* shouts dramatically * I'M BAAAAAACK
Along with Chapter 4! This story is progressing a lot faster than I thought it would. I'm feeling giddy.
Thanks for all the reviews you guys have been sending. Your support means a lot.
Anyway, so, I'll get on with the story, that's what you guys are here for anyway.
"No, Elena, the streamers go near the stage, not the trees! I've said that almost fifteen times."
Elena rolled her eyes, clutching a large box of streamers. "God, Caroline, calm down. Don't go all event-planner-zilla on us. Chill."
She turned around, making Caroline growl. "She wants calm? I'll show her calm."
"Calm down, Care," said Bonnie, grabbing her arm before Caroline did something like break Elena's legs or something.
"I am calm," Caroline growled back, reducing the paper decorations in her hand to almost shreds. "Elena's just being a bitch, that's all."
Bonnie shook her head, leading Caroline towards the stage. "Kat and I set up the banners and balloons. How does it look?"
"It looks…great. Honestly, Bon. You and Kat are the only ones who're doing things right."
"That reminds me," said Bonnie, smacking a hand to her forehead. "I need to introduce you to someone."
She walked a few feet away, dragging a stocky, blonde guy by the hand towards Caroline. "Caroline, this is Matt Donovan. Dr. Eaton's patient."
"The quarterback," said Caroline, without thinking, and she cringed. Bonnie grimaced. To her surprise, Matt let out a loud laugh.
"That is what I'm referred to as professionally, yeah," he said, holding out a hand. "People I know call me Matt."
People I like call me Nik.
"Caroline?" Bonnie's voice asked, shaking her out of her stupor.
"Oh, sorry," she said, pasting a smile on her face, looking at Matt. "I'm Caroline. So, what are you still doing here? I thought Frank discharged you a day ago."
"He did," said Matt, smiling. "He also informed me that you'd be organizing the benefit for the hospital, and you welcomed volunteers, so I'm here to volunteer."
"Really?" asked Caroline. "You like event-planning, then, huh?" she asked teasingly.
Matt shrugged. "Or maybe I just like to talk to the people here."
Maybe I just like talking to interesting people.
What was wrong with her? Why was everything reminding her of Klaus? She smiled at Matt. "I always love some extra help. I'll be heading out soon, though, I have to meet a friend and his siblings."
Matt and Bonnie nodded. Matt picked up an empty box. "Need anything help throwing anything away?"
"Yeah, the boxes of streamers and banners need to be put in the trash."
"Sure, Caroline," said Matt, picking up the boxes and hauling them away with Bonnie's help.
"Pick that up, Greta! Caroline said that went there! Luka, help her!" cried a familiar voice, and Caroline turned around to see Katherine perched on the stage, sipping a Starbucks latte, one hand smoothing down her skirt.
"Kat, I asked you here to help," Caroline said exasperatedly.
Katherine batted her long eyelashes. "I am helping, Care. I'm helping by directing some of the idiots who can't seem to have a sense of directions."
"Kat, get off your ass and actually do some work."
"I'm too pretty for manual labour," said Kat, shrugging.
Caroline shook her head and cringed when she heard the band practicing the songs they were to play at the benefit. "Will you guys pick up the tempo? This is a benefit, not a funeral," she growled at them, making the violin player gulp.
"And how am I doing?" asked a voice behind her, and Caroline turned around with a reluctant smile on her face. Klaus stood, facing her, arms crossed, sleeves rolled up, looking pleased with himself.
Caroline looked over to where all the chairs and tables were arranged perfectly, according to her chart. "You're…perfect."
Caroline would've liked to say that she said that because of his work ethic, but the truth was that he wasn't wearing a lab coat today and the pushed-up sleeves of his Henley were exposing a lot of toned, muscly arms, which made her mouth go dry.
It wasn't like she didn't remember them, that night when she—
Stop it, Caroline! Nik isn't your boyfriend! You can't think about him like that!
Klaus smirked, satisfied. She narrowed her eyes.
"Which is beyond annoying, so I can't even look at you. How did you even manage to do that without my charts for reference?"
Klaus shrugged. "I have a good memory. Looking at things once or twice and remembering them is a talent of mine." He smiled at her.
"Assuming you're done for the day, we can leave?"
"Yeah," said Caroline. "I'll just tell Bonnie and Kat I'll be leaving."
"Wonderful."
Caroline nodded and quickly sent a text to both Kat and Bonnie, informing them that she was going. She had decided to go with Klaus to pick up his siblings from the airport. She and Klaus had become quite good friends over the last week, and even though Caroline wasn't sure how she felt about it, Klaus hadn't quite given up on the statement he had given her last week in his office.
Caroline got in Klaus's car, and they drove off.
"So," Caroline said, turning her head to loom at Klaus. "Rebekah, Kol, and Elijah."
He laughed. "Unfortunately."
"I've never understood why you have such old-fashioned names."
"Mother and Father were big on that. The rest of my brothers are named Finn and Henrik."
Caroline laughed. "Cute. So tell me, what're they like? Your brothers and sister?"
"Henrik is the youngest, and Mother and Father's favourite, obviously. Rebekah sometimes acts like a spoiled brat and is petty and trivial with the women her brothers date, but otherwise is a good person. Kol is an immature idiot, who always manages to make sexual innuendos out of every single word in the English dictionary. Elijah is the best out of them all. He's a lawyer, and has his own firm. And Finn's a dull prat, who can lull you to sleep by merely talking, who also finds lectures on the mating habits of dung beetles interesting."
Caroline couldn't help it; she burst out laughing. "That's an awful lot of information. I'm sure they're not that bad, Nik."
"Oh, they are, love, believe me. Just you wait. Kol and Bekah will drive you mad in a matter of hours."
"And Elijah?"
"Elijah will mostly be like a parental figure to them. He always has been."
"What about your parents?"
A brief look of anger crossed over Klaus's face, before reverting back to his easy smile. "Mother and Father weren't the best parents, let's just leave it at that."
Caroline frowned, she was sure there was more to the story, but decided not to press. Klaus grinned.
"You should probably enjoy whatever remaining moments of sanity you have right now, love. When my younger siblings meet you, you're in for a right treat."
"Am I?" she asked, grinning.
"I told you I was familiar with sarcasm, didn't I?"
Caroline waited at the baggage claim with Klaus, ready to meet his siblings, who were arriving in a few minutes. Klaus was looking over at the doors, with an anxiety and an excitement Caroline hadn't seen in him before. He suddenly brightened, and Caroline looked up to see a blonde woman dragging almost five different suitcases behind her.
"That's her?" she whispered to Klaus. "Rebekah?"
"Rebekah," said Klaus, grinning widely, and Caroline couldn't help but smile at his happiness. It was obvious he loved his sister very much, no matter how much he complained about her. The woman—Rebekah—caught sight of him, and an expression similar to the one her brother had on his face appeared on hers. She dropped the suitcases and ran towards them, and jumped into Klaus's arms, hugging him tightly.
"Nik!" she cried excitedly. "I missed you!"
"I missed you too, Rebekah," said Klaus, keeping his expression a lot more composed than Rebekah's, earning a small smile from Caroline.
"There's so much to tell you, Nik," Rebekah continued, grinning broadly. "And so much to celebrate."
A look of discomfort passed across Klaus's face, and Caroline frowned. "What are you celebrating?"
That was when Rebekah finally took notice of her, and all traces of happiness was wiped from her face. Her cold, blue eyes swept across Caroline, taking her in. "Who are you?" she asked, her tone icy.
"Now, Rebekah—" Klaus started.
"Be quiet, Nik," she snapped. "I see you after three years and you bring a girlfriend along."
"Oh, I'm not—" Caroline started, but was quelled by the look Rebekah gave her.
"Labels don't really matter to me," she said with a cold smile. "But really, Nik," she said, turning back to her brother. "Three years."
"She's not my girlfriend, Rebekah," said Klaus gently, obviously used to his sister's tantrums, Caroline noted. "She's just a friend who was kind enough to accompany me here to welcome you, so be nice."
"Hmmm," said Rebekah with a scrutinizing look, narrowing her eyes at Caroline. "My apologies."
She didn't sound very apologetic.
Klaus gave her an apologetic look, then turned back to his sister. "Where are Kol and Elijah, Bekah?"
"The sweet store," said Rebekah sniffily. "Kol decided to act like a child, and Elijah decided to indulge him and his whims. They're buying chocolate right now. Perhaps if we're nice enough, Kol will be kind enough to share."
"He won't," said Klaus, picking up Rebekah's bags. "You know how he is."
"I suppose," said Rebekah, her eyes still moving over Caroline. "What's your name, Nik's Friend And Not His Girlfriend?"
"Um, Caroline," said Caroline uncomfortably.
"And I'm Kol," said a voice behind her, making her whip around and stare the speaker in the eyes. "Finest man you'll ever find, darling. Pretty name you've got there."
"Be quiet, Kol," said Klaus, with obvious boredom etched on his face. "She's a friend, do not make her feel uncomfortable."
"I was merely telling the beautiful Caroline my name, Nik," said Kol, grinning widely. "And what horrid habits, brother! Do you not have enough manners to greet your younger brother after three years of not seeing him?"
"Hello, Kol," said Klaus shortly, patting him on the back. "Where's Elijah?"
"Paying the pretty lady at the cash register for my candy," said Kol, promptly pulling out a bag of Snickers out of his backpack. "These are delicious, have you tried them, Nik? We don't get these in Dyfed."
Caroline looked at Klaus. "I thought you said you lived in London."
"Oh, we did," said Rebekah tiredly. "Until our parents decided that the house in Wales was better suited for housing our family. I don't know why, but it was an absolute bother, packing up and moving away. We shifted after Nik moved out."
Klaus looked uncomfortable, Caroline noticed, but decided to ask him about that later. "Oh, ok."
Kol turned to her interestedly. "Are you Nik's girlfriend?"
"No!" she said, blushing furiously. Did they really give off the dating vibe so badly?
"I apologize for my brother, Miss," said another guy behind her, and Caroline turned around to see a man in a suit, walking towards them, irritably carrying a white bag. "Here's the rest of your candy, Kol. I'm not buying you any more for the rest of the trip."
"Oh, but, Elijah!" Kol whined, and Caroline laughed inwardly at the resemblance of a small child begging his father for sweets.
Elijah shook his head and turned to Klaus with a smile. "Hello, Niklaus."
"Elijah," said Klaus, grinning widely. "It's been too long."
"That it has, Niklaus," said Elijah, his eyes coming to rest on Caroline. "Hello, pleased to meet you."
"Caroline Forbes," said Caroline, holding out a hand. Elijah Mikaelson made her feel at ease more than his siblings did.
Elijah smiled satisfactorily, pleased with her manners. "Lovely to meet you, Miss. Forbes. You must be—"
"She's not Nik's sexual partner, if that's what you were thinking," said Rebekah, rolling her eyes.
"Rebekah," Klaus growled. She shrugged.
"I merely spoke the truth, didn't I, Nik?"
Well, maybe not the whole truth. Since I'm kind of having sexual thoughts and dreams about your brother and we spent that one wild night in his bedroom a month ago—
Stop it, Caroline!
Caroline stretched her lips into a smile, which Klaus took notice of. "Well," he said, clasping his hands together. "Let's get you lot home."
"Nik!" came Rebekah's screech moments after she had entered her bedroom. "Why isn't the closet bigger? I'm not some homeless person who has only five pairs of clothes."
Caroline couldn't understand why Rebekah needed a bigger closet, she had seen the cupboards in Klaus's guest bedrooms, and they seemed acceptable enough. She herself had closets that size at home.
"The closet's big enough for you, Bekah, live with it. I'm not Mother and Father, I'm not going to cater to your every whim."
"Be quiet, Nik," Rebekah growled, stomping into the living room. "Can't I have a different room?"
"Rebekah, all the rooms have similar sized closets. Even mine," Klaus added, after Rebekah had opened her mouth to interject.
"I don't know how you manage," she sniffed. "I need more space. How am I supposed to fit all my clothes into that weak excuse for a cupboard, Nik? You tell me."
"My suggestion would have been not to bring so many clothes for a one-week trip, Rebekah," said Klaus, flipping a page of his book.
Rebekah graced him with a few choice colorful swear words, then stormed back into the room, slamming the door shut. Elijah walked into the room, his hair swept back, not a single hair out of place, carrying a briefcase in his hand.
Caroline made a mental note to ask Elijah which shampoo he used. The man's hair was immaculately smooth.
"I'll be gone about two hours, Niklaus," said Elijah, walking to the door. "I was just informed that I had some business to attend to."
Klaus waved him off distractedly, not before Kol interjected. "Must you always speak so formally, Elijah? Why can't you talk normally?"
"Fine. I'll talk normally," said Elijah serenely. "Put a sock in it, Kol."
Klaus snorted beside her, and Elijah crossed his arms, pleased with himself. Kol looked more delighted than mad.
"That was a development! Insults!" he said gleefully. "We'll work on directing that energy towards Bekah later, Elijah. Right now, how about you swear?"
"No," said Elijah, already pulling up his socks.
"Go on, swear, Elijah."
"No."
"Say fuck," said Kol, pressing him on. "Say fuck, Elijah."
"No," Elijah said curtly, tying his shoes.
"Oh, please, Elijah. I want to rub this in Bekah's face when she hears you swore and she wasn't here to hear it."
"No, Kol."
"Just a little one. Any one will be fine."
"Be quiet, Kol."
"Anything, Elijah. Say any swear word."
"Fuck off, Kol," said Elijah irritably, slamming the door behind him. Kol jumped up and down with glee like a small child.
"Did you see that, Nik? I did it! I made Elijah swear!"
Klaus was staring at the door, his mouth open, while Kol clasped his hands together satisfactorily.
"This is wonderful. Now Rebekah owes me a free lunch."
"You bet on which one of you would make Elijah would swear first?" Klaus asked his younger brother incredulously.
"Yes!" said Kol cheerfully. "And now I get to go to the fanciest place in town, and order anything I want, and Rebekah has to pay."
Klaus shook his head at him when Kol ran into Rebekah's room, shouting something incoherent. Caroline and Klaus laughed quietly when they heard Rebekah's angry screech, but quickly regretted it when she came stomping into the living room, glaring at Kol.
"Tell me Kol's lying, Nik," she said to her older brother, her teeth clenched.
"I'd love to, but I can't," said Klaus, smiling despite of himself.
Rebekah screamed in frustration, almost causing Caroline to cover her ears. "Nik! Tell me Kol's not telling the truth! I don't want to go with him to lunch! He always buys the most expensive stuff!"
"If you didn't want to do this, you should've had the foresight to not place the bet in the first place, Bekah," Klaus said, trying to keep a straight face.
"Nik!" Rebekah screamed at him. "If you're going to talk, at least be helpful!"
"We have guests, Rebekah," said Klaus, gesturing to Caroline, who laughed inwardly.
"Am I not your guest, Nik?" Rebekah asked, putting her hands on her hips. "Will you not treat me with the same utmost devotion you show to Coraline?"
"Caroline," Caroline corrected.
"Whatever," said Rebekah dismissively, waving a hand. "Nik, answer me!"
"He doesn't have to answer, sister dear. You're just delaying the inevitable. You're taking me to lunch at…Nik, what's a good, expensive place to eat at?" Kol asked, smirking, ignoring Rebekah's angry shout.
"Peter Luger's," said Klaus distractedly, focusing on his book.
"NIK!"
"You placed the bet in the first place, Rebekah, you have to pay the price."
"Fine!" Rebekah snarled. "Fine. Grab your coat, Kol. Nik, when I come back, I'm going to put you through hell."
"I haven't even done anything wrong," said Klaus, not fazed by her threat.
"You've done something very wrong, Nik!"
"This was a bad idea," Klaus muttered as soon as Rebekah and Kol had gone out the door and were out of earshot. "I should never have introduced you."
Caroline laughed. "Sure, they look like they're a bit hard to handle, but they seem nice."
Klaus looked at her incredulously. "Hard to handle? They asked you if you were my girlfriend three times! And Rebekah threw a tantrum not five minutes after meeting me! Not that I'm not used to it," he added, muttering.
Caroline laughed again, and he brightened. "Not that I'd mind if the first part was true, either, of course."
Caroline shook her head. "Don't get into that, Nik. Not when your siblings are here."
"They've left. And why not?" he asked in a low voice. "You never told me about your feelings about me, Caroline, even after I expressed mine to you."
He looked at her, his mouth quirking up at a side. "I fancy you."
She let out a quiet scoff, closing her eyes in amusement. He leaned closer to her, eyebrow raised.
"Is that so hard to believe?"
"Yes," she said, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Why?" he asked, shutting down his laptop. "You're beautiful, you're strong, you're full of light." He smiled this time, when she looked incredulously dubious. "I enjoy you."
"You—you don't even know me."
"Like I said before, sweetheart, I'm willing to get to know you. If you give me a chance, that is."
She huffed playfully, before narrowing her eyes at him. "Just to be clear, I'm too smart to be seduced by you."
He let out a pure, genuine smile. "Well, that's why I like you."
Those words had been circling around in Caroline's head for the past week, reminding her of her and Klaus's conversation.
Seriously, why couldn't those words just mind their own business and retreat to the back of her mind where all the useless thoughts about stupid things stayed, like Elena and Damon's relationship?
Klaus was as infuriating and confusing as he was nice and attractive.
Very attractive.
She shook herself out of her thoughts and sighed. "Nik, your family's going to be back here soon. I don't want to—"
"Don't want to what?"
The worst part was that Caroline couldn't think of a good argument. Klaus smirked, victorious.
"Come now, love, don't make excuses. You know you have feelings for me too."
"Not true," Caroline said, tasting the lie on her tongue the second it was uttered. She bit her lip and stared at Klaus, who was still smirking.
"Why aren't you willing to admit that you find me attractive!"
"Not everyone finds you attractive, Nik!" she said, staring him in the eyes. "It was one night. One night. Why are you so obsessed with making me like you?"
He stepped closer to her, so close that their noses were almost touching. "I think I told you the answer to your question a week ago in my office, Caroline. I'm sure you haven't forgotten."
His breath was hot on her face, his eyes dark. She breathed in sharply and swallowed, backtracking, Klaus following her until she was pressed against a wall. His nose grazed her cheek, making her shiver. His hands traced the curve of her waist, making goosebumps erupt on every surface of her body. Her knees gave way under her and she stumbled, falling down onto the bed, but not letting go of Klaus. He continued looking at her, the same fervor in his eyes, and she closed her eyes, as he traced his hands down her legs.
His mouth finally found hers, and she drew him to her eagerly. He parted her lips open with his tongue, and she noticed he tasted of chocolate, probably from the sweets he had stolen from Kol in the car, and there was a lingering taste of tea leaves left over from their break at the airport.
"Nik," she whispered against his mouth, as he traced circles on her thighs. "Nik, we should stop."
He shook his head, one hand going into her hair. She sighed against him, weaving her fingers into the curls at his nape.
"Nik, we really should stop."
"Why?" he muttered against her mouth. "We've done loads more than this before. Many times."
She blushed, remembering the night a month ago. "It's not that, Nik, your siblings could walk in on us at any time."
"They're out."
"Rebekah could've forgotten something," she said feebly.
"So?" he asked, his hands winding around her waist, still not letting go of her.
"We literally just told them that we weren't dating. Rebekah already doesn't like me very much. She'll go ballistic if she finds out you lied to her."
"Let her," he murmured, his tongue brushing the corner of her lips, making her groan. "She'll have to live with it. And you don't have to worry about it very much. I've gotten her angry many times and she's calmed down fairly quickly."
"But, Nik—"
"I'm a bit preoccupied, sweetheart, stop talking."
"Nik—"
"Stop talking, love."
He moved his mouth down to her neck, kissing her pulse point, making her moan. He smirked against her skin, and Caroline noticed that her flats had slipped from her feet and were probably on the floor now. She traced her hands down Klaus's spine, biting on his ear, making him swear.
"I remember everything about you, Caroline," he said in a low voice, making her shudder. "What you like to do, what you like to be done to you, where you like it done—"
He stopped mid-sentence and laughed when she immediately started opening the buttons on his shirt, and shrugged off his jacket. "You looked ravishing that night, did I tell you that?"
She moaned softly when his fingers brushed against her inner thighs, dipping under her skirt.
"Oh, screw it," she muttered, and he laughed.
"I knew I'd win you over," he said, biting her neck, leaving a bright red mark which she knew was going to stay there for at least two days.
"Stop talking and get the fuck on with it, Nik."
He laughed again, helping her out of her sweater. "Wait," he said, drawing away. His lips were red and swollen, and she knew hers probably looked the same, given how he was looking at her. "I need to do something first."
"Do you have—"
"Yes, I do, but it's not that," he said, grinning. "Do you admit that you like me too, now?"
She groaned. "You are so petty."
"Admit it, love," he said, and she wouldn't have said it if it weren't for the fact that she needed him so badly.
"Yes, I like you very much, Nik."
He smiled. "I'll lock the door."
"I can't believe I was stupid enough to not do this a month ago," said Caroline, as she looked at him, her skin flushed. Klaus smiled.
"I can agree."
"If it weren't for the fact that I'm tired right now, I'd hit you so badly."
He grinned. "You're tired, eh, love? Wore you out, did I?"
"Stop being a smug asshat, Nik. Yes, I'm tired, but you—"
"Oh, no, love, I'm going to use every single opportunity to remind you of how mad you were to not do this a month before."
Caroline rolled her eyes. "I regret it, ok? Very much. Now stop reminding me."
"You don't want me to remind you of things?" he asked, kissing her. "Why not? Last time I checked you enjoyed the things I did to you."
She sighed, pressing her hand against his chest. "You're being a smug asshat, Nik."
"I don't care," he said, kissing her forehead, and she was surprised at the intimacy of the gesture. She got up and reached for her skirt, only to be pulled back down by her wrist back to the bed.
"No, Nik, I have to go," she said, forcing herself to get up again. "I promised Stefan I'd meet him and Damon for lunch."
He kissed her, parting her lips open. "You don't even like Damon."
"I know, but I'm doing it for Stefan."
"Fuck Stefan."
"Nik, be nice."
"He's a prick."
"He hasn't really done anything bad, Nik," Caroline reprimanded him.
"He's making you leave," Klaus said, entwining his fingers in hers. "In my world, that's a really bad thing to do."
"Very mature of you, Nik."
He didn't say anything, but pulled her closer to him, slipping his hand around her waist. She drew away from him with a sigh, making him groan aloud.
"I really have to go, Nik," Caroline said regretfully, clasping on her bra and shrugging on her shirt. "Later, I promise."
She got up, slipping her shoes on, then was struck by a sudden thought. "Unless, you'd rather there won't be a next time?"
Klaus's eyebrows furrowed together. "What do you mean?"
Caroline looked at him, her hands twisting together nervously, deciding to get straight to the point. "Do you want to date me, Nik?"
He laughed incredulously, the stopped when he saw the look on her face. "What?"
"Are you willing to go out with me? Not just have sex with me, actually be with me. The whole package—coffee dates, staying in the morning, having breakfast together—"
She was silenced as he kissed her again. "I told you I fancied you," he said, looking her in the eyes. "Not just wanted you for sex, actually, genuinely liked you. I want to date you, Caroline," he said, making her smile. "The whole agenda. Whatever you said—and more," he finished, kissing her on the lips chastely, then drawing back in for a deeper one. She pulled away regretfully, laughing at the distressed expression on his face.
"There'll be more later, Nik, I promise."
He sighed and nodded regretfully.
"Hi, Care," Stefan smiled, drawing her in for a hug.
"Hi, Stef. Is Damon here already?"
"No, not yet. He'll be here in a few minutes, though. He just texted me. How's the benefit planning going?"
"It's going better than I expected, actually," she said happily.
Stefan nodded. "Sorry I couldn't help."
"Oh, it's no problem. I understand."
"I was actually going to tell you that I could start from tomorrow afternoon, if you still want me."
"Of course, she wants you, Stef," said a slurring, drawling voice from the door, making them both turn around to see the smirking, smiling face of Damon Salvatore. "You're so hot, why wouldn't she want you?"
"She didn't mean it like that, Damon," Stefan said irritably, and Caroline remembered all the reasons Klaus was right and she didn't want to come.
Damon walked over to them, stumbling slightly. "Maybe she did, maybe she didn't. You're always so negative, baby bro, be a bit more positive."
"Damon," Caroline said distastefully, leaning closer towards him. "Are you drunk? Right now?"
"My, my, my, Carebear, and you amaze me with observant percef—percec—percepc—"
"Perceptiveness," Stefan finished for him, with a foul look directed towards his brother. Damon snapped his fingers.
"Yeah, that."
"It's one in the afternoon, Damon. Could you not start drinking right now?"
"Why not?" Damon asked innocently, staring at Stefan with wide, bloodshot eyes. "It's just a beer. Mixed with a little vodka. And rum. People drink it all the time."
"How are you not dead yet?" Stefan asked.
"You don't have to drink that right now, Damon," said Caroline, pulling the drink from his hand.
"You look hot when you get all bossy, Caroline. That'll do good in more ways than one."
"I think you've had enough, Damon," Stefan said, forcing him to sit down in a chair. "Apologize to Caroline right now."
"Mm-kay," Damon said, focusing on Caroline. He had trouble doing so, so when he finally managed it, he stretched his mouth into a sarcastic smile. "Sorry, Carebear."
"Damon," Stefan snarled.
"What? I said sorry, didn't I?" Damon asked, leaning down in his seat. "Bourbon, neat," he said to a nearby waiter, who nodded and walked off.
"Damon, you reek of vodka," said Caroline, fanning the air. "You don't need to drink anymore."
"I don't need to, but do I want to? Yes, yes I do."
"Damon—"
"Chill, Stef," said Damon, with a wide grin. "But you'll be happy now anyway, won't you?" he asked, the smirk sliding from his face to be replaced by a dejected look.
"What do you mean?" Stefan asked distractedly.
"Elena and I broke up."
Oh, well, that's unexpected, Caroline thought sarcastically.
"What?" Stefan demanded.
Oh, my god, if he forgets the conversation we had a couple days back, I'm going to strangle him.
"Well, if we're going to be specific, she dumped me. Something about having feelings for someone else."
"So she's single now?" Stefan asked, trying not to sound too intrigued.
I'm going to strangle him.
"Yep."
Stefan shifted in his seat. "Really?"
If he's thinking it's him I swear I'll kill him. It is probably going to be him, but still…
"Mm hmm," said Damon, snatching his beer from Caroline.
"Is that why you're drinking?" Stefan asked his elder brother.
"Well, yeah, that, and also because I like drinking," said Damon, the unsaid word duh surrounding his head like a halo. The waiter arrived with Damon's drink, but Caroline snatched it out of his hand before he could take a sip.
"What the hell, Blondie?" Damon snarled.
She fixed him with a venomous glare, making him shrink back into his seat and making Stefan eye her appreciatively. "If I'm going to sober you up and do it while surviving, I'm going to need this," she said, swinging the drink back.
This, Caroline thought, was going to be a long two hours.
So we're done with chapter 4! I'm excited, this story seems to be moving along faster than I expected!
So, Klaroline is here! They finally did it! Again!
Elijah, Kol, and Rebekah have also arrived, which means drama will come back soon. I really enjoy writing their sibling banter, so I'm going to have lots of it in the next chapter.
Klaroline is going to go through a few more developments in the following chapter, but I'm not sharing any spoilers. The benefit will also take place in the next chapter, and two very special people will meet there.
I think I'm sharing spoilers.
Anyway, so two of my minor characters, the ones which I've invented, will be having their own story as well. I think that makes the story more realistic.
I'm sharing spoilers. Damn it. Ah well.
As usual, PLEASE REVIEW! See you soon!
-Sophia