Don't Hold This War Inside

It was night now. The vampires were resting in their respective areas. Caroline, however, was on the other side of the lake, lying on the shore. She thought of the other night with Jasper. Just being with him made her hungry for her old life.

There was no denying that she missed him.

A small smile tugged at her face when she remembered his promise to her: that they would grow old together and have children and have grandchildren, that they would live out the rest of their lives peacefully in Texas.

But fate had dealt them a cruel hand.

Nothing was as it was supposed to be. They never grew old, never had children, never had grandchildren, never lived out the rest of their lives peacefully in Texas.

"Caroline."

She spun around and saw Jasper standing there. "Jasper."

He sat down next to her and she felt his hands connect with hers and hold it tightly. "There are a few things that you need to know." he said, his Southern Texas accent crawling through his words.

"Yeah? What?"

"First off," he said, pulling her close to him. She didn't object as her head rested in his lap and he began stroking her hair. "If I had known what would become of me, I never would have left you. I still love you to this day, Caroline."

Caroline didn't say anything. She thought it was best that he just finish.

"After Peter and Charlotte helped me kill Maria, I felt so empty. Of course, I thought you were dead. And now that I know that you're not, I want to be with you."

Caroline turned in Jasper's lap so that she was facing him.

"Don't say that, Jasper. Too much time has gone by. I don't even know you anymore. You don't even know me anymore."

"Your favorite color is royal purple. You absolutely detest summer because its too hot and humid. You love winter because of the cold, rain, and Christmas. Your favorite flowers are blood roses and magnolias. When you were human, your favorite food was your mother's chicken soup. The one thing you're self conscious about is your thighs and your ass because you think they're too fat even though I thought and still think they're fine. You always wished you were a red head. You even--"

"Jasper, how do you know all that is still the same?"

"How do I know it's not?"

Caroline sighed and closed her eyes as Jasper continued stroking her hair.

"You always wanted a girl as your first child and you wanted to name her Elizabeth Ann. You love spring and fall but you hate winter and summer because its either too cold or too hot. Your favorite music is classical music. You loved reading Dracula and Frankenstein because you had this weird infatuation with monsters. You don't even like Whitlock as your last name but you told me when you married me that it sounded better on me. Also---"

Jasper laughed. "How do you know all that is still the same?"

"How do I know it's not?" Caroline countered with a smile.

"Not much has changed and I want to be with you, Caroline." Jasper said seriously.

"What about that Alice girl? She's in love with you. You can't just drop her like that, Jasper. Other people have hearts, too."

"What about her, Caroline? All I want is you. All I've ever wanted was you."

He pulled Caroline up to him so that she was resting her head on his shoulder. He kissed her hair, her neck, her forehead, and finally her lips.

Tears of venom pooled in Caroline's eyes. "Jasper, I wish---"

But he silenced her yet again with his lips.

And it all felt so familiar. His smell. His touch. His taste.

All of it made her feel like he would always be the one for her and no one else could make her feel that way.