"Tom Avery? Who is that?"

"My friend."

"Your friend? I know all your friends Stefan. There is me, and Lexi… and me. What friend is this one?"

"Someone you don't know. But don't worry he is kind of similar to me. Some people might say that he is my twin."

"And you want me to go with him."

"No, I want you to finish your challenge. Are you up for it?"

"Fine, then don't come complaining to me if I really start liking this Tom."

"Okay."

"I might actually go on a second date."

"I will be thrilled for you two."

Stefan started walking and she followed.

"Then I should find a date for you as well." Her anger was all over her face. Just a day before, Stefan was all flirty and cheeky with her, and now he brought a date for her.

"Oh no. The task is for you and not for me."

Caroline was almost going to throw something at him, but she controlled herself, thanks to her control freaky-ness.

"Don't forget it. Sharp 11 a.m."

And he didn't wait for any other response from her, and left the store. Caroline stood there unblinking for almost the countable minutes.

"What the hell is wrong with him?" She muttered, and stomped off out of the store as well.

It was a Sunday morning, and she was being lazy, and moreover she didn't want to wake up. Nothing to do with the undeniable date she agreed to go on obviously. Her phone has already buzzed for about hundred times, and it was still ringing. She opened her one eye and peeked through it. If it would have been any other day, she would have felt happy and sunny after seeing the flashing name. But, right now she was just praying for him to end the call. It did ended, but only the ring once again.

"Hello." Her voice was low, and coarse.

"What happened to your voice?"

"I think I caught cold." She coughed.

"Are you okay?" she could feel the concern in his voice.

"I don't think so."

But she was perfectly fine.

"Is it too bad?"

"Y-yeah. I think I might have fever as well."

She didn't have any fever either.

"I should be there in few minutes." By his voice it was clear that he was rushing out of his place now.

"NO" she jumped up. If Stefan came there and saw her, he will definitely figure it out that she was lying. "I mean, you don't have to worry about it. I will get better. It's just a fever, it will pass." She was talking without taking any breaths now, and she had to stop talking soon, or else Stefan will know what she was doing.

"Caroline… stop." He broke the chain of her words. "I am in your neighborhood, it won't be a problem for me to come there."

"Why the hell are you in my neighborhood all the time these days?" It came out of nowhere. Caroline was scolding herself for having her foot residing in her mouth. "I didn't mean that."

"Okay, but you take care." He didn't argued further.

"I don't think I will be able to go to meet Tom today." She coughed again, trying to sound genuinely weak.

"Hmm… I was actually calling you to let you know that I was thinking of taking you to the 'Fall Out Boy' concert."

"WHAT?"

"Yeah, they are on the tour, and since that's your favorite band, I thought-"

"OH MY GOD, you have no Idea how happy I am right now. When is the concert?"

"Tonight."

"I can't believe I am gonna meet them, see them live." She was jumping on her bed like a five year old, but she didn't care.

"Are you jumping right now?"
"Hell, yeah. I am gonna go pick up a dress for tonight."

"It will be a bit cold though."

"Who cares, it's not like I am sick or something."

The silence was pouring from the other end of the line, and that was when it hit her. She could practically imagine him raising an eyebrow at her, with his jaws clenched.

"I meant *cough* , I will be fine by night. *Couch*" She didn't forgot the cough loudly, and even she knew she was overdoing it and her lies has been caught by him.

"Caroline, if you can't take the bet, then just accept that you lost it."

"Caroline Forbes isn't a loser."

"Oh, then Caroline Forbes should be getting ready right now."

Her mouth opened to argue, but she didn't say anything. He was right though. She could just accept to lose it and be merry, but then the nagging thought will kill her for the rest of her life, because her neurotic brain won't let her live peacefully.

"Yeah, I am going." But the concert was enough to make her happy. "Anyways, we are going for the concert."

"We are not."

"But, I am fine!" She pouted, begging to share the tickets with her.

"We are not going because there is no concert tonight."
"What?" the question came through her gritted teeth. "You… you tricked me… How could you-"

"See you later."

Her mouth fell open. Did he just hung up on her? She had a pit in her stomach that there is definitely something wrong with Stefan. Can it because of her behavior on Friday night? It wasn't the first time that the thought came to her mind. The night is still blurry to her, however she did remembered that she tried to kiss him, not only once but twice. One was on some bridge, and the other right in her bedroom. The bedroom one she still felt like a hallucination rather than the reality.

"Worry about this later, and deal with the stupid problem Stefan had put on your head for today." She muttered and jumped out of her bed.

11 O'clock, The Curios

She reached sharp at 11 a.m. neither a minute before nor a minute after. She doesn't care about this date, and anyways she had planned to make an excuse and run away if she found the guy too boring. She can't handle too much of a headache for the weekend.

"I am here for a reservation made by the name Tom Avery." She asked at the entrance, who smiled at her and took her to her table. There was a guy sitting at one of the corner table. Lean body, and she could guess the height to be 5'11''. He was wearing a brown colored leather jacket, and to her surprise, she actually liked the taste in clothes. The only problem was she hasn't seen his face yet, which was behind the big menu book.

"Hi… You must be Tom Avery." Caroline started. Maybe this won't be a bad idea like she had been thinking. "I am Caroline, your-"

"Date. I know." Before she could think of the similarity of his voice, he put the menu aside, and smiled at her. For a minute, Caroline couldn't think straight, because she was supposed to meet Tom. But, the person sitting on that table was none other than Stefan.

"Stefan! What are YOU doing here?"

Stefan didn't say anything and grinned widely.

"I thought I was meeting your FRIEND, Tom Avery. Did he ran away? Or are you just here to spy on me and check whether I am going through this date or not?" She thought he would answer, but instead he chuckled.

"I am not Stefan."

Caroline blinked for a minute, waiting for him to continue.

"I am not Stefan. I am your date, Tom."

"Yeah, right." she said slowly. "And I am not Caroline, I am Queen of Persia." Caroline laughed, but he didn't react, which made her laughs stop.

"Okay, stop with this joke."

"I am not joking. We are family, and that's why a little resemblance is there."

A little was an understatement. He looked like the carbon copy of Stefan, as if someone put Stefan into the printer machine, and commanded for another copy.

"I thought you and Tom are friends."

"Me and Stefan." He corrected. "And no, we are distant brothers, extended family kind of. But, you should have seat you know. Otherwise people will keep staring at us." He kept the smile on his face.

Caroline realized that they were still standing, and he was right about the part of people staring at them. Hurriedly she took the seat, which was in simultaneous motion of him moving closer to her chair.

"What?" she asked him seated on her chair.

"I was going to… never mind." He smiled again and went back to his seat.

"Were you going to pull the chair for me?"

He smiled again, and that made her feel guilty. She kept forgetting that it's not a date, and his face was not doing any good. "I am so sorry. I didn't mean to-"
"It's okay. I can see that you are flustered because of my face."

Caroline still wasn't convinced about his identity, and she didn't know where to go from here.

"So, tell me about yourself. Are you in college?"

"Yeah. Medical college."

"Just like Stefan."

"Yeah, we have kind of similar taste."

"Yeah… yeah I can see that.

"What about you?"

"Well, I am in my final year, and for my graduate thesis I am working in this company, and the experience has been really good."

"Wesley's are pretty big. They don't hire anybody just like that." He said while enjoying his blueberry waffles.

"I never told you the name." She furrowed her brows, thinking that it might be his slip. For a fraction of second, she thought that she saw his hand stopped the movement with his fork.

"Oh, then it might had been Stefan who told me."

"yeah… maybe"

She could see him eating faster now, as if avoiding the previous conversation. "Hey easy with the carb."

He gave her a warm smile, the one she knew belonged to Stefan.

"Apparently my parents wanted me to become an explorer and go for expeditions, that's why this name."

Caroline laughed. "And you ended up in a medical college. Well, if you want you can still go on expeditions."

"I don't know. I am good at where I am." His looks lingered on her, making her cheek flushed. It had been a while since they were talking, but it still felt like she was talking to Stefan and not any other guy. "Anyways, how did you and Stefan met?"

"He didn't tell you?"

"Not much."

"We were in the same class in high-school. And after a long time we met in the train."

"Sounds interesting."

"What's interesting?"

"Well your and Stefan's friendship. You are so charming, full of life, and brighter than sunshine kind of girl. I will never get how you ended up being his friend."

"Hey, Stefan is a great guy." And even though she had a feeling that she was talking to Stefan, she wanted to say the next thing. "And moreover, he means a lot to me."

He looked at her as if he stopped breathing. "Well, then I will say that he is hell of a lucky guy."

The lingering stares were broken, when a glass of wine was slipped from the waitress and landed over his pant.

"Oh my god, I am so sorry, sir. I will bring some tissues." The waitress was on the verge of crying.

"Hey, it's okay. Human error. it happens." He started to empty his pocket. "I should go to the washroom." He told Caroline, and left his wallet and rest of the stuff on table.

Caroline was waiting for him, and suddenly her eyes fell on the one thing in the pile of stuff. She took the key-chain in her hand. There was nothing wrong in the key-ring, just, that it looked like the snow globe, Caroline gave Stefan a few months back, and it had the mark C at the bottom at the exactly same spot.

"I am sorry. I had to made you wait long." He said taking back the seat.
"It's fine. All… is… fine." She smiled widely, and his looks could tell that he was confused for some reason.

"Let's go somewhere else." She suggested.

"You wanna extend our date?"

"Sure. I will admit, I actually quite enjoyed myself."

"Where do you wanna go?"

"What's your favorite places or hobbies."

"I read a lot."

"Really? Any particular book you like?"

"The Great Gatsby."

"Oh, that's Stefan's favorite book as well."

He stopped on the way, staring at her.

"But you and Stefan have a lot in common, don't you?" She smiled back, which made his knuckles relax.

"Yeah.. yeah we have."

"Hmm.." she nodded slowly, scrutinizing him. "You know what, there is this sculpture museum nearby. We can go check that out."

"OK, I am in."

She took out her phone from her purse, and dialed in a number. "I think a phone is buzzing." she said out loud, while waiting on her phone. "I am actually calling Stefan."

His hand stopped right at the pocket of his jacket.

"Aren't you going to pick up the phone?" she asked him

"No… I mean, I don't take calls when I am on dates."

"Oh."

"By the way, why are you calling Stefan?" He asked anxiously.

"He is into art and stuff, and I figured he would like to see the place as well. So, I was thinking of inviting him."

"You want to invite someone else during our date!" He pointed out.

"It would be rude, isn't it. I am sorry, where is my head." she laughed and ended the call. "Let's go."

They were walking out of the museum, when she decided to hold his hand tightly. "That was fun."

"Yeah. Uh, are you like this with other guys on date as well, or is it just… me?" He asked a hushed voice.

"Like what?"

He didn't bother to explain himself.

"Well, only the one I like you know." She put her index finger on his shoulder, and started moving it in a circular motion. Her lips curled up on the edge making him swallow hard.

"Uh, that's very bold of you."

"And why are you saying like that?"

"Are you flirting with me?"

"Of course I am flirting with you. It's a date, isn't it?" She rolled her eyes.

"But, you don't even know me that well." He inquired.

"But Stefan knows you and he set this date up. I trust him, and if he thinks that this can work then sure." She gave her best Caroline smile.

"Yeah, but-"

"Okay, we can talk later. I am really hungry and need something in my stomach."

He chuckled. "What do you wanna eat?"

"I have a place in mind."

"Sushi?" His mouth was open.

"No, it's... Mr. Sushi." she corrected.

"Caroline, I-"

"I love sushi. Unless you don't like it?"

He opened his mouth to answer, but she cut him in. "Although, Stefan hates it. But, I am sure, you can't have every single taste bud like his. right?"

He stared at her blankly. "Yeah… no, I mean, yeah I don't hate it."

"Awesome, let's go then." She took his hand and pulled him inside the restaurant.

They took one of the middle table, and ordered two dinner boxes of sushi. "You should try the red dragon sushi. It's spicy and yum." Caroline kept talking about the sushi, and she could see the sweats on his forehead.

"Are you feeling hot or something?"

"w-what? No, I am fine."

"okay."

The dinner came in about fifteen minutes.

"Go ahead." she said.

His smile was tensed, and his hands slowly headed to the chopstick. She could see him closing his eyes and taking the piece in his mouth.

"It's good right." she asked him again, and tried to smile and nod. "Have some more." One after another he took all of it.

"So, I was saying-"

"I can't take it anymore." He jumped out of his chair and rushed towards the washroom. Caroline was almost triumphant in her plan. She followed him.

"Tom, are you okay?" She asked him, waiting right outside the restroom, smiling to herself.

"I have allergy to sushi, Caroline." He came out tired, and his face dripping with sprinkled water.

Her smile dropped off instantly. "What? Why did you never told me before? I thought you just hated it."

"Of course I hated it because it makes my tongue swell."

"I am sorry, Stefan. Let's take you to the hospital."

"No, that's fine. I am good now." He was talking and then stopped, slowing turning towards her.

"I am, I am not Stefan." He laughed nervously.

"Oh please, now just stop this game, Stefan. I know it's you." She walked out of the place. She practically wanted to kick herself. There are some allergies which are so severe that it might kill the person. She had read that somewhere, and now every single word of that article was hovering over her. She heard him paying for the dinner, and calling her again and again, but she didn't stopped.

"Caroline, Caroline. wait. I am sorry okay." He ran and came in front of her. "I didn't mean to hurt you. I swear."

"But, I could have had.." she couldn't make it into a complete sentence. Just thought of him not being in this world was scary. His brows were furrowed, waiting on her but she just sighed.

"I could have had killed you in there." Her voice was low, but trembling.

"Caroline, yes I am allergic to the fishes, but it won't kill me. The allergy is not that severe."

"But, what if it would have had harmed you."

"But, it didn't. See." He waved at himself. "I am fine." That didn't made her smile though.

"I am taking the bus." He might have offered to drive her home, but she didn't want that. "Why were you playing this trick anyways?"

"When I took you home that night, you were blabbering something about no one can fool you, and you can't be tricked."

"And I was right."

"No you weren't."

"Yes, I was. I caught your lie."

"So, you knew it right from the beginning?"
"Yep."

"Not even for a second you thought that I might actually be some other guy?"

"Nope." although she did thought so at the beginning, but she wasn't going to admit that to him.

"And still you were flirting with me all this time, knowing that I am Stefan."

"Yep."

He was silent, and that followed with her widened eyes. "I mean of course I was. I mean, that wasn't flirting, that was to pull out your mask. Otherwise, I would never have had flirted with Tom Avery or anyone. I was not even going to come on the date you know…."

She was blabbering again, but this time he didn't stop her and just stood there silently beside her. It took her about a minute to realize that he was staring, and not just at anything but at her. His lips flickered into the smile like he was looking at her for the first time. There was something different in the way his eyes bored into her. His eyes as if never wanting to blink even for a second, and she was mesmerized and lost in those unfathomable forest of green orbs. Maybe she was imagining way too much, and for some reason she wanted to be just like that, lost in the moment, forgetting about the real life, because in real life, she was Caroline and he was Stefan, and Caroline and Stefan were friends in the real world. She wanted to escape that world. If that was how she was going to get it, a one perfect day, a moment, a second of the way she felt about being the centre of his life, she wanted to remember it all. Because, who knows when and if she was ever going to get that moment in the real world.

Just like that, without even saying a word, he made her blabbers stop. When the words stops, the heart begins, and that is exactly how her body was functioning. The words were lost in her mouth, but the thumping sound of her heart was loud enough for her and she was pretty sure he can hear it as well.

"Why are you looking at me like this?" She didn't want to ask that particular question, but she did anyway.

The soft chuckles left his throat when his feet moved forward, approaching her closer and closer. Slowly he leaned forward, his mouth closer to her earlobe, and she was frozen to her spot. "Because, I wanted to." His whispers jolted a series of electric shock in her veins.

She cleared her throat before moving on to her next question, although it was really hard to phrase it with him standing so close to her, and his warm breath falling on her skin in the winter night wasn't making it any easy on her. "And what is that supposed to mean?"

He moved away from her, his lips still curled up like he has seen ocean of glowing water. She waited for an answer, and that wait was killing her.

"You are lovely." He came straight to the point, and her eyes went wide. He was openly flirting with her, and it was very unlikely of the Stefan she know of. Or maybe she doesn't know him at all.

"w-what?"

It was a windy day, and the wind was blowing the lock of her hair all over her face, but she was stiff, and under his stare, she couldn't even move. Even the breathing felt like she would burst into million pieces.

One step after another, he came forward, not that he was standing very far from her. Tucking her lock beside her ear, his fingers stayed there, curled up in her hair. The sensation was euphoric. His lips were hovering near her lips, and she could practically taste his breath. Her eyes closed to take it all in, and when his lips collided with hers, she was in some other world, as if she was floating. His lips were soft, and tender and fit perfectly between her lips. She might have had thought of kissing him during the high-school years, but the reality beats the imagination from infinite amount.

Her bus came and went, but she didn't care. She was burning in the middle of the November winter, and she didn't bother about anything. All she wanted was to engulf into the moment, and never let it go. This could be a dream, but if it is, she never wanted to open her eyes ever again.

A/N: So, how was it? they kissed at last. And Tom Avery. Lol, don't forget to give the reviews. Love your reactions :) good day.