Hey everyone, heres the latest update for you all!
I want to keep thanking every one who keeps me going by reviewing|supporting|favouriting|following.
I just want to say I'm taking a mini break from this, I am currently doing the 25daysofklaroline event on tumblr and the klaroline gift exchange too on AO3. SO i am pretty busy. Don't forget to keep an eye out on my profile for updates xD
So im gonna wish you all an amazing Christmas and Ill be back in January, fingers crossed sooner if I find time xD
Caroline sat in her living room waiting for Klaus to return with and couldn't help but reflect on her life and how she finally got to New Orleans.
She finally finished college at Whitmore despite a little supernatural drama, but not detrimental enough to affect her and her friends like the past problems did. No one died which was strangely bizarre, but very welcome. After graduation, she persuaded Bonnie to go travelling with her. They toured the country first, purposely avoiding New Orleans. Due to the lack of contact and having too much fun discovering new things, they unintentionally cut ties with the Salvatore love triangle. Enzo ended up meeting up with them and the three became inseparable.
Enzo and Bonnie travelled solo for a few months at a time, her diving into her magical roots around the world like they did in America, and Enzo wanting to experience life outside of a cage and Damon. Caroline finally convinced her mother to go on holidays, but they always met up and toured the next country together, making a point to come back to Mystic Falls and spend Christmas with Caroline's mom. Liz practically adopted Enzo into the family along with Bonnie.
Caroline went back to college and majored in event management and business, and started up her own business, travelling to clients to plan parties and weddings and events. Bonnie always tagged along for the free holidays. The money helped her buy a few properties in her favourite cities and she usually rented them out for extra cash. She needed all the help she could to help foot her expensive taste in clothes.
The pair met up with Kol years ago and after interrogating him, they were finally convinced he wasn't going kill them for their stunts back home. They actually became great friends. When Enzo turned up, the four were unstoppable with the amount of fun they had. There was maybe some shared jail time, but that was mainly all the boys fault in the girls' eyes, even if sometimes it was Caroline's drunkenness teasing that led them in that particular direction. Kol never really mentioned his family, Klaus in particular and Caroline was glad. It was sort of a silent understanding between them.
It wasn't until they got extremely drunk three years ago that Kol spilled the beans about the birthday gifts Hope received each year and how it annoyed and excited them not knowing who they were from. Caroline was confused since she thought Klaus would have known they were from her and she told that to Kol. They both agreed to keep going with the secrecy, but she would have to show up one day eventually when she was ready. Kol loved riling Klaus up and being able to have one up one him.
Caroline was nervous to finally officially meet Klaus' daughter. She was kind of embarrassed that she never turned up for Hope's 18th birthday party last night due to her overwhelming nerves, and Bonnie made her go today. She was so excited while she was getting ready, but then her trusty insecurities got the best of her and she kept over thinking everything about how would Klaus even remember her? Would Hope like her? What would his family say? Would Hayley want to kill her? She threw the questions to the back of her mind and put her shoes on, trying to build her confidence to show up, but by the time her hand hit the crystal door knob, she froze.
Bonnie and Caroline had comforting chat afterwards while they snuggled on the sofas in their pyjamas eating ice-cream. Caroline spilled about all of her fears and it felt good to finally get everything out in the open. She knew Bonnie wouldn't judge her for falling for Klaus anymore, but she still had that tiny nagging doubt she would disown her. So much history had happened back in Mystic Falls, so she couldn't help but feel a tad nervous. But eventually, her friend's support and the fact that she knew all along about Caroline's feeling for the Hybrid helped her gain the confidence to leave the house and visit the Mikaelson family the next day.
Caroline claimed it was a mixture of the girl talk and the witchy brew Bonnie made and snuck in her coffee that morning.
Mostly it was the witchy brew, but Bonnie would never let that be known.
Caroline was shocked the first time she caught a glimpse at Hope, her blonde hair just like Rebekah's with Klaus' curls with Hayley's athletic build, and eyes just like her father's. She was even more shocked at seeing Klaus again for the first time in eighteen years. He looked similar, yet was more relaxed and had a glimmer of light in his eyes. The butterflies in her stomach didn't stop or go away over the years like she thought they would. Instead, they seemed to multiply and make a steel wall, ready to never surrender and sway away from the hybrid.
Klaus walked back into the living room from the hall where he called Hope, arranging for her to come over.
"She is on her way over," he announced and Caroline give him a gentle nod, unsure whether to sit back on the sofa or to sit where he wanted to be, next to her.
Before he moved his feet, the door knocked. He knew his little girl would practically run over to the house. He could hear her panting slightly and he chuckled to himself at her excitement. He saw Caroline stiffen up slightly at the knock and her eyes went a bit wild with a mixture of nerves and excitement. He never understood where Hope got her some of her expressions when she displayed her emotions, but looking at the blonde vampire in front of him reminded him of some of the exact features his daughter would have on the other side of the door. For two women who haven't met each other, she seemed to have picked up on the vampire's tells.
It was uncanny.
He turned back around and opened up the door to his daughter, letting her in and guiding her into the living room. The pair sat on the sofa opposite Caroline, the room in a comfortable silence as they silently took in each others' presence, preparing themselves.
Klaus found the situation surreal. He always visioned the two most important women in his lives together since Hope was born. Many a night he spent fantasising of them being a perfect family, wishing he gained the courage to call her and explain the new dynamic him and his family faced.
Hope didn't know what to expect when Caroline announced she was the one sending the gifts. She knew it was her from at an early age, but not her name. The spirits had shown her image that she thought to had been her guardian angel. She was aware that the woman was the same person from the portraits she found in her father's sketch book, in the secret panel of his studio wall that none knew of. She was snooping around one day a few years ago, her magic tugging her in that direction and had wondered why her senses showed her the location.
It wasn't until she was older that she understood the longing in her father's eyes. Hope had always wanted to meet the woman who stole her father's heart and to hear how she managed when so many failed, her Aunt Cami being one of them. She was also curious as to why they had ended their relationship.
"So, I bet you have a few questions," Caroline stated nervously towards Hope, quietly disrupting the atmosphere around them.
"Umm yeah, of course. How did you meet my father?" the young woman in question queried.
Caroline looked towards Klaus, unsure what could be said and not wanting to overstep boundaries of his past in front of his child.
"It's okay, we have adopted an open policy. She knows what myself and my family are capable of," Klaus explained to Caroline, soothing her fears.
"I was best friends with the doppelganger Klaus needed for his hybrid curse and his little army. Suffice to say, we tried to kill each other a few times in the name of protecting family and friends. I was supposed to be the vampire he was to use in the sacrifice too, but a friend saved me before and he used a backup vampire and wolf," Caroline tried to explain.
"We were kind of enemies for a while, both trying to kill the other. A little while later, we discovered we needed to work together to defeat Silas and then became friends," she hesitated on the last word, unsure of what they were now after their interlude in the woods.
"So that's why you sent me gifts every year? Because you two are friends?" Hope asked unconvincingly.
She knew there was something deeper there between the two. Friends meant that Caroline would have probably been in her life from the beginning, like Vincent. There had to be more to the story.
Her father didn't obsessively draw the same face unless they meant something to him, and if they were going down the friend route, then her father would also have secret drawing of Jackson, Vincent and Camille; which she knew from experience, he didn't.
She needed to find out the truth.
"Of course," Caroline replied. "I never meant to send them anonymous either because I was sure Klaus knew they were from me. I was trying to stay out of as much drama as possible. I didn't exactly want to gain attention from possible enemies while trying to relax on the beach," She tried to laugh, but it failed. Being questioned by an original hybrid and his daughter was harder than both college and convincing her mother to go on holidays.
"Right, that makes sense. But why do you draw her all the time?" Hope's next question was pointed towards her father. Klaus' eyes widened, feeling his cheeks burn at her question. Caroline secretly enjoyed the direction from her in from the hot seat, but the development posed by Hope completely shocked her.
That seemed to pose the question of him having feelings for her still, if he wanted to still be her last love.
"What? How do you know about them?" Klaus whispered.
He thought he hid them safe, spelled them and killed the witch for secrecy. He knew his daughter was powerful, but didn't know why hadn't she come to him with these questions when she first found the drawings.
"My magic pulled me to them," she shrugged nonchalantly.
"So, how did you get doppelganger blood?" Klaus questioned Caroline, trying to change the subject from his drawings, hoping that Caroline hadn't been uncomfortable with the knowledge that he still held affection for her.
"Katherine was forced the cure in a battle between her and Elena. Silas found her and drained her dry, but you know how much of a survivor Katherine is. She didn't really die. We kind of became friends when she helped us out at college, trying to persuade a vampire scientist that we weren't vampires like he thought. When you came back to Mystic Falls to gloat over her "corpse to be," she travelled into Elena's body. I told her about you coming to town thinking it was Elena. I also kind of mentioned what happened, and she gave me the vial of her blood and told me I'd be needing it one day. She made sure that no matter how mad I was at you, that I never destroyed it. She's dead now, so there is no need to scour the earth for her." Caroline explained, tossing a little information about the state of his least favorite doppelganger in at the end.
"I was hurt that you didn't tell me before, you know. But, I couldn't let my feelings override that that if the claims were true and that you had fathered a child, then you would do anything to protect her and make sure she never leaves you. Even death. So, I thought maybe it could help one day." she continued. "This way I thought I could also try and protect Elena, now that she's the only doppelganger out there. You would have no reason to try and turn her human for her blood. It was a win-win situation for all of us."
Klaus had to give that to her. She was right about that.
They carried on talking for a while before Hope's stomach made a loud noise. They had forgotten the time, lost in conversation. They invited Caroline back to their house and join the family for a meal.
The blonde accepted the invite graciously, but was still nervous at how the dinner with the Mikaelson's would go. There was a lot of history between her and Hayley, not to mention all the past drama with Rebekah. However, there was only one way to find out.