InsaneJournal

Who: Stefan and Caroline
When: Recent
Where: Caroline’s
What: Drinking wine, dream talk, Caroline reveals she’s a vampire
Rating/Warnings: Lowish? Talk of vampirism
Status: Complete


Europe hadn’t exactly been the moving on vacation she had hoped it would be. The fact that the trip had been something she had originally planned with Nik, well it was just a constant reminder of what could have been. But being Caroline, she kept a smile on her face the whole time not wanting to bring her friends down. After all they were going through hard times too.

Now she was back and slowly but surely getting back to her normal life, still trying to move on. The doorbell rang and she knew exactly who it was. A genuine smile spread across her face as she used her vamp speed to get to the door within a second and open it up. “Hey,” she greeted Stefan stepping aside to let him in. “Do I look different? More traveled? European?” she teased leading him further into the condo towards the couch and coffee table where she already had the wine and glasses set out.

Stefan wasn’t expecting the door to open so quickly. He blinked at the sight of the blonde there, and then broke into something of a smirk. “You do. I barely recognized you.” He offered up a box of crackers and a wedge of delicious looking cheese. “I believe I was promised wine?” Then followed her further into the apartment. “Ah, good. Looks like we’re on the same page.” No wasting time.

“Hey!” Caroline pouted. “That’s supposed to be my line. Since someone refused to send me selfies.” She was still determined to get him to take one. And knowing Caroline… she’d get her way eventually.

She let Stefan carry the crackers and cheese to the coffee table, motioning for him to set them down. “Crap, forgot the opener.” Into the kitchen she went, fishing it out of the drawer. “You know I’m beginning to think you’re only here for the wine and not my sparkling personality,” she teased using the wine opener to remove the cork before pouring each of them a glass. At least she had remembered to get those out ahead of time.

Stefan sat down on the sofa and made himself at home. This was Lexi’s place. It wasn’t like this was the first time he’d ever been here before. But it was still the beginning of his friendship with Caroline, so he was watching what he said and did a little more than he might have if he was as comfortable around her as he was around Lexi.

He turned and watched her come back into the room. “What? Oh. Don’t be silly,” he teased. “I mean, of course I’m here for the wine. --Your personality. Dang, did I get that wrong?” A little smirk tugged at his lips.

“Hah. Hah.” Caroline replied sarcastically. “You’re just so funny,” she handed him his glass and finally took her seat next to him on the couch. “Remind me, why am I friends with you again?”

Enough teasing though. Time to get to what it was Stefan had mentioned wanting to talk about when she was in Europe. “So the dreams…” she began taking a sip of wine. “How’s that going for you?”

“Right. The Dreams,” Stefan sighed, accepting the glass from Caroline and lifting it to sip. The wine was good stuff. He leaned back on the sofa, frowning. “I’m a bit of a stalker, actually.” His tone of voice said he was not pleased at all with seeing himself as such.

“A stalker?” Caroline repeated raising a brow. Though she could kind of see where he was coming from, he did kind of follow Elena around a lot. At least in the beginning of her dreams. Not so much lately. Still that wasn’t the term she would use to to describe Stefan. At least not the main word. “Not a vampire?”

“Oh, well, I’m that, too,” Stefan said, a smile sliding across his lips. It was lazy and amused. He lifted the glass and sipped again, enjoying the flavor of the wine. “And you’re there. Miss Mystic Falls.” He gave her a sly grin.

“I totally deserved to win,” yes Elena was her best friend in the dreams (and here), but Caroline wanted to be Miss Mystic Falls more. And she did more to deserve it will all the committees and everything she was on. It wouldn’t have been fair if Elena had won because her parents died. “You missed my moment, by the way. Thanks,” she teased.

“So, you’re a vampire and a stalker,” she took another sip of her wine. The French really did do it better. “How do you feel about that? I’m a psych major you know,” at least for now.

"I wasn't... in my right mind at that point." Stefan said with an apologetic tone. But he was all smirks a moment later. "A vampire and a stalker, eh? I guess it makes sense." He didn't really like thinking about all of that. Seriously. It was weird to have these Dreams about his brother's girlfriend. Made him feel a touch uncomfortable.

"But hey, psych is cool. So you're not only allowed to psychoanalyze me, but you're obligated to?"

“I don’t know about that,” she couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m not exactly in grad school or anything. And I’m thinking about changing my major. Do you really want me psychoanalyzing you?” she teased.

“I think you might be beyond my expertise anyway. Stalking is pretty serious. I think you need a real pro for that.” Not that it was really his fault what his dreamself did. Caroline was very similar to her dreamself but she knew that it wasn’t like that for everyone. Just look at Nik, he was so different from Klaus, or at least he used to be. A small frown formed on her face as she thought about her ex. No. None of that tonight. “So where are you at in the dreams anyway? Obviously you’ve dreamt of the Miss Mystic Falls pageant.”

“Oh yeah, that’s a while ago,” Stefan said, waving his hand in the air. He was ready to move past the psychoanalyzing part of the conversation. “How far are you?” Beat. “If we’re dreaming the same thing, I’d hate to spoil it for you.” Even though she’d been dreaming for a lot longer than he had.

“Chances are we are dreaming the same thing,” she informed him. “I’m way past the Miss Mystic Falls pageant. A few years past it, so I don’t think you’ll spoil anything for me,” she appreciated the thought though. He was considerate, unlike his brother. “But I give you permission either way.”

“Okay, well… the last dream I had I left Mystic Falls with a vampire-turned-hybrid named Klaus. One of the original vampires.” Stefan couldn’t believe he was actually having this conversation. This was the kind of conversation that crazy people had. Stefan, last he checked, was not a crazy person.

Oh. Klaus. He was that far.

Caroline could feel her face fall at the mention of his name. She took a sip of her wine and tried to look as neutral as possible. It was almost funny that Stefan was explaining to her who was Klaus was. Almost.

“I know who Klaus is,” Caroline finally replied. “He actually exists here too,” she had no clue if Stefan knew that or not since he had just explained who he was to her. “Actually, you know that bad break up I mentioned?”

Thankfully, Stefan wasn’t watching Caroline’s face at the mention of Klaus. He would have worried. But when she spoke, he could tell by the tone that something was wrong. His eyes came back over to the blonde’s face, and his smirk fell. “The… bad break up? Oh, please don’t tell me… you and Klaus?”

“Yeah. He’s my ex,” she confirmed. With that she finished off her glass and poured herself another. “He’s not like the dreams,” she wasn’t sure why she felt the need to defend him still. Not after everything. “At least he wasn’t. He turned his humanity off for awhile. Do you know about what that does?”

“Wow.” Stefan said, and ran a hand through his hair. He shook his head a little, trying to process the idea that Klaus, like from his Dreams, was here. He sighed. “He… yes, I know what that means. It was off? Here? So he’s… a vampire here, too? Like Damon is?”

Poor Stefan, he was so behind on everything. Caroline remembered how that felt. “Um, kind of?” she probably wasn’t doing the best job explaining, but the whole situation was still a bit raw for her. “Not exactly like Damon. He’s a hybrid, like in the dreams,” there was a difference. She paused for a moment taking a deep breath before she spoke again, this next thing was a bit of a reveal, but he deserved to know. “I’m actually a vampire. Like Damon.” It was all she could do to not wince at that comparison.

“Oh.” Stefan’s eyes went a little wide. “...how long… how long has that been going on?” He wasn’t uncomfortable around her now, because he knew how strong she was in the Dreams. How well he’d trained her. Actually, he trusted her more than any other vampire he’d ever met.

She couldn’t help but notice Stefan’s expression. Hopefully he wasn’t scared of her or anything. “Since my birthday, so almost a year.” Wow, had it really been that long? “Not my best birthday present. But I’m used to it now. It’s actually not so bad. I only use blood bags and this magical cup. Don’t worry,” she gave him her most reassuring smile.

“I’m not worried.” About you was left unsaid. But now that Stefan had been dreaming about his own vampire experiences, he was nervous about how he was going to react to all of this, should he get his turn. “So… wait.” A little smirk tugged at his lips. “So that’s how you won Grizzly.”

Caroline had to laugh at that. “Yup. I cheated,” it was worth it though. The look on Stefan’s face was still etched in her mind. “Hate me now?”

“Absolutely,” Stefan teased. “More than ever.” He sipped from his wine glass, then set it back down again. “So you and Klaus, huh? How’d that come about? Or am I not supposed to ask?”

“I know. I’m just so hateable,” she teased right back picking up her own wine glass for a sip. “You can ask. It’s not like a big secret. I don’t know though. It just sort of happened?” she sighed setting her glass down. “We have things in common, bonded over them, one thing led to another. Plus he’s like really hot,” that attraction hadn’t gone away. “But that’s all done with now,” yes, there was some bitterness in her voice.

Stefan sipped, shrugged, sipped again. “I’m sorry it’s over. Then again, if he’s anything like he is in the Dreams, you might be better off.” He said, holding his wine glass with both hands in his lap. “What happened?”

“Oh you know, your average break up. Boyfriend turns off humanity, snaps girlfriend’s neck, gives her a werewolf bite,” she said it so casually. Like it was no big deal. Like the only man she ever loved hadn’t just almost killed her. It was the only way for her to get through it. And she had finally admitted it outloud. Regina knew but she was there, other than that Caroline hadn’t mentioned it, hadn’t told a soul.

Stefan blinked at her, his eyes going wide. “Wait, what? A werewolf bite?” He asked. Those things were bad news. He knew that much. He’d pretty much traded his servitude to save Damon from death by werewolf bite.

“Yeah,” she confirmed sadly, not even a trace of a smile on her face. “He bit me,” and the anger was back again. Caroline was just a rollercoaster of emotions when it came to Klaus. “It worked out though. He fed me his blood just in time. But yeah that dampens a relationship just a bit. I haven’t talked to him since.”

A hybrid bite. Stefan frowned, watching Caroline carefully as she relayed the story. “Oh, Caroline,” he said, softly. “I’m sorry.” He knew that Klaus in his Dreams was a bastard, but he wasn’t sure how far that all went in this world. “Are you… all right?” He could only imagine how hard this all must have been for her.

That was a loaded question. "I'm alive," she finally responded taking another sip of wine. Even though her friendship with Stefan was new she felt weird lying to him or keeping things. They had a good friendship in the dreams, even if she wasn't too happy with his dreamself at the moment. "Emotionally..." she sighed, "I don't know. It's a lot. But I'll be okay."

“Yeah, it’s a lot.” Stefan was concerned about her. He didn’t want to press it, though. “I’m here to drink wine and listen to good music and listen if you want to talk. Or not talk. Whatever you wanna do.” He picked up the bottle so he could refill her wine glass, then his own.