New Years Eve dawned brightly, the sun glimmering on the snow that had fallen the night before. The Originals and their guests woke up in very different ways.
Klaus and Caroline woke up quite happily curled around each other. Caroline liked their quiet moments before they entered the reality of the world outside their bedroom door, when Klaus would encounter his siblings and become his usual slightly harsh self. In those moments before he became the fearful Klaus Mikaelson, he was just Nik. And she liked both, really. She liked Niklaus, the man who was both of those personalities in one very agreeable package.
Rebekah woke up in another house, in another bed, with a gorgeous blonde man asleep beside her, still sporting the marks she had given him on his neck. She licked her lips, remembering the taste, and rolled over ontop of him. It was a good wake up, but she knew deep down who she would rather be waking up with, in a far sweeter manner. Unfortunately, he was a continent away.
Eva woke up terribly. In an effort not to give into Kol's persistent charming by placing herself as far away from both him and a bed, she had taken refuge in the study, a place she was not known to frequent, and spent the night attempting to sleep on the window seat.
Kol woke up terribly. He had gone to Eva's room and when he hadn't found her or Rebekah in the main areas of the house, had assumed the worst – she was out trying to find a guy for the night. He had attempted to fall asleep on the couch near the front door to anticipate her return.
Elijah woke up best out of them all, well rested and with clear thoughts. Yes, he also woke up alone, but at least he knew he wasn't worried over it. He had spent a thousand years in his own company and he liked it, thank you very much.
However, when he came downstairs to the sight of Caroline introducing Klaus to the delights of pancakes, for Klaus had never bothered with such simple things, Elijah felt a pang of loneliness that he had spent decades suppressing.
Caroline giggled at Klaus' attempt to show off and flip a pancake by tossing the pan, her smile growing as he flashed his own grin, grabbing her by the hips and kissing her. When she noticed Elijah, she cleared her throat and tapped Klaus' hands away.
"Morning, Elijah." She said brightly, turning to save the pancakes from burning. "Hungry for breakfast?"
"Yes, thank you." He nodded. "Anything I could do to help?"
"Set the table, perhaps?"
"Certainly." Elijah retrieved the stacked plates while Caroline busied herself with the pan until she knew Elijah was preoccupied. She glanced after his retreating back with a look that caused Klaus to frown in confusion.
"What is it, love?"
Caroline placed her finger over Klaus' lips to hush him, not wanting Elijah to know that she thought something wasn't right. He would guess far quicker than Klaus, and she knew in a way that he was the proudest of all the Originals, even if he didn't let his ego show as much as his flashy younger siblings.
"Elijah," She mouthed to Klaus, still covering his mouth with a finger. "He's alone."
Klaus raised his shoulders as if to state that they could do nothing to change the situation. Caroline heaved a sigh in return, signaling that she knew, but it didn't change her feelings. Klaus ran a hand through her hair to soothe her, and she traced her fingertip along her lips, outlining his perfect cupids bow and full bottom lip.
"I'll talk to him." He mouthed against her hand, and she pressed her lips to the hollow under his jaw.
"Thank you." She breathed into his skin quietly, before turning back to the pan to ensure breakfast didn't burn.
Klaus breathed out into her curls before leaving her side to do as he promised. It was not going to be easy.
Rebekah carefully closed the front door behind her, toeing her way silently across the carpet towards the stairs, until she stopped short at the sight of Kol in a pretzel-like position on the couch. She shook her head, intrigued, but not enough to risk being embarrassed on her walk of shame.
However, she was too late. Kol woke up from the light doze he had dropped into as he attempted to sleep, and blinked blearily at his sister.
"Fancy that, my sister caught by me on her way back from yet another bed. This is, what, the second time since I was unstaked? I wonder how many I missed while I was stuck in a coffin and you were running around in the City of Sin during the decade of sex."
"Shut it, Kol. Envy doesn't look good on you." Rebekah sneered, swinging the killer heels she held in her hand half heartedly at him. Kol didn't even bother to flinch.
"What are you doing here anyway, Kol? Waiting by the front door till I returned? If you're trying to play the role of concerned big brother, you're a little late." She continued. "Elijah and Nik already beat you to it."
"Wouldn't dream of it, Bekah. You know thats not my style."
"They why are you here on the couch? I'm the only one who went out last night."
Kol's eyes lit up, and he straightened his hunched posture. "You were the only one out?"
"Yes, Caroline was kind of wrapped around our brother, and Eva said she wasn't feeling up to – " Rebekah stopped, eyes narrowing as she finally caught on. "You were waiting for Eva!"
"Who was waiting for me?" Eva yawned as she walked out of the study with sleepy eyes and rumpled hair. She smiled at Rebekah until she noticed Kol there as well and froze.
"Busted. Damn." She muttered.
"Good morning, Miss Eva. What on Earth were you doing in the study?" Kol asked smugly.
"What were you doing on the couch?" Eva countered, momentarily tripping Kol.
"I asked first." He reminded her in a tone that managed to be calm and authorative while also being childish and petulant.
"I'm going to leave you two so you can bicker in peace. I smell pancakes, and, well, I don't want to watch this sex war unfold again." Rebekah drawled, sashaying upstairs to change. The two barely registered her absence.
"Fine. I woke up early and came downstairs...to read...the old documents...kept in the study." Eva responded slowly. Kol raised one eyebrow and folded his arms, and Eva huffed.
"I was feeling sentimental, wanted to remember the centuries past." She continued, before mimicking his position. "So, why were you on the couch?"
"My bed wasn't comfortable." Kol said bluntly, and Eva bit back a laugh.
"Somehow the Goldilocks act doesn't suit you."
Kol smiled a little at that, and let the cocky demeanor slip off his face slightly. "I'll amend myself then. My bed wasn't comfortable without you."
Eva was taken aback at his honesty, but it was Kol, and he could never be sincere for long.
"Coincidentally, your bed wasn't as comfortable as mine can be, particularly since you weren't in that either." Kol said cunningly, watching Eva squirm.
Busted. Should she be swayed by his words or run again? She remembered what day it was – New Years, a day she had started to personally refer to as 'last-chance-day' – and she decided not to fall for him. For now.
"Well, the study was exceptionally comfortable. Without you." She said pointedly.
Kol wasn't fazed. "Your body certainly doesn't agree with you."
Eva scowled and straightened up, trying not to wince at her cramped muscles protesting. "You don't know my body or me anymore." She said coolly, walking past him to the kitchen, silently adding in her mind 'but I want you to know both'.
.
"So I take it all isn't boding well for you in the shadow of the new year." Caroline commented as she and Kol perused the aisles of the local Waitrose supermarket with a shopping trolley.
Kol grimaced. "I take it my brother's rubbing off on you in more ways than one, with that pretty sharp tongue becoming so poetically eloquent." He evaded.
She rolled her eyes. "It's actually all of you, thank you very much. Eva is probably the most linguistically hip and up to date out of all of you. Now, don't evade again." Caroline said bluntly, stopping her stroll. "What's going on with you and Eva?"
Kol hesitated a moment, speaking more in that slight pause than he ever would actually say. "Nothing. Everything between us is in the past, and will remain that way." He walked on ahead, not glancing back to see Caroline's sympathetic face. "She'll be gone by tomorrow morning."
"Not if you win her over." Caroline said hopefully.
"I can't try if she won't let me." Kol sighed, shrugging it off and tossing a few packets at random into the trolley as Caroline followed him.
"I can talk to her so she will. She should be giving you a chance, you both agreed." She stubbornly argued as she took his packets from the trolley and placed them back on the shelf while his back was turned.
"No thank you, darling." Kol said lightly, reading a cornflakes box.
"But – "
"Caroline." Kol finally turned to stare her in the eye. "No."
"Come on, Kol." She pouted. "Let me try."
"I figured you'd celebrate, since you could have a clear shot at me with Eva gone." He smirked, but she could tell it was a cover up, and a bad one at that.
"Not even if you were marinated in bleach and sanitizer for a week. Actually, not even if I'd cure vampirism by sleeping with you. Wait, no, not even if all the other men in the world were dead." Caroline stopped with a smile. "But if all the men and women and the undead were dead, for good, then yeah, maybe."
"How considerate of you." Kol drawled, but they both appreciated the joke. "Sometimes I wonder if you protest just a little too much."
"No, its just that your ego is big enough as it is. Someone needs to bring you back down to Earth. And if Eva was actually playing fair, you'd be fine." Caroline said with her knack for getting back to the topic she wanted. "So. Don't give up. Okay?"
Kol sighed. "Why?"
"Because I agree with what your sister said a while back. You two work well together, anyone can see that." Caroline snatched the cornflakes from Kol's hands as he began to fiddle with it and use it as a distraction. "And I will not let your ship sink."
"My what?"
"Ship. Relation-ship?" She raised her hands in exasperation. "Just don't give up."
Kol was silent, trying to read her face for a long moment. Then he raised his eyebrows. "I'll have to have a good plan if I'm going to get her back by midnight."
Caroline's lips curled into a smile that was bordering on a replica of Klaus' calculating smirk. "Oh, leave that to me. Now, where is the liquor aisle?"
.
The Mikaelson house was in chaos.
It all started when Kol and Caroline returned from the shops with the items from the shopping list plus around a dozen bottles of different types of alcohol.
Eva took one look at the various types of rum, vodka, tequila and wine they had bought, and knew it wasn't the end. Klaus had gone down to the cellar with Elijah to pick out some more old favorites. Kol went to join his brothers at Caroline's suggestion, and Eva rounded instantly on the bubbly blonde.
"What are you planning, Carolina?"
"Nothing at all, Evie." Caroline's grin spoke of mischief. "I just want to welcome the New Year, and since you and I are both stuck here with the Mikaelsons and no means of escape, we might as well drink to survive. Or be entertained."
Eva narrowed her eyes while Caroline's widened with innocence. Eva studied the label on the coconut rum bottle.
"I still don't trust you."
"I never asked you to." Caroline replied, and Eva raised an eyebrow at her before nodding slowly.
"Fine." She accepted, before walking towards the lounge room and opening the bottle of rum. "But if that's the case, then I'm starting now. And this bottle is all mine. God knows I'll need it."
Rebekah entered the room just as Eva left, and watched her strut past with a wink to the Original Blonde before she sat on the couch. Rebekah frowned, glancing over to Caroline.
"What's going on, Caro-pop?"
"Beks, I have absolutely no idea." Caroline replied, and Rebekah was onto her plan in an instant.
"Matchmaking and scheming again, Caro?" Rebekah tsked. "I told you it wasn't the most attractive look." She heaved a sigh of regret. "However, I have to agree with your actions this one time" She smiled. "Let the battle commence."
It was chaos.
Kol trying to win over Eva.
Eva trying not to give in.
Caroline trying to get them both together.
Klaus trying to get Caroline alone (he was really not appreciating how his family took her from him little by little. She was his.).
Rebekah drinking and watching the spectacles unfold.
Elijah trying to understand what on Earth was going on.
The six had gathered in the lounge room with the television on in the background for the fireworks and the other various light shows that would play throughout the night. Klaus, as usual, was over the whole showdown that went with New Years Eve – he had been through literally a thousand of them – but he was willing to celebrate the coming of the New Year. He had Caroline and he had broken the curse, he had every reason to celebrate.
However, Caroline had some other plans in mind. She got straight to business, topping everyones glasses till she deemed Eva and Kol tipsy and bored enough to play a drinking game.
"Spoons is an easy game, all you need to do is get four of the same card." Caroline explained, dealing out the cards on the coffee table. "So, four kings, or four sevens, etc. I'll be the dealer, so I'll look at my cards and then pick one up from the deck. If I don't want it, I pass it on to Rebekah. If I do, I choose one of my cards and give that to her. You never possess more than four cards. Got it?"
"Right. What happens when you get the set of four cards?" Eva asked, running a hand through her hair, mussing it slightly. Kol smoothed it back in place and she half-heartedly shot him a glare.
"That's the good bit. When you get the set, you pick up a spoon." Caroline tapped one of the spoons placed in between them all. "Once someone has picked up a spoon, anyone else can, regardless of whether or not they have a set of four. The person without a spoon," Caroline grinned, holding up the vodka bottle. "Has to take a shot."
"And now the game is interesting." Rebekah said, sitting cross legged in front of the table. "Right, I'm in."
"Me too." Eva agreed.
"Of course I'll play." Kol nodded.
"Elijah?" Caroline asked, doubting that Elijah would really take interest. He was happy to sit and drink and talk with them all, but he wouldn't play such a tawdry game.
"Apologies, but not this time."
Caroline nodded. "I'm sure we can find a game to suit your standards later."
"We shall see."
"Klaus?" Caroline glanced to Klaus, who seemed torn between amusement and irritation.
"Really? Not only are you setting up such a simple drinking game for my siblings to play, but you expect me to join?"
"Its fun."
"That could be argued."
"Its New Years Eve."
"And...?"
"New Years Eve is a time for drinking games."
"There are much more interesting games."
"Yes, but did you really want to play 'Never Have I Ever' or 'Strip Poker' with your siblings?"
Klaus snapped his mouth shut. "Very well."
The game started well, and Caroline was pleased, but it escalated far beyond her control very quickly. She supposed she could have predicted that Rebekah would complain about not getting to a spoon on time, and that Klaus would beat them all for the first few rounds as his reactions were faster than them all, but she didn't expect that Klaus would accept to lose for another few rounds just to get a drink so he could tolerate his siblings company.
The game ended as most games do, with an overreaction. Klaus had opted out after they had all turned on him for losing on purpose, and he sat with Caroline leaning back against him, drinking his whiskey moodily. Caroline and Rebekah played fairly, particularly due to their competitive natures. It was when Caroline grabbed the spoon and Rebekah followed suit that the game ended as Eva and Kol dived for the last spoon, both as stubborn as the other. Neither loosened their grip on the silverware, and ended up wrestling like children on the ground.
Caroline sat back in Klaus' arms with a huff.
"All the plotting getting to you, love? Think it best to give up now?" He murmured softly in her ear, brushing his lips over the skin of her neck in an effort to tempt her away.
Caroline sucked in an involuntary breath, but stuck stubbornly to her plan. "The sooner we get them drunk and together, the sooner this chaos is over."
Klaus' growl hummed low, the vibration shooting through his chest to hers, a sign of his impatience only intended for her.
"Give me the spoon!" Eva insisted.
"Make me!" Kol said thoughtlessly, his eyes widening as Eva flipped them so she was on top and in control, leaning down, her nose just brushing against his as her eyes gazed into his. The hand that wasn't trying to grapple Kol's out of the grip he had on the silver spoon slowly descended down the side of his chest, and as his breath caught, his grasp loosened, and Eva lifted the spoon out of his reach victoriously.
"Ha!" Eva cried, smoothly standing up and going to sit on the couch while Kol lay on the floor, still uncertain of what had just happened. "Oh, my lovely, you really do need to start thinking with the head that's at the top of your body."
"I'm your lovely now, am I?" Kol said quizzically, and Eva frowned, tossing the spoon back on the coffee table with a clunk.
"Well, I think we're over this game. Any others, Caroline?" Eva asked.
"No more games." Rebekah shook her head. "Lets go out!"
All three of the men groaned their protest in unison. Caroline, who had had far less to drink than the others, came up with part 2 of her plan.
"Okay, how about you boys go do some more brother bonding." She said, hopping up out of Klaus' embrace and grabbing Rebekah and Eva by the hands to lead them to the kitchen.
"But we've had plenty of time." Klaus said. "I don't want to bond anymore. I've had enough of my family to last me through the next century."
"How kind of you to take our feelings into regard, Niklaus." Elijah said dryly.
"You I can handle, its Kol that I can't stand."
"That hurt, Nik. That hurt me terribly." Kol pouted.
Caroline merely scowled at Klaus. "This is exactly why you need to do this." She raised her eyebrows at him, trying to convince him as she shepherded Eva and Rebekah into the other room.
Kol finally picked up on the fact that Caroline was separating the group according to gender.
"Hold up, where are you and my sister and Eva going then?"
"Girl talk."
"Oh, I want to be there for that."
"Kol, I wouldn't let you near me with a ten foot pole." Eva said with a slight slur, mixing up at least two different sayings.
"Well luckily I have a slightly shorter pole, but I'm sure it'll satisfy you." Kol grinned, dodging the pillow Rebekah sent his way but not managing to dodge the spoon Klaus flicked at his forehead, frowning as the metal clanged off his temple harmlessly.
"Been there, done that, got exceptionally bored." Eva scoffed, promptly leaving the room before the banter could continue.
Caroline glared at Kol, flicking her hands and motioning him to shove off and leave it to her to take care of.
The three girls disappeared into the other room, and Elijah sat back with a bewildered expression.
"Would someone care to enlighten me?"
"Not particularly." Kol grumbled, refusing to meet Elijah's frown.
"Kol is trying to get with the charming Eva again, and she is not having a bar of it." Klaus said with a grin that slid off his face as he continued. "This is resulting in the usual foolishness of those who get emotionally involved, and Caroline convincing herself that she can change the situation by devoting to its success rather than to me."
"I see. So Kol is miserable because he cannot get what he wants, and you, Niklaus, are miserable because you cannot get what you want." Elijah said with a sigh. "Seems as if neither of you have learnt from your selfish, foolish ways."
"Very wise, brother, but tell me, when have I ever not got my way? And how has your selflessness rewarded you over the years?" Klaus said, knowing that Elijah had lost over the years, and lost things to Klaus himself, due to his altruism.
"Do not remind me of that tonight, Niklaus. You would be wise not to test me." Elijah reminded him, and Klaus backed down respectfully. He recalled their talk earlier that day before breakfast, by far one of their most honest and ever so slightly uncomfortable conversations in the past thousand years. Klaus had to eventually admit that the beautiful baby vampire was growing on him in ways he hadn't anticipated, and that he had perhaps been slightly too brash about his previous statements about Elijah's 'weak' emotions. Elijah had in return admitted to harboring feelings for each of the Petrova doppelgangers, and Klaus had commented that perhaps his older brother should venture out of the box and not fall for Elena or Katherine again over the next century or so.
"I'd be happy to test you, Elijah." Kol offered, and Elijah, who was not in the mood for such trivial games with his brother, clenched his jaw and breathed through his nose.
"Go for a walk, brother." Klaus suggested, grabbing Kol by the collar and pulling him towards the den. "I'll fix our younger brother if you sort out your own concerns."
"How are you fixing me?" Kol asked as he struggled pointlessly against Klaus' grip, before being released in the den while Klaus shut the door behind him. He switched on the lights, and the two stain glass lanterns that hung over the pool table came to life with a warm glow.
"Rack them up, Kol." Klaus said, picking his pool cue. "We've got a long night ahead of us, and I want to spend most of it with Caroline, since she's the only person in this house who has an ounce of light in them."
"Stop it, Caroline." Eva sighed, swigging another mouthful miserably from the bottle of tequila before biting down on a lemon wedge. "It's not going to happen."
"But it could." Caroline said resolutely, passing the bottle to Rebekah without drinking, too focused on proving the case to Eva. "You just are playing chicken and ignoring it because you're worried about what will happen if you actually give in."
"She's right, Eva." Rebekah said. "She may be a bitch, but she's right."
"Exactly," Caroline nodded, elbowing Rebekah for her comment but standing beside her to show Eva a united front.
"You and my brother are meant to be stupid together for all eternity."
"Or at least for as long as you can stand him." Caroline added. "But regardless of anything, he is your epic love."
"You use that phrase too often, Caro-pop." Rebekah warned.
"You're Kol's lobster." Caroline amended, quoting one of her favorite old sitcoms.
"Lobster?" Eva tilted her head, and Rebekah raised her eyebrows.
"Are you drunk, Caroline?"
"Wait, you guys haven't seen...don't you know Friends?" Caroline stuttered without thinking.
"Why are we talking about friends now?" Rebekah shook her head.
"I don't even...just come with me."
Caroline gathered the girls around a laptop and searched Youtube to find the lobster theory Friends episode she had in mind. An hour later, the girls were still looking through related Friends scenes.
"I clearly should have made time for television in the ninties." Eva said.
"I can't believe Nik had me daggered in a box when I could have been watching this." Rebekah said.
"Anyway, we're off topic, do you understand what I'm saying now? You and Kol, you're perfect." Caroline got Eva's attention, and the girl sighed.
"Its too hard to give it a go."
"You don't need to give it a go. You need to take a chance." Caroline never thought she would use the same expression Klaus said to her, but it was the right thing to say. Eva looked thoughtful, but not convinced, and Caroline knew she had to revert back to plan B.
"Lets forget about that for now. Its New Years, right? And what did you want to do, Beks?"
"Go out?" Rebekah smiled, but then frowned as she recalled the time. "Perhaps we can bring the party to us." She said, navigating the laptop with her new technological skills and choosing an upbeat song to play.
Caroline grinned, taking a swig of tequila. "Lets dance!"
Elijah did take a stroll as his brother suggested. He walked down the middle of the road as the snow started to fall softly around him. He could hear other parties in other neighbourhoods and other homes while everyone celebrated in the final hour before the new year.
Another year on this Earth to add to the thousand he had walked alone. Granted, Niklaus had brought back the family, had even made it stronger as they united against the threat that had arisen in the shape of their own parents. Niklaus had even reunited voluntarily with his siblings due to the compassionate magic of the divine Miss Caroline Forbes. The girl changed his brother for the better, and he somehow brought out a stronger, more radiant side to her, and he wished them well. However, it rubbed against him in a brutal way. Niklaus had always lived by the motto of not caring or feeling, and yet here he was, clearly doing both. Even if Niklaus hadn't become aware of them, even if his brother had not spoke to Caroline of his own motto or the fact that he was breaking it, it still posed a question to Elijah that did not concern anyone else.
Should Elijah continue to follow it?
His brother himself had admitted this morning that he had been wrong to judge emotions so harshly, and that perhaps Elijah was the one in the right. Yet feeling and caring had brought him nothing but pain, and he had closed himself off to such trivial matters.
Perhaps he should continue to follow the motto.
And just as Elijah concluded that train of thought, he came upon a woman huddled in her coat and leaning against the streetlight, illuminated in the dark by the patch of yellow light she stood beneath. A glowing cigarette flickered between her lips as she sucked in a smoky breath. Despite his normal rules and guidelines, Elijah felt drawn towards her. He blamed it on the fact that the company at the house was far worse, and that he needed to talk to someone nice, normal and human.
Boy was he wrong.
Plus he knew that smoking would ruin human lungs, and he shouldn't let such a lovely young thing go to waste. A noble knight through and through, trying to rescue the damsel in distress.
Boy was he wrong twice over.
"They will kill you, you know." Elijah commented as he came to a halt beside the woman.
Two chocolate brown eyes locked onto his and he felt something twinge inside his ribcage.
"Fair point." The woman conceded in velvety tones. "Its lucky that I don't have a death wish then."
"They will still kill you regardless of wishing it or otherwise." Elijah countered.
The corner of her mouth tugged up in a lopsided smile that the thousand year old vampire found instantly charming.
"You've convinced me." She said, tossing the cigarette to the ground and flattening it under the ball of her foot on the damp pavement.
"Good." Elijah said, for once at a loss for words. He didn't know what could be said next, but he found himself wishing that he did have something to say. The woman looked at him, not expectantly, but with curiosity, as if he interested her but she didn't necessarily anticipate a response.
After a few beats, he nodded and continued to walk down the street.
He was nearly twenty paces away when she called out softly after him, the sound carrying through the snow covered streets.
"Would you like some company? I could use a walk with fresh air."
"By all means, please allow me to accompany you," Elijah said, turning back. She was already closer than he thought, and she looked at him with a twinkle in her eye.
"I don't need you to 'accompany' me. I'm not a woman who needs a chaperone."
Her gumption was refreshing. "Then, please, allow me to enjoy the pleasure of your company." He said, earning a real smile.
"The pleasure is all mine."
The two walked along the snow covered streets together.
Klaus and Kol finished up their game and their game-plan talk and walked up the stairs to find the three girls dancing around the living room on the couches, singing along with the music.
"Are we in some alternate world, or is this really happening?" Kol asked his brother quietly, waiting for the girls to notice them. They didn't.
"This is happening." Klaus confirmed.
The brothers watched Caroline and Eva pose with each other as Rebekah took photos. In between poses, they danced and laughed. Klaus and Kol couldn't take their eyes off them as they swayed.
"We're going to Hell, aren't we." Kol murmured to his brother again, and Klaus shook his head and elbowed his younger brother.
"Get a grip."
"Hello brother dears." Rebekah greeted, aiming the camera at them. The two were immediately on the other side of the room away from the lens. "Well, you two are no fun."
"Caroline, you're beautiful, and I'll happily allow you to do what you want to a point, but I've had enough." Klaus said bluntly, running his thumb over the knuckles of her hand as he held it. "Shall we take a walk?"
"Oh, just a little while longer..." Caroline tried to be strong willed, but she spied Kol and Eva talking and her resolve broke. "You're right. Lets walk. But just one more minute."
Klaus sighed, a growl present in his breath. "I'll be timing it."
Caroline flashed over to Rebekah and pressed something into her palm.
"What's this, darling?" She frowned at Caroline, who looked at her knowingly.
"A little late Christmas present. Its already paid for, so you can make that long distance call." She smiled as Rebekah frowned gently in a different type of confusion.
"How did you know? No one else knows. Not any of them."
"I just know." Caroline said, seeing Rebekah light up. "Happy New Year." She hugged the Original Blonde, and quickly joined Klaus again while Rebekah took the present to the other room.
Kol and Eva were already nowhere to be found.
Elijah and the woman walked and talked along the street for the rest of the hour leading up to midnight. He only just realized when the people in the houses around them came out to the street to see the fireworks.
"Did you need to get back to your party?"
"I'm sure they'll be fine without me." She chuckled.
"Surely your friends must be worried." He pressed, concerned.
"I doubt it." She replied, sidling closer conspiratorially. "I was actually gate crashing."
"I see." Elijah replied, not judgmental as he usually would be, but intrigued. "How didn't you have plans for New Years Eve?"
"How didn't you?" The woman shot back. "Some fancy stranger like you roaming the streets at night, and you didn't have other plans?"
"Not any that particularly caught my interest." Elijah replied, and then recalled that he hadn't exchanged names with the woman who was currently holding his attention.
"Forgive me, I rudely did not introduce myself. My name is Elijah."
He watched her carefully to see if his name brought about any change, any slight fear that would be present in a vampire who knew of the Originals, but he saw none. He still couldn't tell if she were human or not, but he assumed the former.
The woman nodded with a smile. "Lovely to meet you, Elijah."
"Might I ask for your name?"
"You might."
"What is your name?" He asked, curiosity piqued as he went along with her game.
"Nothing of great importance."
"Please," He said simply, and she glanced at him, then to the people around them as they counted down into the New Year.
10...
9...
8...
"Hello?"
"Hey, its me." Rebekah smiled at the sound of the person on the other end of the line.
"Bekah! I didn't even know if you'd be able to call. How...?"
"Caroline." She shook her head. "I don't even know how she knew, but..."
"That girl is a genius. I owe her one."
Rebekah sighed. "I know. I owe her many times over."
"How is your New Years going?"
"Oh, fine, good...to be honest, dreadful without you." Rebekah bit her lip. "I miss you."
"I miss you too, Rebekah."
She smiled like the lovestruck girl she secretly was.
7...
6...
5...
"Kol, you have just a little while till the New Year." Eva reminded him.
"I know." Kol hedged. He had actually planned for this moment, had flirted and seduced to get to it, but now he was here, his words ran dry.
Eva looked up at him, half expecting something, but knowing that she ought to be expecting the worst rather than the best.
"Right. I assumed as much – "
"Just give me a damn second, Evangeline." Kol snapped, and Eva huffed indignantly but remained where she was.
"Eva...don't go. Stay."
"Why should I?"
"Because I'm admittedly the best lay you've had in your life, and you're obviously mine."
She raised her eyebrows. "That's exactly what I expected from you, Kol. That's why I'm leaving." She turned, but he was already there in front of her.
"I wasn't done." Kol sucked in a breath. "You should stay because you don't have anywhere else to go where you feel this happy, this alive, this free. Because this is the family that we've all chosen. Because there's something that keeps us coming back together, and it isn't just the mind-blowing sex or the arguments or the teasing and fighting and talking. Because I belong with you and you belong with me. Because I want you here for everything you bring to me."
It was the most honest thing Kol had said in years, and Eva was reduced to just breathing, and even that was too much to concentrate on.
Kol started to panic at her silence. "That clearly wasn't the right thing to say. Shit. Umm, because you like the Mikaelson houses, and you like beating me in chess games and you like the coffee my family buys and – "
Eva shut him up with a kiss as the seconds ticked down to midnight.
4...
3...
2...
Klaus and Caroline walked through the large garden out the back that had been covered by a soft blanket of snow.
"No more interruptions. You're mine and I just want you to be mine for the rest of tonight and this morning. And potentially many days after that." Klaus said possessively, making Caroline smile even as she tried to hold it back.
"You know, possessiveness isn't an attractive trait."
"And yet somehow you find it attractive on me."
Caroline had no come back for that, and Klaus smirked to himself.
"I hope Kol and Eva worked out everything..." Caroline said, and Klaus caught her attention with a growl.
"I'm sure they'll be fine, sweetheart. You've done enough to help them."
"Jealous of the lack of attention on you?" She asked sweetly.
"Naturally. You've spoilt me with your attentions." Klaus said, and there was slightly too much of an innuendo on the word attentions. Rather than give into the heated smolder Klaus sent her way, Caroline scooped up a handful of snow and tossed it at the hybrid. It powdered his shoulder, but she knew from how the look in his eyes changed that she had started a war.
Caroline shrieked and ran, dodging behind trees as Klaus attempted to pelt her with snowballs. She threw several back over her shoulder towards him but only a few made their mark, and all too soon he tackled her, sending her falling lightly to the ground as he held his weight off her just enough to trap her in the snow.
Caroline giggled helplessly against him like the girl she still was, and Klaus fed off her radiance, joy and laughter that made her practically glow. He lay down next to her in the snow, but she closed the small gap between them, burrowing into his side.
"I never thought I'd end up here." Caroline said.
"What, in the snow? You started that." Klaus answered, and she laughed again.
"No, I mean here. With your crazy siblings and you, halfway across the world. Mostly the with you part."
Klaus studied her face as if what he might find there could be life changing.
"Would you change anything?"
"No, never." Caroline said instantly and honestly. He watched her watch him, the snowflakes dusting across her nose and eyelashes.
1...
Happy New Year
The woman brushed a soft, chaste kiss across Elijah's lips as he stood stock still and surprised with unknowing humans around them.
"Gwen. My name is Gwen. Happy New Year, Elijah."
"Happy New Year, Gwen."
.
"Will I see you soon?"
"Of course. I'll see you as soon as I can."
"Can't wait. Happy New Year, Rebekah."
"Happy New Year."
.
Kol and Eva didn't bother saying Happy New Year to each other. They were otherwise preoccupied, and Eva didn't have the heart to tell him that she could technically leave since it wasn't till at least ten minutes after midnight that they fell into Kol's bed together.
.
Klaus and Caroline watched the fireworks explode in the sky above them, tinting them in colours far too bright to be watercolour, but far too light to be paint.
Klaus had seen fireworks many more times than Caroline, and so he elected instead to watch her and her reactions, memorizing how the light cast shadows and illuminated her face, and how her eyes danced at the sight of the fireworks that flickered away to nothing as they showered down like rain.
Eventually she looked over to see him watching her. Her questioning look prompted his own speech.
"You know, I always believed Elijah to be the foolish one, what with all of those emotions getting in the way, and all wasted on someone like Katarina Petrova. Kol was lustful, but not foolish, and I did not bother to get attached. And yet here we are, going to all lengths and being ridiculous to get in your favor."
"And our pants." She added cheekily.
"Naturally. But it's more. We care for you to stick around. We want you for more than a few mere hours. And that is why we are foolish, for we stake our lives on the small chance that we might actually succeed in making you stay. And Elijah, in that regard, is the wisest of us all, for not only limiting himself and not having someone for the time being, but for understanding that emotions are strong and you must embrace them to be strong, or they will overpower you."
Silence.
Klaus wondered if he had given the game away before he had even had a chance to realize it for himself.
But then Caroline kissed him ever so sweetly, as a thank you for opening up, and as a reassurance.
This was a new year. A new chance. And a new promise.
I will stay. I will stay with you. Always.