Title: The World is Our Oyster
Author: fadingtales
Fandom: Vampire Diaries
Ship: Klaus/Caroline/Stefan
Summary: Mystic Falls has become a faded photograph in her mind. Familiar and nostalgic, but she can never go back. Not after everything that has happened.
Mystic Falls has become a faded photograph in her mind. Familiar and nostalgic, but she can never go back. Not after everything that has happened.
When Klaus had offered to take her away, she had been hesitant, but soon enough she found herself packing her bags. Once she gets into his car, she doesn't look back.
For the first year, he takes her all over the world. Paris, Rome, and Tokyo were only the tip of the iceberg. They spend two months in Berlin alone.
When they finally find themselves missing cheeseburgers and hot dogs - at least Caroline does anyways (a girl can only take so much sauerkraut), they head back to the States.
Instead of landing back on the east coast, however, they touch down on LAX.
Caroline is enamored with the Californian lifestyle; the parties and the glamour of Hollywood. She even gets a talent scout or two approaching her, and had she been human, she would jump all over the chance to be on the silver screen.
"There's a reason why there's vampire mythology about not appearing on film, darling."
She's disappointed with having to reject their offers, but she knew he was right. Vampirism was so much more superior to Botox, but she would be raising quite a few red flags if the paparazzi ever catch her nibbling on an extra or sipping truly bloody marys at a bunch with Keanu Reeves.
She's sullen for a few days and Klaus tries his best to cheer her up, but Hollywood has lost its charm.
"I hear Chicago is lovely this time of the year."
She grins and accepts his outstretched hand.
In between bar hopping and swing dancing, their paths crossed with Stefan Salvatore who was on the run from his own past.
At first, the boys hate each other and there was never a minute when Caroline wasn't breaking up a potential bloodbath. Klaus had the upper hand as the Original Hybrid, but when Stefan goes all Ripper, he plays dirty and he's good at it.
"You guys are idiots!" she'd huff and slap them each on the back of their heads.
She'd confront Klaus later when they were alone.
"Why can't you guys just talk it out? Why do you hate him so much?"
Klaus turned towards her, his eyes wide with surprise.
"I don't hate him at all."
When her brows had knitted together in confusion he sighed.
"Stefan hates himself. I'm just giving him an outlet. It's easier to have him try and kill me than inflict self harm."
She blinked at him for several beats.
"That is the stupidest thing I ever heard."
Klaus had rolled his eyes and told her she wouldn't understand, but the next time they are all in the same building she catches them at the bar, downing shots, chatting and smiling the way she imagines they used to back in the 1920s. Back when they called each other "brothers" despite the lack of blood ties.
When they spy her watching them, they wave her over. She snuggles in between them, grin perfectly in place, head resting on Stefan's shoulder and hand entwined with Klaus. They were her boys.
When Caroline announces that she misses Prague and its bridges, red rooftops, and gold-tipped towers, Klaus turns to Stefan and says, "How 'bout it, mate?"
The youngest Salvatore pauses only just a beat, his eyes meeting Caroline's eager ones for a second before he finishes his drink. He slaps it on the table and before they knew it they were walking down cobblestones.
It was strange how easily the three of them got along after the first initial bump in the road. Together they partook in sights, sounds, pleasures, and most of all, each other's company. She's been in Prague twice now, once with Klaus and now with Stefan as well. Out of all the cities, she had always loved Prague best. But now it seemed to glitter especially beautifully, the lights reflecting on the Vltava River like fallen stars.
When Stefan suggests they visit his villa in the Bologna, she is sorry to leave. But the boys are nomadic and they were eager to show her the world. She changes her mind once they reach the Italian countryside.
She spends her time taking long walks through the vineyards with Stefan and having Klaus educate her in wine. She loves these green rolling hills.
An urgent letter from Rebekah comes about a week into their stay.
"I have to go back to Mystic Falls," Klaus announces.
Caroline sits up from where she was sprawled on the couch and exchange glances with Stefan.
"We'll come with you."
A smile graces Klaus's lips then, but he shakes his head.
"No, I'll go alone. This is family business. You two stay here."
She frowns at him, arms crossed defiantly over her chest, her lower lip protruded in a pout. They haven't been apart since that fateful day she bid goodbye to her hometown. And now he was going back there without her. She can already feel the emptiness in her chest. He walks over to her and kisses her softly on the forehead.
"Enjoy the countryside with Stefan. I'll come back soon."
His words are a whisper against her skin and she reluctantly nods.
Rain comes unexpectedly the day after Klaus leaves, as if the Italian sky misses him as much as Caroline did. Stefan makes her come back inside, commenting on her wet clothes, and pulls her into a folds of a large soft quilt.
"He'll be back in no time. He wouldn't approve of your wallowing."
"I'm not wallowing!" she protests.
He smirks and she attempts to hit him in the chest with her fist. He playfully catches it and leaves a kiss on the back of her knuckles. She pulls her hand away and glowers at him.
"Don't try and use those Ripper charms on me, Stefan Salvatore."
He laughs and shrugs.
They spend the day reading in front of the fireplace, chatting occasionally over the rims of their coffee mugs.
A handful of days go by and they get a text from Klaus saying that his visit to Mystic Falls has to be extended and that they should head on over to his apartment in Bristol. They can rendezvous there once he's finished dealing with his siblings.
Caroline texts back, saying that they can go back to Mystic Falls and help him with whatever trouble he's dealing with.
He replies with a single word: "no."
She calls him and instead of convincing him they get into a heated argument. Did he think she would be a burden to him? Has she not proven herself to be more than just a bubble-headed Vampire Barbie? Did he think she'd be scared of Rebekah?
"The best thing I need from you, love, is to know that you will be safe. Do not come back to Mystic Falls. Do you understand me, Caroline?"
"Tell me what is going on, Nik?"
She only ever calls him Nik when things were serious.
"Nothing I can't handle, sweetheart. I promise you. Go to Bristol. Stefan will take care of you."
"I don't need taking care of, Klaus. I need to know what is going on."
He only gives her reassuring nonsense as a response. The conversation goes nowhere. Frustrated, she throws the phone at the wall.
Stefan picks it up off the floor while she marches into her room and slams the door hard enough to shake the villa's foundations.
She can hear the two of them talking in hushed voices through the wall, but they both use Italian and Klaus never finished teaching her the language before he left. She groans and buries her face into her pillow to smother a scream.
A good fifteen minutes later, she hears her door click open. Stefan leans against the doorframe, giving her a forced smile.
"He can't really stop me if I decide to hop on the next plane back to Mystic Falls tomorrow morning, you know."
Stefan sighs and walks over to sit on a corner of her bed.
"No, but you'd distract him. And that would only delay him from doing whatever he has to do."
"Do you know what's going on?"
Stefan hesitates for a moment and the silence is answer enough. Why does he get to know and not her?
"That's not fair! Why is he telling you, but not me?"
"He hasn't told me anything."
"So, what? Do you just follow Klaus's orders now?"
"You need to just trust him, Caroline."
She huffs again and Stefan strokes her arm with the back of his hand.
"Let's just go to Bristol like he said. He'll meet up with us soon."
She sulks the entire way there and even when they reach the apartment, she's completely petulant.
"If you are going to throw a temper tantrum, then you're just proving Klaus right to leave you behind."
She takes Stefan's scolding to heart and when he emerges from his room, he finds her sitting in the living room with a bowl of popcorn and several dvds spread out on the coffee table.
"Forgive me?" she asks.
He sighs, plops down beside her, and they spend the evening laughing at Jason Segel and Paul Rudd.
A day goes by and then a week. They don't hear a word from Klaus, and they try preoccupying themselves with museums and art galleries. But those only serve to remind her more of Klaus's absence. Nearly two weeks goes by, nothing.
"He hasn't called in a while now."
Stefan's brows are furrowed together in worry.
"Let's give him another day," he says.
The next day rolls around and still not a word.
They pack their bags and catch the first red-eye flight to Virginia. She falls asleep against Stefan's shoulder, old memories playing behind her shut eyelids, fractured and disturbing. When she opens them again, they've already touched down.
The dreams had disoriented her and she finds herself more exhausted than had she not slept at all. The weariness is clear on her face, compounding with anxiousness over Klaus's condition. When Stefan asks her if she is okay, she tells him that the knots in her stomach are from the landing. She convinces no one.
Stefan ushers her into the rental car and about fifteen minutes into the ride they pass the sign at the town border which reads: WELCOME TO MYSTIC FALLS.
Something ripples through her then, makes her shiver, and her hair stand on its ends. She's travelled the world, but somehow she always ends up back here. Back to Mystic Falls.
A/N: This story started out as what was supposed to be a drabble/oneshot for the prompt "the world is our oyster" with Caroline/Stefan/Klaus as the ship on a LiveJournal challenge a long while back (I can't even remember what challenge it was… I think someone on tumblr linked it to me actually). Somehow I never ended up finishing it. The challenge is most likely over (I kept the prompt as the title because I like the idea of Caroline, Stefan, and Klaus owning the world), but this took new shape in my mind recently and kind of got a life of its own. There will be a second chapter. I'm shooting for a two-shot or perhaps a 3 parter for the story since the mystery of Klaus's disappearance will need to be resolved. Hopefully you enjoyed it. Let me know your thoughts! All feedback is welcome and appreciated.