I originally conceived this story as only 3 chapters, but you guys sent me such positive feedback and interest that I decided to continue. I plan to post a new chapter one day each week. Any reviews are greatly appreciated.
Caroline awoke the next morning to the sounds of her cell phone ringing. She groaned, rolled over to grab it off her nightstand and answered it with a sleepy, "Hello?"
"Hey, Caroline," the voice on the other end said, "sorry if I woke you up." Caroline pulled the phone away from her ear and looked at its screen through bleary eyes. Its clock told her it was 10am and its caller ID told her it was Tyler.
"Hello, Tyler," she said with an exasperated sigh, "you actually did wake me up. But now that you've done it, what do you want?"
He let out a surprised "oh" before clearing his throat and continuing, a bit less sure.
"I just wanted to see what time you want to do our usual dinner at the Grill tonight."
Caroline was still a little groggy, so it took her a second to remember that the moon would be full tonight. For a second, she considered accepting the invitation. Tyler could be so brooding on the nights before the full moon and Caroline would always make it her goal to make him laugh at least once during the meal. He would always look so grateful afterwards that she had taken the time to make him feel better. Plus she would always pull their waitress aside to make sure to buy him a muffin or something so that when he finally woke up in the morning and could barely stand, she'd have something to offer him. But all that tenderness evaporated when the image of Tyler's hands on Slutty Sophie's ass during last night's party flashed through her mind.
"I actually can't tonight, Ty," she responded a little coldly. "I promised to help clean up after the party and it was much bigger than I expected, so it'll probably take a while. Do you mind if I meet you at the cellar around sunset?"
"Oh, ok," he said sounding disappointed. "I'll see you then. Bye."
"Bye," she responded. Caroline briefly felt bad as she hung up the phone, but she knew that if she went to dinner to have a conversation with him she would just end up acting all jealous and mean about the fact that he brought a date to the party.
She stretched, climbed out of bed and went to her dresser to pick out some clothes, deciding on jeans, a red shirt and some tennis shoes. She wanted casual and comfortable since cleaning the Salvatore mansion would probably take hours and she wasn't eager to stand around in the woods in heels waiting for Tyler to transform back into a human at 3 am.
Before making breakfast, she decided to give Damon a call to see if he's decent. No that's the wrong word. Ready for her to come over to clean while he stands there making snarky comments and drinking blood out of a tumbler might be the more accurate qualification.
"Hello, Blondie," he says dismissively when he picks up on the fourth ring.
"Hello, Damon," she replies and ignores his tone. "I just wanted to see if you're ready for me to come over to start the post-party clean up. Maybe I can pick up a body bag on the way for the impressionable high-schooler you probably unleashed your charm upon last night." She says the last part as sweetly and innocently as she can muster. She can practically hear Damon's smug little smirk when he replies.
"No need, Blondie. Elena's already started. How about you rustle us up some breakfast though? I'll take some O- and Elena..." She hears him ask Elena what she wants and Caroline takes a moment to raise an eyebrow at the fact that Elena's there so early after such a late night. He finally continues saying, "she'll take a veggie omelet with a side of bacon and wheat toast from the Grill. And step on it, Blondie, those little finger foods you ordered for the party last night didn't exactly add up to a meal."
Before she can give him a piece of her mind, he hangs up on her without so much as a please or thank you. She calls him an ass under her breath and rolls her eyes before grabbing her keys to head to the Grill. When she gets there, she puts in Elena's order before requesting a yogurt parfait and a toasted cinnamon raisin bagel with butter for herself. She had a blood bag before leaving the house, but old habits die hard and she still likes the taste of human food. Plus it helps takes the edge off her bloodlust.
As she waits, she spots Matt in the corner clearing one of the few tables that have been used this morning. She gives him a little wave and smile when he turns in her direction, but he frowns when he sees her and picks up his pace to escape into the kitchen that much faster. Caroline's face falls at his reaction and she feels a small pang of sadness at the memory of the way he first deliberately ignored her and then baited her about Tyler dancing with Slutty Sophie at the party last night. She hates being reminded how quickly and definitively his affection for her turned to disdain after he discovered she was a vampire. She'd never really thought they would last forever, but that hadn't meant the thought they might hadn't crossed her mind once or twice during their relationship.
Finally, the food came and she headed to the Salvatore boarding house. When Caroline arrived, she headed to the kitchen expecting to find Damon and Elena and was puzzled when she didn't, especially since the mess seemed worst there. She set the food on the kitchen counter and went in search of them, walking around the bottom floor and deciding to head upstairs when she didn't find them. She'd explicitly told every guest that the second floor was strictly off-limits, but there were always a couple of horny teenagers who didn't have the decency to take it home.
As she walked down the hall, she nearly passed the closed door of Stefan's room, but she suddenly stopped when she caught the thinnest whiff of the same, woodsy scent she had noticed on him last night. The memory sent a quick thrill down her spine and she stared at the doorknob for a second before reaching out to it, slipping inside the room and closing the door softly behind her.