Sometimes before it gets better
The darkness gets bigger
The person that you'd take a bullet for is behind the trigger
In Klaus' opinion they did not have time for this frivolous endeavor of Caroline speaking to the pack. The Leseid Coven would be arriving any minute now and Klaus wanted to be on top of his game for that event. Not only would there be a new group of witches in New Orleans, something that was sure to spark Marcel's interest and have him poking around in places Klaus did not want him, but it also meant that he would need to enact his plan for dealing with the Leseid Coven and making sure they didn't get their claws into Caroline. The boy witch was hardly a threat, but an entire coven of witches who would no doubt want to manipulate the girl into their beliefs was another story. If their power hadn't been needed for the coming battles, Klaus would have been keen on keeping them altogether out of his life and far away from Caroline, but he would suffer through their presence as long as they didn't try anything with the young vampire.
He knew they could try and force her powers to transfer to another of her kin, but Klaus had eyes and ears on anyone even remotely related to Caroline and if someone so much as booked them a ticket to a southern state, his soldiers had directives to kill them. Not that he would ever inform Caroline of that fact, he hadn't even told Rebekah about it. This was one task Klaus was keeping close to his chest.
"Okay, so is there anything in particular that I need to know before we go in there?" Caroline asked, breaking him out of his silent reverie. "Because werewolves generally don't like vampires and I like being alive-or well you know-so is there a specific pack manners that I should be aware of?" Her limited werewolf knowledge had come from hanging around Tyler and her boyfriend had known little of pack mentality most of the time. Even once he had a pack they hadn't exactly warmed to her, even going so far as to kidnap and torture her to get his attention.
And as far as Caroline was concerned she had well passed her torture quota for the next century or two.
"Are you under the impression that I would allow any of them to take even one threatening step toward you?" Klaus challenged, looking at her as though she had lost her mind. "We're not meeting with the entire pack. Only a fraction of it that I have living at this particular apartment. They're spread throughout the city in every section barring the French Quarter. As for what you need to know about pack manners, suffice it to say that they will treat you with the same respect they show to me."
She arched a questioning brow at him, clearly not believing a word he was saying. "They'll pick up immediately on how I act around you, Caroline," Klaus continued, placing a hand on the elevator door to hold it open as he motioned for her to exit to the hallway. "As my queen."
He chuckled at her glare. "You're not king yet and I am not yours," she reminded, stepping away from him and fussing with her curls so he couldn't try to be sly and take her hand. "Just lead the way."
Ever since the other morning when she had said her stupid 'maybe' speech he had upped the charm, coming to stand too close to her, touching her in such innocent ways that still made her body shiver from the contact. He had allowed Caleb and Patrick free reign of the city which had been helpful for her own mission, allowing Caroline to send them out on tasks to find out what they could on who the remaining witches were and what officials seemed to be under Marcel's influences. But sending them out had left her alone with Klaus and being alone with him had only allowed him opportunities to try and break down more of her walls.
Caroline wasn't stupid, she knew exactly what he was doing with each little sweep of his fingers along her arm, how his body just happened to skim against hers as he passed by her even though there was an entire expanse of hallway for him to use. Each time he leaned in to explain some new tidbit of information he had just remembered about harbingers, his lips brushing her ear as he told her what he recalled. She ignored him, shrugging off his touches, sliding away when he got too close to her and outright trying to ignore the sensual way he managed to say her name. The little endearments were gone for the moment; using her name only, over and over again and making it sound like a gentle caress that wanted to wrap its way around her and never let her go.
She rebuked all of his efforts, frowning when she finally realized that doing so only made Klaus work harder at it. They were playing a cat and mouse game and while they were both predators by nature, he was even more so and no doubt thrilled by the chase. Not that there was even anything to chase!
Ugh.
He was so damn annoying.
Case in point the way he had reached forward, fingers gliding along her shoulder and she pushed his hand away. "Stop that," she growled, glaring at him and his damn smirk.
"I said this way," Klaus informed her, chuckling at her fury as he turned on his heel and headed toward the werewolves' apartment. He stopped in front of the door, waiting until Caroline was beside him before he knocked. "You have this delightful way of your skin flushing when you're angry and I can't help but wonder just how far down it goes."
There was no time for her to answer as the door opened and Caroline just knew he had planned it that way, leaving her clenching her fists in annoyance and trying not to sputter at his audacity. She watched as a petite redhead answered the door, expression practically glowing as she spotted Klaus. "Please, come in," she told the two of them, smiling brightly and stepping aside to allow them entry.
Caroline glanced around the apartment, pursing her lips at how normal it all looked, reminding her of apartments of twentysomethings she often saw on TV shows instead of fortress for soldiers like she had assumed they would be. There was something so normal about all of it that it was throwing her for a bit of a loop.
The girl closed the door, gesturing for them to walk further inside and Caroline was only too happy to oblige, rolling her eyes when Klaus took hold of her arm, tucking it into his own as he led her to the living room. "I'll just go get the others, unless you would like something to drink? I think we have some bottles of water in the fridge?" the girl offered, nodding toward the kitchen that resided on the other side of the room.
"That's alright, Anna," Klaus told her, pleased he had remembered the girl's name. No doubt that would earn him points in Caroline's 'how to be a king' poll. "Caroline and I will simply wait for you to gather everyone."
He motioned for Caroline to sit down on the couch as soon as the girl left to do as he had instructed, smiling when Caroline roughly pulled her arm out of his clutches. She hadn't wanted to be rude and do it before. "No touching," she hissed, sitting as far away as possible from him on the two-seater. "Seriously, get that through your thick skull and stop it with all the little caresses and leaning forward tricks."
Klaus sat down beside her. "And don't even think of trying that backhanded arm over the shoulders thing right now," she warned, elbowing him in the side. "God, you're like one thousand. You shouldn't be pulling high school boy tricks."
"Who do you think invented those tricks, Caroline?" Klaus asked his voice low and stubble scraping her cheek as he leaned toward her, lips barely brushing her ear. She turned so she could glare at him, freezing when she realized that allowed his mouth to be precariously close to her own, their unneeded breath grazing each other as they exhaled. Caroline couldn't help but look him in the eye then, swallowing at his piercing stare and forced herself to look away, rolling her eyes for extra measure.
"You're so annoying," she bit out, sinking back against the cushions and crossing her arms until she realized that only made her look like a petulant child and she couldn't afford to look that way at the moment. Uncrossing her arms, she forced herself to sit up, edging away from the back of the couch so she was perched at the front and far enough away from the arm that Klaus had indeed draped over the back.
Four others exited the back with Anna, three males and another female, and Caroline watched as each of them bowed their heads slightly to Klaus in greeting, only sitting when he motioned for them to do so. It took all of her strength to not make a little quip about that, sensing that this was something that pack members did to show reverence to their leader. It reminded her immediately of that night when the Hybrids had captured her, tortured her and Tyler had gotten them all to submit to him. There was no fear here though; no life or death situation being orchestrated, and she didn't know how she felt about any of it.
"I'm sure you're all wondering why I'm here considering I said I wouldn't be around for the rest of the week," Klaus began, watching as the lot of them nodded, a nervous energy coming off of them. No doubt they were wondering if they had displeased him somehow. He glanced over at Caroline, sliding a hand up her back and knowing that the vampire was inwardly seething even if outwardly she didn't react at all to the movement. The others would take it as a sign though, a marking that she was his and that she was to remain unharmed. "This is Caroline. She has some questions for you and I want you to answer them as you would if it was I asking them. Understood?"
All of the wolves nodded, each glancing at Caroline, silently assessing this girl who seemed to have such high standing with their leader. She could only imagine what they were thinking of her since she knew they had to know she was a vampire, and considering how Jules' pack had reviled vampires so much Caroline had come to think all werewolves thought the same way. Her experiences with ones outside of Tyler hadn't really done much to dissuade that line of reasoning.
"Right," Caroline started, pulling the notepad out of her purse. She had come prepared, not wanting to stumble over her questions and come off looking like a fool. Caroline Forbes was always going to be a planner, no matter what life threw at her. She flipped open the book, trying to ignore the fact that Klaus' fingers were still drawing little circles all over her damn back. "What educational levels do you have?"
"I stopped going in middle school," Anna replied, blushing slightly at the admission. "I had my first turning when I was 13 and the pack took me in pretty much right after that. We were unable to attend classes because we were on the move so much."
"Would you want to go back? Or well, obtain your GED?" Caroline asked, jotting down that information. The girl looked older than her, but looks could be deceiving.
"Yes," the girl quickly replied, before hedging a look at Klaus. "If that's what's best for the pack."
"I believe that can be arranged," Klaus informed her, knowing full well that it was what Caroline would have wanted. He hardly cared if the girl was able to finish her education as long as she did as she was told and completed the tasks he set out for her, but he supposed that allowing her to better educate herself would hardly go against what he needed. "As can a variety of other educational pursuits if any of you want to attend college or other career paths. Feel free to let the rest of the pack know and have Cristiano email me a list of those who wish to do so. It may not happen until after summer is over, but we can at least look into for the time being."
"And…" one of the men started, hesitating for a moment.
"No no, go on," Caroline urged, patting Klaus' thigh, stopping as soon as she realized what she was doing. "We're seriously here to see what we can do to make your lives better. Or well, maybe better isn't the right word, but we want to know what it is you'd like to pursue because I doubt being cooped up in this apartment which while fabulously decorated has got to be boring. And you deserve to have lives. To live them."
The five members of the pack looked around at one another. "We don't want to sound ungrateful," the man started again, looking absolutely terrified of the prospect.
"Because we're so very happy to be out the woods and in civilization again," the other woman continued, reaching over to hold the man's hand and give it a squeeze.
"I think what Tabs and Jerry here are trying to say is we would definitely like to maybe go back to school at some point. I know we want to get employment if we can find it in the area," one of the others said, and Klaus remembered that his name was Anthony. "We don't want to be a burden to you and you've already provided all of us with more than we could dream of, but we want to be able to give back outside of just completing our various tasks."
"And I'm pregnant," Tabs blurted out, and Caroline could feel Klaus tense at her side, his fingers stopping their movement, though they didn't leave her back. "It wasn't planned."
"Are they ever?" Klaus groused, his mood darkening considerably and Caroline frowned trying to figure out why that was the case. It couldn't be because of Hayley, there was something else going on here. She glanced at him and then back at the woman and the man holding hands, trying to comfort one another. It dawned on her then that perhaps being pregnant meant the woman would be useless in whatever plans Klaus currently had for the wolves.
"Congratulations," Caroline told them, smiling brightly, as she placed her hand back on Klaus' knee, deliberately digging her nails into him. "Isn't that great, Klaus? Do you know how far along you are?"
He was standing at a very precarious crossroad right now, knowing that his response would not only set the tone for his relationship with the wolves, but also with the girl beside him. Klaus wanted to lash out, call them fools for getting themselves into that position and to demand an abortion. Tell them that such trivial matters such as procreation could happen later on when they were not in the middle of a war. But he couldn't do that with Caroline sitting next to him, willing him to not be selfish, to think of others wants and needs when he didn't even remotely care about them.
"About two months. I've missed two moon cycles," Tabs replied, still warily watching Klaus, all of them waiting for his reaction.
The fact she had known about it since before he had taken them in rankled Klaus even more and the tension in the room only seemed to increase. "Klaus," Caroline prodded, worried about what was going on inside of his head and she stopped digging her fingers in, soothing where she had tried to give pain with a gentle caress of her hand.
He looked at her, caught her gaze with his own and could practically hear her voice in his head by the look she was giving him. Show me show me show me. Had he not shown her already with Tyler? Now he needed to show kindness here as well? Did she not understand what was at stake? How this could incite others in the pack to try for children now and limit their numbers? It should be swiftly dealt with and in a way that would cause the others to think twice before trying the same thing.
Show me, Caroline's eyes continued to urge. The gentle squeeze of her hand on his knee beckoning him to try it her way.
This woman would be the death of him.
Klaus caught her hand, stopping her movements and laced their fingers together so that he was holding onto her hand, keeping it resting on top of his knee. "Then it looks as though our pack will be growing sooner than any of us thought," Klaus finally said, and it was as though a collective sigh of relief passed through the group when he finally spoke. He turned his attention to the wolves. "I take it that Jerry is the father?"
Jerry and Tabs nodded. "We'll look into getting the two of you your own place then," Klaus continued, thumb caressing the side of Caroline's hand, not allowing her to pull away. See what I give up for you. Look at him giving away this bit of control over his subjects' lives, allowing them to decide their own fate. "Jerry, I'll expect you to take on whatever tasks were also Tabatha's so that she can remain protected and out of harm's way. Especially in later months."
"Thank you," Tabatha replied, nearly crying from happiness over his answer and she moved to hug her partner.
"And I believe that's enough for the day. Talk to Cristiano for me Anthony and have him create that list of who wants to pursue an education and let the others know they're more than welcome to obtain a job as long as they remain off the radar of Marcel and his group," Klaus stated, rising from the couch and pulling Caroline up with him.
The werewolves rose, bowing their heads slightly in submission to him. "It was wonderful meeting all of you," Caroline told them, brandishing one of her best Miss Mystic smiles on them as she was all but pulled out of the apartment and toward the elevator.
She knew Klaus was angry, that he was not pleased at all with how the conversation had gone or what he had given to the pack. She just wondered if he saw the heartfelt appreciation on not only the two expectant parents' faces but the other three as well. Did he really not realize the trust he had built in them by giving them some manner of freedom? Judging by the way he was violently pushing the elevator button she figured he hadn't.
Caroline was about to say something when Anthony exited the apartment, calling out for Klaus before hurrying over. "We started keeping track of who's buying wolfsbane from some of the shops in town," he informed Klaus, holding out a sheet of paper. "Here are last week's purchases. As soon as we've got this week's compiled I'll send them over to you."
Klaus released his grip on Caroline's hand, taking the paper from the man. It hadn't been something he had thought for them to do, but he couldn't deny that it was a logical and beneficial search considering it was one of their great weaknesses.
"And how did you come by the information from the ones in the Quarter?" he asked, trying to keep his voice from sounding too demanding, too untrusting. If the man had disobeyed his orders and ventured into that part of the city he was as good as dead, no matter what Caroline might think.
"My sister might carry the wolf gene but we don't know for sure, and if she does have it, she's never triggered it so she can walk in and out of there without any trouble," Anthony informed him. "I called her last week once we were back in the city and she wants to do whatever she can to help bring Marcel to his knees. She's a reporter for the paper. Keeps trying to get in articles about his shady practices but she keeps getting told to drop it. She could tell you quite a bit about who he has in his so-called pockets in the government."
Caroline arched a brow at that, knowing that was definitely something they would need to know. "Think she'd talk with us?" she asked, glancing at the paper in Klaus' hands.
"I put her name and number on the back. She knows I trust Klaus so she'll trust you, sir," Anthony told him.
"Very well," Klaus stated, turning the paper over and taking note of the girl's name and number before folding the paper and sliding it into his pocket. "You've done well, Anthony. Keep it up."
"Thank you," Caroline told him, following Klaus into the elevator as the doors opened and watched the other man grin before heading off to his apartment. "See, look at what-"
She never got to finish the sentence as Klaus had her pressed back against the elevator wall as soon as the doors closed. He would have knocked the wind out of her if she had still been human, but instead he had only managed to break her train of thought. "What the…?"
He was staring down at her and she expected to find anger in his eyes, and while his gaze was definitely heated it wasn't because of any fury. The desire she saw in them had her swallowing hard and he wasn't even touching her any longer, one hand having come to press against the wall beside her head, the other pressing into it beside her shoulder. "Has anyone ever told you that you're a master manipulator, Caroline?" he asked her, his gaze unrelenting and she couldn't seem to look away.
Caroline pressed her lips together, refusing to give him the satisfaction of an answer. "Kindness, forgiveness, and pity," he stated, reminding her of their other conversation on Elena's old porch. "All again, all for you."
Kindness to the wolves by allowing them to obtain jobs and continue their education. Forgiveness for the two wolves had created a roadblock in his plans and pity to allow them to continue the pregnancy he cared nothing for. And she had sat there, looking as regally beautiful as he had always known she would be and reminding him that he couldn't snap at his followers because they annoyed or angered him. It seemed she had been right in her assessment of the situation. The last thing he needed was restless wolves and perhaps their intermingling in society would allow for more information as Anthony's family ties did.
"And maybe when you start to do those things because you actually believe in them it'll mean something," Caroline told him, slipping out from the wall and away from him. "Doing them just for me is…" Is what, Caroline? Something that the Hybrid standing by the wall never did for anyone else. Rarely showed anyone else and here he had done it for a second time and perhaps his reasoning for it was wrong, but it had to mean something, didn't it? And she had basically just thrown it back in his face.
She could see the walls being built back up in the man across from her, the steely gaze replacing the former and she mentally kicked herself for that. She didn't want to go back to him pushing her away like he had in the woods after the incident with the witches. She wasn't ready to move forward either, but backwards was definitely not an option.
"Thank you," she told him as the elevator doors opened. How he reacted now was a sure sign if they were moving backward or not, and considering how easy it was to bruise Klaus' ego she wouldn't be surprised if he chose that option.
Klaus moved forward and he could see her tense, but sensed that the trepidation in her gaze wasn't because she was afraid of him, and he stopped at the door, holding it open for her as he had done earlier. "Now how about some lunch?" he suggested, taking her arm in his own as they headed out of the apartment building.
"Sure, why not?" Caroline replied, nearly pulling back from him, but decided it really wasn't a battle that she cared to fight.
The fact she hadn't pulled away had Klaus smiling to himself as he led her toward a restaurant he'd been wanting to show her since he had stepped foot back in the city.
Rebekah was in the newly remodeled living room, texting away as she lounged on the couch when she heard the front door open. She listened for a moment, wondering who it was that had finally come home. Once she recognized that she could hear a heartbeat she dropped back against the pillow, resuming her text conversation. She didn't care to speak to the little witch or his lapdog vampire. Even if Patrick was nice enough to look at and she was insanely bored, Rebekah had learned long ago not to touch Klaus' pets and as cute as the vampire in question was he definitely wasn't worth a decade or two daggered in a box.
"Where's Caroline?" Caleb demanded as he walked into the room. Part of him knew he should treat the Original laying on the couch with more respect, and while he still greatly feared Rebekah and what she could do to him, he'd learned after the last few days that they wouldn't do anything to hurt him. Not with the deal Caroline had made with Klaus.
"How should I know?" Rebekah asked, not bothering to look up from her phone. "And watch your tone, little witch. I'd hate to cut out your tongue."
"You can't touch me," Caleb started, flinching when she was off the couch within seconds and standing before him.
"Oh, but I can. Cut it out, let you writhe around and scream before stuffing my blood down your throat so you can heal." Rebekah warned, smiling wickedly at him. "But not right away of course. I'd want you to experience the piercing, overwhelming pain first." She sauntered back to the couch, dropping down lazily onto it. "Don't forget, Caleb, my brother made that promise to Caroline and while I'd rather not anger him, push me too far and I'll happily face the consequences."
Patrick didn't move, silently assessing the situation, and while he could tell that Caleb was fearful, more so than he had been on walking inside, he could also tell that Rebekah wouldn't be carrying on with her threat anytime soon. His flight or fight response wasn't kicking in and he knew that if there had been a real threat to the witch that the two of them would be far away from New Orleans before Rebekah had uttered a single word.
"I just need to talk to Caroline," Caleb grumbled dropping down onto one of the chairs that weren't within Rebekah's immediate reach. There was information he and Patrick had uncovered that he thought would be good for their friend to know. Sooner rather than later. "Is she out with Klaus?" He couldn't quite keep the venom out of his voice at the mention of the Hybrid's name.
Rebekah simply waved her hand, already done with the conversation. No doubt the two of them were together but she didn't keep tabs on her brother's whereabouts or care about his little 'woo the cheerleader' crusade. Even if he was becoming slightly more tolerable to be around over the last few days.
A knock at the door brought all three of them looking in the direction of the sound, similar worried expressions on their faces. Rebekah knew of no deliveries that were to be made that day and that was one thing she knew Klaus and Elijah wouldn't forget to tell her about. It was an old habit leftover from their running days. They always let one another know if they were expecting packages so they wouldn't be caught off guard. She focused her hearing, picking up on the fact that there were a good twenty people waiting for an answer, most of them on the street while two stood at the door. And they all had heartbeats.
Leseid Coven.
It had to be them. Who else would be showing up to the house in the middle of the day?
"Patrick, be a dear and check on our guest downstairs. Make sure he stays quiet," Rebekah instructed, sending a quick text to let Klaus and Elijah know they had arrived before putting her phone away. "And you-" she glanced over a Caleb, "-let's meet your coven, shall we?"
She headed toward the hallway before him, refusing to look weak in front of a group of witches, even if they were from this particular coven. She had seen what they could do over the years and never relished being at their mercy. Thankfully, there had been little need for them to be at odds in their previous encounters. Rebekah wasn't so sure that was the case any longer.
Opening the door, she looked down on the petite, heavy set woman who was waiting for an answer. The woman looked back up at her, silently assessing the vampire before her entire face seemed to blossom with happiness. "Now there's my grandson," the woman cried out, opening her arms for a hug as Caleb stepped forward, happily accepting the embrace.
"Hey, Gramma," he murmured, hugging the older woman back just as tightly before waving to the others he had known his entire life.
"I hate to break up the happy reunion, but everyone needs to come inside," Rebekah interrupted, sighing exasperatedly at the scene. "No doubt there's little that can be done about the scene you've already caused, but I'd rather not chance a larger one happening."
She turned on her heel before any of them could answer, expecting to be followed. "She's right, get on in here everyone," Caleb instructed, pulling away from his grandmother and ushering the men and women indoors.
"Are you okay?" his grandmother asked, looking him over for any signs of abuse, relieved when he nodded. "And the Harbinger?"
Caleb knew his grandmother was worried about Caroline because she was a vampire and there had never been a vampire Harbinger before. The entire coven was concerned over what that could mean and no doubt they had heard their own versions of everything from the New Orleans' witches already.
"I think you're going to love her," Caleb told her, pleading with his grandmother to believe him, to give Caroline a chance. He couldn't get the memory of Caroline and the little girl at the beach out of his mind. Her spinning around on the sand bathed in light. She was the one that everyone needed. They would see it or he would die making them see it.
"I thought we were heading back to the house?" Caroline asked, glancing around at the elegant homes. She knew that if they continued down this particular street they would be at her grandmother's house and Caroline didn't really want to go there with Klaus.
"I believe it's time for you to see someone," Klaus told her, giving no hint as to where they were going. Oh he knew it rankled the girl to not have any control, just as it did him, but considering she had forced him to give up some of his own today, he felt it necessary to take away a bit of hers as well.
They stopped in front of one of the larger houses and Klaus pushed open the iron gate that had been closed, letting all know to stay away from it. They were immediately greeted by a man who looked ready to kill before he caught sight of Klaus. "Very good, Ulrich, now go back to surveying the grounds," Klaus told the man, taking Caroline's arm again as he led her up the pathway toward the door.
"Who do I need to see?" she demanded, though her voice was nearly inaudible as she glanced up at the columns of the house. Who could possibly be in this house, surrounded by guards-because oh yes, she saw another man further along, looking ready to attack before he too caught sight of Klaus.
Hayley.
Caroline tried to yank her arm away from him. She did not want to see that girl. She was still dealing with even knowing the girl was pregnant and now he wanted to show her off? No. "Let me go," Caroline demanded her voice louder now. "I don't need proof that the girl is pregnant."
Klaus stopped at the top step, glancing down at the struggling girl and dragged her up to the top step to stand beside him. "We're not here for her actually, though she will be here," he informed her, before leaning down so close that their noses nearly touched "Just say the word and I'll happily rip out her heart."
Caroline pushed him away, wrenching her arm from his grip. "No." How could this man go so easily from laughing with her at a table in a restaurant to offering to rip out a pregnant girl's heart? He was going to give her whiplash. "Let's just get this over with."
She knew they wouldn't be leaving until whatever scenario he wanted to play out was finished. Klaus flashed her a grin before pushing open the door and letting them in. "Come out, come out wherever you are," he spoke, his voice reverberating through the large open parlor.
Hayley appeared at the top of the stairs at the same time an older woman and man entered the downstairs area from two opposite doors. "Mr. Mikaelson," the older couple greeted, and he waved at them to go back to their duties, while Hayley looked down suspiciously at him.
"Why are you here?" she asked, clearly not having seen Caroline yet.
"And where is my favorite little Hybrid?" Klaus asked, and Caroline didn't move from the doorway, eyes widening in horror when she realized why he had brought her to that house. "Don't tell me he's already warming your bed."
Hayley glared down at him, refusing to rise to the bait or venture downstairs. The less time she had to spend in the Original's presence, the better. Though she was rather confused as to why he was around. There were no deliveries to be made and usually it was Elijah who checked up on them. Something was up.
"I want to go, now," Caroline urged her voice as quiet as she could make it, hopeful that only Klaus would pick up what she was saying. She was not ready for this confrontation, no matter how much she knew it needed to happen.
"I'm right here," Tyler grumbled, heading out from the same direction the other man had come from and stopped in his tracks when he spotted the blonde behind Klaus. "Caroline?"
"I'm going to go get a drink," Klaus informed the group, glancing back at Caroline. He didn't enjoy the pain he saw in her eyes, the anger she directed at him for a moment before looking back at Tyler. He knew it was probably wrong of him to put her in this position, but the sooner she spoke to Tyler, the sooner the two truly ended their relationship and not just over a pathetic phone call misunderstanding, the better chance he had at finally having Caroline for himself. Maybe this would backfire in his face and the two would get back together, but Klaus had a feeling it wouldn't, and even if it did, it was better to know for certain than constantly living with wondering when Tyler would enter her life again to try and steal her away. Better to adjust his plans if the boy won her over now.
He looked up at Hayley, seeing the girl's shock at the situation. "I suggest you stay up there, wolf," Klaus told her before walking past everyone and heading toward the liquor cabinet.
Caroline glared at his backside until he disappeared pass the doorway and she could no longer see him. It was that or look at Tyler and she wasn't ready to do that yet. "Care, why are you with him?" Tyler asked, running a hand through his hair and took a moment to glance up toward where Hayley had been. Thankfully the other girl had disappeared into one of the rooms.
"Seriously?!" Caroline threw her hands in the air, staring at him. "We haven't talked for like two weeks and the first thing you have to say to me is to ask why I'm with him?! You haven't answered a single text, a single voicemail. You haven't even tried to talk to me and you ask me why I'm with Klaus?!" She could feel her anger trying to get the better of her, saw the far light in the corner start to flicker, and forced herself to calm down and breathe. "Did you ever think that oh hey, he was the last person you were with so maybe I came here with him so I could freaking talk to you?"
Which okay, hadn't been the exact scenario and she had planned on getting around to asking Klaus exactly where Tyler was, but only after she was ready for this conversation. "And I find you here with her?"
"She needed help, Caroline," Tyler protested, pleading with her to understand and she tried to, she really did.
"And I needed you," she told him, shaking her head at the injustice of it all. How could he not have seen that?
Out of all the people in the world for him to have been residing with it just had to be Hayley. The girl who had betrayed him, the entire Hybrid pack, snapped Caroline's neck and played them all for fools. He could have returned home to her, they could have been happy, but he had chosen Hayley instead—and god part of Caroline did understand that he was only trying to help someone who was once his friend—but he'd chosen Hayley over her. Somehow she had wound up being second choice all over again and it hurt.
"I cannot with you right now." She stomped off in the direction Klaus had gone. She needed a damn drink too.
"Caroline," Tyler started, using that damn placating tone she was coming to hate from everyone ever. He followed after her, but she ignored him, listening for the telltale signs of where Klaus had headed and pushed open the doors, walking toward the Hybrid who was lounging in one of the chairs with his own glass of Scotch.
She snatched the glass from his hand and downed the whole thing as Tyler walked inside the room. "Get out," she growled at Klaus, who looked up at her, mildly amused.
"I believe I was in here first, Caroline," he pointed out, and she reached past him for the bottle of Scotch, refilling the glass.
"And I need the alcohol more than you so get out and go entertain your baby mama," she hissed, ignoring the annoyed glare he directed at her for that comment. She didn't even care. She was pissed at him. At Tyler. At Hayley. At her great grandmother. At all of them.
"Are you certain you want me anywhere near the girl?" Klaus reminded, crossing his fingers over his chest where his heart was located beneath, a clear indicator of what he might do.
"I don't care what you do," Caroline informed him, glaring over at him as she took another long sip of her drink. Except she did and she knew that he knew it from the amused look he directed at her which only made her want to claw his damn eyes out.
Tyler hovered in the doorway, watching the exchange, confused and concerned about what was happening. He didn't like how close Klaus was to Caroline, nor did he enjoy the way Klaus was looking at her, like he owned her, as though she belonged to him now. "As you wish," Klaus murmured, unable to resist running his fingers along her arm as he rose from his seat, smirking at Tyler as he exited the room.
"What the hell was that?" Tyler demanded, shutting the door behind him and heading over to where Caroline stood, refilling her glass all over again.
"What was what? Me needing a drink and getting one?" she asked, shrugging and not really wanting to go into the dynamic between her and the Original.
"Why is he looking at you like you're his, Caroline?" Tyler pressed, rounding on her, furious that she wasn't bothering to look at him or to even seem bothered by the prospect of what he had said. Klaus had always looked at Caroline a certain way-with this longing for her to claim one day as his own, but now he looked victorious, as if he'd made his claim and was never letting go.
"Because he has boundary issues? I don't know. I can't exactly control the way he looks at me, can I?" Caroline pointed out, putting the glass down. Maybe alcohol wasn't a good idea. It wasn't going to do anything but confuse her thoughts and she figured she might need those as clear as possible for this conversation. She sighed, dropping down on the chair Klaus had vacated and looked up at Tyler. "What happened to us?"
Where had they gone wrong? When had it changed from fighting to always being together to just fighting, to not talking, to seemingly giving up on even the prospect of them. "Why didn't you come home? He let you go and all I wanted was for you to come home and you lied to me." And really that was the part that had hurt the most, even more than him not returning, but what had happened to honesty? She knew that Tyler knew how much she valued that in people.
"He let me go," Tyler growled, running his hands frustratedly through his hair as he looked down at her. "Do you know what that's like? Not to be able to be with you except because he's decided to show me some damn mercy?"
"Who cares why he did it? All that matters is that he did and you can come home." She leaned back against the chair, crossing her arms and looked away from him. "Or you could, but you can't anymore, can you? Because you're here instead of at home with me."
It should have been Tyler who she told about all the craziness in her life. Tyler who she could have called in the middle of the night when she couldn't sleep in New York City. But after countless ignored calls or ones where she could tell he wasn't listening, Caroline had given up on reaching out. Especially once she had realized he wasn't reaching back.
"You're not home either," Tyler pointed out, dropping down onto the other couch, and she shook her head at him. That wasn't the point. Couldn't he see that?
Caroline could feel the tears pricking her eyes, wanting to be released but she refused to let them fall. "What happened to us?" she breathed out, laying her head back against the chair's cushioning as she closed her eyes.
"Let's just go, Care," Tyler urged and she snapped to attention at that, looking over at him. "Just leave all of this the hell behind and run as far and as fast as we can."
If he had asked her to do that a few weeks ago she probably would have jumped at the opportunity, but there was no way she could any longer. She was the Harbinger and she had a job to do. Not to mention she was pretty sure running wasn't something Tyler would be able to do for too long and not just because Klaus would find them and kill him. She had seen the other werewolves today, the family they had created and while their circumstances had been awful, they had stuck together. All they had wanted was a place they could call home and start a new generation and while Tyler was a Hybrid, Caroline knew that he probably had that mentality in him as well. Or why had he unsired all the Hybrids? Why else was he in New Orleans helping someone who had betrayed him?
Maybe he would run with her for a few years, a century even, but he would want what the other werewolves had. The last thing Caroline wanted was for him to become cold and manipulative like the pregnant wolf upstairs. The one who didn't have a family and wanted so desperately to find it again.
"For how long?" Caroline asked and she could just sense Klaus nearby, no doubt listening to their conversation and she had to hand it to him for not immediately bursting into the room at Tyler's suggestion. "Because I know you, Ty. The wolf in you is going to want a pack, to settle down and have a family. Which apparently you can do if whatever the hell that is upstairs is any indication."
"So? You're the one who wanted the whole picket fence and 2.5 kids scenario since we were all in elementary school," Tyler pointed out, smiling over at her and she remembered that girl, that whisper of herself who had slowly been chipped away.
Had she ever really wanted it though? Or had it just been the dream she clung to because her own family had become so broken that she wanted to try and make one that wasn't?
"I gave up that dream so long ago, Tyler," she told him, and maybe she had held onto it a little ways into being a vampire, but only as much as she had tried so desperately to cling to her human life. But she wasn't human, that much was certain in her head, and she liked her new dreams. "I don't want to stay in one place. I want see the world, to explore every inch of it. Learn new things and considering I'll forever look seventeen I can't really stay in one place all that long anyway."
Neither could he, but Caroline figured that if he was with a pack they would figure that part out. "I don't even think I wanted it all that much before I couldn't really have it either," she continued, looking back at the ceiling. It was something she had been thinking about more and more lately now that she needed to plan a new course for her life and she'd come to realize so many things about her past dreams and desires when she could look back and analyze them from this new perspective. "I was just trying to create the perfect family, Tyler, and we both know there's no such thing as that. I'd have been a miserable alcoholic soccer mom who probably would've loved her kids and been in a horrible loveless marriage and having an affair with like the town drunk or whatever." Okay, maybe it wouldn't have been that bad but considering she knew what the other relationships in their small town were like it really wasn't all that far off.
Small town boy, small town life… oh god how she hated Klaus and his words coming back to her at the most inopportune moments. "I've changed," she murmured, and not just because of her newfound powers and responsibilities.
"Because of him," Tyler grumbled, and Caroline shook her head.
"Did you even listen to a word I just said because I am pretty sure I didn't mention the damn Original's name even once!" she yelled at him as she rose from her chair. "This isn't about him. It's about me. And maybe he was a goddamn ass for bringing me here to do this now, but what else was there to do? You weren't answering my calls, my texts. Were you ever going to call me back? Text me back?"
From the way Tyler stared resolutely at the ground, hands gripping the back of his neck as his shoulders slumped Caroline figured she had her answer. "When did I stop being enough for you to fight for?" she asked, running her hands through her hair.
"I don't know," Tyler replied, and something inside of Caroline just broke at that admission. That he didn't think their relationship was worth the fight. What was the point in trying so desperately to hold onto something that was so irreparably broken?
"I will always love you, Tyler, but I can't do this anymore," Caroline told him, and headed toward the door. "And I don't think you can either." Nor did she think either of them really wanted to. Part of her wanted him to call after her, to plead with her to stay, that they could figure it all out and that part was heartbroken when he didn't. When he kept staring at the floor as she walked out of the room and out of his life.
She headed toward the main door, wiping barely fallen tears from her cheeks as she passed Klaus. "I hope you're happy," she snapped at him, thankful he wasn't smirking at her as he held open the door for her. Caroline wanted to say she hated him, for him to go to hell, but instead she just wrapped her arms around herself in a comforting hug and started walking back toward where the Mikaelson townhouse was located.
Klaus watched her go for a moment, nearly following after her when he heard Tyler exit through the hallway and stop a few feet from him. "Have something to say, mate?" he asked, unable to keep the amusement out of his voice.
"You're going to destroy her," Tyler said, glaring at him, trying so hard to control his rage and not outright attack the man who had managed to take so many things from him.
"No, I'm going to make her a Queen," Klaus informed him before heading down the stairs and after Caroline. He only paused once when he heard Tyler speak again.
"Are you sure that's not the same thing?"
But he ignored him, catching up with Caroline who was steadfastly ignoring him. "I know you think my methods cruel," Klaus started and she snorted at that, finally looking at him, a clear 'you think' expression on her face. "But what would have been better? For you to wallow in wondering if he would ever call, ever contact you and waiting tirelessly for that day or knowing with certainty that he never would have and now being free to move on with your life?"
Caroline stopped in her tracks, causing Klaus to stop as well and turn back to look at her. She was glorious in her barely contained fury. "You mean move on with you," she snapped, shaking her head in disbelief when he shrugged, clearly indicating that was his preferred method. "I can't even look at you right now, so how about we just don't talk for the next few days? Or even see each other? Because I think that might be best for everyone involved."
"Ah, so then you'll still want to converse with me eventually," he pointed out, and she let out a frustrated groan stomping away from him. "And you'll want to turn right, Caroline, our house is that way."
"It's not ours," she yelled at him, but did as advised because she needed to see Caleb and Patrick, to know that they were okay and then have like three blood bags to try and control her seething rage at the nerve of the man behind her. Every time she thought maybe he was capable of being something more, each time he did something to show her that he could be, he just seemed to throw in something that reminded her how much of a bastard that he really was and she couldn't handle any more of that game right now.
She walked up the stairs to the townhouse door, tapping her foot impatiently as she waited for Klaus to get there in order to unlock it. The ass took his sweet time, and she hissed as he deliberately brushed his body against hers, baring her fangs at him in warning. When she saw him look down at her, his gaze darkening with barely contained need at the sight of them, Caroline quickly let them ascend and pushed past him into the house. She was in no mood for him and his lust.
"Oh good, you're both here," Rebekah greeted as she walked down the stairs. "The Leseid Coven is here and they're very excited to meet you."
Caroline nodded, watching Rebekah head off into the living room where she could hear a whole bunch voices. Could she not get one single break? She needed ice cream and alcohol and a two-day marathon of horrible Lifetime movies before she would be ready to deal with anyone, but Caroline knew that wasn't in the cards for her. She had a duty to do and would just need to deal with her broken heart some other time. Fate of New Orleans was far more important than the fate of her relationships. Even when dealing with herself, Caroline had to put her own needs and wants in the second place category, to be dealt with later.
Klaus put his hand on her shoulder, but she didn't care if he was attempting to offer comfort or whatever his motives were. She didn't want him touching her and so she shrugged him off, glaring at him before straightening her hair and putting on her best 'I'm fine' face.
"Let's just do this."
AN: Thank you for all the wonderful reviews, follows and favorites. Also thanks to whoever nominated me for Author of the Month for the Klaroline Magazine because I really was not expecting that to happen. Which if you haven't heard of the Klaroline magazine you should definitely check it out because its amazing.
Also the H key on my laptop has gone haywire. I am pretty sure I fixed any missing H but I am so sorry if I didn't catch any!
I hope everyone enjoyed this part and the next part will be out in a few days. Have a great start to the week everyone.