Hey All! How are all of you lovely people? Quite well I hope. And hopefully, you enjoy this update :) This story has changed so much from what I originally set out to write, I hope it doesn't seem confusing or weird at this point. I take inspiration from real life and other things I read and end up rolling them into my story ideas...so this is definitely a product of that.
Sidenote: I've done some online research about paparazzi and privacy laws and to me, they seem to be a GIANT gray area most of the time. So if any of you readers who are well-versed in privacy laws catch some super terrible error on my part, feel free to let me know. It's always good to learn :)
Enjoy!
"This is a disaster!" Caroline exclaimed pacing back and forth around her living room. Klaus watched her from his seat on the couch, his arm slung over the back. He decided his blonde girl looked rather cute with her wide blue eyes and frazzled nerves. The amusement he felt almost made him feel guilty.
After their mishap at the movie screening, Caroline had dragged Klaus out of the park as fast as she could, speeding home and mumbling to herself about what to do next. She had changed out of her costume, into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt—much to Klaus's dismay-not registering his relaxed and unconcerned attitude about the whole thing.
When she came out of her room, she decided that the first thing they should do was call Elijah. Klaus bit back his frustration at her suggestion, knowing that he was in for a huge I-told-you-so lecture from his elder brother/publicist. But he decided to grit his teeth and bare whatever Elijah had to say it if it would allay Caroline's worries. He needed her to relax. He had plans for the night that involved her temporarily changing back into that lovely civil war era dress she had donned that evening.
"Seriously! What are we going to do?!"
"Caroline calm down," came Elijah's voice over the speakerphone she had set up on her coffee table. They had to use Caroline's phone to make the call, since Klaus's had never been retrieved his from her ex. It was fortunate that he had memorized Elijah's number after having to call him from jail many times following his arrests. "I assure you, everything will be alright. Tell me again what happened."
Caroline sighed. "Klaus and I were behind the movie screen and he was kissing me and we started to get a little out of hand—"
"Caroline I don't need you to be quite so detailed," Elijah said, clearing his throat.
"Oh. Right. Well, we tripped and fell through the screen and Klaus landed on top of me and the whole audience saw. People recognized him."
"I'll pay to have the screen replaced," Klaus chimed in, hoping the offer would mitigate Elijah's irritation. He knew without having to see his brother, that Elijah would be more than annoyed. Elijah was used to working in this business in which things didn't always go according to plan, and tactics would have to be altered from time to time, but he hated when it was a result of something that could have easily been avoided.
"We'll have to wait and see if the press gets involved," Elijah stated, "there aren't any photographs of you two, so there is no proof that Klaus is in fact, in Mystic Falls. Only hear say and rumors."
"No one ever leaks anything about me," Elena said in the background. Klaus grimaced at the sound of her voice. "Everyone in town respects privacy."
"Yeah but there were tourists," Caroline explained, "people we don't know and who don't know us." Elena was right, Caroline knew. The people in Mystic Falls had always respected her privacy…to a point. They had never alerted the press when she was in town, or took pictures of her, or practiced any other invasive acts that were typical of people mooching off of celebrities. "What if an out-of-towner says something?"
"Again, rumors and speculation," Elijah said, "for now we'll wait and see what surfaces and act accordingly. My advice is to lay as low as possible and don't talk to any press, should they attempt to contact you."
Caroline nodded, even though Elijah couldn't see her and let out a long breath. "Okay."
The call ended and the screen on her phone went dark. She looked up at Klaus, who smiled at her. "Thanks for the help." She said, sounding the opposite of grateful.
"What have I done?" The grin played around Klaus's dimples making his whole innocence act less sincere.
"Nothing! You've done nothing," Caroline said, "how can you be so calm about this?"
"It's not my first time being in scandal."
"Well it is for me!" Her eyes were wide and Klaus sighed. Perhaps scandal was the wrong word to use. He knew that Caroline was making a bigger deal out of this than it warranted and wasn't very receptive to his teasing. He lifted himself from the couch and reached for her arm. Caroline let him pull her around the coffee table and down onto the sofa next to him. Her shoulders slumped, the defeat causing her confidence to sink. She hated feeling out of control, and not being able to do anything about it. The patience, that Elijah had suggested, was not one of her strong suits.
"You should calm down love," he said cupping her face with his hands.
"I hate when people tell me that," she said through gritted teeth. Her tone lacked anger though. Klaus knew she was annoyed with the situation, more than she was with him.
"It's true though," he said, "look at me." Caroline's innocent blue eyes met his and he smiled, trying to reassure her. "Do you think I would let anyone say anything bad about you?"
"You can't control what people say and think," she countered, "no matter how much you think you can."
After their accidental outing at the movie screening, Caroline was glad to have the weekend to take a break. Klaus managed to distract her by enlisting her help in looking for a temporary residence in Mystic Falls. They managed to find a furnished apartment near the center of town where the landlord didn't mind renting out to Klaus on a month-to-month basis. It also didn't hurt that Klaus offered to pay him double his asking price.
Caroline stayed with Klaus in his new apartment Sunday night. Her nervous edge had returned somewhat by dinnertime, since her return to work loomed over her the next day. Klaus had managed to keep an eye on her, keeping her away from her phone and the Internet, making sure that she wasn't obsessively checking gossip sites for their names. He kept in touch with Elijah though, texting him a few times in case he did need to prepare Caroline for bad news.
But all was quiet. Too quiet. Which in the end made him feel a bit nervous as well.
That night they laid in bed together, Caroline traced lazy circles across Klaus's chest as he rubbed her arms.
"You know what," she said, her breath warm on his chest, "everyone can suck it."
Klaus chuckled, not following what thoughts had been firing in her brain."What do you mean love?"
"If anyone is going to have anything bad to say about you and me they can suck it," she propped her chin on his chest and looked him in the eye, "I know you. It doesn't matter what anyone else says. What we have…it's between us."
Klaus stared down at her, wondering how he had ever been fortunate enough to meet someone like her.
Monday morning arrived. Caroline woke up, showered, and got ready for work at Klaus's. She had brought a change of clothes over to his place in preparation. Once she was dressed, with makeup applied and hair smoothed and styled, she examined herself in the bathroom mirror making determined eye contact with her reflection.
"You can do this," she said to herself, "no reason to be nervous."
Klaus smirked from the bedroom, over hearing her little pep talk. When she emerged he offered her an encouraging smile. She grinned back, giving him a kiss, and rushed out the door.
Her favorite song was playing on the radio when she got in her car. She took it as a good sign. The universe was telling her that everything was going to be okay. She pulled into her usual parking space outside of city hall ten minutes earlier than normal, since Klaus's apartment was only a couple blocks away. Stepping out of her car, she smoothed down her skirt and hair, checking her reflection in the window, and heading for the front door.
No one was staring at her, she reassured herself. Those lingering looks weren't as intrusive as she thought them to be.
"Good morning April," she greeted the young intern as she breezed into the office.
"Um h-hi, Caroline," April said, holding the clipboard in her arms tighter to her chest. "I didn't know you would be here."
Caroline shot her an incredulous look. "Why wouldn't I be here?"
"Well, b-because—"
"Caroline," the mayor interrupted April's stammering, "can I see you a moment?"
Caroline kept the bright smile on her face, not giving away even a hint of the nervousness she was feeling. "Certainly."
She flashed April another easy smile, reassuring the girl that in spite of anything she may have heard, Caroline was still queen bee. The girl returned her smile with a lopsided grin of her own and took her seat as Caroline strutted into the mayor's office. Richard shut the door behind her and told her to take a seat in front of his desk.
"Caroline," the mayor began, "you've been with this office what three years now?"
"Four," Caroline reminded him proudly.
"Four. Right, of course. And in that time you've become invaluable. You've done amazing work."
"Thank you," she said, attempting to sound humble.
"But we think it's time that perhaps you take your talents elsewhere," the mayor said, adjusting the neck of his tie nervously.
Caroline blinked. "I don't understand."
"Caroline this office—our budget—we simply can't afford to have two interns. And we thought perhaps it's time to give someone else a chance."
"But I'm not an intern."
"Officially you are," he replied, "you began working here as an intern and even though you took on more responsibility that the average intern you're position was never officially changed."
"Wait, let me get this straight," Caroline said, "you're firing me and letting April stay? April? She can barely alphabetize!"
"Don't think of it as firing, think of it as a chance for a new beginning."
"A new beginning?" Caroline repeated, her voice raising in pitch. "You said yourself that my work here is invaluable!"
"Yes, so I'm confident that you'll do even greater things elsewhere."
Caroline's jaw ticked as she tempted to hold back the urge to give the mayor a verbal slap. "Is this because of Tyler? Is this because I broke up with Tyler?"
Now the mayor looked even more nervous. "Of course not."
By the way he said it, she knew that was exactly the reason for this change. Somehow Tyler or his mother or both of them had finally convinced Richard to get rid of her. Of course, the Mayor wouldn't admit to that. Not only could she potentially sue him for something like that, he was a true politician through and through. He could spin anything to make it look positive.
After Caroline headed to work, Klaus contacted his assistants in L.A. Arrangements needed to be made now that he had secured a temporary residence in Mystic Falls and would be staying there for a more extended period of time. The apartment he had selected was not as large as the one he owned in California, but it was nice enough and it provided a place away from the prying eyes of Caroline's mother.
He had met her briefly, over lunch Saturday afternoon, and Klaus could tell the sheriff wasn't impressed. But that didn't bother him. He didn't care about impressing Liz Forbes as long as it didn't diminish Caroline's opinion of him. Which it didn't.
Once he got off the phone with Rose, his assistant in L.A., he pulled out his sketchbook. There wasn't much else for him to do at the moment, with no public appearances to make and no place to be, not to mention entertainment options in Mystic Falls were lacking. More and more pages had begun to fill up with Caroline. Klaus wondered if maybe he wasn't becoming a little obsessed with her. Maybe obsession wasn't the right word. She was his muse perhaps? He did feel inspired by her. Inspired to create in a way that he hadn't felt since he was much younger. Not only did she inspire him to create, but in other ways as well.
Elijah had made more than one comment about Klaus's changed attitude since his relationship with Caroline began. Klaus had always waved him off, insisting that no woman would ever change him…but that wasn't true. Caroline had changed him. Even the media had noticed how he had kept himself out of trouble all summer long. Of course, they attributed the change to St. Elena, but Klaus knew the real reason. He smiled to himself. If anyone was worth allowing a few changes for, it was Caroline.
His phone rang, interrupting his musings. Klaus had taken care of purchasing a new phone, since he had no desire to cross paths with the Lockwood boy to retrieve his old one. No doubt if he ever saw Caroline's ex, his streak of good behavior would be immediately cut short.
"Elijah," Klaus said answering the phone, "to what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Niklaus, we have a problem."
Klaus switched the phone to the other ear. "What is it?"
"Niklaus Caught Cheating," Elijah read to him, "Just how long has the rocker been messing around with his girlfriend's best friend behind her back? It's all over the top celebrity tabloids."
Klaus clenched his fists, his jaw tightening as his temper began to flare. "What? How can they print these stories? What proof do they have?"
"I've spoken to Katherine and she talked to her contact at the magazine," Elijah said, "they say they have text messages to back the story up. Messages from your phone, but not from a hacker. An anonymous source that they are willing to stand behind 100%. Do you have any thoughts on this?"
"I had the misfortune of losing my phone the other day." Klaus cursed. Now he was definitely going to kill Tyler Lockwood. He was sure that Caroline wouldn't protest this time.
Caroline.
He needed to tell her before she found out the hard way.
"Klaus," Elijah said calling his attention away from her murderous fantasies and back to their conversation, "the press knows where you are and now that there are hints of a scandal…"
"I know," Klaus said, "I'll deal with this."
"I trust you will," Elijah said, "just try not to exacerbate things until I can get to Mystic Falls."
"No promises," Klaus said before hanging up the phone.
"Fired," Caroline said, rehashing the whole story to Bonnie over lunch at the Grill. It was an early lunch, of course, because she was now unemployed and had nothing else to do. Instead of salads and diet sodas it was burgers with cheese fries. She needed to eat her feelings.
"Wow," Bonnie said, "I can't believe his dad would pull such a dick move."
"Like son, like father," Caroline grumbled stuffing another cheese drenched fry into her mouth.
"Well maybe it's a good thing," Bonnie suggested, "I mean now you aren't tied to your job anymore. You could go back to school or something."
"Yeah," Caroline said, still not able to embrace any possible silver lining at the moment. That job was the one thing that made her feel good and valued. It was something she was good at. Now what was she supposed to do. School had never really worked out for her and if the mayor was bitter toward her, Caroline knew that she would soon be black listed throughout all of Mystic Falls for her indiscretions. No one would hire her now.
"What about Klaus? Maybe you could head out to LA with him? If you think things are headed in that direction."
Were things headed in that direction? Caroline didn't know. She had been back and forth a lot over the course of their relationship on how serious he really was, but the past few days she had begun to feel differently. She was starting to feel more relaxed. There situation was feeling more like a real relationship now, different from the way it felt back in Europe over the summer. It had become grown up in a way, although no less passionate. Like any other girl, Caroline had often fantasized about finding Prince Charming and living happily ever after. On the outside, Klaus was everything she hated. Rude, cocky, conceited and-very often-controlling and selfish. But as she said to him the night before, she knew him. She knew the real him and those attributes he displayed weren't his entire personality. He could be soft and sweet and quite caring. She had realized over time that she never wanted him to be one or the other person, because then he wouldn't be who he was and that's the man that she was falli—
"Hey!"
The shrill voice of Vicki Donovan broke through her thoughts and she looked up. The girl wore a smug smile on her thin face, making her frosty pink lip-gloss look that much more annoying. Still, Caroline had always tried to be nice to her, just because she was Matt's sister. But at that moment she wasn't in the mood.
"What do you want Vicki?"
"Have you seen the news today?" Vicki asked. "Pretty interesting stuff."
Caroline frowned, not catching on to whatever joke Vicki thought was so funny. "What are you talking about?"
"Here," Vicki said tossing a magazine onto the end of their table, "read it and weep." She cackled as she walked away. Caroline's eyes flicked down toward the magazine. She reached out and pulled it toward her, reading the bright yellow headline on the front cover. Her stomach dropped as she registered her own picture placed next to large ones of Klaus and Elena and the word 'cheating' stamped next to her face.
"Oh shit," she heard Bonnie say. Caroline felt sick. Her head snapped up and she became aware of all the eyes on her. Everyone knew, or thought they knew. They had seen or heard about her mishap in the park and now they were reading some exaggerated story about her and Elena and Klaus. Her stomach turned, and she could feel the cheese fries climbing back up her throat.
"I need to get out of her," she said quickly, Bonnie nodded and tossed some cash on their table, following Caroline as she rushed outside.
She was stopped in her tracks by a wall of a half dozen or so cameras and people, all shouting at her at the same time: Questions about her relationship with Klaus, her assumed betrayal of Elena, her plans for the future. Call outs to look left, to look right, over here over here! Her head spun and she felt Bonnie grab her arm, tugging her back inside away from the madness. But the group followed her, continuing to shout at her.
"What's going on?" Matt said rushing to their sides.
"Something about her and Elena and Klaus," Bonnie shrugged, since Caroline couldn't seem to find her voice.
The shouting continued until Matt Donovan raised his voice.
"Okay that's enough," the deep cadence caused everyone to jump, Caroline included.
Caroline could probably count the number of times on one hand that she had ever heard Matt raise his voice, and that's including all throughout his high school football career. He was on of those people that so seldom spoke up, that when he did, people listened. It seemed though that that power extended beyond the people that had known him his entire life. The flood of photographers and journalists came to a silent stand still. A lone shutter clicked over as everything went quiet and Matt flashed an angry glare at the tiny, balding man who had dared let his camera off one last time. The man shrank back with the rest of the group.
"All of you. Out. Now!"
The group backed out of the restaurant, followed by a few lingering patrons from the early lunch crowd. Matt stalked after them, locking the door firmly once the last one had gone out. Caroline slumped into a bar stool as Matt made his way around the restaurant, shutting the blinds, to discourage any brave photogs from snapping pictures through the windows. Bonnie put a hand over Caroline's shoulder, giving her a sympathetic look.
"You okay?"
"Yeah," Caroline breathed, "Matt…how did you do that?"
He shrugged, joining them at the bar, now back to his nice, non-scary self. "I'm guessing we're stuck here for a bit."
"How long do you think it will be until they go away?" Bonnie asked.
"I don't know," Caroline replied.
"How about a drink. I think we could use it." Matt reached for a bottle of vodka, but Caroline shook her head.
"I'm sure it won't do me any favors to walk out of here drunk." Just then Caroline's phone rang. She retrieved it from her bag and answered it right away. "Klaus…yeah I heard…um well I'm kinda stuck at The Grill, a bunch of photographers showed up…yeah I'm okay…no! Do not come down here. I can handle this!..."Bonnie and Matt exchanged worried glances as Caroline argued with Klaus over the phone to stay at his apartment. "Look just there and I'll be back as soon as I can. Then we can figure out what the hell is going on." She hung up and set her phone down on the bar. "Apparently someone sent Klaus's phone to a news outlet. The ownership was verified with all of our texts to each other on them."
"How did the media get Klaus's phone?"
Caroline was about to open her mouth to answer. She knew exactly how the media had gotten ahold of Klaus's phone, with the history of almost their entire relationship on it. Just as she was about to tell her friends who the culprit was, said culprit made his entrance through the employee entrance of the bar.
"Hey, where's Vick? She told me to meet her—whoa!" Tyler's eyes went wide as he saw Caroline's sitting at the bar, giving him a death look. She shot up out of her seat and stomped toward him.
"I'm going to kill you!"
Klaus hung up with Caroline, fuming. Not at her, but at the fact that the paparazzi had already pounced. Damn, they were getting faster and faster. Although she had it was only a half dozen or so, Klaus guessed that there would be more in the coming days. Not to mention the amateur photographers and journalists that would no doubt spring up in out of nowhere in Mystic Falls. Caroline may trust the people in this town, but he didn't.
Instead, he chose to ignore Elijah's advice, as well as Caroline's. He would make his way down toward The Grill and get Caroline out of there. It was his fault she was being attacked in the first place. He sighed to himself, considering the larger implications that would follow now that they were outted. Things weren't going to get better, that was for certain. For now, he just needed to get to Caroline and make sure she was alright.
Caroline must have looked especially ferocious, because Tyler took a few steps back, throwing his hands up in confused surrender.
"What the hell did I do?" He asked. "You're the one who broke up with me."
"That's not what I'm talking about Tyler, I'm talking about Klaus's phone. You sold me out and sold our whole story to the media!"
"What?" He blinked dropping his hands. "I lost Klaus's phone after the movie night. Honestly, I don't know where it went."
"Well then who took it?" Bonnie asked from behind Caroline.
"I had it in my room and it was gone. Maybe Rosa swiped it when she was cleaning."
Caroline blanched not believing the excuse for a second. "Tyler, your house keeper can barely figure out the coffee maker, let alone use a cell phone."
"I swear Caroline, I have no idea how anyone got a hold of that phone."
Just then, Vicki made her way from the bathroom, her frosty blonde curls bouncing in time to the loud click of her heels. Caroline's eyes went to her shoes, widening when she noticed something familiar about them.
Vicki ignored Caroline and the others, heading straight for Tyler and wrapping her thin arms around his neck. "Hey Ty, you're here! Ready to go?"
"Are those Dolce & Gabbana?" Caroline asked, remembering Elena having worn something similar over the summer.
"What's Dolce & Cabbana?" Matt asked looking over at his sister and then down at her shoes.
"Gabbana," Caroline corrected, tilting her head toward Vicki and waiting for an answer she was fairly certain she already knew.
"Yeah," Vicki said deigning to glance at Caroline. She preformed a cocky little twist, kicking her foot back and showing off her fancy shoes. Her eyebrows flicked up and down, confirming to Caroline that her suspicions were correct.
"I don't get it," Matt said.
"Those shoes cost over a thousand dollars," Bonnie explained.
"Shit Vick," Matt said, "where the hell do you get the money for something like that?"
"By stealing Klaus's cell phone and selling it off to the highest media bidder."
Caroline crossed her arms, arching an eyebrow at Vicki and daring her to deny it. Vicki gave her a saccharine smile, her large teeth sparkling with smug pride.
"You just need to learn that you don't mess with my man."
"Wait what," Tyler stepped away, disentangling himself from Vicki's embrace, "you took the phone from my room and sold it off."
"Caroline deserved it. She was a total bitch to you. She needed to be taught a lesson." Vicki tossed back her hair. "Besides, I was gonna split the money with you."
Caroline scoffed. She highly doubted that part of the story was true.
Tyler shook his head, walking past Caroline and Bonnie and away from Vicki.
"I can't believe this. What the hell were you thinking?"
"I just wanted to do something nice for us baby," she pouted attempting to plaster herself onto him and earn his forgiveness.
"Whatever," Caroline said ignoring whatever spat they were about to have. Knowing that it was Vicki and not Tyler who sold her out didn't change the fact that she was now in a world of trouble. "Matt is there any secret way out of here? Like Underground Railroad type passageway or something?"
"I think this building is a little too current to be a part of the Underground Railroad," Bonnie chimed in, "just saying."
"I have my truck," Tyler piped up, ducking his head when the group focused on him again, "There actually wasn't anyone around back when I came in. I can give you a ride. It's the least I can do."
Caroline was about to deny him when Bonnie spoke up. "You can leave your keys with me and I can bring your car by later."
She considered her options. Let Tyler sneak her out now, or stay at The Grill for an undetermined amount of time until the paparazzi left and she could make her escape to her car. Well, at least there was food and alcohol at The Grill…
"Okay," she said nodding at Tyler, "let's go."
Vicki stamped her heel. "Ty!"
"Save it Vick," Matt said, the scary voice returning a bit, "you're in enough trouble as it is."
With that, Caroline followed Tyler down the back hall of the Grill, past the kitchen and storage, to the employee entrance. He went out first; making sure the coast was still clear. It was, and he held the door open for Caroline, following behind her as she headed for his black pickup truck.
"I can't believe you thought I would sell out your relationship to the media like that," Tyler said. He unlocked the door and opened it for her. If Caroline wasn't so exasperated with him already, she would have paid more attention to the fact that he had picked up a few new gentlemanly habits since their break up.
"Well what was I supposed to think Tyler?" She asked, standing between him and the truck. "Especially after all those horrible things you said to me in the park."
"I'm hurt Care. What do you expect?" Tyler let out a long, frustrated breath, dragging a hand over his face before he spoke again. "Look you know me. You know I say shit I don't mean when I'm angry. But I would never, never sell out a friend like that okay? And especially not you."
Caroline studied his serious expression; the way his head tilted forward and his wide eyes begging her to realize that he was telling the truth. Her mouth twisted in consideration before she conceded with a sigh of her own.
"You're right," she said, "I know. You would do that. I'm sorry I accused you."
"Thank you," Tyler nodded, the relief on his face evident.
Caroline bit her lip. "I hope we can be friends. I'd like that."
She offered him a warm, hopeful smile, meaning what she said. She really did want them to be friends at some point when they had both moved on and things became less awkward.
"I hope so too," Tyler said, "eventually."
Caroline turned to climb into the truck. "Although, don't expect me to be friends with Vicki or double date with you guys."
Tyler chuckled, the sound warming Caroline's heart. "Trust me. That's way over. Especially after the stunt she pulled—"
Caroline looked back up at Tyler just in time to see an angry fist connecting with his cheek, knocking him out cold.
"Oh my god," Caroline yelped jumping out of the truck. "Klaus!"
So the drama gets kicked up a notch!
I don't know about you...but I'm looking forward to Elijah coming back. I can't wait to write him again. Him and Elena will be back in Mystic Falls by the next chapter. Oh and someone else will be travelling to Mystic Falls soon as well. We've met them already in this story...can you guess who? ;)
Also, I had to add that little redeeming moment for Tyler. Sorry if any of you are extreme Tyler haters, but I do enjoy him even though he has some incredibly dick moments. He usually makes up for it somehow, so I decided to give him that chance in this story.
Oh and another thing, I think Kayla Ewell is GORGEOUS but I kinda depicted her as looking a little trashy and cheap here because...well she kinda is on the show. What can you do.
Anyways enough about me, let me know what YOU think! I always love hearing from everyone.
xoxo
follow me on tumblr at hybridlovelies