A few days at the camp had settled Frankie’s nerves somewhat, but it didn’t make it any easier for her to accept the fact that she would be there for another week and a half. She felt terrible for making such a bad first impression on some of the women in the house, but just coming off of a stint in rehab and readjusting to her normal life again only to be dropped in the middle of nowhere threw her for a loop. Still, everyone suggested that she appreciate her surroundings, and she was truly trying. After stuffing a quilt she’d found in her pack and grabbing a couple of water bottles and snacks, she’d set out to find somewhere to take a few pictures and a nap. She was close to the clearing she’d spotted the previous day when she saw that someone had beat her to it - one of the women she hadn’t met yet. “Oh - sorry, I didn’t know someone was already here,” she apologized, wincing and glancing around the nearly empty area. Frankie faltered for a moment, nearly walking away before deciding on attempting to actually talk to her. “Um - hi. Would you mind if I sat down for a bit? This is kind of the only spot with decent shade and the mosquitoes are relentless down there,” she explained, trying her hand at a joking tone. “I’m Frankie, by the way. I don’t think we’ve met.” @carolinexlewis
When Liam noticed the tweet that Caroline had sent out, he made a face. Only she would try to watch a horror movie alone at this hour.He smiled and sent her a text, asking her if it was okay that he came over. She replied with a yes and he jumped up excitedly. His parents had departed back to Wolverhampton and his place was pretty quiet and the man was quite lonely.
Liam was already dressed comfortably in sweat pants and a tshirt and didn’t bother to change before heading over to Caroline’s. It had been so long since Liam had been in the beginnings of a relationship, he wasn’t sure what his next move should be. He had already told her that he liked her but what next? He would just have to see how things played out from there. He drove to her flat and took the elevator to her floor, walking down the hall until he found her door. He knocked and waited fro her to answer as he scrolled on his phone.
Liam had been spending the holiday with his parents and was enjoying the time off. They had come down to London to stay with him for a bit and tonight they were having a nice family dinner. Earlier that afternoon, Liam realized that he had left his mum's other Christmas gift at the venue. He drove over to pick it up, unlocking the door since no one else was here for the holidays. He walked into the lounge area and grabbed the small box from under the tree. Liam walked by one of the offices and noticed the light was on. "Who's here?" He chirped, peeping in the door. "Oh, Caroline.." He smiled. He had grown quite fond of the girl and was starting to fancy her quite a bit. "What are you doing here? You're having dinner with my family tonight." He told her, grabbing her coat and helping her out of her chair befor she could object.
Alex had already embarked on his date with Bentley; however he knew he still owned another lovely lady a date; something fun and entertaining for him. So having spent days trying to think something up that wasn’t cliche or boring, he headed to the elevator on the way to Caroline’s apartment. Pulling a jacket on as he pressed the button beside the chrome doors. Once on her floor, he headed straight for her apartment door; knocking immediately - just hoping she was actually home and free for the day. It had only just occurred to him that she mightn’t be. Stepping backwards a half step, Alex swayed back and forth as he waited.
Stefan stepped out through the door of the Boarding House and glanced at his car. The Porsche still glistened even though he had been neglecting her the past few weeks. All of his free time had been taken up by his present for Damon. And he hoped that his brother would appreciate all of the work he had put into it. Their relationship wasn't always the best, but Stefan loved his brother and wanted them to get along. Not that he would necessarily say that to Damon. That was asking for trouble.
While she was a classic car, he did like to listen to music while he drove and had very carefully installed a slightly more modern sound system. It pained him too much to alter such a pristine vehicle, so he just installed an auxiliary jack where the car allowed. Unfortunately, that wasn't in the most convenient place but Stefan was happy that his car had whatever music he was in the mood to listen to and still looked just like the day he got her.
Within minutes, he was pulling into the parking lot of the diner where he occasionally grabbed coffee. Being a vampire, he didn't need the caffeine boost but sometimes craved human comforts. He was there today to pick up something for himself and Caroline, who was currently planning a Masquerade Ball. Sometimes Stefan felt their town held too many balls, dances, and other events because nothing good seemed to happen at them. Sometimes Katherine would show up, or Klaus and murder half of the guests. Stefan would have just given them up by now, but this town had a history and loved their traditions. Plus, he surmised that Caroline probably just liked planning parties.
With the drinks in hand, he returned to his car and made his way to Caroline's house. She wasn't expecting him, engrossed as she was in masquerade details. After their conversation the other day, he was feeling guilty that he had upset her and wanted to offer his help to make up for it. Not that he expected to be of much help, but he'd certainly offer to do the heavy lifting. Easily balancing the coffees in one hand, he raised his other hand and rapped on the door with his knuckles then waited for an answer.
He was the kind of person that didn’t make friends easily, and she was the girl that did. She loved him and he let her, perhaps, for the first time in his life. She liked his house for the same reason that he hated it; there were no parents there. She would spend whole days with him in his bedroom, and no one would ever know where she had disappeared to. Her blonde hair would fan out like sunshine on his pillows and her smile didn’t match the dark cloud that stayed permanently over Megallony manor, but he never minded her happiness. Because she loved him. And he let her.
Their friendship was a secret. Caroline had always liked secrets, whether that meant having them or knowing about those of others. So he kept his mouth shut and allowed her to call the shots. He liked when she smiled at him across a crowded room and knowing that it was just for him. He enjoyed sneaking her in and out of his bedroom using the rope ladder he bought off of eBay. And he adored holding her when the darkness was overwhelming. He couldn’t count the number of nights that they fell asleep like that, wrapped in each other’s arms as if the limbs were armor against the world. Sometimes, she would cry quietly when she thought that he had drifted off, and every time, he would pull her closer and hold her tighter until she quieted. And every time, she would whisper, “I love you,” as she pushed the final tears off her porcelain cheeks. And every time those three words left her lips, she would leave in silence the next morning, knowing that she wouldn’t see him for a few days. Because Caroline knew that he was not capable of love.
On one of their first encounters, in the days when he had still been attempting to dazzle her, she had informed him that she had always wanted someone to write her letters. She didn’t care if they lived a world away or right next door. Caroline was convinced there was something romantic about knowing that someone had taken the time to put pen to paper just for you. It was because of this notion that Lucas spent his days writing letter after letter to her. Some he would sneak into her bag. Other he slipped into her mailbox. Occasionally, he would hand them to her with a smile before walking away without a word. But every single time, he signed them, “Fondly, Lucas.”
He didn’t know when he started to realize that he was becoming more than fond of her. Maybe not her, of course, but the idea of her that he had concocted in his twisted little head. After all, he was the boy that never learned how to love. He didn’t have the capacity. It wasn’t that he had been mistreated; by all accounts, Lisa and Jackson Megallony had done their very best at making sure that Lucas’s needs were taken care of throughout his childhood. They had given him the best of everything. He had the nicest clothes, the best car, the finest meals. Unfortunately, his parents thought that was all parenting consisted of. In-between all the gifts to keep him sated, they had forgotten to give him their love.
In the beginning, Lucas hadn’t minded having a hole in his chest where his heart was supposed to be. There were no qualms within him about the lack of affection that he was able to muster up for others. His lack of love actually made him popular. Children mistook his cold exterior for confidence, and Lucas went along with whatever anyone else wanted to believe. But as he grew older, the hole in his chest grew bigger and he felt the emptiness. So one day, he changed the goodbye at the end of his letter to Caroline to, “Love, Lucas.”
Not a day went by when he didn’t think about it. Sometimes he woke up at night with cold sweats because those two words haunted him so much. Seeing them on paper had caused his stomach to fill with butterflies, but he had sealed the letter in the envelope and hidden it in her locker anyhow. He waited nervously for her to say something, anything, about the edit to his usual notes, but she never said a word. He waited patiently for one whole week, secretly hoping that she would realize how difficult such an admission had been for the emotionally unavailable teen. But all that remained was silence.
They didn’t speak for three months after that last letter, but Lucas kept writing. Summer came and went, and he wrote her daily. By the end of the summer, Caroline’s room was littered with envelopes postmarked from around the world: India, Australia, England, Brazil, Egypt. He had gone so many places that she began to wonder if he had spent more time in the air than on the ground. And at the end of each letter were two tiny words. “Love, Lucas.”
When Lucas got off his last flight of the summer, he emerged with a tan and a goal. This had gone on long enough; the silence needed to be broken. He awoke the next morning, determined to do just that, and headed off for his first day of his junior year of high school. Every time that he saw her, she was surrounded by her usual gaggle of cheerleaders and it made him sad for her for reasons that he couldn’t explain. So he held his tongue and he waited. There was a party that night at the Falls. All he needed was a little liquid courage.
He saw her from across the clearing and didn’t approach her until she was alone. He waited, watching for the perfect opportunity, and wasted no time when it came. His long legs carried him across the open space in just moments and he hugged her from behind, whispering a hello into her ear. While she might have once melted into his strong arms, she instead sneered and pushed him away, walking back towards her loyal subjects. When he called her name, she turned and he asked if she noticed the change in his letters. She laughed and nodded, applauding him on how long he’d been able to carry on with the joke. “Because,” she noted, “Lucas Megallony doesn’t know how to love.”
And then she walked off to talk to the new guy, Stefan someone, and he listened. He smiled as the new guy rejected her and Lucas went home to write his last letter to the girl who had consumed his summer. He scrawled out the words in his sloppy handwriting and smiled at what ended up on the piece of paper. “Caroline. You and me, it's not gonna happen. Sorry. Fondly, Lucas.” He delivered that letter, letter number 183, directly to her the next morning and watched from a distance as she read his simple words. When a smile grew over her lips, he felt one appear on his face as well.
The next night, she was climbing through his window again and he pretended not to remember how long it had been since the last time this occurred. People whom were incapable of love didn't keep track of such menial details, after all. So he put on his old facade and welcomed her in with open arms. She laughed that she thought it was a dream because she couldn't hear his heart beating. She laughed again when he told her it was because he'd carved it out.
Cherry got back out of her pyjamas and changed in to some random skirt and top she found in her room. She didn't care much about if they matched or not. It didn't take long to head out of the door and despite the rain, she began to walk to Caroline's without much haste. She liked the rain. It felt nice on her skin. A new texture. Also the smell of rain was beautiful to her. She arrived at Caroline's house and walked to the back door, pushing it open. "Care?" She acknowledged that she was soaked so shouted through the house first.
Aiden was excited for Caroline to come over. Sure they were going to spend their whole weekend together probably but it was still nice to see her. He liked being near her and frowned mentally as Corio’s question came in his mind. How long have you two been dating? It was something that he didn’t know how to answer well honestly. He didn’t think of her as more than a sister...Right? He shook his head as he sighed. It was something that was certainly not on his list to think about for awhile. He was sure they were meant to be friends, maybe even siblings, but lovers? He wasn’t sure about that but with only a year age gap it wouldn’t surprise him why everyone thought they were together. He didn’t know what to say as he decided the best thing to say was nothing at all as he heard her getting closer. He turned off his phone as he opened the door to see her running and laughed as he shook his head. She really was he thought she was joking as he opened his arms once she came close enough and picked her up and spun her around. “Good to see ya too Otter.” He laughed as he realized how light she really was. He wasn’t expecting that at all as he set her down and smiled. She was about his height as he shook his head and laughed. “How are ya doing? I feel like I talk to you but never see you.” He smiled at her and poked her forehead as he lead her in. It was messy but not too messy as he motioned for her sit down as he went to grab the cookies and snacks. He grabbed as many as possible and brought them to the table.
