Underneath the grand chandelier casting a warm, golden glow, the Mikaelson siblings had just concluded a sumptuous family breakfast. To this morning feast, Matt had also been courteously invited. After savoring just a cup of dark, aromatic coffee, Matt hastily grabbed a golden-brown pancake, planted a tender kiss on his girlfriend's forehead—deliberately avoiding her lips as a token of respect for her overprotective brothers—and swiftly exited through the imposing double doors. This prompted Kol to theatrically exclaim, "How utterly uncivilized!"
"YOU want to talk about rudeness?" Rebekah arched an incredulous eyebrow at her elder brother, fully aware that Kol was being his quintessential, provocative self and didn't mean his words… well, at least not completely.
Amazed at how easy it was to rile up his little sister, Kol Kol theatrically clasped a hand to his chest, near where his heart resided, and feigned sorrow. "Ouch!"
While Klaus wore an amused, crooked grin, Elijah merely rolled his eyes in a mixture of annoyance and resignation.
Rebekah huffed audibly and left the table, intent on being the bigger person for once. She sank into one of the opulent, plush couches strewn about the room, still feeling a residual fatigue from the whirlwind events of the night before. A sudden thought came to her mind. "Elijah, why didn't you come last night?" she paused. "We waited for you."
"Correction," Kol interjected with a sly smile. "SHE waited for you."
This time, even Elijah couldn't help but join his younger brother in a reserved chuckle.
"And why, pray tell, should I have made an appearance, Rebekah?" Elijah queried, as he poured himself another cup of steaming tea, his voice tinged with a blend of genuine curiosity and subtle condescension.
Rebekah rolled her eyes. Bored, she decided to distract herself by teasing her big brother. Besides, perhaps, it would enable her to gain more insight into one of her brother's feelings given that they never confided in her. Not that Elijah confided in anyone for all she knew. "You mean for WHOM would you have made an appearance?"
Elijah gently set down his fine china cup on the saucer, the cup's contents sending wafts of steam curling upward, and raised his eyebrows in genuine confusion.
"The doppelgänger was there" she elaborated.
At his sister's words, a lump formed in Elijah's throat. 'She was at the Founder's party? Last time he heard, she was gallivanting in Italy. Had she really dared to show her face to Klaus? Had she finally decided to take him up on his offer?' A flurry of questions bombarded his mind.
Klaus, ever observant, didn't miss the transient glimmer of hope that ignited in Elijah's eyes. Annoyed, he corrected his brother with a note of spite. "Elena, Elijah. Not Katerina."
A shiver of discomfort rippled down Elijah's spine at the acidic undertone in Klaus's words. It had been an eon, or so it seemed, since that name had been uttered in his presence, and the scathing tone Klaus employed to tarnish it was nothing short of infuriating. No one should ever pronounce the name of his Katerina with such disrespect and remain unharmed. But then again, this was Klaus and given his history with the lady, Elijah couldn't really blame his brother.
And just like that, as swiftly as a sandcastle succumbing to an impetuous tide, the tenuous glimmer of hope that had briefly flared within Elijah evaporated. Nonetheless, Elijah managed to retain an impassive expression, refusing to let his siblings see his disappointment.
Reining in his mounting urge to retaliate, Elijah managed to retain an impassive expression, refusing to let his siblings see his disappointment.
"Of course." He responded curtly.
Internally, Elijah seethed. The pang of disappointment stung like a sharp slap across his face. He had nurtured a glimmer of hope. He had been foolish enough to entertain the flimsy notion that Katerina might have ventured back to Mystic Falls, perhaps even for him. But as quickly as the thought emerged, it disintegrated, leaving behind a bitter aftertaste of what could have been.
After all, they had sporadically kept in touch these past five years, so if she had decided to step back into the shadows of Mystic Falls, she would've certainly reached out to let him know and ask for him to ensure her safety from Klaus' inexorable wrath and unpredictable temper.
Ever since she had escaped from Klaus, thereby unambiguously showing Elijah that she had no trust in him, Elijah harbored a grudge toward Katerina. However, if he were completely honest with himself, there was still a huge part of his dead heart that cared for the woman he saw as breathtakingly beautiful in all circumstances.
He had tried and tried, again and again, to reason with himself to move on from her… But a chance meeting in Italy had rekindled a fire he thought he had successfully quenched. It wasn't just her physical allure, but the dance of mischief and vulnerability in her eyes that had once again ensnared him. As much as he tried to fight it, Elijah couldn't help but remember the affection he once held for her and, whether he had let himself admit it up until that point or not, still held.
His wistful contemplations were abruptly interrupted by Klaus' loud snort. The sound served as a cold shower, dousing any residual embers of hope. With a sigh veiling an ocean of unspoken emotions, Elijah picked up his teacup once more, allowing the aromatic steam to momentarily cloud his vision, as if blurring out the complexities of his tangled thoughts.
At his elder brother's reaction, Klaus shook his head and rolled his eyes in disbelief and exasperation. A loud snort escaped him, unbidden.
He had, quite mistakenly it seemed, attributed a semblance of rationality to his older brother and assumed the latter had long since moved past his fixation on the tempting but calamitous doppelgänger, but evidently, he'd once again underestimated Elijah's enduring sentimentality.
Kol, true to his his usual vain self, was meticulously scrutinizing his hairstyle in the ornate mirror when he noticed the exasperated crease forming on Klaus's forehead and the distant, contemplative look that had settled over Elijah's features. He couldn't help but voice his bewilderment.
"Am I missing something here?" he directed his question to no one in particular and everyone in general.
"Aren't you always?" Rebekah retorted, never one to pass up an opportunity to taunt her brother.
"Enough!" Elijah intervened with a stern tone before things could escalate any further. He headed for the staircase, leaving Kol even more perplexed, and the room charged with tension.
Klaus' gaze followed his brother intently as he exited the room. To say he was distraught by Elijah's reaction would have been an understatement.
In the midst of the palpable unease, Rebekah was lost in her thoughts. Her intention had been to gain insight into Elijah's lingering feelings for the doppelganger, but her jest had inadvertently led to more profound revelations. Witnessing her typically composed elder brother lose his temper had struck a chord of guilt within her. She hadn't meant to kindle false hope in him with her ill-conceived remark. She really didn't think her 'joke' would get to him that much.
Rebekah now had the confirmation she sought: it was abundantly clear Elijah's affections for Katherine remained unwavering. Few things had the power to affect her eldest brother as profoundly as the mere mention of the doppelgängers name, and this revelation weighed heavily on her.
Yet, as her gaze shifted to Klaus, another unsettling realization dawned upon Rebekah: Klaus' wrath was known to be boundless and inextinguishable, and heaven knew that he loathed and held anger towards Katherine with every bone in his body. In other words, tomorrow would not be the day her dear brother Elijah would have his happy reunion with his Katerina.
Kol, still absorbed in his reflection, couldn't resist asking a burning question that cut through the heavy silence.
"Does our dear brother have an infatuation for this Katerina lady?"
At the mention of the doppelgängers name, Klaus visibly tensed. As for Rebekah, she bore a saddened expression on her face.
When none of his siblings offered a direct response, Kol playfully drew his own conclusion. "I will take that as a yes."
Caroline sat alone at a corner booth in the Grill, her fingers idly tracing the rim of her glass of water as she waited for Matt. Her thoughts, however, were far from the mundane surroundings of the local hangout. Klaus seemed to have taken residence in her mind since their last encounter.
Last night, he had occupied her late-night reveries, and this morning, he had been the first thing on her mind when she awoke. It was a strange and disconcerting feeling, this fixation on Klaus. She couldn't explain why she had been so unusually nice to him last night. Had she taken leave of her senses? Had she forgotten who Klaus was? She was so grateful Elena hadn't asked her the same questions last night and made a scene. She had a feeling she had Stefan to thank for that.
Caroline couldn't deny it—she felt overwhelmed. She had only been back in Mystic Falls for two days, and her emotions were already a tangled mess. She grappled with the confusion surrounding her rapport with Klaus. As hard as she tried, she just couldn't put a label on their relationship. Because clearly and whether she liked it or not, the weeks that preceded her departure from Mystic Falls, she and Klaus had started establishing a relationship. So what? Were they just supposed to pick up where they left off? Were they friends? She sighed inwardly at that notion. No. Last time she checked, friends didn't exchange flirtatious banter or leave each other's thoughts in disarray. Caroline wasn't accustomed to feeling so bewildered about her friends.
Yet, that is what he had asked of her: before she left, Klaus had cryptically pleaded for her friendship. And well, after everything he had and hadn't done for her sake –not killing Tyler, allowing the latter back into town –after somehow proving to her that she could trust him, could she really deny him so little –or that much depending on one's point of view?
Her travels during her time away from Mystic Fall had put things into perspective for Caroline. She had witnessed both the world's beauty and its darkness, coming to realize that life rarely fit into neat categories of black or white, of good or bad. Caroline had eventually arrived at the the conclusion that maybe, just maybe, Klaus wasn't pure evil.
When she really thought about it, almost every "bad", "selfish" or "hurtful" decision he had made that had affected her and her friends was driven by self-preservation and a need to protect his siblings. Even his desire to have an army of hybrids… Everyone believed that it was rooted in an unhealthy hunger for power, and it was probably true to at least some extent, but Caroline knew Klaus well enough now to understand that he mainly saw those hybrids as a means to ensure his family's survival. They were soldiers – whose loyalty was unquestionable and who he knew would lay down their lives for him and his kin if required.
"Morning, Care" Matt's warm voice gently pulled Caroline away from her thoughts.
"Oh, Matt. Hey" she greeted back. "How are you?"
"Fine. The question is how are you."
Caroline had been so ensnared by her thoughts that she hadn't even registered Matt's approach or his settling into the chair across from her. Her raised eyebrows indicated her perplexity as she sought to understand his line of inquiry.
As she blinked at him, Matt ventured to elaborate, "You seem preoccupied. Let me guess: Klaus? By the way, he says hi."
"Oh. That is nice of him." She paused, momentarily considering just ignoring her friend's question. "Why would you assume that I was thinking about Klaus?" she countered, feigning indifference, even though her racing thoughts had indeed revolved around the enigmatic Original.
She couldn't possibly be that obvious.
"Weren't you?" Matt replied with a knowing inflection, his brown eyes fixated on her face.
Caroline simply stared at him in silence, keeping her emotions hidden. She wasn't ready to engage in that particular conversation, not now, and perhaps not anytime soon. The complexities of her feelings toward Klaus were still a tangled web she needed to unravel.
Matt understood Caroline all too well. He knew what it felt like to fall for a Mikaelson in spite of oneself, and clearly Caroline was still going through the denial phase of the process. On another level however, Matt was mystified by what exactly was going on between his friend and Klaus. Their flirting had started ages ago. He thought his friend would have made her mind by now. But then again, this was the Original Hybrid, a figure far more enigmatic and complicated than even Rebekah, so perhaps Caroline was justified in taking all the time she needed.
Recognizing her reluctance to discuss the matter further, Matt tactfully shifted gears. Clearing his throat, he finally addressed the main purpose of their meeting. "So… I asked you if you could meet me up here for a specific reason" he began, half-teasingly adding, "Well, other than the obvious reason that I have missed you like crazy."
Caroline chuckled, shaking her head in amusement. "Just get to it, will you?"
Taking a deep breath, Matt broached the subject. "Care, I'd like you to try and be friends with Bekah."
"With whom?" Caroline's tone and pitch revealed her utter bewilderment.
Matt couldn't help but laugh at her confusion before explaining, "Rebekah."
Caroline's mind momentarily went blank at Matt's words. She stared at him in disbelief. Could her ears have deceived her? Had Matt just asked her to befriend Rebekah? The very same Rebekah who had made her feelings about Caroline abundantly clear from the first day they'd met? The very Rebekah who had turned Elena into a vampire just three years ago and pursued Stefan two years after that while he and Elena were finding their way back to each other? Had Matt lost his mind?! Had Matt gone completely mad? He couldn't seriously be asking her what she thought she heard.
"I'm assuming you're joking," Caroline finally responded after a prolonged silence.
"Actually, no, Caroline," Matt replied, and he looked her straight in the eyes. "I'm being completely serious. Rebekah is very important to me now, and she doesn't have a lot of friends, and I love…"
"Really?" Caroline interrupted him, unwilling to hear any more. "Well, whose fault is that?" she asked, her frustration mounting.
She couldn't believe what she was hearing. She couldn't believe Matt would ask something so monumental of her. After everything Rebekah had done to them, were they supposed to just forgive and forget? What for? Because he wanted them to? Because Rebekah was feeling lonely?
How could Matt even make such a request?
Truth be told, when Stefan had called her several months ago to let her in on Matt's current relationship status, at first, Caroline had thought he was pulling a prank, and she'd burst into laughter without giving the matter a second thought. It had taken not one, but two more persistent phone calls, the first from Elena, and the next from Bonnie, to finally convince Caroline that this was no jest. And even then, she had called Matt himself to make sure.
"But" he started off with a high-pitched voice. "She is not as bad as you think she is! She has more good sides than you can imagine, trust me. And although, she'll probably never say it to you out loud, she is very sorry for a lot of the things she has done to you"
Once again, Caroline just regarded him with an inscrutable expression. Her face remained utterly stoic, giving no indication of the inner turmoil Matt's words were causing her.
"Oh, come on, Care," he pleaded. "Can you truly envision me with a heartless woman?"
Once more, her response was a resounding silence, and her gaze bore no traces of emotion.
With a heavy sigh of defeat, Matt slouched back in his chair. He had anticipated that this wouldn't be a walk in the park, but the extent of Caroline's reluctance surprised him. Caroline was his easiest shot in the group, which was precisely why he had approached her first. Knowing both women, he saw that Caroline and Rebekah had more in common than either realized. If only Caroline would give it a chance, he truly believed they could hit it off, even becoming the closest of friends. All it would take were a couple of nights out…
"Why are you even asking this of me?" Caroline finally spoke. "I mean, I'm only going to be here for a couple of weeks, Matt. Elena and Bonnie actually live them… you should be asking them."
"Don't think I haven't tried," Matt responded, his voice tinged with exasperation. "I even convinced Stefan to talk to Elena, but given their history with Rebekah, you can probably guess how well that turned out."
Raising a disbelieving eyebrow, Caroline couldn't help but burst into laughter at that. Seriously? she thought. Guys can be so clueless. It should have been glaringly obvious that Elena would react by kicking Stefan to the curb.
"Glad to see you think it's funny" he waited for Caroline to calm her laughter before he kept going. "Matt quipped, waiting for Caroline's laughter to subside. "So, will you please consider spending some time with Rebekah and see where it leads? For my sake?"
Caroline went back to an impassive expression , and Matt released a sigh of resignation. He had sworn to himself that he wouldn't play this card because it felt unfair and he didn't want to coerce his friend into anything, but circumstances had left him no other choice.
"You've accepted to give Klaus a choice, haven't you?"
"Excuse me?!" Caroline's tone was sharp, her disbelief evident.
"Don't deny it!" Matt urged. "Your actions last night with him spoke volumes. Why not extend the same courtesy to Rebekah? Give her a chance, Caroline."
Caroline felt anger surge within her at what she perceived as accusations. For a fleeting moment, she actually contemplated ripping Matt's balls out, but the public setting they were in curtailed her impulses. Instead, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath in an effort to control her temper.
"Okay. First of all, I cannot believe you are seriously playing this card with me right now," she began, her voice measured, though tension still clung to her words.
"Caroline..." Matt began to interject, but she wasn't finished.
"No!" she cut him off. "Second of all, just because I agreed to dance with Klaus doesn't mean that I've forgiven him anything, am I clear? He'd actually have to apologize for that. Third of all, the guy eventually conceded to stop using Elena's blood and he saved Damon when he got bitten by a werewolf. Not to mention he saved my life several times, alright? What about Rebekah, huh? What has she ever done for anyone of us? Except trying to make us miserable! Name me one good action and I'll try to make it work."
Matt simply looked at her. Then came his simple but weighty reply, "She makes me happy"
And just like that, Caroline felt her defenses crumble against her own will. What kind of friend would she be if she denied Matt's request now? He was simply enlisting her help to maintain his happiness. Shouldn't she do it willingly?
Besides, Matt did have a point. As much as she had tried to deny it in the past, Klaus did have a good side. Perhaps, against all odds, Rebekah did too. After all, Matt wouldn't be dating her if she were pure evil just as Caroline wouldn't be grappling with her feelings for Klaus if he were entirely wicked.
"Fine," she eventually conceded, her reluctance evident in her tone.
Matt's face lit up with a genuine smile as he rose from his seat. He pulled her into a hug, his voice soft as he whispered in her ear, "Thank you."
While Klaroline is the main focus of this fanfic, the relationships I'm currently taking the time to build and strength will end up playing a crucial role in Klaus & Caroline's story, so please bear with me as I lay the foundations.
Reviews are always appreciated.