For Stefan Salvatore, leaving the boarding house had been a decision as immediate as it was obvious. Damon could be a hurricane at the best of time, and coming home to find a bloody Bonnie laid out on the couch was definitely not the best of times. He made the wise choice to give the situation a bit of space before his inevitable confrontation with Damon over his disgraceful behavior. The only problem with that plan was that the boarding house was not only Damon's home but also Stefan's. That meant that he now found himself with nowhere to spend the night.
The options he was left with were to either spend the night outside somewhere, compel someone, find a friend or pick up a one night stand and go back to her place. Compelling someone was something Stefan usually preferred to avoid, particularly when he was trying to maintain some semblance of sobriety; it's too tempting to take a bite if you've already compelled someone to be agreeable. The thought of trying to procure an invitation home with someone the good old fashioned way at a bar was even less appealing. Having managed to screw up both relationships he had attempted that year, Stefan was not feeling his most dashing. So...what friends did he have at this point?
Matt was definitely out. He would never let him in his home again after the last stunt he pulled. Donovan was so pissed that he actually transferred ownership of the house to someone else and then had them give it back to him to reset the invitations on his home. That required enough paperwork that it would have seemed pretty extreme if he hadn't eaten Matt's running buddy and picked a particularly unpleasant way to let him know that it was him that murdered Vickie. Having reached the end of his list of friends in town in impressive speed, Stefan found himself on the road to his last option. That option was Caroline Forbes...mother of two, ex-girlfriend and hopefully still his best friend.
Stefan spent a moment sitting in the car once he pulled up to her home. He took a deep breath to compose himself, said a quick prayer because who knows what's out there and maybe it'll help, then reached for his phone. Caroline wasn't a big fan of surprises, so it was not the time to push his luck by surprising her with his arrival. It took a few more seconds of brooding in her driveway, but he worked up his courage and called her number.
Surprisingly quickly his call was answered. "Stefan?" she queried timidly.
"Caroline," he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Are you? Is it? Ummm..." Caroline wanted to ask if he had flipped his switch but she wasn't sure how to phrase it in a way that wouldn't set him off if he hadn't.
Stefan easily picked up on that and put her out of her misery quickly. "I'm back, I'm sorry and um...I'm in your driveway."
Before Stefan could think, the lights were on in the living room, then the porch light, and then Caroline was standing on her front porch in possibly the cutest kimono he'd ever seen, with rollers in her hair and a pair of marabou kitten heels. Even with Stefan back in order, she didn't want to startle him, so she approached his car at a normal, human speed. "Stefan," she whispered while looking around sharply, "I'm glad you're back and all, but exactly are you...here? In the middle of the night?"
Stefan chuckled and ran his hands through his caramel locks. It seems no matter how much time passes, he never quite gets used to how quickly Caroline springs into alertness and gets right to the point. "I need somewhere to stay for the night."
Caroline's face scrunched into a puzzled little frown; Stefan lives in a house with a half dozen bedrooms. It's in no way obvious why he would need somewhere other than there to sleep. After turning her wheels for a moment, it dawned on her what must have happened. "Stefan, what did you do?"
Stefan gulped and averted his gaze. It wasn't that he didn't plan to tell Caroline, it was just that he didn't expect he'd have to do so before she let him in. As the seconds stretched and he tried to think of the best way to explain what happened, Caroline began to get antsy. She was clearly scanning for danger as she started to tap her prettily manicured nails against the driver's side door.
"Caroline, can you at least stop tapping impatiently," he huffed.
"Stefan, can you at least stop stalling before we get eaten?" she snapped.
"I had a conversation with Bonnie, she fainted, and my switch flipped ."
Caroline raised a thin blonde brow at that. Bonnie was not the sort of woman who was prone to fainting, and the Ripper of Monterrey was not much for conversation. "That sounds like, at best, a very abridged version of the truth. With that in mind, I feel like I'm being generous to even call that a truth."
"Abridged, but nothing major left out."
Caroline stood up, folded her arms and tried to wrangle her thoughts. The chances of him faking having flipped his switch back were pretty minimal, given that with his humanity off he certainly never cared enough about what anyone thought to bother to pretend. There was a lot of water under the bridge between them, but one night wasn't that much to ask.
"Stefan..." she answered slowly, "I'll let you in, because you are my friend and I didn't bring a crossbow, but once you get in this house and get some tea and rabbit blood in you, you are going to tell me what happened."
Stefan knew that was the best compromise he was getting out of her, and he honestly did kind of want to talk about what had happened. Turning on your humanity was a lot like waking from a particularly gruesome nightmare. You have lots of vague and terrible memories of things you can remember doing that don't quite feel real or attached to you as a person. Unfortunately, it was all very real and you are no less responsible for what you do when your humanity is off than you are responsible for what you do in full possession of it. She would be able to relate because she had recently flipped her own switch, and he would get the chance to unburden himself. That wasn't why she insisted he tell her what happened, but all things considered, it was a good deal. He accepted with a smile and followed her into her home.
Her home was as warm and welcoming as it had always been. Since he flipped his switch and made a mess of the friendship they were just getting back after their aborted effort a relationship he hadn't been there. The décor was much more child-friendly, but it was still a familiar space.
"I feel kind of silly dressed like this while you're fully clothed, so if you'd like to-"
"-Slip into something more comfortable?" he teased.
She flushed as much as a formerly living woman can and put her hands on her hips. "Pajamas, now. Since you're going to be disagreeable I'm making it an order and not a hospitable suggestion," she stated in her rapidly-improving mom voice with a dramatic roll of her eyes.
"Yes ma'am," he sassed. "Do I still have a drawer or will I have to get into some that look more like what you have on?"
Caroline laughed and shook her head. "For that comment, I should make you put on a nightgown. But to answer your question, yes you do still have a drawer." Caroline had gone back and forth in her mind about what to do with his things after he left with Valerie. Although their relationship really hadn't been working out, she knew his decision to do that was as much about the circumstances as it was anything personal between them. She also knew that when that matter was sorted he would come back.
Stefan smiled a little smile at the fact that she hadn't entirely purged all evidence of him from her space. Their friendship might be in even better shape than he would have dared to hope. With a bit of spring in his step, Stefan set about changing into some pajamas while Caroline headed to the kitchen to heat up the promised rabbit blood and tea. She wanted to make the tea properly in a kettle, but she knew that the blood would have to go in the microwave. While food and drink can be enjoying and comforting, blood is always the most urgent priority for a vampire, particularly one in a bit of crisis.
When she heard Stefan leave her bedroom, Caroline brought him his mug of rabbit blood as he made himself comfortable on the couch. "You don't want one yourself," Stefan asked as he made a manful effort to get the beverage down without discomfort showing on his face.
"Ugh! I'd rather die again than drink that," Caroline shot out quickly. "But I don't want to trigger you by drinking human blood in front of you, so I'll just stick to my tea for now."
Stefan sobered a bit at the oblique reminder of why he was there as opposed to his own giant and comfortable bed.
Caroline regretted that casual reference to his problem as soon as she made it. "Oh my god, Stefan! I'm so sorry! That sounded like a dig. It was not a dig..." she fretted in a torrent of rushed but emphatic whispers.
"You don't have to apologize, Care. I've been a pretty pathetic excuse for a vampire if you're worried you can't talk about, much less drink a bag of human blood in my presence without me spiraling right before your eyes. I've put a lot of my addiction issues onto you and made you feel responsible for keeping me from falling off the wagon, and I'm sorry for that. You've been a stand-up sober sponsor and even better at being the best friend I've ever had. Thank you for being there for me, but I can't in good conscience make being there for me mean endlessly being drug into my addictions and bullshit."
Caroline's eyes glittered just as bit as she found herself being melted by his earnest charm. "Stefan Salvatore, I've already told you that you don't have to apologize for no-humanity disasters. That's not really you."
That triggered one of those unpleasant flashes of crystal-clear humanity free recollection. "I can't speak for anyone else, but that is me, Caroline. As a matter of fact, that was what Bonnie and I were discussing.."
Caroline went from curious to concerned to alarmed at about the same points in the story that Bonnie had when she was living through it. By the time Stefan was done explaining what had happened, Caroline had almost as many questions as answers. Given that what triggered Stefan to flip his switch was someone that he wasn't particularly close to, that kind of brought them back to the drawing board about exactly what it is that triggers someone in that way. By the time they were bringing the conversation to a close, the sun was rising on a table with several empty bottles that once contained rabbit's blood and two vampires grateful that they don't actually need to sleep every day.
"Well Stefan, it's been a delight to host you, but Alaric is going to be here soon with the kids and I am in no mood for a lecture about you."
"A lecture? Because of my humanity or...what?"
"Or none of your not-my-boyfriend business, now scoot," she laughed while rolling her eyes. "Plus you told Bonnie you'd be back in the morning. Showing up bright and early with flowers and breakfast can only help your cause."
Stefan laughed, yawned and stretched. "Can I plead my immediate dismissal down to a quick shower?"
"You're pushing it, but...fine. Quick, and then you are gone, you understand?"
"Thanks, Care!" he beamed before giving grabbing her hand to give it a gentlemanly kiss and blurring off towards the master bedroom. That prompted her to roll her eyes for what might be the millionth time in the last day. She had a soft spot for a man with charm and that fellow clearly knew it.
In only a few minutes he was in front of her having dressed, showered and gotten into some fresh clothes, having clearly used his vampire speed to move things along. "So, how do I look?"
"You look good as always; immortality has its perks."
"Flattery will get you everywhere," he flirted. "I'll see you around, provided I don't find myself staked when I get home."
"Make sure they're yellow roses for friendship and you'll be fine."
Stefan gave Caroline a hug, took a deep breath of her scent and headed out. Caroline quickly set about taking a shower herself, fixing her hair and makeup and getting impeccably dressed. Looking the part seemed to help her feel more prepared in other areas of her life, so she held onto hope that it would help there. With Alaric was heavily scrutinizing her and her choices as a mother, the threat to take the kids was hanging over her all the time. Seeing Stefan's determination to set his life in order and earn a bit of redemption helped steel her spine.
For his part, Stefan was in no particular rush while buying flowers or breakfast, but once he was done with those tasks he knew he couldn't put off heading home any longer. He headed straight home from the Grille, knowing from living there about what time Bonnie usually had breakfast and walked up to the door and knocked. It was his own home, but after last night, it was probably for the best that he not surprise anyone. Damon came to the door, looked him up and down and folded his arms. Well...that was off to a tense start.