wanted her; she was everything. And when she took her love away… I completely spiraled…I just…lost it."

"How? What happened? Did you…become depressed? Stop eating?—"

"Worse," he said shortly. "I…did things I don't want to talk about," he said as she nodded in understanding but never dropped her eyes. "I wasn't a good person, Care—"

"And Katherine was? Telling you all that you wanted to hear just so she could use it against you? Against someone who was in love with her? I don't understand why anyone would ever want to manipulate the person that they love—"

"I was an idiot for loving her the way that I did… She showed me who she was, Caroline. Again and again and again. I didn't listen—"

"So what? That gave her license to hurt you?" she asked angrily. "To treat you like shit—"

"She didn't need me to give her permission for anything, Caroline, she…" he stopped for a moment before he looked at her and Caroline followed his eyes. "She did what she wanted, how she wanted, whenever she wanted… I made the mistake of thinking I was different; that I was special to her and I wasn't… I was just another number."

Caroline's lip trembled at that as she watched Stefan getting up; her eyes casting over his bare chest for just a moment as he swiped his t-shirt off of the chair and pulled his arms through the sleeves. She didn't say a word as she watched him walking around the room, gathering his things for a shower, before she finally stood up as well and hugged her arms over her tank top and attempted to catch his eyes.

Stefan didn't take the bait.

Caroline in response cleared her throat.

"You're not just a number, Stefan," she said as he continued to move—even walking past her. "And you're wrong if you think so…She's wrong if she thinks so."

"Then what am I, Caroline? Who am I, exactly?"

"Everything," she wanted to blurt out, but she remained silent as he watched her eyes and offered a complacent smile.

"That's what I thought, I'm…nothing."

Stefan pursed his lips at that as he grabbed the last thing before he headed out of the room and Caroline sighed as she looked to the clock and planted her hands on her waist.

Getting through to him was going to be tougher than she thought.

Luckily enough for her, she didn't have more time to even think about it. She had a meeting with Enzo to get ready for.

Today was dinner etiquette. Here was to hoping he'd teach her the proper fork to stab Katherine Pierce with if she was ever given the chance.

XXXX

"What the hell happened to you?" Damon asked, as Stefan brushed past him and into the kitchen, while his brother seemed to be cooking something over the stove later that evening while Stefan had successfully holed himself up in his room for nearly the entire day. "And what's that around your hand?"

"It's a bandage, Damon," he said softly before he reached into the fridge for the water and began to pour himself a glass. "I hurt my hand."

"Bummer," Damon retorted as he stirred the pot of rice and lifted a brow. "Was it in a fight? Did you kick somebody's ass?"

Stefan snorted at that as he sat down at the table, watching his brother cook; something he hadn't done in quite some time so it intrigued him as to why he was bothering right now.

"I haven't seen you make dinner in months… The people down at the Greek place even have your number on speed dial—they called earlier to see if you'd be dining in or out," he said as he looked on. "What's the occasion?"

"There is none," Damon said in an even tone before he turned around to look into Stefan's eyes. "Your, uh… friend Caroline reminded me via text message how much a pain in the ass Enzo is, so I decided to do something nice and feed her for her trouble." Stefan froze at that as Damon shook his head and raised a hand. "Don't worry, baby bro—I'm not moving in on her, if that's what you're thinking… She's definitely not my type, ergo, all yours."

"She's not mine," Stefan replied quickly as Damon rolled his eyes. "Look, I know I'm married to her, Damon—"

"Which would mean you liked her enough at some point to propose…But go on. I wanna hear this," Damon interrupted as Stefan swallowed hard.

"Things are complicated with Caroline and me. And yeah I 'proposed' and we slept together but I just…she has a lot going on, Damon. I have a lot going on—"

"Katherine?" his brother asked bluntly as Stefan looked into his eyes and Damon turned off the stove. "I heard she was there at the party last night, which is a shocker to no one… Marcel texted me. I'm guessing that's what really happened to your hand…"

"Why didn't you give me a heads up then, if you knew she'd be there? Why did you just let me walk into that death trap?"

"Because sooner or later, you are going to have to deal with what happened, Stefan. You're going to have to acknowledge the fact that, yeah, she broke your heart and it sucked, but you can survive without her and around her… You can't let what Katherine did do this to you. Especially when you won't tell any of your damn friends what actually happened and everyone in the city thinks calling off the marriage and the horse-drawn carriages was because of you—"

"It's easier said than done," Stefan said as he rose to his feet and his brother furrowed his brows. "You're not the one who had the unfortunate displeasure of finding out that the woman that you loved had already fallen hard for somebody else… You're also not the one who had to deal with the fact that it was your father…and she was sleeping with him…just days before you were going to get married. What do you think Dad will do, exactly, if I let that get out? If I tell everyone his soon-to-be daughter-in-law was a lot more than future family? That she was his mistress? He already threw me in the nearest mental hospital the second I found out that it happened…He'll gut me like a fish if anyone else knows…I'm surprised he hasn't already."

Damon ticked his jaw at that as his brother walked out of the kitchen and he pursed his lips tightly when he heard the front door open and Caroline Forbes walk in; her heels clicking against the hardwood floor, as her mouth formed into a smile as she smelled dinner in the kitchen just as she set down her bag and tucked a strand behind her ear.

"Mmmm, is that teriyaki? It smells grea—"Caroline stopped when Stefan walked back out of his room with a jacket on as he headed for the door but she grabbed his hand to stop him.

Her fingers clutched his skin for a moment as she smiled brightly, though his gaze was anything but the same.

"Hey, Stefan—are you staying for dinner? It smells really good. Damon actually cooked," she added brightly and he ran his tongue over his teeth before looking up to see his brother emerge in the background, just as he looked back into Caroline's hopeful eyes. "And you know, Enzo taught me all about dinner etiquette today. I could show you what I learned—"

"I'm going to see my grandmother," he said flatly as she watched his eyes and Stefan backed out of his grasps as his fingers found the doorknob and Caroline silently watched on. "Enjoy the food… Damon doesn't cook often."

And with that, he was out the door, as she turned around to face his brother and the man offered a general shrug before turning back into the kitchen as Caroline let out a soft sigh.

So much for trying to end this night on a hopeful note.

XXXXX

"I don't understand what I did wrong, I mean—I just want to help him," Caroline said hopelessly as she raised her glass of wine to her lips and Damon listened on at the dining room table, as he texted with one hand on his phone and ate with the other. "But it's like every time I try to pull information out of him, he shuts down. It never fails…I keep failing."

"Mmm," Damon only replied and Caroline's eyes narrowed as she watched the lawyer texting away before she leaned forward and slapped his hand away from his iPhone to get his attention.

He scowled; she folded her arms in response.

"It'd be nice if you were listening to me while I ranted about your brother."

"And it'd be even better if you didn't touch me or this device while I closed a very important business deal with one of the top athletes in the nation."

"You really are all business, aren't you?"

"When it comes to handling my job? Yes. Call me old-fashioned, but I like to pay my bills and keep a roof over my head… It's really nice not being homeless…or poor." Caroline scoffed at that. "What?"

"Still taking jabs at the fact that I'm from a small town, I see," she answered as she sat up straighter. "How did you know about Mystic Falls, anyway?... When I said that it was where I was from, you more or less gave me a lesson on the town demographics… Not the other way around. How?"

"None of your business how."

"Ah, so you're confirming that you're a liar but I'm just supposed to sit still and keep my mouth shut."

"I haven't lied about anything, Blondie… I just haven't told you the entire truth."

"Which is what, exactly?... Is it about a girl? Did you, in fact, date some riff-raff of your own—"

"It's not about a girl but it's also none of your business… So let it go. Seriously."

Caroline grew completely silent at that as Damon rose from his feet and she tugged her lip when she watched his pick up a few plates before he headed for the kitchen and began to clear them off.

Caroline stood up as she went after him and watched as he wordlessly emptied the scraps into the garbage and wrapped the other leftovers in saran wrap before placing them in the fridge.

She cleared her throat as she watched him; Damon never turned in her direction.

"Go away, Blondie."

"What are you hiding?" she ignored him completely as he faced the sink and instantly turned on the faucet. "If it's not a girl, then what is it?...Who is it?"

Damon continued to rinse the dished and Caroline swallowed hard as she inched in closer; her eyes never casting away from Damon's back until she stood beside him and they peered right in his own.

Damon huffed frustratedly as he switched the faucet off and stared at Caroline for a moment before he opened his mouth to speak.

"It's not a big deal. Barbie—just…someone from my past."

"Like who? An aunt? An uncle? A cousin—"

"My father," he said as her eyes widened and Damon ticked his jaw while she never diverted away from his eyes. "My…biological father happens to be from Mystic Falls…I…found that out one day a few years ago, when I foolishly decided to look through my mother's things when I'd been trying to find something else."

Caroline's eyes remained the size of saucers and Damon smiled bitterly before looking towards the sink.

"Does Stefan know?"

"Like hell he doesn't…And I don't plan on telling him either."

"Damon—you have to. You shouldn't keep secrets from him—"

"Why not? I see the way he looks at my Dad for cheating on our Mom… Stefan doesn't have a tolerance for it. If he found out Mary did the same to Giuseppe, what would stop him from being disgusted all the same?"

"You, Damon," Caroline said as she took his shoulders into her hands and stared into his big blue eyes as they remained unwavering. "He could overlook that—overlook everything—because of you, Damon… I don't know much but I do know that… I know that you mean more to him than anyone else in the world."

Damon inhaled at that as he watched Caroline's eyes and without another word, she leaned in a gave him a hug around the shoulders; one he slowly but surely returned as his hands met her waist and her head his chest.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled beneath her breath as she held on and Damon didn't say a word. "But you're also really lucky, Damon… Really lucky."

Damon said nothing to that and was only awakened out of his thoughts and the hug when the door opened and Stefan was standing in the frame—a dubious look on his face as he watched the two backing out of the embrace while he walked off.

That could be bad.

"I'll go talk to him… I won't say anything," Caroline promised as she went after Stefan, only to find him in his bedroom pulling on his iPod as she locked the door behind them.

He didn't look up.

"How was the hospital? Is she any better?" Caroline asked and Stefan shrugged lightly as he was still looking down; looking away.

"She's dying. Nothing new there."

"I—I thought it was asthma?"

"You'll learn never to trust this family," Stefan said dryly as she furrowed her brows and he looked up. "Speaking of which, you and Damon are close."

"We're not," Caroline stated as she sat at the edge of the bed and folded her legs. "I was just thanking him for dinner…We have an understanding."

"Oh yeah? About what, exactly?"

"About you," Caroline said as he found her eyes and the girl moved in an inch closer and Stefan licked his teeth. "How much we both care about you is what's holding this together, Stefan…How much I care about you—"

"Caroline, stop—"

"No," she shot back much to his surprise and her own as she said it; his brows furrowed and forehead scrunched the second she extended her arm just far enough and pulled out his ear buds. "Just listen to me…Just for a second."

He didn't say anything as she cleared her throat and felt her stomach turning as he gave her his undivided attention and she tried her best to figure out just what the hell she was going to do with it.

It was now or never.

"I don't know what Katherine did or why your friends still care about her or even why your Dad adores her but I just… I wanted to say that even though this marriage is fake and our being together isn't real, my friendship with you is, Stefan…And I'm not going to let anybody you ever again…Not even me. I mean that."

Stefan looked down to their hands and she swallowed hard as her fingers grazed against his own; as her thumb swiped across his palm, before he looked back into her eyes and Caroline offered him the best look of honesty that she could give him.

Protection.

"You shouldn't care so much, Caroline… I'm different—a lot different than I was when we met in D.C… I've changed… I've gotten a lot—"

"Darker? Disillusioned?...Sadder? I know. I'm not blind, Stefan."

"Then you should see why I can't allow you to get any closer than you've already been… I'm a mess, Caroline. I drink too much, I'm way too sensitive, I let everything in—and I let all out it get to me—"

"So let me in, Stefan," Caroline replied as she looked into his eyes and she licked softly at her lips. "Let me get to you, because I don't want to hurt you."

"And I want to believe you, but I don't know how…I don't even know how to believe me."

"So…show me," Caroline answered as she grabbed his hand again and pulled him in towards her—his face just inches away from her own, while her other hand captured his jaw. "Better yet…let me show you."

Stefan was taken by surprise, as he was pulled in to meet her and Caroline had apparently shocked herself too because she didn't know what else to say now that he was a mere few inches away, just waiting.

Waiting for her to say something, do something—for him to feel something.

Right now was the perfect time.

But her heart skipped and her mind when into a dizzy when the words she was going to say stopped and her lips pressed to his cheek—or more specifically, the corner of his mouth—and lingered there for a second before she pulled away and quietly looked right into his eyes.

It was a simple, gentle kiss; not even one on the lips, and still—her heart was pounding as if she just ran a 5k race.

Ten times.

Stefan remained silent as his eyes staring into hers quietly as he seemed to be observing every inch of her expression—every curve of her face.

"I just… have been wanting to do that, since last night," she confessed as her fingers trembled and she offered a nervous smile. "It's not much, but—"

"Do it again, Caroline" he commanded softly as her brow rose and he sat taller, though her eyes had ben softening all the while. "You can…do that again. If you want to."

Caroline looked at him hesitantly for a moment—unsure of whether or not she should bite the bullet—and without another thought, leaned in and planted another kiss—this time firmer—onto his jaw. Caroline's eyes closed tightly at the motion and his thumb swiped across her neck as she tried her best to breathe evenly, though in the moment, she wasn't sure how she was breathing at all.

Stefan clutched her hand onto the back of Caroline's head and he inhaled her slowly; quietly absorbing all that was before him, while he felt Caroline pull him into a tight hug and her hands wrapped around his shoulders.

His fingers were stroking her hair—and if she were completely honest? Just the touch of it was driving her crazy.

Caroline away from his shoulder and involuntarily pressed her forehead to his while she found herself easing him against the wall beneath him; suddenly needing the support.

Holding on for dear life, honestly.

When her mouth moved in just as it did before but instead of landing on his cheek, landed on the nape of his neck, Stefan shut her eyes again as he felt himself let out a regretful sigh.

He attempted to sit up but Caroline stopped him; her lips pressed to his skin and her hands moved down to his sides—unable to move or do anything that would either satisfy her or make sense in this situation.

Nothing was making sense—not right now, and it probably wouldn't anymore.

Should she hold his hands? Should she push him away? Should she pull him in deeper?

Caroline weighed and debated her options as she felt her stomach churning with anxiety but her heart pounding with desire, as Stefan successfully pushed her beneath him and planted a kiss against her throat turned from gentle and arguably innocent to something passionate and borderline savage.

"Stefan," she said lightly, because it was the only thing she could manage to get out as his tongue trailed below her ear and his hands pulled her in tightly at the waist, so that she was right up against him.

She wanted this, she recognized, when a soft moan escaped her lips as he let down the strap to her top and softly peppered kisses right along her shoulder. Her fingers gripped unashamedly at his hair and before she knew it, she felt his mouth covering her chest as he brought her completely into his hands; palming her entirely, while she breathed erratically into the air.

No.

She needed to stop this; now and without another question. Before they were victim to another slip-up that they wouldn't be able to chalk up to the alcohol, considering the fact that neither one of them were drunk but both their inhibitions were continuously running low.

She needed him off of her immediately; and she needed to stop falling for this.

And she might even actually try harder if it didn't feel so damn good.

Caroline exhaled as she felt Stefan's lips cast over her ear and she felt out of her own body when her fingers eased beneath the front of his shirt to feel his abs; to feel all that she couldn't stop thinking about, ever since they were in Las Vegas.

Everything that she wanted—that she was fighting—so, so badly.

Why did she still want him so much?

When Stefan's lips leaned in and nearly touched hers, Caroline instantly turned away, allowing them to land on her cheek just before he could press them to her mouth. When she looked into his eyes as he sent her a puzzled expression, Caroline quietly pulled his shirt over his arms and tossed it to the floor, while her hands continued to glide over his pecs.

Stefan looked completely and utterly confused.

"No kissing," she said firmly as he followed her gaze and the blonde sat up taller. "If we kiss, we get attached and we can't get attached until you're ready to open up. We—"

Caroline's speech stopped when Stefan's hand dove into her jeans and drove his fingers within her so deeply, she physically almost lost it as he pushed her into the bed and she moaned so loudly she was sure Damon heard it down the hall.

Oops.

Caroline grunted as she felt her hand reaching for the drawer at the night table and Stefan enclosed it with his own fingers before looking to her eyes and offering a breathless vow.

"There are a lot of things I need to do to you, first, if you don't mind," he said and Caroline's eyes snapped shut with desire and his lips formed against her chest before he pulled her pants and underwear off in one fell swoop—tossing them to the floor.

Her hand pushed his head further between her legs and her throat remained breathless as Stefan explored her with his tongue so hungrily, she would have imagined that he didn't have breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

That he was making her all three.

And lucky for him, she didn't have anywhere else that she'd rather be.

Not even at the other end of a call as her phone rang across the room on the dresser and the sounds of she and Stefan drowned it out successfully until the damn thing went to voicemail.

It rang three times before the call finally ended, and no more than thirsty seconds later, the screen lit up with a voicemail notification that definitely wasn't going to get checked as long as she had a Stefan Salvatore in her bed.

Whatever had been so urgent was just going to have to wait a few hours.

A/N: Hey everyone, so I know I've been gone for a while but I hope you didn't miss me much! What are your thoughts on the latest? Caroline's brief run in with Katherine—that I promise will be much more in next chapter, Stefan not being able to quite open up to her but sort of the revealing between he and Damon Katherine's indiscretions with his own dad, Damon and Caroline having a moment, and finally, Caroline going for what she wants and taking no prisoners? Also, who was calling her? What do you think happens next? Will Stefan and Caroline continue their marriage-but-friends-with-benefits scenario? Will Damon tell his brother they're only half-related? Will everything that Caroline's doing be enough to win his parents over the next time they meet? As always thank you for reading and I do hope you'll leave your thoughts b/c I love to see your comments and questions at the end of each chapter! You're all the best. Until next time? xoxo.