Caroline was enjoying herself tremendously. Currently, she was standing at a bar in Paris, surrounded by gorgeous men who all whispered compliments in her ear in charming girl's dream.
She'd stepped away from her table with Stefan for only a moment, she'd promised to buy the next round, and once she'd turned around to check on her friend her view had been obstructed by one guy, then two, then three. And then she was trapped on a bar stool, although she couldn't complain because the view was awfully nice.
Stefan caught her eye through the crowd surrounding her and she chuckled and winked at him, he raised a full glass to her in a half salute as he slung his arm around the shoulder of the pretty blonde sitting next to him. He was always worrying about her, she could see it in his face, but she was just fine. They were always there for each other, though. He'd turned her eight years ago and they'd been stuck to each others sides ever since.
One day she was just your average seventeen year old, going to high school, partying on weekends, complaining about homework and college applications, then she'd met Stefan. He's shown her this new world and promised her she could go anywhere in it. She was stronger, faster, better than her human self. He'd taught her control over her cravings and reminded her that humans weren't chew toys for her amusement and in return she was his friend, his companion. They traveled together, kept each other company, sometimes just kept each other sane. He'd been alive for so, so long and for most of that time, he'd been alone. Caroline only wished she and Stefan had found each other sooner.
First they'd gone to Rome, and she loved it there. The people were so warm and friendly and the city was the perfect mix of ancient and youthful, just like Stefan. Then they'd hit Tokyo which was lively and crazy and beautiful with all its shouts and lights and its crazy heartbeat, it was so alive, and that's just how Caroline felt. Then they'd been to Paris, but they'd only been able to stay a few days. Stefan had dragged her away when she was only halfway up the Eiffel Tower.
That was the strange thing about Stefan, he never let them stay anywhere too long. She'd been to hundreds of different cities, but never really seen much. Rome had been three weeks, Tokyo only two, Brazil a month, Sydney for four months, that was the longest they'd ever stayed in one place, and New York, for nineteen hours, that was the shortest. The way Stefan saw it, if they were going to live forever, why stay in the same place too long? They could always come back later, he'd promise.
Eventually she'd insisted, demanded, begged and pleaded for him to take her back to Paris and he'd said "Oh, yeah sure. I didn't know you wanted to go to Paris." As if he'd just forgotten about how he'd dragged her out of France a year ago.
And now here they were, drinking and laughing in the city of lights.
She smiled at the man next to her with his blue eyes and short black hair as he handed her a glass of champagne and trailed on in French, oblivious to the fact that she couldn't understand a word he was saying. She just smiled and nodded along. Then a hand clamped down on the Frenchman's shoulder.
"I think the lady's had enough for the night, gents." A new voice said.
Caroline couldn't see his face until the Frenchman was pulled away from her by the weight of the hand. He was a handsome man, with hair that Caroline wanted to run her fingers through. The Frenchman didn't seem to understand his words but the look in the stranger's eye was clear enough. It was time to back off.
Caroline smiled as the man took the champagne flute out of her hand and passed her a glass of scotch. She smiled down at it,
"Thanks." She said. The man smiled at her.
"You looked like you could use the help, love." The man said with a smile before leaning his elbows onto the bar to get server's attention. Caroline followed suit and leaned in next to him,
"I was doing just fine on my own." She argued, then she mumbled into her drink before taking a quick swig. "And it's not like I needed rescuing."
The man kept his eyes trained on the busy bartender as he replied. "Nah, that's not who you want."
"And you know who I want?" Caroline asked. She stared at him in disbelief, she actually couldn't seem to take her eyes off him.
"Yes." He replied, glancing over at her for only a moment.
Caroline shook herself out of the trance he's put her in, "You don't even know me." She replied. And for some reason, he laughed at that. He ordered his drink, a scotch to match hers, and turned his attention to her.
"You want a man who will take you places. You need adventure and excitement and you won't find it with any one of them." He said, pointing lazily to the men who'd dispersed throughout the room.
"And just where do you think I'll find all this great adventure?" She asked, turning to face the room and leaning away from him slightly. She could feel the way his eyes roamed across her body and a smug smile broke out on her face.
"There are a few places," He said. "Paris isn't a bad place to start, then there's always Rome, or Tokyo."
"I've been there." She replied eagerly. "In fact, this is my second time in Paris." It was only half a lie.
She expected him to laugh at her, and placate her need to prove him wrong. But instead, his face fell.
"Of course you have." He replied curtly. "And who may I ask, took you to all these splendid places? I doubt a girl like you travels alone." He said, trying to make the charm return to his voice.
Caroline pointed across the crowded bar at Stefan who, much like Caroline minutes ago, was now happily surrounded by members of the opposite sex. The man she was with looked over and nodded before turning back to face the bar. Stefan glanced over at her and she smiled back but his eyes were glued to the man's back. She rolled her eyes, she could handle herself, and besides this man was just another in a long line, no threat whatsoever.
"Well what about you, are you traveling alone?" She asked. He chuckled into his drink,
"No, I'm here looking for someone." He replied.
"And did you find them?" She asked.
"Definitely not." He replied.
"What's your name?" She asked.
"Nik." He said.
"And where's that accent from?" She said.
"You ask a lot of questions, love." He said.
"Well, I'm trying to get to know you." She said.
"Why on earth would you want to do a thing like that?" He smiled at her and she stared into his eyes.
The bar was crowded and noisy but their eyes were close and when he stared into hers he saw light, and intrigue and interest, and all those things he hadn't seen in someone in so long. And then she shrugged and turned back to her drink.
"Because I dared myself." She answered.
"You dared yourself." He repeated.
"Yes." She replied. "I decided if you've got enough gusto to scare away every other man who was talking to me, there must be something about you worthwhile."
"Hmm." He said. She swallowed the rest of her drink and he ordered her another.
"Besides," She continued, "I couldn't exactly reject my great saviour." She said with mock appreciation.
"I thought you didn't need my help?" He joked.
"Oh, I didn't." She clarified, lifting up a finger and pointing it in his face. "I can take care of myself."
"Of course, love" He said, sipping his drink casually as he leaned over the bar. "Vampires usually can."
Her eyes widened in surprise.
"Yes," Nik continued. "I know what you are. Don't worry, we're one and the same." He shrugged and sipped his drink, "Sort of."
Caroline relaxed but looked over to Stefan, he still looked extremely tense.
"Tell your friend to relax," Nik said, turning around to meet Stefan's eye. "You're in good hands for now." He raised his glass to Stefan, who only seemed to grow angrier, before guiding Caroline to a stool at the end of the bar.
"Do you two know each other?" Caroline asked as Nik and Stefan continued to hold their eye contact, neither of them willing to break first.
"Oh yes," He said "We're like old friends, him and I."
"How old?" Caroline scoffed, "Stefan's like a billion." Nik shook his head but there was a smile on his face.
"What?" Caroline asked. "What's so funny?" She eyes him carefully, "How old are you?" She asked.
Nik took the seat next to her and put hand on her arm.
"Enough about me," He said. "I want to talk about you."
They stayed there for hours, talking and laughing and drinking, and Caroline was having a wonderful time with this pleasant stranger until there was a ringing in her ears and a hand on her arm.
"Last call, folk!" The bartender called. Stefan was standing next to Caroline.
She looked behind him and noticed the bar had almost completely cleared out. When had that happened?
"Time to go home, Caroline." He said firmly.
"What?" Caroline said, sitting up straight in surprise. "Why?"
"Caroline, it's three in the morning." Stefan said.
"Why not go home with one of your girls," Caroline said leaning over to see the group of girls at Stefan's table, all of whom were staring at him hopefully. "They all look very willing."
Stefan looked down at Nik,
"And who's this?" He asked.
"Stefan, this is Nik." Caroline said as the two men stared each other down. "He says you two have met before."
Stefan smirked as Nik extended his hand. He stared down at it skeptically.
"Hmm, well you know how easily you can forget faces over the years." He said, shaking his hand.
"Naturally." Nik said. They were still shaking hands.
"Nik, was it?" Stefan asked.
"Mm-hmm." Nik said.
"Is that short for anything?" Stefan said.
"Niklaus." He said grimly. Caroline's eyes flicked between the two of them. They were still shaking hands.
"Hmm, that's any interesting name." Stefan said.
"Well, I suppose," Nik said. "But it's no Salvatore."
Stefan raised an eyebrow at him.
"I didn't say his last name." Caroline whispered.
"Caroline," Nik said, breaking his hand away from Stefan's and placing it on her elbow. "Would you like to get out of here?"
Stefan grabbed her arm roughly, placing his hand right above Nik's.
"Not tonight." He spoke for her.
"Isn't that my decision?" Caroline said, though neither of them seemed to hear her.
"Caroline," Stefan said, tearing his eyes away from Nik's. "Why don't you go find our coats and we'll go home?"
Caroline glared at him but he wasn't budging, she was stuck with him for the night.
"Fine." She grumbled, hopping off her stool. She paused a moment and looked at Nik. "I'll see you around?" She asked uncertainly.
"Most definitely." He smiled. She smiled back and began to walk away.
"Good luck with your search, hope you find what you're looking for!" She called as she walked away.
Stefan watched until she was well out of earshot.
"We had a deal, Klaus." He said. Klaus still had a ridiculous smile on his face as he stared at the empty entrance way Caroline had disappeared through.
"You need to relax, mate." He said. "What's few extra hours in the grand scheme of things?"
"One night." Stefan said. "You get one night. Not one day, not twenty-four hours, and you don't get to try to sneak in extra time."
Klaus glared at his friend, downed his drink and stood up.
"Understood." He growled. "Now, we don't want to keep Caroline waiting." He gestured to the doorway. Stefan nodded grimly.
"She'll be at Vendome Square tomorrow at six." He said. "Don't be late."
"He's always late." Caroline muttered to herself on a park bench in Paris.
She was all dressed up. She'd spent the day shopping and done her hair all nice, she was wearing shoes that would've killed her feet if she was still human. Stefan had promised her a night of just the two of them, just two best friends out on the town, and now it was a half an hour after they were supposed to be meting and here she was... talking to the pigeons.
"I'm not calling him again." She mumbled to a passing bird as she noted that Stefan was now forty-five minutes late. It just stared at her. "If he wants to drag me from one place to another and keep me waiting, I can do the same to him."
She stepped on the bench she'd been sitting on and stared at her surroundings. "So where should I go?" She asked herself.
"Well, a walk along the Seine can never disappoint." A voice said behind her. She turned around and found Nik, the man from the bar, watching her, his hands tucked in his pockets and a smile on his face. "Fancy running into you here, Caroline." He said "Did your friend Stefan leave you here all alone?"
He offered her a hand down from the bench and she accepted it, tripping slightly as she stepped down and bumping into him.
"We were supposed to meet here at five, but it appears he's late... once again." Caroline said, glancing around the square, unable to find her friend.
"Well then, you've no excuse to say no to me." He said with a devilish grin. "Why don't you join me for the night?"
Caroline sighed and flicked her eyes around the square once more.
"Fine." She said. "Where should we go?" She linked her arm through his and they started walking down through the square.
"Just follow me, love." He said. She chuckled as he guided her aimlessly around the streets of Paris.
"You have no idea where you're going do you?" Caroline asked.
"On the contrary, Caroline, I've been planning this for years."
"I'm serious," Caroline said running up the steps of the apartment she and Stefan had rented for their stay in Paris, "It's way past midnight and Stefan's going to kill me for coming home late."
Nik followed casually in her wake, his hands in his pockets as hers fiddled frantically with her keys. "That seems awfully controlling, considering he was late meeting you."
Caroline sighed, it was a fair point. "He's just protective of me." She said.
"Did you two ever...?" Nik asked. She had to laugh at that.
"No, not once, not ever." She said, still chuckling. He hid his sigh of relief.
"I think he lost someone, before he turned me." She said. She'd paused her attempts to make the key fit in the lock and now her eyes were far off and distant.
"What makes you say that?" Nik asked. Caroline shrugged.
"Just the way he watches me sometimes. Whoever he lost, I think I remind him of them." She smiled her big glowing smile, "But it's okay because he keeps me safe and when he's sad I help him get better. We're a good team. We take care of each other."
"He's lucky to have you." Nik said.
"We're lucky to have each other." Caroline corrected. The key click into the lock and Caroline sighed and turned around, staring at him expectantly.
"Aren't you going to kiss me, Nik?" She asked.
They stood at opposite ends of the hallway, and he smirked at her with his hands held behind his back. He had a million clever lines running through his head but he'd waited a year for this and that had been far too long. He wasn't wasting any more time.
When she saw him smirk at her, her face fell slightly, but it took him barely a second to close the space the hallway put between them. Then his lips were on hers and his hand was on her hip, another was winding up her neck into her hair and hers were hanging half-limp at her sides, shocked and pleasantly surprised.
All night she'd felt mixed signals bouncing between them. She kept wanting to offer to have him travel with her and Stefan but kept holding herself back, maybe he was just being nice, maybe this was a one-night kind of thing. Sometimes she'd say things and he'd just laugh without explanation, like there was some inside joke she could never get, or he'd get sad and distant all of a sudden. But other times he'd smile so kindly. She kept telling herself she'd be a fool to ask him to come along with them, and so she hadn't brought it up, but she couldn't deny that she had a good feeling about this man.
And now he was kissing her and it didn't feel like a mixed signal at all. He proved his age with that kiss. He was well practiced that was for sure. It was like he'd done it to her a thousand times before. He knew how she would fight against him, itching for control which, of course, he was unwilling to hand over.
She felt herself being pressed against the wall outside her apartment and moaned as his trailed kisses down her neck. He definitely knew what he was doing. She closed her eyes and let her hands trail into his hair, a constant tug of war brewed inside her, wanting him to stay where he was and also come back to her lips.
"Klaus." She moaned.
He stopped. Why did he stop? He took a quick in her eyes and she tried to figure out what was wrong. He looked hopeful, but also so incredibly sad. But she didn't have time to decide before he was kissing her again. This time his hands on either side of her face. She didn't understand why he'd look at her like that, or why he kissed her so forcefully, as if she might pull away at any second.
"What was that, Nik?" She asked, pulling her lips only a few inches away from his.
He kept his eyes on the ground as he chuckled sadly, "Nothing, love." He answered.
His kisses were soft after that, and he was no longer holding her in place. She missed the heat and the passion from before, this kisses tasted like defeat, and she just couldn't understand why because she was right here in front of him. Maybe she should ask him to come along, maybe he was sad like Stefan and needed someone. Everybody needed somebody.
He kept kissing her even as they heard the door open.
"It's 12:15." Stefan said curtly in the doorway.
Caroline giggled as Nik ignored her friend and kept kissing her.
"Sorry Stefan." She said when he finally, reluctantly, pulled away.
She pulled herself out of Nik's light grasp and stood in the doorway.
"Say goodnight, Caroline." Stefan said.
"Honestly," Caroline muttered, "I'm a vampire, not a child." But Stefan gave her that tired older brother look so she turned around and smiled at Nik.
"Goodnight, Nik." She said "Thank you for a... memorable evening."
He laughed that sad laugh again and Stefan looked down at his shoes.
"Thank you for allowing me to show you the city, Caroline." Nik said, taking her hand and kissing it, then pressing another to her cheek, and one more to her lips.
She smiled, though part of her was annoyed that Stefan felt the need to stand there and watch them.
"Goodnight, Nik." She said again. Goodnight, but not goodbye. She wouldn't let it be goodbye. She had a good feeling about him.
"Goodnight, Caroline." He said.
She turned on her heels and retreated into the apartment.
A hand grabbed her wrist.
"Not so fast." Stefan said, turning her around to face Nik again. "A real goodbye."
Nik sighed and stepped up to Caroline, the tips of their toes touching.
"You will forget everything." He said.
"Forget everything from the moment you saw me yesterday to the moment you stepped through this door tonight." Nik sighed and looked at the cold look on Stefan's face. "You will continue to travel with Stefan, the friend who you know turned you eight years ago, and saved you from your boring life in Mystic Falls. You will continue to do as he says, because you know he will always look out for you and protect you, and because you take care of him too. You will go to sleep tonight, dream of whatever you like, of horses, perhaps, and in the morning you will suggest that your friend take you somewhere new and you will leave this city."
He leaned in a kissed Caroline, knowing she wouldn't feel any of it, in her trance like state.
"Goodbye, Caroline." He said.
"Goodbye." She turned and walked off to her room, shaking her head as her lips repeated his commands.
"And you," Klaus said, turning to Stefan, "You will continue to protect her." It was a compulsion, just a regular old threat.
Stefan clasped a hand on Klaus' shoulder.
"Come in, have a drink." He said. "You look like you need it."
"It's what she wants." Stefan said.
He was staring down into his glass. They both hated this night. The night they made her forget and then sat around like old friends, waiting for the day they could make her remember.
"We don't know what she wants," Klaus said "And neither does she in this state, so don't try and lie to me."
He was bitter. And understandably so. He was always bitter on this night.
"Last time we removed the compulsion, she said this was what she wanted." Stefan reminded him. Not that Klaus' needed to be reminded.
"I remember it well." Klaus confirmed. They both did.
On a night like this one, three years ago, they'd woken her up in Instanbul. She'd screamed bloody murder at them, punching and kicking and fighting them, begging them to turn it off and let her forget again.
"Was it really so bad?" Klaus asked.
"In Mystic Falls?" Stefan asked.
"Yes." Klaus said tersely. He didn't like to remember it either. Neither did Stefan, but someone had to.
"For her, it was. She lost everything." He downed the rest of his drink and filled his glass. "Absolutely everything."
"Five more years." Klaus said. Stefan gulped his drink and nodded.
"That is what she said." He stared into the fire. He looked doubtful.
"What?" Klaus asked.
"It's what she said," Stefan sighed. "But it's not what she meant. She wants to forget. We gave her an out, and now she'll never go back on it. You can't just reawaken that kind of trauma and expect her to have it all neatly dealt with. How is she supposed to put it behind her and move on if she doesn't even know it happened?"
"I see your point." Klaus agreed, glaring at the Salvatore. "But what if I don't care?" Stefan laughed at that.
"You care. That's why you offered it to her in the first place." Stefan said.
"That is just one of many stupid mistakes I made in that town." He said bitterly.
"She had other alternatives," Stefan said darkly, "You offered her this one becuase this was the best option. She didn't want to live if they couldn't. This way we could save her."
"I hate this way." Klaus said.
"Me too." Stefan said.
They stared into the roaring fire. Klaus could hear Caroline's breathing as she slept peacefully down the hall.
"Where will you take her?" Klaus said. He wanted to change the subject, and take his mind off the massacre.
Stefan smirked, "You know I'm not gonna tell you that."
"She liked Argentina." Klaus said. Stefan nodded,
"Yes she did. That was a good call on your part." He said.
"I know her well." Klaus smiled, but it quickly faded. "I think next year we won't meet in Paris." He decided.
Stefan's eyebrows knitted together. "We've been bringing her here for years."
"And next year, when we remove the compulsion again, and she begs to have it put back on, and we try to reason with her, and she looks around and decides she doesn't care she just wants to forget, it will not be Paris that she turns down."
"Okay," Stefan said, not pressing Klaus further. "We'll take her somewhere else, Santiago maybe."
Klaus nodded.
"You still get her every year." Stefan said.
"You get to see her everyday." Klaus countered.
"That's not her." Stefan said dismissively. "Caroline's broken, and this, this is a replacement. But it's not the real thing."
"This is Caroline before you came to Mystic Falls." Klaus said. "Before we all came. It's who..." He sighed, it's who she would've been if I'd found her first. But he didn't say that out loud.
It was the thought that had run through his mind as he'd put on the first compulsion, almost forty years ago.
"You met a vampire, in need of a friend, he turned you because you were special, and he wanted to show you the world, with all it had to offer and all you could do in it."
"...It's who she could've been." Klaus finished. And now she was that person, with someone else.
And once a year the three would meet up, and he would get one night with this amazing girl, the girl he'd lost after the final, tragic, events in that small Virginia town.
"She'll come back." Stefan said, though neither of them believed it anymore.
Klaus stood up and lifted his glass in the air.
"Here's to the next five years." He said, finishing his drink before Stefan could add his own lament.
"And five more after that." The remaining Salvatore added, tossing back his own drink.
Klaus headed for the door.
"Take good care of her," He said, "I do keep tabs on you two, you know."
"Of course I know." Stefan said. He kept tabs on Klaus too, never letting him get too close. They had a deal after all. He'd dragged her kicking and screaming from hundreds of cities. Usually when Klaus showed up, angry and impatient, trying to convince Stefan that this whole plan was stupid and couldn't he just let her see Caroline? But the answer was always no.
Stefan held open the door as Klaus walked into the hall. Slowly, the original scratched his chin and turn back to Stefan.
"She called me Klaus." He said.
"I heard." Stefan said.
"Eavesdropping?" Klaus said.
"You two are hard to miss." Stefan said, unhappily. "It doesn't mean anything." He assured Klaus. It was better than getting his hopes up.
"Well I've got a year to figure out if you're right." Klaus said. Stefan groaned.
"It doesn't mean anything, Klaus." He repeated. Klaus glared up at his friend. His last friend.
"See you in a year, Stefan." He said, turning down the hall and into the stairwell. He could hear him, down the stairs, out the door, onto the street.
Stefan sighed, he'd be back sooner this year. Every year, he got too eager, to angry, too certain she was ready, and he'd come back to her. This year it had been New York, ten years ago it had been Thailand. Soon enough it would be Paris again.
Only maybe next time he'd let Klaus turn the compulsion off, maybe it was time and she was ready. Maybe she would be strong enough to accept what happened and they could all start dealing with the past instead of playing this little game.
He heard Caroline sleeping soundly in her room.
This was how these nights always went. The constant flip-flopping between hope and complete and total doubt. Nothing would ever be like it was.
Stefan poured himself another drink and lifted a toast to no one,
"To fifty more years." He said, gulping it down, tasting the truth.