Chapter 11
The three girls walked into the mansion and were immediately greeted by Klaus and Kol.
"Caroline, Love, how was your day?" Klaus asked, looking at her, a huge grin on his face.
"Bonnie, Darling, you look lovely today." Kol said, checking out her friend.
"What am I chopped liver?" Rebekah asked with her hands on her hips.
"Quiet, Bekah, we're trying to talk to these stunning ladies." Kol scolded, his eyes fixed on Bonnie.
"Kol, that was rude." Bonnie shot him a glare. "Come on, Rebekah, I want to see your room. And your closet. Coming, Care?"
"Uh, yeah, I'll be right there. I need to talk to Klaus for a second." Caroline said, shooting a glance at Klaus, who looked smugly at Kol.
Bonnie raised an eyebrow at her as Rebekah smirked. "Remember what I said about wanting to be there when you told him. This better not be about that."
She led Bonnie up the stairs as they both laughed. Klaus turned to her with a raised eyebrow, making her blush. She looked over at Kol who was simply standing there looking between the two of them smiling.
"Um, would you maybe -" She began.
"Leave, Kol." Klaus glared at him.
"This is my house too. I think I'm allowed to be wherever I want to." Kol retorted petulantly, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Fine. Come with me, Love." Klaus said, gesturing for her to join him as he walked down a separate hallway. She caught up to him and realized they were headed in the same direction that he had taken her during the ball when he showed her his art studio. She had to repress a shudder at the feeling of him placing his hand on the small of her back to lead her. He opened the door for her and led her over to a small sofa that was in one corner of the room. She glanced around at a few of the paintings that sat unfinished on easels. She sat against one of the arms of the sofa and he joined her as he sat against the other. Feeling his knee brush against hers, she realized that there was far less room between them on this couch than there had been on the one in her living room.
She took a second to look at him. He was wearing his usual dark jeans and combat boots paired with a hooded, red, long-sleeved shirt. She had to admit, the man had made simple clothes look good.
"So, Sweetheart, what did you want to talk about?" His voice snapped her out of her thoughts.
"Right," she said, slightly flustered. "I just wanted to make sure that it was still okay that I was here."
"I've already told you that it is."
"Yeah, but is it okay with the rest of your family and Sage?"
"Why wouldn't it be? Besides, Bonnie is here."
"Yes, Bonnie is here because she's the one that is going to perform the spell to unlink you guys, hopefully tonight." She responded, frustrated.
He smiled at her. "I don't think this is about you being worried that you're not welcome here."
She rolled her eyes, "What, are you all knowing now?"
"I just think you wanted an excuse to talk to me." He said, his smirk in full bloom. "You missed me."
Caroline scoffed, "As if! I have plenty of other friends, thank you very much."
"Of course, Sweetheart." He said, his eyes twinkling. "So I guess we're done then? You know, since you already talked to me about what you wanted to and all."
He motioned to stand up and Caroline pursed her lips. "Fine. Maybe I wanted to talk to you about something else."
"And that would be?"
She looked around the room, hoping to find a topic that wouldn't be obvious. She felt her phone buzz in her pocket. "You can't text me while I'm at school anymore." She blurted out.
He raised an eyebrow and cocked his head to the side. "And why is that, Sweetheart?"
"Because you got me in trouble today." She accused. "My art teacher saw me texting you and took my phone away. He practically read your last text aloud to the whole class and said 'Klaus will have to wait to talk to you until after school.'"
"I hardly see why that's my fault, Sweetheart. You didn't have to read my messages in class when you weren't supposed to."
"Oh, please. Like you're one to lecture me about breaking rules." She said defiantly.
He smirked. "Were you just too eager to see what I sent you, Love? Couldn't wait to find out what I wanted?"
"Ugh as if. I read text messages in my classes all the time." She rolled her eyes.
"Too enthralled in our conversation to pay attention to your surroundings then?"
"You're being ridiculous." She tried to reprimand him, but couldn't keep the blush off of her cheeks.
"How was the rest of your day, Sweetheart?" He smiled as he changed the subject and turned slightly to face her, throwing one of his arms over the back of the sofa.
"It was fine." She said, happy to be talking about something other than their text conversation. "The morning was super slow, but lunch was good. Rebekah and I updated Bonnie, Alaric and Matt about all of the stuff that happened yesterday with Sage and then we had a good time just talking in the cafeteria. The afternoon was okay, art sucked obviously -"
"Because you had your only means to contact me taken away." He interjected unhelpfully.
"- because I got in trouble and embarrassed in front of my class. And now Tyler is bugging me because he heard the teacher mention you and confronted me at the end of the day when Bonnie and I tried to leave. He tried blaming our breakup on his stupid sire bond to you, when he very well knows that I broke up with him for being an ass. Rebekah was actually great! She got up in his face and told him to leave us all alone; you would have been very proud of her." She stopped when she saw the look on his face.
"I thought Tyler had left town, Caroline?" He asked, his eyes rimmed with gold.
"He did. Apparently he came back. I just found out at lunch yesterday." She mumbled.
"Are you alright? Did he hurt you?" His eyes quickly scanned her over, looking for any signs of something injury.
"I'm fine." She rolled her eyes at him. "I'm not some damsel in distress that needs someone else to fight her battles. Besides, Rebekah already scared him off."
"Perhaps I should pay my hybrid a visit to ensure the message has been delivered properly." He thought aloud, his eyes narrowed.
She put her hand on his arm that was resting on the back of the couch. "Please don't. Normal, remember? Normal so does not involve threatening my ex boyfriend."
"Maybe not in your world, Sweetheart."
"I'm serious, Klaus." She said firmly.
"And what do I get if I agree?" He asked, his mood playful once again.
"You get to keep our truce in tact."
"Hmm…" He pretended to consider her statement. "I'm not sure that's worth it, Sweetheart. I mean, I didn't even get to see the boy being scared off by my sister and everyone else did. It sounds like I missed out on quite an entertaining conversation."
Caroline sighed. "Fine. What do you want?" Seeing his eyes light up mischievously, she quickly added, "Within reason."
"Now that is quite a question, Sweetheart. I think I might need some time to consider my options."
"Whatever. Let me know when you decide and we'll see." She began to stand up.
He quickly grabbed her arm and tugged her back down to the sofa, she ended up even closer to him, her leg was brushing against his.
"You said you were in an art class?" He asked interestedly.
"Yeah…" She answered, uncertain of where he was going.
"Can I see one of your drawings?"
"Uh, definitely not. I'm really not very good."
"Oh come on, Sweetheart, I'm sure they're fine." He moved in closer to her so that he was whispering in her ear. "I'll show you more of mine if you show me yours."
She immediately felt herself blushing at the innuendo and his husky tone of voice. Was it suddenly hot in here or was it just her?
She was saved from answering him when they heard Kol's voice. "Caroline! Nik! Stop flirting and come out here. Finn just pulled into the driveway!"
Caroline's blush deepened at Kol's words.
"That's a lovely shade of red, Sweetheart." Klaus smirked as he stood, grabbing her hand to pull her up beside him. She pointedly avoided his eyes as she began to walk out of his studio and back to the entryway. Klaus didn't mind at all; it gave him a chance to run his eyes over her properly. She was wearing a pair of yellowish gold skinny jeans with those boots that went just past her knees and made her legs look miles long. She had on a flowy pineapple-printed shirt and a half cardigan over it. Her hair was pin straight today. He couldn't decide how he liked her hair better. When it was down, all he could think about was running his hands through it, but when she had it pulled back, it exposed her long, soft neck. He felt his fangs aching at the thought of finally getting to taste her. He closed his eyes, trying to calm his excitement. He really didn't need to go have a meeting with his family sporting a hard on for the blonde.
The pair arrived in the entryway together. Bonnie and Rebekah each shooting Caroline knowing looks and chuckling when they noticed the faint blush that lingered on her cheeks. She rolled her eyes at the pair of them as she stood next to Klaus, waiting for the Original brother she had yet to meet.
He didn't keep them waiting long. He rushed through the front door, his eyes searching for Sage. He whooshed to her as soon as he saw her next to Elijah.
"Sage, my love, are you alright? Did he hurt you?" Finn asked her as he cupped her face, only looking away to send Klaus a glare.
"Again, with the assumptions." Klaus interrupted before Caroline elbowed him in the stomach.
"Shhh," she scolded him as she watched Sage and Finn. "They're having a moment."
"I'm fine, my love, none of them did anything to hurt me. I came here on my own. I'm so happy you're out of that horrid box. I'm here so we can be together again." Sage said, her own hands reaching up to hold his.
"I assumed that after 900 years, you might have moved on, forgotten me." Finn spoke to her softly as he rested his forehead against hers.
"I could never forget you, Finn, I took care of myself, but I never stopped loving you."
"Aww," Caroline breathed as she grabbed on to Klaus' arm.
"Perhaps we should all go talk in the lounge?" Elijah suggested. "Can I offer anyone a drink?"
"I'll have a martini, Brother, shaken, not stirred." Kol said, as he passed Elijah smiling.
The group went into a beautiful sitting room to the right of the entrance hall. It had two couches that could each fit four people comfortably and four armchairs gathered around a large coffee table. A fire was burning on the left side of the room. Four large windows lined the right wall and overlooked the large backyard.
Finn and Sage settled together on one couch, while Caroline, Bonnie and Rebekah all sat on the other. Kol and Elijah each sat in one of the arm chairs. Even though there were still several open spaces to sit, Klaus chose to stand in between the armchair that Kol occupied and the side of the couch where Caroline was sitting.
"You look good, Brother." Elijah tried to get the conversation going.
"You look alive," Kol cut in. "Which is terrific for all of us. Oi! Bloody hell, Nik, that hurt!" Klaus had smacked Kol on the back of his head.
"You earned it." Klaus said as he moved his eyes to his eldest brother. "Where's our mother?"
"Gone to find another way to end the abominations she created." Finn glared back at him. "And when she does, I will help her end our pathetic lives."
Sage gasped. "No! Finn, you can't! I didn't believe them when they told me you were trying to sacrifice yourself." She took his face in her hands. "I have waited over 900 years to have you back in my life." Her voice was quiet as she finished speaking.
"Sage, Darling, I… I didn't know you were still out there waiting for me… like I said, I thought you would have moved on." Finn stared at her as if there was nobody else in the room.
"Well, I didn't. I love you, Finn, and I want to be with you. That can't happen if you are gone. I don't want you to die. I want us to be together again." Sage said, taking his hands in hers and squeezing them gently.
"They are so OTP." Caroline whispered.
Klaus shot her a confused look, but Kol leaned over to her and said, "I know, right? They are so meant to be together! Just like Hinny!"
"Exactly! Anyone who thinks Harry and Hermione should be a thing is just sick." Caroline agreed.
"What is OTP?" Klaus asked looking between the two of them, his face scrunched up in confusion.
"One true pairing, duh." Caroline and Kol said in unison and smiled at each other.
"Fascinating," Klaus drawled. "Anyway," he continued, addressing everyone. "What do you say, Brother? You're reunited with your lady love. Will you give us some of your blood for the unlinking spell?"
Finn looked hesitantly to Sage, who nodded reassuringly. "I will. But I have a few conditions."
"Of course you do." Klaus and Kol said together, causing Klaus to roll his eyes at his younger brother.
"I will give you my blood if you will all allow Sage and I to leave this town unharmed as soon as the spell is complete. You will not hunt for us or bother us. We will find you if we wish to see any of you." Finn stated plainly.
"We have a deal, if you agree to not help Ester anymore." Elijah stated.
"Done." Finn agreed as Sage hugged him.
"I believe that is our cue, Bonnie Lass." Kol stood up, offering Bonnie his hand. She took it, nodding. Bonnie took out the grimoire from her bag that she had brought and knelt down at the table, opening it. Kol sat down beside her.
"Alright," Bonnie began, addressing all of the Originals. "I'm going to need a little bit of blood from all of you and a glass of some sort."
Rebekah flashed to the kitchen and returned with a wine goblet. Caroline raised an eyebrow at her, to which she responded, "What? It's not like it's our crystal or anything." Caroline shook her head.
"Ok, I need some blood from each of you in this." Bonnie gestured to the glass.
Klaus was the first to move forward, biting into his wrist and holding it over the glass for some to spill into it. The scent of his blood hit Caroline like a ton of bricks. It smelled amazing. She closed her eyes as she remembered the taste of his blood sliding down her throat the night of her birthday. She felt the veins under her eyes ripple and her fangs pushing against her gums, wanting to come out. She tried to calm herself down, taking deep breaths. When she felt like she was back in control, she opened her eyes only to be met with Klaus' penetrating gaze. His eyes were darker, stormier, than usual. She wondered if he had seen her vampire features on display.
She quickly shifted her focus back to the glass. Elijah had just finished donating his own blood and was rolling down the sleeve of his button down shirt. Kol bit into his wrist to do the same. Rebekah was next, as she added her blood to the almost full glass. Finn hesitated for a few seconds before removing his jacket.
"You have my word, Brother, we will stick to the deal you requested. All we want is peace." Klaus spoke softly. Caroline noticed that his eyes were back to normal as he watched Finn roll up his own shirt sleeve.
"Thank you, Niklaus. I… think I want the same." Finn said, his eyes finding Sage's. He quickly bit into his own wrist and topped off the goblet.
Elijah brought out the glass of pink-tinted champagne that had Elena's blood in it from the ball and poured a drop of the liquid into the glass. "Is that enough?" He asked Bonnie.
"It doesn't take much." Bonnie nodded.
"Ready, Darling?" Kol asked Bonnie, offering her his hand.
She took a deep breath and carefully poured the blood onto the table. Bonnie took Kol's hand and raised her other over the puddle of blood. She closed her eyes and began to chant the spell. The lights began to flicker and the blood began to ripple like a pond when a stone hits its surface. As her chanting grew louder, the blood began to move outwards in five different directions. Bonnie repeated the spell several more times until the blood was now in five separate sections on the wooden coffee table.
Bonnie stopped chanting and opened her eyes. "It's done." She gave them all a tired smile. Kol gently helped her to her feet. Caroline noticed that her friend had not let go of Kol's hand yet.
"Thank you, Ms. Bennett. We all truly appreciate what you have done for us this evening." Elijah stood and walked over to shake Bonnie's hand.
"It was nothing." Bonnie said, humbly. "Kol was actually a lot of help. And that grimoire… I've never even heard of half of the spells in there."
"I have a whole bookshelf full of them, Darling. Perhaps I'll let you look through them sometime." Kol offered.
"That would be great." Bonnie responded before putting her hand to her forehead.
"Bonnie!" Caroline rushed forward. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm just tired. That really was one of the biggest spells I've ever done."
"Okay, I'll grab my purse and take yo -."
"I'll take her home, Sweet Caroline." Kol cut her off, putting an arm around Bonnie's waist to help support her. "Besides, I'm sure Nik isn't even close to filling his daily 'flirt with Caroline' quota."
Kol sent her a dazzling smile as he started to lead Bonnie out of the room. Caroline quickly dashed in front of the pair. "Really, Kol. I've got her."
"Care," Bonnie looked up at her. "I'll be fine. Stay here and set up a time to peruse Rebekah's closet."
"Are you sure?" Caroline asked, obviously worried.
"Yes," Bonnie told her firmly, a smirk appearing on her face. "Finish flirting, and I'll text you after I've taken a nap."
Kol let out a huge laugh and led Bonnie past Caroline and into the entryway. Caroline stood there watching them go with her jaw hanging open. "I can't believe she just ditched me!" She turned around to see Rebekah stifling a giggle and Klaus smirking at her. Even Elijah had a faint smile on his face.
"Well, I guess we'll be heading out next." Sage said, standing up with Finn. "I'd say it was lovely to see you all again, but I really don't like lying."
"Any idea where you're heading out to, Brother?" Elijah stood to shake Finn's hand.
"Somewhere tropical, I think." Finn said. "I've been seeing all sorts of ads for something called 'bikinis,' and I think I need to investigate them for myself." He sent Sage a searing look as he finished speaking.
"Good luck, Finn." Klaus said, extending his hand to his oldest brother as well. "Thank you for standing by us."
Finn seemed taken aback by Klaus expressing his gratitude. He grasped his younger brother's hand and met his eyes. "Always and forever, Niklaus. I regret that I lost sight of that."
Rebekah rushed forward to hug Finn. "Have a good time, Finn. Come visit us when you can." She looked over at Sage with a small smile. "Take care of my brother."
Sage nodded. With one more look around the room, they left.
The four of them all looked at the doorway for several seconds before Rebekah broke the silence. "Elijah, come help me find something to clean this mess up with." Her eyes were on Caroline and Klaus.
"What?" Elijah asked. "Surely you can find the cleaning supplies on your own sister."
"I probably could, but I'm requesting your help brother." Rebekah said in a tight voice widening her eyes at him, trying to relay some sore of message to him.
"I don't understa -"
"Just come on!" Rebekah grabbed Elijah by the wrist and tugged him out of the room. She sent Caroline a wink over her shoulder on her way out, closing the door behind her.
"Well, no one ever called my sister subtle." Klaus said chuckling.
"I can only imagine what she's like after knowing her for over a millennium." Caroline joked.
Klaus took a step so that he was right in front of her, less than a foot away. "That reminds me, what was it that she didn't want you to tell me without being present?"
Caroline rolled her eyes. "The news about Tyler. She had some weird idea that you would be upset by it." She watched him closely.
"I'm not particularly thrilled about it, no." He said, meeting her gaze.
"Why not?"
"I don't mind having competition, but it does make things more annoying."
"Competition? Seriously?" She asked him. "There's no competition."
"I'm glad to hear that, Sweetheart." He smirked, taking her hand. "I knew that of course, but it's nice to hear you say that you prefer me over him."
"I didn't say anything like tha -" She cut herself off as she repeated the last several seconds of conversation in her head. She sighed. "I didn't mean 'there's no competition' like you're better than him, I meant that there wasn't anything to compete over."
"I'm going to have to disagree with you there, Sweetheart." He said squeezing her hand. "I fully intend on winning you over and proving myself worthy of you."
She opened her mouth and closed it several times, realizing that she didn't even know how to respond to that.
"Anyways," Klaus continued. "I've decided what I want in exchange for not going to have a little chat with Tyler." He paused, purposely
trying to add some suspense. "A date."
"What?" Caroline asked in shock.
"A date, Love. I believe it is where two people who are attracted to each other go out and spend some time together in a romantic way and -"
"I know what a date is." She cut him off, huffing.
"Excellent. How about Friday?"
"I - wh- Why do you want to go on a date with me?"
"I already told you, Love. I fancy you. We have gotten to know a great deal about each other over the past several days, and I have quite enjoyed our time together. We are friends and I would like to spend more time with you in a romantic way." He said as though it was obvious, his thumb making circles across her knuckles.
"Yeah," Caroline said. "Friends don't do anything in a romantic way."
"If I am remembering some of the modern pop culture I've seen correctly, I believe that several romantic relationships occurred after the two people were friends first. I believe it is called 'establishing a strong foundation.'"
Caroline gaped at him because damn it, he was right. She envied the relationships that she had seen bloom out of friendships. She wanted that bond with someone. That was why she had tried to hang on to Tyler for a while, even when she knew the feelings weren't totally there on her end. She had known him all her life and wanted that type of partnership.
She searched Klaus' eyes and only saw earnest hope there. "Alright. Friday night. 7 o'clock. You need to give me some idea of what we're doing so I know how to dress."
Klaus' face split into a huge smile and he gave her hand a squeeze. "I will, Love. As soon as I plan something, I'll let you know."
They stood there for several seconds, gazing into one another's eyes and holding hands. He was the one to break the silence. "I do believe that you were planning to talk to my sister before you left for the day. Something about her closet?" He shot her a puzzled look.
"Oh, yeah," Caroline said, snapping out of the trance that his eyes had put her in. "We're switching the decade dance from a 1970s theme to a 1920s theme. She said we could make a plan to come over this weekend to look at the dresses she has from back then."
"I'm flattered, Sweetheart." He said, teasingly. "Not even a week after I told you it was one of my favorite modern time periods and you reorganize your dance for me."
She blushed lightly, "That's not the reason, smartass. Conceited much? It was actually Rebekah's idea if you must know. She mentioned all of the guys showing up dressed like Elvis or wearing bell bottom jeans, which thoroughly scarred me just thinking about it."
Klaus chuckled, "Yes, the fashion of that era was definitely questionable."
"Wait!" Caroline exclaimed. "Did you wear an Elvis jumpsuit? Or bell bottom jeans?"
"Luckily, I was in Italy in the 70s. Those fashion trends didn't quite make it that far across the pond."
"Oh man, that would've been great for blackmail."
"Ms. Forbes!" Klaus said in mock outrage, putting a hand over his heart. "Are you threatening to break our carefully planned truce?"
Caroline couldn't help bursting out in laughter at that. "Not at all, Mr. Mikaelson!" She said, in her best southern belle accent. "I was merely statin' that I would have enjoyed seeing pictures of you in those outfits. It would have provided me with great comic relief."
They both laughed at her accent, which had fizzled out towards the end of her exclamation.
"Well, Sweetheart, I'll let you go see my sister." He brought her hand to his lips, lingering there for longer than he ever had before, his eyes never leaving hers. "I look forward to our date."
She smiled at him. "Yeah, I think I am too."