"Caroline, Elena's in the hospital with a concussion. Meredith helped her and she's going to be fine, but we need to get her away from the hospital so none of the Original pack can get to her. Can you and Tyler help me get her home?"
"Of course, Matt. We're on our way."
...
"Easy does it." Caroline helped Elena out of the car with the help of Tyler while Matt went to open the door with the spare key.
"I've said I'm fine, like, a million times, Care. I can walk by myself." Elena gave Tyler a look, and he backed off slightly.
"Good luck trying to convince her, 'Lena. She's stubborn as hell."
"And you know you like it." The blonde snipped back, far too stressed out for now to care if it seemed too rude to say to her boyfriend…her friend, more than anything. "As for you, missy, you're sitting that butt straight down on the couch."
"Do I have to?" Elena whinged, leaning on Caroline as they walked through the door.
"Yes. Couch."
"I'm fine." Elena repeated wearily. "I just...I want something to eat first."
"We're on it." Tyler assured her, glancing towards Matt. "As soon as we make sure no one is lurking in the closets."
"Alright, couch. Now." Caroline said bluntly as the boys walked off in separate directions.
"I've told you I'm fine!" Elena exclaimed, not bothering to fight off Caroline physically since they both knew it would be pointless.
"Doctor says rest, you rest." Caroline recited as she grabbed a throw off the other couch and followed her friend, prepared to tuck her in like the kids she used to babysit if it came down to it.
Elena sat down with a sigh and let Caroline flit around her.
"Now what can I get you? Some tea? Maybe some…vodka?"
Now it was Elena's turn to look disapprovingly at her friend.
"Both will help you sleep." Caroline pointed out, trying to make her laugh a little. It didn't work, and the mood was still very somber. She sat down by Elena's legs with a sigh. "I know. I'm being smothering. Its what I do."
Elena shook her head slightly, reaching out to grab Caroline's hand. She knew why she was being so caring, 'mothering' as Elena called it, 'smothering' as Caroline called it. It was what she did in affection, it was part of who she was. It was always evident when she was avoiding something in her own life, and though she wanted to ask what was wrong and help her friend, she knew Care would tell her in her own time.
"No, it's nice."
Caroline smiled a little before she turned playful. "I'm thinking…maybe tea with vodka." The joke finally worked, and both girls shared a giggle before Caroline was gone off on her care path again.
When she returned, Elena had her gaze locked on the photo sitting on the end table. Caroline looked at it, recognizing Elena's parents immediately, their smiles so bright and true.
"Penny for your thoughts?" She asked her friend, not wanting her to sink into a further state of sadness.
"Nothing, really. Just reminiscing a little." Elena sighed. "I keep wondering what life would be like now, if they were still here. If anyone would be safer." She gave a half-hearted laugh. "But its not like they were superhuman. Your parents make you feel safer than you really are, because you trust them. Yet even with them here, I'd still be the doppelganger, Klaus would have still come after me, and Damon and Stefan would've still been here."
"Hey," Caroline soothed, rubbing circles on Elena's hand. "You're okay now. And Klaus is gone. And we're all going to be safe. You'll see."
Elena heard the sadness behind Caroline's words, and tilted her head, her thoughtfulness and caring coming out strong.
"What's up, Care?"
"Hmm? Nothing. Its all fine."
Elena gave Caroline the I've-known-you-since-we-were-sandpit-buddies-I-know-when-something's-up look. Naturally, the blonde caved a little.
"Its Klaus. I probably just feel a little guilty. He did save me, even when he was the one to get me in that situation in the first place, and…" She didn't finish off with him saving her at the school, since from some perspectives it really couldn't be called saving since she was vaguely out of danger by then. Not to mention he had proceeded to try and kill her best friend immediately after that, and her attempt at kissing him probably hadn't helped. She was going to completely ignore that.
"I know the feeling." Elena murmured in agreeance, thinking of Elijah. It must have been something about the Originals. Particularly the fact that they had practically gone a thousand years without proper love and care.
"I just cant shake the feeling that things could have turned out better for everyone involved. I mean, Rebekah and Kol and Elijah and Klaus, they were all brought up without any caring. Maybe they need a little, maybe that would help them. Maybe they all need a bit of – " Caroline stopped herself there, she had been about to say the big four letter l-word, and she knew that once she said it, it would change everything.
Elena still understood her unspoken words.
A moment of pure silence passed between them, and then Elena spoke.
"You're right. They do need that. I just don't know how much it would take to help them, to change them. What if they aren't changeable?"
That was as close as Caroline would get to some form of acceptance from Elena, at least until she was comfortable to tell the brunette what she couldn't even tell herself.
Caroline sighed. "I was actually thinking of my own plan to stop Klaus before."
"What was it?"
"Maybe be a blonde distraction for a bit." She murmured, not wanting Tyler to hear even with floors and walls between them. "Just so we could keep you safe and maybe find a way around this whole bloodline thing."
"Would that even be safe for you?" Elena jumped straight to Caroline's safety, disregarding the thought that Elena herself would be safe.
"He's the biggest bad out there, even now. If I was on his good side, I'd be safe."
"You'd also be a target."
"He wouldn't let them hurt me."
Elena gave her friend a knowing look that Caroline chose to ignore.
"Here, drink up your tea. No vodka this time, sorry."
"Care,"
"I put some honey in it, just cause you're so sweet." Caroline said, remembering what her grandma used to say to her.
"Caroline," Elena waited till her friend was quiet, understanding how hard it would be for her to look her in the eye and talk about this, and accepting that Caroline merely locked her gaze on her hands. "You remember when I went through this with Matt. Back before all this started. You remember what you and Bonnie used to tell me?"
Caroline remembered. Even if she didn't, her damn vampire senses were able to recollect any hazy memories from her past. Elena was getting distant, she wasn't feeling her relationship with Matt anymore. It had nothing to do with either of them not liking the person any less, it was just that Elena wanted different things.
"You should tell him." Elena meant for Caroline to tell Tyler.
"I hadn't even figured out that far yet." Caroline said mutely. She'd been so busy denying everything that she hadn't sat down and thought out the fact that maybe sometimes some things just weren't meant to work out, that relationships could just end because they were different.
"Maybe I'm getting a little psychic." Elena said with a smile that triggered Caroline's, and they exhaled and hugged.
Caroline had not expected acceptance from anyone for her feeling even slightly conflicted about Klaus, so it was nice to know that Elena, with all her compassion and caring and understanding, could accept this. She'd been going through the same with both Salvatores, but it was more than that. She understood people on a whole other level to everyone else, and that meant that somehow, she understood some of Klaus' motives and what he might have needed. And somehow, that meant her. Caroline had more than enough caring to give, and maybe Klaus was the one person on this Earth that needed it the most.
Elena just knew that she needed some time to figure it out. Caroline was the only person she would make an exception for to bring Klaus back, because in that instance, she knew that Caroline would keep him away from Mystic Falls, and everyone would be safe. If it were anyone else, Elena wasn't sure that Klaus would be so accepting.
...
Caroline had agreed to run with Tyler. She had to keep him safe. But she had absolutely no idea how she could fit this new aspect into her plans. Because she was going to save Klaus. And she was not going to change that in any sense.
She just didn't know how yet.
She'd bought a little time at least. Playing up to Tyler while she made up her mind. But that little ploy was enough to tell her that in her mind, it was over, for she shouldn't have had to act or pretend anything.
She was helping out the gang on Operation:The Elijah Deal no# 39601. Waiting in the woods for a crazy-ex-history-teacher/ex-friend and ally turned ultimate vampire hunter was creepy to say the least. It was even more so with Elijah.
"I'm surprised to see you helping to kill your friend." He commented in that dry way of his as they sat on a bough of an oak tree, all the better for surveillance.
"He's not himself anymore." She replied, before being open in a request. "Please don't make this any harder than it has to be."
"Apologies." Elijah said like a gentleman.
"Thank you." Caroline sighed.
"I'm still surprised, though."
"About what?"
"That you would help get my brothers body back to us."
She looked at him sideways in the weak moonlight that filtered between the trees. He was watching her with a calculating look that reminded her slightly of Klaus.
"I'm an only child, so I don't know what its like to have siblings. But I do know what its like to be alone."
"Your two points being that you don't understand but you do respect the bond between my brothers and sister, and that you understand a part of what Niklaus is currently feeling?"
Caroline squirmed slightly at his insight, but she couldn't deny it, since she had just eluded to it herself. "Yes."
"Interesting." Elijah mused, and she scoffed.
"If I recall correctly, my brother was quite taken by you."
Caroline stayed silent, surveying the quiet forest around them.
"Almost infatuated, I would have guessed."
"Do you always interrogate the people you're on hide away stake out duty with?" She snapped, and he gave his characteristic Elijah-chuckle, waiting for her to comment on his own evaluations.
"Yes," She said, half a groan. "I suppose you could have guessed that."
"It does make me wonder whether he was encouraged by you in that fancy."
I fancy you echoed through her head, and she shook her blonde curls to make it disapperate from her thoughts.
"What do you mean?"
Elijah leaned against the trunk of the tree they were perched in, seeming completely out of character for the Original she had only ever seen in suits, but at the same time seeming to hint towards a life where he had been more relaxed, when he had been growing up in this very town a thousand years ago. "My brother…is a very complex man."
"No duh." Caroline scoffed, but let him continue after he shot her a look.
"In my opinion, he has had no emotions for centuries. He feeds, he runs, he hunts, he has…" Elijah winced. "many recreational hobbies. But he does not care. He has shut off that part of him. He has lived by a motto of not caring, not loving, not feeling, for centuries, because that was the simplest thing for him to do. He had to worry about his existence. And so now, with my father gone," – He seemed to pause for a moment, and Caroline swore he murmured under his breath "may he rest in peace finally" – "we can finally start to live our lives." Elijah's gaze bored into Caroline's very soul. "It would take a remarkable woman to break through that shell."
She ruined the moment by rolling her eyes. "That is assuming that he still possesses the capability for real feelings."
"I do not doubt your words." He accepted. "But Niklaus is known for being persistent only with things he truly considers worthy."
Caroline glanced at him sharply. Not only was Elijah stating her worth, he was also alluding to the fact that Caroline had given Klaus a chance of sorts. For why else would he have continued to pursue her unless he had been shown that he might have a reward for his efforts?
She was speechless, finally lost for words.
They sat in silence.
"About Klaus' body," Caroline began, but was cut off by a shrill ring from her phone.
"Stefan?"
"Slight change of plans. Alaric's figured out where Klaus really is. Time to regroup."
He hung up before she could say anything else, and she let out a sigh that bordered more on a growl.
"I swear, one of these days, the Salvatores are going to actually have a conversation with me that's going to last longer than a minute, and its going to be about something completely unrelated to vampires and werewolves and killing."
...
Caroline had to find him. She had to find Tyler.
He was the only one left, and now even he would be slipping away.
It was a selfish thought, but she had finally been put in the same scenario as Elena. She cared about both of them, and couldn't bear to lose either of them. And now she was going to lose both.
She sprinted to the Lockwood cellar, hoping to evade the tears she was starting to shed for Klaus at the same time as hoping that Tyler would be there, that she could say goodbye to him at least.
Caroline staggered down the steps and wheeled into the cellar.
"Tyler?!" She called between hiccupping sobs. She surveyed the room. Candles were lit, and everything seemed peaceful. But he wasn't there.
"Oh God…" She let the cries start to wrack through her body as she was filled with utter despair.
"Caroline?" His warm, familiar voice sounded behind her, and she gasped and turned.
"Tyler! Oh my God." Caroline launched herself at him, needing his strong supportive embrace.
"Hey, sorry, I was just with Bonnie." Tyler said in more of a relaxed tone than she expected considering she was practically wailing. "What happened?"
"Klaus died. He's dead." Caroline managed to squeak out, the words making it all the more real. The Original who had only finally succeeded in making her care for him was gone from this Earth, and the hometown boy who had been her first love was about to go too.
"You're going to be fine, Caroline." Tyler comforted in an almost eerily calm way. She had been expecting a little more care for himself at this point. Comforting her was way off the target.
"No, its not me that I'm worried about." She whimpered, clutching him.
"There's no point. I'm a lost cause." The words only brought back memories of the other hybrid and how Klaus had felt about himself, and she choked out more tears at how truly lost he was to her right then.
"But you're strong." Tyler continued. "And you have a beautiful future ahead of you."
She had no future now. She had no world without them.
"And when you make it through this, just tell my mother I left town like I was supposed to, okay?"
Caroline nodded, not really thinking about any plans after the next few moments. All she wanted was to not care about time. She had eternity to worry about it. She just kissed Tyler, just for one last kiss.
He clutched her like she was a diamond, something too precious to ignore but strong enough so he could hold her fiercely, just the way she wanted to be held. Tyler had never done that before, and she wished he hadn't waited till their last moments together to show that to her. She could get used to an eternity like this with him.
All of a sudden, he cried out against her, lurching away to cough and choke and pant.
"Do you feel anything?" He asked once his breath returned to him, concern for her wellbeing arising uncharacteristically in his own last moments.
"No," She whimpered. "I feel fine."
"I need you to get out of here. I don't want you to see me die."
Caroline had seen him change during his first full moon, had seen him go through the transition into being a hybrid. Long before werewolves and vampires and things that went bump in the night, she had been the one during a football game to help him when his shoulder was dislocated. She had been with him through many things, and not once had he ever expressed any wish for her to not help him through the pain.
"No, I'm not leaving." She cried, and he fell to the floor in pain once again. Caroline went to help him, dropping down beside him.
"I'm staying."
"No,"
"Yes!"
"You run. Or I'll make you run." He had never said anything like that before. Never. It was a line that belonged to someone else.
He was trying to be the hero.
Not this time.
"I'm not leaving you!"
Tyler looked at her resolutely, before he suddenly began to shift. Bones snapping, eyes glowing, animalistic growling all came at once, and Caroline backed up in fear.
"Go!" He snarled, and she sobbed, sprinting out the door.
She had lied too many times.
First off: OhmySalvatore, just watch this preview for season 4
www. youtube watch?v=jwFI3mmt7IE
(minus the spaces)
Now, sadly, I've already had an idea for what I want to create for my spin off, and it isn't this because I'm not a genius like the TVD writers. BUT it'll be enjoyable (hopefully), so in the meantime just treat it as some fun stuff and not an actual season 4 of TVD. :)
Second: Farewell! See you soon in the next story, 'Sunlight'.
Third: If I get enough feedback on this idea, I may continue this into next season so you have more reiteration, more extra off screen moments, more moreness. Thoughts?
Review if you're inclined.
And thank you to my lovely reviewers! You guys make my day and night, and I love everything you have to say, always, always, always and forever.
xxx