Chapter 34

Caroline and Rebekah talked with Alaric on Monday during lunch, but he didn't have much information to share. He and Meredith were only dating for a few weeks before everything happened. The girls let him know of the plan, and he said that he would start making more vervain grenades for them.

After school, Caroline and Rebekah went to the mansion for Caroline's next training session with Klaus. Rebekah said she would be joining them again, and Caroline was surprised to learn that they would be going back out to the woods. She quickly changed into her yoga pants, sports bra and tank top before walking out to the clearing. Klaus and Rebekah were already there waiting for her.

"Hello, Love." Klaus walked over to her and drew her in for a long kiss, which made Rebekah clear her throat.

"Your sister is present, you know." She rolled her eyes as Caroline began to pull away but Klaus kept her lips firmly against his. "Your sister, who is doing you a favor…"

With one last sweep of his tongue across her lips, Klaus pulled away from Caroline, but kept his hands resting on her hips as he turned his face towards Rebekah. "Yes, my sister, who wants me to pay for $300 dollar shoes from Paris for her pageant debut." Rebekah merely rolled her eyes.

"Why don't we just get started?" Caroline tried to ease the situation. "What are we doing today?"

Klaus turned back to face her, his expression softening. "We're going to work on your vampiric hearing some more. When we did this the last time with Josh, you were able to hear me because I was purposely making small noises. This time, I won't be and neither will Bekah."

Caroline furrowed her eyebrows. "Then how am I supposed to find you?"

Klaus smirked at her as he turned her around and covered her eyes with his hands. "Listen. Block out everything else around you and focus on just Rebekah and I. We aren't moving, but you should still be able to hear something."

Caroline huffed at his vagueness but closed her eyes underneath his fingers. She tried to tune her hearing to the two siblings. She could hear them breathing, but that was probably only because they were so close to her. If she was going to have to find them in the woods at some point, there would have to be something louder than that for her to pick up on. She heard the pounding of both of their heartbeats and wished that it was quieter so she could focus better. She strained her ears for a few more seconds before realizing how ridiculous her last thought was.

"Your heartbeats." She muttered.

"Very good, Love." Klaus murmured into her ear, his warm breath making her shiver. "Now find me."

She felt a gust of air breeze past her, and when she opened her eyes, both blonde Originals were gone. "You can just say ready, set, go or something! You don't need to just flash off every single time!" She yelled, kicking a rock.

She closed her eyes and tried to listen for Klaus' heartbeat. It was much more difficult this time though because he was somewhere in the woods, which contained hundreds of animals with heartbeats. She heard the pattering of several very quick heartbeats and dismissed them immediately, thinking back to how his was slower and more even. Next, she focused in on a different beating sound, sluggishly slow. She shook her head, figuring it was some large napping animal. The third heartbeat she identified was beating at a more normal pace, yet a good amount slower than a normal human's heartbeat.

She zoomed in the direction of the noise and came face to face with Rebekah, who was inspecting her nails.

She gave Caroline an apologetic look. "Sorry, try again." Before Caroline could respond, the other girl had already sped off into the trees again.

Caroline sighed in frustration. How was she supposed to separate his heartbeat from any other vampire's? She thought for a few seconds before closing her eyes. She tuned her hearing back into the trees and tried to separate all of the different heartbeats she was hearing. Again, she easily dismissed both the rapid and very slow ones, trying to focus on the ones in the middle. She knew that Rebekah's was slower than a regular human because she was a vampire. Finally, it clicked. Klaus wasn't a regular vampire; he was a hybrid. That meant he was part wolf. Maybe that would make his heartbeat slower than a human's, but faster than a vampire's?

With that in mind, she tried to pick out what she was listening for amongst all of the noise. It took her a few seconds before she was finally able to find a heartbeat that matched what she thought it should. She flashed off in its direction and was elated to find Klaus smiling at her.

"Yes!" She yelled, throwing her hands up in victory. "You're heartbeat is faster than Bekah's, but not as fast as a human's!"

"Correct." He beamed at her.

"Are all vampire's hearts as slow as Bekah's? Or is hers special because she's an Original?"

"Most vampire's heartbeats are very close to what Rebekah's is. Sometimes if they haven't fed in a while, they are even slower." He explained.

She nodded. "Do I need to search for you in, like, a mall or something?"

Rebekah joined them in the clearing, laughing at her question. "That sounds much better than traipsing around through a forest." She brushed invisible dirt off her clothes.

Caroline nodded, looking back to Klaus, who rolled his eyes. "No, Sweetheart." He said. "You're going to keep finding one of us until you get quicker."

They did the exercise 3 more times until Caroline was able to find him or Rebekah, depending on who her target was, in under a minute.

"So now can we go to the mall to do this?" Caroline grinned at him. "I think it would really help me to do it in a really crowded place."

Klaus sighed. "Maybe later this week. We need to work on fighting now."

"That's my cue to leave." Rebekah looked relieved. "I'm having dinner with Matt tonight, and I need to shower now since I smell like nature."

Caroline chuckled. "Have fun!"

Rebekah smiled at her before flashing back in the direction of the mansion.

Caroline looked back at Klaus. "So back to the basement?"

Klaus shook his head. "No, Love. Not today." He removed a piece of cloth from his pocket and moved behind her. "You're going to be fighting me today, but with a twist." He went to put the cloth over her eyes, but she jerked away.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "A blindfold?" He nodded as he motioned for her to turn back around so he could put it on her. She huffed, but let him as she spoke, "You're really going to put a blindfold on me and not make a kinky joke? Or at the very least a suggestive comment?"

"Sorry to disappoint you, Love." His voice was husky in her ear and his hands had slid down her sides and stayed on her hips after tying the blindfold. "How's this? As fun as your blindfold idea sounds, I'd much rather have you tied up in my bed, at my mercy as I explore every inch of you…"

Caroline's breath hitched as she felt his hands tighten their hold on her and pull her back into him. Her lower back came into contact with his excitement, causing her to let out a soft moan and him a low growl.

"That… works." Caroline exhaled.

Klaus nipped her ear with his human teeth teasingly. "After, Sweetheart."

Caroline rolled her eyes under her blindfold. "Fine. How am I even supposed to fight you with a stupid blindfold on?"

He stepped away from her, chuckling at her frustration. "Whenever one of your senses is dulled, your others become heightened to make up for it. As a vampire, that is only amplified. Use that to help you determine where I am; where I'll strike from."

Caroline nodded, getting into her fighting stance that he had taught her. Everything was silent for about thirty seconds before she heard the rustling of his clothes to her right. She immediately made a blocking movement in that direction and made contact with his fist. She was knocked a little off balance from the surprise of hitting something that she didn't know she would, but was otherwise fine.

"Good, Love." He complimented her. "When fighting, even without a blindfold on, it is imperative that you use all of your senses to anticipate what is going to happen. Hearing a move before seeing it has helped me out more times than I can count."

Caroline nodded in the direction that she thought he was before going back to her defensive posture once more. She heard a footstep to her right, and slightly behind her. Again, she blocked and connected with his foot, but was knocked backwards when his fist knocked into her shoulder.

"Don't stop listening just because you've heard your opponent move. You need to be constantly aware of everything that is happening." He instructed.

"Right, constant vigilance. Thanks, Professor Moody." She grit out, frustrated that she had let her guard down.

"Who?" She could hear the confusion in his voice.

"How haven't I had you read the Harry Potter books yet? Or at the very least, watched the movies…" She grumbled. "We're doing that at some point this weekend." She said decisively before adding. "But you need to read or listen to the books at some point too."

"If you can block me five times in a row, I'll start the books tomorrow." He said, and she could tell from his tone of voice that he was grinning.

She gasped. "You sound very sure of yourself; you don't think I can block you?"

"I didn't say that, Love."

"It was insinuated. Bring it, Mikaelson."

She focused all of her attention on what was going on around her; listening for the slightest sound that would give away his next attack. She heard his boot scuff the ground and quickly jumped. A whoosh of air moved under her shoes as his foot passed beneath her. She landed lightly, at the ready for his next move. A quick rustle from behind had her spinning and blocking out with her left hand, which met his right fist. A rush of air to her right, made her bring up her right fist to knock away his left.

"That's three!" She called out as she took a step back to steady herself. She waited in her stance for a solid thirty seconds, ready for his next strike. Where was he? She shook her head, trying not to let him rattle her. She almost missed his next hit because she had just let out a low exhale to steady herself. Just in time, she raised her foot to block his kick aimed at her knees.

"I thought I had you on that one, Love. Nice deflection." He said.

She didn't respond, wanting to keep her attention focused on the fight. Again, she waited for a long while, not hearing anything. She knew he was going to be sneaky with this last one, and she wanted to be ready. Her nose twitched and her intuition told her to block left. She quickly did and met his fist.

"Ha!" She cried out, yanking the blindfold down. "You're cologne gave you away!"

Klaus nodded at her, smiling. "I'm impressed, Sweetheart."

"How did you move that quietly?" She asked him out of curiosity.

He smirked at her. "That's next lesson, Love."

She rolled her eyes before smirking back at him. "Fine. You've got some reading to do anyway."

Halfway through third period the next day, she got a text message from Klaus.

10:14 am

K - If Harry is a wizard, why doesn't he just kill his aunt and uncle and turn his cousin into a toad?

10:15 am

C - He doesn't know he's a wizard yet. Have you even been paying attention? What chapter are you on?

10:15 am

K - Yes, I'm paying attention. And I don't know. I'm using Kol's audiobooks while I paint.

10:16 am

C - Well, go check. The app should tell you what chapter you're on.

10:17 am

C - Side Note - I totally want a painting of Hogwarts after we watch the movies.

10:18 am

K - Chapter 3 - Letters from No One. That can be arranged, Love. I want to be able to see one of your art pieces as well though.

Caroline groaned quietly at the thought of showing him one of her drawings from her art class.

10:20 am

C - Maybe. See? He doesn't even know what the letters are about. He doesn't know anything about what he really is.

10:21 am

K - Maybe isn't good enough. I want to see one of your drawings. I also want to paint you.

Caroline almost laughed out loud at that.

10:22 am

C - Like one of your French girls, Jack?

10:23 am

K - There actually is a gem called the Heart of the Ocean. I'll get it for you if you let me paint you like that.

10:23 am

C - You've seen Titanic?

10:24 am

K - Leo is quite a friendly mate, Love.

10:25 am

C - Shut. Up.

10:25 am

K - What did I do?

10:26 am

C - You do notknow Leonardo DiCaprio.

10:28 am

K - He doesn't remember me, but we've met and had a few drinks together.

10:29 am

C - You are such a name dropper.

10:30 am

K - Shouldn't you be focusing on class?

10:31 am

C - I'm already finished with my math test. There's nothing to do. Shouldn't you be listening to a book?

10:32 am

K - I can multitask, Sweetheart. These Dursleys are tossers. Who makes an eleven year old move to a shack on his birthday?

10:33 am

C - OoOoO It's about to get good!

10:34 am

K - It's about bloody time.

10:35 am

C - Stop complaining and just enjoy the masterpiece that JK Rowling created.

10:36 am

K - Whatever you say, Love.

Caroline quietly slipped her phone back into her pocket, smiling at the thought of Klaus listening to Harry Potter. She was actually really excited that he was trying the books out.

She felt her phone vibrate a few times in her English Lit class the next hour, but couldn't check it because the teacher was like a hawk when it came to spotting cell phones.

As soon as she sat down at the lunch table with Rebekah, Matt, and Bonnie, she pulled her phone out to see his messages.

11:04 am

K - Why can't anyone at this Hogwarts place just do a locator spell to find this Voldemort bloke? This is very unrealistic.

11:10 am

K - What kind of a villain goes after a one year old baby? Even I never stooped that low.

11:27 am

K - This blonde boy at the robe shop sounds like a git.

11:56 am

K - Why do I feel like I'd be in Slytherin?

Caroline couldn't contain herself when she read his last text; she burst out laughing causing all of her friends to look at her strangely.

"Klaus is reading Harry Potter." She offered as an explanation.

Bonnie and Matt immediately joined in with her laughter, while Rebekah looked at them in confusion.

"That children's book that Kol has been going on about?" Rebekah asked.

"It's not just a children's book. A lot of adults like it too." Bonnie explained.

"Nik and I are going to watch the movies this weekend if you want to join us." Caroline offered.

"Man, it's been a while since I've sat down and watched one of those." Matt smiled. "Remember when your Grams took us to see the third one at the midnight showing?" He looked to Bonnie.

Bonnie nodded, smiling. "That was so great! She kept tutting at how wrong all of the spells and incantations were."

"Maybe we could all watch them?" Rebekah said, her eyes drifting to Matt. "We could do it on Saturday and make a marathon out of it?"

Bonnie nodded eagerly. "I can even tell Grams about it when we do the seance that night! She would think it was so funny that we all still like those after all of the real life magic we all know about."

Matt sent Rebekah a dazzling smile. "I'm actually off work all of Saturday." He turned to Caroline. "Are you sure your boyfriend won't mind us crashing?"

"Nah," Caroline responded. "He'll be fine with it."

12:11 pm

C - 1 - They don't have locator spells in that world. 2 - It's good to know that you've never picked a fight with a baby. 3 - You're a good judge of character. 4 - I see you as more of a Gryffindor: brave, loyal, etc. I, myself, am a Ravenclaw.

12:12 pm

C - Are you okay with Matt, Rebekah, and Bonnie joining us to watch the movies on Saturday? Kol will probably want to be there too if Bonnie is.

12:12 pm

K - That's fine, Love. I see you as a mixture of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw combined. I've put the book on pause for the moment. Elijah and I are looking through these files on Meredith.

12:13 pm

K - No locator spells? Did this author do any research at all?

12:14 pm

C - I don't think she meant for the books to be very realistic, Nik. Find anything useful yet?

12:15 pm

K - Just the name of the bar your mother mentioned.

12:16 pm

C - Let me know if I can do anything to help.

She looked up from her phone to see her three friends looking at her with huge smiles on their faces.

"What?" She asked.

"You're very smiley." Bonnie responded.

"I hope those texts were all appropriate, Caroline." Rebekah teased her.

Matt grimaced. "Oh, gross. I did not need that idea floating around my mind."

Caroline rolled her eyes. "So what if I'm smiling a lot? I happen to be very happy with my boyfriend."

Someone cleared their throat next to their table. They all looked around to find Elena and Stefan standing there. Elena looked as though she wanted to turn around after what she had just heard Caroline say.

"Hey, Elena. Hi, Stefan." Caroline said, trying to keep her face passive.

"Hey, Care." Stefan smiled at her before saying hi to everyone else at the table.

Elena hesitated for a few seconds. "Can we all go talk? Ric went out to lunch, so his room is empty if we want to use it."

Caroline and Bonnie exchanged worried looks before Bonnie responded. "Are you going to insult any of us?"

Elena looked taken aback, so Stefan answered. "No. Neither of us are going to do that, we just want a peaceful talk. Right, Elena?"

"Right." Elena said, though no one missed how her eyes darted to Rebekah quickly.

"Okay," Caroline agreed. "Let's go."

They all made their way awkwardly to Alaric's room. When they got inside, Stefan shut the door; the silence was deafening.

Everyone looked to Elena, expecting her to start things since she was the one who asked them all to talk. She finally spoke up after what seemed like ages. "Right, so well, I wanted to apologize for all of the things I've said and done the past week or so."

"You mean for over a month." Caroline said, trying to keep her tone in check. This wasn't starting out well. Elena always tried to skate over her own faults and mistakes.

"Right." Elena said, not meeting anyone's eyes. "For a little over a month now. I've said a lot of really thoughtless and rude things to all of you, and I apologize."

They were all quiet as they waited for her to continue; however, after a good fifteen seconds they came to the realization that she wasn't going to.

Matt looked over at Elena in confusion. "Is that it?" Everyone looked at him in surprise; Matt was never confrontational. Ever. "After all of the shitty things you said, you expect all of us to just be okay with a blanket apology like that?"

Elena looked like a deer caught in the headlights. "I - well - I wasn't trying to brush over anything; I just didn't want to bring up the past."

"You were brushing over things though, Elena." Bonnie said softly, her voice a little bit sad. "This is always how you apologize."

"What do you want me to do, Bonnie?" Elena asked, clearly frustrated. "Apologize for every single little mean thing I said?"

"No," Bonnie said, her voice hard now. "But how about the major stuff? Saying that we all didn't care about our family who died? Calling Caroline a groupie and her plans stupid? Constantly siding with her abuser against her? Having him spy on her? Tricking both of us into thinking you wanted to make peace just so you could go after Kol again? How about any of that?"

The whole room was silent as Elena stood there gaping around at all of them. Even Stefan had taken a very small step away from her.

She snapped her mouth shut and played with her hair nervously. "I am sorry... about all of that. I was wrong to say that you guys had forgotten about everyone we all lost and to say those things about Caroline." She looked at Caroline and Bonnie, and they could see the genuine emotion in her eyes. Caroline felt some of the tension in the room dissipate. This was what they had all wanted from the beginning: a peaceful, unified group. Elena took a deep breath. "It was even wrong of me to pretend to want to make peace so Stefan and Damon could go after Kol. I'm sorry."

Elena paused again, and everyone was very aware that she had skipped over two very important wrongdoings that Bonnie had just listed. She sighed again. "I think it's really unfair to call Damon an abuser, Bonnie. He's so different from how he was when he came to town. He's told me loads of times how bad he feels about all of that. And I didn't ask him to spy on Caroline, just watch over her and protect her." She sent a small disapproving look at Caroline. "You know that, Care; we talked about it before you left that day."

Immediately, any tension that had disappeared was back in full force.

Caroline met Elena's look with her own disappointed stare. When she spoke, her voice was low, but purposeful. "We didn't talk about it, Elena. That was what you told me. What did I say after you said that?" Elena was silent. "Do you even remember? I told you that I have never felt protected and safe when Damon was around. And whether you want to believe it or not, Damon did abuse me. I really don't want to talk about that though because I am finally moving forward in my life and don't want to dwell on it anymore. I can't change what happened. When Damon told you how terrible he feels, did he say that he feels terrible about all of the things he did to me or that he feels terrible about all of the trouble he caused for you?"

Everyone looked to Elena, who stayed resolutely silent.

Caroline nodded. "That's my answer. Elena, I believe that everyone has the potential to be a good person even if they haven't always done good things. I'm trying to surround myself with those who are trying to be good people. From everything I've seen, Damon isn't one of them."

"Come on, Caroline!" Elena burst out. "You've been spending all of your time with Klaus and Rebekah!" She spat their names out.

"Yes, I have." Caroline said, doing her best to stay calm. "And I stand by everything I just said. I'm spending my time with others who are good people. Nik and Bekah are both good people. I have gotten to know who they really are instead of who they used to pretend to be. I'm not judging them based on their past actions anymore because they have proven who they actually are."

"Yet you're judging Damon by his past actions." Elena shot back, crossing her arms defensively.

Caroline shook her head. "No, I'm judging Damon by everything that I have seen from him. It's true, he isn't doing what he used to do to me, but he hasn't been kind to me. He isn't really nice to anyone except you and sometimes Stefan."

"The Originals have never been nice to me." Elena retorted.

"The truce was their idea, Elena, and they have lived up to it whole-heartedly." Caroline said.

Elena rolled her eyes. "They're just using that truce as a way to distract us and plot against us. They manipulated you, Caroline."

"No they didn't." Caroline said firmly. "I told you before, none of us were going to immediately trust them or be best friends with them, but that's what we've grown to be. They've shown us that they are good people, and I trust them now with everything. I love Rebekah as if she were my sister, and I am in love with Nik."

Bonnie stepped forward next to Caroline, and grabbed her hand. "Rebekah has become one of my best friends too; I feel as if I've known her my whole life. Klaus is fantastic with Caroline, and he has welcomed me into his home as one of his friends. And Kol and I are together. He's funny and caring, and I have feelings for him."

Matt stepped up to the other side of Caroline. "I still haven't gotten to spend much time with Klaus or Kol, but ever since the truce, they've been nothing but genuinely nice to me. I want to get to know them better." He grabbed Rebekah's hand. "And Rebekah and I have talked and hung out a lot. We went to the dance together and we had a great time before she had to save my life. I want to keep spending time with her, and I'm hoping that she'll agree to go on a date with me soon."

Stefan didn't step away from Elena or towards them, but he spoke up as well. "None of the Mikaelsons have made a move against us for well over a month, Elena. Klaus promised that he won't take anymore of your blood. I've already agreed to the truce, but I think it's time that you did too."

Elena stared around at all of them. "So what, you're saying that you all pick them over me?"

Caroline shook her head, hoping Elena would listen. "No one is saying that, Elena. No one is picking anyone over anyone else. We all are explaining that we're friends, and some of us more than friends, with the Mikaelsons now. I can't speak for anyone else, but I don't see myself not being around at least one of them for a very long time, if not forever. It's up to you how you respond to all of this. We're asking you to accept our truce so we can all, at the very least, get along."

Elena stood there looking around at all of them for several seconds before turning and running out of the classroom.

Everyone stood there stunned at what had just happened. Bonnie, Caroline and Matt felt an already rocky friendship slip further away from them. Stefan felt that he didn't know the person that he thought was the center of his whole world. Rebekah felt bad for her friends, knowing how much they all wanted Elena to agree.

They all stood in silence for a few more seconds before Caroline spoke quietly. "I don't know how many more times I can do that with her."

Bonnie squeezed their still joined hands and nodded. "Me either. It's like she isn't even trying to listen to us." She paused. "I feel like this is just like the Meredith thing; we've done all that we can about the situation. Now we just have to wait."

Matt looked to his two friends. "It's her move now, guys. We just laid it all out there, and she ran away. Bonnie's right, we've done everything that we could possibly do to try to mend this."

They all looked at Stefan, who had been silent. "Are you alright?" Caroline walked over to him and put her hand on his shoulder.

He shook his head. "I don't even know what she's thinking anymore. We used to be so in sync, but now…"

Caroline nodded. "I know. I'm sorry, Stefan."

"Thanks," he muttered; he tried to smile at her, but it came off as a grimace. "I need to go think. I'll see you guys later." He walked glumly out of the room.

They were all silent for a few seconds before Caroline pointed between Matt and Rebekah. "Hey! He asked you out!"

They both looked at her in confusion before Matt scrunched his face up in embarrassment as he realized what he had said when they were all talking to Elena. "Dammit! I was planning to do that all romantic and stuff." He turned to Rebekah. "I was going to get you flowers and chocolates and everything."

Rebekah's face lit up with happiness as she remembered his words as well. "No, that's alright. I've been wanting to go on an actual date with you for months now."

"Are you free Thursday night?" Matt grinned at her.

"Definitely." Rebekah responded.

"Great." Matt said, still gazing at her.

"Great." Rebekah repeated.

"Well, at least something good happened today." Bonnie tried joking.

They all cracked a smile at that.