Caroline drops the hood of her truck her eyes widening when she sees a woman on the other end, "Who are you?" she inquires wiping her brow off.

It's a test, Caroline knows exactly who she is, the look of out-of-towner written over her, even if that wasn't the case, she never would have admitted it.

Though she might have spotted her earlier in the week on his arm as she casually hid in the general store not that anyone would ask, they were smarter than that.

"I'm T- nobody," the woman utters wringing her fingers until they turn bone white as she shifts from heel to heel by her Beamer.

They stand assessing one another for a long moment, Caroline in her plaid top and old shorts and her in her beige dress a big mix of city and small town.

The corner of her lip quirks but not into a smile, she knows why the woman is here, call it the grapevine, her mother talks to his mother and his sister or whoever.

Still even as her mother not so subtlety mentioned his return the week before she didn't believe it before now, he wanted to marry her.

The problem was there were questions, a shot gun filled with them and now it seemed they were pointed at Caroline for obvious reasons.

"Well I'm the girl you think is still in his head," she asserts coming around her old truck wiping off her hands before she extends one noting a tan over a very important finger.

The woman snorts on reflex looking at Caroline apologetically a moment afterwards, "The one that got away right," she states shaking her hand as her other ran nervously down her silky hair.

Caroline squints her lips pursing, "That's a bit longer than my actual name," the blonde replies tossing her hair back into a high ponytail as they begin to walk together.

"It's Caroline," she adds looking at her out of the corner of her eye unsure of whether or not the woman actually knows or not.

She gets her answer at the lack of shock over the woman's features but doesn't comment only nods to herself with a slight swing of her head before remembering her posture.

She licks her dry lips, "Why do you seem to think I'm in your way," she asks the woman who wasn't so different really because both of them loved him at some point.

This Nobody, seemed comfortable in her silence, whereas Caroline tended to talk through it, and in that take time to reassure her that she had nothing to worry about in terms of her.

With a small smile she looked at the woman, "He would have never done the things he's done for you," she began, not for me, not by a mile," she frowned a fresh nostalgia hitting her.

She shakes it off knowing then isn't the time to dig up old feelings she puts on her best pageant smile and looks at her once more.

She shakes to her firmly as they move together towards her home, "Not then, not now," she says dryly changing the subject as they reach her front porch.

"I think he would," the woman denies her words surprising Caroline by her stance on the subject as she looks back at her leaning a hand on the old wooden railing.

Caroline senses she had more to say on the matter and isn't wrong so she decides not to correct her, or at least the curious side of her doesn't.

"I think Klaus has changed," she proclaims giving Caroline at least that much making the whole in her feel deeper that it has in years.

Caroline does her best to keep her composer reminding herself that was what she wanted to hear, "But," the woman continues, "Not because of me."

She swallows hard as a part of Caroline brightens, "He's simply looking for you," she tells the blonde like it's a hard pill to swallow.

Caroline looks at her confused not willing to let her heart soar, "Sometimes he searches for you –in me," she lets out a hard breath visibly struggling with it all.

"I feel like he's disappointed when he only finds me," she admits her eyes flickering from her to her hands before returning seemingly coming to an understanding within herself.

Caroline didn't know what to make of most of that, especially that last bit, "How did you know my name?" questions the first thing that appears in her mind.

She begins sitting down on one of the stairs of her porch gesturing for the woman to join her, the brunette declines but Caroline presses on.

She couldn't help it considering the talk of the town that she has avoided all week has suddenly fallen into her lap, curiosities have entered her mind.

"When I said it earlier you weren't surprised," she adds focusing her attention on the woman Klaus has brought home to a town he swore to never return to.

The woman's silence eats at her but she waits and waits until finally the woman responds, "Sometimes I hear him talking to you in his sleep," she explains noticeably perturbed.

Caroline looks down at her shoes a flush forming, "He still does that," she asks without meaning to looking up at the woman tucking her brown curls behind her ear.

She can't help still knowing all his little quirks, familiar as ever, like the way he looked displeased with their first encounter two days after he returned, that little quirk in his brow.

The look of evil intent when things didn't go his way, the way he fought to control his face, his cheeks almost hollowing as he pursed his lips at her cowardice.

It was true they had yet to speak or visit face to face mostly due to the fact that when she was in close parameters to them both Caroline hid behind the candy shelf.

She cursed herself as he spotted her through the surveillance camera waving a small hello at the screen in her direction before he rubbed his neck and hurried the woman out.

"Yeah, he does," the woman voices her quietly pulling the blonde from her inner turmoil making her focus on the hard laugh she gives, "The things he says I wish he would say them to me."

A tiny voice wonders but she immediately goes on the defensive, "Nik doesn't," she says knowing what the woman is getting at.

It's her whole purpose for being here obviously talking Caroline into staying away from him but Caroline has done every single imaginable thing to stay away.

She wasn't a threat to their relationship, she didn't believe he cared about her enough anymore to even consider the idea and moreover her feels had died hadn't they?

She clears her throat of these feelings looking at the woman determined to make her see, "We were just kids, drunk st-" she admonishes herself at the crack of her tone.

"Stupidly happy and in love," the woman interjects sadly taking a step back as if to catch her breath holding her hands to her chest before quickly wiping her tears away.

Caroline stands meeting her eye to eye, "Well it makes no difference," she declares with a swift shrug and proclamation, "He's with you," she says pointing at the woman, "He's left me already!"

The woman lets out a sad laugh as she moves away, "We ended it just now," she states Caroline stumping her completely as the woman strides back to her car.

She wipes another tear away as she opens her car door slipping inside, "He's staying behind a few days to sort things out," she informs her before she turns the engine over and reverses out of Caroline's life.

It lingered in the air like the dust her tires had collected spreading through the wind, he way staying to give her time to take her things and go without a fuss.

Caroline nodded in understanding having been in her place before a never ending cycle of Klaus walking away with the intent of not hurting anyone.

Her heart throbbed as she let the last few minutes truly sink in, her throat growing tight, her eyes hurting with unshed tears as she hurried into her home.

Even if that was true, he wouldn't come they both had too much pride for that, it was like oil and water, never mixing, never bending.