Sunlight

Chapter 9: Oh Vienna Part 2

The two blonde girls didn't talk much for a while, browsing through the same shops separately before moving on to the next in silence. It was somewhere between two designer brands that the pretense fell away. Without the history of Mystic Falls constantly pressing on them, and the absence of the whole 'good vampires vs bad vampires', the girls found they had a lot in common.

Didn't mean they didn't hate each other still.

"No, Caroline. Just no."

"What?" Caroline stopped mid twirl, the patterned dress settling around her legs.

"You look like you climbed into a tribal hessian bag." Rebekah tutted, shoving a silken green dress into her hands. "Try this on."

"What's wrong with this one?"

"I just told you. Now put the dress on before I get bored and start feeding."

Caroline took the dress and stomped off to change, but not before shooting her a death glare that set Rebekah into a bout of uncharacteristic laughter.

"You picked that up from Nik, didn't you. That little pout and the death eyes."

"Shut up."

There was a pause as Rebekah considered talking about her new friend's relationship with her brother, but then she shrugged it off as too weird.

Caroline walked out to show the green dress, wriggling slightly to adjust it in the mirror.

"Well?"

"I told you so." Rebekah said. "Green's a good colour for blondes."

"Is that what you used to entice Damon." Rebekah glanced up sharply from where she had been examining her nails, and Caroline bit her lip. "The green dress reminded me of the ball."

The thousand year old vampire held the baby vampire's gaze in the mirror for a moment before returning to her nails. "Mmm. Well. Damon Salvatore is an ass."

"He used to be worse. But I understand." Caroline said, making Rebekah meet her eyes again. "I've been there too."

They were quiet again, and Caroline decided to lighten the mood. "Did he do that thing where he...basically doesn't waste time on you?"

"Straight to full on sex and no foreplay? Yeah."

Caroline laughed a little at Rebekah's bluntness, and the blonde Original joined in.

"He can be so selfish sometimes."

"Nothing like Stefan." Rebekah mused, and Caroline groaned, placing her hands over her ears.

"I do not want to hear about this."

"He's a real treat, Caroline."

"He is practically like my brother now."

"Well, now you know how it feels."

"Not really. Not for that reason!" Caroline said quickly as Rebekah pulled a disgusted face. "Its just...I'm an only child. An only child whose parents separated and whose mother showed more love for her work than she did for her daughter. I adopted my friends as my family, and they did the same for me. But I don't have the same kind of bond with them that you do with your brothers."

"Its not exactly a family picnic." Rebekah pointed out, and Caroline rolled her eyes.

"No shit, Sherlock. Your family is absolutely insane. No offense."

"None taken."

"But I still envy that in some ways. You guys are all so close, you bicker and annoy each other – "