I'll Be Right Back
I had to move on, I didn't have a choice.
His words clanged around in Caroline's head like a gong. She stalked up the dirt path, seething with hurt and barely controlled anger. She didn't look where she was going, though the ultimate destination was the rental parked at the end of the trail, and she didn't particularly care if she ever got there. She would walk all the way back to Whitmore if need be, as long as she was away from Stefan Salvatore!
I had to erase everything.
Caroline approached the car and violently yanked open the driver's side door. She stomped on the break and twisted the key in the ignition until the engine turned over. That accomplished, she glared at the steering wheel as though it were the cause of all her anguish. Her knuckles were turning an ugly shade of white where she gripped the wheel and Caroline had to force herself to release the pressure, lest she risk destroying the vehicle altogether. Feeling utterly defeated, she laid her head against her hands and let out a quiet sob.
Jesus, how could she have been such a god damned idot! What had she expected when she hadn't heard from him in nearly four months, that Stefan would still be invested in the search for Bonnie and Damon? That he was...what, waiting around for her? It had been naive of her to think that this adventure would end in anything other than disaster.
When Stefan hadn't acknowledged or responded to her messages, Caroline had assumed that he was too focused on finding his brother to reply. It had never occurred to her that he had simply given up. Not even given up but made a whole new life for himself. She had hoped that, if nothing else, he still cared about her but apparently that had been a delusion too! Why was she even shocked? None of the men she loved ever hung around for long. She just wasn't a priority, not for Tyler and apparently not for Stefan either.
Oh, don't worry about Caroline, she's tough, she'll get through it! That seemed to be the consensus of every man she had ever let herself care about. What hurt the most, she supposed, was the indifference. After everything they had been through together since she became a vampire, with the travelers and all that nonsense with Katherine, how could he just throw it all away? And for what, to play house and mechanic with 'clavicle girl'? God, it was all just so damned stupid!
Caroline began crying then. All the pain and hurt just bubbled up and erupted from her throat in a strangled sob. She put up a facade of being tougher than this, what Elena called it her 'stubborn optimism' and 'annoying control freak tendencies'. Whatever it was, she hated that it was happening now!
She needed to get her shit together before Enzo woke up and came looking for her. It wasn't going to be that much longer before he recovered from the broken neck Stefan had dropped him with and the last thing she needed was an 'I told you so' from the cocky, british vampire who didn't understand what she saw in the remaining Salvatore brother anyway.
Despite her best efforts, the tears refused to stop flowing. She really didn't want to have to explain her tears. Even as a child she would hide when she was upset. Hell, she could count on one hand the number of people who had witnessed her during a moment of intense emotion. Not including her mother, it had originally only been Bonnie and Elena. In recent years, that number had grown to include Tyler and, unfortunately, Klaus. She would be damned if she was going add Enzo to it too.
The buzzing of her cell broke through the haze of angst and despair. Caroline scrubbed at her cheeks before lifting the phone from her lap and squinting at the lit up screen. Elena's number blinked cheerily back at her and she sniffed, debating whether or not to answer. She loved Elena dearly but her friend had been so deeply mired in her depression over losing Damon that it was all she ever wanted to talk about. Caroline didn't have the energy or patience for Elena's pain right now, she was too deeply engulfed in her own. She clicked accept anyway, maybe dealing with Elena's damage would help her mitigate her own.
"Hey!" She greeted with a cheeriness she didn't feel. She really hoped Elena didn't hear the catch in her voice.
"Hey, you!" Elena replied just as cheerfully, oblivious to her friends tinny voice. "Grab some party clothes and head over to Whitmore. Tyler is coming over and we are going out!"
Caroline had to smile at Elena's infectious happiness. The Doppelganger had been so unhappy since they lost Damon that It was refreshing to hear a smile back in her voice. Caroline focused on that, forcing her own tone into something more even.
"You sound good." She commented, rubbing her fingers under her nose and really wishing she had some tissues.
"I am good." Elena responded on the other end. There was a clacking as she, presumably, moved some hangars back and forth in the closet.
"I had a good day," she continued nonchalantly, "I ditched my classes and hung out with Ric…"
She rambled on for a while about what else she had done and Caroline only caught about a third of it. It wasn't that she was uninterested so much as she was distracted by trying to calm her erratic emotions. She didn't have the mental energy to devote to Elena's 'Damon drama' and really hoped that the girl didn't pick up on that.
"So get your ass down here and let's have some fun!" Elena commanded in her best 'no arguments' tone.
"Well, uh," Caroline sniffed, "How about I sneak into the dorms later and spend the night, for old times sake?
Surely, by then she could get herself under control, or so she told herself.
"Sounds good, love you!" Her friend answered happily.
"Love you too." Caroline returned before quickly ending the call. A fresh wave of tears was coming over her and, unfortunately, Enzo chose that moment to return to the car.
Caroline turned her face away as he opened the door and climbed in, trying to make it look as though she were merely staring out the window while she waited for him to come back. With any luck, he would just ask her to start driving and they could refrain from any comments about that farce of a dinner.
"Well, that was a bit of bust." He commented dryly, slamming the door and sounding about as irritated as she expected. He was obviously still salty about Stefan snapping his neck during their little scuffle in the kitchen. Caroline couldn't blame him, she wasn't feeling overly pristine herself.
When she didn't respond the air in the car suddenly became charged. She could feel Enzo's gaze on her. If she glanced up she might see his reflection in the passenger window but she didn't look, she couldn't. She just wanted to sit there in silence until her heart stopped breaking into a million fucking pieces.
"Hey?" She heard him say quietly.
She bit her lip but couldn't bring herself to answer him. She felt like, as long as she kept her face turned away, he wouldn't see how much the encounter with Stefan had affected her.
"Hey?" He said again, more firmly, and suddenly his hand was on her chin. Gently, he turned her face to his and all she could do was let out a quiet sob in response. She had a few seconds to watch his face shift from obvious concern to hot, boiling anger.
She could have counted the seconds between his eyes taking in her tear stained face and the dawning realization of what that dinner had cost her. She watched his shoulders stiffen, his eyes go flinty and then he inhaled sharply.
"I'll be right back." He ground out, his voice dangerous. He immediately exited the car and stomped back off in the direction of the house.
Caroline knew that she should stop him but she just didn't have the energy. She buried her face in her hands and sobbed for all she was worth. There was no telling how much time passed between Enzo's angry march to the house and his return. It could have been minutes or hours. She was only vaguely aware of the passenger door opening again before a pair of arms wrapped around her and pulled her in.
"Shh, shhh, shhh," Enzo's voice said soothingly in her ear, "He's not worth it, luv!"
That just made her cry harder. Maybe it was the need for comfort or the tenderness with which he held her but Caroline found herself wrapping her arms around his neck and crying into his shoulder.
Enzo was surprised too, Caroline felt him start as she threw herself against his chest. He recovered quickly though and let her cry it out, silently stroking her hair as she soaked his shirt with tears and snot.
She didn't know how long they stayed that way, with her sobbing and Enzo rubbing her back while making comforting noises in his throat. Finally the tears started to ebb, the gut wrenching sobs quieted, and she was able to take slower, deeper breaths. Only then did Enzo pull back to look at her, to brush the hair from her face and grip her head gently with his long fingers.
"Better now?" He queried, giving her a faint smile.
"Calmer." She amended and sniffed audibly. "I think I ruined your shirt though."
"It's nothing some detergent and hot water won't fix." he replied with a chuckle.
"Where'd you go?" She asked, weepily.
"Had a point I needed to make." Was his vague response. Caroline didn't know what that meant but also didn't feel like probing for further details.
"Want me to drive?" Enzo offered as she mopped at her eyes with the heel of her palm.
"Yeah." Caroline sighed and, silently, they switched seats.
Enzo pulled the car out onto the road and they drove in silence for a while. Caroline rested her head against the glass and stared out at the patterns the streetlights made on the road. Calmer she might be but she still felt pretty desolate.
"Am I really that expendable," she asked, breaking the silence, "do I have doormat written across my forehead?"
"What you are," Enzo corrected from his place in the driver's seat, " is hopeful. More-so than any of us. Don't waste any more tears on that wanker, Blondie, you deserve better."
"What makes you think I'm crying over him?" She muttered sullenly.
"Please," he scoffed, "I could see you were in love with him from the moment I met you. Who else could make you cry your eyes out, hm?"
"Expendable and transparent." She replied with a humorless laugh.
Enzo screeched the tires as he roughly pulled the car to the side of the road and yanked on the parking brake. Caroline only had time to get out a 'what the hell' before he put his handsome face right into hers.
"You're worth ten of him, Caroline Forbes!" He told her firmly.
Caroline didn't know how to respond to that, all she could do was stare back at him and gape.
"Don't ever let me hear you call yourself 'expendable' again." He commanded angrily. "I've never met anyone who would go to the lengths you've gone for your friends. Do you have any inkling how rare and impressive that is?"
Tears threatened again, she blinked quickly to keep them at bay.
"You are kind and empathic and literally the most cheerful woman I've met in 140 years! Now, do I need to go back there and kill Stefan to get that person back?"
Caroline couldn't help it, she laughed.
"No, no, I think your pep-talk was good enough."
"Oh, thank god!" Enzo said dramatically, laying his head back against the seat with a groan. "For a minute there I was afraid I would have to resort to playing disney songs for the remainder of the trip and I really didn't fancy listening to 'It's a small world' for the next 10 miles."
"I'm not, eight, Enzo!" She exclaimed but still managed to laugh. He grinned at her before pulling the parking brake again and carefully pulling them back out onto the road. There was another stretch of silence before one of them spoke again.
"Do you really think we'll find them," Caroline asked, tiredly, "Damon and Bonnie, or is this all just a fool's errand?"
"I honestly don't know." He replied quietly. "But I won't give up if you won't."
Caroline sighed and leaned her head back against the window, feeling tired from pretty much everything. She was a little surprised when she felt Enzo reach out and take her hand. She looked over at him in surprise.
"I think if anyone has a chance of finding them...it's you." He told her warmly.
Caroline blinked at him and then gave him a quiet smile in response. He patted her hand before returning it to the steering wheel and turning his attention back to the road. She studied his profile for a while and decided that maybe it wasn't so bad to add him to the list of people who had seen her cry. He had proved to be very...decent.
They drove back towards Whitmore and an uncertain future, but at least they weren't heading towards it alone.
Another little oneshot of a scene I liked. I admit to wanting Caroline and Enzo to get together initially (when I first saw this scene) but i'm actually really happy with the Bonnie/Enzo pairing. That being said, this was an interaction that I really liked and I kind of wish we had seen what happened when he got back in the car. So, I decided to create my own version.^^
I find Enzo to be a very interesting character. To be honest I find most of the 'Villian' characters to be interesting (I.E. Damon, Klaus, Enzo, etc). Obviously Enzo has moved past his villain status by this point but he DID go in that Cabin and Kill stefan's girlfriend because he made Caroline cry. It was both psychotic and strangely sweet.
Anyway, there's my little Caroline/Enzo friendship story. I Hope you all enjoy it! I have a vague plan for another Bonnie/Enzo themed oneshot but I need to think about how I want it to go first. Maybe subsequent episodes of the current season will give me more idea.
Thanks for reading!