The Aftermath

by poopaw

(Disclaimer: I do not own TVD)

If anything, it seemed like Klaus Mikaelson was a man of his word.

And she hates him so much because of it.

Tyler sits her down after a week of dodging each other. He grabs her hand and tells her everything he has to tell her about New Orleans.

(About New Orleans, the witches, the werewolves, the vampires, him, Hayley, and the baby.)

If he notices her fists balling on top of his hands at his revelation of the growing Original family, he doesn't comment on it. Tyler looks her in the eye and continues to tell the horrible stories. He wants to be honest with her. His desire to start over is very apparent. He's finally giving up his revenge for her.

He's everything she wanted him to be.

But the problem is that she can't go back. She can't pretend to be his first choice anymore because she never was. She can't forget how a certain vampire's hands felt on her skin, can't move past the adrenaline rush brought by his hot whispers in her ear, can't scrub away the feeling of his tender (and loving) touches.

Tyler's finally the man she's always wished for him to be but the thing is, she isn't the same woman who wished for that.

When he finally stops talking, he places his hands on her cheeks. He cradles her delicately, his thumb absent-mindedly stroking her. It feels foreign because it's been too long since he's touched her like this. His presence only serves to remind her of second choice, second choice, second choice.

(Something she has never felt when she was with him.)

"I need time to think, Tyler."

"What else is there to think about?"

(His mouth on her neck, her desire for him to penetrate her skin perhaps.)

Tyler finally lets go of her hands and relents to her request of space and time. She wracks her brain to remember what she was supposed to think about and why she needed time. Isn't she supposed to run back to his arms? Tyler was her true love, her epic love.

He gives her another meaningful look before wooshing out of her house.

She sighs and looks around her room blankly. He had given her too much to think about and she doesn't know what to focus on first.

(She doesn't want to focus on a certain topic, that's for sure.)

Eventually, her eyes land on her bedside drawer. She knows what's inside – the charcoal strokes vividly flashing through her brain.

It takes her ten minutes before she finally gives up.

If only Tyler hadn't made revenge his number one priority.

If only he had been a few hours early.

If only she hadn't heard of Bonnie and Jeremy's scandalous sexcapades.

If only Jesse was still alive.

(If only she hadn't finally succumbed to him and the way he makes her feel so alive.)

She hits his name on her phone because she needs . . .

Needs what, exactly? Confirmation, denial, anything. Anything to refute everything that Tyler had said about him, his adventures in New Orleans, and his growing family.

The betrayal is hot on her skin, burning her in all the places he touched only a week ago.

She's tried to focus on the werewolf aspect of Tyler's story. How could his prodigy do that to those poor wolves? To be in that state of unruliness for the rest of their lives was torture. To never be fully in control of their actions and emotions.

(She's talking about the wolves, not her, right?)

But that werewolves in the bayou story is connected to a certain werewolf. This certain werewolf is currently impregnated with the exact person she's trying to avoid thinking about.

The phone only rings once before she's put on the machine.

"Klaus?"

Her initial nervousness dies down and immediately she is consumed with rage.

"You have a baby with the she-wolf bitch! You were here for a day and you never thought to tell me? How fucking dare you have sex with me in the woods when you have a baby on the way?"

Her legs around his waist, her mouth on his collarbone, wanting more to taste.

She wakes up the next day with no new message. The reality of the situation hits her faster than she's ever been attacked before. The blow is cold and oh god, it hurts more than it should. He has never ignored her before and now, it feels much more surreal.

Caroline's never had a stronger urge to text him a big old fuck you than at that very moment because like he said, he's keeping away and he's never coming back. His promise for her honesty, after all.

Author's Note: This will be about 5-10 chapters of Caroline coming to terms of her and Klaus' agreement. Tell me what you think?