A/N: Wrote this right after the backdoor pilot to The Originals aired, when Klaus leaves Caroline that message at the end of the episode. This story is canon-compliant only up to that point. I didn't know anything about Camille, I thought she would actually be likeable. This was actually the very first Klaroline fic I ever wrote, and I posted this on my tumblr with matching graphics for each part. This is a slightly more edited version of the parts posted there, but if you want to see the pics, visit my tumblr (check my profile) and check the 'Torn' tag.
Part 1
"Caroline! I'm standing in one of my favourite places in the world, surrounded by food, music, art, culture, and all I can think about is how much I want to show it to you. Maybe one day you'll let me."
Caroline stands in the middle of the empty hallway, staring at her phone after Klaus' message cuts off. She will never admit it to anyone, but this is the fifth time she's listened to it today. Each time she does, she feels differently than the last.
The first time she'd heard it, she had rolled her eyes and laughed. The next, she couldn't help the small smile that crept up on her face, and she had promptly shaken her head to clear it. The third time, she had felt a teeny, tiny, pinprick of pain in her chest, because Klaus had gone and he hadn't even said goodbye. The last time he'd left town, he'd gone to her school dance to let her know, and they weren't even semi-friends then yet. Not that she needed to know, of course. She just had this stupid notion that he'd make it a habit to drop by before taking off. The fourth time she'd listened to it, she had an overwhelming feeling of curiosity as to where he was when he had called, and had tried to figure it out by deciphering the background noises to no avail.
And this time, her fifth time listening to it? She feels…
Embarrassed. There is no other way to put it. Didn't she just spend her prom night dancing in the dark with Tyler? Tyler, her boyfriend. Her…ex-boyfriend? When he'd sent her that note about leaving the Lockwood manor to Matt, she'd thought it meant that they were done. She loved Tyler, but he was basically telling her that he wouldn't be back any time soon. She had come to terms with that, that she may never see Tyler again in the foreseeable future. And then he'd just showed up, dressed for prom no less, asking if she really thought he would miss prom. Her prom. And they'd danced quietly, clutching each other like a pair of tragic Shakespearean lovers, doomed to meet in secret, forever trapped in the darkness.
And then it was over. He'd had to leave before people started arriving for the after party, never saying when he'd be back. If he'd be back at all. And she stood there alone in the dark, arms empty and heart aching. She'd caught sight of her reflection in the window, eyebrows knitted together, eyes brimming with tears, in the most gorgeous gown she'd ever worn. She'd looked the part of a jilted princess bride, all thanks to the beautiful dress she'd borrowed from Klaus.
And then, for some reason she would never be able to figure out, nor reveal to anyone else for that matter, she'd felt guilty. She'd stared at herself, fists clutching the white beaded skirt of her gown, feeling like she'd just betrayed someone.
If she was being honest, these confusing feelings weren't exactly newfound. Each moment she spent with Klaus added more and more to her guilt, for no apparent reason. Every laugh, every moment she enjoyed, every glimpse she got of the Klaus-that-could-be-saved planted little seeds of confusion and guilt in her head. She had to admit, the vulnerable Klaus who so desperately needed her to take his mind off the trick Silas played on him made her feel like she could save him. And the way he acted after that, she may as well have.
"Hey!"
Caroline almost jumps out of her skin when Matt taps her on the shoulder. She tries to hide her phone but it slips from her fingers and goes flying a few feet in the air before Matt snatches it up and saves it.
"Here," he says, handing it back to her. "Why are you so jumpy? Are you okay?"
"Yeah! Of course, what do you mean?" she asks nervously, putting the phone in her back pocket. "I'm not jumpy. You just surprised me."
"Sure, Care," Matt laughs, shaking his head and gesturing down the hall. "C'mon, I thought you wanted my help taking down the prom stuff. On a Sunday no less!"
Caroline sits in the middle of her bed, staring at her phone in front of her, as if it's about to explode. After they had taken down and thrown away the prom decorations, Matt had to go to work and she said she was tired and wanted to go take an afternoon nap. But then she gets home and listens to Klaus' message again and doesn't feel tired at all. Instead, she's been sitting like a statue in her bed for the better part of an hour, alternating between staring at her phone, and playing back the message. She doesn't even notice that she's chewing on her nails until she draws blood.
Before she even realizes that she's trying to make a decision, her overnight bag is packed and she is already calling Stefan.
She's on the road to New Orleans an hour after noon.
Stefan nonchalantly asked Rebekah where her brother was for Caroline. God only knows what excuse he made up for his curiosity, but she has never understood how those two worked anyway. She can't keep track of when they're sleeping together or driving stakes and daggers through each other.
She decides to drive for more than thirteen hours instead of flying for three to give herself time to back out in case she changes her mind halfway there. She also knows that this is a very rash decision, and wants to make sure that she still feels the same after the day is done. Heck, she doesn't even know how she feels. She just wants to talk to Klaus, and see if all the guilt she's been feeling has a point. Perhaps seeing him outside Mystic Falls will also help her see him in an objective light.
And sure, maybe she is just a little bit curious about the appeal of New Orleans after Klaus called it one of his favorite places that he wanted to show to her.
Thirteen and a half hours, and all the songs on her iPod library later, she arrives in New Orleans and checks into a motel, planning to go to sleep and looking for Klaus in the morning. But then she just sits on the bed again, the sounds of the city enticing her to go out and explore. How do people even sleep in this place?
So explore she goes, purse in hand, leaving her car and her bag at the motel. She doesn't know where she's going, but the city is so alive that it doesn't even matter. The people she passes in the streets smile at her and offer her drinks (which she politely declines), or grabs her hands for a dance (which she gladly does), and she can't remember the last time she had this much fun on her own, surrounded by people she doesn't even know. She has lived all her life in Mystic Falls, where everybody knows everybody, which she loves, of course, but it isn't exactly a place you'd let your hair down to try and discover new things.
She's been wandering around for about half an hour when she is stopped in her tracks by the very face she came to the city to see, across the street and about to walk inside a bar. She means to call his name, but she is suddenly frozen to the spot, unable to even take a breath or blink. The only movement her body makes is the double beating of her heart, and she can't even tell if it does that out of excitement or out of fear.
She is snapped out of it by a group of rowdy guys who passes her, laughing loudly and whistling at her. Her feet start moving of their own accord, crossing the street and entering the packed bar. She finds a seat by the bar and orders a drink, after showing the bartender her fake ID. The girl raises an eyebrow at her and chuckles, but serves her anyway, and Caroline decides that she likes her a lot.
"You're not from around here, are you?" the bartender asks over the music, placing her rum and coke on top of a napkin and pushing it towards her. "I haven't seen you before."
"No, I'm not," she answers, taking a sip from the glass. Damn, that's good. "I'm just here to see…uhm, a friend."
"Ah," the girl says, before extending her hand to Caroline. "I'm Camille."
"Caroline," she smiles, returning the handshake. "Nice to meet you. You're actually the first person I've met here."
"Really?" Camille asks incredulously. "In this place?"
"Well, you're the first person who's given me their name," she laughs, taking another sip of her drink. "This is really good, by the way."
Camille winks at her playfully before excusing herself to serve a group of girls at the other end of the bar. Caroline takes that time to scan the room, looking for that familiar head of brown curls and Henley shirt.
"So, is your friend here right now?" Camille asks, making Caroline jump in her seat. "Wow, you are a mess."
"I'm sorry, I drove for thirteen hours and haven't slept yet, so yeah, I kinda' am a mess," she laughs. "And I saw him come in here, but I can't really find him in this crowd."
"Oh, what's his name? I know almost everyone in here," the bartender offers, leaning on the bar and looking around.
"Well, he's not really from around here either," she says, playing with the thin straw of her drink. "He probably just got here a couple of days ago. Klaus. That's his name."
"Oh, sure," Camille says, waving her hand. "I know him. He's friends with Marcel. That's him over there, sitting with Miss Eyebrows."
Caroline turns to look at the table Camille nods at, and sure enough, there he is. She decides to ignore the fact that she's able to identify him simply by the back of his head and the slope of his shoulders, and is just about to get up to approach him when she looks at the girl he's talking to. Not for the first time that night, she finds herself frozen to her spot.
Hayley.
"Aren't you going to say hi?" Camille asks from behind her, leaning across the bar so her head is right beside Caroline's shoulder.
"Well," she starts, turning around and smiling at Camille. "He's talking to that girl right now. I think I'll just wait."
Camille furrows her brow, and Caroline is thankful when a guy starts to order a long list of drinks. The bartender walks off to make them, and Caroline strains her ears to try to listen in on Klaus and Hayley. From the corner of her eye, she can see that Hayley's jaw is set and she doesn't look too pleased with her companion.
What are these two doing together? In New Orleans, too! Didn't Hayley plot against Klaus as much as Tyler did? Why is her head still connected to her shoulders? Or has she found something to barter for her life? Are they meeting here to discuss betraying more of her werewolf friends?
"Let me be perfectly clear here, sweetheart. The moment you give birth to my child, I am through with you. I will raise it on my own, and you will forget us. You will leave this city, or I will have your head on a platter. Either way, you are not going to be a part of my child's life. Understood?"
Caroline's stomach drops. There is no denying what she'd just heard, or who had said it. The words, the accent, the promise in them were so Klaus, yet she still can't believe she heard it right. Klaus and Hayley? Since when? Before the massacre? After?! How?
She stares at her reflection on her half empty glass, and before she can stop it, a tear escapes from her eye and drops into the brown drink. She angrily wipes at her traitorous eye, blames fatigue for the tear, before downing the rest of her drink in one gulp and grabbing her purse. She takes out her wallet and notices the rolled up paper she didn't even realize she'd crammed insider her purse earlier that day. She leaves it at the bar with the bill for her drink without even turning around to look at Klaus again.
"Hey!" Camille calls when she gets up from her seat. "You going already?"
"Yeah," she answers a little too loudly over her shoulder, plastering the fakest smile in human history on her pale face. "I gotta go."
It takes all her strength not to run out of the bar, her knuckles white as she clutches her purse in both hands. The moment she feels the night breeze hit her face, she is off, running into the night and feeling like the stupidest girl ever. What was she thinking? Why did she even come here?
She plans on grabbing her stuff at the motel and just driving back home immediately, but when she gets there, she can't help but curl up in bed on top of the covers. She is so angry she wants to rip someone's throat out. Klaus' or Hayley's should be a good start.
Why did he even leave that stupid message? What was the point? He was gone, away from her, out of her life. Couldn't he have just left her alone? Let her live her small town life while he started his big city werewolf family thousands of miles away? What the hell is wrong with him?
And then she's full on crying, tears spilling down her face and on to the covers. Her confusion, guilt, anger, guilt over her anger, and the lack of sleep finally take its toll on her and she weeps like her father is dying again. Like Tyler is leaving again. She shakes violently and clutches her knees closer to her chest, and then fully clothed, she finally falls asleep.
"Yeah, I gotta go."
Klaus stops glaring at Hayley when he hears that all-too-familiar voice. For a minute he thinks he's imagining it, his mind playing tricks on him for missing her. Slowly, he turns around and looks at the bar where the bartender, Camille is standing, looking confused.
"Like hell, Klaus," Hayley grumbles. "This child is my only fa—"
"Shut up, Hayley," he says, without turning back around. He stands up and walks to the bar, where Camille is now holding a piece of rolled up paper.
"Who was that just now?" he asks, eyeing the paper in her hands. "The girl you were talking to. Is that hers?"
"Yeah, I think so," Camille answers, about to unroll the paper. "She said her name was Caroline. She was actually looking for you."
"I'll have that, thank you," he says, holding his palm out. "Now."
"Okay," Camille says, rolling her eyes and handing it to him before she's fully unrolled it. "What is it, anyway? Is it a note?"
Klaus slowly unrolls the piece of paper even though he has a pretty good idea what it is, if that girl truly was Caroline. The only thing that's giving him any doubt is the fact that Caroline wouldn't be in New Orleans right now, out at night all on her own. She would be in Mystic Falls, getting ready to finish out her senior year with her friends.
But he is right, of course. It's the drawing he'd made of her, gazing at a horse and smiling, with his note at the bottom corner. It takes all his strength not to tear that piece of paper, or the entire building apart, because he knows what she means by leaving it there. He knows she is done with him, before they've even had a chance to start.
A/N: Comments/reviews are always much appreciated. As a newbie, I could use all the help I can get.
