I don't own The Vampire Diaries.
A/N: So, Julie Plec is a big fibber. I was on IMDB earlier and I saw a news thing for the show and I read it... Apparently, Julie's claims that Elena would make a choice and the triangle would be resolved by the end of season 3 was crap.
Apparently, after turning, Elena is going to reconsider her choice and there was a part of the article that said that the triangle has only just started. So Elena has now chosen Stefan TWICE and Damon's clearly still going to be her doormat because the writers want him to have no self-respect whatsoever.
And of course the writers will write Damon as pathetic again. Great. Yay season 4. NOT.
I'm going to stick to fanfiction I think. At least the Daroline authors I read don't continually disappoint like the show does. I wonder what Elena will have to do to Damon on the show for him to finally get that he doesn't have to take that crap.
Sorry for the rant... onto the chapter.
This is for The Green Eyed Cat. I hope that you're feeling great today and if you aren't, I hope that it'll be better tomorrow. x
The Solution
Chapter 54
That evening in Shanghai, Damon and Ric were at dinner at Family Li Imperial Cuisine and Ric noticed that Damon was kind of quiet which was odd as he'd been kind of quiet all day, unlike the rest of the time they'd spent away. The restaurant they were at was not only famous, but historical, which was the reason Damon had taken Ric there. It was a place that required a reservation at least 24 hours before as the food took such a look time to prepare.
"You alright?" Ric examined him curiously as he picked up some fried lobster with his chopsticks and popped it into his mouth – then groaned in pleasure eliciting a smirk from Damon.
"Enjoying that, are you?" Damon joked.
"Yes, the food is incredible." Ric agreed. "But don't change the subject." He smirked and Damon sighed.
"Just had a weird call with Blondie earlier." Damon answered and Ric frowned.
"Weird how?" Ric tested.
"She suggested that I should have a 'last hurrah' while we're away." Damon muttered and Ric looked surprised.
"Are you going to?" Ric inquired curiously – he'd long ago given up on trying to tell Damon what to do – and Damon shot him an irritated look in return.
"No, of course not." Damon denied surprising Ric.
"Didn't even consider it?" Ric probed surprised.
"No, not for a second." Damon responded.
"Then what's the problem?" Ric asked.
"She suggested it out of guilt." Damon answered and Ric made an 'o' shape with his mouth in understanding.
"And what did you say?" Ric tested.
"That I don't want her trying to get me to even the score because there is no score and she just has to forget about the Allan thing." He repeated and in all honesty, Ric was surprised that Damon didn't feel even the slightest inclination to get back at her as he knew the vampire was kind of the vengeance type – not that Ric personally thought that Caroline was wrong, because he didn't, he just knew Damon to be kind of irrational so to hear him be rational was just weird. "I don't get why she feels so much guilt for it. I could understand it if we'd actually been together at the time or if she'd purposely done it to get back at me, but she didn't do that." He muttered.
"Damon, Caroline feels so much guilt because she's young, she loves you, she's hormonal and because she's just a really sweet and caring person. She never does anything to hurt anyone and the last person she wants to hurt is you." Ric countered and Damon sighed.
"Yeah, I know. The last person I ever want to hurt is her too." Damon replied. "Don't get me wrong, I've actually really enjoyed this trip with you, but it sucks being away from her." He said and Ric gave him a smile for admitting he was having a good time.
"Damon? Why don't we fly to Seoul tomorrow instead of Saturday and move everything up a day, cut one day in Tokyo then we can go to Florida and surprise her." Ric smirked and Damon looked really surprised but the grin split his face – Ric saw how much Damon loved that idea.
"But I thought you wanted another day in Shanghai?" Damon tested and Ric thought about that.
"Well, you do the turnings at night, you've already got the numbers for the vampires in Seoul, so we could go see the last couple of things in Shanghai tomorrow morning and fly to Seoul in the afternoon." Ric suggested and Damon smiled.
"If you're cool with it, that would be amazing." Damon said happily.
"Besides, as far as I'm aware of, Shanghai isn't going anywhere." Ric teased and Damon laughed at that. "You said that you're going to take Caroline here with the twins and she suggested Stefan and the girls to go too, so I'll just tag along." Ric said amused and Damon chuckled.
"Good, I'll need some sanity if all of them are going." Damon smirked and Ric smiled at that – he was pleased at how close they were becoming. Ric was learning that Damon was actually a really amazing friend when you finally got his walls down enough to truly get to know him. "You're coming with me to both fortnights in Europe, right?" He asked and Ric looked surprised as he'd thought that he was only going to one of them.
"I'd love to but you'll have to do your compulsion thing or I won't be able to." Ric said amused and Damon snickered.
"Don't worry about that. You won't lose your job." Damon replied and Ric grinned.
"Then hell yeah." Ric accepted and Damon snickered.
That Friday evening, Stefan and Caroline were at the airport to pick Katherine, Bonnie and Matt up. They were at the arrivals lounge and Caroline had on a bright orange knee length sleeveless maternity dress with a gathered tie at the bust. The colour only accented her tan, her hair was even lighter blonde than normal with so much sun exposure, she only had a little waterproof mascara and lip gloss on because the summer glow she had from the Florida weather made make-up unnecessary because she looked stunning. Katherine, Bonnie and Matt all did a double-take when they saw her as she looked quite different.
"Oh my God! Look at your tan! You look seriously amazing, Care." Katherine grinned as she hugged her and Caroline giggled.
"Thanks, Kat. I missed you." Caroline smiled.
"No, she's right, you look fantastic." Bonnie said as she took over hugging her while Katherine hugged Stefan.
"Thanks." Caroline blushed. "You'll all be sun kissed too soon enough." She chirped then hugged Matt. "How was your flight?" She asked Matt and Katherine while Stefan and Bonnie hugged and kissed.
"I missed you." Stefan murmured against her lips and the other three snickered at him.
"I missed you too." Bonnie agreed then kissed him again and the other three were amused at the two of them being all mushy.
"Flight was fine. Short. Nothing interesting." Katherine shrugged.
Because they didn't get into Orlando until 9.30pm, they decided to just go to the villa and relax with the pool and some drinks and get to the fun the following day. Bonnie and Matt were astounded by the 'villa' that was a mansion and Katherine liked it too, though wasn't surprised by Stefan's choice. It was still warm in the evening, so they all took a swim then sat around outside with drinks and it wasn't long after midnight before Caroline was yawning.
"You tired?" Stefan questioned her.
"Mmm." She nodded. "Bed's going to be too warm now." She pouted and Stefan smirked.
"I'll still sleep there." He winked at her and the other three looked at him confused.
"You've been sleeping in the same bed?" Matt asked amused.
"It's really warm here and Stefan's dead, so it makes him like a little fridge." Caroline joked and they snickered. "And he's been doing the thing Damon does with the nightmares." She added.
"You didn't tell me that." Bonnie said surprised. "Does Damon know that?"
"Yeah." Caroline nodded surprising them.
"Is it a big deal?" Stefan asked confused.
"Well, no." Bonnie conceded and Stefan shrugged.
"She's going to be my sister in less than two weeks, so I'm not going to let her be sleep-deprived and have nightmares if I can do something to help." Stefan cautioned her seriously and the other three's jaws dropped and Caroline shot Stefan a dry look for blabbing.
"Wait, what?" Bonnie asked shocked and Stefan saw Caroline's look then looked confused.
"You didn't tell them?" Stefan asked in disbelief.
"I wanted to do it face to face." Caroline responded with a sigh.
"Wait, what?" Bonnie repeated still shocked.
"Damon and I are getting married on the 2nd of March." Caroline revealed and they looked surprised.
"When did you decide that?" Bonnie queried confused.
"Like a week ago." Caroline admitted and they blinked in surprise.
"Ooh! Does that mean we're going dress shopping?" Katherine grinned and Caroline and Stefan laughed at how excited she was – she really had come a long way from the emotionless bitchy vamp she'd been before.
"Yeah, I was thinking that we could check out some bridal stores while we're here. I need to try to find something that will hide the bump." She said and all four of them looked at her stomach sceptically and she rolled her eyes. "Yes, I know that it's unlikely but I said try." She pointed out and they tittered.
"Why so soon?" Bonnie pushed.
"Because if we leave it much longer, I'm going to look like I'm having a litter in the pictures." Caroline muttered and they laughed.
"No, I meant, why when you're pregnant?" Bonnie probed.
"Because Damon's from the 1800s." Caroline answered amused and they chuckled in understanding.
"Ah. Bothers him, huh?" Bonnie asked amused.
"I don't know if I'd go as far to say that it bothers him, but I think he'd prefer it if we do." Caroline said and Stefan gave her a smirk knowing that she just didn't want to rat Damon out on a personal matter.
On the Monday, Stefan and Matt wanted to go racing so the girls opted to go wedding dress shopping. They went to several and Caroline tried on tons of dresses. She'd been looking for a flowy dress that would disguise her bump but as the wedding was so small, she didn't want some enormous dress either. They'd been dress shopping for six hours and Caroline was on her 48th dress when she just couldn't take it anymore.
"You know what? Screw it. I'm getting married in a sheet. I can't take it anymore." Caroline declared and Katherine and Bonnie laughed and the gown assistant tried her best not to laugh at that too.
"Miss Forbes?" The assistant got her attention and Caroline looked at her. "I have a stunning gown in the back that might actually completely hide your bump." She revealed. "Then only thing is, it's not exactly like the other dresses you've been trying."
"What's the difference?" Caroline asked curiously.
"The dresses that you have been looking at were mainly straight down and A-line but this one is classed as a princess ball gown. It isn't a large dress but it is more so than what you've been trying. Would you like to take a look at it?" She asked and Caroline looked at her sceptically.
"Care, just look. Seriously. It's your wedding day. Who gives a crap if your dress is enormous? Wear whatever dress you want. It's your day." Katherine reminded her.
"It wouldn't hurt to try it, Caroline. You've tried practically every combination of the same dress already and you don't like it." Bonnie agreed.
"Yes, please." Caroline acknowledged to the sales lady and she nodded then disappeared out of the dressing room. "By the way." She said to her friends. "You'll both need to try on some bridesmaid dresses." She said and they looked surprised – Katherine especially.
"Isn't it too small for that?" Bonnie tested and Caroline shrugged.
"If I'm wearing some huge dress then you two have to wear something awesome too." Caroline stated and they giggled.
"What colour? We can go take a look while she's fitting you in." Bonnie suggested and Caroline shrugged again.
"I really don't care. Not yellow because Damon hates yellow and not red because that would be too cliché with the whole vampire thing. Though, I'd either like you both in the same dress but in different colours or the same colour but different dresses." Caroline dictated – but it was her wedding so she felt like she was allowed to – and they nodded their agreement. Katherine and Bonnie glanced at each other.
"Purple." They said in unison then the three girls laughed.
"Cool, we'll go look." Katherine said then she and Bonnie disappeared out into the store. A couple of minutes later the gown assistant came back in with a dress bag. She hung it up then unzipped it and pulled out the dress – Caroline's eyes bugged at the sight of the most perfect dress she'd ever seen ever.
"Oh my God." She gasped putting her hand over her mouth.
"Do you like it?" She smiled.
"It's so gorgeous." Caroline said unable to take her eyes off of it.
"Would you like to try it?" She examined.
"Not much point, I'm buying it anyway." Caroline quipped and the girl giggled.
"Let's see how it fits." She suggested and Caroline nodded.
Katherine and Bonnie returned to the dressing room about five minutes later with a few dresses each to try on. They walked in just as the woman was stepping back from fitting Caroline into the dress and their jaws dropped.
"That's perfect!" Katherine exclaimed.
"So perfect." Bonnie agreed. "You don't see the bump at all." She commented.
"That's not why it's perfect." Katherine smiled. "You look like the most beautiful girl in the world in that dress." She declared fondly and Caroline grinned at her and Bonnie chuckled at big bad Katherine being a sap.
"Thanks." Caroline said softly.
"That dress makes me want to get married." Bonnie remarked and they giggled.
"Now I just need to find shoes." Caroline grinned.
"So, you're definitely taking it?" Katherine smiled.
"Definitely." Caroline confirmed delighted.
"Awesome." Katherine winked at her.
Katherine and Bonnie managed to find dresses too and they decided on dark plum purple for the colour. Caroline loved the dresses that they liked as well as her own dress. After they bought the dresses, they hunted for shoes. Surprisingly, Caroline's were the easiest to find as they had them in the same store that she bought her dress in. Bonnie and Katherine eventually found shoes too then the three of them were exhausted, so they went back to the villa to relax.
They arrived back just after 5pm and Caroline opted to go for a short nap as they were going out for dinner that evening. She woke up just after 7pm and saw a missed call on her phone, so she called Damon back while still snuggled up in the bed.
"Hey." He answered pleased.
"Hey, sweetie." She said sleepily.
"Did you just wake up?" He questioned curiously.
"Yeah, long ass day, so I went for a nap." She yawned.
"What did you do?" He enquired and she smiled.
"I went wedding dress shopping with the girls." She responded.
"Any luck?" He asked.
"I tried on 49 dresses." She admitted.
"Fuck. It's no wonder that you're tired." He remarked sympathetically.
"Mmm, but turns out 49 is my lucky number." She smirked.
"You found one?" He asked surprised.
"Mmhmm." She grinned.
"What's it like?" He inquired and she giggled.
"You're not allowed to know any details." She said and he chuckled.
"Was it the one you wanted at least? You didn't just get one for the sake of getting one?" He questioned.
"No, Damon, I think that I would have bought it whether I was getting married or not. I love it." She quipped and he laughed.
"Good. Can't wait to see you in it." He admitted pleased and her stomach fluttered.
"I miss you. I think I've forgotten what you look like." She teased and he snickered.
"You saw me on Skype yesterday." He countered amused.
"Maybe I just imagined you." She joked and he laughed.
"I really miss you." He responded and she smiled.
"Sunday seems so far away." She sighed. "Then I don't even get to keep you for a week." She muttered and he chuckled.
"Ah, but next Wednesday you can keep me forever." He pointed out and her stomach was full of butterflies.
"Have I mentioned how much I love mushy Damon?" She grinned and he chortled.
"He loves you too." He teased and she smiled.
"Good. What are you doing?" She inquired. Damon had been telling her mild fibs about his exact location as he didn't want to ruin the surprise when he showed up in Florida on the Thursday.
"Just out of the shower. So, not much. Heading to the airport soon." He replied. "What are you doing tonight?" He asked as obviously it was the following morning in Japan where he was but she was still in the day before's time zone.
"I don't know. We're supposed to be going out for dinner but nobody came to wake me up from my nap, so I'm guessing that we're staying in tonight." She answered.
"If you want to go out, just tell Stefan and he'll take you." Damon put forward.
"I don't." She sighed. "Feel like I could sleep for a week." She mumbled.
"Then you definitely need dinner. What did you eat today?" He asked.
"Pancakes and fruit for breakfast, we stopped off for lunch and I had cannelloni and a chocolate sundae then a granola bar at around 4.30pm." She replied.
"Good. Sounds like you've eaten well today." He commented pleased.
"Yet, I'm totally starving. It's so weird. Now I'm at the point that like half an hour after a meal, I'm hungry again." She disclosed.
"Your body must need it then." He countered.
"Mmm." She agreed. "I have such a craving for pizza." She said. "I hope that the others are up for that too."
"If not, just get one for yourself." He said and she smiled. "By the way, have you told your mother about the wedding yet?"
"Yeah, I told her yesterday. Forgot to tell you." Caroline replied.
"She freak out?" Damon tested.
"She said that I was slightly nuts for getting married so fast but I pointed out to her that she said to wait until I finished school, which I did, so she stopped nagging and promised to go out and look for a dress." Caroline explained amused and Damon snickered.
"But she's not pissed?" He asked for confirmation.
"No, she's not pissed." Caroline answered.
"What about the hunting cabin?" He queried.
"She's fine with it as long as we clean up after ourselves because she still wants to sell it." Caroline replied.
It was just after midnight on the Wednesday night and Caroline as particularly quiet.
"What's wrong, Care?" Katherine asked concerned. They were sitting around the pool with drinks and Caroline had barely said a word for like three hours.
"I'm just worried." Caroline mumbled.
"About what?" Bonnie asked.
"Damon. I haven't spoken to him since this morning and his phone's off and has been for the past couple of hours. He's not wearing his ring either, so I can't even speak to him like that." Caroline answered back. Stefan knew that Damon and Ric were flying back but he wanted it to be a surprise too so he thought up a fib.
"That's just because of where they are tonight. They're fine, Care. Don't worry." Stefan soothed and Caroline looked at him confused.
"What do you mean?" She probed.
"They went to a small Japanese mountain area to an abandoned village, so that the new vampires could live there for a little while." Stefan replied and she frowned. It wasn't a complete lie as they had done that a couple of days earlier and Stefan knew that.
"Why do you know about that and I don't?" Caroline asked.
"Damon called me this morning to tell me that their signals wouldn't be working until tomorrow probably." Stefan lied and Caroline stared at him sceptically.
"Did he say that he'd call as soon as he leaves that place?" She tested and Stefan nodded.
"Yeah, regardless of the time here, he'll send me a text." Stefan lied.
"Okay." Caroline accepted.
"Care, stop worrying so much. Who's going to be able to do anything to him?" Stefan asked and she scowled at him.
"Don't say stuff like that. That's tempting fate." She said annoyed. She reached over to the wooden table and knocked on it and they chuckled at her being such a worry wart.
"Sorry." Stefan smirked at her.
"Ass." She muttered and they laughed…
A/N: I'm going to start typing up another chapter now. Hopefully I'll get it out tonight. If not, then in the morning. If you have a minute, let me know what you thought :)
