Chapter 20 – 88 Miles an Hour
Caroline looked at the house that had been her home for nearly eight months and was surprised to think that she would miss it on some level. A hand wrapped around hers, "I never expected to actually like it here so much."
"I didn't either." Caroline answered and looked at her best friend, "I have gotten used to seeing you like this too. It will almost be strange to see the real you again." She joked, causing Elena to giggle as well.
"I will probably look a different anyway. Eight months Care, and the world is so much harder here, I bet there will be a few new lines on my face." Elena said, running a hand over cheek.
"Yes, but you'll still be beautiful." Caroline assured her, moving to wrap a hand around Elena's shoulder, "And all the men will still be chasing after you."
"I don't want to be chased anymore Care." Elena admitted, leaning into the blonde a bit more, both their eyes still on the house.
"Then let yourself be caught." Caroline replied before pulling away, "Come on, we should find them."
Elena didn't move to follow her, "Caroline, I need…" She stopped herself as her brown eyes locked on Caroline's blue ones, "Never mind."
"Are you sure? We can always be a little late." Caroline insisted, watching Elena carefully.
"Yeah, it isn't important right now. Let's go home." Elena replied with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
Elena hated all this walking, for nearly two hours now that is all they had been doing, walking. Caroline was leading the way, Klaus was practically glued to her side, but he had not said a word all day. Elena felt for him, the last 24 hours of his life had been awful. His father had tried to kill him, his mother had betrayed him, and then he had killed her. Not to mention that the one person that was helping him keep what was left of his humanity in tact would be gone by this time tomorrow.
Ayanna was busy explaining the spell to Kol and Rebekah, she had decided that because of their limited witch training they would be the best to relay the information to.
Elijah was walking behind everyone else, just remaining the strong silent type. He claimed it was to make sure that Mikael didn't come up and attack them, but Elena thought it was just his way of collecting his thoughts.
Finn had disappeared after he came home and found them all hovering over Esther's body. He found it hard to believe that Mikael would kill her and in his anger left, yelling that he didn't wish to see any of them ever again. Elijah had gone after him but had returned alone, saying that Finn just needed some time to himself.
Elena was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even notice that she ventured off the path and she tripped over an exposed root. She tumbled down a low embankment and heard some of her bones crack. She let out a tiny scream of pain as she moved to sit, holding her bent arm and trying not to jar her left leg which had an exposed bone.
"Elena!" She heard Elijah scream stopping a few feet from her, his eyes locked on the blood that was streaming from her leg, "I'll…I will go get Caroline."
"Elijah, I don't think there is time for that." Elena whispered, her eyes were going blurry and her breathing was shallow, "I am losing too much blood."
"I can't Elena." He said, taking a step back, his face transforming as he did.
"I trust you Elijah, you just have to trust yourself." Elena whispered, her head starting to spin, she felt herself start to fall backwards.
An arm circled her shoulders and a wrist was pressed up against her mouth. She sucked in the blood, enjoying the relief that spread through her body. Elena released his wrist, and looked up at him, "See, I knew you could do it."
Elijah gave a strained smile and lifted her up into his arms, "Only for you." He whispered and raced to catch up to the rest of their group.
Caroline turned as she caught the scent of blood, and was surprised to see Elijah coming up carrying a dirty Elena, "What happened?" She asked as Elijah put her on the ground, Ayanna rushing to her side.
"She fell down, rather harshly too. I was able to heal her, she should be fine now." Elijah explained but he backed away quickly and noticed that his siblings were keeping their distance as well.
"Hey, how do you feel?" Caroline asked, brushing some of Elena's lose hair out of her face.
"Much better, Elijah saved me." She answered, "But I should probably change if we want to get there anytime soon."
"Guess it is a good thing I brought extra supplies." Ayanna commented and grabbed her bag, she took out a dress and handed it to Elena.
"Thank you Ayanna." Elena said, taking the dress, "Why don't you guys keep going, I will catch up."
"I don't think you should be left alone." Caroline said, and turned to look at those around her.
"I will stay." Elijah spoke up, "You all continue on, once Elena is ready, we will catch up."
"Are you sure you can handle it?" Caroline asked. She had been suspecting something was going on between the two for awhile now, and matter who could the control, no vampire could keep their cool with that much blood.
"I was able to control myself when she was actually bleeding, I think I can handle it when it is just stains." Elijah retorted, though he still could not look at Elena.
"Okay, catch up as soon as you can." Caroline told Elena as she got up to her feet and went to stand next to Elijah, "Be careful Elijah."
"I will Caroline." Elijah assured her, and watched them intently as they walked away. Trying not to turn around as she heard Elena untie her dress.
Caroline spun around in a circle a few times, trying to remember if this was the right location. It did look familiar, "I am pretty sure this is the right place."
"Let's set up then. The sun will soon set." Ayanna said, "Niklaus and Kol, start a fire please. Rebekah, start setting up the circle like I told you."
"What do you want me to do?" Caroline asked, watching as the others started with their chores.
"Go see where Elena and Elijah wondered off too, they should have gotten back to us by now." Ayanna suggested and Caroline nodded, she had worried about them a bit herself.
She started backtracking but didn't get more than six feet before she came across them, "I was just coming to look for you."
"I insisted on us walking." Elena clarified, giving Elijah a pointed look before turning back to Caroline, "You find the place?"
"I think so, everyone else is busy setting up now." Caroline said turning to go back to the group.
"You two go ahead, I just need a few minutes." Elena told them.
"Take your time." Caroline replied with a smile and looped her arm through Elijah's, "We are just over there, yell if you need us."
"Will do." Elena assured them and walked a little more into the woods, away from the path. She could feel her stomach starting to turn and she didn't want to be sick if front of Elijah or Caroline, they would ask to many questions.
Elena knelt on the ground, trying to recover from her nauseous, which had been happening at an alarming frequency the last few days. At first she had maybe thought it was just a bug, but Elijah's blood had done nothing to stop her illness, as it would have if she was sick. She had been ignoring the signs, she knew that, hoping that it was just the stress of Henrik's death, them becoming vampires, and their worry at returning home that was preventing her period. But, with the nauseous, and her sore breasts added to her missed period, she was less and less sure now.
"Elena, are you alright?" Kol asked, appearing out of the shadows, carrying firewood in his arms.
Elena looked up at the Original, there was true concern on his features, and Elena just let the tears start to flow. There was no holding them back, she didn't even bother to try.
Kol looked at the crying girl and wasn't sure what to do, he was not the best at giving comfort, but he loved Elena as a sister, and that feeling led him to kneel beside her and pull her head to rest on his chest. "Shhh….it will all be alright. Tell me what is wrong." He soothed, gently brushing her hair as she clung to him.
Elena didn't answer right away, she just cried. After she felt her tears start to slow she whispered, "I think I'm pregnant." She felt Kol still completely, and knew the news was just as much a shock to him as her, though probably not as much as it would be to everyone else. Kol was still the only one who knew that her and Elijah were having an affair.
"Are you certain?" He asked, it was the only question to come to his reeling mind.
"Not a hundred percent, but the likelihood is high. All the signs are there Kol. I will know for sure when I return to the future, there are tests there that I can take. Should I tell him?" Elena asked, pulling out of his arms to look at him.
Kol seriously thought on the idea before looking at her and saying, "No. You shouldn't tell him until you know for sure."
"Will you be able to keep it a secret? I don't want to put that kind of pressure on you." Elena questioned, seriously wondering when she started considering Kol someone she could trust.
"Yes, it will only be for the a few more hours in this time. And though you don't know the time difference for the future, I promise to keep it to myself Elena." Kol promised her, taking one her hands and giving it a kiss, "One should never betray family right?" He asked with a coy smile, but Elena could see the true meaning behind his question.
"No, and keeping this secret will make you my second favorite brother." Elena teased, cracking a true smile for the first time since she had started suspecting she was pregnant.
"Only second?" Kol rebuffed, "Who could possibly be better than me?"
"I have a real brother Kol, sorry, but Jeremy ekes you out." She responded, letting out a little laugh at his annoyed face.
"Well, at least I beat Nik." He said suddenly, his face beaming. Elena laughed fully at this remark, causing Kol to reply, "That is a good sound Elena, you should try to laugh more often. I promise, everything will turn out for the best."
"How will he react?" Elena questioned him, seriously thinking about how Elijah, a thousand years in the future, will react to his human self-getting her pregnant.
"I highly doubt time will change Elijah too much Elena. He will be thrilled. He loves you, even if he hasn't said it, he does." Kol assured her, "And, he will be an excellent father, whether he is a human or a vampire. The only real question you have left to answer Elena is, do you love Elijah?"
Elena didn't know what to say, she did love Elijah on some deep level, but she wasn't completely sure she was over Stefan, or Damon for that matter, "I do love him Kol. I just don't…"
"Think about it Elena. And don't choose him just because there is a child, that wouldn't be fair to you, to him, or to my future nephew or niece." Kol told her, getting to his feet, and holding out his hand to Elena, "Let's get back to our family."
"When do you become so sure that we are a family?" Elena asked, putting her hand in his and he pulled her up.
"The second I learned the truth about everything. Caroline is with Nik and she always will be, I see that now more than I ever did before. And as for you, you belong with Elijah, even if you don't know that yet. Also, if you are carrying my brother's child, that makes us connected through that child. Family is everything to us Elena and once you are considered a part of it, we never let you leave." Kol informed her as they walked, trying to get his point across without scaring the woman next to him.
"I didn't know you felt that way." Elena whispered, looking at Kol closely.
"We all do Elena." Kol assured her and then they were in eyesight of the group, "I will keep this to myself. And, when you get back to the future, don't forget that I am here for you."
"Thank you Kol." She said and pulled him into a quick hug, though it was awkward since he had picked his firewood back up before they left. Elena took a deep breath before they entered the group, trying to keep her worry hidden behind a well practiced mask.
Caroline was concerned, Klaus had been gone longer than he should have, night had fallen completely. Kol had returned some time ago, walking with Elena, who Caroline could see was pretending to not be upset. But she decided she would talk to Elena once they returned home and were out of earshot of others. Caroline glanced around, and noticing that everyone else was distracted setting up the spell, she took the moment to sneak away.
It took Caroline longer than she was expecting to find him. He was leaning against a tree nearly a quarter mile from their camp, just staring up at the stars. She slowly slid down next to him, he moved to wrap his arm around her and she laid her head on his shoulder, "I was worried about you." She whispered, one of her hands playing with his necklace.
"Sorry love, I am just not in a hurry for this night to continue." He admitted his arm tightening around her, "I don't want to forget about you."
"It will only be for a little while and then we can be together, forever." Caroline told him, turning to place a light kiss on his lips.
"A thousand years is not a little while love." Klaus retorted as she pulled back from him.
"Yes, but it won't seem like a thousand years. Maybe a month at most." Caroline assured him and moved her entire body so she was straddling him, "And then we can spend the next thousand years together."
"You won't want me for that long." Klaus said, his confidence had been extremely wounded in the last few days.
Caroline forced him to look at her, her blue eyes boring into his, "No matter what Nik, as long as you still want me, I will always be yours."
Klaus didn't know the words to respond so he kissed her passionately. Caroline melted into this touch and wished that she could stay there forever.
"Caroline, Nik!" Rebekah's voice echoed through the forest, causing both of them to groan, "Where are you? Ayanna says we need to start the spell soon!"
"We're coming!" Caroline yelled back and got to her feet, she held out her hand for him to take.
Klaus got to his feet and pulled her in for one last, long kiss before saying, "Let's return you home love, we will finish this then."
Caroline just smiled and nodded her head. She grabbed his hand and together they walked back to the group, and to the witch that would send her home.
Elena gave Kol a hug and whispered, "Thank you again."
"Of course, stay safe." Kol responded and went to say his goodbye to Caroline. The two had become good friends while she had thought them how to control their urges and what things to avoid.
Elena then moved on to Klaus, he looked nervous, probably still unsure about her feelings for him. Elena pulled him into a hug, "We will need to talk about some things when we see each other again."
"Anything you want Elena." Klaus told her, and gave her hand a kiss, "I meant what I said about proving myself to you."
Elena nodded and moved on to Rebekah, "I promise we will be still friends, don't doubt that."
"I will try not to." Rebekah replied, tears falling from her eyes.
"Hey, we will get together once we are back." Caroline said, coming up to stand next to them, "Friends forever, right?"
"Right." Rebekah answered, using her hand to wipe away her tears.
"Girls, it is time." Ayanna said standing near a circle she had created.
Caroline and Elena each stood in front of Ayanna, "Thank you again for all your help." Elena said, smiling at Ayanna.
"We really couldn't have done this without you. I wish there was something we could do to repay you." Caroline added, also smiling at the witch.
"Just protect my bloodline, that will be all the payback I will need." Ayanna said, looking at the two girls with kindness.
"Of course." Caroline said and went to take her place in the circle.
Elena stole a quick glance at Elijah before joining Caroline on the ground, "You ready?" She whispered.
Caroline just nodded, her eyes locked on Elena's,
"Each of you please put a few drops of blood on each of the candles in front of you, and then I will do the rest." Ayanna told them and then started to chant as they did so.
Elena grabbed Caroline's hands and gave them a squeeze as the atmosphere began to shift around them, and the world started to disappear.
Present
Kol walked up the steps slowly, keeping the bag safely tucked behind his back. He just hoped that his plan worked and Jeremy was willing to hear him out. He knocked on the door and took a deep breath as he waited for it to open.
"What do you want?" Jeremy asked as he looked at the Original standing on his porch.
"I was hoping you and I could talk." Kol said, smiling at the boy that he had pretended to be friends with only weeks ago.
"I got nothing to say to you." He responded and started to shut the door.
"Please Jer, let me explain." Kol insisted, wishing that the boy was less stubborn.
"What is there to explain? You were told to befriend me by Klaus so I could be used as leverage against Elena and my friends. Did I miss something?" Jeremy asked, moving to close the door again.
"No, that was all true, at first. I want us to start over Jeremy, I really did enjoy being your friend." Kol tried, hoping that his words sounded like the truth, which they were. It had been centuries since he had actually felt like even trying to connect with someone and Jeremy was a part of Elena's family, that made him a part of his. He would do anything he could to make Elena's life easier, especially now.
"And why is that? Aren't you leaving after the spell tonight?" Jeremy questioned, looking at the Original with suspicion.
"No, I plan to stay in town. My family is here and they will need me to help with my mother. Whatever she is planning cannot be good news, not for us and definitely not for Elena." Kol informed him, hoping that bringing up his sister would help with his goal of getting in the house.
"Why would she come after Elena?" Jeremy asked, his entire body taking on a different stance with the threat to his sister.
"Please, let me in, we can discuss this in more detail. You never know who is watching these days." Kol suggested, looking around just to give his theory credence.
Jeremy thought long on the idea, and sighed, "Come on in."
"Thanks Jer, I promise you won't regret this." Kol said as he came into the house, switching the bag to his other hand as he did.
"I already do." Jeremy replied as he closed the door and the two walked into the kitchen.
Klaus paced around the location of the spell uneasily as he watched Rebekah and Kol help Bonnie set up. He could see that he wasn't the only one who was being impatient, there were scattered mini-groups all around the area.
The Salvatores were standing with Alaric, deep in conversation about how to take care of Esther, easily convinced that nothing could go wrong here. Jeremy and Matt were trying to get a brooding Tyler to tell them what was wrong, but he was busy just glaring daggers at Klaus.
"I take it you told the Lockwood boy to back off from Caroline?" Elijah asked, coming up to stand next to his brother.
"I did, and he did not take it well. I also think he doesn't believe me." Klaus told him, smirking contently at Tyler when their eyes met.
"I guess that is his choice." Elijah commented, before glancing at the Salvatores.
"Don't worry, it will work out for you as well." Klaus assured his older brother, clapping him on the shoulder.
"We will see." Elijah replied before looking at their siblings, mostly Kol. He couldn't help but wonder what it was that Kol knew that made him so confident that Elena would choose him in the end.
"Okay, time to get started." Bonnie said and took her place in the circle. She picked up the vials of blood and dripped them on some candles. Her voice took on a strange quality as she began to chant.
Everyone watched in awe as the air shifted in front of the witch, causing them all to circle the area closely. Within second they could see two distinct shapes start to take form, and everyone let out a collective sigh of relief when the wind died down and in front of them were Elena and Caroline.
Esther smiled with joy as she felt her magic flow back into her body, her spell working perfectly. Through a stone that Alaric had with him, she was able to channel her magic through the loop that Bonnie opened without actually being present at the spell. She flexed her fingers as the tingled with sensations, no longer used to having power coursing through them.
"Soon I will be able to fix my mistakes." Esther whispered to the air, "Soon, all will be right with the world again."
AN: And they are back in the present (or future, whichever you pick).
Got to say, I was not expecting this part of the story to go 20 chapters. When I originally started this, I think I was under the impression that the entire story would only be about that long. Guess my imagination got the better of there. Also, I was not originally going to have Elena get pregnant, she wasn't even going to sleep with Elijah in the first drafts (that only existed in my head). But, the story just unfolded that way as I wrote. Hope you guys like my creative changes, even if you never knew they happened. My guess though, from the number of reviews that wanted it, you are not angry with me for making her pregnant.
Also, there was a fear that Caroline would relapse with Tyler. NOT going to happen, I promise you. Caroline is with Klaus all the way, but that doesn't mean that they are just going to have a non-dramatic, fairy tale ending either. There will be challenges that they have to overcome, stay tuned to find out what those challenges are.
There is a classic time travel movie reference somewhere in this post. The first person to guess it can have a spoiler on their favorite character, couple, or whatever they want I guess. I really just want to see if anyone else is as big of a nerd as I am.
Don't be afraid to tell me your feelings on this chapter, and sharing with me what you want to see happen next. I love knowing all your wonderful opinions on how the story is turning out. Your reviews are like mini presents that bring great joy.