I am so distracted. I can not write. I want to write. Help.

Chapter 6: The falls

Music blared through the speakers in Caroline's bedroom, as Katherine turned up the volume and danced around the room. Bonnie was sitting on the hardwood floor at the foot of the bed, painting her toes a vibrant red colour, screwing her face up in concentration. Caroline had just emerged from her bathroom to see Elena flop down onto the feathery bed and curl onto her side.

"Do we really have to go tonight?" Elena asked let out a huff of a breath. Katherine turned down the music and stared at her sister in disbelief.

"I'm going to pretend that you didn't just say that. The falls party is a tradition.." Katherine said, rolling her eyes at Elena, grabbing the bottle of vodka off Caroline's dresser, un screwing the cap and taking a shot straight from the bottle. Elena sat up looking flustered.

" I'm sorry i just don't see the point in going, i'm not in the mood." Elena said defending herself, pulling a pillow to her chest and hugging it against her.

"Elena!" Bonnie and Caroline began but Katherine cut her off.

" Len i get your sad or whatever but just because Damon's not going to be there doesn't mean you should miss out." Katherine deadpanned staring her sister down.

" Yeah," Caroline chimed in.

"We're seniors! This is our last back to school falls party you can't not go!" Care exclaimed walking across the room and sitting down on her bed next to her friend.

" I mean look at Caroline!" Kat exclaimed, gesturing to her friend with the Vodka bottle.

" She goes to parties all the time with no one to shove their tongue down her throat and she's fine." Caroline glared at Kat, but then cracked a smile. She wished she could see the look on her friends faces if they knew what she had been up to at the past few parties. Caroline grabbed the Vodka out of Kat's hands and down a shot, letting the burn seer her mouth. Caroline thought again how lucky she was that her parents were out of town for the next few days, and she and her friends could pregame without fear of being judged or chastised by her parents.

"Elena, You're coming. You don't have to drink, or have any fun. But you're coming. I'll even be so generous as to let you DD. Go ahead. Thank me." Katherine said, laying down across the bed crushing her sister's legs in the process.

The rest of evening turned to night, and the friends piled into the black crossover parked in the driveway, Elena in the drivers seat. It was just past 9 pm and as the rest of Mystic falls was preparing to go asleep, almost the entire high school student body was climbing into their friends cars and making their way to the falls.

Elena had one hand rested against the steering wheel, as katherine sat in the front seat with her feet up on the car's dashboard as the car flew through the streets of the sleepy town. Bonnie and Caroline were lounging in the back seat, feeling warm and buzzed from what they had already drunk. The mostly empty bottle was sitting on the seat between them, and there was a cooler of drinks in the back, but rumour had it that Tyler Lockwood had put up the funding for a few kegs.

As the car turned the corner out of town and there was nothing but road ahead of them, Katherine reached forward and cranked up the music, and rolled down the windows of the car.

Caroline could feel the bass beating through her body, making her heart vibrate. She leaned her head out the window and let the air sting her eyes as the wind whipped through her hair. She couldn't help but let out a laugh. She had been waiting her whole high school career for this night, to be a senior at a falls party, and at every party that year. This was her and her friends time to be the head of house, and top of the heap. But that wasn't what was making Carolines stomach flutter, or her heart leap in her chest.

Caroline loved secrets. Every since she was a little girl she had craved to have one hidden in her back pocket at all times. She wouldn't call herself a liar. But she had definitely evaded the truth in the past. There was just something about ducking behind walls and peeking around corners that sent a thrill down her spine, even if it was only about snatching extra cookies from the kitchen when she was twelve.

But this was different, it was about more than having a secret in her back pocket to play with when she was bored. Sure Caroline had done things to defy her parents before. Lots of things actually. She wore the wrong clothes, and talked back to her mother. In fact just by being in Elena's car on the way to the party was breaking about six of her parents rules.

But Nik wasn't about making her parents mad . If he was she would just make out with him in the middle of the town square for everyone to see, not in dark secluded corners. No, this is about him, them. Together. About the way she felt when she was around him. It was like being around a best friend. A friend who happened to set her skin on fire everytime he touched it.

Caroline shook that thought from her head and sat back against her seat, rolling up her window and smoothing down her hair. They had turned the corner onto a dirt road, and the car rocked from side to side as its wheels fell on the uneven road. The road twisted through the trees water droplets falling onto the car's paint from the rainfall the night before. They drove for who knows how long, and then suddenly the road split open into a packed dirt parking lot where dozens of cars were parked side by side.

Elena brought the car to a halt and Katherine had flung open her door and jumped out before the key was out of the ignition. The rest of the doors slammed shut as everyone else climbed out of the car. Katherine fluffed her hair in the car window reflection and turned to her friends, snatching the vodka bottle out of Caroline hands and walking forward towards the noise of the party

"Let's do this."

…

A fire roared in the center of the party, as sophomore boys chucked gasoline on the flames, laughing as the fire shot up into the air. People were milling around the run down picnic tables, and shouting over the music that was blaring from someone's portable speakers.

Caroline waived through the trees following her friends into the party, dragging Elena along by her heels. Nearly the whole school had turned up in the woods. The freshmen that were confident to take on the challenge, at little more than half the sophomores, and every junior and senior student.

Foamy beer was being poured from kegs that sat in ice water baths in garbage cans and people milled around growing drunker, not thinking of their 8 am classes the next morning.

…..

Caroline had seen Nik a few times in the crowd, talking to their classmates and his siblings, exchanging glances with her. Caroline looked down at her watch, squinting at the time through the darkness and the fog of her buzz.

It was nearly 11 by the time that Caroline felt safe to sneak off into the denser trees and to the trail that lead to the bridge by the falls.

….

They stood on the bridge, his arms wrapped around her as they watched the water flow down the falls in front of them.

They talked about their day. About the lecture her parents gave her before they left that morning, and their days at school. They had one shared class, Biology, but despite the fact that they were seniors, a seating chart meant that they sat on opposite sides of the room from each other.

…

Alright Caroline thought as she leaned back against a tree trunk with Nik's lips pressed against her throat.

Maybe trees were their thing.

It was just past midnight, and although they were far back in the trees, Klaus and Caroline could still hear the sounds of the party in the distance. There was a rustling nearby and Caroline pushed Nik away and peered around the tree to see who was approaching. A flashlight caught her face and she darted back, hiding behind the tree again. Someone giggled nearby, and then the almost silence around them was broken when a junior girl shouted out in their direction.

" No glove no love!" Caroline's face turned bright red and Klaus began to laugh. Suddenly another voice broke the silence.

"Care?"

"Shit" Caroline muttered as her heart dropped.

"What?" Klaus asked moving forward to press his lips to her neck again.

"Caroline!" The voice was louder and coming closer.

"No. Stop. It's Elena." Caroline stated, peering around the tree.

"So?" Klaus asked, confused.

"I have to go out there." She said, trying to move out of Klaus's arms.

"What. Why?" Caroline rolled her eyes, her pace quickening as she heard Elena walked closer to their general direction.

"She's sober. Stone cold. Which means that she isn't going to get distracted and stop looking. So either i go out there, or she's gonna come here. So stay. Don't come out until we're gone." She ducked under his arm and stumbled out into the woods, suddenly very aware of how much she had had to drink.

"Hey elena." She said. Elena who was a good 30 feet away and walking in the wrong direction, spun around.

"There you are!" Elena's eyes narrowed as she walked to meet her friend.

'What were you doing back there?" she asked peering over Caroline's shoulder.

" uh, you know i lost the back to earring. So i was just looking for it." Caroline invented.

" Care you're not wearing earrings." Elena pointed out. Caroline bite her lip.

" Yeah i lost those too." She was drunk. and she sounded drunk. She hoped Elena would buy that and not wonder what else was going on with her friend.

"But enough about me. What's going on?" Caroline asked. Elena linked her arm' through Carolines and they began to walk back to the party together.

" I have a problem, and It's not a small problem, i need help." Elena stated, helping Caroline over a fallen log.

"What is it?" Care asked as the lights of the party grew closer.

" Um, it's Stefan." Elena said hesitantly. Caroline stopped in her tracks and looked at her friend.

"Stefan?" Caroline asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, he's drunk. Really 's been hanging around me all night. And i just thought he was being friendly but um but i'm pretty sure he was hitting on me and i'm also pretty sure he just tried to kiss me." Caroline's eyes widened.

"What do you mean you think he tried to kiss you? Wouldn't it be obvious?" Caroline asked. Elena sighed heavily

" I don't know. I mean he came in for a hug, but then he was leaned down a lot and his lips were, yeah, so i kind of dodged and he caught the side of my head, but still." They had reached the outskirts of the party and had plopped down on one of the makeshift log benches.

"I mean what do i do? Do i tell Damon? But i mean how do you tell your boyfriend that the second he left for college his brother tried to hook up with his girlfriend? That's not an easy conversation." Elena rambled on. Caroline rested her head on her friend's shoulder and listened to her talk. Across the party she saw Klaus emerge from the far side of the woods. He caught her eye and smirk