I'll Be Your Last

It was a little awkward at first

A/N: You guys don't know how happy and grateful I am for the votes, comments, reviews, follows -- all of it. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart.

I slept all the way to our destination and I woke up to see Klaus had pulled the car into the drive next to my Mom’s squad car. There were some lights on and just seeing my home made me feel a little better. It was a place of comfort. The clock in his rental car said it was just after eleven o’clock.

“Hello, there,” he said when I sat up in the seat and glanced at him. “We’re here.”

He was opening the car door for me a moment later and looked like he had every intention of picking me up again. I held up a hand, stopping that.

“I can walk,” I told him.

And then I stumbled the minute I was on my feet. Klaus smirked at me.

“Shut up, Klaus.”

He held up both hands in front of him. “I didn’t say anything.”

My tote bag swung from his right hand as he followed me up the walk to the front door. Given that I wasn’t walking that steady, I didn’t fight him when he wrapped his left arm around my waist and hauled me against his hip, helping me along to the door.

Unceremoniously, he opened the door and eased me into the house. His invitation still stood so no supernatural barrier prevented him from entering.

My mother walked into the living room, dressed in her uniform, and we surprised her. She knew about Bonnie, I could see it in her face. I don’t think she was that surprised that I was there.

Klaus? That was an entirely different story. Mom was afraid of him, with good reason.

She recovered quickly and her motherly instinct had her scanning me in a panic. “Caroline? Are you okay? Has something –“

“Hello, Liz,” Klaus greeted her as if this were an ordinary social call.

Mom nodded to him as she decided I wasn’t physically hurt and hugged me tight.

“Caroline?” Mom wanted to hear from me that everything was okay. Aside from losing Bonnie.

“Klaus drove me here.” It was the truth. “I guess I’m not doing so well.”

“Sweetheart, I know. I’m so sorry about Bonnie.” Pulling back, she brushed a stray lock of hair away from my face. “Damon called me earlier. I tried to call you but you didn’t answer.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s okay. You’re home.” Turning to Klaus, she said, “Thank you for bringing Caroline here. I’ll call in and have someone replace me on the shift tonight and I’ll be here with her.”

“Since when do you work the midnight shift?” I had to ask.

“Well, there have been some strange things happening so we’ve been working around the clock the last couple of weeks. It’s only fair that I pitch in,” she explained.

“What things?” I asked.

“I’ll tell you later.” Her deep sigh filled the room. “Right now, you’ve got enough to deal with.”

Her arm went around me and she was steering me towards my room.

“Thank you,” she said to Klaus, letting him know politely that he could leave now.

“Caroline?” he asked in the way of seeing if that was what I wanted too.

Strangely, it wasn’t. My mother was a great comfort, there was no question about that. But I knew my being a vampire made her life infinitely more complicated. And there was so much she didn’t know. Damon had used her for information on the council’s plans since before I was turned. Even after that, we limited what we told her, limited her involvement. For my part, it was to keep her safe. And the less she knew about the real goings on in Mystic Falls’ paranormal circles, the less she’d worry about me.