N/A: Finally a new chapter! I know it's being a long time since I last updated, but try to remember this is a translation and that I already finished this fic. Not that I don't love every single one of your reviews, but right now I'm writing another fic and this one went to background. But I won't stop posting!
99 Shades Of Crazy
Her father eyed her with deception, disgusted as he walked away. "Just one more time, Carebear, then we can go out for ice cream" joked. It was an inside joke, something he had promised time and time again during her childhood.
When Bill was still trying to pretend to be the good father and covering up his absence with gifts.
The vampire felt panic wash her. Watching as her own memories were used against her. "No, dad, no!" and then the Sun was burning again, bright claws digging into her back. Her screams would never be loud enough to express the hate that filled up her mouth.
Caroline woke up with the doorbell ringing. Her breath was heavy, the sheets tangled around her legs and hands wrapped around the bed's headboard. She sat up slowly, careful to keep last night's memories away. Not wanting to think about it.
Stood up, walking to the bathroom and washing her face. Eyed herself in the mirror and the vampire stared back, mocking her humanity. Caroline Forbes wasn't Elena Gilbert. She hadn't cried when realized she could no longer be a mother. No longer get old; After all, who didn't want to be beauty queen for eternity? Care was very aware that that made her an awful person.
The doorbell rang again, echoing in the empty house. She walked downstairs and expected to see Klaus sleeping in the couch, but he, surely, never made back home. Maybe, if she had been lucky, he would never come back. Maybe, he disappeared.
Opened the door.
"Stefan?"
"Care." He jumped to hug her, strong arms squeezing Caroline. She felt a shy smile cripple to her lips and hugged him back, thought still confuse.
"Stefan…"
"I'm sorry, Care. I mean, that's amazing… Congrats. However, I'm so sorry about Nik." He explained, eyes in the floor and hands in the pockets, embarrassed. It seemed Damon Salvatore was as much of a gossiper as was Katherine.
Caroline couldn't imagine why she had thought otherwise. They had always been too much alike, always putting themselves on first place.
"Oh, well…"
"I'm gonna bring him back, Caroline." The younger Salvatore assured. He blinked those hazel eyes of his, so green in the sun. "I'm gonna brink that jerk back home, he… You know that Nik is just scared, right? He doesn't mean anything he said." Damon should be a hell of a gossiper, since Stefan already knew the details of the fight.
Niklaus Mikaelson wasn't scared. He was right. Caroline knew that, she knew that his suggestion yesterday made much more sense than hers. How would she come back home? She was scared, Klaus was just right.
"Yeah…" her voice was husky, shaken. Stefan shot her a pity glare. In this world he was Nik's closest for of a bestfriend. He felt embarrassed by his friend's bad attitudes.
"I… I'm gonna bring him back." The young man walked outside. He turned to his car. "And Care?"
"Yes?" Caroline was almost closing the door, crazy to get rid of him. She loved him dearly, but the Salvatore believed in a nonexistent love and the blonde had to lie to him, repeatedly. That was tearing her apart.
"Nik loves you."
She shut the door closed.
Sighed, resting her head in the wood surface and taking deep breaths. The girl pressed her hand against her flat stomach. She felt nothing, no affection, no happiness. Nothing. Maybe she should follow his suggestion, because in the end, that baby was unwanted. She never wanted to be a mother, was already sure she would fail this just like had failed everything else. Always trying to reach perfection and never quite there.
"I should get rid of you." The blonde whined to herself. Closed her eyes and tried to imagine a child in her arms. It was borderline ridiculous. Children had never liked her and now… If at least she was like Elena: sweet, understanding, and completely maternal. Or even Bonnie, wise and lovely, a born tutor.
What would Caroline teach a child? How to be a cheerleader? How to be raped by a vampire? Then murdered by another one? How to be a vampire?
In the end being a monster was the only thing Caroline mastered. And there were no monsters in this world.
Niklaus sat in the humid grass, watching the animal life drift around him. He always liked to watch the born competition between the puppies, the explicit cruelty of Mother Nature, the everyday fight for survival. It was beautiful.
The fragility of living…
He pushed that thought aside, because it would take him back to the night before. And back would be a horde of possibilities: What could he teach a child?
I can teach how not to love, not to suffer. Teach how to run away from an abusive father during centuries… Teach that siblings leave… That mothers don't always forgive, that they sometime murder and cheat… I can show it the world: Tokyo, Rome, and Paris… Genuine beauty.
And he could simply not think about it.
Klaus could ignore the possibilities, because none of them were real. In this world he had never forgot his humanity. He had suffered, clearly: How could he not suffer, being human? However, he doubted that in this world his vampire father had chased him for being a werewolf bastard. In this world, his mother was no witch raised from the dead… His life in Old Mystic Falls – in the whole other world – was just a psychotic terror tale.
He could teach nothing to a child, because he had never lived anything. He was just… a plain human, marrying some bubbly blonde, with whom he was supposed to have a child, conceived in the climax of his juvenile irresponsibility.
Mikaelson thought about Caroline. She was stupid.
She's a riddle.
She was stupid for sacrificing everything she had, her true self, just so she wouldn't break the principles of a ignorant society. She's a vampire. If Caroline aborted she would have the chance to come back to Mystic Falls… However, she was too afraid to be a monster to her own eyes.
The girl didn't want to be a monster to a society that was ignorant enough to disbelieve their existence. Folklore. In this world she would never be more than a myth, a folklore legend of a powerful creature. How Caroline could be so dumb to give all that up just for a baby?
How can she be so selfless?
Selfless? He wanted to bit his own mind. Altruism was a gentle excuse to people with hero complexes… Caroline had never been a martyr to his eyes, not even a victim. She could be fragile like porcelain, beautiful like a Michelangelo's painting, but she was not a victim… She was full of light, a strong vampire… A baby vampire that got her strength from what was everybody else's weakness: Humanity.
And now the girl was going to give up on everything she had become, over a child she didn't even love. That was into her womb but wasn't hers. Niklaus thought that was madness, but part of him cheered for her, a tiny part he tried to suppress. He applauded her blind bravery, her stupid altruism…Her lack of self respect or the excess of faith in her morals. He had to applaud such thing.
"Nik." Klaus turned around, only then realizing he wasn't alone anymore. "Nik you cannot hide in the woods forever."Stefan Salvatore had a complacent look and a gentle smile, full of pity. Klaus gritted his teeth. He was done being a pity object.
"Stefan…"
"You cannot run from what happened, Nik." It was clear that Damon had already told him. And of course that Stefan, another stupid martyr, felt obligated to make his bestfriend come back home. Klaus couldn't understand their dynamic. Was now the time he would surrender under his colleague's hurt glare or when he would play a tantrum? Was it his lead to cry about how scared he was? How much of a lousy father he would be? Was it his lead to murder Stefan and again become a monster? Or to give in and lose his self forever?
"Go home, Stefan. Leave me alone. I don't need your help."
Salvatore grimaced and took a shy step toward his friend. He wanted Niklaus to understand how dear he was, how he was running away from the woman he loved and how much of a great father he would be. Stefan wanted to see Nik happy, at least for a while longer. Was it asking too much? His friend had already been through so much, he couldn't run away now that he had finally reached happiness.
"Nik, I know you're scared. I would be too… But you gonna loose her forever if you run. You don't want to lose Caroline, do you?" another step closer. "I know you don't, I know you love her… Then, please, come home. You both gonna be ok… You're going to be a great father, Nik."
That was the last straw. Klaus eyed him in disbelief. Maybe Stefan had finally lost his mind.
"A great father?!" His voice broke. "Are you insane, Stefan? Just because… You don't even know what is a great father! Yours was a fanatic! My father was a lunatic, a violent little monster that made sure he would drag us down with him… Which world do you live in, where a man raised by a monster like Mikael would be a good father?! I'm doing it a favour! Caroline should get rid of that being that grows inside her, before it kills her too!"
Salvatore was pale, eyeing his bestfriend in pure horror and shock. He waited patiently that the man in front of him recovered his control.
"Nik, I'm so sorry…"
He watched as Klaus opened his mouth to spat he didn't want his sorrow; it was always something like this. But Stefan didn't let him say, his fist hit strongly the other one's chin and Nik stumbled back, almost falling. He spat blood on the floor and his eyes shone with hate.
"I'm not letting you screw up your own happiness, Nik. I don't care how much you try." Completed Stefan, grabbing him by the collar and knocking him out with another punch.
She waited for him to wake up. Stefan had brought him back almost unconscious, but brought him back. Caroline felt a little pang of relief when she saw the Mikaelson be dragged inside. She wouldn't have to handle that alone… She told herself the relief was only because he was too knocked out to yell. Helped Stefan to put him at the couch and walked the boy to the door.
"Thanks Stefan… For bringing him back." Her words sounded empty even to her own ears. He smiled.
"Nik is my best friend, Caroline." She curled up inside when heard him call Klaus "Nik". Her Stefan would never do that. "I can't let him destroy his own happiness… Not again." He gave a little shrug, hands deep in pockets. "You were his redemption and I can't let him walk away from you… Not now, that he needs you more."
Caroline rested her head in the doorway and crossed her arms, eyebrows frowning. "Redemption… Again? Stefan…"
"Care, we don't need to talk about it, do we? You have to look out for yourself… and Nik has to put his priorities straight. I'm sure you gonna get along." He opened a smile. Stefan Salvatore' smiles told stories; those white teeth could make anyone believe him. Forbes wished she could believe his words. However, Nik was so different from Klaus…
She could get along with his human version. But she was stuck with Klaus: Original, hybrid, mass murderer, fugitive, liar. He was a man without salvation. Some people cannot be fixed. Sometimes, people who do horrible things are just bad people.
"We gonna have another time to remember the past, Care." The young man completed. Caroline agreed, quiet still. "You could… You could have dinner with us, you know?"
She cringed. The idea of being sat at Rebekah's table, picking babies' name and think about nursery furniture… It wasn't even creepy, it was terrifying. She wasn't ready for the reality shock. "Maybe not tonight, Stefan… I call you, ok?"
He shook his head in agreement. Salvatore could recognize when someone needed some privacy. A forehead kiss before leaving.
The blonde came back home. Klaus was lying in the sofa, open eyes, staring the silence. She sat on the coffee table, in front of him and waited until he said something. Long minutes passed before anyone talked. Caroline was asking herself if the younger Salvatore had beaten him too hard, when the man said:
"Did you send Stefan after me?"
"No." she crossed her hands over her lap. Silence.
"Did you want me to come back?"
"No." she took a second. It was true, she was being honest, but her words tasted like lies. "I cannot do it alone. Not when I have so many doubts."
He sighed to himself and sat up, brushing his thumb against the purplish bruise in his face. "I don't think my help would be welcome, love. I'm just going to make you more doubtful, since I cannot agree if your decision."
Niklaus stared at her. Caroline was quiet, embarrassed… fearful. "I don't agree with my decision too, Klaus… But I can take another one. I cannot abort, I can't… And…" she raised her blue eyes, humid, but not full of tears as her voice would suggest. "I don't want to stay here, I want to go home. But I won't and I have to handle that."
He pitied her. There was no more light inside of her… That dreamlike world had erased every bit of it. "You don't know. Maybe… Maybe the baby is the way we get back. Maybe… I don't know, Caroline. It can be anything. If you have the child or not. If we live here or not… Maybe if we tried death…"
"I'm too coward to kill myself."
"I know." I am too. "I'm not suggesting it. Just saying that maybe we shouldn't lose all of our hopes, love. Maybe you're right to keep the child." I hope she's right, please, let her be right.
She agreed, the shade of a smile painting her lips. "We have to tell Kol." Decided. There was strength on her words, as if she had taken an overdue decision. Klaus shook his head in disagreement. There was no reason to tell his young brother.
"No, we don't."
"Yes, we do."
"No, we don't."
"Yes, we do. He is as stuck here as we are and… if this pregnancy gets out of hand, if we can't come back because of it… He needs to know." She shook her head, grimacing. It wasn't a possibility she wanted to imagine: Dying. Didn't want to imagine she was stuck there and much less to figure that her decision to keep the baby could result in her death.
"He doesn't need to know anything! Ok, he came with us, and…? He's a grown up, we don't have to worry about him. He doesn't have to worry about this." Niklaus made a gesture toward her body. Caroline rolled her eyes.
"This is his story as much is ours… And he's your brother. We must tell him!"
There was surrender in his eyes, she was sure. Just as much as tiredness. "Alright, alright… But you tell."
"No. He's your brother, you tell." Forbes didn't have to deal with anyone beside Klaus. A psycho a day was enough for her.
"But it's you who are pregnant!" Klaus exclaimed, sulking like an infant. Caroline felt annoyance toward him, she wanted a grown up by her side, not an Original playing child! She wanted Klaus-a-thousand-years old, not the one who was twenty eight.
"I didn't got pregnant by myself! What do you think that I've conceived this child with my finger?" she got blushed with the sudden rudeness of her comment and wanted to take it back. After all, it was Klaus, a person kinda educated and manically polite. "We tell!" decided.
He raised his arms, done with the argument. "Alright, we tell!"
It was a dark blue loft, too cold for Caroline's appeal and too modern for Klaus'. They had driven there with her car, as her GPS was the only thing that kept the address of all their friends. Forbes thanked herself for thinking of that, thanked her for being so careful.
It was Thursday still, and Tuesday had been a public holiday. They both had missed work completely and just then occurred them that Kol (please, Caroline, my brother does not work!) or Jeremy might be at their jobs.
Nevertheless, they were already there and to ring the doorbell wouldn't cost anything. They waited for a long moment before the door was open and Kol appeared.
He really was handsome, Caroline thought. Maybe even handsomer than Klaus or Stefan (Still less than Damon!). The man was barefoot, his chestnut hair messy and a puzzled expression that was completely unused on his hazel eyes and mischievous smile.
"Nik? Caroline?"
"Hello brother, what an adorable house. Would you mind to let us in? It's cold and it's inelegant to leave a young lady freezing." Klaus answered, a fake smile on his lips, voice dripping sarcasm and annoyance. He was using his hands much more than normal. Was tired and nervous… Specially tired.
"Yeah… Sure, come in." Kol walked away to let them in, seeming even more confused every passing second. He guided them to a living room (simple, full of leather and metal… ah, masculine house. Is that an Xbox?) and pointed the couch. A moment of silence, the pair gathering courage and Kol watching them with a frown.
"So, what are you doing here?" the man asked after he finally gave up on the guessing game. The blonde clasped her hands, eyeing anywhere else but his eyes. "Your house is beautiful, Kol." Praised. The left corner of his mouth rose into a smirk.
He was a chaser, could find fear like no one could.
"It's, I guess… So, what are you doing here?" this time his eyes landed on Nik: Sitting too straight on the sofa, eyeing him back with boredom and exhaustion. Niklaus wasn't the kind of men he could read, he hadn't even a single wrinkle of concern, not a gesture that pointed fear or discomfort. His older brother was annoying.
"Jeremy is home?" Barbie's voice was too loud and uncomfortable for her own good. It drove his gaze back at her. Caroline was an open book, Kol loved that. She was the kind of girl he would love to drink if he was a vampire still.
"No, he is at Original's Art, working… or whatever." He made a nonchalant shrug. Jeremy had said something about his job and then food… But Kol couldn't pay much attention to more than one thing at a time. He was eating breakfast when Gilbert was talking and he was starving, so he simply stopped listening.
"Ah, right… Look, we have to tell you something… I'm kinda… like… Pregnant." Kol waited to the rest of the sentence. The smile and the 'just kidding' or that she would start to cry and say she didn't know what she was saying… like…
"You guys could better up this joke, uh? It was the worst I ever heard…" Niklaus was serious. Caroline blinked those big blue eyes of hers and shook her head. "Pregnant? Really, pregnant? Are you guys fucking with me?! You're a vampire, Barbie, you cannot get pregnant!" Kol stood up, hands raised and his voice breaking. His older brother raised an eyebrow, watching him with slight amusement.
"That's the problem. I'm not a vampire anymore, just like you're not one too. In this world we're all human and, clearly, Caroline and Klaus had been having… too much fun." Kol tried, he really did, to not understand what she was talking about. He had no desire to picture Klaus with anyone… but it was useless.
"Hey! I didn't have to imagine that! So… you're kinda pregnant. What now?"
"I'm not 'kinda pregnant', I'll have a child." That was beyond ridiculous! She was acting like she was going to be a mother or some shit… Oh, please! Please! That was… Forbes was completely out of her mind. It was no wonder why Niklaus had fell for her, she was even crazier than him.
"Ah! So now this is a baby?! You don't even know if it's human!"
Caroline's eyes widened and she turned for Klaus, wanting him to interfere and tell the younger one to shut up.
"Of course it's human! It's the child of two humans, what else could it be?!"
"I don't know! Hybrid? Werewolf? Vampire? I don't fucking know!"
"I think you've been watching Twilight too much. Seriously, what had you been doing? Spending all of your free time with Rebekah?"
"I'm not the issue here, Blondie!"
"We just told you because we don't know if this pregnancy will stick me here. Or you guys too." She sighed, annoyed. Maybe telling Kol wasn't such a great Idea. She was even more annoyed by Klaus being right again… Was he always right?!
Kol opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by the door opening. He crossed his arms, grinding his teeth and glared at Caroline. He heard Jeremy walking toward the living room and bit his tongue as he realized how easily he had gotten used to the boy walking around the house.
"I'm home." Jeremy said, taking off his coat. He smiled to his boyfriend and walked toward him, only then noticing the couple sitting at the couch, seeming nervous and uncomfortable. "Umm… hi guys, what are you doing here?"
Caroline eyed Klaus, waiting him to say something. When it turned obvious Mikaelson had zoned out during their yelling match, she shot Jeremy an awkward smile and said "We just… Passed by to tell Kol the news." And blushed, feeling like she was lying.
Jeremy raised an eyebrow, eyed Kol, pale and open mouthed, and crossed his arms. "News? Which news?"
Forbes was trying to come up with an answer, but she was quickly interrupted.
"She's pregnant!" exclaimed the young Mikaelson, pointing frenetically the blonde. Caroline shrank in herself. "Thanks for consideration, Kol…" whispered under her breath. Jeremy got pale and a lost look swapped his face.
"Pregnant! Uow, guys, that's… that's amazing! Congratulations!" He stuttered the words, walking toward her to give a shy hug. He turned for Klaus, but took a step back when faced the man's astonished expression.
"Thanks, Jer…" she was flushed, a bit happy for someone's reaction be appropriated to this kind of news. At least someone was happy.
A weird silence fell. No one had any idea of what to say. Niklaus had stopped, barely breathing, lost in his thoughts. Kol seemed to have so much to say still, but couldn't in front of Gilbert. And Care was just enjoying the peace.
"Are you staying for dinner? I'm going to cook." Jer offered, clearly misplaced. Caroline raised an eyebrow and felt a sad smile spread across her lips. Jeremy Gilbert did not cook, never. She could still remember when he was six or seven years old and had insisted in helping his father with the grill… It ended up with everyone having mac 'n cheese, because Jer had made the grill catch on fire.
"You're going to cook?"
"Yes, Caroline… Why are you so surprised? I always cook." He shot her a puzzled glance.
"No, you never cook. It's always Elena!"
"No, I… this amnesia of yours it's taking it's time, uh? I'm a grown up, Care, living in my own house. I cook." He declared, a bit annoyed that she kept acting like he was a child. Caroline got red faced, had forgot she was talking with the adult version of him, not the emo kid he had been at fifteen.
"Sorry, I forgot…"
"Besides, Kol can't cook for his life." He joked. Caroline laughed, she needed someone who could relieve the heavy tension that was filling up the room.
"Obviously, you just have to take a look on his face!" she mocked.
Kol grunted, indignant. "You mocking me?" he hissed. Jeremy rolled his eyes, shooting him a comic glare.
"So, are you staying for dinner?"
"Yes." The blonde answered, smiling. It would be great to finally have the company of someone who wished to be with her.
"No." Klaus talked for the first time.
"Yes, we will."
"No, we won't."
"Yes, we will. I'm starving, his offering to cook and… I want to see Jeremy Gilbert cooking. We're staying." She had no reason to come back home, especially when Jer was being such a nice person.
"Ok… let's go the kitchen then…" the younger Gilbert said, avoiding the argument. Caroline all but ran behind him.
"When did you became my wife?" Klaus groaned to himself. Both Mikaelson stayed behind, glaring at each other. Kol was the first one to talk, still pale and surprised.
"She's pregnant? Really? Don't have anything else to do besides fucking my life?"
"It's not like I got her pregnant, Kol." He rolled his eyes to his younger brother. "You know me, I wouldn't do such a thing in thousand years."
"It's not what it looks like!" the boy raised his arms.
"What do you mean with 'it's not what it looks like'?" he made a mockery of an imitation. Klaus was only getting more and more annoyed.
"It looks like you have been having more fun than you should." Kol knew it wasn't what happened. He knew Nik wouldn't do it (sleep with Barbie yes, but not knock her up). Still, he was shocked… and wanted to annoy Nik for putting him in such a situation.
"Don't you dare! What about you and Jeremy? Wants to talk about it? I mean, I don't see you whining since we got here! Did you fell for the Gilbert kid?"
"I didn't fell for him!" Kol lowered his voice to an offended whisper. "He's… He's my friend! And was my friend on the other world too, so excuse me if I don't thing is such a horrible thing to be in a relationship with the kid! Also, he's way better than teenager Barbie over there!"
"You seem to forget Gilbert is younger than her!"
"And much more mature!"
"Why are defending him? Over me?"
"I'm not defending him! You're accusing him of something he's not!"
"Oh, please! You have a crush on the boy!" Klaus eyed the younger with disbelief.
"I don't… Are we really going to ignore the main problem here? Your baby-vampire fiancée is pregnant!"
"I know, but… What can I even do?"
"Kill the baby?"
"I tried this one already. Tried to talk her into abortion, but she got all 'I'm bit a murder, I won't kill an innocent child'" he made an imitation of Caroline's voice and his brother exploded in a loud laughter. "And you know… It's her body. It's not like I could stab her in the stomach or something like this."
"Well, you can…"
"No." That wasn't even an option if they still had hope to go back to their world. And, please, stab Caroline?! "We don't even know if we can go back with this dead!"
"This is so complicated…" complained Kol, falling exhausted on the couch.
"If is so complicated, why won't you just stay here?"
"Because I don't want to! But I'm starting to doubt you, Niklaus… Do you want to stay? Because I certainly don't."
"It's not what it seems! It seems you're enjoying a bit too much to play Gilbert's boyfriend…" Klaus still hadn't give up on trying to understand his brother's relationship. That was a complete absurd. Not Kol homosexuality (when you lived a thousand years, every sexual definition lost meaning), but to be liking Jeremy Gilbert of all people. The doppelganger's brother.
"You're ridiculous!"
"And you're childish!"
"Asshole!"
"Spoiled brat!"
While this, in the kitchen, Caroline was grabbing the ingredients that Jer asked for. She felt comfortable doing something ordinary, instead of arguing her possible lethal pregnancy. That subject was getting her exhausted. She wanted to cry when the first words that Jer said were:
"So, preggers…"
"Yeah… I still cannot believe." She left the garlic press fall on the sink and took a deep breath.
"Who else knows?"
"I'm not even sure anymore. It was Damon who did the exam, so he knows… Stefan knows, but we never said a thing. Elena must know too… And we told you guys." She made a nonchalant gesture. To have any secret on their group was the same as screaming it in the middle of a crowded place.
"Basically, Damon is gossipy"
"Yes. Basically, that." She laughed, liking to talk with him, Jeremy was still like his younger version on the other world.
"Well, Damon told Stefan and Elena. Stefan probably told Rebekah, who told… everybody. You should talk with Lena, before she gets mad you won't tell her she'll be an aunt or something like this…"
"I know… I'm just not ready yet, I'm…"
"Scared?" he offered, a comprehensive smile plastered on his face, and cutting the fish on strands.
"You have no idea. I'm terrified! We're still on denial and shock… not party stage yet. Does it even has a happy stage?"
"Of course it does." He smiled, remembering Miranda's gestation. Caroline wanted to smile too; she wished those were her memories.
"Well, we still not there yet. Klaus is freaking out."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Stefan kinda… knocked him out." Jeremy laughed and shot her a confuse look, waiting the explanation. While this, the boy in the living room argued in whispers.
"Salvatore knocked you out?" Kol's voice was incredulous. His older brother was an Original! He was strong! Invencible! Hybrid!
"Yes… When we found out about it… I ran away… I was scared…I don't want to be a father." He didn't understand why he kept using his verbs on the past tense. "And… Well, I ran. Then I turn around and Stefan is there, playing shining Knight and whatever…"
"Right." Kol was entertained by Nik's story. It had been centuries since they had a funny conversation, or even talked like normal siblings.
"I told him to leave me alone. So he had to give me a lecture about destroying my own happiness and then he punched me in the face! Twice!"
"And you didn't kill him?" the kid was surprised, even a bit disappointed.
Klaus shot him a bitter smile. "Believe it or not, I'm not stronger than him on this world. I'm no thousand years old hybrid… and Stefan is a strong fella."
"But… You're such a wimp!" Kol declared, crossing his arms and looking like a boy disenchanted by his favorite super hero.
"As if you were so much better than me! You cannot beat up a fly, Kol!"
"Of course I can! I have my baseball bat!"
"Well, I don't you use your bat to break Gilbert's legs?"
Kol opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of the water. "Why would I do such thing?" asked, confused.
"Well, you clearly don't have a crush on the boy, do you? And he's trying to force him onto you…" Klaus was willing to get a confession from Kol. He was way too amused by his younger brother boyish crush on the enemy's brother.
"Maybe I like him harassing me!"
A minute of silence. Both brothers staring each other. Nik couldn't believe he had gotten a confession and Kol couldn't believe he said that.
"So… you fell for him." Niklaus said slowly, trying to get rid of his smile, as the anger was flushing the boy's cheeks. Suddenly, Kol looked like when he was human and innocent.
"I never said that!"
"'Maybe I like being harassed by him' sounded a bit self explanatory, Kol."
"Well, fuck it. I don't really care, maybe I do… You're just trying to avoid the fact that baby Salvatore knocked you out!"
"And what are we going to do about it?"
"We're going to get my bat and smash him in pieces." Decided Kol, making Klaus laugh out loud. He imagined Kol chasing Stefan.
"We cannot. He's Caroline's friend… and it seems, mine too."
Kol bit his thumb, thoughtful. "What if we…"
During their little conversation, Caroline tried to explain what happened during morning. "…Then Stefan knocked and brought him home. I don't even know what to do, I mean… I'm grateful for Stefan bringing him home …" Even if I'm not "…But what I'm supposed to do? It's quite obvious Klaus doesn't want to be a father! What he expect me to say? I didn't conceive this child by myself, is his fault as much it's mine!"
"You're treating the baby as if it was a burden, not something good" Normally, Jeremy wouldn't mind to see Caroline freaking about over the child. However, he was a recent uncle and he loved his niece. He hated to see Care reacting like that over something good.
"Something good, Jer? I'm twenty four! I don't want to be a mother!"
"Well, you'll be. Elena and Damon… She was twenty one, Care. You just… deal with it I guess. I think you're just scared… and Klaus isn't being a great support. Everything is gonna be alright. Kol and I will be around for anything you need."
Caroline shrank in herself. Even if things did work out (Jeremy's 'alright' not hers, her happy ending would be to go back to Mystic Falls) she doubted she would ever be able to have Kol around her child. The kid was a total sociopath! Happily, Kol himself wasn't much excited to be uncle of the year.
"Kol doesn't seem so happy about it too, Jer." She felt bad for poking his happiness bubble. However, it was the real world. Where things simply didn't work out, where your boyfriend doesn't want to win the trophy of 'world's best uncle'. It happens.
"Really? I've always thought him to be… a natural uncle. You know, Stefan and I are always trying to catch Miranda's attention. And Kol is such a big child… He wins without even trying. I've always thought being an uncle was everything he wanted. Not a father, but an uncle? Absolutely."
"I don't know… He isn't enjoying it."
"He will. Don't worry."
"How can you be so sure, Jeremy?"
"Someone's got have faith, right?" Caroline opened her mouth to disagree, but in that moment Klaus and Kol walked into the kitchen, attracted by the smell of food. She noticed how Jeremy got more comfortable immediately, a hand brushing his chocolate hair.
"What are you cooking?" Kol asked, eyes never landing on her face and smelling the air.
"Your favorite meal." Jer answered, rolling his eyes and opening the cabinet. He took the plates and put it over the sink. Nobody put the table and Caroline didn't make any movement to do so, even if the neat freak on her was starting to rouse.
"Which is?"
"Salmon." Jeremy rolled his eyes, Kol opened a maniac smile.
"Fish! You heard that, Nik? My favourite course is fish! Fish!" His older brother only stared at him blankly, not impressed by the hysteric crisis. Kol took a deep breath, calming down. That was overwhelming, way too ordinary… His favorite dish was AB -, brunette and tall.
Jeremy blinked, confused by his boyfriend's lunatic reaction. "You have a problem with this?"
"No, I'm… I'm just surprised…"
"Surprised that your favorite dish is your favorite dish?"
"Yeah, I guess so…"
"Really, you're weirder than them. Which is hard, because she's pregnant and he's freaking out!" growled Gilbert, pointing Caroline and Klaus.
Kol lowered his eyes, embarrassed and shoved his hands on his pockets. "Piss off, Gilbert…"
"Problems in paradise, mates?" questioned Klaus, opening a large smile. He was having more fun than he should, seeing his baby brother in such a situation. Caroline glanced at him and frowned. How could Klaus be so insensible? So annoying? He was enjoying watching Kol's struggle with humanity.
"Klaus!"
"What? It's not like it's my fault…"
"I'm not going to sit here while you guys fight over who wanted a child and who didn't… And Klaus, you're making an ass of yourself." Jeremy complained, rolling his eyes. He took the wrong conclusion, Caroline realized with a smile. Klaus wasn't going to talk about the baby.
"An ass? Look, somebody else thinks I'm an ass! You heard that, Kol? Caroline? Damon Salvatore thinks I'm a jerk, Katherine too… Stefan thinks I'm an ass and so does Caroline… And now even baby Gilbert does! Somebody else?"
"I think you're a dick." Kol murmured, opening the fridge. Caroline laughed to herself, but her eyes were glued to her fiancée's face.
"You finished your tantrum? Can we eat now?" she Said.
"I wasn't having a tantrum!"
"Would somebody hit him?" she huffed. Niklaus behaved like a teenager when he got too stressed. She had already understood that and they weren't even stuck there for a week.
Kol smiled to the suggestion, but Jeremy rolled his eyes and interrupted "Let's eat, ok? You guys banter like an old couple." What silenced everyone, making them sit. He pushed the dishes on Kol's hands and went to get the fish.
They didn't had much about what talk, except the pregnancy that had exploded on their faces. Gilbert made the obvious question.
"Are you ready to be an uncle, Kol?"
"Uncle?"
Jer rolled his eyes, frustrated with Kol's slow thinking "Your older brother will have a child. It makes you an uncle, Kol."
"Uncle?!" his voice got high pinched. That sentence made the perspective of being stuck so much more real.
"Yes, uncle. Get over it, dude."
"I'm not ready to be an uncle!"
"And I'm not ready to be a father!" Klaus complained, playing with the food on his plate.
"And I'm not ready to be a mother! See, we agree about something!"
"You all need therapy. Children are born, it happens." Jeremy murmured, frowning his eyebrows. Those three seemed to get worst as the minutes passed by.
"What world do you live in, Gilbert?! You cannot look to everything going wrong and say 'it happens'!" exclaimed Klaus, pissed off.
"It's better than freak out about something that cannot be fixed!"
"Something that… Can we talk something else?!" Nik gestured to the mess around him, inside his head, using a fork. Caroline let out a soft laugh and decided to help him.
"What Katherine does for living? I mean, does she works?" and the fact that Katherine had been the first subject to come up her mind was funny. Katherine, her murderer… Who turned her vampire and, accidentally, a better person. Oh, Katherine, I think I found you're only good act…
Jeremy answered, surprised by the subject. "Katherine is a lawyer… She defends no salvation causes.
"So… she frees criminals?"
The boy laughed. Yes, they could put it like that. Nothing could resume her personality as easily as her job did. "Yeah and it's kind weird, because when she and Elijah started dating, he was promoter. So, she kinda freed all he put in jail… Hilarious. They work in Atlanta."
"Atlanta?" Klaus asked, curious about this world. He could realize already that their life's turning points had been mirrored on this ordinary Mystic Falls.
"They just here for Kol's welcome party. I believe they are at Rebekah and Stefan's place."
Caroline felt her eyes light up. It explained how the information she gave Katherine, feel on Rebekah's hand so fast. "That explains a lot…"
"And what does Elijah makes for living? You said he was a promoter…" Kol always hang up on the tiny details.
"Elijah was a promoter, but since they got married things got complicated… he became a diplomat."
"Just like Elijah… always the peacemaker." Klaus rolled his eyes, if he made it back to Old Mystic Falls, he would suggest that job for his older brother. Maybe then, Elijah would have something else to do, other than forcing his morals on people.
"What do I do for living?"
"Kol!" Caroline reprimand. Was it too much to ask a bit of control? He couldn't just shout he didn't remember a thing!
"Relax, Care. He forgot as much as you did, a it seems… Last night he kept asking me about everything: How we met, how you met, what I do…" Jeremy shrugged "You're a photographer, Kol. You work at Original Art with us." He pointed Niklaus and himself.
"He works with us?!" Klaus liked to think he was a serious artist. He loved his atelier… he fell in love with the place. And he knew Kol not only hated to work, but was also a trouble magnet.
"Yes. I'm a illustrator and you're the painter… Kol makes the photos they ask for. Book covers, calendars… A bit off everything. But you majored in nude photography."
"So that's why they kept asking me if I took lots of pictures…" Kol sighed, realizing his conversation with Katherine (that damned Petrova duplicate) at the lunch now made much more sense.
"Probably, man."
"So… Kol is a photographer… And you're a illustrator and Klaus… painter… And I organize wedding and Katherine is a lawyer and… that's too much." Caroline took a deep breath, trying to clean her head. Suddenly it was too much. The baby, Klaus, the conversation with Kol and all this information…
"It's not that hard to grasp, love."
"It is. Yes, it is." Her face turned pale. " I don't remember it and… everyone is married and happy and I don't remember anything." Tears filled up her eyes. "and everyone is happy…" she stood up and left the kitchen.
The boy exchanged a concerned look. How did that happened?
"You should go after her."
"Why?"
"Because she's your emotional, pregnant fiancée and she's crying like a child." Accused Kol, crossing his arms. Niklaus felt a pang of jealousy when his brother took Jeremy's side, instead of his. He gave up. She was his problem and He should deal with this.
"Whatever…" he stood up. Because he wanted, not because Kol and Jeremy ordered him and left to search her.
Caroline was sitting at the living room's couch. Her face was burrowed in her hands and her shoulder trembled with painful sobs.
"Caroline, could you stop crying, love? Everything is gonna be ok." It was a lie. He knew it, she knew it… Everyone knew it was a lie.
"No, nothing will be ok! I'm stuck here! I'm pregnant with a child I never wanted… I'm eighteen! And I liked to be a vampire, but now I'm just a shallow human… and everyone I know is ridiculously happy… And Elena is married to Damon, of all people, and has a daughter! Kol is happy with Jeremy and they are a couple, even if Kol is a freaking maniac… And Stefan… Stefn is dating Rebekah, what doesn't make a sense, because she's nuts… And Elijah married Katherine… And, Jesus, Katherine is happy without screwing other people's life up! I can't handle it!"
"And we're engaged, you forgot."
"And I'm engaged with a psycho killer! I can't handle it! I. Can't. Handle. It!" She faced him, tears streaming down her cheek and mascara all messed up. Klaus still thought she was pretty… mad, but still pretty.
"I got it. You don't have to scream. I get that you don't want to be stuck here with me, but… I'm sorry, Love, but you have to deal with it. We need to stick together if we have any chance to come back. You want to go back to Mystic Falls, right?"
She agreed, burrowed her face in her hands. "I wanna go home…" cried. Klaus sighed.
"If you want to go home, we have to stick together, ok?"
"Ok."
"Now clean your tears, love." He cleaned one of them with a thumb "And smile. We're going back and tell them it was just an attack of pregnancy hormones…"
"But it was exactly that!" she exclaimed, annoyed by his disbelief. Klaus couldn't possibly think that wasn't it for the crazy hormones she would be a crying mess, could he? Caroline Forbes was no victim.
"Yes… And we will laugh about it and hope Jeremy doesn't think I'm even more of an asshole."
"Right"
"And Caroline, please, stop crying."
"I'm trying"
A minute of silence while they stared to opposite direction. "I'm sorry I dragged you into this, Klaus… I know you don't to be stuck here with me…" the blonde murmured, a little bit moved by his sudden gentleness.
"Neither did you. But he have to deal with it."
"Still… I'm sorry this is happening."
"You're as much as victim as I am. Don't try to take all the blame, love. Yes, I'm furious… But it wasn't your fault. Or mine. Mostly, it was this world's Caroline and Klaus's fault."
"Maybe… Maybe they wanted it. You know, have a child." She conjectured. It was something that had been tickling the back of her mind since the night Niklaus left her alone.
"What do you mean?"
"Caroline called Bonnie… Bon didn't pick up, but Caroline sent a message saying she had important news. Maybe it was the pregnancy, maybe they wanted to be parents. It's not just because we're scared to death that they would be too…"
"You think Klaus would want to be a father?" Mikaelson wasn't being skeptic, he was genuinely curious. He couldn't picture a version of him that would ever want to have a child.
"I think this world's Klaus is a nice guy."
"But I am not…"
"Yes… You're not." She sighed, honestly. Nik wasn't offended. Caroline wasn't trying to hurt him, tought it did tighten his chest a little… Because it wasn't an insult threw in the wind. It was she being utterly honest.
"This world's Caroline seems to be a beautiful girl." A happy girl, he thought.
"But I am not…" she completed, with a broken smile.
"I would never say such thing, love." You're so unhappy, Caroline…
"Thanks, Klaus. You're being so nice to me and now I feel sorry for how I treated you… I'm sorry I'm…"
"Caroline." He cut her off "I'm not being nice, I'm just being nice now. You had all the right to act like that, I was being a jerk." I am a jerk.
She thought for a moment and a playful smile spread across her lips. "Yes, you were being kinda jerky."
"Yes I was, but you don't have to kick me down!" he laughed.
Caroline grinned, but her smile soon faded and she looked him in the eye. Her big blue eyes were wet, mascara was smeared… She looked like a caged bird, decided Nik.
"Klaus, I'm grateful I'm stuck here with you. I mean, I wish it was someone else… but at least, it was you. Someone smart."
"Yes, at least… It could be worst, right? You could be stuck here with Katerina."
"And you with Rebekah. I don't even know each one is worst."
"Katerina is… I'm grateful I'm here with you too, Caroline. At least it was someone… strong."
Her eyes widened. She opened her mouth to disagree, that she wasn't strong and had never been. However, she closed it, realizing she wanted to be.
Even if it was only in his eyes.