The next day, everyone was still looking for Sarah.
Matt was in Mystic Falls.
Jeremy was with Alaric.
Elena was with Stefan in Savannah, Georgia.
Caroline and I were on the edge of the Mystic Falls border, walking around it, looking for Sarah.
"I still don't see her," Caroline told me. "Do you?"
"No," I answered. "And I'm about to just give up."
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Caroline told me. "Sarah has to be somewhere in Mystic Falls, and we can't get into town."
"I wasn't just talking about looking for Sarah, Caroline," I told her. "I'm talking about..."
Caroline turned to face me, making me stop. "I know what you meant, Nicola. And I am, too. I mean, I know I never liked Damon, and that I miss Bonnie, but... there's only so much that we can do. And it's bad enough we lost Bonnie and Damon, but to lose Stefan with them? How did that happen?" I shook my head. "I miss Bonnie, I miss Mystic Falls, I miss my old life. And I miss..."
"Stefan?" I finished.
"Yeah," Caroline answered. "I miss Stefan."
I looked at her curiously. "Caroline, you and Stefan... Did you have feelings for him or something?"
Caroline took a moment to think about her answer. "Yeah, I think maybe I did." There was a moment of silence. "I have to ask you a question. You asked me a question, so it's my turn to ask you a question."
"By the look on your face, I don't think I'm gonna like the question," I told her.
"It's just that..." Caroline trailed off. "Stefan asked Tyler to help you and Tyler helped you... a lot." I nodded in acknowledgement. "And... I think he's starting to fall for you."
"That doesn't sound like a question to me," I told her.
"I know you like him, Nicola," Caroline told me. "And I also know that you blame yourself for everything bad happening to the people you care about. But don't you get lonely, pushing people away like that? Why do you keep doing it?"
"So I don't have to worry about falling for him," I answered.
"But why?" Caroline asked.
"No matter what happens, no matter who it is, whoever falls for someone in my family, they always pay for it, or they end up dead," I told her. "I don't want that to happen to him."
"But that doesn't mean that it will always happen," Caroline told me. "Just give it a chance, at least."
I was thoughtful.
There was a long moment of awkward silence.
"Well, we should go ahead and find that girl before she outs you and Elena," I told her.
Caroline nodded.
I walked past her, walking away. Caroline turned to follow.