A/N: So this is a birthday present for the lovely Melissa (goldcaught). This is part 1 of 2. I'll post part 2 as soon as I'm finished with it (probably next week). And yes, it's based on the movie of the same name.


Caroline Forbes didn't believe in happy endings.

She had, once upon a time, but that was several heartaches and disappointments ago. Back before her father had practically dropped out of her life, moving on with his new family even when he'd sworn after the divorce that he would always be there for her.

Just like her highschool boyfriend and supposed forever love Tyler had said college wouldn't come between them. Only for her to head down to his university one weekend to find him in bed with a brunette who's name she didn't even know.

Sitting around and wallowing for too long had never been her style though. There was too much to do, too many things to focus on, and like Scarlet O'Hara was known to say, 'after all, tomorrow is another day'.

So Caroline had decided that from then on she would create her own happy ending instead of relying on others to help her see it through. Others were way too unreliable, which was really something she should have ground into her head ages before considering another of her mottos had always been 'if you want something done right you have to do it yourself'. But part of her was also a hopeless romantic, loving the possibilities, believing in love and it was hard to turn her back on that, even if only for a little while.

But another heartbreak was something she had no intention in dealing with until she was finished with school.

Of course, fate never seemed to really like to play fair; especially not in regards to matters of the heart.

Caroline's focus was school and right after that was her mom and her friends. And no amount of dimples or dreamy accent was going to make her deviate from that path. Especially not when all of that hotness came in one very arrogant package.

So not worth it.

She'd dealt with this kind of guy plenty of times in her life. That type that thought they were superior to everyone and sex on legs all at once. Thinking all they needed was to put on a little charm, smile and they'd easily slip into whichever girl's pants of their choosing. It might have worked on sixteen year old Caroline, but it definitely wasn't going to on her nineteen year old self.

She'd even been polite as could be at first. All sweet southern girl smiles while her eyes had been steely, utilizing that 'don't fuck with me' look that used to make the girls on her squad tremble in fear when they messed up a routine.

So really was it her fault when she sprayed him with the water line from the bar after that terribly sexist pick up line?

His stunned look as his apparent friends finally dragged him out if the bar only made her silent victory that much sweeter.

Until Monday when he plopped down bedside her in chemistry class and was branded her lab partner and permanent thorn in her side.

"Don't look so glum, sweetheart," he drawled out, damn dimples on display again before that damn smirk blossomed on his face. "I'm sure we'll be able to create quite a bit of explosive reactions together."

She closed her eyes at that, groaning at how horrible of a line that was before piercing him with another glare. "Look," she hesitated for a second, realizing that she didn't actually know his name.

"Klaus," he offered up, and Caroline thought that tongue lick thing should seriously be made illegal to do in class.

"I am not going to have you mess up my gpa because you apparently can't take the hint that not every girl wants you and your dimples. I need to keep above a 3.0 to hold onto my scholarship and because I have standards I consider dropping below a damn 3.8 to be sacrilegious. So keep your flirty little comments to yourself, be on time, and if you can't do your part without screwing it all up then just sit back and let me handle the chemicals," she snapped at him, thankful that the lab was over and everyone else was already picking up their things to leave.

Whatever his response it definitely wasn't supposed to be him smiling in amusement at her. Caroline rolled her eyes and shoved her book back into her bag before sliding off the stool. She wanted to be as far away from his as humanly possible as quick as she could.

"I'll see you on Wednesday, sweetheart," Klaus called after her and it took every ounce of strength she had not to flip him off as she strolled out of the room.


In some ways America wasn't at all living up to Klaus' expectations while in other ways it was definitely becoming a surprisingly nice treat. He had known it wouldn't be easy to leave behind all the trappings of his ostentatious upbringing, even his time in boarding school hadn't quite prepared him for the utter desolate existence that a New York city college dorm was. His closet back home was far bigger than the cramped space he was forced to share with another young man whose cleanliness was questionable on most days. In fact, Klaus doubted there was any room in the palace that was as small as this one was.

But it was the fact that he was finally free from all of that life that had him enjoying what he considered to be squalor like conditions. It had taken a lot of cajoling and quick witted persuasion to get his parents to finally allow him to leave the comforts of their small kingdom in Europe to pursue his own dreams. Or well, he had tried doing it the nice way and then when that hadn't worked, he'd gone behind their backs to enroll and simply taken the money left to him by his grandmother to finance the whole endeavor.

He wasn't the one in line to the throne anyway, not even second in line, and Klaus was tired of playing by their rules and being under the constant demands of either of his parents for keeping up appropriate appearances. Leaving it all behind to pursue an art degree-utilizing his grandmother's maiden name to keep hidden from the trail of paparazzi-was needed and Klaus refused to feel guilty.

Except for leaving behind Rebekah and Henrik who both missed him terribly. But Facetime was an incredible invention and he was able to keep in contact with the two of them, easing some of his guilt.

His plans had included enjoying the vast amount of beautiful women at college, firmly believing in all of the stereotypes that films continued to perpetuate about how easy it was to get laid in any American college setting. That particular plan had come crashing to a halt because of the blonde beauty who seemed to be immune to all of his crap.

Caroline Forbes.

He truly enjoyed riling her up, going back and forth with her for hours over a chemical equation that they were trying to perfect. She was unlike anyone he'd ever met and Klaus found himself wanting to impress her, to get to know this girl with sunshine hair better than he did, which was the only reason he even bothered to show up and actually put any effort into the chemistry class.

A knock at his door alerted him to her arrival and he pushed himself up from the bed where he'd been working on a sketch and headed over to open it. "I can't believe you forgot to get us a study caralle," Caroline grumbled as he stepped back to let her into the room.

"Sorry about the mess," Klaus rubbed the back of his neck and ushered her toward the cleaner side of the room, his side. "My roommate hasn't quite learned what it means to be cleanly." He really should have rethought having her over. Maybe taken her to the coffee shop down the block but Klaus had a feeling that would have been deemed too noisy. At least the floor he was on was typically quiet during the day.

She sat down at the desk he had pushed up near the bed and dropped her bag onto the floor. "My roommate my freshman year was way messier, don't worry about it," she assured as she scrambled to pull out her notebook filled with her calculations.

"Do you want anything to drink?" Klaus offered as he opened up the mini fridge. "Bottled water, this odd cold tea drink."

"I'll take a water." Caroline caught the bottle he tossed to her and placed her notebook down on the bed, glimpsing the sketchbook. "Is this yours?"

He hadn't actually meant for her to see that, wasn't quite sure he wanted to hear her honest opinions on what lay inside. He'd learned that Caroline Forbes was honest in practically everything she did. But she was already flipping through the book and Klaus watched her with growing trepidation as she took her time examining everything before looking over at the painting that hung over his bed.

"Did you do that too?" she asked and he nodded. It was on the tip of his tongue to say he had a painting in a museum back in his country, but that would be opening a door he wanted to stay closed. "It's beautiful. Is it a real place?"

"A garden from my childhood," Klaus told her as he sat down on the bed and nudged at her notebook. "But enough about my art, let's get cracking on these numbers, hmm?"


It was an odd turning point, but somehow something as simple as a glimpse at his art had gotten him a bit of an in with Caroline. She wouldn't go out on a date with him, had firmly told him no when he'd finally gotten around to asking, but long conversations in coffee shops that started with them bouncing ideas off one another for a future project and then turned into the two trading childhood stories had become a thing. And maybe he'd started eating at the cafeteria near her dorm building for breakfast and dinner (even if it was twenty minutes from his own building) on the chance that she'd see him and join him for meals, which was becoming more frequent as the semester went on.

"Is the food in the cafeteria by you really that bad?" she asked, amusement dancing in her eyes as she sat down beside him at the table. "Cause I swear the rumorville says you guys have the best salad bar."

"The company there is rather dreadful though," Klaus replied and she rolled her eyes at that, nudging him with her elbow. "I'm only telling the truth, love. I'd much rather trek over here to spend my time eating with someone I enjoy than have the best salad bar in the world."

"Enjoy huh?" she arched a brow as she twisted her noodles onto her fork.

"Quite a bit." More than he'd ever enjoyed spending time with anyone else. "Even if for some reason she can't quite see how remarkable she is."

"Or maybe I'm just too smart to fall for your little seduction routine," Caroline pointed out and Klaus grinned at that. He couldn't deny that was one of the things that had drawn her to him initially. He did so love a challenge.

"I know," he simply grinned and let her delve back into her spaghetti. "Doesn't mean I'll stop enjoying my time with you."

"You're just lucky that I like spending time with you too," Caroline murmured, cheeks reddening slightly as she realized she'd said that out loud.

"I'm well aware of that," Klaus replied before snagging a meatball off of her plate so she could overcome her embarrassment to glare at him.

"So, what? Its my beauty that astounds you?" she asked in a mock variation of his accent that had him chuckling. "What? I know I'm hot." One didn't win Miss Mystic Falls or become captain of the cheer squad without that quality.

"I can't deny that your beauty is what initially attracted me to you," Klaus admitted and he watched her nod, could practically see her lumping him in with so many others who'd only seemed to take notice of her for her beauty. "However, your strength, your steadfast determination in practically everything you do, this...light you have about you is what has kept me interested. You're smart, funny, able to match wits with me in ways no one else has and you have a laugh that I could listen to all day long."

She stared at him, overwhelmed by all that he was saying, all that he saw in her before she swallowed and quickly put back into place all of the walls he'd nearly toppled over. "Like I said, I'm way too smart to be seduced by you."

"Well that is why I like you," Klaus replied with a grin before they both went back to eating their lunches.


Breakfast and dinner became a daily occurrence, the two of them spending a considerable time at the library together as well, quizzing one another on the formulas and chemical reactions that they needed to know. But Caroline was firmly out of his grasp for anything more than conversation and while Klaus enjoyed the way she would bite her lip when she was listening to him, or the way her gaze would become unmistakably flirty when they chatted, leaned into his touch when his hand drifted down her spine or along her arm as they walked through the city, she was steadfast in her refusal to date anyone.

He wanted to know who must have hurt her so badly to have put her off relationships, to have been the cause of that slight dulling of her light whenever anyone asked her out and he'd been privy to a number of others trying it, reeling in the possessive feeling that seemed to stir in him whenever anyone did.

Caroline said she was too busy for the pitfalls that came with romance and Klaus wanted to strangle whoever had been the one to cause her put those kind of walls around her heart. Klaus knew she felt the electricity between them. He could feel it every time the two of them got just a little too close to one another, hands brushing as they went to pour one liquid or another into a flask, the way their eyes locked holding one another's gazes before her breath would catch and she'd hurriedly excuse herself from whatever they were doing.

Klaus didn't want to push her though. Pushing could mean losing her completely, it could mean going back to the stiff formality of being only lab partners, and he didn't want to go back to the paltry existence before he knew what her carefree laugh sounded like.

There was a give and take that he'd never had with anyone else. Where usually he conquered, with her he tread carefully, realizing early that his usual methods didn't work at all in regards to Caroline.

"I can't believe it's already going to be Thanksgiving break," Caroline sighed as she sank down onto the stool beside him, breaking his inner thoughts. "What are you doing for it since I'm guessing it's not really something you celebrate." He quirked a brow at her. "Your accent is so not American, Mr. Still Hasn't Told Me Where He's From In Europe. Though you've definitely mentioned Europe before."

"I booked a room at one of the hotels," Klaus told her with a shrug. Maybe he'd visit one of the various galleries again when he wasn't drinking away the contents of the mini bar in the room. "It'll give me a chance to catch up on sleep. Maybe do some reading."

"Seriously?" Caroline quirked her lips, uncertain how she felt about that for vacation plans. At his nod she felt a growing pit in her stomach, the thought of Klaus alone for the holidays not sitting right at all for her. "Okay, it's not much and you'll have to sleep on the pull out sofa which isn't like the most comfortable thing in the world-though it's better than some of the dorm beds-but would you like to come home with me for the week? It's a small town, so like no big parade but we could watch it on TV and there's a little parade that my town does which is quirky as hell. Like, no really, they walk turkeys down the street. My town is kind of weird with its traditions. My mom makes a killer turkey though and I make the best cranberry sauce and we have lots of other fixings. The two of us can like never eat all of it so you'd really be doing her a favor so she's not living off turkey leftovers for you know, if you want, I'd love if you came with me."

Klaus had always found her rambling to be adorable, but there was something extra endearing with it that time. He reached over to brush a strand of hair off of her safety goggles and grinned. "There's no place I'd rather be, love."

Her answering smile as their professor finally walked in had Klaus grinning back just as brightly and wondering if this was another turning point for the two of them.


To say that Mystic Falls was quirky was a bit of an understatement. Caroline loved that aspect of her hometown, had enthusiastically helped plan out more than one of the small town events as a teenager, but the thought of Klaus actually seeing those crazy events was causing her stomach to twist itself into a number of knots.

Add in the fact that her mother-who usually didn't ask too many questions about anything-was suddenly trying to grill her every second that she could after Caroline had informed her that she was bringing a friend home and well...to say she was nervous about Thanksgiving was a massive understatement.

She hadn't been this wracked with nerves in a long time. No matter how much she kept trying to remind herself that she was done with relationships until college was over it didn't seem to stop her stupid feelings from continuing to grow. It'd been so easy when she'd seen him as just an asshole, when he'd been the irritating lab partner that she couldn't quite get rid of. But he'd stopped being that weeks ago and somehow become a fixture in her life that had her laughing and smiling more than she had in months, bringing out pieces of the hopeless romantic that she'd been working so hard at keeping locked away.

Thanksgiving should have been a nice break away from him, a chance to build her walls back up. The thought of Klaus alone in the city didn't sit right with her-even if New York city was a pretty brilliant place to be. She remembered a painting he'd shown her once, the sense of loneliness she'd gotten from it something she hadn't been able to shake, and she didn't like to think of him sitting around a hotel room with that loneliness wrapped around him.

Not to mention she'd miss him. She could at least admit that in her head even if there was absolutely no way she could say it out loud.

"You weren't kidding about a parade with actual turkeys," Klaus murmured beside her as they sat in the car, waiting for the last of the parade to pass by so they could continue on to her childhood home.

She readied herself to say something about it, maybe defend it, but when she looked over at him she didn't see his telltale smirk but an actual smile. He was amused but in a good way and she grinned back at him. "Welcome to Mystic Falls, home of a lot of quirky customs."

"As Miss Mystic Falls I'm guessing it part of your duties to be in it, no?" he asked as she was finally able to drive again.

"I had to ride various floats for pretty much every parade that year. Though my first Thanksgiving parade was as a turkey. I was seven," Caroline shook her head, remembering how excited she'd been as a kid for that.

"Are there pictures?" Now that was definitely his mischievous tone.

Caroline shook her head. "Knowing you, I'm sure you can charm my mom into scrounging one up."

"Oh I don't know. Forbes women don't seem to fall so easily for my charms," Klaus replied and her grip tightened on the steering wheel at that.

If only he knew how close she was to actually falling.


Klaus tried to keep his attention on Caroline's mother, to not glance back toward the bedroom she'd gone into, to change after their car ride down to Virginia. He'd made use of the study set up as his room to do so as well, but it seemed that Caroline was taking a bit more time, leaving him alone with Liz Forbes who'd been scrutinizing him since they'd pulled into the car port behind the house.

"What is it that you do?" Liz asked as she looked him over.

"I'm a college student," Klaus offered up, instantly hating his reply. Was that snarky? He didn't mean to be snarky to her mother. That was definitely not going to be a good first impression. "Art."

"That doesn't sound very profitable," Liz remarked.

Liz wrinkled her nose for a second at that, obviously not impressed by his choice in major. It was taking all of his effort to clamp down a pithy response, not liking being backed into a corner like this. It was instinct to lash out, to try and remind that he had more power and prestige in his pinky than the other person. But that was definitely not how he wanted to come across to Liz.

"I suppose that depends on how good I am in the medium I choose to use," he replied, voice a bit short, but she simply nodded.

"And your parents? What do they do?" she continued, and that was a question he hated. He didn't want to lie but he wasn't ready to admit the truth either, wasn't all that sure she'd believe him even if he did.

"They're self-employed." That was basically the truth. "Doing quite well for themselves this quarter." The royal family's popularity was on the rise again.

"Do you have siblings?" That was a much easier question to answer.

It even made him smile. "I have five. Two older brothers and then two younger ones as well as a younger sister. There was another older one, but he died when I was young."

"What do you want to do with your life?" she stared at him, obviously waiting for an answer and Klaus didn't think anyone had ever made him sweat as much over a question like the woman before him did.

He could see where Caroline got her steadfast determination from and would have admired it if it wasn't being used on him.

"Okay, mom," Caroline chided as she peeked out of her room. "I'm pretty sure that's enough interrogation. You could have at least waited until he'd been here for more than like five minutes." She headed over to Klaus and looped her arm with his, surprising and delighting him all at once. I'm taking Klaus down to the festival."

"I'll see you both there later. We're making sure our presence is known so we don't have a repeat of last year," Liz sighed before turning and heading back toward the kitchen.

Klaus glanced at Caroline, wondering what could have happened in the small town to require police presence at a family festival. "A group of teens decided it'd be fun to try and get the turkeys drunk," Caroline explained and just like that the tension he'd been feeling evaporated completely, unable to help but laugh at the absurdity of it all, thankful that to hear her giggle along with him.

"Let me grab my coat that I completely forgot in my room.."

Klaus followed her, not wanting to give Liz another opportunity to corner him in the house. He smiled as he took in Caroline's childhood room, watched her bypass the coat that lay on the bed and head toward her closet instead, quietly trying to figure out which of the two in there she wanted to wear. He walked around her room, spotting photographs of people he'd seen photos of before and others that he hadn't heard mention. He tried not to focus on one particular photograph of Caroline in her cheerleading uniform, though there was little doubt that the image would be playing out in his fantasies later that night.

A map of the world against the wall was what caught his eye though, little pins dotted various places around the world. Some were red, a lot were blue. "The red ones are for where I've been," Caroline murmured when she saw him looking at it. "Pretty much just along the eastern seaboard of the US and practically all of them once I hit college, but it's a start."

"I could take you." The words were out of his mouth before he could stop himself; the fact that he adamantly meant them startling him for a moment. Her incredulous look though had Klaus continuing. "Rome, Paris, Tokyo. Wherever you want to start."

He wanted to memorize the dots, catalogue them away and ensure that Caroline was able to change them all to red, to be able to travel to all of them with her. Maybe even see some of them with brand new eyes.

She arched a brow at him, clearly not buying it, and why should she? As far as she knew he was a college student barely scraping by. "Uh huh," she murmured, though he could see her yearning for that to be a real offer.

Caroline took hold of his hand though and tugged him to follow her out of the room. "Enough dream vacation talk. We need to get to the festival before all of the cheesecake on a stick is gone."

Klaus grinned at that, letting her pull him along. "As the lady wishes." He squeezed her hand as they exited the house, enjoying the fact that she hadn't let go. "Though, just so you know I don't doubt for a minute that you'll see everything you want, Caroline. You're a very determined person."

She simply grinned before tugging him in the direction they needed to go, ready to show him a little small town fun.


"And she stole my bear," Bonnie added, sending the entire table into another round of laughter as the pitcher of beer around to refill their drinks.

"You so have no proof that I was the bear napper!" Caroline protested with a shocked little gasp that only had Klaus chuckling harder. "Though I will say that he had it coming."

"How exactly does a stuffed animal have a kidnapping coming, sweetheart?" Klaus asked as he focused in on her. She was sitting next to him in the booth, practically no room between the two of them on account of the amount of space Elena was taking up on the other side of her. His arm rested against the bath of the booth and she hadn't objected to that, nor did she say anything or move away from his hand that was touching her hair.

"It's eyes weren't right. Way too beady," Caroline told him with a bright smile before everyone started laughing again. Her body moved toward his a little more, hand pressing against his chest as the server finally arrived with their food. "But just because I didn't like it-"

"Mr. Cuddles," Bonnie interrupted, waving a fry at her friend. "He had a name."

"-like I was saying, just cause I didn't like Mr. Cuddles doesn't mean I had a hand in his going missing," Caroline wrinkled her nose at her friend before nodding toward Elena. "Besides, pretty sure it was this one who wanted to have him marry her poodle toy."

"He was the only animal that would fit the top hat we had," Elena reminded as she pressed her hand to her swollen belly. "Baby J doesn't like all this talk about bears."

"That's right future little goddaughter, you give your mama a rough time for bear-napping," Caroline patted Elena's belly. "But come on let's go get that husband of yours to make you a drink to help your stomach settle again." She turned to look back at Klaus, who nodded, letting her know he'd be fine with her friends as she followed Elena out of the booth and toward the bar where Matt was working.

"I don't think I've seen Caroline laugh like that in months," Bonnie commented once the other two were out of reach. Klaus turned his attention back to her, noting the nod of approval. "I don't know what you're doing but keep it up. But know if you do hurt her my grandmother makes powerful voodoo dolls and I will happily use one against you."

"I thought you didn't believe in that?" Stefan pointed out.

Bonnie shrugged. "I don't, but I would for Care and that would be enough for the magic to work. Or so I'm told."

"I've no intention of doing anything to hurt her," Klaus assured, though that didn't mean he wouldn't in the future. He seemed to do end up messing up any relationship he did embark on. Usually on purpose when it was becoming too natural, too good of a thing to hold onto.

Bonnie had been about to reply when Stefan nudged her and nodded toward the entrance. "Is he really here?" Bonnie asked, glaring hard at someone. "Jackass."

Klaus glanced over, wondering who had caught the two's attention. There wasn't anything remarkable about the young man, the cocky attitude that exuded from him something he'd seen countless times before. "Who is it?"

"That's Tyler Lockwood," Stefan replied. "Former Mystic High champion quarterback. Current offensive player for Maryland State."

"Caroline's ex who she found sleeping with Hayley when she went to surprise him for his birthday last year," Bonnie muttered, still glaring daggers at the man. "Together for four years. Would have been three if he'd let her break up with him before college like she'd planned on because long distance isn't always the greatest and she figured if they were meant to be that they'd reconnect later on. But he'd insisted they would be fine, that they'd beat the odds. Turned out he was cheating on her with Hayley for the last two years."

Klaus stared at the young man, wondering why in the world anyone would have dared to cheat on Caroline. How whoever she sought out to be her boyfriend didn't love and cherish her like she deserved? He was barely listening to the Stefan and Bonnie speak anymore, only picking out bits of the story as they continued. His focus on Tyler who was heading toward Caroline and Elena. The urge to wallop the guy was nearly overwhelming, but he didn't think Caroline would appreciate that kind of response.

"It's why we were so surprised to find out she brought you here. She'd sworn off guys for the next few years, wanting to focus on college. Became a shell of who she used to be," Bonnie murmured with a sigh. "But then she shows up here with you and I can see the sunshine girl she used to be before that mess."

Klaus saw Caroline tense up as soon as her old boyfriend greeted her, her entire body language screaming her annoyance. He clenched his fists, ready to head over but Caroline muttered something in reply before she turned away from Tyler, rolling her eyes as she headed back to the group.

"Sorry, Care, I didn't even know he was in town," Stefan apologized, while Bonnie continued to glare in Tyler's direction.

"It's fine, Stefan," Caroline assured as she slid back into the booth beside Klaus. "He stopped having power over my life a while ago." She turned to look at Klaus, smiling softly at the concern she saw, before nodding toward his plate. "Still think this was a better idea than a hotel in New York?"

"Like I've said before, love, I'm in it for the company," Klaus replied, thoroughly enjoying how she beamed at that, before snagging a fry from her plate.


It had been the first time Caroline had come across Tyler Lockwood and not felt an intense sense of betrayal, not hurt to her very core or been engulfed by anger. She'd run through the gamut of emotions in regards to his cheating on her, closing herself off from the pain of it all, but she hadn't felt anything beyond annoyance with him this time. She wouldn't let him dull the great night she was having with people who actually cared for her and that she cared for back.

Turning from Tyler to see Klaus, to see the concern, the worry in his face, had struck a chord with her and Caroline could practically feel the last of her walls being chipped away. They stuck around for a few more hours with her friends, conversation easily flowing between everyone, but once it was time to head out Caroline hadn't quite been ready to call it a night.

Klaus had been more than happy to follow her lead, walking with her through the town and bypassing her house to head into the forest a bit. "We're not going to be digging up poor Mr. Cuddles and then hiding him at Elena's now, are we love?" he asked after a few minutes and Caroline pressed her hand to her chest as she gasped at that insinuation.

"That would imply I know where that bear is buried," she pointed out before stopping at some of the old ruins from one of the founding houses of the town.

"Don't you?" Klaus quirked a brow at her before looking around at where they'd ended up. He sat down beside her on the ground, wondering what exactly was going through her head at that moment. Sometimes he thought he could read her and at the others he was at loss for what she was thinking, what she might do.

Caroline remembered a quote about not needing another human being to make your life complete. She'd held onto that first part of the quote for dear life, reciting it repeatedly as she fine tuned her focus, tried to keep control over her emotions when they'd wanted desperately to crash down around her. But she'd ignored the latter part of it that talked about how having someone to hold onto and love you was one of the most calming things in the world and she couldn't push that aside anymore.

She might not need a man to make her feel complete, to feel happy; but that didn't mean she couldn't accept one into her life when he did make her happy.

"I'm guessing that Bonnie and Stefan filled you in on Tyler, huh?" she asked as they leaned back against the stone structure. "Can't believe it took me two years to figure out he was cheating."

Klaus turned to face her, not liking how she was beating herself up over that. He reached over, thumb brushing against her cheek. "He was an idiot, love. Not you. Hopefully you see that."

"It's in the past," she murmured, leaning into the touch before clasping her hand over his. "At least I found out before ever becoming Mrs. Tyler Lockwood."

"That would have been a tragedy," Klaus agreed. "And you came out of it stronger. Might have taken some time, but you didn't let it beat you."

Her lips twisted at that, not quite sure he was right. She'd let what had happened affect her for so long. "You're strong, sweetheart. Beautiful, as you already know. Full of light."

Klaus didn't expect for her to shift toward him, for her hand to release his and curl around the back of his neck, before she pressed forward, kissing him softly. He was stunned for a few moments, mind not quite processing that she'd initiated the kiss, that she wasn't pulling away from him, before his hands moved to draw along her jaw, mouth chasing afters hers as she pulled back to catch her breath.

"I got tired of hiding from how I feel," Caroline murmured as Klaus kissed the corner of her mouth, her jaw, his nose brushing along her cheek as she twisted a hand in his shirt, not ready to let go of him. "Of keeping my distance when I don't want to anymore."

"I'm glad," Klaus leaned his forehead against hers, fingers drawing along her cheek as her gaze locked with his.

"Please don't hurt me," she whispered, voice so low that he almost didn't make it out.

"Never," he promised. He wouldn't, not if he could help it.

There was so much that he needed to tell her about himself, to get out in the open between them, but all of it was pushed aside as she kissed him again, hands sliding against his chest, and Klaus buried his thoughts, promising himself to figure out how to explain it all to her when they were back in New York.

For now he wanted to focus on having her in his arms, on her radiant smile, and the euphoria that was circling through the two of them.


Two weeks of utter bliss followed, the two of them wrapped up in one another completely when they stepped foot back into the city. Caroline's smile only seemed to brighten with every day, the connection between the two of them strengthening with every passing second. She didn't remember her feelings being this intense for Tyler. She knew she'd loved him, but there was just something about the way Klaus looked at her, the way she felt when she was simply holding his hand that was beyond anything she'd known before.

Finals were on the horizon and she needed to focus on that, not plans for winter break that were looking less like heading back to Mystic Falls for the few weeks and more like renting a hotel room with Klaus to enjoy the city and each other more.

Her gpa was more than safe, even if she failed a final or two, she'd still be walking away with at least a 3.8 in every class. But she was determined to get a 4.0 that semester and dragged Klaus with her to the library for the study group that they'd blown off once already.

The plan of studying with the others for a few hours had sounded good in her head, figuring that having the group of them there and not being alone with Klaus would stifle the urge to pull his shirt off and memorize the feel of his skin against hers again. But the minutes were dragging and her attention was waning, the same words barely registering in her head no matter how many times she read them.

It didn't help that Klaus was sitting right next to her, her gaze continuously being drawn to his stubbled chin no matter how hard she tried to focus. His leg brushing against hers finally pushed her over the edge, causing her to rise. "I think I need one more book."

That sounded convincing, right? They were in the library. It was full of books.

It probably didn't help that Klaus rose after her, following her toward the back. His hand caught hers, lacing their fingers as they moved up the stairwell and out onto the lesser used floors of the library. Barely anyone was studying there, none of the librarians were in sight, but they continued on until they reached the last set of rows and ducked back between the bookshelves, tucked out sight.

Klaus tugged her close, his lips ghosting along her neck as her hands sunk into the curls of his hair, body pressing against his. Caroline bit her lip, trying to keep back a moan that threatened to spill out as one of his hands slid under her shirt, gliding up her stomach to brush the skin under her bra.

Their mouths found one another, kisses urgent as she helped Klaus out of his jacket, lips barely leaving one another as it fell to the floor. He helped her tug his shirt off next, sly smile adorning his face as it met the jacket on the ground. She grinned back, stroking her hands up his chest, tangling one of them in the necklaces that were always there before kissing him again. Her hands moved, brushing against his jaw, his cheeks, loving the way his stubble felt against them.

Klaus helped her out of her jacket, his hands moving to take off her shirt next when cameras started to go off, the clicking sound and flash that accompanied them startling the two. "No," Klaus breathed out as Caroline looked on in shock, wondering what the hell was happening.

Klaus grabbed their things from the floor and then her hand, pulling her toward the stairwell that led to an exit. The paparazzi were right on their heels, a chorus of 'Prince Niklaus' echoing off the walls as the cameras continued to flash. This couldn't be happening. Why were they there? Didn't they have enough news with his other siblings? Surely Kol was up to some antics somewhere.

He needed to get her away from them, to try and minimize the likelihood that they would get a clear photograph of her face, needed to explain all that was going on. He pulled her through the library, making a sharp turn right once they were out of it and got the two of them into the crowded New York street, losing the mess of photographers. They needed to keep moving though, partly because he didn't trust that one of them hadn't caught sight of them but also because moving meant he had a little more time to figure out how to explain it all.

"Klaus," Caroline tried, her confusion with everything that had happened growing for every step that they took. "What's going on? Why are they calling you Prince Niklaus?" She yanked her arm out of his grip, needing to stop, needing to make sense of what had just occurred. "Talk to me."

They were on a side street now, surprisingly not as many walking in the area for a moment but Klaus motioned for her to get around the corner, trying to use the umbrellas that were on a cafes tables to hide them a little better. "It's my name," he started, hating the confusion he saw in her face. "I prefer Klaus. Everyone in my country calls me Niklaus though. Aside from my younger siblings who refer to me as Nik."

My country.

Those two words shouldn't have her head spinning as much as they were. She knew he was foreign, knew he was from a small country in Europe that she'd only heard of once or twice before. But to be a prince of it? That was a little different than just being from it. "In your country," Caroline breathed out, hands running through her hair as she tried to comprehend what he was saying.

"It's not mine yet," Klaus explained, wanting to reach out to her but not quite sure if he should yet. "Maybe never."

She shook her head, eyeing him carefully. "What does that even mean?"

"I have two older brothers who are in line before me," he continued and she nodded at that.

What else had he not told her? "You lied to me," she murmured, taking a step back from him. She'd finally opened up her heart again, let him in in and…"I knew I shouldn't have..".

"Caroline, no, I didn't," he stepped toward her, hating the way she tensed at that. "I just didn't want to be Prince Niklaus for once. I wanted to pretend that I was just Klaus."

She barely heard him, her mind whirling and anxiety rising. "Are those pictures going to be in the paper?"

"Yes." God he wished he could stop that, wished he could destroy all evidence and go back to the happiness they'd had not even ten minutes ago.

"Oh my god," she gasped out, hand pressing against her mouth while her other arm wrapped protectively around herself. She needed to get away from there, needed to just not be near him right then. It felt like the world was falling in on her and she didn't know how to handle the emotions that were all being shoved into her.

"I'm sorry," Klaus murmured and he reached out to her as she tried to walk by him. "Caroline wait!"

"Stay away from me," she all but screamed at him, hating that he was in front of her, that part of her wanted to curl up in his arms at that moment.

"I love you," Klaus told her, surprised by the ferocity of the statement, of how much he meant it, how much he doesn't want to lose his sunshine girl.

"You love me?" Caroline shook her head, unable to believe those words. "You lied to me. You just said you were pretending. How do I know that this…" She motioned between the two of them.

"Not about this," he promised, gripping her forearms tightly. "Not about us." He willed her to believe, to see how much he cared, how much he loved her but all he saw was her heartbreak.

"I don't believe you," she murmured and it was like a punch to the gut, forcing him to let go of her.

Watching her walk away was a blow that Klaus didn't know how he could ever recover from. Anger seeped in when he could no longer see her, when she'd become lost in the crowd, and he slammed his hands against the wall, not caring how scratched up they got. He wanted to be furious with her for not seeing, but he had known he needed to tell her the truth and he'd kept putting it off.

He just needed to give her some time and then he'd explain it all better, he'd make the paparazzi go away somehow, get Caroline to see he wasn't lying about loving her. Klaus didn't know how he'd manage any of it but she wasn't the only one who could be a very determined person. When he wanted something he worked at it until he got it and what he wanted was Caroline Forbes.

His phone rang in his pocket and Klaus nearly ignored it but it was the ringtone he had for Henrik. He'd never been able to ignore his baby brother's call. "Now isn't the best time, Henrik," he murmured in greeting, not wanting to snap at the boy.

"Father and Finn are dead," the boy told him, the sound of Henrik crying pulling at his heart. "Elijah might die too."

"What?" Klaus pressed his forehead to the wall, reeling from the news, wondering what had happened.

His mother's voice took over, letting him know about the accident that had only just happened. News outlets didn't even know all the details yet. But Finn and Mikael were dead. Elijah looked to be dying at any moment, the doctor's uncertain that they'd be able to save him.

"You know what you need to do, Niklaus," Esther told him and Klaus sighed, letting her know he'd be on the first flight back.

He couldn't help but call Caroline though, not surprised that it went straight to voicemail. He didn't know if she'd even listen to the message but he had to try, had to let her know all he felt before he was forced to walk away from the sunshine girl he loved.

"I am certain that the last thing you want to do is hear my voice. I don't know if you'll ever hear this even. Perhaps you'll erase it. Being Prince Niklaus was something I never wanted but it was something I was born into. I wanted to take a break from it all, to simply live my life without the scrutiny of the crown. I never expected to meet you, Caroline. I never expected to fall in love. If I could live my life simply making you smile it would be a fulfilled one. I meant to tell you so many times but I worried about what would happen. I didn't want to dull your light." Even if it seemed he'd had a hand in doing so.

"I was pretending to not be a prince but nothing that involved you was pretend. All of it is very real, Caroline. Maybe you won't believe that now, or even in the next few weeks, but when you do, just know that I'll be waiting for you to show up at my door. Because I do love you and I will keep loving you. No matter how long it might take for you to believe that." He let out a sigh and hung up, pocketing his phone again.

He needed to get going. There was so much he needed to do before heading to the airport to make the flight his mother had already booked him.


Everything hurt, her body seeming to be in mutiny over the emotions that were crashing down around her. She'd managed to hold most of the tears back until she made it to her dorm, thankful that her roommate looked to be out for the evening. He'd tried to call her and she'd turned off her phone, not wanting to hear his voice. Her mind was too much of a mess, unsure what to make of anything that had happened.

Betrayal rang deep in her bones but the sense of loss ran just as deep, causing Caroline to curl up under her covers and wish the world away. She was trying to push down the knowledge that she loved him too, that some of her happiest moments had been with Klaus. It didn't sit well with her anger and confusion and Caroline didn't know how to manage the conflicting feelings coursing through her.

He'd looked devastated when she said she didn't believe him and it had been so hard to keep walking away, to leave him to stand in the street on his own. Part of her had yearned to turn around and go back to him, but the confused and hurt part of her had spurred her feet to keep moving, to put distance between them.

She pulled out her phone, turning it back on and ignored the message that she had a voicemail waiting. Instead she called Bonnie. Caroline was a talker, always would be, and talking through her feelings was something she needed to do.

"Hey, Care," Bonnie greeted and the cheerfulness of her friend's voice had her choking out a sob. "What's wrong?"

She wasn't sure if her words even made sense as they spilled out of her mouth, trying to convey all that had happened in the last hour. "Care, I need you to breathe," Bonnie told her and she tried to do that, taking a deep breath to work at calming down. "And then I need you to turn on the news."

What? Why would she need to do that? Oh god were the damn photos on the news?

Her breath caught as she saw an official photograph of what must have been Klaus' family, picking him out of it immediately, before the scene shifted back to one of an accident. The report said something about his father and brothers being dead before an old photo of Klaus was displayed, reporting him being the new official heir to the throne.

Caroline's heart clenched at the news, barely taking in the heir thing. Her focus was on the loss he'd just faced, on him being alone in New York to deal with it and she scrambled out of the bed. "Bonnie I have to go."

She tried reaching him by phone but it went straight to voicemail. Either his phone was off or he was on another call and so she didn't even think. Simply grabbed her purse and headed straight for his dorm, wanting to offer a shoulder to lean on, to wrap him up in a tight hug and never let go.

He wasn't there though.

"He just left for the airport," his roommate explained before handing her an envelope. "Said to give you this if you stopped by."

Caroline nodded, opening it as she left the room. There was a sketch of her inside, carefree and laughing and she remembered that moment. They had been on a hayride in her hometown and he'd said he wished he could immortalize her laugh. It seemed he had.

She was on autopilot all the way to the airport, trying his phone again but it still went straight to voicemail. She bought the cheapest ticket she could find and made it through security, using her phone to try and figure out which flights were heading to his country in the next few hours. Thankfully there was only one and Caroline crossed her fingers that it was the one he'd take.

She got to the gate and looked around, trying to spot him. There weren't many people there yet, the flight not expected to leave for two more hours, and she didn't see him. She fished out her phone again, hopeful that he'd pick up.

"Caroline?"

She whirled around at the sound of his voice calling her name, noting the surprise there among the devastation that she could see etched into every fiber of him. She didn't hesitate to walk over, thankful when he pulled her into his arms. "I'm so sorry," she murmured, squeezing him tightly, trying to offer what strength she could.

Klaus refused to let her go, afraid it was a dream for a second but the realization of everything else was too raw for it to be. He breathed her in, her presence calming him some. "I know there's no way to be okay right now, but I just...I needed to see you," she tried to explain, holding onto him a little tighter. "I didn't want you to be alone."

He kissed her forehead at that. Her compassion was one of the things he loved most about her.

Unfortunately it didn't take long for the flashing of cameras to find them again and Klaus sighed at that. "Let's head over to the first class lounge for a bit." The damn vultures wouldn't be allowed in there.

They stayed there for the duration of his wait, curled up on one of the couches as they held onto one another. Silence fell between them at first, but after a bit they started to talk again, Klaus silencing her apologies with a kiss.

"I love you too," she murmured against his chest, closing her eyes as his fingers ran through her hair. "I could go with you." She had money in her savings that she could use for the flight.

"You need to finish finals," Klaus reminded, kissing her again when he felt her start to protest. "But I'll get you a flight for right after them. What about that?" He wouldn't let her ruin her dreams because of this. "It'll only be a few days. And then you can spend winter break with me like we planned. Well. Almost like we planned."

Simply in another city on another continent.

Where he'd be King.

He couldn't think about that yet. It was too much weight to bear and hopefully Elijah would pull through.

"And before you say something about paying me back I'll have you know that I get free flights to my country so nothing is coming out of pocket," Klaus added before kissing her forehead. He didn't want to move, wanted to keep holding onto her but the flight was boarding and he needed to get up.

Caroline walked with him to the gate again, ignoring the paparazzi that were waiting for them, clicking away as he kissed her goodbye. "I'll call you when I land," Klaus promised, knowing he'd want to hear her voice again.

"I'll see you in a few days," Caroline murmured as he finally headed off to board.

The paparazzi followed after her once she turned and started out of the airport, asking questions that she didn't bother to answer, thankful when security obstructed them long enough for her to get a cab.

Caroline's mind was still a mess, but her heart at least felt whole again.

Her phone rang and she looked down at the screen, unsurprised to see that her mom was calling her, no doubt wanting an explanation after having seen Klaus' picture on the news. At least Caroline could give one now. It'd probably be a good idea to see if her mom could scrounge up her passport that was somewhere in her room so she could head out to be with Klaus in a few days.