Klaroline Drabbles

89

It began 5 years from the day they departed Mystic Falls. She took no notice of it, he was a man of many eccentricities and obsessions; she remembered when she used to be one of them. Hybrids, she knew very well were his first obsession. She ignored it, put it in the back of her mind, thought nothing of it. Maybe because she knew it was a long shot, or maybe she was too naïve to underestimate his obsession. Either way, later one day, she'd regret her nonchalant attitude.
Five years after she gave in to him, he began to think about ways to make his hybrids again.
Three years after that, it began to change. What she thought was a long shot, turned out to be a possibility. One phone call turned into ten, two dead bodies turned into twenty, a few sleepless nights turned into every sleepless night, one night away turned into the weekend. And before she knew it, he was packing his bags, jabbering away excitedly about a witch in some godforsaken town powerful enough to cure his hybrids. He didn't even ask her if she wanted to come, if she was ok with him leaving her behind. He just left.
And as she watched him give her a soft smile and drive away, she wondered if she ever made him as happy as the thought of his hybrids had just made him.
She'd given up on being human, on feeling like a human a long time back. Klaus had helped her come to that realization, the truth was; she wasn't human, and never would be. It had been 12 years since she had been turned, and for the first time, she felt human. Pathetic, lonely and helplessly human. She'd had a dream when she was young; a white picket fence, a loving husband, children, garden parties, barbecues and social mother of the year. As she got older, she realized that was just a dream, marriage wasn't like that. No marriage was like her life right now.
She was like the typical pitiable wife. She lived almost alone in her and Klaus' huge house, except for the few days out of a quarter he came home. She woke up alone and willed herself not to cry when she saw the empty bed next to her. She made breakfast for herself, but extra coffee for him, he never had breakfast, only coffee. She read the paper as she ate, reading more than just the entertainment section as she used to. She read one of the books in his massive library, educating herself so she didn't feel so dumb around him anymore. She cleaned the house, made lunch, had a long bath, watched some tv. She shopped, and always bought what she thought he wanted to see her in.
She held her phone in her hand like it was her lifeline, almost praying for it to ring, for him to call. A phone call had become her solace now, the only sign she got that he hadn't forgotten her. She made dinner and set the table, one for her, one for him, and sat in silence and ate her meal, the loneliness of the day beginning to bear down on her.
And then when she cried herself to sleep every night.
The sound of opening drawers woke her up. Fear overtook her for a moment, as she turned around to look at the intruder, until the familiar scent hit her and she relaxed.
"You're back," try as she might, she couldn't help the elated and hopeful tone that tinted her otherwise sleepy voice.
Klaus turned towards her, a small smile spreading across his face as he removed his watch, nodding as he said, "Yes, love. I'm back."
She smiled weakly and sat upright, stepping off the bed to walk towards him. A sudden urge to touch him overtook her, as if she wanted to confirm it really was him, only she knew how often she dreamed of him coming home and telling her that he wasn't going to leave ever again. She remembered when that smirk he was sporting made her feel loved and special; she remembered when it made her bite her lip impishly. But now, it only made her heart constrict in pain.
"For how long?" she asked timidly, avoiding his eyes as she leaned in to hug him. She couldn't ignore the how small she felt with him right now, so helpless and insignificant. She had turned from that over-confident, neurotic girl to an insecure, paranoid and lonely woman.
He had destroyed her. And yet she couldn't stop loving him.
If he noticed the sadness in her voice, he didn't say anything, "Depends sweetheart," he whispered before brushing a soft kiss against her forehead. And she knew she'd be reliving that exact action a hundred times over after he left again. She'd hold to it in her heart and convince herself nothing had changed, that nothing was changing, that she still mattered to him.
She'd use that one tender moment to lie to herself until he came back. And then repeat the cycle.
His phone ringing on the nightstand broke her thoughts, as he pulled away to answer it, but not before she got a look at the caller id.
Hayley.
That night she slept in a different room, too hurt and paranoid to sleep next to him. The next morning he said he had to leave again, more hybrids and more witches.
And that's when she broke.
The dress was too short, the neckline was too low, her eyes were too smoky and the heels practically screamed 'fuck me'. The club was crowded and smelly, but she didn't care. She let go tonight, alcohol soothed her broken heart and the lustful gazes of men healed her bruised ego. She didn't shy away from the men who bought her drinks; she didn't turn them away and proudly declare that she was taken. She let them buy her drinks, let them dance with her, she let his hand slip a little too low on her back and she let herself feel something other than despair. Even if it wasn't the man she wanted, at least someone wanted her.
But when his hand slipped over her ass and his breath got heavy in her ear, she pulled away. She wasn't a cheater. Maybe Klaus could find it so easy, but she couldn't. Her short moment of freedom from agony was gone the moment she reached home, it served as a reminder of her hollow life, as a reminder of how she waited and waited for a person who was never hers.
"Long night?"
Klaus voice startled her as she entered their bedroom. Placing a hand on her chest, she sighed in relief and walked in, examining her reflection in the mirror.
"Where have you been?" when she didn't answer his demand, he inched closer to her, the old menacing Klaus shining through his enraged face, "Who were you with?"
"You have you no right to ask me that," she hissed, placing a hand on his chest and walking to the bed.
"What is that supposed to mean Caroline?"
"Hayley!" she screamed, cursing her weak will as tears crept up on her, "You know what I'm talking about. You and her."
"I'm forcing her to help me, that's all. You know that." Klaus said, his voice turning soft and almost hurtful, like it pained him to think that she thought of him as a cheater. The truth was, 3 years ago she never would have. Now, she didn't know anything anymore.
"I don't know anything anymore, Klaus," she voiced, tired and exhausted as she collapsed on the bed, "I don't know you anymore. I-I don't even know if you care about me anymore."
"Caroline, love, I did not and I would not betray you, not like that. Not ever," he promised, and it was her curse that she believed him, it was her disease that she only loved him more for being so offended by the mere thought.
"I know," she admitted, sighing and closing her eyes as he came to sit down next to her, "I'm tired, Klaus."
"What do you mean?" she could see the fear in his eyes, he always masked it well, but after a decade she could always catch it.
"Pick, Klaus," she replied, placing a hand on his, "Me or the Hybrids. I can't wait for you to love me back anymore. Pick."
He picked her. And it was perfect, for about six months. She no longer woke up alone, she no longer ate alone, she no longer cried herself to sleep. He was always there, smiling or smirking, he was always peeking out of somewhere to give her an excruciating kiss and then leave her to her book. He loved her back just as she wanted. And he also resented her.
He thought she didn't notice it, but she did. The longer he stayed the more he resented her, the more he tried to cover it the more she saw it, the more she tried to make him happy the more miserable he seemed to get. And she could see that it would only grow, his resentment, into hate, and the thought of him hating her stung sharper than any stake. So she decided to let go of her stance, she'd rather have him be around less than have him resent her.
But she never got the chance. The next day she woke up to an empty bed and Elijah in her house. He handed her a note, mumbled what sounded like an ashamed apology and left her be.
It was simple really, Klaus got tired and left. Got another lead on how to make his beloved hybrids and left, like a coward he slipped out in the night and tasked his brother to tell her. It was the last line of his letter that did it for her.
'I'll see you when I get home.'
He took her for granted. She had no value; she really was a pathetic, hopeless housewife. She'd reduced herself to the woman who loved a man so much she'd wait for that one fraction of affection he showed her.
"What did I do wrong Elijah?" she couldn't help but ask of the older, wiser brother, tears glistening her rosy cheeks as she fiddled with the paper in her hands.
"Nothing," he assured her, knowing full well his words held no meaning to her, his brother had broken the girl, but there was nothing he could do. Only one person could fix her, and he wasn't here, he was never here.
"My brother has the unfortunate ability to not appreciate what he has."
Or maybe, she had the unfortunate ability to never be enough, for anyone, even the one person she so badlywanted to be enough for. Maybe that was her curse.
When Klaus came back home this time, she wasn't there. And he never saw her again.