"If you love something dearly, let it go… and if it comes back to you, it is rightly yours."

"Stefan?"

"Yes?"

"Will you stay with me until I fall asleep?"

Even in her state, she could clearly hear his chuckles. It was the moment after her request that she felt his hand squeezing one of her hand and transmitted the warmth all into her body.

"I am here as long as you want me." The words were echoing in her ear, but she never came to know whether he actually said it or if it was her head imagining stuffs. Before she could inquire about the reality, she drifted into a deep sleep.

It wasn't long when the morning light hit her, and her head was thumping like the shotgun inside her brain. Even though her eyes were shut, she could hear the cars driving outside to full speed, the birds chirping not so quietly. She loves morning, but right now she would pay anything for it to turn into a night and let her go back to sleep. She turned on her back, trying to adjust her body best so that she can shut the outside noise, but it was in vain. The fact that she was feeling worst she ever had in her entire life was making everything miserable. Okay, maybe she was exaggerating a little in her mind, but it was if not worst, then a really bad hangover. Last night was just a blackout. Not that she wanted to concentrate on remembering it at that time.

"My head hurts." she moaned, holding her head still, but didn't like to move an inch out of her bed. Although the sudden noise made her react otherwise.

clunk… clunk… clunk.

At first she thought that the beat was in her head, but when the noise didn't stop, she jumped on her bed at once. Her eyes were still shut, trying hard to open up and proceed towards the source of the noise. Her squinted eyes fell on the clock on her right side of the bed. It was ten in the morning, and even though in the past she had drunk slept, she had never woken up so late.

"I am breaking my own records." She moaned again, but the repeated noise brought her back to the reality.

"Did you wake up because of the noise?"

The voice came from the door-side, and even if she didn't look at him, she knew exactly to whom that voice belonged to. She could guess that voice even in her dreams. Her eyes were shut in a hope that it was just a dream, and Stefan couldn't be there at her place. What will he be doing there in the middle of the morning?

"You okay?" Stefan asked her when she remained quiet for longer than usual.

"Ye.. yeah, I am okay." Slowly she turned her head up to look at him. Stefan Salvatore, standing in her bedroom, a sentence she never thought of saying in her entire life. "Uhm, so you are really here!"

Stefan smiled and took one more step inside her room so that he was standing right beside her bed. Slowly he sat at the corner of the bed. "Yes… I am really… here."

"when, uhm, when did you came here?" She looked at him from the corner of her eye, and she was sure that he was raising an eyebrow at her, as if there were oceans of thoughts going in his head, but he wasn't making it into words.

"Caroline… how much do you remember about last night?"

Stefan's question made her uneasy. "Well, I remember that Lexi called me to come to a club with her. So, I remember going there, and I definitely remember drinks." She rubbed her forehead trying to remember more than that. "And then everything is-"

"Blacked-out!" Stefan suggested, and she had nothing but to nod slowly in agreement.

She sighed. "Yeah… that." But now, a more pressing question was sitting right in front of her eyes. How and when and why did Stefan came to her. By far she knows that Lexi was alone, and it was supposed to be some girls night out for which she invited her in. And, thanks to Bonnie, who apparently had to ditch her at the last minute, Caroline went by herself. Not that she cared. She can make friends anywhere and can indulge in any kind of group. And right now, that's not even the concern. The big question in front of her was, what the hell she did last night that was making Stefan questioning her like this.

"Well, you should probably take this." He handed her one glass of water and the advil. "And probably eat something before taking the medicine."

Technically he didn't reply to her question, and instead brushed it off.

"You were here the whole night, weren't you?" It wasn't hard for her to figure it out now.

Slowly, Stefan sat right beside her on the bed. "Well, how could I have had, when you took my hand and held it as if you were not going to leave it forever."

Her heart was doing that thing when it starts to jump right inside her chest, and it was almost going leaping out high as he took her hand and enacted what she supposedly did last night, holding her hand in between his.

"Uhm, I am so sorry Stefan. I mean, I shouldn't have done that."

"And when did I said that I minded it?"

Caroline thought she might have had gone deaf at that statement, or maybe it was just her ear playing with her. "What?" The reaction came out involuntarily.

The genuine smile was there on him all the time, but he didn't repeated himself, and eyed the glass of water in her hand. "You should get back to sleep. Hangovers are pretty bad."

"Stefan… uh, did I… did I say something when I was drunk?"

"Said what?"

"I don't know, you tell me!"

"Go… to… sleep." Stefan just mouthed the words.

"What? OH MY GOD, I TOLD YOU TO SLEEP WITH ME?" The second when the words came out of her, she knew her brain isn't working, and she was feeling an utter amount of embarrassment.

He was laughing in full phase now, not smiling or chuckling like Stefan always do, but full fledged, high- pitched laugh. She had never heard a sound like that before, and for some reason it was soothing.

"Caroline, that's me… telling you, to go back to sleep." He said the words at a slower speed, as if the normal speed might hit her brain and will cause damage.

She doesn't remember if she argued after that or not, but she remember falling deep in sleep after that.

She woke after what felt like years to her. Her eyes were blurry but she can totally figure the shape of the person sitting right opposite to her near the table. Caroline frowned on the thought that Stefan was still in her house. "You are still here."

He closed the book in his hand when he saw her waking up. "And you are up. You should have some soup now. I was going to give it to you, but you dozed off pretty quick."

She could smell the aroma of chicken soup. "But I am not sick."

"Let's argue on that after three seconds." And right after three seconds, she sneezed.

"How did you-"

"I am studying medicine, Caroline. I can sniff a patient from a distance."

"Patient, huh. So, that's what I am."

"Well, you are not any ordinary patient to me."

"Huh?" Her ears were deceiving her once again.

"On another note, you should definitely sing more often." He commented, and the flustered look on her was a proof that the memory of that moment was rushing back into her mind.

"Oh my god, I made you sing."

"Hey, I thought someone liked my singing." He mocked as if he was hurt by her comment. "Even though I suck at it."

"Oh, I didn't mean it like that."

"Sure, you didn't." He started to fan himself with his hand. "Do you feel hot in here?"

"No, I think the temperature is fine."

"Hmm, maybe it's just me, after all I am hot, you know."

Caroline's heart stopped. She remembered the very reference of his statement, quoting none other than Caroline Forbes. How many times did she called him hot last night? Her cheeks were flustered so much that she was unable to look at him straight. So, she just decided to keep her face turned on the opposite side, keeping her eyes closed. Even though she wasn't looking at him, she could feel his smile right on her flesh.

"By the way, your cheeks are red." He almost whispered in her ears, and her hands went to cover her cheeks. Was Stefan Salvatore flirting with her? Even the thought was making her dizzy.

"Stefan, tell me straight. Did I do or said something to you when I was drunk?" Caroline peeked at him before adding "apart from the statement I made about you being hot, obviously."

"I should be going now. Have some rest. A lot of work to do." He stood up and started to walk out of her room.

"What? No!" she stood up as well, following him out of her room. "Stefan, answer me."

"I have a lot of work to do, go back to the lab, check with the experiment results, put it in my journal-"

"Not that. Answer my previous question!" She never realized when and how she ended up standing there, holding him from his collar. Their eyes fell on the position of her hand exactly at the same time. She was releasing it from her grip, but he stopped her, holding her hand near his collar instead. "It's okay. You can do it."

"Do what?"

"Anything."

She tried to get her hand out of his grip, but he didn't let her go, or maybe she didn't tried to loosen his grip at the first place.

"You owe me something." He was the first one to break the silence

"What exactly do I owe you?" Somehow she managed to talk.

"A challenge!"

"A- a what?" "A challenge." He took a mere step forward, still holding her hand at the same position. "If you are forgetting you told me you can be upto any kind of challenge I will give you."

"When the hell did I said that? Drunk dares and talks, and promises don't count… you know that right?"

"ahan, that's the point Caroline. You were very much awake and not so drunk when we talked about it."

"When?"

"In that so-called double date you had suggested."

"Hey, that was your girlfriend who suggested it-" "And it was your boyfriend who agreed to it."

No argument to that, she thought. "So, what's the challenge?" she sighed in her defeat. Who remembers something mundane like this?

"You will know it sooner. But, you can't go back on your words."

"Fine."

"Promise?"

"Promise." Caroline smiled a little. However, when Stefan put a peck on his hand, which by the way was still on top of her own hand, that smile on her face dropped off. "What was that?"

"Apparently that's how you do pinky swear."

"What are we? five?" she laughed nervously.

"You can kiss as well."

"Your hand?"

Stefan laughed at her response, and the popped out eyes. "I meant your hand, but your suggestion can work as well."

"I wasn't- I wasn't suggesting anything, and I am not doing anything like… that!" Her voice was high-pitched for some reason, which made Stefan laugh.

"I should go now." He dropped her hand, and went out of her house.

The weird smile on her face was still there on her face, standing still in the middle of her house, she was unable to figure out the deal with Stefan. It was like she was meeting Stefan for the first time. Was she overthinking or was Stefan was actually flirting with her? It was like a battlefield in her head.

"Well, thanks for ditching me." Caroline said in between the sips of her coffee.

"And I am saying sorry again. Anyways, it's not like you missed me or something." Bonnie said on the other end.

"Where is that coming from?"

"I have heard stuff." She teased her.

"What stuff."

"Stuff like when you become the super-hit when you sang."

"Ugh, it was a disaster Bonnie. And the worst part is that I don't remember ANYTHING…. at all."

"Really? Nothing?"

"Well, just the part where I called Stefan hot on the mic… in front of everyone."

"You did what?" Bonnie almost choked on her coffee.

"I knowwwww. I am so embarrassed."

"Did you talk to Stefan after that?"

Caroline was having difficulty talking about the morning. "Kind of."

"Did he mentioned about it?"

"No." Caroline answered instantly. More like lied instantly.

"So, there is no need to worry. He must have had slipped it out of his hand by now."

Caroline wished for this to be true. But, Stefan did mentioned about, Stefan did teased her about it in the morning.

"Caroline? You there?"

"Huh? Yeah… yeah I am here."

Caroline shook her head, and decided to not think about it anymore. Although since the past five hours, that is exactly what she has been doing, thinking over and over again, trying to remember about anything. And there were some moments coming to her in bits and pieces, and it was definitely making her uncomfortable.

"I puked at Stefan's shoes."

"You did what?" Bonnie was in the roars of laughter now.

"Bonnie Bonnet, this is all your fault!" She was angry on everything now.

"Hey, how is this my fault?"

"Since you didn't came with me to keep a check on me, I had god know how much of alcohol inside me, and you very well know how I am when I am drunk."

"I must admit though, I am regretting a little bit to see all that through my own eyes." Bonnie was trying hard to control her laugh, but was failing.

"I hate you." Caroline was going crazy, and she had to talk about Stefan with someone, but she knew what Bonnie's answer will be, and some part inside her didn't want to feel negative, and wanted to like the fluttering feeling she was having inside her stomach.

Caroline was moving from one aisle to another with the list of grocery in her hand. She was near the dairy section, when she remembered suddenly. She remembered it all.

"Shit!" she didn't realize she was standing in the public place. "Shit, shit, shit…." the word kept coming out of her mouth, and two or three people passing her by thought that she must be crazy.

"What happened?" she heard someone talking to her from behind.

"Twice… I did it twice."

"Did what?"
"I almost ki-" The main problem with Caroline is that, sometimes when she blabbers, she doesn't look around or pay attention to whom she was talking to. She stopped before completing the word 'kiss'. Thanks to that fortunately, because she was blabbering to none other than Stefan Salvatore.

"You almost what?" He asked again.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was visiting someone, and then I saw you coming in the store, so I walked in."

Caroline was glad she didn't finish her sentence. "Caroline, is everything fine?"

"Yeah."

"By the way, it's time."

"Time for what?"

"For your challenge."

Caroline wasn't getting why he was so pressed about the stupid challenge anyways. "And what task do I have to do?"

"You have to go on a date."

Caroline stood there gaping at him. Did he just asked her out? "Date with-"

"Someone I know." Stefan finished the sentence for her, and proved her wrong.

"Why should I? And why are you so concerned about my dating life?" She was angry now.

"I am sorry Caroline, but that's the challenge."

"What kind of a challenge it is?"

"Be at the Curios at 11 a.m. He will be waiting for you there." He didn't answer her

"Who goes on a date at 11 in the morning?"

"That guy does. Now don't be late tomorrow."

"Who is he may I ask? Or am I not even allowed to ask that either?"

"You can know that Tom is nice guy."

"Tom?"

"Yup… Tom…Tom Avery."

.Continued

A/N: This chapter is divided into two for the sake of suspense. But, it will be up soon (in few hours). Don't forget to let me know your reactions. I love reading it.