7.

Caroline did not hear from Nik for the next three days. She ignored Rebekah's calls and refused to come out of her room when her friend was pounding on the front door. Telling her mother that she had a stomach bug wasn't a total lie, and it excused the nausea and Caroline's desire to stay in bed all day. The one person who she needed comfort from wouldn't pick up his phone.

It was now six o'clock at night and her mother was pulling another over night shift. Caroline was curled up in her bed, much like she had been the past few days and cried herself to sleep.

The next morning the sun shone beautifully through her bedroom windows as to mock her sadness. Sitting up and getting out of bed she waited for the usually roll of nausea, but it did not come. This was a small relief as Caroline padded bare footed to the kitchen to fix her self some breakfast.

She had spent the past day thinking about what she would do and how she would tell her mom. Caroline poured milk over her Cheerios and fetched a spoon. Sitting at the kitchen island she mulled over her choices.

First there was adoption; she was sure there was a good family out there that would give her baby a good life. Second was that she could have the baby and raise it by herself since Nik so clearly showed he wanted nothing to do with it. She couldn't ignore the third option, one that Rebekah had off-handedly mentioned…abortion.

As a shiver at the thought ran through Caroline's body she was startled by a sharp knock on her front door.

Peeking around the corner in case it was Rebekah again, Caroline was surprised to see Nik standing, cold faced, on her front porch. She quickly ducked her head back around the corner as her heart raced.

Another knock came and she took in a deep breath. Checking her reflection in the glass of a near by picture, she rounded the corner and walked towards the front door. Nik's cold grey eyes met hers through the glass and she felt tears prickle at the corners of her eyes.

His stare was fixed on her as she clicked the lock and turned the handle. They didn't say anything to each other for a moment. Caroline broke their gaze when she lowered her eyes, she couldn't bring herself to look at him any more, her Nik was not there.

Nik cleared his throat and pulled a small white card out of his pocket, holding it out into her line of vision as her eyes were fixed on the welcome mat that sat at her feet.

When Caroline didn't take the card Nik reached for her hand, grabbing her around the wrist and pushed the card into her hand before speaking, "I'll pick you up Thursday at 10am." He then turned and walked down her front steps out to his car and raced down the road. Caroline only looked up once she heard him round the corner a block away.

She looked down at the card. Richmond Community Health Clinic it read across the top in simple bold font. There was a hand written appointment time for two days from now at one in the afternoon. Caroline walked back into the house, breakfast forgotten as she threw the card down on her nightstand and cried into her pillow.

Caroline had thought at one time that she loved him; she had dreamed about him and desperately yearned for him, but all of that ended the day he handed her that little white card. On it was scribbled a date and time that would change her life forever.

Nik gripped his steering wheel tightly as he took the back road around town, pushing the speed limit and his car to the max. Loud music pumped through his speakers as he took a turn at fifty. The emotional rock music echoed his mood as he belted out the choirs.

He thought he had made the right choice, but seeing Caroline so broken and not being able to comfort her was killing him. He wasn't this guy, but right now he had to be. He had to break her heart; make this a clean break. It would be easier this way. He couldn't be tied to this small town for the rest of his life; there were things that his family expected of him, that he expected of himself and those things did not include a baby at eighteen with his sixteen secret girlfriend.

If all that is true then why did he feel like this, like his heart had been ripped from his chest? A few tears slipped from his eyes, blurring his vision. A horn sounded and he blinked a few time before swerving to the side of the road.

A large truck flew pass him as he sat stalled on the country road. He punched his steering wheel a few times, letting his heart break.

He thought back to the night that Caroline had told him about the…situation. He had come home anger seeping out of every pore. Elijah had found him getting drunk down in his father's office. Nik confessed to his brother and expressed all of his fears of the future.

"I love her 'Lijah, but I don't think I'm ready for this. I mean I'm supposed to go off to college in a few weeks, half way around the world! I can't be a father, not now, maybe not ever!"

Elijah had remained calm through all of Niklaus' rant. "This same thing happened to a bloke I knew my first year of Uni. Him and the girl took care of it and now they are both successful and happy."

"Took care of it?" Nik questioned.

"They terminated the pregnancy."

"Oh," Nik said into his glass of scotch. "And they are both happy?"

"Yes, and you will be too. You have so much ahead of you Nik, you don't need this weighing you down for the rest of your life."

Deep breath, deep breath, he chanted in his mind. He was back on the road and heading home. When he entered the house he made his way to the office where he knew his brother would be.

"Is it done?" Elijah said coolly from behind the large wooden desk.

"It will be," Nik sighed, slumping into a chair opposite his brother, "Thursday."

Elijah put down the papers that he was looking over and took in the state of Niklaus. "You are doing the right thing, for both of you," he reassured.

"Then why do I feel so shitty?"

Rounding the desk and placing his hand on his little brother's shoulder Elijah spoke, "You will see in time that this is all for the best."

As he watched his older brother straighten out his suit and leave the room, Nik walked over to his father's liquor cabinet and pulled out a bottle of scotch. Pouring himself half a glass of the amber liquid he sat in the chair Elijah had just vacated. He wanted to picture himself in his brother's footsteps, signing important documents, running a company, being a hot shot in London, but all he could do was down the liquor in hoped that he could sleep tonight after the choices he had made and all the hurt he was causing Caroline.

Caroline sat in the musty smelling waiting room, trying to occupy her thoughts by playing with a loose thread on her sweatshirt. He sat beside her, his knee bouncing in a nervous rhythm, eyes glued to his phone.

The thoughts that ran through her mind were not new; how stupid and reckless she had been, how she was brought up better than this, and how she had hoped that he would step up to the plate and do the 'right thing', what ever that was.

She finished filling out the papers on the over used clipboard and walked them back up to the counter and handed them to the clerk.

"We will call you back in a few minutes," the clerk said with a small smile. She seemed in her mid-thirties, with dark brown hair and green eyes that held a sadness that Caroline could relate to at the moment.

Returning to her seat she tried to make eye contact with Nik but he couldn't even bring himself to look at her.

During the two hour drive into the city she had thought about calling the whole thing off, asking him to turn the car around, tell her mother and suffer the consequences, but as she looked over at him and his blank expression, as if they were just driving to another day at school, she knew that some day she would think this was the right choice.

So she kept quiet and read over the appointment card in her hands for the hundredth time.

"Caroline," a woman in dark blue scrubs called from the door way to their left.

Standing from her seat she gripped the appointment card even tighter in her hand, looking between the nurse, Nik, and the exit of the small clinic.

Seeing her unease the nurse stepped up to them, "You can come back with her," she directed at Nik. "I'm sure she would appreciate the support."

"I'm good here," Nik replied not even looking up from his phone.

The nurse shot Caroline a sympatric glance as tears welled in the young girl's eyes. But Caroline swiped the tears from her cheeks, held her head high and walked to the back of the clinic with the nurse.

"My name is Carla," the nurse offered as they walked down an off white hallway. "I'll be with you every step of the way."

Caroline offered a small smile.

They stepped into an alcove where Carla took Caroline's weight and blood pressure. These numbers were scribbled into a chart and then they moved on to another room. "There is a gown in the changing room, remove everything and put on the gown. The doctor will want to do an exam before the procedure."

Again Caroline slightly smiled and nodded in understanding. Pulling the faded curtain behind her she looked at herself in the mirror that was in the change room. She couldn't even hold her own gaze for more than a few moments before becoming discussed with herself. She turned her back to the mirror and reached for the button of her almost too tight jeans.

Doubt ran through her mind, like it had a million times that day. Then she heard Nik's words echo in her head, I don't want this, not with you. We are going to take care of it. He had said in the car ride over. She remembered his cold eyes and his lack of compassion for her pain. Caroline couldn't have him tied to her for life because of a child, she couldn't allow her heart to break every time she looked at the child that would resemble it's father.

So she removed her clothes and pulled on the gown before going and sitting on the exam table.

A few moments later Carla walked back into the room pulling a machine behind her. "We are going to do a quick sonogram to see how far along you are before we start," she explained. She plugged in the machine, dimmed the lights and asked Caroline to expose her abdomen. "You're going to feel some cold gel and them me moving the wand over your belly."

Caroline just nodded as Carla started. The monitor looked like her grandmother's old TV, when you had to use the rabbit ears to tune in a station, but couldn't quite get it. After about a minute of Carla moving around her stomach she held the wand just able her pubic bone.

"There you are," she said as a fuzzy bean shaped object came into focus. The nurse pushed a few buttons taking still photos of the blob. "It looks like you are about seven weeks."

"Sounds about right," Caroline whispered looking away from the screen. She couldn't look at the image knowing what was to come.

Carla turned off the machine and cleaned up Caroline's stomach with some tissue. "I'll go see if the doctor is ready. Do you have any questions?"

Caroline shook her head no, still looking at the wall across the room. She heard the squeaky wheels of the machine as both it and nurse Carla left the room.

The procedure only took about fifteen minutes and after it was done and Caroline was getting redressed, she felt empty and dead inside. Carla helped her out of the clinic and into the passenger seat of Nik's car.

After Carla closed the door she turned to the young man, "She will be in physical pain for the next week or so but that girl's emotional pain will far surpass that. If you can't be there for her I suggest you find someone who can." She handed him a bag with pain medication and printed information on after care. "And for the sake of another girl out there somewhere, use protection next time."

Nik did not say anything in return to the nurse that he felt needed to mind her own business. He just took the bag of pilled and walked to the driver's side of the car. Caroline had her eyes closed with her head rested against the window, her arms wrapped protectively around her stomach. He gritted his teeth and threw the car into gear, speeding out of the parking lot.

Caroline woke with a start. She was covered in sweat and her blonde hair was stuck to her face and shoulders. Her breaths came in quick pants and she tried to calm her racing heart. The dreams, or memories really, had been becoming more frequent and vivid as the date of her departure neared.

She got out of bed and walked to her kitchen to get a glass of water. There on her fridge was the invitation to her ten-year high school reunion. "Go Timber Wolves," Caroline said sarcastically as she downed the half glass of water.

Walking over to her window she looked out over Central Park. It was the middle of the night but there was something beautiful about the mass of dark trees among the city lights.

Not being able to fall asleep again she started to pack for her trip which she was leaving for tomorrow evening. She had not planned on attending but it had been two years since she had seen her mother and when the now Sheriff caught wind of the reunion she practically forced Caroline to RSVP.

After that day with Nik, she did not see him again. He left a week later for Oxford. She can still remember the last words he said to her, Feel better. She scoffed about it now, how he could possibly expect her to 'feel better' after what she had done.

When school returned in the fall she started to hang out more with Elena and Bonnie. She couldn't look at Rebekah without thinking about Nik, which some days made her depressed and others made her red with rage towards him. But if she was completely honest, she stayed mad at herself long after the memory of his twisted smile or his silky voice had faded. She had a choice and she let him make it for her.

She graduated high school and went to college in Washington State, as far away from home she could without leaving the Lower Forty-Eight. She graduated in three years with a degree in Business and Marketing, taking extra courses and not coming home during the summer.

Next was graduate school in New York where she majored in Marketing and minored in Fashion. She had interned at a small firm in Washington that held some large department store accounts and she fell in love with the fashion aspect of the business. So this lead to summers abroad in Paris and another internship at Saks, where she currently is the youngest person to hold the position of VP of Buying and Marketing for the Eastern Region.

This life afforded her passes to Fashion Weeks around the world and jet setting to parties in Paris, Rome, and Tokyo. Designers fought to get their samples to her, just for the chance for her to place them in the stores. She had a team of five buyers under her and two other marketers.

So as the memories of the choice she had made when she was sixteen flooded her dreams, she thought about how she had been able to suppress them for so long with traveling, shoes, and cycling through boyfriends every six months. She didn't see her inability to commit as an issue since the guys usually broke it off with her since she worked so much and was hardly around, physically and emotionally.

Sometimes when she had down time and the office was quite, she would think about how different her life would have been if she had kept the baby. Would she have gone to college? Would Nik ever come back to be with her and their child? One thing was for certain; she wouldn't be where she was now, in a two-bedroom apartment overlooking Central Park from the thirty-sixth floor of this beautiful turn of the century building.

Sighing she again pushed back the memories of sixteen-year old Caroline and moved into her fabulously stocked closet and started to put together outfits for her weeklong trip back to Mystic Falls.

She finished up a few last minute designer picks before she was set to leave for the airport. Caroline, ever the workaholic, had wanted to put in at least a half day before setting off to her small home town. So she had taken her bags to work with her and now was heading down the elevator to catch a taxi to JFK.

Not wanting to take a connecting flight, she flew in to Washington DC and rented a car, a convertible 6 Series BMW, to drive into town. With the top down she raced along the highway towards the west side of the state. It had been over a year since she had to drive a car for herself, but she enjoyed the freedom and control that she felt behind the wheel of a perfectly tuned German machine.

It was already dark when she got into Mystic Falls and she knew that her mother was pulling one more over night shift so that she could have the rest of the week off. She parked in the driveway and went to find the key that her mother hid under a rock in the front flowerbeds. It had been ten years since she had been home, but it seemed that nothing had changed, beside herself that is.

Her room was just as she left it. This made her feel guilty about leaving like she did. She never really thought about how her mother had dealt with the empty nest and Caroline refusal to return home. Sure she had flown her mother up to New York every Christmas and Mother's Day for the past six years, but seeing that her childhood room had remained untouched pulled at her heart.

Caroline unpacked her bags, hanging up dresses and putting her running clothes in the dresser. She took a shower and then searched the kitchen for food, finding left over Chinese in the fridge. She made a quick meal of it and then headed to bed, checking her email once or twice before drifting off.

She thrashed under the yellow and white daisy print quilt that covered her bed. Caroline was once again stuck in the nightmare of her choices. She had cried herself to sleep every night for the rest of that summer. Nik had left for Oxford two weeks early just to get away from her. He left without a work, never looking back, not caring enough to even text to see how she was doing. It was like their summer romance was just some sick twisted dream.

Just like at home in her apartment, she woke up screaming with tears rolling down her face, body covered in droplets of sweat. Once Caroline had calmed down enough to catch her breath she moved to her bathroom.

A memory flashed through her mind. It was the January after her seventeenth birthday. If she had kept the baby it would be due around this time. She had stood in front of her bathroom mirror and ran her hand over her flat stomach, imagining what she would look like if it was round with life.

Caroline had spent much of those eight months thinking about the 'what if's' in life. Most days wishing she could go back in time and tell Nik to shove it. She wondered if the baby had been a boy or a girl. She even picked out names for it, Dylan and Cassie, thinking that the baby needed a name in heaven.

Coming out of the memory, Caroline reconsidered her trip here, but knew that she need to face her demons so that she could maybe move on and have a normal relationship, and although she would never forget her first baby, she always promised herself that if she was blessed with another, nothing and no one could stop her from being the best mom ever.

So with renewed confidence in herself, Caroline went back to bed, ready for what ever Mystic Falls could throw at her.

"Care Bear," Liz's voice said softly as she opened her daughter's bedroom door. It was thrilling to have her little girl back home and she was going to take full advantage of it. She had made breakfast after getting in from her shift and wanted to see her Caroline before she went to sleep off her night shift.

Caroline rolled over to see her mother who looked much the same as last Christmas, just slightly longer hair and maybe a few new wrinkles. "Good morning mom," she said as she rolled over and stretched her arms above her head.

"I made you breakfast in bed," Liz offered a trey with pancakes, eggs, and orange juice.

"Thanks mom, you didn't have to."

"I know, I just wanted to," Liz beamed. "It's so good to have you home."

Caroline sat up in bed and allowed her mom to place the trey over her lap. Her mom leaded down and placed a kiss on her forehead. "I'm going to catch some Z's but we can go out and do something this afternoon if you want."

"That sounds good mom. Good night." Caroline smiled.

"Good morning," Liz smiled back, thinking back on how they used to say that to each other when she worked the night shifts while Caroline was in high school.

Once Liz left the room, Caroline dug into her breakfast. She usually didn't eat like this, but she was on vacation and wanted to live a little before she had to go back to the big city and fit in to size twos again.

Caroline felt like exploring and also wanted to stop at the super market for a few things she had forgotten to bring with her. So after breakfast she showered, dressed in a silk summer dress and some jeweled sandals before heading out in to down.

She decided to try out the new bigger super market instead of the mom and pop place down the street. Circling around the town square she saw that The Grill was still there, along with the flower shop and the local dressmaker.

The super market was busy for a Monday morning and she had to park near the back of the lot, thankful that she wasn't in her normal heels. The store was bright and everything looked fresh and clean. She grabbed a small basket and went to pick up her items along with some fruit since her mother wasn't the healthiest eater.

Caroline had just placed a few apples in her basket when she heard a voice that made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.

"My word, is that little Caroline Forbes?"

Caroline turned around with a plastered smile, "Esther, what a pleasant surprise."

"I would say so. Are you in for the reunion?"

"Sure am, just got in last night."

Just then Esther's phone went off and she excused herself to answer it. The conversation was short but left the older woman flustered. "I'm sorry for that Caroline, but it is just a mad house back at the Manor."

Caroline just smiled and shifted uncomfortably on her feet.

"Oh how rude of me, you must not know," Esther started. "Rebekah just had a baby and is driving me up the wall. You must come by the house and see her, she would be just thrilled to show off her bundle of joy to her best girl hood friend."

"Uh, I don't know…"

"I'm not taking no for an answer. You will come for lunch today. I'm making salmon and roasted root vegetables."

Caroline knew this woman. She really wouldn't take no for an answer. So she would go to their house for lunch, coo over Rebekah's baby and then hopefully never have to do it again. "Sure, sounds good."

"Perfect, see you at noon!" Esther sang over her shoulder.

Walking out to her car after making her purchases, Caroline didn't know what she just got her self into. But to kill some time she drive back down to the center of town, stopped in and got her mother some fresh flowers and also a bouquet for Rebekah. She also stopped into the dress shop looking for any one of a kind creations, anything to take her mind off the upcoming lunch with the Mikealson's.

AN: I know abortion is a very touchy subject, but you will see a reason for Caroline's pain in up coming chapters. I hope that you all enjoyed this. I thought up this chapter while I was driving home from the birth of my first niece. Leave me some love and feed back, it's what brightens my day.