"Wow, did you see all those gifts out there?" Bonnie observed as she slipped in the back door, dressed in the polka-dotted clown costume that she and Kol had both purchased for themselves from a discount store for the party.
She nodded with wide eyes thinking about all the gifts that their party guests had brought as she readied the paper plates, utensils and napkins for Grayson's birthday cake.
"Who bought him the little castle playhouse?" Bonnie wondered curiously.
"The Lockwoods," she answered, feeling uncomfortable that they had purchased Grayson such a large gift for his birthday. "They're at a fundraising event in Richmond this weekend – so they couldn't make it."
To her, it was a blessing that they couldn't attend. She felt obligated to invite them because of her business relationship with Carol Lockwood and word about the party would travel fast around their small town, but she really didn't want them there. She knew Klaus would react badly to their attendance after their involvement in having them served with Mikael and Esther's court application in New York – whether it was inadvertent or not. She also didn't want the Lockwoods reporting back to Klaus's parents.
"What about Mikael and Esther?" Bonnie asked.
She shrugged indifferently.
"I'm sure the Lockwoods told them about the party but Rebekah says they're back in the U.K. for now…thankfully," she said, retrieving the cake from the fridge. "It's a shame Rebekah couldn't make it, however," she added, disappointed by her absence though she understood it.
Bonnie nodded readily in agreement.
She grabbed the large assortment of birthday candles that she had collected from the kitchen counter to organize on the cake.
"Can I help with that?" Bonnie asked her.
She stared down at the fondant layered cake shaped in a giant 'one' contemplating where to place the candles in her hand.
"The cake and the ice cream are the last things to go out. I didn't want them to melt," she informed Bonnie. "And the cutlery."
Once the cake was brought out and eaten, the party would be winding down and the guests would be leaving. She couldn't wait to have a moment to herself. Her head was pounding from the screams and laughter of Grayson's party guests.
"We should make sure everyone is ready to sing 'happy birthday' to Grayson," Bonnie reminded her.
She glanced over her shoulder and out the back window, checking on the status of the birthday party and the guests from afar.
Camille had taken a break from her role as party photographer to watch Grayson while she was inside preparing the cake. Grayson was holding himself up with the help of Camille's leg, which he had curled his arm around, trying to show off for his friend Sophie, who was walking circles around Grayson at this point. She knew it would only be a matter of time before Grayson would be doing the same – she tried not to compare them, but it was hard not to.
Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. The kids were high off sugar from the candy bar, but they were working it off in the circus tent bouncy castle and the traditional carnival games that April and Matt had volunteered to run. Even Kol's poor excuses for balloon animals were well received.
"Klaus's portraits and face painting seems to be a hit," Bonnie commented, referring to the small group gathered around the easel that Klaus had set up for the party.
"Someone should remind the moms out there that it's supposed to be for children only," she scoffed, having observed them swooning over Klaus earlier, sitting for portraits or face painting alongside their children as though they were merely accompanying them.
She turned back around to face the counter to inspect the placement of the birthday candles on Grayson's cake.
"Is that jealousy I hear?" Bonnie questioned with intrigue, as she leaned against the kitchen counter across from her.
She gave Bonnie a narrow expression.
"It's disgust," she corrected Bonnie.
Bonnie looked at her critically.
"I can see right through you Forbes. You're jealous. Have you talked to him since he's been back?" Bonnie wondered curiously.
She shook her head quickly. "Of course I've talked to him," she said simply, taken off guard by Bonnie's question, but knowing she was fishing for information.
"I mean really talked to him," Bonnie emphasized, referring to those deeper conversations that she nor Klaus dared to start with one another.
"There's nothing to talk about," she said flatly. "I know Kol has gotten in your head and you think I should give things with Klaus another shot, but it's over."
"Who are you trying to convince?" Bonnie questioned her. "And, for the record, Kol hasn't gotten in my head," she said defensively.
"Then what's turned you to Team Klaus?" she asked Bonnie, frustrated that her best friend could not see things from her perspective.
Bonnie shrugged.
"I just think you overreacted to Klaus's suggestion that you and Grayson move to New York. I think he suggested it because he genuinely thought it would be good for you – not just him – it's obvious he loves you and there's so much opportunity for you in New York," Bonnie explained.
She released a drawn out sigh, expressing just a tiny amount of the stress she felt over everything – the party, Grayson, Klaus, her career, the custody battle with Klaus's parents, selling the house, packing – everything.
"You just want me to move back to New York so I'll be closer to you," she smirked slightly, choosing to keep things lighthearted. She didn't want to fight with Bonnie, and she didn't want to bring herself down on Grayson's special day.
"I'm so transparent," Bonnie admitted with a red-lipped smile from her clown make-up, playing along with her effort to go too deep. "Of course, I'd love to have you and Grayson closer, Care. But, I wouldn't be suggesting it if I didn't think it would be good for you – I just remember all the plans you used to talk about when we were going to college in the City. You never wanted to leave," she reminded her.
She hesitated, reluctant to think back to the long conversations she and Bonnie used to have about their futures.
"I think you could be really happy there with Klaus and Grayson – and of course, Kol and I," Bonnie urged with a persuasive tone. "Maybe you should reconsider?"
- "Reconsider what?" his familiar accented voice questioned curiously from the back doorway as he entered with Grayson, who was fussing loudly.
She glared at Bonnie, urging her to cover up what they had been talking about, before she turned to face Klaus and Grayson at the back door.
"Reconsider how many candles she put on Grayson's birthday cake," Bonnie laughed lightly, leaning over to inspect the birthday cake for herself.
Thankful for Bonnie's quick thinking, she smiled back at her appreciatively.
"Don't bring the cake out quite yet, Gray decided to fill his diaper before the main event," he said, turning up his nose as he pointed towards Grayson's bottom.
She frowned, hoping the diaper he had on contained any mess as she didn't want to change him out of his outfit before Camille could take photos with him and the cake.
"I'll go change him quick before you bring out the cake," Klaus said, starting for the hallway to go upstairs.
"I'll do it," Bonnie volunteered, holding out her hands for Grayson, effectively blocking Klaus from the staircase. "Help Caroline with the cake and ice cream," she urged him, much to her chagrin, knowing exactly what Bonnie was up to.
Klaus seemed surprised by her offer, but readily accepted by handing Grayson over to her. "I won't refuse someone willing to change a dirty diaper."
Bonnie disappeared with Grayson, leaving them alone together in the kitchen.
She turned her attention back towards the cake, trying to busy herself by collecting the plastic utensils and paper plates.
"Grayson is quite the spoiled one-year old," Klaus mused, peering down at the cake from over her shoulder.
"That he is," she agreed.
Their comments about Grayson being spoiled were meant in jest. Grayson deserved a good birthday – especially after everything he had been through in his first year of life.
"We may need to call in reinforcements to help us carry everything out," she commented, as she gathered up the cutlery.
"I'm surprised Matt isn't in here helping," Klaus remarked, a resentful tone hinted at in his voice.
"What's that supposed to mean?" she questioned, feeling defensive as she turned around to confront him face to face.
Klaus shrugged.
"You are seeing one another, right?" he mentioned, suggesting that Matt should be helping her for that reason.
Klaus's assumption about the nature of her relationship with Matt surprised her. She hadn't anticipated it. She wasn't sure how he'd even arrived at that conclusion.
"No we're not," she denied flatly. "We're just friends," she assured him.
His eyebrows rose, seemingly in disbelief.
"You don't have to pretend for my sake," he told her. "It's okay if you're moving on."
She winced at his words, wondering if he was truly okay with it. Perhaps he had moved on himself.
"I'm not…" she hesitated before finishing that sentence. "Where would you even get that idea?" she wondered.
"I'm not stupid, Caroline," he said, growing annoyed with her. "I saw the birth control in the bathroom cabinet," he revealed.
She frowned, becoming equally frustrated with him as he was with her.
"Were you looking for it?" she asked, feeling as though he had been searching for proof of her relationship with Matt.
"I was looking for aspirin," he denied with his explanation.
His reason was plausible – and she knew that she hadn't exactly made any attempt to hide her prescription in her room.
"Well, if you had taken a closer look, you would have noticed the date on the prescription was from earlier this summer. I got it from Meredith before…" she stopped short of mentioning their breakup. "And for the record, you have more of a chance with Matt than I do," she told him, her face feeling hot as she grew angrier.
He gave her a confused look.
"Matt is gay!" she stated.
It clicked for him at that point, and she could tell that he felt embarrassed about the assumptions he had made about her relationship with Matt.
"And regardless, my relationships, or lack thereof, are none of your concern," she said sternly, feeling the need to make that clear after Klaus had inserted himself into the particulars of her personal life.
She pushed passed him with the cutlery and the napkins and headed for the back door.
He cursed under his breath as he slammed the freezer door shut after having retrieved the ice cream.
"That didn't sound good," Bonnie said as she appeared from the front hall with a much calmer Grayson in her arms.
Giving Bonnie a brief but regretful look, he turned back towards the fridge to remove a large tray of fruit inside.
"Clearly not," he sighed dejectedly, embarrassed that Bonnie had apparently overheard his exchange with Caroline.
"Word of advice?" Bonnie offered.
He glanced up at Bonnie from the fruit tray he had placed on the kitchen island, intrigued by her seemingly innocent offer to assist him.
"Interrogating a woman about the status of her relationships probably isn't the best way to get her back," Bonnie suggested hesitantly, clearly not wanting to upset him further.
"Who says I want her back?" he questioned, challenging the assumption Bonnie had made.
Bonnie replied with a simple glare and an eye roll, seeing right through his feeble attempt to throw her off.
He exhaled, signalling his defeat.
"I know, I overreacted," he admitted disappointedly. "I just…the thought of her with someone else…" he trailed off, reluctant to even finish his sentence.
Bonnie smiled sympathetically. "It hurts," she finished for him. "You love her," she acknowledged.
He nodded guardedly, still unsure of Bonnie's motives, knowing that she had never been much of a fan of Caroline's relationship with him, but no longer able to withhold the full extent of his feelings for Caroline.
"She loves you too," Bonnie revealed.
Her admission piqued his curiosity, but he scoffed under his breath, feeling skeptical about the nature of Caroline's feelings for him.
"Well, she has a peculiar way of showing it," he commented, the sting of her rejection in New York still as strong as ever.
Bonnie laughed unintentionally. "I'm sorry," she apologized, sitting Grayson in his high chair at the dining table to offload his weight on her arms. "Caroline is just scared to take the next step…especially if that means moving to New York with you. She feels like the impact that would have on her career and business is an afterthought for you."
Caroline's assumptions about the considerations he had taken into account when suggesting that they relocate to New York were frustrating to him.
"You know as well as I do that Caroline's talents far exceed the limits of Mystic Falls," he said, feeling defensive. "She should be in the City where she can showcase her talents to the country – to the world even. That was her dream before she returned to Mystic Falls to take care of her mother. I know she still has that dream, but she's lost sight of it. Her dream is what I had in mind when I suggested that she move to New York – mine was always secondary," he explained.
"You're right about her talent," Bonnie agreed with him. "But Caroline needs to find her way back to that dream on her own Klaus. You can't push her, but you can help her see it again. That's how you will win her back," she concluded insightfully.
"Happy birthday to Grayson, Happy birthday to you…" The crowd of party guests finished singing.
Klaus was holding Grayson in his lap at the old wooden picnic table that they had painted in rainbow colours just for the occasion as she placed the candlelit cake down in front of them.
Grayson's eyes were wide with curiosity as he studied the large decorated cake covered in candles.
He looked adorable in the little ringleader outfit she had created for him to wear at the party – she had found a matching one for herself at the local party supply store that had started rolling out their Halloween costumes early.
Her heart swelled at the sight of Klaus and Grayson together – Klaus talking to Grayson, trying to encourage him to blow out his birthday candles.
In that moment, her chest grew heavy and she felt an overwhelming sense of sadness as her mind turned to Elena and Elijah and how she wished they could have been here for this big day – knowing that Grayson meant the world to them.
"Caroline, lean in for a picture with Klaus and Grayson before he tries to dig his little paws into that icing and fondant," Camille suggested, motioning her head towards Grayson who was trying his best to extend his arm to touch the icing at the base of the cake.
"Klaus or Grayson?" Kol mocked his brother, garnering a laugh from the group that had gathered around.
"I'd stop talking unless you want some of this cake in your face, brother," Klaus threatened jokingly.
She knelt down slightly, leaning in beside Grayson and Klaus to take a photo as Camille had requested that she do.
They tried to show Grayson how to blow out his birthday candles for a photo but he seemed more interested in the cake itself.
As she and Klaus turned their attention towards the birthday candles, leaning in to blow them out for Grayson, she felt Grayson's tiny fingers smear what felt like gooey icing against her neck.
"You monkey!" she cursed him with a smirk, as she jolted her head up, her lips brushing the stubble of Klaus's cheek as he reacted at the same time in a very similar manner.
Her skin tingled at the brief touch as they mumbled an apology to one another.
Grayson had gotten Klaus with the icing too, but on his chin instead.
Standing up, she wiped the blue icing from her neck with a napkin as everyone chuckled at what Grayson had done.
Klaus followed suit, cleaning the icing off his chin, chastising Grayson playfully.
"Gray definitely wants to try the cake," April laughed as Grayson brought his icing fingers to his lips, humming in satisfaction as he finally tasted the icing for the first time.
Doing her best to ignore the awkward interaction with Klaus, she busily cut a piece of the cake for Grayson so that he could continue to steal the show with his messy exploration and Camille could get a few more pictures as they all watched him in amusement.
She could feel an unavoidable smile tugging at her lips as she watched Grayson smush the cake between his fingers, squealing with delight as he did so. Her eyes met inevitably met with Klaus's and she recognized his identical smile reflecting hers as he watched Grayson alongside her. Quickly, she averted her eyes downwards, focusing back on Grayson.
Observing Grayson in this moment made her realize, more than she had in any other particular moment over the last six months, that she had never loved anyone (or anything) this much in her life. Grayson had a hold over her heart that would be next to impossible to shake – and she didn't want to shake it. She loved him as though he was hers – and in every way that mattered, he was hers. He was theirs regardless of what happened between her and Klaus.