Notes: More of the trope x trope drabbles. This one and the next chapter are both new!
When One Door Closes
(Prompt: Time Travel + I Didn't Mean to Turn You On. Rated T)
The house is dark when she walks up, her mom's car absent. Caroline's relieved, glad she'll have a little time for herself to process her whirlwind of a day.
The party had still been going strong at the Salvatore's when she'd slipped out. Damon had been crowing about breaking out another bottle of the good bourbon. She's pretty sure no one had noticed her leaving and Caroline's not mad about that. She'd spent the evening tense, making an effort to keep her distance from anyone with super senses.
She smells like sex, like Klaus even though there hadn't been all that much post orgasm cuddling, and Caroline needs to figure out how she feels about that before her friends start butting in.
And they will butt in.
She makes a quick stop in the kitchen, fishes a pint of ice cream from the freezer, a spoon from the drawer. She strips her jacket as she walks upstairs, tossing it in the hamper outside her room. Her shirt hadn't made it out of the forest, nor had her underwear, but her bra is fine (because she'd hastily removed it herself to save it from Klaus' haste to get her naked). Now, in the interest of being comfy, it's gotta go. Caroline tucks the ice cream under her chin and reaches behind her back to unhook the clasp.
Her door's ajar and she pushes it open with her toes, reaching in to flip on the light.
Someone's already inside.
Caroline shrieks and drops her ice cream, feels her vision sharpen and her fangs cut through. She's flashing across the room before she even thinks about it, hands out and ready to rip into flesh.
Her visitor is faster, much faster, easily dodges her attack, slipping behind her in a blur of speed. When he says her name Caroline pulls up short, her muscles relaxing.
Trust Klaus to spring an insane surprise appearance on her twice in one day.
"What are you doing here?" she spits, yanking her quilt off her bed. She wraps it around her torso, spinning to face him. "What happened to 'I'll never come back?'"
He's leaning against her door, his eyes carefully fixed on her face. Considering how up close and personal he'd gotten with her boobs just a few hours ago she's wondering why he's bothering. His head dips, expression apologetic "I'm afraid that's a bit complicated." Klaus bends, picks up the carton she'd dropped, setting it on her dresser.
Caroline lets out a frustrated noise, clutching the blanket tighter. "It's always complicated, isn't it? Start explaining."
"I didn't spend the day with you."
Well that doesn't clear anything up. She stares at him expectantly, waiting for more. Klaus runs a hand through his hair, seemingly at a loss for words.
Wait a minute.
Caroline takes a step closer, her fingers itching with the urge to reach out. She's sure his hair had been shorter, recalls that there hadn't been much to grip at all. And she'd certainly tried when he'd pinned her thighs wide and used his mouth. "You didn't spend the day with me," she repeats slowly. "Meaning…"
If Klaus tells her he has a doppelgänger Caroline is going to lose it.
"I got into a bit of trouble with some witches. They've managed to throw me back in time."
Caroline's not sure if she finds that explanation more or less believable that the doppelganger possibility. "Time travel. You're telling me you've time travelled?" She hadn't known that was a thing but, in the grand scheme of random and weird and impossible she's experienced over the last few years, it's not that farfetched. "How far?"
"About seventy years."
Caroline takes a step back, sinking down onto her bed. "That's… wow." She studies him more closely, her eyes narrowing. Klaus straightens but stays silent, doesn't fidget or try to distract her. "I feel like I need a little more proof here."
His expression grows exasperated, "I've been told not to tell you anything that might influence your future path."
Okay, that's a good point. If Klaus isn't playing some weird trick on her - and she has no idea what his motivation could possibly be to do such a thing at this point - then she should probably tread carefully. "I don't suppose you have a newspaper or something in your pocket?"
He huffs a laugh, "Print media is well and truly dead in my time, love. I do have my phone."
That has potential. Caroline holds out her hand, "Gimme." Klaus gives it up without a fuss but stays close. "Passcode?" She prompts.
He shakes his head, "It'll recognize your prints. Just touch the screen."
That can only mean one thing, can't it?
Caroline stares up at him for a long moment, her mouth open as she struggles for words. "Oh," she finally says. Kind of dumb, but she's not capable of anything more articulate.
"May I?" Klaus asks, nodding down at her bed.
"Not the first time you've been in my bed."
"True." He sits gingerly. She can feel him, the heat he gives off, but he's not touching her.
Caroline stares at the phone in her hand, hesitating. Her fingers shake when she reaches to wake it up. She gasps when her face shows up even though Klaus' hints had been broad enough to give her a clue what was coming. "And it won't be the last time you're in my bed," she mutters, more to herself than him.
"Also true."
She looks the same in the picture, of course. The same blue eyes, the same smattering of freckles on her nose. She's smiling softly in the image and her hair's a wind tangled mess. Caroline knows she's never looked at Klaus like that, save perhaps today. And he hadn't been taking any pictures when they'd been stripped of their clothes and greedy for contact out in the woods.
"What happened to not influencing my path?"
The sound Klaus makes is amused. His shoulder bumps hers. "If anything, I'm hurting myself here, hmm? The current version of you is stubborn enough to stay away for a whole century, maybe two, given what I've just dropped in your lap."
Klaus has always been annoyingly perceptive.
Caroline can't quite conceive of that much time at this point, seventy years or a century. Her life's milestones are progressing at a normal human pace. College with her friends has always been the plan. She knows time's a ticking, that her seventeen year old face will become suspicious, that eventually she'll have to admit that building a career that she loves won't happen.
She'll have to start over someday, go somewhere she won't have to worry about running into her third grade teacher or an old babysitter. Have a different life. The idea is scary, exciting, and she usually avoids thinking about it too deeply.
When she starts over, no matter how many times she does, Klaus will be out there. It's weirdly comforting to know.
She hands him back his phone and Klaus sets it on her nightstand. "So, what happened?" Caroline asks. "I mean, vaguely. No need to go breaking the space time continuum."
He laughs again and she finds herself shifting closer, resting her arm against his. "Things sometimes get… contentious in The French Quarter."
That might be the most believable thing he's said yet. "Have you tried not murdering people when they refuse to do your bidding? I feel like that would go a long way towards inter species harmony."
He smiles, shakes his head, "Funnily enough, I've been told that often lately."
"Sounds like you've been hanging out with smart people."
"I'll be sure to pass on your compliments once I've returned."
Did complimenting herself make her a narcissist? Caroline is too exhausted to care. "I take it you're here because you need a place to crash?"
"The present version of me and Rebekah spent the night at my house here. They'll leave for New Orleans early tomorrow. I'll go then, contact some witches to straighten things out. Keep his promise."
"How long until we see each other again?" Caroline asks. She freezes once it's out, not having really meant to say those words. It's possible she's had second thoughts about completely shutting Klaus out. That walking away from him hadn't felt good. She's been telling herself it's just pragmatism - given how much supernatural nonsense went down in Mystic Falls he's a good ear to have.
And maybe it's nice, at least occasionally, to acknowledge that being a vampire is awesome. She doesn't get to do that with her friends.
"That's up to you, Caroline."
Cryptic, but she guesses he makes sense. She thinks about offering him something to sleep in but she doubts he'd be willing to wear anything that had once belonged to Tyler. "I'm going to grab something to sleep in. Make yourself comfortable."
"You don't want me to sleep on the floor?" Klaus sounds puzzled and Caroline smiles, gives herself a mental pat on the back. How often did something puzzle Mr. Most Powerful Being On The Planet?
"We already had sex, Klaus. No need to strain and play the gentleman," she teases. "Just don't expect to share my ice cream."
She shuts herself into the bathroom before he can reply. Something tells her he's not going to argue. She's decided that it's not like anyone's going to be less judgemental if she and Klaus have more sex. The first time against the tree had pretty much sealed her fate. There's no reason not to take advantage of her perfectly comfortable bed and the extra hours they've been granted.
Magic has a bad habit of screwing with her. It owes her something nice. Klaus in her bed, their previous deal intact and just on hold until tomorrow, definitely counts.