Hey folks!
What's up! :D I'm back, and I happen to have a new chapter for you guys.
First things first; Thank you for reviewing: Girl96xoxo, Laoya, SophieGellett, Poisonivy228, Anikasaotome, Marauderphil, Musicalexpert, Emowyen and Candy Couture. Reviews make me smile. :)
So… Read, enjoy and let me know what you think!
Choices
My eyes were staring at the phone. Tyler's name was still blinking at me. I was petrified. It was a bad idea to answer this call. It was also a bad idea to ignore it. No matter the choice I would make, it would be a wrong choice.
I coughed lightly as I declined the call, unsubtly throwing my phone back into my purse.
Klaus was frowning at me. "Aren't you going to take that?" He questioned curiously.
"No!" I said hastily. "I thought that maybe it would be something important. But it's not, so I'll call back later." I added in a calmer tone.
I felt horrible. I should've answered the call. I should've told Tyler that everything was going to be alright. That he would be fine. That we would be fine. But I couldn't be sure about that, not anymore. Saying that it would all turn out fine would be the same as lying to his face.
"Is something wrong?" Klaus asked, not missing my flustered state.
"Nothing." I squeaked as my brain worked to make up a believable excuse. "It's just this girl from school… She's always bothering me about her homework. It's annoying really, but no big deal. I'll see her tomorrow."
"Right." He said sarcastically, letting me know that he wasn't buying it.
"I mean it, it's nothing." I insisted.
"If you say so... " He didn't sound convinced, at all.
"I say so! So just drop it. I don't want her to ruin this evening." I stuttered as I reached the word 'her'.
He momentarily watched me -face skeptical- but thankfully, he let it go.
"I see… Well, in that case, could I interest you in a small dessert?" He proposed, fixing those blue eyes on me.
He had to be doing it on purpose. He must have known that I couldn't say no to those eyes. I mean, honestly, who could?
"Sure… If there is chocolate." I said nonchalantly.
Klaus' smile was promising. "Oh, there will be. Trust me…"
-xxx-
There was chocolate. Lots of it. Klaus might have compelled a waiter. Or two. I wasn't quite sure; The wine was making it hard for me to focus on insignificant details. All I could see right now, was that there was a gorgeous guy, buying me dinner and claiming that I was what he called 'genuine beauty'. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I recalled that this guy was a monster, but he had his own ways to make me forget about that.
We talked, about everything and nothing. Klaus mostly wanted to talk about me, but he also gave me a chance to find out more about him. He told me fascinating stories about the less disturbing parts of his past. Stories about stuff that had happened ages ago, involving princes and princesses. It was difficult to grasp that these stories were not fairytales, but that all of this had been his life back then.
Time flies when you're having fun. It's such a lame saying, but it's spot-on. At a certain point I checked my watch, and I realized that it was almost midnight.
"Oh god, I should go." I groaned.
Klaus didn't seem too fond of the idea of me leaving. "Really? Why?"
"School in the morning. Very early." Was my short but clear explanation.
Forming full sentences was getting harder, as was staying awake. I needed some sleep. Also, I had to get away from him before he would succeed at brainwashing me completely.
"Bring me home. Please." I requested.
He cocked an eyebrow at me, and so I expected that he was going to be difficult about this. But once again he caught me off guard by doing the unexpected.
"Very well then. If that's what you want."
"That's what I want." I lazily repeated his words.
"I'll be right back." He said as he got up and took off, probably to pay the bill. Or to compel someone in order to get out of paying the bill. I was tired and beyond caring.
I rested my chin on my hands, blankly gazing at the now deserted restaurant as I waited for him to come back. His voice functioned as my wake-up call.
"Are you ready to leave?"
I looked up at him. He was casually standing next to me, offering his hand. I was disgusted with myself as I took it and got up from my chair. How could someone this evil be this irresistible? Why was I even falling for his act? I was a rational girl; I knew what was hiding behind the mask. Yet here I was, going along with his stupid games.
He was a perfect gentleman. Opening the door for me, leading me outside, helping me into his car. All of his actions were perfectly normal. With every second that passed it was getting harder for me to hold on to the thought that he was not perfectly normal.
"You seem awfully quiet." Klaus pointed out while he was driving me home.
"Tired." I mumbled.
It wasn't even a lie. Still, aside from being exhausted, I felt utterly confused. I wasn't supposed to feel this way about him. I had even ignored Tyler's call on Klaus' behalf. I needed to come back down to earth, soon.
I was pulled out of my thoughts when the car came to a stop in front of my house.
"You're home, Miss Forbes. I guess this is it." He announced, sounding rather serious. No smirks or smug smiles this time.
"I guess… Thanks for… I mean…" I was tripping over my own words.
"What is it you want to say? You can tell me, I like you best when you're being honest, you know that." Klaus reminded me. His eyes were communicating that he meant it.
I took a deep breath before blurting out the truth in a rush. "I don't regret coming with you tonight. I don't regret it one bit."
His smile was nearly invisible, but it was there. "That's good…"
"Yes… But I should go now." I grabbed the handle of the door as I said this.
"I'll walk you to your door."
I was about to object, but he was already out of the car, not giving me a chance. I had no other choice than to get out of the car as well, and I kept my eyes fixed on the ground as we silently walked to my front door.
I hesitantly turned to face him as we reached the porch steps.
"Well… Thank you. That was… good food." I awkwardly managed to say.
He chuckled, sensing my uneasiness. "It sure was."
I cleared my throat. "Yes…"
We gazed at each other. This was like a scene from some silly romantic movie. The magical moment after a successful date when the first kiss was supposed to take place. Only this was different, seeing as this story wasn't about two average teenagers. It was about an average girl who had been turned into a vampire, and a monster.
"You don't… Expect me to kiss you, do you?" My big mouth blabbed out before I could put a sock in it.
He blinked slowly, but his eyes never strayed. "You tell me."
I shook my head, voice trembling as I answered him. "I can't… You're… I'm supposed to hate you, for crying out loud!"
Unpredictable as always, he laughed lightly, not seeming offended at all. "Oh yes, hate… I've been around a long time, Caroline, and let me tell you this... It's very easy to fall in love, for both vampires and humans. And as easy as that is, it's even easier to hate someone. But you know what's more complicated?"
"No…" I shakily responded to his question, even if it was a rhetorical one.
"The thing between love and hate. It tears us apart, no matter how hard we try to fight or suppress it."
He hit the nail right on the head. It was easy to let yourself go and fall in love. It was even less hard to get angry at someone and hate them with all your heart. But what if there was someone, playing an important part in your life, whom you couldn't hate, yet couldn't love?
I smiled weakly, giving him a sign to show him that what he'd just said made sense to me, even though I didn't feel like admitting it out loud.
"You will have to make a choice eventually, Caroline. For your own sake. You can't count on me to change, so you will have to decide for yourself whether or not you can settle for the small piece of humanity that I have left."
"That's impossible." I whispered.
He leaned in ever so slightly, all the while keeping his eyes on mine. I might have stopped breathing for a moment. I became aware that one of his strong hands was cupping my jaw, keeping me in place. And then he lightly placed a kiss on my forehead, like he'd done that night when he had saved my life.
"Whatever you decide, it has to be your choice." His lips were brushing the skin of my forehead as he emphasized the word 'your'.
And with that he swiftly pulled away, leaving me stunned, frozen in place. He got into his car without looking back, driving off into the night.
-xxx-
I was under the impression that I'd been very quiet when closing the front door, but as I tiptoed into the hallway, I heard my mom calling from the kitchen. Shoot, she was still awake… It was a given that she would fire some tough questions at me. Questions like 'Who have you been with?'.
"Caroline? Is that you?"
"Yes." I called back, rolling my eyes.
Who else would it be? Then again, when living in a town like Mystic Falls, you could never be too careful. I stalked into the kitchen, finding my mother at the kitchen table, checking out a pile of papers as she held on to a steaming mug of coffee.
"You're up late." I accused as I sat down across from her.
She smiled tiredly, putting down the coffee and rubbing her temples. "Work. How about you? You're not exactly early either."
"Oh… Just… Hanging out with a friend." I cursed myself as the blood rushed to my cheeks.
My mom curiously raised her eyebrows. "Really? Which friend?" She pried.
Dang, not again with the lying, I thought gloomily.
"Stefan… Salvatore." That was sort of true. I had been with Stefan this afternoon.
"Oh…" My mom said, unable to hide her surprise.
"Yeah… He's finally starting to come to his senses, and I want to help him. You know how he helped me when I… Well, you know."
She gave me a warm smile. "I understand, you don't have to explain. He's your friend, and I think it's very sweet of you to support him. Be careful though… You've changed so much lately, and don't get me wrong, I think it's wonderful that you're always trying to help others. But it's not a crime to think about yourself every once in a while."
"I'll keep that in mind... But I'm fine, mom. No problems here." It came out fluently.
I was getting better at this lying stuff. This had to be a classic case of 'practice makes perfect'.
She defensively put up her hands. "Alright then, I'm just saying."
"I know. I love you too." I said, grinning.
I would rather have an overprotective mom than a mother who didn't care at all. That was one of the positive changes since I had become a vampire; My relationship with my mom had turned around drastically, for the better.
"Same here, sweety."
I sprang up from my chair, quickly planting a kiss on her cheek. "I'm calling it a night, I need my bed."
My mom yawned as she picked up her coffee again. "Some sleep sounds like a lovely plan, I think I'll finish these tomorrow."
"You do that. Every day I'm dealing with vampires, and witches, and werewolves… I could do without a zombie-mom." I joked.
She snorted, pushing the papers aside. "That's enough to convince me. Goodnight."
I grinned as well. "Goodnight."
As I climbed the stairs, Tyler's call came back to mind. What was I going to do about that? Ignore him? That would be rude. Call him back? What in the world would I tell him?
Hey Tyler! How's it going? Back here everything's great! Bonnie's mom is a vampire now, but she's handling it. Our friends are okay, even Stefan is almost back to normal. I guess that's about it… Oh wait, there is one more thing… I think I might be falling in love with Klaus. You know, the guy who ruined your life and who tried to kill us all.
"Get a grip, Caroline!" I quietly hissed to myself.
Back at the restaurant, I'd had every intention of calling Tyler back once I got home… And now I was chickening out, big time.
I wasn't paying attention to anything as I stumbled into my room. It wasn't until I was about to fall down onto my bed fully clothed, not even bothering to look for my pajamas, that I realized that someone was already sitting on it.
I screamed involuntarily.
"Oh relax, you're giving me way too much credit, I'm not that scary. Especially not compared to that hybrid freak show that you were hanging out with earlier tonight." Damon Salvatore's voice was characteristically filled with sarcasm.
I groaned in annoyance. What was it with all these vampires creeping into my room at any given time? I was so sick of this! Whatever happened to things like privacy?
"Damon! What are you doing here? Get out!" I said lowly, scowling at him.
"No can do. At least not until you give me a detailed explanation about what the hell you think you're doing…"
Busted. Note to self; Purchase iron bars to put on bedroom window.
Thanks for reading, excuse me while I go back to baking fries. :p And see you soon at a new chapter! :)
