Caroline walked slowly into the kitchen, about to open her mouth to say something when she felt eyes on her, people staring at her so hard she could actually feel the heat and prickle of judgement on her veins.

She looked up, then, a blush already creeping up her cheeks. She recognized Stefan, she recognized Damon. But when her eyes fell upon a beautiful, long-haired brunette, she finally understood what Stefan had been telling her all this time.

That was Elena. She understood it now. Swallowing hard, she continued her way into the kitchen, trying to think of something to say before she reached her destination.

Caroline felt like a lost little kid in the middle of a supermarket crying for her mother. There's no word for that, but she knows that feeling very well, and if she had to explain what that was, she would still go with the supermarket story.

"Hello. I'm Caroline. You must be Elena." She managed to say, still under the Salvatore brothers stare.

Elena's beautiful. She's perfect. Her eyes are brown and big, her skin is sun-kissed and smooth, her hair is long and brown and shiny, her features are so delicate she may as well look like a doll. Caroline felt intimidated by her beauty - and she didn't even know why.

"Yes, I'm Elena." She said, her voice soft and caring. "Nice to meet you, Caroline." She smiled.

"She's Stefan's friend." Damon said, and Stefan threw him a look.

"Wait." Elena looked from Stefan to Caroline. "Where's Klaus? I thought you were staying with him in New York." She questioned.

Damon sighed. "Remember when I told you Stefan was in trouble?" Elena nodded. "Klaus is the trouble."

She raised her eyebrows. "What did you do?" She stared questionably at Stefan.

He stared at the floor. "I'm running from him. With Caroline."

Elena seemed to finally bring two and two together. Caroline was human. Klaus was a vampire. Stefan was the nice guy who saves damsels in distress.

"Damn it, Stefan." She said, almost angrily. "You know him. You know you can't pick a fight with him, you know you can't win!" Her voice was louder now, so Damon threw her a look and she apparently calmed herself down. "I don't even understand why you were with him in the first place."

"It kind of was your fault." Caroline said, the words escaping her mouth before she could hold them in.

Elena looked at Caroline with narrowed eyes.

Stefan was taken aback by the comment, unsure of how to act.

Damon laughed.

"Okay, blondie," He said, raising his hands and walking between the two girls. "It doesn't matter whose fault it is. What matters it: Klaus wants yours and Stefan's pretty little heads on sticks and by helping you, we're all in danger. So I say we stop pointing fingers and we work together to find a way out of this." Caroline noticed he didn't say anything about Elena being threatened. "Do we all agree?"

Elena was still staring at Caroline, almost as if Caroline had just told a big lie and she was actually offended by it. Nonetheless, she nodded, and when Caroline did the same, she finally looked away.

"So, what can we do?" Elena asked.

"To be honest? I have no idea." Stefan said. "None at all."

Damon sighed. "Neither do I."

"We can't kill him because A) we don't have the dagger and B) we still don't know if we're a part of his bloodline and we can't risk that. So we either try to negotiate, or we help you start running like hell." Elena leaned over the counter.

"I called Bonnie. And Rebekah. And everyone, really. They'll all be here tomorrow."

"Even Rebekah?" Elena sounded surprised. Caroline was once again feeling like a lost kid.

"Even Rebekah." Damon said. "I didn't know it had to do with Klaus when I called her. But really, would it make any difference? She would come anyway. She hates him since the day he decided to leave her to go to New York with Stefan."

"Does that mean she hates me too?" Stefan asked.

Damon grinned. "I don't know, bro. But you better pray she doesn't."

Stefan sighed and nodded.

Caroline was still lost, dying to ask a billion questions and finally feel like she's part of the whole plan, but Elena's presence made her feel uneasy, so she decided to keep quiet and wait until they decided it was too late to do anything right away. It took a while. They kept talking about people Caroline didn't know, about strategies Caroline didn't understand, and Caroline kept wishing it would just end already so she could finally sleep. When she was sleeping, she could pretend none of what was happening was real. She wanted that more than anything right now. Just sweet, simple, undisturbed oblivion.

"We need you to sign some papers." A woman said, breaking through Caroline's oblivion, bringing her back to the horrible real world.

A confused, sleepy Caroline raised her head from the pillows, her eyes burning when she looked directly at the sunlight coming from the window. "What?" She said, her voice thick from sleep.

"We're kind of giving this house to you." Elena sat on the corner of the bed.

Caroline was awake now. "What?" She said once again.

Elena sighed. "It's a way to keep you safe. Vampires can't enter houses without being invited in, but that only applies to houses owned by humans. As you can see, there are no humans in this house, and you have nowhere else to go. So it's just your name, nothing more."

"Alright." Caroline said, still a little confused.

Elena left the papers and a pen on her bed and disappeared. Caroline rubbed her eyes, did her best to fix her hair with her hands and took a deep breath. She was about to take the pen so she could sign the papers when her cellphone started ringing. She slowly and lazily got up, walking over to her bag - she threw it on the floor when she took out her pajamas before she went to bed -, and tried to find her cellphone between the badly folded clothes Stefan had bought her while she was still Klaus' prisoner. When she found it, she saw 'Mom' written on the visor, and her eyes widened. She completely forgot about her mom.

She pressed accept and brought the phone to hear ear. "Mom?"

"Oh, thank God, Caroline!" Her mother sighed in relief. "Where have you been? I've been trying to call your for three days!"

She had been missing for nearly a week. "Three days?" She tried to hide her annoyance. "Uh, I'm road-tripping. With a friend."

"What friend?" Her mother said.

"Just a friend. From work."

"What's her name?"

"It's a guy, actually. Stefan."

She could feel her mother smiling through the phone. "Does that mean you're over Matt? Oh, splendid!"

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Mom. I'm fine. I'm road-tripping. I'll be back in a few weeks. Is that all?"

"Yes. I was worried about you, that's all. So is April, by the way. She called me because she couldn't find you anywhere."

"Hey mom," Caroline said. "Could you please keep April out of this? Don't tell her anything about Stefan. Just tell her I'm okay and that I'm only taking a time off for myself, okay?"

Caroline and April worked together at a coffee shop. She would know Caroline was lying, since there is obviously no Stefan working with them. There are barely any guys, actually. And Caroline isn't close to any of them to go road-tripping with them.

"Sure, honey. Take care."

"Bye."

Caroline's mother hung up the phone, and Caroline suddenly felt sad. The thought that was potentially the last time she would ever hear her mother's voice ever made her want to cry her eyes out and run away. She was quite optimistic when it came to her problems, but this was completely different. This wasn't about a new dress she wanted, or her relationship with Matt, or April's new boyfriend. Being chased down by a vampire that can't be killed - because even if there is a way, it's not happening - makes optimism feel more like denial.

She shook her head as if that was going to help her stop thinking about her imminent death. She had other things to care about, and she was not giving up that early in the game. She signed the papers, changed her clothes, put on her make-up and walked down the stairs, taking deep breaths and cleaning out her thoughts, making sure to focus on the fact that while she was still alive she had at least a chance.

When she walked in the living room, no one was there. "Guys?" She asked, looking around.

"You gotta invite us all back in." Stefan said, and she jumped.

She turned around and saw Stefan, Damon and Elena waiting by the doorstep. She almost laughed at the situation, and she would if it were only her and Stefan, but she was still aware of Elena and Damon's presence, which made her quite self-conscious.

"Come in, Stefan." She said, and he entered the house. "Come in, Damon. Come in, Elena." She actually felt stupid saying that.

"Thank you, blondie." Damon said, blinking and clicking his tongue.

Elena smiled friendly at Caroline. Apparently, her comment from the previous night didn't hurt the brunette as much as Caroline had thought. She breathed out, relieved. She was in too much trouble already to get a new vampire as another enemy.

After a couple of hours of doing absolutely nothing (or at least understanding nothing), Caroline found herself sitting in the middle of a freaking supernatural creatures lunch break meeting.

Rebekah and Caleb had arrived first. Caleb was a very handsome guy, with brown hair and brown eyes, and had a sense of humor that went really well with Damon's. She was surprised to find out he was human, but as he liked to remember them, not for long. Rebekah, Caroline soon found out, was Klaus' sister. At first, she didn't understand why Rebekah hated her brother so much, but then she remembered it was Klaus they were talking about, and it became clear he really was as hateful to other people as he was to her, no matter who they were.

Bonnie and Jeremy arrived next, both of them hugging Stefan happily, saying they missed him and that they were glad he was in town again. Their happiness changed to worry shortly after they found out the reason Stefan was back, though. Elena and Jeremy were brothers, Caroline found out, and he was, too, a human. He had a ring to protect himself from any supernatural death, which was already an advantage over Caroline, so she went back to feeling inferior and lost in the middle of everyone.

Jeremy then said someone named Tyler was not coming. Apparently, he wanted nothing to do with this whole 'stop Klaus' plan. Stefan quickly explained to Caroline that last time Tyler went up against Klaus, he ended up losing all his hybrid friends and his mother. Caroline felt sorry for the guy. She would do the same in his situation, so while Rebekah and Caleb judged him, she stayed silent, while her hatred for Klaus only grew stronger.

They all talked for hours. Some strategies - teach Caroline how to defend herself and stay hidden in Mystic Falls until Klaus figures out where they are - were discussed, with Rebekah always rolling her eyes at everyone, saying it would be useless, because Caroline would never be able to defend herself against Klaus as long as she was human.

Everyone else decided to ignore her, though. She sounded like she was suggesting they turn Caroline into a vampire. It seemed like they all had a problem with that, but Caroline surprised herself when she realized she didn't. It would make things so much easier. She would be able to defend herself, to fight, she would have a chance. And it's not just that - she would be young forever. She would live forever. There was the whole addiction to blood thing, yes, but judging by her fellow vampire companions, that didn't seem like a huge problem.

She almost wished everyone thought like Rebekah.

Bonnie said she would figure something out. She talked about her she's been more connected to the 'spirits' than she's ever been. What that meant exactly, Caroline had no idea. She said she would look for something, anything that would help them.

Caroline finally understood why Stefan came back to Mystic Falls as quickly as he did. He had people here who cared about him, people who would do anything to help him. She was happy for him. Stefan was probably the nicest guy she's ever met in her entire life. She was risking everything - his life, his friends' life, Elena's life - just to keep her safe. Nobody would do that for her. Only Stefan.

She suddenly realized how lucky she was to have Stefan in her life. She realized that, even though it hadn't been for so long, Stefan had become such a special and important person to her, that she couldn't even imagine what her life was like before he showed up or what would have happened to her if he weren't there. He saved her, and he continued to save her day after day.

There was nothing Caroline could do to make up for that.

But that didn't mean she couldn't try.

"I know you don't like me, Caroline." She heard Elena say from the guest room's door while Caroline folded her clothes quietly.

Caroline's back was to her. "That's not true." Caroline said, not moving an inch.

"It is, though." Elena insisted. "I can see you care a lot about Stefan and that you hate me for what I did to him. Believe me, sometimes I hate myself, too."

Caroline finally stopped what she was doing, sitting on her bed and looking at Elena. "I don't hate you, Elena. I have no reason to. I just..." She tried to think of what to say, but she failed. She didn't hate Elena. She was angry, yes, and to be honest, she didn't even know why. But she didn't hate her. "I don't know."

Elena nodded. "I know." She sat on a chair that stayed in the far corner of the room. "I feel guilty all the time." Elena said, looking at her hands. "I feel like all this is my fault. Even you."

"I'm not your fault." Caroline said quickly. "If I'm anyone's fault, that's all on Klaus. And besides, if Stefan hadn't been there, I would probably be dead. So you kind of indirectly saved my life. Or at least gave me more time."

Elena gave her Stefan, she realized. All her anger disappeared.

"I'm going to help you, Caroline." Elena said confidently. "Klaus has done so much. Taken so much. Inflicted so much pain. I don't care if I have to die, too. I just want it all to end, you know? I'm tired. He's always showing up one way or another and bringing pain and destruction after him. He killed my Aunt. Her name was Jenna. She and Jeremy were all I had left, and he killed her. He's responsible for so many tragedies in all of our lives. He doesn't even love his own sister. He has to be stopped."

Caroline looked at Elena sympathetically. "I'm sorry, Elena."

"I am, too." Elena looked like she was in the verge of tears.

Silence fell over them for a while. Caroline wished she was closer to Elena, so that she could hug the girl and give her some comfort. She had gone through a lot, Caroline could tell that. She was a damaged soul. Just like Stefan. Just like Caroline herself.

"We're gonna stop Klaus, Caroline." Elena spoke up. "No matter what the cost. We have to."

"We will."

Elena got up, walked over to Caroline, squeezed her hands and smiled at her, and then left the room, leaving Caroline alone once again.

Caroline was starting to realize that Klaus had not only destroyed her life - he destroyed everyone's lives too. He brought only pain and suffering wherever he went. These people, these vampires, they all had their stories, they all had their guilt and their pain and their tears. Caroline wasn't alone anymore. She wasn't lost, confused, afraid. She knew where she belonged now - it was here. She may be human, yes. But these people - she felt their pain. She felt their need for vengeance.

She had this normal, boring, almost happy life and it was taken from her. She couldn't defend herself, she couldn't fight for her right to be free, and it was unfair. She didn't ask for any of this - not Klaus, not vampires, not running. But these people - they were also human once. They also had boring, normal, happy lives, and somewhere along the way and down the line, Klaus did something to hurt them deeply, and now they would give anything - even their lives - to stop him from doing the same thing to other people.

She finally understood everything. Stefan's story, Elena's story, everyone's story.

She could relate. She felt the same.

She wasn't just a victim anymore. She would fight Klaus back, no matter how fragile and weak she was compared to all those vampires. But she would die trying, if necessary. She had an objective now.

Stop Klaus.

Help Stefan.

Help Elena.

Help everyone.

Though she still felt like she was putting all of them in danger, she wouldn't be intimidated by Klaus anymore. She would find a way.

Even if it meant dying in the process.

Review please! Hope you like this one. :)