la casa di Salvatore | 02 | c. forbes

[ 16 ]

Chapter Sixteen
July 12th, 2009
07/12/09

Athena walked up the steps to Caroline's house. It was one of the colder days of the summer, but it was still nice out. She and Caroline hadn't really talked since that day in Jenna's kitchen nor had they been able to meet up during the night.

Liz had been on high alert since the day in the forest, barely letting Caroline out of the house to see Elena or Bonnie. Tyler had been able to sneak over one night when Liz was asleep to watch The Notebook.

Since she and Caroline hadn't seen each other, she wanted to see if the girl wanted to hang out. That wasn't weird, right? Even though they weren't dating, they could still hang out... yeah?

She knocked on the door, tapping her fingers against her thigh once she was done.

What if Caroline was weirded out? What if this wasn't something Caroline wanted? This was a stupid ide—

The door opened, revealing Caroline. She was dressed in pajamas and her hair was tied up. Caroline startled a bit, her eyes wide as she stared at Athena. Her cheeks were flushed in embarrassment when she glanced down at her clothes.

"Cute PJs," Athena said with a grin. The shorts had cute little puppies on them while the tank-top was just plain gray.

Caroline's cheeks turned red. "I wasn't expecting visitors," she defended, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I apologize," Athena's smile dimmed a little in her own embarrassment, "I should've called."

Caroline smiled at her, shrugging. "It's okay. What did you need?" She tilted her head curiously. Athena's nose scrunched at how cute it was.

"Uh, well..." Athena shifted a bit, her fingers beginning a rhythm on her thigh once more. Caroline glanced down at it, concern flashing across her face. "Um, I was wondering if—"

"Caroline, who is at the door?"

Athena tensed a bit as Liz came out of the kitchen. Caroline grimaced a little and turned toward her mother. "It's just Athena, mom," she said, frowning at the scowl Liz wore now.

"Uh, hi, Sheriff," Athena waved to the woman.

"Miss Salvatore," Liz greeted, stepping up beside her daughter, "what can we do for you?"

Athena's cheeks dusted pink as she glanced at Caroline who closed her eyes and shook her head, sighing. "Oh, I—" Athena cleared her throat, scratching the back of her neck, "I was just going to ask Caroline if she'd... uh, like to hang out... today?" She winced at her delivery.

God, she was 170 years old for Zeus' sake. What was wrong with her?

Caroline's eyes lit up a bit, biting her lip to stop the smile from breaking out across her face.

"Hang out?" Liz repeated, looking unimpressed.

"Mom," Caroline sighed, rubbing her eyebrow.

"What?" Liz asked, looking toward her daughter for a moment, "what am I doing?"

Caroline huffed a bit, giving her mother a glare. "You know what you're doing," she snapped, looking frustrated.

Liz gave her daughter a look. "Don't speak to me like that. I know what 'hang out' is code for."

Athena looked a little startled, following Liz's line of thinking. Caroline rolled her eyes a bit, "we're not going to have sex, mom! Gods!" Liz's ears burned.

"Care," Athena sighed, rubbing her eye.

"What?" Caroline asked, throwing her hands up, "we're not!"