Chapter Text
"Come now, love. Can't I pay a courtesy visit to an old friend? That's what we are, right? Friends." Klaus' lips curve into a wolfish smirk that, as familiar as it is, does not reach the look in his eyes.
If Caroline hadn't been seeing that exact same look in so many of her friends lately, she wouldn't even recognize it for what it is, so misplaced it seems on Klaus. But precisely because of that - because it's him - it touches directly on the raw, causes an uncomfortable stir at the pit of her stomach that she feels instantly compelled to quench, lest it blossoms into something else. Something dangerous.
Pity.
Klaus feels sorry for her.
Klaus.
It's downright insulting.
"You know, I expected that kind of bullshit from everyone else - Stefan, Elena, Bonnie, even Tyler and Matt. But from you?" She twists her lips in distaste, shaking her head. "You're really letting me down here, Klaus."
"You wound me, love," he says with mock-injure, hand across his heart for dramatic emphasis.
Caroline stalks up to him with slow, measured steps, her voice only above a purr. "I figured if anyone would appreciate my new ways..." She chews on her lower lip, sending him a smoldering look under her lashes. "That would be you."
Sudden heat flickers across the stormy blue of Klaus' eyes before he can disguise it. Caroline's grin grows smug. If she says it doesn’t start an altogether different kind of stir inside of her, she’d be lying.
"I do appreciate you," he says solemnly. "But you know, as well as I do, that this isn't really you, nor does it bring you any real gratification." He takes a bold step forward, creeping into her personal space. His scent is entirely too intoxicating, bringing forth memories of an afternoon in the woods that she'd sworn she'd left behind. Caroline's jaw sets as she lifts her chin defiantly, not shying an inch from the devouring intensity of his gaze. "Doing away with the parts of you that fill you with guilt can be rather fun, I will give you that. But you're doing it for the wrong reasons, love."
"What happened to respecting my choices? Weren't you the one who always made a point of letting me decide what I wanted?"
Klaus peers straight into her eyes with such warmth and affection Caroline flinches as though burned. "You're not really deciding anything, though, are you? You’re simply giving in."
She feels a quake deep in her chest, something small and fragile trying desperately to claw up to the surface, free itself from the cage where Caroline had it locked away. She balls her hands into fists next to her body as she reels it back in, burying it beneath an ironclad resolve.
"Well..." she whispers, leaning further into him. "I guess that leaves me no choice, then."
In a blur, she snatches a chair next to her, breaking its leg and burying it into Klaus' chest. The wide-eyed gape he gives her says he really wasn't expecting her to react with such deadly violence. Shame on him, really, for letting his stupid crush dull his senses. New Orleans has made him soft.
The realization that Klaus still has complicated feelings for her after all this time should've hit harder, made her heart lurch with traitorous excitement. She was never immune to him. Right now, however, it only finds her empty.
When he drops down on his knees, skin greying as the blood in his veins turns to ash, all Caroline feels is...
Nothing.
Good.
“Stay the hell out of my way,” she hisses at him while he still struggles futilely to keep his eyes open. “Or I will be paying you a visit in New Orleans, and I guarantee it won’t be just a courtesy to an old friend.”
When death sweeps Klaus into its temporary arms, Caroline saunters away, glad to acknowledge that the beginnings of a turmoil inside of her have finally settled again, back to its idle, hollow steadiness. That's exactly how she wants it to stay.