I love you, Caroline said to Stefan. She said she loved him, and he didn't say it back. No one would tell him what she planned to do. Stefan wasn't stupid, he knew they knew, but he couldn't exactly beat it out of Bonnie, and he doubted Caroline had confided in Damon. Stefan loved her too. But he didn't say it, and now Caroline was doing God-knows-what and there was a chance she would never know how he felt. There was a chance he would never, ever see her again.
Bonnie's spell wore off after an hour, exactly like Caroline had said it would. It was dark out already. He wanted to go after her. He had no idea what was happening, and that made him go crazier and crazier by the minute. This is how she would feel like if they had gone through with his plan. But now she could be dead, and it was his fault.
If only he hadn't let her go. He should have known. He knew, deep inside, that she would do something, because that was Caroline he was talking about. She loved everyone so much she would rather die than put them in further danger, but she didn't think about what it would be like for them - for him- if she died.
"She'll be alright, Stefan." Elena said when she saw the look on his face. "Trust me."
"I can't trust you. There's no way you could possibly know that. You shouldn't have let her go, Elena." His worry made him sound angrier than he intended to.
"I'm sorry." It was all she could say.
He shook his head and tried to fix his mistake. "No. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said it like that, it's not your fault. I know she would have gone either way."
"You love her, don't you?" Elena asked.
"I do." He didn't see the point in denying it anymore. "More than I thought I would, more than I wanted to. I should have kept her safe, and now she's gone."
"She'll be back."
"How can you be so sure?" His voice was barely above a whisper.
"She will." Elena said, smiled and walked away from him.
He went through all the possible scenarios in his head over and over again. He had no idea what was her plan, but there weren't a lot of scenarios that would end in her coming back to him alive and well. Caroline, what are you doing?, he thought. Come back. I need you.
Bonnie kept as much distance as she could. He couldn't blame her, though. Bonnie was his friend, but she had become Caroline's too and she wouldn't betray her. Rebekah left to go after Caleb when Stefan was freed from the spell and Elena was talking to Jeremy. Damon was drinking, as usual. They're all tense, he realized. It's not just me. They all care about Caroline.
Stupid. How could he ever think he was the only one who cared about her? He could only argue that they didn't feel half the way he felt, because he loved her. If anything happened to her they would be sad, they would be angry, but they would move on. He wouldn't. Even though they were hiding, even though they knew Klaus could show up at any given time, she made him happy. He had never been so happy in his life before. She was that happiness he wanted so bad, and if something happened to her, anything, he didn't think he could take it.
When Stefan looked again, Damon was walking towards him. He offered Stefan a glass of scotch, and Stefan accepted it gladly.
"How are you, brother?" He asked, genuinely worried.
"How do you think?"
"I think you're feeling the same way I would if it were Elena in this situation instead of Caroline."
"Bingo." Stefan said.
"I told you you were in love with her." Damon mocked him.
Stefan chuckled despite himself. "Yeah, you did."
They stayed in silence for a moment. It felt good to have his brother back. They had been fighting for so long that even when they weren't, things were still tense. It was different now. After all these years, Stefan was finally able to say he could forgive and forget everything Damon had ever done, and have a fresh start. He figured it all had something to do with Caroline.
They were still in silence, looking at nowhere and just being there for each other when the door opened.
No, it didn't open. It flew. Damon jumped next to Stefan, but Stefan didn't even flinch. Deep down, he knew it was coming.
"Stefan, I'm home!" Klaus' voice rang through the living room. He walked right into the house. It meant Caroline was dead. He thought he was going to pass out.
"Klaus." He said, trying to stay calm. "Where's Caroline?"
"Dead."
Stefan's heart skipped a beat. "I don't believe you."
"I don't care. I do apologize though. I wanted to kill her right in front of you, but I'm afraid Caroline and her loose tongue made me lose my good judgement. I broke her little neck earlier than I intended to."
On the outside, Stefan seemed calm. He blinked, he breathed slowly, he stared at Klaus with the same intensity Klaus was staring back at him. But inside, he felt as though someone was stabbing him in the chest. He was scared to lose it, he was scared to fall down or pass out or worse. He had to be strong for Caroline. He had to be strong and kill Klaus and live for her.
"Get out." Stefan managed to say. The air was thick around him. She was dead.
"Not before I get what I came here for." He smiled. Three other guys walked in the house, Kol with them. They stood face to face with Jeremy, Elena, Damon and Bonnie, who were to both Stefan's sides, Elena and Jeremy on the right, Damon and Bonnie on the left. "Look at that. We're even. I thought I was going to find my dear sister Rebekah here, but apparently she ran. Typical. Such a pity."
"What did you came here for, exactly?" Stefan closed his hands into fists.
"Why, your head, of course. I warned you. Don't betray me, Stefan. I told you what would happen. Now here we are. I promised to kill your beloved Elena but it seems she's not as beloved as she was once, am I right? I can very well fix that by killing everyone. They weren't part of the deal, but I didn't get to kill Caroline in front of you, so they will have to do."
"You can kill me. But don't hurt them, they have nothing to do with any of this."
"They hid you and your little blonde girlfriend. They have everything to do with this. You will burn, Stefan. Like I warned you you would. I can't be killed. You have no chance."
"We'll see about that."
Stefan threw himself forward, punching Klaus in the face and dropping him to the floor. He caught a glance of the other vampires attacking Elena, Damon and Jeremy, while Bonnie chanted words he couldn't understand. He looked for Kol to see where he was and what he was doing, but Klaus was already up and hitting him before Stefan could find him. He punched Klaus again, harder, punched him for Caroline and for himself, for Elena and for Damon and for everyone he ever loved. Klaus must have seen the anger in his eyes, because he started smiling through the punches.
"I can't die, you fool." He mocked, but Stefan didn't care. He kept punching him, kicking, pushing.
Klaus hit his head on the wall once, and it gave him time to see Kol ripping out the heart of one of Klaus' guys. He's on our side after all, he thought.
He punched Klaus again. He was breathless, and then he stopped. He didn't know why he stopped, and he couldn't bring himself to even try and deflect Klaus' punches.
He realized Caroline was really, really dead. Klaus walked in the house, it was in Caroline's name. He wouldn't be able to come in if she were still alive. She was gone. What else was there for him?
Damon staked another one of Klaus' guys.
He had his brother, yes. Elena, Bonnie, his friends, his family. He should fight for them. They loved him and he loved them. Klaus will kill them all, he thought. He couldn't win even if he tried to fight.
He felt Klaus' hand on his neck. Is this what he did to her? Did she suffer? He looked for the weapon he was supposed to hide on his sleeve. Where did it go? He couldn't breathe.
"I told you, Stefan. I warned you."
The last of Klaus' guys was on the floor, and Damon held Elena back. She wanted to save him, he knew. Elena would always want to save him, but she couldn't. Damon couldn't either. No one could. Klaus won, like Stefan knew he would, and this time there would be no final twist. The world started spinning. Klaus let go of him and he fell to his knees. Klaus pushed his head up by his hair so he was facing him, and he showed Stefan a random piece of wood. When did he get that? Stefan was dizzy. He could hear Bonnie trying to do a spell, but it didn't work, and Elena was crying, and he could hear Jeremy's heartbeat.
"Now I'm going to shove this into your chest. Look at me." Klaus shook his head. "You lost."
The last thing he thought of was Caroline's smile.
He waited for death, but it never came. Instead, Klaus was pinned against a wall next to Stefan while he fell to the ground weakly, and even though everything was spinning he could still see that blonde hair he loved so dearly.
"No," he heard her voice say, and for a moment he thought death had come after all and that was only an illusion, maybe the afterlife or the other side, but his strength was coming back and he knew she was really there. "You lost."
He heard the sound of the weapon ripping through Klaus' flesh. She let him go and backed away from him and he just stood there, looking at that thing inside his chest. "I can't be killed, love." He managed to say before his hands started shaking. He looked at them, confused, and then back at her, and she was smiling so bright Stefan thought he was dead again.
"But you can be put to sleep. Good night, love."
And then his body was on the floor, his skin was crackled and pale, and his body seemed lifeless.
Caroline leaned down next to Stefan.
"Are you okay? Oh my God, Stefan." She touched his face, and he blinked at her, still not quite believing it.
"I thought you were dead." He said weakly. The bruises on his face were slowly healing, he could feel it.
"I was." She said, and he could sense she was afraid. He didn't understand.
"Caroline?"
"I'm sorry, Stefan. It was the only way."
And then it hit him. Klaus walked in because she died, so no living human owned it anymore. She was fast, faster than she'd ever been.
He got up, then, and she got up with him. He looked at her, and she smiled nervously.
She was a vampire.
"H-How?" He asked, still so confused he could barely speak.
"Elena gave me her blood." She replied. "I had to die, though, so I went to Klaus to distract him. I talked to him and I said all the things I knew would make him angry so he'd kill me, and I knew he would come here after, so... When I woke up, Caleb and Rebekah were there, and Caleb volunteered his, um... well, his neck. For my new fangs." She chuckled. "Crazy. And then I came here. I had to save you, Stefan. I had to save everyone, this is what I wanted and what I had to do."
Stefan shook his head. "You were supposed to stay human, Caroline. That was the whole point. You were supposed to survive this and live a happy and full live until you died of old age with grandchildren. This is not a good thing. It's a curse, it's-"
"It's what I wanted. You don't understand. I had to protect my family." She touched his face. "I'm sorry. Don't be mad, please."
How could he be mad at her? She was alive. Alive and well, alive and in front of him, alive and touching him. He held the hand she stroked his cheek with, and closed his eyes, taking in her scent. She gave up her humanity for him, for everyone. He didn't think he could love her more.
He wanted to kiss her and tell her he loved her, but she took her hand away and walked to Elena. They hugged, and Stefan, still too stunned to move, heard Caroline whisper "I'm really hungry" into Elena's ear. She laughed, and said they'd take care of it. She hugged Bonnie, Jeremy, and even Damon.
"I'm sorry about your brother." She said to Kol, and hugged him too.
"I'm sorry about your humanity."
"I didn't care that much about my humanity." Caroline shrugged.
"I didn't care that much about my brother." Kol said.
She laughed, and Stefan's heart grew bigger inside his chest.
"We won." She said, and her eyes found Stefan's once again.
"We won." He echoed.
Stefan looked at Klaus' body. They really did win, and nothing could ever be sweeter.
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