The previous night had been much like Caroline expected. Shouts, banging, and glass shattering had filled the silence. Her iPod had been required once again. Caroline still didn't plan on telling the landlord about the disturbance upstairs. She didn't feel it necessary if the man wasn't disturbing her...in person, at least. However, she still kept Elena filled in on what happened. The two were huddled up at the dinner table while Tyler and Stefan once again watched whatever was on television. Tonight it seemed like it was a sitcom.
"Caroline, you have to tell someone."
"I told you he isn't bothering me. I just turn on my music and everything is fine. I can't hear him yelling or throwing stuff."
"It must bother you enough to keep telling me. Why else would you keep sharing all of this?"
"Because you're my best friend, and I tell you everything. Also, it makes a point that I keep getting stuck with weird guys living above me," she giggled. Elena smiled and tapped her lightly on the arm.
"I already know you get weird neighbors. You don't have to keep telling me."
"I feel it's necessary."
"I know," she sighed.
"Look," Caroline started, "Don't worry about it. Besides, you have other things to focus on. Like the shop."
Elena had dropped the bomb on them when she had walked through the door. The owner had told her in private that the shop would be closing down if they couldn't get more customers. The official announcement would be made to everyone tomorrow, but Elena had asked why the woman looked so down, so she had shared the news with her early.
"How are we supposed to come up with the funds in such a short amount of time? A bake sale is kind of out since we do that every day."
"Bake better stuff."
"Real helpful, Tyler," Caroline chided. She placed her chin in her hand and furrowed her brows. What could they do to get more people into the place? They couldn't just turn the place into a dance club for one night to get more customers. The coffee shop was like a second home to them all, and they couldn't just let it go to ruins.
"What about a scavenger hunt?"
"What would be the prize for winning? We barely have the money to give people any kind of incentive to participate, much less give their best effort."
"Free coffee for a month?"
"We can't afford free coffee for a day."
"They get to pick the special for the day?"
"Someone would think of something idiotic to put as a joke."
"Trip to Hawaii?" Caroline suggested, throwing wild ideas out now. Elena scoffed.
"If we had the money for that, there wouldn't be a need for a scavenger hunt, and I'd be getting a spectacular tan."
Caroline smiled and continued to rack her brain for ideas. Her gaze fell upon the two boys on the couch. "What about a game of football?"
"Is that supposed to be a bad joke?" Stefan piped in. Caroline waved her hands in front of her frantically, conveying that it had not been a dig at Stefan in any way. How could she be so stupid? Of course the last thing he would want to do is play in a football game.
"No, no, no! I'm so sorry! I just thought that if people paid to watch, and the players donated, then maybe it would be something. I'm sorry, I should have known it would be a stupid idea."
"Caroline, it's okay," Stefan said calmly, "I know you would never intentionally joke about that." He gave her a reassuring smile before turning his attention back to the television.
"It doesn't have to be football. We could have a basketball game, or a soccer game?" Elena suggested.
"Okay, one," Tyler began, turning around to face the girls, "soccer is an awful sport to watch. You wouldn't sell tickets. Two, do you honestly think a bunch of caffeinated bookworms want to go and watch a sports game?"
"Would you prefer a chess match?" Caroline asked. Tyler narrowed his eyes before shaking his head at her.
"I wouldn't. I'm sure, however, that it would be more interesting for people who visit this place."
"Stop stereotyping. Not all book lovers hate sports."
"I'm sure the majority do." With that, Tyler turned back around to watch the sitcom on T.V.
"You know he makes a point," Elena whispered.
"I heard that," Tyler announced proudly.
Caroline rolled her eyes. "Fine. No chess though. A tournament isn't going to get any customers."
"What about a pie eating contest? Or something similar?" Stefan said.
"Caroline would win. We want to give someone else a chance at the title," Tyler added. Caroline just chose to ignore him for the rest of the time they brainstormed.
"Unless you want to clean up after, I'd suggest something else," Elena said, exhaling deeply as she rubbed her eyes. Caroline could see the stress of trying to fix everything getting to her. She always felt it was her job to make things better. Caroline wanted to smack her most of the time for it, but it was an endearing quality nonetheless. Not many people were like that nowadays.
"Relax, Lena. We'll figure something out." Caroline gave her a small smile and rubbed her forearm comfortingly. Elena responded with a small smile of her own.
"Thanks, Care. I know we will. We always do."
"Oh! Car wash! Sexy bikinis?" Tyler chimed in. Caroline was still ignoring him.
"This is New York. We'll just get a lot of taxicabs. Not to mention we don't really have a location to do the washing at. I'd prefer something we could do at the shop. Easier for us and it actually brings people to the café itself. I want people to see what a great place it is."
"What about some kind of auction? Like for dates?" Caroline could get used to the idea of someone paying money to take her out on a nice date. Would be a chance for her to finally meet a man besides Stefan and Tyler too.
"I don't think I'd be able to find enough people interested. We need something…else," Elena said, waving her hand around in the air while she searched for the answer.
"What about a talent show you guys? Something intimate and that would be good for a café." Stefan said.
The room was silent as everyone thought about the suggestion. It would be something to fit the coffee shop setting. As long as the talents weren't something outrageous, why couldn't they throw one? Caroline smiled as the idea began to grow on her. The smile on Elena's face told Caroline she was thinking the same thing.
"I like it," Elena said cheerfully, "but we don't have anything to give the winner."
"So? It's a great way to showcase some local talent. Bragging rights and some exposure should be enough."
"True. I don't have a talent, but I could just focus on running it."
"I could sing," Caroline said enthusiastically. She had always wanted to sing in front of a crowd. Her voice was decent enough for a fundraiser like this. The song was undecided until further notice, but she had time to think about that. They didn't need to have the money until a few months from now. That would give them plenty of time to plan and advertise this shindig.
"I could read poetry," Stefan said, shrugging, "I could write something for the occasion. Or just read a poem that someone with talent wrote."
"That's a great idea!" Caroline said, getting up and running over to the couch to hug Stefan. Her face turned to Tyler, deciding her time to ignore him was over. "And what are you going to do?"
"Me?"
"Yea you. You're not going to do anything?"
"What would I even do?"
"Win the audience over with your charming personality?" Tyler stuck his tongue out at Caroline.
"I don't think I could do anything worth watching."
"Hmm. You'll just have to make a generous donation for your lack of talent then."
"Fine. Saves me the humiliation of getting up in front of everyone."
"Such a disappointment. I had so been hoping for that," Caroline sighed, earning her a pillow to the face from Tyler.
"Both of you stop. Don't ruin the moment," Elena scolded as she walked to the living room to sit in the armchair closest to Caroline. The four sat in a comfortable silence for the rest of the night as they watched T.V., and munched on the pizza they had ordered. By eight o'clock, the group had gotten tired enough to want to call it quits. Tyler and Stefan each gave her a hug before departing. Elena, however, lingered behind once the other two had left. Caroline knew what was coming.
"Are you sure you don't want me spending the night? It's happened two nights in a row, Caroline. It seems to be a reoccurring thing."
"I'll be fine, Elena."
"You know you should tell Tyler or Stefan. I'm sure they'd want to help."
"Stefan is too much of a sweetheart to really do anything. Tyler would end up doing too much. He'd either never leave me alone or want to go punch the guys lights out."
"Okay, okay. I just worry about you." The two were quiet for a minute before Caroline had an epiphany.
"You know what…our problem is the unknown." Elena just looked at her quizzically. Caroline elaborated as she went into the kitchen to grab the plate of cookies she had made that morning off the counter. She searched for where she had left the plastic wrap.
"I mean we don't know what we're dealing with. All you and I know is that there is yelling, and smashing, and all kinds of terrible sounds coming from a man we don't know." She wrapped the cookies with a couple of layers of plastic wrap, putting away the box of wrap once she was finished, and walking to the door where Elena stood.
"We, or I, need to figure out who is upstairs."
"Caroline…"
"Don't you dare try and stop me. We don't know what he is like. He's never actually spoken around us. So the only logical thing to do at a time like this, is investigate."
"And how do you propose doing that?"
"By being a good neighbor and bringing a plate of 'welcome to the building' cookies."
"It's a good thing that the other apartments in this building are never rented or bought."
"Why?"
"Because you'd run out of cookie mix trying to get an idea of who lived in them." Caroline stuck her tongue out at Elena.
"You're just jealous that my neighbors always belong on Jerry Springer."
"Oh, completely envious, yea." Elena rolled her eyes and opened the door. Caroline followed the girl out, and they both looked in the direction of the stairs. Her heart started to beat faster and she began having second thoughts about going up there. What if his girlfriend was home and thought Caroline had other intentions? Obviously she didn't have other intentions…obviously.
"You sure you want to do this?"
"Yes. I'll give you all the details tomorrow. Wish me luck."
"Good luck, and be careful," Elena reminded her before turning and walking downstairs. Caroline took a couple of deep breaths before ascending the other set of stairs. Was she really about to do this? Would he start shouting and yelling obscene phrases at her? Her confidence was wavering. As she got to the door, she listened carefully to see who was inside. She couldn't hear any voices, male or female. Caroline was getting anxious, too much for comfort in fact. If she was going to do this, she needed to go ahead and do it.
She lifted her fist and knocked on the door a couple of times before bringing her hand back to hold the plate of cookies. Why was she shaking? Caroline was a ball of freaking sunshine to people, so this time shouldn't be any different.
Oh, but it was. The slightly scary man had put Caroline on edge ever since she saw him walking through the coffee shop that first time. Something about him seemed off. Not because he chose not to speak to anyone, but just…something else. She couldn't put her finger on it. Was it the girlfriend he had that Caroline couldn't stop thinking about? How did she deal with all of his tantrums?
One of Caroline's fears came true as a young blonde girl answered the door, her hair a beautiful golden color that was stick straight. Why couldn't she have this girl's hair most mornings? Caroline moved past the thoughts of her hair and gave the girl a bright smile.
"Hi! Um, I'm Caroline, and I live downstairs. Sorry it took me so long, but I thought I'd bring a plate of cookies over and say hello."
The woman's confused features softened to one of understanding as she looked to someone hidden behind the door. It seemed to be acting as a cover for the rest of the apartment, because Caroline couldn't see anything besides the girl. Music could be heard playing from somewhere inside though. Had they been having a date? Great, Caroline had probably interrupted something. Stupid, stupid! The other blonde turned back to Caroline and gave a small grin.
"I'm Rebekah. It's a pleasure to meet you. That's very sweet of you to bring up those cookies, too. Not many people have really stopped by."
"Well, that's because I'm the only other person who lives in the building after hours."
"I thought there were other rooms?"
"There are, but no one wants to live in a building as old as this one. People want new and exciting, not decrepit and somber." Caroline chuckled. The other girl joined her and nodded her head in agreement.
"I could see that, but this place isn't so bad. It seems…quaint." Rebekah mused. It was Caroline's turn to agree.
Cue awkward silence while searching for something to transition with. Rebekah looked behind the door again. Was the guy there? Or was she looking at something else. Caroline's question was answered as soon as it came to her mind when Rebekah called out to someone.
"Nik? There's a visitor here, and she brought dessert. Want to come say hi?" Rebekah asked sweetly.
Caroline listened as a set of footsteps made their way to the entrance. The door creaked open just a little bit farther to reveal a man who looked to be in his late twenties, just like Elena had said. So Nik was his name. He was in nothing but his jeans, displaying a very lean torso for her to ogle at. She bit her lower lip as her eyes quickly raked over his body. Oh dear god. She had to stop. His girlfriend was right in front of her!
Rebekah held her hand out slowly, silently asking for the cookies. Caroline handed the plate over to the girl, who held them out to Nik. He only stared at the plate for a bit, rubbing his hands together as he studied them. Did he think she had poisoned them or something? Eventually, he moved to grab them, giving Caroline a slight nod, in some sort of thanks for the food. She gave him a nod back, before watching him walk off back into the apartment. Rebekah looked sadly to Caroline before giving a small shrug.
"Don't take his demeanor personally. He's not great with strangers."
"It's alright. Doesn't hurt my feelings. Uh, if you don't mind me asking, what are you guys listening to?"
"You mean you've never heard of Sinatra?"
"Who?"
"Frank Sinatra. He is one of the most well known crooners ever to sing. He's one of Nik's favorites."
"Oh, yea. I've heard of him, but I've never listened to his music. I like it."
"Yea, he's good…" The two girls looked around awkwardly, looking for something else to say. Nothing ever came though. Caroline took this as her time to leave.
"Well…it was nice getting to meet you guys. Feel free to stop by if you ever need anything or just want to chat."
"Sure, thanks. It was nice getting to meet you too. Thanks again for the cookies. I'm sure they're delicious."
"No problem at all. See you guys around!"
"See ya," Rebekah said with a wave. Once the door was shut, Caroline took in another deep breath. She was glad that was over. The two seemed nice…well…at least Rebekah did. Nik seemed too distant. Why couldn't the guy have at least said thank you? Or hello? Or nice to finally meet the beautiful girl who keeps staring at my finely sculpted ass?
No! Not that last one. No, no, no, no.
Caroline walked back downstairs and entered her apartment, closing the door and locking it. After that little meeting, she realized that she never had a chance with him. His girlfriend seemed friendly, if not a bit uncomfortable around Caroline. Understandable, considering the way Caroline had been looking him over. Had Rebekah caught that? Would she be pissed that Caroline noticed the man candy in front of her?
It didn't matter, because Caroline planned on keeping her thoughts off of Nik for the time being. As long as he was with Rebekah, she wouldn't have a chance at winning him over. He didn't seem to want to get to know her as a friend either, so why bother? Caroline had better things to do. Like watch movies on Netflix. Or attend to her yoga class. Yea…
Speaking of Netflix, it was movie time. There was nothing else to do, so why not? She jumped over the back of the couch to land on the cushions and grab the remote. Caroline smiled and started scrolling through the titles. After choosing one of the many romantic comedies available, she pressed play. About thirty minutes into the film, she was surprisingly out cold.
What wasn't expected was the rude awakening that made her jerk upright on the couch. She checked the clock, and only two hours had passed. The Netflix title screen was back on the television, and the yelling from upstairs could be heard yet again, for the third night in a row. What was his problem? Was he that inconsiderate of her that he couldn't keep his yap shut for one night? If he wanted to play this game, then fine.
Caroline got up and walked toward her bed. After stepping up onto the platform that her bed sat on, she got her iPod and got settled under the covers. This wouldn't get to her. If Rebekah was there, she could handle it. If the girl wasn't there for some reason, then whatever, it didn't matter. Caroline put in her ear buds and put the volume up almost as far as it would go. Her brows furrowed as she tried ignoring the hint of guilt that was beginning to gnaw at her. The screams of anguish that echoed through the night seemed to be all she could think about as a tear ran down her cheek. Whether that tear was for lack of peace, or because of the heart wrenching sounds…she wasn't sure.
A/N: Ahhh, Klaroline. So close...yet so far.
Thanks for the follows and favs! I also love reading everyone's reviews! They absolutely make my day ^-^ and congrats if you guessed the other blonde was Rebekah ;D
Next chapter, we have flashback #2. And, for the first time...Klaus and Caroline are alone together! How will it go? Tune in to see!
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