Second Part of the 4x16 reaction drabble. Caroline has the most unexpected prom night thanks to Klaus.
Caroline slowly patted the curls round her head, trying to look happier than she felt. It was prom night after all. The beauty queen was in front of her vanity, curls twisted on her head in a delicate fashion, the pale blue of her dress highlighting the fairness of her skin and the gold sine of her hair. Senior prom, the night of nights of high school and all she could do was sit there staring at herself feeling absolutely alone and broken.
All she wanted to do was cry because she was not okay. Her downward spiral cast her further down the rabbit hole as time went on-the light at the top rapidly disappearing. Tyler was gone. Elena refused to talk to her, and Bonnie….that was whole other can of worms that she couldn't think about without feeling horribly guilty.
Stefan was her only lifeline because after swearing off Klaus, he had thrown all three of them together in the battle with Silas. However much she tried to ignore the hybrid the man had a string on her heart that pulled her towards him, liking and hating him in equal parts.
A soft knock rapped on her door, Caroline looking in her mirror to see her mother walk in. Liz's smile disappeared seeing the saddened downward cast of her daughter's eyes.
"You can stay home if you want. I can take off work and we can watch your favorite movie." she whispered softly, unsure of what her daughter was feeling.
Caroline nodded stiffly before shaking her head, replacing the frown with a small smile. "Thanks Mom but is its prom. I'm going. Matt should be in a few minutes. I'll be okay and have a fabulous night."
She knew there was no sincerity behind her words, but she didn't want her mom to stay home on her account. She could handle this, she walk onto that dance floor with Matt on her arm, two best friends who in the end were there for each other.
The chime of the doorbell went off sending Caroline's stomach into a pitfall. She really just wanted to crawl into her bed and watch the Notebook and think on better days. But the cheer captain not showing for the prom? Unheard of. Caroline glanced towards her mom.
Liz smiled, "Don't worry, I'll get it."
Caroline gave her a true smile then, relieved that she could push of the inevitability of the night just a little further. She closed her eyes listening to the scrap of the front door across the floor as Liz opened it.
"Matt?" there was a pregnant pause, "I don't understand, why aren't you dressed?"
Caroline's eyes snapped open in alarm, rushing out of the room. She was confused to see Matt standing at the door in his regular clothes, not the in the suit and the coordinating tie he was supposed to be in. Matt caught Caroline's eyes on her mother's shoulder. "Care, I…"
His words trailed off and Caroline approached closer to the door. Panic began to set in, not understanding what was going on. Instead of providing any further explanation, Matt step aside to reveal none other than Tyler. Caroline felt her face light up at the sight of his face but the same emotion she usually felt for him wasn't there.
"Tyler!" she called out rushing towards him, throwing herself into his arms. She leaned into kiss him, knowing all she needed was a kiss to feel everything again, but Tyler backed away before she could touch his lips. He titled his head down, not letting his eyes meet hers.
Caroline stood there more confused now than ever. "What's wrong?"
Tyler didn't answer. Caroline's eyes bugged out, "Wait, how are you here? Klaus will-"
"Klaus is why I'm here." He raised his head, sullen guilt all over his face.
Caroline scrunched her eyebrows, none of this was making sense and the inner panic was starting to rise again. She worried that Klaus had done something again and she was going to have to go back and yell at him. "I don't understand. What are you talking about?"
Tyler shifted his feet, turning his head to look anywhere but at her face. "He found me Care, but he didn't kill me. The bastard is letting me come back. I don't know what you did but thank you."
Tyler stopped, closing his mouth. Caroline could tell there was more to the story. She watched him huff a couple times, as if he was gathering his courage to admit something.
"He found me within two weeks and told me I was free."
"Are you kidding me?" she bellowed. It was instantaneous, all her pent up emotion from the past month and a half bursting at that single statement. She was completely livid and for once not at Klaus, well no she was mad at him too, but at that moment all her anger was directed at the boy in front of her.
"Why didn't you come back? I've waited for you. Do you realize what hell I have gone through all this time? Leaving Matt the deed of the house, telling me you were never coming back…"
Tyler went back to shuffling his feet and avoiding her gaze. Caroline's eyes burned into his skull, no longer caring about the prom, only trying to understand what the hell had happened.
"I have the feeling I'm not going to like what you are about to say." she finally managed to spit out, arms crossed over her chest. Thankfully her mother and Matt had disappeared somewhere into the house and out of sight.
"I can't stay Care."
"Excuse me, you come all this way to say hi, Klaus freed me but I can't stay sorry?," she snipped, "Wait did he compel you?"
Tyler shook his head, finally meeting her eyes again, cringing at the sternness of her face. "I had a hard time wanting to come back."
It took everything Caroline had not to rip his head off, but Tyler continued before she could speak.
"I found a pack up north. They need me Care. They took me in and now I'm their leader, they look up to me. I don't have that here. I gave Matt the house to protect you and him, take it. It's the last best thing I can do for you."
Caroline didn't know whether to cry or rage. She decided she was too angry to cry. It was all about his pack again, she should have known it would come down to this.
"But I need you." she retorted.
Tyler finally looked straight into her eyes for the first time since his arrival. He smirked and shook his head, "That's the one thing that you don't need. You have no life with me. I'm a wolf, Caroline and we both know in the end it would never work. You'd be dead within a year living with a pack. Wolves don't like vampires. They'd never take you in, even if you were mine."
Caroline crumpled inside, but surprisingly it hurt a lot less then she thought it would. In fact calmness settled over her heart at his words. She was never going to be enough for him and there was no point in trying any longer. It was time to move on; the memory of their relationship could no longer be her crutch from accepting the world around her.
Tyler peered at her with his dark eyes, sighing when she continued to give him no response. Leaning forward he gently kissed her on the cheek before backing away, "Good-bye Caroline."
Standing there in her beautiful ball gown, Caroline was left on the porch too hurt by Tyler's actions to move. It was Matt's gentle voice calling her from behind that woke her from her trance, realizing at some point she had started to cry, fat splotches staining her dress. Caroline turned to Matt, seeing her mother standing further off in the house, both of them wearing concerned frowns.
Caroline couldn't take it. Ignoring both of them she rushed past them into her room, closing her door. Leaning against the closed door, her whole body began to shake with wracking sobs. She didn't care if anyone heard her.
Looking at her reflection in the mirror Caroline saw darkened stains on her dress, mascara running down her cheeks. She hated it; furiously she attacked the zipper on the side of her body. She never wanted to be anywhere near the school, near any reminder of Tyler.
Searching through her closest she ran her fingers across the various fabrics trying to find something to wear that would make her feel pretty again. Strumming along her thoughts kept fixating on the fact Tyler had know for a couple weeks that he was safe and never bothered to contact her.
Instantly her body froze, clutching her clothes in a tight grip. Her mind settled on that night at Klaus' home. He had asked her what he needed to do to make it up to her.
"What must I do to earn your forgiveness?" he asked.
"Let Tyler live."
The words burned in her mind, paralyzing Caroline. That meant- without out another thought Caroline grabbed the closest dress she laid her hands on, throwing it over head and shimming it down her body. Racing to the mirror, she wiped the tears from her face, quickly dabbing more makeup on to make herself presentable.
Opening the door, she saw both Matt and her mom on the couch, both looking at her in surprise at her appearance. Matt stood up and walked over to her, giving her a tight hug.
"What can we do for you? I'll do whatever you need me to Care."
Caroline felt her heart flutter at the undying compassion of her friend. A bright smiled graced her features, comforted by his concern.
"I'm okay, really. I need to go do something, something I should have done a long time ago," she said brightly.
Matt furrowed his brow, nodding reluctantly. Caroline squeezed him once more, before dashing out into the night. She reached her car, before deciding it would be faster if she ran. Blurring off, she headed towards the Mikaelson manor with all her supernatural speed.
The run gave her time to collect her racing thoughts, the pounding in her heart not from running but the overwhelming amount of emotions. But the lights of the manor appeared before she could decide what she was going to say to him, the thoughts were such a jumble in her head.
Stepping up to the house, she rapped on the door just twice before the door was flung open by Klaus, the sight of boxes and moving supplies all around him.
"Caroline, now really isn't the best time, love," he said tiredly but letting her into the house none the less.
Caroline nodded not trusting her mouth; the sight of him squashed all prepared sentences in her head. He stood there tilting his head, hands behind his back waiting for her to speak. Caroline flustered under his gaze, understanding of his actions for the past month and a half putting things into perspective.
In a flurry of emotion all she could think was two words, the words slipping from her mouth, "Thank you."
Klaus frowned slightly, but his eyes lit up. He was remaining guarded, not that Caroline blamed him after the words she had thrown in his direction. Her tongue though remained glued to the top of her mouth, unable to say anything else. It was too raw and real and there was so much that had happened she didn't know the right words to say.
She shifted from one foot to the other, Klaus stalking towards her his face remaining cold and empty.
"I take it then Tyler has finally decided to grace us with his presence, " were the bitter words from his mouth.
Caroline managed to nod her head, never letting her eyes leave his. It was so easy now to look at him and not falter under his gaze when he was aiming to look dead inside.
He stood there for minute before nodding his head in silent affirmation. "You've said your piece, now leave me be. As you can see I have lots of packing to do. You have your precious boyfriend back. But sweetheart I give you one warning, and this will be my only warning. If he so much as crosses me once I will kill me instantly. "
Klaus moved towards the door, opening it to let her back outside but Caroline did not budge from her spot. Their eyes locked, trying to stare down the other but Caroline refused to back down. She needed to know why.
"All this time you never said anything to me," she bluntly told him.
She watched his hands tightened around the door, slowly crushing the wood in his fingertips, splinters pricking his skin and scenting the air faintly with his blood.
"I asked what I needed to do to earn your forgiveness. Now please Caroline, let me be," he growled out.
Klaus was adamant about her leaving the house, his hand still gesturing her towards the door. Caroline refused to let him sway her by a silent tantrum. Walking over to him, she stood right in his face, placing her hand over his and applying pressure to the specific spot on his wrist that instantly forced his fingers to let go of the door.
She watched his eyes widened in surprise at her besting his strength, letting her grab the door and shut it, blocking out the night.
"He's already left."
The mask dropped, uncertainty clouding his face. Caroline waited for him to respond, hoping he would say anything but he remained silent.
"All this time," she breathed words coming out at a slow pace trying to collect her thoughts as she went, "You let me yell at you. I said I hated you. Then when Stefan had us work together about Silas you still said nothing when you were…"
She left the words be unspoken neither of them wanting to recount their run in with Silas. His eyes pierced into her and Caroline felt heat tingling across her whole body except this time she had no guilt associated with it. Her eyes flickered across his face taking in every inch of him, blatant in her movements, letting her blue eyes settle on his lips before glancing back up at his stormy ones.
Caroline felt her breath hitch at the intensity of his gaze, she might be able to handle his cold stares with ease but the raw power of emotion enveloping her from him was enough to make her knees buckle and want to never leave his side.
Shifting her head upwards, Caroline watched him lick his full lips and she was lost but apparently so was he. Muttering under his breath, Caroline was able to pick up "bloody hell" before he closed the gap between them, grabbing her face in his hands, capturing her lips in his.
Her heartbeat pulsed erratically, the sinful movement of his lips undoing her, Caroline grasping onto to him craving more of his mouth, his smell, his everything. It was untamed fury of emotions drowning each other. Klaus' hand slid down from her face to her side and anchoring her flush against his body. She could feel every line of him, his shape making her heady and lightheaded.
His tongue pressed her lips for entrance, Caroline granting him what he wanted, the warmth of exploring her mouth. It was everything and more, a sense of completeness she had not felt before. She couldn't decide if she wanted her hands on his chest, in the curls of his hair, or against the stubble on his face. Determined to claim all of him she moved over his body in desperate fervor, Klaus mirroring her, flashing her against the door, rolling his body down hers.
Caroline gasped in his mouth and felt him smirk against her lips. When his hand reached up under her shirt to caress the skin beneath and trail hot, biting kisses down her neck, Caroline finally had a moment of clarity.
She just had closure with Tyler. If this was going to work with Klaus she needed to sort everything out in her heart. Right now she was acting own pure pent up lust and emotion; there was no heads or tails of it.
"No." she called out, pushing him away from her, moaning at the lost of his heat.
Klaus growled at her, his labored breathing matching her pants. Caroline tried to calm herself, giving him a genuine smile before speaking, "Not yet, okay? I'm not ready for all of this."
She gestured between them, "You are...well you, and if I'm going to do this I need to be ready."
Klaus' face had stiffened again, the tight line of his mouth failing, his lips swollen from kissing her. Closing the distance between them, Klaus played with one of the ruined curls Caroline had done for a dance she never attended.
"I won't lose you again," the faint sound came from his mouth.
It was the most vulnerable statement she had heard from him and it tossed her insides around more than they already were and had the strongest urge to pull his lips down to hers again. But she had to do this right, he was the one person who she had always been enough for and she wanted that desperately.
Closing her eyes to not be tempted by his face, she sternly stated, "And I need to understand everything going through my head."
Klaus was relentless though, placing soft kisses on her the sides of her mouth, across her jaw line towards her ear. "Come with me. It's New Orleans, the supernatural safe haven of the world."
Caroline titled her head back enjoying the treatment he was giving her. She shook her head, placing her hand on his chest like she had weeks before.
"I can't, not yet."
Klaus growled, Caroline feeling it through her whole body, "I don't think you heard me love, I won't lose you."
Caroline smiled cupping the side of his face, running a finger over his fine gold stubble. "You won't, you'll find me when the time is right."
She placed another kiss on his lips before slipping out of his grasp and out the door. She felt happier and lighter than she had all year. Bringing her fingers to her lips, she recalled the touch of his on hers, the swollen plumpness sure to last for a few hours. There was never anything lost that couldn't be found again and one day he would find her and then, she would be ready.