Disclaimer: Rights belong to their respective owners. A/N: OMG! Thank you so much for following & reviewing! Love you guys, & I have a million more SC one-shot/movie ideas in mind. x

Missed Opportunities

3.

Josh leaned against the bar while Stefan dried some wineglasses with the end of his tea-towel. Hayley was busy preparing for next week's Burlesque shows and revamping the show entirely around Caroline's voice. After Caroline's performance, Katherine made an appearance to retrieve her stuff. "Clearly one of us has underestimated the other," she'd said to Caroline before leaving.

Hayley had rolled her eyes, darning one of the costumes. Bonnie sighed, her arm around Caroline. "Ignore her. You were great tonight, even Klaus looked impressed." Josh had noticed too, and that was what led him to find Stefan. "That one there is beautiful on the inside and the outside and she's not going to be available forever..." he had told Stefan, who grunted in reply.

Josh pulled a wig from the dresser. He could see Caroline preoccupied with something at her dressing table and tried to bring a smile to her face. "Yes, I like this. Beautiful," he gushed, holding her hair up around her ears and looking into the mirror. Caroline grimaced. "I'm not cutting my hair." Josh sighed. "No, you'll be wearing this wig. Why don't you test it out on Stefan?" he told her, fitting it to her head with a few pins. He smiled when she beamed, excited by her new appearance.

Caroline was well aware of Klaus' attraction to Burlesque girls, having caught him and Katherine backstage once. Besides, Caroline had her eyes on someone else. She bounced up to the bar, wearing her new wig, and waited for Stefan to look up from cashing up. She giggled after a minute.

"What do you think?" she frowned. "Seriously? We're friends, it's not like we're brother and sister!" She said, misreading his expression. Stefan punched the bar making Josh retreat backstage.

Stefan returned home after Caroline, creeping inside and pausing when he saw her getting dressed through his frosted glass windows. He knocked over some of her books on the coffee-table, retracing his steps when she said, "Stefan? Is that you?" she opened his bedroom doors, dressed in a tight purple dress. "Can you zip me up?" He glanced at his watch. It was almost 1am. "Bonnie and I are going out for drinks." Caroline pulled her hair over her shoulder.

Stefan swallowed, yanking the zipper up as fast as he could and looking away before getting other ideas. Caroline picked up a piece of paper he hadn't realized he'd dropped and returned it. He hid it inside his Tolstoy book. "Not ready?" she guessed, having had this conversation before. Stefan nodded, and she picked up her clutch. "Every single day something happens that I wish I could tell my mum about..." Stefan made an effort to ask what was on her mind.

"What happened today?" he asked, wanting to get to know her better.

"Nothing yet," Caroline's eyes bore into his soul, like she was trying to tell him something. His phone went off. It was Ivy calling and by the time he'd glanced at it, Caroline was halfway across the room. "Goodnight Stefan," she closed the door. Stefan frowned, and heard himself talking to Ivy, his mind lingering on another missed opportunity with his friend, Caroline.

Caroline stood on stage performing her first ever fan dance. It hadn't taken long to win over the regulars, and now, as she flicked her wrists and teased the audience, with Bonnie having her back, and Katherine still banned for her drunken behaviour - only allowed back if she cleaned up her act. She sang the last note, fluttering her eyelashes and caught the flash of a camera, catching Stefan's cheeky wink.

He has a girlfriend, she reminded herself, and so she made the decision to just be friends. Stefan had promised her pizza after the show, since they'd been so busy all week with other commitments they'd barely been able to hang out. She bounced over to the bar. "I'm sorry Caroline, I've got inventory, I can't." She tried not to look too put out. "It's okay, I'll just grab a lift with Bonnie..." she attempted a smile, and Stefan went to empty the garbage.

Klaus leaned against the bar, trying to get her attention. "I'll give you a lift. Bonnie just left," Caroline sighed. "Have dinner with me." She rolled her eyes and said: "Aren't you dating Katherine?"

"We're friends..." he shrugged. Caroline made a face. "Friend's don't chew on each other's earlobes," she said, reaching for her clutch. Klaus smirked, snatching up her bag like a five year old.

"If you ever expect to see this bag alive, you'll follow me!" He disappeared up the stairs. Caroline ran after him, seeing his BMW parked out the front. "Is this even a parking spot?" she snapped, while Klaus grinned, his eyes sparkling. "Take a chance, Caroline." He opened the car door from his driver's seat. "You don't mind if we drop into a party before we get dinner do you?" He loosened his tie, one hand on the wheel, and she sighed, having no other plans.

Caroline held onto Klaus' hand, feeling way too underdressed when he pulled her inside a large mansion. He gave some guests winks and nods, and pulled her into the kitchen where the caterers were preparing dishes. "What are you doing?" she hissed after he picked up a tray of cucumber sandwiches, a bottle of champagne, and two champagne flutes. "They won't mind," he smirked.

He introduced Caroline to a tall gentleman with a handkerchief in his top pocket and kind eyes who they met on the stairs down to the balcony. Caroline realized his popularity was not because he was a real-estate agent but because he was a wealthy one. "You own this?" She whispered in awe, while Elijah smiled, drinking his champagne. "We'll be on the balcony, having our own private party." Klaus patted Elijah's shoulder. "Keep them in check for me, brother?" Elijah smiled, draining his drink.

The first thing Caroline saw as they crossed out into the balcony was the view. The cool night rippled through her blond hair. Caroline smiled, noticing that Klaus was still smirking at her. "Stunning, isn't love. I own all this, air rights. Made a deal with the developers." Caroline shook her head, laughing.

"So, Caroline Forbes, what do you want? You're talented enough to get whatever you want and I'm smart enough to make it happen." He grinned, passing her a drink.

A week had passed since Caroline accepted Klaus' offer. She attended his parties, networked and tried to enjoy herself in-between learning Hayley's choreography, researching new dance genres and visiting Elena who now had a baby bump. Stefan was on the couch when she crept inside after another late night. "There's only one reason a man buys a woman shoes..." he muttered pointing at her gold sparkly shoes. "You should be careful..." Caroline glared at him. "I think you should pick up a phone and call your fiancé..." she replied, slamming his bedroom doors shut, annoyed.

Saturday night came and Caroline had received presents from Klaus almost every day that week, from Swarovski bracelets to a dozen red roses. Josh did his usual round of checking costumes before a show, while Hayley talked with Katherine. Caroline watched Katherine sit down at her dressing table, wearing an envious look. Bonnie gushed over Klaus' roses and Josh told them it was almost curtain time. "Nice flowers, Alice," he smiled over her shoulder. Josh walked over to Stefan who leaned against the doorway, watching. "You snooze, you lose, dude." Stefan frowned.

"How come I don't have a nickname?" Katherine muttered, dusting her nose with foundation.

"Oh you do..." Josh said, making Bonnie and Caroline giggle. "Slut" he murmured after she'd left.

Caroline felt exhilarated and alive after another great performance. She felt at home on the stage and couldn't believe she'd almost worked there for a month! Her friendship with Stefan had been strained ever since she'd started dating Klaus, not that she'd done anything wrong. Stefan had a girlfriend.

Hayley showed Caroline the front page of the Chicago Times which had a large photograph of her on its front cover. Everyone there had been so supportive, except Stefan, who had told her he missed the old Caroline. "It's so weird," she said to Hayley, grateful to be given the chance to shine but not really understanding why so many people were making a big deal out of it. Hayley asked Caroline to stay back after the show, and Caroline knew it was about her new romance with Klaus.

"You don't like him, do you?" she asked, while Hayley looked over at her roses.

"No, I don't, and not because he wants to buy my club, but because I know his type."

"You sound like Stefan," Caroline sighed, folding her arms. "I'm not girly little Caroline, anymore."

Hayley looked her over, taking in the blond wig, her fancy dress, and seeing her lead performer.

"Well, maybe you can learn from my mistakes. You have to learn who are the people you can trust, who are the people who like you for you, and who are the people who just want something from you." she let her words sink in before she continued. "I don't trust Klaus, and I don't think you should either."

Caroline was getting sick and tired of people telling her what to do. "Is that really what's best for me, or what's best for you?" she asked. Hayley heard the sass in her tone. "I don't know, I hope it's best for the both of us," she shrugged, watching Caroline pick up her belongings and leave. Hayley sat down at her dresser, looking at her worn face, and resting her head in her hands. Josh found her sitting like that a few minutes later.

"Don't worry about her, she's not going anywhere, and before I forget, Marcel's waiting for you out front, something about a song you wanted to hear?" Hayley sighed, nodding, and Josh kissed her cheek, wishing her goodnight. She smiled, rising from her chair and found Marcel in his lighting box, fiddling with sound effects. "I'm so sorry Marcel, I completely forgot."

"Oh, that's ok." He looked disheartened, and Hayley shook her head. No, she thought, she wasn't going to be that kind of boss. She treated everyone the same, and she wanted to nurture all their talents. "No it's not, let's hear it, I'll rehearse now while I still have some time." Marcel's smile lit up the room and she pulled a chair from the side of the stage to sit down, waiting for the music to start.

Music had always been her safe haven, like many artists, it gave her a reason to keep on living despite having a dark past. Hayley had been adopted at a young age, her adopted parents had kicked her out when she refused to fit into their conservative vision of how she should be. She'd grown up fast, married too young and somewhere in the middle of her thirties, made the decision to run her own business. Even now, with money problems and the threat of losing her precious club, music managed to comfort her, to ease her pain and to transport her to somewhere, where she belonged.

"Feeling broken, barely holding on, but there's just some things so strong somewhere inside of me, when I get down, I get up again... I been brought down to my knees, and I been pushed way passed the point of breaking, but I can't take it. I'll be back, back on my feet. This is far from over, you haven't seen the last of me..."

Hayley entered the car-park after a long day, she'd locked up and thanked Marcel for a wonderful piece of music. Katherine waited for her, smoking a cigarette and seemingly pissed, which seemed to be her favourite mood. "Go home, Katherine. I'm too tired to put up with your shit tonight." Hayley retrieved her keys from her bag and unlocked the car.

"So much for lip-syncing the classics!" Katherine said, gulping down mouthfuls of pure vodka she'd bought from the service-station across the road. Hayley sighed. "You don't like it, you can leave."

"We've been best friends since the beginning, and this is how you repay me for my loyalty?"

"What loyalty? You were late 98% of the time. You turned up drunk last week! In fact, you've been drunk pretty much half your life, and I'm sick of looking out for you when you continue to make the same mistakes!" Hayley yelled, shaking her head, and thinking it wasn't worth it to be arguing.

"I will not let that slut, Caroline," Katherine took a few more sips. "replace me!" she hiccupped.

"For godsake, Katherine. Caroline is a better team player, she works hard at what she does and I've never had to hold her hair while she throws up in the toilet after drinking til she passes out." Katherine opened her car door, throwing the empty vodka bottle at her feet. "Stop, don't drive."

"Why, you don't care about me? You threw me out, Hayls, like I was trash. You should know, I slept with Jackson the night of your honeymoon!" Katherine slammed her foot on the accelerator, sending the car in reverse and then swinging it around so it narrowly missed Hayley. She opened her boot, found a crowbar and smashed Katherine's taillights.

"Are you insane?" Katherine yelled, driving off like a lunatic.

"Yes, yes I am," Hayley growled, throwing the weapon back, and banging her head against her steering wheel. "How on earth did I get myself into this mess?" she whispered, wiping her eyes.

A/N: Please review! More fun on the way x