Hello my angels :) A big thank you to LucyRider17 and alwaysnnever for reviewing on the last chapter. You're both loved so much!
I hope you enjoy this chapter. There's only five more left after this :( I have no idea when I'll be updating next (for any of my stories) but hopefully it won't be too long of a wait for you all. Enjoy! xx
"Charlotte, can I speak to you?" Mary asked, pouncing on her daughter the moment the young girl entered the house.
Charlotte had only just gotten home from school and she had plans with Emma that night. She wanted to nap before getting ready and her mother's sudden insistence of speaking with her was interrupting her plans.
With a sigh, Charlotte placed her bag on the floor and followed her mother through the house and into the parlour room; sitting when her mother instructed her to do so, Charlotte could tell from the expression on the older woman's face that a serious talk was coming her way.
Sitting across from her daughter, Mary took a deep breath and prepared herself for the outburst that was sure to come once she confronted Charlotte about Dean's appearance in Mystic Falls.
"Mom, what is it?"
Charlotte was growing impatient. She wanted to spend some time with Klaus before leaving to spend the night with Emma, and her mother was eating into her free time.
"Why is Dean in Mystic Falls?"
Charlotte felt her face drop at her mother's question. It was the last thing she was expecting to hear from the woman's mouth and it shocked her that she knew Dean was in town. During their time in San Francisco, Charlotte's mother had made no secret of her dislike for Dean despite Charlotte's constant attempts to reassure her mother that Dean would not cause her any harm.
"He came to visit me."
"How long has he been here?"
"Only a few days. How did you know he was here?"
Mary paused before answering, knowing that Charlotte would not appreciate her 'spying' on her.
"I saw you together at The Grill. You were looking very… intimate."
"Oh for god's sake, mom! You have no right to be following me!"
"I wasn't." Mary answered, truthfully. "It was an accident. However, I do not like that he's here. You need to stay away from him."
Charlotte felt like she was living a memory. She had lost count the number of times she and her mother had had the same arguments concerning her friendship with Dean.
"No. Like I've said before, mom, Dean is my friend and I will not stop being friends with him just because you don't like him."
"You nearly died because of him!"
"How many times do I have to tell you that it had nothing to do with Dean?! How the hell was he supposed to know what would happen? He saved me!"
"If he hadn't have introduced you to that damn boy in the first place, you wouldn't have needed saving." Mary responded; her voice strained with the effort of trying to remain calm.
Charlotte stood and glared at her mother. It wasn't fair of the woman to be blaming her friend for something that was beyond his control. What had happened with Robert was nothing to do with Dean. Charlotte could still remember the fear and pain on the man's face when he found her close to death; her body nothing more than a crumpled heap. She was sure that if Dean had known what would happen with Robert, then he never would have left her alone with him.
"I'm only going to say this once: No more talking about what happened. Dean is only going to be in town a few days and then he's going back to San Francisco. You won't have to worry. Until then, I am going to spend time with him and there is nothing you can do about it."
Her tone was full of warning and Charlotte hoped her mother had received the message loud and clear. She was legally an adult now and she would not stand for being treated like a child.
Mary glared back at her daughter, cursing the young girl's stubbornness, and sighed heavily. Arguing back would only be pointless and exhausting. Deciding to let the conversation drop, Mary gave Charlotte one last look before walking away from her; leaving her alone in the parlour room.
Feeling a headache coming on, Charlotte rubbed her temples and stole at look at the grandfather clock in the corner of the room. She had a few more hours before she had to meet Emma. Taking advantage of the time available to her, Charlotte sped up to her room and collapsed on her bed; allowing herself a short nap before Klaus returned from work.
Seeing Charlotte dozing lightly in her bed, Klaus smiled. Sometimes he still had to pinch himself in order to believe that she really was his; no longer just the younger sister of his life-long friends but actually his.
Klaus had been caught up having dinner with Elijah and, as a result, had arrived back at The Salvatore Boarding house late. It was approaching seven in the evening and he felt guilty for not having given his girlfriend any attention that day. However, he was planning on fixing that situation and he gently shook Charlotte awake.
Her eyelids fluttering open, Charlotte grinned when she saw Klaus looking down at her; a small smirk on his face.
"Hello, sleeping beauty."
"What time is it?"
"Nearly seven."
Until then, Charlotte had been enjoying lying in the warmth and comfort of her bed as she gazed lovingly at her boyfriend. His telling her of the time gave her a sudden jolt and she jumped from the bed; startling Klaus a little as she did so.
"Woah. Where are you going in such a hurry, love?" Klaus laughed a little as he grasped Charlotte by the waist and planted a kiss on her lips.
"I'm meeting Emma in an hour. I need to get ready."
Removing Klaus's hands from her hips, Charlotte noticed the pout on the man's face, and rolled her eyes as she stripped out of her clothes and made her way towards the bathroom.
"You're leaving me?"
"Oh, don't pout, Klaus."
"I'm not happy about this."
"Then you should have gotten home earlier. I'm sure you can do without me for a one night. Go do something with Stefan."
"Fine." Klaus replied.
Kissing Klaus on the lips, before she closed the door to the bathroom and took a shower, Charlotte smiled sweetly at her boyfriend; laughing at the pout that still filled his face.
"I hate him! I absolutely, fucking hate him!" Emma screeched for the tenth time that night.
Charlotte laughed. She couldn't help it. She had drank a lot more alcohol than she should have and she was glad for the safety and sanctuary of Emma's bedroom. There was no-one around to hear or see them. They were completely free to do whatever they want and it was clear to Charlotte that Emma wanted to cause some serious harm to Kol Mikaelson.
The past two hours had been spent listening to Emma vary from hating Kol and wishing he would go off and die in a hole somewhere, to crying and shouting about how great he was in bed and how much she missed him.
Emma's constant differing attitudes were giving Charlotte whiplash, and she'd lost count of how many times she'd rolled her eyes and told her friend that she was better of without Kol.
"I did tell you to stay away from him." Charlotte murmured; her eyes closed as she lay back on Emma's bed.
"It's alright for you! Klaus is practically ready to marry you!"
At this, Charlotte sat bolt up and stared at Emma, who was pacing around the room.
"Don't say such things."
"Oh, come on! That guy is stupidly in love with you! You're so lucky!"
"I know exactly how lucky I am, but I am so not ready to marry him." Charlotte chuckled lightly.
If Emma was going to say anything more about Klaus, Charlotte would not know as a second later the girl stopped dead in her tracks and stared at Charlotte; a smile playing on his lips.
"I have a beyond brilliant idea!"
Charlotte knew that look; the evil, mischievous one she was witnessing as she stared back at her best friend. It was a look both girls had used many times during their childhood and early teenage years, resulting in a lot of trouble.
"Oh god, what is it?" Charlotte groaned.
"I'm going to hit Kol Mikaelson where it hurts." Emma smirked.
It was an hour later, after they'd stopped off at a shop to pick up supplies, that Emma and Charlotte finally arrived at The Mikaelson Mansion; having walked the entire way due to the drunken states.
The two girls giggled, stumbling about, and quickly found Kol's prized car. Emma had told Charlotte about how much Kol loved his car; how he referred to it as his 'baby'. In her bid to hurt Kol as much as he'd hurt her, Emma had convinced Charlotte to help her ruin the car and Charlotte was more than happy to help here friend out. She couldn't stand the sight of Klaus's younger brother and it angered her that he had cheated on her best-friend.
Pulling a marker pen each out of the bag, Emma and Charlotte grinned at each other.
"Ready?" Charlotte asked.
"Hell, yeah!"
Walking over to Kol's car, each girl began to write over the pale blue paint of the exterior; the black ink sinking in and clearly visible with each word they wrote. Standing back to admire their handy work, both girls laughed loudly. Kol's beloved car was covered in insults ranging from 'slut' to 'man-whore' to jackass'. Charlotte knew that when Kol finally did see the damage to his car, he would freak out.
With their plan not completely finished, Charlotte turned to Emma, tears falling from her face from laughter, and asked her if she was sure she wanted to continue with the next part. Nodding at Charlotte, Emma picked up a box of eggs from the bag and began throwing them at the car; each one shattering against the machine with a loud crack and covering the car in slime.
As Charlotte watched her best-friend throw the eggs, she couldn't keep from laughing. The large amount of alcohol she'd consumed earlier had gone straight to her head, and she did not care that Klaus would most likely be furious with her when he found out what she had done to his brother's car.
Charlotte fell to the floor with laughter and watched as Emma was about to throw the last egg, only to see it fall to the ground when the door to the Mikaelson Mansion opened and out came Elijah, who spotted them immediately.
"Charlotte?"
Elijah stared at his brother's girlfriend and sighed. He had heard the commotion from inside the house and had gone to investigate; feeling extremely disappointed when he saw Charlotte sitting beside his younger brother's damaged car.
Looking up into Elijah's eyes, Charlotte felt herself go pale and heard Emma fall silent. It was obvious that they were in big trouble now that they'd been caught red-handed vandalising the car.
"What are you doing?"
Charlotte scrambled to get up from the fall but fell as she did so, the alcohol in her system affecting her limbs. Elijah had noticed Charlotte begin to fall and had caught the young girl in his arms. From the smell of her breath, he concluded that both Charlotte and Emma had been drinking and he sighed once again, wondering where they'd managed to get alcohol from.
"Thank you." Charlotte mumbled.
Letting go of his brother's girl once he was sure she could stand up straight, Elijah pulled out his phone and began to dial Klaus's number.
"Elijah, what are you doing?"
"I'm calling Klaus."
Charlotte let out a horrified shout and gave Emma a wide-eyed look.
"No! Don't, please."
"I'm calling Klaus to take you both home. You're lucky that neither my parents or Kol are here. You two can't go home on your own and I can't take you, so that leaves Klaus."
Pleading with Elijah, Charlotte soon found that it was no use and she listened on in fear as Elijah instructed Klaus to come over to their childhood home immediately.
Klaus sped through the streets, wondering why is what that Elijah needed to see him so desperately. His brother had informed him that it was to do with Charlotte but Klaus knew his girlfriend was spending the night with his best-friend.
Pulling up outside his family home, Klaus immediately saw Elijah standing with Charlotte and Emma; the two girls' faces displaying anxiety and fear, whilst Elijah's was full of disappointment.
As he left his car, Klaus's eyes flitted over to Kol's car, almost unrecognisable due to the egg-slime and insults written all over it. From the guilty looks of Charlotte's and Emma's faces, Klaus assumed that they were the ones responsible for the damage and he frowned. If it had been done by anyone other than Charlotte he would have laughed at the state of his younger brother's car, but it was his girlfriend who was responsible and he did not find it so funny.
He was furious at his girlfriend for acting so irresponsibly. Glaring at her as she stared back into his eyes, Klaus did not speak a single word in her direction; choosing, instead, to address his brother.
"Thank you for letting me know she was here, Elijah."
"I thought you'd want to know."
Klaus gave his brother a small smile and then turned away from him; telling the two girls to get into his car. They did not need to be told twice and they followed Klaus's instruction.
Dropping Emma off at her house, Charlotte saw her friend smile apologetically at her and hug her tightly before leaving. Emma wished she'd never come up with her plan to take revenge on Kol; knowing that Charlotte would be facing Klaus's wrath once they returned home.
With Emma gone, Klaus and Charlotte were left alone in the car. The silence was deafening. Next to him, Klaus could hear the steady breathing of his girlfriend and he sighed.
"You shouldn't have done that."
"I'm sorry."
"What the hell were you thinking?!"
"I'm sorry."
"You were out or order, Charlotte! You went too far!"
"I've just said I was sorry. What more do you want me to say?"
Klaus did not answer the girl as he arrived at The Salvatore Boarding House and stalked up to Charlotte's room, with the girl following closely behind him. The second the bedroom door clicked shut, Klaus rounded on Charlotte. He still angry at her.
"What you did was stupid and irresponsible!"
"He broke Emma's heart! He cheated on her!"
For a moment, Klaus stood in silence. Charlotte had not told him about Kol breaking her best-friend's heart and he instantly understand why she had chosen to vandalise his younger brother's most treasured possession. Vowing to have a few well chosen words with Kol the next time he laid eyes on him, Klaus softened his voice a little before speaking again.
"You should have told and I'd have handled it."
"No offence, Klaus, but Emma is my friend and your brother broke her heart. It wasn't your situation to handle. I did what I did and now Kol will know to think twice next time."
Frustration surged through Klaus. A few years ago, he wouldn't have thought twice about pulling the same stunt as Charlotte and Emma, but now… he expected more from his girlfriend.
"You'll be bloody lucky if Kol doesn't press charges!" Klaus shouted, wanting Charlotte to understand the seriousness of the situation.
Charlotte snorted.
"Oh, please. Kol would rather fuck me than press charges against me."
The very moment the words had left her mouth Charlotte knew she had gone too far. The look of pure hurt on Klaus's face told her so. Taking a step towards her boyfriend, Charlotte tried to place her hand on his arm but was prevented from doing so when Klaus shoved it away and headed towards the bedroom door.
"Klaus, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it."
Klaus didn't stop. He continued to walk away from Charlotte who followed him out of her room and through the house.
"Klaus! Where are you going?"
"Home." Klaus snapped.
Slamming the front door behind him, Klaus did not look back once as he headed over to his car so he could return to his apartment. He was too angry and too hurt to even contemplate returning to Charlotte until the morning.