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Here is Playdate!

Lying on her new bed, tired out, Caroline was struggling to keep her eyes open. It had been some wearisome few days and just to think of what she would have to put up with again now that she had moved into the Mikaelson mansion got her even more exhausted. Indeed, if the little the blonde knew about these siblings were any indication, her stay in their company would be anything but dull. She thanked God Elijah was there to smooth things a little. She wondered how Rebekah, Klaus and Kol had ever managed to subsist without him; he seemed to be the only member of that family to think rationally.

She had really thought about it before making her decision. She had considered it again and again; she had weighed the pros and the cons. She had thought about her friends' reaction, mostly Elena's, as well as Klaus'. She was aware of the hopes her claimant may entertain if she eventually decided to move in, and the last thing she wanted to do was to give him hope only to take it back from him afterwards. Caroline didn't want to be that woman for Klaus; she didn't want to be another person in his life to let him down.

She wasn't quite sure what had even made up her mind. Perhaps Elijah's persuading skills were as extraordinary as Elena had told her they were, perhaps learning more about Klaus' past and what had made him this way had had an unconscious effect on the pretty blonde, or perhaps even she had merely done what she had wanted to do all along. She didn't know. She knew one thing though: if the charming Mikaelson blond man she had come to know lived up to his expression when she had told him she was moving in and kept going with opening up to her, she wouldn't regret giving him a chance.

/

Caroline had finished examining her room in detail, in its lesser nooks. It was a room worthy of a five stars hotel. She found it amazingly decorated. Whoever had taken care of the decoration deserved the praise; she had a clue who that talented person might be.

The blonde descended the stairs and walked into the living room where all the living Mikaelsons were reunited. She dreaded their reaction when finding out that she had moved into their home. She already knew what Elijah's opinion on the matter was since the latter had displayed a lot of zeal trying to convince her to move in. However, she had no idea if Rebekah and Kol would be ok with that. Perhaps, she should have asked them for their consent before invading their manor with her luggage –way of speaking.

Klaus turned around as she made her appearance and took a few steps to meet her halfway.

"Hey" said the blond once he reached Caroline, putting his hand behind her back and kissing her temple like it was the most natural thing on earth.

At the scene, Elijah's eyes instantly grew wide; Rebekah creased her eyebrows and leant forward intensifying her gaze on her brother and the other blonde, and Kol stared quizzically at them, his brows knit together; none of them daring to ask the question that burned their lips.

Caroline slightly pulled away from Klaus and gazed tenderly at the man. And that was just it for Kol: he had to say something.

Therefore, he opened his mouth but thankfully, Elijah held his arm back to stop him.

"Shhh, don't ruin the moment."

Unfortunately, Rebekah decided differently.

"Um…" she spoke and Caroline's eyes shot at her. The latter slightly moved away from Klaus, crestfallen, not nearly discretely enough to escape to thousand-year-old vampires. "What were you doing upstairs?" Rebekah asked the other blonde.

"Um…" she hesitated; she definitely should have had this conversation before. "I was…"

"That's where I was getting at." Klaus intervened causing his sister to knit her brows in questioning and his younger brother to look at and listen to him intently. "Caroline is moving in." he eventually announced.

Kol's lips quirked in a smirk. "Is she?" he rhetorically asked turning to the principal concerned.

"I am." She confirmed.

"For how long?" Rebekah inquired, inducing the other blonde to feel bad.

"Oh just…" Caroline began but was cut off by Klaus.

"That's not the question. Caroline will stay here as long as she desires." He declared. "And you will all treat her respectfully." He said pointedly.

The blonde Mikaelson crossed her arms on her chest.

"Yes, we will." Elijah supported and the new occupant gave him a small smile, her attention focused on the youngest one of them.

"So I'll get to see your pretty face every day, huh?" Kol asked Caroline in a successful attempt to provoke his brother. Caroline merely rolled her eyes.

"Kol…" Elijah spoke in a warning tone.

"No worries, I'll show your dulcinea the utmost care." He was addressing Klaus but was giving the blonde a hundred-watt smile. The latter tilted her head and stared at him as if to say 'Are you being serious?' Did he really think he was shrewd?

Klaus' jaw clenched in irritation.

"Hey! Caroline's moving in. we should celebrate!" Kol exclaimed. "Let's go to a club." He suggested.

"Excuse me, what?" spoke Elijah.

"A club!" responded Kol. "You know that place where people order drinks and dance till their knees weaken?

The elder Mikaelson sibling's expression became casual. He lowered his head and smoothed his dark blue suit. "I think you have confounded me." He simply replied.

Caroline chuckled softly at the scene. She turned her head only to catch Klaus gazing lovingly at her; she smiled shyly in response feeling a tint of pink invade her cheeks.

"What about you, Caroline? Do you want to go?" Elijah asked her.

She turned to him. "I would love to. But I'm really tired, I've had… a long day." She explained. "Perhaps some other time."

"Oh come on, Caroline, Elijah, it'll be fun." Kol tried to persuade them. "Klaus?"

"I'm staying here with Caroline." He responded and the blonde's eyes widened lightly. 'Oh no, bad idea, very bad idea' she thought inwardly.

"You know she can take of herself." Rebekah intervened; he glanced at her but didn't reply. "Well, I am going." She declared. "And you, dear brother…" she moved towards Elijah and grabbed his tie. "…are coming with me." She finished pointedly.

He opened his mouth but she didn't let him talk. "No. No objection."

"Actually, I'm going to come too." Caroline said.

Klaus looked at her, surprised, and after a second, a grin appeared on his lips.

"Afraid to be alone with me, love?" he asked low enough for only Caroline to hear.

"I'm terrified." She half-truly half-falsely admitted.

He burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Kol inquired.

"Nothing." Klaus answered. "So we're all going." He stated.

"Uh-huh" did Kol. "Let's get going."

"Whoa, slowly!" Rebekah spoke. "Give me five minutes to doll up a little." She asked heading for the stairs.

"Yeah, me too." Caroline said.

"You hardly need that, love."

She merely rolled her eyes and followed Rebekah on her way upstairs.

/

Of course, the five minutes the two blondes were supposed to spend getting ready turned into more than half an hour: the time for them to get dressed, to make up, and to do their hair, not to mention all the time they needed to choose their dress.

Anyway, they eventually left the mansion and arrived at the club. It was a new one that had opened barely a month ago but of course, Kol was already aware of its existence. The feeble lighting was enough to contrast with the darkness of the night; the music was rather loud but we could still hear each other. The establishment was nicely decorated and the setting was propitious to festivity and entertainment.

After settling at an outlying table, Kol went to order a round of bourbons for the men and martinis for the women while Rebekah suggested that they played a game: truth or dare. They had been playing for a quarter of an hour and a lot had been revealed and done: Klaus had confessed that he could possibly see himself get married someday… if he met the right woman –while gazing lovingly at the beautiful blonde beside him causing her to lower her gaze –Caroline had admitted to be having a good time in the Mikaelsons' company and Rebekah had disclosed that she would like for her and Matt to move in together. As for Elijah, he had been boldly dared to pour some bourbon onto his jacket.

"Truth or dare?" Elijah asked Kol.

"Dare, of course" chose the latter.

"I dare you to kiss the forehead of the next person that passes the door."

They all turned towards the door and thirty seconds later, it was a man who entered the nightclub.

Kol turned to his siblings and Caroline in horror. "No! No way!" he opposed.

"Hey, a dare is a dare, brother." Klaus reminded.

"I am not kissing a guy!" he exclaimed.

"I was just forced to pour some bourbon over my jacket, Kol: you are kissing that man." Elijah declared.

Kol turned to his sister and Caroline who were the only women at the table for support. They both shook their head negatively before they shared a common laugh. Caroline muttered Sorry. He huffed.

"You are so paying for this." Kol warned his elder sibling before emptying his glass of bourbon and getting up.

He directed towards the bar where the man he was supposed to kiss was standing. He grabbed and turned the latter's head and gave him a quick peck on the lips before returning to their table. He was welcomed with applause.

"Woahhh!"

The two blondes couldn't seem to stop laughing and Elijah and Klaus exchanged a conniving look without the knowledge of their little brother who was too busy pouting because of what he was just forced to do.

"Caroline, truth or dare?" Kol asked the blonde.

"The latter." She picked.

"I dare you to sit on my knees and stare into my eyes for five minutes." He dared her earning a deathly glare from her claimant.

Caroline stood up and went over to Kol's seat. She settled on his knees; as she put her arms around his neck, Kol put his hand on her lap. She looked him dead in the eyes. Despite the reasonable distance between the two, Klaus couldn't help the groan that escaped his mouth. Kol kept looking at the blonde seductively and she kept holding his gaze under Elijah and Rebekah's amused stare. After a while, the Original Hybrid was fed up.

"Okay, that's enough."

"It has only been three minutes and a half" replied Kol not detaching his gaze from the woman in his arms.

Rebekah chuckled more or less interiorly and the elder Mikaelson sibling struggled to keep his seriousness, he brought his hand to his mouth to stop himself from laughing.

Five minutes finally passed and Caroline moved her arse from Kol's lap –who bore a content smile on his face –to regain her seat next to the annoyed hybrid.

"Rebekah, truth or dare?" she asked.

"Truth, since nobody picks truth."

"Were you really in love with Stefan back in the twenties?" she inquired.

"I was" honestly answered the blonde Mikaelson.

"More than you love Matt?" she dug further.

"Oh yes." Klaus answered in his sister's place; she glared at him.

"You have right to a single question, Care." She said; her eyes widening as she realized her –perhaps inappropriate –use of the blonde's nickname.

"Sorry." She apologized so that only the blonde could hear her.

"It's ok." Caroline murmured back.

Rebekah smiled discreetly and turned to Elijah.

"Truth or dare?"

"Truth"

"Do you or have you ever had feelings for Katherine… Katerina or whoever she is?" she questioned.

"Do we have a problem, you and I?" Elijah inquired.

Indeed, his adorable little sister had already been the one to make him pour bourbon on his blue jacket. She had obviously decided to sting him today.

"Wait for your turn." She told him. "Answer?" she asked.

"I have cared for Katerina, yes." He eventually answered.

Caroline looked at him doing her best to show an impassive expression, to hide the sadness the situation inspired her. If one person on earth actually deserved to be happy, it was really Elijah. He was definitely unfortunate when it came to love and the Petrova doppelgangers were concerned. But she was intent on changing that. Something had to be done: Klaus had to get over himself and let his brother be happy.

"And you don't anymore?" Rebekah pressed.

The corner of his lips curved up into a small smirk. "You have right to a single question, Bekah." He quipped.

She stared at him with a roguish look.

"Niklaus, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"I dare you to kiss Caroline on the cheek."

Klaus turned to the concerned for consent. She stared at him a moment before she tilted her head towards him; he leant in and planted a sweet kiss on her rosy cheek. She instinctively closed her eyes, shivers traveling her at the soft touch.

"Oh…" Rebekah couldn't help but say.

"Look how cute you two lovebirds are." Kol commented.

She lowered her head to hide her obvious embarrassment.

"Kol, truth or dare?" Klaus asked his brother, trying to get the attention off Caroline and himself.

"Truth" picked Kol.

"Are you after her because you want to get inside her trousers or do you actually care about the Bennett witch?" he questioned and got a reprehensive look from the blonde at his use of her friend's nickname. He let out an almost inaudible sigh. "I mean Bonnie." He corrected himself to the young lady's pleasure.

"I don't merely want to get inside her trousers, Nik. There are people here who actually think about things not related to sex." He declared.

"People, sure. But they aren't named Kol." Klaus teased.

"And I do like Bonnie Bennett…" he asserted. "…a lot." He added turning to the latter's friend.

Klaus raised his hands in surrender.

"Nik, truth or dare?" he asked.

"Truth." He picked.

"On a scale from one to ten, what is your degree of attraction to Caroline?" he enquired.

He turned to gaze at the principal concerned. "Eleven." The hybrid responded looking her dead in the eyes.

"Woaw!" commented his little sister.

The other blonde dropped his gaze sheepishly, her lips quirking in a shy grin, and blushed furiously. She would be inventing new shades of pink tonight.

"Kol, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

Klaus took a moment to contemplate what to ask his irritating brother that would avenge them for his daily practical and so not funny jokes. A mischievous glint shone in his eyes and a malicious smirk formed on his lips. "I dare you to compliment everyone at this table."

"You're kidding!" he said.

"Seriously?" asked Caroline.

Rebekah was satisfied with just chuckling.

Kol huffed. "Elijah, your morality would put the greatest saint to shame."

"That's not a compliment coming from you." The blond objected.

"It is for him." The youngest of the Mikaelson brothers countered. "Nik, you are very attractive." He complimented. "It's the Mikaelsons' charm." He added causing Klaus to roll his eyes.

"Bekah, you have a child's soul." He declared and she raised her eyebrows in disbelief widening her eyes. Then, she turned to the other blonde. "And last but not least, you are stunningly beautiful, sweet Caroline, not to mention extremely smart." He gave her two compliments at the price of one. "Well, smart enough to resist my brother's yet irresistible charm up until this point." He added nevertheless.

"Caroline, truth or dare?"

"Truth"

"Do you love Nik?" Kol asked. "I wouldn't blame you if you didn't." he added.

Caroline took the time to think about it. "No." she eventually answered. "I mean…" she considered his question and her own answer more sincerely and struggled to find her words. A thousand thoughts ran through her mind and an utter confusion dazed her. How come she had never asked herself that? Now, she was totally caught off guard! Now was the time to panic.

She filled a flute of champagne, guzzled the entire contents, and then refilled it. All the gazes, especially Klaus', intensified on her. "I, I don't know." She said.

Everyone's gaze directed on Klaus waiting for his reaction but his expression remained stoical and his gaze on Caroline intent.

She turned to face Klaus and looked him in the eyes. "But I could." She managed to utter.

/

After about an hour and a half of playing truth or dare with the Mikaelsons, and absorbing an amount of alcohol a bit too high to her liking, Caroline decided to call it a night before she revealed too much or her bra started coming undone on its own. Therefore, the others wanting to stay, not ready to end the night so soon and put an end to the fun, Klaus proposed and insisted that he took her back home.

Knowing more than anyone that even vampires aren't immune to the unpleasant effects of drinking that much alcohol with an empty stomach, Klaus suggested that while the blonde went to take a proper shower, he made them toasted cheese-and-ham sandwiches with French fries. She finally finished taking her shower and came back into the kitchen, the lovely smell luring her in. He served her a plate as well as a glass of coke.

"Here, it'll help you sober up." He told her.

She took the glass he was handing to her. "Thanks" she shuddered at the thrilling contact of their fingers.

As he removed his hand and sat across her to eat as well, she immediately missed his warmth.

She took a bite of her toasted cheese-and-ham sandwich.

"Good?" he asked.

She hummed. "Delicious." She answered after finishing what she had in her mouth. "Is there anything you aren't good at?"

"I doubt it."

She laughed. "In that case, you're good to marry." She said half-teasingly before she realized the innuendos her joke could have held. She lowered her gaze, sheepish.

"Thank you, love. That means a lot coming from you." He paused. "I'm sure you are too." He embarrassed her even more than she already was. "Should we rush to the altar?" he teased.

"Oh no, not just yet. We haven't even kissed." She went ahead with the playful atmosphere that had fallen between them.

"That's easily fixed." He declared causing Caroline to giggle.

The blonde shook her head in a mix of amusement and disbelief. She was so heart-wrenchingly stunning; he could gaze at her all day without growing tired. She never ceased to amaze him: her laugh, her smile, her kindness, her goodness… He never tired trying to portray her, to commit her utter beauty to paper, to immortalize her simply.

"You have such a beautiful smile." He complimented her sincerely.

She half-laughed half-huffed embarrassedly lowering her head. She ran her hand through her hair before sliding it to her chin. "Thank you."

"And thank you for tonight, I had a really good time." She told him.

"Oh you're welcome, you're welcome." He paused. "Most of the time women say that after I take them to my bed." He said emphasizing on the word 'after'. "But then again, you seem to be the exception to a lot of things."

She blushed lightly and fought back a laugh looking away. She avoided making eye-contact with him, her lips inevitably quirking in a shy amused grin. She threw French fries at him; he dodged them, an entertained smile on his face.

"I mean it." insisted Caroline.

"We'll see if you still mean it in the morning when you feel as though you have an elephant sitting on your head."

She rolled her eyes. "You have trouble accepting gratitude." She remarked.

"And you have trouble accepting compliments, even when they are pure facts." Klaus remarked. "We make a great pair." He concluded.

She looked at him from the corner of the eye then, rolled her eyes.

"What decided you to move in?" he finally asked her the question he had wanted to ask her since she announced her decision to live with him and his psychotic family.

Caroline shrugged. "Well, you do live in a mansion." She joked.

He laughed.

"You asked me for a chance." She paused. "I am giving it to you." She declared. "Don't screw it up." She advised him.

"Never."

She smiled. "You could've told your siblings I was just staying for the weekend."

"I could have." He confirmed. "But what would have been the point since you'll be here longer than that."

"Oh…" Caroline raised an eyebrow. "Says who?" inquired the blonde.

"Says me." Klaus responded.

"You seem pretty sure of yourself." Caroline remarked.

"I am." He stood up and moved next to her. He looked her dead in the eyes before speaking. "I guarantee I am going to pet you'll never want to leave my side again." He vowed.

She stared at him an instant then, looked away, a tight-lipped smirk slowly appearing on her face.

/

Elena and Stefan were cuddling in their bed in a mixture of kissing and tickling. Laughter spread from everywhere in their bedroom. Neither he nor she could remember a time when they were so blessed with beatitude, so in love and so crazy about each other; so crazy altogether, but crazy in a good way. The madness in their life had considerably diminished these past few years –ever since they had called a truce with the Mikaelsons and Damon had left town as a matter of fact –and now for the very first time, they could actually let themselves just be happy together without constantly looking behind their shoulders on the look-out for danger lurking.

Though she was still mourning her friend moving out, Elena still had her other best friend with her and she knew that was where he would always be. And now with Caroline gone, they could go back to their thrilling routine of making love endlessly and making sweet love declarations, without the worry of the embarrassment that being overheard or caught was. So perhaps it wasn't all so bad.

After her laughter eased, Elena brought her head out of the sheets seeking for air, trying to regain her breath.

"You know you were really weird yesterday." She nicely remarked resting

"What do you mean?" He asked running a delicate hand through his girlfriend's dark hair.

"With Caroline." She elaborated.

"I was just looking out for her." he told her calmly.

"You always look out for her." She paused. "But yesterday at the reunion, your behavior was…" she thrashed to express herself like she intended to: without hitting a bad point. "You acted…"

"…Damon-like?" He finished for her.

The raven-haired woman's heart skipped a beat. She struggled to stabilize her breathing. She tilted her head lightly. "That's not what I was going to say." She told him.

"But that's what you think." Stefan stated, his girlfriend's reaction not going unnoticed by him.

There was a moment of silence as they both felt the mood swing. Stefan let go of Elena and sat.

"It's unbelievable, we can't even pronounce his name without tension settling between us, can we?" he rhetorically asked.

He turned to face her; she looked at him then, heaved a sigh. She got herself in a sitting position too.

"Force of habit." She spoke. "How many times have we talked about him since he left?" she asked and he huffed mocking them, mocking the irony and the absurdity of this situation.

"Three times? Perhaps, five." She answered her own question.

"And it's my fault?" he asked staring at the emptiness.

There was yet another moment of silence as the raven-haired woman considered what to say next. "You never let me tell you what happened." She declared, not directly answering his question.

"Because it's none of my business." He paused. "It's between you and Damon. I don't want to know."

"I think it was the whole point of him leaving; he did it for you, for me, for us: he didn't want us to be constantly reminded of my history with him because of his presence. He didn't want to stop us from moving on with our lives and being together like we always should have had." She psychoanalyzed her ex-boyfriend's decision to leave town. "And yes, I suppose he did it for himself too on some level…" she added. "…so he wouldn't have to witness you and I together."

Stefan got up from their bed and turned to the brunette. "I don't exactly need Damon to be here to be reminded of what you two shared, Elena. We do leave in the same house as he did. And you did make love in the room just next door." He stated. "I am very well aware of that."

Elena stared at Stefan before lowering her gaze and staring at an invisible point on the floor. "I thought we had gotten past this." She said in an unintentional low voice.

"And what made you think that?" Stefan inquired. "We've never talked about you and Damon, you just said so yourself. And as far as Damon alone is concerned, we mentioned his name five times maximum in the last four years." He stated and paused to stare at his girlfriend. As she didn't react and was satisfied with staring back at him, he went on. "How do you get past an issue which has never been identified as one?"

I know I can't help but write fluff whenever Stelena are concerned… even when there is an argument on the way. It's the Stelena effect on me! I plead guilty!

Reviews very much appreciated. Tell me what you thought of the chapter or the story in general!

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