ALMOST IS NEVER ENOUGH | TVD [3]

XXIII • I'LL REMEMBER

Isaac hums, "Well. It's time to go." Register for classes on campus.

****

Dean's Garage in Savannah, Georgia/Whitmore Restaurant

"Hey, Dean. I think a zero might've fallen off my paycheck." Stefan, who's now working as an auto mechanic, spoke up as he walks into the garage.

His tall, middle-aged boss, Dean, with short dirty blonde hair and green eyes, along with facial hair, doesn't even bother to look at his one employee while fixing a car, "Oh yeah, I had to dock you two hundred bucks."

"For what?"

"Dan Zimmer said you put a ding on the hood of his Shelby."

"Dan's wife put a ding on the hood of his Shelby." The vampire corrected.

"That's funny. Sounds like you're calling my best customer a liar."

"You're ripping me off, Dean." Stefan pointed him out defensively.

The intimidating man finally looks up at him in a belittling manner, "What you going to do about it, kid? Huh? You going to quit? Run off to wherever the hell you came from with that girlfriend of yours?" Pretty girlfriend.

Stefan simply shrugs, gives up and pockets his paycheck in a cool manner.

"That's what I thought."

The vampire's cell phone rings, so he pulls out and answers it, "Hello?"

"Hey, just checking in..." Alaric is on the other line, sitting in the middle of a restaurant, waiting for someone, "...to see if your contact panned out yet."

Stefan sees his lovely girlfriend, Rosie, standing outside of the garage as she patiently comes over to his workplace to see him, "Still working on it."

"Good. Keep me posted. Let me know how it goes."

Stefan hangs up and stares at Rosie with a smile. Meanwhile, Caroline walks into the restaurant and comes over to join Alaric at his table. She puts three books on the table and sits opposite him, who is surprised by her presence.

"Wow. You already read all that?" The Occult studies professor mentioned.

"Cover to cover, with no mention on how to undo an anti-magic force-field. And if I'm going to single-handedly take back our town, I'm going to need a little bit more to go on. Like, a lot more." The determined girl nods a little.

"Got it. Alright, well." The Original vampire draws a thick vintage book out from his black sling bag, "I brought 'Ancient Witchcraft, volume two'."

"I read it."

"How about 'The Art of Hexing' and 'Elements of Magic'?"

Caroline takes the former from him, "Fine. Thank you. So...how's Rosie?"

"She's okay, as long as she's with Stefan." The man simply reminded her.

The nineteen-year-old smiles awkwardly, "How often do you talk to them?"

"I don't know. Couple times a week. Stefan, especially."

"Oh, huh."

"I'm going to go out on a limb here, Caroline. Is something bothering you?"

Yes. "He didn't say goodbye. Damon, Minerva and Bonnie died and they just left, rekindled their relationship two months later. No phone calls, no e-mails. Just disappeared into thin air. And I haven't heard from either of them in months. I actually convinced myself they were in some remote mountain region and couldn't accept my calls." The lonely girl complained.