Hello, my lovely readers.
Okay, so we finally got to see a Klaroline hook-up but there was a certain amount of disappointment due to Klaus' agreement to not come back. Does everyone understand their new mission? We MUST continue to read, write, talk about and support our favorite couple as much as possible. This does not mean bashing other characters or the writers as much as that might feel good temporarily. We must be proactive and vigilant in our shipping and not give up hope as tempting as it may be. In the meantime I do my part by writing as much Klaroline support as my fingers can deal with. So, without further ado…
Chapter 22: Forget Her Not
Our home was in a flurry because my mother was in labor. I had been through this scenario twice before but was too young to remember. Elijah and Finn were quite on top of things as Lijah promised Father (who was oddly panicked for the father of four children) that Lijah would take care of us. "Yes, thank you, boy. I always rely on you to care for your siblings," Father told Lijah as Finn rolled his eyes and folded his arms.
My mother was standing by the door with a look of dismay as Father came to the door with bags, blankets, car seat and I know not what. "Mikael, that is a bit much, don't you think?" Mother inquired, staring at the things her husband was carrying past her.
"We need all of this and more," Father informed her. "Remember when Niklaus was born. We were not prepared at all."
Mother rubbed her temples. "Shall we arrive at the hospital before or after I deliver this child?"
"Mother," Rebekah called as she came to stand beside her mother. "Will you still love me best?"
"She doesn't love you best," Kol told her. "You are an alien and we plan on sending you back to your mother planet the day we find it."
Rebekah's lower lip began to wobble before she wailed loudly and ran from the foyer. Mother sighed before walking out the front door. I glared at Kol. "Can you not leave her alone today?" I snapped at Kol. He sneered up at me.
"Eat my shorts," Kol snapped back at me.
I groaned. "Who allowed him to watch The Simpsons again?" I asked my older brothers, who rolled their eyes.
Sighing, Elijah pinched the bridge of his nose. "I have a date with Katherine tonight," he told us, shaking his head and running his hand through his hair.
"I can take care of things," Finn announced and Elijah raised an eyebrow. "I can. What is that look about, Lijah? You are only a year older than I. Not even, really. I can take care of our siblings for one evening."
Shrugging, Elijah headed up the stairs. "Good luck. I shall dress and leave you to it then."
Groaning, I stared at Finn. He was not my favorite brother. Yes, I have a favorite brother. Makes me a bad person. I know. Lijah was and is my idol. Kol was a pain in my arse. Still is. Although I love my brothers equally. Then there is Henrick but he's busy trying to get out my mother right now. So, we'll leave him to it.
The doorbell rang and I went to open it. Damon, Stefan, Tyler, Matt, Jeremy, Alaric and Mason were on the doorstep. "Nik," Damon exclaimed happily, picking me up, literally. "Are you ready for the fun?"
I tried to respond but I couldn't breathe. "Down," I choked out.
"Sorry," Damon said before throwing Stefan over his shoulder, causing the seven year old to yelp.
"Put me down, you jerk," Stefan yelled at his brother, who carried him up the stairs. I followed them up while the others went in search of food and entertainment. When we got to my room, Damon tossed his brother on top of my bed and I closed the door, locking it. I really wasn't in the mood to deal with the whole group. The Salvatores were enough by themselves.
Smiling, Damon pulled his t-shirt up to reveal envelopes tucked into the waist band of his shorts. Stefan pulled out more envelopes and I stared at them quizzically. "What are those?"
Stefan opened one and unfolded the letter. "Damon, read it," Stefan demanded, holding out the letter.
Damon shook his head. "You know how to read, stupid."
"So?" Stefan replied, ignoring the insult. He waited for his brother to sit down before he attacked him from behind, wrapping his arms around his around Damon's neck.
Resting his head on his brother's shoulder, Stefan read along silently as Damon began to read aloud.
Dear Lena,
I miss you so much. I hate my Dad. I locked myself in my room the first day and wouldn't speak to him. He tried to make me eat but I said I didn't want anything. He's all happy with his boyfriend. I hate Stephen. They're so stupid. I hate it here. I miss you all. Is Klaus okay?
Love,
Caroline
Damon looked up at me as I stared at him trying to not allow my happiness to appear outwardly. "So?" I asked nonchalantly. "Let's go outside and play soccer."
"Don't you want to hear the other letters?" Damon asked me as I shook my head. "Nik, I know you miss her."
"No, I don't," I snapped back at him. "I'm going outside to play now."
"Girls suck," Stefan said sagely and I nodded.
"See, Stefan is a wise young man," I told Damon, who rolled his eyes before grabbing another letter and following me out of the room with it.
Dear Lena,
Stephen took me to the park and I told him I hated him. Then I ran away. I hid in someone's bushes and thought about how much I wanted to come home. I miss my Mom. I want Nik. I don't want to be here. Tell Nik to write to me. I need him. I need him to come get me. Tell him, Lena, please, tell him to come get me and take me home.
Love,
Caroline
"She was crying when she wrote this one," Damon told me. Trying to give me the letter and I pushed it away. "Nik, you have to go get her." Damon told me. "If you don't, she'll stop loving you."
I turned to glare at my best friend. "She doesn't love me. She is a little girl, who doesn't know what she wants."
"Yes, she does, Nik," Damon insisted.
"I don't want the bloody letters," I screamed at him, feeling tears filling my eyes. Then I ran down the stairs and out the back door. Elijah came down in one of his suits.
"Niklaus," Lijah called as he came to stand beside me.
I dried my eyes because Father said that boys are not supposed to cry. "Damon wouldn't leave me alone with these blasted letters," I told my brother.
"Were they from Caroline?" Lijah asked me, placing his hand on my back and I leaned against his legs.
"Yes," I moaned.
"And what is the problem?" Lijah asked me.
"We are too young. She is too young. I should want to play with my mates, not a girl. She likes Barbies and little dollies like Bekah. I can't play soccer with her and I hate the color pink. It is horrid, Lijah. And soon she'll be wearing makeup and wanting to fix my hair. She should be playing with Lena and Bon, not me. Oh, Lijah, fix it. Please!" I groaned as my brother chuckled.
"Brother, life is not simple and I do not hold the answers to these problems. I have enough to contend with with Katherine's whims. You know there is some dance in a month that she organized and is forcing me to buy a tuxedo for. She thinks its prom. When Caroline becomes that insane then you must call me." Lijah sounded amused as he mused and I wanted to tell him to shut up.
"Nik," Kol screamed just as he threw the soccer ball and Lijah caught it. He then kicked it across the yard. We began to chase the ball. Even Lijah was chasing the ball about the yard.
We were having a great time when Katherine appeared. "Elijah!" Katherine yelled, looking pissed as she took in Lijah's disheveled appearance. "What in the God's name are you doing?" She asked my brother as she placed her hands on her hips. Her hair was piled up on top of her head and she was wearing a dress that looked like something from a prom in a TV show. "We're going to be late for the Founder's Ball. And I'm up for Miss Mystic. This is horrible."
Scowling, Lijah ran his hand through his hair. "My clothes are clean. Give me a comb and I will be perfectly presentable, Katherine."
"But you're all sweaty," Katherine complained as Lijah came to stand in front of her.
"Do I smell sweaty to you?" Lijah asked, leaning toward her and pulling her to him. They shared a look that I did not understand as Lijah kissed Katherine and Kol gagged.
"Yes, you do," Katherine told him before walking back toward the house. Turning her head, she smiled at Lijah. "Are you coming?" My brother followed Katherine into the house and he closed the door.
This was all too confusing for my young brain to handle as I threw the ball and we began to kick it about the yard. I wondered how Mother was doing with the baby and if she would be home tomorrow. Finn was sitting on the edge of the yard, watching us like we were about to put the bloody ball through one of the windows. You do it once and it is as if you meant for it to happen. If Damon hadn't dared me it wouldn't have happened.
"Yo, Nik, I dare you to kick the ball through the window again." I turned to stare at him in horror.
"No, Damon. Not again. Father will ground me for life," I begged, staring at Finn who was watching Kol as he kicked the ball about.
"Kol, kick it over here," Damon called to Kol, who grinned and kicked the ball. Kol was a damn good footballer. He might even make a team soon as the ball went sailing into Damon's stomach, who groaned. "Ow," Damon moaned and I suppressed a smile.
Straightening up, Damon held out the ball to me. "Here you go, friend."
"I hate you," I muttered. Throwing the ball in the air, I dribbled it on my knee for a few minutes like David Beckham, the greatest footballer alive. I was extending the time. Watching Finn, watching me as Bekah came out to talk to him. Heaving a heavy sigh, I kicked the ball as hard as I could and closed my eyes.
Then there was a loud, indignant scream from the second story of our home. "You little son of a -" Katherine screamed. She was standing by the window, wrapped in a towel and she looked extremely pissed. "I am calling your father," she yelled.
"Not if you don't want everyone to know about you and Elijah," Damon screamed back at her, his face turning red.
"This was your idea, wasn't it?" Katherine yelled down at Damon. "As soon I get dressed, Salvatore, you had better be gone."
"I dare you to run for your life," I whispered to Damon. He nodded quickly and we ran as Finn was about to come over to question me. We ran down the street and kept running until we got to Damon's home. "We forgot Stefan," I told him, feeling out of breath.
"Stef, can find his own way home," Damon snapped.
"What is it with you and him," I asked my friend as he slumped onto the porch swing.
Damon glared at the porch. "Don't want to talk about it."
Plopping down beside him. I tried to think of something else to say. "Okay. So, how did you get Caroline's letters to Elena?"
Rolling his eyes, Damon stared at me with a smirk. "I had to tell her I was sorry for telling her she was ugly and putting a frog in her underwear drawer. You know I don't know why girls like to have little flowers on their panties."
"You saw her underwear?" I asked him, feeling shocked. But not too much for some reason.
"Yeah. Because they were in the drawer," Damon told me, rolling his eyes again. "Man, Nik, did Caroline run off with your brain or something?"
"No," I snapped.
"Are you sure?" Damon asked me with a wide grin. "Cause I have this theory about how she's a space alien, who sucked your brain out. Man, what if all the girls are space aliens? That's probably what Katherine was doing with Elijah in his room. She was showing him her bra so she could suck his brain out."
I began to laugh. It was too funny imagining Kat as an alien with antenna. This is why I loved Damon. He always knew how to cheer me up because he was insane. "Are you going to go get Caroline?" Damon inquired.
Scowling, I stared ahead of me and began to rock the swing. "Nope," I told him. We needed to spend time with other people. I was beginning to sound like him.
"Dude, you have to. She's sad and it sounds like things suck where she is." Damon continued as I began to rock the swing faster.
"I do not have to do anything," I replied slowly, folding my arms and glaring at him.
"Yeah, you do. Caroline is like part of our group. It's you, me and her. Besides you're all mopey when she's gone and you are getting boring," Damon told me.
I began to think. "I'm boring? Huh? Well then I suppose if I'm so boring then I would not dare you to run away from home."
Damon's mouth opened wide. "Nik…" he began and then thought about. Then he began to smile. "O-kay. I dare you to run away with me."
"I don't think we know each other well enough," I teased him.
Beginning to laugh, Damon got up. I got up, too, and we headed upstairs as Damon grabbed his bag. Then he walked over to Stefan's room. He came back with Stefan's backpack. We began to fill the bags with clothes and then went downstairs and grabbed some food. Damon went into his Dad's study and used a knife to open a box. He pulled out a handful of cash and stuffed it into his bag.
"We're ready," Damon told me and we walked out the front door and began to walk toward the city limits. "I don't think anyone will miss us."
"Where are we going?" I asked him.
"This was your idea," Damon pointed out and I scratched my head.
"We could go to Disney world," I suggested as we began to walk.
Damon shook his head. "We need to go to Caroline's Dad's house."
"How are we going to get there?" I asked him.
"We'll get on a bus," Damon told me and I blinked.
Shaking my head, I told him, "But someone will say we should be with an adult."
"We'll think of something. Come on," Damon shook me lightly by the shoulder. "It'll be an adventure."
"Yes, it will be and then our fathers will kill us," I retorted. This was not a good idea.
"My dad could care less about me. Or what I do," Damon snapped. "If you're not coming, don't, but I'm going."
Feeling my shoulders slump, I began to follow him. I supposed that I couldn't just let him go by himself. It didn't matter he had that necklace that should keep him safe. There was no way that I would allow him to get hurt. So, we set off on our trip to retrieve the missing member of our trio. 'Caroline, I'll be there soon,' I thought.
Thank you for reading, faving, following and reading: WeasleysGroupie, mylove4klaus, whisperofdreams, iheartfillintheblank, Guest, ferrylis, Clarity23, Lootmagoot, purpleshampoo, If We Burn You Burn With Us123, klaroline4everlove, Klaroline-lovegames and klarolinemymockingjay.
Love,
LL