Anchor

by bellybilbil

All it took was the tone of her voice to wipe that excited, elated smile off of Klaus Mikaelson's face. "Klaus?" Her voice was raspy and she chocked back a sob. She sounded so broken, like talking to him was the only thing that was keeping her together. "Come back home. Please?" KLAROLINE.

Anchor

Pairing: Caroline/Klaus, Elena/Damon

Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries

Author's Notes: For the purposes of this one shot, Klaus and the Mikaelsons did move to New Orleans, and everyone knows that Bonnie died. Katherine being human, Hayley being pregnant and the whole thing about how Stefan is Silas' doppelganger won't really be a big factor or issue in here. Keep those in mind and you'll be fine :)

o-o-o-o-o

All it took was the tone of her voice to wipe that excited, elated smile off of Klaus Mikaelson's face.

When her name flashed on the screen of his phone, he had instantly forgotten all about his problems in New Orleans; disbelief and happiness plainly evident on his face. It had been a while since he had spoken to her and the fact that she was the one who called him wasn't unnoticed.

He answered the call and he immediately sensed that something was wrong… really, really wrong when silence greeted him at the beginning.

He knew it was Caroline herself speaking to him but it didn't sound like her. She didn't sound like that quirky, infuriatingly loyal, neurotic control freak that he had come to love. She sounded anything but that and Klaus knew the moment she spoke that he wouldn't like what he was about to hear – not all, and when she finally did speak, his dead heart shattered beyond his belief.

"Klaus?" Her voice was raspy and she chocked back a sob. She sounded so broken, like talking to him was the only thing that was keeping her together. "Come back home. Please?"

o-o-o-o-o

"What happened?" Klaus pretty much snarled the question at Damon's face when the latter greeted him in the airport.

The raven haired Salvatore scowled. "Do you want the condensed version or the full story?"

His eyes narrowed. "I don't have time to beat around the bush."

Damon rolled his eyes, waiting until they were both inside his car before he let out a sigh. "Long story short, the hybrid pup came back once you were gone. Apparently, another pup from wherever he came from wasn't happy that he left and hated Barbie for it. The full moon happened and Caroline was–"

"What?"

"Yep." The raven haired Salvatore nodded, popping the 'p'. "Haley 2.0 in other words… though much worse."

Klaus rolled his eyes at that. "Not the point, Salvatore."

"Caroline wasn't bitten, Klaus." He shot the Original a look; his crystal blue eyes hardening soon after. "Liz died trying to save her daughter."

A shocked look crossed the hybrid's face, knowing full well how much the sheriff meant to her daughter. "And the wolf?"

"Elena and I weren't able to catch her." Damon sucked in a sharp breath. "That's not all, actually."

He managed to catch himself before his jaw could hit the floor of Damon's Camaro. "What else?"

"Jeremy Gilbert's alive… but Bonnie…" Damon trailed off and Klaus knew in an instant what he was trying to say.

o-o-o-o-o

Klaus was never good with emotions.

More often than not, it was his emotions that led to his violent tendencies. He never really was good at dealing with them and often resulted to just lashing out or deflecting whatever emotion he was feeling. He had thought of emotions as a weakness; a factor that made anyone fragile. Admittedly, he had been more familiar with grief, anger and loneliness more than anything else. He had dealt with them most of his life and he was more often than not the cause of other people's grief and anger.

It was a whole new thing now that it was a grieving, angry and orphaned Caroline he was about to see.

Sighing inaudibly, he finally twisted the doorknob of her bedroom, carefully pushing the door open. He hesitated for a moment before he finally stepped inside, opening the door wider so he could see more. Caroline sat on her bed; the sheets of her bed covering her from waist down. Her hands fisted the fabric and if Klaus was correct, she had been like that for a while now – unmoving, unresponsive. He sighed once more. What should he say? What should he do? He was suddenly unsure of himself and he didn't like this feeling of helplessness at all.

"Caroline?"

For a moment, he thought his voice wouldn't register in her mind but slowly, she turned to face him. Her face was blank; her cheeks covered with dried tearstains. Her eyes were dull and lacked the life he always associated with them yet he detected a hint of relief and even disbelief in them.

"You came…"

"Of course, I did, Caroline." He answered gently. "That's what friends are supposed to do, right?"

She didn't smile. She didn't even nod. Caroline moved to the side of her bed, wordlessly tapping the now vacant space. Klaus hesitated yet again. He was new to all this. Taking it a step at a time, he made his way over, carefully sitting on the bed beside her. They stayed like that for a while – for how long, he didn't know. She didn't speak and neither did he. She was staring blankly ahead of them and for his part, he noticed how her hands clenched the sheets even more.

"Does the pain disappear?"

Her voice was too soft, nearly blending with the silence. But he heard her anyway. "No." He admitted honestly; his thoughts wandering to deaths of Henrik, Finn and Kol. "You just get used to it."

The bed shifted and he felt her nuzzle closer to his side, resting her head against his. It reminded him so badly of that night she was dying from Tyler's werewolf bite – the night that he had saved her from death and granted her many, many birthdays she desired. It was similar but now, she wasn't dying, not physically anyway… and this time around, Klaus couldn't do anything to take away her pain.

Drop after drop, her tears fell from eyes again, down her pale cheeks and onto Klaus's shirt. He wanted to console her, to reassure her that things would be okay somehow. But he didn't. Instead, he sat there in silence as Caroline sobbed harder, wrapping an arm tightly around his waist. He merely tucked her head under his chin, brushing his fingers against her blonde curls as comfortingly as he could muster.

"What am I going to do now?" She whispered brokenly. "What am I going to do now?"

o-o-o-o-o

Caroline didn't bother to smile and say her gratitude when people offered their condolences as they left.

She didn't cry when her mother's coffin was lowered six feet underground. She merely stood there, watching everything take place. Her face remained blank, her heart felt hollow and her mind became empty. She barely got to thank Damon for organizing everything on her behalf, making sure everything for the funeral was set and she had nothing to worry about in the midst of her grief. Caroline didn't have to do anything, just show up.

Damon remained in his place long after all the other townsfolk had left. He didn't say a word, merely gazing at the casket underground. They hadn't covered the coffin yet, per Damon's request. Caroline glanced at the elder Salvatore for a while, wondering it must feel like. He lost a friend too. Add the fact that they had received no word for Stefan at all, the burden of protecting them all now fell solely on his shoulders.

Elena stood silently by his side; her hand in Damon's. Jeremy couldn't make it. He was still technically dead after all, at least according to official documents. Damon had promised to work on that but Elena didn't nag about it given the circumstances. Somewhere behind the two stood Matt and, beside him, Rebekah and Elijah. Caroline didn't really know why the two Mikaelsons had come. If it was because their brother was there or because they had some sort of attachment to Mystic Falls and its people, she probably would never know.

Klaus had remained by her side throughout the whole funeral, holding her hand in his and providing silent comfort when she needed most. He barely said anything except when he took it upon himself to thank the community for coming and for their well wishes for Caroline. She felt that though she was so close to falling apart, he kept her somewhat intact just by being there with her.

"So this is what it feels like to have no one."

Her voice was soft yet Klaus, Elena, Damon, Elijah and Rebekah had all straightened up; the female Mikaelson being kind enough to whisper Caroline's words to Matt. She could feel all their eyes on her yet she blocked them out. What wrong had she done in her life to be robbed of her parents the way they were? When she had turned into a vampire, she prayed that her parents would live long lives and that she could spend those with them before she faced the rest of forever. What did she do to deserve this kind of punishment? She had done nothing but protect this town, save her friend and get tortured along the way. She knew everybody with her right now had lost somebody. But Damon still had Stefan. Elena had Jeremy. Elena and Damon had each other. Rebekah, Klaus and Elijah had each other. Hell, Rebekah could probably assure herself that she had Matt too.

What about her?

"Look around, love." Klaus's voice was just as soft but still well-heard. "If you really have no one, we all won't be here right now."

o-o-o-o-o

"Can you teach me how?"

He was back in her room, back in her bed, holding her like the day he returned to Mystic Falls. He was there every night, wanting to spare her the pain of sleeping alone in an empty home. Klaus reckoned she didn't mind his presence, maybe even perhaps needed it. Elena and Matt stopped by frequently, even Damon came by from time to time. Each and every time they'd come, Caroline would wave them off, telling them that she was fine. They knew better, of course, but they also knew when to push her or not.

"Teach you how to what, sweetheart?"

"To turn it off."

Klaus stiffened. "You saw what turning off the good ole humanity switch did to Elena, love."

"I don't want to feel anymore, Klaus. Help me." Caroline pleaded softly, looking up imploringly at his face.

The Original was silent for a long moment, debating on what was the right thing to say, what was best for the woman in his arms. "Remember once I told you that you're full of light?" She nodded once and he continued. "Turning off your humanity means losing that light, Caroline. I won't let that happen."

"But, Klaus…"

"Do you really want that? Do you really want to feel nothing when a town event you help organize becomes a success? Do you really see yourself looking at the Eiffel Tower and not feel anything at all? No enjoy and excitement?" The hybrid asked her; his voice unusually gentle despite the turmoil brewing in him thanks to her unthinkable request. "If you can tell me with complete honesty you never want to be happy ever again, I'll help you turn it off."

Caroline was silent for a long while before a sob erupted from her throat. "I don't know what to do anymore."

His arms tightened around her as she cried against his chest.

o-o-o-o-o

Caroline groaned, sluggishly getting out of her bed. She was sure she was going to flip if one more person came all the way to her house to add to her growing number of sympathy casseroles. Couldn't anybody understand how she just wanted time and space? Their casseroles did nothing but rub the fact that she was now orphaned into her face. She frowned heavily at the thought, debating with herself on how to deal with her visitor as she went down the stairs and approached the front door.

She just didn't quite expect to find Klaus standing on the other side.

Caroline blinked, noting how he had a grocery bag in one hand and his other hand held something behind him. "What…"

"I… Ah…" His dimpled smile crossed his face though his eyes remained somewhat hesitant. "Would you like to watch a movie with me?"

Her ears were probably deceiving her. "A movie?"

"Yeah. Here." Klaus handed her the very object he'd been hiding – a White Chicks DVD.

Even her eyes were deceiving her. "Where did you…"

"Rebekah's idea." He explained; his cheeks rather red in embarrassment. "She claims it's supposed to help."

Caroline opens her mouth but no words come out, not quite sure how to process the fact that he had been thoughtful and sweet enough to want to cheer her up, that Rebekah actually helped and that he looked pretty damn adorable when he was red in the face.

Klaus misunderstood her silence and held up the grocery bag in his hand in an attempt to save himself. "I also brought ice cream and chips… we don't have to watch if you want, sweetheart. I, uh, just…"

He promptly shut his mouth when Caroline gave him her first genuine smile since her mother's death. "Come in."

o-o-o-o-o

He practically lived in her house now.

They had settled into a sort of routine that kept them indoors. Caroline wasn't ready to face the rest of the world yet; a world that no longer had her mother and Bonnie in it. So they stayed at home most of the time, with the exception of Klaus leaving to go out and hunt. Caroline wasn't sure how he went about his hunt and quite frankly, she didn't want or need to know.

She trusted Klaus.

He had been nothing short of who she needed ever since his return. He had transferred nearly every damn DVD he had in his old mansion to her place and they watched a new film everyday. He'd give his commentary about each film and even for just a while, Caroline would forget about how empty her life was as she listened to all his comments and opinions. Sometimes Rebekah would tag along and watch with them too.

Klaus had even gone out and bought a copy of every cookbook the town bookstore had. When they weren't watching movies, they'd give cooking a try; an activity that even Damon took part of from time to time. It was amusing to see him and Klaus try to out-cook each other.

Caroline sighed as her car pulled up in the driveway of the Salvatore boarding house. Damon's car was there, along with Elena's, Rebekah's, Elijah's and Klaus's. Quite uncharacteristically, Damon had insisted that everyone get together for dinner. He had declared that he and Klaus needed guinea pigs for their next cook off, hence the gathering. But everyone knew better.

She killed the engine, straightening up when her door was opened before she could even reach for it. Klaus stood there; a smile on his face as he held out a hand to her. Smiling slightly, she placed her hand in his and stepped out of the car, smoothing out the black dress she sported. Klaus frowned slightly at her attire; a far cry from the colourful outfits she once sported.

"Everyone's here?"

"We were just waiting for you, love." He placed her hand on the crook of his arm, much like the way he did when they were the last ones to leave the venue of her high school graduation. "And believe it or not, Bekah and Elena are civil towards each other."

Caroline acknowledged the humor with another small smile. "Didn't they reach some sort of truce a long time ago? When Elena turned her humanity off?"

Klaus opened the front door and let her enter in first. "I guess so, sweetheart."

"Care!" Elena was out of her seat in an instant, wrapping her best friend in a hug.

"Elena." She hugged her back; a bittersweet smile settling on her features. Bonnie was no longer there for her to hug next.

"Finally, Barbie." Damon said by way of greeting as he emerged from the kitchen. Caroline knew it was his attempt to make the atmosphere as casual and as light as circumstances would allow and for his efforts, she managed to roll her eyes at him just like she normally would. He grinned before he shook the wooden spoon in his hand that she hadn't noticed up until that point at Klaus. "Better get a move on, Gordon Ramsay wannabe. We've got people to feed."

For his part, Klaus merely scowled at the raven haired Salvatore before he turned back to Caroline. "I'll be right back."

"Come." Elena gently tugged on her hand, leading her best friend to the nearby sofa.

Matt had managed to detach himself from Rebekah to give her a hug; Jeremy and April Young following suit. Rebekah had managed a friendly smile and Caroline couldn't help but wonder that if things were different, they could've even be best friends. Jeremy stayed close to Elena, conversing with April Young as he did so. In the midst of it all, Elijah seemed content to watch everything around him take place; a thoughtful look settling on the features of the eldest surviving Mikaelson.

"Wait. I forgot something in my car." Caroline straightened up all of a sudden, remembering the two envelopes of graduation pictures she had been intending on giving to Elena and Matt. "I'll be right back."

She got up from the couch, absently listening as Damon stopped Klaus from following her as she went, saying that the fries had yet to be seasoned. She knew that Klaus was protective but she really was just going to get the pictures right outside in her car. It shouldn't take long. The blonde vampire swung the door open, barely getting a few steps away from the boarding house when she froze.

"Tyler."

Tyler hadn't even said a thing and she hadn't fully comprehended the fact that he was there when he was suddenly flung backward; his back colliding harshly against his car. Damon and Rebekah kept him pinned against it and he struggled in a futile attempt to free himself from their hold.

"Care, please…"

Caroline snapped.

Her fangs elongated and her eyes turned from crystal blue to pitch black. Dark veins surrounded her eyes and a feral snarl erupted from her as she lunged forward, growling when she slammed against a hard body. She hissed and fought against Klaus's hold but he was much, much stronger than her. His face remained as it was; his eyes remained that shade of blue she secretly loved and there were no signs of Klaus the hybrid. Her mind barely registered the irony that she was the one who looked like the monster between the two of them.

Stormy vampire eyes locked on Tyler. "Where is she?!"

"Care, please…" He tried again, choking when Rebekah tightened her hold around his neck. "Jackie didn't mean it. She–"

"WHERE. IS. SHE."

"Tyler, you should go." Matt suddenly spoke up from his spot with Jeremy and April. "You shouldn't have come."

"He's right." Elijah agreed easily as Tyler gaped at his best friend. "Niklaus, you should bring Caroline inside before she does something she'll regret later on."

"Care, let's go back inside." Elena hesitantly placed a hand on her arm.

"NO!" She snarled, shaking her best friend's hand off. Angry tears were now streaming down her face and Klaus wished she'd just stop struggling long enough for him to wipe them away.

"Love, listen to me. I need you to go back inside with Elena, Jeremy, Matt and April. Damon, Bekah, Elijah and I will take care of this." Klaus held her face between his hands and forced her to focus on nothing but him. "I know you're mad, sweetheart. I know you want revenge… but I also know you'll hate yourself if you hurt Tyler."

"Klaus…" She whimpered.

"I once told you that I won't ever let you lose your light." The blonde hybrid reminded her softly, pressing a chaste kiss to her forehead. "Please, love."

"What the hell?" Tyler yelled all of a sudden; his eyes wide with shock and range. "He killed my mother, Caroline!"

"AND YOU PRETTY MUCH KILLED MINE!" She screamed, lunging at him yet again only to be held back by Klaus.

An aghast expression crossed his face. "Care, I didn't…"

Klaus glared spitefully at the other hybrid, quite thrusting Caroline towards Elena and Jeremy. "Get her inside."

"Care, come on. Please." Elena begged her best friend quietly, grateful that she had Matt and Jeremy to help her bring the older vampire inside.

Klaus watched until Caroline, Elena, Jeremy, Matt and April had disappeared inside; Damon and Rebekah hurled Tyler forward. Tyler landed by Klaus's feet with a grunt, hastily bringing himself back on his feet and sending his former sire a venomous look. Klaus merely rolled his eyes, blurring towards him and grabbing him by the neck; Tyler gasping in his hold.

"You see, mate, I gave you the chance of a lifetime when I left Mystic Falls yet you managed to screw up yet again." The Original's tone was casual yet his eyes were hard. "Where is she?"

"I really don't know." Tyler managed to wheeze out.

"Now, tell me, how many loose ends have you left untied?" His voice turned colder. "How many are out there who managed to fall head over heels for you and are out to hurt Caroline?"

"I didn't…"

He rolled his eyes. "Unfortunately for you, no one gives a damn about your reasons." Klaus yanked Tyler closer until they were face to face. "Never show your face ever again."

Tyler groaned as he was thrown back to the ground. "Caroline's my girlfriend… She loves me."

"Judging by how she wanted to bite your head off earlier, I think it's safe to say that you two have been broken up for the past five minutes now." Klaus smirked before his face hardened. "Shouldn't be thankful that I haven't killed you yet? You should be. But mark my words, boy. If you or any of your loose ends ever show up here, I'm going to kill each and every one of you."

o-o-o-o-o

"Caroline?" Klaus called out as he entered her house. "Sweetheart?"

"In here!"

He followed the sound of her voice, finding her seated before her laptop in her room. "There you are, love."

"Is Madrid a good place to start?"

The Original hybrid froze. "What?"

Caroline turned away from her laptop to face him; a sad smile on her face. "I can't stay here… in this house, in this town."

He barely regained his composure as he straightened up. "Sweetheart…"

She shook her head. "There isn't anything left for me here anymore. I need to start all over again at some point."

Klaus wanted to tell her that it wasn't true, that she still had Elena, Matt, Jeremy, April and even Damon. But he kept his mouth shut. Liz Forbes had been the most important reason why Caroline stayed in Mystic Falls, why she strived to be as human as she possibly could. But now Liz was gone.

"That's new." She commented on his silence, trying to lighten the atmosphere up a little. "Normally, you'd be the first one to encourage me to get out of this place."

"Why Madrid?" Why not Rome, Paris, Tokyo? Why not any of the places he'd offer to show her?

"Well, you never said anything about Madrid… but I'm hoping you'd want to show it to me, too."

o-o-o-o-o

The next day, Klaus booked a flight for two to Madrid, along with flights to Paris, Rome, Tokyo, London, Cairo, Sydney, Beijing, Rio de Janeiro and Seoul.

He was supposed to book one for Bali but his lips were suddenly occupied.

Caroline distracted him yet again and for once, he couldn't say that he did mind.