At Twilight (TW/TVD Crossover)

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"I need to go to the grocery store," Caroline mumbled to the empty kitchen.

Speaking into the void no longer needled her like it used to. After spending so much time alone these past few years, Caroline was accustomed to only herself and inanimate objects as conversation partners.

As for the bumpy road her mind was determined to travel down, it was nothing potato chips couldn't iron out. The saltier the better, and if they had ranch dip, she would ascend right then and there in the snack aisle. A chronic stress snacker, she thanked Esther Mikaelson's magic for allowing her to keep her waistline from ten years ago no matter how many bags of chips and candy bars she put away.

Caroline groaned dramatically at having to leave her house and drive back to the town center. From a small town herself, she knew these groceries were usually family-owned and didn't stay open as late as a Walmart would. Which was a damn shame. Nothing beats grocery shopping in a virtually empty store at 1 a.m.

With a whine accompanied by a foot stomp, Caroline swiped her bag off the counter and headed out, dodging boxes along the way. Thankfully, she was already dressed for comfort and didn't need to dig through a thousand boxes for a change of clothes.

She was on the road to town soon enough.

Her mystery visitor crept closer to the manor.

Caroline pulled into the parking lot of the local grocer less than twenty minutes later. She wondered if the other customers would judge her for opening a bag of chips to munch on while doing her shopping, then quickly decided she didn't care.

The town of Beacon Hills was similar to Mystic Falls in naming every commercial business after the town, - Beacon Hills Groceries, Beacon Hills Garden Shoppe, Beacon Hills Animal Clinic. Caroline prayed that's where the similarities between the two towns ended; wolf creeping about in her forest notwithstanding.

Maybe I should've brought a more inconspicuous car to drive around, Caroline mused as she felt curious eyes on her and the car.

"Too late now." She mumbled. Oh, well. She was keeping her baby.

She grabbed her bag, perched her oversized blacked-out sunnies on her nose, and hustled out of the car. She activated the car alarm and turned back to the store in time to almost collide with a young man walking in the opposite direction, his hands full of grocery bags.

Caroline startled.

The kid came out of nowhere. One second she had a free stretch to the store and her potato chips, and the next, there he was.

"Crap! I'm so sorry. I was drooling over your car and didn't watch where I was going." His sheepish voice admitted.

Another voice rang out from across the parking lot.

"Scott! Where are you, man?" A pale, skinny kid, with his light brown hair in a buzzcut, took long, seemingly disjointed strides in their direction once he caught sight of his friend.

"I'm right here, Stiles," Scott waved him over. Scott had a long-ish-shaped face with dark brown eyes and tanned skin in tandem with the bright and always shining California sun.

What made her heart twist looking at him though was the most random thing - his jaw. Bonnie's jaw. They were almost identical in their curve - a unique asymmetry. One that took Bonnie's already gorgeous face to a whole nother level and somehow worked on this adorable kid too.

Bonnie Bennett held a special place in Caroline Forbes's heart.

In middle school, after Caroline's parent's divorced and her dad hightailed it out of town, never to be seen again - until he came back for her heart, of course - she'd been a pariah.

Middle school kids can be cruel. But, Bonnie, one of the only black girls in their school, risked her neck and went against the grain for Caroline. When she saw Caroline being ostracized and bullied, she made it a point to stand by her side. Eat lunch with her. Pick Caroline to be her partner during class because she knew no one else would. Always bring extra of her grandma's chocolate chip cookies to share with Caroline, knowing her mom, the town's sheriff, had no time for frivolous things like baking.

Caroline only made it through those years of eating dinner alone after school every night because of Bonnie's friendship.

And, of course, with Bonnie, came Elena Gilbert.

Their trio was born.

Bonnie never actually got to choose a side when the divide between Caroline and Elena became apparent.

The Bennett witch was just as tangled in the mess of Mystic Falls and continuously protecting Elena from a new threat as Caroline had been. And as the only witch in town, a powerful one at that, it seemed impossible to detangle. Her presence alone kept the more cautious members of the magical community from swarming Mystic Falls and draining Elena of her blood, doppelganger blood - a highly sought-after commodity in their world.

Caroline knew she was at fault for the distance between them, but she couldn't ask Bonnie to choose. Or find out what that choice would be. She knew it made her a coward, but she'd gradually stopped picking up the phone and responding to text messages. Bonnie stopped calling eventually.

Caroline's cheeks flushed red, and her stomach hollowed at how much she missed her best friend. She cleared her tightening throat.

The boys had walked past her and were now hovering near the car, fingers extending reverently.

"Scott and Stiles. That's adorable." Caroline said to the teenagers worshiping at the throne of her Aston Martin.

They snapped up and spun around to face her in perfect sync. Caroline smirked at them, grateful for the distraction.

"That's us. Adorable. Is this your car? This is a nice car. You have good taste. I like you already. If you ever want a chauffeur. Or you know, want to do a car swap," Stiles rambled while gesturing wildly towards a blue jeep across the lot. "I - we are available. Anytime. Right, Scott?" He elbowed his friend who hesitated before nodding his cosign.

"I'll keep that in mind," She said with a laugh.

"What was your name again?" Scott questioned, gripping the back of his neck.

Her lips twisted into a semblance of a smile. "It was nice to meet you, boys. My very first locals," Caroline's indulgent smile twisted into a grin.

"You are locals, right?" She asked after a hesitant beat. The boys nodded, again, in perfect sync. They reminded her of Timon and Pumba from the Lion King.

"Great! See you around, neighbors." Caroline waved in their general direction and turned back towards the grocery store's entrance. It was high past time she got her potato chips.

"Neighbors? You mean you're staying in town? In Beacon Hills?" Stiles called after her.

"Yup. Maybe I'll take you up on that car swap sometime if I'm feeling up for a desert drive."

She walked through the automatic doors, cutting off whatever quip Stiles might have sent after her.

Her nose twitched from the leftover smell of wolf lingering from earlier.

Scott shifted towards Stiles, bug-eyed, the car's allure dulled after the bomb its owner just dropped.

"Bro," The young wolf groaned.

"What?" Scott's best friend was still enthralled.

"Every time someone new moves to this town they bring trouble for us. She smelled...different. And why is someone with a car like that moving to a town like this?"

"There's rich people in Beacon Hills." Stiles protested before the rest of Scott's words registered, "What do you mean smelled different? Like not human, different?"

Scott nodded sedately.

"Ugh," Stiles groaned, "She seemed so nice."

"They usually do at first."

After one last longing glance at the Aston, both boys dragged their feet back to the jeep. Their stomachs churned at the possibility of another threat.

Or maybe this was the threat they'd been hunting for the past three months.