A/N: I'm leaving today to go to my in-laws' for a while, so this will be the last update for a little while. I won't have access to the internet.
A/N 2: There is smut at the end of this chapter, and I'm really nervous about the way I've written it, so reviews would be awesome for me.
Caroline hated to leave Damon and go to work the next day, but she had to. She had called her mother to come in so she could show her the sketches for Miss Mystic Falls. Esther finally came in around ten, and Caroline practically jumped when she saw her. She was happy her mother was here; not just because she was here to help her with the Miss Mystic Falls dresses, but because she could take her mind off of Damon.
God, Caroline wasn't sure what to do about Damon. She had wanted a relationship with him, but it was different. She was used to being in her nice, safe shell, and this was outside her comfort zone. After all, it was called a comfort zone for a reason. Caroline cursed inwardly at even agreeing to be Damon's girlfriend. She wasn't sure what had possessed her to do such a thing. She didn't distrust Damon, per se, but he was a man, and as far as she knew, men were all the same.
Caroline knew what Elena would tell her. In fact, she could even hear Elena's voice in her head. You can't judge every man you meet on Tyler and Mike. They were awful people, they used up people and spit them out. They saw you, a girl broken by the system, and they used it to their advantage. In fact, Elena had told her these things on more than once occasion.
Esther came into her office and interrupted her thoughts. When Caroline got out the sketches, Esther got excited and they spent the next several hours talking about the dresses. Caroline told her mother that she was going to go to Mystic Falls next week to start the measuring for the dresses.
"Is there anything else going on, Caroline?" Esther asked, and all of a sudden, Caroline was suspicious.
"Why would you ask that? Have you been talking to Kol?"
Esther shook her head, "No. Why? Is there something I should know?"
Caroline sighed; she got herself into this. She looked at her mother, "No, not at all." Caroline could tell by her mother's face that she suspected something, but Esther said nothing about it.
Caroline filled her mother in on Kol getting hired to tend bar. She explained that she and Damon were dating now (which made Esther grin like a madwoman), but left out that he was staying with her right now. That was a can of worms that she just didn't want to open yet.
Around four thirty, Esther looked at Caroline, "Are you picking up Niklaus at the airport?"
Caroline looked at her watch. She had totally forgotten that Klaus needed to be picked up at the airport, and she froze for a moment. She realized that Klaus had been staying with her the last few months and he was going to find out about Damon being there. Oh shit, she thought. He's definitely not going to like this.
"Caroline?" Esther asked, snapping Caroline out of her thoughts. "Are you going to pick up Niklaus at the airport?"
Caroline nodded, "Yes. I am."
"You better get going, then. His flight lands in about five minutes. You're going to be late."
Caroline sighed and walked out of the shop. She debated for a moment calling Damon and warning him, but decided against it. She wanted to talk to Klaus first.
-x-
"Hey, Care," Klaus said as he got into her passenger's seat that afternoon. "You look like you've got some heavy shit on your mind."
Caroline nodded, "I've got to talk to you, Nik."
"Sounds serious," he said, chuckling. She had a solemn look one her face and it worried him.
"Okay, spill it, Caroline. What happened?"
Caroline was trying to figure out how to tell him. She wasn't sure what would make it better. She could just say to him, Hey Nik, guess what? Damon and I are dating, and he just happens to be home right now. That just didn't sound good to her. She was afraid he'd flip out.
Caroline sighed, "Damon Salvatore is at home."
Klaus raised an eyebrow.
"He and I, we're kind of…well, we're kind of together." She said it as quickly as she could, trying to get it out. She was using the band aid effect – do it fast, it might not hurt so much. Klaus just watched her.
"Okay, I'll explain," she said, realizing that she probably needed to put in some background information. She told him about the dates they went on, her staying the night at the boarding house, even taking Damon home with her. Klaus listened to everything that Caroline had to say without interrupting once.
"So, do you guys sleep together?" Klaus asked, once Caroline was finished.
"We haven't had sex, if that's what you're asking."
Klaus gave her a look and then laughed, "No, I wasn't asking that. I wanted to know where he has been sleeping."
"Oh, okay," Caroline said, blushing. "On the couch. He only came home with me last night, Nik."
"Wait – you brought him home and you're making him sleep on the couch?"
"I didn't have a say in it. He said he wanted me to feel more comfortable and he insisted he sleep on the couch. It was his idea."
"That gives him points, I guess," Klaus said. "So, how is lover boy? I mean, he's behaving himself, yes?"
Caroline nodded, "He's being a perfect gentleman."
Klaus nodded.
"Drop me off at Mother's house," he said to her after a moment. "Elijah and Kol wanted to have a guy's night tonight, and so I'm staying there."
"You don't even want to go home to get your car?"
Klaus shook his head, and Caroline sighed, "This is because of Damon, isn't it?"
Klaus shook his head, "No, it's not. I really did promise Kol and Elijah we could have a guy's night, that is the God's honest truth, I swear."
Caroline nodded, but Klaus figured something else was up, "What's going on in your head, Caroline?"
She was silent, so Klaus asked, "Do you like him?"
Caroline sighed, nodding, "Yes, I do. I like him quite a bit, actually."
"So, what's the problem?"
"I like him too much, Nik. I like him too much."
"Not everybody is going to abandon you. We didn't abandon you, did we?" Caroline shook her head, so Klaus continued, "And I want you to get that thought out of your mind right now."
"What thought?"
"The one you're thinking. About my father."
Caroline's silence confirmed what she was thinking, and Klaus nodded, "You've never met the man, so I can tell you things you don't know. Father was cold, he was cruel, and he was heartless. He made a shitty father. He wasn't exactly abusive, per se, but he was very verbally mean to every one of us – except Rebekah. She was almost six when he left, and she was too young to really understand what was going on. All she knows is that when she woke up one morning, he was gone. Now, Kol, Finn, Elijah and I weren't unhappy to see him go – except for the fact that he left my mother heartbroken. No matter what Father said to her, she loved him. She loved him then, and probably always will. The only reason he stayed with Mother to begin with was because she was pregnant with me, and he felt like he needed to stick around. I don't miss the man, not at all, and if that makes me sound heartless, then so be it."
"What are you trying to tell me?"
"Love is not a weakness, Caroline. Just because you've gotten heartbroken in the past, that's no reason to barricade yourself in your own little world. Damon is not my father; he's not Tyler or Mike, either."
"You hate Damon Salvatore."
"I don't hate Damon, Caroline. I don't exactly trust him, but I'm betting that he can make you happy. Besides, you trust your friend Elena, right?"
Caroline nodded, "Yes, I do, with my life."
"So trust her. She's known Damon Salvatore her entire life, and she trusts him. The very first day I met her and commented about Damon's ways, she defended him pretty vehemently. Besides, if he just wanted to have sex with you, do you think he would've taken you on two dates and spent a fortune on you? Where'd he take you?"
"Well, he took me to Mario's –"
"That really fucking expensive restaurant in Richmond? The one where you have to have reservations for, like, six months before you can get in?"
Caroline nodded, "Yeah, that's the one. He took me there for our first date."
"Do you think he would impress you like that if he just wanted to sleep with you?"
Caroline shrugged, "Maybe that's the way he works."
"Think about what you just said, Caroline. A guy doesn't work that hard just for a piece of ass."
"Yeah, well I've been around, Nik, and some guys call it sport."
"I'm not talking about putting trust in the man, Caroline. Just – a little faith won't kill you."
Caroline shrugged as she pulled up to her mother's house. Klaus grabbed his bag and opened the door. Before he shut it, he said, "Thanks for the ride, Care. I expect to be able to talk to Damon tomorrow."
Caroline nodded, "Yeah, I kind of figured."
-x-
When Caroline got home that night, the house was mostly dark, so she figured that Damon wasn't there. She unlocked the front door and stepped inside, and what she saw surprised her.
The living room and hallway were practically covered in bouquets of tulips. Damon must've remembered that her favorite flower was a tulip. Caroline's mind went back to their very first date, where Damon brought her tulips, and she smiled. She went through the living room, into the dining room, and saw even more tulips. He must've bought out at least six flower shops with all the tulips that were there. She set her keys down on the dining room table and peeked in the kitchen – he wasn't there, but it smelled like food, like someone had been cooking. She started up the stairs and saw it – rose petals leading into her bedroom. The path of rose petals went in through her bedroom to the master bath, where she saw flickering light. Caroline went in to investigate. Damon was sitting at the edge of the bathtub, drawing a bath.
"What's this?" Caroline asked him, finding her voice. Damon got up and came over to her.
"I wanted to do something special for you. Now, don't worry about this; I'll go somewhere else while you take this bath, but I drew one for you."
"Why?" Caroline asked. It felt like her heart was going to leap out of her chest.
"Because I wanted to show you that you're special, Caroline."
"Look, Damon, you definitely did not have to do all of this," Caroline said while Damon leaned over and turned the water off. "This must've cost a fortune."
Damon put his finger to her lips, "This was worth it, though, for you."
"You're going to go broke doing special things for me," Caroline said, and it made Damon smile.
"Then it's money well spent."
Oh my God, Caroline thought, does he even know how fucking romantic he is being? She felt like she could've died and went to heaven. Nobody had ever been this romantic to her, not ever. She was out of words, wishing she had a way of telling him how much she appreciated it, but the only thing she could come up with was, "Thank you."
"I'll leave so you can take your bath now, Caroline," he said, and he left the bathroom, closing the door behind him.
Caroline was caught up in her thoughts while she bathed. He was right; the bath was really great. She thought about what Klaus had said in the car. Caroline was well aware that she pushed people away, but when you have the past she had, you learn to push people away. She learned early on that any feelings you had – any at all – could be used against you if the right person knew you had them. She had learned to guard her feelings, to guard everything like it was the biggest secret of her life.
After she was finished bathing, Caroline got out, and wandered into her bedroom to get some pajamas. She pulled some pajama pants out of her dresser and a T-shirt she had stolen from Klaus years ago came out of her closet. She got dressed and went down the stairs. She looked around the living room, but Damon was nowhere to be found. She wandered into the dining room, and smelled food, so she went into the kitchen. Damon was bent over, pulling something out of the oven.
"I cooked dinner for us," he said, and she gave him a surprised look.
"What?" he asked, almost defensively. "Don't you think I can cook?"
"Well, you cooked last night, but it was spaghetti, so I figured –"
"You figured that I couldn't cook much? Caroline, I'm Italian. Besides that, I love to cook."
"And what did you make?"
"I made chicken marsala. Your mother told me it's one of your favorite dishes." Damon brought a plate out into the dining room and lit the candles that were there.
"Wow," Caroline said. That was all she could manage; she was having a hard time believing everything that was happening.
Damon dished up dinner and sat across from Caroline, "Tell me about your day."
Caroline sighed, "Mother came into the shop today. She looked over the sketches I did, and she said she'd help me with the measuring and everything."
"That's good. Elena will be happy to hear it." Damon seemed genuinely interested. Caroline wondered if he was always this interested in what everybody had to say, or if it was just her. Caroline took a bite of her dinner, "Oh my God, Damon, this is amazing!" she exclaimed. Damon smiled.
She took a deep breath. Klaus' words were bugging her, and she decided she was going to share, even if it was just a little bit. This was it; it was either now or never.
"Damon, do you want to know why I got Lizzie? Or when I did?"
Damon nodded as he took a bite. Caroline took another deep breath before saying, "I got her after Tyler and I broke up. In fact, I got her right after. I left him on a Friday, and I went out and bought her on Saturday. I came back home to Richmond that day, and I had Lizzie with me. I've always been an animal person – I just love them – but I needed the security. I needed to know that I was protected, because when I left Tyler, he said to me, and I quote, 'You'll be back. I'll make sure of it.' So, the very next day I went out and got Lizzie. She had been trained very well, and she makes me feel safe. With her here, I feel safer than I ever did before."
Damon had an indescribable look on his face; it was one that Caroline couldn't exactly peg. After a moment of silence – which felt more like five years than two minutes – and then he said, "Is that why you have all those locks on your door?"
Caroline nodded, "Yes, it is. It's also why I have the security system."
"Is that why you moved back to Richmond? So you wouldn't have to worry about running into him?"
She debated lying to him. She thought about going back into her nice, safe shell, where things were always safe and she didn't have to worry. She reminded herself of her mother and of Klaus' words, so she nodded, "Yes. That's why."
"I'm sorry you had to go through that, Caroline," Damon said honestly. Caroline nodded.
"Has he tried to contact you since you moved back here?"
Caroline shook her head, "No. That run-in with Carol I had at the founder's party all those months ago was the first time I'd talked to a Lockwood since the split. But Tyler is a coward, and he knows that I have a Marine protecting me. Besides, he's afraid of Elijah."
Damon looked at her, "Elijah? The quiet brother?"
Caroline nodded, taking another bite of her dinner. "Damon, Elijah is a private investigator. He's very good at his job, and that includes finding people who don't want to be found, and sometimes, making people disappear. Elijah was offered a position at the CIA, but he turned them down. He has a problem with authority."
"Remind me never to piss him off," Damon said with a nervous laugh.
After dinner, Damon cleared the dishes and Caroline followed him into the kitchen. Caroline watched him closely, and thought back to those romantic things he did for her. He drew her a bath, he cooked her dinner, and she didn't even want to start thinking about how much money he must've put into all those flowers that were all over her house. She thought about how sweet it was, and how he must care if he did things like that for her, and she realized she was holding back. She wanted to be with him – in every way possible, at that. So, without warning, Caroline grabbed the collar of Damon's shirt and pulled him down for an earth-shattering kiss. Damon got so caught up in the kiss that he backed her up against the wall and they were making out ferociously. His kisses were so perfect; they felt like heaven. He kissed her gently, but passionately. The kisses were so intense that he lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around him. He started kissing down her neck, and she found the will to speak, "Maybe…oh God…maybe we ought to take this up to my bedroom," she said through gasps.
Damon lifted Caroline, her legs around his waist, and carried her up the stairs. Once they got to her bed, he dropped her down onto it and just looked at her. He hovered over her, capturing her lips with his once again. This time, the kiss was slow, almost agonizingly so. The kissing continued until they had to break apart to breathe, and Damon took that as a hint to start kissing down her neck. Caroline moaned, it just felt so good. She felt Damon smirk against her skin as he continued his way down her neck. She leaned up so he could remove her shirt and bra, and he threw them behind him, not caring where they landed. He leaned down, taking a nipple in his mouth while kneading her other breast. She let out another moan. He switched places with his mouth and hand, doing the same thing to the other one. He kissed his way down her stomach before unbuttoning and unzipping her jeans, pulling them down her legs, along with her panties, so that she was bare beneath him. He took a moment to look at her body –to really look at it – and she was beautiful. He pulled her to the edge of the bed and knelt down on his knees so that he was level with her core, and he started to push her legs apart. Instinctively, she snapped them shut.
"Relax, Caroline," he said. He ran his finger down the inside of her thigh, and she shivered and relaxed her legs for him. He kissed his way up her calves, up her thighs, taking time to pay attention to the scars on her legs. He knew she didn't care, but he wanted to love her – all of her – and those scars represented part of her life that Damon wished he could just kiss away. He hated even thinking about the horror she must've gone through, and how painful life was for her to even want to do that to herself.
When she felt his tongue on her clit, Caroline jumped. It was a sensation different from what she'd ever felt, and she loved it. It wasn't long before she was writhing beneath him, and he smirked against her skin. He inserted one, then two fingers inside of her and started to pump them in and out, slowly, as he took the bundle of nerves in his mouth, sucking on it lightly. The moans that escaped from Caroline's mouth told him everything he needed to know; she loved this. He curled his fingers up inside of her and her back arched up off of the bed. Sucking on her clit, he bit it gently, and she fell apart. She actually screamed when she came, which never happened, ever, and she literally saw stars in front of her eyes.
Damon got up, wiping his mouth, after she came down from her high, and he grinned at her.
"Okay, so you were right," Caroline said, and Damon couldn't help the laugh that escaped his lips.
She stood beside him, giving him a kiss, which he deepened, thrusting his tongue her mouth, and she moaned. She had always thought that the taste of her on his lips would turn her off, but instead, it just turned her on even more. She paused so she could rip the clothes from his body so he was as naked as she was. She started to kneel, to return the favor to him, but he grabbed her hands and lifted her up so she was standing again. She looked at him in confusion.
"I'm trying really hard to make this special, Caroline, but I need to be inside of you, like, now," he said, and he went over to the bed. He lay down and pulled her with him, "I want you to ride me."
Caroline hesitated for a moment. She had never actually been on top before, as the guys she'd ever been with were all about control. Damon seemed patient, though, as she went over to her end table and pulled out a condom. She was thankful that she was prepared. She rolled it onto him and then slid down on his length, slowly. Once he filled her, she paused for a moment before rotating her hips, giving herself time to adjust to his length. It had been a while since she had been filled like this, and had honestly forgotten how good it felt. She started moving on his length, slowly, grinding herself against it. She looked down and saw that he was keeping eye contact with her, and she immediately wanted to shy away. She just couldn't look him in the eye – it was too intimate, and it was something that she'd never done during sex before. Her thoughts started to shut down as she was filled with pleasure and she started moving harder and faster. She started bouncing up and down on him and was moaning louder than she had ever before.
"C'mon, baby, just let it go," Damon said, reaching in-between them, pinching her clit. That was all it took. Again, she screamed when she came, and it took her by surprise. She had just had one of the most intense orgasms of her entire life. Surprising Caroline, Damon flipped them over so he was on top, and said to her, "I want you to come one more time for me, baby," and he moved faster inside of her. He took a nipple in his mouth and gently bit it, and Caroline moaned loudly. He kissed up her neck to her lips, and kissed her passionately. It was one of the most gentle kisses she'd ever gotten in her entire life, and so full of passion that she felt like she could explode. Damon reached in-between their bodies and pinched her clit between the length of his fingers, and she exploded. She literally saw stars, and she screamed when she came. It wasn't long after she came that Damon came, too. Damon pulled out of her, pulling the condom off, disposing it into the wastebasket that was by her bed and. She got up and went into the bathroom. After a few moments, Caroline came back out, dressed. Damon was almost upset, but then thought, maybe she didn't like to cuddle afterwards. Instead of being hurt, he said to her, "Come back to bed with me."
"You like to cuddle?" she asked him, surprised. He nodded and she climbed into bed with him, pulling a blanket up over them, "I, uh…I've always been with guys who didn't like this part. It was always get in, get the job done, and get out."
"Well, I love this part," he replied honestly.
They hadn't been lying together for very long when Caroline's eyelids started to feel heavy. Right before she drifted off, she felt at peace; she felt like finally, for once in her Godforsaken life, something was going to come out right.