Everybody Talks: A Klaroline Fanfiction

Chapter 10

"I was scared of losing you. I just wanted to end it before you did. But I was an idiot. I realize that now. So I'm here to sweep you off your feet, tell you I love you and that I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Caroline Forbes."

It had been a good speech, Caroline thought as she sat in the back of the town car on her way back to the hotel. Short and sweet and to the point. When she had burst into tears, Tyler had stood up and hugged her, thinking that they were tears of joy. Which only made it harder in the end, to reject him.

She didn't know how or what to say, she always thought that she would have a few more weeks until she had to go home and face the music with Tyler. It was awful, but she hadn't thought much about him since he had yelled at her over the phone. That had to have said it all. Her no longer wanting to be with him didn't even have anything to do with Klaus. It was just the fact that she was living her life, without Tyler, and never once did she wonder about having him there with her. She realized that as much as she cared about him, she had to let him go.

Tyler wasn't a crier. He was an alpha male, to the core, rarely letting his emotions slip. But she saw the glimmer of tears in his eyes when she told him no. She tried to be gentle, tried to preserve his feelings as much as she could, but in the end there was no way he was not going to feel hurt. He had come all that way and it was all for nothing.

If anyone was to be blamed, it was Elena. Well, not really. Her intentions were good. Tyler told Caroline that Elena had called him up a couple days ago, saying that she felt bad about their recent fighting, and offered to fly him to Paris. Tyler accepted in a heartbeat, of course, making the rest of the plans on his own with a little extra help from Elena. She was just trying to be a good friend. Trying to right her wrongs. Caroline appreciated the gesture, but it was clear they were overdue for some girl talk. It was time that Caroline came clean about everything that had been going on during their trip that Elena wasn't aware of. She would make up with her tomorrow, right now she was emotionally spent for the night.

As she rode up in the elevator, she remembered she had missed her perfect date with Klaus. So much for that surprise. She hoped it wouldn't be too late to salvage the evening, although after her time with Tyler—who was staying at another hotel—she wasn't sure if she was in the romance mood anymore. Maybe they would just have another night like they did before, falling asleep in one another's arms, just talking. The thought of it made her feel better already.

There was so much she needed to tell him. The moment Tyler had dropped to his knee, Caroline knew that she wasn't the same woman who had left Mystic Falls. She was a brand new person. If she was being honest with herself, it was a feeling that had been growing inside of her even before she came on this trip with Elena and since then it had only developed and changed and become something she could no longer ignore. Caroline Forbes knew she was meant for better things. What those things were, she wasn't sure, but now she felt like a free woman. Like Elizabeth Bennett after she rejected stupid Mr. Collins and was free to explore the world and fall for Mr. Darcy.

Not that Klaus was Darcy. Not even close. She wasn't sure what Klaus meant to her at this point, but she wanted to find out. With this surge of empowerment, she would confront him, tell him that she wanted to stop playing around with each others feelings and have something more real.

She bit her lip, smiling to herself, feeling a little guilty that she wasn't all that guilty anymore about rejecting Tyler. The thought of her future, and Klaus, made the decision seem too right to feel remorseful.

The elevator dinged and she stepped off onto her floor, rounding the corner, just in time to see Klaus…yanking a busty redhead into his room. The door shut with a giggle. Caroline's heart dropped to the floor as she stood there, her mouth hanging open, the sight of him pulling the bimbo towards himself playing over and over again in her head. Somehow, her feet moved forward and she did her best not to listen as she passed his room. She didn't want to hear whatever was going on inside of that room.