4

Searching for Persephone

In the absolute whirlwind excitement of finding Bonnie back home, everyone's concern over the sudden disappearance of Caroline had stalled. But only briefly.

When Elena had woken up from her best friend snapping her neck, she never thought anything could distract her. Caroline was going to turn off her humanity. Not only was this a terrifying prospect for the whole of the world — Caroline was both scary smart and dedicated and in extreme control of her vampirism; not a combination to take for granted — but once Elena had turned and faced her other best friend, whom she thought was long gone, her priorities shifted.

Bonnie had taken some time to make her calls letting people know she was back and then they had met up with Stefan, who was still clearly preoccupied with Caroline.

"I should have told her when I had the chance," he berated himself. "God knows where she is now."

"I know I just got back but we have to get her," Bonnie insisted. "What good is coming back if my old life isn't still in tact? With Care gone… it just doesn't feel right."

"I know, I feel the same," Elena said with a sigh. "The problem is we have no leads. Her Mom's old place is cleared out, so is her apartment. There's no trace of her."

"There is one trace," Stefan said. "They found a body. Some kid around your guys' age, drained of blood. His name was Liam."

Elena and Bonnie exchanged worried glances.

"Let's go," Bonnie said first, and the three of them were off to where Liam had been found.

When Caroline woke up the next morning, Klaus was not home. She vaguely remembered him mention the baby, that thing everyone here was so nuts over. She rolled her eyes and padded down to the patio in her pajamas to get something to eat.

Elijah was waiting at the table eating a slice of quiche and reading the paper.

"Good morning, Caroline," he said pleasantly when he noticed her. "I see you've done us the great honor of actually staying the night!"

She ignored him and poured herself a cup of coffee.

"Klaus should be back shortly," he continued, trying to engage her.

"Don't care," she replied before adding a splash of milk to her coffee.

Elijah sighed. The girl was amazingly petulant without her humanity.

"When are you leaving?" she asked him, quite rudely.

He looked up from his paper, completely unflappable.

"Not any time soon, I'm afraid, dear," he said. "And I'm not leaving the compound until this evening. I have a… friend joining me here later."

Caroline pretended to lack interest before she picked up a doughnut and made her way upstairs to finish her breakfast. A friend? That sounded promising. She couldn't wait to see who it might be. She finished her doughnut and got dressed.

"And where on Earth are you headed?" Elijah called to Caroline as he passed her in the main hall. She was skipping down the stairs while pulling her hair up into a ponytail. She was wearing a bikini top over shorts, carrying a towel and wearing sunglasses.

"I'm not a prisoner, I can come and go as I please!" she replied in a huff, immediately on the defensive.

"I really think you should wait until Klaus returns," Elijah said putting up a hand when she tried to push past him, making her roll her eyes.

"I'm not running away," she sighed. "I'm going to the park to sunbathe. I didn't come to New Orleans to sit around the house all day. If Klaus needs me when he gets back, he can come to the park!"

With that she pushed past Elijah and out the door. Elijah sighed and picked up his phone to call Klaus but she turned around, walking backwards as she called out to him.

"Trust exercise, Elijah!" She turned again and continued down the street.

He was torn but he decided it really didn't make sense to keep the girl locked up. Instead of calling Klaus he called Marcel and made sure there were eyes on her at the park. Then, he settled in to wait for Klaus.

Klaus had only been over to Hayley's temporary home to visit with his daughter for an hour or so. He felt compelled to set eyes on her each day, to confirm she was there and safe. Hayley was giving him the cold shoulder and Jackson, if possible, was at his most irritating. He was acting like he was some sort of stand-up man and Klaus was nothing. The implication poisoned the air in the room — he thought himself a better father.

As happy as he was to see Hope, the wolves were toxic personalities and Klaus found himself rushing out of his visit to clear his head. They needed to return home; stress was running high with the family in discord. Caroline had to turn her humanity back on and he had no idea how to make that happen. He would hate it if he had to call her old friends up north. He would only consider it as a last resort option.

He opened the door to his home and was greeted by Elijah standing from the living room the moment he set foot in the house.

"Klaus, I need you to stay calm and let me finish-"

Immediately he knew. "Where is she?"

"She hasn't run away," Elijah explained slowly, poised to defend himself if Klaus lashed out. "She's just gone to the park and I have Marcel's people tailing her. She wanted to get out of the house and…"

"And?" Klaus demanded.

"And she's says that you can come to her, if you need her," he finished lamely. This was not the kind of news anyone wanted to deliver to the Original Hybrid, even if he was your brother.

Klaus allowed himself a slew of curses. "And you just made the decision to let her without consulting me?"

"Klaus, we are not her keepers, despite whatever you keep insisting. I hate to be the one to have to say it to you first but you need to get a grip, man!" Elijah insisted.

He sighed deeply and paced into the living room. Elijah followed.

"If she has even left the park, Marcel's people would have informed us immediately," he added.

"I understand, Elijah," Klaus said, not looking him in the eye.

Elijah figured this was as close as he would ever get to Klaus admitting that he was right so he simply nodded.

"I'm going now. I don't know when we'll be back," he said and Elijah watched him use his vampire speed to race out of the home.

He honestly couldn't believe his luck. So Klaus could be reasonable.

A tall shadow obscured Caroline's access to the sunlight. She sat up on her towel and looked up into Klaus's face.

"Who's your new friend?" he asked gesturing to the listless woman next to her. She was still alive, just woozy.

"Oh you mean my juice box?" Caroline asked. She held up the woman's wrist which had two clean and clearly recent puncture wounds. "She's pretty out of it. I'm gonna have to send her on her way and get a new one soon. Hey, do you think if I pick up a drunk frat boy, it'll be like drinking blood and booze at the same time?"

Klaus bent over to grip the chin of the compelled woman's face. He snapped in her eyes to get her to open them.

"You will catch a cab home and go to bed," he compelled. "You don't even remember coming to the park today or anything that happened."

The woman got up, stumbling. She didn't look any different from the other drinkers on the streets and she swayed off to find a cab. Klaus took the vacated spot next to Caroline and sat down.

"I thought we talked about the shorts," he said. "You look like a tourist."

"Klaus!" she scolded with a laugh. "I don't listen to the things you say! Plus, I was sunbathing."

He sat with her for a few minutes, staring out onto the river. Her eyes were closed beneath her sunglasses, soaking everything up. He could almost convince himself that it was the most natural moment in the world.

"Do you like it here?" he asked her. She didn't move a muscle but to respond, still gazing out over the water.

"I think it's the most wonderful city I've ever been to," she said. He smiled.

"I'm glad," he said.

Finally she turned to him, even pushed her sunglasses to rest atop her head so she could look him full in the eye.

"I do wonder… if I'd like it this much if I hadn't turned it off," she admitted. She didn't sound sad about it, just curious.

He swallowed thickly. "I think you would love it even more," he said. "This city was made for you." Don't you know you could be its Queen?

She shrugged and pulled her sunglasses back down before standing.

"Come on," she said. "We have to get back. We don't want to miss Elijah's friend!"

"Elijah's friend?" Klaus questioned, following her. This did sound interesting.

"She's done a damn good job of staying hidden," Damon Salvatore said as their group collected outside Scull Bar. Elena had called him on their way over. "Gotta hand it to blondie, she knows what she's doing."

"That's what scares me," Elena said, allowing him to drape an arm around her shoulders.

Stefan approached from behind Bonnie.

"Anything?" he asked.

"She must have compelled the bartender," Bonnie answered. "No one in there knew anything."

"I found surveillance footage of her," Stefan said. "It's just from outside a bank a few blocks down. She left with an envelope, I think filled with cash. That's all I've got."

"Leave it to you, Stefan, to screw things up with a woman so badly she goes totally psycho," Damon said giving Stefan a look of impatience. Bonnie had just gotten back; the last thing she should be doing was running around looking for Caroline, in Damon's opinion.

Stefan rolled his eyes and ignored the jab. "Look, I think it's safe to say she's left the state. Any ideas?"

Elena was chewing on her lip, thinking hard. "You don't think…no. Never mind."

"What? Elena, any idea is worth discussing at this point," Bonnie pressed.

Elena let out a sigh, "You don't think maybe she would have gone to… to Klaus, do you?"

"Oh no, we are not messing with Klaus!" Damon insisted.

"Look even if he doesn't know where she is, once he finds out she's missing, he'll find her. I think we can be pretty sure of that," Elena said.

"And sell out your friend to Stalker of the Year? Yeah, great plan. What do we do if he finds her first?" Damon asked.

"Caroline has her humanity off and she's already killed once, I'm desperate Damon!"

"Let's at least go to New Orleans," Stefan said. "We don't even have to talk to Klaus, we can just go and see if anyone in the city is talking about her. If she's there, they will be talking."

"Agreed," Bonnie confirmed.

Stefan looked to his brother. Damon sighed heavily but nodded.

"You all are gonna do it with or without me anyway," he conceded.

"Damn straight," Bonnie replied. "Let's go find Care."

When they returned to the house, they were greeted by the sound of hushed whispers. It sounded… intimate. One of the voices was definitely Elijah's and the other was definitely female, both coming from the kitchen.

They both crept cautiously and silently through the house until they rounded the corner to the kitchen. Heads ducked in towards one another, both smiling, was Elijah with a lovely young vampire decked out in skinny jeans.

"Brother, Caroline," Elijah greeted, obviously slightly startled. "I didn't expect you back so soon."

"Hi! I'm Caroline," she greeted cheerily.

"Gia," the woman responded. "I've been hearing a lot about you around the city." Gia chanced a short glance in Klaus's direction.

"Caroline is… she is-" Klaus tried to think of a suitable explanation.

"I'm his girlfriend," Caroline piped up, holding out her hand to shake expectantly. She caught Klaus's surprised face and turned to him. "Well, aren't I? You certainly spend enough time following me around. Personally, I would have preferred the term 'lover' but, well, given the current state of affairs…"

Caroline made a lewd grimace, hinting that the problem in their sex lives might have been inadequacy, and turned back to Gia.

"Why don't you come with me to pick out a bottle of wine, Gia?" she asked.

"Sure, okay," she said with an unsure smile and followed Caroline out of the kitchen.

Klaus, for his part, was still reeling over what Caroline had just said.

"Please, Klaus, pick your jaw back up. You know she's not being serious," Elijah said.

Klaus shook his head. "Right, of course. I know Elijah," he said. Still, to even hear her say that.

In the other room, Caroline had opened a small liquor cabinet in the living room and was scanning between the few bottles of wine they had out.

"So Gia," Caroline began, "Can I just say: you are gorgeous. I can see why Elijah likes you!"

"Oh, we're just friends," Gia responded with a laugh.

Caroline looked up at her from kneeling on the floor, holding a bottle of Moscato. "Right, Gia. I saw the way he looked at you." And the way he looks at Hayley too, for that matter, she thought to herself.

"We're really just friends," she repeated, but didn't sound at all sure. "He's helped me out a few times. Taught me to fight."

"Yeah, that totally sounds like something Elijah does for his 'friends,'" she said, making air quotes.

Gia followed Caroline back into the kitchen, clearly mulling over what the blonde had told her. This is gonna be too easy, Caroline thought looking at the girl.

Klaus had brought out wine glasses. Elijah took the bottle from her which he proceeded to uncork and pour out for everyone.

Klaus snuck his arm around her waist pulling her in close to him. He pressed his lips to her temple and breathed a whisper into her ear.

"Just remember, you started this game," he said. He was going to play out this boyfriend scenario for all it was worth.

"So Gia, you said Elijah taught you how to fight?" she asked.

"Just a little, yes, but it's helped me a lot," she replied.

"Gia is a quick learner," Elijah added.

"Has Klaus taught you how to fight?" she asked.

Caroline laughed, looking up at him and caressing his cheek with an adoring hand. If he wanted to play, she bet she could win. "No, I already know how to fight."

"Caroline is absolutely vicious," Klaus said in the most absurdly affable and adoring tone. Anyone would have thought that he'd just said Caroline is an absolutely selfless teacher who tutors the poor.

"Yeah, so don't get on my bad side," Caroline said darkly, her face growing still and serious as she stared the girl down. Just when Caroline could tell that Gia had the good sense to start to feel somewhat afraid, Caroline broke from her serious face and out into a smile and started laughing. "Just kidding!"

Klaus laughed right along with her and Gia let out a nervous chuckle as well. Only Elijah was not laughing, sipping at his wine and staring over at Caroline curiously. She was planning something and it appeared it was going to effect him. He hadn't even done anything to her, it was perplexing.

"Will you be staying for dinner?" Caroline asked her and right as Gia was about to respond her phone rang. She picked it up to check her message.

"Sorry, the boss calls. It's Marcel," she said, setting her wine glass down. "It was nice meeting you."

"You too, I'm sure I'll see you again soon," Caroline replied brightly.

"I'll walk you out," Elijah said and led Gia from the room.

As soon as they were out, Caroline bumped Klaus off of her with a sharp nudge from her hip and elbow.

"Alright, fun's over, buddy," she said.

Out on the porch of the compound, Elijah kissed Gia goodbye and then looked down at her.

"I apologize if Caroline did anything to make you uncomfortable," Elijah said, putting it delicately.

"Nonsense, she was a lovely girl. It's a little strange to see Klaus with someone like that, or dating at all for that matter but she was quite nice," Gia said before kissing him goodbye a second time and walking away from The Abattoir.

That's what worries me, Elijah thought to himself. Caroline hadn't been a lovely girl from the minute she'd foot in the city.

Somehow Caroline had roped Klaus into a game she'd dubbed "Booze Chess." It involved Klaus taking a shot each time one of his pieces was captured and Caroline taking a shot whenever she cared to which was, for once, a lot less than usual.

He'd thought his centuries advantage in experience with the game would make it an easy win but Caroline could hold her own in chess. She was also considerably less drunk. Eventually, he had won but not without losing the majority of his pieces, so he almost wondered if she had let him.

Then she was standing up, pulling on a light jacket.

"Going somewhere?" he asked.

"Finding dinner," she replied.

"I'll have someone come over," he insisted.

"Not as fun," she said. "I want to hunt. You can stay. You're drunk."

Klaus made a noise of protest but she laughed at him.

"I'll come back," she said. "I'm not bored here yet."

He did take some solace in that knowledge. It was almost a compliment. And he'd learned earlier today that allowing Caroline some measures of freedom did wonders improving her mood.

"It shouldn't take more than an hour I'd think," he posed cautiously.

"No, it shouldn't," she agreed and then was gone.

Klaus had briefly dozed off after she left. And some indiscernible amount of time later, he was awakened by a noise from his kitchen. He stood and went to investigate the source of the sound.

He found Caroline in the kitchen, covered in blood, an elderly local woman hanging in her arms. The woman was fading fast and as the last sparkle of light slipped from her eyes, Caroline dropped her like a sack on his floor.

"Caroline, we talked about the locals!" he chastised, walking over to the body and turning it over with a nudge of his foot. She was definitely dead.

"Oops," Caroline said, licking an errant trickle of blood off of her chin. "Guess I really can't tell the difference."

That was bull. The old woman oozed Creole, from her dress to how her hair was styled. Klaus huffed in annoyance, not knowing what to say. It was no use scolding her. She was determined do whatever she felt like and have him deal with the consequences.

And she didn't have any intention of stopping, apparently. Without prompting, she stepped over the body and pulled herself up to him, standing on her toes. She kissed him, the taste of blood still on her lips making his fangs descend in immediate reaction. Lifting her up, she swung her legs around him and he backed her into a counter where he sat her down. He let out a groan when she started kissing his neck.

"What are you doing?" he asked. He'd meant it rhetorically, something spouted off in his lust-filled haze, but she answered.

"I'm trying to get you to sleep with me, obviously," she replied, and started pulling at his belt buckle. "I've practically high from all this blood. Let's bang."

Her small hands were making quick work of his belt and the feel of her down there was intoxicating, so he caught them and pinned them to her sides.

"Turn your humanity back on," he demanded.

"Why?" she insisted, growing angry. "Why do you care so much? I came here because I thought you'd be the last person to give me a hard time about this."

"I care because I've had you, really had you, before," he said, growing vehement and practically shaking her. "I can't have less, not now."

"What if I don't want you anymore if I turn it on?" she asked, meanly. There. She'd finally done it, played her trump card. At least she'd gotten it out of the way early on, voicing his deepest fear. They'd both been thinking it. Well, Klaus had more been more specifically wondering about Stefan. At least that hadn't come up.

"You will," he said simply. "You did before and it's why you're here now."

Caroline turned her face stubbornly away from him, glaring. He tried to regain her favor by kissing her softly on her cheek and then trailing his lips down her jawline, softly sweeping a lock of her hair behind her shoulder.

"And there's no harm in trying to persuade you to turn it back on faster…" he continued, his breath hot on her neck.

"Klaus, I think you're underestimating my ability to just keep making out without having sex," she said. "I'm a woman. I can do this all day and then some."

Klaus stepped back a bit. She made a good point. He was liable to get riled up a lot more quickly than she, especially in this state, and despite the fact that he prided himself on containing an absurd amount of self-control.

"Just get off," she said, coldly. "If you're not gonna do me, there's no point."

He sighed and looked down at her. "You mean, if you're not going to turn your humanity back on."

If he'd seen it coming, he would have been ready for it. But Caroline's violent switch flipped on out of nowhere and she pushed him, using all of her supernatural strength. It sent him flying, sprawling into his own kitchen counters; the wood splintered beneath him and he groaned. Standing up, he could feel some of the wood splinters painfully wedged into his skin and he began to rip them out.

"Don't try to pin this on me!" she yelled, standing up from the counter. "With or without your humanity — no one ever knows for sure with you — you've done way worse things than I have ever done! You tried to kill me for God's sake! This demand to have me turn it back on is nothing but a… a goddam double standard!"

Now she was flouncing out of the room, heading towards the stairs. Quickly, he was up and hobbling after her while ripping out a final splinter. Damnit, her lawyer persona was back, apparently. She wasn't wrong about this either.

"Caroline, I think you're oversimplifying the situation a bit-"

"Really?!" she shrieked, turning on him on the stairs, he was standing just a few stairs below her. "Okay, what exactly am I oversimplifying?"

Klaus stuttered, not knowing how to respond when the truth was so dangerous. Because you're overlooking the fact that I love you, that I'd do anything for you, die for you. And I need you to feel the same.

"That's what I thought!" she replied when he didn't answer and started back up the stairs. "I'll be in my room while you think over what a hypocrite you are."

She slammed the door behind her and immediately turned on her music, blasting it high enough to hear through the whole house.

"Caroline!" he called through her door, knocking heavy handedly. "Caroline, let me in!"

Klaus sighed before ultimately walking away. Was he being hypocritical? Rebekah had always told him that he was about most things, perhaps she was right.

At least she had called it her room.

"She's here alright," Bonnie said after exiting the first bar they'd entered in the French Quarter.

All of them had expected the Salvatore brothers, maybe even Elena to be spotted, but they'd also planned to hightail it out of the city once they'd asked a few questions and determined if Caroline had been there or not, hoping they would miss Klaus entirely.

What they hadn't been expecting was to enter the city and hear everyone buzzing about Caroline the moment they were spotted. No one was whispering "Is that Elena Gilbert?" but everyone seemed to be whispering "Are those Caroline Forbes' friends?" or "Does Caroline know they're here?," "Did she invite them?"

"What's our next move?" Elena asked.

"Someone's probably already told Klaus," Stefan said. "I think we should find somewhere to stay outside the city. We can come back in a few days when we have a better plan."

"A few days?" Elena argued. "Care is here, we need to get her now."

"Yeah, well the longer we hang around the more likely Klaus is to get to us first," Damon said. "And then we might never get to Caroline. He'll keep us from her if he knows we're trying to turn her humanity back on. Without it, it's the only reason she's down here at all."

"That's true," Bonnie said. "We need space. I can maybe try to perform a spell, something to keep us cloaked while we're here."

"Alright," Elena said, sizing up a vampire watching them from the corner of the street, "Let's get out of here."

Another vamp was approaching them from being Stefan. "Like now," he pressed.

Suddenly, from all sides, shuffling out from the many establishments on the sides of the street, vampires were approaching — dozens of them in a ring around the group. The four of them collected in a group, back to back, facing the imposing circle of smirking NOLA vampires.

"Okaaaay, any ideas?" Damon asked.

Bonnie's brows creased as she prepared to send a shockwave of pain out to the imposing group; she didn't even know if she had enough power right now to hit all of them with the spell.

"Hold it young lady," a smooth an easy voice piped up from the crowd. A tall man with a neatly trimmed beard and mustache and almost shaved head was making his way towards the group from the front of the ring. "I wouldn't try that right now. We have a rule here, no magic inside the Quarter. Not without my permission."

"And who the hell are you?" Bonnie demanded.

"Marcel Gerard," Stefan answered for him. "He's Klaus's right hand man."

A few hours later, Klaus looked up from a book in his study when Elijah approached him. He had been reading greek mythology, legends of Hades, to try to distract himself while Caroline cooled off in her room.

Elijah was suited up, as usual, but somewhat fancier than normal.

"Going out, Elijah?" Klaus questioned.

"I've just received a phone call from Marcel," he replied. "He's hosting an event tonight."

"See if Caroline would like to go," he responded warily. "I'll join you if she does but she isn't speaking to me right now.

"I'm sure that won't last long, she's quite changeable right now," Elijah said. "In any case, it wasn't just an invitation. He says he's got a surprise for us."

"A surprise?" Klaus intoned. "I hate surprises."

"Unless they involve bewitching blonde vampires appearing in your city?" Elijah said, cracking a rare smile.

"We must always make exceptions," Klaus conceded. "And as dubious as I am over whatever Marcel has to show us, I suppose we must make an appearance."

"I'll ask Caroline to get dressed," Elijah said, turning to head upstairs. But Caroline appeared around the corner.

"But I already am," she said, gesturing to the gold sequined cocktail dress she'd put on. "Please, you can't say the words event or party in this house without me hearing."

Klaus chuckled. "Then it's me who is late. Give me one moment," he said and stood to find an appropriate suit.

Marcel had them on lock-down. They were each being kept in cell's beneath an elaborate French Quarter villa he'd taken them to and there were a dozen vampires stationed around their prison. They couldn't even plan without someone hearing.

"What do you think is going to happen?" Bonnie asked, peering through the bars of her cell to look at Elena in the adjacent cell.

"Marcel will get Klaus, I would assume," she replied. "We'll never get to her."

"Don't turn into the hopeless type on us now Elena, we need your implacable sense of optimism," Damon chimed in hollowly from his own room.

Stefan looked the most upset of all of them, remaining in steadfast silence. Elena knew he felt guilty and, worse, might even be in love with the girl they'd lost forever.

Above them, there was a mess of comotion. It had been going on for hours, furniture being moved, things lugged in and out of the house.

"What the hell are they doing up there?" Damon wondered aloud, looking up at the ceiling. Another loud thump shook some plaster and dust upon him and he coughed and whipped at his eyes exaggeratedly.

Suddenly, the distinct thudding vibrations of music with a heavy bassline poured through the ceiling above them.

"He's having a party?" Elena questioned.

"Do you think we're gonna get to go?" Damon asked in faux-excitement, clasping his hands together.

"Hey!" Bonnie called out to the three guards in front of her cell. "What's going on up there?"

They looked at her but ignored her with bored expressions.

"I guess we're just going to have to wait and see," Elena said with a sigh, standing to pace and stretch her legs.

Marcel was hosting his party at one of his many properties in the French Quarter. Caroline was clearly pleased to be greeted by a 1920s swing band when they stepped onto the property, but Klaus was on edge. He wanted to find Marcel and put this whole "surprise" business to rest.

Across the room, Caroline was waving at someone brightly, as if she'd seen a friend. Klaus looked over top of her to see Gia grinning back. He put his arm around Caroline's waist and pulled her to his side, leaving a sloppy kiss on her cheek, just to the side of her mouth. She looked up at him quizzically.

"Gia," he explained. "She thinks you're my girlfriend, remember?"

Across the room, next to Gia someone scoffed at the sight of Klaus and Caroline. Gia looked behind her, it was Hayley.

"What? I think they're cute," she said. "You don't still have feelings for him, do you?"

"Klaus?!" Hayley laughed in disbelief. "Not likely."

"Then what's your problem?" Gia asked. She liked Caroline.

"Look, I have never known Caroline Forbes to be even remotely interested in Klaus," Hayley said. "And that includes now."

Gia shook her head. "I think you must be mistaken," she said. "She's definitely his girlfriend."

Hayley scoffed and turned away, preparing to walk off. "God whatever insane game she's playing now… I honestly don't want to know."

Gia frowned at the girl's retreating back before turning back to the party, sipping at her cocktail. She caught Elijah's eyes from across the room and smiled at him. He returned the expression.

Caroline had separated from Klaus to make her way to the dance floor where she was unleashing a perfect Charleston, all by herself. He remembered she'd organized many events in her time at Mystic Falls, he'd even danced with her at the 20s Decade Dance she'd organized. Caroline never did anything halfway. If she had to learn to expertly execute the moves of dances from another decade she would, anything to set the perfect mood for a party.

He'd join her later; now he needed to find Marcel.

Thanks you all so much for the hugely positive response! I look forward to revisiting this story so much, which is why I've been updating daily. All your comments about what's working for you and what isn't in this fic have been so helpful for me in keeping a balance between fluff, violence, scheming, and — of course — Hayley and the baby. I do still want to keep things as realistic as possible in that department; no drama for drama's sake. Can't wait to hear if you liked the update. :) :)

Minor SPOILER alert for anyone not currently caught up with TVD - The Damon's mom plot is temporarily AU and out of my fic. I might decide to bring it back later but, for now and probably forever, it would just be an unnecessary distraction for the main plot line I have planned.