This takes place shortly after the previous chapter.

Caroline stared at the porch in front of her. The warm, balmy heat of summer was still very present and if she could sweat, the heat would have left her sticky and uncomfortable. But it was pretty, the reminder of the evenings of her childhood. There were never fireflies and bullfrogs in New York, and she was surprised to find she missed it.

Or maybe she just missed this house. The witch inside. Pushing her hands into her pockets, she looked at the place that had been as much her home as the one with her mom. Before being a vampire, before being a witch had stripped away the gloss on their friendship and left it raw.

Caroline thought it might be better, for the rawness of it. It was more honest. It might've been painful, but life would have done that anyway. Caroline would never be certain if the girl she had been was worth that friendship.

"You know, I know you're out there." Bonnie Bennett's exasperated voice cut through the dark and Caroline smiled.

"Good. Damon still lives here and he's creepy. Can I come in?"

Bonnie stuck her head out the window. Her hair was a bit tangled around her face, but it was still Bonnie Bennett looking at her. The friend who'd been through more than Caroline could imagine. The friend who'd stayed with her.

"You're crazy; its 3 a.m. I'll come out. I've got a few things in here that don't react well to vampires. Let's avoid setting you on fire."

"Sure. I'm always happy to avoid that." Caroline snarked back.

Bonnie grinned, disappearing inside while Caroline made herself comfortable on the steps. Bonnie walked out a few minutes later, holding pair of beers; bare feet nearly silent on the wooden porch.

"What are you doing here? I thought your Mom was going to come back alone?" Bonnie smiled as she passed over the drink. "Not that I'm sad to see you. I just thought it be a few more years."

"I'm not staying long." Caroline admitted. "But I wanted to see you."

"Talking once a month is a bit sparse." Bonnie admitted. "I miss you."

"I know." Caroline looked away. "I'm sorry about that."

Bonnie twisted the bottle between her fingers. "Why? I could have argued for more frequency. What's wrong Care?"

Caroline huffed. "A lot of things. But I'm checking on you. Not here to whine."

Bonnie arched a brow, looking at her. "I'm fine."

"Seriously?" Caroline rolled her eyes. "I'm definitely not here to be given platitudes, Bon."

"I'm not sure what you want." Bonnie said, brows bunching together. "You're off doing your thing and I'm here. It's okay."

"Are you happy?"

Bonnie was quiet for a long time, and Caroline forced herself to keep her mouth shut. Instead, she breathed in Virginia and was glad she'd left.

But she'd missed this. Bonnie.

"I'm okay."

"Then why are you working for Klaus?"

Bonnie went still next to her. When she finally spoke, her voice was soft. "How?"

"I ran into Tyler in Barcelona." Caroline said softly. "He threatened to hurt my mom."

"Care..."

Caroline waved her off. "I would have handled it. But I didn't have too."

"How does that logic jump take you to me doing an occasional favor for Klaus?" Bonnie asked.

"Three things." Caroline murmured. "Klaus apparently purged the witches from New Orleans, you've been quiet about how you got your magic back and I guess I just, had a hunch."

Bonnie took a drink from her beer. "I'm not tracking you for him. I told him I wouldn't and that stalking isn't a relationship."

"You actually told him that?"

"Not that it did any good." Bonnie said sourly. "He just laughed and thanked me for calling what you had a relationship."

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Ass."

Bonnie clinked their bottles. "Damn straight. What is going on with you two, anyway?"

"Oh no. You're not distracting me by talking about him. Seriously, Bon - what's going on?"

"He called me. After the whole anchoring issue and Silas. I was a mess." Her lips twisted. "He offered me work. Said he enjoyed my brand of creativity and we both had a mutual reason to tolerate the others continued existence."

"And you accepted?"

"I told him to go fuck himself." Bonnie said calmly. "I hate him. I'll probably always hate him. But..."

Caroline shook her head. "No. No buts! He won't change, Bon. From everything I've seen in the last decade, what we dealt with was the nice, tolerant version of Klaus. My personal issues with him aside - he's incredibly dangerous! So why?"

Bonnie smiled. "You."

"Me? Bonnie..."

Her friend shrugged. "You called after Tyler, remember? So I called him and made a deal."

"Oh, God."

"I told him that if he'd keep you safe, that I'd find a way to bring back Kol." She picked at the label on her bottle. "I told him I included him on that list. That survival wasn't protection. That I expected you to be happy."

Caroline choked on her beer.

"He didn't believe me, of course, about Kol; bringing him back. I was just the anchor." She hummed a little and sighed. "Everyone thought I was an idiot, asking him to protect you when that's something he already does. But what no one understands is that you might need protection from Klaus. Feelings change. You're going to live long past when my bones are ash."

Caroline shook her head. "Bonnie. That's the sweetest, dumbest move you could've made. I can take care of myself."

"Yes, but would you be happy?"

"Yes." Caroline said quietly. "Klaus doesn't get to dictate that."

"No." Bonnie agreed, eyes meeting hers. "He just has to protect it. Whatever that happiness is. I'm not saying you will be happy all the time; that's impossible, and everyone knows it. But it does means if you fall in love with someone else, he can't wreck it. And he can't sit back and watch someone else do it either; not for him, anyway. There were specific parameters."

Caroline swallowed. "He agreed to that?"

Bonnie pursed her lips. "Yes. Although he informed me that protecting himself really wouldn't be that difficult, since he's immortal. The aneurism I gave him didn't seem to amuse him as much."

Caroline rubbed her forehead. "What was his price? And don't tell me Kol. You put that on the table. He'd have asked for something else as well."

"I didn't want to be the anchor." Bonnie said finally. "I wanted out."

"Oh, Bonnie."

"I hated it. If I was going to lose my witch powers, then okay. Fine. It sucked. It was the most awful thing that had happened - but feeling each person pass through me? That was worse. So much worse."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Caroline asked. "I'd have stayed and..."

"No." Bonnie interrupted. "It was important that you find your life too. I needed to find mine. I needed to know that I could do it on my own. So I made a deal with Klaus."

"What did you do?" Caroline asked finally. "Exactly, Bennett."

Bonnie's lips curled. "He was having a witch problem."

"Who?" Caroline asked quietly.

"There were... what do you know about the events in New Orleans?"

"Former protégée, Klaus was a fake baby daddy, Haley and Tyler was there." Caroline scrunched her nose. "And apparently a lot of witches died. Tyler eluded to it happening the weekend he was in New York, but I guess that's not what happened?"

Bonnie nodded. "It's a lot more complicated but basically, I was able to replicate the spell that made me the Anchor. Marcel - that's the former protégée - had a witch named Davina. She was burning out, there was too much power; another ritual hadn't been completed. I used that. Used her."

Caroline swallowed. "How?"

"I made her the anchor." Bonnie whispered. "And the rest of the coven helped me bring Kol back. I'm not going to sugarcoat it Caroline. I helped him kill a lot of people. It... he stood there and watched them die. Forced them through compulsion and magic to kill themselves and the smile on his face when Kol materialized." Bonnie shivered in the warm air.

"It wasn't expression, but it was close. I've refused to do anything like that again, but I know he's just waiting out there. Content to know where I am and that I have a price."

"Everyone has a price." Caroline told her, thinking of her mom. "But are you okay? You apparently have magic, so the spirits didn't cut you off again?"

Bonnie stared at her before blinking rapidly. "That's it? I tell you I helped Klaus purge an entire line of witches; I brought a crazed, psychopath serial killer back to earth because I couldn't hack the pain of being an anchor; and you just want to know if I'm okay?"

"I killed twelve witches to keep you safe. I let Klaus have Tyler without asking for mercy, because he threatened my mom." She shook her head and for a moment, let her vampire face show. Then she pushed the monster back into her hiding place - her skin, her bones and the shadowy parts of her heart.

"I think maybe we're too hard on ourselves. Everyone else gets to be selfish. I can't hate you. God, Bonnie. I'm the one who left you."

Bonnie set her warm beer down and covered her face. Caroline leaned against her shoulder and sat in silence, listening to her friends tears. She was unashamed of the tears that she fought back.

"I'm sorry," Bonnie whispered. "I hadn't told anyone."

"Who were you going to tell? Damon is a dick, Stefan is MIA and Elena..."

Bonnie wiped her face with her shirt. "Elena is still in vampire bitch mode."

"I'm told she might grow out of it. But then I think of Katherine and realize Elena's happy riding Damon's tiny dick."

Bonnie hiccupped a laugh. "It's just, why is everything about her?"

"I left and found out its not." She fished into her purse and handed her some napkins. "Do you think Old vampires carries handkerchiefs?"

"What?"

"It's an old guy thing, right? Never mind." Caroline reached over and caught Bonnie's hand. "I love you, Bonnie Bennett. I even love bitchy, crazy Elena. I just don't want to live my life in her orbit anymore. That's why I left."

"And Klaus?"

She pursed her lips. "His dick is not small."

Bonnie reared back. "Oh my god. Caroline Forbes! TMI! It's bad enough knowing you actually care about that crazy. But I didn't need to know that!"

Caroline bit her lip in a desperate attempt not to laugh. "I'm sorry... Actually, no. I'm not. Does that make me a horrible person?"

"Are you in love with him?"

Caroline jerked. "What? No. We are so not at that stage. Yes, the sex was good. Yes, I think about him once or twice a year. Okay, I'll even admit that his crazy ass sister has grown on me, like fungus. But I don't love him."

"But?"

"I'm not ready for a 'but.'" Caroline groused.

"Alright." Bonnie said with a nod. "I don't know how anyone ever gets ready for that particular butt."

Caroline groaned. "That was terrible."

"That was payback." Bonnie retorted.

Rolling her eyes, Caroline stood and tugged on her friend's hand. "Come with me."

Bonnie arched both brows. "What?"

"Come with me. Let's go do something crazy. You can learn more about your witchy awesome and I'll learn how to speak some esoteric language that no one will understand. It'll be amazing."

Bonnie laughed and shook her head. "I can't just leave."

"Why not?" Caroline demanded. "What keeping you here? If it's Klaus, I'll deal with that."

"No." Bonnie shook her head. "It not that. Not really. Is it so hard to think I'm not ready for that? I'm not you, Caroline. You've always had wings on your heart and itchy feet. I belong here."

Caroline swallowed. "But you don't have to stay."

"For now, I do. Rain check?"

"Time's different for a vampire, Bonnie. I don't want to wake up and realize one day that you're gray and beautiful and two inches shorter. And that I never got the chance to see you in my favorite places of the world. Please."

Bonnie blinked and swallowed. "Not this time. I'm sorry."

Caroline reached down for her purse and finally nodded. "You take care of yourself, Bonnie Bennett. And if you need me, I'll be back, okay? No more witchy secrecy on our calls."

"No promises." She laughed. "I've got to have some secrets. I'm a witch!"

Bonnie stood in front of her landline for several minutes before picking it up and dialing. It picked up before the second ring.

"Miss Bennett." Elijah said. "What do we owe the pleasure?"

"Tell Klaus that Caroline knows."

There was a pause. A slight shuffle and then Klaus's voice came over the line. "Bonnie. A pleasure. And how did Caroline come by this information?"

"I told you she'd eventually figure it out." Bonnie said firmly. She hesitated and then shrugged to herself. "I just didn't expect it to be so soon. I told her what she hadn't figured out."

Instead of rage, she heard the smile in Klaus's voice. "And what was her reaction?"

Bonnie hung up. Staring at her phone, she pressed her lips together. She'd given her word to tell Klaus when Caroline put the pieces together. It'd seemed harmless enough at the time and part of her had hoped - prayed - that Caroline never would know. That wish had been ridiculous, because eventually her best friend would realize what the magic meant. Would realize what the lack of aging, meant.

Maybe eventually she'd figure out what Bonnie wasn't telling her. About the magic. But that was a later issue. Right now, she found she was more concerned about Klaus. She'd assumed that Kol's life would be enough to make Klaus pause. She hadn't really, truly thought Caroline would be worth more to the hybrid than the family he carted around for centuries in a macabre devotion.

She hadn't realized that Klaus had been waiting for that moment, been anticipating that connecting of the dots by Caroline. But she'd heard it in his voice. That careless amusement had given away to an iron that made her insides knot.

Because if Caroline Forbes could forgive her best friend for the massacre of the witches in New Orleans...

Then what else would she forgive? And who?

Please comment.

As always, I write most of these chapters on my phone.