This is sort of crack-ish but whatever I like it (7K+? Whoa!). Keep suggesting guys, the weirder the better!
"Save the cheerleader, save the world" a virtual cookie for anyone who knows where it's from.
Prompt: "Maybe vampire Kol saves a young Caroline that is like 5 or 6. Maybe theirs a car crash and the cars in the water and her parents die and she's drowning. Like how Elena's parents die. But maybe he can't bring himself to kill the young Caroline even though she smells so sweet. Because she's so pretty and angelic.. Maybe he watches her as she grows up..maybe Bonnie's grams took her in ? I'm not an Elena fan that's why I suggested bonnie. Or he decides to keep Caroline himself or gives her to Bekah to raise? Little Caroline with all the originals Carioline for her! I think it would be cute." -AngelinaGuerin
It has been more than eighty years when he awakens in the coffin Nik shoved him into with a dagger in his dark, dark heart. Feeling comes back slowly to his long asleep limbs and color returns to his skin, his vision clears as he's assaulted with color and his ears are welcomed by sound.
His first thought is: Bloody hell because there is a crick on his neck that is fucking killing him. Second thought is: That bastard is dead because he doesn't quite enjoy being daggered and shoved into a coffin, thank you very much and he is going to rip Nik's eyeballs out, those bloody pretty green eyes of his, and play golf with them. Third thought is: Who are you?
That is directed at the middle-aged dark-skinned woman hovering over him who is holding the dagger that was previously embedded in his chest. "Kol, I'm Gloria." She greets. "Welcome back to the land of the living."
Usually prophecies are a little less vague and longer than "Save the cheerleader, save the world" but he guesses humanity has started to devolve in their creativity and this was the result of modernization. It must be because this Gloria woman looked nothing like the women he remembers pre-daggering. Cropped hair and revealing clothes. What's next? Watered down romance novels directed at adolescent girls?
But nonetheless, Gloria leaves him with nothing but those words and a place and date he needed to be to supposedly 'save the world'.
He undaggers Rebekah who stares up at him with her blue, blue eyes and he smiles "Get up, sister, we've got a mission."
They don't undagger Finn because he's a drag.
They leave Nik a note with the words 'Go off yourself, you hybrid bastard you! And when I'm done saving the world from you and what you have planned, I will get back at you! And when I do, you'll pay! Oh you'll pay. Literally. You still owe me some money, Nik, remember? –Kol.'
'P.S. Bekah says I hate you.'
A decade passes with him and Bekah moving repeatedly to avoid Nik cause he's an asshole and avoiding Elijah because, well, he's also an asshole. He's less obvious about it but he still is. Like for example when they were kids, Kol was four and Elijah was nine, Elijah stuffed their uncle's boots with goat shit and blamed it on Kol and he got fucking punished for it and never forgot.
Asshole.
Kol broods to himself as he stands at the end of Wickery Bridge, waiting for something to happen. Gloria hadn't given him an exact time so he's been there since dawn, not wanting to miss it, whatever it was, when it happened.
And now he's bored.
He takes out his phone and starts texting Rebekah, who is in their hotel outside of town. Technology is still new to him but he adjusts better than he would've thought. He really likes the telly and violent video games and this music called grunge metal.
Rebekah is adjusting well too. She thinks the clothes are whorish and the women more vapid than before but she likes the bloody brilliant sexual revolution that occurred because now she could be the hussy she's born to be. Oh and she likes the shoes and The Spice Girls who looked like something out of Finn's worst nightmares.
I'm bored. What are you doing?
Hunting. You still there at the bridge?
Sadly. Nothing's happened yet.
Hang in there. I'm sure Gloria wasn't lying to you.
She better not be.
A car is on the bridge now but half way starts swerving and then is off the bridge completely. He watches the car catapult into the water before he takes his coat off and jumps in after it.
There are three people in the car, a man, a woman and a small girl no older than six. The perfect family unit and he wonders for a moment, swimming outside the car, which one he was supposed to save.
Fuck, couldn't Gloria have given him more detail?
The woman is unconscious and the man isn't. Dark eyes lock unto his, pleading and the man gestures to the small girl in the backseat and Kol knows what to do.
Rebekah stares down skeptically at the little blonde girl lying on her bed. Surprised would've been an understatement of how she reacted when she saw her brother come back with a bloody child. The key to saving the world was a little girl? Really?
But nonetheless, she goes along with it and takes the girl from Kol's arms, drying her in the bathroom, dressing her into one of Kol's shirts (which was huge on her) and tucking her into bed. Kol and Rebekah then spend the next hour talking about this new development and what they would do exactly.
What the hell are they supposed to do with a child anyway? Rebekah bitches and whines about this fate. Neither of them had had children before they were turned and they know next to nothing about caring for one despite being more than at the marrying age back then. How are they expected to play mommy and daddy to this little girl?
The little girl starts to stir and it was now or never.
The little girl is crying.
But maybe Kol shouldn't have answered "They're dead" when she asked where her mommy and daddy are.
Rebekah glares at him and tries to calm the little blonde down, getting annoyed eventually and just compelling her to stop and listen to her.
"You're going to be alright, okay?" Rebekah reassures her, wiping at the tears on the girl's face. She smiles almost tenderly at her before asking. "Now, tell us, what's your name?"
"Caroline Alicia Forbes."
They have to leave immediately since the cops have probably found the wreckage under the bridge by now and are wondering where the Forbes' daughter has gone. They get on a plane to New York since they've always liked big, bustling cities and it's easier to hide when you're among a crowd.
Kol buys a loft in the Upper West Side and Rebekah decorates Caroline's room in lavender and cream and buys her dolls and pretty dresses. Rebekah then enrolls Caroline in the private school for girls nearest to them under the name 'Caroline Mikaelson'.
Kol picks her up at dismissal and on weekends Rebekah takes her out shopping.
Rebekah adores Caroline which isn't much of a surprise since Bekah's always hungered for love and attention and Caroline loves openly without thought or abandon. She looks up to the older girl like a big sister, mimicking everything Rebekah does and taking all of Rebekah's advice about anything to heart.
Rebekah finally finds someone to love her and she can dress up like a doll because Caroline looks exactly like those expensive porcelain dolls Rebekah is so awed with. Caroline is all blonde curls, rosy cheeks and blue, blue eyes. Rebekah must be preening with the fact that Caroline looks a lot like her.
At least she has someone that has the same mental capacity as her now.
Caroline looks up to Kol as her big brother. Kol's used to caring for Rebekah, they were always together growing up since he's only a few years older than her and he still remembers bossing Henrik around to do his chores for him because he could.
But Caroline is different from Rebekah and Henrik. She's sweeter and kinder than Rebekah and louder and more passionate than Henrik. She is a bundle of sunshine and unending energy and even with all his vampire stamina, he feels exhausted after being forced to play with her all day.
He collapses unto the comfy couch in their living room and wills himself to just die before Caroline's at his side again, grabbing his arm and trying to tug him away, whining, "Kolie, let's play!"
Maybe he should've stayed in that bloody coffin.
He and Caroline arrive home one Friday afternoon after school and Kol has to resist the urge to tear out his ear drums when he hears Rebekah's cries of passion from her room.
"Oh God, oh God, oh God!"
Caroline looks up at him, worried. "What's going on? Is Bekah in danger?"
"You're killing me!"
Caroline, thinking that her big sister is in danger, tries to run towards the girl's room but Kol speeds up to her and stops her, taking her into his arms and getting the hell out of the building.
He needs to distract Caroline and so he takes her to Dairy Queen. She orders the sundae cone with sprinkles and he just gets the chocolate-covered one since Caroline says sprinkles are for girls.
He nibbles on his ice cream, trying to forget the sounds that have traumatized him completely. Nothing can make him forget and he once again wishes for death.
Caroline's mouth is covered in vanilla ice cream and she looks up at him curiously and asks, "What was Bekah doing earlier?"
He glares up at the skies and thinks I'm going to kill that bitch.
"What did we agree about on not taking people home?"
"Don't get caught?"
Rebekah is miffed that he grounded her but it's her own fault anyway so he just ignores her when she huffs and glares at him.
They're having dinner, take out because none of them can cook and they're having Indian food because it's Wednesday. Caroline is eating her curry slowly and looking back and forth between her two adopted siblings, not able to ignore the tension in the air.
Then the silence was broken.
"Caroline," Rebekah starts tersely, eyes focused on her brother. "Did you know Kol grounded me?"
Caroline blinks and doesn't say anything.
Rebekah continues her passive aggressive rant. "Grounded me, like I'm a child because he says I'm immature and that's rich coming from the boy who used to draw cocks on all of Nik's drawings-"
"Who's Nik?"
The two vampires freeze and Rebekah's hand goes to cover her mouth as she realizes what she has let slip, eyeing Caroline with something akin to panic. Kol shoots Rebekah a dirty look before answering Caroline's question. "Nobody, sweets."
Caroline accepts this for a moment before asking, "What's a 'cock'?"
It's Caroline's seventh birthday and they can't believe it's been a year since he brought her into their lives. Rebekah wants to throw a big party for Caroline, inviting all her friends at school and using some kind of theme but Kol refuses since he doesn't want a bunch of snotty little kids in his home.
So it's just the three of them at Coney Island, Rebekah and Caroline giggling as they ride the Spinning Cups. Kol watches from the sidelines and doesn't stiffen when someone familiar stands beside him.
"Hey Elijah,"
His older brother doesn't greet back, eyes narrowed and watching the two blonde girls laughing without a care. "What are you doing, Kol?"
Kol shrugs. "Saving the world."
Elijah lets out a sigh of pure exasperation. "No, what are you really doing, Kol? Playing house with Rebekah and that little girl? How is that going to 'save the world' as you put it?"
"A witch told me it was all part of a prophecy."
"And we all know how reliable prophecies are." Elijah counters sarcastically before turning to him fully with a very serious look. "What happens if all of this isn't real or is just in vain?"
"The world ends." Kol answers simply. "The freaking apocalypse comes and we all die."
Elijah shakes his head. "All of this just because of a little girl?"
"Didn't all this start with that?"
Kol doesn't have to mention Tatia's name for his brother to get what he means.
Thankfully, Elijah leaves before Caroline can see him and Kol goes with them on the Ferris Wheel. Caroline clutches unto him in fear as they go higher and higher until they can see the world around them.
"Open your eyes, sweetheart." He coaxes her and her blue eyes widen as she stares into the view of the night, all bright lights that twinkle like stars from another galaxy.
She doesn't let him go though and he finds it ironic she can find safety in a monster.
"Kol…"
His bionic hearing picks up on Caroline's whisper even in sleep but he rolls over to ignore her anyway.
"Kol?"
A finger pokes him on the spine. He grunts.
"Kol!"
He finally gives up ignoring her and turns over and sits up, drowsily eyeing her with one eye open. "Yes, Caroline?"
"There's a monster in my closet." She answers in agitation, shaking in her pink Barbie nightgown and bunny slippers.
He glances at the clock on his nightstand. 11:45 blinks up at him in bright red letters.
Oh for fuck's sakes!
Deciding she can just get eaten by that imaginary monster, he tries to lie back down but Caroline jumps unto his bed and grabs his arm, trying to pull him with her. "Please, please, Kolie, go kill it?"
He mutters something into his pillow before getting up. Caroline follows as he takes his trusty baseball bat and goes into her room. He flicks on the lights and approaches the closet, opening it and seeing all the bright-colored dresses Rebekah bought Caroline.
He turns to where Caroline is standing at the doorway and takes a step backward into the closet. "See, sweetheart? No monsters in here."
Well, there is but she didn't know that as she run towards him and hugs the monster in her closet.
Kol refuses to let Caroline watch any of the Disney films, thinking their deceitfully idealistic tripe, meant to brainwash little girls into believing into stupid things like happily ever after and love at first sight. It's all tripe.
Instead he reads her fairytale books and not the watered down mainstream versions but the dark, original, twisted ones that he heard when they first were written.
Caroline's in tears by the time he's done with The Little Mermaid and he tries to ignore that clenching in his heart as she sniffles and he wipes away her tears with a tissue from the box Rebekah always keeps ready there since Caroline's a bit of an emotional girl, isn't she?
She bloody cries when she sees a stray cat digging in a garbage can.
"Why did Ariel have to die?" Caroline sobs out, eyes full of confusion and sorrow. "Why didn't she just tell the prince that she was the girl who saved him and they could've married and lived happily ever after?"
"Because the prince was a prick," He answers and it doesn't abate her crying. In fact, it makes it worse and he winces when she starts wailing. "Oh don't cry, sweetheart. It's okay."
"No, it's not okay!" She protests. "Ariel died!"
"Well, everybody dies eventually."
She looks up at him with her big watery blue eyes. "Will you die?"
He nods. "Someday,"
By a hunter, a werewolf or just the end of the fucking world but the latter he is trying to prevent, that's what he is doing there with this small, fragile little girl who looks heartbroken at just the idea of him dying.
She cries out and her arms are around his neck, her wet cheek against his neck and he pats her back gingerly in shock. She mumbles something into his skin and he wouldn't have heard it if it wasn't for his super hearing. "I don't want you to die."
A year passes and it's Caroline's birthday again. She's getting too old for toys now but Rebekah still gets her a stuffed toy, a big pink teddy bear almost as big as Caroline and the blonde, now nine, hugs it to her like it's her new best friend.
Rebekah smiles fondly at her. "What are you going to name it?"
Caroline answers, "You pick."
Rebekah glances at Kol for a second, just a millisecond before she turns back to Caroline. "Nik."
Years pass quickly for mortals since they know their time has a limit and they have to cram everything they want and need to do in a short number of hours. They have so little time to do everything, wasting it all away on useless things until it just ends. Some die young, some die old, some die violently, some die peacefully but it's all the same in the end. They're all dead.
Kol prefers his meals fresh but ever since Caroline squeezed into the picture, he and Rebekah have to be more subtle about their feeding habits. So blood bags, lots and lots of blood bags from a supplier they threatened to torture and kill if he says anything. And he hates the stuff, his predatory instincts itching to kill weaker prey and taste the warm blood in his mouth.
But you can't have everything.
So blood bags and lots and lots of blood bags, his favorite being A+ especially when he warms it in the microwave and it isn't so bad. He just gets out his morning cup from the microwave and takes his first sip when Caroline bounds down the stairs.
He swears inwardly and tries to swallow it all as quickly as possible but some of it drips down his chin and he doesn't wipe it away fast enough because Caroline's looking at him with not fear or disgust but fascination. The taste of the blood has brought out his vampire face and he wills it to go away and back to normal.
Caroline still doesn't look scared though. She's ten now and old enough to finally notice the weird things that her caretakers do like the stash of blood in the cooler they always keep locked, the blue stone rings they never take off (she knows because she's tried to wear Bekah's one time and she got really mad) and the purple herb that Rebekah always mixes into her food and drinks.
Kol doesn't know what to do so he just stares at her and Caroline steps forward until she's only a foot from him. "I think it's time for the talk."
Rebekah had another talk with her just after her birthday. Kol and Rebekah had flipped a coin on who got to explain to Caroline the birds and the bees and Rebekah lost. Kol just hopes she didn't traumatize Caroline in any way since Rebekah isn't known for her subtlety. It seems to have worked out though because Caroline looks fine.
Of course, now is the time for the other talk and he tries not to fidget as he sits down across from her on the living room, her on the couch, him on his favorite chair and begins his story.
He tells her everything, his life as a human, his parents, his siblings, Henrik's death, their turning into vampires, Nik killing their mother, traveling the world and experiencing different cultures for decades and decades until he got daggered by Nik, awoken by Gloria and then it all goes full circle back to Caroline.
Caroline blinks. "So I'm supposed to save the world somehow?"
"Well, I don't really know. Gloria was quite vague and-"
"How am I supposed to save the world? I'm just a girl. Heck, I just turned ten! I don't even have a bra yet and-"
Kol sighs. "Caroline, no one expects anything from you. I'm going to save the world. You're just the key to it somehow."
"Key? As in like Dawn from Buffy?"
Caroline doesn't really understand the whole saving the word thing but she quickly accepts that her caretakers, her adopted siblings, are vampires and that they drink blood to survive, the same way she can survive on nothing but chocolate milk and they can't walk in sunlight without specific jewelry and that they've killed millions of people, sometimes not even for food.
Okay, most of the time, not even for food.
Caroline had bulked when Kol explained his time as Jack the Ripper and she seems morally conflicted about the entire thing but quickly just lets it go because she loves them and the only thing that makes her sad is that they would live forever and like all humans, she will die eventually.
Kol remembers Elijah's brief stint in college when he studied psychology. And late nights tend to get tedious so Elijah would share what he learned and some of it Kol tuned out except for certain things like Freud and his kinky complexes.
Kol's an amateur in the matters of the mind but he knows enough to understand why Caroline is developing a crush on him. He is the only male in her life, one she spends a lot of time with and she looks up to him as a hero because every time there was a noise or thunder she'd run to his room and not Rebekah's, knowing he'll keep her safe from anything.
The matters of the heart, Kol has avoided his whole life. There have been girls, many, beautiful girls but they just were just there to warm his bed and none have made him feel anything except primitive lust and maybe some affection if they're particularly good in bed. But love them? No, Kol, has never been in love, he can safely say.
He's loved two women in his life and they were both related to him. The former got killed by his brother and the latter he lives with and drives him up the wall. He does understand platonic love but romantic love always seemed rather pointless and misery-seeking.
And Caroline is the third woman he's loved. Heck, she's not even a woman yet, she's a girl. And it'll stay platonic, no matter how she smiles and dreams about him because she always knew he'd protect her from anything, even from himself.
Caroline's thirteenth birthday is greeted by blood and he smells it all the way from his room as Caroline rushes out of hers and into Rebekah's, waking the other girl in blind panic. He tries to listen in to the conversation but is still too sleepy to care so he tries to go back to sleep.
But his brain won't shut up.
Caroline. Blood. Must help her.
He groans.
Oh man.
He gets up and goes out into the whole way and stops outside Rebekah's room, knocking impatiently as the two girls inside continue talking to each other in squeaky tones. The door opens a second later and Rebekah's head pops out. "What?"
"Is Caroline alright? I smelled blood-"
"It's the miracle of life, woman stuff, now go away."
She slams the door in his face.
It's kind of daunting to know that the girl who he saved from dying all the while ago is now technically a woman, a tall, blonde and pretty woman who could now have children, the ultimate gift of life.
It freaks him out and he keeps an extra close watch on her when she does anything because if anything bad happens to her, there would be blood and plenty of it. It will rain red by the time he's done.
He doesn't let her go out on dates, something both her and Rebekah find ridiculous. It's not that he doesn't trust her. It's just that he doesn't trust those disgusting, vile creeps with their sweaty, grabby hands, out to corrupt his Caroline.
Wait, his Caroline? His?
Since when is she his? Isn't she just the key to saving the world? Or another sister he had to take care of? Why is he getting possessive and calling her his?
Because she's mine, a petulant voice said in his head, mine.
He knows it's Caroline's time of the month, not just by the smell of blood he can't ignore but by her moods. Sometimes she gets angry at him for no reason. He'll just be standing there, minding his own business and she'll start screaming at him because he looked at her like she's fat.
What the hell?
He talks about this with Rebekah who just laughs and explains to him that it is natural, a girl thing. Then she scowls when he asks why she is hormonal too when they both know she couldn't have children.
At fifteen, Caroline starts to rebel like most teens do and she does this by sneaking out with a rich bastard from the Upper East Side who is just playing her to get under her skirt.
Kol tries to warn her against the jerk, stop her, fucking ground her when she refuses but she keeps on and knows his habits well enough to get away from the loft and meet up with the slimy prick and his grabby hands that like to wander everywhere as if he has more than two.
He brings her back every single time, her whining and glaring at him as he drags her away from the eight-handed wonder. This time he gets really pissed off when he sees Caroline pressed against the dirty alley wall, her mouth being slobbered by the freak and his hands going to forbidden areas that he should not have access to.
Kol doesn't even think twice and he rips the son of a bitch away from her and snaps his neck with a flick of his wrist.
Caroline lets out a scream and stares down at her now dead boyfriend's corpse, horrified at what Kol's done. Anger overcomes her shock very quickly though and she shoves him as hard as she can. "What is wrong with you? Why the fuck did you do that?"
"He was all over you like a fucking octopus!"
"So? He's my boyfriend!"
"Was your boyfriend and now he's never going to touch you again."
"Because you killed him!" She shrieks, her face turning red. "Couldn't you have just compelled him to leave me alone?"
He scoffs. "Like that would've stopped you,"
She lets out an angry cry and shoves him again. "I hate you!"
He rolls his eyes as if to say whatever and just grabs her and super speeds away before her loud shouts attract attention.
Caroline starts to complain about him a lot to Rebekah who tries to defend him but sometimes they gang up on him when they both think he's done them wrong when only he's trying to keep them from doing stupid things like fuck foul buffoons.
Is it wrong to try and keep them from acting like strumpets? If anything, he's doing them a favor! They just can't see he's acting like an overprotective father because he cares about them. If he doesn't care he'd just let them do what they wanted.
Rebekah understands a bit more than Caroline because the latter is still so young and fickle, she feels less protected and more suffocated by his actions. She screams at him a lot these days, says cruel things that even make him wince and it finally cumulates to her running away in the middle of the night with a note for him, 'You blood-sucking murdering fucker, just die and go to hell. I'm done with you and I'm never ever coming back so good riddance! –Caroline'
'P.S. I hate you.'
Kol finds her not that far away. She's sneaked into Coney Island and is sitting at a bench, overseeing the Carousel. A few years ago, he watched her on one of the horses, giggling and waving at him as Rebekah took pictures. "Kol!" She yelled when she got off and ran towards him.
What happened to that little girl?
The answer? She grew up as all kids eventually do.
She doesn't look up when he takes the seat beside her on the bench, he sits close, his thigh brushing hers. He doesn't say anything and she doesn't either. It's only until she lets out a tired sigh that he finally breaks the quiet.
"I'm sorry. I realize that I may have been too constricting on you but Caroline," He says. "I just don't want you to get hurt. I promised you I'd never let anything bad happen to you and I'm going to make sure of that."
"I know," She finally looks up at him; blue eyes soft unlike the glares he'd been getting lately. "And I understand. But you can't lock me away from the world forever. I'm a person, not a doll."
He gives her a small smile and wraps his arm around her shoulder and pulls her to him for a one-sided hug. "Okay. You're right. I'll try to give you more breathing space."
She grins at him, all loveliness and sweetness now and he feels lighter, all the anger and resentment from her has weighed him down a hundred years and he instantly feels relief at the return of some of her sunshine.
Her smile drops a little and with insecurity in her eyes, she asks, as if afraid, "Why do you even care so much about me? Is it only because I'm some kind of plot device for saving the world?"
"No," He shakes his head. "Because you're Caroline."
And you're mine.
Caroline's crush is back in full force.
It didn't bother him before because all she did was smile at him and cuddle with him on the couch when they watched something on the telly but now that she is older and has learned a thing or two from watching Rebekah all these years, she does other things. Like brush against him when she passes by him, look up from under her thick eyelashes and give him this heated look when he's talking to her and use any excuse to give him a kiss (never on the lips but it still does things to him).
Still, he tries to ignore it because it's weird. He practically raised her since she was six and now she is sixteen and in his time that was marrying age already but come on, he is not going there. He is not touching her or responding to her seduction of him, no matter how effective. He is not.
He comes home one day to find the loft in darkness. Rebekah called earlier to tell him she's off investigating leads for their mission of saving the world and he just spent time talking to a witch about the exact same thing and really, saving the world and being a hero is hard, tiring work since he doesn't really have much to go on.
Still, he persists.
But right now, he just wants to get to bed and sleep it all off. He doesn't bother to turn on the lights since his superior eyesight lets him see clearly to get to the hallways and into his room. He assumes Caroline is already asleep since it is late and it's a school night.
He doesn't expect her to be in his room, dozens of scented candles lighting up the room and there on his bed, wearing a revealing almost see-through black negligee was Caroline.
His jaw drops several centimeters to the ground, he's sure it's by his feet. And his eyes, they can't look away from the sight of Caroline in sheer black silk, her skin rosy, soft and perfect, her hair framing her face in loose blonde curls, her lips painted red and her eyes glimmering despite the shadows in the room.
God have mercy on his damned soul.
She smiles happily at him, albeit a bit nervous. "Kol, hi!" She pats the empty space in the bed beside her. "Why don't you join me?"
That snaps him out of his daze and he stares at her in horror and disbelief. "What are you doing?"
She bites her lip coyly. "What do you think?"
He inwardly groans.
Why did the deities up there have it out for him? Sure, he's killed, tortured and led a rather hedonistic lifestyle but he's not sick enough to go after underage girls. He still has some morals, few as they may be.
With purpose, he stalks towards the bed and stops right before the bed. Caroline looks up at him with hope and fear and insecurity and she has never looked more appealing to him and for a moment he thinks fuck it.
Why not? She wants him, he wants her, why not want each other? And maybe when they've sexed this all out, things will go back to normal.
But he knew they wouldn't. Things would never be normal again. Because now he has this image of her, so innocent and sinful at the same time, in his head, forever to haunt him at night while he lay awake in his cold bed.
He couldn't do this. Not to him, not to her. He wouldn't let her give up her fucking virtue to him because she fancies herself in love with him. He isn't that much of a monster.
"Get out." He intones passionlessly, trying to keep his eyes cold.
Her blue eyes widen in shock and hurt as his rejection sinks in and he couldn't handle it. Oh God, he couldn't- He shouts, "Get out!"
She lets out a whimper and scrambles off the bed and runs out of the room, the door slamming loudly. He closes his eyes in frustration and shame and sits down on his bed, his head in his hands.
Things are definitely more awkward after that. Rebekah notices the next morning when Caroline refuses to go out of her room for breakfast. And Kol refuses to answer her worried questions, trying to disappear into his cereal.
Rebekah knocks on the door but Caroline doesn't answer so she goes in and talks to Caroline for what maybe an hour.
Rebekah finally emerges later while he's doing the dishes and he isn't expecting the punch she lands on his face. He's suddenly just on the floor, his jaw aching and he's staring up at his sister with shock. "Bekah, what the hell?"
"Listen here, Kol Mikaelson and listen well." Rebekah starts heatedly. "I know that you have your issues, everyone in this family does and for some reason you can't let yourself fall in love and be fucking happy with someone and before that was okay. But now it's not.
"Because Kol, you're going to lose the best thing that's ever happened to you, you'll lose her cause she'll move on eventually and you'll be stuck living the rest of your immortality all alone!"
She throws up her hands in exasperation. "Is that what you want to be? All alone forever? Why do you keep insisting that you're this unlovable monster when I know you can love and you do love her? Do you even see the way you look at her? The way I desperately wish someone would look at me?"
He gets to his feet wordlessly, unable to look her in the eye. "I'm trying to keep her safe."
"From yourself?" Rebekah growls. "Kol, you are an idiot, truly an idiot."
"We can't be together, Bekah!" He tried to reason with her. "We're on a mission to save the fucking world and-"
"Oh, fuck the world!" She shakes her head. "Why does it matter if you become a hero when you're miserable?"
He doesn't know how to respond to that so he just walks out of the kitchen, Rebekah's protests following him.
Caroline doesn't get out of her room for lunch and Rebekah lets it pass, though eyeing the doorway, as if waiting for her to come out any second now. Kol refuses to even glance at the doorway and just eats his food.
By dinner time and Caroline hasn't gotten out, Rebekah has had enough and jumps out of her chair, stalking towards Caroline's room and drags the blonde teen out, despite the girl's indignant protests.
"Bekah!"
"Shut up! I've had enough!" She pulls Caroline into the kitchen and forces her to sit down on her usual seat, across from Kol and they catch each other's eyes for a moment before looking away quickly. Rebekah growls. "You two are going to talk this out now and I mean now. I will be in the hallway in case you try to escape and if you do - Kol, I will rip out your spine and use it as jump rope!"
Kol grimaces at the threat and watches Rebekah as she leaves the kitchen. He looks at Caroline and she's staring down at the table, biting her lips, looking so forlorn he would let Rebekah rip out his spine for doing this to her. How did everything get so fucked? How could he allow this to happen?
"I'm sorry." He says. "I'm sorry. I just…I shouldn't have shouted at you last night, I should've been more gentle and I'm sorry if I hurt you. I never wanted to do that. I just…I don't know what to do anymore, okay? I don't know so I'm sorry."
Her eyes are watching him with something akin to an ache like it hurt her to even have to look at him. And her voice is soft and low as she speaks. "I'm just embarrassed. God, I'm so stupid. I shouldn't have tried to come on to you when I know you don't feel the same way. Oh, I'm so stupid-"
He cuts her off. "Stop it. You're not stupid."
"But I am!" She sighs. "I should've known you wouldn't love me back and-"
"Wait," His joints all locked as he stiffens in surprise. "What do you mean by 'love'?"
She blushes and chews on her bottom lips some more. "Well, I love you, you know. Isn't it obvious?"
He suddenly couldn't breathe anymore and he is sure he was dying from the dark spots in his vision. He doesn't even know how he ends up on the floor, Caroline hovering over him worriedly and trying to shake him awake. He groans as he looks up at her and asks, "You love me?"
She lets out a sigh of relief before she smacks him on the chest. "Yes, you idiot, I love you!"
He sits up, eyeing her like she has two heads. "But why?"
She smiles gently, lovingly at him. "Because you're Kol,"
Then before she loses her nerve, she moves forward and kisses him. Her lips are soft and a little chapped but she is warm and sweet and it is perfect.
Doubt still lingers on his mind though but a bigger part of him that part that sounds oddly like Rebekah just says Just roll with it, you fool so he kisses her back and lets everything go.
Three essential things you need for saving the world:
1) A car.
2) Sidekicks.
3) Back up plans.
Plan A is about to be launched.
MYSTIC FALLS TRIBUNE NEWSPAPER HEADLINE:
Seventeen year old Caroline Forbes was found unconscious outside the Mystic Falls Hospital after having been missing for eleven years ever since her parents' accident where they lost their lives. Authorities searched for the little girl and it was only now that she had finally appeared and with severe memory loss, having no memories of her time gone from her home.
Kol taps on the window of the Bennett home. Caroline smiles when she sees him, opening the window and inviting him into her room. The Bennett family took her in after the hospital gave her the all clear on her health, despite the 'memory loss' and gave her the spare room they have since she has no relatives that could take her in and the Forbes house has long been sold.
Bonnie Bennett had been excited to see her since they used to be friends as children but Caroline remembers very little of that life, her memories few and far in between. It feels like her life didn't start until she met Kol.
"How goes the town's newest celebrity?" Kol asks with a grin as she hugs him tightly, as if the last few days they've been apart have been years. "You're quite the commodity now, amnesia girl."
She grins up at him. "Hey, it was your alibi. I just went with it, no matter how fucking cliché."
"Hey, I'm saving the world here so screw clichés!"
"You're adorable." She giggles and pulls him down for a sound kiss, he responds eagerly and plunders her mouth with his taste and he moves so fast she is already on her back on the bed, him above her, peppering kisses on her neck. His hands are busy trying to undress her and she reaches up to kiss his jaw. "You're insatiable."
"Look who's talking, nymph." He quips and she laughs, pushing him off her until he's lying beside her. She cuddles up against him instantly, her head on his collar bone and he lets out a happy sigh. "So, first day of school tomorrow, you know what to do?"
She lets out a noise. "We already went through the plan so many times already-"
"Caroline."
She rolls her eyes but tonelessly recites, "Befriend the doppelganger, prevent the Lockwood brat from turning into a werewolf, help Bonnie learn that she's a witch and lure Damon Salvatore into the woods so you can beat him up with a baseball bat – um, how does the last one help in saving the world?"
"It just does." He smirks. "It's all part of Plan B."
She opens her mouth to ask but closes it again, realizing that whatever answer he would give would not illuminate her in any way because Kol's mind works in very mysterious and downright strange ways. "Whatever." She cuddles closer to him and starts to drift off to sleep. "Wake me up, okay? I have a very busy first day of school."
"You got it."
And so that is how Kol Mikaelson saved the cheerleader. Because the prophecy stated that he had a destiny to fulfill and he followed it and it was even better than he thought. He had Caroline and he was going to be a hero because he was going to save the world. Of course, that's a whole other story.