A Knick In Time

Klaroline

Next Day

Caroline and I are to meet Niklaus is the Cafè on Mystic Falls' main street today at noon. Now that I know he never became the monster I'd come to loathe back in the old days, I'm actually looking forward to seeing my brother-in-law again. And I'm hoping to get some pancakes at the Cafè while we're at it. Seriously, ever since I've come back, I have developed an even more extreme addiction to those delicious things than I had before. But hey, who wouldn't?

My bubbly blonde friend and I are currently on the way to the beforementioned Cafè. It's a sunny day today. I can tell that summer is approaching. Nevertheless, I still opted to wear a pair of jeans and a cardigan over my long-sleeved shirt. Caroline, on the other hand, chose to go for beautiful instead of warm. She's wearing a light summer dress with a jean jacket and ankle boots. Her hair is curled carefully and her make-up perfectly in place.

"You look really pretty, Care." I tell her.

She gives me a cheerful grin. "Thanks. I do hope you're not the only one who'll think that."

Before I can give a response to that, Caroline opens the door to the Cafè and marches in. I follow closely behind her.
Niklaus is already waiting for us, sitting at one of the tables. When he sees us, he gets up from his seat and meets us half way in the small Cafè.

He approaches Caroline first. "Good day to you, love. You look ravishing."

My friend giggles and blushes a little in response. The two share a quick, but tender kiss.
Which has me drop my jaw. It seems as though my bubbly blonde friend forgot to mention something yesterday, concerning her and my brother-in-law.

Caroline takes a small step back and gives Niklaus her most dazzling smile, which she perfected over the years, as I fondly remember. "It's good to see you too."

"Good to hear I haven't lost my charm just yet." Klaus smirks at her, then turns to me, "And Elena, hello to you too. Caroline tells me you wish to talk?"

Instead of answering him, I walk up to him and wrap my arms around him in a big hug. He is obviously surprised and tenses up, awkwardly patting my back.
"It's good to see you, brother-in-law." I whisper.

As my words sink in, he relaxes and hugs me back.
When we pull back, he smiles at me, his signature dimples adorning his face. "Well, well. I had begun to think you'd never get on that journey. Welcome back, sister."

"Thanks." I smile back with somewhat tight lips, "We have some catching up to do."

"Oh, yes, I believe we do. Luckily, I've already taken the liberty of ordering you two girls your favourites. Why don't we sit down and have a chat?"

***

Klaus keeps his arm leisurely around the back of Caroline's chair all through my explanations of what has happened in the past two days. A gesture that surprises me and has me slightly uncomfortable, as if I'm intruding on some intimate moment of theirs. But Niklaus seems very interested in what I tell him. Even though I really can't tell him much more than he already knows. Which is also why we soon get to the part where I ask him about Elijah and how to contact him.

Klaus tuns a finger across his stubnly chin. "Well, honestly, my noble brother has been AWOL for quite some time now. I don't know where he is."

"Can you call him?" I ask.

He slightly tilts his head. "I can try, but I'm not sure he'll answer. You have to understand, Elena, my brother can be very persistent in his quest to isolate himself when he wants to be. We'll get through to him eventually, I know that from experience. But I can't tell you how long it'll take."

"Doesn't matter." I reply with relief, "As long as he comes back at all, I don't care how long it takes."

"Wow." Caroline shakes her head, "You know, you could do with a little less sappy."

"Nah, I'm good, thanks." I grin at her. She shakes her head with a slight chuckle. Feeling confirmed by her reaction, I raise my cup to my lips, still grinning. However, just as the cup reaches my mouth, I see something odd in my peripheral vision. A dark-haired woman who just got a coffee to go at the couter of the Cafè gets her arm blocked by the straps of her purse and her coffee falls from her hand. But that's not the odd thing. The odd thing is that before falling to the ground, the coffee stops mid-air for about a second. I blink, frowning, not sure if I'm seeing this right. In the next moment, everything is normal again. The coffee spills all over the ground and the woman curses under her breath while a smirking barista already begins to make a new coffee for her.

"Did you guys just see that?" I ask Klaus and Caroline.

Those two have turned their heads into the direction of the noises, so they both nod.
"Well, I think it's good that it happened in here at least. If it had happened two blocks down, she wouldn't get a free refill." Caroline remarks.

I frown. "Really? That's what bothers you?"

My bubbly blonde friend looks at me. "What do you mean?"

"Didn't you guys see how the coffee just... froze, for, like, a second, before it went down to the floor?" I tentatively ask.

The expressions on Klaus and Caroline's faces change upon hearing that. The two exchange a glance, as if silently communicating. They seem to think I'm going crazy.

"Elena." Caroline cautiously says, "That didn't happen. The coffee never froze, it just spilled."

"Are you sure?" My question is partly unnecessary, as I already kind of know that it's impossible for something like that to happen without anyone interfering with magic. So, when Caroline and Klaus both nod, my next question is: "Then why did I see it?"

"Maybe you were just having a moment, you know, not paying too close attention and it was just a misconception. It happens sometimes." Caroline suggests.

I shake my head. "I- I don't think so. This is the second timw something like this happened. And both times, I was very sure about what I saw."

"Well, maybe there was something wrong with all the time traveling, love. Spells as powerful as that can have side effects." Klaus guesses.

Caroline nods in agreement, her blonde curls bouncing slightly. "Why don't you ask Bonnie about it?"

"That's a great idea, thanks Care." I quickly get up from my seat, "In fact, I think I'm going to go and ask her about that right now. That way, you two will be able to continue your date without me."

"Aw, but we'll miss our third wheel so deeply, love." Klaus teases me with a grin.
Caroline stiffles a laugh.

I snicker a little. "See you later, guys."

***

Bonnie takes some blood from me and promises me to try to find out what's happening with me. Maybe, her grimoire or her ancestors will have some answers. But alas, in either case, it's going to take a while.

In the meantime, I've decided to start getting back into the topic of medical school. Obviously, due to the whole time travel thing, I'm not exactly up to date with my studies anymore and I want to change that. On that front, things are thankfully going well enough. I think, I will be focussing on gynecology later on, to help women give birth like I did in ancient viking times. I do kind of miss it.

Aside from school, it's apparent that I won't be able to do much in the near future other than wait for Elijah to answer Niklaus' calls and for Bonnie to find an answer to my recently developed time problem.

And so, the waiting begins...