CHAPTER THIRTY
×a world of beauty ×

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CASSANDRA HAD DECIDED TO STAY THE NIGHT AT THE SALVATORE'S, the only reason being that their beds were comfier and she thought she deserved that after yesterday. She could hear Damon and Stefan talking in the parlor as she made her way down the stairs. Rubbing her head, a groan leaves her lips as she noticed the bright light shining through the windows. She was definitely not a morning person. "You know Klaus isn't going to spontaneously self destruct.". Stefan asks Damon with an amused expression on his face, smirking a little bit as Damon didn't know how to get Klaus to leave them alone. Luckily they had the coffins as leverage against him.

"Oh, how I wish he could." Cassandra mumbles as she makes herself known, causing the two Salvatores to snap their heads in her direction, surprised to see her standing behind them.

"When did you get here?" Damon questions as he notices the girls messy hair which indicated that she must of just woken up. But why would her first quest be to come to their house.

"I slept here." Cassandra says bluntly which only makes the two men stare at her for even longer, neither one had even noticed she was there.

"I'm not even going to ask." Damon says as he shakes his head, knowing it was better to just leave it alone and allow her to do as she pleased.

"Wait, I thought you were team Klaus." Stefan points out as his eyebrows furrow, last time he checked she wanted to murder them for trying to kill Klaus and now she was best buddies with them again?

"Oh, you missed a big spiel. Drama, Cassandra slapping him, the whole deal." Damon tells his brother with a smug expression on his face before turning to Cassandra, letting an actual look of concern take over. "How you holding up?" He asks as he meets her eyes, Cassandra sighing as she really didn't want to be asked that stupid question.

"I'm fine." She says, a little to quickly than she should've but it wasn't that good of a lie anyways because she was never fine anymore.

"No one believes those two words, Cassie." Damon scolds her with a smirk playing on his lips. Cassandra just squints her eyes at him before turning to face him so she could show how done she was with the drama with Klaus.

"What do you want me to say? That I thought he was a decent person and that he really loved me but he actually just wanted to rip my heart out again by saying the things he's wanted to say after all this time. That I was falling for him again and he knew that so he decided to break me a little bit more?" Cassandra explains to the brothers who only stare back at her, not really knowing how to reply to her. "Is that what you want me to say?" She asks sarcastically before crossing her arms as she was hitting her head against the wall.

"Would a visit to Elijah make you feel better?" Damon asks with a shrug, thinking it would cheer the girl up some but she only pouts, shaking her head as she didn't think there would be much use to that visit.

"I can't undagger him, what's the point?" Cassandra states with a frown, her voice showing how tired she was of everything.

"Just thought it would make you feel better." He says with a sigh, squeezing her shoulder which made Cassandra give him a weird expression for a moment, not getting why the man was being so optimistic.

"Elijah also lied to me so no, it wouldn't." She states but honestly if she was being honest, the grudge she was holding against the man was pretty petty. If he was undaggered she would most likely forgive him but no one seemed to be wanting to do that anytime soon.

"Why are you all chipper?" Stefan asks suspiciously as the man had some sort of happy vibe to him which was usually nonexistent.

"Yeah, I want dark and gloomy Damon back." Cassandra complains, not liking seeing this version of the man who only rolls his eyes at the pair.

"No reason. And I thought you hated us?" Damon asks Cassandra, thinking back to when had tried to stake him and was very passionately hating on him yesterday before her fight with the hybrid.

"You tried to kill Klaus who I now hate. Bygones." Cassandra says a she shrugs her shoulders, taking up their couch as she closed her eyes. Damon still seemed hesitant, knowing she actually hated Klaus this time but that could switch fairly quickly.

"If we show you the coffins and you become bed buddies with Klaus again--" He starts to say but she only cuts him off with a harsh glare.

"I wont. He's dead to me." Cassandra snaps, not wanting to think of the man anymore. "I don't even want to go." She admits with a dramatic sigh, fawning her forehead. "I'll just drown my sorrows at the grill." She tells them as she opens her eyes, meeting the eyes of the Salvatores who were both just smirking at her.

"That's your solution?" Damon asks with a raise of his eyebrow as she watched she girl hang off the couch for a second. Cassandra groans, not seeing a better alternative.

"Unless you want to offer another one." She suggests as she flickers her eyes between the siblings.

"And what would that be?" Stefan questions, knowing what she was trying to initiate but if she wanted It, she had to be the one to ask.

"Nothing." She grumbles, deciding it would be better to turn to alcohol than to one of the Salvatore brothers for sex. Cassandra notices the pity stare, well from Damon because he was the only one who could actually feel emotion. Grabbing her phone, she types a message, ignoring the looks from the Salvatore's who were just watching her kick her feet together.

Wanna drown our feelings at the grill?

She sends the text to Caroline, praying for an answer as she really didn't want to look like a complete loner with an alcohol problem. After a couple seconds, she recieved a reply.

I am so down.

Cassandra internally screams at the text Caroline had sent her back. She had a friend to drown her feelings in and one who was actually a good conversationalist. "Good luck with your quest of the four coffins." Cassandra says as she salutes them making them roll their eyes but amusement crosses over their features.

"Do you know who's in them?" Stefan asks her, crossing his arms against his chest. Cassandra stands up from her seat, downing Damon's drink to which he scolds her for but she only sends him a quick wink.

"Elijah, obviously." She says in a blunt voice as she finishes swallowing the alcohol. "Kol and the one I never met, Finn. Those are his siblings." Cassandra tells them, fluffing up her hair a little bit since it seemed a little flat. Damon nods his head before his eyes move back to the raven haired girl.

"What about the fourth?" He questions, realizing they were missing a person but Cassandra didn't know who that was either. Klaus had never told her and she never really tried to find out who it was.

"No clue. Never figured it out." She says with a sigh, shrugging her shoulders before walking towards the door so she can leave. "Hey, if you undagger them. Send Kol my way. He's the fun one." Cassandra shouts from the door before sticking her head back in which catches the males attention. "A little psycho... But fun." She corrects herself with a smirk before waving the boys goodbye and going to meet her new friend at the grill. Cassandra was glad to have Caroline in her life now because the girl actually seemed like a good friend and deserved better than the Katherine wannabe who was really just a selfish, needy, slut.

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CASSANDRA WAS ALREADY ON DRINK NUMBER THREE BY THE TIME CAROLINE GOT TO THE GRILL. She had been going through things in her head, wondering if she should just forgive Elijah. What he did wasn't really that bad when she looked at the bigger picture. Elijah was just trying to protect her from Klaus because he saw who the man truly was. Cassandra now understood that Klaus didn't care for anyone and Elijah only lied to her so she wouldn't go running back to him and getting engulfed in the man's trap again. If only she could undagger him to be able to tell him that. Elijah also never compelled her no matter how angry he got with her, not that he ever got angry with her other than when he first came to Mystic Falls.

Cassandra just wanted Kol back honestly. Maybe then she'd just be able to roam free with the protection of her favorite psychopath. One thing she hated was how the Mikealsons always blamed Kol for what she did, and for her going off the rails. He never forced her into doing anything, it was their fault for keeping her so detained that she couldn't help but hear the carotids of all the humans surrounding her. At least Kol let her have free will. Maybe if she was with him, she would've learned control by now.

Rebekah was her sister, the girl could be a little too much sometimes but she always put family in front of herself and she had such a pure heart for love. Cassandra knew the girl still had feelings for Stefan but unless he suddenly got over Elena, that is when he got his humanity back, the girl doubted the famous 20's couple would be getting back together. But she had hope. Maybe Rebekah would make a move sometime in the future when Elena fucks up and decides to jump on Damon. Stefan didn't deserve that but maybe it would show him Elena's true colors.

Katherine only tried to kill Klaus, not that she cared now, to gain her freedom back. All Klaus had to do was give that to her and Cassandra would've convinced her to join their side. The girl was just on the side of survival and Cassandra didn't blame her for what she had to do. She deserved her life back after so long. When Cassandra had met her, she was so pure and innocent. She had tainted her and for what? To gain Klaus's seal of approval? Katherine lost her child. It being snatched from her arms. She then saw her family murdered. She was just an innocent victim in someone else's game. And always got bashed for just trying to survive and putting herself before others. But she only had herself and Cassandra so she didn't know any better. The night they fled England in 1492 was when Katerina Petrova died and Katherine Pierce was born.

Kol, Rebekah and Katherine would be forever her true family even if they weren't together by blood. They were the ones who she could depend on with her life, through everything and they were the ones who were misunderstood, who were blamed for the actions of others. All they needed was to be shown that people actually cared for them. All they needed was a chance to live, a chance to love, and maybe people would realize that they were all human once.

Caroline slamming her head on the bar is what brings Cassandra out of her deep thoughts. She raises an eyebrow at the girl, amusement flooding her eyes. "Hello to you too, Caroline." She says with a snort as she finishes off her drink. The blonde groans as she turns her head to face the girl but leaves it on the bar.

"Can this day be over already?" Caroline asks with a whine as she was ready to just ditch all of her friends. They were just being so suffocating and she didn't need that because she didn't want to celebrate her birthday. Its not like she had anything to celebrate.

"So it's bad timing to say happy birthday?" Cassandra asks slowly, pressing her lips together to hide her laughter as Caroline sits up, her face blank but the raven haired girl couldn't take her seriously now that her hair was sticking all over the place.

"Thank you." Caroline mutters after a moment before sighing and grabbing Cassandra's drink that was just placed in front of her. Cassandra bites the inside of her cheek but decided to just order another one since the girl seemed to be having a bad enough day. "I am stuck in a filler year." She says with a huff, downing the alcohol before crossing her arms against her chest. Caroline was seventeen. She would always be seventeen because that was the age she was turned. It made her mad because no one even remembers seventeen because it doesn't have any special significance. So why should she celebrate being eighteen if she really isn't.

"Hey, aren't we all?" Cassandra asks as she throws back another drink. She had been the same age since 1294. But she learned that it's better to just not dwell on the past birthdays because it didn't do you any good. "There's always a simple solution." She tells the girl with a smirk before imitating an imaginary stake and stabbing her chest. Cassandra gasps, making a dying noise before hitting the bar with a thump.

"Cassandra!" Caroline scolds her, laughing loudly as she couldnt help the huge smile that took over her features. Cassandra giggles, shrugging her shoulders as she looks over at the girl.

"What? Like you haven't thought about it." She points out, rolling her eyes playfully. Every vampire has thought about ending it just once because sometimes it does become unbearable to live with yourself. Caroline only shakes her head, smacking the girls arm as Cassandra only sticks her tongue out at the girl.

"Mind if I join?" The voice sent shivers down Cassandra's spine and not in a good way. She couldn't even glance in the direction the voice came from, not wanting to look at him. Luckily, Caroline took matters into her own hands.

"Yes, we do." Caroline snaps at him as she turns in her seat so that she was staring down Klaus, a hateful expression on her face. "Now why don't you beat it before I break this chair over your head?" She threatens with a fake smile, her eyes flickering to the chair just incase he decided his fate.

"I am not here to talk to you darling." Klaus says, rolling his eyes a little bit as he goes to take a step closer to Cassandra only to be stopped by Caroline who had now hopped out of her seat to block his path.

"Well, I hate to break it to you but you're not talking to her either." She sneers at the man, glaring daggers at him. Klaus clenches his jaw for a moment, glancing over the woman and seeing Cassandra resting her head on the bar.

"I'd say we should let her decide that." Klaus says sternly as he wasn't about to be pushed away by Caroline who didn't have any affect on him. Cassandra only rolls her eyes, not even looking their way as she sticks up the middle finger.

"That's your answer." Caroline says as she gestures to Cassandra for a moment before crossing her arms against her chest. "Now leave." She demands, a venom in her tone that Cassandra had never heard before. Klaus only stands his ground though, not intimidated by the woman. After realizing he wasn't going to leave them alone, Cassandra lets out a groan.

"Caroline." She says, getting Caroline to stand down from her guard post. The blonde was hesitant but backs away, still keeping a close eye on the situation. Cassandra meets Klaus's eyes, anger still filling hers as she stares at the man. "What part of I wish you were dead, did you not understand?" Cassandra asks him with a scoff as she raises an eyebrow at him. Klaus sighs, knowing she wasn't going to stay mad at him forever.

"We both said and did our fair share of things we didn't mean. Let's forgive and forget." Klaus says as he looks at the woman who's face turns into one of shock. He really thought she was just going to forgive him so easily this time. "Now, come on love, let's go get my family back." He tells her, reaching out to grab her hand but she only snatches it from his grip before harshly glaring at him.

"You think I would ever forgive you after the things you said?" Cassandra questions, shaking her head as the words still bounced around in her skull. The way he didn't even stutter as he talked, that meant that they were already thoughts that he had in his mind.

"You're being a bit dramatic, love." He mutters, glancing around for a moment, noticing Caroline about to tear his head off if he said another wrong thing.

"Good. Maybe my message will be clear this time." Cassandra snaps at him before taking a step closer to the man, not wavering one bit. "I don't want to see you. I don't want to talk to you. And I don't want to know you. Stay the hell out of my life." She hissed at him, her jaw clenching as she tightened her fists together, resisting the urge to knock him out.

"You don't mean that." Klaus says, his eyebrows furrowing but he noticed the furious look in her eyes, one that wasn't going away anytime soon. He really had screwed it up this time.

"Those things you said, you meant them. There's no way you just thought that on the spot." She says, her voice cracking lightly but she quickly composed herself, crossing her arms against her chest. "You broke my heart again, Nik." Cassandra states, shaking her head as she scoffs, giving the man a once over. "And to think I was going to give you another chance." She finishes, that was what caught his attention. Klaus could've had her. He was so close. But he had to mess it up like he always did. He didn't want to fight with her anymore, knowing he was in the wrong.

"I'm sorry." He softly says, glancing down at the ground before leaving the grill, not glancing back. Cassandra finally let's out the breath she was holding in, her eyes closing for a moment. She couldn't believe she actually got that out without bursting into tears as the man had cracked her heart, literally.

Turning around, she sits back in her seat, throwing back another drink as Caroline stares at her with a look of pity and sadness.
"Cassandra, are you okay?" She asks the girl, knowing the answer she would get though. Cassandra only shakes her head before resting her head back on the bar, wanting to forget about the man. Caroline got the hint, not daring to speak anymore as she just sat next to her quietly but that was all Cassandra needed, to know the girl was there. Even if there was no talking. She knew the blonde was there for her.

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CAROLINE KNEW SHE SHOULD'VE JUST SAID NO TO ELENA WANTING TO GO TO THE STUPID GRAVEYARD. The girl thought it was a great idea to throw a funeral for the girl. Which was a bust anyhow because she turned it into a way to bully Bonnie into not being mad at her about sending Jeremy away. Rain check Elena, your decisions affect other people. And now Caroline was dying. If Caroline wasnt so desperate to get out of there, she wouldn't have met up with Tyler and gotten bitten by him. The best birthday even In Caroline's eyes. Honestly, she should have just taken Cassandra's advice and staked herself. But oh well, she was dying anyways.

Matt had brought her home, placing her in her bed as her mom rushed in, worried for her daughter because she didn't know what the hell was going on. "What the hell happened?" Liz asks as she moves to her daughter's side. She strokes Caroline's hair out of her face, the sweat already accumulating as the venom courses through her body.

"Tyler bit her." Matt tells her with a frown as she holds the girls hand. A sudden knock on the door gains their attention as Caroline looks worriedly at her mom and Matt. They shared a look before walking to the door, only to see Klaus standing on the other side of it.

"Stand down, I'm only here to help " Klaus tells them as he stares at them. Liz only glances at him suspiciously but she knew he was the only who could save her daughter so of course she had to invite him in.

"You did this to her." Matt scoffs at him as he passed by, making it to Caroline's bedroom. Klaus notices the girl lying weakly in her bed, gasping a little as she saw the man walking closer to her.

"Are you going to kill me?" Caroline questions, fear in her voice as she was no regretting practically telling him to fuck off earlier in the day.

"On your birthday? Do you really think that low of me?" Klaus asks with a small frown etching onto his face. Cassandra stares blankly at him for a moment, trying to think of her answer as the venom made it hard to collect her thoughts.

"After everything you've done, even in the last twenty four hours... Yes." She states harshly making him nod his head lightly, his jaw clenching but he knew where she was coming from. He hadn't been the kindest recently.

"That looks bad. You're known as collateral damage, it was nothing personal." Klaus tells her as he checks out her bite which was continually spreading. "I love birthdays." He admits with a small smile but Caroline wasnt into the conversation he was trying to make with her.

"Aren't you like.. a billion or something?" Caroline scoffs, glaring at him which makes Klaus chuckle as he shakes his head at her. Young vampires really didn't see the bigger picture.

"You have to adjust your perception of time when you become a vampire, Caroline. Celebrate the fact that you're not longer burned by trivial human conventions. You're free." Klaus states with a small smirk on his face, glancing down at the blonde. "You could find a great love. And you'd have eternity to be with them." He finishes, his mind flickering to Cassandra for a split second but pushes her out as he looks back at Caroline who only squints her eyes at him.

"No, I'm dying." She states bluntly, not seeing how she could do any of that If she was dead.

"And I could let you, die. If that's what you want. If you really believe that your existence has no meaning. I've thought about it myself. Once or twice over the centuries, truth be told." Klaus tells her making her furrow her eyebrows, not thinking that he of all people would want to end their lives. Maybe Cassandra was right and every vampire had thought about it at least once. "But I'll let you in on a little secret. There's a whole world out there waiting for you. Great cities and art and music. Genuine beauty and you can have all of it." He whispers to her, catching her attention as she just listened to him. "You can have a thousand more birthdays. All you have to do is ask." He tells her as he meets her eyes. Caroline thinks to herself for a moment, not wanting to give up on life yet, not when she's barely lived.

"I don't want to die." Caroline begs, her voice cracking as a single tear leaves her eyes. Klaus softly sits on her bed, careful not to move her before biting into his wrist and offering it to her.

"There you go, sweetheart. Have at it." Klaus tells her as Caroline sinks her fangs into his arm in order to allow his blood into her system. "Happy birthday, Caroline." He whispers to her just as she pulls away from him. Caroline looks back up at him, watching him stand up from her bed.

"Why don't you go travel the world. See these great cities?" She suddenly asks, wondering why he decided to stay in this small town. He had made travelling seem so fun and unique and yet here he was.

"Because I'm waiting for the person I want to join me to finally be with me. What's the point of seeing all the extravagant beauty if you don't have someone to share it with?" Klaus asks her with a faint smile on his lips. Caroline only stares at him for a second, knowing who he was referring to.

"You broke her." She pipes up catching his attention as he was turning around to leave. Klaus sighs, glancing back at the blonde who was sitting up in her bed now feeling much better. "You do realize that, right?" Caroline asks him softly as she couldn't help the flash of anger that filled her but she tried to dumb it down.

"I know. I'm impulsive." Klaus admits, closing his eyes for a moment as he knew it was one of his worst qualities. "I didn't mean what I said about her." He says and Caroline believed him. There was no denying that he loved her, he just got angry sometimes. Caroline saw the truth behind his eyes thought and he wasn't lying.

"Just give her time. And show her how much you genuinely love her." Caroline tells the man who was staring down at his feet, knowing he needed to give the girl some space before he talked to her again. "I'm not saying she will take you back and this doesn't mean I trust or like you... But I do believe in soulmates." She admits as Klaus meets her eyes again, furrowing his eyebrows at her words. "And I think that she is yours." Caroline says, offering a kind smile towards the man. In no way was she his biggest fan right now, especially after what he did to Cassandra but she did believe that Klaus and Cassandra were made for each other. Klaus just had a weird way of trying to show his love. They are soulmates in her eyes, yes Elijah and cassandra have a connection but it just isn't the same. If Klaus truly changes, then he deserves to have a chance to make things right with Cassandra. But it was Caroline's decision to decide. She wasnt going to allow him near her friend if he truly was just going to hurt her again. Caroline wouldn't let that happen. But Klaus deserves happiness too, maybe it would show him that he didn't need his hybrids, or revenge to satisfy him. Because he would have Cassandra and that would be all that mattered.

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BROTP CLAROLINE. caroline was a bad bitch standing up to klaus. but guess what.... next chapter.... ahhhh guess who! but bruh Klaus really thought he gonna just grab her and be like aight, you said things I said things, forgive and forget, power couple back together. like no bruh that ain't how it works. but Caroline is team Klassandra but he ain't getting it too easy, she just believes in soulmates

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