Previously on ATCL: "Well, I think it is safe to say that my stay in New Orleans is going to be very interesting."
After everyone and their mother's brother had thrown a hissy fit that morning— it really was only Hayley throwing the fit; apparently there was no more cereal in the manor that was to her liking—Caroline managed to persuade Klaus into taking her on a tour of New Orleans. Being the sneaky little matchmaker that she was, the lady also insisted that Katherine and Elijah accompany them as well. ("It isn't good for your health to be cooped up in this house, and you really need some sun. You're looking a bit pale, Petrova.") Katherine had shot her a glare, but agreed. Besides, she was hungry.
Rebekah had been invited along as well—a fact that had perked her up considerably and brought a smile to the blonde's face—but she had been made to stay home and "protect Hayley from the witches" by Elijah. As if a grown woman needed a babysitter in the first place. Of course, Rebekah staying behind had saved Caroline from having to invite Hayley out as well, for politeness's sake. Klaus's suggestion of just handing her over to the witches and saving the rest of them the trouble of watching the little wolf was starting to sound more appealing every minute. Rebekah had understandably been upset at being left behind, but the other four had left before she could protest any longer. Caroline felt a bit bad for her sort-of enemy. It would really suck to have to babysit Hayley of all people.
New Orleans was a beautiful city, and Caroline could certainly understand why it was one of Klaus's favorite places in the world. It seemed to be sentient. There was a constant ebb-and-flow of musicians, artists, and tourists. Color abounded, exploding all around in pops and bursts, and the smells that wafted from the various restaurants into her enhanced senses were delectable. As they walked through the French Quarter, Caroline couldn't help but look everywhere all at once. It was just so much to take in.
"So, love, what do you think of New Orleans? Does it live up to your expectations?" Klaus asked her. Elijah and Katherine were walking slightly ahead, as the other two had taken more time to sightsee.
Caroline had a pensive look upon her face as she turned from viewing her surroundings to the man beside her. "I think that I'm looking upon genuine beauty." The corners of her mouth turned up into a half-smile. "I find the city very pleasing. It's so alive and energizing. I could spend forever here." Too late she realized that her words could be taken in a context other than her simply visiting the city, and it seemed that Klaus had noticed as well. He was doing the eyebrow-arch-thingy again while smiling. Why did he have to be so damn adorable? "Anyways," She quickly started before anything got awkward, "I've heard the cuisine in New Orleans is to die for. What do you recommend I try?"
"As a matter-of-fact, I know a little bar that is renowned for its gumbo. Shall we go there?" He asked. At her nod in response, he shot off a quick text to Elijah, letting him know of their destination.
"You would find a bar to regularly patron after only being here a short time. What, are you missing the Grille, in all of its five-star glory?" She teased, laughing brightly.
"Don't tell anyone that I said this, but I got quite attached to that rundown, miserable, little place. It had a certain charm that one only finds in tiny towns in the middle of nowhere." Klaus laughed at her indignant expression. "You must admit that Mystic Falls is not exactly the most influential town on the map, no matter how dedicated to the Beautification Committee that you are."
"I will have you know that I quit the Beautification Committee last year because I got too busy. Of course, the town looks terrible now and the parks are falling apart, but what could I expect? They relied upon me." Klaus laughed, Caroline's hands landing upon her hips as she let him become very aware of her disapproval. "What on earth is so hilarious?"
"When you said this morning that you were queen of your high school, sweetheart, I think you were grossly understating yourself. You were queen of that whole bloody town." He calmed down a bit, a teasing smile still present.
She rolled her eyes, and bumped him lightly with her hip. "Oh shush. You aren't the one that will be getting frantic calls at two in the morning because someone misplaced the number for my usual caterer, or because the floral arrangements clash with the tablecloths. And I won't even get into the headache that is seating charts. One wrong move, and you could have a brawl on your hands!" Caroline gestured as they walked and talked. "I honestly don't know what they will do when I leave town. I can't stay there forever, after all."
"The town will fall into ruins, and all of the socialite mothers will mourn the loss of the great Caroline Forbes, who was at the top of their 'Acceptable Women for My Son' list." Klaus jabbed lightly, and she erupted into a fountain of giggles.
"Well the socialite mothers will have to get over it. I'm too badass for their sons. I would rather die than become a trophy wife." She proclaimed dramatically, but glancing sideways at him. Sometimes… Well, her doubt got in the way. It niggled at the back of her mind, telling Caroline that all she was meant to be was the resident Disney Princess of Mystic Falls. That she would have grown old as some Fell, or Lockwood, or Walters, or any other of the Founding Family member's trophy wife. She would have popped out two-point-five kids, and lived in a nice house with a dog and a husband that pretended to love her in public. Her life would have been spent planning and going to parties. And that would have been it.
Sometimes, it was very hard for Caroline to believe that Klaus Mikaelson, the most powerful being on the planet, could want her. For eternity. That he didn't just consider her another prize to be won. But then… His words that night—the ones that told her that he was glad that she was too smart to be seduced by him—came back and soothed away her doubt. She may not actually admit her thoughts and feelings about Klaus to anyone else, but in the very deepest recesses of her heart, Caroline knew that he was much more than a close friend. And that is what scared her the most.
"You are too strong-willed to ever be reduced to the position of a trophy wife, sweetheart. That would be an extraordinary waste of potential." Klaus said. He had seen the look that crossed her face as she tried to cover up her hurts with dramatics, and it both angered and broke his heart. He was a man that had felt much pain in his long, long, life. The thought that Caroline might actually feel some of the very same self-doubt that he felt as well ripped at his core.
"But I wasn't always, you see. I was a child for so long in my life. That is how everyone in Mystic Falls sees me. They still see the girly little Caroline, and that is not who I am anymore." Her chin was held high, steel in her voice and tears seeping at her eyes. This was the last conversation that Caroline had ever expected to have with Klaus, but he was her friend, after all. It was okay.
"They are stifling you. You put up this façade of loving your town and your committees—and maybe a small part of you still does truly love those things—but you are being smothered. And you just acknowledged it, didn't you?" He knew how she felt. He knew what the wanderlust of a soul that was meant to fly felt like. He knew the pain that one felt when they were trapped; held to the person that they once were, and were never allowed to change or grow. He knew the feeling, because Klaus had once experienced that feeling. He often still did.
Caroline could do nothing but nod, overcome with sadness. She wanted to live up to the image she had created for herself, but it seemed that all she did was fall short. She would never be the perfect daughter that her parents deserved. She couldn't fulfill all that the town wished for her to do. She was a constant disappointment, and it killed her. Tears started to drip down her face, and Caroline wiped at them harshly.
Seeing the distress his love was in, Klaus did something that he had not yet done. He wrapped his arm around Caroline, and led her out of the middle of the street to the side, pulling her into a half-hug as she continued to fail at drying her tears. "It's alright, Caroline. It is alright to have grown out of Mystic Falls. You just became too big for them. You aren't a bad person for it." He smiled slightly, trying to cheer her up. "I would offer you a handkerchief, but I am afraid that is more of my brother's thing."
"And I thought you were an old-fashioned man." Caroline giggled lightly, grief still in her eyes.
"I have moved along with the times." Klaus said. "But Caroline, it is okay to move on earlier than you had expected. You are a vampire, and your thought processes change when that happens. It is normal."
Caroline's response was not what he had expected. "What do you think your life would be like, had you never turned?" By now they had joined the turbulence in the street, and continued on their way.
Klaus thought for a moment. It was not something that he had pondered much over the years; he liked what he was, and did not wish to be weak again. It was a hard question, and none had ever thought to ask him it before. "I would have married some girl from the village—one that Mikael approved of, of course—worked, hunted, and in general just survived. There probably would have been a passel of children running underfoot because everyone had a large family, then. It would have been the life that was expected of me. Would I have truly been happy? I do not know. It would have been my only option, and so I would have gone along with it."
"That sounds like a very simple life. Pleasant, but simple." She shrugged.
"That's because it was." Klaus agreed. Up ahead, Elijah and Katherine were waiting at the entrance to Rousseau's, and he quickly changed the topic. "And here we are, love! You can try all kinds of Creole cuisine here." His brother held the door for the ladies, and they all walked into the little restaurant.
It was a charming little place, if a bit dark. Klaus led the party to a table in the back, surrounded by quaint little paintings and unique light fixtures.
"It's a cute place." Katherine commented as she took her seat next to Caroline. "Who's the brunette mentally stabbing you at 10 o'clock?"
Klaus turned to look. "That would be Sophie Deveraux. She's a witch, and her life is currently linked to the one of my unborn child. Hence why she's still alive."
"And clearly she doesn't like you. Good taste." Katherine shot back. She paused for a moment as a waitress took their order before turning to Elijah. "Might she be able to stop this charming death that I am currently suffering from? Because I'd like to get back to a normal state before I'm bedridden."
"As it seems that she is coming over here, why don't you ask her yourself, Katerina?" Elijah noticed the witch making her way through the tables.
"She's a witch. They don't generally like me." Katherine got in the last word right before said witch appeared at their table.
"What are you all doing here?" Sophie asked, hostility radiating throughout her voice.
"Simply showing our friends around town! Is that such a crime?" Klaus smirked.
"Considering the fact that any friends of yours must be bad news, then yes." She shot back.
"I kind of take offense to the friend statement. I don't really consider myself to be his friend. More like…former enemy turned temporary ally." Katherine raised her eyebrows, bringing Sophie's attention to her.
"She's a vampire." Sophie gestured at Caroline. "But you, you're something else. You have the air of a doppelganger, but that's not it…" A puzzled look came over the witch's face.
"Sadly, for the former. At least I'm the cutest one. The name's Katherine Pierce." She smirked. "As for the second part, try former vampire. I got a millennium-old cure for immortality shoved down my throat, and right now, I'm in need of a witch to…fix me."
Sophie laughed bitterly. "First of all, you wouldn't ever get my help. You sent Hayley to my sister, and then she died. Secondly, a witch with the power to perform a spell of that caliber is one in a thousand. You're talking about reversing the effects of an ancient potion. That would require serious amounts of power. Sorry, but it's not going to happen. You may as well start making funeral arrangements." With that the Deveraux witch went back to where she came from.
Katherine sat in her seat, desperately trying to contain her emotions. She didn't want to die. Not now, not ever. She was supposed to have eternal life. She was strong, powerful, ageless. This wasn't supposed to happen. Not to her. Her eyes were focused on the tabletop, her fingers trembling in her lap. In that moment, she was not five hundred and thirty eight years of age. In that moment, she was eighteen and she had just been told by a second person that she was dying. And she really just wanted her mother.
"Petrova… Are you okay?" Caroline's soft voice and gentle hand brought her back to reality.
"Yes. Yes, I'm fine. Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?" Katherine attempted to assure herself.
"Umm…." The other girl clearly tried to not say the obvious.
"I'm fine, Forbes, okay? God. Do you have to be so incessant?" She shot back, getting pissed. Right now, she just wanted to be left alone.
"No need to get bitchy on me. Though I suppose it's better than you being a weeping mess." Caroline rolled her eyes.
"That's more of my doppelganger's thing, don't you think? I don't cry."
"Now, I wouldn't say that. The night before we came here, you seemed to have big, fat, tears rolling down your face." The blonde girl smirked at the glare she received in response.
"I was positively drunk and we were discussing less-than-pleasant moments in our lives. You were sobbing too." Katherine huffed, and crossed her arms.
"Now that I think about it, we were both sobbing messes that night…" Caroline agreed.
"Remind me never to get you drunk then, love." Klaus cut in.
"In my defense, it was a really big bottle of bourbon. And since she's smashed after like three glasses now, I felt compelled to finish off the rest of it. It was a girl's night, and those nights are meant to get drunk and cry. Normally I would have included chocolate and The Notebook, but I didn't have all of my resources available at the time."
"The Notebook? I've always found that movie to be overrated." A new voice said. Caroline's gaze turned quickly to the blonde newcomer, and narrowed her eyes.
"Seriously!? It is one of the best love stories of all time. How on earth could you dislike it? And what is your name anyways?" She asked completely seriously. Katherine snickered in the background, the two males perplexed as they had never having seen said movie.
"It's cliché-ridden and overly-sentimental." The intruder retorted. "The name's Cami. What are you doing with these two?"
"It is a story of undying love and devotion. He loved her as young man, he loved her when she left him, and he loved her when he was old, even when she did not know him anymore. Even you cannot disagree with that." Caroline turned around fully in her chair until she was facing this Cami person. "Lovely to meet you. And if you must know, I went to high school with Rebekah. We were on the cheer squad together. Anything else personal you want to know?" Well, technically it was the truth, even if that comment gained her an eyebrow raise and an amused look from Klaus.
"It is an illogical movie. Love doesn't happen like that. Men don't just wait for women in the real life. You're being a hopelessly romantic little girl with your head in the clouds. And one day you'll grow up out of your little fantasy world." Cami said. "Nope. I think I'm done."
Caroline's eyes glinted with what could either be the intent to murder or to bitchslap the human in front of her. "But you see, Cami, real men wait for the woman they love. I'm sorry if you've been consorting with the pathetic sort, but that is really your fault." Raising a perfectly-done eyebrow at the derisive comment out of her rival's mouth, Caroline affixed her best queenly look. "I may be a romantic, but at least I don't have a stick up my ass. You're more than welcome to leave now." She made a slight shooing motion, smiling the whole time.
Her tablemates had mixed reactions. Elijah was mainly amused, but hoping that no one caused more of a scene than they already had. Klaus was torn being stepping in for Caroline and letting her fight it out, but he chose the latter. She was magnificent when angry, and he actually enjoyed her scathing words when they were not being used on him. Katherine was just proud. Her favorite baby vamp had just aced Bitch 101.
Cami didn't leave, however. "Oh. I came over here in the first place to give you this. Marcel sends his regards." She shoved a piece of paper on the table facedown before heading out the doors of Rousseau's.
Elijah was the first one to grab the paper, and he quickly scanned it before handing it to his brother. Klaus looked it over—mouthing 'shit' in the process—before standing up quickly and shoving the offensive item in his pocket.
"Time to leave, ladies." He held his hand out to Caroline, who joined him once she realized his not-taking-no-for-an-answer face was on. She looped her arm with his, as Elijah did the same with Katherine after leaving enough money on the table to cover their bill. The four made their way out and down the road a bit before Caroline stopped.
"What the hell just happened back there?" Caroline noticed that Klaus seemed to be scanning the alleyways and streets.
"I told you of Marcel, Caroline. He's throwing a party this weekend, and from the subtle threat he just sent me, our attendance is mandatory." Klaus sighed, urging her to walk on and back to the car swiftly.
"So he's countering you in the political game." She said, not seeing the problem with this.
"Yes, he is. But he was not supposed to know of your presence in New Orleans until I told him, thus lessening the potential for harm being done to you. We're going to have to keep up your story of being Rebekah's friend for the time being. Marcel has a soft spot for my sister, and so that will keep you in a safer political position." They finally made it back to the car, and Klaus bundled Caroline inside as Elijah and Katherine hurried in. From their expressions, he could tell that his brother had filled Katherine in as well.
"So now I have to pretend to be Rebekah's bestie?" At Klaus's affirming nod, she huffed. "Lovely."
"Before this party, love, we have some business to discuss back at the manor." Klaus said, and Caroline's mind went whirring with the possibilities of what was to come.
AN: Did you enjoy it? Sorta like it? Hate it with all that you have?
Sorry for the lack of Kalijah in this chapter. It was meant to be a very Klaroline heavy one, as well as to see the introduction of Cami and Sophie, but my babies are back next chapter, and they make their presence known!
As I am writing this author's note, 1x10 of The Originals has not yet aired, but I plan to watch it tonight! Honestly, I'm watching the show for Klaus and Davina at this point. Elijah's so OOC that it almost makes me sick, and while Rebekah is in-character, my poor little girl is just getting screwed over yet again by an unworthy man.
Speaking of Rebekah, I know she hasn't been in the story much yet, but she certainly has bigger moments in the coming chapters. I have a vision for her, and it should turn out really well.
Anyways, I should get back to writing chapter eight of this story so that you all can have some more to read next week!
Thanks so much for reading and reviewing!
Rejecting the reality of a non-suited Elijah and substituting my own,
Abi