Author's Note: Haha. Okay. So... Yeah, this chapter turned out completely different than I thought it would. I honestly don't know where half of this stuff came from, but I'm liking the direction this story is taking. I know where it's going to end, but how I get there is up to my keyboard.

Also, I just wanted to make something clear. This story IS Klaroline... but it's mostly about Caroline and the steps I want her to take in her new vampire life. She's not only losing every single aspect of her human life, but she has to figure out how to live without constant support. She has to learn how to be independent, and that journey fascinates me.

Enjoy!

Caroline used to think she was pretty accepting of change. Back in Mystic Falls her entire world had been flipped upside down, and she took it with a blink of her eyes and a shrug of her shoulders. Okay, so it hadn't been that easy. But at least she had never been like Elena and turned off all her emotions. She was never that far gone.

But right now with Damon standing in her shower like he belonged there, her brush with death, and the amount of uncertainty she felt towards the Original Hybrid, she felt as though she had a free pass too freak out as much as she wanted.

"What the fuck are you doing here, Damon?" Caroline practically growled, clutching the shower curtain for balance.

"Oh you know, I was around. In the neighborhood. Thought I'd stop by and say hey, but you were passed out in your bed when I got up here. Rough night, Blondie?" Damon stepped out of the shower, brushing past a stunned Caroline.

Didn't he know what had happened? It was too much of a coincidence, him being here after Klaus had saved her life for the third time. But if he wasn't going to bring it up, then neither was she.

"I… I don't really remember."

"Damn Barbie, how much did you drink last night? It takes a lot of alcohol for a vampire too black out."

Caroline rolled her eyes. Of course he would assume that was the reason she couldn't remember. Not compulsion or torture. In a way, it was a good thing. He wouldn't suspect anything. But if her instincts were correct, he just wanted to cover for something. Damon was always good at distracting people. But Caroline knew when she was being distracted. She had done her fair share of it back in Mystic Falls.

She shook her head. Mystic Falls was in the past, and it wasn't worth thinking about.

"That's not important, Damon. Why are you here? Where's Stefan? Elena?"

Damon looked surprised. But he masked the expression quickly, trying to appear cold and indifferent. He walked out of the bathroom towards the closet, where she assumed his suitcase was.

"Stefan? I'm not sure. I thought maybe you would know. I don't know about Elena either." He made sure to avoid Caroline's eyes.

"What aren't you telling me?" Caroline asked suspiciously, coming out of the bathroom and sitting on her bed. She was already tired again.

"Nothing. I really don't know where she is. I lost track of them both after… Well, after you left. Things kinda fell apart a year or so after you booked it out of there..." Damon pulled on a shirt, eyeing the blonde on the bed. Her eyes were drooping, and she lazily pulled the covers over her body.

"Sleep, Barbie. We'll talk in the morning."

"Will you still be here?" Caroline asked sleepily.

Damon paused. Technically, all Klaus asked him to do was watch over her. He didn't need to be involved in her life at all. But he would be lying if he said he didn't miss her.

"Yeah. I will be."

Caroline closed her eyes and fell asleep, while Damon got comfortable in the recliner. After all, it would be a long night of watching over Klaus' most precious commodity.

When Caroline woke up the next morning, she had the worst headache of her existence. Even during her human years when she had been running fifteen separate committees all on her own, she had never had a migraine like this. It felt like someone was shoving a pickax repeatedly into the back of her head.

Could vampires even get headaches?

She sat up with a groan, turning away from the light and stretching her limbs. She was reminded of human hangovers, which had sucked even when she deserved them. Caroline hadn't even done anything this time.

When she opened her eyes, Caroline was surprised to see Damon asleep in the recliner next to the bed. She had forgotten all about him.

It was strange seeing him after all these years. After she left Mystic Falls, Caroline assumed everyone would just forget about her. Sure she expected the occasional phone call, but nothing to the magnitude of what actually occurred.

When Elena, Bonnie, and her mom found out Caroline had left, they each made it their personal mission to bring her back home. It had ranged from pleading, threatening, to downright begging for her to come back to Virginia. Even though she wanted too for the first year, Caroline reminded herself about why she left in the first place. And she never went back.

After a while, the calls stopped. She hadn't heard from Elena in a little over two years, and Bonnie for even longer.

But her mom never stopped calling. Every week without fail, Liz made sure to call her daughter at least twice. Caroline almost never called her, but she made sure to pick up the phone when it was her mom. Even though Liz had lacked in the mothering department when Caroline was human, she made up for it now that they were apart. In a way, it worked better for them.

Of course, her mother never stopped trying to convince Caroline to come home. It was natural, but even Liz knew that she would have to let go of her daughter eventually. It got easier and easier for Caroline to resist the temptation of coming home until it was no longer even a temptation.

Caroline was so consumed with thoughts of her mother that she didn't even hear Damon start to stir.

Damon's phone started to ring, perched precariously on the nightstand between them. They both glanced down at it. The caller ID read "Bitch Hybrid."

Their eyes locked and in a split second, a tousle had broken out for the phone. Damon practically flew to the bed to pin Caroline down, but she ducked underneath him. He sped over to the recliner where she landed, and swatted her hand away from his phone.

All Caroline had to do was get one hand tugging on his hair, and he was done. With Damon practically howling on the ground, Caroline snatched his phone up triumphantly and hit send. She put the phone up to her ear.

"Damon?" She heard a familiar voice say impatiently. "What's going on? Why haven't you answered my calls? Is she okay?"

"Klaus?!"

Caroline had barely heard an intake of breath from the other end before a hand appeared and took the phone from her. She looked down to see her hands hanging limply by her side.

"Klaus? Yeah. No, she's fine. Well I'm gonna have to tell her now… God, you're a bitch Original… Nothing, nothing. Yeah. I'll call you later."

"Okay Damon," Caroline said, looking up at him as he hung up the phone. "Will you please explain to me what the hell is going on?!"

Damon just stared at her, an unfathomable expression on his face.

"What?!" She practically screamed at him.

"I'm just trying to figure out why Klaus is so in love with you. You're kinda a bitch in the morning."

Twenty minutes and a few slaps later, Caroline finally got Damon too tell her the truth. She was sitting cross-legged on her bed, staring at a pacing Damon.

"...So then I got a call in the middle of the night, and the next thing I know, Klaus is making me come here too watch over your baby ass for the next century."

Caroline was completely stunned. On some level, she could understand Klaus' protectiveness over her. He had never been very secretive with his emotions, and she had just almost died. She could almost begin to understand his concern. But did he really think she needed a bona-fide babysitter?! She wasn't twelve. Caroline had been taking care of herself for the past six years, and she was perfectly capable of continuing to do so.

But how much did she really do for herself? All those times she had just barely escaped discovery, or a vampire she had pissed of turned up dead…? She had always assumed those were coincidences or luck. But now it looked like Klaus had more to do with it than she thought.

"So let me get this straight," Caroline said slowly, clutching a pillow to her chest. "You're gonna be my what…? Warden? Caretaker?"

"Pretty much."

"That asshole."

Damon looked at her reproachfully. It wasn't like he wanted to be with her any more than she wanted to be with him. Being with Caroline reminded him of Mystic Falls, a place he had tried very hard to run away from. It seemed like whenever he had just begun too forget or start a fresh, something from his old life infiltrated and screwed everything up.

He was so caught up in these thoughts, Damon barely heard the next words out of Caroline's mouth.

"...has too know I can take care of myself. What's his number? Damon? Damon…? I want too call him. Better yet, where's your phone?"

"Oh no, Blondie," He barely caught her wrist before she grabbed his phone from the nightstand. He had too remember to keep that hidden from now on. "If he wanted to talk to you, he would talk to you. But I have a feeling that a conversation between the two of you right now wouldn't go very well. You'd probably insult him, and he'd threaten too stake me again or something. I can't take that chance.

She just glared at him.

"You know Damon, you haven't changed a bit from when I left Mystic Falls."

He didn't say anything too that. They both knew she was wrong, but neither wanted too admit it. It was easier to pretend that the dynamic between them hadn't shifted monumentally, that there wasn't any forgotten tension anymore.

"So what now?" Caroline asked, flopping back on the covers. Her head was still pounding, and an overwhelming thirst came over her. She got up from the bed and made her way over to the hotel mini-fridge, where she pulled out a bag of B+. Slurping on the blood, she instantaneously felt better.

"Now… we have to live with each other until Klaus feels you can take care of yourself."

She was wrong. Her headache was back.

Almost four hours later, after a discussion where they both agreed on leaving Paris and catching the first flight to Rome in the morning, Damon was finally able to relax. Because of the ordeal Caroline had been through the previous day, she had been taking sporadic naps throughout the day. Even with a healthy diet of blood, her body was still drained of energy.

Once she was out cold for the fourth time that day, Damon eased his way out of the room and into the hall. Slipping the room key into his back pocket, he took out his phone and started wandering to find a quiet, calm area.

Settling down at a table in the empty, cramped snack room, he dialed Klaus' number. The bitch hybrid would be wanting an update on his creepy obsessions condition.

He picked up before the phone finished its first ring.

"Hello?"

Damon rolled his eyes. Only a one thousand year old immortal would be able too pull off threatening and worried in one word.

"Don't stake me yet. She's been in and out for the past few hours, mostly talking about how much of a douchebag you are, and about how she could take care of herself."

"Well, she clearly can't, and that's why you're with her."

"I know, I know. Just because you're creepily obsessed with her. Some things never chance."

"Don't push it, Damon. I only chose you for this job because you owed me, and I knew she'd be more comfortable with a familiar face. I have no problem with staking you and getting your brother to fill the position."

"My brother… Would be rather hard too track down at this point."

"I have my ways."

Damon scrubbed at his eyes, sighing tiredly. He hated talking to Klaus. He hated his debt. He hated the aching in his chest he felt from being around the blond for less than twelve hours.

"Fine, whatever. She's doing fine. She hates you, but other than that, she's okay. You may want to leave Italy. That's where we're going tomorrow. She doesn't want to stay in Paris anymore."

"Good. I'll be gone in a few hours. Call me tomorrow with another report."

"You do know she's never going to love you, right?"

There was a pause. Damon couldn't tell if the hybrid was genuinely pondering over his words, or trying to control the urge to hop a flight to Paris and rip his throat out himself.

"She's worth waiting for. She always has been."

There was a click, then silence on the other end. Not for the first time in his life, Damon looked around and realized he was completely, one hundred percent alone.

During the next week, tensions between Caroline and Damon rose astronomically. Damon could barely comment on something without Caroline making a snarky comment, while Caroline viewed Damon's constant presence as obtrusive and unnecessary.

Needless to say, neither of them were enjoying Rome very much.

After a day of "sight seeing" during which they mostly snapped at each other and stormed off, the duo were both on edge. Both were cursing Klaus' existence, and were seriously considering sharpening a stake and driving it into the others heart.

Once Caroline had stomped off to take a shower, Damon collapsed exhausted onto one of the two beds in the room. He turned on the television, figuring a little mindless reality TV would eventually lull him to sleep. The channel was on some American news station, something Damon rolled his eyes at. So much for experiencing culture in another country.

"And now too Barbara, with news of murder in Chicago. Barbara?"

"Thanks, Tom. It looks like it won't be a very happy Easter for the family of Kayla Smith this year. This 22 year old University of Chicago student was brutally beaten then left to bleed out in an alley of South Chicago. It seems as though this law school bound young woman was caught in the aftershocks of some gang related violence. However, the nature of the beating and the brutality of the death also point to the possibility of the Seattle serial killer. Anyone who has information relating to Kayla's tragic death is urged to call the hotline below, as her murderer is still at large."

"Thanks Barbara," the other newscaster said with a somber look. "Now to the forecast with Benny."

"Damon?" He whirled around towards the blonde vampire, who stood in the bathroom light clutching a towel to her body.

"Is everything okay?"

Without even noticing, Damon had gotten off the bed an was practically pressing his nose to the television screen. Catching a look of his reflection in the steamy bathroom mirror, he realized his face had gone completely ashen.

"Yeah… Yeah. I'm fine. Just something on the news." Despite trying to downgrade his reaction, Caroline still shot him a quizzical glance as she made her way to her suitcase, pulling out sweatpants and an old sweatshirt.

"You mean that murder in Chicago?"

"Um… no. The weather."

She paused on her way back to the bathroom. He knew she could smell a rat about twenty miles away, and cursed his lack of a good cover story.

"What?"

"It's supposed to rain for the next five days!"

"Well… I think that's pretty normal for Chicago. It is called the windy city."

"Oh yeah…"

Caroline gave Damon one more look before she made her way back into the bathroom.

"That was weird." She thought, towel drying her hair. Pulling on her warm clothes, she sighed.

She felt trapped. It felt like Klaus didn't trust her enough to take care of herself. It felt like he had assigned her a babysitter. The hybrid didn't own her, but with the assignment of Damon, he was practically marking her as property.

Caroline was so engrossed in her thoughts of the hybrid that she didn't notice the click of a door as Damon left the room.

Despite everything they had been through together, Damon did not keep his brother's cell phone number. After Mystic Falls, he had deleted everyones number except Caroline's.

However, because of his flawless memory, he could recall the ten numbers with relative ease. Damn vampire senses couldn't let him forget anything.

As the brassy ring of the phone sounded in his ear, Damon wondered if he was making a mistake. He hadn't talked to his brother in almost four years.

"Hello?"

Then all of a sudden it didn't matter anymore. His little brothers voice sounded just as it had four years ago, and just as it would sound fifty years from now. He knew that because they were vampires, time was all relative. They could afford to hold a grudge for eternity because they had that long. Blood was thicker than water, but time stretched on for eternity. Sooner or later, blood and water would both run dry, leaving only time remaining.

"Hello, brother. I hear you've gotten up to some trouble in Chicago."

When Damon got back to the room after the phone call with Stefan, all he wanted to do was crawl into bed and sleep for the next twelve hours. However, like most things, Caroline couldn't let his behavior go.

"So what was that all about?" she asked while she was climbing into bed.

When he didn't immediately answer, she turned her big blue eyes on him. Her charms may have carried her through high school, but they didn't work on him.

"Damon, seriously. We're going to be together for the next indefinite period of time, the least we could do is open up to each other."

He still didn't respond and after a minute, she huffed and snapped the light off. Damon sighed. He knew that it was easier just telling her, even if he didn't want to. But he wasn't going to give up information that easily.

"I'll answer one of your questions if you answer one of mine." He said into the darkness. He could hear her burrowing into her covers on the other side of the room, but she suddenly stilled. A minute passed, then two. He was beginning to doze off when she finally answered him.

"Fine," she said. "But you have to be completely honest. You go first."

Damon was at a loss. He didn't expect her to agree so easily, and he wanted his question to be good. There was no doubt in his mind that Caroline would be honest with him. The baby vampire was a lot of things, but a liar wasn't one of them.

"Why did you really leave Mystic Falls?"

Caroline paused before answering. Of all the things he could ask her, this was probably one of the things she was least comfortable answering. Not only was it deeply personal, but her real reasoning was insanely shallow.

"Remember Hayley?"

"Barely."

"Klaus slept with her."

"Ouch."

"Yeah."

They sat in silence for a few moments before Caroline sat up in her bed.

"Aren't you going to say anything else?"

"What else would I say?" Damon said, rolling over on his side to face Caroline's bed.

"Oh I don't know, what about 'Wow Caroline, that was so brave of you.' or, 'But you hate Klaus! Why would you flee your hometown just because of him?'"

"Its not up to me to judge why you think you needed to leave. I've ditched places for much less serious offenses. Besides, we both know you would have ended up leaving that town sooner or later anyway."

"When did you get to be so insightful?"

"You know that counts as your question, right?"

"No it doesn't!"

Damon just rolled over and feigned sleep. He could hear her muttering about his insensitivity, but it seemed different. Her words seemed almost affectionate now, and Damon couldn't help but hope that they were getting over their 'wanting to stake each other' phase.

The next day, Caroline let Damon lead the plans. He seemed pretty adamant about wanting to eat at a specific cafe whose pasta was 'too die for.' so Caroline let him take the reins for once. Despite his unwillingness to open up to her last night, she couldn't help but feel as though they were making progress in their friendship.

After about ten minutes of looking at the menu, a waitress approached ready to take their order. Caroline had barely opened her mouth before Damon shooed her away.

"What was that all about? Aren't you ready yet?"

He looked at her briefly before continuing to glance around the small outdoor square. Caroline hadn't noticed it before, but he was being very jumpy today.

"Damon? What's going on?"

"Caroline?"

Caroline whirled around, and instantly felt like she had been transported back 6 years.

"Stefan?"

Her old friends eyes narrowed and in that instant, Caroline knew he had turned his emotions off. Her heart ached for him, wondering what turmoil caused him to completely shut off the human part of himself.

"What… What are you doing here?" she stuttered out. She hadn't seen Stefan since she left Mystic Falls, and he was one of the only people she truly missed.

"Didn't Damon tell you?" he said, bored already. He dropped into a chair, pulling a piece of bread from the basket on the table. He started idly munching on it, raising his eyebrows at his brother.

When no one made any reply, he groaned.

"I've been on a bit of a… murdering spree lately. Damon wants to correct this behavior."

Caroline stared at the brothers, dumbstruck. Since when was Damon the one reeling in his brother? Wasn't it usually the other way around?

"Oh god," Stefan said, rummaging around in his pockets for something. He pulled out a cigarette and lit it, blowing purple smoke into the air. "You two aren't dating now, are you? I only came because Damon practically begged me to. I don't wanna be around during the awkward Daroline sex."

Caroline and Damon both groaned. It was going to be a very long afternoon.

"What the hell, Damon?" Caroline hissed. They were back in their hotel room after a long day of dealing with emotionless and passive-aggressive Stefan. They had just dropped him off in the adjoining room, something he was less than happy about. She was exhausted, but this was the first time the two had been alone since this morning. There was no way in hell she would let Damon go without an explanation.

"What, Blondie? I thought you would enjoy having Stefan around. Weren't you two friends once upon a time?"

"I was friends with compassionate Stefan. This one is just a douchebag."

He glared at her, stripping off his shirt and changing into pajamas. She knew she had hit a nerve by addressing his brothers attitude, but if she didn't mention it, then who would? But she knew she was in trouble when he stalked towards her, backing her into a corner. She barely had room to breathe when he stopped.

"Okay, here's what's gonna happen. You're going to help me help Stefan. I know that's practically your specialty or whatever, and I need help here. You've only cared about yourself for the past six years, and sorry, but it's getting ridiculous. Time to re-enter the world of friendship. And that's coming from me, one of the most ruthless guys you know."

He had barely backed away when he saw the look of clear skepticism on her face. His eyes softened, and for the first time ever, she was able to look past the facade and see who Damon truly was. A man who cared about his family.

"Please Caroline. I can't bring him back without you."

She paused, considering. It was Stefan who had stopped Damon from staking her when she first turned. Stefan who she rooted for in the race to win Elena's heart. If she didn't help him now in his greatest time of need, then who would?

"Okay."

That night laying in bed, Caroline realized something.

"Damon?" she whispered, knowing he wasn't asleep yet.

"Hmm?"

"Can I ask you my question now?"

He sighed. She suspected that he was either too tired to deal with her, or just tired enough that he would put up with her inane nature.

"I guess."

"Why are you doing Klaus' bidding?"

"Because I owe him."

"For what?"

"I'll tell you tomorrow, Caroline. Please just go to sleep."

Caroline wasn't satisfied. But with the promise of an answer in the morning, she dozed off into the deepest sleep she'd had in nearly six years.

AN: Okay, so I know some of you are cursing my existence after this chapter, but just remember that it's all a means to an end. This WILL end up being Klaroline. But who knows what Caroline will do on the way there... ;)

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