Caroline Forbes has an imaginary friend / "You're a very speecial girl, you know that?" - HenrikCaroline, mentions of klaroline, klebekah, steroline and daroline.
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wanderlust
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When Caroline Forbes is three, she sits in a park and watches as a feminine boy plays with the daffodils. She giggles and runs to him. Confused and rather startled, her mother looks up, watching her child run too an empty plane of grass, before stopping, sitting and talking too someone who isn't there. She shakes her head, rather amused; Her daughter has an imaginary friend.
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"Henrik, told me that this flower means, 'youthful innocence." This week, it has been nothing but, Henrik this, Henrik that. Elizabeth Forbes is torn between endorsing such behaviour or asking Caroline if she really thinks Henrik is real, but after reading two books, she sets a place for him at the table, serves him desert and always asks Caroline if they've had a good day. Her daughter holds up an ivory hand clutched around a white lilac, and grins at her mother in pride.
"He says I should give it to you, because it'll cheer you up."
Elizabeth looks at her daughter in hidden shock, she had thought she was putting a strong act, she thought all was good, but it had seemed Caroline was so much more observant than she had thought. She takes the delicate flower with a shaky smile and asks Caroline what she thinks of the flower.
"It's pretty," Caroline tells her, "Henrik agrees."
And like that, lilacs are nothing but.
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A year later, Henrik is there just as non-existent and just as helpful and kind and observant as the year before, and Liz wonders just when her daughter would grow out of such a phase.
Because it's still Henrik this, Henrik that and nothing more.
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"You're a very special girl, Caroline." He tells her one day, eyes half closed and mouth half opened, while they gaze at the drifting clouds above them. She turns to him, blonde ringlets turning against the squirming grass. She smiles, because coming from Henrik, to be special is amazing.
Because Henrik is a ghost, yes, a dead person, someone who has died. Caroline Forbes can see a ghost, not ghosts, just Henrik, but she thinks thats freaky enough for her.
He tells her he has siblings, and after gushing about how he looks up to Elijah and how Kol and Klaus just can't seem to get along, she asks him is she'll ever meet them. He tells her he really hopes she won't because all of them have changed, and when she asks how, he simply shakes his head and asks her if she's ever wanted siblings. She stops, looks at him, eyes shiny and he thinks a part of him melts. "Why would I need a sibling when I have you?"
He smiles and tells her that she needs to branch out, he won't always be there he tells her, she should have stopped seeing him a long time ago, and when she asks why, he simply repeats himself with faraway eyes and lolling tongue, "you're a very special girl, Caroline. A very special girl."
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One day she learns that only phsycics and small children see ghosts, as in plural, as in, if she's still seeing Henrik, something is very very wrong with her, so when she asks him, he casually explains he doesn't know, but then he also tells her, she's the only person he's ever really talked to and well, maybe thats why?
It doesn't matter because seconds later a man is in front of her, with blonde curls and raspberry lips and he asks her, "what did you just say?"
She moves to explain, but Henrik looks at her before saying; "Lie, don't tell him I'm here, he'll only get mad."
So she simply explains she's talking to her friend, and confusingly the man smiles and asks if he can join before pulling on the plastic cup beside her and asking if this is a tea party, and she'd like to tell him it isn't but Henrik says, go with it, and there are quite a lot of plush dolls around, so she nods.
"I'm…" He pauses, "Nick."
His red tongue traces over those girly lips of his.
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Nick disappears and never returns, but Henrik is visibly spooked, when she asks why, he simply smiles and asks her about Matt. (And yes, Matt is the guy she watches from the corner of her eye)
Then, one day, Henrik starts to fade.
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The now transparent boy moves towards his friend, he watches her baby blue eyes watch him sceptically and he's quick to ask why.
"You're transparent," she tells him, "fading."
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When she leaves, he traces his very normal looking arm, and realises the one thing she doesn't, he's finally disappearing to her.
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When Caroline returns (to pick up her book, because she forgot it, for like, the fifth time) she takes note of the torn up ground and plants, and flowers and mentally confirms her biggest worry.
She's losing Henrik, her not-so-imaginary 'imaginary' friend.
Life sucks.
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"Henrik, are you okay, I can barely make out your outline?"
'I'm fine, Caroline, and I'm sorry."
"Why is that?"
"I'm leaving."
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Thats how it ends, he shakes his head at her frenzied cries, and her open mouth, and when she leaves after he really fades to her, he scrunches up the flowers in hand and watch as they seem to crimp, just a little. He decides to watch over her from then on.
After all, she's his best and only friend.
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Henrik watches as Caroline fawns over the new student; Stefan Salvatore, vampire, just like his siblings. He screams at her, begs her, leave him be, nothing good will come of this. She precedes to smile and giggle and plan out her june wedding.
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"Game on," and then screaming, so much and he strikes at the Petrova, her dainty hands clutching at the pillow like a lifeline, her mouth set in this god-awful smirk and he cries for his siblings- just this once, he thinks, please. Unbeknownst to him, his sleeping siblings turn in anger, even the temporarily dead, his mother weeping in her dark dark corner.
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"Caroline, I'm so sorry."
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happy halloween! wrote a little ghost!henrik just to satisfy the ghostly wants, buhahahaha, besides no one writes about Henrik when there is soooo much potential. I'm kinda worried no one'll read this, but, meh.