Hello, my lovely readers. No, I have not abandoned you and I am trying to write more updates before I go on to edit my book. That thing took up way too much time, I mean, I seriously enjoy writing for free, less pressure. On with the show…

Chapter 7: She Loves Me Not

Returning home to Mystic Falls after my trip to the boarding school, I felt jubilant. That was until I found Caroline standing on my door step, talking to Rebekah. At first, I felt my heart a beat little faster. Maybe she was there to see me, to make up. We hadn't talked lately. Then I noticed the box, and my heart sunk to my shoes. She wasn't here to talk, she was here to return my things.

"Nik!" Bekah squealed with delight when she caught sight of me. She came running at me like a tiny missile. "Henrick is walking!" she enthused. "And Kol ate an entire chocolate cake after Jeremy dared him to and puked on Elijah's shoes," she giggled.

"I'm sorry I had to miss that." I grinned at my sister before putting her down and turning to Caroline. She was staring at her new, pink summer dress. She looked pretty, and I would have told her so, but I was afraid of what she would say.

"Hi, Caroline," I uttered. She looked up through dark lashes, gnawing at her bottom lip.

"These are yours," Caroline said. "Kat said you should give the guy back his stuff when you break up, or did she say you burn it?" Her look became thoughtful before she shook her head.

I stared at the items inside. There was a sweatshirt that she borrowed one day, a tape that I had made for her ('cause Elijah said girls liked it when you made them stuff), a drawing, a set of colored pencils that I must have left in her room at some point, as well as various items I did not remember having owned. "You don't have to give me back the gifts," I said weakly.

Caroline shook her head. "No, I can't keep them. It wouldn't be right," she shook her head back and forth, her long, blonde hair flying about. "I don't want reminders. I'm sorry, Nik," she muttered, her voice choking up. "I'm really, really sorry."

I shifted my weight from one foot to the other foot as Caroline's eyes went from clouded over to pouring out buckets of tears. "I'm sorry, Nik," Caroline kept saying over and over again. I set the box down and reached for her when she took a step away from me. "No, no, you can't do that," she whimpered. "Don't. Just don't." My eyes were beginning to sting as Caroline continued to cry and then let out a loud sob.

That was the moment that Elijah choose to come out the door with a wailing Aiden in his arms. "What is going on out here?" he asked me and then looked at Caroline. "Did you do something to her, Niklaus?" Elijah asked me with a disapproving look.

"No!" I yelled back at my brother. Why in the hell was he taking her side? I hadn't done anything. She's the one who decided that she liked my best friend better than me. I was the one who should be crying, not her. He should be asking me what she did to me.

Caroline let out another sob and another, "I'm sorry," she sobbed before running as if her life depended on it, all the way down the street and around the corner.

"Are you sure that you didn't do anything?" Elijah asked me, patting the baby's back.

"NO!" I thundered. Running past my supposed big brother, I took the steps two at a time into my room where I threw myself on top of my bed, only to yell in pain.

"Ow, what in the hell?" I yelled because I had jumped on top of something hard, I yanked the cover up to find a lizard which hissed back at me.

"Hey, he found Godzilla," Kol called to someone behind him. That was when Jeremy Gilbert entered the room with wide eyes. "Great job, Nik. We've been looking all over for him."

"Why in the hell is he in my room?" I shouted.

"You weren't in it. And he needed a room of his own. Elijah nearly tripped over him yesterday and threatened to take him to the ASPCA. Do you know what they do to pets when they go there? Do you?" Kol yelled at me accusingly. "So, you HAVE to let him stay in here with you," my little brother yelled at me, with his arms crossed and his eyes fiery.

"I don't have to do anything," I shot back. "I can throw Godzilla down the toilet. How would you like that?"

Kol glared back. "No! He won't fit. The only thing that will fit was Bekah's goldfish, Flounder. Or at least he did this morning." Letting out a chuckle, Kol never saw Rebekah coming with his baseball bat. I caught the top of the bat before it could connect with Kol's head. "Oh, my God," Kol shouted. "Mum! Bex is trying to kill me. Again!"

"Kol killed Flounder!" Rebekah accused when our mother came into the room with red-rimmed eyes.

"I wanted to see if he would swim back up, like those baby alligators on the news report," Kol replied with a frown.

"You did it on pur-pose!" Rebekah screamed back. Again, Elijah chose that time to join us with his screaming infant.

"Give me the baby," mother ordered Elijah. "And straighten this," she gestured at the three of us, "out."

"Yes, Mother," Elijah said, gratefully handing his child over to our mother. Turning to the three of us, he looked around. "Okay, one at a time, tell me what happened."

"Kol put a lizard in my bed." "Kol killed my fish." "Bekah tried to hit me with my bat." We all replied at the same time.

"I said one at a time," Elijah bellowed at us and then smiled calmly. I could see he looked a little bit stressed out. "Please."

"I came into my room. And there was a lizard in my bed," I told Elijah.

"Godzilla," Kol corrected.

"Whatever," I snapped, with a glare directed at Kol.

"I fell on top of it," I added.

"You fell on Godzilla," Kol shrieked, turning to his pet. He began to check it for injures. Finding none, he looked at my bed. "No, you fell on his heat rock." Pointing out the rock under the covers that I had missed because my attention had been on the hissing monster in my bed, Kol snickered. "Can't believe you couldn't tell the difference. You're dumb, Nik."

"Kol, do not call you brother dumb and do not put heat rocks in people's beds. You could cause a fire," Elijah uttered as he found the plug and pulled it out of the wall. Collecting the rock, he placed it on the windowsill before turning back to us. "Next."

Godzilla hissed and Elijah frowned at the lizard, effectively silencing it for the time being. "Kol put Flounder in the toilet!" Rebekah told Elijah, holding out her arms and motioning to be picked up.

Scooping up the former baby of the family, Elijah tutted at Kol whose head hung. "Is this true, Kol?"

"Yes, I thought that the goldfish was dumb. All it did was swim back and forth. All day long. It was stupid. So, I put it in the toilet and then it went back and forth, really quick. That was cool!" Kol grinned and Rebekah tried to free herself from Elijah to get at Kol.

"I hate you. You're evil. You're bad. And you're mean. I wish that you weren't my brother," Rebekah screamed.

"You're goldfish was stupid!" Kol retorted, sticking his tongue out at her.

"You murdered my only friend!" Rebekah shouted, twisting around and flailing in Elijah's arms. "I want Flounder!"

"Kol, you will buy your sister a new fish, of her choosing, from your allowance money," Elijah informed Kol who gaped up at Elijah.

"No, that is my money for gum and comics," Kol wailed with outrage. "And she tried to kill me with my bat. Why is she not being punished?"

"And, Bekah, you will not try to hit Kol with his bat again, do you understand, or I will be the one to take your fish away. And I will give it to a little girl who does not try to kill their siblings. Understood?" Elijah stated with his no-nonsense face.

"Yes, 'Lijah," Rebekah said with a wide smile directed at Kol.

"Good, now if that is all, I have a job to get to," Elijah told us before tuning to me. "And, Niklaus, the next time that you want to go sneaking off for most of the day, you might want to remember that the school will call your home if you do not show up. I had to tell mother that you were hiding in the basement after projectile vomiting on Father's favorite slippers."

"Why would he care? He's in prison," I reminded Elijah who looked sourly at his feet.

"Yes, yes, he is. But I think he would still be unhappy. If he ever gets out, he might want those slippers," Elijah replied with a dark look.

"If," I muttered with a roll of my eyes.

That was how my first day went after making up with Damon. But there were problems that I had yet to deal with within my own club and I figured, I would deal with them in the morning.

The next morning, I called every member of the club to set up a meeting, except for Caroline. I asked Bonnie if she would ask Caroline to show up. This was going to be much harder than I had anticipated. We decided to hold the meeting at the Lockwood manor since that was neutral territory for everyone concerned. Tyler was all too happy to host the meeting. It seemed that he was beginning to like the idea of having a little power in our club since Damon had left.

Entering the Lockwood home, I found that Tyler was greeting everyone at the door with a wide grin. He was shaking hands and kissing cheeks like his father on a campaign and directing everyone to the dining room where there were "refreshments and snacks for all." I was reminded of how little my family had in comparison to Tyler's, again. It had been odd enough living with them, but this was little too much to swallow.

"Hey, Klaus," Tyler greeted me with a hug. "I'm so glad that you decided to hold a meeting here. I was hoping that we could talk before the meeting though."

"Yes," I replied with a quick nod. As far as I could tell everyone was in attendance and had gathered in the dining room. Tyler escorted me into the sitting room where there were two bottles of coke chilling in a bucket of ice, with a selection of cookies that I favored that my parents could no longer afford. "Oh, thanks, Ty," I said, digging into the cookies and placing them on a plate. I noticed that there were only two plates as I helped myself.

Tyler grinned. "Not a problem, my friend," he replied, sitting down across from me while I munched on a cookie. "I was thinking that since Damon is out of the picture I could take more of an active role in the Dare Club. My dad says I don't have any direction, and I want to prove him wrong. And it would only be fair, since my parents put your whole family up."

I almost chocked on the cookie in my mouth. "You want Damon's place in the Dare Club," I said slowly, staring at Tyler with wide eyes. He was still smiling as he picked up a cookie and took a bite.

"Yeah, that won't be a problem for you, right? I mean Damon's with your girl, man. You can't let that slide. You gotta take him down a peg or two. Show him that that kind of thing won't be tolerated. It's just not cool. If some guy made a move on a chick that I liked, I would let him have it," Tyler explained.

I nodded along even though it made my stomach tighten. Damon was the co-founder, and we had just talked yesterday. If I did this, then the others would talk to him, and he would be pissed. Could I really just give Ty Damon's position? Was Ty right, maybe I was making it too easy on Damon? Maybe Damon needed to work harder to regain his role within the club. Sitting back on the love seat that I was occupying, I thought about it before smirking back at Tyler. "Yes, I think that you are right, Damon is no longer in Mystic Falls and he has no right to a claim on the club that he cannot be a part of."

Holding out my hand, I shook Tyler's. Dusting my hands off, I picked up my plate and we headed to the dining room. "Is there a girl that you like?" I asked Tyler.

Tyler looked around before leaning closer to me. "I have my eye on Hayley," he whispered to me and I nearly spit out the cookie that I had just placed in my mouth.

"Tyler, she's seven years older than you are," I replied quietly.

"What can I say, I like older women," Tyler said with a grin as we headed into the dining room. I was not going to add the part about how she had a baby and was dating someone else. Watching Tyler claim a seat beside the brunette in question, who was talking to Katherine about something while feeling Kat's growing belly, I rolled my eyes.

Taking a place at the head of the table, I looked down to the other end, to find Caroline facing me with a sad look. She tried to smile, but I could tell it was forced before she dropped her eyes to the table top. "Hello, Mystic Falls Dare Clubbers. I called this meeting to sort some things out. I know that we've had some troubles in the past months, but I wanted to say now, that we stand united. And that we need to begin to be more active. It seems that since we have lost a founder," my eyes wandered to Caroline who was holding my gaze now, "that we have lost our spirit. But that can't be. We must begin anew. And with that said," I cleared my throat, knowing that I was about to deliver a bombshell. "With that said, I would like for all of you to know that since Damon Salvatore is now running a new chapter of the Dare Club in Salem, that we must turn to new leadership, and I have selected Tyler Lockwood, to take Damon's place."

Tyler got to his feet and grinned at me before turning to the stunned Clubbers. "Thanks, Klaus. I will do my best to uphold the office of the co-founder of the MFDC."

"Wait! A! Minute!" Caroline shouted, getting to her feet. "Nik, what is this? You can't just put anyone in Damon's spot! We vote on things! You didn't even ask me! No offense, Tyler," she added and Tyler nodded as he took his seat with a long look in my direction.

Placing my hands down on the table, I took a deep breath to stop myself from screaming at my former… a lot of things. "Caroline, do I need to remind you that you were added on by Damon as an afterthought. That in fact, you are not a founder of the club. That this whole club was Damon's idea, who left. He chose me to co-found this club. That means that since he is no longer here, I have controlling rights which means that I can choose to place anyone I want in Damon's place."

"That's crap, Nik," Caroline spat with a look of rage as she pounded the table top with her fist.

"Please, don't hit the table. My mom will kill me if there's any damage," Tyler called but Caroline ignored him.

"Fine," she said, regaining her composure. "If you want Tyler to be co-founder, that's your business. But I want something in return," she added, her eyes glowing with malice.

"Really?" I nodded with a tight smile.

"I dare you to allow me to create my own chapter of the MFDC." Caroline declared while I choked again.

"And what will you call it?" I asked.

"I'll call it… Founding Families of Mystic Falls Dare Club," Caroline told me.

"Oh, and do you plan on taking the Founding Families' children with you?" I snapped with a glare. That would mean that she would be taking Tyler, which would not shake me. My problem with her idea was that the only people who were not part of the Founding Families was mine and Bonnie's.

"No," Caroline replied.

"Then I suggest you pick another name," I replied with a snort.

"Really? Fine. I'll call it… the Mystic Falls Dare Club, Chapter B, since yours was first. You can go by Chapter A, until we find a better name," Caroline told me with a glower. "And I want to pick which people will join my club," she added.

"Wait. No," Tyler protested. "I think that the people who are stuck being part of the clubs, should do the picking, don't you?" he looked from me to Caroline.

Caroline sucked her lower lip before nodding. "Fine. Who wants to pick first?"

Elena was the first to speak up. "I'm going with Klaus," she said, not bothering to look at Caroline. I smirked back at the blonde.

Katherine held up her hand, "I'm going with Care Bear."

"I'm with Care, too," Hayley added.

"Thank you, sis," Caroline rounded the table to hug Hayley and then Kat.

Jenna, Rose and Andie, predictably fell into line with their fearless leader, to Katherine and Caroline's satisfaction. Right at that moment, I was afraid that I was going to lose the majority of the club to her clutches. Caroline leaned against the table with a wide grin, waiting for the next Dare Clubber to choose.

"I'm going to stick with Nik," Mason Lockwood announced, nodding at me.

Smiling in triumph, I waited for the next person to speak. "Looks like this is going to be boys versus girls," Alaric added with a smile toward Jenna, who rolled her eyes with a smile of her own.

"Nope, I'm going with Care," Stefan told us and I rolled my eyes.

"I'm going with my big brother, even if he is a dumbie," Kol told Caroline.

"Me, too," Rebekah said, coming to climb into my lap.

"That makes three of us," Elijah called, coming to stand behind me with his hand on my right shoulder.

Matt looked from me to Caroline and then at Tyler. "I'm going with Ty," he said. "So, I guess, I'm team Nik."

Jeremy grabbed a cupcake from the middle of the table and then looked up as everyone stared at him. "I want to be with Kol. Go, team Nik!" he cried with a grin.

The last to choose was a nervous Bonnie. She was looking from Elena to Caroline and back. "Ummm…" she said nervously.

"You can go with Klaus, if you want," Caroline told Bonnie with eyes shining with tears and her lower lip wobbling.

"No, I'm going to go with you," Bonnie told Caroline who suddenly looked calm.

"Good," Caroline said. "This meeting is over. Time to go have a real meeting, at my house where Hayley's going to make double fudge brownies," she told the group.

"I am? I have a date, Caroline. Caroline!" Hayley called. "Care, are you listening to me!"

"It looks like we have a whole new club now," Tyler said with smile, looking around.

"Yeah," I replied dully, looking around me. It did look a whole new club and already I missed the old one, I was thinking, looking at the empty chair at the end of the table.

Thank you for reading, faving, following and for reviewing.

Answers to reviews:

Aymand: I have no idea if you will be reading this note since you said that "I'm done with this fic!" Trust me, I understand how you feel. And, no, I would not put my readers through reading about Caroline bouncing from new guy to new guy. Yes, Klaus is going to like someone else and I know that is not happy news and I cannot say exactly when Klaus and Caroline will work things out because that would ruin the twist…

Elisalolo6120: Klaus will have another love interest in this story at some point. I can say that it will not be Camille and this is not because people have said she's a Caroline knockoff.

Pissed: Klaus doesn't forgive anyone easily. He simply waits for the right time to show them how he really feels.

Megan: I don't think I'm going to bring the Parkers in for quite some time and I'll try to let readers know. One thing is for sure, I will probably not be including at least one sibling from that clan but you know that Liv will appear even if it's only at the very end.

Tippy093: I know and as one reader pointed out, it really sucks due to a certain other pairing being in the mix this past season that I will not name. It feels like rubbing salt in the wound, but I knew that I was going to do it this way before season six of TVD aired and I didn't want to switch plots just because. Klaus and Caroline's relationship in this story is filled with angst since Klaus is almost a teen and Caroline is getting there very soon.

Ferrylis: I know. It sucks right now and thank you for being understanding. This was not an easy plot to go with with everything that happened during last season and might still be in next season. Agh! And Klaus will find some happiness after he's had some time to lick his wounds a little.

M: Thank you. Damon and Klaus will always find a way to put aside their differences, even when they want to kill each other. Yes, you're right! I wanted to have Klaroline have some growing pains so they could find a better way to communicate with each other. Otherwise they could have long term problems that festered and came back to bite them later when they were adults.

Imagination Running Wild: Yes, I know. Daroline was not a happy moment for many readers and Caroline's behavior seems illogical. Klaus has to come to terms with what happened, why it happened and how he and Caroline can find mutual ground to stand upon. For right now, they are in a space in which they have lost time together and they don't know each as well as they did before. I suppose you could say that Daroline is this story's equivalent of when Caroline went to live with her father. She and Klaus fell out, but they found a way back.

Guest: Thank you.

Melissa: I think we might see Klaus, Damon and Caroline in the same space in the next chapter but I haven't finished it yet, so we will see. And, yes, Klaus and Caroline have a ways to go in this story.

Guest: Thank you.

Kleya: Finally, right?

S118002: Thank you so much and I know. I can't wait to write about their teen years. Hopefully I will finish this story sometime this year.

Peace,

Jessica