A/N: I had Boyce Avenue live covers on my playlist after binge watching Narcos this weekend and came up with this. This first part is Carenzo-centric, the second will focus on Klaroline.
the heart is just a bloody motor
you had my heart inside of your hand
and you played it to the beat
- Rolling in the Deep, Adele
"We could have had it all -"
At another place, in another time, maybe they could have.
Maybe he'd have bought a farm in the countryside where they could spend their days riding those Dutch horses she loves so much. Maybe they'd have moved to DC where she'd become a journalist like she'd always dreamed of while he'd take on some nine to five consulting gig that'd be boring as hell but would let him make sure there was a hot, home-cooked meal waiting for her when she got home. Maybe there would even be a kid or two in the picture - dark haired like him, but with their mother's soft blue eyes.
" - but you left."
She didn't even say goodbye. One day she was telling him that she loved him, and he believed it with everything he had. The next day she was in New York, marrying a bloody crime Don who'd met her at a ball a year ago and hadn't gotten her out of his head ever since.
"I did. And I would do it again if I had to."
Was the fact that she did it to save her brother supposed to make him feel better? If it was, then it didn't work. He couldn't give a damn about the fact that the Mikaelsons had almost offed Damon Salvatore's head for losing five million dollars' worth of whatever drugs or guns he'd been ordered to traffic into London, or that Klaus Mikaelson suddenly decided that fine, he wouldn't go after Salvatore if she stayed in New York and married him.
All he knew was that he lost everything the day he lost her - and he couldn't even do anything about it because he was nothing but a good man making enough by an honest living.
The most important part of that statement being, "he was nothing."
"Well then, Mrs. Mikaelson. We'll just have to see who's left standing after this war, won't we?"
Oh, he made sure things changed, really, he did. He was so far from 'nothing' now. He'd worked the last half a decade climbing the lawbreaking ladder, paying his dues, making a name for himself. Now he was capo bastone, a boss in his own right, with the blood of over five hundred men on his hands and the money and power of Arcadius Ferrio and the Italian mafia resolutely behind him.
He could take New York if he wanted to - and he wanted exactly that - and even the fucking Mikaelsons knew better than to say that he didn't stand a chance. He could make it rain blood and bullets and he had enough men and money and the thirst to keep on going until either he or they were dead.
"Enzo – "
But Christ… it hurt. After five goddamned years, it still hurt. Hearing her say his name like that, and knowing that no matter how many times he tells himself that he hates her for leaving and tearing his world apart and turning him into the monster that he is now, it would never be enough.
To make him forget that familiar scent of sandalwood and vanilla that fills both his dreams and nightmares every night.
To stop him from wanting to take her into his arms right this moment, and feel the warmth of her lips against his again.
To drown out the words that that stubborn beating thing in his chest keeps on saying.
[ I love you I love you I love you and if you knew how bloody much I want to take you and run from all of this and start over again - ]
"Just tell me something, Caroline."
He grabs her arm. She flinches at his touch, tries to draw back; but he doesn't let go. He's holding her so tight and he doesn't know if it's because he's angry enough to want to hurt her or if it's because he's that damned scared of losing her again.
"I can't – please, Enzo, I have to go, if they see me with you -"
"Are you happy with him?"
She stops struggling, arm slacking as her gaze slowly rises to meet his. Audobon Boulevard is abuzz with a thousand other people, but silence between them is almost deafening.
He doesn't miss the tear that slips from her eye before she pulls her arm out of his grasp and walks away.
