"CAROLINE!" Elena shouted, jumping on her best friend the second she opened the door. Caroline would have toppled over had Klaus not been behind her to lightly press his hands on her back. Elena released her from her death grip and looked past her at Klaus. "Um, hello, Klaus."
"And hello to you too, Elena. You look lovely as always." Klaus said, his voice oozing charm.
"Uh, thanks." Elena said, stepping aside and allowing the two to walk in to the Salvatore Boarding House. She asked Caroline, "How's Paris?"
"Wonderful! It's like nothing I've ever seen. You have to come visit. You and Bonnie, if she's even speaking to me, that is."
"I'm sure she will be." Elena said, smiling.
From another room, Damon and another man walked out. A vampire by the looks of him. Klaus was next to him in an instant. He said, "And who might this be?"
"Klaus meet Enzo; Enzo meet Klaus, an Original Hybrid and an absolute psychopath." Damon said, grinning as he kept on walking past the two.
Caroline rolled her eyes. "Don't start that, Damon."
Enzo's eyes settle on Caroline as she spoke and they lit up. "And who might you be, beautiful?"
"Caroline Forbes." She said, meeting his gaze with a questionable stare.
"And why have I not seen you before now?"
"Because we live in Paris." Klaus said, trying to avert Enzo's attention. He didn't like the way he was looking at Caroline.
"Both of you? Together?" Enzo asked. He now stood next to Caroline. "You could do better than that old man."
Klaus had crossed the room so fast no one saw him. Enzo was flat on his back, Klaus crouched over him, his hand on Enzo's neck. Caroline put his hand on Klaus' forearm. "Klaus, don't! Just drop it. It doesn't matter."
"He speaks ill of me yet you think it doesn't matter? Do you really think that little of me?"
"Of course not. We just have more important matters to deal with!" Caroline said, frowning. "My mother has a Traveler inside of her. Is that not important to you?"
Klaus released Enzo and stood next to Caroline, placing a protective arm around her waist. "Of course it is — if it's important to you, it's important to me."
"So, what's the plan?" Caroline asked, sitting down on one of the couches, dragging Klaus with her. Damon and Elena sat on the other couch, on opposite ends, allowing Enzo to sit in the middle. Caroline gave Elena a look but decided to save the questioning for later.
"Jeremy is taking care of it." Damon said, not looking at Caroline.
Klaus scoffed. "Jeremy can barely pass a subject in school. Yet you trust him with something of this magnitude? Are you mad?"
"He can do it." Elena said, defensively. Silence settled on the crowd.
"Well this is sufficiently awkward." Enzo said after several minutes. "There's no point in sitting around and waiting for a phone call. Shall we play pool, gentlemen?"
Caroline nudged Klaus, who sighed and stood. He followed Enzo and Damon over to the pool table. Elena took the spot Klaus had just vacated. "You look like you're about to burst, Caroline."
"What's going on with you and Damon?"
Elena sighed and looked over at the vampire in question. "We broke up and had sex."
"In that order?"
"Yes."
Caroline just nodded. "Okay. Then what happened?" She turned toward Elena and sat cross legged on the couch.
"Then he offered to drive me back to Whitmore but I told him that I couldn't be around him."
Caroline wrapped Elena in a hug. "I'm sorry, Elena. I know it must be hard."
Elena nodded into Caroline's shoulder as she hugged her tightly back. "The thing that makes it even harder is that I've been having weird dopplegänger dreams about Stefan."
Caroline released Elena quickly to properly look at her. "What?"
"Yeah, I've been dreaming about some alternate life with Stefan. It's been bizarre."
"Where is Stefan?"
"He was at the Traveler camp but he should be here soon." She said, blushing.
Caroline placed her hands on Elena's shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "Do you like him?"
"The universe is drawing us together, Caroline. It's hard not to feel some attraction to him. And now that Stefan's dopplegänger is dead, the universe is working extra hard."
The front door opened and the other dopplegänger walked in. He spotted Caroline and the biggest smile spread across his face. He ran at her and pulled her into a hug. He twirled her around then set her down. "Aren't you a sight for sore eyes!"
"I missed you too, Stefan!" She gave him another quick squeeze before saying, "Now what's going on with these dopplegänger dreams?"
"Ah," he looked at Elena, "we're at this already, are we?"
"Yeah…"
"Well apparently we're being drawn together…" Stefan began.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Skip to the good stuff." Caroline said, waving it off. "Are these, like, sex dreams?"
Elena and Stefan shifted uncomfortably. Stefan finally said, "Sometimes."
"That's hot!"
"Not when it happens in public and you, um, are brought to completion." Elena said, uncomfortably again.
"Oh, that's awkward." Caroline said.
"Yeah…" Stefan muttered.
A shrill ringtone cut through the silence. Elena scrambled to answer her phone. "Jeremy?"
Everyone in the room stilled and waited for Elena to tell them some news. She hung up and slid the phone back into her pocket. Elena turned to Caroline and said, "Tyler got the Traveler out of your mom."
Caroline sighed in relief. Elena continued, "But, that meant stabbing her with the Traveler Knife. Tyler is taking her to the hospital right now."
Caroline was out the door in a flash without so much as a word.
"We certainly won't leave Mystic Falls without a goodbye. Perhaps I should say that Caroline won't leave without a goodbye." Klaus said, looking around the room. He rushed after her.
Liz Forbes lay in the hospital bed, sleeping off a stabbing when her daughter came barreling into the room. She woke with a jolt and looked around, dazed. "Caroline…"
"Mom!" Caroline said, grabbing her mom's hand. "Are you okay?"
"I'll be fine, honey." She said, smiling at her daughter. "What are you doing here?"
"Elena had called me and told me about the Traveler business. We came home as soon as we could."
"We?" Liz asked. "Where is your elusive boyfriend and why have you not introduced him to me yet? You've moved to another country with him and I don't even know his name, Caroline."
"Um, Mom. I thought that you wouldn't approve." Liz just looked at her blankly. "You know him already. And you don't exactly get along."
It dawned on Liz quickly and she just shook her head. "No, don't tell me that it's…"
"I'm afraid so, Elizabeth." Klaus said, strolling into the room. "I'm glad that you're going to be fine."
"Get out!" Liz said, glaring at him. "You murdered my friend; I should arrest you!"
"That would be highly ambitious of you." He said, chuckling.
"Stop it, Klaus." Caroline said, so quiet that only he could hear it.
"Liz, I cannot change how I acted in the past, but I can assure you that I am a changed man." He said, walking over to her.
Caroline squeezed her mother's hand. "Mom, he's telling the truth. I don't know how to describe it, but he's nothing like he used to be. He's more…I don't know the word. But there's just something about him that snapped and he's become this wonderful thing that I don't ever want to let go."
"Your daughter has been the most positive influence I've ever had the pleasure of receiving. And that's why I love her." Klaus said, quietly. Both Liz and Caroline shot a look at him. Caroline's eyes widened and her mouth opened slightly.
"You love me?" She asked. Her mother squeezed her hand before releasing it. Caroline was next to Klaus in an instant.
"Of course." He said, a small smile forming on his lips. "I always have. Being with you is one of the few things that makes me happy. I'm glad that you came to find me in New Orleans."
A tear rolled down Caroline's cheek and Klaus wiped it away. She leaned up and kissed him lightly, well aware that her mother was watching. But Liz wasn't judging them — her hand was over her mouth and she was overwhelmed by the moment they were sharing. Her only child was happy and that could make a single mother proud.
Caroline broke their kiss and whispered against his lips, "I love you, too."