ECLIPSE.
[ "CAN YOU STAND THE RAIN" ]
"THAT'S A LOT OF COFFEE. SOMEONE DIDN'T SLEEP WELL LAST NIGHT..."
Camila half-acknowledged Ric's remark with a little quirk of the side of her mouth. "Let's just say there was a lot on my mind..." she sighed, taking a large gulp of the steaming bitter liquid, gladly accepting the way it stung her tongue on the way down.
"Hey, would you come over to the table please?" Ric asked softly, nodding over in the direction of her friends. "I think everyone wants to apologise about yesterday..."
Camila at last turned to face the table she had been avoiding, only now eyeing it somewhat cautiously. Admittedly she was only checking whether one particular person was seated there; a certain Gemini witch who had just so happened to confess his feelings to her the previous night. Just thinking of it made nausea overcome her every sense. After all what was she to say to him now? She had spent a long 12 hours overthinking all of the catastrophes that could come from every different response she could give him and, frankly, she thought her only solution may be to become voluntarily mute. Luckily as she scanned the table she noticed that her period of muteness may be able to be postponed given Kai was nowhere to be found. Though in the exact moment that the thought registered she became quickly concerned.
"Where's Kai?"
It didn't escape Camila how Ric's eyes widened in surprise before he quickly neutralised his expression, presumably not wanting to provoke her any further than they already had. "I don't know," he shrugged off calmly. "Must just not be hungry..."
But of course Camila knew that Kai was always hungry and he would never turn down a free breakfast. Maybe he's avoiding me, she thought and sighed deeply, her shoulders slumping in the process. She felt as though she could just weep at the sheer number of things going on in her head presently. The sickening mix of anxiety from the events that were to happen that day and the thought of having to see Kai after the previous night was so potent that she began to think of a little vial she knew was in her dorm bedside table back home. Luckily the fact that she was always around someone when in New Orleans and the fact she didn't have anything with her meant that option was a non-option after all but the thought startled her nonetheless.
She quickly internally reprimanded herself. She couldn't let herself fall back into these habits, not now of all times.
She figured she may as well heed Bonnie's recent advice and fall on her next best solution; talking to someone. In order to do that, however, she knew she had to make amends.
As she pulled a chair out at the table the rest of her friends sat at it grew eerily quiet. It was almost as though she was a parent returning to the table, interrupting their children's teen gossip. The silence was awkward, that much was obvious. The sounds of teaspoons clinking around the perimeter of mugs, the slow chewing of toast and knives scratching up warm plates. Yet despite the unbearable tension of it all, no one seemed to want to be the first to speak. Camila waited patiently, sipping on her coffee, knowing one of them would have to speak eventually.
"Well this is awkward," Damon says at last sending a glance around the table with a wry smile. Elena glares at him sternly, kicking him under the table.
At last Tyler clears his throat, setting his knife and fork down with a dissonant clatter. "I'm sorry, Cami," he sighs. "I shouldn't have tried to stir shit up with Kai..."
"Same here. It was a total dick move after everything you've done to get us here, Cami," Ric says with a firm nod of agreement.
"I'm sorry too," Matt chimes in.
Camila gives them all appreciative smiles, accepting their sincere apologies. The table's attention all seems to simultaneously turn to Damon who they look expectantly at. He simply grits his teeth, playing with the corner of tablecloth in front of him to avoid everyone's glares before at last he grunts, throwing his hands up in the air in surrender.
"I'm sorry that I attacked him yesterday," Damon says at last but there's an obvious edge to his voice. He purses his lips, trying to suppress himself from saying anything further but he fails, continuing agitatedly saying, "But don't you think the fact that he tried to kill me is pretty telling of the fact that it makes no sense that he's here?"
"It's not like I let him off easy for what he did, Damon," Camila sighs, her words still gentle despite her frustration.
"Really? Because it kinda feels like as of late Kai keeps getting free passes from you," Damon exclaims.
"That is not true-"
"Yes it is, Cami," he interrupts her with a shout. Everyone at the table jumps a little and Elena looks around, conscious of the fact that Damon's volume has drawn unwanted attention to their table. She puts a hand on his arm to try and calm him down but it's unsuccessful. He continues. "You jump through hoops to make sure Kai, of all people, is safe and sound,"
"Well I'm sorry, Damon, but it's in my nature to care about other people..."
"People like Kai?"
"Yes, people like Kai," Camila snaps back instantly. Damon stares at Camila in disbelief whilst she simply takes a long sip of her coffee in an attempt to calm herself before setting her mug down. "Plus, I don't recall you hating that so much whenever you need me to get a favour from him,"
"That's because I thought the weird thing going on between you two was one-sided!" Damon slams a hand down on the table and everyone is starting to grow a little flustered under the heavy gaze of everyone else in the restaurant and how Damon's screams have sliced through the background sound, with everyone around them suddenly falling silent. "Now I'm not so sure..."
Camila's breathing heavily, disappointment ridden over her features. Only when she tears her eyes away from Damon does she realise how everyone is looking at her. Not only the staff and fellow breakfast-eaters who try and be subtle about the fact that they've all been listening to the table for the past five minutes even though it's glaringly obvious, but even her own friends glance back at her a little expectantly as though they're waiting to hear her deny it.
Camila stands quickly from her seat, the unpleasant squeak of the chair legs against the floor not helping the number of eyes on her. She throws her napkin down on the table, the only sign of anger she's allowed herself to show thus far. She leans in towards him, obviously hurt. "You know I don't actually enjoy shouting at people unlike you, Damon, so I think I'll go before I'm forced to,"
And so she hurries out of the restaurant, watching as all of the other hotel guests shoot a little glance at her as she passes before resuming their breakfast chatter.
"Great work, Damon," Elena scoffs with a shake of her head that is echoed by Bonnie. They stand quickly, hurrying after their friend who had already made it out and to the elevator in record time. "Cami, wait," Camila puts her hand out at the sound of Elena, holding the elevator doors open as Bonnie and Elena rush in.
"Don't worry, I'm fine," Camila reassures but judging by their excessively sympathetic pouts they clearly don't believe her.
"You know that we're all sorry, right? Damon is too, he just won't show it," Elena reasons.
"Well, of all people, he should be the one saying sorry. If you can both say it when you've hardly done anything wrong then..." Camila shrugs. "I just don't want tonight to go wrong all because I caused some stupid fight..."
"You didn't cause this, You did the right thing yesterday," Bonnie says quickly, running her hand over Camila's upper arm in a comforting touch.
Camila smiles at her friends gratefully with all of the strength she can muster. If she was being honest she felt like a walking sack of nerves, she could barely stomach her coffee and after that altercation with Damon she was worried that this day could take an even worse course than the previous one had.
She shook her head with a huff as the three girls exited the elevator together, heading down towards their rooms. "I just need to think about anything other than what a total catastrophe yesterday was..."
"In that case I might as well bring up my current pressing problem," Elena sighed melodramatically as they came up to their adjacent rooms, leaning on their doors. "Is it stupid of me to be concerned about the fact that I don't know what to wear?"
Camila and Bonnie both let out lighthearted chuckles. "I mean a friend-rescue operation disguised as a Christmas themed charity fundraiser doesn't have too specific a dress code," Bonnie joked.
"As long as you don't wear anything that would overshadow Caroline," Camila added with a little smile. "Then we'd stand no chance at getting her back,"
"I mean, same goes for Stefan. We know what a drama queen he is..." Bonnie quipped and the three girls laughed much more heartily, the thoughts of Damon and his argumentative nature now in the back of their minds.
Unfortunately the lightheartedness was soon replaced by another crippling subject matter as Elena grew a little more serious, her attention falling back to Cami. "Are you sure you're ready to see him tonight?" she questioned gently, referring through 'he' to the elusive Stefan which Camila knew she only did when she believed he was really off-the-rails.
Camila crossed her hand over her chest, leaning against the doorway of her room. "Of course I am. I always did find him funnier with his humanity off," she brushed off drily. "What about you?"
"I've had a fair amount of experience with no humanity Stefan, I think I'll manage..." Elena smiled humorlessly.
"What did he say to you when you met him at Caroline's?" Bonnie questioned, looking up at Camila.
"Oh you know, just the usual. That I'm a poor substitute for Elena, that I'm pathetic for caring about him, essentially that he hates my guts..."
"God, Cami, that is awful,"
"But you know he doesn't mean it, right?" Bonnie interjected quickly.
"I know," Camila's eyes wandered around the floral-wallpaper clad walls of the corridor as she began to get lost in her thoughts. "But it does have me thinking about what I'm even doing with him, you know? Things have just felt different lately anyway..."
Bonnie and Elena perked up out of interest upon hearing that.
"Why's that?" Elena questioned.
Camila parted her lips, about to answer when the heavy sound of boots hitting the ground, heading in their direction, stopped her. She looked expectantly at the end of the corridor and sure enough Kai was the one to turn in, coming straight towards them. If Camila had seen correctly it almost seemed like Kai hesitated for a moment upon seeing her, stepping a little slower and his inhale becoming a little heavier, but he recovered within a second, his usual boyishly charming smile back on his face.
"Ladies," he greeted them with a nod, swinging his room key around his pointer finger as he approached them with a little bounce in his step.
Camila hugs her large grey hoodie a little tighter around her body, forcing her eyes to focus anywhere but Kai. She finds herself at a loss for breath which only perplexes her more as she can't understand why and soon enough there's a tornado of panic whirling around in her head.
"And where have you been?" Elena interrogates as Kai arrives at his room door, directly across from theirs.
"I had breakfast with Klaus and Kol," he says casually, too focused on unlocking his room door to notice how Bonnie, Elena and Camila are all shocked into silence, wide eyes and mouths agape.
"Y-You did...?" Bonnie stumbles out at last.
"Yeah he invited me and you don't say no to Klaus Mikaelson," Kai shrugs, turning back to face the girls with one hand holding his door open as he lingers in the doorway. "Plus he's so much fun,"
"Kai, you need to be more careful..." Elena reprimands lightly.
"That was me being careful,"
Bonnie rolls her eyes and silence sets over them for a few seconds as everyone seems to wait for Camila to say something. She stands, tracing the patterns in the carpeted floor with her foot, completely oblivious to everyone's eyes on her.
At last Bonnie asks, "What? No scolding from you? I'm surprised..."
Camila just shrugs with a tight-lipped smile, her eyes focusing intently on Bonnie as she avoids looking at Kai at all costs. This doesn't exactly slip past Kai who himself is trying very hard not to look at her, only allowing himself to glance at her every few seconds, mostly because he just can't help himself.
"Anyway," Kai breathes, finally drawing Camila's eyes to him as she figures this is him suggesting he's about to leave. They hold eye contact for a brief moment before both inhaling a deep, shaky breath. "I'll see you ladies out on the dance floor," he winks, shooting a smile at Bonnie and Elena before he looks quickly at Camila, his smirk softening, before retreating back into his room.
Camila's eyes are still on his closed door, the corner of her lower lip between her teeth, before she's snapped out of her trance by Elena's forced cough to get her attention. She looks at Elena, still clearly dazed.
"You okay?" Elena questions, almost laughing.
"Yeah, never better," Camila shrugs before tugging open her own room door and quickly shooting inside. Elena and Bonnie exchange perplexed glances.
"Tell me you sensed that?" Bonnie scoffs, eyes still wide in confusion.
"I sensed it alright..."
-
Camila had always found the task of getting ready incredibly anxiety-inducing. Something about the anticipation of an event always manifested in its worst form in the act of getting ready for it. In this case she found it positively stupid that she was having to put on a dress and heels all in the hopes that she would be able to get her friends to turn their humanity back on.
Not to mention she wasn't exactly a fan of this dress - a black mini dress with a lace-up corset kind of front that was pushing her boobs up in a way that she found slightly distasteful as an outfit for trying to get her friends to turn their humanity back on - but Bonnie had bought it for her and she couldn't exactly refuse it given her limited options. To make matters worse it was particularly irritating for her that she just couldn't seem to get the top half of her zipper to zip up by herself. She'd contorted herself into all kinds of positions to try and reach the zip and tug it up those final few inches but it was no use, she simply couldn't reach for it.
At last she heard a knock on the door and she huffed gratefully, expecting it to be Elena who had promised to help her with her hair. "Come in," she called out, still standing in front of her mirror, her back to it as she furiously tried to get her zipper up.
The door opened and through the reflection of the mirror Camila came to realise it wasn't Elena at all. Rather it was Kai Parker looking particularly handsome in a suit. She immediately spun around to face him, feeling her entire body tense up as she took him in fully.
He'd dressed down the suit a little, no tie and the top button of his shirt undone, he was freshly shaved - which Camila had to admit she was a real fan of, it was probably something about it that reminded her of their prison world days - and his ring-clad hands were now loosely shoved into his pockets making the whole look effortless. She'd seen Kai in a suit before, she remembered it clearly and fondly, but his much larger more muscular build was a new sight to behold. One she was certainly enjoying. Conscious of how long she'd been staring she quickly shook her head, snapping herself out of it. "Hi," she spoke at last but there was an obvious waver in his voice,
"Hi," he responded smiling. He stepped a little further into the room, closing the door behind him. Camila felt herself grow warm at just the realisation of being enclosed in this hotel room with him and so she stepped towards the dresser table, busying herself with putting on her jewellery as he readied himself to speak.
"Listen, I just wanted to apologise," he said at last in almost a full breath, clearly like he'd been holding in the words. "I shouldn't have sprung all of that on you last night. You know with everything going on and how stressed out you are already, it was kind of selfish of me to-"
"It wasn't selfish," Camila said so suddenly that it seemed to even shock Kai. For the first time this day she found herself actively maintaining eye contact with him as she spoke, knowing she had to make clear how completely sincere she was being. "And I know how hard that must have been for you to say," She steps towards him a little, her heels rhythmically hitting the wooden floor as she moved. "I just wish I could offer you some kind of response but with everything going on..."
"Don't worry about it, seriously..." Kai says, shaking his head with a smile. Camila can tell, despite his fervent attempt to suggest he didn't need a response from her, that he desperately longed for one. That he really wanted to hear her say it back. They hold each other's gaze a little longer before Kai glances elsewhere.
He catches sight of Camila's half undone dress in the mirror and gestures to it. "You need help?"
Camila, so completely disoriented, takes a long second to process what he means. "Um, yeah, thank you," she exclaims at last, turning around in front of the full-length mirror.
Kai takes a few steps forward until at last he is behind her. They're both well aware this is the closest they've been since the previous night and the tension of the moment doesn't escape them. Kai reaches his hand out hesitantly just before he makes contact with her body, almost consciously slowing himself down to allow himself to appreciate the warmth radiating off of her. She tenses as he gently glides the zipper upwards, noticing how he grazes bare skin whenever possible as he does so. He hesitates again at the top, reluctant to let go before finally releasing the zipper. Just as Camila is about to turn around, expecting him to move away, he reaches out in front of her. His hand moves over her shoulder, tracing the length of her collarbone before moving to centre the pendant of her necklace, the same necklace - Bonnie's Grams' lucky charm - that he had done the same thing to before in the prison world when putting it on for her. The thought made her lips turn up slightly as her eyes are trained on him in the reflection of the mirror.
He finally pulls back. They both released long laborious exhales. Camila turns quickly, not realising how close it leaves them.
"Thank you..." she mumbles, her eyes flickering between his face and the ground.
"No problem..." he smiles down at her. She looks briefly at his lips. He looks briefly at hers. And then he smiles a little bitterly, almost laughing as though he's laughing at himself, and then he steps back a little.
He lets his eyes scan over her entire body shamelessly and the smile softens. "You look beautiful," he says so softly that it almost escapes her. It's not like any of his usual inappropriate remarks, no teasing smirk or suggestiveness in his tone, but rather a little heartfelt in the way he says it which sends butterflies through Camila's stomach.
She practically snorts at the compliment, thinking of how she'd despised the dress and how she looked in it when she first put it on. "I don't know about that-"
"No, really, you do," he stops her quickly. Camila feels her cheeks heat, her face unconsciously dropping to face the ground as she grows a little embarrassed.
Her lips part, she's about to say something, when there's another knock on the door and before Camila can give a response, Elena pokes her head through the door. Camila notices how her eyes widen when she realises Kai is in the room.
"Sorry! I'm sorry!" Elena exclaims quickly, popping her head back out like she had just seen something she wasn't supposed to. Camila just rolls her eyes.
"It's fine, Elena, you can come in..." Camila laughs a little and Elena slowly enters back in, pressing her lips together to try and contain her grin. She holds her hands up, wordlessly saying a sorry to Kai who just grins a little sheepishly.
"I'll see you out there," Kai says at last with a brisk nod which Camila returns.
"See ya," Camila says her goodbye, watching Kai begin to leave before she calls out after him saying, "And don't get too carried away with your part of the plan," she jokes, trying to lighten the mood and hopefully dispel some of the tension to avoid Elena getting too suspicious.
Kai chuckles lightly. "I'll do my best," he shrugs. "I have been working on my self control after all..." he adds a little lowly, knowing exactly what Camila what effect that would have on Camila, before he leaves with a breathless Camila in his wake. Camila gulps, her attention returning to Elena who has a suggestive smile on her face.
"Elena, don't..."
"I wasn't gonna say anything,"
Camila just shoots her friend a look of disbelief as they head over to the dresser table. Camila seats herself down whilst Elena reaches for the straighteners, beginning to straighten the waves out of Camila's blunt bob. It's silent for a few moments but Elena can't seem to wipe the smile off of her face.
"Okay, what is it?" Camila concedes at last, obviously frustrated.
"Nothing, it's just..." Elena begins, looking at Camila through the mirror. "I think everyone has a pretty good idea of why he came to New Orleans..."
"First Damon and now you too?" Camila grumbles a little and Elena softens, her smirk easing into a gentle smile.
"You can deny it all you want but I see how he is around you," she admits gently but Camila still seems a little unsure. After all she had just been scolded by Damon a few hours earlier for even caring about Kai at all. Elena, aware of this still lingering on her friend's mind, tried to reason with her. "I get why Damon acted the way he did," she says, her attention moving between Camila's hair and looking at her in the mirror. "Everyone knows Kai as this total psycho who murdered his whole family, who trapped you in the prison world and, as he proved yesterday, wouldn't exactly hesitate to hurt one of us-"
"I hope this is headed in a good direction, Elena," Camila almost laughs and Elena just shoots her a quirk upwards of her lips.
"What I'm trying to say is that you can see why everyone isn't exactly Kai's biggest fan. But I can also tell that you don't see him that way," she continues on. "But he's also still someone who's been emotionally unavailable for most of his life and I don't want to see you hurt," Elena warns and Camila nods. It wasn't exactly something Camila hadn't thought of before. As a matter of fact it was probably the first thing she'd thought of when Kai had said what he said the previous night. "I'm just telling you to be careful. But I like believing there's good in everyone and I can see how you bring that out of him..."
Elena finishes up with Camila's hair, standing behind her and placing her hands on her friend's shoulders as she observes her work proudly in the mirror. Camila stands up, turning to face Elena. "Thank you," she mumbles. "For understanding..."
Elena just grins. "I think I might be the world leading expert on this kind of thing," And the pair of them laugh knowingly. "Speaking of, I think I'm gonna go head down and check in with Damon..." Elena heads towards the door. "You all good here?"
"Yeah, I'll be down in a second," Camila nods as she scans quickly over the room, making a little effort to clean up the catastrophic mess she'd created in the process of getting ready.
Elena opens the door, about to leave, before she turns back around with a playful smile. "By the way, you look totally hot..."
"Get out, Elena..."
"Seriously, the dress shows a nice bit of boob!"
"Bye, Elena!"
"Kai must have loved it..."
And at that remark Camila picks up one of the throw pillows on the bed and lobs it at where Elena stands at the door. Elena dodges, laughing uncontrollably as she finally leaves, Camila shaking her head at her despite not being able to wipe the grin off of her face.
After a couple more minutes of cleaning, Camila checks the time and figures she ought to head down to make sure everyone else is ready to go. She gives herself a once over in the mirror before opening the door and heading out.
Of course, as luck would have it, Kai just so happened to be exiting his room at the same time. They exchanged little awkward smiles upon seeing each other before walking down towards the elevator side-by-side, neither of them saying anything. They stood waiting for the elevator in silence for what felt like an eternity. Camila could have sworn the elevator never normally took this long, it seemed like the universe perhaps playing a cruel joke on her. At last it arrived and they both hurried inside.
Kai walked in first, heading right to the back of the elevator allowing himself to lean against the back wall, his feet kicked out and hands shoved in his suit trouser pockets. Camila thinks her safest option is to put as much distance between them as she can in this confined space so she stands across from him at the front of the elevator, facing the doors so she can't see him. Not seeing him however does not in any way dispel the intensity of his presence nor does it mean she's not aware of how his gaze is fixed to the back of her head. She breathes in heavily, her entire chest shifting upwards, collarbones protruding, as she does so, before releasing a steady exhale. The elevator at last begins to move. Neither of them say anything but Camila is well aware they both want to. She's aware of her cheeks heating just from being around Kai and she's equally aware this has most likely caused a hint of a smirk to light Kai's face. God, what she would give to kiss him right now until that smirk was wiped cleanly off of his face-
Her thought is abruptly interrupted as she feels him shift forward. She doesn't move her firm gaze set on the elevator doors ahead of her, instead she glances to the side subtly through her peripherals. Kai stares straight ahead also but Camila can feel his proximity getting closer and closer until the heat radiating off of his body is practically serving to warm her up. Then she feels his hand brush hers lightly. She wonders if it's accidental at first, his knuckles finding their way inside her loosely open hand, but then it happens again and this time he doesn't pull away. Her hand flexes open, allowing his own free passage and his fingers brush her open palm making her breath hitch involuntarily. She turns her hand slightly, allowing it to face his hand almost as though she might take his hand in her own. His fingers trail all the way from the connection between her wrist down her palm to her fingers. He's about to intertwine their fingers when the ring of the elevator signifying they'd arrived at their floor interrupts them, the doors sliding open, causing Camila to quickly pull her hand away. She steps out of the elevator, heading towards her friends, unaware of how Kai trails behind her with his fist a little clenched, almost as though he's holding onto all traces of her contact left on him.
Camila clears her throat, trying to return to a level-head as she falls into the circle of her friends. "Everyone ready?" she asks and they respond with a series of unenthused, certainly worried, nods. Everyone begins to make their way out despondently, heads hung low and an awkward tension in the air.
Camila sighs, looking between her obviously solemn friends. "Wait," she says quickly, stopping them before they all head for the exit of the hotel. " Before we go out. I know things haven't been great between all of us recently," She casts a little look at Damon who quickly averts his eyes elsewhere. "But...for a lot of us this group is the closest thing to family that we have. And I couldn't imagine my life without any of you in it...no matter how difficult you make it," Everyone chuckles a little lightly at the remark. "And I want that to be the thing all of us remember tonight. Because we need to work together, as a team, if we stand any chance of this working...
Everyone nods firmly.
"She's right, we need to stick together tonight. No deviating from the plan and no personal agendas getting in the way," Bonnie adds, shooting Camila a supportive glance which makes her lips quirk up a little.
"Let's go..."
-
Safe to say Mikaelson's never half-ass an event. The back garden - which was perhaps an understatement for the acres of land it really was - of the Mikaelson mansion had been decorated to perfection. The fake snow breezing across the level grass, the festive winter themed bunting and the perfectly curated auction pieces. Not to mention the massive Christmas tree at the center of it all that even made Camila feel a tad bit festive. If Camila was being honest it looked like the perfect event, something even in the calibre of a Caroline-Forbes-run-event.
"So how am I faring so far?"
Camila turned at the familiar voice, seeing Klaus indulging in a glass of champagne, handing one to her as he came to stand beside her, the pair of them observing the beauty of the event from the steps that overlooked the entire garden.
"You've executed your part of the plan much better than I thought you would..." Camila admits, taking a heavy gulp of champagne in aid of easing her nerves.
"It's modelled after the Winter Wonderland Charity Event you have back in Mystic Falls. I know Caroline could hardly resist such an occasion..."
If Camila wasn't talking to Klaus Mikaleson she might have opted to tease him for the fact that he'd remembered such an event, perhaps because he spent the majority of his time there with Caroline, or even the fact that he seemed to completely forget to mention Stefan at all. Of course she was talking to Klaus Mikaelson and she was no idiot so she decided to not press on that subject for the time being.
"It's clever," she conceded with a shrug. She felt another thing come to her mind and she couldn't help herself. "Did you have breakfast with Kai this morning?"
"I certainly did, Kol joined us as well in fact,"
"Oh..." Camila nodded, trying to conceal her obvious confusion and concern.
"Nothing to worry about, Venus, just a little light chatter. The boy is entertaining but he certainly does love to talk," Klaus laughs, taking another swig of his champagne between chuckles. "And, of course, I had to check his intentions with you..."
"You what?!" Camila exclaimed, almost choking down her champagne.
"Oh relax, love. I was merely repaying you for all of the witchy favours you granted me," Klaus smirked. "And I have to say after an afternoon of deliberation I think I approve..."
Camila grew quickly flustered, her lips parting but words completely escaping her as she tried to hide her heating cheeks. "J-just focus....please," Camila had stuttered out before descending the steps and letting herself head deeper into the event, further away from an amused Klaus.
She'd downed her glass of champagne as she walked and quickly went in search of another, relieved at last when she located the bar at the far end of the garden. She loitered by there a little longer finishing another glass of champagne before she reached for another.
"Easy there. Take it from me champagne and being agitated and supernatural are not a good mix..."
Camila turned, eyes wide in surprise that she'd been caught red-handed by a particular brunette. "Hayley?"
"Don't blame me, she was desperate to help out..." Elijah added, coming up behind Hayley, taking the champagne from Camila's hand and putting it back down on the bar top before escorting both ladies a few safe steps away from the bar to avoid Camila going back for more.
"Well I appreciate it," Camila nods fervently. "And you look great..."
"What can I say? I always do..." Hayley smirks. "I don't really know how I can help. I might not have much luck with Caroline and her emotions but I figured if Stefan goes rabid I could take him..."
"Thank you again, Hayley," Camila smiles gratefully.
The three all look out over at the fundraiser again. Most people who aren't aware of what's about to go down seem to be having a great time, that's for certain, so at least if all else fails they know they've thrown a great party.
"So what are we supposed to do until they get here?"
"Find something to bid on I guess..." Camila shrugs. "Or you can have a little slow dance, lots of people-" Camila stops short as her eyes find the dance floor, more particularly a certain someone on the dance floor. Camila involuntarily feels her stomach turn over as her gaze fixes on Kai and Rebekah who slow-dance together, smiling and giggling a little as they do so. Camila clenches her jaw before releasing and continuing. "Lots of people are. Clearly..."
Camila's attention is still too focused on Kai and Rebekah for her to notice how Hayley and Elijah beside her exchange a knowing glance. Elijah steps forward, determined to take her mind elsewhere. "Would you like a dance, Camila?" Elijah offers politely, extending an open hand for her.
Camila finally looks back at Elijah though she finds her eyes wander to a certain Gemini witch every few seconds. "Um, sure, thank you..." Camila forces a smile, taking Elijah's hand as he leads her to the dance floor, throwing a glance back at Hayley who just raises her glass up in approval.
They make their way to the center of the dance floor, Kai and Rebekah only a metre or two away. Camila has one final extended look at them before she turns to Elijah who is already looking down at her with a little smile. "You must excuse my sister," he begins, still grinning as they sway together gently. "When she sets her mind to something she can be hard to dissuade..."
Camila scoffs a little, her grip on Elijah's hand unconsciously tightening. "Well Matt's not out here yet so let's hope she sets her mind to him once he's here," she grumbles and Elijah suppresses a laugh. He spins her before pulling her back in, a hand on the small of her back as she returns which makes Camila giggle a little. It also just so happens to grab Kai's attention. Kai's smile begins to fade as he looks on at Camila and Elijah, bodies pressed loosely against one another as Camila laughs at something else Elijah says.
"Something wrong?" Rebekah questions, noticing his sudden silence and Kai shakes himself out of it, turning back to her with a forced smile plastered on his face.
"Nope, nothing," he brushes off though the little edge in his words makes Rebekah suspicious.. She follows Kai's line of sight, spotting Camila and her brother and her lips quirk upwards in a suggestive smile.
"They look great together, don't they?" Rebekah taunts gently.
"Mhm-hmm," Kai hums, not even able to bring himself to lie with words.
The pairs dance together a little longer until at last the song finishes. Kai and Rebekah separate, Kai stepping back as Matt at last seems to have arrived, Kai leaving with a little wave goodbye. Camila dips as a playful bow, a little bubble of laughter passing her lips as Elijah gives her a wordless nod to thank her for the dance. Camila beckons Hayley over with a tilt of her head and lets her and Elijah begin their slow dance as the next song starts.
Camila turns, heading to leave the dance floor when she notices Kai stepping slowly towards her. He smiles with a quirk of his brow, offering her his open hand. She sighs a little before somewhat reluctantly accepting. He gently pulls her in, his arm quickly encircling her waist as her hand rests on his large bicep, and they're left with only a few inches separating their bodies. They sway in silence for a little while, moving closer with each movement until their bodies are flush against each other. Camila's face is turned in the complete opposite direction of Kai, knowing that if she faced him they'd be so close their noses might brush together or, even more temptingly, their lips.
"You seemed to be having fun..." Camila says at last, making no effort to disguise the air of resentment in her tone.
"Rebekah was the one that asked me to dance," Kai sighed. "If I remember correctly you told me not to antagonise any Originals so..."
"Fair enough," Camila huffed, her shoulder slumping a little as she determinedly kept her eyes away from his.
The corner of Kai's mouth twitched up a little. "Jealous?"
Camila's head snaps straight towards him with a scoff of denial. "More like completely revolted,"
"So...jealous?"
Camila's about to snap back another snarky comment when the simultaneous buzz of both of their phones interrupts them. Camila feels her heart skip a beat, knowing what that means. She checks the text.
ALARIC
They're here.
Camila breathes in a shaky breath, her eyes meeting Kai's. He nods firmly, as though he's wordlessly assuring her everything will be okay, and weirdly enough it works. Camila glances around the party. All of her friends meet her eyes, little nods that confirm they're ready.
They all look up at the entrance to the garden and sure enough out walk Stefan and Caroline, arms interlocked, as they gaze out at the crowd from the top of the steps.
Camila tilts her head from side to side, rolling her shoulders back. "Showtime..."
-
"You know, I'm pretty sure that when I last tried to have a dance with Cami you were the one interrupting us," Stefan chuckles drily, swigging at the champagne in his hand. "Guess it's my turn now..."
Kai practically lunges forward in anger but Camila puts a hand on his chest, stopping him and making her best effort to calm him down. "Kai, it's fine..."
"You sure?"
"I'll be fine," she winks. Kai nods sharply, stepping back allowing Stefan room to take his place. Stefan steps past Kai with a smirk, handing him his empty champagne glass as he passes and Kai looks like he might just smash the glass over his head, only stopped by the warning glare Camila gives him. Kai huffs, retreating off of the dance floor.
"Isn't that sweet?" Stefan grins. "You turned the little psycho soft..."
"And how much luck will I have with the psycho I'm dancing with now?" Camila quips, resting her hands on Stefan's shoulders as he takes her by the waist, swaying a little discordantly to the music. Stefan laughs again, clearly more amused at the fact that she's making any effort to help him than at her joke.
"You know, Care and I were wondering how long it would be before you guys came looking for us..." Stefan begins, a snide lilt in his words. Camila brings her head to rest atop his shoulder, allowing her to glance past him at the rest of her friends who are busy at work.
She notices Caroline is nowhere to be seen and a clueless Matt and Tyler seem to be searching everywhere. Camila makes eye contact with Tyler, indicating with a subtle head tilt for him to try inside. He nods, dragging Matt in with him.
"We even knew you'd throw something like this little funeral of a party..." Stefan continues and Camila draws her attention back to him, not wanting to raise suspicion. "I mean, seriously, a fundraiser? You could have tried a little harder?"
Camila puts on a sarcastic smile. "Blame your buddy Klaus for that one..."
"Ohhhh, I get it," Stefan sneers. "Because it's, like, the Mystic Falls thing that she likes. God, he's a lot more pathetic than I remember..."
"A man in love," Camila retorts with a quirk of her brow. "Can't blame him,"
Stefan stares at Camila a few moments observantly, seeming serious for the first time since the night had started, before he breaks out into uncontrollable laughter. "I really hope you're not counting on 'my feelings' for you to bring my humanity back," he chortles, punctuating his dig at her with air quotations just for effect.
Camila says nothing. She carefully turns her hand on his shoulder, allowing herself to check the time on her watch. She just had to keep him occupied for a minute longer. She could do that no matter what he said. She glances back at him, responding only with a shrug.
Stefan's lips fall into an exaggerated sympathetic pout. He leans forward, his glare piercing her own eyes. "I don't feel anything for you,"
Camila breaks her eye contact with him. "Is that why you got so annoyed by Kai being here?"
"I got annoyed because he is annoying..."
"Yeah, of course," Camila shrugs.
"You really shouldn't get too ahead of yourself, you know," Stefan says defensively. "It'll only hurt you more when you're forced to confront that fact that I don't feel anything for you..."
Camila laughs, almost ironically. She releases an audible sigh. "You know what I've realised recently, Stefan? Loving someone and being in love with someone are two very different things,"
Her eyes fall to Kai who stands beside Damon. Damon checks his phone, presumably still waiting on a text from Bonnie. He holds his finger up, mouthing 'one more minute' and Camila quickly refocuses on Stefan, continuing. "You can love someone so much that you'd do anything for them, anything to protect them," She pauses, noticing Rebekah coming out of the house shaking her head at Camila with Matt and Tyler at her side. Camila tears her eyes from them, the gears grinding in her brain as she tries to think of what to do whilst simultaneously entertaining Stefan. She looks back at him with a bitter smile. "But, Stefan, that's not quite the same as being in love,"
"And what would you know about being in love?" Stefan taunts.
"You'd be surprised..."
Camila's gaze falls to Damon who tries to get her attention. He gives her a thumbs up. She turns to Kai, sending him a quick nod, indicating it's his time to shine. He bounds forward towards them without hesitation.
"Sorry, Stefano, time to switch partners," Kai remarks, shoving Stefan back. Stefan clenches his jaw, bringing his hands up to straighten his suit. Kai looks sideways at Camila who takes her cue to leave, heading straight for Matt and Tyler.
"I know you're just doing this for Cami," Stefan whispers lowly once she's gone. Kai smiles a tight-lipped smile of irritation that certainly doesn't require any acting on his part. "Enlighten me, I'm genuinely curious, what kind of game is it you're playing with her?" Stefan continues.
Kai steps a little closer, trying to provoke Stefan a little more as he towers over him. His voice drops an octave as his deranged smile transforms into subdued, controlled rage. "Doesn't playing the protective boyfriend for girls that just seem to prefer the bad boys ever get boring?"
Stefan's jaw visibly tenses.
Kai presses on. "Don't get this twisted. You're completely right. I couldn't care less if you had your humanity on or not," He reaches a hand up, gripping Stefan's jaw tightly in his hand and forcefully turning it in the direction of Camila who converses with Matt, Tyler and Rebekah. "But she does," Stefan slaps Kai's hand away just making Kai laugh maniacally. "Anyway, Stefan, I accept the challenge. May the best man win..."
Stefan lurches forward at Kai, giving Damon his cue to intervene. Damon steps in front of a laughing Kai, sending him a warning glare to tone it down, before looking back to Stefan with a bitter smile. "Brother, you're about to make a scene..."
"Honestly, Damon, I don't care..." Stefan growls, his eyes still fixed on Kai. He steps forward at him, again stopped by Damon. Damon glances up at the doors leading back inside where Hayley gives him a nod of confirmation.
"You know, Stefan, I say you and I go inside and find something a little stronger than champagne..." Damon offers, hooking an arm around his brother's shoulders as he guides him towards the steps leading to the entrance back to the house.
Stefan looks at Damon suspiciously. "I don't feel like going inside, Damon..." he says before stopping dead in his tracks, just by the stairs.
Damon grunts, glancing at Hayley, hoping for her to notice the holdup. She eyes the brothers before heading inside, presumably to enact their Plan B.
"What are you idiots planning?"
"Is it so hard to believe I just wanted to check in on my baby bro?" Damon punches Stefan's arm playfully. "Plus when I heard you were in New Orleans I was just thinking...party time, right? We have some great memories here and I always did say you were more fun with your switch flipped," he teases, raising his eyebrows.
He takes two glasses of bourbon from the tray that passes them. He hands one to Stefan. "Finally found something good! Cheers..." Damon raises his glass, toasting with Stefan.
Damon brings his lips to his glass just as Stefan does, not taking a sip. He watches Stefan closely waiting to watch him drink. Stefan, however, is not fooled by Damon's faux drinking and he quickly moves his glass away from his mouth. He maintains eye contact with Damon as he pours the entire drink out on the grass. Damon rolls his eyes, mumbling something about disrespecting the perfectly maintained lawn.
Stefan brings the glass under his nose, sniffing exaggeratedly. "Vervain? Really?" Stefan practically cackles with laughter. "How stupid do you think I am?"
"Oh, don't worry. That was just a distraction..." Damon smirks.
Before Stefan can question his words, Hayley already has an arm wrapped around Stefan's neck, restraining him as Jeremy injects Stefan with a dose of pure vervain. Hayley quickly releases him as he falls unconscious, Ric coming up beside him and hooking Stefan's arm around his shoulders as he leads him inside. He receives a questioning glance from an elderly couple who stroll past them. "He's just had a bit too much champagne, don't worry," Ric laughs off, dragging an unconscious Stefan with him.
Damon falls in step with Camila, Tyler, Matt and Rebekah who trail behind Ric.
"What happened?" Damon questions.
"We can't find Caroline. I think she left," Matt says much to everyone's irritation.
Damon grunts annoyedly, slapping a hand on his forehead. They meet the others - namely Jeremy and Hayley - at the bottom of the staircase leading up to some of the other rooms in the mansion. "You literally only had one job, you idiots!" Damon exclaims, his pointed glare snapping between Tyler and Matt.
Camila puts a hand up, stopping Damon before he could antagonise them any further and cause a new problem.
"Just go out and try and find her. She hopefully can't have gone too far and she might have left someone she fed on behind," Camila suggests, running a hand through her hair exasperatedly. "It's your best bet. We'll have to split the group. You three go with them. Just in case Caroline tries something," Camila says looking at Hayley, Rebekah and Jeremy.
The three of them nod compliantly but Matt and Tyler look less persuaded.
"Are you guys gonna be okay here without us?" Tyler questions.
"I think we'll be better off without you two, go already," Damon grunts, heading up the stairs, not wanting to be around them any longer.
Camila rolls her eyes, waving a hand dismissively at Damon's remark. "Ignore him. Just go do what you can. I'll text you when we're done here..."
They all nod, saying their goodbyes before setting off. Camila turns, about to ascend the stairs when she notices Kai hurrying down the corridor to catch up to her.
"Hey," he says a little breathlessly. "You okay?"
"Yeah, we got him. Ric took him up to the room Bonnie and Kol set up. I think everyone's already there," she explains as they climb the stairs together, Kai's hand on the small of her back guiding her. "Caroline is M.I.A but Matt, Tyler and Rebekah are heading to her..."
They approach the library and Camila puts her hand on the doorknob, about to enter, when Kai reaches out and stops her. "And...you're okay?"
Camila smiles a little softly, realising how she hadn't actually answered the question he'd asked her. With situations like this she wasn't exactly used to anyone genuinely wanting to check she was okay so Kai genuinely wanting to know certainly came as a surprise.
"I'm good," she nods. "You did well, you know? Made him the perfect level of angry for Damon to lead him away,"
"Yeah, didn't take much acting..." Kai jokes and Camila releases a soft giggle.
The door swings open before Camila even has the chance to open it herself.
"Well, come in, lovebirds. We don't have all day..." Klaus teases, stepping to the side and extending an arm to invite them in.
Camila quickly approaches Bonnie who stands by her grimoire looking a little exhausted. "Hey, all good?"
"It's done," Bonnie nods. "I'll need you and Kai for the second part..." Cami nods, beckoning Kai over to help as they begin to get to work, observed by everyone in the room who all seem antsy as they loiter around waiting for Stefan to regain consciousness.
Within a minute Stefan begins to stir causing everyone to grow quickly alert.
"Stefan Salvatore, pleased to have you back with us..." Klaus taunts.
Stefan takes a moment to register where he is and who he's in the company of before he stands up, rushing Damon into the wall with his vampire speed, his arm pressed against Damon's throat causing him to gasp for breath.
"Stefan, stop!" Elena calls out, rushing towards them but Stefan pays no mind to her.
"Shouldn't have done that to me, Damon," Stefan snarls, applying more pressure to Damon's windpipe until there's a small cracking sound. "I've spent the past week feeding 24/7. I wanna bet I'm stronger than you..."
"And I'll bet you're not stronger than all of us..." Elijah interjects, gesturing to Klaus, Kol and Kai who all move to stand by his side. Stefan looks between them, calculating his options before reluctantly stepping back, releasing a coughing Damon.
He thinks of his next best option and tries to rush towards the exit with his vampire speed, only to find himself colliding with an invisible surface. He bangs his hand against the invisible boundary before chuckling drily. "You sealed me in? That's cute..."
"Thank Bonnie. She barely had to lift a finger..." Damon smirks, rubbing a hand over his quickly healed windpipe as he straightens his tie. "Now, down to business. First matter on the agenda, where's Caroline?"
"Caroline's not here. She left with a little someone to feed on when she realised that you idiots must have all been plotting something big if you all teamed up..."
"But you stayed?" Elena questions, stepping towards him.
"Well someone had to distract you so she could go..."
"No, Stefan," Elena says firmly. "I think you stayed because you want us to help you..."
"Give it up, Elena-"
"No, Stefan, I won't," Everyone watches cautiously as Elena steps closer to Stefan, trying to reason with him as she'd been instructed to do. "You've helped me through this before so let me help you,"
"It's not happening, Elena. I'm not Damon..." Stefan says dismissively. "And if this is your pathetic attempt at turning my humanity on you might as well just undo that sealing spell and let me out of here because it's not gonna work..."
"You're not going anywhere," Bonnie says.
"Please, Bonnie. Let's not kid ourselves now..." Stefan chuckles, waving her off dismissively.
"Seriously? All this build up for you to just beg me to turn my humanity on?" he continues through laughter. "I mean, really, it was well done. Camila distracting me so Bonnie would have time to do the spell, Kai antagonising me so Damon could lead me straight in here, the drink as a distraction for the vervain, and even trapping me in here with all of you. All that for what?" Stefan taunts.
He turns his attention to Klaus with a jeering smile, possibly the worst thing he could have chosen to do. "Come on, Klaus. I thought you knew the Ripper of Monterey a little better than this-"
"You know what, I think I'm starting to get a little sick of this," Klaus interrupts, stepping forward with an almost too relaxed air to him.
He turns his attention to Camila. "Camila, I did tell you I'd do whatever was necessary to get your precious Stefan back, did I not?"
"Y-yeah..." she stutters hesitantly.
"And your plan was wonderful, Camila," he says softly, approaching her. He raises his hand, brushing the side of her face with his knuckles before settling on her chin. "But I have an idea or two myself..."
"No-"
Klaus swiftly turns Camila's head in his hands, causing her jaw to level with her shoulders emitting a dull crack. Camila falls to the floor, neck snapped, as Stefan's scream of horror fills the room.
authors note:
um chile anyways...
SEE YOU ALL SOON LOVE YOU XOXO