The Revenge Con

14. Casual Run In

Stefan pushed the cart through the grocery store as Caroline picked what she wanted off the shelves. He had assured her he could go alone, but she insisted, despite the fact that her feet ached. 

"Stefan! Oh my god! Is that you?" He froze at the sound of a voice he hadn't heard in years. 

"Valerie," He tensed as she threw her arms around him. 

"It's so good to see you!" She gushed. "And who is this?" She turned to Caroline, noting her fairly large bump.

"This is Caroline. Care, this is Valerie." He introduced them. 

"How far along are you?" Valerie asked Caroline. Caroline had sensed that whoever this was had put Stefan on edge. Naturally, Caroline felt the urge to have a little fun with her.

"What do you mean?" She asked innocently. Valerie's face flushed as Caroline pretended not to understand.

"Care." Stefan warned her with a slight chuckle.

"Fine." She sighed. "About eight months." Caroline informed her. Valerie visibly relaxed as she let out an awkward laugh. 

"Wow. I didn't even know you were married. I'm so happy for you, Stefan." She smiled, though she clearly wasn't Caroline's biggest fan.

"Oh, we're not married." Stefan admitted. Caroline glanced at her hands and quickly slipped the ring from her right hand onto her left.

"I made him wait til after our little girl was born!" Caroline slipped her arm around Stefan. If he wouldn't let her toy with this woman, the least she could do was help him save face. "I didn't want to waddle down the aisle." Stefan briefly wondered if Caroline was crazy but as he noticed Valerie's expression shift, he was thankful that she was.

"That's very exciting, honestly. Now I must see the ring." Valerie reached for Caroline's hand, and Stefan paled. Much to his surprise, Caroline was sporting a beautiful ring that he surely hadn't given her. "Excellent taste. Wish I could be surprised." She smiled sadly. "If things had been different, maybe that would've been mine." Caroline nodded awkwardly, wondering why Valerie felt the need to talk about this in the middle of the grocery store. 

"Well, as much as I hate to cut this little reunion short, we need to get home. My feet are killing me." That part wasn't a lie. 

"Of course. Sorry to keep you. We should grab coffee sometime, Stef. It'd be nice to catch up." 

"Maybe, but I'm going to be quite busy, so..." 

"Right. I'll see you around then." She wandered off, and Stefan let out a huge sigh of relief. 

"Have I ever told you that you are an amazing woman?" Stefan grinned thankfully at her.

"No, but there will be plenty of time for that later. I wasn't kidding about getting home." She groaned. 

"Is there anything else you need?" He asked as they started heading toward the cash.

"Nope." They got into line. "Actually-" Stefan chuckled as he had expected her last-minute request. At this point, he would run back and forth as many times as she wanted. Out of everyone he could have fallen into this weird situation with, he was forever thankful that he had hopped on a plane with Caroline. After everything they had been through, he would follow her to the ends of the earth. For a moment, he almost forgot about Rebekah. 

Klaus had begun to worry. Rebekah hadn't returned after their fight. It had been almost 24 hours, and while he knew she was a grown woman, he couldn't help but worry. They were supposed to be heading to the bar to see Elijah, and yet she was nowhere to be found. He had called and texted, and Rebekah hadn't sent him a word in response. 

When she finally came through the door, he rushed to his feet.

"Where have you been?" He asked much more rudely than she was prepared to deal with. She didn't dignify his interrogation with a proper response instead, just grunted in his general direction. "Rebekah!" He nearly growled. 

"Niklaus." She retorted. She walked past him, grabbing some things from her suitcase. 

"Rebekah!" He repeated, his voice rising in volume. Rather than responding, she slipped into the bathroom, locking the door behind her. It brought her some satisfaction to know that he had been bothered when she hadn't returned. She could only imagine his reaction if she told him where she had really gone. She changed into appropriate attire for their evening and fixed her hair. She applied some light makeup and decided to wait a few extra minutes just to drive Klaus mad. 

When she opened the door, he was standing directly in front of it. 

"Nik, we don't have time for your controlling over protectiveness. We have to get to the bar before Elijah's show. " Rebekah pushed past her brother, not bothering to let him scold her. She pulled on her jacket and gestured to the door. "Shall we?" Klaus rolled his eyes at her and begrudgingly followed her out of the hotel.

"So where were you?" He grumbled as they slipped into the town car she had hired. 

"Not that it's any of your business, but I met someone," Rebekah told him, hoping he would let it go. She knew he wouldn't, but she hoped. 

"I shouldn't be surprised. Marcel's out of the picture, so you've gone back to being a trollop?" 

"First, I have no love life, now I'm a trollop? Great, Nik. You really know how to make a woman feel special. No wonder Cami sent you out of the country." Rebekah spat, turning away from Klaus to look out the window. They pulled up to the familiar bar, and the siblings went in, neither saying another word to the other. They sat at Rebekah's usual table in the back and waited for Elijah's performance. 

Elijah played beautifully, and a part of Rebekah wanted to leave him in Manosque to live out his days as a pianist far away from everything that came with being a Mikaelson. She wished she wasn't about to destroy the perfect life he had built for himself. She knew it was selfish, but she needed him. 

After his set, Elijah walked to the bar and sat down. Rebekah and Klaus exchanged knowing looks before walking over. They sat down on either side of him. Elijah felt their presence before he knew who it was. When he looked up at Rebekah, he looked like he had seen a ghost. 

"What are you doing here?" Elijah asked, his voice barely a whisper. Rebekah smiled sympathetically at him, but the answer to his question came from behind him. 

"We've come to bring you home."