Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Diaries...if I did, Klaus would be in EVERY episode... and would get a hug. Klaus needs a hug.
Lessons of Love, Chapter 11: Klaus to Caroline, part 5
"Love is a condition which the happiness of another person is essential to your own." Robert Heinlein
It was, finally, April 28 and Caroline, now that she had a date, felt justified in saying that the wait had taken forever, even though she was a Vampire and had to adjust her concept of forever. She was spending the day with Bonnie and Elena to get ready for the occasion. Her dress was hanging in Elena's closet, ready for when the girls finally went to change clothes.
As they were leaving the nail salon, Caroline's phone buzzed.
"Tyler texted me!" she squealed, eagerly opening the message. "Hey, Care," she read aloud for Elena and Bonnie to hear. "I just want to tell you that…," Caroline trailed off as she read the rest of the message to herself.
"Care?" Elena asked. "What'd he say?"
Caroline looked up from her phone and there were tears forming in her eyes..
"He's not coming."
"What?"
"I- I have to go home. I'm sorry," she said as she disappeared before Elena and Bonnie could blink. She left them standing there, looking at each other.
"Maybe she just needs a minute to herself," Bonnie said. "Lunch?" she asked in an effort to take Elena's mind off of what just happened.
The two girls got through a late lunch and back to Elena's house without hearing another thing from Caroline.
"I'm going to call her, Bonnie. This isn't like her," Elena said, dialing Caroline's cell phone number.
"Leave me alone, Elena," came Caroline's reply from the other line.
"Care, where did you go? We're worried about you."
"I'm at home. I stopped by to get my dress. I'm not going to Prom anymore."
"What? No, Care, you have to come! It won't be the same without you."
"No, you know what, Elena? You can't always have everything your way. I'm not going and that's that."
"Wait, what? Care, this isn't about my way…I want you to come so we can have a normal night together. As friends and with friends."
"Stop deluding yourself, Elena. Nothing is normal anymore and just because you have a perfect life doesn't mean everyone else does. Not everything is perfect and you can't always get your way. So stop, just...just stop acting like the world revolves around you. Have fun with the man of your dreams tonight and leave me alone," Caroline said before hanging up.
Caroline did feel bad about what she said, but Elena needed to hear it and Caroline was in the mood to tell her. Just because Elena was perfect didn't mean everyone was. Caroline put her phone on her bedside table and cried. Some people just weren't meant for storybook endings, and Caroline guessed she just wasn't one of the lucky ones.
Elena was still holding the phone to her ear in disbelief.
"She's not going?" Bonnie asked.
Elena shook her head, finally putting the phone down. She and Bonnie sat in an awkward silence, Elena thinking about what Caroline had said to her. Sure, Caroline said things she normally wouldn't when she was upset. Everyone did and Elena was surely not a stranger to that idea. But hearing those things from her best friend had unnerved Elena.
"I just wish that we could have a normal senior year," Bonnie said, resting her chin on her arms that were folded on the kitchen table. Elena nodded in agreement. "No weird supernatural things and boyfriends stuck in sire bonds."
Elena creased her eyebrows in thought. She stood up abruptly and grabbed her car keys.
"I'll be back in a little bit. If Ric comes home tell him that his dinner is in the fridge and he just needs to heat it up whenever he wants it."
"Where are you going?" Bonnie asked.
"I- I'll just be back in a second and in plenty of time to do our hair," she said with a smile.
"Okay," Bonnie said and Elena was gone.
Caroline hadn't moved from her bed since she got home. She was in no mood to, either.
It just wasn't fair! How come it was always her getting hurt and being left out of all the fun. Hell, even Rebekah was going to Prom. If that blood slut was going then Caroline didn't think that she, of all people, deserved to be left out, not in the least, so she cursed whatever higher power that she had upset in her human life. Surely, whoever it was, was laughing right now.
She cursed Tyler for being a coward. She cursed Elena and her perfect life and her perfect boyfriend, Damon, and her bodyguard, Stefan. She cursed Bonnie and school and humans. But most of all, Caroline cursed herself. If it wasn't for her stubborn pride, she could be having fun right now but, of course, she had to mess it up.
She heard her mom open the front door and someone walk in. Wait, more than one someone. Ugh, hadn't she told Elena to leave her alone? She heard the human girl walking up the stairs.
"I told you to leave me alone, Elena," she called, turning over so her back was facing the door.
"Now, what do we have here? It looks oddly familiar," a familiar British accented voice asked. Caroline gasped and sat up in her bed at the sound and, sure enough, there he was. Klaus stood in her doorframe, dressed in a tuxedo, with a blank expression on his face, studying her.
"What are you doing here?" Caroline asked, wiping the tear marks off her face.
"I could ask you the same question, love. Aren't you supposed to be out and about with your friends at your dance?"
"I'm not going."
"And why not?"
"Tyler ditched me," Caroline said, breaking down into tears again.
Klaus pursed his lips and walked over to her bed and sat down, taking her into her arms. "That's too bad. If I were him, I would be ashamed to do that to such a beautiful girl."
"Me? Beautiful? I'm a mess. No one likes me enough to care. I'm just what you called 'collateral damage'. No one needs me unless I'm part of some evil plan," she sobbed.
"If that were the case, then why would I be here, love? Dressed like this, of all things," he whispered. Caroline shrugged against him. Klaus pulled away enough so he could look at her. "Would you, Caroline Forbes, like to go to your Senior Prom with me?" he asked with his signature smirk plastered on his face.
Caroline just stared at him for a few minutes. "B-but you thought it was stupid. You laughed about mundane human experiences when I explained it to you."
"Love, let me tell you another little secret since I so enjoy our bedroom chats," he said with a slight smirk. "As vampires, we have the ability to indulge in the mundane human things every once in awhile. Not only that, but you, who are youthful and newly turned should get to experience all the human, high school things that are offered to you. I would not want to take that away from you if it is something that will make you happy, even if it means I have to go to a high-school dance that I would rather steer clear of," he said with a chuckle. "Please come with me. I want you to be happy."
Caroline thought about it for a few minutes. "I look awful."
"Well, luckily, I brought some friends to help with that. I figured that I would not be much use in that department," he said, smirking again as Elena and Bonnie came into the room, both dressed in their gowns with smiles on their faces, ready to get to work.
Despite herself, Caroline smiled and an hour and a half later, she found herself dancing away on the dance floor at her senior Prom where she was voted Prom Queen.
But, the best thing about the night, at least in Caroline's opinion, was the look on Klaus' face (that smirk got her every time) when he simply held out his hand as The Jackson 5's "I'll Be There" came on. She took it and was pulled into the safety of his arms, and that, Caroline decided, as she laid her head over his heart and followed his smooth dancing rhythm, was a place she never wanted to leave.
A/N: Yay, happy endings...not that its the end of the story ;) I know that that little Prom rendition will be in no way, shape, or form what goes down on the show if they run a Prom episode but I thought it would be fun to explore things. Anyone seen tonights episode yet? Klaus is back :) but man are things are heating up for the finale! Anywho, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and review if you have a minute- I really appreciate it :)