Notes: Another drabble, set in early S5 and ignoring TO. I hope you all enjoy!
Everywhere With You
(Prompt: Klaroline as mates and Caroline questioning Klaus' sanity and/or thinking he was knocked on the head one too many times in the last thousand years for this to even be a possibility. Title from "Home" by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. Rated T.)
She stumbles, it's deliberate and maybe too theatrical. Caroline wind mills her arms and totters like the heel's she's wearing are going to be her downfall. They're not – she'd spent much of her early teens prepping for Miss Mystic walking the stairs of her house in a cheap pair of pumps from Payless (getting her mom to buy them had been an ordeal) with a book on her head – but the creep who's following her has no way of knowing that.
Caroline lets herself crash into a light pole, makes a show of catching her balance, and throws her head back with a laugh that's boisterous and supposed to sound slightly drunk. She closes her eyes and focuses her hearing waiting for whoever's been on her tail to make a freaking move already.
She'd felt that prickling sensation, unseen eyes that she knew were there, as soon as she'd left the library and Caroline's mood had immediately taken a dip. She exists in various states of annoyance these days and being stalked wasn't helpful. She takes the path around the back of the buildings because it's always deserted this time of night and she hasn't been much for company lately. And now some weirdo had to ruin what could have been a perfectly lovely evening stroll.
Talk about rude.
She usually sticks to blood bags, because that's what good vampires do, but tonight she's willing to make an exception. If some creep's going to pick her as an easy mark Caroline's going to make sure he regrets it.
The fresh blood is just a welcome bonus of the lesson.
She holds her breath, her hair spilling down in messy waves to cover the red of her eyes and the fangs she's let out in anticipation. She'd been sure someone had been watching her, that the rustling of leaves in the trees that line this pathway back to her dorm room had been caused by something other than animals or the wind.
But nothing moves, no one ambles out of the woods or speeds up the path behind her.
Ugh. Maybe her tendency to be dramatic was coming back to kick her in the ass she was imagining things.
After all it's been a weird couple of weeks.
The transition to college life hadn't been as smooth as Caroline had always expected. She'd been so excited at graduation, ready to have a kickass summer and then tackle college. She'd convinced her mom to take a quick trip to the cabin with her and they'd had a great time talking and watching movies and lounging on the docks. She'd first started to feel jittery then, almost like she'd forgotten something important, had wracked her brains for what it could possibly be.
Over and over again, even when she'd known it was silly and futile.
When they'd returned home she'd scrubbed the house from top to bottom, organized and rearranged until her back ached (no small feat given her vampire status) hoping to put the feeling to rest. It was a hollowness, a thick cloud of boredom with no desire to do anything about it and the certainty that anything she tried would fail. It was foreign to her and she loathed it.
Nothing had helped and her bad temper had continued to grow. She'd mostly managed to keep a lid on it, her mom's odd hours helping. Caroline could manage a sunny smile and genial chatter for the hour or so they spent together at dinner, their quick chats over coffee in the morning. Still, her performances hadn't been entirely convincing. She'd caught the worried looks her mother was shooting her, had to brush off and redirect concerned questions.
Caroline had started taking long walks, plodding through the woods that surrounded Mystic Falls trying to figure out what was wrong with her, why she couldn't seem to shake her moodiness.
She'd tried to chalk it up to the fact that she was lonely. Bonnie was gone for the summer, Tyler's return date unknown as he seemed reluctant to leave the pack he'd befriended. Elena was too wrapped up in her weird Damon thing to have much time for her. Caroline had tried to get a jump on her classes, purchased her textbooks (required and supplemental) but when it came time to sit down and read them her brain just wouldn't cooperate.
She was constantly restless, could barely get four hours of sleep in a night, consumed extra portions of blood and binged on Cheetos to compensate.
She'd desperately hoped that things would get better once she was settled at Whitmore and sharing a dorm with Bonnie and Elena just like she'd always planned. She'd made a point to dive into extra-curricular activities, hoping that being busy was what she'd need to feel normal again.
Her planner was packed and she was kicking ass at her classes (through the sheer force of her stubbornness) but Caroline's beginning to think that she might have to accept that she has no idea what normal is anymore.
Six weeks into her semester she's forced to admit that all the clubs she'd joined and committees she was a part of hadn't helped. She wasn't quite the space case that she'd been back in Mystic Falls. Instead of the sense of wrongness being overwhelming she could usually stuff it into the back of her mind, enough to function anyway. She could get through a lecture, was on top of her homework. But her sleep schedule was still a mess and she had made zero new friends. Plus, Caroline's old ones weren't big fans of her either at the moment.
Cohabitating was bound to be thorny and her fuse being extra short didn't make it any easier.
The feeling that something was off was like an itch now, instead of a pain. It remained a constant nagging irritant that she just couldn't figure out how to fix.
Maybe she was just looking for another outlet and she'd imagined the eyes she's been feeling on her all evening.
God, she was acting like a paranoid nutjob.
Caroline groans aloud, taking a calming breath and forcing her fangs away. She sits and flops back onto the grass (she's in no hurry to get back to her room, she's been snappy and extra cutting with Bonnie and Elena lately and they're really not having it anymore, not that Caroline blames them). She's tempted to scream but settles for kicking her heels into the ground for a moment, shaking her head and clenching her fists.
She's too old for tantrums but it's not like anyone else will ever know.
After a moment she relaxes with a sigh, scrubbing her hand over her face in frustration. "Maybe I've been cursed or something," she mutters. "I'll get Bonnie to check. If she's still talking to me." A noise from the treeline breaks into her self-pity party and Caroline tenses, rolling over and digging her hands into the ground in case she needs to spring.
She expects a smarmy frat boy, swaggering over with his hands up like he's not a threat (which he wouldn't be, but still) even as his eyes rake her over with poorly concealed lust.
What Caroline does not expect is a giant freaking wolf.
The wolf's golden in color, thickly furred and powerfully built, she notes with growing alarm. It keeps its head is down, its pace sedate, no hint of teeth or aggression visible as it pads in her direction. "What in the…"
She's just gathering herself to run when its head lifts, as if it had understood her words, meeting her gaze directly. Caroline deflates, because the tiny bit of hope she'd had that it was just a wolf (its size made it unlikely but a girl could dream) – and therefore something that she could outrun – is dashed.
Of course it was a werewolf. Just her luck.
Good thing she'd never deleted Klaus' number. She'd considered it often over the summer, his words, the weight of them, ringing in her mind. Her last love was a long ways off and she had a long list of things to achieve before it was something she could even begin to consider.
She'd stared at it in the darkness of her bedroom, during those nights where sleep just wouldn't come, thumb hovering over the screen and unable to make the final tap that would erase him, put him out of her reach. At the time she'd been annoyed at herself, at the tiny voice that insisted she didn't want to make it impossible to contact him.
Turns out that tiny voice totally had her back because it was entirely possible she was going to get chomped on tonight.
Again.
Caroline gets to her knees, holds her palms up and speaks soothingly, "Nice, wolfy. Good boy. I know we're like, mortal enemies or whatever, but I'm really not that tasty. Promise. The amount of artificial colors and flavors I've been ingesting lately is really going to screw up your digestion. Trust me."
It snorts, almost like it's amused, but doesn't halt its approach.
She stills when it gets close, breath coming out in an alarmed huff as its snout nudges at her hip. She swallows back a yelp when she sees its jaws open – because those teeth were no joke – but the wolf merely bites down on the hem of her denim jacket, tugging firmly in the direction of the woods.
Caroline swallows, and tries to sound confident, "Uh, no offense but I'm going to have to pass. I'd rather my body be found, you know? So I can have a nice funeral even if the casket will have to be closed."
It lets out another noise, this one impatient, dropping her jacket and licking her wrist. "Ew," she squeals, pulling away. "Slobber, much?"
The wolf's clamped down on her jacket again and this time it's less of a tug and more of a drag. She debates ditching it and making a run for her dorm but that seems like it'll only piss off the werewolf – not something she wants to do. Running through her options Caroline realizes she might have an advantage in the woods, she knows the trails (running has been one of her attempts to cope with her never-ending ennui) and if she could just get up a tree she'd be able to call for backup.
"Okay, okay," Caroline relents and climbs to her feet. Her jacket's released and the wolf circles behind her, cold nose nudging the back of her knee. She turns and gives it her best unimpressed look, not that it garners much of a reaction, and starts walking towards the trees. "Kidnapped again. Not awesome," she grumbles. Though she has to admit that this might be her most pleasant kidnapping yet. No injuries thus far and the werewolf hasn't even growled at her.
She tries to speed up but the wolf stays on her heels. Caroline's never been herded before but she can safely say she's not a fan. She recognizes the path he directs her to, knows it's one of the ones that leads to the backroad on the other side of the forest. She's taken aback, having anticipated he'd force her deeper into the woods and not towards civilization. The trees are spindlier in this direction too, unfortunately, nothing that she could scale high enough to get away from snapping teeth and claws.
Shit. She is so screwed.
She tries to stay calm, ignores the more rapid beating of her heart, knowing her best shot is to think. Caroline reaches into her pocket, grips her phone tightly. Maybe she'll get lucky and there will be a car she can flag down on the road. The wolf bounds ahead of her at the edge of the forest making a beeline for the large black SUV that's parked on the shoulder.
She should make a run for it but her feet won't cooperate, random pieces of information clicking rapidly into place.
She knows that SUV.
She hears a sharp crack before she can say anything, followed by the crunch and squish of bone and cartilage and sinew shifting. She takes the few paces forward so she can see the transformation, just to confirm what she's begun to expect.
His transition is quicker than she'd expected, more quiet too, only a few harsh exhalations as Klaus shifts into the form she recognizes.
Well, mostly. She'd never seen him totally naked before.
Except for those dreams that she pretends she doesn't have.
Her eyes drift down his back before she can think of why she shouldn't let them, lingering on the lean muscles now bare to her gaze. She finds herself noting the parts of his anatomy she'd not had the chance to peruse that long afternoon where he'd been trapped in Silas' mind game.
She should probably feel guilty but the free show was the least he could do for scaring the crap out of her.
It isn't until Klaus stands, the movement filled with grace and power, and she can't help but be a little mesmerized by the sight.
Something he clearly notices if the unbearably smug little smirk he wears is anything to go by.
She whirls before he can face her fully because she knows she wouldn't be able to resist letting her eyes drift below the belt. Caroline crosses her arms and straightens her spine biting out, "Yeah, I'm going to need you to put on some pants."
His laugh is soft but she hears him opening a door, rummaging around. The quiet jangling of a belt and the whisper of fabric follow shortly after. Her foot begins to tap without her permission, her impatience growing as questions begin to whirl. She wants to peek over her shoulder (because seriously, how long could it take? Pants, shirts. Easy peasy).
"I'm decent, sweetheart," he says, after an agonizingly long time.
She spins on her heel, "I highly doubt that," Caroline spits. He's got his arms lifted, fiddling with the ever present cords he wears around his neck and this time she keeps her eyes trained firmly on his face and not on any lifting his shirt may or may not be doing.
Klaus grins, amused. "Perhaps you've a point."
Her eyes narrow as she takes in his complete ease. It just wasn't fair. "Decent people don't scare other people out of their minds by being a creepy stalking giant ball of furry death, Klaus."
He sobers, if only slightly. "I apologize if I scared you. It wasn't my intention. I didn't mean…" he trails off and it might be the first time Caroline's ever seen him stop to consider his words.
"You didn't mean what?" she presses. "What are you even doing here? New Orleans sounded pretty freaking great when you described it. Did you piss everyone off and get kicked out or what?"
His eyes light up, "Ah so you did get my message. I'd wondered."
She hopes it's dark enough that Klaus can't see her face because she knows it's possible she's blushing a bit. She'd listened to his message more times than she'd ever admit, had a hard time tamping down the wants and curiosities his words brought out in her.
There was plenty of time to explore the world, she had told herself. Her mother only had a finite number of years and the least Caroline could do was get a college diploma her mom could brag about around the Sheriff's office before Caroline had to go off the grid with her never aging face.
Klaus continues, leaning back against his SUV, not waiting for her to reply. "And while I wouldn't say I was kicked out of New Orleans there were several people who were most displeased with my behavior."
"Did you try to murder them? Because that's not the way to make friends and influence people, Klaus."
He hums, lips quirking up in a smile, "Debatable, love. However as a matter of fact I did not. I merely got a bit… moody."
"You?" Caroline gasps in mock surprise, laying her hand over her heart, "Well I never."
He sighs in exasperation but it's playful, pushing away from the vehicle and walking towards her. "After one particularly rousing fight Rebekah told me that if I didn't get out of her sight she and Elijah would team up, find a witch, and smother me in my sleep. Repeatedly."
Caroline shrugs, "You kinda have something like that coming, don't you think? Given the whole dagger thing."
"She found those. Unfortunately. Hid them impressively well. Leaving me no other option but to retreat from the house."
"And what, you came here? That's an awfully long walk."
"Not directly. This was nearly a month ago. I headed out to the Bayou, turned, wondering if some time as a wolf would help my temperament."
"And did it?" Caroline asks, her interest piqued, wondering where this story was going.
"I never got a chance to find out. I couldn't turn back. I tried for hours but I was stuck."
Her brows furrow, "But you just…"
He shakes his head, "I went back to the house once I realized that something was amiss. Had a great deal of difficulty communicating my dilemma to Elijah, as I'm sure you can imagine. Eventually, he got the gist of it, found a witch."
"And the witch turned you back?"
"If only it were that easy," Klaus says, the twist of his lips wry.
She's about to ask what exactly that means but he steps a little closer, reaching out and wrapping his fingers around her wrist. It's gentle, something she feels like she can break if she needs to though she has no immediate urge to pull away. Quite the opposite, in fact. Caroline finds she's tempted to touch him back, her fingers twitching as she fights the urge, but that's crazy, right?
Her questions stick in her throat when his thumb flutters over her pulse point, her eyes widening in shock at the jolt of warmth it sends up her arm. When he speaks again it's quieter, with a hesitance that's uncharacteristic, but he's close enough that she doesn't need to strain. "What do you know about mates, Caroline?"
"Mates," she repeats slowly. "I know it's about the least sexy word for significant other there is. And that Dawson's Creek made it totally gross. Just because a boy thinks he's your soulmate doesn't mean he owns your hymen."
He's still touching her, and she still doesn't mind, his face relaxed and filled with a fondness that's hard for her to look away from. "In terms of werewolves, love. It's old lore, something I myself discounted so it's reasonable that you're unfamiliar with the stories."
"Werewolves have mates?" He's right, she's never heard that and it seems ludicrous. Werewolves are rare, their territories spread out. Seems like a recipe for inbreeding and that's not helpful for a species.
"Apparently. Often not another wolf and finding one's mate is rare."
"Huh," Caroline murmurs, still turning it over. "Thanks for the fun fact."
Klaus' shows no offense at her disbelief, "I was skeptical too. But the witch insisted, even under Rebekah's very dire threats, and I thought it wouldn't hurt to try her suggestion. Reasoned that I could always find someone more competent later on."
"Okay," Caroline drawls, knowing she's missing something from Klaus' expectant gaze. "So what happened next?"
"We drove to Whitmore. I weathered Elijah's incessant complaints about the fur on his upholstery. We parked outside your dorm room and I was finally able to change back."
Her jaw drops as the implication sinks in, a staccato burst of laughter spilling from her. Klaus doesn't even flinch, eyes knowing and patient. "You're saying that I'm…"
"Tell me, Caroline, did you feel off this summer? Prickly and not quite yourself?"
How could he know that? "I…" she splutters for a moment, "I was just adjusting, you know? Things haven't exactly been sunshine and rainbows for me. I'm not… I can't be…"
Again, Klaus seems to choose his words carefully, and they come out measured. "My sources tell me Tyler hasn't returned. That he's met a lovely young werewolf in his travels and seems loathe to leave Carson City."
"That," Caroline snaps, tugging her arm away from him, "is none of your business."
Klaus holds up his hands, dips his head in contrition, "Apologies. But I wonder if you've missed him like you used to. Or has it changed, grown more distant? Do you miss your friend, Caroline? Or your lover?"
A small thread of alarm grows in Caroline at his too accurate words. "How do you know that?" she hisses.
"Call it a hunch. And you've not taken up with any of the college boys who seek you out to distract yourself, you've not been drowning your sorrows."
She throws her hands up. Discussing her alarmingly non-existent libido is crossing a major line. "Okay, seriously. How long have you been stalking me? That's not okay, Klaus."
Klaus' eyes flash gold, a hint of temper in the set of his jaw, "I had little choice, Caroline. I have no desire to live as a wolf indefinitely. I'd not have disturbed you, I haven't disturbed you. Being geographically close to you eased the worst of my symptoms, yours as well from what I've gleaned so I was content to wait, at least until our states worsened. But tonight I couldn't help myself. The pull to you was stronger in my wolf form than I had anticipated and I couldn't resist it."
She digests that, studying him warily, "Just how long have you been here?"
"I arrived your first week. Do you remember anything special happening? I'd wager that's right around the time your irritability became a little more manageable."
She keeps her face blank even as the truth of his words sinks in. If she'd remained in as deep a funk as she'd been in over the summer she'd probably be homeless and have done major damage to her GPA by now. That first week Bonnie and Elena had been alarmingly close to joining forces and snapping her neck just to get some peace, Caroline knew. It was only the easing of the varied extreme moods she'd been experiencing that had led them to back off. At the time she hadn't put much thought into the change, just relieved she was functioning at a reasonable level once more. Klaus was right about the timing and Caroline's mind whirled with why that could be.
"So you're saying I felt better because you were around. Because I'm your…" she can't say it. It seems too crazy.
Klaus has no such issue, the word spilling out crisp and firm, "Mate. Precisely. Proximity eases the worst of the symptoms though you'll still be off unless we have regular contact."
"Contact," Caroline repeats, slightly dubious.
Klaus watches her carefully, eases back into her space. He skims his fingertips up her arm, leaving a trail of goosebumps in his wake, and she fights a shiver. She shouldn't want him to touch her but she body aches for more now that he is. His palm settles on her neck, slipping under her hair to cup her nape. She knots her hands in her skirt to keep from reaching out to him, thanks her lucky stars her bra has a molded cup. "Physical contact," Klaus elaborates, low and with an edge of roughness that has her stomach clenching.
She takes a shaky breath, tries to gather her splintering thoughts. "You're insane. I can't…"
"What do you feel right now, Caroline?"
She shakes her head, swallows down her answer. She feels good, comfortable. Sorely tempted to step into him and press her face against his throat and let his warmth sink into her skin. She feels, Caroline realizes, better than she has in a really long time
Klaus takes her other hand with his free one, tangling their fingers together. She squeezes without meaning to. "I know this isn't something you'd planned for, Caroline. And I truly meant to stay away. But I couldn't."
She can't think, not with the way he's touching her.
Caroline grits her teeth and takes a giant step back, shivering for an entirely different and unpleasant reason. Cold seeps in, the return of that prickling uncomfortableness she's come to know. Klaus' body goes taut, his stance widening as he fights to stay still and not follow her. She takes a deep breath, "I'm not sure I buy this."
His snort is derisive, "Your body tells a different story."
Caroline shoots him a quelling look, "I admit you've made some sense and some of your arguments are… persuasive. But I need to think. And do some research."
He looks like he's about to protest but she cuts him off quickly, "You've had time to think this through. I get the same."
His expression conveys his displeasure but he nods, a short jerk, and his eyes never leave her face. She takes a step back, "I'll call you. When I'm ready."
Klaus' makes a soft noise of assent. "Fine," he replies. "I'll be waiting." She offers him a wave as she leaves, his words playing on a loop as she gets back on the path in the woods.
It was probably a bad sign that she found them comforting.