Klaroline Drabbles

91


She didn't full connect all the dots until that night. She didn't see the signs that had been all but glaring her in the face since the day she had left Mystic Falls.
She didn't realize it when she found out that he dumped Elena, assuming that it was the doppelganger that had broken things off - credit her extraordinary inability to stick to her choices. She didn't realize it when had she walked into her room to find said Salvatore sprawled on her bed, a cheeky grin on his face as he flitted through one of her guilty pleasure books. After wrenching the book from him and letting out a shriek of mild embarrassment and raging anger, she attempted to throw him out. Attempted being the important word, he was much too strong for her, as he exhibited by snorting and playfully flipping them over; forcing her onto her back and straddling her hips.
"Always so feisty" he'd said, infuriating smile in place as she wrestled with him to no avail "How was coffee with the hybrid king? Hasn't killed you yet I see. " he'd added, making sure to let scorn drip from every syllable.
She'd been about to yell 'Damon' and bare her baby fangs at him but he was suddenly lifted into the air and thrown against her wardrobe, smashing it to smithereens before landing with a plop. Almost uncaringly he'd gotten up and brushed the dust off his shoulders and smirked impishly at a heaving Klaus, his eyes shining yellow and fangs glimmering in the moonlight.
"So touchy!" he'd quipped turning to wink at her, disappearing in a whoosh before Klaus could decapitate him.
She didn't realize it when he cornered her at the grill, right after she'd said her goodbyes. He'd sat stoically for the entire length of her speech, only rolling his eyes at Elena's wailing and Bonnie's judging. But then he pressed her against the wall, warning and desperation in his eyes as he told her not to leave. She'd puffed her chest and demanded that he give her one good reason why she shouldn't leave this one-pony town, the place where she died and came back, where her father died, where she loved and got nothing in return, where she'd forever live in the shadow of Elena. She'd asked him to tell her one reason why she shouldn't chose to be with someone who put her first, even if it was Klaus. He'd looked so lost and confused for a minute, his eyes flickering wildly before he'd blurted "Because this is Klaus, blondie. He'll get bored of you and kill you eventually."
And then she'd slapped him, tears pricking at her eyes before she told him that not everyone was like him. And for some people, she was enough.
She'd been surprised when he showed up at her - their - house 100 years later, still so Damon Salvatore; raven unruly hair, leather jacket, dark jeans and radiating debauchery and arrogance. He'd waltzed in the door, only snorting at her bewildered face and winking at an incensed Klaus, who was still unwilling to forget the image of Damon manhandling Caroline all those years ago. It had been an awkward meeting to say the least, she was just thankful no one had ended up dead by the end. Her surprise didn't end at the impromptu visit, when Damon told them that he was settling here for a while, asking her to help him find a nice house, because he so 'trusted' her taste and she looked just 'so cute' when she was in planning mode.
And then she noticed it. The soft curve of his smile when it fell on her, the lingering looks he thought she missed, the way his hand grazed against her arm or the way he gulped and looked away whenever she touched Klaus. And finally, as she walked him to his car, his arm lazily draped over her shoulders she finally realized it.
Damon wanted her. Her.
Caroline Forbes.
And the fact hadn't properly sunk in for her before he was pulling her to face him, his face so soft, so worried, so filled with ache that it was hard to believe it was Damon Salvatore standing in front of her.
"How much longer you gonna be here Caroline" he asked, his voice soft and soothing like a lullaby. The sound of her name from his lips felt so foreign to her, he never said her name in anything other than disdain or jest; it felt different, good different, like sweet revenge, like closure and also - it felt too late.
"Here?" she asked skeptically, turning away from his smoldering gaze, while it was something she had craved so badly once upon a time, now it felt wrong, plain wrong "Barcelona you mean? I don't know, a couple more years I guess. I love the food and people too much!"
"Not Madrid" he laughed, a tinge of sadness in his voice "Klaus. How much longer are you going to be with him?"
And that was the extent of their conversation that Klaus eavesdropped on, a low growl rumbling in his chest as he closed the shades, almost bringing them down before heading back into the parlor to get a drink, having no intent on hearing anymore. He wouldn't listen to Caroline talk to her once lover, not when he was making moon eyes at her, and she did nothing to deter him.
He was well into his third drink when she returned, hips swaying and curls bouncing as she walked towards him, but he quickly turned his back to her. Even a century later he refused to show his vulnerability.
"How was your chat with the Salvatore?" he spat, downing his drink in one go and pouring another rather generous amount.
He could almost see the frown on her face as she replied "Fine."
"Like the good old days huh? Planning and plotting against the big bad Hybrid" he mocked, sipping his drink and gripping the table tightly, making it creak under the pressure.
"Klaus what? I don't understand?"
"So what's your plan then Caroline" he whirled around, eyes wide and burning with fury, jaw clenched and dark veins threatening to burst through his skin "Going to lie about a trip to the city and slip away? Or sneak out like a whore in the middle of the night?"
"Klaus what are you-...?" she tried to speak, walking closer towards him despite the anger radiating off him. A squeak escaped her lips when the glass shattered in his hand, blood oozing onto the carpet, but his raging eyes remained on her.
"I do not take betrayal well Caroline" he hissed, fangs bursting through his gums and eyes turning lighter by the minute "Do not delude yourself into thinking that you are immune to my wrath"
Closing her eyes and sighing she inched closer to him, moving her hand towards his arm but he gripped her shoulders tightly, smearing his blood on her skin as he snarled in her face "Betray me and I will kill you both"
He'd expected fear, and he knew he'd hate it. He never wanted Caroline to be afraid of him. But what he didn't expect was for her to roll her eyes and remove his hands from her arms, or say the following
"You know you're even a bigger drama queen than me" she chided, taking his hand to remove the shard of glass intended on his palm but he whipped his hand away, a truly wolfish growl leaving him as he turned away from her again.
"You think this is a joke?" he snapped, his voice low and hurt but she ignored him and went about on her own tangent.
"And while I can't reprimand you on eavesdropping because I make it a point to eavesdrop on all your conversations, I can however scold you for not eavesdropping the whole conversation" she quipped, satisfied when he stilled at her last words.
"Yes Damon asked me how long I was going to be with you. And if you'd just listened, you would have heard me tell him that I have no plans of leaving you" She explained as she forcibly turned him around so she could hold his face in her hands "And you would have heard me tell him that he had no chance. No one does" she added with a small smile as his face seemed to relax a bit, but still he said nothing and turned away from her again, keeping her back to her as he looked out the window.
"I feel bad for Damon" Caroline said, refusing to let him withdraw from her and leaned on him from behind, resting her head on his back "He's a lot like you; arrogant, impulsive, afraid to trust anyone, broken and shunned." she felt him shift on his feet uncomfortably at being put in the same boat as a man he loathed "He's doomed when it comes to love, I feel bad for him - but not bad enough to leave you"

"I'm nothing like him" Klaus breathed, his tense shoulders loosening slightly when she slipped her hands around his waist "I would never hurt you"
"I know" she assured him, nodding her head against his back "But it's been a hundred years Klaus and you still don't trust me - I'm not accusing you, I know you've been hurt and abandoned... just promise me something?"
"What?" he asked wearily.
"The next time you have one of your drama queen tantrums" she couldn't suppress her giggle when she saw him rolling his eyes in the reflection "Just remember that I wouldn't leave you even if forced me to - understand?"
After what seemed like an eternity, he slipped his hand over hers and leaned back against her "Yes"
When Damon opened his eyes the next morning, he found himself tied to a tree, branches digging into the skin of his back, vervain soaked ropes burning into the flesh of his abdomen and his hands tied behind his back.
"Still touchy I see" Damon snipped, spitting a mixture of vervain, saliva and blood onto the grass.
"Very" Klaus responded, his hands behind his back and smiling like a kid in a candy store "Consider this is a mild, mild warning Salvatore - come near Caroline again and I'll rip out your intestines"
Damon made a hmmm noise and swayed his head, clearing his throat and trying to wrench free of the restraints "Should have seen it coming"
"Don't take my threat lightly. You're alive because killing you would bring me more trouble than joy - but don't think for one second that if you try anything with Car-..."
"I get it Klaus" Damon bellowed, banging his head against the tree and looking at him "I get it. She chose you, like she did a century ago, like she will a century later. I get it. I won't go near her, just leave me be"
And for the first time since he had met him Klaus felt something akin to sympathy for the Salvatore as he nodded briskly and walked away, satisfied and content that no one would take Caroline from him.