stefan salvatore 🧛 (heroichair) wrote in valloic, @ 2021-10-07 23:14:00 |
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It had begun with him joining Caroline at her family’s cabin to fix things up for Liz. Ever the dutiful friend, Stefan had done what he could to support Caroline and just be there for her. While he was no stranger to death and losing loved ones, it was still painful for him to watch as she desperately tried to get some sort of control in an uncontrollable situation. He wanted nothing more than to take that pain away for her.
He wasn’t sure if it was the heightened emotions of the day, or just the final pieces of a steadily fuzzier line between friendship and something more, but he’d found himself kissing her. It was genuine and gentle, and he lost himself in her for those brief moments.
And then their moment was ripped away from him as Stefan found himself being forced through a portal into somewhere that was decidedly not Mystic Falls. He put a hand to his temple and muttered a what the hell under his breath as he watched some figures approaching.
Hours later, he’d been debriefed on everything at the DOA, and was trying very hard to ignore the stress headache at the base of his skull. With a sigh, he made his way down to the lobby while typing up a post on the network. He knew Caroline was here somewhere, as he’d been told as much. But no one seemed to know where exactly. Not wanting to leave until he could see her, he lurked around the main floor with the hope that she’d see his post sooner rather than later.
His patience paid off when she was one of the first replies he got. Relief washed through him as she said she’d come find him. He was generally good at keeping a calm exterior in most situations, but everything about Vallo was starting to leave him incredibly uncertain. If there was one person he trusted to help talk him through that, it was Caroline.
Four years. It had been four years (and change) since Caroline had last laid eyes on Stefan. Sure there'd been a memory dump (or two, she honestly wasn't even sure at this point) in there, there'd been stories from people she ran into who were from further along in the timeline than she was. But as far as physically standing in the same space as one Stefan Salvatore it had been four years. Which was about three years and eleven and a half months too long if you asked her.
There was a time when she probably would have been one of the first faces Stefan saw. But two years into her life in Vallo she'd for a while now been pulled into a more governmental role and less so you found yourself in another world role. But timing was on her side, her meeting just wrapping as she heard a ding for a new post.
And while the messaging was appreciated, Caroline was quick to make her way down the lobby because it had been too damn long. The messaging served as nothing more than a quick check to make sure Vallo wasn't going to be an asshole about having Stefan show up from a time he wasn't himself.
Perhaps Caroline though should have given more of a thought to the tricky question of misaligned timelines, especially knowing how her and Stefan's story ended. But the excitement of seeing her friend again overrode all that and as she spotted him she couldn't help but pick up the pace and all but launch herself at him. Her arms wrapped tight around Stefan's neck and there was a soft laugh at how ridiculous she probably looked but she didn't care.
"You're actually here," she said in a rushed out breath. She pulled back and gave Stefan a playful little shove with her hand against his shoulder that was really more of a tap than anything else. "Took you long enough," she accused, but without any heat behind the words.
This wasn’t the first, nor (he hoped) would it be the last time Caroline launched herself into his arms. He caught her easily and wrapped her snugly in an embrace that lifted her off her feet. He held onto her for a beat before setting her back down again.
“That’s what they tell me.” Stefan smirked at her as she touched his shoulder. “Also, I really feel like this is on you? I definitely did not receive my invite to the Caroline Forbes multi-dimensional party tour.” He clucked his tongue softly. “It’s really very sloppy of you.”
He looked her over. It wasn’t like he’d be able to physically see any differences in her age, but Bonnie’s comment about him being from 8 years in her past had left him wondering. But that didn’t seem like the best conversation starter. Instead he asked, “How are you? You look good, but what else is new.”
Caroline was fine to play along. It bought time before she had to ask such awkward questions like are we married now for you? among other things.
"Maybe you just weren't listening hard enough for it," she replied back, a bemused smirk on her lips as she did.
As Stefan looked her over she did the same. As though her answers would be magically clear on his face but she knew that was an impossibility. Stefan looked - irritatingly - the same. And he'd always had a way of looking at her like not much else existed in that moment, even way back when they'd been not much more than strangers and he'd been gently letting her down he'd managed to do that. It was infuriating. And entirely the reason that no matter how far her life had taken her, Stefan Salvatore always occupied some space, some little box in the back of her mind that screamed someday.
It was always weird though. Trying to bridge the gap when people from home showed up. The questioning of what did they share from history, how much should she share off the bat of her own history. How to condense four years of living nearly on her own with really only Bonnie as a constant into a quick answer to how are you.
"I'm good," a pause, "really good," she added. For all the years of universe hopping had had its hardships there was good there she would never want to trade for anything. "Let's catch up somewhere a bit calmer though," she said as people milled about going to and from whatever it was they were doing that particular day.
She started to lead them out of the building and nodded toward the little cafe across the street and started in that direction.
"Grab a seat and I'll be right back," she said before she headed up to the counter. Enough of a regular at the place that her order was already being rung up as she did. She tacked on a black coffee for Stefan and returned to their table.
She set their drinks down and sat down. Caroline took a quick drink of her latte and glanced at Stefan over the top of the cup. "So - bandaid ripping off time? I've been here for over two years and was in two other places like this before this one for a grand total of over four years away from Mystic Falls, and the last thing I lived out from home was before Mom got sick. Bonnie, and others, have filled me in on things that happened past that but that was the last time I was physically at home." She paused. "Sorry, I never really know the best way to do this so…" she trailed off and shrugged a little, almost sheepishly.
Really good. Some of the tension in Stefan’s chest loosened at those two words. After everything he and Caroline had been through together recently in Mystic Falls, it brought him untold amounts of relief to see her doing so well. He gave her a nod. “Lead the way, then.”
As he settled down at a table, he watched her. Confident and comfortable in her surroundings. It didn’t escape his notice that she didn’t even need to order her own drink before it was prepared, and he smiled slightly. He thanked her for the coffee once she’d returned and took a sip from the cup.
As she ripped off the metaphorical band-aid, Stefan listened closely, but kept his expression as neutral as possible. She was from before Liz had gotten sick, and he couldn’t help but be grateful that she hadn’t had to experience that pain directly. He took another sip of his coffee to give himself an extra moment to process everything.
“Something tells me there really isn’t an easy way to ever do this. But I think you’re doing just fine.” He leaned back in his chair and rested his palms on the table. “I’m sure being away from home and the majority of your friends and family couldn’t have been easy. But I’m glad to see you’re doing well here. It’s...comforting.”
Caroline sometimes wondered if she'd be doing as well if she didn't have Lucas. If she didn't have someone relying on her to be okay all the time. But it was a daunting thought and one she didn't like to dwell on too much. Because the idea of being home too, well, that wasn't really all that better either. Both had losses too numerous to reconcile with, both had pain.
"It's never boring, let's put it that way," she replied with a smirk. Vallo tended to have a way of bringing out some new crazy every other week it felt like.
"What about you? What just happened at home for you?" While they were ripping off bandaids she supposed.
“I miss boring sometimes.” Stefan mused while taking another sip of coffee. “But I suppose it’s not all that bad with the right company.”
He didn’t answer right away. She obviously knew about her mother’s illness, but he still wanted to be delicate about how he broached the topic. “Your mom was pretty sick. I was with you at your family cabin to get it all fixed up for her to enjoy.” A knot tightened in his shoulders as he thought about their kiss again. Did she know about that? He had no idea what would come next for them, or if it was something that one of the others would have told her about. His brow knit together briefly before he exhaled. “You were hellbent on making everything perfect.”
"I kind of forget what boring even is," Caroline admitted with a smile. Even before all this, there was Mystic Falls. Which had ceased to be boring from the moment Stefan had shown up, and from what she'd learned since never had been as boring as she'd initially thought.
"Yeah that sounds about right," she said softly to the hellbent on making it perfect. Caroline knew enough to know what happened next. That her mom never did make it to the cabin, that things between her and Stefan had changed then. She'd lived the lead up to it, all those little shifts in looks, the touches that had started to linger longer.
But things were different here. She was different. And for the life of her Caroline wasn't quite sure how to bridge that. So she did the next best thing, well at least she thought it was the next best thing but probably wasn't, avoidance.
"At least I had help making it perfect," she said as she took a drink. Talking about her mom was always an ache, a part of her heart that would never fully heal from the loss. But she was far better now than she had been years ago.
"I have something I've been waiting nearly four years to tell you if you think you're up for a little brain breaking news?" Ah yes, avoidance. A shift from hey let's talk about that time when we gave into our feelings to the crazy that was her life.
He lifted the corner of his mouth up in a small smile as she talked about having help. It was a very Caroline response. He studied her and watched the subtle emotions play across her face. It wasn’t like she was ever exceptionally good at hiding what she was feeling, but he felt like he’d gotten good at reading some of the nuance there. Most of the time, at least. She definitely had a lot going on, but Stefan decided he’d let her take the lead on how much she wanted to share and when.
He leaned forward in his chair and rested his arms on either side of the coffee cup. “This seems to be the day for brain breaking,” he said dryly. “Lay it on me.”
This one was almost an easier show than tell. And there was an excited smile as she pulled her phone out, and set it on the table, turned to Stefan. Her lockscreen was a photo of her, Lizzie, and Lucas.
"Bonnie mentioned Lizzie. She's Ric's daughter but Mystic Falls being Mystic Falls made it a lot more complicated than it needed to be," Caroline explained. "Jo, the twins’ mother, was killed before they were born - " a pause, "after what you and I remember from home," she clarified. "I helped raise them," she added. It was still weird to think about a little, but Caroline didn't put that on Lizzie or Josie. And it'd been nice, getting to know Lizzie here. Chances are whatever herself at home went through was never going to be her life now, but that didn't mean she couldn't try to be family and there for Lizzie.
"Lucas will be four, god in like, a couple weeks," she continued and there was a tone of why does time go so fast to it.
Caroline had been absolutely correct about the brain breaking. Stefan hadn’t really been certain what to expect as she’d turned her phone towards him, but two children had not made the list of potentials. Still, it wasn’t difficult to see how important they were to her. Both in the love and excitement she exuded in person, but also in the photograph. It was clear as day in both.
Family was so important to her, and honestly, it made him unbelievably happy to know that she’d been able to grow hers both in Mystic Falls and here in this place. “Caroline,” he murmured softly. “That’s incredible. I am genuinely so happy for you.” He reached across the table and took her hand in his. “They couldn’t ask for a better mom. I can’t wait to meet them.”
She gave Stefan's hand a squeeze with a warm smile. "Thanks," she said. "I'm sure inevitably there will be a teenager moment when they'd disagree with you on that one, but I'm trying." She added with a soft laugh. Caroline herself had had her own moments of just that growing up. Funny how looking back whatever had felt like the end of the world at the time now didn't seem so important.
"Hopefully sooner rather than later on the meeting?" She asked. "It's taco night if you want to come for dinner," she offered easily.
“Your kids? Dramatic teenage moments?” Stefan raised an eyebrow sardonically. “Nah.” Children were messy. Teenagers even more so, but Stefan had a good suspicion that Caroline was more than equipped for whatever they could throw her way.
“You know, I think my schedule is free. I’d love to come to dinner.”
Caroline laughed. "I know, it's hard to think that I might have dramatic children," she joked. Like she herself had never had her own dramatic moments.
"I'd be a little curious if it wasn't," she replied with a grin. After all he'd been there for all of half an hour and at least ninety percent of that she'd been a part of. "It's settled then," she declared. "Dinner, and until then you can pick my brains of any other 'so you ended up in an alternate universe' questions you might have."