A Caroline introspective drabble with spoilers for the current episode.
Thanks to Calie1003 for her input.
Forcing a gaiety that she didn't feel, Caroline poured shots of tequila for the impromptu party she had suggested in honor of Klaus's demise. She tried not to let any of them see, least of all Tyler, how she really felt. With her boyfriend and the others so happy with Klaus's death she had stepped into the role that was expected of her. She had gathered drinks, snacks, becoming the perfect party hostess. All in an attempt to forget that when Klaus had saved her, telling her to go home and be safe, something had changed in her, shifted even. For the first time, she had seen that she had meant more to the Original hybrid than just an object he had taken a fancy too. This time he had no priceless gowns, jewelry or even his blood to give to try and impress her. Instead, he had given her the one thing no one else held the power to give her, her life.
She tried not to think about it as Tyler put his arm around her, pulling her closer to him. Instead she laughed and smiled, handed out more shots and even joined into the popcorn fight Matt started with Tyler and Jeremy. Performing her role perfectly so no one could see the truth behind her smile, the cracks that were already forming in her soul. Klaus had tried to kill Tyler and Elena, but he had done something heroic too. He had saved her and she was helping everyone to forget it.
That night when Tyler brought her home, his hands fumbling over her clothes as he passionately tried to kiss her, she was reminded of a different set of hands. Ones that had soothed her with protective touches in a high school hallway, checking to make sure she was unhurt, while just around the corner death had stood in wait for them. It was all too much. Yanking herself out of Tyler's arms, she had told him she was tired, the day to stressful to even comprehend doing anything more than sleeping. He had smiled and nodded like he understood, but she knew he hadn't. In his world, he had just taken down the alpha male, but in hers, he had killed her savior. Before she could break down she sent him on his way with a goodbye and a quick peck on the lips.
Reaching her bedroom, she went right to the picture Klaus had drawn for her. For the first time she seriously pondered the reason she had kept it, holding on to it even after Tyler had stormed out of her room the other night. Even though her boyfriend had been convinced it was because she had feelings for Klaus, she had been so sure he was wrong, that she had stubbornly kept it just to prove she liked it because it was the first time she had seen herself as beautiful. Now she wondered if there was more to it than that. Had she…did she have feelings for Klaus?
Tracing the lines of the sketch with her finger, she pictured him, pencil in hand lingering over each stroke, each swirl. There was such talent, such life in his work. Unbidden, a sob escaped from her throat and like the floodgates opening, tears ran down her face. Even though she had scoffed at his offers of Tokyo, Paris and or Rome, there had still been a tiny part of her that had thrilled at the idea of those cities and the escape they afforded. When he had condemned the life she led and Tyler as small town she had been so blinded with fury she had been unable to see any truth to his words. His idea that she would one day end up on his doorstep one hundred years from now had seemed so ludicrous. Then today had happened and she had seen just how large of a disconnect there existed between her and Tyler and everyone else. Not a single person had mentioned her rescue at Klaus's hands or even noticed for a moment her torment at this day's work. It made her realize just how fleeting her time here really was. The tragedy of it was that now when she could at last entertain the possibility of meeting him one hundred years from now it had slipped from her grasp like a wisp of smoke. There would never be a Rome, Tokyo or Paris. Not for them.
With Klaus's death, she had been set free to see the truth, what she never could have admitted to herself while he lived. She had yearned to see the world with him. More importantly he had been right, she would never be happy here. She was meant for so much more.