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Chapter 25: Hardly Delicate
We try to rid ourselves of our demons
but what if we just need to understand them, to realize
The demon controlling us is ourself,
and we cannot rid ourself from ourself
We can only accept the demons inside of us,
And maybe hold their hand one day
Caroline's tongue lolled around her mouth, wetting it.
She felt awful. Her head was pounding a little but the worst part was that her body seemed to have adopted an agenda of its own, refusing her movement.
Caroline groaned and attempted lifting an arm.
She was rewarded for the effort by managing to reach her phone on the bedside table. Pcking it up, she sighed as she went through it, seeing all the confused messages from Elena.
Which drew her eyes up to the current time.
She groaned again. Why was life so cruel?
"Ok I have to go see Elena so whether you like it or not, we are getting up," she instructed her body.
It didn't seem like it wanted to comply and at 6:05 AM she couldn't really blame it, but she had to go see Elena before she left for Whitmore. She had a feeling Elena would force her way in here if she didn't.
Caroline managed to lift her head and was punished for the action by having all of last night's memories come rushing back to her.
Her practically extorting Klaus into kissing her. His hands and lips everywhere. Her hands on his buckle; his hands reaching behind her.
She squeezed her eyes shut and gritted her teeth in annoyance. Why did the moment always have to end right before he got her bra off?
Caroline's eyes widened when she realised that she'd actually just had that thought.
"Get a hold of yourself!" she screamed.
Dangling her legs off the edge of the bed, she rubbed her hands over her face and sucked in deep breaths.
As amazing as last night had been and felt, it wasn't right. It shouldn't have happened. If her mother hadn't walked in…
"Crap, crap, crap, crap."
She still technically had a boyfriend, no matter how awful he was being and how little time that would still be true for. Because as drunk as she'd been last night, in the harsh light of day the decision to cut Tyler loose still wasn't one she intended on going back on.
They were over but until she actually told him that, she had to place a mental boundary between herself and Klaus.
She rubbed her temples nervously as she considered, before reluctantly beginning to dial.
"Hey," she said as soon as he picked up.
"Caroline, I – "
"I just wanted to apologise," she cut him off.
Klaus frowned, rubbing a confused hand over his face.
Caroline's call had woken him and though he didn't require the recovery time that she'd needed in order to get her memories back, her words still left him nonplussed.
"I don't understand," he admitted.
"About last night. I'm sorry."
Klaus' frown deepened as he sat up in bed, running a hand through his hair. "Last night?"
He couldn't comprehend what she might possibly feel the need to apologise for. If anything, the onus was on him to beg her forgiveness for having taken advantage of her in her intoxicated state.
"Everything I said and forcing you to play that stupid game and…" she paused awkwardly, "making you kiss me."
"Caroline, that's not what – "
"And I guess I should thank you too," she laughed nervously.
Klaus rubbed a finger over his brow. It didn't seem like he was going to be allowed to contribute many words to this conversation.
"Thank me?"
"Yeah, god, you stopped me from making a fool of myself with some random guy at the Grill."
That made him smile. As if he ever would have let her go.
"Uh and also thanks for leaving when you did, I guess. My mom would… not have taken that well."
"I surmised as much."
Caroline drew a relieved breath. He was being pretty reasonable about everything. Granted, she hadn't really given him much time to speak, but she still felt like she had a bit more control of the situation now.
"Um, so thanks again. And sorry. I was so wasted."
The line was silent on the other end and she frowned.
"So see you later then?"
"Later?" he asked.
"Well yeah, we said we'd still see each other even if we aren't doing lessons anymore, right?"
Klaus smiled down at the sheets. The relief that she was sticking to that deal sat almost tangibly in his chest.
"Of course."
She caught Elena right as she was about to head out, a bag slung over her shoulder.
"You driving yourself?" Caroline smiled.
Elena's eyes widened in surprise. "Caroline, hey! I was just on my way to you."
Caroline smirked. She knew her friend well.
"Yeah. We should probably talk," Caroline agreed. "I'm sorry I've been ignoring your messages."
Elena stuck her hands into her pockets uncomfortably. "No, I'm sorry, Care. I shouldn't have said the things I said," she apologised with downcast eyes.
Caroline sighed as she considered, then smiled widely. "It's ok, Elena, really."
And she meant it. With an impending breakup on her hands, the last thing Caroline needed was to be estranged from the rest of her friends too.
Elena looked relieved. "So, you what's up? Your text said that you aren't going to Whitmore – did you mean with me or not today or…"
"Not at all," Caroline finished.
Elena frowned. "Wait, you're deferring?"
Caroline bit her lip nervously. "Uh, kind of."
"For how long?"
"Fifty years or so?"
Elena's frown deepened. "I don't get it."
"I decided to wait a few more years before I go back to college," Caroline clarified.
Elena's eyebrows knitted together. "When did you decide that?"
"A few days ago," she admitted.
Elena was staring back at Caroline like she was some kind of alien and in all honesty Caroline couldn't blame her. The blonde had been talking about college non-stop since before graduation, and had planned her dorm's colour scheme before even starting high school.
"I know it's weird, but I've spent some time thinking about it. I mean I don't even seriously have my degree planned out yet," Caroline shrugged. "I kinda just realised that I have all the time and opportunity to go back once I have it figured out."
"So I'm going to be all alone?" Elena asked with a sad grimace.
The question tugged at Caroline's heart strings. Neither of them had to say it: Bonnie wouldn't be there for her either.
"I'm sorry, Elena." Caroline sighed guiltily. "You're going to be fine though; you made so many new friends. This is just something I need to do."
Elena still looked a little uncertain. "Is this about Tyler?"
Caroline couldn't blame her for thinking that either. The beginning of their semester had consisted mainly of Caroline sulking about Tyler not joining them at Whitmore while Elena comforted her.
"No," she asserted. "This is about me."
"Ok," Elena said, nodding slowly. "And there's nothing else you wanna tell me?"
Caroline was about to shake her head when she realised – she could finally tell someone. She hesitated but also felt excitement course through her body because this was it.
"Yeah, actually. Um… I've kind of been wanting to tell you this for a while now, but I have – "
Feelings for Klaus. I have feelings for Klaus.
She would have said it. But Stefan walked in.
"Elena, Katherine needs your help with something before you go," he sighed, then noticed the blonde. "Oh. Hey, Caroline."
Caroline smiled and nodded in greeting but felt frustrated.
She'd come so close.
Elena groaned. "With what this time?"
Stefan shrugged. "She was vague; some girl problem. She said you owe her since you're the one who turned her into a human."
Elena gritted her teeth. "You know, you'd think that at some point she might realise that the only reason I used the cure against her was because she'd been about to kill me."
Caroline almost laughed. She for one was glad that she didn't live in this house with two doppelgangers and two Salvatores.
Elena took a deep breath, calming herself down. "Just… tell her to deal with it herself. I have to leave soon and I'm talking to Caroline right now."
Noticing the disapproving look on Stefan's face, Caroline smiled sunnily at Elena.
"Don't worry about it. I have to get going anyway."
Elena frowned. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah. Go help Katherine," she grinned.
Elena rolled her eyes dramatically before smiling sadly. "I'm going to miss you, Care."
Touched, Caroline pulled her friend into a hug.
"I'm going to miss you too!"
They squeezed each other tightly until Katherine's voice from somewhere within the house, loud and demanding.
"Elena!"
Elena groaned dangerously and Caroline laughed, pulling away.
"I'll see you soon," Caroline assured.
Then she made her way out, carefully avoiding Stefan's eyes.
The last thing she needed was more questions.
Caroline took a breath of relief when she pulled up to her house and saw a familiar truck parked in the driveway.
"What are you doing here?" she asked out of curiosity when she'd climbed out.
She'd expected Tyler to have, as usual, blown out of town already, gone radio silent and then come back after a week acting as if everything was fine. His presence here now threw her off a bit.
"Came to say goodbye," he replied, smiling a little. "I'm about to leave."
"Wow, I get a goodbye," Caroline gasped sarcastically. "I actually thought you might have gone already."
He caught her hand with his own, rubbing it with his thumb. "I wouldn't do that."
She pulled her hand away immediately, looking him dead in the eye. "Where are you going?"
It was a shot in the dark but she figured she may as well attempt extricating an answer while he was pretending to be a good boyfriend.
But his face twisted. "You know I can't tell you, Care."
Her eyebrow shot up. "Do I?"
Tyler sighed. "I can't risk Klaus knowing anything."
"So what, you don't trust me now?" she asked indignantly.
"Of course I trust you, Care. But I just… I can't risk it."
Caroline was about to reply but froze when she heard a voice coming from his truck.
"God, how long is this going to take?"
It was Hayley.
Caroline glared at Tyler. "Hayley. Hayley's going with you?"
He started to reply but she was so over waiting for him and his excuses. She hardly cared anymore.
Still, she had a bone to pick with the brunette.
Before Tyler had had the chance to speak she'd sped over to the truck. Knocking roughly on the window, she glared at the woman inside.
"Get out!"
Shocked, Hayley backed up, but didn't move to open the door. Tyler sped up behind Caroline, laying a hand on her back.
"Care, calm down."
"Get the hell out here!" Caroline shouted, ignoring Tyler.
Hayley's eyes darted from Caroline to Tyler before she hesitantly opened her door and stepped out.
"Could you calm down?" Hayley demanded, flipping her hair over her shoulder in an attempt at nonchalance.
Caroline smiled sweetly, trying to hide the unparalleled fury running through her veins as it boiled her blood.
"Oh, that's right," she said, shoving Hayley into the truck roughly. "You don't do teen drama," she spat her words back at her.
"Care, come on," Tyler begged, now pulling determinedly at her arm.
But he was only a hybrid. She'd been up against far worse. His strength was nothing compared to Klaus'.
Still. His tugging was an annoyance.
She'd deal with him. But first…
She leaned into the insolent woman's ear, who still glared at Caroline pretending as if she wasn't scared; as if she couldn't see the demented black anger behind her eyes.
She pinned her body to the brunette's, paralysing her as she whispered sweetly in her ear.
"I'm curious: do you think you'll like the taste of your own blood gurgling in your throat?"
"Caroline!" Tyler admonished, his voice loud and panicked as it carried down the street.
Caroline faltered for a split second before speeding up to her porch and breaking a leg off one of the chairs.
When she'd sped back to the truck, Hayley was trying to climb back inside the truck but Caroline grabbed her by the neck, holding her securely as she shoved her hastily-made stake into Tyler's stomach.
His eyes were wide as he groaned in pain, his knees hitting the ground.
"Did I mention we're over?" she spat.
Tyler looked up at her with hatred burning in his eyes as he gripped the end of the stake lodged in his body. Caroline paid no mind, turning instead to the woman whose neck she was still tightly gripping. The brunette squirmed to no effect.
Hayley's words the night of the hybrid slaughter, right before she'd snapped Caroline's neck, came back to the blonde.
"You're welcome," Caroline smirked, shoving her hand straight into the brunette's chest before ripping it back out.
It was the first time she'd ever pulled someone's heart from their chest, and she watched with almost detached interest when Hayley's eyes first widened slightly in shock then sprang open completely and dulled as the life flickered away from them. She watched Hayley's jaw slacken and then regarded the heart in her hand and the warm blood as it dripped down through the spaces between her fingers.
Then Caroline stepped away, allowing Hayley's corpse to slump to the floor. Her eyes shifted to Tyler, who was busy pulling the stake from his body with a groan.
He'd screamed as her fingers had buried themselves inside his friend's chest cavity, but Caroline had hardly taken any note. Now she was struck by the realisation that she was holding Hayley's heart as he stared on in empty incomprehension and disgust.
She gave the organ one last squeeze before dropping it at his feet and whooshing away.
"Brother, what is the commotion occurring outside our home?" Elijah asked in confusion, entering the study.
Klaus tore his attention from the book he was reading to frown up at his brother, before directing his hearing outside. He immediately recognised his hybrid's voice.
"You stakedme; you killed Hayley!" Tyler was screaming.
Klaus jumped to his feet as soon as he heard Caroline's voice.
"That tramp had it coming from the moment she snapped my neck. And I don't doubt that there are twelve hybrids on the Other Side patting me on the back right now," Caroline retorted calmly.
There were a few moments of silence as Klaus made his way downstairs, still keeping a close ear on this strange conversation. Caroline had killed the wolf?
"I'm glad you said it because I don't know who this cold-hearted bitch is that you've become, but I don't want to be with her anymore."
Klaus stepped outside as Caroline bit out a bitter laugh.
"Oh please, Tyler. The only reason we were still together at all was because you begged me to stay with you, and you know it. Otherwise we'd already have gone separate ways two weeks ago."
Tyler looked about to counter, his face open in a snarl, when Klaus spoke up.
"Caroline, go inside, love," Klaus said softly, keeping his eyes on Tyler.
Caroline turned, surprised to see him standing there but immediately followed his instruction, speeding away even as Tyler reached out a hand to grab her.
"You're causing quite a ruckus outside my house, mate. Bringing down the neighbourhood," Klaus stated, descending his porch as he approached Tyler.
"This has nothing to do with you, Klaus. Get out of my way," Tyler spat, moving forward, presumably to go after Caroline.
Klaus smiled pleasantly. "Let me tell you how this is going to play out, Tyler. You're going to threaten me despite the concept of you killing me being completely laughable, never mind the fact that it would ultimately be suicide, then I'm going to threaten something you care about very much – which, believe me, I will live up to – after which you'll leave with your tail between your legs."
Tyler growled, his eyes turning yellow. "Move."
Klaus' eyebrow shot up in amusement. It always entertained him how the hybrid couldn't see what a puppy he was in the eyes of the Original.
"I hear your wolf friend has passed; my deepest condolences. Pray tell, were the Mexicans worth it?" Klaus asked with a smirk.
Tyler's wolf features disappeared as he stepped back in surprise.
Klaus laughed. "You thought I didn't know? That's sweet."
Tyler stepped forward again. "You touch them and I'll kill you," he roared.
"And there's the threat," Klaus smiled, before his face twisted into a mask of evil. "For the way you treated Caroline today, those wolves are already as good as dead. All you have left now is saving yourself," he suggested.
Tyler's eyes flicked from the mansion behind Klaus to the monster himself and back.
"I'm gonna be back for her," he growled then sped off.
Klaus was torn between following the hybrid and going inside to check on Caroline; his hesitation earned him the loss of his window of opportunity.
Tyler was gone.
Klaus sighed in frustration and entered his home, where Elijah waited in the foyer.
"Caroline?" Klaus asked, ignoring his brother's concerned expression.
"She's in the kitchen," Elijah responded before grabbing Klaus by the elbow.
Klaus glared at Elijah before reluctantly stepping back to see what his brother's issue was.
"Did Tyler just issue a threat towards Caroline?"
Klaus sighed again, rubbing a hand over his face. That was precisely his problem at the moment.
"I'm not sure if it was a dangerous threat or a romantic promise," Klaus replied tiredly.
Elijah nodded curtly, understanding his brother's frustration, before frowning.
"He has been rallying wolves in Mexico?"
Klaus nodded. "I've been keeping tabs on it for quite some time now but I'm afraid their time has come. Send Mia."
Elijah inclined his head again, this time allowing Klaus to pass, just as a whooshing sound sped by them both.
Klaus ground his teeth together.
"Caroline."
Caroline swung open the Salvatore Boarding House's front door.
"Stefan?"
She walked further inside and was greeted by a smirking doppelganger descending the staircase.
"Good timing. I was just about to fix myself a snack."
"Where's Stefan?"
Katherine shrugged. "No idea. Nobody really tells me anything in this house," she confessed, seeming bummed about it.
"Great. Useless," Caroline complained, turning on her heel.
"Anything I can help with?" Katherine asked curiously, approaching.
Caroline frowned, turning back around. "Why would I want any help from you?"
Katherine rolled her eyes. "You obviously came here for something, right?"
Caroline narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the brunette. "Well why would you wantto help me? I killed you."
"That's true," Katherine said, nodding. "But I thought about it and since I killed you too, I figure we're even. Besides," she added, dropping down on a sofa, "do you have any idea how bored out of my mind I am in this house?"
Caroline couldn't hold back a smile. Katherine had placed herself on house arrest in concern for her own safety and since everybody inside it pretty much only tolerated her just enough to allow her to stay, it couldn't have been the most pleasant experience for her.
Still.
"I want to talk to Stefan."
Katherine smirked. "Why, what happened? Did you kill someone?"
She laughed at her own joke but her eyes widened in realisation when Caroline's expression didn't change.
Katherine gasped. "You did kill someone!"
"Forget it, I'll just call him," Caroline muttered, turning to leave.
She was almost to the door when Katherine spoke up thoughtfully.
"Unless you need someone to help you bury the body, you're obviously here to talk. Which means you did it on purpose or you wouldn't feel guilty."
Caroline paused in spite of herself. She found herself curious to hear what Katherine might have to say.
"Stefan's the Ripper," Katherine said in disapproval. "The only time he ever kills deliberately is when he's spiralling. Same for little Miss Goody-Two-Shoes, my inferior shadow self. But me," she smiled cruelly, "everything I've done, I've always done with my head screwed on properly. So," she started, putting her feet up on the coffee table, "if I'm right, then the best person to talk to would be yours truly."
Caroline's breath came quickly as she considered the other woman's offer.
Then she sighed before reluctantly she made her way back into the lounge.
"Fine, you're right," she admitted with folded arms. "I did kill someone. On purpose."
Katherine smiled triumphantly. "Anyone I know?"
Caroline hesitated and Katherine rolled her eyes.
"You know, I remember the first person I killed. Besides myself, of course," she began.
Caroline frowned, wondering where Katherine was going with this.
"The first person I killed, not because it served any real kind of purpose or even because I was hungry, but just because it felt good – Henry, I think. If I'm being quite honest, I don't even remember why I did it, maybe he messed up my coffee order. But I liked it," she said nostalgically. "I liked the way it felt to hold everything he was in my palm – his past, his future and his miserable little present. Then I ripped it away and…" Katherine grinned nostalgically, "it was the warmest kind of evil."
Caroline stared at the brunette solidly with a thoughtful expression before speaking up.
"Why are you telling me all this?"
Katherine shrugged. "Like I said, I'm bored. But if you think I have ulterior motives too, you wouldn't be wrong."
Caroline stared at Katherine questioningly and the brunette sighed as if the explanation were obvious.
"I get the feeling that there's more to you than meets the eye. More than the perky, cheery little blond bestie. I've seen the way Klaus looks at you. And considering he's the guy I've spent my entire life running from, I could do with someone on the inside. Someone who might just like me," Katherine admitted honestly.
Caroline sighed, meeting Katherine's eyes uncertainly. On the one hand, Katherine was using her. On the other, she'd clearly announced her intentions and at least half of them seemed pure. She had ulterior motives, yes, but she'd stated them upfront and Caroline found herself warmed by the gesture from the woman who didn't reveal her plans to anyone.
What was this; did they trust each other now?
"Hayley, that's who I killed. Tyler's werewolf friend."
Katherine's grin widened, anticipating salacious details.
"So jealousy really does make girls nasty, huh?" she teased.
Caroline glared at the brunette. "She deserved it."
Sensing that she wasn't going to be getting much more from the blonde, Katherine folded her arms in boredom. This had quickly gone from interesting to predictable.
"And let me guess: you're here because you feel just absolutely terrible and you want Stefan to hold your hand and take you to church so you can confess all your sins?" she mocked.
Caroline's eyes flicked up to hers, surprising Katherine with the cool detachment behind them.
"No. I don't feel terrible." Caroline rocked back on her heels. "I don't feel anything."
The smile slowly returned to Katherine's face, spreading wide as he interest mounted.
"Then maybe I can help after all."
Rebekah strode through the mall wondering why she even bothered coming here anymore. The speed at which they replaced stock was pitiful and their ability to keep up with the trends shameful.
Still, Matt had gone to visit the cemetery and while it was something she could've endured for him, he had entreated her to do something she'd enjoy instead. So here she was, trawling through Mystic Falls' pathetic mall and thinking about the people she herself had lost.
The list was endless, really, but the names of her family weighed most heavily on her chest as they rolled through her mind, an endless list of her past mistakes.
Henrik, Finn, Mother, Father. Kol.
So many times she had trusted and gotten her heart broken as a result.
All she had left was Nik and Elijah. And though she owed them nothing, the nostalgia gripping her heart made her feel just the slightest bit guilty that she was paying no mind to Nik's dozens of frantic phone calls.
She'd stopped answering about six missed calls ago.
As much as she understood her brother's position, he also became unbearable when he obsessed. Furthermore, she was supposed to have been putting this town in her rearview mirror today. Instead she was stuck here for even longer.
Rebekah rolled her eyes and was about to pull out her furiously vibrating cellphone when she heard two familiar voices coming from one of the few decent stores in this place.
Entering the boutique, she quickly spotted the blonde and the brunette.
"Hmmm maybe you could've pulled that off if you had better legs," Katherine teased.
"Yeah, because your legs are so much better," Caroline shot back sarcastically.
Katherine smirked. "Friendly reminder that this body is identical to your best friend's."
"Yeah and Elena has terrible legs," Caroline replied stubbornly before they both burst out laughing.
"What in the bloody hell is going on here?" Rebekah demanded, approaching the two.
Katherine and Caroline shared a confused glance before Caroline spoke up.
"What do you mean? We're shopping, duh."
Rebekah wanted to rip the smug blonde's head off.
"Nik is worried sick about you! He's been calling you and calling me and just generally being a magnificent pain in the arse worrying about you and you're at the mall shopping?"
Caroline frowned. "Why's he worried about me?"
Rebekah shrugged. "Tyler's issued a threat of some sort and apparently none of Nik's vampires have been able to locate you so he's been going out of his bloody mind!"
Katherine's brows shot up in interest and Rebekah turned to look at her curiously.
"What are you doing here with her anyway?"
"Shopping," Katherine sounded out the word slowly. "One would think you'd have gotten that by now."
Rebekah glared at the brunette. "So you refuse to leave the Salvatores' at all, even with my brother, but have no problem going shopping with a two year old vampire?"
Katherine shot Caroline a quick look that Rebekah swore contained pride, then smiled back at Rebekah confidently.
"I happen to trust her."
This dynamic made no sense to Rebekah but wrapping her head around it wasn't at the top of her list of priorities right now. First she needed to get Caroline to Nik so that he could calm the hell down.
"We're leaving. Now," she ordered, staring at Caroline pointedly.
But the other blonde shook her head determinedly. "No, we're not. We haven't even paid for our shopping yet."
Rebekah narrowed her eyes at Caroline. "My brother just signed our house over to the bloody chef in order to vampire-proof it just to protect you from Tyler. We're leaving," she repeated.
Caroline's eyes widened when she heard the lengths Klaus had gone to to keep her safe. She knew how much that house meant to him, regardless of how superficial the ownership was.
But she folded her arms. "I said I'm not done."
Rebekah looked from Caroline to Katherine's unchanging faces and sighed.
"I'll pay for it all, ok? Then we'll leave."
Suddenly Katherine perked up.
"You should go. Klaus sounds really worried," she added, shamelessly adding her mound of clothes to Caroline's.
Caroline couldn't believe what a sell-out Katherine was but she couldn't help smiling at the brunette's obvious attempt at scamming free clothes.
"Fine," she finally relented.
"Bye, Katherine. Thanks… for today," Caroline greeted from inside Rebekah's convertible.
Katherine grinned, her arms loaded with bags.
"No problem. Let's do it again," Katherine winked before heading into the Salvatores'.
"You're welcome!" Rebekah shouted after her sarcastically.
She started up the car and pulled away then eyed her passenger curiously.
"How exactly did you manage getting Katherine Pierce to trust you with her precious life?"
Caroline snorted. "I killed her."
"Really?" Rebekah asked, not bothering to hide an impressed smile.
"Yip. Apparently that's what earns Katherine's faith in you."
Rebekah smirked. "Well I doubt Elijah's going to be trying that out any time soon."
Caroline hesitated to share her opinion then sighed. "I don't think it's about her not trusting Elijah. I think it's about Klaus."
"Why would it be about him?"
"Elijah's an Original. Obviously he can take anything that comes his way. But if it were Klaus who came his way… I'm not sure she knows where she'd stand."
"And she does with you?" Rebekah asked doubtfully.
Caroline shrugged. "I guess she believes in my powers of persuasion."
Rebekah didn't reply, only narrowing her eyes at Caroline's words. It reminded her of something.
"Hey, aren't you going to stop by my house?" Caroline suddenly asked with a frown.
"Where Tyler can easily get to you?" Rebekah retorted. "Why on earth would I do that?"
"Because if you're forcing me to stay at your house then I'm going to need some stuff."
"Such as?"
Caroline glared. "I don't know. Clothes, pajamas, a toothbrush?"
"We have plenty of spare toothbrushes at the house. And as for clothing, I believe I just bought you a car full."
Caroline glanced at the back seat, admittedly covered in clothing bags, and smiled – she supposed Rebekah had a point. Relaxing back into her seat again, she began watching the view whizz by as Rebekah drove them to the Mikaelson mansion.
"I know you didn't really mean your forgiveness the other night," Rebekah started.
Caroline turned to look at the other blonde.
"That's because you didn't really mean your apology," Caroline shot back.
Rebekah smiled slyly. "You're right."
Caroline hadn't really needed the confirmation but she nodded.
"Then why did you do it? Pretend to forgive me?"
Caroline sighed again. Wasn't the answer obvious?
"Because Klaus was going to dagger you if I didn't."
"Why would you care?"
Caroline looked at her lap, feeling uncomfortable with this line of discussion with Rebekah.
"Because despite what both of you seem to love telling yourselves, he needs you." Her gaze wandered to the view again "And somebody has to stop Klaus from getting in his own way."
Rebekah shot a quick look at the blonde from the corner of her eye.
Perhaps Caroline was good for Nik after all. And perhaps she cared for him far more than he realised.
"But he was still going to dagger me," Rebekah reminded Caroline. "Before you used those powers of persuasion."
Caroline didn't reply and Rebekah huffed.
"You had to have done or said something. What was it?"
Caroline turned to the female Original uncertainly. She wanted Klaus' siblings to know that he cared, but she knew that he would take issue with them knowing exactly to what extent they were his weak spots. It had the potential of leaving him vulnerable to exploitation.
"I'd rather not say. Isn't the fact that he didn't do it all that matters?"
Rebekah inhaled deeply. "I suppose."
She pulled the car up outside the mansion and pushed open her door.
"I'll get the chef so he can invite you in and you can get comfy."
But she paused before climbing out, turning back to Caroline.
"You know, my apology may not have been real then but I truly didn't want you to die the other night. I'm glad that I was able to save you."
Caroline smiled brightly, wondering how she was forging the strangest of friendships today.
"I know, Rebekah."
Klaus finished his conversation with his sister, silently nodding his thanks.
He had already compelled the chef to leave and forget that he now owned a multi-million dollar mansion and now he had nothing more to do; nothing more to keep him from the inevitable confrontation. He felt uneasy and he had no idea why; no idea why he had deliberately delayed coming here.
But as he placed his knuckles to the door to plea for entrance, it dawned on him that perhaps he was afraid. Afraid that she would look at him with blame scrawled all over her ever-glowing features.
"Come in," Caroline called from inside.
He stepped into the spare room, painted a tasteful pale yellow, and immediately spotted her lying on top of the pastel blue sheets atop the King-sized bed in the centre of the room.
His steps were deliberately slow but eventually he made his way to her, and he lowered himself to the bed uncertainly.
She had pulled herself up into a tiny ball in the centre of the bed, her slight features as pale and beautiful as ever. But there was something different about her too. The word muted came to Klaus' mind as he regarded her still form.
She turned to smile at him. "I heard I got you in quite a tizzy today," she teased.
There was no hate in her eyes.
He sighed in relief then plastered a smirk to his face. That was their game.
"No different than any other day, really," he replied.
She laughed and pulled herself up, moving to sit cross-legged opposite him.
She wore those dreadfully short shorts that girls wore to bed these days. They were white and he couldn't help thinking of the last white item he had seen her wearing.
The light lace-edged camisole she wore was grey and looked more like underwear than sleepwear but he wasn't about to protest.
"Thanks for vampire-proofing the house for me," she offered.
He nodded, speechlessly accepting her gratitude.
"So what now, I just live here forever?"
His lips curved up a little at the typical feisty Caroline that that little question imbued.
"Until I find Tyler."
She only stared at him, neither accepting his answer nor refusing to stay.
"You let him go," she stated.
"I hesitated," he replied, shaking his head ashamedly. "I was foolish."
She pulled her knees up under her chin, regarding him with unreadable eyes.
"Don't kill him," she requested lightly.
His eyes flashed, wondering why she would ask that of him. Why she thought he would listen. Why he would listen anyway.
"What happened today?" he asked.
The entire sequence of events still confused him. After Caroline had left his house, he had called every vampire he'd had on duty watching her but not a single one knew of her whereabouts. Apparently Tyler hadn't been the only one she had surprised by rushing off to his house.
It had been hours before Rebekah had brought Caroline back, after having dragged her from the local mall with Katerina. None of it made any sense to him.
And then there was everything else that had occurred before she had even arrived at his house.
Her eyes held his steadily as she answered, unashamed.
"Tyler came over to say goodbye. He wouldn't tell me where he was going but he was nice enough to bring Hayley along," she said sarcastically, the re-telling causing her anger to mount again. "And I don't know what it was exactly, but she was just… there and her eyes were mocking me and I just wanted to wipe that smug smile off her face," she explained through gritted teeth.
"I ripped out her heart after staking Tyler. Then I came here," she finished lightly.
The idea of asking why she had come directly here occurred to him, but he buried it for a more immediate concern.
"After which you rushed away in order to go shopping with Katerina?" he asked in confusion.
She smiled a little. It was a ridiculous suggestion.
"No. I went to the Boarding House to find Stefan."
"Stefan?" Klaus asked.
"Yeah. I – " she sighed, "I wanted him to tell me what an awful thing I'd done but that I was still a good person," she admitted.
Klaus shook his head. "Caroline, you don't need anyone to tell you that you're a good person."
She watched him for a few seconds then looked down at the bedspread, smiling shyly. "I think I mostly wanted to hear the other part."
Klaus considered her words then frowned. "You wanted him to tell you that you'd done something awful?"
She nodded vigorously and his frown deepened.
"Why?"
Her eyes still avoided his as her fingers fidgeted. "I didn't feel anything."
It came out as a whisper so she cleared her throat and repeated it.
"I didn't feel anything, when I killed her. I was numb."
She began pulling at the hem of her shorts distractedly and he saw the beginning of what had caused his hesitation to step into this room.
"I pulled her heart right out of her chest and I didn't feel anything."
"I'm sorry," he offered softly, mostly because he didn't know what else to say.
Her head shot up. "Why? This is what you wanted, isn't it?"
Her voice was hard but it didn't take him by surprise. He had been waiting for this – the blame and the guilt. He was glad it had come sooner rather than later.
No reply was forthcoming so she ducked her head again, the almost indistinguishable pattern on her shorts becoming an indistinct blur as she stared blindly.
She listened to his heart. It beat slowly and steadily like nothing ever surprised him. She supposed that came with living for a thousand freaking years and having seen and done it all. But, tucked beneath the thumping chambers, she heard the forgiveness that lay there for her too.
She hated herself for trying to make this his fault but of course, of course, he'd forgiven her already.
His breathing was calm too – its normal pace – and she found it odd that she even knew what his usual breathing pace was. That sitting in a bedroom alone with him, just talking, was normal.
Their thing.
Granted, this was his house instead of hers and there was a significantly larger amount of angst than their nightly meetings at her house had had, but still. This was them.
Except… was she still her?
Three weeks ago Caroline Forbes would not have ripped a heart from an innocent person's body. She wouldn't have staked Tyler. She wouldn't have defended her actions, even as Tyler looked at her like… like he'd never seen anything more repulsive in his life.
That Caroline would have felt something.
Klaus wasn't sure that she was even aware of it, but Caroline began to rock. Back and forth; a simple motion, but one worrying enough to make his face twist in concern.
"Caroline, are you alright?"
He placed a hand on her knee. He remembered the first time he'd placed his hand there. On the rooftop of this very house, over ten months ago.
"Fine," she replied softly, but her voice broke a little.
So stubborn, as usual.
He looked around the room, searching for words that would make her open up to him.
She had sought Stefan and instead found Katherine. He couldn't imagine what the doppelganger had done or said, nor how much of a lasting effect it had had, but he wanted to be here for her now.
The way it should have been.
Because his heart clenched knowing that she had run from him in favour of Stefan. Perhaps she had thought that he would congratulate her; tell her he was proud of her, when what she had wanted was to hear what an awful act she'd committed.
He looked back at her, pursing his lips in desperation. "Caroline, there is nobody else in the house. Please just…"
He struggled then left the sentence unfinished.
Instead he wrapped an arm around her and for just a second it was magic because she came. Nothing to do with the supernatural or witches of any sort, but still magic nonetheless.
Their own sort of magic.
Because just as his arm settled on her back, she crept forward onto him until her cheek was flush against his chest, her fists clenching the material at the sides of his body.
His arm held her tightly to him, his other hand instinctively raised to caress her hair, stroking it much as he had that second time he'd fed her his blood.
He tightened his embrace when he felt the front of his shirt dampen and her nails dug into his flesh as she balled her fists.
"Klaus, she was innocent," she sobbed out. "Innocent. And I killed her."
He didn't say anything, lowering his face into her hair as he tried to encircle her body with his own.
"I don't – how don't I feel anything?"
They sat like that for a long time, Caroline crying into Klaus's shirt as he comforted her.
She breathed him in deeply – she didn't think there would ever come a time when that scent didn't make her feel safe and at home and… loved.
She remembered the first time she'd cried in front of him as he held her. PTSD in the middle of the woods with Klaus freaking Mikaelson. It had felt like the weirdest thing in the world, the big bad hybrid holding her as she freaked out because of some memory.
Now she felt like it was exactly where she belonged. There was nothing more natural or simple than this.
He comforted her. He held her. He cared when she cried.
And she didn't feel petty or dumb or even like he was above all this. She felt like they were in this together and that there was no place he'd rather be.
She took one last deep breath before pulling away, his arms reluctantly allowing the movement. Her eyes were dry but she still felt empty and confused.
"How could I do that?" she wondered aloud. "What am I?"
Not Caroline Forbes. Not the one everybody knew, not anymore.
His blue eyes stared deeply into her own and for once she couldn't read his face; couldn't predict his reply.
"A vampire," he stated simply.
She dragged her eyes from his, past his damp shirt and to her hands. The hands that had staked Tyler and ripped an innocent person's heart out of their body without a second thought.
"No," she said suddenly, her voice more certain than it had been for a while. "I've always been a vampire."
Klaus frowned as she took a deep breath, staring intensely at the man before her. The man who had given so much.
There is only one way love cannot make you weak and that is by making the one you love as strong as you.
There was a fire behind her eyes when she spoke, a fire that maybe he had put there or maybe he'd taught her she had all along. She couldn't be sure and it didn't matter because she liked how it felt.
"Now I'm strong."
Rebekah frowned when she heard loud laughter coming from the kitchen.
Rebekah stepped into the offending room and watched as both blonds turned to look at her in surprise. They were seated at the kitchen counter and Rebekah scoffed.
"You know, I suspected that you two would be making a lot of noise tonight, but I confess I didn't think it would be laughing."
Both of them glared back at her.
"Thank you for cheapening the moment, sister," Klaus responded snidely.
Rebekah smirked. "Oh come on, Nik, we both know you're not that funny."
Caroline rolled her eyes but Klaus only shrugged before smirking.
"I'm not. But you are."
Rebekah frowned. "What are you talking about?"
"Well I was just telling Caroline about the counterfeit art peddler you pranked in the 1900s."
Rebekah rolled her eyes and flicked her hair back over her shoulder.
"He always tells that like I had some kind of agenda. I was just bored one Friday night."
Truthfully she liked it when Nik told the story. He always seemed so proud of her.
Caroline was laughing. "Did you really make him think the Mona Lisa was talking to him?"
Rebekah smirked. "It was the Mona Lisa. He was trying to sell a fake Mona Lisa. He deserved whatever he got."
Klaus laughed heartily, looking at his sister with amusement twinkling in his eyes.
"The best part is that he hadn't even attempted to swindle her. She recognised the fake at a glance and drove the man insane solely on principle!"
Caroline laughed more and Rebekah shrugged nonchalantly, pretending to be above it all when in fact she enjoyed her older brother's praise.
"Well did you tell her about the ball?"
They both looked up at her interestedly.
"Oh, come on Nik, you must remember that."
When he shook his head she smiled gleefully, turning to Caroline.
"Nik and Elijah were about to attend a ball with me when they realised they had both bought the same tuxedo," Rebekah began, and Klaus burst out laughing again, having recalled the memory.
"So naturally, being the two testosterone-filled brothers that they are, they decided on a duel to determine who was to change. Nik's always had a way with a sword, but he was still fortunate to have won because he had no alternative besides his birthday suit," she finished smugly.
Caroline giggled and Klaus looked at his sister with a slack jaw, offended.
"Yes, I did!"
Rebekah scoffed. "That silver abomination? I would hardly call that a suitable alternative."
Klaus laughed, unable to deny that, and she joined in before abruptly stopping when she noticed the teacups and saucers on the kitchen table in front of the pair.
"Are you two having tea? Nik, I haven't seen you drink tea in centuries," she stated, puzzled.
He smiled sheepishly. "Caroline suggested that my entire accent is a farce unless she has seen me have a proper cup of tea."
Rebekah smiled too, strangely tickled by the fact that that alone could make her hard liquor-drinking brother sit down for a cup of the warm calming liquid. Then she looked at Caroline.
"You realise he's just about as American as you, right? We were all born in Mystic Falls."
Caroline shrugged like it hardly mattered and suddenly Klaus frowned.
"What are you doing here? I thought you'd left."
"I did," she admitted, "but then Elijah invited me over for a sleepover and I thought why not?"
She almost giggled at Nik's resulting raised brow. "Yes, I'm sure it has far less to do with painting toenails and braiding hair than making this the safest house in town, but I still thought I'd humour him."
Nik's warm and loving responsive smile caught her off guard.
"Well, as always, your room awaits," he replied softly.
She never knew what to do with herself when he was this nice so she bit the inside of her lip for a second before spinning.
"Hey, Rebekah."
It was Caroline.
So the other blonde turned, facing the smiling pair once again.
"Want some tea?"
He'd walked her back to her bedroom – or the bedroom she was borrowing for the night, anyway.
He'd walked her straight up to the door and it had been a little awkward, she thought, though possibly only from her side.
"I must apologise for Rebekah's comment earlier," he'd said, and immediately she'd known that he was thinking about it too.
They were right outside her bedroom after all.
Caroline smirked. "You're worried she offended my delicate sensibilities?"
Klaus smiled, his eyes twinkling. "You're hardly delicate."
It was the oddest compliment.
She looked down at her hands. They were fiddling.
"She had a point though. Tyler was sort of the thing that…"
Stood between us being together.
"I meant to ask about your feelings on the subject," he'd nodded.
She smiled, now, at the backwards way he'd phrased that. At the fact that he'd been thinking about it all day but hadn't brought it up till she was ready.
She'd run a hand over her face. "I feel like…" she sighed. "I actually can't think about this right now, I'm sorry Klaus. It's just been a really long day and you gave me chamomile and I only got, like, five hours of sleep last night. My brain just isn't functioning at an optimum level," she rambled.
He smiled and she knew it was because he was the one person on earth who liked and understood her ramblings; that he followed her every word because each actually meant something to him.
Each meant everything to him.
"I understand. Sleep well, Caroline."
And that had been it. No touch or hug or cheek kiss.
He'd walked off to his room and she'd entered hers and now she was here, curled up on this massive bed all alone as she contemplated the day.
In reverse, because that's the only way she could handle it right now.
Klaus had made her laugh and made her tea and drank his own tea and stuck his pinky in the air just to make her laugh some more.
Klaus had held her as she sobbed; took the blame, comforted.
Klaus had signed over his house and gotten rid of Tyler and taken care of the whole werewolf problem that she hadn't even known had been an issue.
And then there was that other thing that she'd done and it was a big deal but at the same time did it even really matter anymore?
When had Klaus begun blotting out everything else; burning brighter than even her worst mistakes? This was Caroline Forbes, mistakes had to stand out so she could analyse and obsess and fix them. Nothing was more important than that.
Except him. Somehow.
And it crossed her mind, it did, that maybe he was her biggest mistake waiting to happen, maybe that's why he shined brighter than anything else.
But how often did mistakes obliterate your every flaw to make your every trait feel like a gift from the heavens? Since when did a mistake feel like heat in your chest as you thought about it, the warmth spreading to the tips of your toes because of the insane random happiness of somebody loving you and only you and you first? She didn't know of any mistakes that felt that way.
Nothing else made her feel the way he did. Nothing.
She remembered her words to Bonnie: Klaus is the evil villain who killed Aunt Jenna.
Why had she once felt so justified in holding herself above him? How could she not have seen then that at the end of the day they were all just pretending – pretending not to be the creatures that they were?
If Klaus was a villain, then so was she.
And she still had a thousand years to catch up on.
Man it probably took me over a year to get from planning this chapter in my mind to writing it and I had a ton of fun writing Dark Caroline. And I warned y'all that this story wouldn't be Hayley-friendly ;)
Rebekatoline: yes, no? ;)
Any bets on how many chapters it will take for our favourite two characters to get together after this? As I've said repeatedly in my Author's Notes, Tyler was not the only (or even main) obstacle between Klaus and Caroline. So Forwood's officially over now but it's mostly irrelevant in terms of Klaroline.
I think this chapter went a long way in sorting out most of the issues Caroline has with the prospect of a relationship with Klaus, but the one left is the biggie: DOES SHE LOVE HIM ENOUGH. Personally I don't blame Carebear for being a bit conflicted about deciding who to spend the rest of forever with. That's one massive choice.
I think it's pretty funny though (in a sad sorta way) that Klaus still has no idea that she's totally in love with him. Guys are so clueless, heh.
I liked the idea of the three Originals holing up in a vampire-proofed house with Caroline just to keep her safe. Gotta love those considerate Originals :) [when they're not trying to murder your significant other, that is]
Not lyrics this time but words from a poem by Gabriel Kawczynski, a poet on Tumblr.