Stefan was sitting. Just sitting on his sofa, listening to the rain and enjoying the feel of being back in his own home. He sipped at a glass of bourbon. His mind kept straying back to Caroline and Liz, but the entire situation made him feel hopeless so he tried not to think about it.

A tiny knock at the door surprised him. He glanced at the clock. It was nearly 2 am. He opened the door hesitantly to find his best friend, tiny and soaking wet from the rain.

"Caroline, hey...is everything okay?" he asked, slightly panicked.

"Yeah," she assured him, quickly, "Yeah, it's okay, I guess. I just...the hospital sent me home and I didn't want to be at home, so..." She looked down and kicked gently at the pink bags at her feet.

He realized that she was still standing out in the cold and he hadn't invited her in yet.

"Come in," he said quickly, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and pulling her inside. He grabbed the overnight bags from her feet and closed the door behind them.

"Can I get you a drink?" he asked, motioning her toward the fire to get dry and warm.

"Coffee would be amazing," she admitted, taking off her coat and settling into the chair nearest to the fire.

He stopped in the doorway as he was about to enter the room with two cups of coffee. He took her in. Her hair wavy from the rain, her cheeks glowing in the firelight. She was beautiful. Of course, he knew that. He had known that from the start. The difference being that before he had been blinded by his love for Elena. And now that that had faded, he was able to see what was in front of him.

Caroline sensed him in the room and twisted around, catching him staring at her. She smiled weakly as she caught his eye. Stefan came out of his fog and pushed himself out of the doorway, walking toward Caroline with the coffee.

"Thanks," she said as she breathed in the hot liquid.

"So...how's-?" he began to ask.

"Don't," she cut him off.

Stefan looked at her, confused.

"I'm sorry. But I just can't talk about that right now. I'm..exhausted," she breathed.

Stefan nodded in understanding, sipping his own coffee.

"Is that okay?" she asked.

Stefan smiled, "Of course it is."

She sipped her coffee again before something seemed to occur to her. "Is Damon here? Because I really don't think I can deal with his mouth right now," she said, beginning to put down her cup and make a run for it.

Stefan gently caught her arm. "Damon's drunk and asleep. Apparently Elena stood him up yesterday." Stefan tried not to smile about that. Caroline didn't even try.

Caroline yawned. Stefan laughed. "I'm not sure I've ever seen a vampire yawn before," he said.

"That should be a clue to how exhausted I am," Caroline chuckled.

"You can sleep in my bed," Stefan said.

Caroline arched an eyebrow at him and opened her mouth to speak. Stefan realized then how that had sounded.

"I mean, you can have my bed and I'll take one of the guest rooms. My bed is the most comfortable and it's the farthest away from Damon's room." he quickly added.

Caroline closed her mouth and then smiled, embarrassed but appreciative. She took another sip of her coffee before standing up and stretching. Stefan caught a glimpse of her flat stomach as her sweater lifted up, and looked away quickly.

"Just make yourself at home," he said, walking behind her into the kitchen to put their cups in the sink. She stopped in the doorway on their way out and turned around to face him. "Thanks for everything, Stefan." She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a tight squeeze. Stefan froze for a moment before putting his own arms around her waist and savoring the warmth of their joined bodies. That's when he remembered something he had noticed earlier. He pulled back without releasing her and looked up, clearing his throat. Caroline looked at his face and then looked up to where his eyes were pointing.

She rolled her eyes and shook her head with a smile as she noticed the mistletoe. She loosened her arms but didn't take them off, just clasped her hands behind his neck and let them dangle loosely from him like they were at a middle school dance.

"Looks like Damon booby trapped the entire house with mistletoe," Stefan laughed and looked past her into the kitchen, fighting the urge to get lost in her clear blue eyes, to let his eyes drift down to her warm, pink lips.

Caroline giggled nervously, but didn't move away. Her own eyes found his lips and she licked her lips unconsciously. When neither of them moved away or said anything and their smiles fell into more serious expressions, a tension fell over them.

"Stefan..." she said in barely a whisper, fear, excitement and warning in her voice.

He leaned in and placed a soft kiss on her cheek, dangerously close to her mouth. He could feel her warm breath so close to his mouth, but he resisted the almost painful urge to kiss her again. He pulled away and read her expression. Her eyes were closed and her cheeks pink.

She slowly fluttered her eyes open and smiled. It wasn't the time for more. She needed him to be her friend. Even if there was a possibility that now both of them wanted more. "More" was a complication that she didn't have the energy for, at least not tonight.

He let go first. Dropping his hands from her waist and stepping back, allowing her to walk past him and up the stairs.

"I'll...uhh...get you settled in and get you some clean sheets," he said, nervously, grabbing her bags and following her up.

"Your sheets are fine, Stefan," she said, looking back at him over her shoulder.

A hot shiver ran up his back at the idea of her sleeping surrounded by his scent all night. And even more so at the thought of her sweet smell sinking into his sheets for him to have to deal with later.

He didn't know where this was coming from, but he had a sneaking suspicion that Caroline Forbes had finally gotten under his skin and wasn't going anywhere for a while. She stopped at his bedroom door.

"Merry Christmas, by the way," she said, cheerfully, sounding more like herself than she had in sometime.

"Merry Christmas, Caroline," Stefan said, as he handed her her bags and watched her walk into his room and shut the door.

He let out a huff of breath and smiled to himself. No one had said it but she was obviously moving in, at least while she was taking care of her mom. Things at the Salvatore Mansion were about to get a lot more interesting.