Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity
- Henry Van Dyke
Caroline fell back on her bed with no idea what to do of herself as she thought about what had just happened. The kiss between her and Klaus had been more than just a distraction to get them thinking of something else and she felt more confused than ever.
All the feelings that had stirred inside her since their trip to Spain had, within the last hours, multiplied and no matter how hard she tried to forget them, she wasn't able to get rid of them. She let her fingertips brush over her lips for a moment and before she could stop herself, a smile had spread across her face.
Stop it, Caroline! Stop acting like a fool! He is Klaus, for God's sake. Nothing good can ever come out of this. Although, he has changed. And that kiss… No! I can't do this to Tyler! I'm not that kind of person to do something like that to my friend. I would hate myself for it. And probably Klaus too if we ever… No! Jeez, Caroline, what a friend you are!
Oh my God! Tyler!
Caroline interrupted her chain of thought as she suddenly remembered that her ex-boyfriend was missing and quickly pulled out her phone. She dialled Tyler's number that she knew by heart and felt how her heart beats fastened as she waited for him to answer.
"Caroline." Silas said in the other end and Caroline abruptly stood up from the bed.
"Silas, what have you done to him?"
"Oh, so you do care? I was afraid that you would never call and that would be awkward wouldn't it? But I suppose you were caught up with your other boyfriend. How busy a life you lead, dear."
"Where is he?! Let me talk to him now!" Caroline yelled back, ignoring what he had said.
"Don't be so mad, Caroline. Actually I did you favour."
"You what?" Caroline asked cautiously.
"I made you choose. And you chose the Original hybrid without hesitation. Of course, I'm not going to tell Tyler that. That will just break his heart and I'm not that cruel. Or perhaps I am…"
"What do you want?" Caroline asked with a low voice in an attempt to keep calm.
"You." Silas said casually.
"Me?"
"No need to feel excited, Caroline. I don't fancy you, although the kiss was nice. I am after your boyfriend and the in-laws. And you will bring them right to me because they will come for you."
"What do you want with them?"
"Oh, I just want a little chat. They are so difficult to get a hold of but you already knew that."
"And if I don't come?"
"Don't disappoint me now, Caroline. We both know what will happen if you don't come."
Through the phone Caroline heard a loud crack as if something broke and Tyler screamed in pain.
"Okay, okay! I'll come! Don't hurt him."
"Clever girl. And Caroline? Don't think that I don't know that you are planning something. So don't be obvious. Come alone to where you killed the twelve witches at noon tomorrow. Midnight and dawn is too cliché if you ask me."
"I'll be there."
"It's a date!" Silas exclaimed and before Caroline could answer, he had hung up.
Rebekah fell back on the chaise longue as she pulled out her phone. She rolled her eyes as she saw the name of the caller on her screen and leaned back as she pulled her bare feet up under her.
"Caroline." Rebekah greeted the other blonde.
"Rebekah. I need to talk to you." Caroline said with a frantic voice. Where was the fire?
"Look, Caroline. I'm not sure what's going on between you and Nik and even though I don't loathe you anymore, it doesn't mean that I'm going to be your new BFF. You have to take your boy trouble somewhere else."
"No no no! It isn't- Wait, you like me now?" Caroline asked, suddenly with a teasing voice.
"I never said that." Rebekah quickly answered defensively.
"Of course not. But I didn't call you to talk about him… I need your help. Do you know what time Elijah and Lucy will arrive tomorrow?"
"At nine, I think. What is wrong, Caroline?"
"That should be enough time then, I hope… Silas has Tyler and to save him, I have to meet him at noon tomorrow at the witch hotspot. Silas knows that we are up to something and warned me not to do anything but I think that is our best chance to take him out. So we need to come up with a battle plan and hope that we'll be ready in time. Can you talk to you brother and then we'll meet at your place?"
"And why should we care about Tyler?" Rebekah asked with a dull voice.
"Because Silas is not after Tyler or me, but you. I think… I think that this was Silas' plan all along. He planted those ideas of Klaus in my head, making me break up with Tyler and freeing me to go to New Orleans and fetch you guys. I think he counted on Klaus wanting to help so that you would all come to Mystic Falls together. I'm not sure what he wants with you but I'm sure it's nothing good." Caroline said with a hesitant voice.
"So what you are saying that this is all a trap? For me and my family?" Rebekah asked with a restrained voice. She was getting angry at the thought of being tricked into this situation and had to force herself to not yell of Caroline.
"I'm not sure."
"Why aren't you telling Nik this?"
"I… I can't talk to him right now. Look, I know that you don't care, but can you please talk to him for me?"
"I do care, Caroline. I care about my brother. Which is also why I will kill you if you hurt him in any way. But right now I don't want to spend a century in a box for laying a finger on you, which I why I'm trying not to hate you and help you instead. I will talk to Nik but don't expect me to play marriage counsellor."
"Marriage…? No, I understand. Thank you." Caroline said with a sincere voice that made Rebekah involuntary smile a little. She was rarely thanked for anything and especially not by other girls. But if Nik was insisting on loving this girl and even Elijah was beginning to tolerate her, Rebekah might as well try to do the same.
"I see you in an hour, Forbes."
"That you will, Mikaelson."
Rebekah was about to threaten Caroline to never call her that again but the other blonde had already hung up.
Rebekah knew that her brother was standing in the doorframe, leaning against it while listening to her conversation but she pretended to ignore him. She wasn't sure how much he had heard though and whether he had been listening to her voice alone.
"Anything you want to tell me, sweetheart?" Nik said with an impatient voice before he moved to sit in the sofa in front of her. She kept her eyes on her phone as she pressed down an icon of an app to play solitaire.
"It can wait. We still have, let's say, fifty minutes till the thickheads arrive. Let's enjoy the silence, shall we?"
"Rebekah." Her brother warned and she put her phone away with a sigh.
"Silas has Tyler and to get him back, Caroline has to go to him tomorrow at noon. Apparently though, Silas is not after Caroline but after us and this whole thing has been Silas' plan all along. Or that's what Caroline thinks. I have no idea how she suddenly became this clever. But she feels that tomorrow is the best time to take down Silas even though he apparently knows that we are up to something. So the others are coming here in an hour and then we plan our attack." Rebekah told him in an indifferent tone of voice.
"Where is she now? Is she at her house?" Klaus said and stood up with an almost wild look in his eyes. Before she could answer, he quickly moved out of the room and towards the front door. Rebekah flashed in front of him, stopping him in the big entrance hall.
"Nik, you can't go to her. She needs to be alone and she needs time to think." she told him and placed her hand on her brother's chest. She had sworn to herself not to get involved in their drama, but at the same time she wanted this for Nik. No matter all the terrible things he had done to her during the last millennium, she wanted him to be happy for once.
"I can do whatever the bloody hell I want to, little sister." Nik hissed at her and stepped around her. They were at the front door at the same time, but Rebekah managed to push herself in front of it.
"Listen to me, you thick-headed bastard!" Rebekah yelled. She only realised what she had said when she saw the weird expression that crossed her brother's face for a short moment before his evident anger overtook his features. Nik being her half-brother and their mother's affair wasn't something they ever talked about. Even though both Esther and Mikael were dead, Nik was still hurt by the betrayal.
She looked him into the eyes for a long moment, wondering if he was going to remove her with force, but he just stared back and Rebekah exhaled slowly. She didn't apologize before continuing. They never did.
"I am trying to help you, Nik. Even though I promised myself that I wouldn't get in the middle of this, I really am trying to help. Caroline needs time. And I know that you have giving her more time than your patience can handle but if you go after her now, she will run. She is Caroline. And she is so good and righteous that it makes me wanna vomit, but that's how she is. And you. You are… well, you. She has been afraid of you for so long and now that it's changing, she's become scared of herself instead. Because no matter how right it feels, it is still wrong for her. She might have changed since you first met her, but compared to us she is still sweet little Caroline. So I am telling you to leave her alone and give her the time she needs. After all, time is all we have."
Nik stared at her for a long moment and she held his gaze, not showing the irritation she felt when there for a short moment had been a glimpse of surprise across his face. Why did everyone continue to think that she was stupid? Or that she was still a child. She had lived for a thousand years, for heaven's sake!
After what seemed like several minutes – they had been standing there for mere seconds – Rebekah stepped away from the door and walked back to living room and the chaise longue. She rolled her eyes as she heard the front door opening and everything became silent as Rebekah was left alone in the mansion. She pulled out her phone once more, deciding on playing Candy Crush instead of solitaire
A/N: Guys, I'm so so so so so so so so sorry for letting you wait this long (again)! Everything has just been blah. I was a month in Mexico right after my last update (which of course wasn't blah) so I couldn't update and when I came home life kind of crashed on me. But I'm back! And hopefully I will stop being a horrible writer and start updating more.