"Destiny has two ways of crushing us: by refusing our wishes…and by fulfilling them."

- Henri Frederic Amiel

The best way to sum up the current situation was this: they might as well have been strangers. It had been two weeks since Caroline watched Rebekah put Damon through Hell without blinking, and two weeks since they hadn't spoken a word to each other. Even on the drive back home, while Bonnie, Stefan and Elena celebrated a victory on the supernatural – for a change – Damon and Caroline sat awkwardly, glancing outside.

The blonde perfectly remembered the million questions forming in her head as they returned to Mystic Falls: what would her life be like, now? Was she really safe without Damon's constant protection? Did he still love her? Had this ever been love, at all? As Damon stayed silent the entire drive, she kept her interrogations to herself. It made sense that he needed time to process everything that had happened, and she could use some, as well. She had decided to get home, spend some time alone and give him a call in the evening.

Which she had never done.

It was simply easier that way. When she looked back on how easily she'd fallen into a relationship with him again, after what he put her through the first time, she was ashamed. Disappointed that she hadn't been strong enough to command to her own heart. And now? Well, her feelings remained obscure. Of course, she missed her moments with him, and the silly texting, but the fact that she could stop herself from reaching out to him was exhilarating. Free will was what she focused on, to avoid dealing with the real issues at stake.

She buried herself in the other, stable parts of her life. Reconnecting with Bonnie, getting to know Stefan, and surprisingly, building a friendship with Tyler. She could relate to his impression of being trapped by the werewolf curse, and she did her very best to help him through it, however never forgetting that with a single bite, he could kill her. Experiencing danger freely was the icing on the cake, but every time she was with him, she couldn't help wondering: what would Damon think?

The reflexes acquired during their time "together" were difficult to eradicate, but she did her best, under her friends' uncertain eyes. The girls didn't say a word, as they'd learnt that it was best to let Caroline make her own decisions now that she could, but she could tell that they weren't keeping up with her choice to stay away from Damon. After all, breaking the sire bond was meant to bring them together for good.

Caroline remembered what she told the Originals, about accepting that she and Damon would always be linked. She remembered how it felt, when he looked at her. She felt valued and appreciated, cherished and protected – the feeling was so unknown to her that she'd convinced herself that it was love. Because that's what love was supposed to be, for her. Maybe she was wrong. Being bound to care for someone could be confusing: she was still young and inexperienced, and she couldn't really be blamed for going the wrong way. Now that it was gone, she started to believe that maybe, it had all been an illusion.

The fact that she hadn't heard a word from the other vampire didn't help, either.

"Care," Elena called softly, bringing her out of her reverie. "How about we stop for a while and have a drink?"

The blonde simply nodded, and put down the black miniskirt she was looking at, cursing under her breath. Old habits did die hard. She was shopping with the brunette, to avoid being alone. Because loneliness always led to thinking, and thinking was too confusing.

She needed a new wardrobe, anyway, since she no longer felt comfortable wearing the clothes she'd bought to impress Damon. It had taken her this long to admit that she wanted to be that bubbly, sometimes shallow Caroline, who loved glitter and pink, as opposed to leather and black.

Her friend had been happy to come with her, of course, and they were at the mall, window-shopping mostly, because Caroline's head was not into this. Elena noticed, of course – that girl had always been annoyingly observant. The girls walked to a coffee shop they barely frequented, a nice change of setting from the Mystic Grill. It was barely ten seconds, before Elena gave her a knowing look.

"Maybe there's something you'd like to talk about," she said encouragingly.

Caroline shook her head.

"Not with you," she confessed.

Elena looked down for a moment, embarrassed that her friend felt like she couldn't talk to her. They hadn't had a moment to themselves in a long while, and maybe it was time to finally do what Bonnie had done: accept that Caroline and Damon had something special.

"Caroline, you can talk to me, about anything," she said softly. "Damon crossed the line with Jeremy, and I'll never forgive him that, but not so long ago, he was my friend. I understand what you see in him, and it's okay to tell me if you miss him. Because you are my friend, and I want to be here for you."

The blonde's eyes softened as Elena reached over the table and brushed her hand with a sincere smile.

"It's just that – I don't know," she began. "It feels right that I don't need him anymore, but at the same time, it doesn't."

"Have you talked to him?"

"I wouldn't know what to say," she whined. "I keep trying to figure things out, and it just gets worse."

The brunette smiled benevolently at her friend. She could relate to that feeling, of being lost. Although her situation with Stefan had been radically different, in the end, it was just the story of a boy and a girl with fragile hearts, dancing around each other.

"Let's try something different," Elena said. "Stop thinking about the sire bond, or the fact that you're both vampires. I know that you feel like you're stuck in time, and that you have eternity, but it's not necessarily true. Vampires can die, so it'd be stupid to waste another day."

"What do you suggest, Elena? I don't know what I want," Caroline exclaimed.

"Close your eyes," Elena requested.

The blonde hesitated, but did as she was told.

"Now, when you think about Damon, what's the first thing that comes to your mind?"

Blue eyes immediately met brown ones, and Caroline smiled childishly.

"That day you were at Duke with Jenna, Damon came to pick me up from school," she explained.

"What happened?" Elena encouraged.

"It was the best night of my life," she breathed.

—

"Get in the car, girlfriend," he commanded.

Caroline's jaw dropped at the last word. He'd just called her his girlfriend, in front of everyone. And he was taking her on a date. She glanced back at her friends, and saw Bonnie shaking her head with a smile. This was the green light. And even if she'd wanted to resist, she couldn't have – he had become expert in using his Sire authority on her. She gave in with a faux-dramatic sigh.

"Okay, boyfriend."

Damon ignited the car, and sped towards the boarding house, in silence. He really enjoyed the amazed look on Caroline's face as she stared at him. Everything was going according to plan, and he hoped that after tonight, he would finally take a break from being crazy, alone in his house.

Soon, he pulled over, and sped to the passenger door, to open it.

"Please," he said as he extended his hand to her.

"Such a gentleman," she marvelled as he helped her out of the car and carried her bag.

He offered his arm to her as they walked to the door, and Caroline had to bite the inside of her cheeks to hide her growing smile. She felt like the main character of a romantic comedy, and she had no idea what he had in store for her, for the rest of the evening.

"Stay here," Damon asked as he entered the house.

The blonde nodded, but as soon as he was out of sight, she made her way in – she'd always been far too curious for her own good. And what she discovered inside really took her breath away, in the most delicious way possible.

The curtains were pulled, and the spacious parlour was peppered with scented candles. Whenever she looked, she could see flowers, and he'd even bothered to put on some music. This was a textbook candlelit dinner. And he had done this for her.

"Oh my —" she muttered.

"I thought I told you to wait outside," Damon called sternly, from behind her.

The blonde jumped, and once again, found herself breathless when she laid eyes on him. He had changed into an elegant black suit, a white shirt, and a tie. In a word, he looked absolutely perfect – and even this was an understatement. Caroline felt herself swaying slightly on her feet.

"I – I just," she stuttered, making incoherent gestures with her hands.

"You were being nosy, as usual," he said with a smile, as he walked up to her and dropped a kiss on her lips.

Never mind that she was still in her cheerleading outfit, or that she hadn't had time to properly clean off – her brain stopped functioning the moment their lips came into contact, as usual. She sighed happily in the kiss, but broke away from him.

"Damon," she breathed. "What is all this?"

"I just wanted to show you how much I appreciate you," Damon said, ill-at-ease, all of a sudden.

He wasn't prepared for this – the silence in the room as Caroline studied every little space around them, her eyes widening every time she noticed another candle, or a few petals of roses. He couldn't make sense of the look on her face, and it was making him nervous. What if, after all, she hated it? What if her maturity level was way past his and she thought it was incredibly silly of him to do that?

"Okay, Blondie," he pushed. "Now would be the time for you to say something."

The blonde focused her gaze on him, and finally smiled.

"Wow," she breathed. "I mean, like, WOW. Everything is beautiful, Damon."

Damon sighed with relief, and resumed the normal course of the evening, as he'd planned it.

"No," he whispered. "You're beautiful."

She giggled as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. She wondered where this over-romantic side of him was coming from, but she decided that she'd just enjoy it for the night. Because she deserved her fairy tale, too, and since Damon was giving it to her on a silver platter, why refuse?

"Was that too much?" he asked with a slight frown.

"Definitely," she said. "But please, keep going."

Damon grinned at her, and put a glass of champagne in her hand. He raised his in the air with a solemn look that she'd never seen on him before.

"I drink to you, the girl – the woman, who's going to make me an honest vampire," he said with a glint in his eyes.

—

Damon took his time to skilfully sprinkle dinner with little things, and bigger ones – compliments and declarations of love. Over dessert, when he uttered the magic words I am in love with you, she asked what happened to the cautious Damon who'd asked her to move out. With an apologetic smiled, he had simply said: I'm done being scared.

Caroline cleared her throat and snapped out of her daze. Elena was looking at her with a smile.

"All evening, he was funny, and sweet and so caring," Caroline summarized. "He stood there, looked me in the eye and said he couldn't wait until we started the next chapter of our future together."

The words had been heavy with commitment when he had uttered them; the blonde had barely believed her luck. He'd promised to be true to her. And maybe it was just her, but in her eyes, this evening had been Damon's way of promising her "forever".

"Wow," Elena said. "I never thought Damon had it in him."

Caroline smiled softly at the obvious amazement in her friends' voice. Telling the story again made her realize just how exceptional it was that someone would do this for her. A bittersweet sadness overwhelmed her. The blonde sighed heavily, and averted her gaze from her friend, as she felt tears forming in her eyes.

"Yeah, neither did I," she whispered.

She had struggled against it the best she could, but she couldn't ignore the hole in her heart, anymore. She thought about that night, when everything was simple, and found herself regretting this bond they'd gone out of their way to break. They were foolish before, to believe it was making things complicated. It was the exact opposite.

Just as she formulated this thought, something snapped inside of her, leaving her breathless. Suddenly, she understood – the bond made everything easier because they had no other choice than follow its lead. Now, they were both free. She was free to miss him, and he was free not to call. She had been frightened for two weeks because he was free to reject her. But not anymore – she needed to know where he stood, and she'd force him out of him if she had to.

"I need to see him," she whispered, a hand clutched to her heart. "Can you drive me?"

Elena nodded shortly, and led the blonde to her car.

—

"I'm just saying," Damon said as he downed his glass of Bourbon and dropped it sharply on the coffee table. "I'd be less angry if it was my decision."

He'd been silent on the "Blondie elephant in the room" for two weeks, but he couldn't hold back anymore. He was going to explode – because although the sire bond was broken, it hadn't taken away any of the chaos inside his head. And his heart.

"It is," Stefan said sternly. "You are making the decision not to call her."

Damon rolled his eyes.

"Seriously, which side are you on, exactly?"

The green-eyed vampire smiled at his brother's exasperation.

"You're both being childish," Stefan admonished. "I can't believe you went through all this trouble about the sire bond, for nothing."

"It wasn't nothing," his brother objected. "We just – it had to be done."

"At least when you were bound together, you were happy," Stefan said.

"Okay, look", Damon started, "I know that you and Elena believe it's normal and healthy to be continually glued at the hip, but that's not the way I see things."

"It's normal and healthy if it's what you want," Stefan shrugged. "And you wanted it, not so long ago."

"That bond was making me feel things that weren't real, Stefan," he objected, trying his best to sound convinced.

However, he failed to block out thoughts of these out-of-everything moments when Caroline brought back the Damon that he once was – the one he wished he still were – without even noticing. He exhaled heavily.

"So what's your excuse for sitting on your ass, moping about her all day, now that there's no more bond?"

Damon emitted a low growl and glared at his brother – this new dynamic was interesting, to say the least. Stefan had taken to being a little rougher with his older brother, and was constantly pushing him to the limit. It seemed intolerable to him that Damon and Caroline should carry on ignoring – rather running from – each other, and the blue-eyed vampire couldn't help his instinctive reaction: doing exactly the opposite of what Stefan wanted.

"I liked you better when you were brooding," he said.

"And I liked you better when you wanted a love that consumes you," Stefan fired back.

"Why would I want that, still?" Damon said, genuinely taken aback. "Look where that got me with Katherine."

Stefan shook his head. This was typical of Damon – always taking things too far. In Stefan's eyes, being consumed didn't imply suffering. The kind of love that he wanted for his brother was warm, but not scorching. It was a fire whose flames came without destruction.

"Caroline isn't Katherine," he simply said.

"They both ran first chance they got, that's all I'm saying," Damon grumbled, bitterness lacing his voice.

He felt trapped in the same destructive pattern with women. Katherine had been the first woman to provoke such powerful emotions in him, and he'd blindly followed her lead, into this sorry excuse for a relationship. The bad certainly outweighed the good, and he'd known that at the time, but he was in too deep to do anything about it. He refused to make the same mistakes again. Having this bond broken, and thus, having his head clear for the first time in a century and a half was liberating.

"I think you're the one who's running here, Damon."

Damon's annoyance spiralled up in the blink of an eye – he was tired of Stefan's advice. The man had fallen into a relationship with the doppelganger of the woman they'd both loved: who was he to proclaim the dos and don'ts of a perfect relationship?

"And I think this conversation's over."

"Damon, listen," Stefan said in appeasement. "We've talked about this before. Regrets are the worst thing that could happen to you. Just – think about it."

"I already have regrets," Damon exclaimed angrily.

His voice resonated against the walls as he breathed heavily. The deepest reason for his discomfort and torment was about to pass his lips, and he needed to get it out. Stefan would probably have something wise to say about it, but he didn't care. Nothing anybody could say about this would ease his guilt.

Suddenly feeling exhausted, he slumped into the couch, poured himself another glass of Bourbon and swallowed it in a blur. His brother remained at a distance, unwilling to push him – he appreciated that.

"I told her I loved her," Damon eventually said, avoiding Stefan's eyes. "And now I'm thinking, maybe it was a lie."

Stefan gave Damon a moment to collect himself as he gathered the words his brother didn't say. Damon knew all too well what it felt like, when someone lied to you about their feelings. The fact that he didn't want to hurt Caroline the way Katherine had hurt him was only proof that he cared, and Stefan felt compelled to encourage him in this direction.

"You meant it when you said it."

"Doesn't matter," Damon grumbled.

Because once these words were said, the 'when' mattered little; they remained with you. Caroline was going to live forever; every now and then, the memory of his words would surface and cut out a small piece of her heart. Just thinking about how many times she must have replayed this moment to herself in the past two weeks made him want to never leave that house again. How could he look her in the eye ever again, after that?

"You guys did everything backwards," Stefan reasoned. "So I suggest that you stop feeling sorry for yourself and give her a call. I'm sure the second you'll be in front of her, you'll know."

"What if I don't feel anything?" Damon objected. "What I owe her is my absence."

"You're just so stubborn," Stefan said, on the verge of giving up.

"And you, brother, are just so damn pushy! Give me a break, okay?"

Stefan shrugged, feeling like this conversation was over – he'd never managed to get Damon to do something against his will, and his brother's frowning face told him that today simply wasn't the day. Maybe tomorrow. He'd have to talk to Elena, to find out how Caroline was dealing with the situation and then maybe he would be able to form a coherent plan.

As if on cue, Stefan's phone rang loudly. He smiled to himself when he saw Elena's name appear on the screen.

"Perfect timing, Elena," Stefan said despite Damon's threatening glare. "Still shopping with Caroline?"

Damon threw his hands up in the air as he heard Elena say something along the lines of we're actually at the boarding house and Stefan went to open the door with a satisfied look on his face.

To Damon, the idea of facing the blonde seemed nothing short of unconquerable. What should he say? Why was she here? He didn't have much time to figure it out – in the blink of an eye, Caroline stormed in, while Elena hesitantly stood on the doorstep.

"You promised," the blonde said reproachfully. "You gave me your word, Damon!"

He blinked furiously, wondering just what the Hell was going on. Stefan glanced at Elena, who nodded for him to go with her, and give the two vampires a little privacy. The green-eyed vampire complied without a word, hoping this would fix things, once and for all. He gave one last look to his brother's dumbfounded face, and smiled to himself. Caroline truly had a way of bringing back the Damon he knew.

"You promised me," Caroline reminded. "That we'd try to be together."

As soon as the door was closed and they were left alone, Damon understood that there was no way out, this time. He'd made a promise to that girl, and she was going to make him keep it. Maybe he should let her. Or maybe he should wonder why they'd chosen to go their separate ways for two weeks.

"You ran," he said. "As soon as you could. So you don't get to come here and yell at me."

Caroline heaved a sigh, looking down for a moment. He was right – she ran.

"I got scared," she admitted softly. "I'm sorry."

Damon went to sit back on the couch, silently. Her presence was soothing, but he was a proud man. He was not going to give her the satisfaction of knowing that he was sorry, too. That he'd been running too somehow, hiding here to avoid running into her at the Grill.

"I needed time," Caroline continued. "To figure out what I wanted, if I wanted anything from you, at all."

Damon gritted his teeth at her last words – the possibility that she didn't want anything from him made his undead heart clench. His blue eyes met hers finally, as he expected her to carry on.

"I wanted you to have time, too," she said. "I wanted you to want to be with me. But it's been two weeks and—"

She trailed off, her voice slightly quivering.

"Two weeks is vampire talk for two seconds," he said blankly.

Silence fell upon them as they looked at each other, Damon still very much hesitant. She closed her eyes momentarily and inhaled a deep breath. She understood that he was hurt, and the mere idea of being responsible for that made her hate herself.

"Well, these two seconds without you felt like forever."

Damon felt his own nervousness subside slowly as he finally realized that she probably wasn't here to end things for good. His instinct told him to embrace this occasion and follow Stefan's advice, for a change. But his brain was telling him to get to the bottom of it.

"You could have just called, if you cared so much," he observed.

Caroline's mouth fell open and she did her best not to yell at him.

"Oh, so you didn't call because you don't care?"

He growled lowly.

"Didn't say that."

"So what exactly are you saying, Damon?" she pushed. "Do you want me to leave you alone? Do you wanna be together? Do you even give a damn, now that you don't have to?"

Caroline felt exhilarated that she was able to yell at him without feeling like she was messing with some irrelevant supernatural rules. Just for good measure, she pushed his shoulder and barely suppressed a smile when nothing happened. She was free. Free to hurt him, but also free to love him.

She sat back quietly, turning her body so that she was facing him. Her eyes caressed his face endearingly, and she put her hands on top of his, that were resting on his lap.

"I love you, Damon," she said, her voice vibrant with emotion. "I am in love with you, and I want to give this a chance. Please tell me we can forget about the past two weeks, and pick up where we left off."

"Blondie, I—"

"Don't you see?" she breathed as she caressed his face softly. "We're perfect together."

Damon looked down for a moment, and decided to keep his promise to be honest with her. That, he could do.

"I want to be with you, Caroline, but—"

He stopped himself as his breath hitched and his eyes closed. Caroline frowned, hope making her undead heart swell. She really hoped he was going through the same thing that happened to her at the mall.

—

Caroline followed Elijah in silence, glancing one last time to Damon with a serene smile. Her heart might have been pounding in her chest, but she had a feeling that things would turn out to be just fine. Her conviction could not be shaken; what's more, she trusted the quiet Original. His quiet aura of power, added to his genuine benevolence, led her to believe that it wasn't in his nature to harm. He said he'd help, and he would.

They walked up through a long marbled corridor, and came to a spacious lounge room. The blonde silently praised the taste with which it was decorated as her eyes roamed over every elegant detail around her.

"This is my study," Elijah explained softly. "It is spelled to be protected from supernatural hearing."

She nodded quietly, unsure of which reaction she was supposed to have.

"Thank you," she said. "For convincing Klaus to help us. He doesn't really like us."

A discreet smile materialized on Elijah's lips, as he motioned for her to sit in a luxurious armchair.

"I suppose you could blame that on his infatuation for you."

Caroline cleared her throat, feeling herself blush slightly. She had noticed his brother's interest, of course, but didn't believe it was strong enough to be labelled as an infatuation.

"Is he going to help, though?"

"My brother and I have come to an agreement on the course of action, here," he indicated.

Her blue eyes found Elijah's brown ones staring politely, and she smiled gratefully.

"Ms Forbes, may I ask you a question?" he said.

"Sure."

"How come you are so convinced that your feelings will remain, should we succeed in breaking your bond?"

The younger vampire smiled dreamily, causing Elijah's gaze to soften some more.

"Have you ever been in love, Elijah?" she prompted, before she could help herself.

He simply shook his head, refusing to think about the replica of her friend Elena.

"Then you can't understand," she sighed. "When I turned, I thought I'd be miserable forever. He made me reconsider."

"A friend could do that for you," he objected.

Caroline squirmed in her seat, faintly annoyed by how much everybody seemed to enjoy questioning her.

"I don't have words to explain it," she confessed. "I just know it, in my bones. Damon is the one for me, and I refuse to let a stupid sire bond keep us from having a normal relationship. I want to be able to argue with him, just so we can make up. I want to be able to slap his across the face when he's a jerk. Do what every other couples do."

Elijah remained silent, contemplating her words. This young one had a fairly realistic vision of love, and the man she claimed to love, both. He couldn't help but envy her – her certainty, her eagerness. Love – or maybe the illusion of it – made life easier. As immortal beings, they could use every little improvement they got.

He got to his feet, ever so quietly, immediately imitated by Caroline. He could hear the rapid thumping of her heart, and cautiously put his hands on her shoulders.

"From this moment forward, you will not feel obligated to Damon Salvatore in any way until you discover the exact nature of your feelings for him. Should you find that the sire bond was the reason for your attachment, you will be free of it. On the other hand, if you do love him, you will do everything in your power to make it work. Do you understand me, Ms Forbes?"

"Yes, I understand," she said before reconnecting with reality. "Thank you, Elijah."

"Of course," he said politely. "Klaus will have ordered Damon the same."

Elijah paused for a second, and allowed his pupils to dilate again.

"Both of you will remember the details of these conversations only in the second case."

FIN.

a/n: Well, it seems like this is the end of our 10-chapter adventure, my lovelies. I hope all of you will be satisfied with the ending. Although a super romantic scene could have been added at the end, I really wanted to end on Elijah's words and his decision not to influence Damon and Caroline, but rather, allow them to be as normal as possible.

Now, before I stop rambling, I want to acknowledge each and every one of you - thank you for the hits, the favourites, the reviews, the adds to your author alerts. It always means a lot to me, I can't even tell you how much. THANK YOU.

As usual, if you have requests, you can PM me and I'll try to write them if I'm inspired. See you soon ;)

From Paris, with much love,

M.