*peeps head out* Hi, long time no see...it really isn't my intention to always make you guys wait for updates, especially with the story coming to an end but life has been busy, overwhelming and kinda thriving?
I appreciate anyone who is still rooting for me and this story, and welcome to any new readers/fans! *waves*
Gotta admit I'm feeling anxious about this chapter (shocker), probably because I've been waiting to write it for over a year and now that it's here I feel it's not perfect enough (I really hate myself sometimes) and now I'm rambling so anyways, enjoy!
Most of you already suspected this was coming. This is an angst monster told mainly from Klaus' pov and I'm shutting up now!
"Greenland? Of all the places in the world that's what you're going with?" Klaus mocked his friend while taking a drag of smoke.
"What's wrong with Greenland?" Enzo genuinely wondered.
"Let's see, it's torturously cold and boring. Not exactly the vacation hot spot." Marcel answered for him, passing the blunt to the offended brunette vampire.
Enzo shrugged, bringing the rolled up paper between his lips to take a puff.
"Believe it or not, some of us want to be a little boring after such a stressful semester. Plus, I've never been, okay not all of us were backpacking the entire world during our prime immortal days. I'm 140 years old for fucks sake and have succumbed myself to this bloody asylum for 5 of them."
"Voluntarily." Aurora added, taking the shortened blunt from Enzo and bringing it to her own lips.
"Point is, I have 5 years of adventure to make up for and I want to start in a country I've yet to grace with my presence."
Klaus chuckled as the smoke snuck through his lips and nostrils.
With graduation weeks away and the likelihood of their crew never seeing each other again, the boys decided to ditch their Immortals Beings class and instead spend the class period sprawled out on the vacant football field with a bottle of bourbon and a few marijuana blunts to share—courtesy of the red headed vampire.
Despite the obvious hostility and tension, Aurora never stopped hanging out with the crew which by default meant she and Klaus would eventually cross paths again. They hadn't spoken since their last conversation on the bleachers aside from a simple head nod in between tv show disputes.
"We're only teasing." Marcel laughed.
"Well fuck off with it." Enzo spat, sitting up on his elbows. "Fine, then where are you going that's so fascinating, hm? We already know about Mikaelson skipping into the New York sunlight with Caroline Forbes for the next four years."
Aurora's obvious flinch and side eye didn't go unnoticed by the three other vampires.
Marcel cleared his throat. "Um, well I'm going to New Orleans."
Enzo scoffed fully sitting up. "New Orleans? You and Mikaelson are staying stateside but have the audacity to call my destination boring. At least his excuse is that he's following his pretty little witch, what's yours?"
Marcel grinned, shoulders lifting. "I miss home. I miss the people. I miss the city, culture and all that it has to offer. New Orleans is where I was born and raised and I haven't been back in over a century. Going back now finally feels right."
"Even if you have no one to go home to? Not all of us can be as fortunate as Mikaelson with an immortal family."
Klaus pressed his lips together, realizing he never acknowledged the privilege of his entire family being vampires. Most vampires were out in the world alone after losing the mortals they loved, but it never clicked how he may have been taking advantage of being one of the lucky ones. Enzo and Marcel rarely talked about their mortal lives but it was apparent they didn't have anyone to go back to from their old life. Everyone they ever knew and loved passed away. Despite the animosity amongst his own family, Klaus couldn't imagine being in a world without his parents or siblings.
He felt a stab to the chest at the thought of losing Caroline one day—visibly shaking away the nightmare.
Marcel sighed. "Believe me, not a day goes by that I don't think about my mother, father and siblings. I think I've avoided going back home all these years because stepping back there means they're really gone and stepping back into my old life without them. But I think they would want me to go back to my roots and reconnect. They always taught me to never run when things feel too difficult."
Klaus softly grinned. "Take it from me, confronting your past is utter shit but it's actually pretty worth it."
"Caroline teach you that too?" Marcel teased, and Klaus noted Aurora's subtle eye roll as she took a swig from the bottle.
Klaus playfully shoved him in the shoulder. "Point is, you have my support mate."
"I appreciate that, man." Marcel grinned.
"Okay, okay are you two done bromancing over there?" Enzo blurted, rolling his eyes before they landed on three freshman vampire boys walking across the quarter together.
He laughed under his breath. "Remember when that used to be us? We were so clueless and reckless back then."
"Only back then?" Aurora mumbled
"Whatever, I just feel bad for whichever schmuck will have to pick up the pieces of the vampire faction when we leave." Enzo said while passing the rolled blunt to Klaus.
"What do you mean?" Marcel asked.
He chuckled. "You really have to ask? This semester has been an utter shit show and proves to only get worse. Mikaelson and Forbes have completely changed the game around here, the future faction leaders are gonna lose their shit everyday trying to keep their communities in line and apart. Other vampires are going to find their own witch's brew to dip into, maybe even the werewolves will take a bite out of the forbidden fruit. Who knows? All I know for sure is Whitmore Academy will never be the same again."
"Maybe change is exactly what this place needs." Klaus commented, feeling a sense of pride.
"And that's my cue to leave." Aurora said, standing from the grass.
"Oh bloody hell, just sit back down and stop being dramatic." Enzo groaned.
Her shoulders shrugged as she bent to retrieve her tote bag from the grass.
"I'm not being anything but the cordial acquaintance role I promised. Doesn't mean I have to succumb myself to your witch chatter." She claimed.
"And you were doing so well keeping your mouth shut." Klaus said, glaring up at her.
The tension in the air was suffocating—it always was whenever the pair were forced to be around each other. The amount of animosity between them made it hard for Klaus to believe that they were once friends.
"Fine, drama queen but your loss. We're smoking all of this and leaving you none." Enzo sang while taking another puff.
"Be my guest. I'm sure you still have a few more brain cells to kill." She quickly responded, pointing a neutral stare towards Klaus before walking off.
Enzo flipped her off when her back was turned.
"Well that totally wasn't awkward." Marcel sarcastically mused. "I'm shocked she lasted as long as she did."
"I'm shocked she came at all." Klaus shook his head, leaning back on his elbows. "This is the most we've been in each other's presence since…"
"Since you kicked her out of your life." Marcel finished for him.
"It didn't go down like that." Klaus said.
Marcel chuckled, taking the rolled up paper from Enzo. "Oh c'mon. You literally told her you two couldn't be friends anymore. Not saying that convo about your weird arrangement wasn't long overdue and, she'll never admit it but, she misses you man."
"Correction my dear friend, she misses fucking him." Enzo corrected with a wide grin.
"You're a pervert."
"Proudly." Enzo blankly answered.
"How about you both shut it for the remainder of our time here." Klaus suggested, clenching his jaw.
Enzo scoffed. "Someone's rather pissy."
Klaus sat up on the grass fully, leaning forward towards the brunette man.
"Do you want to get out of this town with your limbs still attached?"
Marcel threw his head back laughing.
"Now, that I gotta see!"
Enzo waved both off carelessly. "Listen, don't shoot the observer alright? Not my fault this is a hard topic to ignore when it's playing out right in front of us. See, this is why there's the unspoken rule to never fuck around with people from the same friend group."
Klaus rolled his eyes.
"As much as I hate to say it, he's got a point." Marcel reluctantly agreed.
"Oh piss off, both of you. It's been months. I have moved on from the situation. I'm happy and quite frankly don't want to keep bringing it up."
"Right, because you're so mature and in love now." Enzo teased.
"You should try it sometimes." Klaus shot back.
Marcel shook his head laughing. "Damn, I'm gonna miss going back and forth with you guys like this everyday."
Both brits turned to face their friend.
He sighed while sitting up.
"Not tryna be the sap of the group but you guys were my first friends here, first friends I've had in awhile. Despite everything we've managed not to rip out each other's hearts the past five years. We never had a dull moment. Made this shit hole worth coming to every year."
He grinned a sad one that resembled Klaus's.
"Aww! Look at little Marcel getting all weepy on us." Enzo pouted his lips.
"On second thought, you can fall on a fuckin' stake for all I care." Marcel groaned, pushing a laughing Enzo in the chest.
Klaus shook his head while softly laughing along with his friends—-a bittersweet feeling quickly taking over.
Whitmore Academy wasn't a walk in the park for Klaus, he damn near hated all the time wasted, but it didn't dawn on him until now that leaving meant leaving behind the two vampires he considered friends. Friends weren't a concept he was an expert on. Aside from Caroline, Marcel and Enzo were the only ones in the school that made the past five years worthwhile.
He wasn't a fan of change either but knowing he wasn't going through it alone was a little more comforting.
The boys' laughter began to fade when their advanced hearing picked up on two pairs of high heels clanking against the pavement towards their direction.
"Shit." Klaus muttered, taking one last puff of smoke before throwing the tiny nub in the grass buried underneath his foot.
His friends quickly followed suit, pocketing the rest of the stash and throwing out the empty whiskey bottles behind the wall as the footsteps grew more near.
"Well, isn't this a treat."
The woman's voice said when cutting around the corner to find the three vampire boys standing against the wall obediently. Hands behind their backs and charming smiles on their faces.
"Headmistress, what a pleasure." Klaus spoke first as the older woman turned to them with her arms crossed.
"Wish I could say the same." She forced a grin as she sighed. "Mikaelson, Gerard and St. John, my most unholy trio."
"Pun intended?" Enzo poked into the conversation, making everyone's eyes roll.
"Do I even want to know why all of you aren't in class right now?" Headmistress Saltzman asked.
"Do you really want me to answer that ma'am?" Enzo said.
She rubbed her forehead, shaking her head. "You just couldn't make these last few weeks easy for me, could you?"
"Ma'am, as vampires most of our classes are held at night time. This is our free period. We're just out for a bathroom break." Marcel claimed.
Her eyebrows raised. "Bathroom break huh? All of you together?"
He shrugged. "We've always been known for being too close."
Klaus pressed his lips together to prevent the laugh from leaving his lips, not to mention they didn't even have functioning bladders.
The headmistress exasperatedly shook her head again. "Please just go to the library, all of you. I can't just have you three loitering around campus."
"Yes ma'am." The three vampires said simultaneously as she walked off.
"Well I actually do have a couple of things to do before class tonight."
"Oh you were serious about that?" Enzo said, earning an eye roll from Marcel and laugh from Klaus who stayed behind as his friends went the other direction.
He could barely get out a breath of relief before the persistent buzzing in his jeans pocket activated.
Dragging the phone out his pocket, thinking he likely just received yet another ridiculously overused meme text from Enzo. His lips quickly curved into a beaming smile and chest deflated at Caroline's name appearing on the screen instead.
He was still caught up on her adding four heart emojis beside her name in his contacts before concentrating on her three messages from 10 minutes ago.
-How the fuck did you miss her text message?!
Caroline [12:30 PM] : You think you could spare some of your hooky time to save me from throttling my graduation committee?
Caroline [12:35 PM] : *pout face emoji*
Caroline [12:37 PM] : *rolling eyes emoji*
He laughed to himself, hearing her expressions through the emojis which only made it cuter. They hadn't seen each other much today due to her hectic schedule and didn't want to wait another hour to see her face.
-I really love this girl…
It was still difficult for him to wrap his head around the fact that he was going to spend the next four years, maybe longer, with someone he could only describe as a miracle.
His fingers began typing a response the same moment he accidentally bumped shoulders with a woman walking by.
"My apologies—"
Klaus' eyebrows furrowed when he looked up at the all too familiar short-haired blonde woman, an unsettling feeling rumbling his stomach.
"Miss Forbes, um Liz, what are you doing here?"
"Well don't sound too disappointed to see me." Liz Forbes grinned that wicked grin that even made Klaus cringe.
He cleared his throat. "No, um, I'm just surprised. It's been awhile."
"It has indeed. Too long, I'd say. I was just dropping off some last minute paperwork for Headmistress Saltzman to sign, though maybe my daughter would be lingering around. But I'm glad I was able to bump into you."
"You are?"
"Of course. I mean, I feel you're the only source I have to get in contact with my own child these days."
"How was your sister's wedding? Surely the magnificent pictures in the paper didn't do it justice."
"It was a lovely ceremony."
"I expected nothing less. The amount of people running up to me because my daughter attended the event of the year, however, was not so lovely. But I would be lying if I say I didn't revel in the attention."
-Just stake me now.
Klaus just nodded his response, awkwardly, hoping she'd walk off now .
"Caroline didn't want to give me too many details, I suppose. I get it, she wanted to have the limelight to herself. Like mother, like daughter." She grinned. "Oh, but you two stole the show. You looked absolutely darling together in those pictures."
His eyebrows furrowed curiously.
"You and Caroline have spoken recently?"
His stomach turned at the way Liz's eyes narrowed with that glint of mischief striking through the sinister blue.
"Well, she is my daughter Klaus. As much as you probably wish otherwise" She softly laughed.
Klaus nodded with a hum, placing his hands inside his pockets and head low in deep thought.
-No, stop it! You know how Liz is.
Desperately, Klaus tried forcing back his intrusive thoughts and the sickening sensation coursing through the pit of his stomach and chalk it up to the Liz Forbes effect. Instead, it kept bringing him back to the day of the wedding. Recalling how preoccupied Caroline was acting her reluctance to talk to him about it. They haven't brought it up since being back at school but it still lingered for Klaus.
-Was her mother the reason?
He subtly cleared his throat.
"Does Caroline know you're here?"
"I informed her that I'd be stopping by but not the exact time. She doesn't need to know my whereabouts." Liz winked.
"But you have to know hers?" He quipped, and her eyes narrowed catching onto his defensive tone.
"It's not like I have a tracker on her. Some children actually want to volunteer information about themselves to their parents." She said with underlying venom in her words.
Klaus's forehead wrinkled and face just as puzzled as the first time she implied the dynamic between him and his family—a topic he didn't discuss with anyone besides Caroline.
"So, graduation is coming up. That's exciting." She said, changing the subject.
Klaus gritted his teeth. "I suppose."
"Caroline always said she wanted to attend Whitmore University, my alma mater. Get a business degree while maintaining the university's coven on campus. Follow in my footsteps and the generations of Forbes witches before, but now that tradition is dwindling. She's off to New York City. A city she never even entertained where she doesn't know anybody. Your influence, I presume."
"Perhaps she didn't entertain it because she didn't think she could." He challenged.
-Keep calm…Keep calm…
"Not that I wouldn't love taking such credit but Caroline made this decision all on her own, and I fully support her." He added
Liz's eyebrows lifted.
"And you're content with her being so far away? Last I checked, the percentage rate of long distance relationships is fairly low."
"Well the long distance won't be an issue for us since I'm going with her." He said smugly at her eyes widening in utter shock.
Maybe it was petty of him, and obviously Caroline had yet to inform her mother of their new plans but Klaus couldn't help smirking at the flabbergasted expression on Liz's face. For a—conniving—woman who always seemed one step ahead all the time, he reveled in being the first one to break the news to her.
Her mouth opening and shutting, loss of what to say next was priceless.
She straightened her posture, licking her lips and audibly swallowing.
"Oh?"
Klaus nodded.
"That girl is just full of surprises." She murmured, biting on her nail while briefly pacing back and forth. "It was disheartening enough when she told me she was leaving town. You tagging along just topped it off."
"I didn't think she was going to let it get this far. This is just so ridiculous now." Liz shook her head.
"What is?" Klaus wondered, his smugness fleeing.
"Oh no, it's not my place to say." She claimed with a tone that implied she knew more than letting on.
"With all due respect, Liz, you don't exactly come off as the noble type. And I know you don't necessarily have your daughter's best interest at heart."
"But you do? Because you know her so well. I suppose your two months trumps my 18 years."
"Four."
Her head quickly turned to him, eyes widening with a gasp.
"Aw! How adorable that you kept count. Maybe I underestimated you. You really do love her, don't you?"
Klaus feigned a confident bravado at the assumption. It masked how truly unnerved Liz's words were leaving him.
"Vampires aren't capable of such a concept but, I can see in your eyes you're the exception. Young love. It's all so exciting and precious. I can tell it's something you've never experienced before even after all these years of simply existing, which makes this quite cruel of Caroline to lead you on like this. To let this nonsense go on way longer than intended."
"What are you talking about?"
Liz shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly, implying she definitely knew more than she was letting on. Purposely toying with his weak spots like she always did.
"Oh, I don't know. You know my daughter so much better than I do right? You know exactly who she is, what she's capable of…"
He was already in front of her before her shoulders could shrug back down. Jaw clenched, fists balled and chest puffed as their faces were inches from each other's. His fiery red eyes melded with her wary blue, the smell of fear wavering around her. For the first time since they met he finally caught a glimpse of her humanity.
"Liz, you being Caroline's mother is the only reason I haven't ripped your heart from your chest the moment you began talking." He said through clenched teeth. "But you are pushing me. You're toying with me and trying to once again deter my relationship with Caroline, and you should know I'm not one to reposed well to manipulation."
Her sudden burst of sinister laughter took him aback.
"Oh my dear, I'm sorry, really I am. This is all just too good." Her laughter died down. "Let me be frank, this was all just a game, Niklaus. You, Caroline and your happily ever after fairytale romance was nothing more than a ruse for what we've been after for centuries."
Klaus's eyebrows furrowed, wondering if he was hearing her correctly.
"Ah, you still seem confused so I'll explain. You see Caroline, as the rest of witches, are well aware that the grimoires possessing the dark arts originated from a particular foreign coven, your ancestors to be more exact. Grimoires only a pure witch should possess but your half breed of a mother locked away in your family's mansion." She bit out. "There's one spell in particular with a nifty little extinction formula to use on any species you desire. All it takes is the spell and a few drops of their blood. Of course none of us have gotten close enough to your kind to even entertain the fantasy of ridding this world of vampires, until fate brought you together with my dutiful daughter."
-No, no this isn't happening.
It was as if all the unnecessary oxygen was being ripped from his body the more she spoke.
"And what a plan it was. She was to pretend to be interested in you, you'd fall for her and the rest would be history. We were going to start small and take out you and a sibling or two first before broadening it to a larger population. Everything was working out perfectly, until Caroline gained a conscience." She casually explained as if she wasn't promoting genoicide.
-This woman is seriously demented.
Klaus shook his head, rubbing his lips together in utter denial.
"No. You're lying."
-She has to be.
"Am I?"
"Why would I believe anything you say? Full offense, you are as manipulative as they come Miss Forbes. You've loathed the idea of me and Caroline from the start, and would do anything to keep us apart including fabricating such a sick tale."
She smirked, stepping closer. "You seem like a very smart and cautious young man Klaus. Always having to be on your toes because you've been screwed over one too many times over the centuries by people who are supposed to give a damn. It must be exhausting feeling like you can't trust anyone, even when you think you can. Tell me honestly, you never once had suspicions about Caroline's sudden interest in you?"
Klaus stayed silent, fingernails biting into palms until they drew blood and his cold lips pressed together in a line. Afraid of what would be the next thing out his mouth.
Unfortunately, he recalled plenty of times of questioning Caroline's intentions with him and their relationship. The second she showed a miraculous change of heart the first time he asked her out he felt something was off but was blinded by his own desires to consider hers might be false. Through their many highs, deep down he still always wondered what influenced her decision. The invasive inquiries she would ask about his family, Liz knowing things she shouldn't, the secret phone calls, her behavior at the wedding…
He let out a low gasp and chest deflated as he mentally began to piece together the clues he observed but purposely ignored.
-Because she wouldn't…she couldn't…
Liz held her cheeks and shook her head.
"Oh, you poor thing. I really thought she would've told you."
Her fake sympathy made Klaus want to rip out her jugular through her skull.
"If you truly don't believe me, why not just ask Caroline yourself. After all, you know her so well." Liz wickedly grinned.
Klaus's entire body stiffened so tightly as if he took a single breath he would fall apart. Jaw clenched aggressively until all there were veins. His limbs felt paper thin and eyes burned with the tears threatening to fall but he forced back, not wanting to give Liz Forbes more ammunition than she already possessed.
His chest felt heavy yet empty.
His heart—the pesky non-beating organ that revived itself solely for her now had a deep dark carved in the middle with no desire of rebuilding.
Klaus lived long enough to appreciate the beauty of ignorance is bliss. Sometimes the truth did not set you free, only leaving you more destroyed than your imagination.
But he needed to know. He needed to prove Liz and his inner critic wrong, about him and their love.
Only briefly did his attention linger on the cruel woman walking away with an extra pep in her step before she became a forgotten blur as he stormed towards the football field.
"Okay just raise the sign a little higher…" Caroline gestured her hands upwards when instructing Bonnie and Elena.
"Seriously Care?" Elena huffed. "We've been lifting this stupid thing up and down for the past 20 minutes. It doesn't need to be perfect."
The blonde witch raised her eyebrows. "Do you even know who you're talking to?"
"She's got a point." Bonnie exasperatedly laughed, struggling to hold up the heavy marquee on the stage as they continued to lift.
Graduation was only weeks away and as valedictorian and head of the committee, Caroline was determined to finalize all the arrangements by the end of the day—not wanting a repeat of the nightmarish Homecoming planning.
"More like this is our punishment for shunning her out when she came out as a fang fucker." Elena mumbled under her breath but Caroline definitely caught wind of it.
The blonde witch faked a smile.
"Come on ladies, just a tad bit higher…a little more…perfect!" She squealed, scaring the fellow witches jump in place. "See, that wasn't too bad. You know how we fang fuckers can be 'Lena."
Elena's brown eyes widened, shrugging off her own embarrassment and awkwardly looking around the field.
"Oh, how convenient we're done with hard labor the moment mister distraction himself appears."
Caroline's eyebrows furrowed before turning around to see Klaus walking onto the turf of the track field.
She wasn't expecting to see him until later but the way her face lit up and a genuine smile formed at the sight of him proved she didn't mind.
Swiftly, she faced her entire committee again.
"Take a 15 everybody! We'll pick this up right after to do some final touches, but really great teamwork today ladies. I mean it." Caroline announced with a warm smile, not even giving them a chance to disperse before she was already hopping off the stage and gleefully running towards her vampire.
Her arms were around his neck and lips clashed against his before he could muster a single word. Balancing herself on her tippy toes with her fingers combing through his soft dark blonde curls, she consumed what's been on her mind all day.
She smiled against his lips. "Hi. I know you're not the biggest fan of PDA but I just had to kiss you and I wasn't planning to see you so soon. I missed you today."
"Caroline—"
"But now that you are here, I'll be done in less than 30 minutes." Her lips hovered his. "My room will be vacant for the next 6 hours or so. Any chance of seducing you to spend the rest of the evening with me? In bed, me on all fours. I'm feeling particularly needy today." She giggled with another quick kiss.
Her eyes barely opened since she jumped into his arms, too consumed in her love-filled daze to until he was once again unresponsive to her art of seduction.
She was holding onto him but he wasn't holding her. His hands glued behind his back.
Usually she couldn't push him away enough—not that she ever would. His hands were always on her, whether as innocent as her lower back when walking around campus or as controversial as between her thighs during lunch. The lust and love he reserved for her held no bounds which only made his utter silence and cold demeanor more defining.
Eyes now completely open, Caroline's palms slid down from the back of his neck to his hard chest as she got a haunting view of his clenched jaw and straight-lipped frown.
His blue eyes that had the capability of crashing down her entire world with one love-filled glance, now morphed into a distressed glare.
She hadn't seen him so detached and cold towards her since before the blooming of their relationship.
"Klaus?"
Hesitantly, Klaus looked down at the concerned witch—the love of his life, and trying not to feel ill.
Each step he took walking over here felt heavy and now, staring into her imploring stare made his chest feel equally weighted.
"Hey, are you okay?"
He flinched at the feel of her warm palm now resting against his naturally cold cheek and instantly falling prey to it. Subtly turning his face to melt more into her thumb caressing his skin, eyes closed tight as he allowed himself a few more moments of having her like this.
Soft and unequivocally nestled in his heart.
He always said her touch alone could cease wars, but for the first time her touch was the last thing he desired.
"Klaus, why won't you look at me?"
-Because I can't.
Her caresses attempted to pry his face towards her as he reluctantly rejected.
Opening his eyes, looking down into hers would make the nightmare real. No going back or do-overs.
Turning his face forward, he let out a deep breath through his nostrils before finally opening his eyes. He looked down at her hand while slowly prying it from his face and releasing her wrists against her side.
"Were you using me?" He said in a low tone.
The witch's eyebrows furrowed. "What?"
"Don't play dumb with me Caroline."
"I'm not!"
He finally looked up at her, blue eyes burning into hers with anger and confusion.
"Were you using me to get close to my family? My mother's spell books to be more exact."
Caroline's body visibly tensed.
"Were you…" He swallowed, "…were you planning to kill me?"
His broken words equally broke her heart.
The heavy gulp bobbing in her throat, fingers pulling at each other, glossed lips rubbing together anxiously and her prolonged silence was answer enough.
"I—I can explain."
Klaus's glare darkened and a shallow breath left his lips.
"I was really hoping you'd say you had no idea what I was talking about." He said under his breath, eyeing her up and down and not recognizing the person staring back.
"Klaus let me explain—"
He stepped back as she stepped forward.
"Explain what, that you're a liar? That we were was all a lie?! Well congratulations!" He threw his hands in the air. "Was this all just a game to you, these four months of us being together was just some stupid ploy?"
She shook her head crazily. "No! No, that's not how this happened."
"That's exactly how it happened Caroline!" He snarled in her face. "I know this might be a hard concept for you to grasp but I deserve some fuckin honesty."
"Okay, okay but can we please talk about this in private?" She whispered her suggestion, looking around to see everyone on her committee and others watching their argument unravel.
"Why? I'm sure your precious coven was rooting for you in private while pretending to hate you in public. Bravo! Great performance." He said sarcastically while applauding the confused witches.
Caroline's cheeks reddened from the attention he was encouraging and the confrontation itself. Still frazzled on how Klaus found out in the first place, instead of arguing further she gently grabbed him by the wrist to drag him off the field and into an abandoned hallway.
Thankfully he didn't snatch his hand away until they were finally alone, but it didn't bruise any less.
"Klaus please just—"
"Did you or did you not only get close to me with the intention of killing me?! Just fuckin' say it, or are you too much of a coward to show your true monster."
-Wow.
Caroline pressed her quivering lips together, fingers twitching to reach for his that were clamped together in fists. Staring into the stormy eyes of the man she loved and for the first time not seeing the light shining through.
He had never looked at her like this before. His glare was dark, threatening, but defeated.
This was bigger than hate, anger or sorrow.
He was hurt. She hurt him.
"Yes."
His jaw clenched.
"Yes, that—that's how it was at first but-but that was all before."
He huffed. "Before?"
"Before everything. Before I got to know you and before we fell in love. The moment I realized I had feelings for you I stopped everything, I swear."
"So if you didn't end up caring about me that would've made your fantasy of genocide justifiable? It's fine to hurt people as long as they're not in your circle?"
"No—no that's not what I'm saying. We both always say how we're completely different people than we were four months ago."
"Yeah different as in I'm no longer allergic to feelings or actually enjoy cheesy romcoms, not no longer orchestrating your death after manipulating my way into your life." He spat.
"Wow. I've been such a fuckin' idiot." He shook his head. "Do you even know how many times I defended you? My friends, Elijah and even bloody Tyler Lockwood all warned me about this being a possibility. That our relationship isn't genuine. I stood up for us while you were stabbing me in the back. Instead of questioning your intentions I gave you the benefit of the doubt, and in return you got an exclusive. Klaus Mikaelson uses his arrogance and aloof demeanor to cover up the fact he's a battered child from a broken yet powerful home with abandonment issues off the charts, suicidal and downright pathetic. You and your mother must've had a great laugh at my expense." He darkly chuckled.
Caroline's forehead scrunched. "My mother?"
His jaw clenched again. "That night of the festival when you asked me about my family, you acted shocked but you already knew what type of bloodline my mother came from didn't you?"
She frowned, shamefully nodding her head in response.
"And that's how your mother knew things she shouldn't know about me. You told her."
His statement came off more as a question, like he still held hope that this was all just a bad dream that he was seconds from jolting awake from, but her second head nod confirmed the gut wrenching reality.
Immediately his body stiffened and eyebrows pulled together into a frown.
"Fuck, Caroline…" Klaus mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck harshly. "Why did—how could—"
The words were sitting on his tongue but refused to leap into the conversation. Baffled was about understatement to summarize the many emotions running through him.
"The things I've told you, shared with you about my life and what I've been through. Things no one was ever meant to know, like my sketchbook, but I told you because against all my better judgement I trusted you. I trusted us."
The tears were slowly streaming down her cheeks and it only took a second for Caroline to realize her tears mirrored his.
"And you went off to tell Liz fuckin' Forbes of all people every gory detail. Like the horrid woman she is, she couldn't wait to rub it in my face while I looked like the fool for defending you."
"Wait, when did you talk to my mom?"
"She's telling the truth, isn't she? You never did, and she was all too thrilled to inform me about your fantasy of ridding the world of my kind. You know, the wretched people who have been more welcoming and accepting than your so-called family and friends ever were. What makes this more devastating than anything is that I had to hear it from your horrid mother."
"She's still my mom Klaus-"
"I don't bloody care about her, Caroline! Why didn't you tell me?"
The strain in his voice, the agony in his tone was ripping her into shreds.
Her fingers threaded through her hair. "I wanted to. So many times I wanted to and I tried—"
"But?"
"But, I was scared. I made a horrible judgment call at a stupid and confusing point in my life but being with you made me be a better person. I was scared of what you would think of me or you wouldn't love me anymore. Most of all I was scared of exactly how you're looking at me now."
"Or maybe you were scared of what you would think of yourself. Maybe you couldn't handle seeing the real you, a manipulative and lying hypocrite, and not the piss poor innocent facade you put on for everybody. You gave me so much shit for not telling you about Aurora while you yourself were lying to me this whole time."
Her tearful eyes widened in anger.
"Are you serious? What you did with Aurora was nearly unforgivable. You emotionally cheated on me and shattered my heart in the process! I'm not a saint but unlike you I didn't follow through with my plan. This is not a battle of who can hurt who more so don't ever use her as ammunition against me again. I don't care how upset you are." She demanded with a quivering lip and broken words.
The recollection of that defining era of their relationship burned even further with him trying to justify it. Despite no longer bringing it up, the topic remained a sensitive one and usually Klaus even went out of his way to not mention the red headed acquaintance. But he didn't seem to care how it was affecting her, if the coldness in his glare and demeanor weren't indicator enough.
He let out a forceful breath when crossing his arms.
"Well this is pretty damn unforgivable too. Must feel real shitty when the person you love knows the best ways to hurt you. It doesn't matter if you actually followed through or not Caroline, the bottom line is your intent was clear and you've been lying to me from the start. Our friendship and relationship was built on dishonesty and pure hatred. How am I supposed to not see that whenever I look at you now? How am I not supposed to second guess every moment and conversation we've ever had for the past four bloody months! Fuck!" He yelled, frustratingly tugging at his hair and making her flinch.
He paced in a small circle, staring down at his boot-covered feet wondering how he went from counting the seconds to see her to dreading even hearing her voice.
"I compromised myself for you. Every fiber of my being was yelling at me that you were too good to be true, not to get attached and certainly not get involved. I betrayed my instincts. I let you into my world, my mind, body and soul. I allowed you to examine and judge my flaws. I bared my all to you in the purest form imaginable. You know how important trust is to me and the struggles I've endured to have it with more than one person at a time. Now, after how hard it was to build with you it's now broken into millions of sharp irredeemable pieces. You did that, you ruined everything! How am I supposed to forgive that, Caroline? How am I supposed to forget…"
"You can't forget. I know you can't and I'm not expecting you to. This was literally the last thing I wanted. I never wanted to hurt you."
"Maybe you should've thought about that before manipulating me into falling in love with you."
Her forehead scrunched. "That's not—"
"You know what, you are…you are the most treacherous person I've ever met." He rubbed his finger over his bottom lip.
Caroline gulped.
-Ouch…
"You don't mean that."
"Oh but I do. You're so, so beautiful. I've never seen a more stunning exterior but on the inside you're hideous. That charm, that bubbly personality, pageant smile and infectious laugh was just a trap, and I fell for it. A disguise designed to hide how utterly vapid you really are." He clenched his teeth and shook his head. "The girl I fell in love with doesn't exist, I don't think she ever did."
"Hey listen, you can think anything else you want about me but don't ever question our love for each other."
He scoffed under his breath, shaking his head.
"I messed up, I know that. I know it's no excuse but, you have to understand how much has changed these past few months, how much I've changed." She explained. "At the time you meant nothing to me while my reputation in school and at home meant everything. My mom's acceptance meant everything and I would literally do anything to be whatever she wanted me to be, even if that meant turning into my worst self. Even back then I knew what I was doing was wrong but, as horrible as it sounds I didn't care because I was getting my mom's stamp of approval every time I went to her with an update."
"Is this you trying to make your case because you're failing miserably."
Caroline bit down on her bottom lip lightly. "The line between good and evil used to be so straightforward but that line quickly became blurry because, the girl you asked out that day in class was as self centered and ignorant as they come but you still saw something in me worth getting to know. You didn't care that I was a witch. That proved to me you weren't just one of the good vampires, you were a good person. I was trying to destroy a good person."
Biting his inner cheek was the only way to stop himself from breaking out into the cries clogging in his chest and throat.
He swallowed, sniffling and blinking away the newly formed tears.
"But you didn't stop."
She sniffled. "No, at first I didn't. Everyone else's voices in my head were a lot louder than my own."
"So none of this is your fault? You had no hand in this plan, it's just everyone else telling you what to do, is that it? You're not an imbecile Caroline and you're as stubborn as a mule. No one can make you do anything. You are well equipped to make up your own mind so stop blaming other people for what you chose to do." He spat.
"I'm not—" She took a deep breath. "I'm not shifting blame, I'm explaining my mindset at the time and believe it or not I did feel like an imbecile. You understand exactly how it was for me growing up, so don't suddenly act like you don't know me Klaus, please." She pleaded.
He shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe I don't. Maybe I never did."
If only he felt has careless as the act he was putting on for her. He needed her to feel as hurt, betrayed and helpless as he did, even though her welled up blue eyes that he usually floated in were now drowning him with despair.
"I didn't expect us to happen, okay? I didn't expect you to become my everything, and it was the strength you gave me those first two weeks together that made me finally put myself over everyone else. The best decision of my life was that night of our first kiss, when I finally did something for me. When I chose myself and you."
Klaus didn't realize how close she was until their toes touched and her hands landed on the back of his neck. Their fronts were just one movement from touching but their eyes never met. He didn't have the will power to push her away this time but also couldn't bare looking up—torn between craving and being repulsed by her.
"I love you Klaus Mikaelson, with every breath in me." She swore. "I've expressed those words to you physically and verbally every day for almost two months straight. I have never lied to about how I have felt. After all we've been through you can't possibly think any of that was fake. I'm sorry I lied about my initial intentions towards you. It was wrong and evil. Most of all I'm sorry for breaking your trust and doing the one thing I promised to never do, which was hurt you. Our love is the realest thing either of us have ever experienced, remember? It's us against the world."
Her cold thumbs pried open his resilient eyelids with a gentle caress. His red lips pressed together as their glassy eyes finally met and he audibly gasped at how stunningly sad she looked.
The redness circling her puffy blue eyes was shattering, along with [another word for breaking heart]. He couldn't shy away from staring down at the witch who taught him patience, forgiveness and kindness—the only woman he's ever loved and only one to break his heart.
"What we have is once in a lifetime. Please tell me you still think this is right. We've been through too much together to not have the strength to overcome anything. Give me the time and permission to make this up to you even if it takes the rest of my life just, don't give up on me. Don't give up on us." She pleaded.
His eyes stung with rage and confusion as they focused on her tear-stained flushed cheeks. Despite the new discoveries, she still felt like home. Her warmth still smothered him and if he parted away from it he'd die.
A few more moments went by before he gently grabbed both her wrists and pushed them down from his face. He held onto them a little longer than intended, caressing over the inner wrists with his trembling thumbs.
So badly he wanted to forgive her, forget about all this and believe in the foundation they created together the past four months.
-Can I?
He clenched his jaw when he finally released her wrists against her side. Only briefly did his attention linger on the sapphire pendant dangling against her chest-the symbol of their potential forever that he could no longer imagine. All the hopes, dreams ad promises of tomorrow now a distant memory as the emptiness that came with his decision began to take its course.
Slowly, his head shook side to side.
"We started off as a lie, we can never be right." Klaus said softly.
Caroline's eyes widened as the thick tears slowly trailed down her cheeks. Her brain wasn't computing what had just happened or what he said, too focused on the pain crumbling his handsome face.
The heaviness in her chest fell to the pit of her stomach and her limbs went limp as he gave her one last strained glance before he was already gone.
Yeah...
There is MORE to come! More explanations and conversations to be shared from both Klaus and Caroline separately and together. Because I feel I should say it, please keep in mind, though we see how much Caroline has progressed as a character since chapter 1, Klaus's feelings towards this are valid and like I said, there is still much more to say before any final decisions from our favorite couple are made.
I hate (and love) when they fight. Hate (and love) even more when they break up. I'm an angst addict sue me!
REVIEWS ARE APPREICATED!