81Author's Note: I'm sorry for the long wait! Thank you all so much for your support with this story so far! A bit of a time skip to start getting on to the real story, so I hope you guys don't mind too much. Let me know what you think! Enjoy!
There is freedom waiting for you,
on the breezes in the sky,
And you ask "What if I fall?"
Oh but my darling,
What if you fly?
-e.h
Caroline leans close to Rebekah, seeing Elena and Bonnie on the other side of the couch leaning together in her peripheral. All of their eyes locked onto the t.v screen in front of them. It's late, pitch black out with the low rumble of a storm in the distance and rain slamming into the house. Of course, tonight had to be the night that they all decided to watch scary movies. Caroline thought that they would all enjoy spending time together with scary movies, which Elena and Bonnie both said they liked, and Caroline figured that seeing as Rebekah is a really old vampire, she's bound not to be scared by anything.
Jointly, everyone's screams of terror as the killer chases the heroine around the house has proved her the fool that she is.
"Why does the music have to cut out like this?" Rebekah gasps as the heroine walk through the bedroom, looking for the source of a spooky tapping noise covered in blood and shaking in fear.
"It's for the scare factor," Elena mumbles, tanned face pale. "It's to make it more intense."
"I hate this movie," Rebekah whispers, gripping Caroline's hands tightly. Caroline nods, swallowing thickly right as the killer jumps out from behind the bed and tries to stab the heroine, lightning strikes outside, making the lights flicker and the heroine's scream mixes with the screams of the four girls in the room. A dark shadow falls over the doorway leading into the room. Rebekah's eyes catch the shadow first, gasping and jumping up, grabbing a pencil off of the table next to her and throwing it faster than Caroline's eyes could follow.
The person takes it to the arm, grunting in pain as the other three girls jump to their feet. Bonnie raises her hands quickly, saying something in a language Caroline doesn't know and the lights turn on showing Klaus standing in the doorway, pulling the pencil out of his shoulder to glare at Rebekah. He groans, pulling the bloody pencil from his shoulder, hisses before dropping it on the ground.
"Rebekah..." Klaus growls.
"Well, you should have known better than to just waltz in here in the middle of our scary movie marathon while it's storming out. You're lucky a pencil was the only thing that was thrown at you, you absolute loon." Rebekah crosses her arms over her chest, glaring back at him.
Klaus looks over at the television screen, eyebrows furrowing together at the sight of it, before looking over at Caroline. "You're watching movies? On the night of the full moon? That's how you choose to spend your hours leading up to the change?" He clicks his tongue and shakes his head, nailing the disappointed father look.
"We started this whole thing this morning," Caroline defends herself. "It started with Werewolf in London, then the Wolfman and we kind of evolved from there."
"As if that makes any of this better," Klaus says, rolling his eyes. He looks over at Bonnie and Elena, tilting his head slightly so that water droplets from his hair. He's not soaked, unfortunately, but he got decently wet going from the car in the driveway to the house itself. His hair is wet, his shirt is too, but it's not straight out of a movie, wet. Plus it's a simple green henley, so even if it was, there wasn't going to be a motion picture scene any time soon, but it's good enough.
Caroline wants nothing more than to grab that ancient hybrid and throw him onto a bed and rip his clothes off. They have gone longer without seeing each other, but it's the night of the full moon and she's been fighting the urge all-day, but Klaus wasn't there. And he'd probably be smug to hear that once being with him, she wasn't interested in being with another. So she used any number of things to get her mind off the full moons that Klaus wasn't there for - like this one. She honestly thought he wasn't going to make it back in time, which she wouldn't have been mad about despite his promises.
Bonnie and Elena offered to keep her company today, along with Rebekah. They were interested in hearing about Caroline. They were able to help Tyler through his first transformation but he's been alone since, preferring to be, in an old cellar owned by the Lockwoods. Caroline has been taking this time to renovate - with Klaus's credit card and permission, seeing as this was the most she's ever spent on it - to make the basement capable of holding her during her changes.
Of course, when she called to talk to him, Klaus actually laughed, not sure why she felt like she had to ask, seeing as he gave her that card to use however she wanted to. And even though he said that, and she knew he meant it, Caroline also gets the feeling that he was also happy that she was willing to still talk to him. To include him in her plans and hear his input if he has any.
She told them about how she usually has a hard time with her transformations. About how hard it is on her body and how she's usually out for a day or so afterward. Naturally, they both found it weird just like everyone Caroline has told about it, and Bonnie even offered to look into it for her, which she appreciated. She wasn't sure what Bonnie would be able to find, but it warmed her heart to know that she was willing to keep an eye out on anything that might at least be able to explain why it's like this for her.
Lightning strikes again. At the same time as the heroine screams bloody murder on the television and another dark figure appears next to Klaus. The girls scream once more, and another pencil goes flying through the air at this figure. This time, the person catches it. And in the middle of all of it, Caroline has to wonder how the heck Rebekah keeps finding these pencils when Elijah steps into view, making the human, witch, and werewolf sink back into the couch in relief while Rebekah stomps over to the television, turning it off.
"Bloody hell, I am done with this movie," she growls, then turns on the light. She wraps her arms around herself, freaked out.
"I'm sorry," Elijah says, sounding sincere as he lays the pencil down and out of the way. "It seems we've interrupted something." Unlike Klaus, Elijah looks relatively dry. He probably was the only one smart enough to use an umbrella. Not, that a chill could kill a vampire, let alone an Original, but still.
Caroline pushes past the fear of the movie and the sudden appearance of the Mikaelson brothers. She stands up again, walking toward Klaus, opening her arms up. She wouldn't have been mad at him if he hadn't been able to make it in time, but she's so glad that he did. It's a relief to wrap her arms around him tightly.
She didn't care that he was wet - smelling like a wet dog to her sensitive nose, and she loved it. Because beneath that, she could smell something that was entirely Klaus. That beautiful, wonderful smell that she simply can't get enough of. She presses her nose into his damp neck and breathes in deeply, feeling him do the same.
She kisses the side of Klaus's neck, right at the pulse point, before opening her eyes to see Elijah staring at them with a soft expression on his face. She mouths, "welcome back" to him, which he nods back to, offering a tiny smile.
"Welcome back," she whispers into Klaus's ear before kissing it and pulling back finally to smile at him.
"You didn't think I would be able to make it back in time, did you?" Klaus asks, judging her with his eyes, a knowing smile working its way across his lips. He can read her mind, she just knows it.
"I wouldn't have been mad about it," Caroline says flippantly. "You have a life outside of me."
Klaus rolls his eyes like he's got something to say about that but decides he doesn't want to fight about it. Which Caroline is sure is for the best. She's so happy to see him and that he's back at least for tonight that she doesn't want to argue with him.
"Well," Elena says, looking at Elijah and Klaus uncomfortably, "I think it's time for us to go."
Bonnie nods in agreement, taking Elena's hand as Caroline finally steps away from Klaus, saying, "It's pouring out there. You don't have to leave. It'll be kind of scary listening to me wolf out, but this place is pretty sturdy. It'll be okay."
Elena smiles lightly at that, reaching out with her unoccupied hand as the two girls stand up to touch Caroline's arm. "We'll be okay. We'll see you tomorrow?"
Caroline shakes her head. "No, probably not. I'll need a few days to recover. Give me two or three and then we'll be fine."
Elena's smile falls and her eyebrows pull together in worry, as does Bonnie. The witch says, softly, "Then we'll go do something when you're feeling better, okay? Just give us a call."
Caroline nods. "Okay. Thanks for coming over, girls."
Caroline goes to see them out. She stands in the doorway with the porch light on as they run through the ran and climb into Elena's car. She waits until their car is on and they're backing up into the road and driving off before she steps back in and turns the light off, closing the door. Caroline turns to see Klaus. She smiles at him, walking up next to Elijah.
"Thank you for the movie day, Rebekah. I think I'm going to go down into the basement now."
Rebekah smiles, walking over and hugging her tightly. "Anytime, dear. I think I'm spooked enough for the night. I'm going to treat myself to a nice hot bubble bath and then I'm going to bed. I'll see you when you're up and about, alright?"
Caroline nods, hugging her back, tightly. "Goodnight."
Rebekah smiles, pulling away. She looks at Elijah, putting a hand on his arm before kissing his cheek, then pats the wound on Klaus's shoulder, grinning a bit at his glare. She kisses his cheek too, which he allows before she steps passed and heads up the stairs.
Caroline pats Elijah's arm, he reaches out, giving her own a squeeze before letting go and she makes her way toward the basement door. She can hear Klaus coming up behind her.
"Goodnight, Elijah!" Caroline calls.
"Goodnight, Caroline," Elijah reciprocates. "Look after her, brother."
Klaus holds the door open for her, saying, "I always do." Before following her down the stairs. There is a second, heavy-duty metal door at the bottom that has a latch on both sides, seeing as her wolf can't open a door, she wanted to ensure that if she was alone, she could lock herself in there until she returned human.
She even had the window barred - which surely would have people asking questions if Rebekah didn't compel the handyman. She wanted to make sure that her wolf wouldn't be able to leave the room. She even made herself a little bed with a pile of blankets and pillows that weren't exactly comfortable against her skin as a human but she didn't want to waste a lot of money on something that her wolf was just going to tear to shreds.
The basement was finished, and huge, which was a waste of space for her wolf, as if it could have been used for something more fun, but she didn't know where else to look for a safe place to turn, so this was going to have to do.
"Nice place you've got here," Klaus says playfully as Caroline pulls off her shirt and shorts before just sitting down on the pillows and blankets in only her underwear and bra. Caroline glares at him for his comment until she sees him appreciating her with wiggling eyebrows when her eyes meet his, letting out a laugh. She lays back against the pillows, waving for him to come over.
He does, dropping down on all fours and crawling over her and settling down on top of her, pressing his weight down on her. Caroline giggles, wrapping her arms around him as he kisses her. It's not sex, but Caroline doesn't mind a lot of kissing and light touching. Just as a... welcome back. Just laying there in the little nest she mad with the reassuring heat of his body against hers as well as that delicious smell in her nose. It just feels so good to have him in her arms. She really did miss him.
They kiss for a while, just remembering each other. It really hasn't been that long, and she knows that they've been apart longer, but still, this feels different. It's probably because he reawakened the werewolf dormant inside of him from his mother's curse, that's probably part of it. Now that they are both werewolves having sex with each other is probably making it harder to be away from each other. Caroline's not sure if she's on the right page or anything, but she likes this feeling, and it scares her.
She kisses him long and slow before he finally pulls away a bit. She takes a few deep breaths, realizing she wasn't really breathing the whole time before asking, softly, "How did it go? Did you, um, get your hybrids?"
Klaus sighs. He's leaning on one arm while the other one is running across her ribs slowly. Placing his fingers between them, which makes him frown unhappily, before looking back up into her eyes. "I didn't get my hybrids. There is something wrong."
Caroline's eyebrows pull together as she stares at him. "Do you know what's wrong?"
Klaus shakes his head, pressing his pale lips into a thin line. She touches them lightly, realizing he probably needs blood soon, but was so much more interested in coming back to see her than get his fill. He's too good to her. He really is.
"I'm starting to wonder if maybe it's because Elena is alive," Klaus grounds out. "She was supposed to die in the ritual, so maybe the reason that it doesn't work is that she's alive."
"I don't know..." Caroline says softly. "I mean, I'm no expert on curses or anything, but it broke the curse on you. It shouldn't have anything to do with her being alive now, right?" She looks at his face, trying to decipher his dark expression. "I mean, I guess I could be wrong."
"You have a point," Klaus admits, "I just need to think of something. Perhaps I should visit Stefan tomorrow while you rest and see... if he has any ideas."
Caroline's eyebrows pull together, not sure Stefan liked him enough to try and help, but if that's what he wanted to do, she wasn't going to stop him. She did feel bad though. She knew he wanted to be able to make hybrids. She's not really sure why and when she asked Rebekah once, it only seemed to upset her as she spit out something about him wanting a family that would never betray him.
Caroline decided to not ask her about it again.
"What do you need to make a hybrid?" Caroline asks.
His eyes zero in on her own as he considers her words. "My blood," he says softly. "They need my blood. With my blood, they should be able to turn. Should, being the operative word. I just don't understand why it isn't."
"Maybe there can't be hybrids made," Caroline says softly, pushing a small, loose curl across his forehead.
Klaus glares at her. "I'm a hybrid. Others can be made."
"Okay..." Caroline says slowly, seeing that she's starting to make him mad. "Maybe it has to be on the full moon like your awakening was."
"Maybe," Klaus grumbles, blinking slowly before shaking his head. "No, I don't think so. My mother is a crafting, conniving witch. She does like her games and her loopholes."
Caroline feels the tingles of the change starting to wash over her as the moon starts to reach its highest point. She's going to have to change soon. Caroline didn't know a lot about the curse that Klaus had to break in order to awaken the werewolf in him, other than it had to be on the full moon and it required the sacrifice of a werewolf, vampire and the doppelganger.
"Hey, Klaus?" Klaus looks at her with pretty blue eyes. "Don't judge me if this is a dumb question, but if it's supposed to be based on you... didn't you need three elements to awaken your hybrid nature? When you feed your blood to the wolves, aren't you only giving them two?"
"Giving them... two...?" Klaus says slowly, blinking a few times.
Caroline shrugs, adjusting a pillow that's digging into her back weird. "Yeah, you're both werewolf and a vampire. They are already werewolves, right? So I guess, you're really only giving them one thing. Then again, the only other element was Elena's blood, and you were supposed to of killed her, so maybe it really was a dumb question. I don't know, Klaus, I'm just saying stuff now."
Klaus blinks very slowly, processing her words. His blue eyes flicker back and forth, looking at her but not really seeing her. She just watches him as all sorts of thoughts flicker through his head. She wants to know what he's thinking about but decides to just let him think. Hopefully, it'll settle that anger that was building up inside of him.
Suddenly, Klaus smiles. It's beautiful and lights up his whole face. He moves to sit up, cupping her head between both of his hands before leaning over her and kissing her lips so soft and sweetly, Caroline could feel herself melt into it.
"You, my beautiful little wolf, are an absolute genius," he purrs against her lips. Kissing her again and again.
Caroline's not sure what she did, but she'll accept the kisses anyway. She kisses him back just as hard as he kisses her, fighting the feeling of changing for as long as she can before she finally pushes him back a bit to whisper against his lips, "I'm going to change now. You should go."
Klaus shakes his head. "Not this time, my love. I'm going to see this one through."
"I don't want to hurt you," Caroline says automatically, then realizes what she said. "Okay, maybe it won't kill you... but I don't want to hurt you. Even if you can heal from it."
Klaus admires her with the sweetest smile on his face. "How did I ever get lucky enough to find you?"
Caroline laughs, finally sitting up. She reaches behind herself and unclasps her bra, pulling it off her shoulders and tossing it to the side before reaching for her underwear while saying, "You are just that lucky I guess."
Klaus looks at her appreciatingly. "Yes, I am." Caroline laughs, pushing his face away as she flushes in embarrassment. "Don't be like that, Caroline, you're beautiful."
"Shut up," she says, feeling how hot her face is.
Caroline doesn't remember a lot after she shifted. She vaguely remembers going for his face, running her tongue over every inch of it. She remembers rubbing against his throat, then pressing her nose against it and breaking in deeply to make sure her scent stayed, and when the wolf wasn't satisfied with how heavy her scent was on him, she went rubbing up against it again. Rinse, lather, repeat.
Caroline remembers that every time Klaus grinned at her - the one that made his cheekbones pop out and creases appear around his eyes - she would throw her head back and howl, pleased. With him sitting on the floor and her sitting next to him, she had to bend her neck to look down at him. She would lick his face and press into him as hard as she could.
She scratched him a few times, drew blood, in her excitement. He never got mad or snapped at her, and honestly, a smile never left his face in the many forms it took from what she remembers.
Caroline, and her wolf, were happy. Once she changed back, her first memory as a human again was laying in Klaus's lap. She was naked and sore, but his arms around her were warm compared to the chill of the basement. She maneuvers her weak arms around his shoulders, burying her face into his neck as he wraps a blanket around her a bit to cover her up.
She's thankful even though at this point she wouldn't really care if anyone saw her. But that's why Klaus is so good to her. Better to her than she deserved, that's for sure. He carries her up the two sets of stairs without complaint as she nuzzles into his neck, feeling his pulse against the tip of her nose. She feels his hand lightly squeeze her bare shoulder blade when she kisses his neck.
"Thank you for coming back," Caroline whispers raspily.
Klaus lays her down in bed, stepping away for a moment to grab her some clothes and helps her into them before crawling into bed with her. He presses his lips against her forehead, pulling her close to him. The sound of the rain against the window and the low rumble of the thunder coupled with Klaus' warmth is enough to ease her to sleep.
But before she does, she whispers, "Maybe sometime, you and I can go on a run together... do you... think?"
Klaus squeezes her tightly, nearly pushing the air out of her lungs before kissing her softly on the lips. "Yes. I would love to go on a run with you, my love. And once I am able to make my hybrids and you are willing to leave mortality behind, we can run any time your heart desires." Caroline feels herself smile as she starts to slip into slumber, knowing he might have to leave again soon, but at least he was here with her now.
"Caroline..."
Caroline jerks out of the blackness of sleep, twisting around wildly until her eyes land on Elijah, who was standing next to her bed with his hand on her shoulder, no doubt having shaken her a few times. Caroline sits up slowly, rubbing at her face, feeling tired.
"Elijah? Uh, what's going on? What time is it?" She asks, looking over toward the window to see that it's dark out. Her limbs hurt and she feels weak. She hasn't felt like this in a while, since the last time she and Klaus had sex for an ungodly amount of time. Except all that happened this time was her shift, yet she already feels like this.
What is going on?
"I swear those two are up to no good as always," Elijah says, shaking his head. "I got a lead that I am off to pursue, but I felt I had to make sure you woke up to someone here, seeing as Klaus and Rebekah have gone off to do something untoward in their desperation."
Caroline rubs at the back of her neck, pushing her back up against her headboard trying to organize her thoughts. "I'm sorry, what? My brain is way too fried to understand you, Elijah."
Elijah presses his lips together tightly before saying, "It's been three days, Caroline. You were showing no signs of waking up until about an hour ago and by then Rebekah and Klaus had already run off to confront your friends, I'm afraid. I've been trying to wake you up for a while now."
"Three days?" Caroline echoes, eyes wide. "Wh.. why? I'm only this bad off when... when..." she blinks rapidly, trying to understand. It's not like she's been having trouble sleeping leading up to the full moon. At least, nothing worse than what she usually does as the full moon draws near. She finally got used to the softness of the bed and she made sure not to laze around too much so that she would be able to sleep at night. This just doesn't make any sense. Why is everything getting harder?
Elijah sighs, sitting down next to her. "My brother and sister are very found of you. Rebekah doesn't know what to make of any of the troubles that you're having and my brother... Klaus thinks that these attacks that you get sometimes, that with every shift... how hard it is on you... my brother fears that it is drastically shortening your life." He looks at her, narrowing his eyes a bit, not like he's mad, but like he's trying to size her up.
Caroline frowns, looking down at he old graphic t-shirt Klaus helped her change into last night, er, three days ago. Caroline looks into Elijah's eyes. "Why would he think that? I'm okay. I'm just tired."
Elijah gives her a look. "Caroline, I may not know you as well as my siblings do, but even I can tell that you aren't doing well. Your change shouldn't be this hard on you - it isn't normal. And I admit, I am worried as well. My brother cares for you a lot and when what should have been an easy change this month is met with almost three days out of commission... it's not normal."
Caroline rubs at her forehead roughly, noticing the water that Elijah was offering her. She takes it from him and drinks up greedily, not realizing how thirsty she was until it was offered to her. She sets the glass down on the table, wiping the water that didn't make it into her mouth off with the back of her arm, not really caring at this point how bad it looks. She feels grimy and gross, she's going to need a shower.
"Where... what's happening?"
"I have a contact I need to go meet up with," Elijah says, "but I think you should know where Rebekah and Klaus are. I think you should know what they are doing."
Caroline's eyebrows pull together tightly. "What are they doing?"
Elijah looks down at the comforter for a moment before meeting her eyes. "They have gone to see Elena. At the high school. He has a suspicion that she may be the key to making hybrids and when you didn't wake up right away, he's been preparing to get her... assistance in doing so. He was trying to find other werewolves nearby when he remembered there was one..."
Caroline stares at him for a long moment, trying to understand what he was saying. "Oh, Tyler." Yes, Caroline has been spending time with Tyler too. It's odd, unlike Elena and Bonnie, who she used to be friends with as kids, Tyler was one of the kids in her class but not really a friend. So there wasn't a lot of past history to work through and they were able to sort of find their own rhythm. She would like so say that in these last few weeks they've become her friends. Bonnie, Elena, Tyler, Matt and she even liked Stefan. He wasn't so bad.
Matt and she also weren't friends back as kids so she could start fresh and new with him and Stefan wasn't a bad guy. Caroline couldn't stand his brother, Damon, but Stefan wasn't bad.
Caroline forces her mind back to the topic at hand. "Is Tyler going to be okay? What happened to the other hybrids Klaus tried to make? I know they didn't succeed, but what happened to them?"
"They died, Caroline," Elijah says softly. "Every single one of them. Klaus's blood didn't take. So they all died."
Caroline shoves off the covers, rushing over to her shoes, nearly falling over when all the blood rushed to her head before stuffing her feet into the shoes Klaus got for her and turning to face Elijah. She doesn't care how ridiculous she looks in shorts, t-shirt, and shoes. Them on top of that, she grabs a sweatshirt and says, "I'll go to them, talk to him. Klaus is weird when it comes to me."
"No," Elijah disagrees, standing up. "Klaus is protective of you."
Caroline doesn't respond to that, not knowing what to even say to it. "He's at the school? Him and Rebekah?"
"Yes," Elijah says. He hesitates a moment, then says, slowly, "My brother... what he feels for you..." he hesitates again, trying to think of the correct word to describe what he's trying to say. Then, his eyes meet her own and he says, "I see how my brother looks at you. How he treats you. My brother hasn't gotten this close to someone in a long time. He... dare I say, he loves you and what he's doing now... he's doing it because he thinks it'll save you. If he can successfully make hybrids, then when the time comes, and either you aren't strong enough to go through another shift, or you decide that you wish to give up your mortality, or heaven forbid, some sort of terrible alternative we won't offer more than a thought to, he wants to be able to save you. He's trying to make a hybrid for you."
Caroline shakes her head, not understanding. "Rebekha told me that Klaus has wanted to make hybrids for a long time. Long before he ever met me."
"He did," Elijah admits, "but that's changed. Now what pushes him onward so fervently, isn't out of some unexplainable reason to have someone he perceives who won't ever leave or betray him anymore. All on our trip, all he could talk about was making a successful hybrid - just one - so that he could go home. To you."
A series of emotions swell in her chest as Caroline struggles to find the words for it. She never agreed to become a hybrid. She wasn't even sure if that was what she even wanted in the first place. Well, no, in the back of her mind she kind of thought it was always a possibility. She wasn't sure she wanted to die or anything like that, but as much as she won't admit it aloud when she learned that Klaus had awakened his werewolf side when he left to see if he could make more like him, she entertained the idea of one day becoming one, just to be with him.
As much as the thought of staying in one place, with one person, forever scared the living daylights out of her, she also felt something akin to hope. That may be, in binding herself to Klaus, it also bound him to her. He wouldn't ever leave her. He would never have a reason to. She wouldn't ever have to be alone anymore.
And despite her fear of commitment, of being abandoned, the more time she spent with the Mikaelson; Klaus, Elijah and Rebekah, the more she wanted to stay with them.
She knew that even if she wasn't willing to admit it out loud, she was falling in love with Klaus, and even though he said he already loved her too, the fact that he was jumping through all sorts of hurdles to ensure she spent a long, immortal life with him, made her feel both trapped and liberated. The only real problem she had with any of this was Tyler. He was her friend, and all the other werewolves have died before. She can't just sit around and let Tyler die too. Not for her, she's not worth that.
"I'll go to the school," Caroline hears herself say. "You go do whatever it is you have to. Thank you for telling me, Elijah."
With that, she heads out, praying that she isn't too late.
