Caroline decided that she was really beginning to admire air travelling; the feeling of gliding when in actual reality speeding was entirely incomparable to driving. She stole a glance at her companion. He was gazing outside the window absent-mindedly. Both she and Klaus had been pretty much silent throughout the journey back to Mystic Falls, occasionally glancing at one another nervously. She couldn't imagine how Klaus felt, nor could she be sure of their core. Of course she knew that he loved her, but would that love be enough for him to accept her friends, as well? Caroline prayed so, because it would always be her friends and family first. Hadn't she proven that by leaving Mystic Falls with the one thing that threatened to tear her family apart?
"Passengers, we are now entering the United States." The commanding voice of the pilot echoed through the speakers. Great, Caroline thought. The closer they got to America, the more she felt the fluttering wings of the butterflies in her stomach.
Klaus took her hand in his; raising it to meet his soft, wet lips. "It will be okay." He muttered simply. Caroline realised that the simplicity of those words reassured her somewhat. Of course it would be okay, and she suddenly remembered her resolve from the previous day.
Caroline Forbes was not a perfect person; in fact, she was much more than less than perfect. She was bossy, sometimes tactless, always blunt and her biggest weakness was her naivety. She strived to look for the good in everybody, including vampires. In her mind, being a monster by nature didn't make someone a bad person, it was their choices that mattered. Klaus had made extremely bad choices, but he'd shown remorse. Caroline respected that.
"I know." Caroline whispered some time later, after realising she had failed to reply. Klaus cocked an eyebrow up at her amusedly. "Do you think you can control it?" She asked; the words she'd so desperately been dying to voice erupting from her rosy lips.
Confusion washed over Klaus' features; "control what, exactly?" He asked, interlocking their pale fingers with one another.
Caroline lowered her eyes ashamedly, she didn't want to doubt him, but she needed to know. "Your hatred for them, your fear of disappointment, your pride…" She murmured.
Klaus exhaled deeply, taking Caroline's face in his strong hands. "Caroline, for you I will let all of that go for all eternity. None of that matters any more. I don't know why I ever let it."
He wiped a lone, betraying tear from her cheek and raised it to his lips. Caroline watched from underneath her heavy eyelashes confusedly. Now it seemed that it was her turn to raise a questioning eyebrow.
"A person's tears can tell you a lot about them." He answered her unspoken question. Before she could form a response, Klaus continued; "I'm sensing that's not all that was troubling you."
Caroline felt her cheeks lift in a soft smile. He got her. It was hard to believe how short a time it had taken for them to know each other, and understand one another. It was almost as though fate had played a part.
Caroline shook herself from her dreamy reverie. "No, that wasn't all. Klaus, what happens if it doesn't work out?"
He gazed at her bemusedly, his eyes alight with expectation.
"What happens if, and I'm not saying that it will, but what happens if they don't accept you? What will you do then?" Caroline continued bluntly.
A mixture of emotions washed over Klaus' face, and Caroline observed them all. What would he do? He couldn't force them to accept him, through compulsion nor threat; that just wasn't a risk he was willing to take with Caroline. And yet Klaus knew, almost instinctively, that Caroline would choose her friends over him. She hadn't spoken the words aloud, but he knew that if he wasn't accepted, it would be their goodbye. Embarrassingly, Klaus felt anger rise in him at the mere thought. Caroline's presence made his negative qualities disperse, and Klaus was afraid of what he might become if he were to lose her. What he surely would become.
Klaus recomposed himself almost immediately. "I won't let it happen." He promised.
Caroline felt fear wash over her, and she knew that Klaus could see it too, for he bent forward to wrap his large arms around her.
"No Caroline, I wouldn't force them to do anything, I promise. All I mean is that I won't give up, not on anything that may risk giving you up, sweetheart." He kissed the top of her golden head lovingly.
The pair remained silent for the duration of the journey, silently embracing one another until they knew that they had no choice but to part ways. Even though it was only for a brief period, Caroline felt despair at the thought, but she had to carry out the plan.
Klaus strode through the large, heavy-wooded door of his mansion. He felt the strength of fight return to him, knowing that in Caroline's absence, he could use it to deal with his family. They meant nothing to her, after all.
"Where the hell have you been?" Rebekah thundered, appearing suddenly directly in front of him. "And with that bitch? What has gotten into you, Nick?" She yelled.
"Give our brother a chance to explain his treacherous behaviour, Rebekah. He who drives a stake through our hearts at the mere mention of us leaving his side must have a perfectly good explanation for abandoning us." Elijah spoke smoothly, but Klaus recognised the threat and hurt beneath that perfectly calm sounding voice.
Rebekah opened her mouth to retort, before Elijah silenced her with a glare. The pair watched him expectantly, still as statues.
Klaus felt a million possible lies and excuses course through his mind, before he settled on the truth. If he was to be a new person, he had to start acting like one.
"I love her." He whispered hoarsely, not attempting to hide the threat in his voice. They would be fools to try and hurt Caroline now, and he had to make certain that they knew it.
Elijah turned his face to Rebekah and joy seared across his face. So fast that Klaus wasn't sure he had witnessed it. She raised her eyebrow in return, smirking.
"We put two and two together, brother." Rebekah murmured, shrugging her shoulders. "We just wanted to hear you admit it, that's all." She stated indifferently.
Klaus was no fool, he knew his siblings, and not one of them, especially not Rebekah, would accept his abandonment after all he had done to them. He was a hypocrite, and he knew it.
"What are you two up to?" He asked venomously, in a voice that echoed the unspoken words of stay away from Caroline. Klaus' mind drifted to the girl for an instant, and he suddenly found an irrevocable need to be with her deep inside of him.
While Klaus' mind was somewhat distracted for an instant, Rebekah struck. Klaus keeled over with the sheer force of the blow, flying backwards into a crouch. He recovered quickly, and poised for a return attack. Rebekah lounged against one of the many doorframes before him, her eyebrows raised.
"You must have it bad, to let yourself get distracted like that, Nick." Her chest heaved as she laughed bitterly. "I'm not going to go near Caroline, don't worry. With that tramp distracted, I might finally have a chance to zone in on Matt."
Klaus barely felt his feet move beneath him as he rushed at Rebekah. Nobody would call Caroline a tramp in front of him, especially not his little, jealous sister. He was preparing to strike a blow to her temple, when he was grabbed from behind by Elijah. Klaus laughed amusedly, his siblings were such fools to think they could beat him. He had been distracted when Rebekah struck at him, but he was fully prepared for battle now.
Klaus forced an elbow back into Elijah that broke a few of his ribs. Elijah fell back momentarily, and Klaus broke from his grasp. He pushed both Elijah and Rebekah away from him, and backed from the room. His need to be with Caroline outweighed his desire for vengeance. He'd finally found something that mattered more.
"Let me get this straight" Elena muttered sardonically, "you went with Klaus willingly, just like that?" She clicked her fingers, her features arranged into pure disbelief.
Caroline nodded determinedly, keeping her eyes fixed on the girl in front of hers. She wanted them to believe her, to accept it, and acting fearful wouldn't aid her in that.
"Why would you do that, Caroline?" Bonnie asked from the corner, although Caroline knew from her face that she already knew the answer. She'd been silent since Caroline had summoned them all to the school, and Caroline felt a burst of remorse inside her as she looked at her friend's face. She tried to imagine how she would feel, being them in this situation. Hurt, confused, and most of all, betrayed.
"I love him." She stated confidently. Elena stepped forward, her arms outstretched. Caroline thought she was going to hit her, but she simply enveloped her into a warm embrace.
"He's compelled you, Caroline, oh god. How long ago did you stop drinking the vervain?" Elena asked, watching the girl worriedly.
Caroline started, she should have expected this. "I never stopped drinking vervain, Elena."
Elena's eyebrows furrowed in bewilderment. "But then… how?" She asked, her mouth arranged in an 'o' shape.
"She's telling the truth. She loves the bastard." A deep voice boomed from the doorway, and Caroline recognised Damon's reproachful tone in the classroom. She looked at Elena accusingly.
"I don't recall you being invited." Caroline snapped, betrayal flowing through her wildly. She'd texted Bonnie and Elena to meet her so she could explain; specifically stating that she wanted it to be just the two of them.
"And I don't recall you deciding to go on a honeymoon with the hybrid who put us all through hell." Damon yelled accusingly. This was exactly the reason why Caroline had wanted to meet her friends in private. She didn't need Damon's sarcastic, accusing tone while she was trying to explain.
"I had to tell him, Caroline." Elena muttered, somewhat guiltily. "When we realised that you and Klaus had both vanished, and then we get a text from you saying to meet you alone. Well, we didn't know what to expect." She finished weakly.
"It sure as hell wasn't this." Damon stated angrily. His eyes seemed to delve deep into hers, as though they were trying to seek out any weakness. Caroline stood taller, and stared straight back at him defiantly.
"Before you go and judge me, at least let me explain." She exclaimed, looking around at them all, her friends. Just now, any previous hope of convincing them seemed entirely pointless, but she had to try.
"I didn't go because I was in love with Klaus. I went with him to keep you guys safe." She began quietly. "I knew that he loved me already, and I'll admit that I had a connection with him. There was… something. I don't know what, exactly, but I couldn't fight it." Caroline lowered her eyes for a moment, remembering the intensity of his gaze on the morning he'd come to her bedroom. How she'd felt as though she might fall into his eyes at any second.
Damon rolled his eyes; "get on with it, blondie."
Caroline shot him a reproachful look, but continued; "I left with him because I knew that he would come. I knew that when we left, you would be safe. It was Klaus' presence here that was causing the problems, not his family. I knew that they would leave you alone, too."
Bonnie was watching Caroline with such a judgmental intensity that it frightened Caroline, before she remembered the way that Bonnie had felt when she was reunited with her mom. She shot her an apologetic look, and felt tears threaten to break through her calm surface.
"Okay…" Elena murmured, but Caroline knew that she still didn't understand. "So skip to the part about how exactly you fell in love with the bad guy."
Caroline felt the heavy air of judgment and criticism enter her lungs, and she succumbed to it, tears rolling down her face. She couldn't compose herself, and absent-mindedly she wondered what on earth had happened to the Caroline with the fierce determination, the Caroline with the fight inside of her.
"Exactly how you fell in love with Damon, I presume." A new voice slurred from the doorway, and the comforting image of Klaus greeted Caroline's watery eyes. She was saved.
Just to clarify, this story ISN'T complete. New chapter coming soon :)