It was a rough week for Caroline Forbes, not only had she just moved into the new town of Lawrence, Kansas but she had been ignoring Elena's calls that had been coming ever since she left Virginia. It wasn't that she wanted to ignore her, but if she wanted to start over and not have someone beg her to come back she had to make sure no one tried to influence her, atleast not in the first week being there. Now, she was at a bar thinking about every mistake she had done over the past year with the addition of a few drinks.
By the third hour there, the bar was almost closing and there was only about two other people beside her in the bar. One was a taller man, and the other was a brunette girl who seemed to be dozing off midway through her drink. It made her wonder if this was what her life had come to now, and if the rest of her days would be filled with remorse and alcohol. Since when had Caroline become so lost?
" Amanda?" She heard the taller man begin to speak, and out of curiousity Caroline decided to turn around and oddly enough he was facing her.
" Uh, no… Caroline actually." She responded back with a raised eyebrow before leaning her elbow against the bar never leaving her eyes off him. " Caroline Forbes."
" Oh, sorry… I just thought..nevermind." He gave her a smile, looking a bit embarrassed before he reached for his drink. He was obviously crazy or confused, maybe even just as lost as she was.
"Is she an ex girlfriend of something?" She asked now, curiosity taking over now.
" More like my brother's, she came by one time and you just look…. Exactly like her." He admitted, his eyes back on her now but this time they held a bit of suspicion as they roamed her features. She wasn't sure if to feel uncomfortable or to simply let it go but then he finally spoke.
"I'm Sam, Sam Winchester." He held out his hand, which made Caroline smile and shake it out of politeness. He was hard to figure out with everything that was just happening, but it was helping her forget and smile for the first time in a long time.
" And what brings you here at four in the morning, Sam?"
Caroline watched him shrug a bit, taking another sip from his glass and didn't speak for a few seconds. It was like he was trying to find a way to say what he wanted to say, or maybe trying to avoid the question. Either way, she waited as she wondered what was wrong and usually she wouldn't have cared unless it was a close friend but she did love the company. She missed the company even though she tried so hard to get away from it the past few days.
"Just trying to find a way to fix another mistake I guess." He admitted, but his eyes stayed on the glass as if ashamed to do so and Caroline didn't mind. She wouldn't have dared to look at him either if he knew about her, she completely understood why he was looking away.
" What about you?" He asked now, finally looking at her now.
" Long story short? Trying to start new, find myself and trying to move on from my own mistakes." She replied with a sad smile.
" So, running away?"
"No… well.. I am just taking a break." She added, fighting the urge to tell a stranger what she was really thinking and feeling. That was until she realized that she could tell him everything, get things off her chest and eventually just compel him to forget. Except, she was trying to be good and live a normal life so she pushed that idea aside.
" I understand."
" Trust me, you couldn't if you tried." Caroline scoffed, taking another drink of her glass before standing up. She was ready to go home and sleep, or continue unpacking.
" Want me to take you home?" With that question, Caroline was hesitant. She didn't know the guy despite being on first name basis and he could be a serial killer for all she knew. Then again, he wouldn't be an actual threat to her and so she agreed.
The walk back to her home was not that far, and both her and Sam walked in silence. Even when Caroline wanted to talk, she didn't. She would rather invite him in and talk inside once they were both seated with a cup of coffee at four thirty in the morning.
" Do you usually stay up this late?" She asked, warm coffee mug in hand as she sat with her legs crossed on her couch. Nothing had gone wrong yet, and so she decided to relax and if she had to be honest it felt right.
" Sometimes, my brother and I we travel a lot and I am usually up by 6 in the morning"
" What is it you do?" She asked, curiously.
" Uhm, a little of everything."
" You're getting mysterious on me now? That's no fun!"
" You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
" Try me." Caroline responded, a smile on her face now as they continued talking. A talk that would continue for the next hour or so.
" Right now, I just do research and honestly I am thinking of going back to school." He replied, taking a small sip of his coffee. " This is really good."
" Thank you."
" Did you just move in here?" Caroline nodded at his question as they both looked around, noticing the few boxes that lay on the ground. Even though she didn't bring much, 4 boxes was still a lot and the couch and kitchen table were the only things in the house when Caroline bought it or more like compelled the lady to give it to her. It was the first and last time she would use her vampire powers for her own benefit, that she had promised herself. From then on, she was going to try and live a civil human life, occasionally stealing blood bags from the hospital but that was it.
" I came from Mystic Falls, Virginia." Caroline added, a bittersweet feeling came upon her as she mentioned her hometown. Part of her missed it and the other part was glad she was taking a break. " Have you ever been there?"
" Uh, I think so but not in Mystic Falls. " He replied, getting comfortable himself in the sofa while he took a sip of his coffee.
" I think that's not so bad actually, I mean it's a lovely place just things tend to get overwhelming or maybe it's just my life honestly."
" Like no matter how much you clean, the mess keeps getting bigger?"
"Exactly!" Caroline replied, sitting up straight before meeting his eyes. " So, do you want to tell me your story?"
" Oh, you wouldn't believe me."
" You keep saying that, but honestly I think your story is probably 100% more normal-ish than mine." She spoke softly, trying to get him to talk for she was curious. Sam Winchester peaked her interest and now she wanted to learn more about him, and she wasn't sure what it was about him.
Caroline heard him sigh softly, place the mug on the floor before shaking his head. " You will think I am a freak and honestly I would rather you think of me as anything but." His response made the blonde rolled her eyes, scooting closer to him before reaching for his hand as if promising reassurance. Wasn't she the biggest freak for inviting him into her home in the first place? She understood what he meant though, and maybe that's why she kept him around.
" You don't have to tell me anything, but I promise you that you're not a freak. If anything, I am." She reassured, raising her eyebrow a bit ashamed. Watching him stay silent, she was sure he didn't want to talk about it and she wasn't going to force him. Instead, she stood up and reached for both of their mugs.
" You don't have to talk, but if you do I am listening." She nodded, finally making her way to the sink before placing both mugs inside silently as if throwing them in too hard would wake up the whole neighborhood and she was sure it would if she threw them hard enough. This town was so quiet and so peaceful, at the same time it felt so fragile.
" Actually, I should get going." Sam finally spoke, walking into the kitchen and closer to the fridge but not before turning to face Caroline. " Mind if I grab a water before?"
Caroline immediately turned around, stepping infront of the fridge before shaking her head. It wasn't like she was trying to panic, but she was sure he was about to open the fridge if she didn't stop him. Or maybe he wouldn't have and she was yet again being a bit too paranoid.
" I… don't have any water… I am sorry.." She lied, forcing a smile. She knew she could use her powers to compel him, make him forget he was ever there but she couldn't and she wouldn't. Every fiber in her being told her to quit being stupid and to quit making mistakes, but she was certain that she would be fine is Sam would just go.
" You don't have a dead body in there, do you?"
" What? No?!" Caroline scoffed, unsure if that was Sam teasing or not but she sure hoped it would.
" You sure?"
" I solemnly swear there is no dead body in here." Caroline reassured again, looking into his eyes with confidence or atleast tried to.
" Okay, well.. I'll get going."
Caroline nodded, taking a deep breath and exhaling rapidly as she felt the nerves leave her body just as they got there.
She was safe and now Sam was leaving, but not before she called out to him.
" Wait, how about you and I go for another drink sometime?" She asked, catching up to him. It wasn't hard, she could be fast if she wanted to and the kitchen was not too far from the front door. The house was big but not big enough.
" Yeah, I'd like that." Sam smiled at her, and the blonde couldn't help but smile back holding out her hand for his phone.
" I'll write my number, and whenever you want we can hang out." She nodded, entering her information into his phone, handing it to him as soon as she was done before giving him a small smile. " And who knows, maybe I'll be able to tell you a bit more of my story and hopefully you'll share yours?"
" Deal."
And just like that, Sam was gone and Caroline was alone yet again. She was able to breathe in relief again as she closed her front door and locked it. Once she was sure he was gone, she sped over to the fridge and opened it revealing a couple of blood bags and one orange juice. Had he opened it before she stopped him, it would've freaked him out and he was someone she kind of wanted to keep around. It was more of a feeling without reason than anything else and she also thought she needed friends.
Caroline thought of an idea to get herself a mini fridge soon in the future, then place random food in the main fridge knowing that people wouldn't snoop into her mini fridge or atleast she hoped not. " Smart idea, Care. Smart idea." She spoke to herself as she started to wash the dirty mugs, ignoring the sudden sound coming from her phone that served as reminder for her to check her messages later which she probably wouldn't, because it was probably Stefan or Elena wondering if she'd be back.
Her answer would remain as a no, wanting space required her to take a break from her past and start looking into the future and hopefully finding herself. It also meant moving on from Stefan completely. In fact, she was actually making progress from all of that, she missed him of course but she was starting to accept the fact that she and Stefan were not meant to be.
Sure enough, the text that came about was from neither Stefan or Elena or even Damon for that matter which surprised her. It was actually a text from Sam, asking if they could hang out next week and sure enough she replied with a yes and a smiley face. She then made her way to her bedroom, locking the door behind her before laying down and facing the ceiling with thoughts that didn't seem to leave her head but regardless of that she was actually excited to have met a potential friend.
" So, Sam so eager to see me again?" Caroline teased, sitting across from him. They were sitting on the table closest to the bar. Sam only chuckled, and though she could see his cheeks turn a tiny shade of pink she didn't mention it at all. She was starting to like talking to the boy and by now she was sure he was atleast a bit interested in her by his way of talking. Caroline wasn't sure how to feel about him yet, but teasing him was only part of the fun and seeing him flustered made her smile.
"Anyways, how was getting home so late?" Caroline asked curiously.
"Well, the best part was sleeping honestly." Sam chuckled, their eyes meeting for the first time that day, the other time was when she was reassuring him. She remained calm though, thinking of it as nothing before she began speaking again.
" So, you mentioned you wanted to go back to college. What did you want to study?"
" I was thinking law, I didn't really get to finish and I am hoping this time I will."
Caroline was impressed to say the least. " And why didn't you finish? Money?"
" No, actually…" Sam stopped, and Caroline bit her bottom lip as she wondered if she said the wrong thing.
" You don't have to answer."
" I had to get back into the family business, after my girlfriend died...I knew I couldn't exactly escape my past and so-"
" So you just embraced it?" Caroline asked curiously again, her tone carrying a bit of sadness now. She then wondered if she was ever going to escape her own past.
" Something like that, I mean there was also my brother and I didn't want to lose him too."
" I understand."
" You've lost someone too, haven't you?"
Caroline stayed silent for a few seconds, swallowing thickly. She knew she had to answer his question, he answered hers. Yet, she couldn't bring herself to say that her mother had died it still felt surreal.
" My mother recently." She finally admitted, her tone remaining low and sad as she faced him.
" You're not alone in that you know."
" You lost her too?"
" Yeah, when I was 6 months old actually." He admitted, making her feel worse and suddenly she needed a change of scenery. She also wanted to give him a huge hug and cry into his shoulders too but she knew that would probably be too weird and so she decided to only reach for his hand and squeeze it tightly.
" That doesn't make you a freak, by the way. I mean, if this is what you were referring to." Caroline spoke, not breaking eye contact despite his sad eyes breaking her heart.
" You're not a freak either." With that, Caroline couldn't help but feel understood. She smiled at him gently now, watching him return the same small smile of his.
LATER THAT NIGHT
Dean groaned, setting the bottle of beer on the table before leaning to see what Sam was searching on his computer. " What have we got?"
" Besides stolen blood bags? Some bodies drained of blood."
" See? How is that not a case?"
" Dean, I am not saying the drained bodies isn't a case but the stolen blood bags? It has to be some type of joke… It is almost Halloween, maybe some freak needed some." Sam shrugged, going into the FBI database to find out more about the victims and ignoring the fact that Dean was breathing behind his ear. It bothered him, but he was in too much of a good mood to even care about telling him.
" Want to bet?" Dean asked, glancing over at Sam for a second before reaching for a chair and taking his own spot for his own research. The taller boy only sighed, shaking his head.
There was no way the drained bodies had any relation to the blood bags at all. There couldn't be, some freak was probably just into the whole bloody stuff and he wasn't going to waste his time on something so small.
" It's not a case, Dean." He repeated, glancing over at his brother from the corner of his eye and shook his head again.
" Whatever you say, dude." Dean continued researching anyways, hacking into the hospital's security cameras. At first, it was a blurry image and then he saw what looked to be a woman or atleast the back of one and it wasn't until he was able to see her face that his eyes widened.
It was a familiar face to him nonetheless, but what confused him more was that she was hiding the blood bags in her bag.
" Son of a bitch." He whispered, ignoring his brother's quizzical look and instead of telling him what he just saw he closed his laptop before looking at Sam.
" You were right, just some kids going in and out for some blood bags." He lied, reaching for his bottle of beer and taking a large gulp. It was a case no doubt, but it was one he would rather deal with on his own until he found out what was going on.
" I told you."
" Shut up."
Sam only rolled his eyes, speaking again. " Anyways, two bodies were found back in Lawrence drained of their blood. A couple by the names of Eva and Jake Rivers. " He began to explain, looking over at his brother now as he did so and even though Dean tried to listen, his mind was somewhere else completely.