Chapter Seven

Caroline Forbes nervously chewed on her manicured thumb nail as she sat in the passenger seat of her boyfriend's vehicle. While Klaus was driving, Damon and Jeremy were stuck in the back. Everyone was silent; the only noises was the radio turned down to a low volume, playing some pop song. She couldn't get Stefan and Elena out of her head. What if something bad happened to them? She didn't like the idea of leaving them behind. Splitting up was the worst decision they could think of.

"What's the matter, love?" inquired Klaus, softly. Noticing her troubled state, he gently held her hand, entwining their fingers together.

"I'm worried about them," answered Caroline, bothered. She was looking out the window, her blue eyes catching sight of trees and shrubs.

"Caroline. Quit being such a girl." Jeremy commented as he leaned lazily against the backseat, his head resting on the window as he watched the green scenery.

"Jer. I will crawl back there and rip your testicles off with my bare hands. Don't screw with me right now," warned Caroline in a deadly voice, her eyes still looking out the window.

"Scary," laughed Jeremy. He always liked to push the blonde girl's buttons. It was too funny. Caroline never knew this; but the younger Gilbert always had a little crush on her, thus his teasing ensued when he realized he would never get a chance to be with her. He never once advanced anything towards her though, due to her long-term relationship with Klaus Mikaelson. Jeremy had to keep in mind too that he had a relationship with Elena Gilbert's best friend, Bonnie Bennett.

"Don't test her, Jer. I truly believe that Caroline means what she says." Klaus smirked, his blue eyes glancing at the younger boy in the backseat. Turning forward, he addressed Caroline, "Come now, love. The lovebirds are perfectly capable of taking care of themselves. Stefan will always take a bullet for Elena."

"Yeah, like that would ever happen," snorted Damon. He knew for a fact that Stefan would never grow the balls to protect Elena from danger. Truthfully, he despised the fact that Elena was being left alone with an idiot like his younger brother. He only didn't say anything because he didn't want anyone to think of his true feelings for Elena Gilbert.

"Baby, you don't understand," sighed the blonde woman in the passenger seat. Her eyes flickered from the window and landed on her boyfriend; her grip on his hands intensified. "My gut is twisting into knots. I have such a bad feeling about all of this."

"Well, what do you want me to do right now, love? Turn around and completely miss the game? You know how hard I worked my ass off to earn those free tickets."

"I know." Caroline bit her lip before she forced herself to relax. "You're right. I'm overreacting. Elena better get a hold of a working phone in that town and call me ASAP or the dumbass is going to get a foot up her ass."

"Quoting Red Forman, are we?" smirked Klaus.

The only response he received was a grin from Caroline Forbes.

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Elena Gilbert's eyes scanned the small town – it appeared abandoned. There weren't people outside at all, even though there was occasional cars around. Passing a crusty building, she recognized battered posters for some beauty contest.

"Miss Ambrose," Stefan said, also noticing the crumpled posters. He smirked at Elena. "There's something we can sign you up for."

The brunette playfully punched his shoulder. "Shut up."

Stefan chuckled, "Wonder how many teeth you need to win that."

Elena chuckled at her boyfriend's funny comment – she wished they had more moments like this. Right now, she felt completely relaxed with Stefan. Ever since yesterday, things between the two were tense.

The two approached a gas station. While Stefan lingered outside, Elena advanced towards the entrance door and peeked her head inside. She scanned her dark eyes on the inside to see if anyone was inside. Much to her surprise, there wasn't anyone.

"That's weird." She mumbled before gently closing the door and walking back to Stefan who was busy staring at the sign advertising the surprisingly cheap gas prices. "There's no one inside."

"Huh." Stefan crossed his arms before he noticed a peculiar building in the distance. "I wonder if that's the House of Wax up that road."

"House of Wax?" asked Elena, the words leaving a bitter taste in her mouth. The idea of wax freaked her out and she wasn't exactly sure why.

"There was a billboard advertisement. Let's go see if it's open," suggested Stefan as he started to walk in the direction of the attraction. Elena stopped him by grabbing his sleeve. He spun around to face her with a questionable look.

"What about the fan belt?" Elena reminded, trying to avoid the wax house. There was no way she was going to go into the House of Wax. Hell to the no.

Stefan shrugged, as if there was nothing to do. "There's no one at the gas station. I'm not just gonna walk right in without someone's permission and steal one." Elena fought the urge to roll her eyes. Out of all times, Stefan had to use his sense of morality.

"Fine, Stefan. Let's go ask around. How about we start by asking someone in the church?"

"Okay."

Together, the two walked straight down the road towards the church. Elena absently pulled out her iPhone to check the time. It was only 11:48 a.m. Did she have service? The teenage girl frowned when she realized she had no reception whatsoever. This town is literally located in the middle of nowhere. It was probably very hard for people to find – especially with the washed out road, separating the main road from the town.

Stefan and Elena were silent as they walked. Thoughts began to string to the brunette's mind. She was still wondering where in the hell her diary went. She remembered having it the night before – she wrote her last entry and after she heard those weird noises, she went outside and hid her journal in her suitcase just around the time Damon snuck up on her.

Soon, the pair were walking up the steps. Elena pushed open one of the massive doors of the church and walked in, Stefan following right behind her.

They froze.

Holy shit – they walked straight into a funeral.

The priest gave them an obvious look that they disrupted the service and a man that was kneeling in front of an open casket briefly turned around to look at the couple in surprise.

"Oh." Elena muttered, not expecting this. Her cheeks flamed and she smiled apologetically. "Sorry." She mouthed and she snuck back out along with Stefan, trying to remain quiet. Closing the door gently, she turned to Stefan with a wince and crossed her arms. "Wow. I feel like a bitch for walking in on a funeral." She sighed. "So, what the hell are we doing now? Do we just wait out here and wait for the services to end?"

"I feel kind of messed up waiting for a funeral to end," responded Stefan as he walked down the steps while Elena remained in front of the doors.

"Damn. Stefan, honestly. We should've just went to the game with the others. This whole splitting up idea of yours is getting us nowhere," snapped Elena, irritably.

"Excuse me for wanting to protect my car," retorted Stefan, starting to grow annoyed at his girlfriend for making everything sound like it's his fault.

"I can't believe how ignorant you're being right now! Have you ever thought for one second that maybe the fan belt didn't break on its own? What if the guy from last night came and did that? Huh? Has that ever crossed your mind, Stefan?"

Stefan shook his head disbelievingly. "Elena, mishaps like that happen all the time. Out of all things, tell me, why would the guy from last night come in the middle of the night and break just the fan belt? Huh? None of our stuff was stolen so it couldn't have been the asshole from last night."

"My diary was stolen last night." Elena confirmed, staring down at Stefan seriously.

"What are you talking about? You had it last night. I saw you writing stuff—"

The door behind the brunette teenager opened, making the arguing couple pause and turn around. Elena recognized the man who was kneeling in front of the casket. He looked to be in his mid-thirties with dark hair that was slicked back for the somber occasion and intense blue eyes.

"Hi." Stefan greeted as the man walked past Elena, stepping down the stairs. He didn't look at Stefan as he pulled out a lighter and cigarette. "Look, we're sorry about that. We shouldn't have walked in."

"No, you shouldn't have." The grieving man scowled. Elena winced at the man's tone – wow, she really felt like the world's biggest bitch at the moment. Might as well have that title tattooed on her forehead. Deciding that Stefan was going to get them nowhere, Elena stepped into the conversation, hoping to get on the man's good side.

"You're right, sir. We shouldn't have walked in, but I'm afraid we could really use some help. We're not from here and we're having car trouble." Elena explained, but much to her dismay, the man didn't even look in her direction. She resisted the desire to stomp her foot on the ground like a toddler not getting their way. They needed that fan belt! Why was this becoming a hassle? Elena continued, "We're looking for a guy named Bo, I believe? He works at the gas station."

"Found him." Bo took a drag of his cigarette, still not looking at the either of them.

"Really?" Stefan spoke up this time, eager. "Well, we need a fan belt—"

"A fan belt?" The man practically snarled. Elena winced at the man's tone.

"Yeah." Stefan answered, hesitantly.

"You walk in on a funeral for a fucking fan belt?" asked Bo, disbelievingly. Elena and Stefan didn't dare speak a word. "Right then. Let me just go dump the casket and I'll be right there." He finished unenthusiastically as he stomped out the cigarette and turned to walk back into the church.

"Sorry," whispered Elena as the man walked past her. She heard him scoff sarcastically. Once the door closed, she released a sigh. "Well, that went well."

"Painfully well," muttered Stefan.

"So, now what?" asked Elena as she walked down the steps and stood directly in front of Stefan.

"I don't know." He shrugged his shoulder. "I guess we can just go back to the—"

"Hey."

The couple spun around, shocked to see Bo coming out, looking less pissed off. He walked down over to them and looked down at Elena. He said in a gentler tone, "I'm sorry about that back there. Someone very special to me passed and I didn't mean to take it out on you."

"Oh. Don't apologize." Elena said, concern spilling out of her voice. "Really. It's totally understandable. My condolences to you and your family."

"Why thank ye kindly, miss." Bo smiled down at her which Elena returned. Stefan stared at them, obvious jealousy tinting his emerald eyes. "I reckon things should wrap up soon. If you want, I can meet you down at the station in about a half."

"Of course." Elena grinned. "That would be fantastic! Wouldn't it be, Stefan?" The only answer she received from Stefan was a look. As if she didn't see his expression, Elena continued in a chipper tone, "I mean, if that's okay with you, sir?"

"Please, call me Bo." He smiled charmingly, making the younger woman blush. "And that sounds perfect." He finished, looking between Elena and Stefan with a smile before turning and heading back to his funeral. When Elena turned around, her smile wiped off when she noticed the pissed-off expression on Stefan's face.

"What?"

Stefan scoffed before turning around and walking away. He shot behind his shoulder, "Looks like your fan club got bigger."

Disbelievingly, Elena followed after her boyfriend. "Are you kidding me, Stefan? Calm down. Okay. It's not a big deal. It's a good thing I'm here otherwise Bo probably would've left your ass on the street."

"Oh, so now you're referring to the creepy guy as 'Bo', huh?" Stefan sneered, angrily.

"Because that's his name." Elena answered, defensively. "I don't see what the big deal here is, Stefan."

"Then you're blind if you don't realize it. Every guy in Mystic Falls wants to be with you."

"Oh, that's bullshit, Stefan. You're overreacting. You're also one to talk; practically every girl in our hometown wants to sleep with you and you know it."

"I don't go around throwing myself at people."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I don't try to impress other girls with my charm, Elena."

"Are you implying that I haven't been faithful to you?"

"I don't know, have you, Elena?"

Elena Gilbert stopped walking and paused, her brown eyes glaring into his own. Her chest constricted, making it hard for her to breathe. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her boyfriend was calling her out on being unfaithful to him. Elena never cheated on Stefan. It wasn't in her nature to do so. The fact that Stefan accused her brought tears brimming to her eyes. She thought they were closer than that.

"How dare you accuse me of something disgusting and immoral?" whispered Elena, her throat becoming tighter with each word she spat. "Wow, Stefan. Wow. Great job, you really succeeded in surprising me during this trip. And not in a good way."

"Elena," Stefan started, his eyes flaring.

"Don't." She snarled.

"Are you and Damon screwing behind my back?" demanded Stefan. The question made Elena's jaw drop and before she could comprehend what she did next, a loud slap was heard. Stefan's head snapped to the side, a red print visible on his cheek.

"I can't believe you just asked me that." Elena muttered, disbelievingly. "All these years we've been together and happy and now all these suspicions raise towards me. I've been nothing but fucking faithful to your ass and this is how I get repaid? Pathetic."

"Elena—"

"Shut up." Was Elena's response and she turned to walk away. She did not want to be in his presence.

"What are you doing?" Stefan called out as Elena walked back towards the church.

"Walking away from you," Elena answered, venom dripping from her voice as she sat down on the steps in front of the church doors.

"Whatever. I'll meet you down at the station soon." Stefan responded as he started heading in the opposite direction. Elena didn't reply as she watched him walk in the direction of the House of Wax. She didn't really care at this point – Stefan had crossed the line.

Soon, the tears came streaming down.

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"I hope they're okay." Caroline kept repeating. It's been a few hours and Klaus decided to stop at a random diner on the way to Chicago. Caroline and Klaus were sitting together at a table outside, sharing a plate of fries while Damon and Jeremy were fooling around inside. Caroline couldn't stop worrying about her two friends.

"God. I hope they're okay."

"Caroline."

She snapped her lost blue eyes and stared into his own. Klaus was staring at her with a slight smirk etched on his face.

"You're overthinking this, love." He whispered, caressing her hand. "It's time you relax."

Caroline sighed, running a hand through her blonde hair. "I know. I know. I just can't help it. I try to push it out of my head, but I can't help myself for being a worry wart."

Klaus openly gazed at his girlfriend; he couldn't help himself, but he noticed how very beautiful she looked in such a stressed state. Those pink lips would pout, making them plumper. There was a special twinkle to those eyes of hers. Caroline Forbes was just, in so many ways, gorgeous.

"I've been thinking," Klaus purposely changed the subject, attempting to ease her from worrying so much.

"That's never good," joked Caroline.

He mockingly glared at her before continuing, "I know we've been over this many times in the past, but there's so much to look forward to – especially for what comes for us in the future."

"Klaus," whispered Caroline, her cheeks turning pink.

"Listen to me, Caroline. And don't you dare interrupt. I know you like to make a habit of that." Caroline closed her mouth shut and patiently waited for Klaus to speak. "You're a lot of things, love. A few of them being annoying, controlling, manipulating—"

"Excuse you, Santa Klaus."

Klaus laughed. "Joking. Only kidding, love. I couldn't help myself."

Caroline snorted. "Of course you couldn't."

"Quit interrupting, Caroline. Or I may just have to sew your mouth shut."

"How gruesome," the blonde teased.

"Only for you," Klaus smirked before continuing. "Caroline, I know you don't want to settle down for marriage—"

"Klaus."

"I want us to move in together." He held his breath and waited for Caroline's response. Surprisingly, Klaus was very nervous to ask his girlfriend this.

Caroline stared at him, her blue eyes piercing into his own. Finally, she said in a quiet voice, "I appreciate your boldness, Klaus. Although, I'm not sure if I'm ready for something like that."

Klaus' shoulders slumped in defeat.

Caroline noticed the disappointment and continued, "This is asking a lot, Klaus. It's a really huge step, you know. To everything, especially our relationship."

Klaus nodded wordlessly.

"I'll think about it." Caroline smiled softly and rubbed his hand.

The English man forced out a smile and replied softly, "Take all the time you need, love."

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Pathetically, Elena Gilbert sobbed on the steps in front of the local church. She was so hurt due to the fact Stefan questioned her faithfulness. He should've known better that Elena would never do something like that.

"Why did things go downhill so quickly?" she quietly questioned herself. Furiously, she wiped at her tears and took a few deep breaths. She was still wondering in her mind exactly what the hell happened. They were arguing over nonsense. Stefan was just overreacting and took it way too far this time.

From behind her, the door opened.

Elena quickly smeared the rest of her tears away. She hated when people saw her cry. Turning around so she could see who was behind her, she was pleasantly surprised to find Bo looking down at her with sympathy.

"I reckon something happened between you and your friend?" he asked quietly. Elena scoffed and stared forward, anger coursing through her veins.

"Yeah. Something very stupid and ridiculous." She growled. The older man stared down at her before leaning down and taking a seat beside her.

"Need a shoulder to cry on?" he joked. Elena chuckled, reaching a hand up to tuck her long hair behind her ears.

"I appreciate the concern." She replied, sarcastically. Her brown eyes gazed out to the small town. It was afternoon now, the sun shining down on the city. She noticed the sky was perfectly blue with clouds sailing lazily.

"Looks like we're both having the blues." Bo sighed, his eyes staring forward.

"I assume the funeral wrapped up?" questioned Elena, softly. She turned to look at the man sitting beside her and stared at him.

"Not yet." He wasn't looking at her, just gazing onward. "I decided I didn't want to keep you folks waiting and that's when I spotted you sitting on the steps, crying your eyes out."

Elena's cheeks burned in embarrassment. "Oh, God. I'm sorry you had to see that."

"No need to be sorry. Everybody has their moments." Bo turned his head and regarded her. Elena was momentarily startled to see how cerulean blue this man's eyes were. "So, where did your friend wander off to?"

Elena shrugged. "Don't know, don't care." She pushed herself from the steps and placed her hands on her hips. "Let's just quickly run down to the station. I don't want to keep you from your services any longer; I already feel guilty enough for walking in."

Bo waved her off as he stood up, towering over Elena in height. "Good idea. And it's no trouble. After all, it's not every day a funeral gets interrupted by a pretty girl like you."

Elena looked down from his sharp eyes, her cheeks flaming. "Thank you." She smiled shyly. As they started walking, she added, "I'm Elena, by the way."

"Pleasure to meet ya, Miss Elena. Welcome to Ambrose."

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Date Posted: 08/17/14

A/N: Thank you so much to the wonderful reviews. I hope I responded to each of you, as for the Guest reviewers, I can't send you a personal message, but I want to say on here THANK YOU SO MUCH! So awesome! If any of you ever want to send me a PM and just chat, go ahead! I love interacting with my readers :)

Notice the That 70's Show reference I snuck in there at the beginning XD Can't get enough of that show! I swear, I'm watching an episode like every day on Netflix *shrugs* it's one of my favorites. Sorry not sorry :D

This is probably gonna be the last chapter for this weekend, because I have school on Monday *throws a tantrum like a toddler* Ughhhhh. That means that updates will be less frequent. Hopefully, the next chapter will be next weekend :D

Soooo…. What did you guys think? Like it? Hate it?

This chapter was supposed to have a different outcome but I have to say, I'm kind of satisfied with how this turned out. So, Klaus attempts to ask Caroline for them to move in together - I hope that part didn't come off as cheesy. Truth be told, I'm terrible at writing fluffy, realistic moments. I hope that Caroline's response was somewhat convincing, I mean, imagine how she would reply if he popped that certain question XD

And Stefan and Elena get into a fight. I bet all of you Delena fans are happily cheering in the background *grins* So…. In case you guys haven't noticed, that is officially the last time Stefan and Elena will see each… in person. Hahaha. Stupid, stupid Stefan… walking off alone all by himself towards the House of Wax. Poor fella. I'll miss him… not. Lol. He kinda came off as a jerk in this story, I didn't mean for that to happen but it kinda did happen. Don't get me wrong, I love Stefan on the show so much. I don't know why I'm treating his character so mean lol. I'm sorry guys! XD

REVIEWS ARE LOVE! :D

Nina