Hey, my lovelies. Thank you SO SO much for your amazing reviews last chapter! You guys are the best!
I'm sorry I wish I would have updated sooner; I was so busy packing up my suitcases… Yep, it's done! I left Paris this morning and now I am in the USA! WOOHOO! Coming back to the sources, huh?
Well, anyways, enough with my rambling, you guys aren't interested in those boring details of my life, which is understandable.
Enjoy the chapter!
A day before
Caroline was coming back from the baker's shop nearby where she had bought bread and donuts.
"Hi!" Elena said to Caroline after they opened the door simultaneously.
"Hi." The blonde said back.
An uncomfortable silence settled in and neither knew what to say or do in order to break it.
"Are you going for a run?" Caroline finally asked taking in her friend's appearance. Indeed, Elena was wearing a sport outfit of a mauve color. "I brought donuts." She added raising the hand that held the pastry.
Elena gave Caroline a narrow smile. "Thanks, I'll eat some when I get back."
The blonde nodded and took a step backwards clearing the way so the raven-haired woman could pass, what she did.
After Elena got out, Caroline got in. The two girls went on their respective ways and then suddenly turned around simultaneously.
"Care, I'm sorry."
"Lena, I'm sorry." She said at the same time.
They tilted their heads in opposite ways, a moved expression on their faces, before running in each other's arms.
"Oh you have nothing to be sorry for, you were right! You were completely right: it's me, I have been pretty confused lately about pretty much everything… except you and I." she pulled away. "You and I are friends for ever, you know that." Caroline declared.
"I do know that." Elena said rubbing her best friend's left shoulder.
Since their arguments the two days before, Elena had done a lot of thinking. Caroline and Bonnie were her best friends; nothing could ever change that, nothing would, she wouldn't allow it. Caroline and Damon's disagreements hadn't driven them apart so her disagreements with Klaus wouldn't either. She would do whatever it took. She'd give him a chance if she had to. She'd try to look past everything … all the horrible things he did, the hurt, the tears… She'd at least try. She owed Caroline that much.
"I don't know why I let myself grow attached to him. I chose to ignore what my head was telling me and now I find myself in a situation I never thought I'd be in."
"You listened to your heart." Elena stated. "Same way I did with Damon… AND Stefan for that matter."
Indeed, whether it was Stefan or Damon, the raven-haired woman did the exact opposite of what common sense would have wanted: she let Stefan into hers and Jeremy's life and she let herself fall in love with him. Sure, at first, she didn't know he was a vampire, but let's be honest, finding out hadn't changed that much. She was already in too deep, she LOVED him, and she hadn't been able to bring herself to stay away from him.
As far as Damon was concerned, there had always been something special between them, something peculiar: an understanding. She had some trouble understanding it herself at first, but it was real and it was true. She let his bad boy aspect and mostly his inner generosity draw her in. She fell for him without even realizing when she had everything she had ever needed with Stefan. She spent so much time in denial; everybody saw it but her and Damon: Caroline, Matt, Bonnie, even Stefan became aware of it. And now, observing her friend with Klaus, seeing her reactions to him, Elena could almost see herself in the blonde. Only Caroline was far more moral than her. She was the most ethical of them. She had principles, values and she stuck to them. So if Klaus had managed to woo her even in the slightest of ways, then there was definitely someone worth knowing behind all this anger and rage, unless he really was the best actor out there and had screwed her over…
"Yeah… Well, my heart hasn't exactly proved itself to be trustworthy these past years." Caroline remarked, a dismal expression on her face.
The brunette creased her brows and narrowed her eyes. "Care, did anything happen these seven past years that you didn't tell me about?" she asked.
Caroline looked up at her.
"Did you… meet anyone?" the brunette inquired.
She hummed negatively.
"You sure?" she insisted.
She hummed positively.
"Okay." She said; though, not quite convinced.
"You should go for your run." The blonde finally spoke again in an attempt to skirt around the issue. "We can talk later."
Elena tilted her head to the side in surprise.
"Come on, go!" Caroline turned her friend around.
"Go, go, go!" she encouraged her giving her a good slap on the arse.
Elena leapt and her eyes widened as she let out a cry of disbelief. She laughed and eventually set out: she placed her headphones over her ears, put on some music on her phone and went ahead with her run.
/
Caroline was checking her mails on her Yahoo account when she received an instant message from an unknown person.
From My dreams are Haunted: Hey, love
From Care's fandom: Hey, weirdo
Klaus laughed.
From My dreams are Haunted: I've been thinking about you
From Care's fandom: Yeah, I can read that
He laughed again, and then shook his head. How could this blonde manage to make him laugh that much even through a screen?
From My dreams are Haunted: Do you ever think about me?
He brazenly asked the question that tapped his mind too often. Indeed, Klaus spent an extensive amount of his time thinking about Caroline, and well, he had to admit that not knowing if she ever reciprocated was starting to be hard on him.
It seemed like not being face to face and not having to actually physically witness the blonde's rejection made Klaus more willing to get a definitive response to his concerns. It was true that most of the time, Klaus put Caroline's rejection on flirting's account or considered it as wordplay, but there were times when the blonde's words sank in and… they hurt a little bit. The confused man didn't even know when she had acquired the ability to hurt him in the slightest of ways.
Caroline considered Klaus' question.
From Care's fandom: On rare occasions.
Klaus' face fell a bit at that.
She waited a few seconds before she added something.
From Care's fandom: You know I do.
It was funny how the wall their computers' screen constituted between them made Caroline's walls crumble a little.
Klaus smiled.
From My dreams are Haunted: I did know that.
She chuckled knowing he was joking.
From Care's fandom: You're in a playful mood.
From My dreams are Haunted: For you? Always.
She smiled.
From Care's fandom: That's good to know.
Several seconds passed before another message popped up in the blonde's screen.
From My dreams are Haunted: What about my offer to move in?
She frowned.
From Care's fandom: What about it?
From My dreams are Haunted: Well, have you thought about is?
From Care's fandom: I thought that matter had been resolved.
From My dreams are Haunted: I never take no for an answer.
From Care's fandom: Well, you're gonna have to cause I hate having my hand forced. I think that's something we have in common.
From My dreams are Haunted: True.
So you have a fandom, huh?
From Care's fandom: I do.
You should know; you're at the head of it.
Klaus laughed.
From My dreams are Haunted: I sure am.
/
Caroline was in her bed, muffled up in her blanket, eating white chocolate while watching Titanic for the nth time on her PC, when someone knocked once at her door before entering her room.
"Oooh…" Stefan mocked her nicely. "Caroline Forbes on a Friday morning, muffled up in her bed watching Titanic with a tablet of chocolate… Love issues?" he psychoanalyzed her.
"I don't have love issues." The blonde replied with an adorable pout on her pretty face.
Stefan smiled and took a seat on the bed near her feet.
"I heard your crying for help." He told her.
She knit her brows. "What crying for help? I didn't even call you." She stated.
"So…? Since when do you and I need to talk to get each other?" he rhetorically asked knowing exactly the effect his question would have, and he was right.
She half-smiled half-laughed then, nodded.
"It's not Elena, is it?" he asked her.
She shook her head negatively. "No, it's not. That was dealt with. Thank you so much again."
He smiled at her.
The reason Caroline was thanking her best friend is his major part in her reconciliation with her other best friend. Stefan had effectively sent her a text this morning to tell her how bad his girlfriend felt for the rash words she spoke during their argument and also to let her know that the latter was going for a small run and perhaps intercepting her and working things out wouldn't be the worst idea. He had given her the doughnuts' idea too and asked her to make the first move.
"You're welcome, it's normal: that's my job." Stefan told her with a smile. "Just don't tell Elena I had anything to do in this reconciliation!" he forbade. "She'd kill me. She asked me not to interfere." He explained.
Caroline smiled back at him and nodded.
"See that's what makes you not her best option but… her only one." She confided him in all sincerity. "You don't always do what she wants but you always do what she needs."
Stefan gave her a small lips-closed smile but it was a genuine one, one that reached his eyes.
This is exactly why Stefan was Caroline's best friend and why the latter reckoned he was the perfect guy for Elena: he was caring, considerate and thoughtful, not to mention how adorable, romantic and loving he could be towards the raven-haired woman. Most importantly, he respected her and her decisions! He trusted her instinct and her judgment. When Klaus had been a threat to their lives, years ago, Stefan would have done anything to protect Elena and keep her alive but she didn't want to remain in live not if the price to pay was the death of people she loved. Of course, Stefan's unique priority was Elena and her life but still, he respected her choice… and he ensured her friends' safety because he knew that was what mattered the most to her! Yes, the way Caroline saw it, it was only on rare occasions that Stefan didn't know what to do, whenever she and Elena were concerned in any case.
She remembered the night she almost got killed about a decade ago by that wolves' pack that was friends with Tyler's uncle, Mason. After that traumatic experience, she assured Stefan she was okay, or at least would be. But he didn't buy it, he knew her too well. He knew she needed her two best friends' comfort so he went to pick Elena and Bonnie up and he brought them to her. Stefan had no idea how much his gesture had moved her; it was on that day, at that very moment, that she began to consider him as her best friend. It hadn't changed since then.
"So what is it?" he inquired.
There was a moment of silence as the blonde contemplated his question and looked in the emptiness.
"Take a chance." She eventually responded.
He tilted his head. "Klaus?" he tried.
She nodded. Seconds passed and she didn't talk so Stefan decided to help her.
"Did something happen between you two?"
"No, not really." Caroline answered. "Not at all, in fact."
"And that's the problem?" he teased her.
"Stefan…" she called him to order; she obviously wasn't in the mood to be made fun of, she was being serious.
Stefan lowered his gaze. Caroline didn't say anything more and he decided not to push her leaving her the choice to keep on with the subject or not. And just when he thought she wouldn't elaborate, she spoke again.
"I care for him." She confessed in a low voice causing for Stefan to look up at her. "I care for him way more than I should, way more than I let myself realize until now."
Indeed, the blonde's attraction towards Klaus had slowly become something much more. Her feelings for him were far deeper than she ever intended them to be. And she was afraid; she was so afraid: to surrender, to give in to her feelings, of what would happen if she did…
What if he ruined her? What if he burned through her and wrecked all her light?
There was a long moment of silence between the two friends.
"Please say something." She finally asked him.
He looked at her and shrugged. "I'm not sure what to say, Caroline." He admitted hesitation evident in his voice.
And Stefan really didn't know what to tell her. Except to shut those feelings out and bury them very deep. She was his best friend; obviously, he wanted what was best for her. And he knew that was NOT Klaus Mikaelson.
Okay so maybe the guy really cared for her… Surely he did, if the way he gazed at her and how his mood would just shift from whatever to better whenever she entered a room were any indication. Even back in the twenties, Stefan couldn't remember ever seeing Klaus react to a woman the way he reacted to his friend. But for all his fondness towards Caroline, the Original Hybrid still wasn't an angel.
"What about 'he's just playing mind games with you, Care'?" the blonde suggested ironically.
He laughed. "No, that would most likely be Damon's speech."
She laughed as well. Elena had gave her that exact response when she had brought up the 'mind games' thing; it was unbelievable how alike the two lovers' minds thought.
She regained her seriousness. "What do you advise me?"
He looked at her and contemplated her question, wondering what she wanted to hear. He lowered his head.
"My head says: 'Stay the hell away from him and suppress those feelings.' Then I listen to my heart and it says: 'Stay the hell away from her and SUPPRESS those feelings." Stefan said.
The blonde lowered her head as well, a morose expression on her face.
"But…" he started before he heaved a sigh. "… What I think you should do is…" he paused. "…follow your heart." He declared.
Caroline stared at him, her eyes reflecting her lost state of mind, and gave him a rather forced smile.
"Thanks."
He nodded and gave her a small smile in return. However, he noticed the sadness hadn't left the blonde's eyes.
"I'm not hugging you, Caroline." He informed, with as much casualness as he could gather.
But as she raised her head and he met her beautiful but sad blue eyes, Stefan's attitude just crumbled like a house of cards. He tilted his head and sadly studied her face; he closed his eyes and softly inwardly sighed.
"Come here." He told his best friend; his eyes and arms opened.
She withdrew the blanket from her and went to take refuge in his arms.
/
"You're moving in with Klaus?!" Bonnie, Jeremy, Stefan and Matt exclaimed simultaneously.
They all had different and singular emotions crossing their features. However, they had an identical one: surprise; they were all utterly disconcerted and confused.
How the hell did that happen?
"You told me to follow my heart." The blonde reminded Stefan.
"Well, I had no idea your heart thought this way!" the latter justified beside himself. "I thought you'd kiss him perhaps get a little bit involved but that is it!"
Caroline's mouth dropped open: she was definitely offended.
"Well, how is that so different from what I am doing?!"
"There is a huge difference!" he stated.
"Seriously, Care?" Jeremy called out. "This is a joke, right?"
"Seriously, no." she responded. "Absolutely not; I am very serious." She asserted.
"You can't be." Jeremy said. "You're leaving Mystic Falls in a week and you want to spend the time that you have left here away from your friends?!" he asked disbelievingly.
"Actually, I'll be staying a little longer." She announced peeking at Stefan.
"Since when?" the Gilbert brother was surprised.
"Recent decision."
"We are straying from the point." Stefan subtly pointed out. "I don't care whether you stay a week or a month, you are not moving in with the Mikaelsons! One is enough but four of them?!" he exclaimed. "This family is particularly disturbed in case you haven't noticed!"
"Oh please, who in this room isn't the slightest disturbed?" Caroline asked rhetorically.
"I'm not!" said Matt with an offended look.
"For God sakes, will you all just shut up for a second so I can think?!" Bonnie intervened, out of herself.
Everyone's brain was working a hundred miles by second. The blonde was vainly looking for a way out while her friends couldn't even begin to comprehend the present situation. She wasn't getting anything: the ones she thought would support her were going against her and those she thought would scream at her were the ones shutting up.
It was nothing against Caroline; Stefan was just doing his job by looking out for his and his girlfriend's best friend. He trusted Caroline and he trusted her instinct; very often, she was the cleverest of them and she was by far the most moral and human. It was Klaus he didn't quite trust.
"Ok, second's over. You done thinking?!" Stefan resumed more than ever addressing Bonnie.
Caroline knit her brows angrily.
"We cannot let her move in with Klaus!" insisted the man.
"I wasn't asking for your permission, Stefan!" Caroline quipped.
"Well, that's too bad. Because you don't have it!" he exclaimed causing the blonde to knit her brows even more. "Who's going to look out for you there, huh?" he rhetorically asked.
"I don't need to be looked out for." Caroline got vexed.
"I can do that." Matt swooped in.
"Not helping!" said Stefan. "And how exactly are you going to look out for her? She's stronger than you herself." He rightfully pointed out before he brought his gaze back on the blonde.
The former quarterback widened his eyes and stared at his ex-girlfriend's boyfriend in disbelief.
He slowly turned to Jeremy. "When did Stefan turn into Damon?" he asked in a murmur.
"We'll ask him that later." Bonnie responded. "I'm sorry, Caroline, but Stefan has a point."
"Thank you!"
"Stop it. It is getting weird." Bonnie said to Stefan, before she addressed the blonde again. "Caroline, this is Klaus we are talking about. You know him just as much as we do… better even. He can be pretty impulsive… to say the least. Do you really have to move in with him? Can't you just date him?" she tried to reason her best friend.
"I want to give him a chance." Caroline declared. "He deserves it."
/
PRESENT TIME
"This better be impor…" Klaus declared as he entered the room. He stopped as he saw his woman's dream seated near Elijah. "…tant."
She stood up and Klaus' eyes directed somewhere behind her. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open at the sight before him: luggage.
She noticed his gaze shift and immediately understood.
"Yep, I am moving in." she voiced and confirmed his unavowed thoughts.
"You are moving in?" he repeated in a questioning way, realizing the absurdity of his words as they came out; though a smile was audible in his voice.
She couldn't possibly be moving in with him! Could she?
She chuckled. She loved the effect she had on him and what she loved even more was that she was the only one to have that effect on him. It gave her a feeling of power.
"Not exactly."
It was too good to be true, Klaus thought; and Caroline instantly felt awful as she saw his face fall a little bit.
"I mean I am but… temporarily, firstly." She corrected herself.
"Temporarily?" he repeated.
Elijah stood up and cleared his throat.
"I'm going to give you two some privacy. I'll be upstairs if needed." He excused himself.
"That's not necessary." The blonde said.
"Thank you." Klaus spoke.
Caroline's eyes shot right back at him at his implacable tone.
Elijah lowered his head and retrieved in his room upstairs.
/
25 hours before
The blonde stood up. "Listen, I didn't ask you here to help me make the decision, I asked you here to inform you of it. I've already made up my mind."
"And what exactly are we doing here? Since our opinion doesn't matter." Jeremy asked sarcastically. "I mean you might as well have sent us a text."
Caroline turned her head to stare at Jeremy, a quizzical expression on her face.
Now, what was going on with him?
Stefan's overprotectiveness she could understand… more or less: they were best friends after all and, truth be told, she was deeply affected by his reaction. But Jeremy being overprotective… that was a whole other story and a tad out of place. Sure, he was Elena's little brother –whom had taught her how to swim, whom she had seen go through every possible phase a boy teenager could go through… -so they cared about each other, to a certain extent. But hello, they weren't that close.
"Your opinion does matter to me; just not enough to make me change my mind. Look, you don't know him like I do." She asserted.
"Oh wonderful, now you just seem like Elena talking about Damon." The words flew out of Jeremy's mouth before he could stop them. And as soon as he realized what he had just said, his hand mechanically but late landed on his mouth and he looked towards his sister and her boyfriend's direction in horror.
The couple cast glances at each other embarrassedly while Elena's cheeks slightly gained color; she looked down.
"Elena, please say something." Stefan asked his girlfriend.
Elena turned to look at him before she shrugged heaving a sigh.
"Okay, fine, whatever." She declared, speaking for the first time since Caroline unleashed the bomb.
"Huh?" everyone said apart from Stefan, including the blonde; knitting their brows, confusion dripping from their voice.
"Not what I had in mind." Stefan commented.
"If you're adamant on moving in with that madman and his psychotic family, then okay, fine, whatever." She confirmed.
"Is this a joke?" Jeremy asked to Matt, his mouth half-open.
"We, we should probably leave them." Matt suggested.
Jeremy looked at his sister, his concern evident on his expression, and then nodded. The two boys got up and silently left the room then the house.
"So you're okay with me moving in then?" Caroline asked Elena.
She hummed. "Sure, whatever."
"Okay, you have got to stop saying that." The witch spoke, voicing Stefan's thoughts. "You are not okay with this, none of us are."
"Nothing against you, Care, really. Nothing against Klaus for that matter." She stated to the blonde. "It's against his temper."
Indeed, Bonnie had gotten over every terrible action the Original Hybrid had committed long ago. She was over her mother becoming a vampire because of him, she was over all the torments he had inflicted her when he first barged into their lives. If she wasn't, she wouldn't be so damn confused about his younger brother and whatever it was she was starting to feel towards the latter.
The witch hadn't forgiven Klaus, not remotely, but she had decided to forget. She had put all those horrible memories somewhere deep in the back of her head and she tried her best not to think about it.
"He'd never hurt me." The blonde asserted, not even realizing how much she believed those words before they came out. Whenever had she started to trust Klaus that much?
None of her three friends replied. They just stared at her intently, an undecipherable expression on their face, all wondering how the hell had this happened and why on earth they hadn't stopped it.
"You're upset with me." She said in a questioning way addressing Elena and as the latter didn't say anything in response, she concluded: "You're upset with me and you blame me for wanting to move into the Mikaelson mansion."
"Do I look upset?" asked Elena.
The blonde advanced towards the brunette's sitting position. "Actually, no you don't, Elena. You look indifferent, and that kind of hurts." She remarked.
Elena stood up. "But what do you want at last?" she asked starting to lose her patience. "You want me to yell at you and tell you you're making the worst decision of your life Caroline style? What's the point? You're going to leave anyway."
Caroline creased her brows and opened her mouth to talk but Elena didn't let her.
"Caroline, you are my best friend." she declared. "You and Bonnie both." She added momentarily turning towards the witch. "I want you to be happy. So if moving in with Klaus is going to do that, please don't let me or anyone stop you." She told the blonde. "We'll deal."
At that, Bonnie and Stefan exchanged a look. That was a sudden change. But Caroline's happiness was what was essential indeed… as long as she remained careful.
"So you're willing to give him a chance?" Caroline asked her best friend.
"No. Don't make me say what I haven't said. I am willing to let you give him a chance." The raven-haired woman clarified. "If he's as smart as I think he is and he doesn't blow it, we'll go from there."
Caroline nodded and smiled lightly at her. She pulled her in a hug. "Thank you."
Elena smiled as well. "Don't thank me." She told her. "You did the same for me, remember." She added low enough for only Caroline to hear.
"I love you." They said simultaneously causing them to laugh.
Bonnie got up. "Okay, I know I don't have much to do with all this but I love you girls too.*" The witch declared before going behind her two best friends to hug them as well. They accepted her into the hug; there were arms and hands everywhere. "We love you too." Elena spoke.
They slightly pulled away and Caroline turned her head towards Stefan, followed by the two other women; he just stared back at her, them, a clueless look on his face.
"Yeah, no, I'm not joining that." He declared pointing at their bizarre hug-at-three thing, once he realized where they were silently getting at.
"Stefan" Elena called after she detached herself from her two friends, advancing slowly in his direction.
"No, no…" he stood up and moved further away from her.
"Honey…"
"No." he was still moving when she appeared right in front of him. "Uh uh, I'm not..."
She cut him off with the sweetest kiss.
"Oh…" Bonnie and Caroline commented.
As he didn't withstand her attack, Elena deepened the kiss and slipped her tongue into her lover's mouth, completely forgetting they weren't alone in the room.
"Whoa…" Caroline did, her eyes widening at the sight of the saliva exchange before her.
Stefan wrapped his arms tight around his girlfriend's waist, and Elena brought her hand into his messy yet sexy hair. She surrounded his neck with her arms as the kiss that started off as soft and sweet turned into a full out hot make-out session.
"Ok, ew."
The blonde fled running in her room, followed closely by the witch.
/
PRESENT TIME
"So basically, this is a trial thing?" Klaus asked.
"If you want." She conceded. "I'm here for the weekend. We're Friday, that means you have three days to convince me to stay. If you don't succeed, I'll move out Monday."
"If I don't succeed?" he repeated with a mocking tone of voice. "Sweetheart, haven't you met me?"
He smirked. "I always succeed." He said a suddenly serious expression on his face, a glint of challenge in his eyes.
Caroline's mouth quirked into a tight-lipped smile. "Well, there's a first time for everything…" she stood up and directed towards the staircase. She turned around to meet his eyes. "… including for failure." She finished defiantly, a playful smile on her face.
Klaus chuckled.
"Now, come and show me my room." She ordered going up the stairs.
Thank you for reading.
Next chapter: Playdate
Your reviews mean the world.
Till' next time.