Disclaimer: I don't own the Vampire Diaries. Characters and cannon are only used in this story for the sole purpose of entertainment.
A place to live
As it was, Caroline hadn't yet gotten any answer from any of the places she had requested for living arrangements. She was a little bit disappointed (and a lot more annoyed) at the fact that she would have to go from one place to the other in order to find the right address to settle.
All in all, however, she decided it couldn't be too bad. It gave her the perfect excuse to actually visit the cities and towns she had only ever seen in the internet and maybe latter in the year she would actually go to those places and stay a little bit longer.
She picked up her purple suitcase and headed for the nearest bed and breakfast, a concept she was not very used to, but at least they had everything she needed (only in a ridiculously small room) She put the heavier parts of her luggage in the side of the bed and picked up her camera and a map, ready to explore the city before her 10 days tour around the United Kingdom.
The man in the reception barely noticed she left, waving her off casually as she said goodbye in her usual overly friendly way. She supposed she would have to adjust a little to a new environment.
She marked a few places in the map (starting obviously by the Buckingham palace) and then went from there. The subway (underground - supplied the sugary voice of an old lady) was nearly empty at that time of the day, although maybe that had something to do with the fact that it was also weekend. Saturdays at London, it seemed, started a little later than they did in mystic falls. By the time she made it to Trafalgar square, she realized night was the best time to be in the city. The spontaneous concert was great (if a little bit crowded) and the contortionists in the other side of the street were a nice addition to the overall loud music and colorful lights. The night was still young, but after a whole day of walking the capital of England, she decided she needed to return to the quiet comfort of a bed. She could always come back to London.
The very next day Caroline took off to the bus station to buy a ticket for Durham. She didn't know why there first, but she figured it was as good place as any. She waited patiently amongst a sea of backpacks and luggage that seemed to take up more room than the people carrying them. That was, of course, if you counted the people not sleeping over the same seats. Mostly dread locked young people like her, a few couples and a group of pierced teenagers. The rest of the passengers were either having a cup of…uh… tea or standing around the cluttered seats. Caroline shuddered a little as she thought of the hot concoction; People had their tastes, but that thing was truly disgusting.
A bus stopped right in front of the closest gate and Caroline checked her ticket to confirm that indeed the gray hound unit just arrived was the one that would be taking her to Durham.
She wasted no time picking up the luggage from the floor and her handbag as she approached the fast-forming line at the side of the bus. The wind suddenly picked up and lifted the hem of the flowery dress she was wearing. Caroline made a note to take out her beige trench coat as soon as she got to her next destination.
She bumped on the lady in front of her, who she noted, was carrying a very cool set of combat boots with her very lady-like dress. She took a minute to admire her daring fashion move, before she apologized profusely in her most adult-friendly voice. She did know how to treat older people.
As it was, the lady only smiled at her and offered her the most delicious cookie she'd ever tasted (and she had tried every cookie there was in mystic falls, much as it had cost her to keep her weight in check). After that, it seemed they became best friends for the rest of the journey.
It turned out Agatha, as she'd later introduced herself, was originally from Wales, but then had moved to Durham during her university years, where she had met her husband who was also not from Durham and they had decided to move to live there in honor of their ever-lasting love. She was now just coming back from a trip to her family's home as one of her grand-daughters had just married and wanted her to be there for the big moment of her union. Caroline, ever the romantic, could not help but ask every question that came to her mind to keep the lady talking, so when they eventually got to Durham, she already had a place to stay at Agatha's house. That was how good she was.
Unfortunately, after two days in Durham, Caroline realized it wasn't really for her (yes Harry Potter Cloisters at the Cathedral were awesome) but all in all, none of the dwellings she had seen were really what she was looking for to stay for the year. So by Wednesday, she packed up her stuff again and bid sweet Agatha, her delicious cookies and Louis goodbye. They made her promise to visit before the year was over and she honestly couldn't have agreed more.
Next in her list was York. Which she honestly didn't think she would love quite so much (she'd lived in a historic town all her life, how could this be any different?) But it was, it was so dramatically different from mystic falls in fact, Caroline found herself wanting to stay for at least a few days. She did go to a lot of museums (although, to be fair, the whole town was like an open exhibition) and got in one of those ponny-driven carriages and feed the eventual duck that came into town. Ate a lot of homemade cooking and went to a gothic bar at night, right next to the truck-man bar she had already visited on her first day there. York, however, turned out quite the same as Durham. What little places there were to rent, just weren't made for her. She needed open, light and aired. This just wasn't working out the way she wanted.
Edinburg turned out to be a lot bigger than she'd originally thought (yes, she knew it was big, but her overall perception of distance in a map was really not that great) so she took her time to rest at the hotel the night she got to Edinburg and set out for the city the next day.
Soo… yeah… big, it was all she could really think. She'd already got lost five times in the many streets and avenues of Edinburg and for the first time, she realized just how limited her life had been by the mere fact that she had lived in Mystic Falls ever since she was born. She'd been right all along, she just hadn't realized how right she had been.
She checked the map for the third time in the last 20 minutes to confirm that yes, she was lost yet again. It didn't bother her that much though, even though at Mystic Falls there was no such a thing as a taxi (why would they need them?), in Edinburg they were everywhere. There was really nothing to be worried about, so she kept walking until her inhuman legs gave out. That was how much she walked.
The next day, she visited 5 places, one after another, and she gradually got more and more discouraged as she realized that in that place, she wouldn't find a place to rent either. And her feet were killing her. For a moment she considered maybe her ring wasn't functioning… but no. She wasn't busting into flames, she was just tired. So. Very. Tired.
She took her leave that night; maybe the city wasn't ready for her. She didn't want to think it was the other way around.
London came next, and even though she'd already been there, she'd really seen nothing at all. But there, she realized, just as in Edinburg, she wouldn't fit in. She was too used to a small town life, she needed a little bit of familiarity.
She went to oxford at last, and left her luggage in the first small hotel she could find. Then she took her ballerina flats and went out to walk around the town, not really looking for anything and not really expecting anything. Today, she decided, she would only enjoy herself. Tomorrow she would worry about a place to stay.
As she opened her wallet to pay in the small café in the middle of town, she realized tomorrow would have to be her lucky day, because otherwise, she would run out of money to keep travelling. At least until the school started. Then she'd have the scholarship. Ugh.. how was she supposed to find a place here in oxford when she'd been all over the United Kingdom and found nothing yet? This was really not good.
She paid the blue haired girl behind the counter and went to sit on a 2 people table. For once, she didn't feel like a weird bug as she looked around and noticed that, contrary to mystic falls, people in Oxford could walk around solo. She still felt a little sad though. Maybe it was the music playing; it seemed it was made for the rainy country.
Caroline let out a long-suffering sigh as she sipped her hot chocolate, and discovered much to her amazement, it reminded her of home.
She took out the map of the city she'd been carrying around since she first checked in the hotel that day.
A quick survey of the general lay-out let her know almost all the renting sites were located in a general radius of half a mile (maybe a little bigger, but she wasn't in the mood to really measure). She took a moment to mark all the places in the map as she kept sipping on the rich, hot chocolate. Truly, of all things she'd tasted, that one had to be the better yet, well… maybe only second to Agatha's cookies. That reminded her of the offer the woman had made to stay with her and Louis for the year; while it had been the kindest thing anyone had ever offered her, Caroline didn't want to intrude in what was obviously the loveliest marriage she'd ever come across with, she'd just have to keep looking. Plus, so far, Oxford seemed like a pretty decent place to live.
Half an hour later, the night descended on the clear windows of the café and Caroline knew it was time to leave. Just as she was folding up the map blue haired girl came to her table to pass her a slip of paper.
Caroline looked surprised from the paper to the girls face who's nametag read Anne. She wasn't sure what exactly that was, but as lovely as she seemed, she was a little bit afraid she'd have to let the girl down; she didn't swing that way. Fortunately, before Caroline could open her big mouth, the girl explained herself.
"I noticed you were writing down numbers and addresses earlier so I figured you were probably looking for a place to rent?"- Caroline extended her hand to the slip of paper, now that she was sure it wasn't a dating number. Anne continued as if she hadn't noticed her momentary discomfort- "This is from a guy who came here earlier. The address is right there over the number"- she said, signaling the letters over the slip of paper- "It's a little on the outside of town, but if you run out of options, you can always check it"- Then she smiled and picked up her now empty mug before walking back behind the counter. Caroline put the number in her purse and slipped a few coins over the table before she finally left.
Tomorrow would be the day, she decided. And that was her last thought before sleep overcame her.
Predictably, the weather forecast wasn't really very helpful when she went out that morning. Sunny and clear usually meant it wasn't going to rain in the day, but it seemed Britain functioned on a different set of rules. Needless to say, the poor excuse for umbrella she'd bought in the United States didn't really help any when it came to the windy, frozen rain of Oxford and ultimately, she was getting desperate.
She took cover under a small setback of a building and took out her map. She suppressed a small whimper as she realized there were no longer any places to see. All the ones she'd gone to had had a problem; one was too small, the other smelled funny, the other had no windows, the other was not furnished, another was horribly carpeted and that last one she'd seen, she'd been sure a rat had crawled into the wall. That, of course, had been a minor incident considering the disgusting little man who was supposed to be renting her the room. He'd tried to touch the hem of her skirts way too many times to be safe. Fortunately, Caroline had experience with drunken foolish high-school boys, so she avoided him easily enough. She just wasn't that stupid to think that flat was even an option- She reached her hand into her purse to throw away the paper with his name on it- Sorry wormtail, you're gonna have to try harder. And maybe be reborn a few times. – When she took her hand out, a different paper came out instead. This one had no name, just an address and a number. The face of the blue haired girl in the café suddenly came forward and she decided, wet, tired and out of options as she was, there was really nothing to lose.
She took a bus to the nearest stop from the solitary address in the outskirts of oxford and then walked around half a yard back to the door. There was something really wrong with the picture, she decided, as she laid her eyes on the ridiculously big mansion that now stood before her.
Caroline checked the address, twice, but she'd not been mistaken. She couldn't help but wonder why someone with such obvious amount of money would need to rent a part of their house to a complete stranger, but let go of that thought as soon as it started raining harder, if that was even possible.
She ringed the bell and waited until she heard the soft steps on the other side of the door.
The sight that greeted her was surprising to say the least. A young man, she could only assume was the son of the owner, opened the door swiftly as he took in her dripping wet state. Her blond tresses plastered to her face in what she was sure was not her best look and her ballerina flats, or what remained of them, gushed water like small fountains at her feet. At the very least he didn't seem to notice her almost translucent dress as it clung to her hips like a second skin. Yes, today was not her day.
"Hi, I'm sorry to come like this, without calling in advance, but I was around the neighborhood and I heard there was a room for rent in this house?"
When he didn't respond, Caroline started feeling like a fool. What had she been thinking? Of course it wasn't the right address, this was also in no ways a little far from town, it was very far from town- Idiot Caroline stupid! stupid! stupid!-
"Ok, I see I have the wrong address, please forgive my obvious lack of manners, for some reason this girl at the café thou-"-
"Would you like to come in?"- He asked at last, coming further into the light. She was taken aback by the utter beauty of this stranger whose curly blonde locks made him look like he could have been a model for Michelangelo Buonarroti.
She took a moment to process the fact that he also had the most wonderful voice she'd ever heard and then she tried to remember what it was he had said.
"Ugh?"
"Would you like to come in?"- he repeated, completely ignoring her less than luscious blabbering.
"Yes"- She said almost without thinking- yes I would like that very much.
He smiled at her in what had to be the cutest expression she'd ever seen in a man before and he moved to the side to let her in.
-"Would you like to have some tea sweetheart?"- He asked. Well, if he asked like that, she couldn't even bring herself to say no to him.
- "Yes please".
- "Great, follow me, I'll make enough for the both of us"- He showed her to the next room, which turned out to be the kitchen and made her sit in the vintage fragile-looking table beside a window that faced what she could only assume was the east-side of the house-" Earl grey?"- uh? – "the brand of the tea, unfortunately, I don't have a lot of variety"
-"that's just fine, thanks"- she didn't know what to do with herself as the strangely compelling stranger made her tea in his way too luxurious kitchen. He didn't seem to notice just how out of place she looked, but the minutes passed and Caroline began feeling uncomfortable with the silence that had descended upon them in the middle of the quiet affair. She wasn't very used to silence- "So, umm..Do you happen to know anyone around here who's willing to take in an American student for the year?"- He let out a quiet laugh in his deep baritone.
- "You weren't wrong, There is a room to rent in this house. Two actually, but I'm thinking that over still"- She was baffled to silence. This mansion was up for Rent?. Well not the mansion, a room, but still. She cleared her throat
-" oh! I thought"- She cut herself as she realized he was looking at her with mirth in his eyes. Surely she knew exactly what she was thinking, so she decided not to say anything else- well, It probably won't make a difference though, I'm only a student and I don't think I'll be able to afford a place like this.
He laughed at that and shook his head as he poured the hot water in the two mugs, then he put the teabags inside each one of them and gave one to her, signaling for her to take a seat.
"Would you like some sugar? Milk? Lemon?"
"Sugar please"
"He put a teaspoon of sugar in his mug and added one in his own".
"American huh, so what brings to this side of the world?"
"I'm going to be studying here for a year, you know, as an exchange student"
"Ah yes! That does sound most exiting"
"It is"- she agreed before taking offered mug from his hands.
"So, what exactly is your budget?" - he asked as he took the first seep of his tea, casually crossing his right leg over his left one.
"Oh no… I'm not going there, I'm pretty sure It will do me no good to even consider this. You live in a very nice house, by the way"
"Do try to humor me, love"- She had heard some English men tended to the small pet-names, but this man made it sound like every word that came out of his mouth was nothing but sincere.
"Well, I can pay no more than 400 pounds a month. All charges included"- She added almost to herself as she tried not to choke on her tea. She was convinced by now this wasn't the same tea she'd had the first day she'd arrived to England. This tasted a lot better.
The room I'm renting costs 380 Pounds
"You're renting a room? Where?"- He seemed not to understand her and he inclined his head to the side, waiting for her to elaborate- "Well, I mean, this is your father's house or something, right?"- his eyebrows relaxed when he understood what she was implying
Actually, no. It's all mine
"Whoa…"- what?- "hmm..so, how old are you?"- he laughed at that, but didn't respond.
"Would you like me to show you the room?"
"Umm.. Yeah!"- She realized what she sounded like and quickly corrected her mistake- "Err.. I mean, Yes, I would like that"- He chuckled and then he got up from his seat, taking both her mug and his to the counter- "I'm Caroline, by the way."
"Nicklaus, but you can call me Klaus if you like"
She found she very much liked the sound of that.
-.-
A/N: I'm blown away by the amazing feedback I received after the prologue, so I decided to update this a little sooner than anticipated.. ;) enjoy
