Music filled the living room, from the antique record player that Katherine had made Stefan drag out from some unoccupied room of the mansion. She unceremoniously dropped a Def Leppard record onto the player, let go of the needle and then gave Stefan a sexy smile before she began to twist her body around to the music.
Stefan chuckled and shook his head, taking a long drink of his beer.
"You're seriously playing Def Leppard? That's an antique," Stefan commented, his eyes on her as she swayed her hips around in a deliciously short, tight, black dress.
"What is, Stefan?" she said playfully, "The record player, or you?"
"You know you're older than me, right?" he replied, the lighthearted nature of their banter evident in the sparkle in his eyes.
"Yeah, but that will be our little secret," she teased, leaning down to poke his nose gently with each word.
He smiled and took in the view of her plump cleavage as she stood up straight again. She crooked her finger and beckoned him to come dance with her. He shook his head with a smile.
"I'm just spectating," he said, dragging his eyes indulgently up and down her body and taking another drink of his beer.
"I see," she said, running a hand from her waist, down her hip, to her thigh, "Then let me make it worth your while."
Stefan's eyes darkened as Katherine's dance turned from happy and silly to slow and seductive. He perched forward on the couch to watch her more intently. For someone that was dying, she looked none the worse for wear. Her tight black dress hugged her curves in all the right places, showing off what seemed like miles of glowing, toned leg and the perfect amount of pushed up cleavage. Her glossy dark curls were piled on her head for a change, letting him have a peek at the long expanse of her smooth neck. The heavy dark makeup around her eyes only served to make the deep brown of her irises even warmer and more inviting. She'd always been a beauty. And for someone that looked exactly the same as the girl that he was currently heartbroken over, he really didn't see any similarities between them. Elena was pretty, but Katherine was fatal.
Stefan's breath hitched in his throat as she pulled a strap off of one shoulder, then the other. The perfect mounds of her breasts popped free from the dress, now held only by a black lace bra. Stefan's mouth watered at the sight. Katherine fluttered her lashes at him and reached around to unhook her bra. He sat on the edge of his seat in anticipation. Yeah, this was exactly what he needed right now. Nothing but this. Whatever it was.
The heavy front door creaking open stopped them in their tracks. Katherine pulled up her dress to cover her bra but didn't bother fixing the straps. Stefan threw a pillow over his lap to hide the fact that he was straining through the front of his jeans.
The top of Caroline's blonde head peaked around the edge of the door. Katherine groaned and threw her head back in frustration and annoyance.
"Anybody home?" Caroline asked, letting herself in.
"Does anyone EVER knock around here?" Katherine snarked, grabbing Stefan's beer and drinking what was left.
Caroline's eyes landed on the pair and then lowered, embarrassed.
"Sorry," she said, meekly.
She sounded a lot different than she had earlier and it caught Stefan's attention. He looked her over. She was now wearing a white lace dress that fluttered out around her mid-thigh. Her down turned face was framed in pale gold curls. Looking between her and Katherine, he had to stifle a laugh at the idea of the two girls being the angel and devil on his shoulders.
"Hey, it's okay," Stefan reassured her, moving the pillow and relaxing into the couch. Katherine had gone back to twirling happily around the living room.
"Where are Damon and Elena?" Caroline asked, confused.
"Hmmm, if I had to guess, I'd say they're off somewhere either screwing or fighting," Katherine said, "I mean, that's literally all they ever accomplish."
Stefan smirked at her comment and glanced at Caroline, who would have also found the comment amusing had it come from almost anyone else. She simply glared at Katherine, who then smiled and continued to dance.
"You're looking for Elena? Is that why you came here?" Stefan asked, the question less polite and more bold than he would have normally directed at his sweet friend. His bravery came from the six pack he'd already finished and the lap dance he'd begun to received, and the overall atmosphere of strangeness that seemed to linger over them today.
"Yeah, well...no, not just that," she stammered.
"What else then?" he asked, staring at her intently.
"I wanted to apologize...for earlier," she all but squeaked out.
Stefan was surprised. He had expected her to be angry at him for a while, was prepared to be the one apologizing for his behavior once he'd gotten all of this out of his system. For her to come apologizing to him was a surprise. Not a shock though, considering who he was talking about. Caroline always apologized. She always cared. Even when she shouldn't. And especially about him. He knew he didn't deserve it.
"Not necessary, Caroline. I should be the one apologizing to you," he said, softening momentarily, "What I said earlier today was completely out of line and I'm sorry."
Caroline smiled and for a second, everything seemed normal.
"Okay, you've kissed and made up," Katherine said, sounding bored, "Now either leave or grab a drink and pick out a record," Katherine demanded pointing a finger at Caroline.
Stefan turned his eyes to Katherine and lifted his brows, confused about her intentions considering what was in the process of happening before Caroline had interrupted them again. He had assumed they would get right back to it. What was she up to?
Then he turned to Caroline, who hadn't said anything or announced her departure yet and he raised his brows at her. Was she really thinking about staying? And was he relieved or disappointed? Either way, the decision felt entirely out of his hands so he simply sat back on the sofa and waited.
"Okay, someone else has GOT to start picking the music," Stefan complained as Katherine dropped the needle on a Whitesnake album and giggled. Her hair had fallen halfway down from all the dancing and she had kicked off her black heels.
"You didn't like the 80s, Stefan?" Caroline asked with a laugh, tossing back a cranberry martini.
"I mean, I liked hair bands as much as the next guy, but out of all of the decades to choose from, who would ever pick the 80s" he said, distaste in his voice.
The girls laughed. Katherine danced. Caroline sat next to Stefan on the couch, her legs pulled up under her.
"So did you have like...power ballad hair in the 80s, Stefan?" Caroline asked, tousling his current hero hair with a laugh.
Stefan blocked her assault of his coif in mock horror, "Hey, I will not sit here and listen to these accusations."
Caroline giggled.
"No, he had more of like a Flock of Seagulls thing going on," Katherine said, sitting exhausted next to him on the other side and stroking the hair at the base of his neck, "But, on him, it was sexy."
Caroline watched as Stefan's eyes slipped closed at the contact. She was surprised at the little rush of heat that ran through her watching Katherine touch Stefan. At first it felt a little like jealousy, then like something else that she wasn't sure about. She looked around awkwardly for her drink before finding and drinking it quickly.
She didn't know how she'd ended up here. Having a 3-person party with her best friend and her murderer. It sounded a lot weirder when she said it to herself like that. Stefan's words earlier had really gotten to her. First all she felt was hurt and anger. The nerve of him saying something like that to her when she had just been trying to help him, keep him from making a colossal mistake. Then, on her drive home, she'd started to really think about what he'd said and she began to see his point. He was in a dark place right now, and he was coping. She realized that if she let herself admit it, she wasn't doing so great herself. So she would apologize, she'd decided. She was nothing if not supportive of her friends.
On the drive to his house, though, she'd been thinking about the other part of the conversation. The part where Katherine had accused her of being a child and a prude and Stefan had said nothing in her defense. Did he think of her that way? And if he did, why did it bother her? All the while images of Stefan pushing Katherine up against the wall replayed in her mind and sped up her breathing. Her head was definitely all over the place, but she still drove toward the source of the confusion as if compelled to do so. Unfortunately that wasn't the case, she was willingly putting herself in what was sure to be a strange situation.
And strange it was. She watched Katherine run her black nailed fingers through Stefan's hair and watched him lay a heavy hand upon the bare skin of her thigh. Caroline swallowed. Strange. But not unpleasant. She'd actually been having fun. They had all been having fun together for hours. She'd lost track of how long, actually. She had even allowed Katherine to drag her to her feet and dance along with her. Caroline stole glances at Stefan, making sure that he was watching her too. But why was she doing that? Why did she care?
A slow ballad began and Katherine seemed to get an idea, "Stefan," she said, scooting slightly away from him, "Why don't you ask Caroline to dance? I think she's feeling a little left out."
Caroline's cheeks colored at the unwanted and unexpected attention.
"No, that's okay," she said with an awkward chuckle, "I'm fine."
"Will you dance with me, Caroline?" he asked, sincerely, "It would be my pleasure."
She smiled and nodded. Dancing with Stefan. One of life's greatest simple pleasures. She'd been enjoying the rare occasions for years now.
Stefan stood and extended his hand to Caroline. She placed her hand in his and allowed him to pull her up in one swift motion, her body colliding into his. She gasped at the sudden contact and then smiled happily.
They assumed their normal dance position and moved to the music.
Katherine observed them from the couch, eyes judging from atop her drink.
"What is this, guys? A junior high dance?" she said, "Leave room for Jesus? I mean, really."
Stefan and Caroline rolled their eyes and shook their heads in unison, giving each other exhausted smiles. But Stefan dropped her hand and wrapped both of his arms around her waist, pulling her flush against him.
"Is this okay?" he whispered in her ear. The sensation of his warm breath in her ear sent a spark down her back.
She nodded shyly and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Now we're talking," Katherine said, "Now we're up to high school prom level slow dancing."
"Katherine.." Stefan said, warning in his voice.
"Okay, okay," she said, throwing her hands up and smiling wickedly.
Caroline watched as she twirled a loose curl around her finger and then winked in Caroline's direction.
Caroline turned her attention back to Stefan. She found herself melting into him, surprised at how comfortable she felt tight in his embrace. His thumbs swept back and forth against the bare skin of her back where her dress dipped low. It felt better than she had even imagined. She realized that she was admitting to herself that she had, indeed, imagined how it might feel to have his fingers stroking her skin.
The song ended and he pulled slowly away, placing a soft kiss on her cheek, close to her lips.
"Thanks for the dance," he whispered into her hair, giving her a final squeeze before releasing her.
Her body felt limp as he stopped holding her up.
"Okay, my turn," Katherine said, jumping up onto the couch and then into Stefan's arms. He caught her and she squealed happily. Caroline felt just a twinge of jealousy as she reclaimed her drink and sat back down.
The next song was faster and she watched as Katherine rubbed herself against Stefan sensuously. Caroline tried to keep her expression neutral, hiding her embarrassment and excitement in attempt to prove she could handle it. Handle this. The debauchery of being a vampire. Although she wondered if most other 17 year olds didn't act the same.
Katherine lifted her leg and hooked it around Stefan's hips. Caroline's eyes followed Stefan's hand as he gripped Katherine's thigh to hold it up. She was mesmerized at the way his fingers made light indentations in the skin of her leg. Katherine tossed her head back and whipped her now completely loose hair around, using her hands to muss it further in time to the music. Stefan made a little hum of pleasure and bit gently on his bottom lip as he dug his fingers into her thigh, pulling her tightly against him and rubbing against her.
Caroline sucked in a ragged breath before she could stop herself. She was thankful that Katherine no longer had vampire hearing and probably hadn't noticed. But Stefan's eyes has darted to her as soon as the sound left her lips. His eyes were dark and they deliberately didn't leave hers as he once again rubbed himself slowly and firmly between Katherine's parted legs. Caroline chewed her own lip as her head spun and her blood surged through her body. She squeezed her own legs together as she became aware of the tension that was beginning to form there.
Katherine, following Stefan's gaze and realizing what was going on, turned her head to look at Caroline. She smiled her beautifully dangerous smile.
"Looks like we put on a pretty good show, Stefan," she said, her voice warm and thick.
Caroline licked her lips and lowered her head in embarrassment.
"We can do even better, if you'd like," Katherine said, lifting on her toes to press her lips to Stefan's neck and suck gently. He closed his eyes and Caroline listened as his heart pumped faster. She felt her own heart pounding in her chest. Blood coursing through every inch of her body. And panic. She felt panic.
"I should go," she said, weakly, searching around with her eyes for her purse, her escape.
"Caroline," Stefan said, "It's okay."
She looked up at him, curiously. What was okay? This? Because no. No it wasn't.
"It's no big deal," he continued, rubbing his hands down Katherine's waist, over her hips as she continued to press her lips and tongue against his neck.
"He's right," Katherine joined, lifting her head from him to look at Caroline, "We're just having fun. Come on, Care Bear...dance with us."
Stefan nodded and smiled. Caroline looked at him. Look into his eyes. Those warm green hero eyes that she'd been staring into for years. And she realized that she trusted him more than anyone. He wouldn't lie to her and he wouldn't let her do something that was going to hurt her. They were just coping with life. All of them. So she allowed herself to smile shyly and be pulled by Katherine's small hand back to the "dance floor" that they had created in Stefan's living room.
So they would dance together? No harm in that. Even as Caroline was repeating it through her head, she had a tickle of an idea in her head and a heat low in her stomach that said the evening was just beginning. She realized that she'd already given herself over to possibility. Tonight was just that...tonight. And she would just have to see where else it would take her. Her rapid thoughts were suddenly halted by the feel of two warm bodies on either side of her. She smiled and wondered again what the hell she'd gotten herself into.