My short holidays are over, so it is going to be a while until the next chapter, but I do hope you like this, since I had this piece in my mind for a long time now.
There is a house built out of stone
Wooden floors, walls and window sills
Tables and chairs worn by all of the dust
This is a place where I don't feel alone
This is a place where I feel at home
The Cinematic Orchestra, "To Build a Home"
28. I BUILT A HOME FOR ME, FOR YOU (THEN IT DISAPPEARED)
"I want to fly higher," Dante pouts.
"You can't because are a shorty, Dan. Dad, look, I'm winning!"
"Dad, Beth is being mean again. Come and help me!"
Stefan walks towards the swings to help his youngest to even this competition with his sister, and turns to look at Caroline, who is sitting at the bench and looking at them with a beaming smile.
"You come and help here," he silently signals, but she just shrugs. "You are doing just fine," that's what she means, and then is back at reading the romance novel she hasn't let down since yesterday (much to his chagrin because honestly, they could be having fun in more interesting ways, but Stefan suspects she is punishing for missing the Founder's ball last week).
But this is okay, too, since the work at the hospital sometimes stops him from spending as much time as he would like with the children.
Coming back to Mystic Falls has proven to be the right decision. Stefan could have never imagined that, after everything that happened in this town, it would be possible for their family to live a peaceful, normal life here. But it has been four years since they moved, and the kids are happy here. He is happy here.
"Okay, that is enough for today." Caroline says, finally joining them. "Time to go home."
"But it's still early." Beth complains.
"We agreed on pizza and movie night with aunt Bonnie and Ruddy, did you forget?"
"I want to see Ruddy!" Dante jumps from the swing. "Is Aunt Elena coming too?"
He and Caroline exchange glances. Although the kids are happy with the unexpected visit, the fact that Elena came without Damon this time around, or that she left so quickly afterward, is something of concern. And she wants to be human again. How is that going to work out for them?
"I'm afraid your aunt had to go back to New York. But we are still having fun with Ruddy, okay?"
Dante's easygoing nature does not allow time to sulk or be disappointed even for a minute.
"Can I choose the movie this time?" Beth asks.
"Yes, I think it's your turn now."
"Beth only likes boring princess movies."
"There is nothing wrong with princess' movies."Stefan can't help but chuckle. Of course Caroline defends their daughter's preference, which very much aligns with her own.
"Look, that is Beth's boyfriend!" Dante's next words erase Stefan's smile.
"Shut up! He is not my boyfriend."
"Who's that?" He asks Caroline. "A classmate?"
She nods. "Luke, the son of the Fell's family."
"You are always looking at him and you blush."
"I do not."
"He is cute." His wife comments, and the frown in his face deepens.
"Ok, time to go home, and no boyfriends until you are at least 20…"
"Dad! Not you too."
Caroline raises her eyebrows, but this is his turn to shrug off her silent mocking.
He can almost hear her, though.
'Twenty? Really? What a hypocrite.'
He grabs her hand, and they continue the light teasing until they get home.
Stefan wakes up with a strange feeling. In the dream, he was happy. Impossibly so, he could say, but he cannot quite remember what it was all about, and so he is left with a sense of incompleteness instead. Like he should have stayed asleep a bit longer.
Caroline is also waking up by his side, as he feels her arms hug him more tightly. a loud sigh then becomes a smile on her face.
"It is early for you to be brooding already."
"I am not."
"You are thinking about Markos, Qetsiyah, and Silas again, aren't you?"
Maybe they should just destroy the cure after all. It is the most intelligent way to go, but he cannot bring himself to let it go. Deep down, he still wants to get out of this messed up curse and have that life Caroline often wanders to.
"I wasn't, but now that you mention it, we should pay a visit to Bonnie and see if she can contact the witches on the Other Side again."
He and Damon arrived at home before dawn, but all discussions were left for later as everyone was sleeping, except for Caroline who had been waiting for him near the fireplace, expecting to hear what exactly happened on their way back home. But Stefan could not make much sense of what the travelers sudden appearance meant, and they were too tired to think anyway, so at some point they just dozed off.
Now, it seems, everyone else is ready to continue the craziness of their lives, as they hear the sound of something crashing against the wall (a vase, maybe) and then a thud (a body, definitely).
"You fucking let me to die, some friend you were!"
They look at each other.
"It seems they are getting ready to fix their friendship." Caroline says, but there is another crashing sound…
"I already said I am sorry, idiot!"
Stefan scowls, "you and I have a different idea of what 'fixing' looks like."
He is a bit reluctant to leave the warmth of their bed, but he doesn't like the probability of having his house destroyed by those two. Sighing loudly, he wills himself to get up.
Another crack. Caroline frowns now, and her words echo his thoughts right before she speeds downstairs. "Those beasts are going to destroy my house."
It reminds him, again, that once upon a time this house became a school, or that she lived here much longer than he did.
They wait at the Grill for Bonnie so they can have lunch together (Elena called to say she would meet them later, as she has things to discuss with Damon and probably someone should stay around Enzo as he gets used to the rules of the resident vampires, anyway).
"Here you are," Matt is giving them a look that speaks for itself, but he doesn't really say anything else.
It doesn't really matter. It's likely that everyone in town has spent the summer talking about how the sheriff's daughter left home like a case of teenagers being foolish and immature, and it is better to push for that narrative than the actual truth (and Matt was close to both Caroline and Elena until recently, so it must sting even worse for the guy).
"What does she think about Enzo this time, then?" He is a bit curious. There is also some personal interest in having Bonnie and Enzo get the chance he stole from them in the past.
"Oh, you know, she doesn't particularly like him or dislike him… yet." Caroline plays with the straw in her juice glass. "But I am worried… even if Bonnie's attitude about vampires has changed, it doesn't mean she will ever want to become one. In the long term, a human and a vampire…"
If only the cure wasn't limited to a few fortunate ones.
Caroline gets lost in her thoughts, and he nods in understanding. But maybe, again, she knows things he doesn't, things that happened in another lifetime. It has to be the case, because after a moment of silence, she is asking something seemingly unrelated.
"Tom. Do you think the travelers will go for Tom too?"
It has him confused for a second, then he remembers who he is talking about, the vague image of the human doppelganger she wanted to save but Enzo ended up killing in front of her.
He frowns.
"Probably. There is a chance they have already killed him, though. I will check on that."
His words only serve to upset Caroline.
"I keep wishing he could live a long, happy life too."
Stefan opens his mouth to ask about that piece of information he is missing, but that's when Bonnie arrives, out of breath, like she had been running to get there.
"Caroline, just now…"
"Bonnie, are you okay?"
"What's going on?"
"Your house is on fire." She says, "Right now, your mom's house is on fire."
