The Revenge Con

39. Exceeding Expectations

Caroline carried the last box into the Mikaelsons' house. Her new house. Rebekah stole Hope and was playing with her so Caroline didn't have to worry, though she was pretty sure it was just Rebekah's way of not helping them move. 

Caroline hadn't brought much with her from Dallas and had fought with Klaus assuring him he didn't need to hire movers for roughly a car load of stuff. She put a disgruntled few of her new housemates to work the second they pulled in. Kol whined the whole time earning a few eye rolls from Bonnie while Stefan just complained that he wanted to spend time with his niece. 

Once all the boxes were inside the house, Caroline turned to Bonnie and Elena, pulling her friends into a much needed hug. They held each other as if it was the only way they could tell their lives weren't dreams. 

"I'm so glad you're here." Bonnie breathed out against Caroline's shoulder. Caroline had never heard Bonnie sound so tired, so broken. Even after everything had gone down before Bonnie remained the strongest out of all of them. Now it was clear that she was hurting and Caroline hated how far away she had been. 

"Welcome home." Elena added. While Elena's tone carried some of the heaviness of Bonnie's pain, Caroline could also tell she was happier than she had been in a very long time. She had no doubt that she could thank Elijah for that. When the girls separated Caroline turned to Rebekah who had lost the baby to Stefan the moment he was done moving boxes into the house. She would have been more upset if she didn't adore the way he looked when he held her. 

"Bekah!" Caroline squealed, embracing Rebekah tightly. 

"So now that we're all here, its time to discuss living arrangements." They all turned to face Kol, surprised that he was the one bringing it up. Even though Kol's house was quite large, it was not built to house the entire Mikaelson clan. "For the time being I have turned my study into a nursery." 

"It's not like you were using it anyway." Elijah piped up.

"The place might get a little cramped and I think its time to decide if New Orleans is the long term plan or if some of you might want to go back to say New York or Chicago. If we are all staying here, do we want to look for a bigger place or will people be looking for their own places?" Everyone seemed to stare blankly at Kol. His maturity was always startling when compared to his usual juvenile humour and relentless sarcasm. 

"Stef and I actually have a solution. If you are open to it." She announced to the group. "Being together as a family is really important to me especially now. So we found a property that would be perfect." Rebekah explained the details of The Abattoir, a huge property that would be perfect for their large family. "I've already filled out the paperwork I just wanted to be sure before I give the go ahead to the realtor." 

"Looks like I'm not unpacking any boxes." Caroline laughed as she slid her arm around Klaus' side. 

"How soon can we move in?" Elijah added, wrapping his arms around Elena from behind. He pressed a his to the side of her head as she leaned into his embrace. 

"End of the month." Rebekah grinned excitedly. As everyone gushed and started discussing plans for the new house, Kol gestured for Bonnie to follow him to the side. 

"Are you sure you're comfortable sharing a room with me until we get a bigger place? The offer still stands for a hotel room."

"What would be more convenient for you?" Bonnie questioned, her eyes locked on the ground. 

"Convenience is not a priority for me Bon. I want you to be comfortable." Kol assured her.

"I don't mind staying here with you. I really don't want to be alone." She met his eyes and hated the pity she saw behind them. Or what she interpreted as pity. Kol on the other hand was so amazed by her strength and cared so deeply for her that he was concerned about her. "But if its too weird for you I can always make other arrangements. Maybe I should. Its not really fair of me to just take over your space and not even have se-" 

"Bon." Kol interrupted. "I'm perfectly happy just being a friend to you right now. I have no expectations of a relationship and definitely no expectations of sex." 

"You know everyone's going to assume we are sleeping together." Bonnie pointed out, a slight smile on her lips from how wonderful he was being. 

"Who cares what they think?" He shrugged, playfully bumping her with his shoulder. "From this point forward Kol and Bonnie are completely platonic."  He held up his fist and she bumped his knuckles, giggling as he made an explosion sound. 

"Bonnie! We can have rooms next to each other!" Caroline called to her. 

"You should get back over there." He nudged and she nodded placing a quick kiss to his cheek before heading over to Caroline.

"So I can listen to you and Klaus doing it? No thank you." Bonnie retorted as she made her way to Caroline's side to look at the floor plans on Bekah's tablet.

"Jokes on you, Sweetheart. No room in the house will be safe." Klaus grinned smugly.

"Not in front of the baby." Caroline blushed, looking between Klaus and Bonnie with wide eyes. 

Kol hung back, observing the group from the outside. Elijah noticed and separated himself from Elena. 

"Everything okay?" Elijah asked. 

"I hate what they did to her." Kol admitted, watching Bonnie laugh with Caroline and noticing how it didn't quite reach her eyes. "What they did to both of them."

"Trust me. I know the feeling." 

"I wish I could tear them limb from limb. Or worse." He spoke through gritted teeth. It had been a while since Kol's anger had gotten the better of him. "I wish I could take her pain away." His tone was softer and Elijah could sense the longing he was feeling.

"I'm proud of you Kol." Elijah patted his brother on the shoulder.

"What?" 

"You've grown so much. From taking care of the business after I left to your maturity in the hospital and even now the way you've been there for Ms Bennett. I'm so proud of the man you have become." Kol blinked away the tears that were threatening to spill. When he was a kid he always felt like the odd man out. Freya and Finn were super close as the eldest siblings. Elijah Rebekah and Klaus were also unbelievably close, leaving him as the odd man out. When Henrik was born he was already a teenager. Now he was much closer to his siblings but this was something entirely different. Elijah was proud of him. 

Elijah pulled Kol into a tight hug.

"Thank you." Kol mumbled, unable to tell his brother how much it truly meant to him. 

"I'll start planning the party!" Rebekah squealed over the discussions as they planned their move in day. 

"I'll help!" Caroline cheered. Elena glanced over her shoulder and smiled at Elijah who was still chatting with Kol. 

"You are really lucky, you know that?" Kol remarked as he examined the love floating between them. 

"The luckiest." Elijah agreed. They rejoined the group and they all chatted away about home decor before Stefan's stomach growling alerted them all to their own hunger.

"I think it's time for our first family dinner."