Chapter 2

Caroline slowly pulled her face away from Stefan's, as if they where magically forced together. The kiss was so soft and gentle, only lasting a few seconds. But it felt so powerful. It made her lips tingle and brain go fuzzy. She kept her face a few inches away from his, eyes still closed and her hands still holding on either side of his face. His hands where gripping her hair and arm, not wanting to let go.

The crackle from the fire woke Caroline and she opened her eyes. The only thing she saw was them beautiful green eyes staring back at her. They stayed in their positions smiling at each other. They didn't hear the footsteps approaching the room they was in.

"Stefan we need to get..." Damon stood at the doorway stunned, his eyebrows raised and mouth wide open. Stefan and Caroline pulled away from each other, so fast that only vampire eyes could see it. Stefan stood, hands in pockets, trying not to make eye contact with Damon. Caroline wrapped herself back up in the blanket.

"Any who... As i was saying" Damon strolled into the room to face Stefan. He patted his brother on his arm, giving him a heartfelt smile. He knew that the Ripper had left the building.

"We need to get Valerie's and the Huntress' bodies" Damon said with a stern voice and serious face. Stefan nodded.

Bonnie and Alaric entered the room and they instantly notice Stefan was back to normal.

"How did you flip your switch?" Bonnie asked shocked. She hugged him and threw her hands in the air. One less problem we don't have to figure out. Bonnie thought cunningly, wanting to get her life back to normal.

"Erm... Caroline spoke to me... And.. I guess she said the right thing" Stefan said sheepishly scratching his head. Everybody looked to Caroline. She just nervously laughed and shrugged her shoulders.

The awkward silence becoming more uncomfortable by the second.

"So we best get going Stefan" Damon laughed nervously killing the silence. They turned to leave, Bonnie too. "We will drop by later to let you know whats going on." Damon shouted over his shoulder closing the door behind him.

The room was silent. Caroline still wrapped up in the blanket. She glanced over at Alaric, he was already looking at her. He moved to stand in front of her. Contemplating what he was going to say. He starting with "How you feeling? Can i get you anything?"

"No thank you... And im fine now I've had some blood." Caroline answered trying to avoid eye contact.

They never really discussed Caroline's diet. At the beginning of the relationship he would offer his own blood. But over the past year it seemed like a chore to him. Caroline felt like he despised that she was a Vampire. Even though he had once been a Vampire himself. She felt that he would be happier if she was Human. Less complicated. He proposed one night, eight months ago, after she had asked him if he was happy. He was adamant that he was, he got down on one knee and proposed unexpectedly with no ring.

"So what did you say to Stefan? To get him to flip his switch" he questioned with a clenched jaw. Caroline looked down at her shiny engagement ring, which he had bought her the day after he proposed. She didn't want to lie to him. She quickly stood from where she was seated. Standing in front of Alaric.

"I said that he can beat the blood lust... I could see it was working." she looked up to face him. "But i had to do... Something to get him back fast" she whispered looking down to her hands then back up to him. "I kissed him"

The next few minutes was a blur to Caroline. It all happened so fast. One second they were arguing, the next she was trying to calm him down. As he was yelling that he was going to kill Stefan. Caroline explained that it wasn't Stefan's fault, that it was her doing. They shouted at each other again. Alaric punched the wall beside Caroline.

Suddenly they both heard piercing screams, the glass in the room shattering and the mirror cracking. They noticed their twin little girls screaming in the doorway. "Leave Mummy alone" they shouted. It horrified both Alaric and Caroline. Caroline vamp sped to cuddle them. The twins stopped screaming and weeping as their mother held them.

"Daddy would never hurt Mummy, do you hear me girls?" Caroline knelt down and held them both at arms length. The twins nodded their heads. Caroline wiped away their tears and kissed them both. "Sorry Daddy" they said in unison. Alaric ran to them to embrace his daughters.

"Its okay, my princess'" Alaric spoke softly. The girls yawned.

"Here i'll take them back to bed" Caroline said patting Alaric's back and carried them upstairs to their bedroom. Caroline tucked them in their beds and sang them to sleep as she sat in the over sized armchair in between the twins beds. She watched as her daughters drifted off and found herself drifting too.

Caroline woke around 3am with the blanket she was using downstairs, draped over her. Alaric must have brought it up for me. She rose to her feet, still feeling sleepy and dragged her feet to her bedroom. She laid next to Alaric, who woke up slightly.

"Im so sorry Ric" Caroline whispered sadly.

"Look i understand that you haven't seen him in three years. And that you never really fell out of love with him..." Alaric said in a hushed tone. "But ... I don't know. We can talk about this tomorrow." he said sternly. "Besides we have visitors staying over, so i don't want ears on us." he rolled over away from Caroline.

"Ok. But we need to talk about the kids." Caroline started. "Do you have any of Jo's childhood friends contacts?"

"Why?" Alaric grunted.

"So we can get our heads around their powers. I mean if we talk to someone who knows what Jo went through as a child, we might be able to understand more." she whispered.

"Danielle" he answered.

"Oh Jo's sick wedding planner" she squealed.

"Yeah... I'll dig out her address tomorrow" he said moving further away from Caroline. "Good night."

"Good night" Caroline whispered.

Caroline laid there staring at the ceiling. She listened to the many breathing patterns in her house. She thought of Stefan and drifted off to sleep.

Caroline finally woke up around 2pm. She rose from her bed and stretched. Feeling more like herself. The house seemed unusually quiet. She reached for her phone, which was on her bedside table. Damn its dead! she said to herself and immediately put her phone on charge. She checked herself in the bathroom mirror. Her hair was all over the place and the work suit she had been wearing the day before was torn to bits. She quickly hopped into the shower, immediately feeling better. The hot water washing away the memories from the day before. She dried her hair, changed into clean clothes. A casual white blouse and baby pink skinny jeans. She feels ready for whatever the day may throw at her. She decides she is going on a cleaning mission. Alaric couldn't quite live up to Caroline's cleaning expectations. She grabbed her ipod and pressed shuffle.

She had cleaned the whole house, changed her bedding, sorted laundry and tidied the twins room. A song that she hadn't heard in a long time came on. One of these nights by Eagles. She found herself singing loudly and playing an air guitar. She started dancing around as she was organizing her bedroom.

"One of these nights,

One of these crazy old nights,

We're gonna find out pretty mamma,

What turns on her lights."

Caroline sits on her bed singing loudly, turning on her phone.

"Ooo, someone to be kind to,

In between the dark and the light,

Ooo, coming right behind you,

Swear im gonna find you one of these nights."

She noticed that she had a text from Alaric and six missed calls from work. Caroline decided to ignore work. She needed to come up with a plan and excuse about what happened at her work place. I hope Stefan and Damon got rid of the evidence of the previous nights escapades. She opened the text from Alaric. Humming the song now.

Hey, ive taken the girls out for the day, we wont be back till around 7pm. Im gonna take them out for food. Damon and Stefan sorted everything at your work. And i found Danielle's address - 2508 Vine Street. See you tonight.

No kiss, She thought. He must still be mad. But at least he gets to calm down with a girly day with the twins. Caroline pocketed her phone, grabbed some dirty laundry to take downstairs. Singing louder now. Air guitaring in the kitchen.

"I've been searching for the daughter

Of the devil himself,

I've been searching for an angel in white,

I've been waiting for a women who's a little of both,

I can feel her but she's no where in sight,

Oooooo."

Her phone vibrated in her pocket, but something else caught her attention. She felt a presence behind her. She motions to put the laundry in the basket, not letting her intruder know that she knew he/she was there. She slowly took out her earphones, getting ready to strike. She reaches across the counter to grab a knife casually. Her back still towards the intruder. She turns quickly to see...

"STEFAN!" Caroline shouts, mouth wide open, shocked. He raises both hands trying to suppress his laughter.

"Sorry... I just woke up to you singing... So i thought i should probably let you know i was here. Sorry again" he explains shyly. Caroline quickly puts the knife down embarrassed. Her face bright red at being caught singing rather loud.

"What are you still doing here?" she questioned as she pulled out her phone from her pocket remembering she had a text.

"Alaric offered me the spare bedroom last night. I guess i was weaker than i thought. I slept right through." Stefan answered quietly. Hands in his pockets and his shoulders slumped.

"Its okay... I just didn't think anyone was here that's all." Caroline replied unlocking her phone. She had a text from Alaric.

By the way i patched things up with Stefan. I offered him the spare room for the night. Damon and Bonnie have gone out today to track down the witches. They will call later. The girls are having a very girly day. I guess you and Stefan have some things to discuss. See you later. X

"That was Ric, letting me know you was here... A little late i guess" she giggled nervously.

"Would you like a coffee?" she asked.

"Sure. Thank you." Stefan said as he sat down at the dining table. "how are you feeling?" he asked. "Much better thanks. And you?" Caroline answered as she sat across from him, passing him his mug of coffee.

"Yeah much better... I guess i needed the sleep Ric insisted that i stayed."

Caroline smiles nodding into her mug. "Its fine, honestly Stefan." She reaches her hand to cover his. But quickly removed it feeling the uncomfortable tension. Stefan sensed it and stated. "Damon and I buried Valerie's body last night. And got rid of the Huntress' body."

"Im so sorry Stefan... She didn't deserve to die." Caroline said looking into his eyes.

"No she didn't" he said looking down to his mug then back to look at Caroline. "I told her to stay at home. But she was not one to listen." He sighed.

"She was a force to be reckoned with" Caroline said smiling sincerely.

"Yeah i guess" Stefan said, smiling back, gazing into her eyes.

Them damn green eyes. She thought. Always looking into her soul.

"I guess i should thank you too... For what you did for me last night." he hesitantly says. Caroline sighed smiling at him. Does he not know that i would do anything for him? He smiled in response knowing what she meant.

Caroline glanced at the time it was 4pm. She needed to go see Danielle. "I need to be somewhere" she said getting from her seat to grab her coat, shoes and bag.

"Anything i can help you with?" asked Stefan as he put the empty mugs in the sink.

"No its fine.. Thank you." she answers as she buttoned up her coat. He nodded looking forlorn. Caroline sighed. "Okay, i guess you can help." He smiles gleefully. "You can drive" she said as she threw her car keys to him. He caught them with ease and followed her out the door.

"So where are we going?" Stefan asked as they got to her car.

"I'll explain on the way" she answered. They both hopped into the car and sped off into the sunset.

Caroline opened everything up to Stefan. About the girls getting upset. And that she needed to talk to one of Jo's childhood friends. He kept quiet at the part where Alaric lost his temper. He gripped the steering wheel and set his eyes straight to the road ahead. Caroline noticed that he looked more like Ripper Stefan than her Stefan.

"Stefan you know Ric would never hurt me. Even if he tried." she said trying to reassure him.

"I know... But he's your fiance Caroline. He shouldn't treat you like that" he answered not taking his eyes off the road. He was trying his hardest to avoid eye contact. Talking to Caroline was hard enough let alone talking about her fiance.

"He doesn't!" she said as a matter of fact. "He just lost his temper is all. I mean i did kiss you" she quickly looked down to her ring. She didn't want to give him mixed messages. She could feel the awkward tension and the feelings she used to have for him, before she convinced herself that she hated him. She didn't know what to do, her head was in tatters. She looked back at him he still had his eyes back on the road. His brows furrowed. His lips in a straight line. What was he thinking? Caroline pondered. She cut the silence. "So, what did you talk to Ric about?"

"Damon, Bonnie and I came back last night to discuss a plan. But you were asleep." he responded. "Ric proposed that we should talk privately. So we left Damon and Bonnie drinking in the Living room. And we got talking." he glanced to see Caroline watching him intently. "He made sure that i knew, that he knew it wasn't my fault... I told him it wasn't your fault either but he just went silent. He offered me a bed to crash and he went to bed himself." Stefan finished. Last nights memories coming back to him.

He watched as Alaric's tired body climbed the stairs to his room. The thought of Alaric climbing into bed with Caroline was torture. He grabbed the blanket Caroline had been using earlier and said good night to Bonnie and Damon. The scent of Caroline off the blanket was overwhelming. It smelt like honey and of the forest that surrounded Mystic Falls. Home. As he reached the door of the spare room he noticed the opposite door to the spare room was open. He saw Caroline soundlessly asleep in an armchair. The room was dimmed with a night light, but he could see clear as day at how beautiful she looked. Even with messy hair and a torn up suit. He hadn't even noticed that he had walked right into the room until the very quiet breaths of the twins brought him out of his trance. He motioned to leave instantly but stopped to turn to look back at Caroline again. He quietly tip toed to be in front of her and draped the blanket on top of her. He slowly bent down trying not to wake her and kissed her forehead lightly. He glanced back one more time and smiled as he closed the bedroom door.

He practically fell on the bed as he entered the spare room. His whole body and mind was drained from the past 24hours. "Im so sorry Valerie" he whispered as he watched the night sky through the window. He thought of Caroline, closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

"Caroline" he sighs "you need to know how sorry i am. About everything." She turns her head to look out the window. She doesn't want to have this conversation yet. She wasn't ready to bring up all the heartache she had felt for so long. When he left her, she didn't just lose her lover, she lost her best friend too. Her confidant. The only person she thought she could trust.

"Stefan you don't need to explain yourself. You did what you did and there's no point looking back there." Caroline said through gritted teeth, so he couldn't hear her voice break. He quickly lays his hand in hers, stroking his thumb across the back of her hand. Shocked, Caroline forgets about her plan of not giving him eye contact and stares at him. Her face trying not to give away what his touch was doing to her. "No, i need to tell you... Caroline. I need to explain... Why i did what i did." he said sadly. He tightened her hand in his and let go. He looked toward the road then back to Caroline. "You need to know that i never stopped loving you Caroline. Not for one minute. Im so sorry that i left without saying goodbye. I need you to know that it was the hardest thing i have ever had to do. I couldn't keep you safe with the Huntress after me. You had just given birth to the twins. I couldn't risk the lives of you and your daughters for something that wasn't your fault. I knew that if i had just told you about it, you would have tried to fix it. Or come to find me. And i knew that if i did say goodbye to you, i wouldn't have have been able to leave you."

Caroline didn't know what to say. She was in shock. She remembers the night she found out he had left. Caroline had gone to his apartment to surprise him, she had neglected him quite a lot since the twins were born. She remembers opening his door with the spare key he had given her to see the apartment bare. All his belongings had gone, a piece of paper left folded on the dining table. It read.Im so sorry.

Tears where falling down her face at the memories. She quickly wiped them away and looked to him. "What about Valerie?" Caroline said sternly.

He cleared his throat "She wanted the Huntress dead too, because the Huntress had tortured her friend Bo. So we worked together. Nothing more... But after a long time we did find comfort with each other. But i never loved her. I know she loved me but i thought that if i just stayed with her, then maybe the feeling would come to me too. But they never did." he gripped her hand again. "Its always been you Caroline. But i couldn't be selfish, i couldn't be with you and keep you safe." he said softly. Caroline pulled her hand out of his. Looking down at her engagement ring, feeling guilty for Alaric. He had been so supportive of her when Stefan left. Over time they really bonded through their daughters and after some time they were together. Like a happy family. But a piece of Caroline's heart had gone when Stefan left. So she convinced herself that she hated him and over time she believed it.

"Look, i don't want to mess with you're head Caroline. You're engaged to Ric. I just want you to be happy. If Ric makes you happy... then i'm happy. I understand if you don't want to talk about it, and don't expect you to forgive me but i just wanted you to know... I needed you to know." He sighed.

The rest of the journey was silent. They reached Danielle's house. Caroline was glad to get out of the car. She didn't know if she wanted to hit him or kiss him. Her head was all over the place. She motions to get out the car but stops as she notices Stefan not moving. His hands gripping the steering wheel. His eyes pleading with her. He couldn't take the silence anymore. He need reassurance that she was okay. That he hadn't hurt her all over again. Caroline lifted her hand to his cheek and smiled. That was enough for him, for now.

They get out of the car to walk up to the house. It was a cute house. White picket fence, hammock on the decking area and toys scattered across the lawn. Caroline reached the door, Stefan trailing behind her. She glances back at Stefan, he smiles and nods. Letting her know he's got her back. She breaths a large breath, Ready. She knocks.