-the confines of this splendid abode. My ears rose to attention as I set the remainder of the boxes down beside 🖤's, the-

-edges of my lips tugging upwards to form what felt to me like a whole-hearted grin. There was no playing it off around 🖤,-

-seeing as he had seen me only minutes prior, attempting to snap me from my reverie. Regardless, there was no harm in- 🖤

-putting on a happy face; the more I tried, the more realistic it would feel, and eventually I would forget why exactly- 🖤

-my heart sunk at the sight of these four walls around me. "I say we work together in here. The faster we work together,- 🖤

-the sooner we call Caroline to bring her mother over." I was the first to begin rummaging through the depths of the- 🖤

-first box, pulling out framed pictures and DVD box-sets I had only assumed Caroline would want alphabetized. "Unless,-🖤

-of course, you prefer doing your own thing." 🖤

"I'm that transparent, huh?" It was no surprise that Stefan was entirely and fully aware of my mood changes. After all, he-🖤

-was the one who had experienced my most valued moments- the ones that brought out the fragile and most tender reactions- 🖤

-from me. It was stupid to believe that for a single moment, I could hide such feelings from him. In the end, he would- 🖤

-find a way to plow through the some-what seemingly tough core that I believed to be my emotions, right down to the nitty-🖤

-gritty of it all. Slender fingers dug through the box, pulling out a framed picture of Caroline and her mother on the day-🖤

-of our elementary school graduation, followed by one of Caroline, Bonnie, Matt, myself and another boy, whose name I- 🖤

-could not remember for the life of me, standing behind a surprised Sheriff Forbes, face submerged in a cake on her- 🖤

-birthday. It was placed on the mantle of the fireplace, joining an apple scented candle. "I thought I'd be ready to- 🖤

-say goodbye to Jeremy. What with his multiple deaths and such, you'd think this would be a way in the park..." I moved- 🖤

-back to the table, shifting items around until my eye caught another framed picture, only this time it appeared to be one-🖤

-of a young Sheriff, accepting a piece of paper from men clad in black suits. "Now we're losing the sheriff... I don't-🖤

-know if I want to say goodbye to either of them." 🖤