Chapter 1

NPOV

"Turn your freaking legs out Caroline!" She spoke to herself. "Nope. Scratch that. Turn your entire body out." It was Friday. Caroline just wanted to finish up another practice rehearsal for the concert next month so she could go home. Days like this made her curse the day she started dancing. She had started dancing when she was around seven, and it stuck. No matter what the world threw at her, when she danced, it would all somehow make sense. Caroline had a natural ability at it. And her mother noticed and pushed her…hard. Elizabeth Forbes. Caroline loved her mother, she really did. It was just that sometimes, Liz was more of a dance instructor than her actual mother. Caroline couldn't remember the last time she actually just talked with her. It was always 'dance this', 'POINTE NOW.', 'rehearse this'. Caroline's mother didn't know how to actually be a 'mother'. Caroline was currently attending Julliard on a full scholarship, her mothers' decision of course.

"CAROLINE. Pay attention!" The choreographer called her name. "AGAIN! 5'6'7'8'" She repeated for the thousandth time that day. Caroline rolled her eyes before once again going into relevè on pointe. She wasn't too excited about the convert anymore. She had auditioned for the roll of Odette in Swan Lake, and received the part. But the boy she was to dance with was incorrigibly dull. At the beginning of her fourth and final year, it was only his first. Daniel was good; she had to give him that. The fact was that he was a freshman, dancing a fourth year's part. It made her look weak. When they received their individual parts it was the talk of the entire school. Caroline's mother was upset to say the least. She made Caroline work even harder at home.

Suddenly the music ended and everyone started exiting the studio.

"Alright…we'll try again tomorrow. Caroline I need to speak to you after class." The teacher requested. She huffed grabbing her bag and changing shoes. Pulling her gray sweatpants and black leather jacket over her leotard she made her way to the teacher's office.

"Miss Cynthia?" Caroline questioned knocking on the door. Miss Cynthia motioned for her to sit down.

"What is going on Caroline?" The older lady asked. Caroline tilted her head in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

Miss Cynthia rolled her eyes.

"Caroline. I think you need to take a break. Your performance lacks passion, and quite frankly, there's nothing I can do about that." The lady said sadly.

Caroline's eyes widened. If she lost her part…she didn't want to even think about what her mother would say.

"Miss Cynthia please, I am just having an off day I had lots of homework last-" Caroline's excuse was cut short when the teacher held up a hand, signaling for her to stop.

"Caroline, it hasn't just been today. I suggest you take some time and figure out what it is that you want. I'm going to have Julia take over your part."

"NO! Miss Cynthia please!" Caroline begged. Her mother was sure to kick her out now.

"I've made my decision. Until you can prove to me dance is what you want to do, you are no longer a part of this class. You may leave now Caroline."

Caroline swallowed back her tears. Grabbing her dance bag and water bottle she left without another word. Once she reached her car she couldn't hold the tears back anymore. She hit her steering wheel several times with her keys in hand before resting her forehead against it, breathing heavily.

"Why me?!" She cried to herself, hitting the wheel a couple more times. "There's no telling what my mother is going to do…" She told herself. After a few minutes she gathered the strength to start the car and head to her apartment. Pulling up, she noticed her mother's car parked outside. "Guess this is going to happen sooner than I thought." Caroline parked her car and headed towards the door.

"Mom?" She called walking through the door, setting her keys and purse on the wooden table by the front door. Her mother was sitting at the table staring at her drink. "Mom what's wrong?" Her mother's head shot up and she glared at her daughter.

"What's wrong? What is wrong with you CAROLINE?!" She asked raising her voice. Caroline looked at her feet.

"Look mom-" She started.

"Not a word Caroline. Why did I get a call from Miss Cynthia? Is there something you're not telling me? Are you seeing someone?"

Caroline looked at her mother with wide eyes.

"Seriously Mom?! I get kicked out of the show and you automatically think I'm seeing someone?" Liz stood up from the table, approaching Caroline.

"I am going to go to the school and try to convince Cynthia to let you back in. We went school together-"

"No."

"Excuse me?"

"I said no. You are not going to go anywhere except out of my apartment." Caroline said finally standing up for herself.

"Well someone is disrespectful today. Shall we re-discuss what happens when that happens?" Liz said with a dark voice. Caroline crossed her arms over her chest.

"Mother I am 22 years old. You cannot control me anymore! I am tired of you dictating my life. Get out. Now." Caroline caught a surprised expression from her mother, but it was quickly covered with a dark one.

"Caroline. If I leave, you're done. No more money. I will not help pay for anything else. I'm tired of your disrespect."

Caroline shook her head at Liz.

"When you leave, we are done. Get out. NOW." Caroline shouted standing her ground.

Liz scoffed walking closer to her daughter. "You are nothing without me. You never will be. You need me." Caroline glared at her mother, not responding. That made Liz extremely angry and she slapped her hard across her right cheek. Caroline pushed her tears back, not wanting to look weak. It only made Liz even angrier. She pulled Caroline by her arm twisting it around.

"You will respect me." She hissed in Caroline's ear. She grabbed her keys and walked out slamming the door behind her. Caroline flinched at the sound from her place in the living room. She walked to the window and watched until she saw her mother's car drive away. Caroline quickly changed into a pair of black Nike pros matched with a PINK yoga tank top. It was November so she needed pants and her jacket. Grabbing her keys and dance bag she drove to the only place she knew she could breathe. The cemetery.

Most people would think that it was strange she felt relaxed there. But she didn't care. It was where her father was. He had died when she was six due to liver failure. Bill Forbes was an obsessive drinker. At the time Caroline hadn't known. But Bill had a lot of pent up frustration inside him. Caroline had thought it was her fault, but when she grew older she discovered it was most likely her mother's fault. She went to visit him every day and told him about everything that was going on in her life. She told him about getting into NYU, but her mother forcing her to go to Julliard. She told him about every new thing she learned, and how she missed him dearly. She even told him about the old shed near the cemetery that she had cleared out for a private dance studio. To this day her mother still had no idea about it.

"Hey Dad." She said, sitting next to the headstone. "I know it's been a while, I've been really busy…well you don't have to worry about that anymore, I'm quitting..." Caroline said, resting her head on the stone.

"I tried to stand up to mom." She said after a while.

"Dad? If I leave school, do you think I could find a job? Maybe that will prove to mom I'm strong enough to be on my own." After a few more minutes of silence she took the long walk towards her studio. The shed looked like it should have been condemned on the outside. But once you walked inside it was immaculate. Caroline had replaced the floor with a solid wooden one. Along the back wall there was a full mirror lined with a barre. Caroline had also spent her first job's money for a stereo system.

Walking over to the corner she threw her bag down along with her jacket and sweatpants. She put her jazz shoes on before plugging her laptop in playing her favorite song, Fly Before You Fall by Cynthia Erivo.

Caroline walked to the center of the floor. The music started and with her hands by her sides, Caroline looked at herself in the mirror. She gracefully moved across the floor with each passing lyric. After dancing her heart out she landed on her back, breathing heavily with tears threatening to escape. Instead of being sad, Caroline became angry. Angry at her mother for controlling her, angry with her dad for leaving her, but most of all she was upset with herself for not being strong enough. She couldn't stand when people thought she was weak. Suddenly she stood up, breathing heavier with her hands on her hips. She heard her phone ring. Caroline walked over to her bag and looked at the caller.

"Of course." She huffed. She threw the phone across the room, knocking something down off a shelf. She rushed over to the where the sound had come from to determine what had fallen. She felt her heart break when she saw it was the small glass heart shaped jewelry box her dad had given her before he had died. She cried when she saw it had been broken. She was hysterical by now. She picked up the thing that was closest to her, which happened to be an old trophy, and threw it down. Caroline pushed everything off the self towards the floor while shouting incoherent things. She screamed when she heard the next song come on. Blackbird by Noni. She ran over to the stereo and tore the wire out of the plug. After shoving her computer off of the table she didn't stop. She was crying and screaming throwing things everywhere. She had picked up a hammer, somehow throughout her rampage. Caroline walked towards her mirror and looked at herself. Her hair had fallen out of the neat braid it had been in. Her eyes were puffy and she had tears still falling out of them. She swallowed and hit the mirror with all her strength, it cracked and she hit again.

Klaus (POV)

I had gotten off work around ten. I headed straight towards the cemetery. Today, ten years ago I lost my brother Henrik. Every year that passed, it got a little better. Our whole family missed him, but I was the only one who still visited him. I parked my new black Lexus beside what looked like an oldish silver BMW.

"That's strange. No one is ever here at this hour." I thought to myself. I pushed the strange feeling I had to the side as I made my way towards Henrik's grave. I sighed when I saw that nobody had cleaned the old flowers off of it. I sat down at the edge before speaking.

"Happy Birthday." I said quietly. My brother had died in a car accident on his tenth birthday. My sister, Rebekah, had been driving him home from his surprise party when a drunk driver hit the passenger side. Thankfully Rebekah had been okay. But she had blamed herself for years. A couple years ago, though, she met Stefan Salvatore. He helped her realize that she couldn't have controlled it. I was very skeptical of him, especially when they announced their engagement. Bu when I saw the happiness in Rebekah's eyes I knew I had to try and be there for her. Her wedding had gone off without a hitch. I don't know why it wouldn't have though, Rebekah had planned it herself. She was a complete control freak. Something I'm sure she had gotten from me. At least I admitted it.

I sat talking to Henrik about work for a couple minutes when I suddenly heard someone scream. I ran towards the direction of what looked like an old rusty shed. I heard someone in there, throwing things.

"Ehh. Better leave them alone." I thought to myself. Well, that was until I heard something shatter. I opened the door slowly and found a small blonde girl on floor leaning against a shattered mirror with her head held in her hands. She was crying and it was extremely awkward. I didn't know if I should bother her or not. I was about to walk away when I noticed her hand bleeding. It looked real bad too. I coughed awkwardly knocking against the door frame. She looked up quickly and I noticed that she looked absolutely beautiful. I know she had puffy eyes, but her blue eyes looked amazing. Her blonde hair was falling out of what looked like a pony tail and it framed her face perfectly. She stood up quickly and I noticed her sway a bit. But she regained composure.

"W-who are you?" She sniffled. I took a step closer to her and she took a step back. I noticed her wince when backed up into the broken mirror.

"My names Niklaus. Are you okay?" I gestured towards her right hand. She tilted her head to the side before looking down.

"Oh. I didn't even notice." She said in a distant voice. I made moved closer to her while she looked at her hand.

"What's your name?" I asked her. Not wanting to scare her.

"Caroline." She said in the same distant voice. I saw her close her eyes and swallow. She opened those beautiful blue eyes again and looked at me. "What are you doing here?"

"I heard something break." I told her honestly. "Let me see your hand." I thought she would be more hesitant, me being a stranger and all, but she just held her arm up. "Does it hurt?" I looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

She shook her head. "Honestly, I don't even feel it." She said. I looked at her surprised. "I don't feel anything anymore." She said quietly.

"Look Caroline. I know you don't know me. But I think you should let me take you home, I would feel terrible if something happen to you." She just nodded. I sighed and led her out to my car. I knew exactly what she was doing. She had turned her emotions off. I knew because I had done the same thing when my brother died. I know I don't know this girl, but I feel like I should protect her.

Okay that's chapter 1! Please review! :) I'm going to post the next chapter once I get 5 reviews ;) Thank you for reading!