ATTENTION READERS: Although I have not been answering reviews as quickly as I used to I have a good reason now. I have not been able to login to my account using my phone anymore. So, I can only see your reviews using my e-mail and cannot respond to them. If you want a quicker response please let me know and I will do my best. If you read this please say pineapple in a review. Thank you. End of unofficial note.
Hello, my lovely and loyal readers. I know some of you would like to know how old the kids are at this time. To be frank, I can't keep up. I'll try to come up with a chart or something at some point. On with the story…
Chapter 24: I'll Get to You
Forever. It was taking forever to switch buses and to slip under the radar to get to her. Caroline. I had never felt this impatient and even as a child I was not known for being able to wait for anything. "Come on. Come on. Come on," I chanted as the bus pulled up to yet another station. We were finally in sunny California and according to
Damon only five miles from San Francisco. Damon had to grab me by the jacket to stop me from jumping off the bus ahead of the other passengers.
Yesterday, we were almost caught when a nosy grandmother started asking a bunch of questions. She said we looked like the two little boys on the TV who had disappeared three days ago. Damon had laughed it off and said people said he looked like all kinds of people. His dad was in the bathroom. We had gone into the public restroom and then snuck out after paying a man to distract the woman.
The nosy grandmother was right. Our pictures were on the news. It wasn't a very big story yet. But we knew we might get into major trouble if we did not return soon. However, we knew we had to get to Caroline. That was the mission and we were too close to our goal. Nothing and no one could stop us.
Getting off of the bus, we headed for the bus station and then hurried for the front entrance. When we got there Damon pulled me by the hand toward a local bus stop. He began to ask people question about how he could get to San Francisco being careful to avoid direct eye contact. One stressed looking business man wrote down instructions for the buses we would need.
I was relieved that it only took three local buses to get within five blocks of the address that Caroline had given Elena. We walked up to the front door of a two story house and I rang the doorbell. We waited and hoped that Caroline would be at home since it was mid-day and they might be out.
The door opened and my whole body relaxed as I looked into the most lovely pair of eyes I had ever seen. Without thinking twice I threw my arms around her. "Caroline," I said with glee. When she did not hug me back immediately I pulled back and looked down at her.
"Hi, Nik," Caroline replied coldly and then she stepped back. "Hi, Damon." My jaw tensed when she hugged him and gave him a wide smile. "What are you doing here?" Then her eyes widened. "I'm sorry. Do you want to come inside?"
"Yes," I said before Damon could reply and I walked in front of him. I gritted my teeth when Caroline ignored me and took Damon's arm and led him toward the living room. "Do you want to meet my friends?" Caroline asked brightly as she walked into the living room.
A group of girls and a teenage boy were sitting in the room. "Damon. Nik. Meet my new friends and Pascal."
"Bonjour, Damon et Nik. Caroline, has told us much of you." Pascal told them with a bright smile. He got up and held out his hand to me and I glared up at him. "I did not like him already." Pascal did not seem to mind my disdain. "Mademoiselle Caroline has missed you both very much. She say, "Oh, my Nik and my Damon. Oh, I miss my boys so much. It feel like I am only third of a person because they my soulmates and I am without them. Oui, mademoiselle?"
Caroline shook her head. "Oh, Pascal. Non. I only miss on person. Deux is too much," she was teasing him and he was teasing her back and I wanted to punch the teenager. He was just acting nice.
"Which one, Miss Caroline? Which do you love?" Pascal teased.
"I love you, Pascal, I think only of you," Caroline replied with a wide grin and a really bad French accent.
"Oh, Caroline. You are too nice to your Pascal. But I think you love one of the boys," Pascal told her and Caroline rolled her eyes. "Let's watch the Titanic."
"Non, not that film again. Encore she say and I play the film because she is sweet friend of my cousin. I cannot help myself. She will be the death of a boy when she comes to be my age." Pascal was saying as he went over to place the tape in the player.
"Merci beaucoup," Caroline cried as she went to sit with her female friends who were giggling and whispering about me and Damon.
"There are a lot of girls here," Damon whispered, nudging me with his elbow. "How are we going to get Caroline away from these people?"
"Dare her," I told him, folding my arms over my chest. The sooner we got Caroline away from the others and got her home the sooner everything would be okay again. She had to go with us. We couldn't have spent all this time trying to get here for nothing.
"Hey, Caroline," Damon called innocently. Then he rolled his eyes to the left toward the hallway.
"What?" Caroline called, barely tilting her head in his direction. She was far too absorbed with that stupid movie for my taste. 'Get up,' I snapped at her mentally.
"Caroline, I need to talk to you," Damon called, his voice a little too loud and the others looked up. Pascal's eyebrows rose and the girls began to giggle. They made kissy faces.
"But I want to watch the movie," Caroline whined, crossing her arms and staring at the screen. "It's my fault you ran away from home."
"What?" Pascal cried. He looked at us unhappily.
"She's kidding," Damon told him quickly. Our parents just dropped us off."
Caroline started to say something when Damon walked over to her and whispered in her ear. "Okay," Caroline muttered. "But I better not miss when Jack saves Rose from falling off the ship."
"Whatever," Damon muttered and we walked toward the kitchen.
"Why are you here?" Caroline snapped at me when we arrived in the kitchen. I stared back at her, narrowing my eyes.
"Why didn't you tell me you were leaving?" I snapped back at her.
"You told me to play with girls. I'm playing with girls," Caroline snarled, her eyes glowing with fury.
"You should have told me that you were leaving," I told her feeling my eyes filling with tears.
"You shouldn't be so mean to your friends," Caroline informed me and then leaned back against the counter.
"Come home, Caroline," I begged.
"No," Caroline replied, staring at the floor.
"Yes," I growled and walked over to tower over her. Right now, she was a seven year old and I was a bit taller than her. She looked like a little girl from my height.
Glaring up at me, Caroline straightened up to her full height and then stood on her tip toes to place her face two inches from mine. "I can't go home because this is my Daddy's time with me and I'm not going home so you can be mean to me. Now, go away and don't come back."
Feeling my pride fill me, I turned my back on her and stormed toward the kitchen door. "And I know you ran away and you're going to be in big trouble," Caroline shouted at me.
"It was my idea," Damon told her. "And I'm always in trouble. But you two had to talk. Okay? You're both being mean and that's my job. So, just stop it." He came over and put his arm around my shoulders and dragged me toward Caroline. "Hug and make up," Damon ordered us.
Caroline and I simply stared at each other. "No!" Caroline told him stubbornly.
"I dare you to hug Nik and make up with him," Damon informed her with a slow grin.
"It doesn't count if you are dared," Caroline protested with wide eyes as she stared at me and then at Damon.
"Yeah, it does," Damon insisted. "Do you know how many times I've had to dare Lena and Stef to forgive me for the crap I do to them? Huh? Lots and lots and oh, yeah, lots of times."
"Leave her be, Damon," I told him, feeling my shoulders slump. It didn't matter. The mission failed. We weren't getting Caroline back. She had new friends. She no longer cared about us. We should just let her go. Somebody said something about loving people and letting them go.
"No way," Damon told me, shaking his head back and forth frantically. "We can't. She had to come with us. I promised Lena and Stef and Bonnie and the others that we would bring her home. She's supposed to be with us. We're not allowed to leave. Okay?" I had never seen Damon panic like this. He was on the edge of tears. Damon never cried about anything.
"Please, Caroline, please come home," Damon begged Caroline, hugging her tightly. "Everyone misses you. We can't just come home empty handed."
"I can't come home yet. But I'll be there at the end of the summer. I promise." Caroline told him, patting him on the back.
Damon shook his head. "It isn't the same. Soon Lena will go somewhere else and Lijah and Kat will go to college and everyone is starting to grow up. Don't leave us, Care."
"I'm coming back," Caroline told him.
"No!" Damon cried and tears began to run down his cheeks. "My Mom said she would come back from the hospital and she never did. Never, Care. She never came back and my Dad doesn't love me. He hates me because I remind him of her. He hates me so much and he loves Stefan because he's the baby. And I can't talk to Stefan about Mom because he doesn't remember her. And he doesn't love her like I did. He doesn't care. He just says he does because he thinks he's supposed to."
I came over to stand beside the two and Caroline reached out. Pushing my hurt feelings down, I wrapped my arms around my two best friends and we felt Damon shuddering with the pressure of his sobs. I hadn't seen Damon fall apart like this in the entire time we had known each other and I hated to see him in this much pain.
Looking at Caroline, I could see that she felt the same way as she rested her head on Damon's shoulder and pressed her hands on top of my shoulders. It was like we were one giant person who was feeling the same pain. At that moment I think we might have been. Sounds weird but it's true. I've never loved anyone, except for my siblings, as deeply and as fiercely as I loved Caroline and Damon.
"Are you well now, mate?" I asked Damon, my accent deepening for a moment and my American tongue drifting away in favor of the comfort of who I was before I came here. For a moment I missed my old life and the days before I was so much a part of this club. It was easier to have myself to worry about and my siblings and none of this "friends forever" business. Looking at Caroline and Damon, I knew that I couldn't walk away no matter how much I wanted to.
"Yes, sir," Damon replied with a lopsided grin. "Let's go watch Leo drown in the ocean. That's my favorite part." We walked out to the living room to sit with Caroline's new friends. I didn't want to hang out with them. I wanted Caroline all to myself but sometimes we don't always get what we want. Sometimes we have to wait.
"I missed the last half hour of the movie," Caroline whined. "Pascal, encore, please. Merci." Caroline beamed as the teenage boy got up to do her bidding. He was getting on my nerves. Why did she act like he was so great? He was Elijah's age and Caroline never acted like this with Elijah.
Pursing my lips, I smiled at one of Caroline's little friends who blushed bright red and turned to hide her grin. Caroline turned to give me a lethal glare. I shrugged like I hadn't done anything. After Pascal started playing the film again, I felt someone grab my hand and I smirked when I looked to see Caroline clutching it. Then I had to bite the inside of my cheek when she dug her fingernails in.
"Don't mess with my friends, Klaus," Caroline whispered into my ear before leaning back.
"I can do whatever I please," I whispered back, placing my arm around her little waist and squeezing tightly enough that I knew it hurt because of her sudden intake of breath.
Smiling, Caroline placed her hand on my leg and pinched me, hard. I gritted my teeth from the pain. "You can't with my friends," she informed me.
"Yes, I can," I retorted as I took one of her curls and wrapped it around my fist before I yanked downward making Caroline growl.
"I have to go get something in my room," Caroline declared. "Klaus, help me."
I jumped to my feet and we hurried up the stairs. The minute we were in her room and she closed the door, Caroline smacked me on the arm. "Owe," I groaned. I grabbed her and spanked her like I would with Bekah or Kol when they were behaving badly.
"You," Caroline snarled and began to punch my chest. "I hate you. I hate you. I hate you," she cried before she fell against my chest and began to cry like Damon had done.
"I miss you, too, Care," I murmured, resting my head on top of hers.
"Why did you have to be so mean?" Caroline asked me, her eyes wide.
"Because I like you. I like you too much. We're too young. You're too young. And everyone says that we're supposed to be older to feel like this. Okay, Caroline? So, we'll wait. We'll figure it out because I'll be your last love. I promise you that." I whispered to her. She was looking up at me like the girls do in the cheesy movies and I knew she was about to kiss me. I wanted her to kiss me. It had been three years. We weren't old enough to act like Lijah and Kat but we could kiss, right? Damon and Lena kissed a lot. No biggie as Damon would say.
Just as our lips were about to meet the door flew open. "Nik, Care's Dad is home and he knows we ran away and he called our parents. We have to go home like today," Damon peered at us and then blinked. "Come on," grabbing my hand, Damon began to drag me down the stairs to find Bill Forbes not looking happy.
"How did you two get all the way out here?" Bill asked us and then he looked at Caroline. "Oh, Caroline," he muttered because Caroline's lower lip was wobbling and she was glaring at her father before she ran back to her room and slammed the door shut with a resounding bang.
"I guess we're going home without her," Damon told me and I knew we looked equally disappointed. However, there was a part of me that thought that maybe we needed this space because it was like we were running a race and trying to get to the finish line far too quickly.
Thank you for reading: Guest, Deepie-NtinaBFFs, Guest, MysteryGirl3, ferrylis, mylove4klaus, Guest, klaroline4everlove, Miss Bella Salvatore and KlarolineMyMockingjay.
Love,
LL