Title : To Wish Impossible Things

Pairing : Stefan/Caroline, Damon & Caroline friendship, a bit of Damon/Elena.

Small spoilers based on the S3 trailer.

A/N : After toying with some ideas for a while, I decided for yet another post S2 fic, hopefully with my own twist ;o) Please enjoy, and reviews are greatly appreciated.

"This is useless. We're going nowhere."

Elena throws back a book on the table with an irritated gesture. Damon and Caroline exchange a look and the blonde got up.

"We are all tired and we need some sleep. I'll come back tomorrow, ok?"

Elena nodes, smiling despite her state of extreme frustration. They hug, then Damon walk Caroline to the door and step out with her on the front porch., closing the door behind him.

He never thought he would have feel that way, but he likes spending some time with Caroline lately. In the big mess that has been their lives since Stefan left six weeks ago, she has been the one keeping a clear head as well as things organized. Damon knows that she hurts a lot too – Stefan was her closest friend – but she has shown a real strength of character that he didn't expect of her, and he has come to admire and appreciate the help and comfort she has provided over the last few weeks.

"Want a ride home, Blondie?" he asks with a lopsided smile, needing to relax the atmosphere.

She laughs. "With you? What about my reputation? Besides, I came with my Barbie mobile."

She looks away for a second before turning her blue eyes on him again.

"We are never going to find him."

It is more a statement than a question and Damon sighs. "No. We won't."

Caroline looks at him, see the pain in his eyes and her heart aches for him as well as for Stefan.

Damon leans against the wall. "It's not that I want to give up. But we have to be real, here. If they don't want to be found, there's no way we will. We don't even have a decent plan," he finished with a bitter smile.

"We have been putting our lives on hold," she said softly. "I don't think that is what Stefan would have wanted when he gave himself over to Klaus."

Damon shrugs. "Who knows what went on in that stupid head of his?" he mumbles, the familiar wave of guilt crushing his heart. He shakes it off.

"I'll call Bonnie and Alaric tomorrow, tell them that it's time to stop this. Are you ok with it?"

She nods. "I am. But good luck explaining that to Elena."

Damon winces. "I might ask Ric to do it for me."

"Let's decide for a meeting with everyone tomorrow, ok? Good night, Damon."

She raises slightly on her toes and give him a kiss on the cheek. She always expects him to protest when she does that, but he hasn't yet.

She suspects that he kind of likes it.

When he comes back in the house, Damon is sure that Elena has gone upstairs already, so he's a bit surprised to find her standing in front of the fireplace.

"I'm not giving up on finding Stefan," she tells him, but she doesn't turn around.

"Nobody said anything about giving up. But you said it yourself, Elena. This is useless."

"I didn't mean it like that."

"I know. Still, what can we do? We've been trying for six weeks and we failed every single time!"

He went to the liquor cabinet and poured himself a drink, hoping it would calm him down. He really didn't want to get in a fight with her.

"Caroline is right. We can't go on putting our lives on hold like this."

"Of course, if Caroline said so..." she says with a sarcastic laugh.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. I hadn't realized that you and Caroline had become such close friends. As far as I know not so long ago you couldn't stand each other."

There's obvious jealousy in her voice, but instead of making him happy, it just confuses the hell out of him. She seems so desperate on finding her boyfriend, yet she don't like him getting close to another girl ?

Anger rise in his throat. "Do I really have to remind you that Caroline has been there for you everyday, doing her best to help us find Stefan?"

"And do I really have to remind you that Stefan is the brother that sacrificed everything to save your life, yet you seem so eager to move on with said life and forget all about him!"

That is a really low blow and she regrets it the instant it is out, but it is too late.

"Go to Hell," Damon mutters and leave the room.

She doesn't try to hold him back.

Things have been tense between them since Stefan left. There's been no talk of the kiss or even the words that were spoken that night, mainly because the guilt is still there, and they mistakenly both thought that they could easily ignore it while searching for Stefan.

They can't.

Elena doesn't really know what's going on in Damon's head, although she can pretty much imagine it. She knows what's going on in hers though, ans she can't help being haunted by Katherine's words.

It's ok to love them both. I did.

And lately it's been very clear in Elena's mind that she does too.

Caroline stops her car in front of her home. Everything seems to be dark inside, and it's not that late, which means her mom is still working.

She locks her car door and walks to her front porch, while typing a text to Damon to tell him she's home safe. She protested at first when he asked her to do it before yielding. She knows where that come from.

Damon has become very protective towards her lately, and she guessed that part of it was his way to make amends for his past behavior, the other part being that he is her Sire, and there's a connection between them even though he had done his best to ignore it until now.

Her mom had kind of the same epiphany, so everything would be really great in Caroline's life if it wasn't for the fact that Stefan is missing. And it become more obvious everyday that they won't see him again before a long, long while...if ever.

That pains her much more than she's willing to admit.

What pains her even more is the sudden prick feeling in her neck. Vervain, she has the time to think before everything goes black.