Hi everyone! Thank you for the nice reviews! This chapter is a little bit longer than usual, I needed to settle a few things, I hope you're gonna like it. Please let me know...
I don't own anything in TVD.
Caroline woke up the following morning tightly wrapped in Klaus' arms. Her back was firmly pressed against his chest, and his hands were drawing lazy patterns on her naked skin. She shivered at the sensation and turned in the circle of his arms. She faced him, a big smile on her face.
"Hi" she whispered.
"Hi, sweetheart" he whispered back. Leaning towards her, he kissed her slightly and Caroline 'smile grew even bigger.
"I could totally get used to wake up like this, you know" said Caroline.
Klaus smiled and pressed his forehead against hers. "Me too" he answered lovingly.
Caroline kissed him again, pressing herself against his warm body. Klaus hungrily responded to the kiss, his grip around her becoming iron.
Caroline pulled away after a while, knowing that she was never getting out of his bed if he continued to kiss her this way. Klaus was obviously thinking the same thing, and bringing her back close to him, he resumed kissing her passionately.
Caroline gave in for a while but she knew she had to stop him, because she had plans for the day. Gently pulling away, Caroline smiled at Klaus who was obviously pouting.
"I want you" he muttered, frustration perceptible in his voice.
"Believe me, I want you too" said Caroline softly. "But if we start this again, I'm never going to get out of this bed."
"It sounds fine by me" replied immediately Klaus. "Actually, I have absolutely no intentions to let you get out of this bed".
Caroline chuckled and snuggled against his chest.
"I promise you I will spend as much time as you want in bed with you, but before, I have something extremely important to do."
"And what is that?" asked Klaus curiously.
Caroline' smile faded a little but she looked at him straight in the eyes.
"Today, I'm gonna talk to my friends about us".
Klaus immediately tensed and involuntarily tightened his grip around her.
"Today? Really? Are you sure?"
Caroline noticed immediately the insecurity in his voice and knew perfectly what it was about. He was afraid that her friends reacted really badly, and that she finally thought he wasn't worthing all the troubles.
She took his face in her hands and held it firmly.
"Yes, today" she answered resolutely. "There is no need to wait, because I know what I want, and I don't want to lie to them anymore. They had noticed that something is up with me, and they pester me every day to know what it is. I can't keep lying to them and I don't want to. It's not fair either for them or for you. I don't want to hide you, or the feelings I have for you. I'm talking to them today."
Klaus smiled sadly. "And what if they react very badly and they don't want to see you anymore?"
Caroline didn't flinch. "I knew the risk when I came to you yesterday" she answered. "But I have made my decision. As I told you, I'm ready to fight for you."
Klaus crushed her against him, almost desperately.
"What I have done to deserve you?" he whispered painfully. "I don't deserve you Caroline, I don't deserve what you are willing to do for me".
Caroline frowned. "This is not your decision to make" she said a little coldly. "I'm the only one who can decide who deserves me. And you definitely do. Have you any idea how much you had helped me in the past few months? Thanks to you, I finally know who I am, and I finally accept myself the way I am. You are the one who made me understand that being a vampire doesn't have to be a curse, and that I still have a life to live. Thanks to you, I'm not struggling anymore about who I am, and believe me, it's priceless."
Klaus was feeling very touched. The damn girl had the knack of making him feel emotions he wasn't used to. Pressing his forehead against hers, he looked adoringly in her eyes.
"I still think that I don't deserve you, but I'm selfish enough to let you think the contrary" he whispered.
Caroline smiled. "We'll talk about it later. But for now, I have to go and come clean with everybody. I want it to be done as soon as possible so I can come back to you"
Klaus growled and tightened his grip around her waist.
"I don't want you to go. I want to keep you in my arms all day long."
Caroline kissed him lovingly.
"I need you to let me go so I can come back to you "she pointed.
"If I don't let you go, you won't have to come back to me" Klaus replied.
Caroline stroked gently his jaw. "This is something I have to do and you know it".
Klaus nodded. "I know. But it's not because I know it that I have to like it. I feel so sorry for you that you have to go through this because of me. I wish I could do something to help you. And…I'm just scared you won't come back to me" he added sadly.
Caroline noticed the obvious pain in his eyes. She had never seen him so vulnerable and it was killing her.
"I will come back to you tonight, I promise. Now that I know how it feels to sleep into your arms, believe me, I will come back!"
Klaus smiled, grateful for her efforts to lighten the mood.
"You promise?"
"I promise".
Klaus kissed her one more time and reluctantly let go of his embrace.
Caroline slid of the bed and looked for her clothes, scattered all over the room. Once fully dress up, she sat next to Klaus and leant to put her arms around his neck. He immediately snaked his arms around her waist and pressed her against him.
"I'll see you tonight" whispered Caroline in his ear.
"You promise?" asked Klaus, failing to hide the hint of desperation in his voice.
Caroline cradled his face in her hands and looked at him.
"I promise" she answered firmly.
She kissed him briefly but passionately and left the room.
Caroline decided to talk to Bonnie and Elena at the same time. She texted both of them on her way home, and asked them to meet her at her house. Truth to be told, she was nervous. She perfectly knew that the conversation was not going to end well. And the worst was that she couldn't even blame them for that. She was fully aware of everything Klaus had done to them, especially Elena, and she thought there was no way they could ever forget that. But as she told Klaus, she had made her decision. She had to live her vampire life, and she had to make her own choices. She loved her friends, but for once she had decided to be selfish. She had decided to think about her before think about the others.
Elena and Bonnie arrived a while later, concerned about Caroline. They had noticed her unusual behavior over the past few months, but Caroline didn't want to talk about it, and the two girls had respected her wish. They immediately noticed the nervousness of Caroline and exchanged a worried look.
"What is wrong, Care?" asked Elena.
"Are you ok?" added Bonnie.
Caroline smiled to her friends. "I am fine, but I need to talk to you and it's not gonna be easy. Actually, I think you're gonna hate me when I'll be done".
"We could never hate you" exclaimed Elena truly shocked. "You are our best friend!"
Bonnie didn't say anything but she nodded.
"Believe me, Elena, you might change your mind" said sadly Caroline.
"Ok Care, you are freaking me out now! Just tell us what you want to tell us" said Bonnie.
"Ok. There is no way to say it finely so I'm just gonna be blunt. Please just promise me that you will hear me out until I'm done."
Elena and Bonnie exchanged a glare and then nodded.
Caroline took a deep breath and just dived in.
Klaus was driving insane, alone in his mansion. He had stayed a while in his bed, breathing the smell of Caroline in the pillow. Then, unable to stay still any longer, he had dressed up and was now pacing back and forth in the living room. He was sick thinking of what Caroline was going through because of him. He wished he could help her, but she had made it clear that she needed to do it alone. The anxiety was clenching his heart and he couldn't help but rummaging continuously into his hair, trying to calm himself. Truth to be told, he had never felt so scared. Scared that Caroline wouldn't come back, scared that she finally choose her friends over him. He didn't know how he could deal with that. There was no way he could live without her now. Not now he knew the taste of her lips, the softness of her body, not now he had stroked every inch of her skin, not know he had held her in his arms while she was asleep. Klaus growled in frustration. He had never felt so helpless. He had no idea how he was going to survive until the end of the day.
Both Elena's and Bonnie's faces were expressing shock and horror.
"Klaus?" exclaimed Elena. "You are telling us that you have feelings for Klaus? The one who killed my aunt, wanted to sacrifice you and sired your boyfriend?" Elena's voice was rising with every words and she ended up yelling. "You are telling us that you are sleeping with that MONSTER?"
"You have every right to be mad at me, Elena" answered sadly Caroline "but yes, it's true, I have feelings for Klaus. He understands me like no one else does, and he helped me so much to accept myself the way I am. He makes me happy Elena, I can't help it. I know you could never forget what he had done to you, but doesn't it count for anything that I am happy?"
"How can you be happy with someone like this" cut sharply Bonnie. "He destroyed our lives. He is a heartless killer."
"I know you see him that way but he is very different with me. You have no idea how much he helped me over the past few months. I finally am in peace with myself" pleaded Caroline.
"You are not thinking straight" maintained Elena. "And what about Tyler?"
"Well, Tyler is still missing and I don't have heard of him since months. I'm not even sure he will ever come back. And if he will, it wouldn't change anything. Something had been broken between us and it's not fixable."
"I can't believe what I'm hearing "said incredulously Elena. "After everything Klaus had done to ME?"
Caroline felt suddenly the anger rising up and she blew up.
"You have short memories Elena, because I remember Damon doing as much bad things as Klaus did but you forgave him anyway, didn't you?"
Elena opened her mouth to speak but Caroline didn't let her.
"Do you remember when Damon compelled me to be his sex toy and his blood bag? Do you remember the bites I had all over my body? Do you remember how terrified I was of him? Do you remember he tried to kill me when he was done playing with me? He ABUSED me, Elena, me, your supposed best friend and still, you forgave him!"
Elena was speechless but Caroline was not finished.
"And what about killing Jeremy? He did it, didn't' he? He killed your own brother and you forgave him. And what about feeding you with his blood before the sacrifice? He knew that you didn't want to be a vampire, but he did it anyway. And once again, you forgave him!"
Caroline then turned towards Bonnie. "And what about Damon killing and turning your mother in order to protect Elena? So why Damon would deserve so much second chances and Klaus couldn't have only one?"
Caroline released a deep breath and tried to calm herself down. Bonnie and Elena were both stunned, and for a long while nobody said a single word.
Then Elena spoke again, very softly this time.
"I know Damon had done some awful things to us, but he also did a lot of great stuffs especially for me. He had always protected me, no matter what. He would die to protect me, and he had proved that I could trust him."
Caroline's anger suddenly faded away in front of the obvious distress of Elena.
"I know that Elena" she said softly. "And what I'm trying to explain is that Klaus is doing the same thing with me that Damon did with you. He will be there for me, he will protect me, no matter what. He had proved me that I could trust him, the same way Damon had proved it to you."
Caroline looked both of her friends and took their hands in hers.
"Look, guys, you are my best friends since forever and I love you. I would do anything for you and you know it. But over the past two years, I have taken a lot of decisions for you more than for myself. I always had been there to help you, to save you, to deal with your dramas. And it's ok because I love you so much. But today, I'm taking a decision which has nothing to do with you, but only with me. I am a vampire now, and I have to think about what I want to do with my life. So, the decision I'm making about Klaus is not about you, but is about me, and only me. And I just hope that you love me enough to give me a chance with that, and to accept that decision."
Klaus was digging holes in the floor of his living room, by pacing continuously back and forth. He was not used to just wait. He was usually the one who acted. The insecurity he was feeling about Caroline's feelings was killing him. He was so focused on his own thoughts that he didn't even hear Caroline before she entered the living room. Without even realize it, he used his vampire speed in his rush to get to her, and he crushed her against him.
"You came back" he whispered incredulously while waves of relief were washing over him. "Oh God, you came back."
The vulnerability in his voice hurt painfully Caroline. Sliding her arms around his neck, she pressed her body against his.
"Of course I came back. I promised, didn't I?"
"I know, sweetheart, I know, but I was so scared… How did it go? He asked hesitantly.
Caroline shrugged. "Not so well" she admitted. "They are not willing to forget what you did and I think they're gonna need some time to process what I told them."
Klaus was upset by the hint of sadness he could detect in her voice. Cupping her face with his hands, he kissed her slightly.
"I'm sorry" he said sincerely. "I'm so sorry you have to go through this."
"Don't be. As I told you, I knew the risk when I came to you yesterday."
Klaus hesitated but he had to ask.
"So you don't regret anything? You still want to be with me?"
Caroline would have been furious against him for asking, if she hadn't notice the pain in his voice.
Taking his face in her hands she answered firmly.
"I have absolutely no regrets. I want to be with you, no matter what, so stop asking!"
Klaus pressed his forehead against hers and smiled lovingly.
"Have you any idea how much I care about you?" he whispered.
"Show me" answered softly Caroline.
So he did. With his hands, with his lips, with his arms, he tried how hard as he could, to make her feel how much he cared about her.
So what did you think? I wanted to show the reaction of Bonnie and Elena but I also wanted to write some Klaroline moments, so the chapter was longer than usual. I hope it was ok? Sorry for not talking more about what Caroline feels about Tyler, but it's not the point in that story so I voluntarily skipped it.
Please leave a little review, it really helps me carry on with the story :-)