A/N: This was (for the most part) written after 3x11 aired and the promo pics for 3.14 came out, so for some reason I thought the ball was actually prom night or something like it.
let the walls cave in
After her birthday she took off Tyler's bracelet for good. It hurt, but it had to be done. It went into one of her drawers, together with the diamonds she had received from Klaus, to be (hopefully) forgotten.
If Tyler noticed that it was gone from her arm, he didn't say anything about it.
oOo
Prom came around, Caroline had been looking forward to it. A night were she could dress like a princess and for once not think about Hybrids and Originals sounded almost too good to be true. She had the most beautiful dress picked out, but when she looked into her mirror something was missing.
Like a snake, temptation wound itself around her heart. It's only a bracelet. Surely it wouldn't do any harm to wear it just this once.
If she had known he would come, she would have thought differently.
oOo
It was getting creepy, how Klaus kept seeking her out. Mystic Falls was a small town, sure, but even that couldn't account for him running into her that often.
Most times she would just clench her jaw and bravely tell him she didn't want his company, saw him as nothing else than the man who was responsible for numerous deaths of people she cared for. Only now and then, at the Grill when she'd had a little to drink, she'd let him tell her stories of all the wonders the world inhabited, everything she had yet to see.
oOo
"Why are you so interested in me all of a sudden?"
It took her a long time to actually muster up enough courage to ask the question that had been burning on her tongue ever since her birthday.
He had just ordered drinks for himself as well as her (how presumptuous) and the way he looked at her as if he was studying her had her heart fluttering a little.
"Why not? Do you think yourself not important enough?"
She did not. Because it was always Elena and Caroline was always a means to an end.
oOo
The bond between Rebekah and Klaus always seemed to be a strong one to her, so when his sister woke her fury at his betrayal was even greater. It would take a lot of time to mend their relationship and until then he would be punished with dismissal and cruel words.
Perhaps she had spent too much time in his company, but Caroline thought she had learnt how to read him, the pain on his face as plain to her as the sun in the sky.
She knew she shouldn't, knew that he had brought this on himself, but she pitied him then.
oOo
One night, they were sitting together again; he was in a foul mood and had a little too much to drink. Caroline didn't think too much of it until he suddenly leaned into her and kissed her. At first she didn't know how to react, didn't even fully register what was happening, but when she did she pressed her hands firmly against his chest, pushing him away.
He looked angry, still not used to being refused anything he wanted and grabbed her wrist rather forcefully to pull her back.
She could feel the heat rising in her cheeks. Without any thought to how powerful he was or what he could do to her, she used her free hand to shove at his shoulder. Once she was free she left.
Caroline was in this situation once, being used without the power to stop it. Never again.
oOo
The next day she found a diamond necklace, matching the bracelet he gave her, on her desk. It was breathtakingly beautiful, but all Caroline could see was a refusal to apologize.
oOo
When she finally forced herself to seek him out one of his brothers opened the door for her and when she told him she was there to see Klaus all he did was grin and lead the way into the living room. Klaus was there, sitting on the couch and watching TV like any normal person, but once he saw her he shut it off instantly with raised eyebrows.
"Caroline, my love."
"Stop it," she burst out, holding her hand with the necklace dangling from it out to him. "And stop this. You can't just give me jewelry every time … I don't know…You want something from me."
It was frustrating. She'd gotten to know him, she'd even come to like him in spite of herself, and she wouldn't be Caroline if she didn't want to forgive him then and there, if only he did something to deserve it.
Instead he seemed displeased. "Are you giving me orders?"
"I am not. I am also not one of your hybrid-slaves; you can't just expect me to be whatever you might want at the moment."
"Are you done yet?" His nostrils were flaring a little; he was obviously trying to hold his anger back. In his head this was probably all just some big betrayal against him.
She left with an angry huff and the realization that she shouldn't care so much; but she was Caroline after all, and Caroline always cared.
oOo
The next day, after school, he was suddenly there, just sitting in her chair as if it was the most normal thing in the world to break into a girl's room and wait there. He didn't even say anything until she was just about to tell him to leave.
"What would you have of me?"
She had thought about that the night before. She didn't want his gifts, she wasn't even interested in an apology anymore – he probably wouldn't mean it anyway. He was there though, and he managed to sound somewhat contrite, so Caroline let herself sink down on her bed slowly and asked for the thing he'd used to captivate her attention in the first place.
"Tell me another one of your stories. Tell me about Paris, London, Rome."
It was good enough for the moment.