Hi readers! ( I guess I'll call you all that! ) I'm so sorry for being such a slacker on updating, it's hard for me to sit down and write 3k words all at once, because I'm kind of ADD. Tumblr distracts me sometimes too, but enough excuses!
I'm officially on summer break! Which means more updates? I'm not promising anything, but other then summer camp I have, June 9-13, I'm free! WOOOO! I'm officially a Junior in High School. So, I guess I'm like season 1 characters' ages? That's a pretty cool thought, I gotta admit. I'm sorry for rambling, I bet half of you aren't even reading this long A/N, but I'd like to let you guys know a bit more about me! [one thing you might or might not know, my name is Kim! ]
In this particular chapter, I'm trying to show Caroline as a bit scared and timid towards the end, but still give her the Caroline charm we all know and love. I'm pretty sure I made her as 'her' as I could. Caroline and I are alike in a lot of ways, so I'm hoping I did a good job! Let me know if I did? I'm also trying to switch up my vocabulary, and not use the same description/action words like looked, nodded, grinned, etc over and over.
Alright, enough of me, on with the story!
[I put this A/N in 'block quote' whatever that is.]
Previously on Everything Changes...
She led me into the hall. "I'm adopted."
My face fell, and I hugged her. "I'm so sorry, how did you find that out?"
She sniffled and told me how she had suspected it for a while, and went to her father's old work to find out more. "Stefan told me more about it." she swallowed.
I nodded, absorbing the story. Wow. I couldn't even imagine how it would feel to learn that I was adopted.
"Caroline?" Stefan stepped into the hall. "Can I talk to you?"
I peeked up, not meeting his green eyes. "Okay."
We went back into the parlor, Elena remaining where she was.
"I'm sorry I didn't check to make sure you were okay when I called you." he sat down on the sofa, and I took a seat on the chair across from him.
"Have you told her?" I inquired, getting straight to the point. "Because if you haven't-"
Stefan held up a hand, nodding. "Yes Caroline, I have. She wasn't too surprised. I think she might have always thought something was off."
I narrowed my eyes. Maybe Elena wasn't as thick as I thought.
"So who's her mother?"
Stefan shrugged. "I have no idea. Elena's father didn't know much about the young lady who came to the hospital."
I sat in silence, absorbing the information. "So Damon said Klaus knew something about why we look so similar. He wouldn't tell me much, but used the word doppelganger."
Stefan's expression didn't change, so I figured he didn't know much about it either.
He sighed, and picked up a box off the table. "Here, take this. It has some vervain in it. Bracelets and stuff. For you and some of your friends. I've already given Elena some for Jenna, Jeremy and a few friends, but I figured you needed some too."
I smiled appreciatively, my fingers going up to my neck. My eyes widened, "Damon never gave me my locket back!"
Stefan's eyes widened and he scowled. "I'll make sure to get it back for you, if he doesn't give it back to you first. There's another vampire in town, and we don't know what he wants, so we have to be careful."
I beamed thankfully. "But, for now." I opened the box and pulled out a dark leather and cotton cord bracelet. I saw a few vervain colored strands woven inside the cotton cord. "I'll wear this. I'll be careful." I fastened it onto my wrist.
He leaned back in the chair. "I really am sorry, Caroline."
I gazed at him for a moment before getting up, smoothing down my jeans. "I know. And I forgive you. Just keep your head out of the clouds, Stef."
He grinned weakly. "I'll try."
I went up to my room to take a long shower and work on the homework I was expected to do two days ago.
My stomach growled and I looked at my phone, laying on my bed.
I'll order a pizza.
I dialed the nearest pizza place and ordered a Hawaiian pizza, knowing it would be enough for dinner tonight, and lunch tomorrow. "Hi, can I have a medium thin-crust Hawaiian pizza please?"
I gave them the address and hopped into the shower, washing away the gasoline and beer smell.
When I got out, Elena was calling up the stairs to me.
"Pizza's here for you, Care!"
I yelled back down that I would be down momentarily. I put on some sweats and a shirt, took my hair down out of the towel, and ran my fingers through it.
His dark eyes met mine as I came around the corner into the foyer. "Hello." he greeted. "That'll be $10."
"Hi. Uh, keep the change." I said to the guy, handing him $15.
He pulled my pizza out of the bag and handed it to me. "Thanks. Have yourself a good night." he smiled and met my eyes before walking backwards out of the house. I smiled back and shut the door behind him.
"Well wasn't he just adorable?" Damon's voiced drifted in from the parlor and I turned around to see his smirking face.
"Here's your necklace back, by the way." he said, holding out a tissue. I extended my hand and stepped forward, but he drew his hand back, taking my pizza from me and setting it on the table. "Allow me." he walked behind me and I glanced over my shoulder, eying him uncomfortably.
His cold fingertips brushed my damp hair to one side, and I felt the locket meet the hollow of my throat.
"How is that not burning you?" I wondered aloud, and he laughed, his breath making the hair on the back of my neck prickle.
"The chain isn't tainted, Blondie, only the locket itself."
I didn't comment, just glanced back over my shoulder at him. "Thanks for giving this back." I touched the locket. "Honestly, I was afraid you wouldn't – or that you lost it."
He walked back to the front of me and laughed. "You think so little of me, Blondie."
I raised an eyebrow and picked my pizza up, going up to my room.
~0~
The next morning, I heard Stefan and Damon arguing in the library, I loomed in the kitchen, eating my bowl of cereal.
"Putting Elena and Caroline in harm's way- that's my concern."
"What are you talking about? I haven't touched your cheerleader." I heard a thud of what I assumed was a book.
"I'm talking about Atlanta."
"Oh, yeah, we had a blast." I heard another book thud.
"I get it, you're just bitter because I get to be with the person that I love, but you don't get to be with who you love. Poor Chandra is just out of reach." Stefan paused, and I could tell that this probably wouldn't end well. "Unless, there's another way for you to get into that tomb. Is that was Bree said?"
Damon snorted. "You're so pathetic when you're fishing."
"And you're transparent when you're deflecting." his brother retorted.
It was silent for a while, and I finished my cereal, putting the bowl in the sink. "Don't you have school?" I heard Damon's voice, louder this time, and saw him looking at me from the doorway. When I turned around completely, Stefan was at the fridge, getting a glass of water.
"Obviously." I grabbed the bag of leftover pizza off the counter, and shoved it into my backpack. "I'm late." I went to walk around him, but he blocked my way, grinning like a Cheshire cat.
"Excuse me." he stared at me, still grinning. "Move, Damon." I poked him in the chest.
"Damon, let her by." Stefan said, when his brother didn't move when I requested him to.
Damon huffed in exaggeration and stepped to the side.
~0~
The bell rang, and I made my way to the history class, even though I had lunch.
"It's just, uh, you don't actually think there are vampires in Mystic Falls?" I heard Mr. Saltzman's voice, and paused, my skin prickling at the word vampire.
"No. I mean, I think statistically there's been more animal attacks, mysterious deaths, uh, people gone missing, more than any other place in the whole commonwealth of Virginia." I heard another voice reply.
Was that Jeremy I heard?
"It's conjecture, but creative, which is why you got the "A." I just wouldn't get too, uh, caught up in the whole conspiracy theory of it all."Mr. Saltzman replied, and I heard Jeremy reply, but my name being yelled from down the hall distracted me for a moment. It was Elena, jumping up and down, waving at me from the other end up the hall. I waved back and pointed to the door.
"Thanks." I heard Mr. Saltzman say, my attention turned back to their faint conversation.
I went into the classroom.
"Oh, sorry." I apologized, seeing them still in conversation.
They glanced up and smiled at me before Alaric said. "Thanks again, Jeremy, and good job on that essay."
I looked at the desk and saw an old journal. I immediately recognized it to be one of the Gilbert family journals.
What was Jer doing with one of those?
Jeremy nodded to the teacher before exiting the room.
"Hi, Mr. Saltzman." I remembered he preferred to be called Alaric or Ric, but it was too late now.
"Hi Caroline, what can I help you with?"
I handed him the short essay he had assigned the day before the Atlanta trip. "Sorry I wasn't here yesterday. I went to visit my Uncle Zach." I looked over his shoulder at the board. "Did I miss anything that I need to makeup?"
He set my papers down and shook his head. "Nope, we just took some notes, but you can get those from someone else if you'd like."
I nodded. "I will. Thanks."
I went out to the hallway, and saw Elena waiting on me. "C'mon, you're going to miss all of lunch!"
~0~
Stefan, Elena, Bonnie and I were all sitting at the picnic table, eating lunch, when I brought up Jeremy.
"He wrote an essay about vampires." I explained, looking to Elena. "Do you think he knows?"
~0~
Third Person POV
Matt Donovan sat at the bar at Mystic Falls Grill, filling out a job application. Another young man walked over to him, setting a tray of glasses down on the bar.
"Matt Donovan, whaddya know?"
Matt glanced up, meeting eyes with Ben McKittrick. Ben had just graduated from Mystic Falls the summer before, and used to be on the football team.
"Ben McKittrick, what's up man?"
Ben smiled and looked at Matt. "Rough season, bud."
Matt chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah, kinda hard to recover when you have to forfeit half your games."
Ben looked to the entrance for a moment, as a small girl with dark curly hair walked in.
"You gonna be workin' here?"
Matt checked off a few more boxes."Yep." he smiled ruefully. "Following in your footsteps, minus the state championship."
"Well, we all can't be football gods." the bartender chuckled.
The blonde nodded and agreed.
"So, what's the plan? Cook line?" he prodded.
Matt looked around the restaurant. "Busboy."
Meanwhile, down away from the bar, yet still in the Grill, Elena, Caroline and Bonnie were having dinner, talking in low tones.
"I can't believe you're adopted!" Bonnie said for the umpteenth time. "I never saw that coming."
"Don't worry, it gets weirder!" Elena said, pausing for a ridiculous dramatic effect. She leaned forward in her seat, a smirk rising on her face. "My birth certificate even says "Miranda and Grayson Gilbert"."
Bonnie's eyes widened.
"That's why she should ask Jenna, right Bonnie?" The blonde looked to her friend, who nodded immediately. Only her aunt Jenna would know the truth...if Elena's parents had even told her!
Elena groaned, as Caroline has suggested this before.
"First of all, the real Elena we know," Caroline motioned to Bonnie and then back to herself. "Would always want the truth, and the real truth! Good or bad."
"And second of all?" Elena raised an eyebrow, taking a sip of her drink.
"You just found our your own boyfriend is a..." she leaned forward and whispered. "vampire..."
Caroline picked up on her best friend's train of thought and continued for her, in a normal voice. "So, unless your birth parents are aliens, how bad can it be?"
Elena laughed. She needed an excuse to get out of here! Friends were supposed to constantly annoy and pester friends like this, right?
She stood up, slid out of the booth, and threw down a five. "I'm going to the mall. My outfit for the dance isn't strong in the sexy department."
Without leaving her friends room for another word, she strutted out of the restaurant, bumping into the bartender, Ben, on the way out.
"Okay. We can pay the bill then. That's fine Elena, don't even chip in more then five percent!" Caroline grumbled in annoyance.
Bonnie was slowly growing used to the small changes in her brunette best friend, though she hadn't actually noticed either was happening.
Caroline's POV
Another person slid into the seat next to me, and I saw Bonnie's face scrunch up in annoyance.
Turning my head, I saw Damon's dark head of hair and his leather jacket. My eyes met with Bonnie's, and she rolled them.
"What do you want from me, Damon?" my witchy friend demanded.
Damon held up his hands innocently, a devious smile on his face. "I think...we need a fresh start."
"You kidnapped my best friend, and tried to kill me!"
Yeah, that's right, he did. I hadn't had a chance to punch him for that.
"Damon!" I exclaimed, and glared at him. "I still haven't gotten back at you for that."
He raised a single eyebrow, grinning wolfishly. "Blondie wants revenge?"
When I didn't reply, he shrugged and turned back to Bonnie. "But I didn't, and if I wanted to, I would have. Doesn't that count for something?"
"No." Bonnie and I said at the same time, glaring at him.
"You know, Bonnie can start fires with her mind." I stated, leaning on my elbows. "Fires can kill you, right?"
Bonnie's mouth twitched up into a grin, and I looked at Damon, who was actually looking slightly concerned.
"I'm going to go pay." Bonnie announced, breaking the intense eye contact between Damon and her. I threw down a ten dollar bill, and Bonnie took that and Elena's five, and headed to the front counter.
"One second." I heard someone's footsteps walk over to us, and looked up to see the bartender, who looked strangely familiar, and Bonnie standing there.
"Everything okay over here?" he asked, his eyes narrowing at Damon.
"Yeah, we're fine." Damon said dismissively, waving his hand.
"I wasn't talking to you." he met eyes with me, and then looked at Bonnie.
Damon huffed a sigh and got up, brushing past Ben with a scoff.
"Thanks." Bonnie said, looking up into the man's chocolate eyes.
"Anytime, Bonnie, Caroline." he nodded and our eyes widened.
"Wait, you remember us?" Bonnie asked.
Who is this guy? I wondered, trying to place his face. I knew I'd seen him somewhere, but wasn't sure where.
"Ben." I said aloud, his name coming to mind. He was two years older then me, and had just graduated last spring.
"That's my name." he smirked and looked back to Bonnie. "You're makin' me feel old."
"No, um, sorry. I didn't mean it like that... I just – didn't know you knew us."
"I always know a pretty face." he said, smirking even wider at Bonnie, and I rolled my eyes.
Seriously? How more cheesy could you get? I mean sure, he had that older hot guy vibe, but that smirk was about as arrogant as Klaus and Damon combined.
"Uh, Bonnie." I said. "I'm going to go. I still have some stuff to do back home." I fished my rent-a-car keys out of my purse, and gave her a one armed hug.
"Bye Bon, Bye Ben." I dipped my head in acknowledgment and headed outside.
It was already dusk, and the moon was big, lighting up the whole entire parking lot.
My phone started to ring, and I dug through my purse, finally discovering it, buried under my soft makeup bag and my wallet.
"Hello?" I said into my phone, shifting my purse back onto my shoulder.
"Hello, Caroline." a masculine voice said from the other end, and I furrowed my brows, a bit confused.
"Hey, who is this?" I asked, reaching my car.
I slipped my keys into my hand, and the man replied.
"You hit me...with your car." he rasped.
I swallowed thickly, my heart rate stuttering at the memory of that night.
"Is that a new one?" He continued, practically purring now.
By the sound of his voice, the damn vampire was practically getting off on this.
I looked both ways, clicking the unlock button on my car twice. I turned around, my lips pressed together, and my phone pressed to my ear.
The same man in the dark navy hoodie was about 15 feet away from me, the phone no longer to his head.
I heard his voice loud and clear, and my heart thundered in my chest.
I still wasn't able to see his face clearly.
"You got away from me." he took a step forward. "You won't next time."
I snapped out of my shock and whirled around, yanking my door open. I jumped into the car, locked the doors, ignited the engine and backed out as quickly as I could. I sped off down the road, not making eye contact with the damn stalker.
When I reached home a while later, I was shaky, and my eyes burned with unshed tears.
The first person I literally ran into was Klaus, with Damon right behind him, looking a bit confused.
I stumbled back away from Klaus. I was sure I looked a bit crazy, my eyes wide, my hair mussed from me nervously messing with it the whole ride home.
Klaus' blue-green eyes were narrowed with confusion, and Damon was staring at me as if I'd grown another head.
"I- He – the vampire." I looked up at the men, trying to explain the whole night into a few words.
"The one that you hit?" Damon was the first to respond.
I bobbed my head quickly, and Klaus and him met gazes.
They must have been looking for him. I realized.
"Stefan!" Damon called into the house.
The brother in question came around the corner from the living-room a few seconds later.
"What?" he asked, and he looked from me to Damon. "What is it?"
"The -" I swallowed. "The vampire I hit... called me." I lifted up my phone. "He was like hey Caroline" I mimicked the man's deep voice, and rolled my eyes. "And I just replied, Hey, who is this?" heading into the parlor, I continued my story.
"He's baiting you, that much is obvious, love." Klaus stated when I was done, leaning back into the sofa.
"No, duh!" I retorted. I turned my gaze on Stefan. "What do I do? What does one do in a situation like this?"
Stefan got up, and sat down on the coffee table in front of me, fishing something out of his pocket.
I looked at the object in his hand. "Wait, is that my grandfather's pocket watch? I thought Damon had that?"
Damon's face twisted in annoyance when he saw that his brother had the watch.
"Well, I took it from Damon, who took it from Logan, who probably got it from the council when he was human." Stefan explained. "You already know it tracks vampires, so here." he pressed it into my palm.
"I'm getting that back when this is all done with, Blondie." Damon stated.
Stefan and I both shot annoyed looks at Damon.
"This was created by your ancestors." Stefan explained, and with this, Damon got up, expressing his displeasure loudly.
"UGH. I do not want a history lesson when I can relive that in my mind. I'm leaving." Damon went over to the doorway when he stopped to look towards his friend. "You coming, Klaus?"
Klaus glanced over to Damon, and I felt a strange weight leave my shoulders.
Had he been looking at me...? Or was I just being overly paranoid as usual?
Should we have like a Question of the Chapter? [QOTC?]
If you guys think we should, then this is this chapter's QOTC:
Should each season have it's own book? Or should we just have one huge book?
xx Kim