Caroline couldn't stop thinking about it. She would wake up in the middle of the night, clutching her sweat stained sheets. Only to collapse back against her pillow, disappointment filling her.

Apparently the thing with scandalous sex is that you only seem to want more of it after you've had it. Oh, and the guilt, which was really starting to become overwhelming. Especially being a vampire.

Caroline tries to go through the motions, going to her classes, studying, but she can't forget it. She can't handle the guilt. She clutches her pencil so hard it snaps while she's studying. She sighs, defeated, picking up her cellphone.

"Hey Elena! Just wondering if you were up for some girl time? Those Salvatores are probably driving you crazy - plus since Katherine is dead and gone, I think it's about time we actually enjoyed ourselves." Caroline says in her usual chipper voice.

"Uh, yeah, that sounds great... Care. See you in a bit?"

"Okay, I'll be over." Caroline hangs up the phone, the smile immediately falling off her face.


She walks into the Grill and for one delirious moment, she thought he might be there. Taunting her and offering her drinks with his seductive smirk and a curl of his fingers. No, no Klaus.

She spots Elena in a both, she hurries over there, "So you will not believe the day I've been having."

Elena looks up at Caroline, away from stirring her drink, "I figured, with Tyler coming back and all. Did you guys get back together?"

Caroline's cheeks heat up when she realizes she had completely forgotten, "Well no-, you see, I've been kind of, uh, been avoiding him. Since he chose Klaus over me, a girl tends to hold a grudge."

"Would you offer me the same choice?"

Her insides clench up when she hears his voice in her head.

"You should talk to him, Care. He cares a lot about you."

Caroline shakes her head, "Okay, totally not the reason I asked you to come. Just, uh. Was curious, about how you were doing? With this whole Katherine being dead stuff.. must be intense."

"To have a woman who terrorized me and killed most of my family and turned you into a vampire dead? I actually am completely cool with that. I love it. I love Katherine being dead. One less headache." As Elena says this, she had grabbed her glass cup, when she finishes her sentence, the glasses shatters in her hand.

"Elena!"

Elena realizes what she's done, scrapping the glass off of her hands, "I'm sorry, I've just been kind of.. on edge."

"I can tell." Caroline says, "Come on, lets go outside, people are staring."

Elena obliges easily, following Caroline outside. "Enough about me, please." Elena dryly laughs, "Tell me about you, anything spicy happening in Caroline Forbes's life?"

"Actually, now that you mention it." Caroline suddenly flips around to face Elena, "Uh, please, don't be mad at me, you promise? Pretty please?"

Elena tilts her head, a questioning look on her face, "What did you do Caroline?" She asks slowly, folding her arms over her chest.

"So you know how I've been feeling kind of lonely since Tyler left me? But I'm totally over it now, right? So uh, when Katherine was dying, Klaus sort of dropped by to, you know, dance on her grave and all of that - but instead we kind of-"

"Don't say what I think you're going to say."

"Kind of slept together?" Caroline says slowly, a pained expression on her face.

"Caroline!"

"What! I couldn't really help it-"

"That's so gross! He killed Tyler's Mom!"

"I'm fully aware of that, Elena!" Caroline snaps at her, "You have no right to be mad at me! You were just sleeping with the guy who abused and.. raped me, speaking of, I still have yet to get an apology for that! So don't talk to me about my taste in guys!"

Elena growls at her, "Caroline that is completely different!"

"How so?! They're both bad guys, but they're better now, okay? So.. just.. give him a chance." Caroline pauses to breathe, her voice gets really quiet, "It's not like it matters, he's never coming back to Mystic Falls."

Elena looks at her confused, "Really?"

"Really. He promised me."

"You trust a sociopathic hybrid?"

"Yes, I actually do."

Elena nods, running a hand through her dark hair, "It's just.. I figured there was something going on between you guys... I just didn't think.." She pauses again, "That it would get to this point."

Caroline looks at her sadly, "It's just, I..."

"Have you told anyone else this?"

"No, just you."

"Might want to keep it that way. I have to go." Elena says as she walks away from her.

Caroline watches as she goes, and she makes a choice.


She packs her bags, throwing everything she can into the small luggage bag.

"Small town life, it would never be enough for you."

"Come with me to New Orleans."

She wipes her eyes as she packs, she takes out her phone and books a flight. For New Orleans.

Does she feel terrible for leaving them for some fling with an all-mighty Hybrid? Of course. After seeing Elena's reaction today though, Caroline is certain they'd never accept her again. She compels her way out of College, though she ensures that her Mother doesn't know she's not attending anymore.

She couldn't say goodbye to her Mom, especially over a guy.

Right as she's about to leave, there's a knock at her door. She walks down her stairs and sees Tyler through the window. She's about to go back up the stairs but she hears his voice.

"I can see you, Care."

She walks over to the door, opening it angrily, "What do you want, Tyler?"

"I want to talk."

"Too bad." Caroline's about to shut the door but he stops the door. "Tyler, really, I'm not doing this."

"Doing what?"

"I'm not going to let you turn me into some lovesick idiot that just hangs around Mystic Falls all day waiting for you to return. I'm not a dog, Tyler. I'm a breathing, living, being. I don't want to wait for you anymore." Caroline growls at him.

Tyler raises his eyebrows at her, "Is that really how you feel, Care?"

"Yes, that is really how I feel." Caroline snaps, "Now if you'll do me a favor, you'll turn around and you'll crawl back into whatever hole you've been hiding in for the last year."

"It can't end like this."

"Weird because when I said, if you take one more step we're over, you really liked that ending. At least save me the trouble this time, Tyler. I'm doing waiting for you, and I don't want to wait ever again. So, we're over. Again." Caroline then slams the door this time.

"You don't mean that, Care!"

Caroline opens the door because she just wants to throw it into his face so badly, "Yes, I do mean that. I'm leaving Mystic Falls, I'm going to travel the world. I've done enough sitting around, there's a world out there. This whole thing, small town life, it isn't enough for me."

Tyler recognizes the words and he furrows his brow, "Care? You're not going to.."

"Travel the world with Klaus?"

".. Yeah"

"Yes, I am. Because he chose me." Caroline slams the door in his face. She leans against the door with a smile. At last, she had gotten the closure she needed. She bolts back up the stairs, packing with an even bigger fury than before.

Caroline throws her luggage into her car, slamming the trunk down. She looks up at her house. The old house she had grown up in. Now she was going to leave it behind, the old rusty plumbing and the overwhelming amount of white.

She climbs into the driver's seat and drives out of town. She doesn't say goodbye. She has no time for goodbyes. She leaves a voicemail for Bonnie instead.

"So hey Bonnie, it's me, Caroline." Caroline laughs dryly, "If that isn't obvious. I'm kind of doing a spur of the moment thing, so uh, don't look for me? God that sounds shady, I just, I need to take a breather, from Mystic Falls. It's not because of you or anything, it's just, uh, wow this is harder than I thought." Caroline laughs again, taking in a deep breath, "I love you, okay? I just need some time for myself right now."

She hangs up the phone quickly as she passes the 'YOU ARE NOW EXITING MYSTIC FALLS' sign. She gets to the airport in record time, probably due to her speeding. She was worried she'd lose her nerve as they scanned her passport.

She climbed into the airplane, setting herself down on one of the seats.

"I'm actually doing this." She notes quietly to herself, glancing over at the other sleeping passengers, "This is actually happening."

Watch out New Orleans.