A/N So I tried to write a drabble, hope you'll enjoy it :)
You can't run away from fate
Caroline was sitting in a booth, in a small, but quite cozy bar (well as cozy as a bar can be) in LA alone. She loved the warmth there and the uproar of the city. She relished in the anonymity and freedom. It had been 20 years since she left Mystic Falls, after her mother passed away and she realized that there was nothing for her left there. She traveled around US and only settled in one place for few months, making the most of it. She loved every second of it, the supernatural world outside of Mystic Falls was nothing she had ever seen, she regretted staying in Mystic Falls for as long as she did. Over the years she often thought about it, she realized that her mother was probably the only reason why she didn't go away to live her life when she had the chance. "I considered offering you a first class ticket to New Orleans, but I knew what your answer would be" Klaus' words echoed in her mind. In the last 20 years there had only been one day in a year that Caroline would let herself think about him. Today was that day. It had been exactly 21 years since she last saw him. "I intend to be your last, however long it takes" those were his last words that haunted Caroline until this day. The feelings came rushing back and Caroline downed her drink as if she was trying to wash away the lump in her throat. Not long after he promised to wait for her, Tyler came back to town with the news of the miracle baby girl. Klaus' daughter the one he had with that bitch Hayley. No one ever knew how much the news hurt Caroline, no one really even cared enough to ask. With time she got used to the idea, but locked away any feelings she had for him. Klaus had a real family now, one that didn't have room for her, so she moved on with her life only letting herself one day a year thinking about him. She was Caroline Forbes and her life didn't revolve around some stupid big bad scarry hybrid who had once offered her the world. Screw him. Caroline scoffed looking at her glass.
Out of nowhere a young dark haired girl flopped in front of her in her booth. She was young, beautiful there was something carefree in her features. She was smiling at Caroline as if she knew her. Caroline instantly felt suspicious. She learned a lot of things over the years, spending a lot of time in a supernatural underground.
"Wow you're young! I mean I knew you were young, but you look younger than me!" she started babbling as Caroline stared at her confused
"I'm sorry" she finally spoke "do I know you?" Caroline stared at the girl as if she was crazy
"Oh right! Sorry! I'm just really excited to have found you!" she kept rambling, ignoring Caroline's question
Caroline raised her eyebrow waiting for an answer to her question
The girl seemed to have simmered down a bit "No you don't, but you're Caroline Forbes right?" The girl asked, her face showing that she clearly already knew the answer to that question
Caroline straightened up a bit, it couldn't have been anything good, why on earth would some girl show up out of the blue looking for her.
"How do you know my name, if we don't know each other?" Caroline asked her senses on high alert, ready to attack if need be
"Right, sorry, I babble when I'm nervous and I get all hyper active and forget how to properly approach people I don't know" the girl gave Caroline an apologetic smile and Caroline relaxed a bit. Whoever this girl, seemed harmless.
"So how about you tell me your name, given that you already know mine." Caroline tried offering the girl a smile, now that she was almost sure the girl didn't mean any harm, she was getting curious as to what she wanted with her.
"My name is Hope" girl said carefully, waiting to see Carolines' reaction.
"That's a very pretty name" Caroline said offering Hope a genuine smile "So how about you tell me how do you know me? So that I would know if I have another stalker problem on my hands" Caroline joked
Hope laughed, she liked Caroline, she seemed sweet, which only made her more determined to follow through with her plan.
"Well I'm a werewolf, well technically I'm not yet, I mean I have the gene and I'm a friend of Tyler" Hope lied without blinking. She had thought this through and with a lot of help of course she was ready to lie as much as it would take to succeed. "That's actually why I'm here" she started determined to go through with the lie, but Caroline interrupted her
"Tyler? Is he okay?" she asked worried "Did he activated his curse again?" Caroline asked suddenly worried. She remembered every single moment of helping him with his transformation the first time it hurt only watching, she couldn't imagine what it must had been like.
"Again?" Hope asked looking confused "Oh right.." she mumbled looking down on the table for a moment then she suddenly lifted her eyes to Caroline "Yes, that's what happened and he needs your help, he's too stubborn to ask, but he needs you" Hope blurted out and carefully watched Caroline
"How can I help?" Caroline asked, despite everything that happened she still cared about Tyler and she wanted to help him.
"I need you to go with me and see him, he needs you" Hope said sadly
"Wait, go where? I don't even know where he has been for the past 20 years" Caroline said
"He's in New Orleans, he's with his pack" Hope lied
Caroline froze at her words. New Orleans. The one place she had been avoiding for so long. The place where he lived. Caroline felt panic seep into her she wasn't ready to run in with Klaus, was she? After everything, she didn't want to think how different the encounter would be. She knew it wouldn't be pleasant. She was still pissed at him, not because of the baby as much as the fact that the baby's mother was Hayley.
She distinctly saw Hope waving her hands on front of her face trying to get her attention
"Yeah I'm here" Caroline said shaking herself "Fine I'll go. But on my terms" she raised a finger pointing at Hope as she smiled brightly at her "And the terms are?"Hope asked feeling victorious already, even though the hardest part would be when they get to New Orleans.
"No tours around the city, we go straight to Tyler" she said, figuring it would be the easiest way to avoid bumping into certain people.
"Deal" Hope lied not feeling a bit of guilt, everything was going according to her plan.
When they landed they got into and it took them to the address that Hope had told the driver. Caroline got to know Hope a little better and she really liked her, she was a sweet girl, bright and funny and there was something about her that Caroline really liked she just couldn't name exactly what it was.
The cab stopped in front of an old big house, it didn't look anything like the Lockwood mansion, but Caroline figured Tyler probably changed over the years as well. Hope lead Caroline to the house and opened the door to let her go in. As soon as Caroline walked into the hallway a very familiar face greeted her. It was not the face she had expected to see.
"Well it's nice to finally see you here" Rebekah said giving Caroline a wicked smile
"What the f…" Caroline stopped in her track, turning to Hope for an explanation
Hope was smiling apologetically at Caroline " Well I might have not told you the whole truth exactly" she started and staring to feel guilty, she grown to really like Caroline and was afraid that she would be mad at her "I didn't bring you here to see Tyler" she said waiting for Caroline to process
"Then how? Why? What? "Caroline was at a loss, shy was Rebekah here, what did they want with her, she looked questioningly at Rebekah, she raised her hands, palms turned to Caroline as to show that she was harmless" Don't look at me, it was her plan, I merely helped"
"Plan?" Caroline said her voice rising "What the hell is going on here, Rebekah?!" Caroline asked annoyed at her confusion
"Caroline it's my fault, not aunt Bekahs' "Hope started "You see, ever since I was little dad told me stories about a beautiful princess, that was away exploring the world and experiencing the beauty of all the culture, music, food and art, he used to tell how beautiful and strong and full of light she was. He said that one day the princess would become the Queen" Hope kept going, her eyes shining with something Caroline couldn't name, because her mind was in overdrive. Aunt Rebekah, dad… Oh my God…
"You're her" Caroline whispered everything becoming clear" But how? How did you know who I am? What I look like? How did you find me?" Caroline didn't know what else to say…
Hope pulled out a small folded paper out of her pocket and handed it to Caroline "I found this in my dad's studio, I saw him looking at it a lot of times, but he never showed it to me, so I went snooping" Hope said with a sweet smile, but Caroline was too focused on the paper in her hands. It was the same drawing that he had given her after the ball, the same as the one she had shredded" I asked aunt Bekah about it and she told me everything, I never saw my dad smile at anyone the way he smiled looking at that drawing" Hope kept on explaining "I'm sorry for lying, but I had to do something, besides I really wanted to meet you" Hope said more cheerfully, she was so happy with herself.
"But… what about… that were-s… Hayley?" Caroline asked silently
"I love my mom and all, but this family is crazy so she is with uncle Elijah" Hope said jokingly, she was obviously completely comfortable with that fact.
"Elijah? Seriously?" Caroline asked incredulously "Yeah the family is the definition of dysfunctional" Caroline laughed a bit, she could feel an invisible weight lifted of her chest, that she didn't even know was there.
"See, she seems to be taking this pretty well" Hope chimed to Rebekah
"Yeah, we'll see about that in a moment, Klaus will be here any minute now" Rebekah said amused
"Klaus is coming here?" Caroline suddenly turned to Rebekah questioningly
"Looks like your running days are over" Rebekah said teasingly, she was actually glad to see Caroline, she would have never admitted it before, but she knew that Klaus and Caroline were right for each other.
Caroline didn't have time to process as she heard Klaus' voice from somewhere in the house, it must have had more than one entrance. She could hear how pissed he was "Hope I hope you have a good explanation for your little trip!" Klaus shouted coming into to hallway where three girls were standing. Caroline was standing with her back turned to him and she froze when she heard him step into the room. She noticed how Hope bowed her head looking at the ground, she looked the same way that Caroline used to look whenever she misbehaved and got scolded by her parents.
"I'm sorry dad, but I had to" Hope pleaded before Klaus cut her off
"How many times did I tell to never travel alone!" Klaus shouted his hands curled into fists, trying to contain his rage
Caroline oddly started feeling sorry for the girl, she knew from personal experience that it was not fun to be at the receiving end of Klaus' anger, so she turned to face him.
Whatever Klaus was about to say his words caught at his throat and he was now standing with pure shock on his face when he saw Caroline.
"Caroline… " Klaus whispered and his shock was covered with a mask of surprise, he turned to Hope "What did you do?" he asked, he knew his daughter well enough to know that she was responsible for this unexpected surprise
"Come on Hope your work here is done" Rebekah cut in and grabbed Hope dragging her out of the room
Klaus turned to Caroline questioningly. His mind was racing. Caroline was in New Orleans, she knew about Hope, hell she even knew Hope and apparently came here with her.
Caroline noticed that Klaus was speechless and smiled smugly, it was the first time she saw Klaus speechless and was satisfied that she was able to do that, even though she didn't planned to do it.
"I can smell the rubber burning" she started "Apparently Hope got your manipulation skills or maybe it's the lying skills, anyway I can see the resemblance" Caroline said with a smile
"Caroline I…." Klaus started, but didn't know what to say exactly
"Don't, it's okay, I've known about Hope for a while now" Caroline said
"But then… Why are you here?" Klaus asked confused
"Well Hope told me a little fake story about Tyler, saying he needed my help and flew me out here, then she…" Caroline stopped not knowing how to say what Hope had told her
"Then what?" Klaus asked coming closer to her. He was now standing so close that she could smell him. And oh what a nice smell that was, it overwhelmed her, her feelings from the past 20 years came rushing back.
"You showed up" Caroline lied
"Caroline I'm sorry if I had known what she was going to do…" Klaus started, but Caroline stopped him
"Then what? Would you have stopped her?" Caroline asked in a whisper, this was what she was afraid of. What if he didn't want to be with her anymore
Klaus didn't answer her for a long moment, he just stared in her eyes as if he was looking for an answer, he finally spoke, when he found what he was looking for
"No." he simply said
"Good" Caroline simply said. Caroline didn't think, she just did something she was dreaming of for the last 20 years ever since she finally left Mystic Falls to live her life.
She closed the small remaining distance between them as her lips softly touched his. She felt Klaus' hands move to her hips as he brought her closer to him deepening the kiss. Their tongues moved in unison as they relished each other.
"I've been waiting for you" Klaus said as his forehead touched against Carolines' both of them catching their breaths
"I'm here now" was all Caroline said and continued with the kiss.