I own nothing but the plot...
Elijah was the last to leave. Rebekah and Ella had a tearful goodbye before Rebekah went back to New York for a shoot. They said goodbye at Caroline's apartment rather than the airport.
"I'll come and see you soon," Rebekah promised Ella.
"I made this for you," Ella said handing Rebekah a piece of paper. "Because you look like a princess." Rebekah looked at the picture of the princess dressed in yellow. How did Ella know that was Rebekah's favorite color?
"Oh, I think you are the princess, darling," Rebekah said, "Now come give me a hug." Ella walked into her arms and Rebekah hugged her probably a little too tight, but Ella didn't seem to mind. Ella moved onto Matt while Rebekah turned to Caroline.
"You did good," Rebekah said.
"Thank you," Caroline said.
"Hard to believe what difference a little girl makes," Rebekah said, "Nik and mother are talking which is a miracle. Nik is even getting along better with Elijah."
"What will Elijah do when he finds out the truth?" Caroline asked softly, "I think whatever relationship they have re-built will be ruined."
"We'll just have to see, won't we?" Rebeakh said cryptically.
"Becks we have to go," Matt said and Rebekah nodded.
"Good-bye," Rebekah said and Matt put an arm around her in comfort.
"Mommy?" Ella said once they left.
"Yes, baby?" Caroline said.
"Can we move to England?" Ella asked and Caroline's mouth dropped open.
"Oh you do not want to live there," Katherine cut in, "It rains all the time. Is the suit still around?"
"Suit?" Caroline repeated.
"Elijah," Katherine clarified.
"Oh, yes," Caroline said.
"Huh, considering he is the one that just got married you think he would be anxious to get back to his wife," Katherine said as she flipped through her magazine.
"Yeah, but let's not forget that his new wife is an adulteress..." Caroline said looked at Ella, "Um...adulteress butthead."
"But he doesn't know that," Katherine said and looked at her watch. "Well I have a meeting at the bar across the street. See you later."
"Okay," Caroline said and Katherine walked over and gave Ella a kiss before leaving.
K&C
She was stood up. Katherine ordered another drink from the bar. So she might have just signed a major client, but that didn't mean she didn't need more. If Katherine wanted to be a serious agent she had to get more clients, and it didn't help her ego that she got stood up. To her surprise she saw the oldest Mikaelson walk into the bar. He noticed her too and walked over to her. Did he wear anything but a suit? But damn it looked good on him. Katherine took a big gulp of the drink the bartender had placed in front of her. The last thing she needed to was to be checking out the newly married brother of Ella's father.
"Hello," Elijah said politely, "May I sit?"
"It's a free country," Katherine said with a shrug.
"If I may ask, what brings you to day drink Miss Gilbert?" Elijah asked.
"It's Katherine," Katherine replied, "Ms. Gilbert was my mother. I was supposed to meet a potential new client, but they never showed up. It was another artist. I am trying to branch out my clientele, and after signing your brother I thought I might be able to, apparently not."
"You'll get there," Elijah said and Katherine looked at him.
"How can you be so sure?" Katherine asked.
"I don't know you very well, but you seem the type who will never give up till she gets what she wants," Elijah observed.
"Like your wife?" Katherine offered and to her surprise Elijah's eyes darkened.
"You are nothing like my wife," Elijah said and Katherine just looked at him. What was with this guy? Why was he still here? Shouldn't he be living in wedded bliss with his wife? Light bulb went off in Katherine's brain and she smirked.
"You don't want to go home," Katherine said coming to the realization.
"What?" Elijah said.
"You don't want to go home to your new wife," Katherine said taking a sip of her beer, "You just got a lot more interesting Elijah Mikaelson."
"I want to go home," Elijah said but his tone wasn't very convincing.
"Sure," Katherine said, "So what's your story?"
"I don't have one," Elijah said taking a drink and Katherine rolled her eyes.
"Everyone has a story, and considering you don't want to go home I know you have one," Katherine said and then nudged him, "Come on, who else can you tell but a person you don't know?"
"Fine," Elijah said, "I'll tell you a story..."
"A good one," Katherine interrupted.
"...a good one, if you tell me a story too," Elijah said and Katherine titled her head in consideration.
"Done," Katherine said and Elijah stayed silent, "Well?"
"Ladies first," He said with a smirk of his own. Katherine drowned her drink.
"I was a bad girl growing up. I like to party and I even got into drugs," Katherine started, "I left Bonnie, Caroline, and Elena behind. I didn't care about anyone but myself, and I even got my baby brother Jeremy hooked on drugs too. That is something I will never forgive myself for." Katherine paused and looked at her hands. The guilt was still there after all these years. "I started sleeping around and I got pregnant when I was 16." Elijah's eyes widened but he said nothing, "I had a fling with this guy Mason. Caroline's ex's Uncle. It didn't go on long, but long enough to get me pregnant. One of the worse days of my life was when I told my parents. My Dad got upset, and started lecturing, telling me I brought this upon myself. My Mom she walked over and sat next to me. She took my face in her hands and told me everything was going to be okay."
"Your Mom sounds great," Elijah said and Katherine nodded.
"She was," Katherine said, "I told Elena next. We weren't getting along at all, she was angry that I starting doing drugs and had dragged Jeremy into it. I expected her to start yelling at me like my Dad did, but she surprised me. Elena sat down next to me on my bed and put her arm around me. We sat like that for hours. I started crying but she said nothing. Just held me. I would like to say this is the time things got better, but they didn't."
"What happened?" Elijah asked.
"I got in a car accident," Katherine answered, "This girl Vicki decided to drink and drive. She hit my car and died on impact. I survived, but my baby didn't." Katherine wiped away a tear that had started forming.
"I'm sorry," Elijah said softly.
"I remember lying in the hospital bed feeling disgusted with myself. I felt guilty that my actions had killed the baby I hadn't even decided if I wanted to keep yet. Elena walked into the room. I didn't want to talk. It was too soon. All Elena said though was, "Scoot over." She got into the bed with me like we did when we were kids. Jeremy and Amara came in after. Jeremy sat in a chair next to my bed and held my hand while little Amara climbed on the bed and laid on Elena and I. Jeremy vowed to get clean, and Elena and I were close again."
"That's good," Elijah said and Katherine nodded.
"When Caroline got pregnant she did everything she could to keep the baby," Katherine continued, "She took night classes, worked a couple jobs. I helped whenever I could. I watched Ella when Caroline was at school or work. The four of us lived together for a while all helping Caroline out. A part of me felt like Ella was my penance. Helping Caroline raise her daughter helped me start to forgive myself. Love myself again. Your turn," Katherine said not wanting to say anymore, "Tell me about Tatia."
"I didn't want to marry her," Elijah began.
Some time later...
"Holy shit," Katherine looking at Elijah wide eyed.
"Yeah," Elijah said taking a drink.
"And no one has any idea?" Katherine asked.
"Rebekah figured it out and confronted me and I bet she told that Matt of hers," Elijah answered.
"Wow, what are you going to do?" Katherine said.
"What I have always done," Elijah said, "Protect my little brother."
K&C
This was a disaster. It was bad enough that Klaus had to leave his daughter for this event but it was poorly planned and they had run out of food and booze already. They had to run out and get more. Caroline would be appalled. Everything she did was to perfection, but that was no surprise. Caroline was the closest to perfect a person can be. Klaus sighed and looked around. It was a good crowd. He would no doubt be taking some money home with him tonight. A big chunk of that would go into Ella's trust and perhaps an apartment in Chicago. He planned on spending a lot of time there.
"Niklaus?" A voice behind him said interrupting his thoughts. He turned around to see his mother standing there.
"Mother?" Klaus said trying to hide his surprise. She never came to these things. "What are you doing here?" The words slipped out before he could stop them, thankfully Esther only smiled.
"The house was getting small," Esther told him, "Finn is driving Sage mad with his hovering
and Tatia...well...she is much the same."
"Klaus!" A person called out. Klaus looked to see one of his most prestigious buyers waving him over. She was a middle aged woman with money to spare. She had bought a number of his pieces.
"Come," Klaus said offering his mother is arm, "I'll introduce you to some people."
"Klaus wonderful show as always," The woman said kissing Klaus' cheek.
"Thank you Susan," Klaus said, "This is my mother, Esther."
"Nice to meet you," Esther said and shook the woman's hand.
"Every time you have a showing I swear the crowd gets even bigger!" Susan said looking around at all the people. She looked at Esther, "You must be very proud of all your son has accomplished. And at such a young age!"
"I am very proud," Esther said, "Although I do prefer his earlier work. I still have the blue hand print painting he made me when he was 5."
"You kept that?" Klaus said in awe.
"Yes, I did," Esther said, "I will let you two talk. I am going to walk around more. I would like to speak to you more after the show, is that alright Niklaus?" Klaus could only nod. Esther smiled and walked away.
Her son's work was wonderful, and Esther wasn't lying when she said she was proud. Niklaus had given her a picture of the family when he was 6 and she was amazed by the talent. Everything her son gave her had been hidden in a locked drawer away from Mikael's view. Esther knew that he would have destroyed everything if he had found it. All those beautiful works that Esther treasured so much. Niklaus gave her a mother's day card when he was 11, and she didn't even bother to look at it because Mikael was watching. The hurt look on Niklaus' face nearly broke her heart. It wasn't till later when she was hiding in the bathroom that she looked at the card. That card was the last thing he ever made her. He was 11 when he hardened his heart against her.
Deciding not to dwell on the past any longer Esther started to walk around the gallery. Even after all this time she was awe struck at his gift. She paused. He had done a painting of their house. Instead of the dark colors he usually favored, this had a lot of golds and blues. Esther walked over to the person who seemed to be taking the money for the paintings.
"The picture of the estate," Esther said, "I would like to buy it."
"That painting has been sold," He said apologetically.
"Well un-sell it," Esther said, "I will double what you are asking for it."
When Esther married Mikael her father had given him a great deal of money. Esther's money helped the estate from ruin, but Esther was cleaver enough to keep some of it hidden in her own account and made some decent investments.
"That is 700,000 pounds," He told her.
"I can do math," Esther said.
"Are you trying to buy something?" Niklaus' voice from behind them said.
"Yes," Esther replied, "The painting you did of our house. I want it." Niklaus turned to the man taking the money.
"Dean," Niklaus said, "This is my mother, she can have it. No charge."
"No, I want to buy it," Esther protested.
"No charge," Niklaus said again ignoring his mother.
"Always the stubborn one," Esther said and Niklaus gave a ghost of a smile, "And I will accept it only if you come round the house tomorrow and have tea with me." Klaus opened his mouth to protest, "Tea. 2:00, don't be late."
K&C
"I don't know what to expect," Klaus said and Caroline smiled sadly. Skype was an amazing thing. Ella would be home any minute, but Klaus had called and asked to talk first.
"It seems like she wants to have a talk," Caroline said, "There is a lot unspoken between the two of you. Hopefully you get some answers tomorrow."
"Hopefully," Klaus agreed, "Sorry to bother you."
"Not at all," Caroline said, "Talk to me whenever you want to."
"Thanks, how are you doing?" Klaus asked.
"Nothing new to report," Caroline replied. She thought it best she didn't tell him about Jesse. They had gone out twice and were going out again tonight. "Same old same old."
"Ella going to be home soon?" Klaus said, "It feels like forever since I have talked to her."
"You talked to her last night," Caroline reminded him.
"Too long ago," Klaus said and Caroline smiled. She heard a key in the lock. Once again Kol let himself in without knocking.
"Hello darling," Kol said while a bouncing blond curled 4 year old jumped on Caroline's lap.
"Mommy!" Ella said and Caroline kissed her cheek.
"Someone wants to talk to you," Caroline said and Ella turned to see her Dad's face.
"Daddy!" Ella said excited.
"Hello, sweetheart," Klaus said, "So tell me what you did today?"
Caroline went over to Kol while Ella described her day in vivid detail.
"Still need me to watch Ella tonight?" Kol asked.
"Yeah," Caroline answered, "I have a date."
"Oh yes, with Jesse," Kol said, "Good looking chap I'll give him that, but not much else going for him. Is he really worth your time? I could get rid of him for you if you want?"
"I don't need you to go all protective brotherly mode," Caroline said, "Just take good care of her."
"Always do," Kol said.
K&C
"Third date tonight," Katherine said in a sing song voice. Ella was now asleep at Kol's while Bonnie, Elena, and Katherine were helping Caroline get ready for her third date with Jesse.
"What about it?" Caroline asked.
"Everyone knows that you have sex on the third date," Katherine told her, "It is like an unwritten rule."
"Who made up that rule?" Caroline said facing her friend.
"I don't know," Katherine said, "Men probably."
"Do you go by that rule?" Caroline asked Bonnie and Elena.
"They didn't follow the rule," Katherine answered for them, "Elena slept with Stefan the same night you slept with Klaus, and I don't think Bonnie even went on an official date with Kol before they started to do the dance with no pants." Both Elena and Bonnie blushed.
"Thanks for that," Elena said.
"No problem," Katherine said and then turned her focus back on Caroline. "Third date." Katherine studied Caroline's expression, "Do you not want to sleep with him?"
"I guess...I mean I do...I do want to sleep with him," Caroline stammered.
"Not very convincing Care," Bonnie pointed out.
"I don't know how I feel I haven't slept with anyone since..." Caroline said.
"Klaus?" Katherine said, "The hot guy with the insanely attractive accent, smoldering goods looks, and as you told me once, the best sex you ever had. That is going to be hard for Jesse to live up to."
"Doesn't matter...if it gets to the stage, I'll do it," Caroline told her friends. "I like him, and it is time I get back out there."
"I am having a Tyler flashback," Katherine said, "You only slept with him because he asked you to, not because you wanted to."
"You are the only that came up with the third date rule!" Caroline objected, "Now you are telling me not to do it?"
"I am telling you he might expect it, but don't do anything you don't want to do," Katherine advised, "You are not that girl anymore. You make your own choices, don't let anyone make them for you." Caroline looked in the mirror. Her hair was done to perfection, her make-up just right and her outfit showed off her best assets. She looked good, but Katherine's words got to her.
Choices? How could she make a choice when she doesn't know what she really wants?
…...
What did you think? I know where was only one tiny Klaroline scene, but I wanted to have other relationships developing like Katherine and Elijah and Klaus and Esther.
I know I am evil. I still didn't exactly say what Taita did to have Elijah marry her, but now you know that he didn't want to! Any ideas?
Thank you all for reading and reviewing!
BTW I am using this plot for my structured novel class. I have changed things obviously, but I Don't Date Men With Accents officially has a first non -fanfic chapter! EEKK!