Ok, so I've prepared these chapters for a while and I'd love to hear from you all.

And so it goes
You two are dancing in a snow globe 'round and 'round
And he keeps a picture of you in his office downtown
And you understand now why they lost their minds and fought the wars
And why I've spent my whole life trying to put it into words

'Cause you can hear it in the silence
You can feel it on the way home
You can see it with the lights out
You are in love, true love

Taylor Swift, "You are in love"

64. 'CAUSE I'VE WAITED MY WHOLE LIFE

The sunset colors her heart, and she stops hearing the birds and people's voices from the other side of the street. In that balcony, it's just the two of them.

"I want you to marry me."

It's strange, it's the first time he's proposing but it doesn't exactly feel like it's the first time she's hearing him say it.

In fairytales, the happy ending of the story is this: the moment he offers her the ring and she accepts and walks down the aisle dressed in white. Caroline knows what follows after, though, and it's overwhelmed by the memories as she stares at him, and the ring (exactly the same, because of course Stefan would know she'd want the big and shiny diamonds).

And at the same time, it's inevitable, because in this life, it's always been Stefan for her. From the moment she woke up as a vampire and he became her friend.

Maybe it was like that in the past too. Even when there was Matt and Tyler before him, or the ever unanswered question of Klaus years after she was supposed to move on, Stefan was there in some way or another. The new mystery guy who was out of reach and then became her ideal without even realizing it. The best friend. The love of her life, the one she could not let go as years passed by.

People might think she's too young for this, or perhaps it's too soon, but only Caroline knows how absurd it's to wait when you are so certain as she is about her feelings, and when happiness and life are a fleeting gift.

"Unless it's too early. Which is totally fine, I understand." Stefan says, misunderstanding her silence.

She kneels down so they are on the same level.

"It's not. I mean, yes. I want that too." His eyes light up, his whole face does, and she holds her hand up in front of him to make it official.

It fits perfectly on her finger.

He kisses her, and she can't help but smile with her lips pressed to his.

"I love you." He says.

"I love you too."

Bonnie opens a bottle to celebrate.

"Oh my god, I can't believe your June Wedding is actually coming!"

"What's this thing with June weddings?" Elena asks, sensing there's some sort of joke she isn't privy to.

But Caroline isn't that mature that she would just reveal what she said when she was seventeen and crushing hard on Stefan, right before he and Elena became a thing. For a long time she felt awful about having feelings for her friend's boyfriend, but now that all that is buried and left in the past, she'd rather forget certain things that happened.

"It's part of Caroline's wedding book." Bonnie reminds her, "the useful guide we're going to follow to help you have the perfect day."

They laugh, and Elena adds, "luckily, we have nine months to prepare."

There's something else, equally or perhaps more life-changing than marriage, though. Caroline clears her throat to make the announcement.

"I have something to tell you. It's not only that I'm getting married. I'm taking the cure."

This is a big thing for both of them. For Stefan, too, who says he's going to take the cure with her. In a way, that's him allowing himself to move on from a cycle of self-hatred, guilt and destruction, and do something about it besides blaming himself for his past.

"I… wow, I don't know what to say. I'm happy you made up your mind about it."

"When…?"

"We'll wait until making sure Lily or her heretics aren't coming back. But soon, I guess." Caroline glances at Elena, "are you sure you are okay with that?"

"Of course. We have talked about this, Care. I'll miss not growing old with my two best friends", she takes both her hand and Bonnie's, "but you and Stefan deserve this. And we also need someone to stay a vampire a little longer to protect our family. Damon and I are fine with that."

"And one day, if you want, you can have the cure too."

"I knew it was coming." Tom says when they facetime. "I'm only hurt that I'm not the first or even second friend you are telling this to, I mean, I contributed with you two getting together didn't I? Let you stay in my apartment so you could bond, I tried to put some sense into that insecure messy head of yours."

"You'll get a nice seat. Everyone thinks you are Stefan's twin brother anyway."

"That's not the point."

She smiles when she hears the main door downstairs opening. Stefan is home.

"Don't start complaining. I was also calling to invite you to spend Christmas here in town. If you don't have other plans, that's it."

Now Stefan is leaning on the door, arms crossed and waiting for her to finish her conversation.

"Do you want to say hi?"

"Hi, Tom," he waves his hand but doesn't really say anything else.

"I think there are chances my invitation won't come. Your fiancé might be worried you're going to get confused on the wedding day."

Ok, so this finally shakes Stefan's stoic stance, and he walks from behind her, arms wrapping around her waist.

"Not happening on my watch." He looks at her questioningly. "You would realize if this guy tries to swap on the ceremony, right?"

She laughs. "First, that's not going to happen; and second, I cannot mistake you for someone else. You can't be more than a couple of minutes without frowning."

"Ok, bye guys. I'll think about Christmas."

Caroline elbows Stefan as subtly as she can, and he adds "We'll be glad to have you here."

When the call ends, she turns around to put her arms around his shoulders and greet him with a kiss.

"Did you bring get fresh tomatoes?"

He nods, "Come on, let's make dinner. Damon and Elena say they are already on their way here."

"That means they will still take another hour or so." She shudders. "I already told you Bonnie is going to be my maid-of-honor. I'm not repeating Jo's mistake. You should rethink Damon, too."

"He's my only brother."

Caroline raises an eyebrow. "So?"

They spend Christmas in the boarding house, and much like friendsgiving, the place is crowded. Matt, Bonnie, Enzo, Jo and Alaric come. Tom arrives late on Christmas eve, but still on time to be for the exchange of presents and brunch. Even Jeremy joins them although he said he wouldn't make it.

She also overhears that the younger Gilbert has taken his activities to Atlanta, and glares suspiciously at Tom. Apparently, once you get caught up in this world it is just impossible to leave, but what else can she do to keep him alive and well?

This must be what her mom felt every time Caroline put herself at risk.

Her heart aches when she thinks this is her first Christmas without her mom. As you grow up (and grow old) family changes. It's true even with a group of people where so many of them aren't even aging. So this is her family now. Made mostly of broken up people who've gone through hell and back and have put themselves back together again.

And in front of the fireplace, when everyone has gone to bed or to search for privacy elsewhere, there's the man she loves.

"Merry Christmas"

She hugs him closely, and delights on his warmth and his familiar scent.

Stefan kisses her forehead.

"I'm glad you enjoyed this day."

She tilts her head. Was he worrying about that? Oh, of course he was.

"It was different from all other years, and when I think about my mom… I still wish she was here, with us. I wish she could walk me down the aisle when summer comes, and that she could see me being this happy."

He lowers his head and their noses are grazing, their lips just inches apart as she continues.

"Should we keep it big the next year too, then?"

She shakes her head.

"I'm not sure. Maybe we can build new Christmas traditions now. For ourselves."

"Yeah. That sounds like a great idea." He kisses her slowly, taking his time to set a fire in her belly, his hands holding her tightly and bringing her closer to him, until their bodies feel like they could melt into each other.

She's giving the contestants some encouragement words before the event starts for real and she introduces them for the dance. All the while, Stefan is waiting for her, too.

"May I have this dance?"

She hides her smile with a scoff.

"I can't believe you're actually showing up at the pageant for a chance."

She holds her right hand up, his hand is just centimeters away, but not touching hers as they follow the well-known steps with ease.

"Believe it or not, I was actually looking forward to it." He smiles back. "You look beautiful."

"Now that I think about it, when was the last time you attended this?"

"I never got to actually attend. It was postponed due to vampire-hunting reasons and then, well, I turned into one."

She looks at him, so handsome, and young, and unaware of what his life would turn into (just like she had been at seventeen) and longs to give all that time back to him.

The pageant is a success, no one is bitten nor dies on their watch, and when people start to leave and the hall becomes silent and empty, Caroline feels for the first time there's no need to keep waiting. Everything is as it should be.

In three months, they are going to be husband and wife, but their life together started a long time ago.

"Stefan."

"Yes?"

She smiles, holds his hand, and the smile grows wider when she looks at him.

"I just need you to know I'm ready to grow old by your side."