Hello, my lovely readers. Klaus is suffering from unintended consequences of his actions. On with the show…

Chapter 4: Sayonara, Klaus

Do you ever have a dream in which you wake up on a plane and find that you've arrived at your destination half the world away from your home, friends and family? Well, I did. It all began on a rather uneventful day. Or I thought it was an uneventful day. Or I'd hoped it would be an uneventful day. I had plans for a party for the Dare Club since some of our more senior members were becoming bored that week. A high school party—just for the older kids—seemed like an ideal way to suffuse our days with joy. Sometimes parties end with your underwear in someone's lamp. And sometimes they end with you twenty-thousand miles in the air.

"What's the plan for the day?" Damon asked as he leaned against the locker next to mine.

"Do you mind?" a voice demanded from behind Damon.

"Yes," Damon retorted, ignoring the source of the voice.

The girl let out a sigh, "Really, Damon!" she snarled.

"Really," Damon retorted with an eye roll. "You know, sometimes people just don't know when they're not wanted."

"Damon Salvatore, I will give you an aneurysm if you don't get out of the way!" Bonnie Bennett snarled at Damon.

Damon turned around and folded his arms over his chest. "I'm not a vamp, Witch. Now, go turn Wes into a horny pig."

"He's already a horny pig," Bonnie scoffed. She tilted her head, narrowing her eyes at something that was happening down the hall from us.

Damon and I spied a brunette girl laughing at the end of the hall. She placed her hand on a blonde boy's shoulder. Then Damon let out a hiss. His hand connected with Bonnie's locker before he let out a cry of pain. "Good job, Damon, you've defeated the bad locker," Bonnie congratulated Damon as Elena turned away from Wes Maxfield and made her way toward us.

"Hi," Elena called to us, waving and looking unfazed while Damon cupped his hand to his chest.

"Elena, what the hell!" Damon cried, moving to stand in front of his girlfriend. "Why were you talking to the school's biggest jackass?" His eyes were burning into a confused Elena's.

Bonnie coughed out. "And the crowd cried 'It's a tie for School's Biggest Jackass.'" She caught me staring at her and offered me a half-smile.

Rolling my eyes, I looked around for Caroline. She was talking to some of her fellow cheerleaders, her ponytail bobbing about as she did what she loved most: Bossing other people about. "Nik!" she shouted after she turned to see me. "Bye!" she called to the girls. Then she hurried to join us. "Hi, honey," she pressed a quick kiss to my lips before she turned to look at Damon and Elena. "Okay? What's up with them?" she asked in a whisper that you could hear half-way down the hallway.

"They're having their annual fight," Bonnie quipped, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Who's winning?" Caroline asked me.

"Not Bonnie's locker," I told my girlfriend. Slipping my arms around her waist, I placed my head on her shoulder and felt her ponytail rest against my cheek.

"Huh." Caroline said, eyeing Bonnie's locker. "Good job, Damon."

"Thanks, Care," Damon snapped as Elena sighed.

Our friends had decided to take a two second break from their argument before returning to it as if either of them would win the other over. "Wes is not the soulless creature that you make him out to be, Damon." Elena placed her hands on her hips. "He just invited us all to a party at his family's vacation place."

"Oh, he did, did he?" Damon let out a sarcastic laugh. "All of us?" He twirled a finger, including Elena, Damon, Bonnie, Caroline and me. "I'm sure. And after a couple dances and some free booze he'll find a way for the two of you to hang out alone before he decides to try to make out with my girl. Two minutes later, he'll be on to the next girl, 'cause he'll have made his point!"

"What point would that be!" Elena snarled, her brown eyes darkening.

I opened my mouth to warn Damon to not take his girlfriend's bait—this would not end well for him—but Damon jumped at her words.

"The point would be that he got into the pants of any girl he wants. Especially the fresh meat!" Damon's words came out far too loudly. His face had gone red. His arms were thrown out at his sides. Hell, he could be performing in the school play for all the passion he'd thrown into this scene. And he got the same reaction from the crowd: applause, laughter and an enthusiastic cry for "More!" That's when Damon realized that his relationship drama would be fodder for the rest of the day. And worst of all; it would get back to Wes within the hour.

"I can't believe you, Damon!" Elena cried, followed by the crack of flesh on flesh and her shoe twirling, hair flying and the exit, stage right of the girl who was formerly known as Damon Salvatore's girl.

"Shit!" Damon groaned. He fell against Bonnie's locker. "Shit, shit, shit," he cried before he hammered the bottom locker with his injured fist.

"Damon, stop it!" Caroline cried, pulling away from me. Her eyes had gone wide as she gaped at Damon's hand. "Nik, we need to get him to the nurse's office. He's bleeding." She lifted Damon's hand to show me. Yes. My dear friend had managed to tear up his appendage and did not even seem to notice as red droplets began to dot the floor.

"Damon, you're such an idiot," Bonnie said with a shake of her head.

"Thanks, Bon," Damon muttered. His head fell forward as our little quartet made its way down the hall and past onlookers who gawked and whispered behind their hands at us. Junior year was turning out to be quite memorable indeed.

~0~

"I was thinking," I began during lunch.

"Yup," Damon shoved his spoon into his Jell-O cup and twirled it around with his good hand. His right one was bandaged up like something from The Mummy and his left hand seemed to not enjoy having to do the tasks that its partner usually performed. However, Damon did not seem to care. His eyes drifted across the room to where Elena had chosen to sit with some girls we didn't really know that well.

"Still feeling sorry for yourself instead of acting like a man and saying 'Sorry?'" Bonnie inquired, sitting her tray down next to me while Caroline went to sit next to Damon and across from me.

"Shouldn't you be using this period to float pencils while your hot blonde friend complains about her older boy toy?" Damon demanded, glaring at Bonnie. "Remember, Bonnie, living vicariously through your friends will help you through the loneliness of your middle age when you've moved onto to sacrificing your cats to your hell goddess."

"Shut up, Damon!" Bonnie snarled. Her shoulders rose and she began to toy with her mashed potatoes. Why Bonnie hadn't taken an interest in a boy, or a girl, was a loss to me. Even Matt had developed a crush on the school's mascot. No one knew who resided under the Timberwolf uniform but Matt had made it his mission to find out.

Caroline looked to me, "How is your day going?" she asked me.

"Uneventful, love. However, I thought of a way to remedy that," I inhaled and waited until Bonnie and Damon looked up. "I believe that we should go ahead and take Wes up on his offer."

"You want to go to his party?" Caroline's brows went up and a grin lit up her face. "Could be fun?"

"No!" Damon snapped. He shook his head. "No way am I going to a party with that jackass," he grumbled before taking a bite of his Jell-O.

"I will." Bonnie said, jutting her chin out. "I already did all my homework in study hall. I have an outfit I haven't worn yet. And…I have no plans for tonight."
"Or the next fifty years," Damon muttered loud enough for the rest of us to hear.

Bonnie shot Damon a dark look which ended with sparks lighting up and Caroline taking off her shoe to put them out. "Bonnie, no magic around the Muggles!" Caroline whispered, sending Bonnie a sharp look complete with "Are you out of your mind?" eyes.

Bonnie shrugged and looked at her food. "You wonder what's in the meatloaf surprise?"

"What doesn't kill ya," Damon retorted finishing his Jell-O. "Good luck with the meat which is probably ground-up-drop-outs. And good luck with the party which will end with someone floating in the pool in the morning. One phone call to the cops. Someone doing the walk of shame. Count me out." He got to his feet, collected his tray and left us.

Turning to Caroline, I gave her an apologetic look. "Sorry, love."

"You're making him come," Caroline told me.

"How?" My brows went upward. "You know how he is."

"Fine," Caroline's eyes wandered to the mystery meat. Then a smile appeared on her face. She turned back to me. "I dare you to 'borrow' Damon's car; so we can go to the party. Wherever the Camaro is…"

"Damon is not far behind," I replied. I grabbed Caroline's face and kissed her forehead. "My evil genius. Never work against me."

"Not this week," Caroline replied, tugging me downward to give me a quick kiss.

Shooting to my feet, I went after my friend. I had a pair of keys to snatch before the end of the day.

~0~

"Where is Damon?" Elena asked as she came out to join me and Caroline.

"He's not coming," Caroline told Elena. "Hurry up, Next stop is Bonnie's house." She called out through her cupped hands.

"O-kay," Elena gave me a look as she climbed into the back of Damon's car. "You know, he'll find you and kill you both for this. He cares more about this car than he cares about, like, everything."

Caroline glanced at me. "Not everything," she said before turning the music up.

Elena did not have much to say on the way to Bonnie's. "Did you just hate the way Mrs. Richardson kept telling us about all those dead people in history class. I mean, we get it already," Caroline said. "I just hate hearing about the Civil War. Over. And over. And over, again."

"We do live in the South, Caroline," Elena replied. "It's kind of a thing that people talk about."

"But it happened. And it's been over forever. There are a billion things that have happened since. Why can't we talk about those things! I want to talk about the new mall being built in Richmond."

"Is that part of history?" I inquired, pulling up in front of Bonnie's house.

"Duh!" Caroline cried, turning to me and shaking her head. "It's about economics, Nik. New businesses. Development into a wasteland of an economy." She rolled her eyes. "I read the by-lines on the news crawl. Sometimes."

"They opened a Starbucks," Elena whispered to me with a grin.

"Shut up, E-len-a!" Caroline cried, pushing the passenger side door open and exiting the car. She bounced up the walk as I exited the car and helped Elena out of the back.

Bonnie came out of the house to greet us. "Bye, Grams! I won't stay out too late!" Bonnie called as Shelia Bennett gave us all a long look.

"Have a good time, sweetie," Shelia said, waving to her granddaughter. "You be careful, young man," she told me.

My eyes widened and I wondered what that meant but the elder Bennett had already closed the door.

I did not have much time to ponder Shelia Bennett's warning because someone had begun to shout at us as a bicycle came flying down the walk along with a raven-haired boy who was huffing and puffing. "Ni-klaus Mik-ael-son!" Damon shouted at me.

"Get in the car!" I shouted to the others and we took off in the direction of Damon's car as he pedaled toward us, a look of rage on his face.

Elena made it first. Her desire not to have to talk to or generally engage with Damon seemed to propel her forward. She jerked the passenger side door, flung the seat forward and heaved her body into the back. Bonnie was not far behind as she hopped in behind her friend. Caroline was right behind them, shoving the seat back and plopping down before she slammed the door in Damon's face. He growled as she slammed the lock shut.

Now, it was just Damon and I out on the lawn. "Bloody hell!" I cried, seeing the look of rage on my best friend's face.

"You! Took! My! CAR!" Damon roared at me. His eyes flashed with rage as his hands balled into fists. "I had to take Stefan's bike!" He hooked a thumb at the discarded bike. "It had a flat tire. I had to plump the damned thing. And then I rode to Care's place. Liz was kind enough to invite me in for lemonade and cookies but I had to make an excuse and not tell her I had to go and kill my best friend!"

Shaking my head, I smirked back at Damon. "Well, then I suppose you'll have to catch me first."

"What?" Damon demanded, his anger overtaking him as I ran to the left. He moved to block me when I dodged back to the right. Running as fast I could, I threw myself in the air and slid across the roof of Damon's car.

"Klaus!" Caroline called out, she pushed the driver's side door open and I slid behind the wheel.

Damon let out a howl of rage, moving to stand in front of the car as I plunged the key into the ignition. "You're not leaving here, Nik!" he shouted at me.

"Sorry, Damon." I shrugged before backing up and spinning the wheels around in a wide U-turn.

"Niiiiiikkkkkk!" Damon shouted after us as I began to drive away. I watched my friend in the rearview mirror as he pushed the bike upward with his good hand. He mounted the bike and moved to follow us.

Turning the wheel, I stopped at the corner. Damon screeched to a stop. "What are you doing?" he shouted at us.

"Get in the car," I called, waving.

Elena groaned. "You are kidding me," she said as I popped the trunk.

Damon put Stefan's bike in the trunk before he joined us inside the car and glowered at me. "You're going to pay for this," he told me. And so I would, just not how he thought I would.

~0~

I stopped in front of the sprawling home of Wes Maxfield's family, a so-called vacation home only two miles from Mystic Falls, nowhere near a beach that most people would think of a vacation home. This place seemed to be more about land and privacy. It gave a sense of unease. However, the other students who were headed for the front porch did not seem to mind.

"There's a Jacuzzi and an inside pool. They heat it during the winter," one girl said as she passed us by.

"Sounds cool," Caroline whispered to me. "Wonder how many guest bedrooms there are?"

My eyebrows went up. Could this be the night that Caroline and I had sex? My heart began to pound in my chest. Somehow I'd always envisioned something a bit more romantic than sex in a guest room, where a stranger might walk in on us and the sound of someone's cousin murdering a bass guitar played in the background were not on the list.

"Perhaps," I muttered.

Bonnie chose that moment to take off the heavy-for-this-time-of-the-year jacket she'd been wearing, off. Underneath she was wearing a halter top and a skirt. A short skirt that made me want to put the jacket back on her.

"Wow, Bonnie! You look hot!" Caroline exclaimed, laughing.

Bonnie blushed and pushed her shoulders back. "Thanks."

Damon cocked his head to the side. "I guess that's what you wear to a party." He followed Bonnie toward the porch while Elena's lower lip puckered out and she folded her arms over her chest.

"This is not going to go well," Caroline muttered to me.

I did not have a chance to react before we entered the house and the music screamed at us as we entered. "You made it!" Wes appeared from the crowd like he'd been waiting for us. "Lena, you are looking gorgeous as usual. Caroline, pretty girl, thank you for coming. And who is this…" His eyes went up and down Bonnie's body in a way that again made me want to cover Bonnie up and call her a cab.

"This is Bonnie," Caroline said. "You remember her." She took hold of Bonnie by the shoulders and smiled at Wes.

Wes' brows went up. "Ah. Yes. You were wearing jeans and that little T-shirt yesterday. What did it say?"

"Bite me," Bonnie told him with a smile. Then she strode past Wes.

Wes let out a shocked laugh. "I like her." Then he turned back to the rest of us. "You all need drinks. Jesse!" he shouted.

One of the boys from the sophomore class appeared. "Yeah, Wes?"

"Can you get my friends some drinks?" Wes asked.

"Sure." Jesse disappeared.

"How nice to have friend-servants," I said to Damon who was not listening to me. He was watching Elena.

Soon Jesse re-appeared with our drinks. "One for you. You. And you." He handed me mine last and I glanced at the drink. I would have preferred to serve myself. Caroline had begun to drink hers so I threw caution to the wind. Stupid mistake.

"Dance with me!" Caroline cried. She had a goofy smile on her face and I could not resist her charms.

"Sorry, Damon," I said, shoving my drink into his chest, I allowed my tipsy girlfriend to drag me into the middle of the living room so we could dance. "I love you," she whispered into my ear.

"I love you, too!" I whispered back.

We continued to dance as Damon finished his drink and mine.

Elena and Wes were talking and then he took her hand and led her onto the dance floor. I could see Damon was about to lose it, again. "Caroline, let's save Damon from himself, shall we?"

"Sure." Caroline said. "Jesse, can I have another drink!" she shouted through her cupped hands.

"Sure!" Jesse nodded and went to find us more drinks. He came back and Caroline and I each took one before we made our way over to Damon. "Come on, Damon. Let's explore. We'll find Elena later." I took hold of Damon and dragged him off before he could argue. "I hear there's a Jacuzzi somewhere 'round here," I heard a slight slur to my words as I took another sip of my drink but did not worry about it.

We went up to the back of the house to find an attached deck and a Jacuzzi. Too many people were in it at that moment. "Boring," Caroline said. She dragged us up to the second floor. "Oh, this hallway is suuuuuppppppeerrrrr long."

"You're a little bit wasted," Damon said, taking her half-full cup and wagging a finger at her. He drained the rest of the cup. "In-door pool. Wait. Is that a tennis court? Why doesn't my boarding school house have a tennis court?" He pressed his face against the glass.

"I want to go swimming!" Caroline cried, running away from me.

"Caroline!" I hurried after Caroline who had already taken her shoes off and had begun to unzip her dress before she darted into the pool room.

Shaking my head, I followed Caroline into the pool room to find a lot of drunk classmates and more music turned up to the sky. Bonnie sat on a deck chair surrounded by a throng of boys.

"Nik, Enzo's here!" Caroline called. She was already in the pool with the boy of my nightmares.

"What?" I demanded. I looked down to find a grinning Enzo in a pair of swim trunks waving to me. "What the bloody hell are you doing here?"

"I got an invite," Enzo called back. "Come, Caroline, let's play hide and seek."

"No!" I shouted. "Caroline, darling. You remember what you wanted to look for before?" I called, kneeling down by the poolside.

Caroline swam over to me. "Um… No…" She grinned and shook her head.

"Guest room," I said.

"Oh…" Caroline nodded, a smile on her face. "Okay." She reached up and I held out a hand. Then she jerked me into the pool and laughed as I surfaced. "Hello, Nik."

"Hello, Caroline," I replied, picking her up and setting her on the ledge. "Let's go." I pushed myself up. Along the way, we collected her things. Damon was still staring at the tennis court.

Dragging Caroline up to the third floor, I pushed a door open before locking it behind us. Caroline walked over to the bed and fell onto her back. "Nik," she called, waggling a finger at me.

"Yes, Caroline," I made my way over to her and laid down, watching her chest move up and down. "I don't want this to be our first time. You're drunk."

"So are you," Caroline told me, reaching for the zipper of my pants.

"I know," I told her. "Let's wait a bit longer."

"Fine," Caroline groaned. She slid from under me. "I'm going to go down and get a glass of water. Be back soon."

"Okay," I nodded. Closing my eyes, I did not intend to go to sleep.

~0~

"Hello, and thank you for riding Delta. We will be arriving in Tokyo, Japan, in five minutes. Please, buckle your seatbelts," someone was saying as I awoke. Blinking, I found myself face-to-face with a surly baby who I did not know and a business man.

"What the bloody hell?" I groaned. How did I get here?

Thank you for reading, faving, following and reviewing.

Peace,

-J