Sorry it's taken me so long to post, being suffering from serious writers block. Hope you like this new chapter, and if you do, please review, let me know what you think :) -Cheers
She didn't say anything to me. She couldn't even look at me. We hadn't said two words to each other since last night...
"Caroline."
I whip around, being frightened for the second time tonight, this time it's my mother's voice pulling me out of my daze. And from the horrified expression dominating her features, my guess is she saw more than enough...
"Mom," I whisper, my voice still raspy and breathless from the kiss; and I hate it. "You scared me..."
"Get out,"
"Morning," Elena pokes her head into her room, peering at me as I burrow deep into her quilted bed.
"Mmmm..." I moan; stretching, feeling like a stranger here even though I've slept in this bed countless times over the years of our friendship. I quickly sit up and rub the sleep from my eyes. "Did I sleep in?"
"Yeah, but it's okay," She enters the room, all dressed and ready for school, while I'm sure I look like hot mess.
"I'm sorry about last night..." I pull my knees up to my chin, wrapping my arms around my legs.
"Hey, no, don't even worry about that." The room goes quiet, except for the bird chirping outsider her bedroom window. "She really kicked you out...?" Elena reaches out and touches my arm sweetly, sympathy plain in her eyes.
"Looks like it." I sigh, tears threatening again, but my eyes burn dryly, I have no more tears to cry—Not over Silas, not over my friends, not Klaus, or even my mom. My tears are tired, and so am I.
"Hey, I'm sure she'll come around."
I sigh, pushing the covers off of my feet.
"Thanks for letting me come over last night..." The tension of the Klaus subject is thick. I want to talk about anything other than the details of last night, but they stay in my mind, itching.
Last night, when I showed up at Elena's, and she asked me what had happened, I couldn't bring myself to tell her. The thought of her knowing, for sure, that I really had let myself be sucked into Klaus's world made me shake. Knowing her, she would have been understanding, but I couldn't bring myself to say the words "She caught me making out with Klaus on her doorstep."
She was nice enough not to push for details, even though I know she's curious.
"We better get moving if we're going to get to school." Elena chucks a t-shirt of hers at me, hitting me in the face before exiting the room.
XXX
The annual potluck for the founding family celebration; it was always held at the Lockwood estate for as long as I can remember. This year, with Carol's death, and Tyler having dropped off the face of the planet, I was surprised it was even happening at all.
I pull up to the Salvatore Boarding house, potato salad and Klaus's jacket in hand; I note the amounts of cars in the driveway. Should be a full house.
I enter the house, the smell of home cooking hitting my nose immediately, and I relax as I take in the familiar faces.
A nervous pang in the middle of my stomach hits me hard when I see my mother talking with the Mayer, Bonnie's father. When she doesn't look my way, I make my way to the kitchen, the tables full of food. Setting down my bowl, I look around, making eye contact with Stephan who's across the room; speaking with a man I've never met before.
"Hey," I greet him, the stranger giving him a small wave before hurrying away, "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt,"
"No, no worries,"
"Who was that?"
Stefan shrugs, though I find it hard to believe he's as oblivious as he wants to seem.
"Just some guy, says he's known the Mikaelson's for years,"
"I've never seen him before," I glance in the direction the man scurried off to, but he's gone.
"Hey brother," Damon claps a hard hand on Stefan's shoulder, then glances at me, "Barbie,"
I narrow my eyes a little in his direction, finding it harder to hate this man now what my best friend has found she can't live without him.
I look around the large living area, finding it strange to see all these people from the town inside this particular house.
"It was nice of you guys to offer to do this," I say, spotting Rebekah talking with a man who seems to be trying to flirt, to her revulsion.
"Yeah well, you know us," Damon says this with thick disdain in his voice, giving Stefan another smack on the shoulder, "We can't pass up an opportunity to invite every single citizen of Mystic Falls county into our home all at once, when any one of them could be Silas in disguise; not to mention the whole of the original family who we, uh, what's it called? Hate? Do we still do that?" He raises an eyebrow at me, and my glare deepens. "Nice jacket." His eyes flicker to Klaus's sports coat that I forgot I was holding.
I roll my eyes and glance behind him, catching Bonnie's eye as she speaks to a young blonde girl, she waves me over.
"Excuse me," I offer Stefan a polite smile, and slip past them to meet up with Bonnie.
"When did you get here?" Bonnie asks, giving me a quick hug.
"Just a little while ago, making my rounds." I turn and look at the pretty blonde in front of me.
"Hi," I say, raising my eyebrows at Bonnie.
"Caroline this is Rita, she's just moved here with her dad Eddie," She gestures to a tall, greying man standing near the front door. "Eddie helped my dad with his campaigning this year."
"Hey," Rita reaches her hand out towards me, and I shake it, exchanging polite smiles.
"Welcome to Mystic Falls," I say in my most convincing voice, trying hard not to yell at this girl to run, run away from this crazy place.
"Who's jacket?" Bonnie asks.
"Oh," I glance down at my arms, I have to get rid of this thing, "no one's—it was nice to meet you Rita, I should probably go find my mom," I lie. She looks at the jacket for another second, not buying my lame excuse for a second.
"I heard about her blowing up at you last night..." Bonnie says in her most hushed voice, "You okay?"
"Fine," I flick my hand in the air, hoping my tone doesn't give away how uncomfortable I am, "It was just a misunderstanding, I'm gonna go find her," And with that I slip out the back, finding yet another herd of people on the outdoor patio.
I scan the crowd, my eyes landing on Klaus, just across the yard, talking with Elijah.
"Marcel wants to see you too, you know how much he looks up to you," Elijah's voice is even, and quiet as he speaks to Klaus, keeping his words private to those who bustle around them.
"Yes well, Marcel is in my debt. I hardly think he's in any position to be making demands of me."
"Brother, you must try and think with reason, this place, this town; it holds nothing for us anymore—"
"Try and pry sister away—"
"She needs family—"
"What she needs is—" Klaus's words cut off, mid sentence as his eyes land on me. I suddenly become extremely uneasy, as I find myself standing on the patio, staring from afar. I look down at the ground, but find my eyes drawn back up to his, his mouth quirks in a smug grin.
"Excuse me," Klaus moves past Elijah without another word in the argument, making his way towards me, making no effort to disguise his motives.
"Caroline," He greets me as he gets closer, his sauntering walk distracting me for a little more than a second. When he steps close, enough that I can smell his cologne, I reach up, holding the jacket between us, as a playful joke, but also as a distraction for myself; to prevent me from doing something stupid like kissing him right here in front of the entire town.
"Here," I hold it high until he takes it from me, an amused but also slightly perplexed expression on his face.
"Thank you," he says, folding the jacket over his arm. Noticing my stand offish behavior, he raises an eyebrow at me, "Everything alright love?"
I sigh, crossing my arms across my chest, "Just some drama going on at my house right now."
He nods knowingly, thought I'm sure he has no clue how deep my frustration runs.
"Then is now be a bad time to tell you how beautiful you look?" He says this in such a casual way; I have to take a minute to let the sweet words sink in. I feel myself blush deep crimson when his eyes flicker down my body for a fraction of a second.
"Yes," I say, glancing over his shoulder in time to see Elijah looking exactly my way. His eyes pierce mine, not quite angry, not quite bemused, just a stare that makes me want to look away.
"Can I get you a drink?" He gestures towards the small bar set up just off the patio.
"Still underage, remember?"
"Ahh yes." He nods, glancing around the party, taking in the faces of the people surrounding us. More people looking our way than I thought. I make eye contact with a few of the elders, their disapproving and confused glances make me nervous. Bonnie and Matt also look this way; my hands start to shake a little.
"On second thought, I will take that drink,"
He seems to notice the attention we're attracting, but doesn't appear to care; reaching out and grazing my waist with his fingertips as he passes by me to the bar, butterflies spring into my stomach at his electric touch.
"Hey," Bonnie comes up behind me, her arms crossed, she looks uncomfortable. I jump slightly with her abrupt greeting.
"Hi," I say.
"You may want to think about being a little more... subtle," she looks around, defiantly noticing the looks Klaus and I received, "I think people are starting to get suspicious."
I look at her, her words offending me more than I expected them to.
"I didn't realise we were causing a scene," My eyes narrow a little.
"Look Caroline, please don't act like I'm an idiot, okay I can see what's going on here, and so can everybody else."
I turn towards her, my temper flaring, "Then why don't you tell me Bonnie, what is going on here?"
"I'm just saying—"
"Well just stop," I throw my hands in the air, my frustration making my hands shake a little, "You don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't you see how completely stupid and reckless this is?"
I stare at my friend for another second before letting out a heavy sigh; I brush past her, heading for the house, avoiding the eyes of the few people who overheard our bickering, and take refuge in the house.
XXX
As the house empties, I rinse the dishes in the sink, listening to the last of the Mystic Falls High teachers and council members make their way out the door.
Elena comes up beside me with a dish towel, taking the clean plates from me.
"How are you doing?" Always the comforter of the group, I know she can't stand watching me suffer in silence.
"I'm fine," I say curtly, still on edge from mine and Bonnie's fight. I hand her another dish, she's not buying it. "Really Elena, I'm okay."
"Are you sure?"
"God!" I turn of the tap, dropping the sponge into the sink, "Why does everybody keep asking me that?" I walk over to the dining chairs, removing my sweater from the back of one, and shoving my arms through it. "Like I've gone completely out of my mind!" Letting out a heavy sigh, I force myself to turn back to her. She looks hurt, and I hate it.
"I'm sorry." I moan, covering my face with both hands.
"It's okay," She says, her voice hardly a whisper. "I just want you to know that I'm here for you if you need anything."
"Thank you Elena, but I really don't think this is something that can just be fixed. Not even by you." I turn away from her, heading towards the living room. "I'm sorry."
"Caroline, can't we at least talk about this?" Elena stops me in my tracks, trapping me in the kitchen, barricading the exit with her body.
"What do you want to talk about?" I throw my hands in the air, my defensive tone matching hers.
"How about the fact that your mother kicked you out of your own house because of K—"
"Because it just, ugh! It sucks Elena!" I run a hand through my hair, "You get it Elena! Don't you get what it's like when everyone is looking at you like you've gone completely out of your mind crazy for caring for this one person who you didn't ask to care about! But for some reason, can't live without?!"
"Yeah I do," Elena says this evenly, her quite voice making my outburst sound childishly loud.
I rub my eyes, a headache pounding behind them.
"I have to go," I grab my bag from the floor beside the counters. "I'll find somewhere else to stay tonight."
"Care..." I hear her say, but I'm already heading for the door. I stop in my tracks as I enter the living room. Stefan, Matt, Rebekah, and a stunned looking Klaus are all staring in my direction.
I pause for only a second before using my vampire speed to get out the door, and down the street before the tears start to flow.
XXX
The streets are quiet. My shoes make hollow sounds as I walk across the concrete. I'm cold, and alone.
When he's suddenly there, I'm suddenly okay. He's frantically wiping at the tears, but more follow. Letting me cry into his chest, his throat, his shoulder, I forget what I'm crying for. His hands numb the pain, make me feel on fire—The good kind. The beautiful kind. The street is dead, except for my desperate gasps for air.
He's patient, he's silent, he's the only thing that exists.
And when he asks me "Are you alright?"
I am.
"Take me with you..." His hands trail down my arms, igniting me, "Take me home..."
I know. I'm a tease. :D