Caroline Forbes is full of light (miss_mystic) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2015-07-29 09:53:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, caroline forbes, elena gilbert |
Who: Caroline and Elena
What: Girl Talk
When: Early June? Not long after Klaus was first kidnapped
Where: Caroline's
Rating/Warnings: Low
Status: Complete!
The past month had been emotionally draining on Caroline. The one good thing that had happened was Elena coming home. Of course Caroline had been worried about Klaus hurting Elena, but that was no longer an issue. He was locked up now. Stuck in Regina’s crypt. There was a sense of relief that he couldn’t hurt anyone anymore, but she also felt guilty for having to trap her former boyfriend. At least now she could relax a bit, focus more on her friends, like Elena.
The doorbell rang, within seconds Caroline was at the door. Vampire speed and all. The two friends had the condo to themselves for awhile. Lexi was out and Anna was at Hans’s for the night. “Hey,” Caroline greeted one of her best friends forcing a smile on her face. She gave Elena a hug before stepping back to let her inside. “Thanks for coming over,” she wasn’t really up for being alone right now.
Sometimes it was easy for her to forget just how quickly vampires could move. It took some getting used to now that she was back and had been away from all the madness the OC had to offer. Naturally, she came back to a mountain rather than a quiet little molehill, but Elena found the notion somewhat comforting. She had been tired of change.
It wasn’t perfect, obviously. Being there for her friend when her boyfriend had gone mental was a testament to that fact.
Immediately reciprocating the hug, Elena stepped inside with a reassuring smile on her face. “I’m here anytime you need me,” she assured in a way that suggested she hadn’t been so adept at doing so in the past. Love created more problems than it was worth at times. They both knew that painfully well. “How is he…? And more importantly: how are you holding up?”
“Thanks,” Caroline replied leading Elena further into the condo. Before making their way to her bedroom she stopped in the kitchen grabbing a carton of rocky road ice-cream out of the freezer. “Get the spoons?” she asked her friend who knew where the utensil drawer was by now. Caroline was too lazy to dish it into bowls they could eat straight out of the carton.
Once the pair were in her room she plopped down on her bed. “He’s….” she paused for a moment as she tried to think of a way to answer Elena’s first question. “Pissed,” not that Caroline could really blame him. She would be pissed off if someone kidnapped her and locked her in a room too. “But he can’t hurt anyone now so it’s good,” she shrugged taking the top off the ice-cream.
“I’m… I don’t know,” Caroline couldn’t help but sigh. Usually she put on a brave face topped with her bright smile, or at least she attempted the smile. But she was tired of being strong for everyone else and this was Elena, she had known her since kindergarten. Probably knew her better than anyone. She would see through Caroline’s strong act anyway. “The whole thing was harder than I thought it would be,” she admitted. “How are you though? How are things with Damon?”
Settling down with her, spoons in hand, Elena listened to her friend. She stayed snug against Caroline’s side in a silent show of support. What she’d been going through, Elena wouldn’t wish on anyone, not even in the worst days at wit’s end with Katherine. Granted she had yet to dream at all of Katherine’s charms, but she wouldn’t hold dream experiences against anyone. She wanted to focus on the present, because Elena had definitely shied away from it too much for her own liking.
Shaking her head at the question over Damon, Elena set a hand on Caroline’s shoulder. “Damon isn’t important right now,” she said urgently. “Not even a blip on the radar. I’m okay, I promise. Today’s about you, no ifs, ands, or buts, Caroline Forbes. Talk to me.”
If there was one thing Elena knew well, it was how easy it was to bottle things up, and how much harder it was to uncork it; but, when it did happen--the downpour was overwhelming. So, it was a good thing they’d both had each other in the hard times.
Caroline didn’t know where to begin. The whole thing was a mess. This was precisely why Caroline had always refused to have a real relationship, preferred to just keep things casual. No strings. Deciding to take a risk on someone she knew was evil thanks to the dreams? Not her smartest move.
“I just.. I don’t know what to do,” she sighed grabbing a spoon from Elena and digging in. “How do you even get someone to turn their humanity back on?” It was mostly rhetorical considering Elena had yet to experience the dreams, not that they were even much help. “He’s just so cruel. I can handle the cruelty,” well maybe she wasn’t doing the best job of it, but she had been taking it. “But he just doesn’t care. It’s just hard. I don’t know how to explain it, but having to stand there and see him actively not care about me at all…” her
voice trailed off. She couldn’t exactly describe the feeling, the hurt, but it was one of the hardest things she had ever gone through. Right up there with when her dad left. Actually it even topped that. Caroline shook her head sadly blinking back a few tears as she handed the ice-cream over to Elena.
This whole thing was so far out of her wheelhouse, she didn’t altogether believe she would ever get one. That was a naive thought, wishful thinking bred on the failed hopes and dreams of her friends who were suffering. Few had experienced it as badly as Caroline thus far. What a terrible experience it must have been for her to have to transition into being a vampire at all.
Elena’s smile faltered, appeared apologetic as she was at a loss for words. She took the ice cream back reluctantly, eyes on the opened contents and sighed. Not out of annoyance, but out of helplessness. Was there anything anyone could do? She would punch Klaus in the face if she could, but where would that get them? It wouldn’t undo his behavior. It certainly wouldn’t bring back her friend’s boyfriend.
“It feels hopeless,” she offered with a faint nod. She couldn’t begin to fathom it, but Elena would try. “It’s not fair. I bet he’ll come back though… for you.” It was the least she could offer, a tiny bit of optimism.
But, dealing with things after that? Elena nearly shook her head at her own logic. It would be an even bigger mess.
Caroline wasn’t so sure about that. But she needed to hold on to some type of hope that Klaus would come back, didn’t have to be for her he just needed to flip his damn humanity switch back on, for the good of well everyone. “Maybe,” she agreed still holding on to that tiny bit of hope.
“But seriously tell me about you and Damon. He’s got his humanity on so I sure hope that’s going better than the whole Klaus situation. Do you want things to work out?” Being cheated on, it had to be rough. But if Elena wanted to work things out with Damon she would support her friend, even if Damon wasn’t exactly her favorite person.
Watching her a moment, Elena wondered whether it was best to let the subject of Klaus subside for now. She didn’t want to push her and upset Caroline further. She wasn’t altogether sure she wanted to talk about Damon either, but wasn’t that the point of going away and coming back with a rather faux clean slate? She needed to speak about it, lest she go down an unhealthy path again.
“I do,” she answered honestly, though appeared embarrassed to admit it. She looked down at her shamefully at her hands, then took a helping of ice cream for herself. She could get through this. “I just know it’s not going to be easy or fast, not if we do it the right way. And you know we’re not very good at that.”
Still, Elena had some optimism now that she was back.
“Whatever happens,” she started, eyes lifting to her friend’s own. “I’m not getting consume by it this time. I promise.”
Now that Caroline had actually been in a relationship she kind of understood the whole getting consumed by it thing. Not that she really had with Klaus, but she definitely spent a good amount of time with him. “It’s okay, I get it,” she attempted another smile. She didn’t really understand what Elena saw in Damon but whatever made her friend happy she supposed. “As long as you still make time for me,” she teased, but she really did mean it. Caroline missed her friend and she probably needed her now more than ever.
“Why are guys just so… UGH?” she asked taking a spoonful of ice cream herself. “I’m glad you are taking things slow though. I don’t want you to get hurt again. I will kick Damon’s ass if I need to.”
There was no telling what would happen between her and Damon this time. Elena hadn’t stopped loving him--how could she? But, what mattered was that she had a clearer head to venture into the rocky road that was their relationship. Better yet, the presence of mind existed to care more for her friends than the man in her life. The man who had hurt her the most.
“And yet we love them anyway,” Elena said with a halfhearted grin. With a nudge to her friend’s shoulder, she offered up the pint of ice cream. “And I promise I’ll get Klaus’ ass if he pulls another stunt like that again. We’re all set.”
Until then, at least they had one another and a slew of sweets and films to take their mind off the more sour aspects of life.