Disclaimer: I do not own TVD or TO universe, but I love both series. This is my take on one of my favorite characters and how I think it should have gone. Warning: not for lovers of Damon and not completely canon.
"Please, Caroline!" her mother begged. "Just stop and talk to me. Think this through, I can help you."
Caroline choked on a sob and laughed bitterly. "All I ever wanted was your approval and love," she said hoarsely. "All I wanted was for daddy to be proud of me and love me."
"He does sweetheart!" Liz said desperately as she watched her only child flitting about her room packing a couple of bags. "You don't have to do this."
"I can't do this anymore," Caroline said with a sob. "I have to go, you don't understand."
"Then make me understand, Caroline!" Liz cried. "Help me understand."
Neither woman noticed the growing crowd in the living room listening to the growing argument. Elena looked at Bonnie in concern, but neither moved to interrupt. Stefan and Damon looked around uncomfortably as did the rest of their group. Behind them Tyler and Klaus stood on the porch. Rebeka quietly approached her brother and listened.
"What do you want me to say?!" Caroline demanded. "I'm second choice and second best at everything. Everyone follows Elena fucking gilbert around like she's a bitch in heat, not that she acts any better stringing boys along one after another. Dad chose Steven, you chose your job. I thought maybe just maybe that when Damon chose me that someone noticed me."
Carolinie sobbed, "But he didn't, at least not in the way I thought. He compelled me, abused me, raped me repeatedly for weeks and no one noticed or did anything at all to get back at Elena and Stefan. I was his walking talking blood bag and sex toy. I was fucking sixteen years old and couldn't even cry about it because I was compelled not to!" she shrieked.
Ignoring the snarls and crash in the living room she plowed on, finally getting it all off her chest. "And then instead of being there for me, my supposed best friend, had he boyfriends compel me to forget. But even under the compulsion I knew there was something wrong. I felt broken and didn't know why," her voice cracked.
"Then instead of warning everyone about the supernatural, aforementioned best friend kept us all in the dark. You kept me in the dark. After the accident I was in the hospital dying and then I wasn't. Bonnie told Damon of all people to give me his blood. And Katherine fucking Pierce doppelwhore the predescessor smothered me to death once again as a message to fucking Elena her carbon copy."
"The worst part is she knew. Elena knew and expected me to play nice and get along with him, to be around him after everything and I can't anymore!" Caroline sobbed. "And then the whole Matt and Tyler situation. Matt it was my fault because I was terrified to tell him what I am and it wasn't fair to him. Tyler, I thought knew and understood me but then he left and cheated on me with that wolfwhore and I am just done."
"I'm done with this fucking town!" she shrieked. "I can't do this anymore." she sobbed. "Collateral damage, that's all I am. I need to leave because I'm not getting in the middle anymore. I'm only ever told anything when Elena needs saving again or the Salvawhores need someone expendable to take a hit. So I'm leaving before this place kills me permanently."
Liz had fallen to her knees sobbing at some point in the story. Bonnie was sitting on the couch stunned and full of guilt and remorse. Elena looked like she was torn between sobbing and defending herself. Stefan wouldn't look anyone in the eye. Klaus and Tyler had dragged Damon out of the house with Matt following behind.
Sometime in the middle of the shouting Kol and Elijah had shown up and they were now following their brother dragging off the elder Salvatore. Rebeka was pacing at the door, her perception of the other blonde girl shattered.
Caroline, wiped her eyes and took a breath. Her chest was heaving with her anger and built up frustration, her absolute devastation and betrayal that she felt at the hands of others. She quickly finished packing and zipped her bags shut. Grabbing her purse and messenger bag with her laptop, she looked to where her mother was now sobbing on the floor.
"I love you mom, but I have to go." Caroline said softly.
Liz stood and wrapped her arms around her daughter tightly. "I love you and you will always be my baby girl. Just let me know that you're okay?"
Caroline nodded and hugged her mother, handing her a stack of sealed envelopes. "Please give them to everyone when I'm gone. I can't talk to them right now," she said softly.
Liz nodded and sat down on her daughter's bed crying, feeling the weight of her guilt drowning her. She had let her daughter down more than she could have ever imagined. Then her fury swept through her. Standing she set the letters on the bed and marched into her room and got her holster and turned to hunt down her daughter's abuser.
Caroline had walked down the stairs into the living room and walked past her childhood friends. Bonnie launched herself at Caroline sobbing and begging her to forgive her. Caroline held her and choked back a sob and told her there was nothing to forgive. Caroline ignored Elena, she couldn't even look at the girl that had caused so much drama and death in their lives.
Walking out the door she went to walk down the steps when Elena stormed out of the house. "So what are you going to ignore me?" Elena demanded. "After everything you're not even going to say goodbye to me?"
"You aren't the victim Elena," Caroline said tiredly. "You never are though you're great at playing the part. How many more people need to die because of you? How many more lives do you have to destroy for you to realize the world doesn't revolve around you? Your parents, Jenna, Jeremy, John, and that's just your family that you've destroyed. Look around you! Every single one of us has lost and sacrificed for you and for what?"
"I can't even look at you anymore!" Caroline shouted. "I met with you all at the Grille because I thought we were going to hang out. Then I get there and I'm told to go talk to Klaus and distract him. No explanation, no details and I'm caught in the middle again. On your selfish quest for vengeance. You want revenge, take a look in the fucking mirror and then get over yourself."
Caroline spun and marched towards her car, ignoring the outraged gasp of Elena. She heard Rebeka snarl something at the others and approach her. Throwing her bags in her trunk Caroline rounded the car and waited.
"For what it's worth, I'm sorry," Caroline whispered at the other blonde. "Good luck in this town. If you're smart you'll leave it."
"I'm sorry too," Rebeka said quietly. "Where will you go?"
"I'm not sure," the younger vampire replied. "Wherever the wind takes me."
"Caroline," Bonnie said coming up beside her. "Please stay in touch."
"I will," Caroline said hugging the smaller girl. "Get out of this town, Bonnie. Don't let them keep using you. Don't let her keep using you. You deserve better than that."
"After graduation I promise I will," Bonnie said with conviction. "Maybe I'll meet up with you."
Caroline nodded and climbed into her car. She shut the door, turned on the ignition and drove away, not looking back. She wasn't sure where she was headed, but she wouldn't be coming back to Mystic Falls for a long time, if ever.
Meanwhile, Damon Salvatore was wishing that he was dead. Both Klaus and Tyler had bitten him, infecting him with a double dose of werewolf venom. Monsters though they were the Mikaelsons took exception to rape and abuse of women. Caroline had been a child when Damon had preyed upon her insecurities and took advantage of her.
Elijah snarled as he punched his fist through Damon's abdomen and pulled out his spleen, crushing it and throwing it into the growing pile of organs. The Noble one of them was beyond angry, he took great pains to try to protect the innocent where he could. Caroline Forbes was a light and sweet girl. Her treatment at the hands of the impulsive beast was intolerable.
Klaus was barely keeping himself in check. His own guilt at Caroline's plight and subsequent flight was eating away at him. His inner beast was snarling for revenge for justice for the young vampire that had captured his attention and affections. She had suffered at his hands as well and it would haunt him for eternity.
Rebeka entered the clearing with Liz Forbes and they stalked forward seething. Rebeka blurred forward and punched her fist into Damon's chest, yanking out a few ribs viciously. As a woman herself she knew the fear and violation of what Caroline had experienced. It was one of the few things that all women could relate to and unite together against.
"You're going to pay for what you've done," Rebeka whispered harshly, batting away her brothers' hands. "She's left, but she will have justice for what she's suffered at your hands."
"Please," Damon whispered with a vicious smirk, "like she wasn't begging for it."
At that Klaus snarled and broke free from his brothers, launching himself at the chained Salvatore, tearing his hands off. He savaged his body ripping, tearing, biting. It was brutal and it was fatal.
"No! Stop!" Elena said running into the clearing. "Please stop!"
Stefan tried to keep her quiet, but she kept pushing forward and pushing him away. Finally he had enough and let her make the next mistake. He was tired of cleaning up her and Damon's messes. He was tired of having to fight for a girl that clearly only cared for herself.
Rebeka caught Elena by her hair and yanked her to her knees. "Well if it isn't the latest doppelwhore here to beg for her lover's life." she snarled. "He'll be dead soon if he isn't already. It is no more than he deserved."
Elena turned her tear-filled doe eyes towards Elijah who looked away in revulsion. Looking around she found that no one was coming to her aid, or Damon's. What was happening? Couldn't they see that he had changed? This was all Caroline's fault!
"I wouldn't if I were you," Kol said tauntingly. "I can see how your demented little mind is working and if I hear you utter a word against Miss Forbes I'll rip out your tongue."
Elena whimpered and looked away. Bonnie wouldn't even look at her, wouldn't meet her eye. It was then that Elena realized that she was now truly alone. She had lost both Stefan and Damon and now Elijah couldn't stand her. Jeremy, her own brother wasn't even moving to help her. Instead he had raised his crossbow and shot Damon in the crotch, causing the dying man to scream hoarsely.
"What to do with you," Klaus asked quietly, circling Elena as if stalking his prey. "I find that I cannot stand the sight of you."
"Elijah, please!" Elena gasped as Klaus gripped her by the throat.
"You morals and affections are fleeting and fickle," Elijah said, brushing off his suit. "I shall not stand in my brother's way should he decide to end you. Perhaps ending the line of Petrovas will do the world some good."
"No!" Elena gasped.
Rebeka stepped forward and nodded to Klaus, yanking her mother's necklace off the doppelganger, she pulled her head up to face her.
"You will remember everything that has happened here and lead up to this, but will never speak of it. You will stay in Mystic Falls and live out your miserable, worthless life knowing that all you bring to those around you is death and ruin." Rebeka said in a falsely sweet voice. "You will stay away from the Salvatores, should they survive this. You will stay away from the Forbes family and Miss Bennet."
Elena was sobbing, unable to fight the compulsion that was setting in. Looking around no one was helping her! Why was no one helping her?
"You will relive their deaths over and over again and should you ever be changed, you will meet the sun before completing your transition," Rebeka said with a snarl. "No need for the rest of us to suffer an eternity of your presence. One selfish doppelbitch is bad enough."
Shoving the doppelganger away from her, Rebeka looked over at Stefan and found him looking at his brother's corpse in sadness. She blurred over to him and punched him, causing him to crash into a nearby tree. He didn't fight back, knowing not only would it be useless, but he deserved it.
"Rebeka!" Elijah said firmly. "Come."
Elena had picked herself up and was running from the clearing sobbing. Bonnie was walking away holding her arms around herself as Matt and Jeremy followed. Tyler had run off after he and Klaus nodded in silent agreement. Truce and ceasefire for the time being for Caroline's sake.
Klaus blurred away to his rooms and launched his desk at the wall. He threw one piece of furniture after another until there was nothing left in his room. He trembled in his rage and grief. That she had suffered so ate away at him. Even now his wolf was baying for more blood. He and his siblings had laid waste to entire villages and towns in the past for less.
Rebeka stepped into his room quietly and leaned on the wall watching her brother kneeling and trembling. She wasn't sure what to do or how to approach him. In the past she had given him trouble for his affections of the bubbly blonde vampire, but now she could see that they were genuine.
"She didn't say where she was going," Rebeka said softly. "I have her number to keep in touch with her."
"Leave," Klaus choked out.
"Nik," Rebeka whispered softly.
"Please just leave me sister," he said quietly. "I am in no mood to talk."
She left the room and walked down the curved stairs to find her other brothers sitting in the family room by a fire sipping bourbon. Walking to the wet bar she poured herself a drink. Her own limbs trembled slightly as she thought of the fear and pain and shame that Caroline had felt.
"Sister?" Kol asked in an uncharacteristically kind voice. "Are you well?"
"No woman should ever have to go through that," she whispered softly.
"Tell me!" Elijah said, raising her chin to look at him, "Please tell me little sister that you have not experienced such a thing!"
Rebeka tore her face away and looked towards the flames of the fire. She heard Klaus roar and enter the room looking more savage than before. Kol looked murderous and Elijah's beast was coming to the surface.
"Who?" Elijah demanded. "Why did you never tell us?"
"He is dead and it was a long time ago," she said quietly. "Finn found out and killed him. It was why he went on his last Berserker binge before he was daggered."
Klaus snarled an oath and threw the decanter of bourbon at the fireplace. "You could have told us, told me!" Klaus said brokenly. "It is our job to protect you!"
The Mikaelson brothers paced like caged animals feeling guilt, grief, and impotent to help their sister. Miss Forbes' experience had knocked them all for a loop. However to find that their sister had been treated similarly by someone enraged them like nothing else.
"I'm going to pack some things and try to catch up with her," Rebeka said softly. "She needs someone with her and I don't think that she wants to be around males right now."
"You expect us to leave you alone after your latest revelation?" Kol demanded. "Have you gone barking mad, sister?"
"I find myself tiring of this town," Elijah said, drinking his drink. "Perhaps we should all leave. Rebeka is right, Caroline shouldn't be alone. If we stay at a distance making sure that she is safe perhaps we could travel with you, shadowing you ladies to keep you safe."
Rebeka smiled at her elder brother and nodded. Elijah kissed her forehead and nudged her to go pack. He turned and regarded his younger siblings, both often merciless and bloodthirsty, but today they showed that they could care for another beyond their family.
Nodding to them, "Come brothers." he said sternly. "We have a baby vampire to catch up to and watch over."
Kol smirked and Klaus stared at him before he left the room quietly. The house would be kept and cared for during their absence. However, they were packing up their valuables and watchever essentials that they needed and leaving before the end of the day.
Elijah left and went up to his suite of rooms. He pulled out his suitcase and dufflebag and began to fill them with his belongings. In a briefcase he stored his laptop and his latest journal. He would certainly need to write the events of today down. They were significant and had changed each of them in a way he wasn't sure that they were fully aware of yet.
Several hours later they were loading their things into their vehicles and setting off to find Caroline. Klaus and Elijah had their contacts search for her and though she was about twelve hours ahead of them, they would catch up with her. Last they knew she was boarding a plane to London.
Hours later, Klaus was looking out the window at the skyline of England approaching. He swallowed down the feelings that were plaguing him. It had been centuries since he had allowed himself to feel. The closest that he had come to this was Tatia in his human days and even then not even she had completely entranced him as Caroline had.
He hadn't lied to her when he told her that he fancied her. Whether she knew it or not she was everything to him and everything that he never knew that he wanted. She was light and innocent and pure in a way that he couldn't ever remember seeing. She embodied humanity and embraced it.
Sighing, he looked down at his sketchbook and realized that she could ruin him if she wanted. She could also rule him and he wouldn't complain. Caroline Forbes was meant to be a queen and if he had any say, she would be his queen. She really was meant for more than that small town and small town people that were using and abusing her, suffocating and sucking the life out of her.
The captain told them they were descending and the Mikaelsons began getting ready to find their baby vampire. They all knew that Klaus was in love with her. Rebeka had come to respect the girl and wanted to befriend her. Elijah cared for and admired her and Kol, well he was along for the ride and all for sticking it to the Mystic Falls gang.
Caroline had reached London and lost herself in the crowded streets. She slipped away to book a room at a bed and breakfast and then went out to explore. This city had been one on her large lists of places to see. She started with the touristy places in the city before slipping into Hyde Park. She had stopped for fish and chips and had taken her lunch to sit in the park.
The slight drizzle didn't really bother her. Her breath puffed out in little billows of air that she could clearly see as the temperatures were dropping as evening was setting in. Luckily as a vampire the cold didn't bother her as much, she thought ruefully.
A few hours later she found herself sitting in a small cafe near her room, sipping a cup of tea and reading a book. She had walked through the city streets or hours. Tomorrow she would need to get a camera, she thought as she turned the page.
She hadn't even noticed who had entered the cafe as she was lost in her book. Earlier in the day the little historic book about the area had caught her attention. It was the book that had taken her off the beaten path and through the city to some hidden gems, like the pub she had dinner at earlier. Her thoughts were interrupted when the chairs nearby were pulled out and someone cleared their throat.
Eyes snapping up in shock, Caroline immediately knew who was here. Rebeka smiled carefully and the Mikaelson brothers sat around her nodding in acknowledgment. Her heart would have been pounding out of control if she were still human. Even still she felt fear crawl up her spine.
Closing her eyes in defeat, "So you've found me," she whispered. "What is it that you want from me?" she asked tiredly.
"I couldn't let you go off and explore on your own," Rebeka said with an uncertain smile. "I figured that you might want some female company and a tour guide."
Whatever she had been expecting, that was not it. "I don't understand." she said in confusion.
"Caroline, love." Klaus said cautiously. "We wanted to make sure that you were okay and I wanted to apologize."
She held up her hand and blinked away the tears that she had been fighting since she left. "No, don't do that." she said sharply. "I don't want to talk about it."
"Darling," Kol interrupted. "I know that you had nothing to do with their attempt on my life. Rebeka told us that they lured you to dinner under false pretenses. I am sorry that you were caught in the middle of all of that."
"I'm sorry that they won't leave you all alone," she said tiredly. "I just don't understand it. They, no she, could forgive Stefan and Damon for everything that they've done. And yet she could not look past what you've done. It makes no sense. We're vampires so people do end up dying around us, but to be so hypocritical is just wrong."
"He won't bother you again, love." Klaus gritted. "Damon Salvatore will never bother anyone again."
Caroline squeezed her eyes shut tights and tried to blink back the tears that she had held in. Rebeka saw that she had started trembling and carefully reached out and pulled the younger girl into her arms. Soothingly she ran her hands over her back in through her hair.
"I used to be so afraid that he would just show up," Caroline whispered. "Elena would throw it in my face that I dated him and taunt me about it, not really comprehending that she wasn't seeing it clearly."
"Why don't we head back to your room?" Rebeka offered.
Caroline stood, picking up her book and coffee. Klaus stood, holding her jacket for her to put on. He assisted her with her jacket and they all exited the cafe into the rain. She led them down a block towards the bed and breakfast. None of them seemed surprised at their destination and she realized that they had indeed tracked her down and were staying there as well.
The owner had a fire lit in the living room and tea was always ready. They all settled in by the fire and talked. Rebeka explained to Caroline her own experience and situation. It was an awful thing to bond over, but drew the two blondes closer, beginning a tentative friendship.
The brothers sat smiling softly or smirking at the two women. Klaus kept looking at Caroline with a besotted look on his face that had both Kol and Elijah smirking at him. He would look away when he knew that he had been caught.
"Where to tomorrow?" Kol asked as they were all heading to their rooms for the night.
"I wasn't sure, I saw quite a few of the more touristy places today," Caroline said with a smile. "I'm hoping to get a camera to take some pictures and scrapbook my adventure."
"Why don't we show you some of the places that we enjoyed?" Elijah offered with a kind smile. "It has been some time since we were all here, but I'm sure one or all of us could show you around."
Smiling shyly, "I'd love to have a tour. I didn't know where to start, but I know that I love it despite the rain." she replied.
"Very well," he said with a smirk. "Tomorrow we will procure a camera and perhaps start by the Thames."
With that they left for their individual rooms for the night. Caroline changed and curled up in the soft bed trying to process everything that had happened in the last twenty four hours. SHe emailed her mother earlier telling her that she was safe and fine and that she would get in touch with her later.
There was a knock on her door and Klaus stepped in her room. She sat up in her bed and looked at him cautiously. He leaned back against the door looking completely unsure of himself.
"Caroline," he said hoarsely. "I'm so sorry."
She watched as he approached the bed and sat on the edge of it. As if dealing with a skittish wounded animal, he gently reached for her hand and held it. He brought her knuckles to his mouth and kissed them tenderly as he looked at her with his eyes full of emotion.
"I should not have lashed out at you," he began looking down at their joined hands. "I should have let you explain yourself last night and have no right to ask it of you, love. I am also sorry for my previous actions where you are concerned and for my thoughtless words."
Caroline let him continue as she knew how hard it was for him to open up. He seemed to be struggling with the words and with himself as he sat there. She realized that he was making himself far more vulnerable than he had before.
"You are not collateral damage, love." he said vehemently. "You are not second best or a second choice for me. You are the only choice. I am sorry for ever hurting you. You must know that I care for you."
"I do know," she replied quietly. "I could try to justify what my friends, or former friends did but I can't. It wasn't right. I try so hard to be a good person, and what they were doing, what they asked of me never sat well with me. I just couldn't do it anymore. I had to remove myself from the situation."
Klaus pulled her into his arms and held her against him. This beautiful, kind, gentle girl didn't deserve what she had been put through. But there was more to her than that. She was honest and fierce and loyal. He wanted her to be his.
"I just wanted to offer you my apologies," he said. "I could not go to sleep without talking to you first. I heard you were still awake. I hope that I'm not intruding too much."
"It's fine," she said with a tired smile. "I'm excited to see new places and to try new things."
"There's an entire world at your disposal, love" he said with a grin. "Let us show you?"
Laughing quietly, "I already agreed to it early. Let's start with London and see what happens from there. I know you super ancient Originals have better things to do than to babysit."
"Caroline," he said seriously. "There is nothing I want more than to show you the world that you deserve."
And that was their new beginning. They started in London and ended up traveling throughout the United Kingdom before going to Paris and Greece. He took her to Turkey with Elijah as Rebeka and Kol went off on their own promising to meet up in the near future.
Eventually Elijah left them as well. He could see that his brother truly loved the baby vampire that changed them all fundamentally. She helped them find their humanity, it was her gift. He left for Toyko and told them that when they arrived to reach out to him.
Klaus and Caroline traveled through Turkey and Egypt. They saw the great ruins of ancient civilizations as well as the hidden gems of each of the countries. With each passing day and new city Caroling felt herself falling more and more for the Hybrid.
She knew who and what he was, but she also saw the part of him that only his family ever saw. Caroline was privileged to see the man behind the monster. She saw the man that spent time learning to braid so he could help his younger sister when they were children. She saw the man that was so passionate about art and music. He was an enigma to her, a walking talking contradiction that she loved beyond reason.
During their travels Caroline took pictures of her adventures. Her scrapbooking became a bit of a joke with the family, but even they could appreciate the want to remember things and cherish them.
That's not to say they didn't have their share of disagreements or troubles during their travels. The Mikaelsons handmade many enemies during their long lives. In Cairo Klaus and Caroline had been ambushed by night walkers that were out for blood. Apparently the ruling vampire in the city had been wronged by Klaus in the 1200's.
After Klaus had decimated their ranks with Caroline at his side, he contacted his siblings. Kol had ended up in New Orleans of all places and had fallen in love with a witch named Davinia. He had helped her escape a plot to kill her for her powers and they were making their way towards Elijah in Tokyo. Rebeka had gone to Milan. She adored fashion and was having fun spending her big brothers' money indulging in a shopping habit.
The Mikaelsons met in Tokyo. Davinia finally asked Kol to change her, which he tried to refuse, but he loved her. She awoke without her magic but with the man that she loved, to her it was worth it. Rebeka and Elijah were both single though Elijah had recently met a baby vampire of his own that had caught his attention. Her name was Grace and she was much like Caroline, a breath of fresh air.
Over the years, Liz Forbes would fly out to meet up with her daughter. Caroline refused to set foot back in her hometown while Elena Gilbert was still there. Bonnie had left town after graduation and had met up with her cousin Lucy who was mentoring her. Caroline would often send her rare ingredients that she found in her travels.
Finally the time came when Liz Forbes passed away. Caroline was devastated and flew home for the first time in decades. She had to wear makeup to make herself look aged, but she attended. She ended up keeping her family home, being a bit sentimental. It was bittersweet for her to be back in the town where she grew up.
Elena had left town and no one had heard from her. Jeremy ended up becoming the local history teacher. After never really forgiving his sister for her actions they became estranged and lost touch. Matt was part of the sheriff department and a happily married family man. Bonnie had married and started a family of her own. She went to college and got a degree in business, not wanting an occult degree that she wouldn't be able to use. No one had heard from Tyler in years, even his mother didn't know where he was.
Caroline laid her mother to rest and sat beside her grave. The Mikaelsons had been there in full force to support her. They were her family now as she and Klaus had married in a small ceremony in a chapel in his estate in Scotland. It was everything that she had ever wanted and dreamed of.
Kol and Davinia married as well, as had Elijah and Grace. Rebeka surprised them all by reuniting with Marcel and with her brothers' blessing married him and returned to New Orleans. Their lives weren't always easy, like anyone they all had their ups and downs. However, there was not the same drama as there had been that fateful year in Mystic Falls when Elena Gilbert nearly ruined them all.
Caroline Mikaelson adored her husband and would do anything for him as she knew and saw daily he would do anything for him. He was her rock throughout their lives together and nothing would change that.
"Are you alright, love?" Klaus asked, wrapping his arms around her middle.
"Yes," she whispered softly. "I'm sad and it hurts, but she's at peace now."
"What do you need from me, darling?" he asked, kissing her brow.
"Just hold me for a while?" she asked.
"Always," he whispered.
They stood holding one another as the sun was setting. As the fireflies came out and the crickets sounded their nightly symphony, Caroline told him she was ready to head home. He whisked her away to her childhood home, having told his siblings they would be staying there for the evening and that their mansion was available.
He carried her into the house and up into her room. Smiling softly he saw that despite having not returned, her mother had not updated it, though there were some of the photos and photo books around the room. Depositing he wife on her bed he tugged off her coat and shoes before stepping out of his own. He stripped them of their clothing and just held his precious Caroline to his chest.
"I love you, Nik," she whispered as she drifted to sleep.
"I love you too sweetheart," he replied, pulling her closer.
Caroline fell asleep in the room and bed where it all began for them. She had come full circle and she was content. There were no regrets for her. How could she regret doing something for herself after what she had been through that year? Her mind drifted to the night of her eighteenth birthday when Nik had saved her. That night he had saved her in more than one way.
Even then he admitted to adoring her, though cautiously from a distance. If he hadn't been brutally honest with her that night she might not have had the courage to eventually walk away from it all and put herself first. From the day he had followed her to London to now he had done everything in his power to show her how much he loved and cherished her. It wasn't just through words or drawings. His actions and attention to the small detail melted her every single day.
If there ever was such a thing as a soulmate he was surely hers. Caroline Mikaelson was a strong, fierce, kind, and loving woman. Nik was right, she did have the world at her fingertips and she planned on spending the rest of her eternity by his side exploring all that it had to offer. With those thoughts she drifted off to sleep, internally laughing how she had won in the end.