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fallingslowly8718 · 9 years ago

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Lay Your Hands On Me CHAPTER 4

Title:

Lay Your Hands On Me

Chapter 4

1I2I3I Rating: T Pairing: Stefan/Caroline Chapter Summary: Caroline goes undercover, quickly learning not everything is what is seems. Story Summary: In an attempt to figure our what Lily is up to, Caroline and Stefan get caught up in a lie that tests the fragile state of their relationship. Yes, it's the fake dating fic. Post 6x22

The house looked different from the outside in the light.

At first glance, it looked cozy. It was one floor, and couldn't possibly hold more then two bedrooms from the size of it. The outside was painted a greyish blue, with a darker color coating the shutters that framed each window except for the large window in the front. It was the same window she had seen someone through the evening before. In front of each window was a planter box with a variety of flowers within each one

On closer inspection, the place looked pretty run down. The yard was over run by weeds and a lawn the desperately needed to be trimmed. The paint was chipped, the windows were filthy and one of the shutters was missing. Caroline could chalk it up to a work in progress, but the flowers, still alive,were beginning to wilt. Weird for a home where one of its residents was supposedly a gardening fanatatic.

The entire walk from down the street where Bonnie and Stefan were waiting in her car, she had been trying to think of the best way to go about this. Caroline could be distracting, ask any one of her friends, but the tricky part was strangers. Especially strangers that were possibly about to be murdered.

Caroline stood frozen at the end of the side walk, her eyes following the path she would follow to the front door. She could already imagine the flames licking at the door.

No, she reminded herself, and even gave her head a shake in an attempt to clear out the thoughts. This was necessary. The needs of the many out weighed the few, and she was pretty sure that was from a movie or something. Great.

Taking a deep breath, more out of habit and to calm herself then out of necessity, she marched forward in a gait that had once struck fear into any planning committee member that attended school with her.

Her hand wrapped around the handle of the storm door and pulled it open, nearly pulling it off it's hinges. That had nothing to with her vampire strength. She did come away with the handle itself, which laid broken in the palm of her hand. It must have been broken previously, by someone or something, since the handle had so easily come off. This is not what she needed.

The handle disappeared with a toss over her shoulder, before she swung the door open and knocked on the main entrance door. This door was in better condition. Actually come to think of it, this door was in impeccable condition. She ran her hands over the smooth wood, and then breathed it in, taking in the scent. The faint spell of the hardware store it was purchased from still lingered on the door.

Caroline stepped back from the door a moment, several different thoughts and images running through her head at what she might find inside the house. It would be a lie if she didn't admit to herself she was a little scared. Yes, she was a vampire, which came with perks that included having super strength, hearing and a long list of other things, but she also had come to learn that there were bigger, stronger things out there that could easily destroy her. So, yes, she was a little scared to come face to face with whoever lived in this home, but bravery came from facing your fears, it didn't come from not feeling fear. Her ears picked up the faint sound of footsteps approaching from within the home and the sound grew louder as whoever was inside came closer. Caroline held held her breath as the door swung open

The first thing she saw was hair. Lots of it. At one time it must have been black, but with several gray hairs now among the strands, it reminded her more of the color of the house. It lay piled on the owners head, unruly curls framing a round face. A round face that wore a very deep frown.

“Can I help you?” the woman asked, her voice not hiding annoyance at the stranger that had trespassed on her property. It probably also didn't help that Caroline stared at her a moment, eyes wide, and mouth open. The woman stood several inches shorter then Caroline, standing around 5”2, and the deep lines around her face indicated she was older then her. The woman certainly didn't look to be around 35 years old.

Caroline remembered herself then, her brain quickly working to formulate a story of why she was there in the first place. Smile on, shoulder's straight. Posture perfect, she was ready to go

“Hi!” she greeted. Her attention shifted for a moment to behind the woman to get a view of the inside of the house, but all she saw was the corner of a coffee table. Quickly, her vision returned to the person standing in the doorway. She was already making progress, the woman's frown had disappeared and was replaced with a look of curiosity. If anyone knew how to play this game, it was Caroline Forbes.

“Can I help you?” The woman asked. Her voice threw Caroline off a moment. It was very soft, giving off an air of gentleness that made Caroline question for a moment if this woman was really capable of unleashing the kind of hell that the contents of her basement suggested. The thought only lasted a moment before she continued.

“Are you Karen?” She asked, tucking a strand of hair of hair behind her ear and cocking her head to the side. The picture of innocence.

The woman raised an eyebrow at that, luckily she still looked intrigued by Caroline's presence at her door

“I'm Caroline. She introduced herself, placing her hand on her chest to drive the point home. After that, she crossed her arms over her chest, sucking in a breath and adding a slight tremble to her lips for effect. It had been a long time since the bite of the October air was able to affect her, but she knew how to put on a good show. She was a drama major, after all. “I'm sorry for just showing up at your house, but I might have heard something about you starting a garden club, here in town.”

The woman's eyes brightened at that, nodding her head enthusiastically, because stopping herself, regaining her composure and returning to her previous stance of suspicion and intrigue. “Where did you hear that?”

Caroline let out an embarrassed laugh, practiced of course, but it must have come off genuine enough for the woman to let down her guard a little. She could see it in the relaxed posture the woman now displayed. “Sorry, I could tell you, but this person told me in complete confidence and I don't want her to lose her job. She knows I've wanted to start one of my own for a while, but there really wasn't an interest.” The story rolled off her tongue naturally, as if it was actually true. She even paid mind to make herself seem embarrassed by the admission, while showing enthusiasm for the perspective of a gardening club.

The woman's eyes widened, and her face lit up as a large smile appeared on her face “You-, you like gardening?”

“Oh yeah.” She answered, nodding her head as she tightened her own hold around her mid section and let out a little shudder. This time the movement caught the woman's attention.

”Oh, you poor thing! You're out here freezing and I'm going on about my silly little club, come inside and we can talk some more.” Caroline could hear the woman unlock the storm door, before swinging it open. Caroline placed her hand against it to keep it open as she followed the woman into the house

She trailed closely behind the woman, Karen, she reminded herself, but was careful to take in the surroundings of the house. It wasn't as if she was expecting a thank you note from Lily to be laying around the house, but she had come to learn that even the smallest thing that seemed out of place, could possibly mean something.

As the outside had suggested the night before, the house was small. The piles of unopened boxes lining the walls didn't help much with the size situation either. The living room consisted of an outdated television, a worn recliner and a torn up sofa that looked older then she was. The coffee table she spotted earlier was in actually a small table covered in magazines. Her eyes then landed on something that looked very out-of-place among the old,beaten up furniture that decorated the rest of the house. In the corner of the room, out-of-the-way of the rest of the mess was a chair. It was a very elegant piece of furniture, crème colored with a floral patter running through the fabric. The arms and legs were carved into a beautiful design that reminded her of something out of the Salvatore's home. Looking at it, she could almost envision Lily sitting in it, tea-cup in hand, while her little humans ran around doing her bidding. A shudder ran through her.

“I'll make you some tea, I didn't think it got this cold in the south during the fall.” Karen's voice came from the kitchen, cabinets and drawers banging open and shut, searching.

“That would be great.” Caroline called to her, her eyes scanning the room once again, this time looking for the basement door. No luck. She felt a pair of eyes on her at that moment, and she looked up to see Bonnie standing in the window. Caroline only shook her head to indicate that the basement door wasn't in the living room, and thankfully Bonnie understood what she was trying to say, because after a nod of her head, she disappeared in the direction of the side yard. Great, that meant she needed to get Karen out of the kitchen.

“Let me help you out, Karen!” Caroline called, making her way into the kitchen.

The kitchen was as small as the living room. It consisted of a decent sized counter top, but it only had a single sink. The only cabinet space was above the counters, and a few cabinet doors build underneath . To the left, beyond the refrigerator, was a small hallway that must have led to the bedrooms. There was also another door to left of the kitchen entrance.

”Oh no, that's fine.” Karen called, rummaging around the kitchen in search of something. Not a clue were anything was, like she was a stranger within her own house. That uneasy feeling settled back in her stomach as the possibilities of the real Webber's fate played through her mind.

“I insist.” Caroline said, swallowing down her discomfort and moving toward the door she had eyed only moments before. “Is it in here?” She asked, swinging the door open. From the corner of her eye, she saw Karen drop whatever she had in her hand, rushing over toward her and slamming the door shut. Thankfully Caroline had already gotten a peek at the set of stairs that clearly lead into the basement.

“Not in there, dear.” Karen said, leaning her arm on the door and trying to catch her breath. If her lack of awareness of her own home hadn't put Caroline on alert, the fake smile plastered on the older woman's face would have done the trick. Caroline had been wearing a similar expression since she got her, of course her's was much more convincing then what was on Karen's face right now.

”Oh, I'm so sorry. I thought it was the pantry.” She explained, her eyes moving to the direction of the window Stefan had spotted Lily in the night before. Speaking of Stefan...

Caroline made her way over to the sink, and grabbed the kettle she had seen from the night before. The one Lily stole. She looked up into the neighbors yard, and she spotted Stefan and Bonnie lurking in the bushes she had found shelter in the night before. After a nod of her head, they moved out of their hiding spot and moved toward the backyard. Caroline put the kettle in the sink and turned toward Karen who had gone back to searching the kitchen. Leaning against the counter, she studied her a moment, thinking over her next approach, a way to get her out of the kitchen.

”Karen, do you have any pictures of your garden club?”

Karen paused for a moment, before turning to look at Caroline. There was a glint in her eye that told Caroline that she had chosen the right approach to take. “It's just, I'm getting a little excited thinking this thing is going to happen, and maybe we could use the pictures to build some excitement-” Caroline trailed off, studying Karen's reaction.

Karen clapped her hand's together in excitement. “Oh, I'll go find them when I finish your tea. They are packed away somewhere.”

Caroline nodded her head, then gasped as if an idea had just come to her, even though it was her original aim in the first place. “Why don't I make the tea and you go find the pictures? We can decide which one's to use when it's done.”

The smile Karen wore lit up her entire face, and for a moment Caroline almost felt bad for playing her. Of course, there was more at hand here then for her to be concerned about a bored and suspicious suburban house wife getting her feelings hurt, especially when she could be working for crazy vampires and her adopted, evil family.

“Alright! I'll be right back!” She turned and moved quickly into the living room, the sounds of boxes tearing open following not long after.

Caroline moved quickly to the back door, careful that it didn't make a noise and poked her head outside. She found her companions right outside the door, out of site of the windows and partially hidden by a crumbling garden shed. Both of them wore matching expression of concern until they saw it was her. After an impatient wave from her, they both jogged the short length of the yard from the shed to the back door.

Bonnie slipped quickly into the house, slipping next to the refrigerator and out of site of the living room's entrance. Stefan didn't move quite as fast as Bonnie had, hesitating at the entrance of the home before he too moved forward into the home. He stopped next to her, and met her gaze, the meaning him being allowed into the home passing between them. She wasn't exactly surprised, the fate of the Webber's had come into question the moment she had made her way up the path to the door. Karen's behavior within the home had only solidified those suspicions, but now they had confirmation. The very fact that Stefan was standing beside her now meant that the Webber's were dead, and whoever was in the living room wasn't suppose to be here.

After a moment, she turned away from him, and focused her attention on the tea that not Karen would be expected once she found the pictures, if they even existed. Not even a heartbeat later she felt the gust of air hit her face as Stefan moved quickly toward the basement. The soft click of the door moments later signaled Bonnie and Stefan's exit from the kitchen. Caroline closed eyes, her hands gripping the counter to the point that her knuckles had turned white. She leaned her weight against it, wishing with everything within her that they would be careful, that they would be safe. That they would make it out alive.

When she opened her eyes, a quick look at a clock showed it had only been a few minutes, but it already felt like eternity. Letting go of the counter, she began finishing her preparations for the tea, keeping one ear out for the woman in the living room. All she heard was muttering and more boxes being torn open.

“Hey, how do you like your tea?” Caroline called out, as she began searching the kitchen for some sugar. She found them rather quickly, as there were three labeled ceramic containers lined up against the beautiful backplash that lined the counters. They reminded her of the mailbox in the front, painted a pretty pale pink with the name of its contents written in perfect caligraphy.

“Just a bit of lemon.” not Karen called from the living room, followed by a grunt and a string of curse words. Caroline was tempted to put her out of her misery, but she needed to buy Stefan and Bonnie a little more time. Plus, there was the whole potentially being an accessory to murder, thing.

Caroline opened up a few drawers before she was able to locate a spoon a few drawers down from the sink. Moving back over toward the sink, she lifted the cover off the sugar container and reached inside to grab a spoon full of sugar, when a searing heat ran up her hand. She quickly dropped the spoon into the container and jumped back way from the container, clutching her injured hand closer to her chest. Her lips were pinched together to keep herself from vocalizing the pain that was currently shooting through her hand.

It only took her a moment to recover, that familiar feeling of dread washing over her. This was beginning to happen quite often, lately. Once she gained her composure, she moved forward, and leaned over so that she could look inside to observe the contents of inside. What she found confirmed her suspicions, inside was a small batch of vervain. With it, died any argument that these were innocent people under the compulsion of Lily. They were humans, but they were humans willing to do the bidding of a crazy vampire and at least condone the murder, if not participate, in the murder of two innocent people. If she was still human, she was pretty sure she might have thrown up. Right now, she felt an overwhelming sense of anger and sadness as the picture of the Webber's fate played over in her head once again. They didn't deserve this. No innocent person deserved this. Bonnie was right.

”Okay, I give up, I can't remember where I put them.” Caroline spun around to face the woman standing in the doorway who was pretending to be a woman that was actually dead. A feeling of rage washed over her, the monster in her calling for her to rip out the woman's throat, or was it a desire to destroy the monster that stood before her? She buried the urge, instead pasting on the smile she had been wearing since she got here. It had never been so painful

“Do you need help?” she offered, walking forward with the two cups in hand, holding out not Karen’s out to her.

“No, I'll just ask Jimmy later.” Not Karen said, waving her hand dismissively. “God help me, I can't remember what boxes I put things in.” She took a sip and hummed with pleasure as she drank.

'Of course you don't remember, you didn't put them there.' Caroline thought bitterly, but covered her bitterness by taking a sip of her own tea. She nearly spit it out once she tasted how it. So this woman was evil and had bad taste? Great.

They stood in silence for a few moments, sipping at the tea, not Karen oblivious to Caroline's distaste for it. Whenever she looked to the younger woman, Caroline would give an insincere “mmmmm”, one time even a thumbs up. Not Karen would smile and return to her own tea. The entire time, Caroline took deep, heavy breaths, trying to pick up the smell of smoke that should have started by now. Panic began to grip at her, but she swallowed it down. They all had their parts to play, and hers involved drinking tea with the devil.

This wasn't the first time she was in the company of evil. She knew how to keep her composure. In fact, she was in the company of murderers on a regular basis, hell she was a murderer. The thing was, their murders were committed (most of the time) either to protect the people they loved or when their humanity was off. Did it make them better then these people? They all had blood on their hands. The thing that really ate at her, though,was that these strangers were human. They didn't have some primal, killer, instinct knocking at the back of their brain every second of every day. The Webber's were innocent people, the people that would be killed by the heretics, a lot of them were innocent. So call her a hypocrite, but she felt herself justified as she studied this woman as she happily drank her tea.

The moment was broken by the buzzing of her cell phone in her pocket. “Sorry.” She apologized, putting her cup on the counter behind them, before she reached for her phone. Pulling it out of her pocket, she saw it was a text from Stefan, that read “get out of the kitchen.” She quickly slipped it back into her pocket, and turned back toward the older woman.

“My ride is coming to pick me up, but I hate to leave you with that mess in the living room, since I insisted on the pictures. I'll help you pick up.”

Without waiting for a response from the other woman, Caroline moved into the living room. Most of the boxes with the name “Karen” written in permanent marker were open, with their contents littering the floor. She could hear the woman's feet shuffling in behind her.

It wasn't a difficult task, it consisted mostly of throwing things back in the boxes that they had been laying next to. Fortunately, it was time consuming and Caroline was pretty sure it bought Bonnie and Stefan more then enough time to make their escape. After what couldn't have been more than a half hour, Caroline placed a plastic plant inside the final box and turned toward the imposter, who stood next to the window.

“Okay, last item. I better get going.”

Caroline began walking toward the front door, the need to get out of this house intensifying with every step.

“Your ride isn't even here.” The woman observed, as she turned her attention away from the window and focused it on Caroline.

The woman's stare sent an unpleasant shiver through her body.

“Yeah...” She paused, her uneasiness causing her to trip over her words. Her mind was suddenly blank, an excuse unable to form in her head. Suddenly she recognized her car driving past the house, and like a floodgate, the words tumbled out of her mouth. “Their meeting me down the street. Their terrible with directions.” Her hand gripped the handle of the front door, putting more pressure into it then she meant to. If she was in less of 'flight' frame of mind, she might have been concerned that she would break it. She was too busy focusing on her escape.

“Oh.” The woman said, sounding disappointed at Caroline ending her visit. Caroline might have even felt bad if it wasn't for the fact the woman was evil.

“Sorry, their waiting.” Caroline called over her shoulder, as she swung open the storm door and made her way down the stairs. “It was nice meeting you.” She called over her shoulder to be polite.

She could hear the storm door open behind her, and Caroline's entire body tensed. Her feet kept moving through, wanting to get as far away from that house as possible.

“I'll let you know about the garden club.” She heard not Karen call from behind her. Caroline stopped as soon as she turned from the walkway and onto the sidewalk. “Oh Absolutely!” She called, throwing in that smile she had been wearing all morning, but it was lacking, as she had begun to put less effort into her act and more into her escape.

Caroline didn't wait for a response, her feet moving quickly down the street and toward the street corner they had dropped her off at earlier. The encounter had left her with a feeling of uneasiness, that woman making her skin crawl. It might have been the knowledge of her posing as a dead woman, but that woman made nervous. The feeling continued to gnaw at her until her eyes landed on Stefan, who was leaning on her driver's side door. Almost instantly some of the discomfort had washed away at the sight of him. Not completely though. Just thinking of her sent another shudder through her

Stefan must have seen the look on her face when she approached him, because as soon as she was in arms reach, he gripped her upper arms and inspected her for any sign of harm.

“Are you okay?” He asked, placing one of his hands on the side of her face to further inspect for any kind of damage. She knew he knew she was capable of taking care of herself, but she was also aware he hadn't been thrilled with sending her into the lions den with blinders on. His care only sent a feeling of warmth through her. Right now she felt loved and protected, she just wanted to melt into him.

If she had been in a better frame of mind, she might have thought better of it, but she let herself act on instinct rather then rational thought. Stepping forward, she wrapped her arms around his middle, leaning her body into his and resting her head against his neck. She expected him to tense up at the intimate display, but he only wrapped his arms around her and placed his chin on the top of her head. It was so natural, it didn't warrant a second thought.

After a moment, she remembered why they had been there in the first place, but she didn't bother unattaching herself from him as she asked the most important question. “How did it go?”

“Their gone.” He answered, one his hands seeming to have a mind of its own as it began to brush some of the hair that framed her face.

A feeling of relief washed over her, missing the tone in which he delivered the news and she smiled against his neck. “Good.”

No, Caroline.” His hands stopped their ministrations, and kissed the top of her head, before stepping out of their embrace. Reality had set in and he was about to deliver news that would probably blow their whole world apart. “The coffins, the boxes, where gone. Someone moved them before we even got there.”

She placed a hand over her mouth to silence the gasp she had let out. Her eyes widened and fear clawed at every inch of her skin. Oh god. What were they going to do? What about Bonnie?”

“Where's Bonnie?” She asked, the words sounding weaker then she anticipated, surprising her.

“She started walking as soon as we got out of the house. I think she needed to clear her head.”

Caroline nodded her head and placed her hands on her hip, her instincts telling her to move forward. Take charge. Formulate a new plan. She had nothing though, and suddenly for the first time, in a long time, she felt helpless.

”What are we going to do?” She asked

“I don't know.” he said, his voice falling flat in a way that offered little comfort. In response, she reached out and grasped his hand, her show smile making a comeback for one more encore that evening. It offered him little comfort, he knew that smile anywhere.

“We just need to figure out where to start that's all.” He smiled a little at her word. She couldn't help it, in the words of Stefan Salvatore she was the eternal optimist. Even in the end of times. It sounded so easy, but it had taken them months to get to this point, how long would it take them to get another opportunity like this?

“Caroline!”

the sound of that woman's voice instantly caused her skin to crawl and her grip on Stefan's hand to tighten. He looked down to it for a moment, before turning his head in the direction of not Karen, who was making her way toward them. Caroline took a deep breath before doing the same, but she dare not let go of Stefan's hand. What was once comfort for him, was not an anchor for her.

“I'm glad I caught you.” She said, her eyes going from Caroline to Stefan, then to their hands that were clasped between them. “Is this your boyfriend?” She asked, her eyes brightening as she came to that conclusion. Caroline only felt the uneasiness of earlier start to rise to the surface.

“What did you need no-Karen?” Caroline asked, her voice didn't carry any of the agitation she felt at the woman’s reappearance.

“Sorry.” Karen said, although the apology didn't sound sincere in the slightest. “You didn't give me any of your contact information.”

Caroline bit her lip at that. “Right, my contact information.” She could feel Stefan's eyes on her, he was probably able to pick up on her discomfort.

“But now I'm glad I caught you! Some of my old friends from the garden club and our husbands are going away to a little retreat. It's a little garden club get together, couples only.” The last words were delivered with a little leer between the two. “One of the couple's backed out and since you're going to be a founding member of the Mystic Falls chapter, you and your boyfriend can fill in.” the woman clapped her hands in excitement once she had extended her invitation.

“Oh, Stefan isn't-”

The feeling of Stefan wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her against his body halted her protests as he smiled in not Karen’s direction. That sweet, disarming smile he usually reserved for his marks.

“We would love to.”

Authors Note

Here we go, it seemed like we would never get here. My next update is going to be Saturday, maybe earlier, but I'm not going to promise anything.

I don't know if it was obvious, but I had a hard time with the beginning of this chapter. I didn't find my footing until about midway through. It really just felt like filler I needed to get through.

#steroline fanfic #steroline fanfiction #Sterofic #sterolinefic #lay your hands on me #Lay Your Hands On Me ch 4 #my fic

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mischieflower · 4 years ago

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Bottles of Wine

prompt: she thread her fingers through her hair as sunlight seeped through her windows and spilled messily all around her bed.

a smile formed upon her face at his scent.

of course he stayed.

Caroline Forbes was a ray of sunshine. She spread her warmth and kindness every where she went.

At least that's what everyone thought.

No one cared to see how she was feeling about her life, when it was falling apart.

no one even knew.

Everything was about Elena. And she didn't blame them. Elena was amazing she always cared about others more than herself and she was SO pretty so she obviously got all the boys and Caroline was left the second choice.

The reason she was drinking away her problems at the mystic grill.

"Another round" she ordered, not noticing the shift in weight in the seat next to her. "And make it fast!"

"I didn't know you were an alcholic" he said, she knew that voice from anywhere. Of course she did, it's not like she spends half her time with him anyways.

"I'm not"

"Are too"

"Am not"

"Are"

"Not"

"Are"

"Not!" She finally met his gaze with a cold hard glare. "What are you doing here anyways?"

"You weren't home and I haven't seen you all day so I thought to search for you" He stated a gentle smile playing on his lips. "I was worried"

"Maybe you would have noticed if you weren't so busy..." she trailed off and took a shot.

"what?" he asked.

"nothing"

"no, I want to know"

"It's nothing" she said raising her voice as she glared at him again. except this time it was a mistake. Her expression softened for a minute as his expressions were lined with worry and guilt.

She couldn't let her guard down again.

"I'm going home now" She stood up and he mirrored her action. "Don't bother to follow me"

But as soon as she took a step forward she came crashing down into his arms and a loud groan slipped from her mouth. "Are you okay?"

"Just fine" she stood up again but this time she fell down again and everything was pitch black.

she thread her fingers through her hair as sunlight seeped through her windows and spilled messily all around her bed.

a smile formed upon her face at his scent.

of course he stayed.

Sitting up, she gave him a sheepish smile as he sped to sit at the edge of her bed.

he probably didn't sleep.

"Thank you" She cleared her throat. "Last night I was drinking more than I should and you didn't have to bring me home but you still did and I bet you probably didn't even sleep because the couch in my room creaks and it's really annoying"

He just stared at her with a fond expression, before holding her hand and rubbing soothing circles. "It's fine"

Her nose was slight pink, before she looked away. "Well It is your fault for being a gentlemen, you could have slept next to me"

"well you did insist more than once last night" Stefan grinned.

"Well you should have asked around, I'm a very fun person to sleep with. Your loss"

"Then next time I'll have to take you up on that offer" He winked and she felt the air leave her lungs.

Maybe she did have someone.

Wow so that went in it's on direction. I intially planned for something totally different! Anyways leave a review!

#sterolinefic #steroline fanfic #steroline #stefan and caroline #caroline forbes #tvd #stefan salvatore #damon salvatore #delena #fanfic #tvd fandom

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mischieflower · 4 years ago

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YES YES YES

#sterolinefic #stefan and caroline #steroline #caroline forbes #tvd #stefan salvatore #fypfypfypfypfypfypdypfypfypfypfypfypfyfpfyfpfyp

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mischieflower · 4 years ago

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Making Him Wait

Somewhere in season 7, the storyline is changed by a bit. Hope you don't mind!

Caroline brushed a strand of hair to the side of her face, as she bit her bottom lip deep in thought. She needed to clear all these boxes before her friend came, and she had spent the last half hour thinking about her conversation with Stefan.

No one ever told her that they'd wait for her and that's what frightened her, she couldn't lose him. He, being the ever so nice gentleman had proposed that they stay friends till she sorted out her 'issues' and sometimes all she wanted to do was run into his arms.... but she couldn't.

Sighing heavily she picked up the nearest boxing bearing old toys since she was a kid and headed out to the attic.

xxx

Stefan was a patient guy.

Everybody knew that.

Except that didn't make him happy knowing that there was a fifty-fifty chance of Caroline not returning his same feelings, and yes he told her if she didn't want him in her life he would leave.

He didn't want to leave.

So that's what led him to drinking with his brother at 5 pm on a friday evening.

"Cheer up, Your girl is going to Mystic grill tonight and I promised Ric I'd be there so you could tag along and meet her and end your misery" Damon gulped down his cup of bourbon.

"It's not that easy, It's a tough time for her. I'm giving her space and she doesn't have to like me back" Stefan sighed and placed his glass down with a slight ring.

"Fine. Well I'm heading out to grill to drink some more" Damon shrugged.

"I'll come too" Stefan stood up, the idea of seeing Caroline enthralled him. "To keep an eye on you" Stefan added as Damon gave him a knowing smirk.

"Oh come on" Stefan whined, as Damon grinned.

xxx

"So who's your new friend that you decided to replace me with" Bonnie came up from behind as Caroline giggled.

"No one, You irreplaceable and what are you doing here Ms.Bennet" Caroline raised her eyebrow knowing perfectly well that it had to do with a certain british man.

"Enzo called to talk about life things" Bonnie shrugged and Caroline clicked her tongue.

"Anyways look who showed up" Bonnie whispered and disappeared through the crowd as Caroline's eyes landed on Stefan.

"Hey!" He greeted as he approached her with a wide smile.

"Hey" she mirrored his action as Damon made a heart with his hands behind Stefan and she shot him a look to which he soon went to go find Alaric.

"So what are you doing in the grill tonight?"

"Meeting an old friend. You?" She asked smiling, they were friends she needed to stop acting so awkward.

"Need to keep an eye on Damon," Stefan answered, as Bonnie came up behind the pair.

"hi stefan" She greeted the younger salvatore before looking at Caroline with a sad expression, "I wanna meet your friend too"

"Sure" Caroline laughed as she took the hint as Enzo wasn't here yet.

"After Damon and Alaric had a few drinks we'll come around" Stefan smiled and Caroline nodded eagerly.

xxx

"Steffy's got the hots for blondie" Damon sang as Alaric snickered into his drink.

"Shut up"

"But she's got the hots for another brunette" Damon took another sip of alcohol as Stefan rolled his eyes before freezing halfway.

His eyes spotted Caroline laughing with a guy who seemed taller than her by an inch, he had brown hair swept across his face with tan skin.

"I think that's her friend" Stefan clicked his tongue as he ordered a glass of bourbon himself.

"Yeah Friend" Damon snickered, as Alaric laughed.

Stefans jaw clenched, and he gulped down the bourbon in a whole, whoever he was, wasn't supposed to make Caroline that happy.

"Woah slow down Saint Stefan, You still want to be a saint don't you" Damon laughed and Stefan wanted to hit him.

"Alright let's go talk to the girls now, Look Enzo came as well" Alaric suggested.

"You're crazy!" Caroline laughed at the story Noah told them.

"You really did all that?" Bonnie asked laughing at which Enzo rolled his eyes.

"Damon" Enzo greeted as the boys came along.

"Enzo! Blondie! Bon bon! and Blondie's boytoy!" Damon raised his glass in acknowledgement.

"Alright I'm out" Alaric bid the group farewell.

"This is my friend Noah" Caroline introduced.”And Noah this is Stefan and Damon”

“Ah so you’re the one that thinks I’m care’s boytoy” Noah laughed as Damon seemed to start developing a dislike for this new guy.

“Yeah, She could do better” Damon snapped.

‘He was so drunk,’ Stefan sighed.

“I heard Ms.Forbes is single”Noah turned to face Caroline who awkwardly nodded. “See after dating me her expectations are too high”.

Stefan almost choked on his drink, ‘they had dated before’

“Oo gorgeous has a type” Enzo laughed as Bonnie nervously laughed and dragged Enzo elsewhere.

“So Blondie and the new guy” Damon nodded his head as if he was thinking. “I hate it”

“Alright, don’t you think that’s enough for you” Stefan tried talking his brother’s beer bottle away.

“Come on Steffy we’re just starting to talk”

“Care, I don’t think your friend here likes me”

If one more person called Caroline a nickname he would rip out their heads, Stefan thought and gulped the rest of his drink down. His jaw clenched he plastered on a smile, “We’re gonna go now, Damon and everythi-”

“Yeah I understand” Caroline smiled at him, Stefan only nodded and dragged Damon out.

xxx

After dragging Damon home and making sure he fell asleep, he needed a drink of something strong.

Opening his brother’s bourbon, he poured a good amount before standing before the fireplace and nursing it. The most vivid instance he was when Caroline came through his door and told him that she wouldn’t let him lose control.

A smile graced his mouth, it was still early around ten, he could drive over to her house and…….talk.

Checking on Damon one last time he grabbed his keys and drove out to her house, the route was so familiar now, from the number of times he drove there, or drove her. It was also where he stayed when they had Elena drama.

Knocking on her door, he was greeted by Caroline in a pink tank top, her light curls a bit disheveled. “Hi” he smiled.

“Hi” She let him in, his heart dropped when he saw Noah behind her, he was grinning and It didn’t help the fact that his hair seemed disheveled and his shirt seemed to be put on backwards.

Stefan seemed to piece the worst of it, they probably slept together.His jaw tightened at the idea of Noah running his hands through her hair and making her happy. He wished he didn’t think of it now, as unwanted pictures of them flashed through his mind.

“I’m leaving town tomorrow” Stefan had a tight smile on his face. “I just wanted to let you know, before I leave”

“Wait why? For how long?” Caroline asked, confusion befalling her features with a hint of longing.

“Just the day or maybe two” Stefan jammed his hands in his pockets and turned around to leave.

xxx

Hey this is a multishot of Jealous stefan, we don’t see him a lot but love him! Thank you if you're reading! post most of the rest here⇒ https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13805133/1/Making-him-wait

#stefan salvatore #steroline fanfic #steroline #stefan and caroline #caroline forbes #fyp #caroline and stefan #sterolinefic #tvd #the vampire diaries

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fallingslowly8718 · 9 years ago

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Lay Your Hands On Me CHAPTER 3

Title: Lay Your Hands On Me IChapter 3I Previous:

1I2.

Rating: T Pairing: Stefan/Caroline Chapter Summary: Caroline provides a little distraction on demand ;) Story Summary: In an attempt to figure our what Lily is up to, Caroline and Stefan get caught up in a lie that tests the fragile state of their relationship. Yes, it's the fake dating fic. Post 6x22

The rest of the night was a difficult one. After Stefan and Caroline had made their escape, they had returned to Stefan's with the exception of Matt, who Bonnie had dropped off on their way back. They had sat around the den, the fire going, in complete silence. Caroline could recall quite a few nights of Stefan and her just sitting in silence, nursing their drinks and their wounds. Emotionally and physically. It hadn't been awkward or uncomfortable. In fact, in the silence she felt content. She had felt safe. This, right now, wasn't any of that.

Stefan hadn't said a word, but his posture gave him away. Since they arrived back here, he had sat in one of the chairs in front of the fire, shoulders slumped and his eyes to the floor. Right now, hours later, he was very still, a drink in hand as he watched the fire. Bonnie was sitting in the chair opposite him, the one Caroline usually occupied. She had seemed to be moving on auto pilot, walking to the chair, slumping over and then staring at nothing. Tears was half formed at the corners of her eyes, but her mouth was set in a perfect line, a mixture of grief and rage. She was scared, and who could possibly blame her? Bonnie had survived an absolute nightmare and suddenly she was facing the real possibility of staring down a very similar horror. Caroline sat on the arm of Bonnie's chair, her arm wrapped around the witch's shoulder and her cheek resting against her best friends. Bonnie had reached one of her hands up and grasped Caroline's, letting out a shuddered breath at the show of comfort. It wasn't much, but it was the only thing Caroline could focus on right now.

”What are we going to do now? Bonnie asked, her voice thick with the tears she was keeping at bay.

Stefan grabbed one of the empty glasses that sat next to his full one and quickly filled it. Then he reached out to hand it to Bonnie. She reached forward, shooting him a grateful smile before throwing back the shot before she continued. “I don't even know where to start.”

Caroline rubbed her hand back and forth between Bonnie's shoulder blades, her gaze on her friend's back. The obvious solution was to somehow get rid of the heretics, but she wasn't even sure where to start.

“We should probably figure who this guy is.” Stefan's voice broke through the silence, it almost sounded strange now, since it had being missing from the conversation for the last couple of hours.

“Oh. I figured out that part.” Caroline chipped in, her voice taking a more cheerful tone in comparison to her companions. It was all for show, of course, but since she had designated herself as the resident source of strength out of three at that moment, she pasted on her biggest, boldest smile that she had perfected over years of practice and soldiered on.

She halted her ministrations to Bonnie's back, but kept her hands firmly in place as she reached for her phone tucked into the pocket of her jeans. Of course it was a bit of a chore since they were practically pasted to her body and the pockets were no better. Stupid fashion industry, why couldn't cloths be cute and functional?

After a moment, she pulled the phone out of her pocket, and scrolled up the picture she had taken that evening. When she looked up, Stefan's eyes were on her, his attention completely hers. It was one of the many things she adored about him, She was use to boys that only half listened as they gave practiced answers while they stared at her chest. Not Stefan thought, never Stefan. Okay he looked at her chest sometimes, he was still a guy. What mattered was that he listened.

His hand was already out as she stretched her body forward to hand the phone off to him. She could see his eyebrows furrow as he inspected the photo. He was only silent a moment before he stood from his seat to hand the phone back over to her, then settled back down in his own before he responded.

A mailbox?

”With a name!” she exclaimed, a little louder then necessary, but she was trying to be cheerful here and Stefan was seriously started to dissolve her perfectly performed act.

”A last name, a pretty common last name. How many Webber's are their in Mystic Falls?”

Yeah he was going into cynical territory here. If she was sleeping with him, he so wouldn't be getting any, any time soon. Okay wow, where the hell did that come from.

”There were 4 in our graduating class.” Bonnie answered, her voice still flat. She crossed one of her legs over the other before taking another sip of bourbon.

”Okay, so 4? That's better then 4,000 other possible leads, right?” She looked between the two, who had returned to nursing their drinks. After a moment of no responses from either one of them, she marched over to Stefan, pulled the drink from his hand and placed it on a table. Turning her back on his look of surprise, she repeated the same action with Bonnie, which resulted in a glare that she was pretty sure could set her on fire. Probably, yeah. She was thankful for her friend's self control.

Caroline turned to the two, hands on hips, and smile on. “Okay guys, we are not doing this.” She ordered, control freak mode activated. “We have something.” She glared at Stefan when she delivered the next words “Not much, but something.” She focused back on the two of them, clapping her hands together in excitement. “Which is better then what we've had for the past 6 months, right?”

Bonnie and Stefan looked at her a moment, before turning to each other at the same time.

“Uh oh.” Bonnie said, sounding more amused then concerned then her words would imply. “We have awakened the monster.”

From the glint in Stefan's eye, it suddenly occurred to Caroline they were about to start teasing her, but the realization came too late before Stefan chipped in his remark.

“Always the eternal optimist, even in the end of times.” He shook his head, and looked to his feet, a small smile on his lips.

She huffed and crossed her arms. “Okay, fine. Stay and get drunk instead of coming up with a plan.” Making her way to the bottle of Bourbon that Stefan brought in earlier, she quickly snatched up the bottle. “If you need me I'll be in the kitchen, being useful.” She turned on her heal toward the kitchen, but Bonnie had reached out and snagged her wrist, pulling her back down to the arm of the chair.

”No, come on Care, we were just teasing. It's been a long time since we saw this side of you.” Bonnie laid her on head on Caroline's shoulder, snuggling her cheek in the fabric of her sweater. “I missed it.”

”Oh, Bon.” she said, resting her cheek against the top of her friends head. “I'm sorry. I guess I just wanted to get this taken care of as soon as we can.” Caroline took in the feeling of her friend against her, alive, beautiful, vibrant and healing. The picture wasn't complete, it wouldn't be ever again, and that's what made these moments so precious. Because they were small and fleeting. One day they would be all she had of Bonnie Bennett.”

A hand on her knee took her from her thoughts, and brought her attention to the hand in question, before her gaze followed it to the arm, the smile and finally the face.

”It was nice.” He said, his gaze serious, gone was the humor he had displayed moments earlier.

”Hmm?” was really all she could muster, more of a sound then words, but right now she suddenly felt very content. Being wrapped up in one of her best friends, the other looking at her in that way that spread warmth through her entire body. Love, that's what it was. Death was practically at their door, and she was happy for being able to have this moment

”Seeing you take the reigns like that.”

”Back to being a neurotic control freak?” She asked, a small smile on her face that matched his own

”I told you, it was nice. I liked it.”

The next words unspoken, hung in the air , because they were implied, like they always were ;'I like you'

She reached out, placing her hand over his own as it rested on her knee. They didn't break eye contact as he turned his hand palm up, enclosing her hand in his own. Their gaze didn't hold any of the sexual tension that had become a regular part of their relationship. It was affection. It was caring. It was joy. It was a moment of contentment that they cherished, because they knew there was a possibility there might not be too many of these moments left.

Plan A was a bust.

Yes she was aware that Webber was a popular last name, but this was Mystic Falls and there wasn't that many people in the town in the first place, how could there be so many Webber's? These people bred like rabbits if their facebooks were anything to go by.

”Any luck? Stefan asked as he entered the room, cell phone in hand. Obviously checking up with Damon who had gone on a little field strip with Bonnie earlier. Damon didn't go outside too much these days.

He came over to stand next to her at the kitchen island, looking over her shoulder at her tablet. She lifted her head off her fist where she had been resting it, to give him her full attention, while his was on the ridiculously fat baby on Ann Marie Webber's facebook page.”

”Is that baby dressed as a firefighter?” He asked, finally looking up at her, clearly amused at the baby and possibly a little judgmental.

She reached for a cashew from the bowl Stefan had placed there earlier, watching him a moment, eyebrow raised. “It's cute, are you judging the baby?”

He must have seen were this was going, because he held up his hands in surrender. “I'm not judging the baby.”

She watched him a moment, working on another cashew, quietly in thought, her expression conveying her disbelief of his answer. Without breaking eye contact, she enlarged the next picture to show the same baby dressed as a dinosaur. Stefan's eyes widened at that.

She pointed her finger at him, smile wide in her pleasure at catching him. “You're judging the baby!”

For a moment he let out a small laugh, showing all his teeth before closing his mouth and showing a much more composed smile. She hated when he did that. Her mouth opened to voice that very opinion on that subject, but he was gesturing to the picture. “It does- you have to admit, he-”

”She.” Caroline corrected, her arms now crossed in front of her chest, but her smile giving away her amusement.

”She, looks- it's too much, that's all.” He quickly exited the page with the baby photos ,seemingly ending the conversation, and scrolling through more Webber family member photos. Caroline stood in silence, working on the cashews, lost in her own thoughts, before finally voicing them.

”Didn't babies in your time wear dresses? Like all of them?” She asked, focusing her attention back on him, wearing a smirk as she popped another cashew into her mouth. Caroline could see the muscles in his face twitch as he struggled to stay focused on the tablet before he answered, going for nonchalant, but too practiced to be, “Everyone wore dresses.”

”Soooo.” She paused, savoring the build up to her move. Her eyes moved carefully up his body, inspecting it. It was all for show of course, as if she was actually imagining what she was implying. His eyes were focused on the tablet, but he hadn't swiped his fingers across it since she had focused her attention on him. “You use to wear dresses?”

He spun around so fast to face her, she had to take a step back. The movement, so dramatic, caused the large smile on her face to shift into full blown laughter. Stefan opened his mouth to respond with whatever he was planning on saying when she faced him, but quickly closed it. That caused her to double over laughing to the point that her ribs hurt. After a moment she regained her composure, and wiped a few tears that had escaped her eyes. How long had it been since she laughed like that? Too long. When she looked back at Stefan and the expression on his face, he was probably thinking the same thing. She offered him a much softer smile at that, which he returned before he turned back to the tablet.

”Let's face it, it's a bust. Not one picture of him in any Webber family photos.” Caroline sighed, maybe a little too dramatically, not bothering to inspect the new batch of family photos Stefan was carefully inspecting. “We googled his name, nothing. We googled his address. Nothing. We have now resorted to facebook stalking, and we don't even have a na-” the words weren't even out of her mouth before Damon came swooping into the kitchen, Bonnie trailing behind.

“James Moore Webber.” He called to them, heading toward the cabinets to find something to drown his troubles in. “35 years old.” He went for a glass next, looked at it and put it back, instead screwing the cap off the bottle. She hated to relate to the guy, but she did have “drink the whole bottle” kind of days, except Damon had a lot of those days. After a few long strides, he stood opposite of them at the kitchen island, eying them both for a second. “Married to Karen, maiden name St. George. They just moved here from Waterbury Connecticut, with no relation to that incestuous mess that already lives here. She is a member of their garden club and petitioning to start a chapter here in town.” Damon paused for dramatic effect before adding “and he works at the hospital that Lily got the blood bags.” He ended the whole act with a flourish, throwing a beige file onto the counter top.

”Damon, where did you get that?” Stefan asked, reaching for the folder and going through it's contents

That trademark little smirk appeared on his face, the one she normally wanted to slap off, but it had been so long since she had seen it, the need to do just that wasn't as strong as it normally was. “I have my ways, little brother.”

From the corner of her eye she could see the slight hint of a smile on Stefan's face at the moniker.

”He compelled the clerk at city hall.” Bonnie explained with a roll of her eyes, grabbing the bottle from his hand and helping herself to a sip. If it had been anyone else, especially in the state he was currently in, he probably would have ripped their arm off. It was Bonnie though, which only got her a little sneer that came off more playful then actually threatening.

”Damon!” Caroline snapped, her voice sharp as she heard this information, what a careless and stupid move. Oh there it was, the intense dislike.

”What?” He responded with a shrug of his shoulders. “You guys wanted answers, I got them.”With that the feeling of wanting to slap him returned fully, and all was right with the world.

”So now we just kill the bastard, kill the heretics, kill mommy dearest and we are all clear.”

Caroline's eyes widened at that, especially when neither Stefan and Bonnie stepped in to correct him. Apparently she had to be the voice of reason here. “What? No! We can't just go into someone's house and kill potentially innocent people.”

She looked from Bonnie and Stefan hoping one of them would step in now that she had thrown some logic their way.

”Fire would probably do the trick. Take out the whole house and the heretics with little suspicion if we do it right.” Stefan replied, his voice far away, a sign that a plan was developing in his head.

”See? Nothing a little arson can't fix.” Damon smirked at her, smug, and her fingers itched to tear it off his pasty little face, especially when he directed it at her

”You can't be serious! Stefan?” She asked, looking to him, but he kept his gaze focused on the folders, not looking up to meet her eyes.

Damon had possession of the bottle again and took a large swig before pointing at her “Can't use that trick on him yet, Blondie, if your not sleeping with him.” Her fingers gripped the counter top as Stefan let out a reprimanding “Damon!”. It only resulted in a shrug. Nice job honoring Elena, asshole.

Caroline turned to Bonnie. “Bonnie?” Her voice losing it's edge, and by Bonnie's refusal to look at her, she could tell she was losing this fight.

”Care-” Bonnie sighed, and Caroline's heart clenched at the way she sounded. She sounded so tired, so done. “If these... things are even half as bad as Kai, I can't imagine what six of them are capable of. It's two people verses, god, how many people these things are going to kill and people are going to die, Caroline. Innocent people who didn't ask for this. We don't even know if these people are innocent.” Bonnie's shoulders slumped and she covered her face. Caroline was by her side in an instant throwing her arms around her friend.

“Ill do whatever you want, okay, Bon?” Caroline leaned back from the hug, moving Bonnie's hair from her face and wiping the tears that were starting to fall down the witch's face. “God, how do you manage to look hot, even when you cry? Life isn't fair.” That got a laugh from Bonnie who sniffed and wiped her eyes as she stepped out of Caroline's embrace. Both girls attention was on Stefan, knowing he was the man with the plan.

He offered Bonnie a small smile, before he began to vocalize his plan. “We should probably start in the basement, take out the heretics that way and let the fire spread. One of us should light the caskets on fire, and I'll look at the electrical work to make it look like an accident.”

“I can take care of the fire.” Bonnie offered, with a nod of her head.

“That's good, it will make it look like the fire started from the original fire, they'd get suspicious if they found gas or anything else flammable.”

“Awesome, we got a plan.” Damon said, taking one last swig of the now empty bottle. He headed toward the cabinet to check for anything else he could drink.

”Except for the getting in the basement part. They are definitely going to know the owners were dead before the fire, after they perform the autopsy. Bonnie and Stefan looked at her with similar expression's on their face. It was a mix of confusion and shock.

“Seriously? Nobody thought of that before you planned the murder? Does nobody watch NCIS? It is always on.”

”Okay Barbie-” Damon said as he walked past her, the little nickname earning a glare from her. “-we compel them to let us in, easy.”

“Unless Lily has them on vervain, if she's not compelling them, she wouldn't want anyone else doing it.” Stefan said, arms crossed and face blank as the plan formulated in his brain. He turned his attention on Caroline who perked up as soon as his focus landed on her. “What we need, is a distraction.”

Author's Note Alright this chapter was longer. As of now, this monster was hitting 20 pages. I decided to split it into two separate chapters. It seemed cleaner and make more sense to end it here, before going into the next chapter. The next chapter is halfway written so it will be posted tomorrow. It will be my last frequent chapter update before I switch to my weekly updates, unless circumstances allow me more. I know I promised the fake dating in this chapter, but because of the split, its going to be the next chapter now. I'm trying to set up a solid foundation of characters reactions, actions and who they have become. If you can't tell by now, I love Bonnie. I know I made her a little weepy, but I think she would be emotionally impacted by this entire scenario, a little PTSD from what happened with Kai. Besides, shes around her best friend, she can be vulnerable

#steroline fanfic #steroline fanfiction #Sterofic #sterolinefic #lay your hands on me #Lay Your Hands On Me Ch 3

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fallingslowly8718 · 10 years ago

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Lay Your Hands On Me I Chapter 2 I

Title: Lay Your Hands On Me IChapter 2I Previous: Chapter 1 Rating: T Pairing: Stefan/Caroline Chapter Summary: Caroline and Stefan work together to figure out who Lily's mysterious companion is, and things might get a little....er...tense. Story Summary: In an attempt to figure our what Lily is up to, Caroline and Stefan get caught up in a lie that tests the fragile state of their relationship. Yes, it's the fake dating fic. Post 6x22

The pair moved quickly away from the car, walking slowly down thesidewalk toward the home they had seen Lily disappear into. They stood close to one another, shoulders brushing as they moved in sync. To any passerby they would seem to be a young couple taking a late night stroll. The picture would have been completed by the two linking hands, but instead both of their hands were jammed into their pockets, leaving no opportunity for even an accidental brush of their fingertips. Sure it was little late to be walking around town, but people these days didn't really question the things that happened in their little town. Either it was because they knew the answers, or they were too afraid to ask them.

Once they approached the house they stopped in their tracks. The house was enveloped in total darkness, even the porch light from earlier was now off. It would seem the family was either gone or had turned in for the night, instead of entertaining the company of a crazy ripper and her lethal little band of heretics. Stefan placed his hand on her shoulder, his touch light but comforting. She hadn't realized she was so tense. Of course Stefan knew, he knew her better then anyone these days, sometimes better then herself.

“I'm going to check the back.” He said, his breath warming the back of her neck from his place behind her. After a moment, he was gone, the speed of his exit causing a perfectly trimmed bush to sway as if it was simply the wind.

Caroline turned away from the house, scanning the neighborhood to see if their arrival had attracted the attention of any curious neighbors. Luckily, all the doorways and windows remained bare, not a suspicious face in site. Still, she kept her ears tuned for any sign that they were in for some unwelcome company. It was while she moved to turn away from one of the neighbors houses that the street lamp caught Lily's little friend's mailbox. At first, it seemed pretty ordinary and not at all significant to this investigation and she moved to turn her attention back to the house, when something about it pulled her back in it's direction.

It didn't seem too different from it's neighbors, a “U” shaped tin sitting on top of a wooden pole buried into the ground next to the curb. The thing about it was it wasn't like it's neighbors at all. Whoever lived or use to live here had taken great care to make it stand out. It was painted robin egg blue. She would be lying if she claimed not to know the exact shade, Tyler probably still had nightmares about those paint swatches. On the end of the mailbox closest to the sidewalk there was a carefully painted sunflower, with a pair of vines that reached across the rest of the box, underlining the families last name. Bingo.

Caroline quickly pulled out her phone, snapping a picture of the name, before ducking out of the light and back into the darkness of the front lawn. She had been standing in the light far too long not to have drawn someones attention. She began moving toward the side yard in an attempt to find Stefan when a shadow in the front window caught her attention. Quickly, she ducked down, hiding herself behind a pair of bushes that sat directly beneath the window. Whoever it was, was moving quickly, not paying attention to the blonde vampire currently creeping in her yard. From the looks of it, even if it was only a silhouette, this person was too short to be Lily and too plump to be the man they had seen earlier. That left them with a count of at least three people inside the house, maybe more if it was one of the heretics. They could be in over their heads and it might be a good time for an escape.

Caroline looked down to her phone and pulled up the picture she had taken a moment before. She quickly sent it to Bonnie, then slipped her phone back into her pocket. Sending one last look toward the window to see if she had the all clear, she ran as fast as she was able through the side yard in search of her companion.

Caroline came to a pause once she reached the edge of the yard. It was still and silent. She thought to open up her senses to possibly locate Stefan, but before she could even determine her next move she felt a large hand grip her elbow and pull her backwards. The world blurred for a second, her body moving so quickly in the direction of the neighbors large, overgrown bushes that she was surprised she didn't have whiplash. She quickly recovered though when she realized her body was pressed against another body, a stronger, more masculine body. Caroline would know that body anywhere. It was practically imprinted on her own, ruining her for any man if she ever thought she could possibly move on. She wouldn't of course. She couldn't. Even with the way things were between them right now, Caroline knew deep down in her bones that she would always belong to him in every way imaginable. If she let herself, when she let herself, but she was a mess of so many emotions that surviving meant she couldn't surrender herself. It was her armor. Bonnie once laughed at her analogy and suggested using Stefan as her shield. It had given her pause for a moment, but in terms of her analogy, you can only hide behind a shield for so long before you need to take out your enemy. She had a lot of demons to face before she was ready to surrender.

It didn't mean her body necessarily listened to her reasoning. Right now, it stood frozen. Her gaze stared down at the hand she had resting on his chest. Every nerve ending responded to the press of his body against hers. His own hand rested gently over her own, allowing her a means to escape if she felt she needed to. It was a physical representation of the very delicate, imaginary line they had drawn. It was how they were able to retain their friendship during this push and pull phase of their relationship. Their friendship was one of the most important thing in the world to them. While they might now know each other physically, they had always knew each other emotionally and mentally. They had known the deepest darkest parts of each other, and knew how to pull the other out. Caroline might know the touch of his skin, but she knew how to make Stefan smile even better . Stefan might now hold the knowledge to make her come apart underneath his skillful hands, but he had always known how to put her back together. It wasn't something they planned on losing no matter what unfolded between them romantically. Their relationship had just evolved, grown, and they just needed to learn how to function with those changes. It was better then the alternative.

At first, Stefan had given her the space that he promised to give her. She had thought she had wanted it too. The thing was, she hated being away from him. Stefan had become such a fixture in her life, a solid source of support in one of the darkest times in her life. She had needed that support, but things were so complicated then. Damon was in the middle of a downward spiral that Stefan was monitoring most hours of the day. Bonnie was still putting on that brave face even though Caroline could see she was coming apart at the seems. She also would be lying if the memories of last summer didn't still linger at the back of her head, often times causing her to question that if he stayed away too long he might never come back. They needed each other more then ever, she reasoned. Stefan needed Caroline. the best friend and she needed Stefan, her best friend. What they had was far too strong to allow a shift in the status of their relationship ruin what they had built. Unfortunately, she almost did.

It started with a text. It was short, to the point and full of Caroline Forbes signature charm. She didn't have to wait long before he text back. It also didn't take long from them to move from short, polite greetings to jokes and narrating their days. It had felt good, having that source of support and comfort. It felt great being able to offer him reassurance and a ear for his own struggles. Eventually the text progressed into phone calls. She remembered countless nights sitting in front of her fire, drink in hand and talking for hours as if he was actually sitting on the couch opposite her chair instead of on the other end of her cellphone. It was nights like these that helped both of them keep their sanity, their friendship a saving grace amongst the chaos. It was nice to see some things never changed.

Then one night Caroline forgot herself and messed up for the first time and certainly not the last. She had started drinking early that evening after a particularly hard day of going through some of her mothers things that she was going to donate. They were only cloths really, except for a couple sweaters that Caroline had kept for herself, they were only going to sit in the closet and collect dust. Except, every piece of clothing held a memory. Some of them still smelled like her, which upset her even more, and the ones that didn't had made her cry. So, once she dropped off the box, she came home, grabbed the nearest bottle of whatever would help her forget faster and wrapped herself up in one of her mothers sweaters. She had sat in the chair, knees tucked into her chest, staring at the fire and going through her entire liquor cabinet. Stefan had called a little bit after 10, early for him, which meant he wasn't having a very good day either. Of course, Stefan being Stefan, knew right away that something was off and his problems quickly forgotten in favor of hers. At first she hesitated before pouring her heart out to him. By the time she was done, she was a mess. Her face was red and puffy, sniffing as she took another swig of something brown. She couldn't even read the damn bottle at that point.

“I'm sorry.” She heard him say from the other line, his voice cracking at the emotions he was feeling in response to her break down. “I wish I could have been there.”

“Me too.” Her voice gave out on the last word, and she did. She really did. With every box being taped shut, she hadn't been thinking about drowning herself in alcohol, she had been thinking about Stefan. Not a phone call away but here, with her. A reassuring hand on her back, soothing words in her ear, putting her at ease in a way only he could.

“Oh god.” She hiccuped. “I miss you so much.” She heard glass smashing, the bottle of alcohol laying at the bottom of her chair in pieces. Her memory was so fuzzy she couldn't remember if she had dropped it or threw it. All she knew was that she hated everything. She hated that her mother was gone. She hated that she was so messed up that she couldn't be in a relationship with the man she was in love with. That was supposed to be easy. Your suppose to be with the people you love and she was here, in her house, alone. “I miss her.” She whined into the phone, he hadn't said a word, but the silence was comforting because she knew he was listening. The only thing she heard was his breathing and a car door slamming. It was overwhelming and before she knew it, it kind of slipped out.

“I love you.”

That got a response, she could hear his breath hitch on the other line. Suddenly she was overtaken with a sudden fear, which seemed completely rational in her drunken state, that maybe she was so messed up that he would decide she wasn't worth waiting for. Now, she knew it was ridiculous when she thought back on it when she was sober, he never gave on Damon, Elena, his mom and the other long list of the messed up people in her life. At the time she wondered what would happen if she made him wait to long. Because of how she was feeling right now, it felt like she was never going to have things figured out. It was terrifying.

“You know that right?” She asked, her voice bordering on a desperation she would be ashamed of in the morning. Actually the whole episode would bring her a kind of shame, sadness and embarrassment that she was still recovering from. “You know that I love you, right?” she paused, her voice suddenly becoming small, the voice of a stranger as she continued on, “Stefan?”

“I know, Caroline.” His voice was hoarse and remained silent for a moment. “I love you too.”

She nodded, even though he couldn't see her through the phone. The words were reassuring and she found herself relaxing against the chair. Not long afterward she must have fallen asleep because she woke up on the couch the next morning. The spare blanket was tucked around her and the glass on the floor had been cleaned up. It wasn't much of a mystery to figure out who had come to her rescue, and the knowledge left her with a feeling of warmth that got her through the rest of the day.

Of course it didn't come without awkwardness either, but they survived it. Stefan's difficult day had been the result of Damon becoming particularly volatile, and Stefan thought it was best that they get out town for a little while. He had called Caroline as he was packing up the car, his frustration with the whole ordeal evident in his voice. It didn't help that his mother was furious that she was being dragged along, but Stefan wasn't leaving her alone to her own devices. They didn't talk about what happened the night before, instead the conversation shifting solely to Stefan's problem and she did what she did best. She listened, and provided much-needed advice he needed to hear. He must have been having a difficult time, because beyond a few texts and a short phone call, she hadn't heard from him in weeks. The text weren't lengthy either, mostly just check ins that he was around. He was coming back.

They had been gone about three weeks before Bonnie decided she had enough with Damon's behavior. Apparently Bonnie was the only person Damon could stand being around and when Stefan took him out-of-town, he either ignored her phone calls or was down right unpleasant. Piling up in her car, they made the three-hour trek to a little town that was pretty much abandoned. The house wasn't in as bad of shape as some of the other houses they had seen, but it was still run down for Salvatore standards. Caroline could see why Stefan had picked it though. A town with no people in it was the perfect place to rehab a ripper and Damon. Bonnie had marched up to the front door and knocked. When Damon opened the door, his mouth fell open in shock, but Bonnie had shoved him in the house before Caroline could hear whatever quip he could muster. The door slammed shut behind her, leaving Caroline on the porch on her own. She had shot Stefan a text when they were a couple of miles out, but if her phone was anything to go by, he probably hadn't received it yet due to the lack of service in the area.

Fortunately, she didn't need to wait long. She had only been outside for a half hour when Stefan's car pulled into the dirt path leading to the house. The car stopped a couple of feet away, but even from the porch she could smell the blood that he must have been out getting. Sure enough, he pulled a brown grocery bag out of the car, his head down and focused on his task. He hadn't even seen her yet, but she could see that he looked run down and tired. A small smile formed on her lips as she studied his movements, pulling his phone from his pocket and looking at his screen with a look of confusion on his face.

Crossing her arms, and shaking her head, she made her way down the first step, her amusement easily read on her face.

“You know.” She started, the sound of her voice pulling his attention away from his phone and on her so fast she was afraid he might have broken his neck. “The service here sucks.” She finished, a grin playing on her lips and her index finger pointed in the direction of his phone.

“What-” He asked, walking toward her.

“The Calvary is here.” After a beat she answered the questions written all over his face “Bonnie.”

He nodded at that, stopping at the bottom of the stairs she was standing on, and she was momentarily stunned by how happy he looked. Even though he looked exhausted, he was happy, happy because she was here, happy because of her. The same feeling from the morning after her break down over took her and she realized what it was. Hope, contentment, a million little feelings that told her the same thing, a voice that sounded just like Stefan's putting it into words what she was feeling. “Don't worry Caroline, he'll wait.”

After that, they began spending time with each other, almost every night they would be in each others presence, either at her house or his. Of course, it wasn't as if everything went back to the way things were before. There was still heated looks. Moments filled with tension reared their ugly head, and sometimes it was really difficult to ignore the sexual chemistry that had intensified between them, especially when it had simmered unnoticed for so long. Sometimes there were moment where she wanted nothing more to give in to the feeling. Just because her mindset made this not the right time, it didn't mean her body felt the same way. It felt a lot of things, but staying away from Stefan wasn't one of them. Good thing they were mostly in the company of others. At her house is was usually Bonnie, and at his house it was usually Damon in the background making inappropriate comments in the background. Once is was even Enzo. He had been hanging around the house lately, and Stefan had shared his suspicions that he was courting his mother. First of all, ew. Second of all, how cute was it that Stefan had actually called it courting? Enzo hadn't actually said anything, he mostly sat and watched them in silence, nursing a glass of bourbon. The attention had made both of them uncomfortable. They didn't hang out with Enzo anymore.

So now, here they were, alone, in the dark spying on Stefan's mom. Stefan seemed unaffected by the situation, his focus intense as he stared in the direction of the house. Of course, she knew Stefan Salvatore and by the bob of his Adam’s apple, she knew he was in fact just affected as she was. Remembering herself, she went to move her hand from his chest, instead trailing it down to his stomach, before quickly returning her hand to her side. Caroline then focused her attention on Stefan to get an idea of what he had been staring at. Instead his head was down, his eyes following the trail her hand had taken. She quickly turned away, looking straight ahead, the darkness hiding her burning cheeks.

Straight ahead of them was a window to what she guessed was the kitchen. It was dark except for the glow of a candle from somewhere from within the room. The window she almost walked in front of before Stefan had grabbed her. It was only the man from before, and in his hand was a kettle. It was dark blue with a familiar design that she didn't recognize at first, until-

“Is that your kettle?” Caroline asked, her voice low but still showing her anger with Lily in the tone.

“Yeah.” Stefan answered, his voice showing the realization dawning on him “I've been looking for that.”

“What a bitch.” She responded, her tone not altering much from her previous comment. At that moment, the man looked up, sending the two of them deeper into the neighbors bushes. Clearly they didn't care as much about the appearance of their yard as their neighbors, but they also weren't in cahoots with a crazy vampire and her scary family, so it was forgivable.

Both of them held their gaze on the window in a waiting game to see if they had been caught. Once he shifted away from the window, they both visibly relaxed

“Did you see Lily?” Caroline asked, pulling a strand of hair that had fallen into her face behind her ear, and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

“Yeah. Just for minute, though.” as he spoke he would shoot his gaze over in the direction of the window. She didn't blame him, she was doing the same thing. “They talked for a minute, she asked if “it” was ready, and he said it was.”

Caroline looked over to the window and back to Stefan. “You got all that?” She placed her hands on her hips, his eyes following the movement before returning to her face. “I knew Stefan Salvatore was a master of many things, but I didn't know lip reading was one of them.”

He smiled at that, clearly amused. “Well you would be correct.” He pointed his finger in the direction of the window. “The window is open a crack.”

She spun around quickly, now able to spot the opening in the window. It was less then an inch, but it was enough for a vampire to pick up a conversation.

“Oh.” She breathed, then turned to look at Stefan. From beside her his lips were pinched to hide that smile that was all teeth and crinkled eyes that she absolutely adored, when it wasn't in response to making fun of her of course.

He let an “oof” once her elbow met his side, earning her a look of shock and amusement from him.

“Shut up.” she said, adding an affectionate swat that he stepped out of the way of. He must of stepped back too far, because he was suddenly in the backyard and could see what they hadn't been able to see from the side yard.

“Caroline.” he breathed out, waving her over to where he was, all amusement disappearing from his face.

“What?” She asked, approaching him. He had already made his way to what had caught his attention, squatting down next to the basement window. The light on.

She moved to the opposite end of the window and looked in. What she saw sent a feeling of dread through out her body. Inside there were six boxes, possibly coffins, similar in description to those Jo had explained to Elena. Six boxes for six heretics. Caroline looked up to meet his gaze, the seriousness of the situation written all over his face.

“I guess we got our proof.” He said.

“Let's get out of here.” she answered.

Reaching for her hand, he pulled her along with him as they ran as fast as they could, to get them as far away from that place as possible.

Author Notes There is chapter 2! Dun dun dun. I hope it was okay. It kind of amazes me how the characters get away from me when I type. I had something else for “Caroline's big mess up.” and it turned into that. I'm not even sure how that happened. But I think its more true to their friendship and leaves other clues later in the story. My favorite line so far in the story is about them not hanging out with Enzo anymore. I was paying homage to the jokes about Enzo being a Steroline shipper I hope to bang out one more chapter this week, then I start my summer classes next week. I plan on posting once a week starting next week. The fake dating is coming. The necessity for it/the lie starts next chapter, I just kind of wanted to set everything up.

#steroline fanfic #steroline fanfiction #Sterofic #sterolinefic #lay your hands on me #Lay your hands on me ch2

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fallingslowly8718 · 10 years ago

Text

Lay Your Hands On Me

Title: Lay Your Hands On Me Rating: T Pairing: Stefan/Caroline Summary:In an attempt to figure our what Lily is up to, Caroline and Stefan get caught up in a lie that tests the fragile state of their relationship. Yes, its the fake dating fic. Post 6x22

It was dark outside, not a headlight or street light in sight. The street was deserted for any sign of life except for the little car parked a few streets down from the path leading to the Salvatore boarding house. From behind the wheel, Bonnie Bennett scanned the darkness for her target. After a moment she turned to her companion, reaching out and sending the back of her hand across his arm in a vicious slap. “Ow.” he yelped, just as in much pain as in surprise, recoiling away from her and clutching his phone close to his chest. “Matt.” She hissed, pointing her finger in the direction of his passenger window, “are you even looking?” “Yes.” He had begun rubbing his injured arm, a slight frown on his face as he avoided looking at the anger on her face directed at him. “I was just checking the game real quick.” Her eyebrows shot up, mouth open to retort, when the door behind her opened, saving Matt Donovan from her justified anger. Instead her eyes flickered to the rear view mirror as a blur of blonde hair and blue slid into the back seat. “Alright, Stefan just text me.” Caroline said, without missing a beat, pulling a plastic grocery bag into the car with her before she slammed the door shut. “His mother hasn't left the house yet.” She reached into the plastic bag to pull out a bag of corn chips and tossed them into the front seat. Matt grabbed it before Bonnie had the chance which resulted in another frown. He was definitely getting on her bad side tonight. “If you get crumbs in my car I'll kill you.” As soon as the words were out of Caroline's mouth she realized her mistake and quickly back tracked. “Not actually kill you.” She corrected letting out a small laugh that was forced and awkward. “I meant, you're going to vacuum out my car until it's to my very high standards.” “Which might actually kill you.” Bonnie chipped in, an attempt to break the sudden tense atmosphere within the car. Even from the back seat, Caroline could see how tense Matt's posture had become since she had made that little comment. His hands were still on the unopened bag and Caroline hated herself a little for the slip. Sometimes she forgot, sometimes things seemed so normal, that she let herself forget that everything was different now. That Matt was only here because of Bonnie, because Tyler had left town and Elena was in some weird magic coma. Even though they acted like things between them was fine they both knew that, if he had his way, she wouldn't be there at all, a reminder of everything he had lost. “Matt-” She tried, her voice soft and pleading, so very unlike herself. “It's fine Caroline.” he interrupted, his voice thick. He was anything but fine. She threw her body back against the seat, her body slumped over, and her posture terrible. The old Caroline would have scolded her for her behavior and she was a little upset for disappointing her when she was trying so hard to find her again. Her eyes went to the window, her regret and disappointment displayed on her face. She wished she could say she had grown use to this awkwardness, especially with Matt's growing hostility toward all things supernatural. Who could really blame him? Most of the time she didn't let it get to her, especially since the time they spent together had increased in the last 6 months This was mostly due to them both attaching themselves to Bonnie, who was the anchor of what remained of their group of friends. It was as much for their benefit as hers, the memories of losing her still fresh in their minds. Sometimes though, it did bother her. If she was honest with herself, if bothered her a lot. Finally, she heard the bag of chips open from the front seat. She could almost see Matt reaching into the bag and stuffing them into his mouth. From the sounds of it, her imagination wasn't too far off. Caroline hoped he didn't choke. “Nothing suspicious out there?” Bonnie's voice drew her attention back to the rear view mirror to meet her friend's eyes. Caroline, being the fastest of the three of them, had been nominated for the snack run when Matt and Bonnie had started to get hungry after a couple of hours out here. Bonnie has reasoned that it was a good opportunity to check for any suspicious activity in the half mile trek to the little 24 hour gas station. It was also why Bonnie was driving Caroline's car, in case their target made a get away while she was gone. “Unless you count Mrs. McMahon sneaking out of Mr. Patton’s back door at one in the morning, then nothing.” She offered, her amusement at the memory taking her out of her bad mood for the moment. Bonnie shook her head at that piece of information, a hint of a smile on her face“As scandalous as Mrs. McMahon's affairs are, it doesn't solve the mystery of what Lily is up to.” “We'll figure it out.” Caroline assured her, her voice displaying conviction she didn't actually feel. Bonnie met her eyes one more time in the rear view mirror, either out of gratitude or because she could sense her doubt. They turned to their windows to continue their watch, the car returning to its earlier silence. The only sound was Matt making his way through the bag of corn chips, with an occasional grumble when Bonnie helped herself to a hand full or two. Caroline scanned the darkness for any sign of Lily or her “family”. Just the thought of it sent a chill through her. It was a mixture of fear of the unexpected and anger for her rejection of her sons in favor of them. It didn't bother Stefan, as he claimed. Sometimes she even believed him, but his absolute refusal to give up on her, so undeniably Stefan, gave him away every time. It resulted in anger and resentment on her part toward Lily that often had Caroline act unkind toward the older vampire. Stefan would often have to place a hand on her shoulder to remind her to keep herself in check, the move often dissolving her of the feeling that was creeping on her now. Not for the first time that evening she wished he was here. She wasn't even sure what she was looking for, they hadn't actually seen Lily's family, there wasn't any actual proof they had even made it over from the prison world. At first they had assumed that Kai had lied to Lily to get what he wanted from her. Then she had begun to display some odd behavior that had drawn their attention. At first, Stefan had been so preoccupied with Damon that he hadn't found it odd that she was ducking out every night, not long after midnight. Besides, Enzo was keeping an eye on her, and the last time there had been reason for concern, he had gone to Stefan. Then Enzo started acting weird, well, weird for Enzo. The behavior hadn't put anyone on alert right away, although there was suspicions they were connected, although it was thought perhaps the secret was more of the romantic variety and less of the hiding scary heretics kind. Gross, but preferable over the alternative. It was around the time Stefan started leaving the house on occasion either to run errands or spend time with them (her), that Lily's behavior piqued their interest. She had previously left the house every night, but whenever Stefan would go out, she would start staying in. Lily had claimed she wanted to keep an eye on Damon, but everyone knew it was lie since everyone knew and she had made it very clear she didn't give a damn about Damon. This was confirmed when Stefan would return home to her restless, pacing the living floor and wringing her hands. He would have suspected a ripper relapse if it wasn't for the lack of bodies or missing persons reports. Still, she was up to something and she didn't want to run into him while she was out doing it. For a couple of months it was a game of watching and waiting. It wasn't like them to sit around and wait for something to happen, but they hadn't had any leads, any clues to give them any hint at what she could be up to. Caroline could recall countless nights of her and Stefan in front of the fire, wracking their brains to understand what the hell Lily was up to. The answer nagged at the back of their head of course, but it was a truly terrifying possibility that either needed to be proven or dis proven. They had tried to follow her once before without Stefan, but she had only ended up in a park for a couple of hours, just sitting in the darkness. Then Lily slipped. Either out desperation or confidence, Lily began to make some careless mistakes that any normal person might not pick up on, but Caroline and Stefan picked up on right away. It had started a few weeks ago when Stefan had come out to help Bonnie move some things into Caroline's place. Caroline had claimed she hated living alone, and it wasn't a lie, she did hate it. She also hated the different scenarios that played in her head about what the heretics existence could mean for Bonnie, for who the memory of Kai and his torture still lingered. After enough nagging, Bonnie had agreed to stay with her. Caroline was aware that Bonnie could take care of herself, but having her close put Caroline at ease. They had been gathered around the kitchen table working on an order of Chinese food when Stefan had excused himself to check on Damon. He had returned, a look of concern on his face. Lily had left the house moments after they did. They had piled into her car driving around for hours that night to spot any sign of her, but they didn't find her. She wasn't even at the park they had followed her to whenever they tried to trail her. They chalked it up to desperation, but it didn't really prove any of their suspicions. What did prove their suspicions was a couple of days ago when Matt had overheard a couple of senior officers talking about a large quantity of blood bags disappearing from a local hospital. First of all, it was a rookie move, yes they had taken their fair share of blood bags, but not enough to draw the attention of the authorities. Second of all, it was clearly a move made by someone who didn't want to draw someone's attention with bodies, especially someone like Stefan that would pay attention to that sort of news. Lastly, it was clearly performed by someone who had no idea what the hell they were doing, like someone who wasn't from this era and didn't understand how certain things like security cameras worked. After a little compulsion and a look at some footage showing Lily compelling a doctor to get her the bags, they had their proof. Which is how they ended up here, sitting in Caroline's car in the middle of night. This was their third night of the “plan”, which pretty much could be summed up to finding out where the hell Lily was going at night. She must have started suspecting something, because the last two nights were a bust. Although, tonight was looking like they could make some progress. Stefan had been updating her on Lily's behavior, which was becoming erratic. She was like a caged animals clawing at the walls, pacing back and forth. She was being short-tempered and short with her sons, something Caroline had heard for herself when she was on the phone with Stefan earlier that evening. Gone was the practiced politeness left over from the 19th century and in its place was a desperate woman with somewhere to be. Caroline's phone buzzed in her lap pulling her from thoughts, the lyrics of the song she programmed for Stefan's calls echoing through the silent vehicle. She had dropped the phone in surprise, and moved quickly to pick it up off the floor. She fumbled with the lock screen, cutting Bon Jovi off before he could finish singing about being wanted dead or alive. As she brought the phone to her ear, she looked up to find Matt and Bonnie staring at her. Bonnie with amusement, Matt in confusion. “What? He likes Bon Jovi.” “Who like's Bon Jovi?” She heard Stefan ask from the other side of the line, taking her attention away from her friends and back to why she was making a fool of herself in the back seat in the first place. She quickly put him on speaker before she continued. “Don't worry about it, whats up?” “She just left.” As the words came over the speaker, she could see Bonnie sit up in her seat from the corner of her eye. “I see her.” Bonnie announced, placing her hand on the gear shift and shifting it into drive. From the back seat Caroline could make out that damn floppy hat Lily had taken to wearing for the past couple weeks. It was the kind you would wear in a garden and it was clearly too big, often times slipping over her eyes. Nobody knew where she had gotten it, but it looked ridiculous, because who wheres a sun hat at night? Before Bonnie could step on the gas, the door next to Caroline opened and Stefan popped his head in the car. Although she had been in constant contact with him over the past couple days, due to the plan she hadn't been in his physical presence for days and the site of him made her freeze for a second. Just seeing him gave her a feeling she loved and that she hated. For a second she forgot herself and everything that was going on. He was Stefan, her beautiful best friend Stefan that she was in love with and it sent a thrill to know he felt the same way. Then she hated herself for letting everything go for that moment she would give herself, and she would gain control of herself and the situation. He was aware of the cycle, of course she told him, and of course he understood. Because he was Stefan and the cycle would start all over again. It was a very dangerous thing the had gotten her in trouble a few times, and hurt Stefan even though he wouldn't blame her for it. Of course he wouldn't. But she knew. They both always knew. Like always, she remembered herself and broke eye contact, sliding across the seat to the other side. He quickly took the seat she had just vacated, awkwardness joining the tension from earlier. Bonnie started the car, looking strait ahead, focused like a predator cornering their prey. If anyone had a good reason to hate Lily, it was Bonnie. “Did she suspect anything?” Bonnie asked, steering the car onto another street Lily had just turned into. “No, she just kind of ran out of the house.” He settled onto his seat, relaxing into the fabric before turning to meet her gaze. She hadn't even realized she had been staring. “She must be desperate if she doesn't even realize she's being trailed by a car.” Bonnie observed, following Lily out of the historic section of town and into one of the newer neighborhoods in town. The kind that the founding families use to turn their noses up at and give developers hell over, back when that's all they really worried about. Bonnie's words broke the moment between them, both of them leaning forward in their seats to get a view of Lily from the windshield. “Or she doesn't realize that a car following you is not a good thing.” Matt answered, breaking his silence, but his posture not hiding his discomfort with the addition to their group. “No way, shes a vampire. She hunted people, she would know if someone is hunting her. No, shes focused on something.” Caroline observed as Lily cut through someones yard and moved onto another street. She was moving quickly, for a human. The fact that she wasn't using her vampire speed showed she wasn't looking to get caught. “She's in a hurry though.” “You think she's meeting someone?” Bonnie asked, stopping the car at the end of a street. At the other end Lily had stopped as well. She was standing directly in front of small one floor ranch style home. Caroline could just hear Carol Lockwood now. “That's what I'm thinking.” Stefan answered, his eyes wide and focused as he studied his mother. The front door of the house opened and a man stepped down the stairs meeting Lily in the middle of the side walk. They spoke briefly for a moment, before they both made their way back into the house. “I want to say secret boyfriend, but I'm thinking no.” Caroline observed, by now half her body in the front seat. “No, something doesn't feel right about this.” Stefan observed, his uneasiness about the situation clear. He opened the door to the car slipping out. “I'm going to check it out.” Without a second thought, Caroline opened her door as well. “I'm going with you.” It was a natural instinct to follow Stefan into battle. His eyes met hers from across the top of car, a silent understanding between them. No matter what, they were a team and they were going to get to the bottom of this. Okay, that was my first chapter. I hope it was okay. Any constructive criticism is appreciated on characterization if anything seemed off. I'm new at this and just exploring the characters. This was actually shorter then originally written because some parts of it didn't flow with the direction this chapter was going. Its important information about the reestablishment of Stefan and Caroline's in the past 6 months and a hint at her “messing up.” It will have an impact on the characters actions in future chapters. I really broke my heart to cut it, but it will work better in the next chapter. It also has my favorite part so far. I apologize if it seems I'm “telling” more then “showing” but I'm just giving a solid base of what has happened in these months leading up to this point. I'll have a bit more in the next chapter, then we can move forward. I also wanted to show the progression of the investigation so we can get to the fake dating. Much thanks and love to Roguefembot and Eternal-Steroline-Flame for the encouragement and support! I also took the name your fic after a song approach. If someone else has this name, let me know and I will change it (in this fandom). I thought about using it for Caroline's bon jovi ring tone, but it's a dirty song and Caroline doesn't need that kind of embarrassment.

#sterolinefic #steroline fanfic #steroline fanfiction #sterofic #roguefembot #eternal-steroline-flame #Fake dating fic #lay your hands on me

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