love what's burning bright in front of you
She wakes up, feels the sun on her bare skin and stretches. She feels good, her lips are turning upwards into a languid smile while she enjoys the simple sounds of rustling sheets all around her.
"Well, don't you look happy."
Immediately her eyes snap open and fixate on the blonde sitting directly in front of the window, whose hair is shining like some sort of twisted halo in the light.
Embarrassment floods her. Clearly she hadn't thought about actually being caught in Klaus' bed, hadn't thought much at all to be completely honest.
"Oh, don't look at me like that. It's nothing I haven't seen before, some blonde in my brother's bed, that is."
Caroline bites her lip and pulls the sheets tighter around her body, letting her eyes wander around the room in the hopes of seeing where Klaus has gotten to. He's not here, which causes her to frown, turning her attention back to Rebekah.
"What are you doing here? Don't you have anything better to do? Isn't Damon available?"
It's a weak retort, she knows and wonders what had happened to the alleged mean girl Matt had called her on her birthday, that fateful birthday without which she probably wouldn't be here right now.
It still works; Rebekah's overly vibrant grin drops as she jumps off the window sill with a snort. The victory doesn't last very long as she promptly decides to climb into bed next to Caroline.
Rebekah just lies there and stares, her head popped up on one hand.
"I really don't see what's so special about you. You're just a girl."
It's a simple comment, but it hits her nonetheless. She's always had that problem where she feels utterly inadequate, nothing special, ordinary. It is not as bad as it used to be, she is very proud to have come into her own during the past year, but the little girl that was jealous of Elena, who has never been loved enough, will probably never disappear completely. Insecurities, wants and wishes never go away, not even in the span of a millennium; not if Rebekah is any indication.
"Well, technically , so are you."
She gets out of bed, the sheet wrapped around her and decides to go look for Klaus instead of getting worked up over Rebekah. It's just not worth it.
Much to everybody's surprise life in Mystic Falls becomes ordinary, boring even. She goes to school, goes to dances, graduates. She's happy, honestly, but there is still that yearning in her soul, the one that refuses to go away ever since he had promised her he would show her the world.
He does not stop either and it takes him a while, but he convinces her to let him take her to Paris after all. What wasn't mentioned, at least not explicitely is the fact that Rebekah comes with them. Caroline is not exactly happy about it, but neither is Rebekah.
Most of their flight is spent in silence. Klaus doesn't mind, he's just happily scribbling away in his little sketchbook, drawing God knows what that keeps his mind occupied for hours and hours on end. At first she watches him or stares out of the window trying to ignore the awkwardness between the three of them. Rebekah ignores her, which is good, and eventually Caroline manages to relax and starts reading one of the magazines she has brought.
They settle in easily enough into a beautiful hotel with an amazing view. Caroline finds herself practically glued to the glass, completely unwilling to stop looking at the vast flood of lights set before her eyes. She can't believe she's here, in the City of Lights, the City of Love, but when she turns around to fly into Klaus' arms and show him exactly how much she appreciates him bringing her to this place she finds herself face to face with Rebekah instead. In very close proximity.
"You really do need to grow up. It's simply a city, a place you'll likely visit numerous more times in the years to come. Stop acting like such an eager child."
Her tone is dry and annoyed, but Caroline could swear she sees the other girl's eyes shift to the Eiffel Tower with a lost look for a moment.
She used to wonder why Rebekah would always try to spoil everybody else's enjoyment, but has since recognized a little part of herself between the cold words and hard looks. She remembers being afraid every time she would feel happy, always anticipating something that would crush her joy eventually.
Klaus decides to spend the next days showing her the city; beautiful museums, breathtaking monuments and he has thousands of stories to accompany each of them. Rebekah is not always with them, but when she is she is constantly rolling her eyes and interrupting him.
"Stop boring us both."
Which is usually followed by him calling her a brat and telling her to leave if she doesn't want to be there. Sometimes she does, sometimes she doesn't and they continue squabbling.
It's fascinating, really, watching them like that. She used to think Klaus was human with her, with all the lovely words and romantic notions, but what was more human, more childish even, than having spats with your siblings?
It's a side of them she hasn't seen before.
At one point Rebekah has enough and tells them she's going to go shopping. It makes something in Caroline's stomach flutter, it's shallow, no doubt, but she's in Paris and hasn't found the time for a shopping spree yet.
She bites her lips in a way she knows he finds charming and raises her eyes up to his face.
"I really want to go shopping too. I promise I'll spend tomorrow with you and you can show me everything you want."
Klaus sighs, exchanging a look with Rebekah. "I suppose I can spend an afternoon by myself. Just be sure not to kill each other."
"Why would we...Oh." He expects them to go together and Caroline supposes that would be the most logical thing to do. They are there together after all, so they might as well...bond a little.
They still haven't quite gotten used to each other, but they try to make it work. Caroline lets Rebekah lead her through the streets, lets her choose most of the shops, it's almost amiable.
Later, when she finds a dress she really likes and tries it on, Rebekah says it's ugly, so Caroline buys it out of spite. In return, whenever Rebekah finds something she thinks looks awful, she praises it. Briefly Caroline wonders if this is what having a sister would be like.
They return to their hotel room with frozen smiles and let Klaus make disparaging comments about how they bought enough clothes and shoes to last them an eternity. And an eternity they have, she reminds him for a change.
In a strange way, it works.
In Rome the wine flows freely. It's a wonderful city that seems to develop an entirely different life once night falls.
They dance, they live and they drink.
Sometimes they drink a little too much. Her head feels heavy, everything seems to move faster than it usually does and she can't help but laugh all the time. Klaus seems to find it endearing by the way he smiles at her, how he touches and kisses her as often as he can and pulls her close with promises to never let her go.
Caroline has never been so happy in her life, she doesn't even notice the look with which Rebekah is watching them from the sidelines with a frown marring her beautiful face.
She barely even registers the other girl climbing into their bed with them later, quietly snuggling into Klaus' shoulder on the other side of the bed. If it wasn't for the hand hers accidentally brushes against she would have missed the little smile vanishing into the crook of Klaus' neck entirely.
Perhaps she is too drunk, but Caroline finds she doesn't mind. The bed is big enough and Klaus has two arms to curl around a girl each.
Klaus wants to go to Prague next, keeps telling her about the beauty of the Golden City, but she has to admit she's a little tired of all the history. She wants a break and go somewhere exotic with a beach to get pampered.
It's the first time Rebekah agrees with her, the first time they team up on him as he claims. Not even the almighty and immortal hybrid can say no to two of them.
They spend their days just lying in the sun, barely moving except to go swimming in the ocean from time to time.
Caroline keeps putting on sunscreen. It's unnecessary, Klaus points out the first time he sees her do it, since her ring should protect her from the sun, but it couldn't possibly hurt, could it?
She makes sure to clean the hand with her ring extra thoroughly. It's a foolish thought, but being surrounded by the two Originals, by comparison she sometimes feels like she's more fragile than the human girl she used to be when she met Damon. Should the ring accidentally slip off her finger, how long would it take until the sun burnt her to ashes?
Their nights are not spent unlike they were in Rome. Caroline's cheeks feel hot, from dancing, from wine and she's sitting in between Rebekah and Klaus who's twisting Rebekah's date into a conversation.
Rebekah seems to be in a good mood, now and again leaning over to her brother to say something. In those moments her perfume is heavy in Caroline's nose; it's a smell she cannot place and yet it smells oh so wonderful. Suddenly Rebekah starts laughing at something Caroline didn't pay attention to and for a fleeting moment she wonders what it would feel like to kiss a girl.
She wakes up to find Rebekah lying next to her, not unlike the morning a few months ago when they'd all shared the bed, but this time Klaus is not there. The other girl is still asleep, snuggled up to her, probably seeking warmth, and so they are impossibly close to each other in this moment.
Caroline can't help but think back to the night before and the impulse she had suppressed. Now would be her chance.
If Rebekah wakes up she could just claim to be half asleep herself, that it was some sort of accident, bumping against her, but the thought makes Caroline uncomfortable. You don't just do something like that to someone who is asleep, who has no say in the matter. Lying about it would only make it worse.
She swallows. Gathering all her courage she takes Rebekah's hand and rubs her thumb against the center of it until the other girl wakes up. Sleepy green eyes stare into her own ones, but after another moment of hesitation during which Caroline's heart feels like it's about to explode she forces herself to move forward and brush her lips against Rebekah's.
Instantly she feels like it's a big mistake and draws back. What was she thinking? She is with Klaus, she isn't supposed to kiss someone else, she's pretty sure the fact that that someone else is his sister makes it so much worse.
She tries to get out of bed as fast as she can, but Rebekah suddenly holds her wrists in an iron grip. She seems to think, her eyes are wide open and fixated on Caroline's face, her jaw muscles tensely moving over bones. She looks doubtful, a little insecure, probably everything that Caroline feels too right at that moment.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…This…"
This is wrong.
It might very well be, but the thing that matters is that Rebekah is kissing her back.
She's sure Klaus knows what has been going on for a while now, he's not the type to miss something as big as this, but she still feels like she's deceiving him in some form if she cannot be open about her relationship with Rebekah.
If you could even call it a relationship. It's barely anything, just a few occasional kisses or tempting fingers gliding over an exposed patch of skin.
There is still that small (tiny really) part of her that thinks she should be afraid of him, at least a little bit. She can't be the first girl he ever fancied and obviously none of the others have managed to stick around. She does not want to be counted to that list. She wants to think about his darker side, the violence, the death that surrounded him when she first met him, even less.
And yet there is the part of her that thinks he loves her as she has come to love him even though she has never said it. He treats her like he does, like he would never hurt her or leave her, but the little girl inside of Caroline, the one that once thought her father loved her more than anything in the world, knows things are not always as they appear.
When she kisses his sister right in front of him in a nice little bar they frequent regularly he only grins a little lopsidedly and even has the audacity to toast to them. It's beyond embarassing, but Caroline has never felt so relieved in her life.
She kisses him next and thinks this might easily be the best night of her life.
That night is also the first night she spends in Rebekah's bed.
Caroline doesn't dare ask if the other girl has ever been with a woman before, thinks she knows the answer anyway. After a thousand years there cannot be a lot that hasn't been at least tried.
It's awkward and nerve wrecking, that first night and it's very different from when she's with Klaus for other reasons than the obvious ones.
Klaus is gentle and loving most of the time, takes the time to study her as if it's the first time he's laid eyes on her, sometimes he's more passionate, even a little rough when the mood is right, but Rebekah is most of all direct in an earnest and yet intense sort of way.
Later the only things Caroline can remember are flashes of skin and hands and lips, feelings, but if anyone asked her what had concretely happened, she wouldn't be able to say.
Years pass, they travel the world and there comes a time when the relationships she has with each of them blur together, almost become one.
When Elena calls to tell her her mother has died, the first thing she does is find Rebekah, the girl who has lost her mother twice, and crawl into her bed. She's reading some magazine, barely even looks up.
"My mother is dead." Caroline whispers, staring at her hands. It's silly, how lost she feels, because this was inevitable. Everyone was getting older, everyone would eventually die and yet this hits her like it has come out of nowhere.
Rebekah doesn't say anything, just quietly puts away her magazine and moves one hand into Caroline's hair where she starts stroking in soft circles. She listens as Caroline goes on about how she can't even go to the funeral since people would recognizes her, question why she hasn't aged a day since she left. The council, all new members, would likely kill her if they saw her.
("They can try", is the only thing the other girl replies.)
Later when Klaus finds them he doesn't even have to ask. Perhaps it's his hybrids spying for him, perhaps he doesn't need to know exactly what has upset her, he simply pulls her into his arms so she can bury her face in his neck while he strokes her back.
It's one of the saddest days of Carolines life, yet she cannot help but tell herself that she isn't alone, will probably never be alone again between the two of them and that's enough.
It's completely different, but so much better than any life she used to imagine for herself.