Author's Note: Thank you all so much for your support! There is a time jump here. Hopefully you guys are still enjoying it! Thank you for all of your kind words, they really do help me out! Let me know what you think! Enjoy!
There is freedom waiting for you,
on the breezes in the sky,
And you ask "What if I fall?"
Oh but my darling,
What if you fly?
-e.h
Caroline stares down at her shoes, that, at one point almost a year ago, they were brand new. Now they are worn down, discolored but well-loved. She admired them before looking over at the new backpack that she got three months ago. Klaus seems to have taken this all as a challenge since that second full moon they spent together. He buys her things that she needs every month. The backpack, the shoes, more clothes, a credit card - one he had to call her and tell her that he's watching for the bill and if he doesn't get one he's going to get mad - and when her phone finally gave out on her, he bought her one of those too. Nothing too crazy, too expensive, and he didn't buy the whole thing. She spent days saving the money her parents were saving her to buy herself a phone. Klaus surprised her by matching it to get her something a bit nicer.
Naturally, he made sure his number was the first that was reprogrammed into her phone. Then he brought her back to his safe house and they spent the next day and a half screwing until she changed for the full moon. That's become their routine whenever they end up in the same town - mostly his own doing, she knows - they would meet up as soon as she got off the bus or train and they spent the rest of the time together. Most of the time it's lounging around in bed between bouts of sex, but other times they are walking around town, sitting around watching movies, having long, drawn-out conversations about anything and everything they could talk about.
It was after seven months that Klaus dropped the ball on her about what he really was. A hybrid, he said. He told her how his mother was a witch, his father was a werewolf, like her, and he was raised by her mother's husband at the time. It wasn't until after he was turned into a vampire - one of the original vampires, so he's a hell of a lot older than she originally thought - that they learned the truth about his mother's infidelity. He told her about having a bunch of siblings. Finn, Elijah, Kol, Rebekah, and Henrik - who was no longer with them.
Caroline in return told him about her aunt. About her parents. How she hasn't seen them since she was nine years old. How she owes everything to her aunt. How she just wants to make sure that her aunt is okay. She told him about her birthday, which prompted him to stop whatever he was doing and took her for a spa weekend that she is never going to forget. It doesn't help that he had to guilt-trip her into it, but it's probably the best weekend she's had since forever. Her only stipulation was that he did everything that she did. It was funny to see him wear a face mask.
Laying in bed with her head on his chest, breathing deeply for that smallest bit of delicious scent that he gives off once he's drenched in sweat was probably her favorite time. They would talk about anything while laying skin to skin. Her ear against his shoulder, his stubble rubbing her forehead as his hand runs up and down her back while her hand traces his ribs and lithe muscles on his stomach and chest.
He would run his fingers over her ribs or close to her hips, tickling her and making her squirm. He would laugh softly, apologize when she slapped his chest and pull her closer. She loved sleeping with his arm around her. Her head resting on his chest, or with his face buried in her hair or the back of her neck. It was so relaxing to be able to let her guard down.
She opened up to him about the weirdness she faced with herself. How she would get aches and pains sometimes leading up to the full moon - which Klaus confirmed was unnatural as far as he knew - and he mentioned how he was somewhat concerned to learn how much transformation took out of her. Needless to say, when he learned that even without spending hours before a change with him having sex would still leave her unconscious for usually a day afterward, he never let her leave his side until she was back up to full strength.
Then he would unlock the cage and let her fly away once more.
But he found interest in exploring these moments too, seeing as he was half werewolf his interest was understandable. And he encouraged her to learn more about herself. Push her body to the limit and see what else she could do that she didn't know. And she had learned some interesting things she wanted to be able to tell him in person. So, next time, they spoke, she would show him.
And when they weren't together, they were texting each other. Sometimes things would come up and he wouldn't respond for hours but he never went more than a day without reaching out to her one way or another. Caroline usually took a lot of selfies next to funny or cool things that she wanted to share with him. They were usually benign things but for the first time for a long time, she felt connected to someone. Plus, Klaus isn't bad company to have or to reach out to.
It's been about a month and a half since she last saw him in person. He's been busy with things in regards to his curse that he's been trying to break. She wished him luck and hasn't really heard from him since, except for little updates or inquiries into how she's doing. She got that he was busy and gave him space, but she hadn't really heard how it was going but hoped for the best for him.
She looks up from the floor to see the sign of the town they entered into. Mystic Falls. She leans back in the seat, wondering where the name was familiar to her. She just looks up at the sky, pulling her backpack off of the seat next to her and onto her lap. She wraps her arms around it. She watches as the buildings blur by. She feels her stomach growl. She pulls out her phone and logs into her bank account to check and see how much she has, trying to decide if she had enough for something to eat or if she should use Klaus's card.
Klaus got mad at her for feeding the homeless alone. So she made a deal. A meal for her, a meal for someone else.
Caroline purses her lips as they reach another stop, deciding this cute town was probably as good as any to settle in for a bit. She knows that she's heard of this place before, but it honestly sounds like a fairytale place. Mystic Falls? Sounds magical. A perfect place for a little, wayward werewolf girl.
She finally pushes herself up to her feet and walking off the bus. She spins around, looking for a good place to eat and hang out for a few hours. With the little boost of help from Klaus, she was able to download a book reading app onto her phone so that she could read any time she wanted. It makes the times in-between full moons bearable. It at least passes time better.
"Mystic Grill," Caroline says, eyebrows raised as the sign catches her eye. "Okay, that sounds good." She looks both ways, crosses the street and makes her way over to the building. It's about four in the afternoon and school hasn't started back up yet, and apparently, this is the place for people to hang out in this town as it is packed.
She looks around the room. The bar top, the split level, the pool tables, and then, like a magnet, her eyes find him. He's at a table on the far side of the room with his back to her, leaning back in his chair talking to a dark-haired man with a nicely pressed suit. They were staring at one another.
Caroline couldn't help herself. She slings her backpack over both shoulders to keep it in place as she sneaks up behind the dark blond-haired man. The man he's talking to looks up at her, eyebrows pulling together slightly and when their eyes meet, she holds a finger up to her lips to stop him from speaking. His lips part slightly but he doesn't speak. Caroline was right behind the blond, hands raised. It wasn't until she was already moving that the small voice in the back of her head alerted her that there is a very good chance that this wasn't who she thought it was, but it was too late by the time that thought reached her.
"Klaus!" She calls, grabbing onto his shoulders tightly. She feels his muscles tense under her fingers before he processes her voice and starts to relax. He turns his head slightly and she recognizes his profile and leans forward, kissing his cheek and hugging him tightly around his neck. She feels his smile against her lips as he turns his face completely so that her lips can meet his. The first kiss is fast, the second one drags on for a few seconds. She feels relief washing over him. The same feeling she always gets whenever they run into one another.
Out of all of their times, either it's an accident or he actively seeks her out. She lives as such a free spirit that she would never be able to figure out where he was in time for the full moon, even if she wanted to. So the fact that she was able to sneak up on him for once is a nice feeling.
He smiles at her as she pulls back. She rubs his cheek a bit before shrugging off her backpack onto the floor and sitting down in the chair next to him. Klaus grabs one of her hands, kissing the back of it before letting it go.
"Thanks for not ratting me out," Caroline says to the other man, respectfully offering the hand that doesn't have Klaus's slobber all over it for the man. "I'm Caroline, it's nice to meet you."
The man smiles respectfully, a curious look on his face as he takes her hand and shakes it. "Elijah. It's a pleasure, Caroline."
"Thanks," Caroline says, offering a smile to the older man. "Are you a vampire too?"
He smiles back, studying her curiously still. "I am. And you..." he trails off, eyes narrowing a bit, "I see that you are a young werewolf."
Caroline raises her eyebrows, casting a look over at Klaus, who purses his lips a bit with high brows, shrugging his shoulders, before she looks back over at Elijah. "So, are you old, like Klaus? He's like a billion now, you know?"
Klaus grins and Elijah looks mildly amused. "He is, is he?"
"Caroline," Klaus says, amused. "Elijah is my brother. My older brother."
The smile falls from her lips so fast, it almost hurt. She blinks a few times, looking between them, before looking back over at Elijah. "Okay, I would like to premise this by saying that age insults are kind of our thing and had anyone thought to say that you were his older brother in the last minute and a half we'd known each other, I wouldn't have said that. So...I'm sorry."
Elijah shakes his head as Klaus laughs. "No worries, Caroline, for it is all in good fun, I'm sure. Niklaus seems to be rather fond of you."
"Niklaus?" Caroline echoes, happy that the old vampire wasn't mad at her. She turns toward the blond next to her. "Your name is Niklaus? Why don't you go by that? It is such a cute name. I kind of love it."
Klaus grins back at her, amusement dancing across his face. "Only my family calls me Niklaus. I much prefer Klaus, honestly."
"Shame," Caroline says, dejectedly. "One more time?"
Klaus grins even more. "If it pleases you, little wolf. Once more."
"Niklaus," she sighs. She sinks back into her chair, looking over at Klaus, shaking her head slowly. "And there it goes, fluttering away like a butterfly." She settles her hand over her heart. "Parting is such sweet sorrow."
Klaus rolls his eyes, leaning back in his chair too, staring at her with that infuriatingly beautiful smile on his face that literally makes her melt into a pool of Caroline mush whenever she sees it. "You are so dramatic, Caroline."
"I know," Caroline says, grinning. She looks back over at Elijah, who laced his fingers together on the table, looking between them with a look on his face that Caroline doesn't understand. It's curious, watchful, but there is a softness to it too when he looks at Klaus. It's guarded, though, like he's worried about something but doesn't want to put it into words. At least not yet.
She shifts closer to Klaus, and then she smells it. That same wonderful smell that she smells whenever they have sex. That lingering scent that comes out when he's sweating. Except it isn't a light, lingering scent. It's like a perfume around him. Normally she can smell a light cologne from him, but this smell is overpowering even that.
She stares at him. "Okay, I'm about to do something very wolfie. Sorry." She leans forward, breathing him in. He smiles, bearing his neck to her. She leans in closer, pressing her nose into the corner of his jaw, breathing deeply. Pulling back before running her nose down his neck, breathing more. He smells so good, it's like injecting straight acid right into her brain. She can hear fireworks going off in her ears and she has to physically pull herself back to stop from making this weirder than it already is.
"Klaus, wow. That smell? I've never..." she says, sinking into her seat. "I just... I only smell this when..." she stares at him, trying to decipher what that look on his face means. She stares into his eyes, trying to sync minds with him until the answer comes to her. She jerks up in her seat. "No way. Klaus, no way!" Her eyes widen along with his smile. "Did you do it? The curse that you were telling me about? You broke it?"
Dimples pop out on his cheeks as he nods slowly. "It is broken, love."
Caroline smiles brightly back at him. "You really did it? Can I see? You can do the vampire eye thing right?"
He leans forward so that their faces were less than a foot apart and she watches as the black veins dance up his cheeks toward his eyes. The sclera blackens and instead of the blue of his eyes popping out, the blue bleeds into molten gold. When she saw the veins and the darkened sclera for the first time, she was scared that he would kill her, but that look crosses his face sometimes when they are together like he hungers for more than just her blood. Like he wants her. Now she isn't scared of this look, and his eyes. They are beautiful.
"I love the blue of your eyes," Caroline says, cupping his cheeks, running her thumbs over the soft skin under his eyes, "I'm going to miss them, but these eyes are so beautiful too. Real wolf eyes." She stares into his eyes, hypnotized. "Like melted gold." She smiles when he does, feeling the veins pulse lightly beneath her fingers. "I knew the artist in you would like that reference."
And when he lets the wolf out like that, that wonderful smell comes out full force and now she knows where that smell stems from. That smell comes from his wolf side that has been suppressed all these years. When they were together like that first night and she smelled it, she couldn't figure out what it was that made him smell so good, but now she knows. She didn't smell this with her aunt, but that's probably because they are family. And she hasn't been close to any other werewolves in her life.
"You smell divine, love," Klaus says softly. His eyes revert back to normal. The veins sink back into his skin, sclera whiten again and the blues of his eyes return and feral hybrid Klaus is just as pretty as normal, every day Klaus.
"I think it's a werewolf thing," Caroline says. "I could smell it on you faintly before you told me about you, and now that the curse is lifted on you and your werewolf side is released, I can smell it stronger." She pauses for a moment, considering, "Could you not smell it as a vampire?"
"Vampire senses aren't as keen as werewolf senses," Klaus says. "So no, I couldn't smell it. At least, not like now."
Caroline smiles at him. She looks over to see Elijah still watching them, his expression softer than before. Caroline flushes, realizing that she forgot that the older brother was there. She mumbles an apology, tucking a strand of blond hair that escaped her messy bun on the top of her head behind her ear. She looks back over at Klaus, "I'm going to go grab some food. I'll be back."
She stands up, noting their empty drinks. "Would you like refills? Burbon and..." she looks over at Elijah as she digs around in her back for her wallet.
"Oh nothing for me, thank you," Elijah says respectfully.
Caroline grins. "Don't be humble, Elijah," Caroline says, holding her wallet in one hand. "Klaus gave me a card. He'll be buying your drink."
The corners of Elijah's lips turn upward slightly, amused, his dark eyes landing on his brother. "Well, if Niklaus is paying. I'll have another, please. Thank you, Caroline."
Caroline grins down at Klaus, winking at him before turning and heading toward the bar. As she walks away, she feels him say, "Isn't she stunning?"
She pretends that she didn't hear him, feeling her skin prickle. This old vampire turned hybrid does some weird things to her without even trying. And he always speaks to her and about her so nicely. She's not sure what she did to deserve this but he definitely knows how to make a girl feel nice. She looks over the menu, gets herself a burger and fries and then orders the two bourbons, nodding to the table Klaus and Elijah are occupying. "They need refills."
The waitress brings their drinks over while Caroline just waits for her food, sipping on her water while she waits. She listens to the music, enjoying the atmosphere of this place. Once her food is dropped off for her she grabs the plate and heads back over to the table to sit with Klaus and Elijah, listening to them talk. She walked in halfway through the conversation and was kind of lost on what was going on, but it sounds like Klaus and Elijah are already preparing to head out of town soon enough. Like in a few days.
"Did you just get into town, Caroline?" Elijah asks, pulling her out of her intense munch fest. She's almost polished off her fries. She swallows thickly, taking a drink of her water before nodding.
"Yeah. I just got off the bus about three minutes before I walked into the pub. Or is it a bar?" Caroline looks around, trying to remember what the sign said. "Oh, I mean grill. So yeah. Just got into town."
"And where will you be staying tonight?" Elijah asks curiously.
"She'll be staying with us, Elijah," Klaus says, answering for her.
Elijah doesn't look bothered by Klaus's words, simply curious about them. He stares at his brother for a moment, giving Caroline the impression that Klaus might be acting differently than usual. But Caroline isn't going to think about that and what it could mean.
"I see," he says. After a moment longer, staring at his brother, he looks back over at Caroline, "And may I ask, Caroline, how you met my brother?"
"Wrong place, wrong time," she teases, grinning playfully at the man next to her. Then seriously, she says, "We met almost a year ago, I think. I was looking for some help on the full moon," she ignores the wolfish grin Klaus throws at the side of her head, "and that was when I ran into Klaus. We've tried meeting up as much as we can ever since. I'm really busy, you see, and can't have an old ass vampire following me around all the time so sometimes we miss each other."
Klaus throws his head back in the laugh, flashing bright white teeth in the action. Even Elijah looks more amused, casting a look at his brother before looking back over at Caroline. "You seem to be on good terms."
"Enough of the third degree, Elijah," Klaus mirthfully chastizes. Then to Caroline, he says, "My brother and I have recently reconciled a very long, drawn-out bout of drama between us. He's now trying to catch up on the goings-on in my life. Making sure I'm not getting into any more than my usual brand of trouble." By his face and voice alone, Caroline can't tell if he's annoyed or upset by that.
"Sounds like a good big brotherly thing to me," Caroline says, shrugging her shoulders. "You could do worse than having a family that's looking out for you." Klaus sobers up a bit, staring at the side of her head until she feels like she has to admit, "No, I haven't found her. Yes, I am still looking and... and maybe I'm getting really tired of all this running around like a chicken with its head cut off." She stares at him, waiting. He just stares back at her with eyebrows raised. After almost an entire minute of them staring at each other, she says, "Well?"
Klaus tilts his head to the side. "Is it my turn to talk now? I thought you already knew what I was going to say."
"Yeah but you like to hear yourself talk so you usually say it anyway."
"That notwithstanding," Elijah says, huffing in amusement, ignoring the glare Klaus shoots his way, "but am I missing something?"
Caroline turns away from Klaus to his older brother. "When I triggered my curse I was just a kid. I was sent to live with my aunt who also triggered her curse. I'd been living with her up until about two years ago when she suddenly went missing. I've been looking everywhere for her, but I can't find her. Klaus thinks that she abandoned me and I should just move on with my life, but my aunt looked after me when my own parents couldn't anymore. Something terrible had to of happened to her." Caroline lets out a long sigh, rubbing at her forehead. "I just need to know that she's okay. That's all."
Elijah nods slowly. "Your dedication to your family is admirable," he says.
A thought crosses Caroline's mind and she feels like she has to ask, despite all that she's said. "Have you..." she blinks a few times, trying to organize her thoughts and open her heart to the question that she's asked about a million times in the last two years. "My aunt is a werewolf named Cassandra Claire. Have you..." she stares back into the eyes of the old vampire across the table. "Have you seen a werewolf by that name?"
Elijah blinks a few times, thinking about it before shaking his head. "No, I'm sorry. The name is not familiar and I've only run into a handful of werewolves in the last ten years. Your breed is a rare one. I'm sorry."
Caroline wilts, pushing her food away, no longer having an appetite. "No, it's okay." She sighs, rubbing her forehead. She can feel the stress and disappointment settle heavy on her shoulders once more. She's tried so hard, yet it feels like she's doing nothing. She doesn't want to admit that it feels like she's losing faith, because she is. She keeps building up this hope that someone is going to say yes. That they are going to have seen her and know where she is now. Know that she's okay, which is all that Caroline wanted.
She stuffs down that feeling, that pain that slices through her chest every time her heart beats knowing that her aunt is out there, probably in danger, but she's grown so exhausted and she hates this feeling.
She has to bury this feeling again for the thousandth time. Instead, she wants to talk about something else, something interesting that will get her mind off of the pain and disappointment stabbing at her chest. She rubs at her face, feeling the moisture on her eyes as unshed tears start to build up and she forces them down with the pain and disappointment. She takes a deep breath and quickly rubs her face and then turns to Klaus. "Do you guys want to get out of here?"
His eyebrows shoot toward his hairline in surprise. "Caroline, I'll have you know I am not that sort of man. And my brother of all people?"
She sends him a dirty look. "That's not what I meant. I'm talking about going somewhere I can show you something. I did what you asked. I tried to see if there was something about me that was weird, well I found something. But I need your three millennia advanced brains to be able to figure out what it means." Instead of looking insulted, he looks honestly curious.
"You figured out something more?"
Caroline nods. "Let's go somewhere that's not here so I can show you."
As they walk down the darkening streets of Mystic Falls, Caroline fills Elijah in on the little bit of weird stuff that circles her life. Her werewolf bloodline skipping over her mother, who's killed people before but for some reason is unable to trigger it, to the aches and pains that she sometimes gets leading up to the full moon, how bad her body reacts afterword, stuff like that.
Elijah was curious by it too, thankfully enough. He threw around his own theories, but ultimately wasn't all that sure one way or the other what was wrong with her. It isn't anything crazy that is world-shattering so the interest is peripheral, which Caroline can understand.
Caroline stops between the two brothers, staring up at the big mansion they lead her to. She blinks a few times before looking over at Klaus on her right side. "Please don't tell me that you bought this today."
He laughs, Adam's apple bobbing in his throat. "Sorry, love, but not this time. This is the abode we've been staying in since we got here to Mystic Falls."
Caroline shakes her head in disbelief. "Your ability to throw around money like it's nothing both amazes me and makes me kind of hate you." He laughs again. "You laugh, Klaus, but I mean it."
He drapes his arm over her shoulder and leads her inside the house into one of the side rooms with a large, luxurious fireplace, lighting it and mending it until it can be left alone. Then, she had the attention of both brothers. Caroline figures that if this wasn't something that Klaus wanted Elijah to know about, then he wouldn't be standing there, staring at her expectantly.
"Okay," Caroline says, dropping her backpack onto the floor. "So, the full moon this month has already passed, right?"
"Indeed," Elijah says, accepting the glass of whiskey that Klaus passes to him, taking a sip before placing it on the table next to him. Klaus holds his own glass whimsically, looking at her, patiently waiting for her to continue.
"Watch this." Klaus watches as Caroline walks over to him, looking between both brothers before closing her eyes and focusing. She takes a deep breath, feeling for the moon, even though it's at one of its weakest points she calls to it. She can feel its energy sprinkle into the house and seep into her flesh and then her bones. In her mind's eye, it's like twinkling starlight absorbing into her being. She loves this feeling. It makes her feel more attached to the moon. Like if she wanted to, she could transform into the wolf now.
Rationally, her brain knows that she can't but still, it feels like she could if she wanted to.
But pushing beyond that, she lets the energy sink into her before opening her eyes to look between the brothers. Both of their lips part as Klaus stands up from where he's sitting and Elijah pushes away from the mantle he was leaning against but doesn't move closer. Not like Klaus who walks over, placing the glass down on the table and cupping her face, blue eyes wide.
He stares down into her eyes, hypnotized. His thumbs run lightly beneath her eyes in awe, similarly to what she had done to him before.
"How is this possible?" Elijah asks, walking around Klaus so he can look into her eyes. "You are not a hybrid... yet your eyes..."
"You can tap into your werewolf side..." Klaus says slowly, a wicked smile crossing over his full lips, "without the aid of the full moon."