THE VAMPIRE MIRACLE

10. BIRTHDAY, BASHES AND KISSES

~THE SALVATORE BOARDING HOUSE; ANOTHER WORLD~

Damon makes some pancakes when Bonnie comes into the kitchen.

"Every day I tell you I hate that." Bonnie tells him.

"And every day I do it anyway. Bon appetit." Damon said. "Happy Birthday Blondie." He smiled.

~CAROLINE'S APARTMENT; REAL WORLD~

Toast pops up and Katherkne quickly drops them into a plate, she's in the kitchen cooking breakfast. She scampers over to the fridge, she pulls out orange juice.

"Toast, pancakes and a cup of orange voice for the birthday girl." She turned around to put the plate in front of the pregnant blonde.

"Yay! Thank you for making me breakfast, Kat." The blonde smiled brightly.

"You are welcome." Katherine smiled.

"So Care, what are we doing today?" Nadia asked.

"Oh there is a party at the lake." Jade said.

"Guys...I love that you guys are here. But I don't feel like going to a party or doing any parties today! I just want to stay in and maybe watch a movie or something." Caroline told the girls.

"Come on Care, it's your birthday, we should go out and celebrate." Katherine said.

"I know…" The blonde sighed looking at the three girls. "Okay, fine we can go to the party."

"Yay!" Jade and Nadia cheered.

Caroline and Katherine chuckled at the girls.

~AT WHITMORE~

"Hey cutebrag." Elena greeted her recently new crush.

"Did you just call me 'cute brag'?" The guy asked.

"Hey, I didn't come up with it. Another one of the volunteers did." Elena replied.

Liam shakes his head

"What? Sometimes, you brag. At least it has cute in it." Elena said innocently.

"Small favors. I'm Liam, you're Elena. See how easy it is to remember?" Liam said.

"Brag." Elena joked.

Liam stops walking and stands in front of her.

"Is there something you wanted other than to destroy my self-esteem?" Liam asked.

"Actually, yes. Are you doing anything this afternoon? My friends are throwing a party just outside my hometown, and there's a girl that I actually want you to meet." Elena smiled.

Liam looks skeptical.

"Just come." Elena told him.

"Okay." He nodded before he walked off.

Elena's smile fades when she sees that Stefan is standing there, he's smiling.

"Stefan? Wha--hey!" Elena hugs him and then pulls away.

"Wha--for the record, four months is far too long for me to go without seeing you."

"I know. That's why I'm here. I wanted to stop by and say hi." Stefan replied.

Elena giggles widely.

"This hospital thing..It's a whole new look huh??" Stefan asked as they walked.

"Yeahh..Apparantly this color

disguises all bodily fluids that i get covered in throughout the day. So far it's been only observation but i don't know..i love it there. Seeing sick people getting better..it's inspiring." Elena told him.

"You seem different. Seems happier." Stefan noticed.

"And you? Are you happy?" Elena asked. "Caroline told me a little bit."

"Ohh..about Jade. Yeah." Stefan said.

"And Katherine." Elena said.

Stefan looked at her blank expression.

"Stefan it's fine.Seriously. It's not weird, I promise. I'm just happy to finally see you again you know." Elena told him.

Stefan nods understanding.

"It's been really rough. Losing Bonnie and you know who for the last couple of months." She stops suddenly realising something. "Which is an incredibly insensitive thing to say to somebody who just lost their brother. I'm..I'm sorry." She apologized.

"No, I've been working on the healing thing too. Kat has been a big part of that, I guess." Stefan told her.

"Ohh...that good." Elena smiled. "You know what, you should come to the swimming hole today." She gasped.

"No..no I'm not sure i'm ready to dive back into all that. No pun intended." Stefan told her.

"Stefan, they're your friends too. C'mon. I know that we can't hang out at the Grill anymore. But that doesn't mean we can't all spend time together. C'mon please. If not for that then at least to convince Caroline that Enzo is not new best friend replacement material." Elena told him.

"Enzo and Caroline are friends? Since when?" Stefan asked, surprised.

"No clue. Probably since the incident." Elena replied.

"Oh will Enzo be there? At the summer hole?" Stefan asked.

"Yeah..but i can easily uninvite him. I'd rather you come. "No.No. Don't worry about it." Stefan cuts in. "Yeah. Maybe i'll stop by."

"Great." Elena said, happy.

~CAROLINE'S APARTMENT~

"Girls, come on." Katherine knocked on the bedroom door as there was a knock on the front door.

Caroline went and got it. Once she opens the door, she smiles when she sees the british man.

"For the birthday girl." He smirked, handing a small box to her.

"Thank you Enzo. Come on in. We were just about to leave though." Caroline invited him in.

"Hey Enzo." Katherine greeted him before she raised her eyes at the blonde.

"Katherine Pierce, as I live and breath." Enzo greeted her. "So where are you girls out to?"

"We are going to a party at the lake. You should come." Jade replied once she and Nadia came out of the bedroom.

"Yeah, you should." Caroline said.

"Ok, I can never miss a party." Enzo replied. "Great, let's get going." Caroline smiled.

"Oh, aren't you going to open your present first?" Enzo asked.

"I'll open it later, when we come back." Caroline told him.

"Oh ok." Enzo replied.

"Alright." Caroline said before opening the front door.

~ELENA'S CAR, OUTSIDE OF MYSTIC FALLS~

Elena , Stefan and Liam are driving to the swimming hole.

"She's determined but sweet, an eternal optimist, never forgets a birthday. What else?" Elena asked Stefan.

"Never gives up on her friends." Stefan said.

"Yes. True. She's completely loyal." Elena said.

"This is good. Build her up. I'm sure she'll live up to these ridiculously high expectations." Liam commented.

"That's another one. Great at surpassing expectations." Elena added.

"So she's perfect." Liam said.

"Totally." Elena agreed.

"Pretty much." Stefan said.

"So how long have you two been together?" Liam asked, changing the subject.

"Us? No. I'm... we're... heh. We're not, but, I mean, we did at one point…" Elena said.

"Not anymore." Stefan added.

"Was that recent? Because you two seem weirdly functional." Liam told them.

"Has it already been two years?" Elena asked Stefan.

"Time flies." Stefan said.

~IN THE WOODS, NEAR THE SWIMMING HOLE~

Elena is trying Stefan's phone and it goes to voicemail.

"Hey. It's Stefan. Leave a message." The voicemail said.

"Yeah. Not answering is one of his new things." A voice said.

"Oh hey, where's uh Katherine and the—" Elena started to asked.

"They're at the lake." Caroline replied as Tyler and Matt came up to them.

"Hey. Have you guys seen Stefan?" Elena asked.

"I didn't even know he was back." Tyler replied.

"So you want to fill us in on what we're doing here?" Matt asked.

"You don't remember this place? We used to sneak off here and get wasted while our parents were outside grilling. Granted, we all have a few less parents, but we can still have fun." Elena said as she offered them Jello shots.

"Actually, I can't. I'm working on my rage issues, and this wouldn't help." Tyler denied the shot.

"My buddy's wasted, and I've got to train in the morning, so…" Matt also denied the shot.

"And I am five months pregnant." Caroline also denied.

"Ok. Well, I don't want to sound like an alcoholic, but I do want a shot, so…"Elena happily grabbed a shot and takes it.

"Well... Here we are, having fun. I'm having fun. Aren't we having fun? This is really fun." Caroline said sarcastically.

"Ok. Clearly, this was a big mistake. I just wanted to spend one afternoon where we pretend for just one second like we're not all drifting apart." Elena took notice of the sarcasm and goes sits besides Caroline.

"Well, that's the problem, Elena. Not all of us are ok with pretending. Some of us prefer to face our problems head-on." Caroline told her.

There is a weird moment of silence.

"I think we should go." Tyler said to Matt.

"Yeah." Matt agreed.

Matt and Tyler leave.

"What's going on?" Elena asked her friend.

"I'm just lonely, ok? And Bonnie's gone, Stefan's gone. Enzo... shocker...Terrible, murderous friend. And Damon…" Caroline stopped.

"I'm still here, Care." Elena told her.

"Yeah, you're here...here but you're not here." Caroline goes up to leave.

Elena looks down.

"Care—" Elena looks up to see Caroline has already walked away.

~IN THE WOODS, NEAR THE SWIMMING HOLE~

Enzo is carrying ice bags when he notices someone following him. He avoids a wood piece and it gets lodged in the ice bag tearing it.

"That was Caroline's ice." Enzo told him.

"Yeah. Well, you'll be dead, so I think she'll let you off the hook." Stefan told him.

Enzo smashes the ice bag on Stefan's head. Stefan falls down but gets up again.

"I don't want to kill you, Stefan." Enzo tells him.

Enzo takes out the wood stick from the ice bag and throws it at Jay who is standing behind Stefan with a gun. It stabs him in the neck.

Jay falls to the ground, dead.

"But it looks like he did." Enzo said.

~AT THE SWIMMING HOLE~

"So you're sure you're ok to find your way back home? Sorry. My friend Caroline's having a bit of a crisis. It's been a rough couple of months for her. She's normally really sweet." Elena apologized to Liam.

"Actually, I'm glad I didn't meet her because then it would have been awkward when I did this." Liam told her before he kisses Elena. Elena is taken back but doesn't resist.

~THE SWIMMING HOLE, OUTSIDE MYSTIC FALLS~

Caroline walks up to the drinks table, opens the ice box and sees that it is empty.

"I thought I told Enzo to go get more ice." Caroline groaned.

"Did you do it in that tone? Because I think I know why he didn't." A random

girl said.

"Congratulations. Now it's your job." Caroline told her. "Go get ice." She compels her.

"Aren't we supposed to be having fun?" Katherine asked as the girl walked away.

Caroline rolled her eyes as she gets a text from Enzo that says " we have a problem"

She showed it to Katherine.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Katherine and Caroline go into the woods.

~IN THE WOODS, OUTSIDE MYSTIC FALLS~

"Right. Cavalry's on their way, so why don't we put a pin in our little spat till this all gets sorted, eh?" Enzo asked Stefan.

Stefan walks to where Jay's body lies, picks up his gun and points it at Enzo.

"No, thanks." Stefan said.

"You've got to be bloody kidding me. I just saved your life." Enzo told him.

"And then what? Give me a miserable life.

Turn Caroline against me?"

"So that is what this is about. Blondie's and mine newly found friendship." Enzo smiled.

"Only Damon calls her that." Stefan told him.

Caroline and Katherine superspeed in front of Stefan.

"Stefan." Katherine said.

"Good news, Caroline. I thwarted a vampire hunter. Bad news... Stefan has become a vampire hunter." Enzo told her.

"What's going on?" Caroline asked.

Enzo looked at Stefan, who was looking down.

"Looks like Steffy is jealous of our new little friendship. And well...he's trying to kill me." Enzo told her.

Katherine turns to look at her lover in disappointment.

"What—why? Why are you—" Caroline turns to face the younger Salvatore.

"Hey, what's going on?" Elena asked as she came to them.

"Stefan tried to kill Enzo." Caroline told her.

"What? Stefan, I told you to talk to Caroline not—" Elena started.

"Wait, what?" Caroline asked. "What did you say to him, Elena?"

"Care, I—we don't think Enzo is a good friend for you." Elena told her.

"No duh...I know who Enzo is, Elena." Caroline told her. "Enzo is a vicious vampire, he is insensitive at times and a murderer. But he is also my friend. A friend who was there for me when two people, who I call my friends, weren't there for me when I needed them the most." She told them. "I get it. You guys are grieving for your losses but so am I." She looked between Elena and Stefan. "And so is she." Caroline puts her hand on her stomach indicating her baby. "So...Enzo, please take me now. I don't want to be here anymore." Caroline told him.

"Sure." Enzo gave Caroline a small smile before leading her back to the car, leaving Katherine behind with the two former lovers.

"I can't believe you would do that to her, both of you." Katherine shook her head.

"What are you even doing here Katherine?" Elena scoffed.

Katherine turns to face her doppelgänger.

"What am I doing here? Well I was here to celebrate my friend's birthday. It was going well, I'll say but some dirty sloth had to ruin it, like she always does." Katherine replied.

"Kat—" Stefan called.

"Don't 'Kat' me." Katherine told him.

"Mom. Dad." They heard a voice called.

It was Jade. Her and Nadia came into the wood.

"Girls, get your stuff." Katherine told them. "We're done here." She looked at Stefan before walking away.

"Dad." Jade raised her eyebrows at her father.

"Go." He nodded at her.

~CAROLINE'S APARTMENT~

"Hey look about what happened with Stefan—" Caroline started as they entered her apartment.

"It's fine, Care, not the first person who wants to kill me." Enzo told her as he closed the door behind him.

"Right…" She chuckled.

Enzo smiled as his eyes landed on the unopened present he had gotten her.

"Hey, I know what will lighten your mood." Enzo said as he went to get his present.

Caroline smiled at him.

"Go on. Open it." He handed the box to her.

Caroline smiled as grabbed the box and set it down on the kitchen table. She started to unwrap it. She then took the top off and saw two small boxes that look fit for a necklace. She grabbed the top one. She gasped once she saw what was inside. It's a Sterling Silver Celtic October Birthstone Necklace.

"Since it's your birthday, I got you a necklace of your birthstone." Enzo explained.

"Oh my god it's so beautiful." She said through her tears.

"Here." He grabbed it and went behind her.

Enzo put the necklace on her. He then went back in front of her.

"Perfect." Enzo smiled. "Now open the next one." He told her, still smiling.

Caroline chuckled before grabbing the second box. It was another necklace. Except this one was a butterfly and a different color birthstone. It's an Amethyst (1-1/3 ct .t.w.) Cubic Zirconia Butterfly 18" Sterling Silver Pendant Necklace.

"Now, I did some work and figured out that your little girl is going to be born, hopefully, some times around the month of February. This is for her." Enzo explained.

"Aww it's a butterfly. She'll love it. Thank you, Enzo." She smiled at him.

"Of course." Enzo smiled, wiping the tears off her face.

She looks at him and their eyes meet. Enzo looks at her eyes then down to her lips. He starts to lean down as Caroline starts to tilt her head up. Then their lips connected. Caroline relaxed her body as his hands came in contact on her face then she put her hand on the table letting go of the necklace before putting both her hands on his arms.

"Hm..." Caroline pulled away. "Uh I—"

"I sh—should go." Enzo told her as he walked backwards toward the door.

"Uh ok." She said.

"Ah-hm...happy birthday Care." Enzo told her.

"Thanks." Caroline smiled watching him leave her apartment door.

Caroline then turned around, facing the kitchen table. She picks up the necklace Enzo got for her daughter. She packed it up. She touched her lip and smiled.

~A SMALL STORE IN MYSTIC FALLS, OTHERWORLDLY~

Damon is leaning against a cart and Bonnie is beside him, they are strolling through the aisles of a deserted store, Bonnie and Damon are fighting over the cart handle.

"I got it—" Damon said stubbornly.

"Okay." Bonnie sighs before she picks up a small piece of paper. "We need strawberries." "Mmhmm." Damon hummed.

"Eggs, milk and--ooh candles." She picks up one and sets it in the cart, Damon looks at her for a second.

"I know it's been awhile, but you couldn't do magic as an anchor, so I'm curious what momentary lapse reason makes you think you can do it now?" Damon asked her.

They turn the corner to another aisle.

"You know, when all this started, you sucked at making pancakes but now they're somewhat edible." Bonnie shrugs. "Milk."

Damon stops the cart, opens one of the many fridges and takes out a big carton of milk, he sets that in the cart.

"There's no reason to be Peter Pessimist." Bonnie heads over to a rack of glasses and sets blue shades on her face with the tag dangling. "We have proof we're not alone."

"First of all. Don't nickname, that's my thing--" Damon points to himself and strolls over to Bonnie with the cart, he snatches another pair of glasses from her. "--And this proof--" Damon sets the blue glasses on his face, so now they both are wearing it. "--This mysteriously filled in crossword, could very easily have been you."

"I didn't. Fill. It. In." Bonnie told him.

"No. You don't know you filled it in. You also don't know that you talk in your sleep. Eggs." He told her.

Bonnie opens the fridge beside them and grabs the eggs.

"What are you saying? Are you saying I sleep crossword?" Bonnie asked him.

Damon takes the glasses off.

"I'm saying it makes more sense than the alternative." He snatches the eggs and slams them in the cart.

"I get what you're doing." Bonnie takes off her glasses.

"What am I doing?" Damon asked her.

"You refuse to have faith that you'll see the birth of your daughter so you don't have to be disappointed." Bonnie said as they turned the corner again.

"I refuse to have faith because there's nothing to hope for." Damon said in a slightly loud voice.

"Isn't that what you told Caroline to do?

To have faith?" Bonnie asked.

"I told Caroline to have faith in herself that she'll be a great mother with or without me." Damon told her.

"Hm pork rinds." Bonnie suddenly stops.

Damon digs into the car and looks at the shopping index.

"Not on the list and eww." Damon said.

"No, day-mon-a." Bonnie emphasizes his name. "There were pork rinds on this shelf, There have been pork rinds here on every shopping trip we've had for the past 4 months." She told him.

Suddenly an electronic chime playing melody comes on.

"You hear that?" Bonnie asked.

She hurries out of the store. Damon follows, there is a small horse carousel outside the door, playing.

"Hmm, you hear that, Damon?" She sounds like she's proved her point and Damon still looks bewildered. "That's what hope sounds like."

END OF CHAPTER

A/N: OOH A CARENZO KISS. KATHERINE IS MAD AT STEFAN. WILL THEY WORK OUT THEIR PROBLEM? IS CAROLINE STILL GOING TO BE FRIENDS WITH ELENA AND STEFAN? WHO WAS IN THE WRONG, STEFAN, ENZO OR ELENA? OR MAYBE CAROLINE? ANYWHO, THANK YOUUU FOR READING! BYEEE!