To Love A Sociopath

baby bottle

Bonnie took a long sip, wincing at the burning sting traveling down her throat. Elijah remained at the door, eyes narrowing at the encounter.

Caroline seemed to take a mental step to speak as she said to Klaus, "Uh, how are you? I know-know I should have called but I assumed you were busy with," she motioned to the room with a nervous chuckle, "All of this."

Klaus didn't respond, scanning Caroline from head to toe. As if trying to assess if she was truly there before him.

Caroline nodded more times than she needed to. "How-how are you? I mean how is Hayley—" she turned to the wolf as if remembering she was in the room. "How are you? I mean life seems to be going good here, you guys seem happy, stable," her voice was slowly breaking and only a friend like Bonnie could hear it. Bonnie ached to go and comfort her friend but she didn't want to paint a picture of Caroline being weak.

"Doing fine," Hayley said blandly.

Rebekah snorted, "The awkwardness and tension in this room is astronomical. Embarrassing really."

"Sister," Elijah warned, straightening himself. He addressed Caroline, "I can assure you, Caroline, that our home has not reached the ranks of true happiness yet. We are in the midst of a war."

Hayley took a deep breath, shaking her head. "You know there are babies in this room? Most of them are fake but have some respect."

"What are you doing here," Klaus clenched his fists. A demand, not a question.

Caroline swallowed hard. "I-I'm here to see how you guys are doing. You completely shut me out—"

"What is she doing here," Klaus repeated, turning to Bonnie sharply. "Why is there not a barrier spell that prevents outsiders from coming close to the baby?"

"Outsiders?" Bonnie managed to stutter, setting the glass down. "Caroline is not—"

"This is a ploy. The witches—they're trying to get into our heads. But I will not break. We do not trust anybody outside of my permission," he snarled.

The siblings remained silent as Bonnie scoffed, "Caroline isn't some hallucination or double agent—" It was a stupid suspicion, Bonnie would have sensed the foul magic.

"No, Bonnie, it's fine. I guess I'll just head out early." She smiled tightly, giving Bonnie a curt nod. "Make sure to call me at least once a week, okay? Don't let Kai boss you around, he better try to get on my good side because he's been on my bad side for a long time." That was all she said before walking out.

Bonnie was inclined to follow but it was Hayley that pulled her back when she said, "Who's in the mood for changing diapers?"

*

Surprisingly, there weren't any complaints. Elijah rolled up his sleeves while Rebekah fussed about styling the child. Klaus was the only one who wasn't active. He paced around the room, the night slowly sinking down the sky. His schedule with the vampires and werewolves seemed forgotten and Bonnie almost predicted it when he approached her. "You tell her to stay far away from here."

Bonnie knew who she was talking about. Caroline had left hours ago. Bonnie crossed her arms with question. "Why?"

"Because I am in a position where I am required to make sacrifices for family. Sacrifices that will only hurt her and that is not my intention. Caroline must stay far away until all of this blows over."

Klaus had a point. With the baby on the way and their family slowly reuniting for a true home in New Orleans, he was going to have to make tough choices one way or another. And when the choice came to Caroline or the child...it was better to hurt her now than have her scarred by making her feel worthless.