Lying on the hood of Damon's car, Caroline and Nik stared at the stars above.

William was sleeping soundly in the backseat of the car, while they caught up with everything that happened in the past seven years.

"Are you sure he's okay? He won't wake up and freak out that we're not there?"

Caroline shook her head, "No…He never did before. I mean, I used to leave him in the car when I had to work overnight. He was fine, he'd read or play a video game."

"You'd work overnight? Where?"

"We lived in Georgia for a while…When he was four, I thought I could take care of him without Damon or Elena helping me, so I moved away with him. I got a job at a diner and they made me work the graveyard shift, but I couldn't find a babysitter, so I'd take him with me…" She explained, a little ashamed.

Nik looked at her and felt bad immediately, she never was supposed to do that…

"I'm sorry you went through all of that alone…" He whispered to her.

She looked at him and smiled a little, "It's okay…I saw it as…payback for everything I did…"

"What do you mean?" He asked curiously.

"I did a lot of horrible things when I thought you died…I wasn't the best mother…Hell I was the most horrible mother on the planet. I hardly deserve for William to even smile at me."

"Now I don't believe that." He said to her, knowing she was wrong.

She shook her head, "You should…Ask Damon about it all, he probably will tell you. I was a pain in the ass and he just…he helped me through everything and made me become what I am now. A woman trying to do good…Trying so hard to be a good mother."

"You are a good mother."

"No I'm not…You have no idea what I've done."

"Then tell me." He said as he sat up straight and looked at her.

She sighed and was about to speak when they heard the car door open, "Mommy…I'm hungry."

They both turned and saw William rubbing his eyes while stepping out of the car.

Caroline immediately wiped her eyes and slid off the car, "Okay baby, we'll pick up before going home." She said as she made her way to him.

He looked at Nik and smiled, then frowned and looked at Caroline, "Is Lockwood going to be there?"

She shook her head, "Not tonight, don't worry."

"Good, I don't want another fight tonight. Uncle Damon said one more and he was calling the cops."

Caroline looked down and whispered, "Shh, let's not talk about that right now."

Nik looked at them, confused, he wanted to know what William meant but said nothing.

He would ask William about it later…


"It's kind of crazy…Nik is alive…Caroline actually smiled…Everything is falling into place perfectly." Elena said as Damon drove them home.

"I know…I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop…I mean, how the hell did we not know that Nik was alive? Why were we even told that he had died? It doesn't make sense." Damon said as he held his girlfriend's hand.

"We'll figure that out later, right not we need to let them bask in this amazing happiness. Imagine how great this is, Damon. Tyler will be out of her life for good…She'll stop hurting herself…William will have his father."

"But there is still so much that is wrong here. They were lied to. And there is so much Caroline has been through that could ruin everything between them…it's a lot of questions and 'What Ifs'." Damon said as they pulled into the driveway.

"Like I said, we will figure all this out soon…But right now, I need to tell you something." She said as he put the car in park.

He looked at her, "Okay…Tell me."

She pulled his hand and placed it on her stomach, "I have a present for you…But it's taking a while to arrive…"

He stared at her, slowly putting the pieces together, for a moment she became nervous, but then her worries disappeared when he smiled at her.

"Are you being serious right now?" He asked, a smile still on his face.

"Very serious…I've known for a while, but I didn't know when to tell you." Elena said with a giggle.

Damon could do nothing but smile and lean over to kiss his girl.

Elena kissed him back then pulled away, "We have to tell Caroline. I've been dying to for the past two weeks!"

Damon laughed then looked over at the house, he noticed that Caroline was home, her bedroom light was on, "I guess we can. She'll be thrilled."

That was all that Elena needed to hear, because she practically jumped out of the car and ran into the house.

Damon smiled and followed her, what they walked into was a bit of a shock…


Walking into the hotel, Rebekah frantically searched for her brother. Cursing, she pulled out her phone and dialed his phone again.

It went straight to voicemail, "Damn it Niklaus! Answer your phone!" She practically screamed before hanging up once again.

This was bad. This was very bad. She had to tell him what those psychotic people were planning.

They had to know, but how could she tell him? She had no idea where he was.

She quickly ran out of the hotel, hell bent on searching for him when she literally ran into the one person who could help her.

"Oh god, Stefan…You got here quickly." She said as she put a hand to her heart.

"We were in the next state over, we were driving to see Filiz's family, but caught a quick flight." He said as he put a hand on her shoulders, "What's wrong?"

"Everything!" She said as Filiz walked into the hotel.

Stefan looked at them both, "Explain. Now." He said as Rebekah exhaled and began her tale of the night's events.


As Caroline carried a sleeping William to his room, she felt the tension, thick in the air, emanating from Nik.

She gently put William into bed and tucked him in, giving him a soft kiss on the forehead before leaving the room to face Nik and his questions.

He looked at her and smiled a little, "Care…Do you mind telling me what William meant by Damon calling the cops?"

She sighed, "Tyler and I fight a lot…Sometimes it gets so out of hand that Damon and Elena have to break it up and…Most of the time, Damon is a second from calling the cops, but I stop him."

"But why would he call the cops at all?" He asked.

Caroline sighed, "Because, Tyler…I get him so mad sometimes and he…" She sighed, not knowing how to say it without sounding pathetic.

She didn't have to continue, Nik figured it out on his own, "He hits you?!" He asked incredulous.

The only response he got was a look from her, a hopeless look that said "Yes".

Nik tried desperately to reign in his anger, he didn't want to fight with her, not after waiting so long to be with her, "Why are you even with him, Caroline?!" He failed to not yell at her, he was so angry, could you blame him?

She looked away, but yelled back, "Because! Because Nik he was helping me take care of our son! That's why I was still with him! You can't blame me for that!"

Their voices were so loud, it was a shock that William hadn't awoken yet. It wasn't much of a shock, he sleeps like the dead.

"Like hell I can't! What if he was to hit our son, Caroline?! What if he was to go too far and kill you!? I have a hard time believing you have such low self-respect!"

"Every time he hits me, I know I deserve it! Okay!? I feel like I deserve it so I take it! There! I said it! Are you happy now?!"

"No! No, I'm not happy! I'm livid! And why the bloody hell do you believe that you deserve it?! No one deserves this, Caroline!"

"I do! I do because I tried to kill our son! So that is why I deserve it, Nik! I'm not as good as you think!" She yelled, tears leaking out of her eyes.

He just stared at her in shock, "You tried to kill…our son?" His voice lost its volume, the words coming out as a whisper.

She lost her steam and slowly sank to the floor, sobbing into her hands "Yes…I tried to smother him…Damon stopped me before I could and I…I hated him for it…I just wanted William dead…I wished for him to die…So many times…"

He turned away from her, not able to even look at her, causing her to cry more, "I'm sorry!"

He shook his head and heard the front door open, from the corner of his eyes, he saw Damon and Elena standing in the doorway.

"I can't even look at you right now, Caroline…" Nik said in a broken voice before leaving, walking briskly past the couple.

Caroline just shook her head and sobbed into her hands, knowing she ruined everything.

Elena heard William asking for his dad from upstairs and quickly went to check on the boy as Damon went over to his sister.

"Go to him…Tell him everything, please…I can't…He hates me…Please just tell him I'm sorry…" His sister sobbed as she looked at him, pleading.

He nodded and stood, following the man that was the only one who could truly break his sister.


"I don't know where he is, and I'm so scared, Stefan!" Rebekah finished her story, nearly rambling.

"Okay…If Caroline really is alive, then he'd be with her. At her house." Filiz said, being the voice of reason right now.

Stefan was shocked, to say the least, he hoped and prayed that Rebekah was telling the truth and his Caroline was really alive and well.

Without a word to either women, he left the hotel and hopped into his rental car and took off.

Filiz smiled a little, "We should let him go first, he's really missed her…"

Rebekah looked at Filiz, "Doesn't that bother you? Having the man you love be in love with his best friend's girl?"

Filiz frowned a little, "He isn't in love with Caroline…"

"Then you are clearly blind. I heard his sobs whenever her birthday rolled around. He clearly is deeply in love with her. I just never had the heart to tell you or Nik." She said before walking outside of the hotel, leaving Filiz to dwell in her resurfacing insecurities.


"Nik, wait up. Listen, whatever Caroline told you…She didn't do it on her own. She was sick…Doctors called it a mental breakdown, she needed to take meds, is a huge deal. It wasn't Caroline."

Nik turned to him and glared, "So she didn't voluntarily hate our son and try to smother him to death?"

Damon sighed, "Elena said she had postpartum depression…That combined with the loss of you made her do crazy things. Things Caroline wouldn't normally do."

"And did postpartum also make Tyler Lockwood hit her?" He said with a snarl.

Damon rubbed his face, "No, but that was…Something I had no control over. Caroline was adamant about staying with him. I couldn't change her mind, Nik. I couldn't stop him and I'm sorry. Just don't blame her for that, in her mind, she had to take care of William in her own way and pay for what she did. Don't be mad at her for that."

Nik looked at him and shook his head, "I want to be mad at her…Mad at her for what she did to William…For being with Tyler…For letting Tyler hurt her but…the only person I can be mad at is myself." Nik said before walking further down the street, away from his girl, his son and the one place he felt a moment of peace.


Caroline was still sitting on the ground, crying, she heard Elena reading a story to a restless William, but she couldn't stand or even raise her head.

When she heard the front door open, she assumed it was Damon, she was happy and shocked when a hand pulled her face up to look her in the eyes.

She smiled through her tears when she saw Stefan gazing at her in an unfamiliar way, she threw her arms around him and hugged him, "I've missed you so much!" She said, leaning into him.

He wrapped his arms around her and held her close, he put his face in her hair and inhaled her scent in a loving way…A way that Caroline was curious about.

"I've missed you too, Care…" He said with a smile and tears in his eyes.

He was happy again too…


A/N: Can you see that I have some hidden plot twists brewing?

I hope you all like it...And Yana...Don't kill me!

-WeirdOne