Unstoppable | The Vampire Diaries

3. Nocturnal Animal Attack

The first Riley/Caroline sleepover involved sharing a bed, Riley holding Caroline's hair back when she puked, and sleeping in until noon. It was a long night.

"Morning hon," Riley's dad affectionally greeted her. "Breakfast? Or..." he checked his watch. "Brunch?"

Riley looked curiously at the plate in his hands. "Pancakes, yum!" she said, before nodding to Caroline. "Dad, this is Caroline. She stayed over last night."

Caroline waved, trying not to show how incredibly hungover she was. Thankfully, pancakes were a perfect hangover cure.

"Hi Caroline," he said politely. "Riles, I noticed my car wasn't in the driveway. You didn't crash again, did you? It wasn't stolen? Do I need to issue an APB? When did you see it last?"

"Dad, calm down," Riley said, her mouth full of pancake. "I let a friend borrow the car."

Her father tilted his head and raised an eyebrow at her playfully. "Lending someone's property without the permission of the owner is theft."

Before Riley could respond, the front door burst open and her mother entered like a whirlwind.

"Hi, not staying, just grabbing some food."

"This is Riley's friend Caroline," Chris mentioned to his wife, gesturing to the blonde girl eating pancakes at their dining table. "You're going back to work?"

"Hi Caroline, nice to meet you," Ciara said warmly, placing a welcoming hand on Caroline's shoulder. "Yes. I have to be back soon to discharge the girl that was admitted last night. Speaking of which, she was at a school party. Did you girls see what happened?"

Caroline looked back and forth between Riley's parents. It was clear to see that things in the Fletcher household moved incredibly quickly.

"Nope," Riley said nonchalantly. "All we saw was her being dragged out of the woods by Elena Gilbert."

"She's Vicki Donovan," Caroline added. "Weirdo, junkie, stoner kid. What happened to her?"

"It looks like an animal attack," Ciara hesitated. "Maybe a mountain lion or something? Anyway, I need to go." She kissed her husband. "Stay out of the woods, girls."

"Bye Mrs. Fletcher," Caroline called.

"Bye mom," Riley said with a wave, turning to Caroline. "I don't know if you noticed, but my parents are kind of intense."

Caroline smiled. "I like it. You're basically the only person in town to have two living parents who actually like each other."

Riley smiled to herself. Yeah, her parents could be intense, and they were practically never home at the same time, but their love for each other, and for their daughter, was strong. Through anything that Riley could ever imagine going through, this love made everything OK.

***

Hours later and Riley had spent the majority of the day alone. After her dad went to work and Caroline left, she wanted nothing more than to sit in the dark for a few hours watching YouTube videos.

However, after a quick 'can you come to the Grill to pick up your car' text from Bonnie, she had decided to pretend to be social.

"Hey," Bonnie said, a worried look on her face when Riley entered. Clearly, she wasn't who Bonnie was hoping to find. "Have you seen Vicki Donovan?"

"Um... animal attack girl? No, why?"

"You slept with Vicki Donovan?" Caroline's voice could be heard from the other side of the Grill. "I mean, Vicki Donovan slept with you?"