Caroline had been drifting in and out of sleep. Her body felt heavy and sore, and her memories were hazy. Was Bonnie alright? Was Damon okay? Did the ritual go over okay? She was still alive, so that was good. The thought of Damon caused a rush of disgust to go through her, but she didn't understand why. She had put those emotions behind. She thought she had dealt with it. But why were these emotions cropping up again? Suddenly she remembered Hayley but couldn't understand why. Before she could process her thoughts, sleep claimed her again.
She woke up again. To talking. She recognized the voice. It was Klaus. But he wasn't alone...Someone else was there too. Hayley. What were they saying? Caroline couldn't understand but she knew Klaus was upset. There he goes again, throwing a fit, Caroline thought before she was asleep again. Before she awoke, again. This time she could open her eyes.
She looked to her side and her eyes fell on the window next to her bed. Soft white moonlight was streaming in. Caroline followed the moonlight with her eyes to where it landed on her stomach, where her hand lay entwined with another. Caroline felt a small shock of surprise go through her as she realized someone was there in the room with her, next to the bed, holding her hand. She couldn't see who it was because they weren't on the bed next to her, but they were sitting on a stool or chair—Caroline couldn't make out what exactly—with their head buried in the sheets.
She lifted her hand lightly.
And like magic, the other hand disappeared, and a head emerged from where the sheets bunched up. Caroline would've laughed if she could, but for now she could only muster up a smile at the messy sleep-hair and hazy eyes staring back at her. Klaus. Caroline looked at him calmly. She wondered why she didn't feel the usual panic or anger or distress that she felt around him or tried to force herself to feel in order to cover up anything real she felt. She just felt a certain sense of calm. It buzzed in her bones. Klaus, she noticed, stared back and slowly his lips curved into a smile, mirroring her own.
"You gave us all a fright, love."
Her voice was scratchy when she spoke with much effort. She said, "All?"
"Hmm," Klaus took her hand again in his' and pressed it against his face. Like that time so long ago. Everything was so long ago in her head. She felt sleep's tendrils pull at her consciousness again, but she wanted to stay here, in this moment. "Hayley, me, Rebekah's annoying human friend Elizabeth, and your annoying human friend Matt," Klaus muttered causing Caroline to snort.
"Be nice," she said as she closed her eyes. "Be nice, Klaus," she said again, but softly. "I must sleep now." She pressed her hand against his face once before sleep claimed her again.
"Goodnight, Caroline," she heard his deep rumble as dreams pulled her.
When she awoke again, it was for a shorter time and she fell asleep immediately. This happened for a day. And another, and another. Four days passed and it was then, when Caroline Forbes finally awoke.
Her eyes opened slowly, and she felt her body was still weak but much lighter and more energized than before. The room was bright, and it took her time to adjust to it. To her disappointment, there was no one in the room. Granted that considering from the way sunlight was pouring into her room, it looked like it was the middle of the day, and no doubt, everybody was busy with their work. But still. She remembered waking up to Klaus. How many days ago had that been? Or had it been weeks? How long had she been asleep?
She felt too lazy to get out of bed, so she whipped out her phone. She felt exhaustion seep in when saw text messages and missed calls flooding her screen. Later, she told herself, I'll deal with it later. For now, she wanted to do something entertaining. Fun. Caroline decided to open YouTube and go through her recommended list and started watching bloopers of TV shows. And that's how Hayley found her.
"Are you watching Modern Family Gag reels on your phone?" Hayley asked, amused.
Caroline started at the sudden interruption. Hayley was standing at the doorway, looking bemused. Processing Hayley's words, Caroline said defensively, "Yes, they're really funny." She paused the video. Hayley walked towards her.
"I know, scoot over." Hayley got into bed beside Caroline, but unlike Caroline who was still lying down, the Hybrid sat straight. "How do you feel?"
"Much better."
"You were out for a long time."
"How long?" Caroline craned her neck to look at Hayley.
"Five days, I think."
"Wow."
"Yeah..." Hayley trailed off with a faraway look on her face. "I'm glad to see you're okay though."
"I'm sorry I worried you. How are Bonnie and Damon doing, by the way?" Caroline asked. She saw Hayley's face harden
"They're—," she broke off, and added bitterly, "doing fine," Hayley almost spat out. Caroline raised an eyebrow.
"O-kay, that's good to know," she looked at the Hybrid questioningly. "Anything I should be worried about?"
Hayley looked at her and shook her head. "No. Just don't do it again. Not for them."
Caroline gave her a puzzled look. "They're my friends."
"They're not," Hayley said firmly. When Caroline raised an eyebrow at the bizarre undertone to Hayley's comment, the hybrid added, "I... I guess it's my turn to apologize." This caused Caroline's brows to furrow in confusion. Hayley swallowed and looked away from Caroline's piercing gaze before saying, "I saw your dream with Damon again."
"Ah," was all Caroline could say. "That explains a few things."
An awkward silence ensued. Hayley broke the silence first.
"Aesa's sleeping," Hayley said, "maybe you could come play with her." Caroline didn't answer. She wanted to, of course. But a part of her was also unsure. What would she do with a baby? What does anyone do with a baby!? Hayley must've seen the panic on her face for she said, "Or not."
"No!" Caroline almost shouted, "I want to. I didn't mean it like that," she lied. "I was...thinking about other stuff."
"Like?"
She had a pensive look on her face before she said, "Why didn't you tell me that Tyler came to kill you?" she finally asked, unable to keep it in anymore.
Hayley was quiet for a long time before saying, "Because I didn't think it excused what I did."
Caroline looked at her with surprise and nodded. "I didn't know, by the way. I would have never let him do that. His...his hate for Klaus really changed him."
Hayley looked away. "I'm sorry for my part in it."
Caroline nodded, unable to say anything more. "Let's just watch the gag reels."
"I remember watching the show when it first came out. I was still with my family—," Hayley broke off, clearing her throat before correcting herself and saying, "foster family. We used to watch it every day."
Caroline smiled softly at her and nestled into the pillows further before hitting play. That's what they did the entire morning: watch Modern Family gag reels.
That is how Klaus found them when he realized he hadn't checked up on Caroline the entire morning and popped in to see how she was doing. As he neared her room, he heard hysterical laughter coming from Caroline's room when he hastened his steps. What was happening? He found Hayley and Caroline half-sitting up on the bed, watching something on Caroline's phone.
"I hope I'm not interrupting something?" Klaus said, walking in leisurely. Caroline's eyes, he noticed, pleased, lit up at the sight of him. Hayley, on the other hand, must've heard him approaching because she didn't look up to greet him and only shrugged. Although Klaus knew she wanted him to leave them alone, Klaus couldn't resist. He wanted to see Caroline and be with her. He did not appreciate Hayley getting to spend so much time with his Caroline.
The past few days watching Hayley keep a close look on Caroline had been...disconcerting. He didn't understand when and how they both had become friends, but he did not like it one bit. Klaus wanted Caroline to be his person. Not Hayley's. He was already sharing her with the Mystic Falls gang. He did not want to share it with his family too. He had noticed Rebekah and her human friend—who would strangely avoid him and flee at the sight of him—had also come by to visit Caroline.
Rebekah had not come of her own volition and was dragged by the human girl, but still. She allowed herself to be dragged, and that in itself, was telling. Rebekah had also begrudgingly grown less hateful towards Caroline. It was because of that human girl, Klaus was sure. Rebekah made an extra effort to be pleasant in front of her, much to her brothers' surprise. Or, as Elijah had pointed out, Rebekah was pleasant with the girl. It wasn't lost on Klaus what his brother was truly saying: the Mikaelson siblings brought out the worst in each other. This thought made Klaus ponder harder.
Each of the Mikaelson siblings had undergone a positive change due to a non-Mikaelson person. Hayley had brought out the kinder more considerate side in Elijah, and Caroline compelled Klaus to be more merciful and Rebekah had been changed by her friend to be more caring and pleasant. It was...bizarre. Not that these changes had occurred but that these changes could happen only by people outside the family. His brother was right, indeed. Mikaelson siblings brought out the worst in each other, but they weren't incurable.
As he saw Caroline's bright eyes happily following him, he felt his heart clench. He wanted Caroline to always look at him like this. Now that he knew how it felt, he wondered how he could go back to knowing anything else. At his question, Caroline gave him a bright smile, and said cheekily, "Yes, you are. But you are welcome to join us."
Before Klaus could respond, Hayley snorted in his stead. He raised an eyebrow and walked to where they sat on the bed and sat near Hayley's feet. "Anything you'd like to add, love?"
Hayley rolled her eyes before saying, "I mean, you can join us, yeah, but I'm not sure you'll know what we're watching. Do you even watch anything for fun?"
Klaus sputtered, indignantly at having his knowledge of cinema questioned. "Do I watch anything? I shall have you know that I was there when the postmodernist movement in cinema was birthed—," his words were drowned by Hayley's and Caroline's laughter. He looked at them confused. He had expected awe and amazement, not laughter. "What's wrong?" He asked, slightly annoyed when their laughter went on incessantly.
"You just gave us the perfect answer for why you can't join us," Hayley said, wiping a stray tear from the corner of her eyes. "I never finished high school, but I feel like one of those mean girls," she said, looking at Caroline, who let out a laugh.
"You can't sit with us," she said in a high-pitched voice and burst out laughing. Klaus pursed his lips, displeased. This is why he did not wish Hayley and Caroline to become friends. They'd have inside jokes and talk about things he had no idea of. Moreover, now it seemed that joking at his expense would be a part of this friendship. "Oh, stop pouting," Caroline said, and extending an arm, urging him to get up and sit next to her, in the chair placed on her side of the bed.
Immediately soothed, Klaus got up and did her bidding. He took Caroline's hand—which was still extended—into his own and pressed it against his cheek. All grief and annoyance forgotten, he felt calmness and tenderness wash over him. When Hayley excused herself to leave, citing tending to Aesa, Caroline and Klaus barely acknowledged it.
"How do you feel?" Klaus asked.
"I feel like I just got back from death," Caroline joked. Klaus, however, looked unamused.
"You made a deal with Agnes for the bones." His eyes bore into Caroline's. There was no mirth in them. Only cold stillness. Caroline wanted to pull her hand back from where it was still pressed against his face, but Klaus held it there. Caroline pulled her eyes away from Klaus', unable to look at him anymore.
"Yes," she admitted in a small voice. She knew what she did was wrong, but it had been necessary. It was the only way Agnes would've helped her. Caroline tried to look for alternatives but there had been no other way. She knew she couldn't say all of these things to Klaus because he wouldn't understand. Because...because no matter what her reasons where, what she had done was still wrong.
"Elijah has vowed to retrieve them before they fall into the wrong hands," Klaus continued as if he hadn't heard her. "And if he doesn't..." He let his voice trailed off. Caroline felt a cold emptiness in her hand when Klaus withdrew it from his face, letting it fall limp. "You betrayed me, Caroline," he said softly. Caroline's heart broke at the lack of surprise in his voice. It was as if...as if he was used to her betraying him.
"I...," Caroline was at a loss for words, "I'm sorry," she finally said. "I didn't mean for it to happen...No, I'm lying...I didn't... I just wanted my friends back. I only gave them to Agnes because she was your friend and I thought she would never put you in harms way. Otherwise, I would've never, not in a million years... given it to anyone. I am sorry for breaking your trust."
Klaus, who had been so far looking into empty space, finally turned his gaze towards Caroline's face. "That's what I told Elijah," Klaus said with a small quirk of his lips. Caroline felt breath return to her when she saw Klaus wasn't cross with her anymore. "But Elijah is determined to get the bones back."
Caroline nodded. "Is he...Is he mad at me?"
"That's one way to put it."
"I see." Caroline chewed her lip nervously. She did not want to be on the Elijah Mikaelson hitlist. It was dangerous. It was...It was looking over your shoulder for the rest of your life.
"But he has agreed to not harm you in lieu of the role you played in bringing back Aesa and Hayley safely," Klaus added. Caroline's eyes widened in surprise and relief.
"That's—That's...great," She sighed. "For a moment there, I thought I was...dead. Again." She let out a snort which was again not well-received by Klaus.
"But," he began ominously, causing Caroline to frown, "he does require you to stay here and clean up the mess you made."
Caroline gave him a look of puzzlement. "What does he want me to do?"
"Well, Mikael is said to be coming to town. He wants you to stay here and fight, of course." Klaus got up. "I told him you shall tell him your decision yourself."
"I am not sure if I have much of a choice," Caroline retorted sourly. She did not like the idea of putting her life on the line again. She had just returned from the dead. And now they wanted to send her back again. Klaus only shrugged at her response. How cruel and cold him, Caroline thought, annoyed. She had expected him to...What had she expected him to do after he took care of her when she got injured after betraying him? She had expected him to bail her out and give her a free pass like he always had...Caroline realized how unfair she was being and just nodded, saying, "I'll let him know soon."
"Alright, love."
"Where are you going?" She asked when Klaus was already at the doorway. She hated how small her voice sounded. She saw Klaus pausing and looking at her with a strange expression. It was unnerving.
"Just...out," he said rather awkwardly. He looked like he wasn't used to someone asking him where he was going. Or rather, he wasn't used to Caroline asking him where he was going because she didn't want him to go anywhere. When Caroline looked dissatisfied with his answer, he asked instead, "Do you want to join me?"
Caroline's smile widened. "Yes, please." She jumped her to feet, excited. "Where are we going?"
"Well, I was going to the Mikaelson library to look up something I might've missed on how to entrap Mikael and Esther, but I think we can go for a walk on Mikaelson grounds for a bit. If you wish."
Caroline, who had been listening carefully and feeling a bit disappointed at going to a library, perked up at the mention of a walk in the gardens. "Yes, please! I'd love that."
As they made their way down, they were interrupted by Elizabeth and Rebekah who were sitting in the gazebo outside. "Caroline!" Elizabeth excitedly called out, waving her hand. But her expression dimmed suddenly, and she grew still. Caroline, who had been returning Elizabeth's smile paused in confusion. Was something wrong? She caught Elizabeth sneaking glances at Klaus. Ah. Of course. The phone conversation.
"Elizabeth," Caroline said warmly, coming to sit next to her. Rebekah, she noticed, nodded at her. Caroline tried not to show her surprise at that and just nodded back. Klaus chose to stand at a polite distance from the three women.
"Caroline, how are you feeling?" Elizabeth took her hand in hers' and squeezed it. Caroline smiled at the gesture. It was so sweet. She looked very concerned.
"I'm doing good, Elizabeth. I'm sorry for giving you a scare."
"Yeah, I heard you just fainted in the morning and wouldn't wake up. Everybody was really worried. Your friends came by too," Elizabeth said. Caroline raised an eyebrow.
"My friends?" She looked at Klaus questioningly who only shrugged. "Stefan did?" Caroline couldn't help the joy and hopefulness in her voice. She saw Klaus's face change and felt a pang of guilt go through her. He had noticed too, hadn't he? Klaus was a lot of things, but stupid wasn't one of them.
"Yes, he did," Klaus said, as if with much effort.
"And?" Caroline prodded him.
"And nothing." He looked away. His gaze focused on something behind Caroline. Caroline followed his line of sight to see he was glaring at Elizabeth.
"Klaus!" Caroline hissed. He should stop bullying the poor girl. She was already trembling at his sight.
"Yes, Nik, calm down," Rebekah chimed in. "And yes, Caroline, your white knight did come to see you, and so did some of your other friends. But they were politely informed that until you recovered, we couldn't allow them to wander in our grounds. We don't trust them, you see. We think they steal our things," Rebekah said meaningfully. Caroline got the hint and nodded.
"Steal? What would they steal? Are they kleptomaniacs?" Elizabeth asked inciting a snort from Rebekah and Klaus.
"I think so, yes. They're a gang. They steal together. It's really messed up," Rebekah nodded seriously. Elizabeth seemed to have caught onto the joke because she rolled her eyes and let out a snort herself.
"Where's Hayley?" Elizabeth asked, looking around. "She was with you last we knew."
"Ah, she's with Aesa, I think."
At Caroline's response, Elizabeth turned to Rebekah and winked. "It's working." Rebekah let out a conspiratorial giggle Caroline had never known Rebekah to be capable of. It was almost...cute. Caroline felt a shudder go through. Did she just think Rebekah was cute? Jesus. The world must be coming to end.
"What is working?" She asked Elizabeth who shook her head.
"I'm sorry. It's best friends only." She said hooking an arm with Rebekah. Caroline rolled her eyes but allowed a small smile to come to her face.
"I didn't want to know anyway," she scoffed dramatically and stood up. "We shall leave you two to giggle and conspire then. We came out for a walk and we shall go now."
"Uh-huh," Elizabeth winked. Caroline shook her head, smiling. "Have a nice romantic walk, Caroline."
"Oh, shush!" Caroline said. Klaus, on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying the teasing and the winking way too much. He was openly grinning. Caroline rolled her eyes at that. He was so insufferable. Adding fuel to fire, Klaus extended an arm to her and said, "Shall we, love?"
Caroline huffed but took his arm. "Yes," she said, firmly.
Pleasant sunlight brushed against Caroline's skin and she relished in it. The gardens were as vast and beautiful as she remembered it. From four days ago. She snorted at her own silly joke and when Klaus looked at her questioningly, she shook her head. They walked in comfortable silence and Caroline, for the first time, didn't find it unnerving at all.
She wondered when things between them had changed, and when the silences stopped grating at her nerves. When did Klaus become so familiar? So intimate? There was no anxiety, no fear about this...development, strangely. She felt as if she had been waiting for it and it had finally arrived. As if...it had not been a surprise or a shock, the arrival of it all. It was only...expected. She mused over her thoughts leisurely. It was Klaus who broke the silence first.
"You know what this reminds me of?" He asked, suddenly.
Caroline look at him expectantly. "Hm?" She pushed when he didn't say anything, only chose to gaze at her.
"It reminds me of that time we went to that Ball together and I read out your Miss Mystic application," Klaus broke down into chuckles. Caroline felt a blush creep into her cheeks, and she rolled her eyes.
"I can't believe you got that. I mean, where did you even get it from?"
"Well, Tyler's mother graciously gave me the information and I only followed up." Caroline felt a knife being pushed into her heart at Klaus' words. Tyler. Tyler's mom. Carol. Klaus. She didn't realize she had stopped walking until Klaus asked her if something was wrong and she looked up to see he wasn't beside her, but a few feet ahead. Caroline frowned and looked at the ground, not answering. She felt a range of confusing emotions go through her. Klaus had killed Carol. He used the sire bond to control Tyler and the other hybrids...Tyler changed because of Klaus. Tyler...Carol...All of those hybrids...
Caroline licked her lips nervously. When Klaus came to stand beside her, she couldn't bear to look at him. She couldn't bear...to face what she had allowed herself to feel for him...What she had allowed to happen between them. The guilt, anger and the shame crashing back like an old friend. Caroline tried to hold onto her earlier calmness, but she couldn't remember how it felt like.
"I'd like to go back, if it's alright."
They walked back to the house in silence and Caroline determinedly ignored Rebekah and Elizabeth when they ran into them again. Luckily, they seemed to have sensed the mood because they held their silence. Klaus, Caroline noticed, was relentless in keeping up with her. He must surely know she wanted to be alone so why wasn't he leaving? When Caroline reached her room and tried to shut the door behind her, Klaus wedged a foot to stop her. She looked at him, surprised and angry.
"No," Klaus looked annoyed.
"No, what?" Caroline matched his annoyance with her own. She was still standing in the doorway, refusing to let him in.
"You're not going to shut me out," Klaus said, as he kept the door open with his Original Hybrid strength and Caroline was powerless. She gave him a look of pure hatred.
"Let me be, Klaus," She insisted, tugging at the door.
"No, Caroline. Believe me, I want to give you what you want, but I cannot. Not anymore. It's...," He trailed off. He was losing control, Caroline realized. But it wasn't related to rage but to grief. He took a deep breath and said, "You push me out and then you come back, and then you push me out again. You must tell me what the matter is. Why are you upset?"
Caroline let go of the door, too annoyed to do anything. "Why am I upset?" She scoffed with a mock-smile. "Why do you think I'm upset, Klaus? Can you really not tell?"
"No." He looked serious. Caroline couldn't detect a hint of irony in his statement. This troubled her only more. She shook her head. Of course, of course, he wouldn't know. She turned away from him. She was too upset to look at him. She heard Klaus come inside the room and shut the door behind them.
"I don't understand you," She said under her breath, knowing full well that he had heard her.
"What don't you understand?"
"You! This! Us!" She threw her hands up in frustration. "Do you feel any remorse at all? Do you feel—"
"Remorse for what?" Klaus interrupted her.
"For what? The conversation we were having in the gardens!"
"I don't understand! I'm supposed to feel remorse over illegally attaining your Miss Mystic Falls application form!?" He asked, frustrated.
Caroline scoffed, annoyed. "No! Of course not! Well, yes, maybe you should. But more importantly, what you did to Tyler, to Carol!"
"What I did? What about what he did? What you did!?" Klaus roared. If it was the Caroline from before a couple of months, before she had spent all of these months with him, she would've trembled. But the Caroline of now had changed. She had grown. And she wasn't scared. Not of Klaus.
She roared back, louder and angrier. "But we did it because you were a tyrant! And you killed an innocent woman! His mother!" Her throat felt raw from all the screaming, but she knew she couldn't stop now. "I don't know what I was thinking coming here and... I don't know what you want from me. And I don't know what you intend to—,"
"Stop acting as if I compelled you to do anything! You came here and the things you did, you may regret now, but you did them out of your own volition and you cannot take that back!" Klaus growled.
The veins underneath his eyes were showing and Caroline spotted his fangs coming out. He was really riled up, wasn't he? Unbeknownst to Caroline, her face showed similar signs of rage. Her eyes were bloodshot and there were vampire veins cropping up underneath her eyes. She was full of righteous rage. But Klaus's words had cut into her. They weren't false. She did the only thing she could, hurt him the only way she knew would leave a scar.
"I will never be yours. I will never belong to you," She hissed. She thought her words had the desired effect when Klaus' nostrils flared, and he took a step towards her threateningly. But his words told her otherwise.
"Do you not see?" Klaus asked, his eyes burning with a passion Caroline refused to understand. "I don't want you to belong to me, Caroline. I only want to belong to you. Always and forever."
Caroline forced her eyes away from his scorching gaze. She could not bear to look at him anymore. Her heart ached. She had always been scared of being owned, possessed by someone and here was Klaus who did not wish to impose any of those things on her. He did not want to own or possess. He only wanted to belong...to her, with her. Caroline looked up, shaking her head.
"Why?" she murmured. "I—I don't get it. Why do you—," she broke off, unable to say the word, the treacherous filthy word, "why me?" She frowned.
Klaus shook his head, a sad smile curving his lips. "Why what, Caroline?" he asked, forcing her to look at him. When she did not reply, he took a step towards her. "Why I love you?" he whispered, but it rung clearly in the silence enveloping them. Caroline stubbornly stared at the ground, refusing to look up even though Klaus stood directly in front of her now. She felt a finger—his finger—pull her chin up, urging her to look at him.
"Yes, why?" Caroline almost spat at him, after finally meeting his eyes. She couldn't believe he could love, and love like this and love her like this. It didn't make sense. After everything he had done...After everything he had done to everyone...He could not...he ...no one could. No one had...ever.
"Why does anyone love anyone?" Klaus asked, simply, his blue eyes pouring into Caroline's.
"You're not anyone," she commented, scathingly. Klaus's eyes dropped from her eyes to her mouth and then lifted back up to meet her eyes. His lips curved with a coy smile.
"Neither are you, my love," he said. The way he said 'my love' caused a shiver to run down Caroline's spine. It was both a declaration and a sneer.
"That's not an answer," she said, shaking off Klaus's hold. He didn't take a step back, choosing to remain as close to her as he was before.
"That's not the answer you want, you mean," he remarked, his smile tightening. Caroline surprised to notice the note of defeat in his voice. Her heart suddenly ached, and she did not know why. Why did it matter to her how he felt?
"I love you, Caroline," Klaus said. "I always have, and I always will. You want reasons, I don't have them. You want explanations, I don't have them. I don't need reasons and explanations to love you, Caroline. You can bring up your ex-boyfriend and his mother, and all of my crimes but you cannot expunge the love I have for you. I will not presume you feel the same, but I shall call out your lie if you claim you feel nothing."
Caroline could not bear to look up, even as she heard him leave. She kept staring at the floor. Why did he love her so much? Why? Why did he love her so much? She didn't understand why he had to be so complicated and confusing. He could have—should have been cruel to her. He could have taunt her for all the times she used him only to throw him away. Why didn't he just destroy her? Caroline's hands curled into fists.