Cinderella Dressed in White
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"I am so not cleaning that up." Tyler says, flinching as Damon veers to the left and mows down a blue bathrobe clad senior citizen zombie, bunny slippers and all.
Caroline grimaces as the zombie's blood and the blood of its victims splashes over their once clean and pristine windshield. Damon flicks on the windshield wipers, grinning to himself. He turns to her, tilting his head and wiggling his eyebrows. "That was a juicy one, huh?"
"Oh my god." Caroline squeaks. Katherine snorts as Damon bursts into a spurt of laughter. Tyler's nose is permanently wrinkled while Stefan seems above it all, his eyes on a town map they'd picked up at a truck stop just outside of Mooringsport. They'd narrowly escaped a zombie trucker's clutches with that one, but thanks to her shotgun and Damon's impeccable ability to pick her up and slam her down in front of the zombie, aiming the gun for her at the same time, she'd managed to take off his head and get the map before any of his friends had shown up. Stefan is murmuring to himself, crossing things on the map off with a sharpie.
Stefan looks up, catching her eye in the sun visor mirror. He grimaces before speaking above the fray of rare laughter. "We should go to the church."
Damon looks up, slamming on his breaks. "The church?" he snorts, "What, have you found god, brother?"
Stefan looks pained, "No, smartass, but in times like these, many people seem to think that if they turn to god, they'll be saved. If we're looking for survivors, then we should go to the church." he explains, smoothly, seemingly pleased to see Katherine and Tyler agreeing with him.
"It's a good idea, Damon." Katherine says, her tone almost pleading.
Damon cuts his eyes sideways to Caroline, and she shrugs. She's never been particularly religious. Hell, she'd only gone to church when her daddy had forced her to on Easter Sunday's. But Stefan was right. If there were survivors, the Catholic church was the first place they would be.
Damon's knuckles turn white against the steering wheel. "We've already picked up one stray, Kat." he sneers, his eyes glued to Caroline. "But she's proved her worth with that gun of hers, but what about the others? They could get us all killed."
"But dude," Tyler starts, "it's like, our civil duty or something."
"Not a word out of you." Damon barks, and Caroline rolls her eyes.
"Damon, listen to them." Caroline says. She reaches out, putting a hand on his arm. His muscles are tightly coiled from stress. Absently, she rubs her hand down his arm. "It's a good idea, and we don't have to take them all the way to Mystic Falls with us. But someone has to help them," to prove her point, she looks around at the empty street, "and there's no one around but us. So, please, drive us to the church." she finishes in a whisper, her somber face morphing into a look of pleading. Her hand is still on his arm.
Damon's eyes flicker to her hand, then to her face. He inhales sharply, facing forward. "Fine, we'll go to the church, but I won't be responsible for any deaths that are sure to happen." he starts the SUV again, pushing forward. Katherine, Stefan, and Tyler are busy formulating a plan of attack while Caroline keeps her eyes on Damon.
Damon looks at her once before he looks back at the road. "Stop looking at me like that." he snaps gruffly.
Caroline plays stupid. "Like what?"
"Like I'm a hero, or something." Damon mutters, clutching the steering wheel even tighter.
Caroline shakes her head, "I'm not. I'm looking at you like you're a good man, and you are. We could be saving lives by going to this church." she explains, her eyes boring into the side of his handsome face.
Damon looks at her again, and she catches the ghost of a smile on his face as he turns away.
—
The parking lot is a mess.
There are cars strewn across the lanes, doors gaping open, boxes of spoiled food and clothing spilling onto the blacktop. Caroline releases her seat belt, pressing herself against the window for a better look. "Jesus." she hears Katherine murmur. Damon pulls the SUV to a stop in front of the church's double doors and the car fills with silence. Night is fast approaching, and it's their hunting time. They'll be out tonight, and the means that they can't stay outside for long. The sun is dipping down now, and Caroline looks at Stefan, willing him to say something to Damon.
"We can't stay out here tonight. We're in the open." Stefan says, breaking the silence.
"We could stay inside the church." Caroline offers, picking up Stefan's slack, her eyes never wavering from the outside.
"Yeah," Katherine agrees, "we could go to the second floor and get a fire going." she slips in between the two front seats. "What do you think?" she asks Damon.
Like last time, Damon's eyes flicker to Caroline. She nods, giving her answer. "I think I'm outnumbered." he says, a trace of humor in his voice. Caroline smiles a little. "We'll have to clear the place first."
Soon, he's barking orders and opening his door. He tells Tyler to grab a few cans of ravioli and a pot. Stefan grabs the bedding while Damon gives her and Katherine the job of checking their weapons.
"I wish shotguns were automatic." Katherine murmurs to Caroline as they open the back hatch. She rolls out a mat, revealing their weapon stash. As per usual, she grabs her butcher knife, and Caroline goes for her shotgun. "You should name it." Katherine says, nodding to her shotgun as she straps a colt to her thigh.
"Why?" Caroline asks, laughing a little. Katherine hands her a knife, and she tucks it into her belt.
Katherine shrugs, "If it's gonna be your friend and your family, you've gotta give it a name." she holds up her butcher knife. "This is Jennifer Aniston. She's taken a few beatings, but she's strong, and she'll cut you into pieces."
Caroline is impressed. "You put a lot of thought into that." she says in approval. Katherine shrugs, smiling tightly. Caroline looks down at her shotgun, the butt resting on the ground, the barrel facing up. "I'll think about it." she finally agrees, and Katherine's face lights up.
"Come on," Katherine says, grabbing her free hand, "those assholes left us out here." she rolls her eyes and drags Caroline to the church's door.
—
"It's freaky in here." Katherine says, pulling a flashlight out of her boot. She flicks it on, shining the beam over the front room. There's a desk, a pair of bathrooms, and a pop machine. Caroline makes a beeline for the vending machine, only to groan in disappointment when she sees the broken glass and the empty racks.
"Picked clean?" Katherine asks, and she nods.
"Damn. I'd kill for a Sprite right now." Katherine mutters.
"Poor choice of words." Damon says from behind them. The girls jump, simultaneously turning around and glaring at him. He holds his hands up, "Sorry, just coming to see what was taking so long."
Caroline ignores that, "Found anyone?" she asks, and he shakes his head.
"No, but we found some hard liquor in the priest's office." Damon grins wickedly, "I bet he's going to hell." he says, snickering. Caroline rolls her eyes while Katherine giggles. "But seriously," he continues, "the office is on the second floor, and there's a fire place. We could stay there for the night. Tyler's even found a box of twinkies." he says gleefully, his eyes gleaming. Caroline thinks it's sort of endearing how excited he is. It's a new side of him. It helps her understand him better. He's still an asshole, yes, but she kind of gets the feeling that he's just protecting himself. Like, being an asshole is a defense mechanism switch that flips when someone gets too close. He's still a snarky bastard, but she likes him. He's certainly warmed up to her since she'd arrived. He'd asked her opinion twice today, even though he'd never voiced the question. He valued her, he said that she'd "proved her worth". Her heart warmed just thinking about it.
Caroline backpedals, shaking her head. No, you can't have a crush on him. He has a girlfriend!
A dead girlfriend. A part of her thinks.
We don't know that for sure. The rational side of her thinks.
A hand snakes around her elbow, and Caroline jumps, bumping into Damon. "You're falling behind, Dallas Cowboy." he says, his lips twitching as she stares up at him.
"Dallas Cowboy?" Caroline repeats, lifting a brow.
Damon shrugs, "You're a cheerleader, aren't you?" he asks, pulling her along with him down a hallway she hadn't noticed they were walking down. She can only see the beam of Katherine's flashlight ahead of them.
"Typical." Caroline snorts in disbelief, shaking her head.
—
The priest's office is warm and well lit. Stefan and Tyler already have a fire going, and Tyler's holding a steaming pot of ravioli over the flames, hungrily licking his lips. Katherine and Stefan are fighting over sleeping space, though Tyler, Damon, and Caroline know they'll end up sleeping pressed together anyway. That was one thing she'd picked up on in the SUV and the house. Katherine and Stefan were attached at the hip, though she was closer in age to Damon. She was always around the younger brother, and Caroline thought it was adorable.
Damon drops her elbow, striding forward and plucking the pot out of Tyler's hands. Caroline ignores the now arguing boys, her eyes on the priest's bookcase. She spies a few things she likes and she wanders over. The original Little Mermaid, the gruesome version, is resting on the shelf next to a copy of The New Testament. She can't fathom why a priest would have the horrible tale of a mermaid who had to kill herself to free herself, but she's not complaining. She picks the books up, flicking a few pages into it. It's brand new. She smiles, tucking the book under her arm. The priest's desk is a mess. Papers and pens are strewn everywhere. She picks through the papers and opens a few drawers. She comes across a locked drawer and rummages around the desk in search of a key. She finds it and opens the locked drawer, yanking it out in excitement. "Huh." she murmurs in surprise, pulling a small handgun out of the desk. She grins when she finds the box of bullets in the back of drawer.
"Hey!" Tyler says, "Where'd you get that?" the others turn to look at her, eyeing her new toy in suspicion.
"Finder's keeper's." Caroline says, smirking.
"What are we? Five?" Damon asks, rolling his eyes and motioning for Caroline to join the group. They're sitting in a circle in front of the fire, bowls of ravioli in front of them. Damon hands her a bowl and a fork, and she realizes how hungry she is. She plans on savoring the food, not knowing when she's going to enjoy warm food again. She sets her book down before picking up her fork, and Damon grabs it, examining it. He lifts an eyebrow, holding up the book and giving her a questioning look. She snatches it back from him.
"Leave it alone." Caroline murmurs, her eyes downcast.
"What's with you? You've got that DVD you'll never be able to watch again, and you've got that stupid stuffed lion. What's the deal?" Damon asks harshly.
"I said leave it alone." Caroline snaps, hugging her backpack closer to her. She doesn't want him to think she's a freak, but then again, she doesn't want to be made fun of for the only thing that keeps her going.
"Caroline." Damon says, and it's the soft voice and the understanding his eyes are radiating that do her in.
"Before everything went to hell, my family and I-we, we had this tradition. My boyfriend and my best friend were even in on it. We'd all sit down at least once a month and watch Disney movies all day. FromPocahontas to Treasure Planet. And all I can remember from those times is being so, so, so happy. Now that happiness is so hard to come by, all I want is a little piece of those Disney days with me." Caroline whispers, her voice cracking as she finishes.
Damon stares at her, and she tilts her head lower, a stream of tears spilling down her face in sync. A finger lifts her chin. The same finger turns her face towards him. "Don't ever be ashamed of that, Caroline." he says softly, like he gets it, like he understands. Maybe he does. "I want to show you something." he says suddenly, jumping up and pulling her with him. She looks back to see that the others are busy: Stefan and Katherine are whispering to each other, and Tyler is munching through the rest of the ravioli. Damon will kill him for it later, but right now Damon's dragging her into the hallway, his backpack in hand.
Damon shuts the door before turning to her, "You can't tell anyone what I'm about to show you. I have a reputation to uphold." as he says this he opens his backpack, pulling out a brown paper bag. He hands the bag to her, and she hesitantly opens it. It's filled with baseball cards. She looks up, blinking in confusion.
Damon rubs the back of his neck in embarrassment. "My dad was a baseball kind of guy. He went to the games, watched them on TV, placed bets, collected the cards. He was a—he was a real fan, you know? He died a few years back, and I've been collecting these," he nods to the bag, "ever since. I figured that just because the world had ended...it didn't mean there weren't any more baseball cards for me collect." he shrugs again, his alabaster cheeks turning a light pink. "It's just that—whenever I look at these cards, even if it's just a glance, it's like my dad's here with me."
Caroline stares down at the cards. She hadn't been expecting this. She looks up, and sees that Damon's waiting for her to say something. She looks back down, plucking a random card out of the bag. "So, who's this?" she asks, and his answering smile is enough.
—
notes: edited and re-uploaded.