HAPPY HALLOWEEEEEEEEEEEN! And of course, happy TVD day!
Hey everyone! Thank you for reading, favoriting, and reviewing! I hope you all enjoy this chapter :) There is a little bit of happiness in it haha.
Arielmermaid: Yeah, maybe during a flashback or just in a discussion. I really haven't thought about that haha, but I'll try to remember to throw it in somewhere! Thank you for reading :)
Ok, so let's get on with the chapter! Happy reading…
Disclaimer: I do not own TVD, The Originals, or any of their characters.
Caroline got ready to go out for the evening, her mind set on a girl's night with her best friend. However, when her doorbell rang she got a surprise. She swung the door open, expecting Elena to be standing there, but she was met by an entirely different brunette.
"Hey Care!"
"Tyler?" Caroline's smile faltered as she tried to hide her shock. "Now's not the best time. Elena's on her way to pick me up."
"Actually, she's waiting in the car." Tyler gestured to the running vehicle sitting in the driveway.
Caroline's brow puckered as she went over the conversation she had had with Elena in her mind. She didn't remember anything about Tyler being mentioned, but to be honest she was too distracted with the man that had been standing in her living room at the time. Then, she realized how much it would hurt Klaus if he found out that she went out with Tyler of all people, even if it was just as friends. Since when do I care about Klaus' feelings? She wondered to herself.
"Caroline?" Tyler became concerned when Caroline didn't respond.
She snapped out of her trance. "Uh, sorry. Maybe I should just stay in tonight."
"Are you feeling alright?" He stepped closer towards her.
Caroline stepped back. She couldn't explain it, but she felt like by letting Tyler in, she was cheating on Klaus. She almost laughed at the thought. She woke up from her coma thinking she was dating Tyler, but she was surprised to find that her feelings weren't as strong as she had remembered them to be.
"Come on! What's taking so long?" Elena yelled from the idle vehicle.
"I'm fine. I just don't think this is a good idea," Caroline told Tyler honestly.
"You need to have a little fun. Don't make me go get Elena. You know she will drag you out of your house." He smiled.
She knew what he said was true, and she couldn't wipe away the grin that was forming on her face. "Fine."
"Great, let's go." Tyler led the way to the vehicle with Caroline right on his heels. "By the way, you look beautiful," he threw over his shoulder.
"Thanks," she replied. She expected butterflies to start swarming in her stomach, but she felt nothing but gratitude. What girl wouldn't appreciate someone telling them they look beautiful? However, it wasn't the feeling she would get had it been a man she loved that told her that.
She took her place beside Elena in the backseat. Matt was in the driver's seat and Tyler in the passenger's seat. She felt like she was in high school, which ironic enough, she was mentally stuck there.
"So, where are we headed?" Caroline asked the group as Matt pulled out of her driveway.
"The only place we can go in this town," Elena replied.
Caroline didn't need any more of an explanation to know they were going to the Mystic Grill, so her attempt at conversation ended there. However, Tyler broke the silence quickly after.
"What did you do today now that you're free from the hospital?" He turned so he could see Caroline's face.
She shrugged. "Just went through some pictures." She didn't know how much Tyler liked Klaus, but she was guessing that they didn't care for one another.
The small talk continued until they pulled up at the Grill. When they entered, her gaze immediately landed on the two men sitting at the bar: Klaus and Elijah. The perk and problem of living in a small town was that everyone went to the same place. As if they were two magnets drawn towards one another, Klaus turned and locked eyes with her. His lips began to form a smile until he saw the guy following Caroline.
She lifted her hand to wave, but when she saw his expression change into one of anger, her arm fell back to her side. She mentally punished herself, knowing that she should have never agreed to go with Tyler. She was about to walk over to Klaus, to tell him that she was going to spend the evening with him and Elijah, but he turned back towards the bar. Caroline felt like that was his way of shutting her out, of letting her know that now was not a good time to talk to him. Elijah turned towards the doorway to see what had soured his brother's mood, and Caroline felt the knot form in her stomach as the eldest brother looked at her with such disappointment.
Caroline wanted to tell them both that she was sorry, but she was conflicted. Part of her still didn't care what Klaus thought, and even though Elijah had always been nice to her, she didn't feel like she owed him an apology either. But the other part of her wanted to be near Klaus, as if her body remembered him even though her mind didn't. She realized that her mind and heart were battling each other again, which seemed to be a reoccurring theme that day. Her heart remembered, which explained her lack of feelings for Tyler. She sighed.
Tyler's hand landed lightly on Caroline's back, guiding her towards a booth. She gave in, sensing that Klaus didn't want to talk to her at that moment. She would have to call him and explain some other time.
Caroline wanted to sit by Elena, but Tyler made sure she was stuck beside him. As they all sat at the table, Caroline was only catching bits and pieces of the conversation. Her attention was on the brothers.
"Why didn't Rebekah come?" She heard Elena ask. Caroline's interest was caught for the first time since sitting down.
"Rebekah Mikaelson?" She joined the conversation.
Elena nodded. "She and Matt have been dating for a little over a year now, right Matt?"
"Yeah. She said she was going to be spending some time with her brothers tonight, but since Klaus and Elijah are right over there and she's nowhere in sight, I'm wondering what she's really up to." Matt replied.
The group looked over at the bar; the brothers were still turned away from them. Then, Caroline turned back towards Matt.
"You are dating Rebekah? Rebekah Mikaelson?" She waited for his nod before continuing. "Wow, I never would have guessed that."
"She could be with Kol," Elena reminded Matt of the other Mikaelson brother.
"Yeah," Matt decided. "I'm not going to worry about it right now. We are here to have fun, right?" He smiled his contagious smile, and they all agreed.
Caroline's glance kept wandering over to Klaus, and she would occasionally catch him glancing over his shoulder. She noticed that the plates that had been in front of them were now gone, yet the two men were still sitting there.
"You want to go play a game of pool?" She felt an arm land across her shoulders as Tyler's voice filled her ear.
She turned towards him. She had to resist pulling away when she saw how close he was to her. Before she had time to answer, she heard a loud bang coming from the other side of the room and turned to see what it was. Elijah was picking the chair that Klaus had been seated in up off of the floor. Caroline barely caught a glimpse of Klaus as he stormed out of the restaurant, slamming the door as he left.
Caroline jumped out of the booth as fast as she could, heading to the door.
"Caroline," Tyler yelled after her, but she kept walking. "Caroline!" He yelled again. The blonde stopped. "Where are you going?" He was now behind her, spinning her so she had to look at him.
"He is my husband! You and I have been over for a long time, and that isn't going to change just because I lost my memory." She was being louder than she had intended, but she was angry. "I have to go." Tyler hoped that no one heard, but that thought was shattered when he saw all eyes were on him.
Caroline ran out into the parking lot, hoping that he hadn't made it to his car. "Klaus?" She yelled, but she didn't get a reply. She continued scanning the large area as she called his name. "Klaus? Please answer me!" She knew he had to be out there somewhere because no car had driven away.
"Go back to Tyler. He's who you want."
Caroline spun around. He had come out of nowhere, but she was glad he was there. "Why would you say that?"
He walked towards her, his hands behind his back. If she didn't know him at all, she would think he was calm, but she wasn't being fooled. "I don't know, maybe because you still love him."
"I may love him, Klaus, but I'm not in love with him. So please, don't tell me how I feel." She crossed her arms.
"Then why are you here with him? You made me believe you were just going out with Elena." His eyes showed every ounce of his anger, but his voice was beginning to rise as his emotions got the best of him.
Caroline glared at the man in front of her. "You didn't even give me a chance to explain! I would have come to you the minute I walked into that restaurant," She shoved her finger in the direction of the Grill, "but you turned away from me."
"Well I'm here now, so let's have your excuse," he smirked.
She rolled her eyes, but didn't correct his substitution of explanation. "I had no idea that Tyler was going to come until he showed up on my doorstep. I too thought it was just going to me be me and Elena. I tried to get out of it because I knew you wouldn't like it, but they persisted until I gave in."
He looked as if he was going to believe her, but then his smirk reappeared. "My feelings must have meant so much to you when his arm was around you and your faces were close enough to touch."
"You must have turned around right when he decided to whisper in my ear." She walked up to him so they were toe to toe. "I was going to push him away right when you barged out. I'm married to you, not him, whether I remember it or not. I wouldn't hurt you like that."
She waited for him to say something, anything at all, but he didn't. He still had a skeptical look on his face as he tried to read hers. She groaned. "What do I have to do to make you trust me, Nik?"
Caroline's Memory
"You should have called me!" Klaus yelled as he paced the floor of Caroline's dorm room.
Caroline sat down on her bed. "Nik, that's crazy! All I did was ask Tyler for a ride home, and the only reason I did that was because he was the only one there. How was I supposed to know that my car was going to break down?"
"You had no control over your car, but you didn't have to go with him."
She rolled her eyes. "So I was supposed to call you to drive 45 minutes to come pick me up at the library and bring me back to my dorm? Why would I do that? It was way more convenient to just catch a ride with someone."
"And it would have been fine if that someone wasn't your ex." He had stopped pacing, but she realized she would probably prefer it to his staring at her like he was doing now.
She walked over to him. "Are you jealous?" She didn't wait for a reply. "Because you know that I don't have feelings for Tyler anymore. You are the only one I care about." She placed her hand on his forearm.
His jaw clenched as he pulled away. "Next time, I'd prefer it if you called me. I don't like you being alone with him."
She sighed. "What do I have to do to make you trust me, Nik?"
Present Day
Caroline's eyes were wide as she felt like a wave just crashed into her brain. She looked up to see that Klaus' expression matched hers.
"Did you just call me Nik?" He whispered.
"I…I…I just remembered something," She stammered.
He grabbed her upper arms with his hands, steadying her shaking form. "Are you alright?"
She felt a flutter in her stomach as she noticed that he asked her how she was before interrogating her about what she remembered. "I'm fine," a small smile formed on her lips.
"What did you remember, sweetheart?" He quietly asked as he brushed her hair away from her face.
She concentrated on the memory. She felt like it might disappear if she stopped replaying it in her mind. "We were fighting in my dorm room. You were mad at me for getting a ride from Tyler because my car broke down. I think the reason I remembered it was because I asked you the same question then that I asked you tonight." She looked up when she heard his laugh. In that moment, she saw the happiness on his face, his genuine smile, the light in his eyes.
"You remembered," he said out loud, as if that would make it more real to him. "And you have no idea how good it was to hear you call me Nik instead of Klaus, love." He rested one hand on her cheek.
She placed her hand on top of his. "If it meant so much to you, why didn't you tell me to call you Nik?"
"Because I wanted you to remember me as Nik, not Klaus."
She could see that in his mind, Klaus was the guy she knew when she was in high school, and Nik was the man she fell in love with. She nodded. "I hope that one day I'll remember exactly when I started calling you Nik, and what made me change my mind, but for now, is it okay that I go ahead and call you Nik?"
He smiled and pulled her into his chest. He panicked at first when he realized that he did it out of reflex, but when he felt her arms wrap around his torso, he relaxed. "I would like nothing more," he replied.
"Caroline?" She heard her name being called by her best friend.
She sighed and reluctantly pulled away from Klaus. "Over here." She called back.
Elena rounded the corner and approached the couple. "Hey," She awkwardly looked between the two. Matt and Tyler weren't far behind.
Caroline saw that Tyler wouldn't even look her in the eye. She didn't mean to embarrass him, but she had to let him know where he stood. Besides, she had never personally told him she thought they were still together.
"We were just going to see if you needed a ride home," Elena added.
Caroline looked at Klaus, whose gaze was on her. She smiled before turning back to her best friend. "Nik's going to take me home. Thanks though." She grabbed his hand in hers, entwining their fingers.
He squeezed her hand in his before releasing it, pulling her against his side, and wrapping his arm around her waist.
"See you later, then." Elena waved before she, Tyler, and Matt made their way to Matt's car.
Caroline allowed Klaus to lead her to his car so he could take her home. "How is Elijah going to get home?"
"He brought his own car," Klaus responded.
He knew that any day now she would remember everything about their lives together. He just had to have faith.