A/N: Not sure what made me write this, but it just seemed to flow out onto the screen. I guess I'm missing Klaroline a lot lately. May or may not be the last piece to this. Stay tuned!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries in any way, shape, or form.
"I know you're here."
He stood on the edge of the porch of Caroline's house. She could make him out in the shadows, but she was still afraid he was nothing but a figment of her imagination. She felt like she was out in the open waiting to be preyed upon.
She also felt vulnerable, but she couldn't find it in herself to really feel anything these days.
"I saw you at the funeral."
"Did you, love?"
His voice was more familiar than she'd wanted it to be. It made her feel like…like she was finally home.
"Yes. I also saw you in Georgia, and in New York."
"You didn't think I'd let you wander around the United States with your emotions turned off, did you? Your idiot friends may have given up on you years ago, but I refuse to do so. You're still Caroline."
"Caroline's dead. At least the one you knew."
"Really? Because I don't think she is. I think she's there just beyond the surface; waiting to get out. Why else would she return to her childhood home ten years after she left it?"
"I just wanted to see what naïve person bought the property. I hear Mystic Falls isn't the safest place anymore. I was hoping they'd be dead, but I tried going in, and I can't."
"You really want to know who lives here now, Caroline?"
The sound of her name leaving his lips made her feel something foreign, but as she looked into the dark interior of the house, something in her hardened.
"No. It doesn't matter."
"It doesn't matter? So, what does then?"
Caroline stared at the man just out of the light's reach. After a long, defying silence, she gave in.
"Nothing."
"Oh, nothing matters?"
Caroline watched as the man finally stepped into the flood of light. She blinked and looked down as the burning blue eyes of Niklaus Mikaelson searched her face. She immediately felt a hand under her chin as Klaus forcefully tilted her face up to look at him.
"So, I don't matter then, love? You want to look me in the eye and tell me you don't feel anything for me? While you were out gallivanting about with your emotions off, who do you think was the one who saw to the upkeep of your mother's grave? Made sure the pink roses in front of her tombstone were replaced every three days? You thought it was your little friends trying to keep you happy? I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but they have moved on to bigger and better things than trying to reel in poor, little Caroline that decided to turn her emotions off instead of facing what life had to throw at her!"
Caroline furiously swatted Klaus's hand away from her face, but he immediately brought it back up.
"You want to tell me that the fact you have no one in this world except me doesn't matter, Caroline? That the fact that I abandoned my own life to keep you from being killed for your own recklessness…that does not matter?"
Caroline immediately shoved Klaus's hand off of her face, and locked her hand around his wrist.
"That's exactly what I'm telling you. You following me around like some love sick puppy doesn't matter. My friends abandoning me doesn't matter. Nothing does. The fact at hand is that I don't feel anything, and that's all that matters to me."
Before Klaus could register what was about to happen, Caroline snapped his wrist, then flung it down to his side. Instead of making a sound, he quietly used his other hand to support his now broken wrist as he stared into Caroline's dead eyes. She immediately turned to leave; not knowing where she would even go.
"It's not your fault, Caroline. She was already too far gone."
In a blur of skin and clothes, Caroline was in Klaus's face.
"That's none of your business! You weren't the one who practically stayed up for a week straight researching different mutations of cancer cells. You didn't have to Google every other word in the sentence when you realized you had no idea what you had just read. I was the one who looked high and low for doctors that could possibly know more about my mom's health. It was me. Me!"
The way Klaus's face hardened surprised Caroline. His next words dripped venom
"So, you really think it was all you, love? That you were the only one involved?"
Caroline's face subtly softened as she took a step back from Klaus.
"What are you talking about?" Her voice was almost a whisper.
"I can't thank you enough, Klaus. All Caroline and I have are each other. Losing her would be losing myself."
Klaus followed closely behind Liz as she walked toward the door, and opened it for his departure.
"So, I take it she doesn't know." His words were more of a statement rather than a question, and the Sheriff's body automatically went rigid at the sound of them. She quickly turned to face him.
"I don't know what you're talking about. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to check on Caroline, and then head to bed myself."
"It's too late. The doctors are stumped, and you've given up. They want to try different methods of treatment, but you don't think it'll do any good."
Klaus watched as Liz's face dropped, and her eyes began to moisten.
"I'm right, aren't I?"
"How did you know?" Liz's voice sounds small, even to her own ears. Without a word, Klaus took her softly by her wrist, and lead her back into the living room. He motioned for her to sit down, and he promptly followed.
"There are certain perks to not only being an Original, but also to being a hybrid. I can smell the change in your blood, Sheriff Forbes. The others soon will, too."
Klaus watched as the tears began to roll down the Sheriff's cheeks.
"Why did this have to happen to me? To Caroline? My perfect, little Caroline? She deserves nothing but the best in life, and her mom dying is far from that. I won't get to see her graduate, or to see her off on her way to college…I won't get to watch her walk down the aisle at her wedding…Oh, God." Without thinking, Klaus pulled Liz into a hug as her shoulders began to shake from her quiet sobs. He could still hear her mumbling into his shoulder. "When I'm gone, she won't have anyone. Not me, not her father…"
"She'll have me." Klaus's voice was clear and confident. "And she'll have you for a little while longer, Liz. I know a witch or two who'd be willing to prolong the inevitable as a favor for me. It'll only buy you about two years, but by that time, Caroline will be in college. So, if you're okay with seeing two events out of three, would you mind me helping out?"
Liz immediately pulled away from Klaus and looked him the eyes.
"Why are you doing this? What's in it for you?"
"Nothing at all. Liz, I'm the bad guy. This is something we both know, but Caroline…Caroline is one of those Once in a Lifetime type of people. I believe whole-heartedly that she is the one I've been unconsciously searching for during my entire existence. She is everything I'm not, and as you said, she deserves nothing but the best in life. I promise to give that to her; starting with giving her a few more years with you." Klaus immediately cleared his throat as his voice began to break. "And once you're gone, I promise to continue loving her and caring for her; until I take my last breath. She is my life now."
Liz let her eyes search through Klaus's. She saw nothing but a genuine glow.
"Do you promise?"
"You have my word."
"You're a liar. My mom wasn't sick back then."
"Are you sure about that, love?"
Memories immediately flashed into Caroline's mind. She thought of the times she had caught her mother lightly holding the side of her head after bending down to check on the food she was cooking in the oven. She remembered how tired her mom would look after coming home from work, and how as time went on, she seemed to grow even more tired; no matter how much she slept. Caroline's mind finally drifted to a day she came home from school, and noticed her mom's eyes were brighter and more alive than ever. It was almost like…
"Magic. You used magic to heal her?"
The curiosity in her voice made Klaus hopeful. It was the first sign of Caroline he'd seen in a while. He had to be careful now.
"Not quite. Two witches from Europe owed me a favor. Their combined power acted as a prolonging shield. She had always had the cancer, it was just beating against the shield. And like all things, as time went on, the shield began to experience wear and tear, and then finally, it gave out. I'm so sorry, Caroline. It wasn't my business to tell you. When I left I…"
Klaus felt his throat tighten.
"When I left, and I made that promise to you that you would never see me again, I knew that I couldn't keep it. I knew that one day, you would need me; regardless of whether you thought you would or not. I also knew that no matter what, I had to keep my promise to your mother."
Caroline looked away as she felt…something. She wasn't supposed to be feeling anything. She quickly found herself leaning against the wooden railing of her old porch as a way to support herself.
"Caroline, you are my life now, and I will follow you to the ends of the earth if it means keeping my promise." Klaus slowly walked over to Caroline, and took one of her hands into his; wincing as his wrist still throbbed. "I love you more than I love myself. I will be here for you until I take my last breath."
Klaus watched as tears began to trail down Caroline's cheeks. Her shoulders began to tremble, and he immediately took her into a hug. It wasn't until now that he realized how much he had missed his Caroline.
"Do you promise, Klaus? Do you promise to never leave me until your last breath?"
"I promise, love. And even then, I won't leave."
"Why don't we test that theory?"
Before he could comprehend what she meant, the loud cracking sound of wood, and an immediate sharp pain invaded Klaus's senses. The wood couldn't kill him, but it was enough to make him hold his breath.
"Next time, it'll be white oak." Caroline's clear, perky voice lingered in the night air as Klaus lost sight of her once again.
"That's what you said last time, love!" Klaus's voice echoed into the now-empty night air. "I'll catch up to you again. I always do. I'm bringing you back, Caroline."
Klaus let himself look into the dark windows of the house one last time.
"I promise."
