Caroline has 237 contacts on her phone. 237 numbers she could call ranging from her mom, Stefan, Elena and Bonnie, to Damon, the pizza delivery service and that weird kid who's always writing fanfiction during Study Hall. She has 237 numbers on her phone. And she can call any of them. Well, maybe not her dad, because he's dead and she hasn't deleted him yet. But she can call 236 people. She doesn't have to call her workaholic mom who's probably in the middle of an arrest or whatever, and she doesn't have to call Stefan who's been pining for Elena who might be crushing on Damon who's a jerk. And she doesn't have to call Bonnie who's been so wrapped up in her Jeremy/Vicky/Anna drama that hasn't texted her back in like ages. Caroline doesn't even have to call Matt who's working right now. Plus if she called the pizza place, she would get a ride and a pizza for the price of just a pizza, but it's the week of the pep rally and she really doesn't need the extra carbs.
Regardless of the 236 people she could call. Caroline's finger hovers above just one name on her smart phone. And then she dials it.
"Hello, love." He answers on the second ring too.
"I need a ride." Caroline can hear him sitting up and she doesn't know if it's because of the unusual request from her or if because her voice was kind of shaky there.
"Love? Is everything okay?" Probably because of the shakiness, then.
"I came with Tyler and now I need a ride." She says it like that explains everything, like that's everything he needs to know and not everything she's willing to tell right now.
"Very well, love. Where are you?" She rattles of the directions of the lake they came to picnic in and he tells her he'll be there twenty minutes which is half the time it usually takes a normal person. Caroline would even be worried if Klaus wasn't so damn indestructible.
"Caroline" He calls her fifteen minutes later. And she gets up from the rock she's been sitting on for the past half an hour which is when he sees it. "Love!" His voice is rushed and panicked at the sight of her blood and oddly she finds it endearing. "What happened?" He's tentatively touching her bleeding arm and the sweater she's been pressing on it.
"Tyler and I were walking his dog and we started fighting, and he accidentally let go of the leash and Wolf bit me." Sometimes she thinks the easy in which his face transforms into rage is scary, even if it's in her defense
"I will kill him."
"Stop, you won't kill Tyler... or Wolf. I just want a ride to the E.R. I didn't bring my car."
"He left you? He left you?" There he goes with the rage.
"I told him too, I was mad and it hurt, so I told him to leave. Can we just please leave too?" If her voice gets a little too whiny at the end there, it's only fair since she's hurting and she doesn't think she can salvage that sweater. He steers her toward his car, not even mentioning how the blood could ruin his upholstery.
"I wouldn't have, love... Not without knowing you were safe and taken care of. Even if I had to carry you into my car." They don't say much during the ride over, except for Klaus making sure she stays awake because he's paranoid like that and he doesn't know how much she's lost. And she could go into shock, right?
Meredith Fell is the one to stitch her up and give her a rabies shot, sending her home with Klaus with orders to eat up and rest up, so maybe she's looking a little shock-y.
He puts her to bed and it must be the painkillers, because she lets him. He plays with the blood splattered bracelet over her bandages. "I love birthdays."
"You? The big bad likes birthdays? You know what, forget it, what I really don't understand is why me? You've been acting obsessed with me for months now and it's weird because there hasn't been a male my age my whole life who wasn't in love with Elena Gilbert first. Even Tyler liked Elena back in kindergarten. So why me?"
"You're beautiful, you're strong. You're full of light." The answer comes easily to him and she just stares for a moment. "There's a whole world out there Caroline... bigger than Mystic Falls, bigger than Virginia. Bigger than Tyler Lockwood, Matt Donovan, Damon Salvatore and all the men who failed to see the genuine beauty of you..."
"I've never really been anywhere."
"I could take you... If you let me."
Author's note: This has been floating around in my head for a few days now and I've finally sit down to do it. What do you think? Please review and let me know.