one last school dance

"I DON'T WANT TO WAKE THEM UP, LOOK AT THEM– THEY'RE ADORABLE."

Bonnie leans into Caroline's side in the doorway of Stefan and Athena's room, cooing over the couple cuddled up in bed, still asleep.

Athena's practically laid on top of Stefan, her head on his chest and a leg thrown over his hips. Stefan's got both of his arms wrapped around her, his chin propped on her head. It doesn't look necessarily comfortable for sleeping, but Bonnie's heart is aching at the sweetness of it.

Caroline, on the other hand, is rolling her eyes. "They are sickening together, even when they're asleep. Like, okay, we get it– we're all doomed to die alone!"

Bonnie glances at her friend, smirking despite her dramatics. "You are ridiculous, Care. But I still don't want to wake them up, I'll feel terrible."

"I won't," Caroline shrugs, running towards the bed and jumping onto it, making the couple startle out of their slumber. "Good morning, lovebirds!"

Stefan groans softly, wiping a hand down his face to attempt and get the sleep out of his eyes. "Have you ever heard of sleeping in? What time is it?"

Bonnie takes the ruined moment as a window of opportunity and slides onto the bed beside Caroline, giving Stefan a sympathetic smile as Athena stubbornly hides her face in his chest. "It's 10, we let you sleep as late as possible, but we still need to get ready for tonight, so–"

"It's ten?!" Athena sits up suddenly, smacking Stefan's arms off of her waist as she hoists herself onto his lap, her legs straddling his waist. She looks at the two girls, her brown eyes suddenly alert and missing any remnants of sleep. "Holy shit, we are so behind!"

Stefan huffs, hands coming up to grab her hips and keep her in bed as she tries to slide off of him. "No, no, no, we are done with school, that means no more getting up early and no more rushing, and–"

"Stefan, sweetheart," Athena interrupts him, taking his wrists in her hands and pulling them off her. "I love you so much, but if I don't start getting ready now, I'm going to go into cardiac arrest from stress."

"We need to go to the tailor and pick up our dresses, and go to the hair salon," Bonnie lists off to Athena, earning reaffirming nods.

The vampire grunts, shaking his head against his pillow. "Bed. We are staying in bed."

"Yeah, and I need to go back to the nail salon because my manicure is chipped, and there's no point in wearing a blue dress if my nails aren't blue to match," Caroline huffs, eyeing her nails with disdain as Stefan scoffs.

"Am I being ignored? Are any of you listening to a word I say?"

Athena hums distractedly, still clutching onto Stefan's wrists. "I have to make sure I have my shoes, too– have you seen my white stilettos? I swear to god, I haven't seen them in like, two weeks, and that's super inconvenient. We'll have to stop by my house to see if they're there, I guess."

"No one is listening to me– this is my house,"

Athena finally gets off of Stefan, and the two girls jump off the bed to follow her as she hurries to change into casual clothes. "So, nail salon first, then tailor, then my dad's house, our hair appointment is at 1– do you think we have time for lunch before? Or are we just going to starve?"

"If the nail salon doesn't take that long, we'll be able to stop at the Grill for something,"

Athena makes a noise of agreement, hurrying back over to the bed to grab her necklace off the nightstand and clasp it around her throat. She gives Stefan a fleeting kiss that he tries to deepen, but she pulls away before it goes anywhere. "I'll be back here no later than four, Stefan, and you better have your tux ready! No wrinkles, seriously, or I'm burning it!"

"Athena, wait–" He sits up, blankets pooling around his hips as she disappears in a flurry of Caroline and Bonnie's mixed chaos. Looking blankly around his room, he makes a noise of disbelief. "I have no power. Nobody listens to me anymore."

Damon's voice comes from the hallway suddenly, distant but taunting. "Nobody listened to you in the first place!"

Stefan falls back onto the bed with a groan.

──────

"I don't know where my white heels went," Athena huffed, rolling her eyes as she lifted the layers of her dress train up to slide her dusty pink heels on. "These match good enough, right?"

Caroline hummed, sparing a glance at the shoes as she put her earrings on. "Yeah, they match the pink in your dress. Even if they don't, you can hardly see them anyway."

"That's super reassuring, thank you," Athena gave her a sarcastic smile before turning in the direction of the closed bathroom door. "Bonnie, did you get tangled in your dress?"

"No," The witch called through the door, her voice hesitant. "I'm... ready, I think."

The two girls faced the door, anticipation heavy in their bones.

"Well, come on, then!" Caroline called, rolling her eyes petulantly. "I've been listening to Stefan and Damon bicker for ten minutes, they're getting impatient."

Athena made an agreeing noise, fumbling lightly with her curled updo tucked neatly against the nape of her neck. "Yeah, and if that bickering ends up with Stefan's suit wrinkled I'm going to kill both of them, so come on,"

Bonnie groaned at their nagging but the door creaked open and she stepped out, hesitancy obvious with every inch she walked. "How do I look?"

Athena's eyes went wide and Caroline's jaw dropped slightly, the two looking at their friend reverently.

"Wow, Bon," Athena breathed out, stepping towards her to fluff out her wavy curls and wipe a flake of mascara off her cheek. "You look beautiful. You'd fit right in on Olympus."

Bonnie felt heat warm her cheeks as Caroline nodded from behind Athena. "Really? You don't think it's too... leggy? Or booby?" She gestured to her exposed chest and the high slits of the dress, though her words earned scoffs from the two girls.

"Um, nothing is too leggy or too booby when you have great legs and great boobs," Caroline shrugged, frowning at Bonnie's insecurity. "You look amazing, you're literally glowing, and I feel like I look like a translucent worm compared to you literal bronzed goddesses. I have never looked more dead than I do right now,"

Bonnie snorted a laugh, holding her hand over her mouth to hide her grin as Caroline pouted, though she knew that there was no real upset behind any of it. Heaving a sigh, Bonnie grinned and gave them both what she hoped was an upbeat look. "We can go now, I think,"

The three girls departed from Stefan and Athena's bedroom, having commandeered it as soon as they returned from their multiple errands around town.

"I know we already had prom, but I feel like I should have a crown," Caroline mutters, lifting her blue dress carefully as they walk down the stairs, all three sets of heels clicking on the wood. "I deserve a crown."

"What could you possibly need a crown for?"

"Because I want people to think they can't talk to me," Caroline says, giving Athena a look like the answer should've been obvious. "People are intimidated by royalty."

Bonnie laughs, shaking her head exasperatedly as they reach the bottom of the stairs and walk towards the foyer. Her eyes fall on where Stefan and Damon are talking, turning slightly away from them as they approach. "Hey, are you guys ready? Where's Rebekah?"

Damon starts to respond before he looks her way, clearing his throat. "She went downstairs to get–" He stops talking abruptly when he faces her, his eyes widening as he takes her in completely.

An odd silence falls over the group and Stefan frowns at his brother, giving him an entirely not-so-subtle nudge with his shoe. Damon looked at Stefan, and he jerked his head in Bonnie's direction, giving him a pointed look that had Damon snapping out of his trance.

"Bonnie looks great, doesn't she, Damon?" Athena grins sharply at him and he nods, clearing his throat again as he plasters a smirk on his face.

"Of course, she does, Athena," He responds to the otherwise rhetorical question but doesn't take his eyes off Bonnie as he steps closer to her. "She's stunning."

Bonnie ducks her head, hiding her sheepish grin as she steps closer to Damon.

"So, where is Rebekah?" Caroline cuts into their tension-filled non-conversation, raising a brow at the matching glares Damon and Bonnie send her way. "You didn't finish your sentence before you started drooling over Bonnie."

"Funny," Damon gritted his teeth. "She's downstairs getting a blood bag, should be back any minute."

"Look what I found!" Rebekah's voice suddenly echoed down the hall, her shoes clicking noisily as she hurried towards them with a grin. "An old camera– oh, we have to take a picture."

Stefan chuckled as she pushed at them, forcing them to move in closer together as she double-checked the film cartridge. "Caroline, stand by me– I refuse to look like the only single one,"

"I'm also single," Caroline reminded her, but went and stood by her nonetheless, careful to kick her dress out of the way so the Original could move in closer and wrap her arm around her waist. "And don't worry, Stefan and Athena make everyone around them feel lonely and miserable."

Athena smiled wickedly as Stefan stepped up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and bending his head down to rest his chin on her shoulder. She laid her hands over his where they intertwined on her waist and saw Rebekah and Caroline both roll their eyes at her from her peripheral.

Shooting the two blondes a sharp look while keeping her smile on her face, she tilted her head pointedly at their proximity. "You two complain about being single all the time, why don't you just screw each other?"

Caroline stilled, a blush filling her cheeks as Rebekah glanced down at her with a smirk. "That's always an option, love,"

"Are we going to take a picture, or are we going to talk about who's screwing who?"

They all rolled their eyes at Damon's comment, but Rebekah focused on the camera, positioning it for them to all fit in the frame. "Should we say something?"

"Yeah," Damon smiled, wrapping an arm around her waist and leaning into Bonnie's side to grin into the camera. "Everybody say Stefan sucks!"

──────

"So, are you ready for tomorrow?"

"What, to walk across that stage and never have to sit in a classroom with any of those idiots again? Yes, I am more than ready."

"I was more or less talking about the speech you have to give in front of said idiots,"

"Oh. Well, I've decided that I'm winging it, like you told me to. I haven't written anything, so hopefully I'll be able to come up with something."

Stefan scoffs in disbelief, a grin on his face. "You? The girl who has to plan her life weeks in advance, down to the hour? You are winging it?"

"Hey, I am capable of being relaxed. I am a relaxing person."

"You are the most high-strung person I've ever met," He keeps talking over her offended gasp. "And I love you for it, truly. But are you sure that winging it is the best idea? I mean, I was kidding when I said that."

She shrugs, teasing gleam dimming as she grows somewhat bittersweet. "I think it's a good start to the rest of our lives, you know? God knows what we're doing after this, so why not start embracing the unpredictable? I think that's something everyone feels when they graduate. There's no telling what will happen next, so you might as well just... wing it."

Stefan eyes her fondly, green eyes warm at her words. "Well, even though you're going with the whole 'winging it' thing, I think that is a good place to start. Just try to refrain from calling everyone idiots,"

Athena laughs, throwing her head back with the action as Stefan turns them around, her dress skating along the floor. "You don't think they'd take that well?"

"No," He chuckles, shaking his head. "No, I don't think they would like that."

Athena's dark eyes scan the gym briefly over Stefan's shoulder, and she gasps softly, making Stefan's hands squeeze around her waist concernedly. "What is it?"

Any notes of panic he felt disappeared when she suddenly smiled brighter than the sun itself, her hand slapping at his shoulder. "Turn us, turn us– look!"

Stefan sways them gently, brows furrowed in confusion as he spins until he's facing the direction she had been in a moment ago.

"Oh," Stefan's eyes widened at the sight of his brother and Bonnie dancing, bodies pressed together closer than even he and Athena. Foreheads resting against each other as they speak unintelligible words to each other. "Oh, wow."

"I know," Athena whispers excitedly, turning her head to look at them and abandoning all pretenses of subtlety. "If they kiss, Caroline owes me a hundred bucks."

Stefan makes a noise of disbelief, shaking his head at her. "You bet on them? Athena,"

"It's just me and Caroline!" She defends, face falling slightly. "And Rebekah, and Kol. And Josh. But that's it, I swear,"

"You're all terrible people," He mutters, turning them away from Bonnie and Damon once more. "They'll get it together eventually, just like we did."

"I think you're severely underestimating the pining that one is capable of," She narrows her eyes. "Especially from Damon. That man is like a vault of emotions that nobody can ever touch."

Stefan contemplates her words for a moment before giving her a conceding nod. "Alright, but we can't get in the middle of it all. If we mess with it, who knows what'll happen? I mean, if this is what they're doing already, I doubt it'll take much longer for them to get it together."

Athena sighs, acting put upon, but she shrugs her surrender easily. "Fine, fine, we'll leave them alone. But if they take even longer now, you owe me a hundred bucks."

Stefan rolls his eyes, tilting his head down to lay his lips over hers in an attempt to silence her. "You're a pain in the ass," His words are slightly muffled against her mouth but she laughs nonetheless.

──────

"Why do you look like you're gonna throw up?"

Caroline's head snaps over to Athena, and she huffs, looking down at the gym floor as she fluffs her dress out a bit. "I'm just– having thoughts, okay? Is that how you ask people to dance? Because if so, I don't know how you and Stefan ever got together."

Athena smirks. "He fell in love with my crushing good looks and my penchant for murder. Now, dance with me and tell me what you're thinking about,"

She tugs Caroline's hand, not giving her an option to say no. The two girls begin to sway with the crowds, Athena leading as she gives her best friend a concerned look. "For real, Caroline. What's up? This is supposed to be a good night. We're almost out of this hell hole,"

"No, I know, I know," She nods, looking around at the beautifully decorated gym and giving herself a mental pat on the back. "I'm having fun. But I just, you know... I'm gonna miss it, I think."

"You're gonna miss high school?"

"No, not– I'm not gonna miss school, that's for sure. But I am going to miss stuff like this, like planning dances and gossiping about who's dating who, who didn't beat teen pregnancy, and stuff like that! I know we haven't had the average high school experience by any means–"

"Understatement,"

"But," Caroline cuts back in, giving Athena a warning look that she rolls her eyes at. "But it was still a really important time for all of us. I mean, imagine what freshmen us would think now. In no world would we have thought we'd end up here, but we did, and it's like– what do we do now?"

Athena is silent for a moment, a contemplative look on her face as she turns her and Caroline around gently, eyes briefly fleeting nearby where Stefan is tossing some of the hor d'oeuvres up into the air for Damon to catch in his mouth, with Bonnie and Rebekah as laughing spectators.

Smiling softly, Athena gives Caroline a fond look. "We get to do whatever we want, Care. I mean, that's part of graduating in general, but we're different from everyone else, so we definitely get to do whatever the hell we want. Bonnie's still going to Whitmore in the fall, you have an acceptance letter you haven't committed to yet,"

She shrugs her shoulders, pulling Caroline away from the dancers so she can give her her undivided attention. "We're gonna do what everybody else does, just in a way that is completely unrestricted by other people's expectations. Stefan and I are gonna get married eventually, and I know you'll end up with your true love. I mean, I don't think any of us are gonna end up with kids for obvious reasons, but we have eternity ahead of us Caroline. The world is our oyster, what is there to be scared of?"

Caroline looks at her with wide, misty eyes, and she splutters out a wet laugh. "You're gonna give a really good speech tomorrow, Athena,"

Athena laughed, dark eyes scrunching up with it. "Everything's going to be fine, Caroline. And there will absolutely be some bumps along the way, because look at the people we associate with," She gestures over to the table that the four others are occupying and the two girls snort at the spectacle they're putting on. "But we'll handle it like we always do."

Caroline's chest heaves with an exaggerated sigh, but the blonde looks at Athena with relief and gratitude shining in her eyes. "You're right, Athena. I guess I was just overthinking stuff."

"It's what I love about you, Care," Athena starts to drag them towards the table, grin widening when Stefan shoots a wink at her. "Now, I really think Rebekah put an offer on the table for you two, so,"

"What?! Athena, shut up!"

"Care," Athena gives her a flat look. "If you don't do that, if not for yourself, then for me, you don't truly love me."

Caroline raises a brow, looking entirely unamused. "Are you serious?"

"I'm a matchmaker, literally made in heaven. You can't deny your curiosity! Go over there and lay one on her, I guarantee it's a good idea."

Huffing, Caroline clenches her fists at her side as they near the table, and she turns to look at Rebekah fully, the blonde Original giving her a fluttery wave as they join them.

Without speaking, Caroline walks up to Rebekah and cups her cheeks, careful to not disturb her makeup or her hair as she presses their lips together in a kiss that has Rebekah's eyes widening in shock before they fall shut and she falls into Caroline just as passionately as Caroline had her.

Caroline's hands skate down Rebekah's cheeks and down to the back of her neck, pulling her in impossibly further.

Finally parting with a harsh gasp, the two blondes look at each other, a dazed, wicked grin growing on Rebekah's face as she wipes at her smeared lipstick, the action earning a deep flush of pink on Caroline's cheeks.

Athena smirks, propping her chin on her hand as she leans on the table.

Rebekah reaches for Caroline's hand and begins to pull her away from the table, shooting a look over her head at the rest of them lingering around the table. "Don't hurry home,"

Athena waves at Caroline with a smug look. "Have fun, girls,"

When they're out of hearing distance, Bonnie finally speaks, giving Athena an incredulous look. "What on earth was that?"

"That was my matchmaking service at it again, thank you very much. I currently have a 100% success rate," She looks pointedly between Bonnie and Damon, who just rolls his eyes. "Caroline needed a pep talk because she was having a crisis about our future, so I told her everything was going to be fine, and that she should kiss Bekah because I knew it'd work out."

Understanding dawns on Bonnie's face and she sighs. "She still hasn't committed to Whitmore,"

"Yeah, I know," Athena pursed her lips, looking off at the doors her friend had disappeared through. "I don't know if she will. Depending on just– everything. I mean, I was going to go to college at one point, too. Things change."

Bonnie still looks uneasy, but Athena's determined to keep her from having the same crisis as Caroline, so she pushes on.

"Speaking of," She taps a finger on the table, getting Bonnie's attention. "Are you still meeting that professor to talk about your Grams' stuff?"

Bonnie nods, a small smile growing on her face. "Yeah, I'm actually looking forward to it. It's nice to have that tie to her, especially now that I know about her magic."

"Well, depending on any life-ending events, maybe I'll go with you," Athena hums, eyeing Damon. "Damon can drive!"

"I can?"

"That's so generous of you, Damon, that's a great idea," She grins, earning a glare from him.

"You know, this thing you're doing isn't subtle," He gestures vaguely around the table and Athena raises a brow.

"When have I ever tried to be subtle? If you didn't catch on until now, that's your problem."

"Alright," Stefan steps in, wrapping an arm around Athena's waist to pull her away from the table. "Enough matchmaking for one night, I want my girlfriend to give me attention."

Athena turns into his chest happily, resting her hands against his neatly pressed suit as she kisses him twice in quick succession.

"You wanna follow Caroline and Rebekah's lead and take this party home, hot stuff?"

Stefan chuckles, incredulity washing through his eyes alongside desire. "You objectify me,"

"You love it. Let's go," She urges them towards the doors, dress swishing around her legs as he takes her hand and pulls her out into the humid, late spring air that sits heavy around them.

"Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?"

Athena hums. "Not nearly enough,"

"Well, let me remedy that," He murmurs, carefully turning her back to the wall of the gym building as he brings her into a kiss full of heat and passion.

Athena wraps her arms around his neck, sighing against his lips as they press into each other so firmly you can hardly tell where one ends and the other begins.

It's easy to fall into it like they've been doing it for centuries, not just over a year and a few months. But as easy as it is to fall into, it doesn't rid either of them of the instincts intertwined in their DNA.

Athena lets out a sharp moan that quickly breaks off into a curse when Stefan's teeth nip at her throat, and then she pushes him off of her, not giving him a moment to question it before she runs off towards the football field.

She picks her dress up, fabric billowing as she follows the echoing sounds of soft crying and groans of pain that grow nearer as she reaches the parking lot.

"Athena, what the hell?" Stefan calls out as he catches up to her, face marred in confusion and concern. "What's going on?"

"Don't you hear that?" She slows, stopping in the middle of the crowded parking lot to look around and focus. "Listen, Stefan. Just listen."

He stops, doing as told for a moment before his eyes widen and he meets Athena's gaze with a short nod. "It's coming from over there," He points towards the shed full of gym equipment near the edge of the parking lot, and they waste no time in hurrying over there, their senses suddenly flooding with the scent of blood.

"Shit," Athena curses, eyes adjusting to the dimly lit area. "Hello?"

"Athena!" Stefan says her name urgently, and she hurries over to the other side of the shed, watching as he carefully pulls a limp frame out from the shadows.

She gasps when she sees Rebekah lying there, dress stained with blood that pools around the stake sticking through her heart. "Is it–"

"No, it's normal," Stefan shakes his head, already yanking the stake from her heart with a low grunt. "Whoever did it didn't know who she was."

"'Thena,"

Athena spins at the faint voice and her shoulders tense. "Care?"

A shaky gasp leaves the shadows and Athena hurries over, finding Caroline's hand in the dark and yanking her beneath the streetlight above them. Her eyes widen impossibly further at the sight of Caroline, who luckily doesn't have a stake through her heart, but nearly looks worse for wear than Rebekah does.

"Who did this? Jesus Christ," Athena hovers her hands above the slowly healing burns on Caroline's skin, watching as the girl gasps shallow breaths as the pain ebbs away. "Who did this, Caroline?"

"I don't know," She shakes her head, voice wet and shaky. "It was just– just some guy, I've never seen him before. He had vervain bombs, and– and stakes, and I don't– he was a hunter, Athena. He had to be. He didn't even try to figure out if we were vampires, he just knew and he attacked us."

Athena turns to look at Stefan, who's got Rebekah gently propped up as she regains consciousness with faint groans. She bites the inside of her lip, mind racing at a mile a minute.

Caroline gasps suddenly, doubling over in pain as she clutches at her stomach. Athena hurries to catch her, keeping her from falling as the pain worsens.

"Caroline," Athena stumbles a bit when her weight collapses into her, and she holds the girl as her eyes roll back into her head, and she falls unconscious. "No, no, come on, Care. Come on, wake up. Wake up!"

Athena looks over at Stefan with wide, lost eyes, finding a similar look on his face. Voice weak, she clutches tighter onto Caroline. "What's happening?"

He shakes his head, concern and fear in his hazel-green eyes. "I don't know."

──────

Blood-stained and mad-looking, Athena stormed up the stairs of the boarding house, the group dispersing behind her with a still-unconscious Caroline, and a recovering Rebekah.

She quickly wrapped her hands into the fabric of Luke's shirt, ignoring both his and Jo's yells of surprise as she lifted him and slammed him down onto the wooden desk he'd been sitting at.

"What the hell is going on, huh? What the hell did you do?" She grits her teeth, a heated glare snapping in between Jo's panicked face and Luke's reddening one at the force of her grip on him. "You two show up with your woe-is-me act, and all of a sudden there's a cure for vampirism, and there's a vampire hunter strong enough to get the drop on an Original vampire. So tell me, what the hell is going on?"

"We don't– we don't know!" Jo holds her hands up, eyes wide as she looks between Athena and her brother, and the Salvatore brothers standing menacingly behind her in the doorway, should anything happen. "We don't know anything about a vampire hunter, we swear!"

Athena pushes a harsh breath out of her mouth and grunts as she releases her hold on Luke, nearly pushing him off the desk with the force of it. She steps back, dark eyes nearly black as she glares.

"Something is going on here, and if I find out that you two had any clue about it, you're dead. Do you understand that? I'm already sticking my neck out enough for two strangers, and I really, really don't have the patience for liars so this is your last chance to be completely honest with me. Do you know of any hunters that could be here, and know exactly who is a vampire, or werewolf, or anything in between?"

Luke, still catching his breath, gives Jo the time to truly contemplate the question now that her panic is slowly subsiding.

"I..." The woman shakes her head, hesitant. "I don't know. No one knows that we've come here, because it was our Hail Mary. If this doesn't work out, there are no more options for us, and we just– we didn't want to get anyone's hopes up. I'm– I'm sorry, if it is our fault that this hunter is here, but we don't know anything. I swear."

Athena clenches her jaw, nodding slowly. "Tomorrow, my family, along with the rest of the Originals, will be back in town. I don't think I need to warn you about Klaus Mikaelson, but consider this the notice. He has a worse temper than I do, and neither of us handles backstabbers very well, so I hope you're telling the truth, Jo. For your own sake."

Turning sharply, Athena stalks out of the room, Stefan and Damon following her as she slowly eases her gait and approaches the bedroom that Rebekah and Caroline are in.

Gaze softening as she meets Rebekah's hazy, but aware eyes, she steps into the room.

"Are you feeling better?"

The blonde nods, smiling tiredly. "Bonnie got me a blood bag from the basement. I'll be fine,"

"Good," Athena's eyes drift to where Caroline lays beside her in the bed, still unconscious. "She still hasn't woken up. She passed out at the school before I could ask what she got hit with." Athena says, answering Rebekah's unasked question.

"Werewolf venom," Rebekah says suddenly, making Athena's gaze snap to hers.

"What? How do you know?"

"He had a syringe of it," She shakes her head, eyes distant as she recalls the attack. "He weakened her with that first and then attacked me. That's– that's all I remember."

Athena's breath catches in her throat, and she turns, already heading for the door. "Phone, phone– I need my phone! Stefan!" Her voice echoes down the hallway, and Stefan appears in a moment, her phone in hand.

She quickly snatches it out from his grasp, shaking fingers dialing a number.

"What is it, Athena? What happened?"

"The hunter dosed Caroline with werewolf venom," She informs him, watching grim realization cross over his face. She lifts her phone to her ear, the ringing going on as the seconds ticked by before it finally sent her to voicemail.

Cursing, she taps her foot on the ground, the sound thudding silently on the thick carpet that runs down the middle of the hallway.

"Klaus, it's me. We have a situation– a very big situation. Just– call me back when you get this, alright? You need to get home now."

Hanging up, she turns to Stefan, panic still coursing through her veins. "I– I need to call Josh and Alex, and– and you, you should try calling Klaus again, okay? We have to get through to someone, we don't have much time before this gets worse."

Stefan nods, but he hesitates before speaking. "What happens if he doesn't get here in time?"

Athena swallows around the lump in her throat that grows at the thought. "He will. He has to. Otherwise... otherwise Caroline's going to die."

──────

author's note; sorry i don't update this book it's just that a fraction of the audience that reads this book has constantly harassed me despite my requests to just not do that. so.  

in other news, I have several other fics on my profile that get updated semi-regularly so go check them out if you'd like. for those of you who have continued to support me, thank you. you don't go unnoticed, I promise

originally published; 7.12.22. 

edited: 12.11.23.

- liz