CAROLINE'S POV:

I arrived back at the house and shut and locked the door behind me. Turning as I removed my shoes and coat, I saw Stefan stood in the den doorway…

"Hi." I greeted him

"Hi," he mirrored "where've you been? Your Mom's been worried sick…"

"Where is she?" I questioned

"Do I not have the right to know where you've been?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at me

"I don't know, do you?" I inquired "Have you been worried sick about me too?"

"Your Mom said you'd gone off and you didn't seem yourself so of course I was worried." he informed me

"I'm gonna go and see my Mom." I admitted "I'll see you in the morning."

"Caroline, please…" he begged

"Please what, Stefan?" I questioned

"Talk to me. Where were you?" he asked

"I went to see Enzo," I informed him "and we talked about what happened at the weekend."

"What did he tell you?" he questioned

"He told me that you rang Elena to tell her exactly what you thought of her," I replied "and he also told me that you started to talk about our future…"

"And yet you're still angry with me?" he inquired "How does that make sense?"

"We've not spoken about our future since the university thing…" I admitted "How do you think it makes me feel, knowing you're willing to discuss our future with your best friend and not me?"

"I was going to discuss it with you." he informed me "I was going to book us a table at a nice restaurant, but then I saw you going through my phone…"

"You're turning this back on me?" I inquired "We'll talk in the morning."

"Okay." he replied, nodding his head in agreement "Night."

"Night." I mirrored

STEFAN'S POV:

"Caroline's asked me to ask you to go out for the day…" Liz informed me

"What?" I questioned

"Her words, not mine." she replied, holding her hands up in defence

"We were going to talk…" I admitted

"She wants you to go out, Stefan," she informed me "that's all she said to me."

"Where is she?" I asked

"Upstairs." she replied "Stefan, maybe you should respect her wishes?"

"We need to sort things out, Liz." I informed her "And that's what I'm going to do…"

CAROLINE'S POV:

I finished making the bed and set the cushions onto it, standing back and admiring my work. Glancing at the notepad that was home to the five year plan I'd come up with last night when I couldn't sleep and started to prepare what I had planned, the door bursting open as I stood the first candle on the windowsill…

"Did Mom not give you my message?" I questioned as I turned to see Stefan stood in the doorway

"She did, but I chose to ignore it." he replied "What're you doing?"

"I was planning a surprise," I informed him "but it's ruined now…"

"A surprise?" he inquired, raising an eyebrow at me

I nodded my head… "Do you think you could go, and come back in a couple of hours?"

"Why, Caroline?" he asked "We should talk things through now…"

"I just want to set something up," I replied "apologise properly. Please, Stefan. Just go and I'll call you when I'm done."

STEFAN'S POV:

"Did Caroline tell you anything about what she's planning when you saw her last night?" I asked Enzo as we left the gym later that morning

He shook his head and my phone began to ring. Pulling it from my hoodie pocket, I saw it was Caroline…

"You'd better answer it," he replied "see you at school, man…"

Nodding my head in agreement, Enzo slapped my shoulder and I answered Caroline's call… "Hey."

"Hi," she mirrored "you can come back now…"

"Do I need to bring anything?" I questioned

"Nope, just yourself." she informed me "I'll see you soon, yeah?"

"Yes." I replied "See you soon."

CAROLINE'S POV:

I put the finishing touches to the dining room table as I heard Stefan's car pull into the driveway. Checking my appearance in the mirror above the mantelpiece, I smiled and walked into the hallway as the front door opened, smiling at Stefan as he shut the door behind him…

"So, what did you need to set up then?" he asked as he set his gym bag down on the floor

"Why don't you come upstairs and find out?" I suggested, raising an eyebrow at him

Holding my hand out to him, I bit my bottom lip as he glanced at it and then at me. Extending my hand further towards him, he took it and I smiled at him warmly, leading him up the stairs…

STEFAN'S POV:

Caroline escorted me into the bedroom, the room only being lit by candlelight. Shutting the door behind us, she motioned for me to sit down on the bed as she walked over to her desk…

"What is all this?" I questioned

"I want to show you that I trust you," she informed me "because I do, Stefan. I love you and I can't wait for our future together, so here it is…"

"What?" I inquired

"Our five-year plan." she replied

"Caroline, you and I both know we can't plan our future," I sighed "you better than anyone, because as much as we want to, we don't know what's around the corner."

"Obviously I know it won't be definite, but I want there to be goals that we can work towards, together." she informed me "Like you becoming a doctor and me a teacher. It's going to take a lot of hard work, but I know we'll both get there."

"What else do you have down there?" I asked

She smiled at me warmly… "Moving away from here when the time comes, buying our first home together in Connecticut. Being engaged, maybe even married…"

"What about your Mom?" I questioned

"I can't plan for what's to come there," she sighed "even though I want to. But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

"I wish it was something we could plan for too," I informed her "but I like the sound of what you have planned."

"You do?" she inquired

I nodded my head… "It's all I've ever wanted."

"Since?" she questioned

"What?" I asked

"Since when? When did you start wanting this stuff?" she inquired, raising an eyebrow at me

"When I met you," I admitted "when you came into my life, you showed me that there was more to life than football and being popular. You showed me what it was like to have a life and to have actual friends and to have a family."

She smiled at me warmly… "So we can start to work towards these things, can we?"

I nodded my head and moved from the bed to my side of the bed, pulling out two envelopes from my bedside table drawer, handing one to Caroline…

"What's this?" she asked

"The first step." I informed her

"What?" she questioned

"Open it." I replied

CAROLINE'S POV:

"Open it."

Doing as Stefan said, I set my notepad down and pulled the letter from the envelope, seeing that it was from Whitmore College, just outside of Mystic Falls…

"How have I been accepted if I didn't even apply?" I inquired

"I may have applied on your behalf…" Stefan informed me

"When?" I questioned

"When I found out you threw your Virginia university letter on the fire." he replied "I've applied too, and it looks like we'll be studying together in the Fall."

"Looks like it…" I admitted "Are you sure?"

"Are you?" he asked

I nodded my head… "Thank you."

"You're welcome." he replied

Smiling at him warmly, I leaned forward and pressed my lips against his, sighing contentedly as he brought his hand up to cup my cheek, his fingers tangling in my hair…

Stefan and Caroline have made up, and they've got their five year plan and have been accepted to Whitmore College in the Fall. How will things go there, do you think?