Baby Mikaelson

Chapter One: Beyond Measure

Caroline Forbes

It was Saturday, and I was supposed to be spending the day catching up on everything I hadn't gotten around to that week. I had books I had to return to the school library, pick up my dress at the dry cleaners in town, and study for a history test I had on Monday. But the day started off a little differently than planned. I hadn't even gotten out of bed when the phone was Elena; she wanted to know if I wanted to go to Bed, Bath, and Beyond with her and Bonnie. I was seconds away from explaining my plans to her when I hesitated. Elena and I hadn't really had the chance to talk since I confessed that she was sired to Damon. I decided to take my opportunity to talk to her and finally make amends. Bed, Bath and Beyond was just a few miles outside of Mystic Falls; we all climbed into Bonnie's car early that morning and blasted her playlist all the way to the store. Along the way, Elena and I talked and exchanged a few smiles, and I could feel we were starting to reconnect again.

I hated us being weird with each other; we had been friends for years. It wasn't like it was our first fight either; we didn't always agree, but it was the first time I felt she wasn't being honest with me. I felt like I was trying, and she was merely pretending to keep the peace around Bonnie and have a pleasant car ride.

Our friendship was important to me. After my dad died, she was there for me every single day, I'll never forget her kindness and compassion.

But I couldn't shake the feeling that there was something still off with us. Why would she pretend we were all right with each other when she clearly had more to say on the matter?
When it came to Damon, I had to fight the urge to tell her, "I don't want to hear anymore." I couldn't stand hearing about Damon, and sometimes I think she forgets the way he treated me when I was still human, when I was just a helpless girl being abused and fed on by a vampire who didn't care if I lived or died.

I wasn't thrilled to hear that the real reason we were shopping today was for Elena to find new towels for Damon's bathroom. I understood why she wanted new towels, everyone knew Damon's dating history. Who knew how many girls and human blood bags had used his towels?

I would have scrubbed the entire house down and replaced all the linen and his mattress, but that's just me.

I didn't really understand why Elena was still living at the boarding house. I hoped she would move back home after Jeremy returned from the lake house. From what I had been told, he was showing great signs of improvement in self-control and strength.

Elena's choice to live at the boarding house with Damon was cruel.

Had Elena completely forgotten that it was also Stefan's home too? Wasn't it enough that he'd lost her to his own brother? Now she was living there and just expecting Stefan to be alright with it in time because apparently nothing was ever going to change her larger-than-life feelings for his brother.

I wondered if she even heard the way she sounded when she described how much she loved Damon. I was there as she fell in love with Stefan despite having nothing in common besides the town's supernatural drama and heartbreak. But with Damon, it's as if she can't breathe unless he's with her.

It sounded like a desire, a strong attraction, but to me, it wasn't love. If you fought every single day about the selfish choices of your partner, if they made decisions for you that could ruin your life forever, then that wasn't love. It was a form of control. It was a sire bond.
Sometimes I thought Elena just didn't want to be alone anymore. After she lost her parents, I think she lost a part of herself. Now she clung to us, and with good reason, she was an orphan, and it was horrible. Just horrible. But it appeared that she lived for all of us rather than herself.

As we shopped, I spotted Bonnie pushing a cart just a little down from me, but she wasn't looking at anything on the shelves. She was reading some old book, her eyes dancing across the page, hungry to turn to the next one. When she turned the corner out of sight, I decided to take my chance and finally talk to Elena alone.

"How are things going between you and Damon?"

"Really good. Thanks"

"Are you guys managing to get out of the bedroom for air from time to time?" I feigned a laugh and failed miserably.

Elena joined in. "Not that the bedroom part isn't great. I just love with him and talking to him. "Getting him to open up to me," she shared.

"So that's good." "He's being open about his feelings for you, then?"

Elena just smiled in response; it wasn't an answer.

"I'm not meaning to sound pushy. I just worry about you." "I wouldn't be a good friend if I didn't." I placed my arm around her shoulders and gave her a half-hearted smile, hoping she wouldn't notice my lack of effort.

She wasn't hiding her lack of interest in this conversation. She was being plastic, and I hated it. I'd rather we didn't talk at all instead of this.

"I appreciate that you worry about me. But I really want you to be happy for me too"

I dropped my arm back down and slipped both hands into my coat pockets.

"I'm not under the sire bond anymore, and I'm still with Damon." "What does that tell you?"

"I don't know, Elena. But it's your life. I'll respect your decision. "You've always respected mine."

"Thank you"

Elena and I shared a hug, and I couldn't help but smile since this was the first hug we had shared in a while. She hadn't called me on my sarcasm; she just wanted the subject dropped. I was happy to help with that.

Even though she was no longer under the sire bond I still didn't believe Elena had any idea what she had gotten herself into. Damon had his good moments, but more bad than good.
I wasn't innocent either; I killed a man and enjoyed doing it. But I'll live with that every single day of my life, and every morning when I wake up, it will hit me like a tonne of bricks all over again.

Damon didn't have any remorse for his actions. Did Elena realise he never even tried to apologise for what he did to me?

Damon did more harm than good when it came to Elena. I wish she could see that, in the end, all that was coming her way was heartbreak. But this was what she wanted; she wanted to be with Damon, and for now, we were all going to have to live with that. But everyone knew it was only a matter of time before he messed things up with her. He would feed off someone, or he would risk one of her friends just to protect her, and she would lose trust in him all over again.

Sooner or later, she would want to go back to Stefan, even though it was awful of me to think such things about one of my best friends. Something inside just kept telling me that Stefan wasn't going to take her back, that he would never even consider taking her back.

It seemed everyone around me had gotten into such a mess over their love lives. Mine wasn't any better than theirs, and I would admit that in a heartbeat. Even now, there are times when I spend time with Tyler and Hayley and I am filled with dread.

I'd never cheated on him, and he had no reason to doubt my feelings for him. But he had been gone for so long, and now there was this friendship between them that I felt had created a barrier for me because I wasn't part of their kind.

There was just something about Hayley that I didn't like. She had this darkness in her; I felt it every time she entered the room. What made it even crazier was that I think she suspected I was onto her. Whatever it was she was hiding, she wasn't hiding it well enough. Tyler and I needed to spend more time together as a couple and remember the good times we had before all this mess with Klaus began.

I had done so much lately to help everyone attempt to deal with Klaus. Tyler and I never talked about him; we actually avoided it. Sometimes he would remember that I was always just trying to help him and my friends.

I had put myself in danger recently at the grill when I was used as a distraction for Klaus while my friends did what they did. Klaus claimed to have feelings for me, but that didn't mean he wouldn't kill me as well.

No one knew what he was thinking.

Klaus had Elena hidden away in his mansion, believing that by keeping her there, locked away from harm, he was doing the right thing. Who does that?

In order for Tyler and I to get our relationship back on track, I needed to stop engaging in these missions against Klaus. Tyler and I needed to regain the trust we had somehow lost in each other. That wouldn't happen if I had to keep running off every two seconds to stop Klaus.

While Elena disappeared to find some new towels, I wandered off by myself in an attempt to find Bonnie. I couldn't exactly go around at my usual speed as there were too many people and cameras around the store.

During my search, I found some hot pink candles that would look great in my bathroom. I planned to go for a bath that night and finally relax after being woken at the crack of dawn to come here for towels.

I finally found Bonnie sitting on the edge of a bathtub display. She still had her head buried in the book and didn't even hear me call her name. I finally had to wave my hand in front of her eyes to get her to respond to me.

"You were miles away."

"Sorry."

"It's this new book Shane gave me; I can't put it down." "It's all about the changes in the bodies of female vampires."

"I was planning to give it to Elena after I'd finished reading it."

Just Elena?

"Don't you think I would enjoy it too?"

Bonnie stood up and tucked her arm under mine, and we began to walk side by side.

"It's a unique book with chapters I don't think you'd be particularly interested in."

"Well, I'm a girl and a vampire; I don't see what I wouldn't like about a book on woman vampires."

Stopping in her tracks, Bonnie's arm left mine, and she looked my way before checking around us. Who was she afraid would hear us? It's only about a book.

Bonnie stepped towards me. "We all know there is a chance that we won't be able to find a cure for Elena."

"Wet blanket much?"

"Come on, Caroline. I'm serious"

"Ok, I didn't want to say anything." "But there is a small chance."

"So I've been reading this book in hopes that I would be able to find a certain piece of information, and if Shane and I are right about that, then it's going to be great news for Elena."

"Will it make her human again?"

"No it wont, but it might be something she's wanted her entire life."

"Ok?"

"There are chapters in the book that talk about the possibility of reproduction."

"What do you mean?"

"Shane has been doing some studies at the college with a hybrid blood sample."

"Where did he get that?"

"Hybrid blood is different from vampire and wolf blood all together." "It's powerful, and I'm not sure how to describe it, but it is—" she paused.

"Powerful?" I repeated

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "I didn't really listen to that part when Shane explained it." He got really into it, and I was tired. But the point is that if we're right, then an actual hybrid is all we would need for this to work," she explained.

"For what to work, Bonnie?"

She edged even closer to me, daring to whisper.

"If Shane is right, then with the help of a hybrid, it might be possible for Elena to have a baby."