"Damon, she's getting worse. I know we keep trying to distract her and give her the space she needs but I think none of it is working!"
Elena said, stressing herself out with concern and fear for her best friend. It had been 2 months since Liz Forbes died and Caroline was in no way getting better.
"I know Elena, but if there's nothing we can do but hope that she won't switch it off." Damon said, he knew that out of all of them Caroline was the most emotional and he might not admit it, but he does care for her even if he hurt her in the past. Her mother was his best friend after all and he realized that he had developed a protectiveness for both mother and daughter he never knew he had.
"She can't switch it off, we can't let her! It will just eat her up even more if she turned it off now and did things she will regret." Elena said, thinking of a way to stop that from happening. She turned her emotions off when Jeremy first died and then did it again when she thought she'd lost Damon. She did not want her grieving best friend to hurt even more once she turns her emotions back on, if she turns it off in the first place.
"You both know that there's only one person who understands Care more than we do, right? Someone who would be better to handle a grieving Caroline and stop her from switching it off." Stefan said, startling Damon and Elena as they did not hear him enter.
"Who? Bonnie? She isn't here." Elena said, thinking of her other best friend that's still stuck in Kai's prison world.
"No. Someone much, much older than any of us." Stefan said.
"Are you crazy? We just got him out of our lives and now you want to insert him back when we're just finally starting to live less crazy lives?!" Damon said, he knew who Stefan had meant but he refused to allow Care to be near that hybrid's presence. He may not be keeping tabs on the original family but he's heard news about them from his connections in New Orleans. He won't let Care be part of that Drama, not when she has a lot of things going on in her life right now.
Sighing, Stefan nods and says, "I know that , but I promised Liz I'd take care of Caroline and help her get through this. Tyler can't help her cause he never really understood her and Bonnie isn't here to comfort her and we're all walking on eggshells with her cause we're too afraid that she'll turn off her emotions! I've got nothing left, Damon! Don't you think I know what could happen if he returns?" Stefan said before he left the two alone again.
He knew that he was starting to have feelings for Caroline and he knew that Care has feelings for him too, but sometimes at night when he would watch her sleep, she'd call out someone else's name, never his and he knew that she had stronger feelings for someone else. But Caroline had been his friend first and he had a promise to keep, even though by keeping it, he could possibly have his heart broken once more.
Klaus was awoken by a ring of his phone.
"What?" he groggily said. He was now king of New Orleans but that did not stop his daughter from crying and waking him up in the oddest hours of the night so the brief reprieve he got allowed him a night of peaceful sleep. He knows that his daughter has a nanny now that she has been living with him and his family and but he doesn't want to hand her off to just anyone, not when he can be there for her as a father should. He knew he didn't really need to sleep but it was surprisingly one of his favorite human past times for it was the only moment he did not have to think too much. It also when he slept that he'd be able to dream of her.
"Hey Klaus." the woman on the other end of the line said.
Klaus immediately recognized her voice. He'd spent 500 years chasing down one of them and had made the other one a personal blood bag after all.
"Well, well. If it isn't the last Petrova Doppelganger. To what do I owe this not-so-pleasurable call in this ungodly hour of the night?" Klaus said.
Ignoring his sarcastic response, Elena responded, "It's about Caroline." she said.
Losing his sleepiness, Klaus immediately sat up and asked, "What happened?"
"Her mom died and she's not handling it too well. We think she might turn her switch off." Elena said, knowing that Klaus would know what it would mean if Caroline eventually turns her switch off. He would lose the very reason he fell for Caroline, her humanity and her light, her ability to be compassionate even when she herself was hurting.
Realizing he had been holding his breath, he exhaled and said, "You seem to think I can do something about it, Elena. But do you forget that she doesn't want me around? She practically begged me to never set foot in Mystic Falls ever again." He tried his best to mask the disappointment and pain he felt whenever he thought of their last moments together, he felt for sure that she would have accepted his offer to go with him to New Orleans if he had, he was about to as well but then the look in her eyes, after they redressed in the woods changed and then she made him promise once more that he would never return to Mystic Falls.
"That maybe true but things have changed. Bonnie is still missing and even though I'm here, Caroline still feels alone. No one can get through to her, not even 's been 2 months since her mother died and all she does is cry and stay in her room. She hasn't even touched the food or the blood bags we put in her room, she's going to switch it off if we don't do something about it." Elena explained. She doesn't know why she's opening up to the original hybrid but somehow when it came to Caroline, she always felt comfortable to talk to Klaus about her. Maybe it was also because she was so desperate to keep her best friend from turning her switch off.
"And you want me to try to get through to her? She hates me Elena and she probably won't like to see me." Klaus said, Oh how he wanted to see Caroline once more, to be there and comfort her. But he would be damned if he goes there only to be rejected by Caroline once more. He is a King in New Orleans, not some love sick fool.
"You don't know that. I hear her when she's asleep Klaus. She cries and cries until she falls asleep and then on most nights I would hear her whisper your name. No one else's just her mom or you." Elena said. She hated to admit it but ever since Liz died, she moved out of the Salvatore Mansion and moved in with Caroline so that she can watch over her. There are times that Stefan watches Care when she goes out with Damon and She's pretty sure that Stefan has heard her say Klaus' name in her sleep too. Caroline is in love with Klaus.
There was a silence that stretched for what felt like an eternity between the hybrid king and the doppelganger before the line went dead.
The next day:
"What do you mean, you called him? Why would you call him, Elena?!" Damon asked, "Did you not hear about the part where I said he would just bring trouble back into our lives?Care doesn't need that right no, I don't need that right now!" He added. He didn't know what possessed his girlfriend to call the hybrid last night because he saw nothing about his presence in Mystic Falls would benefit Caroline or anyone else really.
"It doesn't matter. He hung up on me anyway so I don't think he'll show up." Elena said sadly, he was their last chance to help Caroline from switching it off, now they had to prepare for the inevitable and make sure that Care would not do so much damage that she'd hurt herself even more.
It was another day. Caroline mused as she finally opened her eyes, trying to go back to sleep. It was the only way she could see her mom; when she slept, she could see her and talk to her in her dreams. Waking up to the realization that her mom is gone, it doesn't make the hurt and pain go away. Every time she woke up to a new day, she'd feel so much more pain than the day before, it was as if her emotions kept replaying the day her mother died and the emotions just keep piling up as if it wanted to drown her in pain and sorrow.
Sighing, Caroline turned to her side as she covered her head with her blanket. Feeling like someone was watching her, she said, "Stefan, I'm sleeping. go Away!"
"Well I never thought I looked like Stefan sweetheart but I think I look way better than him." said the man on her doorway.
Removing the blanket from her head, she saw him. She'd know that voice anywhere, she'd seen him in her dreams too. She also told him to stay away from her and Mystic Falls.
Klaus took in Caroline's features. It used to be filled with a sparkle that was light and joyful. Now her eyes were red rimmed from all the crying she'd done and her skin pale and blotchy. He also mused that she'd gotten a lot thinner since they last met.
"What are you doing here?" You promised never to return." Caroline said, although secretly, she was glad he finally broke his promise.
"I heard about your mother." Klaus said as he stepped forward and moved toward Caroline's bed. "I'm sorry to hear of her passing. She was a wonderful woman and a great mother to have raised such a loving and caring daughter." Klaus said as he sat down beside Caroline's side.
Caroline pulled herself up into a sitting position, careful to hide her sheep-printed cotton pajamas. "How did you know about that? Have you been spying on me?" She asked.
"Rest assured Caroline, I have not. I kept my promise. A little bird did call me up and told me what happened. I just had to come." Klaus said. He didn't need to divulge that it was Elena who called him.
"It was Elena wasn't it?" Caroline asked.
Klaus didn't respond, he only grinned and that was enough of a confirmation for Caroline.
"She shouldn't have. I'm going to be fine." Caroline said, as she repeated that over and over to herself, looking more and more like she will not be fine.
Seeing this. Klaus took hold of her hand, which made Caroline stop and look at their hands together and then into Klaus' eyes.
"You are going to be fine Caroline. It's okay to grieve, to be hurt. But don't let it over take you completely. Your mother wouldn't have wanted you to mourn her to the point that all you would feel is pain. Instead celebrate her life, what she'd accomplish and keep her memories alive.
Caroline looked at him, tears filling her eyes once more, "And how do I do that?" Caroline asked him. Her mother was a great sheriff but she couldn't fill that role, people would question why she never got older!
"By living Caroline. Be happy and be the person she knows you are. She raised a wonderful woman. A woman filled with kindness, compassion and who always strives to make others happy and safe, even to the point of putting her own life in the line just so someone else can live." Klaus said.
At this, Caroline lost control of her emotions and began to cry, "She's gone, Klaus. I'm never going to see her again!" She said, she cried and cried, not caring that she was showing her self at her weakest point, not caring that she had somehow found herself wrapped up in Klaus' embrace and that she had hugged him back.
After a while, Caroline had calmed down and let go of Klaus, he did the same.
"Thank you for coming." she said. as she took his offered handkerchief and wiped her tears.
"I would have come sooner had I known, love." Klaus said as he smiled at her and surprisingly, she offered him a smile back.
"Why don't you go and take a shower while I go back down and fix you something to eat." Klaus said.
"Oh, you don't have to-" Caroline said, smelling herself a little, realizing a shower might do her some good, she stopped mid sentence.
Chuckling, "It's alright Caroline, you could stop showering for a year and I'd still think you'd smell lovely. I just think a shower could do you some good." Klaus said.
"Fine. I'll shower but you don't have to make me food. I'm not really hungry." Caroline said. It was true, she hadn't any appetite for blood or human food since her mother died.
"I'll still make you food anyway. I'll be at the kitchen, come right down when your done with your shower." Klaus said as he stood and headed for the kitchen.
Once Caroline was done with her shower, she dressed and headed down the stairs.
Caroline felt her stomach grumble as she caught a whiff of what Klaus had been cooking.
As she entered the kitchen, she saw pancakes, bacon and a bowl of fresh fruits and two cups of coffee and orange juice placed on the table as Klaus placed some omelettes on the table.
"Thank God for vampire speed, huh?" Caroline said.
Smiling, Klaus nodded and offered her a seat. Caroline sat down and then Klaus sat across her.
"Eat up, Caroline." he said.
"Aren't you going to eat? You should eat too." Caroline said then she mumbled something about not liking eating alone.
Hearing this, Klaus placed some food on his plate and then placed food on Caroline's plate too before digging into his own plate.
Caroline followed, soon after, before Caroline even realized it, she had finished two helpings to the dishes Klaus prepared and was now sipping a cup of coffee laced with blood.
"Who knew that an original hybrid can cook good food, huh?" Caroline said as she sipped on her coffee, "Thank you Klaus." she said.
"Well, living a thousand years does have its perks, cooking is a skill I learned in the 1600's but it was much more tedious back then." he said, earning another smile from Caroline.
"So, how have you been this past year? What mischief have you gone into in New Orleans?" Caroline asked, in an effort to distract herself and to avoid having to endure an uncomfortable silence.
Klaus contemplated whether he should tell Caroline the truth, that he is now a father to a beautiful baby girl, but figured it could wait. So instead, he told her tales of New Orleans, of the last time he was there and how it was now. He also told her that he was now ruling the city alongside his brother and his adoptive son, Marcel.
Caroline listened and asked questions about his escapades and of New Orleans while the two of them cleaned the dishes and the table.
After that, the moved to the living room and sat on the couch, still sipping a new cup of coffee.
"How is your child?" Caroline asked, as she curled up and sipped her coffee.
Klaus stared at her wondering how she found out about his baby. Seeing the look on Klaus' face, she said, "Tyler mentioned it to me a while back, he had just returned from New Orleans and found out that.. about our time in the woods, I guess he wanted to hurt me so he told me that you got Hayley pregnant." she explained.
Sighing and shaking his head, Klaus looked to the floor and then back at Caroline. He didn't want her to find out this way, not when he didn't know where he stood with her yet.
"It's okay to talk to me about it. I won't tell the others if you don't want me to. And I don't hate you for becoming a father. I think its nice that you are now actually responsible for a life other than your siblings, that you now have a reason to think twice before doing something." she said.
Looking at Caroline, he could see the sincerity in her eyes, and it was then he knew that Caroline would truly be alright. She may be hurting still and she may still have a long way to go before she's fully okay again but she won't turn off her switch like they all feared. Deciding to trust his instinct for once, he told her about Hope.
"She sounds lovely." Caroline said. "How is Hayley doing?" Caroline asked. She didn't hate Hayley, even though she knew that Tyler had at some point cheated on her with the lady wolf. If she were honest with herself, she was a little jealous that the wolf had a chance to become a mother, something she never will be.
Klaus looked down again, he may not love Hayley but she was still the mother of his child. "She died. Just about two months ago. She married this alpha wolf in a wolf marriage ceremony which binded them together as one so that they could free their pack of the werewolf curse and no longer turn into a wolf every full moon. Of course, when they were bound to one another, their lives were also linked so when one of the witches decided to kill her new husband, she died too." Klaus said.
"That's terrible!" Caroline said. "I'm so sorry would have been a wonderful mom to Hope." she said. It made her sad to think that Klaus' little girl will never know her mother, she didn't know what was worse, losing your mother they way she did or never knowing your mother because she died before you could remember anything about her.
Klaus smiled, he had no doubt Hayley would have been a wonderful mom but somehow he hoped that Caroline was Hope's mother instead, he would have loved for Hope to grow up with Caroline's traits.
"Do you have a photo of her? of Hope? I'd love to see her, if you don't mind." Caroline asked.
Klaus nodded and took out his phone and showed her a few photos he kept of Hope.
"She's beautiful, Klaus! You must be so proud, and you're going to have to reign in that temper of yours once she starts dating." Caroline laughed as she added that and saw how Klaus' face turned from beaming with pride and frowning at the thought of his little girl dating.
"That won't happen until she's at least a thousand years old!" Klaus said, although inside he knew that he'd have to be prepared for that time will come, no matter how much he hated the thought of some boy thinking he was good enough for his daughter.
"Relax Klaus, I'm sure that won't come for a long time." Caroline said.
The pair continued to talk and catch up with each other, even offering their own apologies for their past transgressions with each other that they did not notice when the door opened and closed just as fast as it happened as the they laughed and drank their now cold coffee.
Back at the Salvatore Mansion:
" I can't believe he actually came." Damon said as he poured three glasses of bourbon and handed two over to Elena and Stefan. before settling on the couch with the two of them.
"I know, I can't believe it was him who got her to get out of bed, eat and smile all in one day either." Elena said, she was a bit miffed that she couldn't get Caroline out of her funk but what was important was that Caroline was now doing something else other than cry and stay in bed.
Stefan stayed silent, sipping on his glass of bourbon and just nodded.
Elena looked over at him and took his hand, "It's going to be okay Stefan, she's going to be fine now. You're going to be okay too." she him a reassuring smile.
Stefan squeezed her hand and smiled, "Yeah, I know. I'll still be here though, to take care of her even when someone else will be doing that from now on. I'm still her friend and no matter what happens, that will never change." Stefan said before he downed his drink in one gulp, stood up and headed for his room.
Three days later, Caroline visits Elena, Damon and Stefan at the Salvatore Mansion thanking them for being patient and being there for her and that she was going away for a while.
Elena smiled and knew exactly where Caroline would be going, she knew it wouldn't be fair to keep Caroline with them forever, they all had lives to live and that this was Caroline's chance to finally live her life.
Damon was against her leaving, still unable to trust Klaus but in the end he gave in and said, " Take Care Blondie, if you don't I'm going to go after you and drag you back here where we can all keep an eye on you. can't have my best friend's daughter die just because I wasn't around to keep her from becoming hybrid bait again." he said, winking as he gave Caroline a hug before turning to Klaus and threatening him, as if he could ever threaten or hurt Klaus without ending their blood line.
Caroline went over to Stefan and told him that she would be forever grateful for being him being there for her even though it was hard for him to be there.
"I'm always a call away Care, I'll be here for you no matter what." Stefan said before giving her a tight hug and and kissing her forehead before walking over to Klaus.
"I know you're going to take care of her and I know you can probably beat me and kill me but if you hurt her in any way, I can still become a ripper." Stefan said, he may not be able to kill Klaus without killing himself and the others but he can still cause a lot of problems for the hybrid if he ever hurt Caroline.
Klaus said nothing, he knew that they wouldn't be able touch him lest they all want to die and he didn't want to get on Caroline's bad side now just as they had been getting along fine the last three days and that she was finally slowly but surely starting to pick up pieces of her life, so instead he took Caroline's bag and said "rest assured that if I hurt Caroline, she is more than capable of defending herself. Besides, its not as if you lot won't be wreaking havoc in my city soon. You lot never could stay away from one another. I'll wait for you in the Car, love." as he exited the door to give the friends some privacy.
As soon as Klaus left the group of friends, Elena hugged Caroline once more and said, "I'm happy for you Care, take care and be happy. We'll see you soon." knowing that Klaus was right and that she would follow her best friend wherever she may be.
"You too Elena. Thank you for calling him." Caroline said before saying good bye to Stefan and Damon before heading out to Klaus' car.
Before heading to New Orleans, however, Caroline and Klaus made their way to the cemetery to visit Liz's grave.
Caroline knelt down and laid flowers and lit a candle for her mom and said, "Hi mom, I'm sorry I haven't gone to visit more often. It just hurt so much to see that you are really gone." Caroline said, inhaling before she released her breath and continued, " I don't know if you'd be happy for me right now but I've decided to take Klaus' offer for me to see the world. I'd be with him of course, I know you'd probably warn me to not go through with this but I can't stop anymore. He is the only one who got me to feel something again and I think deep inside I've always known that I have feelings for him too. It's not love but it can get there and I know he cares for me too. I want to make you proud and I will always have you in my heart. I love you mom." she said before placing her fingers on her lips and then pressing it on her mother's grave stone.
As Klaus helped Caroline stand and told her to go ahead to the car, he paused, looking to make sure Caroline would not hear him and then spoke to Liz's grave too, "I know we never saw each other eye to eye but you are an amazing parent. I hope that I can raise my own child the way you did, alone I may fail but with Caroline by my side, I might actually stand a chance to raise my daughter properly. I promise to treat Caroline in the best way possible and maybe she can teach me to be the kind and patient parent I know you are but I am not. Thank you for raising her the way you did. I am forever grateful that you gave me the light of my life, even if it was after a thousand years."
And with that, Klaus left the grave and to the car where Caroline waited for him and they went on their way to see the world, but first they had to go back to New Orleans.
"I can't wait to meet little Hope." Caroline said, smiling once more, for the first time he saw a spark of true happiness in her eyes and for the first time, he may finally have the family he's truly wanted.
Fin.
Here's a pretty long one-shot about Klaroline dealing with Liz Forbes' death. I haven't gotten around to finishing some of my actual fics but I just needed to get this out of my head. This may need a bit more editing as I was making this up as I go so I might clean it up some time soon but if you spot some errors, kindly point it out to me by private message, please? :)
Thanks!