It's around midnight when Caroline stumbles - half drunk and out of her mind - to the Salvatore Manor, a half empty bottle of whisky clutched in her hand as her bleary eyes barely even make out the shape of the front door. Her heart hurts even though she's telling herself it doesn't and the sharp sting of loss hits her right where it hurts; she's so stupid, she tells herself, so, so stupid to think that he would care. So idiotic to believe the words he's said.
I intend to be your last love.
A pretty promise that was never meant to be, Caroline thinks as she suddenly collapses down on the front steps. She raises her whisky bottle to her lips and with a jerking motion, dumps its contents into her mouth, forcing herself not to gag at the bitter, stinging taste. She wants to feel something and if a brush of pain is all it'll take to keep away that dull ache, she'll take it. Because if there's one thing she's learned in all her time as a vampire it's that alcohol helps with everything.
Temporarily.
She doesn't want to think of what will happen come tomorrow, when she's hungover and exhausted and the buzz is gone. She doesn't want to think about that ridiculously good looking psycho-manic Brit with the cobalt eyes and dimples and damn it all, she just fucking hates him because he's gotten to her. The damned Original bastard has gotten to her. She wants to drag him down to hell and let Mikael and Esther have their way with him because that smooth son of a bitch pried her heart open and made her fall for him.
He made her care.
Made her feel.
Made her laugh and cry and…revel.
He made her feel so human when she was supposed to be dead and just as she's about to tip over the edge, he backhands her all the way to fucking Antarctica when she finds out the news.
"You think we can get Klaus to help?" Elena asks, her voice half filled with hope and the other half filled with terror.
Damon sneers. "Not when he's busy banging the she-wolf down in New Orleans."
Caroline drinks some more whisky, because she's nearly halfway done with the bottle so why not drink some more? Why not just drink?
It's not like he's ever going to come back and see her in such a sorry state.
"You'll be free," he promises.
Damn him, Caroline swears. Because he made that goodbye seem like a blessing for her; his honey coated words of promising to give her the freedom she so desired masked his real intentions.
I'm going to leave and never come back.
That's basically what he meant, wasn't it? What was it about the Mikaelson family? Not a single one of them - not even Elijah - could really even keep their word.
My last love? Caroline grimaces as she guzzles down the last bit of whisky, my last love of what? You can't be my last love when you're shacking it up with the were-slut and about to become a daddy, Caroline muses bitterly. Fucking asshole.
She smashes the damned whisky bottle onto the ground and then throws herself back, letting her back hit the concrete steps with enough force to bruise her for a few moments. She's never felt such rage before - such uncompromising pain. A feeling of hurt that she's used to but never before has the knife cut so deep.
Maybe it was because she believed in all the promises he gave her.
"Rome? Paris? Tokyo?"
All those beautiful, fantastical places he said he'd bring her. He could give her the world, he could do anything and everything for her.
"For you, Caroline. It was all for you."
Could she even deny it to herself the raw ache and tenderness that flooded her body when those words left his lips? When his sad blue eyes met her own, when she saw how badly he wanted to reach out and touch her but instead, turned away and left. Because she didn't know what she wanted.
She'd waited too long, Caroline curses. She had waited too long. After all, he was the Big Bad Hybrid. He was the king. He wasn't going to spend eternity pining over her.
(Was it so awful that she secretly wished he would've just waited a few more years?)
He broke her heart and Caroline's fairly sure he's unaware of it. He doesn't know what he's done to her because, and here is where Caroline really winces, because she's never said it out loud.
But damn it, couldn't he tell by the gestures she gave him? The subtle signs that showed how she cared? How about when she walked with him along that little bridge at the Miss Mystic Falls pageant? When they laughed over champagne and her stupid little Miss Mystic application? When she held onto his arm as they walked along the grassy backyard, as the bright sun radiated down from above and gave him that fucking halo that made him look like a damned angel.
But Caroline knew better. No amount of sunlight and grace could ever disguise the fact that he was Lucifer's son and that was a fact that she knew better than anyone and despite it all, she'd accepted it. Sure she didn't like it but she'd accepted it, hadn't she? Why else would she have told him - even when she was fucking dying - that she had hope for him? That she believed in him? That those words she said wasn't just a last desperate plea to allow him to let her live but it was her trying to tell him that even after she was dead, she would always carry a faithful belief that he could be better. He could be so much more.
But Klaus is fucking blind, Caroline thinks, her hands balled into fists. Why didn't he wait, she thinks, why didn't he just wait for a few more fucking years? He was immortal. Eternal. Surely a few more years would have been nothing for him.
In the end though, Caroline realizes as she slowly blinks back tears, he's left her too.
"Hey, Elena, have you seen Caroline around anywhere?" Stefan inquires as he walks downstairs and into the living room, a casual and easy grace in his stride. He's calmer now, anyone can see that, he's accepted it. He's wary of the supernatural forces and takes everything with just a grain of salt. He can accept his brother and his ex-lover's passion for each other, the Southern vampire had realized not too long ago.
He's just taken things for what they are and it makes it so much easier to be around the girl he used to love.
The brunette in turn shakes her head as she types away on her laptop, writing essays Katherine had compelled other students to write for her and organizing her planner for makeup tests and exams. "Sorry, Stefan," she says as she skims her English history textbook. "I think she told me something about wanting to head back to Whitmore early - wanted to clear her head," Elena bit open a highlighter as she quickly blazed the bright neon yellow pen over a few sentences. "Try finding Damon, he knows what's going on with everyone these days."
Stefan shrugs as he makes his way over to the grandiose window overlooking the street. "Nah, it's alright. I'll give her a call and then probably head over to Whitmore to see if she's doing okay. She's been a little…"
"Depressed?" Elena supplied, continuing to type on her laptop. "I know. I didn't want to say anything because I brought it up once and Caroline practically refused to speak to me for a good two days."
"You know why?"
The brunette rolled her eyes as she finished her sentence on Richard III, "If I knew why then I would've done something by now, Stefan."
Stefan chuckled slightly, shaking his head before gazing out the window again, his hand already in his pocket, ready to pull out his phone. "I've been thinking," he said as he unlocked the iPhone Damon had insisted he get, "I might be going away for a few days. A quick road trip or something."
"Roa - "
"What the hell - what's Enzo doing here?" Stefan suddenly said, his voice harsh as his jade green eyes took in the darkened figure of Enzo standing on the Salvatore front steps.
Elena immediately shot out of her seat and took a stance next to Stefan, "why's he just standing out there?"
"I don't…Caroline?"
A small blonde head had suddenly came into Stefan and Elena's view and from what they saw, they could see that Caroline was sitting on the ground, a sea of shattered glass before her.
"What's she doing out there?"
"What are you doing out here?" the calm, slightly amused voice of Enzo inquired as he took in the sight of an immensely drunk blonde, lying half passed out on the concrete steps of the Salvatore home. "Did Damon decide to kick you out while he snuggled up with his lady love?"
No response.
"Or perhaps," the dark haired Augustine vampire continued, "you have just decided that stargazing is best done on the steps of my former antagonist's pathway. Although," he mused as she took a quick look behind him, "these are more like…walkway steps or something. Damon was always one for the posh detailing," he continued, "do you mind if I join you? Ah, you probably don't. Since you're passed out and - "
"Will you shut the fuck up and get out of here?" Caroline suddenly bit out, throwing a hand onto her face as she tried to drown out the voice of another good looking, potential pain-in-the-ass foreign vampire. "I don't want to do anything right now which means, I don't want to talk to you."
"Fair enough," Enzo said, walking towards Caroline before lying down right next to her.
Caroline's eyes snapped open. "What the hell?" she demanded, turning her head over to properly glare at him (slightly difficult to do when one is drunk), "I said - "
"That you didn't want to talk to me. I'm just lying her in total silence. Or I was. You know, you really should respect someone's personal space." Enzo continued, his voice completely serious as Caroline's eyes narrowed in irritation and…suppressed amusement?
"Fine. How's about this, smart ass: leave me alone. There."
"Alright."
"Good."
"Great."
"Leave."
"No thank you."
Silence.
"Any reason why you've decided getting rip roaring drunk and stargaze outside Damon damn Salvatore's front yard?" Enzo finally required, before nudging a large shard of glass away as Caroline kicked her shoes off. "And apparently your drunkenness has impaired your judgement," he noted. "Taking off your shoes while a glass army is in front of you isn't the best thing to do, though I suppose even being on Damon Salvatore's property does lower your IQ quite a bit."
"If you say it like that then Stefan should've gone comatose by now," Caroline muttered, army flopping over her eyes now.
Enzo chuckled. "Ah yes, the younger, handsomer, more charming ladies man with morals. The great Stefan Salvatore. I've heard quite a lot about him in prison, you know."
"Hm."
"Oh, yes," the dark haired Augustine continued, lively as ever to Caroline's hum, "Damon made him out to be such a charming bloke - and quite the ladies man. Stole away his true love - or, what he thought was his true love at the time - Katherine Pierce. He carried a bit of a sore spot about it, really. Quite bitter. Perhaps he should have tried counseling."
"Can you go bother Damon instead and please just leave me alone to wallow in my misery? I don't really like having an audience watching."
"As much as I would like to see the wretched man," Enzo said pleasantly as he rolled over to his side, plucking Caroline's arm off her face though her eyes remained closed, "I would much prefer to know why such a beautiful young woman is ah, 'wallowing in misery', as you say."
Caroline remained quiet.
"Shall I guess?"
"No!"
"Let me see," Enzo mused, rolling onto his back as he tapped his chin thoughtfully, "ah, I see - worrying about the Travelers? The society, perhaps?"
No response.
"And alas, I am wrong!" he cried out in mock woe, causing Caroline to slap his arm.
"I didn't even say anything! Stop assuming - "
"Yes but if what I mentioned was the true crux of your worries, you would have reacted in some shape, way or form. I suppose this means I must try again. Now…" he mused again, completely aware of how a sudden tension took over Caroline's body. "Would I be correct in saying that you are worried about…Damon Salvatore and your pretty little brunette friend?"
No response.
"Wrong again? Then I am left with no other hypothesis other than that crude story that one older Salvatore told me. Troubles of the Original vampire, am I right?"
Caroline's breathing became shallow and her hands quickly balled into fists.
"Third time's the charm," Enzo muttered, smothering his feeling of anger. "And I suppose again that he charmed you, flirted with you, made you fall wholesomely in love and then up and left right as you were about to put your own grand display for affection out for him. Now you're heartbroken and wondering what on earth he did all that for if he was just going to leave you in the end. Leave you wondering about the if's and the what if's and the 'maybe if I had just fallen sooner' - "
"Will you please, please just go away?" Caroline finally choked out, crossing her arms over her chest as her eyes remained closed. Her voice was steady but the clear agitation was apparent and Enzo knew full well that this little blonde carried more than her fair share of woes.
"I - "
"No, stop it!" Caroline cut him off, suddenly opening her eyes and causing Enzo to nearly drown in a sea of sky blue, "I am sick and tired of men coming up to me and thinking they can charm me and I'll sleep with them and then they can just leave and think I wouldn't feel anything. Well, you know what? I may not show it but I feel - I feel just like anyone else because I'm not this dumb blonde that people think I am. I'm smarter than you know and my heart isn't some kind of rubber ball - it's taken its fair share of blows and I do not need another vampire coming in here and making me care about them only to run away months later because he's knocked up a were-slut and decided a kingdom was more important than me." Caroline was sitting upright now (as was Enzo) and her breathing was harsh, her cheeks flushed as her eyes sparkled with emotion. "I can love," she said quietly, "I just…I need time. To fall. To trust. To just…be in love."
"I never doubted you could," Enzo replied softly, looking right into the cornflower blue of her eyes.
Caroline let a bitter laugh escape her lips. "He certainly did. They all did."
"Who are 'they'?" he asked, his voice not giving away a shred of his true emotion.
The blonde shook her head. "All water under the bridge now. He's gone. They're all gone." she sighed, "maybe I'm just not made for happiness."
A pause.
"Oh god, I cannot believe I just said something as melodramatic as that," the blonde suddenly moaned, curling her knees up to her chest as she buried her face in her hands. "You can go and ignore me now," she mumbled to Enzo.
The November air was slightly chilly as Enzo gazed up into the night sky, the constellation Andromeda shining brightly above them.
"If you look up, you can see Andromeda." Enzo suddenly said, causing Caroline to raise her head and look into the sky. "Do you see her? Right there, where she's chained to the stone, waiting for Perseus to rescue her."
"She was chained to a stone?" Caroline inquired, "some parents."
"Daughters of kings and queens in Greek mythology usually have fates much more grotesque than those of simple peasant girls," he responded. "Rather, I never liked Andromeda much."
Caroline raised her brow. "You didn't like the myth of a helpless Greek princess tied to a rock, ready for your taking? Are you a Quaker or what?" she asked, a small smile curving on her lips as Enzo chuckled.
"My favorite is actually Aries, the ram."
The blonde's brows furrowed in confusion as she gazed up into the sky. "I don't see it."
"That's because it's a constellation that only appears in December," he replied casually. "I suppose you'll just have to wait until them to see it."
"Well, then, you're going to have to describe it." she retorted, scooting slightly closer to Enzo as she felt a chill creep up her spine. "I have no idea what it looks like and I doubt it looks like a real ram."
Enzo smiled as she shook his head. "It's visible between a 90 and a negative 60 degree latitude," he explained, "and it's best seen around 9 PM." He turned to look at Caroline who was gazing at him with an expression of utter amusement. "What?"
"That was the worst explanation in the history of bad explanations," she laughed finally, throwing her head back and allowing Enzo see the graceful curve of her neck as she leaned back. "90 and negative 60 degrees in the sky? Like I'm really going to take out my protractor and measure the entire sky to look for it," Caroline continued, shaking her head in mirth as Enzo quietly congratulated himself on a job well done. "You're going to need to give me a picture like description."
He shook his head, "I'm afraid it's rather hard to explain."
She shrugged. "Oh. Well then, same time next month?" she asked, gesturing around them.
If Enzo was surprised, he his his surprise well enough. "Do we have to wait for you to get utterly and completely drunk and then break a whisky bottle as well?"
Caroline rolled her eyes, "obviously not," she deadpanned, "December's vodka month, didn't you know?"
"Ah, yes, how could I have ever forgotten?" he replied sarcastically as he began to stand up.
"Where're you going?"
"Away before your friend in there sees it necessary to maul my face off," Enzo gestured as Caroline turned around to see a fuming Stefan and a stunned Elena looking out at them from inside the boarding house.
"How long have they been doing that?" she asked.
The dark haired vampire shrugged. "Only a few minutes, I think."
"You just suck at giving concise response, don't you?" Caroline teased, not knowing why she was being so quick to befriend a vampire who had once been Damon's cellmate.
Perhaps it was because he seemed to understand loss better than anyone she knew.
Enzo smiled down at her, causing Caroline to stand up as well, brushing dust off of her jeans. "Same time next month, Caroline." he said before giving her a grin and speeding off.
Looking around her, Caroline spotted her black booties only a few feet away from where she'd kicked them off and began walking towards her shoes, careful to avoid any glass shards. However, as she continued to walk, she found that all the sharp pieces of glinting glass had all but disappeared, brushed away into the night.
As realization dawned on Caroline, a warm smile appeared on her face as she plucked her designer heels off the grass. She didn't know who her last love was supposed to be but she wasn't going to spend the rest of her eternal existing pining on a what could have been.
Like Enzo, who had been abandoned, betrayed, and left to die, he had reappeared not as the mourning woe-is-me villain, but as a charismatic man of intrigue. He thrived and lived with all the finesse this mortal world could grant. She too, Caroline vowed, was simply going to live.
From inside the boarding house, Stefan was as bewildered as a bull but he couldn't deny the relief he felt when he saw Caroline making her way to the front door, a small smile on her face.
A/N: Okay, here's another Carenzo/Enzoline one-shot! You guys liked the other one so much I decided to make this a little bit of a sequel to it :)
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