Chapter 6: Waiting
When Caroline returned home after her conversation with Klaus, she went straight to the supply closet to gather up cleaning supplies. She cleaned when she was stressed and right now, she was more stressed than she had been in years.
When she left the Salvatore mansion, it was with the promise that Klaus would let her know right away when he learned anything. Bonnie was going to try some of her locator spells at the shop later, and Alaric was still busy researching, so she was just supposed to go home and wait. Caroline Forbes did not do 'Just Wait', and it killed her to know that Keilyn was out there and there was nothing she could do about it.
No matter how hard she tried to concentrate on her cleaning, she wasn't able to keep her mind from wondering back to the talk she and Klaus had had in the woods and the task that had been assigned to her. Also, she kept thinking about the way Klaus had made her feel when they were alone together, but she tried especially hard to block that out whenever her mind wandered there. She had too much to worry about already besides some weird feelings for a dangerous original anyway.
After a full day of sweeping, dusting, vacuuming, and doing all the dishes in the kitchen that her mom had apparently been too busy to get around to, Caroline sat down on her bed to decide what to do next. She wasn't hungry, so that ruled out going hunting. She had just finished reading The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks and hadn't had a chance to run by the bookstore, so that ruled out reading on the back porch. She was much to hyped up to read anyway.
Caroline glanced at the clock on her dresser and saw that it was already 7:30. A perfect time to get out of the house and head over to The Grill to grab a drink. She was tired of being alone with her worry.
Caroline quickly showered and changed into a simple navy sundress and some wedges then sent a text message to Elena and Bonnie asking them to meet her in ten minutes for some end of the day drinks. Unfortunately, both girls texted her back almost instantly apologizing and saying that they wouldn't be able to meet her. Elena had already made plans to go out to dinner with Jeremy, and Bonnie was stuck at the shop waiting for a new shipment to come in so she wouldn't be free for an hour or two.
Just great, She sighed to herself, now I don't have anybody to go out with, and there is no way that I'm going to sit at the bar all alone like some resident alcoholic. She thought for a few minutes about whom she could ask to go with her instead, but she quickly tossed aside each name as it came to her. She didn't want to call up any of her old high school friends because they were just too different now; She'd changed way too much from the preppy head cheerleader and head of every dance committee type of girl that they remembered her to be. Besides, she'd be seeing plenty of them at the high school reunion anyway.
There was no way she'd call Rebekah since although she'd been acting a little more kind to her recently, she still wouldn't exactly call her a pal. Caroline briefly toyed with the idea of calling Daniel… But she felt too on-edge to attempt to be flirtatious right now.
After running down the rest of her mental list of acquaintances and friends, Caroline settled on calling up the last man that she'd ever think of voluntarily spending time with… Klaus. Initially, she had quickly discarded any thought of calling him because of the obvious arrogance and violence that generally accompanied the man; not to mention the weird tension and looks that the pair had been sharing recently. But, Caroline's mind returned to him because of the comfort and trust that she had felt in his presence when she was with him earlier. With the way her nerves had gotten to her throughout the day, despite the mind-numbing cleaning, she'd love to feel that confidence that he had encouraged in her again.
Caroline stared at her phone where it lay next to her on the bed for a few seconds before she picked it up. She almost wanted to back out, but there was no way that she was going to spend the night at home after she had already done her make-up and gotten dressed!
The phone only rang twice before she heard a deep voice coming from the other end.
"Yes, darling?" Klaus answered the phone.
Caroline decided to go straight for the question rather than dancing around with pleasantries, so she said, "I was wondering if you wanted to go grab a drink with me at The Grill right now? I really want to get out of the house, " She asked him all in one breath so as to get it over with quickly.
"I've been wondering when you'd return the favor, you know. I did invite you in for drinks the other night… Pick you up in five minutes." Klaus responded slowly and deliberately with his English accent coming out in an annoyingly sexy way. She was planning on telling him that they could just meet at the bar, but he disconnected the call before she had a chance to respond.
Caroline told herself to stay on guard with the man, yet she couldn't help the smile that spread across her face and the slight butterflies of anticipation in her stomach as she put down her phone and checked her reflection in the mirror. Blonde hair loosely curled, blue eyes sparkling under her lashes matched by her favorite blue dress, and legs looking endless in her wedges… She was ready to go.
Klaus's Ferrari pulled up her driveway exactly when the allotted five minutes was up. Caroline watched as he stepped out of his car, and her breath hitched a little bit at what she saw. Klaus was wearing dark denim jeans that fit him remarkably well and a white button-up Polo shirt that hinted at the definition of his arms and torso beneath it. His hair looked perfectly disheveled, and the hint of scruffy stubble on his cheeks only added to his rugged appeal.
Rugged appeal? Caroline thought to herself angrily, Why in the world am I thinking stuff like that? I didn't even want to call the man, plus, we're only going out for casual drinks that I was the one to plan. Goodness, I need to pull myself together and stop being so ridiculous.
By the time Caroline answered the door, she was a bit more composed, and able to greet Klaus calmly without staring at him. Okay, maybe there was a little bit of staring, but she did try her best to keep it to a minimum.
"Okay then, should we head out?" Klaus asked her after the two greeted each other and he held out his arm to her.
"Yup, we might as well, " Caroline, answered cautiously as she looped her arm through his and allowed him to lead her to the passenger side of his car. Klaus opened the door for her and the helped her get into the car since it was so low to the ground and she was wearing a dress and heels after all.
The perfect gentleman; a bit too perfect… Caroline would have preferred that he did something annoying or outrageously cocky to help rid her of some of the inappropriate feelings that Klaus was provoking in her. Once Klaus had walked around the car, settled into the drivers seat, and closed the door, Caroline became all too aware of what a small space the two were sharing. If she moved her arm over a few inches, she'd be able to brush his where it lay on the gearshift.
Stop, stop, stop! She shouted at herself mentally, You need to stop acting like a freshman with a crush on the senior football captain right now, and treat this little outing like what it is, just a meeting between two acquaintances. Caroline settled for staring out the window and watching the town fly by, and Klaus let her sit there in silence.
When the two reached the bar, Caroline used her vampire speed to step out of the car before Klaus would have a chance to open the door for her, and let him follow her to the entrance after hastily scrambling out of the car after her. She smiled at herself a bit for successfully avoiding giving Klaus yet another opportunity to be charming and, for once, being one step ahead of him.
Caroline and Klaus had seated themselves at the bar, Caroline ordered a glass of red wine, and Klaus had ordered a beer before they started up a conversation. Caroline was worried that they'd run out of things to talk about and fall into awkward conversation before they had gotten half way through their first drinks, so she tried to put off the moment for as long as possible.
"So, what do you think Keilyn's waiting for? To make her move, I mean," Caroline asked Klaus to start the conversation going with one of the few things the pair had in common.
"I really don't know," Klaus stared at the glass in his hands and speculated out loud, "It could be any number of things. Maybe she's waiting to get me alone so that she can attempt to capture me. Maybe she wants to attack me in a crowded place so that not only is my family's cover here thrown, but she also would make it hard for me to attack her to the best of my abilities with a million human eyes trained on us… I really have no clue. Perhaps she's seen Rebekah, and that threw her off her path. Anyways," Klaus glanced up from the glass he'd been fiddling with and met her eyes with a charming smile, "I'd really rather not talk about Keilyn right now. Tell me more about you"
Caroline found it easy to open up to Klaus about her past and what had been going on in her life recently. She told him about what it was like to grow up with the town Sheriff as a mom, how hard it was for her when her dad left, and all about how she threw herself into every school activity that she could so that she could have a part of her life that only she could control. Caroline surprised herself by even telling Klaus about life at college, the detachment she had been feeling from Mystic Falls before she had returned, and how much that had made her feel like an outsider at times.
All the while, Klaus avidly listened to Caroline talk and asked her questions about what she was telling him, making it obvious that he really cared about her answers and was not only listening with half an ear to be polite. Klaus even matched her stories and recollections with some excerpts from his own past with his whole family, and his time that he spent with Rebekah and Stefan as his only companions. Caroline learned that Klaus had traveled all over the world and was knowledgeable on almost any subject that she'd bring up.
"Hey there girlie," Caroline started as she heard a voice from behind her in the middle of Klaus's explanation of why France was a better place to travel than Spain, and turned to see who had called out to them. Damon and Bonnie were walking toward them with Bonnie's eyebrows almost disappearing into her hair, showing her surprise at whom Caroline was sitting there with.
"Hey Bonnie!" Caroline blushed a little yet managed a smile. "You're here early, aren't you?"
"Nope, two hours from when you called me, just like I told you I'd be."
Whoa, two hours? Caroline thought in awe. She couldn't believe that so much time had passed without her noticing. She was so worried that they wouldn't have much to talk about, yet the two had managed to keep up over an hour's worth of conversation without any awkward pauses or escape trips to the bathroom.
Damon and Bonnie joined Caroline and Klaus at the bar, and the group chatted amiably, keeping it light and enjoying each other's company. Caroline felt relaxed and at ease except for the occasional looks that she received from Bonnie which clearly indicted that Caroline would have a lot of explaining to do later; during those moments Caroline pretend to be avidly examining the wall directly to the left of Bonnie's head.
Caroline was thinking that there was no need for her earlier worries, and that the day would pass without a trace of drama when she heard her phone vibrate in her clutch as well as the various jingles and vibrations of her companion's phones; obviously, a group message. Caroline nervously pulled her phone from her bag and read that she had one new text message from Stefan. The message said…
Sheriff Forbes just contacted. Keilyn spotted in route to The Grill. We are on our way.
Caroline glanced up from her little screen to see the emotion she was feeling reflected on the faces of Damon, Bonnie, and Klaus… Terror.