This is my first fanfic so go easy on me? :3 I'll give you Klaus for Christmas if you do :D

Tumblr: adiaryofklaroline

Disclaimer: As much as I wish it were true, I do not, nor have I ever…*sigh* owned the characters or anything in The Vampire Diaries.

Wait for Me

"Fifty-two years, four months, and nine days. I was tormented...in my dreams; my every waking moment. Relentless, never-ending torture. It was the only period in my life where I actually felt time."

"How did you make it stop?" I had asked.

Even now I could remember the vulnerable look in his eyes as he quickly glanced down before looking back up at me, the look gone, replaced with fear and confusion. "I didn't. Eventually...it just stopped."

And now, he was being forced to relive that nightmare, all for my sake. I could do nothing, but watch helplessly as he stood, towering over the dead hunter. The dead hunter who he had saved me from nearly seconds ago. Me.

The one who had countlessly rejected and insulted him within the blink of an eye. The one who had a used his mysterious infatuation with me to my advantage and had distracted him continuously while plotting his downfall. Although, the searing pain and guilt weighing down on my heart didn't make sense. Klaus had known I'd been misleading him all along. He was a thousand year old hybrid. Of course he would have known.

Yet I was still feeling all these things.

Numbly, I watched as he used the sleeve of his jacket to wipe the smear of blood from his mouth and chin. When he had removed as much of the blood from his face as he could, he slowly turned towards me. Instinctively, my mouth gaped open to see the worry etched so clearly on his face, though I knew it wasn't worry for himself and the inevitable fate that awaited him. It was worry for me.

I gazed up at him in a dumb daze as he appeared by my side in a flash. Hastily, he rolled the sleeve of his jacket and bit into his arm causing scarlet red blood to flow freely from the wound.

Using his other arm, he gently placed it beneath my head as a makeshift pillow and tilted my head upwards towards his arm.

"Caroline," he said softly while nudging my head closer to his wrist, "you need to drink, love."

I almost laughed at the situation, but I stopped myself mid-chuckle, knowing it would hurt to do so. Somehow, it had completely slipped my mind that I had been injured and was currently in a near-death state. Elongating my fangs, I strained the short distance to reach Klaus' opened wrist. Once my teeth came into contact with his skin, I broke through it with my fangs and began to drink. Almost immediately I could feel my body beginning to recover and gain back the energy Connor had drained from me in our fight. That was another positive of having a hybrid come to save me.

As I continued to drink from Klaus, I could faintly feel him stroking my hair and whispering soothing words into my ear. Images of the night he had held me while feeding me his blood after Tyler had bitten me flashed through my mind. Then there had also been the incident with Evil Alaric from which Klaus had save me as well. A minuscule smile touched my lips as I recalled these events. For being such a big, bad, hybrid, he sure did a fantastic job of saving me when I most needed it.

When I had finished receiving my fair share of hybrid blood, I withdrew myself from his wrist while letting out a shaky breath. Honestly, that had been too close of a call. If Klaus hadn't gotten here when he did...I couldn't help, but shiver at the thought. Composing myself, I raised my eyes about to thank him, but stopped. My eyes widened when I looked up to see his eyes trained in on my lips. He continued to stare at them intently before slowly, almost cautiously, reaching a hand out and swiping the blood from my lips causing my heart to wrack against my ribs. I let in a sharp intake of air when his thumb traced my skin tenderly, as if I would break beneath his touch.

Just as he pulled back his thumb from my lips, so did his eyes, but they quickly flickered up to mine. They bore intently into my eyes and I could do nothing but stare back. It was as if some invisibly force were keeping my eyes locked on his.

"Klaus," I managed to breath out.

That alone seemed to snap him out of whatever trance he had been trapped in. His eyes widened for a fraction of a second while he distanced himself from me. My lips parted slightly when I realized we had unconsciously been inching closer to each other. I could feel embarrassment entangled with a feeling of disappointment enter me when my mind began to wander to where this may have led to had I not opened my mouth.

Clearing his throat, Klaus carefully scooped me up into his arms. "Time for you to head home, sweetheart. I think we've both had enough excitement for one day."

Wrapping an arm loosely around his neck, I fought back the sudden fatigue that entered my body as he took me home. However, it wasn't long before I succumbed to the sleep that was calling me and my eyes drifted closed.

My eyelids pried open when I felt my head rest against a familiar softness. Once I had blinked away the sleep in my eyes, I was met with the familiarity of my room and Klaus, whose fingers lingered slightly on my body. I offered him a slight smile, remembering what had transpired the same evening, which he returned, but it didn't quite reach his eyes like it usually did. Something was up.

"Goodnight Caroline." The smile slipped off his face and he turned to go. In all honesty, his tone frightened me. It was almost as if he was saying good-bye for the last time, and the thought didn't sit well with me.

"Klaus, wait," I croaked out causing him to come to an abrupt stop.

Slowly, almost hesitantly, he turned around. "What is it?"

Stay with me, please, is what I wanted to say, but I brusquely brushed off the thought. "Thank you," I chose to say instead remembering that I had yet to thank him. "If it wasn't for you-"

"No need to thank me," he interrupted. I small frown came to my face at the slight edge in his voice.

"But you put and are putting yourself in danger. For me," I continued, my voice faltering near the end of my sentence.

"Caroline, please. Don't make this harder than it already is."

My brows knotted together in confusion while my frown grew deeper at the pleading in his voice. He rarely showed me this vulnerable side, and when he did, I knew there was more to the matter than he was letting on.

"Klaus, what are you talking about?"

"It's not, sweetheart," he replied with a tired sigh. "Good-bye."

Again, the eerie feeling that this was the last time we would see each other entered my body and I called out for him causing him to freeze in his tracks. Although this time, he refused to turn around.

Just a little bit longer, I thought to myself. I can allow myself just a little bit longer.

"Caroline," he began impatiently, "what do you want?"

I rapidly searched my mind for something intelligent to say, but ended up sputtering out the first thing that came to mind. "About the uh, date? Would you want to, uh, go to the pageant? With me? As a way of thanks?"

His shoulders and back tensed. "Sorry, I can't."

I smiled wryly, hurt from his swift rejection, though I'd never admit it. "Well, maybe another time then?"

"I'm afraid that won't be possible, Caroline."

Uneasiness settled at the pit of my stomach at his words. I chuckled nervously before continuing. "Why not? You're the one who bartered your way into getting a date with me…" My voice trailed off when I noticed his hands clench into fists. "Klaus?"

"Caroline," he began. I already regretted where this was heading. "This is the last time I am allowing us to see each other."

Both time and my heart seemed to come to a simultaneous stop at his words. A deadly silence hung in the air, all that could be heard was Klaus' rugged breathing.

"What're you talking about?" I questioned dumbly. Deep down I already knew though. It was the witches' curse.

"It's too dangerous for you to me, sweetheart. I've already told you the consequences of killing a hunter. History just seems to have a way of repeating itself when it comes to me."

His body slackened and he unclenched his fists, seeming to relax for a brief moment at my lack of response. I, on the other hand, was simply too dumbfounded to speak. My brain was still attempting to register everything he had just said and once it had I searched my head for something to say. All ends seemed to lead to one answer.

"No."

Klaus' body once again grew tense. "Caroline-"

It was my turn to cut him off. "No. You can't do that. I will not allow you to distance yourself from me because of this! Because of me!" I may not have admitted it aloud, but somewhere between the compliments, gifts, and mindless banter, I'd grown fond of him. Who could blame me with how devilishly charming he tended to act around me? It'd be a life to say the British hybrid and his terms of endearment hadn't worked there way into my heart.

"Caroline," he spoke softly, "think about what you're saying. This is me, love. You've never been quite fond of me to begin with. If anything, I'm sure you'd be glad to be rid of me."

"You can't decide that for me!" I spat out desperately.

"It's for the best," he replied, obviously trying his hardest to remain calm.

"I refuse to allow you to suffer alone for something caused by me."

"Caroline!" he snapped abruptly, whipping around in a flash. All thoughts of attempting to stay calm flooded out the window. His eyes were flashing dangerously, but the slight sadness swirling in them didn't go unnoticed by me. Immediately my breath caught in my throat. "I would rather suffer alone than cause you any pain."

"You wouldn't," I croaked out weakly.

He chuckled dryly at my response before walking towards me on my bed. "How would you know Caroline? Caroline, you have no idea what it feels like. The hallucinations -" he paused, recollecting himself while sitting down on the edge of my bed, "they play with your mind. Manipulate your subconscious to do what they want; kill yourself. Unfortunately for me, I'm immortal."

My eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "If you're immortal, why do you-"

"I may not be able to kill myself, but that doesn't stop me from bringing harm towards people around me. One wrong move; one small slip up, and its over."

My mouth gaped open at the realization.

"I could kill you, Caroline."

I shook my head in denial, trying to persuade him otherwise, but I knew it was hopeless. This was Klaus we were talking about. You didn't have to be close to him to know that once he had his mind set on something, he didn't change it. One reason why he had never given up capturing Elena to use her blood to make more hybrids. There was no changing his mind.

"This is good-bye, Caroline."

With a sad smile, he slowly leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to my forehead. I felt a warmth spread through my body as his lips contacted my skin. But as the feel of Klaus' lips disappeared, so did the warmth. I shuddered, longing for the feeling to return.

Standing up, he turned to leave, but I stopped him by latching my hand onto his wrist. I returned his confused look with one of determination. "I'll find a way to get you out of this. You've saved me, so now it's my turn to return the favor."

He gave me a lopsided smile which caused my cheeks to heat up. Quickly, I released his wrist, avoiding his eyes. "It only makes sense right? I don't want to owe you any favors."

He simply chuckled as I looked up and watched him walk to the doorway of my room before turning around. His smile grew as mine fell. "Chin up, love. I'll be out soon enough. What's a couple decades or more to a vampire when we've got all eternity ahead of us?"

A smile touched my lips at his words and wavered slightly when he mouthed three words to me. Sending me a small grin, he turned around and was gone in a flash. Fresh tears began to pool up in my eyes as I stared emptily at the spot he had stood in seconds ago.

Frustrated and confused, I rubbed the tears away and stared up at the ceiling. I never would have thought the big bad original would have this kind of effect on me. It almost seemed odd that only days ago I had loathed and cursed his entire existence. But now…things were different. He was still the cruel, killer, but, I'd seen another side to him. A side that I was sure he dared not show to just anyone.

I swore silently to myself that I would find a way to end the hallucinations for Klaus. I'd do whatever it takes because quite frankly, I owed him that much, and so much more. Until then, my mind turned towards the three words he had mouthed to me before he had left.

Wait for me…