A/N - As always thanks to everyone who is reading/following this. If anyone had any criticisms, please let me know. It totally helps me as a writer. And of course many thanks goes to my beta Klovec who makes this a lot more readable.

Enjoy!

Chapter 3

For the past two mornings, she had woken up with an undeniable sadness; one that made her want to break down and cry. Whatever she had been dreaming of recently, it was now beginning to take its toll on her. She scrapped her hair back into a ponytail as she walked to the bathroom. As she closed the door behind her, she turned to look in the mirror. Her eyes were red and puffy and the remains of yesterday's mascara streaked on her cheeks. Had she been crying in her sleep? She shook her head, she didn't have time to think about this now; she had to prepare for her interview.

She showered as fast as she could. She saved time by shaving her legs the night before. Her outfit was pre-planned, a simple navy pencil skirt, cream blouse and kitten heels. Make up was kept simple only minimal eyeliner, sweep of mascara and a little lip gloss. Her hair was the only thing she hadn't planned. She spent 10 minutes in front of the mirror experimenting with up dos and down dos. In the end, she opted for a simple low ponytail pulled slightly to the side so her hair fell over her shoulder. All that was left to do was to grab a cardigan and her bag then make her way to the office.

She reached to get Buddy's food from the stop shelf of the kitchen cabinet, placed there as he had figured out how to open the bottom door, when a yellow post caught her eye on the fridge next to it.

I'll be working late again tonight, Love. Good luck with the interview, not that you need it. The job is yours

She sighed. It was happening too frequently now. He had come home late every night for the past few weeks. At first, she didn't mind but with the dreams and the stress of the interview, it was getting to her now. At her feet Buddy whimpered bringing her back to focus. She quickly fed him, topped up his water bowl and made sure he securely locked in the kitchen. As she ran out the front door, she stopped briefly to check her makeup in the mirror.

"You can do this." She whispered to herself as she took a deep breath and locked the door behind her.

Because she had planned everything down to the last detail, she had time to run to the ground floor cafeteria to grab a quick coffee before heading up to the interview on the first floor. The receptionist greeted her with a smile as she gave her name. She didn't recognize the girl; she must be new. She knew most the people in the building by name. She was pointed in the direction of the corridor to her right. It was lined with glass fronted offices of people busily working. She could picture herself there. That's when it hit her how much she wanted it.

At the end of the corridor was an open plan sitting area, three other people were sitting there. One was a nervous young man, clearly fresh out of college. "No competition there." She thought smugly but flashed him a friendly smile anyway. The other two were people she knew within the office, not by name just by face. They had both been here longer than she had and were at least a couple of years older. It scared her. She had not thought about being up against people who might actually stand a chance of getting the job over her. "How could I have been so stupid? Why didn't I think of that?" she cursed herself.

They both went in before her. Both interviews lasted about twenty minutes. Both came out with very neutral expressions. The young nervous guy followed. His interview was longer. Definitely longer. Or maybe she was being paranoid? He came out of the room smiling and that had her worried.

"Caroline Forbes." Her name was called.

She got up. One of the staff managers, Malcolm Davies, was holding the interview. She sort of knew him. Her very first interview at the paper had been with him. They would exchange pleasantries when passing each other by and he would always ask how she was doing. Sometimes if they had time, they would talk for longer. She liked him and thought he was a nice guy. Although she was convinced otherwise, she couldn't help but wonder if this gave her an advantage over the others.

Afterwards, she thought the interview went well. She tried to come off as enthusiastic and confident that she was the right person for the job without sounding too arrogant. She talked about her time here already and her experience as both a high school and college newspaper editor. She laughed at the right times and noticed he laughed when she made little jokes. It was one of the best interviews she had ever had, if she was honest.

As she left the office, Malcolm shook her hand and said that they would be in touch with all the interviewees shortly. She smiled and thanked him before making her way back down the corridor. She didn't have to be in the office today so decided she would go visit Bonnie at work. Instead of going to college, Bonnie had gone travelling for a couple of years. She traveled all over the world before returning home and applying for college. She was now studying Philosophy while working part time at a locally owned small coffee shop, not far from where Caroline worked.

When she walked in, there were only two other customers. A guy sat in the corner reading and a girl, obviously a student, working furiously on a laptop with an espresso cup beside her. Bonnie was behind the counter washing up.

"I'll take a latte please." As she ordered, Bonnie turned around and smiled brightly at her.

As she watched her friend busily make her order, she took a seat on the sofa nearest the counter and waited for Bonnie to join her.

"So, how did the interview go?" Bonnie placed the steaming hot drink next to her and slouched down into the sofa with her.

"It went well, really well. It'll be a few days before I hear anything though." She took a sip of her latte. It was really good but extremely hot.

She must have sounded off because Bonnie gave her a look, "Then what has you all 'thinky'? And don't give me the 'oh, nothing' crap, Care. I know you, I know when there is something on your mind."

She sighed, "It's just Nik. He has been working late a lot really. I know he's been really busy at work but it's been like every night for the past few weeks. How many teachers do you know that have to work until well into the night?"

She took another sip of latte, this time taking a moment to blow over it in an attempt to cool it, as Bonnie spoke. "Well I only know one to be fair. But I don't suppose it is a line of work that requires too many late nights."

She took a moment to let what her friend had sink in then set her cup on the table, keeping her eyes down, "I just keep thinking back to college…"

"Caroline," Bonnie grabbed her hands, forcing her to look up. "You know Nik loves you. College was a blip; you weren't even together at the time. You know that. You told me so yourself."

She nodded. There was brief moment in their past. They had been at a party. She couldn't remember where it was. They had had a slight disagreement earlier that night; again she couldn't remember what it was about. It wasn't important. None of it was really. Like Bonnie said, they weren't even officially a couple at the time. They had only been on a couple of dates, sort of testing the waters if they could take the step from friends to more. She had been wandering around the party alone, having lost her friends when she saw him in the corner of the living room kissing another girl. It was at that moment she realized how much she actually liked him. She didn't speak to him for six days afterwards. He had come back groveling, begging her every day for a second chance. The thought of losing her, even as a friend, had scared him. They had been inseparable ever since. It was all the past.

"Have you tried talking to him about it?"

"Yeah, no, I don't know. Maybe I'm just feeling paranoid with all the stress from the interview and the dreams."

"Still having those?" Caroline nodded in reply, "Talk to Nik. The interview is over now, the dreams will probably stop. They're usually just a manifestation of our fears."

"Thanks, Bonnie."

At that point, another customer walked in so Bonnie had to go back to work. She drank the rest of her latte in peace, waved goodbye to her friend and headed home.

It would be hours before he got back so she cooked for one, fed Buddy before settling down on the sofa with a movie and the puppy curled up on her side. Sometime during the second movie they had both fallen asleep.

-x-x-

She had been told many times that her emotions were heightened as a vampire. It was true. She sought the highest level of perfection in any task, cared more deeply for her friends, and loved with an endless passion. Unfortunately for her, it also meant the first stage of grief completely consumed her. Denial was meant to be temporary, but it became clear to those around her that it had taken over.

When she had first learnt of Bonnie's death, she had let Damon take her home where she had gone straight to bed. It was a bad dream as far as she was concerned and she needed to just wake up. Her mom was still at work and she woke the next morning after she had left.

She got up, showered, planned a cute outfit consisting of a pale floral blouse, dark blue jeans, dark brown cowboy boots. She spent a little time gently curling her hair and a applying a quick layer of mascara and lip gloss. Grabbing her purse, she headed for the front door. It was a nice day outside so she walked casually to the Salvatore's house to retrieve her car. There was no point in flashing over at vampire speed while the sun was shining.

She was just about to climb into her car when Elena appeared at her side, "Caroline, are you ok? I tried calling your cell."

"Dead battery, I left it at home. I'm just collecting my car. I might go shopping later."

"Are you sure that's a good idea? Don't you want to talk?"

"Nothing to talk about. I'm fine, Elena, really. I'll call you later, I'm going to go to the mall for a bit. Want to come with?" When she got no answer, she climbed in and started the engine, driving off as her friend screamed her name.

Shopping was as successful as it ever was for her. She came home with a new satchel and a whole heap of stationary she probably won't need for college but it was too cute to resist. She set it down on dresser, kicked off her shoes and flopped down onto her bed.

Keys rattled in the door, "Caroline? Are you home?"

Her mom appeared in her door, still in full uniform straight from work. "Are you ok?"

She sat up and spun round so she was facing her mom, "I'm fine, Mom. I've just walked in, I went shopping." She said brightly.

"Elena called me. She told me about Bonnie."

"Oh. That." In a way, she had forgotten all about it. "Everything will be. Bonnie with find her way back."

"Caroline, honey. I don't think she's…." Liz couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence as her daughter smiled back at her, completely confident that this was a temporary thing"

"Trust me. It'll be fine. She brought Jeremy, she'll bring herself back too. I know it."

Seeing that she wouldn't change her daughter's mind, Liz smiled back sadly, "I'm sure she will." She paused, deciding it was best to let her deal with it in her own way, "Want to get take out? I can't be bothered to cook."

"Sure. Chinese? I'll order online." Caroline rose from her bed, retrieved her laptop from her dresser and was soon busily ordering takeout food for them both.

As she watched from the door, Liz couldn't be sure if Caroline was truly coping but decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. But she had told Elena she would contact her as soon as she had spoken to Caroline. In case of being heard she texted her daughter's best friend,Spoke to Caroline. She seems fine at the moment. I'll keep an eye on her though.She didn't want to unnecessarily concern her with Caroline behavior just yet; she might just not have processed it yet.

For three days Liz watched daughter as she continued to deny the fact that her friend was really gone. Every time she tried to broach the subject, Caroline would dismiss it. As far she was concerned Bonnie was working on the other side to get back to them; it was just taking her a little longer than everyone expected. Most likely it was because she had used so much power bringing back Jeremy. Regardless, she was certain Bonnie would be back. She would walk through the front door and everything would be like it was before.

Each time Liz tried to talk about it, Caroline got a little angrier. The last time almost pushed Liz to the breaking point. Caroline had never bared her fangs to her mom before, and frankly it scared her. She didn't want to worry Elena, she was coping with the grief of losing her best friend alongside the guilt of having her brother back and she knew Damon was helping her through it. Matt and Stefan were both unreachable. Tyler probably wasn't a wise choice. It left only one other person. She rang him and she had barely uttered the words "I'm concerned about Caroline" when he was declaring he would be there as soon as possible before hanging up on her.

He was at their doorstep a day later. Liz let him in silently; they didn't need to say anymore. She had sent him a text while on the road. She had been trying to keep the impending visit quiet from her daughter for now; she didn't want to risk Caroline's anger.

Caroline looked up from her laptop when she heard the front door close.

"Mom?"

When she got no answer, she stuck her head out of her door. The sight of him standing there made her straighten up.

"Klaus? What are you doing here?"