A/N: Wow, just when I think interest was beginning to slow with this fic, a whole mess of reviews pour in quickly for the last chapter. You guys are fantastic!
It's almost blasphemous of me to post a chapter that's this short, but this is the conclusion to the last chapter.
I'm sure you all watched the season premiere yesterday night, what did you think of it!?
As usual, happy reading and please feel free to share your thoughts in the form of a review when you're finished.
She was breathing rapidly from shock as she watched him clench his cheek in pain. It hadn't been a human hit; she had slapped his face with full blown vampire force. He deserved it.
There was a flurry of emotions whirling within her.
Klaus was alive. He was here, standing in front of her, albeit in Tyler's body. Her instincts had been right about Tyler all night. There was something off about him. Klaus wasn't dead. The relief and butterflies of excitement she felt was amazing.
She surprised him once more by falling into his arms as she cried. Although she had hesitated at first given the sight of Tyler in front of her, she couldn't hold back. She needed to feel a part of Klaus.
"You're alive," she sobbed almost incomprehensibly.
He brought his hands hesitantly around her and held her against him.
As she cried into his - or Tyler's t-shirt - her thoughts turned to the ones that had prompted her initial physical outburst.
Klaus had lied to her. He could have told her from the moment he first saw her as Tyler what happened. Sure, only a day had passed. Instead, he led her to believe that he was dead; that Tyler was dead. She had even spent a few hours worried that she, Stefan, and Damon were also dead. It had been one of the most emotionally draining days of her life. She had spent a day heartbroken and utterly sick over the thought of him dead. He could have spared her the pain.
More than that, Klaus was using Tyler, and his and Bonnie's deception had helped cost Elena her life.
She couldn't just forget about all that.
The hostility she felt returned and she pried herself away to confront him.
"How could you!?" she demanded. "How could you do that to me?" she cried.
He stammered and eyed her apologetically.
"I'm sorry, but it had to be done," he confessed.
"It had to be done?" she asked appalled. "You faking Tyler's death in front of me had to be done? You pretending to be Tyler today had to be done? You letting me pour my heart out just now thinking you were Tyler had to be done? Do you know traumatizing it was to think Tyler was dying knowing I never got to set things right with him? How horrible I felt to know that you were gone and I never got a chance to tell you how I felt? How embarrassed I am now that I just did thinking you were Tyler?" she lamented.
He shook his head regretfully.
"It wasn't supposed to be this way," he told her.
She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.
"Then how was it supposed to be?" she asked expectantly.
"I needed you to believe that I was dead; that Tyler was dead," he said
- "Why?" she interrupted.
"At the time Bonnie and I thought that Alaric was still alive. If Alaric believed that I was dead, that would give me some semblance of protection. You needed to believe it so everyone else would too," he defended himself.
She could see his point, but the experience of it was no less disturbing.
"So what about after then? After I told you about Elena? Why didn't you tell me then?" she confronted.
He shrugged cowardly.
"I expected to be back in my own body by this morning. I thought I'd be back in my body and Tyler in his before there was even a chance that you would suspect something. Neither Bonnie or I expected your mother to convince Damon to give my body up to the Council in order to protect you and Tyler," he stated. "With my body vulnerable, the less people who knew the truth, the better," he reasoned.
She scoffed.
"You were just planning on not telling me then?" she wondered.
She knew Tyler's guilty expression and Klaus was not good at hiding it.
"So you don't trust me?" she concluded bitterly.
"I'm telling you now aren't I?" he retorted.
She rolled her eyes.
"Yes, now that I have you backed into a corner," she pointed out.
She sat down on her bed as she watched him pace angry and frustrated in front of her.
As she watched him in Tyler's body she scolded herself for not realizing the subtle differences sooner. It would have taken Tyler days to pick up on the fact that she had been neglecting to feed; his reaction regarding Elena had been completely suspect; Tyler had been so eager to discuss Klaus that his recent avoidance of the topic should have alerted her; he had been entirely vacant during her earlier trip down memory lane; he reacted the same as her when the familiar song was played at the Grill. She should have known.
"But you know now," he repeated.
"Yes, but not after experiencing undue trauma!" she said dramatically as she glared at him.
"If anyone should be angry, it should be me," he said selfishly. "You claim to care, but where the hell were you when your boyfriend and Elena's boyfriends helped desiccate me?" he spat.
Her eyes widened at him.
"I was at home; where you told me to go after Alaric almost killed me, remember?" she hissed.
He backed down as he seemed to recall instructing her to stay inside.
She stood back up to confront him.
"If it wasn't for me your body would be at the bottom of the Atlantic," she added emotionally.
He paused and eyed her curiously.
"How do you think your siblings found out about what happened?" she asked rhetorically. "I called your brother Elijah and told him what happened. He was here to make a deal with Elena for your body because I called him; me, I did that for you," she emphasized.
She could tell he was surprised and impressed; maybe even a little flattered. But a flash of disappointment from him erased that as he recounted the terms of that deal.
"A deal that would have seen me desiccated for over a century," he scowled.
- "Better than an eternity!" she argued. "At least try to be a little grateful," she cried. "We had this conversation before. No matter how much I care for you, I will never compromise my friendship with Elena. I was looking out for the both of you. I could care less if you hate me for it," she said sternly.
She was lying. Had the original plan been a success and Klaus awoke one hundred years from now and despised her for letting his hybrid dream slip through the cracks, she would have been heartbroken.
Her defensive posture had startled but impressed him. He admired her steadfastness. Even though it would have compromised his interests had the original plan went through he admired it nonetheless. She was right, they had this conversation before. While she had seemed willing to choose between him and Tyler, he knew he could not ask her to choose between him and Elena's well-being. She had made that clear, which is why he had let her go in the first place.
Somehow she had managed to find a middle ground between protecting Elena and ensuring his survival. Although she had sacrificed some of his interests in the name of that middle ground, she had remained relatively loyal to both he and Elena. Deep down he knew he couldn't hold her loyalty to Elena against her. He valued that most; loyalty. She was loyal to him as she could be. The vulnerability he felt having revealed his true self to her seemed to dissipate with that realization.
His cheek still stung from the physical blow she dealt him but he understood. While he had his reasons for not being honest, he knew her reaction was probably justified.
She was staring at him nervously now, waiting for his response to her take it or leave it proposition.
After coming so close to death; believing that he would never have another chance with her, how could he hate her now?
"I don't hate you sweetheart," he revealed. "I could never," he whispered self-consciously as he reached out to touch her cheek.
She closed her eyes and nuzzled her face against the palm of his hand.
Of course it was with Tyler's hands that he caressed her face, but he had to feel her. He wanted her to feel him.
A part of him wanted to give her more; offer her more reassurance; but he hesitated.
"Apparently you hate me though..." he trailed off, referring to her earlier admission.
She hated him for making him love her, he reminded himself. She said that she loved him. He was now second guessing whether she had actually said that or he had just been imagining it.
"Your pessimism chooses to focus on the wrong part of that confession," she corrected him as she opened her eyes to gaze at him.
Seeing Tyler staring back at her prompted her to step back from his touch and she looked around the room guiltily.
"Where's Tyler?" she asked. "Can he feel this? Does he know what's going on?" she asked nervously.
He shook his head.
"Once I'm put back in my body, Tyler will return to his. He won't be aware of what happened while I possessed him," he explained.
She nodded in understanding.
"So what's stopping you from returning to your – oh yeah, the Council has your body," she recalled. "How do we get it back?"
"It's at the Founder's Hall..."
A look of realization spread across her face.
- "The Miss Mystic nomination ceremony!?" she gasped. "That's why you were so interested in it earlier; you want to crash the ceremony to get your body back," she concluded.
He smirked at her dramatics.
"Love, nobody said anything about crashing. I'll merely accompany you to the event as your date. Bonnie will attend as a spectator, and while you're mesmerizing the crowd with your beauty and charm, she and I will locate my body so she can put me back in it," he said simply.
Her face contorted and he could tell she wasn't buying it.
"It can't be that easy. They probably have surveillance and security," she warned. "And as soon as they know your body isn't in that coffin all hell will break loose," she predicted.
He steadied her with his hands on her shoulders before cradling her face.
"Bonnie and I will deal with all that," he assured her. "It'll be fine, love, I promise," he finished confidently.
"The last time you said something like that you were desiccated and almost killed," she said worriedly, turning away from his persistent stare.
He focused her attention back to him.
"Trust me..." he urged. "This could be our only decent chance," he added as he dropped his hands.
She exhaled sharply and rolled her eyes.
"Okay," she relented. "But no scenes, okay?" she stipulated.
"No scenes," he agreed.
"You and Bonnie will get your body and then get out. Nobody can see you," she said.
He laughed at her apprehension.
"No need to worry," he stated. "In the meantime no one else can know that I'm in Tyler's body," he told her.
She nodded and he glared at her for reassurance.
"Trust me," she said, repeating the directions he had given to her back to him.
He eyed her for a few moments, but didn't verbally reply.
As he turned his back to her he could hear the small breath of frustration escape her lips. She was displeased with his lack of response, he knew as much, but he couldn't bring himself to say what she wanted to hear; not yet.
He picked up the bracelet from the dresser she had cast aside. From the reflection of the mirror above he could see her behind him, arms folded, searching for the right words to confront him with.
"So what happens after that then?" she asked.
"After what?" he stalled.
"After you're back in your body; what happens after that?" she clarified.
He shrugged.
"Fight or flight," he concluded.
She shook her head.
"No, not with the Council, with us..." she corrected.
He considered her question anxiously.
"The same thing, I suppose," he said cryptically.
She scoffed, clearly unimpressed with his answer.
"You seem dismayed?" he played stupid.
"I just poured my heart out to you and that's all you can say?" she wondered, hurt by his lack of acknowledgement of what she had said to him as Tyler. "You never did answer the question I asked you at the dance..." she reminded him.
He hesitated. That seemed to be one of the many effects she had on him. He never had to hesitate before her.
"Caroline...I-I..."
The sound of her mother entering the house distracted them both.
He gritted his teeth in annoyance and turned to Caroline before her mother interrupted.
Taking the bracelet he clasped it around her wrist once more.
"Trust that sometimes actions speak louder than words, sweetheart," he explained before her mother appeared in the entrance to her bedroom.
"Mom," Caroline said, turning towards the doorway with a fake smile.
"It's so nice to see you two here," her mom confessed. "I hated the idea of having you two run," she admitted. "How was the nomination party?" she asked.
"It was good," Caroline replied, clearly not in the mood for small talk.
Her mother nodded.
"Listen, I know you two have been through a lot this past day or so, but I think your mom would like you home tonight, Tyler," her mother said.
He detested the thought of having to spend time with Tyler's mother, but knew he couldn't protest in front of Caroline's mother.
"Of course Mrs. Forbes, I was just leaving," he said.
When Caroline's mother decided to stand there awkwardly in the doorway effectively preventing them from privacy he growled under his breath.
He leaned in and kissed Caroline chastely on the cheek.
"Sweet dreams, love," he whispered to her.
A/N: So was it what you were expecting? Was it awkward? Personally, I feel that it was, but in a way I think that was my intention all along. I needed it to be a reunion of mixed emotion; it wouldn't be one of pure sunshine and rainbows and "I love you's." If you recall, prior Klaus and Caroline's last run in when he was in his body (at the school during 3x21), they had hit a sort of fork in the road in my story,and even though the issue of Elena appears to be solved, Klaus and Caroline still have their lingering issues to deal with. Let me know what you thought.
I've come to a point in this story where I'm not quite sure how to proceed, so an update may take awhile. I feel like there should probably be a filler chapter in between this one and the one where they get Klaus's body back, but I'm not sure what a filler chapter would consist of. How do you feel about that? Is there anything you think needs to be addressed? Anything you would like to see? Or should I just move on to Klaus getting his body back? I'm going to sleep on it.
Also, I'm re-posing the question I asked of you all earlier in this story, just to see if opinions have changed or not. As much as I'm here to write for myself, I always want to take into consideration the wishes of those of you who take the time to read and/or review. Happy ending? Sad ending? Bittersweet? I have an ending planned for each of those options.