Hey Readers!
I am so so so so sorry I didn't update last week!
I have had school exams on and things got a bit hectic.
Please forgive me!
I hope you like the chapter!
Thanks guys :)
Caroline, Klaus, Rebekah and Kol all sat awkwardly in the living room of the small hotel block Klaus had been staying in with Caroline. Nobody had spoken and the room was filled with a now not-so-funny tension between the siblings, all the while Caroline sat across the room fiddling with her hands.
She had no clothes other than her ripped and blood-stained ones and despite the fact she had showered, she still felt horrid. Rebekah and Kol refused to leave; they had said that Elijah shouldn't be that long, only perhaps a few hours – which to vampires was only a few minutes.
So here they all were, sitting unnaturally still on the various chairs throughout the warm and musty room.
Klaus had tried to catch Caroline's eyes but she only stared own at her hands. He could tell she was uncomfortable. He didn't know how she felt about the compulsion, he knew that it hurt her, but then why did she kiss him?
Klaus subconsciously brushed his knuckles against his lips.
"Right, well, as much as I'd love to sit here and wait… I've got to get out this room." Rebekah announced and stood up from her seat.
"I'm not going anywhere." Kol replied, sitting back lazily in his chair and flipping through an old newspaper.
"Nik, are you really just going to let Caroline sit in that bloody outfit?!" Rebekah said over to Klaus. Caroline shot up her eyes to look at Klaus.
"Oh no really I'm fi-" Caroline tried to speak with Rebekah cutting her off.
"We're going shopping!" Rebekah smiled and walked over to Caroline and grabbed her hand.
Rebekah began to drag the flustered Caroline to the door, but Klaus appeared in front of the door, a worried look on his face.
"Rebekah, there are people out there who want Caroline dead, I'd appreciate it if you didn't take her away from me." Klaus asked politely.
"I think I'm capable enough to handle a few puppies." Rebekah scoffed. "Come on, move out of the way."
"You can come with us if you want?" Caroline said to Klaus.
"No he can't. Shopping is girl time." Rebekah turned to Caroline. "We'll come back as soon as we're done, Nik."
Rebekah pushed Klaus out of the way and dragged Caroline out of the door.
"Take my money." Klaus said after them, holding out his wallet.
"No, Klaus, I couldn't." Caroline smiled back at him.
"It's the least I can do." Klaus reassured.
"Alright then!" Rebekah laughed and snatched the wallet from Klaus.
Caroline shrugged her shoulders and gave Klaus an excited smile before stepping lightly down the stairs of the hotel to join Rebekah.
Elijah pulled up to the hotel that Kol had told him about in a polished black Mercedes, which contrasted greatly with the cheap, dirty cars that filled the car park.
He sped up the staircase and knocked on the room door, which was opened by a very tense looking Klaus.
"I came as soon as I could." Elijah spoke as Kol also reappeared behind Klaus.
"I say we attack tonight." Kol declared and pushed Klaus out of the way so that Elijah could come inside.
"Caroline and I haven't rested properly for days. I won't be able to fight tonight." Klaus said with a tired sigh, which was greeted with a sly snicker from Kol.
"The longer we wait the more of a threat we are risking, Nik." Elijah warned whilst sitting on a chair inside.
"I can't attack tonight!" Klaus said impatiently. "If we all stay together then we can protect ourselves for one more night."
"Speaking of which, where is Rebekah and Caroline?" Elijah asked.
"Rebekah took Caroline shopping an hour ago, they haven't retuned yet." Kol smirked.
"Rebekah up to her old habits I see then..." Elijah said calmly, noticing the dark look that shadowed across Klaus's face.
"Niklaus?" Elijah asked Klaus. "What is going on with Caroline?"
Klaus didn't answer.
"Kol would you mind giving your brothers a moment?" Elijah asked turning to Kol.
"Fine then. You do realize I'll just be listening anyway?" Kol sighed. He then walked to the front door and stood out on the staircase, shutting the door behind him.
"Well?" Elijah pressured.
"I don't know what to tell you." Klaus muttered. "She remembered everything when she woke up this morning."
"Ah… I see." Elijah sighed. "And?"
"It's like she didn't even care." Klaus shook his head, confused.
"Why is that a bad thing?" Elijah asked.
"Because I shouldn't be allowed to have her again. I don't deserve her, and I was counting on her hating me. That was the only way I would be able to stay away from her, Elijah. But now that she doesn't even care, how am I supposed to find the willpower to stop myself?" Klaus rested both his hands on a small table next to him and hunched his shoulders over.
"You and I both know that Caroline isn't one to be pushed around. I doubt your petty worries are even in her mind at all." Elijah replied softly.
"Well they should be." Klaus grinded his teeth after he spoke.
"So what are you going to do?" Elijah pushed.
"I don't know." Klaus shook his head and lifted one of his fists to bang it down on the table again. "I don't know."
"This is nice!" Rebekah smiled holding up a beautiful laced black evening dress she had found on a rack in the store they were in.
The two of them had already been shopping for over an hour and Caroline had already bought a simple purple shirt. It was a cheap buy, but she didn't want to spend any of Klaus's money so she insisted on using the torn twenty dollar note she still had in her pocket. Caroline and Rebekah had only been talking about the casual banter of prom and graduation, gossiping over girls in their year and discussing different garments they each saw – nothing of real substance.
Caroline gasped when she looked at the dress.
"It's stunning! But I don't need an evening dress, all I need is a pair of jeans." Caroline smiled sweetly.
"Oh come on! Try it on! We don't have to buy it." Rebekah encouraged Caroline. "You know you want to."
"Fine!" Caroline laughed and took the dress off Rebekah and walked into a change room.
Rebekah was going out of her way to be friendly to Caroline. Before the compulsion Rebekah had always been harsh to Caroline – she knew that. Frankly, it was probably due to jealousy. Caroline was perfect as a vampire, it was a blessing not a curse. She could handle her thirst and her emotions and even as a vampire, Caroline still seemed all together human. Rebekah wanted to be Caroline, or at least, be able to live like Caroline. But once Caroline was gone, Klaus fell apart and Rebekah watched him turn from Nik to someone dark and angry and depressed. It was once Caroline was gone that Rebekah realized how important she was – and now that she was back, Caroline was going to make sure she would stay.
After a few minutes Caroline emerged in possibly the most stunning dress she had ever worn. It was black silk that hugged her waist and then draped in the bottom to the floor, with a long split in the side of the dress. It was covered with light black lace that stretched down her whole arm length, lightly creating soft patterns on her porcelain skin. It had a low V-neck and an open chest that was bordered with more fine lace embroidery, curving in and out down her chest.
Caroline did a quick turn on the spot and beamed a smile to Rebekah.
"Oh my god, Caroline. You look exquisite." Rebekah said in awe.
Caroline simply laughed and turned to look at herself in the mirror.
"You have got to wear black more often." Rebekah whispered, still shocked at just how perfect this dress looked.
Rebekah was right, the pure black of the silk and lace contrasted so perfectly with her flawless skin and golden hair and Caroline simply looked picture-perfect. Of course, Caroline would never have picked something like this out herself; Caroline was always the one to be wearing bright colours and relatively conservative dresses. Being Miss Mystic Falls, Caroline was always the one to play the sweet Disney princess with her beaming white smile and cute dimples, perfectly curling her golden hair and wearing colorful ball gowns. But now, standing in the mirror and looking at the girl in front of her wearing a slinky, black laced dress - Caroline could see who she always wanted to be.
She was the girl that was dark and sultry, mysterious and dangerous, the girl that could just as easily touch your heart than break it and the girl that belonged with someone just as dark, someone just as dangerous.
"I love it." Caroline muttered quietly in astonishment, still bemused by this different girl staring back at her.
"We have to buy it." Rebekah proclaimed, ushering Caroline back into the change room.
"No, Rebekah, I couldn't, it's way too expens-" Caroline tried to defend herself.
"See if I care, Caroline." Rebekah interrupted. "I'm buying this dress whether you like it or not."
"I have nothing to wear it to!" Caroline cried.
"You never know what might come up." Rebekah smiled. "Stop stressing about the stupid dress. Trust me, if Nik saw you right now, in this dress, he'd probably buy the whole store for you."
Caroline suddenly stopped walking and caught her breath at Klaus's name.
"Sorry, Caroline, I know it's none of my business." Rebekah scolded herself.
"No, no it's fine." Caroline smiled.
"How did you find out? About what he did, I mean." Rebekah asked.
"I'm not sure, parts slowly began to come back to me, randomly. The this morning when I woke up I just knew." Caroline replied. "Mostly everything is still missing though. I can't remember anything actually about our relationship, only tiny fragments of it."
"Why don't you hate him?" Rebekah genuinely asked, she hadn't meant to ask the question but it came out before she had time to think.
Caroline stayed silent for a few moments.
"I don't know. There are parts of me that do hate him, or at least hate what he did. He took away my free will and he made a decision for my own life that I had no control over – and I do hate him for that. I hate the fact that he still hasn't seemed to grasp how much it killed me… but most of all I hate the fact that he even had the ability to do it in the first place. I mean, how important could I have been to him if he could so easily shut me out of his life?" Caroline said quietly to Rebekah.
"You must know, Caroline, that my brother loves you more than he's ever loved anybody before in his whole life. I don't have the capacity to describe to you how unwilling Nik became to even live after you were gone. He pined for you, more than you could ever imagine and I know that for a fact because I had to witness it. I had to witness him literally crumble to tiny pieces in his own misery. He never wanted to see you go, he didn't just shut you out, he thinks he's doing it for your safety. And something that you wouldn't have known, that I don't think even Nik knows himself – is that compelling you has been the biggest regret of his whole life. It ripped his soul apart and killed him a thousand times over to know that his sadness was the cause of his own decision." Rebekah shook her head and sighed.
"But he still won't let me in." Caroline whispered.
" I know. But he will." Rebekah gave Caroline a soft smile.
Caroline and Rebekah walked the streets of New Orleans, making their way back to the hotel. Caroline was wearing her newly bought purple shirt and blue jeans, carrying her new evening gown in a bag slung over her shoulder. Rebekah had also taken the liberty to buy excessive amounts of shower products and makeup since she had her brother's money to spend.
"When we get to the door, give the dress to me." Rebekah smiled.
"Why?" Caroline laughed.
"Because I don't want Nik to see it yet, it has to be a surprise!"
"Alright then." Caroline giggled, she loved the idea of surprising Klaus with the dress, but she couldn't think of an occasion when she'd need an evening gown anytime soon.
The more they walked the quieter the both of them became – but it wasn't an awkward silence, it was a comfortable silence. The kind of silence one can only enjoy with someone who is close enough to them.
In the distance, Caroline spotted a young woman she knew she recognized.
"Elena?" Caroline muttered, speeding up her walking pace to see the girl.
Rebekah also spotted the woman, but grabbed Caroline as soon as she saw her.
"That is not Elena, Caroline." Rebekah warned. "That is our dearest friend, Katherine." Rebekah almost spat the name once she said it.
Despite Caroline and Rebekah keeping their distance, Katherine spotted them both and began marching towards them.
"Oh, shit." Rebekah whispered as she tried to turn her back.
"Hello, ladies." Katherine said once she reached them.
"Katherine." Caroline acknowledged her, with a scowl over her face.
"I was wondering if you could do me a favor?" Katherine smiled falsely.
"Why would we help you?" Rebekah scoffed, turning around to see Katherine.
"You know your older brother is quite the romantic." Katherine sneered.
"Oh my god, Elijah?! I do not need to hear this!" Rebekah motioned to her stomach as throw she was going to throw up.
"Oh yes, Elijah and I had fun at Panama City." Katherine laughed.
Caroline stood wide-eyed and shocked at what she was hearing.
Elijah!? And Katherine?! I would never have picked that…
"Bloody hell, please stop before I throw up. You two were in Panama City together?! What's this damn favor?" Rebekah spoke quickly.
"Take me to him." Katherine asked.
"Fine, I can't be bothered arguing with you anyway. Just follow us we're going there now." Rebekah scorned at Katherine.
A sharp knock on the door intruded on the silent room of Klaus, Elijah and Kol, who had all settled in reading various things or simply sitting and thinking inside.
Klaus rushed over to the door and opened it to the happy and bright looking face of Caroline.
"You look beautiful." The words escaped Klaus's mouth before he could stop them and Caroline smiled sweetly.
"It's only simple, but it'll do." Caroline laughed, turning on the spot.
Rebekah followed in the door, subtly carrying the new dress like she had promised and behind her came in a grave looking Katherine.
Klaus instantly tensed upon seeing Katherine and Elijah tried to walk towards her.
"Uh uh uh." Katherine smirked, shaking her head at Elijah when he tried to come closer. "If I were any you I'd stay away from me."
At that Katherine reached into her back and pulled out a white oak stake.
"Did you miss me?" Katherine mocked at Elijah and pointed the stake at everyone throughout the room, who had now begun to back away. "I've had enough of following your rules, Elijah. Time to play the game my way."