myla84: Haha thanks I really appreciate it. I wanted to parallel the Stefan and Damon talk in the show, but with Damon being protective rather than being a dick if that makes sense. And yea, I also wanted Caroline to have connections with the rest of the people in the group, so that she's not just the friend of Stefan's.

MediocrePlayWright: A drug huh? A good one? I hope this chapter is just as addictive!

Loveklaroline: Ah, yes long reviews! Give me more, fuel my writing! Daroline to me was a missed opportunity in canon, because of what happened in season one. So I'm glad that you like what I've done with them, and the girls. I loved writing that scene with teh three of them because the song that they dance to "Home For a Rest" is one of my favorite songs of all time. And yes Stefan finally came to his senses! With regards to the revenge thing, well you'll just have to wait and see... I'm glad that you liked the scene of him driving to Caroline's house and remembering all of their times together, I thought it felt right to have him reflect on everything that they went through. Sorry to keep the wait so long, but I hope that you enjoy it!

Crisibabe: I kinda hate to be this person, but read and find out!

Innevertheonly: Seriously how am I so shit at updating when y'all send me such sweet messages like this? I swear I am the WORST author in the world. I'm with you though, Damon was one of my least characters on TVD because of how he treated Care, so I wanted to do the opposite with this fic and make him defend her to no end, even when it came to Stefan. Lol yes, Stefan you oblivious, jealous child; I LOVED writing how jealous he was over Damon and Caroline, especially since he didn't understand why. Yes Lilly is rather rude, and will be featured again I promise you! The girls flashback was one of my favorite parts too, just because it felt so human and teenagery in the middle of all this anger and terror. Haha when I wrote the break up I yelled too, although I do kinda feel for your nephew haha. Thank you for your kind words, I hope that this meets your standards.

Guests: To all of you who asked me to update, I'm finally here and I'm sorry. I know that a few of you were worried about me abandoning this fic, and I swear to you that, that will never happen. I've been in a pretty shit place mentally, caused by many things that I won't bore you with. But I feel better, I feel like writing more, and I'll try and put that to good use. Also to the person who called me their favorite Steroline author thank you. I don't deserve it, but I will treasure that undeserved title. Enjoy everyone!

I'm finally waking up
I'm finally waking up, I know
I'm finally waking up
(I'm waking, I'm waking)
I'm finally waking up, I know

They stood there, face-to-face. Neither moved or spoke as they drank each other in, it seemed as if time itself had frozen.

Eventually, after what seemed like hours, although it had probably only been a few seconds, the awkward silence became too much for the blonde. "So umm what are you doing-"

"Do you want to get out of here?" Stefan interrupted, surprisingly himself and the girl in front of him.

"What?"

Stefan let out a smile at the exasperated tone of Caroline's voice. "Do you want to hop in my car, and drive until we see the sun come up?"

Caroline gaped at him, her thoughts moving a million miles a minute. She looked down at his undone tie and wrinkled suit, that still made him look stunning. He must have left his mother's party to come and see her. The thought made her smile in spite of herself.

"Stefan you can't just come here and expect me to go off with you," she exclaimed, exasperated.

"Why not?" Stefan replied, smiling roguishly. "Why can't we just go?"

Saying no would be the smart thing, the right thing, and the safest thing to do. She could yell at him to go away, slam the door in his face, or simply shake her head.

Those were the smart options, so of course she went the opposite route to them all.

"Okay," she agreed, nodding her head as she spoke. "Just let me grab my jacket, and leave a note for my mom, just in case she comes back from the station early. Then we can go."

Stefan beamed at her, making her give one in return before entering her house. When she came back out she had changed out of her pjs into some leggings and a t-shirt with an old sweatshirt over top.

"Wow," Stefan whispered, watching Caroline lock up her house before turning to him.

She furrowed her eyebrows, "What?"

He shook his head at how stupid he had been all this time. Looking at her now, in simple attire that made her look even more gorgeous he had no idea how he'd missed it. Missed the rapid beating of his heart, the way his palms grew sweaty, and the warmness that seemed to fill his body.

"Nothing," he replied. Caroline gave him her I-know-you're-hiding-something look, but let him keep his secret.

Together the couple strolled over to Stefan's car, each clambering in their sides, and sitting comfortably in the other's presence. There was no need for the radio, or for any words, as the two of them basked in the other's aura after not seeing each other for a week.

Caroline was staring out the window, watching lazily as the town flew by the car. While she was distracting herself, Stefan was stealing glances other every few seconds. He watched as the moon lit up the halo on top of her head, creating an ethereal glow around her body.

God she was stunning.

The comfortable silence lasted until Stefan exited Mystic Falls and reached a split in the road. There were no other cars on the road at this time of night, so he stopped his car in front of the turns, and moved to face the blonde.

"What are you doing?" she asked. "Don't you know where we're going?"

"Well even though I know this goes against your control freak tendencies," he teased, making her roll her eyes, "I figured we'd pick a direction and see what we find."

Caroline widened her eyes, before looking back and forth between the roads. The first led South, towards her grandparents old house. She knew that area because her father would sometimes ship her off there during school holidays when she was young, just to be rid of her. But the other road headed North, to a side of Virginia that she'd never been.

Of course the first one was the safest, it was the road she knew.

"Let's go that way," she suggested, gesturing to the second road, feeling a slight bit of confidence enter her body. Simply because with Stefan beside her, she couldn't worry about not knowing something, as he would be with her no matter what. She knew that even now.

Stefan nodded his head before turning the car and heading up North. He drove easily, the moon lighting up their path, as cool air drifted into the car through the cracked windows. After a while Caroline plugged in her phone, singing quietly to herself.

The brunette grinned at how much progress his companion had made in the short time that she lived in Mystic Falls. Before she came into his life, Stefan knew that she hardly sang in front of anyone, but now she was doing just that without even realizing it. It made him want to join in.

And so he did. It was terrible and off key, and Caroline laughed her head off, but it made her laugh so it was worth it. Besides once she caught her breath, Caroline joined Stefan in the terrible singing, and soon the pair of them could make any pair of ears bleed. But it didn't matter because it was just them, and they were having fun.

At around 3 in the morning, they had to stop for gas. So Stefan filled up the tank, whilst Caroline grabbed as many sugary foods and drinks as she could. Meaning that the rest of the journey included greasy fingers, remnants of sugar everywhere, and Coke that always seemed to be flat.

Their singing didn't continue, but instead they seemed to go back to their childhood, as games such as 'would you rather' passed their time. Stefan stumped Caroline during eye spy ("Stefan a pebble is a rock!"), but she got him back with 20 questions ("Oh come on, how was I supposed to know it was a red panda instead of a normal one?"), and throughout it all they had a blast.

They were going through another killer rendition of Sweet Caroline, which became even better since Caroline stopped rolling her eyes, when Stefan suddenly pulled off the road. Caroline let out a screech, as they barrelled down a tiny dirt road. They seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. There was a small forest to their left and a of couple houses scattered throughout the fields, but other than that they were alone.

"Stefan where are we going?" Caroline yelled, giggling despite herself. The brunette didn't answer, as they stumbled over hills and through fields. Caroline gazed at Stefan, who seemed to be on a mission, grinning as he drove with such concentration. She only turned away when he suddenly stopped the car, right beside the road on the peak of a hill.

"Alright, let's go," Stefan announced, cutting the engine, getting out of the car and motioning for Caroline to do the same. After stretching his legs for a second, Stefan clambered onto the hood of his car and leaned back against the windshield.

Caroline furrowed her eyebrows, "What are you doing? Won't your car get dirty?"

"Yea probably," Stefan shrugged, making Caroline gape at how relaxed he was about it, since he loved his car so much, "it needs to be washed anyway. Besides when was the last time you properly watched the sunrise?"

She opened her mouth to answer, but closed it again after a time. Her eyes were drawn from Stefan's open and inviting face, to the lightest part of the sky. As the colours arced through the sky, just above the line of the horizon, Caroline was brought back to her first day at school in Mystic Falls. She could still remember glancing out the window to see the morning sun, and shaking her head at how naive she used to be.

Now here she was, climbing on top of a car with the help from a guy who she was crazy about. If the old her would've seen her now, she would have been shocked, after all Caroline still was.

But as she pulled herself beside the boy next to her she wasn't scared. Even with after everything she'd been through, and the drama with Stefan, she would never be worried about her own safety. Not with him.

Stefan let out a low whistle under his breath, as the pair of them watched the sky. From their vantage point they were looking down upon a small farming community. With more and more light climbing into the sky, they were able to spot the few people that were awake and beginning to work in the fields. But other than that it was just them, and it was as if the world had simply stopped moving.

"I can't believe you told me your favorite time of day was at sunset," Stefan sighed, "this seems so much more incredible."

Caroline looked at him then, shock covering her face, "You remember that?"

"I remember everything," Stefan whispered, as if not wanting to disturb the quiet of the earth. He turned to her, smiling at the matching beam on her face.

Caroline giggled despite herself, moving to bite her lip as their faces became closer together. Their foreheads were about to touch when she turned away, alarms blasting in her head with their proximity. She tried to ignore how Stefan looked down in sadness, as she attempted to hastily change the subject.

She cleared her throat awkwardly. "You know I used to like the sunrise. In fact, sometimes when I was a little girl and my parents had a massive argument, I would set an alarm or just stay up until the sun rose. I would love to just sit there and see a new day begin because I was so sure that it couldn't get any worse."

"What happened?" Stefan asked, still looking at the blonde next to him.

"It got worse," she answered simply, blinking rapidly to get rid of the tears forming in her eyes.

Stefan, without thinking about the consequences rested his hand on her thigh. Through the thin material of her leggings, Caroline felt the heat of his hand which sent electrical currents through her body. Alarms once again screamed in her head, as she turned towards the brunette, everything inside her screaming to remove his hand and run.

"I won't let it get worse," Stefan swore to her, but Caroline tried to push off his hand.

"Stefan you can't just-"

"I broke up with her."

Caroline stopped trying to move away from him, allowing his hand to go back in its spot, as she looked up at him. "You what?"

"I umm," Stefan cleared his throat, trying to banish the nerves that suddenly appeared. "I broke up with Katherine."

"Why?" Caroline asked, meeting his eyes, as if trying to decide if he was telling the truth.

Stefan turned so that his whole body was facing her. Suddenly, the sunrise that was the reason that they arrived was their background. Even though Caroline's body was still facing the view, her upper body was completely turned to the person sat beside her.

"Well for a few reasons," Stefan began. "First we've been growing apart for a while, we hardly agree on anything anymore. To be honest I think I was just with her because I was used to having her their, it was normal. I'll always love her, but am I in love with her? No, no I don't think so."

Caroline took his hand that was resting on her thigh, offering him some support through her touch. Even though he didn't seem to be hurt by the breakup, she knew it would be tough, especially since they'd been together for so long.

"Well I'm glad that you realized that," she admitted. "I get that it would've been hard after all this time, but good for you."

She couldn't stop herself from turning away after she spoke. As if looking at him for too long would cause her to do something that she shouldn't. Like lean forward and kiss him.

However, she did turn to him when his body began to shake with laughter. "What's so funny?" she asked, confusion lacing her voice.

"Nothing, nothing," Stefan tried to suppress his chuckles. "It's just that you're so worried about comforting me that you didn't even let me tell you the biggest reason for breaking up with her."

"Well, what was it?" Caroline's voice was small, as if she was scared of the answer.

Stefan cupped her face with the hand that wasn't holding Caroline's. "It was you Caroline. You were the reason."

The shock was written all over Caroline's face, with a little bit of apprehension residing in her eyes. Of course she hoped that he may feel the same, but there was no way that, that could be true. So did he find out about the reason for her breakdown? Did he think that she couldn't handle seeing Katherine? Did he hate her?

"What-what do you mean?"

Stefan smiled at her, taking her hesitance as a sign of nervousness over the fact that he felt the same way. To him it was obvious what he was talking about, and he supposed that she just wanted reassurance.

"I don't know how I didn't see it before," he laughed quietly. "It was right there the whole time and I was so oblivious to it."

But he stopped talking then because Caroline was crying. Full eyed, body shaking sobs that made it look as if her body had complete control over her, and she was a mere guest. The tears fell down her cheeks at such a rapid pace, that when Stefan moved to cup her face with both hands, one was already soaked. Before he could do anything, Caroline was pulling away and sliding off the car.

"I get it okay? Give it a good background, make it nice, and easy, and fake, and then-" Caroline rambled, causing Stefan to panic even more and move towards her.

"Caroline what are you talking about?"

But she was moving away from him, as if his mere presence propelled her away from him. The same ends of two magnets that would never quite touch, no matter how hard one tried.

"You broke up with Katherine because of what she did to me. But it's fine you know? Get back with Katherine and I'll go, I've put myself back together before and I can do it again and-"

"Wait what?" Stefan yelled, finally silencing her word vomit. "Caroline I didn't break up with Katherine in some sick way to get rid of you, I broke up with Katherine because she isn't you."

The blonde froze then, staring at the guy across from her, with his arms raised up in a sort of surrender. As the sun finally broke through the line of the horizon, and the raze of light hit the pair, Caroline continued to gaze.

"Really?"

It was a question that Caroline had asked so many times, to so many different people. She always used to hate herself for asking it because she thought that it made her look weak, as if she needed others to confirm things for her. As if she needed others to decide what she would do.

But looking at Stefan, bathed in an ethereal glow, it didn't feel like that. It didn't feel like she was asking her mother if her father truly loved her, or asking Klaus if she deserved what she received. No this wasn't asking to understand the value of herself, because she wasn't dependant on Stefan, or anyone else for that matter, to decide that for her.

Not anymore.

She was asking because she needed to be sure. If she jumped straight into this, head first and arms open, she wasn't sure if she could dig herself out.

"Caroline, my angel," Stefan said, moving towards her at a cautious page. "I was so sure what my life was before you. It was movie nights with my friends, and suffering through school, and living what I thought was an exciting life. And since you came here, nothing has changed except that my life is now actually exciting. You make me excited to exist again Caroline."

The blonde stepped forward to meet him, both now standing in front of Stefan's foot print covered car. At once they moved to grasp hands, wrapping their fingers around each other, as if they were never meant to fit anywhere else.

"You mean I'm that-" Caroline broke off, as if trying to find the right word.

"Stupendous, amazing," Stefan raised up their linked hands to the sky, "utterly extraordinary?"

Caroline giggled at his dramatics, biting her lip affectionately. "I was going to say weird."

Stefan chuckled in response, moving to rest his forehead against hers. "We're all weird, that's what makes you such a perfect fit."

At that point Caroline knew that he was talking about their friend group, but also the perfect fit with him. And as their lips joined together, Caroline couldn't help, but think that perhaps her lips were a perfect fit, at least when it came to Stefan's.

It wasn't like their first kiss, which was ridden with guilt and unknowingness. Rather this one was filled with an air of comfort and possibility. As if they had come to a mutual agreement that they had all the time in the world, so there wasn't a need for hurrying their movements.

But then, as Caroline moved her hands up to his hair, she got flashes of another kiss. One hidden in a classroom, one that should've never happened.

When she shook herself out of the trance she realized that Stefan had backed her up against the hood of the car, without her knowing it. Looping her hands around his neck, she allowed him to lift her onto the metal, giggling as she slid a little.

His kisses were still light and gentle, with so much care, but despite his mouth not being curious, his hands were. It was as if he couldn't touch enough of her, his hands moving from her waist to her cheeks and then into her hair. Meanwhile, Caroline was gripping onto his hair, pulling it lightly as she gave his tongue access into her mouth.

Stefan refused to wrestle with her tongue, but suddenly that was all the Caroline wanted. This was too similar, too real, and if he changed tactics then maybe it would be okay. If he didn't treat her like she would fucking break it would be okay.

But then his wandering hands hit the bandages on her side, causing her to wince in pain. Suddenly, all of her passion stopped as she dropped her hands, and collapsed onto his shoulder, images flying past her eyes that she never wanted to see.

They broke apart with a gasp, Caroline biting her lip and giggling at the look of passion on his face.

"This is a bad idea," she claimed, even as she stroked his stubble with her hands.

Klaus leaned forward and pecked her lips quickly. "Now, you're just saying that because I got paint on your dress yesterday."

Caroline screeched, as Klaus picked her up and put her on one of the only clean art tables. She almost snapped at him, as the last time that he did this was when there was still wet paint on the table, meaning that she had to explain to her mom why her white dress was stained green.

But then he was kissing her cheek, her nose, her forehead, and the corner of her lip. It didn't stop until he was sure that he kissed every inch of her face, all the while whispering sweet words in her ear.

This was why she snuck in here at lunch and after school. This was why she hardly hung out with friends or her mom anymore, not with this man in front of her. Not with him telling her the sweetest things that she's ever heard, and she knew that it had only been a month, but God she could fall love with him tomorrow.

"Why do you even like me this much?" Caroline suddenly asked, while Klaus was sucking on her neck. "Like look at me."

Klaus leaned back until they were face to face, when he smiled sweetly at her. "I am looking at you. You're the most gorgeous and wonderful person I've ever laid my eyes on. I'm lucky to have you Love, not the other way around."

"Caroline?" Stefan called, as if trying to pull her back to the real world.

She could feel herself now, her head leaning on Stefan's shoulder, her feet now on the ground, but still pushed up against the car. She must have slid off while she was wrapped up in memories.

"Are you okay?" Stefan asked, stroking her hair to try and calm her.

Caroline lifted her head, wiping her tears with her hands, as she gazed at him. "You can't do that," she told him, in a small voice.

"Do what?"

Caroline let out a breath. "You can't kiss me so gently, as if I might break. I know why you're doing it, but he did the same thing. And one day your kisses won't become soft anymore, because you've had a bad day at work, or you had a fight with Damon, or you'll suddenly decide that I'm your punching bag."

Stefan furrowed his eyebrows, moving to cup her cheeks and wipe off the tears that continued to be formed. "I'll never-"

"That's what he said. Right at the beginning he told me that he would never hurt me and that I was this great thing that was bigger than my dad and him." Caroline moved her eyes so that she wasn't looking at him, her voice becoming so quiet that Stefan could hardly hear her. "That's how he got me devoted and I know that you don't want to do that, because you're you, but," she trailed off.

"But you're scared you'll be mislead again."

Caroline nodded, remembering a time only a year after that day in the art room, when everything was so different.

She went to his house after school everyday during the week. There was no more committees, or friends, or watching TV shows with her mom. No there was Klaus, and making dinner for Klaus, and talking to Klaus, and sleeping with…

Caroline shook her head to remove the thought process from her mind, as she continued to stir the pasta for dinner She knew that Klaus had to go and visit his parents, as they were going back to England soon, but Klaus hated his parents. Which meant that Caroline had to be extra careful tonight of all nights, so everything had to be perfect, including dinner.

About ten minutes later, when Caroline was about to put the spaghetti on the table, she heard the door open, signalling that Klaus had arrived. She quickly scooped the pasta onto the two dishes, and ran them over to their placemats in front of the chairs. She tried to ignore the fact that her fifteen year old hands were shaking, as she put all of the pots into the sink.

While she filled them up with water, she felt Klaus move to stand behind her body. She sighed as he pushed her hair over her shoulder and kissed her neck in what was supposed to be a loving way.

"Hello Love," he greeted, rubbing her sides, causing her to close her eyes in pain when he hit a bruise.

"Hi," she answered. "How was the dinner with your parents?"

Klaus sighed, as he moved over towards the table to get started on his dinner, leaving Caroline to sigh with relief before she moved to join him. "Oh not very pleasant I'm afraid, you know what my parents are like."

Ah yes she did know, for she had met them many times. Especially right at the beginning of their relationship when Caroline thought that Klaus showing her off had been a good thing, and not something to fear. When she still believed that she was more than a doll to her boyfriend.

"Well at least you got to see them before they went back to the UK," Caroline reasoned, taking care to roll up her spaghetti enough so that sauce wouldn't go everywhere.

The dinner continued in a strained silence, the only sound was the clang of the cutlery against the plates. It wasn't until they had eaten about half of their meal that Klaus spoke up again.

"You know they say that the quickest way to lose weight now is to eat half of everything."

It was said in passing, but Caroline knew what it truly was. A threat. "Oh really?" she asked, feigning curiosity.

"Yea, maybe you should give it a try Love."

Caroline swallowed back the tears that formed in her eyes, as she nodded and rose from the table. "Good idea, besides I was getting full anyway." The rumble of her stomach contradicted her words, but Klaus didn't notice, he never did anymore.

She tried to suck in her stomach whilst she picked up her dishes. She remembered her father commenting on her weight when she was younger. Klaus always claimed that he would never say what her father did. So if he was telling her that she needed to lose weight, than it must be true.

It was hours later, after she had cleaned up from dinner and had a glass of water to fill the gap in her stomach, when Klaus was watching TV. She walked in there, with her coat hanging off of her arm, in hopes that perhaps she could get home with enough time to do some of her homework.

"Klaus I think I'm going to go-"

But she had barely gotten the words out, when Klaus pulled her down and trapped her underneath him. His lips were on her, all teeth and fierceness, as if he was trying to suck the life out of her through her mouth.

When he pulled away for air, she could see that his eyes were leaking angry tears, and she knew immediately that his father had said something to him. She knew what that was like, probably more than anyone, so how could she leave him?

"You know he's wrong, right?" she whispered. "Just like you always said mine was."

But Klaus didn't respond, only dived back in with teeth and hands, sprouting new injuries all over her body. However, Caroline didn't cry, not until she got home ad had to take a shower, after all she had to be there for him, because he had been there for her.

Hadn't he?

"Klaus' dad was the same as yours?"

Caroline nodded, biting her lip with nerves. "I think that's why we lasted for so long because if I left him, why would anyone stay with me?"

Stefan didn't know what to say, so he just pulled her towards his body until they were locked in an embrace. Caroline sighed into his shoulder, taking in his scent, before pulling away while still keeping her arms locked around him.

"That's why I need you to be sure, because if I dive into this, I'm all in. But at the same time I don't want you to swear things to me either because I just, I want us to be like a normal relationship."

Stefan placed a kiss on her forehead, lovingly. "Look I don't know how to do this okay? My only experience with this has been Katherine, but I'll try my hardest, and if I do something wrong you need to tell me, okay?"

Caroline nodded, smiling for the first time in a while, as she leaned forward and kissed him slowly. She turned them so that they were both leaning back on Stefan's car, and then separated from Stefan, so that she could watch the sun.

"So we're really doing this?" she asked, with her arm wrapped around him and her head leaning on his shoulder.

"Well I really like you, so I'm in it if you are," Stefan answered, finding her more interesting than the sun.

Caroline turned to him and smiled, "Definitely."

The pair looking back at the sun then. Stefan in a wrinkled up dress shirt and pants, Caroline in a large sweatshirt and comfortable leggings. They were completely different, but as the sun bathed them in a golden light they looked more similar than they ever had before.

In the black night, melting away,
as the red sun rolls in its place
She sat up stretched and reached for the edge of the sky
Then opened her eyes and woke up

Look who's back, back again. The worst Steroline fic author EVER! I'm super shit and believe me I could bore you with details as to why this took me so long, but instead I am just going to apologize and swear that the next update will be soon. ANYWAY, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, that was so sweet it could give anyone a cavity. We got another view of teh Klaus and Caroline relationship, and a small glimpse as to how Steroline will act as a couple.

But how will their friends react? And what about Katherine? I mean do you guys really think that she'll go down without a fight?

This chapter was named after "Waking Up" by the amazing band Parachute, go give it a listen, and you can thank me later. Please leave a review because I love reading them, and I always answer them at the beginning of every chapter. Also come bug me on tumblr because my friend (are we friends now? I'm gonna say yea) stefansalfatore (go check her out, she's great) sends me messages constantly, and is a big reason as to why this chapter is out now. Love you all!

~Lizzie

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