Carolines p.o.v
Seriously? Why couldn't I have just made it home without seeing them? The two people who bothered me most on this planet. Just my freaking luck!
I really wasn't in the mood to play good samaritan to Klaus Mikaelson and his slutty girlfriend but a little voice in the back of my mind nagged away at me to help them. I was well aware of who's voice it was too, and even though he wasn't here, Elijah would expect me to stop.
With a frustrated groan, I slowed down and pulled up to the sidewalk, rolling the window down I almost laughed at the sight. Klaus was swaying back and forth as he watched in disdain while Tatia threw up behind a small railing. "Where's your car parked Klaus?" I asked in the most annoyed tone I could muster.
He flashed me that stupid sexy grin he knew made every female in town melt at his feet. I'd like to believe I was immune, but I wasn't. Being immune to the towns bad boy was immpossible. "Don't tell me perfect little Caroline Forbes is going to offer to help me out" He drawled leaning down to stare at me through the open window.
"Yeah well, unfortunately Elijah is out of town so the privilege falls on me. He wouldn't let you drive home drunk and neither will I"
He chuckled, god, even his laugh was sexy. "Thanks love but I've got this. Once Tatia stops throwing up long enough to get her in my truck. I'm positive I can drive the whole 3 miles to her house. Run along now, don't want to be late, daddy would have a fit if his precious little princess stayed out past curfew." His words literally had no affect on me. I was used to them by now.
Arguing with Klaus Mikaelson was pointless, he would just throw out more snide comments until he had me so angry I couldn't see straight. I pressed on the gas slightly and pulled into the parking lot. My concious couldn't handle it if something were to happen to them if I left them. He could infuriate me all he wanted but I had this wierd thing about being nice to everyone. Even the ones that pissed me off.
I climbed out and scanned the lot for his car, once I spotted it I walked over to him and held out my hand. "Either you give me the keys to your car or I can go digging for them Klaus, what's it going to be?"
A crooked grin crossed his face, showing his perfect dimples. "As a matter of fact love, I think I may enjoy you rummaging around in my pockets so why don't wee go with option number two?"
I didn't need a mirror to know I was blushig. Klaus never made suggestive comments to me or even flirted with me. I happened to be the only attractive female at Mystic Falls High he completely ignored.
"Don't you dare touch him, you stupid bitch" Tatia snarled at me lifting her head and slinging her dark brown hair over her shoulder. Bloodshot brown eyes filled with hatred watched me as if daring me to touch what was hers.
I didn't respond, I just looked at Klaus wih my eyebrows raised and he handed me the keys to his car. I turned and headed for the beat up old truck, reminding myself I was doing this for Elijah.
"Come on then, get in" I barked at both of them before sliding into the drivers seat. It suddenly occured to me that this was the first time I had ever been in Klaus' truck. After countless nights lying on my roof with him, Elijah and Kol talking about the day we got our drivers licence and the places we would go, I was just now, at seventeen sitting in his truck. Of course, back then he described it as being a black sports car with blacked out windows and unbelievable horsepower, not a rusty old truck that seriously needed to be scrapped in my opinion.
I watched as Klaus picked up Tatia and almost threw her into the back seat. "Lay down unless you get sick again, then make sure you puke over the side" He snapped at her as he opened the drivers side door. He stared blankly at me as if he was expecting me to move.
"I'm not letting you drive Klaus, I can smell the vodka on you from here" I turned my nose up in disgust. After a moment or two contemplation he gave in and got in the passenger side, making sure to slam the driver door to show me how annoyed he was. Starting the truck was a task in itself but after a few attempts, the engine roared to life.
"You really are just a pristine goody two shoes aren't you sweetheart? Once upon a time you were a hell of a lot more fun. Before you started sucking my cousins face off anyway, we used to have some good times together." He was watching me for a reaction but I didn't give in. The sooner I got this over and done with the better. "You were my partner in crime Caroline, Elijah was the good one. But me, you and Kol, the three of us, we were the trouble makers. What happened?"
How the hell was I supposed to respond to that? No one knew the girl that stole bubble gum from the mini mart or the girl who abducted the paper boy so we could take all his papers and make them in to hundreds of paper airplanes. No one knew the girl that snuck out of her house at two in the mornig to meet up with the boys to toilet paper the principals yard. No one would even believe I had done those things if I told them... except for Klaus and perhaps Kol.
The four of us had known eachother since we were born. Our familys were quite close. My parents and Elijahs parents were best friends but Klaus and Kols mom didn't associate with our kind. Whatever she meant by that, I'll never know. Klaus and Kols father Alaric had died in a motorcycle accident when they were young, leaving their mother alone to raise them. If you could even call it that. Once Alaric died, their mom Kelly, barely had the time for them.
"I grew up" I finally answered.
"You didn't grow up Caroline, you completely changed."
"We were kids Klaus, yes we had fun and got into trouble but that's what kids do. We're not little children anymore. I'm different now"
Even if the conversation was uncomfortable and awkward, It was well overdue. Elijah always stood in the way of Klaus and me mending our friendship, not intentionally but something always stood in the way. I never completely understood what happened. One day Klaus was my best friend, the next he was just my boyfriends cousin.
"I miss that girl, she was exciting. She knew how to have fun and didn't let anyone tell her how to act or tell her what to do. The person you've become..." Klaus trailed off but I knew what he wanted to say.
The girl I had become pretty much sucked.
I was little miss perfect grades, head cheerleader and Miss Mystic Falls. I volunteered at the local foster home and sang in the church choir every sunday. I tried so hard to please everyone but deep down I missed the old me too. I hated him for making me think about her. "I would rather be who I am now than a drunken slut that vomits all over herself" I snapped before I could stop myself.
A low chuckle startled me and I glanced over at him. "I guess you're not so perfect after all. I'm shocked" He mock gasped. "Does Elijah know you use language like that?"
I rolled my eyes at him before turning my attention back to the road. "Loosen up Caroline, I promise I'll keep your secret"
"No one is perfect, I don't pretend to be" It was a lie and we both knew it. Elijah was perfect and I worked hard to be worthy of him. The whole town knew I fell short of Elijahs glowing reputation.
I pulled into Tatias driveway but Klaus just sat there, unmoving. "Shes passed out, you're goig to have to help her."
"You want me to help a slut who vomits all over herself?" He replayed my words back at me with an amused tone. I was barely able to hold in my laugh.
"She's your girlfriend Klaus, help her"
"Thanks for remindig me" He scowled before getting out and attending to his boyfriend duties.
I sat for a few minutes waiting for Klaus, wondering what Tatias parents would think of her drunken state or if they even cared, I'd only ever been drunk once and the punishment for that was bad enough I never did it again. Having a sheriff for a mother and a lawyer as a dad, I had to be responsible and a model citizen in the small boring town where everyone knew everyones business.
I still attended parties but I would volunteer to be designated driver for the night. Elena and Bonnie always said they wished I would let go a little but to be quiet honest, getting blind drunk at some random strangers house never appealed to me.
Once Klaus was back inside the truck I cranked it up and headed for his house. "So tell me, Caroline Forbes, was your insistance to drive me home because you're the perpetual good girl or because of Elijah?"
"Both" I answered honestly. I wasn't going to lie to him. I never had in the past so I wasn't about to start now. "The guilt... and Elijah would kill me if I had let you drive home drunk and something happened, also It might not seem like it but I do actually care about you"
"Since when?" He asked frowning.
"Since always" I replied. "We might not hang out anymore and be as close as we used to be but I do still care about you, even if you are a pain in the ass sometimes. And not just because you're my boyfriends cousin."
Klaus sat back in his chair as if thinking about what I had said. "You barely acknowledge my existence Caroline" he states matter of factly and I can hear the undertone of hurt in his voice. "We sat by eachother in history all year and you hardly even glanced my way. We attend the same parties almost every weekend and if i'm lucky enough to catch your eye, it's usually with a look of disgust. So forgive me if I don't quite believe you when you say you care."
It would be easier to believe this was the alcohol talking but I knew it wasn't. We hadn't been alone in over three years, and our relationship had changed since I became Elijah's girlfriend.
"If you haven't noticed I don't talk to anyone in class. You never talk to me at lunch and when I do draw your attention, all I get is snide comments. I'm not looking at you with disgust Klaus, fyi, I'm looking at Tatia with disgust. You could do so much better than her."
He tilted his head in my direction, studying me. "You don't like Tatia much do you?" I refused to answer him as We turned onto the driveway of his small house he shared with Kol, Kelly was very rarely there. "You don't have to worry Caroline, she'll get over Elijah, She hates that she could never compete with you, my perfect cousin knows exactly what he's got and he's not going to mess that up."
"I didn't know she likes Elijah" I replied still not sure I believed him. Elijah was NOT her type.
As we pulled up to his house, he reached for the door handle before pausing and glancing back at me. "I didn't realise my teasing bothered you so much, I'm sorry. I'll stop." That hadn't been what I was expecting him to say, unable to respond I just sat there, holding his gaze. "I'll get your car switched back before your parents realise" He steeped out of the truck and I watched him walk toward the door of his house.
Klaus and I really needed to have this talk, even though nothing had been completely ressolved.
