Above All Else

Chapter 13

Caroline pulled up to the curb just outside of Bonnie's house and shut her car off. Grabbing her keys and tossing them in her purse she started to open her door only to pull it back at the last second narrowly missing a kid on a bike. Once she was out of her car she slammed her door shut. "Hey watch it kid!" The boy she almost hit with her car door turned his head around and lifted his hand to flip her off. "Oh my God rude much?" Scoffing she rounded her car walking up to the house to knock on the door still shaking her head.

Bonnie's dad opened the door smiling at her, "Good morning Caroline, what can I do for you?"

"Morning Mayor Hopkins, I was looking for Bonnie. I've tried calling her all morning and she's not picking up." Caroline kept a happy demeanor, not sure just how much her knew about everything going on with Bonnie.

"Caroline, you know you can call me Rudy it's fine, you're one of Bonnie's closest friends." Rudy lowered his voice in case anyone was around to overhear. "But Bonnie's not here, she's off with Professor Shane."

Caroline looked at him confused, "Professor Shane? Why is she with him?"

Rudy sighed as he leaned against the door, "Look, I'm not really good with all this magic stuff; I don't know how to handle it or help her. But Professor Shane can. She's off with him somewhere working on how to control her magic. She nearly burnt the house down last night while she was sleeping and had no idea it was even happening. I don't even want to think about what could have happened to her if I hadn't come home from the council meeting early."

"Wow. I mean, I knew it was getting a little out of hand but I had no idea it was that bad." Caroline's brows furrowed in concern for her friend. "Well then ok, I'll let you get back to whatever you were doing. Just let Bonnie know I stopped by ok?"

"Sure thing Caroline. Just if you could do me a favor and stick close to Bonnie. I really think she needs people who understand her and I just don't think I'm the one to do that for her." Caroline smiled softly at him. It was so nice to hear a parent actually concerned for their child, she wished her mom could be a little more like Bonnie's dad, even if he did take off in the past, at least he was here now.

"No problem Mayor Hop... I mean Rudy. I'll always be there for Bonnie." Caroline went back to her car as he shut the door. Getting in she tossed her keys back and forth in her hands unsure of where to head next. She really wanted to track down Bonnie and see what was going on with her, especially after her near nervous breakdown about dropping the veil for Silas. Not to mention Professor Shane really gave her the creeps. But she had no idea where to even start to look for Bonnie, so that made her choice fairly simple. It was time for her to check in and see how Elena was doing. Caroline hadn't tried to call, she knew from experience this wasn't something you talked about over the phone with your friends.

Twenty minutes of singing along with her iPod in the car later, Caroline turned down her stereo and parked her car behind Stefan's roadster in the driveway. She knocked on the front door to the Boarding house as she walked in, "Hello?" She made her way further into the house to find Stefan and Damon in the living room. Setting her purse on the table in front of the sofa, she took a seat next to Stefan and looked at Damon who was standing with a drink in his hand staring blankly out the window.

"So how's Elena doing?" Caroline had expected Damon to be the one to answer her but instead it was Stefan beside her.

"Damon asked her to try and stay calm. He told her that it would make him happy if she tried to deal with Jeremy's death." Caroline could tell Stefan was exhausted and upset about Damon having to use the sire bond with Elena.

Caroline still kept her eyes on Damon, unsure what was going through his head right now, though she never really knew what Damon was thinking. "So how's that working out?"