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||16|| ''Elijah won't forget you.''

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Chapter 16!

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The school was hosting a barbecue today, and even though I wasn't obliged to go there for work, I thought I might go anyways. I'd always liked these things, when the whole town came together. It was usually the school that was on the forefront of making that happen, alongside the mayor's family.

While I was strolling through the mass of people, of course I managed to bump into someone. That's the one thing I'm usually focused on when in crowds – keeping my distance, and not touching anyone.

''I'm sorry-'' I began, but fell silent when I saw who it was.

''Hi,'' the pretty blonde greeted me nervously, but smiling.

The avoiding part of me was just about to leave when the other half decided to open its mouth and toss that plan out the window.

''Hey, can I talk to you?'' I thought my voice sounded shaky, but maybe that was only in my mind.

''Yeah, sure,'' Caroline offered me a small smile. We walked together away from the crowd and sat down on a bench.

''So...'' Caroline said and clasped her hands together, placing them in her lap. She sounded very uncomfortable.

My breath hitched in my throat. ''Yeah...'' I mumbled.

''Like I said, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you – I really wasn't myself. I had no idea what was happening to me and no control whatsoever and I know that's horrible... I never wanted to hurt anyone. Do you believe me? And I mean, I'm friends with Elena... and Stefan. And I heard you've been hanging around, and I really don't want it to be awkward or for you to be scared and-''

''Caroline.''

She stopped.

The thing was, that little speech could almost have been enough to convince me. I mean, Caroline Forbes wasn't known to be a quiet person. The fact that she didn't take a deep breath after that long ramble was a little unnerving, but still.

''I'm not... scared anymore...'' The word tasted strange on my tongue. Like it didn't really fit – which it didn't. ''It's more like... I'm weary.''

She nodded vigorously. ''Sure. Sure, I get that.''

''How do you propose we do this?'' I asked her.

She crinkled her nose in concentration for a second. Then she met my eyes, and when I looked down I saw her hand reaching out to me.

''I can't-''

''Oh, right, sorry,'' she looked ashamed and quickly let it fall down to her side. She lifted it up instead. ''Hi, I'm Caroline. I'm a vampire – who doesn't bite!'' she added quickly.

''Caroline,'' I sighed. ''I'm not sure how this is going to work...''

''You can tell I'm trying though, right?''

''Yes...'' I agreed. ''It's just that it's still a bit much, you know?''

''Of course, yeah...'' she looked at me, a tiny smile on her lips. ''I'll let you take your time. Just... please accept my apology?''