Thank you for your reviews and also for following and favouring the story :)
I feel like I have to warn you that, partly, this story will get sad at times. However, I hope you'll like it anyway.
Again, I apologize for my mistakes.
Here's the first chapter. Enjoy!
3 YEARS LATER
Caroline came home from work and immediately made herself comfortable on a couch. She was dead on her feet, exhausted from the never ending photo shoot they were doing today with the supermodel Elena Gilbert.
In the end, Caroline was really satisfied with the result of their endeavor. However, cooperating with that unbearable woman wasn't pleasant at all. She couldn't feel satisfied with anything! In one moment she was cold or thirsty, in the other she hated dresses they wanted to take pictures of her in. It took Caroline hours; trying to persuade Elena that she was wearing the most exclusive clothes from the newest Oscar de la Renta collection. But her attempts seemed desperately effortless. If she weren't Katherine's sister, Caroline would have told her to back off hours ago.
Elena's attitude miraculously changed after Damon appeared on a scene. She turned into a sickeningly sweet person; constantly flirting with her partner.
Yes, Caroline was no longer only a helping hand to Damon. Six months ago, he offered her a promotion and she gratefully accepted. She was now his partner. This fact enabled her to organize her own time and to work on fashion projects she was really interested in.
After the photo shoot, Elena and Damon disappeared together and Caroline was sure that there was another heartbreak for another girl on its way. Not that the model didn't ask for it.
Caroline thoughts were interrupted by a text alert.
Are you still renting my old apartment? I'd really like to talk. – Bekah
The Blonde's eyes almost popped out of her head. That was the second message Rebekah sent her this week. Caroline didn't answer the first one.
"Seriously? After three years you suddenly care?" She sighed; an irritated sound escaped her lips at her former best friend's text.
She didn't talk to Rebekah since the day of her abrupt departure. Neither did Stefan. The young Brit just packed her suitcases and left without ever looking back.
"Caroline? Caroline, wake up!" She felt Rebekah's hands shaking her impatiently.
"What's going on? Why are you waking me so early?" Caroline groaned and pressed a pillow to her face, trying to hide herself from the sun shining through a window.
"Caroline, I have to catch a plane to London as soon as possible. I left the key from the apartment on the kitchen counter. Could you hand it over to my landlord, please?"
"Rebekah, I don't understand." Caroline looked up from under the pillow. "Did something happen?"
The question seemed to push Rebekah over the edge. She began sobbing uncontrollably, attempting to produce a sentence but failing miserably.
Caroline understood only fragments from Rebekah's hysterical explanation; something about an accident, her brother's family…
After Rebekah finally managed to compose herself, she whispered, "I just really need to go. My family needs me."
Caroline nodded and hugged her. "Text me, please." She called after her.
But Rebekah was already out the door.
Caroline received a message from her after two long days.
I won't come back for a longer time, Care. Please, tell Stefan I'm sorry. Maybe you could rent my apartment since you're looking for one :) I'll miss you both. – Rebekah
Caroline sent her a message back in a minute. And then another, and then another. But she didn't receive any reply.
Until now. Caroline didn't understand what happened all of a sudden that Rebekah decided to contact her. She told herself she shouldn't care. But she did; she was just hurt by Rebekah's actions.
It was around midnight and Rebekah was wide awake, still waiting for a response from Caroline. After she sent the third and last message, in which she typed her recent address and promised Caroline to explain herself, Rebekah put the phone away on a nightstand. She hoped that, like always, the other Blonde's curiosity will better her and she'll give her a chance to reconcile their friendship.
There were some noises coming out of kitchen. Rebekah decided to check on it even though she knew it's probably her older brother Nik. They moved together to New York two weeks ago.
"Couldn't sleep, huh?" She stated, entering the kitchen while she observed him to pour himself a glass of bourbon.
Klaus shrugged his shoulders as if to say there was nothing he could do about it and sat down at their large kitchen table. Rebekah joined him without hesitation.
A silence occurred between them. Rebekah noticed that Klaus was already lost in his own world. She decided to break the silence by a question. "How was job hunting today?"
Klaus took a sip of his drink and finally turned attention to his sister. "It went great, actually. I think I got a job at New York Arts Magazine. They should call me tomorrow about their final decision."
Rebekah smiled at him. "That's awesome, Nik."
It came as no surprise for her to hear that he would find himself a job so quickly. Back in England, after graduating college he started working as an art critic as soon as he had made a name for himself as an artist. His paintings were being sold for highest prices at the time. Rebekah was convinced he would have succeeded also outside the borders of his homeland if it weren't for… the accident. He hadn't painted anything since.
"Maybe you could try to paint some-"
She didn't manage to finish her sentence because he cut her off. "I don't paint anymore, Bekah."
She just nodded, knowing better than to approach the subject further.
He hesitated before saying. "I'm still not sure if I should stay here. It's selfish to…"
"To what, Nik? To try to move on?" She spat out. Sometimes, she was just so angry at the fact how the accident still dictated the course of their lives.
It took Rebekah almost a year to persuade him to move to America with her. She explained to him over and over again that he really needed a change of scenery. But he was holding on so tight to the past that she was slowly starting to give up. And then suddenly one day, he agreed to join her in her plans to return to New York.
"Look I know there's still this smallest hope. But you can't hold onto that forever." Rebekah added in a calmer voice.
There was no response coming from him. She saw in his eyes that he still had doubts if leaving everything - and everyone - behind was the right thing to do.
After a while, she took a deep breath to make him see the point of her previous statement but he didn't let her.
"Goodnight, Rebekah." He stood up, kissed her on a cheek and left her alone to her thoughts.
"What about this one?" asked Caroline as she made her way out of a fitting room.
"A Polka Dot Dress? Really?" Katherine Gilbert looked at her with skepticism.
They were already shopping for 3 hours and until now Caroline couldn't find the right dress to buy.
"It's refreshing." Caroline defended the dress. Katherine just glanced at her again, still unconvinced.
"You look like a twelve year old sweet little girl." Katherine smirked because she really liked making fun of her.
Caroline waved aside her comment. "I'm a sucker for Retro Fashion. This dress is going home with me."
Katherine continued to mock her. "In that case, why don't you buy a hair bow? It would be a lovely combination."
"Seriously, Katherine?" Caroline tried to sound annoyed with her. "You have no taste for fashion. Besides, I'd be wearing them only in my spare time, not for work." However, even she couldn't help it but burst into laugh when she saw Katherine's amused face.
" Whatever. Just buy that monstrosity so that we can go for lunch. I'm hungry."
Later on, after they placed their orders, Caroline mentioned the Rebekah problem to the Brunette.
"So let me get this straight," said Katherine, trying to recapitulate what she had just heard. "She didn't make an attempt to contact you for almost 3 years and now she's in the city and she would like to talk?"
Katherine met Rebekah only a few times. After Caroline introduced them, it had been clear from the start that they have too similar stubborn and dominant personalities to "chum up" - as Rebekah liked to point out.
And then, Katherine said something that surprised them both. "Maybe you should listen."
Her advice made Caroline to raise her eyebrows in shock but she nodded haltingly in agreement.
After her anger vanished yesterday a little, Caroline realized that she shouldn't write Rebekah off before hearing out her reasons.
"I've been furious with her, to be honest. But then I have remembered the moment she left. She looked so heartbroken and… It's no wonder considering what happened in her family. I don't know any details so I'm going to give her the benefit of the doubt."
"That means you're going to talk to her?" Katherine asked as she sipped from her glass of red whine.
"She texted me her address yesterday. So yeah I guess I am."
"Don't forget to take your new dress, Care. I'm sure she'll appreciate them more than me."
This time, Caroline gave her a really annoyed look. "Very funny, Kat."
In the evening of that day, Caroline was riding in an elevator, heading for the seventh floor where Rebekah's apartment should be situated.
She even wore the new dress; just to prove Katherine a point.
Caroline finally discovered the right door. She stood before it for a moment until she found courage to knock.
The door barely even opened properly when Caroline blurted out, "So I've decided to give you a chance after all."
"Frankly, I don't recall asking for one, sweetheart." An accented voice replied.
Caroline's breath was taken away as she caught herself staring into a pair of the most beautiful blue eyes she had ever seen.
Let me know what you think ;)
