CHAPTER I: The Night We Met

The doorplate with the big number 3 was there, in front of her as she squinted. Bonnie was trying to open the door, concentrated on the key. Caroline looked at her from the corner of the eye, her lips formed a thin line.

"Need any help?"

"No, I got this" she muttered. "You should know that the door, well, it's hard to open it sometimes and…"

"Let me help you, Bonnie, or this hallway will be my new bedroom and there's no way I'm sleeping with cockroaches around me."

The two of them shoved their shoulders against the door twice, three times, until they finally opened it and, stumbling over Caroline's bags and suitcases, they fell to the ground.

Bonnie pulled away one of the bags. "I have Greece flashbacks."

"But these are only half of my stuff" Caroline realized that one of the wheels of the suitcase was in the other extreme of the room.

"I'm gonna kill—"

"What the hell is going on, Bon?! I'm trying to sleep."

Caroline and Bonnie looked up.

"Is this your boyfriend?" Caroline whispered. Bonnie tried not to laugh.

"Nah, this is just Damon. One of my roommates. It's 2pm, Damon."

"Oh!" Caroline got up fast and walked over to him. "Hi! Bonnie has told me so much about you guys" she offered her hand and Damon shook it with a frown.

"So this is your control freak of a friend, riiiight."

"Huh" Caroline looked at Bonnie, clearly offended. "So, uh… Are you okay with me moving in?"

"He is. Right, Damon?"

Damon stared at all the bags and suitcases for a second and then headed to the kitchen. Caroline and Bonnie exchanged a worried look.

"Look" Caroline started, sitting on one of the stools, "I promise you're not going to regret it. I'm super tidy."

"Caroline, you don't have to say anything. He's the worst when it comes to organization" Bonnie pointed at him with her finger.

"Wait a second" Damon opened his mouth to complain but Bonnie interrupted him.

"And I'm tired of being the only girl here. Living with three guys is exhausting, you know. So he is okay with you moving in, period."

"Listen" Damon raised his hands in surrender, "I don't have any problem with you staying, as long as you pay the rent, of course."

"Makes sense" Caroline said.

"And Enzo, well, he's not going to say no to anything Bonnie suggests, obviously."

"Obviously" Caroline agreed, even if he didn't know Enzo yet.

"But Ste—"

"He'll be fine. We had to deal with her annoying girlfriend for a year, so" Bonnie offered a fake smile.

"I'm just saying, you should've asked him too."

"He's out there, enjoying his trip to Paris before the holidays come to an end. We shouldn't bother him with simple, easy stuff."

Damon chuckled and bit a croissant. Caroline seemed to think for a bit as she tapped her fingers on the table. She cleared her throat with a smile.

"What if I plan a little surprise welcome home party to that… Ste…?"

"Stefan."

"Stefan. You know, that way he'll see how cool I am and he won't oppose to me staying, being the new roommate, being an amazing new friend…"

Bonnie and Damon exchanged a look and then burst into laughter. Caroline frowned. "What?!"

"Trust me, little Stef isn't the kind of guy to whom you'd throw a surprise party" Bonnie explained.

"Oh, come on. Who doesn't like those things?"

"Uhhhh, let me think, uh…" Damon pretended to think as Caroline waited. "Oh, yeah, Stefan."

Caroline rolled her eyes, bored.

"He likes the calm, the tranquillity, the boredom" Damon said.

"It's not that extreme" Bonnie said. "But yeah, he's a writer."

"But we're 21" Caroline said, as if the idea of someone being an introvert at that age was complete madness.

"Actually, he pretends to not like it, but if you'd have seen him drunk, hah. Good times" Damon sighed and stared into the horizon, lost in thought.

Bonnie grabbed Caroline by the arm.

"Let me show you your bedroom."

Caroline opened her mouth in awe when she saw her room, already furnished and decorated just like she liked it.

"I called your mom a few days ago and she helped me with all this."

"Aww, Bonnie!" Caroline jumped on her and hugged her so tightly that Bonnie found it hard to breathe.

"Car—, Caroline."

"Yes, I know you love me. I love you too, so much!" Caroline didn't let go.

"Caroline, yo—, you're… I can't breathe."

"Aw, shut up" Bonnie sighed and waited for her to pull back. "Will Damon help us with my bags?"

"Don't count on it. But, hey. Tell me, how was Europe? Rome? How much pizza did you eat?

Caroline cleared her throat and looked around.

"Cool, it was cool" she simply said. "Cool, cool, cool" she whispered, walking around the room. Bonnie gave her a suspicious look. "So, let's talk about this welcome home party!"

"No parties!" Damon yelled from the kitchen.

"Came back with supplies! I hope you guys are hungry!"

Bonnie deadass stopped when she saw the mess in the living room.

"Oh, hey, Bonnie!" Caroline peeped out between the balloons. Enzo was blowing up some more.

"Caroline, oh my God!" Bonnie shook her head. "Did you listen to us when we told you Stefan is not fond of… this?"

"It'll be fun!"

Enzo chuckled and Bonnie gave him a murderous look. "I'm just doing this because Stefan's face and reaction will be worth seeing."

"So what time did you say he's supposed to arrive?"

"Eight" Enzo checked the time in his phone. "Which means he'll be here in 1 hour."

"Perfect. The rest of the guests will show up in 30 minutes."

Bonnie looked at Caroline, worried. "Did you just say the rest of the guests?"

"Yeah, Enzo was kind enough to show me Stefan's address book to call his friends" Caroline started drawing smiley faces on the balloons and Bonnie widened her eyes, covering her mouth with her hand. "Who has an address book these days, though?" she could not help but scoff.

"This is gonna be a mess" Bonnie looked around, shaking her head.

"I have a speaker in one of my bags" Caroline disappeared in the hallway as she headed to her room. Bonnie dropped on the couch with a thoughtful look.

"What's going on?" Enzo asked.

"It's just… Caroline. She's acting weird."

"Weird?"

"Yes. I mean, she loves parties, she loves to do these things, but… I feel like she's trying to keep herself busy, to be distracted."

"Maybe she just wants to fit in, make sure everyone's okay with her being the new roommate."

"Speaking of, are you sure you're okay with that?"

"Sure I am. You two hadn't seen each other for, how long?"

"Three years."

"Why did she decide to study in Europe?"

Bonnie sighed. "It's a long story."

"I brought it with me, I know it, I—"

"Caroline, remember the conversation we had a few hours ago in the kitchen?"

Caroline felt his presence at the door, behind her. "Damon, I can't pay attention to you right now. I'm looking for the speaker."

"Listen, you don't have to do this to convince Stefan to accept you, okay? It's not as if we ever really followed Stefan's decisions or instructions. My brother is all broody but deep down he's good, I guess."

She looked over her shoulder. "You two are siblings?"

"Yeah. I'm the cool one."

Caroline scoffed.

"Anyway, why do you do all this?"

"I…" she sighed and turned around to face him with a mask in her hand. "Listen, this is the way I am. I was born this way? Lady Gaga's song?" Damon looked at her in horror and she rolled her eyes, smiling. "I'm too… intense. I like to do things, I always try to offer the best of me."

"Want some advice? A party isn't what my brother would want from you, if you know what I mean" he winked at her and she rolled her eyes again.

Damon fixed his eyes on the mask then, forgetting everything that he was saying or thinking. Caroline sat on the bed, distresses because she could not find the speaker. Damon opened his mouth to say something as he remembered something, a moment from years and years ago. He analyzed Caroline with his eyes and a frown.

"Hah."

"What?"

"Nothing" his lips formed a thin line as he tried not to smile.

"What, Damon?"

"Nothing, I was just thinking that maybe my brother will want someone like you as a roommate after all. I mean, why not?"

"What are you even saying now?"

"And I think you could find him attractive, even if he's a weirdo."

"Do you even remember I'm here, talking to you?"

"You're the kind of girl he might like, and he's the kind of guy that you might want, you know?" he winked at her again.

She was pretty much done with him. "No, I don't know."

"Although, I don't know. He's much shorter than you."

"What?"

"And he dyed his hair. He went for blue."

Caroline shook her head.

"And he has this gigantic pimple in his… you know" Damon looked down and Caroline raised her eyebrows.

"Oh, really?"

Damon tried not to laugh, realizing Caroline was actually believing him. "Yeah, he's gone to so many doctors and specialists, but, nothing. This is why his girlfriend broke up with him."

"Oh" she looked down.

"Anyway, nice mask."

"Thank you" she said, staring at the mask in her hands.

Damon's phone buzzed and he looked at the screen.

"Oh, oh" he said. "I think you're not gonna like this."

"What now?"

"Stefan isn't coming at 8 after all. His flight is delayed and he'll arrive in early-morning hours."

"What?!" Caroline got to her feet, clearly annoyed. "What kind of person arrives late to their party? Like, this disrespect!"

"Um, he has no idea about—"

"Don't you dare defend him, Damon."

"His flight—"

"We're throwing the party. Some of the guests are here already."

She left the room, clearly angry. "Well, okay" Damon picked up the mask and dropped it on the bed.

Caroline got out of her room and dragged her feet to the kitchen, trying not to step on any of the people who were sleeping on the floor. It was early, too early, especially for someone who had been partying hard until very recent.

She sat on the stool with a bowl of milk and cereals and stared at the darkness that she could see through the windows of the flat. Maybe living there was not that bad after all. Although she would have to make some repairs and changes about the decoration for sure.

She stopped chewing when she heard something, as if someone was trying to push the door. She swallowed quickly and hid behind the wall, trying to think fast. Should she yell Bonnie's name? It looked like someone was trying to break in. Maybe some drunk ass that had heard about the party and wanted to be part of it. But who the hell would arrive so late to a party? Didn't people have a sense of logic or?

She grabbed the first thing she saw, a banana, and got ready for the worst. The door was open and she heard some steps. So she just abandoned her dear wall as secret place and jumped on the new unidentified individual, throwing the banana to their face. The banana hit his eye and he hissed.

"What the—"

"Please don't kill us!"

His good eye followed the direction of the voice and he saw Caroline with another banana in her hand, ready to attack again.

"Some of us want to sleep" a guy mumbled, half asleep, on the floor.

"Bill?" Stefan frowned. "What are you doing here?"

"Welcome home, Stefan."

Caroline widened her eyes, realizing her big mistake, and hid the banana behind her. Wait, that was Stefan? THAT WAS STEFAN? But Damon, he…

She was going to kill him. There was no blue hair, and he was taller than her.

"What's going on in here? Who are all these people?" Stefan looked around.

"Um, I'm… I'm Caroline" she waved her hand, embarrassed. Stefan looked back at her, still rubbing his eye. He finally opened both of them successfully, and looked at her better this time.

"Uh" he checked her out really fast, so fast that she did not even notice. "Caroline?"

"Bonnie's friend. I think she didn't tell you" she bit her lower lip. She was going to kill Bonnie too. "I'm the new roommate."

"Oh" his eyes stopped at her shorts but he looked up quickly. "I didn't—"

"Yeah, I know. Sorry for this, uh… Look, this is the thing. Bonnie, Enzo and Damon were okay with me moving in, but since I didn't know if you'd agree I decided to just throw you a surprise welcome home party, but then you texted Damon to tell him your flight was delayed, so well the guests were already here. Some of your friends, by the way. The others are… I honestly have no idea" she giggled nervously. "I just post it on Facebook and people started to show up."

Stefan was looking at her in shock, his eyes wide, his mouth half open.

"And it became too much, so we couldn't cancel. And, well, I was just having breakfast. Well, something to eat. I'm rambling, right? Yeah, I am rambling, of course I am" Caroline started to ramble so lowly, looking at the floor, that Stefan could not hear what she was saying. "Anyway, uh" she cleared her throat, wanting to be swallowed by the earth immediately. "Sorry for all this, and…" she approached him slowly and Stefan stood still, a little nervous. "Welcome home" Caroline offered him the banana and he took it, not knowing what else to do. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry for throwing you the other one, your eye is kind of red right now. Let's…"

She took his hand and he dropped his bag unconsciously, letting her lead him to the kitchen. She made him sit down and she prepared a plastic bag with ice.

"Uh, hey, this isn't necessary, actual—"

Caroline grabbed him by the chin and put the bag against his eye.

"It was just a banana" he said.

"You never know what story might be behind that banana."

He scoffed, shaking his head, and looked down.

"Um, so… Bonnie's friend?"

"Yeah, from childhood, and high school."

"So best friends, huh?"

"Totally, those kinds of best friends who know everything about each other and are very annoying."

He smiled and Caroline's eyes were set on his mouth for a few seconds. He had a nice smile. He was not what Damon had described at all.

"Thank you" Stefan pulled away the bag and blinked. "How is it?"

"It doesn't look bad" she said and he nodded. "Although you might want me to put some make up to cover it, maybe."

He smiled again.

"I'll think about it."

She nodded.

"How was the flight?"

"Long, very long. And there was this guy complaining about everything next to me, so you can imagine."

"What did he complain about?"

"You know, stuff."

"What stuff?"

He looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "I don't know, Caroline, about a lot of things.

"I'm just saying that sometimes some complaints have a good reason, you know?" she picked up the bag again and put it against his eye a little too fiercely. He made a wince. "I've complained sometimes. Are you saying complaints should be ignored?"

"I'm saying that there are people who complain about the minimal thing."

"Mm."

"What does that mm mean?"

"Nothing" she looked around. Stefan observed her. Who was this girl, seriously?

"I see you're a girl with character."

"Oh, am I?"

"Well, you threw a banana at me."

She looked at him and then shook her head with a little smile on her face.

"This is…" he pointed at the bag. "Burning."

"Oh, sorry" she left the bag on the table again. "Well, I think I should go back to sleep."

"Are you sure? Maybe you should stay here, see if there's more people you can attack with a banana."

She rolled her eyes. "Well" she offered her hand and Stefan gave her a questioning look. "I'm Caroline."

Stefan understood that she was trying to begin again. He wrapped her hand with his and shook it.

"Stefan."

Caroline nodded with a smile.

"Good night, Stefan."

"Night."

She turned around and Stefan followed her with his eyes until she disappeared in the hallway. He cleared his throat immediately and looked at the banana on the table, amused.

His welcome back had been very different to what he was used to, that's certain.