In between two jobs, and preparing to take the GRE, inspiration struck again so here it is. Let me know if you are still around to read this work :)


You were all the things I thought I knew
And I thought we could be

You were everything, everything that I wanted (that I wanted)
We were meant to be, supposed to be, but we lost it (we lost it)

Avril Lavigne, "My happy ending"


26. Meant to be, supposed to be...

Of course Bonnie and Stefan's words reach her ears. They are vampires, after all, and in this case Caroline cannot help herself.

Bonnie is right. It has been difficult enough for her, with so many memories, but what would it be like for Stefan if he went through the same torture as her?

How could he have been so foolish to get into this in the first place? Or Bonnie, she was the one with the idea, Caroline just knows it.

Sighing, she accepts it is useless to try and look for someone to place the blame onto at this point.

And everyone always had the best intentions. After hearing Bonnie telling them that it is her regrets tying her to this curse, she understands why her friend would make Stefan go through this. Most of Caroline's regrets in life had the love of her life, the love she once lost. But after living for so long, seeing so many what ifs, these just keep snowballing.

"The issue with things changing every time we start remembering our past lives, is that the people who are responsible for this mess of a curse don't really exist anymore. Or will not exist. Same thing."

They are forever trapped in this circle, with no way out. Whatever her friend thinks she can do to help them, how can it work now? Even if she does everything right, and no matter what path she chooses for her future, there is this desire to do things differently. Like how she will always miss her children, the ones she can't allow herself to lose anymore.

"I thought you were the optimistic one." Elena frowns, showing her concern.

All Caroline can do is smile in response.

"I am optimistic. I am thinking about how I can be happy in this lifetime, now that I am lucky enough to have Stefan with me again, and now that I do not have to hide things from you anymore."

The hug she gets is a much better source of comfort than any words could be at the moment, and she is grateful for that, but it is also time to change the subject.

"So you and Damon…"

"I just… disagreed with him on what kind of vampire life I want to lead. And let's just say, it is all great or all doom with him, there is no in between." Elena exhales loudly. "You would know better than me… is it always like this with us?"

"I honestly do not know how to answer that. I fear that I will be biased against him."

Besides, Bonnie and Stefan are almost reaching the door.

She encounters his forest green eyes, the apologetic smile on his face, and it is not necessary for him to say much, because she already knows he has to do this.

"I will let you have that girl's night."

With just a few steps, they meet each other halfway.

"I hope you find him soon." In case this is not just a small tantrum and Damon is actually killing people again… "Don't forget to call."

With a soft kiss on the lips, he says, "I'll be back soon."

He better stick to his word.


Caroline tells them about Enzo. It seems only fair Bonnie knows, and even though her friend cannot imagine herself ever falling in love with a vampire, Bonnie's upright nature speaks louder and she says they should be doing something to free that person. Elena agrees, not quite believing her father could do something like this, and yet acknowledging the Gilbert's history when it comes to vampires.

While Stefan is out there rescuing his brother from himself, maybe the three of them could go on a little adventure of their own.

Can Elena be truly happy with Damon?

Caroline knows they were, once, but… how much did it cost everyone else, and to themselves? Their lives were not always easy, not that she knew much about it, too busy as she got as the years passed by and her focus was on the school and her girls.

Then, the other set of memories…

She sees forest green eyes losing their light, pale skin turning gray and there was nothing she could do about it. With his humanity off or not, Damon did that, and she could never erase the image from her mind.

There are too many sad memories, too much heartbreak, things that go wrong over and over again, like her father always hating and hurting her before deciding her worth, or her mother always leaving her way too soon, friends that come and go, who grow old or stay eternally young, and then, there is Stefan.

Maybe happy times are never meant to last long when it comes to them. She already knew as much when they flew away from Mystic Falls, and when he gave her back her ring. The thing is…

"I cannot believe you just married like that." Bonnie sighs. "You, Caroline Forbes, who had the perfect wedding pictured since we were ten years old."

"I already had that. In another life, but I guess it still counts." She stretches her arm, and stares at her rings.

"It is romantic." Elena says. Tragic, but romantic. "That you meet and fall in love even in another lifetime, this just shows how much you two love each other."

"He is my constant."

Everything changes, even her memories, even her sense of self, but her feelings for Stefan Salvatore always remain the same.


Breaking into Whitmore and the secret facilities of the Augustine Society shouldnt be a difficult task, but it ends up being something Bonnie has to do by herself (as uninvited vampires, Caroline and Elena cannot step into the building). Luckily, thanks to being here at a moment in time when West is not especially concerned with being discovered, this is not as difficult as Caroline remembers it was the first time around, when Damon and Elena were kidnapped. Of course, Enzo is violent and confused, and the only way to take him with them to Mystic Falls is to break his neck.

"What?" Caroline shrugs when Bonnie and Elena stare at her. "He'll be fine."

"So this is the vampire you fell in love with?" Elena looks at him from the mirror view as they drive back to the Boarding House.

"I cannot imagine that happening." Bonnie looks disgusted. "No matter whatever my dream or your memories say about it."

But still, saving Enzo seems like the correct thing to do, especially if they are trying to right the wrongs that cause all of their regrets.

When Stefan turned it off and went on that killing spree for Cade, Caroline knew it would weigh on him. but for years after his death and having Bonnie sending postcards from distant places had her wondering if things would have been different (if Stefan could have forgiven himself, or if Bonnie would have tried to find another way) without the sin of killing Enzo on his shoulders.

"Who the hell are you?"

Ah, thinking of the devil…

It would be a wise move not to mention the Salvatore brothers for the time being. There will be plenty of time for that later.

"Angels who just happened to save your ass, isn't that obvious?"