AN: I am so sorry I didn't update before this, I had a lot going on and got sick for a while. But I will be updating my stories regularly from now on. To make up for the long time between updates, have a long chapter!
As much as Caroline mentioned it, Rebekah thought she was prepared to have three humans in her house, she isn't. There's cheese and other human food by her blood bags and she decides to escape with a shopping spree.
Caroline and Klaus carefully escort them into the city, and Caroline really does have everything under control. She shows them all their respective bedrooms, and Alaric is the first human to fall asleep. As Caroline's showing them their rooms, he moves onto the bed and falls asleep right there. Jeremy tells her Ric drove there for most of the time.
After that, he had taken over driving and Bonnie had slept the entire way there. Bonnie asks to see Elena, after she and Jeremy put their bags in their rooms.
Elijah appears before Caroline can open the door. He warns Bonnie not to have more than one person in Elena's mind at once. She mentally waves it off but tells him she won't.
Elijah tells Caroline that he'll be off recording something, and Jeremy wonders if Elijah has a secret music career no one ever mentioned, but tucks the thought away. Caroline nods and wishes him good luck.
Bonnie tells Jeremy he can go first, she doesn't voice it aloud, but she needs time to still to figure out what the hell she wants to say to Elena.
She asks Caroline where Elijah put the spell ingredients, but Caroline just opens the door and they get their first view of Elena in weeks.
She's so dead looking that it hurts. Her chest still rises, but she's got an IV in her arm and it's obvious someone else did her hair. At least the room still smells like her perfume. Not all of Elena is lost. Jeremy shakes the thought away. His sister is lying on that bed, all of her. They didn't lose any of her.
Caroline and Jeremy carefully watch as Bonnie does the spell, after asking Caroline a few times if it was safe to do magic in New Orleans again. Caroline tells her it is. They want to ask about a few other things, like what's up with Klaus and how Caroline is doing, but the questions don't come out.
Bonnie recites the spell, and Caroline speaks softly to Elena, words that are too quiet for Jeremy to hear. Then he doesn't hear at all for a moment.
There's a house, he sees when he opens his eyes. He almost thinks it looks familiar, but he's never seen it before. Jeremy sees the outline of someone standing in the doorway. The person moves faster than a human is physically capable of doing, and when he's being hugged almost too tightly, he knows who it is.
He hugs his sister and she lets a few tears escape her eyes as she begins to speak.
It's been a few hours since Jeremy first entered Elena's mind. Bonnie hates waiting. Caroline sympathizes, and tells her she knows the feeling. She has to wait for Elijah to leave Elena's mind so she can talk to her almost daily.
That piece of information is so new and startling that it distracts Bonnie. She asks what's going on between Elijah and Elena. Caroline takes a deep breath and begins to explain.
As interesting as it is to hear about Elijah and Elena, Bonnie can understand that relationship a lot easier than Caroline and Klaus. She asks if Elena approves of Caroline's relationship with the person who made her life hell for so long. Bonnie wonders if Caroline needs the reminder that Klaus had killed Jenna, Isobel, and countless others. Clearly, Caroline has forgotten. So she reminds her of everything. Klaus had actually killed Elena. Did Caroline even remember that?
The hopeful feeling in her stomach sinks as she realizes that Bonnie isn't going to accept her relationship with Klaus. Or at the very least, she's not going to listen to Caroline explain it.
She's saved by Jeremy's sudden, gasping breaths. She's never been so thankful for the fact Jeremy still distracts Bonnie.
After Bonnie has confirmation about the spell and that Jeremy actually talked to Elena, she says that she and Caroline will have a long talk after she talks to Elena. The spell is performed and Jeremy and Caroline are silent, watching to make sure the spell goes perfectly.
When Bonnie closes her eyes, Jeremy asks if it's okay to leave. He's starving, a side effect of the spell. Caroline smiles apologetically and tells him that she expected something like that to happen. It takes a lot out of her sometimes to stay in Elena's mind and that even Elijah got worn out from being in Elena's mind too long. It's something she expected, and she knows the perfect restaurant to go to.
She tells him that Kol is home and Klaus would be home in a few minutes. Elena and Bonnie won't be unprotected if they left. She tells him it's within walking distance, and he tells her that they should leave a note for Ric, and that he needs to get his jacket.
She writes the note as Jeremy puts on his jacket, and leaves it on top of Ric's now charging phone.
As they walk, Jeremy asks what the hell Bonnie was talking about before she entered Elena's mind.
Caroline sighs and begins to explain, quietly. There aren't any vampires she's aware of in the vicinity, but she doesn't want anyone to eavesdrop. She explains what had happened from the time she had entered New Orleans to the disagreement, with a few pauses. They enter the restaurant, and get seated in a booth near the bar. They order drinks, Caroline orders some drink Jeremy's never heard of before. The waiter tries to ask to see her ID, but she's not in the mood to deal with it. So she compels him to recognize her as being old enough to drink. He agrees and tells them that he'll be right back with their drinks.
Jeremy is about to chastise her for that, but she tells him she doesn't have ID on her and he's hungry and she didn't want to get kicked out of one of her favorite restaurants. Plus, she just needs a drink.
She begins to explain again, and then their drinks arrive, a moment later. She orders a large appetizer, meant for more than just two people. The waiter tries to tell her it's meant to feed six people, and she tells him she and her friend are perfectly capable of eating that much. He reluctantly puts the order in, and Jeremy looks at the menu.
He doesn't want to fight with Caroline, and lets her resume explaining her relationship with Klaus again.
When she's explained it all, including Elena's approval, she takes the opportunity to take a sip of her drink. She looks a little better after that.
Jeremy's an adult, going to go to college soon. He recognizes Caroline as an adult, and that she probably doesn't like or want the harsh criticism Bonnie wants to give on her budding relationship. He doesn't blame her.
The appetizer arrives quickly and she requests a refill on her drink and thanks their waiter.
Jeremy eats more than he thought he was even capable of, and Caroline decides on what she wants. They order and Caroline carefully takes a piece of their fried appetizer, and then Jeremy asks about his sister and Elijah.
That is a much easier topic, and Caroline talks about them until their food arrives. The food is good and Jeremy can't remember the last time he ate so much. Caroline gets two more refills, and while he knows vampires have a high alcohol tolerance, he's a little worried for her. But he sips his soda and excuses himself. He's going to go use the restroom.
Caroline nods and continues eating.
He texts Elijah when in the men's room. He asks if he or Klaus could come check on them in thirty minutes or so. He hasn't seen Rebekah lately and thinks Caroline would prefer her boyfriend walking with her rather than Kol or Elijah.
His phone buzzes in his pocket as he washes his hands, he doesn't know how closely Caroline will be paying attention. Elijah tells Jeremy Klaus will be there in the time he wanted. He breathes a sigh of relief and dries his hands, and leaves the bathroom.
He returns, and slides into the booth and Caroline if he wants dessert. She's hungry and she hasn't had blood since the day before. Human food will hold her over for a while and she wants something sweet.
He agrees to that, and they finish their food. Jeremy's a little worried about his stomach, he doesn't usually eat this much food in two days.
Caroline waves it off and tells him he burned the calories, magic had weird side effects anyway. He's just lucky that the only side effect he noticed was being hungry. There are worse side effects, she reminds him. He nods and their waiter clearly their plates and they thank him.
When their waiter returns, he hands Jeremy a refill on his soda and takes the previous glass. He asks if they saved room for dessert, and Caroline nods and orders two different things.
Before Jeremy can open his mouth to protest, she reminds him that she grew up with him. She knows what he will and won't eat. He'll like the dessert, she promises.
She smiles at him and it doesn't look like the usual smile she gives him. He asks about her, how she's doing. Not her relationship with Klaus, Or Elena. He asks about her. She takes a sip of her drink before she answers.
Dessert is over with and she's still talking. He listens. Movement by the entrance catches his attention. Klaus. He's never been so thankful to see Klaus before. It's an odd feeling. He doesn't want to deal with it, so he tucks it away and tells himself he'll deal with it later. Caroline isn't her usually perceptive self, so he gives Klaus a signal to wait for a moment.
Caroline finishes with a sigh. She's about to ask him how he's doing, his sister is in a coma after all, but Jeremy gives Klaus a signal to come over so she doesn't get the chance to.
Klaus says hello and asks if he can join them. Jeremy says they were just about to pay their bill and leave. Caroline nods, finishing her drink and the waiter comes over, asking if they're ready for their check.
Caroline nods, and hands the waiter a card Klaus recognizes as one of Rebekah's bank cards. She and Caroline are closer than he had realized.
Jeremy leaves a tip and Klaus guides Caroline out before she can look at the bar again.
They walk at a human pace, slow. Caroline's not drunk, but she's not entirely sober either and she's hurting. She hasn't spent much time thinking about herself lately. Bonnie's rejection and criticism hurt.
Her life is messed up too, and she's trying to take happiness from wherever she can find it. Caroline doesn't understand why Bonnie wants to judge her so harshly when she can smell Jeremy on the witch. But of course, Bonnie considers that to be different or something like that.
Jeremy keeps an eye on Caroline until Klaus tells him he has it. Klaus suggests sleep and thanks Jeremy for getting a hold of him. He's worried about Caroline too.
He doesn't like Klaus and can barely stand him, really. But Caroline cares about him, and it's obvious in the way he's looking at Caroline that he cares about her too. Jeremy cares about Caroline. She deserves happiness, just like anybody else. He wishes that she could have found it in someone else, but if Klaus makes her happy, he won't interrupt it.
He heads up to his room, checking on Elena on the way. He sees Bonnie where she was a few hours before, and Elena, in the same place she was too. The only thing that's changed is that he sees Elijah sitting on the couch, working on something on the laptop he had seen when he had first entered the room.
"Hello Jeremy." Elijah says to him, looking up from the laptop. So the greeting by names only was something the Original only did with his sister, apparently.
"What are you working on?" He asks, taking a few steps closer.
"I'm uploading a few audio books to this laptop, so Elena can listen to them. She mentioned that she missed books." Elijah explains and Jeremy nods.
"Is Caroline okay?" The Original asks, clicking and typing while looking at him.
"Yeah. Bonnie isn't exactly pro Klaus. I don't blame her, but if Klaus makes Caroline happy, I'm fine with it. Bonnie doesn't feel the same way. Caroline took it a little hard. Thanks for getting Klaus. I thought she'd want to see him the most." Jeremy says and Elijah thanks him for texting him.
Jeremy asks if they could move to an empty room to talk, and Elijah closes the laptop and leads him out of the room. Elena and Bonnie can hear them if Elena wants them to, Jeremy had remembered.
There's an empty study that practically screams Elijah with every inch, Jeremy has no doubt the suited Original decorated this particular space. Jeremy begins to talk and Elijah listens.
Neither of them know Elena did hear their conversation.
Elena begins to defend Caroline.
The blonde vampire in question sits next to Klaus on her bed, head on his shoulder as she quietly speaks.
Ric sleeps, Rebekah and Kol make a bet and the sky outside darkens.