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And so it all boils down to this

We've got our aim but we might miss

We are too fragile just to guess

And I've been in this place before

Fine as we are but we want more

That's human nature at its best

Lauren Aquilina, "Fools"

24. AS THEY CHANGED

"Can you be honest with me? I promise I won't get mad or anything. You have been so good to me from the very beginning because of Stefan. I figure all your praise for my looks comes from the same place. He is not just a friend to you, is he?"

Lying to Tom is pointless.

"It doesn't matter. It's one-sided. He doesn't see me that way."

He raises an eyebrow.

"Are you sure?"

She sighs. How does she begin to explain the mess that is the drama Stefan/Elena/Damon?

"He's in love with my best friend and they broke up not long ago. And she's with his brother now."

"Ouch"

"Yeah."

"But then, you two are here together…"

"Because we are friends, and friends are allowed to go on trips together, aren't they? He needs some time away from them." She starts talking and suddenly she cannot stop "Who knows if he's ever going to get over Elena. Before that, he was in love with another doppelgänger. Did I mention that part? She's a doppelgänger. There's something weird about it now that I think about it. I'm sure you would also fall with her if you met her."

Tom's response is to laugh in her face.

"That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."

"It's not! Did you forget you have no one, but two exact replicas walking around this country?"

"Maybe." He shrugs it off "But I'm still not willing to believe that who we fall in love is not our choice. What would be the point of it then?"

She pouts. "You are saying that because you've never been in love"

His eyes smile at her.

"Careful. I'm still older than you, remember?"

He's right. The donuts of that cafeteria are the best.

Maybe her dreams are influenced by the fact that she is visiting Tom after a long time.

"Tom Avery was a pain in my ass, but he was also the best paramedic I ever met. He disappeared four months ago. No one knows where he is."

Someone wants to find Tom, and they are using Stefan to get him. They are torturing him.

"Can you hear me? Just say something, please!"

"Caroline, I'm here."

She sighs in relief when she hears his voice.

"6643 Peachtree Drive. There was, uh, a redheaded woman. Her name was Hazel."

"Thank you. I won't let you down."

"Caroline, he's a good person. Don't do it."

She has to kill the doppelgänger. She has to do it if she wants to save Stefan.

"I'm your friend and you mean the world to me. Do you trust me?"

"Of course."

Tom only says that because she is compelling him.

"You just remind me of someone who's really important to me."

"Well, he's one hell of a lucky guy."

She can't save Stefan, and she can't save Tom. Caroline can only watch as someone breaks her neck and leaves him lying on the floor, dead eyes that reflect the shock of his last moments of life.

One dream is not going to be the reason her visit to Tom is ruined, so she keeps her spirits up as she prepares the housewarming party, but she tells Stefan when it's done.

She doesn't want to leave Tom unprotected, but she doesn't understand why someone would want to kill him, only that it has to do with his origins. It would be better if she could know more, if her dreams told her more, and she thinks about Silas, who can read minds and can probably see what even she cannot see.

It's a foolish idea that lasts only as long as she says it aloud and Stefan reminds him they cannot trust Silas. It's because of that horrible person that Bonnie is dead.

Something has changed between Stefan and her. Maybe it's because he's leaning on her more now, maybe it's because they are not in Mystic Falls. In the past, she would have never thought of telling him about her dreams, too afraid that he'd think she's insane (and surely, she still doesn't tell him that he's starring most of them) but if he does not completely believe in her concerns, he believes in her enough to promise they'll find a way to keep Tom safe.

He trusts her. She thinks she can trust him in return.

And she's so glad he's there by her side.

The guy is a hunk. It's rare to see well-looking guys in a small town, which is partially the reason men like the Salvatore brothers catch everyone's eyes (now that she thinks about it, it's kind of a liability, having that kind of looks when you're a vampire trying not to be noticed) but she's in a big city now, and good-looking people are everywhere.

This one looks a lot like Zac Efron, only he's even better built.

"So, Caroline, can I buy you a drink?"

Part of her is really tempted to say yes, let one thing lead to another, that's the whole purpose of trips like this, right?

Stefan walks to her with their drinks in his hands.

Or that was the idea before the plans changed.

"Sorry, the line was a bit long."

"Oh, I didn't know…" The guy, what was his name again? Luke. Luke looks at her with questioning eyes "Boyfriend?"

Before she has the chance to answer, Stefan points at the crowd.

"Are those your friends over there? I think they're calling you. You should go."

Luke looks startled, but looks back and mumbles an apology, in the blink of an eye he's gone. If she didn't know any better, Caroline would think Stefan is compelling these guys.

She sighs.

There it goes, her chance to have sex after months and months and months of celibacy.

"Did anyone tell you that you're intimidating? I cannot make any other friends when you're around. They just puff! Vanish."

"I'm hurt. I'm not fun enough to have around?" He asks, raising an eyebrow.

'But I can't have sex with you, can I?'

She swallows it down. There's no way she is going to tell him that.

"You know what? We're spending half our time here crashing students' parties or visiting college campuses, that I get the feeling you really want to come live here and not to Whitmore."

"How did you know?" She asks, picking her glass.

"Then why don't you?"

"I'll have time for that. I have, literally, an infinite amount of time to experience the world in the future. But I only have a few years to stick around home, and my mom, before people get suspicious."

He should understand, seeing that he is not looking forward to living the college thing once more. Where you live or when you do certain things isn't that important, compared to keeping the people you love in your life.

"What are you going to do when these vacations are over?"

"Find Silas, I suppose."

"And after that?"

"I don't know. I'll deal with it when the time comes." He finishes his drink and leaves the glass on the table, offering his hand to her. "For now, just dance with me."

After more than a month without news from Stefan, Elena is finally growing worried. Caroline swears it's not because of some selfish reason that she doesn't tell her friend that he is okay, that he's been with her all this time.

It's just in case Silas is in Mystic Falls, and he could learn that Stefan has broken free.

It's just that Stefan looks more carefree than Caroline has ever seen him in, like, ever and she doesn't want to take him back to the Elena drama.

It's just that she's happy the way things are, when she can fool herself into believing that he is hers.

There's no need to tell anyone, Stefan says. They will eventually meet again.

"Back to important things, what are we having for dinner tonight?"

They go to New York, during the day they visit all the tourist attractions that normal small-town girls like her would, at night they go to concerts, and sometimes to pubs frequented by the vampires in the city (some of them are disgusting, some of them are fun). And Stefan might not really like (or be good) with dance music, but he's a good teacher in any other rhythm that's been popular across the decades.

So time keeps passing by, until one day, the week before they go back to Mystic Falls, her mother calls her telling her that Stefan has stopped by their house, asking for her.