Chances
Chapter ten: Coming Home
You gave me the time and the space
I was out of control, and I'm sorry I let you down
Guess that I know what I already knew
I was better with you, and I miss you now
Habit - Louis Tomlinson
"I'm ready. Let's go, guys!" Caroline announced walking into the dining room of the Mikaelson's New Orleans home.
Henrik and Davina were digging in some take out that smelled divine, while the vampires sucked on blood bags. But nothing could deviate Caroline's mind from what she truly wanted. And that was to get back to the safe house as soon as possible, hopefully dodging her mother on the way in so she could go straight to holding her son in her arms again.
"Me too," Henrik replied, his mouth still filled with food.
"Don't speak with your mouth full, Henrik." Rebekah chastised. "And you are going straight to bed once you finished your food. From what I've heard neither of you has slept properly in days."
"So? Henrik can sleep in the car and the rest of us are vampires. We'll manage." Kol shrugged to which Henrik nodded frantically.
"Rebekah is right. Henrik needs some proper rest. A few hours of sleep in the back of a car won't do it." Klaus agreed with his sister.
"So, what are you suggesting? That we all just lay back and waste even more time while our child has to be without his parents even longer?" Caroline snapped. "No. I'm going back now, with or without you guys."
"You didn't let me finish, love," Klaus said as he got up. "Rebekah and Kol will stay here with Henrik for another day while you and I go back to the safe house."
"Hey!" Kol protested.
"Tomorrow, you can drive straight to Mystic Falls. We will all join you there as soon as possible."
"Sounds good to me." Caroline agreed, more than eager to get on the road already.
"Oh, calm down, Kol. I'm with Nik."
"Well, that's settled then. Rebekah, you're in charge of making sure these two behave" Klaus instructed to a smiling Rebekah. "Caroline, please grab a blood bag for the road."
Caroline, even though she hated to be ordered around, obliged instantly.
"All set." She told him, a bag of red liquid in her hand.
They said their goodbyes to Marcel and Davina and reassured Henrik that their separation wouldn't hold on as long as last time before leaving the mansion and settling into Klaus' car.
Caroline was now sitting in the passenger's seat impatiently, her blood bag already empty. With nothing else to do to occupy her thoughts and calm her nerves, she tapped a finger against her leg repeatedly
"I'm going as fast as I can without risking a car crash that would do nothing but delay us even more." Klaus tried to calm her down.
"I know." The blonde sighed. "I just want to be back home and hold him in my arms, make sure he is safe."
"Your mother is with him. And so is Elijah. I'm sure he is safe and taken care of." Klaus assured her, trying to hide the anxiety regret he felt.
"Don't worry, he'll love you." Caroline could feel the nervous tension radiating from her companion and easing his nerves was a welcome distraction to the flattering of her own.
The hybrid's only response was a heavy sigh and the tightening of his hands on the steering wheel.
"Remember what we talked about when you came back to Mystic Falls?" Caroline asked.
"I'm afraid you have to be more specific, sweetheart," Klaus replied.
Back then, I asked you to think about everything once the danger had been dealt with. I asked you to only come back to us if you were absolutely sure you could be fully committed to being a father." She explained.
"You have doubts, then?" Klaus tried hard to ask this as casual as he could.
"No. I'm actually pretty sure you can do it." Klaus raised a brow, surprised with the confidence in her voice.
"And what makes you so certain?" He asked.
"When they had me chained to that chair, I gave up for a while. Tried to make my peace with the inevitability of my approaching death. My thoughts drifted to Josef, of course, and how he would have to grow up without his mom. While that thought tortured me, I knew that in the end, he would be okay. Because even if I wouldn't make it out of there alive, I knew you would. I knew he would have at least one parent with him. Someone that would love and adore him, make sure he would lead a happy and safe life." Saying all of that aloud was hard and Caroline struggled to hold back the tears. "Then, I realized that if I had to die, I owed it to him and you to go out with as much dignity as possible. So, I fought. Thinking about you and what you had sacrificed to keep us safe. The pain you had endured for us."
"Caroline" Klaus started, but Caroline held a hand up, effectively stopping his speech.
"It's ok now. I'm here now. I just told you all of this so you would understand that even though you might doubt yourself right now, I believe in you." The warm smile Caroline send him, made his undead heart flutter.
"Thank you. Your confidence in me means a lot, love." Klaus tried his best to reciprocate the smile.
"You're welcome, Nik."
"So, you ran off without telling your mother?" Klaus quickly changed the topic much to Caroline's dismay.
"I knew she would never let me go if I told her, okay?" Caroline defended herself.
"Of course. Because obviously she and Elijah are the only ones that know how to act as responsible people." He teased.
"Excuse me? Did I or did I not safe you and help you deal with the threat?" She argued.
"You did, of course. While I'm not too proud about the fact that I needed it in the first place. He admitted. "Plus, you gave all of us a real scare."
"I'm never going to live that down, am I?" Caroline groaned.
"It will be imprinted in my brain for eternity, of that I'm sure." Klaus said.
"You won't tell my mom though, will you?" There was a hint of panic in her voice.
"No, I won't. But I know that if Kol doesn't, then Rebekah will."
"Why would she do that?" Caroline asked, appalled.
"Because she is probably still mad at you. Until now, she didn't have a chance to lecture you on that specific part of your trip to safe me. Chances are she will team up with Liz to make sure you will understand just how much she disapproved of your sudden whim to rush to New Orleans and almost die to protect me." Klaus explain.
Caroline groaned, realizing that he had made a very strong point there. Her mother will have a fit, that much was sure.
"Don't worry, if push comes to shove, I can still swoop in and remind them of the fact that none of this would have been necessary had I dealt with the danger properly to start with." He winked.
"Oh, that will only make them lash out at both of us instead." Caroline laughed.
"At least we can suffer together, then." He grinned.
They drove in silence for a few minutes before Caroline spoke up again.
"Do you remember the last time we were sitting together in the car for a long drive?" Caroline asked.
"I hope this is not your way of telling me to shut up." Klaus teased.
"Maybe?" Caroline grinned. "But no. It's not."
"Then yes, I remember." He answered her question.
"I was just thinking, it's crazy how fast life changes, you know? I mean, back then, Tyler and I had just broken up, I was hating the fact that I was forced to spend time with you."
"You don't hate to spend time with me anymore, I take it?" Klaus asked.
"That depends."
"On what exactly?"
"Last time, after we left New Orleans, I felt that everything had changed between us. I was ready to allow myself to trust you and give in to your advances." Caroline began and Klaus had a sinking feeling that he knew where this was going. "And things did change for a while. I thought when Henrik came back and Esther had been dealt with, things would only become better." She sighed.
"But I destroyed what we had." Klaus finished.
"While I do have faith in you when it comes to Josef, I'm not sure that I can let myself trust you like that again."
"Why are we talking about that now, Caroline? Why not wait until we were at the safe house?" He asked.
"Because of what happened in New Orleans. You knew we were way overdue for a talk like that. And I thought maybe we can come up with a plan now so we don't have to bother later and focus on Josef."
"Still, I would prefer to talk about that when I can give you my full attention." Because how was he supposed to win her over while speeding the car along the road.
"We should at least discuss our living arrangement then." Caroline insisted.
"As I said, we're going back to Mystic Falls as soon as possible. I thought you would like to be close to your mother for as long as possible, correct?"
"Yes, I do. But what about you? I know Rebekah, Kol and Henrik don't mind staying in Mystic Falls for some time."
"I will stay with you, wherever you decide to go. I have a lot to make up for with all of you."
"Okay. That's good." Caroline agreed.
"When I was gone, did you have plans for you and Josef? I mean did you want to stay with your mother?" He asked cautiously.
"Initially, I wanted to leave Mystic Falls. But then the barrier appeared and rendered that plan useless. Bekah offered to let me move in. The house my mother and I live in would be too small for an additional person." Caroline confessed.
"I would like that." Klaus agreed. "You could have your old room back if you want."
"I'd like that." Caroline agreed. While this arrangement wouldn't help her keep him at a safe distance to her emotionally, it enabled both of them to properly care for their son.
"Thank you." He wasn't sure if Caroline would be amenable to that idea.
"I just want what's best for him. Plus, I think Rebekah would throw another fit if her nephew wouldn't move in with her after all." Caroline joked, trying to break the tension that had kept building between them.
"Better not risk my sister's wrath." Klaus winked.
"Exactly." She nodded. "Oh, and don't take this the wrong way, but would you mind turning on the radio?"
"So you did try to get me to shut up after all!" Klaus grinned but did what Caroline asked of him. Her giggled reward enough.
The rest of the ride had been filled with music and occasionally Caroline's voice as she sang along to the songs she liked. And when the sun began to set, they finally arrived at their destination.
Caroline didn't even wait for Klaus to bring the car to a halt before jumping out and flashing to the house and entering through the door. Klaus got out of the car as fast as possible as well, following Caroline into the building. He passed the living room that still contained some of the house's inhabitants who were seemingly trying to rush after Caroline as well.
"Niklaus." Elijah spoke but Klaus ignored him in favour of finding Caroline and his son.
Finding out in which room they were wasn't that hard, for he heard Sheriff Forbes chastise her daughter.
"What were you thinking, Caroline?" Her mother sounded angry, as expected. "I never expected you to act so foolishly!"
"Mom, please. Can we not do this now?" Caroline answered as Klaus entered.
Nothing could have prepared Klaus for what he was seeing. Caroline holding their son, beaming at him while he grabbed her hair curiously.
She looked up and directed her smile at him. His undead heart swelled as the emotions took over his body. He took a few cautious steps closer to them.
"Look who mommy brought back!" Caroline addressed the infant. "That's right, it's your daddy."
She closed the distance between her and Klaus then, offering Klaus to hold him.
Carefully he reached for his son and removed him from his mother's arm only to cradle him close to his chest.
His son looked at him and Klaus was in awe. All of this still felt surreal. He kissed Josef's head, trying to somehow make this tiny being feel the happiness he felt inside.
Caroline was standing by his side looking at the exchange with watery eyes.
"He's beautiful." Klaus said.
And he knew at this moment, that he would do his best to become a better man. His siblings might be used to forgiving him for lashing out and hurting them repeatedly. But that's not what he wanted for his child. He promised himself that he will be the father Josef deserved. The father he himself had always longed for.