"And though explosions make debris and catching it kind of suits you… well it doesn't suit me," - The Taming of the Hands That Came Back to Life, Sunset Rubdown

10

When the Earth Split in Two

Neither of them had ever been nappers. Caroline had always been too full of restless energy — planning events, going to cheer practice, making sure she maintained a 4.0 and, trying to balance time for friends between all of that. Klaus had barely liked to sleep at all over the centuries, much less nap. Sleep was one of those ridiculous human liabilities that he preferred to do without as much as possible. He was too busy maintaining the empire he'd created for himself, making up curses, hunting doppelgangers and, now, protecting Hope. And usually, when he did allow himself to fall into the embrace of sleep, that embrace quickly turned into a noose and he was usually plagued by nightmares of his parents.

When he woke up with Caroline in his arms a few hours later, he was honestly shocked. He couldn't remember the last time he'd slept in the middle of the afternoon, or even if it had ever happened. Even more surprising was that Caroline was already up but still contentedly resting in his arms. She did have a peculiar expression on her face, though: slightly put-out and clearly baffled. She seemed just as confused about the state they found themselves in now as he was. But she also seemed to be resenting it. Klaus was usually full of resentment but, in this moment, every ounce of it seemed to have vanished.

"How long have you been up?" he asked her.

She averted her eyes, "I just woke up." It was a lie, he could tell.

Suddenly, she pushed herself out of his arms, forcing the covers off of both of them as she swung her legs outs of the bed. She picked up her panties and jeans up from the floor, sliding the on while still studiously avoiding his eyes.

"I'm going down stairs," she called as she flounced out of the room.

Klaus sighed, falling back onto his pillows for a moment. As usual, she took what she needed from him and then promptly returned to not caring. Didn't she understand that he needed more? Of course she does, he reasoned to himself, she just doesn't give a shit.

Pulling on his own pants, he straightened his bed before following her down the stairs. He could hear that she had the television on in the living room. It sounded like she was listening to the local news.

"Tom, I'm reporting tonight from about one block away from the famed Hotel Monteleone here in the French Quarter," a journalist was reporting on the screen. Standing nearby watching was Caroline, with a look of extreme smug satisfaction on her face. Elijah was watching idly on the couch, his interest not entirely directed towards the screen. Gia had apparently left for the evening.

"Police have closed off the block here and investigators are questioning every guest in the hotel tonight, trying to get to the root of a brutal murder inside the hotel. What we know now is that authorities were called to the scene earlier this afternoon when guests in the hotel called 911, after hearing screams in the adjacent hotel room. At this time, police are not releasing any conclusive information but, a staff member in the hotel has leaked speculative information that they found guest Jim Milton in pool of his own blood in his bed with his penis torn off."

Caroline guffawed aloud at that, right at the same time that Elijah was finally looking towards the screen with interest, "Jim Milton?" he inquired, "My god, he's a major cocaine supplier down here! He's worked with Marcel in the past."

"Huh," Caroline replied thoughtfully. "Well that's not what he told me. Damn! If I'd known I would've tried to steal some White Wedding off of him first!"

"You're responsible for this?" Elijah practically shouted, "Caroline! This could cause us major trouble!"

Klaus, on his end, could have cared less about any potential trouble with a bunch of human drug lords. He simply couldn't move past the fact that Caroline had had another man in her mouth, even if she did ultimately rip off the goods. And right before they had… The thought disgusted him twice as much as it had when he'd first smelled the man on her. Klaus was used to hurt; he'd lived several lifetimes in nothing but pain. But something about dealing with Caroline while she didn't give a fig about anyone but herself seemed to be like ripping a bandage off of a fresh wound again and again each day.

"Oh please," Caroline responded, annoyed at being chastised as always. "He was just a human!"

"Yes but he works with some nasty vampires out of South America," Elijah pressed. "That's how he became so successful, they helped cover his tracks using compulsion."

"Christ, what the hell were they getting out of the deal?" she wondered, completely nonplussed in response to Elijah's reaction, as usual.

"Exclusive and easy access to almost every human drug trafficking ring on the East Coast and the southern half of the United States, for starters," Elijah explained.

"Ugh, whatever Elijah, don't you know anything about drugs? Kingpins are a dime a dozen, those vamps will be able to replace him easily. And just think about all the drama that comes along with working in a drug cartel. They were probably just waiting for a chance to replace him anyway," she reasoned. "There's nothing a vampire hates more than a human that's gotten too big for his britches and, trust me, that guy's big head was in serious need of a reality check. I probably did them a favor."

"But that's really not the point Caroline. Either way, this is going to be yet another huge mess for us to clean up on your behalf," he replied, still quite agitated, despite the sound logic of her reasoning which was very likely correct.

"Already took care of it. I compelled the only staff that saw me in the hotel," she said. "Plus if any guests overheard us in the bar, they think my name is Sabrina Brinkman."

"They could still recognize your face, Caroline!" he shot back.

"So I'll find and compell them and the cops too, if I have to," she replied in a huff. "They could freaking send me to prison, Elijah, and I'd still get out. Stop being such a drag!"

"What about security footage?" Klaus asked, finally inserting himself into the conversation. Any jealousy he was feeling he would have to deal with on his own. Caroline certainly wasn't going to assuage any hurt feelings. He would need to move on for the time being.

"Dude, that's a fancy schmancy hotel. They respect their patrons privacy too much to keep cameras in the halls. I know, I made sure of it. The only place they had cameras was in the lobby and I compelled the front desk to take care of that and forget me on my way out," she explained. "Christ, it's getting really annoying how much you all underestimate me."

Turning on her heel she exited the room, pulling out her cell phone.

"What are you doing now?" Elijah insisted, his voice laced with anxiety. "Who are you calling?"

"I'm calling Marcel to have him send over someone to eat, Dad, gosh!" she called from the opposite room before turning back to face Klaus, "You want anything? I'm craving 20-something midwestern tourist."

These days Caroline couldn't say anything to him without reminding him of how vastly she'd changed. The real Caroline would have been disgusted to hear anyone talking about humans like take-out food. As it was, he was so tense from her keeping him constantly on edge that a little fresh blood sounded like the perfect thing for the moment.

He nodded with a defeated sigh, "Just have him send a few people over."

"Word," she replied and began dialing on her cell.

Less than an hour later, three young compelled tourists had shown up at The Abattoir. Caroline was under strict instructions to keep them in good health if she ever wanted Marcel to deliver for her again. He'd tried to convince her to accept some of the humans that willingly worked for him but, she had insisted on innocent tourists. The more innocent the better, in fact. So, three young girls, each barely over 18, were sent over. Caroline was especially pleased to discover that one of the girls was from Minnesota when she asked. Marcel had even made good on her request for midwestern cuisine; she'd have to remember to keep him in her good books going forward.

The blood did put Klaus in a better mood, a fact that pleased Caroline considering she had already been in a fantastic mood from the day's earlier kill and the fabulous sex. Still riding that high, being around a moping Klaus wasn't exactly what she wanted to do. He seemed to be moping almost constantly these days and she suspected it was because of her, though that still didn't make even the slightest sense to her.

Here she was, showing up at his home and his city, completely ready to warm his bed whenever he might desire. Hadn't that been what he'd always professed to want the most? There had been that unsettling little instance the night before but — and perhaps this was just due to the fact that she didn't have empathy anymore — she hadn't really been sure what he'd meant. He'd said he had to have all of her. She knew he wanted her humanity back on but, in her opinion, he did have all of her. This was all of her now, after all. Whatever "all" he was referring to, from before, didn't exist anymore.

That night before, after Mardi Gras, what had really almost triggered emotion inside of her had been the sight of him on his knees in such genuine distress. She didn't know why it had such a profound effect on her and she wasn't going to waste any time trying to figure it out. The fact that it had had any effect scared her so much that she just decided to stop thinking about it period.

But, in reliving the scene at all, she remembered what it was that had brought them to that conversation — the fact that she'd snapped Freya's neck.

"So that looney-bin sister of yours?" Caroline began, shoving the midwestern girl away and directing her attention to Elijah, "I guess she must have come back to life or otherwise you'd be freaking the hell out about that too."

Even Elijah had decided to put aside his quarrels with Caroline for the evening to share a meal with her. Something about fresh blood always cleared his head when he had a lot of anxiety on his plate and Caroline was nothing if not a plentiful source of anxiety. He looked up from his own human who looked about spent from the blood loss; he gently directed her to the couch where she crashed.

"She did indeed," Elijah confirmed, "Though she was none too pleased with the sudden test of her honesty, particularly given the fact that you didn't know she was immortal."

"Eh," Caroline said with a dismissive wave. "If she's a sister to a bunch of Originals, I'd call immortality a pretty safe bet."

"And where is our dear, newly returned sister now?" Klaus asked, licking the blood from his lips as he too laid down his human to recover on the couch. "I'd have thought the second she woke she'd be knocking on my door again, begging for assistance."

"She's staying with Rebekah, they're trying to work on a cloaking spell to keep Freya permanently hidden from her aunt-"

"Should Rebekah be wasting her time on such a trivial project when she's currently not even inhabiting her own body? And when a sibling we actually know and care for is trapped behind death's door?" Klaus interrupted bitterly. He had a lot to worry about these days and the introduction of Freya into his life was nothing more than a nuisance.

"If this is all such a bother to you, Klaus, then why even inquire?" Elijah returned. "Rebekah has agreed to help her out of the goodness of her own heart, even if that means delaying her return to her body. And we all know you've daggered Kol enough times to be fine waiting a while longer for his return."

"I'm not sure Kol would consider himself 'fine' with waiting any longer than he has to," Klaus said simply but let the subject drop after that. Truthfully, he didn't want to press the subject any longer himself. He had two priorities right now: Caroline and the pack. Currently, he only knew how to deal with the latter.

The girls were coming round now. Elijah leaned over to look into their eyes and survey their response. They were still woozy but didn't look terribly out of sorts. He began to compel them, "Ladies, you all will return to wherever you are staying now. You will go straight to bed and sleep until late tomorrow morning. When you wake, eat something with a lot of protein. You won't remember any of this."

Soundlessly the girls rose in unison and made their way out the front door. Klaus followed to lock it behind them. When he returned to the living room, Caroline was stretched out lazily across the now vacated couch, lounging like she'd just feasted well.

Klaus decided to move onto more pressing topics with Elijah. "The wolves are pushing for independence," he said. "Hayley attempted to persuade me to accept Jackson as alpha."

Caroline snorted from the couch but didn't open her eyes, seemingly happy enough to just listen in on the conversation at this point.

"And what did you say to that attempt?" Elijah asked.

"I set her straight, of course. After everything I've done to protect those wolves, that any of them would see me as anything less than the alpha is patently absurd," he said.

"I expect you have a plan to do something about it?" Elijah asked.

"Yes, I do," Klaus said, thinking for a moment before he continued, "I think I'm going to take another trip out there tomorrow. Show them what it means to be a true alpha."

"Oh! Can I come?" Caroline asked, excitedly opening her eyes and sitting up to face him.

Klaus couldn't hold back his smirk. He had known Caroline would get a kick out of him scaring the wolves. There weren't many advantages to an emotionless Caroline but this was one of the few. She'd have his back when he needed to get dirty work done, even if it was just for her own personal amusement.

Elijah interrupted before he had a chance to respond to her, "Be careful, Klaus," he warned. "If you hurt Jackson, the whole pack may turn on you. And I know you want that pack there for Hope."

"I haven't decided on my precise plans for Jackson, yet," he replied. "But the pack will always be there for Hope as long as Hayley is around. So the only thing left to accomplish is to make sure that the pack protecting Hope is under my complete control."

"Yeah but can I come?" Caroline asked again. She was sitting on the arm of the couch now, feet propped up on the seat as she looked at him in anticipation. She looked as excited as a child about to visit Disneyland, an expression that escaped neither brother. But while it concerned Elijah, Klaus was elated to have her so invested in his plans.

"Let me rephrase then," Elijah interjected. "If anything should happen to both Jackson and Hayley, the pack will turn on you."

"I'll be good," Caroline lied, as convincingly as she could. "I just want to watch, I swear. Oh, and add quippy comments from the peanut gallery, of course."

"Of course," Klaus intoned, with an indulgent smile. "Yes, you can join me Caroline. Elijah, you are welcome to come as well if you're really so concerned and you're sure you can keep your tongue in check, even if you disagree with my methods."

"I'm not sure I could make that promise," Elijah said, standing. "And either way, Gia and I have both committed to helping Rebekah and Freya tomorrow. We're planning to get an early start so I will bid you both good evening."

"Adieu, brother," Klaus said.

"Peace out," Caroline tacked on.

Elijah cracked a smile before heading out of the room and up the stairs. Caroline was constantly making him upset these days but he could understand Klaus's dilemma. The spirited blonde always had a way of worming her way back into one's heart.

They sat in silence as they listened to Elijah's retreating steps. When he was finally gone, Caroline turned to Klaus.

"So," she began, slapping her hands onto her lap, ready to move on, "Wanna make out?"

"That's not all I want to do," he said with a teasing growl and stood from his chair to tackle her off of the couch's arm chair and back onto the couch cushions, kissing her as he did.

They'd only fooled around that night on the couch. He'd groped her breasts beneath her bra like a mischievous teenage boy. The behavior reminded him very much of the playful make-out session they'd shared on his porch after their date the night before Mardi Gras. Enjoying experiencing intimacy with her in every way possible, he was content not to take the night further. He'd slipped his fingers beneath the waistband of jeans to get her off with his skilled fingers, pleased to watch her come undone from the most benign of sexual acts with him. The scent of her hand lingered with him for the rest of the night after that but, that was likely in part because she had actually stayed the night with him.

After their fumbling but fun tryst on the couch, Caroline had remembered how much she enjoyed waking up with Klaus after they'd napped that afternoon. It had disturbed her at the time, seeming too intimate to feel appropriate in her current mindset. But, as with most things that began to bother her these days, she simply put it out of her mind. There wasn't anything wrong with wanting the firm body of an attractive man to warm your bed through the night, she ultimately decided. And she ignored his surprised face when she trailed after him into his room, instead of her own, after they'd climbed the stairs.

Shutting off the light next to his bed, his heart had soared in elation when he felt her curl into him and rest her head on his chest. He'd wrapped an arm around her, feeling her drift off to sleep quickly and easily. He had a much more difficult time letting sleep come, not wanting to move or even close his eyes lest she disappear in his arms.

It was another surprise when he woke the next morning and she was still sound asleep in his bed. Apparently when Caroline didn't have plans for mischief or parties of her own during the day, she was wont to sleep in. She'd shifted out of his arms during the night, sleeping on her side with a pillow fisted tightly between her arms like a child might snuggle a stuffed animal. He was tempted to pull her back into him, loving both the warmth of her slender form against him and the ability to breath in her heady scent as he pleased. But, he ultimately decided against it, wanting to watch her sleep in his bed for as long as possible.

Checking the time and seeing that it was past 10 am, he rose from the bed to head into his walk-in closet to get dressed. And, of course, by the time he was dressed and out she had disappeared from the bed. He could hear music blasting from her room and he walked down the hall to see what she was up to.

She was listening to In the Summertime by Mungo Jerry, her taste in music continuously surprising him as much as her humanity-less antics did. Her door was wide open and he could see she had her phone plugged into the speakers she'd bought for herself at some point before she'd made that maddening trip to Atlanta. She was dancing around the room in a matching bra and panties set as she searched for clothes. But, upon spinning around at one point in the song, she caught his eyes in the doorway.

Not embarrassed in the slightest, she continued dancing, beckoning for him to enter.

If her daddy's rich, take her out for a meal. If her daddy's poor, just do what you feel. The music continued as he entered her room, taking a seat on her bed while she sashayed across the room, picking through her clothes and indiscriminately throwing them around the room when she found something she didn't want.

Still not finding anything to her taste, she started hamming up her dance to the song, singing out each heavy 'Uh!' the singer let loose in the song and mimicking the motion of a washboard player. She knew very well what she was doing, knew that she was playing on his love for her by putting on this little performance. But being aware of her seduction techniques didn't make them any less powerful.

She waltzed up to him and took his hands. He indulged her in an easy two-step, spinning her around before leading her into a dip.

"Hurry up," he said, leaning down low over top of her as he held the dip, noticing when his breath on her neck gave her goosebumps. "I know you want to play with the wolves."

He lifted her from the dip and she sighed resignedly.

"That I do," she replied, finally settling on a shirt she saw across the room and leaving him to pick it up.

"I'll meet you downstairs in fifteen minutes, love," he said and left the room to let her finish getting ready.

Caroline was initially surprised when Klaus drove them out of the city as she had thought pretty much everyone around her live in the city limits. But, continuing on to a more remote area of the woods, it began to make sense. From everything she had learned about werewolves, or experienced firsthand, they were most at home in the woods.

They pulled up to a small cabin, in front of which several members of Hayley's pack were dueling each other. They weren't taking it easy, either. They were throwing each other into trees, testing their new strength and speed.

The moment they all noticed Klaus's car, though, the fighting stopped and they took a theatrical guarded stance around the cabin, starring them down hard. Klaus groaned in annoyance.

"This is exactly why we're here," he said, more to himself than her. Caroline didn't respond anyway, she was too busy maintaining eye contact with a glaring Hayley, refusing to look away first and keeping a creepy smile locked onto her face. She won the contest when Hayley nervously glanced towards Jackson, checking her husband's reaction to their presence.

"Hope isn't here right now, Klaus," Jackson growled as soon as they emerged from the car. "Rebekah has her for the day while the pack trains. You don't need to be here."

"Now, correct me if I'm wrong but, you all seem to be enjoying your new abilities here, not to mention the fact that you can now change at will. And I believe that your pack can thank me for those gifts," he began. "Which means, I have every right to be here whenever the mood strikes me!"

Caroline glanced around at the dirty wooded area with disgust and looked to Klaus, "Hate to break it to you man but, your baby is being raised by a bunch of fucking rednecks."

Klaus ignored the jab, "Caroline, run off and entertain yourself for a few minutes. I need to speak to my wolves."

Immediately annoyed at being shoved off like she was nothing more than arm candy, Caroline was about to give him a piece of her mind. But then the thought that she could certainly have much more fun with the wolves when Klaus wasn't around made her bite back her snappy reply. Sighing with fake irritation and shooting him a glare, she pretended to stalk off to take a walk.

She was almost sure she'd be followed but, the wolves were apparently much more concerned with Klaus. They don't see me as a real threat, she thought to herself, I wonder what I can do to change that…

"It's come to my attention that you all are having some trouble accepting my authority," Klaus said as Caroline retreated.

"I'm the alpha of this pack," Jackson growled. "And as much as you like to keep reminding all of us about or new strength, you sure don't seem to be grasping the situation. We're not just a pack of regular werewolves anymore or even Marcel's sham of an army of vampires. The Unification Ceremony changed us and we can take of ourselves. And we can thank Hayley for that, not you."

Needing no further prompting, Klaus sped forward, thrusting his hand into Jackson's chest and wrapping his hand around his heart.

"And you don't seem to realize that I could get rid of each and every one of you just by tearing out your heart," Klaus replied in a low tone, "Or perhaps I should rip you apart limb from limb? Which would be more fun?"

The wolves were encroaching, preparing to attack him as Jackson winced in pain.

"Everyone, stop!" Hayley called, putting a hand up and shouting to get their attention.

Klaus squeezed his hand in Jackson's chest, making the man wince, but ultimately let go and pulled out his hand, empty. The wolves backed down.

Far around the other side of the house, Caroline had just made an interesting discovery in the woods. In the ground, she had stepped on something quite hard. Brushing aside pine needles with her foot, she found a metal door that appeared to be the entrance to some kind of underground bunker. It was locked but she made quick work of that with her vampire strength.

Opening the metal doors, she found a stone staircase leading down into a dark bunker. She crept down the stairs and began searching for a light once she reached the bottom. Something brushed against the top of her head and she reached upwards, locating what felt like the string to switch on a light bulb. She grabbed the cord and pulled.

"Well hello, beautiful," Caroline said once the lights clicked on, illuminating the bunker fully. "Now, what do we have here?"

Hayley had managed to keep the peace… for about 30 seconds. After that, apparently one of the wolves looked at Klaus in a way he found inappropriate. He immediately hurled the man into a tree where they all heard his spine crack with a jarring snapping sound. Klaus was unperturbed, knowing he'd heal quickly enough. He honestly wished he had done more.

But if was going to kill one of them, he wanted to wait until Caroline had returned. He had only asked her to take a walk for the time he was speaking with the wolves, not needing any extra lip from her in the process. But they were clearly beyond the point of talking now, several more wolves were approaching him in response to his attack but they had the good sense to look nervous as hell.

"If I need to kill one of you to make my point, I will," he demanded. "It does appear that my message isn't really sinking in."

He was about to grab one of them when Caroline finally rounded the corner again.

"There you are, darling," he called out to her in greeting. "The real fun is just about to start."

You bet it is, she thought to herself.

Klaus was somewhat concerned that one of the wolves might bite her but, he reasoned, he could always just heal her with his blood. Caroline took a stand near Klaus, ready to do whatever he asked but, also preparing to run. It would be on Klaus to have the good sense to follow her.

"Do you hear that?" Jackson asked, abruptly, the feud briefly forgotten due to his alarm at this new sound. He was standing further away from the group, having rushed over to check on the fallen member of his pack that Klaus had thrown. He could only make out the sound very faintly. It was both soft and several hundred feet away. He was sure the only reason he could hear it at all was because of his newly heightened senses.

"Hear what?" Hayley called back, hearing the anxiety in her husband's tone. Caroline knew what he was hearing; it was the impending tick, tick, tick of her present to the wolf pack.

"It sounds like a-" he began but Caroline cut him off.

"NAPALM!" Caroline bellowed, gleefully, at the top of her lungs before ducking for cover behind Klaus's car, watching everyone around her getting blown back by the blast she'd set up. It was literally like watching a slow motion scene in a war movie. From behind the car — which swayed dangerously in the blast, threatening to turn over onto her had she not caught it and held it, using all of her strength — she saw Hayley fly backwards, the heat of the chemical blast scorching the skin of her face.

The second one — the closer one — would go off before the others had even a second to collect themselves so Caroline vamp sped out of the immediate vicinity while she still had the chance. She didn't know it but Klaus was close on her heels.

She slammed herself into a tree, laughing uproariously and trying to catch her breath as the second blast went off several hundreds of feet away. It vibrated the ground enough that, even at this distance, she was almost shaken off of her feet.

"Caroline!" Klaus railed, slamming himself into the tree next to her. "What on Earth were you thinking?"

"Oh, you didn't grab the baby mama?" she asked, not surprised that he'd made it out so quickly. "That's shocking!"

"Hayley can take care of herself," Klaus defected, not wanting to admit that, as usual, his own safety had seemed more important in the moment than Hayley's. Some selfish tendencies never changed, particularly in the very literal heat of the moment. Besides, he really did believe she could take care of herself and, with her new abilities she would be able to heal quickly. "But answer me, what kind of stunt was that!?"

"Um, you said you wanted to scare the wolves straight," Caroline responded. "I thought a little napalm might do the trick and even kill a few of them while I was at it. Plus, you did tell me to entertain myself!"

He groaned in frustration, gripping his hands into fists. Yes, he had wanted to show the wolves who was who but, in order for that to happen, he needed to be in on whatever little tricks Caroline had planned. She couldn't just surprise him with these things too!

He raked a hand through his hair, taking a deep breath to calm down before facing Caroline again, "Fine. But when we go back you better make damn well sure that you pretend I knew about this. The point of our coming out here today was to reestablish my authority over the wolves, not to show them that I can't control a single baby vampire!"

"But you can't control a single baby vampire," she argued. "I mean, seriously man. You've really lost your edge. Freaking out over a little napalm? Come on, it's every bit as fun as fireworks!"

It took every ounce of willpower he had not to slam her back into the tree right there and take her. He could show her what real control was. But a part of his subconscious wouldn't allow him to ignore that she was, essentially, correct. Loving humanity-less Caroline was quite a bit like owning a mad dog. You love it and you desperately want to keep it but, that doesn't change the fact that it keeps tearing apart all the furniture in your house and will bite anyone that comes near it. Right now, though, they didn't have time to argue it out or fuck it out, either way. And he did feel the nagging, oppressive obligation to look in after Hayley.

"Just come on," he said, preparing to head back but she grabbed his hand, holding him back. When he turned to look at her, she was pointing one finger up, indicating that they should wait a moment. Her eyes were scanning the trees in front of them.

"Just a second…" she said. As they waited several more seconds, a frown graced her features. "What the heck? I had those things rigged like-"

An echoing BOOM resounded through the air around them and the ground shook beneath their feet.

"Like clockwork!" she finished in joyous delight. In the air above them, in the distance, they could see trees exploding up from the ground, followed by the limp and dismembered form of someone's body parts. "Haaaa! Look at him go!" she exclaimed, pointing to the falling body in the air. "Wonder who that was?"

"Is that it?" he demanded. "Is your little show over now?"

"Yeah, we're all good," she said. "I just hooked up three."

"Let's go," he growled. "This better not have damaged my car."

Thanks again to everyone for reviewing! Your reviews always give me so much to consider and rest assured that I give everyone's thoughts the time they deserve. I'm not sure I'll be able to get back to daily updates any time soon — may need to switch to weekly updates at some point — but I do plan to keep updating as often as possible and gentle nudges do go a long way! Love hearing from you guys.