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Chapter 12: Over Protective
"Approve?" Caroline asked, spinning away from the mirror and toward her friends.
Bonnie and Elena took in the short black v-neck cover-up Caroline was wearing over her scandalous red bikini.
"Ugh," Bonnie rolled her eyes, grinning. "Stop being so damn hot, Care."
"Yeah, it's not even fair," Elena giggled, joining in.
Caroline rolled her eyes at that comment as she turned back to the mirror. What actually wasn't fair was Elena. The guys flocked to her like she was a goddess. Matt, Stefan, Damon...they all wanted Elena first and foremost. Tyler had been the first one to actually want Caroline instead of Elena, and that had ended poorly... Ended. Had it really ended? She wasn't sure, but then again, in her heart she knew it had. But since when had she become so accustomed the idea of their relationship being dead? She just threw it out there-"ended." Caroline shook those thoughts out of her mind.
"Anyone you're dressing up for?" Bonnie smiled, intuitively, but there was a harshness in her eyes. She did not approve.
Caroline's forehead crinkled, "No."
The girls gave her a disbelieving look.
"No!" she exclaimed more vehemently. "Seriously, you guys, no. Just no. Okay? Maybe I just want to prove to myself I've still got it after the whole-"
"Tyler debacle?" Rebekah snorted as she entered the tiny room.
Caroline rolled her eyes, "Brilliant the she-devil doth appear."
Rebekah smirked, "Right on time as well. So glad I didn't miss the girl-talk."
Elena huffed, "Right. While we are on that subject...stay away from Matt."
The blonde vampire raised her eyebrow, "Unless I'm behind on current events, you chose the bad boy Salvatore as your next play thing."
"Matt is still our friend, and-"
"And what?" Rebekah sneered. "Are you warning me not to hurt him? Because as I'm sure you know, you've already taken care of that."
Elena frowned.
Bonnie stepped in, "Matt's just a human. He can't defend himself. And he has no business hanging around-"
"Around what? Vampires and witches?" Rebekah retorted. "It's a bit too late for that, Bon Bon."
"Bottom line-" Caroline began, hand on her hip.
Rebekah turned her grimace on the blond who could equal her in sass.
"Bottom line, dearies, is that you've already put poor, dear, Matty in danger by being his friend. I'm actually more capable of protecting him. Did you ever think about that?"
Bekah laughed, switching her shoes for high heels. She waltzed toward the door, but spin around just before she left.
"And if I were to hurt Matt, what could your silly band of misfit toys do about it? I'm an Original."
"An Original bitch," Caroline muttered to herself.
Rebekah turned her icy glare on Caroline once again, "I'm the least of Matt's worries considering the collateral damage the lot of you've got in your wake. Looks like Tyler's the latest addition."
Caroline frowned as Rebekah left. That bitch was evil and conniving and she still better stay the hell away from Matt, but she was also right. Caroline was upset with Elena for hurting Stefan. She thought Elena had chosen wrong. She considered Elena a heart-breaker. However, as Caroline glanced in the mirror back at the girl with bright eyes and wavy blonde hair, she realized that she, too, was a heart-breaker. She'd betrayed Tyler, even if it was just with her thoughts. She'd left him behind to suffer the loss of his mother alone. And she'd given up on their relationship.
Caroline wanted to lie to herself, but she knew a part of the reason for all of this was Klaus. He was there when Tyler wasn't. He was charming and flattering in a way Tyler just couldn't be. He understood her deepest, darkest thoughts more than anyone else she knew, and it unnerved her. The lack of control she had over any situation involving Klaus drove her crazy. He made her want to forget all of the horrible things that he had done, but she refused to let herself lose that much control. And all the time when her mind was on him, it should have been on Tyler.
"Who's up to par-tay!" Bonnie tried to liven the mood, jumping off the bed. Caroline and Elena just half-smiled, still shaken by the accusations Rebekah had made against them.
...
Music was blaring. Kids were grinding. Drinks were sloshing. Needless to say, it was a great party. Caroline, Bonnie, and Elena had forgotten all about their earlier encounter with Barbie Klaus by dancing their troubles away. Someone had snuck alcohol on board, and the slight buzz they were getting was also helping to relieve them of any guilt or irritation they previously felt.
That was, until, they spotted Matt dancing with a familiar gorgeous blonde from across the floor.
"Oh," Bonnie nudged the others.
"My," Elena joined in.
"GOD!" Caroline shrieked.
Rebekah was grinding on him, and his hands were roaming just about everywhere.
"Clearly our warning didn't go over well," Elena frowned.
"And I'm not surprised, I mean, we totally lost that-" Bonnie grimaced. "Nevermind."
"Let's just talk to Matt. Maybe we can talk some sense into him," Care proposed.
They danced their way over toward Matt, but they were stopped just as they tried to reach for his shoulder.
"Excuse me, ladies," Klaus smirked as he cut in front of them.
He plucked Matt out of the way and harshly spun his sister around.
"Rebekah, seeing as your taste in men is always quite disastrous, I thought I'd save you the trouble of ruining yet another hopeless relationship," he turned to Matt who stood there a bit bewildered. "Mind if I cut in, mate?"
"Nik, you can't just waltz over here and put on the overprotective big brother facade just because-"
"Just because you were bloody grinding the hell out of that imbecile-that nothing-that mundane, mortal human. The greatest power runs through your veins, Bekah dearest, don't shame me by forgetting it so easily."
"Forgive me, your highness," she spat. "But I'm afraid I'm not the only one with a taste for the mundane."
Rebekah stormed off in another direction. Klaus stared after her for awhile, his hands clenching into fists. Caroline was about to say something, anything, to break this deadly tension, but before she could, he vanished.
"Thank God the siblings from hell are gone," Bonnie commented.
"Speaking of," Caroline started, eyeing Matt. "What in the world are you doing?"
Matt rolled his eyes, "Come on, Care, don't start."
"Matt, we care about you. We're worried, okay?" Elena chimed in.
"I've forgiven her for the bridge incident. She'd never do anything to purposely harm me."
"Matt you can't really believe that, she's-" Elena retorted.
"An Original?" Matt scoffed. "I'm a bit tired of the hypocrisy around here."
The girls looked at him confused.
"How is this any different from you hanging around the baddest of them all, Care? Explain that to me."
"That was just for-I didn't choose to-" she huffed. "It's different, Matt, you know it is. Besides you're-"
"Just a human," Matt shook his head. "Thanks for the reminder that I'm worthless, Care."
"Matt, come on, you know what she meant," Elena began.
"You're just as bad. Damon? Really, Elena?"
"He is-"
"A murderer. Just like Rebekah. Just like Klaus. Just like Caroline. Even Bonnie. Explain to me how it's different."
The girls just stared at him, dumbfounded.
"Matt, you must've been compelled. Let me-" Bonnie stepped toward him.
"I wasn't compelled, Bonnie," Matt sighed, frustrated. "God. I mean just look at you three. Marching over here to warn me about Rebekah, when you've been shacking up with murderers with less heart than her. And you think you're safe because you're vampires? Against them you're nothing. You're no more capable of protecting yourselves than I am, so just get off your high horses because I'm done with this bullshit."
Matt sulked away, leaving all three girls speechless.
"What happened to our Matty?" Caroline mused.
"It's that she-devil, Rebekah," Elena frowned.
Bonnie just smiled sadly, "He's lost a lot. And Tyler's mom is gone. Tyler's not here. There's been a lot of dividing among our friends lately."
"You think he's right?" Elena was perplexed.
Bonnie grimaced, "I think there's truth to it..."
...
Caroline had excused herself for a drink. That conversation with Matt was a little heavier than expected. He had called her out on her relationship with Klaus. He called her a hypocrite. But how could she be a hypocrite when she totally did not like Klaus. At all. She despised him and only got close to him as a way to distract him. Matt was allowing Rebekah to flirt with him-to dance on him, for goodness sake. And she did not condone that behavior any more than she condoned Elena's new-found interest in Damon. How was she a hypocrite? She tried as hard as possible not to be one; even to the point that she refused to admit to herself that she wanted to feel something other than hatred for Klaus. She was in denial about her drifting thoughts and occasional moral slips. There were moments, she knew, that she had gotten caught up in the act. But at the end of the day, it was just an act; at the end of the day, she always loved Tyler. How could Matt call her a hypocrite when he had no idea how deep her treachery ran? She never disclosed it to anyone, she kept that part of herself hidden deep, deep within where no one could get even a glimpse at it. Caroline covered it up like she once covered blemishes on her human face; her words, her actions, her facial expressions-everything she did was in defiance to Klaus (when she wasn't trying to distract him).
Caroline took a couple gulps of liquor. It burned her throat. She knew it would take copious amounts of alcohol to truly affect her, and right now, all she wanted was to be shitfaced.
The thing that worried her most was that her act had been more transparent than she realized. Perhaps Tyler's anger had been justified. Perhaps her betrayal was more apparent than even she knew.
With another big gulp of tequila, Caroline allowed her dark thoughts to carry on with their mental torture. She was beating herself up from the inside out.
"What are you thinking about, love?" she heard his suave voice from behind her.
Caroline would've jumped, but her reflexes were weakening and as much as she hated to admit it, his voice had a calming effect on her for some odd reason.
"I'm really not in the mood right now," she took another swig, and he just chuckled.
"Troubled, are we?" Klaus smirked, and Caroline just rolled her eyes. "I have had my fair share of experience with trouble, in fact-"
"Save it, Klaus," She groaned, trying to slip away.
He caught her arm, "Caroline-"
"I don't want to talk, okay?" She huffed, frustrated with his persistence.
He eyed her for a few moments before his grip loosened. Caroline spun around only to notice Matt and Elena in heated discussion. She groaned, turning back around.
"Why can't everything just go as planned?"
Klaus chuckled.
"Right because my suffering is humorous to you. Because you're a sadist, and you get off on other's pain."
He glared at her, "And you're nearly drunk, sweetheart. Nearly drunk and nearing stupid."
"I'm not afraid of you, okay? So drop the whole big bad hybrid act. It's overcompensating. For what," Caroline sneered, giggling slightly. "I don't know."
"I assure you that I don't have anything to overcompensate for-"
She snorted, "Except your charming personality."
His eyes grew cold and fierce as he took another step toward Caroline. She felt the tension despite the enjoyable lightheaded feeling the alcohol provided.
"I think I rather prefer you sober, Caroline," his words could be taken as a joke, but there was nothing playful in his features. She'd hit a nerve, and she was starting to realize it.
Caroline opened her mouth as if to apologize or something, but Klaus turned his back on her sharply. He began to move forward until he stopped dead in his tracks and hissed.
Caroline peeked out from behind him to see Rebekah laughing with Stefan. She grabbed his hand as he shook his head chuckling. Bekah dragged him to the center of the dance floor. Their hands interlocked, they began to dance together. Caroline smirked at the sight of her best friend smiling; he seemed to really be having a good time with Rebekah.
Klaus growled, turning back toward Caroline. It seemed that he had forgotten she was there because she noticed the surprise in his eyes when they met hers. There was a flash of something-fear, anger, love-she didn't know, then the surprise, and then his eyes turned hard again. Klaus was a stone, unreadable, unreachable.
Caroline reached out, lighting touching his arm in an effort to make him look at her again, "You really are worried about Rebekah."
It was meant to be a question, but it ended up being a statement. Caroline could tell he loved his sister; it was radiating off of him.
He sighed, wiping his face in frustration, "Well I bloody-well have to be with her rotten taste in suitors."
It was in that moment that Caroline saw something in Klaus that always shook her to the core. It was love. He loved his sister. He loved his family. It maybe in a sick, twisted way, and he may be absolutely horrible at showing it, but he did. And how could Caroline hate him and deny him forgiveness when he was capable of love? Anyone capable of love was capable of remorse, fear, loneliness, sadness, courage, compassion, etc. Klaus wasn't a lost cause; he wasn't the devil in disguise. Of course, he certainly was no angel, but neither were any of them.
It was in that moment that Caroline took her last swig of alcohol and asked a fatal question, "Wanna get a drink?"
...
XOXOXOXOXOXOXO a million times over. You devoted readers. I love you with all my heart. Thanks for sticking with me and this story despite my lack of updating. This is for the devotion of the TVD and Klaroline fandoms.
As always, reviews are welcomed.
XO, Jaci