A/N: Oh my God, you guys. It's been a really long time since I've updated this and I am so so so sorry. I've really been out of the mood for The Vampire Diaries (and have a little obsession with Teen Wolf right now so it's hard to write this universe) and I'm really disenchanted with this season – definitely not my favorite – so I had to take a break. But here's a new chapter.

I also wanted to say to those who don't like the way I've written Rebekah, or certain traits of Caroline's, stay tuned, because things are about to change. I've written them this way for a reason.

Remember to read & review, please!

Caroline was almost through the second dress of the day when she heard the bell above her front door ring. She went out into the front room and a huge smile came across her face.

"Care Bear!" April almost shouted. "Damn, girl, it's been forever."

Caroline hopped across the counter and hugged her friend. She looked April over. She smiled, "I can't believe that you still are calling me that. But anyway, it's good to see you without the black and blue, April. I'm ecstatic that you finally left Dylan and his abusive ways."

April nodded, "Yeah. I couldn't take it anymore – you know, a lot like when you left dickhead." Caroline didn't have to guess; she knew exactly who April was talking about. She never used his first name, except around polite company.

Caroline sighed, "Have you been to my house yet?"

April shook her head, "No. My bags are in the car."

Caroline nodded, "Why don't you come in the back with me? You can see what I'm working on and we can catch up."

Twenty minutes later, April was sitting on a stool at a table, adding lace to a dress, as Caroline told her everything that was happening. April laughed, "Seriously? Damon? As in Damon I'm-God's-fucking-gift-to-women Salvatore?"

Caroline shrugged, "He's good to me, April. He treats me with respect, and he makes me okay with myself. It's like…it's like, when I'm with him, nothing else matters. My insecurities melt away, like they never existed at all. I forget all about my past, and I find myself wanting to spend more time with him. He's amazing."

"Sounds like someone's in love," April joked, and Caroline smiled. She wasn't going to tell April about her thoughts that morning – in fact; she wasn't going to tell anybody. Esther would figure it out sooner or later, but until then, it was like her own little secret.

"I don't know about that," Caroline said, finishing up the dress she was working on. She sighed, checking the time on the clock behind her, "Do you want to grab a bite to eat? It's almost two and I haven't eaten yet today."

"Is it because your cooking skills haven't improved since college?" April teased.

"Oh, bite me, Young," Caroline said.

"So, what places around here are good?"

"Well, there's Hunan, down the road, and they have excellent Chinese food. Then there's Maria's, and she's got amazing Italian food. And we could always go –"

"Do you have any place that's got good American food? You know, like a cheeseburger and fries?"

Caroline nodded, "Sure. Rudy's. It's not too far from here."

As they got into Caroline's car, April looked at her, "Didn't you tell me that your brother works with you? Where is he?"

Caroline shrugged, "I don't know. He texted me and said that he wanted to help Finn – my oldest brother – with something. He wouldn't say what was going on."

"And where's Damon?"

"At home. He was sleeping when I left, but that's because he's on what he calls bartender's hours. Sleep until at least one in the afternoon, don't go to bed until after three AM."

"So am I going to get to meet your family while I'm here?"

"Definitely," Caroline said as she parked in the restaurant driveway. They went in and got a table. "In fact, Mother's having a going away party for my brother Elijah and his wife, Rose, on Saturday. She said you could come if you wanted. Just watch out for Rebekah."

"Your sister?"

The waiter came for their orders and as he walked away, Caroline said, "Don't ever say that to her face. She'd probably try to claw your eyes out or something vicious like that."

"Why?"

"Because I'm not her sister. Mother was never able to adopt me, and I'm technically an orphan. Blood is everything, you know."

"She told you that?"

"She hasn't stopped telling me that since I was fourteen years old."

April rolled her eyes and took a sip of her water, "That's stupid. What the hell is her problem, anyway? Do you really need a piece of paper to tell you that you belong with them – something that they clearly already know? It's just a fucking piece of paper."

This was something that Caroline loved about April. You always knew where you stood with her. April had no filter; she always said what she was thinking, regardless of whether it was hurtful or not. She spoke without thinking a lot of the time, but apologized later for things she didn't exactly mean. But, in a way, she was just like Caroline. She didn't bullshit around and what you saw is what you got.

"You acted funny when I mentioned dickhead, so I'm guessing something happened," April said after a moment of silence.

"He was here last week," Caroline answered. "I ran into him at Maria's, which is a restaurant I go to often. He threatened me."

April rolled her eyes as the waiter brought their food, "I hope Damon did something to him."

Caroline went into an explanation of what happened that day. She told April everything; running into Tyler, Damon threatening Tyler, even her fight with Damon afterwards. By the time she finished her story, April was sitting there with wide eyes.

"Oh my God, Care, I can't believe it. I knew he was a douche, but still…ugh," April said. "I hope you're taking good care of yourself."

Caroline nodded, "Yeah. I mean, I've got a state of the art security system, a dog – April, you're going to love her," Caroline said, remembering April's love for dogs. "Besides, Nik is a Marine."

"Really?"

Caroline nodded, "And, trust me, you don't want to piss him off. He's got a bit of a temper."

The girls enjoyed their lunch and then went back to the dress shop. As they worked, Caroline suddenly looked at April, "I'm really glad you got the courage to leave, April. It's not much of a life living with someone who beats you, and I know that from experience."

"The thing is, though, Care…" April paused for a moment. "I never saw any bruises on you."

Caroline shrugged, "Tyler knew how to hurt me without leaving marks. Besides that, I didn't want anybody to see how hurt I was – how broken I was. I wanted to pretend that stuff wasn't going on. I took all I could before leaving him."

"That's the difference between the two of us, then," April said. "Everybody knew what was going on between me and Dylan. I know my dad was almost ecstatic when I told him that I left."

"You didn't try to cover up what he did to you?"

"I did," April said, setting her needle down, "but makeup only goes so far. To a trained eye, you can see right through the makeup. You've always had a good eye for detail, so you always caught it."

Caroline paused for a moment and then said, "You know, what Dylan did to you…you've got to let that go. Sometimes bad things just happen to good people, and there's nothing that can be done about it."

-x-

The next day was Elijah's party at Esther's house, and Caroline was mostly dreading going. She would miss Elijah and Rose when they went back to DC, but it wasn't like it was that far. But Elijah happened to be one of Caroline's favorite people in the entire world and she would definitely miss him. However, she was not looking forward to seeing Rebekah.

"It's going to be fine, Caroline," Klaus said to her that morning as she paced in the living room. "Rebekah's been pretty low key lately. I almost wonder if something's wrong with her."

Caroline just rolled her eyes.

When they got to Esther's that afternoon, Caroline went into the kitchen, and that's where she saw Rebekah. She walked up to her –something was wrong, and she grabbed her face and turned it, looking at it.

"Hey, can you at least respect my personal space, Forbes?" Rebekah bit out, but Caroline wasn't paying attention to that.

"Where'd you get that bruise?" Caroline asked. Rebekah froze and her eyes widened.

"You can see it? Damn it," Rebekah grumbled, getting her compact out. She gives herself a once over, "How can you see it? Even I can't."

"I know what to look for," Caroline answered calmly. "Was it your new boyfriend? Pierre something-or-other?"

Rebekah shook her head, "It's nothing. I just made him mad. He's a little possessive."

"That doesn't make it alright."

"Just, please don't tell anyone. Okay? Not Mother, and definitely not Nik or Elijah. They'd never understand."

"I don't think I understand, Rebekah," Caroline said honestly.

"I love him," Rebekah said simply.

"Rebekah, he's going to hurt you. And I'm not talking about bruises. You're going to get your heart trampled, and, more importantly, you could be killed. He could lose control and kill you. Is that something you want?"

She shook her head, "I love him. He loves me."

Caroline sighed; this was definitely a losing battle. Finally, she said, "Look, Rebekah, nothing's changed between the two of us, okay? Just…if you ever need anything, no matter what time it is, don't hesitate to call me, okay? And your makeup's smeared. Let me help." Caroline helped her cover up the remaining of the bruise. She was just finishing up when Esther came in. Caroline handed the foundation pad back to Rebekah.

"Is everything okay in here?" Esther asked them.

"My makeup was uneven," Rebekah said, putting the compact back in her purse. "Caroline was just helping me."

Esther cocked an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. Finally, she said, "Let's get dinner on the table, okay? Elijah and Rose want to start back for DC at a reasonable hour."

During dinner, Caroline noticed the looks she was getting from Esther and Elijah. Caroline figured that Elijah already knew that Rebekah was being hurt – after all, he was good at his job and he'd taken down more abusers than anything. But he said nothing, and Caroline was relieved. The only thing was, she wasn't sure if she'd be able to keep Rebekah's secret. But she promised, and she'd try to honor that, and wasn't planning on telling anyone – not even Damon.