"Okay, what about this one?"

   Sat cross legged on her bed, ten year old Audrey Gilbert's eyes stared at the magazine that Caroline had laid in front of her. A one night sleepover after school on Friday, had ended up turning into a weekend long affair, after both girls gave Miranda Gilbert a look she was unable to say no to. That Sunday morning, the pair were making the most of their time before Caroline had to go home, and had started a project they'd been talking about for a while. 

   "Too puffy." Audrey scrunched up her nose, making a face at the large skirted wedding dress on the page. "What about this one?" She asked, pointing to the elegant mermaid gown beside it.

   "That's pretty." Caroline mused, a look of awe in her eyes. Her eyes glanced from the picture to Audrey, and her smile grew. "You'd look like a princess in that."

   Audrey's lips twitched up. "You think so?"

   "I know so." Caroline stated, and grabbed the scissors laid beside them. Carefully, she cut out the picture of the dress, and used the glue to stick it into the open scrapbook beside them. One page was labelled Caroline's Future Wedding, while the the page beside it was labelled Audrey's Future Wedding. Underneath the word dress, she stuck the picture of the gown, patting it down. "Your prince charming will love it."

   "So will yours." Audrey grinned, as she looked at the dress they'd stuck to Caroline's page. Her eyes glanced over the words Maid of Honor, where of course, they'd both written down each others name, with a picture of them together stuck underneath. "Do you think we'll still be best friends when we get married?"

   "Duh." Caroline stated in a obvious tone. "Best friends forever, Rey." The Forbes girl swore wholeheartedly. "We'll even live next door to each other, force our husbands to be best friends, just like we are."

   "Living in the same neighborhood?"

   "Next door to one another. And have kids at the same time, so they can be best friends." Caroline carried on, her look growing brighter as she went into more detail. "Oh! Or maybe, our kids will date and we'll be related!"

   Audrey's smile brightened just like hers, both girls with a vivid picture of their entwined futures in their heads. The two girls looked at one for a moment, before they pulled each other into a tight hug, giggling as they knocked the pile of magazines they'd collected to the floor. 

   "Rey. Care." Elena Gilbert appeared in the doorway of her sisters bedroom, the two friends pulling away to look at her. "Mom said lunch is ready." 

   "We're coming." Audrey grinned at her sister. 

   Once Elena left, the two quickly put away all of their things, and tucked the scrapbook away on Audrey's bookshelf. Ready to be added to and used when the time came that they needed it.

   "You came!" Caroline's eyes widened excitedly, flinging herself onto Audrey forcefully when she locked eyes with her. Audrey let out a huff of shock, but quickly melted into the embrace, a grin growing on her face for the first time since she'd arrived in Mystic Falls that morning. "You're actually here! I didn't know if you'd come."

   "What? And pass up the chance to see you?" Audrey raised a brow as she pulled away. "Of course not."

   "God, I've missed you." Caroline grinned, hugging her tightly as she pulled her inside.

   "I've missed you too." Audrey mumbled gently, finally pulling herself away fully from the blonde. "Also...I've got some news."

   "What?" Caroline asked her seriously. "Has Elijah still not came to his senses? Because I was serious when I said I would kick his ass." The Forbes vampire said firmly. "I did not give him my approval for him to go an--" Her words were cut off, as Audrey held up her left hand to show her ring finger, an amused and anxious smile appearing on her lips. Caroline's jaw dropped slightly, as she stared at the rose gold ring around Audrey's finger. "Oh my God...is that...?"

   "He proposed." Audrey nodded. "I said yes."

   "Seriously?!" Caroline let out, excitement growing on her face instantly. "Oh my God, Rey! That's amazing!" She pulled her into a hug once again, before taking a hand to get a closer look at the ring. "It's stunning." She let out in awe, before her expression grew serious. "Okay, we have got so much to do. Have you guys talked about a date? Ideas?" She asked before shaking her head, not giving the Gilbert girl chance to say anything. "You know what? We can do that while you're here. We can make a list, and I can start researching everything, and--"

   "Caroline." Audrey couldn't help but laugh in amusement. "We've only just got engaged."

   "So?" She scoffed. "It is never too early to start preparing, Audrey!" She shook her head as she took her arm. "I thought I had taught you better than that."

   Audrey just shook her head, raising a brow as Caroline began to lead her down the hall of the boarding house. Knowing this was all because of Katherine dying, Audrey knew the whole group were likely to gather there to celebrate, which is why she knew this is where she'd find Caroline. Klaus and Rebekah had joined her for the trip, Klaus also receiving word about Katherine's impending death, but the Gilbert girl had came ahead without them.

   Before she could question where they were going, the pair ended up in the library, and she instantly saw all of the eyes on them. Just as suspected, everyone was gathered together, clearly just waiting until Katherine finally passed. A feeling of dread formed in the pit of Audrey's stomach, feeling Elena and Jeremy's gazes planted firmly on her. 

   "Rey..." Elena let out softly.

   Audrey didn't attempt to force a smile on her face, and just gave everyone in the room a nod, refusing to look back at either of her siblings. "Did you miss me?"

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

   Audrey wasn't sure exactly what she had expected. Ever since she left for New Orleans, Audrey couldn't have pictured herself coming back to Mystic Falls. It wasn't her home anymore, and hadn't really been her home when she lived there either. The only person she'd spoken to since she left was Caroline, and Caroline was the only reason she was even there. The last time she'd spoken to Jeremy was after Kol died, and the last time she spoke to Elena, it was when her humanity was still off. So much had changed in all of their lives since then, but Audrey's feelings toward them had remained the same. So much had happened that she couldn't forgive them for. Before either of them could force her into conversation, the group had been interrupted by the arrival of Katherine's daughter Nadia, who'd buried Matt alive to force them to help save her mothers life. With Stefan and Elena agreeing to help her, and everyone else leaving to find Matt, it gave Audrey time to herself. She let Rebekah know what had happened, knowing the Mikaelson girl would find Matt and get him to safety. 

   Instead of staying in the boarding house, Audrey made the walk over to the cemetery, heading in the direction of her family plot. Almost everyday after the funeral, Elena would come to visit them, spending hours there writing in her journal. At that point, Jeremy was drowning his pain in drugs and alcohol, and Audrey couldn't face it. Going to the cemetery always brought up memories of the accident, and she couldn't deal with them. The more time that past, things changed, and she'd go to visit them when she could. She couldn't remember the last time she visited before she left town, and she wanted to fix that. Flowers in hand, she gave a sand smile as she bent down in front of Jenna's grave, placing one of the bunches down. She took a moment as she glanced at John's grave, and bit her lip before she moved in front of her parents. 

   "Sorry I've not been in a while." She said quietly, as she placed the final bunch down on their grave. Her fingers traced along their names on the headstone, biting her lip as she looked down. "I miss you guys." Carefully, she sat herself down on the grass beside the grave, biting her lip. "I, uh, I'm happy where I am now." She told them, holding onto the idea deep down that they could hear her. "I've got this...amazing family in New Orleans, and they look after me. And Elijah..." Her smile grew brighter slightly. "He makes me really happy." She said wholeheartedly. "I know vampires aren't what you wanted for any of us, but I think it you had been able to meet him, you see the good in him that I do. That you'd be happy for me." She twisted her ring around her finger. "I hope you would be."

   Audrey wasn't sure how long she was there for, but she didn't care. She just sat on the ground beside the grave, telling her parents about everything going on in her life, as if they were there talking back to her. After a while, she heard footsteps walk up behind her, and she knew by the voice that spoke she must have been there a while.

   "Rey?" Elena's voice asked gently. "We thought we might find you here."

   "I wanted to visit them before we leave." She mumbled, glancing over her shoulder toward Elena and Jeremy. She could see the nerves and sheepish expressions on their faces, which only made her sigh as she pushed to her feet. "You don't have to do this."

   "Yeah, we do." Jeremy shook his head. "We should talk about this."

   "What is there left to say, Jeremy?" Audrey asked him honestly, and looked between them both. "Really? If there's something that needs to be said, then tell me. Because every time in the past, when I have tried to have this conversation with you both, it's never worked. You tell me you listen, and that you want to change things, then things remain exactly the same. I end up even more hurt than I was before."

   "We kn--"

   "Do you?" Audrey cut Elena off. If they wanted to have this conversation, then they could have it. But she wasn't going to let it be like it normally was. "Do you know?" She raised a brow. "Because I don't think you do. You two were meant to be my family."  She felt her voice waver slightly. "My brother and sister, the two people that I could always count on. But I couldn't. Then when I did find people that I could count on, that loved and cared about me, you did everything you could to try and ruin that!" Audrey snapped, not even trying to control the fact her voice was getting louder. "You daggered Elijah when he was the one trying to protect me, you didn't even care about the fact it was literally killing me! You worked with Esther to try and kill them all, and lied to my face about it. Then you killed Kol, despite the constant promises of trying to make things better between us. And in all of this, you tried to make it seem like I was the bad guy. That I was picking them over my own family. I wasn't picking them, I was picking myself! Because everyone has always put you first, Elena! Damon, Stefan, our friends. Caroline was the only one that truly cared before the Mikaelsons came into our lives. Hell, there were times that Damon cared more than you guys. At least he did something to stop me from dying." Tears formed in her eyes as she looked at Jeremy. "You want to know what hurt most? At one point, I thought I had you. Then you killed Kol, and I had to see the hard way you saw it the way everyone else did. Life in New Orleans isn't perfect, I won't lie about that. But I'm happy. I actually feel like I belong, which is more than I can say about here. Because I don't, not anymore. I haven't since mom and dad died."

   Jeremy's face fell, guilt clear in his eyes. "I...I'm sorry, Audrey." He let out quietly, at a loss of what else to say. "I am really sorry."

   "We've been awful to you." Elena's voice cracked, looking at her sister with a mixture of emotions. "We don't expect you to forgive us, we wouldn't even forgive us." She said honestly, looking down. "But we...we want to try, to do something to try and make things a little better between us." She glanced up at her sadly. "I mean, you're engaged and we had to find out through Caroline. That's not how things should be. We should be celebrating you, how happy you are. Talking about the wedding."

   "There's nothing you can do, Elena." Audrey shook her head as she looked down herself. "I don't want to try." She looked back up at them. "Because in the past, all it's done is left me heartbroken. I'm not doing that to myself anymore. I'm happy. I am beyond happy, and when I go back to New Orleans, I don't know the next time I'm coming back here. I'm going to live my life, and you two are going to stay here and live yours, and that's it. I am putting myself first, and standing by the people that have always stood by me." She looked at them silently for a long moment. "I have no doubt things will work out, and you guys will get everything you want from life. It always does." She said quietly, and took one last look at the graves, before she walked past them without another word. 

   As Audrey walked away, she felt like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. Mystic Falls was were she was born, and by blood, she was a Gilbert. But it wasn't her home, and her blood wasn't her family, not anymore. And she was okay with that, because she knew she had something better waiting for her elsewhere.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

   It was weird to see the old Mikaelson home so empty. It had been cleared out since the last time any of them had been there, the important things they needed moved to New Orleans. Rebekah and Audrey both sat on the staircase in the empty house, waiting for Klaus to get back so that they could leave. Neither of them had any interest in saying goodbye to Katherine, and Audrey had no interest in facing anyone else after talking to Elena and Jeremy. 

   "Finally." Rebekah huffed as the door opened, Klaus appearing in view. "Where the hell have you been?"

   Klaus held a lazy grin on his face. "None of your business, sister." He said simply, and held the door open behind him as he looked at Audrey. "Someone wanted to talk to you."

   Audrey looked at him in confusion, until Caroline appeared in front of her, clutching a book to her chest. "Did you really think I'd let you leave without saying goodbye?" The Forbes vampire asked her seriously. "Our day together may have been ruined by...things." She began, Audrey noticing a smirk twitch on Klaus's lips that made her raise a brow. But the blonde ignored it, and placed the book in her hands. "But it won't stop me from planning this wedding."

   Audrey looked down, and her face softened in awe, easily recognizing the book now resting in her hands. "You kept it?"

   "And added to it." Caroline admitted with a small grin. "We finally have a reason to use it now. It's happening for you."

   "Care..."

   "Hey, no." Caroline said quickly, seeing the look on her face. "I have memorized this book off by heart. I know our dream weddings by heart, and I can make it happen without having this with me. I want you to take it." She told her honestly. "Keep it safe so if the day does ever come, you can use it to plan my wedding, just like we always agreed." She gave her a soft smile. "I'm so happy you found your prince charming, Rey."

   With tears forming in her eyes, Audrey placed the book down and hugged Caroline tightly, the Forbes girl not hesitating to return the embrace. "Best friends forever?"

   "Best bitches forever." Caroline corrected with a giggle, pulling away and holding up the hand wearing their friendship ring. Audrey grinned and held hers up, the two linking those fingers together. "So maybe our husbands won't be best friends, and we won't live in the same place, but...no matter what, we're always going to have each other. If you need me, I am a phone call away, and I will be in New Orleans in a heartbeat."

   "I love you, Care." Audrey told her wholeheartedly.

   "I love you too." 

   A lot of things had changed in Audrey Gilbert's life. The people that she thought were meant to be important in her life weren't, and others had taken their place. People she could no longer imagine her life without. But despite all of that, Caroline Forbes had always been her on constant. The person she could always rely on, and knew when she said forever, she meant it. Audrey Gilbert and Caroline Forbes would truly be best friends forever, no matter what happened in their lives. 

   If Audrey was gratefully for anything her life in Mystic Falls had given her, Caroline was the top of that list. 

So, here is the crossover.

I think you were all probably expecting more of the actual episode, but I wanted to do what felt right for Audrey. Which was seeing Caroline, and having that conversation with Elena and Jeremy. Things aren't better between those three, and it didn't feel right fixing things between them. There is a lot Audrey can't forgive them for, things that aren't easily just made up for, especially with their track record with her. 

Hopefully, that came across the way that I wanted it to. The Caroline and Audrey stuff warmed my heart to write, because I am always going to love their friendship. This is not the last we have seen of Caroline, I promise. I have plans. I know a lot of you wanted me to take her to New Orleans, and that isn't happening...right now. Never say never. Like I said, I have a lot planned. 

Back to New Orleans drama next chapter, which will be posted later today! It is double update day, because I'm very excited to share the next couple of chapters with you. I apologize now for what's going to happen...

I hope you all enjoyed!