Klaroline Drabbles

79

She had woken up from Elena talking to Damon on the phone, but had pretended to still be asleep, not wanting to have to talk about Tyler again.
Now, while Elena was peacefully off into the land of dreams, she found she couldn't fall asleep again.
Her heart weighed heavy in her chest, and she felt like crying again.

Tyler wouldn't come to college.

Tyler wouldn't come to her.

A part of her had known that she had been living in a bubble when Elena had tried to make her see this earlier, but she just didn't want to believe it.
They had been apart for so long and she'd finally managed to get Klaus to set Tyler free. She hadn't been able to believe it in the beginning, it was so surreal.
Her mind had been painting scenarios of Tyler coming back to her the very next day, of finally being able to hold him again. All the optimism and her refusal to arrange herself with something that could still be fixed had paid off in the end.
But then, Tyler hadn't come back the next day. Not even the day after.
Alright, she had decided, she wouldn't let this get her down. He was safe. He'd be back after summer break to join her in college. So she started painting scenarios of the perfect college life with her best friends and her boyfriend at her side instead.
But now... her bubble had burst and opened the door to all her demons again.
A familiar, well known insecurity swelled up in her chest.
She was never the one.
Tyler didn't want to be with her as bad as she wanted to be with him.
He had chosen his pack over her.
She'd done everything, tried so hard, hadn't pestered him with the fact that she wanted him with her for the whole summer, had swallowed her uneasiness whenever he talked about his pack, had been the cheerful, perfect girlfriend. She had gotten him his freedom.
And now he had broken up with her via voice mail.
She felt the overwhelming urge to cry again.
She grabbed her cell phone and her keys and was out the door in a matter of seconds, swiftly sneaking out the building at vampire speed, before the tears broke.
She broke down in the middle of the nearby forest, desperate to be alone.
So what if there was another vampire out there, possibly out to get her, she did not care the least bit.
She sunk down on the forest floor and let the tears flow, sobbing desperately into her palm.
She always cried alone.
She couldn't really do this around anyone else anymore, she didn't want anyone to see beyond her façade. She found her strength in herself, other people would just disrupt her.
She would rise again tomorrow, with a bright smile on her face. She would be herself again tomorrow, find a way to make lemonade out of the lemons she'd been handed once again, be her usual optimistic self. She had been through worse.
But for now, she'd just let herself mourn the one thing she had wanted more than anything for the past months.
Suddenly, her cell phone made a noise.
She'd gotten a text message.
Frantically, she reached for it - Tyler?!
So, how was your first day in college?
I trust you haven't switched to a Damon-inspired diet. ;)
Klaus. The message was from Klaus.
They'd been texting occasionally, given the fact that they were now 'friends'.
She'd been hiding it from everyone. She had convinced herself that she only did it so he wouldn't change his mind and decide to go after Tyler again.
But right now, her walls were down and she was confronted with all the uncomfortable truths she'd been trying to ignore up until now.
And the truth was, that she felt a huge wave of relief flooding her.
The truth was, that she was thinking things she shouldn't be thinking.
'If I asked Klaus to come here for me, he would be here in a matter of hours.'
'Klaus would have put me first.'
'Klaus put me first when I was nothing but bitchy to him, and Tyler left me when I was the perfect girlfriend.'
She sobbed again, holding onto the phone as if for her life as the message blurred with tears before her eyes.
Without thinking, she hit the call button and put the phone to her ear.
It took one ring, and he picked up.
"Caroline?" he asked, sounding bewildered as if he couldn't believe she was actually calling him. They'd only texted up until now.
A sob escaped her throat.
Oh, this was a bad idea, a very, very bad one.
"Caroline?" he asked again, his voice now seriously distraught. "What's the matter, are you okay?"
She sobbed again.
This was what she had wanted from Tyler.
This.
Instead, he hadn't even given her a chance to try and talk him out of it. He'd taken the easy way out, hadn't faced her, had left her to cry again.
'Until we find a way, my ass!'
What was keeping her from talking to Klaus? Tyler was gone. Yes, he'd done terrible things, but he had set Tyler free, for her. He had chosen her.
And at that moment a pathetic little hope bloomed in her. Maybe, just maybe, she didn't have to cry alone anymore. Maybe, for once, she wouldn't have to try anymore.
Maybe, there was something to make it better beyond just sucking it up and forcing herself to smile until she believed it herself.
"I..." she cried. "Just wait a moment."
"Are you in danger, Caroline?" he asked, his voice frantic.
She let out an involuntary laugh, her tear streaked face forming a small, sad smile.
"No," she said quickly, then sobbed again. "No, I'm- I'm just-"
She heard a deep breath of relief on the other side, and calmed herself down, making the tears fade to a level that allowed her to speak.
He waited.
"I... I don't even know why I called you," she said weakly. "I'm just- not okay, at the moment."
"Don't worry about it, love," he quickly responded, his voice reassuring and worried. "Tell me what happened."
"Only if you promise not to change your mind about my graduation gift," she said, feeling a lump forming in her chest. If she took a wrong guess about this and Klaus couldn't be trusted with not killing Tyler, she'd never forgive herself.
She shouldn't be taking this risk.
"What did he do?" he asked, his voice harsh.
"Promise me," she insisted.
He let out an angry sigh. "Fine, I promise."
She smiled to herself, despite the tears that were still covering her cheeks.
"He... he broke up with me," she said, then let out a pained laugh. "Via voicemail." Despite herself, another sob escaped her throat.
For a moment, there was silence at the other end of the line.
"Well, then he is a bloody fool," Klaus said, his voice calm but serious now.
She felt tingles running up her spine at his words. She shouldn't let him get to her like this.
"I just... I just thought he was gonna come to college, I planned everything, perfectly, I wanted it so much. And now..."
Now she wasn't good enough once again.
"Do you want me to come and visit you, Caroline?" he said, and by his tone of voice she knew that his offer was genuine.
The tears had stopped.
"No," she laughed weakly, shaking her head. "God, no. Elena is here. Trust me, you showing up here is all I need to ruin what is left of my happy college experience."
She realized she had phrased that a little harshly, but she couldn't help it. She needed to put up some sort of barrier between them. This was going way too far.
He laughed. "Well, if you change your mind, let me know."
She smiled to herself.
Anyone else would have been angry at her words. But not him, never him.
Not anymore.
"Very unlikely," she joked.
"Well, at least that means it's not impossible," he answered and she could picture the smile on his face while he spoke.
She took a deep breath, realizing that she didn't feel like crying anymore.
She had called Klaus, while crying.
She gulped, suddenly feeling slightly weirded out.
"Uhm... Thank you," she said, suddenly nervous. "I gotta get back to bed, I guess."
She heard a light chuckle at the other end of the line.
"Always." A warmth spread in her chest. "Just know that you can call me anytime you want, love." He said, his voice now serious again.
She gulped again. "Uh... okay, uhm, goodnight, then."
"Goodnight, Caroline."
She was the one to hang up, of course.
She took a deep breath and stared at the phone in her hand.
This had been a bad idea. A very, very, very bad idea.
She shouldn't have done this.
But despite herself, she couldn't bring herself to genuinely regret it.