Unstoppable | The Vampire Diaries

103. Miss You Already

"Okay, Danielle. No, it's fine, I'll tell her. Sure. Feel better," Riley said, walking into the Salvatore living room to find Jo, Elena and Bonnie preparing for the wedding that was going to take place in a few hours. "Okay, so I have bad news, and really good news."

Jo jumped up nervously. "Bad news? What bad news? There can be no more bad news today. We're already dealing with my missing shoes and a broken steamer."

"Calm down," Elena urged the pregnant ex-witch, handing her a glass of juice. "Now, Riley, what's going on?"

"Well, Danielle's sick," she answered, watching Jo's face go from slightly relaxed to completely horrified. "But it doesn't matter, because I found you a last-minute replacement."

Jo narrowed her eyes skeptically. "You found a last-minute wedding coordinator?" she asked. "Is she as good as Danielle?"

"I'm pretty sure I'm better," a familiar voice said. They all turned at the sound to find a happy, healthy, humanity-full Caroline walking towards them. Immediately, Elena ran over to her and wrapped her in a hug.

"I missed you," she said to her vampire best friend.

"I missed me too," Caroline said, letting her go and focusing her attention on Bonnie. Since Bonnie had returned during her no-humanity phase, the girls hadn't had a proper reunion. "Hi."

"Hi," Bonnie replied tearfully. They hugged, and instantly they both felt like a missing piece of their lives had been slotted back into place.

"OK, we've got a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it in. Elena, have a drink, you're not gonna pass out," Caroline ordered, knowing how worried Elena was about her alcohol tolerance now that she was a human again. "Bonnie, the switch for the steamer is on the left-hand side on the back. And Jo, I can see your shoes under the couch." Jo sighed with relief, flopping back onto the couch now that the biggest mystery of the day had been solved. "Now, who's dealing with the boys?"

"Matt's got the tuxes," Riley confirmed. "Tyler has the rings, and Ric's written the vows."

"Great," Caroline approved. "Now we need to sort out hair and make-up, and then we're good to go. Riles, come with me."

Riley followed behind her sister, prepared to be hit with another task to make the wedding go as smoothly as possible. However, as soon as they were out of earshot, Caroline pulled her into a hug.

"You're my first stop on the apology tour," the blonde vampire said by way of explanation. Then she looked at Riley sheepishly. "Please tell me I didn't ruin things between you and Damon."

Riley sighed. "Whatever happened between me and Damon isn't your fault, Care. The vampire/human conversation would have come up eventually."

Caroline looked at her, upset. "So is that it? Are you guys done? Because it sounds like you're done."

Riley smiled, shaking her head. "Yesterday, I thought we were done. But today, I decided that I'm not giving up this easily. One thing I learned from Damon is that, when I want something, I should fight for it."

"Wow," Caroline smiled, impressed. "So what are you gonna do?"

"I'm gonna do what I should have done the moment he came back to life," she confessed. "I'm gonna tell him I love him."

***

Riley wore a midnight blue, sequined, floor-length dress. It had thin straps that kept falling from her shoulders, and the bottom of her heels kept getting caught in the thin fabric that met the floor, but she felt good and she wouldn't upstage the bride. Those were the only things that mattered.