la casa di Salvatore | 01 | c. forbes

[ 13 ]

Chapter Thirteen
July 8th, 2009
07/08/09

Caroline grinned as she and her friends all sat together in The Grill. The blonde was in a good mood compared to the last week or so. Bonnie and Elena kept sharing looks while Tyler was staring at his best friend in confusion and suspicion.

"So, what should we do the week before school starts up again?" Caroline asked, drumming her fingers against the table, "I say we party every day."

"I second that!" Tyler grinned, the two high-fiving each other.

Bonnie and Elena shared an amused look.

"Why don't we just hang out, huh? We can swim in Ty's pool or something. Just hang. No need to party," Bonnie suggested, looking at her two friends.

Caroline pouted at her friend a bit. "Fine, but I'm not cooking," she conceded, not really wanting to party this time around. If she got to hang out with these three people plus Jeremy and Athena, then she'd be alright.

Caroline smiled a bit at the thought of Athena, her chest warming at the reminder of the last three days. Caroline had met up with Athena later that night.

The two of them had agreed that it wasn't anything serious, Caroline wasn't ready for that and Athena was fine with doing whatever the blonde wished—as long as Caroline was around her she didn't mind. Caroline had blushed pretty hard at that.

No sex, Caroline had made that clear. Athena had agreed almost immediately with a kiss on her cheek. Caroline wasn't ready for anything that intimate after Matt, not yet at least.

The Forbes girl had yet to tell Athena why, not that the redhead minded that either. Nor has Athena even met Matt yet.

Caroline didn't know if she wanted them to meet.

"Okay, seriously, why are you all smiley?" Tyler asked, narrowing his eyes at his best friend who instantly smoothened out her features.

"Damn, a girl can't just be happy 'round here?" Caroline frowned while Elena kicked Tyler.

"Ow!" The boy pouted, rubbing his shin and giving Elena a glare, "the hell was that for?"

Bonnie rolled her eyes in exasperation, shaking her head.

"I am curious though," Elena added and Bonnie instantly elbowed her much to the brunette's dismay. "Ouch," she muttered, rubbing her side and knocking her and the Bennett girl's shoulders together.

Caroline huffed a bit, leaning back against the booth. "I'm just happy. I don't know. Good vibes and all that," she lied, shrugging her shoulders as she played with the condensation on her Pepsi cup.

"So..." Bonnie side-eyed her friend, warning Elena not to ask, but the brunette didn't listen, "are you... you're okay?"

Caroline tilted her head, confused. "Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

"You've been kind of... mopey the last week," Bonnie said hesitantly, smiling gently at her friend.

"What she means to say is, you've been all pissy and upset over your fallout with Athena and she wants to know if you've gotten over it," Tyler summed up causing the other two to smack him over the head. "Ow! Why are you two assaulting me?"

Caroline blinked at Tyler and then looked at her friends. She blushed a little from embarrassment. "Was I really that bad?"

"No!" Elena shook her head quickly, "you were upset. That's fine. We just want to make sure you're okay. She hurt you." She reached for Caroline's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze, "if you need us to, we'll find a very nice place for her body. Or not a nice one. Whatever."