Healthy Competition

Caroline rushed along towards the grill. She was about an hour or so late meeting up with Elena, simply because she slept in. After last night, Caroline was drained and her mind was racing with information. How could it not? This whole week Kol and Klaus had been using her for a game…it wasn't that she felt disappointed; it was more like being used, and Caroline does not like being used. She was not going to be played with by some originals.

As Caroline was walking away from her car towards the Grill's entrance, she heard a voice calling her. She looked round in surprise and suppressed a grimace. Not quite the person she was hoping to see.

"Caroline," Klaus greeted her. She looked up at him with bleary, unfocused eyes as he walked up to her.

"Oh-…Klaus," she replied suspiciously, looking anywhere but at him. He wasn't the particular person she wanted to have a conversation with at with moment.

Klaus noticed she looked extremely tired. Her face was drawn and her eyes nearly as red as a tomato. "Are you feeling alright love?" he asked, automatically reaching his hand up to her forehead; although, Caroline swatted his hand away.

"I'm fine…just fine thankyou very much," Caroline snapped, pulling her hair out of her face. She was being extremely awkward. She had to keep it together before Klaus suspected anything.

He smirked. "I'm thinking a drink might lift your mood. Join me?"

"I'm meeting up with Elena," she responded bluntly.

"I don't mind her company." Caroline lifted her head up at him, completely changing her expression into a slight grin.

"You know what," she started, "why not? You should join us Klaus." Caroline could hear the amusement in her own voice. He cocked an eyebrow at Caroline with a slight smile.

"Perfect," he replied, clearing his throat. Placing a hand on the curve of her back, Klaus guided her towards the Grill.

"Maybe I should invite Kol to join us?" Caroline suggested, smirking at his quick change in expression. Klaus stiffened at the mention of his brother.

"That won't be necessary..." Deep inside, Caroline was laughing with happiness. It's actually working…

"You sure?" Caroline repeated.

"Kol stayed up rather late last night, I'm sure he won't want to be disturbed," Klaus explained.

Caroline smiled in response as they walked through the doors to the Grill. Klaus seemed so eager to avoid Kol, and he wasn't hiding that fact very well. Caroline could see right through him.

She never knew why people always wanted the truth until now. It's surprising how much people find out.

She spotted Elena sitting in one of the booths, mixing her drink side to side with a straw. Elena's face brightened when she saw Caroline walk towards her, but immediately frowned when she saw Klaus beside her.

"Uh…Klaus," she greeted uncertainly, shifting her gaze quickly to Caroline who just shrugged as she sat beside her best friend.

"Hello my lovely," Klaus responded, sitting opposite them. "How's everything?"

"Uh…fine," she responded a bit worried. The truth was she hadn't seen Caroline since last night. And with her showing up late today with Klaus of all people, she had grown increasingly uncomfortable. "Care, where were you last night?" Elena asked, changing the subject.

"Yes Caroline, do tell." Caroline gave Klaus a menacingly glare and he folded his arms in amusement, before turning to Elena to explain.

"I went home," she said simply. "That's all."

"That's all," Elena repeated, still a bit suspicious about the vampire. Caroline nodded.

Klaus chuckled slightly in response, causing the two women to stare at him strangely. "Mm…See, I think you're lying, Caroline." His smile immediately diminished, showing his all seriousness.

"What makes you say that?" she asked.

"I sniffed your scent out as soon as I walked through my front door," Klaus explained. "Now, what were you doing in my house?"

His comment left Caroline speechless. He was smarter than he looked. "Fine…I'll tell you," Caroline snapped, sighing heavily. "Kol was injured after the incident last night, and I helped him get back home." Elena looked displeased at Caroline, but Klaus was still as suspicious as before.

"So why the need to lie about it?" Caroline looked down at the table avoiding Klaus' gaze, swallowing hard.

"I…I don't know," she responded, shifting uncomfortably in her chair. She glanced up at Klaus who was staring right back at her, but immediately looked away.

Klaus stood up suddenly. "If that is all…I'll make my leave." Caroline went to open her mouth, but closed it again, hesitant of what might come out. He gave one last look towards the two confused ladies, before walking away from them both.

Elena breathed out a big sigh of relief she had been holding in, before turning to Caroline. "What was that all about?"

Caroline looked overly distant, watching as Klaus walked out of the grill. She hoped he wasn't that angry at her. She doesn't need a vengeful hybrid on her hands. What if he does something he'll regret? Or worse…

"Caroline?" Elena asked, placing her hand on Caroline's shoulder.

"Nevermind. I'm going home," Caroline finally said, moving herself out of the booth.

"Hey, I'm worried about you," Elena spoke gently, grabbing Caroline's arm to stop her from walking away.

"Look, I'm fine," Caroline responded, yanking her arm away from Elena. She sighed at her friend's persistence, before leaving her alone to her thoughts.

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Caroline walked slowly across the lawn towards her house. Her day hadn't gone as planned. Her catch-up date with Elena had been completely ruined by Klaus. He seemed rather tense when she mentioned her encounter with Kol last night. It's not like she did anything wrong.

But she didn't know what else to do that would make her day just a little bit better. Perhaps sitting down and watching the Notebook again while stuffing her face full of chips. That always worked. At the very least Caroline was relieved that she'd finally be alone. She needed some time to herself…the two original brothers hadn't given her much space this past week.

As she got to her door and took out the key, she neatly tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Caroline turned the key and walked into her slightly dark living room. As soon as she walked through the door and closed it, she threw herself onto her couch and dropped everything she had been carrying on the floor next to her. Her legs were sprawled lazily over the arm of the couch as she leaned her head back, looking up towards the blank ceiling. It was slightly dark in the house, aside from the daylight shining through some of the windows.

The doorbell rang suddenly, causing Caroline to groan in frustration. What could anyone want now? She sighed heavily as she heaved herself off the couch walking towards her door. She couldn't see anyone standing outside. So instead she slowly opened the door. She noticed a large box sitting on her front porch. Caroline opened the door fully and hesitantly picked it up.

It was fairly heavy. She walked back inside, but not before taking a suspicious looked out towards her front lawn, and closing the door. Caroline walked slowly up the stairs to her bedroom, feeling the weight of her parcel. Once she got inside her bedroom, she placed the strange package on her bed.

She brushed her hand over the surface, contemplating whether or not to open it…who was she kidding? Of course she'd open it. Caroline quickly lifted the cover and gasped at the beautiful misty sapphire dress that lay beneath a note. It was encrusted with tiny silver jewels, a pattern that was probably crafted by angels. Caroline slowly picked up the card that sat gently on top. In fancy letters, it read:

PLEASE JOIN THE MIKAELSON FAMILY THIS EVENING AT SEVEN O'CLOCK FOR DANCING, COCKTAILS & CELEBRATION.

Caroline looked between the note, and the dress. She didn't know what to think. The originals had invited her to some fancy celebration, and she was expected to wear this dress? From what she gathered, it must've been from either Kol or Klaus, but who?

She turned over the card to find a little note on the back reading:

You coming this evening should help make up for lying to me before. So I suggest you do.

Try the dress. It will look stunning for a lovely lady such as you.

Klaus

Rolling her eyes, Caroline threw the card on the floor. She didn't really have much say in the matter. Caroline carefully lifted the dress from the box, observing its angelic features. It was beautiful, to say the least. She was definitely stunned about how he would acquire such a dress…wait…what was she thinking? His an original. They get anything or anyone they desired. But Caroline wasn't going to allow that tonight. Those original brothers were in for a treat.

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"Are you alright Nik? You're looking a little pale?" Rebekah asked Klaus as guests started pouring into the hall of the mansion. She broke his intense gaze towards the entrance, and he turned to face his sister.

"Never better," he responded simply, grabbing her glass of wine before immediately walking away from Rebekah to avoid any small talk. She scoffed in response, not liking her brother's behaviour. She noticed Kol pouring himself another glass of whiskey, not being too picky by the amount. Rebekah walked over to her brother, grabbing his arm tightly and pulling him away. She was not happy.

"What are you doing, Kol?" Rebekah asked, as she dragged him over to a private area of the hallway.

"What am I doing…I was happily indulging myself with a bit of…this…before you so rudely interrupted me…now, what are you doing?"

"I meant with Klaus, you idiot," Rebekah responded harshly. "His been acting a little bit off his game lately…" Kol's face curved up into a wide grin.

"He seems perfectly fine to me," Kol stated, lifting up his glass towards Rebekah, before taking another huge sip. "Now if you would excuse me…" He handed her the near empty glass, and walked off. Something had so readily caught his attention.

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"You look nervous," Elena said, breaking Caroline out of her Kol induced daze.

"Um…yeah…I'm fine," Caroline finally managed to choke out rather hoarsely. This only sought to confirm Elena's suspicions that something was going on with her friend.

"Ok-ay," she responded doubtfully. Damon walked towards the two ladies, greeting them with the lift of his champagne glass. "Good evening ladies," Damon greeted. Elena was surprisingly unimpressed by his arrival. "Such a waste, isn't it?" He looked to Elena giving her his very alluring smirk. She only looked to him in confusion, not knowing exactly what he meant.

"What do you mean?" she asked, turning her head to Caroline, giving her a sceptical expression.

"Well, you dressed up so…nicely, that I'm going to have to take you back home anyway."

"Um…no you're not," she responded a bit more harshly. "Esther said-"

"-No…I say, to go home right now before you get yourself killed." He grabbed her on the arm, attempting to drag her away, but Caroline stopped him.

"If you're going to be a selfish dick, please don't act like you actually care what Elena thinks."

Caroline simply stood there as Damon narrowed his eyes at her, but then chuckled as he realised their awkward situation. "I don't really care what you think blondie."

"Well, you should." Elena forced her arm about of Damon's tight grip, giving him her usual disappointed look, before walking quickly away from him, her heals clunking heavily along the floor as she did so.

"Now look what you've done," Damon complained, causing Caroline to scoff in response.

"What I've done! You practically just assaulted Elena," Caroline laughed in disbelief. She didn't realise how ignorant Damon could be sometimes. She didn't know how Elena put up with the Salvatore's efforts to constantly undermine her.

"Well, maybe if she wasn't so bent on herself getting killed, I might…have been a little more lenient."

"Wow Damon…" she was practically speechless. Damon shook his head sighing in frustration, grabbing another glass of champagne off the tray the waiter had walked past with. He took a rather large sip before taking his leave away from Caroline, bumping her harshly in the shoulder.

She relaxed as he left, not realising how much tension she was feeling just from that little confrontation with Damon. Wasn't this supposed to be a fun night? And now she was left standing by herself in the middle of an overly posh crowed. Luckily she was wearing the right attire.

Caroline felt a tingle of goose bumps trail up her back when she could feel two pairs of eyes staring at her. She looked through the crowd and noticed Kol staring at her with tortuous eyes. Her nerves rose in the pit of her stomach when he rose his glass to her, widening his grin plastered on his face.

The simple tuxedo he wore fitted perfectly to his athletic form, making him look incredibly handsome. Caroline had to control some of her emotions just by looking at him.

And then there was Klaus…grinning towards her like a madman. He too looked just as sophisticated wearing his suit. He had shaved but there was still a hint of stubble left which Caroline found an incredible turn-on. She quickly found her place again once she realised she had been staring.

As soon as Caroline saw a waiter carrying champagne flutes she waved him over and eagerly took one, knowing that she'd need one to get through tonight, especially if she needed to plan her revenge slow and painfully for the two vampires. Although, her mood continued to get progressively brighter once she saw their efforts to make her jealous. They didn't dare approach her…until she approached them first. But she wasn't going to give them the satisfaction.

Caroline remained near the entrance in case she need a quick getaway. She could never be too careful. Once she grabbed another glass from the waiter, Kol strolled towards her direction, continuously studying her up and down.

As he made his way over, Caroline merely stared ahead, ignoring him as he stood by her side. "Having fun?" he asked mischievously, also facing towards whatever it was she was staring at intently.

She smiled flirtatiously, turning her head to look at him. "Yes, I am actually."

"Mmmm…I'm sure you are…especially in that dress. You certainly have all the men…" Kol paused for a second, thinking of an appropriate word to use, "-aroused, by your appearance."

"Why, you jealous that you don't have me all to yourself?" Caroline confronted, with a hint of a smirk. Kol merely chuckled in response, observing his near empty glass of champagne.

"No..." Caroline gave him a curious look as he shifted his form closer to hers. "It just makes me want you even more," he whispered, leaning in closer towards her ear.

She faced down to her feet that were covered by her dress, laughing awkwardly at his comment. She looked back up again, recovering from her small fit of laughter. "Do you always use that line to get girls?"

"No…but I usually don't make much of an effort to 'get girls,' you on the other hand, make me work for it."

"And why are you, exactly?" Caroline heard some amusement in her voice. Was she actually enjoying this?

"Well darling, you've got all the curves, and I got all the angles. Two and two together would be quite the…experience." He walked past her, purposely brushing his own body against hers as he left. Caroline could smell his strong tangy aroma as he breezed past her, it gave her chills.

"My brother takes quite an interest in you…" Caroline was quickly interrupted again by a familiar voice.

"Oh, not you too," she complained, looking straight into the eyes of the hybrid. She was already feeling rather hot just from talking to Kol. Now Klaus was only going to make it worse. "Next time you should warn Kol to keep it in his pants."

"I'm somewhat, incapable when it comes to controlling his…urges," Klaus responded, exchanging harmonized expressions with Kol. He gave his brother a small smirk before turning back to Caroline.

"I think his hoping for a fun night," Klaus stated. Kol continued talking to some of the guests, but his mouth grew up into a small smirk at hearing Klaus's statement. Both were in for some healthy competition.

A/N: I hate being the one to update late, and make lame excuses for it, but I've been really busy with school, and I volunteer myself in too many extra-curricular activities. That's what I get for being a music student. Anyway, I hope this chapter was to your liking. There will be more 'amusement' ;) between Klaus and Caroline (depending on the votes of course), and plenty of Kol and Caroline next few chapters. Sorry for any mistakes and I know this isn't my best chapter…but I've been tired lately and school is really draining me.

Here are last chapter's poll results:

Amusement (Caroline) – 41 percent

Jealously (Klaus) - 25 percent

Anger (Kol) - 16 percent

Curiosity (Elijah) - 8 percent

Bitterness (Rebekah) - 8 percent

Guilt (Elena) - 0 percent

Next poll is up now! Go vote and reviews are more that welcome! :D

The Seven Deadliest Sins. Choose One.