Love & marriage

My brother's keeper

Diana wakes up in Klaus's bed, not a sign of clothing nearby. She turns around to find an equally naked Klaus watching her sleep. "Good morning, love."

"What the hell, Nik? What am I doing in your bed?"

"The better question is, why did it take you so long to fall back into old habits? I could feel you missed me."

"I did not...you're bluffing."

"Nope, it's the truth, through and through. I even have video proof."

"You made a sex tape of us?"

"Yes, wanna see it?"

"I would slap you, but that'd take too much energy."

XXXXX

In the woods, Stefan was doing pushups. Stefan stands up. Klaus rushes up behind him and grabs him in a chokehold. "In what world do the words "tell no one" mean tell your brother and every teenage sycophant in town?"

"The secret's safe. No one who knows about the cure will endanger us. Trust me, you know I want to find it more than anyone else."

"Well then, I suggest you find some more vampires for Jeremy to kill before I'm tempted to offer you up as a victim." Klaus releases Stefan from his chokehold. Stefan steps away and turns to look at him. "And try and keep this one to yourself, would you?"

XXXXX

Caroline is all over the place with the pageant. "Will you guys pick up the tempo?! This is a pageant, not a funeral." 

"You need to calm down a bit." Diana tells her. 

"It's just that...there's so many things for me to do and Tyler flaunting his new relationship with Hayley is really not helping me." 

"I mean, it is his house." Both girls look over as Tyler and Hayley walk hand in hand. "I understand what you're going through. But just...take a deep breath and chill."

"I will chill when I get to get rid of that...she wolf."

"Focus on the event, not on the man. Now go be pageant queen you are." Caroline is onstage and is about to introduce the contestants. 

"Hi, everyone, I'm Caroline Forbes. As the reigning Miss Mystic Falls, it is my honor to introduce this year's Miss Mystic Court. We begin the procession with Valerie Fell accompanied by Dylan Clark."

There is a round of applause for Valerie as she walks down the stone steps. "Next, we have Amber Wolvertine accompanied by Hector Lindsay." Another round of applause is given for Amber. "Katherine Wilson accompanied by Eric Hanson. And finally, we have a last minute entry, April Young accompanied by Jeremy Gilbert."

April continues to walk down the steps but stops and looks around for Jeremy. Caroline also looks around for Jeremy but keeps a large smile on her face. Matt walks up to where the escorts were lined up and holds out his arm for April. Everyone applauds and April breathes a sigh of relief. She walks down the remainder of the stairs with a smile and takes Matt's arm. "Jeremy's running late."

"I guess you'll do." She giggles. Caroline continues to look around, worried, but stops and smiles. April and Matt walk to the dance floor and face each other. "You lead." April smiles and nods. 

The girls and their escorts bow to each other and begin the dance. Damon watches them for a moment then looks over at Elena. Elena is still looking around for Jeremy. Elena catches Damon looking at her and she smiles. Damon looks back and watches the dance. Elena stares at him for a moment longer and then walks out of the crowd. Caroline quickly walks down the steps and over to Elena, who is on her phone.

"Hey, what's with the last minute escort change? Where is Jeremy?" 

"I'm calling him right now." Damon walks up to them. "He's not picking up." Elena says. 

"Do the math. Emo teen, open bar, it's fine."

"Matt said that Jeremy's been having nightmares about killing vampires and he's been hiding it from me." Caroline looks surprised and worried. Damon shrugs it off. "Relax, I'm sure he's fine."

"I don't know. I have a bad feeling."

"If I'm not worried, you shouldn't be worried. Let it go. I'll go look for him." Damon walks away. "Okay, you go home, I'm gonna start asking around here." Caroline says as Diana approaches them. 

"What's going on? Shouldn't April be dancing with Jeremy?" 

"Maybe Damon's right. Maybe he grabbed a bottle from the bar and snuck off to the woods." Elena suggests.

"No, Damon is never right. Damon is sneaky and manipulative and rude, but he's never right. How can you not see that?" Caroline says. 

"I don't know, but why do I think that you won't hesitate to tell me?"

"Fine, friend-tervention. I think your so-called "feelings" for Damon are really starting to cloud your judgment and I don't like it. And the thought of you two together really makes me want to barf."

"Wow, Caroline, thank you for making this very difficult time so much easier." Elena says before she walks away. "Elena." Diana says as she walks away. "Caroline, seriously?"

"How did I become the bad guy?" Diana sighs and follows Elena. "Elena. Why can't you just tell Caroline that you're sired to Damon?"

"It's very complex, Diana. You don't understand."

"Woah...now I know you did not just say that one of the original vampires, where your bloodline probably begins, doesn't understand the complexity of a sire and the sired."

"It's just that...we were already flip flopping when I was a human, and now being supernaturally connected to him...it's different."

"Obviously, it's different. But if you don't wanna get your feelings hurt by a very judgemental and stressed Caroline, maybe you should just tell her the truth."

"But you heard her back there. She says that the thought of me and Damon together wants to make her barf."

"You really think she's for real?"

"I know she's for real. Don't forget, I know her more than you do."

"Well, I'm sorry that I have more important things than simple teen drama between two girls." Elena huffs. "Listen, Elena. Just tell the truth and get it over with. It's gonna hurt a lot less if it's out in the open."