𝐇𝐎𝐀𝐗 | tvd & reign oneshots

- 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖.

"Caroline; I'm standing in one of my favorite places in the world, surrounded by food, music, art, culture. And all I can think about is how much I want to show it to you. Maybe one day you'll let me."
- Klaus Mikaelson to Caroline Forbes, 4x20 of The Vampire Diaries, "The Originals" - In which... Stefan Salvatore died, leaving Caroline Forbes-Salvatore a widow heartbroken and left alone with two girls to raise. Camille O'Connell died, leaving Klaus Mikaelson heartbroken and cursing the world for taking everyone he's loved from him. Out of respect for their deceased partners, Klaus and Caroline spend a few years waking in lonely beds in different cities—however, they're tied by an invisible string, and soon, she shows up at his doorstep, ready to see what the world has to offer. No one's sacrificing themselves, and no one is dying, this is set somewhere between season 4 & season 5 but no one died because I set that rule for myself. Also... sorry for making you perpetually hate Alaric, I'm just mad at MD

...

On one dusky autumn dawn in New Orleans, a blonde vampire shows up on the doorstep of an old friend's home, wincing as she lifts her hand to knock and remembering the bruise left there the previous night, quickly turning it into an absentminded smile for the sake of the two girls by her side. "C'mon, Klaus! I haven't got all day!"

After a loud clatter of objects in the hallway and Klaus' audible obscenities, he went to open the door, bright red blood splattered all over his face and clothes. "Caroline," the Original hybrid said, eyes brightening as he fished around for a towel to clean himself up, cheeks suddenly blazing red. "Sorry, we didn't expect you today. It's been bloody hectic. A lot of shit has happened that I'd rather not expound on—"

"What Niklaus means," Elijah interjected, appearing in the doorway behind his brother, "is come in, Caroline, and girls. Apologies about the delay, we had some rather delightful guests to take care of."

Caroline gratefully accepted the invitation, stepping through the threshold of the Mikaelson home and immediately glimpsing the unconscious bodies scattered across the floor, either missing a head, a heart, or some body part, and the youngest Originals, Rebekah and Kol dragging them out to the dumpster. "Well... it's only seven in the morning, and clearly, it's not just coffee you're taking care of."

"Believe me, love, we've seen much worse at ungodlier hours," Kol yells after the thud of a body is heard, then a lighter being struck. Hope came running in from all the commotion, yawning and clutching her teddy bear. Nevertheless, her eyes immediately lit up when she saw the Saltzman twins at the door and dragged them off to play with her. "Breakfast with a fresh blood bag?" Rebekah appeared once the girls were out of sight, wiping her bloodstained hands on a nearby dish towel.

Graciously, the baby vampire nodded. "Again, thank you all so, so much for adjusting to this on such short notice. I would've called to tell you, but this was just unexpected. I had a fight with Alaric over the girls, and... things escalated, so I took my car and the girls and drove thirty-two hours down here. For fuck's sake, I have no one anywhere. My husband is dead, all my friends have to take care of their own, and I'm stuck with a drunkard for a husband figure, so... yeah. That's my tragic life story, I guess."

Everyone glimpsed the pancake makeup covering Caroline's cheeks and the tiny purple mark spilling out of her jean jacket sleeve but said nothing until Klaus came in, this time cleaned up. Suddenly, it seemed the mood in the room had shifted as Rebekah left to prepare breakfast, and Elijah went to check on Kol. "Say the word and I'll give him a particularly painful demise. Blood eagle? Hypnosis? His heart ripped out?" the Original hybrid's eyes glimmered in a slightly unsettling fashion as he held out his arms in the pose that would've been threatening to any foe, daring them to challenge him, but Caroline's shoulders relaxed as she lost all sense of decorum and rushed into his open embrace.