AN: As always, this isn't beta-ed. All mistakes are mine. Standard disclaimers apply.

It ends.

Finally.

She watches people mill around as the service draws to a close, shaking hands and sharing hugs and saying things she can't bring herself to listen to.

Finally.

Stefan listens to her sigh.

She hasn't moved since the ceremony ended, glued to her seat and eyes staring into space.

There's a quiet lull of conversation in the air, and Stefan sends a quiet thanks to the gods that she's been left alone.

Because he knows that without the guise of flower arrangements and logistics, without the task of staging the perfect service, it will all come crashing down on her.

So he listens quietly to the pitter patter of her undead heart and the silent whispers of her breath, waiting to catch her when it happens.

Suddenly, he feels her palm trail down from his elbows, linking her fingers with his, her head laying slowly on his shoulder.

They stay like that for a while, linked and comfortable and just together.

He has no illusions that this will be a smooth sailing ride. This is Caroline Forbes, after all.

But he knows, without a shadow of a doubt that Caroline Forbes is worth every sharp turn, every dark menacing pothole.

She's worth suffering through it all.

"Hey," he starts, squeezing her hand.

He realizes this is probably going to be the last moment they have alone together as he shifts in his seat to face her, wrapping his hands around both of hers.

With anyone else, he probably wouldn't have felt the need to talk, to address the elephant in the room disguised as an awakening kiss with the sun set in the horizon.

Because even though he doesn't understand why she continues to question herself despite being t h e Caroline Forbes, he needs her to know that he isn't going anywhere.

As her eyes meet his, she cradles her face in his hands and plants a chaste peck on her lips.

"Walk with me?"

Their arms are linked as they walk aimlessly in the woods, dead leaves crunching under their feet.

She knows it's probably unwise to abandon her mother's service but she knows it's nothing Elena and Matt can't cover for.

She stirs her thoughts away from Elena and the inevitable talk about one particular Salvatore and her brain chooses to drive straight into your mother is dead.

The trees echo the hitch of her breath she fails to hide and in a moment his arms are around her.

And she lets herself be held.

She lets herself fall apart into an inconsolable heap of tears and flailing limbs. Because my mother is dead.

Behind her closed lids she watches her mother smile, she watches her let go.

Stefan brings them down on the bed of fallen leaves, arms still wrapped around his bestfriend. He cradles her on his chest, rocking them slightly. His hand is on her back, running up and down and up again.

He rides each wave of her tears with his strength, praying each one will be the last, hoping his arms can cushion the blow from each memory she's sure to be replaying in her head.

When the tide stills and her chests stops shaking against his, he feels her pull back a little.

And before she can even begin what he assumes would be a rehearsed "it didn't mean anything if you don't want it to" speech.

He beats her to it.

With a palm on each side of her neck, he starts.

"Care," he says, willing her eyes to meet his.

"I know you're scared, and that you're lost, and that this isn't the best place or time or circumstance but I just want you to know that I'm not going anywhere."

"I didn't want you to spend anymore time thinking that I have any intention of being far from you. I didn't want you to think for a moment that that kiss meant nothing."

He watches her smile at that, the vivid memory of her lips on his searing his brain. He pulls her back into another embrace and he feels her arms wrap tight around her neck.

"I want the same trees that watched me walk away from you that night when I got back, I want the same birds that heard me tell you that we're not going to happen, I want them to witness this. I want them to see us: you and me, maybe walking away from each other, maybe saying words we don't mean."

She slaps his chest playfully and he answers with a wink.

"I want them to see how I always found my way back, how I will probably always screw up and pay dearly for it. I want this forest to witness us, Care. Because, even though right now I'm sure you still think this isn't real, that this is just for now, I want them to watch me die trying to prove to you that you're wrong."

For a moment he forgets, about all the pain he's had to go through to be here, about the pain still waiting to be felt.

"Your mother is gone and I know that's hard to move past from. It's hard to begin to wrap your head around having to live in a world where she doesn't exist. She asked me to look after you. And I will," he whispers to the side of her face.

"I will stay, Care. If there's one thing you can count on, it's that."

He feels her sigh in content, her head lolling into the space on his shoulder.

"And because I know you're keeping track, I will make three promises to you that I intend to keep," he says with a soft laugh as he pulls back once again.

"I will not let anything happen to you," he says, kissing the skin between her brows.

"I will stay," he says, lips brushing the top of her nose.

"And this last one is the one I will work hardest to keep," he draws her near, watches her eyes flutter close.

"I will never give you any reason to hate me."

And seals it with a kiss.

Author's Notes: I've been struggling with writing these two lately for reasons I myself do not know. Please let me know what you think about this or any of my other works because I really need feedback.

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