A/N: Thank you for your continued support! Reviews make my day! Here's chapter 3.


"Just a minute!" Caroline shouted as she bounded down the steps wearily. She was hung over and completely exhausted, hair tussled and pajamas wrinkled against her skin. She peered out the window cautiously, as there was a possibility that Kane had located them and decided not to let them off as easy as he had the night before last.

She saw an older man, well-dressed with a big smile on his lips. This only made Caroline more wary of the stranger. Swinging the front door open, she gave him a good once-over.

"Hi!" He waved in a friendly manner.

"Look, if you're here to spread the word of Christ or whatever, you've totally got the wrong house."

"Ah…No." He pushed aside his confusion and outstretched one hand. "My name is Antony Miller, I live next door with my partner David." He gave Caroline's hand a healthy shake. "We saw you and that other guy moving boxes inside, welcome to the neighborhood."

"Oh, thank you… I'm Caroline. 'That other guy' is Stefan."

"We're throwing a little barbecue at noon and we'd love if you and your husband stopped by. It'd be a great opportunity for you to get to know your neighbors. Lots of them will be there."

"We're not married." she pressed firmly. "But we'll uh… think about coming by. Thanks."

"Okay, great! Tell your boyfriend I said hi." Without another word, he was headed back to his own home.

After watching him for another moment; Caroline huffed and retreated back inside, almost colliding with Stefan's chest.

"Jesus!" She placed a hand over her heart. "Thanks for that."

"Sorry, I thought you sensed me." He crossed his arms. "A barbecue, huh?"

"Yeah, but we're not actually going right?" His silence was deafening. "Right?"

"We really should go," he considered. "We need to keep up appearances, stay out of any town-gossip or suspicions."

"Stefan, I look like the phantom of the hangover. I can't go out like this."

"So go take a shower and get ready, we have some time." Stefan raised a brow as he got a good look at her pajamas. "Is that… drool?" He pointed at the wet spot on the collar of her shirt.

"No." She narrowed her eyes at him defensively, pushing past him and making her way upstairs. She slammed the bathroom door behind her, leaving her friend at the bottom of the steps smirking.

"It was drool," he decided with a laugh.


Magdalen shuddered as her hand dipped into the bowl of vampire blood placed in front of her. Her legs were folded neatly, eyes lightly closed as she muttered a Latin incantation under her breath.

"What is that she's doing?" Kane's closest friend, Belle whispered questioningly to a witch beside her.

Magdalen opened her eyes softly, still muttering as she pulled her bloody hand from the bowl and ran her hand across Kane's forehead. "demonstra mihi adhuc vas

"She's using the vampire blood as a conduit to link with Kane's memories in order to locate Caroline."

Belle shook her head in disbelief. "Witches."

Magdalen faded out all sound from the room, no longer hearing anything except the intrusion of Kane's mind, the blaring white noise that came with that extreme amount of absorption, draining her mentally and physically. She had to locate the girl soon, and the blood running out of her nose was further evidence of that.

Kane did not see, as his eyes were still closed, grunting as his brain burned and squeezed.

"Oh my god," Belle whispered under her breath. "She has to stop, she's going to get herself killed."

"She knows the limits of her powers, she'll be fine!" The witch snapped. "Just watch."

"Demonstra mihi adhuc vas… demonstra mihi adhuc vas…" Magdalen rocked back and forth on the floor, moaning in pain. Sweat ran down her forehead, her teeth clamped down on her lower lip and drawing blood.
She suddenly gasped for air, swallowing as much as she could intake as her eyes shot open, completely black. Kane broke from his trance as the spell faded.

"Magdalen?" Kane forcefully called, grabbing her wrists. "Breathe."

As she finally calmed, her eyes brightened with newfound information as if she were enlightened by it. "I found her."


Stefan was hoping no one would realize the wrapped pan of cookies he was holding was store bought. Caroline only told him to go out and buy a dessert for the party while she took he sweet time getting ready, yet she still scolded him when she saw what he purchased. If she wanted him to get something specific, why not just say so?

Stefan shook his head. He would never truly understand her thought process. He placed the sheet of cookies on the end-table, adjusting his very "not-him" clothing; black jeans and a blue button-up. It was so very suburban.

A knock at the open-door drew his attention elsewhere. Caroline stood in the doorway, at last ready to leave. She wore a yellow sun-dress and a cotton white shawl, her hair gently waved and falling along her shoulders gracefully. Her lips were painted to perfection, sweetly simple and pink.

"You look gorgeous," Stefan complimented honestly. She always knew how to dress up, it was always part of her.

She laughed down at her shoes almost shyly. "Thanks." She admired his choice of clothing, approaching him closely and testing the fabric of his button-up with the tips of her fingers. "You already know that you clean up nicely." She loved that he was wearing a colorful shade of blue, although it was only for show. They needed to appear as normal and human as possible. "Really nicely," she stressed.

"It's still nice to hear." His voice had lowered significantly, her closeness finally beginning to affect him.

Witnessing the darkening of his eyes, Caroline's artificial heartbeat quickened. Her body found heat it wasn't supposed to have, a shaky breath leaving her lips, her chest heaving at a rate that had it gently brushing against his with every exhale.

Stefan was looking past her shoulder, trying to control his body's reaction. He didn't even think to react, to pull away or to end this exceedingly sexual yet still somehow awkward moment. The silence was yet again deafening, other than the rush of blood in his ears.

"Caroline," he groaned out huskily.

As her name fell from his lips, Caroline launched forward, lips against his and her arms winding around his neck. He reacted instantly, a bulky arm wrapping around her waist and pulling her against him. Her hot breath only pulled him deeper into the allure of her kissing. His tongue flicked against her lips, seeking entry that she was more than obliged to offer. His hand went up to smooth along the back of her neck and direct their mouths together, sliding sweet saliva and his cold tongue caressing hers, sucking her lower lip between his in perfect greed. He could hear Caroline squeak in shock as he gently bit down on her pouty bottom-lip. He smiled against her, pressing a chaste kiss on her one last time before he finally pulled away.

Caroline was completely frazzled, her hair somehow frizzed and her mouth smeared with pink sticky lip-gloss. Shell-shocked, she had no words or proper reaction, not even looking at hm.

Meanwhile, Stefan was rubbing the pink gloss off his mouth. It wasn't his color. As he cleared his face of the feminine product, he finally turned his attention to Caroline, who was clearly experiencing some kind of mental break.

"What… just happened!?" She was near shouting.

"I think we might've made out a little bit…"

"I…" She touched a hand to her lips. "How did you…?" Caroline shook her head rapidly, trying to clear the cloudiness in her brain. She didn't want to be the girl falling pathetically over the guy. It should be him. Instead, he was smirking at her as if he knew what he was doing to her. She wanted him to stop that. "I mean…" She had to think fast. "We're gonna be late for the barbecue!" She snatched the cookies off the table, storming out of the room with clunking heels.
Finally alone, Stefan allowed himself to react properly. With a happy laugh, he looked into his reflection. "Outfit's not so bad." He knew he should dress like this more often; especially if it invoked that kind of response from her every time.

"Are you coming or not!?" Caroline called. Stefan detected her annoyance and immediately associated it with her anger at how flushed his kiss made her.

"Yes dear." Messing with her was going to be fun.


A/N: That's it! Thank you for reading, please review and follow!

Out of curiosity, did anyone look up the meaning of the Latin from Magdalen's chant?