Klaus was standing in her hallway. How the hell did he even get in? Right, the invitation thingy. But she had thought he would at least ring the bell or knock or whatever – anything else but just break in like that.

She looked at him ready to turn her face into a cocky expression, a mask that she had been using for a long time now to keep him away – away from her physically, but to her shame mostly out of her heart. Even though she was sure he knew exactly that was what it was, a mask, he usually smiled back at her, softly, and didn't call her out for her obvious denial. This time though, she was met with a hard expression, devoid of all emotion. It was an expression that she related to the Klaus she knew before he had been kind to her. Irritated she wondered when that had happened, him turning into a before- and after-Klaus in her mind. Just, great. Obviously her efforts to keep him out were working. Stupid original hybrid dick!

Even when she had betrayed him, he'd never looked at her like this. This face was supposed to be reserved for people that needed to fear him. And she didn't need to fear him. Did she though? Whatever, no way in hell was she going to bow down to him. Quickly hiding the look of surprise that had spread on her face, she put on her mask.

See? It was easy. "What do you want, Klaus?" she asked. Right on to the attack, defensive was not her style. She was Caroline Forbes. She raised her eyebrows at him, looking him right in the eyes, steadily. Even if she felt like something was wrong, she would not show it. She was not going to look away. If he was going to pierce into her with a scary stare, she would return the favor and stare back. Simple as that.

He didn't answer and his face didn't change either. Crap –

Was the last thing she could think before suddenly she found herself pinned to the wall of her hallway, so fast that even her vampire senses couldn't keep up with it. Oh no, oh no no no no no no no.

Her mask was no longer in place. She didn't really care though, being slightly preoccupied with the fact that an angry Klaus had his hand wrapped tightly around her neck and his face was close. Way too close. Their noses almost touched. Life had returned to his eyes but not in the way she'd hoped it would. He was furious. In fact he looked as if he was about to kill her. She was terrified and before she could control herself a whimper left her throat, coming out forced because of the grip he held her in. She saw his eyebrows twitch, but only so briefly that she barely noticed it.

This was bad. Calm down, she needed to calm down. Breathe (except that wasn't exactly possible).

"I should kill you," he growled, low and dangerous. Yet, there was a crack in his voice.

Oh great, forget calm down. Terror filled her eyes. This couldn't really be happening.

She closed her eyes. But stop, stop stop stop, she was no coward. This didn't have to mean he would, did it? After all he said "should" not "will", and really, that he had said it instead of simply doing it was a good sign, right? Although she was shaken and terrified she felt the strength returning to her body. She was Caroline Forbes and she had been through worse. Being tortured by her own father, for that matter.

She was not going to act like a frightened child. She never had, even when she was human. She remembered throwing a lamp at Damon and anger arose in her.

Hell, who did he think he was, that stupid original dick. No one was gonna treat her like that ever again. Even if he was going to kill her she'd rather die with her head held high.

She opened her eyes again, her expression mirroring his, furious, murderous.

Now he was the one surprised. For a moment shock settled in his features.

Even though she was in a compromising position she felt the ecstasy of feeling powerful raise through her veins. She was a vampire, after all. And no man would treat her like that ever again, whether he was human, vampire or a fucking original hybrid dick. She had given herself that pledge, long ago.

What was he talking about anyway? He had to be angry about something, what could it be?

Courageous she pushed it even further and put her hands on his arm that pressed her against the wall, keeping her eyes on his, glowering at him.

Quickly recovering from the shock his expression darkened, his upper lip curling into a snarl.

Here we go girl, this is not gonna be fun. Caroline braced herself for whatever was to come.

"I might have given you the wrong impression, but I will not let you get away with everything. And now you've crossed a line that is never to be crossed, love." His voice was shaking with fury.

Adrenaline still cursing through her veins the fear didn't get to her this time. Instead, she furrowed her brows, confusion on her face – what was he talking about?

His expression didn't change; he probably didn't believe her but she was absolutely oblivious to what he was referring to. It didn't help that she couldn't actually say anything with his hand around her neck.

He'd always had an air of confidence around him, now it had turned into something much more intimidating. Crap. He had never looked at her like that. His gaze was intense, it felt like it was tearing into her but she forced herself keep her eyes set on his. No backing down.

Finally he released her. She lowered her head, her hands went to her throat and she closed her eyes as she choked and coughed, getting adjusted to the sensation of being able to breathe again. Note to self: it's a good thing that you don't have to breathe as a vampire. Not that that would help much if Klaus intended to kill her.

Other than lowering his arm he hadn't moved, still standing way too close. Had he ever heard about personal space? Wait, this was probably not what she was supposed to be thinking about right now; after all she was in mortal danger. But the fear was gone, which had to be a good thing, it made thinking clearly so much easier. She tried to look at the situation from another perspective.

He probably thought she'd done something REALLY bad, otherwise he wouldn't act this way. Or would he? He'd always been nice to her in the past, gentle, caring even. He wouldn't just change his mind and decide to kill her, would he? He was Klaus, after all. She remembered the time when he had saved her from Alaric and suddenly she was overwhelmed with an aching pulling sensation in her chest, the feeling of loss.

She couldn't do this, she couldn't care about Klaus' feelings for her, she couldn't feel like she had lost something when he decided to change his demeanor towards her. She crossed her arms, her head still lowered and fought against tears pooling in her eyes. Damn, fear had been better than this.

Stop this. Pull yourself together! Weak Caroline is gone, sassy Caroline needs to return, like, now.

"Answer me," he suddenly demanded, his voice rough.

She took a deep breath, making sure every trace of water had fled her eyes and lifted her head, looking at him again, her gaze strong and steady.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she stated dryly, hoping the hurt wasn't too evident in her voice. Her arms still crossed she shifted into a self-confident stance.

His eyebrow twitched. "Caroline-" he hissed.

"Stop it, Klaus," she interrupted him, pushing her luck again by stepping out of his close proximity to his right and then took another step away from him, never breaking eye contact. "You don't get to treat me like this. Nobody does! And now you will tell me what exactly it is that you think I've done."

And you better have a goddamn good reason! She might have been brave, but she was not stupid, to say that one out loud. She was making demands, after all.

He gulped, doubt appearing in his eyes just to be replaced by anger again.

"I will not let you fool me, sweetheart." His voice was dangerous and low.

He hadn't moved yet and unconsciously she had taken up a defensive pose, not that that would help much against Klaus. She could take on Damon if she was angry enough, but the goddamn original hybrid? No chance. Her next breath came out a little shaken. Stop! She wasn't supposed to show weakness, she wasn't weak!

In an instant she found herself pressed against the wall again. Thankfully he didn't choke her though, his hands resting on the wall left and right to her face, cornering her.

Again he took her off guard, no mask in place.

She was pretty sure there was hurt written all over her face.

No, what she was feeling most definitely wasn't just fear for her life; that she could handle.

She cursed herself, when she suddenly had an epiphany. Being nervous plus her usual way-too-honest-in-the-wrong-situations-self she blurted it out before she even understood it herself.

"I trusted you." Great, that was definitely hurt in your stupid cracking voice. Well, done, Forbes. She looked away, angry and ashamed. She continued. "I seriously have no idea what you're talking about. But you better have a goddamn good reason for fucking strangling me. – Oh wait, there is no reason good enough for strangling me!" Yay, the sass had returned. She snapped her head back up again, glowering at him. Might as well go all in, got everything to lose anyway.

Slowly she seemed to get through to him for this time he looked truly confused. Even, maybe, like a hint of guilt in his eyes. He cleared his throat.

"You destroyed the blood bags I had of the doppleganger's blood." His voice was nowhere near apologetic, even though his eyes spoke a different language.

You're almost there, girl. Just keep it going, don't flutter, stay strong and you're gonna get out of this alive. At least now you know why he wants to kill you. That's better, it means that you're more in control now. Wait what – FUCKING BLOODBAGS? This had to be a freaking joke. Blinded by rage she actually pushed him. Having been taken by surprise it made him take a step back. Of course he wouldn't even stumble! It made her all the more angry.

"That's why you just choked me right now? SERIOUSLY?! And, no, I didn't! I didn't even know about your fucking stupid blood bags!"

Okay, she had just yelled at Klaus. Klaus in murdering-mood. No big deal. Oh, and she had pushed him.

His head snapped forward, and again he snarled – stupid dogs - "Easy, love."

She wasn't gonna buy it.

"What the hell made you think that I had something to do with that?!"

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath that seemed to be supposed for calming purposes. Good, Klaus calming down was a good thing.

"Your friends send you because they thought I wouldn't harm you. You destroyed the blood bags because you were still angry about the incident in the woods." He gulped again, his expression much less confident of the story he had just presented than his voice had been.

Caroline felt herself blush and looked away again. Yeah, right, hot hybrid sex. Thank you for reminding me that last time we met you practically sexually assaulted me.

While he seemed to have calmed down the way this conversation was going just enraged her further. How could she ever have thought that there was one decent bone in his body?

"No, I didn't. Why the hell should I care about your blood bags or any of your hybrid-god-fantasy-trip as long as it doesn't involve Tyler? You still haven't answered my question."

He looked away, his brows furrowed. He seemed to contemplate something.

"I found my blood bags destroyed when I arrived home. And at the scene of the crime I smelled you."

"You what?!" This was getting better by the minute.

"I smelled your perfume," he said, quietly.

Caroline let out an irritated snort and shook her head, and placed her hands on her hips. "I really can't believe this."

Klaus shifted his gaze again, staring at her looking like a rug had been pulled out from under his feet. "Caroline, what business did the smell of your perfume have in my house?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know, Klaus? God, it's creepy enough that you know what my perfume smells like!" Okay, this might have been a lie. You are very much aware of how he smells after all. But nobody needs to know that. Least of all him. Hell! He just fucking strangled you! "I don't even know what to say. You're not gonna believe me anyway. Maybe you could try strangling me again if you think it helps!" she snapped.

He flinched. Now he was definitely averting her gaze. He was looking down, and that was definitely guilt in his face. Caroline was almost triumphant.

An uncomfortable silence spread, she caught herself almost tapping her foot. Okay, mortal danger seemed to be over. Of course she couldn't be sure. She should really just throw him out. And then move or something. For he had fucking 24h access to her house and she had no idea how she could ever be able to sleep in it again.

"So, Klaus. Are we done with our little temper tantrum. Can you, like, leave now, maybe?"

His demeanor had changed completely, he was back to how he usually acted in her presence. "After"-Klaus: All gentleman-like-careful and freaking puppy-eyes. Great. Seriously, as if she would ever fall for that again. She let out another sigh, mainly to stop her mind from wandering off into that rather painful direction. Then she bit her lip and looked away. This situation lasted way too long already.

"I'm sorry."

She almost lost her marbles there. Excuse me, WHAT did he just say? She gaped at him, taken aback. "Excuse me – what did you just say?"

He looked at her, regret in his eyes, his gaze as intense as ever. Maybe even a hint of desperation in there.

"I said I'm sorry, Caroline. I'm sorry for… manhandling you."

She snorted again, nervously. Now she was the one shocked. How was she supposed to react to this? After all: This was Klaus. Had there ever been a documented case of Klaus apologizing? She didn't think so. But- WAIT! That didn't change anything. He had fucking chocked her a few minutes ago! This was SO nowhere near enough of an apology. And, a tiny little voice in the back of her head noted, she could never trust him again. How the hell could she ever have been stupid enough to trust him in the first place. Stupid.

She gritted her teeth and shook her head.

"Get out." She said.

Well, now there most definitely, unmistakably was desperation in his eyes. And she enjoyed it. Damn, did she enjoy it. Served him right.

"Caroline-" he started, the desperation now also evident in his voice.

"I said: GET OUT." She grabbed his arm and pulled him to the door, hesitantly he let her. Then she ripped the door open and shoved him out. He actually stumbled, a puzzled pained expression on his face. The freaking puppy eyes!

No way in hell was this shit gonna work on her now!

She locked her eyes with his, anger boiling in her.

"Fuck you, Klaus," she stated, calmly.

Then she slammed the door shut in his face, so hard that it shook in its angles.