When Caroline rejoined her friends, seating herself between Bonnie and Stefan, Elena hardly made it half a minute before blurting out, her voice edged with incredulity, "What the hell was that?"
"Elena, not now," Caroline replied, her voice strained, as she took a sip from her glass of champagne.
And that was just it for Elena. Her words tumbled out in a rush, her anger bubbling to the surface. "Caroline, you cannot accept a dance invitation from Klaus and just come back here and expect us to not ask questions. It's not like you were trying to divert his attention while we plan to take him down or anything, so why did you say yes? I mean, do you…"
"I said not now, Elena!" Caroline snapped, her voice a pitch higher than she intended. Her eyes flashed with frustration as she continued, "Listen, I have been back for less than 6 hours. I am tired. We are at a party, and I am in no mood for a scene. So if you want to scold me for sharing a dance, you will do it later!" Her voice left no room for discussion, and the finality of her words silenced the table.
Elena looked like she wanted to argue further but decided to be quiet. Her cheeks flushed, she looked away, her jaw set in a tight line.
Bonnie and Stefan exchanged a knowing look and he grabbed his girlfriend's hand squeezing it in an attempt to soothe her, which worked more or less. Elena, vexed, looked anywhere but at the blonde, trying to get her anger under control. Caroline had a point: it was neither the time nor the place for a scene. But soon enough, Elena said to herself.
/
As Kol approached them with a definite intent in mind, the tension at the table was palpable kilometers away.
"Good evening." he greeted them once he was standing in front of them.
At first, they all turned to him, staring awkwardly, the silence stretching on. Then, surprising the rest of the table, Stefan, Caroline, and Bonnie responded in unison, "Good evening," voices cool but polite.
That simple mark of civility caused the two Gilberts to shift their distrustful gaze from the Original back to their three friends, eyes wide with astonishment.
"So what can we do for you?" Stefan addressed the Original.
"Actually…" Kol paused, his movements fluid as he edged closer to Bonnie. "I was hoping you would agree to share a dance with me?"
"Uh, let me think for a second…" the witch pretended to consider his proposition "Thanks but I don't think so."
Elena and Jeremy both released audible sighs of relief, tension draining from their shoulders. At least one of their friends still had all their senses.
Caroline was looking intently at Bonnie, her eyes probing, while Stefan remained unreadable.
"Please" he tried again "Just a three minute dance."
"That's far too much time in your company," she shot him down again.
At her rejection, Kol's features twisted into a momentary expression of genuine hurt, a fleeting glimpse that almost everyone at the table dismissed as false. Though it was quickly replaced by a blank expression–damn those Mikaelson and their ability to deceive everyone, she thought –Bonnie noticed it and instantly regretted her words. "Fine," she acquiesced, the word slipping out, surprising even herself.
A genuine smile blossomed across Kol's face as he held out his hand, and Bonnie grabbed it, her touch hesitant. He led her to the dance floor, leaving the Gilbert siblings stunned, their faces etched with disbelief.
Jeremy's expression was a portrait of shock, while Elena's face was a caricature of anger. Had they been in a cartoon, steam would have billowed from her ears. Elena's expression was so hilarious that if it hadn't been for Jeremy and Caroline's unwillingness to offend her friend more, Caroline would have burst out laughing. When Elena caught a glimpse of her brother's hurt expression, her astonishment turned into anger and sympathy.
Shortly after Bonnie left the table with Kol, Caroline decided the evening was over for her. Jetlag gnawed at her bones, and Elena's bad mood had soured her own. Rising, she embraced Jeremy and verbally bid farewell to the couple she would see at "home."
Walking away from her table, Caroline spotted Klaus across the room along with his sister and Matt. His face brightened when their gazes locked and a warm smile stretched his lips, reaching his eyes. Caroline returned his smile with as much sincerity, but her eyes tinged with a hint of melancholy, a silent 'goodbye.'
It was in that moment she realized she didn't really want to leave and she would have gladly enjoyed sharing a last dance with him; after all, who knew when they would have that opportunity again? A longing stirred within her, but wisdom prevailed. There had been more than enough drama for tonight. Caroline didn't relish the prospect of apologizing to Tyler's mother for Elena starting a brawl because of her. She knew better than to push her friend's limits.
And to think, this was only her first day back… The least you could say was that Caroline wasn't exactly eager to find out what the following days would bring.
/
Caroline's footsteps were light but deliberate as she made her way to the door, the echo of laughter and clinking glasses growing fainter behind her. The cool night air greeted her as she stepped outside, a sharp contrast to the warmth and brightness of the party she'd left behind.
But as she began her walk down the graveled path, framed by looming shadows and flickering lanterns a voice called out behind her, rich and unmistakably accented. "Leaving so soon, love?"
She turned, and there was Klaus, tall and graceful, his eyes soft with silent affection, a gentle smile playing on his lips, as he approached her with a purposeful stride. The ambient light from the windows cast a warm glow on his face.
"I thought you might like some company on your walk back," he said, coming to stand beside her.
Caroline hesitated for just a moment, the events of the evening still fresh in her mind. It was unlikely that her friends wouldn't notice Klaus leaving just a few moments after her and put two and two together. Although, the timing of events would not necessarily lead them to the conclusion that he had accompanied her back home. They could just as easily surmise that with her gone, Klaus simply no longer had an interest in being at the Founder's party and so chose to return to his mansion.
"I'd like that," Caroline finally said.
As they walked under the arching branches of ancient oaks, the sound of their footsteps synchronized, the tension of the evening seemed to melt away. It was a dark but beautiful night, and the stars filling the sky were the only thing bringing light into the darkness of the night. Though if you had asked Klaus, he probably would have told you Caroline was the one lighting up the dark just like she had light up his world.
They had been walking in comfortable silence for about 10 minutes when Caroline broke it. "You know, I was expecting to find a regal gown and an exquisite piece of jewelry on my doorstep this afternoon." She teased, earning an amused chuckle from Klaus.
"Well, I did consider it." He admitted. "But flashbacks of a rather harsh tongue-lashing I was subject to the last time I did made me decide not to."
She frowned at that. "Um, I don't recall you received that tongue-lashing because of the dress or the bracelet." She objected.
"I do believe my memory is slightly better than yours, love."
She scoffed at his revisionist history. Although, truth be told, Klaus wasn't entirely wrong. While she had unleashed her anger on him that evening because he wouldn't free Tyler from his sire bond, part of her frustration had to do with the fact that she felt he was trying to buy her affections and win her over by impressing her with his opulence. But money did not mean anything to Caroline. She was impressed by character. Loyalty, integrity and kindness. Those were the qualities she valued in a man. All of which she thought Klaus lacked at the time. Now, eight years later, she knew better.
Still, he conceded, "You're right. You got upset because I did not see the errors in my ways. I treated people like property instead of… people." He trailed off. "I demanded respect from everyone, but I offered it to no one. I wanted to be understood, but I never allowed myself to be vulnerable enough to let people see me." The words poored out of him unfiltered, an honest confession. A testament to how far he'd come.
Caroline watched Klaus and listened to him intently without interrupting, stunned by his openness. She could hardly believe what she was hearing. Klaus was amazing in many ways. He was a vert smart man, but for all his intelligence, she'd always found him lacking in the self-awareness department. To hear him describe his past self with such candor and such brutal accuracy made her realize just how much he had grown as an individual.
They hadn't seen in each other in 7 years! And here he was doing the one thing he struggled with the most: being vulnerable. Letting her see him… Caroline did not know what to say in response to everything he'd just shared.
"You've changed, Klaus." Her soft voice was marked with emotion, and to make the meaning of her words unambiguously clear, she added, "In a really great way."
'And I'm proud of you.' She kept that last thought to herself as it revealed more than she was willing to today.
Klaus' lips curled into a hint of a smile. "Thank you, Caroline."
/
A peaceful silence enveloped them again. As they reached the front door of the Salvatore Boarding House, Caroline stopped and searched her clutch for her new set of keys. Having found it, she turned to Klaus. "I wanted to share a last dance with you tonight." she confessed in a small voice.
She couldn't believe she was telling him this. When had she ever been this open and nice to him without being on a mission to seduce him? She frowned as the thought crossed her mind. 'Am I trying to seduce him?' She shook her head, dismissing the silly thought. 'I had far too much champagne tonight.' She tried to reassure herself.
Klaus watched her intently, a quizzical look in his eyes.
"All you had to do was ask, love." His reply was both teasing and genuine.
And one more time since the beginning of the evening, Caroline blushed because of something Klaus said. She had invented new shades of pink tonight.
His words reminded her of what he had told her the night of her birthday when he had come to save her life.
I'll let you in on a little secret.
There's a whole world out there, waiting for you.
Great cities and art and music.
Genuine beauty.
And you can have all of it.
Whether either one of them realized it at the moment or not, that night had changed everything. It had marked a beginning. The establishment of a special bond. He had crept onto her skin that night, and no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't seem to shake him.
"Thank you for walking me home, Klaus," she appreciated softly.
He reached out, gently brushing a stray lock of hair from her face, his touch lingering for just a moment longer than necessary. "It was my pleasure, Caroline."
She nodded, her heart aflutter with emotions she couldn't quite name.
"So…" they both said at the same time to what they slightly tittered.
"Go ahead", "You first" Klaus and Caroline respectively said simultaneously once again.
"No seriously, you first" she insisted.
"So, about that dance…" he paused. "Do you think we could arrange that in the next days?" he hesitantly asked.
Caroline's first instinct was to say No, but reckoning that she had given him enough hope for one night, she went for "Maybe."
Klaus nodded. At least, it was not a definite rejection.
As she yawned, an endearing expression on her face, Klaus smiled warmly and bade her goodnight, "You should get some rest, love. Sweet dreams."
"Have a good night, Klaus." With a final smile that rang like a promise to meet again, she disappeared through the door.
Once inside, Caroline discreetly watched him leave behind the thin curtains of the window. Contentment settled over her, a gentle warmth that wrapped her in its embrace. The night had been filled with surprises, some welcome and others not, but this final encounter with Klaus had been the perfect ending.
/
Fresh out of the shower, Klaus wrapped a towel around his waist, steam billowing around him as he stepped onto the plush blue bath mat. Rivulets of water still trickled down his back, but his skin was alight with a warmth that had little to do with the hot water. As he looked into the fogged-up bathroom mirror, he couldn't help but reminisce about the evening's events, his mind involuntarily gravitating toward Caroline.
Leaning against the cold marble countertop, he thought about the way she had smiled at him, how her eyes sparkled under the velvety night sky. "You've changed, Klaus," she had said, and those words reverberated in his mind, each syllable a validation, each nuance a treasure. He could still feel the air thickening between them, electric and alive, as if the world held its breath, awaiting their next move.
She'd always had this effect on him, a way of making him question his centuries-old assumptions and beliefs, a way of making him want to be better. It was a feeling he seldom experienced, a form of vulnerability he had rarely allowed himself. But with Caroline, it felt as natural as breathing. He had seen the flicker of surprise in her eyes when he'd been candid about his past, his failings. It made him wonder: Could she really see the man he was striving to be?
'Perhaps, her time away from Mystic Falls made her redefine her vision of me' he thought and hoped.
For years, he'd been this paradoxical enigma—capable of love yet marred by his own destructive tendencies.
He was interrupted by his own reflection, the condensation gradually clearing from the mirror. In his eyes was a clarity, a focus he hadn't seen in years. And he knew who had brought that into his life.
His phone buzzed on the countertop, snapping him out of his reverie. He glanced at the screen, but his thoughts were still with her. He could still hear the unspoken words that hovered in the air when they'd parted, words that perhaps one day they'd find the courage to say. For now, they remained suspended in time, hanging between the past and a future that, for the first time in a long time, seemed filled with limitless possibilities.
With a sigh, a strange mix of contentment and anticipation settled within him, Klaus reached for his shirt, but his skin still tingled, electrified by the memory of her and by the promise of what could be.
Thank you for reading. Please let me know what you thought of the Founder's party. Klaroline's interactions? Her friends' reactions? Elijah's absence?
Until next time, take care and stay safe.