Something Stupid

18

"Aargh, this isn't helping!" Caroline groaned. She, Bonnie and Elena were sitting in Elena's apartment. Bonnie had Jesse on her lap, occasionally rocking him up and down gently while he was playing with his toy elephant. They had spend the last fourty minutes talking about what Caroline could do about the dinner. So far, they had discovered no solution.

"Care, we get this is awful. I guess the good news is, you don't have to like her." Elena said. She knew herself that she didn't sound very comforting at the moment. But after fourty minutes, she was running out of ideas on how to console her friend. And knowing she would be late for work if she did not hurry now made it worse.

Caroline took her hands from her eyes. "Great! I don't have to like her! I just have to have dinner with her and that asshole Tyler, while trying not to punch either of them in the face, no matter how badly I want to, because of Hope. What a relief!" she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Okay, I think if you keep it together, you'll get through this, Care. My advice is still the same: be neutral and if something bothers you, just turn to Klaus. He'll be there too." Bonnie stated, trying to calm Caroline.

"And in the worst case, you can always excuse yourself to go to the bathroom for a minute and text us so we can cheer you up." Elena added.

Caroline nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right. But still, this is gonna be awful!"

Bonnie, seeing how Elena looked at the clock, now said: "Elena, if you need to go to work, we understand. I can stay here with Care and lock the door when we leave again."

"You sure?" Elena asked.

Bonnie nodded. "Positive. I mean, what do I have a key to your place for?"

Elena nodded and gave Bonnie and Caroline each a quick hug before she left.

***

Elsewhere

"Hey there. Thought I'd come with you today. How are you doing?" Tyler greeted the girl in front of him.

"Hi." Hope replied, still carrying her doll. She knew her mother's boyfriend well enough by now, so she was not shy in front of him anymore.

Hayley picked up her daughter cradling her in her arms. "Tyler is coming home with us today again, honey. Then we can continue that book we started reading together. Wouldn't that be nice?" she spoke to her daughter softly.

Hope nodded.

"I really like Hope. But still, I can't wait till tomorrow when I'll have you all to myself again." Tyler whispered to his girlfriend as they watched Hope finish her meal.

Hayley nodded. She had considered telling him about Klaus and Caroline coming too, but decided against it, wanting it to be a surprise, even if it wouldn't be a particularly pleasant one.

***

Somewhere else

Davina hung the last of her dreamcatchers in front of a window as her boyfriend entered the room.

"Hey darling. Looks good. But seriously, how did I not know you had so many of those? I only ever saw, like, three in your old apartment. And now there are suddenly dozens? Where'd you get them all?" he asked, looking at all the dreamcatchers in surprise.

Davina smiled. "I actually had them all along. I used to collect them as a kid, but my old place had only a few windows to hang them on."

"Yeah, I remember you told me about that before. So, does that mean those little beauties spend the last years stowed away in a box?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yeah. I thought it was a shame, but luckily, our new place has lots of windows."

"That it does. Also, have I mentioned how excited I am about us finally moving in together?" Kol said and placed his hands on his girlfriend's waist.

She smiled and let her own hands travel over his chest to his shoulders. "Me too."

He kissed her head. For a moment, they just stood there, gazing at each other.

Finally, Kol broke the silence. "By the way, I was thinking. My dear brother Elijah has been a little secretive lately. He says it's nothing, but I know him better than that. I think there's something going on. When I asked him if he wanted to come over to our new place today and visit us, he said he couldn't. He made up some excuse, but he was totally fibbing. You wanna know what I think?"

"Yes?" Davina responded.

"I think he's gonna meet someone or do something today. That's why he insists on staying in his penthouse, all alone." Kol explained.

Davina grinned. "Sounds interesting. What do you think, should we investigate to find out your brother's dark, shameful secret?"

"Wow, that's what I was gonna say! See, and this is why you're my girl!" Kol replied and kissed her. She giggled and kissed him back.

"So, since we're not getting any visitors, how about lunch? Just you and me?" Davina suggested.

Kol nodded. "Absolutely."

They made their way to the kitchen, hand in hand. Once they were there, they stepped into a long practiced routine, since they were often cooking together. Kol took out the pots and filled one with water while Davina grabbed the pasta, the tomatoes and the knife. She put the pasta next to the stove for her boyfriend to cook and started chopping the tomatoes for the sauce.

"Hey, D! Is that what I think it is?" Kol suddenly interrupted his girlfriend, pointing at the kitchen window. There, dangling in front of the glass was a round object with red-blue feathers attached to it.

Davina smirked coily. "Depends. What do you think it is?"

"The dreamcatcher I bought you for your 21st birthday. That was shortly after you told me you liked those. Didn't you tell me you lost it?"

"Did I?" Her expression with wide eyes portrayed fake innocence.

Kol observed her for a while, then put the knife aside and gave her a warm, knowing look. "You did keep it after all." he replied.

Davina stopped chopping tomatoes and walked over to him. "Of course I kept it. It meant a great deal to me, you know? It showed me that you were actually listening to me when I was talking to you. You listened, you paid attention and you remembered." she said softly and hugged him from behind.

"What can I say?" he responded, took one of her hands and kissed it. "I am amazing."

She laughed and teasingly slapped his arm. "Shut up and get back to your pasta, you jokester!"

He gave a soft chuckle and obeyed his girlfriend.