After writing so much for this story, I have this feeling that nothing I come up with will live up to my own expectations, but here it is.

Thank you if you added the story to your favorites, and I especially want to thank Tonia, Lisa and Jennyaikenak for the constant support.

67. COMMON WEDDING DISASTERS

Caroline is used to waking up with her head pressed on his chest. It's during those first minutes in the morning when she starts her day listening to his heartbeats that she feels pure calm.

But it's the day before the wedding, so she must be growing anxious. When she wakes up, there's only silence, and the sense of alarm that fills her for a short moment before she gets to the kitchen and sees him preparing breakfast is overwhelming.

"Hey."

It's the stupid worry that something could go wrong.

"I thought you would need it for today." He fills her favorite mug and leaves it on the counter. "You have a busy morning."

She grabs her mug, sighing in satisfaction after a sip. This is true perfection.

"Actually, Bonnie has given me strict orders to stay home and relax until she comes to pick me up."

But there's so much to do, even if she has already handed the list of phone numbers to Elena, one can never be too sure. And before Bonnie comes, she needs to finish packing for the honeymoon. Now that she thinks about it-

"Don't worry. I am following my list, too." Stefan smiles, showing off the to-do list they had agreed upon the past week. "And I checked with the hotel. Everything is okay."

"And he keeps getting better."

"I was thinking that we should do something else before the girls come to steal you from me. There's no hurry to pack, I know you have most of your things ready anyway."

He leans in for a kiss. And it's a tempting offer, deep down she knows it's better to relax if she wants everything to be perfect tomorrow, but whatever ideas Stefan has in mind are interrupted by Bonnie's phone call.

She's going to be there in five minutes and they better be presentable.

"By the way, did you have news from Tom?" Now that she remembers her friend and tries to call him, his messages go to the voicemail.

This is unlike Tom. What if something happened to him?

Stefan shakes his head, "Perhaps he's still at work? Or on the plane? I'm sure there's a good reason for him not contacting us yet, but don't stress over it now, Care. It's supposed to be a good day for us."

She frowns. His words make sense, but she can't help feeling a bit upset that Stefan doesn't share her worries, even if he and Tom aren't that close either. That's unlike him, too.

But then again, it's a bid day, with their wedding almost here after waiting and planning for so long. She cannot blame Stefan for being the one to stay calm when she's already nervous like this.

"I'll try to get a hold on him, okay? Just have fun with Bonnie and Elena."

That's right. Nothing will go wrong this time. This is her second chance, their second chance, and they have been working for this moment for so long. It's not a wedding rushed with the intention to attract a mad and vengeful doppelgänger. Nothing will go wrong.

He curses his brother, even when he is aware that this would have happened with or without Damon being manipulated into keeping Silas updated about their lives. This is why Silas involved Damon, to feed Stefan's anger towards his brother when in reality someone as obsessed as Silas would have kept stalking Caroline anyway.

Caroline. By the time she realizes what's happening, will it be too late? What is Silas going to do to her?

"DAMON!"

After calling out for help for hours, he's thirsty and his throat hurts. His wrists are bleeding from trying to force the cuff chains.

And then the iron door opens loudly.

It's not Damon who finds him. At first, Stefan thinks Silas is back to torture him and let him know how great it is to be stealing his life.

"You were screaming. I… I could hear you from miles away"

But it's not Silas. And Stefan is about to ask how the hell Tom could be able to find him, but he realizes when his doppelgänger's eyes change after smelling blood. So this is how he survived.

Caroline is going to be devastated when she learns about this.

"How did this happen?"

"It was Caroline's blood. I had an accident before I came here, and I had a vial that she gave me a long time ago just in case. I didn't even know if it would work, since she's now… but it worked, and Silas killed me, and now I'm here."

"Hold it in, and break the chains."

"I can't go with you. If I'm around too many people again… I don't think I can fight this."

"Did you kill someone?" He asks directly.

Tom shakes his head, but he looks defeated. "I almost did."

"It's fine. That's a good sign. Not many of us manage to do that."

"I don't want to talk about it. Let's just get out of here before he does something worse."

Stefan only regrets not having killed Silas for the second time when he first stepped back into their lives.

Outside, the sun is almost setting, which means that if the mad witch is pretending to be him and no one has realized the truth, they must be at the rehearsal dinner in the boarding house.

"I'm definitely going to kill him this time."

"Blondie, I never thought one day I would be saying this, but I'm glad we are becoming family. I have to thank you for making my broody little brother a bit less broody, I guess."

Damon toasts to them, and Stefan shakes his head, smirk still on his face. "Well, I hope your speech for tomorrow is better than this."

Caroline places her hand over his when she notices he seems to be a bit annoyed by Damon's usual commentary, even if she knows it's just her (ugh) brother-in-law's way to express his support and sincere happiness for the new journey they are embarking as humans now.

Stefan relaxes and his smile softens when he looks at her. And everything is perfect, just as it should be, so why does she feel like she should jump and get ready for battle at any minute?

As if this was all wrong.

"Oh, we're out of wine. I'll go to the cellar…" She stands up and feels a bit dizzy, but it is not because of the alcohol. She's growing more and more nervous as the hours go by, so she has only been sipping her glass from time to time.

"Are you alright?" Stefan follows her and asks with concern.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?" Caroline smiles at him, but it probably doesn't look as convincing as she hopes to, because then he's looking straight into her eyes and holding her hands.

"Caroline, look at me. There's nothing for you to worry about. Do you understand?"

She nods. There's a sense of numbness followed by calm.

Everything is finally right in her life.

"There's nothing for me to worry about."

Then they are heading back to the dining room when the doors are open with a thud and everything happens so fast she doesn't have time to understand what's going on. But someone pushes Stefan to the wall on the other extreme of the room, and Damon reacts quickly enough to pin the attacker to the floor.

"What the hell?"

Her eyes wander from one doppelgänger to another, and when she sees Stefan, the real one, dressed in his favorite green shirt that's now covered with blood stains, she finally understands what is happening, and who has been impersonating the love of her life.

"Caroline."

Oh my god. Oh my god. It's horrifying.

"Stefan?" Her voice breaks a little when she's surrounded by his embrace.

And Tom.

Tom who also looks like he's come straight out of hell.

"Why couldn't you just stay dead?" Silas stands up, shakes off the dust, and doesn't even look worried about the fact that there are too many enemies aware of his identity now.

He tries to take Stefan and Tom anyway, and he shoves Elena and Damon away when they try to help.

"STOP! Why are you doing this?"

"This would have been much easier for all of us if you had made a different choice, Caroline."

"You have truly lost your mind." She whispers. "Please, stop this, Silas."

"No, I'm tired of us playing nice." Bonnie, who's been too quiet in the last few… seconds? minutes?, has this fierce, resolute look in her face. "You've lived for far too long."

"UGH!" Silas groans in pain and suddenly he's the one falling to his knees.

"It's kind of fun because you are not really a vampire," Stefan says, leaning on her to stand, but he recovers his balance far too soon, and catches the weapon that Damon hands him. A stake. "But it works just as well."