Drabble request from reader on tumblr. Klaus tells Caroline he won't be her second choice.
He was sitting in the chair, lost in the dying flames ignoring her presence. Caroline knew that he realized she was there his back stiffing when she entered the darkened room. But he was too hurt to acknowledge her any further. Another tear rolled down her already stained face as Caroline gently lay down a small slip of paper down on a nearby bureau. Gazing once more at the man in the chair she watched him bring a glass to his lips, drowning himself in the silent friend of alcohol.
Caroline felt her heart rend further than it already was, ashamed of her actions of earlier. Perhaps one day he would forgive her but right now they both were too broken inside to let themselves love each other. Peering closer at him she could see the strain of emotion on his face, the tight line of his profile both achingly beautiful and pained. The soft click of her heels alerted Caroline that she instinctively had taken a step towards him, her hand reaching out of its own accord.
Shaking her head, she dropped her hand and headed back towards the door she came from. Reaching the antique door she paused, the wave of grief gripping her. She opened her mouth to speak an ugly inhuman sound escaping instead, her voice betraying the repressed emotions of her heart. Choking the sound back down Caroline collected herself refusing to cry anymore.
"Good-bye," she whispered to the air.
Klaus had heard her every movement but dared not turn around until her scent left the room. The fire was finally dead and the room dark, the pale moonlight peaking through the windows. Dragging himself from his cramped position Klaus walked over to the bureau where Caroline laid a note on hours earlier. It was nothing more than a slip of paper but her scent hung heavily on it invading him with a fresh reminder of their conversation earlier.
Three weeks had gone by since that fateful night in the Gilbert home when everything changed. Three weeks of agonizing hell of trying to understand exactly what Caroline meant and the violate emotions of his heart when it came to her. He despised it all-the emotions costing him his control but he was unable to stop their flood. The mere mention of her name would create a strange pattering in the remains of his soul.
At first he wondered if she even remembered their conversation, if she was just saying it all to manipulate him or if it was a side effect of the hallucinations at her. Either way it was obvious she was conflicted as much as he was but she was unable to leave the side of her knight in shining armor. The sight sickened him, insatiable red fury clouding his mind. The more it went on it was clear his first hybrid recognized that Caroline was torn so he left.
Klaus was relieved and annoyed then when Caroline turned up on his door step but he let her in anyway. It wasn't until after many shots of Klaus' best liquor and a heated kiss that he realized why he was annoyed.
"I won't be your second choice Caroline," he snarled ignoring the wonderful bliss of her lips.
Caroline gaped at him, her fingers still pressed against her tingling lips from the heat of his. Her elation over finally tasting him gone, leaving a bitter taste with a cold frown gracing her swollen lips.
"You're not," she gritted out; arms crossed her chest clenching each other in frustration.
Klaus laughed, "Don't be naive; we both know that you are only here because you are lonely."
Her eyebrows flew into her hairline and she scrambled backwards from his comforting arms. But Klaus' tirade continued, "You are not Elena; do not stoop to her level by playing Tyler and I. I am not the Salvatores. If you come to me, I will be your only choice not a rebound or a project to save. I deserve that respect and chance."
He wanted her more than anything in the world but he wanted her completely not an itch she had to scratch. Caroline glared at him trying to rebuttal but found herself unable to so. Every word sliced through her very soul the truth to haunt her to her end. His words hurt more than he knew, using the very line she found herself believing so often about herself.
"I hate you," she cried in desperation trying to pull the pain into anger against him.
Klaus smirked, "No, sweetheart you don't and that is what makes this all the more tragic. We want to hate each other but are incapable of doing so. We will be forever linked you and I."
Caroline wanted to smack the smugness off his face but she would be lying because he was exactly right. He was so infuriating that way. She did like him, how much she didn't know but it was getting harder to deny. So instead she stomped her foot in a tantrum which led Klaus to smirk even further before dropping his lips into a tight line.
"You need to leave now," he coldly stated turning his back from her.
Klaus walked over to the fireplace to start a fire to drive the chill that settled over the room. When the flames at last roared to life and he turned back around Caroline was still standing there with arms crossed and unshed tears welling in her bright blue eyes. The broken girl before him made Klaus want to take back his words but he wanted this to be real too much.
Eying her with all the determination he possessed she finally huffed and stormed from the room, slamming the door in the process. Klaus pretended that he couldn't hear Caroline's tears.
A growl rose from his chest, that had been hours ago. He was left in an empty house, in a black room with a slip of paper that was to be the only reminder that she had been in the house earlier. Drifting closer to the window Klaus held the paper up to see Caroline's neat script-one day it read. Klaus scoffed crumpling the paper, walking back to the fireplace to toss it there.
Just as he was about to dispose of her good-bye promise he stopped. Maybe she meant it and it wasn't a platitude to soothe him. Either way Klaus found himself wishing for that one day, hoping it would be sooner than later.
By the way readers if you ever have any desire to have a particular drabble written just leave me message or request the prompt in the reviews section. I promise to write just about anything...except hardcore smut. Too many other talented people out there to write that.