Unstoppable | The Vampire Diaries

76. The Pursuit of Happiness

"Klaus?!" Riley asked incredulously, sitting cross-legged on Caroline's bed in the dorm. "You slept with Klaus?"

Caroline, who had finished making the beds and was now furiously cleaning the fireplace, groaned. "I didn't tell you that so you could mock me with it."

"I'm not mocking," Riley swore. "I'm just remembering how you reacted when I told you that I kissed Elijah."

The blonde vampire rolled her eyes. "It's not the same thing. Elijah was all wrong for you. Me and Klaus were a one-time thing. It'll never happen again."

Riley was about to answer, but the sound of knocking on the door surprised her, so she decided to answer that instead. "It's open!"

The door opened hesitantly and Aaron popped his head around the door. Seeing his girlfriend, he smiled.

"Hey, what are you doing here?"

Riley jumped up to greet him with a hug. "I'm keeping Caroline company," she informed him, mock-whispering. "Boy trouble."

"Yeah. For once, she's the sister with a great love-life and I'm the one with Original vampire issues," Caroline grimaced, looking at Aaron. "I'm stress cleaning. I'm stressed, so I'm cleaning."

"Right," Aaron nodded warily. "Anyway, I just came to tell Elena that I cut off Augustine's funding."

Riley's eyes widened. "Wow. So all the vampire experiments are over?"

Aaron nodded happily. "Wes and Dianne Freeman and your mom are gonna have to find money from another source or just... stop altogether."

"That's great, Aaron," Caroline said, a smile on her face. "Elena will be happy. And hopefully it'll give Damon some closure."

"Yeah," Riley nodded. "You did a good thing. Also, you should probably kiss me now."

Aaron grinned, all too happy to oblige. Their quick kiss turned into the beginnings of a make-out session that Caroline definitely didn't want to see.

"I mean this in the nicest way possible: Please get your happy relationship out of my face before I suffocate myself with cleaning product," Caroline joked.

Riley rolled her eyes, giving Aaron another quick kiss. "I have to work soon, but what if I come to your room later tonight... where prying eyes can't see us?"

"Yes please," Aaron grinned, kissing her again before heading for the door. When he was gone, Riley sank to the ground beside Caroline and rested her head on the vampire's shoulder.

"I like it when you're happy," Caroline smiled. "And you and Aaron are the cutest couple in the entire world."

Riley giggled, wondering when she'd last been so happy. "You're gonna work this Klaus thing out. It's not like you cheated on anyone or anything. Give yourself a break."

Caroline nodded absentmindedly, taking her phone out of her pocket and answering it before Riley even knew that it was ringing. She'd never be completely used to the vampire-fast reflexes.

"Stefan, hey," Caroline said, putting the phone on speaker. "Riley's here too."

"Good," Stefan said. "Because... I kind of convinced Damon that he was an idiot for breaking up with Elena."

"You what?!" Caroline asked angrily. It wasn't a surprise to anyone that she wasn't exactly fond of the relationship between her best friend and her vampire frenemy.

"Now he's in a mood," Stefan continued as if she hadn't spoken. "He's been trying to get a hold of her but she isn't returning his phone calls."

"If my boyfriend dumped me out of the blue, I wouldn't return his calls either," Riley said, trying to put herself in Elena's shoes. She knew Damon well enough to know that he wouldn't sacrifice his own happiness unless he was sure that it was the right thing to do. Only for Elena. "But if he's serious about being with her again, she can't ignore him forever."