Fic: [4] TVD (Tyler/Caroline, Elijah/Jenna, Klaus!Alaric/Caroline, Carol/Liz) [1] TVD X-Over
Title: Reclaiming What's His
Author: simply_aly
Fandom: The Vampire Diaries
Pairing/Characters: Tyler/Caroline/(Matt)
Rating: PG-15
Word Count: 610
Summary: Tyler returns to find Caroline in trouble and rushes to save her.
A/N: For a tvd_rareships Comment Fic Party prompt by bambiscott. Originally posted HERE.
It’s Damon who eventually calls Tyler. He obviously wasn't actually expecting Tyler to answer the phone because he doesn’t seem to have a clue what to say to him-but then again, maybe that’s just Damon. Tyler hasn’t spent much time around the guy, but from what he’s gathered over their sparse run-ins, he’s not exactly one with words…at least, not when it’s not Elena he’s talking to.
“I just thought I should let you know,” Damon eventually manages to say, “your human best friend is trying to kill your vampire almost-girlfriend.”
Damon hangs up after that and Tyler stares at the phone for a minuet before zipping up his suitcase and taking Jules’ car back to Mystic Falls.
-x-
He goes to Elena’s house first thing, because he assumes someone there will be able to fill him in on what he needs to know, but when all he gets is Elena’s aunt, Jenna, he excuses himself and drives to Caroline’s.
He knows he’s going in blind, but at this point, he doesn’t give a damn.
The word kill is repeating in his mind, and he’s seeing Caroline’s face from that night when she was taken and Tyler’s literally shaking he’s so fucking scared.
-x-
He parks far enough down the road that even Ms. Forbes won’t suspect anything, and he carefully makes his way to Caroline’s house. Right off, he hears Matt’s voice. “Is she okay in there alone?”
Tyler carefully looks through a window and sees Caroline’s mother nod. “I injected her with vervain; she should be out for a few hours. That’ll give us time to figure out what to do.”
Tyler’s fists clench, but he takes a deep breath and carefully goes around the house to Caroline’s room where he finds her lying peacefully on her bed.
-x-
He takes the few hours time he has before Caroline wakes to make nice with his mother and prepare his room for Caroline’s soon-to-be-secret stay. He had called Elena first, but when she hadn’t answered, he had no choice.
When all preparations are made, he goes back to Caroline’s house and doesn’t even bother to knock on the door because Caroline’s inside crying and he can hear her. And the sound makes him cringe.
“Tyler!” Liz Forbes exclaims upon seeing him in her house. “Your mother is looking for you, she’s been worried sick.”
Tyler doesn’t even spare her a glance as he heads toward Caroline’s room.
-x-
He breaks the door literally off its hinges.
“What the fuck is this, Matt?” he screams when he sees Matt with a wooden stake in front of Caroline.
Caroline’s crying, but she’s not fighting him, and Tyler knows she has the power to fight him if she really wanted too. He knows Caroline, though; and he knows she feels that it’s her fault, her punishment.
“I told you to be good to her-I paved the way for you two to be happy-and this is what you do when she finally tells you the truth?” So, yeah, he’s sure he doesn’t have his facts straight, but that can’t be helped.
“You don’t understand, Tyler,” Matt says, and Tyler hardly recognizes his voice. “She’s one of the things that killed my sister.”
He walks right over to them. “I don’t give a damn if she killed the President, it’s still Caroline fucking Forbes. Now get the hell away from my girl.”
The moment Tyler pushes Matt away from Caroline, she wraps her arms around his neck and sobs. “It’s gonna be fine,” he whispers in her hair as he takes her out of her house-straight past her own mother.
Title: Playing Protector
Author: simply_aly
Fandom: The Vampire Diaries
Pairing/Characters: Elijah/Jenna/(Klaus!Alaric)
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 365
Summary: Elijah defends Jenna from Klaus.
A/N: For a tvd_rareships Comment Fic Party prompt by mistress_britt. Originally posted HERE.
When Elena fills him in on all that has happened since she stabbed him with the dagger, he decides the first order of business is to get Jenna out of the Gilbert house and into the Salvatore house. And, seeing as Jenna will not speak to Elena at the moment, Elijah puts it on himself to go over there.
When he arrives, he finds the door slightly open, and he hears Jenna’s whimpers.
He rushes immediately to where she is sprawled on the living room floor. Her eyes grow wide and fearful and she tries to speak, but she can only manage to open her mouth slightly. Elijah nods, he knows what happened.
“Elijah,” a voice from behind him says. “What a nice surprise.”
Even Elijah, whose been around for centuries, finds it sickening to hear the familiar voice of the Mystic Falls history teacher mixed with the speech patterns Elijah knows to belong solely to Klaus.
“Was it really necessary to harm her?” Elijah asks, trying desperately to remain calm.
He genuinely likes Jenna, and to see her broken and bruised with bite marks covering her throat makes him want to kill someone-he’s that angry.
“She wouldn’t listen to me. I tried being patient, I really did, but you know I don’t have all that much in me.”
Elijah’s not really listening at this point, too focused is he on Jenna. “I’m going to get you out of here,” he whispers.
Klaus laughs from behind him. “Oh, be my guest-I fear I may have broken her.”
Elijah desperately hopes Klaus is wrong about that as he scoops up the frail body of the once strong woman. He carries her back to the Salvatore Boarding House and sets her on the couch while the rest of the inhabitants fawn over her. He watches carefully from a distance.
While she was with Alaric, Elijah had been content to play the role of the flirtatious newcomer; but with the arrival of Klaus and the disappearance of Alaric, Elijah realizes he must step into the role of Jenna’s protector. After all, he is not willing to let Klaus take another thing that could have been his.
Title: This Scene Is Wrong
Author: simply_aly
Fandom: The Vampire Diaries
Pairing/Characters: Klaus!Alaric/Caroline
Rating: R
Word Count: 715
Warning: dub-con
Summary: Caroline is confronted with both fear and suppressed desire when Klaus, in Alaric's body, corners her.
A/N: For a tvd_rareships Comment Fic Party prompt by mistress_britt. Originally posted HERE.
She’s looking into the eyes of the man who has been her history teacher for almost a year now and she can’t help but want to cry when she cannot recognize the person she’s looking at. What’s more, he doesn’t really seem to know her either.
“And which friend are you?” the impostor asks. She hears Alaric’s voice, but his tone is all wrong, and she forces herself to keep from cringing. “The witch or the vampire?”
They’re in the freshman English classroom, and Caroline’s backing up toward the far wall, away from the windows. It’s an odd thing to be frightened of a teacher who’s been more like a friend for so long. It doesn’t quite register in her mind either, and Caroline has to fight to remember that this is not Alaric. She can hear the music from the dance in the gymnasium and she briefly wonders where everyone is. How did he single her out?
In the blink of an eye he’s got her pinned against the wall. From the outside, the scene is not all that shocking. Teacher and student-it’s been done before. But he’s not really her teacher…not this person controlling his body, and she’s not willing. “What’s your name, little vampire?” he whispers next to her ear.
She shakes her head, determined not to play his game. She knows he knows her name, knows he knows a lot more than he’s letting on.
His head moves back and she stares into the eyes of this monster. “Lets try again, shall we?” he begins mockingly. “My name is Klaus…and yours is?”
She takes a shaky breath and blinks rapidly, trying with all her strength to move the hands he has pinned high above her head. “Car-Caroline,” she whispers in defeat.
“It’s nice to meet you, Caroline,” he replies, his head traveling toward her neck.
Caroline closes her eyes and tries desperately to move away from what she knows is coming. She can’t escape his tight hold, however, and his lips make contact with the soft skin of her neck and to her shame, she cannot suppress the soft moan that escapes her lips.
She feels his smile. “Is there something you never told your teacher, little Caroline?” Klaus teases as one of his hands leaves hers to travel down to her stomach where he carefully unbuttons the buttons of her pink blouse. Once that has been done, he toys with the think layer of cotton beneath.
She notices she’s stopped struggling and resumes her fight, crying out in frustration when she cannot break free. She doesn’t want this, not from this devil possessing her friend’s body, and she hates herself for giving into the illusion of a schoolgirl fantasy. She opens her mouth to speak but he covers hers with his and she shuts hers when she feels his tongue tracing her lips.
She doesn’t feel it when the hand holding hers to the wall falls away and moves to her skirt, pushing it up. Her hands seem frozen by the memory of his, and they stay still against the wall, even when his hand reaches her panties. Her mouth opens in shock at this and he takes his cue and pushes his tongue inside her mouth.
Later, Caroline will not be able to recall the moment she had stopped fighting. She does not know how much of what happened was his will and how much was her suppressed desire for her teacher.
She will not be able to speak of anything that happened in that classroom to anyone. And she will not be able to meet Alaric’s gaze when he’s once again in control of his body. And only when everyone’s gathered at the boarding house late that night does she start to feel in control again. Elena’s arms are wrapped around her and Damon’s keeping a watchful eye in their direction.
Alaric walks through the door and Caroline bites her lip and averts her eyes. She doesn’t want him to see the shame in her eyes or the last remnants of the desire she once had for him.
“I’m so sorry, Caroline,” he mumbles guiltily.
Caroline wants to tell him it’s not his fault, that it’s hers, but all she can say is, “I’m sorry too.”
Title: The Progression of a Relationship
Author: simply_aly
Fandom: The Vampire Diaries
Pairing/Characters: Carol/Liz
Rating: PG
Word Count: 430
Summary: They weren't always this close.
A/N: For a tvd_rareships Comment Fic Party prompt by sunsetdawn20. Originally posted HERE.
In the early days, back when both their marriages were new, they met only by chance. They’d meet up at functions or other boring activities and they’d talk for a moment-after all, they’ve known each other since primary school. They weren’t close back then either but making nice was expected of them so that’s what they did.
Carol got pregnant first. Liz was jealous because all she really wanted in life was to be a mother and Carol was besting her at that too. In the month and a half before Liz found out she was pregnant, she refused to even look at Carol. But when Tyler was born, a very pregnant Liz went to visit the new mother, bringing flowers; and a month and a half later, Carol repaid the favor and she brought a small bear for Caroline.
When Caroline turned two and John, Caroline’s father, was becoming less attentive, Liz called Carol. Carol would bring Tyler over to the house and the two would spend a few hours watching their children play and compared notes on motherhood. As a rule, they never discussed their respective husbands.
When Tyler was four, he and Carol stayed with Liz, John and Caroline for a week and two days. Carol had come knocking on their door in the middle of the night, mascara running down her face, and Liz prepared the guest room while Carol put little Tyler to bed with Caroline. No one ever brought up the reason for the stay, but Liz stayed up with Carol each night and comforted Carol while she shook uncontrollably as they listened to the phone ring over and over again. On the fourth night of Carol’s and Tyler’s stay, John left the house and tried to talk some sense into Richard and stayed with him until Carol’s departure.
For the first three years after that incident, Liz often brought Caroline over to the Lockwood’s and Carol and her would visit and watch their children play. But after Tyler’s eighth birthday party when a drunken Richard crashed their play date and accused them of doing ‘unnatural’ things together, an incident they neither acknowledge nor discuss, they stop with their visits.
Even still, it’s Carol who came to comfort Liz when the divorce went through and the moving truck was parked outside the house. And it’s Liz who helped Carol thorough her husband’s death.
They never talk about all that happened between them in those moments they were alone together, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen and deep down, they both know that.
Title: A Solution
Author: simply_aly
Fandom: The Vampire Diaries & True Blood
Pairing/Characters: Damon/Jessica, Caroline
Rating: R
Word Count: 230
Summary: Damon is intrigued by Jessica's 'problem.'
A/N: For a tvd_rareships Comment Fic Party prompt by irishcookie. Originally posted HERE.
The eternally virginal redhead intrigues him. Not only is she to remain a virgin her whole life, but she seems to have a fang problem as well.
He laughs when she tells him all of this.
She glares and pouts her lip before standing up to walk away.
He grabs her arm and forces her back down on the bar stool beside him. “Tell me more,” he says.
They have a few more drinks because Damon hasn’t had enough to drink yet to tackle this unexpected challenge. Also, he needs something to stop her incessant chatter for a few seconds at a time. He hadn’t realized his words were an open invitation to hear her life story.
Later, he takes her back to his hotel room and they experiment
.
Her fangs are out almost the second he pushes her roughly onto the bed (a real boost to his ego), and she allows him to take her virginity three times that night, for-with the help of vampire blood-he found a way to make it not hurt.
The next morning, she kisses him good morning and thanks him as he helps her zip up her white dress.
He never saw her again, but it was certainly an interesting story to tell Caroline later. (At least she didn’t have that problem, he told her. She just smacked him over the head.)
Author: simply_aly
Fandom: The Vampire Diaries
Pairing/Characters: Tyler/Caroline/(Matt)
Rating: PG-15
Word Count: 610
Summary: Tyler returns to find Caroline in trouble and rushes to save her.
A/N: For a tvd_rareships Comment Fic Party prompt by bambiscott. Originally posted HERE.
It’s Damon who eventually calls Tyler. He obviously wasn't actually expecting Tyler to answer the phone because he doesn’t seem to have a clue what to say to him-but then again, maybe that’s just Damon. Tyler hasn’t spent much time around the guy, but from what he’s gathered over their sparse run-ins, he’s not exactly one with words…at least, not when it’s not Elena he’s talking to.
“I just thought I should let you know,” Damon eventually manages to say, “your human best friend is trying to kill your vampire almost-girlfriend.”
Damon hangs up after that and Tyler stares at the phone for a minuet before zipping up his suitcase and taking Jules’ car back to Mystic Falls.
-x-
He goes to Elena’s house first thing, because he assumes someone there will be able to fill him in on what he needs to know, but when all he gets is Elena’s aunt, Jenna, he excuses himself and drives to Caroline’s.
He knows he’s going in blind, but at this point, he doesn’t give a damn.
The word kill is repeating in his mind, and he’s seeing Caroline’s face from that night when she was taken and Tyler’s literally shaking he’s so fucking scared.
-x-
He parks far enough down the road that even Ms. Forbes won’t suspect anything, and he carefully makes his way to Caroline’s house. Right off, he hears Matt’s voice. “Is she okay in there alone?”
Tyler carefully looks through a window and sees Caroline’s mother nod. “I injected her with vervain; she should be out for a few hours. That’ll give us time to figure out what to do.”
Tyler’s fists clench, but he takes a deep breath and carefully goes around the house to Caroline’s room where he finds her lying peacefully on her bed.
-x-
He takes the few hours time he has before Caroline wakes to make nice with his mother and prepare his room for Caroline’s soon-to-be-secret stay. He had called Elena first, but when she hadn’t answered, he had no choice.
When all preparations are made, he goes back to Caroline’s house and doesn’t even bother to knock on the door because Caroline’s inside crying and he can hear her. And the sound makes him cringe.
“Tyler!” Liz Forbes exclaims upon seeing him in her house. “Your mother is looking for you, she’s been worried sick.”
Tyler doesn’t even spare her a glance as he heads toward Caroline’s room.
-x-
He breaks the door literally off its hinges.
“What the fuck is this, Matt?” he screams when he sees Matt with a wooden stake in front of Caroline.
Caroline’s crying, but she’s not fighting him, and Tyler knows she has the power to fight him if she really wanted too. He knows Caroline, though; and he knows she feels that it’s her fault, her punishment.
“I told you to be good to her-I paved the way for you two to be happy-and this is what you do when she finally tells you the truth?” So, yeah, he’s sure he doesn’t have his facts straight, but that can’t be helped.
“You don’t understand, Tyler,” Matt says, and Tyler hardly recognizes his voice. “She’s one of the things that killed my sister.”
He walks right over to them. “I don’t give a damn if she killed the President, it’s still Caroline fucking Forbes. Now get the hell away from my girl.”
The moment Tyler pushes Matt away from Caroline, she wraps her arms around his neck and sobs. “It’s gonna be fine,” he whispers in her hair as he takes her out of her house-straight past her own mother.
Title: Playing Protector
Author: simply_aly
Fandom: The Vampire Diaries
Pairing/Characters: Elijah/Jenna/(Klaus!Alaric)
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 365
Summary: Elijah defends Jenna from Klaus.
A/N: For a tvd_rareships Comment Fic Party prompt by mistress_britt. Originally posted HERE.
When Elena fills him in on all that has happened since she stabbed him with the dagger, he decides the first order of business is to get Jenna out of the Gilbert house and into the Salvatore house. And, seeing as Jenna will not speak to Elena at the moment, Elijah puts it on himself to go over there.
When he arrives, he finds the door slightly open, and he hears Jenna’s whimpers.
He rushes immediately to where she is sprawled on the living room floor. Her eyes grow wide and fearful and she tries to speak, but she can only manage to open her mouth slightly. Elijah nods, he knows what happened.
“Elijah,” a voice from behind him says. “What a nice surprise.”
Even Elijah, whose been around for centuries, finds it sickening to hear the familiar voice of the Mystic Falls history teacher mixed with the speech patterns Elijah knows to belong solely to Klaus.
“Was it really necessary to harm her?” Elijah asks, trying desperately to remain calm.
He genuinely likes Jenna, and to see her broken and bruised with bite marks covering her throat makes him want to kill someone-he’s that angry.
“She wouldn’t listen to me. I tried being patient, I really did, but you know I don’t have all that much in me.”
Elijah’s not really listening at this point, too focused is he on Jenna. “I’m going to get you out of here,” he whispers.
Klaus laughs from behind him. “Oh, be my guest-I fear I may have broken her.”
Elijah desperately hopes Klaus is wrong about that as he scoops up the frail body of the once strong woman. He carries her back to the Salvatore Boarding House and sets her on the couch while the rest of the inhabitants fawn over her. He watches carefully from a distance.
While she was with Alaric, Elijah had been content to play the role of the flirtatious newcomer; but with the arrival of Klaus and the disappearance of Alaric, Elijah realizes he must step into the role of Jenna’s protector. After all, he is not willing to let Klaus take another thing that could have been his.
Title: This Scene Is Wrong
Author: simply_aly
Fandom: The Vampire Diaries
Pairing/Characters: Klaus!Alaric/Caroline
Rating: R
Word Count: 715
Warning: dub-con
Summary: Caroline is confronted with both fear and suppressed desire when Klaus, in Alaric's body, corners her.
A/N: For a tvd_rareships Comment Fic Party prompt by mistress_britt. Originally posted HERE.
She’s looking into the eyes of the man who has been her history teacher for almost a year now and she can’t help but want to cry when she cannot recognize the person she’s looking at. What’s more, he doesn’t really seem to know her either.
“And which friend are you?” the impostor asks. She hears Alaric’s voice, but his tone is all wrong, and she forces herself to keep from cringing. “The witch or the vampire?”
They’re in the freshman English classroom, and Caroline’s backing up toward the far wall, away from the windows. It’s an odd thing to be frightened of a teacher who’s been more like a friend for so long. It doesn’t quite register in her mind either, and Caroline has to fight to remember that this is not Alaric. She can hear the music from the dance in the gymnasium and she briefly wonders where everyone is. How did he single her out?
In the blink of an eye he’s got her pinned against the wall. From the outside, the scene is not all that shocking. Teacher and student-it’s been done before. But he’s not really her teacher…not this person controlling his body, and she’s not willing. “What’s your name, little vampire?” he whispers next to her ear.
She shakes her head, determined not to play his game. She knows he knows her name, knows he knows a lot more than he’s letting on.
His head moves back and she stares into the eyes of this monster. “Lets try again, shall we?” he begins mockingly. “My name is Klaus…and yours is?”
She takes a shaky breath and blinks rapidly, trying with all her strength to move the hands he has pinned high above her head. “Car-Caroline,” she whispers in defeat.
“It’s nice to meet you, Caroline,” he replies, his head traveling toward her neck.
Caroline closes her eyes and tries desperately to move away from what she knows is coming. She can’t escape his tight hold, however, and his lips make contact with the soft skin of her neck and to her shame, she cannot suppress the soft moan that escapes her lips.
She feels his smile. “Is there something you never told your teacher, little Caroline?” Klaus teases as one of his hands leaves hers to travel down to her stomach where he carefully unbuttons the buttons of her pink blouse. Once that has been done, he toys with the think layer of cotton beneath.
She notices she’s stopped struggling and resumes her fight, crying out in frustration when she cannot break free. She doesn’t want this, not from this devil possessing her friend’s body, and she hates herself for giving into the illusion of a schoolgirl fantasy. She opens her mouth to speak but he covers hers with his and she shuts hers when she feels his tongue tracing her lips.
She doesn’t feel it when the hand holding hers to the wall falls away and moves to her skirt, pushing it up. Her hands seem frozen by the memory of his, and they stay still against the wall, even when his hand reaches her panties. Her mouth opens in shock at this and he takes his cue and pushes his tongue inside her mouth.
Later, Caroline will not be able to recall the moment she had stopped fighting. She does not know how much of what happened was his will and how much was her suppressed desire for her teacher.
She will not be able to speak of anything that happened in that classroom to anyone. And she will not be able to meet Alaric’s gaze when he’s once again in control of his body. And only when everyone’s gathered at the boarding house late that night does she start to feel in control again. Elena’s arms are wrapped around her and Damon’s keeping a watchful eye in their direction.
Alaric walks through the door and Caroline bites her lip and averts her eyes. She doesn’t want him to see the shame in her eyes or the last remnants of the desire she once had for him.
“I’m so sorry, Caroline,” he mumbles guiltily.
Caroline wants to tell him it’s not his fault, that it’s hers, but all she can say is, “I’m sorry too.”
Title: The Progression of a Relationship
Author: simply_aly
Fandom: The Vampire Diaries
Pairing/Characters: Carol/Liz
Rating: PG
Word Count: 430
Summary: They weren't always this close.
A/N: For a tvd_rareships Comment Fic Party prompt by sunsetdawn20. Originally posted HERE.
In the early days, back when both their marriages were new, they met only by chance. They’d meet up at functions or other boring activities and they’d talk for a moment-after all, they’ve known each other since primary school. They weren’t close back then either but making nice was expected of them so that’s what they did.
Carol got pregnant first. Liz was jealous because all she really wanted in life was to be a mother and Carol was besting her at that too. In the month and a half before Liz found out she was pregnant, she refused to even look at Carol. But when Tyler was born, a very pregnant Liz went to visit the new mother, bringing flowers; and a month and a half later, Carol repaid the favor and she brought a small bear for Caroline.
When Caroline turned two and John, Caroline’s father, was becoming less attentive, Liz called Carol. Carol would bring Tyler over to the house and the two would spend a few hours watching their children play and compared notes on motherhood. As a rule, they never discussed their respective husbands.
When Tyler was four, he and Carol stayed with Liz, John and Caroline for a week and two days. Carol had come knocking on their door in the middle of the night, mascara running down her face, and Liz prepared the guest room while Carol put little Tyler to bed with Caroline. No one ever brought up the reason for the stay, but Liz stayed up with Carol each night and comforted Carol while she shook uncontrollably as they listened to the phone ring over and over again. On the fourth night of Carol’s and Tyler’s stay, John left the house and tried to talk some sense into Richard and stayed with him until Carol’s departure.
For the first three years after that incident, Liz often brought Caroline over to the Lockwood’s and Carol and her would visit and watch their children play. But after Tyler’s eighth birthday party when a drunken Richard crashed their play date and accused them of doing ‘unnatural’ things together, an incident they neither acknowledge nor discuss, they stop with their visits.
Even still, it’s Carol who came to comfort Liz when the divorce went through and the moving truck was parked outside the house. And it’s Liz who helped Carol thorough her husband’s death.
They never talk about all that happened between them in those moments they were alone together, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen and deep down, they both know that.
Title: A Solution
Author: simply_aly
Fandom: The Vampire Diaries & True Blood
Pairing/Characters: Damon/Jessica, Caroline
Rating: R
Word Count: 230
Summary: Damon is intrigued by Jessica's 'problem.'
A/N: For a tvd_rareships Comment Fic Party prompt by irishcookie. Originally posted HERE.
The eternally virginal redhead intrigues him. Not only is she to remain a virgin her whole life, but she seems to have a fang problem as well.
He laughs when she tells him all of this.
She glares and pouts her lip before standing up to walk away.
He grabs her arm and forces her back down on the bar stool beside him. “Tell me more,” he says.
They have a few more drinks because Damon hasn’t had enough to drink yet to tackle this unexpected challenge. Also, he needs something to stop her incessant chatter for a few seconds at a time. He hadn’t realized his words were an open invitation to hear her life story.
Later, he takes her back to his hotel room and they experiment
.
Her fangs are out almost the second he pushes her roughly onto the bed (a real boost to his ego), and she allows him to take her virginity three times that night, for-with the help of vampire blood-he found a way to make it not hurt.
The next morning, she kisses him good morning and thanks him as he helps her zip up her white dress.
He never saw her again, but it was certainly an interesting story to tell Caroline later. (At least she didn’t have that problem, he told her. She just smacked him over the head.)