Of course he had to start out with a hard question. Really she shouldn’t have expected anything different considering their last few conversations. Not that it even should have been a hard one to answer, but it was teetering into a territory that she really didn’t want to pay much mind to. Being honest with Klaus was one thing. Being honest with herself was entirely different.
“Well at first I was joking.” And she had been. The initial prodding at Claudia had been a joke, but then it had been a pretty good idea and once Caroline had it in her head, it hadn’t wanted to leave until she saw it to fruition. “Because the thought of you actually teaching something--even if the twenties is something you know about and from what you’ve told me, you enjoyed--was kind of a hilarious idea. And I didn’t expect it to actually happen or anything, but then.”
She paused, trying to figure out how to word the next part without giving away too much of her own internal conflict. “It was something Elena had said actually. That people can’t really...” Be redeemed. Change. Not be the evil jerks they usually were when push always came to shove. Not if they weren’t doing it for themselves. Not if it was because of someone else. But what if the person just needed someone else to help them see that there was still good in them? “I just don’t think she’s right.”
Caroline shrugged, realizing she wasn’t making much sense if she wouldn’t actually verbalize everything to him. “And maybe you teaching and getting to know the other people here, them getting to know you. Maybe it can be a good thing. Especially since you’re not supposed to be going around being all evil.”
She spared a glance in his direction before looking back out at the path they were walking. “Mercy said she thought you were nice enough.” Among other things, but Caroline was definitely not getting into that can of worms. “And you let Mac make the decision for himself. You were even going to let Elena make the choice to give or not give blood.”
Not that Caroline was letting her guard down. A few good deeds didn’t just erase everything else, did it? And she supposed it was her turn for a question, but she wasn't ready to get too personal with them just yet.