Right, Hello! A note of warning - this is my first fanfiction. Yes, shocking.

Note no 1 - English is not my first language. Please excuse any weird expressions or grammatical errors and feel free to point them out to me!

Note no 2 - Feedback is very much appreciated! Please let me know if I should continue this story? Leave me a review saying what you are missing in the story, and what you think of it so far!

Note no 3- this will be Klaroline. But it will take us a while to get there, I am a firm believer that Caroline does not know her feelings for Klaus just yet, it will take some more time and a few more events for her to actually get a grip.

So: Prepare for a long fic where probably Klaus won't even show his face for the first 10,000 words or so.

PS. I do not own TVD, I do not own the characters. All a work of fiction based on someone else's characters. I mean you, CW, WB Pics and Julie Plec et al.

Note - reuploaded Chapter 1 due to typos!

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Caroline loved college. Once she got used to the new freedom, that is. The sudden choice of so many more courses, the possibility to drop out of a course because, well, because you just didn't want to finish it – there was always a next semester it seemed. The endless parties and the different clubs – and most importantly the fresh start. Here, she was not Caroline Forbes, over-achiever and over- organizing control-freak/slash vampire. Here, she was Caroline Forbes, freshman. Blonde, cute, and very keen on exploring life.

It had taken her a while to get adjusted to it all. During the first orientation week she had tried out way too many courses and felt stupid in some, mostly bored in others. She had met up with more clubs and societies she ever thought could exist in one place – and that coming from someone hailing from Mystic Falls where there was another town event every other week.

After the drama of the last few years in Mystic Falls, the newcomers and ones who left (more pessimistic people would probably call them deaths), the ups and downs in her life and relationships, college life finally seemed to keep its promise. New experiences, life at its fullest. And she was determined to experience every bit of it.

There were, of course, a few downsides. First, Bonnie's death (and re-appearance as a ghost and return as not so ghostly - yes, it was complicated) had shaken her to her core, as well as her best friend Elena. Elena, already changed by her new life as vampire, changed even further, slowly first but noticeably all the same, with her relationship with Damon deepening. And although Caroline in her heart understood how Elena felt and was happy for her she still could not get over it completely – Damon being the new love in Elenas' life. Stefan was one of her closest friends and then Damon being the guy using and mistreating her so badly: her friendship with Elena cooled off slightly – without either of them really knowing what to do about it.

Her relationship with Tyler, however, was back to how it's supposed to be. He returned from his travels after graduation and although he was not as keen on college life as Caroline he turned up for the most important events, he was by her side in the evenings and the weekends, and she could go back to saying "oh, I can't make it I'm afraid, i am meeting my boyfriend that night".

All good.

It seemed. If she was really honest to herself though, and she tried not to be too honest to herself about this specific topic, thank you very much, her relationship with Tyler was in a rut. Once, in a melancholic, half-drunken state and only with Elena as her witness, she had wondered aloud if maybe their relationship had actually thrived off all the drama and excitement – if maybe her relationship with Tyler was meant to be rocky. The life-and-death situations, the "this may be our last kiss ever" feeling – she kind of missed this. Only once, she had admitted to herself that she sometimes was bored out of her skull by Tyler. But was this his fault? Could she blame him for this? He, after all, never changed. He enjoyed hanging with his new found pack of wolves, he enjoyed a beer and throwing a football and long nights with Matt and the boys at the Grill. He was careless and wanted to live just day by day. Tyler was just the same guy as he's been a year ago. Minus the Hayley drama and his obsession of getting back at Klaus for whatever he had done that week.

And Caroline liked all that, no, she loved all that about him. The reliability, his deep friendship with his likes and his friends. His obsession with sports (well, it did have well-toned perks for her as well...).

But then, once in a while, a thought crept up in her mind.

You are in college now, the rest of your life has begun. There is a whole wide world out there. With culture, arts and cities, and so much to learn. You can study not one but 10 degrees, you are a vampire after all! You can travel the world. Get as much out of it as you can. Go and live, go and meet the world.

Had she outgrown Tyler?

Was he holding her back?