Prompt: "And then you laughed" and/or "Tell me a secret"

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They're lying on his bed, his back is against the bed and she's resting on his chest. There's a smell of summer and shampoo and wet hair and new starts and being safe. They stay quiet for a long while, just breathing. His hand is stroking her hair, while her hand is holding his other hand and playing with his ring.

He lets out a long breath before kissing the top of her head and staying there. She then looks at him, curious, but she just smiles and buries her head back in his chest, nuzzling her nose against his shirt.

"I'm bored." She mumbles.

"Wanna go back to searching for two vampires who lost their sanity and went around murdering people?" He whispers against her hair, his lips curving into a smile, specially when she slaps his chest.

"This isn't actually the kind of fun I'm looking for." She says.

"Oh, well, what do you have in mind?" He smirks, even though she's not looking.

"Tell me a secret."

Of all the possible ideas that he expected, he didn't see this one coming. So he stays quiet, wonders if she's serious or he can just skip it.

"Caroline, I'm sure you know everything about me by now." He smiles.

"That's not what I mean, I mean, tell me something special, something no one knows about but you." Her voice isn't funny or excited, she's serious. And as her fingers play around his shirt, he can't think of anything but her.

"Tell me a secret." She says again.

He sighs, his mind going through everything he has done through his life, thinking about something worth sharing. He thinks about the ripper, and the guilt, he could tell her about that. But she knows enough about it. And suddenly he finds everything that he comes up with either not worth sharing or something she already know.

"I uh, I had a crush on you," He pauses, watches her fingers as they still on his chest. "Back when I lost my memories." He licks his lips and waits for her respond, but it's too long before she speaks.

"Go on." She says. And he chuckles.

"I saw pictures, you know, and you were just hard to not notice. Damon said you were my best friend, and I uh…" He sighs. "I thought he was lying, partly because I didn't really trust him, but also because I… liked to think there was more of it." He shakes his head and he doesn't see the way she smiles.

"And then I met you, and it didn't seem like we were having some secret affair so…"

She laughs then and he goes on.

"I didn't have any memories, what did you expect?" But then he laughs with her. "And you dragged me to this party and we danced and things were kinda under control. Tyler was there, So I started to think that maybe it was all in my head… And then you laughed… And I couldn't care less about Tyler."

She laughs again.

"And then I had my memories back and…"

"It was weird." She completes for him.

"Yeah." He says. "It's just, I didn't know where it came from. Everything was a full picture, the way everyone acted around me, the way Damon and Elena left things out of their stories, the way you were there for me."

He holds her hand then, runs his fingers against her palm.

"The way I saw you, it was different, and I knew it meant something, but… I didn't want to go there." He hears letting out a breath. "I was scared." He admits with closed eyes.

He opens his eyes when she moves, only to close them again when she kisses them. She takes her time with it, doesn't pull away for a while. "I didn't know I was that scary." She teases.

"Oh, you still are."

They both laugh, actual giggles fill the room and he feels good, he feels something he didn't feel in a long time. Maybe relief, because in this moment, he has nothing to worry about, nothing to even think about. He just lays there with her for two more hours, and he wants nothing more.

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