Chapter Fifteen: the storm is coming soon

"Are you going to continue to stare at me or are you properly greet your brother?"

Caroline's eyes dart from the man with dark hair to Nik to Frederick lying on his back with a hole straight through the side of his skull. What's going on?

"How did…" Nik starts to say, but then he stops himself. He's at a loss of words. His brother? Is he seeing things? Is this a mirage? Is he dead and this is the dream he gets as his soul descends into Hell?

Elijah? As in his brother Elijah? Caroline vaguely remembers his name when Nik was telling her about his past. He's alive? Well, obviously, but this must be surprising. And the plot thickens.

"Thought I was dead, Niklaus?" Elijah says from the other side of the bushes. He slings his shotgun over his left shoulder, the end pointed to the sky and scans his eyes over to Caroline. "Who is this?"

Nik gets to his feet and goes over to Caroline, helping her up out of the thickets as gently as he can.

"Caroline," she answers, keeping her gaze locked with Elijah. "You saved our lives. Thank you."

Elijah regards her with skeptical eyes. Not really his brother's type of woman. Too pale and too...blonde. Nothing like Tatia, rest her soul.

"What were you doing in there? Did you have a death wish?"

Caroline looks down. Well, she guesses it was her fault.

"Doesn't matter," Nik finally says. "Her arm needs to be in a sling. Quickly."

Elijah scans the area that the two of them are stuck in, trying to figure out a way out. The only way is to go back through the house and hopefully find the entrance. He tells them that he'll come through and find a way to the backyard and then he's gone.

Caroline holds her arm tightly, afraid the slightest movement might cause it to really fall off this time. She rests her temple against Nik's shoulder and feels him stiffen underneath her.

"You should be happy," she encourages. "Your brother is alive."

"This isn't exactly the time for rejoicing. Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," she says. "Are you all right? You almost got…you know…"

"So did you."

"Yeah, but you dying would've been in vain."

"In vain?" he asks, his eyes burning into hers. "How would it have been in vain? You could've gotten away."

Caroline shakes her head. "I wouldn't have even tried." She means it. Not only would she not have made it out of that house, but she wouldn't have even made it past Frederick. She would've stood there and allowed him to feast on her. She wouldn't even scream. She would have closed her eyes and welcomed it, guided by the possibility of a better life after death. Or maybe nothing after death. She would just stop existing and that would be better than this earth. Death was better than a world without Nik.

"Why would you ever even think to say that?" he asks her seriously, because he can't figure why she would just give up when she has so much potential. She's young and she's a fighter and she's strong. Caroline doesn't just…

Caroline would think it because it's true. She thinks it because she can't imagine going back and fighting through an apocalypse without him and his face and his dimples and his remarks always there. It was horrid when she was with her friends. So horrid she had to do physical harm and run away from them just to make sure he was all right. And through all this time of having each other's backs, listening to his confession and watching his male bravado shrink down into a portrait of a ten year old who only cared about keeping his siblings safe, something has ignited inside her. A spark, a firework. It explodes in her chest, spiraling through her insides and making her weak in the knees. The ground she walks on shakes, her body quakes, and she feels the safest when he's touching her or even just a few inches away. This is…

"Nik, I—"

"Looks like I've found you," Elijah says as he walks through the backdoor.

Before thinking, Nik picks Caroline up and carries her bridal-style to the doorway Elijah is standing with his gun.

"Any day now, children," he calls. "We have an angry sister with a broken femur and a purple face—"

"What?" Nik nearly yells. "What—you have Rebekah?"

"Well, I won't for long if you don't get a move on, Niklaus. She's waiting."

Rebekah is alive? His bratty, bitchy, one-of-kind baby sister is still breathing somewhere? God.

"Where is she?" he demands.

"If you would be quiet and follow me, then you'll see," Elijah states, calm and poised as ever. "Come along."

Nik follows his older brother through the maze like house, making a turn every few feet. They walk in silence, and Caroline closes her eyes and buries her face in the crook of Nik's neck wanting to say the words she would have had Elijah not come back. But maybe it's not the right time. Maybe that's why Elijah came when he did; to stop her from saying something stupid. Because, honestly, it was stupid to even think it.

They make it outside and there is, surprisingly, an RV parked right beside the SUV. Caroline tries to mask her astonishment, but just when she's about to voice her opinion, Nik speaks up and does it for her.

"Where the bloody hell did you get this from?" he asks, so amazed that he almost drops Caroline.

Elijah continues towards the vehicle and swings open the door, jogging up the four steps. Nik trails him and sets Caroline down and lets her go in before him.

"Well, look who it is," Rebekah croons from her relaxed position on the couch. She eyes Caroline, and then flits her eyes to her brother. "We thought you dead, Nik."

He stares at her, his eyes taking in her broken self. She looks horrible. Worse than when he first saw her at the motel. He can tell that Elijah has tried his best at making her noticeable, but really, if she hadn't been speaking, he wouldn't even recognize her. He probably would've thought she was undead. One of Bekah's eyes is swollen shut, black and blue and purple. Her bottom lip is busted, she's got a bandage covering her nose, and her right leg is in a splint. She tries to smile, but it's broken and he can see how much it hurts her to even breathe.

He goes to crouch down beside her and she tilts her head, her right eye shining brightly.

"Eli thinks one of my ribs is broken," she sighs, her eye rolling. "But think he's overreacting. I'm just a little sore."

"You really shouldn't speak, Bekah," he advises.

"I'm fine. Really, Nik." She looks over his shoulder and catches Caroline staring at them, but she instantly looks away.

"Caroline, is it?" Elijah says to her and she nods her head. "You hurt your shoulder, correct?"

She nods again.

"Come with me."

Rebekah watches them go into the bedroom in the back where Elijah has stashed all of his first aid supplies, which isn't much. He patched herself up as best as he could and Rebekah said she could barely feel a thing, but that was a lie. She felt like she was dying, and she still feels that way. What if she is?

"Where did she come from?" she asks Nik, but there is no malice in her voice. No contempt or hatred. She just genuinely wants to know.

Nik glances over in the direction of his brother and Caroline and sees him pressing on her shoulder. She flinches and will twitch every now and then, but then she smiles at Elijah and suddenly Nik knows she's fine.

"She came back for us," he finally answers his sister.

Rebekah doesn't respond to that. To think that her rival, her enemy, had died trying to save her and her brother. That kind of light doesn't burn out that easily. Of course, she'll never say this. Not even to Nik.

"I thought I lost you," she changes the subject. "I thought I lost myself. And then Eli came and saved me. Miracle, isn't it?"

"I am sorry, Rebekah." He catches her off guard and for a moment she isn't sure what he's talking about, but then it ignites in her chest like a wild fire.

"What were you thinking?" she spits. "Driving like a maniac! And the car exploded? Bloody hell, Nik."

"I wasn't thinking," he tries to explain, but Rebekah silences him.

"I could've died. You could've died. Were you so blinded by your love for that girl that it drove you to the edge?"

"I don't love her—"

"Bullshit," Rebekah spits. "I see the way you look at her. Where did you disappear to when the monsters attacked the car?"

Nik swallows and looks away.

"Where were you?"

He looks her dead in the eye, watches her eyebrow twitch and her mouth form into a straight line. She…she doesn't know what she's talking about. She isn't in his head. She's just angry and saying whatever pops into that little head of hers. It isn't working, Rebekah.

"Then don't answer me," she says. "It's only confirmation."

"It confirms nothing," Nik sneers.

"But doesn't it?" laughs Rebekah, sitting up in her seat. "You just don't want to be alone. I'm not enough for you, am I? You had to nearly kill us just so you wouldn't have to go a day without your precious Ca—"

"Enough!"

No. Oh, she's just getting started. She's been living in horror for the past however many fucking weeks it's been, she's cried her eyes out for a brother she blames herself for dying, she's nearly died by the hands of one brother yet she cried until she could barely breathe. She's been hopeless since Elijah found her; she's been dead on the inside since he told her about the SUV bursting into flames.

So she asks, and she smiles so tenderly, "Have you fucked her yet? Is that the reason why you so desperately need her? Maybe you don't love her; you just want to screw her. Is she entertainment?"

"Rebekah, are you mocking Niklaus again?" Elijah asks jokingly as he comes into that part of the RV with Caroline. She has a makeshift sling made out of a bed sheet and her face is serene and peaceful.

Nik gets up from his position and exits the trailer, Rebekah's words and her presence too much for him to even consider. Maybe she's right. Maybe that's why he can't be around her, because she can see right through him. You just don't want to be alone. He isn't alone.

The door slams shut behind him and Caroline starts to follow him, but Elijah tells her she should rest. He'll deal with his brother and Elijah has this face and voice that makes her not to want to say no to him. He's a true gentleman, noble and he seems trustworthy enough. She wonders what Kol was like? And Finn? Whatever happened to Finn?

"Rebekah," she says to the girl strewn across the couch, a frown upon her face. "Nik told me what happened to your family."

Rebekah rolls her lone eye and scoffs. "If you wanted to express sympathy, then I'm afraid you're eleven years too late."

Caroline purses her lips and sits down beside Rebekah. "What happened to Finn? And your mother?"

"Why do you care? Are you just starving for dirt on us? You already have my brother, what else could you possibly want?"

"I don't have anyone—"

"Do you ever listen to how stupid you sound when you speak?"

Caroline stiffens. "You know what, Rebekah? Never mind. I don't care. I'm trying to be your friends, understand you better, but you don't even let anyone in. It's the end of the goddamn world and I risked my life coming back for you—"

"Don't feed me lies," Rebekah hisses, her blues flaming. "You didn't come back for me. You couldn't give less of a shit had I been dead. You came back for my brother and that is the only reason, Caroline, and you know it."

Caroline throws a hand up and gets up, beyond done. Now she knows why Nik stormed off in a huff. "You are ridiculous and you can sit here and seethe in your hate for me all you want. You can believe whatever helps you sleep at night, but if you honestly think with all your heart that I only came back for Nik, then you're even stupider than I originally thought. Asshole."

Caroline disappears from the RV, leaving Rebekah there to think over what she's said. The thing is, Rebekah has no regrets. She knows she's right. She knows that as soon as Caroline walked out of that bathroom in the motel, she had already lost him. She was the one who was alone. She's lost Matt, and she actually fancied him a bit. He was sweet. She's lost Kol, and while he was a handful, he was her brother and her best friend, almost like her twin. She's lost her mother and she's lost her father. Finn ran away and never came back. She's lost everyone. But is anybody listening? Because she's built up this protective wall around herself and won't let anyone knock it down. She won't let herself become vulnerable. She does not cry anymore. She is no little girl anymore who lost her mother too soon. She is just Rebekah Mikaelson, and she is alone.

"My brother informs me that you know of a safe house," Elijah explains to Caroline once she steps out into the sun.

"Yes, but I don't know whether the people occupying it will be friendly with me or not," she replies solemnly. She can't imagine how they would just welcome her back with open arms, especially with strangers, but she's still friends with Elena, right? That has to count for something.

"It's worth a try, Miss Forbes." His voice is smooth as silk and Caroline can just see Elena faltering by him. "We pose no threat."

"If Caroline doesn't think it's safe, then we should just keep moving to Rhode Island," Nik says. "The sooner we get there the better."

"Rebekah is in no shape to continue traveling at the moment. Neither is Caroline for that matter. I don't have enough supplies to support all four of us, but if what Caroline says about her friends isn't true, then we have to give it a chance, Niklaus. It's for the best."

"For the best? What's for the best anymore?"

"Hope is for the best," Caroline says. "We can try. And then, if they don't want us in, we'll just continue on our way. It's worth a shot."

"Do what you want," Nik responds. "I don't care anymore."

Because he really doesn't. They either make it to Rhode Island and the possibility of a safety, or they don't. They probably won't, he figures. It's only a few hours of driving, but eventually they'll run out of gas and they'll have to walk the rest of the way. And with Rebekah playing the role of the bitter little girl who can't even walk; he isn't exactly sure how that could end well. It won't.

"I'll give Nik directions," Caroline explains to Elijah. "And you can follow behind us. It's not that far away from here, maybe a half hour."

Elijah nods and tells Nik to drive carefully this time, to which Nik tells him to shut the fuck up. Nik and Caroline gets in the SUV and start down the paved road of the cemetery and the RV follows behind them. Caroline tells him to make a left once they get out and to keep driving straight for a bout five miles until they come to the second exit. For the most part, they don't say anything else to each other. Nik doesn't let the emotions show on his face and Caroline doesn't either, rather, focusing her attention on the lack of life outside her window. Shades of gray mix with shades of blue and those mesh with the bleak outlook of the possibility of never making it to Rhode Island. She wants to remain positive, but it's hard.

And then she starts to think about Rebekah and what she said. It wasn't true. It's not true. She came back for Rebekah just as much as she came back for Nik. There was no favoritism in it. Rebekah was a life, a human life, and Caroline wouldn't just forget about that.

"Rebekah thinks that I deliberately tried to do harm to us," Nik speaks suddenly and Caroline blinks confusedly.

"What?"

"The car accident. She thinks I purposely meant to crash." As the words leave his lips, he starts to question whether it's true or not. Had he? No. He wouldn't…never…would he?

"Did you?"

"No," he snaps. "I mean, no." I don't think.

"We all have those thoughts, Nik," Caroline tells him gently. "It's just a matter of giving in to them."

"I wasn't thinking that way," he protests. "Why would I…"

"I've thought about it myself a few times over the weeks, how easy it would be. No more suffering or pain, right? And, you know, I would go through with it if you weren't here. I would—"

"Caroline, don't."

"Nik, listen to me!" She shifts in her seat and takes in his profile, so masculine and sharp yet soft and angelic like. Her heart rate picks up just a little and she feels it flutter in her chest. Somehow he makes her feel safe. Somehow there is no catastrophic apocalypse when he's so close and so tangible.

"I—" Caroline starts to say, but then stops. She what? She, dare she even say it, loves him? It's been such a short time together and now isn't the time to be falling in love with anyone, but she can't deny the way he makes her feel on the inside and out. "I care about you," she chokes out and she watches his jaw clench. "And I won't ever leave you. I promise. I swear on my heart and my mother's grave that I will never leave you again."

He stops the car abruptly and Caroline jerks forward in her seat. An undead little boy, probably six or seven, walks out from the shoulder and balls up his tiny little gray fists, beating on Caroline's window. His eyes are wide and hopeless and hungry, his tongue is hanging out desiring to taste life—Caroline's life. He beats his fists against the window, let me in let me in, and Caroline sees it again. That spark of humanity, that last little sliver of a beating heart. His face is clean, or as clean as it's going to be. He hasn't eaten anything since he turned. No blood, no grime. He's out here all alone, abandoned and starving.

"This will never be over," Nik says, staring at the boy trying his hardest to get in but so weak. Oh, so very weak. "We'll keep running and eventually we'll just give up. You know this, Caroline. You can make all the promises you want, but—"

"You said you would protect me, didn't you?" She puts a hand against the glass and the boy presses his face against it, his eyes white and like little pearls. She hopes he didn't die alone.

"I can't even protect myself, Caroline. You were right not to ever trust me."

"No." She shakes her head. "I was wrong not to believe in you. You've gotten me this far, Nik. I wouldn't be here without you."

She leans over in her seat and kisses the corner of his mouth, but he doesn't respond to her. She sits back in her seat sadly, looking back at the undead boy. He's started to give up, just like Nik.

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A/N: Sorry I took so long! Really sorry about that, also about this filler chapter. Might be my least favorite chapter so far. Um this is ending soon and I already got a theory as to how this is going to end on tumblr. Kinda made my day a little bit. Anyway, hopefully I won't take so long for the next chapter, but I'm not sure! Also, if you aren't already, please read my dear friends' fic So Long, Lonesome and Paradise for the Lost. They are my favorite fics at the moment. Thank you guys for your continuous support! Love you so so much!

P.S. a storm is definitely coming