Epilogue
Caroline was at home on Sunday afternoon, masterfully multi-tasking between studying for her History final and working on some final prep work for graduation — she smiled to herself at how she was memorizing the dates, people, and facts surrounding important moments in her country's history while planning for an important moment in her own personal history — when someone knocked at her front door.
She opened it and couldn't hide her smile, even if she had wanted to. "Klaus, hi."
He returned her grin. "Hello, love."
"Not that I'm complaining, but what brings you by?" She tilted her head slightly.
"To see you," he responded, rather matter-of-factly.
She rolled her eyes in an amused sort of way. "Duh. I would hope you're not here to see my mom."
"The sheriff?" He scrunched his nose slightly in aversion. "I think not."
"Good." She chuckled.
She quickly closed the distance between them, gliding her soft lips over his. His hand cupped her face, pulling her into him. She let herself melt into his chest as she lifted her arms to wrap them around his neck. He immediately took control of the kiss, going slow and sipping at her lips as if he was taking his time to explore every inch.
He ended the kiss, but remained close as he spoke.
"Since we're not starting over, I don't have to pretend that I don't know where you live."
"Right," she confirmed, but she had no idea what direction he was heading in.
He ducked his head slightly, capturing her gaze. "Are you free now?"
Any thoughts of studying or planning for graduation flew from her mind as she nodded. "Free for what?"
"A date. A proper one."
"Okay."
"How about going for coffee?" His suggestion came quickly. Caroline figured he must have planned this out beforehand.
She nodded. "Sure!"
They opted to walk over to the coffee shop — they agreed to do so because it was such a lovely day, but that was merely a flimsy excuse to hold each other's hands for the duration.
At the café, Klaus gestured for Caroline to place her order first. She did, and just as she had finished speaking, Klaus quickly added a "to go" on the end of her order before placing his own.
She looked at him, curiously and wondering what he had planned, but he only smirked and paid for their drinks.
"Where are we going?"
He shook his head. "Just wait and see, love."
She gave him a 'no way' look as she placed her hands on her hips. "I'd prefer if you just told me where we're going."
He chuckled at her stubbornness and her need to always be in control. It was something he could relate to. "And I prefer to keep you guessing."
Truthfully, he wasn't sure yet where he was taking her. He wanted to go somewhere quiet — the park, maybe; the cemetery would be rather deserted, as would the football field on a Sunday afternoon. He wanted some place with privacy and seclusion, but definitely outdoors and open — he didn't want to be in a confined place when he had something so important to tell Caroline.
After they received their drinks, they began walking around. She quickly became aware of the fact that Klaus didn't know where to go — or perhaps didn't know where he wanted to go. She smirked to herself and let him lead. It didn't matter to her, anyway.
The football field didn't seem like the right place to go to; Klaus spent enough time there lately, watching Caroline. The cemetery seemed too morbid of a destination — though it would satisfy his need for privacy and openness. They meandered around and ended up at the park; it was surprisingly deserted for a Sunday afternoon — but that was probably because calling it a park was being kind: it was just a large green space with a measly, pathetic swing set at one end.
They headed towards the other end of the park, furthest away from the swing set.
They found that they could talk about the deal now — and about the money — without everything getting weird or tense or distant between them. It wasn't a pleasant topic of conversation — not at all — but it was a tolerable one. And now that Caroline's hurt and the embarrassment of it all had eased off, she was insanely curious about everything.
Klaus shook his head definitively. "I never spent any of the money I received for prom."
She raised her eyebrow. "Really?" She was skeptical.
"I see your disbelief, but it's true."
She extended her wrist, palm down, towards him, displaying the diamond bracelet he had given her. "What about this? How did you pay for it?" She narrowed her gaze a bit. "Or where did you steal it from?"
He paused for a moment, enjoying the sight of his gift on her wrist. Then he ignored her second question. "I bought it with the money I had received from going to that party out by the falls with you."
Whenever possible, Klaus avoided mentioning Tyler Lockwood's name. He always made it sound like the money was a gift from some unknown or unseen force. It wasn't as if Caroline didn't know, but he didn't want Lockwood interfering with their relationship any more than his stupid agreement had already. He was back on good footing with Caroline and he didn't want to mess that up. He probably would in some way, but he didn't want things to get messy over the money or Lockwood. Not again.
That's why Klaus was being so honest with her.
"And the dress?"
He grinned as he pictured it. "You look stunning in blue." Rather, he pictured her wearing it.
She rolled her eyes, but she knew he could see the heat rushing to her face. "Did you pay for it with the money from our day at the fair?"
"No, actually, that day didn't involve money."
He responded rather casually as he took another sip of his drink, but his response surprised her.
"Really? So I broke you out of detention and then you spent the afternoon with me because you wanted to?"
He nodded. "I was only paid twice: for the party by the falls and prom. And I was so disgusted by my actions that I never kept the money for prom."
"You gave it back?"
"No," he scoffed. "I gave it to a homeless man." A trouser-less homeless man.
Most of his answers today were surprising Caroline. "So what about the dress?"
He didn't want to divulge this information to her, but he didn't have much of a choice. They were being honest with each other, after all. "I used my savings."
"You what?!"
He shrugged. Yes, it had been costly, but Caroline deserved it. And it was more than pleasant for him, too; he didn't hate seeing her wear that dress. Not at all.
Klaus wasn't sure where to go from here. He had invited Caroline out today for a very specific reason. But now that they had arrived, he found himself feeling hesitant again. He wanted her to know about his past — his personal life — but at the same time, he preferred that she didn't know. What would she think? How would she react? He couldn't stand the idea of seeing the pity that he knew would be in her eyes.
But now that she was a part of another aspect of his personal life, she should know.
He was still incredibly uncertain and reluctant to begin explaining the turmoil of his home life, but he decided to swallow that down and press forward. Now was the time for her to know — they made it through the money thing; this was their next hurtle.
Apparently nothing would be too easy for them.
They sat down, facing each other — legs crossed, knees touching — and continued sipping away at their drinks.
Klaus didn't know how to initiate such a conversation. He'd never spoken in such detail about this to anyone before; his siblings all knew most of the details because they lived with him. But to speak about this with someone not part of his family? He wasn't sure how to proceed.
Turns out, he didn't have to worry about how to enter that conversation. Caroline began down that route, unknowingly, on her own.
"Is that a scar?" She pointed to the upper part of his left arm. He twisted that arm in on himself and saw that one could, in fact, see the tail end of a scar there.
He nodded and stopped drawing attention to it.
"How did you get it?"
He cleared his throat softly. "A fall."
"I have plenty of those, too. Mostly on my legs." She pointed out a small one on her knee. "Cheerleading," she explained with a small half shrug.
Now was the moment; the precipice; the turning point; teetering over the edge; the point of no return; whatever you wanted to call it. He could begin into his 'tale' now, or he could back away and keep it to himself.
He sighed, heavily, before pressing on. That was the reason he chose to seek her out on this particular day. "I have a lot more." He pulled on the hem of his shirt and raised it up to just under the level of his chin. Caroline's eyes dropped down, moving from his eyes to his now-exposed chest and stomach. She let out a soft gasp. She could see more than several small tiny scars scattered across his abdomen. She couldn't help but wonder what made them. There were so many — various shapes, sizes, and colours. Some had ends that were still hidden beneath his clothing.
"Where did they come from?"
He sighed and let his shirt hem fall back down. He stared at the ground, searching for the words.
She saw his reluctance. She quickly reminded him of something. "I told you before: I'm ready to listen when you're ready to tell me," and then she let him have all the time and silence he needed.
When he did speak again, his voice was much softer than before. "My father." He spoke in almost a whisper.
She tilted her head to the side quizzically, not understanding. "What about him?"
When Klaus finally raised his eyes back to Caroline's, he saw that her face was full of confusion. He kept his face cautious and emotionless, but his entire body language screamed out about how uncomfortable he was in that moment.
He swallowed the lump in his throat. "You asked where the scars came from."
Her lips parted as she took in what he was saying. "Your… your father… did that to you?" she asked, unable to really comprehend just what he was telling her.
His lips quirked up into a half smirk. "Stepfather, technically. But that little tidbit of news came out after I had received most of the wounds that left these scars." He spoke with such menace in his voice.
"You accused me of not trying to understand people; of not connecting. There's a reason I'm so guarded, Caroline. A reason I don't trust as willingly as you might think I should." He kept his eyes on hers, warily watching the expressions on her face. "Mikael," he sneered out the name, "the man I grew up calling my father was actually only a father to my siblings, not to me."
Klaus had always been on the receiving end of Mikael's anger. Even before they found out that Klaus was not his biological son.
As a lawyer, Mikael's working hours weren't always 9 to 5. Therefore, Klaus stayed away from the house as much as possible — basically, he only stayed there long enough to eat a late dinner, sleep, and then eat breakfast.
Whenever something happened, something that would send Mikael into a fit of anger, most of Klaus's siblings took the blame for things, hoping to spare Klaus from their father's rage — Elijah often stepped up to take the blame; Rebekah, when she could; and even sometimes Kol; but never Finn. As their mother's favourite, Finn was never close enough to Klaus to do something like that.
This, inevitably, led into where Klaus had been the previous school year — the 'mystery year,' as some had named it.
"I attended school for over two months last year — no one ever seems to remember that; they all think I missed the entire school year."
Caroline nodded her head in agreement; anyone she ever heard reference it always made it sound like he had been gone for the entirety. She was sad to admit that she had no idea either way.
He decided to ease into it. Start with a joke, perhaps. "I wasn't in jail, I don't know Marilyn Manson, I've never slept with a Spice Girl, and I'm not a pyro." He half-smirked at the insanity of those reasons. Oh, how he wished one of them had been the truthful reason he missed so much of the school year. "At least, I'm not yet aware that I am one," he began, referencing the many and rampant rumours that he either overheard about himself or that Kol felt the need to inform him of. He took a deep breath and looked away from her, not meeting her eyes.
He stood, realizing it would be easier to pace around a bit while he told Caroline about his past. He couldn't sit still during it.
She stood, too, but she remained fairly motionless.
"Richmond." His face was stone and emotionless.
"What about it?"
"That's where I was last year."
Even though the direction of their conversation had led to here, Caroline was still shocked that Klaus was opening up about his missing year. She had so many questions — including why he was bringing it up now, when they had just been speaking about his father and his scars — but she knew how rare it was that he was speaking freely, so she kept her mouth shut. She didn't want to shatter this moment.
"I was in the hospital there. I had bruises all over my body and several broken bones, a punctured lung, and a concussion."
"Oh my gosh…" she whispered.
"All thanks to my father."
Caroline felt as if she couldn't breathe. His father hurt him? She had noticed the tension that existed in Klaus whenever he mentioned his parents, but she had no idea that it was for this kind of reason. She suddenly felt sick to her stomach.
"I had healed well-enough before the end of the school year that I could have returned, but it was easier just to keep at the correspondence I had been doing."
Klaus noticed Caroline's expression as he spoke; he watched it switch from confusion to horror. But he never saw pity. He had expected pity — anyone who hears a story like that would feel pity — but once again, she surprised him completely.
One evening in November last year, Mikael came home upset about something and got really drunk — he drank more that evening than he usually did. All Klaus had to do was walk by the entrance to the living room at the wrong time — or any time that evening, really — before Mikael attacked him.
They were the only two people home.
He punched Klaus a few times before throwing him down and kicking him, blaming the teenager for all of his own problems.
Caroline's eyes widened in shock and terror as she let out another gasp. "That's… terrible," she said, her voice hollow.
He moved his hand in a dismissive motion. "I've gotten used to it."
She kept staring at him, trying to grasp what kind of an ordeal of a childhood he had behind him. No wonder he was so messed up.
"I see now why you want to leave this town so quickly. Has he always done this to you? When did it start?"
He clenched his jaw as some of the more poignant moments with his 'father' came back to him. "Mikael has been yelling at me, or demeaning me with his words, for my entire life. The physical abuse didn't start until I was a teenager. I guess that is when I became an acceptable age to hit."
He shrugged, but continued. "It got worse once we learned the truth: I'm not his biological son. My mother had a brief affair and I was the result."
"And he blamed you?" Caroline wasn't sure if she was frightened or outraged.
"It was easier to take his drunken frustrations out on a child than an adult. He'd get angry and drink, but the drink only made him angrier. And any little thing I did, no matter how insignificant, was wrong and I needed to be punished for it. Regardless of what I did, he always found some reason to be angry with me."
"How can you still live with him?"
"I have nowhere else to go. We don't have any family around here. My brothers are both in school and can barely support themselves, let alone me."
"You could report him."
He had expected that comment. "Says the sheriff's daughter." He shook his head. "No, I can't. It's his word against mine; I'm the town miscreant and he's a prominent lawyer. My mother would never speak a word against him. And my siblings are too young and don't know all the details. Over the years, he became more proficient. He would keep the bruises and cuts contained to my upper arms, torso, and thighs."
"Areas easily covered by clothing," she noted.
He nodded.
Caroline felt a bit hypocritical in that moment, telling him to report the abuse he received at home when she never said anything about when Tyler hit her. But that was a one-time thing — not that that justified anything or made it okay. But the abuse in the Mikaelson home has clearly been going on for a long time. And there were minors involved.
"So you just take it?"
He nodded.
He was done with this conversation. He took a deep breath and looked away from her, not meeting her eyes.
He had gotten used to Mikael's abuse — or as used to it as any abuse victim can be, over time. But this time — that cold and dark November evening — was worse. Mikael had been relentless and Klaus couldn't fight back; he had never been strong enough to fight Mikael, but even if he had been, at that point in time he was too badly hurt.
Eventually, someone else came home and Mikael stopped.
Klaus didn't know who it was; all he knew was that Mikael had ceased and then said, "The idiot fell."
No one has spoken about that evening since then, so Klaus still has no idea who it was that came home.
The next thing he remembers was being at the hospital.
"No one at the hospital suspected anything?" Caroline was still fighting with her disbelief. Disbelief that a man could do that to a child; disbelief that a mother wouldn't do all she could to protect her son; and disbelief that no one noticed or suspected a thing. "Aren't the staff members trained to detect these sorts of situations?"
He refused to lift his gaze to hers. His remained focused on the ground. "Mikael is a skilled drunk; even when he was completely wasted, he still knew where to hit or attack me, and he knew how to direct the blame elsewhere. He's been the lawyer in abuse cases. And I said nothing; no one would believe the word of a 16-year-old troublemaker over the town's most prominent lawyer."
She placed her hand on his arm lightly, as if she were afraid of causing him any more harm. "I would."
Klaus had many scars, both visible and invisible. There were his physical scars, mostly small and barely there — though some were gigantic and obvious. Caroline would later ask him for more details regarding where they came from, but he would only ever say that Mikael had often been cruel in his punishments.
The invisible scars were the worst ones. It's hard to heal something you cannot see.
He pulled his arm away from her, causing her had to drop heavily to her side. "You wanted to get to know me — well, there you go." He spread his arms out at his sides. "There's my tragic little sob story for you."
He turned on his heels and walked away from her.
Caroline stood still for a moment — stunned and confused at the change in tone — before taking off in a run after him. Once she reached him, she grabbed his arm and pulled, forcing him to turn back to face her.
"What the hell? You're leaving? You can't just drop a bombshell like that and split."
"Just taking a preventative measure, love." His face was emotionless again — like a stone.
"You think I'm going to leave you? I've been asking you to open up to me for forever, and what, now that you have, do you think I'm going to run?" She shook her head. "I get it; your parents don't love you, so you assume that no one else will either. But I'm not the one running away here."
He was avoiding eye contact again.
She moved her hand from his arm and placed it against his cheek, catching his gaze and holding it. "Don't cut me out of your life because of your past. Don't second-guess this. I'm here because I want to be with you. I can't change your past any more than you can, but I can help make your present amazing. And maybe even your future?"
He had been rejected, neglected, and torn into bits. She wondered if there was any way for him to get over a lifetime of hurt.
She stepped even closer to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. He responded by wrapping his hands around her waist. She smiled and pressed her lips against his. She stopped much too quickly for either of their liking.
She giggled slightly before she spoke again. "You're kind of stuck with me, Mikaelson." She dragged her hand down his arm. "If you want me."
She hadn't intended to make herself so vulnerable when she made that comment, but she was. She was anxious to know that he was okay with them being together, especially since he seemed convinced that she would want to leave him after learning about his scars.
He raised his hand, pushing away the strand of hair from her face as he gazed down at her. He whispered, "You know I want you," before pressing his lips softly against hers. She hummed contently against his lips. He couldn't help but smile before he pulled away, pressing another kiss to her temple.
"It's not every day that I find someone who I trust enough to tell my past to. And someone who doesn't look at me with pity after hearing it is even rarer."
He tucked some hair behind her ear.
"Most people only see the scars." She ran her hand down his chest, where she knew the majority of the scars laid hidden, underneath his shirt. "But I see the survivor underneath."
She spoke so earnestly and Klaus could feel his chest tighten. He'd never had someone be so gentle with him. Her touch was so light. He'd never told someone the truth about his scars — he'd never even shown them to anyone — but he always imagined that telling someone would result in that person looking at him with such pity and disdain.
She really was unlike anyone he had ever met. And he had no idea what he had done to deserve to have her in his life.
Somehow, as they began walking out of the park and back to Caroline's house, they switched back to talking about the deal with Tyler — this was probably more Klaus's doing than Caroline's.
He told her why he agreed to it.
"To be honest, when Lockwood first suggested the idiotic idea, I agreed to it because I needed the money. I wasn't thinking of you as a person then; you were just a means to a payout. But I only had to spend a few moments with you before I realized how much more you were."
He wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her in close against his side as they walked.
She smiled, but decided they had chatted enough about the money scheme for one afternoon. "A Spice Girl?" she asked, referring to the litany of rumours he had mentioned earlier. "Really? I'd never heard that one."
"Because we all have accents, I suppose," he suggested with a sigh.
She laughed at the simplicity and the idiocy of her classmates.
Caroline spent the entirely of Sunday afternoon and Sunday evening with Klaus. They went back to the Forbes house for dinner — not a problem, since Liz was working — and Caroline let Klaus stay there until nearly midnight. He caught her more than once trying to stifle a yawn before he finally convinced her that he should leave. "You can't yawn your way through school tomorrow, love." She was terrified to think of him going back to that house, but he assured her it would be fine. She only let him go after she had made him promise that he would spend tomorrow after school with her.
He did not need much convincing of that.
"What about your mother?" She had worked up the courage to ask as he was leaving through her front door Sunday night. "Does she know?"
He turned back to her. He had a small smile on his face, but it wasn't genuine enough to reach his eyes. All he said in response was "Ester is a very shrewd and very observant woman."
His mother had never witnessed the abuse in person, but she knew. Whenever Klaus had a new sore spot, or blood or holes in his clothing, she would get a look on her face. A sort of knowing look. But she never did anything about it and she never said anything about it. She treated his clothing as if they were sports-related stains and rips.
Caroline nodded, letting the subject drop. She hadn't expected him to answer her question at all; she knew better than to try and press her luck with any follow up ones. They were moving forward now; the last thing she wanted was to take two steps back.
He ducked his head and they kissed goodbye.
On Monday evening, Caroline decided to keep things simple for their dinner — ordering in pizza. Shortly after they had eaten and just as they were finishing the cleanup, Caroline answered the knock on her front door and found a sheepish-looking Elena holding a cake, standing next to an amused-looking Damon.
"Hi."
Elena lifted the cake up just a little higher. "It's your favourite."
"Of course it is," Caroline said with a slight laugh. "It's a cake."
Elena's smile grew a little larger and a little less hesitant, knowing just how much she and Caroline loved anything cake-related. "It's an apology cake. It's an I-was-stupid-and-selfish-and-didn't-think-of-anyon e-other-than-myself-and-I'm-sorry cake." She sighed as she realized something important about her actions. "I didn't think at all, honestly."
"Wow." Caroline chuckled. "That's quite an expressive cake."
"You should have seen her in-bakery dilemma, trying to decide which one to get for you," Damon added.
Caroline laughed at that mental image. "I can imagine."
Elena turned slightly and glared at Damon. "You're not supposed to tell her that I bought it, Damon."
He gestured towards Caroline. "I'm sure she knows."
Caroline nodded. "Everyone who was present remembers the bake-sale disaster of our fifth grade, Lena."
"Now that sounds like a good story."
"No, it's not," Elena quickly shouted, before Caroline could explain more in detail to Damon.
"You didn't have to bring me baked goods, you know. Not that I won't accept this delicious-looking cake. But seriously, friends fight, Elena; that doesn't mean they stop being friends."
Elena had a relieved expression on her face as she took in Caroline's words. "So you're still my best friend, even if I did something stupid."
She nodded. "I'm still your best friend, even when you do something really stupid."
The girls laughed at that. Then Caroline shifted her gaze to Damon again.
"We haven't officially met." He stepped forward slightly. "I'm Damon."
"Nice to meet you." Caroline pointed her thumb over her own shoulder, gesturing to the inside of her house. "Klaus and I were hanging out, but you two are welcome to join us."
"That sounds great," Elena said cheerfully as Caroline stepped aside for her to enter.
"I hope you like cake, Damon."
"Yes, I do. And I can't wait for you to tell me about the bake-sale disaster of fifth grade," Damon added.
Elena just groaned as she carried the cake into the Forbes' kitchen. She found Klaus standing semi-awkwardly in Caroline's kitchen.
Time seemed to pass very quickly after that. Before they even fully processed it, graduation day was upon them.
Caroline wrapped her arms around Bonnie. "Happy Graduation! Can you believe we actually made it?"
They were both already wearing their graduation robes and caps.
"No." The pulled apart and Bonnie looked around them. "Where's Elena? We can't do this without her."
Caroline looked around her. She was just about to pull out her phone and call Elena when she heard her friend's voice. "I'm here." She looked past Bonnie and smiled as her best friend made her way to them, wearing her burgundy robe and carrying her graduation cap.
Elena paused for only a second, hesitant. But Caroline's smile grew even larger — if that was possible — as she stepped forward and pulled Elena in for a large hug.
"Are we okay, Care?" Elena asked, while they were still hugging.
She nodded against Elena's shoulder. "We're good."
They pulled away from the hug and Elena turned to hug Bonnie.
Once the hugs were completed, Caroline looked back and forth between her two best friends. "I can't believe it. We're actually here, together. The three of us."
They all laughed slightly.
"Bonnie Bennett, are you crying?"
She did have tears in her eyes; she couldn't help it. Bonnie was always the most emotional one of the three. "It's our last hurrah of high school."
"I know!"
"But it's not the last for us forever," Elena pointed out.
Bonnie nodded. "I'm happy we're here. Together."
"Oh! Group hug!" Caroline extended her arms and the three crashed into each other.
They were able to enjoy a few more moments together, standing there in their graduation robes and caps, before they had to separate and line up in alphabetical order.
The football field had been converted into an outdoor auditorium. A stage was set up at one side, with some chairs on the field for the graduates and their immediate family members. Other guests had to sit in the stadium bleachers.
Mayor Lockwood stood up on the stage at the podium placed exactly in the centre of the banner that read 'Congratulations Seniors! Mystic Falls High School.'
"Welcome parents, family, and friends. What a beautiful day for graduation. Thank you for joining us today on this special day as we celebrate our graduates. So let's get started."
Caroline smiled as each name was read out. She cheered when she heard "Bonnie Bennett" and Caroline caught sight on Mr Bennett proudly clapping from the audience.
When the mayor said, "Caroline Forbes," she stepped onto the stage and made her way over to him. He congratulated her and she forced a smile at his falseness. As she shook his hand, she turned to face the audience and caught her mother's watery gaze. She had to hold back her own tears at the sight.
She was still making her way to her seat amongst the other graduates when Elena's name was called. She cheered and heard Dr and Mrs Gilbert cheering, too. She chucked when she saw Mrs Gilbert try and force a very reluctant Jeremy to his feet for his sister's accomplishment. (Caroline had failed to notice his reaction when Bonnie's name was mentioned.)
Most annoyingly, the mayor actually halted the steady flow of the graduation proceedings when he got to his son's name on the list of graduates. Most of the attendees felt almost compelled to stand, giving Tyler such as ovation as he crossed the stage to his father. Caroline refused to do so.
She wanted to gag.
But she laughed, too, when she saw, even from her seat, how bruised Tyler still was. Apparently no amount of makeup could cover it properly, though clearly he had tried.
She rolled her eyes, and they landed on Klaus who, thankfully, did not have to line up directly behind Tyler. (There were two students between them.) He held her gaze, smirking slightly, until his name was called. It was as if his name was being called for boarding — one way, out of town.
Damon quite literally strutted across the stage when his name was said. She shook her head, amused, and caught sight of Stefan applauding next to a man she could only assume was Mr Salvatore. She could also hear Elena cheering nearby.
Once Mayor Lockwood wrapped up the ceremony, everyone was free to mingle. Caroline was standing with Bonnie and Elena when we felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned just in time for her mother to pull her in for a hug.
"I am so proud of you, sweetheart." Liz spoke into her daughter's ear; Caroline could hear it in her voice that her mother still had tears in her eyes (or a new batch of tears).
"Thanks, mom!"
Once they pulled away, Caroline asked Bonnie to take a picture of her with her mother. After that, Liz congratulated Bonnie and Elena, too. Then she apologized for having to leave for work. Caroline was not surprised, but it didn't matter; she was just glad that her mom was able to make an appearance and see her walk across that stage. Liz had been absent for so many milestones in Caroline's life that she was glad her mother could witness this one. It meant more to Caroline than she could properly express.
The girls were soon joined by others: Mr Bennett, first, and then Jeremy with Dr and Mrs Gilbert. After chatting for a few moments, the group began to split up. Bonnie and Jeremy went off on their own after Mr Bennett left. And Elena said goodbye to her parents and went over to Damon, who had been lingering nearby. (Apparently he wasn't too close with his father, so they hadn't needed to spend much time together after the ceremony concluded.)
Caroline found herself wandering around. She said hi to a few people, but she was really looking for Klaus. She made her way through the crowds, pausing only when she noticed a familiar head of blonde hair. Rebekah's.
She got closer, but then hesitated. They were smiling and chatting; she didn't want to interrupt. She noticed neither Mikael nor Ester were present at this particular moment.
Klaus noticed Caroline first. When Rebekah caught onto her brother's sightline, she waved Caroline over. She smiled and joined them, standing close to Klaus.
"Congratulations, high school graduate," Rebekah said.
Caroline's smile grew wider at the title. "Thanks!"
Klaus leaned his head down closer to her ear. "You look beautiful, love."
"You look pretty great, too."
"I'm glad to get rid of this thing now."
Klaus moved to remove his grad robe, but Rebekah held out her hand to stop him. "No, wait. I want a picture first."
He groaned. "Bekah, no."
"Yes," was all she said to her brother. Then she turned her attention to Caroline. "Caroline, will you take a picture of us?"
Caroline nodded. "Sure." She took Rebekah's offered phone. "Smile," she said in a sing-song manner, most specifically to Klaus. He glared at her, but did finally do ask she commanded. Caroline quickly snapped a picture while he was cooperating.
Rebekah took her phone back and looked at the photo. "Oh, this looks great. Thanks, Caroline!"
Klaus groaned again.
"It does look great, Klaus," Caroline offered.
"I think I'll send this to Finn and Elijah, too."
"Hope you're happy," Klaus whispered in Caroline's ear.
She grinned up at him. "Yes, I am."
"Okay, now one of you two," Rebekah suggested.
"What the hell," Klaus said, throwing his hands up in the air. He has always hated being photographed.
Once that was done — and that picture turned out even better than the previous one — Rebekah immediately sent both of the pictures to Klaus's phone and to Caroline's. Then she told Klaus that it was okay to remove his robe. She quickly followed that up with "Give Caroline and I a moment alone, would you?"
"You cannot order me around, Bekah."
She rolled her eyes. "Just do it, Nik."
Klaus rolled his eyes and Caroline laughed inwardly at how similar they were. As an only child, Caroline only ever experienced the sibling relationship from the outside. He looked to Caroline. She shrugged but nodded anyway. It seemed easier to appease Rebekah than to argue with her about something so silly. While still skeptical about leaving Caroline alone with his sister, he finally conceded. He took his graduation robe off, helped Caroline remove hers as well, and went to return them, leaving the two girls alone to chat.
Rebekah laughed once Klaus was out of hearing range. "He can never say no to me."
Caroline laughed, too, and watched Klaus's retreating form until he was out of sigh. That didn't take long, given the crowd. She turned back to Rebekah. "Were your parents here?" She hoped that was the best way to phrase such a question.
"Mother made an appearance. She gave Nik a quick hug afterwards and then left with Kol."
"But your father didn't show up?"
Rebekah shook her head. "He couldn't be bothered. I really don't think he could have cared less about this."
Caroline nodded. She shouldn't have asked.
"He told me that he told you. About our parents." Rebekah shook her head at her own word jumble. "I'm glad it didn't scare you away; I thought it might."
"It was unexpected," Caroline began. "And I think part of me still cannot believe someone could be so cruel. I guess I really am more sheltered than I thought."
Rebekah surprised Caroline by pulling her in for a hug. "Thank you," she whispered.
"For what?" Caroline asked as they pulled apart.
"I can see how happy you make him. And I've never seen him care about anyone the way he cares about you." She shrugged. "Maybe you can fix what I haven't been able to."
Caroline didn't know how to respond to that. While she would probably forever be known as 'the fixer,' she really didn't think he needed fixing; he just needed time. And he needed to learn how to not let his past define him. This could, even, make him a stronger person.
But she said nothing to Rebekah, who continued speaking anyway. "I've always thought you were good for him. The two of you are as different as dark and light — literally, in some ways — but you're great together."
Before Caroline could respond, Klaus returned to them. He let his arm wrap around Caroline's waist as he stood next to her. "Are you done interrogating her, Bekah?"
She scoffed at her brother and Caroline was taken aback. She realized — in that moment; with that scoff — that she could see a lot of herself in Rebekah. And not just the blonde hair and the cheerleader parts: Rebekah was just as driven and determined — and stubborn as hell — as Caroline herself.
"I've done no such thing, Nik."
Caroline blocked out the rest of their conversation, which was short. She realized that Rebekah would make an excellent cheer captain next year. Now she knew who to name as her successor. She had been struggling with the decision for weeks now.
Better late than never, Caroline.
She inwardly scolded herself.
She was brought out of her thoughts and plans when she noticed Rebekah and Klaus were hugging. It was an adorable sight.
"See you later," Rebekah said with a wave as she left them alone.
"Your sister is rather something else."
Klaus barked out a laugh. "She certainly has her moments. When she's not trying to be a know-it-all."
She swatted his arm. "Don't be mean."
"She was right about something. You are definitely the light that combats my darkness."
"That's really cheesy." She rolled her eyes.
"It's true. You're always radiating such light and positivity." He moved a strand of hair to behind her ear, letting his fingers linger there. "It's incredible."
"You aren't always so dark and dangerous. You know, that stupid party out by the falls was the first time that I realized I could potentially have feelings for you," Caroline confessed.
Klaus raised an eyebrow. "I'm surprised you remember much of anything about that evening. You consumed quite a lot of alcohol, love."
She groaned at the memory of that hangover. "Ugh, I know! Don't remind me! At the beginning of that evening, I remember being completely weirded out that you all-of-a-sudden wanted to spend time with me." She smiled at the thought. "Yet another part of me was flattered by the attention. You paid attention to me, made me feel special and appreciated in a way that no one else had."
"You deserve to be appreciated, sweetheart," Klaus replied immediately, pulling her closer to him. He dipped his head and placed a soft kiss to her neck.
"So do you," she murmured. "Then, when I had way too much to drink, you took care of me. I'm usually the one who takes care of everyone and everything else. It was very sweet."
He shrugged. "Well, I had already begun to fancy you by then," he mentioned, nonchalantly.
"Really?" She wrapped her arms around his neck.
He nodded. "I fancied you from the moment I saw you up on that karaoke stage, so joyous and hopeful and beautiful. I knew then that I wanted to show you the world, and that I wanted you by my side, regardless of how heavily that contradicted my persona. It frightened me at first, but I soon realized I couldn't fight it."
She quickly stepped onto her tiptoes and brought his head down so her lips could meet with his. She pulled away shortly after. He was amused as her face reddened. She wasn't one for pda, apparently.
"So what's up next for us? Are you planning to leave town as quickly as you can?"
He gave a quick nod. "I'm 18 and now I've graduated. I'll stick around for a few days, maybe, but not much longer."
She nodded.
"I was hoping to have a travel companion."
She beamed at that. "I suppose that wouldn't be the worst way to spend the summer before college," she joked. "Or I could even defer for a year and we could travel further."
He smiled. He wanted nothing more than to kiss her again, but he knew what her reaction would be.
He glanced around them. "Let's get out of here, shall we?"
He extended his hand to her. She nodded and accepted his offer.
As she walked away from the football field, holding hands with Klaus, Caroline realized that her life wasn't supposed to be like this. She was supposed to graduate high school, go to college, meet a nice boy, get married, have children, and become a soccer mom. She was going to have a simple, happy life in Mystic Falls, or somewhere nearby, and travel every ten years on vacation. She wasn't supposed to fall in love with the town's mysterious bad boy and want to run away with him. Her life map had gone in a completely different direction than the one she had drawn up in the seventh grade.
But this way was so much better.
A/N: Thank you to everyone reading this. Thank you!
I had a lot of fun writing this, and I hope I didn't bore you or twist things too much.
And I hope I have responded to every review, unless it was a guest review; I certainly meant to and I apologize if I somehow missed yours.
If you could, since this is the end, please leave one final review. Let me know your thoughts.
Thank you!