Happy New Year my lovelies.
Enjoy This Time's 17th chapter.
It was approximately ten a.m. and Rebekah as well as Kol was resting, still recuperating from her crazy night from the day before. They both surely needed the sleep. Last night had been a pretty rough night… particularly for Elijah who had had to endure the suffering and bear the two accomplices' madness. After Caroline and Niklaus left and even before that, they spent the evening swallowing shots and chips. Rebekah almost got on the bar of the pub to drunk-sing and Kol nearly pick up a fight –not that the latter needed to be drunk to get into trouble: he was literally a magnet for trouble. Their elder brother had had to get them out of there kicking and screaming, yanking Rebekah up by her blonde hair.
Only heaven knew the pain they would feel when they would finally wake up. That would be Elijah's revenge.
/
The elder of the Mikaelson siblings was seated in his regular armchair reading a book. Well, that's what he was doing several minutes ago before his mind began to stray in a route that was as sinuous as perfect leading him to the most marvelous and distressing woman he knew. That was a misadventure that happened often to tell the truth, too often even to Elijah's liking. Whenever the mansion would be too calm, whenever he would quietly read a book or even when Elena Gilbert was mentioned. And it was a bummer for the man who liked to have control over his mind and whose ability to concentrate was starting to weaken.
It was one thing to have her haunt his dreams at night; it was pleasant to say the least –it made him miss her even more, sure, however it also made him feel like he was still in contact with her. But it was another thing to daydream about her and feel his control on the edge of slipping when one of his siblings decided to tease him about her.
The doorbell interrupted his train of thoughts. He stood up and went to the door.
"Mister Salvatore." He was surprised. "It has been a long time." He stated and Stefan nodded. "What brings you here?" he asked.
"I was hoping I could talk to your brother." He responded.
"Well, please come in." He invited politely stepping aside so Stefan could indeed enter the house.
"Thank you." Stefan said advancing into the house.
Elijah led the way. "Niklaus!" he called out. "One of the Salvatore brothers is here for you!" he informed yelling.
They settled in the living room, Elijah in his armchair and Stefan in a couch nearby.
"So Stefan how is your sweet girlfriend?" he inquired.
"She's great, thank you." He answered. "She's still getting used to being a vampire but bottom line is she's doing great." He declared.
Indeed, Elena still wasn't used to being a vampire. But then again, one couldn't blame her and certainly not Stefan: himself had needed multiple decades to get used to the fact, and there were times when he still had trouble accepting his true nature. Truth is he learned every day to live with it and having Elena by his side was pretty helpful. Besides, the only advantage the latter found to being a vampire was that she got to spend an eternity with him and best friends with Caroline forever.
"Yes, it is true that she never wanted this life." Elijah said in a pensive tone remembering the raven-haired woman's reaction when the protective impulsive Salvatore brother fed her his blood the day she surrendered to Niklaus at the peril of her life.
It's the moment Klaus chose to make his appearance. "Morning mate." He greeted Stefan. "What can I do for you?" he questioned.
The least old of the vampires in the room didn't even take a moment to think. His answer came out the second the question was asked. "Take care of Caroline." he responded. "And don't you dare hurt her." He added.
"I beg your pardon?" asked Klaus, incredulous.
"I will be upstairs." Elijah informed getting up to join his room. "Stefan, please send Elena my greetings."
"I will." He promised. "Thank you, Elijah."
Stefan waited until the oldest vampire was out of sight and he thought, out of hearing range before he turned back to Klaus. He stood up and spoke again.
"We both know that you're a jerk." He stated as if it was a mere fact and Klaus raised a rather amused eyebrow at him in questioning. "For some reason, Caroline thinks otherwise or at least, she thinks she can change that. I have my hesitations." He said.
"Keep going." The hybrid encouraged.
"Now, I trust her instincts, we all do, which is why we let her move in here." He explained and his interlocutor listened and stared at him intently.
It was true that Caroline really was a good person with a truly good heart. She always tried to see the good in people and she always did her best to focus on the positive aspects of life in accordance with her bubbly personality. That's why he was worried about her: she was such a good person and Klaus was such an expert at manipulation, he feared the latter would get under her skin and creep his way into her heart before she even had the time to realize it. And Stefan didn't want Caroline to get hurt; she was his Lexi, she was his baby sister. They looked out for each other, that's what they did. She had supported him seven years ago when he feared that he had lost Elena to Damon. She had rooted for him and again four years ago, she had been the one to advise him to take his time to rebuild their relationship before even considering getting back with Elena, though they both knew they were each other's eternal loves.
"Is there a point to this conversation?" Klaus asked getting annoyed, his brows knit together.
"Yes." Stefan answered. "I am going to make this as clear for you as I possibly can." He said. "Hurt Caroline and I swear to God that I will find a way to put an end to you." He warned.
The Mikaelson man frowned and advanced as close to the Salvatore brother as he could without them touching. "Is that a threat, mate?" he inquired.
"No." Stefan responded. "It's a promise." He corrected pointedly.
Klaus nodded while continuing to challenge him with his stare. Stefan held his look.
Klaus admired the man's bravery and mostly, his devotion and loyalty to Caroline; even though he was kind of jealous of his relationship with the blonde not that he would ever admit to, Klaus had to say the younger Salvatore brother was a true friend and a very good one at it; it was a shame they weren't friends anymore. But truth be told, if it had been someone other than Stefan standing in front of him warning him, friend of Caroline or not, they would have gone back home with their arm broken in the best of cases.
The eye-to-eye challenge would have seemed like the moment lasted forever to any person exterior to the scene, but in reality, it only lasted an instant until the blond broke and the silence and the tension. "Well, I consider myself warned."
Stefan nodded and slightly shrugged. "Then, my work here's done." He concluded. Then, he
/
Caroline knocked at Rebekah's door and entered her bedroom once authorized. She was carrying a tray with a plate of waffles and a piece of pie as well as a glass of orange juice.
"Morning… I brought you some breakfast." She said.
Rebekah let out a groan of displeasure sitting up. She brought her hands to her head and pressed it. "Oh my God." She felt like she had a giant elephant sitting on her head.
"I feel like I have…" she began.
"…a giant elephant sitting on your head." She completed for her settling on the other blonde's bed and putting down the tray on the blanket between her and Rebekah. "Yes, I know."
Rebekah let out yet another groan.
"Here, I brought you some paracetamol." Caroline declared taking a box of medicine out of her pocket and handing it to her.
"Thank you." The Mikaelson blonde muttered taking the pills.
She grabbed a waffle and started eating it. "Mmmhh…" she relished. "I always loved Nik's cooking; we all do. But it was never enough to get him to cook." She told the other blonde. "Maybe now that you're here, he will more often." She commented finishing the waffle and Caroline picked up on the hint of jealousy in her voice. More importantly, she heard the hurt it held.
"Hey um…" she began touching Rebekah's knee. She cleared her throat trying to find her words. "I wanted to apologize." She declared.
"Apologize?" she asked knitting her brows in an inquisitive matter.
"Yeah, you know for… moving into your home without really taking the time to discuss it with you beforehand."
Rebekah just stared at the other blonde, a pill in one hand and a small bottle of water in the other, an impassive expression on her face. And in that moment Caroline wondered if it was a typical Mikaelson family trait to remain stoic whenever faced up to an uncomfortable situation in which their feelings or emotions were stimulated.
She slid the pill into her mouth and drank some water, and just when Caroline thought she wouldn't reply, she spoke again. "It's nothing." She said.
"Yes, Rebekah, it is." She contradicted.
"Caroline… I am used not to be taken into account. My brothers never implicate me in their decisions and even when I do let them know what I think, most of the time, they don't care about my opinion and they don't respect it." she declared in a dull tone that didn't one bit express how she truly felt.
It was true: her brothers didn't care about her opinion passionately. They always had. She remembered when Kol opposed to Klaus not long after they had turned, she had begged him not to, told him it would end badly, but of course, he didn't listen to her and ended up beaten black and blue. And Elijah… he abandoned them back in 1500, he abandoned HER, despite all her supplications, he refused to stay with them and that, just for the sake of his precious Katerina, just to mark his dissent with Klaus, once again not taking her feelings into account. As for her dear brother Klaus, she still remembered when he rushed to go kidnap his doppelganger when Alaric was a threat to all their lives and she begged him, implored him to just leave Mystic Falls and the doppelganger with it. She promised him she would look out for him, she swore her loyalty to him but as usual, she just wasn't enough and he chose his hybrids over her.
The other blonde listened to her intently. She felt bad for her and above all, she understood Rebekah: she knew all too well what feeling left aside could do to a person, she knew what it was like to feel like you didn't matter; she had experienced it far too much to ever forget the feeling. Elena was her best friend and she loved her with the deepest part of her heart, but she always felt like she was second-best to the latter… whether it was with boys –Stefan and Matt, even Damon had used her to get to Elena –or in everyone's priority. Indeed, Elena had always been at the center of all the concerns, she had always been everyone's top and absolute priority; it was almost as though the world revolved around her, what she totally got, consciously: after all she was the one who was the most in danger of them all.
However, deep down inside, it was hard for the old insecure needy Caroline not to feel lonely and like she didn't matter. Worse even, there were moments when she felt as though she was just a means of protection for precious Elena. Today, things were very different though: she was way more confident than she used to be and she trusted that she was important to her friends. She just hoped that someday Rebekah would realize in the same way that there existed no words to say how much her brothers loved her, even though they rather sucked at showing it.
"Well, I don't mean to criticize your weird family dynamic…" she said doing just that. "…but I don't work that way." She informed. "I don't make decisions liable to influence other people's lives without consulting them and I'm sorry for not coming to you before deciding to move in here." She apologized once again. "I didn't mean to impose on you." She told her.
Rebekah listened and stared at Caroline intently. She nodded. "Thank you. I appreciate." She said. "I'm assuming you won't do it again?" she spoke in a questioning matter.
Caroline shook her head. "No, I won't."
"Good. It's settled then." She concluded. "And you're not imposing." She clarified. "A feminine presence could be of use around here." She admitted.
The Forbes lady smiled. "I would love to be of help."
Rebekah smiled back at her.
"Well, I'm gonna go now. I'm kind of tired too." Caroline stood up and walked towards the door. She reached out for the handle but turned around before opening the door. "I'm here for you, Bekah." She declared for the Mikaelson lady. "…whatever you need."
Rebekah smiled genuinely at her in response.
/
In the middle of the night, after an extremely hot sexy dream of which it is better not to give more details about, Caroline woke up in sweat and panting, suddenly finding the heat of her room too overbearing. She took the thick blanket off her legs and swung them over the edge of her bed. Since when did she have naughty dreams about who-must-not-be-named?! Perhaps, it was the geographic proximity –owed to the fact that he was in the room across hers. Perhaps, it was the emotional proximity –owed to their recent coming closer. Whatever. This could not become a habit!
She brought her blonde long hair into a loose knot and stood up to go to her bathroom. She passed some water on her face in an attempt to calm herself. After closing the faucet, she grabbed a towel on one of the bathroom's shelves and wiped her face. Then, she stayed still, her breathing recovering its regular rhythm.
Her throat was dry: she needed to drink. She opened her suitcase and withdrew a sweater from it. She slipped it on before leaving her room and heading downstairs.
She entered the kitchen and directly went to the refrigerator to fetch a bottle of water. She took it and as she closed the refrigerator, a figure appeared to her startling her. She held her chest in relief and slapped the hybrid lightly on the arm passing by him. "Smart!"
He laughed. "We really need to start working on your reflexes, love." He remarked her.
"Oh shut up, that's why you like me." She said settling on one of the stools. She only became aware of her words two seconds after they were out and her eyes widened at the realization. Why didn't she know to think twice before she spoke once? She quickly pulled herself together and acted like nothing. Well, sort of. She stared at something only she could see on the kitchen table refusing to look up at Klaus.
If she had, she would've seen he was mockingly smirking at her. He let out a sound and cocked his head to the side. "True."
Her eyes remained focused on the table.
"You know we have to stop meeting like this." He said ironically referring to their late encounters.
"True." She agreed. "You need to stop stalking me." She added making him laugh.
His mouth pulled into a smirk again but he quickly wiped it off. "Can I get some of your water?" he politely asked and that got her to look up at him.
She nodded. "Sure."
He smiled lightly and got two glasses in one of the cupboards. He put them down on the table and settled next to the blonde. The latter glanced up at him before pouring water into both glasses. She took her own and he imitated her.
They both drank while looking at one another seductively through their lashes, boldly seductively. Caroline was the one to crack; she broke his gaze and moved away from him, glass in the hand; she could feel his eyes on her
She turned to face him and sat on the kitchen's counter. She took another sip of her water then, put down her glass. "So what are you doing up at such a late hour of the night?" she inquired before glancing at the kitchen's clock. "Or should I say at such an early hour of the morning?" she corrected herself.
Klaus smiled. "And you?" he inquired.
"I asked you first." She retorted straightening her head.
He huffed dully. "I couldn't sleep." He responded simply.
"That's all?" she pressed raising a dubious eyebrow at him, looking at him like she didn't quite believe him. "No bad dream? No phantom coming back to haunt you?" she inquired, and he laughed.
"No, none of that." He denied going to her. "I'm just not much of a sleeper."
"You're sure it's not your guilty conscience that troubles you?" she asked half-teasingly but as she saw a flash of hurt travel his eyes and he looked away lowering his gaze, she instantly regretted her words. She really hadn't meant to hurt him. She didn't know why she had said that; it came out all by itself. They had been doing a lot of progress, their relationship had been moving towards the right direction and she would hate herself if she had compromised it all by saying something she didn't actually mean.
Okay, so Klaus was no innocent person and he had commit rather reprehensible actions, but it was no reasons to throw his mistakes at his face all the time. She really didn't want him to think she saw him as a monster. It's just… sometimes it was hard for the blonde to feel so close to him and be so attracted to him without feeling like SHE was the monster, without blaming herself.
"Possible." He muttered.
"I'm sorry." She apologized. "I didn't mean to…"
"Never mind." He cut her off, aware that he totally deserved her cutting remarks but intent on working on himself to be worthy of her. "So what are YOU doing here?" he questioned.
"I honestly didn't mean…" she didn't have the time to finish that Klaus had already interrupted her.
"Caroline…" he spoke in a warning tone.
She dropped it and sighed. "I woke up thirsty after a dream." She responded simply.
He raised an inquisitive eyebrow at her. "I hope it wasn't a nightmare."
She lightly tilted her head to the side. "Debatable." She muttered to herself.
"Excuse me?" he asked though he had heard her.
"Nothing." She immediately said. He stared at her suspiciously in response as silence fell over them.
As though their minds were connected, they moved simultaneously reaching out for their glasses and their hands grazed. "Sorry." They said at the same time and their eyes met.
Caroline unwillingly drowned into Klaus' lapis lazuli eyes, founding herself in the impossibility to look away. His eyes roamed her face in awe and he took in her appearance: she was wearing a white pullover with a pair of black leggings.
"Aren't you hot?" he asked her in a small voice.
She shook her head negatively. "I feel the cold." She mumbled.
He nodded indistinctly. He went nearer to her and his left hand found her hair to undo her bun and bring her hair down and was surprised when she didn't stop him. He ran his hand through her silky locks and brought them in front over her shoulders. She looked beautiful. Their gazes locked; neither of the two spoke again out of fear of breaking the moment. On the counter, he slowly brought his hand closer to hers until their fingers touched causing Caroline's breath to hitch. They brought their faces closer together. With only a few inches between them, Klaus could smell Caroline's scent even better. It invaded his nose and jumbled his already confused mind.
His mind was screaming at him to finally kiss and devour her. He wanted to taste every little inch of her mouth and impregnate her of his scent, of his being. Little did he know the pretty blonde longed for the very same thing. She felt heat travel all her being. Their breaths tangled as they got closer and closer. Their noses touched and their lips grazed. Just as Klaus was about to close the distance, the lights went on –or should I say Kol turned them on.
Klaus immediately strayed from her.
"Whoa!" Caroline spoke closing her eyes and covering her face with her hand, the bright light too much for her sensitive eyes.
Kol frowned in obvious confusion. Was he having a mirage? And here he thought he had sobered up. Then, his lips quirked into a smirk as he put two and two back together.
"Good evening." He greeted them. "Or rather good morning." He corrected himself tilting his head.
Neither the blonde nor the blond replied but Kol caught a quick glance between them before she lowered her head.
"I'm sorry. Am I interrupting something?" Kol asked in a false apologetic tone.
"No." she answered looking up at him, but as his gaze grew insistent, she dropped it.
"Are you sure?" he pressed. "What are you doing here?"
His brother turned to stare at him and summoned a typical serious and reproving Elijah look staring at him like he should know better. However, catching the dagger threat that lay beneath, Kol decided it was better not to push it.
"I was thirsty so I came down to get some water and I met Klaus." explained Caroline. It was the truth, not the whole truth, but the truth nevertheless.
"Besides, now that I've drank, I think I'm gonna regain my room and try to get some sleep." She declared jumping off the counter. She glanced stealthily at Klaus.
"Good night, guys." She wished them and passed by Kol to leave the kitchen.
"Good night, love." Klaus said.
"Good night, sweet Caroline." Kol outdid him when she was already climbing stairs.
A minute passed before Kol spoke again. "Wow…" he said between his teeth advancing towards his brother. "She'd make a lame ass poker player." He whispered.
The Original hybrid rolled his eyes and his jaw clenched in anger. He could've killed his brother at this instant. Did he always have to ruin everything? He headed for the door. "Good night, Kol."
/
Caroline, Matt and the Mikaelson siblings were at the Grill on Klaus' initiative.
When they woke up in the morning, the two pretty blondes, Elijah, Klaus, as well as Kol, sat in the dining room and took a proper breakfast all together, in a mixture of teasing and laughing; they ate what was left of Klaus' pastries from the day before. Things between Klaus and Caroline were tensed, not in a hostile way but in an awkward kind of way: shyness had settled between them and it had not gone unnoticed by the other indiscreet Mikaelson siblings who however, for once, had the decency to act like nothing and not pry.
Afterwards, Caroline and Rebekah took shelter in the latter's room and spent a morning between girls. They were joined around eleven by Matt who was coming to see his girlfriend so Caroline decided to disappear to give the lovers a moment of intimacy.
When they reached the afternoon, Klaus suggested that they go have lunch at the Grill but Caroline declined explaining that the whole point of her moving into the Mikaelson with him and his siblings was that she got to watch him in his natural environment daily. He retorted that was what she had been doing since she moved in and eventually convinced her. She invited the other Mikaelsons and Matt to come with them.
"What am I doing here again?" Elijah wondered out loud.
Klaus smirked mischievously.
His sister heaved a sigh. "You're spending time with your siblings, get over yourself!" she answered him. "And give us a break with your superior look." She ordered.
The other blonde fought back a smile.
Klaus creased his brows lightly. "What is it?" he asked her, interested.
She shook her head.
"What is it?" Elijah asked as well.
She shrugged. "You make me think of Stefan." She admitted.
He raised an eyebrow at her in surprise. "Is that a compliment?"
"Oh coming from her…" Rebekah began pointing at her friend. "…it's the best of compliments." She declared.
Caroline laughed and Rebekah quickly joined her.
"And here I thought women were the ones with feelers." Kol spoke staring at the entrance.
They all turned to the door to see Stefan come in, followed by Elena, Bonnie and Jeremy.
Caroline frowned wickedly. It's not that she wasn't happy to see her friends or that she didn't want to see them, it's just that she wasn't expecting the encounter and it went without saying that she was already dreading what was bound to happen.
"This is a strange coincidence." Kol noted.
"Coincidence?" Rebekah asked him, doubt dripping from her voice before she directed her look towards her favorite brother.
Caroline turned back to them, her brows knit together. As she saw Rebekah's look on Klaus, she turned to him as well and eyed him suspiciously. "What on earth…?" she began to accuse when Elena's voice stopped her.
"Hey, Care!"
She turned around then, stood up to give her best friend a big hug. "You okay?" she asked after they released each other.
The raven-haired woman hummed. "You?" she asked in return.
"I'm fine." Caroline responded. She moved lightly to give Stefan a kiss. "Hey, Stef."
He gave her a small smile. "Good afternoon, everyone." He greeted the Mikaelson siblings at the table and Matt.
They all greeted him back, each in their particular way, while Caroline hugged her other friends.
"Good afternoon, mate." Klaus greeted.
"Hi, Stefan." Rebekah greeted him.
"Good afternoon." Kol simply said.
"Good afternoon, Stefan." Elijah greeted him getting up to leave his seat to Elena. "Please Elena, sit."
"Thank you, Elijah." She acknowledged moving to sit down.
Elijah got another chair for himself and sat next to the doppelganger; Stefan settled next to his girlfriend too, on her other side as Bonnie and Jeremy settled between Caroline and Matt after they greeted everyone.
A minute passed and nobody said anything. The tension at the table intensified.
"So how are you Elena?" Elijah questioned the lady breaking the uncomfortable silence. "You're glowing, you seem happy." He remarked.
"I am; thank you. Very much so. Stefan's perfect." She declared turning to gaze at her boyfriend lovingly. She turned back to Elijah. "He takes really good care of me." She asserted.
"Obviously." Elijah commented.
"Yes, he does." They heard a voice from afar say and their eyes almost all widened. "You look amazing."
As Elena looked up in slow motion at the person to whom the voice belonged, Caroline turned around to see them.
"Damon…" Elena's sight confirmed what she knew the second the voice came to her ear. He gave her his trademark sexy smirk.
"Tyler?" Caroline said in a questioning matter, uncertain.
"Hey, Care."
Rebekah huffed. "Really fantastic idea, Nik." She murmured leaning towards her brother, low enough for only him to hear.
Again, Happy new year everyone. Welcome Damon Salvatore and Tyler Lockwood into the cast of This Time.
The reviews I have gotten the three last chapters were pretty moderate. So I figured you guys could use a suggested review:
Dear antoemati,
I am so loving the progress in Klaus & Caroline's relationship
The blondes' moment was nice too
You're doing a great job with them
OMG OMG Damon is back! Finally!
And OMG, Tyler is too! That one, I didn't see coming!
He better not ruin things between KC; I hope not.
I am so sorry for not reviewing lately. I'm still following and I still love you.
A very happy new year to you too!
Lots of love, your name.
I would really love to hear your own words though.
PS: As you may guess, Damon's return will not be without consequences on Stelena's relationship, so in order to fully understand their storyline in the next chapters, I recommend you give The Feelings' Chain a read.