Thank you Lisa, Tonia and Aragorn Elessar for your constant support.
Beauty queen of only eighteen, she had some trouble with herself
He was always there to help her, she always belonged to someone else
I drove for miles and miles, and wound up at your door
I've had you so many times, but somehow I want more
Maroon 5, "She will be loved"
31. PERCHANCE OF REWINDING TIME. Part 2.
Stefan is studying the maps of town and the points they have crossed out in the search for the travelers' original bodies, when Damon walks into the room and complains again.
"We should just transform this place into a hotel. Add some rooms, since we have a full house already."
"Shut up, Damon."
It's been like this since they brought Tom, and it makes him want to stake his brother every time he complains. But this is useless, so he retreats to the kitchen before saying something that Damon will use against him later on.
Caroline is there, entertaining herself with chocolate fondue and, apparently, a bake still in the oven. In spite of the threats surrounding them, she has been acting pretty calm, so unlike herself. The moment she turns to find him walking towards her, her lips curve into a smile.
"Do you want some?" She offers, picking some chocolate on her spatula but then licking it all clean. The tease.
"Is there a birthday party I am forgetting?" Their current circle of friends was mostly formed by the inhabitants of the boarding house, so maybe Bonnie or Jeremy?
"Not really, but we haven't had luck searching for the travelers, so I thought we could just take it easy for the rest of the day." Then she frowns, "but now that you mention it, I should ask Tom about his birthday. I don't remember the date, but… I think around December?"
And there it is again.
Stefan sighs, and before one of the million questions running in his mind comes out, Caroline offers him chocolate again, the smile still on her face. There is just no way of fighting her good mood, so why ruin it with his dark thoughts?
Instead of picking the spatula, he swipes his thumb on the corner of her lips, where she got the sweet stuck on her face like a little kid, and licks it with his eyes still on her.
"Hmm. Not so bad."
There's a mischievous gleam in her eyes before they meet halfway in the kiss, and the spatula that's still in her hands falls loudly to the floor when he presses her tightly against him. She smells and tastes like chocolate now, and he has never been that much of a fan before now, that he discovers it might just be his thing after all. The quiet moan she lets out when his mouth descends to her neck makes him forget about where they are… then the back door opens and Stefan remembers that he too, just like Damon, hates how crowded their house is now.
"Hey, Caroline, do you know if— Woops, sorry guys."
And it had to be Tom Avery, of all people.
"No, that's… is there anything we can help you with?" She asks.
"I'll just come back later. It's not that important."
It doesn't matter that he is quick to leave, Caroline is all flustered, and the moment ruined.
"He keeps looking at you with those lost puppy eyes." Stefan finally says it, and he regrets it immediately when his wife looks at him like he is saying something ridiculous, but the cat is out of the bag now.
"What?"
"He likes you."
"No, he doesn't. Tom is just grateful," and then she remarks "to both of us."
"I think he'll be safer with Klaus."
"Klaus hasn't changed that much yet. At this point, he'd just use him as a blood bag. We are indebted to Tom, Stefan."
He frowns.
"Why?"
She pressed her lips tight.
"You don't remember, but he used to be our friend."
Later when they are walking the tunnels underneath town, still looking for the damned Travelers' bodies, Bonnie points out how ridiculous he is being. Again.
"I didn't take you for the possessive boyfriend type, Stefan."
"I don't know. It does seem Caroline is very popular. Or maybe it is a doppelganger thing, the look-alike has been infatuated with her from day one."
"She said Tom used to be our friend in one of our past lifetimes." Stefan says, ignoring Enzo's comment. "Has she told you anything?"
"Nice try. Even if I knew, I am not telling you anything Caroline wouldn't tell you herself. Talk to your wife, Stefan."
"That's what I am trying…"
The problem is that Caroline keeps these secrets, and won't talk to him. Everything about this life she remembers and he doesn't is standing like a wall between them, and he wonders why. This evening, for instance, she volunteered to babysit the two humans in their house instead of Elena.
Damon calls at that moment, just to tell them they didn't have better luck.
"If we can't find the Travelers this way, then we can find Silas."
Even when he was trapped in stone, Silas's psychic abilities were there. If his mind is still working now, then the link between them still exists.
The look Bonnie gives him after he explains his plan tells him she doesn't think this is a good idea, but this is the reason why she is the only witch he trusts to mess with his brain.
"Qetsiyah already told me about this spell. She also thinks we should use Silas. But Stefan, you did this before and lost all of your memories, what do you think is going to happen this time?"
He presses his palm on his forehead. This is frustrating. He wouldn't choose to do it if there was any other way.
"At least we know what the worst case scenario is."
"No, we don't." Bonnie looks like she is ready to start listing a series of things that could go wrong, but for once, Stefan is happy Enzo is there with them.
"Bonnie, why don't you just relax and help him out? By the way, you should start charging for these favors, or they'll get too used to getting everything for free."
Stefan nods in agreement.
"Sounds fair."
Bonnie smirks. "I would be rich by Christmas."
But his friend is still not convinced about using the doppelganger connection. She waits until the next day, after Caroline and Elena are out doing the grocery shopping to feed their two humans that week.
"I am going to tell you something. You don't trust Qetsiyah, and Caroline did not want to talk about this, so take it with a grain of salt. Apparently, one of those times you did your rewind thing, Silas became obsessed with Caroline."
"Silas only wants to die and reunite with Amara."
"Well, so I've heard. Qetsiyah just thinks it's amusing, but I've been thinking… What Enzo said yesterday about there being this doppelganger thing isn't wrong? Silas obsession caused you and Elena to fall in love…"
"That was Markos' curse."
But Silas seemed pretty convinced it was all fate, everything happening because of his great, eternal love.
"Are you sure it was only Markos? You might be different people, but you can't deny the similarities between you and your doppelganger, and of course there is this mind connection buried deep down."
"What are you trying to say, Bonnie?"
"You are jealous of Tom but it is all your fault that he has a crush on Caroline. It is because you have been so determined to reunite with her for who knows how long, maybe it even beat Silas' obsession. It is scary, if you think about it."
It all seems unlikely, but not impossible at all. There aren't many things in the world Stefan still finds impossible after all this time, and they did promise to love each other forever, a promise he intends to keep.
"You don't want to use that connection to find Silas because you think it will trigger memories."
Bonnie sighs. "Can you handle it?"
There are things he doesn't know. Things that torment Caroline, and how are they ever going to make peace with their regrets and die for good if it continues like this?
She is reading an old book of fairytales when he finds her in the bedroom.
"Beth always liked The Little Mermaid the most. It's a story with a sad ending, I never understood that. But we aren't really different. We want to be human, and it can only end badly. It's us, or Damon and Elena, or Bonnie and Enzo. We cannot be happy without stealing the chance from someone else."
His ever optimistic Caroline has moments of painful sadness and grief that might come at the most unexpected times. Or maybe it shouldn't be unexpected, but he doesn't know how to look for the signs.
Stefan sits by her side and wraps his arms around her. How can he really comfort her if he doesn't remember living the things that make her suffer like this? She is too good to him, sparing him even from the stories of that life, and he knows it isn't because of some lack of trust.
"We'll change tactics. Bonnie will use my connection to Silas so we can find his body. And then we'll have the travelers."
"No, that's the worst plan I've ever heard." She sits straight and stares at him like he is crazy. "Did you forget what happened to you everytime you volunteered for something like this?"
"Until we find a solution to the curse, we have to stay alive. And that's only happening if all of the travelers' disappear. They are too dangerous now that they have Markos on the Other Side knowing about us."
She frowns.
"You already made up your mind about this. What should I do if you get amnesia again?"
That is not going to happen (he isn't certain, but his hopes for the opposite result are quite high). Still, there is a small chance…
"Caroline, that's not going to happen." He caresses her cheek. "But if it does, then we do the same we always do."
Falling in love all over again seems to be their thing.
