Gasp! Warning, ahead is some Tyler/Caroline pairing. Much as I love Klaroline, there needs to be a bit of Forwood as well, since I'm keeping it Season 3 current.
And sadly I don't own the Vampire Diaries. Or Joseph Morgan (noooo!)
Care, I think you'll wanna get to school soon…Bekah's taken over the decade dance and I don't think you'll like her plan. –M
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'Bekah'? As in, Rebekah? What's she doing now? –C
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Changed the theme to The Roaring 20s –M
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I can't believe it! I've been working on the 70s theme for months! –C
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Actually, this might work. Can you play along with me? Someone's back in town and I need more time. –C
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What do I need to do? –M
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Caroline walked into the cafeteria to find everyone setting up with Rebekah's new props for the dance. She wondered how long the blonde Original had been planning her little take over. Much as she wanted to be enraged, she did have to commend Rebekah on her taste. Already the tacky school building looked a lot more sophisticated. She shook her head, remembering that she couldn't get out of this unless she at least seemed put out.
Caroline spotted Matt and strode over, ready to improvise a little fight. She hoped he could hold his own…from her memory of drama classes with him in middle school, she remembered he was always terrible at improv.
"What is this?" She asked, gesturing to the champagne pyramid and the feathers.
"It's the decade dance. Remember, you made us sign up to help?" Matt shot back blankly, and she noticed the dig he had put in there about her. It helped her, though, giving her a little more frustration to work off.
"No, this." Caroline pulled the boa from the box to illustrate her point. "The 20s. We're doing the 70s."
Matt raised his eyebrows, nodding slightly behind her to inform her of Rebekah's arrival.
"Too flashy, people. It's meant to be a speakeasy, not the World Fair." Rebekah drawled behind her, and Caroline glanced over slightly, momentarily worried about the fellow blonde seeing right through her, but she put that aside along with the boa, and turned to face her rival.
Rebekah had curled her hair slightly, and along with her confident sway, it reminded Caroline of…herself. She supposed it could be taken as flattery, or even yet another sign that in another time and place, she and Rebekah could have easily been friends, soul sisters even, but right now, she had to concentrate on the fact that this girl was trying to take her place.
"Ah, good, you're here. I need help setting up the tables, so, get to it."
She certainly made it easier to dislike her by bossing Caroline around. No way. Caroline was in charge. Always. She did not fight her way through high school just for this girl to think she was ordering her to do anything.
"What do you think you're doing?" Caroline said in her attempt at a level voice.
"Somebody has to be in charge." Rebekah snipped back.
"Yeah, me." Caroline nearly growled. "I'm the chair of the Dance Committee. The theme of the dance is the 1970s."
"So you'd rather dress in tacky colours with bad hair than be a classic flapper from the jazz age?"
Caroline scoffed. She was totally missing the point of the Decade Dance: to have fun and be silly with their friends. The Prom was the time to be classy.
"Honestly, I don't know what my brother sees in you." Rebekah hit below the belt with that one. Much as Caroline wouldn't show it, she did at least like Klaus' attention, it was flattering.
Caroline clenched her jaw, and stepped closer. "Well maybe he sees a challenge. See, unlike some other people, I don't sleep with everyone I make eye contact with."
Rebekah's famous icy glare came out, and the two blondes locked eyes for a duel.
"Maybe we can do both decades." Matt, ever the mediator, suggested helpfully.
"No!" The pair said in unison.
"Go on, Matt, don't be a coward." Rebekah pouted sweetly. "You know you loved my 20s idea when I presented it to the group."
Caroline looked at Matt, who had the decency to look slightly sheepish at the fact that he fallen willingly for the she-devils charms against his friend.
"Traitor!"
"Bell bottoms and disco? I don't know, this just seemed cooler."
Caroline was well aware of the fact that Matt had actually gone out to buy a hilarious afro wig only a week ago, so she felt a little more relieved that his verbal lying and acting skills had improved.
"See, its just cooler." Rebekah sneered, and Caroline rolled her eyes, realizing it was her chance for a grand exit.
"Whatever, have fun at your stupid dance." She snapped, storming out.
Rebekah smiled sweetly at Matt, and he sighed.
"I'll go make sure she's okay. I'm sure she'll love the idea."
"Do we really need her approval?"
"She's the head honcho around here, we kinda do." Matt put his hand on her forearm as she tried to walk off. "And she's my friend. So I'm always going to want to make sure she's okay."
Rebekah looked up at him, and nodded sadly. "I understand." She tried to leave again, but he kept his gentle hold on her arm. Though she could have broken away from it easily, she stayed, and looked back at him to see a small smile on his face.
"I noticed you didn't drive here…do you want a lift back?"
She lowered her voice "Remember, vampire, it takes about a minute for me to run here from – " She saw the look he was giving her again, and she bit her lip. "Thank you, I'd like a lift back."
He smiled his sunny smile. "Good. Now I'm going to check that Caroline's fine."
"All right. Want to help me with the tables when you get back?"
Matt appreciated the fact that she was asking rather than ordering. "Sure thing."
He ran through the halls to catch Caroline before she left.
"Caroline! Wait!" He watched as she slowed down, waiting to see if she thought it was far enough for them to not be overheard with supernatural hearing.
She spun with a grin on her face. "Impressive. You sold it."
"And you bought yourself a day."
"Thank you." She said gratefully. Both she and Matt knew that she had to talk to Tyler and figure things out, for better or worse, she wasn't certain yet. She shook her curls out, and opened the door to her car. "Just keep her occupied. And be careful." She said, knowing full well Matt would gladly spend time with Rebekah so long as it was only Rebekah and none of her other brothers.
"You too." He said, wondering for a fleeting moment if Klaus would hunt her down and confront her today, especially with Tyler in the mix. "And, uh…tell him I said hi, okay?" He may not really like the guy at the moment, but he was his friend, he had grown up with him, and Matt missed Tyler.
Caroline paused, almost seeing the thoughts running through his head. It reminded her about how hard this meeting was going to be if things had really changed. Going to see him was mainly out of missing him, but also her way of proving nothing had changed since he had been gone.
She nodded to Matt, before hopping into her car and pulling away.
Caroline trekked up to the Lockwood cellar that Tyler had said they'd meet by. She spun around, wondering why he wasn't there, and momentarily panicking when her mind flew to Klaus and his vengeful ways. Had he found out? A branch cracked nearby, and she whipped around again, eyes searching in the trees before realizing just how pointless that was with pretty much half the people she met with regularly being some form of supernatural being. She focused on her own heightened senses in return, ears pricking, inhaling to catch a scent on the wind.
Wolf. Even with Tyler's normal scent accompanying it, there was still that base smell of wolf. She smiled as it washed over her; it reminded her of her normal life in Mystic Falls.
Caroline spun around and she finally saw him. Tyler, in all of his lovely hometown boy-man glory, practically glowing. And yet something was missing. The little flame that shot up in her chest, it was like it was on a dimmer. It was still there, warming up her chest, but it was nowhere near the reaction she had expected. It disappointed her, and she couldn't hide the bittersweet sadness in her voice as she greeted him.
"Hi,"
His face was so blank, she felt a jolt of fear in her stomach, till he finally cracked a small smile.
"You have no idea how much I've missed you."
There was the compliment she needed from him. There was the longing, the craving she needed. She beamed, and kissed him, knowing that the answer for both of their cravings was always that.
She pushed and pulled with him, tugging him down to the cellar, eager to fix everything. That little thought itself should have been a big enough indicator. But she still continued, shedding clothes and pulling him towards her, her desire for him growing and blossoming from her chest outwards.
Despite his stamina and skill, it was over in a flash from Caroline's point of view, and she was left feeling as if her cravings hadn't been satisfied. She was happy, so very happy, but it felt like there was a part of her that was incomplete, and unsatisfied. That realization scared her so much that she pushed it aside, drawing circles on Tyler's chest. She should consider herself lucky. She was lucky. She was so lucky.
"Did I mention I miss you? Bad?" Tylers voice cut across her thoughts, and she giggled happy for the distraction from her wonderful friend, her boyfriend? Why is that a question? She let it slide, dropping kisses along the plane of his chest.
"At some point we're going to do this in an actual bed, right?" She said, half joking, half hoping. She didn't like having sex in dark, dank cellars, and they'd had a few quickies here and there…but aside from their first time together, they had been interrupted every time they had both lain down together in a bed.
"Yes, I promise." He laughed, smoothing a hand down her back before sighing. "Once I figure out how to deal with Klaus." She frowned: why was he bringing that stupidly sexy jerk into their lovely moment right now?
"Tell him to suck it." She said fiercely. "You broke his sire bond. You won't have to deal with him anymore." She traced circles on his chest, feeling more and more content. They were free now. Free.
"It's easier said than done." He said, reminding her of the torture he had put himself through in the mountains for both of them. "Besides, I wont know if its broken for sure till I test it."
Caroline sat up so she could see his face. "Wait, I thought that was why you were coming back. Because you said you felt different." She frowned. Was he feeling different because of his sire bond, or because of his own bond with her? Was this his way of saying he didn't believe in them anymore?
"I do feel different. I feel freer. Way more myself." Caroline was struck by the selfish tone in his voice, and it reminded her of the spoilt little boy he had been. She felt much less enamored. She had never thought highly of him growing up. It was only when she had become closer after he had began to change, after his werewolf gene had been triggered, that she had started to remotely like him.
"All I know is that I just turned about a hundred times in the Appalachian Mountains. If I can get through that, I can get through anything."
Yes, cocky, satisfied Tyler was back. But that was also a fighting Tyler. And right now, that's what they needed.
"Good. Because Klaus might not be our only problem."
"Why? What else did I miss?" Tyler sat up beside her.
Caroline sighed, biting her lip, uncertain as to how to break the news to him. "Matt killed an Original, and then every vampire that the Original had ever turned…mysteriously died." She saw his calculating look. "Right now, Damon is desperate to figure out which Original created our vampire bloodline, and if he finds out it wasn't Klaus…they're all gonna kill him." She felt that same growing fear. She didn't want to lose Tyler.
"But Klaus turned me. So if he dies, I die." The words brought her so much pain. Just saying the facts out loud made it all the more real.
"I know that. They know that. The difference is, Damon doesn't care." She gritted, really not appreciating the new lows that the elder Salvatore had sunk to.
Tyler exhaled, falling back onto the blanket.
"He's just a dick. Don't worry, we're going to find a way around this." She assured him, and when his mood didn't shift (and she was not surprised, in fact, she was completely understanding), Caroline decided to turn to another distraction.
"I've missed you, so much." She sighed, kissing him, pressing back into his chest. His arms immediately curled around her, and he kissed her back, a kiss tinged with love. She sunk into the kiss, wanting to lose herself completely, to help him and help herself.
Once back home, Caroline pulled the spare blankets and pillow from the cupboard and walked over towards Tyler as he sat on her bed. Her mom had been fine with him staying over, no extra questions, and she had assumed that she meant for him to stay on the couch. And she'd feel more comfortable that way. After all of that stuff with Klaus, and that intimate moment with him giving back her life on her birthday in her room, she just knew that she would feel weird with Tyler sleeping on that same bed with her. She still needed a little time to put those memories behind her.
"My mom said you could stay as long as you want." She smiled sweetly at him as he stood from her bed.
"Did she say we could share the bed?" He asked with his usual cheeky manner. Caroline's heart didn't race at that, and she focused on how to carefully deny him what he wanted.
"No. She said you could sleep on the couch. At least until we figure out what Damon and Stefan find out about Klaus."
"And if Klaus didn't create their line, and they try to kill him?"
She flinched at that, and drew closer. "Tyler, I just got you back." She pulled him in for a kiss to quell her growing fear of losing him. "I'm not losing you again." She searched his eyes, hoping she was convincing enough for him. He smiled at her, and she walked away to set up the couch.
"Klaus drew this for you?"
Caroline's stomach dropped. How did he find that? "Huh?" She called, buying time as she tossed a blanket onto the couch.
"That's…pretty creepy." Tyler said, and she walked over, feeling protective now of the beautiful drawing, the most romantic thing she'd ever been given. So what if she didn't feel it for him, it was still something from such a fairytale-like scenario that she had to keep it.
"Yeah, Klaus is pretty creepy." Caroline smiled slightly, recalling their encounters in reverse, outside the Grill, the bar, the ball, the night he saved her. He had this way of making her feel safe and his words soothed her. And then he would suddenly shift from seductive and charming to scary, or worse, sexy scary. "Even when he's trying to be charming."
Tyler looked at her incredulously. "Charming?"
She bit the inside of her cheek.
"Does Klaus have a thing for you or something?"
"No!" She denied flatly, trying to convince herself just as much as him. She had to convince herself that he felt nothing for her just as much as she wasn't feeling maybe just possible feelings for him. She felt so sure sometimes that she hated him, and then he would pop up in her head and she'd let the pleasant thought stay rather than banish it. "As far as I'm concerned, he isn't capable of real feelings."
"I'm serious. What the hell happened while I was gone?"
You changed, you ran away from me to change yourself, and I started to be courted old-romantic-style by a guy I should stay far away from. Caroline thought.
"Tyler. Nothing." She said, and for once, it was true. Nothing had happened in the way it usually would have. Klaus hadn't kissed her (technically) or slept with her. "Nothing happened."
"Then why'd you keep this?"
"I don't know!" She answered truthfully. The look in his eyes told her that was the wrong answer.
His fingers crinkled around the edges of the parchment, and Caroline felt a jolt of fear that he would destroy the beautiful artwork. It trumped her feeling of fear that he would be angry, and the care that she found for the small drawing frightened her.
"I think I'm gonna find someplace else to spend the night." He said, placing the paper in her hands before heading straight for the door.
"Tyler," Caroline said, a laugh behind her voice, hoping they could just ignore it and stay together. He didn't turn around. He was leaving her again. "Tyler!"
The door slammed.
Caroline looked down at the picture, studying the careful lines that created her on the page, and wondered if it was worth it. She needed to check. She walked instinctively towards the front door, wondering if she should try to even catch Tyler. The drawing in her hand seemed to taunt her with every move. She stopped to scowl at it.
How had it even been on her bedside table? Caroline had kept it hidden from Bonnie when she brought her mother here after the 'lets kill the Originals in a freaky ritual' night, and she hadn't been back long enough to bring it out of the draw it had sat in along with the bracelet box.
Caroline walked back to her bedroom and found the box sitting on her quilt, exactly the same as the night of the ball. She froze, her eyes searching for Klaus, but everything else was in place. Warily, Caroline edged forward and sat on her bed beside the little velvet box. She frowned. He kept trying to buy her off. He was creepy.
"It's not going to open by itself, Caroline." His musical voice rang out, and she looked up to find Klaus standing by the window.
She masked her shock quickly and folded her arms. "Who says I'm going to open it?"
Klaus smirked. "You will. But if you really want me to present it to you – "
"I'm good." She interrupted.
"I know." He said.
She scowled at him. "What are you doing here anyway?"
Klaus busied himself by strolling around her room, running a finger along the spines of her books in the bookcase. "Well, you left town pretty quickly after…everything, and when you came back I had a little business trip, so I figured you'd miss me."
"Well you're mistaken. I haven't missed your infuriating presence."
Klaus frowned slightly but continued. "Infuriating? Careful, love. That's a small step to actually caring, and we all know where that leads."
She gritted her teeth, breathing deeply. "What do you want? As I recall, you weren't too pleased the last time we saw each other. In fact, I believe you tried to kill me in return."
Klaus' eyes flashed a warning, but he scoffed. "Oh, that was merely punishment, sweetheart. But I did want to make amends. We both did some things, we had another larger spat, and this is my way around that."
"I told you I cant be bought. She snipped, and narrowed her eyes as he laughed.
"I did take the memo. Why don't you check before you make assumptions?"
Caroline stared at the box, taking her sweet time to decide if it was trustworthy, and also wanting to piss Klaus off. But he had 1000 years of patience on her, and she caved, opening the box.
It was still a bracelet, but far simpler. It was a circle of thin black leather similar to his necklaces. On the strap was one ornamentation: a glass bead. But the bead itself was beautiful, its base appearing to be blue, but changing color depending on how the light caught it. It was a simple enchanting something she would have worn if she had found it first. Klaus seemed to have a knack for that.
"Do you like it?" His voice was closer now, and softer.
Caroline nodded before she could think, and she looked up at him dubiously. "This isn't a trick, right? You didn't steal this or pay a million bucks for it?"
He let loose a chuckle before shaking his head. "No. I made it."
"You made it? How?"
"I was around in a time where we made the houses we lived in and built the chairs we sat on. A little glassblowing was simply an acquired skill. That one on the band is one of my favorites."
Caroline gazed at it, admiring its simple beauty and the light that seemed to radiate from it. She gently nudged it with the tip of her finger to make the colors dance.
"Why give it to me, then?" She asked quickly.
"Beautiful things deserve beautiful things." He responded, before adding softly. "It made me think of you."
She couldn't return it to him after that. The diamond bracelet had been perfect, but too much. This had emotion behind it. Emotion that she had desperately convinced herself that Klaus was unable to experience.
"I need a moment." She blurted, and he nodded as she strode from the room. Caroline busied herself putting away the pillows, remembering why Tyler wasn't here. Tyler had left. Tyler had found the drawing. Did Klaus plant it there? Did Klaus know about the sirebond and Tyler's efforts? She steeled her resolve again, walking back to the room.
Klaus was back by the bookshelf, eyeing the Stephenie Meyer books with humored concern.
"I can see you need to read some of the classics of a few eras ago rather than the 'classics' from today." He said with a smirk.
She reverted back to fighter Caroline. "Why was my drawing on my bedside table?"
Klaus frowned. "You mean my drawing?"
She flustered, not realizing she had staked a claim on his gift already.
"Whatever. Why was it there?"
"I don't know, love. Unlike what you think, I don't actually stalk you. This is just a very small one-pony town."
Caroline gritted her teeth. "Don't insult my hometown. And we both know I didn't put it there."
Klaus face grew cold again. "And what if I did? I think you aren't being truthful about more. Tyler, for example?"
"Don't bring him into this."
"He's my hybrid, before being your boyfriend."
"He was with me long before you came to plague Mystic Falls."
"But now he's under my command. It doesn't matter if he feels puppy love, Caroline, he can't put you first. But I can, and I do. Come away with me. Rome, Paris, Tokyo, Stockholm, Madrid. Anywhere."
All the amazing cities were so deliciously foreign to Caroline, and she was tempted, but speechless. Instead, she just frowned and folded her arms.
"You seriously think that you can just charm you way into my life when you have a terrifying hold over the people I love?"
Klaus clenched his jaw slightly at the thought of Caroline being in love with that puppy-boy Tyler, but he forced a smirk in place. "Yes, I do."
Caroline made a disgusted noise, and stalked towards the front door. Klaus couldn't help himself; he just had to follow her. She wrenched it open and stared at him.
"Leave. In case you haven't noticed, you're not welcome here."
"And what if I don't care?"
She glared at him. "Then you have absolutely no hope of ever winning me over. And you'll ruin the very slight impression you're making on me."
He couldn't tell if she was being honest or lying to get rid of him quicker. But his pause was enough to set her temper again.
"God! Do you always have to control everything?"
He chuckled at her outburst and smiled sweetly as she glowered at him.
"Don't you know me by now, love?"
"No. I will never know you."
He tilted his head, watching her, listening to her elevated heartbeat and quick breaths.
"Fine. I'll leave you in peace for now, then." He approached her slowly, walking up to stand an inch away from her, giving her time to move if she so wished. Caroline didn't budge, watching him come closer and trying to keep her glare in place. He gazed down at her through his lashes, and heard her heartbeat falter.
"I'm never going to go anywhere with you." She whispered, watching his mouth, not trusting herself to look into his eyes in case she got lost in their ocean blue depths.
He shot her a hurt look, still looking at her through half closed eyes that conveyed so much more than normal.
They stood there sharing air for several moments, and finally Klaus opened his mouth to speak.
"Maybe. In the meantime, though," He murmured, touching her wrist with a light caress on her pulse point. She swore that simple touch ignited her skin in waves. "Sweet dreams, Caroline." He breathed the words like a prayer, and was gone before she could draw more than a shaky breath.
Caroline frowned, closing the door with a slam to vent out some frustration. She miscalculated the force, and the house shook slightly at her strength. She let out a groan at the sheer pent up frustration from her night. She flailed her arms slightly to let out some energy as she stomped back to her room to collapse on the bed in peace, and noticed a new foreign movement on her wrist. She looked down to find his stupid beautiful gift on her stupid wrist. Of course. That jerk. Caroline held it up, letting the light shine through it, and sighed. It was very natural compared to her previous gift, and with the light turning it a pure blue at that angle, it matched her lapis lazuli ring. She bet that he had known it would match. He just managed to find those details in her life, and that should have scared her more than it flattered her.
He always had to be a dominating alpha male. She probably just liked the challenge because being with Tyler had turned them into more compliant people. She probably just needed a good argument. That was why she felt alive whenever they fought, whenever they talked. Most likely. She hoped.
Please read and review if you feel inclined, and I'll be back in a little while. As some of you may have picked up on, I'm actually an Australian (Shock Horror!) and they've decided to make life difficult by taking away my weekly Vampire Diaries, so it'll take a bit more time to find the episodes and get in the zone with the characters accompanied by my own version of them too.
Thanks! xx