It's the way her eyes light up as she rambles about her plans and ambitions, the way she twirls her hands in small circles when she talks about college. The future.
It's the way her golden hair shines in the sun and fades darker in the winter.
It's the way her smile lifts the mood in any room or situation. The way it makes any person soften.
It's the way she likes to be neat and organised, and the way she gets flustered and childishly panics when she's anything but.
It's her "insecure, neurotic, control freak on crack" nature that allures him in the first place. The way she slowly draws him in unknowingly, day by day until he falls hopelessly in love.
It's the way his rare smiles make her heart flutter. The softness of his features and the gentleness in his eyes.
It's the way her heart breaks for him every time his brother is chosen first. She tries not to show her pity because she knows he hates it, but seriously Elena?
It's the way he wraps her in his arms, tells her she's safe with him. And she knows. She is safe by his side.
He is her friend, his conscience, his sounding board. The love of his life. She saw that light in him when all he saw and felt was darkness.
He was her biggest fan, her prince, the guide through the dark when all she knew was neglect and insecurity. She understands him; she will love him forever.
She knows it can't last; knows that him taking the cure means that she'll outlive him. But she's fine with that. Sure, deep down it hurts knowing that he'll grow old and grey, even die while she's stuck 17 and unaging.
Neither of them expected that moment to come so soon. Katherine's back and every moment that she's in Mystic Falls puts them more and more on edge.
They come together as man and wife next. Thinking back leaves a bitter taste in her mouth. They don't even get the whole day together, not even a few hours later she's leaving him behind with a heavy heart knowing it's the last time she'll see his face.
She keeps his memory alive, as painful as hearing his name and seeing his pictures feels. He can't ever be forgotten. She refuses. She owes him that.
When her daughters tell her one day that one of them is planning a summer wedding, she thinks back to her own June union. She still wears her rings, visits him in the mausoleum when she can. It hurts. She stays in touch with his brother but they both know how much it hurts that he's the only thing they have in common.
When her friends and daughters are all gone, she sits alone and remembers him. Remembers his laughter as she drinks herself into a state that would have impressed even Damon.
It takes a few years but her time comes when she runs into an unwelcoming pack of Werewolves near New York. She barely puts up a fight because her heart almost soars at the idea of seeing him again.
Before she knows it, she's opening her eyes and Bonnie and Elena stand before her. They smile gently and lead her down a path she recognises as the one leading to the cabin where she shared her first kiss with him.
She sees him in the distance, waiting for her with the rest of her family and she smiles for the first time in decades. She runs to him then and he meets her halfway, colliding together with soft kisses and whispers just for them.
After all these years, Caroline Forbes finds peace with Stefan Salvatore.