2010, mystic falls
What could be considered soft and delicate, the hum of Rebekah's sports car sounded loud and obnoxious to Astrid's tuned senses. The engine was purring noisily with every motion, the ever so vacant scent of burning rubber tickling her nose as she leaned forwards.
The seat belt Rebekah had scoldingly made her fasten was pressing against her chest irritatingly from the sudden change.
Her nimble fingers clumsily began pressing the many different buttons on the dashboard, azure eyes waiting expertly. Rebekah, with both hands on the wheel, made no comment as her gaze briefly flickered to the blonde beside her before returning to the road.
Astrid furrowed her brows together as she continued to turn several dials, seemingly unaware of the aircon kicking in and the passenger window sliding up and down repeatedly.
When erratic music abruptly blared out the car's speakers, Astrid reclined back against the leather seat in triumph.
The music, if it could even be considered as music, wasn't exactly to Astrid's outdated taste. It was upbeat, an unusual pitch and almostas annoying to the ears as the sound of the car's engine.
Glancing at Rebekah, who seemed at ease behind the wheel, Astrid raised a brow. "I can't make out what this person is even singing about... How did this century develop such strange taste?" Astrid snorted as she tried to make sense of the lyrics.
"Believe it or not, Kol is quite fond of this song... He's been driving me mad singing." Rebekah snorted, shaking her head, visually cringing at the thought of Kol Mikaelson singing 'poker face'.
Lips lifting in amusement, Astrid shook her head. "That doesn't surprise me one bit, you know Kol, winding people up is his favourite hobby."
Rebekah seemed to pause at some strange sign, a red light glowing brightly, causing all the cars alongside the glossy sports car to stop.
"You're not wrong there... Anyways, enough of Kol, it's annoying enough living with him, never mind talking about him. How are you feeling about this ball mother and Nik are hosting?" Rebekah questioned, leaning forwards to slide her fingers along a dial on the dashboard, lowering the volume of the music.
Sinking back into her seat, Astrid glanced out the passenger window, watching humans walk by, speaking with one another, holding hands with their children.
Swallowing, Astrid turned away, her gaze returning to Rebekah's whose large blue eyes never seemingly left the vampire.
Teeth digging into her lower lip, Astrid was hesitant. She wasn't quite sure how she felt about the entire thing, if she was being completely honest.
She was still trying to get her head around Esther's sudden change of heart and cryptic words, never mind the fact Esther assumingly expected Astrid to attend the ball with Niklaus.
After all, Esther was a traditionalist. Divorce and separation hadn't been a common occurrence in their village, perhaps if it had been, Esther would have left Mikael when Niklaus had been conceived.
"I'm not sure, Bekah. I don't think I really want to attend if I can't attend without a date." Astrid shrugged as the red light before them flickered to yellow before green.
As Rebekah nodded in agreement, she pressed her heeled foot on one of the peddles, causing the car to jolt forwards as she revved the engine, speeding once more down the road.
"Well, I would say you could be my date, but I have my eye on a certain human quarterback." Rebekah hummed as Astrid snorted.
Shaking her head, Astrid's lips curved into a small smile. "A human you say! What's the lucky guy's name?" Astrid questioned.
Rebekah shrugged in a dismissive manner as she indicated to turn into a small car park and began navigating the bulky sports car into one of the small spaces. "Matt Donovan. He's just delicious looking." Rebekah snorted before unbuckling her own seatbelt.
Astrid glanced at the building before her, the sign reading 'the mystic grill', how original... It didn't look anything special, but then again, the speakeasies had been the same from the outside.
Following Rebekah's direction, Astrid unbuckled the seatbelt before opening the car door.
The warm air welcomed her as Astrid admittedly missed the cars AC system. Rebekah's heels clicked against the pavement as she walked around the car to join arms with Astrid.
Lowering her lips to Astrid's ears, Rebekah grinned gleefully. "I hope that wretched doppelganger is here and that annoying friend of hers- Colorado, or whatever her name is." Rebekah snorted before guiding the fellow blonde towards the entrance of the proclaimed bar and restaurant.
Although Rebekah seemed oblivious to the attention the sports car and the two girls were receiving, Astrid could practically feel gazes burning into her back as several humans began crowding around Rebekah's car, pulling out camera phones.
Astrid managed to peer over her shoulder, quick enough to catch a glance of humans posing pitifully by the hood of the car before she was pulled into the restaurant.
Upon catching sight of the decorations, or lack off, Astrid was left ultimately disappointed. The entire place was dull and dark, full of bland, plain décor and reeked of alcohol. It was nothing like Gloria's speakeasy she had grown to love.
Before Astrid could make any comment, her nose scrunching up, Rebekah yanked her arm away, elbowing Astrid in the ribs.
"That's him!" Rebekah whispered, nodding in the direction of the bar.
A tall young man was stood behind the bar, wearing drab work uniform with an apron tired around his waist. Astrid raised her brows, the man wasn't Rebekah's usual type, nor was he anything like her darling Marcel.
Nevertheless, Matt was a handsome young man, with baby blue eyes Astrid could see so vividly despite the distance between them and short dark blond hair.
The human was oblivious to their presence as he collected dirty glasses off the sides, placing them in a plastic tub.
"Come on then." Astrid urged, pulling on Rebekah's arm, only for the blonde to shake her head. Her gaze had moved from the blue-eyed quarterback to two girls sat near the bar.
Astrid could only see the backs of their heads, blonde curls and brown pin-straight hair, but Astrid's ears pricked up at the mention of the Mikaelson's.
Rebekah narrowed her eyes, immediately stalking towards the table, clutching the invite in her hand tightly.
Astrid followed in confusion; however, she soon came to the conclusion that Rebekah's sudden anger was down to the fact the doppelgänger who had daggered her was sat in the bar.
Nik's walking, hybrid blood bag.
"I'm sorry. It's just I, I don't even know how I feel about it yet. All I do know is that it just used to be so much easier." The doppelgänger spoke, her voice the perfect copy of Katerina and Tatia's.
Lips spreading into a nasty scowl, Rebekah couldn't help the spite that dripped from her tone. "Careful Caroline. It's all well and good until she stabs you in the back."
The human and the baby vampire immediately tensed, glancing at the furious blonde behind them.
Neither of them seemed to notice Astrid who stood off to the side, instead fixated on the angry original who appeared ready to rip the brunette's pretty head from her shoulders.
However, both Astrid and Rebekah knew she couldn't do that, not unless she wanted to face Nik's wrath, once again.
"What are you doing here? I know your mom's rules. No hurting the locals." The brunette frowned, crossing her arms over her chest.
Rebekah scoffed loathingly. "Get over yourself Elena. It's not all about you." She huffed before purposely strutting towards the blond male at the bar, holding out the invitation with a flirtatious smile.
"Oh my god. She's inviting him to the ball. Why is she inviting him?" Caroline practically blurted out to Elena.
The doppelgänger was watching with worry, much to the amusement of Astrid. This was why Rebekah had decided to ask the boy to the dance. She hadn't gossiped and giggled over him like she usually did when she developed a new crush.
"Probably to get this reaction from us." The doppelgänger mumbled.
It seemed Rebekah hated the new doppelgänger as much as she had hated the previous ones. Though Astrid hadn't been fond of Tatia and her pathetic meddling in her marriage, she had enjoyed Katerina's company.
As the young vampire went to respond, she paused when she noticed the lingering blonde woman stood off to the side.
"Umm, can we help you? We're trying to have a private conversation here." The obnoxious blonde snapped, rolling her eyes snottily as Astrid snorted.
Astrid let out a giggle, watching the confusion wash across both girls features.
Shaking her head, Astrid sent the two a smile. "Sorry, I didn't get to introduce myself, my names Astrid. Astrid Mikaelson. You may know my husband though, Klaus."
Astrid admittedly took pleasure in the horror that coloured their features, faces pale and chalky. She could practically smell their sudden perspiration as Elena let out a shaky breath.
"Now, I expect the next time you talk to myself or my family you'll speak in a much more respectful manner. Otherwise I may feel inclined to reach across the tables and pull your tongues from your mouths. Understood?"
Caroline swallowed, placing a hand on Elena's forearm protectively. Did this puny, baby vampire think she could really defend a human from an original? The thought was laughable.
Humming at the thought, Astrid tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as the two girls slumped back in their chairs.
"I doubt you'd have much to say about my family after that." Astrid continued as Elena's gaze flickered to a figure behind her.
Elena's shoulders slumped in relief, a sigh leaving her lips as Astrid glanced besides her to see Damon Salvatore. "Sorry to interrupt, but we've gotta talk." Damon mused, sending a sarcastic smile to the two girls.
"And I have nothing to say." Astrid retorted in disinterest.
His large pale hand clasped around hers, tugging her towards an empty booth by the back of the bar.
Both of them knew Astrid could have easily protested, holding more strength in her pinkie finger than Damon possessed in his entire body. But she unfortunately knew it was a conversation she needed to have.
Elena's and Caroline's gaze were practically glued to their retreating figures. While Caroline seemed suspicious, her eyes narrowed, Elena seemed downhearted. Did she have a crush on Damon?
It wasn't a farfetched thought, Damon was very handsome, though he was a tad depressing back in the 20's.
However, he'd most definitely changed. He carried himself with much more confidence, lips often in a smirk, breath almost always reeking of bourbon.
With a heavy sigh, Astrid sat down in the booth as Damon slid across from her, both of them ignoring the prying eyes of the vampire and doppelgänger.
Astrid spared them one last glance, sending them a sarcastic wiggle of her fingers before turning to Damon.
"Is this really necessary?" She questioned with an arched brow as Damon scoffed.
Shaking his head, Damon narrowed his eyes. Astrid was momentarily distracted; he'd always had pretty eyes. "Of course not, I mean it's not like your husband is a psychopathic hybrid who tried to kill all my friends, and oh yeah, you're an original vampire?!"
Astrid snorted at Damon's outburst. "Damon, Damon...-" She reached across the table to take her hand in his.
Damon stiffened at the contact but didn't pull away as her fingers traced patterns relaxingly.
"-You were a sweet man, but I was in a vulnerable state and so were you... My husband doesn't know, and he can't know. If Nik finds out, it won't be him who you'll have to worry about killing you." Astrid continued, allowing her fingers to slip from his.
Spotting Rebekah retreating from the bar with a victorious grin, Astrid patted his hand once more in a condensing manner. "Now, if you excuse me, I have more important places to be."
Astrid didn't spare Damon a glance, fully aware of the expression on his features that resembled a kicked puppy. Perhaps Damon hadn't changed as much as she'd thought.
...
im so so sorry this took so long! I had writers block :((
also, follow me on insta guys, I follow back :) @jessmhindson
also just to make it clear; Klaus and Caroline aren't a thing
please comment and vote for more