❝𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘦❞

"I DON'T WANT TO WAKE THEM UP. LOOK AT THEM, THEY LOOK ADORABLE."

Caroline leans into Katherine's side, the two of them standing in the doorway of Damon's room, wearing different looks at the scene before them.

Rosemary's practically laid on top of Damon, her head on his chest and a leg thrown over his hips. Damon's got both of his arms wrapped around her waist, and his chin is resting atop her head. It doesn't look necessarily comfortable for sleeping, but Caroline's heart is aching at the sweetness of it.

Katherine, on the other hand, is eyeing it in disgust. "Who would want to sleep like that with someone?"

Caroline shrugged. "When you love someone you wanna be near them all the time."

Katherine furrows her eyebrows at Caroline in confusion. "I've never slept in the same bed as someone I loved. It was always just sex, and then one of us left."

Caroline's eyes widen, and she smiles uneasily. "Well, there's a lot to unpack there, but we're just going to throw away the whole suitcase," She claps a hand on Katherine's shoulder, making the vampire roll her eyes even though she doesn't shy away from the physical contact.

"I'm not waking them up. It'll make me feel terrible," 

"Good thing I don't care," Katherine runs towards the bed and jumps onto it, making the couple startle out of their slumber. She grins as they face her with sleepy glares, her dark hair splayed on the bed like a lion's mane. "Good morning!"

"Have you ever heard of sleeping in?" Damon rubs his hand down his face, and Rosemary shifts on top of him to make room for Katherine.

Caroline takes the space in the bed to her advantage, and lays down beside Katherine, who's moved closer to Rosemary and Damon.

"Elijah told us to wake you up," Caroline grins, laughing a bit at Damon's irritation. "Rose made breakfast."

Rosemary hums, a small smile on her face as she looks at the two girls. "Is there a reason we had to get up so early?"

"Klaus is back in his body,"

The atmosphere shifts at that, but there's still an innocence as the rising sun shifts through his windows and reflects kaleidoscopes onto the floor. Rosemary props her head up, glancing at Caroline. "The full moon is tonight."

"That means Klaus is going to break the curse tonight,"

Katherine sighs, staring at the ceiling. "We should mark it on the calendar. Make it a holiday," She looks at Caroline. "You know, we could have anniversary parties for this thing."

Caroline snorts, and Rosemary and Damon share a silent humorous look.

"I believe I heard something about breakfast?" Damon looks at Katherine and Caroline inquisitively. "I'm starving."

Katherine narrows her eyes, glancing at the three of them. "You know, I think I've had this exact dream before, but it didn't end with us eating breakfast."

Caroline sighed, long and heavy. "Everyday I'm reminded that we all know too much about each other. We need a vacation." 

The four of them roll out of bed, and pile downstairs into the kitchen where Rose and Elijah are waiting patiently by the stove.

"Finally. It took you all long enough," Rose looks at them scoldingly, and Damon holds his hands up in surrender.

"I was stuck in bed listening to another one of Katherine's weird sex dreams,"

"Hey, not all of my sex dreams are weird!" Katherine cries out through a mouth full of bacon, looking at the group giving her dubious looks. "I have an active imagination. You people should take it as a compliment." 

Rosemary eyes her for a moment, but laughs, shaking her head as she grabs two plates of food for her and Damon. They sit at the table, a few feet away from everyone else as they mingle about and move around one another seamlessly.

It makes her wonder how she ended up here so quickly, comfortable with the woman that technically killed her, and with a high school girl turned murderous vampire. But she takes a sly glance at Damon, who's sitting across from her, chiming in snarkily with their conversation from across the room, and she thinks she's perfectly fine with whatever led her here.

Caroline sighs as she takes a bite of her toast. "I need to go to town today, I have to make sure Matt's compulsion is holding up, and I'm supposed to have lunch with my mom."

"Do you need company?" Rose looks at her worriedly. "I'd hate for something to happen to you."

She shrugs. "No, I'm just going to the Grill and to the station. I'll be fine."

"Famous last words, Barbie," Damon chuckles when she glares at him, but the subject changes quickly again and they move on to the next thing.

The conversation carries easily between them all, and laughter fills the bright kitchen with surprising ease.

Caroline finishes her food quickly, wanting to get her tasks done quickly so she could focus on her main priority.

She gathers her things and heads for the front door with a fleeting farewell thrown over her shoulder as she swings the door open.

Caroline lets out a small exclamation of surprise, but her shock disappears quickly and fades into hesitance. "Uh, hey Stefan," She glances over her shoulder. "Um, someone- Damon? Could you come here really quick?"

Footsteps approach behind her almost instantly, and she can feel the hostility radiating off of him as he props the door open with his hand, towering behind her. "Have a good day, Caroline,"

He doesn't look away from Stefan, but she nods at him anyways and pushes past the blond man to hurry to her car.

Stefan watches her pull out of the driveway before looking back to his brother with a sarcastic smile that Damon mirrors.

"Trouble in doppelgänger paradise, Stefan?"

"No, actually," It's a lie, of course, but Damon doesn't need to know that. Stefan thinks he might already, if the smug look on his face is anything to go by. "I just came by to get some of my things. Figured it was time to get my own place."

Damon steps out of the doorway, and gestures into the house with a grin. "Come on in, then,"

Stefan steps through the doorway, his ears immediately tuning in to the muted conversation coming from the kitchen.

"So, did Elena kick you out already, or are you just finally jumping out of the nest?" Damon smirks mockingly. "Spread your wings and fly, baby brother."

Stefan huffs an empty laugh. As much as he hates to admit it, he's missed his brother's remarks.

They walk down the hallway, and he hears the conversation grow louder as they approach the kitchen.

Stefan stops in the doorway, eyeing the picture before him. Rosemary, Rose, Elijah, and Katherine are standing in the kitchen, talking amongst themselves like they've been best friends forever. It makes him angry, but he doesn't see a point in lashing out. Instead, he looks at his brother, who's got his eyes on Rosemary, looking at her like she'll disappear from him if he blinks.

"You've turned our house into an evil frat house,"

Damon snorts a laugh, and pushes Stefan down the hallway towards his bedroom. "Better than pretending it was a doppelgänger safe house,"

Stefan sighs, shaking his head as he enters his bedroom, immediately going to gather clothes from his closet.

Damon leans against the doorway, watching his brother sadly. "I wish you'd see my side of things,"

Stefan gives his brother an affronted look. "I will never understand why you've spent two years trying to kill my girlfriend, Damon,"

"I'm doing it for my family,"

Stefan scoffs. "What about me? I'm your brother, Damon. And you haven't known Rosemary was alive this whole time, so why did you want Elena to die before? For me?"

"All I've ever tried to do is look out for you–"

"You're lying," Stefan shakes his head, biting his tongue to hold back his words. "You just couldn't stand to see me happy with Elena because Rosemary was dead."

Damon stands up straight, glaring at him. "Careful, Stefan, you're in a house full of enemies right now,"

"You're my brother!" Stefan drops the clothes he'd gathered onto his bed, staring at Damon incredulously. "You're threatening me because I won't agree with you killing the girl I love?"

"You don't love her, Stefan!" Damon throws his arms out at his sides exasperatedly. "You love the idea of her, you love the chance that she could make you feel like you used to when you were human. You came back to Mystic Falls because you knew she was here, and you wanted a glimpse of your past when you were with Katherine."

Damon stares Stefan down, unwavering even at the hurt in his eyes. "Admit it, Stefan. You haven't been happy since you were a human, and you thought if you had a taste of it again, you'd be fine but you're just as miserable as you've always been. You hate being a vampire, that's why you turned me, too. You are the one who can't handle being the only miserable person in a room."

Stefan says nothing, and Damon rolls his eyes. "Just get your stuff and go. Your doppelgänger clock is ticking fast."

｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈•ﾟ｡ 

Caroline tucked her curls behind her ears as she crossed the street, her eyes scanning her surroundings closely. She hated feeling so paranoid, but she couldn't help but feel like something wasn't quite right.

She sighed to herself, chalking it up to nerves that the ritual was happening tonight. It wasn't every day someone killed the girl they once called their best friend.

She kept her head down as she stepped onto the sidewalk, going over the things she had to get done before tonight.

Stuck in her mind, she didn't see the man coming towards her, so she rammed right into him by accident. Caroline grunted, stumbling slightly. "Sorry, I totally wasn't– Tyler?"

"Hey– hey, Caroline," The werewolf clears his throat, looking anxious.

The vampire grumbles irritatedly under her breath. First, Stefan showing up right as she left, and now this. The universe truly hated her. "I heard about your mom. I was gonna bring her flowers after lunch," She ignores his greeting, not feeling particularly friendly with the werewolf at the moment.

"That's nice. She'll, uh, she'll appreciate it."

She gives him an awkward smile, and he mirrors it. "So, what, are you staying in town or?"

"No, I've got to meet Brady, we're–"

"Brady, as in the guy that tried to kill me as you sat by and watched?"

Tyler nods hesitantly, and she scoffs. "So, your mom gets hurt and you visit her once, only to run back to the dickhead werewolf? What is your problem?"

"Caroline, I had to learn control somewhere. And after Mason–"

Caroline cuts him off with a swipe of her hand, and a cold laugh. "No, you know what? I don't care. I really don't care anymore. Run away again, and maybe next time your mom gets hurt, you'll stay for a few more hours."

Tyler shakes his head, looking at her apologetically. "Caroline, I'm–" He falters when an unfamiliar man comes up behind Caroline, and wraps an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his side.

"Is he bothering you, love?"

Caroline's eyes widen as she takes in the familiar term of endearment, and she eyes Klaus in the flesh for the first time. She looks away, feeling her cheeks flush as he smirks down at her. "No, he was just leaving. Weren't you, Tyler?"

"Uh, yeah, I was– Who are you again?"

"Klaus. But I can't say I've ever heard Caroline talk about a– Tyler, was it?" The hybrid shrugs his insult off easily, smirking cockily at the werewolf.

"Klaus?" Tyler's eyes fall to Caroline. "As in the Klaus that's trying to kill Elena? What are you doing with this guy, Care?"

Caroline shrugs. "Things have changed, Tyler,"

"Yes," Klaus hums, his fingers trailing over Caroline's arm mindlessly. "You should get on, now. Wouldn't want to end up like mother." 

Tyler glares, eyeing the man with disgust. "Whatever," His eyes go to Caroline. "Never thought I'd see the day that Caroline Forbes gave up on someone."

"I'm not giving up, Tyler. I'm just saving myself for once," 

｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈•ﾟ｡ 

author's note; this book is kinda my baby but also I kinda never want to think about it again bc it stressed me out so much... so I'm just gonna post the last chapters all at once and get it over with

edited and published; 12.4.23.

- liz