Two

"So it's ours!" Bonnie cried as she came down the stairs of the apartment.

Her eyes were bright, and she clapped her hands with an overwhelming amount of joy as she came into kitchen. Her giddy mood was far too happy for the grumpy blonde sitting at the kitchen table. Caroline looked like someone had taken her favorite blood type and left out to spoil in the sun. Her lips were pursed into a frown as she stared up from her mug of dark roast with a hint of negative O.

"Why are you so peppy?"

Bonnie twirled – actually twirled like a Disney princess and it was image that Caroline would never forget. Was it even possible for her smile to get brighter? Because it certainly had gotten brighter. It was like looking at the sun for the first time in years. She should be happy that Bonnie was even smiling. Aside from the move, her mind for the last few weeks had been on how she wanted to bury herself in a hole so she wouldn't have to see Nora flaunt her relationship with Mary-Louise in her face. Well actually it was the other way around because any time Nora wasn't looking, the blonde wore a shit-eating grin that told Bonnie that she had won.

But it was like Bonnie had woken up and decided today was going to be a totally different day. They had finished moving everything into the apartment earlier in the week and they had gone grocery shopping last night after Bonnie got out of class.

It was a good thing Caroline had her coffee; otherwise she was pretty sure she would be grumpier than she already was.

"I can't be happy?" Bonnie asked her and then sat down across from her. "I spent the last few weeks bitter that my ex was cheating on me."

Caroline hummed into her mug, eyes cutting away from her roommate. Nora was still on her watchlist and once the timeline was done, she was going to go missing. But for now, she would comply with Bonnie's request. She had wanted a normal year, she reminded herself. A normal year of no witches, no werewolves, or vampires.

"But I'm not about to let this get me down. We just moved into a new place, Care. We should go out tonight and celebrate."

"Can't do that tonight," Caroline informed her. She set the mug down and flashed over to the toaster as the two bagels she had put in there popped up. She reached for her plate and the cut-up avocado she had sliced earlier. After spreading her cream cheese and sliced avocado, she went for the other bagel. Bonnie had been absolutely in love with the honey and cinnamon bagels from the bakery on the corner, as well the almond cream cheese spread.

"Aww, why not?" Bonnie asked, a pout playing on her lips even once Caroline placed the bagel in front of her. She thanked her and bit into the bagel, savoring the sweetness of the honey and the soft hints of cinnamon.

"I will be out tonight."

Bonnie swallowed her bagel and groaned. "Who was it?"

Caroline stared at her. "What do you mean?"

"You used the tone, so who was it?" the witch asked, wiping away a bit of cream cheese with her tongue. Caroline only used that tone when she was hiding something from her. She really had to figure out her tones and how to not sure them in front of Bonnie.

She sounded like she was going to be meeting up with someone from her past. The big and mysterious past she never wanted to talk about outside of she was running from it. Bonnie wished she could run from hers. Magic was in her veins, even she couldn't use it right now. Of course that been voluntarily. Magic had almost gotten her killed two years ago.

Bonnie frowned at those thoughts. She wasn't about to think about that again. Right now she was curious about why Caroline was so upset.

"I have a tone?" the vampire asked, eyebrow raised in curiosity.

"That's not important right now. Who are you meeting tonight?"

Caroline huffed. "It isn't important…"

"Yes, it is," interjected the witch, narrowing her eyes. Did Caroline really think she didn't know when something supernatural was going on?

"Bonnie, please I don't want to talk about it."

Bonnie opened her mouth and the vampire decided that they were done with this conversation. She flashed out the room, leaving Bonnie alone. With a frustrated groan, Bonnie raised her head to the ceiling and screamed, "Real mature Caroline!"

x-x-x-x-x

They didn't see each other for almost two days after that. Bonnie had buried herself into her school studies and spending nights out at the diner. Caroline had been back to the house but made sure she was gone well before Bonnie got back. It was weighting on the blonde how she was keeping things from her roommate.

Elijah had wanted to meet with her and when they had met, it was so he could get more questions about Elena. It wasn't lost on the blonde that her former roommate looked a great deal like the woman who Klaus had been trying to find for the last few centuries. But she had assured her maker that Elena was human; heartbroken and healing from a tragedy but she was human. She had been searching for Katherine for years but the woman had almost literally become a ghost. While her creator had not been happy with that development, he had promised he would keep in touch with her in case Niklaus came sniffing around.

It was just after six when Caroline bound her way up the stairs to their apartment. Bonnie had a night class and wouldn't be home until around nine and wouldn't want to do anything but fall asleep. She reached into her pocket and grabbed her key. She placed it in the lock, turned it and opened the door. Once inside, she shut the door behind her and locked the bottom lock.

"Hey," she stilled and turned to see Bonnie sitting on the couch. Caroline made a quick glance at the clock. It read seven minutes after six and the vampire looked at her roommate. Bonnie was sitting with her knees drawn up to her chest, wrapped in longue pants and a long-sleeved shirt. "Class was canceled for the night. But I couldn't go to sleep without talking to you."

Caroline hummed but said nothing as she moved to sit in Bonnie's reading chair. "Is this about my secrecy?"

"I figured it was about Elijah," Bonnie told her with a shrug.

"It was," the blonde answered. She wondered if she should tell her the rest.

Bonnie nodded and picked at some lint.

"I'm sorry."

The witch looked up at her, but Caroline decided to continue anyway. "I know you want a normal year, so I'm trying to keep everything a non-supernatural zone. Having you freaking out about anything different is just going to have you worried about something you aren't prepared for is a definite no-go. You're my number one priority Bonnie-boo,"

A chuckle left Bonnie and she shook her head at that god-awful nickname. The witch got up and walked over to the vampire and held out a hand. "New deal?"

"What are the terms?"

"We can talk about supernatural things, but we can't bring it into the apartment. Deal?"

Caroline arose and clasped hands with her. "Deal."

The girls smiled at each other. This was going to work.

"Oh yeah, keep the supernatural things away from the creepy haunted apartment," came a voice. It was male and it caused Bonnie to jump and whirl around. She let out a shriek while Caroline whirled ready to attack. She paused at the sight in front of her.

"Holy sh—"

"Bonnie!" Caroline interjected, stopping the young witch from putting her foot in her mouth. With a quick glance back, she found her roommate had her jaw hanging out.

While it was adorable, now was not the time for it. Taking her hand, the blonde placed it under Bonnie's chin and raised it until her mouth shut. She then turned her attention back to their house guest.

She knew Stefan from the pictures Elena had packed up. They didn't do him much justice; he was a looker. Coiffed hair that was between honey brown and blonde, a strong jawline and very romance book cover hero looks. His eyes were a shade brighter than Bonnie's almost a more grey-green than Bonnie's vibrant ones.

"Caroline, there is a ghost in our apartment."

"I can see him, Bonnie."

"Do ghosts just…haunt the places they die in?" Bonnie seemed to ponder this for a moment and then cursed. "Holy shit, would Gram be able to haunt her place once she passes on?"

Caroline chose to ignore Bonnie's ramblings about how embarrassing it would have been for her dead grandmother to have seen her, as the witch so tastefully put it, studying her now ex-girlfriend's Georgia O'Keefe rather thoroughly. She was also thanking every instant her grandmother decided today was not to day to die. Shelia Bennet would pass on her own terms. Instead she stepped forward and waved her hand to the specter.

"Hello," she greeted, voice bubbly and while her smile was all teeth. "A pleasure to meet you, Stefan. I'm Caroline and that is Bonnie," she jabbed a thumb in the witch's direction.

"We're friends of Elena's," she offered when the ghost said nothing.

"I know who you are," Stefan told her, his eyes cutting the still rambling human in the room. He looked like he was amused. "People watching is kind of the only hobby I have around here."

Bonnie seemed to have picked that up. "Oh so you're a creepy ghost, that's comforting to know."

Caroline whirled on the witch, her eyes pleading for the girl to stop. She loved her, and would burn everything down for her, but right now, Bonnie needed to relax. They were now on his turf and had been for the last three weeks.

"Don't give me that look," Bonnie said, matching it with her own. "Our college roommate's dead fiancé is haunting the apartment he died in. We don't know if he's a good ghost or a bad one."

"Are you a good witch or a bad witch?"

The witch and the ghost locked eyes, one set filled with shock and mild amusement while the other were playful and Stefan wore a bright grin.

"I can promise I'm not a creeper. I make myself scarce when anything supernatural talks happen. Or other things," he shrugged, his eyes meeting Caroline's.

Bonnie frowned. "What does he mean by that?"

"You may want to sterilize the couch and your reading chair, Bon." Stefan shrugged before taking that moment to disperse in a burst of vapors.

"Caroline, what did you do in my chair?"