Caroline ran through the nighttime woods of Mystic Falls.
She wanted, no, she needed to put daylight between herself and everybody else to digest what had happened.
Maybe it was also the desperate attempt to run away from her feelings. Even that was anything but improbable.
After some time she stopped on a clearing and looked around. It was a clear night, so countless stars sparkled, glittered and twinkled in the sky. They looked as if they were a thousand if not a million diamonds.
"Beautiful", Caroline whispered.
"Almost as beautiful as you!", she heard a voice with an unmistakable accent behind her. Klaus. He had followed her. Of course.
And he was back in his own body. There he stood, as if Dark Alaric had never staked him, let alone even tried to. As if he had never possessed somebody else.
Before all that had happened, she had been attracted to Klaus.
But then Tyler had miraculously survived even though it was said that Klaus was dead, and everything had changed. He had changed, was different. Charming. Wonderful. Adorable.
He had made her compliments. He had made her feel safe. He had made her happy.
So Caroline had fallen in love with him again. Only to find out that he hadn't been Tyler.
"How could you? First, you take Tyler his will with that freaking sire bond and then you take over his body and pretend being him? How dare you? I kissed you thinking you were my boyfriend. I... I almost slept with you ..."
She hushed at the thought of this memory.
"Love, I would never ever abuse you. I would never ever exploit this kind of situation. I would never ever make you do anything you wouldn't want to do. Do you really think that low of me?"
"Yes!" No. Caroline knew he said the truth. Actually she had been the one everything emanated from. The one who had tried to seduce him.
He had stopped her. Had told her that this wasn't what she wanted. And she...she had been mad at him because she had felt hurt and rejected.
But how could she had anticipated that he hadn't been Tyler but Klaus?
In hindsight she gave him great credit for not exploiting the situation.
However, he was a real gentleman.
Actually, he was the dream lover of every girl – apart from the fact that he was a murderer.
Admittedly, she had killed too, but of course this wasn't comparable to Klaus. Not by a long shot.
But what was with Stefan and Damon? Both were far from being innocent lambs. Indeed, Klaus had learned one of his favorite torture tricks from Stefan.
Of course killing and torturing was wrong, but not just in the case of Klaus.
Nevertheless, he was without regard for other people, he always had to get his way. Klaus took what he wanted, stopped at nothing, and the lives of others were worthless and meaningless.
But with her it was different. He was different. Klaus treated her like she was something special. And for example the one...situation had shown that he didn't always take everything.
Furthermore, if the lives of others were worthless, why had he saved her life twice?
When she hadn't known who he really was, when she hadn't known that Klaus had possessed Tyler, when she hadn't known what he had done, everything had been simple.
Yes, she had thought how stunning he was. Her feelings had grown stronger and stronger. It had been overwhelmingly. When she had been together with him she wished that the moment would never end, and that she could freeze time.
And now? Caroline was at odds with herself. Yes, everything was complicated now, but wasn't it perhaps down to the fact that she made it complicated?
Why did she refuse? Why did she cork up her feelings and tried to run away from them? Why didn't she give him a chance? Didn't all humans deserve a second chance...even if they weren't human?
Didn't this apply to hybrids as well? Caroline thought 'yes'. Humans, vampires, werewolves, hybrids... at the last they all had feelings. Also Klaus. Even he was scared, although he wouldn't admit it. Even he could be sad, but also happy. Even he could love.
After all, Klaus wasn't the embodiment of evil.
No, he could be unbelievably sweet and wonderful. He had saved her life, had been interested in her and her life, had offered to show her the world. And all that always with a compliment.
Furthermore, he hadn't become the way he was without a reason. His family was certainly not what you would call harmonious. His mother Esther as well as Mikael had tried to kill him. As a result, Klaus of course thought that nobody would love him. So it wasn't surprising that he was scared of being left. And yet this fear was not necessary, because if Caroline was together with him she would never leave him...
There had to be a reason, an explanation why she couldn't stop thinking of him. Why she even dreamed of being with him. Why she got weak at the knees when she saw him.
But Klaus really made her melt away. Particularly his smile was truly charming and special. His eyes were also wonderful, not to mention his voice. You just had to love his gorgeous accent.
"Caroline, sweetheart?" Klaus interrupted her thoughts. "Are you all right? Suddenly you were abstracted and didn't react any more."
Indeed her thoughts had strayed somehow.
Therefore, her anger had disappeared. And she had perceived that it was impossible to run away from her feelings.
"Don't worry, I'm fine. Pretty fine, actually." Klaus seemed to be relieved which was really sweet.
"And of course I don't think that low of you. But... you shouldn't possess other people's bodies. Just as you can't sire them. You don't need hybrids. You don't need forced, fake loyalty. Don't you see that because of all that you are pushing the people you mean something to away? Your siblings...and...me."
Something changed in his glance. In his blue eyes. Was it incredulity, hope or delight? Probably a mix of all. "I mean something to you?", he asked.
She had wondered why she had to think of Klaus all the time, dreamed of him, and why she got weak at her knees. Yes, of course there was a reason, even if she had been in denial about it.
Caroline had fought against her feelings, had tried to resist and had thought that not admitting it would make it untrue. But she could see clearly now.
She understood who her heart belonged to and would always belong to.
Smiling she shook her head. "It's even more than that, Klaus. I... I love you!"