Everybody Talks: A Klaroline Fanfiction

Epilogue

8 months later…

"Hey Caroline." Stefan Salvatore offered her a warm, shiny grin as he opened the door to his apartment and welcomed her inside.

"Hey Stefan," she said as she walked past the threshold and inside. "How's it going?"

"Good," he replied, "Lexi's still getting dressed. Can I get you a drink?"

"Sure," she replied, following him down the hall and toward the kitchen.

Caroline always loved coming over to Stefan and Lexi's place. It was exactly the type of apartment she hoped to be moving into very soon. Newly renovated with hardwood floors, two bedrooms, a spacious interior, and a private balcony over looking Michigan Avenue. It was the perfect place. They entered the kitchen, and Caroline set her clutch bag down on the granite island, as Stefan pulled out a bottle of wine. She removed her denim jacket, smoothing out her dress, and hung it on the back of one of the bar stools.

"Here," Stefan said, "Lexi has already cracked this one open tonight." He poured the red liquid and into the glass and passed it to Caroline. She sipped, tentatively, still not being a big fan of red wines. But, since moving to Chicago, she had been all about acquiring new tastes.

Behind them was the great room, the flat screened TV turned on in the background. Caroline could see an Xbox and two game controllers left out on top of the coffee table. She grinned. Stefan was a full-grown man, about to be a doctor, but he would always be a teenage boy at heart. Down the hall, Caroline saw the streak of Lexi's pale blonde hair whip past as she darted from the bathroom towards the master bedroom.

"Hey Care! Just give me ten minutes!" The woman shouted from the bedroom. Caroline laughed and looked at Stefan.

"If I had a nickel for every time Lexi said 'just ten minutes…'

"You could buy the Trump Tower," Stefan finished. "So what is the band you are going to see tonight?"

"Lovedrug." Caroline replied. "I listened to them today while I was working on that piece for The Reader. They sound good."

Lexi Branson, Stefan's girlfriend, was also a journalist and a big music fan. She covered concerts, albums releases, anything and everything to do with music in Chicago for a various number of newspapers. She also had her own blog dedicated to writing and recommending new artists and talent. With her job came many perks, and one of them was free concert tickets, so Caroline was accompanying her to see a new band that night at the Vic; a small concert venue on the Northside.

"They're amazing," Lexi said joining them in the kitchen, glass of wine in her hand, "too bad you will be missing out." She directed the last at Stefan.

Lexi was tall, with long straight blonde hair and a friendly face. Stefan had introduced her to Caroline not long after she had moved and they had become fast friends. She had grown up in the suburbs of Chicago, only leaving for a few years to attend school in New York, before deciding that her true home was in the second city. Lexi and Stefan met by chance one night at a Bon Jovi show and bonded over their love of 80s music.

"Far be it from me to encroach on girl bonding night," he replied, giving her a kiss as she slipped her arm around his waist.

Caroline smiled at the two of them. "Gross," she said, "get a room."

Lexi wrinkled her nose at Caroline while Stefan chuckled beside her. Caroline absolutely loved Lexi. She was fun and smart and one of the nicest people she had ever met. She could see why Stefan was so smitten with her and why they made such a good couple. Stefan had always been a quiet and serious guy in high school, and was still that way, so Lexi was the perfect contrast to his personality. The romantic in Caroline loved to see opposites attracted to one another. It reminded her of her own brush with a similar experience.