Hey Best of Me lovers! So as you readers know, Best of Me is a fic I posted last year here on FF but it got deleted during the great Smut Purge and moved to LJ. However, apparently this post was too long for a single LJ post, so I just decided to publish it here instead.You can still find the original fic in it's entirety on my LJ, under the same name, hybridlovelies.
For those of you who follow me on tumblr (which is probably most of you)...it's my blog's birthday as of 11/23! A couple months ago I decided I wanted to create a little "thank you" present to celebrate and asked my followers to vote for which story they wanted to see a sequel one shot for. Best of Me won it! After brainstorming a few ideas, I came up with something that I hope you all will enjoy and is a bit more unique than the average follow up.
Thanks to all my readers/commenters/friends/reviewers. Without you, I wouldn't have such a positive internet experience or be the writer I am now. I'm always learning and getting better and you all are a big part of that!
And thanks to Kady aka Klausykins for her beta help and for being such a huge fan of the original fic :)
This wasn't happening. This so definitely was not happening. Caroline slumped down on the cold, metal bench letting her head fall back against the concrete wall. The barred door clanged like a loud period at the end of a very unfortunate sentence.
She was supposed to be back in Chicago by now. She was supposed to be getting a good night's rest so she didn't look like the corpse bride when she walked down the aisle in twelve—no, eleven hours. She was most definitely not supposed to be spending the night in a jail cell.
That was for damn sure.
.
.
.
Forty two hours before…
.
.
.
Caroline's alarm tittered on her nightstand, chirping her awake with its gentle, yet incessant tune. She let out a little groan, stretching her arms wide and arching her back, shoulders pressing into the white sheets of her bed. Her hand skimmed across the wrinkles of the vacant sheets, rather than the sculpted bit of flesh she had been expecting. Her eyes popped open and she sat up, smiling at the man standing in their bedroom doorway.
His blue eyes sparkled in amusement, a steaming cup off coffee in his hand. A pair of grey pajama pants sat low on his hips, showing off that little V muscle that all women salivated over. She wondered if in fifty years he would still be able to take her breath away by just standing like that. Not that she only loved him for his body, there were the other less shallow aspects of him that she appreciated and cherish. But it was a damn good body.
"Morning, love," he purred in his lilting, British accent.
"Morning," she grinned, her voice still laced with sleep. "How many did I sleep through?"
"Just three today," he chuckled moving into the room, setting the cup down on his nightstand and joining her in the bed again.
"I'm getting better," she said, proudly, referring to her habit of being a heavy sleeper. Alarms never seemed to work for her. She had always slept right through them. Most days her internal clock seemed to suffice for waking her up, but some days required a fair amount of shaking before she was pulled from slumber.
"Mhmm," he murmured, running his nose along her neck.
Her heart sped up as he began laying kisses along the column of her throat. She ran her hands along his biceps and pressed her fingers into his lean muscle as he slipped down the strap of her little tank top to place a kiss against her bare shoulder.
"Okay, okay," she said, pushing him. "I don't need any love bites. My dress is strapless."
He peaked up at her through his golden lashes, smiling a smile that would make sinners blush. "I could give you a few somewhere else," he suggesting, pulling back the sheet and moving lower. "Somewhere else no one will ever see. Other than me."
"Except for maybe my bikini waxer," she teased, squealing when he gave her a little nip on the stomach. "Klaus!"
The moment was put on pause however, as Caroline's phone rang in the living room. She sat up but Klaus pushed her gently back down onto the mattress. "Leave it," he said, hooking his fingers into the waistband of her sleep shorts.
"But it could be caterers or the florist or the seamstress," Caroline protested, attempting to pushing him away. Her attempt was half hearted. The ringing stopped, but started again immediately. "Or Bonnie! It might be Bonnie!"
With shear force of will, she managed to sit up and push him away, scurrying into the living room to catch her phone before it stopped ringing again. Sure enough, it was Bonnie's name flashing on the screen.
"Hey Bon!"
Klaus strolled into the living room, where Caroline was pacing back and forth while she chatted to her friend. He listened as they confirmed final details for the trip they were taking that morning.
"Okay, so I'll see you in forty-two minutes," Caroline said, hanging up the phone and placing it on the coffee table.
"Forty-two is quite the exact number," Klaus said. "What happens if she makes it in forty three?"
"Hey," Caroline said holding up a finger at him. "I don't need the sass."
"Yes, love. That's usually your job." He smirked, grabbing her finger and pulling her forward into her arms once again. His Caroline had been nothing but a whirlwind of planning over the past month as the date of their wedding had grown closer and closer. Although he loved watching her in her neurotic element, blonde curls bouncing and those three little wrinkles over her forehead that appeared whenever she meant business, he missed the simpler times of having her attention all to himself. He was selfish like that. "Would it be terrible to say that I'll be happy when the wedding is over?"
Caroline grinned up at him, wrapping her arms around his waist. "I know what you mean," she agreed. "But, I've put a lot of work into this wedding. Everything has to be perfect. A girl only gets married once." Klaus clamped down on the urge to dispel that antiquated notion. "We've had a lot of weddings in our group over the past couple years. Ours needs to be the best."
Klaus laughed. "It isn't a competition, love."
"Of course not. But if it is a competition, we are totally gonna win."
Caroline smiled and pressed her lips against his, lacing her fingers through his messy curls. After almost two years together, in just two days they would be husband and wife.
.
.
.
Bonnie arrived exactly forty-two minutes later. Caroline had eaten a light breakfast, showered, and changed all before the girl appeared at their door. She was finishing up the last of her packing, double-checking the to-do list on her phone, when her friend rang her doorbell.
"Right on time," Caroline greeted, letting her into the apartment she shared with Klaus. It was technically her apartment now as well. She had been officially living there for the past two months, having finally given up her own place that she had hung onto as long as Klaus would let her.
He'd wanted her to move in with him long ago, after only a couple months of actual dating, but Caroline enjoyed cultivating her independence and Klaus respected that. When they had met, she had just gotten out of a very dependent relationship with a boyfriend that she had been with since high school.
She loved her tiny apartment and she loved having her own space. She wanted to stand on her own two feet while being in a relationship, so she opted to continue living on her own for as long as possible, paying her own bills, and keeping track of her own finances.
"And risk your wrath by being late?" Bonnie said. "Never!"
Klaus came into the living room, where Caroline stood with Bonnie. She turned and flashed him a smile in greeting.
"Okay," Caroline announced. "Cab is downstairs. I guess we'll be going."
Bonnie rolled her eyes at the two of them. They were acting like they'd be separated for weeks, not a couple days.
Klaus tilted his head toward her. "You're certain you have to go?"
"It's tradition," Bonnie piped in.
Caroline nodded. "She's right."
"And you still won't tell me the details?"
"Nope," she said, shaking her head back and forth. "My lips are sealed."
Bonnie, Elena, and Caroline had a tradition, that they had made promises to keep long ago when they were still innocent teenagers back in their home town of Mystic Falls, Virginia. Caroline had brought up their little sisterly pact the year before when Bonnie had been about to walk down the aisle. Now it was Caroline's turn.
Elena was already in Mystic Falls, having driven down the week before. The plan was Bonnie and Caroline would fly to Virginia to meet Elena, then the three of them would have their Bachelorette time and road trip back up to Chicago making it back into the city the night before the wedding.
Klaus and his brothers had done their Bachelor Party activities the weekend before. The Mikaelson boys, and their good friend the Salvatore brothers, enjoyed Vegas. That seemed to be their tradition.
"Then," Klaus said, running his hands behind her head, "I will see you at the church on Saturday morning."
Caroline grinned, popping up on her toes. "I'll be the one in white."
Their lips pressed together in a sweet kiss.
.
.
.
After Caroline was gone, Klaus got ready for his day. His beloved control freak had left him with a minor to do list to take care of while she was gone. It consisted mostly of meeting family at the airport. He was expecting his brother and sister in law in from New York that very afternoon. He showered, shaved, and headed out in a cab to meet them at the airport.
Klaus drummed his fingers against his knee as the cab sped down the freeway. The realization of getting married was beginning to hit him. A man who had been the furthest thing away from a monogamist one could get was about to enter into the most permanent form of monogamy ever created. It wasn't that he was getting cold feet. He loved Caroline, more than anyone else in his entire life, there wasn't a thing in the world he wouldn't do for her and there wasn't any version of his life he could imagine without her in it.
But even the most in love of men still got nervous before their weddings, right?
The cab pulled up to the drop off area and he paid the driver before climbing out and heading to the terminal. It didn't take him long to spot his well-groomed and demure brother, led by his not-so-demure wife.
"Excuse me," Katherine said to the crowd in front of her. "Lady with a baby."
Klaus ducked his head, laughing at the way only Katherine Mikaeslon-nee-Pierce could maneuver through a busy airport in five-inch heels while six months pregnant. Her brunette curls bounced against her shoulders, elegant handbag at the crook of her arm. Klaus thought he might have to double-check the sign out front. Perhaps the airport name had been changed to "Pierce" rather than "O'Hare."
She smiled when she spotted him. "Klaus!"
Katherine gave him a quick hug and Elijah approached offering him a handshake. "Hello, Niklaus."
"How was the flight?" Klaus asked.
"I have to pee," was Katherine's answer.
Elijah gave Klaus a pointed look. "Long."
Katherine poked him in the side and announced she'd meet them by the luggage corral. Once they had their things, the three of them hired a town car to take them back to Klaus's apartment in the city. It was no use trying to squeeze two men and a pregnant woman into the tiny backseat of a cab.
Klaus was hosting his brother and sister in law during their stay. It had been Caroline's idea, to keep him company while he was away.
"I'm a grown man," Klaus had insisted when she made the suggestion. "I don't need to be 'kept company.'"
At the apartment, Klaus showed Katherine and Elijah to the guest room. It had been a long time since Elijah had visited his apartment. Before he married, Elijah had split his time between their offices in New York and Chicago, and owned his own condo in the city. After his marriage, Elijah had given up his place in Chicago to their younger brother, Kol.
"No offense to our brother," Elijah said, "but I'd rather not witness what he has turned the place into."
"Probably leather couches, animal skin rugs," Katherine suggested. "A rotating bed…"
"Caroline stocked everything up before she left this morning," Klaus told them. His future wife had gone the extra mile at the idea of having guests at their apartment, making sure that the bedroom was in perfect condition and the en suite bathroom was fit with everything her future in laws would require.
"I suppose that makes up for not inviting me to her little bachelorette getaway," Katherine tutted.
Katherine and Caroline had become rather good friends over the past couple years, the two of them often accompanying their significant other on business trips just so they could spend time together. Klaus knew that Caroline had felt bad not including Katherine in her pre-wedding activities, but it was a very specific tradition…whatever it was.
"I'm surprised," Katherine said moving on, "that Caroline isn't making us have a rehearsal dinner. I swear she called me five times to double check what I was wearing. Did she have a dress code for all of the guests?"
Klaus laughed. "She decided to skip all that," Klaus explained. "Wedding ceremonies are all the same, aren't they?"
Katherine shrugged, rummaging through her bag and asking Elijah if he recalled where she had stowed a particular item.
The real reason they weren't having a rehearsal dinner was a bit more complicated than simply bypassing a useless rehearsal. Klaus thought back to when she had begun planning their dream wedding. Sitting at the dining table one night, bridal magazines and books spread around her, Caroline had gasped-a sudden realization dawning on her.
"We can't have a rehearsal dinner," she announced to him.
Klaus had looked up from his own work, tilting his head in confusion. "Why not?"
"Because," she said, "think about every rehearsal dinner you've ever been to. It's all filled with speeches and stories about the couple. Usually the kind that explain how they met or poke fun at them."
"Ah," Klaus had said, realizing their predicament.
The story of how they truly met had been a closely guarded secret from both their families and extended friends. Aside from his friend Damon, and her friends Bonnie and Elena, no one knew that Klaus had met Caroline because he hired her as an escort.
It had been a very brief career move in Caroline's life when she had become a call girl. Klaus had been her first and only client. They had managed to keep the beginnings of their relationship under wraps, always saying they met through mutual friends. No one had ever asked for specifics.
"What about after the wedding," Klaus pointed out. "Won't our attendees be curious then?"
"No, they'll be congratulating us, snapping pictures, and stuff. No one is going to be asking for stories at that point," her teeth pulled at her lip. "A rehearsal dinner would just be a disaster."
"Well, love, it's entirely up to you," Klaus told her. "But couldn't we just make something up?"
Caroline stood from her seat and walked over to him, settling herself in his lap.
"Well," she said, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "I don't really want to start our life together with a bunch of lies."
Her blue eyes were wide, with feigned innocence. "And isn't omission a form of a lie?"
"It's a gray area," she said moving her lips toward his.
"I'll remember that at a later time," he teased as their lips met.
"Klaus!" Elijah snapped him from his thoughts of Caroline. Damn, he missed her already. Maybe she was right. He did need company and distraction while she was away. Not that he would ever admit that to her. "Do we have plans for this evening?"
"Dinner reservations at seven," Klaus answered.
"Great," Katherine said. "That leaves plenty of time for shopping. Shall we take a stroll down Rush Street?"
Elijah turned toward his wife. "Katerina."
Her brows shot up at the use of his nickname for her, a tiny smile on the corners of her mouth. "Elijah."
They held each other's eyes for a few moments before he sighed. In his former bachelor days, Klaus knew he would have mocked his brother for how much of a sap he'd become in regards to his wife. However, he no longer had any room to judge.
Elijah held his arm toward the door. "After you, my lady."
.
.
.
"Finally," Caroline let out a dramatic breath, as she walked into the Gilbert lake house and dumped her bag on the floor. After a long day of travel, she was ready to stretch out and relax with her friends.
The smell of wood and pine filled the air of the house. Light came in through the skylights above and from the wall of windows at the back of the house that provided an excellent view of the sparkling water off in the distance. It had belonged to Elena's parents, located just outside Mystic Falls. Elena and her brother visited once or twice a year, sometimes they would loan it out to friends for vacations or weekend getaways. The place was immaculate. Every luxury one might need when visiting the great outdoors, including satellite TV and a hot water heater. Caroline was by no means an outdoors kind of gal, and neither were her two best friends.
The house boasted three bedrooms, but as Caroline walked forward, she noticed a pillow and mattress set up over the giant area rug in the middle of the open living room.
"I thought we could slumber it," Elena said. "Like when we were kids."
"Perfect," Caroline grinned.
The three of them brought in their bags and got settled. Elena turned on some music as the Virginia sun sunk into the lake behind the house. Being in the city was everything Caroline had ever dreamed about growing up in a small town. She loved tall buildings and the energy and the endless opportunities for exploration and creativity, but the view from the large back window was breathtaking.
"So, what exactly are we doing tonight?" Bonnie asked from her seat on the couch, her hand was settled over her stomach.
Caroline looked at Elena. "You two are co-maids of honor. This was your part to plan."
"Well," Elena began. "Dinner at the Grill first, so we can run into a few old high school boyfriends and let them cry over what they missed out on"—the three of them giggled—"and then back here for…" She winked conspiratorially.
"Is your mom coming to dinner? Or is she already on her way to Chicago?"
"No, she's flying out tomorrow, but she said not to worry about dropping in. She told us to enjoy our girl time together."
The threesome freshened up, Caroline throwing on a new dress, and piled into Elena's car to head to dinner.
The Mystic Grill was the one and only hangout in their small hometown. It was where everyone tended to end up whether they were five or fifty-five. Caroline remembered sneaking her first sips of alcohol in the back, next to the dumpsters, with Elena when they were fourteen. She also remembered puking her brains out and trying to convince her mom it was nothing more than food poisoning. But her sheriff mother wasn't to be fooled and she got the lecture of a lifetime.
"Hey Elena!"
A familiar girl, with dirty blonde hair greeted them as they sat down. It had been years since Caroline had seen Vickie Donovan, their friend Matt's younger sister. In high school, she had been a bit of a mess. Her hair was shorter, and she was still rail thin, but she looked a bit brighter.
"Hey, Vick," Elena smiled, taking a menu from her. The girl threw a polite smile at Caroline and then noticed Bonnie. "Oh, hey Bonnie."
"Hey, Vickie."
Caroline pinched her lips together. There was no friendship lost between the two of them. Elena and Vickie held a polite acquaintance because the girl had dated Elena's brother Jeremy in high school. Bonnie was now married to said brother. It was no huge secret that Vickie had still held feelings for Jeremy long after they broke up.
Vickie shook her hair, turning her attention back to Elena. "So, how's my brother doing in Chicago?"
"Good," Elena said. "We've hung out a few times."
"I always knew Matty would leave here one day," Vickie replied, a bit wistfully. "So, what brings you guys back?"
"Caroline's getting married," Elena told her, pointing at the bride-to-be.
Vickie offered her congratulations. "Back for the tradition, huh? Well, I bet cocktails are on the menu. What can I get ya?"
"Vodka tonic," Caroline order. "With a twist."
"Same," Elena said.
Vickie looked at Bonnie. "Make it a third?" she asked.
Bonnie shook her head, pointing to her stomach, indicating the small bump under her shirt. "Just a tonic with lime," she admitted sheepishly.
Vickie nodded and spun on her heels, off to get their drinks.
Elena leaned forward. "So, do you know if I'm going to have a nephew or a niece yet?"
Bonnie grinned. She always smiled, but since becoming an expectant mother she had a new shine all around her. "Still another month away from that yet," she looked over at Caroline. "Are you and Klaus going to start a family right away?"
Caroline shrugged. "I don't think so. We still have some travelling we want to do."
"Where is there left to go? I feel like you guys have been everywhere in the past two years," Elena teased.
Travelling was their thing. They were always planning trips and getaways when they could. Even though Klaus was a bit of a workaholic and Caroline had been busy starting her own stylist business, they had made it work. Over the past six months they had forfeited their jet set lifestyle to prepare for their wedding. Caroline was looking forward to their honeymoon trip, staying in a gorgeous villa she had found on a beach in the south of France.
The three girls ate dinner and had a few more drinks. Caroline scraped up the last of her salad, dressing on the side, and sat starring as Elena finished her burger and fries.
Bonnie laughed, noticing her coveting look. "Caroline, do you want to borrow my napkin? I think you have a little drool on your chin."
Caroline sat up rolling her eyes and trying to hide her embarrassment at being caught salivating over Elena's food.
Her friend held up a large French Fry. "Want some?"
Caroline's tongue darted out, practically tasting the salt on her lips, but shook her head. "I can't."
"Why not?"
"Because, I'm trying to fit into a wedding dress."
"Oh, please," Bonnie interjected. "You are thin and gorgeous. One plate of fries is not going to kill you."
"It might," Caroline argued. "Trust me, I'll be pigging out once the wedding is over. I've been dieting for two months. All I do is dream about junk food."
"No wonder you've been so moody lately," Elena quipped.
Caroline grabbed a crouton off her plate and chucked it at her friend's face, laughing when she gasped.
"So, ladies," Elena announced, clicking her spoon against the third empty glass of vodka. "I think it's almost time."
"You guys are seriously going to make me do this?" Caroline said, having second thoughts.
"It's tradition," Elena replied.
"You made me do it," Bonnie reminded. "You were the one that was adamant about keeping tradition."
Caroline sighed, picking up the rest of her vodka tonic and throwing it back with a large gulp. "I might need another one of these first."
"Oh don't worry, I have a bottle of champagne in the back seat," Elena said. "It's time Caroline Forbes, to seal your destiny."
.
.
.
An afternoon of shopping was capped off with delicious dinner at one of Elijah's favorite Italian restaurants in Chicago. After a big plate of pasta and a day full of travelling and money spending, Katherine decided to call it an early night, heading to bed as soon as they got back to Klaus's apartment.
The two brothers opted to stay up for a nightcap. Klaus cracked open a bottle of scotch and he and Elijah took in the view of the city from his balcony. Warm wind whiped around them and sounds of traffic could be heard below.
"What shall we drink to?" Klaus inquired.
"To your marriage," Elijah smiled. They clinked their glasses together and Elijah raised his to his lips. Klaus lowered his own and odd feeling creeping beneath his skin. Elijah noticed the distressed look on his face. "Something the matter?"
Klaus attempted to snap out of it, schooling his features into a more appropriate look. "Not at all," he said throwing back the entire glass of liquor.
He stared out at the twinkling skyline and Elijah let the question drop. The air was warm and spring was giving way to summer. Caroline had chosen the date of their wedding perfectly. Not cold, not too hot, a time that it would be less likely to rain and the sun would shine down upon their nuptials. Her planning skills were positively occult, he mused. She made sure everything would be absolute perfection, down to the most minute of details. Klaus had loved watching her smiling face each time he said yes to an invitation design or a floral arrangement or a place setting.
They had been through so much together and he had grown as man having known her. After everything though, there was nagging feeling in the pit of his chest, a bundle of nerves and apprehension and something else. His old fear of commitment rearing its ugly head, and the guilt at having those feelings was killing him.
Klaus looked over at his elder brother, who was sipping his liquor in quiet contemplation. "You and Katherine, you're happy, yes?"
Elijah nodded. "Yes, we are very happy together. I love her very much."
It was a rather passionate statement for his brother, who was not prone to outlandish declaration of feelings. Those two sentences were practically vulgar. Klaus wasn't much for deep confessions either. He'd made a few early on to Caroline, but he preferred to communicate his feelings through action rather than words.
"How did you know?" Klaus asked. "That you wanted to marry her."
Elijah set his glass down, giving his younger brother his full attention. He examined him carefully, noting the way his fingers tapped anxiously at his glass, the creases around his eyes, and the concern in his brow. Elijah broke out into a slight chuckle. "I believe you have a classic case of cold feet."
Klaus stood up, and reached for the bottle to pour himself a refill, bristling at the amusement in Elijah's voice. "I regret telling you."
"Oh, come now," Elijah cajoled. "It happens to every groom before he gets married."
Klaus turned to face him. "It happened to you?" Elijah nodded. "I don't recall you have any reservations."
"Because I was good at disguising them." Elijah stood, joining Klaus, the two men leaning over the balcony. "There were a million reasons why Katherine and I would never work as a married couple. We argue about almost everything, we are complete and utter opposites in every way." Klaus recalled meeting his sister and law for the first time, and wondering how his brother had ever ended up with the boisterous and brash brunette. "When I thought who I might marry, I never envisioned a woman like her as my future wife."
Klaus knew Elijah was logical to a fault. He could imagine his brother making a list of all the reasons to marry Katherine and all the reasons not to, letting himself be ruled by whichever list was longer. "What made you change your mind?"
"I love her," Elijah answered. "I decided that I'd rather spend the rest of my days fighting with her, for her, next to her, than pretending to love anyone else. That mattered more to me than all the rest." Klaus nodded, looking out across the city. "Is Caroline the woman you envisioned spending the rest of your life with?"
Klaus chuckled, his head dropping between his shoulders and shaking back and forth. "I never envisioned settling down, ever," Klaus answered. "You know that."
A knock at his door interrupted their conversation. Klaus left Elijah on the balcony to answer whoever was there.
"Hey, it's the future Mr. Forbes." Damon Salvatore grinned at his own joke, his younger brother, Stefan, rolling his eyes behind him.
"What are you doing here?" Klaus asked, not amused.
"Lighten up, I'm only kidding," Damon said, pushing his way into the apartment. Klaus opened the door wider, letting Stefan inside as well. The elder Salvatore strolled in like he owned the place and held up a bottle of whiskey, waving it in the air. "I thought since Caroline and the girls are away, we could have stag night 2.0."
Elijah walked into the living room, greeting Damon and Stefan. They had been friends with the Salvatores for a long time, after going into business with them several years ago after first moving from England to America.
"I hate to disappoint, but Katherine is here," Klaus told them. "She's currently asleep in the guest room."
"Well, wake her up. She likes to party right?"
Stefan gave his brother a shove. "She's six months pregnant, jackass."
"Oh, right," Damon said. "Let's go out then?" Klaus shook his head. "Oh, come on. You aren't married yet."
He looked at his brother for help. "I'll leave a note for Katherine," Elijah said, moving down the hallway.
That hadn't been the help Klaus had been looking for. Damon smiled, heading toward the kitchen. "Celebratory shots, then let's hit the streets."
.
.
.
"Caroliiiiiiine…"
"Come on, Care. The mystical spirits are waiting!"
Caroline stood behind a large tree wanting to kill her friends. Yes, they had done this with Bonnie not that long ago, but it was much more fun waiting in the wings of the tradition, rather than the star of the show.
"Caroline, do you want to have a bad marriage and be barren for all eternity?"
"Maybe, I'll take my chances," she shouted from behind the tree.
The champagne they had downed once they got back to the lake house had calmed some of her nerves.
She was stark naked-her arms wrapped around her chest and covering her boobs. They were out in the middle of nowhere, but Caroline still looked around making sure no one was watching.
Elena leaned back against the hood of her car, swirling the dress Caroline had been wearing to dinner up in the air.
The dock to the lake stretched out just a ways in front of her. All Caroline had to do was make a mad dash for the water.
It was an old Mystic Falls legend. The town had a history, dating all the way back to before the Civil War, of being a hot bed of supernatural activity. Most historians claimed the witch population rivaled that of Salem's up in Boston. During the Reconstruction, many people blamed the witches for not aiding the South during the war, and so the people of Mystic Falls went on a witch-hunt, to purge their sleepy little town of its misfortune.
Caroline remembered the stories from when she was little. Bonnie's grandmother had been one of the historians of the town-that also taught at the nearby college-who sought to preserve the supernatural side of their history. The town council had rounded up the witches and burned them, all but one. This witch managed to escape, but came back to the town to place a curse upon it. From that day on, every woman born in Mystic Falls would be barren, so that the town and all of the families would die out one by one.
For almost two years, no women were able to give birth, until they figured out that the lake had magical, curse stopping abilities. Because the lake was the place where they had preformed all of the baptisms back then, the magic was unable to affect it. So, on the night before their marriages, the women of Mystic Falls would bathe in the lake to grant them good fortune and healthy children.
It was a silly tradition now, but even their mothers had gone through with it. Every woman born in Mystic Falls had done it. Bonnie had done it before her wedding in Hawaii. And now it was Caroline's turn.
Skinny-dipping hadn't been a part of the original tradition—it just made it more silly and exciting.
"All right, Forbes," she said to herself. "You can do this."
She dropped her arms, squared her chin, and took a deep breath.
And then, she darted forward.
The edge of the dock approached fast and she heard Bonnie and Elena whooping loudly behind her as she leapt off the edge, soared into the air, and cannonballed into the water.
The water was colder than she thought it would be, but the shock only lasted a second before she was kicking her way toward the surface. Her head broke through the water and she gulped in the fresh air, her hands wiping the water from her eyes.
On the shore, Bonnie and Elena were cheering loudly. Caroline laughed as her vision cleared. Her feet hit some grass below and she jumped, a little yelp coming out of her mouth. It was dark and the lake was pitch black. She had no clue what was in the water with her. Like fish…or snakes.
"Okay, get me out of here," she demanded swimming toward the ladder on the dock. Elena and Bonnie walked forward to meet her. Just as she reached the ladder, a loud whir-beep of a cop car sounded behind them.
Blue and red lights flashed across Caroline's face and she looked up past her friends to see a car from the Mystic Falls Sheriff's Department pull up next to where Elena had parked.
She ducked back in the water, still aware that she was naked and that her friends had left her clothes back by the car.
The deputy climbed out and walked over to them, his footsteps falling loud against the wood docks.
"Evening, ladies," he said. His mustache matched the color of the moon above them and his beige uniform was perfectly starched and pressed.
"Hi, officer," Elena said. "Is there a problem?"
"Just got a call about some rowdy teenagers at the lake, from one of the neighbors across the way," he said. "I don't see any teenagers, though." He looked down at Caroline. She smiled sheepishly and realized she knew him. He was someone who had worked with her mother for as long as she could remember. The light of recognition hit him at that moment. "Well, is that Sweet Little Caroline Forbes? It's been quite some time since I've seen you. Your mother mentioned you were getting married."
Caroline nodded. "Yes, the day after tomorrow, actually."
"Uh, huh," he looked down and seemed to register exactly what all the noise was. "Well, you get on out of that water. There are snakes in there that don't take too kindly to being all riled up while they're trying to sleep."
"Right away, sir."
"You ladies have a good night. And best of luck to ya."
When the deputy was in his car and down the road, Caroline scrambled up the latter and into the towel Bonnie had been hiding behind her back. She wrapped it around her body and tucked it between her chest.
"I gotta say, Care. That diet is working out for you," Elena said. "your body looks amazing."
Caroline beamed. "Thanks."
.
.
.
Klaus was drunk. He couldn't recall the last time he had been this drunk. Three sheets didn't begin to cover it. Damon had taken him to one of Chicago's swanky clubs, known as The Cellar. It was full of beautiful, single people partying and drinking and dancing. He had never been much for clubs, even during his single days, but the alcohol and the loud music were blocking just enough synapse connections to make him forget about his worries.
The four of them had somehow made it to a VIP table over looking the dance floor and were currently on their sixth round of shots. The shot girl threw Klaus a flirty smile as she passed him his round. Something about it churned his stomach, but also made him feel a little intrigued. He found himself smiling back.
Elijah gave him a nudge. "Niklaus."
"Leave him alone," Damon said across the table. "He can look. He's not married yet."
Elijah sniffed at Damon's loose terms of commitment and nursed his drink. He had been abstaining from their heavier drinking activities.
"I still can't believe you're taking the plunge," Damon continued. "Leaving me all alone out here in the land of bachelors."
"Hey," Stefan protested. "I'm still a bachelor."
Damon scoffed. "When you wanna be. You have a kid and Rebekah is practically your wife."
"Rebekah is not my wife," Stefan argued.
"She will be soon enough," Damon countered. "It's not like she's going to wait around forever. It's been what, four..no, five years? She's gonna put her foot down, especially now that two of her brothers will be married."
Stefan threw back his glass of whiskey. "I don't get why we have to get married. Things are fine the way they are. I don't see the point of changing it. She has her life, I have mine, we have Kady. We make it work. Marriage is just…" Stefan trailed off, looking up at Klaus. "No offense."
Klaus shrugged. "None taken. You're preaching to the choir."
The three men turned their attention onto the glum groom, curious at his statement. Damon was the first to pry. "What do you mean?"
"I don't see the point of marriage," Klaus admitted. The scotch was working his tongue, but he couldn't stop himself. "It's a pointless and expensive tradition, simply adding pressure and worry where their used to be none."
"Exactly," Stefan said. "Exactly my point."
"Wait a minute back up," Damon interjected, directing the attention back to Klaus. "Are you saying that you are getting married in less than 48 hours, but you don't want to be?"
Klaus didn't answer. At that moment the cocktail waitress came back and he chose to ply himself with more alcohol. The truth was he wasn't sure what he wanted.
.
.
.
The next morning, after pancakes and coffee—Caroline sticking to half a grapefruit of course-the girls packed up and hit the road. They had spent the rest of the evening polishing off another bottle of champagne, while watching scary, slasher movies in front of the television. There was a slight pounding between Caroline's eyes and she was grateful they didn't decide to do the whole bachelorette thing right before the wedding.
"All ready to go," Elena said. "We just need to stop for gas before we get on the highway." She stared at Caroline who was rummaging through her purse. "What's the matter?"
"I can't find my phone charger," Caroline said. "And I'm at 2% battery."
"Maybe it's somewhere in the house?" Bonnie suggested.
"No," Caroline let the bag go, her shoulders slumping. "I think I left it at home."
"Well, you've had about a billion things on your mind," Elena said.
"What if my phone dies and someone is trying to get ahold of me about the wedding?"
"Call Klaus. Tell him to take care of it."
Caroline gave Elena a dry look. "Okay I love him, but he is not equipped to deal with the details of our wedding. He does the lawyering, I do the planning."
"Okay then. If we see a store on the way, we'll stop to get you a new one."
They double-checked the house for anything left behind and then jumped into Elena's car and started off.
Elena's GPS directed them along the way. The first few hours weren't too terrible. They spent the time singing along with throwback songs from their high school years and talking about their memories of cheerleading and the various town events they had attended growing up in Mystic Falls. It was the perfect amount of nostalgia. Caroline loved every second of it.
It was much better than having to skirt the truth at a rehearsal dinner or bridal shower. The three of them had lives that the outside world wouldn't understand. She stared out the window at the passing scenery, thinking how lucky she was to have two friends in the world that she could share everything with and an amazing man who loved her no matter how crazy or neurotic or insecure she could get.
Her phone was long since dead by the time they reached hour four of their trip. She was marking time by the amount of pee breaks they had to take for Bonnie. Their pregnant friend shrugged and smiled each time she had to ask to pull over. Every time they visited a gas station or diner, Caroline would inquire about a cell phone store nearby, but there was never any luck.
At hour seven, they were stopped at a little mom and pop place somewhere just beyond the Ohio and Pennsylvania state line. It was near dinnertime and they decided to make a full stop for some food. Elena and Bonnie indulged in some greasy diner fare while Caroline stuck to her tasteless, salad and water pre-wedding diet.
Elena grabbed the check for dinner. They were half way home and Caroline had been surviving without her phone, using Bonnie's to email various contacts, but in a last ditch effort she asked the waitress if there was a store nearby.
"Yeah," the girl replied enthusiastically. She pointed down the road. "About a mile that way, straight shot, can't miss it."
Caroline beamed at her fortune and gave her an extra couple of bucks for the tip. Elena punched it into the GPS, but nothing came up.
"This is a small town," Caroline commented. "Maybe it's just not on the map."
Elena shrugged and backed her car out of the space, heading down the road in the direction the girl pointed. They drove for about ten minutes and didn't see any store. There were plenty of fields and trees and cows, but no store. Nothing.
The setting sun made an orange streak across Caroline's face. "She did point this way, right? Maybe she just got the directions confused." Caroline pointed at a dirt driveway. "Turn around there, maybe we can go back the other way."
"Jeremy? Hello?" Bonnie was in the back seat on her phone. "I think I just lost reception."
Elena's tires crunched against the dirt and gravel and then a loud burst shook the car. The three girls, looked at one another.
"Uh, oh," Elena said.
They stood at the rear of the car, looking over Elena's back tire. Correction: her flat, back tire. The rubbery thing slumped into the ground like a tired uncle who had eaten too much Thanksgiving dinner.
"No problem," Caroline said. "I can change a flat?"
Bonnie did a double take. "You can?"
"Yes!" Caroline said to her skeptical friend. "I'm not getting mugged on the side of the road because I don't know how to change a tire." She went around the car to pop the trunk. "It's easy, watch and learn ladies."
Caroline was pushing aside the bags to get to the spare and the tools located in the trunk.
"Caroline, wait," Elena said, trying to stop her.
"Elena relax, I know I'm girly but I can handle this myself," Caroline assured her, pulling up the little panel that concealed the tire. Only it was a different kind of rubber she found when she lifted it up. Her eyes bulged. "Oh."
Bonnie peeked over her shoulder, her mouth also falling open in surprise. "Oh."
Inside was a duffel bag overflowing with cash and around a dozen dildos, whips, and a few ball gags.
Elena quickly shoved them both aside, covering the items back up. "Look, you know there's a bit of money laundering that goes on in our business," she defended. "And the rest of that is work related. Okay? Supplies for the girls."
Caroline and Bonnie burst out laughing, clutching their stomachs. "Okay, okay," Bonnie said, laughter subsiding. "I have to pee again." There was a tree a little ways from the road. Bonnie scurried behind it.
Caroline shut the trunk and she and Elena sat back against it. "So, now what?"
"Call a tow company, get the tire changed?" Elena suggested, sliding her phone from her pocket. She lifted it into the air, squinting at the screen. "No reception."
"I guess we can wait for someone to come by?"
"Why do I feel like we're in a horror movie all of a sudden?"
Caroline blanched. "Please don't say that."
In the distance, they saw dust kicking up on the horizon, and a car coming closer to them. A little niggling feeling churned in Caroline's stomach at seeing it was a cop car. Maybe they shouldn't have watched Texas Chainsaw Massacre last night. The car stopped at the side of the road behind them, whopping its siren, and the officer climbed out from behind the wheel.
He looked to be about the same age they were, maybe a couple years younger. He walked a little funny, his steps wide and broad, like he was a cowboy in a western movie. Caroline thought that they could take him, if he did turn out to be some creepy cop who only wanted to bring them back to creepy house so his creepy family could torture and kill them. This was what she got for watching horror movies instead of romantic comedies during her bachelorette party.
"What seems to be the trouble ladies?" He asked, strolling up to them.
"Just a flat tire," Elena said, pushing off the car.
The cop gave them a half grin, his hands settling against his gun belt. "No trouble at all, I can help you with that."
He moved toward the trunk and both Caroline and Elena jumped up in front of him. There was no way to explain the contents that were currently taking up the space where the spare should be.
"No!" Both of them said at the same time. The officer reared back, eyeing them suspiciously.
"And why not?"
"What's going on?" Bonnie asked, emerging from the tree and zipping her pants.
The officer also regarded her with some suspicion. "What were you doing back there?"
"Um," Bonnie shrugged. "Peeing?"
"Don't you know that's illegal, young lady?" Caroline wanted to snicker at the way a guy younger than them called Bonnie "young lady." "I can site you for indecent exposure."
"She's pregnant," Caroline explained. "And we're kinda stranded out here."
His head snapped back to Caroline. "Well, I can help you change the tire, if you'll just open the trunk."
"Oh we don't have a tire. We need a tow truck."
The cop noted the way that Caroline kept her hands over the trunk. She was always a terrible liar. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to open the trunk and let me see for myself."
"Um, no."
He raised his eyebrows at Caroline. "No?"
"You can't," Caroline protested. "My boyfriend is a lawyer, I know my rights. You can't search our car without a warrant."
"I can search it if I have probable cause," he argued. "Now you two are being jumpy as new born kittens and you," he said pointing at Bonnie, "are getting nekkid behind a tree. I think that's cause enough. Open your trunk."
Elena and Caroline looked at each other and Caroline moved aside, letting Elena open the trunk. The officer stepped forward and rummaged around their bags, then lifted up the panel. His mouth fell open and he murmured something about Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.
As she squeezed next to Bonnie and Elena, the back of the cop car slamming shut, Caroline wondered if any of the three were listening and could help them get out of this mess.
.
.
.
"You're not going to believe this!"
The bell on the door dinged as Stefan entered the tailor's shop again. Klaus was at the counter, paying the gentleman who had made the alterations to their tuxedos. It was near closing time and he was in a hurry, but Klaus had insisted that his tux fit perfectly. Caroline had rubbed off on him in that aspect.
Katherine and Elijah were out to dinner and Stefan had joined Klaus again that evening to pick up their tuxedos and grab a bite. Kol had arrived in Chicago earlier that afternoon, but already left them behind, looking for what trouble could be had downtown. He claimed he still needed to procure a wedding date.
Klaus had also seen to picking up Caroline's mother and making sure she was settled into her hotel. His future mother-in-law insisted that he needn't be worried about entreating her, saying that she was happy to dine in her hotel room and enjoy some rest before the weekend's events. Caroline had mentioned that Liz would probably say as much. Unlike her daughter, she wasn't much of a traveler.
Klaus scrawled his signature across the credit card receipt and looked up at Stefan. "What won't I believe?"
"I called to ask your sister what time I'm picking her and Kady up tomorrow morning," Stefan said. "But she said I didn't need to bother. She already has a ride." Klaus didn't respond and Stefan's eyes widened emphatically. "Because she has another date."
Klaus nodded knowingly. He didn't like keeping secrets from his friend, but he had respected his sister's privacy, and didn't want to get in between their complicated relationship—which unbeknownst to Stefan had recently become more complicated when Rebekah started seeing someone.
"Yes, I believe Caroline's friend, Matt, is escorting her tomorrow," Klaus said, eyeing Stefan for his reaction.
"Wait, what?" Stefan blinked. The man burst into a rapid fire line of questioning about who Matt was and how long had he and Rebekah known each other and why hadn't Klaus mentioned anything before.
"Caroline introduced them when he moved to the city about a month ago," Klaus explained.
"That traitor," Stefan muttered as they left the tailor's and made their way down the sidewalk. Klaus passed Stefan his garment bag and slung his own over his shoulder.
"I don't think she did it with the intention of setting them up, mate," Klaus replied.
Stefan still frowned, his brows digging a hole of frustration into the bridge of his nose. "I just thought we were going together," he said after a few minutes. "We always go to these things together."
"Did you ask her to be your date to the wedding?"
"No, but I shouldn't have to because I'm her—"
"What, Stefan? What are you to my sister?"
They stopped at a traffic single, Klaus raising his eyes brows at his friend. Stefan opened his mouth to answer and then snapped it shut again. Klaus knew exactly what his friend was thinking. Rebekah and Stefan weren't together in any sort of firm relationship. Rebekah was not his wife, nor was she his girlfriend. She was simply the mother of his child, who he kept on the back burner for the past four years.
"Stefan, you and I are friends, and I've always enjoyed you," Klaus clapped him over the shoulder. "But I've never liked the way you treated my sister."
The light turned and Klaus walked forward, Stefan following behind him.
"What the hell does that mean?"
"It means," Klaus explained. "That you've strung the poor girl along for far too long. I know my sister, and she has always naïvely believed that one day you would be ready to settle down, but I know better. I think you should finally let her go and allow her to find the happiness she has long desired."
"This is rich," Stefan scoffed. "Coming from the guy who just last night was considering calling off his entire wedding. And is probably still thinking about it."
Klaus cut him a glare. "Watch your tongue."
"You can dish it, but you can't take it?" Stefan snapped back. "You said last night you understood where I was coming from with me and Rebekah."
"I was drunk," Klaus replied, hating having his words thrown back at him.
"So you didn't mean it when you said you were having second thoughts about marrying Caroline?"
"I believe that is conjecture," Klaus argued.
"Fine, your honor. You said you didn't see the point of marriage."
"In general," he clarified. "I meant in general."
"So you don't see the point of marriage unless it's to Caroline?"
Klaus stopped dead in his tracks, an angry pedestrian bumping into his back. He was oblivious to the annoyed mutterings as the man moved away from him down the street. Instead, he was completely ingrained in the very important moment he was experiencing.
He didn't believe in epiphanies. They were something that happened only to book characters and on movie screens. Those sudden realizations that men had about their lives or the women they loved or whatever, that came in just the nick of time so that they could right their wrongs and prevent disaster and eternal misery.
But Klaus was having one right there on the street.
Stefan had inadvertently provided the pathway to said epiphany.
He realized that marriage was an utterly banal tradition. It had trapped lesser men into commitments they weren't ready or willing to make, condemning them to lives of sacrifice and servitude. To starting families they didn't truly want to have or women they didn't really love. Klaus knew in that moment that he would never, ever want to be married.
Unless it was to Caroline.
He never wanted to be where Stefan was standing, wounded and wondering. He never wanted Caroline to be like his sister, waiting for a commitment that would never come—not that Caroline would ever in a million years put her life on hold. He wanted her to know exactly how important she was to him, how he would do anything for her, how she changed him and made him better.
Like his older brother, Klaus had never imagined feeling this way about a woman. But on that street corner, he realized it was hard to imagine when no dream could compare to what Caroline meant to him and would always mean to him.
"Why are you smiling?" Stefan asked breaking into Klaus's sappy, rose colored thoughts.
"Because I'm getting married tomorrow," Klaus replied.
Stefan let out a snort, but smiled shaking his head. "I've lost you, haven't I?"
"Yes, you have."
They continued walking down the street, a bit more spring in Klaus's step now as they rounded the corner.
Stefan let out a resigned sigh. "I guess I'll call up Lexi, see if she's free tomorrow."
Klaus laughed. "Oh, that will thrill my sister to no end," he said. Rebekah had never liked Stefan's gorgeous best friend.
"Well, that's her problem," he grumbled. "She's the one with a damn date."
.
.
.
"Don't we get a phone call?" Caroline protested against the bars of their little jail cell.
The jail was nothing but a shoebox. There was a waiting area in front of the door and then the cell, which she, Bonnie, and Elena were currently held up in. To the right was a desk, with a television sat in front of it, where the officer, who Caroline had taken to mentally naming Captain Tight Pants, was sat down watching some crappy show about teen werewolves or something.
Captain Tight Pants ignored them, turning up the volume on the TV. She looked up at the clock. It was seven pm Ohio time, which meant it was six in Chicago.
"Who are we even going to call?" Bonnie asked.
"My fiancée is a lawyer, my brother-in-law is a lawyer, their friends are lawyers," she held a hand up to Elena, who was seated next to Bonnie, "her boyfriend is a lawyer."
"Ex," Elena corrected. "Ex-boyfriend."
"Whatever," Caroline yelled. "We know half a dozen lawyers, take your pick!"
"Do we know their numbers?"
Bonnie had a point there. In the age of cell phone technology, none of them had phone numbers memorized, and their phones were back in car on the side of the road.
Caroline was growing frantic, her legs bobbing restlessly. "What are we going to do? Why are we even here?" The last was shouted at the officer.
"I don't think that's helping," Bonnie said.
"Quit yelling," Captain Tight Pants called out from the desk.
"Look, we are not criminals, okay?" Caroline argued. "I'm getting married in the morning, she's pregnant…we just had a flat tire."
The officer got up and walked around the desk, moving over toward the cell. "You two are clean but your friend back there was arrested last year for prostitution."
Caroline looked back at Elena, gaping. "What?"
Elena was red. "It was no big deal. A misunderstanding."
"So, I can only assume based on the contents of y'alls trunk that she's at it again and you two are with her."
Caroline snapped. "Okay, seriously, Hicksville CSI, she's pregnant…a pregnant prostitute, really?"
"People are into some weird things these days," Captain Tight Pants retorted, leaving them locked up and going back to his television.
Caroline let out a loud groan and turned to Elena. "Arrested is a big deal!"
"It was a misunderstanding, Damon got me out of it."
Caroline knew it wasn't Elena fault—well, not entirely—but she really wanted to throttle her friend. Bridezilla had nothing on her.
"How long can he even keep us here?" Bonnie asked.
"I don't know," Caroline replied. "But long enough for me to miss my wedding."
She slumped down on the seat on the opposite wall, letting her head fall into her chin. Even if they could call one of the guys, would they be able to do anything for them? By the time they got there and then headed back to Chicago, the whole day would have passed.
No matter how she looked at it, best or worst cast scenario, Caroline's wedding was completely ruined.
.
.
.
"Nik! Niiiik!"
Klaus pinched the bridge of his nose at his sister's screeching voice.
"Yes, Rebekah, what is it?"
It was the morning of the wedding. The Mikaelsons and the groomsmen had arrived at the location. Neither Caroline nor Klaus were particularly religious, so instead of a church, Caroline had found a beautiful art gallery space to hold their nuptials. It was a large space, located in a historical building that had been refurbished, now boasting sleek, urban elegance. Rich wood floors were mixed with exposed brick and there was a spectacular view of the Chicago skyline. Adding the blue sky and sunshine from the skylights above, it was gorgeous. There was a light and air about the room that infused hope and romance into the already blissful day.
The wedding planner and assistants were bustling around, making sure every white upholstered chair was straight and each ribbon and bow was in place. Gossamer fabric hung from the pillars at the front forming the altar where he and Caroline would be married. Yellow rose petals were sprinkled along the aisle. Everything was bathed yellow and white and shimmering rose gold.
Klaus was currently in the front area, which was serving as a small dressing room for himself and his groomsmen, who consisted of Kol and Elijah. His elder brother was tending to his wife and his younger was flirting with on of the planner's assistants. As it turned out, Kol had been unable to procure a date the night before.
Rebekah appeared around the corner, entering the room, a spark of anger in eyes.
"Where is my lovely niece?" he inquired.
"With Kol, keeping him away from the help," Rebekah answered. "And don't change the subject."
"What is the subject?"
"What the bloody hell did you say to Stefan yesterday?"
Klaus sighed. "Rebekah, this is my wedding day, can we postpone your drama until tomorrow?" Like, when he was a safe distance away, on his honeymoon, with his new wife.
"I asked him why he was hear with Lexi and he told me that you told him about Matt."
"You told him about Matt, remember? When Stefan called you yesterday about your plans."
"Yes, but I didn't give him specifics." Rebekah huffed, crossing her arms. "He wasn't supposed to come with a back up date."
Klaus smirked. "And what was he supposed to do? Sit alone at a table, pining away, and watching you dance happily in the arms of another man while growing more jealous by the second."
Rebekah raised her chin. "Yes."
Klaus chuckled at his sister's scheming. She jumped when Stefan popped his head in through the door. "Have you seen Damon?"
"No one has seen your awful brother," Rebekah jabbed.
Stefan ignored her comment. "He's not answering his phone."
Klaus shrugged. "Haven't heard from him."
"When is Caroline arriving?" Rebekah asked as Stefan stood in the corner, attempting to reach Damon again on his cell.
"In another hour," he replied. "She's getting ready at Elena's."
Rebekah nodded. Klaus realized then that it had been over a day since he had heard from his fiancée. She had called when she arrived in Mystic Falls and then again when they were about to leave, to let him know her phone was dying, and to call Bonnie or Elena if he needed her. He hadn't heard from her though, to know that they made it back to Chicago safely.
He didn't want to overreact. Perhaps she was just waiting until the wedding to see him and speak to him, trying to make the moment more dramatic. He was sure she was fine. No doubt he would have heard something from Elena's brother, Jeremy, whose pregnant wife was with them, if something had happened. Klaus did have the tendency to worry about her from time to time ever since her accident two years ago. It had almost killed her and he had almost lost her for good.
The memory of those few days twisted in his gut and he pushed them away. He didn't want to think about the sad past, he wanted to be excited for the happy future.
There was a knock at the door again and Klaus looked up to see the mother of the bride. He gave her a smile.
"Liz," he greeted her. "Everything alright? I thought you would be with Caroline helping her this morning."
"I thought so too," Liz said. "I went by Elena's and no one was there. Is there a change of plans I don't know about?"
Klaus shook his head. Caroline was meticulous about detail, he couldn't imagine something changing and her not informing anyone involved. "I don't believe so."
"I tried their phones, but they both go straight to voicemail," Liz looked concern. "They did make it back okay last night, didn't they?"
Klaus stood up. "I haven't heard from her either…"
Now the feeling he had been trying to push down was unshakable. Something was definitely wrong.
.
.
.
It was three in the morning and they were no closer to convincing Captain Tight Pants to let them out of their cell. Bonnie had been to the bathroom twice every hour. Caroline suspected she was doing it to be more annoying to the cop, making him get up and down at crucial moments in the show he was watching.
Elena had been sitting quietly and stewing in her guilt. Caroline let her. She didn't feel like making Elena feel better. She wanted to feel better, about the fact that she was going to miss her wedding.
By Caroline's calculation, even if they made it out of there at right that second, they would have just enough time to speed home and get her in her dress and sprint down the aisle. There would be no time for hair or nails or makeup. No time to double check that the planners had hung every ribbon properly or that the caterer had the correct address and time of the reception. She would go down the aisle; completely stressed that something wasn't done, and totally miss the beautiful, once in a lifetime moment.
Bonnie nudged her. "It'll be okay," she said. "He'll let us out in the morning and we'll just be a little late. Everyone will wait," Bonnie smiled at her. "Klaus will wait."
"Yeah," Caroline said. "He might let us out, but what about little miss criminal of the year over there?" She jerked her chin to Elena.
"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry that my professional life has gotten in the way of your perfect wedding. It's not like I did any of this on purpose."
"What were you even thinking, with all that stuff in your trunk Elena? And all that money?"
"You didn't seem to mind the idea of all that money too much when you were the one spreading your legs for it."
Caroline gaped at her friend's comment. "I can't believe you just said that to me."
Elena pursed her lips, uncrossing and crossing her legs again. "Well don't sit there and pretend like you're better than me, because you're getting married."
"What does that even mean?"
"I like my job. It's not exactly what I thought I would be doing with my life, but I like it. And I don't need to defend it."
"Well, it's not exactly legal."
"Again, you didn't mind so much when you had no other options, but then you got Klaus so I guess he saved you from having to become a dirty whore like me."
Caroline blinked, having no idea where any of Elena's words were coming from. "What the hell is your problem? This is your fault that were in jail the morning of my wedding." Elena rolled her eyes. "Are you trying to say that I'm marrying Klaus because he's rich?"
"If the glass slipper fits…"
Caroline gasped and Bonnie put a hand on her arm. "She doesn't mean it."
It didn't matter to Caroline if Elena meant it or not, she'd said it. "You're right. She's just jealous because I'm getting married to the guy of my dreams and she's going to be nothing more than a sad, old madam for the rest of her life."
"At least I have a little dignity. At least I can be my own person."
"I can be my own person," Caroline protested. "I am my own person."
"Oh yeah, how long did you last without Klaus? A whole month?"
"Well at least I don't break up with a guy I'm still in love with because I'm too chicken to admit my feelings," Caroline shot back.
"I am not in love with Damon."
"You break up, you get back together, you break up, you get back together. It's like an awful teen drama. You guys are so in love, it makes me want to barf," Caroline said. "If you are so jealous of me and Bonnie then why don't you just marry him?"
Elena stammered, but was interrupted by the sound of a throat clearing outside the cell. They were so caught up in yelling at one another; they hadn't even noticed someone new come inside. Both girls shut their mouths and looked over at the man standing outside their cell.
"As much as I would enjoy hearing the answer to that question myself," Damon said. "Let's get you girls out of here. We've got a wedding to attend."
.
.
.
Klaus called and called Caroline's phone non-stop. Each and every time it went to voice mail. This was it. He was being jilted. Caroline had realized her mistake in marrying him and traipsed off with Elena and Bonnie to some foreign island somewhere. This was his punishment for being an unmitigated asshole and ever thinking that he didn't want to marry her.
"You're being paranoid," Stefan assured him. "I'm sure something happened on the road."
Klaus cut him a harsh glare, sending the younger man backwards with his hands raised. Those comments weren't exactly making him feel better. Klaus changed the subject, attempting to distract himself.
"Did you get ahold of Damon?"
"No," Stefan said. "Still nothing."
The distraction did nothing though, but feed his worry. What if Caroline and Damon had run away together? Klaus recalled Caroline mentioning another break-up between him and Elena. And Damon had been rather curious the night before when Klaus had started talking about his thoughts on marriage. Damon had sounded pleased. What if Damon had swept Caroline off her feet behind his back?
"Okay, now you're being paranoid and ridiculous," Rebekah said when he voiced his thoughts. "No one would ever marry Damon Salvatore. Not even for money."
"Hey, my brother is not that bad," Stefan argued.
She pretended to consider. "He's no worse than you, I suppose. Although, I'm not quite sure."
"Why are you being a bitch, Rebekah? What have I done to you recently?"
Rebekah stepped toward him. "Shall I make a list?"
"Hey, Bekah." It was at that unfortunate moment that Matt approached them in the back vestibule. "Everything okay?"
"Yeah, she's fine," Stefan told the blonde man.
Matt ignored him, still looking at Rebekah. "Are you sure?"
It seemed Matt's on going concern for Rebekah made Stefan snap. "Hey, no one asked you!"
"Don't yell at my date!"
"Enough!" Klaus shouted. "My fiancée is missing. I have no clue whether she's leaving me or dead in a ditch somewhere. I'm supposed to be getting married in less than ten minutes, if none of you have anything productive to add, then I suggest you all leave me the hell alone and take your incessant lover's quarrel somewhere else!"
The threesome stood silently, heads turning down, looking like guilty little children.
"Um," Matt said, piping up nervously. "I just saw Jeremy come in. Maybe he knows something?"
Klaus sighed in relief at the suggestion, bursting into the main area and in search of Jeremy Gilbert. He found the younger man on the bride's side, seated near Caroline's mother.
"Jeremy," Klaus said when he reached him. Jeremy's face fell when he looked at Klaus.
"Uh, yeah, we should talk." The Gilbert lad excused them from Caroline's mother and took him over to the side. Klaus prepared himself for the worst. It was odd that it would be Jeremy delivering this heart breaking news to him. He had only spoken to the guy a few times before.
"So, there was a problem on the way back from Mystic Falls," Jeremy began, keeping his voice low. "Damon called me late last night."
Klaus's eyes narrowed. "What problem?"
Across the room, Rebekah stood watching her brother converse with Elena's little brother. Her brow furrowed and the entire room silenced when Klaus burst out into hysterical laughter, the sound echoing around the room.
"What's so funny?" Stefan asked beside her.
Rebekah shook her head. "I think he's finally lost it."
.
.
.
"Bonnie Bennett I could kiss you!"
Caroline was amazed at her friend's plotting. Somehow she had managed to sneak her cell phone into the cell. Captain Tight Pants had patted them down, but Bonnie was able to somehow use her pregnant belly to hide the phone. All the trips to the bathroom where made calling Damon to come to the rescue.
"Hey, I helped too, don't I get any kisses?" Damon's dark brows waggled over his crystal eyes.
He had used his sneaky lawyer savvy to get them freed. It didn't take much in the end, just a lot of fast-talking and fancy words and a quick call to the sheriff. The aging police officer came in and excused his deputy, claiming that the kid was just overeager. They were completely free, even Elena.
Damon had called the towing company and arranged for Elena's car to be picked up and repaired. He'd also seen to removing the unmentionables from the trunk before showing up at the station. In the car, Bonnie had called Jeremy to let him know they were all okay. He was freaking out, of course. Bonnie swore him to secrecy, though.
They were racing back to Chicago. Caroline was still hoping to make everything on time, without anyone being the wiser about their misadventure. In a few hours businesses would open and she could start calling to make adjustments in the day's scheduled. She needed to call her mom and tell her to just go straight to the church and then call the planner and let him know that they'd be starting later. She needed to contact the salon and the makeup artists and let them know…
"Wakey, wakey," Damon crooned from the driver's seat.
Nighttime had disappeared. The sun was up and the Chicago skyline was coming into view. She had fallen asleep.
Elena groaned in the back seat, stretching out her arms. "What time is it?"
"We've got twenty minutes to make it to the gallery," Damon answered. "What's the plan, Barbie?"
Caroline snapped up and into action. "Bonnie, call the limo driver, the number is in your phone. See where he is and tell him to meet us at Elena's." Bonnie nodded and started making the call. "Damon, take us to Elena's. Our dresses and stuff are there. We'll change and then take the limo to the gallery. We'll just have to do makeup and hair on the way." She grabbed Damon's phone and called the salon and makeup artists to cancel, making a mental note to still send a check for taking up their time.
Damon pulled up in front of Elena's apartment and parallel parked on the street. Caroline was hanging up with the reception hall as they ran into the elevator. "Damon, call Klaus, let him know we're on our way. Don't tell him what happened."
"Okay, not sure I'm going to get around that one," Damon said, but he placed his phone next to his ear all the same.
Caroline was darting around Elena's room, grabbing her dress and giving it a final inspection for wrinkles or flaws, not that she had time to do anything about either one of the those issues. Once she checked her dress, she grabbed her purse, tossing in various makeup and hair items she would need for the days. Her mind raced, trying to think of a way to style her hair during the limo ride. A few bobby pins and some hair spray and she should be able to look presentable. She stopped when she noticed Elena standing stock still in the middle of her room.
"Let's go," Caroline said, snapping her fingers. "Not a minute to waste."
"Caroline," Elena said. Her tone made Caroline pause. "I'm so sorry for what I said earlier. You were right. I am a little jealous."
Caroline sat down the ball of tulle and satin in her arms and turned to her friend. "It's okay. I didn't mean it either, I was just…stressed and worried about missing everything."
"It would have been my fault," Elena admitted.
"No, no it wouldn't have been. It was just a series of unfortunate events. But it's okay. We're gonna make it on time and I'm going to get married."
Elena smiled. "You're gonna get married. Klaus is an great guy and he's lucky to have you. I'm glad you found someone who makes you smile like this."
"Damon's not so bad either," Caroline mentioned.
Elena sighed, looking at the door, her shoulder shifting up and down. "Yeah, well, we can talk about that later. Today is your day."
"Thanks," Caroline said, smiling again. She just couldn't help it. The two of them hugged, the harsh words forgotten and their friendship renewed.
"Besides, you've been surprisingly good throughout all the planning. I was really expecting a Bridezilla type situation."
"Hey!" Caroline swatted at her friend and laughed. "Oh, phone charger! Do you have my old one still here?"
"Yeah, in the drawer in the kitchen."
Caroline walked out of Elena's bedroom and headed toward the kitchen, where Damon was on the phone with Klaus, letting him know what was going on.
"Are you sure you don't want me to stall?" He joked. Caroline rolled her eyes as she walked toward his back. "You were almost off the hook there with the whole thing. Sure, you're not still having second thoughts?"
"What?" Caroline stopped dead an invisible wall keeping her from moving forward. Damon whipped around, his eyes dilating in guilt. "What do you mean second thoughts?"
"Oh, shit," Damon muttered, lowering the phone away from his ear.
.
.
.
"Jeremy Gilbert already informed me of their little predicament," Klaus told Damon over the phone.
"That little narc," Damon said. "Well, we should be there in about twenty minutes. The girls are grabbing their dresses and then the limo is picking us up. Are you sure you don't want me to stall? You were almost off the hook there with the whole thing. Sure, you're not still having second thoughts?"
Klaus shook his head. He was about to tell Damon there wasn't anything in the world that would stop him from marrying Caroline. He was about to tell him that they had better get there in less than twenty minutes because he didn't want to wait a moment longer to make the girl of his dreams a permanent part of his life. But then he heard her voice on the other side, her words like hammer to glass.
"What do you mean second thoughts?"
"Oh shit," he heard Damon mutter on the other line. He wanted to reach through the phone and kill the man. "Barbie, wait—"
Damon hung up the phone. Klaus gritted his teeth, trying not to yell. He gripped the phone so tight, his hands turned red, then white. He took off running, bursting down the aisle and past the curious wedding guests, busting out the door.
Outside he jumped into the first cab he saw and barked Elena's address at the driver. He hands dialed Caroline's number, but it went straight to voice mail. Her phone was still dead or she was ignoring him. How could he have been so bloody stupid? How could Damon have said that within ear shot?
The cab reached Elena's flat and he threw a few bills at the driver, thanking the heavens that he had actually put his wallet into the inside pocket of his tux. He flew up the stairs and Damon whipped open the door before Klaus could even knock.
Elena and Bonnie stood in the living room, twin expressions of shock and pity on their faces.
"Where is she?" He yelled at them. Bonnie gave a little shrug. He whirled on Damon. "Where is she?"
"I don't know," Damon said. "She just flew out of here."
Klaus wanted to punch Damon. He really, really did. This was all his fault. His phone rang in his pocket and Klaus pulled it out, hoping it was Caroline. But Rebekah's number flashed on the screen.
"Not now," he snapped. His world was crashing down. He didn't have time to answer her questions or hear about her melodramas.
"Don't hang up," Rebekah said quickly. "I have someone here that wants to talk to you."
"Klaus?"
His breath caught. He felt relieved and scared all at once at hearing her voice.
"Caroline."
"Where the hell did you go?" She yelled into the phone.
"I'm at Elena's," Klaus told her.
"Why are you there?"
"I came to…apologize," Klaus replied. "Why did you leave? Why are you at the gallery?"
"I came to talk to you," she said. "To make sure everything was okay and to knock some sense into you before I put on my dress and paraded down the aisle and got jilted in front of all of our family and friends like I'm living in some crazy Jane Austen novel."
Klaus chuckled. "I love you."
It was so simple, but it encompassed everything he wanted to say.
"You do?"
"I do."
"Good," she said. He could hear her smile over the phone. "Now get back here and marry me, before I have to kill you."
"Right away, love."
.
.
.
Her hair wasn't special. It was twisted into a simple chignon at the nape of her neck, small wisps pulled out to frame her flawless face. There was a bit of purple under her eyes from lack of sleep. Perfume covered the fact that she hadn't showered. There were pink bows where yellow bows were supposed to be and not enough roses in her bouquet. His tuxedo was a bit crinkled and he'd forgotten cuff links. His hair was disheveled from nerves and worry. A few chairs had been missing and they had to borrow some from the gallery that didn't match the rest. The violinist that played the wedding march had played just a little too fast and her walk was shorter than she'd thought it would be.
The wedding wasn't perfect, but the couple was.
Klaus didn't take his eyes off Caroline from the second she appeared at the end of the aisle. Her stepfather, Stephen, escorted her. She glowed pink and yellow as she made her way toward him. He knew the smile on his face was ridiculous, but he couldn't help himself.
His hands shook ever so slightly as he said his vows and placed the ring on her finger. His heart swelled when she said, "I do" and committed her life and love to him and him alone.
It was over in a flash, and he was pressing his lips to hers, soft and warm. Home. It had been hours, days, weeks, years since he last kissed her and he never wanted to kiss another person for the rest of their lives.
.
.
.
"I think we still win," Caroline said as Klaus swept her around the dance floor.
They had done all of their wedding traditions. Photographs, first dances, cake, the throwing of the bouquet, and now the party was winding down. Distant friends and offered their congratulations, left their gifts, and headed for home.
"Even though the centerpieces had carnations?" He laughed.
Caroline rolled her eyes. "Don't get me started," she said. "We definitely win for best pre-wedding story. Too bad we can't really tell anyone about it." Klaus twirled her around and caught her again in his arm. She laughed, giddy from the day. "Have I told you today that I love you?"
"It's been mentioned once or twice," he replied. He brought his lips next to her ear, holding her close enough to fell her heart beating against his chest.
"I love you," she whispered.
"You do?" he asked.
"I do."
.
.
.
Thank you again everyone! I appreciate all you readers so much. You're amazing!
drop me a line on tumblr at hybridlovelies