Chapter 11: Broken Heart, Mended Bridge

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"What the hell are you doing here?" cried Caroline, taking in the sight of him. Klaus smirked, as if he thought she was checking him out. He then proceeded to invite himself into her room and sit on her bed. Seriously?! Caroline thought.

"I'm here, love, because I thought it might be convenient for you to have a car at your disposal to take you home to New Orleans, now that you're no longer burdened with your friend's unfortunate passing away," Klaus explained. It sounded as if he were explaining this to a child.

Caroline shook her head and she continued her way downstairs. "I am not coming back to New Orleans. Contrary to your belief, I actually had a life before you showed up. I have plans," she snipped.

"And what plans would those be, sweetheart?"

"I'm going to find Tyler," she said impetuously. Upon realising what she had said, she swore she could have swallowed her own tongue.

"Really?" Klaus grinned, his sharp, wolfish teeth showing. "Might I be allowed to accompany you on this quest of yours?"

"No," Caroline said firmly, her voice wavering.

Their conversation had turned from teasing at best to something a lot more serious. Because of Caroline's little slip-up, she realised that Tyler's life could be on the line. Klaus, on his end, wasn't at all thinking about harming Tyler but rather of being able to finally prove what a changed man he was. He couldn't kill Tyler without making it impossible for him and Caroline to ever have a proper relationship. "I promise it wouldn't be to hurt him," he told her.

Caroline scoffed. "I know better than to believe that."

Klaus looked at her darkly. "Call me what you want; but don't call me a liar."

"Besides, I've decided it's time for Tyler and I to get back together." Out of the corner of her eye, Caroline could see the hurt that flickered in Klaus' face. She truly didn't want him to get upset but she had to tell her truth. She continued, "I love him and if you care for me at all, you'll let me be with him."

It was almost ironic that his 'caring for her' was precisely what made him want to sink his teeth into Tyler Lockwood. He watched Caroline as she stalked outside and he ran after her. When he reached she had just slammed the car door after her. Before she could leave, he gripped his hands on the open window sill.

"Caroline, if you go to him now, I'll go after him too," he warned Caroline. "I can't guarantee that you'll escape uninjured in this fight."

"Go to hell!" Caroline spat as she pressed on the accelerator.

Caroline finally stopped at a gas station after having driven like crazy for the past hour. She'd been trying to avoid her thoughts but instead they just kept coming up again and again. She didn't know whether she'd done the right thing or not. On one hand, she wasn't going to let Niklaus Mikaelson dictate her life. On the other, her gamble could have some very bloody circumstances. By following Tyler, she had officially put him back on Klaus' radar and she wasn't confident enough to trust that, whatever feelings Klaus had for her, he would forego killing Tyler, maybe even killing her. Klaus had always been very impulsive for as long as she'd known him.

She decided that she needed to chill. She would get a soda, maybe a magazine and she'd finally stop hyperventilating. After having bought these precious items, Caroline returned to her car. She tried figuring out the map she'd brought along. One advantage that she had over Klaus was that she thought she knew where Tyler was. She suspected that he was in one of the places their mothers had decided that they go when the council found out about them almost a year ago. The problem was that she didn't have a GPS and her map-reading skills weren't exactly up to par (she hadn't been taught by Magellan after all!).

She drove for the next three hours without stopping. Her head hurt by the end from listening to her stereo at a really high volume and her eyes could barely stay open when she finally drove into Highbury, Delaware. It was the evening and as she drove by a bar, she saw around five or six men leaving it. She stopped when her eyes met Tyler's.

Klaus was alone on the sidewalk next to Caroline's house, left to watch her car drive into the sunset. She yet again eluded him. He wanted to think she was running from him due to her feelings for him but he knew it was because he was being a creepy stalker. Hadn't he concluded after being forced to watch Twilight by Rebekah that he would never turn into Edward Cullen?

His temper was riled up, though. He snapped out his phone and quickly dialled Elijah's number. He picked up on the second ring. "Hello?" said Elijah.

"Elijah, I need you to send a witch to Mystic Falls stat!" Klaus demanded. He was about to hang up when Elijah spoke again.

"Niklaus, I hope you aren't considering doing something you'll regret." Elijah sounded scolding, as if he could tell exactly what was going on from hundreds of miles away.

Klaus felt as if he was being scolded like a child. He brushed off Elijah's comment. "Call me when the plane lands."

Without waiting for a reply, he hung up the phone and started walking towards the Lockwood Property. He needed his witch to do a location spell to find his hybrid but to do that he needed a personal item of Tyler's. Just as he was about to turn the corner, he realised that, of course, he couldn't enter the house without Caroline's permission. He made a 360° turn and headed straight for the Forbes House.

By this time, Sheriff Forbes had returned from work but Klaus hadn't noticed, being in such a rush. He surprised her drinking her coffee. Immediately, she pulled out her gun. Without hesitation, she pulled the trigger.

It barely made a dent. Klaus gritted his teeth. "Easy, Sheriff! I don't want to hurt you but if don't put that gun down and help me, I can't guarantee that Caroline won't be hurt."

Liz didn't move. "You wouldn't hurt Caroline."

"Wouldn't I?" Klaus challenged. The fear in the sheriff's eyes betrayed her. Klaus took this as a signal that he was free to continue his investigations. He climbed the stairs just as he had earlier that day and just as he had when he'd first saved Caroline from Tyler's werewolf's bite. He enjoyed Caroline's room. It contained mementos from her entire life so it had kind of magic nostalgic feeling. Also, it was sunny and bright, which was, of course, perfect for Caroline. Nevertheless, it was incredibly cluttered. Were it not for the cardboard box, he would have been searching for hours.

The box was sitting on a chair next to the vanity. It was filled with jerseys and pictures of Caroline with Tyler. It wasn't exactly neat but rather looked as if somebody had sifted through it several times. Every object seemed to contain a small piece of Tyler and Caroline's love for one another. He would have been more than happy to sacrifice the entire box for the location spell but he settled on the charm bracelet at the very top of the stack.

He liked that Caroline usually wore his bracelet instead of his sire's.

Tyler hugged Caroline the moment she stepped out of the car, a big, cheesy grin plastered on his face. Caroline wore the same expression. "Tyler!" she squealed when he let her go. "I've missed you so much."

"Me too, Care," said Tyler. With a wave of his hand, he dismissed the rest of his gang and asked Caroline, "Do you want to go back to my place? We could order in, catch up?"

Caroline nodded eagerly, her blond curls bouncing on her shoulders. Her face was pink and her eyes shone with delight. She followed Tyler around the corner and up into his small apartment. It was fairly bare and incredibly messy. Pizza cartons carpeted the floor and dirty clothes lay everywhere. Caroline didn't care, though. It was enough for her to be here with Tyler.

As Ty phone the Chinese place Caroline made herself comfortable on the couch. He sat down next to her. "So, what are you doing up here?"

"I came for you," she said, "I missed you! I didn't want to be away from you anymore. Really, how have you been?"

"I've been good. I actually feel normal, here. I got a job as a busboy in the bar downstairs. I made a couple of buddies…"

They spent the rest of the evening catching up. Tyler mentioned that he'd tried to come and find her after graduation and she narrowly avoided straight-up lying about her stay. Finally, she had to bring up Bonnie's death and after that, things cooled between the two of them. She slept in his belt but that didn't anything remotely sexual happened between the two of them. For some reason, Caroline wasn't disappointed.

The next morning, Tyler rose early because he needed to go to work but at breakfast, he promised that he would take her out that evening for dinner. Caroline spent her morning on the phone with Matt and then trying to get Elena, Stefan and even Damon to answer her messages. In the afternoon, she went out to the nearby forest to hunt. Even though she knew where Tyler kept the cooler filled with blood bags, there was something about the forest that calmed her. It let her blow off some steam.

As she left the woods, she caught sight of somebody entirely too familiar.

"Hello, sweetheart," greeted Klaus, leaning against a brier tree. "I see you've found Tyler."

Caroline froze. For the first time in a very long time, she was very scared of Klaus. She was all too aware that Tyler was only about half-a-mile away and that Klaus could easily outrun her. "You need to leave," she said, her voice trembling.

Klaus acted as if she hadn't spoken. He approached her slowly. "I'm surprised Tyler took you back after finding out that you'd been with me for weeks." Gently, he moved her chin so that he was looking directly into his eyes. "That you kissed me." Caroline slapped his hand away. "Oh, I see: he doesn't know."

Caroline raised her chin indignantly. "I made a mistake."

"That's the beauty of it: that mistake could cost you your boyfriend, sweetheart."

Caroline was fuming. Her face was red and she couldn't control the hot tears accumulating in her eyes. She was losing this battle with Klaus. "What do you want form me?" she gasped.

"I want you to leave this town and never think about Tyler Lockwood again," he stated honestly. There was a desperate behind every syllable he spoke.

"Why?" Caroline asked. Klaus wasn't making any sense. Why hadn't he already killed Tyler? Why did he insist on continuing to torment her?

"If you stay, you'll get hurt and I don't know if I'll be able to stop myself from killing him because of it." His eyes pleaded with her to listen to him.

"Tyler's a good guy, Klaus," Caroline murmured, stunned by Klaus's confession. "If you want me to be happy, you'll leave him alone."

"Just tell him," said Klaus before flashing away. As he ran, he cursed himself for not having the strength to kill someone Caroline loved.

After Tyler's shift ended, he found Caroline waiting for him outside in a pretty pink dress and wedges with bows on the front. She smiled at him. "Hi," she said as she kissed his cheek.

"You look great," he complimented her. He was the very picture of southern charm. My very own Ashley Wilkes, Caroline thought.

Hand in hand, they walked down the main street of this sleepy Delaware town. They looked like the picture perfect couple. Still, Caroline was gnawing on the inside of her cheek, dreading the confession she was to make to Tyler. When they reached the grill, the hostess smiled at them and immediately found them a romantic table for two. Tyler pulled out her chair for her.

"This is so nice," Caroline said softly, grinning from ear to ear. Tyler didn't reply because his face was buried in the menu. "Tyler, I need to tell you something important."

At her tone, Tyler looked up, half-smiling and half-frowning. "What's up?"

"I haven't been with my dad's boyfriend for the past couple of weeks," she started. Then, she took a deep breath. "I've been in New Orleans with Klaus."

Tyler bolted up, almost knocking his chair to the ground. He walked quickly out of the restaurant, looking both ways as if Klaus was about to tackle him then and there. Caroline alarmed, rushed after him. "Tyler," she called, "Wait!"

"Where is he?" Tyler shouted. He looked terrified, as if this was the last moment of his life.

Caroline frowned, shaking her head. "What? Nowhere! He isn't here."

Tyler seemed to calm down slightly but when Caroline tried to approach him, he backed away instantly. Caroline hadn't expected this; she hadn't expected him to be scared of her. "Why did you do it? What did Klaus do?"

Caroline continued to shake her head. "He didn't do anything!"

"Then why would you go to New Orleans with him?"

She shrugged and tried to explain, "After you left, I was really lonely and some really bad stuff was going on. Silas found a way to mess with my head and he almost killed my mom! So after graduation, I figured I needed to get out of town and Klaus was there…"

"Why would you trust Klaus of all people?" Tyler asked. He seemed to have calmed down but he was still suspicious. "He's tried to kill both of us repeatedly!"

"After you left, we kind of became friends-"

"What?" Tyler interrupted. "Friends? Why are you telling me this?"

"I left when things got really ugly down there but before, things got heated and I kissed him," Caroline said, breathing heavily.

Tyler punched the wall next to him. His breath was shallow and heavy. He sighed and looked her straight in the eye, taking a couple of steps forwards so that their chests were almost touching. "I don't think I can get over this."

"Tyler, please! I'm so, so sorry!"

"It's over, Caroline."

Caroline felt as if she were in court and had just been pronounced guilty. The next time she blinked, Tyler was gone. Tears started to trickle down her face. Tyler was gone. She felt so completely and utterly alone. She began to sob as she found her way back to her car. She must have sat in the front seat for a long time, simply crying her eyes out. Eventually, she felt two strong arms wrap around her torso. It felt nice but when she finally peered up at Klaus, she jumped back.

"Why do you have to keep appearing every single damn time I feel like crap about myself," she muttered angrily.

"I've come to take you home," Klaus said patiently.

"What home?" Caroline cried. "I can't go home to my mom's without putting her in danger all over again. I can't go to Tyler's without thinking about how I betrayed him. My friends are all either dead or not answering. You were right all along."

"Right about what?" he asked.

Caroline realised she was shaking so hard that a breath of wind could probably send her to New Mexico. "In the end, we're left infinitely and utterly alone," she breathed. "That's what you told Stefan the night of the hybrid massacre, isn't it? He couldn't get that out of his head for weeks. It's true!"

Klaus stared at her, stunned that someone like Caroline Forbes could ever be in such a dark place. "Sweetheart, you don't need to feel like that ever. You're a good person and you're so very full of light."

Caroline gazed deep into his eyes. "I don't want to be alone, Klaus. Please, take me home."

Without hesitation, Klaus shifted Caroline into the passenger seat and drove her car out of Highbury, heading back to New Orleans.

Please review to tell me what you thought about Tyler, the Forwood break-up, the Klaroline make-up and whatever else!

In case any one was wondering, Highbury is a town name that I found in Emma by Jane Austen

Thanks for reading,

Brianne