here, have a treat to stomach this episode

There was a new message on her phone, a voicemail.

She'd just gotten out of the shower. Of course she'd heard it ring with her vampire-hearing but she'd decided to let it go to the voicemail because seriously – she wouldn't let anybody interrupt her beauty-routine.

She frowned and let it run, holding it to her ear.

"Caroline,"

Klaus. Why would he call her? He hadn't found Tyler, had he? No, he wouldn't be calling her then. Maybe he needed help with something.

"I'm standing in one of my favorite places in the world surrounded by food, music, art, culture and all I could think about is how much I want to show it to you."

Her stomach dropped and she sat down on her bed.

Oh.

So Klaus was gone.

And he was thinking about her.

"Maybe one day you'll let me."

Her eyes widened and she let the phone fall in her lap.

'Perhaps one day, in a year or even in a century you'll turn up at my door and let me show you what the world has to offer.'

He was still onto that, then.

She sighed.

Of course she wouldn't. He'd driven Tyler out of town, actually killed Elena back then. She couldn't even come up with the whole list of what he'd done right now.

But despite herself, she wanted to.

There was a part of him she really, really liked.

The man that she'd spent time with in front of the Mystic Grill, on the day of Miss Mystic Falls, the man who'd just given her the most beautiful dress she'd ever worn, without asking for anything in return.

Her stomach dropped again at the memory of the way he'd laughed when she'd come to him to ask for it.

They were friends now.

Friends.

Yeah, maybe, in some way, it was alright to want this. She wouldn't have to act upon it but it was okay to let the thought in.

'Surrounded by food, music, art, culture'

Again, she felt the pulling sensation of wanting to get out of this town. It had been building for some time now, ever since he'd first fed her his blood. She wanted nothing more than to see the world, explore what it had to offer. See New York, LA, Rome, Paris, Tokyo. Talk to all kinds of people, try all kinds of food, watch shows and listen to music she'd never heard before. She wanted to see architecture, beautiful landscapes, art, all kinds of art.

She'd been on trips before, never far away, but she'd always love the feeling. In some way it felt like being reborn, getting out of the usual trot and into a new world, full of new people, new sights, new chances.

It even corresponded with the wishes she'd had when she'd been nothing but a blonde control freak cheerleader. Go to all the cliché places, take photos, arrange them in perfectly designed scrapbooks.

But now she wanted even more.

She wanted to live.

As much as she tried to fight it, this town just brought her down. Ever since the Salvatores had arrived everything had gone down the drain.

Hell, no, Mystic Falls most definitely wasn't boring anymore.

But in some way it was almost always the same kind of shit going down in a new way. She'd always have to be afraid for someone's life, there was always some loss she had to find a way to deal with.

And she was tired of it.

She knew she could get out on her own, after graduation.

But there was an ever-growing part of her that just wanted to do it with him.

She wondered where exactly it was that he was at.

Had he left them alone with Silas? Maybe it was just a trip.

She gulped.

She missed him, a little. Friends do miss each other – do they?

'Maybe one day you'll let me.'

Her hand clasped around her phone.

Maybe one day, she would.