The clock on the bedside table glowed red, indicating it was after three. Caroline woke up to the reflection from the clock bouncing off something shiny on the bedside table. The knife glinted menacingly and for a split second she panicked, before remembering she was the one to put it there.
She padded over to the bathroom, looking for something to wear. Her dress wasn't comfortable enough to sleep in, the underwear that landed across the floor was torn to shreds. She found his shirt on the floor and pulled in on, fastening a few of the buttons before digging her phone out of her purse.
Once she was in the bathroom, she decided to send a text to Katherine. She always stayed up late anyway.
Hey- thanks for all your help. you're a life saver!
Her phone beeped a moment later.
No problem! I hope you fucked him senseless. Now if only I could get laid...
Haha. See you in the morning.
Night, Care.
Caroline climbed back onto bed. He felt the movement near him and half opened his eyes, looking groggy and disheveled. She wiggled under the sheets and he pulled her close.
"You're not naked." He grumbled.
"Shhh, go back to sleep."
"No. Off." He grumbled, pulling at the few buttons, letting the shirt fly open so he could move his hands around her body inside of it. He needed to be attached to her skin, hold it against him to be able to sleep. She curled closer to him and he pulled his head up on to her chest.
She watched his eyes flutter closed again as soon as his hands were around her, his body pressed against hers, skin against skin. She ran her fingers through his hair, enjoying the sight of him so peaceful.
"Don't leave." He murmured into her skin.
"I won't." She promised, trailing a hand up and down his spine, and she knew she meant it.
"Stay." He whispered, and his eyes closed again. She listened to his even breathing and knew he was asleep.
Katherine slipped her phone back in her pocket and motioned to the bartender.
He came right away, there were only a few patrons left this late.
"Another bourbon?"
"Nah. Give me something that tastes like a surly British man and shameful regret."
He looked her over, considering cutting her off, but just shrugged, deciding she was more weird than wasted.
"So, a gin and tonic then?" he suggested.
"Bring it on." She sighed.
The bartender set a glass in front of her.
"Thanks. This is going to be my last one, so can you close out my tab?" She asked.
"It's already paid for." The bartender smiled.
"After I spent the last hour ranting to you about how much I miss my ex? You're a saint among men, good sir."
"Not me. That guy in the back." The bartender pointed. "He told me to put all your drinks on his tab."
She turned around.
Elijah was leaning against one of the tables, turning his mostly empty glass from side to side.
"Hey" She smiled, and he nodded in response, walking over to her.
"How long did you know I was there?" He asked.
"Sorry?"
"You don't whine to strangers about your personal life. You were talking because I was listening."
"I don't know what you're talking about." She said, but she smiled as she took another sip of her drink. He knew all her tricks, and she knew his.
"Back to your old tricks?" He asked, motioning towards the wealthy looking older man at a table near the bar.
"Actually, I'm thinking about taking a break from work." She said.
"Really?"
"Yeah, I've been considering maybe looking into other fields."
"No more wealthy men?" Elijah raised his eyebrow.
"Nope. Done with that."
"So women now?"
Katherine laughed and shook her head. "No. Just done with it, you know?"
"So what now?" Elijah asked.
"I don't know." Katherine sighed. "I want to be someone else."
"Why do you want to be?"
"Someone you would like."
"You already are." Elijah said.
The room was dark except for the blinking clock on the table and the tiny strip of light that shone through the curtains. His phone was buzzing incessantly and he stumbled out of the bed to get it.
"What?"
"Stefan told me to call you." Becca sighed.
"Hmmft." he grunted out, finding his underwear on the floor.
"Stefan says-"
"It's too early in the morning for Stefan says."
"Nik, it's almost noon."
He looked over at the clock and saw she was right. Caroline was still fast asleep.
"Alright, I'm up."
"Stefan says the guy with the boat will be here at two. So you need to come back so we can all get to the docks. Damon's already getting all anxious. He keeps prattling about 'Team Badass' and his stupid friend with the boat. It's so annoying."
"You're the one going to Colombia with the Salvatores, I think you've got a lot more annoying in your future."
"I wish you were coming with us."
"Caroline and I need some time alone. I need to make this work."
"You can't do that with us around?"
"Becca, let me have some time alone with her. I'm trying to do this right and build something with her. I want to make sure everything's good before I start working again."
"You know I'm going to New Orleans with them next month. Bogota is just three weeks."
"I heard. Caroline and I have talked about it already. I have a job the first week, so I'm sending her to stay with Elena and you and the Salvatores. I'll come by after the job's done."
"No snide comment about running around dangerous places with foolish men?"
"And risk repeating myself? Just be careful please. Make sure you're back in New York for the first day of school. And for god's sake, don't even think about telling Kol where you are. You know how he gets."
"Got it, Nik. Hurry up and get over here."
"On my way."
He pulled on his pants and looked around the floor for his shirt before remembering that someone else was occupying it. Caroline turned a little in her sleep and he sat on the side of the bed, watching her. He lightly traced a finger along the side of her face, but she didn't stir.
"Caroline" He whispered.
"Hmmm." she responded, keeping her eyes shut.
"Time to wake up."
"Mmm mmm." She nodded her head, not opening her eyes.
He slowly pulled the sheet down, exposing her sprawled out figure, his shirt open and wrapped around her arms.
"Wake up." He said again, lightly tracing his fingernails down her stomach.
He traced his fingers across her stomach, watching her smile but keep her eyes closed. He moved his hand to the side, where he knew she was ticklish.
She scrunched up her face.
"Oh does that tickle? it shouldn't matter, since you're not awake."
She was starting to crack. She was squirming and scrunching up her face. He kept tickling her.
"Ok, ok!" Her eyes opened. "I'm up! Stop it!"
"Not a chance." He grinned.
"No!" She shouted and tried to wiggle out of his reach, laughing.
He scooped her up and kissed her.
"We have to go back." He said.
"No, let's stay here forever." She said.
"We have a boat to catch."
"Three days on a boat with all my friends and your siblings? They're going to drive us crazy."
"You haven't even met Kol yet. You haven't seen crazy."
"When am I going to meet him?"
"I'm not sure I want you to meet him, he might try to steal you away from me."
"Impossible."
Damon and Stefan were sitting in the living room, a map in from of them. They were discussing their plan for the three weeks they had ahead of them in Colombia, and what the most logical order of events would be. The door slid open and they turned their attention to who was walking in.
Katherine and Elijah stepped in, their arms wrapped around each other's back. They were each holding their shoes and their feet were covered in sand.
Stefan gave each of them an up and down look, and glanced back at Damon.
Katherine and Elijah dropped their arms and took a step apart.
"What were you two doing?" Stefan asked.
"Um, just a walk on the beach." Katherine said.
"Yes, It's a lovely morning, and I asked Kat if she would like to accompany me for a walk on the beach. Because it is morning."
"You hate Katherine." Damon said.
"I do not. Hate is a very strong word that does not quite apply to how I feel." Elijah said, his voice formal.
"Waaaait a minute." Damon said, walking over to them, circling around each of them, looking them over. "I saw you go out to the bar last night, Kat. You were wearing that same outfit."
She glared at him.
"Just a walk on the beach? First thing in the morning?, Come on Kat, we know you don't wake up before noon unless you're being chased. Or there's an old rich dude waiting to buy you things."
"Damon, don't you have somewhere to be?" Elijah asked.
"You two were out all night!" Damon said, doing a giddy little dance. "You're so busted."
"Nothing happened, you nosy little children." Katherine sniffed.
"Then why is Elijah smiling? It's creepy." Damon said.
"Just... sod off!" Katherine shouted, storming off to her room to pack up.
"She's already using British slang?" Stefan mused. he turned to Elijah. "You must really be rubbing off on her."
"More like on her." Damon snorted.
Elijah shook his head and walked away. The Salvatore brothers could be such children. He couldn't believe his sister was with one of them.
They turned back to their maps and a few minutes later the door opened again. This time Nik and Caroline walked in. They were holding hands and grinning.
"Speaking of being out all night." Damon said.
"Good morning, Damon." Caroline grumbled.
"More like good afternoon. You sleep late? You must have been a busy girl."
"Do you have any tact?" Nik glared at him.
Caroline rubbed her thumb along his palm, seeing him getting worked up at the way Damon spoke to her.
"Nik, it's fine. This group of friends is just very open about everything. Especially Damon."
"It's true." Damon said. "Which is why I feel totally free saying I can tell Caroline isn't wearing any underwear right now. Because I know my friends and we're open with each other, and that is her 'I'm not wearing any underwear' posture."
"Dude, why?" Stefan made a face.
"What? Am I wrong?" Damon protested.
"No." Caroline sighed.
"Go Caroline. Or should I say, go Nik?" Damon smirked.
Nik looked at Damon like he was about to rip his head off. Caroline kept trying to calm him down, but he was gritting his teeth, ready to attack.
Becca walked in and said hi to everyone before snuggling next to Stefan.
Damon was still smirking at Caroline.
"Is he always so crass?" Nik asked Becca, pointing at Damon.
"Oh, almost exclusively." She smiled.
Stefan shrugged.
"He doesn't have much of a filter when it comes to anything. I've seen him naked." Becca added.
"What?" Nik looked horrified.
Stefan nodded. "It's true. I have more times than I wish to admit."
Nik turned to Caroline.
"I walked in on him getting out of my bathtub. Twice." Caroline said, making a face.
"This is who I'm trusting to keep my sister safe?" Nik said, horrified.
"Let's get a drink." Stefan said to Nik, pulling him from the room. "Just you and me."
Nik and Stefan sat at the bar, feeling very overdressed for having drinks outdoors in the middle of the afternoon.
The photographer was wandering around the bar near the beach. A few couples or families ran up to him and asked for pictures, and he would give them a ticket after he snapped the shot, they could find copies in one of the gift shops at the nearest tower.
Stefan tapped the guy as he walked past them.
"Hey. Take a picture of my brother and me."
Stefan put his arm around Nik's shoulders and smiled as the camera flashed.
"Brother?" Nik said, laughing.
"Yeah, that's kinda what I wanted to talk to you about." Stefan said.
"I'm listening."
"Damon's a nut. I know. He's crude, but he means well. And he's a lot smarter than he looks. Between the two of us, Becca will be completely safe. You have my word."
"Thank you." Nik said.
"I need to know, though." Stefan said. "I need to know that Caroline's safe with you."
"Of course. That's the most important thing to me."
Nik looked at him. He could see a worry on Stefan's face that he recognized. It was the way a brother worries about his sister.
"With Tyler, we all knew something was wrong, we let it get to far. I got there a minute too late. I couldn't stop it from happening."
"It's not your fault he hit her." Nik said.
"He was my friend, my partner. I knew something was up, but I dragged my feet and waited too long to take him out. I should have listened to Damon and gotten it done earlier. If I was in that room with her a minute earlier..."
"If you were there a minute later, he might have actually killer her." Nik said. "You have no idea how much I owe you."
Stefan looked him over. "You really love her, don't you."
"I do. I didn't understand what it was, at first. She's everything. I didn't know people like her were real."
Stefan smiled "There are no people like Caroline. There's just her."
"It happened so fast, but I can't imagine a life without her anymore." Nik said.
"Yeah, you know... that's how I feel about Becca."
Nik shot Stefan a look.
"I know, I know. You're her brother and you have every reason to be protective. I just need you to know, that I'm in this for as long as she'll have me. I'm not letting her drop out of school either. We talked about it, and she'll travel with me when she's not in school, and when classes are in session she stays in New York and I'll get there as often as humanly possible."
"You know I'm still going to be hard on you. I didn't want my sister to fall for someone with this kind of life."
"Funny, I could say the same thing to you."
"Caroline isn't your sister."
"Yeah, she is. She's not blood, but she is."
Someone walked over and handed Stefan the ticket for their photo.
"You can pick the picture of you and your brother up whenever you're ready."
Stefan thanked them and nodded, then handed the ticket to Nik.
"I think eventually, we really will be brothers."
Meredith ran at a full sprint to the man on the boat. He hopped off and landed on the dock before picking her up and spinning her around a few times.
Stefan Damon, Elena and Katherine greeted him with hugs, they all knew him well. He quickly went around and introduced himself to the rest of them.
"Alaric" He said, holding a hand out for Nik to shake.
"Nik." He said, eyeing the man warily. They were trusting him completely by going on his boat to their destination. If this man was some kind of informant he could hand deliver all of them to the police.
"Ah, the guy with the bullet in his arm." Alaric nodded.
"Not anymore, thankfully." Nik smiled.
"Well, let's see" Alaric motioned to Nik's arm.
Nik obliged and showed him the injury, which was now more of a scar than anything else.
"Nice work, Babes." Alaric called over his shoulder to Meredith.
"I had a lot of help." She said, pointing to Becca and Caroline.
"Three beautiful women fussing over you, huh? Almost makes it worth getting shot." Alaric joked. "Hey you should see this scar on my leg, there was this coral reef and a tiger shark..."
Damon jumped on the boat and held out a hand to help Elena up.
"Ric, you think you can compare battle wounds on the move?" he shouted over to his friend.
"On it." Ric nodded, and started to untie the ropes that held the yacht to the dock. "Alright, everybody on. Let's go."
Caroline found herself sitting next to Nik on the dock, looking back at the island while the boat pulled away. She held his hand and watched the place they met grow smaller in the distance until it disappeared.
"What's going on over there?" Nik asked Damon.
Caroline, Elena and Stefan were sitting at the table across from Alaric, who was in the middle of a story. The three of them were riveted, nodding along and listening.
"So that's why everyone associates gold with the Aztecs, but any treasure hunter worth their salt knows that the Mayans left the best stuff behind. There have been some recent discoveries in Guatemala that date back to over 1600 years ago, and you won't believe the kind of stuff they dug up."
Meredith came over to join Nik and Damon.
"Oh, is class in session again?" She asked, giving Damon a knowing smile.
Damon nodded, then pointed to Becca, who had been listening from across the room and was now creeping closer to hear Alaric's story.
"Look's like he's got a new student." Damon said.
"Student?" Nik asked.
"Ric's like a history buff, he's always telling these stories, they can't get enough of them." Damon said.
"I always said he would have made a great teacher." Meredith added. "I think that's probably what he would have been doing with his history degree if it wasn't for all this artifact hunting and buried treasure stuff he has me chasing him around the world for.
"Oh, like you wanted to stay in town your whole life?" Damon teased her.
"No, in fact losing my medical license and falling for some bad boy treasure hunter was probably the best thing that ever happened to me." Meredith agreed.
"Oh, please. If you want a bad boy, all you have to do is ask." Damon smiled.
"The answer is the same as always, hell no."
"Well then, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go bust my girlfriend out of Mr. Saltzman's class." Damon joked.
"Elena! Family emergency! You're needed in the main office" Damon shouted.
"Not now, Ric's just getting to the good part!" Elena shot back.
"Nerd!" He called.
"Delinquent!" She shot back.
After a good forty five minutes of listening to Alaric's stories, Caroline came bounding back over to where Nik sat at the edge of the dock.
"How was class?" He joked.
She held out a book. "Alaric's loaning me this one about pirates in the western hemisphere. I just started the first chapter. He said he read it for a class his junior year at college."
He leaned closer and she pointed out maps and sketches in the book to him, recounting the stories Alaric told her.
"And this one" She pointed to one of the portraits in the book. "Ric says he was the most ruthless killer to ever sail the Caribbean."
"Most ruthless ever?"
"Apparently."
"Nonsense."
"What do you mean?"
He motioned to the open ocean around them. "Now, where are we?"
"The ocean."
"Specifically."
"The Caribbean."
He waved his hand at the water, then back at himself.
She laughed. "Fine. You're the most ruthless killer to ever hit the Caribbean. Is that what you wanted to hear?"
"Judging by the looks of these pirates, I'm the most handsome also."
"I wholeheartedly agree" She laughed.