5

On the way of figuring it out

They walked in the dark, the four of them, all silent. Not even an owl uttered a sound in the lonely late night. The trees surrounding them looked like dangerous shadows that when ever could just open their black gap and swallow them. The moon was shy and didn't show itself for them to have any kind of source of light, as for the stars who were so subtle they too barely showed. It kind of matched their situation quite well. Their way to the darkness they knew almost nothing about. Yet the beauty they would find, just like the beauty of the fine silent night.

"Must we walk forever?" , Willow's open question broke the silence as if a knife was cutting it in two pieces. "I would like some rest."

"We're not in that big of a hurry, actually" , Caroline spoke and stopped. The others stopped with her and Klaus shrugged his shoulders. Willow was not as young as them. Err, in second thought, she wasn't the oldest. But she was the one who wouldn't live forever and therefor she also needed rest. Klaus didn't say anything, neither did Tyler.

Willow took her arm before when the other two had gone. "I see the way he looks at you, though you do not notice it" , she said before they split up and went to their own place they would rest on. Caroline didn't know which one she meant. It didn't really matter, because Caroline didn't think any of them two looking at her with desire right now.

They all laid down around the tree trunks. She tried to keep distance between her and the others. Just after a couple of minutes you could hear Willow snore loudly. Caroline herself couldn't sleep at all. It was like her eyes didn't even want to shut close, so she decided to go away from them even more.

She found a narrow creek and sat down by it. The pouring water ran past her and in its mirror surface she could see herself looking like a total wreck; just like she felt. A lonely tear started to stream down her cheek and she didn't wipe it away. She just watched it gliding down her damaged face.

"I need you to know something" , she heard Klaus' voice behind her. She then wiped it away and turned around to face him with a concerned look. It began to be morning, but he sun hadn't risen yet, and the dimness surrounded them with a spooky feeling of a bitterness cold. "I know I had a lot of set ups and that none of you could truly trust me" , he started, but she interrupted him.

"I'm really trying to be kind here. It's not that easy, you know. Having the two of you all weird around me, of various reasons of course, but you know. Or maybe you don't know. I just need to be alone sometimes. I would wish to be alone for a while."

"I know, Caroline" , he said. She turned back to stare at the pouring water and then saw his reflection bending his knees and than sat beside her. Their glances met in the mirror of the dark water. Their arms was lightly touching. "Let me just tell you that the date wasn't a set up. I don't know were you got that from, although I can see why you would suspect it. The thing is, I need you to trust me. In this. In all that will happen from now on."

Caroline hoped she would learn to fully trust him too. Right now, she wanted to figure out her feelings, know more about the spell they soon will do and then … she wasn't sure. She wanted to have some time alone figuring this out. Or maybe she would just let it all float on by itself while pretending nothing is happening. "Tell me why I would trust you. Tell me and I'll consider it" , she said and turned to look at his face and not the reflection of it. He didn't look back at her. His jaw tightened up and he took an extended breath.

"I know I've done some things that is considered horrible, but I've also done some really incredible ones. I've saved you two times, for example. And I know you're all in love with Tyler and that, but I can't hold it in anymore." He stopped, looked up at her and met her gaze, took her hand with the one that its arm already touched hers, and wrapped his fingers around the curves of hers. His touch was soft and his gaze showed his true vulnerability. He was telling the truth, or else he was one hell of an actor. "What I meant to say, is that the feelings I'm building up inside me towards you are real. I find you amusing. I like being around you, even though you insult me now and then. And even though we all want to go home, for our own reasons, I will enjoy this time with you. I secretly hoped we would have done this alone without Tyler dragging along. And, yes, I know you don't feel the same as I do right now, but all I could ever ask for return from you … is that someday will feel the same."

Of course she remembered Klaus telling her he fancied her, and he was always kind to her. But the thought of him starting to have feelings for her, for real, made her question her own even harder. Now that she heard this from him while they were looking into each others eyes, she knew who Willow had meant. She could feel how it all turned around. How her eyes had opened up and how she came to realize her true feelings. She could feel butterflies flying around in her stomach and how her fingertips against his tickled. This was breathtaking, his vulnerability was so beautiful. She had never witnessed something like it before in her whole life, and it coming from Klaus, the original murderer of a hybrid, sure wasn't something she had expected right now. "But, you can't for real like me" , she started stuttering, "I'm just Caroline, and you're … you."

He slowly let go of her hand to let it fall down to her side. As she instantly felt the urge of grabbing his again she saw his mouth opening. "Your denying won't change the fact" , he said and got up to leave her alone like she'd wished.

The fog made it all so much more wonderful in a way she couldn't explain. That was it. It was true. Her suspicions of feelings she actually wasn't supposed to have, she had. And as she sat down in the wet grass, seeing the fog slowly fading away as the sun finally started to rise and lighted up everything around her, she felt the coincidence hitting her over and over again. The fog that faded away and the bright, lovely sun that rose higher and higher, was an extremely natures metaphor for her crazy, complicated feelings of two men who was just a blink away from her.

When the day came and was full of light and birds were singing in the trees, it was nothing like a few hours ago. Caroline felt much better, and she knew it wouldn't be a good idea trying to escape her problems anymore. She needed to face them. These feelings for Klaus she now knew were real, actually made her happy. She suddenly overheard him talking with Willow and walked up to them.

"I haven't got this wrong have I? The spell will work to travel forward, right?" , Klaus said to the witch.

"I can not see why not. I have never heard someone do it, but as I said, I can not see why it would not work."

"Good. Maybe you'll get away fully alive when we're done. We'll see, and after all, we haven't yet figured it all out" , he said and then disappeared.

"Where's Tyler?" , Caroline asked Willow who had opened one of her books, when she came up to her.

"Over there" , she said while pointing to the left without lifting her head from reading the book. Caroline followed her eyes to the way her finger was pointing. Tyler was sitting, leaning into a tree with his eyes shut. She walked to him, knowing that it would break both of their hearts if she told him the truth about everything and if he would ever know what was spinning around her head. She stopped right in front of him. "Tyler."

He murmured an answer. Clearly he didn't want to talk to her.

"If you don't stop ignoring our situation, I'm gonna start ignoring you hardcore" , she spoke.

"What do you want me to do, Care?" , he said with his eyes still closed.

"I saw you with Hayley. I saw the way you looked at her. The way you laughed. Your smile."

Tyler opened his eyes and wrinkled his forehead. "Caroline, don't start with this again" , he said in an irritated tone.

"Why not, Tyler? What do you think we should do, huh? Ignore it all, meaning ignoring each other, or talking about it? Which do you prefer?" , she scoffed.

"I would prefer you to stop talking about Hayley!"

"Why? Because you miss her too much? Tyler, this isn't working."

He sighed loudly and got up so that they stood opposite. "You're right, Caroline. This isn't working. You and me isn't working. Do you know why? Because of that disgusting Klaus making you totally blind! Caroline, don't you see he's using you?" He lowered his voice to an almost whisper. "Everything he say is a lie."

She snorted loudly in his face. "That's not true!"

Tyler pressed his lips to a straight line and shook his head. "I don't know what he have told you for you to believe him, maybe he compelled you, but this is bullshit. He is ruining us."

"Go ahead. Blame everyone but yourself" , she quietly said before leaving him.

Really? Compelled? Come on! That just made it even clearer. The fog. The sun. Their bound was soon to be over. Hopefully to make place for a better one. She knew Klaus wasn't lying about this. He couldn't. He wouldn't do that to her.