WHAT NOW?

Chapter 10

Caroline woke up with a yawn and found herself alone on the bed, sunlight was pouring into the room and the house seemed quiet, or maybe it was just her human hearing taunting her. She crawled out of Klaus’s bed and grabbed his t-shirt, putting it on before picking up her clothes and running to her designated room where she took a shower and changed into jeans and a t-shirt before going down looking for Bonnie whom she knew was definitely up by now. Her ears had indeed been lying to her because people were up and about downstairs
As she reached the bottom of the stairs Klaus walked in with Freya, when he saw her he whispered something to his sister then met Caroline halfway.
“morning love,” he gave her a small smile “sleep well?”
“yeah,” she touched her curl and started twirling it around her finger “woke up in the wrong bed though.” She said making his smile grow bigger.
“you looked so peaceful I didn’t wanna wake you,” his hand reached forward resting on her hip and pulling her closer “how about we grab some breakfast?”
“sounds good.”
Klaus took her to a newly opened restaurant with an outdoor setting, she opted for the table outside so that they could have some fresh air and watch people moving up and about.
They had been sitting there for almost thirty minutes and Caroline had just been chasing the food around the plate with her fork.
“Everything alright love?” Klaus could notice that she was tense and had been sighing frequently. Slowly, she lifted her head to look at him with a small sad smile.
“I have to go back Klaus,” she finally let it out and watched his face fall, making her swallow hard.
“New Orleans not living up to your expectations?” he teased trying to hide his sadness and disappointment, he really hoped that she would stay with him.
“its not that..” she put down the fork “am human now and that means doing human things. First on that list is going back to school so that I can actually have a career.” She explained, she had already missed some lectures but was sure that if she worked hard enough she would be able to catch up.
“of course,” Klaus nodded in understanding, he knew even if he offered her an alternative it was unlikely that she would take it, she wanted to live her now human life and he couldn’t take that away from her “but am sending a few of my hybrids to keep watch over you.” He declared to which she responded with a frown
“I don’t need your lap dogs following me around school like lost puppies Klaus, I can take care of myself.”
“I know love, but its for my own peace of mind. I promise you wont even notice that they’re around, they’ll be discreet.”
“Klaus…”
“Whether you say yes or no, you know I’ll send them regardless.”  He said and that stopped the argument because she knew it was true, at least this way she would have a heads up.
“Fine..” she sighed leaning  her chin on the palm of her hand.
“am I allowed to visit sometimes?” he asked cautiously, he didn’t want to push things too fast but he was anxious, he needed to know if she was ready for him. If she was a vampire, maybe Caroline would have said no but she knew that her human life had an expiration date and she didn’t want to waste her limited time on earth playing games and pushing away someone she had grown to really enjoy and care about.
“of course,” she responded making him smile brightly, relieved. “but you better come with gifts.” She pointed and he chuckled.
“always.”
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“I can’t believe you’re human,” Elena complained for the tenth time “you didn’t even want the cure Care.”
Bonnie and Caroline had gone back to Whitmore and found Damon had practically moved in, saying it was better for him to be there than in mystic falls battling with the werewolves.
“I know Elena, but its not like I had a choice in the matter.” Caroline tried not to frown, she knew how much her friend had wanted the cure, the entire gang had gone through a lot just to procure it for her and now it was cussing through her veins
“I guess…” Elena sighed “so if I drink your blood would I be cured?” she asked, looking at the blonde expectantly. Yes things were okay and she had come to terms with her vampirism but she knew that a time would come when she would have to uproot her entire life then do it over and over again, without really having a place to call home, and now both her friends were mortal, she would watch them die.
“unless you drink her dry, no” Stefan was the one who responded, he didn’t stay with them but visited often and that week when he heard that his bestfriend was now human he deemed it fit to go over there and see how she was handling things.
So far she seemed okay, yes she complained about not being as strong, not being fast or even easily getting drunk but she also appreciated the fact that she didn’t have to depend on blood to survive or worry about werewolf bites.
Caroline had thrown herself right into school, trying to catch up as quickly as she can. There was only two months left before the academic year came to an end and she would be out of there, she was already looking into internship positions at TV stations and even radio stations, at first she had wanted to perhaps go into acting or become a singer on Broadway but she had changed her mind, she was now drawn to journalism. If she couldn’t be a news anchor she could see herself hosting some talk show or perhaps working behind the scenes, bossing around everyone. After all she was good at directing people.
She and Klaus kept in touch, mostly through texts and a phone call here and there, Bonnie was still in touch with Freya and Vincent, she had borrowed some spell books and would practice in her free time, keeping her New Orleans friends updated with her progress.
Caroline knew that there were hybrids keeping an eye on her but they were never obvious and she didn’t approach them, she had also hidden that fact from her friends because she didn’t want Elena or Damon questioning why Klaus had given her a protective detail. She had also kept in touch with Hayley who would send cute pictures and videos of Hope.
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One April morning a week before her finals Caroline woke up feeling weak and thirsty, her mouth dry and her lips cracked. She forced herself out of bed and walked out of the bedroom to the kitchen for a glass of water, she had to drink three glasses just to feel the impact and even then she was still weak so she figured it could be the hunger. Opening the fridge, she brought out leftover pizza and warmed it in the microwave. Just one bite and she felt it all come right back, she was too weak and the vomit was already in her mouth so she couldn’t rush to the bathroom and ended up vomiting in the sink.
“Care?” Bonnie walked into the kitchen, tying her small sized braids into a ponytail “are you okay?”
“yeah,” she opened the tap to clean her mouth and the sink “just a stomach bug or something.” She tried to brush it off but Bonnie came closer, placing a pal on her forehead and looking into her eyes.
“you’re burning up Care and your eyes look watery.”
“that’s funny cause I actually feel a little cold.” She laughed
“we should get you to the hospital.” Bonnie led her back to the bedroom so that she could change.
“do you think am dying?” Caroline asked in a shaky voice as Bonnie threw a top at her
“what? Of course not Care, humans get sick all the time and you’re human now.” Bonnie said dismissively
“but when Katherine became human she started getting sick pretty rapidly and ended up dead,” she swallowed hard trying not to cry, this couldn’t be how her story would end.
“Katherine was more than five hundred years old, you’re just twenty two Care, don’t overthink this.” Bonnie tried to comfort her friend even though she was a little worrid, when it came to them nothing was ever simple.
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