"So, uh, Caroline?" I started hesitantly as we drove back to Mystic Falls. I was driving while Caroline was in the passenger seat and Rebekah had opted to sit with Matt in the backseat so that she could keep an eye on him. Olivia had stolen one of the abandoned cars at the farmhouse now that no one was alive to protest and Stefan and Damon were driving their own car back.

"Yeah?" The young blonde vampire asked me as she glanced over at me from the corner of her eye. She was looking much better now that she had some blood in her system.

"Uh, it would probably be best that we don't tell Niklaus about this little excursion."

"Ha!" Rebekah barked out a laugh as she tried to suppress a grin and I glared at her over my shoulder.

"Don't worry, I have no intention of telling Klaus anything about this." Caroline informed me with a small smile and I smiled in relief. I really didn't want to think about what Nik would do to me if I let anything happen to the woman he was in love with.

"Thank you. I much prefer my head attached to my shoulders." I joked even though I was half serious. A comfortable silence fell over the car after that with the only sounds being the soft music coming from the radio and the rhythmic thump thump thump of Matt's heartbeat. I glanced over at the young vampire next to me and smiled slightly then I saw her eyes flutter closed. I knew that she was exhausted from the events of the day and was surprised that was had made it that far without passing out. I looked back at the couple in the backseat and saw the female Original gently stroking the humans face. It looked almost lovingly and I had to smile at the scene in happiness because if anyone I knew deserved happiness it was Rebekah. I pulled to a stop outside of the Salvatore boarding house and stifled a yawn as I realised just how tired I actually was.

"Are we there yet?" Rebekah asked softly from the backseat and I looked over my shoulder with a smile as I nodded to her. "I'm just going to carry Matt inside. He looks too peaceful to wake."

"Okay. I'll get Caroline up and then join you inside." I told her softly so that I didn't wake up Matt or Caroline and she nodded with a smile as she lifted Matt in her arms effortlessly before opening the car door. She closed the gently so that the noise didn't wake anyone up before using her vampire speed to carry the sleeping boy into the house. I turned to the sleeping girl next to me and I smiled softly as I thought to myself that Nik had picked one of the good ones. "Caroline…" I said gently as I touched her shoulder and she jumped up startled as she breathed deeply. Her blue eyes darted around the car quickly as she tried to figure out where so was before landing on me. I smiled at her reassuringly as her breathing evened out and she pressed a hand to her chest in instinct even though her heart wasn't beating anymore. I slowly raised my hand to tuck a piece of her loose blonde behind her eye as I looked at her in worry and she smiled at me weakly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She said determinedly but I could hear the pain and fear leaking through the cracks of her façade so I smiled at her gently.

"I know that you think you have to be strong all the time, but it is okay to no be okay."

"Oh, I've been tortured before…" she tried to joke lightly as she gave me a half smile and I chuckled lightly at her as I leaned my head back on the headrest.

"So have I. A number of times actually. It doesn't make it easier to deal with though." I told her honestly as I glanced out the window and stared at the nothing before looking back at Caroline with a ghost of a smile on my lips. "If you ever want to talk, you can come to me. Sometimes it's easier to talk to someone you don't know very well."

"Hmm. I get that. It's like I don't feel I can talk to Elena about Klaus because of how much everyone hates him. I'm really confused about everything but I can't even talk about it with my best friend." Caroline ranted to me as she waved her hands all over the place as she talked and I had to smile at her.

"Well, whenever you want to talk…" I joked lightly and she blushed scarlet in embarrassment as she looked down and then back up at me with a smile. I laughed at her lightly as we both climbed out of the car and made our way to the house. The house was eerily quiet as we entered through front door and I looked around for any sign of Rebekah but when I couldn't see her I figured she was upstairs with a sleeping Matt. Caroline waved to me with a smile as she made her way up the stairs to one of the spare bedrooms and I smiled back at her as I made my way to the living room to pour myself a drink. I sighed tiredly as I poured myself some bourbon but then froze when I felt a presence in the room. I looked around the room for any sign of movement but I couldn't see anything out of place. I put the drink down blindly as I moved to the centre of the living room and I turned slowly in a circle. I froze again when I felt a familiar presence behind me but I refused to turn around to face them even though I was desperate to see their face after all this time.

"Ariana…" he said in his gentle melodic voice and I closed my eyes as the sound sent cold shivers down my spine.