I've wondered many times how this story would go if Stefan was the one who remembered things from the events in the tv series, but those fics already exist, I've been looking for them. It's a shame they're all abandoned. I don't plan to abandone this one, but one comment or two if you've made it this far and added the story to your favorites would be super nice.

I don't wanna look at anything else now that I saw you
(I can never look away)
I don't wanna think of anything else now that I thought of you
(Things will never be the same)
I've been sleeping so long in a twenty-year dark night
(Now I'm wide awake)
And now I see daylight (I see daylight), I only see daylight
(I once believed love would be burning red)

Taylor Swift, "Daylight"

66. REACHING THE DESTINATION: HAPPINESS.

Olivia and Jenna are born in the middle of March, and isn't it a wonder? It's the first time it dawns on her that these girls who'll grow up to look the same as her daughters and might be the same in some ways, but they won't be her Lizzie and Jossie. After seeing them, Caroline gets so emotional that she can't stop crying as Stefan drives them back home.

It's just one of those things she has to learn to live with, but she has time. That's Jo's and Alaric's family, and she has hers.

"Come on, you said you'd join me today."

"It's not even 6 a.m., Caroline." He says, not even bothering to open his eyes.

"Exactly my point. The perfect time to start."

Stefan sighs but after tossing in bed for a few more seconds, he finally gets up. If she's running around a park that's desolate with people in the early hours of the day, she's not going alone. This is one of the things about having seen the dark side of the world: you know how fragile humans are, and just what kind of horrible things can happen in the blink of an eye.

"It's Sunday. Are you sure you don't want to take a day off?"

She raises her eyebrow. That's not helping at all. Now they are not vampires anymore, with all the perks that came with it, so she can't just keep eating fries and expect to fit into her wedding dress in a couple of months.

"Taking days off from jogging doesn't help to create a routine." Her eyes follow him as he walks to the closet and picks up a t-shirt.

For all his initial reluctance, twenty minutes later he's the one teasing her, running backwards and slowing down his pace with a smirk on his face.

"Come on, Caroline, don't tell me that's all you've got."

"Shut up."

"So, you know what they say, about saving water and all that." She smiles, biting her lip and leaving the bathroom door open.

Caroline doesn't need to force Stefan to join her the second or third time around. He does it willingly, although for reasons that have nothing to do with staying healthy and fit.

"How do I look?" She asks, all dressed up in scarlet, ready to go to the Whitmore's annual fundraiser party.

He gives her a once-over.

"Beautiful," he caresses her cheek, his thumb stopping close to her lips, with a look in his eyes that just asks for a kiss. It'd ruin her lipstick, but Caroline wouldn't mind. "Red suits you. I don't think I've seen it on you that often."

She smiles. "Is that so?"

Stefan comes another step closer, his other hand is on bare back, tracing circles on her skin.

"You don't look so bad yourself."

Just like she used to think when she was seventeen, he is the perfect mix of charming prince and bad boy image wearing a suit. Or maybe it has nothing to do with his clothes, and everything to do with his looks. The way his forest green eyes are staring at her right now, like he could devour her whole in that instant.

She clears her throat.

"No, no-o. We are going to be late. Again."

He chuckles.

"No what? What are you thinking about?" He takes the car keys out of his pocket and swings it in front of her. "If you're ready, let's go."

They talk mostly to Caroline's club acquaintances and professors (who lately cannot stop regretting that she's going to transfer out of the state for her senior year), they meet Bonnie and Enzo (Elena said she and Damon would come, but they are late to no one's surprise). After a dance or two, they disappear a little too early into the corridors of the building.

It's not something she would ever admit out loud, but this was one of the things that worried her the most after taking the cure. Sex with Stefan had always been great. The thing was that she didn't even remember what sex as a human was like. But it's still mind-blowing.

And here she is, living the life of her dreams next to the man of her dreams.

Caroline walks to the living room carrying her just-made cookies on a dish, and sits on the carpet in silence, studying Stefan's expression as he reads Moore's book.

She remembers that years ago he made a point to remind them he'd done the whole college experience more than once, so it's a bit amusing to see him studying for real for a change (even if he still looks like he's just reading the newspaper, drinking iced tea that he definitely stole from her a bit earlier).

"Do you want some?" She offers.

"Thanks. This smells great," putting aside the book, he grabs one cookie and takes a bite.

It's such a normal day that it's hard to believe that in two more days, they'll be husband and wife. She's going to be Caroline Forbes-Salvatore. Or that, in a couple of months they'll be living in New York.

Sometimes she's afraid she will wake up and this, too, will be just a dream that feels all too real. Good things have never lasted this long, but now it feels this is it. The hand that is brushing her hair lovingly is the hand she will hold until the day she dies, and hopefully that will only happen when she's old and gray.

"Elena just texted me to remind me that she and Bonnie are picking me up in an hour and a half. I know I'll be alright, but I'm worried about what your brother has in mind for you."

Damon has been acting strange since she and Stefan took the cure, commenting on how boring they are now and often challenging Stefan to feats that are just too much for someone who doesn't have the fast healing of a vampire. Caroline believes he's a bit envious because Elena must have told him what their future would be like if they were the ones living the human life.

Put that together with a bunch of friends who aren't exactly normal either, and you can expect something to happen.

"Don't worry. Despite his wicked sense of humor, my brother won't let me die before our wedding day..." She raises an eyebrow, and he finishes with a "I think. He knows you will kill him if something doesn't go well."

"Oh, yes, that's so reassuring." But she gets up and gives him a peck on the lips before rushing to the stairs. "I'll go get ready so I can pretend to be surprised later. Have fun with the guys!"

"You too."

He flashes her another smile, and by the time she gets out of the shower, he's already gone. Damon is fast, that's for sure. It takes another fifteen minutes for the girls to pick her up.

"I can't believe we won't be partying like this anymore."

"I'm getting married, Bonnie, not dying."

"But you'll be in New York for how long? Until Stefan finishes Med School?" Elena points out. "So it's definitely going to be different, we aren't going to hang out often at least for some years."

"You can crash at any time." She thinks it better and adds, "just give us a call first."

Caroline is drunk and a bit dizzy when she hugs the girls and walks towards her doorstep.

It's a surprise Stefan comes back just when she's getting out of the shower.

"How come you're back so soon?"

"I might have escaped from my brother." He lets himself fall to the bed and closes his eyes for a moment, then stretches his arm towards her. "It's good to be finally here, with you."

She chuckles. It's not like they've been away for that long. But she lies by his side and sighs in contentment.

"I hope there were no illegal things involved."

He looks at her and smirks.

"Aren't we past that point already?" His hand reaches hers and squeezes it tightly. "Relax. Everything went exactly as planned."

That's a strange statement. It was Damon the one who planned the whole thing and Stefan didn't seem to care much about the party itself before the guys came to kidnap him.

"Hey, so Tom arrived safe and sound?" Now that she remembered, Tom said he'd call her after his plane landed, but there was nothing from him, so he must have gone directly to the Boarding House. "I didn't think to check on him earlier."

"Actually, he didn't show up. He said he had a last minute emergency at work and wouldn't make it. Didn't he tell you?"

She frowns.

"No. He better arrives in time for the rehearsal dinner." Or she's going to switch the person who escorts her down the aisle and apologize to Matt for not picking him in the first place.

"Don't worry too much about it. Those things happen."

Not in Caroline's perfect wedding picture. But Stefan is right, hopefully it's nothing too serious and Tom makes it.

"You're right." She relaxes her shoulders and smiles at Stefan. Tiredness is finally catching up with her, and all she wants is to sleep. "Gosh, I drank too much. I can't believe you didn't have to be dragged back home."

"Is that envy?"

She scoffs.

"Let's sleep. Tomorrow is going to be another big day."

Those forest green eyes are staring at her again, and maybe it's all the alcohol she had, she sees them gleaming with a feverish light that doesn't quite look like him. No, that's not true. It's just that he never looks at her like that.

"It's not good to drink too much bourbon." She whispers. "Not vampires anymore, remember?"

"And I thank Heaven for that."