The cup felt warm in her hands, a mutual feeling for the rest of her body in the heated apartment. The light sound of water drumming against a solid surface as the shower turned on. The winter snow piled in heaps outside the building as Caroline sat on the windowsill, staring at the black SUV. It's been there for days now. A man would occasionally leave the car only to return with food and some coffee, the man who Caroline eventually found out was her attacker, ex-boyfriend and- now- her stalker. As she saw the dark haired man walk down the street once again, looking at her building, a shiver was sent down her spine, one that not even the blanket draped over her shoulders could smother.
Tyler had been looking at the building's entrance, searching for her, every time he stepped out of the car and when he walked down the street to return to his SUV. He must not know that she was staying at her saviours place. Caroline hoped it wasn't for much longer, as she had already stayed at Klaus's home for a few days. And treacherous few days they were. Thankfully he had kept his promise about him giving up his 'hobby', a very subtle word for sex. But that didn't mean he couldn't torture Caroline in other ways.
Last night, he brought home a woman and didn't have sex with her. But he did have a very…fascinating way of sweet-talking her; whispering things into her ear at which she would giggle greatly. He would stroke her blonde hair while glancing at Caroline who was trying to watch TV. Though secretly, Caroline was listening to them, trying not to laugh at the obvious desperation the woman had for sex. Eventually Caroline couldn't hold it in any longer. After a very stupid comment about Klaus's body, Caroline erupted in laughter. This caused a glare from the woman and a smile from Klaus; he obviously was counting on the fact that she was listening and watching everything he did to that poor woman.
Tyler opened his car and took a quick scan of the building, this time he reached farther up, searching the windows for Caroline. As he drew closer to the window she presently sat at, Caroline's panic grew. A million thoughts ran through her head, such as; she wished there were curtains on the window so she could close them. She could easily walk away from the window, but something made her stay. When he reached the window, she clearly saw longing in his eyes. His eyes locked on hers and she gulped. He smiled. It was a rather frighting smile, like he wanted her to die at that moment, not in the way a friend or boyfriend would smile.
Tyler slid into his car. She couldn't see what he was doing in there but he returned and couple of seconds later, with a large note pad in his hands. He held the pad up, so she could see what it said. Once her eyes processed what it said, she froze. The mug that was previously in her hands fell and connected to the wooden floor with a loud smash. The note read:
We will meet again. And you will pay.
Her panic had reached a high. Her heartbeat quickened and her body froze. The blanket was no longer comforting as her blood went cold. Caroline sat there, her face full of fear, about to cry. She was afraid for her life and no longer felt safe in the apartment. She had been motionless for only a couple of seconds but the buzzing of her phone brought her back to reality. Caroline tore her gaze away from Tyler who now sat in his car; no doubt staring at her like a crocodile watched its prey. She looked down at the phone.
R u ok? Ur not work.
The text was from Bonnie, of course it was Bonnie. Bonnie had been texting her the same words ever since the first day after Caroline was attacked. Caroline had never been able to come up with an excuse but now it was clear. After the breakup, the attack and the not, Caroline knew that Tyler had terrorized her life for long enough. She was no longer going to be the victim, and was not going to act like it. Caroline was a fighter, and she would fight.
Caroline texted back;
Tyler attacked me.
As Caroline waited for a reply, unbeknownst to her Klaus walked into the room.
"I heard the crash, what happened?"
He surprised her, and made her jump in her seat. She looked at him, only to look away a second later once she saw him.
"Could you get dressed?" She tried to put it as politely as possible.
"It's nothing you've never seen before". She could feel him smile.
"I've seen you wearing jeans, not a towel." She looked back at him, but he still stood there, a white towel wrapped around him. Her phone buzzed yet again, her eyes- yet again- had to be torn away from his chest. Hey, she was a girl, in a room with a half-naked man. She could stare. She looked at the text.
I'm coming over right now.
Caroline was about to tell Bonnie to stop but was blocked by a hand being pressed against the back of her head. Panic tore through her yet again, the image of Tyler's note burned into her memory. She whipped her head around, her hair whipping her assailant. It was only Klaus, who took a step back and put his hands up at a 90 degree angle.
"I was just going to ask you how you head feels." His statement brought her mind back to the pain. The pain would begin at random times but stop a couple of minutes later. Her ankle however was a different story. Klaus had graciously bought her crutches to help her move around, but it didn't help with the pain as much which was hurting less than when she first woke up, but still hurt a great deal. Her back only hurt when she turned to the left, as she would stretch the muscle the key dug into. So Caroline avoided moving to her left.
"I'm fine."
"Can I have a look?" Klaus had been monitoring all her wounds since the first day she had spent at his house. It wasn't the worst bit of their agreement, but it wasn't the best.
Caroline nodded, stood and headed towards the couch. She sat one side of the couch facing opposite the window, towards the door. She could feel Klaus sit beside her and prepared herself for the pain when he would press her bump on the back of her head. Her wound must've been getting better as when he did feel the bump, it didn't hurt as much as yesterday. His right hand rested on her shoulder, a very comforting feeling after the events that just unfolded. His left hand continued to prod and poke her bump. When she didn't gasp out in pain, he moved to the next wound.
"The head wound is getting better"
He lifted up the hem of her shirt, his fingers grazing her skin, trailing upwards as he lifted her shirt. His right hand pinned her pink tank top to her back, just below her shoulder blades while his left hand caressed her back wound. Also less pain than yesterday. A very warm feeling pumped through her blood when he touched her back. She realized that she enjoyed his touch, but then realized he was still wearing a towel.
"You feel anything?"
"There's less pain."
"Stand up." Caroline obeyed, slowly.
"How's your ankle?"
"It's been better, but it's improved a lot."
He sighed. "You should text your friend back, if you want to tell her to stay at work." He then proceeded to grab the broken shards the mug from the floor.
Crap! Bonnie was probably halfway here. And if Bonnie came over here, Caroline would have to have a 'girl talk' with her. Not with Klaus around. Caroline frantically grabbed her phone from her pocket and texted back.
No meet me at the grill in 10mins.
Caroline walked towards the door, grabbed the crutches and opened the door.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"I need to go to the grill, I'm meeting Bonnie there"
"I told you, you shouldn't move a lot"
"When have I ever done what I'm told?" She could feel him smile at her response.
"I'll drive" She heard him pick up his keys. He walked past her and began to walk to the staircase. Once he reached the stairs, he looked back to realize that Caroline was at least 10 metres behind him. He sighed and made his way towards her. He picked up her crutches and gave them to her.
"Hold these" He demanded.
"Why-" She was cut off as he swooped her into his arms. She yelped. Luckily she had grabbed the crutches otherwise she suspected he would just leave them in the hallway.
The car ride was the opposite of silence. Klaus had badgered her about the mug constantly and didn't give up when she said that it just fell. The excuse felt pretty lame, even to her. She had managed to change the subject by asking what his job was. He fell silent. She smiled; she had finally shut him up. Although, halfway through the trip, she realised that a car was following them. Her heart stopped and she sucked in a breath when she realised it was a black SUV. Klaus didn't seem to notice her fear and kept silent until they parked on the side of the road at the grill. Caroline opened the door and immediately spotted her friend inside the bar, sipping her drink.
Caroline grabbed her crutches and closed the car door. She was about to set her arms over the crutches like Klaus taught her to when she heard another door slam. She looked back and found Klaus out of the car.
"What are you doing?" She asked.
"Standing."
"No, get back in the car and wait here." She commanded. Klaus obeyed but mumbled under his breath something like, "great! Now I'm the chauffer". Caroline smiled, she was in charge.
As Caroline walked into the grill, Bonnie spotted her immediately.
"Caroline!" She shot up from her seat, when she saw her friend in crutches.
"Hi Bonnie!" Caroline tried to muster up the best smile she could, but she was still getting used to the crutches.
Bonnie took a seat only after Caroline sat down.
"Are you ok, Caroline?" Bonnie said, her face etched with worry.
"I'm fine, Bonnie, It wasn't serious" she lied.
"We're all very worried about you, they all wanted to come and see you but I told them they would get too soon" Bonnie said.
"You told everyone?"
"Yeah, they were all shocked, Matt especially" That wasn't a shock. Tyler was Matt's best friend and he set them up. Matt must be feeling like it was his fault. But it was Tyler.
"Me too, Tyler was so nice in the beginning." Caroline felt so stupid. Tyler was the first guy she'd dated since high school. She felt so lucky that a guy like Tyler took an interest in her, like she was special that such a perfect guy liked her. But he wasn't perfect, he was far from it.
"Yeah" Bonnie looked down, staring at the napkin in front of her.
"Did you drive here Caroline?" Bonnie looked at Caroline with curiosity. Caroline looked back to the car, where Klaus presently sat. Unfortunately to do that, Caroline had to turn left, causing her back to feel on fire. Caroline gasped in agony. Bonnie eyes widened, "Caroline are you ok?!" Her voice was full of concern.
"I'm fine Bonnie, my backs still hurting but I'm fine" Caroline reassured her friend once the pain went away. Bonnie looked where Caroline tried to look.
"Is that, Kol's brother, what's his name…?"
"It's Klaus"
"Yes, did he drive you?" Caroline responded with a nod.
"Are you two-" Caroline cut her off before she could continue.
"Enough about me how are you? And Kol?" Bonnie smiled
"Things are going great! He's so nice and helpful, but he's a bit jealous of Jeremy I suspect."
Caroline laughed, "What did he do this time?"
Relief washed over Bonnie as it was nice to hear her friend laugh. After the terrible trauma she must've went through, a laugh was good for her.
"Jeremy sent me flowers and Kol got so jealous that he threw them in the bin, and chucked the bin into the dumpster outside then collected all the bins in the office to throw on top of the flowers in the bin" Bonnie explained, "His boss, Damon, got so mad that he ordered Kol to buy the whole office new bins."
It wasn't the best of Kol's escapades but it was enough to send the two friends into a fit of laughter. It was soothing to know that in her hardest times, she could always count on Bonnie to lift her spirits.