Hi there! New Klaroline two shots. I hope you'll like it.
Klaus allows Tyler in town for the Prom. How Caroline is going to react?
Thanks to Matt-on-Matt for betaing.
Caroline thoroughly scanned the room once more. Everything was going well. The music was playing, the buffet was all set up and the punch was overflowing. The entire gymnasium resonated with conversation and laugher, and the dance floor was full of enthusiastic students. Yes, Caroline could be proud of her work, especially with the conditions she had to plan the prom. Elena has been a bitch all through the process and had done her best to ruin everything. However, Caroline was too smart to let Elena bother her, and she had managed to get things exactly the way she wanted them to be in spite of Elena's behavior.
Her ex best-friend was actually fighting with Damon, who was trying to prevent her from feeding on anybody who was crossing her way. Caroline rolled her eyes and resolutely turned her head away from Elena. Tonight, she was going to have fun, and Elena could go to hell. She had been dreaming of prom since she was a little girl, and she wasn't going to let anyone ruin it. Caroline couldn't help but sigh while watching the couples swaying on the dance floor. She never thought she would be single on the evening of prom. Since she had been with Tyler, she had always pictured that night with him and she missed him more than ever tonight. Caroline snapped out of her thoughts when someone squeezed her arm softly. Stefan was at her side, extending his hand to her with a smile.
"Care for a dance?" he asked gently.
Caroline smiled and accepted his hand with a nod. Stefan was not really in the mood for the prom either, but like everybody else, he was trying to make the best of the evening. Caroline was grateful to him for that and for looking after her.
"Sure."
They chatted animatedly for a while before Matt cut in and asked to dance with Caroline. She accepted gladly and started to laugh with Matt, truly enjoying this moment of respite with her friends. Caroline grinned brightly at Bonnie who was now dancing with Stefan, and for the first time in a really long time, she felt a moment of genuine happiness. Nothing was perfect and they all had a lot of problems to deal with, but tonight was a very much needed break from all the drama. They were together; they were having a nice moment, and they had to enjoy it as much as they could.
Caroline's laugh suddenly got caught in her throat as her eyes spotted someone at the door of the gymnasium. She blinked, convinced that she was hallucinating but when she opened her eyes again, he was still here. Tyler. In a tuxedo. Smiling at her with a look of pure happiness on his face. Caroline dashed to him, an array of mixed emotions flooding through her body. Joy. Fear. Astonishment. She couldn't decide which one was predominant.
Caroline threw herself into Tyler's arms, smiling and crying at the same time and Tyler crushed her against him.
"What are you doing here?" Caroline exclaimed as the panic suddenly surpassed her happiness. "You can't be here, Tyler, if Klaus knows that you are in town…" Caroline's voice trailed off but Tyler smiled.
"Don't worry, Caroline. Klaus is the reason why I'm here."
Caroline frowned. "I don't understand."
Tyler sighed. "Klaus found me," he admitted. "He found me yesterday in Los Angeles and he told me to come back for the Prom."
Caroline made a strangled noise of stupefaction. "I don't understand," she repeated incredulously.
Tyler shrugged. "Between two threats and two speeches about how much I don't deserve you, he told me that he didn't want you to be alone for the Prom," he explained reluctantly. "So he told me to be here tonight but I have to leave again after."
Caroline scoffed, feeling suddenly torn between emotions she couldn't place or comprehend. She had believed for one second that Klaus had changed his mind about letting Tyler coming back to town, but it was too good to be true. Nevertheless, she knew that allowing Tyler into town for prom was a big gesture from Klaus. It was his way to show that he cared about her and Caroline couldn't help but feel touched.
Tyler took Caroline's face in his hands and smiled at her. "I am really happy to have the chance to see you, Caroline. I have thought about a lot of things during my absence and I'd like to talk to you. But before that, I want to enjoy the evening with you. This is our prom after all. Let's dance!"
Caroline laughed, contaminated by his enthusiasm. "You're right," she approved. "Let's dance."
Caroline fully enjoyed the rest of the evening. She finally had the prom she had always dreamt of, dancing with her boyfriend and laughing with her friends. Everything was perfect and for a few hours, Caroline let the happiness wash all over her without any second thoughts. But the evening came to an end and she knew that she would have to let the reality set in at some point. When the majority of the students had left the party, Tyler pulled Caroline outside and they sat on a bench, smiling at each other. Tyler wrapped his hands around Caroline's and took a deep breath.
"Caroline, I love you. You know that. And I don't want to be apart from you anymore. I know that Klaus will never let me come back here for good. Come with me, Care. Leave town with me and let's start again somewhere else together," he pleaded.
Caroline slowly lost her smile and lowered her head to avoid Tyler's burning gaze.
"I can't do that, Tyler," she whispered. "I can't just leave when Silas is ready to open the other side. I'm partly to blame for this situation and now I have to fix it. I texted you about how I am responsible for the last massacre. I can't let everybody to deal with Silas when I'm the one who helped him."
"I understand that, but what about us?" Tyler demanded forcefully. "I want to find a way to be with you, Caroline. There is no way I can let Klaus win and separate me from you," he added almost angrily.
Caroline stroked his hands soothingly but she shook her head.
"I'm sorry," she said lowly. "I can't leave now. I can't leave my mum unprotected with everything that is going on."
Tyler sighed in frustration. "I know that," he ensured reluctantly. "But what about later then? You could join me."
Caroline stayed silent for a moment, not really sure about what to say and more importantly, how to say it.
"I don't know, Tyler," she murmured eventually. "I don't know anymore. So many things have changed lately that I genuinely don't know anymore."
Caroline hesitated but she had to be honest.
"I don't want to hold you back, Tyler and I don't want you to hold me back and right now, that's what we do, we are holding each other back. We can't be together right now and we don't know if we could ever be so maybe it's time for us to move on."
Caroline lifted her face to look at Tyler apprehensively. He seemed paralyzed with the shock but his face suddenly hardened.
"Does it have anything to do with Klaus?" he asked resentfully.
Caroline sighed and shook her head. "No, Tyler, it has nothing to do with Klaus," she maintained forcefully. "It has everything to do with me and what I want for myself. And the problem is that I actually don't know what I want for myself and I need to figure it out and I can't do that if I'm on the run with you. I'm sorry, Tyler but that's the way I feel."
Tyler lowered his head and closed his eyes, completely defeated.
"I love you, Care," he whispered brokenly.
Caroline swallowed, her heart clenching in her chest. "I love you too," she said softly. "And I'm so happy that you got to be here tonight. We both needed closure and this was the perfect way to do it. Now we know that we don't want the same things and that we have to move on."
"So this is another goodbye, then," Tyler stated bitterly. "A true one this time."
Caroline felt the tears forming in her eyes but she nodded slightly. Yes, it was a true goodbye. Tyler stood from the bench and lifted her face towards him.
"If you change your mind, I'll be there for you. Never forget that," he declared softly. Tyler then pressed a kiss to her forehead and was gone in a blur.
Caroline took a few minutes to wipe her tears away and she slowly went back into the gymnasium. Everybody had left, except Stefan who was obviously waiting for her. Caroline gave him a forced smile and Stefan hugged her. "Tyler left?" he guessed.
Caroline nodded. "He did. And this time I have a feeling that I won't be seeing him again for a long time."
Stefan smiled in sympathy and motioned to the door with his chin. "Come on, I'm driving you home, we can talk about it all night if you want."
Caroline shook her head. "Thank you, Stefan but I need a moment alone. I'm gonna stay here for a while and make a list of the things I have to do tomorrow to clean up with the committee."
Stefan frowned. "It's late, Caroline. The cleaning can wait."
"It can wait," she approved. "But you know me. The more upset I am, the more I like to clean," she added half jokingly.
Stefan chuckled and gave in.
"Okay, I'll leave you, then. If you need anything, just call, okay?"
Caroline nodded thankfully and Stefan left with a soft kiss on her cheek.
Caroline sighed deeply and threw a look around her to evaluate the work she would have to do the day after.
"How come you are always the one dedicated to the household?" an amused voice demanded behind her.
Caroline jumped and swirled on her heels to find Klaus at the door of the gymnasium. He wore a tuxedo and he was smiling at her but Caroline noticed that he seemed a little cautious, as if he was unsure of her reaction to his presence.
"What are you doing here?" Caroline asked. "And what's with the tuxedo?" she added with a raised eyebrow.
Klaus approached her and spread his arms to show his surroundings. "Well, I'm at a dance, so obviously, I'm expecting a dance. And you can't dance without a tuxedo, can you?"
Caroline couldn't help but smile. "You came to dance? You do realize that the party is over, right?" she mocked gently.
"As long as you are here, the party is still going, sweetheart."
Caroline lost her playful smile at his reply. It could have sounded like a pick up line from anybody else but the honesty of his eyes was unmistakable. Klaus had obviously come only to see her and he had had the gentleness to wait until she was alone to show up. He had made sure to not interfere with the time she had to spend with her friends and with Tyler. It was a nice thing to do, Caroline thought. And truthfully, Klaus had done a lot of nice things for her lately. Since they had agreed on some kind of friendship, Caroline had to admit that his company was pretty enjoyable. Klaus could be very thoughtful when he wanted to be, and he had an unmatched way of making her feel essential.
However, Caroline knew perfectly well that in the long run, Klaus wanted more than friendship. He had never tried to push her in any ways but sometimes she would catch his burning gaze on her, and the desire it held never failed to make her shiver. Klaus was so obviously affected by her presence that sometimes it was overwhelming, but not necessarily in a bad way. Caroline snapped out of her thoughts when Klaus extended his hand towards her.
"May I have this dance?" he asked courteously.
Caroline chuckled. "There is no music," she protested.
"We don't need music, sweetheart. Please."
Caroline gave him a soft smile and accepted his hand. Klaus wrapped his fingers around hers and placed his other arm around her waist. Caroline put her hand on his shoulder and let him slightly twirl her across the room.
They simply enjoyed each other company for a moment when Caroline suddenly broke their comfortable silence.
"Thank you," she whispered without looking at him.
Klaus nodded, not needing more precision on what she was thanking him for.
"I guess by your presence here that you decided not to run away with him?" he asked hesitantly. Caroline stiffened a little but she answered anyway.
"You guessed right," she mumbled.
"May I ask why?" Klaus demanded cautiously.
Caroline stiffened again and this time she stayed silent for so long that Klaus thought she wasn't going to answer him. She finally exhaled deeply and lifted her face to meet Klaus' gaze.
"I'm very happy that I saw Tyler tonight," Caroline declared. "It made me realize a lot of things."
Klaus encouraged her to keep going with a nod and Caroline started again.
"I'm eighteen, Klaus, and I have never left Mystic Falls. I'm going to be graduating and I have no idea what I want to do with my life. I have always thought that I wanted a normal life but I'm not even sure that I still know what a normal life is."
Caroline paused and Klaus squeezed her hand to show her that he was listening.
"I need to figure out who I am and what I want, Klaus. I can't do that by staying here or by being on the run with someone. I have been so caught up in all the supernatural dramas during the last couple of years, that I never had the chance to think about what I really want to do with my life. I think it's time that I find out. I'm starting to know what I don't want, but I still need to figure out what I do want."
Caroline threw an interrogative look at Klaus. "Am I making any sense?" she muttered.
Klaus chuckled and nodded. "Absolutely, love," he affirmed convincingly. "You are very young and you haven't had an easy life. You have spent so much time taking care of your friends that you never had the opportunity to think about what you want for yourself. It's a good thing that you are starting to wonder now."
Caroline bit her lips thoughtfully and Klaus smiled at her. "May I ask what you plan to do to figure out what you want?" he demanded gently.
Caroline took the time to think about the question, but she realized that her decision was made long before.
"I'm gonna leave Mystic Falls," she declared confidently. "I'm gonna stay until the Silas problem is fixed and then I'm going to get on a plane and get away from here to have a life of my own. That's the reason why I was so happy to see Tyler tonight, "she admitted. "I could've never made that decision if I hadn't had some closure with him."
"So you broke up with him?"Klaus asked hesitantly.
A flash of sadness passed through Caroline's eyes when she nodded. "Yes, I did," she confirmed. "I'm glad that he was here tonight because I needed it. I needed to have the perfect prom with my perfect high school boyfriend to give a nice ending to the high school chapter of my life. I'm a grown up now and with high school over, it's time for me to move on."
Klaus couldn't help the hope which was slowly rising in his chest.
"Do you think you could use some company on the plane you're gonna take to get away from here?" he asked. His tone was playful but Caroline didn't miss neither the flash of vulnerability in his eyes or the slight shake in his voice.
Stopping their dance movements, Caroline took Klaus' face in her hands and she looked at him straight in the eyes.
"This is something I need to do alone, Klaus. I have never been alone and I need to know that I can do it. I need to know that I can travel, that I can make decisions, and that I don't need to rely on a man to be happy. I need to learn that I can be strong on my own."
Klaus swallowed. A flash of pain flashed across his features for a second and Caroline smiled at him.
"It doesn't mean that I'm cutting you out of my life," she offered softly. "It just means that I need time and some space to see what I can do on my own. Do you understand?"
Klaus sighed deeply but he nodded. "I do understand," he admitted reluctantly. "You need to have an experience on your own before you can know who you are and what you want. It's a good decision to leave this town, Caroline. You deserve so much better. I truly hope that you'll find what you are looking for."
Caroline smiled and resumed the slow movements of their dance, enjoying this moment of honesty between them. She knew Klaus would understand her. He always did. Klaus started to make her sway again, pulling her a little closer to him.
"So, if it doesn't mean that you cut me out of your life, is there any chance that I can call you from time to time to check up on you?" he asked hopefully. "That's what friends do, don't they? Check up on each other?" he added slyly.
Caroline laughed and Klaus relished the sound that had been so rare lately.
"If I don't agree to this, you're gonna send some minions of yours to follow me all around the world to make sure that I'm okay, aren't you?" she demanded playfully.
Klaus chuckled but didn't try to deny it. "Absolutely," he ensured.
Caroline laughed again and she gave him a genuine smile.
"Yes, Klaus. You can call me."
Thanks for reading! I hope the Forwood part wasn't too long, I really wanted to write a proper break up between them. I think that Caroline needs real closure to move on. And I hope that you are not too disappointed that Caroline doesn't want to leave town with Klaus now. In my opinion, she really needs to be on her own for a while to know what she wants.
See you for the second part! And please, let me know what you think :-)