The Hello In Goodbye (Klaroline) #collegeau

Prologue

Elena pulled her brand new Volvo C30 into the car park, pushing her sunglasses up onto her head. "Wow, this place hasn't changed." Missing out on sixty years had been pretty drastic but it was nice to know some things never changed.

Whitmore college loomed in front of the pair sat in the shiny car. Old buildings still standing as hundreds of students milled around the campus finding their new dorms and classes. So this was how Caroline was going to spend the rest of her life - of the endless stretch of eternity in front of her - She would be living lives other people should have. The life someone close to her should have been living with her.

"If only other things hadn't changed," Caroline whispered. Her blonde hair was slightly greasy and her clothes were slightly wrinkled and outdated. But she didn't care. The first subtle sign that something was wrong.

"Caroline," Elena sighed, taking her hand. "If you don't want-"

"No I do, I want to do this," Caroline nodded. "I have to do this. He wanted me to do this." Those without vampire hearing wouldn't have heard the slight crack in her voice on the word 'he' but Elena knew that Caroline's voice would have. She'd thought she had lost Damon once and the grief had overwhelmed her. She couldn't let it overwhelm Caroline, she had to save her bubbly best friend.

"To the our new dorm then?" Elena looked to Caroline. Her brown eyes searched her friend's face for at least the glimmer of the ghost of 'The Caroline Forbes' but no one was there. This wasn't what Elena had expected when she finally woke up to find Damon waiting for her, teary eyed, and Caroline in a heap of tears next to him.

"Yeah." Caroline's hand reached for the door handle; her nails chipped and dirty. She couldn't hide forever but the perfect makeup on her face allowed her some closure as she excited the car. I'm not in denial, she thought, I'm just coping. "Let's do this," Caroline attempted a smile, failing miserably as she remembered all the reasons why she had smiled before. One of those reasons being him.

***

Caroline shut the drawer all of her stuff finally packed away. She reached for her handbag. The photo fluttered to the floor before she could stop it. His eyes looked up at her, his smile far too distant. The memory full of happiness and pain hit Caroline like a freight train.

"You got Damon and I... I lost Stefan." The blonde crumpled to the ground, her cheeks crowded with tears. "I can't believe he's gone."

"Hey, it's okay," Elena started to walk over to Caroline.

"It's not okay, Stefan's dead!" Caroline shouted. "Stefan's gone..." She whispered again, her voice raw. "He's gone and I just stood by and watched him be the good guy and save Damon and then me and now... Now I'm all alone. I should have helped him," Caroline collapsed onto the bed. "I can't spend eternity without him..."

"I lost my best friend too, Stefan died so I could see Damon again." Elena pulled the blonde vampire's head into her lap. "And he died protecting you, so you need to live your life for him Caroline otherwise he died for nothing."

"I-I know," Caroline whimpered, clutching Elena's hand in hers like a lifeline. "Don't leave me, Elena," she whispered.

"I won't I promise," Elena answered, her hands weaved into golden hair. 

Caroline knew that now Elena was human so she would die eventually but for now Caroline banished the thought, relaxing in the feeling of Elena's comfort. 

"Everything's going to be okay," Elena whispered.

Caroline nodded. She could feel the cold on her cheeks but it didn't bother her. What really bothered her was the cold feeling inside her, the emptiness which threatened to overwhelm her. Caroline tried not to whimper as the now familiar ache grew stronger in her chest, her head throbbing as she closed her eyes. One name kept flashing across her eyelids: Stefan. 

Sixty years had never been enough to spend with him.