She sat on the floor of her bathroom, wondering how to do this. She wasn't sure if she wanted to, but she had no other choice. It hurt so much, it was both mental and physical pain. The only way out of this pain was to turn the switch. But she didn't know what would happen if she did it. She didn't want to just go over the deep end. She couldn't become a murderer just because of a heartbreak.

But it was so tempting to just stop feeling, to stop feeling the pain, the grief, the heartbreak. She would be rid of all of it if she just flipped that one little switch. But something kept nagging at her to not do it. A small voice in her brain kept telling her to stay strong.

She slowly got up and looked at herself in the mirror. Her face was stained with tears, her eyes puffy and red, her face pale and worn. Suddenly, something roared up inside her like a wave. She looked at herself intently. Pathetic. That was the word for her state right now. Pathetic and weak. But Caroline Forbes was not pathetic or weak. Caroline Forbes didn't let anyone get to her so easily.

Turning on the water, she splashed the water on her face, washing it clean. She was not going to be so weak and cry over everything. She was strong and confident. So what if he broke his promise, if he broke her heart. So what if he decided to drop her for Elena, that was life! She was not going to sit around and whine about everything. She was done with him and done with everything that had her look so pathetic.

She dried off her face with a towel and pulled her hair into a bun. Looking at herself in the mirror, she smiled brightly. There was the Caroline she liked so much. The strong, confident and happy Caroline. The one that could take everything and anything. She was going to get over this like she got over everything else. She was going to do this, she was going to be fine.

She got out of the bathroom and headed for her room. Grabbing a pair of shorts and a tank top from her closet, she quickly changed into them and headed downstairs, her spirits lifted high. She was going to get through this, she kept chanting over and over in her head and somehow, it seemed to work. Her mood felt a thousand times better and she felt a smile spread across her lips.

The smile, however, vanished when she saw Damon standing by the windows in her living room. "Damon" Caroline gasped. As soon as he saw her, his face broke into a huge grin. "Hello Barbie" he said softly and stepped towards her. "Good to see you didn't take the heartbreak so bad" he continued, his grin still in place. Caroline felt unknown emotions run through her at seeing him. She didn't know why, but it felt good to see him.

"Wish I could say the same about you" Caroline said, eyeing his slightly red eyes and messed up state. "Have you been drinking again, Damon?" Damon simply smirked, putting his hand up in the air. "You got me" he said, finally standing right in front of her. Caroline felt a rush of warmth course through her when he suddenly wrapped his arms tightly around her waist, burying his head in her neck, inhaling her scent. She was frozen, both physically and mentally. Damon was hugging her ... Damon was hugging her?!

He slowly pulled back, bringing his hand up to touch her cheek. "How are you feeling?" he asked, his eyes full of love and concern. It was such a genuine question that Caroline found her breath hitching.

And just like that, she felt it. The feeling of something spreading throughout her, something for Damon. A feeling of pure joy and happiness, a feeling of tenderness and warmth, of comfort and affection ... a feeling of love? Was this truly something that could be compared to love, what she was feeling for Damon right now? The fact that he asked her how she felt, the fact that there was no spite or sneer or mock or anything, but concern in his voice, the fact that his eyes showed so much emotion that she could faint, showed her the part of Damon that she always hoped would still be hidden somewhere inside him.

Could she really love him? Was there truly something true in her feelings for him or was she just glad that someone cared about her like he did right now? Could it be that she was just so miserable that even the slightest hint of sympathy had her thoughts running mad? Or could it truly be her feeling something for Damon?

"Barbie, are you alright?" Damon said again, snapping her out of her thoughts. She gave him a wide-eyed look and quickly turned away, his hand dropping off her cheek in the process. "I'm fine, Damon" she said flatly and Damon felt something tug at his heart. He'd seen it, he'd seen the look in her eyes. He was so sure she'd felt something right now, so sure she understood, but then she'd turned away. Just like that. It frustrated him so much when she did something so unpredictable. He could never make out what went inside her head. One moment she was lost in his eyes, next moment she was cold and distant. He really didn't get this girl sometimes.

"You may look fine, but I know you don't feel fine" he said softly, making Caroline close her eyes. She didn't know why, but she didn't want to feel something for him. She didn't want to put herself out for more heartbreak and if she was honest with herself, she didn't believe Damon had any feelings towards her. Even if her heart told her otherwise, her brain seemed to want to make everything logical and simply told her to stay away from him. "In fact, I bet you caught yourself wishing to turn it off" he whispered and her heartbeat picked speed.

How could he know her thoughts like that? Why did he keep saying things that were so horribly true? Somehow, Damon saw right through her and it unnerved her how much he understood everything she was going through. She was about to repeat herself again when Damon's phone buzzed.

He sighed, looking at the flash of Liz' name on the screen. "Maybe you should take that call" Caroline said quickly, jumping at the chance to put some distance between herself and him. It was scary how much she actually liked his presence. She shouldn't be feeling this way, especially not about Damon. She couldn't feel that way about him and after last night's events, she decided to take a break from the whole love thing. She couldn't deal with more heartbreak.

"I guess I should check, in case they have a lead on him and actually do catch him.." Damon muttered, gazing at Caroline who still had her back to him. Caroline heard him and furrowed her brows in confusion. Who was he talking about? But before she could ask, Damon sighed and, giving her one last look, vampire rushed out of her house.

Caroline closed her eyes tightly, refusing to let even a single tear escape them. Damon confused her like no one ever had and her feelings didn't help matters at all. Why the hell did she suddenly like being with him, like being close to him? Why did it feel good to see him, to see his smile or even that smirk she secretly liked? Something was really off about this entire situation because no matter how much she tried to deny it, she knew she felt something for Damon.

And as she walked back to her room, she realized she hadn't thought about Stefan at all since Damon came. Not even once.

He was pacing back and forth, not knowing what to do. The rage was still overwhelming him, but it had calmed down a lot since last night. He thought of all the people he killed, of what Caroline would say if he told her.

"Damnit, Care.." he muttered, running a hand through his hair. He was sure she was hurting, probably even more since he'd done so much to prove to her that he really did love her. Why did Elena do that? Why the hell couldn't she just stick to one freaking person? Did she really think he would take her back, just like that? He wondered how her brain worked sometimes, that is if she even had a brain. She ruined everything for him and Caroline. Stefan knew how insecure Caroline was, especially when it came to Elena.

He'd tried so hard to prove to her that it was her and her alone for him, but along came Elena and wasted all his work by kissing him in front of Caroline. Stefan was glad he had left Elena before he'd killed her. He knew Caroline would never forgive him for killing Elena, even if she was mad at her. So Elena was safe, much to his dismay. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for the other people he'd massacred. But what could he do? He'd thought Caroline would hate him, he'd thought she'd never want to see him again.

That's why he'd let all his anger out on those people. But then, he'd remembered Damon being there as well. He'd remembered Damon coming a second after Caroline had seen him with Elena, and he'd remembered how Damon had taken off right after Caroline. That could hardly be coincidental, could it?

So, after his rage had calmed down and he could think about other things than just blood, he'd pondered over this and realized Damon definitely had something to do with this. That's why he decided to go to Caroline, decided to try to save their relationship. Nothing of what happened was his fault, after all. Caroline would understand. She had to understand or Stefan would lose it again.

Caroline trusted him, he knew that. She wouldn't just run away from him and never see him again. She would want an explanation, and he was going to give it to her. Everything would be alright again.

With that thought in mind, he set out for Caroline's house.

A/N: tell me what you think of the chapter people :D

check out my story on wattpad: wattpad story/3647414 (a matter of time by wishfulsparkle)

follow me on tumblr: d-fresh-princess