You Are My Sunshine

Skies Are Gray

When Caroline us sent to a boarding school in New Orleans, she meets Klaus, a mysterious, infuriating, beautiful stranger. She agrees to give him one night to show her the world - well, the French Quarter. At dawn they part ways and never expect to see one another again.... until Caroline goes to stay with new friend Rebekah at her brother's house for Thanksgiving.

Caroline shouldn't have gone out with Katherine.

God, that was practically her motto in life. I shouldn't have gone out with Katherine. Her best friend always seemed to be able to convince her that it would be a great idea to sneak out to a party, or a bar, or a club, despite how much first hand experience Caroline proving it was hardly ever a good idea, thank you very much.

Every time, she knew it probably wouldn't end well, and every time, she went anyway. Because despite the consequences the next morning, the hangovers, the groundings, the helping Kat through pregnancy scares, the walks of shame, the rides in the back of a cop car (her mom's - they hadn't actually gotten arrested), the nights themselves? They were some of Caroline's best memories.

Like the time they'd put on their sexiest outfits and gone to a nearby nightclub and had a contest to see who could do the most shots in two minutes. Or the time they'd dressed in tight jeans and leather jackets and went to some dive bar, where they played pool and flirted with the cute guys with cigarettes and motorcycles. Or when they convinced Stefan and Damon and even Elena to go skinny dipping in the lake then had to run and hide in the woods, frantically pulling on their clothes because someone had called the cops on them.

(They'd gotten caught, anyway - Liz recognized the clothes still by the lake. It had been worth it, though. The five of them collapsed in giggles as soon as they got to Damon's car - and although Elena staunchly insisted that it wasn't funny, she laughed as hard as the others.)

But this time she really shouldn't have gone out. She shouldn't have pushed it. Because it had been to last straw.

oOo

Caroline's window flew open, seemingly of its own accord, and Katherine Pierce fell gracelessly through it. Caroline's surprise quickly faded to amusement. "You know, there is a front door. You didn't need to climb the tree," she told her best friend.

"Doors are for people with no imagination," Katherine informed her. "You going tonight? Of course you are. Let's find you something to wear."

Caroline's eyebrows flew up. "Wait, what? Go where?"

"Well, Tyler's throwing a party...."

"No!" Caroline shook her head emphatically. "Absolutely not. I'm not going to be that pathetic girl who's constantly hanging around her ex-boyfriend."

The other girl raised an eyebrow. "Okay, one, going to one party with at least a hundred other people is hardly 'constantly hanging around him', two, it would actually look far more pathetic to stay here and lick your wounds, and three, please don't make me go on my own. Me and Stefan are fighting."

"What happened this time?" Caroline asked sympathetically. When they were sophomores, Stefan and Katherine's twin sister Elena started dating, as did Katherine and Stefan's brother Damon. It became clear pretty fast that it wasn't going to work out - Kat and Damon were far too similar to ever be a good couple, and Elena couldn't seem to stay away from the charismatic older Salvatore brother.

They eventually "switched" - Elena and Damon started going out, surprising everyone by immediately falling head over heels in love, despite being polar opposites, and a few months later Stefan and Katherine started casually seeing one another.

"He keeps comparing me to Elena," Katherine told her with a small frown and a well-disguised tremble in her voice. "And it's like he doesn't even realize he's doing it! But nothing I do is ever good enough, because no matter how much I look like her, I'm just not, you know? We're totally different. And sometimes I think he doesn't realize that, he just wants me to be her."

"Oh, Kat...." she commiserated. There was no doubt Stefan loved her, but he also still loved her sister.

"So please, just come with me?" Katherine begged. "We'll show up and be so perfect and gorgeous and indifferent towards them that they'll be begging for us back."

What kind of best friend leaves someone to handle boy troubles on their own? Caroline rolled her eyes. "The blue dress or the black skirt?"

oOo

At one in the morning, Caroline slipped in through her front door. The party had, admittedly, been fun. She'd ignored Tyler, and flirted with Damon's cute British cousin Enzo. By the end of the night, Stefan was begging for Katherine's forgiveness, which she willingly gave before pulling him into an empty bedroom and locking the door behind them, making Caroline smile. But now she was tired, and wanted to go to bed.

Unfortunately, that didn't look like it was going to happen soon.

"Mom! I.... um, I thought you'd be at work."

"Yes, I figured," Liz Forbes answered with a raised eyebrow. "Or you wouldn't be coming home drunk."

"I'm not drunk!" Caroline protested. It was true, she'd only had one drink. That so wasn't enough to get drunk on.

Liz sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "This is the fourth time you've snuck back in after curfew this month, Caroline." Yeah, but I would've sworn this was only the third time you've caught me....

"Third," she protested weakly. Her mother fixed her with a hard stare. "Fourth," she repeated, and Caroline winced.

"Look, I.... Mom. I'm just, I'm really tired. Can we do this in the morning? Please?"

"No, Caroline, we can't just 'do this in the morning'!" Liz snapped. "What happened to you? You used to be such a good kid, back when you were best friends with Bonnie and Elena, until you started hanging around her sister and those Salvatore boys."

"Hey!" Caroline snapped back. "For the record, I am still friends with Bonnie and Elena - who, by the way, is dating one of those Salvatore boys - and they were out tonight too! And Katherine is not a bad influence!"

Liz sighed, suddenly looking very old and very tired. "I can't keep doing this with you."

"Then don't! My grades are perfect, I single handedly organize half the events in this town, and I haven't even been drinking. I'm nearly eighteen - why don't you start trusting me a little?"

Liz ran a hand through her hair. "Just go upstairs, Caroline."

Feeling drained, Caroline trudged up to her room and collapsed on her bed without changing her clothes.