Miss Margret | Caroline Forbes

Chapter Four

 In some stories, you might read about how a certain character wakes up somewhere new after spending their first night, and they will completely forget for a moment where they are and what they're even doing there. Margret was not that kind of person. She woke in the Salvatore Boardinghouse the next morning knowing exactly where she was and why she was there. She prided herself in not being forgetful. 

 She got up, got dressed, and left her room. It was still early, and the boardinghouse was rather quiet. She wasn't sure if anyone else was awake, but she began to hear voices as she walked to the kitchen. 

 "You don't know if that's who she really is, Caroline," she heard. It was that man she met yesterday, Alaric. From what he was saying, Margret assumed the conversation was about her. 

 "She seems pretty honest," Caroline replied. "I don't know how well Stefan actually knew her or how close they were for real, but I think Margret did know him. She was at least right about this place not being the same without him."

 Margret couldn't help feeling a little angry at the idea that they thought she wasn't being completely honest with them. No, she hadn't told them her entire life story or anything like that, but she had known Stefan and wanted to see his old home. Margret tended to be an honest woman, so it hurt a bit that they thought she was dishonest. 

 "I still don't think it's a good idea for her to stay here," Alaric was saying now. "We don't know anything else about her and until we do, I don't want her too close to the girls." 

 There was short pause, and then Caroline said, "I get it. But if she was friends with Stefan, she can't be that bad, Alaric." 

 Margret didn't know if that would have been the end of the conversation or not, but she decided that would be the right moment for her to walk in. 

 "Good morning," she said. 

 "Hi." Caroline gave her a smile, one that should been bright but came across as more melancholy. "Did you sleep okay?"  

 "I slept fine, thank you," Margret answered. "Are you making breakfast?" 

 "Well, I'm not too much of a cook, but I can make a decent breakfast. Why don't you sit down? The girls should be down soon. I haven't told them yet that you're staying as our guest, but I think they'd like to meet you." 

 Margret sat down at the kitchen table, across from where Alaric was sitting. Out of the corner of her eye, she thought he gave her what looked to be a suspicious look. She said nothing to him, deciding that would be the best course of action. Instead, she turned to look at Caroline when she spoke. 

 "Thank you for inviting me to stay the night," she began. "It was nice of you, considering you just met me yesterday, and I did show up unannounced. But I thought maybe I should move out today, so to speak. I don't want my presence to cause any issues for either of you or your daughters." 

 "You don't have to worry about that," said Caroline. "It's very considerate of you, but...if you are going to stay in Mystic Falls for a while, I would like it if you stayed here. You were a friend of Stefan's, and I would really like to get to know you better." 

 Caroline sounded very serious about it, and Margret thought she sounded very genuine about the offer to stay. 

 "If it will be all right, I would like to stay for a bit," she said. 

 "Great. I think it'll be nice having you. I'm going to go get the girls up." 

 As Caroline hurried out of the kitchen, Margret looked over at Alaric and gave him a nod, and he gave her a weak smile in return. He clearly wasn't enthusiastic about her presence. 

 But it wasn't Alaric whom interested Margret: it was Caroline. Now that it had been decided that she would stick around for some time, Margret wanted to learn as much about her new hostess as she possibly could.