Caroline sighed standing looking around the forest. She looked down, kicking some pine needles off her shoe, frustrated. If she had to be a distraction, he could at least be on time. She crossed her arms leaning up against the tree with a sigh. This was the last place she wanted to be today.
"Please just keep him distracted for an hour Caroline," Elena had asked her.
She had almost said no when she saw Damon's cocky smile as she was once again cast as Klaus bait but agreed anyways. Now she was stuck standing out in the middle of nowhere. Finally, after what seemed like forever, she heard the sound of footsteps approaching behind her.
"Hello Caroline," Klaus said as he walked up. "So glad you could accept my invitation."
Caroline turned around, putting on her best fake smile. "Well you know what they say, the tenth time's the charm."
Klaus smiled, chuckling quietly. "Yes, well, shall we?" he asked, taking a step back allowing her to walk past him.
They walked back in the direction Klaus had come from. Neither one spoke. Caroline preferred that, the less time she had to listen to him the better. But as they walked further through the trees she realized she had no idea where they were or where they were heading.
"Where are we going?" She asked looking around, trying to spot their destination.
"Just a little further love," Klaus said, placing his hand against her back to direct her to the spot.
Caroline sighed and stepped away from him, shrugging away from his touch. Instead of being upset by her reaction Klaus simply smiled walking ahead of her now, leading the way. She followed him quietly, starting to regret agreeing to come here with him. She followed him further through the woods until Klaus paused next to a line of bushes.
"Is this where we're going?" Caroline asked, crossing her arms.
"Not quite. It's through here," Klaus said, stepping through the bushes.
Caroline stood there for a moment. " You have got to be kidding me," She mumbled under her breath before following him through.
As she came out the other side of the bush she found herself standing in a clearing. As she further into the clearing, Caroline gasped. The view was stunning. They were on top of a large hill, below them a gorgeous field danced with the colors of the flowers as the wind rolled through them.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Klaus said from beside her.
Caroline nodded, for once in her life at a loss for words.
"Come, have a seat love." Klaus said walking into the clearing.
It was then that Caroline noticed that in the clearing a blanket was laid out, on top of it was a bottle of wine and a pair of glasses. Klaus walked and sat down on the blanket. Waiting patiently for Caroline to join him. Caroline sat down across from him on the blanket, putting as much distance between them as possible. She eyed the bottle of wine and glasses, feeling more unsure about this whole outing by the minute. That was until something caught her eye.
Beyond the edge of the blanket, in the grass next to Klaus, lay a leather book. Klaus saw Caroline looking at the book, he smiled picking it up. She watched as he opened it, pulling out one of the pages. He admired the page for a moment before handing it to her.
"For you sweetheart," he said as she took the piece of paper.
Caroline looked down at the page and couldn't help but smile. No matter what, the beauty of his drawings always stunned her. He had drawn another picture of her, much like the one he had on the night of the ball, only this time a herd of horses galloped along the bottom of the page. She admired the drawing for quite some time before looking up at him.
"How did you learn to draw like this?" She asked, thinking back to all the pictures he had shown her at the ball.
"Practice, lots of practice," Klaus answered, looking down at his sketchbook. "When you live for a thousand plus years you have a lot of time on your hands. I traveled Europe for quite some time. Picked up a few things while I was there." He looked back up at her. "I could teach you if you'd like."
Caroline laughed, shaking her head. "Thanks but no thanks. I'm horrible at drawing. I don't think even you could teach me."
"I doubt you're that bad love." Klaus chuckled. "Here let's give it a try," he said moving to sit next to her.
Her first reaction was to move away, like she always had, but instead she stayed where she was, allowing him to sit close to her. He laid his sketchbook in her lap, handing her a pencil that had been tucked into the binding. "Draw something," he said. She looked from the paper back to him. "I'm really can't draw," she explained. Klaus smiled. "Just do your best."
Caroline sighed looking back down at the sketchbook. "Alright, you asked for it," she said as she began to draw. "Don't look until it's done."
"Okay," Klaus chuckled.
She decided to try to draw a horse. It was only thing that came to mind after seeing Klaus' drawing. Klaus sat quietly next to her as she drew, not looking at what she was drawing. Instead, he watched her. The concentration etched into her face as she tried to create the picture, it made him smile.
Caroline could feel him watching her, it was quite distracting. If the picture was going to bad before now it would be just plain dreadful. As she drew Klaus asked her questions about her life in Mystic Falls. She told him about high school, cheerleading, how dull her life had once been. He asked her what she planned to do after she graduated.
She stopped drawing for a moment, thinking. Her plans now couldn't be the same as they had been before she had been changed. "I wanted to go into Broadcast Journalism," she explained. "But now I don't know anymore."
Klaus looked at her confused. "Why not?"
Caroline looked up from her drawing. "Seriously? I'm a vampire. I can't go into broadcast journalism. I can't do anything normal anymore."
Klaus sat up a bit straighter. "Of course you can love. In fact you can do anything now. You have all the time in the world to do what you want."
Caroline shrugged. "What have you done with all this time? Besides of course killing innocent people and terrorizing everyone you don't kill." The spiteful tone was back in her voice.
"Traveled mostly. As I said, I spent a good deal of time in Europe. I traveled through France, Spain, Italy, and Germany. I spent a bit of time in Romania as well. I enjoy the beauty of the countryside's over there. Not marred by developments and big buildings. Much like it is right here." Klaus answered, nodding to the meadow below.
Caroline looked over at the beautiful scenery, her anger once again subsiding.
"May I look at your drawing now?" Klaus asked, bringing back her attention.
She instinctively put her hand over the picture, almost childishly so. "No not yet," she said.
Klaus smiled and nodded accepting that. "Well then by all means, continue."
Caroline turned back to her drawing continuing with the details. As she drew Klaus asked her more questions, though now Caroline also asked him some in return. He told her about his travels. His trips to Romania and his times in Paris and how he would love to bring her there someday, she would enjoy it. At the ball when he had talked about taking her places she had seen it as him simply flaunting his power and ability to do whatever he wanted. Now Caroline was actually thinking how she would really love to go to Paris sometime. She had always wanted to go there, but had never had even a hope of going. She asked him about Paris and then Italy, if it was really as pretty as all the pictures she had seen. Klaus told her it was even more beautiful in person. She could easily see the picture of the vineyards spanning for miles as he painted the scene with his words.
After sometime, she finally finished her attempted drawing of a horse. It had taken longer than she had thought because she had kept stopping to listen to Klaus.
She looked at the drawing and sighed, rolling her eyes. "I told you it would be bad," she said looking at the picture.
"Can I look now?" Klaus asked, still watching her.
She handed him the sketchbook, "as long as you promise not to laugh."
Klaus took the book looking down at the drawing. He smiled, though it looked a bit to restrain. Caroline could tell he was holding back from laughing.
"Well if you're going to insult it," she said reaching for the book.
But Klaus moved it out of her reach. "I didn't say anything," he said, she could hear the laughter in his voice.
"You're laughing at it!"She said still trying to reach the book.
"I am not," Klaus held the sketchbook out of her reach, looking at the drawing. "It's actually not the bad." He said. "You should give yourself more credit."
Caroline sat back with a huff. "It looks like a cartoon."
Klaus smiled. "Cartoons aren't bad."
She rolled her eyes making one more attempt to reach the book, intending to crumple up the page. As she reached over him, Klaus saw what she was trying to do and moved it from her reach again. This time, tearing out the page, folding it up and putting it into the inside pocket of his jacket.
Caroline rolled her eyes again. "You're unbelievable."
He chuckled. "I'll take that as a compliment."
She sighed looking out to the meadow. The sun was beginning to set, casting an orange glow over everything.
"I think it's about time to open the wine," Klaus said, looking at the sun.
He opened the bottle, pouring the crimson colored liquid into each glass, handing one to Caroline. She took it, smiling politely though she had no intention of drinking it. Klaus took a sip of his as they both turned to watch the sunset.
As the sun dropped closer to the horizon, the meadow took on new colors. The flowers danced, orange and red, rusting in the breeze of a cool wind. Neither Klaus or Caroline spook as they watched the sun slowly disappear. Ending the day in a natural light show. Finally, the sun set entirely and darkness filled the woods.
Both of them sat quietly neither moving once the sun had disappeared. It wasn't until the sound of the crickets chirping filled the air that Klaus finally broke the silence.
"You see, I told you." He said simply.
Caroline looked at him confused. "Told me what?"
"To talk to me, to get to know me," he looked at her, the slightest hint of a smile playing on his face. Though it wasn't the same self-assured one he usually wore.
Caroline sighed, overcome by something she hadn't expected as she looked back at him. She had only been supposed to distract him for an hour. But how long had they been out here? She hadn't been counting the minutes like she thought she would. Instead, she had been wrapped up in his stories, laughed at his jokes, told him about her past. How had it happened?
Then suddenly Klaus was closer to her, or had she moved closer to him? His face only inches away from hers. His hand placed gently on the side of her face, bringing it even closer to him, until his lips pressed tenderly against her as he kissed her. Before, she would have pulled away, even slapped him maybe, but now she kissed him back.
Her mind couldn't focus as they kissed. Everything had been turned upside down, she wasn't sure of anything anymore. All she knew was the feeling of his lips against hers, the roughness of his less than clean-shaven face, and that she was kissing him back.
Finally, they pulled apart. The only sound that filled the night air was the sound of their breathing. They sat their staring at each other. Both trying to understand what had just happened.