Previously on ATCL: "Now here's the plan."
After five bathroom breaks ("It is not my fault that I have to pee every half hour like an old lady!"), two stops for snacks ("I went five hundred and twenty years on a diet of blood and chocolate. Food tastes really good now."), one stop for gas and a quick change ("Petrova, go change your damn clothes. I know the yoga pants are comfortable and heels give you blisters but there is no way I am showing up at the Mikaelsons' with you dressed like that! Suck it up and put a band-aid on it!"), a quick visit to a walk-in doctor's clinic ("Are you sure this will work, Forbes? Because if not, I'm going to be dead before the end of the evening."), and five and a half hours, Caroline was about ready to cry with relief when she saw the 'Welcome to New Orleans!' sign.
Matt had the address of the Mikaelson estate—it seemed Rebekah had been fond of mailing postcards to her brothers over the summer—and he was helpful enough to text it to Caroline with only minimal questions. All calls from Elena and Bonnie had been ignored so far. They could be dealt with later. Yes, she felt bad about leaving them behind when she had been the biggest proponent for their college experience, but her mind was set, and as is, Katherine didn't have much time left anyways. She literally had forever with Bonnie and Elena.
Caroline could tell from the way that Katherine's fingers were drumming on her thigh that she was scared to death. Literally. If one move in their plan went wrong, Katherine would end up with her neck snapped, and that was the last thing that needed to happen. Especially since she still had her heart set on getting Elijah and Katherine back together. She was Caroline Forbes. When someone told her that she couldn't do something, she proved them wrong. This was one of those circumstances.
They had a solid plan in place. At least, Caroline was sure that they did. It would work. It had to work. And since they were ten minutes away from their destination, there was no going back now.
"Katherine, are you-"
"Save it, Caroline. Let's just get this over with so that I can stop hyperventilating."
"Will do." She agreed, taking a deep breath and focusing on the road once more. Oh, this better work out.
-0-0-0-0-0-
Caroline parked, and looked up at the grand manor. It was gorgeous. One thing that she could always count upon Klaus and his family for was to live in style. Taking a deep breath, she turned to Katherine. "Ready for this?"
"Yeah, that's not going to happen. Let's go." Katherine slid out of the car, the only sign of her nervousness her frantic heartbeat and shaking hands.
The two women trudged up the steps of the manor, Katherine's heels clacking against the ancient porch. Caroline rang the doorbell, and waited. Nothing. She rang again, and no one came.
"Maybe Matt gave me the wrong address…" She whispered as she rang it a third time. This time, however, the door was wrenched open by an irate blonde in a bathrobe.
"What on earth could possibly be so important as to drag me from the works of Blake, a bottle of wine, and a bubble bath?" When Rebekah got a proper look at who was standing on her doorstep, she shouted "What the bloody hell are you two doing here?!"
"It's lovely to see you again, Rebekah. Yes, we're doing quite well, thank you for asking. I wasn't aware that you read romantic poetry." Katherine sniped.
"Elena?" The berobed blonde asked.
"Actually, I'm the much prettier one. Besides, do you really think that my doppelganger would be familiar with the works of William Blake?" She shot back. Caroline stood and watched all this from the sidelines. It was very amusing to watch Katherine and Rebekah go at it.
"Touché. The English department at that bloody high school was terrible. It certainly did not advocate the enlightening world of romantic poetry more than it was required to."
"A shame, certainly. One can acquire much knowledge from the reading of poetry." Katherine sighed, shaking her head.
"Okay, can you two old ladies stop speaking like so…ancient, and move this party inside? You're more than welcome to continue your enlightening discussion once we get in, but I've been driving for fourteen hours and I want to take a break." Caroline spoke up. No matter that she had been stuck in a car almost continuously all day; driving was exhausting and she needed to sit down and relax.
"Fine. I'll probably get daggered for this, but at this point I don't really give a shit. The parlor is the first room on the left. Just go hang out in there while I get dressed. Nik and Elijah are out, but they should be home any minute, so just… Don't kill each other. Or burn down the house. Or whatever else you're planning in that dastardly little head of yours, Katherine." Rebekah waved them in the vague direction of the room before going back to the staircase.
"Well," Caroline said "I guess now we wait."
"Have I ever mentioned that I hate waiting?" Katherine sighed.
"Patience is a virtue, Petrova."
"And I've never advertised myself as virtuous, now have I, Forbes?"
-0-0-0-0-0-
It turned out that Rebekah's definition of 'in a minute' was really more like an hour, and when her brothers arrived home they were greeted by the noise of raised female voices from the parlor, where a battle was ensuing.
Caroline was sitting on the sofa, a glass of wine in one hand and a book in another. Every few seconds she would look up at the other two, and laugh, rolling her eyes. Katherine and Rebekah were in the middle of the room, gesturing wildly at each other as they argued. The other two glasses were sitting on the coffee table all quite full, as if their owners had abandoned them mid-sip.
"How dare you appreciate Wordsworth over Blake? How dare you? This is a travesty!" Rebekah yelled.
"How on earth do you not understand the beauty of the words of Wordsworth? How are you so blind to the loveliness of his work?" Katherine shot back.
Caroline saw the movement at the door from the corner of her eye, and she turned her head towards Klaus and Elijah. Nodding at them, she focused her attention on the feuding women, smiling sarcastically. "Katherine, Rebekah, SHUT IT! The men are back." The aforementioned ladies were snapped out of their verbal brawl, and Katherine moved to stand beside Caroline, her eyes never leaving Elijah.
"I applaud you, love. Anyone who can make those two hellcats shut up certainly deserves an award." Klaus clapped his hands as he sauntered into the room, his eyes fixed upon Caroline. "I must say, as delightful as this is, I would like to know what is going on here."
"Those two," She gestured at Katherine and Rebekah as she stood up "were just having a lovely discussion on English romantic poets. However, if you would like to know exactly what we're doing in New Orleans, that is a more…complicated matter."
"Sweetheart, it would be my absolute pleasure to listen to your enlightening explanation as to why my least favorite doppelganger is currently standing in my parlor." Klaus's gaze left the blonde and strayed to the brunette beside her, before flicking back a second later.
"Alright. You see, there's been a lot going on in Mystic Falls since graduation and—" Caroline started.
"You might as well stop dancing around it." Katherine sighed. "I'm dying." She stepped from slightly behind Caroline, and faced the Mikaelson siblings. Four pairs of eyes were on her as she took a deep breath before speaking again, as if she was steeling herself for war. "I'm human, and I'm dying."
AN: Ohmygosh you guys are amazing. Like seriously. The response that you readers have given me... *fans self* I can't even express my delight.
Oh, and Happy Klaroline Wednesday! As you can guess, this story is going to be updated on Wednesdays from now on, because I mean, it's Klaroline Wednesday! What better day to update than a day that celebrates our favorite couple? Haha.
I'd like to say thank you to Cindy (klaroline-fantasies) for my beautiful cover art! She's just updated a really fun story called Senior Year, and she's joint-writing a story called Humanitate Eius Apicem that I just absolutely love to the end of the earth. So yeah. Go check them out!
Seriously though, thank you for all of the support you have given me. It truly spurred me on to write more chapters. I have quite the arc planned for this story, so stick with me, and we'll have a ton of fun together!
-Abi 3
P.S. Any questions/comments/criticisms you have about the story, please either leave in a review or PM me. I will be happy to discuss things out with you guys!