It's The Way We Love

Know what? I somehow knew you all would choose this one to upload next :D

This one is fluffy and all heartwarming, and even a little corny I'd say. None of these things really fits SK, but I'd like to think that if they get their happy ending in the end and move past all the bullshit, they would be really happy this time.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Proposal

Timeline: set in the future, post Klaus. It's also a sequel to my previous onehsot 'Advice' (chapter 4)

Rating: T

She thinks she can briefly remember a time when she wanted to get married while she was human but she's not sure. When you've been alive for as long as she has - approximately 600 years - your forget things sometimes, or you think you remember something that didn't happen.

You confuse dreams with reality.

Especially your human years, they just... slip by.

But she does remember the sweet girl she used to be who believed in true love and she supposes it only made sense for her to want to get married, have a family because that's what a sweet albeit naive girl who believed in true love would want to do.

However, that was a long time ago.

Before she was turned, before she met Klaus, before she had to give up her baby, before her parents died.

Before she realized how cruel the world really was.

Before she gave up her humanity, made all the wrong choices and stepped on a dangerous path that would surely lead her to Hell.

She was doomed, hopeless, lonely and true love did not exist. Not for her.

Until Stefan.

Then he came along and for the first time in centuries she played with the idea that maybe the world's not all evil, maybe there's some good out there after all.

He was everything good out there for her in this universe and if it wasn't for Klaus and the unpredictable, unstable life she was leading, she would have him marry her right away and ride off with him happily into the sunset.

Instead she left him and broke everyone's heart.

His, Damon's, hers.

But it was the first time she thought about marriage since she became a vampire and at first the depth of her feelings for him scared her immensely - and sometimes it still does - but she just knew she couldn't let her fear come between them.

She will marry him someday, she'll tell you this much, and the thought of a vampire getting married might have made her laugh in the past but this felt right like nothing else has ever felt right in her life before.

Someday.

Someday they'll wed and what a happy day that will be.

That was 1864 and the thought doesn't come up again for exactly 213 years - not until Damon and Elena announce they want to get married for a second time.

She was there on their first - she remembers sauntering in right when Jeremy asks if anyone has any objections, smiling cheekily the whole time and she remembers her brief fight with Stefan, their sensual dance, agreeing to take it slow then not taking it slow, and getting caught by Damon and Elena - now that was a fun part - yet through the whole fiasco she did not pay any mind to the promise she made to herself - her promise to marry Stefan one day.

Not even when Damon made a funny remark regarding how they are all going to be Salvatores if Stefan marries her.

It was not the right time.

She'd just gotten him back and that was going to be enough for a long time, she didn't want to push it. She had an inkling he wouldn't be ready for marriage just yet and the last thing she wanted to do is freak him out and scare him off again.

This time is forever, she knew it - he was not going anywhere now and neither was she. She could afford to wait a little more.

So she kept her mind off anything marriage and weddings related throughout the whole ceremony and the reception, instead opting to think about how to win Stefan back - that part didn't prove to be as difficult as she had originally thought - and all was going well, yet she could not hold back her own comment after hearing Damon and Elena talking about them.

"Well, maybe Katherine will keep her name," Elena suggest. "Pierce does suit her."

"I will keep my name," she tells him seriously but he just laughs, picking up right where they left off.

It was a hidden, subtle implication, more to reassure herself than anything, that yes, it will happen, but he either doesn't notice or chooses to ignore her line, and that calms her a little because it can't be a lost case after all if he wasn't at all freaked out by her comment.

She still stands by her promise - someday.

Someday they'll wed.

They are living in New York because Katherine likes the Big Apple when the phone call comes.

They are getting married. Again.

And this time Katherine can't help but feel jealous, left out and bitter, because, damn it, it's been 63 years.

She's waited long enough.

She makes hints and drops oblique words about her true desire for days before deciding to take matters into her own hand because he just doesn't get it, or doesn't want to get it.

"I like weddings," she announces one night, seemingly out of the blue.

"Really?" He looks down at her form snuggled next to his body, her head propped on his shoulder, watching him curiously as she lightly runs her fingers over his neck and through his hair. They're on the couch with ice-cream and a bottle of wine, attempting to watch a movie, but the truth they've abandoned it long ago, content to just watch one another silently for a while. Katherine thinks the movie is stupid and unrealistic, and Stefan thinks his beautiful girlfriend is much more entertaining than any movie ever could be - and if he wants to be honest, it really is unrealistic.

"Yeah," she nods. "I can't wait for Damon and Elena's. The last one was pretty good," she smirks, their never-ending lovemaking that night recurring to her as she presses a kiss to his neck.

He hums, remembering too. It was definitely a good night, one he would never forget. "I didn't peg you for the type," he admits honestly. Weddings are just so... unlike Katherine.

"Well, I always like a good party," she laughs before turning serious. "I guess... I guess the romantic in me can't resists such a beautiful event."

He chuckles. "There's a romantic in you?"

She rolls her eyes and punches him playfully. "Of course, silly. Why do you think I love you?"

"Because I'm irresistible," he jokes and leans down to peck her lips.

She giggles against his mouth. "That too." She breaks away from him before things get too passionate because she has other plans tonight, and she places her head against his strong, warm chest. "You know one thing I really like about weddings?"

"What?"

"The dress. It's just so pretty," she sighs dreamily. "I bet I would look good in one." She pears up at him through her long lashes, testing his reaction. The soft, genuine smile on his face sends her undead heart racing as she knows without a doubt that it is a good reaction.

"Yeah, you would," he agrees quietly, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "You'd look beautiful." And with that he turns his attention back to the TV, deciding to give the movie one more chance.

Katherine doesn't dare to bring up the subject again, fearing it would only make her look pathetic and desperate, two things she's never and will never be.

Maybe her hints were too subtle.

She tries again a few days later.

"Stefan?"

"Hmmm?" He doesn't even look up from his book, too engrossed in it to really pay attention to her. Katherine will never understand what's so good about philosophy.

"What do you think about Damon and Elena getting married for a second time?"

He looks up at her, confused and curious now. "I'm happy for them. If that's what they want. Why?"

"They must be really happy," she continues, ignoring his question. "Why else would they go through it again?"

"I don't know, Katherine. Because they love each other?"

"Yeah, I guess," she nods. "And when you love someone, you marry them, right?"

"Yes, I guess."

"So you're not against it?" she inquires, trying to sound nonchalant as she perches herself down in his lap, putting her arms around his shoulders. Sensing that she's up to something, he places the book down.

"What, marriage?"

"That. And vampires getting married. You don't think it's weird?"

"No," he shakes his head honestly albeit still confused by this conversation. "No, I don't. I think it's great. Vampires can love too, why couldn't they get married?" he explains. She nods thoughtfully.

"Because when you're really in love with someone, you should marry them," she repeats her earlier words.

"Well, love isn't the only factor, but yes. I guess so."

She nods again, smiling at him brightly. "I love you, Stefan," she whispers, hugging him close to her. He holds on tightly.

"I love you too, Katherine."

Still unaware of what she was trying to tell him, it's finished with that.

She can't get any more obvious than this.

Alright.

If he doesn't want to take the hint, she'll figure out something on her own. But one way or another, she'll get them married - or at least engaged - by Damon and Elena's wedding.

It shouldn't be too hard.

She starts making plans, but nothing ever feels perfect enough and she has no idea how to do this, and before she knows it, it's May 22nd already and she's running out of time.

She's going to have to act now and fast, because she's never broken a promise to herself before and she's not going to start now.

The wedding goes smoothly.

It's a quiet ceremony with very few attendants - just the old friends - well, the ones who didn't die - and some new acquaintances Damon and Elena made over the years. The ceremony is over quickly after the vows being exchanged, the reception lasts longer. Katherine is glad for that - she's going to put her plan into motion at the reception and finally get herself and Stefan engaged. Some might say it would be unfair for Damon and Elena to do it on their wedding day, but Katherine's a selfish one, she doesn't care about that, and they've already done this once, they'll understand.

"Whatcha doing?" She plops down next to Stefan, twirling a lock of hair with her fingers and grinning hugely.

Stefan turns towards her, taking note of her unusually light and giddy attitude. "Talking with Caroline," he motions with his head to the blonde sitting on his other side and when Katherine's smile widens, the girl tentatively waves at her. They've never been friends and they will probably never be but Caroline's learned to tolerate the vampire as she realized that Stefan loved her and she made him happy. She doesn't understand the whys and hows but if Stefan really loves her than there must be something human left in Katherine after all.

Now though Katherine seems to be overly happy to see the blonde vampire and it's utterly and completely weird. "Oh, hey, I didn't see her," she giggles. "Hi, Caroline. How have you been?"

"I've been... good," she manages a smile, perplexed by the brunette's actions. Stefan, however, recognizes the signs and chuckles deeply, shaking his head.

"Are you drunk, Katherine?"

"A little," she holds up her hand to show him just how little, giggling again. Realization dawns on Caroline, letting out a quiet 'oh'. That explains everything.

"She's a happy drunk?" she asks in surprise.

"Yes," he nods, completely understanding her astonishment.

"I thought for sure she'd be the aggressive drunk type."

"I know, me too."

"Well... I'll leave you to it," Caroline stands up, grinning at him sightly. "Have fun with her."

Katherine watches as the other woman leaves to find the happy freshly remarried couple, and turning back to her lover, she boldly asks the question that ran through her mind just now. "Do you think Caroline's pretty?"

Stefan raises his eyebrows in obvious surprise but answers her question anyway. "Yeah, I guess... She's a pretty girl."

"Prettier than me?"

He lets out a laugh in amusement when he realizes what this is about. Drunk Katherine is really nothing like normal Katherine. "No. Of course not, sweetheart. There's no one prettier than you."

Her lips curve upwards at his words but she still has to ask: "Not even Elena?"

"Not even Elena."

"Not even in the dress?"

"Not even in the dress," he assures her, taking her by the arms and pulling her closer. "You're beautiful and I love you."

She smiles gratefully, pressing her mouth against his for a sweet moment. "Dance with me?" she murmurs against his lips.

He nods eagerly, taking her hand and leading her towards the dance floor just like all those years ago. It's amazing how different and yet same things are now.

"But afterwards I want to talk to you about something important," he tells her as he pulls her closer, softly swaying to the music. She raises an eyebrow suspiciously but he just laughs. "Don't worry, it's nothing bad. In fact, it's a good thing. I hope you'll think so too." The last part is quiet and suddenly he appears nervous - he gulps hard, his hands are twitching and he misses a few beats. She watches him with furrowed eyebrows, curious about what could get him so flustered.

"Well, tell me then."

He shakes his head and pulls her even closer if that's possible. "Later."

If she were not so tipsy at the moment she would've probably continued to persuade him about it until he spilled his beans to her, but now she just sighs in defeat, laying her head on his chest as they continue to dance slowly. Sometime later he can hear the music changing to a faster one but neither of them care, still clinging to one another tightly, swaying to their own beat in the middle of the dance floor. She feels warm and safe and secured and incredibly happy - happy like she's never been before - in his arms and it's the best feeling ever. She feels like she could stay this way forever.

You could, a little voice inside her head says. You just have to ask him. And then it's going to be you and him, forever and ever.

She realizes then that this is the perfect moment she's been waiting for and decides she'll listen to the voice.

"Stefan," she begins slowly, unsure of herself but determined to see this through. "Listen, I've been thinking. About us. We've been together for a while, and I'd like to think all these years have been nothing but great." She pauses, satisfied when he nods, smiling softly. "We are great together. I love you, I think I always have and I never want to stop. I don't think I could even if I wanted to because what we have is everlasting." She trails off again, not knowing if she's saying all the right things or not. She's never been good with words due to her lack off emotions showing for the better part of her life but she's saying everything she feels for him, trying to make him understand and she thinks she's doing great so far. The tender expression on his face confirms that so she continues. "I want to make it official."

It takes him a moment to recover from all the pretty things she says. "What do you mean?"

She lets out a long breath, preparing herself, then slowly descends down to one knee, right there on the middle on the dance floor, looking up at him with hopeful and slightly afraid eyes. She barely registers the music stopping altogether as all eyes in the room focus on them. "Stefan Salvatore. Will you marry me?"

There's a barely audible gasp coming from someone from the wedding party - it's probably Elena - but Katherine pays no attention to it, only focusing on her Stefan. His expression only shows shock at first - his eyes are wide and astonished, his mouth agape, but then it slowly curls into a brilliant thousand megawatt smile and Katherine feels like a huge heavy weight have been lifted from her shoulders and heart.

Laughing, he tugs on her arms, trying to get her to stand up. "Katherine, get up."

"Why?" That's when the wariness overtakes her again but he's still smiling so that comforts her a little and she gets up as he asks her to.

"Because you shouldn't be doing this." For a long moment that seems to never end, she can feel her heart breaking into million pieces in her chest, and she knows it's showing on her face with clarity because she swears the air in the room drops a good ten degrees and everyone tenses up, afraid to see what will happen now, but unable to look away. But his next words change everything. "I should."

Then he's down on one knee before her and he's pulling out a little black box and she thinks she can't decide if she's gonna burst from happiness or slap him for doing this to her.

Well, slapping him now would kind of ruin the mood so she'll just berate him later.

"Stefan..."

"Katherine Pierce," he begins then suddenly pauses, something coming to his mind. "Katerina Petrova. I had this whole speech planned but I think you've pretty much covered it up earlier. So all I want to say is I love you. I want to be your husband for the rest of eternity. Will you please make me the happiest man alive or dead by marrying me?" He opens the box to reveal the most beautiful ring she's ever seen in her long life and she nods enthusiastically, feeling the tears welling up in her eyes.

"Yes. Yes, of course." He gives her the biggest smile she's ever seen and quickly slips the ring on her finger so he could stand up and kiss his fiance passionately. She responds to him with just as much fervor, giggling as he spins them around in circles.

People start clapping and somebody whistles loudly - that's probably Damon - but they're both lost in their own world and the only thing that exists is just them, locked in their passionate embrace.

She admires her new ring - Stefan has an exceptionally good taste - silently thanking God that she's found him and she'll be able to keep him now. It feels too good to be true but she's not about to complain.

A sudden thought occurs to her as she still watches her engagement ring and she gasps loudly. "You got a ring. You got a ring which means you've planned this, which means you knew. Oh, you knew, didn't you?"

He laughs heartily. "Yes. I did," he nods. "I got your hints from the beginning. I'm not dense, you know, and you were very transparent."

"Then why did you say anything?" she whines - hey, she's still a little tipsy - punching his shoulder teasingly but he just keeps laughing. "Asshole. I thought you didn't get it or just chose not to get it. I was starting to worry, you know."

"Yet you went and proceed to propose to me," he shakes his head at the memory, chuckling still. "I didn't think you'd go so far."

She shrugs softly. "I like to be in control." She leans in closer, their lips just centimeters apart now. "And I've found my perfect match. You complete me."

He grins. "You really shouldn't drink so much. You're starting to scare me with how you talk," he teases her but his smile is still intact. She hits him again but giggles, closing the gap between their lips.

Everything is perfect.

*whistles innocently* Okay, don't hate me. I guess fluff is not my thing. I struggled through this whole thing.

I know Katherine is incredibly OOC, and I'm usually proud of the fact that I manage to keep the characters in character most of the time, but goddammit, you cannot write fluff with a character like Katherine. You just can't. Her strong self-assured cocky behavior makes it impossible. So I guess she's softer here. But in my defense, you know how she gets around Stefan. Oh well...

I think I'll stick with angst from now on.

A little help for the timeline in this universe if anyone's confused (although it shouldn't be too hard to understand but yeah): they kill Klaus in 2011, Elena is turned in 2012, and in 2014 May 22nd Elena and Damon get married for the first time (that was chapter 4 here). That's also the day Stefan and Katherine get back together. 63 years later, in 2077 Damon and Elena decide to get married again, on their wedding anniversary, so this chapter also takes place on the 22nd of May, and it's also the day Stefan and Katherine get engaged. And then they get married a year later, in 2078, the 5th of September. I know I didn't include their wedding here, I was originally going to, but hot damn, I didn't see the necessity to drag this corny mush on any longer. Plus I had absolutely no inspiration for their wedding. At all.

Maybe one day I'll write more about it. But don't hold your breath.

Anyways, haven't seen the episode yet (the only reason I'm even uploading this now, so soon after the episode aired is because I'm sick and I had the time) but I did see the new promo and I'm excited beyond belief!

Poll is updated, vote guys! :)

Love,

Kathy