Set after that phone conversation between Tyler and Klaus in 4x05 with a twist. I totally ripped this off of a previous TVD scene so don't hate/sue. I just thought my scenario was better ;)
Read and review my lovelies! xoxo
Caroline slid against her closed door and finally let herself break down. Hearing about Tyler's indiscretion with Hayley through a phone call from Klaus couldn't have been a worse way to hear that she had been cheated on. Even worse was Tyler's lack of an apology after when she confronted him. After all the crap her gave her over Klaus's drawing while he was screwing around with some were-slut was unbelievable. She left her head fall into her hands as she tried to control her rapid breathing. Once again, she wasn't good enough for someone, wasn't worth waiting for, or just wasn't worth it. As the tears subsided, anger and rage finally set in. She ripped his charm bracelet off of her wrist and flung it at her mirror across the room, causing it to shatter. She flipped her bed, trashed her photographs, and finally destroyed her closet. When she got to the back of her walk in, she stopped. Lying in its case was the acoustic guitar her father had given her for the sixteenth birthday. Gingerly she picked it up and brought it out of the case. Moving back into her room she sat on the floor and quietly tuned the strings, her fingers automatically remembering how to play some chords.
After an hour of mindless strumming, she realized there was another way to heal her pain. She set the guitar down gently and started to clean up the mess she had made. She threw out all the old photos and broken furniture out when she had an even better idea. Grabbing her keys, she darted to car and sped off.
When she returned from the store, arms filled with paint buckets, brushes, and tarps she finally began to smile. She had the room tapped off within minutes before changing her clothes to an old cheerleading shirt and shorts. She threw on a baseball cap to protect her hair and got to work. With her Ipod cranking out the latest dance tunes she started to cover up her canary yellow walls with a light shade of violet. She needed some tangible change to surround herself with. Perhaps a change of color would make things better, at least for right now. When Taylor Swift's "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" came on she turned up the music louder, not caring how late it was. Singing along loudly, she didn't feel another presence in the room until she turned around to put more paint on her roller. She gasped and dropped her roller when she saw Klaus sitting on her windowsill. She immediately turned off her Ipod before she decided to confront him.
"Can I help you?" She asked in a haughty tone. He just continued to look her over before she snapped her fingers at him in annoyance at his lack of response. He seemed to finally react to her gesture when he smiled at her sympathetically. He must have seen Tyler before coming to her house.
"Just wanted to see how you were doing, sweetheart."
His genuine tone affected her more she would have liked, but she chose to ignore the slight fluttering in her stomach at hearing his soothing accent.
"Yeah, well…" She didn't have the words to voice how she was feeling, and Klaus was the last person she wanted to share those feelings with.
"Yes, well just know that if Tyler was still sired to me he never would've hurt you. I wouldn't have let him."
Words truly escaped her now as the hybrids face shown nothing but sincerity with his words. She sighed, and smiled softly at him.
"Thank you."
He nodded back at her, before moving to leave her room back through the window. She could help but giggle at the Twilight like reference, even if he didn't get it. He turned back to face her his face contorted in confusion at her giggle.
"You can use the door, you know."
He smile back and moved across the room to stand in front of her. She inhaled sharply as he stood inches away from her. His hand moved towards her face, and gently stroked her cheek.
"Got a little spot of paint, love."
He then disappeared through her door before she could exhale. Damn he smells good. She turned her attention back to her drying walls before picking up the roller and continuing. As she continued to move around the room, his words echoed in her ear, taunting her as well as soothing her.
The days following the break up, Caroline began isolating herself from Bonnie and Elena. She didn't mean to at first, she just wanted to escape from their constant nagging with questions about her mental and emotional state. She threw herself back into schoolwork and her many different committees. She had also devoted herself to playing the guitar every day after she finished homework. Soon she had taught herself the chords to many of her favorite acoustic songs and she even started to write some of her own songs. After a few weeks of practice, she decided that she wanted to share her rediscovered talent. She was too scared to go to the open mike night at the Grill just yet and decided to test her skills at a local café in the next town over. And soon after it became a weekly occurrence as she seemed to draw a small following. She would play some old John Mayer, Colbie Caillet, and a lot of Taylor Swift. The crowd seemed to love her and slowly her self-confidence at her playing skills was soaring. When she left after her final number her sixth week playing, she got a feeling she was being watched, but shrugged it off to paranoia. When she got in he car and started to drive back to Mystic Falls she failed to notice the figure watching her depart.
Klaus's phone rang, as he was finishing up his latest sketch of Caroline. The sight of her in ratty old clothes and a baseball cap did as much to entrance him as when she had worn a ball gown. He picked up the phone, seeing as it was his hybrid John.
"Well?" He demanded, not bothering with pleasantries.
"She just left the same café as last week," he answered obediently.
"Good, you can return now," he snapped. Ever since his rendezvous with Caroline weeks before he had his hybrids alternately following her when he noticed her sneaking out of her house for the past few weeks. He had been dropping off little gifts and silly trinkets hoping to make her smile as he knew from overhearing a phone call between Tyler and that insipid human Matt that she was pulling away from her friends and becoming more despondent. His last gift had been a vase of sunflowers and a drawing. Worried about her, he was burning with curiosity to know where she kept sneaking off to.
"What was she doing there?" He questioned the hybrid.
"She played guitar and sang."
He blanched at this response. He thought he knew everything about his little Miss Mystic Falls. Apparently, she had been holding out. His curiosity burned even brighter now to hear her sing.
"I'll call you if I need anything else," he barked before ending the phone call. He was jealous that his hybrid was able to hear her sing before he did.
Caroline pulled into her driveway, exhausted from singing another set at the café in Wildwood. She grabbed her guitar from the backseat of the guitar and stopped when a figure appeared in the doorway.
"Where have you been all night, Caroline?" Her mother demanded as she moved towards the door.
"Singing," she answered simply. Her mother's expression softened when she noticed the guitar case in her hand.
"When did this start again?" She asked softly, knowing Caroline's connection with her guitar.
"After Tyler…" She said not bothering to explain further. Her mother nodded and Caroline walked back into her house. After the success of that night she decided it was time to play for a more familiar audience, at the Grill's open mike night the next night. All she had to do was hope that a few certain face would be present and another absent, but luck was usually never on her side. She just couldn't seem to shake him from her thoughts lately.
Time flew the next day and Caroline was a ball of nervous energy as she was putting the final touches on her makeup. She had signed up earlier in the day for a seven pm time slot and it was now twenty of. Taking a deep breath she gave herself one last look over before grabbing her guitar and heading out the door. When she pulled out of the driveway she failed to notice a pair of pale blue eyes tracking her movement.
As Caroline made it to the Grill and checked in with the MC she noticed that the place was more packed than usual. Her nerves magnified as she waited at the bar, twirling the toothpick in her martini glass. She was up next and Tyler had just walked in with his were-whore Hayley. They exchanged a quick glance before he lowered his eyes and moved over to the pool table with her. Caroline turned around and was about to order herself another drink when a familiar voice spoke behind her.
"Scotch, neat," came his cool accented voice as he slid into the seat next to her. She looked at him just as he turned to face her.
"Good evening, love."
She smiled softly, and then started to fiddle with the toothpick again trying desperately to not say something stupid. His little gifts had gotten to her, and kept him fresh in her mind. Without even asking, he had started to paint a mural on one of her freshly painted walls this week. Every day when she got back home from school it had expanded in size. It was an abstract piece, and she wanted to be mad at him for invading her private space, but his art was to beautiful and she had never received a gift so wonderful. He was winning her over, and she was reluctant to admit that it was working.
"Hello, Klaus," she said softly.
Before he could respond, the MC's voice boomed over the speaker system calling her to the stage. She flashed him another smiled then snuck a sip from his glass before heading towards the stage, afraid to turn back one last time to gauge his reaction. As the man introduced her and her song choice she realized she was making the wrong choice. Looking back over to the pool table she could see Tyler watching her, and it made her angry that he still was holding this influence over her. Her eyes flickered back to the bar where Klaus was gazing at her with profound wonder and she knew she was making the right choice. She gulped and moved the mike closer to face.
"Hey everyone, so I know I signed up to sing "White Horse" which as I'm sure all you ladies know is one of the saddest breakup songs out there." She gave a little laugh along with the crowd. "But the thing is, I'm done being sad about it and wishing things were different because now I know better off and I realized that I deserve more, genuine beauty even. So I'm dedicating this song to the guy who has been an "original" pain in my ass since day one." The crowd cheered, and Caroline's eyes saw Klaus sit up straighter in his seat as he realized her amusing phrasing was talking about him. Caroline took a breath and began to play.
I never thought that you would be the one to hold my heart
But you came around and you knocked me off the ground from the start
Her mind flashed to the night she first saw him in the high school, his smooth accent and strong demeanor caused her to falter in his presence.
You put your arms around me
And I believe that it's easier for you to let me go
You put your arms around me and I'm home
How many times will you let me change my mind and turn around?
I can't decide if I'll let you save my life or if I'll drown
She remembered the night he had saved her from Tyler's deadly bite and his speech to her about "genuine beauty" and the beautiful future she could have.
I hope that you see right through my walls
I hope that you catch me 'cause I'm already falling
I'll never let a love get so close
You put your arms around me and I'm home
She though of the night of the ball he hosted and how his eyes never left her as the danced. As he lead her through the dance she felt how easy it was to follow him.
The world is coming down on me and I can't find a reason to be loved
I never wanna leave you but I can't make you bleed if I'm alone
You put your arms around me
And I believe that it's easier for you to let me go...
She remembered how his arms felt holding her to his body when he rescued her from Alaric at the high school. As soon as she realized it was him she never felt such a sense of safety and guilt at the same time. It wasn't even a day before that she had betrayed him, and yet he still saved her.
I hope that you see right through my walls
I hope that you catch me, 'cause I'm already falling
I'll never let a love get so close
You put your arms around me and I'm home
His little gifts in her room were comical to endearing. He left travel books, flowers, figurines, maps, books, music, even delicacies. He made her feel special at a time when no one else seemed to honestly care.
I tried my best to never let you in to see the truth
And I've never opened up
I've never truly loved 'til you put your arms around me
And I believe that it's easier for you to let me go
I hope that you see right through my walls
I hope that you catch me, 'cause I'm already falling
I'll never let a love get so close
You put your arms around me and I'm home
You put your arms around me and I'm home
The crowd was going wild and cheering as she finished the last note. She looked over the bar and noted it was vacant of a scotch-drinking hybrid. She put her guitar in the stand and moved closer to the crows to make a bow when a figure appeared in front of her. Before she could speak his hand shot out and grabbed her neck, pulling her into a passionate kiss. She could feel the heat radiating from his body presses against hers and it served as a mean to drive her into a higher state of arousal. Ignoring the wild calls from the crowd, she grabbed his hand to lead him off the stage.
"How about a private show at your house?" Her eyes sparkled with innuendo.
He grinned wolfishly at her together they fled the Grill far from prying eyes.
Well I totally stole that from 2x16 but yeah Caroline NEEDS to sings again! Read and Review, until next time my lovelies! xoxo
The song is Arms by Christina Perri, FYI :)