“I know you killed Mrs Lockwood.” Caroline told Klaus when they found themselves meeting in the mystic grill; she murmured it so nobody heard her accusation as the hybrid drank a shot of whiskey, swallowing it down in one. The bartender had left the bottle behind him long ago and prepared himself for a big tip at the end of the night. He looked at her with disregard for a few seconds before she was forced to sit in the chair next to his.

“Would you rather I killed your boyfriend or her mother?” He asked her with a cocked eyebrow, the blonde shaking her head and rolling her eyes. Klaus ordered a second shot glass and filled it up before sliding it down the bar to her. “Here, drink this before you answer.” He grumbled. Caroline shook her head once more and stood up, rearranging her purse over her shoulder and ignoring the shot he’d poured for her. “Fine, I’ll drink it.” He commented wryly before knocking the shot back and shaking his head, refilling the first shot glass.

“You killed an innocent woman because of her son’s attempt to kill you? That’s twisted.” She whispered in a hiss. Klaus looked at her as if to say ‘what else is new?’ and she huffed, running her fingers through her hair in stress.

“One, she was far from innocent, she shot you and had you tortured.” Caroline didn’t know how she knew that, but Carol’s actions that day were reasonable from her point of view. She opened her mouth to produce a counter argument, he held up a finger. “Tyler caused me to lose 12 hybrids, I could have killed 12 of his friends but I figured that his mother was a fair payback.” Caroline growled wordlessly at this second argument, got up and walked out. 

“Well now that Elena’s been sufficiently honest and Stefan’s heart was been surgically ripped from his chest…Caroline’s turn.” Rebekah rounded on the blonde as Elena and Stefan shared intense looks between a heartbreaker and the heartbroken. But eventually their gazes moved to Caroline who had spent the majority of this interrogation watching and making comments. Rebekah walked around so she was sitting on the desk, facing Caroline and smirked. “They should be here soon.” She explained with an evil smirk.

“Who will be here soon?” Caroline asked softly, fear radiating through her vocal chords. Rebekah didn’t respond, just continued to smirk and crossed her arms across her chest as they waited. It was a long and painful process but eventually the two new invites to the party joined them. First it was Tyler crashing through the door, where he was quickly compelled and sat down with the rest of the captives. Caroline and Tyler shared a stoic look and she looked down, fidgeting with her hair like she did when she was nervous.

“April tells me that my charming big brother has been continuing his courtship of you, including being your date to the Miss Mystic Falls pageant. Surely, he’s made some sort of impression on you by now?” Rebekah got up and paced around the desk, her eyes on Caroline. Caroline kept her head down as angry footsteps kept patting down the hallways of the school in the distance. She didn’t react to the question, her eyes in her lap and picking at her fingernails to distract herself from the eyes on her. The footsteps got closer until the door was being pushed open and everyone was looking up, Rebekah with a smirk. “So glad that you could join us from hunter training, Nik!” She told him with sarcasm dripping from her voice.

Caroline turned to see Klaus almost storming into the classroom, going for Rebekah with a means to snap her neck or Rebekah quickly pulled Caroline up at vampire speed with Caroline’s back facing her front, the white oak stake hovering a couple inches from Caroline’s chest. Rebekah arched an eyebrow to challenge her brother as he stood, fuming at the situation. He glared at April for a second before looking back at his sister, before slowly raising his hands in surrender. Caroline was back in her seat and Rebekah was holding the stake towards Klaus. “What game is this, Rebekah?” He asked her as he remained seated.

Rebekah ignored him and looked at Caroline in the eye. “Tell the class exactly how you feel about my brother here.” The compulsion took over but Caroline clamped her mouth shut for a few seconds, pressing the words back down her throat. She wasn’t about to do this in front of everyone, this was private, her private thoughts and feelings. Klaus had perked up, watching the blonde with interest as she tried to fight her own mouth. The whole room was watching her, which made her more determined to keep silent. Rebekah rolled her eyes and passed the stake from one hand to the other casually. “Find, I’m going to count to ten, and on ten, I’ll stick this through your chest. You’d really be better off just telling everyone.” She held the stake, ready to put it through her flesh.

A couple seconds passed before Rebekah began to count. Caroline snapped. “Fine, I have feelings for him, okay?” She blurted, Rebekah’s influence bringing the truth out. Klaus tried not to react to this news even though it’s what he had wanted to hear for weeks. Tyler looked sullen and Elena looked mortified by how this affected her. “It’s not I’m in love with him or anything, but it’s like the very first part of falling in love with someone else. The only thing that keeps it from growing is how twisted his life is.” Her eyes came to meet Klaus’ during her words and a blush crept up onto her cheeks at his smirk, before she remembered what had happened and looked into her lap again.

“Lovely, thank you for sharing.” Rebekah flipped the stake in her hand and stood up. “Tyler’s turn.” She announced, continuing with her twisted game. The blonde and the hybrid exchanged one more look before Rebekah compelled Tyler to turn and everyone became worried for their lives, except Klaus, of course. He was worried for Caroline’s. 

Caroline had been throwing up the last couple of days and thought nothing of it, her roommates thought she had the flu but she had none of the other symptoms. It wasn’t until she realised that she was five days late for her period that she began to worry that she might be pregnant. It certainly all added up so she went to the store to get the pregnancy test, pretending to go get some chocolate and popcorn for a movie marathon with the girls, Elena and Bonnie, who she lived with now. She was 26, having graduated from college and now working as a film critic for a paper in New York where she and the girls had moved to go to different universities in the city limits.

The test came up positive and she had to suppress the little shriek that wanted to burst out her throat in reaction. She did however give a little squeak and begin to freak out. Caroline was in a good position to have a child, she guessed, she earned good money, was up to date on repaying her loans and had been with her boyfriend, now the father of her unborn child, Klaus for almost two years. He however was just about to graduate law school and that was expensive. God, how was he going to react? She thought to herself as she sat in her room, staring at the pregnancy test, would he be angry at her? She added in a horrified thought.

She waited an entire four weeks to pluck up the courage; she’d almost passed through the throwing up stage of pregnancy and told her friends. Swearing them to secrecy because Elena was a blabbermouth and Bonnie was dating Klaus’ boyfriend, Kol, who was also a blabbermouth. She went to the doctor’s to check everything was okay. It was too earlier for an ultrasound yet, and that was good because she would have felt bad robbing Klaus of his chance to be one of the first to see the baby, his baby. Klaus invited her out to dinner that night and she accepted gratefully, ready to be out of her apartment of girls who kept treating her like an invalid.

“Wasn’t sure whether you’d say yes to tonight, you’ve been awfully quiet lately. Kol says you’re always at home when he goes to see Bonnie.” Klaus explained as he escorted her inside the restaurant where they’d had their first date. Caroline smiled slightly at his comment and shook her head, rolling her eyes and making a reply about how Kol was a nosy Nelly. The waiter escorted them to their table and handed them their menus. Caroline hadn’t really eaten the whole day due to work and morning sickness but the food here was too good to pass up.

They enjoyed their dinner as usual, no matter where they went, they had a wonderful time. Klaus asked how her work and she asked how his studying for the bar exam was going, but she avoided the topic at hand, deciding that she would tell him after dinner. Of course, the pair had the worst timing as Klaus began to compliment her as a run up to a thought out proposal, Caroline interrupted with a never good phrase, ‘We need to talk’. Klaus blanched slightly before nodding. “Is this a we need to talk or a we need to talk?” Caroline realized her mistake in wording and chuckled at his adorable worry, taking his hand and squeezing it.

“I’m not breaking up with you, but we do need to talk.” She told him with a slight smile before taking in a deep breath and watching Klaus wait expectantly. “I’m sort of….pregnant.” She stammered through the words because they were the first time she’d actually said it aloud. Bonnie and Elena had inferred it when she sat them down and explained what was happening. It seemed a lot more real now, with her boyfriend’s reaction a couple of inches, a metre at the most away from her face, taking in the news with an unreadable expression.

“Sort of pregnant?” Klaus questioned.

“Well, pregnant. No sort of about it.” She began to ramble in her worry, letting all her fears and anxieties spill out. “I don’t even know why I phrased it like that, I guess I just didn’t want to be cliché but sort of pregnant sounds really stupid. And I don’t know what I’m saying when I’m nervous because I’m worried that you’ll leave me and I’ll be alone or you’ll be angry and resent me or another cliché reason to be nervous about being pregnant or-what are you laughing at?” She interjected as Klaus chuckled throatily, still holding her hand as she gabbed.

“You. You’re adorable. And for the record, I couldn’t be mad at you for something like this. I am determined to get you out of that bachelorette pad and into my apartment now, and I’m sort of mad that you interrupted my nice speech I had prepared.” Caroline smirked and ducked her head into her chocolate cake as he kissed her hand, she asked him to go on. “Before I was interrupted by your announcement that you’re having my baby, I was going to ask you if you wanted to be my wife.” The blonde’s eyes widened as Klaus reached into his jacket inside pocket and produced the ring, no box, just the perfect diamond ring.

“Of course, I will, if you want to be my baby daddy.” She giggled.

“I prefer the term husband but I’d like that very much.” He replied with a smirk as he slipped the ring onto her finger. 

“Do you ever turn your brain off from the whole thousand year old tortured soul bit?” Caroline asked with a giggle as they walked through the park, hand in hand. Klaus threw her a confused look and she chuckled some more as he asked her what she possibly meant by tortured soul bit. “You spend so much time thinking about hybrids and how to torture the Salvatores and being the big bad that I doubt you’ve had an afternoon out of your head in a long while. Enjoy the little things that humans notice and care for to get them through the day.” She explained as she led him subconsciously off the path and onto the grass.

“I have not the slightest idea what you’re talking about, love.” He explained, tucking some hair behind her ear with a smirk. Caroline rolled her eyes, of course he didn’t. She shook her head as they passed a duck pond that she spent the days with her mother before she went to school as a little girl. There was a great oak that she used to climb when she was a preteen with Elena and Bonnie because that was her thing.

“Come on, you. Sit down.” She pointed at the grass beneath their feet and Klaus looked perplexed for a second before she sat down. He wearily joined her on the grass as she lay back, ignoring the looks that they were getting from passing people. She ordered that he joined her in the lying position and he did with a chuckle, obviously still not understanding what she meant. “Now, just be here on the grass, watch the clouds and listen to everything. Tune out.” She instructed in a calming, soothing voice that was easier to drift off to.

He did as told and stared upwards, watching the clouds as they passed through the skies above the town. Caroline lay beside him and did the same; he listened to the breeze and the felt the sun on his face and appreciated each and every one of them in a new way. Caroline’s presence beside him made each one of them more important than ever because she had pointed them out to them and he felt strangely calm and…human.  He wondered if this was what peace felt like after so many years at war with himself, his family, with other people. Klaus wrapped one around Caroline’s shoulders and pulled her close, kissing her waist as they wasted away the day. 

Everyone was excited for Klaus and Caroline’s engagement. And when they say everyone they really meant everyone. The Mikealson family themselves were glad to be allying themselves with the Forbes family through this marriage, as the Forbes were a founding family and had overwhelming influence in Mystic Falls that the Mikealson family would kill for. Rebekah was glad to finally have a sister. Kol was excited to have another family member to annoy. Elijah was glad his brother was happy as he was with his marriage and Finn was just glad that Mikeal wasn’t bothering him about his marriage to Sage whilst he was arranging this match.

And of course, Klaus and Caroline were happy. They’d been vying for the others’ affections since they were children running around the grounds of the Forbes manor or the Mikealson family mansion that had been built only two generations ago. Esther had obviously spotted the love capable of growing there and desperate to have her bastard married before Mikeal could discover the truth about him, she slipped it into conversation that Kol was far too immature for marriage to the young Miss Forbes and their third eldest would make a keener match for the educated and demurred young lady.

Husbands liked to pretend their wives didn’t order them about, and that’s because wives were sneaky with their orders, so the arrangement was quickly set up with Caroline’s eighteenth birthday fast approaching, making her prime marriage material. The couple had of course been meeting secretly for months before and could not be more thrilled that they had been matched by their parents instead of having to beg for their marriage or having to elope and run from their hometown.

It was a couple weeks away when everything went south. Esther’s dirty little secret came out to her husband that she had cheated on him, and having conceived her third child out of wedlock kept it a secret for nearly twenty two years. Mikeal could barely look at his wife for days whilst he tried to figure out what to do with the bastard. Family meals became awkward with the head of the family playing with his food for a few moments, showing barely any affection then leaving the table to go think in his study. Rebekah asked occasionally what was wrong but Esther wouldn’t explain. She did explain to Klaus one night that the possibility of disinheritance was likely.

Mikeal did worse than that, he practically killed the forgotten son in his efforts to run him out of town and arrived at the Forbes household to explain that the marriage was off. Bill Forbes was angry no doubt about it, the wedding was a couple weeks away and he had a besotted teenage daughter to explain to without any excuse. Elizabeth Forbes did her best but she ended up holding her daughter through the night as she wept. She had no information on where her fiancée was, what had happened or will happen to him but she knew that she’d made a vow to marry him one day and that’s what she would do.

It was four years later before she saw him again. She was still an unmarried maid, having refused any attempts to marry her off since then. Caroline claimed that she was already married in her heart so any other marriage to her would be illegal and wrong. After a few years, men just stopped trying and settled for watching the beautiful spinster walk through town or ride her horse through the fields with Rebekah. The Mikealsons were now all married, and missed their brother even though they never mentioned to their father. He’d practically erased Klaus’ existence.

The rumours were rife through town that a traveller from distant lands was renting off the Gilberts’ for the month. Nobody could get a name but they all seemed excited. The ladies particularly loved the romantic notion of a traveller taking a fancy to them and whisking them off to other lands, once they had their father’s permission of course. Caroline had interest whatsoever in this new addition to the gossip circles of Mystic Falls and went about with her ordinary life of rebelling against the norm when she could and dealing with men staring at her unmarried body like they had a right to it just because she had no ring on her finger.

One day, she came home from town to find the house in motion. Her mother was in her daughter’s room, trying to decide on a dress for the girl and explaining that her father had invited a guest to dinner to see if Caroline would be willing to go for another match. Caroline sighed and stripped off her necklaces and bracelet. “I’ve told you hundreds of times, mother that I only want to marry Klaus and I’ll wait forever if I have to.” She explained as her mother started to hold dresses up to her daughter’s body, Caroline calmly pushed them down. “I won’t be trying to impress this gentleman. That I promise you.” She vowed.

“And we know how you are with promises.” Her mother muttered. “Give this man a chance; have one friendly dinner with him and see how it goes.” She begged of her daughter, putting the lavender dress down and holding her hands. Caroline sighed heavily and nodded, even though she had no intention of marrying this man. Elizabeth Forbes smiled and kissed her daughter’s forehead, visibly thrilled that her daughter would give it a shot and began helping her get out of her day dress so she would be probably fixed for the evening.

When the evening came and the doorbell rang, Caroline was probably attired in her best dress, necklaces and her face was probably powdered and made up. She smelt of roses and lilies and looked a vision in lavender. Her mother was practically bawling at her beauty and Caroline had to nearly force her out of her room so she could redo her face in time. She then waited in her room for the maid to come fetch her for dinner. As she waited, she dug up a love letter Klaus had written her in the early days and tried not to cry. This felt wrong but she had to do it. Maybe he wasn’t coming back at all, she told herself with a sigh as their maid knocked.

She began down the steps of her family’s manor and towards the dining room; her mother was already down there with her father. Why she had only been called down now she had no idea, maybe it was so she would be trapped by dinner before she could reject the gentleman through polite pre-dinner conversation. Caroline tucked some hair behind her ear and let out a long sigh before beginning into the dining room. Then promptly stopped dead in her tracks in disbelief.

There in finer clothes than Mikeal could ever put on his back, with a slightly different hairstyle and stubble of age, stood Klaus Mikealson. She almost didn’t recognise him but then again she would recognise him anywhere. Caroline stood with her mouth open for a few moments, trying to figure out whether she was dreaming or making this up in her mind and Klaus didn’t stand there at all but someone else. She’d done so much waiting that maybe she had become Mrs Havisham and gone completely mad with longing.

Her father chuckled at her daughter’s face. “Caroline, I believe you’ve met Klaus.” He introduced the gentleman, and it clicked that her father had been in on it the whole time. He’d arranged the dinner so Caroline would be surprised before anyone could tell her that Klaus had come back. Caroline still stood rooted in her spot and Klaus chuckled himself, walking over to his fiancée and taking her ice cold hands. That tended to happen when she was confused or shocked.

“I came back because I made a promise.” He explained in a whisper. “Will you still take me?” He asked with a slightly scared expression. Caroline didn’t speak, she just exhaled in relief and nodded with a great grin. 

Caroline sat on the edge of the bridge, staring down into the water with a heavy sigh. It was the first time in a few hours since she’d had any peace from her visions but her breath was still jagged and slow; her body tense like they would appear at any moment. Stefan had let her out of the room Klaus had locked her in, and her hallucinations had got the better of her. She’d stuck a metal bar into Stefan’s stomach and bolted towards the bridge going out of Mystic Falls. She leaned forward like she was about to drop herself into the river and ran her fingers through her hair.

As she did, her ring brushed through her curls and she extracted the hand from her blond locks. Her daylight shone slightly in the setting moonlight and she looked up at the moon disappearing behind the trees. The sun would come up soon. The moment that thought hit her, she was joined by her father sitting next to her on the bridge, telling her to throw it into the river and just wait. Caroline at first refused, shaking her head with tears coming down her cheeks as she did. Her hair unsettled and resettled with the movements of her hair. “You’re not really here.” She whispered. “You’re dead.”

“And whose fault is that?” Her father asked her softly, putting one hand on her shoulder like he was her loving father and not a ghost in her mind. Her father was dead but he was right here and telling her to the do the right thing, to just end it now before she became something more than what she was when Katherine had turned her. Caroline sobbed a little more and her fingers played with the ring on her finger, twisting it and trying to decide whether to slide it off and let it fall. “Sweetie, it’s time to let go. You have the power to undo what happened to you.”

Before she could agree, an arm was wrapped around her waist and she was pulled back from the edge of the water. Caroline struggled against her assailant by screaming and kicking as she was dragged from the bridge. Another arm came and wrapped around her shoulders as she was set on her feet whereas before her heels had been dragging around. “Shush, Shush, Shush.” Came her attacker’s first words in that familiar accent. Her hallucinations seemed unable to screw with her brain when it came to Klaus, so she knew it was him from the moment he spoke. “You’re safe, Caroline, you’re safe.” He seemed to be assuring himself more than her.

Caroline relaxed back into his body and let out a deep sigh as he kept his arms around her waist and shoulders so she couldn’t struggle so much. Klaus didn’t relent on his hold of her as he pressed his forehead into her shoulder and let out a deep sigh of relief. Since Stefan had come to him to confess that he’d let Caroline go, Klaus had been frantically looking around the town for the blonde. The bridge had no significance to her really in Klaus’ mind, what he didn’t know at the time was that her father had brought her here to go fishing when she was young. Liz Forbes had been more than glad to tell him that and sent patrol cars to look around the rest of the town.

The blonde began to cry when she opened her eyes again, the sun just poking over the trees and capable of burning her skin if she hadn’t been wearing her daylight ring at the time. “Do you see anyone now?” He asked her softly, raising his head to murmur in her ear. Caroline thought about it, how calm her head and body seemed and looked around for Connor or her father and found nobody jumping into existence like when she normally thought about them.

“They’re gone.” She murmured a couple times to herself, before tears began to fall out of pure relief that she was safe. Klaus let out another sigh before picking her up into his arms and beginning to carry her home so she could get some sleep.