At Twilight (TW/TVD Crossover)

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The microwave startled Caroline out of her thoughts, and she quickly made her way back to the kitchen.

Midway through the second blood bag, "Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High" by the Arctic Monkeys started blasting from her purse on the counter. Caroline didn't bother glancing in her phone's direction and made no motion to grab it. She already knew who it was.

Elena Gilbert.

Again.

The assigned ringtone was a bit petty, but after the unpacking of their friendship and the discoveries she'd made since leaving Mystic Falls, Caroline figured she could indulge.

The last time she deigned to answer Elena's call, it was only to be subjected to a new version of the same spiel. Her estranged friend repeatedly tried to lure her back to Mystic Falls through guilt trips, this time weaponizing the blonde's soft spot for Liz Forbes.

"What about your mom? You're gonna leave her hanging? You're okay with her and the rest of us taking on everything in this town by ourselves?" The aforementioned guilt trip.

"Not only can my mom look after herself, but she's also the number one champion of me never setting foot in that horrid town again. Nice try though."

Caroline hung up after that exchange and hadn't picked up any of Elena's calls since.

Unfortunately for Elena and Mystic Falls, Caroline permanently retired from the scooby gang the very day she put Mystic Falls in her rearview.

Caroline also kept her friendly relationship with the Originals close to the vest. She hadn't been lectured since her first and only disastrous semester at Whitmore College and currently had no plans to endure a self-righteous one from Damon Salvatore's girlfriend. Of all people.

Elena's usually forgiving nature, which goes well with her sweetheart shtick, seemed to only extend to one Original - Elijah Mikaelson. According to Rebekah Mikaelson, Elena is "chummy" with Elijah now. A development Caroline had no clue of before Rebekah.

The irony is, Elijah is just as ruthless, if not more than Klaus and the rest of the Mikaelsons. Whether the Original tearing your heart out is wearing a henley or a three-piece suit, it still ends up in the wrong place - in the hands of an Original.

Caroline was sure Elena's willingness to let bygones be bygones had nothing to do with Elijah's fascination with her face and it being an exact replica of his first loves and all.

The hypocrisy never failed to boggle Caroline's mind.

Every night Elena laid up with the vampire who manipulated Caroline through compulsion when she'd been human. The very vampire who snapped Jeremy Gilbert's neck and did unsavory things to almost everyone they knew and loved. Yet he can be forgiven. Only his behavior can be excused and pushed under the rug by his loving girlfriend and condoning brother.

According to Elena's disjointed loyalty decrees, the Originals, especially Klaus, were to remain person non grata for the rest of Caroline's long, unnatural life.

Ice out the same man who never treated her as a second choice that can be discarded at any moment? As if.

Outside of Klaus, Rebekah Mikaelson and Caroline became very close during her few trips to The Quarter. The two women shared much in common in the trauma department with daddy issues, insecurities, and mistrust galore. It felt nice to talk to someone who understood. Not empathized but understood.

Caroline even plotted on how to get Matt Donovan down to visit Rebekah after the Original let it slip they'd had a few "moments" before her family followed Klaus to New Orleans to reclaim their city and their crown.

Truth be told, Caroline thought morbidly, if she can forgive Bill Forbes for torturing and trying to "eliminate" her - her own father - she could forgive Klaus. Especially since he's been such a source of protection, care, and friendship for her since leaving Mystic Falls and even before then.

After years of sacrifice and burying doubt, leaving Mystic Falls opened Caroline's eyes in a way she hadn't been ready for. It helped her understand that true friendship does not equal constant sacrifice and being put on the back burner for your best friend's every need.

It was reciprocity. And respect. And care. And empathy. And understanding. Love. Just because. Not out of completed deeds or how many times you almost died and were tortured for them.

It took being free from the insanity of always fighting, being kidnapped, hurt, and thrown to the wolves by Damon and Stefan Salvatore, all in the name of saving Elena, to realize that shit was not okay. And for Elena to accept and even encourage it, as Caroline and Bonnie's best friend, was definitely not okay. For her friends to expect her to always do whatever they "needed", no matter the consequences to Caroline herself - mental, physical, or emotional - was not okay.

A few shouldn't be thrown to the wolves for one. What made the one's life more important? Caroline found herself asking that question on a loop. Why was it okay for her to constantly potentially die for Elena? Why was there never another plan?

Caroline even found herself volunteering for these suicide missions at times, the expectation had become so normal for her.

But back then, after she'd first left, the more Elena tried to persuade her to come back, the more an unsettled feeling took root in the back of her mind. It continuously grew and grew no matter how much Caroline tried to pretend it wasn't there. A creeping notion that she wasn't as happy and content in their friendship as she'd been acting for as long as she could remember. The seed grew and grew and grew until Caroline had no choice but to sit down and acknowledge it and face it head-on.

So she did.

And wasn't as surprised as she should've been when she finally put a name to what had been planted.

Resentment.

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- New chapter next week.

- Say nice things :)