One moment imprinted

Inside my mind

Could there be

More to this love

Or will it be left behind?

'Cause if it's all I can take

I'll remember it all,

Remember it all.

Kari Kimmel, "Remember"

19. TAKE WHAT YOU CAN TAKE

In her dreams, he appears even when she doesn't want to see him.

She turns around when she hears his voice.

"Hey. So, am I your last stop on the Stefan Salvatore Apology Tour?"

"Could we just get past this, please?"

He says it as if it's so easy, as if he hadn't let her down in the worst possible ways. The regretful look in his eyes is not enough to make up for the way he ignored her for months, or for the way he's broken her heart. And he doesn't even know what she feels for him.

"I'm trying to."

"Look, Caroline. What do you want me to do, huh? Stop making me guess and tell me so we can go back to being friends again."

Asshole.

"That's the thing, Stefan. After all of this, I… I don't want to be friends anymore."

It's hard to walk away from him. But there's only so much she can take until she's had enough.

Klaus' little problem of believing he was dying turns out to be just one of Silas' mind tricks. Luckily.

Caroline has nothing else to do there.

"Well, if you need anything else… don't call me. I have a prom to plan."

"Friends, then?" He asks when she starts walking away.

"Last time I offered, you were not interested."

"That was then, and this is now."

"What about tomorrow?" She asks, sighing and offering a smile.

"I take what I can take."

The thing is, she needs more friends, more than just Stefan, who is now somewhere too far away and trying to get the cure for Elena, a reminder that there is only one person who is his priority, the love that rules out anyone else.

Now that she doesn't have the girls either, Caroline also admits that even though she loves them, there are things she can't and perhaps will never be able to tell them.

She and Matt are not the same as they used to be, not since the break-up. And her friendship with Tyler was very much over since the moment he almost killed her (that, though, was Klaus' fault, but Caroline's dreams always made trusting Tyler much more difficult).

There's Tom, but he also ignores too much about who she is, so it hardly counts.

Klaus needs friends as much as she does. Perhaps one day they will be laughing about this, one day when they are both human, and he'll have Hope and she'll have the twins.

She's allowed to dream a little bit.

"Next time we see each other, I hope it doesn't involve any deaths."

He smiles. "Take care, love."

"So let me see if I'm getting this," Caroline pauses, a hand on her hip, and glares at Stefan. "You love your evil brother so much that you have decided to move out of town once Elena becomes human or gets her humanity back."

"It's for the best."

If she looks at it from a distance, it really is for the best. However, it also means that she will lose him. Will she see Stefan again after he leaves town? Or will he stay the same, without returning to his old, ripper days?

"I understand." She sighs "Do you have somewhere in mind?"

He shrugs, which shows that he hasn't thought this through. He still holds onto some tiny hope that human, free-from-sirebond Elena will choose him.

The new friendship with Klaus comes in handy when Elena steals her prom dress and Caroline is forced to look around for a way to win over her. It's obvious that the ancient, billionaire friend will have something in his collection for her.

She kinds of what to rip Elena's head off to erase that stupid smirk from her face…

"Caroline, why don't you come dance with me?"

There is it. Saved by Stefan.

"I know you said to kill her with kindness, but can't I just kill her?"

He smiles and changes the topic. "I see you found a dress?"

"It's from Klaus."

He so wants to tease her about this.

"Don't ask."

"You know you have him wrapped around your little finger, right?"

This is just one of the many little things that make it clear she will forever have the 'just friend' tag attached to her.

"He owed me for enduring his company when he believed he was dying. Are you making any progress with the dress thief?"

"I don't know. I think it's affecting me a lot more than it's affecting her."

He says he can't move on and forget about Elena, and why does she have to hurt herself listening to these things?

Oh, yes, because she cares about him, of course.

"I think that someday, you'll meet someone new and you'll fall madly in love, and you'll have moved on without even realizing it."

They keep on dancing in silence, her head hidden from his sight as their bodies move to the slow rhythm of the music. They are so close that she can feel his warmth, the smell of him, all heartache and love mixed up in a single moment.

"We should take a picture. It's our last prom, and you may have done this before, but I haven't, so indulge me."

He laughs and spins her around.

"You are right. You've put too much effort into this night."

Caroline doesn't have high hopes. She knows that if Elena were to change her mind, Stefan would go back to her in a heartbeat. But if these instants together are all she will ever have, it does not matter that they will never mean the same to him, she'll take what she can.

Maybe one day she'll follow her own advice. She'll meet someone new and fall madly in love. And Stefan… Stefan can stay as dreams and memories that are far out of reach.

Klaus leaves Mystic Falls.

Caroline finds a voicemail from him, telling her that he'd like to show her New Orleans. Something has changed, she can feel it, and perhaps he is finally giving one step forward to become a better version of himself. Someone who is not destined to be alone.

"I don't know what to do. Bonnie avoids talking about what happened with Silas controlling her, Stefan and Damon are making zero progress in getting Elena's feelings back, and… I just imagined our last year at school would be so much better than this."

She waits for her mother to give some kind of motherly advice, but she quickly realizes that their problems are far from being the typical teenage drama.

"Caroline, sometimes, there are things that you can't fix, they are not in your hands. All you can do is be there for your friends, and up until now you have done that part wonderfully."

That's not much help.

"Mom, you haven't missed your check-up appointments recently, right?"

"I'm feeling alright. I'll go when I have time."

She frowns. "Your health is important."

Her mom laughs.

"What is it with you these days? You worry too much."

She grabs her keys and leaves to work.

"Don't work late hours again!"

When she is left alone with her thoughts again, Caroline resolves to stick to her to-do list, else she'll go crazy.

The most important stop today is at the Salvatore house because there's still an ongoing project called 'get Elena back and make her apologize' (that last part is only hers, though).

Her friend tries to kill her, again.

"I am not going to give up on you."

"This annoying, clingy thing you're doing, do you think it is fooling anyone? I know you've been probably under the moon, receiving what little attention St-

She doesn't let Elena finish and breaks her neck. Because he is just outside the room, and Caroline can't have him listening to this. She won't be able to stand anyone else knowing her secret.

Is it a secret?

Klaus knows, and even non-humanity Elena knows.

"Do whatever you have to do" She tells Stefan before storming out of the place.

She does not make it far, though. She's barely walked to her car when he reaches her.

He came so silently that it creeped her out a bit, paranoia is running wild these days.

"Stefan, what happened?"

"I was hoping we could talk for a bit. Do you have time for a walk?"

Caroline sighs and offers him a smile. It must have been hard these days, having to keep Elena prisoner and cause her pain to get her humanity back. It's a method she does not agree with, but after what she's seen, it's clear it's necessary.

"Okay. I have to help Matt study, but you know I can always spare time for you."

They go into the woods.

"I know she would not act like this if she had her emotions, but sometimes it's just too difficult. I don't know how you can do it."

"It got me thinking. Maybe it's time for me to give up."

She turns her head to look at him, startled to hear him say something like that.

"I know I have encouraged you to move on, too, but that does not mean it's wrong to keep find what she lost. After all, she's an important person to you."

He smiles, stretching his arms towards her, his fingers touch her golden locks, and she frowns, confused.

"You are always so considerate. It's what I like about you."

"Stefan?"

There's something off about him, but Caroline can't think straight when he's suddenly so close to her, and all she sees is the green of his eyes.

She'll take what she can take.

"It's what you desire too, isn't it? You did not want me to know, that's why you silenced Elena. Then again, you are good at keeping secrets"

It's the cruelty laced in his tone that finally helps her wake up. This is not Stefan.

"Silas."

"Your friend Bonnie, where is she?" He pins her against a tree, his hand closing tightly around her neck. She's not at home, she's not anywhere. Bonnie is playing games with me, and I don't like it."

"I'm not going to tell you a thing."

He smirks and leans in to whisper in her ear. "Tell her I'm looking for her. Tell her to come out of the shadows."

He stabs her in the chest and leaves her alone in the woods.

In her state of unconsciousness, she dreams again.