Klaus had skipped town weeks ago. No one knew where to. Except for Stefan, possibly, or at least that's what they all suspected. He'd been very hush-hush on everything that led up to Klaus's departure. They all knew that he had brokered some kind of deal, but he wouldn't give any specifics. Elena and Damon worried about it nonstop.

Caroline had tried to warn Elena to give it a rest. Damon's ulcers would heal. Hers would not. Elena hadn't appreciated the joke.

"I need to know Care!" she'd all but cried. "Klaus wouldn't just up and leave everything! He left his hybrids, his blood supply, his sister! And Stefan isn't telling us anything- so whatever Klaus's terms were he already knows we never would have agreed!"

Caroline had to admit that sounded a lot like Stefan.

"Klaus is going to come back! It's only a matter of when, and what he comes back to collect… And what if it's Stefan?" Elena's voice had been so small and fearful at the prospect of losing her boyfriend again.

Caroline had decided then help them get to the bottom of it. She had always been good at getting into other people's business.

The Mikaelson Manor was empty except for a few bleary-eyed, compelled staff and Rebekah Mikaelson herself.

"To what do I owe this displeasure?" Rebekah asked.

"Just came to ask a few questions."

"If this is about Niklaus, I've already told your friends. Your guess is as good as mine."

"I don't believe that. Klaus would have told you-"

"You'd think that, wouldn't you? After years and years of loyalty."

Caroline knew a tender nerve when she hit one.

"I do not know where Nik ran off to. He and Stefan are in on something together, and I want no part of it. Neither should any of you."

Caroline believed her without any further questioning. She seemed so… so honest. And unguarded. And a little disappointed. But about what? Caroline wondered.

Rebekah turned to retreat to her wing of the estate, but before leaving the entry hall, she turned and asked, "Will you be going to the dance?"

"What?"

"The next decade dance? Will you be going?"

"Well, sure. Me and Bonnie and Elena are going. Girl dates and all."

Rebekah raised an eyebrow, and let out a soft "oh." And proceeded to look Caroline over very curiously.

That was weird. Caroline always found it weird when thousand year old vampires checked her out.

"It's not like that-"

"No need to explain. Seeing as this is a dance I will actually get to attend, I will just see for myself what its like."

"This decade dance is the 70's. I have the dance committee on vervain. No last minute changes," Caroline said firmly.

"I wasn't around for the 1970's…" Rebekah sounded mournful about that fact.

"Well, me neither. But-" This was weird. Originals just made things weird. Because something about Rebekah standing there looking all sad was making Caroline feel- it made her feel like she had to say what she said next: "You can join us! In getting ready for the dance. Y'know, if you wanted to."

Rebekah gave her the once over again. "Could I?"

"Yeah, it's kind of an unspoken secret for high school girls. The real fun happens before the dance. We try on everything we own and model for each other and-"

"I'll be there."

Caroline hadn't found any real information on Klaus or Stefan. But extending an olive branch to the youngest Mikaelson couldn't hurt. And all it took was an innocent little invitation to the dance.

That's what Caroline kept telling herself on the drive home.

Both Elena and Bonnie bailed on dance prep. Because for some reason Bonnie wasn't going to the dance at all, and Damon wouldn't allow Elena to spend any time with Rebekah unsupervised. Caroline didn't even know what to make of Elena's relationship with the older Salvatore anymore. But she had bigger problems.

Rebekah had in fact brought every dressed she owned. They were laid out across Caroline's bedroom, on her bed, at her desk, atop her dresser, and arranged on the floor. Bright, svelte designer fabrics with every color and pattern imaginable.

"It's 70's themed!" Caroline exclaimed at the mess. "You need, like, bellbottoms or something."

"Yes, I goggled those. How those pants were ever in style is beyond me."

"It's Google, and you can't just ignore the theme- and what are you doing!"

Rebekah was stripping off her blouse. "We try them on and model them, right? That's the fun part?" Rebekah's smile was downright lascivious.

Caroline Forbes was no dummy. She knew when she was being flirted with. She knew when she was being toyed with. And she knew when she was being baited.

But Caroline chose not to say anything as Rebekah had sauntered around her room, wearing nothing but black lingerie. Because Caroline could handle this, really. It was only lingerie. Really fancy lingerie, she noticed, not your run of the mill Victoria Secret. It had to be especially fitted. Because you don't just find lingerie that fits like that.

Which was when Caroline told herself to stop looking so closely.

And so the next hour had been filled with Rebekah pulling dresses on and off, and Caroline pretending this was the same as the many times Elena and Bonnie had undressed in her presence. Which was confusing to think about too deeply, because if she was honest, as a human she had already been pretending not to notice Elena and Bonnie. Puberty had been weird, okay? But she had gotten through it, slept with guys, dated Matt. Though ever since being a vampire, the idea of like girls had taken a backseat in terms of the weirdness driving her life.

But it was still something no one knew. Except for Rebekah, apparently. Every dress she tried on, she looked at Caroline, asking for an opinion. Caroline sat at the edge of her bed, and gave a nod for every single dress. She didn't dare speak. Because Rebekah was hot. And she probably would have blurted out as much the first chance she got.

Caroline had no doubt that Rebekah knew exactly what kind of signals she was sending. She had spent centuries in that unchanging body. She knew how to move in it, to arrange herself so effortlessly that the contours of her shapely form left no room for interpretation.

'Come hither.'

'Come play with me.'

'I know you're watching.'

"You're turned on," Rebekah said matter-of-factly, holding up her last dress.

"Yeah, well," Caroline sputtered, not even denying it, "You're basically a strip show on repeat!"

Rebekah chuckled at the accusation. "You're really an excitable thing, aren't you?"

Caroline shifted in her seat. She had all of Rebekah's attention now. No more nonchalantly examining her nails or the stitch on some dress. Her ice blue eyes were focused on her and everything was heating up. Caroline suddenly realized they were speeding past a point of no return, and if this was going to stop, it needed to happen then.

"Look, Rebekah, this is all a little… weird, and-"

"'Weird'," Rebekah tried out the word slowly, like it was a candy whose flavor she was trying to place. "No one ever used that word in my day. At least, it wasn't in common usage."

"Why not? It's a great word. Because stuff is weird, and you need a word to say when it is." Off topic and off track. Caroline believed she was in the clear for a moment. Then Rebekah started laughing again. Because Caroline was just soamusing.

"You know what you remind me of Caroline? The Victorian era; it was the sixty or so years before the turn of the millennia. In England, I met a lot of ladies like you. High breeding, educated and trained, and so very repressed."

"I'm not repressed. I have a little black book that would make your mother blush-"

Faster than Caroline's enhanced vision could follow, Rebekah zoomed across the room. Caroline was expecting her to pounce on her, push her flat to the bed, and oh god the places those thoughts go in the millisecond before she realizes that that's not the case. Rebekah was kneeling before her, still only clad in her undergarments. Caroline could see down her corset bra. Her eyes flittered from her chest to her voracious eyes and back. The woman before her was the very picture of mischievous.

"Caroline," Rebekah purred in that accent of hers, and her hands came up to rest atop Caroline's knees. She glanced up though her eyelashes, seeking something.

'The first move was mine, luhve,'Caroline could read in her expression. 'But that doesn't mean I'm letting you off easily.'

Caroline pressed her lips together. She knew what Rebekah wanted. She nodded her head. Rebekah's grin could only be described as gleeful.

Slowly, she moved her hands up Caroline's thighs. Caressing until halfway, where her hands met the hem of Caroline's skirt, and then back to her knees. The simple movement set the young vampire's skin aflame and brought her nerves to attention. "You seem proud of your country boy dalliances, but I must know… Have you ever brought a woman to climax with just your mouth?"

Caroline gasped and squeezed her eyes shut.

"Have you?" Rebekah repeated, her fingertips dancing on Caroline's knees. The younger vampire shook her head 'no'. Rebekah moved her hands along Caroline's skin once more, seemingly in approval. "But have you ever thought about it?" To that Caroline nodded her head 'yes', but did not open her eyes. This time when Rebekah stroked her skin, she knew it was in approval.

"Have you ever dreamt about it?"

She had. In quiet moments, she had thought about other girls on the cheer leading squad; Amber, Tiki, Aimee, even bitchy Tina Fell. Her girls could move, and Caroline had wanted, wanted so freaking badly, for them to move for herthe way they did the football jocks. To be hers, so she could flip up their red little skirts and just-

"Yes…" Caroline answered aloud. Rebekah's hands began moving along the inside of her thighs then. She laid back, luxuriated in the heated friction. Her head came to rest on some dresses Rebekah had left strewn across the bedding. For the first time since turning, Caroline allowed herself to fully indulge her heightened senses in the scent of something womanly.

"Have you ever yearned for it?"

Rebekah didn't wait for an answer. Her hands moved faster, inching just past the hem a little, though not enough. None of it was enough.

"Yes!"

Caroline finally opened her eyes. Turned her head up from where it rested to look Rebekah right in the eyes. Her vision was hazy from the heat that had spread from her core, to the tips of her toes curled tight, and her fingertips clutching at her bedding and Rebekah's dresses.

"Been so sure that the taste would be so perfect, so right, that it made you ache?"

Then Caroline couldn't stand it anymore. She hiked up her skirt, open hear knees, bared her panties and wet arousal, and pleaded: "please, please, please just-!"

Rebekah eyes flash dark and the veins around them engorged Her fangs descended and oh god it was the hottest thing Caroline had ever seen.

Then with one deep, heavy breath, Rebekah composed herself. Caroline actually heard her blood flow slowing.

"Rebekah?" the young vampire whimpered uncertainly.

Rebekah laid a single kiss to the inside of prey's thigh, and then stood up to say: "We have a dance to get, love."

"What- No!" Caroline sat up with a start. Her skirt was still upturned and her knees were quaking. This wasn't fair. This was not fair.

"I am not going to miss another dance." Rebekah pulled on a random dress. She did not appear to care which one she ended up wearing after all.

"C'mon! You can't just-"

"Oh sweetie, this is the way the game is played. Plus, you can break up with your boyfriend while we are there."

Caroline turned her face away, suddenly ashamed. She hadn't spared Tyler a single thought all afternoon.

"You can feel sad and conflicted about it later. The dance is now. We'll meet Stefan there and he can give you a few pointers. On the brooding, that is."

"I don't brood," Caroline snapped. "Brooding gives you frown lines."

"You're never going to get frown lines. Vampire, remember? Now grab your shoes, my sweet. We're going to the- how do you call it? Disco? Yes, that it!"

Rebekah was all boundless exuberance. If Caroline hadn't been so frustrated, she would have found it beautiful. A girl going to her first dance was a big deal. But Caroline had been to many dances, and she had a boyfriend to break up with, and Elena to confess to that she had no idea about Stefan's pact with the devil hybrid. She just couldn't share in the other blonde's excitement.

"Oh, and we're skipping the after party, aren't we?" Rebekah asked over her shoulder on the way out. "We do have plans after…" A flash of that wicked smile.

And then Caroline was sure the night wouldn't end too badly after all.

~fin~