A/N: This one is a bit of a continuation from the previous chapter. It's a bit long, sorry for that, but it just kind-of got away from me and developed a mind of its own. Enjoy!
It had been a couple weeks since Caroline first arrived in New Orleans, and for the life of her she couldn't figure out why she hadn't come sooner. Fear of the unknown was a powerful deterrent for her, but it turned out that love, or rather the beginnings of love, was stronger still.
Yes, she had accepted it. She was totally and completely falling for Klaus. The one time super villain of Mystic falls had committed his greatest crime in stealing her heart almost without her even knowing it. When small town life became suffocating and Tyler just wasn't enough for her, she knew exactly where to go and who to turn to.
And so it was with a bright, genuine smile that she took Klaus's arm when he offered it and let him lead her along the streets of New Orleans for what could only be classified as a legitimate date. He informed her that he had the whole day planned out but fully insisted on keeping it a surprise. She didn't even put up a fight on it. He was practically giddy at the chance to take her out and his mood was greatly affecting hers. She couldn't remember the last time she'd smiled so much.
Turned out, Klaus was definitely a sap when it came to being romantic. His old world charm made even the most seemingly cliché things absolutely beautiful and perfect. For instance, a walk in the park became a grand historical tour, brilliantly commentated on by one who'd actually been there. She sipped on a lemonade while listening to his wildly spun tales of the "glory days" of New Orleans.
As they walked home from dinner that evening, they happened across some street musicians playing classic 20s tunes.
"Dance with me?" Klaus asked, that endearing puppy look on his face.
Caroline giggled and took his hand. She was ever a sucker for the puppy dog look, since its first appearance when he inquired the details of their "first" date to the Miss Mystic Falls pageant. Caroline let the music of the golden decade wash over her as she danced in the arms of her hybrid. It felt odd to think of him as her boyfriend, but in every sense of the word that's what he was. They may not have dated all that conventionally, but she didn't want to spend time with anyone else. She didn't want to dance with anyone else either. They matched each other step for step, enjoying the sweetness of the moment and the sheer bliss of each other's company.
Klaus, she mused, was everything that had been missing in her previous relationships. He was sure and solid; he challenged her every day, in ways that she'd never even thought of. He was experienced but so vulnerable. And still, one of the most important things about him for her was that he chose her first. He pursued her simply because she fascinated him and because he wanted to know everything there was to know about her, not to use her against someone else or because she'd helped him though a difficult transition. But because he really wanted her. It was a thought that she still found herself marveling at, and still made her smile.
Despite his joke that "getting a drink" was their thing, Caroline firmly believed that dancing was their thing. They always seemed to have their best moments when dancing was involved. It was no surprise to her when he brushed his lips across her ear to whisper to her.
"I'm not sure I told you love, but you look stunning tonight."
She smiled and ducked her head, still not quite used to the way he complimented her. She tilted her head back up to look him in the eyes.
"Thank you. Thank you for sharing so much with me. You'll never know how much it means to me"
He smiled; genuinely; something that seemed to happen a bit more frequently around her. "Any time, love."
The musicians decided to call it quits when they realized that the only ones still present most likely weren't even paying attention to the music anymore, both simply too lost in each other to really notice anything else. It was quite a while afterwards that either Klaus or Caroline acknowledged the silence, glanced around at the deserted street, and laughed.
They walked hand-in-hand down the street; back to what Caroline had quite easily began to call home, basking in the light and peace that surrounded them. It seemed only fitting that in the life that belonged to Caroline Forbes, any perfectly blissful moment was required to be short-lived.
Klaus yanked her to a halt, his head cocked just slightly, listening with hybrid senses that reached further than her own vampiric ones. Seconds later, she could hear it too: faint footsteps, growing in number as they inched closer. Klaus looked her in the eyes, wordlessly telling her to do what he said and he'd get her out of there. She nodded, trusting him as no one else ever had.
They came through every nook and cranny in the buildings that surrounded them; eyes set with anger and thirsting for blood. It was a pack of werewolves the likes of which Caroline had never seen and they encircled the area, their target clear. Caroline squeezed Klaus's hand as a spike of fear shot through her. Tyler was leading them. He was their alpha and they would die for him if necessary.
"Good to see you Tyler. Come for a friendly visit I see. You'll have to excuse my lack of hospitality; you see, I'm out with my lovely girlfriend, and I'd hate for this night to be ruined for her. Wouldn't you?"
"I don't give a crap, Klaus. You've been screwing up my life since the day I met you. I'm done running from you. We're here to make you pay."
Caroline was shaking, whether it was from fear or anger, she wasn't entirely sure at the moment. She knew Klaus could survive this; her confidence in his abilities never wavering. But her feelings for him couldn't bear the thought of him being hurt.
"Caroline," Tyler's voice pulled her from her frantic thoughts. "I never wanted to hurt you, and I still don't. Get out of here while you can. You have my word that no one will follow you."
There was a time when Tyler's voice could calm her nerves and soothe her soul. It was the realization of the fact that his offer did the very opposite that decided for her.
"No Tyler. You had my answer back in Mystic Falls. It hasn't changed. I came here to figure things out with Klaus and you know what? I've figured them out. I love him Tyler. So if you kill him, you're going to have to kill me too."
Both Tyler and Klaus wore near identical expressions of shock, the difference being that Tyler's was tinged with sorrow while Klaus's grew into a radiant smile.
The tears grew in Tyler's eyes as he looked at the girl he loved and knew, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that he would never have her again. And so…he decided to go down fighting.
His voice was all at once dark and emotionless. "Kill them both."
Klaus grabbed Caroline's arm to get her attention. "Hide, call Elijah, he should be with Rebekah somewhere around here. If you ask, they will come. I'll hold them off. Fight only when you have to, please don't come back here. I'll be fine." He kissed her quickly. "Go!"
She flashed to a rooftop a few blocks away. Far enough away from prying werewolf noses but close enough to where she could see what was going on between the werewolves and her hybrid. Her fingers fumbled on her phone as she scrolled to Elijah's number. He picked up on the first ring.
"Miss Forbes, to what do I owe the pleasure? Aren't you on a date with Niklaus?"
"Not now Elijah. Klaus is in trouble. T-tyler ambushed us with a pack of werewolves. Klaus told me to run and call you and Rebekah. Please, please you have to come help." Her words were broken up by harsh breaths and near sobs.
"We're on our way. Stay out of it Caroline. Niklaus can handle himself."
She tried, she really did. But less than a minute of watching Klaus fight off wave after wave of vicious werewolves had her tearing across rooftops faster than she had first gotten there. She ended up on the roof of a building directly above the melee. Deciding that just dropping in probably wouldn't really benefit anyone she instead broke chunks of concrete off of the low walls around her and started lobbing them at the heads of unsuspecting werewolves. To keep them guessing, she flashed to several surrounding rooftops and did the same. It may not have done much, but at the very least, it created enough chaos to make things a bit easier on Klaus.
Seeing the numbers somewhat thinned, she flashed through the crowd, breaking necks as she went, hoping that she could sneak up on them rather than be seen. The element of surprise was all she had. She chanced a moment to look for Klaus in the mayhem. He was still standing and fighting in full on hybrid mode, black eyes and golden irises and all. He was busy tearing through a group of five werewolves when she saw Tyler, of all people it had to be Tyler, sneaking up from the back.
Caroline knew she had a choice to make: Tyler or Klaus. It took her less than a second to choose and a couple more to intercept the stake that was aimed right Klaus's heart. She stuck her hand in between the stake and his back which was enough to halt its momentum and keep it from even touching Klaus. A hiss of pain and a smile: she succeeded. Tyler loosened his grip on the stake and stepped back, shocked at what he'd done, even more so at what Caroline had done. In that moment, Klaus, and now Elijah and Rebekah, finished dispatching the last of the pack. All were either incapacitated or dead.
Klaus looked to his siblings to thank them, but they were staring behind him at Tyler's flabbergasted expression and Caroline's still injured hand. Klaus followed their gaze and flashed to Caroline's side. He took her hand in his and gently but quickly removed the stake.
"How did this happen love?"
She watched the wound begin to heal before looking into Klaus's eyes. "He tried to stake you. I just didn't want you getting hurt." Her voice was quiet, her eyes welling with tears. Klaus wiped the tears from her eyes and cleaned the blood off her hand before turning his full attention on his wayward hybrid. Tyler's eyes were wide in panic, he had failed and now he was going to pay for that, surrounded by the Original family and his ex-girlfriend.
Caroline put her hand on Klaus's arm to stop him from approaching and she stepped forward instead. He let her go, but stayed close behind just in case.
"Tyler please, just get out of here. Never come back and you'll survive, I promise."
"Care, I-I can't do that. How can you expect me to be able to do that? After everything he did to me, you want me to just forget all about it and run away. I'm not gonna do that Caroline. I will not stop until he's dead."
Caroline sighed, that's how she figured this was going to go, but she had to try. "You don't have to forgive him Tyler, but killing him and the entire line of vampires that he sired, including me by the way, won't bring your mom back. I'm sorry if you can't accept that."
She stood right in front of him, not a foot away. "Please Tyler, just leave and put all of this behind you."
"I can't Caroline. I don't have anything else to live for if I don't see this through. I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry too," she said as she lunged forward and drove her hand into his chest. "I can't see anyone else die over some stupid revenge fantasy. I hope you find some kind of peace Tyler Lockwood, you at least deserve that." She yanked her hand back out, blood covered and gripping her ex-boyfriend's heart.
He fell to the ground, eyes still wide in shock but devoid of any light. Caroline dropped beside him, running her clean hand along his face and repeating "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry" over and over again. Klaus sat beside her and pried the heart out of her hand to lay it beside the fallen hybrid.
"Come, love, we'll give him a proper burial. Let's get you cleaned up first."
He wound his arm around her to guide her into standing and walking back home. He looked to Elijah and gestured toward the body: a silent request to pick him up and bring him home to be buried. Elijah complied without a word.
They walked in silence, she hardly paying attention to where she put her feet and he never letting her go. Caroline tried keeping her mind blank and her feelings numb to what she had done, but her compassion and empathy were strong and the guilt was leaking in anyway.
He sat her down on the couch where they'd had their first real intimate moment in New Orleans while he went to fetch a bowl of water and a cloth. When he came back, she sat simply staring at the blood on her hands. She couldn't get it out of her mind that her tiny, delicate hands had just ripped through someone's chest and ended their life. Not to mention that it was someone she knew and someone she had once loved deeply. She was broken out of her brooding when Klaus sat on the coffee table in front of her and took one of her hands in his own and began cleaning the blood off. She silently let him do it, allowing the repetitive motions attempt to soothe her fraying nerves.
Once clean and back to their pristine porcelain condition, Klaus sat the bowl aside and moved to sit beside Caroline on the couch, pulling her into his side to offer what comfort he could. He didn't expect her to speak for some time.
"You know, you cleaned all the blood off, but somehow they're still stained," she said softly, still staring at her hands.
Klaus took her chin in his hand and turned her to face him.
"I know you're hurting love, and I know what killing someone can do to a person, especially a person as attune to their feelings as you. I'm not going to tell you to just get over it, that time will pass and it will get easier, because for someone like you, taking a life will never be easy, and I pray that it will never become so for you. I don't want you to become as indifferent to it as I have. But if it helps, I do believe that you permitted Tyler mercy that he may have never gotten otherwise."
"What do you mean?"
"If I had killed him, he may have slipped into the next life full of rage and disappointment at having been bested by the man that essentially ruined his life. But you gave him several chances to run and in the end, you saved him from a lifetime of revenge, hatred, and bitterness. Perhaps now he will find the peace that has thus far eluded him in this life."
Caroline could feel some of the weight lifting off of her shoulders. She was resigned to feeling the guilt for this for quite a while, but she didn't have to let it completely take over her life. After all, she didn't just kill Tyler in cold blood; she was trying to save the man she loved. She sighed as she snuggled in closer to Klaus's side.
"You're being awfully nice about a guy who tried to kill you a couple of times."
"Bygones and all that, love. Besides, he was important to you and an important milestone in your life, I'll not cheat you out of your grief for him simply because we didn't particularly get along. And just because we tried to kill one another every now and then doesn't mean I didn't have some sort of respect for him. After all, he was my first hybrid and the first to break the sire bond. He had a great amount of strength for someone so young. And I always admire strength." He finished with a little smirk.
"You're all heart Klaus," she replied with a laugh.
He kissed her head and squeezed her tight, glad that she seemed to be coming back to herself.
"I should say this, I suppose. While I'm not entirely thrilled that you put yourself in danger, or that you were forced to do something that goes so far against your nature, I am exceedingly grateful for what you did for me. Thank you Caroline."
She looked up at him, his eyes shining and serious. She kissed him long and slow. "You're welcome."
The next day found the small group gathered around a grave in the backyard beneath a gigantic oak tree. The Originals remained silent; this was for Caroline. She said her last goodbyes to her first real love and placed two bouquets of flowers on the grave: one for Tyler and one for his mother. She didn't feel right not recognizing them both. She hoped with everything in her that Tyler was able to see her again somewhere on the other side.
She stood at the grave with Klaus by her side long after Elijah and Rebekah had returned inside. There was one last thing churning in her mind.
"How am I going to tell everyone back in Mystic Falls? Tyler was more than just my ex, he was their friend too. Should I go tell them in person?"
Klaus was silent for a moment as he contemplated the situation. On the one hand, he was legitimately concerned that if she left for Mystic Falls that she might not come back, but on the other, he knew this kind of news had to be given face to face.
"I think you should tell them yourself love. I could come with you, for moral support of course, but I'm not sure they would handle my presence very well in light of the situation."
"You're right, they do need to hear it directly from me and they definitely wouldn't like you being there. But I need you there. Will you come back with me to tell them?"
Klaus was taken aback at the request. He didn't expect to be invited along on her trip home.
"It will only be for a couple of days, promise. And we can even stay at your place, if it's still yours even, which I guess it is, I mean, why wouldn't it — ."
"Yes, Caroline," he said grabbing her shoulders to slow her down. "I will gladly go with you and we can stay wherever you like. Just so long as you can keep your friends from trying to kill me while we're there, I'll be perfectly content."
She laughed, "Well, I've already saved your life once, what's one more time?"