They stumbled back into the mansion an hour later. Battered, bruised, singed and exhausted. And missing Bonnie and Damon, after Bonnie apparently kidnapped him from the dance and fled. Elena had stormed off back to her dorm. Stefan managed to get to the kitchen to retrieve them both a blood bag. Caroline collapsed onto the sofa, sitting up as Stefan returned.

"Stefan," she said, her eyes glazed.

"Hmmm," he mumbled, quickly draining his bag.

"What the hell just happened?" she asked.

Stefan let out a chuckling sigh.

"Well...Bonnie kicked our asses is what happened," he answered, tossing the empty bag on the coffee table and then putting his feet up.

"I'll say," Caroline muttered, twisting her neck to make sure the soreness had healed.

"Where do you think she took him?" Caroline asked, finishing her blood bag and tossing it next to Stefan's on the table.

"I don't know...but I don't think he's in any danger," he said.

"What makes you so sure?" Caroline asked, intrigued.

"Well, because...she likes him," Stefan answered.

"She likes me too, Stefan," Caroline said, "But she still threw my ass across the room for trying to calm her down."

Stefan laughed, "Yeah, but she likes him."

Caroline made a little shocked face and Stefan smiled as he watched realization cross her face.

"That's what all that was about?" Caroline asked, understanding.

"Well, that and the fact that she was alone for months and she's just generally pissed off at the world, yeah," Stefan added, crossing his arms across his tattered dress shirt and closing his eyes, relaxed.

Caroline looked his lean body up and down as he rested. How easy it would be to stretch out next to him and lean into his side. Or, better yet, climb onto his lap. She felt her cheeks heat up and shook away the thought. It was not the time.

"Don't worry," Stefan reassured her, "They'll both be fine."

She nodded and smiled, finding it adorable how worried he was that she was worried and feeling little guilty that she'd just been eying him like a hunk of meat.

"I gotta get home," she said, reluctantly, "Check on my mom."

Stefan nodded and stood to walk her out.

Suddenly, she remembered her torn and tattered dress and looked down.

"I can't go home in this," she said, holding out the torn skirt, "My mom will flip."

Stefan chuckled, "Yeah, she's got enough to worry about without worrying about her daughter being killed by sweet little Bonnie Bennett, of all people."

Caroline rolled her eyes and laughed, "No kidding."

"I'll find you something," Stefan said, disappearing up to his room.

He returned with one of his v-neck t-shirts, flannel pajama pants and a light hoodie. Caroline smiled at how comfy it looked. And then tried to hide her quickening pulse as Stefan's scent bombarded her as she took the clothes that he handed her.

"This okay?" he asked, smiling sweetly at her.

"Yeah, they're great, thanks," she said, leaning forward to kiss his cheek without thinking, her instinct to be as close to him as possible getting the better of her.

She pulled away slowly and caught his eyes, intense and focusing on her lips. She swallowed hard. Her mind wandered back to what he was about to say to her at the dance before the shit hit the fan. She wanted him to finish what he started.

"When you come home in my clothes won't it look like..." Stefan said softly, his voice startling her.

"Yeah, maybe," she whispered, the images that went along with it flashing through her mind, she closed her eyes against the weight of them.

He clenched his jaw and stepped back, giving her control of the situation. Which she decided to take.

"Stefan," she said, her own voice lower and more sultry that she recognized, "Help me out of my dress?"

He paused just a moment, obviously surprised by the request. But he took two tentative steps toward her and wrapped his arms around her. She sighed contentedly in his embrace, before holding her breath as she felt the zipper of her dress being lowered slowly down her back. Stefan's hands found her bare skin and he used them to push apart the fabric of her dress and expose her back. His cool fingers spread across her bare skin, pulling her tight against him. Her head was hammering and her blood was racing through her veins.

She stepped back and mourned the feeling of her hands on her back. The dress slipped off her arms and shoulders and hips and pooled around her feet. The way Stefan's eye's darkened at her standing in his living room in nothing but lacy black lingerie made her knees weak and her breath quicken. He didn't step toward her, but dug his fingers into his palms until his knuckles were white.

Tossing off of her heels, she stepped into his pants and dropped his shirt over her head and slipped her arms into his hoodie. His smell enveloped her and she suppressed a shiver. She smiled shyly, feeling small in his baggy clothes. He chuckled and held out his arms for her again. She walked happily into them, enjoying the feeling of soft skin, soft clothes and exhaustion mingling. She thought about how nice it would be curl up beside him in his bed tonight and sleep off the day. Sleeping next to each other but just sleeping was really the M.O. of the "more than friends, less than lovers" thing they had going on and honestly, it sounded heavenly at the moment. But she really did have to get home.

"I really do have to get home," she repeated her thoughts.

"Hmm," Stefan mumbled against her hair, seemingly lost in their embrace, "Yeah, you do."

It was her than finally stepped away. She felt cold as the air around them quickly replaced the space he'd been.

"Do you want a ride home?" he asked.

"No, I'll just...vamp speed," she said, rubbing her arms against the chill of loneliness she suddenly felt.

"Be careful," he said, stepping forward to frame her face with his hands. He placed a warm, soft kiss on her cheeks and she closed her eyes, trying to memorize the feeling for later when she was trying to drift off to sleep. Something tickled in her chest, something wanting to get out.

"Stefan," she said, her own voice betraying her.

He looked at her with complete attention.

"At the dance...what were you...were you going to...do you love me?" she asked, and then regretted it. Why was she always so straightforward? So blunt? Cursed to wear her heart on her sleeve and have her every thought come tumbling immediately from her lips?

There was only a split second of surprise on his face before he settled into satisfied amusement. He smiled and stroked his thumbs across her cheeks, his green eyes staring meaningfully into hers.

"Of course I do, Caroline. How could I not?" he said sincerely, pressing a soft kiss to her lips.

Her lashes fluttered before falling against her cheek. Her eyes prickled with tears and her chest filled immediately with emotion and excitement. He pulled away with a soft little pop of their lips and his eyes roamed her face, taking in all the emotion she was giving.

"Do you?" he asked, his lips finding her cheeks again, her nose, her chin, her forehead.

She giggled blissfully at the bounty of kisses.

"Do I what?" she asked in between laughs.

"Love me?" he asked.

"What kind of a stupid question is that, Stefan?" she said, mock annoyed, completely playful.

He looked at her seriously for a moment before kissing her again, soaking up the taste of her lips and the sounds of her laughter.

"But you have to go home?' he half asked/half stated, trailing his tickly fingers across her forearm with one hand and looping a gold curl around the finger of his other hand.

"Definitely," she answered, pouty, resting her cheek against his chest. And she couldn't believe how normal this felt and how they seemed to fall into romance without so much as a stumble.

"Okay," he said, stepping away with a slight frown and a heavy sigh.

"I'll call you," she said, and she felt stupid, she felt like a teenager. It made her giggle.

"I'll look forward to it," he replied, stepping away and watching as her hand slipped gracefully out of his as she headed for the door.

She threw a final glance over her shoulder and gave him a last shy, hopeful smile as she let herself out into the cold night.

Caroline was back at her own porch in a flash, her warm face buried in her hands, trying to wipe the telling smile off of her face as her mind ran over and over what had just happened. Just like that and suddenly she and Stefan Salvatore were in love with each other. It seemed suddenly, but at the same time, it had been slowly and silently building up for years, hadn't it? And it felt right. Everything felt right.

She let out a shaky exhale and let herself inside. Her mom was sleeping peacefully and stirred only slightly as Caroline pulled the blanket up higher to cover her arms. Caroline smiled as she settled back in. She wanted to wake her up and tell her about Stefan. But she wouldn't. Because she needed her rest and because she knew they needed some time to figure out exactly what they were doing before they started telling everyone. So she just leaned down and placed a kiss on her mom's forehead before she walked quietly to her own room.

After a quick shower, she indulgently slipped Stefan's shirt back over her head and crawled under the sheets, enjoying he way the smell of him mixed with the smell of her room. It mixed perfectly, she thought. Her phone vibrated and she quickly checked it, used to getting bad news late at night. When she saw that it was a text from Stefan, her heart began to race.

Sleep well. I'll talk to you tomorrow.

She couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. Again, she felt like the eternal 17 year old she was. He had that affect on her. The smiles and the heart flutters. Two simple sentences enough to color her cheeks and reduce her to a grinning idiot. But it was good. It was happy and she welcomed it. She fell asleep with her phone cradled in her hand, ready to put this day to rest and start a new one tomorrow.

Lord y'all, I'm sorry it's taking me so long with this. Like I've said before, and it's no excuse, I'm horrible with AU and I don't feel it so it's hard for me. But I love this story and it's close to my heart and the way the characters are, they're kinda like different people than the direction the show went and they're my sweet babies. I do hope they're still in character though. Anyway, I'm rambling. I'm going to hopefully do a final chapter after this to wrap everything up because it deserves better than to be abandoned. Thanks SO MUCH to all who continue to read. 3