This isn't how it was meant to be.

Caroline had rehearsed it all in her head over and over. She'd go in, find Stefan, and use all her charm and tricks to convince him to leave with her, his best friend, his rescuer. And maybe, just maybe, Stefan would finally get it. She was the only one who was coming for him, after all, the only one who cared about him.

She wasn't supposed to be the one who got caught, however. When she'd pictured herself saving Stefan, he was reluctant, but grateful, and ultimately eager to leave with her. He wasn't supposed to capture her instead, to hand her over to Klaus and to whatever fate the hybrid had planned for her.

Now, Stefan's holding her down, his mouth twisted into a caricature of his familiar grin as Klaus bites her and then pours some noxious liquid down her throat while a witch chants nearby. She screams as the magic rips through her and she can feel every cell in her body swell and burst and transform into... something. Something both wonderful and horrible at once.

Afterwards, she lies limp in Stefan's arms, his fingers stroking her hair with a gentleness that seems to mock her. Klaus crouches down before them, his fingers briefly entwining with Stefan's in her hair as he touches her, his gaze oddly kind.

"Are you going to kill me?" she asks. Stefan's arms tighten around her at her question and pull her closer.

"Kill you?" Klaus meets Stefan's eyes above her head and he smiles in some sort of secret amusement. "Oh, no, my sweet. We're going to take very good care you. Promise."

She presses back against Stefan, but, for the first time, ever, his nearness doesn't comfort her.

This isn't how it was meant to be.

Before Tyler, before Matt, before Damon was Stefan. The first time she saw him, she knew he was 'The One,' knew he'd be hers someday. Even after he'd told her they'd never be a thing, she never quite believed him. When she watched him with Elena, she pretended shewas the one Stefan was regarding with such love and adoration, the one he was touching with tenderness. Like it was meant to be.

The look he gives her now is hungry and greedy and his touch is anything but tender. He bites and soothes the pain with a kiss, kisses and ends the pleasure with a bite, his fingers now caressing, now bruising as he moves inside her.

The name on his lips when he finds his release is her own, and she finds herself wishing it wasn't.

This isn't how it was meant to be.

There was going to be a house with a picket fence and a dog and a little boy and a little girl and she was going to be the best mom and have the best job and everyone was going to love her and think she was awesome. There would be a man (sometimes Matt, sometimes Tyler, but usually Stefan) by her side, who worshipped her and the ground she walked on, and everything would be perfect.

Now, Stefan's demeanor is worshipful, but it makes her want to run. He puts his hands on her swollen belly and presses a kiss to it.

"Mine," he whispers, and the monster inside her kicks in response. Caroline smiles and strokes his hair, but inside she's screaming.

This isn't how it was meant to be.