Everybody Talks: A Klaroline Fanfiction

Chapter 15

"Klaus punched him?" Elena asked from the passenger seat of Caroline's car.

It was Wednesday afternoon, Elena and Elijah had just landed and Caroline had offered to pick them up at the airport and bring them to Mystic Falls. It had been a busy day and a half for the formidable Ms. Forbes. Overnight she had become the world's newest, most interesting source of gossip. The backstabbing she-wolf who dated slept with her best friend's boyfriend behind her back. And now, the poor, broken-hearted Elena Gilbert was left to pick up the pieces of her shattered heart.

"Yeah," Caroline said, "he thought Tyler was the reason that the story was leaked. Which, I can't really blame him for, since I thought the same thing at first."

"I'm not surprise he punched him," Elena said, "it is Klaus we're talking about."

Caroline ignored the dig. She did kind of agree, but wouldn't admit it. She had been pretty angry with Klaus after the initial almost fight. They had argued in the parking lot, over Tyler and his swollen face, until they reached an impasse. Klaus was unwilling to admit that he was wrong and Caroline wasn't going to let him get away with over-reacting. He was lucky that there weren't any photographers around. Or worse…someone to call the police and have him arrested. She could only imagine the horror of having her sheriff mother arrest her famous boyfriend and the headlines that would ensure from that.

"Regardless," Caroline said, "he is being punished for acting like a caveman."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm withholding sex from him until further notice."

With that comment came Elijah's uncomfortable throat clearing from the back seat.

Caroline's eyes slid towards Elena and they exchanged knowing smiles, both suppressing the urge to laugh.

A short while later, they arrived at Elena's house. Klaus met them there and was waiting in the living room when they arrived. Elijah brought the bags in and greeted his brother.

"Hello Niklaus," Elijah said.

"Elijah."

Caroline could sense the tension between the two men as they all stood in Elena's living room.

"Glad you managed not to get into any more fist fights while Caroline was gone," Elijah said, smoothing down his tie and taking a seat in one of the easy chairs.

Klaus threw a look at Caroline and she shrugged innocently. "What? It's not like he wasn't going to find out."

"It's fortunate none of the photographers caught that special moment on film."

"Elijah why don't you go ahead and pull the stick out of your a—"

"Okaaaay," Caroline interrupted, "so now that we're all here we can finally figure out a game plan."

Klaus shut his mouth, still glaring at Elijah, who leaned forward and began to speak. Elena and Caroline sat down on the couch while Klaus chose the chair opposite Elijah's.

"Well the media is piecing together our original cover story, with the new details they've discovered about Caroline and Niklaus," he summarized, "they don't realize it's not half as illicit as it seems to be because, well, they have no other reason to."

"But we already began planting break up rumors and stories," Elena said, "can't we just make a statement that Klaus and Caroline started dating after a break up?"

"We could," Elijah agreed, "however the idea has been planted. Some will believe it and some won't."

Elijah looked over at Caroline. "Well it's probably the best we've got," she said.