A/N: This one is a long one (5400+ words long). It's one of my favourites because it shows Caroline standing up for herself and taking what she wants.
I hope you enjoy the chapter!
CHAPTER FOURTEEN:
CAROLINE'S P.O.V
"So, Caroline." Elena said, sitting down next to Damon across the room. "What did Bonnie mean when she said that you are where you need to be, and that you shouldn't hold back?"
Looking at her wide eyed, I wondered how I was going to explain this. I thought over all of the excuses I could give, but I decided to go with something along the lines of the truth. I told myself again that I had nothing to hide from them.
"I'm assuming she's talking about the fact that I've been cured." I said, holding Elena's eyes and ignoring the several gasps that spread through the room. Her jaw tightened.
"I figured that much, but what does she mean exactly. I mean, you've been travelling and doing god-knows-what for over a month. Surely you have a better idea of what she means?"
I forced myself not to flinch from Elena's intense gaze. "Yes, I do know what she was referring to. But, I don't see how that is any of anyone else's business. I don't see you asking anyone else what their message means."
"I'm just curious, we've barely heard from you since graduation, and then you show up for Bonnie's funeral, cured, and acting completely different." She said, leaning forward slightly in her chair. "I mean, you were desperate to be with Tyler, and then you disappear and break up with him. You don't talk to any of us. I'm allowed to be curious."
I stared her down, knowing what underlying question she wanted to ask. Where the fuck was Katherine? And why wasn't she the one who was human?
"Are you sure you're not worried Elena?" I replied, focusing solely on her and not the other people in the room who were watching our conversation carefully. "I mean, you get into a fight with Katherine and supposedly shove the cure down her throat, and then I show up cured instead of her. Surely you're worried that she's going to pop up out of nowhere and try to kill you again?"
Elena's eyes widened and I stood up from my seat, heading across the room towards my mum. I didn't want to be here anymore. I had come to pay my respects to Bonnie, I didn't have to be here any longer. "I think it's time we leave, mum. Is that okay?"
"Is that where you've been?" Elena growled, jumping up and running so that she was standing in front of me. "With Katherine?"
Straightening up, I tried to ignore the veins beneath her eyes becoming more prominent. "Actually, Elena. For the first two weeks of my 'holiday' I was unconscious in my bed…at home. None of you seemed too worried about me then. Did you even tell anyone that you had tried to shove the cure down Katherine's throat? Or did you keep it a secret, too afraid to tell them who you wasted it on?"
"She was going to kill me, I had no other choice but to shove the cure down her throat." She stepped closer to me, eying me up and down. "And I didn't want anyone to know who I cured because when I woke up she was gone. And I doubted she would ever be back."
"You could have fought back. Used your strength. Instead of playing the damsel in distress, like you always do." I yelled, walking closer to her, completely unafraid. "But no! Instead of fighting back, I intervened and yanked her off of you, and you shove the cure down my throat. And do you know what Elena? I'm sick and tired of my life being ruined by you. I was turned to send a message to you, Damon, and Stefan. I was kidnapped by Klaus' cronies to be used in your sacrifice, as well as the countless other times I was used as a bargaining chip for you. Then you decided to waste the cure on someone like Katherine. You didn't think that maybe someone else wanted it. You didn't think that there were other people out there who deserved it better. No, you acted for yourself. Like you always do."
My breathe came in deep gasping heaves as I finished yelling. Tears running down my cheeks. My body felt completely drained. Every muscle in my body ached, and I had a feeling deep down that I had never felt before. Something powerful and strange.
Everyone in the room was looking at me shocked and before any of them could say anything else, I rushed from the house and down the footpath and up to the end of the driveway, pulling out my phone to message Klaus, but already seeing a message from him.
Klaus: Caroline, are you okay? I can sense something wrong.
Klaus: Can you just message back to let me know that you're okay?
Klaus: That's it, I'm on my way to come and get you.
Sent five minutes ago, he should be here soon. I took a deep breath in, my stomach still churning as I tried to take in some fresh air.
Heavy footsteps sounded from behind me and I turned around to see Tyler making his way up the driveway, a determined look on his face. My stomach dipped, I didn't want to have a one on one confrontation with Tyler. Not now.
He stopped a few feet in front of me. Close enough for him to touch me if he wanted. He looked exactly the same as he had the last time I had seen him. The same high school jock I had fallen for. Looking at me for a moment, he reached out to grab my hand. I stepped back. He looked hurt and then he crossed his arms over his chest. "Caroline. What the hell was that?"
"I meant every word I said to her. She needs to realise that the world doesn't revolve around her." My voice quiet as I watched to make sure he wasn't going to make another move to grab me.
"She's your best friend, cut her some slack. Not to mention that you're human again. That's a good thing, isn't it?" His tone was frustrated. He was frustrated with me? And what did he mean that me being human was a good thing?
I narrowed my eyes and mirrored him by crossing my own arms. "What makes you think I wanted to be human again? I liked how I was. There are plenty of other people who could have taken the cure and been happy. But I didn't want this."
He reached out again, this time it was so fast that I didn't have time to pull away, and he wrapped on tight hand around my arm. "So, what? You're going to lash out at your friends, break up with me, and go running off all because you didn't want to be human again?"
"No, Tyler. I'm lashing out at my friends because I'm sick of being walked all over. I broke up with you because we were heading in that direction whether I was human or not. And I'm not 'running off' because I'm not happy. My mum sent me off while I was still unconscious, so that I could get help. Even she realised that everyone here would just turn my situation around so that the main focus was Elena."
His grip tightened and I hissed at the pain that shot through my wrist and up my arm. I tried to pull away, but he wouldn't let go. His face turned angrier than I had seen it in a long time, his eyes turning golden yellow.
"I think you're hurting her, mate." I let out a small breath, turning my face to see Klaus standing there. Calm and collected, while staring at Tyler. I could see in his eyes that he was holding back as much as possible, and suddenly that weird feeling in my stomach disappeared.
Tyler's nostrils flared and his anger instantly grew, looking between Klaus and I in shock. "So, you dump me for Klaus. I see how it is."
"I said that you're hurting her." Klaus said, enunciating each word slowly, as if Tyler were too dumb to understand. "I'm using a fair bit of restraint at the moment, so why don't you let her go."
Tyler let go of my wrist, pushing me back a bit, sending me toppling to the ground. I fell unceremoniously on my backside, sitting there shocked. That's all it took for Klaus' restraint to fade, and for him to pounce. He rushed at Tyler and threw him across the driveway that so that he landed right near the door.
A moment later, my mum, Elena, Stefan, and Damon appeared in the doorway. All of them except my mum looked shocked to find Klaus there, but I didn't pay attention to them. Tyler was glaring across at me. Hurt and anger were in his eyes as he stood up and then disappeared into the trees.
Klaus straightened up and composed himself, turning around and reaching out to help me up. He grabbed the wrist that Tyler had been holding, sending shockwaves of pain up my arm. I hissed and pulled my hand away, falling the small distance back onto the ground. His eyes narrowed as he leant down and grabbed me around the waist instead, settling me safely back onto the ground.
I cradled my wrist and used the other hand to wipe the dirt and dust off my the back of my dress, looking over to the house where the others were still staring at Klaus in shock. My mum, however, was halfway across the driveway and quickened her pace as she saw me cradling my wrist.
"I'm fine." I said before she could even reach me. "It's probably just a sprain. It'll be fine."
Klaus' eyes narrowed as he gently took my sore wrist in his hand. He looked over the slightly bruised skin and bared his teeth. "I should give you some of my blood to heal you."
My mum reached us at that point and was looking me up and down to make sure that I was okay. "He's right."
"I said that I'm fine. I've had worse. Now, if you wouldn't mind, I want to get out of here. I've had enough of this drama for one day and I just want to go home and curl up in a ball and sleep."
My mum nodded, wrapping me in a hug and wishing me a safe trip, knowing that when I said that I wanted to go home, I meant back to New Orleans with Klaus. I didn't look at my friends again as Klaus led me to where he had parked his car, just out of the view of the house.
#
"Are you okay?" Klaus asked for what had to have been the hundredth time since leaving Mystic Falls.
"I'm fine Klaus. It's just a sprain. It'll be okay in a week or so."
We had left Mystic Falls immediately. Klaus had put all of our things in his car before he had come to get me from the Boarding House, sensing that I wanted to leave before I had even finished yelling at Elena.
We had been driving for hours, and it was getting late in the afternoon. Luckily, Klaus had announced that we would be stopping at a small bed and breakfast on our way home, knowing that the long drive last time had hurt my muscles fairly badly. I didn't know where we would be stopping, or when, but I hoped that it would be soon. I didn't think that I could handle much more sitting down in the uncomfortable seats.
"We'll talk to a doctor when we get to New Orleans." He said, tapping on the wheel as he looked at me from the corner of his eye.
"So you'll let me see a doctor, but not the mother of your unborn baby?" I snapped, turning to look at him angrily. He hadn't let Hayley see a doctor during the whole pregnancy, not even to see if everything was okay. But, he was fine with me seeing one even with a small sprain.
"You're human, Caroline. Hayley is a werewolf, and our baby is something completely new. I don't know what a doctor would find if they examined her."
"I'm fine Klaus. It's just a sprain. The only thing wrong with me at the moment, is the fact that you won't take my word for it, and we've been driving for ages. When are we stopping?"
"We'll be there in a half an hour at most."
Conversation died after that. Klaus kept looking straight ahead at the road, and I sat looking at the moving scenery as he drove, cradling my wrist to my chest to prevent any pain as we went over bumps in the road.
True to his word, twenty five minutes later we pulled up at a bed and breakfast that sat on the edge of an empty highway in the middle of nowhere. Looking up at the building as Klaus parked the car I could see that it was one large building, with two floors, with a smaller building beside it that looked like it was probably the owners living space.
Klaus climbed out of the car, heading toward the trunk to get our things, while I slowly got out of the car, stretching my muscles as I looked around at the slowly dimming afternoon sky.
Klaus led me into the building, stopping in front of a desk and pressing the little belle. As soon as he pressed the bell, a tall woman walked out from behind a door. She was taller than me, standing with her head held high as she greeted Klaus. Her old skin, wrinkled in certain places, but not enough for her to be as old as she felt. Her grey hair was cut in a stylish bob at the base of her throat.
"Niklaus, darling!" She called in a slightly accented voice, as she wrapped him into a hug. "It's been too long. You don't visit me enough."
I watched as he smiled at her, wrapping her into an equally as friendly hug. "Siobhan, you're still gorgeous I see. You don't look a day over 50."
"Not bad for two hundred, am I." She said, giving a little spin. That confirmed what I thought, she was older than she looked. And she was a witch. She caught sight of me and smiled, stepping forward to wrap me in a hug that was just as friendly as Klaus. "Hello, you must be Caroline. Klaus told me about you on the phone."
Looking at Klaus over her shoulder, he shrugged as he looked around the old bed and breakfast.
"I helped Klaus with a little bit of trouble in New Orleans once upon a time." She said, moving away from me and heading behind the counter. "He bought me this place out of gratitude, and I've been here ever since."
I smiled at Klaus, surprised that he could actually do something nice for someone in return for their help. Siobhan was flipping through a large book that sat in the centre of her desk, looking for something that I assumed had to do with our rooms.
After a couple of minutes she looked up and smiled. "There are two beautiful rooms on the northern side of the building that I reserved for you. The view from them is amazing, you'll love it. I will show you where they are, of course." She stepped back around the counter and led us up a flight of stairs and down a long hallway that looked way longer than it should've been. She must have noticed my eyes widen because she slowled down to walk next to me. "This building of the bed and breakfast is reserved only for people who know about the supernatural. I designed it so it the hallway would elongate and allow for more rooms and guests. The outside building is used by humans, and it's much smaller, but not many humans stop here anyway."
I smiled, this whole place was filled with magic. Bonnie would have gotten a kick out of this place. She came to a stop in front of two doors that sat next to each other, letting us know that dinner was at six o'clock, and that there was a menu in each of the rooms so that we could decide what we wanted before we headed down. She handed us our keys, and I quickly opened my door, eager to see what the room looked like.
Klaus followed me into the room with my bag, and I gasped at how beautiful it was. It felt like I had stepped right into a fairy tale. The room was so beautiful that it looked like it would be fit for royalty. Walking through the room I came to stop in front of the window. Siobhan had mentioned the beautiful view.
A gasp slipped past my lips at how stunning the view actually was. I wondered if the humans could see this, or if it was just people who knew about the supernatural. In a clearing in the centre of what looked like strategically planted trees, there was a large old-fashioned pool and Victorian style garden
The pool was giving me series Robert Redford Great Gatsby vibes, and the garden was reminiscent of the one from Alice in Wonderland. It was beautiful.
I turned around to see that Klaus was standing by the door, having let my bags down next to the bed. I smiled at him as I hurried over and wrapped him in a hug, flinching as my wrist bumped against his shoulder.
"Thank you so much for bringing me here Klaus. Did you know that this place would cheer me up?"
"I hoped it would."
The sincerity in his voice made my heart tighten in my chest. I pulled back slightly, looking into his eyes before I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him into a hug and whispered in his ear. "Thank you."
#
After Klaus and I had settled in, we headed downstairs to the dining room which sat pretty much empty. There were only a few people there, a couple of which looked extremely uncomfortable the minute that Klaus walked in.
We were placed at a table near the wall, and Klaus looked out at the room, surveying it. Not long after Siobhan entered the room and came to sit at our table. She was holding a small jar in her hand, and placed it in front of me before she turned to talk to Klaus. I looked at it curiously, picking it up and looking inside. There was some sort of milky syrup inside of it, moving around very slowly as I turned the jar over.
"What is this?" I asked, placing the jar back down on the table.
"It's for your wrist. You'll put it in the tea that the waiter is bringing. It will help heal it." She looked at me with a smile on her face. I could see that Klaus looked suddenly relieved by her words. I didn't feel the same comfort.
"I'm fine, thank you." I said, pushing the jar towards her. "I'm okay with letting it heal naturally."
Siobhan laughed and waved her hand, sending the jar back in front of me. "No need to be brave, girl. It will heal…rather painfully, but quickly. You'll need a good wrist later on."
I furrowed my brows at her and almost asked her what she meant, but we were interrupted by a waiter coming to our table with our food and drinks. We hadn't even ordered yet. My panic at not having ordered our food disappeared as the waiter placed down exactly what I had wanted.
Siobhan laughed gently and stood up from the table, wishing Klaus a good night before walking off, calling over her shoulder that I needed only one teaspoon of the mixture in my drink.
#
Klaus and I ate our dinner in relative silence, only talking briefly about the drive here and how the food was. I could tell that he didn't want the other vampires in the room to hear any personal details about either of us.
Grabbing one of the spoons from the table I opened the jar of liquid and stirred it around before putting the required amount into my drink. It tasted just like honey, but god knows what it actually was, and the pain she had promised was almost instantaneous. Klaus didn't seem to like the fact that the healing process hurt, but I preferred to have it heal with some consequence rather than miraculously heal and everything be okay.
When we had gone back upstairs, Klaus and I had separated, both of us wanted to shower and wind down after the day we had had. Well, that's what I wanted, and Klaus went with it. Heading straight for the shower, I climbed under the hot stream of water, wanting to wash away everything that had happened.
The hot water felt good on my aching muscles, especially on my wrist which was still stinging from the healing process. I hoped that it wouldn't last all night. My shower lasted about twenty minutes before I rinsed myself off and climbed out, wrapping my body in one of the soft towels.
After drying myself off, I left my hair wet as I rewrapped my body in a towel and walked out into the room to get my clothes. Reaching for my bag, I cradled my still-stinging wrist to my chest as I tried to use it to hold my towel while I used my good hand to grip the zip of my bag. But it wouldn't move.
Pulling at it harder, I couldn't get it to budge. It was stuck. I stood there for a moment, trying to figure out what to do. There was always the option of putting my black dress back on, which I had been wearing all day, but I didn't feel like wearing that to bed. I wanted to get into my PJ's.
My hair started to drip down my back, cold against my warm body. I looked towards the door, I was going to have to get Klaus, but I didn't necessarily want to leave the room in only a towel.
"Klaus." I called, keeping my voice below a full yell, but raising it above speaking level, hoping that he would be able to hear me. "I need your help."
A second later my room door opened and Klaus stood there, worry in his eyes. They widened as he saw me standing beside my bag in a towel. He looked me up and down, the pupils in his eyes dilating as he took me in.
I shifted uncomfortably as his eyes scanned my body hungrily, flashing gold as they met mine. I gripped the top of my towel tightly in my good hand, not wanting it to suddenly drop.
"What do you need help with?" He asked, his voice gravelly. I scoffed.
"My wrist still hurts and the zip on my bag is stuck. I can't open it one-handed." I said, trying to keep my voice level as a light blush made its way up my chest and neck towards my face.
Klaus seemed to snap out of his lustful haze and he walked further into the room, letting the door fall closed. He leant down and pulled on the zip, struggling to begin with, and then finally pulling it free. He stood up in front of me, standing so close that I could smell the earthy cologne that he wore.
I looked up into his eyes and smiled softly. "Thank you, Klaus."
"That's okay."
I expected him to walk away and leave my room, but he didn't move from in front of me, his eyes baring down into mine. We both stared at each other for what felt like forever before he moved.
He reached forward to brush a lock of my wet hair over my shoulder. "I should probably go back to my room."
I could only nod, my brain having turned foggy. His hand lowered and within a second he was gone.
I let out a short, hesitant breath as I stumbled towards my bed and collapsed on the soft mattress, forgetting all about getting myself clothes. My skin still felt warm, and I could tell that my face was more than likely still a light shade of pink.
What the hell just happened?
Later that night I laid down in my bed, my still-damp hair pulled up into a ponytail, and my soft pyjamas on. I was comfortable and warm in bed, completely ready to go to sleep, but something in my brain wouldn't turn off. I couldn't sleep. My every thought was focused on Klaus.
I wanted him. The one thing I had been denying for the better half of a year, was true. I couldn't deny it now. The way that my body had reacted when he had been standing that close, had made it obvious.
But I didn't just want him. I could have been able to handle that. No, I wanted more than just his body. I wanted…no, I needed everything about him. I needed the anger and the violence, I needed the cheekiness and the snide remarks, and I needed the side of him that he only ever showed me and those closest to him.
I sat up in the bed. The blankets fell down to my waist, my bare arms getting hit by the cold air. Reaching over I turned on the lamp that sat on the bedside table, throwing the blankets off of my body as I slid from the bed and landed on the floor. I slipped my feet into my slippers, flexing my wrist and realising that the pain had completely gone. Had this been what Siobhan had meant when she said I would need my wrist tonight?
I walked towards the door, shivering slightly as the air hit my arms and legs. I somewhat regretted wearing the sleep tank top and shorts, but I threw that out of my mind as I opened the door and walked out into the hall.
Stopping in front of Klaus' door, I stared at the dark wood and hesitated, my hand frozen mid-air ready to knock on the door. A sudden realisation hit me. I had no idea what I was going to say to him. How would I tell him how I felt?
Sighing, my hand back to my side. I ran one hand over my eyes, I didn't think this out properly. I had no idea what I was doing.
Raising my hand again I knocked on the door three times, standing perfectly still as I waited for him to answer. I hoped that he was awake. A minute passed and he didn't answer the door. I planted my feet more on the floor and raised my hand again, knocking with more strength behind it.
The door was thrown open to reveal Klaus wearing only a pair of pyjama pants. I stared at his bare chest, looking at the tattoo across the top of his chest. He looked down at me in surprise.
"Is everything okay?" He asked, still holding the door in his hand.
"Can we talk?" I pushed past him, not waiting for his reply as I walked into his room and sat on the edge of his bed.
He looked confused as he closed the door and turned to face me, crossing his arms over his chest and tilting his head to the side. "It rather late to want to have a chat, Sweetheart."
"I need to talk to you now. This can't wait until the morning."
"Okay." He said, walking closer to me, pulling a chair that sat in the corner over to the bed. "What do you want to talk about?"
"Bonnie told me something today."
His eyes widened and his gaze changed to one of worry rather than confusion. "Caroline, Bonnie died."
I rolled my eyes at him. Of course he thought that I was crazy. "I'm not losing my mind, Klaus. She was at the funeral…as a ghost. Jeremy was speaking for her. But, she said something today that really struck me. Something that made me acknowledge something important."
"Alright…what did she say?" He continued to stare at me with worry, my clarification not putting him at ease.
"She said that there is more to my current situation than I know. That I'm exactly where I need to be, and that…" I paused, meeting Klaus' eyes steadily. "That I shouldn't hold back on the thing that I really want."
"What do you really want?" He whispered, sitting up straighter in the chair.
I leant forward, a smile pulling at my mouth. "You."
I don't think I could have caught his movement even if I was a vampire, he moved that fast. One second he was sitting in the chair opposite me, the next second he had me pinned to the bed with his lips pressed against mine. Instantly leaning into the kiss, my eyes fell closed and I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him closer to me.
Kissing Klaus was definitely not what I expected. I had kissed plenty of people in my short romantic history, but none of those experiences were like it was with Klaus. It was like electricity was shooting across every inch of my skin where he touched. Like kissing him was exactly where I belonged.
He shifted, pulling his lips from mine and leaning back to look me in the eyes. His eyes shone a brilliant gold as he looked down at me. He looked almost as if he was seeing things out of focus. As if things weren't clear for him. I stayed still, waiting for him to get a hold of himself.
It took a moment, but his eyes returned to their normal colour, and he leant down to press a chaste kiss to my lips. He propped himself up on his elbows as he looked down at me, my arms still wrapped around his neck. He smiled one of his genuine smiles, causing me to smile in return.
"I love you, Caroline." He said, his voice barely a whisper.
I stared up at him shock. Loved me? My brain went blank and everything froze. He loved me? A part of me didn't believe him. Klaus wasn't the kind of person to fall in love. I knew that I wanted to be with him, but I never expected love to be in the cards.
A look of hurt flashed across his face as he pulled away from me, moving to sit next to where I laid on the bed. I sat up too, not wanting him to interpret my silence as rejection. I reached out for him, resting my hand on his cheek and turning his face to look at me.
"You love me?" I asked, moving closer to him. He didn't reply, he just stared at me blankly. I pressed my lips together tightly, watching his face. "Klaus, did you mean it?"
"Why else would I say it?" He growled, pulling away and climbing off of the bed. "I wouldn't lie to you, Caroline."
My heart raced so loud in my chest, I was surprised that Klaus couldn't hear it. I moved closer to the edge of the bed. "Say it again."
He glared at me. "So that I can embarrass myself again?"
"Say. It. Again."
He threw his hands up in the air. "I love you. There, are you happy now?"
"I love you too." I whispered, watching his face go from anger to disbelief.
He pounced again, pushing me back onto the bed and pressing his lips hard to mine. His hands cupped my face, and then started to travel down my neck to my waist. He continued to kiss me until I had to pull away, gasping for breath. He moved his lips to my neck and continued to kiss me as my chest heaved, trying to catch my breath.
I wrapped my legs around his waist, pulling him even closer to me, wrapping my hands in his hair and pulling his lips back to mine. I wasn't going to hold back anymore. I only had a limited amount of time left to live, and I wasn't going to sacrifice anymore of my happiness just to make my friends happy.
