Chapter 9

As Caroline pulled into her driveway, her head was still reeling. She really did feel bad about getting upset at Rebekah for nothing. If someone had told her 12 hours ago that not only would she befriend the Original sister, but also reveal her biggest secret to her, Caroline would have assumed they were higher than the Rocky Mountains. Remembering her promise, she quickly sent Rebekah a text so she would have her phone number as well.

She still wasn't positive what made her tell Rebekah everything. There was just something in the way that Rebekah had looked at her that made Caroline feel like she understood. She knew that Ester had been through physical abuse at Mikael's hands, but other types of abuse? She wasn't prepared to hear that. No person should ever have to go through any type of abuse. Period.

That, of course, made her think of Klaus. Everything made her think about him lately. Anytime her phone buzzed with a new text message, she wondered if it was him. For Pete's sake, she had only had his number for two and a half days. She wasn't that girl who got all gushy when a guy texted her. At least she was trying not to be that girl anymore. And Klaus wasn't a 'guy.' He was the Original Hybrid that terrorized her town. That you made a truce with and called your friend.

Pushing all of those thoughts away, she got out of the car and went inside. She heard her mom in the kitchen and smelled lasagna. Uh oh, that's not good. She only ever made pasta when something was wrong.

She hesitantly made her way into the kitchen. "Hey, mom, what's going on?"

"Oh not much, just that my teenage daughter skipped half of her school day." Liz said, fixing Caroline with a glare.

"They called you? Seriously? Mom, come on, I missed PE, Art and science. Nothing happens in PE or art and I read ahead in science this weekend."

"It's not about what you're missing, it's the fact that you did it at all. You know how important education is. Skipping school will lead to bad marks on your school records; Colleges look into that type of thing, honey. I know you plan on graduating, but you need to start thinking about what comes next. I'd like to see you go to college and start a career before you have to leave Mystic Falls." Liz finished quietly.

"I know, Mom, I know." Caroline averted her eyes. "I definitely want to finish high school, and I'd even like to try to keep my number one class ranking, but I don't know what I want after that."

Liz was quiet for a few seconds as she took the lasagna out of the oven. Caroline went over to a cabinet and took out two plates to set the table. Neither spoke again before they were both sitting down with a helping of food each.

Liz broke the silence, "You don't want to go to college anymore?"

"Honestly? I don't know. That was always my plan before… everything that happened." Caroline started. This was an uncomfortable topic for both of them. As far as Liz had come in accepting that her daughter was a vampire, she still didn't like thinking about her child living forever as a vampire. Caroline didn't like the thought of ever having to live without her mom. "I'm not saying that college isn't an option. I'm still planning to apply to Whitmore and University of Virginia. I actually was looking at Tulane last week. But, college isn't my only option anymore. I have the rest of my life to go to college. I could travel. We could travel, Mom. You and I backpacking across Europe. Not for like a really long time or anything, but maybe like a month or something. I really want to see the world and everything that's out there. Like you said, I'm not going to be able to stay in Mystic Falls forever. I'll always look 17, maybe a few years older with the right makeup. I want to be familiar with at least some other places when that time comes so I'm not just out there floundering. I'd rather explore now with you so I can get a feel for what all is out there."

Liz put her fork down and reached for her daughter's hand. "I understand, Sweetie, I do. Traveling with your father and going on vacations with you are some of my best memories. I'd love to be able to explore with you. Maybe you're right. I don't want you to have to settle somewhere you're unfamiliar with when you have to leave home. None of this has to be decided tonight. I am happy that college isn't completely off the table though." She smiled at her daughter as she went back to eating. "Please just try not to skip too much school?"

"I'll do my best, Mom."

"Why did you leave today anyways?"

"Well, Elena still hates me and was glaring at me for all of lunch. And Tyler's back." Caroline mumbled, not wanting to talk about her ex.

Liz's eyebrows shot up. "We'll circle back to the 'Elena hating you' thing. He's back? Since when? Carol didn't mention anything to me."

"I don't really know. He walked into the cafeteria like nothing was any different. As if he wasn't the reason that Dad was in that hospital for some psycho to kill him."

"Caroline, you know that that wasn't all Tyler's fault. He didn't intentionally attack your dad."

"Yeah, yeah, but he still bailed right after it happened. That's not okay. Plus the whole him biting me thing. I mean, Stefan was able to fight compulsion for Elena; why couldn't Tyler fight the stupid sire bond for me? I just don't think the feelings were really what either of us thought they were." Caroline huffed, knowing her mom had a point about Tyler not meaning to attack her dad. She was serious about her other points though. He shouldn't have left her after her dad died. She couldn't forgive that.

"I understand, Honey. Sometimes feelings just change too, and that's okay." Liz said comfortingly. If anyone knew how someone they loved could have their feelings shift, it was her mom. "Now, what's this about Elena?"

Caroline started to explain about her meeting on Saturday. Her mom had worked a double shift Sunday, so she hadn't been able to tell her about the meeting. Liz's face shifted from concern to anger when Caroline told her Elena's reaction to the offered truce, she had however left out the parts about herself snapping about Damon. Her mother never needed to know about that.

"I can't believe she said that about forgetting about losing loved ones." Liz exclaimed.

"I know, right? After everything that has happened to everyone, she acts like she's the only one who has been affected."

"I know that Elena has lost a tremendous amount for someone her age, but that really is just thoughtless. I'm surprised she would say something like that."

"And, like, I'm trying to see it from her side, Mom, I really am. I know she won't enjoy seeing Klaus or any of the Mikaelsons around town, but how often is she really going to have to interact with them? Maybe at the Grill, sometimes? It's not like it's going to be on a regular basis." Caroline vented.

"How is the truce going with them?" Liz asked.

Caroline hesitated. "It's… fine. Bonnie and I worked it all out on Saturday. Actually, that's where I was this afternoon. Elijah found Sage, Finn's long lost love, and brought her here to help. She's going to try talking him into giving us his blood willingly and maybe even joining our side instead of Ester's."

"'Our' side. Who would have ever thought that we would be able to work with the Originals on something and have it actually go well." Liz wondered aloud.

"I know," Caroline agreed. "It's surprisingly going really well." Except for the huge fight with Klaus today.

"Well, Caroline, I'm proud of you. You really made a great thing happen here. I just hope it sticks and that Elena and the Salvatores eventually come around. Lord knows my department could use a break from all the cover-up stories." Liz said jokingly, checking her watch. "Speaking of which, I'm actually on the night shift. I have to leave in about ten minutes, do you mind putting the leftovers into a smaller container and doing the dishes?"

"Sure, Mom. I hope you have an easy night." They smiled at each other as Liz went to go change into her uniform. Caroline started transferring the leftover lasagna into some tupperware. As she was putting it into the fridge, she heard her mother call out that she was leaving and not to stay up too late. She agreed, shaking her head. Technically, she didn't even need sleep, she was dead.

She gathered up the dishes and put them in the sink to soak. As she waited for the sink to fill up, she tidied up the kitchen, washing the table and sweeping up some crumbs. Moving back over to the sink, she quickly did the dishes and left them to dry overnight.

Heading into her bedroom she noted that it was 8:37. She didn't have any homework to do, so she decided to actually take a pampering shower. Going through the same ritual that she had on Saturday, she lined up all of her favorite beauty products in the shower. She ran back to her room and grabbed her waterproof bluetooth speaker and paired it with her phone. She opened up her Audible app and scrolled until she got to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. The second book might be her favorite, but the third was her go to book that she would listen to when she needed to destress. She queued the book to start at the last place she had left off and plugged her phone in. She left it on her nightstand and brought the speaker back into the bathroom with her.

She wondered what part of the second book Kol was on. Nope. Stop thinking about them. The point of this shower is to be pampered and relaxed. No thoughts about Originals allowed. Trying to keep that thought in mind, she stepped into the shower and suction cupped the speaker to the wall, hitting play.

Two hours later Caroline came out of her bathroom feeling completely refreshed. She quickly put on one of her pajama tank tops and another pair of yoga pants.

She sat down at her desk and pulled out her notebook that she used to write down ideas for upcoming events. If her and Rebekah were going to change the dance to be a 20s theme less than a month away from the event, then it was going to take some serious planning. She opened up her laptop and started researching different places where she could rent some decorations and get catering. After creating a list for all of the things she would need to check into before the next planning committee meeting, she wrote down a few places she'd found for DJs. Next, she moved on to looking up vintage clothing shops to see if any of them had any 20s style dresses. She really didn't want to resort to ordering a Halloween costume online. Maybe Rebekah still had some of her old clothes from the 20s… She quickly made a note to ask her about it the next day.

Feeling accomplished, she closed her laptop and put the notebook into her backpack so she could show it to Rebekah tomorrow. Looking at the clock, she noted that it was already 11:52 and that she should probably go to bed. She went into her bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth. She was just starting to floss when she heard a tapping sound coming from her room. Poking her head out of her bathroom door, she looked around for the source of the sound. Everything looked normal… She heard it again and walked fully into her room to investigate, the floss dangling from her fingers. She looked to her window and scowled when she saw Klaus outside of it.

Rolling her eyes, she walked back into her bathroom and continued flossing. The tapping came again and again. Trying to ignore it, she focused on her flossing even more intently. After a few more minutes, she figured she should probably stop before she made her gums bleed. Throwing the floss away, she turned out the bathroom light and headed back into her room. The Original Hybrid was still at her window. When he saw her, he started pointing at her desk instead of tapping. Caroline furrowed her eyebrows as she swept her eyes over her desk. She noticed her clock, which read 12:08 AM. She glared back over at Klaus, who smirked.

"Technically, I agreed to not talking today and today was over eight minutes ago, Sweetheart." He said through the glass.

Caroline stomped over and opened her window. "I am not having this conversation with you through a closed window!"

"So you agree that I should come in then, so we can talk." He immediately started climbing in, making her back up in the process.

"No, that's actually not what I meant, but I suppose that doesn't matter now, huh?" She retorted, crossing her arms over her chest. She immediately vamped into her closet and hurriedly put on a bra.

As she exited her closet, she heard him chuckle and say, "You're getting quicker at that, Love. Perhaps we should notify the people at Guinness."

"I think using vampire speed would be considered cheating." She grumbled.

He smiled at her for a few seconds before turning serious again. "Come on, Sweetheart, you know we have to talk about this."

"Actually, I said all that I needed to say."

"Well I didn't. Someone kept cutting me off whenever I tried to speak. So can I just speak and you listen and then decide if you have anything more to say?"

She eyed him. It was very unlike him to ask anyone to do anything. She nodded for him to continue and went to sit on her bed. He took his usual place in her desk chair. Nope, scratch that. Klaus so did not have a usual place in her bedroom!

"Caroline, I admit that what I did was wrong. I should not have eavesdropped on your conversation, and I am sorry about that. You have to at least try to understand though. I've known that something has been off with you ever since Saturday afternoon. When you started to talk to Rebekah about what you went through, I couldn't stop myself from listening. I had no idea about the extent of the things you had endured, and I should have stopped listening or left the house all together. I know that, and again, I'm sorry."

She felt herself soften as he actually apologized. She had expected him to deny that he had done anything wrong. She remembered him admitting that he had made mistakes during the truce meeting on Saturday as well. The Klaus that everyone feared did not just go around apologizing literally every other day.

"Thank you," she said softly. "I understand how easy it is to eavesdrop, especially when it is something that you really want to know or about someone you care about. I used to do it all the time before my parents got divorced. That doesn't make it right though."

"I know, Love." He paused and moved to sit on her bed facing her. "I would also like to bring up something that might make you upset, but seeing as how we're friends, I feel justified in doing so… I did not appreciate you assuming that I was plotting against you. I told you Friday night that you could trust me, and I meant it. Saturday morning, we made a truce saying that I wouldn't plot against you or any of your friends. I know that I have done many bad things, especially in this town, but if we're going to be friends, then I need you to not automatically assume the worst of me." He hesitated again and looked away from her. "I really am trying to create a life here for my family and I, and to do that I have realized that I need to do things differently. However, I cannot be different if no one gives me the chance. I would like to ask you to try not to do that again, just as I will try not to eavesdrop on a conversation I know you wouldn't want me to hear again."

Caroline sat with her mouth slightly open at all of the things he had just revealed. He was kind of, okay, totally, right. Right away, she blew up at him and accused him of plotting against her, which they had just made a truce not to do anymore. "I, um, you're right." She said softly. This time, it was his mouth that parted slightly in surprise. "I wasn't a good friend, and I accused you of breaking a truce that we literally just made, like 48 hours ago. We both kind of did something that hurt the other, and I'm sorry for my part in that. Friends shouldn't do that."

He smiled and took her hand in his. "Thank you, Sweetheart. So, truce then? Again?"

She chuckled and nodded. "Yeah. And earlier, when you said you'd try not to eavesdrop on any conversations that you knew I wouldn't want you to hear, you meant that you wouldn't eavesdrop on any conversations, right?"

He grinned, "I'm new to this whole 'being nice' thing, let's not get ahead of ourselves."

They both smiled. "So we're good then? Evensies?"

"What?"

"Evensies. It means 'are we even?' Seriously, how old are you?"

"Even, Love. I'm not saying that made up word." He chuckled at her.

The both sat in silence for a few seconds staring at each other. He gently squeezed her hand. "Do you want to talk about any of it, Sweetheart?"

"Not particularly." She said looking away and letting go of his hand. "Talking with your sister really helped actually. I, um, I haven't told anyone everything like that before."

He looked at her sharply. "Not even Bonnie or the doppelganger?"

"No," she said quietly. "It never felt like the right time. The longer I didn't talk about it, the harder it was to bring it up. It wasn't their burden to bear."

"It's not a burden to begin with, Caroline. It shouldn't have ever happened. I have done a lot of bad things in my thousand years, but I would never compel a woman to… I never forced a woman to do… that." He spoke determinedly. "No one should ever have to go through that or feel like they are a burden for something that happened to them that was completely out of their control."

She felt a sharp pang of relief when she heard him say that he had never and would never do that to anyone. She hadn't actually thought that he had or would, it was just comforting to hear that this wasn't something vampires usually just went around doing to humans.

"Rebekah said something about your mom going through some stuff with Mikael. I knew that he beat you and your siblings, but I never knew he did anything to her..." She trailed off.

His eyes flashed at the memories that came to the surface of his mind. "I don't know if he ever abused her to the same extent that you were, but he definitely beat her, just like he did to the rest of us. Even Rebekah and Henrik weren't spared. Elijah and I took turns taking the blame for things that would have gotten them beaten, we even did that a few times for our mother as well. He also used emotional abuse on her and myself. We would hear him screaming at her for the littlest mistake. Growing up, I heard the same insults that you mentioned, Caroline. That was another reason that I needed to hear your story today. Useless. Stupid. A waste of space. Weak. All of it. I understand what it's like to feel powerless. I promise that you will never feel that way again, Sweetheart." He grabbed her hand again, and she let him.

"I know." She said fiercely. "I won't let it. I won't let myself be put in a situation where that happens ever again."

"Neither will I." His eyes blazed into hers. "I will not let anything hurt you ever again. If anyone tries, they'll answer to me. Speaking of which, would you like Damon's head on a platter or a spike?"

"Neither." She said, glaring at him.

"Alright, Love. Personally, I would have gone with spike. It's how the Vikings used to scare off their enemies in battle. What did you have in mind?"

"Nothing, Klaus." He scoffed at her. "I'm serious. Leave him alone. I've already kicked his ass. It was one of the first things I did after I turned and got back all of the memories he had altered or compelled away."

"That, Sweetheart, I would have paid to see." He chuckled. "However, I don't think he quite got the intended message from one 'ass-kicking.' I think I could definitely deliver the message and make it stick."

"No," she said firmly. "You don't need to do anything."

"I know I don't need to, but I want to. He's earned it."

"I know he has," she said quietly. "But Elena would never forgive me if she knew that I let you go after him. For whatever reason she cares about him. I've… come to terms with everything that has happened. Besides, he really does seem like he's different with her."

"But, Sweetheart, I mean one little severed arm -"

"Surely you can understand what that's like, right? Doing not so great things in the past, but trying to be better in the present? Finding a friend who can help you be better?" She kept on talking as if she hadn't heard him.

He snapped his mouth shut. "Fine," he growled. "What if I just tackle him really hard in our pick up football game? Or accidentally spear him with a pool queue during a game at the Grill? That way it doesn't interfere with our truce either."

"You know what? If you ever manage to convince Damon to play football or pool with you, go for it. As long as I'm around to witness it and maybe revel in his pain the tiniest bit." She held up her pointer finger and thumb to indicate a tiny amount.

"Excellent." He beamed. She had no doubt that somewhere in his mind, he was trying to think of a plan to make one of those scenarios really happen.

"You're ridiculous."

"So I've been told." He looked into her eyes. She realized they were still holding hands, and pulled hers away as she cleared her throat and looked away. Her eyes caught the time: 1:02 AM. Shit.

"Shit! I have school tomorrow."

"You could always just skip." He offered helpfully, trying to stall for more time with her.

"No, I cannot just skip. You are not a very good influence. Plus, my mom wasn't too happy when she found out I had skipped out after lunch today. I cannot do that two days in a row."

"Very well, Sweetheart." He said, standing up. She followed suit and headed towards her bedroom door as he headed towards her window. "As lovely as your front door is, I think I'll stick with this way in and out. It has a very Romeo and Juliet quality to it."

"You know they both die in the end, right?" She quipped as she joined him by her window.

"Well, then I guess it's a good thing we're already dead, isn't it, Sweetheart?" He smirked at her when he noticed her blushing. He climbed out of her window and turned back to face her. "You should probably lock this, I hear this town has quite the vampire problem." He winked at her. "Goodnight, Sweetheart."

She shook her head, smiling and still blushing. "Goodnight, Klaus."