Here And Now (S.S)

2.64 "Don't Do It"

At church.

i walked inside and saw Caroline looking at the open coffin, at her mom. 

Me" Caroline? you alright?"

Caroline looked at me nodding"Yeah. Fine. All things... considered."

I hugged her "you sure?"

Caroline sighed"Mm-hmm. Yeah. No. I don't know. "

She hugged me back and started crying. 

Elena walked inside"They are all ready. Do you need a minute?"

Caroline let go of me and looked at her mom "No, I'm okay.  I'm gonna be alright, mom. I promise. Everything will be fine after today.  I'm ready."

I raised an eyebrow confused. 

She looked at Elena and nodded. 

----

We were all in church. Caroline, Damon, Elena, Matt, Stefan and i were sitting in the front row. I was sitting between Caroline and Stefan. Matt told me Tyler showed up drunk so he had to tell Tyler to fuck off. Good choice. 

Pastor" We are here today to pay our tribute and our respect to a pillar of our community, our sister, our protector, Sheriff Elizabeth Forbes. We are also here today to show our love and support for Liz's family and friends."

I grabbed Caroline's hand and she gave me a sad smile. 

 Police force members walked up to honor Sheriff Forbes. They placed an American flag over her casket.

Officer "Calling Sheriff Forbes. This is the last call for Sheriff Forbes. No response. Radio Number 2-6 is out of service after twelve years and four months of police service. Gone, but never forgotten. Center!"

Caroline grabbed my hand harder. 

The officers returned to their seats and Damon walked up for the eulogy.

Damon "Liz Forbes was my friend. In her last moments, she asked me to pass along a message to her daughter, but I cut her off before she could say too much. I told her she could tell Caroline herself, but she didn't get that chance. Your mom wanted you to know how proud of you she was, and she should be. You're a beautiful, strong woman, a generous friend, and a bright light in a sea of dark. She said you were extraordinary, and you are, and so was she. Liz was a hero to this town. She was a hero to all of you. And she was a hero to me. Goodbye, Sheriff. You will be missed."

Damon returned to his seat and Caroline walked up.

Caroline "Thank you all for coming. This is for my mom."

She started to sing " ♪Go in peace. Go in kindness. Go in love. Go in faith. Leave the day. The day behind us. The day is done. Go in grace. Let us go into the dark. Not afraid. Not alone. Let us hope by some good pleasure. Safely to. Arrive at home.♪"

At the grill. Night

I saw Caroline putting her jacket on. 

I walked to her "you already leaving?"

She nodded " Yeah. I think I've done the whole funeral thing enough for one day."

Me "I'll walk you home."

She shook her head " No, it's two blocks. I'll be fine, Adi."

Me " I just don't think it's a good idea for you to be alone tonight, you know?"

Caroline "I think that's exactly what I need actually. "

She hugged me " Thank you for everything you did today, Adi. I'll never forget it."

Me" You're welcome. But-"

Caroline" I'll be fine, Adi. Okay? I just had to get through today."

Then she walked out.

I looked after her  "screw this"

Then I followed her. 

At her house. 

I walked inside .

She took her mom's sweater and put it to her nose and put it down " I said I was fine, Adi."

I shook my head " I don't believe you."

She turned around to me.

Me "All day, something has been bugging me. You wanted to pack this all in so quickly like you had somewhere you needed to be. I mean, you were so concerned with getting through today without a hint of how you'd feel tomorrow. And then I realized. You don't want to feel tomorrow. That's the plan, right? You're not going to feel tomorrow because you're going it turn it all off."

Caroline " I thought I could get through the rough patch and just pick myself up after like I usually do, but then Damon made me realize it's just going to get worse."

I raised an eyebrow "since when do you listen to Damon?"

Caroline "It can't get worse, Adi, okay? I didn't even think there was a worse. It's better this way."

I asked irritated " Better? Care, you're talking about flipping the humanity switch. There's nothing better about that."

Caroline" I have more control over my vampire side than you think."

I shook my head" It's not gonna be different, Care. It's gonna be deadly. You saw what happened to Elena when she did it."

Caroline nodded "Yeah, that's my point, Adi. she did it. she couldn't handle the pain when her brother died, so she turned it off. Damon died, and she erased all her memories. Stefan moved to Savannah and became an auto mechanic. You went all alcoholic bloodsucker.  What, do you think that you guys are the only ones who get to escape grief?"

I sighed. 

Caroline cracked out "Adi, I just need the pain to be gone."

She sobbed "My mom is dead, Ad. I-It hurts so bad, I can't breathe. I can't-I can't do worse. I can't, okay? I shouldn't have to."

I shook my head " No one should have to. It's not fair. It's not. I get it. I do. "

Then I hugged her " And I know you think that you have it all figured out, but please listen to me. I'm not gonna let you do this."

Suddenly everything went black.

A while later. 

 I jerked up when i felt someone shaking me.

Me "Stefan?"

Stefan"What happened? Where's Caroline?"

My eyes widened "Stefan"

Stefan helped me up "What happened?"

I grabbed his arm "She turned it off"

His eyes widened "What?"

Me "Caroline flipped the switch"