This is basically the exact same thing as Moonstruck, except with the obvious supernatural stuff in it. It's just got Klaroline written all over it.
Caroline came from an Italian family. The old kind where every generation was invited to stay in one house together, no matter how little resources or how small the house or big the family. Boy did she have a big family.
She had three brothers, Damien, Paul and Adrian. Though Ade and Paul had moved out with their new families and moved so far away they couldn't hear the shattering of their mother's heart. Every one of her brothers was married, and Damien's wife was expecting their second child.
Caroline's parents' siblings had all moved in together with them when they got married, too. Her father had a sister, and her mother had two brothers. One brother died ten years ago. The most interesting thing in this family to her, was that her father was gay. He'd openly admitted it, been sent to church to repent, and the priest had come back with his hand on her father's shoulder, explaining to everyone God had made him that way. Of course her mother Elizabeth was no fan, she's had to start her love life over. But eventually she was alright with her ex-husband staying. Along with his new boyfriend, Damian with an 'a'.
The in-laws all heaped onto the pile of family. The only grandparent Caroline had left was her nearly 98 year-old grandfather, who spent all of his time upstairs playing with his five big dogs. If her mother hadn't confined the dogs to upstairs, she'd see her grandfather more often than just dinnertime. But luckily, the house was a big as the family.
Others had called it a mansion, when her mother insisted it was just a house. A big square thing that took up the entire block. Three stories, not including the basement, and an attic so small nothing could live there except mice. The family dinner table obviously took up the entire room, ten people around it every night, and then the dogs kept in a kennel off to the side, her grandfather funneling his least favorite daughter-in-law's food to them. There was a reason he was the skinniest in the house.
Her brothers all having gotten married and started families bothered her day in and day out. She loved her nieces and nephews, and wished she was as close to her other brothers' kids the way she was with Dahlia. She wanted more than anything to add to her huge family tree and give her favorite niece another playmate.
There was her love life. She'd gotten serious with a lot of men, but none of them had ever wanted more from her than what she could offer on the mattress. Tyler had come close though. He'd asked her to run away with him one day. But she knew she would miss her family too much to say yes. When she watched him walk away from their four year relationship, he threw an engagement ring into a sewer grate.
But now she was dating a perfect gentleman, if not someone she actually cared for. Stephano, who had grown up in Sicily and stolen her family's heart just from that one fact. He was nervous, a pessimist, and never considered her opinion. But he didn't cheat, and he never laid a hand on her. At nearly 40 years old, this was good enough for her.
They were at dinner in their favorite restaurant. Every Italian in town's favorite restaurant. And from the beads of sweat trailing down Stephano's face, and his insincere smiles, she was expecting him either to end it right here right now, or propose. She honestly couldn't tell which.
Their waiter she knew by name, Bobo, put down expressos for them.
"How's things, eh?"
"Fine bobo, we'll have the check."
"Oh, no we'll have the desert cart first."
"Very good." Bobo replied, turning away. Caroline eyed Stephan suspiciously.
"You never have desert."
"Never's a long time." He chuckled, than started laughing at his joke. Caroline just stared at him. Suddenly he started scratching at his scalp.
"What's the matter with you?" She asked.
"My scalp's not getting enough blood these days." Stephan replied sheepishly, fixing his hair. She nodded and went back to her food.
Then the desert tray showed up.
"Have some desert." He encouraged.
"No, I shouldn't." She replied.
"Will you marry me?" Stephan suddenly asked.
"What?"
Stephan leaned over the table. "Will you marry me?" He asked more slowly.
"Bobo, take the cart away." Caroline asked the waiter. The tray diligently rolled away.
"Are you proposing marriage to me?" She asked, not believing her ears.
"Yes." Stephan smiled.
"Okay. Um, you know that I was with Tyler, and that we nearly got engaged. What you don't know is, I think he and I had bad luck."
"How do you mean?" He asked.
"Could you kneel down?" She asked, dodging the question. He looked at her like she was crazy.
"This is a new suit!"
"I know it's a new suit, I helped you pick it out, it comes with two pairs of pants!" She sighed. "Stephan, it's for luck. I mean, when a man proposes marriage to a woman, he should kneel down."
She began to stare at him expectantly. Challenging him. That way she didn't have to outright say 'no' if he decided against one wish of hers, but counted towards him if he did. Stephan leaned back in his chair, and with a huff he slowly stood, looked around in embarrassment and then slowly got onto the floor.
She stared at the ceiling praying for more patience.
Stephan clumsily shuffled on his knees over to her side of the table, drawing everyone in the restaurant's attention.
"So, what-"
"Where's the ring?" Caroline cut him off. His jaw dropped.
"The ring!" He replied, a hand to it now. She fought the urge to roll her eyes. Clearly her dearly beloved knew she was gonna say yes and didn't even think about getting the one thing that would make this arrangement official.
Idiot.
"A ring, that's right." A man at the table next to him piped up. "I would've sprung for a ring if it was me, capiche?" He added. Stephan chose to ignore him.
"You can use your pinkie ring." Caroline prompted.
"I like this ring!" Stephan protested.
"A man proposes to a woman, he should offer her a ring of engagement." She gently encouraged. Stephan took the thick gold band off his pinkie with a sad face. The maitre'd at the other end of the restaurant shushed a couple waiting to be seated.
"Caroline," Stephan began again. "Caroline Elizabeth-Castorini. On my knees. In front of all these people..." Caroline felt the eyes of everyone on her with smiles. Stephan had already slipped the band onto her wedding ring finger.
If only they knew.
"Will you marry me?" He asked earnestly.
"Yes, Stephan. Yes Stephano Miksoroni, I will marry you, I will be your wife." Caroline grinned. Stephan began to smile back at her.
Applause erupted from the back, then spread like wildfire to the rest of the room. Stephan soaked up the praise as if he was going to be planning the wedding later, then pressed a kiss to her hand.
"Bobo! The check!" He ordered happily. Cheers grew louder.
"Right away, Mr. Miksoroni," the waiter replied.
But there was another problem.
Caroline and Stephano began their drive to the airport.
"What about the wedding?" Caroline asked. Stephan glanced at her in confusion.
"My mother is dying," he replied.
It was true, Lillian Miksoroni had been dying of old age and a side of prostate problems for the past few months. She hadn't gotten out of bed in the last one.
"When she's dead, I'll come back and we'll get married," Stephan stated.
"How near death is she?" Caroline asked, unconcerned.
"A week. Two weeks, no more," He promised.
"How about we set a date. How about a month?" She offered.
"Why does it have to be so definite? Can't we just say we'll get married when I get back?" Stephan buried his head in his hands.
"Where would we get married then, Stephan? City Hall? No." She replied.
"My mother is dying." He repeated gravely.
"I want a wedding Stephan, or we'll have bad luck. And for a whole wedding to be planned, we need to set a date."
"Alright then, a month."
"A month from today."
"In a month." He insisted.
"A month from today!"
"Alright, a month from today, what-" Stephan began stuttering.
"Okay, okay." She calmed him, her hand up in surrender against the steering wheel. "I'll take care of it, Stephan. I'll take care of the whole thing, all you have to do is show up."
Stephan bit his fist and looked out his passenger window.
Went they got the airport, Caroline led him up to the boarding door.
"Call me when you get in," Caroline ordered him. Stephan nodded.
"I'll call you when I get to Mama's house." He negotiated. She nodded her agreement and smiled.
"You made me very happy today." She stated.
"There's one thing about this wedding I want you to do." Stephan replied, taking a slip of paper from his suit pocket. "I want you to call this number. It's a business number, ask for Nicky. Nicklaus. Invite him to the wedding."
"Okay well who is it?"
"He's my brother."
"You have a brother?"
"We haven't spoken in five years." He shook his head and smiled to himself. "There was some bad blood. I want you to call and invite him to the wedding, will you?"
"Sure."
The overhead speaker announced boarding for his flight, and people began to clamor for the flight attendant's attention.
"I gotta go." Stephan said.
"Have your ticket?" She asked. He fumbled around in his pockets then brought out a long slip of paper. "Here, I got you these cough drops." She handed a new bag over to him.
"Opens your ears when you chew." Stephan added, she nodded. "I gotta go."
As soon as he hurried away, he stopped. He turned back to her, putting his hat over his heart and stared. She smiled and walked over to him, kissing him. He stared again and nearly kissed her again, but turned and hurried to the flight attendant.
Caroline saw Stephan's plane off, then turned around and headed to her car, heading for home. Before long she was there.
When she turned into her house's living room, her father was there, leaning in his favorite chair listening to his favorite record. She greeted him and went to put her coat on the rack in the hallway. Soon enough the click-clack of her grandfather's dogs erupted from the top of the stairs, and all five dogs came down to greet her. She patted each of their coats.
"Hi guys! Guess what happened to me today." She stood upright and saw her grandfather at the top of the stairs in a long striped robe.
"Ciao, bello." She greeted with a wave. He waved back lightly, then called for the dogs. Mustn't let them stay downstairs for too long for her mother would know.
"How long must I wait, come!" He called to them for a minute before they turned back and followed him back upstairs. Caroline went back into the living room and glanced at the sleeping Damian, a fist curled up and propping his head up in the chair opposite his father. She came to stand next to William.
"You look tired, dad." She noted, pushing hair back from his face. He waved off her concerns.
"I can't sleep anymore. Feels too much like death." He confided.
"I've got news" she prompted.
"Alright, let's go into the kitchen." He stood, leaving Damian still sleeping, and she followed him in. He got out two wine glasses, poured white in.
"Te amo." She told him.
"Te amo," He replied with a smile. They both took a sip. She joined him to sit at the kitchen table.
"So, what's this big news?" He asked. She took in a deep breath.
"I'm getting married." She said an a shrug, smiling.
"Again?"
"Yeah."
"You almost did this once before, it didn't work out." He protested.
"Yeah well the guy died."
"And what killed him?"
"You know how he died."
"Bad luck is what killed him. You nearly married someone and they died. Your mother and I were married 32 years before I came out. Don't get married, Caroline. It doesn't work for either of us."
"Is that why you've never proposed to Damian?"
"Who's the man?" He asked.
"Stephano Miksoroni."
"Steph!" He bit back laughter. "Stephano Miksoroni is a mess of a human. And why isn't he with you here telling me this?" He asked suspiciously.
"He's flying to Sicily because his mother is dying."
"More bad luck! I don't like his face, Caroline. I don't like his lips! When he smiles I can't see his teeth, what is he hiding?! When are you gonna do it?"
"In a month." She replied.
"I won't come." He challenged.
"You gotta come, you gotta give me away!" She protested.
"I didn't intend to give you away the first time." He challenged again.
"And I had bad luck!" She yelled back at him, rising from her seat.
"You know, maybe if you-if you gave me away, and I got married in a church, in a wedding dress, instead of down at the City Hall with STRANGERS outside the door, then maybe I wouldn't have the bad luck I had then."
"Maybe." He replied sheepishly.
"You know dad, Tyler just asked me to run away with him. He didn't give any indication he was gonna propose, than he jay walked across the street and threw my ring into a sewer." She sat down and fiddled with the lip of her wine glass.
"Stephan got down on his knees to propose to me tonight." She added quietly.
"He did?"
"Yeah."
"That doesn't sound like Stephan."
"Well..." She nearly told him the truth.
"Where's the ring?" He asked. She held out her hand proudly. The gold band was too big to fit on her wedding ring finger, and so now it was displayed on her middle finger.
"It looks stupid!" William exclaimed in hurt, pointing at it. "It's a pinkie ring! A baby's- it's a man's ring!" Caroline drew her hand back and stared at it, letting the truth sink in and her eyes widened.
"It's temporary!" She exploded.
'EVERYTHING IS TEMPORARY! That doesn't excuse anything!"
Caroline pointed upstairs, knowing her mother was asleep alone in her bedroom.
"You coming?" She asked with a strained smile.
He groaned and slammed his hands on the table while rising from his seat. She did the same.
"Elizabeth?" William called, turning into the dark room. "Elizabeth?" He said again, standing at his ex-wife's bedside. The old woman's eyes opened and she focused on him. Caroline stood next to her father.
"Who's dead?" Elizabeth asked immediately.
"There are bound to be people that died today, but no one we know." He put a hand in his robe pocket while Elizabeth turned on her lamp. "Caroline's getting married."
"Again?" Elizabeth asked.
"Yeah." Caroline replied, William nodded.
"Stephan Miksoroni." Her mother realized as her daughter sat beside her.
"I don't like him." William stated.
"You're not marrying him, Bill." Elizabeth turned to Caroline. "Do you love him, honey?"
"No." She didn't even have to think about it. Not one shred of passion or happiness came from seeing Stephan's face in her mind. But that wasn't important.
"Good. When you love them, they drive you crazy. Because they can. But do you like him?" Elizabeth asked.
"Yeah, I mean he's a sweet man, mom. And this time I'm getting married in a church, have a proper reception, everything."
"Who's gonna pay for that?" Elizabeth mused.
"Daddy." Caroline replied without thinking again.
"What?" William asked. Caroline looked at her father.
"Father of the bride pays." She replied. This couldn't have been news to him.
"I have no money!" He protested.
"You're rich as Roosevelt." Elizabeth stated. William stormed out of the room. "You're just cheap, Bill!"
"I'm not paying." He called.
"You know it's your duty as my father to pay for my wedding!" Caroline called after him.
"I'm not paying!" He protested again.
Caroline sighed and looked back at her mother.
"He didn't use to be cheap, honey. He thinks if he holds onto his money, he won't die." Elizabeth explained. She huffed.
This was an argument for another time, Caroline decided. She kissed her mother on the cheek as a goodnight and went to her room, thinking about wedding dresses and flowers until she passed out. It didn't take long.
Caroline came downstairs as soon as her stomach started to rumble, and locked eyes with Elizabeth as a hello.
"So, will you live here?" She asked. Apparently they were talking about Stephan again already.
"No." Caroline replied.
"Why not?" Her mother protested.
"Dad doesn't like Stephan."
"So we'll sell the house." Elizabeth decided.
"When I was with Tyler, you didn't sell."
"Your grandma was still alive. Now Paul's gotten married, joined Adrian in Florida...and Damien's having his second baby." Caroline knew where this conversation was going.
"Mom, I'm 37 years old." She stated.
"What's 37? I didn't have you all until after I was 37." Elizabeth joined her daughter at the table with their plates of breakfast. One big sausage and a bunch of eggs.
"Stephan's got a big place, we'll move in there." Caroline said. She glanced at her mother bowing her head. "I want to live here, Ma, I do, but Daddy doesn't like Stephan."
The phone rang just as she began to cut into her sausage and she sighed.
"Hello?"
And italian woman greeted her over the phone with happy words, and she grinned back.
"Caroline?"
"Yeah!" She yelled, thinking the connection was bad. He shushed her.
"Caroline, it's me." Stephan replied. "I'm calling from the death bed of my mother."
"How was your plane ride?" She asked, trying to distract him.
"It was good. The stewardesses were very nice. My mother is slipping away!"
Caroline heard a loud italian woman in the background, who was shushed by a mourner. That woman was still kicking.
"I can't talk long." Stephan excused.
"Did you tell her we're getting married?" Caroline asked.
"No, no not yet. I'm waiting until she's peaceful." He replied.
"Don't wait until she's dead."
"Have you called my brother?" He asked
"Oh no, I'm sorry, not yet. I forgot."
"Will you do it today?"
"Yes, yes."
"Make sure he comes to the wedding. Five years is too long for bad blood between brothers. Nothing can replace the family, Caroline! I see that now." His voice got desperate and Caroline rolled her eyes, looking at her mother. Elizabeth just shrugged in confusion.
"Caroline? Caroline!" Stephan yelled over the phone.
"Okay, I'll do it today. And listen, you know call me after you tell her, okay?" She replied.
"Alright. Alright."
"Alright, bye bye." She said. She didn't wait for his reply as she slammed the receive back into the rotary phone, and went to her purse to search for Nicky Miksoroni's number.
"How's the mother?" Elizabeth asked.
"Dying."
Caroline then went back to the phone and rang in the numbers.
"Miksoroni" A woman greeted on the other side.
"Yeah, is Nicky Miksoroni there please?" Caroline asked.
"One moment." The woman replied. "Nicky, the phone!" Caroline heard. "Nicky!"
Another phone was picked up and woman put hers down.
"Yeah, this is Nicky!" A gruff voice sounded suddenly.
"Yeah, um...I'm calling for your brother, and he's getting married and would like it if you would come." Caroline replied.
"Why didn't he call himself?" Nicky said, clearly offended.
"He's in Palermo."
"What's wrong can never be made right." He stated. She shook her head, not caring about this bad blood.
"Look, if I could just come and talk-"
The phone was hung up right then, she could practically hear it slamming back down on the receiver.
"Talk to you!?" Caroline turned to her mother. "Animal!" She shouted at the phone. "What an animal!" She slammed the receiver down herself and stormed over to her food.
Nick picked up a shovel and threw a pile of coals into an oven. The fire turned color as it took in the new source of accelerent.
Today she'd go to the bakery the card showed and just talk to Nicky. Maybe he was just detained for a moment and hadn't had time to call back and apologize. Either way she made a promise to her fiance and was going to keep it. This man was going to become her brother-in-law after all.
The doorbell rung as she stepped in, waiting for the customers in front of her to finish their business. The woman behind the counter sent them off with goodbyes. Then her attention was turned to Caroline.
"Uh, is Nicky Miksoroni here?" Caroline asked. The woman behind the counter's demeanor changed dramatically.
"He's down in the ovens, what do you want?" She asked with venom.
"I wanna talk to him." Caroline snapped. The woman's eyes flashed and sized her up. Caroline looked at her curiously as she went around the counter and led her out the door.
"This way." She said over her back.
They went down the stairs adjacent to the store.
"NICKY!" Camille shouted at the base of the stairs.
"What?" Another voice sounded
"Somebody's here to see Nicky." Camille replied as she journeyed further into the ovens, Caroline following behind.
"Nicky! Nick, someone's here to see you!" The man who'd replied yelled again, throwing down ready made loaves of bread into a huge sack.
Caroline followed Camille to the middle of their wall, and stopped. Then Caroline saw a man standing in front of a built-in oven, the orange glow emanating and lighting his chest as well. The man turned his head to her.
Good Lord Almighty, this man was a mess. Hair sticking out every which way, he definitely needed a haircut. His facial hair overtaking half of his face, along with smudges of oil and dirt. He was also the only one working own there that had gloves on. And his small shirt was soaked with sweat. In a different circumstance, her heart would've fluttered at the sight.
Camille stood almost behind a giant stack of baked bread, and Caroline stepped forward, walking to him.
Without a word, Nicky, or Nick, or Nicklaus, whatever, turned and closed the door of the oven with a shovel. Then stepped to lean the shovel against the wall. Nick just turned and looked at her again.
She walked forward with a confident step, hoping this was just him being a dramatic Italian.
"You come for my brother Stephan?" Nick asked, biting his gloves off.
"Yeah."
"Why?"
"Well, we're gonna get married." She smiled at the sentence. Anyone could mistake that smile for happiness of marrying a man she loved...
Nick walked around other contraptions and machines in this low ceiling basement.
"You're gonna marry my brother Stephan." Nick stated.
"Yeah, would you want to go someplace, so we could ta-"
"I have no life." Nick interrupted.
"What?"
"I have no life. My brother, Stephan, took my life from me." Nick said in the same tone.
"I-I don't understand you."
"And now he's gettin' married. He's got his." He slammed a piece of dough down on the table he stood at. "He's getting his." Slammed it again. With no one reacting to him, he moved on. "And he wants me to come." Nick opened his arms and raised his hands to the ceiling. "What is life?"
"I didn't come here to upset you."
"They say 'bread is life'. So I bake, bread," he tossed a small loaf into a trash can. "bread," another toss "bread," another toss, and he cleared his throat. "And I sweat. And I shovel this dough in and out of this hot hole in the wall. And I should be sooo happy, huh sweetie?" He challenged. Caroline eyed him suspiciously. The man who'd called him earlier watched him with worry.
"You want me to come to the wedding of my brother, Stephan?" Nick said. "Where's my wedding?" One of his coworkers turned their head away from the commotion.
He turned to Camille.
"Cami, over by the wall. Bring me the big knife." Nicklaus ordered.
"No, Nicky!"
"Bring me the big knife, I'm gonna cut my throat!" He roared.
"Maybe I should come back another time." Caroline reasoned.
"No, I want you to see this. I want you to see me kill myself so you can tell my brother Stephan, on his wedding day, okay? CAMI BRING ME THE BIG KNIFE!"
"I SAID I WON'T DO IT!" She yelled back.
"She won't do it." He chuckled. "You know about me?" Nicklaus asked.
"Oh mister Miksoroni," Another woman who'd come downstairs to see what the fuss was about tried to hush him.
"What?" He snapped. Immediately she shut up.
"You know about me?" Nick asked Caroline again. She just shook her head. "Okay. Nothing, is anybody's fault but, things happen." He raised his hand. "Look," and slowly took off the rubber glove she didn't realize he'd still been wearing on his other hand. Halfway through, she saw brown. Nick eyed her and scoffed.
"This wood...is fake." Caroline stared at the hand. It looked almost normal, save for the darker fingers, and the fact that it didn't move.
"Five years ago I was engaged to be married. And Stephan came in here, asking for some bread from me and I thought 'oh, okay some bread', and I put my hand in the slicer, and it got caught because I wasn't payin' attention. The slicer, chewed off my hand! And it's funny because when my fiance, found out about it, she found that I had been maimed...she left me for another man." Nicklaus held back sardonic laugh. Now Caroline understood why the woman had become so defensive, she was looking out for her friend.
"That-that's the bad blood between you and Stephan?" Caroline asked.
"Yes, that's it."
"Well, that's not Stephan's fault." She replied simply with a shrug. He blinked with a smile. He plowed his fake hand into an empty barrel sending it careening across the room with a loud bang and a cloud of flour.
"I DON'T CARE?! I AIN'T NO MONUMENT TO JUSTICE?!' He pointed an accusatory finger at his own hand. "I LOST MY HAND! I LOST MY BRIDE! STEPHANO HAS HIS HAND! STEPHAN HAS HIS BRIDE, DYA WANT ME TO TAKE MY HEARTBREAK, PUT IT AWAY AND FORGET?!"
The entire room, if it were possible, became more silent. Caroline could see tears welling up in Nicklaus's eyes.
"Is it just a matter of time, before a man lets go of his one...one, dream." He widened his eyes to will the tears away. "One dream of happiness?" A tear escaped Cami's eye.
He locked eyes with Caroline, and she felt an understanding forming between them then. Maybe this little errand would end up getting done after all.
"Maybe." He replied. Maybe to her unspoken thought, maybe to his own question. But he started off to the end of the ovens where he'd been when she first came down, and went past them. After a minute, Caroline followed.
"This is the most tormented man I've ever known." Camille said to no one in particular, as Nicklaus led Caroline a half step ahead, to possibly fight more. "I'm in love with this man. He doesn't know that. Cause I never told him, you see. He could never love anything since he lost his hand and his woman."
A coworker she hadn't realized was standing by her patted her shoulder in pity. She hung her head.
"Where do you live?" Caroline asked. Nick's eyes shakily came back up to hers.
"Upstairs."
Her heart broke at the weakness of his voice, and the memories of all the times her grandfather's dogs had been exiled upstairs, just as they had started a nice conversation.
"Can we just talk?" Caroline pressed. Nick stared at her and for a moment she wondered what he would do. He swung a meat-freezer door open, its edge bumping softly into stored sacks of flour and leading to the light outside. He continued to stare at her, waiting for her to go up first. And without hesitation, she did.
Immediately she set to work cooking. Nick obviously was off work, he'd been working all day, he needed food. And with one hand, he probably didn't have too easy of a job making it himself. Especially with his victim complex. Halfway through making a steak she'd found in his freezer, she readied a cup of coffee, set it on a plate and took it to him as he stopped a record of an opera.
The sound had filled his tiny apartment when he first turned it on, and it made things easier for her to lose her mind in her work. Her father loved the opera, though she'd never gone, and wished now that she had at least once so she knew what this opera was called. Talking with this guy about the opera would have calmed him down, she reasoned to herself.
As soon as Caroline had put the coffee down beside his record player, meeting his dark eyes, she turned and went back to the kitchen.
"What's that smell?" He called after her.
"I'm cooking you a steak."
"I don't want it."
"You'll eat it."
Nick relented after a minute. Someone was trying to take care of him, and he wasn't about to let himself get in his own way.
"I like it well done."
"You'll eat this one bloody to feed your blood." Caroline called after him, a heavy thump on the plate in his kitchen signalling she'd finished his lunch. He glared at her, but didn't push it.
Nicklaus dug into his steak with the ravenous hunger of a starved stray dog. After he'd furiously cut into the steak with one hand, he took the fork from his fake hand and shoved it into his mouth. The blood, salt and spices coursed over his tongue and he fought the urge to moan. Caroline stared him down with disgust at his table manners but didn't say anything, preparing her own lunch. A small bowl of spaghetti.
"This is good." He admitted sheepishly, flashing her doe eyes as an apology. She glared back at him.
"Caroline." She replied, shaking her head.
"How'd Stephano find you?" Nick asked. What had his brother done to bring this woman into his life?
"He knew my boyfriend had died."
"How'd he die?"
"A bus hit him."
"How long did he last?"
"It was instantaneous." Caroline replied.
"When dya get engaged?" Nick asked with a laugh
"Yesterday."
She heard his second laugh and ignored it. Hypocrite.
"So, five years ago you had your hand cut off and lost your woman. Any other woman since then?"
"No."
Caroline shook her head. "Stupid."
"When'd your boyfriend get hit by the bus?" He asked, scratching at his nose with his fake hand.
"Uh...seven years ago."
"Any other man before Stephan?"
"No."
"Stupid yourself." He challenged, leveling his dark eyes to hers.
"No. Unlucky. I've not been lucky."
"I don't care about luck, dya understand me? It ain't that." Nick finished his food and stared off into his apartment with disappointment in his eyes.
Caroline dropped her utensils in her bowl, glaring at him.
"What's the matter with you? Do you think you're the only person in the world to have ever shed a tear?"
Nick leaned across the table towards her. "Whaddya talkin about."
Caroline merely glared back at him to say, 'you know damn well what I mean.' Nick held her eyes with wonder in his own and Caroline pushed her food away.
"You have any whiskey? How about you get me a glass of whiskey?"
"Aurora was right to leave me." Nick bemused to himself. Caroline fluttered her hand to stop the flow of whiskey in her glass.
"You think so?" She asked. Nick didn't need to reply.
"You really are stupid, you know that?" Caroline said.
"Nah, you don't know nothing about it." Nick said in surprise. Caroline smiled at him and shook her head. She felt his still surprised eyes on her head.
"You know, I was raised in a world where a girl gets married young. I held out for love. The only guy that came close was when I was 30. I met a man, and I loved him, but he wanted me to run away with him. I couldn't leave my family. Five minutes after throwing the engagement ring he got for me down a sewer grate, he gets hit by a bus.
Now how did I know that that man was a gift I couldn't keep, my one chance of happiness?" Caroline had been clearing their lunch while Nick awkwardly just sat there, clearly unused to a woman being in his apartment. Then she sat back down.
"You tell me this story, and you act like you know what it means! But I can see what the true story is and you can't. Aurora didn't leave you okay."
She'd remembered coming home from work a few nights ago. She had errands to run, she was taking the car she'd rented back to its lot and buying a bottle of alcohol for the family dinner. As soon as she stepped in, she heard a quarrel.
"What are you talking about?! I've seen the way you look at her and it isn't right!" The woman accused the man. Caroline walked up to the counter, almost uncaring of the argument.
"How do I look at her?!" The man protested. With a good look at his side profile, she recognized the situation. Damon was flirting with Elena again, right in front of his business partner Rose.
"Can I help you?" Damon asked Caroline without missing a beat.
"Bottle of white." Was all she had to reply as he went to fetch it.
"Well, how do I look at her?" Damon pressed Rose with his back to her.
"Like a wolf." Rose replied. Caroline eyed her, trying to hold back laughter.
"Like a wolf, huh?" Damon said, having returned with a full bottle of cold white wine, the yellow glinting in the convenience store light.
"Uh-huh, like a wolf." Rose affirmed, nodding to him as well as Caroline.
"You've never seen a wolf in your life." Damon nearly growled, giving Caroline the total amount to pay. She readily handed it over.
"I've seen a wolf in every person I've ever met, and I see a wolf in you." The woman accusingly replied. Her Boston accent twanged on the last word, which Caroline found adorable.
"You know what I see when I look at her?" Damon asked. Rose leaned on the counter.
"What."
"The girl I married."
Laughter erupted from the store as Caroline said her goodbyes and left. It was true, Damon and Elena had been married for twenty years now. Her uncle Louis judged Rose on not being able to see a man flirt with his wife in the store.
"A man and a woman are married, they flirt and sleep together, you don't gotta worry about nothing!" Was all his explanation was.
Caroline shook her head with a smile, then turned back to Nick.
"You don't see what you are, and I see everything. You're a wolf." Caroline stated plainly.
As soon as the word came of her mouth, his hair bristled on his arms.
How did she know?
He still played it off coolly.
"I'm a wolf?"
"Yeah." She snapped back at him. He scratched at his three o'clock shadow with the back of his good hand, looking a lot like a wolf trying to lift fleas from its coat. Sitting still was a better idea.
"The big part of you has no words, and...it's a wolf. That girl was a trap for you, she caught you and you couldn't get away so you...you chewed of your own foot," Caroline grabbed her one hand with the other and shook it at him. And she misunderstood his getting-paler-by-the-second face.
She sees everything. She's not just some lady, she's a genius.
"That's the price you had to pay for your freedom, you know Stephano had nothing to do with it. You did what you had to for yourself. And now. Now you're afraid because you know the big wolf part of you, has the courage to bite off its own foot to save itself from the trap of the wrong love. That's why there's been no other woman since her, okay? You're scared to death of what will happen if you make that mistake again."
"What are you doing?" Nick demanded of her.
"I'm telling you your life." Caroline replied simply, taking a sip of her whiskey.
"Stop it."
"No!" She snapped.
"Why are you marrying Stephan, he's a fool!" Nicklaus protested. If she didn't know better, she thought she saw a touch of jealousy reflected in his eyes.
"Because, I have no luck."
He stood from the table, seconds away from completely losing it.
"He-he made me look the wrong way, and I lost my hand. He could make you look the wrong way, you could lose your whole head!"
"I'm looking where I have to to become a bride!"
"A bride without a head!" Nick growled at her, leaning over the table with a wild look.
"A wolf without a foot!" She shouted back at him.
His rage was spiking now, he had to expel it without hurting her. He grabbed the edge of the table and threw it to the side, throwing what was left on it against the wall and shattering glass. Caroline sat there, surprised, and gripped her chair to keep her head. Nick breathed heavily, still not fully calm yet. He ran his hand through his hair, then took a step in and grabbed her arms, pulling her to stand in front of him, pressed into his body. He stared in her surprised eyes for a second before enveloping her mouth with his.
Even though it was obvious he kind of forgot how to kiss over the past five years, it took a full minute of her kissing him back, before she ripped away.
"Wait a second!" She yelled. She could see the hunger in his eyes with his mouth still open, and the smell of her food still wafting from his mouth. Without a second thought she flung her arms around his neck and kissing his open mouth, pushing deeper and moaning. His own moans echoed hers, his arms were completely around her, and she felt safe for the first time she'd ever known, when she wasn't inside her home. Then he moved his one arm and pulled his mouth away, leaned over and yanked her legs out from under her.
This was the first woman he'd ever felt compelled to kiss since Aurora. Her kissing him back made butterflies erupt in his stomach, and he remembered how he was back when he was engaged to Aurora, happy and free. He wanted to keep that feeling going for as long as possible before he shut down again.
"What are you doing?!" Caroline demanded of him, suddenly needing to hold his shoulder to stay upright.
"Son of a bitch." Was all he replied. His angry look as he started walking alarmed her only slightly.
"Where are you taking me?" Caroline asked. He looked at her, but mostly stared at her mouth. This guy, that had been shouting at her and causing a scene five minutes ago was holding her, and had just kissed her with all the passion she'd never felt before.
"To the bed." His husky reply. She let her head lull back and felt his eyes still on her.
"Oh God...Okay I don't care. Take me, take me to the bed! I don't care about anything." She rested her head into the crook of his sweaty, bare muscular neck and shoulder.
"I don't believe this is happening." Nick replied in awe, before setting her down carefully enough to put her head on the pillow of a made bed that was incredibly soft and comfortable. He was on top of her seconds later, his arm around her neck. Unsure of what to do now, they just stared at each other, panting.
"I was dead." He stated.
"Me too." She knew how true those words were coming from the both of them. Nick's eyes flitted from her face down, and his mouth still hung open. He picked at her shirt collar, pulling it to the side and planting another open-mouth kiss on her collarbone. The touch sent a thrill up her spine.
"What about Stephano?" Nick whispered.
"You're mad at him. Take it out on me." That was apparently the right answer as his face dipped to her neck. "Take your revenge out on me." Her arms went around his neck again to push his mouth closer to her skin. His facial hair scraped against her and sent another thrill up her spine. His legs found their way between hers. "Leave nothing for him to marry, leave nothing but the skin on my bones." Her body went up to meet his, her head pressed into the pillow when his teeth grazed her cheek.
He pulled back and kissed her. "Alright." Another kiss. "Alright." Another. "There will be nothing left."
He ground into her, and his tongue traced along her chest as he opened her shirt more, her nails digging into his skin and he growled at the feeling. He took her shirt off the rest of the way, she took his off. She fumbled with taking her skirt off while his legs were still inbetween her own and she ground into his pelvis again one more time before he cursed and threw his pants off.
The sheets were stiff over their limbs as they moved, and she realized she hadn't made love for close to eight years now. She didn't know how much time passed here, but she wasn't planning on going anywhere else. Her mindless replies to how he moved inside of her, biting his ear and then slapping him when he called her names. The moans emitting from both of them got so loud she would've worried that people could hear them if she was in her right mind.
How in the hell did this happen so suddenly?
When she noticed the moon up in the sky, she knew she'd missed dinner. She'd be getting a million questions tomorrow, but here, next to this man that somehow made her feel safe, she didn't care yet. He was curled in on himself, but facing her. His face looked so peaceful, compared to how he'd acted that day. Had to have been sound asleep after the afternoon and much of the evening they had had.
Caroline took one of the quilted blankets off the bed and covered herself up before walking to the window.
"What's the matter?" Nick's husky voice called to her.
"Nothing, I'm looking at the moon." Caroline sat on the windowsill, and continued to stare at it. Soon she heard his foot falls, and his bare chest nudged into her shoulder.
"Wow." He agreed. She turned to him and saw he hadn't bothered putting anything on.
"I've never seen the moon like that before."
Right then he was more grateful than anything that the myth about werewolves was just that. She was still safe.
He put his arm around her.
"It makes you look like an angel." He caressed her bare shoulder with his thumb and she didn't respond, but glanced away from the moon for a moment before returning to it. He turned to take it inn more deeply.
"It's like a...giant snowball."
She turned from the window after a moment, and he joined her. It felt like they'd been together for years, when they got under the covers and he just held her close to him.
