With Many Happy Returns [Klaroline]

Girl, Interrupted

I decided to write another Klaroline phone call that takes place right after 6x15 of TVD and, let's say, after 2x13 of TO since I haven't seen beyond that yet. I really wanted to write emotionless Caroline and a Klaroline crossover seemed like a good excuse to do that. So here is something to keep you going until TVD returns on thursday.

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Walking through the Town’s Square Caroline didn’t really know where she was going. It wasn’t as if she cared anyway. What was even the point in that? What was the point in caring, getting hurt and left behind when you could feel… nothing?

She was free. Free from being the Caroline Forbes who everyone walked all over. Free from being the Caroline Forbes who everyone expected to just move on and live through the pain, because that was what she had done for the past few years.

She had survived Damon Salvatore, and (sort of) survived Katherine Pierce and come out stronger. She had survived torture multiple times and pretended like her dad being killed by her history teacher didn’t make her want to break down every time she saw the face of Alaric Saltzman. She never blamed him for it, but a hollow feeling in her stomach still appeared every time they spoke.

Caroline Forbes had survived losing her best friend twice. She had survived her own mother and boyfriend planning to kill her. She had survived – one of her biggest feats so far – being on the receiving end of a certain evil Original hybrid’s affections.

She had survived getting left behind. Because that was what she did best. Her father, Tyler, Stefan, even Klaus and now her mother. They had all turned and left her.

And after all of that Elena had the nerve to tell her this wasn’t the answer? To not feel all of that pain was a bad thing. Elena Gilbert, the biggest hypocrite of all. Elena Gilbert who had a lot of things for a girl who supposedly had lost everything.

And Caroline Forbes who had always tried to do the right thing. Caroline Forbes who saw the good in everyone and was rewarded with loneliness. Caroline Forbes who was never good enough.

If her emotions hadn’t already been switched off she might have enjoyed snapping her best friend’s neck. Caroline wondered who was going to find Elena’s body first and laughed humourlessly, when she realised it was probably going to be Stefan; on his way to give her the “I don’t love you”-speech.

What even was love but useless? A weakness.

Her silent musings about what a certain hybrid would think of that were interrupted as her phone started vibrating in the pocket of her coat. She hadn’t even realised that she had brought the phone with her and pulled it out with a small roll of her eyes. Stefan had probably found Elena.

But the name on her screen was someone else’s and she buried her surprise deep within her as she stared at her ringing phone. It was strange how her stomach didn’t coil or how a blush didn’t creep to her cheeks. With a small shrug she answered the phone and faked a sniff as she spoke.

“Hi.” Caroline said in a low voice that was supposed to trick Klaus into thinking she had just been crying. Because she knew why he was calling just like he would know why she had been crying. How he knew was something Caroline still hadn’t figured out.

“Caroline.” Klaus spoke in a soft voice that normally would make the blonde blush even more, but now had no effect on her. “I am so sorry, love.”

A long moment of silence stretched between them as Klaus apparently had nothing more to say and Caroline almost laughed because Klaus had lived for a millennium, but still had little idea how to comfort anyone. One should think that he had picked up some people-skills along the way, but he had clearly been a lot busier with killing and maiming everything in his way.